Ukkima and Cazur Voltron

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Gwathnar
Posts: 25
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him
Location: Canada

Post by Gwathnar » 3 years ago

Introduction

Ah Sultai, the Best colours in Magic.

I'm sure someone said that especially where EDH is concerned. A lot of very powerful Commanders are in this colour combination; with access to some of the most efficent combos, tutors, protection, card draw and ramp, you can see why it is so good.

Sadly you won't find many of those card here......ok maybe the card draw and ramp parts...sort of. I wanted to build a fun Voltron deck that wasn't like the more powerful versions of the deck. I forced myself to keep the cost down and play cards I wouldn't normally use.


Our Game Plan

Cazur, Ruthless Stalker and Ukkima, Stalking Shadow are a Partners With pairing that for me gives an interesting Voltron/+1/+1 Counters theme with Ukkima, Stalking Shadow being the star of the deck and the main kill condition with Cazur, Ruthless Stalker maybe showing up but more often then not just being here for his colour.

We will be using (and abusing) Ukkima's Leaves the Battlefield (LTB) trigger plus beating face. It's not unusual to do over 20 points of damage in a turn through combat and flicking Ukkima.

Failing combat we've got a couple of Combo lines with Naru Meha, Master Wizard and a flicker spell or Aluren and Cloudstone Curio.


Why Play This Deck?
  • You know Sultai is the best wedge.
  • You like +1/+1 counters.
  • You enjoy Voltron decks.
  • You like the combat step and combat tricks.
  • You like decks that are low to the ground.
  • You like having the option to combo off if needed.
  • You want a Cazur/Ukkima deck that doesn't rely on Food Chain.

Why NOT Play This Deck?

  • You want an all in combo deck.
  • You prefer more control based decks.
  • Voltron and combat aren't you're jam.
  • You dislike counters and don't want to keep track of them.
  • You'd prefer a stronger deck (though I wouldn't call this jank).
  • You want counter spells (I opted to not run any).

Deck Stats
  • Average Converted Mana Cost of 2.43
  • 17 Creatures
  • 8 Artifacts
  • 4 Sorceries
  • 18 Instants
  • 19 Enchantments
  • 32 Lands

Budget Cuts


At $701.31 this is definately a cheaper deck for me. I own most of the pricey cards already but respect that some people don't so what can we cut to get the cost of the deck down you ask? Well the most expensive cards are Mana Crypt, Aluren, Misty Rainforest, Polluted Delta, Verdant Catacombs, Ancient Tomb, Chrome Mox and Cloudstone Curio. Cutting these will shave a couple hundred or more off the deck and not effect it too much, though you will lose the Aluren combo lines.


Our Commanders

I think this is the first time I've done a primer with Partner Commanders....oooh. I think we all know who we are looking at first.

Image

Ukkima, Stalking Shadow is a 2/2 Legendary Creature - Whale Wolf for with the best mechanic ever who reads:

Partner with Cazur, Ruthless Stalker (When this creature enters the battlefield, target player may put Cazur into their hand from their library, then shuffle.)
Ukkima, Stalking Shadow can't be blocked.
When Ukkima leaves the battlefield, it deals X damage to target player and you gain X life, where X is its power.
Let's analyze this shall we: First off the Partner With triggered ability is a may so you can search your library and fail to find thus needing to shuffle your library. This can be good to if you are mana flooded or screwed so rememeber to keep that in mind.

The second line of text is what makes our Commander so good and why I built the deck, Ukkima, Stalking Shadow can't be blocked. Having this mechanic stapled onto our Commander is huge. We have to waste zero slots on evasion because it's built in.

Lastly we come to Ukkima's awesome Leaves the battlefield triggered ability. This is a spicy one, it triggers regardless of how he leaves. Someone exiles him? Dome them for his power and gain that much life. Flicker him? Bounce him? Board Wipe? Regular old targeted removal? Someone is having some damage dealt to them and you are gaining life. The only time this wouldn't trigger is with something like Toxic Deluge because it gives him negative power thus no damage and we gain no life (Pro Tip: Flicker or bounce in response) Please do remember (unlike me in the first game I played) the ability targets a player.

Image

Cazur, Ruthless Stalker is a 3/3 Legendary Creature - Human Warrior for who reads:
Partner with Ukkima, Stalking Shadow (When this creature enters the battlefield, target player may put Ukkima into their hand from their library, then shuffle.)
Whenever a creature you control deals combat damage to a player, put a +1/+1 counter on that creature.
Again we have the Partner With ETB Trigger so we can shuffle our library if we see fit.

His second ability lines up with Ukkima by buff his power he does combat damage to a player. This is where the idea of +1/+1 counters came from for this deck. While he's not as strong as Ukkima, Cazur certainly will see play once in a while. He can provide a decent sized blocking body or even attack himself.


Together these Commanders have proven to be a fun and interesting Partner pairing.
Stalking Whale Wolf

Infect

Flicker Combo

Aluren

Approximate Total Cost:

I'll edit this into something nicer later but finally got some games with this deck last night and is it ever fun. One high light was casting Berserk on Ukkima hitting an opponent for 12 and then burning him for 12 again when he left the battlefield. Sadly I drew the wrong half of my deck and was getting no ramp even with a Selvala Explorer Returned deck at the table.

User avatar
Gwathnar
Posts: 25
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him
Location: Canada

Post by Gwathnar » 3 years ago

Finally getting around to working on this primer when I can get a break from the kids.
Also a friend and I went through the list and made some changes.
In Out Here I'll break down why I removed certain cards:

Dying Wish - Die triggers with Commanders are a thing now however after testing I felt this card wasn't needed.
Herald of Secret Streams - Not really needed as Ukkima has unblockable and he's usually the one we are attacking with.
Reyhan, Last of the Abzan - The Ozolith does the same thing and it's much harder to remove.
Fertilid - Seemed good in theory since this is a +1/+1 counter deck. However in game it's too mana intensive.
Boneyard Mycodrax - Good card in theory but the sorcery speed hurts and there isn't a whole lot of creatures in the deck.
Renata, Called to the Hunt- 4 CMC for something that is kind of low impact. There's better things to run.
Fathom Mage - I run a good bit of card draw so I don't mind cutting this for something else.
Simic Ascendancy - I like this card in theory but it's yet to work the way I want in any deck. Guess I want something more impactful.
Inspiring Call - Usually it will only be my Commander with counters so I'm drawing one card for 3 mana and giving indestructible...meh.
Grafted Exoskeleton - I like infect but this usually puts a target on your back vs the other infect cards I play.
Doubling Season - A great card usually but at 5 CMC the fact that we don't have any token makers it could definately be trimmed.

Here's the reasoning behind the additions:

Swiftfoot Boots - I should of had this in the list from the beginning.
Arbor Elf - Works great with my Enchant land cards.
Blossoming Defense - Buffs our Commander and gives Hexproof. I'm going to decide when my Commander leaves.
Invigorating Surge - This seems like a gross card so I'm trying it out.
Crystal Shard - Repeatable bounce effects are awesome.
Life's Legacy - Not only card draw but forces me to sac my Commander for his trigger.
Branching Evolution - Doubling Seasons replacement, 3 CMC is much better then 5.
Chrome Mox - Zero mana rocks are best rocks. Should be a different a Mox but keeping the cost down in this deck.
Ghostly Pilferer - Oh my, how good is this card. In lower power metas this reads draw a card ever time someone casts their Commander. God forbid anyone is running Food Chain or something like that.
Bear Umbra - Turns out the deck is mana intensive so being able to untap on attack is good plus Totem armour is good too.
One with Nature - This only triggers on combat damage so I'm not sure if it will stay since it works best with our Commander but no other creatures. May turn into a Sword of the Animist instead.

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