Etali, Primal Chaos

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Guardman
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Post by Guardman » 3 years ago

ETALI, PRIMAL CHAOS




With the, um... pandemic preventing me from playing in person, I figured the best way to scratch the itch is by putting the deck here. Nothing fancy (I'm too lazy to do one of those big primers), just some thoughts and the decklist.

Who should play this deck:
  1. People who love chaos.
  2. People who love the highs and lows that come from improbable wins and unlucky flips.
  3. People who love to be able to tell epic stories about their games.
  4. People who want each game to play differently.
  5. People who would prefer to play their opponent spells rather than their own.
  6. People who are looking for decks with a moderate amount of diplomacy / deals with the devils (and you are the devil).
  7. People who want a deck that can adjust its power-level to their opponents' decks (since a lot of power comes from your opponents' decks).
  8. People looking for a budget commander deck (none of the expensive cards are essential and can be easily replaced with something else).
  9. People looking for a palate-cleanser deck.
The following are the key principal that I keep in mind when updating the deck:
  1. Etali, Primal Storm should be the focus, but the deck should be able to function without her if needed.
  2. The theme of the deck is fun with chaos. The deck should always focus on bringing chaos to myself and my opponents, and while it can be harmful and/or annoying, it shouldn't be unfun to play against. This is a long way to say no Scrambleverse. (I've been told by my friends if I ever cast Scrambleverse in a game I will get punched in the face for each nonland permanent on the board.)
  3. The deck needs to be able to win. There is nothing more annoying (to me at least) than a deck that isn't meant to win.
Etali, Primal Chaos

Commander

Rummage/Wheel/Etc.

Chaos/Theft/Copying

Approximate Total Cost:


Budget Version


Etali, Primal Chaos BUDGET

Commander

Rummage/Wheel/Etc.

Approximate Total Cost:

Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions, comments, suggestions, etc.
Last edited by Guardman 2 years ago, edited 2 times in total.

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Post by Guardman » 3 years ago

Some changes to the deck.




Out Reasons
  • Dragonmaster Outcast was never a bad card, and he has helped win me some games, but he is kind of slow and easily answered.
  • Dwarven Mine was a placeholder for Castle Embereth, which was in a different deck, and I didn't notice when making the list.
  • Squee, Goblin Nabob is a holdover from when the deck had a lot more rummaging effects. With a bunch of them gone I decided he probably isn't worth a slot anymore.
  • Tectonic Hellion was in against the ramp decks, but after thinking it over, it never did it's job as good as I wanted it to thanks to the fact that so much of ramp is not lands.
In Reasons
  • Castle Embereth was always supposed to be in the deck. See Dwarven Mine reasoning above.
  • Grafdigger's Cage is in because I want some sort of graveyard hate and Grafdigger's Cage seems like what would effect me the least while still hating on graveyard decks.
  • Hoarding Dragon is in because the deck has a lot of good artifacts and this works as a psuedo-tutor/threat. And depending on what is underneath it it can act as a form of wrath protection/don't attack me creature.
  • Rampaging Ferocidon is a card that should have been in the deck a long time ago if I am being honest. Great against Elves, Token, and Life Gain hate.
Also thinking about throwing in Whispersilk Cloak for maybe Rings of Brighthearth or Mimic Vat, but I'm not sure. Whispersilk Cloak is another great way to protect Etali since it pretty much makes her uninteractable. But the deck is sort of at the point where it has a lot of Etali support and how many things like this do I need, but it does give me incentive to play more saboteur effects, which are fun. It would also have me cutting a card in Rings or Mimic, which are mainly there for the fun-factor, and doing stuff like being able to Etali three times off of a single attack. The other choice is Gauntlet of Power which is not the best card in the deck due to not going that wide, but is a great late game ramp card with so many mountains, making recasting Etali very easy. So if anyone has any thoughts, or possible different cut, I would love to hear them.

Edit: Another card I am thinking about adding also is Seize the Day. Seems really synergistic with Etali.

Finally added a budget version of the deck. With it I cut out any expensive card over five dollars that I do not feel is essential or could be replaced with a cheaper card and tried to get it around the $75 mark (as of May 26, 2020), but failed. Still I think the $80 mark is pretty good for a Commander deck.

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TheAmericanSpirit
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Post by TheAmericanSpirit » 3 years ago

I've seen you mention this deck a few times around the forum and I admit, this is my first real look at it. Seems really cool, to be honest! I love the seemingly niche elements like Hate Mirage and Mangara's tome. It's the first deck in a while that I might copy just to see how it plays. When/if I do, I'll let you know how it pans out.

Thanks for posting it!
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Post by Guardman » 3 years ago

TheAmericanSpirit wrote:
3 years ago
I've seen you mention this deck a few times around the forum and I admit, this is my first real look at it. Seems really cool, to be honest! I love the seemingly niche elements like Hate Mirage and Mangara's tome. It's the first deck in a while that I might copy just to see how it plays. When/if I do, I'll let you know how it pans out.

Thanks for posting it!
I would love to hear how you like it. The deck is a little out of date due to me not being able to play any in-person commander since Theros came out. I haven't tested it yet, but these are the changes I am thinking about making.




Etali, Primal Chaos

Commander

Rummage/Wheel/Etc.

Chaos/Theft/Copying

Approximate Total Cost:

Of all the new cards I want to add to the deck, the three I am most excited about are Commander's Plate, Volcanic Torrent, and Bladegriff Prototype. Commander's Plate is obvious why since it is perfect way to protect Etali. Volcanic Torrent probably works better here than just about everyother deck. In a perfect world you get four free spells from Etali, another from cascade, and the Volcanic Torrent itself, dealing six damage to all of your opponent's creatures and planeswalkers while your board is safe. At the very least it is an expensive Pyroclasm that gets you a free spell, which is a pretty decent floor. And Bladegriff Prototype seems like the perfect chaotic removal spell the deck was looking for (and can replace the mediocre Heart-Piercer Manticore).

Of all the cards I am sad to see go, it has to be Stolen Strategy. But I've just found the deck just doesn't produce the mana to truly abuse it. Which is a real shame.

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Post by Guardman » 2 years ago




Etali, Primal Chaos

Commander

Rummage/Wheel/Etc.

Chaos/Theft/Copying

Approximate Total Cost:

A few updates from Kaldheim in Tibalt's Trickery which seems perfect for a chaos deck taking the place of on theme, but usually underperforming Throes of Chaos. I also wanted to add an extra land, so I planning to add Tyrite Sanctum, which while a little slow and expensive, seems like a good fit as another way to protect Etali. As such, out goes Moraug, Fury of Akoum. Though I might make a different cut after playing with the updated deck some more (as is the problem when you solely play in person, but can't, but hopefully soon). Burnished Hart is replacing Stromkirk Occultist as with less discard in the deck, and focusing more on getting out Etali ASAP, the ramp is more important than the impulse drawing. In the same vein, I am taking out Sin Prodder for Cursed Mirror. In that same vein, Armillary Sphere is out due to not really ramping, and in goes Whispersilk Cloak for more support.

Finally, I am switching Deflecting Swat back to Bolt Bend. While partially a cost consideration, I realized the more I thought about it, about half the time I used Bolt Bend when Etali wasn't out, but I had another 4+ power creature out. Hence, I think Bolt Bend is actually the better choice in the deck.

One last potential card I am looking at adding is Mindclaw Shaman. It fits the theme of the deck, but seems very hit or miss.



Moving on to something else, I am planning when I have free time/motivation to start working on "Psuedo" Etali decks, where it is basically an Etali deck, but has a different commander to open up to more colors. Not sure if I am going to build any of them yet, but I figure this should at least be a good experiment. First I am planning to work on its Chainer, Nightmare Adept.

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TheAmericanSpirit
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Post by TheAmericanSpirit » 2 years ago

Chef's Kiss ? C'mon, it's perfect.
There's no biscuits and gravy in New Zealand.
(Except when DirkGently makes them!)

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Post by Guardman » 2 years ago

TheAmericanSpirit wrote:
2 years ago
Chef's Kiss ? C'mon, it's perfect.
While I do agree that it is technically perfect for the deck, it has two strikes against it.

1. Costs 1rr compared to r of Bolt Bend
2. It can't hit abilities, which is about half the uses of Bolt Bend.

The other thing is if I do want another redirect effect, Deflecting Swat would be the next logical choice. I do plan to keep an eye out if there is an opening in the deck for more chaos.

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