Prosper, Tome-Bound Decklist

Legend
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Post by Legend » 2 years ago

In recent months, I've been all over the place when it comes to brewing for Commander, trying to find – either in the cards or online – a concept that's both somewhat novel (to me) and thematic, and yet effective enough to maintain a win rate of at least 25% outside of cEDH. I've found some that I really like, and even began assembling a couple, but didn't follow through. That is until I noticed Prosper, Tome Bound. Since this isn't a primer, I won't carry on too, too long except to say that I found Prosper compelling enough to buy the Planar Portal Commander Deck and heavily modify it.

After several months of either being unwell or too busy to play Commander (in addition to drafting), I recently managed to squeeze in a few live games of Commander with various iterations of this deck, and learned a few things. The fact that your opponents can see your impulsed cards seriously gimps your ability to play reactively. They will just play around reactive cards, leaving them stranded in exile forever. A proactive Prosper deck will utilize more of its resources, and therefore be more effective, than a reactive Prosper deck. It's all too easy to impulse away cards with MV greater than 4, so a relatively low mana curve is helpful towards effective impulsing. If there was ever a Commander deck with an engine that backfires, this is the one. Proper sequencing is extremely important for an effective and rewarding gameplay experience. The best card to play from impulse while Prosper is on the battlefield is a land. It's free, doesn't telegraph your plays to your opponents, and still makes a treasure token. Sensei's Divining Top is perfect for setting this up. Bolas's Citadel can do it, too. When you're unable to set up the top of your library, there's tension between trying to save up treasure tokens for a big turn or spending them on an impulsed card just in order not to lose it forever.

Though it isn't reflected in the deck list, I've come to think of three terms to describe this deck's engine:
Impulsing, which allows you to play the card(s) on the same turn.
Prospering, which allows you to play the card(s) until the end of your next turn.
Pilfering, which allows you to play your opponent's card(s).

I was delighted to find that there's a large number of cards that fit Prosper's themes of Impulsing, Prospering, Pilfering, and Treasuring.
List of Treasure Cards
List of Impulse and Pilfer Cards
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There are even several named mechanics that trigger Prosper. But I would describe them as high risk, low reward traps (with exceptions) because when a card with these mechanics is impulsed, the benefits of the mechanics are lost, and the card just sits there in exile as a mediocre effect with a premium cost. I will say that they work fine with some setup, but that isn't always as easy as it seems like it will be. They're great for players that want their deck to provide them with extreme highs and lows. Personally, I'd rather avoid that kind of deck building because I get enough of that without even trying.

Madness. — A card cannot be discarded from exile (or from a library). While Prosper, Tome-Bound is suitable as one of the 99 in a Rakdos madness deck, Anje Falkenrath and Chainer, Nightmare Adept will be far more rewarding at the helm.
Suspend. — A card cannot be suspended from exile (or from your library). Consider instead Jhoira of the Ghitu for a bona fide suspend deck or even Ith, High Arcanist for a suspend theme deck (since it can't be suspended from the command zone).
Foretell. — A card cannot be foretold from exile (or from your library). And the surprise element of foretell, which is the best part, is lost when the card is exiled face up. It's quite disappointing.
Rebound. — Rebound won't trigger from exile (or from your library). Fevered Suspicion on impulse was the heaviest brick I ever lifted in this game.
Adventures. — Adventures can be cast from exile (and from your library). Not much to say here except their usefulness is contingent on one's meta and intentions rather than on impulsing.
Cascade — Cascade does trigger from exile (and from your library). Not much to say here either except their usefulness is also contingent on one's meta and intentions rather than on impulsing.
Cycling — A card cannot be cycled from exile (or from your library). It's worth mentioning cycling because there's two cards with cycling that also impulse, and because there's are some decent cyclers that lose much of their value if impulsed.

When building, keep in mind that "copies" aren't "cards". So cards like Midnight Recovery, Mizzix's Mastery, and Isochron Scepter by which a copy of a card may be cast from exile won't trigger Prosper.

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RAKDOS PROSPER

COMMANDER

BASICS

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Last edited by Legend 2 years ago, edited 19 times in total.
“Comboing in Commander is like dunking on a seven foot hoop.” – Dana Roach

“Making a deck that other people want to play against – that’s Commander.” – Gavin Duggan

"I want my brain to win games, not my cards." – Sheldon Menery

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TheAmericanSpirit
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Post by TheAmericanSpirit » 2 years ago

I dig it, especially the Xenic Poltergeist which I haven't seen in years. The only two cards that stand out as highly replaceable imho are Prying Blade and Goldvein Pick. 1 treasure/turn is pretty weak, and attaching the condition of successful combat seems weaker. I'd trim them for some more high impact spells.
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Legend
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Post by Legend » 2 years ago

REVISION
Approximate Total Cost:

TheAmericanSpirit wrote:
2 years ago
I dig it, especially the Xenic Poltergeist which I haven't seen in years. The only two cards that stand out as highly replaceable imho are Prying Blade and Goldvein Pick. 1 treasure/turn is pretty weak, and attaching the condition of successful combat seems weaker. I'd trim them for some more high impact spells.
Thank you. Very observant. They were relicts from the first iteration, which was overloaded with impulse and treasure cards. Plus a couple of double strikers. But the deck is drifting further and further away from attacking except for the occasional sting of opportunity.
“Comboing in Commander is like dunking on a seven foot hoop.” – Dana Roach

“Making a deck that other people want to play against – that’s Commander.” – Gavin Duggan

"I want my brain to win games, not my cards." – Sheldon Menery

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