Sram - Mono W Aura Party

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ISBPathfinder
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Post by ISBPathfinder » 4 years ago

Porting over some lists. This one has been around for a while now but with Modern Horizons and M2020 it looks like it got a few new toys. I have been pushing a few cards back and forth and am hoping to get more testing soon to square away a few of the new additions.

It is going to take me some time to get use to this seemingly random section sorting for the deck tag. I don't love that.

Sram, Senior Edificer

COMMANDER (1)

Approximate Total Cost:

Last edited by ISBPathfinder 4 years ago, edited 2 times in total.
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ISBPathfinder
Bebopin
Posts: 2147
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him
Location: SD, USA

Post by ISBPathfinder » 4 years ago

So, I haven't really been updating this list much of late in part because there haven't been that many new things to mention for this deck. I did want to menton a few things though of late in some of my testing:

Cost Reduction - Of late, it seems like I haven't been able to pair my cost reducers up with enough draw or the bouncing auras. I have noticed a few times where I might get more than one or I just run out of draw in part because I drew into a cost reducer which doesn't put enough to the board but is also kind of dependent on having good draw or the bounce auras. I think I need to scale them back or drop them for now.

Cavalier of Dawn - In general, I think I am just less pleased to have this guy than like..... most any of the auras that give me control. I was hyped when it came out but I haven't actually seen it do much for me. The dies trigger is hard for me to control and the removal it offers is slow and a little over costed in my opinion.

Theros Review:
  • Archon of Falling Stars - Far too slow and I can't really control it dying well in this list.
  • Archon of Sun's Grace - I don't have Ajani's Chosen in here but I think the body of the archon and the tokens the archon makes are all vastly superior. I probably will add archon to the list and see how it goes.
  • Commanding Presence - I don't really value the token production it has and the stat / first strike are kind of weak for 4 mana. I would prefer most other white keywords over first strike personally.
  • Dawn Evangel - I guess its ok in that it could help recover sram to hand making it cheaper to get him back out. The effect is too small to really justify a spot in the list though as its hard to run a lot of 2 or less drops in commander.
  • Dreadful Apathy - Its an overcosted Pacifism with a bad exile clause to it. Maybe if it cost less, or if the exile part cost less. Its just too much mana all in all.
  • Eidolon of Obstruction - Its cool that its an enchantment hatebear, its just too narrow for commander.
  • Elspeth Conquers Death - So, for what it does essentially on ETB.... I would say its probably a little overcosted. What is really cool though is that this deck can recover enchantments in a number of ways and more or less, all of the things it does seem fairly reasonable. I think its initial removal effect is probably something more in line with like.... 3 mana but it pays out over time fairly reasonably and the interactions with enchantments in this deck could make it really cool.
  • Elspeth, Sun's Nemesis - oh boy, this is not a good elspeth for this format. She seems made for limited / standard.
  • Favored of Iroas - If I wanted a three drop double striker I would run Mirran Crusader.
  • Flicker of Fate - Kind of cool that it can flicker enchantments but ultimately flickering creatures with it drops the auras and I am not really willing to flicker an aura for 2 mana most of the time.
  • Heliod, Sun-Crowned - Hummm getting more access to lifelink could help me out. I don't really feel like I would be naturally triggering a ton of powering up but I do have a few sources of lifelink. I might try him out assuming his price point drops. I will probably test him somewhere but until something happens to his price tag I doubt I will buy a bunch of them.
  • Heliod's Intervention - Oooo its nice to have something to interact with opposing artifact / enchantments. I have the issue that I really don't want to sweep those effects for this deck so thats a nice option. I will need many copies to do testing with.
  • Heliod's Punishment - hmmmm so its a four turn detain. Its interesting from the standpoint that its cheap and quite effective while its active. It is probably worse than Reprobation but the fact that they can't block with it makes it much harder to get a commander out of it by blocking and recasting it. I think, it has some merit to it and perhaps I will pick up a copy to test with.
  • Indomitable Will - its a cute combat trick but I doubt it does enough to get out of limited.
  • Karametra's Blessing - Thats sort of cool. Normally a lot of spot protect effects leave some sort of vulnerability to either being swept or exiled. This one covers more protection in one card than most assuming its enchanted (which isn't a big deal here) and it does it for cheap. I guess I could see this working.
  • Lagonna-Band Storyteller - its a more expensive Auramancer that doesn't even put it to hand. Lets move along here.
  • Sentinel's Eyes - So, I am not really sure on this card. What I do like is that its cheap and the buffs it gives are quite good for the mana. It also has that escape mechanic which later in the game could be REALLY nice for some pickup return value added. I guess my concern is that the value of it immediately is questionable.
  • Shatter the Sky - I guess if you were considering Wrath of God it goes into the same consideration pool. I am not particularly interested in that effect for this deck so I will pass.
  • Transcendent Envoy - Its cool that its a cost reducer with flying and is an enchantment itself. I did just mention how the cost reducers were perhaps not working but I might try this one out in place of some of the others. I just see a higher level of synergy with it for what I want to be doing.
  • Nyx Lotus - I am still not sold that this card is going to be good being that it enters tapped. That said, I am playing mono color with a relatively low artifact cost and what often ends up being a high devotion and I can use large quantities of mana...... so maybe if its relivant this might be ok. That said, I am still not sold that its good. I guess I will have to test it.
  • Shadowspear Its cheap and it gives good buffs. I can always just cantrip it off and its effect seems fairly good.
  • Soul-Guide Lantern I have been wanting some better grave hate than Tormod's for a while. At the bare minimum, it comes in for the crypt and maybe it comes in alongside it. We will see.
I haven't figured out what I am changing yet. I just thought I would give some first thoughts. Lots of cards I think merit some thought but I am not sure what changes I am going through with. For an enchantment set though, I guess I am not blown away but some of the smaller subtle things are still relevant here.
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Post by ISBPathfinder » 4 years ago

So, its been a while since I really did any updates for this but given time I have a few reflections to make on the list as it stands.
  • Cost Reduction - Its effective but I have found that I haven't been able to maintain the level of draw to really make it stand out. Cost reduction is great but overall there weren't many effects that it really stood out for. Conviction is one of the few effects that really stood out for it in that it cut 1/3 of the cost out of looping it repeatedly. That said, too often I couldn't find something to try to abuse off of cost reduction or I just failed to maintain sufficient draw to keep it flowing. I suppose a downside of cutting many of these is that many of them are creatures as well.
  • Lack of Threat - Too often I had a bunch of auras but no damage. I need more effects that add significant threat to my creatures. There is some issue with some of these big stat boost auras in that they don't give evasion but I have a lot of ways to give evasion so we will see how it goes for now.
CHANGES:
  • Hero of IroasShadowspear Trying to cut the cost reducers and while Shadowspear isn't huge by any means, adding more means of gaining life seems important to me for now. The cost to cast and equip given what all it does for me seems like I am willing to test it.
  • Starfield MysticAll That Glitters Cutting cost reducers for now. I want to see how some of these big puch auras go for me. I have been adding a little more lifelink recently and having something to really add some punch should really up that as well.
  • Danitha Capashen, ParagonHeliod's Punishment Cutting cost reducers for now. While Heliod's Punishment is temporary, important things to notice is that it cuts off static abilities as well and you can't just attack or block your way out of it. Lots of other arrest effects either don't hit static abilities of creatures or allow them to attack or block their way into being destroyed. This seems like somewhat of a hard 4 turn lockup to me and given that it cantrips with Sram I think I am in for trying it.
  • Cavalier of DawnEidolon of Countless Battles I was not impressed with Cavalier which is a bit unfortunate. It does have some synergy with artifacts / enchantments but its too much mana for what it does. I am trying to push up my ability to clock people and I like how Eidolon gives some level of robust threat on the board with good pumping.
  • Thalia's LancersArchon of Sun's Grace I just, don't really feel like I need lancers in this deck after playing with it for a bit. It tutors for cool lands but honestly, while having some of those lands is nice I just don't feel its worth paying a bunch of mana for it for this deck.
  • Tormod's CryptSoul-Guide Lantern I think this is an improvement to grave hate. I don't want Relic of Progenitus in here but the fact that the lantern doesn't hit our graveyard seems good.
  • ConvictionEthereal Armor I haven't been impressed with Conviction so far. I think for less mana and getting a bigger buff seems better. The point of Conviction was the bounce effect but I just wasn't really happy with it.
  • Expedition MapHeliod's Intervention I think I haven't been valuing tutoring land as much with this deck. For the most part, I haven't been able to maintain enough draw to need copious amounts of mana. Usually when I do have something to support crazy mana its a flickerform setup but then its hard to really funnel the mana given one land taps for like 8 mana but I can only flicker once per turn. I have wanted more interaction for oppsing artifacts / enchantments but I also don't want to sweep them.
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