Shanid, Sleepers' Scourge

[WizardMN]

Since Baldur's Gate previews have concluded, here are my thoughts on some of the cards from the set that might work in this deck as well as some lands from the previous set I missed.

White Cards

Archivist of Oghma - While this isn't legendary, it is a draw engine which these colors desperately need. At 2 mana it can hopefully come down early enough to trigger a few times and give the deck some much needed gas. I don't think late game it is going to matter as much since a lot of late game searching is for things that end the game. But, it still has some uses even in those cases. I think it ends up being a reliable enough draw option. Hopefully anyway.

Ascend from Avernus - Since the curve on this deck is fairly low, this ends up being a 5 (maybe 6) mana mass reanimation spell. While Rally the Ancestors is a bit better in how well it returns things, it would be exceptionally difficult to get any real use out of it since I can't attack with most things. This spell, on the other hand, allows me to rebuild and then hopefully swing out.

Battle Angels of Tyr - Again, another draw engine but one that also offers life gain and ramp. I should be able to swing at one person at least without the Angels dying (and hopefully getting through with the token copies to the person I need to). It is, again, not a Legendary permanent, but the effect seems like it could be really useful here. There is always the possibility I just can't damage the person I need to for the effect I want. But, even then, it is still three 4/4 fliers going at people.

Cut a Deal - This is a bit interesting in comparison to Secret Rendezvous. It spreads the aditional cards around, which is nice as it doesn't put someone that far ahead of the others (other than us) but it also doesn't scale well since we can sometimes only draw a single card off this. I do like the effect and where things are moving, but I am not sure this is exactly where I want to be for card draw. I might pick one up just in case anyway, but it does look a little worse than Secret Rendezvous (which isn't exactly a great card to begin with). So I will probably pass for now.

Far Traveler - This is Legendary so it triggers Yoshimaru and it also blinks my tapped creatures to hopefully trigger Yoshimaru again. 3 mana is kind of high and it is sort of a slow effect but it could be worth it. I don't think I have a good place for it right now (especially with some other adds I want to try) but it is something I might keep my eye on.

Lae'zel, Vlaakith's Champion - Another Legendary permanent and it works well with Yoshimaru's counters. Again, 3 mana is sort of a lot here but it could do some work to really get Yoshimaru big. I will have to see whether I really want to pursue this though. At least with this, it is a creature so it is a bit better than a Background.

Lulu, Loyal Hollyphant - This would work wonders with Norin The Wary but 4 mana is a little higher than I would like. And without Norin, it is a bit tougher to really ensure it triggers so I think I will pass on this for now.

Noble Heritage - This seems like a pretty good way to increase the number of counters on Yoshimaru and I don't think I care all that much about my opponents getting counters on their creatures since, hopefully, Yoshimaru at least remains larger than their creatures. The way it plays out might not work that great though so I will think on this a bit more.

Your Temple Is Under Attack - This could be a decent card draw spell (and protection spell if needed). Since it is an Instant, it is a bit easier to get more immediate use out of it than the opponent who is also drawing cards so I think it might be worth trying out.

Red Cards

Guild Artisan - Being Legendary is a big help here, but it also ends up being a pretty good way to ramp as needed. It might end up causing some weird issues with having to spread attacks around more than I would like (I really feel this deck wants to just pick people off one by one) but getting the ramp could be important enough to do that.

Tavern Brawler - This helps beef up Yoshimaru and acts as a sort of "draw" engine which could work out pretty nicely. Effectively, it is the half of Urabrask that only affects me but also beefs up either (or both) Commanders. Which, speaking of, since I have two commanders this can "draw" me two cards per turn which is nice as well.

Wild Magic Surge - Another red removal spell is good to have though it isn't quite as good as Chaos Warp. I am not entirely sure where this lies but it seems like a reasonable option. The main issue is that it gets the controller back the same permanent type so there is no way to "whiff" (unless they have no others of that type left) so it is less effective. It also destroys instead of shuffles or exiles which means indestructible stuff is pretty hard to deal with. I might pick a few up but there are probably enough cons with this card that for any deck that isn't mono-red, I think there are better options.

Wyll, Blade of Frontiers - Cheap Legendaries are always worth a second look but this one is pretty much worthless. Even Isamaru at least has 2 power and only costs 1 mana. This is a 2 mana 1 power "nothing" and it is pretty hard to justify it in the deck.

[WizardMN]

This deck got quite a few new toys from the new set so I am going to try the following changes:

6/13/2022

DecklistCMCManaPricesChartsDraw 7

CUTS

1 Devastating Mastery

1 Mangara, the Diplomat

1 Purphoros, God of the Forge

1 Thalia, Heretic Cathar

1 Extraction Specialist

1 Ashling the Pilgrim

ADDS

1 Ascend from Avernus

1 Battle Angels of Tyr

1 Noble Heritage

1 Your Temple Is Under Attack

1 Guild Artisan

1 Farewell

Approximate Total Cost:

While this deck is still trying to find its feet and what it wants to be, I found it tough to figure out cuts to try new cards. As such, I decided that some new cards just didn't get to be added. Tavern Brawler and Archivist of Oghma in particular just didn't make the cut this time around. And even some of the cards I ended up cutting might be a little aggressive.

Mangara is getting cut as I am adding a couple cards that might be more consistent regarding card draw. Purphoros is nice to have, especially with Norin, but it doesn't quite fit the theme of the deck nor the direction I am trying to take it. Slow, progressive damage is less appealing than things that can be more explosive.

Thalia is another card that is good and probably the one I am most on the fence about. Urabrask handles the same thing regarding getting my opponents' creature to enter tapped but this is a bit cheaper. But I need to make some extra room so she is cut.

Extraction Specialist isn't Legendary and can only get so many cards so I figured it isn't the worst to cut. And Ashling doesn't tend to get much use as I am trying to spend my mana to commit to the board, not grow Ashling nor try to wrath the board with it.

[ISBPathfinder]

Any thoughts towards running some of the background enchantments just as anthem things. They give buffs to both of your commanders and I keep eyeballing the idea of sliding some of them into some partner concepts. I have been spinning through the partners for a while debating some background anthem build lol.

[WizardMN]

The backgrounds I added above, plus Tavern Brawler, were the main ones that seemed good enough to me to run. I fit the two in the deck but couldn't find room for Tavern Brawler for now. I do like them and I think Partners make their value go up a bit. I will see how they end up playing but they do seem good in this deck.

I didn't like any of the rest of them (except Far Traveler maybe). I could probably be convinced on Veteran Soldier possible but not many others seemed like what I wanted to try out.

[ISBPathfinder]

Hummm I was looking at your decklist rather than reading the most recent posts so sorry for the confusion. I still don't see them reflected in your decklist on the OP but I do see them in the changelog.

[WizardMN]

Fair enough. I don't always get the list in the OP updated for every Change. I probably should but it ends up being a hassle so I don't.

[WizardMN]

I don't really have any changes to make, but I do want to call out that MTGO doesn't have 4 of the newest cards I wanted to add:

Battle Angels of Tyr
Guild Artisan
Noble Heritage
Ascend from Avernus

This becomes a bit problematic as I really think these cards end up being good additions to the deck. So, rather than simply cutting these from the deck, I am going to keep them in paper and replace them online. Online will have the following replacements:

Jaxis, the Troublemaker
Giada, Font of Hope
Tome of Legends
Ashling the Pilgrim

Basically, I am just slotting in cheap Legendaries and an extra draw effect. I don't like it but I also don't want to go too deep into actual replacements at this time so this will have to do.

[WizardMN]

With the full spoiler of Dominaria United, here are my thoughts on some of the cards that might make sense in this deck:

White Cards

Love Song of Night and Day - Another white draw spell but one that also allows for building up Yoshimaru and another creature (even if it is just the Bird it creates). And, in a pinch, it can be used to get right to the third Chapter if I really need a counter on a couple things. I am not entirely sure it makes the cut as I do like the draw being Instant timing, but I might think on it over anything I still have for card draw that is a Sorcery.

Serra Paragaon - Because this deck is lower to the ground, this effect actually seems like it can do some real work in this deck. Being able to cast things from the yard each turn can help recover from various removal. I think I like this better than some of the other curve-toppers in the deck so I may give this a try over something else at some point.

Red Cards

Jaya, Fiery Negotiator - Not totally sure on her but 4 mana isn't awful and it does offer a repeatable form of card "draw" which isn't bad. And even the token and removal options can be useful. I will think on her a bit more and determine if she makes more sense than some other cards around that same cost.

Multicolor Cards

Baird, Argivian Recruiter - This should nearly always create a token and a 2 mana Legendary creature seems like a perfect fit for this deck. I will definitely try to find a spot for this

Tori D'Avenant, Fury Rider - This seems like a pretty good curve-topper for this deck. I am not sure what I would cut but I do like the ability even though it is a 4 mana card. I am not entirely sold on it but I think I might give it a try if I can find the room for it.

Colorless and Land Cards

Weatherlight Compleated - 2 mana legendary permanents definitely get a second look for this deck. The main issue is that I am not sure I can get enough things to die to get it to be a creature but even the ability to Scry might not be the worst. I can't see getting to 7 counters often enough to draw but maybe? Even without that, Scrying can be helpful on its own though. I think the ceiling is high enough but the floor might be a little too low, and I think the floor is closer to where this will normally be.

Plaza of Heroes - While not everything in this deck is Legendary, a lot of them are so this land will almost always produce usable colored mana. There is almost no downside to this land in this deck so I will definitely be adding it.

[WizardMN]

So, the new Commander decks introduce some interesting possibilities:

Shanid, Sleepers' Scourge
Dihada, Binder of Wills

These obviously add in Black to the deck but leaves the deck with the "Legendaries Matters" theme intact. Obviously, this potentially makes the deck a bit slower but would then likely move it into a true legendaries matters list more than the *cheap* legendaries matters it currently is. That is, a lot of choices made so far for the deck are mostly predicated on the idea that the spells are cheap in order to grow Yoshimaru as quickly as possible but if Yoshimaru isn't the Commander anymore, I can trim some of the lesser useful Legendaries (like Isamaru, Hound of Konda, Hope of Ghirapur, The Ozolith, Zurgo Bellstriker, Ashling the Pilgrim and others) and replace them with things that end up being larger impact or even just more fun.

I am not entirely sure I want to move in this direction (though I do like the idea of it). However, it definitely seems like it could be fun and solve a few issues with the deck as it is. I do admit that part of the reason for building this deck the way I have is because I wanted something aggressive but every time I look at it or play it, I just realize more and more that I am simply not a true aggro player. So maybe one of these (likely Shanid) ends up getting me a deck that better suits my style. Perhaps I will think on it more and make a decision before the next set drops.

[WizardMN]

After a quick search, I think there are a few options for additional Legendaries that can be added. I have around 20 cards I think make sense to cut and here are a few cards that could make sense to add in:

• Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• Phyrexian Tower
• Shizo, Death's Storehouse
• Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
• Urborg
• Volrath's Stronghold
• Tomb of Urami
• Cultist of the Absolute
• Wernog, Rider's Chaplain
• Tymna the Weaver
• Tymaret, Chosen from Death
• Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger
• Kiku, Night's Flower
• Jadar, Ghoulcaller of Nephalia
• Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim
• Breena, the Demagogue
• Drana, Liberator of Malakir
• Fain, the Broker
• Kambal, Consul of Allocation
• Kaya, Orzhov Usurper
• Kunoros, Hound of Athreos
• Ob Nixilis, the Adversary

I am still not sure where I want to go here, but adding black gives some nice additions and these cards are the cheaper legendaries. There are a few more expensive legendaries (Kokusho, the Evening Star and Junji, the Midnight Sky) that I think I want to have but these would be a good start expanding into Black.

[capitacommunist]

One thing you could also consider is having Vial Smasher as a partner, allowing you to have Mardu colors and include a broader swath of (stronger) legendaries whilst keeping the Yoshimaru/aggressive nature of the deck intact.

[WizardMN]

I had contemplated that originally and it wouldn't be the worst to revisit that idea. The main reason I didn't go for it is because I am not entirely sure I like her that much in general. Also, black didn't add much to the pool of cheap/small Legendaries which is more what Yoshimaru wants. There are now a few good backgrounds in addition to a couple cheap legendary creatures, and I have expanded the deck beyond *just* being fast while also trying to keep it aggressive. So, the decision to add black now might be more about trying to round out the deck a bit better with, as you said, stronger legendaries.

However, the main reason I am looking at moving away from Yoshimaru as the commander is because I feel like Shanid (or maybe Dihada) at the helm fits better into my preferred playstyle. Yoshimaru really wants to be aggressive and wants to go hard, so to speak. Whereas Shanid would allow me to play a bit slower, more methodical, and more controlling (to an extent).

I will certainly look at Vial Smasher again but I think Shanid does more than just add another color, which I think is all Vial Smasher does. Shanid allows me to keep a core tenet of the deck intact (namely, "play a lot of Legendaries") but allows the deck to play a bit differently which, ultimately, ends up being more fun for me.

[WizardMN]

With the release of the full Brother's War set, I have gone through to determine what cards might be good for this deck. Or, in some cases, which ones are worthy of discussion even if I may not add them:

White Cards

Loran of the Third Path - Another Legendary creature with a relevant ability (in her ETB) is already welcome, but adding in some draw is even better. Even if I (likely) move the deck into another color, Loran is still probably a good addition just based on her ETB.

Myrel, Shield of Argive - Another good Legendary that can help with some board presence and a bit of protection. I believe she ends up making the cut easily if I leave the deck as Boros but might have a bit higher bar to reach to fit into a Mardu deck. Still might be good enough for that though.

Soul Partition - Being unconditional removal is huge but I think if I add black, there are other, better, options available that permanently remove things. If I don't add black, this could be a serious contender to add in.

Red Cards

Feldon, Ronom Excavator - Another cheap Legendary is good to see and one that allows for some card advanatage is always good too. He does only let me play one card each trigger and he is likely to die with the first thing that damages him, but he could still do decent work here.

Multicolor Cards

Mishra, Claimed by Gix - Man, I really like this card but I am not sure I have enough room (if I add black obviously) to include both Mishra and the Dragon. And without the Dragon, Mishra isn't good enough here. But, with that being said, this is the first Rakdos general in a long while that I would be excited about building a deck around. So I might revisit him as a way to build a brand new deck.

[WizardMN]

I am going to officially move into the direction of adding another color. While I wanted to expand my decks while also adding in a deck that operates on an axis I don't typically play (aggro), I just found that it is not something I enjoy in a more general sense. It isn't something I tend to jump to when choosing a deck to play. And trying to play the deck leads to somewhat bad feels during the games as I just don't feel as comfortable playing as aggressive as the deck really wants.

So, changing things to add in Black and change the commander leads to letting the deck run on a slightly different axis. That is, I can still keep the Legendary Matters aspect of the deck, but I can play a little slower and more focused rather than just spitting out my hand and hoping for the best.

With this in mind, here is my first iteration of the deck. Once I get it more finalized, I will update the first post with the decklist and update the thread title. But for now, this post serves as an indicator for changing the direction of the deck. Note that I am not going to go into a ton of detail on the cards being cut nor the cards being added. This sort of sweeping change really doesn't benefit from a card by card breakdown on either side. And the additions aren't set in stone quite yet either. This is basically back to a rough draft of the new deck. Most likely, as I look at it more and really pay attention to the way the deck plays, other changes will be made.

Shanid, Sleepers' Scourge

DecklistCMCManaPricesChartsDraw 7

General (1)

1 Shanid, Sleepers' Scourge

Lands (40)

1 Arid Mesa

1 Badlands

1 Blood Crypt

1 Bloodstained Mire

1 Command Tower

1 Eiganjo Castle

1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire

1 Fabled Passage

1 Flagstones of Trokair

1 Godless Shrine

1 Hammerheim

1 Kor Haven

1 Marsh Flats

1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea

1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx

1 Phyrexian Tower

1 Plateau

1 Prismatic Vista

1 Sacred Foundry

1 Savai Triome

1 Scrubland

1 Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep

1 Shizo, Death's Storehouse

3 Snow-Covered Mountain

3 Snow-Covered Plains

3 Snow-Covered Swamp

1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance

1 Spectator Seating

1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire

1 Tomb of Urami

1 Urborg

1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

1 Volrath's Stronghold

1 War Room

Creatures (34)

1 Ao, the Dawn Sky

1 Brimaz, King of Oreskos

1 Drana, Liberator of Malakir

1 Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim

1 Fain, the Broker

1 God-Eternal Oketra

1 Goldspan Dragon

1 Imperial Recruiter

1 Jadar, Ghoulcaller of Nephalia

1 Junji, the Midnight Sky

1 Kambal, Consul of Allocation

1 Kari Zev, Skyship Raider

1 Karmic Guide

1 Kiku, Night's Flower

1 Kokusho, the Evening Star

1 Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger

1 Kunoros, Hound of Athreos

1 Kytheon, Hero of Akros

1 Laelia, the Blade Reforged

1 Lyra Dawnbringer

1 Magda, Brazen Outlaw

1 Norin the Wary

1 Purphoros, God of the Forge

1 Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer

1 Recruiter of the Guard

1 Serra Ascendant

1 Sigrid, God-Favored

1 Sun Titan

1 Tymaret, Chosen from Death

1 Tymna the Weaver

1 Urabrask the Hidden

1 Urabrask, Heretic Praetor

1 Welcoming Vampire

1 Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful

Planeswalkers (4)

1 Dihada, Binder of Wills

1 Kaya, Orzhov Usurper

1 Nahiri, the Harbinger

1 Ob Nixilis, the Adversary

Artifacts (3)

1 Mox Amber

1 Shadowspear

1 Skullclamp

Enchantments (1)

1 The Restoration of Eiganjo

Instants (10)

1 Chaos Warp

1 Deflecting Swat

1 Fire Prophecy

1 Flawless Maneuver

1 Oblation

1 Path to Exile

1 Plumb the Forbidden

1 Swords to Plowshares

1 Teferi's Protection

1 Your Temple Is Under Attack

Sorceries (7)

1 Blasphemous Act

1 Devastating Mastery

1 Jeska's Will

1 Light Up the Stage

1 Painful Truths

1 Search for Glory

1 Winds of Abandon

Approximate Total Cost:

[pokken]

How reliably do you think this build makes bwr on turn 4?

My first glance thought is not very.

[WizardMN]

From initial testing it looks like it is under 50% of the time. Which is a concern. As with most of my decks though, I tend to try to get the "meat" of the deck figured out and then tweak the mana base to suit it afterwards. And I am still goldfishing to figure out that meat. I didn't really put a large focus on the mana base other than "lets add in the other duals, shocks, and fetches and call it a day"

Speaking of working on the meat of the deck: Skullclamp is likely not a good card here and was simply something I hadn't cut earlier. Kunoros might not be the greatest, especially if I decide to add in Lurrus of the Dream-Den (which I should probably do). I am still working through the rest of the deck. As it exists now, I don't think I have nearly enough removal which is something I need to figure out. I am excited about a lot of the cards I do have included so I want to make sure how some function before working too much towards cutting even more.

[pokken]

From initial testing it looks like it is under 50% of the time. Which is a concern. As with most of my decks though, I tend to try to get the "meat" of the deck figured out and then tweak the mana base to suit it afterwards. And I am still goldfishing to figure out that meat. I didn't really put a large focus on the mana base other than "lets add in the other duals, shocks, and fetches and call it a day"

Speaking of working on the meat of the deck: Skullclamp is likely not a good card here and was simply something I hadn't cut earlier. Kunoros might not be the greatest, especially if I decide to add in Lurrus of the Dream-Den (which I should probably do). I am still working through the rest of the deck. As it exists now, I don't think I have nearly enough removal which is something I need to figure out. I am excited about a lot of the cards I do have included so I want to make sure how some function before working too much towards cutting even more.

A 3 color deck without an off-color fetchland manabase and without mana rocks is always going to be hard, but without rainbow lands and with a bunch of single-color-tappers it gets extra hard. Bottom line, I think you need some more early turn card draw to bridge you to your commander. My first glance read is you've got enough white to cast Weathered Wayfarer and Tithe and wayfarer is an honorary legendary (since it can just chain tutor legendary lands). You can always kick the can down the road but I think you're going to lose a lot of games to mana screw on the road you're on and that'll harm your ability to judge the deck.

Oh, an additional thought re: mana
I know you're not a giant fan of karoos. However, the ravnica karoos are realy good for replaying your legendary lands for card draw later with your general. Might be worth thinking about. I'd just jam all three myself. Great fixing, and synergistic.

re: Meat of the deck
Yeah I don't think Skullclamp is amazing here. I think this is more of a Cloudstone Curio / bounce dudes to hand type deck. You probably do need some engines.

Feldon of the Third Path and some discard outlets feels like a pretty fun thing to do in here, maybe even just a little smoothless from Faithless Looting would be helpful.

There's enough of a little treasure subtheme you might get some mileage out of Grim Hireling / Captain Lannery Storm type dudes to make your ramp? In fact, I suspect you might be able to get some critical mass of saboteur ramp if you poke around at it.

re: Removal
I think you might want a couple more piece, but maybe it's more of a Umezawa's Jitte situation where you want to try to handle it with dudes and legendary stuff?

Drakuseth, Maw of Flames was always one of my absolute favorite removal pieces.

[WizardMN]

I think this is one deck where I can certainly justify Wayfarer in the list. Tithe was already one I was thinking of so that is an easy include as well.

Karoos still aren't where I want to be but the reasoning behind them is solid. I may rethink them later on. My main issue is that I already need to go down on some Legendary lands just due to the fact that I really need the fixing to work first. So duals come first. I still have 13 Legendary lands in the list which I might have to further tweak depending on the fixing. But it might come out that one of the cycles could be replaced with karoos. I will have to see what I want to do. I know I have at least one cycle you don't seem to be the biggest fan of

I am still working out what I want for engines but maybe Curio is an option. Feldon looks like a reasonable option so I will throw him back in. I don't have much else discarding me cards though so I am not sure how much I want to lean in on things like Faithless Looting. I will throw that in over Light up the Stage though just to work with Feldon and Lurrus a bit more.

The treasures are more ancillary right now but I can keep them in mind also. I won't do anything with them now but I might later.

Jitte is a fine option and I do like Drakuseth as a curve topper anyway so I will try both of them.

[WizardMN]

Finally decided to get the title of the thread updated as well as the current decklist added to the first post. I am liking the list so far, though I have not played any actual games yet so the list is by no means finalized. I am still thinking on adding Alesha, Who Smiles at Death and Loran of the Third Path. Alesha offers more reanimation and hits more that Lurrus does. And Loran offers some utility and card draw (though I don't think I should ever have to activate it).

[WizardMN]

With the full set spoiled for Phyrexia, All is One, here are some of the cards I am looking at.

White Cards

Skrelv, Defector Mite - Another cheap Legendary is always welcome and one that acts as a pseudo-Mother of Runes is even more welcome. It can help get in some poison counters as well since the target can't be blocked though I would never expect to actually get to 10. The "can't be blocked" text is likely just good enough on its own to get in big damage which can be reasonable.

Black Cards

Vraan, Executioner Thane - Another cheap Legendary although not one that is quite as useful as Skrelv. I think the incidental drain/life gain is relevant but probably not super important. I might still try him as a way to keep the curve though and trigger Shanid easily.

[WizardMN]

Here are my thoughts regarding March of the Machine, March of the Machine: Commander, and March of the Machine: Aftermath. I am also potentially including cards from Warhammer 40k Commander since I got behind a little:

White Cards

Excise the Imperfect - An instant timing answer to basically anything. The main issue is that I am not sure on the power/downside of providing an Incubate token. I think in most cases I would probably rather deal with a 4/4, 5/5, 6/6, or whatever token than I would with whatever it is I am trying to remove. The main downside is simply that if it is stopping one from dying to combat damage, the token probably ends up being enough to deal the killing blow next year anyway. But that is a fairly small issue considering all the powerful permanents that exist out there.

Black Cards

Invasion of Fiora - A wrath that I can use to ensure most of my stuff sticks around is pretty good. Granted, it is possible the most important things everyone else has that I want to get rid of is Legendary but hopefully I end up in a better situation either way. I think this ends up being a pretty good addition to the deck. And the backside is pretty good on her own as well.

Sheoldred - This can help control the board and is another Legendary to fill out the ranks. I am not sure how likely it is to actually work, but her front side is good and her back side can be game winning if I can get to it. I will have to revisit some things to see if I can find room, but I would like to.

Red Cards

Arni Metalbrow - This might not be too bad. Its own stats are pretty good and the ability to cheat things in is nice as well. It is especially interesting that it can trigger for itself. Granted it takes a bit of mana but being able to put in a few creatures at once for 4 or 6 mana could be useful. I might try it somewhere to see if it can sort of help build a board by itself.

Plargg and Nassari - A sort of curve topper that can also tap into the power of other's decks. The ceiling is quite high though the floor is also pretty low. But it can be another good card to really turn things around (assuming it survives).

Multicolor Cards

Djeru and Hazoret - This seems like a no-brainer. A free legendary each time it attacks could do well to work to close out the game. I am not sure how much I care about the first ability as I really don't want to be down to that few cards, but the trigger looks awesome. I need to fine tune this deck a bit more and find a way to fit this into it.

Kill! Maim! Burn! - I always like modal spells due to their flexibility. I think this one, even with the cost, ends up being a pretty good option to get rid of some important permanents. There are likely better options overall but being an Instant can make things interesting. I am not sure I have a good spot for it, but maybe.

Kroxa and Kunoros - This just ends up being a big beater but being able to reanimate things (hopefully without exiling too many other cards I care about) puts it into a very good spot. It is expensive so I will need to see if there is anything else on the top end of the curve I want to get rid of, but I think I want to find room for this.

The Kenriths' Royal Funeral - This seems like a pretty obvious include in this deck. It does suck to exile things from the yard that I might want to reanimate later but it helps keep my hand full and makes things cost less later on. I think this is one that I will try to fit in somewhere.

[WizardMN]

Here are a few changes I am looking to try out:

5/19/2023

DecklistCMCManaPricesChartsDraw 7

CUTS

1 Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim

1 Kambal, Consul of Allocation

1 Kaya, Orzhov Usurper

1 Urza's Ruinous Blast

ADDS

1 Plargg and Nassari

1 Djeru and Hazoret

1 Kroxa and Kunoros

1 The Kenriths' Royal Funeral

Approximate Total Cost:

This was a bit difficult to make cuts and I couldn't add everything I wanted. I cut Urza's Ruinous Blast because I found that it was not doing enough since I really want to get rid of Legendary creatures as well. I wanted to add Invasion of Fiora // Marchesa, Resolute Monarch but I couldn't find the room so I am going to go without it for now as I test things out a bit more. Kaya, Kambal, and Elas just seemed like the "worst" options in the deck. I like Kaya due to getting rid of early ramp (Sol Ring and Mana Crypt) but the other two seemed low impact enough to just get rid of them.

The others I talked about above. Kroxa and the Funeral are at odds with one another (and Kroxa is sort of working agaist itself anyway) but I wanted to try it out to see what it might do.

[WizardMN]

I played this deck tonight against The Ur-Dragon, Roon of the Hidden Realm, and Traxos, Scourge of Kroog.

Start of Summary

I started the game with 3 lands and a Tithe. I kept the hand because I thought one of my lands was a fetch land but it was Kor Haven so I had 3 lands but could produce only colorless mana. That was a pretty big mistake to start. I did have Plaza of Harmony which helped eventually.

I did finally draw colored mana and Tithe came through to get me much needed lands. I was able to get Shanid down and he kept my hand plenty full. To the point that I ended up discarding Night's Whisper and Painful Truths when I had too many cards in hand. I was slowly able to build up a board and was able to keep ahead of most of the others.

During this, Roon wasn't doing a lot as they sort of only had ramp and not much else. Traxos was doing well but my removal and Kor Haven kept them off my back. Eventually, Roon died and it was just us three. I tried to end the game by attacking The Ur-Dragon but didn't quite have enough. I got them down to 5. Importantly I attacked with my only flyer so I had no blockers for the Dragons.

Kor Haven was my Ace in the hole but then they cast Rain of Thorns. However, they were a newer player so they were sort of just casting it to cast it. They didn't have any Artifacts or Enchantments to target and they chose to target one of Traxos's lands. I had to tell them that Kor Haven was the right target so they went with that.

Then they attacked me with Ur-Dragon and Dragonlord Atarka (both were already on the field so it was obvious what would happen) and dealt 32 damage to me. Which was exactly lethal.

Next turn they took out Traxos and won the game.

End of Summary

All in all, the deck performed very well for being the first real game with it. I didn't have many takeaways but perhaps I do have more additional card draw than I need. I am worried though that if Shanid actually gets answered then I am really down card draw. And it took me a while to get my land drops and especially get the colored mana I needed. I might need to look at some of the lands that only produce colorless mana to see if I need to cut that down a bit and focus mostly on Legendary spells to trigger Shanid.

[kraus911]

I appreciate your thread as I'm on a similar journey with what has been a Kelsien, the Plague deck for a couple of years. The main problem is that Kelsien is seen as a major threat from the CZ and so I've added other experience counters legends to the deck to give it other ways to up the count. All of a sudden I have 20 legendary creatures and I'm realizing it's turned into a legends matters deck, maybe I should switch to Shanid, Sleeper's Scourge or Dihada, Binder of Wills.

I tried that, added some more legendary cards, and all of a sudden the deck feels directionless. With Shanid or Dihada in the CZ I have card advantage, but no clear pattern of play unless I work hard to tutor one of the experience counter cards.

I think Shanid is the way to go, but I need to shift the strategy of the deck to something... something. I guess attacking. Anyway, keep up the updates and I'll let post a link to my decklist when I get something stable.

[yeti1069]

You're running a legendary-themed deck without Primevals' Glorious Rebirth?

How does this deck play out? Is it basically just combat with some minor synergies between some of the creatures, and value from Shanid?