Aminatou, the Fateshifter

Mr. Sinister · Post by **Mr. Sinister** » 4 years ago

Inspired by the lists of Darrenhabib I built this Aminatou, the Fateshifter deck a while ago and I'm generally pretty happy with it. However, unlike Darrenhabib, I don't like combo wins so my deck needs to be able to win consistently without them. Luckily I almost exclusively play 30 life 1v1 so I don't need to be able to deal massive amounts of damage. I played a couple of games today and found that I needed some power to pressure my opponent. I might need more ramp or draw to be able to apply some pressure. Here is my current list sorted by cost and name:

Decklist

Approximate Total Cost:

What would you do to improve it? My budget is pretty flexible but I generally avoid really expensive cards (over $30 or so).

Post by **benjameenbear** » 4 years ago

My biggest suggestion for you is to include Teferi, Temporal Archmage. Adding Teferi into the deck allows you to get stupid amounts of value from your mana sources when blinked via Aminatou. It can also go infinite with The Chain Veil, so that's something to consider since you've mentioned you actively want to avoid infinite combos.

I had an Esper Stax list that was pretty good and often just overwhelmed my opponents in Value. You have some of the best Wheel effects in the game available in these colors and the best Wheel payoff cards as well. Notion Thief, Alms Collector, Narset, Parter of Veils, Smothering Tithe, and Consecrated Sphinx are unbelievably good with cards like Windfall, Echo of Eons, Time Reversal, Emergency Powers, and Whispering Madness. I'd recommend giving some of these synergies a whirl if you're feeling a touch sadistic.

Mr. Sinister · Post by **Mr. Sinister** » 4 years ago

benjameenbear wrote: ↑
4 years ago
My biggest suggestion for you is to include Teferi, Temporal Archmage. Adding Teferi into the deck allows you to get stupid amounts of value from your mana sources when blinked via Aminatou. It can also go infinite with The Chain Veil, so that's something to consider since you've mentioned you actively want to avoid infinite combos.

I had an Esper Stax list that was pretty good and often just overwhelmed my opponents in Value. You have some of the best Wheel effects in the game available in these colors and the best Wheel payoff cards as well. Notion Thief, Alms Collector, Narset, Parter of Veils, Smothering Tithe, and Consecrated Sphinx are unbelievably good with cards like Windfall, Echo of Eons, Time Reversal, Emergency Powers, and Whispering Madness. I'd recommend giving some of these synergies a whirl if you're feeling a touch sadistic.

Thank you for the reply! Teferi, Temporal Archmage is a great fit so he's going right in. I'm not opposed to the possibility of infinite combos I just don't wan't to win by comboing out. The Windfall/stax idea is very interesting and kind of fits my current theme. My only concern is that it might be too oppressive - IMO there is a fine line between hampering the opponent and making his game stop. How sadistic do you think it would be?

I also came up with the idea of including a reanimator package in the deck, kind of like a solar flare deck, and use Aminatou for controlling the opponent as I set up. That might also get me the finishers that I need. Would that be a viable solution?

Post by **benjameenbear** » 4 years ago

Oh, it's very cruel. The Windfall + Payoff package will not make you very popular even if it does help you win faster so your opponents aren't sitting around for too long. However, you can be somewhat selective about when/if you fire it off since it does require 2 separate cards to be played nearly simultaneously. It tends to deflate the game and help you play solitaire, which is definitely a kill-joy when not playing a cEDH group. At the very least, I'd recommend Notion Thief and Smothering Tithe because those cards are absolutely wonderful in Commander.

Having a Reanimator strategy is also a great direction to go, particularly since you can blink the Animate Dead variants to get new creatures as you need to. There are some massively powerful targets in Esper, notably Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur, Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, and Vilis, Broker of Blood. And there are plenty of enablers in these colors as well, so this is definitely a strong strategy.

I guess you really just need to drill down what kind of play style you want to go for and then commit to it. In that light, I will say that some of the Wheel + Payoff cards fit into a Reanimator deck quite well. Windfall and Whispering Madness are great ways to dump Reanimator targets into the 'yard and find Reanimation effects.

Mr. Sinister · Post by **Mr. Sinister** » 4 years ago

benjameenbear wrote: ↑
4 years ago
Oh, it's very cruel. The Windfall + Payoff package will not make you very popular even if it does help you win faster so your opponents aren't sitting around for too long. However, you can be somewhat selective about when/if you fire it off since it does require 2 separate cards to be played nearly simultaneously. It tends to deflate the game and help you play solitaire, which is definitely a kill-joy when not playing a cEDH group. At the very least, I'd recommend Notion Thief and Smothering Tithe because those cards are absolutely wonderful in Commander.

Having a Reanimator strategy is also a great direction to go, particularly since you can blink the Animate Dead variants to get new creatures as you need to. There are some massively powerful targets in Esper, notably Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur, Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, and Vilis, Broker of Blood. And there are plenty of enablers in these colors as well, so this is definitely a strong strategy.

I guess you really just need to drill down what kind of play style you want to go for and then commit to it. In that light, I will say that some of the Wheel + Payoff cards fit into a Reanimator deck quite well. Windfall and Whispering Madness are great ways to dump Reanimator targets into the 'yard and find Reanimation effects.

I've decided to take most of your advice and include some wheel-effects and a reanimation package. I found your (former?) Aminatou-list and the most recent list of darrenhabib and borrowed some ideas from them. Here is what I'm thinking af trying out:

Decklist

Commander:

3 Aminatou, the Fateshifter

Creatures:

2 Spellskite

3 Spellseeker

4 Ravenous Chupacabra

4 Solemn Simulacrum

5 Deepglow Skate

6 Duplicant

6 Grave Titan

6 Massacre Wurm

6 Sun Titan

7 Agent of Treachery

7 Emeria Shepherd

8 Avacyn, Angel of Hope

Artifacts:

1 Mana Vault

1 Sol Ring

2 Talisman of Dominance

2 Talisman of Hierarchy

2 Talisman of Progress

4 The Chain Veil

5 Gilded Lotus

6 Coveted Jewel

Sorceries:

1 Ponder

1 Reanimate

2 Demonic Tutor

2 Entreat the Angels

3 Vindicate

3 Windfall

4 Day of Judgment

6 Command the Dreadhorde

7 Terminus

7 Temporal Mastery

Instants:

1 Brainstorm

1 Entomb

1 Mystical Tutor

1 Path to Exile

1 Swords to Plowshares

2 Despark

2 Dovin's Veto

2 Negate

3 Generous Gift

Enchantments:

1 Land Tax

2 Animate Dead

2 Dance of the Dead

3 Act of Authority

3 Disinformation Campaign

3 Necromancy

Planeswalkers:

3 Narset, Parter of Veils

4 Kaya, Ghost Assassin

5 Liliana Vess

5 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria

5 Tezzeret the Seeker

6 Teferi, Temporal Archmage

Lands:

0 Ancient Den

0 Bojuka Bog

0 Darkwater Catacombs

0 Fetid Heath

0 Island x4

0 Plains x4

0 Swamp x3

Approximate Total Cost:

I went with Avacyn, Angel of Hope as my top end reanimation target simply because I already have one to spare. I might switch to Vilis, Broker of Blood or Razaketh, the Foulblooded if Avacyn underperforms.

Post by **benjameenbear** » 4 years ago

That seems decent. I'm curious as to how your deck performs! Agent of Treachery with Aminatou is some fun times!

Mr. Sinister · Post by **Mr. Sinister** » 4 years ago

I don't play as often as I'd like since my Magic-playing friends all live in different cities now (damn you, education and jobs!), but I'll order the new cards, assemble the new build and try it out in september. I'll post an update then. Thanks a lot for all your help, it is much appreciated!

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