Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle | Eggs, Cheerios & Weenies

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Toshi
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Post by Toshi » 4 years ago

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Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle - Eggs, Cheerios & Weenies
Last Deck Update: 05.03.23 | Avg. CMC: 1,86

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"Birds know no borders! Why, then, should we?" - General Varchild


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Introduction & Deck Inspiration
Toshi
Toshi in his Prime(r)
I'm a german 1988 born MTG fan and would consider myself a Johnny/Melvin type player. My MTG addiction started with the "Ivory Doom" Theme Deck of Onslaught in late 2002, which my twin brother and I picked up on a whim. After a few casual years of kitchen table MTG playing mostly against my close friends and brother, I moved all the way across the country and stopped playing from shortly after Eventide got released in 2008 until late 2012.
By then a friend and I realized we both played MTG, when we were younger, so we got at it again. Coincidently the first group of MTG players we ran into were EDH players, a format we didn't even know existed. We played a few rounds with them and their decks and instantly fell in love with it. A few years later you found me here.

RIP misogynistic Sean Connery
When Gonti, Lord of Luxury was released in late 2016, I instantly built him and by pure coincidence completed a full cycle of mono decks, with the other entries being Talrand, Sky Summoner, Zada, Hedron Grinder, Ezuri, Renegade Leader - and at the time Odric, Master Tactician.
Said Odric, Master Tactician was one of my very first builds and notoriously slow. On top of that "I can choose how you block, so you're aren't, hurr durr" gets stale very fast, believe me. I was in search of an interesting replacement for a while, but back then technically unique options were rare.
During spoiler season of Dominaria, I was initially considering to build Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain, since I've been looking for an Eggs (Artifacts you loop over and over for certain effects) and Cheerios (Cards with mana cost) commander forever already.
Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy a proxied test version at all, as winning turns were lengthy and uninspiring.

One of my friends, who had the "pleasure" of sitting through the Jhoira playtests pointed out that Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle could be the more interesting build. Up until then, I hadn't realized it would be in the upcoming set.
Thankfully, that friend was right and it was mere days around the release that I had my initial list play-ready. To this day I love tweaking this abstrusity of a deck concept - and as a result, you found this thread.

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Basic Concept
CommanderRecursion CreatureSac Outlet/Win ConCheerio
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Alright, let's give you an overall idea of what this commander is up to.

Essentially, you're running a set of creatures you like having on the board (e.g. Grand Abolisher), entering the board (e.g. Recruiter of the Guard) or as in the example above - Myr Retriever - dying for your needs.
Obviously, you would want most, if not all, creatures in your deck to have a maximum CMC of 3. Even better if they are legendary or artifact creatures.
To reanimate said creatures with our commander and ultimately abuse etb/die triggers, we require a sac outlet first, to have creatures go to the graveyard repeatedly.
For this example I chose Altar of Dementia, because it doubles as a win con and possible mill engine in case we aren't there just yet.
Now, the remaining piece has to be historic. In the vast majority of cases that'll mean artifact, but there are a few legendary cards like Samwise the Stouthearted or even sagas such as Urza's Saga that would work, too. These trigger the commander and reanimate a creature from your graveyard. Note that this is a cast trigger, so the targeted creature will return to the board before your spell resolves.

In our example above, we assembled a full combo. With all of them on the board, we start by sacrificing Memnite first - milling an opponent. Then we're sacrificing Myr Retriever next, which will trigger as it dies on top of milling as well. With its trigger, we can return Memnite to our hand. Now we can re-cast Memnite, which will trigger Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle and return Myr Retriever to the board.
Now we're back to square one and can start milling our opponents until their libraries are empty. Once they have to draw a card, they lose.

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Commander Analysis
Pros
+ Each hand is a pleasant puzzle. You can go from being dead in the water to winning within a single card drawn.
+ You're playing a strong mono white deck. How seldom can you say that!?
+ Unless you're playing in a set playgroup, opponents will underestimate you. Likely just once, but it's usually glorious to watch their reaction, when you go off.
+ This deck can change the way you're looking at our game. Like Zada, Hedron Grinder this commander changed the way I evaluate cards - especially spoilers.
+ You won't see many cards included anywhere else. If you're bored out of your mind by so called staples, this a fresh breeze.

Cons
- This deck is very commander reliant. If you're looking for something that can withstand being killed over and over - this isn't it.
- There are only few viable and expensive tutors you can run. You either splash the cash or will have to tweak the deck towards more draw instead.
- Mono color means a small card pool. There are only few different approaches to adapt.
- Results may vary. I actually love and embrace this aspect, but you gotta be realistic what you're getting yourself into.
- You really have to know what you're doing. Most lines of play are quirky, all with different tweaks to them. There's a (rewarding) learning curve, for sure.

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Alternate Commanders
Other Storm, Combo and Weenie Commanders
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These are some of the most similar combo/storm commanders
Aiming at maximum potential, these three come to mind. They make use of cheerios and eggs, all arguably in better color identities. While Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain and Urza, Lord High Artificer can win on the spot a lot of times, Sai, Master Thopterist can require some lenghty, convoluted turns to go off and took a big hit with the banning of Paradox Engine.

As a proponent of unusual decks, i'm not too excited about any of them, especially since it could take a while sitting across the table, while they combo off. Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle is more straight forward, when things fall into place. Assemble and demonstrate a loop, then shuffle up if no one interacts with it.

If you're interested in Urza, Lord High Artificer nonetheless, check out @Theorics Primer.

If you'd like to embrace weenie/low curve strategies, you may play one of these.
On the Weenie side of things these three could spark your interest.
Alesha, Who Smiles at Death is known to be a modular dream come true. From STAX to Tribal lists and combos, you can build her just the way you want.

If you enjoy - somewhat - randomized lines of play, but don't necessarily feel entertained by degenerate ones like Urza, Lord High Artificer, you should check out the great Primer for Grenzo, Dungeon Warden by @snowfox54119!

I haven't faced a standalone Lurrus of the Dream-Den deck yet, but from what i've seen from Companion list there are intriguing possibilities. The fact that the included cards don't nevessarily have to be creatures make for a nice baby Muldrotha, the Gravetide impression.

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Deck History
Creature Durdle, you say? Heck yes, I love Creature Durdle!
The initial list I came up with came close to 40 creatures of varied strength, most of which came from shoe boxes on the floor of my closet. There was Mother of Runes|EMA, as well as there was Tireless Tribe and Wispmare. In this shape and form the deck didn't really "force" creatures into my graveyard much, it required actual combat and or sweepers to do so.

Most commander triggers I planned on having were of artifact creatures. Ornithopter|AER was already in the deck, as were Patchwork Gnomes|ODY then.

It was just an unfocused mess. But it was fun and an entertaining mess!
Games used to take forever, as my board was unwilling to stay dead and my win cons were questionable at best

In mono white, you gotta play with the cards you've been given.
Speaking of win cons, those were some of the first to get adjusted. I included Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit, which is tiring to maneuver, I did run Mirror Entity and did flood the board with Monastery Mentor - yet another card that comes with too much tracking...

Altar of the Brood, Blasting Station and Grinding Station still were nowhere in sight, but the first free sac outlets found their way into the deck with Ashnod's Altar, Fanatical Devotion, Martyr's Cause and Spawning Pit. The former did create infinite mana at times, but overall it still took combat damage in any form to win the game for me.

But the one card I had an unhealthy, toxic relationship with was Charge Across the Araba!
The times I won with it were glorious and memorable, but jesus, you didn't want to run into a Fog effect with it.
Luckily, the way the card is worded you only have to return lands on resolve, otherwise counterspells would've drained my will to live.

There are days when I miss that version of the deck a bit - but I know my friends never do.

Once i've included these, things have gotten real messy.
I've only played and updated the deck occasionally until things changed with Covid hitting early 2020.

Not being able to play regularily anymore, my playgroup met on Discord to talk health of our meta, readjusting this and that, for whenever things would get closer to normal again. :woozy:

One of the conclusions was, that we wanted to move on from the idea of universally working pods. There was just no way Edric, Spymaster of Trest and Yargle, Glutton of Urborg could coexist in the same pod and things could go well, even with extensive table politics.

Most us have beyond 10 decks, so playing in tier-limited pods from then on only came with the struggle of assigning our lists to them.
With the upper tiers getting more leeway inside their own pods, I decided to overhaul this deck to be able to take it up with what we consider 9/10 rated decks - with 10/10 being fully proxed no limit decks.

As a result of these decisions I streamlined the deck, included more combo win cons, cutthroat removal and excluded cards that cared about summoning sickness and combat.
Things have gone very well since then and I love the shape the deck is in right now.

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Current Decklist
Current Decklist by Card Type and Converted Mana Cost

Sorceries (1)

Approximate Total Cost:


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Budget Considerations
As of 26.07.23 these were the above $10 cards in the deck and my take on them:

$10 Grinding Station - With this being a win con at only 2 mana, i'd advice you to pick it up.
$20 Lotus Petal - The Cheerios certainly make the deck go off. Unfortunately this costs as much as the rest combined...
$20 Sensei's Divining Top - I wouldn't call it an essential by any means. But it is a great support card nonetheless!
$20 Phyrexian Altar - When it comes to infinite output, infinite mana is certainly weaker than draw, damage or mill. So it's a bummer this costs this much. Still an integral piece though.
$15 Drannith Magistrate - A great hate piece. But they aren't necessary or anything.
$20 Grand Abolisher - The best combo protection available. I don't think it grants its price. I'd wait for a meaningful reprint instead.
$25 Recruiter of the Guard - It's absurd how much better the deck works once you get the tutors - especially the recurrable ones.
$30 Ranger-Captain of Eos - Even better than the one above, as it can soft lock opponents. Get it, if you can.
$15 Enlightened Tutor - The most mana efficient tutor, yet i would pick up the ones on a stick first.
$65 Ancient Tomb - An absolute beast, in a deck that isn't necessarily able to fetch it. If you're running Expedition Map you have one more reason to splash the cash.
$30 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx - My deck only comes with 27 pips across 100 cards... Not a big priority at all.
$10 Strip Mine - There are countless budget alternatives! If your meta is land combo heavy this is the best one though.

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Budget Decklist
This version is stripped down to its base functionality and still very potent. Most notably the tutoring is virtually non-existent.
With only 12 nonland adjustments, i would have no worries playing this in considerably potent pods.
$85 Decklist
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Budget Decklist by Card Type and Converted Mana Cost

Sorceries (2)

Enchantments (2)

Approximate Total Cost:

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Deck Composition
To give you an idea of the decks inner workings, i've decided to put most deck-specific cards in groups.
In combination with the combo guide and my rundown of notable exclusions and alternatives, you will be able to get a thorough understanding of this commander's ins and outs.
The Moving Parts
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Win Cons
What is it with these Altars and Stations!?
The deck currently has 4 avenues to victory. Meaning, all of these cards in combination with fitting pieces (see the combo guide below for that) are able to achieve one of the criterias that MTG defines as a player's loss.
Altar of Dementia, Altar of the Brood and Grinding Station result in Mill wins because your opponent(s) will lose once they attempt to draw from an empty library.
Blasting Station is more traditional, in that it can deal infinite damage. Keep in mind that "to target creature or player" has gotten errata'd in the past and reads as "any target" now, so it can deal damage to Planeswalkers as well, whenever necessary.

3/4 of the win cons doubling as sac outlets comes in very handy, 2/4 of them allowing to mill yourself does too in early stages of the game.

Altar of the Brood is the obvious outlier, since it doesn't double as anything and has a more convoluted way of going off. Which is no problem, with a CMC of 1 you can easily drop it once your window of opportunity has come. If you don't expect your opponents to have much graveyard tech themselves it's also fine to drop it on your first turn, just to start chewing away libraries.

For a comprehensive combo guide you can scroll down or click here.



Recursion
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Found these on a scrapyard.
Recursion creatures are included to return artifacts to your hand and consequently repeat reanimating weenies with our commander.

Junk Diver, Myr Retriever, Salvager of Ruin, Scrap Trawler and Workshop Assistant are the top tier ones in said category, since they are compatible with all win cons, as well as getting them back from the graveyard, if necessary.

Salvager of Ruin is special in that it allows you to reuse your Strip Mine variants, Crystal Vein|C14 and Inventors' Fair among others.

Scrap Trawler is neat, when sweepers hit the board, since you are likely to stuff your hand with cheap artifacts.
On top of that it can make Airlift Chaplain, Ingenious Smith, Professor of Symbology and Raffine's Informant get through your whole deck easier than other sequences.

Leonin Squire, Samwise the Stouthearted, Treasure Hunter and Trusty Packbeast come with the downside of not being compatible with Grinding Station themselves, but are still very strong. With their trigger as an ETB instead of a die trigger, combo sequencing deviates a little. More on that, later in the combo guide.



Cheerios
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Freebies. I love Freebies!
These are the definite backbone of the deck's combo capabilities, because combo variants of this deck prefer zero mana artifacts to reanimate creatures repeatedly.

The noncreature ones might not come with a body, but allow you to draw cards, secure key artifacts or generate mana, literally for free.

Lotus Petal, Mishra's Bauble and Urza's Bauble should be some of your first buys for the deck, if you're looking to assemble it, since they enable all sorts of engines and infinite draws.

Welding Jar and Tormod's Crypt come with obvious advantages, while Dark Sphere and Delif's Cone only made the deck for their base functionality - casting and saccing for free.

Same for the zero drop creatures, as these are sac fodder and there to loop for free.
Memnite is the obvious champ of them, since he has basic power to mill with Altar of Dementia and a small enough booty for Skullclamp shenanigans.



Bounce
Wanna see me do it again?
Bounce creatures are a Plan B to your main route of comboing with creatures that return artifact cards from the graveyard to your hand once they die or etb.
For this alternate plan, you usually require two zero mana artifacts, which will take turns in getting bounced back to your hand.

Also, since they aren't artifact creatures, none of them work with Grinding Station themselves, unfortunately.
An upside of them is, that you can reset your Sol Ring or other fast mana.

Overall, I might've been tempted not to rely on Bounce as a strategy at all, but I would consider going down to fewer natural combo creatures an unnecessary risk to the decks' consistency.



Tutors
Find what you are looking for, my friend.
As you might've guessed, these tutors unlock the full potential of the deck.
Despite great redundancy, fetching the right piece at the right time is invaluable.

Ranger-Captain of Eos is the only card in the deck that allows you to assemble a soft lock.
Once he hits the board for the very first time, sac him instantly before his ETB trigger resolves.
Next, you fetch any artifact creature and reanimate him.
Finally, you wait for your upkeep, just to sac him instantly again - forcing desperate plays, since your opponents won't be able to cast noncreature spells outside of your upkeep.
Add Grand Abolisher to make said soft lock even better - worse, from an opponent's perspective.

Moonsilver Key is a very budget friendly alternative, which might not be able to fetch a lot, but with Ashnod's Altar, Lotus Petal and Phyrexian Altar it can pick up three of the most broken ones.

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Combo Guide
The below section is both a glossary and an introduction into the combos of this deck. If you're not yet familiar with the deck tech, scroll to the Basic Concept above.
Also, here's you'd need your pattern recognition, since each of these combo pieces has different lines of play with different 0 drops and creatures.

Keep in mind, that i've only put together charts for the loops that require 0 mana, once your board and/or graveyard is set up. If your likely sac outlet is Ashnod's Altar, other options may occur. I'd love to point them out as well, but that would go beyond the constraints of a hobby write up.

The ones that utilize Lotus Petal, Mishra's Bauble and Urza's Bauble generate infinite mana and draw (on the next upkeep, so no risk of decking yourself) in these loops coincidentally.

Altar of Dementia
Combos with Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle and Altar of Dementia on the board
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1. Combo with Memnite and Salvager of Ruin:
Sac for MillMillSac to returnReturn & CastReanimateResolve & Sac for Mill
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For this sleek combo you sac Memnite to mill for one, then sac Salvager of Ruin to return Memnite to your hand.
Re-cast Memnite to reanimate Salvager of Ruin and start over, once Memnite has resolved.

2. Combo with 0 Drop Creatures and Recursion Creatures:
Sac for (no) MillMillSac to returnMillReturn & CastReanimateResolve & Sac for Mill
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To go through with this one, sac a 0 drop with Altar of Dementia, then sac a recursion creature for mill.
Reanimate your recursion piece with your 0 drop and start over, when your 0 drop is back on the board.

3. Combo with noncreature Cheerios and Recursion Creatures:
Sac for EffectSac to returnMillReturn & CastReanimateResolve & Sac for Effect
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Once again, you're saccing your noncreature cheerio first, to go to the yard, then sac one of your recursion creatures for mill.
With the noncreature cheerio back in hand, you can reanimate your recursion piece and sac it once you resolved and sacced your noncreature cheerio again.

4. Combo with two 0 Drops and Bounce Creatures:
Cast
1st Copy
Sac for MillMillCast
2nd Copy
ReanimateBounce
1st Copy
Resolve
2nd Copy
Sac for Mill
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For the bounce sequence you require a 0 drop on board. You sacrifice your bounce creature to mill for 2 first.
A second 0 drop reanimates your bounce piece, which in return, bounces your first 0 drop. Once your second 0 drop has resolved, you are set for the loop again.


Blasting Station
Combos with Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle and Blasting Station on the board
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1. Combo with noncreature Cheerios and Recursion Creatures:
Sac for EffectSac for DamageDamage TapsReturn & CastReanimate UntapsResolveSac for Effect
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This one requires you to sac a noncreature cheerio, then tap Blasting Station to sac one of your recursion creatures for 1 damage and your noncreature cheerio back to hand.
Your noncreature cheerio reanimates your recursion piece, which untaps Blasting Station on ETB. Once your noncreature cheerio resolves you're good to go.

2. Combo with 0 Drop Creatures and Salvager of Ruin:
Sac for DamageDamage TapsSac to returnReturn & CastReanimate UntapsResolveSac for Damage
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A creature-based combo starts by saccing a 0 drop for damage, which taps your Blasting Station. Next up, sac Salvager of Ruin to return your 0 drop to hand.
Use it to reanimate Salvager or Ruin, which untaps your Blasting Station. Resolving your 0 drop sets you up for the next cycle.

3. Combo with two noncreature Cheerios and alternate Recursion Creatures:
Sac 1st Copy
for Effect
Sac for DamageDamage TapsCast 2nd Copy
to reanimate
Reanimate UntapsReturn
1st Copy
Resolve
2nd Copy
Sac 2nd Copy
for Effect
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With a creature of the alternate recursion package you start by saccing a noncreature cheerio, then the recursion creature to deal damage.
A second noncreature cheerio Reanimates your recursion piece, which untaps your Blasting Station and returns your first noncreature cheerio. Once the second one resolves, rinse and repeat.

4. Combo with two noncreature Cheerios and Bounce Creatures:
Cast 1st CopySac for DamageDamage TapsCast 2nd CopyReanimate UntapsBounce
1st Copy
Resolve
2nd Copy
Sac for Damage
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The bounce route requires you to have a 0 drop on board once you sac your bounce creature. Continue by casting a second 0 drop, which reanimates your bounce creature.
On ETB your Blasting Station untaps and the creature bounces your first 0 drop to hand. As the second 0 drop resolves you're set for another loop.


Grinding Station
Combos with Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle and Grinding Station on the board
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1. Combo with noncreature Cheerios and Recursion Creatures:
Sac for EffectSac to return TapsMillReturn & CastReanimate UntapsResolveSac for Effect
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This loop requires you to sac a noncreature cheerio to itself. Then you're saccing a recursion creature to Grinding Station to mill for 3 and to get your noncreature cheerio back.
With the noncreature cheerio back in hand, you can now reanimate your recursion piece, which untaps your Grinding Station. Once the noncreature cheerio resolves you can go back to square one.

2. Combo with 0 Drops and Salvager of Ruin:
Sac for Mill TapsMillSac to returnReturn & CastReanimate UntapsResolveSac for Mill
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With Salvager of Ruin you can sac any of your 0 drops to Grinding Station, to mill for 3. Then proceed by saccing Salvager of Ruin to get your 0 drop back in hand.
Cast it to return Salvager of Ruin and untap Grinding Station by doing so. That's basically it.


Altar of the Brood
Combos with Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle and Altar of the Brood on the board
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1. Combo with noncreature Cheerios, Recursion Creatures and a Sac Outlet:
Sac for EffectSac to ReturnSac withReturn & CastReanimateMillResolveMillSac for Effect
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For this loop, you sac one of the noncreature cheerios for whatever effect, then you sac one of the recursion creatures to get the noncreature cheerio back in hand.
Next, you cast the noncreature cheerio again, to return the recursion creature to the board, which mills all your opponents for 1. Once the noncreature cheerio enters the battlefield it also mills all your opponents for one. Once the noncreature cheerio resolved, start over.

2. Combo with noncreature Cheerios and Salvager of Ruin:
Sac for EffectSac to ReturnReturn & CastReanimateMillResolveMillSac for Effect
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This time you sac one of the noncreature cheerios for its effect, then sac Salvager of Ruin to get the noncreature cheerio back in hand. Recast the noncreature cheerio, to return Salvager of Ruin and mill everyone for 1. Once the noncreature cheerio resolves you get another mill trigger. The loop is completed once the noncreature cheerio resolved.

3. Combo with 0 Drop Creatures, Recursion Creatures and a Sac Outlet:
Sac to graveyardSac withSac to returnSac withReturn & CastReanimateMillResolveMillSac to graveyard
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To get the combo rolling, you start by saccing your 0 drop to your sac outlet, then sac a recursion creature to return the 0 drop to hand.
Then you recast your 0 drop, to return the recursion creature to the board. Both creatures mill your opponents for 1 each, as they enter the battlefield.
Once all of them are back on the board your first cycle is complete. Start saccing again.

4. Combo with 0 Drop Creatures, Salvager of Ruin and a Sac Outlet:
Sac to graveyardSac withSac to returnReturn & CastReanimateMillResolveMillSac to graveyard
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For this one, you're saccing a 0 drop creature, then sac Salvager of Ruin to return it to your hand.
Once you got the 0 drop creature in hand, cast it to reanimate Salvager of Ruin. Whoops, it loops!

5. Combo with two 0 Drops, Bounce Creatures and a Sac Outlet:
Cast & Resolve
1st Copy
MillSac to graveyardSac withCast
2nd Copy
ReanimateMillBounce
1st Copy
Resolve
2nd Copy
MillSac to graveyard
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For this one you're setting youself up with a bounce creature, a 0 drop on the board and another in hand.
You sac the bounce piece, then cast a second 0 drop to return the bounce creature to the board, which bounces your intitial 0 drop to hand.
Once it got returned to your hand and your second one resolved, you can start over, this time with the second copy getting bounced. You get the idea.

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Deck Strategy
So, you got past your worries of playing a mono white deck - let alone a combo one - and want to dive right into it? Slow down, padawan!
Especially in this sort of power pods, you'll have to identify (un)playable hands first.

For most decks you would expect to ramp early, not necessarily with this deck. The curve is low, combos might not require mana at all and redundancy is key, so one can only allot so many slots to ramp. In this case Lotus Petal, Sol Ring, Ancient Tomb and Crystal Vein will have to do.
As for future plans, Mana Crypt might find its way into the deck, if i can pick up a reasonably priced one, but as of now, the deck is where i want it to be.

What we're really looking for, at best, is a flexible hand. Two or better, three lands, some sort of cheerio or possible engine piece and no potentially dead cards. The way we're set up, we can progress from all sorts of hands, due to the amount of draw included.

The following five hands should give you a rough idea:

A God Hand
It is an All In hand, but it can win on turn 3. A disenchanted Sol Ring would be a terrible blow, for all other cases this hand is set.


The Slow Roller
A hand with everything sort of there, without being fancy. Three safe land drops, a sac outlet, some interaction and some pieces that replace themselves. One of those hands that can develop into a winning one in no time.


The Trap
Conditional draw, situational interaction, lands that would set you back, if you were to use them aggressively and no synergies that wouldn't require another piece to get going.
Unless you consider yourself to be one of the faster decks at the table anyhow, take your free Mulligan instead.


The Unfolding One
Plenty of things to work with, once you get past the first few turns. A certified keeper, but one that requires some good decisions along the way.


The Ugly Duckling
No love at first sight, but there's plenty to unpack here. Lands to ditch for other cards, in case you're risking to flood yourself the first few turns, a slow sac outlet and potential engine pieces. A hand I would have no worries in keeping.

Early Game Strategy
Start shaping your hand and graveyard as soon as possible.
The early game is dedicated to shaping both your board and hand. Aside from 0 drops, don't hesitate to cast weenies and sac outlets already, consider them down payments to your future combos. Casting them later, once everything else is set, would only mean you'd need more mana on your winning turn.
When in question, cast sac outlets before your weenies, to be able to sacrifice them to avoid exile removal. Let your opponents work for their permanent solution. Exiling your graveyard or sac outlet might feel like a temporary win for them, but rest assured, rebuilding is fairly easy.

Be cautious about opponent's boards, but don't fire away your removal easily - especially Disenchant effects, as most silver bullets against you come in the form of artifacts and enchantments. Often times, letting Rest in Peace sit on the board for a while works wonders for you. Your opponents might think they got you under control and over-extend, tap out or concentrate their efforts on someone else, just until you remove their lucky charm the end step before your combo turn.

Generally speaking, once you hit four or five mana, you're already transitioning into what I consider the mid-game for this deck.


Mid Game Strategy
Make sure you come prepared and protected.
At this stage your approach should be more conservative than before. You're essentially looking for a window of opportunity to cast your commander and/or attempt your first combo.

Grand Abolisher comes in huge to avoid counterspells nixing your commander. If your opponents analyze your deck tech correctly they will know, that counterspells only help against your commander itself, with countering anything else being futile, since you'll get your cast triggers anyway and don't mind stuff going to the graveyard either.
Once you were able to squeeze Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle past stack interaction, Benevolent Bodyguard, Boromir, Warden of the Tower, Selfless Spirit and (to an extent) Salvager of Ruin, Samwise the Stouthearted and Rescuer Chwinga can help you stay afloat.

If you're hitting Ranger-Captain of Eos, Recruiter of the Guard or Moonsilver Key at this point, use them pro-actively. Fetch missing pieces, or if you already have a combo in sight with your hand cards, try baiting your opponents.
Already have Memnite in hand? Tutor for Ornithopter and let them counter/exile it.
Reprieve or Clever Concealment in hand? Let them think you really need that tutored Benevolent Bodyguard or Selfless Spirit!

Be a lot more hestitant about using your Enlightened Tutor that way, though!
Most notably, you won't be able to re-use it and it's your best option of tutoring noncreature cards.
I've had games where I tutored for Sol Ring early, only to have plenty of mana and no way to finish off the game a few turns later.


Late Game Strategy
It doesn't take much to finish things off. Mostly patience and timing.
You're untapping with your commander on the board, and a promising hand? Welcome to the late game!

While your instinct might be to move to your combo swiftly, give it a patient thought. How much mana are your opponents holding up? If your combo fails now, do you have any viable follow up plays or mana open for your own interaction?
The stars will never align perfectly, but consider your chances. Sometimes waiting a turn, just for everyone to think "ah, if they had been able, they would've" then proceeding to tap out can open up victory lane for you. The way the deck works and the amount of 0 drops that potentially set off a combo, you can likely cast your commander for a second, maybe even third, time on curve and attempt to combo. There's no need to think you're going to lose, only because your first attempt failed or Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle got removed once.

It's a matter of deck knowledge, experience with your opponents' commanders and threat assessment, so I can't give you definite overall advice.
While in some meta bluntly forcing the combo could be the perfect play, pulling counters and removal might be the optimal one in others.

Stalling out in this stage of the game can have three major reasons.
One would be, that you're still one or more pieces away from assembling a combo. In this case, try to squeeze as much card draw out of your Raffine's Informant variants, Mishra's Bauble type cantrips and cycling lands, just until you hit the needed piece or one of the tutors that can grab it for you.
A more severe situation would be that you're missing all four major win conditions. If they are "only" destroyed, you can draw or tutor one of the many cards that can get them back for you.
If they are exiled though, you're in bigger trouble. My build isn't necessarily tailored to win in non-combo ways. But, as a last resort option, you could try to lock the game with Ranger-Captain of Eos and Grand Abolisher. If you're saccing and reanimating the captain on all of your turns, your opponents won't be able to cast noncreature spells anymore and you might be able to win through chip damage of your weenies or even commander damage with your commander.
If you're running into ridiculous numbers of graveyard hate, you might consider running Pull from Eternity for a hail mary type effort to win the game after all.

But let's assume the timing is right and the window is there: Make sure you have an exact idea of how your loop works (see above) and know the steps when you could sac stuff in response to disruption to abort your line of play.
With the deck being somewhat odd and me being a socially oriented player, I try to be straight with my opponents. I usually cast the artifact that would start the combo and explain the upcoming loop once the cast trigger is on the stack. Something along the lines of "So, with the trigger from Lotus Petal on the stack, i'm targeting Myr Retriever to return it to the battlefield. Since Blasting Station is on the battlefield, I could loop for infinite damage and mana, unless you remove my graveyard, Blasting Station or Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle now."

Unless they have a counter play you can't interact with, you win. Yay! :party:


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Notable Excludes
Would've, could've, should've
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I want to start this segment by pointing out a few creatures which could've been great, if they were a pip cheaper or within our color identity.
All of these would've added great redundancy and utility to the deck. But sure enough Ranger of Eos at 3 mana would've wrecked too many things.
The fast mana
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Of course the cards would've made the deck even faster, though i think most of them wouldn't be worth their hefty price tag.
Jeweled Lotus, Lion's Eye Diamond and Mox Diamond would've been super disgusting, since the available self-sac is straight up our alley.
Interaction
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Consider the cards below only as a placeholder for so many that could be discussed, since a lot within this category depends on your meta.
To sum up a few sentiments of mine: indestructibility doesn't cut it lots of times - same goes for "destroy", three mana and more is too much and Teferi's Protection should've never been printed.
Removal on a Stick
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For lists that play an intermediate game, removal on a stick are pretty reasonable to include.
There are plenty options to chose from, but i rank split triggers and flexibility very high.
Stax
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Everyone's best friend to level the playing field...
While Esper Sentinel and Drannith Magistrate are certainly strong enough to run them anyhow and Ranger-Captain of Eos and Boromir, Warden of the Tower come with additional utility, others might require more build around.
The fetches
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Yes, in this realm of decks a full suite of fetches wouldn't be surprising.
Throwing another $100 in total on top for miniscule deck thining effects is not something i see myself doing, really.
Utility Lands
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There are certainly arguments to be made for most of these, yet i am someone who prefers extra sturdy over extra splashy mana bases.
Aside from risking too many -only lands some of these come with a serious price tag.

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Change Log & Set Reviews
Change Log
13.12.23
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New Cards
+ 1 Get Lost - I am yet to draw into it, but i'm already hyped shouting the card's name out loud whenever i can.

Cuts
- 1 Airlift Chaplain - To be fair, it has been so much fun to toy with, but much like Matter Reshaper a while back, it misses out by an inch. Also, there are only tutors and combo enablers at 3 mana left.
21.08.23
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New Cards
+ 1 Extraplanar Lens - Not a must run by all means, but one that can make for some potent sequences.
+ 1 Skittering Cicada - A 3rd instant speed combo enabler is a wonderful and welcome addition to the deck.
+ 1 28 Snow-Covered Plains|CSP - I've always been a fan of the Coldsnap Basics, so i went with them.

Cuts
- 1 Loran of the Third Path - I'm still very happy it got printed and will use it in my Archangel Avacyn // Avacyn, the Purifier flicker control deck for sure.
- 1 Skyclave Apparition - Arguably still the best spot removal on a stick, but i rarely used my reanimates on it. Will end up in said flicker deck as well.
- 1 Ancient Den - With no affinity payoffs and Inventors' Fair gone, this had to go.
- 1 Buried Ruin - It was a close call on this one, i've only used it in very dire situations though.
- 1 Darksteel Citadel - More sturdy than Ancient Den, yet nothing fancy.
- 1 Desert of the True - I'm still largely in favor of running all cycling lands in mono decks, though taplands are a pain in high-powered pods.
- 1 Drifting Meadow - See above
- 1 Geier Reach Sanitarium - I loved sneaking stuff into my graveyard with it every once in a while, but dang, it's been a long while...
- 1 High Market - One time sacs are just so much worse despite them enabling some nifty value plays.
- 1 Inventors' Fair - I love the artwork and a tutor on a land will never be bad, but this will find a home in a more fitting deck (Cosima, God of the Voyage // The Omenkeel).
- 1 Phyrexia's Core - I've used this even more seldomly than High Market - a shame.
- 1 Secluded Steppe - See above
- 1 Sequestered Stash - I still believe it's an underrated card! And an underused one in my build for sure.
- 1 The Mycosynth Gardens - Another well-deserved tool for Cosima, God of the Voyage // The Omenkeel, since i rarely required multiples of anything - on board at least.
- 1 16 Plains|GS1
17.07.23
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New Cards
+ 1 Boromir, Warden of the Tower - Protecting the board and hosing Birgi, God of Storytelling // Harnfel, Horn of Bounty type Storm builds is so juicy!
+ 1 Samwise the Stouthearted - Oh Sam, the loveable combo companion you are...
+ 1 Clever Concealment - Playtesting this has proven it to be just as good as expected. Most times it comes at a mere for me.
+ 1 Excise the Imperfect - Though 3 mana isn't cheap in this realm of decks, getting rid of most things for good is awesome.
+ 1 Lost to Legend - This one is so underrated, i overlooked it for my own Set Review... Ridiculously good!
+ 1 Reprieve - No need to Remand myself how great this card is.
+ 1 The Mycosynth Gardens - No must have, but i love me some extra value.

Cuts
- 1 Extraction Specialist - Unfortunately this doesn't hit too many targets and this is one of the few decks where returning to the battlefield is just strictly worse than to hand.
- 1 Fiend Hunter - Removal options have become too strong in comparison for this to stick around.
- 1 Wall of Omens - As @indemidelo has pointed out, Airlift Chaplain, Professor of Symbology and Raffine's Informant outperform linear draw by a lot.
- 1 Generous Gift - My meta doesn't have many Land combo decks, so the upside of hitting lands doesn't outweigh the fact it doesn't exile or tuck.
- 1 Heliod's Intervention - Again, no exile or tuck, though it has been a neat lifeline at times.
- 1 Illumination - I will always cherish this card, but it has become too situational in comparison.
- 1 Plains
23.12.22
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New Cards
+ 1 Airlift Chaplain - Oh boy, the amount of plays this might enable...
+ 1 Liberator, Urza's Battlethopter - Another Shimmer Myr type card is not what i would've expected to get printed anytime soon. Love it!
+ 1 Loran of the Third Path - An historic Reclamation Sage is more than i could've ever wished for, honestly.

Cuts
- 1 Fanatical Devotion - Though this was able to save the big birb every once in a while it was at the bottom of the sac outlets
- 1 Martyr's Cause - Aside from fringely blanking Walking Ballista combos, this was just mid
- 1 Spirited Companion - It did what it did, which was fine
09.08.22
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New Cards
+ 1 Contraband Livestock - Ever since i added Angelic Ascension and Fateful Absence the deck had gotten more interactive, so lets grab this, too.
+ 1 Illumination - Yet another return to the deck. Been facing Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy + Rocks too often lately, i guess...
+ 1 Phyrexian Altar - Finally got my hands on a copy! Obvious include is obvious.
+ 1 Extraction Specialist - With recent changes made it can reanimate 21/32 creatures. Love it.
+ 1 Raffine's Informant - Professor of Symbology has already been great and this card is even better!
+ 1 Rescuer Chwinga - Love the card, love the artwork.
+ 1 Spirited Companion - Despite the draw-on a-stick cuts this good boy is still pretty efficient.

Cuts
- 1 Lapse of Certainty - Holding up 3 mana was just too akward and most decks i face are too adept at drawing cards.
- 1 Sejiri Shelter // Sejiri Glacier - Might be running Faith's Shield or Apostle's Blessing in the future instead.
- 1 Dawnbringer Cleric - Unfortunately its modes didn't help much. Looking at you, Heliod, Sun-Crowned...
- 1 Matter Reshaper - Of the 3 mana CA ones, i still like this one the most. Its just not for the upper echolons of EDH.
- 1 Priest of Ancient Lore - Didn't cut it anymore.
- 1 Scarecrone - I like a lot of things it does - none enough to stay.
- 1 Skyscanner - It was just okay in my book.
18.02.22
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Another one of the smaller updates. Yet a great one.

New Cards
+ 1 Ancient Tomb - Got myself a little treat.
+ 1 Fateful Absence - While i did consider Angelic Ascension as a placeholder both of them are gonna stay, as i enjoyed having more redudant interaction.

Cuts
- 1 Mentor of the Meek - At this point the extra mana investment didn't feel right anymore.
- 1 Plains
10.12.21
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This time around i ditched the cantrips that didn't combo without Ashnod's Altar involved. Cathar Commando inspired me to run Fiend Hunter as well. While my meta doesn't really need it, i gave Leonin Relic-Warder a thought at least.

New Cards
+ 1 Cathar Commando - Such a lovely card for this deck!
+ 1 Fiend Hunter - Solid without sac outlets, crazy good with them.
+ 1 Ingenious Smith - While it could possibly wiff, it digs pretty deep.
+ 1 Moonsilver Key - Ashnod's Altar, Lotus Petal, Sol Ring, ... 2nd best tutor available, right after Enlightened Tutor.
+ 1 Scarecrone - Cheap-ish draw on an artifact body that sacs itself. What's not to like?
+ 1 Skyclave Apparition - The best removal on a stick available.

Cuts
- 1 Chromatic Sphere - 1 net mana to draw is still great. But i had to find cuts and it just enables combos too rarely.
- 1 Chromatic Star - Very similar as above. Triggers even when disenchanted.
- 1 Conjurer's Bauble - Sad to see it go. Has been of great use.
- 1 Land Tax - More of a good stuff or mid-range card. Neither of which describes this deck.
- 1 Soul-Guide Lantern - A great graveyard nuke i rarely needed. An above average cantrip that will find a place somewhere else.
- 1 Spawning Pit - Free sac outlets are lovely, yet this one doesn't come with any other upsides.
13.09.21
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Given that i was rather bored by webcam play, i am still in the process of picking up cards from the last few sets.
On the other hand i realized that the deck is in such a great state that only fitting releases result in any significant changes. Luckily, as things stand there are plenty of those cards coming up.

New Cards
+ 1 Dawnbringer Cleric - A toolbox i'm looking very fondly forward to.
+ 1 Drannith Magistrate - In combo metas this hoses so many things. Plus, no commanders on my opponents boards.
+ 1 Priest of Ancient Lore - More draw, more better.
+ 1 Professor of Symbology - Very interesting design that might fast charge the graveyard.
+ 1 Silence - Combo protection at the smallest price.

Cuts
- 1 Abolish - I was rarely able to ditch a plains for it and a 3 mana Disenchant just isn't it.
- 1 Illumination - This might come back one day, for now i had too few targets aside from mana rocks.
- 1 Mana Tithe - Unfortunately +1 is rather easy to pay and it was stuck in my hand way too often.
- 1 Restoration Specialist - As it doesn't combo easily and took a total of 3 mana to do anything, it just couldn't keep up with other things i do.
- 1 Salvage Scout - Similar to Restoration Specialist, this card is neat but a little too cute compared to other shenanigans.
02.02.21
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A few months of occasional play testing - via spelltable - led me to some minor tweaks. With even some comebacks to the deck.

New Cards
+ 1 Benevolent Bodyguard - Protection that doesn't require tapping and hoses exile, damage and destroy effects. All good in my book.
+ 1 Leonin Squire - By including a lot more 0 drops lately this one has gotten very reasonable.
+ 1 Mentor of the Meek - Still a bit sceptic, for the level we're playing at, but if he gets to stick around he's just all out value.
+ 1 Restoration Specialist - Can recurr not only plenty of artifacts, but also two of my free sac outlets.
+ 1 Salvage Scout - Just another recursion piece. At an awesome rate.
+ 1 Sejiri Shelter // Sejiri Glacier - Protection that doubles as a land drop, if necessary. Solid.
+ 1Wall of Omens - Draw on a stick, again at a low rate.

Cuts
- 1 Emancipation Angel - Most of my loops are death triggers/recursion, while this one is bounce on etb for a questionable CMC.
- 1 Forsake the Worldly - I came to notice, that I run a tad too many interactions, that i'd draw into at unfortunate times. Despite having Cycling it's just not made for the upper echelons of EDH.
- 1 Gold Myr - The requirement to tap made it more a less a dead card, unless I was able to cast it on turn 2.
- 1 Militia Bugler - I can't recall why I priorized this over Wall of Omens, likely that it digged further. After transitioning to a combo deck Wall has become the better choice, for sure.
- 1 Mirror Entity - I just never swing for the win. By the time I achieve infinite mana, I usually win without worrying about summoning sickness et al.
- 1 Mother of Runes - Got directly replaced by Benevolent Bodyguard. Self-sac is a clear upside in this sort of deck.
- 1 Scrapyard Recombiner - It was a close one between this one and Mentor of the Meek. For now I went with cutting the last creature that requires tapping.
04.10.20
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A step of getting closer to full potential was acquiring the best tutor cards for the deck, another win con and more cutthroat removal.

New Cards
+ 1 Grinding Station - I did overlook this one blatantly. With most of the key creatures being artifacts this is a great one to mill my opponents or turbo-charge my own yard.
+ 1 Ranger-Captain of Eos - Great tutor and a possible lock, if combined with Shimmer Myr and a few artifacts.
+ 1 Recruiter of the Guard - Again, great utility.
+ 1 Abolish - Not necessarily a card for average pods, but a strong one for sure.
+ 1 Enlightened Tutor - The best card in the deck now.
+ 1 Heliod's Intervention - Removal that scales very well and is a solid lifeline in dire situations.

Cuts
- 1 Foundry Inspector - Obsolete, due to overall curve.
- 1 Perilous Myr - Takes too many moving parts to loop reasonably.
- 1 Wall of Omens
- 1 Grafted Wargear - Sorcery speed sac is too limiting.
- 1 Demonmail Hauberk - See above.
- 1 Dispatch - This card is only good early in the game with both artifact lands out or me dumping my hand just to enable it. Which is usually the last thing I want to do.
14.09.20
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This major overhaul could be considered the starting point of the primer you're reading right now. Before reconstruction the deck was more or less an unfocused weenie reanimator list.

Sorry that there's no explanation for each of them. If you have specific questions for an alternate build, slam them into the thread




Set Reviews
05.03.24 - Fallout
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Set Review - Fallout
Creatures

Brotherhood Outcast - In certain builds this could be great. As for mine, Skullclamp isn't enough to run it.
Artifacts

Pre-War Formalwear - There are convoluted loops with Krark-Clan Ironworks + Phyrexian Altar + Junk Diver/Myr Retriever/Workshop Assistant + some payoff like Altar of the Brood. But since i don't run Ironworks it's not for me.
14.02.24 - Murders at Karlov Manor
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Set Review - Murders at Karlov Manor
Creatures

Delney, Streetwise Lookout - Bonkers card! Though i'm not sure if we actually need additional triggers on top.
Sanitation Automaton - It may not be Professor of Symbology or Raffine's Informant, but i am always happy to see surveil on a card.
Enchantments

Assemble the Players - My list has "only" 28 creatures it could cast and few ways to shuffle or otherwise rearrange my library. So, while it looks fun, i fear it's not worth it.
Trouble in Pairs - This has been the talk of the town. Rightfully so for non-combo EDH, but 4 mana without an initial payoff is too slow for this build.
Instants

Unexplained Absence - Another great card that requires a little too much mana to be added.
05.11.23 - The Lost Caverns of Ixalan
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Set Review - The Lost Caverns of Ixalan
Creatures

Dauntless Dismantler - That's a great silver bullet in artifact heavy metas!
Mischievous Pup - Can enable Bounce Loops at instant speed. I shy away from 3 mana and up though.
Oltec Archaeologists - Maaaan, if only this were 3 mana.
Artifacts

Buried Treasure - A casual Lotus Petal.
Dusk Watch Reliquary - Sure enough, a deck like this can make use of the sacrifice. Not gonna include sorcery speed removal anymore, though.
Spring-Loaded Sawblades // Bladewheel Chariot - I wouldn't complain, if anyone were to run this.

Instants

Get Lost - This has been talked about a lot in my playgroup and rightfully so. Absurdly good!
Lands

Hidden Courtyard - Sure, it's neat. Not good enough for teched out lists.
Pit of Offerings - Oh look, baby Bojuka Bog!
05.10.23 - Doctor Who
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Set Review - Doctor Who
Creatures

Jo Grant - For midrangey builds adding cycling to all our artifacts is pretty sweet!
Sarah Jane Smith - It is repeated draw and could possibly be abused with a sac outlet, but for me it's too situational.

Instants

Everybody Lives! - This puts a temporary end to a lot of things, my god! Not sure if i want to run it though.

Sorceries

Crisis of Conscience - Hmm, well. I don't know, really.

Enchantments

Trial of a Time Lord - No fan of sorcery speed removal, but exiling the worst nontoken creature on the board three times in a row for just three mana seems pretty solid, if it fits your power level.
The Night of the Doctor - I'm always hesitant putting my commander into my yard, for obvious reasons. On top of that there are plenty of more thorough 4-6 mana wraths to run instead.

Lands

Ominous Cemetery - The opportunity cost is as low as the activation cost is high to play it safe. Not for me.
Gallifrey Council Chamber - Surveil on an untapped land is quite nifty. Not good enough to warrant dropping a Snow-Covered Plains.
28.08.23 - Wilds of Eldraine
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Set Review - Wilds of Eldraine
Creatures

Stockpiling Celebrant - While i'm not too fond of bounce loops and her costing three mana, this card is likely still the best three mana bounce available.
Syr Ginger, the Meal Ender - Hilarious card! And while the scry might get tedious it can be a great support engine.
Werefox Bodyguard - Very spicy removal on a stick! Could see play in a lot of (other) decks.

Artifacts

Candy Trail - Scry, lifegain, draw. Above average cantrip for less cut-throat variants.
Collector's Vault - Honestly, a great card for midrange builds!
Hylda's Crown of Winter - Costs you a bunch of mana, draws you a bunch of cards (potentially).

Instants

Stroke of Midnight - Generous Gift at home. Creates a smaller creature, can't hit lands. Pass.

Sorceries

Return Triumphant - Pretty strong for a common and certainly playable in the right build.
29.07.23 - Commander Masters
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Set Review - Commander Masters
Creatures

Omarthis, Ghostfire Initiate - It is a creature cheerio you would have to sac state-based. But that's certainly something to work with, if you feel like it!
Skittering Cicada - While it may not be Liberator, Urza's Battlethopter it is certainly on par with Shimmer Myr. I will pick this one up, for sure!

Enchantments

Ugin's Mastery - While most people will use this for Eldrazi tribal, i would rather give this a spin in artifact creature Storm. Something like Graaz, Unstoppable Juggernaut would be hilarious.
16.06.23 - The Aftermath
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Set Review - The Aftermath
Creatures

Metropolis Reformer - Well, it's another Aegis of the Gods/Keen-Eared Sentry/True Believer type creature, for those who run any of them - with up and by far the best body available.
13.06.23 - Tales of Middle-earth
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Set Review - Tales of Middle-earth
Creatures

Boromir, Warden of the Tower - Historic spell, situational hate-bear, buff body, ... a strict upgrade to Selfless Spirit for most people.
Errand-Rider of Gondor - Look! Another draw on a stick option. Bland.
Samwise the Stouthearted - We all know Sam is GOATed and luckily his card is too!
Westfold Rider - The sorcery clause most certainly hurts it, still a very strong addition.

Artifacts

Mithril Coat - Obviously a good card. Not my cup of tea.

Instants

Reprieve - Been hyped for this white Remand ever since i saw its spoiler!
06.04.23 - March of the Machine
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Set Review - March of the Machine
Creatures

Enduring Bondwarden - Sort of nonartifact modular for 1 mana will have its place somewhere, i am sure.
Guardian of Ghirapur - I don't know if buff but less flexible Flickerwisp fits into this deck. Strong though!
Halo Hopper - Gorgeous artwork and most certainly workable in the right shell.
Phyrexian Censor - Would require a very specific Stax build. Brutal if built around.

Artifacts

Urn of Godfire - If you're already running Prismite/Stonework Packbeast to filter Ashnod's Altar mana - this one is for you!

Instants

Cut Short - I love the artwork and it is certainly a good card in PW heavy metas!
Excise the Imperfect - Top notch removal! Sure, it can't hit lands, but Unexpectedly Absent can't either.
Surge of Salvation - I didn't expect Lazotep Plating in to happen. Clearly depends on the meta if Silence effects are viable.

Sorceries

Sunfall - An upgrade to Phyrexian Rebirth, yet we really don't want to exile our own creatures.

Enchantments

Chivalric Alliance - It's discard and some sort of draw... I am not convinced.
30.01.23 - Phyrexia: All will be One
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Set Review - Phyrexia: All will be One
Creatures

Annex Sentry - It's not Fiend Hunter with separate, abusable triggers, but its fine.
Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines - Obviously a strong card. I hate its existence with a passion.
Myr Kinsmith - Could fetch Shimmer Myr, Myr Retriever and Myr Moonvessel. Decent, mana value a little too high.
Soulless Jailer - Strong! You don't want to run this and more importantly, you don't want to face this.
Zenith Chronicler - Hilarious in some matchups, likely a dead card in most others.

Artifacts

Basilica Skullbomb - For more casual builds. Bland.

Instants

Clever Concealment - Even better than Teferi's Protection, if you ask me! Not sure if i would be able to cast it for "free" as often, with the lean amounts of creatures on my board on average.
Vanish into Eternity - Sure it exiles, i'm not convinced it's better than Unexpectedly Absent at all though.

Lands

The Fair Basilica - Not as useful as cycling lands or its direct competitors Cryptic Caves and Roadside Reliquary. It's okay though.
The Mycosynth Gardens - Not sure how great this would be in this deck. You don't need multiple altars and most non-altars need to tap for whatever.
08.12.22 - Jumpstart 2022
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Set Review - Jumpstart 2022
Creatures

Magnanimous Magistrate - Obviously not within mana value range, but could've been a neat toy, if it were.
Preston, the Vanisher - Which is even more true for this fella. Still like it in a vacuum.
08.12.22 - Warhammer 40k Commander
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Set Review - Warhammer 40k Commander
Creatures

Canoptek Scarab Swarm - Aw man, this could've been so nice.
Canoptek Tomb Sentinel - Oh lord, i wish this would've been a viable reanimation target!
Space Marine Devastator - Would've been a huge miss, if they hadn't printed Loran of the Third Path shortly after.
Space Marine Scout - It may not be Knight of the White Orchid, but it's not nothing.
08.12.22 - Dominaria United
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Set Review - Dominaria United
Creatures

Anointed Peacekeeper - Certainly an option for the control type lists.
Charismatic Vanguard - Mirror Entity has less restrictions and more applications, but this exists, too.
Guardian of New Benalia - It's been a while that we've seen a free discard option - and this a very reasonable one!

Artifacts

Inscribed Tablet - If it wouldn't force you to pick a land among the cards, this could've been a cool add for mid-powered lists.
08.12.22 - The Brothers' War
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Set Review - The Brothers' War
Creatures

Airlift Chaplain - Sweet! So much utility packed onto a nifty smol flyer. Will play this for sure!
Liberator, Urza's Battlethopter - Instant staple, as it adds redundancy to Shimmer Myr.
Loran, Disciple of History - Sigh, if only...
Loran of the Third Path - Darling, wake up! 's Reclamation Sage just dropped!
Myrel, Shield of Argive - So, instead of a Grand Abolisher reprint along the way, we got this. It's fine.
Recruitment Officer - Duskwatch Recruiter // Krallenhorde Howler has been a solid card for years, so this will be too, in the right deck.
Instants

Calamity's Wake - God lord, such a devastating silver bullet for so many decks - including this one!
Soul Partition - I haven't made up my mind about this one yet. Very flexible and mana efficient at the very least.
09.08.22 - Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate
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Set Review - Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate
Creatures

Archivist of Oghma - I can see why this is hyped. Its not for my build though.
Clockwork Fox - Great to combo off with Grand Abolisher support, crazy without it.
Deep Gnome Terramancer - Another strong utility creature for more versatile builds.
Rescuer Chwinga - A versatile Flash creature with a wonderful artwork? Insert it in my veins/deck!
Roving Harper - Its just crazy how many variants of this card they did print over the last few years. Solid filler.
Scouting Hawk - Ramp on a stick that doubles as a flying blocker. Not unplayable.

Instants

Contraband Livestock - Mana efficent. I did include it already.

Sorceries

Sculpted Sunburst - Idk about this one. There are more convincing alternatives.
Stick Together - I did not know this exists! In the right meta, this is an insanely good wipe.
19.04.22 - Streets of New Capenna
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Set Review - Streets of New Capenna
Creatures

Chrome Cat - Not a high impact card. Solid filler at best.
Extraction Specialist - Though i prefer recursion to hand i am just as tempted as i was with Vesperlark. Hits 15/30 of my non-zero drops.
Inspiring Overseer - The redundancy of these cards is getting absurd. Priest of Ancient Lore, Spirited Companion and this came out within 1 year! Will play it nonetheless.
Mage's Attendant - One for the control/stax heavy list. I wonder if looping is worth it when you could just combo instead.
Rafinne's Informant - A strictly better Professor of Symbology and that card is already great in this deck. Will find a slot for it.
Rumor Gatherer - Unfortunately can't combo. But a fine card.
Sky Crier - Interesting and risky with infinite mana. Would consider it if only i had an Phyrexian Altar...

Artifacts

Ominous Parcel - "put into your hand" spoils it for me. Would play Wayfarer's Bauble over this anytime.

Enchantments

Smuggler's Share - Interesting card overall. Likely a little slow for my meta.

Sorceries

Depopulate - No
Patch Up - Would have to give it some playtesting, but could be bonkers.
18.02.22 - Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty
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Set Review - Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty
Creatures

Circuit Mender - If you already like Filigree Familiar you're gonna love this.
Containment Construct - Very interesting, yet risky since it may block filling the yard.
Reito Sentinel - Tempting self-mill piece with the off chance to combo mill opponents in Scrap Trawler loops.
Selfless Samurai - We already have plenty of these. Doesn't make it bad though.
Spirited Companion - Gotta get me one of these. Obvious good boy and staple.

Artifacts

Ecologist's Terrarium - This is fine. Love the artwork.
Network Terminal - Very interesting card for casually powered decks.

Sorceries

Brilliant Restoration - Open the Vaults, but make it less risky. Not for my type of build.
Farewell - Great card, but an obvious nonbo with a graveyard based deck like this one.

Lands

Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire - Not as strong as the green one, but at virtually no opportunity cost.
Roadside Reliquary - Wouldn't mind seeing this in builds.
10.12.21 - Innistrad: Crimson Vow
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Set Review - Innistrad: Crimson Vow
Creatures

Fleeting Spirit - For a discard outlet that's some fun tech, since it can protect itself.
Resistance Squad - If only i had more than 11 other humans in my deck, i'd certainly play this. Bummer.
Welcoming Vampire - You'd need some Rube Goldberg machine to make this better than Mentor of the Meek. Not unplayable though.

Artifacts

Investigator's Journal - A slow and steady draw engine or a mana heavy one time thing. It's fine.
Wedding Invitation - 2 mana to draw isn't shabby. Plenty of alternatives though.

Instants

Sudden Salvation - Meh. Good filler card, outranked by others.

Sorceries

By Invitation Only - What a weird, yet flexible board wipe this is.
13.09.21 - Innistrad: Midnight Hunt
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Set Review - Innistrad: Midnight Hunt
Creatures
Ambitious Farmhand // Seasoned Cathar - An in color Campus Guide is pretty good, yet i'd prefer artifact creatures when in question.
Cathar Commando - Qasali Pridemage/Outland Liberator // Frenzied Trapbreaker with flash? Staple!
Celestus Sanctifier - If only day/night would be easier to abuse. This would've been awesome.
Gavony Dawnguard - Unfortunately this one can be hardly abused. A second Militia Bugler would've been neat.
Intrepid Adversary - Non-combo variants can use this as a legit win condition.
Loyal Gryff - Flash, bounce, body. Solid overall value.
Sungold Sentinel - Yet another graveyard hate option. Good body and protection.

Artifacts

Jack-o'-Lantern - A strong cantrip for most deck strengths.
Moonsilver Key - Being able to tutor for Ashnod's Altar, Lotus Petal and all the mana rocks is just perfect! 10/10
The Celestus - That's a lot of hoops to jump through outside of dedicated decks...

Instants

Fateful Absence - Interesting option, especially for planeswalker heavy metas, obviously.

Sorceries

Vanquish the Horde - Blasphemous Act is certainly a card you'd want to have, if you're in for symmetrical wipes.
06.02.21 - Kaldheim
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Set Review - Kaldheim
Creatures

/ Reidane, God of the Worthy // Valkmira, Protector's Shield - Great if you're likely to face lots of snow decks or playing a hatebear list. Versatile, since both sides trigger the commander.
Resplendent Marshal - While I like it technically, exiling creatures from my own yard and requiring creature types to match make it fringely playable at best. Humans and/or Constructs could be prime candidates, if one were to built around it.
Runeforge Champion + Rune of Sustenance - Slamming the Rune on the Champion to draw, then saccing him, just to revive him and slam the Rune on him again should be a fun CA engine. With enough Rune prints in the future maybe even a decent one.
Sigrid, God-Favored - Solid for mid-powered creature heavy lists. Sub-par for anything above that.
Starnheim Courser - Foundry Inspector with a better body but not as an artifact. Just as playable as its predecessor, my curve is already low enough not to run either.

Artifacts

Pyre of Heroes - Again, a card for tribal lists, a very strong one at that, though. Higher powered lists require sac outlets that don't tap themselves.

Instants

Cosmic Intervention - Due to its timing no card for Combo/Storm builds like mine. Most certainly a high-powered protective spell anywhere else.

Sorceries

Doomskar - An absolutely great card, though at the level i'm playing at you run only few sweepers, let alone symmetrical ones.
Search for Glory - Geier Reach Sanitarium, Inventors' Fair and Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx aren't enough to make it worthwhile for me, but it's strong when built around.

Lands

Snow-Covered Plains - Unless you have an Extraplanar Lens you desperately want to play somewhere, I currently see no reason to go snow based. And even the lens isn't really needed in any of this commanders' builds i've seen so far.
04.04.21 - Strixhaven
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Set Review - Strixhaven
Creatures

Campus Guide - The new benchmark of Pilgrim's Eye variants for me.
Elite Spellbinder - Very strong if you can abuse it. Good base stats on top.
Excavated Wall - Aggressively costed, could put in some work.
Pilgrim of the Ages - No reason to run this over Campus Guide, Pilgrim's Eye or Skittering Surveyor.
Professor of Symbology - I like this one a lot and will play-test it for sure.
Strict Proctor - Yet another hate option. Not limited to creatures, but i'd run Hushbringer over it.

Artifacts

Letter of Acceptance - It's a bad cantrip - but it's still one after all.
Strixhaven Stadium - I hate cards that include "win/lose the game" usually. No different with this one.

Instants

Semester's End - Not Cosmic Intervention or Eerie Interlude, but viable if you feel like keeping four mana open.

Sorceries

Academic Probation - Phew, tricky one in EDH. If you have a clear understanding of your Meta it's powerful.
Devastating Mastery - Has political potential, depends on your approach.
Introduction to Annihilation - Not great, but if you're absolutely set on running a Lesson package it's fine.
Reduce to Memory - Strong removal that's limited to sorcery speed unfortunately, yet understandably. Great for Lesson packages.

Lands

The Biblioplex - I love it! Is it good enough? Depends on your meta.
03.06.2021 - Modern Horizons 2
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Set Review - Modern Horizons 2
Creatures

Dermotaxi - It's very unfortunate that it can't be reanimated just like that, but it is propably an amazing card for non-combo builds.
Esper Sentinel - Very interesting for hate builds at an absurdly low rate.
Sanctifier en-Vec - Where it's good, it's back-breakingly good. Nothing for my meta really.
Tormod's Cryptkeeper - I love the flavor of this one a lot and if it weren't for Remorseful Cleric this would've been the best creature in that slot. Summoning Sickness is a big downside.

Artifacts

Brainstone - Well, the list of cantrips that aren't good enough for this deck grows.
/ Sol Talisman - Idk, i neither like it as a "fast" mana card nor overall.


Instants

Break Ties - A CMC of 3 is a little heavy for a single target removal, but it's pretty flexible.


Lands

Urza's Saga - This is a weird one. Two instances are good and the other is meh.
07.07.21 - Forgotten Realms
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Set Review - Forgotten Realms
Creatures

Cloister Gargoyle/Nadaar, Selfless Paladin - Idk, powering through Dungeon of the Mad Mage sounds fun, but i just don't see it.
Dawnbringer Cleric - Good toolbox for a common.
Guardian of Faith - Not a natural fit for my deck, but good for more creature-centric builds.
Ingenious Smith - an artifact Militia Bugler, *chef's kiss*
Keen-Eared Sentry - Better than Aegis of the Gods (no enchantment) and True Believer (shroud hinders self-mill), so good for what it is.
Loyal Warhound - Not quite Knight of the White Orchid, but a reasonable alternative/substitute.
Oswald Fiddlebender - Summoning Sickness and tutoring to board are somewhat akward here. But a very strong roleplayer.
Priest of Ancient Lore - No Skyscanner or Wall of Omens, but great fit for redundancy.

Artifacts

Eye of Vecna - It is slow, but good enough for most builds.
Mimic - Meh
Portable Hole - Insane CMC, great for competitive pods.
Potion of Healing - Yet another bland cantrip.
Enchantments

Paladin Class - Good level 1 piece in counter-heavy metas, likely unnecessary anywhere else.


.
Credit & Thanks
First and foremost, I want to thank @Feyd_Ruin for all the work put in, because without it the BB code wouldn't be as flexible as it is.

I also would like to thank all other Primer writers for their dedication and inspiring me to write my own one.
Most notably, i'd like to point out - in alphabetical order - the works of @Kelzam, @pokken, @Rumpy5897 and @snowfox54119. While all Primer constituents wrote incredible pieces, these writers gave me the most food for thought on how I imagined mine should look like.
Last edited by Toshi 3 weeks ago, edited 118 times in total.

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Post by SafetyValve » 4 years ago

Hello fellow Teshar player! Coming here from the comments you put on my own Teshar list. I see you're going more for the "eggs" route which is different from mine, so I won't really be looking at cards like Chromatic Sphere though there are some other cards I am curious about adding to my own deck:

Aegis of the Gods, True Believer: How useful is giving yourself hexproof? It's a killer effect on paper, but my playgroup tends not to use single-player, targeted hate cards. Curious if this is a meta call or if this is actually better than I thought.

Lesser Masticore: How is this guy working for you? When he was spoiled I thought he might be a neat addition.

Forsake the Worldly: Why this over Return to Dust or Crush Contraband? Is it just a budget thing?

Sequestered Stash: Great choice, I keep forgetting to add this to my list. This is mostly just to remind myself.

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Post by Toshi » 4 years ago

SafetyValve wrote:
4 years ago
Aegis of the Gods, True Believer: How useful is giving yourself hexproof?

Lesser Masticore: How is this guy working for you?

Forsake the Worldly: Why this over Return to Dust or Crush Contraband?
Great to see that i reminded you of Sequestered Stash just like you reminded me of Stonecloaker! It's these little things that make communities like this one work for me.

Aegis of the Gods and True Believer can at times work against X-spell slinging decks, but most of the time they protect my graveyard. Ever noticed how Bojuka Bog, Tormod's Crypt and others specifically say "target player's graveyard"? Well, how about no? Being able to return said protection to the battlefield is neat.

I chose Forsake the Worldly since it's the best combination of utility (cycling or removal) and CMC. Crush Contraband is a good card - an exiling Hull Breach at instant speed after all - but most of the time there's only one really worrysome artifact or enchantment and the second one is just welcome collateral. If wouldn't want to pay 4 mana for that. I'd play it over Return to Dust though. Exiling one for 4 mana at instant speed or two, but only sorcery speed, is pretty overrated in my book. I've cut all my copies of the card over the years and never looked back.

I'll need to hit Lesser Masticore a few more times before i can tell you more about it. So far i've hit it twice and it was pretty good both times. One time i was able to sneak Grand Abolisher past counter heavy decks just to get it back instantly and secure the rest of a turn that set me up well ahead of everyone else. The second time around i was able to ditch something unneeded and Skullclamp it twice with Spawning Pit since it has Persist.

I have a few hours of EDH coming up tonight. Maybe i can tell you more afterwards.

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Post by Toshi » 3 years ago

With Covid denying my playgroup most opportunities to play, we decided to re-evualuate our meta and pods over the course of several Discord sessions.

Up until recently our deck building aimed to assemble pods that were supposed to allow for most to all decks to compete. Unfortunately that doesn't work as well as hoped. As far as adjustments go, we decided to limit future pod entries to 2 similar tiers at most (e.g. Casual & Focused, Focused & Optimized, Optimized & Competetive) opening up to a lot stronger decks at the top end and more yank below.

With this deck i did aim to have a Optimized to Competetive Combo deck that's capable to keep up with my playgroup's best decks, but still be inconsistent enough not to shark on the rest of our Optimized decks.
Most obviously i'm still missing the major tutors (Enlightened Tutor, Ranger-Captain of Eos & Recruiter of the Guard) and a Phyrexian Altar - but they are likely soon to be included.


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Post by NotARooster » 3 years ago

Been looking to build and Artifact deck since I haven't had one in a while, this list looks like a lot of fun! It'll be my first mono white deck too lol

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Post by Toshi » 3 years ago

NotARooster wrote:
3 years ago
Been looking to build and Artifact deck since I haven't had one in a while, this list looks like a lot of fun! It'll be my first mono white deck too lol
Oh, now i feel very flattered. Thanks for your kind words!

The deck really is fun and a lot different than what most mono white decks look(ed) like (in the past). Unfortunately most other commander options are far from fun/interesting, and even less of them viable in my Meta.

Let me know how the birdy mcbirdface is treating you. I'd be happy to hear about your experience and look into your list.

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Post by NotARooster » 3 years ago

Will definitely report back when I've had some time to get some games in. Unfortunately most of my games were at my LGS, but I still play every now and then with friends

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Post by Toshi » 3 years ago

For my birthday i treated myself with the missing tutor suite for the deck. Other than that i included more cutthroat removal and Grinding Station, which i blatantly missed up until now.

New Cards
+ 1 Grinding Station - I did overlook this one blatantly. With most of the key creatures being artifacts this is a great one to mill my opponents or turbo-charge my own yard.
+ 1 Ranger-Captain of Eos - Great tutor and a possible lock, if combined with Shimmer Myr and a few artifacts.
+ 1 Recruiter of the Guard - Again, great utility.
+ 1 Abolish - Not necessarily a card for average pods, but a strong one for sure.
+ 1 Enlightened Tutor - The best card in the deck now.
+ 1 Heliod's Intervention - Removal that scales very well and is a solid lifeline in dire situations.

Cuts
- 1 Foundry Inspector - Obsolete, due to overall curve.
- 1 Perilous Myr - Takes too many moving parts to loop reasonably.
- 1 Wall of Omens
- 1 Grafted Wargear - Sorcery speed sac is too limiting.
- 1 Demonmail Hauberk - See above.
- 1 Dispatch - This card is only good early in the game with both artifact lands out or me dumping my hand just to enable it. Which is usually the last thing i want to do.

By now i'm down to 2 possible includes:That's it for now. If anyone reading this could give me some insight about their experience with Mesmeric Orb in close to cEDH Metas, i'd be very happy.
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Post by Toshi » 3 years ago

As i'm starting to work on a primer-worthy version of this deck threads' presentation, i decided to give the deck a slight overhaul and its very first set review, for Kaldheim obviously.

New Cards
+ 1 Benevolent Bodyguard - Protection that doesn't require tapping and hoses exile, damage and destroy effects. All good in my book.
+ 1 Leonin Squire - By including a lot more 0 drops lately this one has gotten very reasonable.
+ 1 Mentor of the Meek - Still a bit sceptic, for the level were playing at, but if he gets to stick around he's just all out value.
+ 1 Restoration Specialist - Can recurr not only plenty of artifacts, but also two of my free sac outlets.
+ 1 Salvage Scout - Just another recursion piece. At an awesome rate.
+ 1 Sejiri Shelter // Sejiri Glacier - Protection that doubles as a land drop, if necessary. Solid.
+ 1Wall of Omens - Draw on a stick, again at a low rate.

Cuts
- 1 Emancipation Angel - Most of my loops are death triggers/recursion, while this one is bounce on etb for a questionable CMC.
- 1 Forsake the Worldly - I came to notice, that i run a tad too many interactions, that i'd draw into at unfortunate times. Despite having Cycling it's just a rather average card.
- 1 Gold Myr - The requirement to tap made it more a less a dead card, unless i was able to cast it on turn 2.
- 1 Militia Bugler - I can't recall why i priorized this over Wall of Omens, likely that it digged further. After transitioning to a combo deck Wall has become the better choice, for sure.
- 1 Mirror Entity - I just never swing for the win. By the time i achieve infinite mana, i usually win without worrying about summoning sickness et al.
- 1 Mother of Runes - Got directly replaced by Benevolent Bodyguard. Self-sac is a clear upside in this sort of deck.
- 1 Scrapyard Recombiner - It was a close one between this one and Mentor of the Meek. For now i went with cutting the last creature that requires tapping.

Set Review - Kaldheim
Creatures

/ Reidane, God of the Worthy // Valkmira, Protector's Shield - Great if you're likely to face lots of snow decks or playing a hatebear list. Versatile, since both sides trigger the commander.
Resplendent Marshal - While i like it technically, exiling creatures from my own yard and requiring creature types to match make it fringely playable at best. Humans and/or Constructs could be prime candidates, if one were to built around it.
Runeforge Champion + Rune of Sustenance - Slamming the Rune on the Champion to draw, then saccing him, just to revive him and slam the Rune on him again should be a fun CA engine. With enough Rune prints in the future maybe even a decent one.
Sigrid, God-Favored - Solid for mid-powered creature heavy lists. Sub-par for anything above that.
Starnheim Courser - Foundry Inspector with a better body but not as an artifact. Just as playable as its predecessor, my curve is already low enough not to run either.

Artifacts

Pyre of Heroes - Again, a card for tribal lists, a very strong one at that, though. Higher powered lists require sac outlets that don't tap themselves.

Instants

Cosmic Intervention - Due to its timing no card for Combo/Storm builds like mine. Most certainly a high-powered protective spell anywhere else.

Sorceries

Doomskar - An absolutely great card, though at the level i'm playing at you run only few sweepers, let alone symmetrical ones.
Search for Glory - Geier Reach Sanitarium, Inventors' Fair and Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx aren't enough to make it worthwhile for me, but it's strong when built around.

Lands

Snow-Covered Plains - Unless you have an Extraplanar Lens you desperately want to play somewhere, i currently see no reason to go snow based. And even the lens isn't really needed in any of this commanders' builds i've seen so far.

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Post by pokken » 3 years ago

Just wanted to say: Excellent work. I really love the combo table layouts! Lots of stuff to yoink here.

I'm a huge fan of Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle and mono-white in general and really enjoyed reading your take.

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Post by Dragonlover » 3 years ago

I've not read through all the combos because I just finished work and my brain is not up to it, but I definitely feel like I could sleeve the deck up, read this, and have a shot at winning pretty much sight unseen. Nice work!

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Post by benjameenbear » 3 years ago

This is one of the best Primers I've read in a LONG time. Well done @Toshi for a fabulous and thoughtful Primer. I will now respect this Bird should I ever sit across from it. And will also break out into "buh-buh-buh-buh-buh-Bird's the word, ain't you heard" every time I see it.

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Post by Toshi » 3 years ago

RxPhantom wrote:
3 years ago
@Toshi, that's a lot to digest but it's clear that a lot of effort went into it. I also want you to know that I'm going to steal the idea of using loyalty to discuss prices. It looks really slick.
pokken wrote:
3 years ago
Just wanted to say: Excellent work. I really love the combo table layouts! Lots of stuff to yoink here.

I'm a huge fan of Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle and mono-white in general and really enjoyed reading your take.
Dragonlover wrote:
3 years ago
I've not read through all the combos because I just finished work and my brain is not up to it, but I definitely feel like I could sleeve the deck up, read this, and have a shot at winning pretty much sight unseen. Nice work!

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benjameenbear wrote:
3 years ago
This is one of the best Primers I've read in a LONG time. Well done @Toshi for a fabulous and thoughtful Primer. I will now respect this Bird should I ever sit across from it. And will also break out into "buh-buh-buh-buh-buh-Bird's the word, ain't you heard" every time I see it.
Believe me, when I say this: Thanks a lot for your kind words!

As someone who's mother tongue isn't even english, in such a well-hidden - yet wonderful - place like Nexus, to get the feedback I've been getting lately, is a blessing and something I wouldn't have dared to hope for in Sally days...

While it most certainly was my workload ultimately, i wouldn't have went through the process, if it weren't for this community, its atmosphere and other primer writers as a major inspiration, a driving force and a home for my need of in depth discussion.
As much as i wrote this one for me, i wrote it for you.
Take of it what you want, as i have been taking from others.

From the bottom of my humbled heart: Thank you.
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Post by Dragonlover » 3 years ago

Congrats on the Primer tag my dude! Well deserved!

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Post by RxPhantom » 3 years ago

After making my way through much of the primer (!), I have two questions:

1. How fun is this deck to pilot?
2. Is this deck's power level and strategy in line with what your meta is doing?
Can you name all of the creature types with at least 20 cards? Try my Sporcle Quiz! Last Updated: 2/18/22 (Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty)

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Post by Toshi » 3 years ago

RxPhantom wrote:
3 years ago
I have two questions:

1. How fun is this deck to pilot?
2. Is this deck's power level and strategy in line with what your meta is doing?
1. That's a pretty vague question, since it comes down to your preferences, mostly. But yes, it is.
In the field of offbeat combo decks, this is as fun as it can get - for me. As stated in the Pros & Cons, most of the enjoyment comes from timing plays, mixing and matching pieces, all knowing you might've started with a disadvantage, compared to more common and consistent combo-oriented decks.
It isn't as much fun, if you're looking for something that you can maneuver in cruise control, obviously.

2. As i've pointed out in the Deck History segment this deck has been tailored to suit certain pods of my meta, yes.
There's no one meta game for my playgroup, as we're all seasoned MTG players, who find joy in all tiers and aspects of the game. To give you an idea:

Tier 1 through 4 are what we consider far from optimal piles up to precon level, which might have weird commanders and follow very few deck building strategies aside from color identity and land count. I have no lists of them online, since they're just sitting unsleeved in paper deckboxes and get little to no updates, to stay as tame as possible.
Tier 5 through 6 are our mid-powered decks. All thoroughly put together, yet without combos or x-spell win cons, unless they fit the decks' theme specifically. My Gallia of the Endless Dance list is a good representation of a tier 5 list, with my Talrand, Sky Summoner deck being a 6.
Tier 7 is our highest non-combo tier. Obnoxiously fast (see Ezuri, Renegade Leader & Zada, Hedron Grinder) and resilient (Lazav, the Multifarious) commanders can be found here just as common powerhouses like Brago, King Eternal et al.
Tier 8 is our combo entry level. The deck you're seeing here faces other (mostly non-blue, non-black) decks with high potential but disadvantageous colors or commanders. Stuff like Saffi Eriksdotter, Heliod, Sun-Crowned, ...
Tier 9 is our bare-knuckle area. Edric, Spymaster of Trest, Kess, Dissident Mage, Kykar, Wind's Fury, ... serious stuff.
Tier 10 has been left blank intentionally, to remind us that there are always even more broken and extraordinarily expensive cards and approaches. Skyrocketing fast mana, full suites of fetches, ... you name it. We don't want to face off in a battle of wallets ultimately.

Um, this was a more lengthy answer than I intended to write. I hope it did clear things up for you though.

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Post by Toshi » 3 years ago

Set Review - Strixhaven
Creatures

Campus Guide - The new benchmark of Pilgrim's Eye variants for me.
Elite Spellbinder - Very strong if you can abuse it. Good base stats on top.
Excavated Wall - Aggressively costed, could put in some work.
Pilgrim of the Ages - No reason to run this over Campus Guide, Pilgrim's Eye or Skittering Surveyor.
Professor of Symbology - I like this one a lot and will play-test it for sure.
Strict Proctor - Yet another hate option. Not limited to creatures, but i'd run Hushbringer over it.

Artifacts

Letter of Acceptance - It's a bad cantrip - but it's still one after all.
Strixhaven Stadium - I hate cards that include "win/lose the game" usually. No different with this one.

Instants

Semester's End - Not Cosmic Intervention or Eerie Interlude, but viable if you feel like keeping four mana open.

Sorceries

Academic Probation - Phew, tricky one in EDH. If you have a clear understanding of your Meta it's powerful.
Devastating Mastery - Has political potential, depends on your approach.
Introduction to Annihilation - Not great, but if you're absolutely set on running a Lesson package it's fine.
Reduce to Memory - Strong removal that's limited to sorcery speed unfortunately, yet understandably. Great for Lesson packages.

Lands

The Biblioplex - I love it! Is it good enough? Depends on your meta.

Overall, Strixhaven has been an interesting set, with Professor of Symbology being the closest to the level my deck aims for. I will give it a spin and also keep Campus Guide in the back of my head, in case i might cut an underperforming card.

Other than that i swapped Ghost Quarter for Command Beacon, as there are few problematic lands that get out of control fast enough to compete with my build.

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Post by Toshi » 2 years ago

Set Review - Modern Horizons 2
Creatures

Dermotaxi - It's very unfortunate that it can't be reanimated just like that, but it is propably an amazing card for non-combo builds.
Esper Sentinel - Very interesting for hate builds at an absurdly low rate.
Sanctifier en-Vec - Where it's good, it's back-breakingly good. Nothing for my meta really.
Tormod's Cryptkeeper - I love the flavor of this one a lot and if it weren't for Remorseful Cleric this would've been the best creature in that slot. Summoning Sickness is a big downside.

Artifacts

Brainstone - Well, the list of cantrips that aren't good enough for this deck grows.
/ Sol Talisman - Idk, i neither like it as a "fast" mana card nor overall.


Instants

Break Ties - A CMC of 3 is a little heavy for a single target removal, but it's pretty flexible.


Lands

Urza's Saga - This is a weird one. Two instances are good and the other is meh.

Overall i don't think a card of this set will find its way into my deck, though i really love Dermotaxi a lot.

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Post by darrenhabib » 2 years ago

Urza's Saga I'd say is a slam dunk. It can literally get you a cheerio, win-con (Altar), card draw (Skullclamp) or just be mana acceleration.
If you play it on Turn 1 then on Turn 3 you can tap it for 1 (sagas trigger on first main phase) then get Sol Ring, so now you have access to 5 on Turn 3 guaranteed.
Given that you have Ancient Den and Darksteel Citadel it's also a very safe bet if you just want to make sure it's a land.

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Post by Toshi » 2 years ago

darrenhabib wrote:
2 years ago
If you play it on Turn 1 then on Turn 3 you can tap it for 1 (sagas trigger on first main phase) then get Sol Ring
I always thought they'd trigger during upkeep, who would've thought?
Usually tutoring to hand is a tad better in this deck, but as an overall package it's pretty nifty.
Especially since Enlightened Tutor can tutor it, Aviary Mechanic and Kor Skyfisher can reset it, Argivian Find and Restoration Specialist can both recur it...

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Post by Rumpy5897 » 2 years ago

This definitely seems like an Urza's Saga deck. The wording on sagas is a bit counterintuitive, and was obviously done to squeeze out a couple extra words of space - "after your draw step" is less space than "at the beginning of your precombat main phase".

Also, I see you're a fellow Dermotaxi appreciator. The card got a solid laugh out of me and I'll be getting a copy to stick in the funny card pile. Chillerpillar is going to get a friend :)
 
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Post by benjameenbear » 2 years ago

@Toshi
I've been seriously thinking about including a Birb package in my Osgir deck since the core strategy and pieces are ridiculously similar. With that being said, how many slots would you recommend adding into the deck to play Teshar in the 99? What are the best <3 CMC creatures in your experience? I want to give my Osgir deck a new angle of attack since it's pretty non-interactive and just jams its strategy kinda regardless of what the opponents are doing.

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Post by Toshi » 2 years ago

benjameenbear wrote:
2 years ago
What are the best <3 CMC creatures in your experience?
Hmm, interesting question in the context of Osgir, the Reconstructor...

I think Scrapyard Recombiner ticks a lot of boxes for your commander. Shimmer Myr obviously does, too.
Junk Diver, Myr Retriever, Salvager of Ruin, Scrap Trawler and Workshop Assistant are obvious champs, but you likely already know that.
Campus Guide and Skyscanner might not be super fancy, but nothing shabby over the course of a game.
Of the non-artifact ones Matter Reshaper is underrated and a rare sight.

Without knowledge of your list i took a quick look at the ones i can't run and there are plenty of interesting ones, among others:
Audacious Reshapers, Birgi, God of Storytelling // Harnfel, Horn of Bounty (both sides!), Breya's Apprentice, Combat Celebrant, Dire Fleet Daredevil, Dockside Extortionist, Feldon of the Third Path, Goblin Cratermaker, Goblin Engineer, Goblin Welder, Humble Defector, Imperial Recruiter, Loyal Apprentice. Merchant of the Vale // Haggle, Priest of Urabrask, Quicksmith Genius, Seasoned Pyromancer, Subira, Tulzidi Caravanner, Treasure Nabber

If you can outline the details, i'd be happy to assist you.

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Post by benjameenbear » 2 years ago

Those are some great suggestions. My question, I guess, is what pieces of the Birb strategy would recommend including in the 99 of another decklist that is also Artifact-focused?

Osgir is a sac outlet in the Command Zone, so it looks like cards that generate mana upon death like Cathodion could have combo potentials with Teshar, but Teshar's combo loops are still a challenge to wrap my head around without devoting significant thought to.

The reason I want to include Teshar is because it allows me to turn the heavy Artifact theme in the deck into direct-to-battlefield advantage. So it acts as a supplement to Osgir's ability and helps to diversify the ways I get value out of the 'yard.

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Post by Toshi » 2 years ago

benjameenbear wrote:
2 years ago
what pieces of the Birb strategy would recommend including in the 99 of another decklist that is also Artifact-focused?

The reason I want to include Teshar is because it allows me to turn the heavy Artifact theme in the deck into direct-to-battlefield advantage. So it acts as a supplement to Osgir's ability and helps to diversify the ways I get value out of the 'yard.
I think what you should be looking for is a combination of Teshar pieces that compliment Osgir tactics and some non-artifact pieces that are good in a vacuum and outright disgusting with the bird.
Scarecrone would add a lot of utility. Think Burnished Hart with both in play!? Multiple Millikins, Foundry Inspectors, undying Ethersworn Canonist, Kami of False Hope, Remorseful Cleric, Selfless Spirit and Ranger-Captain of Eos, ...

I think the balance of noncreature artifacts and (artifact) creatures will be important, since your actual commander can do a lot with noncreature ones, yet its secret companion requires a bunch of them.
Give Search for Glory, Recruiter of the Guard and maybe even Thalia's Lancers a thought, to be able to tutor up Birdy McBirdface reliably.

Also, Angel of the Ruins would be a hilarious bomb. Cycle it for a Plains, then get two copies of it from the yard...

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