Galaddriel, Raise the Alarm Tribal

[Dunadain]

There's nothing too special about Galadriel, Light of Valinor. To be honest, the deck kind of builds itself. However, I do think she's one of the best go-wide commander out there for 3 reasons:

1. she provides card draw
2. she is an anthem (that doesn't fold to spot removal!)
3. she is in bant, which are probably the best colors to make and defend an army with.

2 creatures at a time is probably the sweet spot, that way you get both the +1/+1 anthem and the Preordain. The green Dark Ritual is nice, but not nearly as impactful.

I don't have much more to add, game plan is to get a bunch of triggers off of Galadriel and to always have interaction up.

Decklist

DecklistCMCManaPricesChartsDraw 7

Commander

1 Galadriel, Light of Valinor

Dorks (12)

1 Joraga Treespeaker

1 Avacyn's Pilgrim

1 Birds of Paradise

1 Boreal Druid

1 Delighted Halfling

1 Elvish Mystic

1 Fyndhorn Elves

1 Llanowar Elves

1 Mana Crypt

1 Noble Hierarch

1 Sol Ring

1 Wild Growth

MV=3 Ramp (2)

1 Cultivate

1 Kodama's Reach

Card Draw (2)

1 Idol of Oblivion

1 Staff of the Storyteller

Closers (5)

1 Anointed Procession

1 Craterhoof Behemoth

1 Doubling Season

1 Mondrak, Glory Dominus

1 Parallel Lives

Removal (5)

1 Beast Within

1 Excise the Imperfect

1 Generous Gift

1 Stroke of Midnight

1 Cyclonic Rift

Tutor (1)

1 Chord of Calling

Phasing Protection (4)

1 Clever Concealment

1 Galadriel's Dismissal

1 Guardian of Faith

1 Teferi's Protection

Protection (4)

1 Flawless Maneuver

1 Grand Crescendo

1 Heroic Intervention

1 Everybody Lives!

Counterspells (10)

1 An Offer You Can't Refuse

1 Arcane Denial

1 Counterspell

1 Fierce Guardianship

1 Flusterstorm

1 Force of Negation

1 Force of Will

1 Mana Drain

1 Stubborn Denial

1 Swan Song

Raise the Alarms (3)

1 Raise the Alarm

1 Resolute Reinforcements

1 Verdant Command

MV=3 Raise the Alarms (8)

1 Arachnogenesis

1 Call the Coppercoats

1 Charge of the Mites

1 Gilt-Leaf Ambush

1 March of the Multitudes

1 Midnight Haunting

1 Rally for the Throne

1 Secure the Wastes

Reoccurring Tokens (6)

1 Luminarch Ascension

1 Recruit the Worthy

1 Retrofitter Foundry

1 Sprout Swarm

1 Tendershoot Dryad

1 Whitemane Lion

Token Lands (10)

1 Argoth, Sanctum of Nature

1 Castle Ardenvale

1 Field of the Dead

1 Legion's Landing // Adanto, the First Fort

1 Memorial to Glory

1 Mirrex

1 Moorland Haunt

1 Springjack Pasture

1 Urza's Saga

1 Vitu-Ghazi, the City-Tree

Regular Lands (27)

1 Arid Mesa

1 Boseiju, Who Endures

1 Breeding Pool

1 Command Tower

1 Exotic Orchard

1 Flooded Strand

1 Forest

1 Gemstone Caverns

1 Hallowed Fountain

1 Island

1 Marsh Flats

1 Misty Rainforest

1 Otawara, Soaring City

1 Plains

1 Plaza of Heroes

1 Polluted Delta

1 Prismatic Vista

1 Savannah

1 Scalding Tarn

1 Snow-Covered Plains

1 Spara's Headquarters

1 Temple Garden

1 Tropical Island

1 Tundra

1 Verdant Catacombs

1 Windswept Heath

1 Wooded Foothills

Approximate Total Cost:

Okay, I lied, now that I've actually put the list to paper I have a couple comments. I decided to avoid any 1-creature only protection spells like Loran's Escape Galadriel is really the only creature that we NEED to save. However, most of the board-wide protection spells also protect a single creature just fine. Additionally, we are in blue, we COULD run Loran's Escape, or we could just run Swan Song.

As someone that hates mana dorks, this deck is pretty obviously an exception, mana ramp that cantrips later? yes please!

Cultivate and Kodama's Reach are a little questionable when we could run creature-based ramp that also cantrips in the late game, but they are great early game, and we have a lot of top-deck manipulation in Galadriel, Light of Valinor, so we should be able to avoid drawing them if we don't want them.

Speaking of cards I hate: doublers! I'm still not too sure if they are going to be all-that in the deck, tapping 4-5 mana sorcery speed isn't something I want to be doing a lot of with the deck. However, eventually I'll have enough lands that I'm comfortable paying 4-5 on my turn, and they can probably go pretty nutty in this deck.

I thought for a bit about Elspeth, Sun's Champion. Getting all 3 triggers of Galadriel, Light of Valinor each turn without spending any mana seems great, and it works up to a fantastic ultimate for the deck. However, the deck is chock-full of instant speed interaction, I'm doubtful I'll ever want to tap out like that once Galadriel's down, and if she's not down, then all of my effort should be focused on getting her down.

I almost went with no removal, spot-removal can only slow down your opponents, which is fine, but I envision this deck being pretty pedal-to-the-metal. Counterspells can slow down your opponents if you need them too (counter their most important spells), but they can also be used to prevent your opponents from slowing YOU down (counter their counters/removal/board-wipes), therefore, I actually prefer counterspells to spot removal in this deck, which is the opposite of my normal attitude on removal vs. counterspells. However, it's probably foolish to have NO removal, so I've got 4 removal spells that can hit just about anything. Galadriel digs pretty hard, so I shouldn't have any trouble finding them if I need them.

[Gorillajay]

As someone that hates mana dorks, this deck is pretty obviously an exception, mana ramp that cantrips later? yes please!

Have you considered Joraga Treespeaker ? Almost Guarantees a turn 3 commander for a 5 mana commander (Assuming you can get your W and U requirements met). I play it in my Xenagos, God of Revels for exactly this reason.

[Dunadain]

As someone that hates mana dorks, this deck is pretty obviously an exception, mana ramp that cantrips later? yes please!

Have you considered Joraga Treespeaker ? Almost Guarantees a turn 3 commander for a 5 mana commander (Assuming you can get your W and U requirements met). I play it in my Xenagos, God of Revels for exactly this reason.

Oh yeah, that's a slam dunk

[DirkGently]

Brazen Borrower // Petty Theft 🧐

[Dunadain]

Brazen Borrower // Petty Theft 🧐

Am I missing something? It's an instant speed way to trigger galadriel I guess, and the card is just generically good, but I'm not falling over myself to find room for it.

[DirkGently]

Brazen Borrower // Petty Theft 🧐

Am I missing something? It's an instant speed way to trigger galadriel I guess, and the card is just generically good, but I'm not falling over myself to find room for it.

Lol just that I mentioned this deck idea in the new card discussion:

I think I figured out the build for Galadriel, Light of Yalinor - it's not Chulane 2.0, it's actually Raise the Alarm tribal.

Coincidence? I think NOT!

[Dunadain]

Brazen Borrower // Petty Theft 🧐

Am I missing something? It's an instant speed way to trigger galadriel I guess, and the card is just generically good, but I'm not falling over myself to find room for it.

Lol just that I mentioned this deck idea in the new card discussion:

I think I figured out the build for Galadriel, Light of Yalinor - it's not Chulane 2.0, it's actually Raise the Alarm tribal.

OH lol

You snooze you lose I guess 🤷‍♂️

[Dunadain]

Played two games and won them both.

I thought I might have been going too hard on the token lands (when's the last time you saw someone playing Vitu-Ghazi, the City-Tree?) Having played a few games, however, I think I'm going to keep all of them, turns out, a tech land that can cast Preordain every turn is kind of cracked, even if it costs 2gwt. Then, once you get one of our four copies of Anointed Procession, they close out the game REAL quick.

Honestly, i should probably cut a lot of the Raise the Alarms, all the 2mv ones can stay, and I'll certainly keep the better 3mv ones (like Secure the Wastes). But I'd like to run some more ramp in its place to make t3 galadriel as consistent as possible.

[BlackbirdPlaysMTG]

Oooh, this is a commander I have been considering to build as well. Really cool and tricky list with a lot of interaction! It's a lot less creature-heavy than the lists I envisioned. I'll keep an eye out on this topic .

[Dunadain]

Oooh, this is a commander I have been considering to build as well. Really cool and tricky list with a lot of interaction! It's a lot less creature-heavy than the lists I envisioned. I'll keep an eye out on this topic .

Lol, I'm a compulsive control player, why play token spam when you could play token spam with control elements? XD

Also, if you look through my decks, you'll see a common through line in all of them is that i don't like losing to Wrath of God, this deck allows me to play token spam while being very resilient to board wipes.

I honestly think this is the correct way to go with Galadriel, Light of Valinor though, stapling a Preordain onto every creature is insane, and this deck abuses that ability much more than a generic token spam deck might.

[Chromaticus]

I kind of like a Whitemane Lion with these types of commanders. Preordain with buyback 0 so you can play it on your opponents turns seems like a good get.

Oketra's Monument is really great with your actual creatures, but not so hot with the token makers.

Tendershoot Dryad is one I would consider - the theme around all of these being that Galadriel, Light of Valinor isn't limited to your turn.

Jaheira, Friend of the Forest seems like a good way to go big.

[Dunadain]

I kind of like a Whitemane Lion with these types of commanders. Preordain with buyback 0 so you can play it on your opponents turns seems like a good get.

Oketra's Monument is really great with your actual creatures, but not so hot with the token makers.

Tendershoot Dryad is one I would consider - the theme around all of these being that Galadriel, Light of Valinor isn't limited to your turn.

Jaheira, Friend of the Forest seems like a good way to go big.

Whitemane Lion Is pretty neat. I think it's important to make sure you don't become too durdly, eventujally you'll reach a point where you ask your self why aren't I just playing Shorikai, Genesis Engine? So, despite the much larger mana commitment, the fact that Sprout Swarm and Recruit the Worthy (and token lands) also add to the board make me prefer them. Having said that, Whitemane Lion is also a (bad) protection spell. So it's probably worth the slot.

I think I'm running too many token generators to make good use of Oketra's Monument.

I'm concerned that Tendershoot Dryad and Jaheira, Friend of the Forest might be a bit win-more. Having said that, the cards with convoke have felt really good so far, so Jaheira, Friend of the Forest probably warrants testing.

[Dunadain]

Added in Cyclonic Rift and Whitemane Lion and cut 2 of the more pricey raise the alarms. I just forgot about rift when brewing the list XD.

I'm still thinking about Jaheira, Friend of the Forest, Rishkar, Peema Renegade is a second copy of the effect if I decide it's something the deck wants.

[Moxnix]

The ability seems really powerful. How sold are you on cultivate / kodama? I feel like in any creatures matter build ever I can find a better creature based mana source than those. I think those could maybe be lotus cobra/ bloom tender / azusa / nissa animist/ awkening zone something like that has to be better than the generic land ramp spells they are long in the tooth for the modern age and slow and don't have synergy. Do you own cradle? even on low creature count it looks like a best card here.

[BlackbirdPlaysMTG]

Lol, I'm a compulsive control player, why play token spam when you could play token spam with control elements? XD
Also, if you look through my decks, you'll see a common through line in all of them is that i don't like losing to Wrath of God, this deck allows me to play token spam while being very resilient to board wipes.

I honestly think this is the correct way to go with Galadriel, Light of Valinor though, stapling a Preordain onto every creature is insane, and this deck abuses that ability much more than a generic token spam deck might.

Yeah, this list seems pretty well rounded compared to your standard explosive token lists. Those usually put all their eggs in one basked and fold to one or two boardwipes.

The ability seems really powerful. How sold are you on cultivate / kodama? I feel like in any creatures matter build ever I can find a better creature based mana source than those. I think those could maybe be lotus cobra/ bloom tender / azusa / nissa animist/ awkening zone something like that has to be better than the generic land ramp spells they are long in the tooth for the modern age and slow and don't have synergy. Do you own cradle? even on low creature count it looks like a best card here.

Yeah, I agree, Bloom Tender and stuff like Priest of Titania (you run at least a few elves) are perhaps better.

[Dunadain]

Well, I think I'm officially retiring this list. It's just too oppressive, you pretty much need to answer galadriel the turn I play her, or I'll have protection up for the rest of the game. Meanwhile, she's making a giant army VERY quickly.

Then, if you do somehow manage to punch through all my protection, I'll have drawn so many cards and enjoyed so much selection that I'm not even set back that far and can just go again.

Hate can also be over come pretty trivial. Tax effects? The deck ramps well. Pillow fort? The deck digs crazy fast and can find removal in a matter of seconds. Torpor Orb it's probably strong if you can get it pay the wall of counter magic.

I kind of worried this would happen, especially considering how closely she resembles Chulane, Teller of Tales, but figured I'd give it a shot anyways. Honestly, borderline better than Chulane, Teller of Tales, as she offers way more selection and is a self-contained win-condition.

Honestly, Emiel the Blessed has also been towing this line, but I'm a lot more invested in that deck, so I keep it around out of stubbornness (besides, it's nice to have at least one option of people want to play optimized).

If anyone else wishes to continue tweaking the deck, however, have at it.

[ender86]

This list looks like a lot of fun, and I just bought her to begin working on it! I'll have to mull over how to try and tone down the oppressiveness. That's too bad because Glen Elendra Archmage seems like nice protection since she can be sacrificed once per turn since Galadriel can negate the -1/-1 when she returns to the battlefield.