The Hanna, Ship's Navigator Pillow Fort Guide!
A Primer for Pillow Fort Theory and U/W Control
She totally looks like Julia Stiles to me. Call me, Julia!
Part I: Pillow-Talk What is Pillow Fort?
Pillow Fort is a variety of EDH where you play a defensive deck that redirects opponents to other players at the table. Pillow Fort can be used 1v1, but the main appeal is in politically influencing the direction of a game by balancing aggressors and using your opponent's "perception of threat" to serve your own purposes.
Perception of Threat?
Perception of Threat describes the way your opponents survey the game state. if you are not perceived as a threat, you are less likely to be attacked!
How do you win?
This deck seeks to build up a game-winning hand or a combo without drawing aggression from the rest of the board. After the dust settles, you go through one critical turn in which you either win the game, or severely cripple your opponents.
Who came up with this?
The original concept is as old as EDH itself, but it was recently talked about on the 48th episode of Commander Cast on mtgcast.com. It's about halfway through the show.
How do I know if this deck is for me?
Pillow Fort strategies uniquely offer two styles of gameplay: the first is the minimalist, boardless, seemingly hopeless playstyle of a control deck, and the second is the grandeur of fishbowling out a stellar game-ending turn. Having access to both makes every game a new and interesting experience, especially if you like interacting with the game state.
Help-Goat, Lord of Pillows
Part II: Stuffing
Which generals make good pillow forts?
White is the best color for this kind of strategy. No color has more access to preventative measures, defensive enchantments, walls, and effects. Cards like Martyr's Bond and Karmic Justice foster a "Don't touch my stuff" mentality, while Lightmine Field and Ghostly Prison effects make combat awkward for your opponents. The best card for this strategy, Solitary Confinement, is also white, along with Force Bubble and hundreds of damage-absorbing effects.
Blue is arguably the next best color for pillow forts, since the color is naturally defensive and has cards like Propaganda and Energy Field that serve the same purpose as their white counterparts.
Red is a great color for pillowforting in setting up a critical turn. Cards like Radiate and Insurrection greatly aid a single-turn victory, and cards like Repercussion and Powerstone Minefield can act as deterrents right alongside your white enchantments.
Green is an ok color, depending on your general. Rafiq of the Many makes an alright pillowfort general, since winning in one turn is possible with his magnification of a single attack phase. The stigma attached to him as a near-combo general may steer you clear. Phelddagrif is an awesome Pillow Fort general, since he is historically played as a "Group Hug" general. Even if you never cast a single helpful spell, his mere presence and the occasional use of his abilities may convince most tables that you're a low priority target. Generally, you don't want to be ramping OR dropping fatties, since both alter your opponents' perception of threat.
Black is generally poor for this style of deck. Cards that are invasive, destructive, crippling, recursive, or exiling make opponents see red. I can see an Orzhov-style pillowfight deck, since those colors are inherently political, but if you're stealing creatures from graveyards and destroying hands you'll see a lot of backlash.
Pillow #1: Energy Field/Solitary Confinement + Hanna, Ship's Navigator: These two enchantments are somewhat fragile, but Hanna's ability to recur them makes them enough of a deterrent that most people won't bother to attack. To get around the downside of Solitary Confinement, you can simply let it die each upkeep and then re-play it using Hanna for 3WWU.
Pillow #2: Aura Thief + Academy Rector: These are more rattlesnakes than pillows, which is a dangerous thing to confuse... With the right board state, these creatures provide enough incentive for your opponents to attack elsewhere, or not at all. Making it awkward to attack is sometimes all you need to deter damage.
Pillow #3: Beacon of Immortality + Planar Portal: This is all instant speed once you play Planar Portal, so you can represent countermagic the entire turn and then tap 11 for "Double your Life Total." If you're unfamiliar with infectious disease, doubling effects quickly get out of control.
40 x 2 = 80, 80 x 2 = 160, four turns later you have 2500+ life.
Pillow #4: Countermagic
Representing countermagic or simply filling your hand is a huge deterrent. People play the cards they love in EDH, and nobody wants to have their favorite card countered. You're perfectly within your rights to say "Don't bother me, and I'll let your spells resolve." Pillowfighting is a political enterprise...
Cryptic Command: Don't attack me, don't cast things on me. Hinder: Don't sic that general on me. Remand: Think twice about casting that on me. Foil: As an additional cost to casting Foil, flip your opponent the bird.
Pillow #5: Suave.
Do what you have to do. Flirt, Threaten, Disgust, Trick, Lie, Subvert, and Martyr your way into your opponent's good graces. The better you are at bluffing and bull****ting, the more effective your deck will be. Never overfill the board with enchantments or artifacts you don't need: if you think of your ramp artifacts as rituals, you're much more likely to have them alive when you need them for a critical turn. Use one pillow at a time whenever possible to leave yourself outs. Only boardsweep when it's life and death. Consistently leave mana open so it seems like you can counter, even when you can't. last but not least, don't overfill your hand, as 16+ cards is as big a threat as anything else.
Why omit Propaganda and Ghostly Prison?
Simply put, these enchantments were awesome when they were "new technology," just like Rhystic Study. Everyone was on Level 0, refusing to attack for a cost when they could attack for free elsewhere. At level 0, these are insanely good.
With numerous blogs, webcasts, articles, and Wizards support, Commander is developing enough of a hivemind that these cards are starting to generate the opposite effect: putting a cost on attacking makes some players feel like they're being tricked, so they make it a point to show you taxation without representation is not a valid defense. The mana cost is a tempo loss, but not enough of one. Opponents are now on Level 1, where the option of paying 2 makes them feel like they're investing in threat management (and they're right!)
These are valid if you run a heavily meta-oriented deck where your opponents have lots of creatures. A combination of all 3 propaganda effects along with enchantments like Reverence and Lightmine Field are an effective barrier. Beware of the "Challenge Accepted" mentality.
The Win Conditions:
No single win condition is prioritized over another. Game state, expected combo hate, or availability are all factors in winning any game!
Win #1: Temple Bell + Mind Over Matter: Tap Temple Bell to force everyone to draw one, then untap Temple Bell by discarding any card. Repeat to force all players to draw their entire decks. You can discard Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre to Mind over Matter. This combo can be set up with Intuition for an Open the Vaults. I find my best strategy is to respond to an opponent's threat with these two cards and a counterspell, which increases the chance they'll give me one of the combo pieces so I can use Hanna to grab the other when I untap.
Win #2: Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre + Sunder: Sometimes, casting an Eldrazi into an empty field is all you need to win. Once you get to a crucial turn, don't be afraid to simply beat down!
Win #3: Reins of Power: Let your opponent do all the hard work. Steal his field and kill him with it once he finally flips that massive Genesis Wave, or throw Friend A's army in front of Friend B's to remind them why they miscalculated their attack step. This is Blue Insurrection, at instant speed.
Win #4: Enchanted Evening + Opalescence: Best used through a good Open the Vaults, this lets you sweep the board of all lands, leaving you with the potentially largest army on the field. Enchanted Evening also happens to be stupid with Aura Thief.
This deckbuilding style is definitely worth trying out; hopefully this guide has gotten some of you as excited about pillow forts as the 7 year old in me. If you have any comments on improving this guide or the included decklist, leave them below!
This is barely the style of deck you describe, it's just a Hanna combo deck that runs enchantments. It would function equally well without half (or even all) the damage reduction or non-targetting spells. Just call it an Opalescence combo deck and be done with it, as that is what it is.
Hanna also has a very high threat perception, she is barely low key, everyone knows how she combos off.
If you wish to showcase a lowkey, threat deterent strategy (not just using combo pieces you would run regardless) try WUR or use a general like Ith.
I'm using Lady Evangela for my version and at least she has enough cards that prevent damage or reduce my threat perception without sending warning bells I'm going to Enlightened Tutor EOT, play Opalesence and Enchanted Evening to win.
I also play Weiss Schwarz, Chaos, Vanguard and Wixoss.
Weiss Schwarz Sets
Accel World, Angel Beats, Familiar of Zero, Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet, Guilty Crown, Kill La Kill, Robotics;Notes, Sword Art Online.
Chaos Partners
Arpeggio of Blue Steel: Iona, Kirishima, Kongou.
Dangan Ronpa: Asahina, Togami.
Freezing: Vibration: Chiffon, Satelizer.
Vanguard Clans Favoured
Angel Feather, Dark Irregulars, Genesis, Neonecter, Pale Moon, Shadow Paladins, Tachikaze.
'Threat-level perception' for this deck is high because of Hanna's nature as a combo general. If your playstyle is to pillowfort until you pull off a combo, Hanna isn't ideal due to her long history as a combo general. The worse part is that it's a one-trick pony because everyone will think this of your general playstyle: stall until you get out a combo. And that, frankly, is what this 'pillowfort' is - stall, and combo.
Pillowfort may dissuade people from attacking you, but as the name implies, it's a soft playstyle - cards like Ghostly Prison may, of course, be omitted if you do please, but preventing all damage dealt every turn is more 'stall' than 'pillowfort'.
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EDH
BGJumpin' JaradsGB BB Furry Rat Lady: The Deck BB UU I Don't Ever Want To Explain How Knowledge Pool Works Ever Again UU RR This Is My Suika Cosplay Lightning Bolt Deck RR WW Mangara exiles both permanents and friends RWG Marath Sunforger RWG WUBRG Cromat and Friends WUBRG
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You might honestly be better off just listing like the top 20 or so cards for each color for pillowforting in here... I think this sort of a page would be better off without a decklist attached to it and just sort of list a lot of the mentality behind the decks.
I do like what I have read so far though. I just dont know if I would attach any one decklist to the page itself.
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I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
You might honestly be better off just listing like the top 20 or so cards for each color for pillowforting in here... I think this sort of a page would be better off without a decklist attached to it and just sort of list a lot of the mentality behind the decks.
I do like what I have read so far though. I just dont know if I would attach any one decklist to the page itself.
Your response is better than mine, yes, no list is likely advisable and describing certain configurations (as opposed to decklists that may prioritise other methods of winning as I view this decklist).
You may wish to describe the different styles of the 'pillowfort' card (I still dislike the term).
I also play Weiss Schwarz, Chaos, Vanguard and Wixoss.
Weiss Schwarz Sets
Accel World, Angel Beats, Familiar of Zero, Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet, Guilty Crown, Kill La Kill, Robotics;Notes, Sword Art Online.
Chaos Partners
Arpeggio of Blue Steel: Iona, Kirishima, Kongou.
Dangan Ronpa: Asahina, Togami.
Freezing: Vibration: Chiffon, Satelizer.
Vanguard Clans Favoured
Angel Feather, Dark Irregulars, Genesis, Neonecter, Pale Moon, Shadow Paladins, Tachikaze.
Your response is better than mine, yes, no list is likely advisable and describing certain configurations (as opposed to decklists that may prioritise other methods of winning as I view this decklist).
You may wish to describe the different styles of the 'pillowfort' card (I still dislike the term).
Commandercast sort of keyed the term lately. It didn't really have a name that I had heard until this came along a week or two back. It seems appropriate at the very least.
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I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
Yeah, I mean, I can ditch the decklist. If I'm going to come up with the top 20 Pillowfort cards, I definitely could benefit from suggestions. If it's not mentioned above, dump it down here and I'll get to editing sometime this week.
In my meta, nobody freaked when I chose Hanna, and I only saw a handful of lists on the forum (when compared to, say, Sharuum the Hegemon) so I might've missed just how combo-y people anticipated her. I think it has a lot to do with how you play the preceding turns before comboing, too- If you try as hard as you can to intuition and go infinite with Temple Bell, that's one thing, but I usually try a lot harder to opalescence instead, since it feels more "fair."
I can build a Zedruu deck and post that instead, if it's better for defining an archetype. I have some experience with her.
My pillow fort definition of my Hanna deck comes from just how unlikely it is I'll be attacking, or developing a board presence.
I personally would consider Hanna to be a lot more combo oriented than pillowforting although she does some pillowforting as her colors are good at it. However when most people think about her it is usually as a combo commander. I am not saying that it is wrong to consider her a pillowfort but she is known for lockouts and combos a bit more so.
It is your page so it is your call where you want to go with it. From the title and the content that isnt the decklist I sort of expected it to be a bit more of a generic overview of the style of play altogether or I would expect decklists for a lot of different type of pillowfort commanders to be listed as an example. It would be easier not to list the decklists in my opinion though just due to the fact that I would expect a lot of high tuned decklists to be listed in a primer so it might be easier not to have that.
Yeah, I mean, I can ditch the decklist. If I'm going to come up with the top 20 Pillowfort cards, I definitely could benefit from suggestions. If it's not mentioned above, dump it down here and I'll get to editing sometime this week.
In my meta, nobody freaked when I chose Hanna, and I only saw a handful of lists on the forum (when compared to, say, Sharuum the Hegemon) so I might've missed just how combo-y people anticipated her. I think it has a lot to do with how you play the preceding turns before comboing, too- If you try as hard as you can to intuition and go infinite with Temple Bell, that's one thing, but I usually try a lot harder to opalescence instead, since it feels more "fair."
I can build a Zedruu deck and post that instead, if it's better for defining an archetype. I have some experience with her.
My pillow fort definition of my Hanna deck comes from just how unlikely it is I'll be attacking, or developing a board presence.
If your meta is okay with Hanna then I suppose it's fine then. And if that is your definition of a pillowfort, then you're doing it right, I guess. Not attacking or developing a board presence keeps your threat level low. I'm just concerned as to whether that will be your basic playstyle when you play this deck. If the playstyle is always Pillowfort -> Combo then opponents might see though your ruse.
You might want to run Hanna's signature enchantments, the Parallax cards for U and W, as backup plans together with either Opalescence or just anything that sacs Permanents. I know this goes against everything I've said earlier, but it also helps when you're pillowforting to get out a combo since you effectively have 2 more combos for 2 more cards.
I feel that for Pillowforting Hanna is actually better due to her repeatable recursion.
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EDH
BGJumpin' JaradsGB BB Furry Rat Lady: The Deck BB UU I Don't Ever Want To Explain How Knowledge Pool Works Ever Again UU RR This Is My Suika Cosplay Lightning Bolt Deck RR WW Mangara exiles both permanents and friends RWG Marath Sunforger RWG WUBRG Cromat and Friends WUBRG
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I have to agree with the above, you have a very aggressive pillowfort deck. Pillowfort, by definition, is to build board position that makes your opponents think it's not worth attacking you.
The list has a lot of cards, that if I saw you play them, I would target you until you're no longer a threat:
Hanna
Futuresight
Mind Over Matter
JTMS
Consecrated Sphinx
and maybe even Soothslaying.
I think you have the right idea on the pillowfort concept but I have to agree with everyone else that in most playgroups a Hanna deck that wins via combo is not what you're looking for. Zedruu comes off to me as a griefer commander which is also not the best choice for a pillowfort commander. My Angus list and Galspanic's Azami list are much more in line with what you want in a pillowfort commander. Angus plays with almost no win conditions and Galspanic goes a step further and plays pretty much 0 win conditions though Azami is a fairly high threat commander and being monoblue a bit light on pillows. Green is a really good color to pair with white as it gives you recursion, Privileged Position and Sterling Grove (the latter 2 can be paired with Karmic Justice) to help protect your wall of don't hurt me.
Also you need to add the best pillowfort card ever in Humility. It pretty much makes it impossible to kill you with creatures outside of random token decks and many decks rely on creatures to destroy enchantments.
There should probably be a section about how you gain value from your opponents attacking each other while they're not attacking you. It would probably have stuff like Avatar of Slaughter, Mass Hysteria, Furnace of Rath, Master Warcraft. Things like that.
Honestly, not a fan of walls by their nature. There are very few that look acceptable to me, for the sole reason of the way in which many aggro AND combo decks win.
A Ghave, Guru of Spores list can easily start swinging with upwards of 10 creatures, in which your wall, regardless of size/strength, absorbs only a fraction of the total damage. Avenger of Zendikar is one of the most played green cards in the format, and decks like Rhys will always be attacking en masse.
There are exceptions to this bias against single defenders, but they're non-wall. Empyrial Archangel and Weathered Wayfarers, combined with something like Darksteel Plate, do an effective job of stopping attackers.
Re: Generals, I think the wrong decision in pillowforting is to choose a significantly worse general to appear non-threatening. It depends on how next-level you want to get on your opponents. You have the option of picking something totally innocuous like (forgive the assumption) Angus Mackenzie, but I think in actual practice, tables don't behave like forums. What I mean is, just because a general appears combo-licious in the hivemind doesn't mean your real-life playgroup will make assumptions so absolute. If I sit down at a table, there are 10+ generals I'm more afraid of than Hanna, Ship's Navigator.
Final thoughts: The idea of your pillowfort deck should probably be 20% focused on seeming like you're not a threat. What I consider more effective, and what I devote 80% of my time to, is making it seem like attacking is futile. The threat of counters as reprecussions, boardsweeps, or just not being able to deal damage turns most attackers elsewhere, even if you're actually the biggest threat at the table.
So, I think I might stick with Hanna, but I agree with cutting Consecrated Sphinx.
A Ghave, Guru of Spores list can easily start swinging with upwards of 10 creatures, in which your wall, regardless of size/strength, absorbs only a fraction of the total damage. Avenger of Zendikar is one of the most played green cards in the format, and decks like Rhys will always be attacking en masse.
You were pretty quick to throw out Propaganda, Ghostly Prison, and Windborn Muse. Different pillowfort cards against different threats; it's unrealistic to expect to find a whole deck full of cards that handle any threat in a singleton format. Rhys with 100 tokens simply can't afford to attack you when you've got one of those out. And don't forget about ol' Kazuul. Rhys/Ghave/Avenger ain't got nothin' on him.
Re: Generals, I think the wrong decision in pillowforting is to choose a significantly worse general to appear non-threatening. It depends on how next-level you want to get on your opponents. You have the option of picking something totally innocuous like (forgive the assumption) Angus Mackenzie, but I think in actual practice, tables don't behave like forums. What I mean is, just because a general appears combo-licious in the hivemind doesn't mean your real-life playgroup will make assumptions so absolute. If I sit down at a table, there are 10+ generals I'm more afraid of than Hanna, Ship's Navigator.
This very well may be metagame dependent. Mine is pretty evolved so sitting down with a Hanna deck is automatically going to draw hate, even more so in future games after people see that you're just trying to lay low until you combo off. We do have a Hanna deck but it's non-combo so we treat it appropriately. I also see this happen on MTGO where stronger commanders tend to draw lots of hate so making something like a "fair" no LD Jhoira fun deck is going to get you killed a lot. Also as a side note my Angus deck has the highest win percentage of all my decks save Edric.;)
Final thoughts: The idea of your pillowfort deck should probably be 20% focused on seeming like you're not a threat. What I consider more effective, and what I devote 80% of my time to, is making it seem like attacking is futile. The threat of counters as reprecussions, boardsweeps, or just not being able to deal damage turns most attackers elsewhere, even if you're actually the biggest threat at the table.
I disagree with this somewhat. If people are playing to win it's often correct for them to keep creatures back instead of swinging on weaker opponents. Killing off weaker threats is just going to make it more difficult for them to kill off the actual threat at the table or at least regain board parity. Being the clear biggest threat should turn the game into x vs. 1 where x is the number of your opponents because this gives them all the best chance to win.
As an example take the card Oblivion Stone. In more casual groups this will often be a huge rattlesnake card encouraging people to attack elsewhere with their creatures. In a more competitive meta the person most likely to get swung on by Akroma is usually the person with the active Oblivion Stone. The reason for this is that competitive players are playing to win and most decks in this format have a hard time winning a game when an opponent has an active Oblivion Stone, not to mention how much it can slow down everyone's board developement. So you can force them to blow up the Stone now with Akroma or you can wait 5 turns letting them control the board with O-Stone but either way your Akroma is going to die to O-Stone so you might as well just get it over with.
Another idea for pillowforting is acutally just playing low priority threats. The more I look at my Jenara deck the more I really could probably call it a pillowfort deck. I keep a low profile and honestly dont have all that many high profile spells / creatures. I win very very slowly over several turns and generally speaking I just try to get other people killed until I can start throwing my commander around.
In my experience the only way to use the same deck in the same meta as a pillow fort is to make the deck win very very slowly. If you make a pillowforting combo deck then I have no mental blockade to swinging at you. If I can see you trying to win slowly over 3-4 turns that means I have time to react. It also means that people are more willing to overlook you earlier on. If I know that a deck is a combo deck I will use resources to blow away their defenses because I know it will eventually end in a single chain of everyone loosing and thus I cant allow them to turtle.
I think that the actual act of how a deck wins and percieved threat is a huge part of pillowforting yourself. If everyone knows they have to kill you or you are the guy that everyone loves to kill first then pillowforting isnt that productive. More often than not someone can blow apart part of your pillowforting but simply dont as they are saving that removal for something more aggressive or that might put them in threat. If you are the threat at the table then dont expect to keep those defenses for long.
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I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
I agree with you on your assessment of your Jenara deck as somewhat of a pillowfort deck. My Pheldagriff deck plays lots of the same cards with a similar strategy and it can often just sit back, play random dorks and be defensive. Then all of a sudden you look over and I've got a really dug in board position and it's too late to stop me.
I'm telling you guys Angus is as pillowfort a deck as I've seen on these forums. My back up win condition is literally Jace the Mindsculptor ultimates. I probably kill 1/4 of my opponents because they simply run out of cards.
A Primer for Pillow Fort Theory and U/W Control
She totally looks like Julia Stiles to me. Call me, Julia!
What is Pillow Fort?
Pillow Fort is a variety of EDH where you play a defensive deck that redirects opponents to other players at the table. Pillow Fort can be used 1v1, but the main appeal is in politically influencing the direction of a game by balancing aggressors and using your opponent's "perception of threat" to serve your own purposes.
Perception of Threat?
Perception of Threat describes the way your opponents survey the game state. if you are not perceived as a threat, you are less likely to be attacked!
How do you win?
This deck seeks to build up a game-winning hand or a combo without drawing aggression from the rest of the board. After the dust settles, you go through one critical turn in which you either win the game, or severely cripple your opponents.
Who came up with this?
The original concept is as old as EDH itself, but it was recently talked about on the 48th episode of Commander Cast on mtgcast.com. It's about halfway through the show.
How do I know if this deck is for me?
Pillow Fort strategies uniquely offer two styles of gameplay: the first is the minimalist, boardless, seemingly hopeless playstyle of a control deck, and the second is the grandeur of fishbowling out a stellar game-ending turn. Having access to both makes every game a new and interesting experience, especially if you like interacting with the game state.
Help-Goat, Lord of Pillows
Which generals make good pillow forts?
White is the best color for this kind of strategy. No color has more access to preventative measures, defensive enchantments, walls, and effects. Cards like Martyr's Bond and Karmic Justice foster a "Don't touch my stuff" mentality, while Lightmine Field and Ghostly Prison effects make combat awkward for your opponents. The best card for this strategy, Solitary Confinement, is also white, along with Force Bubble and hundreds of damage-absorbing effects.
Good white pillowfort generals don't want to restrict your opponents like a Stax general, such as Hokori, Dust Drinker or Linvala, Keeper of Silence. Choose an inoccuous general instead, like Darien, King of Kjeldor or Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker.
Blue is arguably the next best color for pillow forts, since the color is naturally defensive and has cards like Propaganda and Energy Field that serve the same purpose as their white counterparts.
Red is a great color for pillowforting in setting up a critical turn. Cards like Radiate and Insurrection greatly aid a single-turn victory, and cards like Repercussion and Powerstone Minefield can act as deterrents right alongside your white enchantments.
Green is an ok color, depending on your general. Rafiq of the Many makes an alright pillowfort general, since winning in one turn is possible with his magnification of a single attack phase. The stigma attached to him as a near-combo general may steer you clear. Phelddagrif is an awesome Pillow Fort general, since he is historically played as a "Group Hug" general. Even if you never cast a single helpful spell, his mere presence and the occasional use of his abilities may convince most tables that you're a low priority target. Generally, you don't want to be ramping OR dropping fatties, since both alter your opponents' perception of threat.
Black is generally poor for this style of deck. Cards that are invasive, destructive, crippling, recursive, or exiling make opponents see red. I can see an Orzhov-style pillowfight deck, since those colors are inherently political, but if you're stealing creatures from graveyards and destroying hands you'll see a lot of backlash.
Enough fluff; Here's my personal decklist!
1 Hanna, Ship's Navigator
Creatures:
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Trinket Mage
1 Academy Rector
1 Aura Thief
1 Consecrated Sphinx
1 Gilded Drake
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
Artifacts:
1 Grim Monolith
1 Lotus Petal
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Scroll Rack
1 Temple Bell
1 Vedalken Shackles
1 Memory Jar
1 Planar Portal
Counters:
1 Cryptic Command
1 Counterspell
1 Remand
1 Hinder
1 Foil
1 Mindbreak Trap
1 Land Tax
1 Energy Field
1 Planar Collapse
1 Seal of Cleansing
1 Attunement
1 Solitary Confinement
1 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Opalescence
1 Enchanted Evening
1 Future Sight
1 Treachery
1 Mind Over Matter
1 Soothsaying
Instants/Sorceries:
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Ancestral Vision
1 Ideas Unbound
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Blue Sun's Zenith
1 Frantic Search
1 Intuition
1 Stroke of Genius
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Turnabout
1 Evacuation
1 Sunder
1 Open the Vaults
1 Replenish
1 Reins of Power
1 Twincast
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Hallowed Burial
1 Beacon of Immortality
1 Dissipate
1 Jace Beleren
1 Jace, The Mindsculptor
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
Lands:
1 Academy Ruins
1 Ancient Den
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1 Celestial Colonnade
1 Darksteel Citadel
1 High Market
1 Glacial Fortress
1 Hallowed Fountain
17 Island
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Mystic Gate
4 Plains
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Seat of the Synod
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Tolaria West
Part III: Pillow Fight!
The Pillows:
Pillow #1: Energy Field/Solitary Confinement + Hanna, Ship's Navigator: These two enchantments are somewhat fragile, but Hanna's ability to recur them makes them enough of a deterrent that most people won't bother to attack. To get around the downside of Solitary Confinement, you can simply let it die each upkeep and then re-play it using Hanna for 3WWU.
Pillow #2: Aura Thief + Academy Rector: These are more rattlesnakes than pillows, which is a dangerous thing to confuse... With the right board state, these creatures provide enough incentive for your opponents to attack elsewhere, or not at all. Making it awkward to attack is sometimes all you need to deter damage.
Pillow #3: Beacon of Immortality + Planar Portal: This is all instant speed once you play Planar Portal, so you can represent countermagic the entire turn and then tap 11 for "Double your Life Total." If you're unfamiliar with infectious disease, doubling effects quickly get out of control.
40 x 2 = 80, 80 x 2 = 160, four turns later you have 2500+ life.
Pillow #4: Countermagic
Representing countermagic or simply filling your hand is a huge deterrent. People play the cards they love in EDH, and nobody wants to have their favorite card countered. You're perfectly within your rights to say "Don't bother me, and I'll let your spells resolve." Pillowfighting is a political enterprise...
Cryptic Command: Don't attack me, don't cast things on me.
Hinder: Don't sic that general on me.
Remand: Think twice about casting that on me.
Foil: As an additional cost to casting Foil, flip your opponent the bird.
Pillow #5: Suave.
Do what you have to do. Flirt, Threaten, Disgust, Trick, Lie, Subvert, and Martyr your way into your opponent's good graces. The better you are at bluffing and bull****ting, the more effective your deck will be. Never overfill the board with enchantments or artifacts you don't need: if you think of your ramp artifacts as rituals, you're much more likely to have them alive when you need them for a critical turn. Use one pillow at a time whenever possible to leave yourself outs. Only boardsweep when it's life and death. Consistently leave mana open so it seems like you can counter, even when you can't. last but not least, don't overfill your hand, as 16+ cards is as big a threat as anything else.
Why omit Propaganda and Ghostly Prison?
Simply put, these enchantments were awesome when they were "new technology," just like Rhystic Study. Everyone was on Level 0, refusing to attack for a cost when they could attack for free elsewhere. At level 0, these are insanely good.
With numerous blogs, webcasts, articles, and Wizards support, Commander is developing enough of a hivemind that these cards are starting to generate the opposite effect: putting a cost on attacking makes some players feel like they're being tricked, so they make it a point to show you taxation without representation is not a valid defense. The mana cost is a tempo loss, but not enough of one. Opponents are now on Level 1, where the option of paying 2 makes them feel like they're investing in threat management (and they're right!)
These are valid if you run a heavily meta-oriented deck where your opponents have lots of creatures. A combination of all 3 propaganda effects along with enchantments like Reverence and Lightmine Field are an effective barrier. Beware of the "Challenge Accepted" mentality.
The Win Conditions:
No single win condition is prioritized over another. Game state, expected combo hate, or availability are all factors in winning any game!
Win #1: Temple Bell + Mind Over Matter: Tap Temple Bell to force everyone to draw one, then untap Temple Bell by discarding any card. Repeat to force all players to draw their entire decks. You can discard Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre to Mind over Matter. This combo can be set up with Intuition for an Open the Vaults. I find my best strategy is to respond to an opponent's threat with these two cards and a counterspell, which increases the chance they'll give me one of the combo pieces so I can use Hanna to grab the other when I untap.
Win #2: Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre + Sunder: Sometimes, casting an Eldrazi into an empty field is all you need to win. Once you get to a crucial turn, don't be afraid to simply beat down!
Win #3: Reins of Power: Let your opponent do all the hard work. Steal his field and kill him with it once he finally flips that massive Genesis Wave, or throw Friend A's army in front of Friend B's to remind them why they miscalculated their attack step. This is Blue Insurrection, at instant speed.
Win #4: Enchanted Evening + Opalescence: Best used through a good Open the Vaults, this lets you sweep the board of all lands, leaving you with the potentially largest army on the field. Enchanted Evening also happens to be stupid with Aura Thief.
This deckbuilding style is definitely worth trying out; hopefully this guide has gotten some of you as excited about pillow forts as the 7 year old in me. If you have any comments on improving this guide or the included decklist, leave them below!
Hanna also has a very high threat perception, she is barely low key, everyone knows how she combos off.
If you wish to showcase a lowkey, threat deterent strategy (not just using combo pieces you would run regardless) try WUR or use a general like Ith.
I'm using Lady Evangela for my version and at least she has enough cards that prevent damage or reduce my threat perception without sending warning bells I'm going to Enlightened Tutor EOT, play Opalesence and Enchanted Evening to win.
Main Decks
Diaochan, Iroas, God of Victory, Kaalia, Marton, Ulasht, Volrath,
Kaervek, Prossh, Titania
Amusing or Themed
Progenitus
Pauper Guildmages
Azorius Boros Dimir Golgari Gruul Izzet Korozda
Orzhov Rakdos Rix Maadi Selesyna Simic Skarrg Zameck
I also play Weiss Schwarz, Chaos, Vanguard and Wixoss.
Accel World, Angel Beats, Familiar of Zero, Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet, Guilty Crown, Kill La Kill, Robotics;Notes, Sword Art Online.
Chaos Partners
Arpeggio of Blue Steel: Iona, Kirishima, Kongou.
Dangan Ronpa: Asahina, Togami.
Freezing: Vibration: Chiffon, Satelizer.
Vanguard Clans Favoured
Angel Feather, Dark Irregulars, Genesis, Neonecter, Pale Moon, Shadow Paladins, Tachikaze.
Wixoss - Just trial decks for now!
Pillowfort may dissuade people from attacking you, but as the name implies, it's a soft playstyle - cards like Ghostly Prison may, of course, be omitted if you do please, but preventing all damage dealt every turn is more 'stall' than 'pillowfort'.
BG Jumpin' JaradsGB
BB Furry Rat Lady: The Deck BB
UU I Don't Ever Want To Explain How Knowledge Pool Works Ever Again UU
RR This Is My Suika Cosplay Lightning Bolt Deck RR
WW Mangara exiles both permanents and friends
RWG Marath Sunforger RWG
WUBRG Cromat and Friends WUBRG
--
BG Savra, Rocking Attrition (retired) GB
BB">Shauku, Envoy of the End (retired) BB
BU Wrexial, the Tentacled H beast(retired)UB
BB Endrek Sahr, Master Commander (retired )BB
UU [PRIMER] Talrand's Terrible Tempo Terror Teatime (retired) UU
UBW Senator Trio - Three Heads Are Better Than One (retired) UBW
BB MONSTRUAL BLEEDING EREBOS SADISM (retired) BB
I do like what I have read so far though. I just dont know if I would attach any one decklist to the page itself.
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[Modern] Allies
Your response is better than mine, yes, no list is likely advisable and describing certain configurations (as opposed to decklists that may prioritise other methods of winning as I view this decklist).
You may wish to describe the different styles of the 'pillowfort' card (I still dislike the term).
Main Decks
Diaochan, Iroas, God of Victory, Kaalia, Marton, Ulasht, Volrath,
Kaervek, Prossh, Titania
Amusing or Themed
Progenitus
Pauper Guildmages
Azorius Boros Dimir Golgari Gruul Izzet Korozda
Orzhov Rakdos Rix Maadi Selesyna Simic Skarrg Zameck
I also play Weiss Schwarz, Chaos, Vanguard and Wixoss.
Accel World, Angel Beats, Familiar of Zero, Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet, Guilty Crown, Kill La Kill, Robotics;Notes, Sword Art Online.
Chaos Partners
Arpeggio of Blue Steel: Iona, Kirishima, Kongou.
Dangan Ronpa: Asahina, Togami.
Freezing: Vibration: Chiffon, Satelizer.
Vanguard Clans Favoured
Angel Feather, Dark Irregulars, Genesis, Neonecter, Pale Moon, Shadow Paladins, Tachikaze.
Wixoss - Just trial decks for now!
Commandercast sort of keyed the term lately. It didn't really have a name that I had heard until this came along a week or two back. It seems appropriate at the very least.
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[Modern] Allies
In my meta, nobody freaked when I chose Hanna, and I only saw a handful of lists on the forum (when compared to, say, Sharuum the Hegemon) so I might've missed just how combo-y people anticipated her. I think it has a lot to do with how you play the preceding turns before comboing, too- If you try as hard as you can to intuition and go infinite with Temple Bell, that's one thing, but I usually try a lot harder to opalescence instead, since it feels more "fair."
I can build a Zedruu deck and post that instead, if it's better for defining an archetype. I have some experience with her.
My pillow fort definition of my Hanna deck comes from just how unlikely it is I'll be attacking, or developing a board presence.
It is your page so it is your call where you want to go with it. From the title and the content that isnt the decklist I sort of expected it to be a bit more of a generic overview of the style of play altogether or I would expect decklists for a lot of different type of pillowfort commanders to be listed as an example. It would be easier not to list the decklists in my opinion though just due to the fact that I would expect a lot of high tuned decklists to be listed in a primer so it might be easier not to have that.
EDIT: Cards you could cover:
No Mercy
Dread
Darksteel Sentinel
Oblivion Stone
Magus of the Disk
Nevinyrral's Disk
Meekstone
Ensnaring Bridge
Archon of Justice
Stuffy Doll
Creepy Doll
Gamekeeper
Wurmcoil Engine
Hornet Queen
Acidic Slime
Solemn Simulacrum
Darksteel Gargoyle
Maze of Ith
Kor Haven
Mystifying Maze
Leyline of Sanctity / varients
Keiga, the Tide Star
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[Modern] Allies
If your meta is okay with Hanna then I suppose it's fine then. And if that is your definition of a pillowfort, then you're doing it right, I guess. Not attacking or developing a board presence keeps your threat level low. I'm just concerned as to whether that will be your basic playstyle when you play this deck. If the playstyle is always Pillowfort -> Combo then opponents might see though your ruse.
You might want to run Hanna's signature enchantments, the Parallax cards for U and W, as backup plans together with either Opalescence or just anything that sacs Permanents. I know this goes against everything I've said earlier, but it also helps when you're pillowforting to get out a combo since you effectively have 2 more combos for 2 more cards.
I feel that for Pillowforting Hanna is actually better due to her repeatable recursion.
BG Jumpin' JaradsGB
BB Furry Rat Lady: The Deck BB
UU I Don't Ever Want To Explain How Knowledge Pool Works Ever Again UU
RR This Is My Suika Cosplay Lightning Bolt Deck RR
WW Mangara exiles both permanents and friends
RWG Marath Sunforger RWG
WUBRG Cromat and Friends WUBRG
--
BG Savra, Rocking Attrition (retired) GB
BB">Shauku, Envoy of the End (retired) BB
BU Wrexial, the Tentacled H beast(retired)UB
BB Endrek Sahr, Master Commander (retired )BB
UU [PRIMER] Talrand's Terrible Tempo Terror Teatime (retired) UU
UBW Senator Trio - Three Heads Are Better Than One (retired) UBW
BB MONSTRUAL BLEEDING EREBOS SADISM (retired) BB
The list has a lot of cards, that if I saw you play them, I would target you until you're no longer a threat:
Hanna
Futuresight
Mind Over Matter
JTMS
Consecrated Sphinx
and maybe even Soothslaying.
Also you need to add the best pillowfort card ever in Humility. It pretty much makes it impossible to kill you with creatures outside of random token decks and many decks rely on creatures to destroy enchantments.
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[Modern] Allies
1 Dream Fighter
1 Rainbow Efreet
1 Guard Gomazoa
1 Mistmeadow Skulk
1 Guardian of the Guildpact
1 Beloved Chaplain
1 Fog Bank
1 Wall of Denial
1 Wall of Kelp
1 Wall of Frost
1 Wall of Vapor
1 Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker
1 Plumeveil
1 Living Wall
1 Spiny Starfish
1 Ghost Ship
1 Metallurgeon
1 Revered Dead
1 Uthden Troll
1 Windborn muse
1 Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs
1 Commander Eesha
1 Blazing Archon
1 Flood
1 Righteous Aura
1 Propaganda
1 Ghostly Prison
1 Palliation Accord
1 Island Sanctuary
1 Solitary Confinement
1 Aurification
1 Energy Field
Artifacts:
1 Forcefield
1 Sun Droplet
Land
1 Maze of Ith
1 Mystifying Maze
1 Kor Haven
1 Springjack Pasture
1 Kjeldoran Outpost
1 Kher Keep
There should probably be a section about how you gain value from your opponents attacking each other while they're not attacking you. It would probably have stuff like Avatar of Slaughter, Mass Hysteria, Furnace of Rath, Master Warcraft. Things like that.
Anyway... my thoughts on the subject so far.
:symu::symr::symg:Riku of Two Reflections (ETB toolbox)
:symw::symb::symr:Kaalia of the Vast Reanimator
:symw::symu::symb::symr::symg:Karona's Proliferating Allies
Teferi, mage of Zhalfir
A Ghave, Guru of Spores list can easily start swinging with upwards of 10 creatures, in which your wall, regardless of size/strength, absorbs only a fraction of the total damage. Avenger of Zendikar is one of the most played green cards in the format, and decks like Rhys will always be attacking en masse.
There are exceptions to this bias against single defenders, but they're non-wall. Empyrial Archangel and Weathered Wayfarers, combined with something like Darksteel Plate, do an effective job of stopping attackers.
Re: Generals, I think the wrong decision in pillowforting is to choose a significantly worse general to appear non-threatening. It depends on how next-level you want to get on your opponents. You have the option of picking something totally innocuous like (forgive the assumption) Angus Mackenzie, but I think in actual practice, tables don't behave like forums. What I mean is, just because a general appears combo-licious in the hivemind doesn't mean your real-life playgroup will make assumptions so absolute. If I sit down at a table, there are 10+ generals I'm more afraid of than Hanna, Ship's Navigator.
Final thoughts: The idea of your pillowfort deck should probably be 20% focused on seeming like you're not a threat. What I consider more effective, and what I devote 80% of my time to, is making it seem like attacking is futile. The threat of counters as reprecussions, boardsweeps, or just not being able to deal damage turns most attackers elsewhere, even if you're actually the biggest threat at the table.
So, I think I might stick with Hanna, but I agree with cutting Consecrated Sphinx.
You were pretty quick to throw out Propaganda, Ghostly Prison, and Windborn Muse. Different pillowfort cards against different threats; it's unrealistic to expect to find a whole deck full of cards that handle any threat in a singleton format. Rhys with 100 tokens simply can't afford to attack you when you've got one of those out. And don't forget about ol' Kazuul. Rhys/Ghave/Avenger ain't got nothin' on him.
Thought of another pillowfort card: Glacial Chasm.
:symu::symr::symg:Riku of Two Reflections (ETB toolbox)
:symw::symb::symr:Kaalia of the Vast Reanimator
:symw::symu::symb::symr::symg:Karona's Proliferating Allies
Teferi, mage of Zhalfir
This very well may be metagame dependent. Mine is pretty evolved so sitting down with a Hanna deck is automatically going to draw hate, even more so in future games after people see that you're just trying to lay low until you combo off. We do have a Hanna deck but it's non-combo so we treat it appropriately. I also see this happen on MTGO where stronger commanders tend to draw lots of hate so making something like a "fair" no LD Jhoira fun deck is going to get you killed a lot. Also as a side note my Angus deck has the highest win percentage of all my decks save Edric.;)
I disagree with this somewhat. If people are playing to win it's often correct for them to keep creatures back instead of swinging on weaker opponents. Killing off weaker threats is just going to make it more difficult for them to kill off the actual threat at the table or at least regain board parity. Being the clear biggest threat should turn the game into x vs. 1 where x is the number of your opponents because this gives them all the best chance to win.
As an example take the card Oblivion Stone. In more casual groups this will often be a huge rattlesnake card encouraging people to attack elsewhere with their creatures. In a more competitive meta the person most likely to get swung on by Akroma is usually the person with the active Oblivion Stone. The reason for this is that competitive players are playing to win and most decks in this format have a hard time winning a game when an opponent has an active Oblivion Stone, not to mention how much it can slow down everyone's board developement. So you can force them to blow up the Stone now with Akroma or you can wait 5 turns letting them control the board with O-Stone but either way your Akroma is going to die to O-Stone so you might as well just get it over with.
In my experience the only way to use the same deck in the same meta as a pillow fort is to make the deck win very very slowly. If you make a pillowforting combo deck then I have no mental blockade to swinging at you. If I can see you trying to win slowly over 3-4 turns that means I have time to react. It also means that people are more willing to overlook you earlier on. If I know that a deck is a combo deck I will use resources to blow away their defenses because I know it will eventually end in a single chain of everyone loosing and thus I cant allow them to turtle.
I think that the actual act of how a deck wins and percieved threat is a huge part of pillowforting yourself. If everyone knows they have to kill you or you are the guy that everyone loves to kill first then pillowforting isnt that productive. More often than not someone can blow apart part of your pillowforting but simply dont as they are saving that removal for something more aggressive or that might put them in threat. If you are the threat at the table then dont expect to keep those defenses for long.
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[Modern] Allies
I'm telling you guys Angus is as pillowfort a deck as I've seen on these forums. My back up win condition is literally Jace the Mindsculptor ultimates. I probably kill 1/4 of my opponents because they simply run out of cards.