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Rachmiel
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Aug 31, 2015
Rachmiel posted a message on [[Primer]] Tariel: You'll Thank Me For This

Quote from trancekat »
Thank you, Rach. I stand corrected.

Ps-great to see a post from you! Hope you're well.

Thanks! I've just recently decided to go back to school to get a graduate degree, so that plus work has been sucking up my time, but it's all good. Hope you're doing well too.

And, I guess the bottom line is that if you play Tainted Strike and the opponents in your meta love it, then it belongs in the deck. If they hate it, then it doesn't. It really comes down to that.
Posted in: Multiplayer Commander Decklists
2

Aug 31, 2015
Rachmiel posted a message on [[Primer]] Tariel: You'll Thank Me For This

Hey, all.

Just dropping in to say I'm not dead. I'm still on hiatus and have been pretty busy with lots of other stuff, but I'm glad to see people are still enjoying the deck.

As far as the Tainted Strike issue, I probably would not run the card personally, but that doesn't mean anyone else shouldn't. First, it depends on your goals. If getting a compliment at the end is your objective, then I don't think it's suitable. But on the other hand, it is much more likely to win you a tournament than something like Captain's Maneuver. The first (and probably most important) test for whether I would include a card in this deck is asking, "If this card were played against me, how would I feel?"

Among many players (including myself admittedly), infect has a stigma attached to it. Whether the discontent is rational or not (I also admit my dislike of infect is purely emotional), it is my opinion that a large enough number of people feel this way about infect. So, that's the first strike against it.

The other thing I'm not a fan of is pretty subtle and may seem like I'm splitting hairs, but remember, it's all about how it makes people feel. Imagine an Izzet Musclemancer and a Simic Biomancer are having a contest. They want to see who can make a Gruul explode in the coolest way. The Simic Biomancer injects foreign bacteria into the Gruul which causes its cells to replicate repeatedly until it bursts. A passing Rakdos cultist gives this a 7 out of 10. The Izzet Musclemancer on the other hand uses his magic to make the muscles of the Gruul expand until he pops. The Rakdos cultist thinks this is funnier and gives it a 9 out of 10. Okay, that was a really dumb example, but here's the point: a "foreign element" is used by the Simic dude while the Izzet manipulates what's already there. You might ask why this matters at all. After all, functionally, they get pretty much the same result. But the result is only part of what makes the deck work. The process is just as (if not more) important.

People have funny ideas when it comes to "ownership" of their cards. People don't like their stuff being "messed with." They don't like "things being done to them." When you give their creature infect, you're "taking an action against them" in their mind. When you just redirect or double damage, it's more like the psychological equivalent of Judo where you just sidestep your opponent and let their own weight work against them. That's the real difference. One is perceived as "this was done to me" and the other is perceived as "I did this to myself." Whether someone rationally SHOULD perceive something a certain way is irrelevant. How they actually DO perceive something is what matters and what you have to adjust your deck to take advantage of. Of course, it's very easy to argue that doubling an opponent's creature's damage is "doing something to an opponent." So I won't pretend it's a black and white thing. It just depends on the opponent.

Of course, the "this was done to me" things are a LOT easier to win games with. It's much easier to beat people when you, ya know, actually DO stuff to them instead of wait for them to fall into one of the twenty-something ridiculously specific and situational traps you have. But again, that's what I think makes the deck cool. The odds are with you that in EDH, those amazing things will happen with a high enough frequency. Using Tainted Strike on a creature and then Backlashing it is preferable to having one opponent eliminate another opponent probably. You've just got to be careful about how people perceive that action and use your best judgment in all situations which could be potentially unpleasant to an opponent by asking, "How would I feel if this was done to me?"
Posted in: Multiplayer Commander Decklists

Jun 18, 2013

Rachmiel posted a message on [[Primer]] Tariel: You'll Thank Me For This

Tariel: You’ll Thank Me For This

(Retired but Updated through Magic 2015)

Tariel is getting RAVE reviews from opponents!

"I love it"

"Amazing"

"Absolutely Amazing"

"What a turnaround"

"OMG OMG OMG"

"Coooooold Bloooooded"

"Did that really just happen?"

"Stunning combo"

"Lol"

"Wow, holy crap"

"PFFFFFTHAHAHHAA"

"Well played"

"Nice"

"Really nice"

"Nice play!"

"Nicely Done"

"Whoa...nice"

Quote from Roger Ebert »
"Meh"

Table of Contents

Deck History:

Purpose of Being and Intended Restrictions:

The entire point of this deck is to get everyone else to kill each other and then have the last person compliment you for beating them. Interested? Then please, keep reading. However, I would like to put a little disclaimer here. This deck was designed to be multiplayer only (4+ players or more) and played against strangers on MTGO who have never seen your deck. I have not tested it against a “playgroup” of people in real life, nor has it been played extensively against the same people. If you do choose to play with a consistent group, there is a good chance that the part about your opponents complimenting you won't happen as often or at all. I guess I’m taking the risk that anyone who reads this thread might also not compliment a victory as well. I partly made the deck to feed my ego, so while kind of a catch-22, this has its own purpose. Feel free to replace any cards with “strictly better” cards such as original dual lands. This is the actual deck as I have it built, and I don’t feel like splurging $6 per card. However, this means that the entire deck is buildable for less than $20 on MTGO which is great if you just want to try it out or if you’re a new player and don’t want to make a large commitment. I would also like to hope that by the end of this thread, you might see that there is a deeper and fun style of gameplay intrinsic to the deck beyond just getting your opponents to compliment you that is rewarding in its own way. Really though, this deck is meant to be fun for you and your opponents hopefully.

Origination Part I, Prelude to Politics:

Like most worthwhile pursuits in life, this baby got started from playing with a Phelddagrif deck. The original point of that deck was to get everyone else to kill each other while you finished off the last one. After I posted it, it went through quite a few changes, so both the strategy you see there and some of the cards may be old. It was moderately successful, but nothing spectacular. It was my first EDH deck, but like most first loves, it was both fleeting and memorable. I thought that if I was going to be playing multiplayer games against strangers, they could easily be just as good of a player, have just as good of a deck, or both. Or they could be even better and have better decks. So, I figured I had no chance from the get go if I wanted to win more than 25% of the time, all things being equal. Multiplayer has the added benefit of “politics” though which is what I thought I should use to my advantage. I’d like to talk about politics for a minute before I get back to the deck’s origin since I feel that if you don’t agree with or want to incorporate any of the following into your gameplay, then you might not like the deck.

Politics:

Surprisingly, I’ve found that a lot of people define politics differently here. The common wisdom is that “politics=power”, but I’m going to have to explain more than that. To me, “good” politics is not tricking your opponent, tactically staying out of a feud between two players, or making alliances and breaking them. Good politics is not Zedruu the Greathearted (Take that, she-goat!). There’s a philosophy in chess that you should never try to trick your opponent because it won’t work if they’re as good as you or better. Instead, you should force them to make moves which are rationally the move that they should make. This is exactly how I view playing good politics in Magic. You should try to create board situations where a truly good player would rationally decide to not attack you and to spend their resources on other players. You shouldn’t be too heavy handed about it though. I don’t like the Vows such as Vow of Duty or Vow of Malice because they don’t fulfill the above condition. Do you see why? It’s the part about a truly good player rationally deciding to attack you or someone else. I’ll mention this again later in the strategy section since it bears repeating. Regardless, this view of politics will shape the strategy and recommended play style of the deck. As a side note, when interacting verbally with other players, feel free to be yourself and have fun for the best results of course.

Origination Part II, Snakes on a Pillow:

So, I decided that I’d use politics to turn the tides in my favor (while realizing that others would do the same anyway). I quickly found that the Rattlesnake and Pillow Fort archetypes fit this goal relatively well. For those who don’t know, Rattlesnake decks are supposed to function like the animal they’re named after. In real life, a rattlesnake will shake its tail like a rattle when confronted with a potential predator. This sound and movement is used as a warning to say, “OI! I’M GONNA BITE’CHA IF YOU GET CLOSE!” As such, these decks play “rattles” such as Soul Snare or No Mercy. Both of those cards both say, “Attack me, and you’ll pay for it. You’re much better off attacking someone else.” Isperia, Supreme Judge is a good example of a Rattlesnake general.

Similarly, Pillow Fort decks attempt to do everything they can to not get hurt in any way, often making themselves or their permanents untargetable with cards like Privileged Position and Witchbane Orb. Additionally, they might play cards like Ghostly Prison or even be as forceful as Lightmine Field so that they aren’t attacked. Some Pillow Fort decks may try to be as non-interactive as possible while building up to a combo, others might try to mill you behind their fluffy fortress. Angus Mackenzie is a good example of a Pillow Fort general. While slightly different (Rattlesnake is a threat of vengeance while Pillow Fort is pure defense), both types of cards say, “You should really attack someone else. Don’t waste your time here”. So at first, the Phelddagrif deck had strong Rattlesnake and Pillow Fort subthemes. Then one day, something amazing happened.

Origination Part III, Kresh the Savior:

Alright. It’s down to me and a 32/32 Kresh the Bloodbraided with trample. He’d taken out all of the other opponents (hooray!), but now I had to deal with him (:/). All of my enchantments and artifacts that had been protecting me had been destroyed. Like usual, I’ve got no creatures on the field besides Phel, and he’s looking mighty lonely. I top-deck Mirror Strike. Heh. I pass the turn. Kresh attacks right into it. I slam down Mirror Strike dramatically on the field (in my mind anyway, we’re still on MTGO). There’s a pause. “Well played, sir” is the response. And then the game ends. I thought it was a pretty fun game, and I think my opponent did too. I wondered if I could get that to happen again. It turns out, yes, I could. You can engineer situations which result in your opponents complimenting you. To (greatly) misquote Mr. Momir Vig, Simic Visionary on his greatest achievement (Experiment Kraj): “Of course you’ll unexpectedly have the exact right card to amaze your opponent. It was designed to do so!” So, I ended up stripping away the blue and green in favor of black and red, kicking Phel to the curb, and plopping Tariel in the cockpit.

Why Play This Deck?

What Kind of Deck is This?:

When people pick up a deck to start playing, it's helpful for them to know "This deck is reanimation" or "This deck is tokens". Most people have a fairly good idea of what to expect from a deck once they hear the type, and they'll play it accordingly. Many decks fall into more than one category though, including this one. Based on the deck list, there are a few different ways that you could think of playing this deck, but there's one way in particular that I think of it.

Is this a Pillow Fort deck? It has Reverence, Crawlspace, and Norn's Annex:

I think of the Pillow Fort that the deck contains as more of a means to an end. If you aren't alive, then you can't pull off an awesome win. While you will be playing defensively, stuffing yourself inside comfy, protective walls is not your ultimate goal. In fact, the best Pillow Fort cards aren't even in this deck because the goal of the Pillow Fort is not to lock everyone out of attacking. You want everyone to attack, just not attack you. That's one reason we're not playing Humility, Lightmine Field, or Dovescape (even if we could).

Is this a Rattlesnake deck? It has Dread, Hissing Miasma, and No Mercy:

Once again, the Rattlesnake shell is just a cog in the machine. If someone can't attack you, they will probably attack someone else. You will not use deterrents to build overwhelming card advantage like Isperia, Supreme Judge is capable of, but you will be able to draw cards and keep your hand full for the most part hopefully. Rattlesnake cards serve the dual purpose of protecting you as well as generally being cards that an opponent knows they can "deal with" later. And for the most part, they're right, but that's fine because you want that later to happen. Because when they bring out the big guns later, that's when you do too.

Is this a damage reflection deck? It has Reflect Damage, Batwing Brume, and Mirror Strike:

As a means to accomplishing our goal, it is, but no more than it is a Pillow Fort or Rattlesnake deck. You will hold cards like Boros Fury-Shield in your hand until you either need to play it or preferably end the game. However, you'll also notice that there are some cards that don't fit that theme such as Acidic Soil or Blood Oath. The reason for this is that turning your opponent's cards against you (without stealing them) is one of the ways this deck can be effective, but it's actually part of a bigger theme.

Is this a "politics" deck? It has Soul Conduit, Thunderstaff, and Spurnmage Advocate:

Politicking your way to victory is certainly an option, but don't count on it. The reason you shouldn't count on it is because if you find yourself against only one opponent left, there's not much you can do to convince them to attack anyone else...because there isn't anyone else. I use the term as I've described it above, meaning that you should be making plays which force a rational player to not spend resources or turns on you, but I guess that the traditional definition of "convincing another player to attack someone else through guile or trickery" applies here as well. I don't like tricking people or lying to them because it generally comes back to bite you, especially if you end up playing them again.

Is this a gimmick deck? You said that the point of this deck is to get your opponent to compliment you when you beat them: Yes, that is the point of the deck, but it's not what the spirit of the deck is. Okay, that probably makes little to no sense, so I guess I should just say what kind of deck I think this is.

First off, I've omitted one thing from the Deck History section because I feel that it belongs more in this section. And that is that I didn't just decide randomly on White, Black, and Red when I scrapped Phelddagrif. There was another deck I was working on at the time that never even made it to the playtesting stage. It was a Kaervek the Merciless deck, and the tentative name for it was "Meta Punisher". The goal of this deck was to specifically punish players for playing the cards that I saw EVERYONE playing. Boundless Realms, combos that allowed someone to draw their whole deck, combos that made infinite tokens, and combos that made 100/100 creatures were all on the world's worst offenders list. So, I kept the white from Phelddagrif, stripped him of Blue and Green, and strapped Kaervek's colors onto the deck. This just happens to have overlap with another theme though because of the nature of the EDH format. That theme as well as the idea I have in my head when I pick up this Tariel deck to play is that:

This is a deck that punishes excess. This is one of the only formats where this kind of deck can work probably due to EDH being singleton, multiplayer (mandatory for this deck), and many players having preconceived notions of what cards are acceptable (and good) in the format. When playing this deck, you should be asking yourself as you eye your opponents,

"Which way are they likely to go infinite? Well, that Thromok the Insatiable is either gonna go for tokens in which case I need a Rakdos Charm or Batwing Brume. Otherwise, he's probably running Soul's Fire for Thromok himself, so I need to keep Reflect Damage on hand or a well timed Backlash if he's the only other player left. The Azusa, Lost but Seeking player is definitely going to be playing a lot of lands, so I better save Acidic Soil for after he plays Boundless Realms. And the Ghost Council of Orzhova player is going to be extorting everyone's life total, so it might be good to keep Repay in Kind or Soul Conduit on hand at a time I can burn him and the remaining players."

Hopefully it makes sense now that while you will be playing elements of Pillow Fort, Rattlesnake, reflect damage, politics, and the goal of the deck is to get them to compliment you at the end, the "mindset" of the deck (is this tokens, aggro, combo, sac and recur, etc.?) is to punish excess and overabundance. You'll be flipping the amazing and the outlandish on their heads, creating a situation that is even more amazing and outlandish.

Why Tariel?:

She’s not Kaalia of the Vast or Oros, the Avenger. Honestly, Tariel, Reckoner of Souls just happened to fit the colors of the cards I thought could be best used to implement the strategy. In many circles, Kaalia is marked “kill on sight” and lends herself to a very linear play style which involves attacking others. Attracting attention and attacking others should be about the last thing on your to-do list when playing this deck. Oros is neat, but he’s somewhat threatening to aggro decks, and we REALLY don’t want to make an enemy out of them early on. In all honesty, if a new WBR general comes along that’s better suited for the deck, I might swap her for it. But let’s not be too hard on old Tari and take a closer look at her.

One of the nice things about Tariel is that unlike many generals, she doesn’t necessarily lend herself to any one play style. I’ve seen Angel themed Tariel decks, board wipe themed Tariel decks (these tend to be the most common I think given that the color combination has access to pretty much all of them), and “Punisher” themed Tariel decks which add a dab of white to an otherwise Kaervek the Merciless deck. This means your opponent doesn’t necessarily have any preconceived notions of what’s going to be in your deck and is likely to treat is as nonthreatening (assuming your opponents aren’t Barktooth Warbeard and Skeleton Ship) until you show yourself to be otherwise, all things being equal.

Tariel can also take care of herself pretty well as a plan B. The deck doesn’t rely on Tariel by any means, but it certainly helps a lot. In fact, Tariel is often the final push the deck needs to win if the game doesn’t shape up the way you want it to. Since she’s better towards the end of the game than towards the beginning, she lends herself well to a strategy that enjoys the game going on into the wee hours of the night which is what we’ll be playing. With only 4 power, you’ll need to get in 6 hits with her to finish someone off with commander damage, but her 7 toughness has been useful on more than one occasion. The ability to fly and not tap when attacking is just icing on the cake as far as saying to your opponents, “I’m prepared to snatch something from your ‘yard as soon as you look at me funny”. In that respect, we’ve still got a rattle.

Other Commanders:

I've thought about this a lot. I really have. But there are only three other Commanders I'd even consider (at the moment) to run this deck. And they're not a crazy woman with a bunch of demon, angel, and dragon groupies or a borderline racist draco-tyrant. This means that we're going to have to either add or remove colors. So we'll do both. I wouldn't want to remove or replace White as it's the only color that stayed when I switched the deck over from Phelddagrif. I think of White as the core of the deck that holds it together. Without White, Black and Red would suffer greatly from the loss of defensive cards such as Norn's Annex, Reverence, and especially the Runes such as Rune of Protection: Green which have driven the game in the right direction more times than I can count. So getting rid of White is pretty much out of the question. I would also not get rid of Red. Despite having less cards in the deck than the other two colors, Red makes itself more than worth it. While Black has about the same amount of game ending cards (if not one or two more), Red provides two important victory conditions than Black doesn't. The loss of Acidic Soil and Sudden Impact would be painful as they are deathblows to Green and Blue respectively. So, if I had to get rid of a color, I'd get rid of Black. While it provides both offense (Netherborn Phalanx) and defense (No Mercy), I feel that Red and White naturally fulfill those roles more effectively. Getting rid of Black does mean losing access to punishing token decks with Rakdos Charm as well as punishing life gain decks with Repay in Kind. It also eliminates Backlash and Batwing Brume, so Black does work fairly well with the other colors in this deck which is why I'm using it and not the other Commanders I'm about to suggest. However, if you want a different flavor than Tariel (who would though, despotic angels are delicious!) then you've come to the right place.

Zedruu the Greathearted Sleeve:

Ugh, that nasty goat woman. My distaste for Zedruu stems from the fact that when I see her across the table, I know that she's either playing a monstrously controlling deck, something similar to what I'm playing, or both. So I guess it's fitting that if Tariel wasn't sitting on the throne that Ms. Bleats-for-Brains be in charge. I appreciate her card advantage and life gain which is something that this deck could certainly benefit from. Ruhan of the Fomori might be interesting, but I'd rather be refilling my hand than watching him run face first into a 0/10 Doran, the Siege Tower. Numot, the Devastator just screams, "I'M GONNA NUKE YOUR LANDS" to everyone, and we don't want that. What Zedruu really brings to the table here is the ability to take the deck in a more "ethereal" direction. Blue/Red gives us access to Swerve, Essence Backlash, and Cerebral Vortex. As long as we're there, we might try running Parallectric Feedback, Reiterate, and Fork. This way, you can punish a Consuming Aberration before it hits play or a Genesis Wave for 22 quite handily. What Blue/Red lacks in hitting hordes of creatures, it makes up for in messing with spells. The addition of White/Blue will give us access to some defensive staples. Teferi's Moat might be a good replacement for No Mercy but it slightly goes against the theme of the deck of giving your opponents the idea that they have some choice of whether to attack you. I know that Reverence is slightly similar in concept, but it's a lot less restrictive. Cloud Cover is another solid card that would dissuade opponents from touching your stuff hopefully. Hanna, Ship's Navigator can bring back key defensive pieces that have been blown up by a painful Austere Command. Isperia, Supreme Judge is a wonderful replacement for Dread. Wild Research can help get you the right defense or offense when you need it. In addition to the above, the "traditional Zedruu suite" can still be run to take more advantage of Zedruu's ability. Let me reiterate though: Zedruu can suck a hoof.

Gahiji, Honored One Sleeve:

With the printing of Commander 2013, Gahiji makes a suitable general in Green as lukemercer points out. The age old question of "Will my opponents be less incentivized to attack me if I prevent 1 damage from each creature or help them deal an additional 2 damage to each other per creature?" need not be answered since you can now run both effects quite handily! The most obvious contribution Green brings is the excellent mana fixing and acceleration. I'm thinking that Mana Reflection, Mirari's Wake, and other mana doublers would be preferable to Boundless Realms since it will make us less susceptible to Acidic Soil. However, if you want to thin out your deck and have a way to prevent the damage to yourself, Boundless Realms may still be acceptable. Traditional Green acceleration cards like Kodama's Reacharound and Cultivate will help ensure that you don't get stuck at four mana and that you always have the right colors. Green also brings a nice amount of defense as well in the form of cards such as Dawnstrider, Constant Mists, Spike Weaver, Radiant Kavu (meta game call?), and Briar Patch. Also, Arboria would be amazing if it didn't possibly prevent people from attacking each other. Privileged Position can also ensure that our defenses don't suffer spot removal as easily. "Staple" Gahiji cards like Akroan Horse can be fit in as well. Unfortunately, Green doesn't have Black's desire to punish people for having a lot of creatures (go figure). Green is big and stupid. So, it makes sense to play big and stupid stuff and put that extra mana to use. For instance, for the low, low price of GGGRRRR8, you can use Chord of Calling to flash in Stormbreath Dragon and make it monstrous dealing (hopefully) massive damage to your opponents and a possible additional 7 damage if you played it on your turn. Also, the incredibly disturbing sound you just heard was Nekusar, the Mindrazer's jaw detaching and hitting the floor while spontaneously sprouting eyeballs and a throat so that he can properly cry and scream respectively. Of course, the old standby Storm Seeker is available as well should you want a fourth Sudden Impact variant. Certain enormous card advantage bombs such as Praetor's Counsel are also available to you now. You may also sub in some of the spell punishing or manipulating cards such as Parallectric Feedback in Red from the recommendations for the Zedruu sleeve while leaving Green to do the housekeeping since it doesn't provide many turnaround cards itself.

Gisela, Blade of Goldnight Sleeve:

The only reason I don't run her already is that I've just never needed to. She's now on my list of cards to try out after cbrook824 brought her up. Since we're not running Black or Blue with her, we'd have to take advantage of some more direct damage probably. The "redirection" cards like Reiterate, Wild Ricochet, and Fork can still be run, but we'll have to fill the card advantage void some other ways. I would actually probably run Gisela as my general over Tariel if she was White/Black/Red since she fits the theme of the deck much more. Not only does she make it not as attractive to hit you, she makes it more attractive for your opponents to hit each other. Cards like Acidic Soil are now absolutely lethal if they weren't before. Don't forget that your Rune of Protection: Red can save you from that one, although Gisela will attempt to help prevent your own damage as well. She's both defensive and a kill spell enabler, and she can deliver the final blow herself if needed fairly easily. This would lead me down the path of possibly using some more life gain oriented cards coupled with cards that deal damage to everyone. Chain Reaction certainly becomes more powerful as well as making Price of Progress uber playable. Silly cards like Flame Rift become effective although I'm not sure I'd run it. Something like Molten Disaster becomes very appealing. Unfortunately, those kind of cards don't have much synergy with cards like Spitemare or Mogg Maniac when Gisela is out because even though you're dealing double damage, the damage is being dampened to your creatures by Gisela. I'm sure there are plenty of other ways you could go about making a Gisela build of this deck, but that's probably how I'd do it. The only thing I'm not sure of is the opponents' reactions to being killed by a spell aided with Gisela versus one that wasn't aided by her. The reason is that you're no longer beating an opponent purely by punishing them for overextending which is somewhat of a pertinent point that will be made more clear in the "Making Them Stroke Your Ego" section. However, I think the "hit everyone, only get hurt half amount" bit is pretty powerful and the general strategy remains intact.

Sheldon's Ruhan of the Fomori Deck:

Sheldon has a Ruhan of the Fomori deck which you can find here. While not exactly alike in nature, it's certainly comparable given the overlap in cards. No inspiration was taken from the deck as I didn't know about it until 7/5/13, but it looks like it would be fun to play. We even both saw Kresh the Bloodbraided and Mirror Strike! While his deck was designed to create epic, memorable moments, this one was designed to get my opponents to compliment me. I guess that's what using Black instead of Blue should do though!

Reasons You Would Enjoy Playing This Deck:

1. You like the challenge of navigating your way out of seemingly impossible situations consistently.
2. You like being inconspicuous and not throwing down 10/10 creatures like it’s nobody’s business.
3. You like longer (but fun) games.
4. You like feeding your ego.
5. You like other players not hating you.
6. You don’t mind letting the strategies of other players determine the flow of the game and don’t mind not knowing how you’ll win the game when you draw your hand.
7. You like taking a passive role in the game.
8. You like piloting a deck that takes a lot of skill.

Reasons You Would Not Enjoy Playing This Deck:

1. You like dominating the game early on and being an imposing presence throughout the game.
2. You like to end games quickly so that you can move onto the next one.
3. You enjoy playing for the sole sake of winning in the most effective and efficient way possible.
4. You hate having to deal with any social or political aspect of multiplayer and would rather just attack someone.
5. You like to play out a specific strategy uninterrupted by other players where you know what your win conditions will be each game.
6. You really like winning with combo, aggro, or control.
7. You like attacking people.
8. You want your cards to win on their own just by playing them as opposed to having to decide how to play them.

The Deck

Current Deck:

Deck by Type

DeckMagic Online OCTGN2 Apprentice Buy These Cards
Commander 1 Tariel, Reckoner of Souls Creatures 1 Burnished Hart 1 Dong Zhou, the Tyrant 1 Dread 1 Netherborn Phalanx 1 Solemn Simulacrum 1 Spurnmage Advocate 1 Weathered Wayfarer Enchantments 1 Blood Reckoning 1 Hissing Miasma 1 No Mercy 1 Norn's Annex 1 Phyrexian Unlife 1 Righteous Cause 1 Reverence 1 Rune of Protection: Artifacts 1 Rune of Protection: Black 1 Rune of Protection: Blue 1 Rune of Protection: Green 1 Rune of Protection: Red 1 Rune of Protection: White Instants 1 Allay 1 Backlash 1 Batwing Brume 1 Blood Oath 1 Boros Fury-Shield 1 Captain's Maneuver 1 Divine Deflection 1 Increasing Vengeance 1 Mirror Strike 1 Rakdos Charm 1 Reflect Damage 1 Shattering Pulse 1 Sudden Impact 1 Sudden Spoiling 1 Wild Ricochet	Sorceries 1 Acidic Soil 1 Gift of Estates 1 Hallowed Burial 1 Overmaster 1 Phthisis 1 Repay in Kind 1 Stronghold Discipline Artifacts 1 Armillary Sphere 1 Chromatic Lantern 1 Crawlspace 1 Forcefield 1 Gilded Lotus 1 Journeyer's Kite 1 Lightning Greaves 1 Mind's Eye 1 Mirari 1 Seer's Sundial 1 Soul Conduit 1 Staff of Nin 1 Sun Droplet 1 Thunderstaff Lands 1 Akoum Refuge 1 Ancient Amphitheater 1 Boros Guildgate 1 Buried Ruin 1 Command Tower 1 Evolving Wilds 1 Mouth of Ronom 1 Mystifying Maze 1 Orzhov Guildgate 1 Rakdos Guildgate 1 Reliquary Tower 1 Scrying Sheets 1 Tectonic Edge 1 Terramorphic Expanse 1 Thawing Glaciers 1 Tresserhorn Sinks 1 Urborg Volcano 8 Snow-Covered Mountain 9 Snow-Covered Plains 9 Snow-Covered Swamp

DeckMagic Online OCTGN2 Apprentice Buy These Cards

Commander
1 Tariel, Reckoner of Souls

Creatures
1 Burnished Hart
1 Dong Zhou, the Tyrant
1 Dread
1 Netherborn Phalanx
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Spurnmage Advocate
1 Weathered Wayfarer

Enchantments
1 Blood Reckoning
1 Hissing Miasma
1 No Mercy
1 Norn's Annex
1 Phyrexian Unlife
1 Righteous Cause
1 Reverence
1 Rune of Protection: Artifacts
1 Rune of Protection: Black
1 Rune of Protection: Blue
1 Rune of Protection: Green
1 Rune of Protection: Red
1 Rune of Protection: White

Instants
1 Allay
1 Backlash
1 Batwing Brume
1 Blood Oath
1 Boros Fury-Shield
1 Captain's Maneuver
1 Divine Deflection
1 Increasing Vengeance
1 Mirror Strike
1 Rakdos Charm
1 Reflect Damage
1 Shattering Pulse
1 Sudden Impact
1 Sudden Spoiling
1 Wild Ricochet

Sorceries
1 Acidic Soil
1 Gift of Estates
1 Hallowed Burial
1 Overmaster
1 Phthisis
1 Repay in Kind
1 Stronghold Discipline

Artifacts
1 Armillary Sphere
1 Chromatic Lantern
1 Crawlspace
1 Forcefield
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Journeyer's Kite
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Mind's Eye
1 Mirari
1 Seer's Sundial
1 Soul Conduit
1 Staff of Nin
1 Sun Droplet
1 Thunderstaff

Lands
1 Akoum Refuge
1 Ancient Amphitheater
1 Boros Guildgate
1 Buried Ruin
1 Command Tower
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Mouth of Ronom
1 Mystifying Maze
1 Orzhov Guildgate
1 Rakdos Guildgate
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Scrying Sheets
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Thawing Glaciers
1 Tresserhorn Sinks
1 Urborg Volcano
8 Snow-Covered Mountain
9 Snow-Covered Plains
9 Snow-Covered Swamp

Deck by Function

DeckMagic Online OCTGN2 Apprentice Buy These Cards
Commander 1 Tariel, Reckoner of Souls Turnaround Cards 1 Acidic Soil 1 Backlash 1 Batwing Brume 1 Blood Oath 1 Boros Fury-Shield 1 Captain's Maneuver 1 Divine Deflection 1 Dong Zhou, the Tyrant 1 Increasing Vengeance 1 Mirari 1 Mirror Strike 1 Netherborn Phalanx 1 Phthisis 1 Rakdos Charm 1 Reflect Damage 1 Repay in Kind 1 Soul Conduit 1 Stronghold Discipline 1 Sudden Impact 1 Wild Ricochet Defensive Cards 1 Blood Reckoning 1 Crawlspace 1 Dread 1 Forcefield 1 Hissing Miasma 1 Mouth of Ronom 1 Mystifying Maze 1 No Mercy 1 Norn's Annex 1 Phyrexian Unlife 1 Righteous Cause 1 Reverence 1 Rune of Protection: Artifacts 1 Rune of Protection: Black 1 Rune of Protection: Blue 1 Rune of Protection: Green 1 Rune of Protection: Red 1 Rune of Protection: White 1 Spurnmage Advocate 1 Sudden Spoiling 1 Sun Droplet 1 Thunderstaff	Deck Acceleration Cards 1 Armillary Sphere 1 Burnished Hart 1 Chromatic Lantern 1 Gift of Estates 1 Gilded Lotus 1 Journeyer's Kite 1 Mind's Eye 1 Overmaster 1 Scrying Sheets 1 Seer's Sundial 1 Solemn Simulacrum 1 Staff of Nin 1 Thawing Glaciers 1 Weathered Wayfarer "Competitive" Cards 1 Allay 1 Buried Ruin 1 Hallowed Burial 1 Lightning Greaves 1 Reliquary Tower 1 Shattering Pulse 1 Tectonic Edge Non-Utility Lands 1 Akoum Refuge 1 Ancient Amphitheater 1 Boros Guildgate 1 Command Tower 1 Evolving Wilds 1 Orzhov Guildgate 1 Rakdos Guildgate 1 Terramorphic Expanse 1 Tresserhorn Sinks 1 Urborg Volcano 8 Snow-Covered Mountain 9 Snow-Covered Plains 9 Snow-Covered Swamp

DeckMagic Online OCTGN2 Apprentice Buy These Cards

Commander
1 Tariel, Reckoner of Souls

Turnaround Cards
1 Acidic Soil
1 Backlash
1 Batwing Brume
1 Blood Oath
1 Boros Fury-Shield
1 Captain's Maneuver
1 Divine Deflection
1 Dong Zhou, the Tyrant
1 Increasing Vengeance
1 Mirari
1 Mirror Strike
1 Netherborn Phalanx
1 Phthisis
1 Rakdos Charm
1 Reflect Damage
1 Repay in Kind
1 Soul Conduit
1 Stronghold Discipline
1 Sudden Impact
1 Wild Ricochet

Defensive Cards
1 Blood Reckoning
1 Crawlspace
1 Dread
1 Forcefield
1 Hissing Miasma
1 Mouth of Ronom
1 Mystifying Maze
1 No Mercy
1 Norn's Annex
1 Phyrexian Unlife
1 Righteous Cause
1 Reverence
1 Rune of Protection: Artifacts
1 Rune of Protection: Black
1 Rune of Protection: Blue
1 Rune of Protection: Green
1 Rune of Protection: Red
1 Rune of Protection: White
1 Spurnmage Advocate
1 Sudden Spoiling
1 Sun Droplet
1 Thunderstaff

Deck Acceleration Cards
1 Armillary Sphere
1 Burnished Hart
1 Chromatic Lantern
1 Gift of Estates
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Journeyer's Kite
1 Mind's Eye
1 Overmaster
1 Scrying Sheets
1 Seer's Sundial
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Staff of Nin
1 Thawing Glaciers
1 Weathered Wayfarer

"Competitive" Cards
1 Allay
1 Buried Ruin
1 Hallowed Burial
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Shattering Pulse
1 Tectonic Edge

Non-Utility Lands
1 Akoum Refuge
1 Ancient Amphitheater
1 Boros Guildgate
1 Command Tower
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Orzhov Guildgate
1 Rakdos Guildgate
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Tresserhorn Sinks
1 Urborg Volcano
8 Snow-Covered Mountain
9 Snow-Covered Plains
9 Snow-Covered Swamp

Optimized Deck:

For those who already have the cards or don't mind spending a bit more, the following is an optimized version of the deck. Most cards that fit this deck's style aren't that expensive in the first place, so a lot of the replacements have to do with the mana base or are "strictly better" cards. All discussion in this post assumes I'm using the current version of the deck, so this is more just for show. If you don't see something, it's because I either don't know what to take out or I don't want to add the card because it's more likely to draw hate/attention than a card already in the deck.

Cards Added:

Cards Removed:

DeckMagic Online OCTGN2 Apprentice Buy These Cards
Commander 1 Tariel, Reckoner of Souls Creatures 1 Academy Rector 1 Burnished Hart 1 Dong Zhou, the Tyrant 1 Dread 1 Netherborn Phalanx 1 Solemn Simulacrum 1 Weathered Wayfarer Enchantments 1 Blood Reckoning 1 Hissing Miasma 1 Land Tax 1 No Mercy 1 Norn's Annex 1 Phyrexian Unlife 1 Reverence 1 Righteous Cause 1 Rune of Protection: Artifacts 1 Rune of Protection: Black 1 Rune of Protection: Blue 1 Rune of Protection: Green 1 Rune of Protection: Red 1 Rune of Protection: White Instants 1 Allay 1 Backlash 1 Batwing Brume 1 Blood Oath 1 Boros Fury-Shield 1 Captain's Maneuver 1 Divine Deflection 1 Increasing Vengeance 1 Mirror Strike 1 Rakdos Charm 1 Reflect Damage 1 Shattering Pulse 1 Sudden Impact 1 Sudden Spoiling 1 Wild Ricochet	Sorceries 1 Acidic Soil 1 Hallowed Burial 1 Overmaster 1 Phthisis 1 Repay in Kind 1 Stronghold Discipline Artifacts 1 Armillary Sphere 1 Chromatic Lantern 1 Crawlspace 1 Forcefield 1 Gilded Lotus 1 Journeyer's Kite 1 Lightning Greaves 1 Mind's Eye 1 Mirari 1 Seer's Sundial 1 Soul Conduit 1 Staff of Nin 1 Sun Droplet 1 Thunderstaff Lands 1 Akoum Refuge 1 Ancient Amphitheater 1 Badlands 1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All 1 Buried Ruin 1 Command Tower 1 Evolving Wilds 1 Lavaclaw Reaches 1 Maze of Ith 1 Mouth of Ronom 1 Plateau 1 Reliquary Tower 1 Scrubland 1 Scrying Sheets 1 Tectonic Edge 1 Temple of Malice 1 Temple of Silence 1 Temple of Triumph 1 Terramorphic Expanse 1 Thawing Glaciers 1 Tresserhorn Sinks 1 Urborg Volcano 6 Snow-Covered Mountain 7 Snow-Covered Plains 8 Snow-Covered Swamp

DeckMagic Online OCTGN2 Apprentice Buy These Cards

Commander
1 Tariel, Reckoner of Souls

Creatures
1 Academy Rector
1 Burnished Hart
1 Dong Zhou, the Tyrant
1 Dread
1 Netherborn Phalanx
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Weathered Wayfarer

Enchantments
1 Blood Reckoning
1 Hissing Miasma
1 Land Tax
1 No Mercy
1 Norn's Annex
1 Phyrexian Unlife
1 Reverence
1 Righteous Cause
1 Rune of Protection: Artifacts
1 Rune of Protection: Black
1 Rune of Protection: Blue
1 Rune of Protection: Green
1 Rune of Protection: Red
1 Rune of Protection: White

Instants
1 Allay
1 Backlash
1 Batwing Brume
1 Blood Oath
1 Boros Fury-Shield
1 Captain's Maneuver
1 Divine Deflection
1 Increasing Vengeance
1 Mirror Strike
1 Rakdos Charm
1 Reflect Damage
1 Shattering Pulse
1 Sudden Impact
1 Sudden Spoiling
1 Wild Ricochet

Sorceries
1 Acidic Soil
1 Hallowed Burial
1 Overmaster
1 Phthisis
1 Repay in Kind
1 Stronghold Discipline

Artifacts
1 Armillary Sphere
1 Chromatic Lantern
1 Crawlspace
1 Forcefield
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Journeyer's Kite
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Mind's Eye
1 Mirari
1 Seer's Sundial
1 Soul Conduit
1 Staff of Nin
1 Sun Droplet
1 Thunderstaff

Lands
1 Akoum Refuge
1 Ancient Amphitheater
1 Badlands
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1 Buried Ruin
1 Command Tower
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Lavaclaw Reaches
1 Maze of Ith
1 Mouth of Ronom
1 Plateau
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Scrubland
1 Scrying Sheets
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Temple of Malice
1 Temple of Silence
1 Temple of Triumph
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Thawing Glaciers
1 Tresserhorn Sinks
1 Urborg Volcano
6 Snow-Covered Mountain
7 Snow-Covered Plains
8 Snow-Covered Swamp

Deck Stats:

Deck stats are provided by DeckStats.net and can be found here.

Deck Strategy

Another Small Disclaimer:

Before reading the individual card explanations, it’s probably a good idea to get a feel how the overall deck functions. Thus far, I’ve explained the goals of the deck and its history, but getting there is another story. While you don’t have to adhere to this section, I would think that the deck won’t work nearly as well or at all if you don’t follow most or all of the following guidelines. However, they are just guidelines, so feel free to put your own spin on playing the deck.

Do Not Attack:

Yes, that’s right, do not attack. Well, mostly. There are really only four situations in which you will ever attack. The first is if there’s only one opponent left. In that case, by all means, let the cannons loose. The second situation is if there are two players who are clearly locked in a feud with each other and will stop at nothing to kill each other. In that case, it’s fine to kill the third player, but only if you think you can do it quickly. Most of the time, this will not be the case, so you will not attack at all. The third situation is if there are three players left and you NEED to kill the stronger one or you risk losing the game. If you do not think you are in danger of losing, do not attack. The final situation is if there are all four players still left and the board state is such that attacking a player will not garner their hate towards you. This will happen very rarely, so don’t count on it.

So, why are we not attacking even when we possibly should? Well first, you only have less than 10 creatures including Tariel of which almost half aren’t even meant to be attackers. Therefore, there’s a good possibility you might not be able to at any given time. But that’s okay. We didn’t want to attack anyway. The real reason though is because whoever you attack will hate you. Probably. When sitting down with strangers, you just don’t know if they’re one of “those” people who will mercilessly do everything in their power to make sure you don’t win even if it costs them the game because you tapped them with a 1/1 mana dork on turn 2. Even if they aren’t the vengeful type, if they are a rational player and everyone appears to be about the same threat level, they have every reason to attack you. Or they might also be (rightly) thinking that there’s a good chance that you’ll continue to attack them or hurt them if they don’t kill you first. Either way, attacking never made a friend of anyone. Don’t do it until the time is right. Of all the guidelines to break though, this would be the one. Dealing four damage to an opponent at the right moment can be the deciding factor at the end of the game, especially because of how the deck usually wins (more on that in the Winning section).

Do Not Destroy:

What to people hate more than getting dealt damage? When you blow up their stuff. It’s just not nice. You wouldn’t want it done to you, now would you? There’s actually more to this than just not getting on the bad (badder?) side of your opponents though. White and Red aren’t exactly known for their card advantage, and I’ve chosen not to run any reanimation besides Tariel herself or Black card draw. Instead, all of the card draw will come from your artifacts or enchantments. This means that having your opponents waste their spot removal or even mass removal on your other opponents is that much more important. Just think of every Path to Exile they play on an opponent’s creature as a card you just drew. Well, not really, but it’s a “phantom” form of card advantage nonetheless, especially if they’re not able to draw enough cards to keep up with the amount they're casting. I do run Hallowed Burial, but like most cards in the deck, it should be saved for exactly the right time. Oh, and don’t play pretty much all of your instants and sorceries either if you don’t have to. You’ll need them all for the last guy unless you can spend one of them to instantly kill someone. Even then, make sure it’s at the “right” time. Really, the only things you should be playing are lands, artifacts (except for one or two), and enchantments.

Do Not Restrict:

What do people hate more than getting their stuff blown up? When they don’t even get to play it or use it. It’s an awful feeling, right? Let’s give people a break please. They play against Azami, Lady of Scrolls control and Zur the Enchanter stax all day, and this is what they come home to? I don’t think so. For the most part though, people hate not having choices. This is why the Vows mentioned earlier (Vow of Malice, etc.) are not used. Most artifacts and enchantments in the deck do not outright prevent all damage that would be dealt to you or make it impossible to hit you. They just make it very not preferable for you to be the target of your opponent’s attacks. And that’s all you really need honestly until you’re down to just one opponent. Thunderstaff may not be the best card ever, but all things being equal, a rational player will choose to attack someone else because they feel they’re getting more value out of their creatures by hitting for more damage.

Do Not Threaten:

If you haven’t figured it out by now, you should be less offensive than a bunny crossed with a kitten made out of sprinkles and stardust. However, you want everyone else to be threatening, and in order to do that, they can’t be scared to attack. This is why I don’t play Royal Assassin. You might notice that I do run Spurnmage Advocate. Spurnmage is less offensive because the opponent knows you’ve got to give something back to someone. In fact, the only card in the deck that really draws any hate is Soul Conduit. You should only play it when the time is right though. I keep saying “when the time is right”, and you’ll know when it is. And if you’re wrong, you’ll definitely lose and have learned that it wasn’t actually the right time. Out of all the reasons someone is ever attacked, "they were threatening" has to be among the top. I've heard of people that say you don't want to be the strongest player at the table or the weakest. Usually they say it's good to be the second strongest. When playing this deck, you will usually be the weakest in terms of board presence, but that's okay. If you set up some deterrents, other players won't want to attack the "weakest" player anymore when they have threats to deal with usually.

Four Types of Cards:

Pretty much every card in the deck except for non-utility lands can be divided into one of four types. The first type is your “turnaround” card which will both often be your win condition and the cards that make your opponents compliment you. I’ll talk about them more in a bit, but examples would be Batwing Brume and Sudden Impact. The second type of card is meant to play defense. Examples of these would be Thunderstaff and No Mercy. The third type of card is for deck acceleration. These are cards like Armillary Sphere or Seer's Sundial. The final type of card is meant to give the deck the competitive edge it needs when it needs it. These are cards like Allay and Hallowed Burial. You’ll become accustomed to holding the turnaround cards in your hand until the end of the game, playing every single defense and acceleration card you can, and using the competitive cards only when absolutely needed.

Four Types of Players:

What I’m really referring to here is four different ways that people perceive threats and then how they decide to attack (if they choose to attack at all). Many people often switch between these four ways of thinking during the game, so watch out for who is doing what at the moment. The most common type is the rational player who will attack the person who they believe is the biggest threat based on board presence, commander, revealed cards in the deck, and hand size. These people are your best friend because most likely, that person is not you. Also, being not in Blue and Green just by itself is somewhat nonthreatening. The second type of player is the vengeful type that I’ve mentioned earlier. They’ll pick a person at the beginning of the game to focus on and attack no one else until they’re dead. Or if they’re attacked before they can attack, they’ll go after their attacker until they’re dead. These people are also usually your friend because they will waste their resources on your opponents so you don’t have to. Sit back and watch them hurl all the fireballs they can as you develop card advantage. The third type of player is the one who attacks everyone equally until a better opportunity presents itself. These people are your friends too because they’re likely to piss off the second type of player and then get their hands full. The fourth type of player is the one who is like you and won’t attack anyone. These people are not your friends, and you should be worried about them. The word “attack” that has been used throughout this paragraph can be substituted with “did something to the other person they didn’t like” since some decks like Zedruu the Greathearted will not win through attacking, but they will still make enemies of people.

Making Them Stroke Your Ego:

You might have skipped to this paragraph immediately after reading the first one. If so, you’ll be happy to know that this is just a decoy paragraph and the real way to make them compliment you is buried in some other paragraph. Just kidding. Here’s how you do it. It all has to do with how the person loses.

If there’s one thing people hate more than losing, it’s losing for five minutes. This means that the first condition is that it has to be quick, sudden, and decisive. How quick? If they have time to realize what happened, it’s too slow. Soul Conduit in your hand with 12 mana open while you’re at 0 life because of Phyrexian Unlife is…too slow. Why? First you have to play Soul Conduit AND BAM that’s it, it should have been over right there. The fact that you have to tap it and pay six more mana is enough time for the opponent to become depressed at their loss. At least it works that way online. You might be able to slickly put it onto the table already tapped in real life and it might work. Sometimes Soul Conduit IS fast enough, but it’s just an example of exactly how quick your victory needs to be. You shouldn’t even have time to play an activated ability.

A second condition is that the card is situational and unusual. It makes the victory that much more amazing that you had just the right card for that one situation where it could be used effectively. “How did you possibly do that!” they exclaim. Easy. You have just the right card for EVERY unusual situation. 500/500 creature? Mirror Strike and Reflect Damage. 80 cards in hand? Sudden Impact and Blood Oath. Every single land in their deck on the battlefield (Boundless Realms anyone?)? Acidic Soil. Seven thousand Goblin tokens? Rakdos Charm and Batwing Brume. This is the real secret of the deck. It expects that these unusual situations will occur. And in EDH, they more often than not do, especially depending upon your meta.

A third condition is that the victory has to have been preventable had the opponent not overextended themselves. Sure, I’ve won plenty of games swinging with Tariel, but that’s never gotten me any thanks. The opponent’s resources must be used against them without actually stealing them. I’m looking at you Insurrection (on a related note, this card is WAY too slow and gives your opponent plenty of time to watch themselves get killed by their own creatures). Anyone can beat face with a 10/10 creature with Infect and win, but it takes just the right timing, skill, and luck to Backlash it right in their face after they’ve killed your other opponents.

So in summary, your victory must be quick, sudden, decisive, unusual, situational, and not attainable by using your cards alone (your cards must interact with their cards to cause the victory).

There are also some things you should absolutely avoid doing. The first thing is the reason we don't play Druidic Satchel which is that revealing the cards in your hand or deck is not preferable. It's not very amazing when someone sees a Batwing Brume in your hand before you play it. The second thing we want to avoid is tutoring for our kill spells. I know, I know, the deck would be much more consistent. However, I've found that opponents are not impressed by your ability to have the right card in your hand because you plucked it from your deck. The third thing you want to avoid is using any of your kill spells when it won't end the entire game that turn. If they've seen you be quiet the entire game and then throw down a Rakdos Charm to opportunistically finish someone off, they're not going to be impressed when you later beat them with a Netherborn Phalanx or even a Backlash.

Also, you may notice that we really don't run much removal. If you've been wondering why I haven't mentioned the R word until now, it's because it doesn't have much of a place in this deck. Why would you Path to Exile their 32/32 when you can Backlash it? Creature removal is somewhat counterproductive to the deck. We do run Hallowed Burial as an out though in case things get way too out of control.

How This Deck Wins:

So how do you win with this deck? The first, most obvious, and most preferable way is with your turnaround cards. You have to save them for the end of the game though so that you can fire them off all at once. Unfortunately, when the game begins you might not know which one it will be, so you’ll have to hold them all. The good news is that there’s quite a variety of ways in which the turnaround cards can be played. I’ve had both Blood Reckoning and Hissing Miasma out and used Captain's Maneuver for two on an opponent who was swinging with their untargetable Bruna, Light of Alabaster when they were at six life. Bruna was also attacking with a random 4/4 and Bruna had Celestial Mantle on her. I knew that he had a Counterspell (he told me for some reason earlier), and he cast it on the Captain’s Maneuver. In response, I cast Boros Fury-Shield on the 4/4, earning a Dave Chapelle-esque “Coooooold Bloooooded” from a spectator.

The second way is to just beat face with Tariel and take their creatures. That’s kind of boring though. You do have a few quick ways to win that aren’t necessarily too “combo-ish”. The first is Soul Conduit or Repay in Kind with Phyrexian Unlife. Oh, and we do NOT run things like Wall of Blood with it because it ruins condition three of winning coolly which is the part about your victory being interactive with your opponent’s cards. Repay in Kind and most any burn spell will also win you the game if you’ve got a large amount of mana open or something that can hit everyone at once.

In either case, you MUST make it to the end game. That's why it's so important not to make enemies of people and play the Pillow Fort and Rattlesnake cards. There are two major victory conditions that the end game brings. The first is that players have probably already beaten each other down a lot. When I see a player at around 10 life or less, they have entered the DANGER ZONE. Once there, as long as they don't have a way to get around my turnaround card, they're dead at least 90% of the time. Once all players are in the DANGER ZONE, a quick Rakdos Charm will knock most out of the game. The second is that outrageous board states are more common in the end game. This is the time when those 200/200 creatures and hordes of 2,000 goblins are likely to come out of the woodwork. Or at least, it's as good a time as any. Both of those things mean that the longer the game goes on, the better. When I say "end game", I mean a board state where people are playing their best stuff. The game can obviously end prematurely due to a combo or never get there due to a lock out.

Why This Deck Wins:

So, that's how the deck wins. Here's why the deck wins. There are two primary reasons, one related to offense and one related to defense. The reason the deck is offensively well positioned is because EDH is a format with big card advantage, big creatures, big hand sizes, big boards, and big egos. It's just big. In a format where Boundless Realms and Praetor's Counsel are good cards, it might be tempting to play spells the take advantage of the large amount of mana or cards you have access to that you couldn't normally play otherwise. That's why I run Acidic Soil and Sudden Impact. More often than not, games will get explosive in EDH in some way or another. Have you ever designed an EDH deck with the thought in mind "Okay, how can I make this deck as mediocre as possible?". Of course not, everyone wants their EDH deck to do big, explosive things. When resources of all kinds are abundant, you should take advantage of that one way or another. That's why you have to have big, explosive explosions for those big, explosive things.

The reason this deck is defensively well positioned is because in multiplayer, I believe that cards that are either a threat or cause the opponent to not have fun are the leading cause of being attacked. If I view someone as a threat, I am likely to attack them so that they don't kill me. If I'm not having fun because of someone's card (I'm looking at you Possibility Storm and Knowledge Pool), then I am very likely to try to kill them. That's why pretty much every card in the deck has to either not be unfun or not be threatening. I don't believe that the corollary of the "unfun" rule is true though. If you're attempting to cause an opponent to have fun, this does not necessarily mean that they won't try to attack you. The primary reason is that if you've spent more than a day playing Magic, you'll see that different players have different ideas of what they consider fun. This is why it's just easier to avoid playing anything that might be unfun for someone. This is why group hug and chaos decks sometimes get hated off the table. Unfun things are generally things that attack people, destroy, restrict, or threaten. Sound familiar? In fact, you don't have to "give" your opponents fun things. They already have them. That's why they built their deck. Their deck is their fun thing, so just don't mess with it and let them play it out. All of this means that the permanents we play can't be unfun, so we have to save all of the firepower in our hand. That's a trick (and potential weakness) of the deck. All of the firepower is in your hand, so you don't look as threatening on the surface.

Weaknesses of the Deck:

I’ll say straight up that this deck is not equipped to deal with infinite combos that go off turn three. It only does well if the game is allowed to go on for a respectable length. Another weakness is if someone is consistently blowing up your defenses. Usually this won’t happen because someone would rather Krosan Grip a Mimic Vat than your Thunderstaff, but hey, it can happen. Perhaps the deck’s biggest weakness is mediocrity. If an opponent has not been dealt significant damage and is laying down three or four 8/8 creatures with flying, then that is a problem. There are not enough to punish them for playing too many creatures, and they’re not quite big enough to punish them for playing gigantic creatures. It’s just in that special space you need to be careful. If the game has been progressing in a way that everyone has been taking damage about equally and they’re low on life though, you can use one of the 8/8 creatures to kill them with a turnaround card.

On a related note, if one opponent is not losing life while the other two are, this is also a problem. You have to do your best to guide the game in a way so that there’s a back and forth between all players, even if it hurts your own life total. The deck can also suffer if for whatever reason you can’t target something with your turnaround card. There are answers to artifacts and enchantments in the deck though, so it is possible to get around this. If your opponent can sacrifice the creature you’d target at instant speed though then that’s a real problem. Additionally, the game really gets messed up if a player drops or concedes from the game early on. Since there are now only you or one other guy for each opponent to target, your chances of surviving into the late game just got cut. I cannot stress this enough. Anything that prevents playing spells during combat or on an opponent's turn such as Grand Abolisher or Basandra, Battle Seraph can also hinder your ability to use cards like Mirror Strike. Finally, be extremely wary of URG Goodstuff decks.

Your Role in This Deck:

I think this deck plays an interesting and unique role in the Commander-verse. The role you play is well represented by the colors.

WWW You're a Spectator WWW: You'll always be removing yourself from the various to and fros that will go on between the rest of the board if possible. When you get hit by someone, you'll turn the other cheek and not retaliate. You'll pay more attention to how the other players are viewing you and each other than you will to your own board or advancing your own schemes. This is fairly easy to do because for the most part, you won't have much of a board to speak of. Instead, you'll watch each opponent for current levels of hostility or how they perceive everyone else as threats. Think of yourself almost as a watcher instead of a player. In that case, you get to "play" the other decks in your head with the unfortunate disadvantage of not knowing their hand.

BBB You're a Punisher BBB: As mentioned in the "What Kind of Deck is This?" section, the mindset of the deck is to punish excess in any form that it takes. You're going to usually only have one shot though. Instead of sitting through all of the smaller fireworks, you'll save them all for the big finale at the end where they can all go off at once in a gigantic explosion. With just 12 mana open, you could potentially deal easily upward of 100 damage to the board between an Increasing Vengeance targeting Acidic Soil followed by a flashbacked Increasing Vengeance targeting a Rakdos Charm. Often the answer to combating GreenOnSteroids.dec is some type of stax, MLD, or combo. You'll be able to serve the same purpose but with none of the ill will from your opponents that sometimes is created from these strategies. In fact...

RRR You're an Entertainer RRR: They'll love you for it! Hopefully anyway. Never forget that you're here to provide a good time. As also stated above, I've found that "fun" in Commander is inherently a selfish concept. People generally don't have fun playing against other decks, they have fun playing THEIR deck against other decks. For the most part, you'll allow this to happen. Not getting in their way is sometimes the most fun you can give an opponent IF their deck performs in a way that they enjoy. Your coupe de grace will also provide what many commander players are prone to loving: awesome, unlikely, and memorable plays that seem surreal in the moment and epic upon reflection. Just don't tell them that it was all an engineered game of odds that you expect to happen from time to time because a magician never reveals how he does his tricks...well, except in this thread.

The Deck in a Nutshell:

1. Play defense.
2. People lose.
3. You do something awesome and beat the last one.

Posted in: Multiplayer Commander Decklists

1

Jul 16, 2014
Rachmiel posted a message on [[Primer]] Tariel: You'll Thank Me For This
Quote from Omen613 »
What are your thoughts on cards that give opponent's tokens?

Genesis Chamber

Varchild's War-Riders

and others

to help with the turnaround cards that punish them for having too many creatures?
I generally don't like to use stuff like that for the same reason I don't use tutors or things like Wall of Blood with Soul Conduit or Repay in Kind. It makes the victory more likely but less amazing. In this case, it's not as amazing since you "encourage" them to overextend instead of letting it be their own choice completely. It also makes you an active player who is trying to manipulate and influence the board state (which is fine, it just depends on your style of play) as opposed to a passive player who really wants nothing to do with the board state if they can help it while waiting for the best time to strike. It's kind of a personal preference though, so if it's more fun for you to give tokens (selectively or not) then I think it would be fine to do.
Posted in: Multiplayer Commander Decklists
1

Jul 6, 2014
Rachmiel posted a message on [[Primer]] Tariel: You'll Thank Me For This

Updated with Magic 2015 review. Nothing major for the deck but I certainly like some of the cards they're making.
Posted in: Multiplayer Commander Decklists
1

Jun 21, 2014
Rachmiel posted a message on A question of COmmander Ethics

I can't say who was in the wrong for the cards you played or ejection, but the verbal abuse was wrong.

Quote from Jivanmukta »
I say this weekly:

Commander is a social game. Online anonymity destroys that. People will disagree with me but I don't believe MTGO Commander functions unless all parties know each other.

I do believe Commander is a social game, but some of my favorite games have been with complete strangers. Actually, that's what's so great about it. They're not complete strangers after the game. Sure, MTGO doesn't function well all the time. You're inevitably going to get personalities that clash and just can't come to a compromise no matter what. You'll get the people who call others names and throw tantrums. But it functions for me the majority of the time, and one player who quits and calls me cutthroat every so often when I play Kudzu (yes, it's happened more than once) shouldn't get in the way of having a fun time. It's a great way to play against a much wider variety of decks and people than you ever would offline. There are some people that I've made contacts with on MTGO who I like to play with (as well as some from this board), but I also like the "lotto ticket" rush of never knowing what your opponents might be playing. Playing with people you know in person and getting some snacks is always fun too though. To each their own, I guess.
Posted in: Commander (EDH)
1

Jun 17, 2014
Rachmiel posted a message on [[Primer]] Tariel: You'll Thank Me For This

Quote from Encendi »
I've viewed your list several times over the past year and I finally caved in and built the deck. I made a couple changes due to budget reasons (although I really shouldn't say that considering I foiled out everything that could be gotten in foil at a reasonable price since the deck was so cheap!), namely:

Dread => Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts
No Mercy => Not sure, just generally replaced it with more turnaround effects I think
Dong => Delirium
Forcefield => Again, just generally replaced it
Mystifying Maze => Maze of Ith (had one laying around)
Hallowed Burial => Rout (pulled this from a Conspiracy draft the other day)
Mind's Eye => Generally replaced it (thinking about putting Erebos or something in this slot)
Weathered Wayfarer => Don't really have an excuse here, but I just didn't want to spend money on this for some reason.

Added a Boseiju as well.

Some of these pieces are probably pretty critical. I'll try to pick up a No Mercy alternative like Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker in trade and likely a Weathered Wayfarer at some point, or some other card that serves the same function like Tithe or Land Tax.

I can't wait to test this deck on people at my LGS. Everyone there runs crazy overpowered stuff and it gets really boring. I'm ready to shout "ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?" while killing them with their own Eldrazi or Twin tokens.

As long as you're doing mostly lateral swaps like Dong for Delirium, it should be fine. Boseiju will definitely help if your meta needs it. Hopefully it provides a fun time, and let me know how it goes!
Posted in: Multiplayer Commander Decklists
1

Jun 10, 2014
Rachmiel posted a message on [[Primer]] Tariel: You'll Thank Me For This

Just a very small update in the second post for the latest set, Conspiracy. It doesn't have a lot for Tariel (most sets won't), but it does look like a blast to play!
Posted in: Multiplayer Commander Decklists

Dec 14, 2013

Rachmiel posted a message on Dosan of the Green Rainbow

Dosan of the Green Rainbow

Hello. Like many of you, whenever I tap out for Sudden Impact, I often find myself thinking, "Man, I wish I could do that with Forests!" Or how about the times when you're playing mono U control and someone scoops out of frustration? Love playing with White's life gain, but hate tapping a Plains? Then have I got the deck for you!

The basic idea of the deck is to play White, Blue, Black, and Red spells with Green using cards that for whatever reason break out of Green's traditional color pie. Green is usually known for RAMP, RAMP, RAMP, PLAY FATTY, MAKE FATTY BIGGER, SWING. And that's all good. The world needs Azusa, Lost but Seekings and Omnath, Locus of Manas (not really, but don't tell them that). Green also sometimes shares life gain with White, card draw with Blue, recursion with Black, and ~~hating Blue~~ aggressive creatures with Red. We'll take advantage of that since it makes Green look less Green.

Ultimately, what you end up getting is a more reactive control-ish deck. I know, I know, playing mono G control is hardly fair to the opponents, but you'll have to trust me that it's okay (I've actually seen a player concede to Hall of Gemstone though). Speaking of which, that's the kind of card I'm looking for with this deck. Stuff like:

Hall of Gemstone
Storm Seeker
Natural Balance
Cyclone
Freyalise's Winds

All of those have effects that Green typically doesn't get to enjoy. And they're relatively good. Not really looking to play Avoid Fate, Natural Selection, or Hornet Sting. I might pick up Beast Within, Mirri's Guile, and Sylvan Library eventually though. I don't have them so they're not in the list at the moment, but they might work as well. Tornado and Splintering Wind are iffy because I'm not sure the deck could use them very well. Using artifacts is okay to fill in some of the holes, but it kinda defeats the purpose of showing that Green can play hardball too.

Suggestions?

TLDR: Green cards that don't do Green things.

DeckMagic Online OCTGN2 Apprentice Buy These Cards
Commander 1 Dosan the Falling Leaf Creatures 1 Burnished Hart 1 Caller of the Claw 1 Genesis 1 Ifh-Bíff Efreet 1 Kamahl, Fist of Krosa 1 Krosan Tusker 1 Magus of the Library 1 Nullmage Advocate 1 Scavenging Ooze 1 Solemn Simulacrum 1 Spike Weaver 1 Stuffy Doll 1 Viseling 1 Willow Satyr 1 Yavimaya Elder Enchantments 1 Arboria 1 Carpet of Flowers 1 Cyclone 1 Freyalise's Winds 1 Hall of Gemstone 1 Holistic Wisdom 1 Lifegift 1 Mana Reflection 1 Nature's Wrath 1 Primal Order 1 Ritual of Subdual 1 Titania's Song 1 Viridian Revel	Auras 1 Blanchwood Armor 1 Kudzu Instants 1 Constant Mists 1 Natural Affinity 1 Slice in Twain 1 Squall Line 1 Storm Seeker Sorceries 1 Boundless Realms 1 Calming Verse 1 Cultivate 1 Explosive Vegetation 1 Gaea's Blessing 1 Harmonize 1 Hunting Wilds 1 Hurricane 1 Kodama's Reach 1 Natural Balance 1 Nature's Lore 1 Praetor's Counsel 1 Ranger's Path 1 Skyshroud Claim	Artifacts 1 Caged Sun 1 Darksteel Ingot 1 Iron Maiden 1 Mind's Eye 1 Seer's Sundial 1 Staff of Nin 1 Tower of Fortunes 1 Urza's Armor 1 Vedalken Orrery 1 Venser's Journal Equipment 1 Darksteel Plate 1 Pariah's Shield Lands 38 Forest

Videos

Make sure to adjust the quality!

Game 1 - Vs. Edric, Spymaster of Trest, Sharuum the Hegemon, and Heartless Hidetsugu can be found here.

Game 2 - Vs. Maelstrom Wanderer, Gahiji, Honored One, and Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts can be found here.

Card Selection

Commander:

WUDosan the Falling Leaf: Dosan seemed like the natural choice to lead this deck. Looking around at all of the Green legends, most of them have something to do with either lands, mana, big creatures, or lots of creatures, so that narrowed down the choices pretty quickly. Perhaps the most important thing Dosan does is allow you to play without having to worry about counterspells or being interrupted by things not on the field. It can also mess with people who like to play during the turns of other players (I'm looking at you Prophet of Kruphix) or just players who like using some end of turn instant speed card draw. Since the deck is fairly controlling, Dosan adds yet another hoop for your opponents to jump through.

Creatures:

GBurnished Hart: Ramp on a small stick is helpful. I really prefer creatures who have more use to me dead than alive since creatures are the most likely type of permanent to die.

WGCaller of the Claw: Okay, so it's pretty much only in here right now as a combo piece with Natural Affinity, but I think it could have some other applications in the future. Also, bears.

BGenesis: Speaking of creatures more useful when dead, Genesis helps give the deck some much needed recursion. When combined with Spike Weaver, it can create a combat lock. When used with Krosan Tusker, it's a bit expensive, but basically draw a card and a land for 4GG every turn. It can also help re-reamp with things like Burnished Hart and Solemn Simulacrum.

BRIfh-Bíff Efreet: Do you have more life and at least four more mana than your opponents have life? Congratulations, you win! Mr. Biff is a card from way back who adds a bit of extra punch to the deck. Green isn't usually known for direct damage wins, but Biff delivers it in spades. Since you can retain priority when you use his ability, he doesn't mind that he dies in the process.

WRKamahl, Fist of Krosa: We're just going to pretend the second ability doesn't exist. What we're really interested in is the pay one mana to destroy target land in response to a Wrath of God. Yeah, it's mean. But this is only one of two situational Green MLD cards in the deck, and your opponents can't get that upset with that, right? Once again, another creature that works best when he's about to die.

UGKrosan Tusker: Drawing cards and fetching lands at instant speed without having to technically cast a spell? Sounds good. You probably won't ever actually cast him.

UGMagus of the Library: A little bit of ramp, a little bit of card draw. Either way, Magus will give you what you need. I probably average about three draws from him per game when I start with him in my opening hand which is pretty good for his two mana investment. If nothing else, he'll also help ramp.

WNullmage Advocate: Reusable artifact and enchantment destruction, a small body, and can be used to give your opponents back favorable cards.

WBScavenging Ooze: Eats graveyards, gains life, gets bigger. Against graveyard dependent or mill decks, he can be a house if not answered.

UGSolemn Simulacrum: Helps ramp a bit and replaces himself when he dies. He's run almost universally and for good reason.

WSpike Weaver: Every day is a Holy Day with Spike Weaver. This deck needs defense since it can draw a bit of hate sometimes and this card provides that defense. It's also reusable with Genesis.

BStuffy Doll: Stuffy can be an interesting road block to some decks. He also works really well with some of the mass direct damage cards in the deck such as Ifh-Bíff Efreet, Hurricane, or Squall Line. Of course, there's always Pariah's Shield as well.

BRViseling: What do we hate? People with more cards than us! What are we gonna do about it? Burn 'em! Viseling does run the risk of being copied or stolen, but for the most part he's a pretty effective little dude.

UWillow Satyr: People will think twice before landing their general. Unfortunately, he's very fragile. If he sticks, you can steal some stuff though.

UGYavimaya Elder: Yet another card that gets us lands and draw cards when it dies. A three for one that can be recurred with Genesis is nice.

Enchantments:

WArboria: Many wincons in the deck involve sitting on your butt and doing nothing. Arboria will give you the much needed time to do all the nothing you want. Sit back, relax, grab a Fruit Roll-Up, and clicking that "OK" button.

GCarpet of Flowers: This will usually be a relevant card since someone is probably playing blue somewhere. It provides a little extra ramp, but it's also a good way to get around Freyalise's Winds and Ritual of Subdual.

BRCyclone: Automatically puts the game on a 9 turn clock while wiping creatures. Combined with Pariah's Shield on something with Darksteel Plate or Stuffy Doll, it doesn't affect you. It's very slow, but it'll wipe the board every turn for you, and you can always choose to end it.

WUFreyalise's Winds: This card will annoy some people because it makes the game twice as long basically. But I love long games, so that's fine. The slower the game goes, the better this deck usually does so extra time is always welcome. Plus, you'll have a large amount of lands from all of your ramping probably and it won't affect you quite as much. You can also think of it as saying "each creature can't attack if it attacked last turn", so not only does it mean that opponents won't be dumping their entire hands every turn, it also means that combat isn't as deadly for you. Definitely an all-star card in the deck. Also, the reason I don't use Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger is because I have a pet peeve about getting my stuff copied or stolen, especially if it ruins my stuff.

WHall of Gemstone: Another all-star in the deck. Play this on turn three and get ready to either rock the table for the rest of the game or suffer a swift defeat as everyone targets you. Played early, it shuts off access to many of your opponents playing their generals which can be a fatal blow depending upon the deck. As an added bonus, it means no counterspells during your turn since it makes the mana for everyone the chosen color. In a way, it's sort of like a second Dosan that always messes with multicolored decks. You can also still use stuff like Constant Mists before the trigger of Hall of Gemstone if you think you're going to be attacked. Also, no more Prophet of Kruphix or Aura Shards. You can still get around it with mana rocks though.

WBHolistic Wisdom: We do use a lot of situational cards in the deck. Thankfully, Holistic Wisdom makes good use of that by allowing you to ditch cards you don't need for ones that you do by bringing back ANY card in your graveyard as long as it shares a type with one in your hand. An extremely useful and underrated card as it's allowed me to pull off many wins that I wouldn't have gotten without it.

WLifegift: This card usually will gain me an average of 25+ per game if in my opening hand. Not bad for three mana. Since some of our wincons hurt us as well, it can be the tipping point sometimes.

GMana Reflection: Doubling up on your mana allows for massive Hurricanes and Freyalise's Winds won't hurt you as much. It also allows you to get more potential card advantage of course if you can use the mana to draw cards.

BNature's Wrath: This has ruined a Lazav, Dimir Mastermind's day when an opponent used Warp World. For the low cost of one green every turn, you can basically keep your Black and Blue opponents at parity. Shuts down things like Bitterblossom as well.

RPrimal Order: It's half of Price of Progress on every one of your turns. We don't run any lands that aren't basics and this will usually deal at least three or more damage per turn to opponents. It's best when played late in the game and everyone's already flooded their board with nonbasics. Against some five color decks, it can be lethal. Another wincon where we just want to sit and try to live while it does its thing.

WRitual of Subdual: Shuts down games and will make you lose your friends. You can use Carpet of Flowers and Darksteel Ingot to get around it. Most of the time it should be used after a board wipe or with Arboria while stuff like Iron Maiden and Primal Order do their thing.

UTitania's Song: This is a really fun card. It'll shut down a lot of opposing stax or prison decks. If you have out Spike Weaver or have Constant Mists in hand, it's not as big of a deal when your opponent's artifacts become creatures. It can mess with some of our card draw engines though so use it wisely. It's also a good answer to getting rid of mana rocks for a total lock with Ritual of Subdual or Hall of Gemstone.

UViridian Revel: I wasn't sure about this card at first, but it's shocking how much artifacts go to the graveyard. Drawing ten cards off of this per game isn't unusual if it comes out early which is quite nice for a three mana investment.

Auras:

GBlanchwood Armor: I might eventually replace this card or I might not. It's one of the cards I loved when I first got into Magic more than ten years ago. Also, I always think of Roshi when I put this on Dosan and swing for lethal.

WRKudzu: Certainly a sleeper. Surprisingly this card usually doesn't come back to you all that often since you'll have all Forests and you'll have a lot of them. It also doesn't get removed as much as you'd think but can still cause fits for some players.

Instants:

WConstant Mists: We'll usually have a lot of lands, so this card can hold off attacks for quite a bit. Of course, Dosan has to not be present.

WRNatural Affinity: Ideally, this would be played when I have a bunch of stuff out like Primal Order or Iron Maiden and someone wraths the board. Following it up with Caller of the Claw is a potential wincon. It can also be used to create a table of attackers or blockers.

UGSlice in Twain: A little bit of card draw and a little bit of enchantment and artifact destruction.

RSquall Line: At instant speed, Squall Line is always the option of last resort. It can tie games as well if you'd lose otherwise.

RStorm Seeker: Since it's basically Sudden Impact but in Green, it fits right into the deck. With Dosan out, those Blue mages won't be able to stop it with their pesky counterspells.

Sorceries:

GBoundless Realms: Doubles your mana base. More importantly, it thins out the deck drastically.

WCalming Verse: Dosan doesn't really mind playing things on our turn or tapping out. Tranquil Grove is an alternative, but it draws more hate possibly and hits our own stuff which we really need.

GCultivate: Ensures that you make it to five mana successfully.

GExplosive Vegetation: Ensures that you make it to six mana successfully.

UGaea's Blessing: Mill is actually sort of a problem for this deck since it relies on long games and that's when mill gets dangerous. It also replaces itself if you draw it.

UHarmonize: It's basically Concentrate. And a three for one is never bad.

GHunting Wilds: A slightly better Explosive Vegetation in that it gives you an option to make some creatures. Not that we'd really use it though.

RHurricane: A slower Squall Line that costs one less. Potential wincon if you're ahead in life.

GKodama's Reach: A second Cultivate.

WRNatural Balance: Believe it or not, this card can be really useful. It's situational MLD that punishes other people ramping ahead of you. It can also be used late game to set the playing field back to even if you have a better board position than your opponents and you don't want them to have access to a lot of mana.

GNature's Lore: Ensures that you make it to three mana successfully.

UBPraetor's Counsel: Allows you to reuse ramp spells, wincons, etc. Depending upon the stuff in your yard, it can be a game changer.

GRanger's Path: A second Explosive Vegetation.

GSkyshroud Claim: A slightly better Explosive Vegetation since it puts them into play untapped.

Artifacts:

GCaged Sun: The power/toughness boost doesn't mean much, but doubling our mana is good.

GDarksteel Ingot: An indestructible mana rock that can also help us get around Ritual of Subdual.

BRIron Maiden: A Viseling that isn't vulnerable to creature destruction.

UMind's Eye: Probably one of the best draw engines in the format.

UGSeer's Sundial: We'll be playing a lot of lands and this makes them not dead draws.

URStaff of Nin: An extra card a turn plus the ability to ping.

UTower of Fortunes: Since we'll have a lot of mana usually, this will keep our hand full.

WUrza's Armor: A little bit of defense. It combos well with Ifh-Bíff Efreet, stops Nekusar, the Mindrazer in his tracks, and fights off small token armies.

UVedalken Orrery: Allows us to flash in Kamahl, Fist of Krosa for surprise one-sided MLD. It also lets us play a little more conservatively at the end of an opponent's turn.

WUVenser's Journal: A little life gain never hurt, and it means we don't have to overextend if we don't want to.

Equipment:

WDarksteel Plate: Best when put on Dosan or Ifh-Bíff Efreet. It can also make the fragile Willow Satyr a little more sturdy.

WPariah's Shield: Obviously goes well with Stuffy Doll, but it can also be put on any creature with Darksteel Plate so you don't have to worry about damage.

Posted in: Multiplayer Commander Decklists

1

May 4, 2014
Rachmiel posted a message on [[Primer]] Tariel: You'll Thank Me For This

Updated with Journey into Nyx (mini) review. In summary, the only thing that looks interesting maybe is Dictate of the Twin Gods.
Posted in: Multiplayer Commander Decklists
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