MTG Salvation

Those changes look pretty good. Hero's Downfall and Succumb to Temptation are still in the decklist FYI.

Is Walking Ballista the wincon here? I guess Hangarback Walker counts as well. Pretty cool deck, I like the idea. I personally didn't know what to do with Brudiclad and gave up after a couple games with it.

I noticed you removed Palinchron but it still exists in the infinite combo section of the primer.

I also noticed you didn't add Painter's Servant but mentioned it being very useful. Could be due to card availability but just wondering. The card is in the combo section of the primer as well. I understand wanting to cover all strategies, even ones not included in the deck, could help to mention you aren't running cards.

Just as a side note, I love Momir Vig and I'm glad someone is out there keeping up a primer for him.

I mostly agree with BigBooy here. It's a cool application of the card but probably not worth it?

Honestly, I played this deck once or twice. It was fun and I was excited to build it, but it ended up being kinda whatever.

The list in the first post was accurate to the paper deck I played. It could win via the classic combo of Darksteel Forge and Nevinyrral's Disk. It could facilitate this combo with Kuldotha Forgemaster. It also had the backup wincon of flying tokens, which was less effective.

There are many infinite combos a deck like this could use. Bathsalt Monolith + Rings of Brighthearth is the easiest one to add.

Removed:
Druids' Repository, Eternal Witness, and Nissa, Voice of Zendikar

Added:
Ashiok, Dream Render, Narset, Parter of Veils, and Assassin's Trophy

It has been a long time since I have posted an update to the deck. Some of that is due to life being way too crazy and some is the normal ebb and flow of interest in the hobby. Repository is a card I love for Atraxa but I think is better suited to the creatures/counters build. Ewit is great but I think perhaps the new Tamiyo is better for the superfriends deck. That is another card I was considering and will perhaps test. Nissa I liked as an early play but I think Narset and or Ashiok add more angles to the deck. Restricting the graveyard and extra card draw is nice and lets us have more control over games.

I'm working on a war of the spark set review at the moment. Ive been going through a terrible time lately... War of the Spark is an epic set for Atraxa in all its forms. There are a lot of cards to consider.

Good to hear there are some new cards worth testing. I really like Incubation Druid.

I don't think you have enough lands to really take advantage of cards that let you play extra lands. Also, no Sol Ring?

I really like Azorius commanders and I've played quite a few including Dragonlord Ojutai and Rasputin Dreamweaver. I really like Ojutai because the built in hexproof makes him easier to play without worrying about removal. The ability to anticipate when he connects is just awesome. You can also include untapping cards to surprise people who try to remove him.

Quote from Taleran »

Someone else pointed this out to me and it is very silly if you want to overkill your Mind Sculptor ultimate on someone you could follow it up with a Kaya, Orzhov Usurper as a ridiculous overkill of a finisher

This would be very funny. I used to play on MODO before they banned all the broken cards in 1v1. I played Teferi, but the deck was very PW oriented. I had a couple of games where I was able to ultimate Jace, TMS and copy it with Rings of Brighthearth. Talk about overkill lol.

Quote from DementedKirby »

I think Emergency Powers would in fact be great in an Atraxa deck. If you have a lot of walkers in your graveyard then this can put them all back into your deck at instant speed. Doing so during your turn means that you can recover your graveyard, potentially draw 7 from an empty hand, and cast an expensive spell all for 5WU. If it's your only card in your hand, it basically reads "Draw 7 then cast something 7 or less for free and shuffle your graveyard".

I could be wrong in my assessment of Emergency Powers. I don't think it is specifically good in Atraxa the same way something like Doubling Season or Crystalline Crawler is. But it is very powerful spell in the format. My deck is 75% permanents, which is a very good amount. The card obviously makes me think of Time Spiral. With Mirari's Wake in the deck, is Time Spiral better? Anyway I might test this card as my thoughts on it are changing.

Quote from SC1987 »

Great review. The only card I disagree with you on is Zegana, Utopian Speaker. Tuskguard Captain is cheaper and can give your creatures trample and has Outlast which I think is just a more efficient Adapt; Adapt is a terrible mechanic and should never be used in constructed play anyway, especially not in a deck built around +1/+1 counters. The ability to draw just one card is negligible.

Also since you pointed it out, you're right that Dovin, Architect of Law looks better than Dovin, Grand Arbiter; in a superfriends build, I'd play Dovin, Architect of Law first because it can draw cards and can protect itself better. That should tell you just how bad Dovin, Grand Arbiter is.

Idk I like Zegana on its face. Keep in mind I don't really play the counters deck and only have a few reps with that style of deck from many years ago.

Quote from SmauG »

Quote from XeroxedFool »

Atraxa can draw hate to the pilot or herself depending on the meta. When playing superfriends PWs will be attacked or Atraxa will be removed so they can be attacked.

I think Simic Ascendancy will be removed before it wins the game and if players cant remove it they will try and kill the player the best they can.

I think the difference here is that the 'wins the game' trigger forces people to deal with you. Sure, some irrational people will feel that way about the commander herself.

I dont think the bad politics is worth the power level. Would you play the card without the trigger?

No it is not.
The powerlevel is starting to get high, but so is the rest of the table. But i have to say, my playgroup is terrible at proper threat assessment and for some reason focusses on me/Atraxa as soon as i take out her deckbox, so i don't think the card will make that any worse. If anything, it forces the table to think about tuning their decks and playing proper removal.
In the end though, it's not a very political, but still a synergistic deck and one of the biggest issues i face is once i do get the ball rolling, someone, usually the same person steals Atraxa away from me. Which is why i have built in so much protection for her.

Well if your meta is hostile and you think having the winning trigger then run it. It also couldn't hurt to try and run another deck to let the Atraxa hate cool off.

Atraxa can draw hate to the pilot or herself depending on the meta. When playing superfriends PWs will be attacked or Atraxa will be removed so they can be attacked.

I think Simic Ascendancy will be removed before it wins the game and if players cant remove it they will try and kill the player the best they can.

I think the difference here is that the 'wins the game' trigger forces people to deal with you. Sure, some irrational people will feel that way about the commander herself.

I dont think the bad politics is worth the power level. Would you play the card without the trigger?

Set review time! As always I will be ignoring cards that have no use in the format or for Atraxa. This set looks pretty cool and I think there will be plenty of useful options.


WWhite Cards:W
Forbidding Spirit is an new pillowfort card. I don't think it applies to Atraxa decks but it could see play in the format.

Smothering Tithe seems very powerful. Again, it is another card I see being useful in the format but not Atraxa directly.

Unbreakable Formation is good for counters themed decks. It can provide protection from wraths and it can also be used aggressively when the moment is right.

UBlue Cards:U
Benthic Biomancer is a good adapt card. Some passive looting can be nice if you are proliferating its counters. It might be slightly low impact for the format.

Mass Manipulation is another card that is good in the format but isn't specific enough to fit into any Ataxa decks I know of.

BBlack Cards:B
Awaken the Erstwhile is a pretty cool card. I doesn't help Ataxa very much but it seems like people might want to play it in the format.

Priest of Forgotten Gods is the same as most of the cards above, could see play but doesn't help us.

GGreen Cards:G
Biogenic Ooze creates creatures and counters for those creatures. Could be used as an 'army in a can' type card for counters themed decks.

Biogenic Upgrade has the word double on it! It has to be great right?

Incubation Druid is a card I really like. If you like mana dorks it seems good in a deck that can add a counter for less than the built in 5 mana.

GWUBMulticolor Cards:GWUB
Biomancer's Familiar is a card I don't see doing too much. If you wish to run adapt builds it could be very useful. It seems like a card that is TOO specific.

Combine Guildmage is a card that fits the counters theme. It seems slightly weak to me but I could be wrong.

Dovin, Grand Arbiter is a low impact card I think. With all the options available to us, why waste a slot on a walker like this?

Emergency Powers is powerful but I would say not in Atraxa decks.

Galloping Lizrog is funny.

Hydroid Krasis is a nice card in counters builds. I like cards that form both a threat and card advantage. I wish it was stronger, but I think it is okay like it is.

Kaya, Orzhov Usurper is another low impact walker when compared to the ones of the past. This has some more utility than Dovin though, and could be good in graveyard focused metagames.

Simic Ascendancy is a little trap I believe. It can be used as a source of counters, but I think it will draw more hate and loose you games. Maybe you can get a win out of it once or twice. I don't think its worth the slot though.

I like Zegana, Utopian Speaker. I think she is probably the best source of trample for the counters decks.

Dovin, Architect of Law is pretty lame. I actually like it better than the other Dovin because it draws a card.

I've played Gyre Sage in the past. I honestly liked the card quite a lot. It can be fairly explosive with the right draw. I really like Everflowing Chalice and these creatures are kinda like that one.

I cant imagine that Wildfire would be bad for a Lord Windgrace player. When it is really good, people will whine about it. If it is a card you want to play and dont mind getting some complaining then it should make your deck better.