I'm putting in Entreat the Dead as another reanimation spell that can get back multiple creatures, and Insidious Dreams to help set it up. Oblivion Strike is added for more exile removal and also because of the devoid ability, and Arcane Lighthouse to help deal with shroud/hexproof creatures.
========================================
So I was going through the deck and looking at cards that had an immediate impact upon entering vs those that didn’t, and these are what I came up with:
Sheoldred, Whispering One: Does nothing the turn she comes down. Can be removed before having any effect against an opponent, or before getting back to you and getting a creature back.
Chainer, Dementia Master: Costs 5 to get down, plus another 3 mana and 3 life to get back a creature. The life loss can add up real quick, and also has the negative effect of exiling the creatures he brings back unless we have a sac outlet.
Kokusho, the Evening Star: Does nothing when it comes in. Must die before it has any effect, and you need an infinite mana engine before being able to close out the game.
Wurmcoil Engine: Same as Kokusho. The lifelink alone makes me want to keep it.
Those are the four that really stick out, and I was thinking of these as possible replacements:
Yawgmoth’s Will: Should technically already be in here, but I cut it awhile back to make room for other things.
Phyrexian Delver: Immediately brings back another creature, which could be one that could potentially set us up for a win that same turn.
Thrilling Encore: Gives the deck a bit more resilience from board wipes, and I always like surprise reanimate spells.
I made this change a few weeks back, but I forgot to update here. Nissa has been a real lackluster card. She doesn't necessarily ramp us any further, just guarantees a land drop for this turn or the next. When she does flip, while her abilities do have synergy with the deck, they aren't really game changing. Adding Rishkar's Expertise gives us another card draw spell that can draw us up to 5 cards, sometimes more, and allows us to cast one of the newly drawn cards or one we had previously for free, which can allow us to cast another spell with the mana we saved.
I don't necessarily want to include any cards that could in turn help an opponent out. Mikokoro can help dig everyone one card deeper into finding an answer. Same with Chain of Vapor: they could bounce something that could possibly disrupt our combo.
Ballista can end a game on his own by generating enough mana to kill the entire table. Stroke and Zenith can only take out a single player at a time. They would, however, make good inclusions to help draw into a combo piece, and if they kill off a problematic player, then it's a good day.
They only thing fetches would be good for would be to reset the top of the deck for Top, so I will have to mull over if they will be worth it or not.
I understand not wanting to activate Mikokoro when it can advantage opponents. But you can include it in your deck and just not use it when it's not the optimal line. I still think it's a good include for your infinite loops. There should be opportunities for you to be able to use it.
You would play Chain to bounce something like Torpor Orb or Humility before you combo. Or to disrupt someone else. Can you explain how chain could bounce something to disrupt you? The only non-lands you play are rocks.
Ballista doesn't end the game on its own. That's why it's not worth including. When you have infinite, I think there's just better ways to win. And when you're not going infinite, Walking Ballista is kind of a paper weight since you're not ramping incredibly hard. Altar of the Brood is a 1cc trinket if you still want a searchable trinket.
The interaction with Top alone is worth including fetches. However, fetches also interact with Dig Through Time, Brainstorm, and Ponder.
1) I will reconsider Mikokoro. It really couldn't hurt to try, and you're right that I don't need to use it if I don't want to.
2) Maybe I'm thinking of these things in the wrong way. We would have to cast Chain first before attempting to combo off, so then there should be no disruption on their part.
3) Altar doesn't end the game on its own either. You still need to do the combo to either generate infinite mana for Ballista, or infinite ETBs for an Altar win. The difference is with Ballista, you can still respond to removal with his ability. Altar you can't respond to unless you bounce it, and then you can't recast it during your combo, so you'll fizzle.
4) Ok, I will include fetches in a non-budget version. They do help a bit more, but I still don't think they are "necessary" for the deck to function.
I've opted to cut all of the fetch lands and Crucible of Worlds, at least for the time being. Being a mono-colored deck means we don't need to worry about color fixing, the fetches aren't necessarily important. Losing Crucible may prove to be a mistake, as we will no longer be able to play lands from our graveyard to ensure hitting our land drops, or reuse our many utility lands.
In their place, I have opted to run four more basic Mountains as well as Forge of Heroes to replace the lands I took out. Forge will hopefully prove to be a worthwhile land, as it should enable us to ultimate Daretti a turn earlier. In place of Crucible, I have chosen to put in Saheeli's Directive. With Directive, we should be able to spam the board with a ton of artifacts, and hopefully get closer to winning the game.
And of course, the budget suggested cuts should also included fetchlands.
I don't necessarily want to include any cards that could in turn help an opponent out. Mikokoro can help dig everyone one card deeper into finding an answer. Same with Chain of Vapor: they could bounce something that could possibly disrupt our combo.
Ballista can end a game on his own by generating enough mana to kill the entire table. Stroke and Zenith can only take out a single player at a time. They would, however, make good inclusions to help draw into a combo piece, and if they kill off a problematic player, then it's a good day.
They only thing fetches would be good for would be to reset the top of the deck for Top, so I will have to mull over if they will be worth it or not.
Changed a few things around. Add more creatures to help with a protection suite, and others for more creature ramp. Marwyn is for more ramp, Whisperer for non-combat card draw, Yisan to help tutor creatures, and Cultivator for more experience, and as another win condition.
I removed the other cards as they have been lackluster in recent games online.
Just a rules question; When Naru copies a flicker spell with no target (e.g. Illusionist's Stratagem), can she change the total number of targets? I thought you could change the actual targets, but not change how many there were. I think you'd need to have a single target initially in order to start comboing off.
After looking into it, apparently you are correct. I guess the info I got when building this was incorrect.
I've been looking for a Mono Blue commander deck for quite awhile, and happened across this deck. This one was adopted and migrated from smlvalentine1 on TappedOut to here, so I will take no credit for this build, although I've made a few slight tweaks to make it more budget friendly. So, without further ado, I present to you Naru Meha- Flicker Combo.
The strategy of the deck is pretty straightforward: We want to cast one of our flicker spells (Ghostly Flicker/Illusionist's Stratagem), hold Priority, flash in Naru Meha, copy the flicker spell, and proceed to combo off with one of our outlets. Each of the flicker spells has their own lines of play: Illusionist's Stratagem is our set up flicker spell, which will enable us to go off, and Ghostly Flicker is what we use to go straight for the combo and the win. So, how do we utilize each of these spells? We will delve into each individually.
At opponent's end step, cast Illusionist's Stratagem with at least one target. Do note that Stratagem has to have at least one target for Naru to successfully copy it, as you can change targets, but not the number of targets. Be sure to retain Priority when casting this, or this line of play will not work.
With Priority retained, flash in Naru Meha, targeting Stratagem.
With the Stratagem copy on the stack, target Naru Meha.
Let the copy resolve, exiling then returning Naru Meha, and draw your card.
With Naru Meha entering, you target the original Stratagem.
Repeat these steps until you draw all but one card of your deck. On the last iteration of this play, make sure Naru Meha goes back to the command zone, then let the turn pass to you.
On your turn, with your entire deck in hand, you may proceed to combo off with a full suite of protection in hand. So how do we combo off? We use our other flicker spell.
Cast Ghostly Flicker, targeting 2 lands/artifacts, floating mana in the process. Be sure to retain Priority when casting this, or this line of play will not work.
With Priority retained, flash in Naru Meha, targeting Flicker.
With the Flicker copy on the stack, target Naru Meha and a land or artifact, floating mana in the process.
Let the copy resolve, exiling then returning Naru Meha and the mana source, which you will continue to float mana after it enters.
With Naru Meha entering, you target the original Flicker.
Repeat these steps in order to create infinite mana. On the last iteration of this play, make sure Naru Meha goes back to the command zone.
Now the we have created infinite mana, what do we do with it next? Well, we need an outlet to use said mana. The following cards are the outlets in which we use our mana to secure a victory:
Walking Ballista: We can use our infinite mana and pump it into a huge Ballista and ping everyone until the game ends.
Pongify/Rapid Hybridization + any other creature on the battlefield: Cast one of these spells targeting any creature, retain priority, flash in Naru Meha and target the spell, have the copy target Naru Meha, sending her back to the command zone and creating a Frog Lizard/Ape token. Repeat until you have enough tokens to swing for lethal. NOTE: You will need to either create enough tokens to push past existing creatures in order to get lethal, or cast an overloaded Cyclonic Rift, followed by Nexus of Fate in order to swing in without hindrance.
Winds of Rebuke: Cast Rebuke and target whatever you wish, hold priority, flash in Naru Meha and copy the Rebuke. The Rebuke copy will target Naru Meha, bouncing her and milling everyone for 2 cards. Repeat to mill out everyone. Nexus of Fate will allow us to never mill ourselves out.
Blink of an Eye: Cast Blink kicked, targeting whatever you wish, hold priority, flash in Naru Meha and copy the Blink. The Blink copy will target Naru Meha, bouncing her and drawing you a card. Repeat to draw your deck, or at least until you find a way to close the game.
Sunscorched Desert: This line of play doesn't require infinite mana. You just need to keep Flicker Naru Meha and Desert to ping everyone dead.
It's Breya's turn, and he casts Merciless Eviction naming Planeswalkers, and states he's more nervous about them than my creatures, and he didn't want to lose what creatures he had.
On my turn, Sheoldred triggers, and I bring back Gary for the win.
Had Breya chose to exile creatures, my line of play would have been GftT to bait out the emblem counter, made enormous mana with Coffers, then drop Lifeline, Ashnod's Altar, and Meteor Golem, followed by Animate Dead and Reanimate on Kokusho and Gary, and then loop with Lifeline/Altar to close out the game.
========================================
I definitely had a blast tonight. I played against two people I never met, made some good friendships, and I'm looking forward to playing more. I'm really glad the second game went the way it did. It played out beautifully.
This is definitely an interesting take on Gonti. I like how you focused specifically on him, and not multiple ETB creatures. How has it been working for you?
I feel like I would have a hard time going with a build like this, since I've been having too much fun abusing multiple different ETB effects..
I love this Rogue so I put together my Gonti deck again and then decided I wanted to focus it even more on Gonti and that kind of strange control so I busted the CMC of the deck down a bunch and centered it very largely around Gonti himself.
Yay! After about a year or so of not having a physical deck, I've finally bought into one, and I chose Gonti to be the first one! I'm hoping to get some games in soon, so I'll have to let everyone know how those go.
OUT:
Abnormal Endurance
Arch of Orazca
Sandstone Oracle
Sengir Autocrat
IN:
Arcane Lighthouse
Entreat the Dead
Insidious Dreams
Oblivion Strike
Sengir Autocrat is a bad enabler for the infinite mana combo, as the tokens are only good for making the mana or being blockers. Sandstone Oracle didn't draw as many cards as I had hoped it would. Same goes for Arch of Orazca. Abnormal Endurance was good for what it did, but Undying Evil and Supernatural Stamina did it cheaper.
I'm putting in Entreat the Dead as another reanimation spell that can get back multiple creatures, and Insidious Dreams to help set it up. Oblivion Strike is added for more exile removal and also because of the devoid ability, and Arcane Lighthouse to help deal with shroud/hexproof creatures.
========================================
So I was going through the deck and looking at cards that had an immediate impact upon entering vs those that didn’t, and these are what I came up with:
Sheoldred, Whispering One: Does nothing the turn she comes down. Can be removed before having any effect against an opponent, or before getting back to you and getting a creature back.
Chainer, Dementia Master: Costs 5 to get down, plus another 3 mana and 3 life to get back a creature. The life loss can add up real quick, and also has the negative effect of exiling the creatures he brings back unless we have a sac outlet.
Kokusho, the Evening Star: Does nothing when it comes in. Must die before it has any effect, and you need an infinite mana engine before being able to close out the game.
Wurmcoil Engine: Same as Kokusho. The lifelink alone makes me want to keep it.
Those are the four that really stick out, and I was thinking of these as possible replacements:
Yawgmoth’s Will: Should technically already be in here, but I cut it awhile back to make room for other things.
Phyrexian Delver: Immediately brings back another creature, which could be one that could potentially set us up for a win that same turn.
Thrilling Encore: Gives the deck a bit more resilience from board wipes, and I always like surprise reanimate spells.
Marionette Master: Can win the game on her own with Nim Deathmantle and Ashnod’s Altar/Phyrexian Altar with no need for an infinite mana engine (although she is one herself technically).
Shriekmaw: More removal on a creature. Can be cast cheaper via its Evoke cost.
What are your thoughts? Anything I missed?
OUT:
Nissa, Vastwood Seer
IN:
Rishkar's Expertise
I made this change a few weeks back, but I forgot to update here. Nissa has been a real lackluster card. She doesn't necessarily ramp us any further, just guarantees a land drop for this turn or the next. When she does flip, while her abilities do have synergy with the deck, they aren't really game changing. Adding Rishkar's Expertise gives us another card draw spell that can draw us up to 5 cards, sometimes more, and allows us to cast one of the newly drawn cards or one we had previously for free, which can allow us to cast another spell with the mana we saved.
1) I will reconsider Mikokoro. It really couldn't hurt to try, and you're right that I don't need to use it if I don't want to.
2) Maybe I'm thinking of these things in the wrong way. We would have to cast Chain first before attempting to combo off, so then there should be no disruption on their part.
3) Altar doesn't end the game on its own either. You still need to do the combo to either generate infinite mana for Ballista, or infinite ETBs for an Altar win. The difference is with Ballista, you can still respond to removal with his ability. Altar you can't respond to unless you bounce it, and then you can't recast it during your combo, so you'll fizzle.
4) Ok, I will include fetches in a non-budget version. They do help a bit more, but I still don't think they are "necessary" for the deck to function.
OUT:
Arid Mesa
Bloodstained Mire
Crucible of Worlds
Scalding Tarn
Wooded Foothills
IN:
Forge of Heroes
Mountain x4
Saheeli's Directive
I've opted to cut all of the fetch lands and Crucible of Worlds, at least for the time being. Being a mono-colored deck means we don't need to worry about color fixing, the fetches aren't necessarily important. Losing Crucible may prove to be a mistake, as we will no longer be able to play lands from our graveyard to ensure hitting our land drops, or reuse our many utility lands.
In their place, I have opted to run four more basic Mountains as well as Forge of Heroes to replace the lands I took out. Forge will hopefully prove to be a worthwhile land, as it should enable us to ultimate Daretti a turn earlier. In place of Crucible, I have chosen to put in Saheeli's Directive. With Directive, we should be able to spam the board with a ton of artifacts, and hopefully get closer to winning the game.
I don't necessarily want to include any cards that could in turn help an opponent out. Mikokoro can help dig everyone one card deeper into finding an answer. Same with Chain of Vapor: they could bounce something that could possibly disrupt our combo.
Ballista can end a game on his own by generating enough mana to kill the entire table. Stroke and Zenith can only take out a single player at a time. They would, however, make good inclusions to help draw into a combo piece, and if they kill off a problematic player, then it's a good day.
They only thing fetches would be good for would be to reset the top of the deck for Top, so I will have to mull over if they will be worth it or not.
All good. Would definitely have been a great suggestion if it wasn't in there.
Oh but it is there. Right at the top of the Instants section.
OUT:
Acidic Slime
Animation Module
Bred for the Hunt
Coiling Oracle
Crop Rotation
Edric, Spymaster of Trest
Herald of Secret Streams
Lifecrafter's Bestiary
Patagia Viper
Primal Command
Temple of Mystery
IN:
Arbor Elf
Beast Whisperer
Bloom Tender
Cultivator of Blades
Eladamri, Lord of Leaves
Fauna Shaman
Marwyn, the Nurturer
Rogue's Passage
Sylvan Safekeeper
Wirewood Symbiote
Yisan, the Wanderer Rogue
Changed a few things around. Add more creatures to help with a protection suite, and others for more creature ramp. Marwyn is for more ramp, Whisperer for non-combat card draw, Yisan to help tutor creatures, and Cultivator for more experience, and as another win condition.
I removed the other cards as they have been lackluster in recent games online.
After looking into it, apparently you are correct. I guess the info I got when building this was incorrect.
Thank you for clarifying that.
4 Naru Meha, Master Wizard
//Creatures (5):
0 Walking Ballista
2 Baral, Chief of Compliance
2 Snapcaster Mage
3 Spellseeker
3 Trinket Mage
//Artifacts (15):
0 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Voltaic Key
2 Coldsteel Heart
2 Fellwar Stone
2 Mind Stone
2 Sapphire Medallion
2 Sky Diamond
2 Thought Vessel
3 Basalt Monolith
4 Hedron Archive
4 Thran Dynamo
//Sorceries (9):
1 Gitaxian Probe
1 Ponder
1 Preordain
1 Serum Visions
1 Sleight of Hand
2 Merchant Scroll
3 Day's Undoing
3 Windfall
6 Time Spiral
0 Pact of Negation
1 Brainstorm
1 Dispel
1 Flusterstorm
1 High Tide
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Opt
1 Pongify
1 Rapid Hybridization
1 Spell Pierce
1 Swan Song
1 Whispers of the Muse
2 Anticipate
2 Blink of an Eye
2 Counterspell
2 Cyclonic Rift
2 Delay
2 Impulse
2 Mana Drain
2 Mission Briefing
2 Muddle the Mixture
2 Negate
2 Peer Through Depths
2 Pull from Tomorrow
2 Winds of Rebuke
3 Frantic Search
3 Ghostly Flicker
3 Pulse of the Grid
3 Thirst for Knowledge
4 Hieroglyphic Illumination
4 Illusionist's Stratagem
5 Force of Will
5 Misdirection
7 Nexus of Fate
8 Dig Through Time
1 Mystic Remora
3 Rhystic Study
//Lands (34):
1 Ancient Tomb
30 Island
1 Riptide Laboratory
1 Seat of the Synod
1 Sunscorched Desert
These are cards I would change out to make the deck more fast and efficient.
Coldsteel Heart -> Chrome Mox
Sky Diamond -> Lotus Petal
Thought Vessel -> Mox Opal
Basalt Monolith -> Grim Monolith
Hedron Archive -> Lion's Eye Diamond
Thran Dynamo -> Mox Diamond
Day's Undoing -> Timetwister
The strategy of the deck is pretty straightforward: We want to cast one of our flicker spells (Ghostly Flicker/Illusionist's Stratagem), hold Priority, flash in Naru Meha, copy the flicker spell, and proceed to combo off with one of our outlets. Each of the flicker spells has their own lines of play: Illusionist's Stratagem is our set up flicker spell, which will enable us to go off, and Ghostly Flicker is what we use to go straight for the combo and the win. So, how do we utilize each of these spells? We will delve into each individually.
========================================
I played my first two games of commander in over a year tonight, and by first, I mean with physical cards.
Game 1 vs Atraxa Superfriends:
I got stomped pretty hard in this one. Kiora, the Crashing Wave emblem with Ugin, the Spirit Dragon closed out the game on that one.
Game 2 vs Atraxa Superfriends and Breya Artifacts:
This game was awesome. There was a lot of back and forth interactions throughout the game. Atraxa was able to ultimate a Jace, Unraveler of Secrets and Tezzeret, Artifice Master, and we were also under an Ensnaring Bridge.
I'm sitting at 14, Breya at 34, and Atraxa at 35. Atraxa has a Karn Liberated, Teferi, Temporal Archmage, and Atraxa out, along with a couple thopters. My turn, I cast Kokusho, the Evening Star to bait out the emblem counter. I then cast Living Death and bring back Duplicant, Vulturous Aven, Ravenous Chupacabra, Sidisi, Undead Vizier, Rune-Scarred Demon, Kokusho, the Evening Star, Sheoldred, Whispering One, and Gray Merchant of Asphodel. I drain each for 16 (I also have a Necropotence out), putting them at 18 and 19 and gain 32 to go to 46. I exploit Gary from Aven, draw 2 and lose 2 down to 44, and then exploit Kokusho from Sidisi, bringing them down to 13 and 14 and me up to 54. I use my two tutors to go grab Ashnod's Altar and Lifeline (the two creature removal effects didn't matter). I then dump 10 life into Necro, sculpt my hand to contain Ancient Tomb, Cabal Coffers, Lifeline, Ashnod's Altar, Go for the Throat, Animate Dead, and Reanimate, and pass.
It's Breya's turn, and he casts Merciless Eviction naming Planeswalkers, and states he's more nervous about them than my creatures, and he didn't want to lose what creatures he had.
Atraxa goes, can't do much, and EOT brings out Teferi, Hero of Dominaria.
On my turn, Sheoldred triggers, and I bring back Gary for the win.
Had Breya chose to exile creatures, my line of play would have been GftT to bait out the emblem counter, made enormous mana with Coffers, then drop Lifeline, Ashnod's Altar, and Meteor Golem, followed by Animate Dead and Reanimate on Kokusho and Gary, and then loop with Lifeline/Altar to close out the game.
========================================
I definitely had a blast tonight. I played against two people I never met, made some good friendships, and I'm looking forward to playing more. I'm really glad the second game went the way it did. It played out beautifully.
I feel like I would have a hard time going with a build like this, since I've been having too much fun abusing multiple different ETB effects..