Adriana, Captain of the Guard
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Legality

Format Legality
1v1 Commander Legal
Archenemy Legal
Canadian Highlander Legal
Casual Legal
Commander / EDH Legal
Commander: Rule 0 Legal
Custom Legal
Duel Commander Legal
Highlander Legal
Legacy Legal
Leviathan Legal
Limited Legal
Oathbreaker Legal
Planechase Legal
Quest Magic Legal
Vanguard Legal
Vintage Legal

Adriana, Captain of the Guard

Legendary Creature — Human Knight

Melee (Whenever this creature attacks, it gets +1/+1 until end of turn for each opponent you attacked with a creature this combat.)

Other creatures you control have melee. (If a creature has multiple instances of melee, each triggers separately.)

Recommendations View more recommendations

Crow_Umbra on A Plane of Knights & Dragons

2 weeks ago

No prob! I figured the Fallout knights might be a bit more "off theme" based off their appearances more than anything.

If you swap out some dragons, one of those slots could maybe go to Shanid, Sleepers' Scourge, and some of those other dragon slots could go to other Legendary Knights that are on-color, and would be supported by Shanid's Menace anthem and draw. Some of them are kinda specific, but others are a bit more generically good:

  • Inti, Seneschal of the Sun - An interesting draw piece that creates impulse draw whenever you discard

  • Adeline, Resplendent Cathar - She's a bit pricier, but with good reason. She can hang back while you attack with other creatures and she spits out tokens to quickly build up board presence.

  • Skyhunter Strike Force - Not a legend from the link above, but still a great card. Essentially a mini Adriana, Captain of the Guard.

  • Eowyn, Fearless Knight - Removal on a stick that gives your Legendary creatures protection from the colors of the creature she exiles.

  • Tori D'Avenant, Fury Rider - She gives some pseudo-Vigilance, trample, and +1/+1 antheming when she attacks.

  • Adriana, Captain of the Guard - Another keyword anthem that can get you up to +3/+3 on your team if you swing at everyone.

Last_Laugh on Director Isshin's Cut

1 month ago

Hoarding Ogre, Djeru and Hazoret, and Hellrider since it only hits one opponent are what I'd cut personally.

I'd also swap Adriana, Captain of the Guard for Skyhunter Strike Force. Same effect but 2 less mana and on an evasive creature.

Crow_Umbra on Isshin, Two Heavens as One

5 months ago

Hi there, welcome to Isshin deck brewing! Isshin is a blast to play if you haven't had the chance to do so already. If you're open to suggestions, I have a few ideas in looking at your already pretty solid list:

  • I think you can swap out Goblin Traprunner. I've played coin-flipping as part of that coin-flip pre-con, and it can be a very boom or bust strategy. Additionally, having to go through each flip can be kind of time consuming to do or sit through.

  • Skyhunter Strike Force or Ogre Battledriver could be potential swaps for Goblin Traprunner. Skyhunter is basically like a mini Adriana, Captain of the Guard, and Battledriver is a helpful combo of Haste anthem & power boost.

  • If your budget allows, I'd recommend checking out Dolmen Gate and Reconnaissance as protection effects. Isshin thrives on keeping his board as protected as possible to maintain aggro momentum. Reconnaissance acts as like a pseudo-Vigilance anthem that can also save your creatures from combat damage. This article helps detail how that timing makes that work.

  • On the topic of board protection, I'd recommend checking out Unbreakable Formation and Clever Concealment, if your budget allows, as instant speed protection options. Your tokens can help convoke cast Clever Concealment, essentially making it free in some instances.

  • Lastly, I think you could swap Chaos Warp with either Stroke of Midnight or Soul Partition. Stroke of Midnight is basically like another copy of Generous Gift, but doesn't hit lands. Soul Partition pulls double duty as "temporary" removal, or as a single target protection effect.

I hope these suggestions are helpful. I'd be happy to chat through more if you're open to it. Isshin is a commander I've enjoyed playing since he made his debut, so you're in for a fun time.

Crow_Umbra on Isshin (Unfinished)

5 months ago

Brew discussions are one of my favorite aspects of MtG and EDH. I'll hop on Discord a couple times a month and talk with my best friend about our deck ideas. We end up chatting for a couple hours at a time as we deliberate on decisions lol.

I used to run Fervor until Rising of the Day dropped earlier this year.

  • Ogre Battledriver is also a great Haste and Power boost for your creatures that ETB.

  • A note with Elturel Survivors is that its +X buff is static, so that won't get doubled by Isshin. This is what allows the Myriad tokens to "see" the lands that your opponents control. So each Myriad copy will check for the number of lands its respective defending opponent controls.

  • If you do want a Menace anthem, Goblin War Drums is also an option for the same CMC as Pyreheart Wolf, but is a bit more removal resistant. Hard to pass up on those death touch anthems though.

  • If you like Adriana, Captain of the Guard, I'd recommend checking out Skyhunter Strike Force as a slighter CMC cheaper option, or as a redundant effect.

  • The tough thing with Lightning Runner is that it still has to attack over two turns to get the full 8 energy with Isshin on the board. Without him that gets stretched out to over 4 turns. I took a quick look at Cardkingdom, and the cheapest non-foil Aurelia is about $6.99.

  • The ETB group slug damage can get nasty once Isshin starts doubling up the token production on attacks, especially with Myrel. Some other budget effects are Corpse Knight and Witty Roastmaster. Purphoros, God of the Forge is still fairly out of budget, but a nice upgrade if you wanted to move that direction.

  • Hellrider, Commissar Severina Raine, and Brutal Hordechief are a nice suite of group slug damage that encourage you to swing with big boards. Commissar is also like a budget Skullclamp on a stick. Speaking of which, Skullclamp is a great draw piece for all your small token creatures, and should be under $10, depending on the printing.

  • I'm currently running 35 lands in my Isshin deck, along with the 3 Talismans, Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Sword of the Animist, and some Treasure production in the form of Captain Lannery Storm, Professional Face-Breaker, and a handful of other Treasure producers.

As for the instants and sorceries, I tend not to suggest cuts as much there, since I think that's where more meta & playgroup specific tech decisions can be made. Generally speaking, I recommend cutting out single target sorcery speed removal, and saving those sorcery slots for board wipes & draw, Also try to make your instant speed removal be as target-versatile as possible to cut down on how many permanent-specific options you need to include. Here are a few thoughts I do have:

  • I'd suggest swapping Chaos Warp with Tibalt's Trickery. It's fun to catch people off guard with a red counter spell, and White & Black have a better go at removing the permanent types that Red typically can't. I think Chaos Warp is better if you're running a Red color combo that doesn't have access to Enchantment removal.

  • Terminate or Condemn can be cut or swapped with Soul Partition. Soul Partition is great since it can (temporarily) remove a troublesome nonland permanent, or save one of your own if needed. Sometimes the extra can throw off an oppoent's tempo if they really need to recast whatever you exiled, & sets them back a turn or two.

  • I think Vindicate can be replaced with Generous Gift and/or Stroke of Midnight. I think that making your suite of removal be as versatile as possible across a few cards can help you save multiple slots that are more specific/situational on what they can remove. The creature tokens created by Generous Gift & Stroke of Midnight are fairly low impact, & typically die in chump blocks or board wipes.

  • Mortify can probably replaced with Wear / Tear as an instant speed option that hits multiple targets.

  • If you want some instant speed draw, I'd recommend checking out Plumb the Forbidden. It's an excellent response to your opponents board wiping, and since you can create copies of it, the copies will dodge counter spells.

  • Fates' Reversal can probably be cut. Isshin doesn't really want single target recursion, and the Venture the Dungeon is better if you have other instances of Venturing to get its benefits. Lich-Knights' Conquest is a new option for mass recursion that you can throw some creature or treasure tokens into.

  • A little off track from the instants and sorceries, but I'd recommend swapping out Paladin Class and replacing it with Flowering of the White Tree. The Ward 1 can make your opponents look for easier targets to remove, & helps some of your more aggro Legends stick around.

Crow_Umbra on Isshin Your Pants

10 months ago

Nice to see another Myriad Isshin list. I think yours is probably the 2nd or 3rd I've seen. Have you had a chance to play the deck irl at all? Also wondering if you have any specific total budget, or budget per card in mind? In looking at your list, I have a few suggestions:

  • Your land and ramp count both seem kinda low. I think you could probably bump up to 35-36 lands, and add a couple more mana rocks like Boros Signet and the others on color, Talisman of Hierarchy and the others in Mardu colors. Yes, I recognize that Sword of the Animist & Bitterthorn can grab you lands, but that's typically not until turn 4 at the earliest.

  • I get that they might be meta-dependent choices, but Leyline of Sanctity & Aegis of the Gods can likely be swapped out for more synergistic effects.

  • I see you already have it in your Maybeboard, but Fervor can likely be swapped in over Hammer of Purphoros, mostly because it's a bit easier to cast and slightly more resistant to removal.

  • If you're looking to make any expensive upgrades, I'd recommend Dolmen Gate and/or Reconnaissance as upgrades over Rune-Tail. If you're not familiar with Reconnaissance, it can give your creatures pseudo-Vigilance, and save them from unfavorable blocks. This article can explain the timing rules in a bit more detail.

  • Corpse Knight could be a helpful addition to round out your suite of ETB damage you already have with Impact Tremors & Witty Roastmaster.

  • Adriana, Captain of the Guard and Professional Face-Breaker can both be gas with your go-wide strategy. I love Professional Face-Breaker in my Isshin deck, as she can be used for either mana acceleration, or impulse draws. Adriana's Melee will stack with Skyhunter Strike Force, & both get doubled by Isshin on top of all that. Gets gross fast.

  • Lastly, I'd say that Plumb the Forbidden, Breena, the Demagogue, Tocasia's Welcome, and Karazikar, the Eye Tyrant can all be gas for drawing in Isshin. I'm currently using all of them, except for Tocasia's Welcome, but have found all to be super helpful. Breena tends to stick around in my meta, and has gotten big enough to finish players off in my last couple games played.

Hope these suggestions are helpful. Best of luck with your deck and piloting it; Isshin is a blast to play.

Crow_Umbra on The Last Samurai

1 year ago

Sweet deck! Isshin has received a lot of cool tech in the past year since he's been printed. I'd recommend checking out some of the following cards that I've really liked for my Isshin deck, as you have a lot of the other stuff I would've recommended:

The following suggestions are less budget-friendly, but certainly pack a punch:

I hope these suggestions are helpful, and I hope you are enjoying Isshin in your IRL games. I'd be happy to chat if you would like some additional suggestions or feedback.

Worrad75 on Attack-harmonicon

1 year ago

we back baby, lots of changes:

**Sardian Avenger IN

Ashnod's Altar OUT**

I've had really good experiences so far with Devilish Valet, and so I'm adding another cheap, scaling threat that can really rack up the damage at any stage of the game. It synergizes fantastically with pieces like Shadowspear and Duelist's Heritage, introduces a bit of treasure hate, and even shuts off some combos. I love that it scales with the power level of the table, and I expect it to overperform for 2 mana. On the other hand, Ashnod's has underperformed. Without consistent token producers (of which there are only a handful of in the deck), this often feels like 3 mana do-nothing, and it being one of only a select handful of non-mana artifacts in the deck means its even more likely to eat non-creature removal.

**Goblin Motivator and Bloodlust Inciter IN

Ogre Battledriver and Dowsing Dagger  Flip OUT**

I found myself craving more haste enablers in the deck and Ogre Battledriver seems to be too big of a lightning rod, which is fair because it can end games with the right setup. I've opted for cheaper, lower to the ground options that are less likely to eat targeted removal. They won't pump a team of incoming tokens off of Mardu Ascendancy or Hero of Bladehold, but they will come down faster and have impact over many more turns than the ogre would normally be allowed to live. I did enjoy playing with Dowsing Dagger  Flip but it feels counter-intuitive to lean into haste and also give out blockers.

**Battle Angels of Tyr IN

Rabble Rousing OUT**

Myriad is fun, cool, and good. Turns out, its even better when you make twice as many tokens. For 4 mana, you get 26 flying power per turn with Isshin out, and potentially 2 card draws and 2 treasures to top it off (you likely wont get the lifegain trigger). The nail in the coffin for Rabble Rousing is that the tokens don't come in tapped and attacking. That downside combined with the whiff potential means that the card feels clunky at times. It was also overkill for the synergies that it was hoping to lean into for card draw (Welcoming Vampire and Tocasia's Welcome), so overall it only felt like we were unlocking the true potential of this card in magical-christmas-land with Skullclamp and Ashnod's Altar.

**Laelia, the Blade Reforged IN

Welcoming Vampire OUT**

Given that we're downsizing on the overall number of token-focused cards (and adding [battle angels of tyr]), [welcoming vampire] seems like a natural candidate to take out for [Laelia]. A guarenteed 2 cards a turn is better than (maybe) 1 card a turn, even if it means making your creature a lightning rod.

**Skyhunter Strike Force IN

Nadaar, Selfless Paladin OUT**

If I was willing to pay 5 mana to give the whole team melee with Adriana, Captain of the Guard, then I will absolutely double up on the effect on a 2/2 flying body for 3 mana. PSA: instances of melee stack, so Isshin + both of these = +12/+12 to each creature that attacks. Nadaar is a solid value piece, but getting to attack with him twice without him getting killed feels more like a gamble than a guarantee, so he's getting pulled out for the moment. Note that this makes Triumphant Adventurer the sole venture card left in the deck, so if I need space for another 2 drop that might be where I go.

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