By Invitation Only
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Legality

Format Legality
1v1 Commander Legal
Alchemy Legal
Archenemy Legal
Arena Legal
Block Constructed Legal
Brawl Legal
Canadian Highlander Legal
Casual Legal
Commander / EDH Legal
Commander: Rule 0 Legal
Custom Legal
Duel Commander Legal
Gladiator Legal
Highlander Legal
Historic Legal
Legacy Legal
Leviathan Legal
Limited Legal
Modern Legal
Oathbreaker Legal
Pioneer Legal
Planechase Legal
Pre-release Legal
Quest Magic Legal
Standard Legal
Vanguard Legal
Vintage Legal

By Invitation Only

Sorcery

Choose a number between 0 and 13. Each player sacrifices that many creatures.

nuperokaso on Orzhov Sacrifice Clerics

10 months ago

DareiJuxis on The King Has Returned.

11 months ago

So the reason I think there should be boardwipes in a deck like this is that if you have incubate tokens out, you can rebuild much faster than other decks because you already have an army of artifact creatures, which is also why I think 34 lands is low, paying that 2 to use the incubate tokens adds up fast.Being able to rebuild faster means that you gain more advantage from the board being wiped than your opponents, on average. So I think any boardwipe that does not hit artifacts specifically will work. If you are concerned about recasting your commander, you can include ways to Reanimate (Animate Dead, Tortured Existence) your commander to avoid the command tax. but if you want to avoid hitting your commander there's always Toxic Deluge, The Meathook Massacre and Black Sun's Zenith as flexible boardwipes that do not necessarily hit Brimaz, Blight of Oreskos, as well as By Invitation Only, Kindred Dominance, and Tragic Arrogance. Another unrelated card that may be worthwhile is Monumental Corruption. It's risky, but if lifegain is added to the deck it's a great way to draw a burst of cards.

Crow_Umbra on Michigone

1 year ago

Hi there! I thought I'd try my best to answer the questions you left for me on my wall. I mostly play the "typical" 4-person EDH pod, with the occasional 5 person game here or there. All of my decks are built with a multi-player setting in mind. To answer your other questions as best as possible:

  • 1 - What is my win rate with Isshin? - This is something I haven't kept close track of, unfortunately. In the past year, I've played at least 20 games with the deck, so I'd have a rough guess that it's won about 25% of the games it has played, and threatened wins another 15-20% of the time, but couldn't quite close it out for one reason or another. My primer has some game logs in the long list of updates if you want to try to read through those. I tried to capture the summary of some of my more memorable games, win or lose.

  • 2 - How do you win with Isshin in multiplayer? - Damage, whether combat or group slug/drain damage. Any aggro or damage based strategy has to find a way to pump out at least 120 damage over the course of a game, or capitalize on openings made by other decks in peoples' defenses. My Isshin deck wins by making swarms of tokens, and antheming them up with Battle Cry, Melee, or some other static power/toughness boost. The times I've won with combat damage, was typically off the back of Iroas, God of Victory because I had a board that could swing away and was hard to block. This is why I also have the damage effects of Purphoros, God of the Forge, Mishra, Claimed by Gix  Meld, Commissar Severina Raine, Impact Tremors, and Brutal Hordechief. The group damage and combat damage help each other out. They both soften up your opponents and help make each other more viable. These damage effects also help you get "around" blockers.

"So what do I do? Lean more into group slug, i.e. put in Impact Tremors? Lean away from wipes and focus on ramp and draw? More protection for my creatures?"

These are all generally good ideas. Adding in more ramp and draw can help your deck with consistency, especially for staying gassed up in the mid-late game. While board wipes are helpful, I've found that sometimes it can get annoying to reset the game too many times. At some point someone has to win, and wiping the board 3+ times in a single game can make it tedious instead.

  • 3 - "Is it mean/distasteful to eliminate the player that is the biggest threat, then finish off everyone else? Am I a bully?*" - Personally, I don't think so. I guess it depends on how well you know the people you are playing with. If the "threat" you eliminated has a deck that consistently pops off if it isn't dealt with, then I don't think it's wrong for them to sit one out. I've been a similar position numerous times with Isshin where I'll eliminate the player that might be the biggest threat to me specifically or could be the biggest threat to the table. If I become archenemy of that game, then so be it. Being archenemy can be fun, and it can be a compliment. Congrats, your deck is now the Big Bad Scary Thing. This is a game, and someone has to win each match up. Yes, EDH is supposed to be a "casual format", and that means a variety of different things to players, but after all is said and done, someone has to win. Ideally it can be you.

  • 4 - "As the only deck in the meta with a robust removal suite..." - I will address the rest of the statement you left, but woof, it sounds like the group you played with this time around was maybe very casual? I found that when some of my friends first started playing EDH, they didn't run a whole lot of removal, often to their own detriment. As one friend and I like to echo, "removal wins games". I think you were correct in removing the Ghired's Anointed Procession, but left their other enchantment alone so they could have fun. Ideally, you shouldn't have to be the "Removal Police" and manage every threat you have the capability to. I typically use my removal to A) Address threats most pressing to me B) Address threats that are most detrimental to the table, but will buy me some good will and time to build afterwards. You can utilize removal for achieving parity as you see fit. In terms of this being a good strategy, I think a better question is more about was a fun game environment created? Being "Removal Police" is fun for some and not as much for others. Eventually, everyone else around the table might have to reconsider running more removal to stay relevant and interactive in games, if that's the type of play they want.

  • 5 - "Board wipes made our games longer" - Going back to what I said a couple paragraphs up "While board wipes are helpful, I've found that sometimes it can get annoying to reset the game too many times" - I personally run 2 wipe effects in each deck. Most of my removal is single target, or can hit multiple things, but isn't quite a board wipe (Wear / Tear, Dismantling Wave, Grasp of Fate, Ashes to Ashes, or Druid of Purification). This is all personal choice though.

  • 5.1 "How do I recover more quickly after a board wipe than my opponents? Do I need more card draw? Do I need more protection to keep my creatures around? " - Card draw is always more helpful. Upping the amount of card draw is typically helpful. The tricky part is tuning the type of draw utilized and finding the balance that feels right for you. For me I have about 14 effects in my deck that can draw cards in either cantrip single instances, in multi-card bursts, or in consistent but slow manners. It takes plenty of playing to see what feels right for you. I also run about 11 different effects that protect my board. I've found that Flawless Maneuver and Teferi's Protection have saved my board and kept them in tact enough to maintain momentum the times I've successfully pulled them off. Clever Concealment is a new option that is especially good in token decks. Scapegoat is another cool and cheap option for token decks, and also lets you redeploy your board strategically. I also keep my overall average CMC of my deck as low as I can, so in the event that I don't have a protection effect, but have drawn into plenty of material, I can play cheaply costed creatures and removal/interaction/protection while everyone else is still rebuilding.

  • 5.2 "when is the right time in an aggro deck to play a board wipe?" - This requires more nuance and playing IRL to determine what feels right to you. I typically board wipe when someone else is building a bigger board than me, and is out-pacing me in that regard, but I have things in hand to quickly rebuild with afterwards, or have a protection effect to spare my board from my own wipe. It also depends on the types of wipes you are playing. White has a ton of options such as Promise of Loyalty, Slaughter the Strong, Retribution of the Meek, Vanquish the Horde, Farewell, Austere Command, and By Invitation Only to name a few. I've found it can be helpful to maybe have 1 wipe that is somewhat asymmetric, usually by presenting each player a choice on what they get to keep. This is a double edged sword since.... people get a choice on what they get to keep. While this may not solve the threat you were looking to eliminate, this may at least make things more manageable. I know Ruinous Ultimatum is a popular option because of how one-sided it is, but the restrictiveness of the mana cost can be annoying. Isshin doesn't necessarily win in 1 big flashy play that seemingly comes out of nowhere, like a combo deck might, but does build up a board presence and aggro momentum over a few turns. If you can continue to build and maintain a momentum, and add in more damage modifiers or Impact Tremors effects, it may then open up the opportunity for a big alpha strike turn, or a turn where you make a bunch of tokens with krenko tin street king pin because it stuck around long enough and you also have Impact Tremors and/or Hellrider and will either make a metric ton of goblins when Krenko swings, or you already have a metric ton of goblins to swing with for Hellrider.

Ultimately this is about finding what is most fun and engaging for you to play, and balancing that out with what is fun for your group. Unfortunately, not everyone has the same definition of fun. Some people will think its unfun or boring to get token swarmed or killed with Impact Tremors, and that's okay.

Takeaways:

  • Definitely add more draw and ramp. Cut down your mana curve and on splashy, but inconsistent effects where possible.

  • Running robust removal and interaction is helpful, but don't think you have to be "threat/parity police" because of it. Other people can choose to step up their removal/interaction suites too. Less board-wipes can be a good thing.

  • A variety of board protection effects will help you maintain the momentum you are building. A lower mana curve helps you go into aggro mode faster, and hopefully rebuild more quickly after wipes. Ideally, this also helps leave a little mana leftover for your Clever Concealments, Boros Charms, and other protection effects.

  • Group Slug and combat damage help each other out and make each other more viable. You are trying to land 120 damage around the table to take out 3 other players, so ideally you should maximize your damage output and find what works best for you, and what is most fun and dynamic for you.

Best of luck and hope you continue to have fun playing this awesome commander.

hootsnag on Athreos White Black Undying Evil

1 year ago

I was considering adding Chainer, Dementia Master to help steal other people's creatures after I killed all creatures on the board. Not a 100% sold on the idea but it would be interesting. I agree with Lux Cannon being out of place a little. I will cut it. Karn Liberated is included just for good removal or to potentially restart the game if I find myself in a really bad situation. I will cut By Invitation Only also. Next update is coming soon.

SufferFromEDHD on Athreos White Black Undying Evil

1 year ago

All the cards you want to add I think would be great additions to the strategy but I have to ask... why Chainer, Dementia Master?!

Good point on not caring about targeted removal. Ignore the counterspells.

Lux Cannon seems out of place here with no proliferation.

Karn Liberated incredible card but does it fit this strategy? Liliana, Dreadhorde General has purpose.

By Invitation Only your enchantments and other removal spells will do the job better.

Brxndle on How Rith Got Her Grove Back

1 year ago

+1, I love Rith's lore and think she is an awesome commander. Have you considered By Invitation Only? It works as a one sided board wipe in most token decks and I think it would be great in this deck.

Madcookie on Full House of Vampires

1 year ago

@lukas96 Thanks for commenting! Just want to add a few things: I play Outpost Siege as a budget option since the 3 you mentioned are 10 to 35$ and I'm mostly Izzet gamer. I like By Invitation Only since it gets around indestructible and can also be semi one-sided board wipe if I'm ahead. I'll consider getting a Vindicate. I completely agree about Kindred Charge and plan to get myself a copy of Patriarch's Bidding ASAP (somehow missed that it was reprinted, I remember it being old and expensive card).

Cheers! :)

ReptilianAscendant on Exalted Samurai Cyber Squad

2 years ago

JonRules12 yo, thanks for commenting. I added Ogre-Head Helm primarily because I was experimenting with adding some weak, cheap flyers to the deck and equipping them with things. You could easily replace it with Lion Sash, I just found it a lot slower at becoming potent (in that it has a much higher ceiling but boy does it start out with a low-ass floor). As for By Invitation Only, I caught the board wipe microbe while playing Orzhov and now I can't stop myself. Alternatives are Vanquish the Horde (YMMV as far as what decks it's preferable against) or Sayonara...uh...Farewell, but mana cost of 6 seemed a bit steep for a faster Boros deck. If you want to replace the board wipe element altogether with some other nuke, you could always replace it with walkers, but I am utterly underqualified on that subject as I don't care for walkers at all.

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