Stax

Commander / EDH Multiplayer Pillow Fort Ramp Stax Theme/Gimmick WU (Azorius)

Curlededly

Creature (33)

• 1x Alms Collector
• 1x Angelic Field Marshal
• 1x Archangel of Tithes
• 1x Azor, the Lawbringer
• 1x Baird, Steward of Argive
• 1x Benevolent Bodyguard
• 1x Chancellor of the Annex
• 1x Dragonlord Ojutai
• 1x Drift of Phantasms
• 1x Drogskol Reaver
• 1x Ephara, God of the Polis
• 1x Forbidding Spirit
• 1x Frost Titan
• 1x Gold Myr
• 1x Icefall Regent
• 1x Ishai, Ojutai Dragonspeaker
• 1x Isperia, Supreme Judge
• 1x Kami of Twisted Reflection
• 1x Mangara of Corondor
• 1x Medomai the Ageless
• 1x Mother of Runes
• 1x Ojutai, Soul of Winter
• 1x Pristine Skywise
• 1x Selfless Spirit
• 1x Silver Myr
• 1x Sky Hussar
• 1x Spiketail Drakeling
• 1x Sun Titan
• 1x Thistledown Liege
• 1x Thunderclap Wyvern
• 1x Vortex Elemental
• 1x Windborn Muse
• 1x Wizard Mentor

Land (37)

• 1x Ash Barrens
• 1x Azorius Chancery
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Contested War Zone
• 1x Coral Atoll
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Irrigated Farmland
• 8x Island
• 1x Karoo
• 1x Nimbus Maze
• 14x Plains
• 1x Port Town
• 1x Prairie Stream
• 1x Strip Mine
• 1x Tectonic Edge
• 1x Temple of the False God
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse

Artifact (7)

• 1x Azorius Signet
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Norn's Annex
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Spear of Heliod
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Talisman of Progress

Sorcery (5)

• 1x Angelic Purge
• 1x Deep Analysis
• 1x Divine Reckoning
• 1x Foresight
• 1x Supreme Verdict

Commander (1)

Enchantment (12)

• 1x Always Watching
• 1x Aura of Silence
• 1x Collective Restraint
• 1x Darksteel Mutation
• 1x Ghostly Prison
• 1x Glorious Anthem
• 1x Imprisoned in the Moon
• 1x Marshal's Anthem
• 1x Monastery Siege
• 1x Propaganda
• 1x Sphere of Safety
• 1x True Conviction

Instant (5)

• 1x Make a Stand
• 1x Mystic Confluence
• 1x Ojutai's Command
• 1x Sphinx's Revelation
• 1x Unbreakable Formation

---

Maybeboard

Creature (5)

• 1x Bastion Protector
• 1x Consecrated Sphinx
• 1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
• 1x Sakashima the Impostor
• 1x Spellskite

Land (1)

• 1x Dust Bowl

Artifact (1)

• 1x Lightning Greaves

Sorcery (1)

• 1x Austere Command

Enchantment (1)

• 1x Rhystic StudyGC

---

This is Stax deck. However, this deck does not slow down your opponents just to slow them down. Rather, this deck dissuades opponents from interfering with you by staxing them if they do. So instead they’ll duke it out with each other. Basically, this is a political wolf in Stax clothing.

Can’t Attack You: These are the stars of the deck. Archangel of Tithes , Baird, Steward of Argive , Collective Restraint , Forbidding Spirit , Ghostly Prison , Norn's Annex , Propaganda , and Windborn Muse . Frost Titan , Icefall Regent , and Ojutai, Soul of Winter also kind of fall on this list by tapping creatures. Since a bunch of these are classic tax cards, your opponents will assume the deck is more about taxes than politics. Note that none of these outright prevent your opponents from attacking you, like Glacial Chasm would. Your opponents would get rid of something like that for sure. Better to leave them some room to attack you so that they use their removal spells on each other. Drift of Phantasms allows you to tutor for Ghostly Prison or Propaganda .

Red Herrings: You don’t want your opponents realizing that you’re playing them off each other. They’ll probably unite against you if they do. So there are a few cards included here largely because they’re tax cards and therefore red herrings. Grand Arbiter Augustin IV , your commander himself fits the bill. There is also Aura of Silence , Chancellor of the Annex , Monastery Siege , Mystic Confluence , Spiketail Drakeling , Strip Mine , and Tectonic Edge . Most of these make the “Can’t Attack You Unless” cards better by depriving your opponents of mana they could otherwise use to attack you. And most of these fit into the deck’s strategy in other ways too.

Azorius Spells: Augustin might be a red herring, but that doesn’t make him unimportant. Anything but. His ability to reduce the cost of your Azorius spells two is pretty kick ass. He makes any six plus-CMC Azorius spell possible at least one turn sooner, like Drogskol Reaver . Even better, you can cast two four-CMC Azorius spells per turn, using half as much mana as normal. For example, you can cast both Thunderclap Wyvern and Ephara, God of the Polis on the same turn for four mana rather than eight. So this deck includes a lot of cards that benefit from Augustin’s ability to reduce your Azorius spell costs. Your strategy is to throw down a bunch of creatures and chip away at your opponents over time, like a Stax deck normally would.

Threats: Every deck needs threats. This deck's threats are Archangel of Tithes , Frost Titan , Icefall Regent , Ojutai, Soul of Winter , Chancellor of the Annex , Dragonlord Ojutai , Drogskol Reaver , Ishai, Ojutai Dragonspeaker , Isperia, Supreme Judge , Medomai the Ageless , Pristine Skywise , and Sun Titan .

Flying: There are a lot of flyers in this deck. This is part intentional and part coincidence. Stax decks like to chip away at their opponents over time and flyers serve that purpose. But nearly all of the good Azorius creatures are flyers to begin with, so there’s also not much choice. Thunderclap Wyvern is a must.

Lord-Type Effects: Augustin means you can cast a lot of spells for cheap, so this deck emphasizes going wide with creatures rather than tall. When you go wide, you want lords. Always Watching , Angelic Field Marshal , Contested War Zone , Marshal's Anthem , Sky Hussar , Thistledown Liege , Thunderclap Wyvern , True Conviction , and Unbreakable Formation . Most pump up your own creatures to further dissuade any potential attackers. They also help chip away at your opponents over time, like a Stax deck normally would. A few grant your creatures vigilance or untap your creatures, like Always Watching , Angelic Field Marshal , Sky Hussar , and Unbreakable Formation . Contested War Zone helps turn your opponents against one another. If you let an opponent steal it from you, they’ll fight over it with each other. Most are not creatures to avoid board-wipe induced setbacks.

Card Advantage: Since Augustin enables you to cast a bunch of multicolored spells, you better have cards in hand to do so. Therefore, there are a number of card advantage spells. The best ones are the ones that are themselves multicolored, creating a positive loop. See Azor, the Lawbringer , Dragonlord Ojutai , Drogskol Reaver , Ephara, God of the Polis , Isperia, Supreme Judge , Medomai the Ageless , Sky Hussar , and Sphinx's Revelation .

Royal Guard: You don’t want to cast Augustin over and over again, so there are a number of ways to protect him. See Benevolent Bodyguard , Monastery Siege , Mother of Runes , Selfless Spirit , Spiketail Drakeling , Kami of Twisted Reflection , and Wizard Mentor . Most of them are three CMC or less so that Augustin is protected the moment he hits the board. I'm allergic to board wipes and this deck is uniquely vulnerable to them, so this deck has Mystic Confluence , Selfless Spirit , Unbreakable Formation , and Wizard Mentor , along with some graveyard retrieval, Marshal's Anthem , Ojutai's Command , and Sun Titan .

Advertised Removal: You want your opponents to know that if they hurt you, you will hurt them back. These cards include Aura of Silence , Frost Titan , Mangara of Corondor , Ojutai, Soul of Winter , Spear of Heliod , Spiketail Drakeling , Strip Mine , Tectonic Edge , and Vortex Elemental .

Ramp: I capped all the ramp cards at two CMC so that you can play Augustin on turn three or earlier, when his tax ability is most effective. Silver Myr , Gold Myr , Sol Ring , Fellwar Stone , Azorius Signet , and Talisman of Progress . There are also the ramp lands, Azorius Chancery , Coral Atoll , Karoo , and Temple of the False God . Unfortunately, Temple of the False God won't help cast Augustin turn three. With the exceptions of Sol Ring and Temple of the False God , all produce colored mana because Augustin's ramping ability takes care of most of your generic mana costs already.

Cards that I Intentionally didn't Include: Nearly any tax card that screws over opponents in general rather than only screwing them over if they do something I don't like. So no Sphere of Resistance . No Vryn Wingmare . MTG isn't fun if you're staxed no matter what you do. If your opponents aren't having fun too, you're playing MTG wrong. Sure, Augustin himself and Chancellor of the Annex kind of violate this principle. But Augustin provides Ramp and Chancellor of the Annex is a rare Stax card that is also a threat. I also kept out Crescendo of War , Vow of Duty , and Vow of Flight . They're perfectly in-line with this deck's strategy. Unfortunately, that's the problem. They're way too obvious. Play them and your opponents will figure out you're manipulating them for sure.

Upgrades: If cost isn't a concern, you can upgrade the mana base and check out the Maybeboard. I recommend the following substitutions. Substitute Sphere of Safety with Sakashima the Impostor . Substitute Divine Reckoning with Austere Command . Substitute Foresight with Consecrated Sphinx . Substitute Deep Analysis with Rhystic Study . Substitute Glorious Anthem with Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite . Substitute Make a Stand with Bastion Protector . Substitute Swiftfoot Boots with Lightning Greaves . Substitute Kami of Twisted Reflection with Spellskite . Substitute a Plains or Island with a Dust Bowl .

Date added	6 years
Last updated	4 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	10 - 0 Mythic Rares 30 - 0 Rares 23 - 0 Uncommons 15 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.70