completely casual questions. What makes you think Derevi is a girl? Where did you find out?

" Soaring above the battlefield, Derevi, Empyrial Tactician, uses cunning strategies to outsmart her enemies. She orchestrates the movements of her great army as they fight invaders who would lay waste to her peaceful lands. Derevi's keen eyes absorb a multitude of factors as she rapidly alters her plan to meet the changing conditions on the ground. Among her devoted followers, Derevi is called the greatest commander the Shards have ever seen. Her brilliant strategy routed the Grixis hordes at the Battle of Split Peak. Her clever diplomacy diverted the Esper Council in their plot against her. Derevi is disciplined but fair, and she evokes loyalty in her soldiers. Always the eye in the sky, this commander outmaneuvers her enemies time and time again. "

Can be found in the lore on wizzards.com below...

(also it's on the back of the box when you buy it :')...)

https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/uncharted-realms/ten-commanders-2013-10-29

My biggest question is why have Containment Priest in a Derevi deck? I mean, that is a bit of a non-bo when people rightfully target your commander because then you cannot use her activated ability to bring her back to the battlefield.

@TheMaelstrom so seeing as you'll only really cast her once on turn two(Either or ) , and on occasions even with her ability if you get an insane start or needed to get other stax down turn 2 as this will preserve her "one-time" normal casting cost for as long as you use her ability... After that, you'll never cast her a second time as her ability will always be cheaper so if you ever would end up in this situation which has never happened to me over all the years I played her and used this priest to stop certain combos as it sets them back a lot, but it is really easy to achieve anyway...

Containment Priest is tech against Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker combos or Splinter Twin most of the time, as you'll only really flash her in if you want to stop that combo or stop some reanimation effect like hulks dread return on it's winning turn and not just play her for shits and giggles out of nowhere when you have no clue how to use this card... it also stops kaalia but we don't have such a noodle deck in our meta anyway so it has definitely a super good card in the deck because of its versatility.

Great primer. +1 for the built and the lack of counter magic! I'm not a stax player [anymore] but if I ever become one, I think I'll be more prepared for the meta.

What about adding Concordant Crossroads? I know, it seems like a weird move in a Stax deck, but you're already forcing a lot of opposing creatures to enter play tapped anyways, and stuff like Linvala keeps them from using their abilities at all. Meanwhile, cards like Yisan, Selvala, and Sisay benefit A LOT from Haste, and it also gives you the opportunity to trigger Derevi's untap ability with creatures on the turn they enter the battlefield. And at G, it has a super-low mana cost that allows you to play it on the turn you're able to end the game with your Haste-infused combo.

Hi KongMing ,

So about Concordant Crossroads, it is definitely a solid option for this deck and very mana efficient at the cost of only one indeed... The card allows for some insane explosive turns and that is very tempting for this deck as you can push out more hate pieces faster and earlier with a lot of cool haste tricks and untaps or like you mentioned instant toolboxes that go live. Basically, if you want to run this you should!!!

But the reason I've put the Crossroads in my "sideboard" is a Meta call. We have a few too many decks in our meta whom benefit very hard from this card and can win faster when I put it down. I also run this card in Selvala and it can backfire on you more often in a Stax setting than when I play Combo Selvala for example (In my meta that is)...

If you are looking to cut a card for this my list has some Meta calls that might not apply to your meta so it shouldn't be too hard to leave a hate piece out for this :).

I'm getting surprisingly good results with Null Chamber. I like how it's less color intensive than Nevermore with twice the effect. If no one wants to cooperate, it's unlikely for this to directly backfire as Derevi is "immune" to the effect, and you have so much versatility it can be difficult to name a specific spell that you haven't cast yet while also being relevant.

@Dankey Seems like an "okay" addition if your meta uses their commander a lot as they will probably target another commander too and help you out... But apart from a few commanders in CEDH, most of them aren't used except for their colors or when winning and you can't get all 3 players with this... except, For example, a Teferi would be a bad target as the deck opposes no challenge whatsoever by being a non-creature commander in the first place (With too much artifact focus that helps us have an easy game)... This means you can force politics to also target a second creature commander if they want to even work with you that is...

(I still find this too scenario too specific anyway). But if it works wonders for you keep abusing it!!!

Secondly, At the cost of 4 mana + being a Non-Creature Spell, this can backfire if they know your deck a bit... they can name Winter orb or predict what you are trying to set up for example... Derevi's lockdown generally never is the same but it is a bit too risky for my meta...

I was actually thinking of naming their win condition, or an answer that can get around Gaddock Teeg, or anything we can't deal with first and their commander is more of a safe pick.

Feels too specific in many cases still as many decks run multiple win cons. even if you know the deck it doesn't mean they run it optimally every time (or sided in something else).

That's understandable. I suppose it really is a meta call.

When being focused down by your entire table, do you think Propaganda is worth playing so you don't get punched in the face every single turn by fast and inexpensive creatures by literally everyone?

Or are you more worried about players drawing into cheap answers, whereas playing a single Swan Song or Disrupt may be in order? Or if it's not too color intensive Mana Drain or Mystic Confluence? I feel I can spare a flex spot or two, and I understand cantrips are more desirable when playing counterspells in multiplayer.

@Dankey ; Propaganda is a pillow fort spell at its core. All it does is discourage players from attacking you specifically. Derevi is one of the most creature-heavy decks in the format apart from Blood Pod, So being attacked shouldn't scare you as you can take most of the damage and block if you really have to. It also doesn't actually prevent combat in any way really... I find it unplayable in most Metas. if aggro is really troubling you I'd look at Willbreaker and Mirri, Weatherlight Duelist as answers (they have worked wonderfully for me at more casual aggro tables and the longer the game went on you eventually get Elesh out).

The one mana counterspells like Spell Pierce and the like or Swan Song indeed, can get the job done really easy if you're afraid of them drawing answers in a certain scenario... Back when she was played in 1v1 a lot of these were played like Swords to Plowshares and Path to Exile as well and they can still be worth it from time to time, it's just a Meta call really.

You could also look at Beast Within and Song of the Dryads If more removal were needed perhaps.

Also, I've kept an archived list and not long ago put all Derevi decks I found interesting and worthwhile for CEDH in it that i've had in my favorite folders.

Maybe you can get some inspiration from other versions!

京 The Cedh Derevi tier list collection 京

京 The Cedh Derevi tier list collection 京

Commander / EDH Kiyomei

SCORE: 2 | 37 VIEWS | IN 1 FOLDER

Wow, Archon of Valor's Reach from the bird wizard primer would be a perfect finisher if it was only recurrable with Loyal Retainers.

Yeah I cried when they spoiled it and it wasn't legendary :'( , but they probably consider that anti-fun as a commander and didn't do it because of that...

Last question, I swear! Is Iona, Shield of Emeria even remotely playable or does she simply cost too much/depend too heavily on graveyard recursion?

Dankey, Don't worry about it, I try and answer all questions as best as I can :)!

• Iona, Shield of Emeria;

First and foremost What this deck tries to do is enforce soft locks to hinder early strategies and make sure we don't lose in the first few turns. This makes it so we can set up for a midgame hard lock or prevent people from doing what they wanted to do (for example tutor a Aven Mindcensor vs an opponents Yisan, the Wanderer Bard or search for Kataki, War's Wage against artifact decks around turn 1 - 2 - 3 - 4), We do this because our late game is comparably poor to other decks out there and we don't recover too well generally if we don't have a good time early on...

This doesn't mean we don't have outs in the late game! Because my meta is filled with mana dorks and combo's that use creatures with low toughness for which I prefer to use Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite! if this does not apply to you and people play a lot of control, for example, you could switch Elesh for Iona!

(You can still do the same trick with either Fauna Shaman or Survival of the Fittest and pitch Iona to find Loyal Retainers and put her live really early on! Although I think it is a harder to cast card even with the ramp we run because of the triple white)

I'm currently using Sun Titan and Elesh Norn as finishers. Titan synergizes with Mana Vortex and Smokestack for a hard lock, and Elesh Norn is a soft "board clear" that allows us to trade more efficiently and end the game faster. I'm a BIG fan of titan in metas that don't require us to run Rest in Peace.

Some lists run additional finishers including Jin-Gitaxias which I personally find too slow. He costs way too much to flash in at the end of an opponent's turn, and usually dies to removal before his effect can force parity. I find Iona does more of what the deck tries to do, (prevent our opponents' from playing spells) while also locking specific answers/combos straight out of the game as soon as she resolves. Alternately, I could stick to running just 2 large bombs instead of the more traditional 3.

Yes, Elesh Norn is the MVP against decks that run several mana dorks or annoying combo pieces. :) I wouldn't remove her.

Yeah, I can't remove her because of those many important creatures on toughness or can't do combat damage anymore but Elesh is still most of the time just used as a finisher and shouldn't be the top priority to get out!!!

Jin is mostly used during combat with some insane explosive starts or with the loyal retainer combo but I stepped away from that a long time ago as it way too all in and doesn't fit a true hard lock as it still only goes in effect at the end step which gives them time... I'd also rather use the retainer combo to bring back Stax pieces 99% of the time.

Sun Titan is bonkers for recursion and hitting people in the face!