Endless Red Tape: GAAIV EDH (*100% COMP) (*DOM)

Commander / EDH* Rusty_Shackleford

SCORE: 88 | 57 COMMENTS | 17338 VIEWS | IN 58 FOLDERS


fluffyeel says... #1

My brother runs a Grand Arbiter deck; while I haven't seen it in a while, some of the notable things he runs in there to lose all friends include Catastrophe and Sunder which, when paired with Omniscience, mean that you're in a good position and your opponents have... uh, issues.

Frozen AEther also serves to be quite disruptive; though it's pricier than Blind Obedience, the fact that it hits lands too slows your opponents down considerably.

I, myself, am a fan of Commandeer; while it's pricier mana or card-wise than Force of Will, it both comes out of nowhere and swipes precious planeswalkers.

The only other land I might suggest is Boseiju, Who Shelters All to make sure some of your tutors and other spells get rammed through: in EDH, there's so much countermagic running around that having Boseiju helps. Or at least it does with the deck I play.

June 7, 2016 7:26 p.m.

I ran Frozen AEther (and its white cousin Kismet in an earlier build of this deck. I didn't like them at 4 mana; Blind Obedience suffices for the dual purposes of basically time walking my opponents' board development and netting me some token life; anything to drag the game out.

I also used to go the mass-LD route, granted I used Cataclysm and Armageddon instead of the cards you recommended. Mass LD is cute with the taxing effects, but does little when they have alternate mana sources such as artifacts, and also ultimately detracts from this deck's ability to establish an overwhelming and oppressive late game board presence, which is the overall goal of the deck. The interaction with Omniscience--but 1 card in 99--doesn't necessarily seem to justify the inclusion of mass LD, which is why I cut it.

Commandeer looks like it could be a neat dirty trick, but I don't see where it fits into the game plan; it's too much card disadvantage in the early-mid game, and seems redundant in the late game, where if you're playing your cards right (pun absolutely intended) your opponents shouldn't have the wherewithal to be landing planeswalkers.

June 8, 2016 2:47 a.m.

As of right now I'm considering only a couple of revisions in earnest, all with the goal if making the deck even more controlling: (1) cutting the Wall of Denial or more likely Windborn Muse (or both) for Glen Elendra Archmage and another counterspell effect; (2) cutting 2-4 creatures overall for stuff like Ponder or Preordain to increase consistency, with more fetchlands to compliment additional library manipulation; (3) more planeswalkers; (4) outright retooling this into a French (duel) Commander build.

June 8, 2016 2:56 a.m.

Shane.Allen says... #4

A really great, very fun control deck, I like that general a lot. Thought about putting him in my Oloro deck, ever thought about putting Drogskol Reaver in the deck? Nice fatty to finish people off.

August 13, 2016 5:42 p.m.

Not particularly; I can see it sort of serving the same function as Consecrated Sphinx but less busted. At the end of the day it's just a fatty; with limited critter spots I like having stuff with dual functions like Elesh Norn and the Titans.

August 14, 2016 12:39 p.m.

Also, I definitely think GAAIV has a place in Oloro, especially if you build more towards an Extort/tax/pillowfort strategy than a strict conventional Esper control strategy. I've actually often thought about tearing this deck down and rebuilding with an Esper general like Oloro.

August 14, 2016 12:43 p.m.

Shane.Allen says... #7

Rusty_Shackleford

I see your point, I'm the same way with cards. The card must serve or be good for more than just one thing. If you don't mind, check out my Oloro deck and tell me what you think.

Oloro, Endless Suffering

August 14, 2016 9:24 p.m.

I thought I already did?

Looking at it again the only thing that really comes to mind is that it looks kind of light on mana producers for a control deck--only 36 lands plus Sol Ring, Thran Dynamo, and Gilded Lotus--and potentially susceptible to non-basic land hate.

August 14, 2016 10:05 p.m.

Shane.Allen says... #9

Sorry about that, it's late :) Good point, and the only game I've lost so far with it I got Jokulhaups and there was nothing much I could do without lands. One of the perils of a control deck. :)

August 14, 2016 10:17 p.m.

aekrusty says... #10

Nice deck +1. Could you review and upvote my St Traft Azorius Duel? Thanks

August 16, 2016 10:44 a.m.

primtj17 says... #11

This deck just annoys me so much. +1 though. Its pretty darn good.

August 20, 2016 3:19 p.m.

Zenon says... #12

Great looking deck buddy, may I suggest a Render Silent? I've had it put in great work and it honestly makes green players cry.

August 27, 2016 5:34 p.m.

That's actually a pretty cool card that I somehow overlooked when building this deck; I was most active between Mirage-Apocalypse and M10/Zendikar-New Phyrexia so some of the cards from the last 2-3 years escape me from time to time. I'm thinking I'd replace either Dissipate or Hinder--what do you think?

August 30, 2016 12:17 a.m.

OfficialANDO says... #14

This deck could use a lot less non basics that are too slow and it could focus a lot more in prison effects and mana ramp through artifacts for consistence t2 and 3 Arbiter plays with even gnarlier follow ups. Here's my Arbiter list in case you'd like some suggestions

(http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/how-to-lose-friends-the-prison-of-grand-arbiter/)

November 2, 2016 11:40 a.m.

KongMing says... #15

Authority of the Consuls is one option to slow down opponent's creatures, while also giving you a pretty good form of sustain.

You mentioned earlier considering adding Ponder to the deck, which I think is a great idea. Not only will it add consistency, it also gives you the opportunity to shuffle your library to combo with Top/Mind Sculptor.

The Panoramas may be an opportunity to add fetch to the library, along with Terramorphic Expanse and Evolving Wilds. The downside of both is they put their lands in play tapped. The Panoramas also only supply Colorless mana, which you won't need much of once GAAIV is on the field.

November 5, 2016 4:43 p.m.

Thanks for the feedback, KongMing.

Authority of the Consuls is an interesting card that I wasn't otherwise aware of; it does seem a bit redundant with Blind Obedience already in the mix and I'm a bit more interested in locking down opponents' lands than I am their creatures, so it's probably an either-or proposition at best. I originally also had Kismet and Frozen AEther in the deck, but unfortunately they just seemed to slow.

Ponder is certainly still on the short list of potential additions, mainly, as you pointed out, for its shuffle effect. Fetchlands would be included for this same reason; if I were to do so, I would add Onslaught/Khans of Tarkir/Zendikar fetches, as they are more efficient, but I still haven't made a final decision yet in this regard.

November 5, 2016 4:54 p.m. Edited.

NIce build, +1

Narset Transcendent could be nice, her emblem would wreck with this shell. Thalia, Heretic Cathar and Grand Abolisher are also good but I'm guessing are omitted on purpose. Either way, looks solid.

November 28, 2016 3:01 a.m.

Jimmy_Chinchila I like the effects on both Grand Abolisher and Thalia, Heretic Cathar, but they're both so fragile as 2-toughness creatures; I'd be more liable to add things like Defense Grid and Kismet for those effects because they're somewhat harder to remove.

One thing I'm looking at recently--I always thought of it as an obscure junk rare--is Mana Web. It looks like it has the potential to be obscene in this deck.

November 28, 2016 11:56 p.m.

Rusty_Shackleford agreed, Mana Web would wreck in this shell

November 29, 2016 5:46 p.m.

Norn's Annex is really good, because if they can't pay for it mana wise, they'll pay with there life.

November 29, 2016 10:59 p.m.

KongMing says... #21

Yeah, but Norn's Annex has a steep converted mana cost, and gives the opponent the option of paying life in order to swing. Do you really want to give someone the option to win by just paying a couple life to swing with their unblockable fattie? Something that forces them to pay mana would be better for the theme and tactics of this deck.

November 29, 2016 11:25 p.m.

Correct. Norn's Annex does not really fit what this deck is trying to do.

November 29, 2016 11:37 p.m.

spotmarkedx says... #24

To go with the Winter Orb plan: Static Orb and Clock of Omens. The first to be able to have another similar effect, and the latter to be able to bypass the red tape yourself (while untapping a mana rock of some sort after the last draw phase before your own).

Also, even if it only lasts for a few turns, Mystic Remora would be a good fit.

December 14, 2016 7:02 a.m.

spotmarkedx says... #25

Just as a note, the current Winter Orb oracle text is: "As long as Winter Orb is untapped, players can't untap more than one land during their untap steps.", so the Clock of Omens plan works with either (As well as giving you some potential mana ramp if you have a few artifacts and a mana rock in play)

December 14, 2016 7:08 a.m.

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