Ishai and Ravos - Esper Air Raid EDH

Commander / EDH* WUB (Esper)

homemaderum

Creature (31)

• 1x Angel of Condemnation
• 1x Angel of Finality
• 1x Angel of Invention
• 1x Archangel of Tithes
• 1x Aven Mindcensor
• 1x Azor, the Lawbringer
• 1x Baleful Strix
• 1x Bloodgift Demon
• 1x Brago, King Eternal
• 1x Emeria Angel
• 1x Ethersworn Adjudicator
• 1x Falkenrath Noble
• 1x Kokusho, the Evening Star
• 1x Magister Sphinx
• 1x Medomai the Ageless
• 1x Mindshrieker
• 1x Mulldrifter
• 1x Ob Nixilis, Unshackled
• 1x Oona, Queen of the Fae
• 1x Pilgrim's Eye
• 1x Pride of the Clouds
• 1x Steel Hellkite
• 1x Stonecloaker
• 1x Sublime Archangel
• 1x Sunscorch Regent
• 1x Thunderclap Wyvern
• 1x Twilight Prophet
• 1x Vampire Nighthawk
• 1x Warden of Evos Isle
• 1x Windreader Sphinx
• 1x Zetalpa, Primal Dawn

Sorcery (6)

• 1x Black Sun's Zenith
• 1x Fumigate
• 1x Obzedat's Aid
• 1x Open Into Wonder
• 1x Rite of Replication
• 1x Supreme Verdict

Land (35)

• 1x Arcane Sanctum
• 1x Barren Moor
• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Desert of the Mindful
• 1x Dimir Aqueduct
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Glacial Fortress
• 1x Halimar Depths
• 5x Island
• 1x Myriad Landscape
• 1x Opal Palace
• 1x Path of Ancestry
• 5x Plains
• 1x Prairie Stream
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Secluded Steppe
• 4x Swamp
• 1x Temple of Enlightenment
• 1x Temple of the False God
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse
• 1x Vault of the Archangel
• 1x Winding Canyons

Instant (9)

• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Deluge
• 1x Esper Charm
• 1x Mortify
• 1x Prismatic Strands
• 1x Render Silent
• 1x Return to Dust
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Utter End

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Kaya, Ghost Assassin

Commanders (2)

Artifact (11)

• 1x Armillary Sphere
• 1x Bident of Thassa
• 1x Bloodforged Battle-Axe
• 1x Chromatic Lantern
• 1x Cloud Key
• 1x Dowsing Dagger  ^Flip
• 1x Elbrus, the Binding Blade  ^Flip
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Thaumatic Compass  ^Flip
• 1x Thought Vessel

Enchantment (5)

• 1x Aura of Silence
• 1x Authority of the Consuls
• 1x Equilibrium
• 1x Gravitational Shift
• 1x Imprisoned in the Moon

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Esper commander deck with Ishai and Ravos partner commanders.

Primary theme is flying creatures, backed up by Anthems. ETB, and Control sub themes. Win through combat with an air-raid offense, or kill with Ishai.

Initial Cuts Show

Too many cards; need to cut 25 and update lands once cuts are made.
1. Windrider Patrol. Too expensive for what it is and does. #Cards
2. Emeria Shepherd. Costly for a commander-redundant effect. #Utility
3. Peregrine Drake. Higher CMC than Cloud of Faeries for what amounts to a combo piece. #Mana
4. Favorable Winds. Weakest of the anthems. #Anthem
5. Isperia, Supreme Judge. Most expensive CMC of the deterrent effects, and it requires 4 colors. #Utility
6. Deathbringer Regent. Too expensive for what it does. #Hate
7. Silumgar's Command. Just not as much of a fav as the other option-granting spells. #Utility
8. Relic of Progenitus. Don't really need this in light of the other yard hate we have. #Hate
9. Emeria Angel. Oona took the token-making slot in this deck. #Air_Raid
10. Blizzard Specter. Removing discard creature theme. #Discard
11. Scythe Specter. Removing discard creature theme. #Discard
12. Liliana's Specter. Removing discard creature theme. #Discard
13. Unnerve. Removing discard creature theme. #Discard
14. Sangromancer. Removing discard creature theme. #Utility
15. Painful Quandary. Removing discard creature theme. #Discard
16. Frozen AEther. Love this card, but it never makes the cut. It makes a lot of enemies, frequently. #Utility
17. Dire Undercurrents. Another personal fav, but for the price, Bident of Thassa gets more cards and provides opportunities for combat shenanigans. #Discard
18. Hindering Light. Not effective enough of a counterspell. #Control
19. Monastery Siege. Does a little work, but not as much as other deterrents. #Utility
20. Marshal's Anthem. I like this card more than it's actual game-play value often warrants. #Anthem
21. Opt. Underwhelming without more need for cantrips. #Cards
22. Sphinx's Revelation. Sticking with Syphon Mind even without a discard theme because its effect is so lopsided. #Cards
23. Rune-Scarred Demon. So. Powerful. But so expensive... #Air_Raid
24. Pilgrim's Eye. Sorry little buddy. I know you never seem to make the cut, and thought a flyer-themed deck would be your chance. You were wrong. #Mana
25. Vedalken Orrery. This card is bonkers, but it was either this or the new Bloodforged Battle-Axe, and I really want to test out the new card. #Utility

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Updates Show

1. Out: Cloud of Faeries, In: Pilgrim's Eye. Missed ya, little buddy! Cloud is a combo piece, and little else. Since Caged Sun is also being cut, no sense in keeping it.
2. Out: Glen Elendra Liege, In: Sublime Archangel. This swap is to more pointedly focus on Ishai dealing some commander damage. Also, she's a much more efficient creature.
3. Out: Caged Sun, In: Emeria Angel. She always manages to produce value over time, and is a relatively efficient creature.
4. Out: Karmic Guide, In: Ethersworn Adjudicator. Bigger body, more hate. We didn't include the other combo pieces, so like Caged Sun and Cloud of Faeries, this body gets turned in favor of more aggressive tendencies, no matter how slow.
5. Out: Icefall Regent, In: Sunscorch Regent. A little more aggressive of a creature for the same CMC, and this adds a little more life gain. I'm always surprised by how much a little extra life can do. Update: Sunscorch Regent has single-handedly killed more than one opponent. This move has paid off.
6. Out: Wretched Confluence, In: Esper Charm. Improving avg CMC and pulling this card to put in a Kess deck.
7. Out: card:Suphon Mind, In: Open Into Wonder. Another Kess casualty. This continues to improve avg CMC, and results in the same type of splashy card draw while increasing our agro output. Win.
8. Out: True Conviction, In: Fumigate. This monstrous enchantment has a date with Gishath, so we're looking for something that is equally spicy. Not sure that this sweeper is super exciting, but it helps us grind out games while still giving us some life back. With only a couple other sweepers in the deck, and having had multiple times where I wished for one, this is a solid if not exciting replacement.
9. Out: Kinjalli's Sunwing , In: Aven Mindcensor. Another Gishath casualty, but this anti-tutor bird is no chump. If anything, this'll direct more generate hate our way, while more specifically focusing it from more combo-y decks.

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Rivals of Ixalan Updates Show

RIX gave us a couple of interesting cards for this decklist. Here's the cards I'm testing out:
1. Dragonlord Ojutai out, Zetalpa, Primal Dawn in. This is an expensive one, but it sure is one hell of a beater.
2. Sphinx of Uthuun out, Twilight Prophet in. Sphinx is great, but I think Prophet's a much better value. I'll miss the political play of Sphinx, though.
3. Deluge out, Release to the Wind in. I'm excited for this one. Its versatile, cheap, and encourages shenanigans. Playtest Note: Release is fine, but Deluge is better, and I've found myself wanting it as a defense and alpha-strike enabler. Putting Deluge back in.
4. Nimble Obstructionist out, Warkite Marauder in. This deck needs more combat tricks, and this parasailing pirate fits the bill. Playtest Note: This is a fun card, but he's got a home with Admiral Brass's Coalition. Swapping in Elbrus, the Binding Blade   because... if not now, when? All fliers means he should flip easily.
5. Cloudblazer out, Azor, the Lawbringer in. Going for more beef, with a higher ceiling on both lifegain and cards.

Date added	6 years
Last updated	3 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	10 - 0 Mythic Rares 39 - 0 Rares 22 - 0 Uncommons 15 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.77
Tokens	1/1 WU Token Creature Bird, Bird 1/1 W, City's Blessing, Copy Clone, Faerie Rogue 1/1 UB, Plant 0/2 G, Servo 1/1 C