Judgment Day: Avacyn the Purifier EDH [PRIMER]

Commander / EDH Daedalus19876

SCORE: 808 | 602 COMMENTS | 97596 VIEWS | IN 312 FOLDERS


jimh925 says... #3

So i talked to the people at chat.magicjudges.org. When a non-angel token dies with avacyn out triggering her to transform on your next upkeep. During that upkeep you can let her transform into the purifier and then with her "deal 3 damage" trigger on the stack you can cast Teferi's Protection. If the protection resolves all your creatures will phase out and be protected from the 3 damage but it will still hit your opponent and all of their creatures.

August 30, 2017 1:04 p.m.

readerrw07 says... #4

Holy Heliod, this is still getting attention on here? I dont think Ive seen a deck stick around this long on this site before. I remember stumbling across this deck right when it was posted. They grow up so fast :P

September 3, 2017 9:55 p.m.

Daedalus19876 says... #5

jimh925: It's true, that's definitely a thing you can do :) I personally prefer indestructibility as a way to get around it, though. I'm not personally a fan of Teferi's Protection; I think people are far overestimating its capabilities.

(What I would love to use it for would be to cast it then Armageddon or Cataclysm with floating mana, but those aren't currently in the list.)

readerrw07: Hehehe, doing my best ;)

September 4, 2017 1:07 p.m.

Holonomic says... #6

Hi there, just wanted to say thank you for taking the time to make this primer. I've only recently started playing MTG and found it really useful.Although I love the style the deck has I don't seem to be playing very well with it, I think it is due to most people seeing me as a threat and I always seem to get targeted rather quickly! (which isn't much of a problem as it makes it more fun)

I had a few thoughts about some alterations... I would really appreciate your feedback.


For sunforger mainly (see below), but also could be used to put essential equipment back into the deck to be tutored out again, the Tithe would increase chances of getting the Mistveil and could also be fetched with sunforger.Would the loss of the land be a problem here? Should I try and add 1 basic land back in or does the extra land tutor negate this?


Sunforger kit, with the above I thought I could add more targets for the sunforger. Here is a list of what I'm currently thinking.

Tutors

  • Tithe - as mentioned above

Counterspells

  • Wild Ricochet - Works as a 'sort of' counterspell... sometimes works out better than one :))
  • Lapse of Certainty - Again, another counter - Could allow you (or other players) to plan for it to come up again... or just try and get the kill?
  • Dawn Charm - I put this in thinking it would counter a spell aimed at either me or a permanent I control... it does not. :) could still be useful though?

Damage Avoidance

  • Comeuppance - This card is so much fun...Counters some finishers such as Aetherflux Reservoir (or even kill them) It can also turn an all in attack of creatures into a board wipe :)
  • Faith's Reward - Could either be used after Avacyn flips or I think more importantly after a mass removal targetted at our artifacts.

From the above I decided to include the following, Tithe, Wild Ricochet, Comeuppance, Faith's Reward.Along with what you already have in your current list.

Do you think this is too much? Will this slow the tempo of the deck down too much? I think at the very least Comeuppance should be included. The Tithe only needs to be if you think Mistveil Plains is a good idea.

If the loss of land is ok, I still need to find 3 slots for the cards I am running. Any suggestions on what I should cut?

Thank you again!

//Holo

Ps. I play only on MTGO... not sure if that changes things :)

September 8, 2017 11:09 a.m.

Daedalus19876 says... #7

Holonomic: Thank you for your thoughts! :)

Adding more to the Sunforger package is definitely an option for this list. Your options are a bit more control-focused than mine are, but it could work. (Though I feel I should mention that Onward / Victory cannot be tutored by Sunforger, unfortunately - it now has CMC 6 in your library.)

Some other potential options are a Glorious End/Angel's Grace pair, to get an effective extra turn, or Teferi's Protection if you like that card (I don't). If you focus heavily on Sunforger, then Tithe/Mistveil Plains is a great option, but I didn't want to rely too much on a single card in the 99 (and they're both generally pretty bad outside of their synergy with Sunforger).

TLDR: If you focus heavily on Sunforger it WILL slow the tempo of your deck. However, it also allows you more protection and interaction. If you want to go this route, your changes seem very solid, but you might want to include Leonin Shikari to be able to tutor more than 1 thing per turn ;) Just make sure you don't cripple the deck too much when finding slots...

September 10, 2017 2:43 p.m.

Kvad says... #8

I've built the deck and played with it for a while. This deck is awesome. I've had a game where my opponent went back to full life from single digit after resolving a Resolute Archangel, and he immediately died getting smacked by an Aurelia wearing Argentum Armor and wielding Inquisitor's Flail.

That being said, I've had a hard time recovering after an artifact boardwipe. Creature boardwipes are manageable, but I often find myself in an unwinnable situation after an opponent resolves their Bane of Progress, Vandalblast, or Merciless Eviction. Cards like Boros Charm helps, but you don't always have access to it when you need it. What's your strategy for protecting your equipments against mass artifact removals?

September 12, 2017 4:07 a.m.

tysoukasa says... #9

Maybe I missed it but do you have recommendations on which cards to remove if one were to bring in the mass LD package? I'm interested in this deck but in my meta the only way a Boros deck could survive is with effects like Armageddon or Blood Moon.

September 13, 2017 4:19 a.m.

Daedalus19876 says... #10

Kvad: Part of that is just an inherent weakness in voltron archetypes, I'm afraid :( You could also run Teferi's Protection as a backup if you wanted. Beyond that, you could make your first tutor Sunforger so you always have access to Boros Charm. And finally, there's always the option of not overextending (keeping an equipment or two in hand anticipating the rest of them being lost).

Generally speaking, I find that if my start was fast enough, I can still reasonably win through normal combat damage, though. Serra Ascendant and Avacyn, the Purifier  Flip have high power inherently, and most of the double strike granters aren't artifacts.

I hope that helps! :)

September 17, 2017 12:20 p.m. Edited.

Daedalus19876 says... #11

September 17, 2017 12:22 p.m.

what do you think of Tyrant of Discord token decks have a presence at my LGS

September 17, 2017 12:32 p.m.

Daedalus19876 says... #13

feyn_do_alduin: WAY WAY WAY too much mana to be effective. If you want to deal with a token deck, you could use Eye of Singularity or Declaration in Stone (which doesn't give clues if it hits tokens).

September 17, 2017 12:34 p.m.

still a funny and annoying way to deal with people

September 17, 2017 12:47 p.m.

Casey4321 says... #15

Just popping in to check the upvote count. Jeez lol

September 17, 2017 1:19 p.m.

First off, I am in love with this deck! Very well done; it seems like a work of art. I really want to build this deck, but I am constraining myself to a ~$250 budget. I'd still like it to be as competitive as possible for that pricepoint, although I acknowledge that I'll have to make sacrifices until I can acquire some of the better cards. I am thinking that the best way for me to keep it competitive at this lower price point is to run the MLD package (unless you think it would be stronger without it). I would be very grateful for any insight you could offer.

1) Based on your response to someone else, you recommended removing Aggravated Assault and Argentum Armor for Ruination and Cataclysm. You also recommended removing Gift of Immortality for Armageddon, but to be honest, I am having such a hard time making that cut because of all the synergy that Gift has with the creatures in this deck. Is that really the best cut to make room for it?

2) I've made the following budget changes to your list to fit within my constraints, but I would love to hear your feedback about my changes and if I ended up going off the rails and altering it too much. I will provide a link to my list below, but the summary of changes I made are as follows:

OUT: Land Tax, Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Memory Jar, Mox Opal, Scroll Rack, Umezawa's Jitte, Wheel of Fortune, Sword of Fire and Ice, Aggravated Assault, Argentum Armor

IN: Rogue's Gloves, Mind Stone, Worn Powerstone, Reforge the Soul, Star Compass, Mask of Memory, Mask of Avacyn, Chandra Ablaze, Scythe of the Wretched, Ruination, Cataclysm.

I know some of those inclusions might seem a bit janky. My thought process was that, since Land Tax and Scroll Rack are a draw engine, I would replace them with Rogue's Gloves and Mask of Memory, which also draw. In place of the 3 mana rocks I cut, I swapped them with Mind Stone, Star Compass, and Worn Powerstone. Finally, I substituted Memory Jar with Reforge the Soul, which has a similar wheel effect for the same cmc (or less with miracle), and I substituted Wheel of Fortune with Chandra Ablaze (mini wheel that will probably get value from forcing opponents to discard larger hands and draw to 3). I substituted the sword of fire and ice with the scythe, because that sword generates value, which the scythe seems to come the closest to replicating for a cheaper price (the only difference being that I get to summon the blocking creature instead of drawing a card and pinging something for 2).

Do these sound like reasonable changes to preserve the spirit of the deck? If you have other suggestions, I am definitely open to hearing them.

My decklist: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/avacyn-the-purifier-budget/

October 15, 2017 7:07 p.m.

Daedalus19876 says... #17

jakethewhale007: Thank you for your interest in the deck! :)

The MLD package is definitely helpful, although I feel I owe you a warning that it WILL draw a lot of hate from most playgroups.

Of your changes, I'd probably run Armageddon or Alms Collector over Chandra Ablaze: she's somewhat disappointing out of red spellslinger IMO. I'd also consider running Coldsteel Heart over Star Compass (since it lets you mana fix), and Dowsing Dagger  Flip as an additional source of ramp/power. I'd also use Lightning Greaves over Mask of Avacyn - I'm aware of the downsides of shroud, but I suspect the free equip is good enough in your variant of the list to overcome that. The rest of the changes seem very reasonable :)

Given that the loss of fast ramp will slow down the temp somewhat, you could run some more late-game midrange effects like Repercussion and Cloudshift?

I hope that helps :)

October 16, 2017 12:23 p.m.

Thank you so much for your response! You've definitely given me some things to think about, and I can't believe I forgot about Coldsteel Heart haha. I really like your dowsing dagger suggestion! I think I will end up splurging a little after all (as I typically do when I get really excited about a commander deck haha), so I probably won't have to cut as much as I initially thought. I'll play around with the budget list and let you know where I land. At this point, it's probably gonna be more like $350.

October 17, 2017 2:38 p.m.

Daedalus19876 says... #20

jakethewhale007: Keep me in the loop! :) I love this deck, and I hope it treats you as well as it has treated me.

October 17, 2017 3:25 p.m.

Hey there Daedalus! I decided to increase my budget slightly, from $250 to $290. However, as a result, the overall cuts I had to make were very minimal! Luckily, I was able to find some good deals on ebay and tcgplayer haha. Anyway, here is how my list currently stands when compared to yours:

OUT: Mana Crypt, Memory Jar, Mox Opal, Wheel of Fortune, Aggravated Assault, Argentum Armor

IN: Coldsteel Heart, Reforge the Soul, Dowsing Dagger  Flip, Armageddon, Ruination, Cataclysm

I've also cut some of the non-basic lands you were running in favor of more basics (mostly for budget reasons + Ruination synergy). I'd really like to hear your thoughts on these changes and make any adjustments as necessary based on your response. I am considering swapping Coldsteel Heart for, say, Mind Stone or Worn Powerstone, but I thought Coldsteel seemed better for the fixing. Dowsing Dagger seems pretty sweet, especially when I can combo it with MLD. It would be an epic play to destroy all lands, then transform the dagger afterwards. I'm just curious as to whether I should include a Mind Stone or Worn Powerstone (or other rock) in its place.

Thank you so much for your time reading this! My decklist is below in case you would prefer to see it in that layout. :)

Oh, and I appreciate the warning about the dangers of running MLD. However, my playgroup is very understanding and open to all strategies, so I know they won't be salty. Also, one of my friends plays a Kess Extra Turns deck, and the other plays a Baral deck filled to the brim with counterspells... so as far as I'm concerned, the MLD is justified to cleanse them of their sin :)

Overall, I am super excited that I was able to build what seems to be a pretty close version of your deck on a sub-$300 budget. I can't wait to purify my next EDH game! :) Thanks again for your help, I appreciate it so much.

Decklist: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/avacyn-the-purifier-budget/

October 18, 2017 3:41 a.m.

Daedalus19876 says... #22

jakethewhale007: Those sound like great changes! I'd definitely keep the Coldsteel Heart and the Dowsing Dagger  Flip, though :) Have fun purifying your opponents' sins!! Glad to help cleanse another playgroup ;)

I'm in class at the moment, but I'll check over your list more closely in a few hours :)

October 18, 2017 12:49 p.m.

DrVociferous says... #23

I've been playing your list for a couple of weeks now and it has been an absolute blast to play. Only difference is I run Imperial Recruiter as it gives me another way to tutor the low cmc creatures that really make this deck tick. I assume his omission from your list is financially motivated given his cost, but it has been great having some redundancy in case I don't find Recruiter of the Guard.

October 24, 2017 6:06 p.m.

gdm1989 says... #24

October 24, 2017 10:04 p.m.

Daedalus19876 says... #25

DrVociferous: Yeah, I wish I could afford a copy of Imperial Recruiter :( He's a great piece of tech, but so expensive. Regardless, I'm so happy that you like the deck! :)

gdm1989: Well, Elbrus, the Binding Blade  Flip has a black color identity, so I can't play it. I did play Bloodforged Battle-Axe for a little while, and honestly I'm torn. The card was great in the right circumstances - particularly when I controlled Puresteel Paladin - but proved slightly inconsistent. I'd like to put it back in, but I'm not sure what to cut TBH. I also want to find space for Mask of Memory, but slots are tight...

October 25, 2017 9:29 a.m.

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