We're laying down the framework for an Isamaru, Hound of Konda BUDGET EDH/Commander deck with a Voltron strategy. Voltron is a deck archetype with the goal of casting one creature, our General/Commander, and then using other cards such as auras and equipment in order to enhance that creature and make it a true threat to our opponents.
A goal of this deck is to create a balance between auras and equipment. Optimally, we want the first dozen cards included in this deck to help with this aura and equipment engine. Here is an MTG Burgeoning YouTube video discussing the first 12 spells added to the deck:
Sigarda's Aid: This may be the most important and powerful card in the deck. Seriously! We're constructing an Isamaru, Hound of Konda Voltron deck. We want to equip and enchant our doggie. Look at what Sigarda's Aid does: We may cast aura and equipment spells as though they had flash and whenever an equipment enters the battlefield under our control, we may attach it to target creature we control. Sigarda's Aid provides flash for our Voltron pieces and dances around equip costs. With mana open, cards in hand, an angry and ready-to-attack doggie and Sigarda's Aid under our control, the defending opponent will have headaches preparing for combat damage or whether or not to block at all. DO NOT SLEEP ON THIS CARD!
#2: Drawing cards by casting aura and equipment spells. Show
Sram, Senior Edificer: This may be the second-most important and powerful card in the deck. Seriously! We're constructing an Isamaru, Hound of Konda Voltron deck. We want to equip and enchant our doggie. Look at what Sram, Senior Edificer does: Whenever we cast an aura, equipment, or vehicle spell, we draw a card. There are no vehicles in the deck. Isamaru, Hound of Konda is our own vehicle! Sram, Senior Edificer provides card draw every time we cast an aura or equipment spell. SPOILERS: There will be A LOT of aura and equipment spells in this deck. Sram, Senior Edificer is included in this deck because he replaces each aura and/or equipment spell with another card. This will allow us to continue bringing the heat and feeding more and more snacks (auras and equipment) to Isamaru, Hound of Konda.
#3: Reducing the casting costs of aura and equipment spells. Show
Danitha Capashen, Paragon: This may be the third-most important and powerful card in the deck. Seriously! Yes, I will stop at #3. Smile. So, as we're aware, we're constructing an Isamaru, Hound of Konda Voltron deck. We want to equip and enchant our doggie. Look at what Danitha Capashen, Paragon does: Aura and equipment spells we cast cost less to cast. She reduces the casting cost of our auras and equipment. As a bonus, Danitha Capashen, Paragon is 2/2 with vigilance, first strike and lifelink and only costs ! I dream of scenarios during which Sram, Senior Edificer and Danitha Capashen, Paragon are taking Isamaru, Hound of Konda for a walk with the ASSISTANCE of Sigarda's Aid. Imagine the possibilities of casting auras and equipment spells with flash, for less and drawing a card each time. Perchance to dream...
#4: Drawing cards when equipment ETB and reducing equip costs. Show
Puresteel Paladin: Puresteel Paladin is a 2/2 for . Its text is so much more impressive, particularly for the focus of this deck. Whenever an equipment enters the battlefield under our control, we may draw a card. We're monowhite. If we're able to include valuable and/or meaningful card draw then it is optimal to do so. Each time an equipment enters the battlefield, we draw a card. VERY VALUABLE considering the type of deck we're constructing. Oh, but we're not done yet! Puresteel Paladin has the metalcraft mechanic, meaning that if we control at least three other artifacts then we get a bonus ability, and it's a doozy! Equipment we control have equip as long as we control three or more artifacts. Controlling three or more artifacts should not be difficult in conjunction with our later-to-be-added mana rocks. Puresteel Paladin's inclusion in this deck is warranted because its abilities synergize powerfully with the theme of our deck.
#5: Drawing cards by casting enchantment spells. Show
Mesa Enchantress: Whenever we cast an enchantment spell, we may draw a card. This is the ability that is prompting Mess Enchantress's addition to this deck list. Without it, she's an 0/2 for and staying in the storage box. Mesa Enchantress is similar to Puresteel Paladin in that it's a creature that can provide card-draw relative to its specific targeted card type, and in this instance, its enchantments. We cast an aura and then we draw a card. Filling our hand with cards always is optimal, and that condition becomes more valuable when attempting to Voltron our way to victory. Our auras will hit the 'yard. Some of our equipment will as well. Including as many incidental card-draw spells as possible will only assist in keeping the pressure on our opponents.
Open the Armory: This is either a replacement for Enlightened Tutor or a secondary option. Either way, Open the Armory is underrated and underplayed. The converted mana costs of the auras and equipment in this deck will be economically costed. So much so, that casting Open the Armory and casting the tutored aura and equipment during the same turn will be easy. Open the Armory allows us to search our library for an aura or equipment card and reveal it. Enlightened Tutor allows us to search our library for an enchantment or artifact card and reveal it. For the purposes of this deck, there's very little difference. Open the Armory puts the card into our hand. Enlightened Tutor puts the card on top of our library. Enlightened Tutor is an instant for while Open the Armory is a sorcery for and is around 10% of the cost of the aforementioned tutor. I AM NOT SAYING THAT Open the Armory IS SUPERIOR TO Enlightened Tutor. I AM SAYING that for the purposes of this deck, Open the Armory is a Demonic Tutor for auras and/or equipment and is nearly as powerful as Enlightened Tutor, and so much cheaper. If only it could tutor for Sigarda's Aid!
#7: Returning all enchantments and artifacts from graveyard to play. Show
Open the Vaults: Including this card in the deck list worries me. One of my deck-building principles is not to help opponents. This spell can help our opponents. By reframing the value of Open the Vaults akin to Living Death in a graveyard/self-mill themed EDH/Commander deck, we can allay these concerns. Will this spell help our opponents? Yes, possibly. Will this spell help our opponents more than us? Highly unlikely. As with most Voltron decks, including auras is risky due to their path to the graveyard each time our General/Commander is destroyed and/or exiled. Similarly, key equipment may be destroyed as well. Expecting a healthy graveyard of auras and equipment is reasonable to accept, and Open the Vaults returns them all! It also can return Sigarda's Aid if one of our opponents was dastardly enough to destroy it. There are possibilities that our opponents' board states will be enhanced after casting Open the Vaults, but their battlefields should not be as enhanced as ours. We will keep keen eyes on our opponents' graveyards!
#8: Returning an enchantment or artifact from graveyard to hand. Show
Argivian Find: Argivian Find is WAY too good to cost under a dollar! So let's keep it a secret. This instant from Weatherlight costs to cast and allows us to return target artifact or enchantment card from our graveyard to our hand. Let's repeat that statement for the redundant purposes of redundancy: RETURN TARGET ARTIFACT OR ENCHANTMENT CARD FROM OUR GRAVEYARD TO OUR HAND. AS AN INSTANT. FOR !!! This is an absurdly powerful and valuable way to recur an important aura or equipment for our doggie. Additionally, we can bring Sigarda's Aid back as well, because you just know that some merciless opponent will destory our #1 card in the deck. Seriously though, let's keep this card a secret. It's SO GOOD!
#9: Returning permanents with CMC 3 or less from graveyard to battlefield. Show
Sun Titan: Whenever Sun Titan enters the battlefield or attacks, we may return target permanent card with converted mana cost three or less from our graveyard to the battlefield. Most likely, we will be targeting our buried auras and equipment. With the presence of Sun Titan in our deck, it is favorable to include auras and equipment with a converted mana cost of three or less. By prioritizing this restriction, we can optimize Sun Titan's ability to recur these Voltron pieces from our graveyard to the battlefield. As a bonus, Sun Titan sports an impressive 6/6 body with vigilance. Oh, and don't forget, Sun Titan's ability also triggers when it attacks. This repeatable form of recursion is most favorable in a mono-white deck, justifying Sun Titan's inclusion.
All That Glitters: An aura is mentioned in the first 12 cards to add in an Isamaru, Hound of Konda EDH/Commander deck? For the purposes of this deck, yes! All That Glitters buffs our doggie's power and toughness based on the specific focus of this deck: Enchantments and artifacts. Well, more precisely, auras and equipment. They're the same thing through the eyes of All That Glitters, because enchanted creature gets +1/+1 for each artifact and/or enchantment we control. Equipment? Check. Auras? Check. Mana rocks? Check. Non-aura enchantments? Check. All That Glitters only costs for a significant buffing of Isamaru, Hound of Konda's power and toughness and is a great recursion target.
Hero's Blade: Hero's Blade does not meet the descriptive criteria for placement in the first ten cards of this build. It does not have any synergy with auras or enchantments. However, its placement as the first equipment added to the deck list is warranted based upon its automatic-equipping feature. Hero's Blade costs to cast and to equip. It gives equipped creature +3 +2. However, whenever a legendary creature enters the battlefield under our control, we may attach Hero's Blade to it. This ability nullifies the equip cost of because, of course, Isamaru, Hound of Konda is legendary. With Hero's Blade under our control and when Isamaru, Hound of Konda enters the battlefield, Hero's Blade becomes equipped to our General/Commander and immediately becomes 5/4. FOR NOTHING. There already are, and will be, other legendary creatures in this deck that can take advantage of Hero's Blade's ability. Any EDH/Commander deck with a focus on General/Commander damage should find a place for Hero's Blade. It's that good!
Gift of Immortality: Similar to Hero's Blade, Gift of Immortality does not fit the aforementioned guidelines for the first 12 cards to be added in this build. However, similar to Hero's Blade, its placement as the second aura added to the deck list is warranted based upon its ability. When enchanted creature dies, we return that card to the battlefield under its owner's control, and then we return Gift of Immortality to the battlefield attached to that creature at the beginning of the next end step. Gift of Immortality can help keep Isamaru, Hound of Konda out of the Command Zone. Either Gift of Immortality must be destroyed or exiled, or Isamaru, Hound of Konda must be exiled or destroyed twice in the same turn in order to break this cycle of immortality. Gift of Immortality does have synergy with Hero's Blade, if the enchanted creature was legendary. This aura's inclusion is warranted based upon its ability to bring the enchanted creature back to the battlefield.
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Our General/Commander and the preceding 12 cards were valued at less than $25, and is a great start! This compilation of spells is the core of our deck. The MTG Burgeoning community will shape the rest of it. Let's continue with equipment spells. Which equipment spells would you include in an Isamaru, Hound of Konda BUDGET EDH/Commander deck and why? We should lean on power/toughness buffing, evasion-granting and other valuable abilities. As we are a BUDGET build, these 12 equipment spells should total less than $10. Preferably, each equipment is less than $1 unless the abilities on the equipment are too powerful to ignore. Even then, NO EQUIPMENT CARD SHOULD COST $2 OR MORE (TCGplayer.com Market Price)! We need some line of demarcation. Leave suggestions for up to 12 equipment spells here or in the comments section of MTG Burgeoning's 197th episode on YouTube (the video directly above).
Since we are dedicating the focus of this deck to a Voltron strategy, it will be necessary to include equipment spells in order to make our doggy more of a threat to our opponents. Big-time props go to MTG Burgeoning subscriber zeffyr for great suggestions for these equipment spells. Here is the MTG Burgeoning YouTube video discussing these 12 equipment spells:
1. Grafted Wargear: Equipped creature gets +3/+2. Whenever Grafted Wargear becomes unattached from a permanent, sacrifice that permanent. This costs to cast and to equip. There are few instances in which we will unequip our equipment as we try to win via a Voltron strategy, so sacrificing a creature is not a grave deterrent. This is a free equip cost. This is a free equip cost to give equipped creature +3 +2. THIS IS A FREE EQUIP COST. THIS IS A FREE EQUIP COST TO GIVE EQUIPPED CREATURE +3 +2. Isamaru, Hound of Konda hits our 'field and we immediately equip Grafted Wargear and have a 5/4 commanding doggy...FOR FREE! Grafted Wargear is the most expensive equipment in this list of 12 and worth every cent!
2. Ronin Warclub: Equipped creature gets +2/+1 and whenever a creature enters the battlefield under our control, we attach Ronin Warclub to that creature. This costs to cast and to equip. I think we can all agree that we will NEVER pay to equip this on a creature. Ronin Warclub's inclusion into this deck list is warranted based on its ability to equip itself to one of our creatures as the creature enters the battlefield. That's all it takes! Isamaru, Hound of Konda charges out of the Command Zone and instantly becomes a 4/3. Do we also have Grafted Wargear under our control? Well, now our furry General/Commander is 7/5...for free! If we add some evasion to our doggy then the clock is ticking loudly for our opponents.
3. Blackblade Reforged: Equipped creature gets +1/+1 for each land you control. This costs to cast, to equip to a Legendary creature and to equip to a non-Legendary creature. Similar to Ronic Warclub's equip cost, I think we can all agree that we will NEVER pay to equip this to a non-legendary creature. This blade is for Isamaru, Hound of Konda or any of the other legendary creatures in our deck. Giving equipped creature +1 +1 for each land we control is very powerful, particularly if we are playing a land every turn consistently. As we enter the mid-to-late game, Blackblade Reforged becomes a win condition through lethal General/Commander damage.
4. Strata Scythe: When Strata Scythe enters the battlefield, we search our library for a land card, exile it, then shuffle our library. Equipped creature gets +1/+1 for each land on the battlefield with the same name as the exiled card. This costs to cast and to equip. Strata Scythe has the POTENTIAL to be more powerful than Blackblade Reforged. If our opponents have numerous Plains on the battlefield, which may be wishful thinking due to the lack of love for white in our format, then Strata Scythe could provide bigger power and toughness boosts than Blackblade Reforged. From a more realistic standpoint, however, Strata Scythe will, most likely, provide power and toughness boosts that are just under Blackblade Reforge's. As an added bonus, Strata Scythe can be equipped to ANY CREATURE we control for .
5. Loxodon Warhammer: Equipped creature gets +3/+0 and has trample and lifelink. This costs to cast and to equip. Trample will allow us to, well, trample right over any chump-blockers in route to a Voltron victory. Giving equipped creature +3 +0 is a strong power buffing, and adding lifelink is a nice bonus. We're playing monowhite. Lifegain is expected!
6. Helm of the Gods: Equipped creature gets +1 +1 for each enchantment we control. This costs to cast and to equip. This equipment could be great...or it can be a swing and a miss. The power and toughness buffing is enchantment-dependent, and, although our deck will have its fair share of enchantments, it is susceptible to occupying a place on our battlefield that provides no boosts of power or toughness to our creatures. Its economic mana cost () and equip cost () makes it easier to include as a low-risk mana investment vs. high-reward return. We'll keep an eye on Helm of the Gods...
7. Mirror Shield: Equipped creature gets +0 +2 and has hexproof. This costs and to equip. Surprisingly, there are few equipment that provide hexproof. As a budget build, Champion's Helm is way out of our price range. Ring of Evos Isle requires an activation cost () to provide hexproof. Mask of Avacyn gives equipped creature hexproof and +1 +2, but its equip cost of ) is a little pricey. Enter: Mirror Shield. Equipped creature gets +0/+2, has hexproof and "Whenever a creature with deathtouch blocks or becomes blocked by this creature, destroy that creature." I can't predict the usefulness of this equipment's second ability, but providing hexproof and a noticeable toughness boost for only is a better investment of our mana than the hexproof and +1 +2 provided by Mask of Avacyn for . As an added bonus, Mirror Shield is more than $1.00 cheaper than Mask of Avacyn! Sigh. Printed 12 times and Swiftfoot Boots is STILL close to a $3.00 card!!? As the deck list progresses, perhaps we can find a way to include those valuable boots...
8. Trailblazer's Boots: Equipped creature has nonbasic landwalk. This costs to cast and equip. For all intents and purposes, this equipment makes equipped creature unblockable. Aside from a purposely dedicated basic land deck, how many EDH/Commander players only have basic lands in their 99? My answer? No one. Everyone has nonbasic lands in their deck, and Trailblazer's Boots wants to take advantage of it. Investing to make our doggy General/Commander unblockable is a very reasonable price. As of the release of Zendikar Rising, there are only two equipment in Magic: the Gathering's history that make a creature purely unblockable: Hot Soup and Whispersilk Cloak. Hot Soup costs to cast but to equip. Whispersilk Cloak costs to cast and to equip. Additionally, providing our General/Commander with shroud in a dedicated Voltron deck is not preferable. Hence, Trailblazer's Boots is the most optimized option for providing our doggy with unblockability at a low investment of mana.
9. Prowler's Helm: Equipped creature can't be blocked except by walls. This costs to cast and to equip. A lot of what we was said about Trailblazer's Boots and basic lands can be said about Prowler's Helm and walls. Aside from a purposely dedicated wall creature deck, how many EDH/Commander players have wall creatures in their 99? My answer? Not many. For the same mana investments as Trailblazer's Boots (CMC of and equip cost of ), equipped creature can only be blocked by walls. As our Voltron doggy wants to deal lethal General/Commander damage to our opponents, not being blocked is a great way to do so!
10. Haunted Cloak: Equipped creature has vigilance, trample, and haste. This costs to cast and to equip. How good is Haunted Cloak?!! After the initial mana investment of in order to cast it, each time we equip this to a creature it only costs , and the creature equipped by Haunted Cloak gets vigilance, trample and haste!? How is Haunted Cloak less than $0.50?! Haste is a significant ability for our General/Commander. We want get our doggy out of the kennel (Command Zone) and attacking as soon as possible. Haunted Cloak is a very affordable and powerful way to do so. Additionally, vigilance allows the equipped creature to defend our life total and trample helps bring down our opponents' life totals. Which set gifted us this amazing equipment? An MTG Burgeoning classic and all-time favorite: Shadows Over Innistrad!
11. Chariot of Victory: Equipped creature has first strike, trample, and haste. This costs to cast and to equip. Chariot of Victory is identical to Haunted Cloak, except vigilance is replaced with first strike. The casting costs and equip costs are the same. Trample and haste are the same. The value of giving our General/Commander haste for can not be overstated and providing this redundancy by including a very similar equipment to Haunted Cloak ensures that we optimize our opportunities of a hasty doggy.
12. Fireshrieker: Equipped creature has double strike. This costs to cast and to equip. As of the release of Zendikar Rising, there are only three equipment in Magic: the Gathering's history that give equipped creature double strike. The most recent addition is Embercleave from Throne of Eldraine. However, it's a red spell and can't be included in this deck list. Grappling Hook was released in Zendikar and gives equipped creature double strike. Additionally, whenever the equipped creature attacks, we may have target creature block it this turn if able. However, Grappling Hook's casting cost is and its equip cost is also . This seems like a high investment of mana in order to provide double strike. The provoke-like ability can be beneficial, but with a Voltron strategy, it is anticipated that our opponents will be blocking with all of their creatures due to the threat of losing a game after taking 21 points of lethal combat damage from our General/Commander. In order to give our doggy double strike, we'll select the original double-strike-granting equipment from Mirrodin, Fireshrieker. Its converted mana cost is less than Grappling Hook's and its equip cost is 50% less, which could allow us to equip an additional equipment or two to our General/Commander instead of investing into Grappling Hook. The less expensive our equip costs are, the more equipment we can equip on any given turn. Plus, Fireshrieker can be recurred by Sun Titan and Grappling Hook can not.
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The preceding 12 equipment cards were valued at $8.77 according to TCGplayer Market Price (at the time of this list's completion), staying under the aforementioned $10 budget. The MTG Burgeoning community will continue to shape the rest of the deck. Let's continue with aura spells. Which aura spells would you include in an Isamaru, Hound of Konda BUDGET EDH/Commander deck and why? We should lean on power/toughness buffing, evasion-granting and other valuable abilities. As we are a BUDGET build, these 12 aura spells should total less than $10. Preferably, each aura is less than $1 unless the abilities on the auras are too powerful to ignore. Even then, NO AURA CARD SHOULD COST $2 OR MORE (TCGplayer.com Market Price)! We need some line of demarcation. Leave suggestions for up to 12 aura spells here or in the comments section of MTG Burgeoning's 205th episode on YouTube (the video directly above).
Since we are dedicating the focus of this deck to a Voltron strategy, it will be necessary to include aura spells in order to make our doggy more of a threat to our opponents. Big-time props to MTG Burgeoning subscriber zeffyr for some aura suggestions! Here is the MTG Burgeoning YouTube video discussing these 12 aura spells:
1. Armored Ascension: We lay out parameters. We discuss restrictions and limitations to subsets of cards. We have rules in place. Then, with the first card, we break one of them. Of course we do! For Armored Ascension, we must! It costs to cast Armored Ascension, which surpasses the greater than 3CMC embargo previously established. It's only one! Armored Ascension gives enchanted creature +1/+1 for each plains we control and has flying. Evasion and massive power and toughness boosts. SPOILER: We're going to have a lot of Plains in the deck. Late-game, when removal spells have been scattered around the table and opponents' hands have been depleted, casting Armored Ascension could be a win condition. Worth it!
2. Ethereal Armor: This is an aura version of Helm of the Gods as enchanted creature gets +1/+1 for each enchantment we control. As a bonus, the creature also has first strike. Minimally, it will give enchanted creature +1 +1. However, as with the risks highlighted earlier with Helm of the Gods, Ethereal Armor is enchantment-dependent.
#3: Protection from creatures, power & toughness boost. Show
3. Spirit Mantle: Giving a creature "protection from creatures" is akin to making that creature unblockable. With Trailblazer's Boots and Prowler's Helm already included in the deck, we strengthen our Voltron strategy further by adding Spirit Mantle. The slight power and toughness boost is a nice additional ability.
#4: Protection from destruction, first strike, power & toughness boost. Show
4. Hyena Umbra: Hyena Umbra has totem armor, which means if enchanted creature would be destroyed, instead we remove all damage from it (if it has any) and destroy Hyena Umbra. Our creature can survive spot removal (destruction, not exiling) or a board-wipe with Hyena Umbra. Additionally, enchanted creature gets +1 +1 and has first strike. Buffing our creature's power and toughness incrementally has its benefits, particularly when including additional abilities such as totem armor and first strike.
5. Blessing: Place-holder. Blessing is reserving this spot in the deck list until a copy of Daily Regimen becomes available. Daily Regimen is better than Blessing, but Blessing will suffice for now. We can tap and enchanted creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn. The mana required to activate Daily Regimen's ability is but provides +1 +1 counters, as opposed to the temporary power and toughness boost offered by Blessing. Each aura is a great mana sink. Perhaps there will be room for each of these auras...
6. Gryff's Boon: Enchanted creature gets +1/+0 and has flying. As a bonus, we can tap and return Gryff's Boon from our graveyard to the battlefield attached to target creature, but we only can activate this ability any time we could cast a sorcery. Including a recurrible aura is very valuable, as the general disdain for this card type derives from the 2-for-1, or greater, potential. Gryff's Boon can come back from the graveyard, provide evasion and a power boost!
#7: Vigilance, power & toughness boost, recurrible. Show
7. Sentinel's Eyes: Enchanted creature gets +1/+1 and has vigilance. As an added bonus, this aura has the escape mechanic, which allows us to cast this card from our graveyard by tapping and exiling two other cards from our graveyard. Similar to Gryff's Boon, we can bring Sentinel's Eyes back from our graveyard. The benefit of bringing back our auras from the graveyard can not be overstated.
8. Asha's Favor: This aura does not provide any power or toughness boosts. Who cares!? It doesn't need to! There is a swath of other spells in the deck that accomplish this task. There are not many spells that give enchanted creature flying, first strike and vigilance, however. Let's not sleep on the combination of those abilities. If a creature has sufficient power and toughness, it can attack and block for days with the combination of evasion (flying), vigilance and first strike. Asha's Favor is a sneaky good inclusion!
9. Unquestioned Authority: Back to unblockable! If a creature has protection from creatures, then it is unblockable. An unblockable General/Commander is a Voltron dream come true! As an added bonus, when Unquestioned Authority enters the battlefield, we draw a card. This aura replaces itself! VALUE!
10. Flickerform: Now we get to play some tricks! We can tap and exile enchanted creature and all auras attached to it. At the beginning of the next end step, we return that creature to the battlefield under its owner's control. If we do, we return the other cards exiled this way to the battlefield under their owners' control attached to that creature. Flickerform allows us to protect enchanted creature from removal (and any auras attached to it) as well as from combat damage or any other nefarious and/or malicious intentions by our opponents. The mana cost is a bit intensive (, but as we transition to the late-game Flickerform may be one of our most valuable auras.
11. Inviolability: Not quite totem armor, but Inviolability prevents all damage that would be dealt to enchanted creature. Combat damage. Direct damage. Damage by sweep (think: Blasphemous Act). Way back in the early days of Magic: the Gathering, Inviolability paired with Wall of Glare was torturous. Inviolability paired with our General/Commander will help preserve our leader's presence on the battlefield.
12. Spirit Loop: Whenever enchanted creature deals damage, we gain that much life. When Spirit Loop is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, we return Spirit Loop to our hand. This last ability is Rancor-like, as the aura will go to our hand instead of staying in our graveyard. Unfortunately, Spirit Loop only provides lifelink. There are no boosts to a creature's power or toughness or any other abilities. This aura does not slow down General/Commander damage from our opponents and does not speed-up our game plan. Admittedly, this is a meta-specific inclusion. Many of the decks in my meta do not rely on lethal General/Commander damage as a path to victory (excluding Godo, Bandit Warlord, Skullbriar, the Walking Grave and Akroma, Angel of Wrath). Aside from these exceptions, Voltron strategies are few and far between. Due to this, it is more beneficial to include a hard-to-get-rid-of card like Spirit Loop over another power and toughness boosting and/or evasion granting aura. Gaining life will extend the game and provide us more opportunities to sneak in with lethal General/Commander damage.
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The preceding 12 aura cards were valued at $6.13 according to TCGplayer Market Price (at the time of this list's completion), staying well under the aforementioned $10.00 budget. To review, the 24 equipment and aura spells added to the deck over the last two videos are valued at under $15. These 24 cards, Isamaru, Hound of Konda and the first 12 core cards of this deck, combined, cost less than $40.00! We're doing a great job! Let's keep it up! The MTG Burgeoning community will continue to shape the rest of the deck. Let's continue with creature spells. Which creature spells would you include in an Isamaru, Hound of Konda BUDGET EDH/Commander deck and why? We should prioritize creatures with evasion, abilities to draw cards and/or ramp in addition to abilities that can hinder our opponents. As we are a BUDGET build, these 12 creature spells should total less than $10.00. Preferably, each creature is less than $1.00 unless the creatures are too powerful to ignore. A creature has been spoiled already. It exceeds the usual $2.00 barrier and will occupy nearly 25% of this sub-budget:
Aven Mindcensor: Prior to being reprinted in Amonkhet, Aven Mindcensor was once a very valuable card. Originally printed in Future Sight, it was hard to find and costly to acquire. Now, at JUST OVER $2.00, it is as close to an auto-include card for a white deck as Plains. Aven Mindcensor has flash and flying for and if an opponent would search a library, that player searches the top four cards of that library instead. EDH/Commander players generally don't search their libraries, do they? Aven Mindcensor is a near-perfect addition for our deck. It has evasion and can carry equipment and be enchanted by our auras if needed. It hoses our opponents AND has flash! Imagine flashing-in Aven Mindcensor after an opponent casts Vampiric Tutor or an entwined Tooth and Nail. Aven Mindcensor's inclusion into this deck is warranted, even if it stretches the budget of this particular sub-set of cards. We can still reach our goal of under $10 for these 12 creatures!
Aside from this creature, NO OTHER CREATURE CARD SHOULD COST $2 OR MORE (TCGplayer.com Market Price). Leave suggestions for up to 11 creature spells here or in the comments section of MTG Burgeoning's 212th episode on YouTube (the video directly above).
Since we are dedicating the focus of this deck to a Voltron strategy, it is important to include some additional auxiliary creatures that can fill offensive and defensive needs. Here is the MTG Burgeoning YouTube video discussing these 12 creature spells:
1. Aven Mindcensor: Prior to being reprinted in Amonkhet, Aven Mindcensor was once a very valuable card. Originally printed in Future Sight, it was hard to find and costly to acquire. Now, at JUST OVER $2.00, it is as close to an auto-include card for a white deck as Plains. Aven Mindcensor has flash and flying for and if an opponent would search a library, that player searches the top four cards of that library instead. EDH/Commander players generally don't search their libraries, do they? Aven Mindcensor is a near-perfect addition for our deck. It has evasion and can carry equipment and be enchanted by our auras if needed. It hoses our opponents AND has flash! Imagine flashing-in Aven Mindcensor after an opponent casts Vampiric Tutor or an entwined Tooth and Nail. Aven Mindcensor's inclusion into this deck is warranted, even if it stretches the budget of this particular sub-set of cards. We can still reach our goal of under $10 for these 12 creatures!
#2: Hurts us a little, hurts our opponents more Show
2. Containment Priest: We must exercise a small amount of caution with Containment Priest.
Flickerform and Gift of Immortality), and potentially Sun Titan, do not synergize well with Containment Priest. In fact, they are hurt by this human cleric's presence on the battlefield. At the moment, these are just three of 48 cards in the 99 (including this subset of cards) that would be affected negatively by Containment Priest. I imagine that there are many, many more spells from our opponents that are affected by this hate bear. She has flash and if a nontoken creature would enter the battlefield and it wasn't cast, it becomes exiled instead. Living Death. Patriarch's Bidding. Rise of the Dark Realm. Warp World. Genesis Wave. Sneak Attack. Chord of Calling. Tooth and Nail. Green Sun's Zenith. Yes, there is a minimal chance that Containment Priest affects our board state, but there is a greater likelihood she will interact with our opponents more. I like those odds!
3. Bounty Agent: We can tap and sacrifice Bounty Agent in order to destroy target legendary permanent that's an artifact, creature, or enchantment. Most likely, we will be sacrificing Bounty Agent in order to destroy an opponent's legendary creature, quite possibly a General/Commander. Vigilance is a nice ability on a 2/2 body for . Additionally, since we are budget-building this deck, iconic white creature removal spells like Swords to Plowshares and Path to Exile are generally out of our price range, as each card currently is valued at over $2.00. Bottom line: Bounty Agent is a good stand-in creature for Isamaru, Hound of Konda. It carries equipment and enchantments well, posing as a threat with its vigilance, and has the added bonus of restrictive creature (or possibly artifact or enchantment) removal.
#4: Hurts us a little more, hurts our opponents most Show
4. Hushwing Gryff: Similar to Containment Priest, we must exercise a small amount of caution with Hushwing Gryff's presence on the battlefield. It's a 2/1 flier with flash for , so it checks the boxes of a creature with evasion. However, creatures entering the battlefield don't cause abilities to trigger when Hushwing Gryff is on the battlefield. Heroe's Blade, Ronin Warclub, Sun Titan and (spoiler alert) Silverblade Paladin, Mentor of the Meek and Knight of the White Orchid are hosed by Hushwing Gryff. The equipment can not become auto-equipped to a creature entering our battlefield. Sun Titan's graveyard recursion ability is nullified if it enters the battlefield with Hushwing Gryff in play. Additionally, Silverblade Paladin's soulbond mechanic is neutralized, we will not be able to draw any cards from Mentor of the Meek and we will not be able to fetch-out a Plains from Knight of the White Orchid. However, that's just six of 48 cards in the 99 (including this subset of cards). There are entire EHD/Commander deck archetypes focused on enter the battlefield triggers. Yes, Hushwing Gryff could have a deleterious effect with a handful of our spells, but it should have a much more salient effect on our opponents. The numbers are in our favor!
5. Tithe Taker: Tithe Taker itself does not have evasion, but the spirit token it creates with its afterlife 1 mechanic flies, so hooray! Tithe Taker is a 2/1 for that taxes our opponents. During our turn, spells our opponents cast cost more to cast and abilities our opponents activate cost more to activate unless they're mana abilities. This ability will help slow down our opponents through taxation, and as stated previously, the afterlife 1 mechanic means that when Tithe Taker dies, we create a 1/1 white and black spirit creature token with flying. Tithe Taker provides a layer of protection through taxation in addition to providing some evasive offense upon its death.
6. Kinjalli's Sunwing: Finally! A creature that only hoses our opponents! Kinjalli's Sunwing is a 2/3 flier for and creatures our opponents control enter the battlefield tapped. Oh, your General/Commander has haste? Well, it enters the battlefield tapped. Is that Urabrask the Hidden? Well, your creatures enter the battlefield tapped too. For anyone that has played with or battled against a Voltron General/Commander, adding an additional layer of protection by tapping your opponents' creatures as they enter the battlefield is very valuable.
7. Tomik, Distinguished Advokist: Here we have a 2/3 flier for that is legendary. There is a lot to like about this guy already! It can trigger Heroe's Blade, has evasion and is a healthy 2/3 for only . Oh wait, there's more! Lands on the battlefield and land cards in graveyards can't be the targets of spells or abilities our opponents control. I don't know how prevalent land destruction archetypes are in meta-games, but in LGS tournament and league play they can be popular. My meta-game frowns on land destruction, and I agree with this decision. Let's play Magic! We need lands to do so (most of the time). Another archetype is the lands-as-creatures theme, usually with various Nissa planewsalkers included. Tomik, Distinguished Advokist will neutralize that focus. Additionally, our opponents can't play land cards from graveyards. I believe this restriction is much more powerful than the previous one. Crucible or Worlds and Ramunap Excavator are powerful cards that allow lands to be played from graveyards, but not with Tomik, Distinguished Advokist on the battlefield!! Similar to Kinjalli's Sungwing, Tomik, Distinguished Advokist is a perfect representation of what this subset of creatures wants: Evasion for us and hate for our opponents!
8. Bygone Bishop: Bygone Bishop has flying and is 2/3 for . It does not provide any hate for our opponents because it's too busy providing us with so much love. Whenever we cast a creature spell with converted mana cost three or less, we investigate. For anyone unfamiliar with the investigate mechanic, SHAME ON YOU! It debuted in Shadows over Innistrad and is one of MTG Burgeoning's most beloved sets. To investigate, we create a colorless Clue artifact token with ", Sacrifice this artifact: Draw a card. Currently, there are 16 creatures that will trigger Bygone Bishop's investigate ability, including our General/Commander. NOTE: Commander tax is not included in the converted mana cost of a spell. Each time we cast Isamaru, Hound of Konda from the Command Zone its converted mana cost will always be one, which means our doggy will ALWAYS trigger Bygone Bishop's investigate ability. In fact, currently, the only creature that will not trigger this investigate ability is Sun Titan. Every other creature in the deck, including our General/Commander, will net us a Clue once we cast it!
9. Remorseful Cleric: Remorseful Cleric is a 2/1 with flying for . This creature checks the boxes for manageable casting cost and evasion. Additionally, we can sacrifice Remorseful Cleric and exile all cards from target player's graveyard. EDH/Commander players don't utilize their graveyards as additional resources, do they? Remorseful Cleric can be useful if an opponent has too many valuable artifact and/or enchantment cards in their graveyard and we want to cast Open the Vaults.
10. Knight of the White Orchid: Knight of the White Orchid has first strike and a 2/2 body for . This is okay, offensively. However, when Knight of the White Orchid enters the battlefield, if an opponent controls more lands than we do, we may search our library for a Plains card and put it onto the battlefield. Yes, there are some restrictions, particularly that one of our opponents must control more lands than we do. However, we're in mono-white. It would be very surprising if MULTIPLE opponents did not control more lands than we do. This land-fetching quality makes Knight of the White Orchid's inclusion more favorable.
11. Mentor of the Meek: Mentor of the Meek. Does not have evasion. It does not hose our opponents. It's only 2/2 for . So how did it get on this list? It provides an essential aspect generally missing from white: Card draw. Whenever another creature with power two or less enters the battlefield under our control, we may pay . If you do, then we draw a card. The only creature in this entire deck with a power greater than two is Sun Titan. Every other creature, including our General/Commander has a power of two or less. That's 16 out of 17 possible creatures (excluding Mentor of the Meek, or course). Each time one of these creatures enters the battlefield we can tap and draw a card from Mentor of the Meek. Flickerform and Gift of Immortality can trigger Mentor of the Meek's card-drawing ability by returning creatures to the battlefield. He may be an offensive liability and does not affect our opponents' board states, but Mentor of the Meek's value shines by drawing us cards.
12. Silverblade Paladin: Silverblade Paladin has the soulbond mechanic, which means we may pair Silverblade Paladin with another unpaired creature when either enters the battlefield. They remain paired for as long as you control both of them. So, as long as Silverblade Paladin is paired with another creature, both creatures have double strike. As mentioned earlier during the Mentor of the Meek description, Flickerform and Gift of Immortality can return creatures to the battlefield, triggering Silverblade Paladin's soulbond mechanic. Double strike is a powerful mechanic, and with the number of spells in our deck that boost power and toughness and provide evasion, we can view Silverblade Paladin's inclusion into this deck as a possible win condition.
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The preceding 12 creature cards were valued at $9.40 according to TCGplayer Market Price (at the time of this list's completion), staying under the aforementioned $10.00 budget. So far, these 48 cards and our General/Commander cost less than $50.00! We're doing an awesome job! Now, let's finish the job MTG Burgeoning community! Which final spells would you include in this Isamaru, Hound of Konda BUDGET EDH/Commander deck and why? We should prioritize ramp, removal and recursion spells (the three Rs of deck-building). As we are a BUDGET build, these spells should total less than $10.00. Preferably, each spell is less than $1.00 unless a spell is too powerful to ignore. Even then, NO CARD SHOULD COST $2 OR MORE (TCGplayer.com Market Price)! We need some line of demarcation. Leave suggestions for up to 12 spells here or in the comments section of MTG Burgeoning's 219th episode on YouTube (the video directly above).
In this subset of cards, we include various ramp, removal and recursion spells in order to balance the deck. Here is the MTG Burgeoning YouTube video discussing these 12 spells:
1. Gift of Estates: If an opponent controls more lands than we do, then we search our library for up to three Plains cards, reveal them, and put them into our hand. It's reasonable to believe that there will be an opponent with more lands on the battlefield than we have because we're mono-white. For just we can guarantee a land drop for the next three turns. It is surprising that this card is under $2.00! Perhaps the community's disdain for white has lessened this card's value. I am fine with that! However, I believe it's only a matter of time before Gift of Estates becomes more heralded by the community.
2. Mind Stone: Mind Stone costs to cast and can tap to add to our mana pool. We can also pay , tap Mind Stone and sacrifice in order to draw a card. This is a reasonably costed artifact ramp card that can draw us a card when needed.
3. Commander's Sphere: Commander's Sphere will tap and add to our mana pool. Additionally, we can sacrifice it at any time, for no cost, in order to draw a card. For the purposes of comparisons, Commander's Sphere's upfront mana cost equals the converted mana cost and sacrifice ability of Mind Stone. As a tie-breaker, Commander's Sphere taps to add one mana of any color in our commander's color identity (white), as opposed to generated by Mind Stone. Each of these two mana rocks have printed at least twelve times, making them great budget additions to our 99.
4. Burnished Hart: Burnished Hart is a 2/2 elk for . Ick. No thank you. Well, we can tap and sacrifice Burnished Hart in order to search our library for up to two basic land cards and put them onto the battlefield tapped. That's better! Burnished Hart can sneak in a few points of combat damage here and there. However, let's not mistake this artifact creature as a win condition. It's a sacrificial chump-blocker that will put a couple of Plains onto the battlefield.
5. Oblivion Ring: Since we are a budget build, the majority of white's upper-echelon of removal spells is out of our price range. However, Oblivion Ring is a fine consolation prize. When Oblivion Ring enters the battlefield, we exile another target nonland permanent. When Oblivion Ring leaves the battlefield, return the exiled card to the battlefield under its owner's control. Oblivion Ring is superior to Banishing Light due to the wording of its text. We can, conceivably, cast Oblivion Ring and with its trigger on the stack we can target Oblivion with removal/bounce and effectively exile the nonland permanent forever. That's a nice little feat!
6. Oblation: Another alternative to destroying a nonland permanent is tucking it, but shuffling it into its owner's library. Hooray for Oblation! The owner of target nonland permanent shuffles it into their library, then draws two cards. Notice the text. It says: "THE OWNER OF TARGET NONLAND PERMANENT." It doesn't say "target nonland permanent AN OPPONENT CONTROLS." We could target one of our nonland permanents and then draw two cards.
7. Unexpectedly Absent: This is another instant tuck spell, with a limitation. We pay and put target nonland permanent into its owner's library just beneath the top X cards of that library. Again, similar to Oblation, this spell targets "A NONLAND PERMANENT" and not "a nonland permanent YOUR OPPONENT CONTROLS." We can target one of our own nonland permanents, choose the value of as 0, and put that card on top of our library. This can preserve Isamaru, Hound of Konda from hitting the Command Zone and is also a nice combo with Oblivion Ring.
8. Divine Reckoning: This sorcery-speed removal spell is a perfect fit for a Voltron-themed deck. Each player chooses a creature they control, and then Divine Reckoning destroys the rest. Due to the high volume of auras and equipment present in our deck, Isamaru, Hound of Konda should be able to outclass the majority of other creatures in one-vs-one combat after successfully casting Divine Reckoning. As an added bonus, this spell has flashback for . We get two uses out of this removal spell!
9. Single Combat: Single Combat is slightly more costly than Divine Reckoning but adds an intriguing ability. Each player chooses a creature or planeswalker they control, then sacrifices the rest. Players can't cast creature or planeswalker spells until the end of our next turn. This will impede the ability of our opponents to rebuild their board states for a turn. Yes, this effects us as well, but we have a dedicated Voltron deck. We are uninterested in casting multiple creature spells in a turn. We only need one, and Single Combat forces our opponents to adopt that same philosophy. Casting Divine Reckoning and Single Combat in consecutive turns seems very powerful.
10. Crush Contraband: This is a budget version of Return to Dust. Return to Dust
exiles target artifact or enchantment, and if we cast this spell during our main phase, then we may exile up to one other target artifact or enchantment. For the same converted mana cost, Crush Contraband allows us to choose to either exile an artifact, an enchantment or both. CAUTION: Unlike Return to Dust, we can not choose two artifacts or two enchantments. However, we do not have to cast Crush Contraband during our main phase in order to exile two of these permanents. For the purposes of this budget build, Crush Contraband is similar enough to Return to Dust to warrant its inclusion into this deck list, and at 10% of the cost of Return to Dust.
11. Ironclad Slayer: An Eldritch Moon common human that sports a 3/2 body and costs , Ironclad Slayer's presence in this deck list is warranted by its enter the battlefield trigger. When Ironclad Slayer enters the battlefield, we may return target aura or equipment card from our graveyard to our hand. As stated previously, we can expect our graveyard to be filled with auras and equipment. Ironclad Slayer allows us to return one of them to our hand. Additionally, Ironclad Slayer can be returned to the battlefield by Sun Titan's enter the battlefield or attack trigger, therefore netting an additional aura or equipment from Ironclad Slayer's enter the battlefield trigger. The value is apparent, and 3/2 isn't terrible if he has to carry some of the heavy-lifting while our General/Commander naps in the Command Zone.
12. Dawn Charm: Relevance. For multi-modal spells, relevance is the key to its effectiveness and value in a deck, and Dawn Charm has it in spades. All three modes of this instant are valuable:
Prevent all combat damage that would be dealt this turn (Fog).
Regenerate target creature.
Counter target spell that targets us.
As we are a Voltron strategy, we could be susceptible to armies of creatures. Selecting the Fog mode of Dawn Charm can keep us alive for another turn. Again, with a Voltron-themed EDH/Commander deck, our strategy is susceptible to Voltron removal. Selecting to regenerate our creature keeps Isamaru, Hound of Konda out of the Command Zone. Lastly, the counter mode can protect us from spells such as Diabolic Edict, Angrath's Rampage and Gideon's Triumph.
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The preceding 12 cards were valued at $5.75 according to TCGplayer Market Price (at the time of this list's completion), staying way under the aforementioned $10.00 budget. So far, the 60 cards added to this deck and our General/Commander cost less than $55.00! AWESOME! Now, MTG Burgeoning community, let's finish the deck! As the majority of our land base will be comprised of basic Plains, which will total around $1, we can add some nonbasic lands to our deck. As we are a BUDGET build, we should not include any land that is $1.00 or more. The total value of these nonbasic lands should not exceed $4.00. Which nonbasic lands would you include in this Isamaru, Hound of Konda BUDGET EDH/Commander deck and why? Leave suggestions for up to 6 nonbasic lands here or in the comments section of MTG Burgeoning's 233rd episode on YouTube (the video directly above).
2. Rogue's Passage: We can tap and tap Rogue's Passage and target creature can't be blocked this turn. Aside from the potential political ramifications of this land, making Isamaru, Hound of Konda unblockable for a turn can help us get through with lethal General/Commander damage.
3. Buried Ruin: We can tap and sacrifice Buried Ruin in order to return target artifact card from our graveyard to our hand. Including some additional artifact recursion to our deck is favorable, especially if any of our powerful equipment cards are in our graveyard.
4. Temple of the False God: As long as Temple of the False God is not in our opening hand, then we should be fine with its inclusion. Even if it is, it's not a burden or detriment: There are only six cards in our entire deck with a converted mana cost greater than three. We're playing a mono-white budget build, so any way we can ramp is preferable, and Temple of the False God can provide ramp...under the right circumstances.
5. Idyllic Grange: Idyllic Grange has the Plains sub-type and therefore can be fetched by Gift of Estates and Knight of the White Orchid. Idyllic Grange enters the battlefield tapped unless we control three or more other Plains. That should not be a problem! When Idyllic Grange enters the battlefield untapped, we put a +1/+1 counter on target creature we control. Value. A +1 +1 counter is not world-ending, but it results by playing a land. We'll take it!
6. Opal Palace: We must accept the inevitable reality of casting Isamaru, Hound of Konda multiple times each game. It is a bane of Voltron-focused decks. Targeted removal and board wipes from our opponents create barriers to our end game. So, let's take advantage of this by including Opal Palace. We can tap and Opal Palace and add one mana of any color () in our commander's color identity. If we spend this mana to cast our commander, then it enters the battlefield with a number of additional +1/+1 counters on it equal to the number of times it's been cast from the command zone this game. Imagine using Opal Palace to cast Isamaru, Hound of Konda for the third time. It enters the battlefield with three +1 +1 counters on it, making it a 5/5. As it enters the battlefield, we auto-equip Hero's Blade and then equip Grafted Wargear. Before adding any other equipment or auras to Isamaru, Hound of Konda, we have an 11/9 Voltron General/Commander for an investment of six mana. Opal Palace will work hard for us in this deck!
7. Myriad Landscape: We can tap and tap and sacrifice Myriad Landscape in order to search our library for up to two basic land cards that share a land type and put them onto the battlefield tapped. Similar to the inclusion of Temple of the False God, Myriad Landscape will help us ramp.
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The preceding 34 land cards were valued at $3.68 according to TCGplayer Market Price (at the time of this list's completion), for a cumulative deck value of $60.73. What a great job! Wait. What's that? We've only got 94 cards in our deck?! We still need to add five more cards!?! Yes, yes we do. The MTG Burgeoning community did such a splendid fiscal job of building this deck that it has afforded us the opportunity for some splurging at the end! So, let's add five more cards and set a budget restriction of $15, an average of $3 per card. Very reasonable!! Let's pinpoint cards that will power-up and strengthen our game plan.
In this subset of cards, we make five splurge inclusions with a total budget of $15, which will bring the total value of this deck up to just under $75.
1. Swiftfoot Boots: Swiftfoot Boots immediately becomes the most important and powerful equipment in our deck. It's very manageable to cast () and its equip cost is only . It provides haste and hexproof. This is a terrific balance of offensive and defensive abilities and will strengthen our game plan immensely. As an added bonus, it comes in UNDER our average of $3.00 per splurge card, leaving a little extra for the other inclusions!
2. Daybreak Coronet: Yes, Daybreak Coronet has the restriction of only enchanting a creature with another aura already attached to it. However, its benefits far outweigh this restriction. The creature enchanted by Daybreak Coronet gets +3/+3 and has first strike, vigilance, and lifelink. It can stay on the battlefield and attack and block with ease while gaining life each time. Daybreak Coronet is a great target for Open the Armory and can be returned from our graveyard easily with Ironclad Slayer, Argivian Find, Open the Vaults and Sun Titan. The advantages provided by Daybreak Coronet make its inclusion into this deck list warranted, even with the necessity of enchanting a creature that already is enchanted. This aura becomes the most powerful aura in our deck, and also UNDER our average of $3.00 per splurge card, leaving even more for our other inclusions!
3. Sol Ring: Finding a slot for the best artifact in our format is nearly a necessity. As a surprise, this card is also UNDER our average of $3.00 per splurge card, saving us MORE MONEY, MORE MONEY, MORE MONEY!!!
4. Umbra Mystic: Umbra Mystic provides a versatile function to our auras: Protection. Auras attached to permanents we control have totem armor, which means if an enchanted permanent we control would be destroyed, instead we remove all damage from it (if there is any) and destroy an aura that's attached to the creature instead. Instead of losing the creature and the aura(s) attached to it, we choose an aura and save the creature, and any other auras attached to it. Umbra Mystic strengthens the aura card type and in a Voltron strategy such as this one, her presence is immensely valuable. Good thing we pinched our pennies with the first three splurge purchases!
5. Leonin Shikari: Practicing penny-pinching produces another powerful payoff! Alliteration aside, this cat soldier's inclusion into the deck creates so many problems for our opponents. Leonin Shikari allows us to activate equip abilities any time we could cast an instant. Suddenly, targeted removal must be second-guessed. Combat math becomes a lot more complicated. Imagine a scenario with Leonin Shikari, a metalcraft-activated Puresteel Paladin and a slew of equipment under our control. We can bounce around equipment constantly...at instant speed...for NOTHING! We could hiccup and ping-pong four equipment among the creatures under our control. Similar to Thalia, Heretic Cathar, Leonin Shikari was a creature card targeted earlier in the development of this deck, but budget constraints forced her inclusion into the deck to be re-considered. However, our budgeting ways allow her entry in the end, and we are enthralled to have her!
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The preceding five cards were valued at $14.54 according to TCGplayer Market Price (at the time of this list's completion). This subset of cards, in addition to all of the previous cards mentioned in this deck list, culminate in a total deck value of $75.27.
And that's the way the news goes Burgeoning community. We have built a $75 Isamaru, Hound of Konda EDH/Commander deck. I look forward to recording results from play-testing and gameplay and posting them on our YouTube channel and on our tappedout.net page.
T9: TFS looks at the top card of his library due to Herald's Horn's upkeep trigger, does not reveal it, does not play a land, attacks ISAMARU with everything, deals 69 points of lethal combat damage to ISAMARU and TFS wins. LOSS.
0-1
OBSERVATIONS
LAND-DROPS: Played a land on six of eight turns.
REMOVAL: Bounty Agent slowed down TFS by a turn or two, but in the end TFS was just too powerful.
GAMEPLAY: A great opening hand ALMOST led to a victory. TFS admitted that killing NIV-MIZZET was imperative due to the number of board wipes in his hand after casting Niv-Mizzet Reborn. NIV-MIZZET admitted that his land base hampered the early portion of the game and that he could not recover quickly enough.
NIV-MIZZET wins the draw. NIV-MIZZET takes a free mulligan and then mulligans down to six cards. ISAMARU keeps an opening hand of Plains, Plains, Plains, Sentinel Eyes, Mind Stone, Mesa Enchantress and Husghwing Gryff.
T9: NIV-MIZZET does not play a land, casts Nahiri, the Harbinger, activates Nahiri, the Harbinger's +2 ability, discards a card, draws a card, plays a Plains and passes. ISAMARU plays a Plains, attacks NIV-MIZZET with everything, deals 15 points of lethal combat damage to NIV-MIZZET. WIN.
1-1
OBSERVATIONS
LAND-DROPS: Played a land on nine of nine turns.
REMOVAL: No removal spells were drawn during the course of this game.
GAMEPLAY: Victory! Bygone Bishop provided clue tokens which allowed us to draw cards and keep the heat coming. Spirit Mantle provided necessary evasion for Isamaru, Hound of Konda thereby eliminating TFS before he could completely take-over the game. NIV-MIZZET admits that the land base has been an obstacle thus far.
REMOVAL: Oblation was used to target Haunted Cloak in order to draw two cards and to prevent NIV-MIZZET from casting Decimate, which would have sealed the game much sooner. No other removal spells were drawn during the course of this game.
GAMEPLAY: So close! NIV-MIZZET finally demonstrated what his deck is capable of with better land drops. After depleting our resources in an attempt to eliminate TFS as quickly as possible, we were just overpowered by NIV-MIZZET in the end. Gisela, Blade of Goldnight is no joke and Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts would have stopped us in our tracks.
REMOVAL: Without Oblation and Unexpectedly Absent, NIV-MIZZET wins Game #4. These removal spells won the game.
GAMEPLAY: IMPRESSIVE! We eliminated TFS on Turn 4 and hung in there against NIV-MIZZET, winning the day with some timely removal spells.
CONCULSION
Heading into this series of games, the game plan was simple: Attack TFS early and as often as possible with our Voltron General/Commander and eliminate him before he cascaded to victory. Then, through the use of protection, evasion and removal spells drawn during the early portions of these games, subdue NIV-MIZZET and attack with Isamaru, Hound of Konda and eliminate him. This plan was moderately successful. We eliminated TFS on Turn 8, Turn 4 and Turn 5, respectively. Afterwards, turning our attention to NIV-MIZZET provided...mixed results. NIV-MIZZET admitted that check lands and filter lands did not smooth the mana base as much as fetch lands and shock lands would have. NIV-MIZZET'S ability to cast spells regularly was impacted due to the land base's limitations, which proved costly to his opportunities to win Game #2. NIV-MIZZET chose to mulligan six times in three games, each time lamenting the limited lands in his hand. He began two games with less than seven cards in hand, and still won one of these games. TFS had a powerful and dangerous deck, hence the target on his back. If left unpressured, he would have cascaded out of control with little hope to defeat him. These four games averaged nine turns (8, 9, 9, 10). We made land-drops on 26 of 36 turns (72.2%). We only played a land on five of nine turns in Game #3, our lowest percentage (55.5%). This potential outlier aside, the rate of land-drops in the other three games was 77.8% (21/27). We did have spot removal which directly attributed to a victory in Game #4. Although the sample size is small (four games), this budget Isamaru, Hound of Konda deck performed admirably and the MTG Burgeoning Community should feel proud about its achievement. Excellent job! I am happy to present this deck on EDH/Commander Thursdays!
Here is an MTG Burgeoning YouTube video summarizing this Isamaru, Hound of Konda deck's gameplay and some stand-out cards:
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