Narset : Competitive Aggro-Spells

Commander / EDH StevTheRenegade

SCORE: 13 | 30 COMMENTS | 5655 VIEWS | IN 6 FOLDERS


Update 1 —Oct. 20, 2016

This deck has operated almost flawlessly since it's conception. It is my go to deck for emasculating neck-beards and hilariously ruining johnny-players and casuals alike. In the spirit of reaching new levels of asshole-ery, I've decided to make next level competitive adjustments.

Out: Spot Removal - Swords to Plowshares Path to Exile Chaos Warp etc

In: Counterspells - Pact of Negation Force of Will Misdirection etc

In my original plan, counterspells were a waste of a slot due to the "whiff" potential of Narsets triggered ability. As Narset as a deck has become more common and threatening, a few hate cards have been mainboarded in decks across the board. Things like Fleshbag Marauder Innocent Blood Stifle or low cost Wrath of God's can stop Narset from her unusually fast devastation. These few counterspells will aid in preventing these mentioned top-decks/only-hope cards.

Out: Basic Lands

In: Nonbasics - Ancient Tomb Hall of the Bandit Lord Cavern of Souls

The first two provide more speed, and Cavern provides a bit of anti-counterspell support.

Out: Misc - Reconnaissance Fork Increasing Vengeance etc

In: $$$ - Ravages of War Temporal Manipulation Capture of Jingzhou etc.

Cut some crap in exchange for MLD and Extra turn effects I couldn't afford and thus didn't main board. Also the extremely powerful yet not so expensive Expropriate.

Rofelos says... #1

I totally forgot about reconnisance, very nice. I'd think about using Sunforger maybe Darksteel Plate . Two cards that go with sunforger include Boros Charm and Return to Dust .

September 12, 2014 2:47 a.m.

Thank you!

September 12, 2014 2:41 p.m.

spotmarkedx says... #3

How about Endless Horizons ? Early, it can help you get to magic #6 if you are a mana or two short. Later, it helps thin the deck of land (not as effective as Mana Severance , but still good).

September 16, 2014 9:33 p.m.

I had considered Endless Horizons , but came to the motion that it would be better in a deck with at least half the lands coming out to plains. I would consider this card more if I had fetch lands, however. Here's hoping in Khans!

Thank you for your insight!

September 17, 2014 3:32 p.m.

leo300 says... #5

an Academy Rector to grab Omniscience wouldnt be bad

September 17, 2014 4:13 p.m.

I considered Academy Rector as well, and although I'd normally agree for Narset specifically I'd rather use Enlightened Tutor or Idyllic Tutor in this scenario to prevent hitting a creature with Narset's ability.

September 17, 2014 5:02 p.m.

Thanks!

September 17, 2014 5:02 p.m.

enpc says... #8

Aggravated Assault and Sword of Feast and Famine are always a nice pair. Scroll Rack is also good for getting stuff you've already drawn queued up for free. Although I agree with the reason you're using Generator Servant, only having one haste effect in the deck seems not that good. Hammer of Purphoros lets you eat lands late game to get more beats on the field, and when you're taking 4/5 turns in a row, it helps get that extra damage down.

I'm not sure how good Basalt Monolith is for your deck. If you wanted to make it good, you could also consider Rings of Brighthearth and Comet Storm or something as an alternate win con.

January 14, 2015 8:17 p.m.

shermanido37 says... #9

Mana Severance is a card that really wants Goblin Charbelcher to be run with it. 3: Target player loses the game.

February 23, 2015 8:52 a.m.

Armenius says... #10

I think you have too many mana stones. At some point, you want to start hitting relevant spells and not mana stones, as you won't really need them after you cast Narset. Because of this, I'd cut like 5 of them for either Planeswalkers or more crazy bomb spells/combos.

Another possibility is putting in the Omniscience and Enter the Infinite package, which just seems insane.

Finally, the mana need a bit of work. But that can come later, as it's really expensive, haha.

June 7, 2015 11:25 p.m.

enpc says... #11

Armenius: Since most of the spells in the deck are timewalk effects, Enter the Infinite + Omniscience will just make you lose.

June 8, 2015 12:52 a.m.

Armenius says... #12

Not with Beacon of Tomorrows. Plus, if you have an "instant win" combo, it wouldn't matter.

Also, if you cast Omniscience and Enter the Infinite, you can take SOO many additional combat steps with Fork cards. Plus, with all the enchantments meant to buff Narset, as well as all the boardwipes to clear the way, you should be fine.

June 8, 2015 10:50 a.m.

Armenius says... #13

Also, taking 1 extra turn after you cast Storm Herd seems pretty good.

June 8, 2015 10:57 a.m.

Thank you for commenting! Armenius enpc

Previously I ran this deck with approximately 5 less stones, and a few walkers such as Karn, Mind and Sculptor, and Elspeth. It seemed okay for a while, and definitely worked. Omniscience and Enter the Infinite as well. (It works better in decks with way more tutor)

What tends to happen is that a very real chance of simply not accelerating fast enough occasionally appears. The deck primary weakness, cheap wrath effects, occur at 4 mana mostly. In addition, a straight up counterspell. The accel helps the second cast, and after a MLD the serve as the primary mana sources.

I'll consider your suggestions, thank you!

June 8, 2015 4:07 p.m.

Armenius says... #15

That's very reasonable, and I suppose I was thinking about a more multiplayer environment rather than one more competitive. Even so, I think the Omniscience and Enter the Infinite combo deserves a place. I think I would cut Lotus Petal and Coldsteel Heart, as they are a bit inefficient when compared to the rest of the rocks you're playing.

Alternatively, you could play the Goblin Charbelcher and something like Voltaic Key (which is good in its own right) for a win without Narset (can be set up with Enlightened Tutor for Charbelcher and Mystical Tutor for Mana Severance). This might give you a little more resilience.

June 8, 2015 10:06 p.m.

Worth a shot! I'll sub them in for a few games and post my results! Thanks for your time :3

June 8, 2015 11:41 p.m.

markszncd says... #17

copying extra combat phase spells doesn't work unless narset has vigilance

November 22, 2015 11:47 a.m.

All of them untap her, so it shouldn't be a problem :3

November 23, 2015 4:10 a.m.

Unless of course I missed something.

November 23, 2015 4:10 a.m.

markszncd says... #20

if you copy relentless assault for example, you'll untap narset twice then you'll get two more combat phases. therefore you don't get to untap narset after the first additional combat phase.

November 23, 2015 11:28 a.m.

Ahhhh I see. Ill reword my explanations. Despite not wanting to copy attack phases I do still want to copy extra extra turn stuff.

Thanks!

November 24, 2015 8 p.m.

shermanido37 says... #22

My 2 cents: try to make your deck more consistent. Reverberate cards, for example, have no card value on their own since they depend on you locking an extra turn with Narset, which can be unreliable.

I see you're already running a land destruction theme, so why not go along with it all the way? I suggest including a lot of get-out-of-jail cards for Narset (which are Gift of Immortality, Indestructibility, Darksteel Plate, Boros Charm, and the new Shielded by Faith), then blowing everything up by way of Jokulhaups or Obliterate. If you're hardcore, you can go for blink effects like Ghostway or for Vanishing (which is great anyway) then go all out with Apocalypse, Decree of Annihilation etc.

Wondering what you'd think of this. Good luck with your deck!

December 2, 2015 4:56 p.m.

Singular1ty says... #23

Looks good, although land destruction won't make you very popular in your playing group I reckon! I run some vigilance enchantments and artifacts like Scourge of the Nobilis and Ring of Thune in my Narset deck to omit the problem of ending up with a tapped Narset when I copy stuff like Waves of Aggression. I'm also missing Brainstorm in this build to get pesky dead draws from your hand into the deck for Narset to cast 'em for free.

December 9, 2015 3:45 p.m.

@shermanido37Replacing the reverberate effects is something I'm toying around with. Despite them not working on extra attack phases, the deck runs incredibly smooth with them either way. I'm considering enchantress options and deck manipulation in their stead, but am not totally convinced just yet. Will post my findings. As for the Apocalypse cards, the deck just cant afford to lose Narset. Using Ghostway and the like requires more set up than I have. Choosing to not use it is wasteful, and using it just makes 3 very good players very angry at me, as well as me angry at me.

@Singular1ty

My playgroup is super competitive. MLD, Infect, and infinite combo is all fair game. Long ago I cast Brainstorm aside, but I think that fixing draws and setting up for Narset is a perfect reason to include it!

December 9, 2015 6:24 p.m.

Singular1ty says... #25

Fair enough dude. Have you given Goblin Charbelcher and Aggravated Assault a shot in this deck? I'd be interested to know if they're worth trying. If you got time, please check out my slightly more budget Narset deck and let me know what you think: Narset, Enlightened Blaster

December 10, 2015 4:01 a.m.