Hi everyone!

 

INTRO

 

This deck is my baby. I chose the commander because Ninetales is my favorite pokemon, so the card really just spoke to me and I wanted to build a deck that I loved every aspect of. It's mainly for multiplayer, though it actually can do quite well in 1v1 too.

It has only cards that I adore---art, flavor, abilities, everything. Every hand I get, I can look at the cards and just be really happy. Plus, it's an awesomely fun deck to play. Thus, it may not be optimal---but it is awesome. I'd say it's solidly a 75% deck. And it includes my favorite, Filigree Familiar.

Because of this, you might notice some good cards that would really help the deck that I left out due to me not liking some aspect of the card (usually the art or any affiliation with evil)

NOTABLE EXCLUSIONS: Ashnod's Altar, Strata Scythe, Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, Academy Rector, Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Pentarch Paladin...

 

SUGGESTIONS ALWAYS WELCOME! I've put a lot of time into deciding what cards I love and want in this deck, so you might be hard pressed to come up with any additions that I like. But hopefully you accept the challenge! Please recommend a card to take out as well. Any suggestions will be put through the litmus test of "Do I love all aspects of the card?" as well as if it fits in the deck.

 

HOW TO PLAY:

 

Step 1 -- cut a hole in the box... jk.

First, you want to build up a lot of defenses with protection, removal, pillowfort, and recursion engines. Then, you can finish with a big voltron win.

Usually, you want to start by getting your ramp going (obviously haha). Sword of the Animist is an all-star and probably my favorite equipment and top-5 favorite cards. There's also Weathered Wayfarer/Expedition Map for Myriad Landscape. Or Solemn Simulacrum/Knight of the White Orchid/Burnished Hart. There's also getting lands to your hand with Land Tax and Endless Horizons, which makes Terrain Generator a nice land to help ramp. Really, just hitting land drops every turn is the goal---ramp is important, but the low average CMC of the deck and it's hefty protection can help out with any slow starts. Thran Dynamo, Gilded Lotus, and Caged Sun can really get the mana going.

The nice thing is that basically all the ramp is recurrable and reusable, not just one-and-done, so by the late game you should have plenty of mana for lots of activations of Eight-and-a-Half-Tails's abilities.

Also, most of the ramp is in the form of getting lands as opposed to mana rocks, which is due to a lack of mass land destruction in my meta and the resiliency to artifact destruction.

Next, you want an engine to help draw cards and establish a protective board state. A big part of the deck is knowing when to use your removal, and that comes into play here. Answer (perhaps preemptively) any threats to you, and establish some recursion in case you need it. Try to be inconspicuous and non-threatening without being a pushover! The middle ground is important

There are some equipment tutors (and an Enlightened Tutor because that EMA art is SICK). I'm not a big tutor fan but I spent some cash on the Swords of X and Y, so I want to use them. Also, since this isn't a combo deck and the tutoring is really just for utility, I'm OK with it. Early tutoring targets are usually Sword of the Animist for ramp or Darksteel Plate for protection, mid- to late-game targets are Sword of Fire and Ice for card draw, Sword of Feast and Famine for tons of mana, or Sword of Light and Shadow for recursion and eliminating the need for paying mana to grant pro-white (which is another benefit that Sword of War and Peace provides, along with some life gain and potentially massive damage). I didn't include Sword of Body and Mind because it's pretty useless in the deck, so I like to think of Sword of the Animist as its replacement in the cycle.

Finally, Eight-and-a-Half-Tails is usually best saved for the late game since he's mana hungry. Notable exceptions include needing a cheap creature to equip Sword of the Animist or needing an early game Circle of Protection: White vs. a super fast start by a beatdown deck.

A lot of the time you can protect yourself from your opponents by shelling up so they take out each other and not you. Then you can pick off who's left.

The end game is to beat down with a pimped out Ninetales or other big beater dual or triple wielding some badass swords, while your opponents just accept it because you turned their stuff white and gave your stuff protection. Ajani, Caller of the Pride can boost your beater too (just be sure to target your beater BEFORE it gets pro-white, and be careful with the pro-white swords!).

Vedalken Orrery helps you keep your options open to either flash in good stuff or protect your current stuff with Ninetales, which is a HUGE plus.

The deck is quite resilient and can actually be fairly fast at setting up a board presence and rebuilding after mass destruction. Sometimes it's actually a great strategy to go on the aggressive if your draw encourages it and beat down some people before putting up the defenses.

The deck should be able to deal with any strategy if I draw the right cards at the right time. It might not happen every time but there should be no matchups that I just can't win. Notably: Relic of Progenitus hoses graveyards; Arcane Lighthouse shuts down hexproof so I can remove or protect against voltron, while Terminus also helps with indestructible creatures; lots of removal for pillowfort anti-voltron protection; and I guess instant speed removal for combos. Also, Mirage Mirror can potentially flip the script on your opponent's deck!

Enjoy!

 

CARD ROLES

 

Card draw

Mind's Eye
Scroll Rack
Trading Post
Sword of Fire and Ice
Wall of Omens
Skullclamp
Mask of Memory
Throne of the High City (and Monarch is super fun)
Oblation if need be
Filigree Familiar (with recursion)
Solemn Simulacrum (with recursion)
Treasure Map  
Alms Collector
Mirage Mirror (perhaps!)

Early Ramp/Land-Search

Expedition Map/Weathered Wayfarer (for Myriad Landscape/Terrain Generator)
Sol Ring
Tithe
Sword of the Animist
Burnished Hart
Knight of the White Orchid
Solemn Simulacrum
Endless Horizons
Land Tax
Treasure Map  
Mirage Mirror (perhaps!)

Late Ramp

Thran Dynamo
Gilded Lotus
Caged Sun
Sword of Feast and Famine
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
Mirage Mirror (perhaps!)

Recursion

High Market is key to sacrifice things to get them into the graveyard so you can bring them back for value!
Sword of Light and Shadow
Trading Post
Angel of Serenity
Emeria Shepherd
Emeria, The Sky Ruin
Buried Ruin
Karmic Guide
Reveillark
Sun Titan
Gift of Immortality
Mistveil Plains
Dusk // Dawn
Mirage Mirror (perhaps!)

Beaters besides Ninetales:

Baneslayer Angel
Selfless Squire
Angel of Serenity
Emeria Shepherd
Sun Titan
Avacyn, Angel of Hope
Mirage Mirror (perhaps!)

Engines:

Emeria, The Sky Ruin + High Market + ETB/LTB creature
Sun Titan (with sac lands like Myriad Landscape/Buried Ruin/Ghost Quarter, Junk Diver, Gift of Immortality + Trading Post, etc.)
Scroll Rack + Land Tax or other shuffle effects
Gift of Immortality + Trading Post + an ETB/LTB
Trading Post + Burnished Hart or Expedition Map)
Stonehewer Giant for swords

Protection (besides Ninetales)

Protective Sphere
Ghostly Prison
Circle of Protection: White
Kami of False Hope
Mother of Runes
Archon of Justice (rattlesnake)
Selfless Squire
Seht's Tiger
Martyr's Cause
Kor Haven
Avacyn, Angel of Hope
Teferi's Protection

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Date added 7 years
Last updated 5 years
Exclude colors UBRG
Splash colors W
Legality

This deck is Commander / EDH legal.

Rarity (main - side)

12 - 0 Mythic Rares

43 - 0 Rares

20 - 0 Uncommons

5 - 0 Commons

Cards 100
Avg. CMC 3.40
Tokens Cat 2/2 W, City's Blessing, Emblem Elspeth, Sun's Champion, Goat 0/1 W, Soldier 1/1 W, Monarch Emblem, Treasure
Folders decks, Built, EDH, Commander Decks
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