EDIT: This deck was/is a mess and never worked right. Its core idea was clear enough - make lots of tokens, pump them all with spells pointed at my commander, swing for lethal, good game everyone. However, what always ended up happening was that I would win through commander damage. I decided to build a deck more focussed on voltron strategies, and this one fell by the wayside. I recently found a copy of Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer in my binder, and I'm in the process of retrofitting this shell with him in mind. Until then, this deck probably won't see play, so I'm marking it as retired.
I wanted an excuse to explore combat tricks and still involve my commander. My play group is multiplayer (usually 5-person), but we're relatively casual and fun-oriented.
The goal is to create many tokens, then buff them (either using enchantments or A&C's ability). I'd originally thought that A&C's ability was weak, but now I have noticed that the trample helps more than expected.
This deck was built using almost entirely cards I had lying around, so it's missing a few EDH staples. It's also my first shot at an aggro EDH deck - I'm usually a combo player. I intend for each individual card to be non-threatening enough that removal is pointed at other people: for example, I have a Cathars' Crusade, but I'm not using it because that makes everyone band together against you. EDIT: I now have reversed this policy slightly, and I want to include Cathar's Crusade...but I seem to have misplaced it.
This is a work in progress. Suggestions are greatly appreciated, but please help both with what to cut and what to keep! I already have a long list of cards I'd like but can't use here! Thank you! :)
NOTES ABOUT CARDS:
Generally the cards can be divided into these categories:
---Token producers: it's useless to have a buff for all of your creatures if you don't have any creatures! Repeatable token production is preferred, but not required. Non-creature sources are also preferred, because they're more likely to survive a boardwipe and repopulate the battlefield. For example, Assemble the Legion is in this category, and Hero of Bladehold is in this one and the next one.
---Pump sources: in my play group, commanders get sent to the bottom of your deck often. I hate that and try to win without it, which is why I'm not playing Condemn here. Regardless, having other ways of making my armies scarier is good when my commander is indisposed. These include enchantments like Marshall Anthem, spells like
Rally the Peasants
, and creatures like Ogre Battledriver or anything with battle cry.
---Targeting spells: regardless, as long as I have my commander, heroic requires that I have plenty of other targeting spells to play with. I generally tried to either make these really, really useful (Assault Strobe is surprisingly good), or able to play multiple roles (such as
Dawn Charm
), or able to be recurred twice or more (such as
Forced Worship
, which can be used on your own heroic creatures if necessary).
---Blocking avoidance: the saddest thing about this deck is the late game, when there are a lot of large blockers around, which will kill anything that attacks. Cards like
Ruthless Invasion
can push a surprise attack through out of nowhere. In particular, Master Warcraft can also wreak havoc upon small utility creatures or combo pieces, often acting like a one-sided boardwipe.
---Synergy with large numbers of creatures: this enfolds cards like the ones with the battalion ability from Return to Ravnica, which get better with more creatures, or Mentor of the Meek who draws tons of cards when tokens ETB. Kind of a mixed bag, but many of these are fun and odd.
INDIVIDUAL CARD CHOICES:
Knight of Meadowgrain and friends: Many of the creatures have first strike/double strike, because the first strike and trample combination is very helpful. The lifelink is also convenient, and it's useful to have creatures running around that are annoying but not worthy of spot removal.
(edit: now removed) Also, the inclusion of
Punishing Fire
is meta-based, because an Oloro, Ageless Ascetic deck is a common sight so I can either use it for removal, keeping his life total steady, or aiming it at A&C every turn to pump my board.
Casting X burn spells for zero aimed at A&C still activates their ability, which is always convenient (like Red Sun's Dawn). These cards can also be used for removal of the opponents' creatures if necessary.
Fatal Frenzy may go because it loses a creature, and already requires its target to be large, and the trample is often redundant. But I've managed to cast it with Assault Strobe and
Mighty Leap
in the same turn, leading to a 16/7 trampling double-striking vigilant flier hitting for commander damage. That sh*t ends games.
(Come to think of it, it would have been even better if the target had been Charmbreaker Devils: a 36/6 with those abilities is terrifying.)
Four cards have been cut to bring the total to the right number:-1 Punishing Fire (I'd still like to find a place for this but it is the weakest at the moment.)-1 Akroan Line Breaker (not impressive)-1 Demoralize (threshold is tricky sometimes)-1 Mountain (it's a low mana curve anyway)
