Shu Yun, the Irresistible Force

Commander / EDH* Golgoroth

SCORE: 1 | 10 COMMENTS | 2453 VIEWS | IN 2 FOLDERS


Card Swaps —April 24, 2017

OUT: Abeyance, Ancient Tomb, Crimson Wisps, Exotic Orchard, Expedite, Hero's Blade, Muddle the Mixture, Peek, Relentless Assault, Remand, Reverberate, Seize the Day, Stubborn Denial, Sword of Vengeance, Time Warp, Wayfarer's Bauble

Most of those counterspells and instants weren't pulling their weight the way I wanted them, too. While I was happy with most of the equipment was fine, I have dialed back the reliance on Shu Yun to win slightly. I have a feeling that Ancient Tomb and Wayfarer's Bauble might make a comeback.

IN: Arcane Denial, Docent of Perfection  Flip, Dovin Baan, Elspeth, Knight-Errant, Gitaxian Probe, Long-Term Plans, Mark of Fury, Negate, Ral Zarek, Sacred Foundry, Stratus Dancer, Swan Song, Tarnished Citadel, Temporal Trespass, Wash Out, Willbender

My love of morph critters knows no bounds. Willbender and Stratus Dancer have been useful and now I have enough morph creatures to bluff a bit. It doubly helps that they all have 1U morph costs! More planeswalkers came in to provide additional control elements. Dovin Baan and Ral Zarek have both exceeded my expectations. Elspeth could become Sun's Champion, but I'm not sure yet.

Emzed says... #1

There are more cantrips available if you are intested, some of them very similar to what you are running already: Slip Through Space, Crimson Wisps, Opt, Sleight of Hand, Gitaxian Probe, Peek, Magmatic Insight.
Hanweir Battlements and Jeskai Ascendancy could make some very useful additions.
With your rather low mana curve and need for a lot of colored mana, the usually great Thran Dynamo seems barely useful here. Talisman of Progress and Izzet Signet (as well as its two counterparts) appear to be a lot more appropriate for your plan.

December 16, 2016 7:32 p.m.

Golgoroth says... #2

Thanks for the list of cantrips! I'm still trying to figure out the optimal number, so that will be handy. I can't believe that I forgot about Gitaxian Probe.

Thran Dynamo has been a mixed bag. I love it with Capsize, Whispers, and all the equipment, but you're kinda one the money otherwise. The Talisman might be a solid choice, but I'm usually iffy on the Signets since they don't make mana on their own. In all, the mana has been the hardest part of this deck since this is my first serious attempt at a three color deck in EDH and it's not as easy as it is in regular 60 card deck building!

December 16, 2016 8:34 p.m.

Free_Iona says... #3

OK THIS DECK IS COOL

most my suggestions are already in the maybe board :D

nice deck!

December 17, 2016 7:15 a.m.

erendil says... #4

Looking good! I've built a Shu Yun deck similar to this in the past, and he's fun to play. One thing I can say for certain is that 3+ drop mana rocks (with the possible exception of coalition relic.... okay, okay MAYBE the lantern) are too slow. I highly recommend slimming down to all two drop rocks. Also protection should be a bigger factor. Once your enemies realize that you're running "One-punch-man" you'll be getting ALL the hate. no one wants to let him swing when it means someone's leaving the game. He'll wind up costing 9 mana before you realize it unless you invest in some protection. The absolute best protection in the game is Vanishing. worth the two mana to be able to say Shu yun doesn't exist till your next turn if need be. also Apostle's Blessing and the hoard of cards with similar cost/ effect. Kithkin Armor is good too. at least all the cantrips that give protection. also unblockable is a MUST. as much as you can fit in. Aqueous Form needs to be mainboarded for sure. You NEED unblockable reliably every game. Can't overstate that. It sucks when one punch man hits a bird token (he's a monk, it makes him sad ;P) or just gets blocked and killed. (yes I see you have some, but they are mostly instants so he's only unblockable for a turn or two). Taigams Strike is expensive the first turn but free the next so I think it's worth it. Keep rocking man! Love for the silent tempest always! Oh also, almost forgot, since you have a Sword of Feast and Famine why not round out the win condition with Aggravated Assault for infinite attack phases? (I would swap for World at War)

December 19, 2016 9:35 p.m.

Golgoroth says... #5

erendil: Thanks for the insight!

That's interesting about the 3 drop mana rocks. I'm only really enamored of Relic and Lantern, actually. Those are both REALLY helpful with all of the colored mana requirements with the deck. As I said above, I'm generally reluctant to use the Signets because they don't make mana on their own, but maybe it'd be worth testing the Izzet and Azorius Signets in place of the Ingot and Commander's Sphere.

Ok, on to the meat of your reply: PROTECTION & UNBLOCKABILITY!

So, I've mostly goldfished this deck up to this point. In my playgroup, I expect decks like Atraxa Superfriends, Mimeoplasm Infect, and Teysa to draw more early hate because they're more visibly threatening as they build up board state. Once I start playing this deck on the regular, I don't think that will be the case.

Vanishing seems worth it. Rainbow Efreet has long been one of my favorite blue creatures. Putting that phasing effect on Shu Yun seems pretty excellent to me. Flickering Ward (and even Mother of Runes) seems better than Apostle's Blessing to me, but maybe that's a personal call. I sort of wanted Taigams Strike, but I wasn't sure what to cut for it.

Last but not least, Aggravated Assault isn't there because I don't personally care for infinite combos, not quite as satisfying. ;)

December 20, 2016 6:53 p.m.

RijtBart says... #6

Great deck. Really like what you did with it.I like to suggest Runechanter's Pike. It makes your commander very very big. I took out Hero's Blade for that.

in my deck The silent army you will find more very cheap cantrips that boost shu yun. Personally, I would cut a couple of counterspells. They don't suit the agressive theme. Also, narset doesn't benefit from those cards when you use her.

If you like Vanishing, you could look at Shimmering Wings and Mark of Fury. They can be cast every turn witch makes them awesome cards for this deck.

March 9, 2017 1:41 p.m.

Golgoroth says... #7

RijtBart: First off, I love your Shu Yun deck.

Runechanter's Pike is on my test list. Hero's Blade will probably be the card I drop for it, too, but it might be Sword of Vengeance because Hero's Blade is free to equip in the vast majority of cases I've had it hit the board. Sword's keyword soup has been great, but at six mana total to get make it useful, there's been a few times that it's sat useless because that mana was better spent on spells.

I think you're right on the counterspell front. A lot of times things like Hindering Light and Turn Aside end up being dead draws. Proactive protection and things that increase damage dealt are probably better overall. To that end, Shimmering Wings and Mark of Fury are going to get tested for sure.

March 15, 2017 9:37 a.m.

RijtBart says... #8

Well thank you for the compliment. I am going to add Sword of Vengeance to my maybeboard. Very cool card. Nice find!

March 15, 2017 2:01 p.m.

UnleashedHavok says... #9

I am such a fan of Shu Yun, and I like what you have going here. I do have a few card suggestions from what I play in my deck Beware The Monk!. My deck is not the average Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest deck in that I am attempting to find that creature/spell balance, while making sure that if Shu is removed too many times my creatures will (hopefully) allow me to get through late game for the win. In my first games he was very much a glass canon.

On to the CARDS! I'm a huge fan of Rebound effects with Shu, I wish there were more; Artful Maneuver is one of my favorites, I see you have the Distortion Strike. A few other cards that are enjoyable in this type of build are Titan's Strength, Leap, and one of my personal favorites Kusari-Gama. I think the Gama could potentially take your Sword of Vengeance's 6 slot since you are not happy with it.

March 15, 2017 10:55 p.m.

Golgoroth says... #10

UnleashedHavok: Artful Maneuver and Titan's Strength are definitely on my shortlist for testing.

I'm not sure that I want a 6 slot for equipment, but Kusari-Gama could be incredible. I'll give it a test at least. It could definitely force some uncomfortable situations for blocking.

March 16, 2017 3:47 p.m.