Narset, Master of Chain Reaction

Commander / EDH* markszncd

SCORE: 489 | 291 COMMENTS | 136145 VIEWS | IN 222 FOLDERS


100 likes! —Nov. 26, 2016

Finally hitting 100 likes! Thanks for the support guys!

RivenEsq says... #1

Hey, I've enjoyed your list and have used it to make adjustments to my own, within reason (budget is somewhat a concern so I can't buy the ABU duals or the expensive counterspells that you've chosen).

One thing that I find myself uncomfortable with is the lack of evasion that Narset seems to have in your list. How does she survive in combat consistently? Especially with no real auras or evasion aside from Aqueous Form(which I love) and maybe Rogue's Passage if you can pay to activate it. Is there a place for cards like Steel of the Godhead or Angelic Destiny that provide both combat stats and reliable evasion to make sure she survives combat 99% of the time and connects?

I understand the emphasis on getting her out very early with haste, but what do you do when you encounter a creature that you can't attack through without Narset dying when you don't run removal in the list? Just off the top of my head, she would even lose in Combat to a 2/4 like Gray Merchant of Asphodel and pretty much auto loses to any 4 toughness creature, for that matter. While her First Strike and Hexproof really make her more resilient, I can't get past the fact that her 3/2 body makes her very fragile and she is an expensive combo piece if you have to replay her. What are your thoughts and how do you deal with it?

July 2, 2016 4:07 a.m.

RivenEsq says... #2

Also, what do you think about Command Beacon? Paying 8 isn't bad, but I don't really want to pay 10 and paying 12 is incredibly difficult.

How do you deal with edict effects? Without token producers, I thought that running a couple man-lands would help get around it. I have a player in my meta that runs Thraximundar and tends to single me out a lot no matter what deck I am playing. Without other creatures and nothing in our colors that stops sacrifices, Narset loses to him pretty hard if he gets to swing. He also runs stuff like Fleshbag Marauder that comes down about the same time I'm playing Narset. If you whiff extra turns/combats on your first swing and he drops that turn 3, what do you do?

July 2, 2016 5:41 a.m.

markszncd says... #3

This decklist is designed for a 4-player match as if in tournaments. And because this deck is extremely fast, you can usually attack for the first time on as early as turn 3 or 4. Usually you can find at least one player open for a swing on turn 3 or 4. Once entered the infinite, you can kill the rest of the player with Rogue's Passage or Aqueous Form. I've only encountered ONCE the situation which all opponents control creatures big enough to kill narset if I swang it. I attacked anyway, and luckily that trigger revealed Enter the Infinite and I won.

July 2, 2016 6:07 a.m.

markszncd says... #4

If you know that your opponents are likely to make you sacrifice creatures, play narset only if you can give her haste OR you can be fast enough for example like a turn two narset and a turn three attack.

July 2, 2016 6:10 a.m.

markszncd says... #5

I've just dropped Command Beacon like 2 weeks ago! I thought that it could have worked in my deck but after testing, it just didn't meet my expectation. I rarely had to cast narset for 10, and even if I did, there's great chance that I didn't even have a command beacon in hand or on the battlefield. That's why i finally dropped it.

July 2, 2016 6:16 a.m.

Kronosity says... #6

Have you thought of final fortune sunforger and angels grace? I friend of mine started using it in his casual play group and it has me very intrigued as red white is never expected to take multiple extra turns with out a downside

July 15, 2016 4:07 a.m.

markszncd says... #8

It actually is a very interesting idea. If I had a sunforger in my decklist, i'd play this combo for sure!

July 15, 2016 11:31 a.m.

Emzed says... #9

Have you considered lands like Remote Farm and Ruins of Trokair (and their red and blue counterparts)? They are very all-in, but that's what this deck is anyway, right?

July 31, 2016 8:35 a.m.

markszncd says... #10

My friend who's also playing narset uses those land and I personal don't like to use too many tapped lands. With so many rocks in my deck, I sometimes land to tap for mana and cast those rocks as early as possible.

July 31, 2016 10:01 a.m.

Emzed says... #11

I didn't mean to suggest playing all of these lands, but maybe 1-2? You will often have the chance to play them tapped on a turn when you don't need the mana anyway, and currently you don't have a single tapped land.

July 31, 2016 12:45 p.m.

markszncd says... #12

There is one, which is hall of the bandit lord. I know what you mean, the problem is that maybe one tapped land is enough for me. I need mana to cast rocks, haste enchantments, tutors on early turns and that's why I avoid using too many tapped lands. Maybe next time I'll try to include one of those lands you mentioned above and see how it works.

August 1, 2016 10:46 a.m.

Lvka says... #13

Hi, I think you have one minor mistake in decklist. You have 2 Beacon of Tomorrows. Under Extra Turn (9) and Combo Component (4)

August 6, 2016 7:40 a.m.

Emzed says... #14

The formatting allows you to list a card in multiple categories, it's just one copy though.

August 6, 2016 8:02 a.m.

CaptSillva says... #15

You should try out these cards Cataclysm, Steel of the Godhead, and Cryptic Command.

August 7, 2016 12:24 p.m.

markszncd says... #16

I used to have cataclysm and it's dropped for including ravages of war. I have aqueous form already and one unblockable aura is more than enough. Cryptic command is a good card but its just not necessary for this deck.

August 7, 2016 7:50 p.m.

RivenEsq says... #17

So I have managed to budget enough that I could buy the rest of the expensive mana rocks that I was missing in Mox Opal and Mox Diamond. I will also be getting the filter lands (to replace my man-lands that ETB Tapped). One thing I am struggling with is the viability of the Proteus Staff creatureless combo in this deck compared to running the creature package of Grand Abolisher, Simian Spirit Guide, and Generator Servant. I'm also looking for a spot to put in Tolaria West (the man-lands are going to become their respective filter lands later this month).

Would you mind giving me some feedback on what you would swap for the 3 creatures I mentioned if I were to decide to cut the Staff combo for them, as well as what you would swap for Tolaria West? (Mystic Monastery is my likely pick) Obviously one of the cuts would be Proteus Staff, but I'm not sure what I'd for the others. Here is my list: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/narset-the-last-airmerican/

Another question I had was I noticed that you don't run Mox Opal nor Mox Diamond, the two rocks I just added to the list. What led to that decision for you? The Diamond seems like a perfect fit in here, while I can see how Opal would be marginal, though probably not a huge issue with all the rocks we run. They'll be sticking in my list for the time being as I'm not really willing to buy a LED, but I was curious as to what your thoughts were. If you've addressed it before, I apologize. Thanks!

August 9, 2016 10:01 p.m.

markszncd says... #18

I don't know if running Staff is the best idea. With the current decklist I have now, each attack gives me about 50% chance of winning. Maybe the effort of tutoring for the staff and to activate it by sacrificing a creature land before attacking is much more than just attack and finish the game immediately.

Tolaria west is really versatile and I think you should leave it there. It can be transmuted into a mana crypt, lion's eye diamond, caverns, hall of bandit lord....

I used to have mox diamond. And I finally cut it because I have only 35 lands and it sometimes became useless with only one or no land in hand. I don't think I have enough artifact to be able to run mox opal. Maybe if I include all three colored artifact lands and more ramping artifacts to my list, I'd use it.

There are several cards which you could consider: Rising waters, Static orb, Winter orb, and Lightning Mauler...

August 10, 2016 4:18 a.m.

RivenEsq says... #19

I guess I wasn't entirely clear with my question as I am trying to add the creature package and Tolaria West, not remove them.

I currently have the Staff in the deck and I wanted feedback on what two cards to cut besides the Staff to add Abolisher, Servant, and Spirit Guide?

I was also wondering what land you would cut from my list, other than the man lands which are coming out for the filter lands, to put Tolaria West in?

I have considered adding the artifact lands to the list for better use of Mox Opal. The odds of getting hit by a sweeper are low, but the risk against of a card like Stony Silence is significant in a competitive meta. I'm running an extra land for 36 so that Mox Diamond is a bit better.

Do you run any of those stax pieces yourself? I don't have them in my competitive list, but I run the stax pieces in my superfriends deck since it is obviously much slower. I just don't see a huge benefit to us running them here since so much needs to be put into the combo and direct protection for it.

One thing I am very worried about is this deck's resilience against edict effects, as I tend to see them a lot, which is part of the reason I'm changing away from the Staff combo so I can have creatures. How do you deal with someone casting an edict spell making you sacrifice Narset? Do you just make sure you delay until you have haste if you suspect edicts because swinging should result in a win or ensure that you have another creature on board if you are going to play her?

Lastly, is there any reason to run Storm Herd like CommanderTheory's list does? I know it is a decent way to close out games, but is it excessive when you consider all the extra turns, combats, and land destruction? And is there some utility in running Hammer of Purphoros for the token generation or does that pretty much never come up?

August 10, 2016 5:31 a.m.

markszncd says... #20

Storm herd is also a possible card to be run in this deck. What I'm thinking is to first run all the extra turn/ combat/ land destruction pieces, and then if you still got space for other cards, include also the orbs, storm herd and other stuff

Every deck has its weakness, and I believe the weakness of this deck is agaist edicts and counterspells. To compensate that, we have a bunch of haste enchantments, and cards like caverns and Fow. How this deck should be played really depends on the meta and the match up youre playing against. I think there is no absolute answer to you question.

August 10, 2016 9:37 a.m.

markszncd says... #21

Another thing is that once narset is on the battlefield, you no longer need any land or mana. Thats why we can also run stax pieces and land removals. If you still got spaces, run those orbs, theyre the second best things after geddons.

August 10, 2016 9:45 a.m.

Shane.Allen says... #22

Very impressive deck, very close to the Narset deck I built right after she came out, I took it apart because no one would play me after they fought it once, no fun for them I guess. How often do you get to play with this ?

August 10, 2016 10:11 a.m.

markszncd says... #23

I play it every once in a while, I switch decks between matches to avoid boring others

August 10, 2016 10:12 a.m.

Shane.Allen says... #24

That's good, Me and my wife each have three decks, I built them all, I also used to have a Narset deck a Arcum Dagsson, and a Zur lockdown deck. I would find that people wouldn't play or I would get targeted each game. I now play Maelstrom, Oloro, and Rafiq. If you want check out our decks and any input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you :)

August 10, 2016 10:48 a.m.

Shane.Allen says... #25

In my old Narset build I used to use Aggravated Assault + Sword of Feast and Famine, tell me what you think :)

August 10, 2016 9:28 p.m.