The Song of Phyresis

Commander / EDH Mortlocke

SCORE: 525 | 199 COMMENTS | 56782 VIEWS | IN 255 FOLDERS


About Double Masters... —May 22, 2020

The Masters program was put on a hiatus back in 2018 after the release of Ultimate Masters - but two years later we're right back at it again. So what's the selling point? Alternate art promos (so far, there may be more to this set than just that). But there are some key reprints that have caught my eye are relevant to this deck. Specifically:

Full Art Promos from Double Masters Show

Honestly, the art for both promos do nothing for me. Especially the Colossus - it has a very anime feel to it that is highly uncharacteristic for Phyrexia. It doesn't look right. Atraxa's promo is a little bit better...I think? She has more of a generic horror look to her, and less of a mystique. There's something alluring about her original art - it pulls you in and want to stare. The promo on the otherhand makes her look like some generic big scary thing in the sky. No majesty, no presence, just "ooh big scary". Also, it could just be the quality of the scan but is there something wrong with Atraxa's face? Is her mouth huge and gaping? Weird. I think I might want to collect her full art promo...but it'll never be a face card in this deck.

What are your thoughts on the art from Double Masters in regards to the previously mentioned? Please share your thoughts in the comments.

SonicEdge7 says... #1

In regards to adding Defense of the Heart vs Emergent Ultimatum, I would say try to fit in both. While Emergent Ultimatum gives them a hard choice now, Defense of the Heart has a number of different outcomes:

a) If people delay activating it by not putting as many creatures on the board, then they are crippling themselves.

b) If they destroy it early, then they just wasted a spell destroying it instead of something else or more important that you may have later.

c) If it sticks around long enough to trigger, then congrats, you get it's intended effect.

April 18, 2020 3:30 p.m.

Mortlocke says... #2

THEDEMIGOD07, lands are definitely a big pain point in magic as a whole. Some replacements I can recommend are inherently slower - but can still provide alot of help. If you can't afford any fetches, then there's always the option of including the Mirage Fetchlands which are still somehow cents to the dollar. Criminal if you ask me. If you're looking for more or less dual lands you can pick up the pricey-er Bond lands. Also, from Ikoria you can also include the amazing new Triome Lands. I plan on picking up a set for myself based on principle, they're awesome. Sure, some of the previously listed suggestions aren't super cheap but at least you won't be spending hundreds of dollars getting your hands on them. I hope these suggestions help!

SonicEdge7, thanks for providing input on my question! Por que no los dos? definitely popped up in my head in regards to each spell. The only problem is that I kind of have something else that's similar to Emergent Ultimatum, and that would be Finale of Devastation. It's kind of similar in function, but it appeals more to infect damage. So now, I have another question for you - which would you choose between the two previously mentioned cards?

April 18, 2020 7:06 p.m.

SonicEdge7 says... #3

That will solely depend on what is your goal for each card, but looking at your decklist, Finale may be the better choice, as it is a game ender, and (at first glance) you have a fair number of ways to get the necessary mana for the X cost.

Emergent seems to be a lot more situational. Ask yourself this: "Of the three cards that I will get, am I fine with whichever I get left? How would those two cards affect my strategy? What would be the best case and worst case scenario, and how do I work around them?"

In this situation, Finale may be the better choice, as it can be a game ender, whereas Emergent is a situational tutor that can help you set up. Thinking on it some more, I'm reminded of Tooth and Nail, surprised that hasn't come up.

April 19, 2020 9:39 a.m.

Mortlocke says... #4

SonicEdge7, I think the list is good where it's at. While Tooth and Nail has a very similar effect to both Emergent Ultimatum and Finale of Devastation it's CMC has be concerned. I only want a few big flashy high CMC spells in this deck - namely the praetors and the colossus. I think there is a real risk of the average CMC ballooning out making the deck feel sluggish and inconsistent. Finale is definitely the better choice and I think the list will stay as is...at least until we get some better creatures that can proliferate or have the Infect keyword. I was really holding my breath for this set to have something I could work with. Think I missed anything from Ikoria?

April 20, 2020 3:40 p.m.

beets says... #5

yooo this deck is sick! a classic combo with Defense of the Heart is Forbidden Orchard! should slip in easy enough yeah? :)

April 25, 2020 1:45 a.m.

Mortlocke says... #6

beets, thanks for the compliment. I've thought about including Forbidden Orchard in the past but outside of the instance of where i'll have Defense of the Heart on board Orchard could only serve me as a political tool, but not a very strong one. I'd prefer to include cards that could interact well with the entire deck - not just one card. Besides, the point of Heart is to make opponents second guess their strategies, and reduce the number of creatures they have on the board - for a time at least. This plays into the "Soft Lock" theme of the deck where I limit the resources of my opponents - in this case, they don't get to play more than 2 creatures or something super awful will happen.

April 25, 2020 2:39 p.m.

Have you thought about Dryad of the Ilysian Grove? Extra land per turn and color fixing. A powerful card for green decks. Is there a reason why you're not running Rampant Growth and/or Farseek? Your commander is 4cmc and you have Skyshroud Claim, which isn't efficient ramp for this type of deck.

May 8, 2020 10:52 p.m.

Mortlocke says... #8

AscendedLandfalls, thanks for the comment and suggestion. I haven't thought about running Dryad of the Ilysian Grove because outside of color-fixing and a psuedo Wayward Swordtooth effect for it doesn't offer the deck much. Worse yet, it's a very unsafe form of color-fixing as it is on a creature body that can easily be removed by a whole host of different targeted and non-targeted spells. I'll argue that it suffers from something similar to the "glass cannon" trope where it's super strong in some aspects - but super vulnerable at the same time.

Rampant Growth is good ramp in a certain context. I don't run that many basic land cards in this deck (only 3) so it's not really worthwhile to include. Farseek is probably more worthwhile as it can find typed lands, but paying for a tapped land doesn't seem as appealing as a mana rock for the same cost. You say Skyshroud Claim is not efficient? For I can tutor for two lands that come into play untapped and can fetch any forest typed land. That means I can fix my manabase by fetching any two of the following - Tropical Island, Bayou, or Savannah (or their shockland equivalent). If you think this spell is not efficient, then please tell me what i'm missing because I think it's nothing short of amazing for a multi-color deck.

May 8, 2020 11:56 p.m.

It depends on when you want your commander out. Usually you don't want ramp that is the same cmc as your commander, but less. There are a few exceptions to this, such as a low cmc commander.

Lands are safer than rocks. Unless you're running a cEDH deck where rocks are preferred because of the quickness of the game, most decks I've seen that run green will usually have Rampant Growth and/or Farseek, including four/five color decks. And since you are running Defense of the Heart and some high cmc spells, which are cards for mid-range decks, not fast decks, I wouldn't worry too much about a few lands coming in tapped since it also allows you to color fix early on, but this is also predicated on running a few more basic lands.

I also noticed that you don't run Vampiric Tutor, but do run Enlightened Tutor. Is there a reason for this since with Vampiric you don't have to reveal what you searched for?

Going over your land base, it resembles something that would be closer to a cEDH deck than a casual deck. Have you thought about moving this deck as close to cEDH as possible?

May 11, 2020 8:21 a.m.

Mortlocke says... #10

AscendedLandfalls, I appreciate you asking me some hard questions. Yes, lands are definitely the top option as most EDH decks don't run land destruction, but the only viable option (In my opinion) you've suggested thusfar is Farseek. It's a good card, but i'm having a hard time finding a place for it. What would you cut? and why.

I do have some comment for some of your statements: "since you are running Defense of the Heart and some high cmc spells, which are cards for mid-range decks, not fast decks, I wouldn't worry too much about a few lands coming in tapped since it also allows you to color fix early on, but this is also predicated on running a few more basic lands."

  • Spells like Rampant Growth just aren't a good fit for the deck as it is. To get the most use out of Growth i'd have to cut either filter lands or utility lands to make room for basics - that doesn't make sense, and would only serve to weaken the deck's manabase overall. Additionally, with lands coming in tapped early on, I lose out on opportunities to play my 2 or 3 drop mana rocks. I disagree with your logic as lands entering play tapped can potentially waste a play early or late game.

  • I was not aware that Defense of the Heart was an enchantment geared more toward mid-range archetypes - could you provide a source? This deck isn't intentionally designed to be a "fast archetype" (what do you mean by fast? like aggro?). I guess to that point I unintentionally built a midrange deck as I can "combo" with a soft lock on the board (utilizing Tangle Wire and a proliferation source - while proliferating poison counters, ideally). The alternative strategy is trying to swing in with an infect creature and pump it up with enough +1/+1 counters to go for lethal before an opponent can go for a combo.

  • Honestly, I don't run Vampiric Tutor because of two reasons - 1. I have no idea what I would cut for it, and 2. I'm still paying off my Revised Tropical Island (in played condition) + Savannah (in lightly played condition). I have a sweet deal with a friend (he's a legacy player) who wants to offload some revised dual lands (he's upgrading to unlimited) and is giving me a steal of a deal. So, i'm currently working on paying off those two cards and the deck will be fully assembled in paper. What would you cut to make room for Vampiric Tutor? Inexorable Tide? Maybe Lux Cannon. It's a pet card that I enjoy...so I feel at odds about removing it. Plus it is a gaudy distraction on the board, especially when I have multiple proliferation sources active.

  • My landbase is pretty competitive as I want to give this 4 color deck as much of an advantage as I can. This deck isn't meant to be casual, but not entirely competitive either. It's in a strange place where it's a strong deck that can win knock out an opponent as early as turn 4 or 5, but defeat all opponents around 7. Personally i'm not a fan of Stax, as I enjoy actually playing against others. I could push the deck a little further in that direction, but what I really want is a strong and viable means of sealing a win via Infect/Poison counters. My personal hope is that the upcoming Commander Legends set will have something of use to that end. I know Infect is a parasitic mechanic, but it is one that I champion and will forever advocate for.

Thanks for the talk and criticism so far, I look forward to more from you.

May 11, 2020 3:18 p.m. Edited.

Mortlocke says... #11

Hey again AscendedLandfalls,

Sorry to write you a book with a follow on, but I wanted to clarify a mis-typed statement from earlier: This deck isn't meant to be casual, but not necessarily cEDH. Again, I find stax boring - I don't like it when strangers play with themselves in front of me - so why would I subject anyone else to that? I do however enjoy the concept of a soft lock, forcing players to fight with meager resources while I gain more and more chances to hit them with poison counters - that's the main theme or concept behind this deck.

The deck is strong though, on a good play I can knock out a single opponent as early as turn 4. However due to the nature of infect it'd take longer to finish off the rest of the board - usually on turn 6 or 7 is when i'd be ending the game.

Back on Vampiric Tutor - I don't want to cut Enlightened Tutor, as I'd prefer to have as many tutors in the deck as possible...but even while sleeping on it I still don't know what I'd cut.

May 12, 2020 9:24 a.m. Edited.

Mortlocke says... #12

AscendedLandfalls, in regards to Vampiric Tutor - do you think it's a good idea to swamp it in for Inexorable Tide? It is a very pricey card CMC wise...but it does help me close a game if there are poison counters on my opponents. I feel at odds about it. What're your thoughts?

May 18, 2020 3:08 p.m.

Yarok says... #13

Mortlocke, as always, your decks look exquisite. Can’t wait to see what you come up with next!!!

May 18, 2020 4:23 p.m.