Anti Azami lady of scrolls
Commander Deck Help forum
Posted on May 11, 2017, 2:18 p.m. by jyp3r
One of my friends plays a very expensive mono blue control deck using lady azumi and all the possible ways to counter or take things from you and a lot of take extra turns in it I want to make a simile control to deck basically be anti azami lady of scrolls lots of control I was thinking of using DRALNU as the general.
MagicalHacker says... #3
If I were him, I'd fear Surrak Dragonclaw the most. Get some ramp, and go the beatdown path with creatures with ETBs. Azami can't counter them, and if she bounces them, you get the ETBs again.
As for stopping Azami from drawing lots of cards, you can find cards like Uba Mask and Shared Fate on MagicalHacker - List of All Anti-Control Cards.
Since you know they're playing mono blue, then feel free to play Choke, Boil, Boiling Seas, and more cards like it I found on this cool reference I used when I built a similarly themed deck: All Hate, No Bears (Radha Primer).
Best of luck!
May 11, 2017 2:49 p.m.
Dralnu's actually pretty bad. The only way to make that guy work is to go with a doomsday list or use some other similar stuff which isn't really seen outside of the most competitive decks. If your friend runs extra turns and mind control effects, he probably isn't even running azami at the height of her power.
Also, it's worth noting that true control is one of the weaker deck archetypes in all of EDH. Almost all "control" decks end up being combo decks.
One of the best ways to shut down azami and other blue control lists is to run effects that hinder their game plan. Null Rod to stop ramp and combos, Cursed Totem and Pithing Needle to stop draws. Spirit of the Labyrinth to stop draw, Arcane Laboratory to stop combos or massive turns, City of Solitude to stop counters.
There are tons of things you can do against blue decks in EDH. I'm one of those guys with an azami deck. Try something like Captain Sissay and put "hate bears" like Thalia, Guardian of Thraben in your deck.
May 11, 2017 2:54 p.m.
greatdevourer says... #5
I agree with MagicalHacker. I think Surrak Dragonclaw would be a much better commander to kill off Azami. Green and red both have a lof of 'can't be countered' creatures. Consider Great Sable Stag and Mistcutter Hydra, pro blue and it's gonna hit the table. Also gets you Vexing Shusher and Treetop Village.
Don't forget to look at things like Stranglehold and Ugin's Nexus to negate the extra turns. Consider Boseiju, Who Shelters All to force things like Wrath of God or Curse of the Swine to help negate some of his cards. AEther Flash could help kill his creatures. Banefire for direct damage.
I think you have a lot of options if you don't go for a blue vs blue matchup.
May 11, 2017 3:03 p.m.
As a long time blue player, if you cast Great Sable Stag and Mistcutter Hydra vs me, I'm 100% ok with that. Seriously. What are you doing? Putting me on a 5 turn clock? At turn 3 to 5 or something? And that's being generous.
Nah mate. Instead of trying to put down resilient threats, you need to manage my ability to play the game. That's how you shut down a blue player.
May 11, 2017 3:17 p.m.
greatdevourer says... #7
Agreed TheDevicer. I've faced many a blue player, and there are a lot of ways to deal with mono-blue decks. However, not knowing more about the player, their skill levels, their current local meta game, their collection, or even what deck their playing, I was just suggesting a strategy and providing some samples to kick start the conversation. Are Great Sable Stag and Mistcutter Hydra great cards? No. But since both cards are under a dollar each, they are an affordable start and .
Yes, limiting a blue player's options in one strategy. So is overwhelming the player with more threats than they can counter. Another tactic is pushing that turn clock faster than the blue player wants to run. For example, swinging each turn with a Slith Firewalker or Taurean Mauler or similar creature that keeps getting bigger. And I can't think of a blue player that hasn't hated me dropping a Teferi's Puzzle Box on the table. There goes planning anything long term.
My Pacifism deck gives players all kinds of trouble. In the early game blue players defend me because I have more Wrath effects and creature control. Later in the game, they turn on me because I'm screwing up their strategies too.
It comes down to a lot of factors, but as a jump off point for a discussion, I didn't think that Great Sable Stag and Mistcutter Hydra were bad choices.
May 11, 2017 3:42 p.m.
mymanpotsandpans says... #8
I had a friend that played Azami till back in what 2014-2015(?) when the mind seize deck came out with Nekusar, the Mindrazer. Generally Azami players just get hit hard by the constant life loss. Black/Red has plenty of cards like Price of Glory. You can wreck their game plan fast that way.
May 11, 2017 4:04 p.m.
Prowling Serpopard,Choke,Price of Glory,War's Toll,Omen Machine,Gate to the AEther,Conqueror's Flail,Wild Evocation,Hypergenesis... Really anything to up the chaos level has a way of really pooping on responsive decks
May 11, 2017 5:45 p.m.
i currently play thraximundar i have been tossing up whether swaping to nekusar would help and i think you've twisted my arm things like boil and price of progress are great ideas this has really helped
May 11, 2017 6:51 p.m.
if they actually rely on having azami on the board as a draw engine, that is easy to deal with in red; Pyrohemia, Starstorm, Magmaquake, Sulfurous Blast.
if you really want to go anti- blue there is Red Elemental Blast and Pyroblast.
also fun is to Wild Ricochet or Reverberate their extra turn spells. or their control spells or spelltwine or whatever they are doing. just fun to mess them up.
May 11, 2017 9:49 p.m.
PookandPie says... #12
Just listen to TheDevicer. Pithing Needle and Cursed Totem are pretty great vs Azami as they come down early enough that Azami may have a hard time countering them (even assuming a tutor, that's still only 2-4 mana to get these out), and then they stop Azami's major gameplan until he bounces them (which isn't a permanent solution, so Azami has to spend extra mana to go off, which gives you more time to prevent it from going off). Phyrexian Revoker naming Azami isn't a bad call either.
I say go for Saffi Eriksdotter and combo all over the dude's face. The colors give you access to the above artifacts, plus Grand Abolisher, Spirit of the Labyrinth, City of Solitude, Defense Grid, and more. Saffi also doesn't care if her creatures get countered as you can pull them out of the graveyard later with little effort (Birthing Pod up to Reveillark or Karmic Guide is always fun with Saffi, plus there's also Renegade Rallier to bring back Saffi to continue abusing ETB/LTBs ad infinitum). I'm mostly saying Saffi for the colors, but it's also a fairly cheap deck to make given it's only two colors and generates crazy value with uncommons and rares alike (don't forget your Fiend Hunters, Boonweaver Giants, and Pattern of Rebirths!).
Seriously, go full-on, "Don't mess with my stuff" package and run WG Hatebears with a Saffi Combo Flourish. Seems fun to me.
May 11, 2017 10:36 p.m.
Yeah. Exactly the above except Captain Sisay. She can get you saffi, teeg, elesh, gaea's, thalia, yisan, etc. So many awesome targets.
May 11, 2017 10:50 p.m.
This is calling for karador. I often suggest him because he is a beast. No one can counter all the shit you are doing especially not when you drop those mana elves early in the game. Same hate package as mentioned above but with more recursion. You can play your creatures every turn once you managed to get karador out. No one can counter this if there is 2 more players playing threats
MindAblaze says... #2
You may want to play white to be able to limit the number of cards she can draw and stop them from doing stuff on your turn. You'll have a tough time going card for card with Azami while the rest of the table does their thing.
Dragonlord Dromoka would help shut down her ability to interact with you forcing her to do things at sorcery speed.
That being said if you want to play Notion Thief helps you shut her down.
May 11, 2017 2:49 p.m. Edited.