Equipments or Auras, Why not both?
Commander Deck Help forum
Posted on June 15, 2018, 1:08 p.m. by EDedan
Is there a Strong Equipment/Aura deck in edh?
all i'm seeing is either one or the other not both of them in the same deck.
In dominaria we got some support for this kind of deckbuildning such as Danitha Capashen, Paragon, Valduk, Keeper of the Flame, Tiana, Ship's Caretaker and some sweet equipment/Auras to back them up such as Helm of the Host, Blackblade Reforged, On Serra's Wings etc.
I wanna ask you deckbuilders what you think is the strongest side in this "Argument",
Artifact Equipment.. or Enchantments Auras?
I disagree with SteelSentry that equipment is typically better. The fact that it sticks around upon death is a benefit, but there are significant, arguably equal, advantages to auras. Auras tend to be more efficiently costed and have more synergies. Also, there are vastly more auras than equipment, so you are more likely to find the exact effect you need.
As for why most decks do not run both: they require different support spells. Auras want cards like Soverigns of Lost Alara , and Argothian Enchantress. Equipment wants cards that cheat equipment onto a creature.
There is some overlap, but generally trying to do both ends up hurting your efficiency.
June 15, 2018 1:55 p.m.
killroy726 says... #4
I like using Rafiq of the Many,though I tend to rely on auras as opposed to equipment but I do have some in the deck.
June 15, 2018 5:55 p.m.
I use all kinds of different pump effects in my Rafiq deck. Its mostly an enchantment based list, but I use instants and equipment to pump too. The enchantment based synergy is very powerful, and worth building around. There are similarly powerful synergy cards available for equipment, but I chose to focus on the other. I think it might be hard to go all the way on synergy cards and payoff cards for both themes simultaneously in the same deck while still having room for much of anything else, but you can try it out. In my list I chose to focus mostly on enchantment based pump, but some of the best ones I run aren't enchantments. Like Berserk. Heres the deck for reference.
Rafiq of the Hexproof Enchantress
Commander / EDH*
SCORE: 11 | 6 COMMENTS | 2385 VIEWS | IN 4 FOLDERS
June 17, 2018 1:22 a.m.
FancyTuesday says... #6
There are a few factors at play here, biggest of which cdkime already touched on: efficiency. The more you build toward a single theme the more often synergies pay off, and they do so with greater potency. If your deck has 20 auras effects that play off enchantments all benefit. The way the cards play off of each other makes the deck more than the sum of its parts.
Color identity is kind of a big deal too if only for the way it informs the issue above by dictating what you have access to. If you don't have or odds are you aren't going to play with auras, if you have you're able to get a lot more value out of artifacts, it all goes in to that initial calculation of how you're going to build your deck.
There's also the matter of how you play. Equipment trades durability for speed, and auras are a lot more aggressive. I favor auras for this reason, in my meta you need to get as much out of cards in play as fast as possible as they're all liable to get swept away.
SteelSentry says... #2
Typically, equipment are better because they don't go away when the creature dies. There's a reason the main aura voltron commanders are Uril, the Miststalker and Bruna, Light of Alabaster, Uril being hexproof and Bruna's recursion really offset that downside. I do like running a few choice auras, such as ones with totem armor give the target an extra life per se, or running Diplomatic Immunity in blue voltron decks.
June 15, 2018 1:33 p.m.