Help: Competitive Nath/Eldrazi Annihilator
Commander Deck Help forum
Posted on Feb. 7, 2016, 7:29 p.m. by irisfibers
So I've been on this mission to build a competitive commander deck that uses creature damage as the primary kill condition. Yes, I know this goal is a long shot and it seems unlikely that I will ever get them to a point of being able to beat optimized Narset or Zur but it's still a fun experiment. Thus far I've been able to find two separate deck outlets where I think this is a possibility. The first is Xenagos, God of Revels who can consistently end the game by turn 4-6 in a vacuum. This one works pretty well.
The other deck is trying to get creatures with annihilator on the field early game to shut them out (along with enough other removal that will keep the opponents board under control long enough to get them out). The main issue I have run into with this deck is consistency.. Fueling this issue is that there is a limited amount of creatures with annihilator. I'm running all but two (Spawnsire of Ulamog and Hand of Emrakul don't seem worth it) but I'm also running things like Phyrexian Obliterator/Lure to make up for it. The second is that they are prohibitively expensive to cast. To help deal with that I'm running quite a few ways to cheat them into play as well as a lot of ramp in case I have to hard cast them. I've managed to get the average CMC down to 4.55 which is decent for what it is but I want to lower it further and make accessing my kill conditions more consistent.
The deck list is here: Warriors of Modern Death
Any ideas?
Personally, I think Nath of the Gilt-Leaf is much better suited to a stax deck.
Have you considered building a voltron deck? You have to deal a lot less damage than a beats deck and you pretty much always have acess to your damage source. and if you build it nice and ramp heavy, you can still run all of the beats creatures alongside your voltron commander.
I personall ru na Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief deck (In the Black) which runs some of the big eldrazi. You could look into a similar kind of build with maybe less equipment / removal and more beaters.
In general, you're better off running more ramp and less ways to cheat creatures out. Ramp helps you cast things other than creatures and it's harder to remove. Not to mention there aren't that many "cheat into play for cheap" effects - Elvish Piper and Quicksilver amulet are the big ones. And that's only 2 cards. Whereas I can name at least 15 ramp cards that can go into any deck.
February 7, 2016 9:16 p.m.
EndStepTop says... #4
Can confirm, Nath is savage as a stax commander.
February 7, 2016 9:26 p.m. Edited.
EndStepTop says... #5
Missed my chance to edit.
B/G doesn't have any commanders that work great with getting big things(eldrazi) out quickly. But Nath is great since he's disruptive and can help you go wide. He can keep combo/control decks at bay, and gives you incentive to run discard( AYYY Sadistic Hypnotist LMAO). Meren from the C15 product would also be good, since she can bring back utility creatures to give you some card advantage. Personally, I'd cut the side synergies such as Obliterator/Lure and commit the deck into ramping/disrupting/drawing(or tutoring/ and big ole fatties, to give the deck a more stream-lined game plan.
February 7, 2016 9:37 p.m.
irisfibers says... #6
@enpc Thanx I'll look your decklist over. More ramp always seems like a good idea in decks like this. You said you had a few ramp spells you liked.. What are your favorites?
@EndStepTop- I have stayed away from doing hand destruction because the majority of what I play is free-for-all/two-headed (tournament/casual) and hand destruction only works well in single player. But I'm curious what you would consider disruption in black? Do you have any deck lists that would exemplify what you're saying?
Also tutors/draw I'm running: Tooth and Nail, Eye of Ugin, Vampiric Tutor, Worldly Tutor, Demonic Tutor, Conduit of Ruin, Defense of the Heart, From Beyond, (can't afford grim tutor or imperial seal)
Sign in Blood, Night's Whisper, Harmonize, Phyrexian Arena
What others (draw/tutors) would you suggest I run?
February 7, 2016 10:40 p.m. Edited.
irisfibers says... #7
oh and Ob Nixilis Reignited and Garruk, Primal Hunter are there for draw as well and I forgot Diabolic Tutor and Beseech the Queen in the tutors list
February 7, 2016 11:22 p.m.
EndStepTop says... #8
Necropotence Sylvan Library Graveborn Muse. Hand disruption such as Bottomless Pit Liliana of the Veil are great in multiplayer, more so with Nath as they met you a ton of tokens.Sadistic Hypnotist with Nath out literally mind twists the other 3 players. Green Sun's ZenithI'd another tutor to consider. Since you're more creature oriented sidisi is a decent tutor as well. In my first comment I linked my Nath list I've played for around 2 years now.
February 8, 2016 midnight
irisfibers says... #9
Oh yeah huh?? I even have a Sylvan Library.. why is that not in there?!
Thanx for the ideas (Your deck looks brutal. I gave it a +1)
February 8, 2016 12:12 a.m.
As for the ramp, it depends on the colours/combinations. But without access to green, I try to run the following:
Mind Stone, Hedron Archive, Dreamstone Hedron, Burnished Hart, Solemn Simulacrum, Sol Ring, Unstable Obelisk, Everflowing Chalice.
I find that all of these provide excellent ramp. Obviously with access to green (and level of competitive play desired) this list sill be adapted, but it's a good starting point.
iBleedPunk says... #2
Malignus + Xenagos, God of Revels
February 7, 2016 8:10 p.m.