Help with Strengthening Grixis Pirate Tribal
Commander Deck Help forum
Posted on Nov. 12, 2017, 4:51 a.m. by CaoJin
Hello everyone!
I am currently trying to get a Pirate tribal deck working with my local playgroup as I love the theming and flavour of the tribe but it is proving pretty difficult to get started mainly due to how difficult it seems to be to get Admiral Beckett Brass's effect off. The decks I normally wind up against are creature heavy Atraxa, Praetors' Voice or very streamlined Krenko, Mob Boss, a very fast wide Edgar Markov or tall Karlov of the Ghost Council, A beatstick toolbox The Ur-Dragon or Meren of Clan Nel Toth, A Human Tribal Sigarda, Heron's Grace or Kalemne, Disciple of Iroas and some form of heavy blue/Dimir or Bant control, usually Talrand, Sky Summoner or Derevi, Empyrial Tactician, though there is talk of a mill/control Scarab God in the works.
I'm not looking for hard counters, just giving the idea of the meta I'm playing in. We don't use infinite combos or mass land destruction, maybe one or two single target spells to remove things like Maze of Ith or other utility lands.
I usually keep running into the problem of not being able to keep enough creatures up and not being able to break through the lines to begin to steal things and get going, most creatures that come out tower above mine and I just can't keep up the pace when an opponent has a large enough field of creatures.
Are there any parts of this strategy I am overlooking or potentially new strategies I could pursue that would open up my options and make it easier to have an impact on the game.
Below is the upto date deck list, I would appreciate any feedback or suggestions either in this thread or on the deck comments.
Men of Low Moral Fiber (Pirates)
Commander / EDH
0 VIEWS
Thank you all for your time!
Hyperalgialysis says... #3
Have you tried throwing in some creatures with changeling? Things like Cairn Wanderer and Shapesharer are still priates after all. To help get damage in for the admiral, Levitation and other evasive anthem effects might be useful. Don't overdo it on tribal support either, you can easily get away with tossing in some better quality creatures, provided the effect they give is worth running them. I agree with the comment above that you may have a hard road ahead to make it work, but you could theoretically win if you play smart and lessen your grip on the tribal theme. I also noticed a lack of Clone type creatures in your deck. Dack's Duplicate Evil Twin Body Double and Quicksilver Gargantuan are all half decent and can either be a pirate on entry or a more serious threat an opponent has. Sleep and other tap everything down effects wilk get damage in for you too.
November 13, 2017 1:24 a.m.
I tried using Admiral Beckett Brass in my Standard Pirate deck and he was HOPELESS.
I think he's meant to be used as a Commander, rather than in Standard.
My take on Pirates was to stick to , and primarily use them to interrupt tempo. Then come in with Flying Vehicles in the mid to late game.
Cards like Supernatural Stamina and Siren's Ruse help to protect your Pirates, with Siren's Ruse being especially good as it can flicker Hostage Taker, which allows you to capture and cast another Creature, while letting you draw another card.
Supernatural Stamina can also allow you to bring Hostage Taker back to the field, if timed right, once again to grab and cast another Creature.
You can view my deck here, if you are interested in seeing how I came up with my final brew:
Ahoy, Me Hearties!
Make sure you read the notes under "How to Play", to understand how the various cards synergise together.
November 13, 2017 2:07 a.m.
RedUndead40 says... #5
Evasion, evasion, evasion. That seems to be what the deck is lacking and is the best way to proc Beckett.
I see you have Cover of Darkness which is a good start. Add Levitation, Goblin War Drums, and Archetype of Imagination, maybe even Intimidation.
I also second the suggestion to add some changelings, mainly Taurean Mauler and Cairn Wanderer. The wanderer ends up being a stupid good pirate after a single wrath effect.
And until we get more pirates in the next set, more draw power will help you fill the board with pirates. Kindred Discovery seems like a must include.
Good luck!
November 13, 2017 1:24 p.m. Edited.
My apologies.
I confused this with being a Standard deck.
If you're going for evasion you might also want to include:
multimedia says... #2
Hey, I question you're reasoning to want to play Admiral at all vs the kind of decks you're facing. 50% of the decks you listed that your opponents are playing are proven winning decks. They're going to to beat the snot out of you even if you some how get Admiral's ability to be consistent.
The resources and cards you have at you're disposal is much too low compared to the other decks. From the get-go you're at a disadvantage. Pirates currently don't have enough good cards to make a complete competitive Commander deck. After Rivals of Ixalan I except this to change, but until then my advice is play something else.
If you like Grixis colors try out Breya, Nekusar or Yidris. You'll have a fighting chance with either of these top Commanders. If you like tribal, Wizards in Grixis are an option either Kess or Inalla.
Scarab God is good vs a lot of creature heavy opponent's and by the looks of the list of decks you're against it's an option. The God with lots of creature removal, board wipes, control, draw, draw/discard and value creatures with good ETB abilities. Kill you're opponent's creatures and then exile them with Scarab and benefit from them.
November 12, 2017 10:40 a.m. Edited.