Ideas for an Atraxa Deck
Commander Deck Help forum
Posted on June 17, 2017, 1:42 a.m. by DemonDragonJ
I am planning to build an EDH deck with Atraxa, Praetors' Voice as the general, and I know that she is an immensely popular EDH general, but I still wish to make a deck with her, because angels are one of my favorite creature types in this game and Phyrexia is one of my favorite factions in this game.
The idea that I have for my deck will, naturally, be to use Atraxas ability to place additional counters on my permanents: specifically, +1/+1 counters on my creatures and loyalty counters on my planeswalkers.
First, for other proliferation cards beyond Atraxa, I am planning to use Contagion Clasp, Contagion Engine , Fuel for the Cause , Inexorable Tide, Spread the Sickness , Steady Progress , Thrummingbird , and Viral Drake; I will not use Volt Charge, because my deck will not support the color red, Core Prowler , because it simply is too weak, and neither Plaguemaw Beast nor Throne of Geth , because my deck will not be generating large quantities to tokens to sacrifice to the abilities of those permanents. I am currently uncertain about Grim Affliction and Tezzeret's Gambit, so I shall await feedback from other users here regarding those cards.
Second, I will need a method for placing +1/+1 counters on my creatures initially, before I can multiply them, so I am planning to use the following cards to achieve that goal: Archangel of Thune, Ghave, Guru of Spores , Daghatar the Adamant , Kalonian Hydra, Forgotten Ancient, and Echoes of the Kin Tree . If anyone has any suggestions for further cards, I will greatly appreciate them.
Third, for planeswalkers, I will be seeking to use planesawalkers with powerful ultimate abilities, preferably those that grant emblems, and some of the planeswalkers whom I am considering are Tamiyo, Field Researcher , Ajani Steadfast, Ajani Unyielding, Narset Transcendent , Elspeth, Knight-Errant, Elspeth Tirel, and at least one version of Sorin. It is not a high priority, but I would like to ensure that all colors are represented equally, or nearly equally, among planeswalkers in my deck.
Fourth, I have a number of wild cards, cards that do not contribute to the overall theme of the deck but are still very nice to use. Thus far, every EDH deck of mine has both a Gilded Lotus and a Thran Dynamo, but, with a deck that uses the proliferate mechanic, perhaps I could use Astral Cornucopia and Everflowing Chalice in their places, since I will be able to increase the number of counters on them. I believe that every green EDH should contain a Seedborn Muse, so mine shall, as well, especially because she will work well with contagion clasp and contagion engine. I have a Mirari's Wake and Privileged Position in each of my green/white EDH decks and a True Conviction in every white deck, so this one shall, as well. Would Lux Cannon work in this deck? I am considering it, but wish for feedback before I actually purchase it. Also, a deck such as this should definitely have Doubling Season, but that card is currently very expensive, so I shall need to wait either for it to be reprinted or for me to have a great amount of surplus money to spend.
What does everyone else say about this? What ideas can you offer me for an EDH deck centered around Atraxa?
DemonDragonJ says... #3
Winterblast, I actually forgot to mention above that two other planeswalkers whom I am considering are Elspeth, Knight-Errant and Elspeth Tirel, the first of whom provides an emblem that makes nearly all of my permanents indestructible and the second of whom produces a mass destruction effect.
June 17, 2017 10:29 a.m.
Winterblast says... #4
You have to consider that you won't ever get to pull off these two ultimates one after the other. Elspeth Tirel isn't good imo because she removes everything except for lands, when what is most needed with planeswalkers is always land removal.
With atraxa you can easily set up a board which makes you win as soon as you blow up all lands.
June 17, 2017 10:42 a.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #5
Winterblast, perhaps you are correct that Elspeth Tirel's ultimate ability is too risky, but I definitely wish to keep Elspeth, Knight-Errant, because her ultimate ability is simply too useful to not have in such a deck.
June 18, 2017 1:33 a.m.
Winterblast says... #6
Sure, the knight errant is fine. You might also want to play Inkmoth Nexus and Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas, maybe with Duelist's Heritage for a quick infect kill then.
June 18, 2017 5:38 a.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #7
Winterblast, this deck will have some artifacts, but not a strong artifact theme, so I will not likely be using any version of Tezzeret. Duelist's Heritage is nice, but I would prefer something such as True Conviction, which may be more expensive, but permanently grants double strike and also grants lifelink.
June 18, 2017 7:10 p.m.
Winterblast says... #8
I wouldn't play a card with triple white in a 4 colour deck to be honest. Also, 3 mana and 6 mana is a big difference and I would always go for the cheapest option of similar effects, unless I plan to include more than just one card for the same purpose.
June 19, 2017 1:08 a.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #9
Winterblast, True Conviction also grants all creatures lifelink, which is very useful with Archangel of Thune's ability.
What about Abzan Falconer, Master Biomancer, and/or Sage of Hours? Would they be worthwhile inclusions in an Atraxa deck?
July 13, 2017 10:09 a.m.
Winterblast says... #10
If you want lifelink, use Serra Ascendant. You don't need to push the mana curve farther up than it already is by adding a "win more" card for 6 mana and triple of a colour. Sage of hours can work, especially because it's cheap...generally speaking you Need to do stuff with Counters before the time you are able to cast Atraxa, so the most Action should happen before you manage to get 4 different colours. I view deckbuilding from a "how to win" perspective. If you plan on throwing pebbles and turning dice on cards for two hours straight, you can surely drag out a game with Atraxa until you are completely bored out.
Winterblast says... #2
I play atraxa myself and this is my approach, it's basically creatureless:
Atraxa's super(un)friendly Stax
Commander / EDH Winterblast
SCORE: 8 | 18 COMMENTS | 2193 VIEWS | IN 2 FOLDERS
Proliferate is really sick with Tangle Wire and Smokestack, especially if you have the lock with Sundial of the Infinite available (you skip atraxa's proliferate then, but that's alright because you win, lol).
I wouldn't focus too much on creatures because let's face the truth, creatures are the easiest permanent type to remove/disable and the "look, my stuff is growing SO fast!" ends with any reasonable boardwipe.
June 17, 2017 4:01 a.m.