Instant/Sorcery-based Deck
Commander Deck Help forum
Posted on Oct. 14, 2017, 10:38 a.m. by cwalters14
Hi guys, I'm getting back into MTG after a good amount of time off and I am looking for help and ideas for building a Instant/sorcery-based EDH deck. Mainly at this stage, I am looking for a commander to lead this force and have gathered a couple of potential options; Melek, Izzet Paragon Mizzix of the Izmagnus Talrand, Sky Summoner riku of the two reflections card and I have also heard that Derevi, Empyrial Tactician can make good use of the theme. So basically I am looking for help selecting a commander, the benefits and downsides. Also if there are decks already constructed with a similar theme, a link to those would be incredibly helpful. Also just any general input you feel you could add, whether its a specific card, combo, or whatever, would be tremendously appreciated.
Thanks Guys and Gals,Cwalt
It depends on whether or not you want to win with the spells themselves or use them to generate value for your commander. For example, Talrand wants a Deck full of control card and card advantage but he brings the win condition. Whereas Melek brings value but ultimately you'll still need to play something like a Comet Storm to finish off your opponents.
October 14, 2017 6:05 p.m.
cwalters14 says... #4
At first I was thinking more along the lines of playing a couple cards like comet storm but after seeing your deck Profet93 I really like the theme of that a lot and a majority of it is being board absent. What do you do if talrand is thrown into your deck?
October 15, 2017 8:04 p.m.
To the best of my knowledge, if someone attempts to place Talrand into my deck, then I can place him back into the command zone per a rule change that occurred a bit ago. Moreover, if anyone attempts to hurt my precious talrand, then I use free counter magic when available (Ex: As Foretold, Pact of Negation, Force of Will, or Misdirection) to stop them. I also have Riptide Laboratory
October 15, 2017 8:09 p.m.
Also, my board state is rarely "absent" because Talrand makes many drakes. Even if him and his drakes die, then I have artifacts and enchantments to either generate me advantage in some kind of way (Limit their ramp, increase mine, draw more cards, etc...) which allows me to quickly recover. Since the avg cmc is below 3, you can cast many spells with quite easy. I choose a (somewhat) less spell based approach with talrand because having many instants and sorcerries are great and very important, but by slightly increasing the artifact/enchantment count, I am able to make my board presence known and usually it stays barring Supreme Verdict
October 15, 2017 8:12 p.m.
cwalters14 says... #7
Profet93 Ahhh, I did not know that you could return the commander to the command zone from the deck. Do you find that the deck gets boring in the sense that it becomes overly repetitive? Additionally, some of the 30,40,50 dollar cards are obtainable, but the triple digit cards, not so much. Do you find that the deck uses those cards as a focal point to the extent that not having them in the deck makes it noticeably different/worse? Do you have cards you would recommend that would be more budget oriented?
Thanks,Cwalt
October 15, 2017 8:16 p.m.
Honestly, I made this deck initially budget but I loved him so much that I spent the $ on the goodies. They definitely can function without the cards that are over $100. Since there is no real tutoring mechanism in the deck, I find it plays well even when I don't draw the expensive cards (or before I even put them in).
I don't mind it being repetitive, I enjoy it. You can always build it more budget at first to see if you like it and put in the more expensive cards later. That allows you to put in more bounce and card draw which can be used for yourself and politically if necessary (my list is more counterspell focused because I don't like my opponents to play magic).
If you tell me the specific cards that you won't be able to afford/don't want to put in the deck, I can most probably give you a budget alternative. Moreover, "budget" is a relative term. I have a mono black deck whose mana base alone is more expensive than some other decks. Interestingly enough, it operates mostly on sorcerries and artifacts The Descent Into Darkness
October 15, 2017 8:27 p.m.
cwalters14 says... #9
Flusterstorm, Force of Will, Mana Drain, Capture of Jingzhou, Temporal Manipulation, Time Spiral, Invoke Prejudice, and Land Equilibrium are all cards that I would be unlikely to be able to pick up. It's possible I'll grab a couple of them but only if they're easily available to me or something like that. What would you fill them with?
October 16, 2017 9:13 p.m.
If you wanna take out those 8 cards, I would recommend putting in all 7 of the maybeboard cards. The 8th card should be a High Tide. There are many other options to choose from, it just comes down to personal preference. I like those because they either provide a fair amount of value, or are low CMC
October 16, 2017 10:36 p.m.
battle_jelly says... #11
Narset, Enlightened Master is a very common Commander to this theme.
October 18, 2017 1:47 p.m.
cwalters14 says... #12
ay.lobo Then do you just play bounce and burn spells on top of that? How does this work in regards to cards with overload and pay x costs? Can those be cast for free or can I pay additional mana to cover those costs?
October 20, 2017 1 p.m.
battle_jelly says... #13
To use in simplest terms, I'm going to use Epochalyptik words in this:
"Morph is an alternate casting cost. You cannot pay two alternate costs, and Narset, Enlightened Master's ability states that in order to cast the exiled cards, you must do so using the specified alternate cost (i.e. without paying its mana cost). You can't morph any of the exiled cards.
Replicate is an additional cost. As stated above, you can pay it.
Whenever you cast a spell with X in its mana cost, you only declare a value for X if you are paying its mana cost. If you cast the spell without paying its mana cost, then X is set to 0 by default.
Overload is an alternate casting cost. See above; you can't pay it."
October 20, 2017 1:37 p.m.
cwalters14 says... #14
Profet93 How do you feel about Primal Amulet Flip? Is Gauntlet of Power a good replacement for Caged Sun, or is there something I am missing?
October 20, 2017 2:14 p.m.
For talrand, I'm still deciding if I should add it. It seems to have great synergy with the extra turn cards. But I already have stuff that makes my instants/sorcerries cost less, except they come down 2 turns earlier. Definitely want to playtest it.
Re: Gauntlet of Power/Caged Sun, I like the sun more because even though it costs 1 more, you ensure that your opponents dont get any benefit.
October 20, 2017 4:10 p.m.
masterosok says... #16
Kess, Dissident Mage fits the mold. Lots of good instant/sorcery spells in Grixis and she lets you cast them twice. Add some spells to bounces her like Ghostly Flicker to cast more than one from your yard in a turn.
Profet93 says... #2
cwalters14
Competitive or casual? Budget?
I haven't had any experience with the izzet commander's. Derevi, Empyrial Tactician is just downright amazing even if it makes you a target. This can be avoided if you make it more casual.
I personally play and LOVE talrand. The revolves around a lot of counterspells and draw. If you want to make it casual, just add a lot of bounce and less counterspells. Moreover, Talrand will still be a target because 1. For some reason, people hate the mono blue player and 2. You have counterspells.
If you want a competitive list, you can check out my deck Tisk Tisk Talrand for some ideas. He can also be made extremely cheaply for casual play as well.
If you want other ideas for the other commanders, I recommend going on edhrec.com and search the other commanders to see what cards are typically played to give you an idea if it fits the playstyle you are looking for.
October 14, 2017 11:16 a.m.