Looking For A Way to Win Against A R/G/W Marath, Will of the Wild Deck... Help appreciated!
Commander Deck Help forum
Posted on July 22, 2016, 11:21 a.m. by Tortuous_TG18
Dear all who read this, I need help beating this one player (who is my uncle) in Commander. He uses the premade Commander 2013: Nature of the Beast deck and beats me every time. I run whatever works, but I'm intent on running blue against the deck. Any budget suggestions? (I have money, just don't want to spend over $200 on a deck) Thank you in advance for any and all ideas!
Cyclonic Rift tends to win games by itself. It's a little pricey, though, but should fit in a $200 budget.
July 22, 2016 12:06 p.m.
Tortuous_TG18 says... #4
Pro_Noob Thank you for the suggestions; I was thinking a Lady Evangela or Zur the Enchanter deck with enchantment control theme after I read what you had to say. I just hope this won't take a huge chunk out of my wallet.
July 22, 2016 12:24 p.m.
Tortuous_TG18 says... #5
Lanzo493 Thank you for the card recommendation; will try to fit it into a very control based deck, as Pro_Noob aforementioned.
July 22, 2016 12:25 p.m.
I think zur would be good. Most of the enchantments in the competitive deck are pricey though, so you may want to try using more targeted removal enchantments like Pacifism. He can definitely be used as a budget commander. If you do go with the zur plan though, make as much stuff as you can enchantments. It will help thin the deck and makes stuff like Sphere of Safety and Starfield of Nyx more consistent. Basically just remember that even if zur cant search for it, it can still be good.
July 22, 2016 12:35 p.m.
Also, remember what black has better than any other color: It makes your life resource. Phyrexian Arena is amazing when you have stuff that protects you. If you cant take damage from your opponent, one life a turn is nothing. Also, you could add in the Phyrexian Unlife + Ad Nauseam combo if you want. Both cards are good on their own, and you can search one half of the combo with zur. The other thing to remember is that enchantment creatures are still enchantments, so zur can get those too.
July 22, 2016 12:41 p.m.
My Zur deck Who Wants a Zlurpee? is under $200 if you want to take a look at it.
July 22, 2016 12:49 p.m.
golgarigirl says... #9
I play a modified Marath deck. A few of my weaknesses are mobs of flyers and being blown out by board clears. Hold down the ground with things that tap my critters (cards such as Kismet or the new Thalia can stop me from hitting you out of nowhere) or prevent combat damage, wait for me to play out a lot of stuff, then blow it all away. Large flyers are a chore, since I often have to damage race them. Bonus points if they have vigilance. I suspect the new Bruna is going to give me plenty of trouble. Of course I have ways around these, but it's something I have to work at and play counters for as opposed to something big beatsticks are naturally good against.
July 22, 2016 1:47 p.m.
Raging_Squiggle says... #10
Blue Player May I?
Commander / EDH
SCORE: 8 | 1474 VIEWS | IN 8 FOLDERS
This is my hard control deck. It runs Azami, Lady of Scrolls and can be very hard to deal with.
The best card for you IMO is Invoke Prejudice. It's very expensive but it severely hurts creature-based decks.
July 22, 2016 2 p.m.
Raging_Squiggle says... #11
You could also go black and run Lethal Vapors and Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed to get it back when your opponent tries to destroy it.
July 22, 2016 2:01 p.m.
Tortuous_TG18 says... #12
Hold the presses! I've got the perfect idea: a Talrand, Sky Summoner control deck. Tap a lot of creatures, then fly over his creatures with bunches of 2/2 Drakes created by the sheer amount of control spells I've been casting. Thank you Pro_Noob for the control idea, and to golgarigirl for the flying idea. Thank you guys, and if you have any additional pointers and/or need my input on something, do not hesitate to ask me for anything that you need! I will post a copy of the prototype and see if it needs tweaking. Again, thanks for the ideas, and I hope you guys have a good day, week, or whatever timeline you wish to enjoy! lol
July 22, 2016 2:05 p.m.
Tortuous_TG18 says... #13
And thank you Raging_Squiggle for the card idea! I hope to find a place for it in the deck, if I can fit it in the $200 budget deck.
July 22, 2016 2:07 p.m.
No problem! Tbh, I'm probably going to use this thread to make a zur deck now.
July 22, 2016 2:11 p.m.
nobu_the_bard says... #15
Just going to say, for a control deck, defenses like Propaganda make it very hard to attack with a large number of creatures. There are some variants of this like Ghostly Prison, Norn's Annex, and Koskun Falls.
There's also some things like Crawlspace, Meekstone, Aurification for other approaches.
Defenses like Maze of Ith, Kor Haven, and Mystifying Maze make it harder for a single large creature to get through.
July 22, 2016 2:27 p.m.
Raging_Squiggle says... #16
Linvala, Keeper of Silence stops Marath's abilities.
July 22, 2016 2:32 p.m.
Tortuous_TG18 says... #17
Thank you nobu_the_bard; will take that into consideration for when I make my deck :)
July 22, 2016 2:40 p.m.
Tortuous_TG18 says... #18
Here is the hopefully finished product, a mono blue control flier, with Talrand at the helm. Do not hesitate to critique or suggest cards for this deck, as I will be making this in real life. Thank you!
Owlteeth says... #2
so, for under $200, if you want to run blue, you may want to look away from combos. They tend to require a lot of fixing and draw, which can be expensive. It can work, but I would suggest is to play something more like a control deck, and focus on maybe tapping down stuff. If I remember correctly, Marath, Will of the Wild is all about creatures. keeping stuff tapped or just Unsummoning his biggest creature on his end step can be a very good plan. I would suggest starting with maybe a U/W deck, as white offers some good protection, like Ghostly Prison, Norn's Annex, and Sphere of Safety if you have enough enchantments. from there, I would look into getting a control package set up with something like Frozen AEther to deal with anything that actually hits the board. If you are playing blue, I also cannot recommend Bribery enough. it is hilarious and can be a serious blowout against most creature based strategies. for a commander, I would suggest either going straight U/W and maybe use a more recent commander, IDK which one for sure, maybe Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper. Just look for one that fits the control theme, or go U/W/B for some kill spells. also, Killing Wave is probably my favorite budget spell ever. it can be a straight up boardwipe in so many situations cast it for X=3 and it can often be an 80 cent Damnation. black also opens up stuff like Dark Ritual if you want it.
overall, you just want to interact with creatures so that your opponent's deck cant win. just remember that if he can't attack, he cant win. keep stuff tapped, keep unsummoning stuff, and dont forget about stuff like Howling Mine for draw. If you do go control, remember that the best way to kill a creature is to counter it. that way it never hits the board. also, Imprisoned in the Moon is a SUPER good removal for commanders. it doesnt return to command zone, so it is basically out of the game forever.
Happy deckbuilding! if you post a list, hit me up, I would be happy to look it over.
July 22, 2016 11:55 a.m.