Need help making room in my Balan, wandering knight edh deck
Commander Deck Help forum
Posted on Aug. 25, 2020, 11:24 p.m. by Monomanamaniac
So I recently acquired Weathered Wayfarer Inquisitor's Flail and best of all Sword of Feast and Famine for my deck and I have no idea what to take out for them. Some helpful suggestions would be nice
I say pick between Sword of Vengeance and Loxodon Warhammer and replace it with Sword of Feast and famine.
August 25, 2020 11:32 p.m.
Monomanamaniac says... #4
hejtmane it would have to be the warhammer then, the Sword of Vengeance grants haste which is essential to letting Balan strike the turn she hits the battlefield. The +3 from the hammer is convenient, but it's outshined in almost every way by Shadowspear
August 25, 2020 11:35 p.m.
SynergyBuild says... #5
Jhoira's Familiar is an overcosted, board-wiped ramp spell. Not a fan outside of decks like Jhoira specifically.
Foundry Inspector could go too. It's not as overcosted, but I am still not a fan of it xD
August 25, 2020 11:35 p.m.
Monomanamaniac says... #6
SynergyBuild I can definitely see the points with both of your suggestions. I'm going to trade the familiar with the wayfarer.
August 25, 2020 11:45 p.m.
I would probably ditch the Caged Sun. I get that it's a mana doubler, but it's also six mana itself and I don't think it adds enough value.
I would also recommend a copy of O-Naginata over Ogre's Cleaver. I get that cleaver gives a bigger damage buff, but neither of them allow you to one shot a player by themselves. however O-Naginata gives trample which helps connect through better.
August 26, 2020 12:40 a.m.
Monomanamaniac says... #8
enpc I can see that, I like the Caged Sun the turn before I cast Balan so that I can keep the most threatening equipment in hand until I play her. It's still a high costed card though. Maybe I'll get rid of it for O-Naginata lol. I have a foil O-Naginata that I've been contemplating using because double strike and trample are amazing. I like Ogre's Cleaver mainly for the looks of it, but it has kept it's place because it gets gets Balan to within 3 points of being lethal. Lastly the cleaver was designed to cost 7 to play and equip, but Balan circumvents that.
Thank you for your suggestions I'll definitely consider shifting some cards around to fit the naginata
August 26, 2020 1:49 a.m.
Monomanamaniac: all good. I hate when you get a card which is ok, but has amazing artwork, so I get the inclusing of Ogre's Cleaver.
If you can get it, I think that Land Tax will definitely do more for the deck than Caged Sun will. I also think that if you're looking at potential swap outs, Pearl Medallion ironically enough feels like one of the easier cuts. I get that it helps drop the cost of white spells down, however chances are you're not playing more than one white spell a turn or the second spell will be something like Swords to Plowshares in which case a mana rock is just better anyway. The joys of mono coloured voltron decks :P
August 26, 2020 4:04 a.m. Edited.
Monomanamaniac says... #11
enpc it's honestly not a terrible card though, 2 mana for +5/+0 is a pretty decent rate. And I probably would swap caged sun for land tax, but it's a physical list and I'm pretty far above budget for this month so it'll probably be awhile. I don't have a good replacement for pearl medallion at the moment, I'm running all the efficient nanna rocks I can. I could run Mind Stone or something but honestly I dislike the mana rocks that produce colorless. I was contemplating maybe Everflowing Chalice, but I'm really thinking about trading it out for Heartstone to reduce the cost to use Balan's ability. One of her strongest features is that ability, if you have enough mana to respond to a card that an opponent uses in response to activating it, you can use the ability again. Her instant speed equip all ability is absolutely broken.
user:polowq you suck
August 26, 2020 10:28 p.m.
Monomanamaniac says... #12
enpc I actually traded Caged Sun out for Vedalken Orrery. I realized that 6 is too much for a mana ability unless your commander somehow exploits that and with this I can save my equipment for the end step of my opponent's turn, then cast them, or I can cast my commander at that point and not have to worry about summoning sickness
September 1, 2020 4:04 p.m.
Vedalken Orrery is pretty cool. I personally run Shimmer Myr in my list, but Orrery seems really strong here. As a side note, you can also look at Scout's Warning if you want additional ways to flash in Balan (plus at worst it's a cantrip).
September 1, 2020 9:11 p.m.
Monomanamaniac says... #14
enpc yeah I had considered Shimmer Myr but I went with orrery because I don't constantly have haste enablers for my commander. I alsojust happened to have a few of them sitting around in a binder collecting dust. I haven't seen Scout's Warning in a LONG time lol. I may consider those in time, after I pick me up a copy of Sword of Fire and Ice (aka my whole next month's budget).
DeinoStinkus always in need of a god cleaning lol
September 1, 2020 9:44 p.m.
Monomanamaniac says... #15
Shop guys, additional info I just ordered Sword of Fire and Ice and Ancient Den for my deck. This should represent a huge boost to my decks power lol
September 4, 2020 1:12 p.m.
Oh yes Fire and Ice and Sword of feast and famine are the top 2 of the sword cycle
September 4, 2020 2:10 p.m.
Monomanamaniac says... #17
hejtmane I agree, I really wanted feast and famine and once I got it I was happy, but tbh not impressed. When I'm tutoring for equipment the first thing I look for is something like Swiftfoot Boots then I look for indestructible Hammer of Nazahn then I look for either a finisher Colossus Hammer unblockable Whispersilk Cloak then advantage Sword of the Animist. Tbh there is almost no point in there where I'd rather search for feast and famine over practically any of those cards lol. Now Sword of Fire and Ice on the other hand, draws cards, each time you deal combat damage, on a creature who has double strike. That's a much better target for tutoring.
September 4, 2020 8:39 p.m.
SynergyBuild says... #18
Monomanamaniac Ever see someone tutor in a combo deck with 1-2 cards in hand O.o
that discard clause tho
September 4, 2020 10:15 p.m.
Monomanamaniac says... #19
SynergyBuild lol which tutor are you referencing? I've seen all manor of dumb plays in my time, like a graveyard deck tutoring into the graveyard with a Rest in Peace in play, someone using Gamble with only 1-2 cards in hand, someone Mystical Tutor their answer and then take 32 commander damage before drawing it. I've also seen equally bad draw effects, like Faithless Looting on an empty hand lol. My play group doesn't allow do overs because it makes the game go longer lol, but we do have kinda free mulligans to make up for it.
Which discard tutor are you referring to?
September 4, 2020 10:42 p.m.
SynergyBuild says... #20
Monomanamaniac something like Demonic Tutor, then you double discard them xD
I was referring to the discard clause on SoFaF, to get rid of a hand xD
September 5, 2020 1:30 a.m.
Monomanamaniac says... #21
SynergyBuild I have not gotten to actually play with the deck since I started really ramping up the upgrades. If you were going to rate its power on a scale of 1-10 where would you place it? I think I'm getting dangerously close to an 8, but still solidly a 7. I can't wait to crush the tutor player with the discard ability lol. The ability of the swords to interrupt tutor cards made me think maybe Sword of Body and Mind might not be as bad as is been portrayed. Really any of the swords that doesn't give pro white are going to be really good imo.
Anyways I can't wait to try out the deck with the upgraded equipment and I'd greatly appreciate it if you'd give an opinion on its power level
September 5, 2020 2:17 a.m.
Monomanamaniac says... #23
SynergyBuild that's actually where I'm hoping to keep it tbh, when I do get to play, my group is tough, but not cedh, I want the deck to be hyper focused but not so much so that they stop wanting to see it at the table. I'm ecstatic at the 2.3 average cmc I've managed to pull off, even with Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite in the list lol. When it's finished it'll likely be under 2, which is perfect for mono-white considering the weakness of mana ramp lol. Thank you though, I'm glad it's finally getting to be at least worth considering lol
Monomanamaniac says... #2
For anyone not aware, the goal of the deck is to ramp and play equipment, then slam down Balan and start killing opponents as quickly as possible
August 25, 2020 11:28 p.m.