So I'm making Aristocrats W/o White in EDH
Commander Deck Help forum
Posted on Jan. 28, 2019, 7:55 p.m. by Kaneki___Ken
So I want to make an Aristocrats deck without the color white, as I have most of my white staples in another deck. Currently I'm having trouble picking a color combo, and commander. Here are my thoughts so far:
Rakdos:
Possible Commanders: Judith, the Scourge Diva , Tymaret, the Murder King , Lyzolda, the Blood Witch
So rakdos I think needs to be in the deck at least. Red has a lot of good effects for aristocrats in cards such Impact Tremors for extra reach and sac outlets in Goblin Bombbardment. I've been messing around mainly with Judith, but she seems to fall short in the later game, which while making sense, still disappoints me. The other two I mentioned look to be maybe even weaker, but I'm open to have my opinion changed.
Jund:
Possible Commanders: EXCLUDING PROSSH* Sek'Kuar, Deathkeeper , Shattergang Brothers , Kresh the Bloodbraided Vaevictis Asmadi, the Dire
Jund gives more token generation for aristocrats in green, AND adds good ramp. Not to mention, a larger selection of commanders. Only problem is, I want to make this deck somewhat strong, say, high power on the commander tier list on this site, and that might require more of a mana base than rakdos, but maybe I'm wrong with green providing fixing for my colors.
*Not doing Prossh, he's over saturated at my meta, or was for a time.
Thoughts? Any other color combos to consider?
P.S I've also tried Marchesa the Black Rose, to limited success.
bushido_man96 says... #3
You've got several good Rakdos choices, because three of them have a sac outlet on the Commander, which is great for an Aristocrats theme. Judith is great, too, and can be very powerful in her own right.
But, a color combo you haven't considered thus far that might be up your alley is Golgari. It has so many great options to go with, and you can add Poison-Tip Archer as an additional Aristocrat. Golgari brings lots of good card drawing options to theme it with, with cards like Thallid Soothsayer , Vampiric Rites , Fecundity , Izoni, Thousand-Eyed , and that's just a few. Playing with also means you don't have to get hosed by enchantments. And you can just go nuts with your Commander options: Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord , Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest , and Savra, Queen of the Golgari , just to name a few. You can even do a saproling-specific build using Slimefoot, the Stowaway , which I'm doing myself.
With Golgari, you can just go nuts.
January 28, 2019 9:06 p.m.
Kaneki___Ken says... #4
I actually have a Vela blink deck already, so I might not go that route. Thanks for the idea though!
Hm. I didn't think of JUST golgari. I can see a powerful deck with Jarad or maybe Nath of the Gilt-Leaf .... not to mention golgari is stronger than rakdos in general in EDH. Any lists you have? I'm not too interested in Slimefoot since my meta has like 3 people who have one, but others I'm definitely interested in.
January 28, 2019 9:11 p.m.
Kaneki___Ken says... #5
Also how do you feel about Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons ?
January 28, 2019 9:37 p.m.
bushido_man96 says... #6
I think Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons could be viable, but she'll require a bit more build-around, since she's based on getting combat damage through. But she could be done. Nath of the Gilt-Leaf could be good, as well, building around the discard theme along with Aristocrats. As far as lists go, I've got a Slimefoot, the Stowaway deck in the works right now, but its a ways from being finished. I did recently finish a Prossh, Skyraider of Kher build that runs a lot of Aristocrats. If I was going to build it, I'd probably go with Savra, Queen of the Golgari , or Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest , but that's just me.
January 28, 2019 10:14 p.m.
Golgari is a good color to start. You can also consider Meren of Clan Nel Toth too.
He synergizes well with aristocrat themes and has recursion embedded within him.
January 28, 2019 10:40 p.m.
bushido_man96 says... #8
Meren is just a blast to play. I do have a Meren deck, and he's an obvious Golgari choice if you have the budget for him. He does tend to pop up in a lot of metas, though.
January 28, 2019 10:44 p.m.
I just finished my first draft of Vela the Night-Clad called A Useful Death. I need to acquire some more recursion and self replacing creatures such as Reef Worm . I have not played the deck yet, but the deck looks fun.
January 28, 2019 11:10 p.m.
multimedia says... #10
Hey, what's your budget for the deck? For instance Demonic Tutor or Diabolic Intent or Diabolic Tutor ? What tier of cards are you planning for the deck?
Alesha, Who Smiles at Death is a good Commander for the aristocrat strategy since she can reanimate creature sac outlets or reanimate creature sac fodder each turn. She can combine the aristocrat strategy with reanimation which is strong. She can be Rakdos, but her true color identity is Mardu. Don't have to play white with her however, but do have the option.
January 28, 2019 11:54 p.m.
SynergyBuild says... #11
Honestly, try Razaketh, the Foulblooded or Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder , they are amazing commanders, with Razaketh, a big-mana black list abusing token generation and effects that are great tutor targets, like a Black Market , Bitterblossom if you have the money, etc. all with an amazing commander for the strategy.
Endrek has the token generation to oblivion, so as long as you have a Phyrexian Altar you make all of your spells free, with a Blood Artist out you cast a 5 drop, make 5 mana, deal out 5 damage and gain 5 life, that is some value.
enpc says... #2
Vela the Night-Clad can be a good aristocrats commander as she actually provides a win condition with them. You rely much more on mana rocks for ramp but blue/black is a strong colour combination.
January 28, 2019 8:37 p.m.