Voltron players
Commander Deck Help forum
Posted on July 12, 2015, 6:44 p.m. by Crayonmuffin
Who do you use and why? I'm in a state of indecisiveness about what I want to make next and landed around the voltron idea just because it seems fun. I'm more of a quality over quantity type of person and there are some super cool voltron commanders. Just curious what people play and what type of deck you build around that particular commander.
I don't really like Rafiq simply for the fact that everywhere I look there are 3 other Rafiq players. So I'm debating between Bruna, Light of Alabaster, Daxos of Meletis, or Ruhan of the Fomori. Love Bruna because I've always liked the enchantment type of card and she's just a big sweet angel. Daxos seems neat just due to being cheap and his effect is neat. Ruhan I like because of his stats and his colors. Advice is appreciated.
When I want to have a casual fun times game, I play my Geist of Saint Traft deck. It essentially functions as a control deck with some light touches of voltron. I rely heavily on effects like Armageddon, Balancing Act, and Cataclysm in combination with mana rocks to make sure I don't get out-tempoed and run over. Lots of countermagic and general answers. Very permission heavy. Voltron stuff includes things like Batterskull, Steel of the Godhead, Umezawa's Jitte, some swords, and that's basically it.
July 12, 2015 7:28 p.m.
MagicalHacker says... #4
Imo, the best voltrons are Sigarda, Host of Herons, Thrun, the Last Troll, Uril, the Miststalker, Lazav, Dimir Mastermind, Tajic, Blade of the Legion, Sapling of Colfenor, and Zur the Enchanter in that order. :)
July 12, 2015 9:18 p.m.
i use Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest. his colors give me answers to everything. boardwwipes, enchantment/artifact/creature removal, control, card draw and combat tricks. plus he has a a low avg.CMC so i can recast him often from the command zone
July 12, 2015 9:43 p.m.
When I first started playing edh I had a foil Sigarda, Host of Herons. Super fun, and the anti-sac thing comes in very handy
These days I have Zur the Enchanter for toolbox/control; and Narset, Enlightened Master for wrath/extra turns. I just took apart an Olivia Voldaren which was fun
Having a commander and a bunch of enchantments and equipment is cool, but what I think has been said is that you should choose a direction to go with the deck as well. Smacking around with a 20/20 is kickass, but have a backup plan when they turn around with and army of twenty 2/2 zombies or 1,000,000 squirrels
Definitely not picking on the 3 you initially chose - I respect individual style and deck building - but two don't have protection and you sadly can't use all the colors in Daxos' ability (he still works though, believe me, I've seen it in action)
Hopefully we've helped you! Just run some pillowfort tactics and swing for the hills!
July 12, 2015 10:37 p.m.
Crayonmuffin says... #7
I like Sigarda, Host of Herons as well. However, I feel like hexproof just isn't fun and my goal isn't to piss people off, which a lot of people around me do if you drop one of the hexproof commanders. Narset, Enlightened Master is just dumb IMO. Surprised she isn't banned. But that's neither here nor there.
Side note: Doesn't Daxos' ability overlook the commander rule for color mana since it says on the CARD that you can spend mana as though it were any color? That's what I was told anyway. Could be wrong
July 12, 2015 10:57 p.m.
AntiShisno says... #8
@Crayonmuffin Narset can be dealt with; my friend had this annoyingly obnoxious deck that had many combos with Narset as the commander. All that was needed was someone who had a deck with some control or some heavy hitters (that was me mostly).As for Daxos' effect I can't say for sure. I've never played anyone who has had Daxos as a commander and most of my friends play within the same color range (we have our comfort zones but most of us fall within the five colors. I'm mostly a red/white or red/green player)
July 12, 2015 11:03 p.m.
Gidgetimer says... #9
The thing with Daxos's ability isn't that it over rides the commander rule or anything of that sort. The two things simply don't care about the same thing.
The commander mana color rule only cares about teh color of mana that you add to your pool, not how it is spent. And Daxos allows you to spend mana as if it were mana of any color, he doesn't care about what color is in your pool. Interestingly though if you cast Firespout with 
you get neither of its effects since it does care about the color of the mana in your pool that was spent.
July 12, 2015 11:08 p.m.
Crayonmuffin says... #10
Gidgetimer So the commander rule only applies to mana you're TAPPING and Daxos' ability is for SPENDING the mana? That makes sense now that I read it closer.
July 12, 2015 11:09 p.m.
Crayonmuffin says... #11
And in addition to that, could you get around that by tapping and floating your mana until you trigger Daxos and then spend that mana as any color?
July 12, 2015 11:10 p.m.
Havok.Bane says... #12
I like bruna because cast her then next turn cast Three Dreams for Spirit Mantle, Battle Mastery, and something to give bruna +5 and swing and win!
July 12, 2015 11:40 p.m.
Gidgetimer says... #13
I don't know why you would float the mana since he doesn't allow you to break timing restrictions so you can't cast any non-instant spells before your pool would empty.
The commander color rule restricts the type of mana that can be added to your mana pool. It isn't necessarily just from the tap ability of lands. If you Bribery a Composite Golem and sac him to his ability you would add 
to your mana pool since you can not add mana outside of your commander's color identity. However Daxos states that you may spend mana as if it were mana of any color if you cast a spell exiled with him. This over rides the requirement that white mana costs be payed with white mana; blue costs be payed with blue; and so on. instead it allows you to spend any mana for any mana cost.
So as you can see even if you can only add blue, white, and colorless mana to your pool you can still spend it on costs of any color with Daxos's ability.
July 12, 2015 11:44 p.m.
When I want to voltron, I use Uril, the Miststalker because of his defensiveness and tendency to get pumped up even when using evasion auras, protection auras, and umbras (or vows like Vow of Wildness that can double as pseudo-removal if needed).
July 12, 2015 11:45 p.m.
Of the three you mentioned, Bruna, Light of Alabaster would be the most consistent (and probably the most powerful choice). Self-Mill to dump your voltron enchantments into the graveyard and then swing for lethal around turn 6.
July 12, 2015 11:49 p.m.
Crayonmuffin says... #16
Gidgetimer so just to be 100% clear here. If Daxos connects, exiling say Dark Confidant, would the Daxos player be able to cast it or not?
And suneater that was an initial strategy I thought of until I watched someone do that type of thing and their graveyard was exiled 2 games in a row and they didn't have much left to play. So I figured putting nearly any of the three I mentioned into a control deck would be better.
I'm also leaning towards Uril, the Miststalker. I'm more attracted to card flavor and art to be honest, not just effectiveness. Zur is starting to grow on me as well, but only as a toolbox. I don't think it's fun to swing, hexproof him, swing, this, swing, win.
July 12, 2015 11:52 p.m.
Gidgetimer says... #17
Yes, he allows you to spend the mana as if it were mana of any color, he does not change the color of the mana that your lands tap for he just allows you to spend it as if it were any color.
July 12, 2015 11:58 p.m.
FancyTuesday says... #18
The problem with Bruna, Light of Alabaster is that everyone can see her in your command zone and they're just going to hold on to their spot removal until they see where she's swinging. Her colors don't make for great ramping and she's on the more expensive end of things so odds are good that your 3 opponents have seen at least 12 cards each before she even hits the table, and unless you've lucked into one of the precious few haste effects in her colors she has to survive a round.
I went with Sigarda, Host of Herons primarily because I already had a Krond the Dawn-Clad deck that kept getting wrecked because Krond dies to Shriekmaw. Sigarda's an enormous pain to get rid of and her colors are great for an aura subtheme because of all the enchantress effects which makes up for Green/White's lack of draw power.
Among the options you mentioned I'd go with Ruhan of the Fomori just because Assault Suit exists. Run some Stoneforge tutors and some swords for protection and you're bloodying some noses.
July 13, 2015 3:20 a.m.
Crayonmuffin says... #19
FancyTuesday I keep seeing people say that yet quite a few other voltron commanders are successful and giving Bruna, Light of Alabaster protection isn't that difficult. Mostly I see her in control decks with enough ways to deny any removal(depending on group size) and attach a hand full of auras and kill a player in one swing.
I'm trying to stay away from hexproof if I can. I feel hexproof just isn't interactive. I'd run sig in the 99 but don't like the idea of her as commander. Only hexproof commander I'd do is probably Lazav, Dimir Mastermind just because I like copying other people's things.
July 13, 2015 3:30 a.m.
FancyTuesday says... #20
Well take Rafiq of the Many for example, since you mentioned seeing him a lot. He has green so his ramp options are better, and costing 2 less he's out before other decks come online. The difference between swinging on turn 4 vs turn 6 is huge because of how other players are using that time to set up, tapping themselves out to ramp or draw extra cards.
Not saying that Bruna can't work, I am saying that it'll be agony to have your primary win con get shot down time and again. I remember games with Krond where I'd cast him 3 times and have him fly into spot removal every single time in a deck with Asceticism and Privileged Position and a handful of other hexproof tricks. Aura based Voltron is harder to get protections from because with like one exception protections kick off auras, whereas Rafiq can grab a couple swords and be untargetable.
Hexproof itself isn't so bad. I consider Narset, Enlightened Master pretty weak because of how fundamentally hard it is to build a deck around her. Take 30 extra turns, you'll need it to get there with a 3/2, and hope your opponent doesn't have a game changing blocker like Wall of Blossoms. You can't drop equipment or auras during combat so you need her to survive combat or depend on instant speed buffs. Countermagic, creatures, and lands are wastes in her trigger as is the artifact ramp you'll need to make up for the lack of green. Add to it all EDH is rich with Wraths and effects that ruin her day from Fleshbag Marauder to Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite. I've played maybe a half dozen games against her and haven't seen her do much but languish in dead top decks and putz around summoning sick from dying every alternate turn.
That said, I admit Sigarda is pretty cheesy. She costs less, can't be sacrificed, is a lot bigger and comes with evasion.
Lazav could be fun, I'd build him over any of those mentioned in your first post.
July 13, 2015 4:15 a.m.
Crayonmuffin says... #21
Playing Narset requires a certain type of player I think and you need to know your exact gameplan. 1v1 She's absolutely busted. In groups she's still fairly busted. The players that know exactly how to play around certain magic and such will do far, far better with her. But she can be taken down with someone equally as knowledgeable. I just don't think she's fun.
As for Lazav, I like the idea of him suited up and hitting hard while milling people out to be constantly changing into different threats and running a bunch of cards that copy everyone else's cards. For the sake of games being different.
I'm always stuck in that zone of finding cards/archetypes that are not only viable enough to beat some of the cutthroat decks but also cards I like. I'm big on aesthetics, such as art. I think that may be why I'm attracted to Bruna.
July 13, 2015 4:46 a.m.
FancyTuesday says... #22
I can see how Narset might be rough 1 on 1, but I don't play French so it's not a problem I run into a lot. I'm just not convinced she can do all the things she needs to do to be competitive excluding the odd luck-out topdeck or rolling over a bunch of precons. Maelstrom Wanderer on the other hand scares the shit out of me.
Lazav is certainly in good company to mill people and steal their shit in blue/black. Geth, Lord of the Vault springs to mind as a must play, and both on-color Primordials fit in alright with that theme.
July 13, 2015 5:14 a.m.
@FancyTuesday, Narset is actually a million times worse in mutliplayer. Just one open player is enough to allow a tuned Narset deck to chain together extra turns and combat phases until hitting Enter the Infinite and then using free / cheap mana acceleration to set up a Aggravated Assault + Sword of Feast and Famine combo to wipe everyone off the board. All without ever passing the turn.
Check out CommanderTheory's list. There's serious talk of banning her.
July 13, 2015 7:29 p.m.
FancyTuesday says... #24
I don't know what to tell you, I've played against "good" Narset netdecks built on infinite turns and attacks in pods and have not seen her win a single game out of I think 4? Who's talking about banning her? What is CommanderTheory and what is it listing?
All things being equal in terms of opening hand power and top decking luck I haven't seen Narset do anything Arcum Dagsson, Zur the Enchanter, or Jhoira of the Ghitu do with far more consistency and brutality. Maybe I've just been lucky in that every time I've seen Narset swing I've seen her turn over mana rock/equipment/land/land while suiciding into a blocker. Yeah she hits an extra turn or combat step sometimes, but even if you're running every single effect that does that your odds are a little better than 1 in 3 of hitting one with every swing. I mean goodness the odds of you winning upon resolving Tooth and Nail are 100% if you want to and nobody's banning that.
July 13, 2015 8:26 p.m.
@FancyTuesday
Narset 1v1 is more built around tempo control around a suit of super friends. Walker control is really strong 1v1. That's where she shines.
A friend of mine runs Narset in multiplayer. The thing you have to understand is that Narset doesn't even have to go unblocked. A proper Narset deck should win if she's ever allowed to attack and no one's opposing her. Cards like Mystical Tutor and Personal Tutor really push her over the edge. When she's run alongside Jace, the Mind Sculptor and other top deck manipulation tools, she's fairly consistent. Whenever you get to untap with her, you should essentially look to hammer out something like 10 combat phases across multiple turns.
She's a relatively good commander. Still, the whole talk of banning her was mostly just release hype. If she's not allowed to resolve her Cataclysm effects or combo off, she's dead weight. The main issue is that cards like Time Stretch, Omniscience, etc. are insanely bulky when they're not being cheated in. Whereas most combo decks can use pieces like Sensei's Divining Top and Palinchron, Narset is limited to unwieldy stuff.
I think she does ok until you get to the very top of competitive EDH. The cards she's forced to run simply aren't useful enough on their own.
July 13, 2015 8:46 p.m.
JimmyRaynor says... #26
I actually run Daxos as my commander in a deck, but I prefer to play him in a more control fashion than as all-out voltron. I did try a deck with him more focused on voltron originally, but I found some issues with him there. Being able to get him out on turn 3 is nice, but he starts out swinging for 2, and that early in the game it can be difficult to beef him up to the level that he needs to be to get lethal. Then arises the issue that he's rather easy to remove, and if your opponent has some low drops that they can block you with before you can equip some stronger evasion, then you're going to get stalled out and you'll lose your early advantage. There are ways around that, of course, but you'll be pretty much guaranteed to have matches where that happens. Daxos is pretty cool though, so I would say you should try him out, just maybe not as your voltron commander. You can see my deck in my profile if you're interested in getting some ideas (not going to link it though cuz I'm not here to self-promote), though I'll warn you that it definitely still needs some work.
As for the other two, I don't have much experience with Ruhan, but I think that Bruna is really cool and she works pretty well, so that's where my recommendation would go!
Oh and as someone who plays Daxos, I can confirm that you're allowed to play opponents' cards that are outside of your colors when using his ability. It's fun stuff.
July 14, 2015 1:41 a.m.
MagicalHacker says... #27
I forgot to mention Geist of Saint Traft in my earlier list, but I just wanted to say that he is the best azorius Voltron, if not the only good one. But that's just my opinion.
AntiShisno says... #2
I have a voltron deck that has Zurgo as the commander. Not exactly in the colors your looking at, but nonetheless you can look at it to see what the gist is (though I have yet to update the list for a few months now so that's on my to-do list). As for the why: because I tend to attack as quickly as I can without so much of a second thought, hence Zurgo Helmsmasher spoke to me the moment I saw him revealed. There are a variety of ways to do a voltron EDH deck. For Bruna, Light of Alabaster, your best bet is to use a lot of auras.
July 12, 2015 7:21 p.m.