khanmander
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on Oct. 13, 2014, 10:54 a.m. by Fistfulvengence
what new khan would you use for a commander.
MagicalHacker says... #3
Let's just say I would not be surprised if Narset, Enlightened Master was banned soon.
October 13, 2014 11:05 a.m.
Is there really anyone better than narset? Hexproof. Kill everyone in a couple of turns/attacks with hexproof? Relentless Assault + Sword of Feast and Famine is really easy to do with her. Did I mention she has hexproof?
October 13, 2014 11:27 a.m.
I'm with ThisIsBullshit. I would absolutely build a Surrak Dragonclaw deck. He's perfect for aggro but you can also run control cards and ramp. It's a beautiful thing. Throw in a Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir and that's just annoying.
October 13, 2014 11:27 a.m.
Well yeh there is. She's a T5 play in colours with poor ramp. Note that she comes down usually AFTER board clear is playable.
October 13, 2014 12:32 p.m.
ThisIsBullshit says... #8
Narset doesn't seem to be that amazing but maybe I'm just dumb
October 13, 2014 12:39 p.m.
With Narset when you attack you can easily hit a spell that gives you an extra turn or something so you can basically pull off awesomely broken plays. Note that it's when she 'attacks' not when she deals damage to a player so even if she dies to a blocker it still happens. She also has hexproof so she's hard to kill.
However her colours aren't that great and she's cmc pricy.
She'll never be hermit druid.
October 13, 2014 12:42 p.m.
Narset, Enlightened Master would be my first choice, and mostly because of the lack of competition in her colors. she has an interesting ability and could be used in a voltron/spells only type of deck. Zedruu the Greathearted requires a specific build, Ruhan of the Fomori is a big dumb smashing machine, and Numot, the Devastator (as well as the rest of the planar chaos dragons) is kindof lame.
everything else would be lower tier in my opinion. in the order i would build with them:
Zurgo Helmsmasher also allows for a voltron general, and the only real competition is Kaalia of the Vast . but everyone knows to kill kaalia on sight, so there you go.
The Mimeoplasm is better for self mill strategies than Sidisi, Brood Tyrant , unless you're interested in a zombie theme in those colors. Damia, Sage of Stone draws more cards for a tapout control or combo type deck.
Surrak Dragonclaw is pretty lame. the anti-counter clause is the only somewhat relevant part on him, and he still just dies to everything. Maelstrom Wanderer is a way better ramp target, Animar, Soul of Elements is the commander you want for casting all of your creatures, and Riku of Two Reflections does crazy things for all the johnnies out there.
Anafenza, the Foremost comes in last. she is again a general that comes down early and likes to attack. but Ghave, Guru of Spores , Karador, Ghost Chieftain and even Doran, the Siege Tower all do cooler things. the only reason to maybe play her is if all of your friends have decks full of gy shenanigans.
October 13, 2014 1:01 p.m.
Hjaltrohir says... #13
I want to make a Narset, Enlightened Master edh so bad but unfortunately i have 0 cash and 6 cmdr decks already :/
October 13, 2014 1:23 p.m.
FancyTuesday says... #14
My socks would be blown right off my feet and fly waaaaaay across the room if Narset, Enlightened Master is banned, or even played competitively.
As a 6 drop that everyone at the table will see coming a mile away she's walking right into wrath town. Without haste or an ETB she just screams dead play, and as a 3/2 there's no assurance she'll survive swinging in, so you're trading your Commander for whatever's in the mystery box. Once you're paying 8 and 10 for her there's virtually no value to her ability.
She doesn't give you creatures, so running creatures in the deck hurts her. This leaves you open defensively, makes it easy to force you to sac her, and it makes having a Plan B difficult. Auras, equipment and sorceries don't drop until your 2nd main so you're heavily dependent on instants for any sort of Voltroning or protection. Your own wraths are dead pulls with her. In her colors you'll probably be running a fair number of mana rocks so between those, lands, and misc support cards that are otherwise dead draws to her ability you're probably seeing 2 good cards off her trigger. At the end of the day even if Narset gets to attack and doesn't die she just doesn't get a lot of work done without really good luck or a Scroll Rack .
Maelstrom Wanderer is a far greater threat in my eyes. His colors are better, his synergy is meaner, and he loves dying.
If you're determined to build from Khans I'd go with Zurgo Helmsmasher . I don't really know if it's possible to make anything great out of him, but I admire the purity of his design.
October 13, 2014 10:06 p.m.
I would honestly play Anafenza over Ghave for a +1/+1 counter general just because Ghave is a combo general. Anafenza gives off more of an aggro vibe to me as well, while everyone sees Ghave helming my deck and thinks, "Ashnod's Altar , combo off".
October 13, 2014 10:12 p.m.
narset is interesting to build around much in the same way as zedruu. i'm not sure if anyone can build a super strong deck with her, but it'd be interesting to try.
i'd say mana rocks to try to accelerate her, haste granting equips (Lightning Greaves , etc.) non-creature creatures (Batterskull , Luminarch Ascension , Shrine of Loyal Legions , White Sun's Zenith , Rise of the Hobgoblins , Sigil of the Empty Throne , etc) can give some board presence without playing creatures in the deck. wrath or bounce effects in all three colors can help keep the board clear before she lands. and some of the protection/unblockable/firebreathing granting enchants/equips (sword of x/y, Steel of the Godhead , Scourge of the Nobilis , etc) could make her hard to kill via blocking.
i could see it being a fun deck, but i agree i don't think she's anywhere near bannable.
i don't think the 1/1 counter from anafenza is relevant to edh. i'd rather play doran if i'm building an aggro deck in those colors.
October 14, 2014 10:37 a.m.
MagicalHacker says... #17
The only reason Narset could be banned is because of the extra turn build.
October 14, 2014 11:23 a.m.
FancyTuesday says... #18
The problem I see with the extra turn thing is that you're now 7 slots dedicated to extra turns, which are not a win condition in themselves, and unless you lucked into buffs or for some reason an opponent just didn't have a blocker with 4 toughness you might be spending that turn casting Narset again.
Infinite/shitzillion turns is nothing new, particularly in Izzet colors. Between cards like Charmbreaker Devils / Mnemonic Wall and spell copy effects like Chandra, the Firebrand / Meletis Charlatan I've seen decks with vastly more dangerous kill conditions than connecting with a 3/2 rack up turns. Going off on turn 7 or 8 is not too soon in EDH if nobody has been interrupting you, which is what you'd need for Narset.
I agree with shuflw that she might be fun to build around. I'd avoid X spells like White Sun's Zenith or conditionals like Luminarch Ascension / Sigil of the Empty Throne , but I like living weapon as a way to give you a board state. I'm not a fan of Auras because if Narset doesn't survive combat they'll be dead pulls without another target, or wraths because they're dead pulls if she does survive combat. I get that you'd want to just cast them from your hand ahead of time, but if you're dedicating slots to those cards in the deck that you're building around Narset triggers they're gonna show up in those triggers. You might be able to get some work done with a lot of spot removal and just pick away at one player's blockers in lieu of wraths.
October 14, 2014 1:42 p.m.
i was pulling examples from the top of my head, so i agree not all would be optimal. i think the sigil and steel would be worth playing (assuming there were enough other playable enchants to trigger the sigil).
there are also a non-zero amount of "targetted" wraths that could do the trick before or after narest lands. i'm thinking of things like Austere Command , Cataclysm , Razia's Purification , Mass Calcify or even Armageddon . assuming you have narset hooked up with an equip and/or enchant to keep her safe, it should be easier fo you to rebuild after mass land or other destruction with her attack triggers.
also, while not necessarily going infinite, extra turns spells would certainly be playable in the deck, as if you're swinging with a narset without her dying, then getting an extra turn to repeat seems fine. sometimes Time Walk is just an Explore , especially in colors that don't ramp without artifacts.
on a related note, i feel like i'm starting to talk myself into actually building this deck...
ThisIsBullshit says... #2
Probably Surrak Dragonclaw . He can't be countered, your stuff can't be countered, AND he gives trample. I think he's gonna be a beast to deal with.
October 13, 2014 11 a.m.