Saskia vs. Xenagos
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on Dec. 15, 2016, 12:22 p.m. by Phaetion
So, my earlier post was a short-lived victory for Saskia...because now I feel like smashing things with Xenagod, even though I don't like relying on my general.
That said, Saskia does have access to both white and black, giving more more options and better removal.
I suppose what I'm asking is: Which is better for aggro; Saskia the Unyielding or Xenagos, God of Revels?
PhotogenicParasympathetic says... #3
Saskia.
Why aggro one person when you can aggro two instead? Put Xenagod in the 99 where he belongs.
December 15, 2016 12:33 p.m.
The both of you just detailed why this decision's difficult for me:
Xenagod: Fewer colors, more reliance. More room to run extra combat cards. Indestructible
Saskia: More colors, less reliance. Aggro two people. vulnerable but vigilant.
The list goes on.
December 15, 2016 12:38 p.m.
MagicalHacker says... #5
Hands down Xenagos. Fewer colors doesn't really mean much, as you have solid options for whatever you want to do with gruul. His indestructibility protects tippy from being punished for being reliant on your commander, but even then, not casting him in a game doesn't doom you to lose, like with actual over-reliant commanders. Lastly, you don't want to make two enemies simultaneously, which is what Saskia forces you into doing oftentimes.
December 15, 2016 12:55 p.m.
That is true. Maybe I have been overly paranoid about over-reliance. His indestructibility does help Xenagod. Then again, Saskia can blast through pillowfort decks, which is a huge boon.
December 15, 2016 1:21 p.m.
joshuaizac says... #7
I'd actually lean towards a Saskia deck that's mostly Gruul with an orzhov splash for removal and a few other cards like Sheoldred and something to give your team lifelink or something. That's just me....
December 15, 2016 2:56 p.m.
DrukenReaps says... #8
i would use saskia. she gives you things like Mirror Entity making even the smallest critter potentially deadly. saskia can make your board deadly a lot faster than xenagos and she can be played when your ready to kill 1 person turning it into 2 dead people. xenagos has impact but not as much as saskia has. having not blue vs having red/green allows you to adapt your deck a lot easier to your group as time goes on.
saskia will always have a higher potential damage.
say you have 5 3/3s and you play xenagos and swing you get 27 damage.
say you have 5 3/3s and you play saskia and swing you get 36 damage.
December 15, 2016 3:35 p.m.
I've been thinking it over all morning and I decided to stick with Saskia. Reasons:
Xenagos may be indestructible but his deck relies on keeping him out and protecting him. Saskia, though, you could simply use just for the colors and make the deck. Going in for damage? Play her.
I've come to re-learn how important is to my plan. Without it, I lose nutty stuff like Gisela, Blade of Goldnight, Waves of Aggression, and Aurelia, the Warleader. White also has a lot of token stuff, so if I wanted to go the token direction for a change (or use partners; I've adapted the mythic ones to my pool), I have the tools to do so. Black is another ball game, as its role is limited to the deck I choose to play. But the removal in the color is too good to pass up. Card draw is another one.
Saskia plows through pillowfort more effectively. Xenagos could as well but not as effectively.
There are others but these would be the big three.
December 15, 2016 4:06 p.m.
I'd probably go with Saskia the Unyielding beecause of the combo potential. If you have her out with Xenagod and a Hydra Omnivore, you should pretty easily be able to kill at least one player at full health. (Xenagod doubles Omnivore's power, swinging for sixteen at one poor bloke, then dealing 16 to all other players, then 16 more to the chosen target of Saskia, for a total of 48 to that poor soul's face). And that's not including any sort of damage doubling stuff as well. Should be fairly fun, I'd think.
Exiled_soul says... #2
Disclaimer: I am a huge xenagod fan. I have had him as a general for years.
Saskia gives you access to more colors while xenagod allows you to beat face incredibly quickly and he gives haste to creatures that have no business having haste. My experience is xenagod is better for aggro but the trick here is with both of these generals u need to have them stick to be good. The upside to xenagod is he is indestructible and generally stays in play once there. While on the other hand saskia will be targeted and destroyed. Also, as with both of these generals they are only good against one enemy. So my opinion go narrow with xenagod, throw in some things like Spellbreaker Behemoth and Vexing Shusher to help him not get countered and then steamroll your opponents face with big dumb fatties.
December 15, 2016 12:33 p.m. Edited.