Help in EDH
Deck Help forum
Posted on March 22, 2015, 11:32 a.m. by toxicliam
Hi, my brother and I enjoy playing EDH against each other, but the only problem is that my brother nearly always beats me with his Talrand, Sky Summoner deck. We both bought one of Abe Sargent's budget EDH decks, and I really want to upgrade mine to beat his Talrand. I bought the Tolsimir Wolfblood deck, located here. All suggestions would really help, as I am tired of being constantly beaten.
Go into red and play Price of Glory. Watch your opponent become furious and scoop, as most Talrand decks have to.
March 22, 2015 11:57 a.m.
lemmingllama says... #4
Throw in a couple flying hate cards, like Tornado Elemental. Also restrict his spells by playing cards like Eidolon of Rhetoric or Spirit of the Labyrinth, this way he can't create a drake army so quickly.
Also you could try to increase the efficiency of some cards, like turning Overrun into Overwhelming Stampede. It can help make your deck be a little bit more efficient.
March 22, 2015 noon
contracrostipunctus says... #5
Okay, here's what I think after looking at your list. Control decks want to see you cast things, use your mana, and remove it. They want their turn to be "Island. Pass." Aggressive decks in EDH can match these decks in speed by changing up our style.
Start casting creatures during your opponent's turn or in response to his spells. Check out Vedalken Orrery, Scout's Warning, Savage Summoning, Summoning Trap. Look for creatures that have haste or flash as keywords. Particularly, Yeva, Nature's Herald is an amazing budget addition. Cloudthresher is a great answer. Winding Canyons is great, but it's expen$ive.
Secondly, I think you need more creature removal. After all, dead Talrand means no drakes. You've got some great white removal, but consider cards like Provoke, Tower Above, Revenge of the Hunted, Nemesis Mask to make Talrand have to block. Ulvenwald Tracker is also a nice recurring removal option if left unanswered. Also, Silklash Spider and Tornado Elemental are EDH staples for flying removal when you have Green open.
I see Eternal Witness in your maybe-board, it's a great one to include. Praetor's Counsel is very cheap now, that's worth a pick up too.
Keep us posted at what you do and how it goes!
March 22, 2015 12:19 p.m.
joriiiii12345 says... #6
also, running Windstorm is close to a one-sided 3-mana board wipe (that is, if he doesn't counter it...)
you could also consider running more ramp so he can't keep up with you
March 22, 2015 12:39 p.m.
Thank you everyone for the awesome updates, sorry for theta reply but I'm constantly losing because I can't get online fast enough, and If I do, he just plays Caged Sun and I can't keep up. I will definitely look into Eidolon of Rhetoric and Spirit of the Labyrinth, as that would completely shut him down. I'm actually going to play him in about twenty minutes, so I'll tell you guys/girls how it goes.
March 22, 2015 1:40 p.m.
Your creatures are able to put a lot of pressure on your brother's deck, but once he gets Talrand out he can with through value because all his counters basically become 2 for ones, he trades one counter for one of your spells while also getting a 2/2 drake out of the deal. As long as he can keep countering your major threats and trade his drakes with the few creatures he lets through he wins through value and card advantage. With G/W, your best option in EDH may be to include more "hate bear" type cards that limit his options and ability to respond.
Cards that are uncounterable are a good start. Arashi, the Sky Asunder is worth considering because it's channel ability can't be countered by most counterspells. Grand Abolisher can come down early and help keep counters at bay. Dragonlord Dromoka is another card that is worth trying to get your hands once DTK is officially on sale. Krosan Grip can't be stopped by counters and deals with the Caged Sun problem you mentioned.
Spirit of the Labyrinth, as mentioned above, can cut down on the Talrand deck's attempts to win through card advantage.
Playing the instant-speed game like contracrostipunctus mentioned can make openings when you force the opponent to tap out at the end of their turn to counter stuff, leaving you free to play cards on your own turn.
Talrand himself is also one of the major weak points of the deck because he is the major win condition. If you can keep killing him with removal or remove his ability with cards like Darksteel Mutation or Song of the Dryads then you should have a much easier time.
March 22, 2015 2:26 p.m.
Thank you all for your awesome suggestions, I will definatley be trying them all out. A I mentioned before, I played my brother, and I finally won! He was crushing me, but I drew into an Overrun with Kongming, "Sleeping Dragon" and Tolsimir Wolfblood on the field, and a couple of other creatures. I tricked him into countering the wrong spell, and he only had 2-3 drakes to counter + Talrand, Sky Summoner because he had swung with a lot the other turn, and I tapped one of my creatures to tap one of his drakes with Glare of Subdual, and swung for lethal!! It was great.
March 22, 2015 4:56 p.m.
I just did a search on magiccards.info, and I think Curse of Exhaustion will suit my needs perfectly Evil Laugh
March 22, 2015 9:38 p.m.
CastleSiege says... #11
I left you a long list of suggestions and explanations on your deck's page. :)
March 23, 2015 12:15 a.m.
What are your guys/girls opinions of Primeval Bounty and Mirari's Wake? I think that Mirari's wake would give me the edge I need, and also does the same thing caged sun does, but better! Also primeval bounty just sits their and turns all my spells into 2 for 1.
March 23, 2015 3:18 p.m.
Another thing I just thought of would be that Primeval Bounty would essentially give me three free uses of my painlands because of the three life i'll gain! That would be cool.
March 23, 2015 3:20 p.m.
without Another Idea I just had was Wilt-Leaf Liege. It would be like having another commander! All the ideas are flowing!! Also what do you guys think I should go with in terms of planeswalkers? Should I get some? Should I favor Green walkers or white?
March 23, 2015 3:31 p.m.
lemmingllama says... #17
Mirari's Wake and Wilt-Leaf Liege are both strong options for W/G.
Also if you are going for more expensive things, check out Akroma's Memorial.
March 23, 2015 3:56 p.m.
That sounds like it could do the deck a lot of good.
March 23, 2015 3:58 p.m.
HinguGrashanshao says... #19
if you feel like shoveling out money.with green planeswalkers you can have Nissa, Worldwaker for the capability of ulting into a land ramp and turning your forests into a nice little horde.with white planeswalkers i would go with Ajani Steadfast, Ajani, Mentor of Heroes, and/or Elspeth, Knight-Errant all of these just depend on your playstyle.
contracrostipunctus says... #2
I will take personal pleasure in helping if I can, because I HATE Talrand decks. Tell me though, how are you losing? No answers for flying creautres? Not fast enough? All your spells get countered?
March 22, 2015 11:47 a.m.