Optimator Pharaoh of Atlantis

Hi! I've somewhat recently gotten back into Magic. I live in Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.A.

I played back in grade and middle school (I'm 32 now) but kinda stopped. A lot of my friends still play so I played off and on with them for the last twenty years or so, using their decks.

I finally said, "I should just make my own decks!" Especially after seeing the oozing flavor of the Theros block and the Innistrad block. Delicious!! I'm in love with Kaladesh. Like, seriously.

Most of my friends play EDH/Commander exclusively and I prefer the format anyway so that's all I really build.

Favorite mono-color: Green and Blue

Favorite color pair: Azorious and Izzet

Favorite color triad: Esper and Grixis

Highest T/O Ranking: 8

Highest TappedOut.net Helper Ranking: 1

Not sure how it happened but I'll take it! Tappedout has grown greatly in popularity over the last year so I'll likely never achieve such heights again. How do you geeks do it? :P

Decks I Own In Paper:

Boggart Avalanche -- Black/Red goblins. My first and most expensive deck. Emphasis on anthems, recursion, and black utility cards on a mostly-red goblin aggro chassis. My only deck that runs infinite combos. Could use even more tutors!

The Braided Siren's Song (Show n' Tell Theft) -- A theft-themed deck that has group-hug elements to encourage people to play steal-able win-cons. Results in fun, chaotic games, if not wins...

Magitek Machinations (Feldon Reanimator) -- Cheat out fatties from the graveyard, but in mono-Red! Burn the countryside down to base carbon with a dragon-subtheme and slight land-destruction presence. One of my favorite decks.

Khanate of the Golden Headbutt (Artifact Voltron) -- Equipment-based voltron deck featuring Zurgo Helmsmasher. Lots of board-wipes and equipment synergy. Used to be a Warrior tribal but felt too unfocused. Stomps face now.

Pharaoh of Atlantis (Budget Brago ETB Abuse) -- Your standard Brago blink deck. Sort of a budget deck with some teeth. Kind of oppressive once the pin starts--not my favorite to play these days but a strong deck regardless.

Roses of May (Marchesa Budget Reanimator) -- A ragtag group of critters and minions that serve their master loyally and repeatedly. Small ETB focus but mostly aggro with value/recursion.

Fochlucan Lyrist -- (Budget Yisan) -- One of my spikiest decks, this Yisan, the Wanderer Bard deck has an elf subtheme. I can't stop singing!

Tall Mizzix'd Cocktail With A Sidecar -- Instants, sorceries, and lots of burn at a discount--both mana-wise with Mizzix of the Izmagnus and dollar-wise. Not a storm or combo deck. Who says burn doesn't work in EDH?

Coral Capers -- (Budget Seamonsters) -- Seamonster tribal! Big ramp into mono-blue aggro. Simple and clean and tons of fun. One of my favorite decks.

Indomitable Stomps -- (Bulk-Rare Rhonas Voltron) -- Mono-Green stompy with a minor voltron subtheme. Made mostly from my collection of bulk rares but surprisingly potent!

Sith Mind-Tricks -- (Esper Control +Theft) -- If I feel like being an asshole or if someone's deck outclasses/out-horsepowers most of mine I play this doozy of a deck. Fun Police is the name of the game--not stax or group-slug per se but lots of hatebears and shut-down cards like Rest in Peace. Idea is to steal a wincon or keep the board so clear I win through attrition. Most wins come from frustrated scoops. Slight Spinx tribal.

Zadonkadonk -- ($60 Budget Zada Aggro) -- I had a ton of leftover goblins from building my main goblin deck so I threw together a Zada deck for a song. Wins out of nowhere with surprising frequency, considering the deck's price.

Thundergod's Vigor -- (Budget Giant Tribal) -- 2/3 giant tribal, 1/3 voltron deck. I loves me some Amazons so why not build the queen of the giants? The deck started off as a very budget build but I had lots of great cards in my collection to add. The deck kicks in dicks extremely hard and fast for its budget.

Rooftop Experiments (Zombie Tribal) -- Dimir Zombie Tribal. A deck I've wanted to make for a while now. Slight amount of self-mill but it's mostly vanilla zombie tribal. Tried to put as many of the good Blue zombies in as I could, but they are a lot weaker than the classic Black zombie all-stars. This deck is basically all about going to value-town.

Ankle-Shanking ? (Warrior Tribal) -- Basically an aggro deck made with cards I already owned. Synergy-light goodstuffs/hatebears. Aiming for a barbarian-horde feel. It's sort of a legendary tribal (a Captain Sisay would dominate). Very much a "trade-binder" kind of deck. Isn't that what EDH is for though?

Token Concern For Safety ? (Burn & Tokens) -- Spellslinging and tokens with Wort, the Raidmother. This is one of the decks I built mostly with cards already on-hand in my collection. Ramp into explosions or go wide with tokens. Small Goblin subtheme. On the fence with the ratio between burn and tokens. I like the idea of having the deck be a bit of a hybrid in that sense. Not a ton of token-boosting cards in my collection though.

It Sucks As It Cuts! ? (Lifegain Control) -- I pulled a promo Vona, Butcher of Magan and was quite inspired. I always wanted a life-control deck and she seems like a very fun way to pilot such a deck. Still debating how much to rely on Vona herself. 5 CMC isn't abysmal for a voltron-y thing. Having her buffed out on offense and defense (Vigilance) while gaining lots of life seems cool. Currently the deck list is more group-slug-y. Almost entirely made from cards already in my collection as well.

Tazri's Allied Goon Squad ? (Ally Tribal) -- Budget Ally tribal. Regular Ally aggro--no Food Chain wankery. Very creature heavy, light on blinking and very few non-Ally creatures. I didn't want to include Xenograft, Conspiracy, or Arcane Adaptation since I can't afford to add tutors for them--severely reducing their effectiveness by my eyes. Sure, lots of creatures can make sensational honorary Allies and they go infinite with Turntimber Ranger but whatever.

Decks in the works that I have physically begun building:

The Price of Fast Living ? (King Macar Vehicles) -- Mono-Black artifacts-matter and vehicles with King Macar, the Gold-Cursed. I could definitely build the deck today but due to the deck's gimmicky-ness and low power-ceiling I kind of want to handcraft the 99 instead of use my bulk-rare collection. I still have a lot of what I want and need though. Some of the new Pirate and Treasure cards from Ixalan look like tons of fun and potentially synergistic to boot--Revel in Riches anyone? GET IN MACAR!!

Update: physical deck taken apart for a few spare parts. I'll keep the list up and many cards are still available so the deck idea isn't killed.

Banter and Repartee ? (Wizard Tribal) -- Bant Wizard tribal. I Have a Tamiyo, Field Researcher that needs a home so I thought Derevi, Empyreal Tactician would make a fun Wizard-tribal commander. The goal was to focus on unblockable and flying-men-type Wizards to make use of Derevi's ability then use/abuse tap-abilities (like Arcanis the Omnipotent, Beguiler of Wills, and Intrepid Hero). Avoiding stax and locks--would play more like a Edric, Spymaster of Trest/flying men deck to make use of things like Coastal Piracy and Bident of Thassa. Almost built!

Nürburgring Nordschleife ? (Dwarf+Vehicle Tribal) -- Dwarf tribal with lots of vehicles. I have most of what I might want to put in, including the commander, but the good vehicles might go in my Macar deck. Haven't really revisited this deck in a while (and it might not even have all the Aether Revolt cards I want) but I have enough to build it so it's here. I hope when the new Dominaria set comes out we get some sick dwarves! (edit: we did not. Core 2018 perhaps?)

Turbulent Juice ? -- Group slug with Vial Smasher the Fierce. Vial-Smasher is, lore-wise, the same goblin as Ankle Shanker and is female (check the braids!). Ankle Shanker is one of my pet cards and I'm trying to make decks out of all the legendary female goblins so we gotta try this one! Mogis, God of Slaughter seems strictly better in multiplayer but my brother made a demon tribal with Mogis. I have lots of red and black group-slug cards so the deck shouldn't be too hard to make. Problems are that many of the best cards are kinda pricey and Vial-Smasher tends to want a high average CMC. Vials-away!! Eat it!

Tinker and Wrench -- Izzit artifact goodstuffs/cheerios with Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain. I have more than enough cards to make a fun pseudo-thopter-tribal, artifact-heavy deck. Can put together a 99 right now, but there are lots of cheap cards to polish the foci.

From the Mucky Muck -- Sultai graveyard value/goodstuffs with Muldrotha, the Gravetide. Pulled a Muldrotha and just had to build her. I have tons in my collection that would fit but I bought some of the cheap Muldrotha staples like Seal of Primordium, Sylvok Replica, etc. and already owned lots of great staples like River Kelpie, Sakura-Tribe Elder, Mystic Remora, Mulldrifter, and the like. Could put together a 99 immediately with my collection. So fun!

Pain Builds Character ? (Darien Budget Soldiers) -- Soldier tribal with Darien, King of Kjeldor. Vanilla go-wide and self-damaging Darien stuff. I have a decent amount of what I would need to make this deck but not a ton--don't even have the commander. He's cheaper now with Masters 25 though. Haven't begun building the deck but I have the beginnings of a good budget list here on tappedout.