This is the Rhythm of the Knight

Commander / EDH Valengeta

SCORE: 19 | 17 COMMENTS | 1817 VIEWS | IN 5 FOLDERS


More draw and tutoring —Feb. 14, 2024

Switched out Werefox Bodyguard for Trouble in Pairs. I really like the Werefox, and it can come back and trap another creature if targeted by removal due to my reanimation powers, but Trouble is such a nice draw spell I had to take something out for it

Switched out Whip of Erebos for Buried Alive. Whip is awesome for Lifelink, but Buried sets up 3 Knights at once, fetching me very strong stuff. I hope the Lifelink loss won't be that much problematic

Last_Laugh says... #1

I have to agree with Crow_Umbra that the deck feels very light on draw power.

Bident of Thassa can draw a lot of cards. Consider Court of Vantress here too. Tocasia's Welcome is only once per turn but it's well worth a slot. Tenuous Truce is political but you can almost always find someone to draw with... for awhile at least.

January 22, 2024 11:57 a.m. Edited.

Valengeta says... #2

Profet93 thanks!

Steel of the Godhead not only provides a good +2/+2 buff to Sidar, it makes him always connect, which will return a Knight from the graveyard, on top of providing increasing amounts of Life back when other power-ups stack up. It has, of course, the potential to attract removal, but the risk is usually worth it. I do like Conqueror's Flail, but it doest not provide the same benefit I'm after. I would include it too, but the deck is really short on potential swaps, and I'm already looking to add a couple more Draw spells

January 22, 2024 7:10 p.m.

Valengeta says... #4

Last_Laugh I get that more draw is always something everyone wants, and I wouldnt mind adding a couple more spells, but I'm having a hard time switching out stuff for them. What would you swap for Bident of Thassa and Tocasia's Welcome, perhaps Court of Vantress as well? I was thinking that the two 5 CMC Knights, Cavalier of Dawn and Cavalier of Night could be good potential swaps, even though they're well worth the 5 mana cost. Gonna need some help on this

January 22, 2024 7:23 p.m.

Crow_Umbra says... #5

I think you are pretty spot on with potentially swapping out Cavaliers of Dawn and Night. I recognize their ETB and death trigger utilities, but I think they're a tougher sell in a 3 color deck with how heavy of a single color investment each one is respectively. Your commander can definitely reanimate them, and get around their restrictive costs, which I imagine is the play pattern you'd like try to go for, but casting them straight up seems kinda annoying for color fixing.

Big shout out to Steel of the Godhead. One of my favorite cards that reminds me of my first Bogles Voltron deck from 10 years ago.

January 22, 2024 7:31 p.m.

Valengeta says... #6

Crow_Umbra thanks!

The Cavaliers are very useful and easily discarded and cheated-into-play with Sidar's ability, bypassing the restrictive costs, but I do admit that if you want to hard cast them it can prove tough due to color fixing, as you mentioned. I don't see why I cannot try the deck out without them, since at least they were benched for more draw

Steel of the Godhead is definitely worth the 2-for-1 risk, especially if you're after combat damage triggers or simply going for commander damage win-cons. On this deck, it can be a safe bet if you can safeguard Sidar with the 2 Boots and Indestructible buffs like the one from Knight Exemplar

January 22, 2024 7:48 p.m.

Last_Laugh says... #7

I think those were the correct 2 cards to cut too. Those triple costs in 3 colors can be tough to pull off consistently even with a top notch manabase. As far as another cut for Court of Vantress goes, I'd say adding it or not depends on the decks you see consistently. You have some juicy targets to copy like Kindred Discovery, Rhystic Study, and Roaming Throne but do your opponents usually have good targets to copy. If so, I'd say cut the Werefox. That's a small body for an O Ring effect so it's very temporary.

January 22, 2024 7:58 p.m.

Crow_Umbra says... #8

I used to play Cavalier of Night in an early version of an Araumi of the Dead Tide deck I used to play a couple of years ago. Being able to make Encored copies of Cavalier made for some fun value plays, so I definitely feel you losing some of that utility.

Idk if you're into foils much, but if you can get your hands on a foil Steel of the Godhead it looks lovely. I picked up a foil copy a year or two ago for cheap since it was marked as "damaged" but didn't notice much wrong with it. The Duel Deck Koth printing of Steel of the Godhead was one of the earliest parts of my collection. My best friend that got me into MtG gifted it to me.

January 22, 2024 8 p.m.

Valengeta says... #9

Last_Laugh you make a good point. I want to add one more draw spell but I don't want to remove more creatures for it. I was thinking of benching Knights' Charge for Court of Vantress or Plumb the Forbidden. As you said, Court has good targets to copy on my side, and will usually also have something juicy to copy on the opposing sides, and Plumb the Forbidden is a good card to use in response to a board wipe. Knights' Charge adds a small life-draining effect and has the potential to reanimate a lot of knights in a late game scenario, but it can perhaps be replaced for even more draw and better utility. Do you think it would be a good switch? I am leaning more towards Court

January 22, 2024 8:34 p.m.

Valengeta says... #10

Crow_Umbra abusing Cavalier of Night's triggers like that sounds fun indeed!

I'm saving up for some cards next month, I will be on the lookout for a foiled Godhead and some other shiny stuff

January 22, 2024 8:37 p.m.

Last_Laugh says... #11

Plumb the Forbidden is also an amazing card. It helps you overextend safely thanks to instant speed and pseudo dodging counterspells. Boardwipes suck... but not nearly as bad when you have 7+ cards in hand to redeploy.

I'm of the opinion of the more draw, the merrier especially in these colors. My Esper deck runs 16 draw effects (granted it's not tribal so I have more "on theme" options available). If you're drawing or tutoring frequently enough you can typically get away with running a little less of most effects.

January 22, 2024 11:29 p.m.