Mardu Ascendancy
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Legality

Format Legality
1v1 Commander Legal
Archenemy Legal
Arena Legal
Block Constructed Legal
Canadian Highlander Legal
Casual Legal
Commander / EDH Legal
Commander: Rule 0 Legal
Custom Legal
Duel Commander Legal
Gladiator Legal
Highlander Legal
Historic Legal
Historic Brawl Legal
Legacy Legal
Leviathan Legal
Limited Legal
Modern Legal
Modern Beyond Horizons Legal
Oathbreaker Legal
Pioneer Legal
Planar Constructed Legal
Planechase Legal
Quest Magic Legal
Tiny Leaders Legal
Vanguard Legal
Vintage Legal

Mardu Ascendancy

Enchantment

Whenever a nontoken creature you control attacks, put a 1/1 red goblin creature token onto the battlefield tapped and attacking.

Sacrifice Mardu Ascendancy: Creatures you control get +0/+3 until end of turn.

Crow_Umbra on Musashi's Mosh Pit [Primer]

1 month ago

That's one of the swaps I'm contemplating KBK7101. I'm currently play-testing in on the Moxfield version of my deck, since some of the TDM/TDC cards are live there. I have it as a swap with Mardu Ascendancy rn, mostly as a 1:1 MV/color distribution swap.

I uploaded a bunch of recently spoiled TDC/TDM cards here since spoiler season started. So far everything I've submitted has been approved, so just gotta wait til everything is live for edits.

Crow_Umbra on Favorite plane and why?

2 months ago

Tarkir is definitely up there for my favorite planes. I think it's a toss up between Tarkir and Theros for me, mostly because those were the two newest planes when I first started playing around 2013.

I'll give the edge to Tarkir, mostly because at the time I was bummed out that I missed out on Kamigawa, and Shards of Alara seemed really cool as a three color set, so Tarkir was like a combination of aesthetics and concepts that I missed out on.

One of my key MtG related memories from that time was the day that Tarkir was spoiled by WotC. My best friend and I were still in college. We bought and devoured an entire Costco pizza between the two of us as we watched the Tarkir reveal. Mardu's key art from Mardu Ascendancy stood out to me most from the reveal, and I knew that was the faction that I wanted to play most.

Alesha, Who Smiles at Death was one of my favorite characters from Khan block, and would go on to be one of my first favorite commanders a few years later. Her story is one of my favorites from MtG, so I was glad when she returned in Foundations.

Overall, I'm pretty excited for Dragonstorm on the horizon.

Master_J on Attack Attack!

1 year ago

Out: Solemn Simulacrum, Austere Command, Hellrider, Revenge of Ravens

In: Mardu Ascendancy, Vanquish the Horde, Breena, the Demagogue, Fervent Charge

Bringing my curve lower. Vanquish the Horde is effectively a 2-drop emergency plan. And dropping some 4-drops for 3 drops will hopefully help. Mana doesn't seem to be a big issue with all the rocks I have in the deck (TBD).

Crow_Umbra on

1 year ago

I think at face value, Caesar, Legion's Emperor will end up using a lot of the same tech that Isshin, Two Heavens as One does. You could probably use more of the token generators that Isshin would, if you want to check out the Isshin token theme EDHREC page.

In looking at your list, I do have a few suggestions, if you're open to them:

  • I think you could probably drop down to at most 38 lands, or 36 at the least.

  • It seems a little counter-intuitive, but I'd recommend replacing some of those land slots with mana rocks like Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Orzhov Signet and the others in color in that cycle, or Talisman of Indulgence and the others in this cycle (Talismans of Conviction and Hierarchy). Replacing some land slots can help you ramp out some rocks in your early turns, and reduces your likelihood of mana flooding.

  • Some of these land slots could also be swapped out for more creature token generation. Some of my personal favorites from playing Isshin: Anim Pakal, Thousandth Moon, Hammers of Moradin, Hanweir Garrison  Meld, Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin, and Mardu Ascendancy. I think your deck could benefit from a few more token producers that can get set up before Caesar hits the field, and also takes pressure off him being one of your primary token producers.

  • If you have the budget for it, I'd recommend adding a decent board protection package from stuff like Reconnaissance, Dolmen Gate, Teferi's Protection, Clever Concealment, and Iroas, God of Victory. The more you can protect your board, the more you can maintain momentum down the stretch. In case you're unfamiliar with Reconnaissance, this EDHREC article explains how you can use it as a pseudo-Vigilance anthem to pull your creatures out of combat, after the damage step.

  • Lastly, I'd recommend swapping out some of your creatures that are north of 5 cmc for some of the stuff listed above. Between swapping land slots, and swapping a couple of higher cmc creatures, I think could help the deck be a bit more cohesive.

I hope these suggestions are helpful. Down to discuss more if you're up for it. Best of luck

Last_Laugh on Token Legion

1 year ago

Iroas, God of Victory is another dolmen gate effect that gives menace. I also recommend Dolmen Gate. These 2 along with Reconnaissance, which you already run, are a trifecta I can't recommend enough here.

Ogre Battledriver is a nice haste enabler that buffs your tapped and attacking tokens and helps them trade up or survive a lot better in combat.

Mardu Ascendancy can spit out massive amounts of tokens and the toughness boost can come in handy in a pinch.

Hall of Heliod's Generosity would be nice here since you run 19 enchantments and a lot are pretty impactful.

Vault of the Archangel is expensive to activate but effects combat in your favor even if you don't. Just the unspoken threat of potential activation will get small attackers past big blockers. Hold up the mana, be committed to using it if needed, and cast stuff on your 2nd main if your dudes stay unblocked.

Last_Laugh on Isshin, Two Heavens as One

1 year ago

Devilish Valet will one-shot someone out of the game. Just 6 tokens entering (aka 1 time attacking with Adeline in play) makes him 64 power. I've had 22 tokens enter (mainly because of Mardu Ascendancy, which I can't recommend enough.) and had this dude attacking for over 4 million damage.

Crow_Umbra on War crimes

2 years ago

I think a way that you can keep your Exalted theme, but still work around an inherent drawback of the strategy is to retool a bit and run creatures with Myriad or "when this creature attacks, create tokens that are tapped and attacking".

Token creatures that are created from Myriad, or that enter tapped and attacking are never declared as attackers, so Exalted will still trigger as intended. This essentially lets you punch one player with the Exalted creature, and still send stuff at your other opponents. Because Myriad is an attack trigger, you also get an extra Myriad token creature copies attacking your other opponents.

There are 14 cards in Mardu that could work here. A few notable ones:

  • Genasi Enforcers

  • Hammers of Moradin - A personal favorite for my Isshin deck. Hammers could be really helpful to open up attacking lanes for your Exalted creature.

  • Battle Angels of Tyr - Not budget, but also not outright busted. It can help create mana acceleration, draw, and gain life, but in my experience playing Battle Angels, it feels more like playing "catch up".

  • Elturel Survivors

Some fun creatures that create tokens on attack:

None of these cards are inherently optimized, except for maybe Battle Angels, but I think they could all add some extra spice to what you're already trying to accomplish.

Worrad75 on Attack-harmonicon

2 years ago

we back baby, lots of changes:

**Sardian Avenger IN

Ashnod's Altar OUT**

I've had really good experiences so far with Devilish Valet, and so I'm adding another cheap, scaling threat that can really rack up the damage at any stage of the game. It synergizes fantastically with pieces like Shadowspear and Duelist's Heritage, introduces a bit of treasure hate, and even shuts off some combos. I love that it scales with the power level of the table, and I expect it to overperform for 2 mana. On the other hand, Ashnod's has underperformed. Without consistent token producers (of which there are only a handful of in the deck), this often feels like 3 mana do-nothing, and it being one of only a select handful of non-mana artifacts in the deck means its even more likely to eat non-creature removal.

**Goblin Motivator and Bloodlust Inciter IN

Ogre Battledriver and Dowsing Dagger  Flip OUT**

I found myself craving more haste enablers in the deck and Ogre Battledriver seems to be too big of a lightning rod, which is fair because it can end games with the right setup. I've opted for cheaper, lower to the ground options that are less likely to eat targeted removal. They won't pump a team of incoming tokens off of Mardu Ascendancy or Hero of Bladehold, but they will come down faster and have impact over many more turns than the ogre would normally be allowed to live. I did enjoy playing with Dowsing Dagger  Flip but it feels counter-intuitive to lean into haste and also give out blockers.

**Battle Angels of Tyr IN

Rabble Rousing OUT**

Myriad is fun, cool, and good. Turns out, its even better when you make twice as many tokens. For 4 mana, you get 26 flying power per turn with Isshin out, and potentially 2 card draws and 2 treasures to top it off (you likely wont get the lifegain trigger). The nail in the coffin for Rabble Rousing is that the tokens don't come in tapped and attacking. That downside combined with the whiff potential means that the card feels clunky at times. It was also overkill for the synergies that it was hoping to lean into for card draw (Welcoming Vampire and Tocasia's Welcome), so overall it only felt like we were unlocking the true potential of this card in magical-christmas-land with Skullclamp and Ashnod's Altar.

**Laelia, the Blade Reforged IN

Welcoming Vampire OUT**

Given that we're downsizing on the overall number of token-focused cards (and adding [battle angels of tyr]), [welcoming vampire] seems like a natural candidate to take out for [Laelia]. A guarenteed 2 cards a turn is better than (maybe) 1 card a turn, even if it means making your creature a lightning rod.

**Skyhunter Strike Force IN

Nadaar, Selfless Paladin OUT**

If I was willing to pay 5 mana to give the whole team melee with Adriana, Captain of the Guard, then I will absolutely double up on the effect on a 2/2 flying body for 3 mana. PSA: instances of melee stack, so Isshin + both of these = +12/+12 to each creature that attacks. Nadaar is a solid value piece, but getting to attack with him twice without him getting killed feels more like a gamble than a guarantee, so he's getting pulled out for the moment. Note that this makes Triumphant Adventurer the sole venture card left in the deck, so if I need space for another 2 drop that might be where I go.

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