Combos Browse all Suggest
Legality
| Format | Legality |
| 1v1 Commander | Legal |
| Archenemy | Legal |
| Big Apple Highlander | Legal |
| Block Constructed | Legal |
| Canadian Highlander | Legal |
| Casual | Legal |
| Commander / EDH | Legal |
| Commander: Rule 0 | Legal |
| Custom | Legal |
| Duel Commander | Legal |
| Freeform | Legal |
| Highlander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Leviathan | Legal |
| Limited | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Planar Constructed | Legal |
| Planechase | Legal |
| PreDH | Legal |
| Premodern | Legal |
| Quest Magic | Legal |
| Tiny Leaders | Legal |
| Vanguard | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
Caltrops
Artifact
Whenever a creature attacks, Caltrops deals 1 damage to it.
Crow_Umbra on How to Protect My Creatures …
2 months ago
If you stick with the pillow-fortish route with Powerstone Minefield and Caltrops effects, I'd highly recommend pairing it with Goad. Isshin has some solid Goad options available such as Bothersome Quasit, Vengeful Ancestor, & Seifer, Balamb Rival to name a few. Forcing your opponents into the Minefield trap effects can make them a bit more reliable than hoping they play into them.
MilesHiles on
I Can’t Believe Sonic is in Magic
1 year ago
Looks like fun! My only advice would be maybe dropping to 33-35 lands instead and adding some more counters. Otherwise, you might like Pyrohemia or Caltrops for some easy treasures and I usually use Farewell instead of Austere Command since it can hit graveyards.
Crow_Umbra on Best color for this type …
1 year ago
My main play group runs various flavors of Goad, or combat manipulation (we love swinging at each other). Why swing at other people, when you can force them to hit each other? A few suggestions off the top of my head:
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Karazikar, the Eye Tyrant
/Kardur, Doomscourge - Either of these could be the commander of the deck. Karazikar simultaneously incentivizes and punishes your opponents for smacking each other. Playing in Red/Black also opens up access to all the direct burn stuff in Red, as well as attack trigger group slug like Hellrider, Vicious Conquistador, or Far Fortune, End Boss. -
Breena, the Demagogue - Help your opponents draw cards from hitting each other. The access to white also gives you plenty of options for the Ghostly Prison effects in white, plus its suite of removal.
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Gonti, Night Minister is a new option that could also slot into the 99 of some of the other commanders mentioned above. The theft aspects will likely draw the ire of the table, but if everyone is stealing from everyone...
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Alexios, Deimos of Kosmos or Slicer, Hired Muscle Flip- You could donate a big Voltron threat around the table and make the table kill each other for you. One of my friends runs Alexios, and it feels like a game of hot potato with Voltron damage. Technically, you're not the one hitting people.
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Nelly Borca, Impulsive Accuser
can Goad your opponents creatures, but also rewards your opponents for hitting each other. You can Goad everyone while hiding behind the Ghostly Prison/Propaganda effects. -
Isshin, Two Heavens as One can be built as a combat control deck, since he checks the attack triggers on most stuff I previously mentioned, and house those all in his 99. Additionally you can run stuff like Lightmine Field and Caltrops.
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The Lord of Pain
is a lot of fun to play as a commander, and to play against. Maybe my friends and I are just masochists. A couple of my friends run the Lord of Pain as a commander, and typically play it very politically, where they "donate" the option to target the damage. You don't have to swing, and can run all the burn and damage multipliers to your heart's content.
Crow_Umbra on
Combat Superiority
1 year ago
Glad to chat about the suggestions and get a better understanding of your deck building goals. I wouldn't consider it sparring, as I don't see myself in any kind of opposition to you lol.
Your approach to this deck as combat support is interesting and unique. The Isshin decks that are most adjacent to this tend to run Goad and some of the symmetrical combat benefits you currently do, and maybe a few other control pieces like Caltrops or Lightmine Field. I think one of the inherent obstacles for playing "support" or Group Hug-adjacent strategies is that the rest of the table might be suspicious and expect you to pivot to benefiting the most at some point.
That last bit about "support" suspicions comes from my own experiences, and how my main play group tends to treat those types of strats when we play against them. The play pattern tends to be that everyone else races to benefit most, then turns off the symmetrical benefit to the rest of the table. Do you tend to play with a consistent group of friends or LGSs with randos? I think the consistency of your play group can be another big factor to how much you can politic and have your support be accepted. Offer the carrot first, then beat them with the stick if they don't want to eat.
I won't go through your card feedback line by line, but they all make sense as to why you do or don't like them. Slicer and the other Transformers are cards that I want to like more, but aesthetically also get bugged by. Hoping for some kind of Universes Within reprints at some point.
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Xantcha, I get it, but she can also be gifted to whoever is the current table Arch Enemy. She can be a means for everyone else to take that player down a few notches while evening out the game a bit. How you use her doesn't have to villainous in that sense. "See everyone, I'm giving you all card draw and a means of hitting the actual table villain".
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Emberwilde Captain is one of those pieces that I initially had in my Isshin deck, but quickly cut it. It deterred attacks for a bit. In the end, I think I wanted something more proactive in that slot.
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Since you're already running Karazikar and Breena, I'd recommend giving Nelly Borca, Impulsive Accuser
a look to round out that suite of "support". I run her as a commander, and she's a lot of fun in the command zone, often the first deck I'll play each session to get the juices flowing. Donated card draw tends to be a popular incentive in my more aggro-leaning play group. Possible swap with Sophina, since Clues can get mana intensive to draw from? -
I'd recommend checking out Kambal, Profiteering Mayor, also to kind fit in the flavor you're going for as a "broker"/"mafioso". He is an awesome way to passively benefit from whatever token shenanigans are happening around the table.
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Totally understandable with Hellrider and Hordechief. I wouldn't include them unless you pivot to having more token generation as your "Plan B" in case the combat support isn't working out.
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In line with the Hellrider and Hordechief lines of reasoning for current exclusion, I'd think that all your Battalion creatures might be worth a reexamination if you aren't really planning on going wide with your current build.
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Although Boros Battleshaper is likely on its way out, have you seen Master Warcraft? It's not a creature with a repeatable effect, but kinda has a similar effect for what you were going for.
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Last recommendation I can think of is Batwing Brume. This is an old favorite of mine, and can be a fun interaction piece to hold up if someone turns their token horde at you.
I appreciate your detailed response. Happy to continue chatting about this if you're ever up for it.
SufferFromEDHD on
Pistols Only Baby
1 year ago
Balduvian Trading Post niche
Charisma tech
Frostwielder utility
Thumbscrews pew
Caltrops pew pew
Modkip on
The Embodiment of Fear
1 year ago
Caltrops can replace Circle of Flame, Frostwielder I will find a place for because that exile is too good to forget. Thank you SufferFromEDHD!
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