Glissa, the Traitor

Legendary Creature — Zombie Elf

First strike, deathtouch

Whenever a creature an opponent controls is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, you may return target artifact card from your graveyard to your hand.

Discussion (49)

TheVectornaut on Who dat boi - please help

5 days ago

Hey, I saw your comment. Is this an alternate account for twechsler or is this deck just inspired by theirs? Either way, I'll go into greater depth on some possible build paths. libraryjoy is correct in that if you're (mostly) mono-green, your best way to destroy creatures is often to take advantage of the abilities on your own creatures. You already have the deathtouch style shell so I'd just focus on that. But even with deathtouch, there are a fair number of options for guaranteeing that damage gets dealt. There are the bow/staff cards like I use in my artifact commander deck A Pile of Cans with the deathtouch from Sydri, Galvanic Genius . Then there's fight effects which you can see working with Wren's Run Packmaster in my wolfless wolf deck Size of the Fight in the Dog (although this strategy doesn't require DT if your creatures have high enough power). A final approach is forced combat damage. Since it's been mentioned the least, that's what I'll focus on here.

Forced block cards like Lure , Gift of the Deity , Indrik Umbra , Ochran Assassin , Roar of Challenge , Tempting Licid , Provoke , Irresistible Prey , or Tangle Angler are the core of such a deck. Most of these cards are rather costly in terms of CMC, and I'd consequently only recommend such a deck for slower casual play. It should be pretty strong in creature-heavy metas though. If that sounds reasonable, the next thing you have to decide on are the creatures and supporting cards. These choices aren't always obvious because of the many things a deck like this wants. For example, it may be better to play cheap deathtouch creatures like Deathcap Cultivator , Gifted Aetherborn , Narnam Renegade , Wasteland Viper , and Nightshade Peddler so you can start controlling the board sooner. But if all your DT creatures have low power, they'll only be able to kill 1 or 2 things off a big forced block. Thus, it may be better to instead grant deathtouch with other cards like Basilisk Collar , Deadly Allure , Virulent Swipe , Bow of Nylea , Archetype of Finality , or Ohran Frostfang . Then, you could just run creatures with high attack for their cost. Still, I think there's something to be said of looking for other abilities that interact well with deathtouch. First strike and double strike are the most obvious examples because they can let your creatures survive combat to attack all over again on later turns. Viridian Claw , Glissa, the Traitor , and Grappling Hook see play in such decks for this reason. Alternatively, you can learn from the synergy of the Frostfang that abilities triggering on face damage pair well with deathtouch. Only a fool would block your 1/1 DT with their 3/3, but if that 1/1 is drawing you a card, suddenly that trade sounds more appealing. Cold-Eyed Selkie , Dimir Cutpurse , Edric, Spymaster of Trest , Oakhame Adversary , Ohran Viper , Tomebound Lich , Fynn, the Fangbearer , and Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons are some cards that might fill this role.

I know I've just rattled off a lot of cards here. I'll try putting together a casual deck to demonstrate what I'm talking about when I find the time.

As an aside, I see that you've included Novablast Wurm as the only meaningful white spell in this version of the deck. It's too slow to see play in anything but ramp, but it can definitely be built around as a beefy Wrath of God too. Consider using something like Heroic Intervention or a Dauntless Escort sacrifice to break the symmetry on the board wipe. Also, creatures that grant boons on death like Thragtusk or Wurmcoil Engine could find a home in a self-wipe deck, although the Wurm might be outclassed then by something more traditional like Austere Command , Settle the Wreckage , Kindred Dominance , or Phyrexian Rebirth .

Mortarpod on The Dwarven Toolbox

1 month ago

Gontilordofmtg I had the Worldgorger/Animate Dead combo in my Anje Falkenrath deck for a while, but having that as my win-con turned out to not be fun for me (or my table) in practice. lol

I actually had Spine in this list for a while, but found I wasn't running enough artifact sac engines to take full advantage of its recursion ability. I subbed in Meteor Golem instead so I can duplicate it with Flameshadow Conjuring or at the very least suit it up with equipment if necessary.

Definitely liking the Mirage Mirror and Hoarding Dragon recs though. I'm going to keep those in mind when making the next round of cuts/upgrades.

Culfenor's Urn is a great idea too, but I have a friend who runs a Glissa, the Traitor deck with it, and I don't want to steal his thunder.

Housegheist on Lathril Blade of the Elves

1 month ago

I like your list, i'm builing a Lathril deck too. Here are some of my suggestions:

A mana-cheap protection option could be delivered by Heroic Intervention . Malakir Rebirth  ^Flip and Bala Ged Recovery  ^Flip could be helpful too as they are pretty versatile cards.

If you want some recursion Phyrexian Reclamation could help you to rebuild booardstate after a boardwipe or t-removal.

What about Skemfar Avenger ? He's pretty cheap (in both ways) and would grant you pretty good card-advantage. An absolutely "must have" with that many 1/1's should be Skullclamp which could draw like your entire library. Realmwalker could grant you the top card of your library as a hand card as you can cast elf-spells from top of it.

Maybe you should think about Skyshroud Poacher too, which can tutor all of your elves repeatably for just 3 mana. Only Elvish Piper would be a mana-cheper option.

Gnarlroot Trapper is a perfect Manadork which can grant a creature deathtouch for protection as well. If your gameplan is winning by combat-dmg Beastmaster Ascension would be an absolutely blast.

I personally am not a bit fan of Nadier, Agent of the Duskenel and Eyeblight Cullers as their cmc is too high for what they cosst. Belbe, Corrupted Observer and especcialy Glissa, the Traitor don't push your gameplan any further, too.

Hope you don't mind my wall of text :D

Arcaneful on Picking a Partner for Tevesh …

3 months ago

Hello.

I'll keep this short and to the point. I just got a Tevesh Szat and am looking to make a partner deck with him but I am stuck between 5 options. I don't want anything overly oppresive, but I want something that is a solid partner pair I can build off of on a fair budget.

My meta is casual/competitive usually in the 75% range. Example decks include: Glissa, the Traitor KCI, Golos, Tireless Pilgrim Consultation, Ramos, Dragon Engine charms/voltron, and Mizzix of the Izmagnus combo/storm.

Currently my ideas:

Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix: A proliferate/aristocrats deck. Maybe a back up win con in Thassa's Oracle.

Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa: Only here for the colors, but would win through Blood Artist loops and have a reanimator subtheme. Maybe some sort of Ashnod's Altar infinite mana loop for a Walking Ballista win.

Tana, the Bloodsower: Another aristocrats deck but this time with an overrun to win theme (End-Raze Forerunners and co for budget options)

Dargo, the Shipwrecker: I've seen some combo lines for him and I'd probably just follow those and go all in on comboing off.

Thanks for any responses.

EDIT: Fair budget means around $5-10 per card in my opinion.

Hi_diddly_ho_neighbor on Commander Legends Spoilers

5 months ago

I'd just like to point out that Saffi is in the process of being attacked behind Hans in his artwork and I think that is a fantastic touch.

Soulfire Erruption is pretty bad compared to the others of the cycle spoiled so far. You want to hit high CMC spells to deal the maximum damage, but you don't get to cast them for free which means that you need additional mana beyond the 9 already used to cast the spell.

Amix might be an interesting repeatable removal spell for Glissa, the Traitor.

Obeka is insanely disappointing due to that "may" rider clause. I get that she might be too strong due to cards like Freed from the Real without the "may" clause, but they could've designed her with different drawbacks that would make her still useful outside of your turn.

At least you can't Cascade into a Apex Devestator of Maelstrom Wanderer, but still, not sure that deck needed more help.

ahhhgro on Glissa, Undying Engines

5 months ago

Big Game Hunter pulls triple duty in this deck. 1. He's a body, an admittedly small one, but still a body which is invaluable in a Stax style deck. He can be tossed into the Smokestack grinder and other sacrifice outlets or be a low impact tap for Tangle Wire. He helps to fill out my creature curve for Birthing Pod and also acts as fodder for Survival of the Fittest while providing additional utility when he's used like this. 2. Once he's pitched to my graveyard he adds flexibility to my reanimation effects, allowing me to turn them into removal. 3. He is a form of targeted creature removal, something this deck is light on simply because the best targeted removal tends to be instants or sorceries and those run somewhat opposite to the general gameplan for a Stax style deck. It makes BGH and Noxious Gearhulk very valuable.

While Oblivion Stone admittedly works better for Glissa, the Traitor it is not better for the deck. This deck is designed to run smoothly while under the (mostly) lateral effects of cards such as Winter Orb, Static Orb, Tangle Wire, ect and runs a very low mana curve. In what is largely a Timmy format I opt for only 5 cards with cmc >5 (and the plan is almost always to cheat these in with reanimation). Leaving 5 mana up every turn to keep the firing mechanism primed on O-Stone is expensive. If you don't leave the mana open someone will just Naturalize when it can't be used. With Pernicious Deed I don't have to leave up as much mana to threaten with it but I can also pop it for 0 to clean out a token swarm. Pernicious and Engineered Explosives are in this deck primary to serve as silver bullets to a token strategy which can create enough fodder to effectively ignore my Stax effects if they get up and running.

For more info on Stax style decks and understanding how and why they work I recommend reading the Stax Primer by Phil found here. It's very comprehensive and very thorough in explaining a deck archetype that mostly antithetical to the way most decks work.

enpc on Rakdos Mana Dorks!

6 months ago

Yeah, I'm going to lean towards delusional. I guess the important question to ask with the cards you're refering to is, why? Why would you run these cards in a rakdos deck over the slew of decent mana rocks available? What advantage do they bring?

I'm sure there are some decks which would want effects like Priest of Yawgmoth's, like Glissa, the Traitor (or certain builds for her). Similarly, a reanimator deck might like Bog Witch as a discard outlet. But here you're leveraging the utility the card provides, not treating the card first and foremost as a mana dork.

So in the case of "need more ramp" I would say it's a hard pass on all of these.

Arcaneful on Karametra Help With a Cut …

8 months ago

Harvest Season

Hey all! This is my current deck I'm working on, and I'm having a lot of fun with it. I have a cut and a need for some upgrades however.

My college's meta is a fairly strong one, I'd say it's around 50%-75%. Some decks include: Trostani, Selesnya's Voice, Gargos, Vicious Watcher, Aminatou, the Fateshifter, and Glissa, the Traitor.

Firstly, I'm trying to slot an Eternal Witness in here somewhere, but I'm having trouble deciding if it's worth to add in in this case. Any suggestions?

Secondly, what are some good cards I should save up for in the future? I'm thinking cards like Cloudstone Curio and Sylvan Library are on the list, but would love any other suggestions. Highest I'll go is around 40$.

I'm aiming for the deck to just be quicker at what it does: getting Karametra out ASAP, then proceeding to ramp out and overwhelm my opponents with my boardstate. Thanks for any help!