Guardian Project
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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
Legacy Legal
Leviathan Legal
Limited Legal
Modern Legal
Oathbreaker Legal
Pioneer Legal
Planechase Legal
Quest Magic Legal
Vanguard Legal
Vintage Legal

Guardian Project

Enchantment

Whenever a nontoken creature enters the battlefield under your control, if it doesn't have the same name as another creature you control or a creature card in your graveyard, draw a card.

rckclimber777 on Build a Deck with Me …

2 hours ago

First a quick introduction. I've been playing magic off and on for years. When this site first started out, I was super active and then I stopped playing. I recently got back into it and plunged deep into the Commander format. I love building decks around interesting concepts and often trying to break cards.

My slightly ambitious goal is to create a series of threads that show my thought process as I build a commander deck. I figure it will serve two purposes: First, it will aid newer players who have some precon decks and perhaps are looking to upgrade them or they see a commander and want to build it, but aren't sure how. The second is purely self-motivated in that more experienced players can fine tune my own logic and make suggestions for my own improvement.

So with that, the first commander deck I'm going to build here is Ghired, Mirror of the Wilds. This is a card that begs to broken and creates for interesting and powerful decks. There are also several different lines you can choose to go with it. You can make it go infinite if you like degeneracy or don't like the people in your playgroup, or you can decide to go the way of building lots of tokens quickly and then turning them sideways and swinging.

So first things first, we need to think about what the commander actually does and what it is going to need to do that effectively. First, it says allows all nontoken creatures to tap and create tokens that I control that entered the battlefield this turn. So a couple things to point out: First is that it is tokens not creature tokens specifically, so treasures, clues, food, etc. is fair game. Secondly, it doesn't have to be my turn that the tokens came in, you can activate the ability at instant speed if you create a token on your opponent's turn. Now Ghired also is only 3 mana in Naya colors with Haste which means he's going to come down early in the game, so we'll want some other creatures out there when he comes down to start building up tokens right away.

With his abilities in mind, there are a couple things that we want to think about: Cards that create tokens, cards that double tokens, cards that untap things, and cards that do interesting things when they're tapped, example Wylie Duke, Atiin Hero, who comes down early as well, and when she is tapped I gain life and draw a card. We will obviously need to consider interaction, ramp, and card draw, but those are secondary in my thoughts. Every deck needs those, but what items you add of those often depends on what your deck is trying to do. In this case, we want to make tokens, tap creatures, make more tokens.

Token Generators

So a couple really good token generators here to start would be things that keep making them rather than one offs. In my playtesting Oltec Matterweaver is hard to beat. It comes in early (turn 2 if you can get a sol ring). When you cast a creature spell you can copy a target artifact or bring out a 1/1 gnome. Turn 1 you play a plains and a sol ring. Turn 2 you bring this out, turn 3 you bring out Ghired, creating a copy of sol ring, tap your Oltec Matterweaver and create another sol ring. You now have 3 sol rings on the field on turn 3... You are now the archenemy, congrats?

Some other standouts are Emmara, Soul of the Accord who when tapped creates a 1/1 soldier with lifelink. So tapping will actually create two tokens. Thousand Moons Smithy  Flip is another beast of a card. It comes down turn 4, Ghired is already out along with any other low cost creatures. Let's say you had a Birds of Paradise and Ghired when this comes down and maybe a mana rock. You create a 5/5 Gnome (2 creatures, 2 artifacts, and the gnome itself). Now you tap the bird and Ghired and create two more Gnomes. You now have 3 7/7s, on turn 4...

Honorable mentions here are things like Smothering Tithe who will create treasures each opponent's turn, tap a creature and create another. Rain of Riches, create some treasures, copy them cast something and get cascade.

Also, populate is a thing, I like Growing Ranks and Nesting Dovehawk for that.

Doublers

Ok, so doublers is a pretty easy topic, there are quite a few out there, they are expensive and honestly for this deck you don't need much. I chose a couple that I particularly like for this and by like I mean I own them and didn't have to go out and spend $50-60. Examples are Ojer Taq, Deepest Foundation  Flip, Mondrak, Glory Dominus, Primal Vigor (careful as this one applies to everyone not just you).

Untapping Abilities

Untapping abilites can make it even worse as time goes on. If you have a Seedborn Muse you untap each upkeep so they draw a card, Smothering Tithe creates a treasure, during their end step you tap your creatures creating more treasures. Untap on the next opponent's untap step, rinse and repeat.

This is also where infinite combos begin to happen. Sunstrike Legionnaire untaps everytime a creature enters the battlefield. Make a creature token, tap sunstrike legionnaire, create another creature token, sunstrike legionnaire untaps, rinse and repeat, gg. Midnight Guard works too for one mor mana. Other options include making copies of your own creatures that untap creatures when they enter the battlefield like Hyrax Tower Scout, Zealous Conscripts, Sparring Mummy. Mix that with notable salty cards like Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, Molten Duplication, Splinter Twin, Jaxis, the Troublemaker and you're off to infinite again. (Jaxis uses his ability, sparring mummy comes in untaps him, now Jaxis just taps to make a copy of the sparring mummy token (from Ghired) which has haste, it comes in untaps Jaxis, rinse and repeat, swing with a legion of sparring mummies)

Cards that do cool things when tapped aren't super plentiful, but the two I've mentioned already are great for this deck. (Wylie and Emmara).

Interaction, ramp, card draw

Now for the ramp, interaction, and card draw. Ramp is fairly straightforward, since we have the Oltec Matterweaver, I opted to put in some signets, but left some other stones out. Normally when I'm in green I go heavy on green ramp. I opted for cheap ramp spells like Rampant Growth, Farseek, Three Visits and Birds of Paradise (could maybe use more mana dorks since having a body later will help in producing larger tokens).

Interaction is super important in this one. Board wipes are coming, targeted removal is coming, so need to prepare, but we also need to be flexible in taking out our opponents. So to save us from board wipes, we have Heroic Intervention, the ubiquitous and hopefully soon to be reprinted (one can dream) Teferi's Protection, Boros Charm, and Smuggler's Surprise (which is heroic intervention in disguise).

Getting rid of threats is crucial, so Path to Exile, Swords to Plowshares are useful, but not as useful as Beast Within, Generous Gift, and Stroke of Midnight. These obviously target more than just creatures, but also produce tokens. There are situations where a well-timed beast within on your own treasure token to create a 3/3 beast that you can copy a bunch of times is the right play. That make it not just removal, but also a token generator.

Finally, we come to card draw. Since we are producing tokens (hopefully most turns) we can include things like Bennie Bracks, Zoologist and Idol of Oblivion. I also like Welcoming Vampire for this deck. It is creature heavy so Guardian Project is great, so is Beast Whisperer and Garruk's Uprising. Esper Sentinel is always good. We already have Wylie from earlier. Getting card draw is vital to the survival of any deck and particularly this one as we need to be producing tokens regularly and you need cards to produce them. I chose to run about 11 card draw engines in the deck to ensure I'm drawing regularly.

Lands... I mean... make sure you have dual lands in the deck and triomes if you can. One noteworthy utility land is Grove of the Guardian which can have a nice payoff when you create an 8/8 with a few creatures out along with Ghired.

I'll post the deck that I built from this thought process on my page in case you want to see the final product. And if you made it this far thanks for joining me on this, I hope it was helpful. Feel free to comment on how you would do it differently or cards that should have been mentioned.

Doombeard1984 on Tall Elves

1 day ago

So I also run a Golgari Elfball deck, and it is great fun to pilot. Couple cards that are real good:

Real nice deck, and have upvoted. Good stuff. Be wary of the Shroud effects though from Eladamri, Lord of Leaves and Steely Resolve as you wont be able to equip your equipment (so Sword and mantle), or use The Ozolith, Thousand-Year Elixirs untap ability, or anything else you have that targets your own Elves. I am sure you are totally on top of it, but have made that mistake myself and been fully undone by it hahaha)

Crow_Umbra on Petrified by the Gorgussy [Primer]

1 week ago

Thank you for taking the time to offer your feedback, and for reading through the primer Profet93, I appreciate it.

I like what you've suggested and wanted to offer my thoughts in turn:

  • Skullclamp - A great card draw staple. I think I didn't initially consider this one mostly because I currently have ~8 creatures with 1 toughness, & don't really make small 1/1 tokens besides Preacher of the Schism. High likelihood for revisiting & inclusion.

  • Sakura-Tribe Elder/Rampant Growth - I could see Steve slotting in over Farseek. I have Farseek in here as a means of grabbing Overgrown Tomb for quick fixing.

  • Viridian Longbow - This was also suggested by UltimateRoxas40. Definitely a kind of cheeky include. I used to run it in an early version of my Prosper, Tome-Bound deck. The higher concentration of Deathtouch in this deck raises its ceiling. I don't play with equipment much beyond Skullclamp, Lightning Greaves, & Swiftfoot Boots, but might consider swapping one of the instant/sorcery removal spells depending on how first irl playthroughs go.

  • Academy Manufactor - I considered this for the deck initially, but it turns out it would be a non-bo with Vraska, the Silencer. Her wording reads "Whenever a nontoken creature an opponent controls dies, you may pay . If you do, return that card to the battlefield tapped under your control. It's a Treasure artifact" Manufactor only makes its plethora of tokens whenever an effect creates a Treasure, Food, or Clue token. Currently, Deadly Dispute, Tireless Provisioner, & Revel in Riches are my only cards that make treasure tokens.

  • Mastermind Plum - He has replaced Preacher of the Schism in a couple of my other decks already, so I guess I might as well continue the trend. I think I picked Preacher mostly because I have copies on hand, & my Mastermind Plum is already in another deck.

  • Infectious Bite - Forgot about this card & must have overlooked it in my initial brewing. Will likely swap out with Bite Down.

  • Bootleggers' Stash/Parallel Lives - Ehhhhh, I kinda like Revel in Riches as my awkward value 5 drop more than Bootlegger's Stash. I don't think I'd consider Parallel Lives for similar reasons listed as Academy Manufactor.

Regarding all the anti-token stuff you mentioned, I agree that Pernicious Deed is what I'm most likely to include. I had it in the initial draft of this deck, but swapped it for some other removal.

  • Liquimetal Torque - Definitely a case of "I know I have this on hand". I was also considering Fellwar Stone for this slot. As cool as Jet & Emerald Medallion are, I don't have a copy of either yet. I usually try to focus on what I have initially, then save stuff like the medallions for future upgrades if I like a deck enough to continue investing in it.

  • Kura, the Boundless Sky - I typically play against a Kangee, Sky Warden deck quite frequently in my meta. My friend that pilots the deck will frequently go after decks that don't have flying defenses up, & tends to avoid swinging at boards that will stop the flyers. So Kura is here to play mind games with him & deter aggro as a deathtouch flyer, but also is just a bigger body that can help soar over defenses & chip people for 4 damage until they can do something about it. Once he does die, I will pick the land option.

  • Saryth, the Viper's Fang - I feel like I tend to see 1-2 wipes per game, but much more targeted removal. Wipes are inevitable, so I don't really worry about them. I'd rather dissuade targeted removal, or at least speedbump folks by offering Saryth up as the bottleneck to the rest of my board without a wipe. If she is too redundant, this could be a potential swap out.

  • Questing Beast - I like it for being a haste-y body that also blocks well against aggro crack back. More importantly it helps negate the occasional Fog effect. Because of my main meta being more aggro, I'd rather have bodies on board than to a certain extent than a higher volume of kill spells. The deck started off with more instant & sorcery speed removal, but felt anemic for board presence.

  • Guardian Project - Don't think I've ever encountered anyone killing creatures in response to the trigger for denial. Maybe it's happened once or twice, but I don't think it's happened with any kind of consistency to make me worried about it.

  • As for the 3 X finishers, this is definitely another case of "I have these on hand". Most of the time Damnable Pact will be a draw spell for myself, but does have that corner case potential to finish off someone that's low enough. I've seen Exsanguinate enough in my meta, & if it hasn't acted as a finisher, it helps its caster stabilize enough to attrition everyone else out. I think I'd rather include Rise of the Dark Realms over Finale, mostly for budget purposes.

Thank you for the questions and suggestions! Definitely a fun thought exercise to get my day started.

Profet93 on Petrified by the Gorgussy [Primer]

1 week ago

Crow_Umbra, I apologize in advance for the wall of text below. Your deck is very interesting and got me thinking. If you don't want to respond to each point below, I can't blame you. In the end, I hope these suggestions help or at least get the gears turning. Looking forward to your response.

Skullclamp - Draw

Sakura-Tribe Elder/Rampant Growth > Farseek - Rampant growth gives you the option to get either a basic forest or basic swamp tapped. Farseek is only a swamp tapped. Rampant growth is a strict upgrade given you have no swamps aside from a basic swamp would benefit from the distinction.

Viridian Longbow - Idk if this is too cheeky but given all your deathtouch, this might be worth considering.

Academy Manufactor - This card seems perfect for the deck. You make a lot of treasures, you get more artifacts. You also occasionally make food tokens. If you added tireless tracker (not saying you should per say) then it triggers on clues. All around seems solid. Is this a reason I'm missing for why this isn't included?

Mastermind Plum > Preacher of the Schism - Seems kind of cool, got some synergy. Your description mentioned this is potentially on the cutting block. Given you already have enough deathtouch, would draw not outweigh the redundancy?

Infectious Bite > Bite Down - Given that this is removal 95% of the time according to your description, would the potential for a poison counter to fuel fin outweigh the possibility of killing a PW that isn't there 19/20 times?

Bootleggers' Stash - At the risk of being too on the nose/winmore, could this help? Same question with Parallel Lives.

I read your description regarding the token meta. Below are some anti token suggestions. Some of them are straight up hate, other of them are flexible, depends on what you're going for (in order of most token hate to flexibility)....

Virulent Plague - Straight up hate

Bile Blight - Removal with token emphasis

Maelstrom Pulse - Flexible removal spell (works well against clones too!)

Pernicious Deed - X = 0, bye bye tokens. Or use it normally to wipe when things get out of hand. I see its in your maybeboard, I believe this card warrants a spot the most out of any suggestion above or below.

Liquimetal Torque - What do you primarily use its second ability for? I get that you can make something an artifact to trigger some life loss. Given this deck is low to the ground, would you not be potentially better served with a Jet Medallion or Emerald Medallion? I suppose it depends on how much you value the lifeloss from artifacts + politic to make something artifact for other removal over the additional ramp the medallions can provide.

Kura, the Boundless Sky - What does this provide? I see no anti token, treasure or land token aspect. Perhaps I'm missing somehting?

Saryth, the Viper's Fang - I understand the deathctouch and hexproof anthem. Given your meta is mostly aggro, how many wipes do people typically use? Given your deck already goes wide, wouldn't most people just wipe the board anyways? I definitely see the benefit for sure, just wondering how this card performs and if it could be swapped for something either more impactful such as a Demonic Tutor or something more on theme in your maybeboard?

Questing Beast - I get that it likely wouldn't be blocked by tokens, is that it's primary purpose? Given that you also mentioned there are not a lot of PW's in the meta, would you not be better served with a general removal spell such as Hero's Downfall?

Guardian Project - How often do people kill your creature in response to the trigger to deny you card draw? Not saying to remove it, just curious is all.

I noticed you run torment, exsanguinate and damnable pact. While the latter can be used for an alt wincon, is it not draw most of the time? Assuming this, you run 2 X finishers and if not 3. Do you really need the redundancy? I believe another spell like Rise of the Dark Realms (also in maybeboard) could warrant an inclusion, especially given your aggro meta. I can understand the reluctance given that you are already taking their creatures anyways. If that's an issue, then maybe a Finale of Devastation? Recur/Tutor for a creature and go for the win through smashing face.

Headers13 on Power and Poison

1 month ago

Praetor's Counsel

Beast Whisperer

Siege Behemoth

Soul of the Harvest

Harmonize

Hunter's Prowess

Mind's Eye

Lifecrafter's Bestiary

War Room

Keen Sense

Guardian Project

Elder Gargaroth

Toski, Bearer of Secrets

Profet93 on Selvala

1 month ago

Elemental Bond/Guardian Project - Draw

Legolas's Quick Reflexes - Utility

Vines of Vastwood - Protection + buff

Heroic Intervention - Protection

NV_1980 on King Stranger, Make Me Strong! *PRIMER*

2 months ago

Hi Profet93, appreciate your card suggestions, but I would prefer if you don't use remarks anmymore like 'IF YOU LISTEN TO ANYTHING' or 'DO NOT SLEEP ON THIS CARD'. This comes across as incredibly condescending; especially to a player who's been at this game since more or less its inception. I appreciate that you're trying to make decks as good as you can make them according to YOUR view, but please keep in mind that you're not the ultimate authority on MTG and that there are other views than yours out there. Suggest what you want to suggest, but if you're tired of people not listening to your advice, please vent your frustration about that someplace else.

All that being said, I think Greater Good is an excellent suggestion and would probably replace Shadow in the Warp; I like Warp but it's not really required in the deck as it's fast enough at casting creature spells without it and the damage it deals is fine but not impressive. I also like your Castle Garenbrig and Ancient Tomb suggestions for some additional mana advantage. Lastly, I think I'll give Guardian Project a shot in here as a replacement for Xenagos, the Reveler. As a sidenote, I've recently acquired an Anzrag, the Quake-Mole; he'll replace Combat Celebrant.

The additional suggestions (especially the sorceries) on card-draw you made are nice, but I think I'm now sufficiently covered on this front and I want to keep this deck as permanent-rich as possible. Thanks for your help.

Profet93 on King Stranger, Make Me Strong! *PRIMER*

2 months ago

NV_1980

First and foremost, I enjoyed reading your description. Do Note that Sword of Feast and Famine means your commander cannot target it to increase it's stats due to the "pro green."

Greater Good - THE MOST IMPORTANT CARD IN XENAGOS, HANDS DOWN. IF YOU LISTEN TO ANYTHING, THIS IS THE ONE SUGGESTION. Used in response to removal or equip activation, or just in a pinch. This card forces them to use removal lest they die to your overwhelming card advantage. DO NOT SLEEP ON THIS CARD.

Harmonize - Simple draw

Momentous Fall/Life's Legacy - While weak against blue, could warrant an inclusion depending on how much draw you want in the deck. The former is used in response to removal and the lifegain is icing on the cake.

Rishkar's Expertise - I'm normally against cards like this but in Xenagos, there is way too much of an upside to ignore. Used post combat most of the time, allows you to draw without missing out on tempo.

Skullclamp - Cut little idea to use on mana dorks, or force interaction pre-commander ability/combat.

Return of the Wildspeaker - Used in response to removal. Overrun option is nice as well

Elemental Bond - Draw, also see Guardian Project (although they can remove ur creature in response to the trigger to deny you a card)

Ancient Tomb - Ramp

Raging Ravine - Manland that can get bigger.

Dread Statuary - Manland that can get to 8 power with Xenagos. I usually use manlands as fodder for one of the draw spells listed above. Worth considering

Castle Garenbrig - Simple ramp

Cragcrown Pathway  Flip - Red or green, whichever you need.

Elder Gargaroth - Draw, lifegain or token production

Somberwald Sage - Ramp

Berserk - Super fun! Use before the damage step. Or better yet, use on your opponent attacking another opponent and force op 1 to lose a creature while op 2 takes lots of damage. Fun fact, I killed an animar this was (lol). You can also use it on Selvala for extra ramp!

Xenagos decks typically go one of 2 ways. Either lots of dorks and some land ramp like your deck to bring threats out more quickly, or to forgo dorks and focus solely on land ramp. Your deck is the former while mine is the latter. Do note that even with the dork route, Xenagos decks go tall, not wide. So there are some creature choices that I do not believe are as efficient as other choices could be and would love to discuss them with you if you're up for it. Xenagos decks are like snipers, usually one big creature at a time, sometimes more if you have the right set up. They also fold to spot removal as spending 5+ mana on a creature just to have it removed by 1 - 3 mana removal spell really sucks. I know you're against bolt bend/deflecting swat (despite them being my favorite type of spells) but perhaps something like Vines of Vastwood or another spell might potentially warrant an inclusion to save an important creature. At the very least, having more than 2 instants, only 1 of which acts as protection, could be used as a bluff and keep opponents guessing.

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