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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 |
War-Name Aspirant
Creature — Human Warrior
Raid — War-Name Aspirant enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it if you attacked with a creature this turn.
War-Name Aspirant can't be blocked by creatures with power 1 or less.
ThePrussian on Beginner Deck Advice
2 years ago
Still trying to figure out how to post here, lol.
Here's the deck list, hopefully!
1 Ankle Shanker 1 Arrow Storm 1 Bloodfell Caves 2 Borderland Marauder 1 Bring Low 1 Carrion Crow 1 Crippling Blight 1 Flesh to Dust 2 Goblin Roughrider 1 Heat Ray 1 Hordeling Outburst 1 Kill Shot 1 Lightning Strike 1 Mardu Blazebringer 1 Mardu Charm 2 Mardu Hateblade 1 Mardu Hordechief 1 Mardu Roughrider 2 Mardu Skullhunter 2 Mardu Warshrieker 8 Mountain 2 Nomad Outpost 5 Plains 1 Raise the Alarm 1 Scoured Barrens 2 Smite the Monstrous 7 Swamp 2 Trumpet Blast 1 Unyielding Krumar 1 Venerable Lammasu 1 War Behemoth 2 War-Name Aspirant 1 Wind-Scarred Crag 1 Zurgo Helmsmasher
JCaleb on
Tajic, Boros Bling
4 years ago
Taranika, Akroan Veteran - Gingerbrute
Sin Prodder - War-Name Aspirant
Bastion Protector - Eidolon of Obstruction
StopShot on
Alesha, Who Smiles at Extra Combat
6 years ago
Hmmm, I could think of a few ways to up-tune this deck if you'd like your combat phase to be a little spicier.
Akroan Hoplite I would swap for Eidolon of Countless Battles as it's power and toughness are equal to the number of creatures you have, not just the attacking creatures.
Archetype of Aggression has three power so it can not be recurred with your commander. Since most of your creatures have 2 power giving them trample is not the greatest keyword ability you could give them. Instead I think Goblin War Drums could give your creatures more of an edge and damage output instead.
Armored Transport is alright, but Everdawn Champion would be a good upgrade as you can also use the champion to block without it dying, and it doesn't die to artifact removal.
A better card for Ashmouth Hound would be Benalish Cavalry as it has one more toughness and it decreases the blocking creature's power as well. This makes the Cavalry better as it is much more likely to survive in combat unlike the Hound.
Attended Knight is alright, but a stronger inclusion would be Blade Splicer as it puts more power on the board for the same mana, and if the Splicer dies, recurring it multiple times produces bigger tokens than the Knight.
Battle-Mad Ronin can be a 3/3 for 2 mana, but when it's not blacked it doesn't do a lot of damage to your opponent, and sometimes you are forced to attack with it when it would not be preferable to do so. War-Name Aspirant would be more preferable, as you get a 3/2 with an added ability that makes it harder for your opponent to block it. It also doesn't have to attack each turn so you can use it to block if needed.
Capashen Knight is alright, but if you're short on mana to pump into him he can be rather ineffective. A reasonable replacement would be Knight of Grace which should easily be a 3/2 first strike if you or another player have a black card or creature on the battlefield. Having a constant 3-power first strike creature would be the equivalent of paying 4 mana into the Capashen Knight every turn. Plus the Knight of Grace has one more toughness and hexproof from black so it's much harder to remove as well.
Devoted Retainer's Bushido can make it a 2/2, but Isamaru, Hound of Konda would be a strong inclusion as it's always a 2/2 which means it would deal more damage to your opponent when not blocked.
Dragon's Eye Sentry can be a sizeable 1 mana defender, but I think this deck would enjoy Snubhorn Sentry more as most of the time it will be a 3/3 for one mana that can also attack.
Kiln Walker is a standard 3 mana 3/3, but a better card to run would be Nighthowler as having just 3 creatures in any graveyard makes it just as big all the time rather than when only attacking. In commander graveyards tend to fill up fast so the Howler will always be larger and larger as the game drags on.
Paragon of Fierce Defiance, Paragon of New Dawns, and Paragon of Open Graves do provide anthem effects, but since their anthems are limited by color of creatures you won't always get the paragon you need to buff up your whole team. Instead I would recommend running Angel of Invention, Ravos, Soultender, and Drana, Liberator of Malakir as they all can pump up your creatures regardless of color restrictions.
Pulse Tracker has a unique effect however you may want to switch it out for Vicious Conquistador as it is the same exact card, but with 1 more toughness, which will help it last longer in combat.
Rogue's Gloves does provide card draw, however; you may enjoy Mask of Memory more as the equip cost is cheaper, and drawing two cards then discarding one card can be more advantageous than drawing just one card.
Legion's Initiative only really buffs the attack of half your creatures which can be not as helpful if you don't have any red creatures out besides your commander. Leonin Sun Standard may prove better as it can pump all your creatures multiple times if needed.
Orcish Oriflamme can provide increased attack power for your creatures, but it's nowhere near as good as Glory of Warfare which provides more attack power, and it also provides more toughness when you need blockers.
You might also want to touch up on your mana-base a bit. Path of Ancestry works exactly like Nomad Outpost as it produces the same colors, but you can also scry with your commander off it. Command Tower and Ash Barrens also provide excellent mana fixing that you might want to look into. Other lands you may want to consider obtaining would be Wind-Scarred Crag, Tainted Peak, Isolated Chapel, Clifftop Retreat, Graven Cairns, Fetid Heath, and Rugged Prairie.
I hope you find these card suggestions useful to you.
Monkeylordz on
Weenies Who Smile At Death
7 years ago
Hello, I came to this deck through your forum post.
I am not the best commander player, and haven't played/faced Alesha, but I like deck building. One thing I noticed is a lack of board wipes, which I think all decks should have. There will always be a point where you won't be winning, and a board wipe can clear the path and give you the board priority. However, you don't need that many. Three should suffice, but more isn't bad either.
Boards wipes I have in mind:
Wrath of God. Cheap, reliable and classic.
Dusk / Dawn. What clayperce said. It keeps most of your stuff alive while getting rid of annoying big things.
Divine Reckoning. You choose Alesha, which can reanimate anything that died from the wrath.
Retribution of the Meek. Same as Dusk.
You want more mana rocks. You have Sol Ring and two others, but that won't cut it, especially in a 3-colored deck. I suggest around 10 mana rocks. Here is my list:
You can of course choose whatever you want, these are just some suggestions for you to take.
Card draw. My favorite thing to do in EDH is draw cards. While white and red struggle with drawing cards, black has no problem.
Random Cards that come to mind:
Darksteel Plate. It allows your commander to attack even if your opponent has big blockers.
Bojuka Bog. Graveyard Hate with small opportunity cost.
Raving Dead. Can dish out a lot of damage, and when it dies, you bring it back.
Graveblade Marauder. Hits hard, especially because you stock your yard.
Return to Dust. You need artifact/enchantment hate in commander. There are too many broken things that a board full of creatures cannot solve. Luckily, there is also great removal for those things.
Increasing Ambition. This tutor is good because it essentially tutors 3 times in one card.
Crypt Ghast. Staple in any black deck. It ramps you, and even has extort. (and 2 power)
Aegis of the Gods. A little protection is always nice. You never know when the next Comet Storm is going to come.
Panharmonicon. My favorite card in standard right now. Actually, don't add this one, because you cannot effectively capitalize on it's ability to warrant using a card slot. However, if your add more ETB effects, the power of this card increases exponentially!
Ashnod's Altar or some other sac outlet. This allows you to sac the creature for utility, and then bring it back. Have a Priest of the Blood Rite sitting around? Sac it, reanimate it, and then sac it again! Useful for ETB creatures and also locked down creatures (Arrest, etc.).
With every added card, you have to cut a card. Cards I suggest cutting are low-impact cards. Commander is often a game of value, and Alesha assists you greatly in doing so. However, Brazen Wolves is likely not going to do anything impactful. You would much rather have something like Taurean Mauler, which is just better. Remember: Everyone has 40 life, so games tend to go long. The best cards are cards that scale as the game goes on. I will list cards that I don't think are impactful enough, but that is just my opinion. If your like using a card, or don't have better cards, you can keep it.
Grey Merchant of Asphodel. Not enough black mana symbols. If your deck changes to add more, you can add this back in. It is pretty good, but only with support.
Some equipment. You don't need that many equipments without equipment support. (However, you could add equipment support, like Sram, Senior Edificer)
Azorius Justiciar. Just use removal instead. Use Alesha to get back something else.
Scrapper Champion. A 3/3 double striker may sound good, but in commander, it doesn't do as much as you expect.
Ukud Cobra. Not terrible, but doesn't do anything either. It just sits waiting to block, then dies to a board wipe.
Merciless Eternal. 3 mana and discarding a card is too high a cost for just +2/+2. Even if it puts something in your graveyard, why didn't you use Tormenting Voice and draw two instead?
That's it for my comment! I hope I helped you improve your deck, and remember: commander is about creating a custom deck. Make it how you and you playgroup enjoy playing.
snotice on
Gruul in Ixalan - The Nature's Fury
7 years ago
Nylea171: as a casual deck, your on the right track. You just want to work on ensuring that your deck is consistently curving out creatures. I would suggest removing Frontier Bivouac with no blue sources being in the deck. Some other changes I would suggest are:
Fanatic of Mogis: not enough devotion to red to be worthy of the 4 CMC slot.
Hammer of Purphoros: haste is a little slow at 3 CMC.
War-Name Aspirant: too dependent on your attacking the turn it is played.
+2: Elvish Visionary: draw is king in magic.
+1: Champion of Lambholt: having unblockable creatures is always a plus.
AmbientCrepes on
1v1 Zurgo Bellstriker
7 years ago
I play Zurgo a lot in 20 life, and I know that the format is very different, but in general we want to be doing the same things. In 20 life you can very reliably go for a heavy burn plan and have it work out well. This strategy is in my opinion very sub-optimal at 30 life. I think you basically want to be as heavy on the beatdown plan as possible. 30-life zurgo was basically a meta-gaming deck, if you see a lot of control decks, this is were you want to be, Green meta-game = not so much. From what I understand of the format for 1v1 commander online, it is heavily slanted to control(vial smasher etc), and somewhat combo (baral). This means that Zurgo is in a good spot, however if the Nissa/Azusa decks get very popular, or more hate bear style decks come up Zurgo will get much worse.
Here are my suggestions for your deck, cut the following:
- Bomat Courier
- Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh
- Countryside Crusher
- Grenzo Havoc Raiser
- Hazorent the Fervent
- Jaya Ballard Task Mage
- Legion Loyalist
- Sin Proder
- Thermo-Alchemist
- Dangerous Wager
- Skullclamp
- Faithless Looting
- Kari-Zev's Expertise
- Lava Spike
- Molten Rain
- Wheel of Fortune
Some of these are too slow(Wheel of Fortune, Skullclamp), some of there just aren't efficient enough for 30 life(Lava Spike), and some are just outright bad (Bomat Courier, Sin Proder etc.).
What you want to look for in your cards is the following; repeatable sources damage (mostly in the form of creatures though artifacts and enchantments are great sources as well) or the ability for your instants/sorceruies to kill creatures as well as deal damage to players.
Here is what I would add to the deck:
- Lightning Mauler
- Mardu Scout
- Mudbrawler Cohort
- Speedway Fanatic
- Valley Dasher
- War-Name Aspirant
- Thriving Grubs
- Hellspark Elemental
- Eidolon of the Great Revel
The deck's best hands are turn one zurgo, turn two 2-cmc creature (preferable hasty) so I've tried to maximize the number of 2-cmc creature to ensure this happens as often as possible. If you end up wanting more 2-cmc creatures I suggest looking towards Ember Hauler or Goblin Bushwhacker
Next lets add a little beef to your threats:
Hero is essentially, Hellrider # 2 so it is great. Heelcutter is great at allowing you to spend you mana every turn, and also Superb against single blockers. Koth is just an outstanding card that allows you to diversify your threats in the face of wraths and can win games single handedly.
Instants and sorceries you should add:
These are efficent and you are already playing effective copies of 3 of the cards. If you find yourself running into more blockers, or the meta game is more green, I would look to the following cards: Flametongue Kavu, Chandra, Torch of Defiance, Flame Slash, Mizzium Mortars, Roast. These are great at clearing paths for your creatures to get through uncontested.
Personally I am not a fan of either Chandra, Pyromaster or Outpost Siege as they feel tough to maneuver around counterspells and are very slow against combo. As a result I would cut them and play Flame Slash and Forked Bolt (which feels great against many of the x/1 of the format).
In terms of your mana base, if you are playing grim Lavamancer, you should be to play all the red fetches. Encroaching wastes should be wasteland (I'm sure budget is a big concern here but even still I would just cut it), Rishadan Port is another great land you aren't playing. Mutavault is excellent to help with flooding. Hellion Cruicible seems a little underwhelming, and honestly most of the creatures in the deck have hast so Hanweir Battlements seems like a pipe dream to try to meld, however I think it is mostly a free roll if you are dead set on playing it. Barbarian ring is another card you could be playing, and so is teetering peaks. I also tend to play 37 lands as it is roughly equivalent to 22 lands in 60 card decks, and you are trying to cast 4 drops in this deck but 36 should theoretically work.
Best of luck!
BugGirl1999 on
7 years ago
-Devoted Retainer is a smooth turn 1 drop with that sweet bushido mechanic.
-Boros Recruit is great because he can be cast with either of your mana colors, and has first strike, which can come in handy if he gets blocked right off the bat.
-Legion Loyalist sneaks in 1 damage with haste before your opponent even gets a chance to block, and later on in the game he can give several other of your creatures both first strike and trample.
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