Westvale Abbey

Land

: Add to your mana pool.

, , Pay 1 life: Put a 1/1 white and black Human Cleric creature token onto the battlefield.

, , Sacrifice five creatures: Transform Westvale Abbey, then untap it.

Discussion (49)

YamishiTheWickedOne on The Thirst Always Wins

2 months ago

I'm tempted to upvote this just because you actually have a good creature count for Edgar. I'm so tired of seeing decks with only like 30 vamps and most of them being upwards of 4 mana.

That said, I think you're a little bit heavy on artifacts/enchantments. Some like tremors are good, some like Shared Animosity are vital, but in terms on non-creature permanents, the only artifact you NEED is skullclamp. You have more than ample sacrifices thanks to Edgar to reload your hand.

I'm a huge fan of stuff like Carrier Thrall , Martyr of Dusk and Dusk Legion Zealot for clamp targets that give extra value. And my big 4 of Edgar decks are Shared Animosity, Skullclamp, Mavren Fein and Mirror entity. Maybe Obelisk of Urd ? Edgar doesn't need a ton of mana acceleration if your creatures are all small.

And tutors for clamp such as Stoneforge Mystic , Steelshaper's Gift , Open the Armory , Enlightened Tutor , Demonic Tutor , Diabolic Intent , Vampiric Tutor , and a new personal favorite in Tainted Pact all help a lot. The only real mana ramp I run is Phyrexian tower, Ancient Tomb and Dark Ritual.

One last idea would be to toss in Demon of Death's Gate and Westvale Abbey  ^Flip. The demon can be effortlessly played as early as turn 2.

TheVectornaut on Black and White - please help!

2 months ago

I'll go ahead and play devil's advocate here and suggest that orzhov humans is a great budget deck archetype that can be both aggressive and controlling at the same time. It also easily supports Grand Abolisher , Kambal, Consul of Allocation , and even Starfield Mystic if you have a critical mass of Oblivion Ring s, Pacifism s, and such. Champion of the Parish is a key card of the deck, as is Thalia's Lieutenant . After that, it depends on what kind of gameplan you want to build around. My take on orzhov humans, Assassination Squadron makes use of tappers like Gideon's Lawkeeper and Minister of Impediments to combo and destroy creatures with assassins like Royal Assassin and Gideon Jura . With access to the legacy card pool and a bigger budget, King's Assassin and Deathbringer Liege could be on the table too. Tribal support like Adaptive Automaton , Metallic Mimic , or Door of Destinies is nice, but it certainly isn't a requirement. (Fun fact: when I built this deck years ago, Lieutenant cost much more than the Door. Funny how things can change so drastically.)

Creating tokens tends to work well in this kind of deck because both human lords can buff and/or be buffed by them. Gather the Townsfolk and Thraben Doomsayer are the usual suspects, and I personally like Mentor of the Meek as a way to keep the hand topped off. If you want to go for a lifegain plan with Kambal at the helm, Vizkopa Guildmage is a budget Sanguine Bond on a stick. While certainly not budget, Serra Ascendant and Westvale Abbey  ^Flip can also work in such a build. Now that I think about it, a lot of soul sisters staples happen to be humans ( Auriok Champion , Martyr of Sands , Ranger of Eos , Soul's Attendant , Soul Warden , Speaker of the Heavens , etc.) Another idea is to focus on maximum destruction and exile. High Priest of Penance is a good way to make opponents think twice about their decisions in combat, and I've been having reasonable success with Mangara of Corondor as a sort of slow O-Ring that happens to trigger the lords. Humans are such a common tribe that there's no end to the number of directions you can steer them in if you really want to.

Jamerz_Gamerz on Token Rush

3 months ago

No Westvale Abbey  ^Flip?

BigClickEnergy on Elenda, the Dusk Rose EDH

3 months ago

Thanks for the wonderful advice, EVENcast! I think you are absolutely right, I should lean more into one win condition. It is an odd place to be with Elenda as commander--it almost feels like she wants to go wide and voltron at once. I cut Sunbond , Black Market , and Martyr's Bond (felt like it was too slow, other cards do it's job better). Picking up Arcane Signet and Westvale Abbey  ^Flip, and throwing the Vampire Nighthawk in. See what I can do to focus more on going wide/aristocrats/vampires I suppose. Cheers!

EVENcast on Elenda, the Dusk Rose EDH

3 months ago

Cool Deck! I’ve never built around Elenda as a commander, but I run her in my Edgar Markov deck and I’ve seen just how powerful she can be. I think you’ve got a nice list here overall, but I would personally add more ramp, and maybe a couple additional lands depending on what mulligan rules your play group has established. I try to have at least 10 pieces of ramp, even if my deck has a low average CMC... er, mana value. I would highly suggest running Arcane Signet , the best mana rock since Sol Ring. Additionally I would probably swap the Black Market for a Land Tax or Smothering Tithe , but I know they’re rather pricey. Black Market is just a bit too slow for my taste, but if works for you then it’s a solid budget alternative. I wasn’t sure if this deck wants to win through commander damage, or going wide with creatures, or life draining through aristocrat effects, or all three, but I would try to stick to a main theme and a sub-theme. Having said that, cards like Sunbond and Cathars' Crusade each support opposing strategies... voltron, and going wide, respectively. From your maybeboard I’d for sure add in Vampire Nighthawk which is just a great value card that’s on theme with your deck, and it’s a 3-drop which lowers the curve. Also check out Westvale Abbey  ^Flip instead of springjack pasture, it’s inexpensive and it’ll fit right in with your strategy. Good luck in your new playgroup, show them no mercy!

Ouroboros_47 on B/W Token Control

3 months ago

Having Westvale Abbey  ^Flip as a one-off might be nice.

philosopher on Replica

4 months ago

Hello Replica,

Anointed Procession is a must have in a token based deck because it doubles the amount of tokens you make.

You can get a 9/7 flying, lifelink, indestructible, and haste creature by sacrificing 5 of your tokens to Westvale Abbey  ^Flip.

Felidar Retreat gives a 2/2 cat token ever time you play a land.

Second Harvest instantly doubles your tokens.

March of the Multitudes convoke your current tokens to make more tokens.

Hanweir Militia Captain  ^Flip 4 or more creatures turns this creature into a token making machine, which gets stronger the more tokens you have on the battlefield.

Anointer Priest gain life everytime a token ETBs.

Basri Ket doubles your attacking tokens with his -2 ability.

Spear of Heliod gives all your tokens +1/+1 and has a removal ability as well.

Woodland Champion powers up every time you create a token

I hope this helps.

Thanks,

Philosopher

TheVectornaut on Human to Eldrazi Conversion

4 months ago

It looks like your breakpoint for Eldritch Evolution is at 3 mana, but the single copy of Gisela is the only creature you can tutor for at that point that costs more than the sacrificed creature. If you want Evolution to be the Birthing Pod for this deck, I'd suggest adding more threats that cost 4-5 mana. Fives are particularly valuable since they can themselves be sacced to find Bruna or Deceiver of Form . Sticking with the Eldrazi type, Emrakul's Hatcher , Kozilek's Channeler , and the popular Reality Smasher seem like they'd be the most effective. The world's your oyster if you don't mind running other creature types. Stormbreath Dragon , Sigarda, Host of Herons , Baneslayer Angel , and Thragtusk are some picks recommended by the internet as the best modern creatures on 5. If you prefer having only the biggest baddest threats in the 7-9 range, I'd cut Evolution entirely for more ramp in Cryptolith Rite / Citanul Hierophants , From Beyond / Awakening Zone , or really whatever other options you prefer. Another card I'd consider cutting is Kozilek's Return since it will wipe out all of your tokens (even after upgrading with Emrakul's Evangel ) unless you're lucky enough to also have Eldrazi Monument out. Maybe Mizzium Mortars could be your sweeper if that's what you're looking for. A final cut I'd make is the odd fifth copy of Game Trail . Unless that's a typo, you don't typically want to run more than 4 copies of nonbasics, even in casual. Plus, your deck looks like it could use more white and colorless mana sources anyway. An interesting option that jumped to my mind was Westvale Abbey  ^Flip since you already have a human token theme. Some other tribal picks that might fit are Champion of the Parish , Thalia's Lieutenant , and Mayor of Avabruck  ^Flip.

Let me know if you have any questions and good luck! (BTW, I'm not a great sideboard builder, but I do know eldrazi make use of Warping Wail and Oblivion Sower in addition to the more traditional hate artifacts.)