deck chart

Bend The Knee

Commander / EDH ThousandOaks

SCORE: 28 | 30 COMMENTS | 4262 VIEWS | IN 16 FOLDERS

Re-Focusing and Lowering avg CMC —Dec. 27, 2019

As always, thanks for stopping in. After a couple months, we are pleased to report that Bend Thy Knee is still undefeated at the local game stores in our area.

Despite being undefeated, many players have praised the deck as a fun, inclusive, and interactive deck. We think that the reason this deck shines in a casual/semi-competitive meta is because, the deck very rarely plays to win... until it can win. Before that, the goal of the deck is to keep the board state balanced and enjoy the company at the table.

One of the most common questions we get is "what does a competitive build look like?" The short answer is, "we don't know." That's a question for cEDH communities. The premise for our building Bend Thy Knee is to prevent experiences where the first pod ends in 10 minutes, and players are stuck waiting an hour for the next pod.

That said, we were curious what it would look like if we did run a full non-budget version of the deck. It's a little less hugsy, and the politics are much less inclusive/friendly, but here are a few updates we're considering to focus on personal board state as well as lowering the CMC of the deck.

Remove:

Add:

Enral says... #1

I think cards like Mandate of Peace , Containment Priest , and Rakdos Charm are better cards to stop combo (rather than Rule of Law ) while letting other players have fun. Also, most of the infinite combos in EDH doesn't require "casting" spells and are often infinite reiterations of an activated ability loop (walking balista/mike etc.) so it doesn't really stop them from going off. Most combo decks also basically save their removal till the turn they go off so having that card doesn't really achieve anything other than feel bads. From my personal experience, rule of law effects often draw unnecessary negative attention towards me since players often want to play multiple spells a turn in EDH. Unless this is a dedicated stax build, I just don't think it is worth it. Just my 2 cents.

October 10, 2019 11:05 a.m. Edited.

ThousandOaks says... #2

Enral Thanks for the feedback! I definitely think you're right. Late game, Rule of Law draws more hate. Early game it has it's purpose, but it'll be a dead draw later in the game. I appreciate the food for thought!

October 10, 2019 11:15 a.m.

Mortlocke says... #3

ThousandOaks, after seeing your inclusion of Fellwar Stone , and with the recent release of the new Throne of Eldrane Brawl Decks have you considered swapping the previously mentioned for the "strictly better" option? Of course I'm talking about the one and only Arcane Signet .

October 10, 2019 12:07 p.m.

ThousandOaks says... #4

LVL_666 Absolutely! Once I get my hands on one of the brawl decks, Arcane Signet will replace the Fellwar Stone.

October 10, 2019 4:23 p.m.

gradstudent says... #5

How about Adding Oko for flavor

October 15, 2019 4:56 p.m.

gradstudent says... #6

deafening silence is better than rule of law

October 15, 2019 4:57 p.m.

Mortlocke says... #7

gradstudent, like any good student you should show your work. Why is Deafening Silence better than Rule of Law ?

October 16, 2019 8:41 a.m.