Sorcery (2)

Commander (1)

Commander: Derevi, Empyrial Tactician

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A high-power Derevi Prison deck geared towards multiplayer matches.

Despite it's many intricacies, the deck's overall strategy is relatively straightforward. It can be divided into four parts.
  1. Mulliganing. Like any good commander deck, the strategy starts well before the first spell resolves. The deck lost a lot of its pre-game setting up when Partial Paris was removed, but this still remains a critical step. A good hand optimally has the mana to cast Derevi on turn 2, a lock piece, and a way of setting up an engine.

  2. Ramping. Except in certain niche scenarios, the first goal of the deck is to get Derevi into play as fast as possible. To help this goal,the deck is loaded with a large yet efficient package of mana dorks and rocks designed to consistently cast her turn 1-2.

  3. Locking. Like any prison deck, the strategy here is to create a board state that almost entirely prevents opponents from interacting with the game. To create such a lock, the deck uses a large array of hate bears, taxers, and prison pieces ranging from Thalia, Guardian of Thraben to Aven Mindcensor to Stasis. Each resolved card brings opponents inexorably closer to total lockdown while simultaneously slowing their strategies to a crawl.

  4. Winning. Once a suitably formidable board has been assembled, victory becomes fairly easy. With a phenomenal arsenal of draw power and tutors, the deck has no trouble spewing Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite on the field at a moment's notice. Neutering opponent's board presence while simultaneously beefing up Derevi's massive army is usually more than enough to close out the match in a turn or two. She or Linvala, Keeper of Silence can be paired with Living Plane to fully lock out opponents' lands. Finally, Shaman of Forgotten Ways provides an excellent plan C when needed, especially when paired with an endstep Cyclonic Rift.

Note that this strategy mainly applies to multiplayer matches. The deck is not designed for 1v1 games, and thus often under-performs in such scenarios. To make it dominant in 1v1, a good chunk of the the cards have to be replaced with targeted removal and counter spells. Some ideas for inclusions when shifting to 1v1 metas are Swords to Plowshares, Beast Within, and Arcane Denial.

Work in progress.

Taxers: These cards provide an excellent countermeasure against storm decks and other strategies heavily reliant on casting a multitude of spells. thalia, guardien of thraben, Glowrider, Vryn Wingmare, Thorn of Amethyst, Sphere of Resistance, and Trinisphere make up this category. Grand Arbiter Augustin IV serves as a taxer while also doubling as a cheapening effect for our own blue and white spells, which is highly relevant.

Untap attackers: Effects that directly hinder opponent's ability to untap their permanents. They're what often ultimately lead to opponents scooping much of the time. They consist of Winter Orb, Hokori, Dust Drinker, Static Orb, and Stasis primarily.

Special credit to Glix and his deck Empyre. This list was originally based heavily upon it. After several new set releases and rule changes, the deck no longer closely resembles its sire, but the strategy remains similar.

Derevi and Brago: The Romance of the Millenium is just one of the ten specialty decks I designed as part of an ongoing project called The Terrifying Ten: Ten fully optimized decks built around the strongest* Commanders in each of the shard and wedge colors. They're not quite balanced, due to Grixis, Naya, and Mardu not having any truly "Broken" commanders, but the decks can still be pitted against each other for fun, relatively fair matches. I urge you take a look at all of them when you get the chance and comment with feedback and suggestions!

esper: Zur's Proxied Parade of Pain

Grixis: deck: now-watch-me-whip-now-watch-me-trai-trai

Jund: Live long and Prosshper

Naya: Marath of the Titans

Jeskai: Narset's Face-Wrecking Turn Fest

Abzan: Karadora the Graveyard Explorer

Mardu: I'll Kaalia Back Later

Temur: Twin Statue Animar

Sultai: Muscle Plasm

*Note that strongest is an opinionated term based on my own experience. Extensive play testing and experimenting was performed prior to the Ten being selected.

Currently testing: Jin-Retainer combo. Living Plane and Sakashima the Impostor currently out.

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Updates Add

The popularity of the deck and general regard as one of the best Derevi resources available has lead me to rethink its theme. As such, the deck title has been edited to something relevant and serious. The somewhat inappropriate description portion has been removed, and a more extensive primer is in the works.

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Revision 5 See all

(5 years ago)

Date added 9 years
Last updated 5 years
Legality

This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.

Rarity (main - side)

13 - 2 Mythic Rares

66 - 5 Rares

10 - 2 Uncommons

8 - 0 Commons

Cards 100
Avg. CMC 2.51
Folders deck ideas, Duel EDH Zvone nemoj tu dodavat, Official Commander Decks, 2. EDH, Decks Interested in, Derevi Ideas, cEDH, Com, Liked Decks, Deck Ideas
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