A Monster’s Guide to Volo [Primer]
Commander / EDH
SCORE: 72 | 55 COMMENTS | 11059 VIEWS | IN 37 FOLDERS
First Update —Oct. 4, 2021
First round of updates after some extensive playtesting.
IN:
Counterspell - Protecting Volo is paramount, so this classic gem is getting added to the mix.
Farseek - More two mana ramp please.
Wandering Archaic Flip - Volo copies creatures, this copies instants and sorceries. An avatar creature with far greater consistency than the primordial mentioned below, this is also another fantastic protection piece for our list.
God-Eternal Rhonas - Another potential win-con for our list, pumping the whole team in a big way.
OUT:
Panharmonicon - Don't get me wrong, this card has done some serious work in a few games. However, in the VAST majority of games I found myself not casting it, or even discarding it. In a flicker/bounce deck this is a must, but only about half of the creatures on this list have ETB effects, and Volo is already doubling those. Plus we'll get much better value copying Volo's cast trigger with Strionic Resonator and Twinning Staff. Four mana is the wrong part of the curve for an effect that will only trigger half of the time, so it's getting the axe. I wouldn't fault anyone for running it, but it just felt too "win more" for this list.
Double Major - Another card I found myself rarely casting. It was intended to serve as a one time backup for Volo, but the specific scenarios where it can be valuable are exceedingly rare. I won't miss it.
Diluvian Primordial - For seven mana I want guaranteed value. When this works it works well, but having to rely on my opponents decks and graveyards for value just doesn't feel reliably good.
Loyal Guardian - This card was good in one game... and even then it was extremely slow and clunky. We need more consistent value in the five mana slot.
Volo can be a fun commander. I would probably be running Body Double, despite Clever Impersonator. Also pretty surprised to not see Doubling Season or Parallel Lives.
September 3, 2021 2:53 a.m.
Thanks for the suggestion Lumovanis, I hadn’t considered Body Double and it’s a solid option. It can target our opponent’s graveyard and/or our own… which gives it a recursion-like quality in Volo. I am committed to not doubling up on creature types though, and I think the Clever Impersonator deserves the shapeshifter slot because of its lower cmc and its ability to clone non-creature permanents. Doubling Season and Parallel Lives don’t actually work with Volo due to the wording of the rules text “a copy of a creature spell becomes a token”… this technically doesn’t count as creating a creature token.
September 3, 2021 5:27 a.m.
Ah yeah, forgot about the difference in his trigger. I also am a huge fan of Wandering Archaic Flip, especially when it starts getting cloned. Also, why not Great Whale? Myr Battlesphere might also be a good choice.
September 3, 2021 7:04 a.m.
Wandering Archaic Flip is amazing and I went back and forth between it and Diluvian Primordial for the Avatar slot. I’ve yet to pull the primordial in a game so I’m waiting to make the swap until I see it in action. Archaic is far more mana efficient and will help protect the board, but the primordial’s trigger is immediate and potentially game changing. Super tough call, but something tells me the archaic might make the final cut. I didn’t even know Great Whale existed, what a cool card! Might have to save up for that one. Myr Battlesphere is going in the maybeboard as well. I’ve spent so much time tinkering with this build and I’ll need more play testing to figure out what to cut. Thanks for the awesome suggestions!
September 3, 2021 5:42 p.m.
Hey! This is a super cool deck. Have you ever thought of running Esix, Fractal Bloom in the deck just in case you’d like to upgrade your tokens when they hit the battlefield? Just a thought! Nice work though!
September 15, 2021 11:12 p.m.
Thanks mjcurry2! Esix, Fractal Bloom is an awesome card, and an amazing commander too. Unfortunately it doesn’t work with Volo for the same reason Doubling Season and Parallel Lives don’t work. Due to the wording of the rules text “a copy of a creature becomes a token”, this doesn’t count as creating a creature token, so it won’t trigger Esix. Thanks for the comment!
Anon_Steele says... #1
Not bad, I'm going to take salamander mutineer for my volo deck tho.
August 12, 2021 8:02 a.m.