The Queen's Egg

Commander / EDH Mortlocke

SCORE: 716 | 855 COMMENTS | 116269 VIEWS | IN 394 FOLDERS


The Final Masterpiece Acquired // The Immortal Sun —Dec. 25, 2017

There is one card I saw from the upcoming Rivals of Ixalan that piqued my interest and that is The Immortal Sun. Within the context of this deck I think it's a worthy candidate for experimentation as I will be swapping it in for Rhystic Study. It does alot of goodstuff, but my only concern is that when I play the card, i'll be tapped out, and likely won't have the mana available to make much of an impact. Another card i'll be experimenting with is Teferi's Protection. It's a great card in it's own right, as I find Rhystic Study to be not quite as explosive as i'd prefer. Ultimately, i'd like to give it's slot to a Sliver that hopefully may be produced in the upcoming Return to Dominaria Set.

But the big news here is that it's done. I acquired the last super expensive card of this deck - Sol Ringfoil for $168 from ebay. I'll make a post about it in the deck's accordion in the near future, but yeah...i'd consider my pet project complete. I have more than enough trade fodder to not have to resort to purchasing cards I want with cash. From now on, all i'll do is just experiment with slight changes here and there as previously mentioned in this update post.

Once upon a time, I naively titled this deck "The most expensive deck ever" or something to that effect. It was clocking in at about $300-$400 dollars. I quickly proven wrong, and that my deck at the time cost a mere pittance. But now I think I can say that as of this post it is the most expensive (dollar wise) Sliver EDH deck on tapped out. While I'm super happy to have my pimped out deck I feel nothing but paranoia when I break it out in large crowds. On top of that, having pimped out foil cards on the battlefield puts a big target on my head, as Slivers are scary enough, but shiny slivers? I really have to watch out.

This pet project was a labor of love, and again...stupid costly. This deck shouldn't be this expensive...but...if I could go back in time to high school/college I would definitely try and acquire the pieces when they were much much cheaper. Thanks for keeping up with my deck for these past few years. Your comments helped me optimize my deck to where it is today.

Mythwind says... #1

I assume we have high hopes for the next MTG set based in Dominaria for new Sliver Creatures...I would like some tri-color slivers... most decks already run 5 colors and it would be fun to get the best of the wedges and shards in sliver form...

December 5, 2017 8:45 p.m.

enpc says... #2

I would ditch the Unnatural Selection. It's a wasted card slot - you already have Amoeboid Changeling which is tutorable. You'd be better off running an Eladamri's Call or a Chord of Calling or similar to increase your ability to tutor creatures and remove some reliance on your commander. That or a Phyrexian Arena or a Necropotence.

December 5, 2017 8:51 p.m.

DiabeticFire says... #3

Hello. This deck is one of the neatest decks I have ever seen. I was toying with the idea of ally tribal with General Tazri, and started looking at sliver decks because they are also 5-color tribal decks that get better with more creatures. After reviewing your decklist and reading your description I have fallen in love. Thank you for sharing this to the world.

Also, Oblivion Stone seems really slow and generally not good, yet it is in your highly tuned list. Would you mind explaining why?

December 6, 2017 4:06 p.m.

DiabeticFire says... #4

Also, Gemstone Mine and Engineered Explosives don't make sense to me and Path of Ancestry seems like a good addition if you can deal with the entering the battlefield tapped.

December 6, 2017 6:48 p.m.

DiabeticFire says... #5

Sorry, last question. Why do you care about the top of your library so much? I see the manipulation, but no payoff.

December 6, 2017 6:53 p.m. Edited.

enpc says... #6

DiabeticFire: Top of deck manipulation is good for fixing your draws. If you every turn you could pick the best one out of three cards, you've increased the deck's ability to answer problems/draw into win conditions. And things like Scroll Rack let you turn crap cards into value with the aid of fetches/shuffle effects.

December 6, 2017 7:29 p.m.

Mortlocke says... #7

Hello all,

Thanks for the replies and attention to my deck page. The hive appreciates it.

  • Mythwind, high hopes indeed for a new array of slivers. The return to Dominaria is currently set for April 27, 2018. I will be paying very close attention to what Wizards will have in store for that set. While Dominaria is not their home plane, they do have a pretty significant presence there.

  • enpc, I can agree that by itself Unnatural Selection is kind of a worthless card. Without the commander, it would be a waste of a slot. But despite that, I want to keep it. Here's my assessment of the card, and my reason for keeping it:

    With Overlord on the board, for a paltry I can steal any creature on the board without the need to untap anything. So with an infinite mana combo in place, yes I can play every sliver in the deck, but I can also steal every creature on the board as well. Amoeboid Changeling does have it's advantage of being tutorable via commander, BUT it can only be used potentially once per turn if Paradox Engine is not in play.
    I can agree that Unnatural Selection can easily fall flat on it's face without the commander in play. Worse yet, Crystalline Sliver basically shuts it down. It's tutorable, but at a high cost - I'd have to use up my Enlightened or Vampiric tutor.

I can agree that the slot can be substituted with something else, but its overwhelming synergy with my commander makes it so worthwhile. I made a Mizzix of the Izmagnus player scoop after I took his commander using Unnatural Selection and my commander in a game of Emperor. With that kind of impact in a game I am very hesitant to swap it out. Your suggestions however, are very nice. I don't have a Eladamri's Call on me, but I do have a Worldly Tutor. I used to have a Necropotence and a Phyrexian Arena. Chord of Calling is interesting, but I also have a Wargate. I might try experimenting with that.

Last, but certainly not least DiabeticFire. Welcome to the hive. Thank you for the +1 and the nice compliments. Curious about why I have Oblivion Stone? I agree, it is very slow, but it is very far from being not good. It's primary power is that it gives me significant influence on the board. For a mere I make other players hesitate to play their best options on the board. With Sliver Hivelord in play, I can keep my creatures while I wipe the board. Also, the best part is that I can keep permanents I deem necessary with fate counters. tl:dr - O-stone lets me intimidate others, and do selective board wipes.

This land provides me some excellent mana fixing early game. Since slivers are 5 color, having access to the right mana early on is invaluable. Sure, it stinks when the land goes away...but it's worth it to establish a board presence early on.

  • Why Engineered Explosives? Simple. It's highly versatile mass removal. It targets all non-land permanents that cost so I can tailor the mass removal to be anything I please. For example I could just remove all tokens and 0 cost permanents from the battlefield. Normally this would be a suitable anti-aggro mass removal option, but I have had great success with this card dealing with token decks.
December 6, 2017 9:39 p.m.

enpc says... #8

Reducing dependency on your commander (in the forma of adding additional tutors) is always the better way to go. While some competitive decks run cards like Gilded Drake to shut down very commander focused decks, they usually devote a single slot to it. The problem is that while it's cute and all, my counter arguments would be (above and beyond your own "cons" list):

  • Emperor is not hte best place to gauge a card's ability in (unless that's all you play)

  • given infinite mana, you should be winning the game that turn, unless you create a proper hard lock (i.e. each opponent has no permanents). Stealing creatures is not the same - I have decks which can win with no creatures on board.

  • outside of combo, your focus should be on advancing your win condition. Stealing a pesky creature every now and then is fine, but you already have changeling for that. Devoting extra crds is a waste.

  • adding additional ways to get Paradox Engine / Mana Echoes (in the form of your mentioned Wargate) is a much better strategy as you advance your win condition very quickly.

I think you won't miss it if you cut it, but you will notice more tutors. Just my two cents.

December 6, 2017 9:48 p.m.

DiabeticFire says... #9

enpc, thanks for the clarification. But I have to ask, is there a reason outside of mana cost that Mirri's Guile is better than Kindred Discovery, because I would always rather have the latter.

December 7, 2017 1:17 a.m.

enpc says... #10

Cost is always a big factor. Turn one plays are super relevant. The other thing is that Mirri's Guile does not require any other cards to function with it, whereas Kindred Discovery needs creatures of the named type. Because judging a card at it's best sets a bad benchmark. You need to look at how well the card will get you out of trouble.

December 7, 2017 3:39 a.m.

DiabeticFire says... #11

So I have spent a while doing some research, and I have found a few things that I want to pick your brains about.

  • First, new from Ixalan is Unclaimed Territory. It enters untapped and makes any color of mana, as long as that mana is spent on a sliver. It seems to me to be a upgrade to Gemstone Mine.

  • Second is Steely Resolve. I haven't yet piloted the deck so I don't know how difficult it is to obtain and protect Crystalline Sliver, but this seems like a good second version of the card.

  • Third is Cover of Darkness. It makes the entire brood extremely difficult to block, which could come in handy if Sliver Queen or some other combo piece gets exiled and you need to win through commander damage or combat damage.

  • Shared Animosity follows a similar vein of logic as Cover of Darkness, helps you get more damage through when you need to.

  • Urza's Incubator Gives a cost reduction of for only to cast. Seems great to me.

Also, I built my own version of this deck. I do not have the original duals, so I replaced them with the Shadowmoor/Eventide filter lands. In addition, I made the following substitutes for budget reasons. (I tried to get each substitution to fill a similar role but I just dont have the library manipulation cards, so I went with ramp and card draw)

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated thanks!

December 8, 2017 10:38 a.m.

Mortlocke says... #12

enpc, you make a compelling argument for the removal of Unnatural Selection. I have to admit, i'm feel more and more convinced that I should swap it out. However, the Emperor example was a poor one. Allow me to submit another: During a game of Multiplayer (6 opponents I believe, including myself) commander I stole The Gitrog Monster and proceeded to bash that player with their own commander. The ramp and card draw The Gitrog Sliver provided was magnificent. It enabled me to play more and more slivers that in turn made me an absurd threat. All the other players at the table were also afraid to play their commanders for roughly 3 turns before I reduced that poor Gitrog player to nothing. So, again you can see why I'm hesitant to remove that card.

If I were to remove that card however, then for tutoring options there is only ONE choice here: Demonic Tutor. Amazing card that is overdue for a reprint. This is minor, but what frustrates me is that the DCI judge promo for this card is roughly $300. That as far as I know is the only foil instance of that card. I want it, but not at that price. The last planned high priced acquisition on my list is Sol Ringfoil icon, and i'm kind of looking forward to it being the last one of this deck but I digress...I still do agree with you that Demonic Tutor would have more of an impact. I'll pick up a cheaper copy sometime and test it out. I won't make an official change until i'm ready.

DiabeticFire, thanks again for keeping up with my deck and i'm flattered that you would like to pilot a version of your own. In this post i'll address your card suggestions, as to my thoughts on your card choices i'll address those in a later response.

  • Shared Animosity - This card seems to be more at home in a aggro deck, however I still want to give it some consideration. My deck has a slant more toward control, but it is indeed a midrange deck. Perhaps this is just the thing I needed to help give me a more viable aggro strategy when some of my combo pieces get removed. I want to test this card out. For now, it's in the same lane of consideration as Diabolic Tutor for a possible replacement for Unnatural Selection.

  • Cover of Darkness - This decks is already packed with evasion in the form of Shifting Sliver, Galerider Sliver, Winged Sliver and to a lesser degree, Striking Sliver and Bonescythe Sliver. This card does add another option, but the evasion options for this deck are already very well populated and aren't in need of more options.

  • Unclaimed Territory - interesting that you'd compare this to Gemstone Mine when it's really a strictly worse Cavern of Souls. I do see your argument that not having to worry about mining counters it's primary advantage over Gemstone, it's draw back just simply doesn't make it worth it as there are plenty of other cards in the deck that aren't slivers. What could hurt more is not being able to play a Counterspell when needed. I'll think it over, but for now I just don't see it as a viable replacement.

December 10, 2017 3:15 p.m.

Mortlocke says... #13

enpc, regarding Demonic Tutor being swapped in for Unnatural Selection all I can say is that you were absolutely right. Tutoring vs. Control Magic is no contest. Tutoring wins out every time.

Now, onward to DiabeticFire's questions about their deck and card choices -

The incorporation of filterlands are an excellent start, incredible lands for the price. However, I think you're missing out on the Shocklands, Dual colored cycling lands and Battle Lands. They're all far more affordable than original duals and on top of that they are all typed. That means you can get the most out of your Skyshroud Claim or Nature's Lore.

As for your individual card suggestions, i'll address them all one by one:

  • Mana Drain => Arcane Denial: I'd consider Forbid over Arcane Denial, the one thing i'm always weary of is giving my opponent cards. Sure, they'll be less salty towards you when you counter one of their wincons, but giving them options isn't always a good thing.

  • Pact of Negation => Swan Song: Perfect choice here. I can't think of anything better.

  • Vampiric Tutor => Demonic Tutor: Aw come on. $10 more and you'd have the vampiric. Honestly, in this case...why not both? But I can understand that it's painful to pay so much for just two cards. Another less costly option would be Wargate, Infernal Tutor or Worldly Tutor.

  • Patriarch's Bidding => Living Death: Perfect swap.

  • Wheel of Fortune => Windfall: A shame WoF became so expensive, but Windfall is a solid substitution.

  • Yawgmoth's Will => Magus of the Will: I'm having a hard time thinking about what to suggest for this one, perhaps Past in Flames?

  • Engineered Explosives => Blasphemous Act: so the idea here is to have some surgical mass removal. Originally, Harsh Mercy took this slot but it was not very effective. Now given the surging popularity of tribal decks, that card is even less useful. I'd suggest In Garruk's Wake. Also you have the bonus of picking up a sweet promo art version of it.

  • Mana Crypt => Fellwar Stone: Fellwar was originally in this deck as well. Honestly, I'd suggest you try and acquire a mana crypt anyway due to it's relatively recent printing in eternal masters. I know it's expensive, but the recent re-printing brought the price down to the cheapest i've ever seen. I honestly think that Prismatic Geoscope should take the slot here though.

  • Oblivion Stone => Nevinyrral's Disk: Oblivion stone is only $5 or less right now. I'd say go with the Stone.

  • Scroll Rack => Prismatic Geoscope: So the point to Scroll rack is to have top deck manipulation. Something to get you to the right card at the right time. Geoscope isn't going to do that. Some suggestions would be Crystal Ball, Darksteel Pendant or even Future Sight. That last one was a bit out there, maybe go with the ball.

  • Sensei's Divining Top => Distant Melody: So, Sensei's is strictly top deck manipulation while Distant melody is all about card draw. Melody is the strictly worse option here due to it being dependent on creatures being in play. A well timed mass removal event can make Melody utterly worthless to you. I'd go for something like Kindred Discovery if you want to go in on draw.

  • Mirri's Guile => Phyrexian Arena:A solid choice here. Instead of choosing the card you want, you just draw an extra card. I'd say that's a solid choice.

Hope my suggestions were useful to you. If you think any of my thoughts were bad or good, let me know! I always enjoy talking about about Slivers and magic. But mostly Slivers :P

December 19, 2017 7:07 p.m. Edited.