The Sliver deck got showcased yesterday..... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyQ-JPT3XEk

And I have to say, I am a bit underwhelmed. The 5 new Slivers are kinda ok but I'll probably only end up playing the green one. But what's way worse is the deck itself, it looks soooo bad for its price tag. I'm not paying 90 dollars for that, even as a huge Sliver fan ^^'

Slayroth, I just saw the showcase as well and I can understand the overall disappointment. Wizards continues to ask for more and more - yet in this case severely under delivered. $80 USD for a lack luster manabase that belongs in a $40 precon. Wow. The only highlight of the deck are the new cards which aren't necessarily power crept into oblivion but they didn't necessarily wow me either. I'm not trying to brag or anything, but I have a "guy" who does direct sales where I live. I'm getting this and the other decks for a steal. I won't give out too much information, but i'm sure as hell not paying $80 USD a deck. His connection is the only reason why i'm buying all the decks as I really do like the face commanders for each, and I love collecting precons.

Also, I just have to say that Rukarumel, Biologist is my Sliver Waifu and is officially best girl in all of Magic. If anyone diagree then you are wrong. Just look into her eyes and tell me she won't be the epicenter of a future multiversal threat where Slivers just show up on every plane and proceed to wreck house:

I do have thoughts about some of the new Slivers that I will share up top in a new deck update. Please let me know your thoughts about my thoughts - also, what new cards do you think will make the cut in your Sliver deck?

Its been a while Mortlocke.

So I have also been trying to assess the relevance of the current cards heading to us from CMM. I got to be brutally honest here, I actually find the deck a bit of a disappointment, especially considering the inflated price tag.

Sliver Gravemother - So its a fun idea, and does give you that ability to go for a win after your board has been wrecked... however I just dont think its that good if im honest. I think it gives the ability to win from nowhere, and it does convert all those mana costs from coloured to colourless mana using the Encore ability. Think its very situational.

Rukarumel, Biologist - Fun looking card... but not for this deck. Think this one is a build around commander, and you could have some real good fun hybridizing Slivers with say, Elves or Zombies. Imagine Slivers utilizing Rooftop Storm.. Oh my!

Hatchery Sliver - I actually really like this one. Means those key pieces you put on the field (if you have the mana) you make a duplicate (sorry, I mean "Replicate") copy meaning single threat removal spells become less effective. I know Manaweft Sliver and Gemhide Sliver are key in a lot of decks, so being able to make duplicates of those on cast means that 4 of those abilities to remove, not just 2. Think this one is sneaky good.

I totally agree with your assessment of Taunting, Regal and Capricious Sliver, so wont go into thoughts about those, as they are broadly similar. I do like the Goading one the best, as can really shake up board states.

And Lazotep Sliver - Simply gets the opinion of move on, not interested. However, the interesting stack of Afflict is interesting to an extent. If you encore this, you suddenly have potentially 3 instances of Afflict 2 (so essentially Afflict 6), but there is too many moving pieces in this to make it seem reasonable.

Just thought I would share my thoughts with you my fellow Hivelord.

Hope you are all good

I was excited to see your breakdown of the new deck and it didn’t disappoint despite the decklist itself doing just that. I agree the goad sliver lets a sliver player avoid something nasty to the face or another player takes something nasty. Or they lose a poorly protected but game-breaking creature. Hatchery sliver makes Sidewinder, Virulent, and Plated so much better. Replicate 4 on Virulent?! Start the clock. The human wizard alternate commander is a slower queen. You’ll need echoes/training ground/intruder alarm to break her but she can fill in for infinite tokens. I was disappointed in the lack of protection. Hexproof/blink/phasing was absent and what the hive needs

I like the new slivers, not so flashy, but have nice interactions. Also the new art for some slivers are a must get to update my deck. Sadly most of the new slivers revolves around combat something that in my playgroup is so rare to get trough ( You have to win with a combo on the same turn you play your creatures while you pusgh trhough a bunch of counterspells and removals lol)

Daevied,

I think that the latest batch of Slivers aren't overtly power crept, but with the right deck can be an absolute menace. I feel the same way about the new art as well, I was never a fan of the Shandalar Sliver variants. The humanoid form just makes slivers seem like a fairly generic monster - the original form that debuted on Rath is iconic as it's so alien but oddly cute.

When I find that my playgroup loves to run interaction I simply adjust my decks to fit the local meta. My opponents love to counter Slivers? Then Root Sliver would love to have a word with them. Opponents love to run spot removal? I proceed to laugh as Crystalline Sliver shows up. So on and so forth. There's always a Sliver for the job when it comes to a problem, but running your own interaction and work-arounds is key. Try running counter magic as form of protection and see where that takes you.

Let's be honest. The worst part about the new Slivers is that we can't get them in foil yet c,c

Slayroth, at least I can get Taunting Sliver in full art foil ¯_(ツ)_/¯

Any plans to add gravemother?

@ TheChanesaw,

Nope. As lovely as Sliver Gravemother is, she doesn't really work as one of the 99. Her themes are so unique that I feel compelled to make her the head of her own deck with Myriad and Encore subthemes shored up with End of Turn effects. The idea is to abuse the End of Turn step by routinely clearing the stack when it has the Sacrifice trigger hit at the end of combat (in Myriad's case) or end step (in Encore's case). The best part is when multiple copies of Sliver Legion or The First Sliver are on the battlefield alongside Gravemother resulting in a very fun and powerful play experience - I hope anyway. I'm starting to assemble a list, and will attempt to make a fun budget oriented Sliver deck.

Mortlocke,That's an interesting idea, Im exited to see what you come up with! :D

Brilliant primer with great insights. +1

Happy new years Mortlocke,

May this message find you and yours all well and good.

I come seeking an opinion on a particular card that I think I am going to take a punt on. Chimil, the Inner Sun seems really good. Discover 5 is right at the top end of the Sliver creature spells, and ultimately whatever I show can be put in hand if needed. Also makes all your spells uncounterable. Am torn on what to cut to give it a crack. Think maybe cut Carpet of Flowers or Mirri's Guile. Leaning towards Carpet as tbh, when I play it, most just stop playing Islands lol.

Anyway, hope you are well, and look forward to your response

Just a quick question and I love this deck btw why don't u use any of the +1+1 slivers?

Hi Sneuxfox,

The quick answer is Scale. The long answer is that Muscle, Sinew, or even Megantic Sliver do no provide much return for the mana and card slot investment in a 40 health point environment - unless the previously mentioned cards contribute directly to the deck's themes. The buff Slivers belong in a Sliver deck that is geared toward aggro, and dealing as much combat damage as possible in as short of a time. This deck however is midrange - something in between control and aggro and wouldn't benefit overall from the inclusion of buff slivers.

What’s your reasoning for not running lands such as Urza's Saga, Reflecting Pool or Plaza of Heroes?

Hi Votecat,

• Urza's Saga is amazing in silo but i'm hesitant to include it due to the deck being so demanding regarding colored mana. Sure I could tutor for Mox Diamond, but that depends on the number of lands I have in hand 3 turns from play. I think there is an argument for the Urza's Saga, just not a very compelling one. If I were to slot it in, i'd probably put it in for Volrath's Stronghold maybe.

• Reflecting Pool - I could've sworn this was in the deck. This is a simple oversight. I'm probably going to cut one of the pain lands to make room. Which one would you cut?

• Plaza of Heroes is a really cool card that I honestly didn't know existed. The unfortunate drawback is that this card is a little bit narrow in use due to it practically demanding that my Commander be in play in order to be useful. As great as this land is, I just don't find the argument for its inclusion that compelling. Less so than including Urza's Saga.

I always welcome a rebuttal - please let me know if you think i'm missing something.

Good morning,

Sorry to throw my opinion in concerning which land to cut, but honestly I would probably cut the Gemstone Mine. A pain land can at least be tapped for and can then pay the life for 1 of 2 colours if needed. Gemstone Mine is just a 3 turn kinda deal, and apart from Yawgmoth's Will, I dont think there is any other way of re-using it. And you would be replacing it with a land that will tap for all your colours eventually anyway. Its a strict upgrade.

Doombeard1984,

probably the best Slivers deck out there! very very dreamy decklist!

Cool to see you added Deadly Rollick, but I was curious to hear how you decided on cutting Hibernation Sliver in particular.

Flodes,

Hibernation Sliver is a deterrent. It boasts to my opponents that their removal is useless as a targeted "problem sliver" will simply show up again. The truth is i've never found myself wanting to use this ability simply because there are better alternatives in the deck in the form of Crystalline Sliver or a simple Counterspell. Additionally, I've owned Deadly Rollick since it was released because I absolutely love the art. It's evocative of the earlier days in magic when the art was dark, sinister, and seductive. Speaking of seductive - Judith is hot. The art absolutely speaks to me - and what it says I'm sure I can't say in public.

Side Rant - I took this deck to a tournament over the weekend. It was advertised as a Commander tournament with prizes and no restrictions outside of the standard Commander banlist. Additionally, once you used a deck you had to stick with it throughout the whole tournament. Unbeknownst to me, a herd of cEDH players showed up and were crushing tables on turns 2 to 3 with regular consistency - they assumed it was a cEDH tournament, according to on of my opponents. After having one very exciting game I realized that while this deck is decidedly not one of the archetypes, it could at least leave an impact on a cEDH game. So I think I want to squeeze in some more interaction just to ensure that this deck could at least consistently hang at a cEDH table. So, that's the other reason why I wanted to slot in Deadly Rollick. Also i'm trying to slot in a copy of Flusterstorm. It's a great spell and just got the foil old border treatment in MH3 as a buy a box promo. I'm trying to decide on what to slot it in for, but i'm having a tough time deciding on what to cut. Do you have any ideas Flodes?

That's the end of my long rant, thanks again for commenting.

Edit: Made a few changes due to bad grammar/spelling

Mortlocke and Flodes,

To jump in on this, I recently picked up the Flusterstorm you mentioned and have been trying to fit it into this list somewhere. Strix Serenade was also on my radar, as it rounds out Swan Song nicely. This is the primary deck I play, and the cards on the chopping block for me are Cyclonic Rift and Pact of Negation. Rift is underwhelming unless overloaded and the Pact upkeep cost (unless protecting your win on your turn) is basically a time walk. 5 or 6 open mana is coming close on win-con range, so it seems less than ideal to leave that open or spend it on upkeep. Choosing one I would probably replace Cyclonic Rift with Flusterstorm, but I may give the Serenade a chance as well.