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Kari Zev Piracy on a Budget EDH

Commander / EDH*

hoorayjames

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CardDraw (10)

Ramp (9)

Evasion (7)

Removal (6)

Other (9)

Piracy (9)

MonkeyETB (7)

Commander (1)

Commander: Kari Zev, Skyship Raider

KariBuff (8)

Land (33)

Maybeboard

Other (1)

Decommissioned deck - it is no longer in my collection so I won't be updating this decklist with new cards from after 2016.

Best of luck to you in your deckbuilding endeavors!

Comments and suggestions are welcome, I'll be happy to keep upgrading this deck into something less budget someday.

Aether Revolt has given us a lot of sweet mono-colored legendaries, but some of them seem more pushed for Standard and Modern play. Kari Zev, Skyship Raider is one of these, but the chance to have a monkey-spawning swashbuckling legendary pirate at the helm of an EDH deck is too cool to pass up. Avast!

Any expensive cards in "Maybeboard" are in the deck but are cards that I already had in my collection, and should be the first cards cut in a budget build (Kari Zev has first strike so the Umezawa's Jitte I have happens to go perfectly with her)

Strategy/Wincons:

Seeing as our commander is a small aggro pirate that brings in an extra body at each of your combat steps, there are a few parts to the strategy of this deck:

  • Monkey ETB effects - Assuming that our commander can swing safely with evasion, there will be a red legendary 2/1 monkey entering the battlefield on each of our combat phases. Some equipment can auto-equip and buff it like Hero's Blade , while other effects take advantage of consistent creature ETB like Impact Tremors

  • Evasion for commander - Silent Arbiter is criminally effective in this deck. Kari Zev has menace. Monkey enters already attacking. Get dunked on. Vorrac Battlehorns turns her menace into "unblockable". Deathtouch via Gorgon's Head pairs well with her first strike, and the evasion will pay off when you poke someone with a Scytheclaw.

  • Threaten effects - Molten Primordial, Word of Seizing , and other effective cards that find a flavorful home in this deck. Realistically, this mono-colored budget deck isn't very strong or cohesive. To make up for this, you may have to... borrow a few creatures.

  • Red and Artifact goodstuff in general - Since there will be a number of support artifacts/equipment, Inspiring Statuary acts as effective ramp. Late game against this semi-voltron deck, Pia's Revolution can give an opponent tough choices when attempting artifact removal. Grenzo, Havoc Raiser is just a fun card, and also triggers with your other creatures.

An interaction I'm not sure of - Warstorm Surge is out and Kari Zev, Skyship Raider attacks to make a monkey. The monkey enters and I put Warstorm Surge on the stack first, then the Hero's Blade auto-attach trigger, so on resolution the surge will punch someone or something for 5 instead of 2.

Suggestions

Updates Add

On the functionality of some cards... — Jan. 16, 2017
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  • Chandra, Pyromaster: as of January 2017, this Chandra card goes for about $3. That's quite a low value for a planeswalker since no one really runs her for her low-impact abilities. In this deck however, she can shine. Her +1 shuts down a blocker, making it easier for Kari Zev to get through; her 0 gives us card advantage; and her ultimate will statistically find us at least one steal card and fork it, allowing us to take multiple bombs or combo pieces. Not the flashiest of abilities compared to planeswalkers today, but I'm excited to see if this Chandra will fit in as well as I think she will.

  • Key to the City: where to start with this card? It is one of my favorites from Kaladesh. More importantly, it provides evasion for our commander and card draw the next turn. Seeing the word "discard" as a cost to an ability may be a turn-off at first, but late game with this low-curve deck means that dropping lands to this ability becomes quite acceptable.

  • Turn Against: this instant speed steal card is nice, but it is in the deck on the off-chance that some horrible person in your playgroup is running Iona, Shield of Emeria and mutters the fateful word "rojo". It also gets around protection from red.

  • Goblin Bombardment: a sac-outlet is never a bad thing to have. After you Hijack their creature, you may not want them to have it back, so you can bin it safely after having your fun. Be political; you instantly draw 10000% aggro when using a stolen creature on it's controller, so sell the steal as "I'm just giving it an extra combat step yo" and swing it at someone else. Bombardment can also sacrifice the monkey if it is kept at bay by big blockers, allowing you to ping mana dorks or support creatures. Versatility is the word.

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Date added 7 years
Last updated 6 years
Legality

This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)

1 - 0 Mythic Rares

31 - 0 Rares

29 - 0 Uncommons

10 - 0 Commons
Cards 99
Avg. CMC 3.14
Tokens Goblin 1/1 R for Goblin Spymaster, Lightning Rager, Phyrexian Germ 0/0 B, Ragavan
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