Xantcha, Woke Agent

Commander / EDH* pokepower116

SCORE: 103 | 45 COMMENTS | 17133 VIEWS | IN 37 FOLDERS

Small update —Aug. 28, 2018

It's been a little bit since I've updated this deck, and for good reason; the deck is running great! As I mentioned in the comments, it's not a competitive deck by any means but works perfectly in the way that I was hoping it would. I was scared that taking out Pyrostatic Pillar and Eidolon of the Great Revel would leave me without enough damage. Fortunately, the deck still seems to get along just fine without them (and my life total has never been happier). Before I ramble on too much, here are the new cuts and additions:

Cuts: Expedition Map, Night's Whisper, Indulgent Tormentor, Unlicensed Disintegration

Additions: Thran Turbine, Syphon Mind, Mind's Eye, Chaos Warp

Cuts

• Expedition Map - This card was primarily put in the deck to fetch Glacial ChasmGC or Maze of Ith when I needed the damage mitigation or to tutor up a land drop in the early turns. Since then I've removed Glacial ChasmGC so the only real utility land for it to tutor up is Maze of Ith. Also I've kept Expedition Map in an opening hand before and it never felt great to tutor up a Graven Cairns or something like that. If I decide to put in Cabal Coffers and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth I will probably end up putting this card back in.
• Night's Whisper - Fantastic card for its CMC, might even be better than the Syphon Mind that I'm replacing it with. In the end, it pretty much just comes down to preference. Having a draw spell that only costs 2 CMC usually gives you the opportunity to play one of the cards you drew whereas a 4 CMC spell might not. Syphon Mind, however, works with the discard theme of the deck and drawing that (usually) extra card can make a large difference. I feel that Night's Whisper, Read the Bones, and Syphon Mind can all be pretty interchangeable here and running multiple, all, or none of these cards could also be the correct answer. I mostly just want to test out Syphon Mind and a card had to be cut.
• Indulgent Tormentor - The cards that give your opponent two terrible choices always sound incredibly fun, but if both effects aren't equally punishing then you end up with an underwhelming card. Take Dash Hopes for example. No one would play this card because losing 5 life in EDH isn't that big of a deal whereas having your spell countered can potentially be game-endingly bad. That's kind of the same issue with Indulgent Tormentor. All three of its effects are pretty amazing on their own. You're essentially getting a Baleful Force, Sheoldred, Whispering One, or Sulfuric Vortex kind of effect. The problem is that your opponents choose the effect; and they will always choose what's best for them and worst for you. It also has anti-synergy with our commander because they can choose the "sacrifice a creature" option to just sacrifice Xantcha before she can deal a lot of damage to them.
• Unlicensed Disintegration - Not a bad card by any means, but I feel that it just gets outclassed by the great single target removal that Rakdos has access to. Terminate and Chaos Warp are pretty much auto-includes, Kolaghan's Command has fantastic utility with its flexibility, and Dreadbore (despite being sorcery speed) is just another fantastic single removal card similar to Terminate. An argument could be made for Unlicensed Disintegration over Dreadbore but I like the option to be able to use it against planeswalkers if needed. Also an argument could be made to include both cards, but finding cuts in this deck is getting harder by the day.

Additions

• Thran Turbine - Really fun card that I've never seen played before. Lets us activate Xantcha's ability for 1 mana once a turn or for free if we also control Heartstone.
• Syphon Mind - Covered it pretty extensively when talking about Night's Whisper above. Pretty much a preference choice but I like the way it synergizes with the discard theme of the deck.
• Mind's Eye - Great card that strangely also synergizes with the deck. Everytime our opponents activate Xantcha, we are able to pay 1 mana to also draw a card. If you consider that, plus the card they draw on their draw step, plus any additional draw effects they might have in their deck, this card should draw you a fair amount of cards. I am a bit worried that having this on the field would discourage people from using Xantcha's ability, but that's why we playtest!
• Chaos Warp - Don't know how I managed to forget this card. Rakdos is wonderful at removing creatures & artifacts, but not enchantments. Chaos Warp is pretty much the only card we have to really deal with enchantments (excluding Enchanter's Bane which I am looking to playtest too) so it should definitely be included. Also has the added benefit of using it on our commander if she gets returned back to us for added value.

So those are the current cuts and additions, but here are a few cards that I'm looking at playtesting and cutting in the future.

Potential additions

• Platinum Emperion, Basalt Monolith, Rings of Brighthearth, Enchanter's Bane - These are all cards suggested in the comments below that I haven't gotten a chance to try yet! I need to get my hands on a copy of these cards but might just end up proxying them so I get the chance to give them a whirl before I buy.
• Claws of Gix - It may not be the best sacrifice outlet for the deck, but I am considering adding in sacrifice outlets and the flavor is too good. Also considered Unnerve for the flavor purposes but I think that might be going a bit overboard.
• Torment of Hailfire - I think I took this card out of the deck too quickly. I didn't like that they could sacrifice Xantcha to its effect, but it is so powerful that I think it might earn its spot back. Especially with the inclusion of Mana Geyser and the potential inclusion of Basalt Monolith + Rings of Brighthearth
• Bojuka Bog or Planar Void - I feel I need more graveyard removal aside from just Rakdos Charm but not quite sure yet.
• Ramp - After removing Expedition Map, Thautmatic Compass, and Mind Stone, I'm concerned with the deck's early game ramp. I'll have to play a few games to see if it's still at a good amount.

Potential Cuts

• Sleeper Agent - I adore this card for the flavor, but in gameplay it hasn't been so kind. If I give this card to someone in the early game they attack me with it and if I give it to someone later in the game they just attack someone with a big creature who can destroy it. I want to like this card, but it hasn't really done wonders for me yet.
• Vial Smasher the Fierce, Virtus the Veiled, or Tree of Perdition - Lumping these cards all together even though they're very different. They all fit into the category of "low cost, potential high impact creatures". So far they have been removed before I've gotten to do anything with them but I think that speaks to how good they are instead of how bad they are. Will keep an eye on these cards but I've practically not been able to play them yet!
• Pox or Fraying Omnipotence - Love the effects of these cards but not sure if I need two of the similar effect. Also not a fan that they can sacrifice Xantcha to these cards' effects.
• Angrath, the Flame-Chained - Still in the early stages of playtesting, but so far it's been "okay". Not amazing, not bad, but okay. Probably won't make the final cut of the deck, but it's definitely fun to try out for the time being.
• Harsh Mentor - Discourages our opponents from activating Xantcha's ability. Even though it would technically make the card worse, I wish the card didn't include activated abilities of creatures too.

As always, let me know what you think!