Salt Miner (Rule of Law cEDH)
Commander / EDH*
SCORE: 24 | 3 COMMENTS | 5909 VIEWS | IN 5 FOLDERS
A New Challenger —Sept. 3, 2021
So, looks like Codie, Vociferous Codex is better than I expected. More or less forgot about him after seeing him, since it wasn't what I was looking for in EDH, and didn't seem sturdy enough for cEDH. So, turns out he's fine there! So, I need to work on my deck now, to try to figure out A) if I have good solutions to Codie B) if I can shut him down. It's worth noting that it's probably a solid choice for Codie decks to run all of the 1 mana bounce/removal, but with an emphasis on the normally questionable artifact/enchantment removal, since Codie can then power through a Stax piece by blowing it up before the combo starts.
Speed wise, it looks like it's a deck fairly able to mulligan, since it doesn't need an especially large hand, but I think it usually wants 2 lands (and not 3 hopefully), a counter, a 1 mana spell to trigger Codie, and some ramp. The biggest issue might be that Codie might not run enough ramp to consistently have it in a given hand, and the deck isn't especially threatening to us if he's playing off of lands in a <30 lands deck. Rule of Law is solid vs Codie, but if it can be bounced or removed, you are in trouble, but only if he can also Ad Naus that turn somehow (fairly unlikely if he had to tap out for Codie's ability, Ad Naus requires a black beyond what Codie's ability will provide unfortunately), if not you have another shot at putting a new Rule of Law out, as we've got 2. In the race situation, this deck is poorly matched up, but a higher budget variant could actually be similar or faster potentially, and even less dependent on hand (Zur doesn't require a 1 mana spell to find Ad Naus), matched with reasonably comparable levels of consistency. Neither deck particularly likes an Opposition Agent catching us off guard, but Codie might find it easier to hold up interaction, though like me, they can only fit in so much instant speed removal/counters that hit creatures (especially with Codie needing 1 mana disenchants and counters), making that card potentially lethal to either of us (and we find it easier to use than he does, hooray!). It's worth noting that it's probably easier to turn off the abilities of an artifact than it is to turn off all triggered abilities, but I should do more research. Anyways, things like Karn, the Great Creator and Null Rod are problems for Codie, and can come out early, neither bothering Zur terribly much. Codie doesn't love Energy Flux being out, but they'll probably just pay, though Back to Basics will put a kibosh on that plan. A hard cast Imprisoned in the Moon or Darksteel Mutation can make life difficult, though as noted, Codie can run removal. He rarely runs enough to remove 2 enchantments without having access to more cards, which is mostly Ad Naus I understand.
My present build does suffer from running only 3 clunky counters, so it's hard to hold up counter magic until Rule of Law is out, but it's worth noting that you can easily hit 5 mana, meaning you can cast most of this deck's 3 mana spells while holding up 3 for next turn, mostly relevant after you've gotten Necropotence. The deck might want a few more counters, but the low U card count rules out the Forces, and I don't like stuff that won't work vs Opposition Agent. I like that instant speed removal will work vs Codie (if he can't be used the turn they play him for example) or Opposition Agent, provided it's not too selective. Codie decks are not good at recasting Codie, usually a bit worse than our build, since we generally run lots more lands, so a heavy-removal meta might stress Codie. Codie can just random into Ad Naus or Consultation without Profane Tutor, which we find it hard to interact with, but this is statistically rare.
Tentatively, my plan would probably be to rush to get Rule of Law out, especially via Zur to avoid countermagic, at which point I'd probably aim for Greater Auramancy to make targeted removal a no-go. While a lot to get out, I do run 3 Rule of Law, and if I hard cast it, I can fetch Greater Auramancy if I suspect they are packing lots of removal. If I managed to use one of the nastier auras/Oubliette to lock Codie, the opponent cannot use their removal to activate Codie, so they need 2 such cards, greatly frustrating their early game potentially. I also have Wandering Archaic Flip and Opposition Agent, supplemented by various instant speed removal to help keep a Codie down. Energy Flux and Back to Basics can cripple Codie's ability to generate mana, effectively turning him off long enough for me to win (I hope). I think this deck is as prepared for Codie as any deck is, and if it had some upgrades (especially to fast mana), this deck would be able to match Codie for speed (more or less). Higher budget lands would also improve consistency, and possibly enable the running of less land, making more space for countermagic and instant speed removal.