Shadrix, Ambassador of Ultimatums *Primer*

Commander / EDH Counters Lifegain Primer WB (Orzhov) Weenie

Wolffang988

Creature (20)

• 1x Abzan Battle Priest
• 1x Adeline, Resplendent Cathar
• 1x Blood Artist
• 1x Corpse Knight
• 1x Deathbringer Liege
• 1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
• 1x Esper Sentinel
• 1x Fain, the Broker
• 1x Ghoulcaller Gisa
• 1x Hopeful Initiate
• 1x Keeper of the Accord
• 1x Leonin Relic-Warder
• 1x Luminarch Aspirant
• 1x Mangara, the Diplomat
• 1x Pitiless Plunderer
• 1x Teysa Karlov
• 1x Vizkopa Guildmage
• 1x Wall of Blood
• 1x Welcoming Vampire
• 1x Zulaport Cutthroat

Sorcery (8)

• 1x Crux of Fate
• 1x Feed the Swarm
• 1x Promise of Loyalty
• 1x Reduce to Memory
• 1x Single Combat
• 1x Torment of Hailfire
• 1x Tragic Arrogance
• 1x Vindicate

Instant (17)

• 1x Akroma's Will
• 1x Anguished Unmaking
• 1x Beacon of Immortality
• 1x Comeuppance
• 1x Deadly Rollick
• 1x Flawless Maneuver
• 1x Generous Gift
• 1x Gods Willing
• 1x Inkshield
• 1x Rebuff the Wicked
• 1x Semester's End
• 1x Sudden Spoiling
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Teferi's Protection
• 1x Utter End
• 1x Vampiric Tutor
• 1x Vanishing Verse

Enchantment (13)

• 1x Animate Dead
• 1x Anointed Procession
• 1x Cathars' Crusade
• 1x Citadel Siege
• 1x Dance of the Dead
• 1x Divine Visitation
• 1x Land Tax
• 1x Monologue Tax
• 1x Sanguine Bond
• 1x Sigarda's Summons
• 1x Smothering Tithe
• 1x Sparring Regimen
• 1x Tainted Remedy

Commander (1)

Land (35)

• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Cabal Coffers
• 1x Caves of Koilos
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x Orzhov Basilica
• 12x Plains
• 11x Swamp
• 1x Tainted Field
• 1x Temple of Silence
• 1x Tyrite Sanctum *f-pre*
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Vault of Champions
• 1x Vault of the Archangel

Artifact (6)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Archaeomancer's Map
• 1x Ashnod's Altar
• 1x Moonsilver Key
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Talisman of Hierarchy

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Maybeboard

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Kaya, Geist Hunter

Creature (1)

• 1x Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker

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Updates

12/4/21 “Restructured Government” Show

Oh boy, a lot of changes in this update! Crimson Vow has been out for a little bit and I’ve had the opportunity to play this deck quite a few times over the past couple weeks and view areas for improvement, so this update is focused on increasing power and refining strategy! Slightly reduced the politics present in the deck, as I noticed it was a recurring problem that players would outright avoid politics with the deck or play more to counter after seeing the deck run once or twice, so I’ve added some traditional combos to provide alternate wincons and overall power while ensuring that each combo piece could also be used to benefit the deck as a whole, and also leaned more into the +1/+1 counter synergy and token creation!

Removed: Ayara, First of Locthwain, Athreos, Shroud-Veiled, Orzhov Signet, Bold Plagiarist, Felidar Retreat, Breena, the Demagogue, Combat Calligrapher, Nils, Discipline Enforcer, Guardian of Faith, Necropolis Regent, Ad Nauseam, Baleful Mastery, Despark, Blot Out the Sky, Debt to the Deathless, Exsanguinate, Rite of Oblivion, Scheming Symmetry, Felidar Retreat, Ghostly Prison, Kaya the Inexorable and Sorin, Vengeful Bloodlord

Added: Zulaport Cutthroat, Blood Artist, Corpse Knight, Ashnod's Altar, Animate Dead, Dance of the Dead, Leonin Relic-Warder, Sparring Regimen, Sigarda's Summons, Sanguine Bond, Feed the Swarm, Sudden Spoiling, Rebuff the Wicked, Gods Willing, Akroma's Will, Welcoming Vampire, Wall of Blood, Teysa Karlov, Pitiless Plunderer, Keeper of the Accord and Hopeful Initiate

Aside from combo pieces (which are detailed in the new addition to the Primer below under the “Execute Order 66” panel) there were some great additions from Crimson Vow such as Sigarda's Summons! Our commander can put a +1/+1 counter on each of our creatures with his combat trigger, so this was a no-brainer to add power to the deck! Welcoming Vampire can enable us to have our cake and eat it too, letting us choose to create a 2/1 Inkling for ourselves with Shadrix’s combat trigger, then draw a card from Welcoming Vampire’s ability when the Inkling enters the battlefield. Hopeful Initiate is also an interesting addition, synergizing very well with our +1/+1 counters and providing additional removal and control vs artifacts and enchantments!

Also added more focused protection with Gods Willing, Rebuff the Wicked, Akroma's Will and Sudden Spoiling

Updated Primer to reflect changes!

10/21/21 The Games Begin! Show

Decklist created and primer started!

An Intro to Diplomatic Relations

The latest in my decks built around the Strixhaven elder dragons, Shadrix takes flight! Shadrix Silverquill is a really fun commander that allows you to negotiate and strike deals with your opponents to gain favor while also setting up the board to your advantage, and this deck aims to capitalize on this type of game manipulation with a good amount of interaction and ways to benefit from the actions of your opponents! We want the table to be incentivized to attack other players while reminding them that there will be consequences for messing with our side of the board, guiding the game in a favorable direction while steadily increasing our own power to deal with the endgame.

"Everything That Has Transpired Has Done So According To My Design." - Emperor Palpatine

Why would you want to play Shadrix Silverquill as your commander?

-Unique playstyle, playing the table to your advantage by negotiating or punishing where necessary to keep the balance

-Strong without being toxic

-Fairly easy strategies to grasp, life gain and big swings pave your path to victory with several ways to protect yourself or surprise the table with a sudden demise

-Your commander puts the “Elder Dragon” in EDH! (Elder Dragon Highlander)

Come to the Dark Side

Expand Your Forces (+1/+1 Counters and Tokens) Show

The first part of this deck’s strategy is maintaining the balance between politics and power. Our primary goal throughout the game is to buff up our creatures while steadily building up a small army. We have access to many cards that assist in this pursuit, and some heavy synergy to take advantage of!

Sigarda's Summons: An incredible card in this deck, granting base P/T of 4/4 and flying to any of our creatures with +1/+1 counters on them, and our commander gives us the option to put a +1/+1 counter on each of our creatures at the beginning of combat on our turn! This goes extremely well with our strategy, and forms a strong pairing with cards like Ghoulcaller Gisa and Adeline, Resplendent Cathar as we build up our forces!

Ghoulcaller Gisa: Goes really well paired with Shadrix, providing us with a constantly increasing number of zombies each turn as you can sacrifice a 2/1 Inkling to make two 2/2 zombies, put a +1/+1 counter on each of them next turn with Shadrix’s combat trigger and sacrifice one to Ghoulcaller Gisa to then make THREE more zombies, and continue the cycle of putting counters on the zombies and sacrificing them to Gisa for a steadily rising number of zombies! Also pairs really well with Divine Visitation, Anointed Procession, and Cathars' Crusade.

Divine Visitation: Pretty straightforward, works well with Shadrix Silverquill as we can choose to create an Inkling for ourselves with his combat trigger and instead receive a 4/4 Angel due to Divine Visitation. Also really strong with our other token producing sources such as Adeline, Resplendent Cathar

Cathars' Crusade: Great enchantment in this deck, super easy to keep triggering it between Shadrix’s combat trigger and our other token producers. Perfect synergy with the +1/+1 counters theme!

Refuse and Suffer (Removal and Boardwipes) Show

The other side of the coin in this deck’s strategy is punishment! If they won’t work with you then it’s time to start showing them the error of their ways. To accomplish this the deck packs a lot of target permanent removal with a heavy focus on exile because in most cases if you’re removing something you want it to be gone forever right? Cards like “Vanishing Verse, Utter End, and Anguished Unmaking provide us an instant speed permanent solution to our greatest threats in addition to the sorcery speed Reduce to Memory. For lesser threats or objects that don’t particularly warrant a full exile we’re also packing Generous Gift and Vindicate to simply “destroy target permanent”, and finally we pack spells like Feed the Swarm, Deadly Rollick, etc to take care of creatures and remove them from the equation.

Our second method of punishment is widespread boardwipe, choosing to destroy all permanents of a specific category to return the board to an advantageous state for ourselves. We have 4 options present for this, in the spells Single Combat, Tragic Arrogance, Promise of Loyalty and Crux of Fate. Each of these wipes has its own advantages and several of them allow you to keep Shadrix on field! (Crux of Fate choosing to destroy non-dragons, Promise of Loyalty, Single Combat and Tragic Arrogance each allowing you to choose a single creature to keep). This lets us keep the board in check and hover the threat of annihilation for those who are less than inclined to work with us!

Protect your Assets (Dodging removal, protective measures) Show

While most of our boardwipes allow you to keep Shadrix or otherwise provide an advantage, there will be times you need to dodge incoming removal from your opponents or make an escape from lethal damage coming your way. Our methods or making it through these situations include the popular mainstay Teferi's Protection, as well as Semester's End, Comeuppance, Inkshield, and Flawless Maneuver.

Teferi's Protection is the extreme optimal answer. It protects you and your board and buys you that extra bit of breathing room to try and get out of a sticky situation. Aside from the possibility of getting countered this will usually save you for at least a turn, which may be all you need to turn the game back in your favor!

Semester's End is a great way to get your creatures through a boardwipe, whether it’s your own or an opponent’s boardwipe, and comes with the added bonus of bringing your creatures back in with the additional +1/+1 counter. Flawless Maneuver functions in a similar role and while it doesn’t fully protect your creatures with exile like Semester's End does, it compensates for this by being free if you have Shadrix on field, letting you instantly give all of your creatures indestructible and you may even be able to bait out an opponent’s boardwipe by appearing defenseless with your mana tapped or seeming compromised!

Comeuppance and Inkshield are our last pair of trap protection spells, not only protecting us but netting us great benefits for their usage. Comeuppance can function as a bona fide boardwipe, as you could choose not to block and cast Comeuppance to watch your opponents creatures take damage equal to their own power. It also has the ability to block a damage dealing kill spell, possibly even killing the opponent who cast a big X spell towards you! Inkshield is for preventing combat damage only, but gives you a 2/1 Inkling with flying for each 1 damage prevented! This not only saves you from a potentially deadly turn, but can also instantly build you an army of blockers/attackers to turn the tide!

As additional protection for our priority creatures, the deck also features Gods Willing, Rebuff the Wicked and Akroma's Will as instant speed “shields up!” to counter your opponent’s efforts to target Shadrix or other high-priority creatures on our board. The deck also packs Sudden Spoiling to nullify ability-centric creatures on your opponent’s board at a critical moment or to crush their creatures with the element of surprise after they go for a big swing or go to block your own creatures!

Execute Order 66 (Player Removal)

If we’re running Orzhov then you know we have to include some traditional instant death Orzhov good stuff! Beacon of Immortality + Tainted Remedy is immediate death to one opponent, same day shipping! Merely target the opponent with Beacon of Immortality while Tainted Remedy is on field and watch the source of your vexation crumble into nothing as they lose life equal to their life total! This is mainly a one-off silver bullet to wipe out your most troublesome opponent, but in some cases you may be able to pull it off again if you happen to retrieve Beacon of Immortality out of your deck with Vampiric Tutor.

Another heavy life drain combo comes in the form of Beacon of Immortality + Vizkopa Guildmage ! In this combo you would activate Vizkopa Guildmage’s second ability that states “Whenever you gain life this turn, each opponent loses that much life”, and then target yourself with Beacon of Immortality to drain each opponent for a potentially huge amount! If you are still at the starting life total of 40 or have even gained life well beyond your starting total (which is very possible and occurs consistently as the deck is built with lifegain in mind) , this combo has the ability to end the game in your uncontested victory! Vizkopa Guildmage also works very well with the many sources of lifelink in the deck, providing a means of steadily draining the table over time if you do not yet have Beacon of Immortality!

Decide Their Fate Show

Along with the Crimson Vow additions, I also recently updated the deck with some classic orzhov combos to bring it up to the same standard of my other Strixhaven Series decks, becoming a blend of traditional and unique play! If your playgroup is more casual or dislikes more powerful combos then you may want to use these with more discretion.

Key Combos:

Sentenced for Execution

Swords to Plowshares + Vizkopa Guildmage + Wall of Blood : A method of severely weakening or outright killing an opponent, you can pay all but the last point of your life into Wall of Blood’s ability, increasing it’s power and toughness accordingly, then activate Vizkopa Guildmage’s second ability once or as many times as you desire, then exile Wall of Blood with Swords to Plowshares, gaining back all of the life you paid into Wall of Blood and also draining an opponent for the same amount times the amount of times you activated Vizkopa Guildmage’s second ability. (For example, if you activated Vizkopa Guildmage’s second ability twice and gained 39 life from exiling Wall of Blood, then your opponent would lose 78 life!). A similar combo is also present in Sanguine Bond + Swords to Plowshares + Wall of Blood , but lifedrain is limited as you will only be draining for the amount you paid into Wall of Blood without additional “gain and drain” effects.

Infinite Justice

Animate Dead + Blood Artist + Leonin Relic-Warder Immediate victory if the combo resolves, All it requires is Leonin Relic-Warder in your graveyard and Blood Artist on field. Cast Animate Dead on Leonin Relic-Warder, and when Leonin Relic-Warder enters the battlefield you have it exile the Animate Dead, causing the Leonin Relic-Warder to be sacrificed, and you return Animate Dead to the battlefield and have it target Leonin Relic-Warder once again, and then repeat the cycle endlessly. This results in infinite death triggers, which equals infinite life drain and gain when paired with Blood Artist!

This combo also exists with:

Animate Dead + Leonin Relic-Warder + Zulaport Cutthroat

Blood Artist + Dance of the Dead + Leonin Relic-Warder

and for just infinite life drain: Animate Dead + Corpse Knight + Leonin Relic-Warder

Strixhaven Series Complete!

Building a deck for each of the Strixhaven founding elder dragons has been a ton of fun and I consistently enjoy running them! As soon as I saw them I was interested in them but had no idea I’d end up building the full collection! You can find the other decks in my Strixhaven series below, and if you enjoyed this one I hope you’ll check out the others!

Beledros, Matriarch of the End *Primer*: A deck themed around aristocratic gameplay, lifegain and sacrifice! A strong mix of hard-hitting golgari combos and benefitting from Beledros Witherbloom's pest tokens, this is a fun deck to run! Full primer!

Velomachus, Air Raid Bomber *Primer*: A deck more balanced between competitive and casual, built for getting Velomachus Lorehold onto the field quickly and utilizing his ability to drop everything from removal spells to big boardwipes! As the name suggests, this deck’s playstyle is all about clearing the board and dealing heavy commander damage to your opponents! Full primer!

Galazeth, Magitech Beam Cannon *Primer*: A fun deck focused on playing to Galazeth Prismari’s ability to tap artifacts for mana to cast huge X spells and deal massive amounts of damage! Features a full primer with combos and synergies, breaking down the playstyle and goals of the deck!

Tanazir, Quandrix Conundrum *Primer*: The 4th of my Strixhaven decks with a full primer! Focused on +1/+1 counters and adapting to the board, this deck can swing wide or tall and comes packed with Simic strategy!

As always if you enjoyed the deck please feel free to leave an upvote and/or comment! You may also leave a link or name drop if you have a similar deck or a deck you’d like input on and I’ll give it a look!

Top Ranked	Achieved #1 position overall 2 years ago
Date added	2 years
Last updated	2 years
Key combos	Beacon of Immortality + Tainted Remedy Beacon of Immortality + Vizkopa Guildmage Animate Dead + Blood Artist + Leonin Relic-Warder Animate Dead + Leonin Relic-Warder + Zulaport Cutthroat Animate Dead + Corpse Knight + Leonin Relic-Warder Blood Artist + Dance of the Dead + Leonin Relic-Warder Swords to Plowshares + Vizkopa Guildmage + Wall of Blood Sanguine Bond + Swords to Plowshares + Wall of Blood
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	11 - 0 Mythic Rares 40 - 0 Rares 19 - 0 Uncommons 7 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.23
Tokens	Angel 4/4 W, Angel 4/4 W w/ Vigilance, Elephant 3-3 G, Human 1/1 W, Inkling 2/1 WB, Soldier 1/1 W, Spirit 3/2 RW, Treasure, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders	Strixhaven Series, Bookmarked CMDR, decks I like hehe, EDH, Cool, Favorite Decks, Deck that I want to play, finished decks, Decks to Import, Tapped Out - User Decks