Shifting Into High Gear (Arjun Primer)

Commander / EDH RicketyEng

SCORE: 75 | 53 COMMENTS | 14861 VIEWS | IN 33 FOLDERS


Primer Description —March 8, 2017

I decided to put in the effort to write a primer!

I have played this deck a lot over the past year and have done a good amount of iterating on it. I followed Epochalyptic's guide and it was extremely helpful. Just the act of writing the primer has helped me take a more critical look at some of the cards so there might be some more tweaks coming in the near future.

RicketyEng says... #1

I got the chance I had been looking for to try out Humble Defector and Indentured Djinn. Unfortunately the defector worked a bit too slowly and quickly died to a board wipe (in a 6 player game). I have replaced them with Fevered Visions and Abbot of Keral Keep. I also made the switch for Eye of the Storm instead of Knowledge Pool.

Now I am looking for a spot to put Memory Erosion.

April 20, 2016 4:50 p.m.

lizgaa2410 says... #2

This is a really interesting commander to run with! I would always be stressed out throwing my hand away and trusting my fate to the heart of the cards! It's not a style I normally play, but it seems like Melek, Izzet Paragon might have some good synergy. He would increase the number of cards available for you to play at any given time, and copying cards is always fun. Also, if you play with people who steal your stuff a lot, Homeward Path might be a good idea. It's not budget, but it is handy. Jace's Mindseeker might also be a fun choice, so you can use you opponents' spells in addition to your own when he enters.

Again, this isn't a style I'm super familiar with, so my suggestions might be terrible...sorry about that. Your deck is super cool though!

July 12, 2016 3:01 a.m.

RicketyEng says... #3

It is a somewhat chaotic way to play, but there is card advantage generated by the Mindmoil effect since you get to see much more of your library and dig for combo pieces.

July 12, 2016 10:34 a.m.

RicketyEng says... #4

I came away from the EMN prerelease this weekend with a Docent of Perfection  Flip and I'm looking for advice about how effective it may or may not be in this deck.

I do have a bit of wizard tribal in this deck already, so how about a +2/+1, flying boost for my wizards?

On the other hand, would it pull the deck away from its goals?

July 18, 2016 5:39 p.m.

RicketyEng says... #5

I am ever growing to dislike Epic Experiment more and more because it keeps whiffing on me. Sure, it has potential to be epic, but more often than not in this deck it epically fails. I have resolved that it needs to come out.

So! Would Docent of Perfection  Flip make a good replacement, or is there something else that I should consider? I also now have Keranos, God of Storms available to me. Thoughts?

August 15, 2016 5:28 p.m. Edited.

aekrusty says... #6

Nice deck +1. Could you review and upvote my St Traft Azorius Duel? Thanks

August 15, 2016 5:29 p.m.

Guardian_Xain says... #7

Hmmmm..... I think Strionic Resonator would be a good addition to this deck, although I'm not sure where it would go. It would let you trigger your triggered abilities twice, which could lead to some really fun stuff.

August 16, 2016 12:12 p.m.

Your list seems pretty solid, the only card that I would think to add in would be trick bind, or wipe away. The split second on those cards can be truly devastating to opponents trying to combo out before you. And if it's an activated ability trickbind will stop it for the rest of the turn!! Just value

August 22, 2016 4:10 p.m.

RicketyEng says... #9

I have finally found homes for Keranos, God of Storms and Docent of Perfection  Flip by replacing Epic Experiment and Abbot of Keral Keep, respectively.

The next tweak I want to make is actually a card I wish to remove: Archmage Ascension. I have only had reason to cast it a very few times, and have not even once succeeded in turning it on; it is too slow. Therefore, I am looking for suggestions for its replacement. A quick look at my maybeboard suggests either Dictate of Kruphix or Preordain.

September 1, 2016 3:03 p.m.

RicketyEng says... #10

Some cards marked for replacement:

  • Memory Erosion and Jace's Erasure: I had originally wanted to try my hand at multiplayer EDH milling but they draw to much hate and this deck just isn't meant to be a mill deck.

  • Archmage Ascension: As previously stated, it is just too slow to be any use.

The trade-outs are actually going to start with Memory Erosion getting replaced by Aetherflux Reservoir which I just so happened to pull from Kaladesh prerelease winnings. The reservoir has the potential to add a little bit of lifegain resilience to the deck.

September 24, 2016 3:33 p.m.

bastlyo says... #11

hey,great work, hope you keeping it up to date further i am just playing a students budget version of it

January 26, 2017 10:05 a.m.

RicketyEng says... #12

Thanks for the interest! Recent changes were made to increase the storm potential and to remove another X spell which I never enjoyed casting in this deck. X spells don't really work well with storm because they are mana sinks.

Out: Fall of the Titans, Fateful Showdown, and Dualcaster Mage.

In: Mind's Desire, Turnabout, and Teferi's Puzzle Box.

Turnabout has done some crazy things for other players in my playgroup. The puzzle box gives me a free Arjun effect and interferes with players trying to hold particular cards in their hands. That bit of chaotic interference is also what I like about Possibility Storm.

In other news, Possibility Storm and Eye of the Storm both feature in another storm deck I have started working on so I may move them from here to there if I don't want them in both.

January 26, 2017 3:20 p.m.

bastlyo says... #13

what do you think about Glacial Chasm + Venser's Journal combo? it can buy some extra turns which is not that unimportant in that deck i guess

January 30, 2017 3:16 a.m.

RicketyEng says... #14

I don't think that pair would have the right fit for me. I would be too intent on the journal or Aetherflux Reservoir being in play before I even think of playing the Glacial Chasm. Also, if Splinter Twin + Deceiver Exarch shows any indication of how often a two card combo actually happens in this deck, then they aren't likely to happen very often at all (I've only assembled the twin combo once).

January 30, 2017 10:55 a.m.

RicketyEng says... #15

I would appreciate any thoughts on 2-3 card combos which I could focus on instead of storm. I recently added a few stormy cards but I'm already not feeling all out storm is the way to go (I recently built Yidris which is all out storm). I would prefer my original vision of using Arjun as a card-drawing engine to dig for combo pieces and trigger lots of card-draw triggers.

The current chopping block:

Cards being considered:

March 3, 2017 1:54 p.m.

DasTree says... #16

If your running Splinter Twin, why no Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker. Should be an auto include

March 3, 2017 5:46 p.m.

JANKYARD_DOG says... #17

Curiosity + Niv goes infinite, there is another aura that does the same, the name escapes me however.

Also, not sure if it helps, but Chaos Warp could be a multi tool for you either as removal or a kinda of tutor if used on yourself. Speaking of Tutors, Mystical Tutor may be useful as well.

March 3, 2017 7:47 p.m.