The Mad King of Tristram

Commander / EDH MindAblaze

SCORE: 59 | 111 COMMENTS | 12500 VIEWS | IN 21 FOLDERS


nobu_the_bard says... #1

Based on your decklist, I assume you've seen Wheel of Fortune and Wheel of Fate , but perhaps decided against their inclusion? I can't think of much else along those lines except Mikokoro, Center of the Sea .

That Obelisk of Grixis is underpowered, but themey; perhaps consider Astral Cornucopia or Vessel of Endless Rest ? They are functionally the same or better.

You might rather have Burnished Hart as an accelerator too, just throwing it out there.

February 18, 2014 12:48 p.m.

MindAblaze says... #2

I am aware of Wheel of Fortune and I'm looking for a copy. As soon as I find one it'll go in. I also really like Mikokoro and am considering Burnished Hart . I know Obelisk of Grixis is underwhelming and so far I've just been prioritizing play style and will focus on ramp soon enough.

Thanks for the suggestions! I've been told I have too few creatures, what are your thoughts?

February 18, 2014 2:50 p.m.

Aldenwar says... #3

Well here I am then :p What I think you need that I used in mine are the Library of Leng and Helm of the Ghastlord . Library of leng makes it so that if you have a good hand but want to deal damage with a spell like Reforge the Soul then you can discard the cards you don't want to get back and put the cards you want to get back on top of the library to draw them again! I see you don't have too many "no maximum hand size" stuff in, maybe consider adding some in along the library. Helm of the Ghastlord on other hand.. It's custom made for Nekusar! With that on using those cards that make people discard hands and draw new cards, will make them discard their hands, discard every card they draw while you get to draw! Now THAT is card advantage.

February 21, 2014 1:47 p.m.

Aldenwar says... #4

Oh, and the Helm of the Ghastlord also does the infamous semi-infinite combo with Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind

February 21, 2014 1:54 p.m.

MindAblaze says... #5

Ive seen Helm of the Ghastlord in some people's lists and it does make some sense. I feel like I need more protection for Nekusar to guarantee he doesn't just get killed in response. What do you think? It feels really awesome to me though...I just have some hesitations. What would you suggest replacing?

Library of Leng seems good too. I'm going to have to look for one now.

February 21, 2014 2:03 p.m.

Aldenwar says... #6

Well what got into my eye was the Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge . She doesn't make much sense, and exiling something vital may ruin the game for yourself. I don't know what is your preferred playstyle so it's kind of hard to say what else to take off :p

For protection, the Whispersilk Cloak and Swiftfoot Boots are edh staples. I found the Ghosthelm Courier to be pretty usable, as he can flicker spells and protect himself too, assuming he gets summoning sickness off before getting removed. As you don't seem to mind more expensive lands, Riptide Laboratory is good protection for wizards, especially for times when you're going to use a board wipe.

February 21, 2014 2:17 p.m.

MindAblaze says... #7

Riptide Laboratory is an autoinclude, very nice. At about $5 it's not going to break the bank.

I've decided to go with Lightning Greaves rather than Whispersilk Cloak . I tend to value haste over unblockable, and the free equip appeals to me since often Nekusar doesn't make it back to my turn.

I made a couple small adjustments cutting cards that have been questionable for me, I just hope I have enough spot removal now. A Grixis deck light on spot removal just doesn't feel right.

Also, I want to run Archmage Ascension but I think it's just removal bait so it's sitting on the bench for now. That's my problem with adding Bloodchief Ascension too. Hmmmm

February 21, 2014 3:26 p.m.

-Bean- says... #8

If you like Viseling , you'll love what it's a throwback to: Black Vise , and its counterpart Ivory Tower . Both give you massive advantages from having big hands all around, and give Trinket Mage even more value. A turn one Black Vise can deal ten damage to a player by turn 4 consistently. For one mana.

February 25, 2014 6:30 p.m.

MindAblaze says... #9

@ ProfessorDucky Thanks for the comment!

The main reason I run Viseling vs Black Vise is it hits everybody. Its also a creature and that is occasionally relevant. I've been considering Iron Maiden too. Thoughts?

I like Ivory Tower ...it's tutorable with Trinket Mage and helps keep me alive. I like being alive. What would you suggest I swap out?

February 25, 2014 7:49 p.m.

-Bean- says... #10

I would say Reverberate . That card is often dead, especially late-game. If not, at least swap it for Increasing Vengeance . Otherwise, maybe Chandra Ablaze . She won't be so strong in a deck with only 10 other red cards.

February 25, 2014 8:44 p.m.

MindAblaze says... #11

A lot of my Gold cards are red too. Regardless, I use Chandra for her -2 the majority of the time.

I see your argument about Reverberate and am kind of on the fence about it. For me, being able to copy their stuff is a huge advantage, and late game when I'm discarding and drawing so much I usually have a couple options to copy. Flashback is very valuable though.

What are your thoughts on the number of mana rocks?

February 25, 2014 9:45 p.m.

-Bean- says... #12

To be honest, I'd say it's about right. Maybe you could pull out Sire Of Insanity ? The discard, although often strong, sort of messes with your Sword of War and Peace and Viseling effects, as well as the Jace's Archivist effects.


I've also thought of a few more things: I'm surprised to see that you took out Spiteful Visions . And have you looked into Fate Unraveler ? Both cards were pretty much designed for this deck.

February 25, 2014 9:53 p.m.

-Bean- says... #13

Also, I noticed you're not running Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth . It makes a lot of casting costs (Underworld Dreams ) easier on you. Swap out one swamp?

February 25, 2014 9:58 p.m.

Gennten says... #14

Sakishima for double damage from Nekusar, Niv-Mizzet, and Crawler? Copy Azami and draw two for each wizard you tap? Copy Kaervek for double damage? Copy some other shit your opponent controls? Two blue and two colorless seems very cheap for a deck such as this.

February 26, 2014 12:17 a.m.

-Bean- says... #15

Sakashima the Impostor wouldn't double Azami, Lady of Scrolls ' ability, since it's an activated ability. But yeah, that'd be a great addition to the deck.

February 26, 2014 12:39 a.m.

MindAblaze says... #16

I'm going to add Urborg for sure, don't know how I missed that one. Sakashima seems really good too.

I cut Spiteful Visions because I like to do massive things like draw 24 cards in one turn cycle with Consecrated Sphinx and then discard them to Jace's Archivist or Windfall and if I've got SV out I die. Usually.

Fate Unraveler seems interesting, and as I was browsing during spoiler season it piqued my interest but at the time I remember thinking there are better cards for the slot. I'll add it to the maybe list and keep an eye out for a copy.

February 26, 2014 11:29 a.m.

shaistyone says... #17

Thoughts:
Chromatic Lantern is awesome for any multicolor deck
And for Nekusar?
Curiosity
Sigil of Sleep
Elder Mastery

February 26, 2014 11:29 a.m.

MindAblaze says... #18

Sigil of Sleep would probably get the deck banned from my playgroup. I like what you're thinking though. I'd be tempted to put a Warped Devotion in too. That reminds me, I want Cyclonic Rift .

Chromatic Lantern is really good. I feel like my 3-3-3-9 mana base with duals, shocks, checks and fetches makes it redundant though. I have one in my deck Mayael and Garruk's Wild Pair-ty and 90% of the time it's just a 3CMC mana rock. It does make a difference when I have a few colorless land out though. I won't forge about it if I find I'm missing on my colors.

Elder Mastery was one of my favorite cards when I started playing magic. It won me many a game. I'm concerned about 2 things; 1)Nekusar has a huge target on his head and unless I can get a Swiftfoot Boots or Lightning Greaves on him he's going to die and that's a big mana investment down the drain, and 2) what would I take out because I do think it would be awesome. I kind of frown on "infinite" combos in EDH though.

February 26, 2014 11:40 a.m.

MindAblaze says... #19

This is great guys.

I feel like I don't have enough creatures now. What do you think?

February 26, 2014 11:48 a.m.

nobu_the_bard says... #20

I'd agree the creature count is a bit on the low side, but for Nekusar that's not unusual. These sorts of decks usually run a lot of defensive options that make it less of an issue, like Crawlspace , Propaganda , allowing them to get more mileage out of a low creature count.

For actual creature suggestions I can't think of much. Did anyone suggest to you Kami of the Crescent Moon or Laboratory Maniac ? They both play into your strategy and aren't too mana-intensive.

You might want to reconsider Baleful Strix and Vampire Nighthawk , unless you mostly play 1v1. They are both sort of small aggro creatures. I would rather personally have other creatures that benefit my defenses, or synergize with Nekusar and other draw/handsize tools, like AEther Membrane or Guard Gomazoa , but you may feel differently. For those defense options I specifically mentioned things with flying/reach as most of your utility creatures will lack it by the way.

Kaalia of the Vast and the like are threats that will be able to apply a lot of pressure to you because of the way your deck works, so it would be helpful to have tools to mitigate her options. (There's a lot of generals that are similar to her in function but less blatant and common so she makes a good example.)

February 27, 2014 8:56 a.m.

-Bean- says... #21

If you're worried about early damage, Fog Bank and Guard Gomazoa are really good. Crawlspace + Maze of Ith are two cards that are good by themselves but amazing together. I also find Void Stalker to be pretty strong in EDH.

February 27, 2014 12:26 p.m.

MindAblaze says... #22

Void Stalker seems awesome, like Gomazoa without the restriction of having to have blocked it. Doesn't get around hexproof and shroud but no reason to not consider both.

I like Baleful Strix and Vampire Nighthawk as makeshift walls. Flying deathtouch blockers are great, especially since the same creatures that are going to get over Guard Gomazoa and Fog Bank are going to go over these guys, but at least they'll take somebody with them...provided they don't have first strike.

Maze of Ith I'm open to. Just gotta track down a copy. Maybe just print one off lol.

I've decided against Pillowfort style cards like Crawlspace and Propaganda for now. I tend to play in a slightly Timmy/Johnny style meta so most builds are going to drop one or two big things at a time and I feel like the tax on something like propaganda is negligible. To add them to this build in a volume that would matter I think would take away from other things I'm trying to do. I could take creatures out like the nighthawk or strix but where does that really get me?

These are great suggestions and it's Causing me to seriously evaluate my deck. Thanks guys! Keep them coming!

February 27, 2014 5:23 p.m.

MindAblaze says... #23

@ nobu_the_bard

Laboratory Maniac does fit in doesn't it. I was considering the real possibility of decking myself with this...especially with say Consecrated Sphinx and Hive Mind out then casting a Windfall . Not impossible...and it could be useful to have a backup plan for that. It makes me wonder if I should have something to shuffle my graveyard back in.

February 28, 2014 12:31 p.m.

nobu_the_bard says... #24

@MindAblaze! he does, yep! Most of my suggestions, I can understand why you would not be interested, but Laboratory Maniac is pretty zany and can pull out abrupt wins with things like the Jace's Archivist .

I have seen graveyard recyclers included in decklists I've played against but in practice it doesn't seem like they use them often, which is why I hadn't suggested any. By the time they might be interested in using them, they usually have gone through so many cards they already have exactly what they want or have had their graveyard exiled. It could just be the meta I've experienced though. The only one I have actually seen played effectively very often is Psychic Spiral (usually to finish off someone via decking who has been forced to draw out most of their library, with the recycling a side benefit).

February 28, 2014 1:02 p.m.

ozzar says... #25

March 1, 2014 2:26 p.m.

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