Paradox Scepter Storm: cEDH Primer
Commander / EDH*
SCORE: 107 | 225 COMMENTS | 44159 VIEWS | IN 57 FOLDERS
Why the Primer is Obsolete and Current Niche —Oct. 16, 2018
Back when I wrote this primer a lot of thing were different. Partners were just spoiled, no one really realized how powerful Tymna was, Raza didnt exist, Hulk was Banned, Kess didnt exist, and Najeela didnt exist. The meta was flooded with a ton of flimsy fast combo decks (with Food chain Tazri being the best by a wide margin), high tide Doomsday decks were king. And partner decks were very crude. As such PST had a clear place in the meta. It was a layered combo deck that had superior card quality to other layered combo decks. Aside from UBx and Tazri still being very good everything else has changed. Midrange decks have become a thing and most decks have a lot of interaction so fast wins are harder to come by.
Sans white PST cannot race Flash hulk, and it loses to Tymna in a grind. It having Paradox engine and Ad Naus as "1 card wins" is not as special as it used to be with Kess Najeela, and Blood Pod being things. What it does offer is a relative freedom from the graveyard (unlike Hulk and Raza decks) and if you build it right we can run higher card quality than most decks while also having easy to assemble wins.
The real issue is Tymna Vs. Vial Smasher. Tymna is an engine in the command zone and Vial Smasher has a nice booty and that's about it. Sans red is better by default. However, with thras tymna decks being META and Najeela being META, and Hulk and Raza being META , Sans white has a chance to be ANTImeta. It merely requires a shift in focus to be quite good. One of the thing that is necessary is that we need to punish creature decks. Wiping the board clean of Tymna and forks and setting Najeela back with a wipe can put the game in our favor since both our commanders have 3 toughness to block and survive wipes. Also if you run curiosity effects with Vial Smasher you can draw up to 5 cards a turn cycle (10 if you have both attached). These 2 things give smasher a purpose and help deal with the inevitability of Tymna decks. Even if you don't do the latter a more midrange friendly shell is needed. More CA (i.e Rhystic study) and interaction (assassin's trophy & dispel) are necessary. There is no room for mostly dead pieces (LED, culling the weak. Aetherflux reseevoir) and additional combo pieces (rings of brighthearth power artifact).
GiveMeSSRS says... #2
Thoughts on C18 cards? I'm thinking of testing out Tawnos myself, and maybe a Treasure Nabber if I have the slot for it.
August 15, 2018 11:01 p.m.
Still no room for Spellseeker? It can get you Demonic Tutor, Dramatic Reversal or them counter spells.
August 18, 2018 12:52 p.m.
Any thoughts on adding Rings of Brighthearth, Basalt Monolith, Copy Artifact and Power Artifact for more pieces to get to unlimited mana?
August 19, 2018 3:59 a.m.
VelvetVendetta says... #5
Astral Cornucopia...bruh? No dead cards? Please...
October 1, 2018 1:13 a.m.
Still not sold on Ancestral Curiosity for this deck and Flash Hulk?
October 10, 2018 11:48 a.m.
Lilbrudder, any updates on your list? What are your thoughts on Assassin's Trophy? I am currently testing this and I find it very powerful. It can also be a win-con when you imprint it to Isochron Scepter with Paradox Engine in play. When you have Vial Smasher the Fierce in play, it will be faster.
Also, please disregard my last post about Ancestral Curiosity. I’ve tried it and I realized that the deck’s original goals were very much disrupted. I mean, instead of tutoring for Paradox, since you already have Firebrand Archer in play, you tutor for Curiosity. I feel that if this deck will go this route, a huge chunk of our pieces will have to go especially control cards. I personally didn’t like that since I do have so much fun controlling the board somehow.
Anyway, looking forward to your updates, it has been 3 months already.
October 14, 2018 4:03 a.m.
By the way, what do you think of these adjustments on my version?
Exclusions:
-
Merchant Scroll - This is tough because it is still a tutor. But with a bunch of cantrips and card draw, I either get what I need or get better tutors in hand.
-
Training Grounds - Becomes a hot target when Thrasios is in play.
-
Natural State - replaced by Assassin’s Trophy
Additions:
-
Rhystic Study - I usually have a creature heavy playgroup, so Mystic Remora sometimes doesn’t give much.
-
Windfall - I just think this is still a powerful card. Synergizes strongly with Notion Thief, Yawgmoth’s Will and it can give you more cards.
-
Assassin's Trophy - oh man, how I love this card.
October 14, 2018 4:15 a.m.
Lilbrudder says... #9
Whoa I've missed alot. I left for a while so my apologies. I will address all the comments in the morning. I've taken a stab at updating the deck. Not 100% on it but it's a start rgwenceslao.
Lilbrudder says... #1
rgwenceslao: I think macabre could work. It's certainly the best gotcha! card in cEDH against graveyard shenanigans. With that being said having an outlet that doesnt contribute to my gameplan in some way and is 3 cmc for naus is a bit too costly for my purposes. Cremate at the very least is cheap and it draws into topdeck tutors for b (which is super relevant given our highish concentration of black rituals). Nonetheless Macabre is one of 15 or so cards that could work so I think it ultimately comes down to what you face. The cleanest win right now and possibly more relevant than ever is lightning bolt as it directly kills off scepter+ engine or double scepter without any overly complicated garbage. It also helps against nonsense like Godo, Tymna, etc
June 25, 2018 9:47 p.m.