Any advice? Thrasios / Tymna Aluren - my first semi-competitive EDH
Commander Deck Help forum
Posted on Nov. 23, 2018, 8:54 p.m. by ToolmasterOfBrainerd
I impulse bought an Aluren because I really like the card and now I need a deck to play it in. I spent the last day or so putting this deck together: I sees a Harpy, an' a Strixy. It definitely seems like it's on the right track, but I'm sure it could be improved.
It's on a semi-budget. I already own a lot of expensive pieces like the lands, Force, Top, Library, Recruiter, etc, but some cards that would be really good such as Vampiric Tutor are a little out of my price range at the moment. The cards in my maybeboard listed under Upgrades are cards I'll be getting when I can.
Right now I have the classic Aluren + Parasitic Strix + Cavern Harpy combo, as well as backups in Devoted Druid + Vizier of Remedies and Aluren + Cloudstone Curio + Parasitic Strix. Are there other combos that I should be running? Is it worth playing Kalastria Healer in case I lose Parasitic Strix? At the moment Parasitic Strix is my only way to win the game. I don't want to use Flash Hulk or other self-mill combos. Are there better cards I should consider? Do I have enough lands? Should I have more interaction or should I play 'combo or bust'? My playgroup (when playing this) will consist of competitive players with focused decks, but not cEDH. I'd like this to hold its own a bit in a cEDH setting, but this definitely doesn't need to be quite cEDH. Finally, I'm a bit skeptical of Tymna the Weaver. I don't have many attackers and I will face quite a few decks capable of making much bigger creatures that can block. Would Ravos, Soultender be better? The recursion seems good in the face of removal (especially boardwipes). Any general advice is welcome.
Once again, the decklist:
I sees a Harpy, an' a Strixy
Commander / EDH*
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ToolmasterOfBrainerd says... #3
Given the speed of the deck I expect that I'll have a bullseye on my playmat more often than not. I anticipate a lot of creatures attacking me and a lot of removal spells and counterspells used on my stuff. I don't think I have enough resiliency at the moment.
I haven't heard of Prowling Serpopard before. Grand Abolisher serves the same purpose, and Xantid Swarm and Silence also fill that role. Autumn's Veil also has a similar effect, and is a card I'm considering. But Serpopard definitely has some merits over the others. I'm not really sure how much and what kind of protection to include.
Dang it, I didn't see that Curio specified nonartifact until now. That's so dissapointing. If I had Aluren, I really liked Trophy Mage into Curio into any creature to bounce Mage, then re-play Mage to find Strix and win, but that doesn't work because Strix is an artifact.
Thalia, Heretic Cathar and Aven Mindcensor have been so powerful and hated in my meta that I feel I would do myself a disservice to remove them. Silent Arbiter, on the other hand, I'm less confident in. My thinking was that I usually face a lot of creature decks and boardwipes hurt me a lot. Nonetheless, it's a 4 mana card, which is probably not worth it.
I'll remove Silent Arbiter for Kalastria Healer.
Would Ravos, Soultender instead of Tymna the Weaver help with resiliency? I don't think I'll be drawing many cards at all with Tymna in my meta.
EDIT: While those transmute tutors are uncounterable, they're also pretty narrow and expensive. I'll consider it, but I admit I'm skeptical.
Thanks for the help!
November 24, 2018 1:56 a.m. Edited.
Parasitic Strix + Cloudstone Curio doesn't work as a backup combo since Curio specifically states "non artifact". Cloudstone Curio is still a good card in the deck, but that specific line doesn't work.
Aluren is a bit of an interesting card with Thrasios as he works best as a mana sink, however Aluren combos don't typically generate mana. For this reason it could be worth adding cards like Cloud of Faeries and Village Bell-Ringer to help generate mana to then use Thrasios to dig.
Out of curiosity, have you thought about using Vial Smasher the Fierce over Tymna? if your deck is built around ETB, red gives you a lot of good options like Impact Tremors, and you can include cards like Animar, Soul of Elements as a backup line, as well as Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker combos.
November 24, 2018 4:34 a.m.
ToolmasterOfBrainerd says... #5
I thought about cloud of faeries and I decided it wasn't worth it because it only worked as a combo piece with Aluren and Cloudstone Curio and I have other cards (like baleful strix) which do this by accident and are playable in their own right.
Is Opposition good for tapping down opponents before I combo?
I haven't thought about Vial Smasher because I like WUBG. I already own the lands for WUBG and I think red would be a bit more expensive. That direction seems really cool and fun (kiki-jiki is awesome) but I think wubg is the better deck for me.
I think the biggest use for Thrasios is to draw cards when I need another combo piece.
Azdranax says... #2
I like the build you have here, and I certainly understand the stax elements involved, especially since you have access to white, but I might suggest running a more linear build that focuses more on getting to your combos as quickly as possible as opposed to trying to slip in a few stax options to slow down your opponents. My Aluren-based deck is a Muldrotha build, which skips white obviously, but becomes even more consistent as a result. Adding several additional cantrip creatures and multiple combo options (Torment of Hailfire, Grim Guardian, Kalastria Healer, Walking Ballista) that can potentially function with or without both Aluren and Cloudstone Curio on the board has helped to make the deck much more consistent in ending the game immediately once I find the pieces to one of the combo options, and turns 4 through 6 are fairly common. The potential for recursion with Muldrotha also makes many of the options in this deck far more difficult to deny, as outside of graveyard hate, exiling enchantments and artifacts can be tough. Check it out here - and sorry for the lack of a description just yet, I didn't upload the decklist to the site until a few months ago.
Grave Tidings
Commander / EDH* Azdranax
62 VIEWS
A couple of notes I will make otherwise for you to consider in your build - I find Grim Guardian and Kalastria Healer as more consistent options for the combo kill than Parasitic Strix, as neither of them are targeted abilities, and they both trigger the Curio when they ETB, eliminating the need for a specific third creature in the combo (any will do). Prowling Serpopard basically makes the deck unstoppable, and definitely deserves consideration. Dimir House Guard and Clutch of the Undercity are essentially uncounterable tutors to grab Aluren, which are really helpful. Deceiver Exarch, Rishadan Cutpurse and Sedraxis Alchemist are all excellent at forcing your opponents to use up their resources, which can potentially help take the place of stax pieces or just tap or eliminate their mana sources prior to going for the kill.
Hopefully there are some helpful ideas in here to help you get to the decklist that best suits your meta. Happy building and happy holidays.
November 24, 2018 1:21 a.m.