Best Storm Commander?
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on Jan. 28, 2016, 1:16 p.m. by phc
I have been tinkering around with doing a cantrip/ storm deck using Zada, Hedon Grinder. Then I thought she might be better among the other 99 in a goblin token/ storm deck using Wort, the Raidmother. Zada could also work in a Mizzix of the Izmagnus. That would let me include Melek, Izzet Paragon as well. I am torn between Wort and Mizzix. The combination of blue and red is perfect, but I like the idea of turning non-tradition color combo into a storm deck.
Mandalorian says... #3
The problem I have with
storm is that card advantage is going to be difficult. Red typically has loot effects that replace cards in your hand but don't actually give you card advantage, cards like Tormenting Voice and Faithless Looting. These cards are fine for digging into the deck for combo pieces but don't actually give you cards, eventually your hand will run out.
I think I like Mizzix because of his CMC vs Melek. Recasting Melek for 8CMC does not seem appealing. Also, making big spells cheaper seems better to me if your trying to go off faster than copying whatever card may be on top, that's what Twincast, Increasing Vengeance, and Fork are for. With Melek you may be pushed to run artifact ramp to get him out faster. Not saying you don't want to run Sol Ring in a Mizzix deck but you may not need signets which could free up more slots for spells.
January 28, 2016 1:25 p.m.
CosmicTurban says... #4
If card draw is the main trouble you think you'll have, Keranos, God of Storms could help you out. Combined with the scry ability of Thassa, God of the Sea, and the fact that they are indestructible and don't have toughness, you could have a very sustainable and somewhat reliable source of mostly predictable card draw. Blue in your deck lets you into a ton of card draw too, so hopefully this helps. I like Mizzix of the Izmagnus, but for card advantage, she doesn't do you any favours.
January 28, 2016 1:33 p.m.
I personally play Mizzix of the Izmagnus and I love her. If you're going just straight 
/ your options (in my mind) boil down to Mizzix of the Izmagnus, Melek, Izzet Paragon or Arjun, the Shifting Flame.
My issue with Melek and Arjun is the CMC, 6 is a little pricey and make it hard to go off early. Melek is an okay commander for storm, copying spells gets you places but the CMC is hard when he's removed. My feelings are similar towards Arjun, he sifts through your deck relatively well but casting and recasting him is painful.
Mizzix on the other hand comes down much faster, and with fast mana she's gross. Reducing costs on spells is not only helpful when going off, it can allow you to afford to play protection spells and some level of interaction to keep from dying to a million creatures in the early game (All Is Dust, Blasphemous Act, Cyclonic Rift, and Mizzium Mortars come to mind). Plus, Time Spiral or Mind's Desire for is okay I hear.
The only other suggestion I would have is going Grixis for storm. Black gives you omni-tutors (Demonic Tutor), more rituals, more card draw options, Waste Not, and Yawgmoth's Will. Nekusar, the Mindrazer is a solid storm general because even if you don't hit a payout card it still kills your opponents that gets access to all of these options. Either way though, / or /
/ are solid options for colors and you can't go wrong either way.
If you want to look at a Mizzix storm list for reference you can check mine out on my profile (forgive me and my shameless plug lol).
January 28, 2016 2 p.m.
The strongest storm deck by far that I've ever played or played against is Moxnix's Jelevas Pile of Broken. Grixis truly does offer the best possibility for storm thanks to extremely powerful cantrips and ramp, and the ever-potent alternate win condition of Doomsday + Laboratory Maniac.
The commander itself isn't terribly important, as the deck typically combos out without ever using it. However, Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge does seem the best overall, as she can get the deck going again by swinging once.
January 28, 2016 2:47 p.m.
Wort, the Raidmother may be interesting but the card draw may be circumstantial and unsteady at best. Not to mention you miss out on some classic storm cards.
January 28, 2016 3:21 p.m.
That is good to know about the copies not counting towards the storm count. I am definitely think things through again. If I go grixis, it will likely be Nekusar. I already have a wizard tribal deck built around him. It would be a matter of retooling the spells in there. Taking out the wheel and punishment and punishment effects, and replacing them with cantrips and storm cards. Alternately I ditch the wizard tribal theme and do a grixis Relentless Rats build.
January 28, 2016 3:33 p.m.
ItchiUchiha117 says... #9
I mean, if you're doing Nekusar Storm, keep the wheel effects. Being able to pour through your deck while also advancing your clock on your opponents seems like a good idea for storm. As far as the punisher effects go, yeah, you can probably cut some (or most) of those, but I'd say keeping a couple in is probably a good idea. People are more likely to focus on trying to get rid of those than anything else in a Nekusar build, so it will leave more room for your "real" threats to get through. And if they do let them land, then just chain wheels until they die.
January 28, 2016 7:02 p.m.
Keep all of the three-drop wheels (Timetwister, Wheel of Fortune, Windfall) as well as Time Spiral. The rest aren't really worth running in storm.
January 28, 2016 8:52 p.m.
Make sure you got a Storm Entity for that final attack too.
January 28, 2016 9:47 p.m.
Another thing you could do is run a Maelstrom Wanderer deck, and use Wort, the Raidmother still. Technically cascading a spell is casting.
January 28, 2016 9:49 p.m.
If you're sticking with Izzet, Mizzix of the Izmagnus is by far your best bet. She gets entirely out of hand almost immediately. She effortlessly replaces Melek as the top UR spellslinger commander.
January 28, 2016 9:53 p.m.
TheRedMage says... #14
Speaking of draw sevens, I do have a friend that has been trying to put together Arjun, the Shifting Flame storm. It's definitely different than either Mizzix or Melek, can't say if better or worse though.
Ruffigan says... #2
Zada seems good for the potential card draw but the copies don't add towards the storm count so you'd have to rely on some quick mana to keep the storm train going. Why not do Grixis so you get
and 
?
January 28, 2016 1:24 p.m.