Is there a perfect defense in EDH

Commander (EDH) forum

Posted on May 28, 2014, 6:22 p.m. by Doom_of_Valyria

Is there some sort of combo that can make you untouchable in commander? Is Privileged Position /Avacyn, Angel of Hope /Greater Auramancy /Sigarda, Host of Herons as close as it gets? Even with these you would still be vulnerable to bounce spells like Upheaval and destruction spells like Tranquility , yes? I suppose Iona, Shield of Emeria could help, but I was wondering if there was a definitive combo to building an impenetrable wall?

Osang says... #2

Those cards you mentioned are already threats by themselves, which would immediately warrant and divert attention towards you.

Trying to assemble a defensive Tron with enchantments and creatures is really hard to do, even on 1v1.

No one like invulnerability anyway; there's no fun in that.

ps: Upheaval is illegal in EDH.

May 28, 2014 6:32 p.m.

swkelly89 says... #3

i know theres Forcefield

May 28, 2014 6:32 p.m.

gufymike says... #4

my firend did a pillow fort deck based around enchantments, had everything going and a few that let him draw on upkeep and Paradox Haze then ran Island Sanctuary , Mystic Decree , Ghostly Prison , Propaganda and Leyline of Sanctity ... But yeah, unless you're running counter, you're going to get hurt by Cyclonic Rift and the like regardless.

look at Epochalyptik profile page and list of edh pillow fort staples.

May 28, 2014 6:36 p.m.

MindAblaze says... #5

Sterling Grove takes the position of Greater Auramancy too if you're looking for alternatives.

I've had that set up in my EDH deck before, so it is possible. But you definitely get attacked for starting to build your wall...don't you worry your little head about that...It'll happen. Nodootabootit. You just need something to give yourself hexproof...like Witchbane Orb .

May 28, 2014 6:39 p.m.

MindAblaze says... #6

Just go turn 2 Sterling Grove , turn 3 Cultivate turn 4 Mirari's Wake , turn 5 land, Wild Pair Privileged Position , turn six Iona, Shield of Emeria for Avacyn...easy peasy.

because you know...nobody will attack you while you're doing this...or interfere in any way.

May 28, 2014 6:41 p.m.

Bellock86 says... #7

I have an esper artifact EDH that runs Mycosynth Lattice + Darksteel Forge +Leonin Abunas + Witchbane Orb . Makes me nearly omnipotent except for mill which is why Elixir of Immortality is mainboarded as well.

May 28, 2014 6:43 p.m.

GoofyFoot says... #8

Solitary Confinement and Necropotence have always been my go-to combo

May 28, 2014 6:45 p.m.

mathimus55 says... #9

My buddy has an Iona, Shield of Emeria deck with all the pillow fort effects. Incredibly unfortunate. Norn's Annex is also phenominal. Probably one of my favorite defensive cards. Plus Avacyn, Angel of Hope and Ensnaring Bridge , well baby you got yourself a stew!!!

May 28, 2014 7 p.m.

ChiefBell says... #10

May 28, 2014 7:39 p.m.

Panda213 says... #11

Used to run Ghostly Prison , Teferi's Moat , Propaganda and Forcefield in a Ruhan of the Fomori deck and that worked pretty good :) it doesn't lock everybody out but makes you hard to hit and even if they do then its just for 1... it will make you a target though

May 28, 2014 8:05 p.m.
May 28, 2014 8:06 p.m.

Blakkhand says... #13

Well, if you have Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir + Knowledge Pool , Privileged Position , Greater Auramancy , Mycosynth Lattice , Darksteel Forge , Humility , Moat , and March of the Machines , I'm pretty sure it becomes impossible for you to lose to any card in the game.

May 28, 2014 8:37 p.m.

OpenFire says... #14

Island Sanctuary + Mystic Decree ? Is your friend Jeremy from LoadingReadyRun?

May 28, 2014 9:12 p.m.

Bellock86 says... #15

ChiefBell ~ I worried about the same thing. However in order for it to be effective Merciless Eviction has to be played saying "artifact" which removes EVERYONE'S entire battlefield from the game thanks to Mycosynth Lattice . If they say creature the only thing they hit out of that quartet is Leonin Abunas whom I can recover. And enchantments is useless.

Decree of Annihilation resets the whole game anyway and I have ways of dodging the worst of it so I still win in most cases.

This comes from having actually played the deck against the cards you referenced.

May 28, 2014 9:48 p.m.

OpenFire says... #16

What about Worldfire ? What's your plan there? Furnace of Rath all the way

May 28, 2014 9:49 p.m.

GoldGhost012 says... #17

Worldfire is banned, so no problems there.

May 28, 2014 9:55 p.m.

erabel says... #18

There was a Reddit thread about this sort of thing a few years back. Becoming "immortal" in MTG. Basically, as long as your opponent doesn't morph a Massacre Wurm or control a Humility , you can become all but immortal in MTG (while nothing else happens), and as far as I can tell, all it takes is Bant colors (GWU).

May 28, 2014 10:53 p.m.

erabel says... #19

And by Massacre Wurm , I mean Bane of the Living . Wrong -X/-X guy.

May 28, 2014 10:58 p.m.

erabel says... #20

Sorry about the triple post, but I gotta post about the "immortality" thing, because it kinda blows my mind.

With me so far? Continuing:

Still there, for some reason, after this wall of text? Here's the fun bit:

This is as close to an immortal board state as can be achieved, methinks (at least, according to that one Reddit thread). Thanks for reading (if you cared).

May 28, 2014 11:33 p.m.

GoldGhost012 says... #21

Imma gonna do that someday.

May 28, 2014 11:36 p.m.

Schuesseled says... #22

Is there a perfect defense in EDH?

Dead Opponents.

May 29, 2014 3:40 p.m.

NyanFries says... #23

Curse of Exhaustion + Erayo, Soratami Ascendant so they can't cast spells, and Indestructibility + Palisade Giant so their creatures do nothing, and Elixir of Immortality to go against mill.

May 30, 2014 1:45 p.m.

00xtremeninja says... #24

I like control aspects and board wipes for defense.

Wrath of God Damnation Day of Judgment Merciless Eviction

all of those are nice for when things feel like they are getting out of hand. but limit you to black and white colors.

Jester's Cap has always been one of my favorite cards. "oh hey, I am going to look through your library and exile 3 cards." This allows you to prep for what might be coming your way later on, and removing 3 very powerful cards from the game.

May 31, 2014 3:27 p.m.

Volsungz says... #25

I'm Making an all enchantment EDH Deck currently that abuses all the shroud, and my Favorite Combo.

Turn 1: Plains - Sol Ring Turn 2:Plains - Prismatic Lens - Fellwar Stone Turn 3:Boseiju, Who Shelters All - Enduring Ideal Search and pull Paradox Haze Turn 4: pull Opalescence , then second upkeep pull Enchanted Evening

All lands are dead, any land that is played will die, and nobody else can play anything except me. Then feel free to grab whatever Wheel of Sun and Moon is funny, or just go grab your enchantment creatures Archetype of Endurance , Perplexing Chimera just in case they have mana rocks, really just have fun being a douche.

June 1, 2014 10:51 p.m.

erabel says... #26

Volsungz: Doing some math, that only adds up to six mana turn three (Boseiju enters tapped).

June 2, 2014 12:18 a.m.

Volsungz says... #27

Then swap it to turn too, and Grim Monolith instead of fellwar, and the lens. It was more about the defense of taking away everyones offense.

June 2, 2014 5:16 p.m.

ImThatGuy says... #28

I like playing Orzhov control and I saw a few favorites of mine mentioned here but such as Necropotence + Solitary Confinement (which also combos beautifully with Venser's Journal ). A few favorites of mine I didn't see mentioned.

Glacial Chasm Costs a land and you have to pay more life each turn to keep it, but it's great for life gain control decks. Also it's a land making it tricky to remove.

Peacekeeper : Like Blazing Archon only more punishing because it affects all players and you have to pay each turn for it. Great for when you need to shut the battlefield down at relatively little cost.

Pariah : Prevent damage by redirecting it. Pariah is a great way to punish players who love to play indestructible creatures like Darksteel Colossus or Avacyn, Angel of Hope . Combos with Stuffy Doll .

June 5, 2014 4:27 a.m.

This discussion has been closed