Spirit/Arcane Commanders?
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on May 12, 2014, 9:58 p.m. by Kale64
There are so many legends in Kamigawa with spirit and arcane effects and seem to be able to have a deck built around them. Anyone have any positive experiences or any "damn I didn't expect this to be that good" thoughts on any of these cards?
Ohthenoises says... #3
Iname, Death Aspect works pretty well with Bloodghast , Kokusho, the Evening Star , and others. (Bloodghast for Skullclamp stupidity.)
May 12, 2014 11:06 p.m.
I have a Spirit Tribal deck that is really fun to play: The Spirit Tribe.
Karador, Ghost Chieftain is the commander. It uses a lot of creatures from Kamigawa. "Whenever you play a Spirit or Arcane..." triggers are fun. I haven't given any thought into Arcane cards yet. They also trigger when you cast them from your graveyard which is really nice.
It's not really combo orientated, but killing your Iname, Life Aspect into a Myojin of Life's Web to dump 20+ creatures onto the field is always fun.
May 12, 2014 11:44 p.m.
MrAptronym says... #6
The "Whenever you cast a spirit or arcane spell" effect is known as spiritcraft. I have been running a Kodama of the South Tree for casual fun. It is thematically restricted to just spirits (And Promised Kannushi , she's cool.) For a deck with so many awful cards, it does pretty well. I would not go to a competition with it, but I think the tree works well enough, the issue is that there are only a couple good arcane spells period and they are mostly red. Good spirits are all over color-wise and few and far between. I run soulshift heavily because its fun, but the cards are awful. Like, really bad. Still, the deck seems surprisingly tenacious and when you can get rolling, the overrun effect has caught people by surprise. I will type up a list and link it here.
If you are looking for a really great deck I would recommend Karador, Ghost Chieftain . No single color has enough decent spirits/arcane to make it consistent, and the only legendary multi-color spirit in kamigawa was Iname as One . Iname as One is a horrible general. Anyway, three colors would give you lots of ammo for spiritcraft, even if your general doesn't have the ability.
May 13, 2014 11:33 a.m.
MrAptronym says... #7
South-Side, Kamigawa is my very casual, fun take on it. A lot could be done to make it more competitive. I could use a bit more draw. Spiritcraft is a pretty weak mechanic so you probably need a bit of GoodStuff.dek to make something competitive.
Almost every single card in kamigawa with a block-exclusive keyword on it was bad. I hope soulshift or spiritcraft get the same treatment ninjas did in planechase.
May 13, 2014 12:06 p.m.
Kamigawa has some really good spirits. I'm looking at MrAptronym's deck for a few ideas like Lifespinner and Shinen of Life's Roar
I highly suggest Karador, Ghost Chieftain because it opens 3 colors (all of which have reanimator effects) and makes total use of your graveyard. I don't like Soulshift because with Karador the graveyard is an extension of your hand. Also, casting spirit creatures from your graveyard trigger Spiritcraft.
Spiritcraft is actually pretty good when you look at some of the creature that have it: Oyobi, Who Split the Heavens , Kyoki, Sanity's Eclipse , and Bounteous Kirin .
...okay maybe just those 3, BUT STILL GOOD.
Also include the non-Kamigawa Spirits like Spirit of the Hearth (which prevents graveyard exile!), Obzedat, Ghost Council , Karmic Guide , and Seedborn Muse (which I still need to get).
May 13, 2014 3:28 p.m.
MrAptronym says... #9
Gienah : Yeah, I give some of my decks some harsh restrictions for when I am playing against some of my friends who are new. Also I think soulshift is a very fun mechanic, the cards are just BAD. (Forked-Branch Garami is probably the only one playable in a better spirit deck) Some of the other cards are great though: Lifespinner , Long-Forgotten Gohei , Elder Pine of Jukai , Iname, Life Aspect , Loam Dweller , Seedborn Muse , Shinen of Life's Roar , Kodama's Reach , Kodama's Might , Wear Away and Unchecked Growth .
For a more competitive deck, Karador, Ghost chieftain would be best. I think he was actually printed as spiritcraft tech. The fact that he casts from the graveyard is potent, it means you actually get that spiritcraft trigger. From white and black, don't forget Celestial Kirin (I just realized if you can cast Evermind , say with cascade, you get an Armageddon, plus kill all tokens.), Oyobi, Who Split the Heavens , Kyoki, Sanity's Eclipse , Tallowisp (has to be built around), Thief of Hope .
For arcane spells: Choice of Damnations , Rend Flesh , Ethereal Haze , Goryo's Vengeance , Spiritual Visit , Terashi's Grasp , Hideous Laughter , Soulless Revival , Blessed Breath , Swallowing Plague , Horobi's Whisper , Cleanfall , Footsteps of the Goryo .
Thats not even getting into just plain good spirits: Spirit of the Labyrinth , Will-o'-the-Wisp , Karmic Guide , Nether Traitor , Windborn Muse , Bloodghast , Seizan, Perverter of Truth , Phantom Nishoba , Eternal Dragon , Souls of the Faultless , Oversoul of Dusk , Deity of Scars and Divinity of Pride ?
Okay, This actually looks like a really fun deck to make. I am a bit tempted to drop soulshift and go three color now. >.>
May 13, 2014 7:45 p.m.
NotSoLuckyLydia says... #10
If you do want to make a Karador Spirit deck, Iname, Death Aspect will be approximately the sweetest thing in the entire world.
May 13, 2014 7:52 p.m.
What NotSoLuckyLydia said. Iname, Death Aspect gets the deck going from one ETB trigger, then the game takes off.
And I linked my current Karador deck up there somewhere, MrAptronym, if you wanted to check it out. I'm still making edits to it. I just picked up a couple cards like Souls of the Faultless and a couple tutors to get my Inames out faster. The deck is really fun to play, but it still needs some tweaking. I like Cleanfall a lot.
May 13, 2014 8:41 p.m.
MagicalHacker says... #12
I personally like these two decklists: Every Cloud Has A Silver Lining and The Infernal Triangle.
May 13, 2014 8:55 p.m.
MrAptronym says... #13
I like the deck, I am usually really strict about my tribal decks only featuring the tribe. but It probably makes my decks far worse than they should be :P You have a lot of cards I wouldn't have thought of otherwise though. Like Wall of Reverence or Grimoire of the Dead . (Which I like a lot for that deck).
Honestly Iname, Death Aspect scares me. I actually like "I will either win or lose" type cards. I tried Phage EDH for a bit. But my group runs a lot graveyard hate (We have a couple reanimator players) and I would be scared to cast him and basically have all my creatures exiled.
NotSoLuckyLydia says... #2
The only one I can think of that's actually good in competitive EDH (Keep in mind I only play French) is Iname, Death Aspect . Pretty obvious why it's good. Mass reanimation combo tends to be pretty powerful. However, without Necrotic Ooze it's actually a fairly tricky deck to play. Skill intensive and stuff.
May 12, 2014 10:48 p.m.