Long time filthy casual who dabbles in some sweatier formats like Legacy and cEDH, I mostly brew Commander decks that range from Casual to High Power.

Of particular interest is my pod of Legends Beaters, decks built around some of those Legends creatures you look at and wonder how they ever got famous enough to be a Legendary Creature! Wonder no more how they achieved such lofty status in a world where Royal Assassin was kicking around, because achieve it they clearly did! These decks are meant to explore that space a bit, as well as dabble in an alternate Dominaria, so many of the Role Play elements of those decks don't necessarily fit the Magic canon, nor are they entirely serious (as should be apparent).

Pavel the Mighty, Hero We Deserve Rakdos Chaos Control (radical egalitarian, carnival strong man, and rock musician out to improve the world through chaos)
Tobias Andrion, Political Mastermind Azorius Political Weenies (think leader of the Dominarian equivalent of the CIA, only he's a long distance telepath that invents mechs)
Riven, Savior of the People Dimir Interactive Combo (often Archenemy, this cutthroat for Casual deck uses combos. Riven uses populism and unrest to recruit people into organized crime)
Falconer of the Forbidden Way Gruul Eldrazi (ridiculous average MV beaters deck, the old 'downtrodden trod up' story, only with WAY more tentacles)
The Legend of Green Eyes (Lord Magnus) Selesnya Tokens/Anthems (charismatic Druid fighting to protect nature, nouns follow him anywhere, the pod's 'good guy')

Each of these is designed to generate fun and memorable games, with all of them eschewing things that are overly fast or powerful. They are all designed to do things their colour pair excels at. Interestingly enough, the better decks are usually able to hold their own in general metas, but I think it's safe to say that piloting them requires more skill than an average deck if you want win regularly. Over time I'll probably add more storyline to them, and/or clean up what's there already.

Another couple recent decks I'm very fond of that could probably be played vs a wide range of decks:

Staxdrop! (Snowdrop Vorthos Deck) This is my Snowdrop deck, it's designed to be played vs relatively powerful decks, probably 6-8 power level, below that it's too oppressive potentially.

Blood for the Bloodbraid! This is my Kresh deck, Kresh is an old Commander that came out during my really long hiatus from Magic, so I never got to play with him when he was 'fresh'. As is it can get out of hand, and since I've added some more spice to the deck it is very able to pull off explosive wins, this deck no longer has to win via attacks. I feel like it's probably getting too spicy for 6s, and might be able to hang with 8s more effectively.

My cEDH deck is Zur cEDH (Proxies), this is the proxy version, but I technically have the paper for Salt Miner (Rule of Law cEDH), my OG cEDH deck. The deck is complete homebrew, so keep that in mind if you take inspiration from it, but if you can keep other people from winning early it is a shockingly oppressive deck. Salt Miner is a fairly strong High Power deck as well fwiw, Rule of Law also does a lot of work in High Power, if not quite as much as cEDH.

I have tons of other decks, some of which have been kept up to date. If out of date most aren't wildly so, and I've found that it usually doesn't matter in practice if you don't run the 'best' of something and the 2nd best isn't 'way worse'.

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As Imodane appears to be mono-Red, I don't think you can run Boros Reckoner or Spitemare, unless of course people agree to allow Hybrid cards as either/or rather than both.

Another thing I thought about while looking at this list, do you have enough damage spells? I could be wrong, but I think your payoff to trigger ratio could be better with a few less payoffs and a few more triggering spells, drawing only copy effects and payoffs could make for an unpleasant game.

April 25, 2024 1:37 p.m.

Said on disintegrasean...

#2

Thanks for checking out my Sunastian Falconer deck!

April 24, 2024 10:51 a.m.

The OG Fetches are very good cards in almost any deck, and as I mentioned in my first post, I don't know if it would be easy to improve this deck without either adding Fetchlands or increasing the power level.

The easiest way to increase the power level a deck like yours is to add a combo, but your present power level is high enough that you'd need to add a fairly efficient combo, something like Protean Hulk to find a complete combo (ideally via a single pile), this would leave you at a strong 8, not quite cEDH but it's fairly hard to make Meren a cEDH deck at this point, her ability is too slow/grindy for cEDH games. cEDH Meren lists are likely to make use of something like Razaketh, or possibly a Phyrexian Devourer combo. Razaketh uses something like Life / Death to turn your lands into creatures so you can keep tutoring until you find both your combo of choice as well as the mana to play it. Razaketh decks love stuff like Lion's Eye Diamond, which is extremely pricey and does very little other than combo off. You'd also want Dark Ritual type cards, and possibly things like Lotus Petal and Elvish Spirit Guide. The main problem with Razaketh is getting him out early, but something like Final Parting can get you there by putting Razaketh in the bin and a Reanimate into hand. Similarly, you can reanimate a Protean Hulk (which you then sacrifice) to tutor up a game ending combo, the advantage of Protean Hulk is that it's easier to cast when you're desperate, but the upside of Razaketh is that you can tutor up any cards you want, Razaketh just gives you a new hand in exchange for a few creatures. I think Protean Hulk is the best of the lot, but Phyrexian Devourer isn't a bad option, you use Triskelion with it by getting both into your graveyard, with a Necrotic Ooze on the battlefield, you then just exile cards to put counters on your Devourer, and the only real drawbacks are your limit on individual MV (Devourer dies if it gets too big), and you'll need enough total MV to actually kill everyone (this isn't too hard if you go off fairly early, but it can suck if you take all game to get into position and can't kill everyone because you don't have enough cards left. Another upside to Devourer is that Triskelion also wins the game with Mikaeus (you ping Triskelion with the last counter so it dies (without any counters left) and has Undying). Oh, with Protean Hulk the 'smallest' pile I am familiar with involves Disciple of the Vault, Melira, Sylvok Outcast, Lesser Masticore, and Carrion Feeder/Viscera Seer, with that pile you don't even need Activated Sleeper to nab a second Protean Hulk (with only 3 MV after you account for the Sleeper). The main drawback of this pile is that the cards are individually bad IMHO (I would run Feeder and Seer, but none of the others fit in a generic Meren deck), and the lack of redundancy (Melira and Masticore aren't used in a lot of other combos in Meren decks afaik) makes it less stable than some lists. The final one I feel is worth mention is Demon of Dark Schemes, Mitotic Slime, and Phyrexian Altar nets you infinite mana, ETBs, death triggers, Energy, and all the creatures in each graveyard can be reanimated by you. The nice thing about the Demon is that it's only 6 mana (so technically Hulk can find him), and it can do a lot of work in certain situations since it can wipe small creatures as well as reanimate cards from anyone's graveyard. It's one of the better generic reanimation effects that can go infinite, and it's sheer range of utility makes it worth looking at even if you didn't use Mitotic Slime. The Slime btw is very good in most Meren decks since it offers a plethora of tokens for only 5 mana, while Phyrexian Altar (or Pitiless Plunderer) are both amazing cards in a deck like this.

If you feel like adding a combo, I wouldn't have more than ~2 trees/paths to work with, unless the cards are shared between multiple lists.

I can go into more detail if it would be helpful, I have a Meren deck on here you could take a look at, it's a lot more combo oriented than your list, but it's combos aren't optimal, they're all made with stuff I already had.

April 23, 2024 2:53 p.m.

Said on Rocks Dragon Deck...

#4

I'm not sure if it's too 'non-Dragon', but I've had good results fiddling with Orcish Lumberjack, especially in a deck with Mwonvuli Acid-Moss, Lumberjack and Acid-Moss gives you access to a true Sinkhole effect (you can even play it on turn 2), and it can technically find a non-Basic Forest fwiw. Technically you only need to tap the Forest and sac it to Lumberjack to play an Acid-Moss, but Lumberjack can also give you a turn 2 Dragon that costs 5 mana, does your meta feature a lot of cheap kill spells? If not I wonder if that'd be worth your while? I don't know for sure if Atarka had Orcish servants, but Orcs live on that plane, so the lumberjack has a tangential connection.

Also, since it's gone down a ton in price, what about Utopia Sprawl? It makes your Forests better, and you can't cast it without a Forest I understand?

Since you're actually in Gruul, I would just run Mountain Valley over Evolving Wilds, this can find a Dual, or if you're desperate it can still dig out a Basic (that you can use the same turn Evolving Wilds would allow you), the only issue is if decks play cards that blow up non-Basics in your meta (most don't).

It's not entirely budget, but Up the Beanstalk is a very strong card if you actually plan to cast those big Dragons, and it replaces itself.

I'm not sure what your meta is like, but if people run Stax stuff that can ruin your day, you can include Dire-Strain Rampage, this sorcery offers you a Harrow effect if you wish, but it can Naturalize something, or Ghost Quarter someone's important land in a pinch. The best part is that it has Flashback. It's not the fastest effect, but I feel like it's certainly good enough for sideboard (especially on a budget), and since it can also just ramp you it might be fine mainboard, ymmv.

It's an ETB tapped land, but Treetop Village is a reasonable attacker if you end up desperate, with your curve it seems plausible that you'd be able to play an ETB tapped land, maybe x2?

April 22, 2024 9:25 p.m.

Do you mean cheap 'fetch' options like Evolving Wilds, or pricey stuff like Verdant Catacombs? Proper Fetchland are really strong cards, and very few things screw you over for playing them. People typically benefit from Fetches if they have landfall effects, usually you need quite a few, or very good ones, or they are a lot of money for relatively little value, especially 2 colour deck. This changes a bit if you've got other synergies, especially cards that let you play lands from your graveyard, Fetch lands are incredible in decks like Muldrotha, the Gravetide, where getting a single one in your graveyard technically means you'll never miss a land drop (unless something happens). In your colours people often run Fetch lands with cards like Crucible of Worlds and Ramunap Excavator (there are more options, these are just very popular ones that synergize with effects that give you the ability to play extra lands, such as Burgeoning). The nicest thing about these sorts of combos is you can also throw in something like Strip Mine/Wasteland to generate a great deal of advantage over time.

Looking at your deck for a bit, it doesn't have a lot of 'bad' cards kicking around, so it's hard to improve your deck without raising it's power level. Arguably fetches don't increase your power level, they just make your deck a lot more consistent, but with enough synergies you can possibly shave a few lands if you ran all of the true Fetchlands that can find a Swamp or Forest (at this point there is a range of dual lands that have the Swamp/Forest typing, but most ETB tapped fwiw. I'd run at least 3 duals you can fetch out if you're going to run a bunch of Fetchlands, as well as a smattering of Basics.

Hope some of this helps!

April 22, 2024 7:47 p.m.

I would take a look at Open the Way, if it doesn't get reprinted in the near future the card is going to get bonkers I suspect, the floor of 3 mana for your next land is both playable and less hassles than a true fetch effect (you don't have to shuffle for it), but if you play it mid game for 6 it's a bit unreal.

Have you ever thought about Mask of Griselbrand? Flying and Lifelink are very good keywords, and this can be a VERY effective form of protection for your Commander, people can't let it die or you get a new hand for almost nothing.

Since people have to attack with everything (and can't send them at you), Rite of the Raging Storm might do some work for you, if an opponent can't deal with 5/1 attackers they are very easily killed.

Not sure how big your Thantis gets, but I like Mandate of Abaddon in my Kresh deck, Kresh can get big enough that this is not just a 4 mana one sided wipe, it also means I'm going to Commander damage someone out of the game.

Not sure how often your Commander gets locked down with stuff like Song of the Dryads, but Angel's Trumpet can be a decent back up.

It's a bit of a weird niche card, but I love Tempting Licid in a Goad deck, this guy can be attached to a creature that you forced to attack at instant speed, and now the opponent that creature is attacking is getting blocked by the kitchen sink, and as soon as those blockers are declared you just detach the licid and go on your merry way. I think most people find the card too confusing to play, but the effect is extremely strong, useful to threaten attacking or blocking creatures. It can also be a one player wipe if your Commander is big enough.

April 19, 2024 2:15 p.m.

Said on TessaMTG...

#7

Thanks for the upvote for my Meren deck, it's a deck that is near and dear to my heart, and Chatterfang is a worthy addition.

I'm glad a few of my idea were worth trying out in your SQUIRREL!!! deck, I hope they work out!

April 12, 2024 7:59 p.m.

Said on SQUIRREL!!!...

#8

Have you ever tried Revel in Riches? It's not a bad card with your Commander, especially since you can use treasures and squirrels to kill small stuff, very handy vs decks with plenty of X/1s. I was also curious if you have tried Mitotic Slime, it's an impressive source of bodies/tokens for a Golgari deck, it's very possible to build combos with it and Demon of Dark Schemes, and the Demon also kinda likes Chatterfang since he makes bodies while other cards make treasures!

I was so interested in this deck that I finally pulled out Haakon from my Meren deck, replacing him with Chatterfang. This deck convinced me that he's probably a better fit in a combo oriented deck.

April 11, 2024 7:33 p.m.

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Finished Decks 65
Prototype Decks 43
Drafts 0
Playing since Revised Edition
Avg. deck rating 7.61
T/O Rank 94
Helper Rank 20
Favorite formats Legacy, Commander / EDH
Suppressed formats Standard, Alchemy, Pioneer, Canadian Highlander, Highlander, Leviathan, Pre-release, Tiny Leaders, Oathbreaker, Block Constructed, Arena, Unformat
Cards suggested / good suggestions 578 / 269
Joined 4 years