#deck help

[angrykittenz62]

Can I get some tips on improving my Lunalight deck? I know it's kinda... dead now, but I still enjoy playing it, when the hand isn't dead.

[dimir-support-squad]

EDH Time

Hello to all who follow me! I'm working on a Phenax Edh deck right now, and I'm looking for card suggestions. I've already got an okay manabase, as well as the mindcrank/dimir guildmage combo and an isocron scepter. I was wondering if any of you people have any suggestions for what else to put in in? Please let me know! I'm very curious to see how everyone else would build him.

[languill]

Super Frienemies! In Standard

Okay, so I want to make a planeswalkers based deck for Standard. The main idea for the deck came from these 2 cards.

So you get a few walkers in your yard with Jaya and then cast Rebirth to pull them out. Maybe an Oath of Teferi too.

This is the main idea, but I need a whole deck that can help get to this point and win the game. So, anyone have any ideas or advice?

[commandtower]

Hey! I'm wondering something if you wouldn't mind helping me out. Im trying to build BGW birds with Derevi as the commander, any suggestions on good budget cards for the deck?

Hi, thanks for your question!

Birds as a tribe tend to not be one of the more expensive creature types to build around. Likely the most expensive aspect of the deck will be getting the artifact lords like Metallic Mimic or Adaptive Automaton, since there aren’t very many Bird lords currently. The Mimic is the most expensive of these two at around ten or twelve bucks right now, but they’re both fairly sought after since they offer tribal support to the less established tribes.

While there aren’t a lot of Bird lords, there are a few from older sets. Luckily, none of which should be exceptionally expensive. Aven Brigadier shouldn’t be more than a dollar or so, and Kangee, Aerie Keeper is currently less than two dollars. The oldest one is Soraya the Falconer which has had its text updated to affect the Bird creature type instead of the defunct “Falcon.”

Since the tribe has a decent token subtheme, cards like Emeria Angel, Aven Wind Guide and Battle Screech can be beneficial for your list. Most Birds have small body stats on average, especially for Commander, so you’ll probably want to consider anthem effects such as Cathars’ Crusade and Radiant Destiny that will benefit your board as a whole. You’ll probably also want some card draw options for this list since your mana curve will probably be pretty shallow and you’ll need to restock your hand regularly. Slate of Ancestry is a favorite of mine for creature-centric builds, and Kindred Discovery lets every Bird you play replace itself.

If you’re looking for more ideas past this, the popular Commander card recommendation site EDHREC has a subsection on Derevi devoted entirely to Bird tribal lists. I’ll link it here for you. Good luck with your build! I hope you have a lot of fun with it.

[ecurps]

could use some help on tweaking this.

working on a Hapatra Infect EDH deck and could use some help. if you guys are available, please help an unknowledgeable nerd out; and if others see this and are willing, I'd be more than happy for any guidance.

@goblintinkering @elspethsunschampion @the-foxwolf @the8x8theory @shorewall @isharton @the-burnished-hart @legendaryedhplays @hopelessly-vorthosian

[taigam-ojutai-master]

@edh people what are Bontu's deck friends... other than swamps...

[commandtower]

Hey, any tips for building a hybrid pillow fort / voltron deck with Teysa II (the DGM one)?

Hi there, thanks for the question!

I will confess that this type of deck is not my forte, as I generally prefer Orzhov as a utilitarian combo engine based around creature sacrificing and board control. That said, White and Black definitely have options available for you when it comes to building up a defensive wall, so I’ll try to offer what help I can.

White is one of the best colors when it comes to slowing your opponent down on the field. Well-known options like Windborn Muse and Ghostly Prison are Commander mainstays and easily slot into a deck that wants to do this. Norn’s Annex is another option but it’s not as viable in my opinion as paying two life to swing in with a creature that attacks for eight or ten is easy math. Archangel of Tithes is probably a better choice than the Annex as it dissuades combat and is also a body out on the field. Black often tends to prefer letting the opponent swing in but making them pay for it afterwards through cards like No Mercy and Dread. Note that Black brings Koskun Falls to the table here as well, which is a card that not a lot of people know about and fewer expect.

There are a number of options for reducing the value on your opponents’ plays through cards like Blind Obedience, Loxodon Gatekeeper, and Thalia, Heretic Cathar, among others. Similarly, cards like Rule of Law, Eidolon of Rhetoric and Ethersworn Canonist can lock down players that try to “go off” and do multiple things in a single turn. Decks like the one you’re working on tend to be slower to build up, and this will keep opponents from shooting ahead too far. Angelic Arbiter slides nicely into both this category and the previous one, although it is a bit on the expensive side when you’re playing in a color combination that will need to rely on artifact-based mana ramp. Aura of Silence is another well-known option in this category, and cards like Kambal, Consul of Allocation and Spelltithe Enforcer are interesting options here as well. This type of effect should be weighed carefully, as too much of it will likely paint a target on your head at multiplayer tables, and three players targeting you at once can probably overtake the speedbumps you put in the way.

Effects like Karmic Justice, Martyr’s Bond and Grave Pact might help you from losing the individual options you place down on the field. Since a strategy like this is fairly heavy on the Enchantment card type, you might also consider some Constellation cards that will further disrupt your opponents. Doomwake Giant specifically comes to mind here, and Agent of Erebos is a great option if any of your local players utilize their graveyard at all. Sphere of Safety also makes an excellent deterrent here, and Greater Auramancy offers an extra layer of protection for your enchantments.

Utilizing Teysa as your win condition is the most visibly reachable finish for the deck, and probably the most stable. Using Auras to help push the damage output lets you get further benefit out of the enchantment-based strategy we’ve been looking at already. The more obvious ones are likely the best – things like Angelic Destiny, Edge of the Divinity and Ethereal Armor are solid includes here. Flickerform is another way to keep Teysa protected in case you need it. One rather humorous option is Shade’s Form, which gives the creature the Shade mana-sink ability and also has a sort of prototype Totem Armor. Creature auras should probably be secondary to the global enchantments you’ll be using to build your fort, though, as once you’ve put yourself out of harm’s way you can swing in mostly at your leisure.

A final, if slightly obvious, note are cards like Replenish and Open the Vaults that allow you to have reset buttons on hand in case of a board-wide blowout. Retether is another thought here; it only grabs creature Auras but in your later game that might be a benefit to you.

Your specific mileage on each of these cards will vary, as including many of them will be dependent on what decks are being played in your local area and how you need to interact with each of them. I’ve probably given you more cards here than the deck will actually want to run, so you should take the time to consider each as an option and determine what suits you the best. Feel free to send me another message and let me know if I can be of further help, or if you just want to show off the list once you get it together. Good luck with the build!

[commandtower]

Working on a Locust God based Draw deck, so i have a Thought Reflection, a Reliquary Tower, and a Thought Vessel. Looking to add a Skull Clamp and a Laboratory Maniac as well as a Coat Of Arms to sustain those locust spawn. As well as Ashnod's Altar for Mana gen to equip the Skull Clamp and theoretically go through my whole deck in one turn. However this is one potential combo and requires all of these. Are there any other cards you would suggest adding in to make this more viable? -phaithrider

Hi there, thanks for your question!

The Locust God has some definite combo potential and you’ve started with some decent cards here. The thought of pounding through your whole deck is pretty fun. Ashnod’s Altar and Skullclamp are obvious points. If you’re looking to expand on this idea, consider Mana Echoes as a redundancy for the Altar -- it’s probably better in this situation as the Altar/Clamp pair requires the Coat of Arms or another anthem effect to keep from having to use two insects every time, whereas the Echoes is a passive so you’re constantly netting Insects and mana through the Clamp.

The Laboratory Maniac is one win condition for the deck and definitely works for what you’re trying to do here, but it may be more consistent to just create a horde of Insects and go for combat kills. To that end, consider the combination of Windreader Sphinx and Breath of Fury, which lets you create additional combat steps as often as you like by dumping more and more Insect tokens out onto the field in the middle of your swing. Additional possibilities for this setup include Coastal Piracy, Bident of Thassa or Deepfathom Skulker, any of which will work in the place of the Sphinx (or alongside it). Further options include cards like Impact Tremors or Purphoros, God of the Forge which can turn your Insect generation into a chaingun of direct damage. As a side note, cards like Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind and Psychosis Crawler also work here, although they trigger on the card draw. Still, they should be useful for your deck. Altar of the Brood is another option here although it will require a bit of finessing and some additional card selection to keep your draws from outpacing the Altar’s effect.

Overall there are a lot of paths to take with The Locust God that all utilize similar bits and pieces. You can fashion together a pretty decent engine with any number of cards like these -- and the ones I mentioned are just a few examples. I would like to politely advise you to take stock of your playgroup when building this because it has the potential to be pretty backbreaking without too much effort, so you may want to tune this idea to suit the level of play in your area. Good luck with your build, and feel free to send me the list once you’ve got it together if you like. I’d definitely be interested in seeing what you come up with.