Category Archives: MtG Deck Building

Revisiting my first built Commander deck

Deck tech, magic, MtG, MtG Deck Building


I finally got round to revisiting my first ever Commander deck that I built (which was only last year). I never posted that deck list, I just never got round to it.

The deck was a bit unfocused. I described it as having a plan a, plan b, plan c, and if none of them worked a plan d. The deck could make zombies, or play them. But it also had the ability to punish other players for playing the game. So they could lose life for drawing a card, or lose life for discarding one (which I could then force them to do).

I had fun playing the deck. But I just felt it needed a bit of direction.


I decided to stay with the Scarab God as my Commander, and be a bit more focused in the deck to utilising his ability.

So I’m doubling down on zombies. My creatures are zombies, or if they are not I can make them zombies! There are spells in to generate zombie tokens (lots of them). Naturally there are the classic black cards for tutoring and board wipes.

I think I’ve played the deck 3 or 4 times, and it did it’s thing, or tried to. So I’m pretty happy that it is now going in the right direction.

Too many plans Zombie Focused

Creatures:24

1 Proven Combatant

1 Dire Fleet Hoarder

1 Doomed Dissenter

1 Khenra Eternal

1 Miasmic Mummy

1 Tattered Mummy

1 Burnished Hart

1 Desiccated Naga

1 Eternal of Harsh Truths

1 Liliana’s Specter

1 Liliana, Heretical Healer

1 Lord of the Accursed

1 Moaning Wall

1 Plague Belcher

1 Bloodhunter Bat

1 Carrion Screecher

1 Fate Unraveler

1 Gavony Unhallowed

1 Gonti, Lord of Luxury

1 Liliana’s Reaver

1 Liliana’s Shade

1 Vizier of Many Faces

1 The Scarab God

1 Fleet Swallower

Creatures:22

1 Proven Combatant

1 Doomed Dissenter

1 Khenra Eternal

1 Miasmic Mummy

1 Tattered Mummy

1 Desiccated Naga

1 Eternal of Harsh Truths

1 Liliana, Heretical Healer

1 Lord of the Accursed

1 Moaning Wall

1 Plague Belcher

1 Carrion Screecher

1 Gavony Unhallowed

1 Josu Vess, Lich Knight

1 Liliana’s Reaver

1 Vizier of Many Faces

1 Archfiend of Depravity

1 The Scarab God

1 Archetype of Imagination

1 Soul of New Phyrexia

1 Overseer of the Damned

1 Distended Mindbender

Spells:36

1 Dark Salvation

1 Liliana’s Indignation

1 Sentinel Totem

1 Sol Ring

1 Traveler’s Amulet

1 Consign // Oblivion

1 Crook of Condemnation

1 Essence Scatter

1 Liliana’s Caress

1 Throne of the God-Pharaoh

1 Torment of Hailfire

1 Arcane Adaptation

1 Bontu’s Monument

1 Depths of Desire

1 Heartless Pillage

1 Liliana, the Last Hope

1 Never // Return

1 Oath of Liliana

1 Commit // Memory

1 Damnation

1 Diabolic Tutor

1 Liliana of the Dark Realms

1 Mastermind’s Acquisition

1 Raiders’ Wake

1 Contract Killing

1 Dark Petition

1 Increasing Ambition

1 Liliana Vess

1 Liliana’s Mastery

1 Liliana, Death’s Majesty

1 Painful Quandary

1 Revel in Riches

1 Spell Swindle

1 Deadly Tempest

1 Liliana’s Influence

1 Liliana, Death Wielder

Spells:39

1 Dark Salvation

1 Raise Dead

1 Sol Ring

1 Crook of Condemnation

1 Damping Sphere

1 Lightning Greaves

1 Torment of Hailfire

1 Trespasser’s Curse

1 Arcane Adaptation

1 Fortuitous Find

1 Golden Demise

1 Gruesome Fate

1 Infest

1 Liliana, the Last Hope

1 Never // Return

1 Recover

1 Soul Salvage

1 Sudden Spoiling

1 Wander in Death

1 Damnation

1 Dark Bargain

1 Diabolic Tutor

1 Endless Ranks of the Dead

1 Icy Manipulator

1 Mastermind’s Acquisition

1 Settle the Score

1 Torment of Scarabs

1 Dark Petition

1 Final Parting

1 From Under the Floorboards

1 Increasing Ambition

1 Liliana’s Mastery

1 Liliana, Death’s Majesty

1 The Eldest Reborn

1 Vanquisher’s Banner

1 Deadly Tempest

1 Stir the Sands

1 The Immortal Sun

1 Army of the Damned

Lands:40

1 Barren Moor

1 Blighted Cataract

1 Cascading Cataracts

1 Command Tower

1 Cradle of the Accursed

1 Crumbling Vestige

1 Desert of the Glorified

1 Desert of the Mindful

1 Dismal Backwater

1 Dunes of the Dead

1 Evolving Wilds

1 Fetid Pools

1 Ipnu Rivulet

4 Island

1 Mortuary Mire

1 Nephalia Academy

1 Reliquary Tower

1 Rogue’s Passage

1 Skyline Cascade

1 Submerged Boneyard

1 Sunscorched Desert

13 Swamp

1 Temple of the False God

1 Terramorphic Expanse

1 Vivid Marsh

Lands:39

1 Barren Moor

1 Blighted Cataract

1 Cascading Cataracts

1 Command Tower

1 Cradle of the Accursed

1 Crumbling Vestige

1 Desert of the Glorified

1 Desert of the Mindful

1 Dismal Backwater

1 Dunes of the Dead

1 Evolving Wilds

1 Fetid Pools

1 Ipnu Rivulet

4 Island

1 Mortuary Mire

1 Nephalia Academy

1 Reliquary Tower

1 Rogue’s Passage

1 Skyline Cascade

1 Submerged Boneyard

1 Sunscorched Desert

12 Swamp

1 Temple of the False God

1 Terramorphic Expanse

1 Vivid Marsh

That’s my Scarab God Zombie Deck. What cards would you replace?

Why did I Buy That Card? #1 Silverclad Ferocidons

magic, MtG, MtG Deck Building

Welcome to a brief adhoc series about recent targeted buys and why I bought them for my MtG decks.

Its a dinosaur, so that should be a big hint why? Especially if you are a long suffering reader of this blog. Yep that Dinosaur Tribal Commander deck of mine is the reason why I got this.

I don’t how I missed this card during Rivals of Ixalan. But after seeing its Enrage ability of when it takes damage each (and that’s the key word) opponent has to sacrifice a permanent. I thought that’s removal, a card that they won’t want me to block or attack with because if they do, they have to get rid of something. But I can ping it myself with some of the cards in the deck to force them into the situation.

The 7 CMC for an 8/5 isn’t that big a deal in Commander, plus with discounts it could cost me a lot less. It’s enrage ability tied in with its toughness means it can take a ping from my own cards and still be around afterwards. So I like the look of the card, it’s just which card does it replace?

Mono Red Commander Deck

Commander, Deck tech, magic, MtG, MtG Deck Building

I listen to a podcast about Commander ( I actually listen to about 3 on this specific topic unsurprisingly) called Commanderin. There has been comments over the episodes of a mono red commander deck built by one of the hosts that they have two versions of. One with land hate and one without. Depending on the group they are playing with and the stance on mass land destruction decides on which version of the deck is played.

I liked the sound of this deck, and thought I’d build my own. I made a half hearted effort to find the deck list but didn’t find it. So I started researching red land hate cards. I had one already Blood Sun.

I also needed a win condition, so I went with some big or biggish red creatures that I could then swing in with multiple times in a turn. Yeah I have a couple of cards that gave me a second or multiple combat phases.

Eventually I did find that deck list. Surprisingly we both went with the multiple combat phases, although I think my deck is more hateful on the land front. I like the recycling of the graveyard, and discarding hands and drawing new hands. So I’ve taken that idea to use in my none hate version of the deck.

The Commander for these two mono red decks is the insane Etali, Primal Storm.

Both versions make use of the multiple attack phases on a turn.

Here are the mana curves and amc for both versions of the deck.

Let’s get to the two different versions of the deck, which you will find side by side below. Please remember these are initial versions of these decks. Particularly the none hate version. I’d like to add an Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre at some point. Plus add one or two more cards that discard cards from the opponents. I might also look at even adding more none basic lands.

Mass Land Hate None Mass Land Hate

Creatures:26

1 Fanatical Firebrand

1 Harsh Mentor

1 Kari Zev, Skyship Raider

1 Raptor Hatchling

1 Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh

1 Combat Celebrant

1 Magus of the Moon

1 Rampaging Ferocidon

1 Scalding Salamander

1 Zo-Zu the Punisher

1 Captivating Crew

1 Hazoret the Fervent

1 Needletooth Raptor

1 Purphoros, God of the Forge

1 Rekindling Phoenix

1 Charging Monstrosaur

1 Charging Tuskodon

1 Crimson Honor Guard

1 Glorybringer

1 Heartless Hidetsugu

1 Keldon Firebombers

1 Neheb, the Eternal

1 Burning Sun’s Avatar

1 Etali, Primal Storm

1 Angrath’s Marauders

1 Bearer of the Heavens

Creatures:29

1 Fanatical Firebrand

1 Harsh Mentor

1 Kari Zev, Skyship Raider

1 Narnam Cobra

1 Raptor Hatchling

1 Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh

1 Combat Celebrant

1 Magus of the Wheel

1 Rampaging Ferocidon

1 Scalding Salamander

1 Captivating Crew

1 Golden Guardian

1 Hazoret the Fervent

1 Needletooth Raptor

1 Purphoros, God of the Forge

1 Rekindling Phoenix

1 Charging Monstrosaur

1 Charging Tuskodon

1 Crimson Honor Guard

1 Glorybringer

1 Heartless Hidetsugu

1 Neheb, the Eternal

1 Burning Sun’s Avatar

1 Etali, Primal Storm

1 Hellkite Charger

1 Angrath’s Marauders

1 Tyrant of Valakut

1 Bearer of the Heavens

1 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger

Spells:42

1 Blazing Volley

1 By Force

1 Sol Ring

1 Abrade

1 Armillary Sphere

1 Boom // Bust

1 Comet Storm

1 Crook of Condemnation

1 Dowsing Dagger

1 Lightning Greaves

1 Pyroclasm

1 Thaumatic Compass

1 Aggravated Assault

1 Blood Moon

1 Blood Sun

1 Crystal Chimes

1 Devour in Flames

1 Hazoret’s Monument

1 Insult // Injury

1 Open Fire

1 Shake the Foundations

1 Worn Powerstone

1 Blood Mist

1 Boiling Seas

1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance

1 Flame Lash

1 Flashfires

1 Hedron Archive

1 Melt Terrain

1 Nevinyrral’s Disk

1 Ruination

1 Vance’s Blasting Cannons

1 Violent Impact

1 Boulder Salvo

1 Hour of Devastation

1 Mana Geyser

1 Mass Mutiny

1 Sunbird’s Invocation

1 The Immortal Sun

1 Wake of Destruction

1 Star of Extinction

1 Obliterate

Spells:38

1 Blazing Volley

1 By Force

1 Sol Ring

1 Abrade

1 Comet Storm

1 Crook of Condemnation

1 Dowsing Dagger

1 Lightning Greaves

1 Pyroclasm

1 Thaumatic Compass

1 Thought Vessel

1 Aggravated Assault

1 Blood Sun

1 Chaos Warp

1 Crystal Chimes

1 Devour in Flames

1 Hazoret’s Monument

1 Insult // Injury

1 Mirage Mirror

1 Open Fire

1 Shake the Foundations

1 Worn Powerstone

1 Blood Mist

1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance

1 Flame Lash

1 Hedron Archive

1 Nevinyrral’s Disk

1 Past in Flames

1 Vance’s Blasting Cannons

1 Violent Impact

1 Boulder Salvo

1 Hour of Devastation

1 Mana Geyser

1 Mass Mutiny

1 Sunbird’s Invocation

1 The Immortal Sun

1 Disaster Radius

1 Star of Extinction

Lands:32

32 Mountain

Lands:33

1 Arcane Lighthouse

32 Mountain

Elf Tribal Commander Deck

Commander, Deck tech, magic, MtG, MtG Deck Building

The basis for this deck is the 2014 and Commander Anthology Guided by Nature Commander Deck. I was going to create an Elf Tribal deck from scratch, but after playing the mentioned deck there were a lot of cards that I’d want for my deck. So I bought a secondhand copy of Guided by Nature to change. Why reinvent the wheel, or most of it?

Like my other tribal decks there are some staples I’m now including in all my tribal decks. This Elf deck particularly generates lots of 1/1 token creatures. These are particularly vulnerable to cards like Blazing Volley, Scalding Salamander, or XXX, that can clear the battlefield of tokens and small creatures. These tribal cards amongst other things buff up my creatures protecting them from such cards. I think the last piece to my jigsaw will be to find an affordable (ie cheap) card that gives all my creatures indestructible.

The game plan for this deck is simple. It goes wide really fast. But the idea isn’t to really to swing in with lots of little creatures. Elf decks exploit this numerical advantage in other ways, like generating lots of mana, life, or buffing a creature. With the tribal cards that swing in with lots of not so small creatures is an option. But in reality it will be swinging in with one or two pumped up creatures.

Freyalise, Llanowar’s Fury will remain the Commander for this deck. Her +2 loyalty ability is what we are really after. Getting a 1/1 Elf Druid token that taps for mana. Ramp, and spamming the board with elves perfect. Her -2 loyalty ability is also pretty handy too. It’s there but not sure I’d use the ultimate. Plus I think the ultimate isn’t very threatening. Her +2 is the dangerous ability, and why opponents will target her.

I’ve played around with the decks mana base. Changed one or two of the non basic lands, and reduced the number of basic lands from 25 to 16! Which means I’m playing 28 lands in total. But with a Growing Rites of Itlimoc, a couple of mana rocks, elves that tap for mana I don’t think mana is going to be an issue. Plus there are a fair few cards in the deck that allow me to go search for a land.

Here is the deck list.

Counts : 100 main

Creatures:37

1 Boreal Druid
1 Elvish Mystic
1 Elvish Skysweeper
1 Essence Warden
1 Ezuri’s Archers
1 Joraga Warcaller
1 Llanowar Elves
1 Druid of the Cowl
1 Elvish Vanguard
1 Elvish Visionary
1 Leaf Gilder
1 Priest of Titania
1 Sylvan Ranger
1 Steel Leaf Champion
1 Thornweald Archer
1 Wellwisher
1 Adaptive Automaton
1 Elvish Archdruid
1 Elvish Branchbender
1 Ezuri, Renegade Leader
1 Farhaven Elf
1 Imperious Perfect
1 Lifespring Druid
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Timberwatch Elf
1 Titania’s Chosen
1 Drove of Elves
1 Dwynen, Gilt-Leaf Daen
1 Immaculate Magistrate
1 Ivy Lane Denizen
1 Lys Alana Huntmaster
1 Masked Admirers
1 Wild Wanderer
1 Wildheart Invoker
1 Yeva, Nature’s Herald
1 Tajuru Pathwarden
1 Elegant Edgecrafters
1 Gladehart Cavalry

Spells:34

1 Glaring Spotlight
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Silent Gravestone
1 Sol Ring
1 Stoneforge Masterwork
1 Emerald Medallion
1 Land Grant
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Lull
1 Moss Diamond
1 Steely Resolve
1 Thought Vessel
1 Beastmaster Ascension
1 Commander’s Sphere
1 Growing Rites of Itlimoc
1 Herald’s Horn
1 Nissa’s Pilgrimage
1 Presence of Gond
1 Pulse of Murasa
1 Root Out
1 Hunting Triad
1 Whirlwind
1 Coat of Arms
1 Freyalise, Llanowar’s Fury
1 Overwhelming Stampede
1 Predator, Flagship
1 Vanquisher’s Banner
1 Desert Twister
1 Grim Flowering
1 Obelisk of Urd
1 The Immortal Sun
1 Wave of Vitriol
1 Zendikar Resurgent
1 Praetor’s Counsel

Lands:28

1 Arcane Lighthouse
1 Evolving Wilds
16 Forest
1 Haunted Fengraf
1 Havenwood Battleground
1 Jungle Basin
1 Myriad Landscape
1 Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
1 Path of Ancestry
1 Scavenger Grounds
1 Slippery Karst
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Tranquil Thicket

Dragon Tribal Commander Deck

Deck tech, magic, MtG, MtG Deck Building

Last August WotC scored a home run with their tribal Commander decks. I know I’ve upgraded the Wizards deck first, but it’s the dragons everyone wants to play in reality. A bit like when Ixalan came out, dinosaurs were the real stars. And yes I wanted to upgrade the dragon deck. So my starting off point for this deck was that $20 upgrade from the same source as the Arcane Wizardry one I did. That worked really well, although I did deviate for that one also for a couple of cards. Like the wizards mtgoldfish give you a couple of ways to take the deck. I went with the only real one to play with dragons. I went big instead of wide.

The cards from the suggested upgrade list are being kept to one side in a little card holder so I can easily play with that version of the deck if I so wish.

For some reason I don’t have a Dragonlord Atarka. Which is part of the upgrade list in that article. Yes I have one on the way now. However in the meantime it leaves the deck a card short. So at the moment I’m trying it with the Nicol Bolas Elder Dragon Legend. But I’m also thinking Glorybringer might be a nice card in that slot too. So at some point I might try it with that also.

Anyway my main deviations are tribal cards, such as Adaptive Automaton, Vanquisher’s Banner and Coat of Arms. There are a few scattered in this deck. So my dragons get even bigger.

Naturally my Commander is The Ur-Dragon. The eminence ability alone makes it worth while. 1 discount on casting other dragons isn’t to be sniffed at.


Tactically this is a swing in with big dudes deck. Which if you hit the cards are pumped up even bigger. All the creatures apart from being big hitters also have some sort of ability that benefits us. That might be when they enter the battlefield, attack or die. Either way whatever is triggered is good for us. Although Deathbringer Regent does have to be timed so he’s not also taking out our own creatures. Otherwise it’s a board wipe leaving us with a 5/6 on the board with nothing to block it, especially if it has been given haste.

Here is the all important deck list…

Counts : 100 main

Creatures:28

1 Dragonlord’s Servant
1 Adaptive Automaton
1 Dragonspeaker Shaman
1 Boneyard Scourge
1 Dromoka, the Eternal
1 Kolaghan, the Storm’s Fury
1 Scalelord Reckoner
1 Scion of the Ur-Dragon
1 Scourge of Valkas
1 Sunscorch Regent
1 Wasitora, Nekoru Queen
1 Broodmate Dragon
1 Crosis, the Purger
1 Hellkite Charger
1 Hellkite Tyrant
1 Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius
1 Ryusei, the Falling Star
1 Savage Ventmaw
1 Silumgar, the Drifting Death
1 Steel Hellkite
1 Teneb, the Harvester
1 Atarka, World Render
1 Bladewing the Risen
1 Deathbringer Regent
1 Ojutai, Soul of Winter
1 Nicol Bolas
1 Utvara Hellkite
1 The Ur-Dragon

Spells:33

1 Earthquake
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Sol Ring
1 Dragon Tempest
1 Farseek
1 Helm of Awakening
1 Rampant Growth
1 Seek the Wilds
1 Steely Resolve
1 Anguished Unmaking
1 Commander’s Sphere
1 Cultivate
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Descendants’ Path
1 Elemental Bond
1 Growing Rites of Itlimoc
1 Herald’s Horn
1 Kodama’s Reach
1 Temur Ascendancy
1 Crucible of Fire
1 Frontier Siege
1 Syphon Mind
1 Utter End
1 Whip of Erebos
1 Coat of Arms
1 Crux of Fate
1 Gravitational Shift
1 Kindred Discovery
1 Palace Siege
1 Unburial Rites
1 Vanquisher’s Banner
1 Obelisk of Urd
1 The Immortal Sun

Lands:39

1 Arcane Lighthouse
1 Arcane Sanctum
1 Command Tower
1 Crucible of the Spirit Dragon
1 Crumbling Necropolis
1 Exotic Orchard
3 Forest
1 Frontier Bivouac
1 Haven of the Spirit Dragon
3 Island
1 Jungle Shrine
6 Mountain
1 Mystic Monastery
1 Nomad Outpost
1 Opulent Palace
1 Path of Ancestry
3 Plains
1 Sandsteppe Citadel
1 Savage Lands
1 Seaside Citadel
3 Swamp
1 Vivid Crag
1 Vivid Creek
1 Vivid Grove
1 Vivid Marsh
1 Vivid Meadow

Dinosaur Tribal Brawl Deck

Deck tech, magic, MtG, MtG Deck Building

This post will come as no surprise to anyone, especially after I said I’d put this list up in my previous post on Brawl. Yep jumping on the bandwagon like so many on the interweb whether they are youtubers or just players of the game, I’m putting up a Brawl deck list.

But before I start talking any more shite about deck building etc, I’m not claiming to be a brilliant deck builder, or that this is the greatest deck ever. This like the other decks I’ve put up here on the blog are just that decks I’ve built and enjoyed playing and decided to share with the world. Remember I don’t take part in FNM, or competitions, I’m just a casual player who enjoys building decks to play with. Feel free to suggest improvements, glaring mistakes, explain to me why my commander is the worst one ever, or why card X is better than card Y in the comments. If you haven’t commented before I need to approve your first comment but after that you don’t need me to approve anything. It’s just a little anti spam measure that hopefully isn’t too much of a hinderance.

For my first Brawl deck list I’ve gone with a dinosaur tribal deck based upon my dinosaur tribal Commander deck. With that as my starting point I first removed all the none Standard legal cards. This included all those cards not in Standard but legal in Commander, plus any cards that are banned in Standard (which in my Commander deck was 2 cards). That left me with around 74 cards. 14 too many for a Brawl deck.

Naturally I’m sticking with the same commander, Zacama, Primal Calamity. I don’t like playing against him. He’s so oppressive. In our meta once he’s out with the mana to back him up he’s stomping all over the battlefield. It’s basically game over. But how did I select which creatures stayed and which didn’t? With none of the Commander staples for mana ramp, the creatures that tapped for mana or gave me a discount had to stay. The Elder dinos were going to stay, then I went with creatures that gave me some ability when played, and stayed away from those that had the enrage ability in general. When I looked at the deck list when writing the post I thought I’m light on lands. Ideally there should be 23/24. But then I remembered with the creatures that tap for mana or give a discount, plus enchantments that increase the mana I can tap for, Growing Rites of Itlimoc, and Immortal Sun there is a bit of ramp and extra mana hidden elsewhere. There is also some tutoring with Commune, Forerunner, and Harvest Season. So with the tools or should that be cards? That I have this ain’t too bad a deck.

Here are the pretty pics the Decked app generates for me.


So the Brawl version has a slightly higher AMC to the Commander deck which has an AMC of 4.19.

So after all that waffle here is my first Brawl deck, Dinosaur Tribal.

Counts : 60 main

Creatures:27

1 Kinjalli’s Caller
1 Drover of the Mighty
1 Otepec Huntmaster
1 Raptor Hatchling
1 Atzocan Seer
1 Deathgorge Scavenger
1 Frilled Deathspitter
1 Kinjalli’s Sunwing
1 Ranging Raptors
1 Thrashing Brontodon
1 Forerunner of the Empire
1 Knight of the Stampede
1 Ripjaw Raptor
1 Charging Monstrosaur
1 Charging Tuskodon
1 Crested Herdcaller
1 Raging Swordtooth
1 Regisaur Alpha
1 Burning Sun’s Avatar
1 Carnage Tyrant
1 Etali, Primal Storm
1 Gishath, Sun’s Avatar
1 Polyraptor
1 Wakening Sun’s Avatar
1 Zetalpa, Primal Dawn
1 Zacama, Primal Calamity
1 Ghalta, Primal Hunger

Spells:14

1 By Force
1 Commune with Dinosaurs
1 Silent Gravestone
1 Abrade
1 Blood Sun
1 Crushing Canopy
1 Gift of Paradise
1 Growing Rites of Itlimoc
1 Harvest Season
1 New Horizons
1 Fumigate
1 Vanquisher’s Banner
1 The Immortal Sun
1 Star of Extinction

Lands:19

5 Forest
6 Mountain
5 Plains
1 Scattered Groves
1 Stone Quarry
1 Sunpetal Grove

Mono Black Aggro v2

Deck tech, magic, MtG, MtG Deck Building

The one thing missing from my initial version of a black aggro deck was a sideboard. Which I have to admit took a bit of a back seat while I have been working on other decks such as that Angel deck I did. Yeah I am aware these aren’t the best decks in the world. But these decks I’m sharing are only being played in casual games, not some hyper competitive FNM thing.

This version plays 12 1 drop creatures and 8 2 drop creatures. The addition of Night Market Lookout is great early on, damage and life gain. I dropped the Dinosaur Hunter, and replaced it with the Dire Fleet Poisoner. Which has Deathtouch, and Flash. So much more useful than Dino Hunter that only really kills things bigger than it if they are dinosaurs, and doesn’t have Flash.

The thing I noticed playing the earlier version and this one also to some extent is that this deck loves big creature decks. It has a lot of removal, either as spells or abilities of creatures I play in the form of etb effects or Deathtouch. Token spamming decks can be a problem. Hence the addition of cards that give opponents creatures -2/-2. That will get rid of a lot of tokens.

Ok here is the pretty graph bit from the Decked app.

I’m pretty happy with that AMC. It’s dropped from 2.28 to 2.16.

If you want to leave comments about the deck, if you haven’t commented before I need to approve the comment first but after that you are golden to post with out me needing to approve the comment. It’s just an anti-spam thing.

So here is the deck list you want to tear apart.

Creatures:27

4 Night Market Lookout
4 Skittering Heartstopper
4 Vicious Conquistador
4 Dire Fleet Poisoner
4 Gifted Aetherborn
2 Gonti, Lord of Luxury
4 Ravenous Chupacabra
1 Tetzimoc, Primal Death

Spells:10

2 Duress
2 Fatal Push
2 Walk the Plank
1 Gravepurge
1 Recover
2 Mastermind’s Acquisition

Lands:23

4 Desert of the Glorified
19 Swamp

Sideboard:15

1 Massacre Wurm
1 Noxious Gearhulk
1 Bontu’s Last Reckoning
1 Drown in Sorrow
1 Golden Demise
1 Infest
2 Live Fast
3 Never // Return
1 Rags // Riches
3 Vraska’s Contempt

Dinosaur Tribal Commander Deck V2

Deck tech, magic, MtG, MtG Deck Building


For the time being this is my final version of my Dinosaur Tribal deck for Commander.

It’s not that too different from before. There is one extra dinosaur, which is the Polyraptor. On the spell front the lightning bolt, Ashes of the Abhorrent and Rain of Thorns are gone. Lightning Greaves is in, as is a Madblind Mountain in the lands.

In games Zacama once out on the battlefield is devastating. Talk about controlling the battlefield with those activated abilities. I don’t think much more needs to be said about the deck. So here is the version 2 deck list…

Creatures:38

1 Kinjalli’s Caller
1 Drover of the Mighty
1 Otepec Huntmaster
1 Raptor Hatchling
1 Atzocan Seer
1 Deathgorge Scavenger
1 Frilled Deathspitter
1 Kinjalli’s Sunwing
1 Rampaging Ferocidon
1 Ranging Raptors
1 Ravenous Daggertooth
1 Thrashing Brontodon
1 Wayward Swordtooth
1 Forerunner of the Empire
1 Grazing Whiptail
1 Imperial Aerosaur
1 Knight of the Stampede
1 Raging Regisaur
1 Ripjaw Raptor
1 Charging Monstrosaur
1 Charging Tuskodon
1 Crested Herdcaller
1 Imperial Ceratops
1 Raging Swordtooth
1 Regisaur Alpha
1 Snapping Sailback
1 Bellowing Aegisaur
1 Burning Sun’s Avatar
1 Carnage Tyrant
1 Etali, Primal Storm
1 Sun-Crowned Hunters
1 Thundering Spineback
1 Gishath, Sun’s Avatar
1 Polyraptor
1 Wakening Sun’s Avatar
1 Zetalpa, Primal Dawn
1 Zacama, Primal Calamity
1 Ghalta, Primal Hunger

Spells:30

1 Blazing Volley
1 By Force
1 Commune with Dinosaurs
1 Silent Gravestone
1 Sol Ring
1 Abrade
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Path of Mettle
1 Blood Sun
1 Commander’s Sphere
1 Crushing Canopy
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Gift of Paradise
1 Growing Rites of Itlimoc
1 Harvest Season
1 Herald’s Horn
1 Karmic Justice
1 New Horizons
1 Sweltering Suns
1 Teferi’s Protection
1 Huatli, Radiant Champion
1 Return to Dust
1 Fumigate
1 Huatli, Warrior Poet
1 Vanquisher’s Banner
1 Kindred Charge
1 Planar Cleansing
1 The Immortal Sun
1 Star of Extinction
1 Zendikar Resurgent

Lands:32

1 Blighted Steppe
1 Blighted Woodland
1 Blossoming Sands
1 Boros Garrison
1 Command Tower
1 Fertile Thicket
5 Forest
1 Jungle Shrine
1 Madblind Mountain
5 Mountain
1 Opal Palace
1 Path of Ancestry
5 Plains
1 Ramunap Ruins
1 Rugged Highlands
1 Scattered Groves
1 Stone Quarry
1 Sunpetal Grove
1 Wind-Scarred Crag
1 Windswept Heath

Rivals of Ixalan Commander Favourites Part 1

Deck tech, magic, MtG, MtG Deck Building

Ok so the verbal diarrhea is back. I’m going to bore you with some of the cards I like from Rivals of Ixalan for Commander.

As you can see my first cards are The Immortal Sun (TIS) and Blood Sun (BS). At the time of writing TIS is going for around £7, and BS for a more reasonable £1.50 on Magic Madhouse.

So why do I like them in Commander? Well TIS does a lot for it’s 6 mana cost. Switching off Planeswalker loyalty abilities is really useful. In my local Commander meta (ie the students I play Commander with at work) there are one or two Planeswalkers in the decks. Heck I even use them in my Dinosaur tribal deck and a couple of others. I don’t mind taking the hit from this ability on my own Planeswalkers to stop an opponent using theirs. Getting the extra card draw each turn is immense. Card advantage and hopefully getting to a card you want faster is not something to be laughed at. But then I can cast my spells for a reduced cost on top of that! Then the universal buff to all my creatures of +1/+1. I think the value this card gives me when it hits the battlefield is way more than the 6 mana it costs me.

BS on the other hand is a great card. 2 and a mountain, I draw a card, and switch off all those non-basic lands except for generating mana. It means when I play a non-basic land it doesn’t come in tapped, or force me to return a land to my hand. Ok I won’t gain a life either, but then I won’t lose one. Yeah it benefits my opponents also. But it stops them tapping and sacrificing a ramunap ruins to do me 2 to the face.

I currently have both cards in the 2 decks I have built (Dinosaurs Tribal and Mono Red) and the Wizards one I am upgrading.

Tron Angels – mono white deck

Deck tech, magic, MtG, MtG Deck Building

I had to build this deck, angels are cool. Especially Archangel Avacyn and the Felicia Day look a like Archangel of Thune (wish I could take credit for that one, but that goes to Day 9 and the MtG show that they used to produce for the Geek and Sundry YouTube channel).

Naturally I would like Archangel Avacyn to transform into Avacyn, the Purifier. Sometimes I will throw a wall or Honour Guard under the bus, after I have flashed her out in the combat stage to get her to transform straight away.

But the transformation I really am after is from Gisela and Bruna to get Brisela, Voice of Nightmares out. I’ll happily play Gisela as early as possible, chump block with her, whatever. I’m not really worried if she gets to the graveyard. Playing Bruna allows me to fetch Gisela from the graveyard and instantly get Brisela at the end of that turn. The double card creature truly is an amazing thing to see on the battlefield.

The main thing I needed to solve for this deck was surviving long enough to play all these beautiful costly angels. The solution I game up with was 10 walls, 2 Tocatli Honor Guards. I’m basically using Winged Shepherd for it’s cycle ability, but can also be pulled back from the graveyard using Bruna if need be. Authority of the Consuls puts an end to haste and flash causing creatures to etb tapped, and gives me a life. Cast Out gives me that bit of getting removal of big threats. And Rout is just a good ol’ board wipe. Although Overwhelming Splendor is a funny card to play.

This deck also needs some serious ramp. That’s where the Tron Lands come into play. All three out they tap for 7 mana. I also get a little discount with The Immortal Sun, and creature buff. And with the Tron lands it’s 6 cost is nothing. I’ve had this out turn 4!!

So here is the all important deck list that I know you are dying to look at and pick holes in.

Creatures:29

4 Wall of Hope
2 Angelic Wall
2 Tocatli Honor Guard
4 Wall of Omens
2 Gisela, the Broken Blade
2 Angel of Invention
1 Angel of Sanctions
3 Archangel Avacyn
2 Archangel of Thune
2 Linvala, the Preserver
2 Winged Shepherd
3 Bruna, the Fading Light

Spells:9

1 Authority of the Consuls
2 The Immortal Sun
2 Cast Out
2 Rout
2 Overwhelming Splendor

Lands:22

2 Evolving Wilds
8 Plains
4 Urza’s Mine
4 Urza’s Power Plant
4 Urza’s Tower

Sideboard:15

2 Angelic Wall
1 Gisela, the Broken Blade
1 Linvala, the Preserver
1 Bruna, the Fading Light
1 Authority of the Consuls
2 Demystify
2 Searing Light
1 Ashes of the Abhorrent
1 Dazzling Reflection
1 Cast Out
2 Rout

For fun I did play a version of this deck with a couple of Approach of the Second Sun slotted in. That was fun, and an easy card to cast with the Tron lands.

Commander Decks Update

So that is the deck, it’s now going to be broken up and used to form the basis of an Angels Commander deck.

If I haven’t forgotten anything then I think this is the list of my planned Commander decks that I want to build.

  • The just mentioned Angel deck
  • A Death and Taxes deck
  • Elves

I currently have 3 Commander decks in progress.

  • A dinosaur commander deck
  • A mono red deck with land hate in it
  • Upgrading the Arcane Wizardry Precon.

The dinosaur deck is nearly if not there. You have seen the deck list already for the initial effort. When you see the “final” deck list I don’t think that you will see much difference.

Mono red is also close to being there I think. I’m waiting for a couple of cards to arrive that need fitting in. Then I need to come up with a version without the land hate.

I have a Wizards deck with some changes made to it. But there are a few more to do to this one. I have those changes on the way.