Tag: Battlecruiser

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The Great EDH Challenge: Naya – Samut’s Anthem

Decklist: https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/samuts-anthem/

Power Level: 3

I love commanders with haste. You know what’s better than a commander with haste? A commander with haste, double strike, and vigilance, that gives all your creatures haste!

I was amazed by Samut when she was first spoiled. This was a legendary black woman with a heck of a lot of power and utility. Plus, as an anarchist myself, “Voice of Dissent” sounds pretty badass. She wasn’t played much in Standard, but I knew that I wanted to make a commander deck with her at the helm someday. Well, that day came a little over a year ago. This deck has a special theme; it revolves around anthem effects, or effects that buff the power and/or toughness of all of your creatures. I originally wanted to make a voltron deck, but I figured that that would be a waste of Samut’s ability to give your other creatures haste.

This deck usually spends the first few turns ramping with cards like Three Visits and Into the North so that we can play our mana-hungry cards during the mid-game. This deck has a pretty high mana curve, so we usually need to spend longer setting up than our opponents. One spell a turn is what you should expect for the first seven turns. Because of this, this deck is really only suited to play with other casual decks, and makes a great companion to precons. If you don’t mind the slower pace of the deck, you will enjoy doing the math when you’re swinging a board with 4 or more anthem effects in play. Swinging a board with Iroas, God of Victory made a creature with devotion heavy lords like Balefire Liege and Angel of Jubilation is quite fun, but does take a bit of set-up.

All in all, this tends to be a battle-cruiser deck that sets-up to play a board of big creatures that empower each other for big swings. Samut can be a quick clock on her own, but is especially dangerous when you have a creature like Boartusk Liege out. And hey, our buddy Odric, Lunarch Marshal loves sharing her Double strike and Vigilance with the rest of the team. If you don’t want to get blown out shortly after playing a few creatures with this deck, hold back until you can make a decisively big swing against a problem opponent. This is generally a very weak deck, so choose your opponents wisely.

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The Great EDH Challenge: Grixis – Sol’kanar, Demon King

Decklist: https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/solkanar-demon-king-1/

Power Level: 7.4

We are finally here….Three-Color Commanders! Let’s start with one of my old favs.

My main man Sol’Kanar…what a dirty boy he is. He is ordinarily the Swamp King, murking about in the marshes and mud. However, when he gets bored with that, he goes to Hell and recruits some of his old buddies to wreak havoc throughout the Multiverse. This is what this deck is all about; Sol’kanar and his Demon Entourage wrecking holes.

This is a Demon tribal Battlecruiser deck, where I play a bunch of really high-costed, powerful creatures that do all sorts of interesting things. There are a few low cmc creatures in the deck, like Varragoth, Bloodsky Sire and Kardur, Doomscourge (thanks Kaldheim!), which are still quite powerful. I lean very much on my big boy demons to affect the board throughout the game, especially demons like Dread Cacodemon and Razaketh, the Foulblooded , who can be game-winning plays in the late game.

The high-cost of most of my spells really slows down the deck, so we spend the first four turns mainly ramping with artifacts. We usually play Sol’kanar on turn 5, and begin controlling the game in the following turns while playing bigger and bigger demons. Sol’kanar acts as a five-turn clock, especially when I’ve got Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth or Blanket of Night out. He may seem underwhelming, but never underestimate a five-power beater. However, once Sol’kanar is killed, there are plenty of other ways to win without him. Remember, most of our creatures are big, 6+ power flying beaters! You’d be amazed how few commander players actually use creatures that have flying.

And lest you forget, I am a Johnny at heart! There are 2 combos in this deck, if the beater plan fails:

Nexus of Fate + Planar Portal + 13+ mana each turn = Infinite Turns Liliana’s Contract + 4+ Demons with different names on your upkeep = You Win

All in all, this is a pretty casual deck that lets you sit back, relax, and play big stuff to win. There are plenty of tools to help you manage your opponents while you develop your board, and plenty of ways to shift the game in your favor when you fall behind. And don’t forget about the gleeful delight you’ll get from spitefully making an opponent take damage and discard their hand with a big Rakdos’s Return !