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Thread: [EDH] Diaochan, Artful Beauty

  1. #21
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    Re: [EDH] Diaochan, Artful Beauty

    Quote Originally Posted by Baumeister View Post
    I'm slightly out of my element here with mono-red, but it looks like the new Chandra from Oath could be pretty good for this deck. She's certainly splashy, if somewhat over-costed.

    As far as finishers go, you have a pretty sweet dragon package already in the deck - does Dragonstorm deserve a spot? I'm not sure if Hellkite Igniter or Hellkite Tyrant would help you at all.

    You could always be "that guy" and run some mass land destruction. People are usually okay with Ruination since it punishes greedy mana bases. I always liked Wake of Destruction, Boom // Bust, and Devastation to help seal the deal.
    I'm not sure how I feel about the new Chandra. Her +1 doesn't actually do anything particularly relevant in this format. Her 0 is interesting, though the real question is whether I'd be ok paying 6 to cycle ~4-5 cards at most, and I'm not sure. Her -X is similarly interesting. The best analog is Mizzium Mortars, which I get a lot of mileage out of, so I guess it's worth it. Overall it probably deserves some testing...but I'm not convinced of it's long term home.

    Dragonstorm is an interesting suggestion. First of all, I love the card...so that's a strong point in its favor. I could easily replace Akroma with Bogardan Hellkite or something to make it even better. The more I think about it, the more I like it. Thanks for the suggestion!

    I always forget Hellkite Igniter exists. For whatever reason I confuse it with Hoard-smelter Dragon and don't bother considering it. As for Hellkite Tyrant, that thing plus a Bribery or Control Magic would be bad news for me, which is why it hasn't made the cut.

    I'd like to stay away from being "that guy" if possible. I think going the LD route changes the dynamic of the deck more toward the typical Godo list while also putting a big target on my back...and I can't really stand up to the combined ire of an entire table. On top of that, there's some fairly budget mana bases in my playgroup, so Ruination type effects aren't as useful as they might otherwise be.

  2. #22
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    Re: [EDH] Diaochan, Artful Beauty

    So I decided to give Baumeister's Dragonstorm suggestion a go. That means making a couple changes to the deck:

    - Molten Disaster, + Mana Vault

    In an ideal world I'd be slotting in a Mana Crypt instead of a Mana Vault...but I don't have that kind of cash laying around so the vault will have to do. I also considered Grim Monolith for this spot, but decided Mana Vault being instead of was more relevant for storm count purposes. I may end up changing it in the future, though since the Monolith is all-around easier to deal with.

    - Illicit Auction, + Dragonstorm

    I'm kind of sad to see Illicit Auction go, but when it came to random niche cards I rarely cast it was on top of the list.

    - Akroma, Angel of Fury, + Bogardan Hellkite

    Adding another dragon seems relevant when casting Dragonstorm is a thing you want to do. There are plenty of dragons to choose from, but this one interacts favorably with other cards in the deck like Mimic Vat and Feldon of the Third Path, so it won out in the end.

  3. #23

    Re: [EDH] Diaochan, Artful Beauty

    Quote Originally Posted by Davran View Post
    So I decided to give Baumeister's Dragonstorm suggestion a go. That means making a couple changes to the deck:

    - Molten Disaster, + Mana Vault

    In an ideal world I'd be slotting in a Mana Crypt instead of a Mana Vault...but I don't have that kind of cash laying around so the vault will have to do. I also considered Grim Monolith for this spot, but decided Mana Vault being instead of was more relevant for storm count purposes. I may end up changing it in the future, though since the Monolith is all-around easier to deal with.

    - Illicit Auction, + Dragonstorm

    I'm kind of sad to see Illicit Auction go, but when it came to random niche cards I rarely cast it was on top of the list.

    - Akroma, Angel of Fury, + Bogardan Hellkite

    Adding another dragon seems relevant when casting Dragonstorm is a thing you want to do. There are plenty of dragons to choose from, but this one interacts favorably with other cards in the deck like Mimic Vat and Feldon of the Third Path, so it won out in the end.
    You might also try Seething Song and its ilk as you can generally power out some pretty cool plays with the additional mana. It makes the build more high-variance, but they do play nicely with Dragonstorm.

    Good luck, and let us know what ridiculous plays happen!

  4. #24
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    Re: [EDH] Diaochan, Artful Beauty

    Quote Originally Posted by Baumeister View Post
    You might also try Seething Song and its ilk as you can generally power out some pretty cool plays with the additional mana. It makes the build more high-variance, but they do play nicely with Dragonstorm.

    Good luck, and let us know what ridiculous plays happen!
    I actually considered Seething Song specifically, but I couldn't find a slot for it. I don't think the other red rituals are particularly worth it since "going off" really takes multiples and putting that together with my limited card selection seems difficult. Seething Song at least powers out some dragon or something if I haven't drawn Dragonstorm.

  5. #25
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    Re: [EDH] Diaochan, Artful Beauty

    Here's what I'm looking at for Oath of the Gatewatch:

    Warping Wail seems like a slam dunk inclusion in this deck. I can't see myself using the "make a scion" mode all that often, but the other two modes seem quite relevant. I'm not sure what I'm going to cut for it yet, but I'm definitely excited to try it out.

    The other card calling out to me is Endbringer as it gives me some options I otherwise have limited access to.

    The deck currently has 10 sources of colorless mana, which I'm not sure is enough to reliably cast or activate these things...so I'm also planning on adding a one-of Wastes in place of a mountain. Wastes being basic makes it fetchable with Solemn Simulacrum and Armillary Sphere - even if it does sort of telegraph what I'm holding. I might also find room for Evolving Wilds if I need an extra way to fetch it since it plays decently well with the few landfall effects already in the deck (and Crucible). I may move up to two copies of Wastes if needed...but I can't see going higher than that.

    New Chandra is a tough nut to crack. I'm not sure it's right for the deck, but maybe someone can convince me otherwise.

  6. #26

    Re: [EDH] Diaochan, Artful Beauty

    Quote Originally Posted by Davran View Post
    Warping Wail seems like a slam dunk inclusion in this deck. I can't see myself using the "make a scion" mode all that often, but the other two modes seem quite relevant. I'm not sure what I'm going to cut for it yet, but I'm definitely excited to try it out.
    It seems like it won't ever really have a huge impact on the game, but it is quite flexible. I'm a fan of cards that seem underpowered but are actually quite solid. My only concern is how often the colorless mana requirement is an issue.

    The other card calling out to me is Endbringer as it gives me some options I otherwise have limited access to.
    This seems directly inferior to things like Mind's Eye, Staff of Nin, and Memory Jar which fit better with your artifacts-matter theme. The Staff in particular does pretty much everything you want Endbringer to do, but has synergy with Voltaic Key and Clock of Omens (and Goblin Welder) and is not a creature which makes it a ton more resilient.

    New Chandra is a tough nut to crack. I'm not sure it's right for the deck, but maybe someone can convince me otherwise.
    She seems very interesting and powerful on paper. At 6 mana, each one of her abilities is strictly worse than if you were playing a different card, but if she sticks around for more than one turn, I think she is pretty solid. I would say it's more of a powerfully casual card than something you would use to min-max your deck. But that seems to be the direction you're taking it. It seems worthy of a test slot at the very least.

  7. #27
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    Re: [EDH] Diaochan, Artful Beauty

    Quote Originally Posted by Baumeister View Post
    It seems like it won't ever really have a huge impact on the game, but it is quite flexible. I'm a fan of cards that seem under powered but are actually quite solid. My only concern is how often the colorless mana requirement is an issue.
    Yeah, I'm a little concerned about the colorless requirement too. As the list sits right now without any OGW changes, I have 11 colorless sources (9 if you don't count Wasteland and Strip Mine), plus Expedition Map to go fetch one out. I figured that adding Warping Wail would make adding a singleton Wastes worth it since it's fetchable with Solemn Simulacrum and Armillary Sphere. I might also drop Haunted Fengraf for Evolving Wilds just as a third way of grabbing the Wastes if needed.

    The problem with that is that you run the risk of telegraphing that you're holding Warping Wail I guess...but I'm not sure how many people will actually play around it out of the mono-red deck.

    Quote Originally Posted by Baumeister View Post
    This seems directly inferior to things like Mind's Eye, Staff of Nin, and Memory Jar which fit better with your artifacts-matter theme. The Staff in particular does pretty much everything you want Endbringer to do, but has synergy with Voltaic Key and Clock of Omens (and Goblin Welder) and is not a creature which makes it a ton more resilient.
    What I like about Endbringer is that it has options beyond draw a card. I tend to like packing cards that do a lot of stuff into my EDH decks (see Trading Post and Staff of Domination) because the "meta" is so wide open that I like the flexibility.

    What I don't like about it, and where your point makes a whole lot of sense, is that to actually use some of the modes every time it's untapped requires a whole lot of colorless sources...and that's not something I think is a good idea. It seems like it'd be better in a straight up colorless deck where having a bunch of colorless mana lying around on your opponent's turns is a reasonable thing to have happen.

    Quote Originally Posted by Baumeister View Post
    She seems very interesting and powerful on paper. At 6 mana, each one of her abilities is strictly worse than if you were playing a different card, but if she sticks around for more than one turn, I think she is pretty solid. I would say it's more of a powerfully casual card than something you would use to min-max your deck. But that seems to be the direction you're taking it. It seems worthy of a test slot at the very least.
    I'll give her a shot if I'm able to pick one up while drafting or whatever, but I didn't think it was good enough to shell out $10 just to see if it works. The biggest issue I see is actually having her stick around since her elementals don't protect her and the deck is fairly creature-light...but who knows, maybe my opponents won't find her all that threatening.

  8. #28

    Re: [EDH] Diaochan, Artful Beauty

    Quote Originally Posted by Davran View Post
    Yeah, I'm a little concerned about the colorless requirement too. As the list sits right now without any OGW changes, I have 11 colorless sources (9 if you don't count Wasteland and Strip Mine), plus Expedition Map to go fetch one out. I figured that adding Warping Wail would make adding a singleton Wastes worth it since it's fetchable with Solemn Simulacrum and Armillary Sphere. I might also drop Haunted Fengraf for Evolving Wilds just as a third way of grabbing the Wastes if needed.

    What I like about Endbringer is that it has options beyond draw a card. I tend to like packing cards that do a lot of stuff into my EDH decks (see Trading Post and Staff of Domination) because the "meta" is so wide open that I like the flexibility.

    What I don't like about it, and where your point makes a whole lot of sense, is that to actually use some of the modes every time it's untapped requires a whole lot of colorless sources...and that's not something I think is a good idea. It seems like it'd be better in a straight up colorless deck where having a bunch of colorless mana lying around on your opponent's turns is a reasonable thing to have happen.
    Taking a closer look at your deck, it might benefit you to run a light mana rock suite. You already have Mana Vault, Sol Ring, and Mind Stone; things like Thran Dynamo, Hedron Archive, Dreamstone Hedron, Manakin, and Palladium Myr not only artificially boost your colorless count, but they also allow you to skip turns in the early to mid game. Your bad topdecks are mitigated somewhat by the synergy between certain red cards and sacrificing artifacts and the rocks that draw you a card are almost never dead. I'm not sure how much brute force you want this deck to have, but it seems like adding Wastes almost makes the deck two colors where one of the colors is nigh unfetchable.

    I'll give her a shot if I'm able to pick one up while drafting or whatever, but I didn't think it was good enough to shell out $10 just to see if it works. The biggest issue I see is actually having her stick around since her elementals don't protect her and the deck is fairly creature-light...but who knows, maybe my opponents won't find her all that threatening.
    This makes sense. Planeswalkers tend to be pretty bad in multiplayer without extreme protection. And I think the bolded part is just how you win games of EDH.

    At this point, I feel like you've found a good spot on the casual-fun/competitive scale for this deck. The deck looks quite fun to play. The only thing I can think is that there are probably some games where your cards won't come together quite right and you'll be stuck doing nothing. Of course, I imagine that's balanced by some extremely splashy wins. It's probably just a matter of tweaking numbers to make the deck as consistent as possible without pushing it into the realm of "overly competitive".

  9. #29
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    Re: [EDH] Diaochan, Artful Beauty

    Quote Originally Posted by Baumeister View Post
    Taking a closer look at your deck, it might benefit you to run a light mana rock suite. You already have Mana Vault, Sol Ring, and Mind Stone; things like Thran Dynamo, Hedron Archive, Dreamstone Hedron, Manakin, and Palladium Myr not only artificially boost your colorless count, but they also allow you to skip turns in the early to mid game. Your bad topdecks are mitigated somewhat by the synergy between certain red cards and sacrificing artifacts and the rocks that draw you a card are almost never dead. I'm not sure how much brute force you want this deck to have, but it seems like adding Wastes almost makes the deck two colors where one of the colors is nigh unfetchable.
    It's kind of funny you should mention this. When I first put the deck together, I had a lot more colorless acceleration in there (Grim Monolith, Thran Dynamo and Worn Powerstone) plus all of the rocks that still remain. That was fun when I would do something silly like power our an early Wurmcoil Engine or whatever, but it also made me a target even if I didn't have much going on except for a bunch of mana rocks. Then it would come to the late game and I'd often have this huge pile of mana and nothing to do with it since my curve basically stopped at 8 with Insurrection. I set out to improve things a little right around the time C14 came out, so a lot of the acceleration got cut for other stuff, and so far I haven't really missed it unless I'm at a table that's ramping like crazy and I'm falling behind.

    This whole "colorless matters" thing with OGW definitely makes me reevaluate some of those decisions because you're right - it almost makes this a 2 color deck. The limited player in me wants to treat "colorless" as a splash color, so I'm looking at dropping a Mountain to add a (somewhat) fetchable colorless source...which may or may not work out. With only one "colorless matters" card (Warping Wail) it should be enough. If I decide Endbringer is a thing I want to put in the deck, then I think I need to sit down and make some hard decisions on the amount of mana rocks to run, because needing access to 2 colorless for "value" makes running Wastes less consistent.

    The thing I like about the Wastes is that it's basic. Strip Mine is still a thing, but being a basic land shuts down some of the available land destruction effects. As I said before, it's also fetchable with Solemn Simulacrum and Armillary Sphere, not to mention random crap my opponents might have like Path to Exile, Collective Voyage or Ghost Quarter. It's also not one Disenchant away from locking you off of one of your colors, so to speak.

    Who knows - maybe 11 colorless sources isn't enough for one card to actually be cast without access to fetches. There's only one way to find out, though.

    Quote Originally Posted by Baumeister View Post
    At this point, I feel like you've found a good spot on the casual-fun/competitive scale for this deck. The deck looks quite fun to play. The only thing I can think is that there are probably some games where your cards won't come together quite right and you'll be stuck doing nothing. Of course, I imagine that's balanced by some extremely splashy wins. It's probably just a matter of tweaking numbers to make the deck as consistent as possible without pushing it into the realm of "overly competitive".
    You've described the deck, and the challenge of playing mono-red, perfectly. Sometimes things just don't pan out. Sometimes someone decides Diaochan is the most powerful commander ever printed (she isn't) and hates me right out of the game before I can do anything of consequence. More often than not, though, I find a way to grind out a win. I think it's a sign things are going well when I can't really decide what to cut anymore. Nothing still in the list has been objectively awful, so I'm at the point of trying to maximize each card's effectiveness while not going over the top. I don't think I'll ever get there, but that's what the format is about.

  10. #30

    Re: [EDH] Diaochan, Artful Beauty

    Quote Originally Posted by Davran View Post
    The thing I like about the Wastes is that it's basic. Strip Mine is still a thing, but being a basic land shuts down some of the available land destruction effects. As I said before, it's also fetchable with Solemn Simulacrum and Armillary Sphere, not to mention random crap my opponents might have like Path to Exile, Collective Voyage or Ghost Quarter. It's also not one Disenchant away from locking you off of one of your colors, so to speak.
    These are good points. In my metagame, if you're not accelerating, you're doing it wrong so it hurts a lot more to have to splash into a color that's only useful some of the time. Still, I really like the colorless cards and I hope they are strong enough to "splash" for. You're absolutely right that there is no harm in testing and I'm very curious to see the results.

    You've described the deck, and the challenge of playing mono-red, perfectly. Sometimes things just don't pan out. Sometimes someone decides Diaochan is the most powerful commander ever printed (she isn't) and hates me right out of the game before I can do anything of consequence. More often than not, though, I find a way to grind out a win. I think it's a sign things are going well when I can't really decide what to cut anymore. Nothing still in the list has been objectively awful, so I'm at the point of trying to maximize each card's effectiveness while not going over the top. I don't think I'll ever get there, but that's what the format is about.
    Been there. I spent years tweaking a Brion Stoutarm deck to make it function the way I thought it should before I finally realized that being handicapped isn't the worst thing ever. There's something cathartic about not being able to fully control the flow of the game and just ripping Serra Avatar off the top of your library to put someone out of the game.

    I'm just poking at all the perceived weak spots to see if there is any way to maximize the goals you're trying to achieve with your deck.

  11. #31
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    Re: [EDH] Diaochan, Artful Beauty

    Quote Originally Posted by Baumeister View Post
    I'm just poking at all the perceived weak spots to see if there is any way to maximize the goals you're trying to achieve with your deck.
    Definitely appreciated. I've been playing this deck for long enough now that I certainly have my blinders on when it comes to making changes. It seems like every time I'm ready to cut a card I play a game where it was actually useful, and it's hard to decide if the card is actually worth running or not.

  12. #32
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    Re: [EDH] Diaochan, Artful Beauty

    After much consideration and the generous gift of a foil Wastes from a friend, I made a couple changes to the list:

    - Crawlspace, + Warping Wail

    - Mountain, + Wastes

    - Haunted Fengraf, + Evolving Wilds

    - Armillary Sphere, + Wayfarer's Bauble

    The only real change here is adding Warping Wail. I've only had the opportunity to play a couple games with the modified list, and Warping Wail countered a massive Genesis Wave...so I'm hopeful that it's here to stay. The singleton Wastes was also clutch in that particular game as I was able to grab it with Solemn Simulacrum and actually cast the Warping Wail a few turns later.

    Armillary Sphere vs. Wayfarer's Bauble is something I've been kicking around for a while now. Sphere is mostly in the list because it's a sweet looking foil and is generally "good enough" when I need it. Lately though it's been either too slow, or not something I want to spend 4 mana doing...which leads me to conclude that it's time for a change. Plus, Bauble is 1 mana cheaper for some magical christmas land Dragonstorm turn...so there's that I guess.

  13. #33
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    Re: [EDH] Diaochan, Artful Beauty

    A couple of updates:

    - Wayfarer's Bauble, + Armillary Sphere

    I recently made this change, and decided to undo it for a couple of reasons. The nice thing about Sphere is it's technically card advantage, which is something mono-red decks desperately need. Bauble is fine, and is certainly better in an opening hand, but as a late game draw is sort of a wash. Plus, Armillary Sphere is much, much better looking in foil...so it's really a no brainer.

    - Oblivion Stone, + Rolling Earthquake

    Lately I've been having two problems with O-stone: 1) Its too slow at 8 mana, and 2) I have plenty of permanents I'd rather not blow up just to take care of a handful of creatures. Since I was using the card as a wrath effect much more often than a "reset the board" effect, I started evaluating red wraths and settled on Rolling Earthquake as the best option.

    - Daretti, Scrap Savant, + Whispersilk Cloak

    Daretti just doesn't do enough for me here. The card is a good one, and there's probably some alternate version of the deck that would love to have him...but my current list just isn't it. I'm adding cloak as another way to give my stuff protection from Diaochan, while also opening up some unblockable dragon beats.

  14. #34
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    Re: [EDH] Diaochan, Artful Beauty

    Shadows Over Innistrad is not particularly exciting for this deck. I might give Sin Prodder a shot since I cracked one in a prerelease prize pack, but I don't expect it to be amazing or anything. I think that card really wants a more aggressive shell to shine, but maybe my opponents are dumb enough to give me more cards.

    As far as other changes to the list, I've made a few recently:

    - Evolving Wilds, + Forgotten Cave

    Turns out fetching Wastes isn't super necessary as I have a bunch of ways to generate colorless, so if I'm going to play a land that comes into play tapped it might as well do something else. Believe it or not, I've never tried the cycling lands in here...so I figured it was time.

    - Vesuva, + Mountain

    Vesuva has been on the bubble for a while now. I've lived the dream of copying Valakut with it exactly once...otherwise it's usually a tapped mountain or discard fodder for some random thing. I never tutor for it, and I rarely want to draw it...so out it comes. I might try and get my hands on Sea Gate Wreckage for this slot, but for now basic mountain is fine.

    - Dragonstorm, + Chandra, Flamecaller

    Oh Dragonstorm...I so wanted you to be good in here, and man are you not. I've resolved a Dragonstorm for 2 once, and it was awesome. Not because I won or anything, but because the card actually did something for once. I've also tutored for it a couple times to have it be too little too late, had it discarded to some sort of Mind Twist effect, discarded it to Faithless Looting for costing 9 mana...you get the idea. Dragonstorm is a sweet card...just not in this deck.

    I finally got my hands on a Chandra, Flamecaller to test, so test her I shall.


    - Bogardan Hellkite, + ????

    Since I cut Dragonstorm, Bogardan Hellkite is a little too expensive for what you get out of the deal. That said, I'm not sure what to replace it with. Some potential contenders are: Pithing Needle, Wild Guess, Anger, Deal Broker...and probably some other stuff. I'm definitely open to suggestions.

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    Re: [EDH] Diaochan, Artful Beauty

    Been a while since I updated, but that's because the list is getting really tight these days. I'm happy with almost every card in it, though it seems I'm always making some minor tweaks.

    - Akoum Hellkite, + Pyrohemia

    I originally swapped the Hellkite for Stormbreath Dragon, which was fine. That lasted a couple weeks before I decided what I really wanted in this slot was another mass removal effect. I was really hoping for some sort of functional Blasphemous Act reprint in SOI, but that didn't happen. Then I remembered that Pyrohemia existed, and decided to give it a shot. My other consideration was Chain Reaction, and I might still go that route if this doesn't work out.

    - Bogardan Hellkite, + Wild Guess

    Dragonstorm came out a while ago, and Bogardan Hellkite really wasn't super amazing (with or without Dragonstorm), so it was time to make a change. This should probably be Tormenting Voice because it's easier to cast, but all of the arts on all 3 variants of that card suck, so here we are. I've had the opportunity to cast this several times, and it's always been decent for me, so I think it's here to stay until WotC gives me something better.

    - Seer's Sundial, + Mind's Eye

    Not much to see here - Mind's Eye is a strict upgrade to the Sundial, and I really should have pulled the trigger on switching these a long time ago.

  16. #36
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    Re: [EDH] Diaochan, Artful Beauty

    It's been forever since I've updated, but that's mostly because I haven't gotten any new toys lately. Only one change to talk about:

    - Staff of Domination, + Collective Defiance

    I'm honestly not sure if Collective Defiance is actually good. I cut all of the wheels some time ago due to not wanting to give my opponents a fresh hand and I haven't looked back...but this thing seems like a one-sided wheel (sort of) for just me which might be useful. It's also a somewhat strong removal spell for one extra mana, and I like a good 2 for 1 as much as the next guy. The 3 to the face mode isn't particularly useful, but I suppose it could randomly pick off a planeswalker or something which isn't nothing. Two solid modes and one semi-useful mode at sorcery speed seems to be what I should expect out of red modal spells these days (see Firey Confluence), so I'll give this one a shot.

    Staff of Domination is such a useful card, but man is it expensive to operate. I often find that I'm torn between activating staff for some effect (usually tap a creature or draw a card) or developing my board, and it's an awkward place to be. It also has a pretty big target on it because people automatically assume Metalworker is coming soon, so I frequently cast it to have it more or less immediately destroyed.

    I'm also considering finding room for Command Beacon somewhere in here (possibly over Great Furnace or Forgotten Cave). I was initially sort of cold on how useful the effect would be, but there have been quite a few games where Diaochan has died enough to cost 8 or 10 mana, which is way too much for her effect. Command Beacon would let me sidestep the bulk of that cost, which would allow me to play and equip her in the same turn.

  17. #37
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    Re: [EDH] Diaochan, Artful Beauty

    Time for some updates.

    Nothing new from Conspiracy: Take the Crown, which is really too bad because I really enjoy the goad mechanic. Being the monarch and therefore the aggro target is exactly the opposite of what this deck wants, so no new toys for us.

    Kaladesh though...Kaladesh is promising.

    - Collective Defiance, + Deal Broker

    In my last update I wondered if Collective Defiance was actually good. Turns out it isn't. Moving on, I slotted Deal Broker back in as I think another looting effect could be useful. So far it hasn't been amazing, but it's been less awful than Collective Defiance so we're moving in the right direction.

    - Mountain, + Inventors' Fair

    Incidental life gain on a land that I can cash in for an artifact? Sign me up! I don't think this will be astounding or anything, but it's just the sort of grindy card I like in this deck. Yet another reason to run Crucible of Worlds too, which is a nice little bonus.

    - Pyrohemia, + Combustible Gearhulk

    Pyrohemia has not really been working out for me. It takes way too much mana to kill anything relevant, and by the time I actually want to use it the life loss can be very relevant. As for the Gearhulk, I'm honestly not sure if it's worth running. It's an artifact, which makes reusing it or searching it up relatively easy...but that doesn't mean it'll ever draw me cards.

    I'm also looking at adding Chandra, Torch of Defiance when I get my hands on a copy. Not being able to play lands off of her +1 is a bit of a downer, but it's still a fairly relevant effect. It'll probably replace the Deal Broker, which is certainly a nice upgrade.

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    Re: [EDH] Diaochan, Artful Beauty

    Been a while since I updated the list, so here goes:

    - Deal Broker, + Anger

    Deal Broker is out again simply because it's the weakest card in the deck right now. Anger is in because I picked up a foil and want to try it out.

    - Mana Vault, + Everflowing Chalice

    No question that Mana Vault is the more powerful card here. The problem is the untap cost, and more importantly, the timing restriction. This deck does almost everything at sorcery speed, so the temporary mana increase for a rather large tempo hit later on is a big deal. Besides, Everflowing Chalice is available in foil .

  19. #39
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    Re: [EDH] Diaochan, Artful Beauty

    Another couple months pass, and another couple updates appear:

    - Wastes, + Chandra, Torch of Defiance

    - Warping Wail, + Scrap Trawler

    Finally managed to pick up a new Chandra for testing purposes (sadly not foil, though). Unfortunately she hasn't come up yet in the few games I've played, but I'm optimistic.

    As for Scrap Trawler, I really want to like the card. It does some neat things with Goblin Welder, Mimic Vat, Feldon, and/or Trading Post, and there are plenty of targets at pretty much every mana cost.

    Warping Wail is getting cut as simply the "loosest" card in the deck. Overall I've been happy with it, and have gotten several blowouts by casting it, but it is ultimately very situational and often not useful, so it's probably right to cut it. Without Warping Wail, Wastes is not doing anything, so that's a safe cut too...though I am a little worried about only having 36 mana producing lands. I'll be keeping an eye on my draws to see if it's relevant.

  20. #40
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    Re: [EDH] Diaochan, Artful Beauty

    Turns out Scrap Trawler is garbage. I suspected that might be the case, but I figured I'd give it a shot anyway. On to the next thing I guess.

    I stuck a Smuggler's Copter in with the intention of trying it out, and I ended up really liking it. It has a lot of things going for it:

    1. It gives me something to do with Diaochan when I don't have protection or there isn't really anything worth killing.
    2. It's a looting effect, which is important in a color without much access to filtering/draw effects.
    3. It dodges Diaochan's ability without any effort on my part, and dodges Wrath of God effects and other sorcery speed removal.
    4. It's an artifact, which makes it useful as Welder/Trading Post fodder.

    I managed to resolve the copter on turn 2 last night, and ended up doing something like 24 damage with it over the course of the game. The loots were especially helpful given my draw otherwise.

    This raises an interesting question: are other vehicles worth it in the deck? I don't much care for anything with a crew cost greater than 2, and even the crew 2 vehicles aren't super great. That leaves Aethersphere Harvester, Untethered Express and Sky Skiff as options. Of the three, the harvester is probably the best, but I'm not sure how good it'll be in the deck.

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