I like to say that I play Legacy competatively and EDH for fun. That worked very well when there was a local Legacy scene, but hasn't worked for me since I moved to a place without Legacy. I'm still working on aquiring a modern Jund manabase, so for the moment Modern is out. Tiny Leaders is a neat format, but I want a place to cast Garruk Relentless, Arlinn Kord, and Bloodbraid Elf.
With that said, here's my Xira Arien Duel Commander list. I'd appreciate any or all feedback on it. I'm aiming for something competative but full of cool cards from Legacy and cards that used to be good enough for Legacy. I'd like to be able to cut the commander and play it against Modern decks, but that's probably a stretch in terms of power level.
Constraints: I'd like to abide by the Legacy, Duel Commander, and EDH banned lists. I'm not a big fan of tutoring, so fetchlands made it in here but Green Sun's Zenith and Traverse the Ulvenwald got cut. If this is underpowered they'd be the first two cards on the list to go back in.
I picked Xira over Adun Oakenshield for two reasons: First, the price difference buys me a Raging Ravine, good for this and the Modern version. Second, opposing Scavenging Oozes are already pretty good against this deck-no need to let them neuter my commander as well.
Cards that didn't quite make the list that I wanted to play include:Originally Posted by SingletonJund
Magma Jet
Abrupt Decay
Smother (These two are metagame dependent-obviously amazing if I play Tiny Leaders or Duel Commander, but against competative EDH decks I'm afraid they'd be target-less most of the time)
Pernicious Deed
Skinshifter
Grim Flayer (I'm not sure exactly where the line is for me, but this card is over it on the creepy scale.)
River Boa
Goblin Rabblemaster
Inexorable Blob
Autumnal Gloom
Call of the Herd
Assault // Battery (I'm a sucker for flexibility)
Troll Ascetic
Tombstalker
Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet (price)
Liliana, the Last Hope (price)
Avalanche Riders
Fulminator Mage (price)
Other considerations: Should I be running the fast lands (Blackcleave Cliffs, Blooming Marsh, and Copperline Gorge? There's not tons of room for more nonbasics if I want to run a few basics.
Did I miss any cool cards in these colors?
What are the weakest three (or your own arbitrary number) cards in the deck? I'd probably point at Thunderscape Apprentice, Darigaaz's Charm, and Gnarlwood Dryad or Nimble Mongoose.
Of the cards I haven't added for price reasons, which would be the most bang for.my buck? Bonus points if it goes in the modern version of Jund.
Last edited by AngryTroll; 01-07-2017 at 10:07 AM.
InfoNinjas
I'm surprised you're not running Chainer's Edict. It seems right up this deck's alley.
Thunderscape Apprentice strikes me as being really weak. The ping ability isn't that great and there are better pump creatures out there.
Your creature profile suggests you want to be aggressive, but your high spell count, commander choice, and manabase suggest you want to play the value game and be in this for the long haul. I don't know a lot about Deul Commander - are aggressive decks prevalent there? If not, I'd consider taking out some of the early-game beaters like Goose, Dryad, and Werebear and run more value-added creatures like Wall of Blossoms. You don't have a high enough density of pressure cards to get your beatdowns on.
Thanks for the feedback! I'm not sure about the Duel Commander metagame, to be honest. I found a few friends locally that play EDH and thought it'd be fun to play against them.
Chainer's Edict: I had this in the pile originally, but I'm running a fewer lands than a normal EDH deck (35 vs 38) and have no ramp spells and very limited mana creatures (Werebear, Deathcap Cultivator, and Lotus Cobra). Raven's Crime and Dust Bowl give me something to do with the mana besides putting it in play. I'll keep it in mind, though, and see how often I hit seven mana. Edict did remind me of a few other old flashback cards, though: Call of the Herd and Firebolt
Thunderscape Apprentice: This is no Deathrite Shaman. I've cast it a few times now and put it back into my neat foils binder. -1 Apprentice.
Role Missasignment = Game Loss: Like Legacy Jund, I'm aiming for the midrange value deck role. Against full size EDH decks, that means I come on under them and win. Against Tiny Leaders decks, I probably need to be the control deck.
Nimble Mongoose: I tend to think of Nimble Mongoose in the lens of the old Threshold vs. Goblins or Landstill lens: In those matchup, Mongoose was an amazing answer to Goblin Lackey and Standstill. In EDH land, though, it's probably not as valuable a midrange card. -1 Mongoose.
Gnarlwood Dryad: Amazing blocker on turn 1, great attacker a few turns later. I'm going to give this one a few more games.
Werebear: I'm a fan of Werebear as a ramp card that turns into a 4/4 late in the game. I think Werebear is probably fine (as opposed to Seton's Scout, which didn't make the list. That does make me question Putrid Leech, though...).
Crater's Claws: I actually don't have that many four-power creatures: Tarmogoyf, Thrun, Bloodbraid Elf, Putrid Leach, Werebear and Huntmaster (some of the time), Apocolypse Hydra if it sits in play for a while...this slot might be more valuable as a different burn spell.
Proposed changes so far:
-1 Nimble Mongoose
-1 Thunderscape Apprentice
-1 Crater's Claws
+1 Magma Jet
+1 Call of the Herd
+1 ?
The last card could be a Firebolt, Banefire, Pernicious Deed, Goblin Rabblemaster, or a Skinshifter...I'm a bit light on one drops, but I have 3 Temples, 2 Manlands, 3 Shocks and 6 fetchlands that can all take advantage of a free turn.
Thanks for the feedback!
InfoNinjas
Bloom Tender pays for Xira's activation on it's own, I used to like it in my version of Xira, which was more of a Stax deck but might be good here.
Updated list! Small changes to the removal, disruption, and creature suites aimed at making the deck more interactive.
Cards that are in the list at the moment that may not stay there:
Twinblade Slasher, Chain of Smog
I'm testing these two, but they may not actually be good enough to stay in the deck.
The weakest cards in the list are probably Consume Strength, Assault // Battery, and Call of the Herd. These three are clearly underpowered, but I really enjoy drawing and casting them, so they get to stay.
Cards that have been in and out of the list and are still looking for slots or are vying to be promoted from the "Maybe" pile to the deck include:
Removal: Funeral Charm, Diabolic Edict, Dismember, Chainer's Edict
Creatures: Nimble Mongoose, River Boa, Pain Seer, Falkenrath Aristocrat, Hellhole Rats, Avalanche Riders, Thrun, the Last Troll
Planeswalkers: Chandra, Pyromaster
Cards that would be in here if my opponents played with similar decks (low curve, highly efficient, Legacy-like decks):
Liliana, the Last Hope, Inquisition of Kozilek, Smother, Abrupt Decay
Cards that I missing due to cost:
Fulminator Mage, Liliana, the Last Hope, Chandra, Torch of Defiance
Am I missing anything pretty sweet in these colors with this kind of mana curve?
InfoNinjas
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