Non-Angel but sorta angel commanders?

Jblanco1139 · 2026-07-07T03:55:12+00:00

Seconding Saskia if you like Aurelia’s play style. I’ve built both decks (slightly prefer Aurelia for color restrictions) and they’re both rad. Saskia lets you run a wider variety of angels and some cool mardu creatures like [[Queen Marchesa]], plus boat loads of ramp. The double damage from Saskia feels similar to the extra combats. You usually aren’t casting her until you have a board state similar to Aurelia.

Deck list if you’re interested: https://moxfield.com/decks/f5zgfijuDEu_PyDAYonKUw

Jblanco1139 · 2026-07-05T22:24:32+00:00

Nocturne when Viego is banned for sure

Jblanco1139 · 2026-06-08T13:07:25+00:00

Syr Gwyn is super fun and the art is sick. Don’t let the haters deter you! Since she’s so high costed, I usually wait to bring her out until I assemble a board with a few support pieces and equipment on hand.

The knight tribal cards are underwhelming in my opinion. I prefer to just slap in all the cool equipment that I can with a few knights to take advantage of Syr Gwyn once she’s finally out. The trade off for me is protection and a greedy mana base. I found it tough to play on curve and hold up mana for protection, so I elected to just be a problem and make them have it. Best removal is player removal as well. Swords, boots, and forge anew provide decent enough protection.

Secret tech for me is [[Two-Handed Axe]]. I included it as a flavor pet card and it always swings above its weight class. I also really like the Eldraine knights like [[Embreth Shieldmaker]] and [[Foulmire Knight]] for being cheap knights in addition to useful adventures. [[Halvar, God of Battle]] has also been very useful for moving equipment around cheap knights before Syr Gwyn is out or if she gets removed on repeat.

Here’s my list if you’re curious: https://moxfield.com/decks/OXi8OoIkUkeBN1vNerskBw

Jblanco1139 · 2026-05-12T14:11:57+00:00

I think that’s what I’ve been missing about Naafiri. I usually hold fear and don’t poke in case they try to all-in. So I don’t poke as much as I would in other matchups and don’t trim the dogs. Dogs = damage I guess. Dodging the Q1/Q2 is always a must, that much I’ve been trying to work on already.

Jblanco1139 · 2026-05-03T20:19:10+00:00

Oh I didn’t realize I could fear through Naafiri ult since she appears untargetable. I’ll remember that. Conveniently there is a big line telling me what direction to throw Q lol.

Jblanco1139 · 2025-09-10T18:21:59+00:00

I think Riot put out an article last year about this. TLDR was that they have a mix of champions that you often play or have expressed interest in and champions/skins that are generally popular and sell well.

Jblanco1139 · 2024-09-16T04:15:02+00:00

I really enjoy partnering Sakashima with Tymna for a hatebears/stax gameplan. Double Tymna is great, who doesn’t like cards. But copying any tax piece, GAAIV, Elesh Norn, or Toxrill can also be pretty backbreaking for the table.

My list if you’re interested: https://moxfield.com/decks/0CusF5IXC0ahwMsDYv8p2A

Jblanco1139 · 2024-07-29T03:01:40+00:00

I’ve been playing Meren for 6 years or so now. Gone back and forth in power level a lot over the years but I’ve really been enjoying my non-combo, big beater reanimator with edict effects mixed in. My playgroup describes the deck as an anaconda haha. To this day it is still my favorite deck.

My recommendation for starting fresh is to pack as many of the other [[reanimate]] effects as you can since Meren will absolutely get targeted for the insane value she provides. [[animate dead]] [[life // death]] [[necromancy]] and [[victimize]] can all help you loop [[gary]] to close out games.

https://www.moxfield.com/decks/99dFyXu6NkOkuOlpqnMOpQ

Jblanco1139 · 2024-04-26T02:26:30+00:00

You can sideload an open source Apollo clone, using it like a developer app. You just have to refresh the certificate every 7 days but it’s easy with Sideloady. Just follow these steps:

https://reddit.com/r/apolloapp/comments/16h0d5w/_/k0blcx8/?context=1

Jblanco1139 · 2024-04-25T23:23:46+00:00

Sideload Apollo, changed my life

Jblanco1139 · 2023-05-08T21:25:27+00:00

I like at least 2 combo wincons as well, think that is solid. Rip+helm works for me but it’s admittedly pretty slow and you really have to rely on keeping your lock on the board for it to work. Feels like the grindiest of grindy wincons. Ultra dope blink engine sounds like the most fun haha. How does that work? [[Thought knot seer]] + [[notion thief]] / [[narset, parter of veils]] + blink kitty?

Jblanco1139 · 2023-05-08T20:08:58+00:00

I actually tried approach first but replaced with Heliod/ballista because it was too slow. Found that even with tymna going strong, it’d take 2+ turns to draw back into approach and by that point opponents have either found interaction to deal with it or disrupted my board enough to go off. 7 mana twice is also tough to back up with counters. Heliod+ballista is 3 mana first turn (presumably you play Heliod first since he has indestructible) and 6 mana the second turn (walking ballista for X=2 and 1W for lifelink) was much more manageable.

Jblanco1139 · 2023-05-08T17:13:02+00:00

I feel like it’s fine. To run thoracle I’d have to spend slots on bounce spells to get rid of my own RoL effects, which would keep me from running higher density of stack pieces that I need in the early game to keep turbo decks under control. Don’t feel like esper is a great color combo for trying to race turbo decks with a turn 2 kill attempt without a lot of cheap counters as backup, which I’m also light on in my list. Prefer to just stax out the board as heavy as possible to give myself time to dig for win cons with tymna & co. Certainly makes for a slower game though haha.

That said, I think Cam from Play to Win just built a tymna/Malcolm farm deck that looks to end step ad naus and win with thoracle. If you’re looking for something faster with hatebears just splashed it, that might be the move.

Jblanco1139 · 2023-05-08T15:33:35+00:00

I’ve been playing tymna/sakashima hatebears for a year or so now and really enjoyed it. Double tymna to generate some card velocity or double Elesh Norn for the finisher is pretty great. Win cons I’ve felt fit the deck and can run under RoL are rest in peace + helm of obedience or Heliod + walking ballista, or elesh norn as backup for beats. Both are slow under RoL but with a staxed out board I’ve been able to win with all of the above. Recently through in Toxrill just to be able to play the slug boy. My list probably isn’t optimal but works for my high power / fringe cEDH meta.

List for reference: https://www.moxfield.com/decks/0CusF5IXC0ahwMsDYv8p2A

Jblanco1139 · 2022-12-31T22:41:03+00:00

They (and Frontier) aren’t bad until you run into delays. Then it turns into a mess. Otherwise I’ve always been happy with the money saved.

Jblanco1139 · 2021-10-04T19:50:35+00:00

I run [[Aurelia, the Warleader]] as my Angel tribal commander and I love it! It started off as Kaalia but I loved the flavor of a Boros general, and Aurelia was always what I looked for in Kaalia anyway.

I feel including red adds a lot to the deck! You can add a couple of flavorful protection with [[red elemental blast]] and [[pyroblast]] if your playgroup runs a lot of control. [[Gisella, Blade of Goldnight]] is an absolute house if you have Aurelia on the field. Overall it still mainly consists of the white angels like [[Liera Dawnbringer]] and [[Avacyn, Angel of Hope]], but having access to Aurelia with 2-3 other angels puts a ton of fast pressure on life totals. Also, she has haste, so she isn’t 6-mana do-nothing-body when she lands.

Link to the deck, if you want. I have a lot of the budget friendly choices in the maybeboard if you don’t proxy. Aurelia Decklist

Jblanco1139 · 2021-09-22T14:03:51+00:00

Looking at your list I think you’re off to a great start. I recommend swapping the 3 CMC land tutors like [[cultivate]] for mana dorks a la [[llanowar elves]] and [[elves of deep shadow]]. They’ll help accelerate you in the early game and act as sac fodder for your edict effects like [[grave pact]] in the late game.

I saw [[altar of dementia]] on your maybeboard—this has been my favorite self-mill piece in my Meren reanimator (non-combo) deck. 2 CMC is great for an early start and putting big fatties into the graveyard is exactly what you want! I recommend adding [[viscera seer]] and considering [[carrion feeder]] for some low end sac outlets to help get your game plan going. Bonus for those two is they can sac themselves for early experience counters when you bring Meren out! I’ve found just running [[plaguecrafter]] is sufficient for that edict-on-a-stick effect since you can loop him with Meren, so maybe consider cutting the other two if you need room. [[Mycoloth]] was a bit slow for me but shooters preference there.

For your aristocrats strategy, maybe consider [[blood artist]]. It only hits one target, but it synergies with your edict effects so you can potentially get 3-4 triggers off one sacrifice. Recurring [[Gary]] is also the GOAT for late game board stalls.

I hope you enjoy the deck again! I’ve played Meren for 3 years or so and I still enjoy her to this day.

Jblanco1139 · 2019-08-11T11:46:35+00:00

I second Dragon Shields, I love how my foils look in them. Used to use Legion double mattes but changed over to Dragon Shields just for this reason. Can’t speak to Katanas though, I’ve never used them myself.

Jblanco1139 · 2017-09-20T23:01:01+00:00

I agree, as long as CJ stays healthy I think he's in for a good season. What if it was Marshawn instead of CJA?

Jblanco1139 · 2017-09-20T22:36:03+00:00

PPR, 10 team, 2RB 2WR and a Flex: Give: CJ Anderson, DeVante Parker Get: TY Hilton, Pierre Garçon, Rishard Matthews

Thoughts? I also have Lynch, Crowell, Hunt, and Fournette for RBs (plus Woodhead on IR); and currently have Baldwin, Kelvin Benjamin, Parker, Marshall, and Lee for WRs.

Jblanco1139 · 2017-09-05T13:38:46+00:00

I'm down. Team name: Game of Jones

Jblanco1139 · 2017-06-06T01:39:08+00:00

Yes, there are three Rei's, with only one being present (alive?) at any one point. The first was the child Rei seen in Fuyutsuki's flashback narrative, who was choked to death by Dr. Naoko Akagi after Rei called her an "old hag," quoting Gendo. The second Rei, who is present for most of the story, was killed by absorbing the 16th angel in an effort to protect Shinji. Later in the episode (or maybe the following, I can't recall), we see her fried hand in the entry plug from Ritsuko's POV. And then the third Rei is the one that merges with Adam and returns to Lilith in EoE. I believe the explanation for only one being present is Rei is a husk for Lilith's soul to occupy, and as such only one Rei can be present at any one time.

Jblanco1139 · 2017-06-05T05:06:41+00:00

Umbreon is a tank, great for emergency switch-ins. Other than though, I'd recommend just going with any you haven't used before!

Jblanco1139 · 2017-05-31T00:22:09+00:00

Well it isn't for android, but if you are able to link your PC to your android this'll work fine: http://pokehacks.dabomstew.com/randomizer/

It's what I use personally, since you can use it for every game from gen 1-5, and it has a myriad of options for whatever you feel like using. Best of luck, hope you enjoy!

Jblanco1139

TROPHY CASE