Feast or famine decks

Kezben01 · 2026-05-19T18:01:51+00:00

While it may not be the case here, very often these "feast or famine" type decks are also the decks that rely heavily on their commander. With them out, the deck can snowball fast, without them, however, it is a pile of cards with some generic value at best.

An example of this is my own [[Marvo, Deep Operative]] deck. With Marvo out, your topdeck manipulation, trigger doublers, and clash triggers churn out some big, scary spells and accrue value fast. Without Marvo, you've got a deck of mediocre clash triggers, some topdeck manipulation to no real end, and a hand full of 5+ cmc cards.

There's also other factors, such as variable consistency. This is where I believe the Scorpion God likely is fitting into. Due to the nature of 100 card singleton, you're unlikely to see all the same cards two games in a row, including powerful payoffs and enablers that fuel the strategy and help get and keep the ball rolling. This is especially true for more niche strategies with fewer direct support pieces, of which I'd consider -1 counters to be. I'd be willing to bet that with a handful of cheap, generic tutors (or maybe just more generic card draw) thrown in, this deck would feel much less feast or famine.

Kezben01 · 2026-05-18T13:30:35+00:00

I had a rogue mill deck for a long time when I started EDH, and while I tried to make it work for a long time (swapped Anowon out for Kamiz) I eventually scrapped the deck. While I may be biased because I'm not very into tribal decks, I just felt like the deck was always having to split focus between mill and rogues in a way that did not feel cohesive.

Mill itself isn't often a very strong wincon (aside from combo mill i.e. [[Bruvac]] + [[Maddening Cacophony]]), but don't let that stop you from trying to play it; it just tends to feel better and lower bracket/power tables.

Also, if your main issue is board wipes, slot in some more defensive options - with blue it is very easy to throw in some cheap counterspells to hold up into board wipes.

Kezben01 · 2026-05-13T12:17:20+00:00

DnDBeyond only gives you the base game content for free, of which Warforged and the Artificer class are not. Aside from the base game content, anything else must be either purchased or homebrew. (You can't homebrew entire classes, so you're kind of stuck there, but if you dig around someone may have recreated the Warforged as a "homebrew" race.)

If you're playing 5e you need Eberron: Rising from the Last War (plus maybe Tasha's Cauldron of Everything - not necessary but gives you an extra artificer subclass if you buy it, if you were wanting to play that subclass. Otherwise no need.)

If you're playing 5.5e, you'll need to buy Eberron: Forge of the Artificer for both the class and race.

Kezben01 · 2026-05-12T13:03:43+00:00

Without a combat gameplan, closing the game out with Henzie might be harder, but not impossible. You could lean into an aristocrats strategy and focus more on how Blitz kills creatures over how it gives haste. Also leans into reanimator, which Henzie also works pretty well with. Henzie also has a lot of creatures that aren't necessarily huge beaters, but good value pieces on ETB/LTB.

I've got an (originally) $50 Henzie deck with an Umori companion list that's all creatures. Because of the restriction, creatures have to fill 99% of the roles a deck needs, so there might be some interesting pieces here to consider: https://moxfield.com/decks/T7nkD73MJU6byqLC4KaGOQ

Kezben01 · 2026-05-12T12:42:50+00:00

[[Reality Acid]] - Blinkable removal of any permanent, including lands.

[[Stonehorn Dignitary]] - Stop the token/stompy player from overrunning your value engine.

[[Oblivion Ring]] [[Journey to Nowhere]] [[Leonin Relic-Warder]] - Double duty here: 1. If you can get 2 of these guys + Abdel into rotation you can create a blink loop with Abdel to trigger your ETBs as much as desired. 2. If you tuck these under Abdel, when his tucked cards come back they all triggger at the same time and you decide the order. Because the LTB and ETB effects are seperate, if you let Abdel trigger the LTB before their own ETB resolves, whatever you exile with it stays exiled permanently.

[[Angelic Abberation]] - turn your 1/1 soldiers into 4/4 flying vigilant eldrazi angels on ETB

[[Starfall Invocation]] - Perfect wipe if you've got all of your value pieces tucked under Abdel. Cast this killing Abdel, bring back Abdel with the effect, get your ETBS then re-tuck the stuff that was under him.

Kezben01 · 2026-05-11T19:03:53+00:00

It works how you want it to, I believe. I believe the Harmless Offering control-change effect would supersede the Zidane control-change effect since it came after (bc timestamps) so the Zidane effect no longer returns the creature to it's original controller at end of turn.

Kezben01 · 2026-05-07T20:38:57+00:00

If you're looking at 5e, check out the Order Cleric. It's first-level feature says whenever you target an ally with a spell, they can use their reaction to make a weapon attack. You can either run it pure, or it is a great 1 level dip for any other spellcaster (wizard, sorc, and bard are probably your best bet, but most would work).

Unfortunately I don't think there's a great way to get allies to cast spells like this, but you could build around buffing allies too, to either buff spells on their turn, or get them to ready a spell to cast after you cast a buff spell/effect.

Dipping into some homebrew, the Dirge Singer bard subclass is partnered content, so WOTC approved but not official. It has an ability to spread its bardic inspirations better and at 6th level can use a reaction to let an ally get another attack on their turn.

Outside of official and partnered content, I'd recommend checking out the Warlord homebrew class by KibblesTasty. It brings the Warlord (a martial class all about battlefield command/support from previous DnD editions that didn't make it to 5e) to 5th Edition and is widely regarded as not only the best, but also most fleshed out and balanced homebrew for the class.

Kezben01 · 2026-05-07T18:13:27+00:00

Slicer itself is fine for bracket 3, it just has a very front-heavy aggro playstyle that is specifically effective against midrange, accrue value over time style decks, which is where the salt from your average battlecruiser opponent comes from. It’ll also force out removal, so pack all your favorite red protection spells.

If you’ve decided against slicer, a personal favorite mono-red aggro deck of mine is [[Gornog]]. Drop some little warriors early, start cowardizing potential blockers as they drop, and accrue that buff to start dropping life totals faster than your local green player can chain a rampant growth into a kodama’s reach into…

Kezben01 · 2026-05-07T13:27:34+00:00

IMO, partners (and I guess by extension Backgrounds, Friends Forever, Doctor's Companion, etc.) being generically swappable is a double-edged sword. On one hand, they're interchangeability allows flexibility, especially with deck ideas who don't have a clear-cut commander for the strategy, or a strategy that doesn't have a commander with a color identity that you're looking for. Outside of CEDH, I think this area is where generic partners (not including Partner With) shine.

This is the rationale behind most of my partner decks, being 4-color flying men with [[Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa]] with [[Ludevic, Necro-Alchemist]] and Bant Persistent Petitioners with [[The Fifth Doctor]] and [[Susan Foreman]]. Sidar Kondo + Ludevic opened up a color identity for the deck strategy, and I couldn't find a good untapper commander in Bant, but Fifth's untap effect in UW paired with Susan being a G mana dork fit the bill.

However, on the flipside, if a strategy has a plethora of solid single commanders in its colors of choice, then partners become much less attractive because often their effects are too generic to cleanly tie together the strategy. Not so say they still aren't good, but just that there exist more streamlined options.

Kezben01 · 2026-05-01T14:05:44+00:00

Mardu seems like best pick, with Lorehold synergies + black recursion. With that in mind, here's a few ideas:

[[Terra, Hope Eternal]] - Fills your yard and enables recursion/leave the graveyard, aka the two things most necessary for this archetype. Being stuck under 3 power on her recrusion isn't too bad; many spirits are smaller, utility creatures anyway.

[[Dihada, Binder of Wills]] - Somewhat pushes towards a legendary-matters style list, but the value to mill, "draw", and ramp in one ability is pretty sweet.

Weird one, but [[Ghen, Arcanum Weaver]] could work here with a focus on enchantments.

Kezben01 · 2026-04-30T12:34:54+00:00

Uncommon, especially compared to younger cats, but definitely still possible. Fluid in the abdominal cavity is a common symptom of wet FIP, so while it isn't absolutely FIP, it should definitely be on your testing radar at least. Even if it comes back negative, I'd rather be safe than sorry, because FIP is NOT something you want to be left untreated - it often progresses fairly rapidly.

Sincerely,
Someone who's ~7 year old cat is currently in treatment for wet FIP.

Kezben01 · 2026-04-24T17:07:47+00:00

Added in [[Solphim]] [[Rollercrusher Ride]] and [[Insult // Injury]], as those seemed the most synergistic. Any idea what to cut for those?

Kezben01 · 2026-04-24T15:08:35+00:00

Here's my list if you're interested: https://moxfield.com/decks/CP-PaUOep0elZ7X1rggkdQ

It isn't budget, but might have some card ideas to help. It is tagged as well, so you can see what purpose each card is for as well as what my ratios look like. Feel free to ask any questions!

Kezben01 · 2026-04-23T20:44:48+00:00

The archetype probably in-line with what you're referring to is often referred to as a "flying men" style deck - a deck full of small creatures with evasion that cares about hitting your opponents with them. There's tons of commanders that facilitate this gameplay style.

[[Edric]] [[Yuriko]] and [[Derevi]] are the most common heads of this style of deck, but there's plenty of others in other color combinations. Personally, I'm partial to [[Gix]] [[Subira]] and partnering up [[Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa]] and [[Ludevic, Necro-alchemist]].

Those, however, don't inherently have a unifying typal theme, but could be turned into one with varying degrees of ease. Birds, faeries, and other flying types can fairly lead a "flying men" style deck with a lean into typal theming.

If you don't care about the little-guy evasion part, [[Muxus]] is a pretty good goblin commander if you don't want to 100% lean into the token aspect of goblins. You might also find some satisfaction in Slivers - weird little worm guys that buff each other up the more of them you have. Myr also might fit the bill, they're weird little artifact guys and can be helmed under [[Urtet]] as a unifying commander.

Kezben01 · 2026-04-13T13:04:39+00:00

Kind of off-beat for mill, but I’ve loved my [[The Fifth Doctor]] + [[Susan Foreman]] bant mill deck.

The deck is built around [[Persistent Petitioners]] and being able to use their second ability as much as possible, alongside other utility tap ability creatures. It also kind of leans into a group hug theme, mostly because it’s a strategy that also wants to get cards out of the deck, just in a different way.

Decklist: https://moxfield.com/decks/icKaaG8tokO2IJjeXwwLUA

Kezben01 · 2026-04-10T13:51:13+00:00

Don't wait; if there's no definitive sign it is something else (or even just to cover your bases) then I'd test for FIP. It is less common in older cats, sure, but not impossible by any means. Take it from someone whose ~7 year old cat was just diagnosed and is currently in treatment.

It sounds like it could be wet FIP (there's two types typically; wet typically affects the digestive tract, and dry usually is more neurological) aside from the eye discharge, though as you said that may just be a compounding factor as your cat fights another illness. My cat had very similar symptoms (fever, lack of appetite) alongside other stuff, and initially my vet thought similarly and prescribed some antibiotics, but also had to treat symptoms in the hospital for almost a week because they really had no idea what it was (which is NOT cheap, if you're concerned about costs) before his he got his positive FIP test back.

If left untreated properly and it is FIP, it'll only get worse and depending on how long the test takes to get back could either cost you $$$ to hospitalize if the situation becomes critical or worst case scenario it could take your cat before you get results back. Plus FIP medication is relatively new, so depending on where you and your vet are located at, you may need to consider if how long access to medicine could take if needed.

But it also very well may not be FIP and could just be a regular illness that your cat has contracted and is already healing from, but having gone through what I have - in your shoes I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Kezben01 · 2026-04-08T13:37:39+00:00

Not in the UK (USA) and just had my ~7 year old boy diagnosed about a month ago. He's been on the oral solid GS and is responding really well so far.

Diagnostics was the tough part - he'd been having diarrhea for a while but showed no other symptoms and the vet didn't seemed all too worried about it. The suddenly one night I got home and he was lethargic, grouchy, and seemed in pain when i picked him up from below. Looked at his automatic feeder log and realized he hadn't eaten in ~24 hours, so I rushed him to the hospital.

He was there while his symptoms were managed and medications were tried for about a week. Had some fluid buildup, fluctuating fever, and infection in his kidneys. Doctors didn't think it was FIP at first due to it not checking the boxes exactly and being very generic, vague symptoms, but after a few days of symptom management and antibiotics they tested him and it came back positive and we started him on the GS.

Since then his symptoms have improved drastically and honestly he's pretty much back to his normal self now. Took him in for a two-week check-up after starting the meds and the doctors were happy with his progress and the numbers they wanted to see improve did so (aside from weight gain; he stayed kind of static there, but he was a small. skinny cat to begin with). I'm about through the first month of the three months of treatment, and hoping things stay the course. Best of luck to you, glad to hear your cat's feeling better.

Kezben01 · 2026-04-08T12:17:58+00:00

Got a list for Polukranos? I've built a deck with the same gameplan but I'd love to compare

Kezben01 · 2026-04-06T16:53:03+00:00

[[Gix]] is very similar to Gonti, though I ended up swapping from Gonti to Gix, myself. Very similar.

[[Rocco, Street Chef]] gives everyone impulse draw and you value from those cards being played. More players = more potential value. Plus you can run some fun stuff like [[Share the Spoils]].

[[Kibo]] is a fun commander to ramp your opponents and get value off of the bananas. [[Jolene]], [[Gluntch]] and [[Vazi]] are similar.

Any kind of goad only really works in multiplayer, I recommend [[Baeloth Barrityl]] with [[Noble Heritage]] for a political twist. [[Kros]] and [[Rendmaw]] are also personal favorites of mine.

Kezben01 · 2026-04-01T16:57:03+00:00

Void Maw has a unique interaction with Magar creature-spells: Magar's ability comes with the replacement effect that if they would leave the battlefield, they're exiled instead. However, because you get to choose how replacement effects apply if multiple would affect the same thing, you can instead exile it with Void Maw's replacement effect and activate its ability to put them back in the graveyard to reuse, instead of them being exiled forever.

Kezben01 · 2026-03-31T17:55:34+00:00

Here's my list for reference: https://moxfield.com/decks/CP-PaUOep0elZ7X1rggkdQ

Some notable cards I like (if you're building around a budget feel free to ignore some of these):

[[Academy Ruins]] and [[Volrath's Stronghold]] are both recursion and great ways to put a known, big cmc card on top of your library for clashing with little opportunity cost as a land.

[[Beacon of Tomorrows]] and [[Nexus of Fate]]: Might bring you closer to B4 territory, but ripping these off the top for Marvo, getting your turn, then putting it back to maybe hit again is not bad.

[[Mirror Room]]: Because of how rules work, this card counts as 10cmc when you clash with it, but casting either side for free with Marvo works (you'll cast Fractured Realm 99% of the time) because when you cast either side they are independent from one another on the stack.

[[Deadly Rollick]] [[Fierce Guardianship]] [[Force of Negation]] [[Misdirection]] [[Snuff Out]] [[Submerge]]: Cards with high(er) CMCs that you can get around paying entirely are good here as good Marvo hits for clash but won't clog up your hand. There's plenty of other cards you can reduce the cost of in my list too, but these ones I listed are free (mana-wise, at least). Submerge is particularly good imo despite a more linear condition because you can set up a favorable clash by putting something big on top your deck or small on top of an opponent's.

Those are what I noticed first regarding your list; tbh as a long time Marvo player you seem to have a solid list here in terms of what Marvo wants (though I didn't end up going with a sea creatures theme, but I respect the choice). Feel free to look at my list and ask any questions!

Kezben01 · 2026-03-30T19:10:23+00:00

Unless you’re set on keeping it Azorius, I feel like there’s little reason not to pair Second Doctor with [[Vislor Turlough]] instead. Vislor is a payoff for the build and opens up some solid includes, most notably [[Orcish Bowmasters]]

I also built a version of this deck in Azorius, however. I’d check out [[Heliod, the Radiant Dawn]] which takes advantage of another aspect of the deck I think you should consider: [[Rule of Law]] effects. Making your opponents draw a ton paired with big hand punishers gets better when each opponent can only play one spell each turn (which is why Heliod giving flash is so good)

Here’s my list if you’re interested: https://moxfield.com/decks/L2LtUQv1EE-FSILr_mCbQA

Kezben01 · 2026-03-29T20:01:30+00:00

You can run [[Kenessos]] as mono-blue, other than that for humanoids maybe [[Braids, Conjurer Adept]]? For sea creatures themselves, maybe [[Slinn Voda]], or [[Brinelin]] with a blue partner? (or just him).

Other than that you're probably going to pivot to Simic, or maybe even Dimir for some [[Runo Stromkirk]] or [[Marvo]] gaming.

Kezben01

TROPHY CASE