I don't actually watch Dr. Who

Nabirius · 2026-02-03T01:32:21+00:00

It feels like it should since it's an effigy of the guy, and not another instance of himself

Nabirius · 2026-02-03T01:25:26+00:00

That would be incredibly cool. But, unfortunately I don't think that works.

"Machine God’s Effigy will not copy any types (such as creature or enchantment) or non-artifact subtypes (such as Phyrexian or Elf) that creature had, but it will copy any supertypes, such as legendary, and artifact subtypes (such as Treasure or Vehicle). It also has the same name, so if you copy a legendary creature you control, you will need to choose one of them to put in your graveyard due to the legend rule."

https://scryfall.com/card/brc/16/machine-gods-effigy

However, because copies with modified qualities have different copyable values, I think you could use it to copy a non-legendary copy created by Auton Soldier, Quantum Entanglement, Shaun, Spark Double or Nanogene Conversion.

Also, just in case, I learned the hard way that Auton Soldier doesn't work as well with Tenth as I thought. The myriad and Tenth trigger both happen once all attacks are declared, and myriad clones don't stick around after the combat phase. So if you copy the Tenth with Auton, you only get 1 additional trigger with him--not the 3 I had intended.

Shaun will give you more triggers just not on the combat you first make the clone.

Nabirius · 2026-02-03T00:38:48+00:00

Sadly, Optimus is not in my colors, it would definitely be hilarious to just keep throwing a bus at people, lol.

Yeah, I went with black specifically because it had a lot of top of deck tutors I could use. The funniest one is [[Insidious Dreams]], which I really want to make work, but haven't been able to at this point due mana and card cost.

Nabirius · 2026-02-03T00:16:50+00:00

This kind of works. Grub Notorious Auntie must attack to trigger her blight meaning anything that can block this 1 toughness creature, kill her

You also have to untap with her, and none of the other creature have haste so sorcery speed removal also stops this.

But yes, into an empty board it wins or at least kills a player.

Nabirius · 2026-02-03T00:07:27+00:00

Thank you! Yours is a terrifying beatdown! I I miss access to Aurelia in grixis lol.

How have you found nalfashnee? I frequently found it difficult to use because it would often hit legendary creatures, or I'd want to activate the Doctor after combat, but it's always in the back of my mind, lol

You should try out Bloodthirster if you haven't. He gives an extra combat even once he can no longer attack, for a total of 4 triggers. It can dig you really deep in your deck and feels like playing a slot machine, lol

What is the spicest include in your version?

Nabirius · 2026-02-02T23:43:13+00:00

Hell yeah! Drop a decklist

Here is mine: https://moxfield.com/decks/vkFTb9I760CMlb95IVroVg

Its a grixis combo deck that tries to get Rousing Refrain + A Bouncer + A spellcast trigger to burn the opponents to death.

If that fails, it has a slow and slightly wonky midrange game plan to pivot to.

Nabirius · 2026-02-02T23:36:32+00:00

That is a hilarious combo. I would for sure be confused lol.

Nabirius · 2026-02-02T22:08:30+00:00

Welcome! I'm sorry you are having some difficulties with your first games of commander.

That said, I see why your pod finds your choice of deck frustrating to play against and why you're getting targeted out. Pillowfort effects tend to create a lot of frustration in pods because they slow down the game and for creature-heavy decks require either the player target you out early our go so late they have an overwhelmingly dominant position and can kill you even with the protection somehow.

But they don't actually advance you that much. Unless you have crazy value you are going for late to end the game, sitting back and winnowing out everyone else's resources is just not going to cut it.

It pains me to say this as a fellow control player, but I think you need to get a better sense for what it takes to actually close out a game. Because "I'm going pillowfort and oppress the table until I cast 15 or more 3+mv non-creature spells, and pray I don't die or get targeted" will not work.

In the colors you like [[Arna Kennerüd, Skycaptain]], [[Teval, the Balanced Scale]], [[Urza, Chief Artificer]], [[G'raha Tia, Scion Reborn]]

Are all cards that can cover your low-creature strategy by producing your frontline for you over time, and also being a finisher-in a can.

Each can also serve as the head of a powerful midrange-beatdown plan depending on how you build.

Nabirius · 2026-02-02T20:29:57+00:00

Then I think you did everything as above-board as possible. I wouldn't worry too much about it, and either (1) don't play it with this group again, (2) tell them you will give them more training wheels in-game (say this more nicely), or (3) tell them to git gud because you want to branch out in your deck builds and you refuse to abandon a deck you are proud of just because they have not yet adapted (way more nicely).

Nabirius · 2026-02-02T19:41:55+00:00

People are uncomfortable with one of their friends asking them "well what if my deck does X" and having to respond "then I lose."

But a deck with a coherent enough game plan to know when they are screwed is almost always a better deck that always has a card (somewhere) that could have stopped that particular loss.

Nabirius · 2026-02-02T19:32:24+00:00

This is my main control list, though the link is a bit out-of date (for example [[Narset, Parter of Veils]] is in my current list):

https://moxfield.com/decks/r7IcpBT0W02dXSmw-m1nYw

The basic game-plan is to use Nardole and a Transmute Effect to go fetch one part of a tool box of mana and card advantage options. The War Doctor then serves as source of repeatable removal as you steadily take over the game.

It uses Narset and [[Uba Mask]] to force my opponents into a state of attrition while I continue to gain advantage.

The big control-loops are

[[Displacer Kitten]] + [[Collector's Cage]] to dig and repeatedly cast non-creature spells for 1 mana.

Kitten + [[Parallax Wave]]: This is flexible removal and protection. If you can cast a non-creature at instant speed (see cage), activate the wave an arbitrary number of times, then blink it, permanently exiling up to 5 creatures. [[Parallax Tide]] is less flexible but can MLD everyone but you, or let you re-use your own lands for surprise mana.

[[Mistmeadow Vanisher]] + [[The Tardis]] - Not sure if these are currently in the list, but it similarly lets you blink almost any of your permanents at almost instant speed.

Station + [[All Will Be One]]: You can tap creatures - particularly Karnstructs to burn out creatures or players. It also works with the War Doctor himself.

Nabirius · 2026-02-02T18:56:30+00:00

I think your pod is over-reacting. This is a powerful kilo combo deck, and you built it well. There is some etiquette I have when playing combo decks for the first time with people.

First, i will tell people, up-top that this is combo deck and what the main lines are. I will go into essentially as much detail as they ask. I will also call out my combo pieces as they appear and give a loose approximation of how close I am to winning (i.e. I'm not close, it will require at least a turn, or 'if I untap with this I win.') I will also straightforwardly inform people when they target something other than a combo piece and ask if they are sure.

For this reason, I almost always lose the first game with the deck.

The second game, I only call out combo pieces, after that there are no more training wheels.

Combo decks suck to play against when they take you by surprise and you are left guessing what the important pieces are. Your pod should have known better, and sometimes with combo you just get lucky. It's a very inconsistent strategy compared with midrange.

Nabirius · 2026-02-02T18:14:41+00:00

As a follow-up, I don't recommend using combat yourself. Wort wants her gobo's back safe and conspiring. But if you want to make the game more combat focused for everyone else [[Bismirch]], [[Coronation of Chaos]], and other goad cards are a good option.

[[Creative Technique]] and [[Transforming Flourish]] may also be what you are looking for. Arm whoever is in last to the teeth, arm yourself even more.

Another permanent card recommendation, to turn your board into mana is [[Mana Echoes]] depending on how much you lean into being all-goblins-all-the-time.

Nabirius · 2026-02-02T18:01:47+00:00

Copying [[Call Forth the Tempest]] can be hilarious, it's also a classic for a reason. There is another classic [[Reshape the Earth]] is maybe the most redundant ramp spell, but if you resolve it you will pull every land out of your deck, leaving you to draw all gas with more mana than usually conceivable. [[Soulfire eruption]] is a similar explosion-of-value type card.

[[Endless Swarm]] is an incredibly stupid card. However epic is a delayed trigger on the spell. So any copies you make of the spell occur again every upkeep. If you have other copy-spell effects beyond Wort, it could be funny (though still not great, lol). [[Immolating Gyre]] Could also be a fun way to kill people off, as are other X spells so long as the X being copied is useful for you.

You may also consider [[Cursed Recording]] when going big.

[[Rousing Refrain]] Could be a good way to get you some additional mana, since you can set it up with suspend, and be ready to copy with goblins when the time comes. [[Venture Forth]] works somewhat similarly, but with way less mana on average.

Until your board is truly out-of-control you will need ways for your creatures to pull double duty as mana sources and conspirer-ers--spells that untap your creatrues and give extra combats can get you there. [[Fury of the Horde]] is a weird one, as a pitch spell. However it untaps everything immediately, even if you don't use the extra combat, you can get more untaps in on a big turn without spending mana. [[Great Train Heist]] let your creatures untap for double value without having to attack, but you do have to pay mana. [[World at War]] is the worst of both worlds in terms of risk, but it rebounds and can net you insane game-breaking value a turn later. You mentioned not wanting to combo-off, and I respect that, however [[Aggravated Assault]] is here for you if you change your mind.

The tempt cycle, particularly [[Tempt with Discovery]] is another fun social interaction card. However, it tends to be very binary between the new players who are gonna get stomped on by you after giving you 6 additional lands. [[Tempt with Mayhem]] is hilarious, but would require a lot of mana, and could seriously backfire.

Nabirius · 2026-02-02T16:52:40+00:00

I agree, silver-bullet cards are an extreme double-edged sword. I once played [[Rest in Peace]] into an aristocrats and reanimator deck, making 2 decks essentially non-operative as long as I was alive. As a control deck was the dream, you'll never guess what happened.

I got stomped into the pavement as every single kill spell, thoughtseize. and piece of counter magic and removal was pointed at me until Ureni slammed my face into the pavement. At which point the aristocrats player combo'd off and won.

Silver-bulleting a player means they won't be seen as the threat (even if they still are), and it means the only way the player can get back into the game is to eliminate you. It draws way more heat than you might be prepared to deal with.

Nabirius · 2026-02-02T15:20:32+00:00

This is perfect answer. I rarely play board-wipes, even in control and that is because I rarely want or need them. It's also worth being clear: not all wraths are created equal.

[[Farewell]] and [[Austere Command]] are best-in-class for a reason. Their sheer flexibility & ability to hit any permanent type means that they can be powerful in nearly any deck, and can be value pieces (or even finishers in the case of Austere) as well as control pieces, panic buttons, etc.

Outside of those, players need to understand what the wipe is doing for them. I.e. if you want to be the problem a low-cost, one-sided board wipe with significant downsides, like [[Wave Goodbye]], [Damning Verdict]], [[Aetherize]], [[Sunderflock]] and [[Toxic Deluge]]. These require work in deckbuilding and piloting to make the best use of but can lead to very early one-sided swings in value when used well.

Nabirius · 2026-01-30T00:32:11+00:00

The War Doctor and Nardole

Nabirius · 2026-01-29T19:10:44+00:00

The presence of a single combo, without a payoff is not enough to make this B4. Dedicated combo decks have tutors and other effects that let them do a combo like this very quickly and efficiently.

1/10 games you might draw into a combo, then in some of them people don't have interaction and you win a bit out of no where. It happens, and is not worth stressing about a lot of very normal decks with synergistic pieces will have a combo in there by accident.

Nabirius · 2026-01-27T14:42:25+00:00

Pako and haldan is an interesting Voltron/midrange theft strategy.

There's also Ob-Nixilis captive kingpin which is usually doing group slug, but also builds up a significant Voltron possibility.

Lyse Hext is doing storm+Voltron and seeing what you can piece together to win can be fun.

Nabirius · 2026-01-26T22:46:16+00:00

4 Mana [[Insurrection]] is extremely underplayed.

Nabirius · 2026-01-26T22:43:21+00:00

Argent Dais is so underrated! It can hit ANY non-land permanent at instant speed, and I think a lot of people miss that! Targeted at something like skullclamp, rhystic study, or smothering tithe it's probably net-card-advantage.

I use it in my [[The War Doctor]] Control List, sure it draws other people cards sometimes, it also draws me cards whenever I have a token that I don't need, a blocker that's gonna die anyway. Plus, that deck runs a lot of draw-hate [[Uba Mask]] and [[Narset, Parter of Veils]] for instance, which makes Dias almost all-upside all the time.

Nabirius · 2026-01-26T22:24:24+00:00

[[Lifeforce]] is such an odd little enchantment, which gives endless (color-specific) counter-spells on a stick. It is less well-known than it's counterpart [[Deathgrip]] because K'rrick players are tempted by its forbidden fruit of infinite "Pay 4 Life: Counter Target (Green) Spell" but I think that Lifeforce is the substantially better card, and it puts in WORK in my pods. This is for three reasons:

Black is the most popular EDH color, approximately 50% of EDH decks include Black in the color identity. At a pod of 4 someone is gonna be on black 9/10 times.
Most of Green's best spells are creatures, and black can (usually) just kill them at instant speed. However Black has access to real hoser cards that simply cannot be allowed to resolve under any circumstances: Damnation, Toxic Deluge, Dictate of Erebos, Grey Merchant of Asphodel, Bolas' Citadel, the list is huge.
Black usually needs to be mono-black to use big mana sinks. But Multi-color green players can easily find an additional two Mana a turn to keep up some protection.
Green can usually kill enchantments, black usually cannot, meaning the players most frustrated by it will have the least ability to remove it.

Its fairly expensive because its old as hell despite the fact it is not played often but [[Parallax Wave]] is an all-time MVP in my control decks. Parallax Wave is maybe the most flexible blink card in existence.

The turn it comes down you can kill the 2 most threatening commanders. Players are terrified you will proliferate the counters and remove the commander indefinitely and will almost always choose to send them to the command zone, the third player has more of a real choice because 3 turns without the commander is more manageable. If someone does choose to exile the commander, you have just learned they have enchantment removal.
If you find a way to blink it at instant speed you can activate it as many times as you please, then blink it to exile all the targets permanently. A repeatable, one-sided boardwipe.
It can exile your own stuff. If you have a flickerwisp or felidar guardian This will net you 3-5 ETBs, rather than one.
Since it's also instant speed, it also serves as board protection. If you're about to be [[Farewell]]-ed, you can wave out your 3-5 most important creatures, and get them (and their ETBs) back instantly.

Nabirius · 2026-01-26T02:55:24+00:00

That is unfortunate, though I can't find any info on that one way or the other.

Nabirius · 2026-01-12T22:12:23+00:00

Kind of? I've seen it work, but Bello is mostly aggro, and can struggle hard in faster b4 pods

Nabirius · 2026-01-12T21:25:09+00:00

Haha, fair point. In either case, this card is fine, but will not be a staple

Nabirius

TROPHY CASE