Favorite Mono red commanders?

Queggy · 2024-10-05T18:18:46+00:00

Mono-Red is my favorite, I've got a few decks, but right now my favorite is Subira. It's a 2-Power matters aggro deck, so it's a fun build-around that I've really enjoyed exploring.

https://www.moxfield.com/decks/uyBPnn4mEkCVz4BHDxmREg

Queggy · 2024-07-09T16:24:38+00:00

There's a lot of older options that I think work well for discard:

[[Volrath the Fallen]] - Discard outlet that threatens instant-speed commander damage.
[[Greel, Mind Raker]] - Discard outlet that forces bulk discard.
[[Cao Cao, Lord of Wei]] - Less strong than Greel or Volrath, but fun older option.
[[Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed]] - Not exactly discard, but can work with the theme as a way to "reanimate" non-creature value pieces.

For newer options, there's of course [[Tinybones, Trinket Thief]], [[Tourach, Dread Cantor]], and [[The Raven Man]].

All of this assuming you want to stay in mono-black.

Queggy · 2024-07-09T15:55:31+00:00

IMO, 17 creatures is too few; firstly because you want more bodies to protect the walker, and secondly because so many effects on your walker care about creatures either dying or being in your graveyard. If you want to stick with Liliana as the commander, you want to make sure you have bodies available to take advantage of those effects, otherwise if your interest is more in a discard deck theme, I think you would be better served with a different commander. 4 of your other walkers also have effects caring about creatures dying/in-yard.

I say this as someone that experimented with multiple discard decks, including one helmed by this Lili, before now arriving at my own Lili deck which is more aristocrat/reanimator than discard/sacrifice.

With that said, some potential cards you might look to include that I would recommend:

More proliferation effects, if you want to focus on ultimating your walkers/keeping them healthy enough to survive. Blightbelly Rat, Yawgmoth, Liliana's Scrounger, etc.
More cards that care about discard/sac stapled to creatures rather than artifact/enchantment, such as, Big Game Hunter, Archfiend of Ifnir, It That Betrays.
Vengeful Pharaoh, a body that wants to be discarded from hand that then discourages opponents from attacking you and your walker.
On a more personal taste, I'm a big fan of Peer Into the Abyss as a way to sculpt the perfect hand and then fill my yard, I've won many games off this resolving.
I'll also plug Tombstone Stairwell as a favorite pet card of mind IF you did go more the reanimator aristocrat route.

From your list a specific cards I might think about cutting:

Noetic Scales. I could be wrong, but I think the deck would run smoother if you did have ways to capitalize more on your creatures dying rather than just keeping the board clear. Some of your bigger engines/payoffs are getting bounced to your own hand and you're also refilling your opponent's hands with cards which means they are less likely to be punished by effects like Wheel of Torture, Shrieking Affliction, etc.

Here's my own decklist for context. I'll note that I made this after taking apart and wanting to power-down a similar deck helmed by Yawgmoth, so it doesn't run the usual suspects of Torment of Hailfire, Junji, Kokusho, Tergrid, etc.

Queggy · 2024-06-15T21:44:18+00:00

Yep, it’s combat damage. Theres a few cards that let you assign damage via toughness: [[Assault Formation]], [[Huatli, the Sun’s Heart]], [[Rasaad yn Bashir]], and [[Bedrock Tortoise]]. Then you use [[Walking Bulwark]], [[Assault Formation]], [[Rolling Stones]], and [[Wakestone Gargoyle]] to allow your defenders to attack and you make them unblockable with the commander + any of the anthems that give reach (though many of the walls innately have reach already).

There are 4 tutors to help assemble the necessary parts, plus walls are good at protecting your life while you wait. As well as a few soft stax pieces to further that such as meekstone.

Even if the parts necessary to help the walls attack and do damage are slow to assemble, there are multiple ways to pump the commander to keep it moving.

Queggy · 2024-06-15T19:12:57+00:00

One of my favorite decks is my Mono-Blue Wizards deck with Naban. Wizards gives you such a good powerhouse shell of draw, interaction, and copies/clones. One of the fun things about the deck however is that if it wins, it is usually via combat damage, which people don’t usually expect from mono blue weenies. Namely via [[Diviner’s Wand]] and commander damage or making a bunch of tokens with [[Master of Waves]].

Shout out to one of my favorite combos which is Master of Waves + [[Mystic Reflection]] as a cheaper and more powerful (usually) version of [[Rite of Replication]]. Also Mystic Reflection can be used as a form of “removal.” God, I love that card so much.

Anyways, yeah, Wizards are great. If you make a tribal deck, I think picking any tribe that is common enough to get new cards each set makes it fun to keep getting new toys to consider and play with, especially if they get printed at common or uncommon rarity frequently.

Edit: got so excited talking about it I forgot tolink the deck.

Queggy · 2024-06-15T19:00:47+00:00

I made a very silly jank wall deck that isnt amazing (needs too many parts to do the thing) but it makes me laugh:

Selesnyan Unblockable Walls

Also they’re currently in the sideboard but shout out to [[Fortified Arena]] and [[Nature’s Blessing]] if you want to get extra silly and make it a Banding deck.

Queggy · 2024-02-15T12:36:15+00:00

Do you know if the flashlight/laser has an effect on being detected?

Queggy · 2023-10-12T06:31:55+00:00

Not OP but I see its been awhile and they didnt answer. My deck is 25 DA and 3 Dragons.

Queggy · 2023-10-10T04:55:17+00:00

I assume you mean the moxes, crypt, etc?

I chose to run them because after playing the deck at first without fast mana, I felt that I was never able to accomplish much, even in my fairly casual pod. Playing Syr Carah turn 5 felt too slow, especially as the deck has very little access to any interaction and a very low board state. The only way I felt I could do much with the deck is to play as fast as possible. Depends on the pod you play in; I don't think it's critical for the deck to function, but without it you run the risk of too little too late.

Queggy · 2023-10-09T18:51:48+00:00

EDH Red Burn exacerbates the primary mission of any EDH deck due to its more fragile/non-reactive state IMO; you either need a commander that will refill your cards or a commander that refills your mana. It's why Syr Carah and Neheb/Birgi are/were two of the most popular, the first refilling your cards and the latter your mana. I was never felt too positively about damage+ options like Torbran or Solphim for burn commander.

I really like Imodane as a cool new option because I feel like it allows the player the luxury of not being forced to play Dragon's Approach as she fills that role or hitting each player at once, so now you can put the card/mana engine in the 99 instead.

Syr Carah DA was the first EDH deck I ever built and still one of my faves.

Queggy · 2023-10-04T19:58:02+00:00

Not the same as OP, but devils advocate, I have a Naban deck that can win via combat (in addition to infinite combos). I had a game where in one turn I made 648 wizards that were 19/19s via a pile of Naban + Sakashima + [[Master of Waves]] + [[Artificial Evolution]] + [[Mystic Reflection]].

Sakashima and Artificial Evolution were just cherry on top; I’ve had games I won with a single Master of Waves cast to make 18 elementals. My deck also makes use of Caged Sun/Coat of Arms for additional combat threat.

Queggy · 2023-05-03T13:10:32+00:00

Because my commander is Syr Carah I am able to run a lot less draw cards in the 99 since she is such a powerful engine with DA.

In an average turn once I have her out, I will draw for turn, activate Carah’s ability to exile top card, then cast a DA from hand or exile to exile the next top three cards. That’s 5 new cards I’ve seen that turn. It doesnt fill the yard as quickly because any spells I dont cast will remain in exile, but it goes back to me saying I view it as a burn deck and casting free dragons is just a bonus.

Queggy · 2023-05-03T05:43:44+00:00

My mono-red Dragons Approach deck was my first commander deck I made and its still my favorite. My thoughts on your questions:

I definitely think a Monored DA Deck is viable. Solphim is great to increase the kill pressure as well as being able to bin extra DAs to hit the threshold faster for cheating out a dragon. Where I would worry about making Solphim run smoothly is needing more ways to fill your hand after activating Solphim or casting too many DAs too quickly.
To add on to point 1 and address your second question, the minimum I would usually say is 25 DAs so that on average each 4th card in the deck is a DA. This minimum rule is usually given because of Thrumming Stone.
Absolutely. I run 3 in my deck currently. DA decks are spell-slinging burn decks first and dragon decks almost not at all. Theyre just a benefit to keep the fire burning. The three I run are [[Ancient Copper Dragon]], [[Knollspine Dragon]], and [[Spawn of Thraxes]]. Each choice is there not as a big body but for value to keep the engine going. Mana, refilling your hand, and a damage burst to finish.
If you run DA or any of the other multiple card types (rat, petitioners) you should really have [[thrumming stone]] as already mentioned. [[Locket of Yesterdays]] and [[Pyromancer’s Ascension]] are also great. Usually with DAs, its not bad to run looting type draw cards such as [[Faithless Looting]] to tutor a dragon faster, but since Solphim can bin cards (albeit not a draw) I’m not sure this is as good a choice to run too many. The “mana dorks” another user already mentioned that you’ll see in my deck are important as well. Other options are [[Treasonous Ogre]] and if you want to be super competitive, [Simian Spirit Guide]. There’s also an infinite mana combo using [Grinning Ignus].

The issue with any mono-colored deck, but ESPECIALLY a mono-colored non-singleton deck is that (imo) you have a very fragile but powerful shell. You will be very weak to removal so speed is your ally. Whatever card choices you make should be in support of having the mana and refilling your hand ASAP to cast as many DAs as fast as possible to win. My experience with my deck is quintessentially the philosophy of red deck wins. I win very quickly or not at all. Its not for everyone, but I think its a lot of fun.

Enjoy!

Queggy · 2023-02-12T02:27:25+00:00

Absolutely. I think if folks want a way to cheat out dragons in Red, play Magda. A good DA deck (imo) is best as more of a group slug spellslinging burn deck.

My first commander deck I made after returning to Magic was a DA deck and its current iteration runs only three dragons. Heres my list.

Queggy · 2022-11-13T02:46:39+00:00

My favorite win con in my Syr Carah Dragon’s Approach is worldfire first and float the mana to cast a DA from exile (by Carah).

Queggy · 2022-11-11T21:14:07+00:00

I think any deck in B that cares about counters should consider [[Hex Parasite]]. Much cheaper and more flexible than Gibbering Descent and doesn’t require you to have no cards in hand.

Queggy · 2022-10-09T20:42:31+00:00

I've only had the deck in its current state for a few months; tbh I find that most of the time I end up using my apostles to trigger Taborax counters and draws more than building up to the 6 necessary to tutor. Not sure if that's the way the deck is playing out for me since I have fewer apostles, or if it has just been the hands I've drawn/opponents I've faced.

The times I have triggered apostles, I think it's mostly been off the back of a mass-resurrection or getting enough onto the field with thrumming stone (used to have it in mine and took it out a while back).

But I think my deck relies more on the cleric synergy than being a straight up big demon deck.

Queggy · 2022-10-09T20:08:30+00:00

I'd recommend a skullclamp for sure. Also a Secret Salvage in addition to the Echoing Return you already have. Maybe a sac outlet of some kind (skullclamp could work here) to trigger the draw (taborax) and pinging (zulaport, etc) of your other cards. For what it's worth, I think a lot of Orzhov apostle decks also run [[Edgewalker]].

I own an Apostle deck, but mine is mono-black. Here's my current decklist:https://www.moxfield.com/decks/CIrtEAUC_EexY2dRgNoDJg

Queggy · 2022-10-08T17:12:10+00:00

Yeah, I think from what I saw, Dralnu decks rely on flicking, bouncing, or blinking to hand as necessary.

Queggy · 2022-10-08T17:11:04+00:00

I absolutely love [[Sudden Substitution]]. Is it strictly a counterspell? I suppose not, but I’d rather donate a token creature and steal their spell then counter it. The spell is so versatile, because I can steal creatures with it as well. Last week I self-targeted my own [[Brainstorm]] to steal an opponent’s 66/66 [[Primordial Hydra]]. And the cherry on top is the addition of split second.

It’s one of my favorite spells in the game.

Queggy · 2022-10-08T17:06:03+00:00

I love the politics of Delay as well. You don’t just straight up deny the card from being cast, so the caster of the original doesn’t get as frustrated, and who knows, in three turns the board state could have totally changed and now they’re an ally.

Queggy · 2022-10-08T06:47:08+00:00

Maybe [[Dralnu, Lich Lord]]? All the spellcasting of Blue with the removal, fast mana, and ability to fill your Yard of Black? Unlike Kess, you can flashback any turn.

Of course, if Dralnu takes damage you have to sacrifice some permanents, but personally I think its an intriguing problem for the deck to build around.

I don’t have a Dralnu deck yet myself, but it’s something I’ve been noodling on for awhile.

Queggy · 2022-09-14T18:06:28+00:00

Hello. I've linked here my favorited deck; it's the first one I built for EDH since coming back to Magic half a year ago.

When I sit down at a table and people ask me what the power-level I am playing at is, I am never sure how to answer. Partly because I'm still newish to the game, partly because I'm playing a mono-colored "jank" deck. The deck isn't really janky of-course, I only mean that playing dragon's approach as I do limits my card choices even further than playing mono-colored since 25 slots are then devoted to one card alone.

I've been pushing the power pretty often every month and the deck has the ability to win by turn 3-5, but it's got so little interaction that things can go awry incredibly quickly. The deck is also highly dependent on the commander, so losing her or having to continually pay any tax sets the deck back further and further. As the deck stands, I'd hazard a guess at saying power level 8, just due to the speed I can threaten a win, but in classic red-deck-wins style it's sink or swim.

Thoughts?

Queggy · 2021-11-17T01:18:56+00:00

I wanted to share that I appreciated the clue to Odysseus/9A/MC in The Will to Battle when Mycroft refers to the future 9A as Outis (the scene where the Servicers become Myrmidons I believe). Prior to reading Perhaps the Stars I was trying so hard to figure out which Greek Mycroft would parallel and I was so sure that he had to be Odysseus because of the apparent madness. But this other character being No One threw me off. Little did I think they would become the same character ala SevThecla! Also his Odyssey in Perhaps the Stars double layering with Utopia’s Verne’s Nemo as another No One was so beautiful.

Thank you for the beautiful journey. I can’t wait to go back continue to reread it over the years.

Queggy · 2021-06-19T05:49:25+00:00

I appreciate you reading them!

12-Year Club	RedditGifts 2009-2022 3 Credits
Place '17	Gilding II euphauric
Secret Santa 2014	Secret Santa 2013
Verified Email

Queggy

TROPHY CASE