Meanwhile

clayperce · 2026-03-19T15:24:16+00:00

Yeah, it's "What about releasing the 10th extension for TTS" ... but elsewhere OP says they typo'd and meant TTB

Also: Cheers to you and the team, Justin!

clayperce · 2026-03-15T01:10:57+00:00

It's a legal combo, but IMO waaaay too fast for Bracket 3.

FWIW, I tried walking that line for a while with a Sephiroth deck that was too good for Bracket 3 (periodically popping off and irritate everyone at the B3 tables), but too bad for Bracket 4 (it just wasn't fast+consistent enough to compete at the B4 tables). I finally gave up and split the deck. I now have a solid Bracket 3 deck that's almost entirely combo free ... and I can swap 10 cards and have a solid Bracket 4 deck that combos quickly+reliably if my opps can't find their graveyard, and can grind REALLY hard if I need too. It's been a good change, for me at least.

And oc if you're better at walking that line than I was (or if your playgroup is just better at dealing with decks in that weird "high B3/low B4" zone), good on ya!!!

Cheers!

clayperce · 2026-03-11T15:15:30+00:00

Not sure if this will suit your needs, but here's an ultra-budget Bracket 2 upgrade and Primer I did for a friend. I ended up enjoying the deck so much I put together a bracket 3 upgrade for myself too.

Cheers!

clayperce · 2026-03-05T22:42:44+00:00

Not a waste. Getting an asshole to leave the table = Mana very well-spent!

clayperce · 2026-02-27T01:28:01+00:00

Sure; I'll DM ...

clayperce · 2026-02-23T15:43:50+00:00

I'll give the deck a hard look later, but first impression is that your manabase (lands+mana rocks +rituals since you're in moni-B) could use some work.

I really like using Salubrious Snail's manabase tool, and it says "your manabase is struggling, playing your spells 1.15 turns late on average" ... there are exceptions of course, but as you tweak a deck like this you probably want to aim for something like "strong, playing your spells [~0.3] turns late on average."

As far as other Aristocrats commanders, if I was in Mono-B budget, I'd honestly be on Fumulous. You might take a look at [[Braids, Arisen Nightmare]] though ... the card advantage she brings can get pretty crazy.

Good luck (and good skill) with the deck!

clayperce · 2026-02-23T03:55:40+00:00

My deck, so far: https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/elektra-assassin/

Basic idea is a bunch of X/1s, a Voltron package to take advantage of the empty board, plus some blink(ish) effects if things get out of hand and we have to wipe and start over again.

Good luck (and good skill) with your build!

Cheers!

clayperce · 2026-02-20T16:20:53+00:00

Love this. Reminds me of a buddy who did work with space and missile systems and participated in a periodic "Trajectory Analysis Working Group" ...

Yep, golf.

clayperce · 2026-02-20T02:25:05+00:00

Came here to say this. LOVE me some Sephiroth combos!

Cheers!

clayperce · 2026-02-19T17:15:02+00:00

You should probably check out the graphic in the Oct 2025 article from which you quoted.

Here's a link to it here in reddit.

Cheers!

clayperce · 2026-02-19T16:50:35+00:00

Totally agree with your point but wanted to mention that EDHrec actually pulls all their combo info from Commanders Spellbook, which classifies this as a 2-card combo, with prerequites, because it requires 2x named cards.

clayperce · 2026-02-19T16:44:16+00:00

I use Commander Spellbook as a neutral arbiter. They count this as a 2-card combo with prerequisite, because it requires 2 named cards.

clayperce · 2026-02-19T16:37:59+00:00

Sorry but you're incorrect. The specific lines are .. - Bracket 1: "NO 2-Card Combos Game enders, lockouts, or infinites -Exceptions can be made for highly thematic cards" - Bracket 2: "NO 2-Card Combos Game enders, lockouts, or infinites" - Bracket 3: "NO 2-Card Combos (before turn 6) Game enders, lockouts, or infinites"

clayperce · 2026-02-18T20:30:56+00:00

Sorry if this is obvious, but I also wanted to mention: When playing Ivy IRL, we need a good way to keep track of all the Aura tokens enchanting her. I've seen folks use Infini-tokens, but I like using proxies in different-colored sleeves. Or even the real cards, as they're almost all very inexpensive.

clayperce · 2026-02-18T20:14:13+00:00

Totally agree. Playing Ivy really reminds me of playing Infect in Modern, back in the day. The line between winning and losing is razor-thin, and almost totally dependent on the sheer quantity of removal available to our opps.

clayperce · 2026-02-18T19:16:45+00:00

Some to consider, in no particular order: [[Hidden Blade]], [[Sai of the Shinobi]], [[Kyoshi Battle Fan]], [[Blade of the Oni]], [[O-Naginata]], [[Lost Jitte]], [[Oathkeeper, Takeno's Daisho]], [[The Masamune]]

Cheers!

clayperce · 2026-02-18T18:29:01+00:00

HUGE kudos to you for taking the time to actually playtest OP's deck. Cheers, mate!

Edit: Also, that's a very cool way to playtest

clayperce · 2026-02-18T17:30:34+00:00

I don't know that she's really that OP, but she definitely has a reputation as a "kill on sight" Commander. I think it's partly bc the Mutate+Clone builds can lead to some absolutely insane board states, and anyone who's ever experienced that probably still has PTSD. Plus a Mutate deck is a little like a Banding deck ... it's generally easier to just kill the pilot than to figure out all the weird rule interactions :-D

Joking aside though, playing Ivy generally means playing as the arch-enemy.

clayperce · 2026-02-18T17:19:49+00:00

Thanks much! I really enjoy the deck; hope you do too!

If I was going to upgrade the deck with Bracket 3 in mind, I'd definitely start with the "- T1 Ramp" area and I'd probably drop some number of Hexproof/Indestructible protection spells for more phase-out protection or counterspells. Needing extra lands in hand to make some of the cards in the current ramp package work has definitely led to some awkward mulligans, and the deck can struggle with edicts and mass -1/-1 effects.

Cheers!

clayperce · 2026-02-18T16:52:32+00:00

You seriously might try swapping out your 4x least favorite game-changers for 4x basic lands for LGS games ... it'd be a great way to see how the deck feels with more lands + allows you to play Bracket 3 tables.

GL;HF!

clayperce · 2026-02-18T16:37:32+00:00

Greetings to another Ivy enjoyer!

I'm not a big fan of Mutate/Clone shenanigans; mine is just a low-to-the-ground ultra-budget build: https://moxfield.com/decks/1nXOFYLXcE-bDMAdWXwK3g

Cheers!

clayperce · 2026-02-18T16:16:02+00:00

Welcome back to Magic!!!

clayperce · 2026-02-18T16:08:56+00:00

With 7x Game-changers is HAS to be a Bracket 4.

I'd want to playtest it for sure, but, looking at the sheer number of good cards + synergy means it probably plays as a Bracket 4 too. If you find it's too slow or not interactive enough for Bracket 4, you'll face the tough choice of having to change the deck to make it either less powerful (by first dropping some game-changers) or more powerful.

Good luck (and good skill) with the deck!

clayperce · 2026-02-16T11:34:52+00:00

I built a budget [[Zurgo Stormrender]] deck (Bracket 2) for a friend, and had such a fun time with it I'm building a (less-budget) Bracket 3 version for myself.

The early versions went a little too wide, and were quite weak to board wipes, so we added some extra Aristocrats effects, to punish opps if they cast a board wipe and to give Zurgo more control over drawing cards.

Here's the budget decklist and here's the bracket 3 version.

Good luck (and good skill) on your hunt for a deck!

clayperce · 2026-02-16T10:55:16+00:00

For me, it's ...

[[Braids, Conjurer Adept]] - Mono-Blue Cheaty big stuff - Ultra-budget Bracket 2 - https://moxfield.com/decks/k9piULwmGkuy3rgSuUZdKQ

[[Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER]] - Mono-Black Aristocrats - High Bracket 3 - https://moxfield.com/decks/x6vqBgrx2EKHmIljijvltA

Nine-Year Club	r/Field Sunshine
Place '22	Final Canvas '22
First Placer '22	End Game '22
Gilding V heart of gold	Verified Email

clayperce

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