Oakenshield Past Till Present
This is my jund sac stax deck led by none other than Adun Oakenshield, so of course it has a ballin graveyard recycler built in it as well. So i've been off and on for a while now with the Jund shard, Golgari, Gruul and with Rakdos guilds trying to figure out the best way to builld the best deck; I have tried playing around with many a commanders: Kresh, Lyzolda, Nath, Savra, Thromok and Sek'Kuar. This started out as a Kresh voltron deck with sacrifice effects to clear the board. This was harder than I initially thought, and I dropped the red to switch to a Nath discard, token, and sacrifice deck. This deck was the first true stax deck that I made since it was the first to run a Smokestack along side a massive discard theme. This was a solid build, but I thought I could make it better; so I tried to make it a full blown sacrifice theme deck to control the entire board state when I switched Nath out for Savra. Needless to say that this was only good on paper and was broken down after I realized she is too dependent on other things to be a great commander. I then switched out the green for red and tried Lyzolda. She was supposed to be a token based deck that would commander kill people, but I ran into a problem... There is not enough reliable token gen in red for this sort of thing. So where Lyzolda fell Thromok rose and was a full fledged token deck. He was a fun deck to pilot, great for voltron killing and also had a horde to be reckoned with. Needless to say I missed my stax effects that black offered and that I loved, so I threw it back in and tried to roll with a Sek'Kuar re-animator deck. It still missed something; the ability to re-use creatures without resorting to spells and enchantments to get them out of the graveyard. I always knew about Oakenshield since I started playing commander, but his price tag and ability just didn't seem relevant until I realized how busted he could be, so I finally decided to give Oakenshield a go, and boy did he go.
Who is Adun Oakenshield?
- He is from legends; this makes him an automatic badass and awesome commander.
- He is in the Jund shard which has some of the best cards for stax; especially for the sac effects that I wished to run in my deck. It is also one of my favorite color combos!
- Oakenshield's ability might not seem like it could be great, but it actually will start the process of recycling by getting one creature out of the graveyard into your hand. While I do not lean on his ability to win it is somewhat useful to have a Disentomb/Raise Dead on a stick. Which can be super useful since almost every affect that I need is on a stick and recurable thorough this ability.
- He is cheap to cast. Sitting at a nice cmc of 3 to make him even better. This will also help if he ever dies; which you can cast him easily and if need be from 3-4 times in a game, and possibly more if you had to do so.
- I would say that he has awesome flavor, but he only has the quote on his card. So just make up a story in your head and run him for flavor too ;).
Jund: BBlackB: This is the most prominent color in this deck. It brings many things to the table to help me secure board position including draw power, sac effects, and some token production. Black also has some of the bigger fatties in this deck to help with late game finishers. GGreenG: Green is the most helpful color in this scheme early on. It holds the keys to getting out of the gate and getting yourself on your feet. Green is more of a support color in this deck and helps out by ramping, artifact/enchantment hate, tokens, and also has some big beaters. RRedR: This is the lowest color of the three in my deck. Its more of a splash than an actual color. Even though this is the lowest color in my deck it has its own important uses. It is in most of the multicolored cards, but does have some cards of its own that help with support. These cards help out with tokens and land destruction.
The Yay vs The Nay
You might like this build/deck if:
You like interactions in your game
Graveyard to be specific. Use your graveyard as an extension of your hand.
Activation effects on creatures rather than a heavy spell based deck.
Sacrifice! Instead of heavy boardwipes and sweepers. Prefer static effects to spells; such as Smokestack/Grave Pact.
You like controlling board state
Through artifacts, creatures, and of course all those lovely enchantments!
Prefer to be the awesome guy at the table
Yeap...
Your prolly gonna have a bad time if:
You rely on only creature(s) to win
Sorry; this is not a horde deck.
If you try to commander kill someone with Oakenshield; your prolly gonna have a bad time.
Most importantly: Never rely on your commander to run the deck.
You happen to be a spellslinger
If you like spells then this prolly isn't a deck for you. As stated above I use creatures to do most of my work for me. Excluding a handful.
Your just not the cool kid at the table
About Me and the Meta
I have been playing with the same playgroup for a little over 10 years now. I picked it up around Starter 99/Invasion set. My playgroup played for about 3 years of casual and then split for a couple of years; then we got back together when 10th Edition was coming out and started playing again. We started playing standard when Rise of the Eldrazi set was released, and shortly after dropped it because of the need to constantly update your deck list in order to stay in the sets that were 'standard'. Anyways came around to EDH finally and have been playing it since.
My meta has changed quite a few times and it was mostly for the better. Started out playing a more casual scene. Most things that are in our decks today would make our past selves cringe to think about. There is always a consistency of graveyard decks, stax decks, a couple voltron decks, and some that are just fun time/good stuff decks within our playgroup today. Now we are a more competitive playgroup where most anything goes. Some of the generals and some of the deck types that I play agains are Dromar, the Banisher Stax, Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer Voltron/Token Swarm, Rakdos, Lord of Riots Punisher, Oona, Queen of the Fae Control/Mill, Horde of Notions Voltron/Goodstuff, Ghave, Guru of Spores Combo, and Sliver Legion Combo/Swarm, and Oros, the Avenger Enchantment.dec.
Notes:
Currently the deck sits at a 3.13 mana curve.
Hell's Caretaker is my MVP card.
The Game Plan
The Mulligan
Once you draw your opening hand look for lands, mana rocks, and or a type of creature ramp. I would consider dropping anything with cmc 5 or greater just to get the deck running. Also you may want something to get the yard rolling or something as a token generator to fuel a stax game later, so look for those cards as well. Some type of removal or a tutor is also somethings to look out for, but I would put these a more useful tool than a necessity to start the game.
Early Game
Early game belongs to the token generators and mana rocks in this deck. Creature based ramp such as Greenseeker and Sakura-Tribe Elder will also help you get out of the gate as fast as possible. As with all decks it is important to not miss land drops. There are plenty of ways this deck can roll. If you have some stax cards in your hand get them out as fast as possible. Whats better than a Smokestack on turn 4? Prolly a Smokestack on turn 3; if you get the right rocks one on turn 2. Anyways try and get the stax cards out to hurt or hinder your opponents progress; tempo loss is everything! How to fuel the fire? Use token gen! I try to at least have one on the field to get rolling; Awakening Zone or others such as Bitterblossom can help with this. So try to get those enchantments onto the field and start to crank them out. Also Bloodghast and Squee make for good fodder as well; these two can also be used to set up some graveyard shenanigans. As far as setting up the graveyard it can be as easy as Entomb or a Survival of the Fittest. This will definitely get the yard rolling and it will also gets some eyes on it. Graveyard hate is everywhere until proven otherwise, so man up and try and bait it out or hope someone else has a better looking yard than yourself. Cards that will help you recur your creatures are also part of your game plan. Hell's Caretaker and Eternal Witness are two that can help you make it to a more late game state.
Mid Game
The transmission from early to late game is mix of token gen, stax effects, and graveyard shenanigans. There are plenty of ways to push this deck; most of which depends on your opening had and your cards to come. It is always a mix of the three that will get you to the late game. Whether it be tokens fueling a Smokestack or Grave Pact, Hell's Caretaker eating tokens to throw creatures back into play, or Sheoldred, Whispering One reviving Viscera Seer to destroy it with Magus of the Abyss to keep yourself from loosing ground. The pass into late game will be noted as your opponents are loosing steam and running out of answers as they spend them on you or other people at the table.
Late Game
As an attrition deck it was made to outlast people at the table, so let them spend their answers and let them wipe the field for you are the cockroach in the apocalypse. If you are not in the late game then you are more than likely being held down by someones Leyline of the Void or Rest in Peace. If you do make it to late game and have an intact graveyard start using it to your advantage to get crazy and get some beaters out on the field. This is usually how this deck will win; unless you have a scoop win from the stax effects that are now breaking other decks while yours is just cruising along for the ride. This deck excels at keeping the field clear through sac affects like Grave Pact, so keep those tokens handy to sac to one of those outlets on the board to keep the board state to your advantage. Vicious Shadows and Vraska the Unseen are also how you can win the game; if it comes down to it have a full blown sac battle and start sending the damage the opponents' face with Shadows or get the walker to her ultimate and watch the assassins do work. There are also two new additions to the late game win conditions, both are lands. Raging Ravine is a man land that gets a buff every time it swings, so it has proven useful to have around when no one has a blocker and four mana isn't unreasonable to morph it. Kessig Wolf Run is also a win con; except it could be used on something as small as a token to buff up and swing for the KO.
Problematic Scenarios
There are a couple of things that can make this deck cease to function at all. The first being hating on the graveyard. This can be done a number of ways whether it is from cards such as Tormod's Crypt, Relic of Progenitus, Leyline of the Void, or Rest in Peace. There are a few ways to deal with these. Removal is the easiest way possible to get rid of them. Though it might be that you don't have any removal in your hand; well the alternative thing to do for the artifact versions of the graveyard hate would be to bait it out and hope they nuke your yard as a response. Other wise play the deck as best as you can and keep your head down until someone else solves your problem; more than likely you are not the only one with recursion at the table. The other problem that hurts this deck is Humility type effects. As for Humility and friends get some enchantment hate and blow it up, or send it away for a while using Chaos Warp. These are the most noted problems that I come across while playing this deck.
Cards and Their Uses
Ramp and Rocks
Apart from the lands in the deck that have no utility purpose I run City of Shadows which is a tricky card that should not be used on anything but your tokens. It may seem sub-par, but it is always useful in having another Sol Ring or maybe a Thran Dynamo strapped onto a land. Apart from the awesomeness that is the Sol Ring I run a couple other mana rocks, that help me excel out of the gate. These rocks help me out when things get a bit too mana intensive; they also help out in my meta where the lands will be more than likely nuked at least once a game, so it helps keep me on my feet. Apart from the normal mana rocks I run Chromatic Lantern which helps perma fix my mana base in a way that makes Urborg jealous. Also there are the creatures that I run to fetch and fix as I go about my way of winning the game; Greenseeker and Sakura-Tribe Elder are awesome to have early game to help set yourself up for a better late game.
Sol Ring - Cheap mana rock that automatically replaces itself as in 2 for 1. Helps with early game acceleration. Chromatic Lantern - Use it as another mana rock to get the needed color and it also fixes my mana base as long as its on field. Talisman of Impulse - Used to run the signet, but found that not being able to drop things the same turn kind of a waste. Talisman of Indulgence - Also the Talisman are proving to be useful for their ability to filter;at the cost of a ping; which is totally worth it. Otherwise the Talisman are a standard two drop mana rock. Darksteel Ingot - Any type of mana from a rock that is indestructible. Used to ramp out and help with mana fixing. City of Shadows - Super awesome land that can be used to the extreme if you have a token generator. Use it to ramp. Greenseeker - Serves as early ramp while also filling up the yard. Oracle of Mul Daya - Can help me dig through my deck and allows me to ramp and mana fix along the way by getting more lands out. Be careful if your meta runs LD; very important to not miss a land drop, but also important to not over extend. Sakura-Tribe Elder - Creature that can ramp and gets a sac off of itself.
Token Generators
Token generators are a big part of this deck as it keeps the fuel for the sac effects going strong and it helps with whittling people down; tokens can also be used to chum block if needed which can be a huge help at times. Kher Keep is the only land that I use to produce tokens; which are for the most part are made at an opponent's end step for my upkeep cost of Smokestack; although I have made then in response to an attack to block. Its a good source of tokens that will not be wiped away from a sweeper unless you play with mass land destruction. Other forms of token production comes from enchantments; Awakening Zone is one that stands out since it can also be used to ramp. Apart from this there is Bitterblossom and Goblin Assault, both of which you need to be careful of. While Bitterblossom is only 1 life it will wear you down so be careful of that, and if you are perhaps running a goblin toolbox then you might not want Goblin Assault on the field since it forces you to swing with all goblins that can; bad day to have utility goblins like Kiki or Welder. Creature wise I have Grave Titan and Creakwood Liege, both which are fairly deadly if used in the right scenario. Whilst the Titan is obviously deadly with deathtouch he also spews tokens, and the Liege is deadly because he can make an army of tokens bigger which can mean the world when it is coming down to the wire or having to rely on them to get in the damage. Also I run 3 planeswalkers that are all capable of putting tokens onto the field; Garruk Relentless is the one that puts the most onto the field since I use him to fuel the fire. Apart from the actual token producers I run Parallel Lives which helps me crank up my Smokestack to awesome numbers.
Kher Keep - Token producer that is on a land. Easier to survive spot removal and sweepers. Also provides a mana sink of sorts. Bitterblossom - Token producer for cmc of 2. Like it since it makes flyers and have a higher chance to get through player defenses. Goblin Assault - Token producer that makes tokens with haste; can be useful or they can just eat the SKullclamp. Awakening Zone - Makes tokens that can be used to ramp. This is very useful early game. Parallel Lives - Double up on tokens... Enough said. Creakwood Liege - Makes tokens and provides a buff. Can provide useful early game and late game. Grave Titan - Awesome beatstick that makes tokens that are bigger than the standard 1/1s. Sarkhan the Mad - Makes people sac a creature to put a dragon into play. Can be used as removal or just sac a goblin token and get a dragon instead. Vraska the Unseen - Makes assassin tokens that can end a game if they can deal damage to a player. Garruk Relentless - Both sides to this planeswalker makes tokens to fuel the machine.
Recursion and Stuff Oakenshield is a powerhouse when it comes to recurring things back from your yard, but alas he cannot do all the work himself. Apart from the commander himself I run plenty of ways to get what I want back in case someone decides to do the table a favor and wreck one of my pieces. Volrath's Stronghold is notably one of the best ways I have for getting creatures back when I want them and for cheap cost, and this ability comes on a land which makes it a little more safer to field. There are a few creatures that I run that have similar effects, but each have their own draw backs. Hell's Caretaker is one of my personal favorites, and he is my MVP card if I were to vote on one; the draw back that surrounds him is he can only be activated during your upkeep. This is also has its advantages; since its during your upkeep it means that you could stack triggers to sac a token that was just made by one of your many token producers during that upkeep. The other one besides the Caretaker mentioned above is Sheoldred, Whispering One, and she is a bullet magnet. While I like to use her late game while most of the removal is spent and she provides another beatstick to end people with. She also has the draw back of only being usable during upkeep, but has the awesomeness to be part of the sac stax. Bloodghast and Squee, Goblin Nabob pairs up nicely with this as they go to the yard to go to the field or go back to your hand at upkeep. Eternal Witness and Life From the Loam are two of the cards that I run for recurring non-creature permanents. Eternal Witness is an awesome card that is really one of a kind and can be abused easily if the deck is up and rolling with a graveyard engine online. Loam and Crucible of Worlds are ran in the deck to recover from land hate that is in my meta. Both are awesome, but I will have to say that if I were to choose one I would go with the Loam since it isn't a permanent and can't be removed. Also Loam can be Entombed if need be, and it has a Dredge function which can help in times of needing a target in the yard.
Adun Oakenshield - Commander of the deck. Has Raise Dead/Disentomb on an ability. Volrath's Stronghold - Land that has the ability to save a creature from exile or just put them back on top to be used again. Sheoldred, Whispering One - Has a Zombify at upkeep that is free to use. Also provides me with a beatstick to use late game if need be. Hell's Caretaker - Awesome little guy that exchanges tokens or creatures that have served their purpose with others in my graveyard. Has the limitation of only being used sometime during upkeep though. Bloodghast - Goes great with Skullclamp and is an ealry game target for Entomb. Squee, Goblin Nabob Also goes great with Skullclamp and Entomb. Goes better with Survival of the Fittest/Fauna Shaman. Life of the Loam - Get lands back after a LD hits the field. One of two cards in the deck that can get back non-creature spells. Also has dredge. Crucible of Worlds - Artifact that can be susceptible to removal, but helps with mass LD recovery. Eternal Witness - The other card that can get a card back from the graveyard that has no limitations on what type.
Sac Outlets
I run a mere 5 sac outlets in the deck that require no tap effect or are an effect caused by a forced sac. There are two artifacts, an enchantment, and two creatures. Ashnod's Altar and Phyrexian Altar are both great forms of mana if you need them and can be used to accelerate through even the highest forms of taxing effects. These are also awesome since most players will over look them for other troubling developments throughout the board. Goblin Bombardment is the enchantment that I use to sac my creatures to; it is a cheap sac outlet that allows me to deal damage to creatures that I find annoying and also can deal face damage to players if it comes down to it. The creatures I use for my sac outlets are Viscera Seer and Flesh-Eater Imp. Viscera Seer has the super awesome ability to scry, so use it a lot! This can change your gamestate depending on what you want, so go get it. The Imp is a flying infect creature that gives itself buffs off of its sacs, so if you have to resort to using it then it can be a win con.
Viscera Seer - Used to srcy to dig down to find an answer if you had to. Phyrexian Altar - Can be used to mana fix. Helps early game to ramp as well. Ashnod's Altar - Helps even better early game to help ramp. Goblin Bombardment- Used as a damage producing sac outlet. Good for creatures and players alike. Flesh-Eater Imp - Sac outlet that can also function as a win con.
Yard Hate
This really depends on the meta of the individual, but my meta usually has at least one graveyard deck on the table. Leyline of the Void is the be all end all yard hate for this deck. Worse comes to worse just cast it out in your opening hand and it keeps your opponents from doing graveyard shenanigans. I also run Rakdos Charm which is a form of removal for artifacts, but can also nuke a graveyard. I run it for its versatility, but find that I am usually using the nuke-a-yard function from the other options on the card. The other one that I run is Deathrite Shaman who functions as a recurable creature that can keep hitting cards of interest in players graveyards. I can use him to mana ramp, make opponents loose life, and gain life to offset my own life loss. Overall he is a new and quite useful tool that I have enjoyed pestering my playgroup with.
Leyline of the Void - Best way to shut down other graveyard decks ta the table. Can also be put down for free if its in your opening hand. Rakdos Charm - Instant speed graveyard hate. Also has other options on the card that make it really versatile. Deathrite Shaman - Graveyard hate on a creature. While it only gets one card at a time he is way easier to recur, and has more versatile options to use.
Tutor and Card Advantage
This deck uses sources such as Phyrexian Arena for card draw; which comes at a price as it always does with black, but it helps to get a head with the card advantage especially if your playing someone at the table with blue. This might not always give you what you might want, but that's how Mirri's Guile can help. Getting a free top three setup at your upkeep can help draw better and more useful things for the time needed. On the same note Reaper of the Wilds is able to scry through my deck and get what I would like on top. Pair either with Sarkhan the Mad and you've got a draw engine online as long as you can fit a land on his ability. Skullclamp is nearly as good if not better than any of them; since the majority of the deck has tokens, so go on and clamp them. Also Squee and Bloodghast work into this quite well also. As for the tutors I run a mix of spell based ones, enchantments, and creatures. I also run Garruk Relentless as another form of Survival of the Fittest or Fauna Shaman to search up a creature I need at the moment to do my bidding while also feeling free to fill up my yard to use it later if need be. Being in black I run Demonic Tutor for the anything I need now affect that it has; can be useful in any scenario as I have used it to get anything from a land to start off the game to a creature that wins the game. Also being in black and in a graveyard recycling deck I run Entomb which give me the option of using it on turn one to get Bloodghast into the yard or something of that nature. It is also extremely useful late game when I have the recycling engine at full steam to dump a fatty into the yard.
Entomb - One mana instant speed graveyard tutor. Can be helpful both early game and late game. Tutor for Bloodghast early game and say Grave Titan late game. Demonic Tutor - Tutor for any card in your deck. Best tutor that one could possibly have. Fauna Shaman - Tutor for a creature as an ability. Awesome. Survival of the Fittest - Tutor for a creature on an enchantment. Gets insane since you can use it more than once. Garruk Relentless - Use his -2 to go get a creature card and either sac a token to do so or fill your graveyard with a creature that has served its purpose. Sarkhan the Mad - Its planeswalker Bob. Hopefully you can fit a land on him to keep him alive for a while. Skullclamp - Goes crazy with tokens, Squee, or Bloodghast. Or just stick it on something to sac it to an outlet. Mirri's Guile - Free look at the top three cards. Great card to get anytime, but is awesome early game as a turn one drop. Phyrexian Arena - Bleed for a draw; no better way to do it. Beats your opponents through card advantage. Reaper of the Wilds - If you have a sac outlet or just have a good amount of creatures on the board that died he is totally worth the 4 cmc. Viscera Seer - He is technically a sac outlet but he helps scry right through the deck till I hit something that I might need.
Removal
The spell based removal that I run in this deck is mostly spot removal, but I do have a few sweepers. The instances that I run are Chaos Warp and Beast Within, both are awesome in their own ways and I would recommend playing them as an instant should be as a 'in response' to get the best effect out of them. The sorcery based spot removal that I run is Vandalblast and Decimate; Decimate is a broader spot removal than most in the fact that you get 4 out of the 5 permanent types on the board. The drawback being that there has to be all 4 types on the field to target in order to cast it. Vandalblast is a great spell for my meta in that Most people playing will have at least 2 artifacts in front of them; except for a stax deck and metalcraft deck in witch this card rocks; otherwise I would just say run a standard artifact/enchantment removal spell in its place. Damnation and Devastation are the two 'hard wipe' sweepers that I run, but I also run Lavalanche and Gaze of Granite as two mini sweepers. These two are better off late game when you can really pump the mana into them, and Lavalanche is really useful for disrupting an opponent's board state and possibly knocking them out of the game if you can get enough mana into it. The creature based removal is really where this deck shines though; since this is a graveyard recycle or attrition deck I can use some of the removal more than once. Sylvok Replica is pretty much a Naturalize that can be utilized as many times as you can grab it from the yard; I also like him for the rattlesnake function he comes with. Goblin Settler is nice for taking out pesky lands that are fueling your opponents decks; I also run Viridian Zealot as a way to hit artifacts or enchantments without the use of an enter the battlefield effect; I find that it is a better getting around all the Torpor Orb(s). It is my go to card in most cases just because of what all it can hit. The last creature that I run is [CARD]Vampire Hexmage
[/CARD]; it is a recent addition to the deck list, but has been doing work since I have put her in. I use her to control Smokestack, Tangle Wire, Descent into Madness, and any number of planeswalkers at the board. Overall she has been a pro at keeping things smooth for me and a nightmare for the rest of my meta.
Vampire Hexmage - Best card I have found to control planeswalkers. Also can clean the counters off of other things like Smokestack and Tangle Wire. Chaos Warp - Best red removal spell there is. Might not get rid of it for good, but it solves the problem. Also great for stuffing generals. Beast Within - Permanent destruction in trade for a token. Great for disrupting things. Decimate - Four permanents for four mana. Awesome card with a drawback; all for types have to be targetable. Damnation - Hard boardwipe. Goblin Settler - Spot land destruction. Have used it three times in a row in a single turn before to remove the islands from a players land base. Sylvok Replica - Naturalize on a stick that can 'pop' at any given time. One of the best multi-use creatures in the deck. Vandalblast - Great in my personal meta. Otherwise might be a sub par artifact destruction card. Lavalanche - Great for wrecking players board position and or killing them. Has won me more games than it should have. Goblin Bombardment - Can remove little creatures from the game. Devastation - Hard boardwipe that hits all land. Is a be all end all to most solutions. Gaze of Granite - Simple way to destroy lots of stuff with only a moderate amount of mana. Also gets planeswalkers in case someone at the table is having a slumber party. Ruination - While not a full fledged MLD it gets a good amount of lands at the table for a 4 cmc. Goblin Sharpshooter - Got a token problem? Not any more. Viridian Zealot - Rattlesnake Naturalize. Cheap and very useful.
Stax
This is really the bread and butter of the deck. These cards are what cause the tempo loss and eventual loss of the game to your opponents. Smokestack being the awesome artifact that everyone loves is capable of cranking up to 6 for a steady rate and even higher if you have all the pieces on board. Magus of the Abyss is also a great card for keeping creatures off the board; Sheoldred is also another great card for this. Keeping the field clear of any creatures but yours is your true goal while piloting this deck. In saying that Grave Pact can be good enough to do the job all by itself if need be; all you would need to have would be a sac outlet and some tokens or creatures that have served their purpose and the field will be cleared. Other staxy cards I run are for shutting the opponents out of the game such as Stranglehold, Torpor Orb, and Leyline of the Void. I would consider these to be stax cards in that it keeps the opponent from playing how they normally would; whether it be from searching his/her library, playing casual etb, or from abusing their graveyard. The other cards I run for stax would be one of my alternate win conditions of Vicious Shadows and its mini version of Blood Artist. Shadows is capable of taking the whole board out if you have token production and sac outlets; be aware that dropping this will put a target on your head from your fellow players though, so be sure that you have the game before playing this card. While the Artist is good for offsetting my life total from the bleeder affects; in all honestly I had no where to put him so that's also why he is in the stax part. Also a new addition to my deck that follows the Artist effects is Ko-ko Puffs; same reasons apply for putting him in the stax part.
Leyline of the Void - Disrupts a players playstyle. Not true stax, but makes them play to how I want them to. Sheoldred, Whispering One - Sac a creature at opponents upkeep. Keeps creatures off the field and puts me at a great board position. Smokestack - The essential piece in a stax deck. Can be used to make opponents force sack and if you have enough token gen than you should be able to run it 4-6 or higher no problem. Stranglehold - Makes opponents rage. Slows them down and keeps them from finding answers. Grave Pact - Keeps the field clear. If you have a sac outlet and this then the battlefield is at your discretion. Magus of the Abyss - Different than Sheoldred or Smokestack. Makes the player destroy target non- artifact creature. Only way to stop it is with shroud. Vicious Shadows - Nasty win con. Will win you the game if gone unchecked; it will also make you a primary target. Blood Artist - Serves as a mini version of Shadows. Also is useful for gaining life that is lost from my own affects and from some people at the table. Torpor Orb - Amazing card that drops on turn 2. Can ruin a players whole day if they are playing etb goodstuff. Kokusho, the Evening Star - Good way to bleed the table and gain some life back if needed.
Change Log
10-13
- Bloodgift Demon + Reaper of the Wilds - cutting out a flying Phyrexian Arena for a creature that provides a nice beat, scrys quite a bit, and is able to dodge removal/gain deathtouch. Overall I would say he is a meta call and that would be based on how many creatures die. 9-13
- Silverglade Pathfinder + Goblin Sharpshooter - while I cut out a mana dork of sorts I gained an upper hand in my meta while putting in the Sharpshooter. My meta is crawling with tokens at the moment and I find this very effective.
- Torch Fiend + Viridian Zealot - traded a Shatter for a Naturalize on a stick.
- Swamp + Inkmoth Nexus - another man-land that can prove extremely deadly on an empty boardstate. Also a good way to close out a game if you were needing to rely on something.
- Black Sun's Zenith + Gaze of Granite - while not reshuffle-able I find that the rise in planeswalkers in the meta warrants the use of this.
- Doomed Necromancer + Kokusho, the Evening Star - traded a recursion outlet for a finisher/life gainer/flying protection guy. So far he has been worth it in every game that I have dropped him.
- Birthing Pod + Liliana of the Veil - over the course of this decks life it has dropped creatures and added some. Unfortunately this created weak parts for the Pod's chain, so I feel that dropping it was a good move. Adding in more planeswalker support.
- Impending Disaster + Ruination - taking out a MLD card that some people in the meta can see coming and putting in more non-basic hate. My meta now has decks that people run about 60-80% non-basic lands; with odds like that its almost as good as a real MLD. 5-13
- Fleshbag Marauder + Torpor Orb - the Orb is going in so I am cutting most etb effects; while Fleshbag is an awesome tool I think I can do work without him.
- Wood Elves + Silverglade Pathfinder - cutting most etb effects in the deck to accompany Torpor Orb. So out goes the Elves and Pathfinder takes his place. Pathfinder is a better Greenseeker, but is still not able to fetch duals; hope this doesn't hurt me too much.
- Farhaven Elf + Greenseeker - reliable and cheap mana fixing; while removing an etb effect. Also pitches to the yard.
- Acidic Slime + Sylvok Replica - about the same effect, but with a smaller cmc. Also can hold it as a rattlesnake ability.
- Graveborn Muse + Bloodgift Demon - droping on adding another... mostly to fix my B-Pod chain. But beating with wings does help. 4-13
- Golgari Signet + Blood Artist - apart from there being no Talisman for Golgari or any enemy colors in that matter I chose to switch it out for the Artist since he functions as a mini-Vicious Shadows and offsets my life lose a little bit.
- Rackdos Signet + Talisman of Indulgence - taking out my signets for affective turn 2 mana rocks.
- Gruul Signet + Talisman of Impulse - switching out my mana rocks. The number of times that I wished I could have cast things the turn my signets hit field has gotten to me. Also pain land in artifact form doesn't bother me too much.
- Jarad's Orders + Crucible of Worlds - with the introduction of mass LD into my own deck and it being in the meta previously I wanted more recovery options than LotL. Loosing the tutor isn't a huge blow, and it is still a note worthy card; just needed the recovery from LD more.
- Greancrawler + Devastation - trading a late game beater and recycling creature for another answer. This answer being a 'let's put all the lands and creatures... into the graveyard' kind of answer. Also is my second hard wipe in the deck.
- Shivan Harvest + Impending Disaster - loosing a sac outlet and non-basic land hate for a cheap and so far effective enchantment that nukes all lands. 3-13
- Hex Parasite + Vampire Hexmage - while almost the same; I found that the Parasite required mana in too many times that I was tapped out. Im hoping that the inclusion of Hexmage will warrant the same results that the Parasite offered. Only drawback being that she sacs, but I can just recur her.
- Crucible of Worlds + Life From the Loam - getting a great land recovery card, dredge enabler, and a Entomb target in one card for cheaper cmc. One day I wish to work Crucible back into the list since its an awesome card; just Loam fits better with the deck as is.
- Deathrender + Flesh-Eater Imp - Deathrender wasn't pulling its weight and I found that had plenty of tokens to use for sac material. In goes another sac outlet. Its also a creature which is a plus for me, and has flying and infect; in my meta that reads 'insta-kill'.
- Phyrexian Plaguelord + Goblin Bombardment - Cheaper effect for a similar card. Also allows me to hit the player also.
- Nihil Spellbomb + Deathrite Shaman - provides a source of graveyard hate that can mana ramp, gain life, and deal damage to opponents. Also more easily recurable than the Spellbomb was. 2-13
- Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth + Raging Ravine - since everyone in my playgroup is running black most of the decks have a Urborg in them already, so cutting it isn't exactly hurting me if another player on the board has it out. The Ravine also adds another beater for late game stax which is also strapped to a land.
- Temple of the False God + Kessig Wolf Run - trading a mediocre non-basic for a non-basic that has a win condition strapped onto it. Can be super useful for late game stax as a buffed token is usually good enough to kill something. 1-13
- Tormod's Crypt + Torch Fiend - traded a one use card for a recurable one. While it lowered the yard hate it also raised the artifact hat which needed to be upped after recent events within the meta.
- Bloodgift Demon + Graveborn Muse - One mana less and still has the static effect that I like. I could not see myself using Greed to draw cards since it was a mana sink and I dispised the fact that it was.
- Tortured Existence + Vandalblast - There is too many artifacts in my meta for me not to be running this, and the fact that Torpor Orb on the field almost completely hoses my deck made the decision of putting this in over the enchantment. I would still say anyone debating on Tortured Existence should give it a go; its a great card for all graveyard decks.
- Buried Ruin + Meteor Crater - I don't run the amount of artifacts for the ruin to be good, and meteor can usually tap for at least two of the three colors that I am wishing to produce. 12-12
- No Mercy + Tortured Existence - Traded pillowfort for another tutor. Somewhat backwards, but it helps with both getting stuff into the graveyard and getting something back out in a pinch if someone is trying to nuke one of my utility creatures out.
- Disciple of Bolas + Goblin Settler - Dropping a creature that I never once thought to tutor and the only times I ever played it I only got maybe 3 off of her affect. Not a bad card, but just not right for this deck. Also adding in some more land removal for some peskier lands in the meta.
- Savra, Queen of the Golgari + Hex Parasite - Adding in some removal for planeswalkers also has an added bonus of controlling Smokestacks/Descend into Madness type cards.
-Lyzolda, the Blood Witch + Black Sun's Zenith - Needed another hard boardwipe in case I loose Damnation. And I like the fact that Black Sun is re-usable. As for Lyzolda she just got to be too mana intensive; although still worth a mention for anybody running a sac deck in b/r. 11-12
- Scrying Sheets + City of Shadows - Never got Scrying Sheets online in this deck. Also like the idea of City of Shadows even thought it does't go to my graveyard. I would be using this with the token producers that I have. And of course took out the snow covered lands for this as well.
- Buried Alive + Jarad's Orders - Like Jarad's Orders better since it is not an all in approach and it sets up some of my more favorite interaction in the deck up nicely.
- Graveborn Muse + Disciple of Bolas - I like how I can abuse the Disciples ability with the recycle bin, and I am already running the Bloodgift Demon and Phyrexian Arena for the same affect as Graveborn had.
- Sek'Kuar, Deathkeeper + Doomed Necromancer - Adding another recycling affect to the deck and taking out a hit or miss token generator. Personally like the trade, but will see if it continues to help.
- Braids, Cabal Minion + Bloodghast - Love the recursion aspect of being able to sac it to Smokestack, Magus, Caretaker, or anything else. Braids is once again cut out for not being useful enough unless dropped early game.
- Kresh the Bloodbraided + Squee, Goblin Nabob - Need a tutor every turn? Squee plus Fauna Shaman or Survival gets you one.
- Necrogenesis + Rakdos Charm - Instant speed graveyard hate or could k.o. someone if they produce too many tokens.
- Doubling Season + Vraska the Unseen - Great removal that cannot be hosed by Torpor Orb or Humility type shenanigans. Another win con as well; don't plan on getting it off though.
- Marsh Flitter + Deathrender - Awesome card to have some interactions with and it also lets me use Survival, Fauna Shaman, and Oakenshield to their utmost abilities. And Flitter never gave me enough tokens, so I would say good trade. 10-12
- Braids, Cabal Minion + Magus of the Abyss - Easier to splash and still awesome.
- Oversold Cemetery + Buried Alive - Needed more recycling bait.
- Mortician Beetle + Entomb - Drop beater for tutor.
- Swamp + Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth - Forgot it...
- Bloodchief Ascension + Vicious Shadows - How i forgot about this one I do not know.
- Tainted Aether + Braids, Cabal Minion - Shes back in! Tainted screwed me to many times.
- Sylvok Replica + Lavalanche - Replica didn't do to much for me and Lavalanche wipes a players board state.
- Diabolic Intent + Eternal Witness - Never used Diabolic Intent when it was in my hand. Always prefer getting things back from gy anyways.
Cards Under Consideration/Testing/Wishlist
Cards Under Consideration/Testing: Hero's Downfall - here is the other answer. I like it better then Dreadbore because of the instant speed. Dreadbore - a rise in planeswalkers calls for more answers. Here is one; not a fan of the sorcery speed. Corpse Dance - busted. Simply and easily busted; never tested it out, but have seen it do work before with some guys in the playgroup. Liliana of the Dark Realms - recent card that I picked up. Has an interesting +1 ability that could easily help feed an activated Smokestack. Deathbridge Chant - an awesome enchantment that kinda recurs a random card to my hand and also dredges 10 deep! Just hope it sticks on field for a while... Tilling Treefolk - creature version of Life from the Loam, but without the dredge. Could be an abusable creature version in this deck if I ever had to use it. Nether Shadow - another self recurring creature that I picked up just in case I ever decided to use him. Could be great with Smokestack or Braids. Undertaker - kinda like the enchantment Tortured Existence, but it allows me to discard any card. Seems kinda cool at least on paper; also its a creature which makes it easier for me to get back and gives me another sac fodder. Dauthi Embrace - card could end games with an unblockable fatty or just some tokens getting in some damage every turn. Wurmcoil Engine - can be used to offset the life loss in the deck. Also has the capability to make tokens; while these are not the main goal they could be useful. Nether Traitor - easily recurable creature that has shadow. Can be a late game win condition in a stax heavy meta like my own. Sylvan Library - awesome draw card. And it also helps put things into order much like Mirri's Guile. Abyssal Gatekeeper - like the thought of this card; dunno if it would be useful or not since I have to have a sac outlet or kill it, but I'll be thinking about it.
Wishlist: Doubling Season - double tokens and double soot counters!?! I need one but my wallet unfortunately does not. Sneak Attack - great way to get them into my grave yard for easier access, and also allows me to fire off the enter the battlefield effects on some creatures. Pernicious Deed - would love to sleeve this in as a brutal wipe effect, don't know if its worth the price tag though. The Abyss - yeah its the abyss...
These will eventually replace the check lands:
Also, I swapped Bloodgift Demon for Disciple of Bolas and never looked back. I dont think I ever got to draw a single card off of the demon. Disciple is all kinds of awesome however.
This looks like a good swap. I ran disciple in most of the GY decks I've made since he came out in m13. So useful, and with Adun's recursion bringing creatures back, it def seems like it would be powerful in this.
I have gotten a lot of mileage out of Necrotic Ooze in my Adun deck, but it is also a slower deck.
Also, I swapped Bloodgift Demon for Disciple of Bolas and never looked back. I dont think I ever got to draw a single card off of the demon. Disciple is all kinds of awesome however.
Dark Imposter has also been a MVP several times, but again he is a bit slower.
I'm running Shriekmaw and Big Game Hunter alongside Fleshbag Marauder as well.
Corpse Connoisseur is also a pseudo-tutor and as of late it seems my main finisher has been Kessig Cagebreakers.
Finally I like my stuff having haste so I'm running Anger and Fires of Yavimaya.
I would also recommend running a Kessig Wolfrun just because it is pretty good.
Oh and your enchantment pile should probably have an Attrition in there.
This looks like a good swap. I ran disciple in most of the GY decks I've made since he came out in m13. So useful, and with Adun's recursion bringing creatures back, it def seems like it would be powerful in this.
I've thought about putting in Disciple of Bolas befroer but havn't tried it out yet. If I did switch it out with another creature though it would go in for Graveborn Muse to keep my Birthing Pod chain the same.
Dark Impostor is an interesting card that I would love to test out. Awesome black exile effect.
And as far as Kessig Cagebreakers; I actually completely forgot about him. Only problem with him is that I usually have 5-7 creatures in my graveyard at a given time, but 5-7 free wolves isn't to bad.
Garruk, Primal Hunter is probably also worth considering. He is a really nice draw engine especially if you can Regrowth/Eternal Witness him back.
Only problem with him is the 3 green mana to cast him out. Otherwise I would agree. That is one of the reasons I went with Garruk Relentless over Primal Hunter since he is more splashable in other colors.
And as far as Kessig Cagebreakers; I actually completely forgot about him. Only problem with him is that I usually have 5-7 creatures in my graveyard at a given time, but 5-7 free wolves isn't to bad.
Kessig Cagebreakers was solid in the Jarad list, but ultimately seems too win-more. That being said, it does have the potential to be a powerful card.
Have you considered Jarad's Orders? While it is subject to GY removal, it does have the potential to help you set up some of your GY engines early.
Kessig Cagebreakers was solid in the Jarad list, but ultimately seems too win-more. That being said, it does have the potential to be a powerful card.
Have you considered Jarad's Orders? While it is subject to GY removal, it does have the potential to help you set up some of your GY engines early.
Might switch out Jerad's Orders for Buried Alive. Sometimes I think its too much of an all in approach and also sucks that I have to burn Oakenshields ability or wait for another creature to dig them out to get into my hand before being able to get my recycling bin online.
Have you considered Doomed Necromancer as an additional recycler guy? He brings back creatures and then Adun brings him back.
The Necromancer is a pretty good card, but I prefer Hell's Caretaker over him. For one I don't like burning mana unless I have to; which ! black isn't bad at all, but I could potentially drop something else on that turn if I had the mana open to me. If you think there is a 3 drop in the deck list that looks kinda weak let me know and i'll slip him in to test him out.
EDIT: Just slipped Necromancer in Sek'Kuar, Deathkeeper slot for some extra recursion. Was just playing a game on cockatrice when I drew the Deathkeeper and he was no help at the time. Thanks for the recommendation.
The switch to Jarad's Orders looks like a solid one. You should be able to get one from one of us in the meta to play this weekend.
Have you considered Rakdos Charm or Jund Charm? Still think the instant speed GY removal is worth it, plus Rakdos Charm hoses the infinite token combos that Ghave can churn out. If you pulled out Sek'Kuar, Deathkeeper you could see about getting in some testing with Vraska the Unseen in? Still haven't seen the Deathkeeper do much so far.
Edit: Just saw your edit, looks like you made a switch for the Deathkeeper already.
The switch to Jarad's Orders looks like a solid one. You should be able to get one from one of us in the meta to play this weekend.
Have you considered Rakdos Charm or Jund Charm? Still think the instant speed GY removal is worth it, plus Rakdos Charm hoses the infinite token combos that Ghave can churn out. If you pulled out Sek'Kuar, Deathkeeper you could see about getting in some testing with Vraska the Unseen in? Still haven't seen the Deathkeeper do much so far.
Edit: Just saw your edit, looks like you made a switch for the Deathkeeper already.
I'd be willing to pull Necrogenesis for Rakdos Charm since they drop for the same, and both get the job done. Also have plenty of token gen without it. Any thoughts on what to pull for Jund Charm?
Necromancer has the advantage over Hell's Caretaker in that you can use his ability whenever you want. But obviously he is a one-shot thing.
I was actually going to ask how well Marsh Flitter is working for you and put in the Necromancer there but I guess Sek'kuar is kinda underwhelming as well.
Also if you want to go a bit higher on your Birthing Pod chain Dragon Broodmother is a nice token maker.
Im not as big of a fan for the Apprentice; it would be cool and well if it was just a creature with an etb effect, but most things in my deck have other static or triggered abilities that come in handy that I can't justify giving them one turn for. As for the Broodmother I am well aware she can wreck worlds; unfortunately for her she is packing a RRR which is the lowest color in my mana base, and don't know if I could hit it if I had to. Although recycling her out would be beautiful.
How do you feel about maybe pulling Kresh out for Vraska the Unseen? Ever time I've seen you play Kresh he seemed fairly vanilla as far as a beat-stick goes. I understand the potential for him to be huge, but why not just run Lord of Extinction if you just want a huge beater? Vraska gives you an alternate win condition, maelstrom pulse, and a mini-no mercy to deter attackers. If I ever get around to completing Glissa, the Traitor, Vraska is a shoo-in. I think in a locked-out board state she could be great. Just a few thoughts.
How do you feel about maybe pulling Kresh out for Vraska the Unseen? Ever time I've seen you play Kresh he seemed fairly vanilla as far as a beat-stick goes. I understand the potential for him to be huge, but why not just run Lord of Extinction if you just want a huge beater? Vraska gives you an alternate win condition, maelstrom pulse, and a mini-no mercy to deter attackers. If I ever get around to completing Glissa, the Traitor, Vraska is a shoo-in. I think in a locked-out board state she could be great. Just a few thoughts.
Vraska is a cool card and I get what your getting at, but i would still rather have a big beater late game. As for Kresh vs LoE I still prefer Kresh for the simple reason that he doesn't draw hate to my graveyard; while this is a recycler deck I never try to have more than 5 creatures in my graveyard so I don't go too all the way in, and I think LoE would put a bigger target on my graveyard since he is my creature even though he could still be good from everyone elses graveyard.
You'd need to account for it with your mana base, although since you're already basics-heavy, what about Destructive Flow? Combined with other pieces it can lock people down rather quickly.
You'd need to account for it with your mana base, although since you're already basics-heavy, what about Destructive Flow? Combined with other pieces it can lock people down rather quickly.
I've seen it before, and it is an interesting card for sure. I might play test it some though and see how it goes. Thanks for bringing the card up man!
You'd need to account for it with your mana base, although since you're already basics-heavy, what about Destructive Flow? Combined with other pieces it can lock people down rather quickly.
This seems like it would be good in the meta. Absolutely wrecks against Ghave and Lady, though this deck isn't short on nonbasics either so it might prove annoying sometimes. Overall your list isn't really pushed towards a lot of land destruction so I can understand it not being run. Destructive Flow might be interesting with smokestack/braids and some of the smaller effects out though.
This seems like it would be good in the meta. Absolutely wrecks against Ghave and Lady, though this deck isn't short on nonbasics either so it might prove annoying sometimes. Overall your list isn't really pushed towards a lot of land destruction so I can understand it not being run. Destructive Flow might be interesting with smokestack/braids and some of the smaller effects out though.
I would agree but there are also some decks in our meta that wouldn't have to do much; Jor and Glissa type decks. Although Im prolly still going to play test it at some point.
Another thing is I might be pulling out the Scrying Sheets. Reason for pulling the Sheets out is because I never found it useful enough and nearly every time I used the ability I got nothing with it. And I would be replacing it with City of Shadows any thoughts on this?
Have you considered trying out Crop Rotation for digging out your utility lands like Volrath's Stronghold? I know it's not incredible, but it could be useful if you add in more utility lands. Glad to see you added in Vraska, should be interesting to see how she fares. Have you considered adding in Phyrexian Delver[/CARD]? Goes great with Jarad's Orders, or just for adding another recursion effect that can be reused through Oakenshield and Volrath's Stronghold. I think I would add Doubling Season back and maybe just drop out Parallel Lives?
Phyrexian Delver might be a good call so I might end up trying him out. As for Doubling Season I personally don't feel its worth the price tag when all I ever used it for was extra tokens. The only thing the counters would hit would be the three planeswalkers; which wouldn't be terrible, but I would have to say that only two of them; Vraska and Sarkhan; would benefit from it since I would like to flip Garruk.
On a side note I think I am going to test out Deathrender in this deck. It seems like it would be a solid card and helps to get stuff out of my hand, so any suggestions or opinions about this card would be awesome.
Hex Parasite has been a random nightmare lately in our meta. Ripping our Smokestack and Planeswalkers counters off has proven stronger than it should. Perhaps it's time to run Night of Souls' Betrayal to deal with all the utility/token creatures floating about. Not sure how Hex Parasite manages to dodge the removal, or if it's just your recursion, but it always is around lol. Curious what you think of Reincarnation? I know you like the Legends theme cards as well, so figured I'd mention it.
Nice work on the new formatting and game plan analysis too.
Curious what you think of Reincarnation? I know you like the Legends theme cards as well, so figured I'd mention it.
Nice work on the new formatting and game plan analysis too.
Thanks man. As far as Reincarnation goes I feel that it is in the same boat with Animate Dead and Necromancy. While these are not bad cards I feel that I can get more use out of something that I can recure easier. Still considering the Phyrexian Delver idea that you posted up earlier, but just don't know what to cut and don't know if he is worth the cmc of 5. I feel that if I were to run things such as Animate Dead and Reincarnation that I would have to eventually resolve to start running Treasured Find, Regrowth, and Recollect type spells which is a reason I picked Oakenshield in the first place was to get around spell based recursion.
Have you considered Phyrexian Tower? It seems that it fits in quite well and it's basically a free sac outlet for you.
Its definitely a solid land; even better since it is a sac outlet if need be. It, High Market, and Miren, the Moaning Well were in the initial build of the deck before I put it up on salvation, but ended up taking it out since there was a lot of Ruination and Back to Basics type stuff that hated on non-basics going around at the time in my meta. Its also the same reason that I am trying to keep my lands at a good mix between basic and non-basic otherwise I feel that the meta might pick it back up.
As I said before Its a great land for a sac outlet or even for the mana if you needed it, so if anyone needs an outlet or a way to keep your general from tucking/utility creatures from exile might want to consider it or the other two.
This seems like it would be good in the meta. Absolutely wrecks against Ghave and Lady, though this deck isn't short on nonbasics either so it might prove annoying sometimes. Overall your list isn't really pushed towards a lot of land destruction so I can understand it not being run. Destructive Flow might be interesting with smokestack/braids and some of the smaller effects out though.
You say that as if Ghave was still relevant in the meta...
Intended for Multiplayer Games
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Oakenshield Past Till Present
This is my jund sac stax deck led by none other than Adun Oakenshield, so of course it has a ballin graveyard recycler built in it as well. So i've been off and on for a while now with the Jund shard, Golgari, Gruul and with Rakdos guilds trying to figure out the best way to builld the best deck; I have tried playing around with many a commanders: Kresh, Lyzolda, Nath, Savra, Thromok and Sek'Kuar. This started out as a Kresh voltron deck with sacrifice effects to clear the board. This was harder than I initially thought, and I dropped the red to switch to a Nath discard, token, and sacrifice deck. This deck was the first true stax deck that I made since it was the first to run a Smokestack along side a massive discard theme. This was a solid build, but I thought I could make it better; so I tried to make it a full blown sacrifice theme deck to control the entire board state when I switched Nath out for Savra. Needless to say that this was only good on paper and was broken down after I realized she is too dependent on other things to be a great commander. I then switched out the green for red and tried Lyzolda. She was supposed to be a token based deck that would commander kill people, but I ran into a problem... There is not enough reliable token gen in red for this sort of thing. So where Lyzolda fell Thromok rose and was a full fledged token deck. He was a fun deck to pilot, great for voltron killing and also had a horde to be reckoned with. Needless to say I missed my stax effects that black offered and that I loved, so I threw it back in and tried to roll with a Sek'Kuar re-animator deck. It still missed something; the ability to re-use creatures without resorting to spells and enchantments to get them out of the graveyard. I always knew about Oakenshield since I started playing commander, but his price tag and ability just didn't seem relevant until I realized how busted he could be, so I finally decided to give Oakenshield a go, and boy did he go.
Who is Adun Oakenshield?
- He is from legends; this makes him an automatic badass and awesome commander.
- He is in the Jund shard which has some of the best cards for stax; especially for the sac effects that I wished to run in my deck. It is also one of my favorite color combos!
- Oakenshield's ability might not seem like it could be great, but it actually will start the process of recycling by getting one creature out of the graveyard into your hand. While I do not lean on his ability to win it is somewhat useful to have a Disentomb/Raise Dead on a stick. Which can be super useful since almost every affect that I need is on a stick and recurable thorough this ability.
- He is cheap to cast. Sitting at a nice cmc of 3 to make him even better. This will also help if he ever dies; which you can cast him easily and if need be from 3-4 times in a game, and possibly more if you had to do so.
- I would say that he has awesome flavor, but he only has the quote on his card. So just make up a story in your head and run him for flavor too ;).
Jund:
BBlackB: This is the most prominent color in this deck. It brings many things to the table to help me secure board position including draw power, sac effects, and some token production. Black also has some of the bigger fatties in this deck to help with late game finishers.
GGreenG: Green is the most helpful color in this scheme early on. It holds the keys to getting out of the gate and getting yourself on your feet. Green is more of a support color in this deck and helps out by ramping, artifact/enchantment hate, tokens, and also has some big beaters.
RRedR: This is the lowest color of the three in my deck. Its more of a splash than an actual color. Even though this is the lowest color in my deck it has its own important uses. It is in most of the multicolored cards, but does have some cards of its own that help with support. These cards help out with tokens and land destruction.
You might like this build/deck if:
About Me and the Meta
I have been playing with the same playgroup for a little over 10 years now. I picked it up around Starter 99/Invasion set. My playgroup played for about 3 years of casual and then split for a couple of years; then we got back together when 10th Edition was coming out and started playing again. We started playing standard when Rise of the Eldrazi set was released, and shortly after dropped it because of the need to constantly update your deck list in order to stay in the sets that were 'standard'. Anyways came around to EDH finally and have been playing it since.
My meta has changed quite a few times and it was mostly for the better. Started out playing a more casual scene. Most things that are in our decks today would make our past selves cringe to think about. There is always a consistency of graveyard decks, stax decks, a couple voltron decks, and some that are just fun time/good stuff decks within our playgroup today. Now we are a more competitive playgroup where most anything goes. Some of the generals and some of the deck types that I play agains are Dromar, the Banisher Stax, Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer Voltron/Token Swarm, Rakdos, Lord of Riots Punisher, Oona, Queen of the Fae Control/Mill, Horde of Notions Voltron/Goodstuff, Ghave, Guru of Spores Combo, and Sliver Legion Combo/Swarm, and Oros, the Avenger Enchantment.dec.
Anyways here is the deck:
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Stomping Ground
1 Blood Crypt
1 Raging Ravine
1 Graven Cairns
1 Fire-Lit Thicket
1 Twilight Mire
1 Dragonskull Summit
1 Rootbound Crag
1 Command Tower
1 Meteor Crater
1 Woodland Cemetery
1 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Inkmoth Nexus
8 Swamp
4 Mountain
7 Forest
Recursion/Recurring Creatures - 9
0 Volrath's Stronghold
2 Bloodghast
2 Life From the Loam
3 Crucible of Worlds
3 Squee, Goblin Nabob
3 Adun Oakenshield
3 Eternal Witness
4 Hell's Caretaker
7 Sheoldred, Whispering One
Token Production - 7
0 Kher Keep
2 Bitterblossom
3 Goblin Assault
3 Awakening Zone
4 Parallel Lives
4 Creakwood Liege
6 Grave Titan
0 City of Shadows
1 Sol Ring
1 Greenseeker
2 Talisman of Indulgence
2 Talisman of Impulse
2 Sakura-Tribe Elder
3 Darksteel Ingot
3 Chromatic Lantern
4 Oracle of Mul Daya
Sac Outlets - 5
1 Viscera Seer
2 Goblin Bombardment
3 Ashnod's Altar
3 Phyrexian Altar
4 Flesh-Eater Imp
Anti-Graveyard - 3
1 Deathrite Shaman
2 Rakdos Charm
4 Leyline of the Void
Tutor(Non-Ramp) - 4
1 Entomb
2 Demonic Tutor
2 Fauna Shaman
2 Survival of the Fittest
Stax and Stuff - 8
2 Torpor Orb
2 Blood Artist
4 Smokestack
4 Stranglehold
4 Grave Pact
4 Magus of the Abyss
6 Kokusho, the Evening Star
7 Vicious Shadows
1 Vandalblast
2 Viridian Zealot
2 Vampire Hexmage
3 Beast Within
3 Chaos Warp
3 Goblin Sharpshooter
3 Sylvok Replica
4 Goblin Settler
4 Decimate
4 Damnation
4 Ruination
7 Devastation
3x Lavalanche
3x Gaze of Granite
Card Advantage/Draw - 4
1 Skullclamp
1 Mirri's Guile
3 Phyrexian Arena
4 Reaper of the Wilds
Planeswalkers (Multiple Uses) - 4
3 Liliana of the Veil
4 Garruk Relentless
5 Vraska the Unseen
5 Sarkhan the Mad
1 Adun Oakenshield
Lands (Non-Basic) - 17
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Stomping Ground
1 Blood Crypt
1 Kher Keep
1 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Graven Cairns
1 Fire-Lit Thicket
1 Twilight Mire
1 Dragonskull Summit
1 Rootbound Crag
1 Command Tower
1 Meteor Crater
1 Woodland Cemetery
1 Raging Ravine
1 City of Shadows
1 Inkmoth Nexus
Lands (Basic) - 19
8 Swamp
4 Mountain
7 Forest
Artifacts - 11
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Ashnod's Altar
1 Phyrexian Altar
1 Smokestack
1 Talisman of Impulse
1 Talisman of Indulgence
1 Skullclamp
1 Sol Ring
1 Chromatic Lantern
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Torpor Orb
1 Fauna Shaman
1 Squee, Goblin Nabob
1 Hell's Caretaker
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Kokusho, the Evening Star
1 Magus of the Abyss
1 Greenseeker
1 Creakwood Liege
1 Bloodghast
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Viscera Seer
1 Sylvok Replica
1 Goblin Sharpshooter
1 Sheoldred, Whispering One
1 Grave Titan
1 Reaper of the Wilds
1 Eternal Witness
1 Goblin Settler
1 Vampire Hexmage
1 Viridian Zealot
1 Deathrite Shaman
1 Flesh-Eater Imp
1 Blood Artist
Enchantments - 12
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Survival of the Fittest
1 Vicious Shadows
1 Mirri's Guile
1 Bitterblossom
1 Goblin Assault
1 Awakening Zone
1 Leyline of the Void
1 Grave Pact
1 Stranglehold
1 Parallel Lives
1 Goblin Bombardment
1 Vandalblast
1 Entomb
1 Devastation
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Decimate
1 Damnation
1 Beast Within
1 Chaos Warp
1 Lavalanche
1 Rakdos Charm
1 Gaze of Granite
1 Life From the Loam
1 Ruination
Planeswalkers - 4
1 Garruk Relentless
1 Sarkhan the Mad
1 Vraska the Unseen
1 Liliana of the Veil
Notes:
Currently the deck sits at a 3.13 mana curve.
Hell's Caretaker is my MVP card.
The Game Plan
The Mulligan
Once you draw your opening hand look for lands, mana rocks, and or a type of creature ramp. I would consider dropping anything with cmc 5 or greater just to get the deck running. Also you may want something to get the yard rolling or something as a token generator to fuel a stax game later, so look for those cards as well. Some type of removal or a tutor is also somethings to look out for, but I would put these a more useful tool than a necessity to start the game.
Early Game Early game belongs to the token generators and mana rocks in this deck. Creature based ramp such as Greenseeker and Sakura-Tribe Elder will also help you get out of the gate as fast as possible. As with all decks it is important to not miss land drops. There are plenty of ways this deck can roll. If you have some stax cards in your hand get them out as fast as possible. Whats better than a Smokestack on turn 4? Prolly a Smokestack on turn 3; if you get the right rocks one on turn 2. Anyways try and get the stax cards out to hurt or hinder your opponents progress; tempo loss is everything! How to fuel the fire? Use token gen! I try to at least have one on the field to get rolling; Awakening Zone or others such as Bitterblossom can help with this. So try to get those enchantments onto the field and start to crank them out. Also Bloodghast and Squee make for good fodder as well; these two can also be used to set up some graveyard shenanigans. As far as setting up the graveyard it can be as easy as Entomb or a Survival of the Fittest. This will definitely get the yard rolling and it will also gets some eyes on it. Graveyard hate is everywhere until proven otherwise, so man up and try and bait it out or hope someone else has a better looking yard than yourself. Cards that will help you recur your creatures are also part of your game plan. Hell's Caretaker and Eternal Witness are two that can help you make it to a more late game state.
Mid Game
The transmission from early to late game is mix of token gen, stax effects, and graveyard shenanigans. There are plenty of ways to push this deck; most of which depends on your opening had and your cards to come. It is always a mix of the three that will get you to the late game. Whether it be tokens fueling a Smokestack or Grave Pact, Hell's Caretaker eating tokens to throw creatures back into play, or Sheoldred, Whispering One reviving Viscera Seer to destroy it with Magus of the Abyss to keep yourself from loosing ground. The pass into late game will be noted as your opponents are loosing steam and running out of answers as they spend them on you or other people at the table.
Late Game
As an attrition deck it was made to outlast people at the table, so let them spend their answers and let them wipe the field for you are the cockroach in the apocalypse. If you are not in the late game then you are more than likely being held down by someones Leyline of the Void or Rest in Peace. If you do make it to late game and have an intact graveyard start using it to your advantage to get crazy and get some beaters out on the field. This is usually how this deck will win; unless you have a scoop win from the stax effects that are now breaking other decks while yours is just cruising along for the ride. This deck excels at keeping the field clear through sac affects like Grave Pact, so keep those tokens handy to sac to one of those outlets on the board to keep the board state to your advantage. Vicious Shadows and Vraska the Unseen are also how you can win the game; if it comes down to it have a full blown sac battle and start sending the damage the opponents' face with Shadows or get the walker to her ultimate and watch the assassins do work. There are also two new additions to the late game win conditions, both are lands. Raging Ravine is a man land that gets a buff every time it swings, so it has proven useful to have around when no one has a blocker and four mana isn't unreasonable to morph it. Kessig Wolf Run is also a win con; except it could be used on something as small as a token to buff up and swing for the KO.
Problematic Scenarios
There are a couple of things that can make this deck cease to function at all. The first being hating on the graveyard. This can be done a number of ways whether it is from cards such as Tormod's Crypt, Relic of Progenitus, Leyline of the Void, or Rest in Peace. There are a few ways to deal with these. Removal is the easiest way possible to get rid of them. Though it might be that you don't have any removal in your hand; well the alternative thing to do for the artifact versions of the graveyard hate would be to bait it out and hope they nuke your yard as a response. Other wise play the deck as best as you can and keep your head down until someone else solves your problem; more than likely you are not the only one with recursion at the table. The other problem that hurts this deck is Humility type effects. As for Humility and friends get some enchantment hate and blow it up, or send it away for a while using Chaos Warp. These are the most noted problems that I come across while playing this deck.
Cards and Their Uses
Ramp and Rocks
Apart from the lands in the deck that have no utility purpose I run City of Shadows which is a tricky card that should not be used on anything but your tokens. It may seem sub-par, but it is always useful in having another Sol Ring or maybe a Thran Dynamo strapped onto a land. Apart from the awesomeness that is the Sol Ring I run a couple other mana rocks, that help me excel out of the gate. These rocks help me out when things get a bit too mana intensive; they also help out in my meta where the lands will be more than likely nuked at least once a game, so it helps keep me on my feet. Apart from the normal mana rocks I run Chromatic Lantern which helps perma fix my mana base in a way that makes Urborg jealous. Also there are the creatures that I run to fetch and fix as I go about my way of winning the game; Greenseeker and Sakura-Tribe Elder are awesome to have early game to help set yourself up for a better late game.
Sol Ring - Cheap mana rock that automatically replaces itself as in 2 for 1. Helps with early game acceleration.
Chromatic Lantern - Use it as another mana rock to get the needed color and it also fixes my mana base as long as its on field.
Talisman of Impulse - Used to run the signet, but found that not being able to drop things the same turn kind of a waste.
Talisman of Indulgence - Also the Talisman are proving to be useful for their ability to filter;at the cost of a ping; which is totally worth it. Otherwise the Talisman are a standard two drop mana rock.
Darksteel Ingot - Any type of mana from a rock that is indestructible. Used to ramp out and help with mana fixing.
City of Shadows - Super awesome land that can be used to the extreme if you have a token generator. Use it to ramp.
Greenseeker - Serves as early ramp while also filling up the yard.
Oracle of Mul Daya - Can help me dig through my deck and allows me to ramp and mana fix along the way by getting more lands out. Be careful if your meta runs LD; very important to not miss a land drop, but also important to not over extend.
Sakura-Tribe Elder - Creature that can ramp and gets a sac off of itself.
Token generators are a big part of this deck as it keeps the fuel for the sac effects going strong and it helps with whittling people down; tokens can also be used to chum block if needed which can be a huge help at times. Kher Keep is the only land that I use to produce tokens; which are for the most part are made at an opponent's end step for my upkeep cost of Smokestack; although I have made then in response to an attack to block. Its a good source of tokens that will not be wiped away from a sweeper unless you play with mass land destruction. Other forms of token production comes from enchantments; Awakening Zone is one that stands out since it can also be used to ramp. Apart from this there is Bitterblossom and Goblin Assault, both of which you need to be careful of. While Bitterblossom is only 1 life it will wear you down so be careful of that, and if you are perhaps running a goblin toolbox then you might not want Goblin Assault on the field since it forces you to swing with all goblins that can; bad day to have utility goblins like Kiki or Welder. Creature wise I have Grave Titan and Creakwood Liege, both which are fairly deadly if used in the right scenario. Whilst the Titan is obviously deadly with deathtouch he also spews tokens, and the Liege is deadly because he can make an army of tokens bigger which can mean the world when it is coming down to the wire or having to rely on them to get in the damage. Also I run 3 planeswalkers that are all capable of putting tokens onto the field; Garruk Relentless is the one that puts the most onto the field since I use him to fuel the fire. Apart from the actual token producers I run Parallel Lives which helps me crank up my Smokestack to awesome numbers.
Kher Keep - Token producer that is on a land. Easier to survive spot removal and sweepers. Also provides a mana sink of sorts.
Bitterblossom - Token producer for cmc of 2. Like it since it makes flyers and have a higher chance to get through player defenses.
Goblin Assault - Token producer that makes tokens with haste; can be useful or they can just eat the SKullclamp.
Awakening Zone - Makes tokens that can be used to ramp. This is very useful early game.
Parallel Lives - Double up on tokens... Enough said.
Creakwood Liege - Makes tokens and provides a buff. Can provide useful early game and late game.
Grave Titan - Awesome beatstick that makes tokens that are bigger than the standard 1/1s.
Sarkhan the Mad - Makes people sac a creature to put a dragon into play. Can be used as removal or just sac a goblin token and get a dragon instead.
Vraska the Unseen - Makes assassin tokens that can end a game if they can deal damage to a player.
Garruk Relentless - Both sides to this planeswalker makes tokens to fuel the machine.
Oakenshield is a powerhouse when it comes to recurring things back from your yard, but alas he cannot do all the work himself. Apart from the commander himself I run plenty of ways to get what I want back in case someone decides to do the table a favor and wreck one of my pieces. Volrath's Stronghold is notably one of the best ways I have for getting creatures back when I want them and for cheap cost, and this ability comes on a land which makes it a little more safer to field. There are a few creatures that I run that have similar effects, but each have their own draw backs. Hell's Caretaker is one of my personal favorites, and he is my MVP card if I were to vote on one; the draw back that surrounds him is he can only be activated during your upkeep. This is also has its advantages; since its during your upkeep it means that you could stack triggers to sac a token that was just made by one of your many token producers during that upkeep. The other one besides the Caretaker mentioned above is Sheoldred, Whispering One, and she is a bullet magnet. While I like to use her late game while most of the removal is spent and she provides another beatstick to end people with. She also has the draw back of only being usable during upkeep, but has the awesomeness to be part of the sac stax. Bloodghast and Squee, Goblin Nabob pairs up nicely with this as they go to the yard to go to the field or go back to your hand at upkeep. Eternal Witness and Life From the Loam are two of the cards that I run for recurring non-creature permanents. Eternal Witness is an awesome card that is really one of a kind and can be abused easily if the deck is up and rolling with a graveyard engine online. Loam and Crucible of Worlds are ran in the deck to recover from land hate that is in my meta. Both are awesome, but I will have to say that if I were to choose one I would go with the Loam since it isn't a permanent and can't be removed. Also Loam can be Entombed if need be, and it has a Dredge function which can help in times of needing a target in the yard.
Adun Oakenshield - Commander of the deck. Has Raise Dead/Disentomb on an ability.
Volrath's Stronghold - Land that has the ability to save a creature from exile or just put them back on top to be used again.
Sheoldred, Whispering One - Has a Zombify at upkeep that is free to use. Also provides me with a beatstick to use late game if need be.
Hell's Caretaker - Awesome little guy that exchanges tokens or creatures that have served their purpose with others in my graveyard. Has the limitation of only being used sometime during upkeep though.
Bloodghast - Goes great with Skullclamp and is an ealry game target for Entomb.
Squee, Goblin Nabob Also goes great with Skullclamp and Entomb. Goes better with Survival of the Fittest/Fauna Shaman.
Life of the Loam - Get lands back after a LD hits the field. One of two cards in the deck that can get back non-creature spells. Also has dredge.
Crucible of Worlds - Artifact that can be susceptible to removal, but helps with mass LD recovery.
Eternal Witness - The other card that can get a card back from the graveyard that has no limitations on what type.
I run a mere 5 sac outlets in the deck that require no tap effect or are an effect caused by a forced sac. There are two artifacts, an enchantment, and two creatures. Ashnod's Altar and Phyrexian Altar are both great forms of mana if you need them and can be used to accelerate through even the highest forms of taxing effects. These are also awesome since most players will over look them for other troubling developments throughout the board. Goblin Bombardment is the enchantment that I use to sac my creatures to; it is a cheap sac outlet that allows me to deal damage to creatures that I find annoying and also can deal face damage to players if it comes down to it. The creatures I use for my sac outlets are Viscera Seer and Flesh-Eater Imp. Viscera Seer has the super awesome ability to scry, so use it a lot! This can change your gamestate depending on what you want, so go get it. The Imp is a flying infect creature that gives itself buffs off of its sacs, so if you have to resort to using it then it can be a win con.
Viscera Seer - Used to srcy to dig down to find an answer if you had to.
Phyrexian Altar - Can be used to mana fix. Helps early game to ramp as well.
Ashnod's Altar - Helps even better early game to help ramp.
Goblin Bombardment- Used as a damage producing sac outlet. Good for creatures and players alike.
Flesh-Eater Imp - Sac outlet that can also function as a win con.
Yard Hate
This really depends on the meta of the individual, but my meta usually has at least one graveyard deck on the table. Leyline of the Void is the be all end all yard hate for this deck. Worse comes to worse just cast it out in your opening hand and it keeps your opponents from doing graveyard shenanigans. I also run Rakdos Charm which is a form of removal for artifacts, but can also nuke a graveyard. I run it for its versatility, but find that I am usually using the nuke-a-yard function from the other options on the card. The other one that I run is Deathrite Shaman who functions as a recurable creature that can keep hitting cards of interest in players graveyards. I can use him to mana ramp, make opponents loose life, and gain life to offset my own life loss. Overall he is a new and quite useful tool that I have enjoyed pestering my playgroup with.
Leyline of the Void - Best way to shut down other graveyard decks ta the table. Can also be put down for free if its in your opening hand.
Rakdos Charm - Instant speed graveyard hate. Also has other options on the card that make it really versatile.
Deathrite Shaman - Graveyard hate on a creature. While it only gets one card at a time he is way easier to recur, and has more versatile options to use.
This deck uses sources such as Phyrexian Arena for card draw; which comes at a price as it always does with black, but it helps to get a head with the card advantage especially if your playing someone at the table with blue. This might not always give you what you might want, but that's how Mirri's Guile can help. Getting a free top three setup at your upkeep can help draw better and more useful things for the time needed. On the same note Reaper of the Wilds is able to scry through my deck and get what I would like on top. Pair either with Sarkhan the Mad and you've got a draw engine online as long as you can fit a land on his ability. Skullclamp is nearly as good if not better than any of them; since the majority of the deck has tokens, so go on and clamp them. Also Squee and Bloodghast work into this quite well also. As for the tutors I run a mix of spell based ones, enchantments, and creatures. I also run Garruk Relentless as another form of Survival of the Fittest or Fauna Shaman to search up a creature I need at the moment to do my bidding while also feeling free to fill up my yard to use it later if need be. Being in black I run Demonic Tutor for the anything I need now affect that it has; can be useful in any scenario as I have used it to get anything from a land to start off the game to a creature that wins the game. Also being in black and in a graveyard recycling deck I run Entomb which give me the option of using it on turn one to get Bloodghast into the yard or something of that nature. It is also extremely useful late game when I have the recycling engine at full steam to dump a fatty into the yard.
Entomb - One mana instant speed graveyard tutor. Can be helpful both early game and late game. Tutor for Bloodghast early game and say Grave Titan late game.
Demonic Tutor - Tutor for any card in your deck. Best tutor that one could possibly have.
Fauna Shaman - Tutor for a creature as an ability. Awesome.
Survival of the Fittest - Tutor for a creature on an enchantment. Gets insane since you can use it more than once.
Garruk Relentless - Use his -2 to go get a creature card and either sac a token to do so or fill your graveyard with a creature that has served its purpose.
Sarkhan the Mad - Its planeswalker Bob. Hopefully you can fit a land on him to keep him alive for a while.
Skullclamp - Goes crazy with tokens, Squee, or Bloodghast. Or just stick it on something to sac it to an outlet.
Mirri's Guile - Free look at the top three cards. Great card to get anytime, but is awesome early game as a turn one drop.
Phyrexian Arena - Bleed for a draw; no better way to do it. Beats your opponents through card advantage.
Reaper of the Wilds - If you have a sac outlet or just have a good amount of creatures on the board that died he is totally worth the 4 cmc.
Viscera Seer - He is technically a sac outlet but he helps scry right through the deck till I hit something that I might need.
[/CARD]; it is a recent addition to the deck list, but has been doing work since I have put her in. I use her to control Smokestack, Tangle Wire, Descent into Madness, and any number of planeswalkers at the board. Overall she has been a pro at keeping things smooth for me and a nightmare for the rest of my meta.
Vampire Hexmage - Best card I have found to control planeswalkers. Also can clean the counters off of other things like Smokestack and Tangle Wire.
Chaos Warp - Best red removal spell there is. Might not get rid of it for good, but it solves the problem. Also great for stuffing generals.
Beast Within - Permanent destruction in trade for a token. Great for disrupting things.
Decimate - Four permanents for four mana. Awesome card with a drawback; all for types have to be targetable.
Damnation - Hard boardwipe.
Goblin Settler - Spot land destruction. Have used it three times in a row in a single turn before to remove the islands from a players land base.
Sylvok Replica - Naturalize on a stick that can 'pop' at any given time. One of the best multi-use creatures in the deck.
Vandalblast - Great in my personal meta. Otherwise might be a sub par artifact destruction card.
Lavalanche - Great for wrecking players board position and or killing them. Has won me more games than it should have.
Goblin Bombardment - Can remove little creatures from the game.
Devastation - Hard boardwipe that hits all land. Is a be all end all to most solutions.
Gaze of Granite - Simple way to destroy lots of stuff with only a moderate amount of mana. Also gets planeswalkers in case someone at the table is having a slumber party.
Ruination - While not a full fledged MLD it gets a good amount of lands at the table for a 4 cmc.
Goblin Sharpshooter - Got a token problem? Not any more.
Viridian Zealot - Rattlesnake Naturalize. Cheap and very useful.
This is really the bread and butter of the deck. These cards are what cause the tempo loss and eventual loss of the game to your opponents. Smokestack being the awesome artifact that everyone loves is capable of cranking up to 6 for a steady rate and even higher if you have all the pieces on board. Magus of the Abyss is also a great card for keeping creatures off the board; Sheoldred is also another great card for this. Keeping the field clear of any creatures but yours is your true goal while piloting this deck. In saying that Grave Pact can be good enough to do the job all by itself if need be; all you would need to have would be a sac outlet and some tokens or creatures that have served their purpose and the field will be cleared. Other staxy cards I run are for shutting the opponents out of the game such as Stranglehold, Torpor Orb, and Leyline of the Void. I would consider these to be stax cards in that it keeps the opponent from playing how they normally would; whether it be from searching his/her library, playing casual etb, or from abusing their graveyard. The other cards I run for stax would be one of my alternate win conditions of Vicious Shadows and its mini version of Blood Artist. Shadows is capable of taking the whole board out if you have token production and sac outlets; be aware that dropping this will put a target on your head from your fellow players though, so be sure that you have the game before playing this card. While the Artist is good for offsetting my life total from the bleeder affects; in all honestly I had no where to put him so that's also why he is in the stax part. Also a new addition to my deck that follows the Artist effects is Ko-ko Puffs; same reasons apply for putting him in the stax part.
Leyline of the Void - Disrupts a players playstyle. Not true stax, but makes them play to how I want them to.
Sheoldred, Whispering One - Sac a creature at opponents upkeep. Keeps creatures off the field and puts me at a great board position.
Smokestack - The essential piece in a stax deck. Can be used to make opponents force sack and if you have enough token gen than you should be able to run it 4-6 or higher no problem.
Stranglehold - Makes opponents rage. Slows them down and keeps them from finding answers.
Grave Pact - Keeps the field clear. If you have a sac outlet and this then the battlefield is at your discretion.
Magus of the Abyss - Different than Sheoldred or Smokestack. Makes the player destroy target non- artifact creature. Only way to stop it is with shroud.
Vicious Shadows - Nasty win con. Will win you the game if gone unchecked; it will also make you a primary target.
Blood Artist - Serves as a mini version of Shadows. Also is useful for gaining life that is lost from my own affects and from some people at the table.
Torpor Orb - Amazing card that drops on turn 2. Can ruin a players whole day if they are playing etb goodstuff.
Kokusho, the Evening Star - Good way to bleed the table and gain some life back if needed.
10-13
- Bloodgift Demon + Reaper of the Wilds - cutting out a flying Phyrexian Arena for a creature that provides a nice beat, scrys quite a bit, and is able to dodge removal/gain deathtouch. Overall I would say he is a meta call and that would be based on how many creatures die.
9-13
- Silverglade Pathfinder + Goblin Sharpshooter - while I cut out a mana dork of sorts I gained an upper hand in my meta while putting in the Sharpshooter. My meta is crawling with tokens at the moment and I find this very effective.
- Torch Fiend + Viridian Zealot - traded a Shatter for a Naturalize on a stick.
- Swamp + Inkmoth Nexus - another man-land that can prove extremely deadly on an empty boardstate. Also a good way to close out a game if you were needing to rely on something.
- Black Sun's Zenith + Gaze of Granite - while not reshuffle-able I find that the rise in planeswalkers in the meta warrants the use of this.
- Doomed Necromancer + Kokusho, the Evening Star - traded a recursion outlet for a finisher/life gainer/flying protection guy. So far he has been worth it in every game that I have dropped him.
- Birthing Pod + Liliana of the Veil - over the course of this decks life it has dropped creatures and added some. Unfortunately this created weak parts for the Pod's chain, so I feel that dropping it was a good move. Adding in more planeswalker support.
- Impending Disaster + Ruination - taking out a MLD card that some people in the meta can see coming and putting in more non-basic hate. My meta now has decks that people run about 60-80% non-basic lands; with odds like that its almost as good as a real MLD.
5-13
- Fleshbag Marauder + Torpor Orb - the Orb is going in so I am cutting most etb effects; while Fleshbag is an awesome tool I think I can do work without him.
- Wood Elves + Silverglade Pathfinder - cutting most etb effects in the deck to accompany Torpor Orb. So out goes the Elves and Pathfinder takes his place. Pathfinder is a better Greenseeker, but is still not able to fetch duals; hope this doesn't hurt me too much.
- Farhaven Elf + Greenseeker - reliable and cheap mana fixing; while removing an etb effect. Also pitches to the yard.
- Acidic Slime + Sylvok Replica - about the same effect, but with a smaller cmc. Also can hold it as a rattlesnake ability.
- Graveborn Muse + Bloodgift Demon - droping on adding another... mostly to fix my B-Pod chain. But beating with wings does help.
4-13
- Golgari Signet + Blood Artist - apart from there being no Talisman for Golgari or any enemy colors in that matter I chose to switch it out for the Artist since he functions as a mini-Vicious Shadows and offsets my life lose a little bit.
- Rackdos Signet + Talisman of Indulgence - taking out my signets for affective turn 2 mana rocks.
- Gruul Signet + Talisman of Impulse - switching out my mana rocks. The number of times that I wished I could have cast things the turn my signets hit field has gotten to me. Also pain land in artifact form doesn't bother me too much.
- Jarad's Orders + Crucible of Worlds - with the introduction of mass LD into my own deck and it being in the meta previously I wanted more recovery options than LotL. Loosing the tutor isn't a huge blow, and it is still a note worthy card; just needed the recovery from LD more.
- Greancrawler + Devastation - trading a late game beater and recycling creature for another answer. This answer being a 'let's put all the lands and creatures... into the graveyard' kind of answer. Also is my second hard wipe in the deck.
- Shivan Harvest + Impending Disaster - loosing a sac outlet and non-basic land hate for a cheap and so far effective enchantment that nukes all lands.
3-13
- Hex Parasite + Vampire Hexmage - while almost the same; I found that the Parasite required mana in too many times that I was tapped out. Im hoping that the inclusion of Hexmage will warrant the same results that the Parasite offered. Only drawback being that she sacs, but I can just recur her.
- Crucible of Worlds + Life From the Loam - getting a great land recovery card, dredge enabler, and a Entomb target in one card for cheaper cmc. One day I wish to work Crucible back into the list since its an awesome card; just Loam fits better with the deck as is.
- Deathrender + Flesh-Eater Imp - Deathrender wasn't pulling its weight and I found that had plenty of tokens to use for sac material. In goes another sac outlet. Its also a creature which is a plus for me, and has flying and infect; in my meta that reads 'insta-kill'.
- Phyrexian Plaguelord + Goblin Bombardment - Cheaper effect for a similar card. Also allows me to hit the player also.
- Nihil Spellbomb + Deathrite Shaman - provides a source of graveyard hate that can mana ramp, gain life, and deal damage to opponents. Also more easily recurable than the Spellbomb was.
2-13
- Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth + Raging Ravine - since everyone in my playgroup is running black most of the decks have a Urborg in them already, so cutting it isn't exactly hurting me if another player on the board has it out. The Ravine also adds another beater for late game stax which is also strapped to a land.
- Temple of the False God + Kessig Wolf Run - trading a mediocre non-basic for a non-basic that has a win condition strapped onto it. Can be super useful for late game stax as a buffed token is usually good enough to kill something.
1-13
- Tormod's Crypt + Torch Fiend - traded a one use card for a recurable one. While it lowered the yard hate it also raised the artifact hat which needed to be upped after recent events within the meta.
- Bloodgift Demon + Graveborn Muse - One mana less and still has the static effect that I like. I could not see myself using Greed to draw cards since it was a mana sink and I dispised the fact that it was.
- Tortured Existence + Vandalblast - There is too many artifacts in my meta for me not to be running this, and the fact that Torpor Orb on the field almost completely hoses my deck made the decision of putting this in over the enchantment. I would still say anyone debating on Tortured Existence should give it a go; its a great card for all graveyard decks.
- Buried Ruin + Meteor Crater - I don't run the amount of artifacts for the ruin to be good, and meteor can usually tap for at least two of the three colors that I am wishing to produce.
12-12
- No Mercy + Tortured Existence - Traded pillowfort for another tutor. Somewhat backwards, but it helps with both getting stuff into the graveyard and getting something back out in a pinch if someone is trying to nuke one of my utility creatures out.
- Disciple of Bolas + Goblin Settler - Dropping a creature that I never once thought to tutor and the only times I ever played it I only got maybe 3 off of her affect. Not a bad card, but just not right for this deck. Also adding in some more land removal for some peskier lands in the meta.
- Savra, Queen of the Golgari + Hex Parasite - Adding in some removal for planeswalkers also has an added bonus of controlling Smokestacks/Descend into Madness type cards.
-Lyzolda, the Blood Witch + Black Sun's Zenith - Needed another hard boardwipe in case I loose Damnation. And I like the fact that Black Sun is re-usable. As for Lyzolda she just got to be too mana intensive; although still worth a mention for anybody running a sac deck in b/r.
11-12
- Scrying Sheets + City of Shadows - Never got Scrying Sheets online in this deck. Also like the idea of City of Shadows even thought it does't go to my graveyard. I would be using this with the token producers that I have. And of course took out the snow covered lands for this as well.
- Buried Alive + Jarad's Orders - Like Jarad's Orders better since it is not an all in approach and it sets up some of my more favorite interaction in the deck up nicely.
- Graveborn Muse + Disciple of Bolas - I like how I can abuse the Disciples ability with the recycle bin, and I am already running the Bloodgift Demon and Phyrexian Arena for the same affect as Graveborn had.
- Sek'Kuar, Deathkeeper + Doomed Necromancer - Adding another recycling affect to the deck and taking out a hit or miss token generator. Personally like the trade, but will see if it continues to help.
- Braids, Cabal Minion + Bloodghast - Love the recursion aspect of being able to sac it to Smokestack, Magus, Caretaker, or anything else. Braids is once again cut out for not being useful enough unless dropped early game.
- Kresh the Bloodbraided + Squee, Goblin Nabob - Need a tutor every turn? Squee plus Fauna Shaman or Survival gets you one.
- Necrogenesis + Rakdos Charm - Instant speed graveyard hate or could k.o. someone if they produce too many tokens.
- Doubling Season + Vraska the Unseen - Great removal that cannot be hosed by Torpor Orb or Humility type shenanigans. Another win con as well; don't plan on getting it off though.
- Marsh Flitter + Deathrender - Awesome card to have some interactions with and it also lets me use Survival, Fauna Shaman, and Oakenshield to their utmost abilities. And Flitter never gave me enough tokens, so I would say good trade.
10-12
- Braids, Cabal Minion + Magus of the Abyss - Easier to splash and still awesome.
- Oversold Cemetery + Buried Alive - Needed more recycling bait.
- Mortician Beetle + Entomb - Drop beater for tutor.
- Swamp + Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth - Forgot it...
- Bloodchief Ascension + Vicious Shadows - How i forgot about this one I do not know.
- Tainted Aether + Braids, Cabal Minion - Shes back in! Tainted screwed me to many times.
- Sylvok Replica + Lavalanche - Replica didn't do to much for me and Lavalanche wipes a players board state.
- Diabolic Intent + Eternal Witness - Never used Diabolic Intent when it was in my hand. Always prefer getting things back from gy anyways.
Cards Under Consideration/Testing/Wishlist
Cards Under Consideration/Testing:
Hero's Downfall - here is the other answer. I like it better then Dreadbore because of the instant speed.
Dreadbore - a rise in planeswalkers calls for more answers. Here is one; not a fan of the sorcery speed.
Corpse Dance - busted. Simply and easily busted; never tested it out, but have seen it do work before with some guys in the playgroup.
Liliana of the Dark Realms - recent card that I picked up. Has an interesting +1 ability that could easily help feed an activated Smokestack.
Deathbridge Chant - an awesome enchantment that kinda recurs a random card to my hand and also dredges 10 deep! Just hope it sticks on field for a while...
Tilling Treefolk - creature version of Life from the Loam, but without the dredge. Could be an abusable creature version in this deck if I ever had to use it.
Nether Shadow - another self recurring creature that I picked up just in case I ever decided to use him. Could be great with Smokestack or Braids.
Undertaker - kinda like the enchantment Tortured Existence, but it allows me to discard any card. Seems kinda cool at least on paper; also its a creature which makes it easier for me to get back and gives me another sac fodder.
Dauthi Embrace - card could end games with an unblockable fatty or just some tokens getting in some damage every turn.
Wurmcoil Engine - can be used to offset the life loss in the deck. Also has the capability to make tokens; while these are not the main goal they could be useful.
Nether Traitor - easily recurable creature that has shadow. Can be a late game win condition in a stax heavy meta like my own.
Sylvan Library - awesome draw card. And it also helps put things into order much like Mirri's Guile.
Abyssal Gatekeeper - like the thought of this card; dunno if it would be useful or not since I have to have a sac outlet or kill it, but I'll be thinking about it.
Wishlist:
Doubling Season - double tokens and double soot counters!?! I need one but my wallet unfortunately does not.
Sneak Attack - great way to get them into my grave yard for easier access, and also allows me to fire off the enter the battlefield effects on some creatures.
Pernicious Deed - would love to sleeve this in as a brutal wipe effect, don't know if its worth the price tag though.
The Abyss - yeah its the abyss...
These will eventually replace the check lands:
Signature made by Rivenor at Miraculous Recovery Signatures
EDH
[Primer] - BRG Adun Oakenshield: Jund Stax/Recycle Bin GRB
BRG Shatterbros Shenanigans GRB
This looks like a good swap. I ran disciple in most of the GY decks I've made since he came out in m13. So useful, and with Adun's recursion bringing creatures back, it def seems like it would be powerful in this.
[Primer] WUB Dromar, the Banisher Stax [SOON TO BE OLORO]
I've thought about putting in Disciple of Bolas befroer but havn't tried it out yet. If I did switch it out with another creature though it would go in for Graveborn Muse to keep my Birthing Pod chain the same.
Dark Impostor is an interesting card that I would love to test out. Awesome black exile effect.
And as far as Kessig Cagebreakers; I actually completely forgot about him. Only problem with him is that I usually have 5-7 creatures in my graveyard at a given time, but 5-7 free wolves isn't to bad.
Signature made by Rivenor at Miraculous Recovery Signatures
EDH
[Primer] - BRG Adun Oakenshield: Jund Stax/Recycle Bin GRB
BRG Shatterbros Shenanigans GRB
Only problem with him is the 3 green mana to cast him out. Otherwise I would agree. That is one of the reasons I went with Garruk Relentless over Primal Hunter since he is more splashable in other colors.
Signature made by Rivenor at Miraculous Recovery Signatures
EDH
[Primer] - BRG Adun Oakenshield: Jund Stax/Recycle Bin GRB
BRG Shatterbros Shenanigans GRB
Kessig Cagebreakers was solid in the Jarad list, but ultimately seems too win-more. That being said, it does have the potential to be a powerful card.
Have you considered Jarad's Orders? While it is subject to GY removal, it does have the potential to help you set up some of your GY engines early.
[Primer] WUB Dromar, the Banisher Stax [SOON TO BE OLORO]
Might switch out Jerad's Orders for Buried Alive. Sometimes I think its too much of an all in approach and also sucks that I have to burn Oakenshields ability or wait for another creature to dig them out to get into my hand before being able to get my recycling bin online.
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EDH
[Primer] - BRG Adun Oakenshield: Jund Stax/Recycle Bin GRB
BRG Shatterbros Shenanigans GRB
The Necromancer is a pretty good card, but I prefer Hell's Caretaker over him. For one I don't like burning mana unless I have to; which ! black isn't bad at all, but I could potentially drop something else on that turn if I had the mana open to me. If you think there is a 3 drop in the deck list that looks kinda weak let me know and i'll slip him in to test him out.
EDIT: Just slipped Necromancer in Sek'Kuar, Deathkeeper slot for some extra recursion. Was just playing a game on cockatrice when I drew the Deathkeeper and he was no help at the time. Thanks for the recommendation.
Signature made by Rivenor at Miraculous Recovery Signatures
EDH
[Primer] - BRG Adun Oakenshield: Jund Stax/Recycle Bin GRB
BRG Shatterbros Shenanigans GRB
Have you considered Rakdos Charm or Jund Charm? Still think the instant speed GY removal is worth it, plus Rakdos Charm hoses the infinite token combos that Ghave can churn out. If you pulled out Sek'Kuar, Deathkeeper you could see about getting in some testing with Vraska the Unseen in? Still haven't seen the Deathkeeper do much so far.
Edit: Just saw your edit, looks like you made a switch for the Deathkeeper already.
[Primer] WUB Dromar, the Banisher Stax [SOON TO BE OLORO]
I'd be willing to pull Necrogenesis for Rakdos Charm since they drop for the same, and both get the job done. Also have plenty of token gen without it. Any thoughts on what to pull for Jund Charm?
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EDH
[Primer] - BRG Adun Oakenshield: Jund Stax/Recycle Bin GRB
BRG Shatterbros Shenanigans GRB
Im not as big of a fan for the Apprentice; it would be cool and well if it was just a creature with an etb effect, but most things in my deck have other static or triggered abilities that come in handy that I can't justify giving them one turn for. As for the Broodmother I am well aware she can wreck worlds; unfortunately for her she is packing a RRR which is the lowest color in my mana base, and don't know if I could hit it if I had to. Although recycling her out would be beautiful.
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EDH
[Primer] - BRG Adun Oakenshield: Jund Stax/Recycle Bin GRB
BRG Shatterbros Shenanigans GRB
[Primer] WUB Dromar, the Banisher Stax [SOON TO BE OLORO]
Vraska is a cool card and I get what your getting at, but i would still rather have a big beater late game. As for Kresh vs LoE I still prefer Kresh for the simple reason that he doesn't draw hate to my graveyard; while this is a recycler deck I never try to have more than 5 creatures in my graveyard so I don't go too all the way in, and I think LoE would put a bigger target on my graveyard since he is my creature even though he could still be good from everyone elses graveyard.
Signature made by Rivenor at Miraculous Recovery Signatures
EDH
[Primer] - BRG Adun Oakenshield: Jund Stax/Recycle Bin GRB
BRG Shatterbros Shenanigans GRB
I've seen it before, and it is an interesting card for sure. I might play test it some though and see how it goes. Thanks for bringing the card up man!
Signature made by Rivenor at Miraculous Recovery Signatures
EDH
[Primer] - BRG Adun Oakenshield: Jund Stax/Recycle Bin GRB
BRG Shatterbros Shenanigans GRB
This seems like it would be good in the meta. Absolutely wrecks against Ghave and Lady, though this deck isn't short on nonbasics either so it might prove annoying sometimes. Overall your list isn't really pushed towards a lot of land destruction so I can understand it not being run. Destructive Flow might be interesting with smokestack/braids and some of the smaller effects out though.
[Primer] WUB Dromar, the Banisher Stax [SOON TO BE OLORO]
I would agree but there are also some decks in our meta that wouldn't have to do much; Jor and Glissa type decks. Although Im prolly still going to play test it at some point.
Another thing is I might be pulling out the Scrying Sheets. Reason for pulling the Sheets out is because I never found it useful enough and nearly every time I used the ability I got nothing with it. And I would be replacing it with City of Shadows any thoughts on this?
Signature made by Rivenor at Miraculous Recovery Signatures
EDH
[Primer] - BRG Adun Oakenshield: Jund Stax/Recycle Bin GRB
BRG Shatterbros Shenanigans GRB
[Primer] WUB Dromar, the Banisher Stax [SOON TO BE OLORO]
On a side note I think I am going to test out Deathrender in this deck. It seems like it would be a solid card and helps to get stuff out of my hand, so any suggestions or opinions about this card would be awesome.
Signature made by Rivenor at Miraculous Recovery Signatures
EDH
[Primer] - BRG Adun Oakenshield: Jund Stax/Recycle Bin GRB
BRG Shatterbros Shenanigans GRB
Nice work on the new formatting and game plan analysis too.
[Primer] WUB Dromar, the Banisher Stax [SOON TO BE OLORO]
Thanks man. As far as Reincarnation goes I feel that it is in the same boat with Animate Dead and Necromancy. While these are not bad cards I feel that I can get more use out of something that I can recure easier. Still considering the Phyrexian Delver idea that you posted up earlier, but just don't know what to cut and don't know if he is worth the cmc of 5. I feel that if I were to run things such as Animate Dead and Reincarnation that I would have to eventually resolve to start running Treasured Find, Regrowth, and Recollect type spells which is a reason I picked Oakenshield in the first place was to get around spell based recursion.
Signature made by Rivenor at Miraculous Recovery Signatures
EDH
[Primer] - BRG Adun Oakenshield: Jund Stax/Recycle Bin GRB
BRG Shatterbros Shenanigans GRB
Uril, The Miststalker:Enchantress Beatdown
Borborygmos Enraged: Terrain Assault
Shattergang Brothers: Superfriends
Its definitely a solid land; even better since it is a sac outlet if need be. It, High Market, and Miren, the Moaning Well were in the initial build of the deck before I put it up on salvation, but ended up taking it out since there was a lot of Ruination and Back to Basics type stuff that hated on non-basics going around at the time in my meta. Its also the same reason that I am trying to keep my lands at a good mix between basic and non-basic otherwise I feel that the meta might pick it back up.
As I said before Its a great land for a sac outlet or even for the mana if you needed it, so if anyone needs an outlet or a way to keep your general from tucking/utility creatures from exile might want to consider it or the other two.
Signature made by Rivenor at Miraculous Recovery Signatures
EDH
[Primer] - BRG Adun Oakenshield: Jund Stax/Recycle Bin GRB
BRG Shatterbros Shenanigans GRB
You say that as if Ghave was still relevant in the meta...
[Primer] - Jor Kadeen, Boros Legionnaire
WUBRGSliver Legion, Slynergistic Slivertastic BeatdownWUBRG
Here are some of the EDH decks I have to deal with...
[Primer] WUBDromar, the Banisher Esper StaxWUB
A little late, but thank you kind sir! Ever thought about making your trying to put your Kresh deck up for status?
Signature made by Rivenor at Miraculous Recovery Signatures
EDH
[Primer] - BRG Adun Oakenshield: Jund Stax/Recycle Bin GRB
BRG Shatterbros Shenanigans GRB