Sakashima is a general who has been vaguely on my radar for a while, but who I've never really looked into as anything other than "That general that Surging Chaos plays". However, thinking about it some more made me realise that it is going to be very cheap (relatively speaking), and potentially a lot of fun. As a bonus, he is not yet represented in my playgroup! So what the hell, let's go for it.
The decklist is fairly straightforward: basically everything steals, copies or swaps. There are barely any wincons, relying on your opponents' cards to get the job done.
This is actually pretty close to the deck that Biomechanika plays with when he still played with Sakashima (did you or did you not deconstruct that deck? :P). I personally like the "All Your Base Are Belong To Us" theme, but I see some things that you deck would really like:
Duplicant. Not only does this fit into your theme, it also gives you an answer to Brooding Saurian. I've noticed more and more people starting to run this guy in playgroups, and he can totally stop you in your tracks.
Academy Ruins. Honestly, this is easily a top 3 land in the format IMO. Recurring Shackles is sick, as well as being able to recycle the previously-mentioned Duplicant, Helm, and Gauntlet. It cuts into your snow count, but it's worth it.
Miren, the Moaning Well. Also cuts into your snow count, but it gives you another sac outlet that doesn't realistically cost you a deck spot.
This is actually pretty close to the deck that Biomechanika plays with when he still played with Sakashima.
I know, I wish I'd gone at looked at that deck before I did the magiccards.info trawl.
Duplicant. Not only does this fit into your theme, it also gives you an answer to Brooding Saurian. I've noticed more and more people starting to run this guy in playgroups, and he can totally stop you in your tracks.
This was a tricky late cut, because it wasn't quite on-theme enough. I know the deck has no real removal of its own, so it's a pretty obvious re-inclusion if people start running Saurian, or anything else that notably shuts me down.
Academy Ruins. Honestly, this is easily a top 3 land in the format IMO. Recurring Shackles is sick, as well as being able to recycle the previously-mentioned Duplicant, Helm, and Gauntlet. It cuts into your snow count, but it's worth it.
Miren, the Moaning Well. Also cuts into your snow count, but it gives you another sac outlet that doesn't realistically cost you a deck spot.
I really tried to do the opposite of Shirei with this deck and keep the utility land count down. That said, if you absolutely think these two are worth it, it probably won't hurt to put them in.
Looks good. I'd strongly suggest Echo Mage - being able to copy, not once, but twice any instant or sorcery is insanely strong. You could also use a few Misdirect - type spells. (Where's your Willbender? And have you tried Mischievous Quanar?)
Also, since your deck is likely somewhat weak to token/horde strategies, seeing as how you can only really clone/steal one creature at a time (outside of Gathering Specimens), some cards like Propoganda might be good.
Oh, and a card I've come to love is Psychic Posession. There's someone at every EDH table who loves to draw a lot of cards - just stick this on them and go crazy. Plagiarize is great in this respect, too. And if you care to have a little more draw power, Trade Secrets is excellent, and earns political favors, as well.
Oh yeah, and Braids, Conjurer Adept is a marvelous way to get people to drop their biggest beasties into play.
As a connoisseur of fun, interesting matches, I still to this day have not been able to craft that "perfect deck"; the deck that I can play and have fun over time, doesn't get boring, but simultaneously is fun to play against. I honestly don't think it exists. It's like a unicorn. A ninja unicorn.
You may want to include Desertion in your list, it steals artifacts and enchantments, and gives you another counterspell should you really need it. I run an almost identical Sakashima list (I would love for it to be Memnarch instead, but he is sadly illegal).
Mines not AS theft heavy, since it doesn't run some of the worse theft cards like Govern the Guildless and instead runs some CitP guys and flash outlets(which also make theft spells much better, as its like pseudo haste) to make full use of Sakashima (Just yesterday I flashed in Sakashima copying my Draining Whelk to counter a spell for instance). And since you can bounce Sakashima getting something like a Mulldrifter every turn you need it isn't that bad either. Although this might not be the direction you want to go with the deck.
Let me know how well the Bribery Sphinx is doing, I haven't played it myself but I see it walking the line between "really funny" and "unplayable jank". If it works out well enough for you I would try it in my own list
EDIT: also just realized you are missing Keiga the Tide Star and Sower of Temptation. Sower in particular interacts with Sakashima very nicely. Also realized that my ctrl+f is apparently broken because you do in fact have Desertion in your list.
EDH Decks:
Halfdane Sek'Kuar
Please remember to autocard, just do [ card ] CARD NAME [ / card ] and for decks you can cover the whole thing in one deck tag like this: [ deck ] All of the cards in the deck [ / deck ]
This was a tricky late cut, because it wasn't quite on-theme enough. I know the deck has no real removal of its own, so it's a pretty obvious re-inclusion if people start running Saurian, or anything else that notably shuts me down.
Seems reasonable to me. I'm just thinking about how people would react to the deck in the future. Dealing with Brooding Saurian down the road definitely isn't that far-fetched if people in your playgroup wise up and try to figure out how to beat the deck.
I really tried to do the opposite of Shirei with this deck and keep the utility land count down. That said, if you absolutely think these two are worth it, it probably won't hurt to put them in.
Miren isn't something your deck positively needs to have. If you don't want to run it and keep the snow count and basic count high, then that's perfectly fine. Academy Ruins on the other hand is a card that is too good to ignore. Blue hardly gets recursion, so you might as well take advantage of the best piece of recursion it has.
Also, I've played with Sphinx Ambassador, and she is just incredible. Probably one of my favorite cards in EDH. Maybe it's just me, but I have almost always been able to make people guess wrong when I pick a creature out of their deck. The nature of the format helps greatly, but the trick is to find the solid utility creatures that your opponent usually won't guess and still gain solid card advantage + board position.
Looks good. I'd strongly suggest Echo Mage - being able to copy, not once, but twice any instant or sorcery is insanely strong. You could also use a few Misdirect - type spells. (Where's your Willbender? And have you tried Mischievous Quanar?)
Echo Mage was a late cut - I've found from my Dralnu deck that he isn't as good as he looks. Although I suppose being in mono-blue might help a bit. The other problem is that this deck doesn't have that many instants or sorceries itself. Misdirection and Willbender were in a little package of Swerve-type spells that got cut in its entirety for lack of other things to get rid of. And Quanar is so, so expensive for what it does. I really need to play with the deck a bit to see if I need to run instant/sorcery shenanigans, or would benefit from doing so, in my playgroup.
Also, since your deck is likely somewhat weak to token/horde strategies, seeing as how you can only really clone/steal one creature at a time (outside of Gathering Specimens), some cards like Propoganda might be good.
It's a really off-theme card that is also rather boring. The only boring cards I left in this deck are the ones that are just too good not to have.
Oh, and a card I've come to love is Psychic Possession. There's someone at every EDH table who loves to draw a lot of cards - just stick this on them and go crazy. Plagiarize is great in this respect, too. And if you care to have a little more draw power, Trade Secrets is excellent, and earns political favors, as well.
Oh yeah, and Braids, Conjurer Adept is a marvelous way to get people to drop their biggest beasties into play.
Both Plagiarize and Possession were cut for being just a bit too jank, since both of them are pretty close to dead if there isn't another blue mage at the table. Trade Secrets seems terrible when Recurring Insight (also not run here) exists, because I'm pretty sure political favours don't hold much currency in such a back-stabby playgroup as ours. Ditto Braids.
You may want to include Desertion in your list, it steals artifacts and enchantments, and gives you another counterspell should you really need it.
Already there!
Mines not AS theft heavy, since it doesn't run some of the worse theft cards like Govern the Guildless and instead runs some CitP guys and flash outlets(which also make theft spells much better, as its like pseudo haste) to make full use of Sakashima (Just yesterday I flashed in Sakashima copying my Draining Whelk to counter a spell for instance). And since you can bounce Sakashima getting something like a Mulldrifter every turn you need it isn't that bad either. Although this might not be the direction you want to go with the deck.
Pretty much the last sentence. I figure optimising this deck is just going to make it less fun, and frankly I don't care about winning with it in the slightest.
Let me know how well the Bribery Sphinx is doing, I haven't played it myself but I see it walking the line between "really funny" and "unplayable jank". If it works out well enough for you I would try it in my own list
As SC said, it's insanely good. I've used it in other decks, and had it used against me, and it's pretty much impossible to guess what dude they're going for most of the time, so you've basically got yourself a Bribery on a stick.
Sower is too fragile for my tastes, I don't know why it's so popular in EDH. Never seems to do anything. Keiga was in there until about 105 cards, but my friend insisted that I cut it because it's not very good until I get a Clone effect. Which is true.
Seems reasonable to me. I'm just thinking about how people would react to the deck in the future. Dealing with Brooding Saurian down the road definitely isn't that far-fetched if people in your playgroup wise up and try to figure out how to beat the deck.
I don't think I've ever known anyone in our playgroup change their deck to pack answers for another specific deck, so I have high hopes.
Miren isn't something your deck positively needs to have. If you don't want to run it and keep the snow count and basic count high, then that's perfectly fine. Academy Ruins on the other hand is a card that is too good to ignore. Blue hardly gets recursion, so you might as well take advantage of the best piece of recursion it has.
Sower is too fragile for my tastes, I don't know why it's so popular in EDH. Never seems to do anything. Keiga was in there until about 105 cards, but my friend insisted that I cut it because it's not very good until I get a Clone effect. Which is true.
Sower I can understand since its a meta choice (in mine creatures are typically more resistant to spot removal then artifacts and enchantments, and when you combine it with different bounce shenanigans *cough*Riptide Lab*cough* it can be better than Control Magic.) But Keiga is kind of nuts because you often won't be attacked with it on the board. And since you already run High Market and are going to be running Miren you have outlets to steal stuff at instant speed(always good) if you need to. I'd test it out over something as bad as Govern the Guildless IMHO
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EDH Decks:
Halfdane Sek'Kuar
Please remember to autocard, just do [ card ] CARD NAME [ / card ] and for decks you can cover the whole thing in one deck tag like this: [ deck ] All of the cards in the deck [ / deck ]
Brooding Saurian isn't the only problem this deck faces. I loved the deck to death, and as anyone who has played with me can tell you, stealing and swapping permanents is (by far) my favorite thing to do in the game.
The real issue is that players, however casual, have a deep-seated hatred for getting their stuff stolen. For some reason, most players dislike it even more than having their creature removed, or even counter-spelled. There's just something about control magic that pisses people off on an internal level. That was ultimately why I dismantled the deck.
I still play some light control magic in Jhoira, but if you're dedicating an entire deck to the idea, Sakashima is 110% the General to do this with. Careful with it though, you'll need a very understanding playgroup to let you get away with it more than once.
I know it has been a little while since you posted this but...Kederekt Leviathan does seem like a fantastic fit in the deck. It allows a reset to the "Clone War" (Sorry for the shameless Star Wars reference.) and protection against anything that might be threatening the deck. The 5/5 body is is just gravy.
My favorite part about the MTGSalvation Deck Compilation is that it allows you to take ideas and morph them into your own playstyle. I have to say that this is a really cool deck viper. So from your original list...here is what I have done to tag this deck with my flavor.
Keiga is kind of nuts because you often won't be attacked with it on the board. And since you already run High Market and are going to be running Miren you have outlets to steal stuff at instant speed(always good) if you need to. I'd test it out over something as bad as Govern the Guildless IMHO
Okay, you're right that it's probably better than Govern the Guildless. In fact, having now played with this deck a fair bit, it's better than a few cards here. Let's try this:
Brooding Saurian isn't the only problem this deck faces. I loved the deck to death, and as anyone who has played with me can tell you, stealing and swapping permanents is (by far) my favorite thing to do in the game.
The real issue is that players, however casual, have a deep-seated hatred for getting their stuff stolen. For some reason, most players dislike it even more than having their creature removed, or even counter-spelled. There's just something about control magic that pisses people off on an internal level. That was ultimately why I dismantled the deck.
I still play some light control magic in Jhoira, but if you're dedicating an entire deck to the idea, Sakashima is 110% the General to do this with. Careful with it though, you'll need a very understanding playgroup to let you get away with it more than once.
Well, as I said, I've now played the deck a good deal. And my playgroup doesn't seem to mind it too much. We mostly play cutthroat enough decks that they can cope with me (or whoever else is using the deck) stealing stuff round the edges. That's not to say it never wins, though, and it doesn't seem to draw more than it's fair share of hate.
The processor is interesting. I've only managed to pull it off once, but paying 21 life for a token to copy with Sakashima is just hilarious.
Volrath's Shapeshifter isn't in because graveyard order is annoying. Cytoplast Manipulator isn't in because it's slow, squishy and obvious. Everything else isn't in because it's off-theme, although Palinchron is probably powerful enough to be one of the exceptions. I'll have to think about that.
I know it has been a little while since you posted this but...Kederekt Leviathan does seem like a fantastic fit in the deck. It allows a reset to the "Clone War" (Sorry for the shameless Star Wars reference.) and protection against anything that might be threatening the deck. The 5/5 body is is just gravy.
Again, it's not really on-theme. Besides, Clone Wars are much more fun if they escalate, rather than resetting. Leave the buzzkilling to the white and red players, right?
Definitely not better than High Market - the sacrifice is the relevant part, not the life gain. And while I do love the sacrifice, I don't think I want to leave four mana up each turn on the off-chance I will need it - this deck seems to tempt me to tap out far more than most decks I use.
I am missing Chromeshell Crab and Roil Elemental in this deck? or do you think that it's not good enough?
The latter. Chromeshell is at its best when paired with bounce, of which this deck has none. Roil Elemental is in the same boat as Sower - it just dies, and has no lasting impact.
I'm thinking of building a very similar deck but for my commander I'm considering Empress Galina instead of Sakashima the Impostor. I like cloning a lot but Galina's effect is permanent and stealing their commander for the rest of the game sounds a lot better to me than just cloning it.
What do you think? Have you ever tried Galina over Sakashima? If yes, how were the results?
I'm thinking of building a very similar deck but for my commander I'm considering Empress Galina instead of Sakashima the Impostor. I like cloning a lot but Galina's effect is permanent and stealing their commander for the rest of the game sounds a lot better to me than just cloning it.
What do you think? Have you ever tried Galina over Sakashima? If yes, how were the results?
LE
I have never tried Galina as a commander, but I have got plenty of use out of her when playing this deck, and she is never really that good. Yes, she steals commanders, but against most decks, she doesn't do much else. Most of the time, there is something more interesting than an enemy commander to take advantage of, particularly when the hard-hitters like Primeval Titan show up. Heck, I often use Sakashima as a second Solemn Simulacrum when one is needed. As such, I would certainly advise against using Galina. She sounds good on paper, but...hmm. Actually, I don't think I've activated her ability more than three or four times total. She's just slow, clunky, inflexible and dies a lot.
How has Puca's Mischief played out so far? I really like the card and have been wanting to try it out for awhile now but I'd like to know how effective it has been before I throw it in a deck.
How has Puca's Mischief played out so far? I really like the card and have been wanting to try it out for awhile now but I'd like to know how effective it has been before I throw it in a deck.
It's in the 'randomly awesome but often useless' category, if you ask me. A lot of the time you won't have anything that good to donate, but on the other hand it's brilliant for stealing Mana Reflections and the like. Its two saving graces in this deck are that you can basically get double value out of any Mind Control effects with it (steal a creature, swap the creature for something, then swap the Mind Control itself the next turn), and that it works great with Sakashima himself. It would also fit nicely into any deck with lots of symmetrical artifacts and enchantments.
Right, two sets of updates to do. Thankfully(?), they each only give me a single card. DKA provides Beguiler of Wills, which is hardly amazing but is way too on-theme not to play regardless. And AVR gives us Infinite Reflection, which is more or less the same. Both sets have some other on-theme cards, but they all suck. So:
What do you do when your opponent's don't have anything cool for you to steal or copy?
I also run a Sakashima EDH, and having clones and thefts clogging my hand and doing a whole lot of nothing is probably the biggest issue I have.
I don't recall ever being in this position. That said, if it does happen (or my hand of steal and copy is dead to Homeward Path, every creature on the board being legendary, and Sakashima getting tucked, as happened last time I pulled this out), then the deck just rolls over and dies. That's not something I want to fix, to be honest. I am very keen for this deck to remain resolutely on-theme.
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The decklist is fairly straightforward: basically everything steals, copies or swaps. There are barely any wincons, relying on your opponents' cards to get the job done.
1 Sakashima the Impostor
Appropriation (29)
1 Volition Reins
1 Acquire
1 Annex
1 Corrupted Conscience
1 Blatant Thievery
1 Bribery
1 Callous Oppressor
1 Commandeer
1 Confiscate
1 Control Magic
1 Desertion
1 Thada Adel, Acquisitor
1 Keiga, the Tide Star
1 Steal Artifact
1 Vedalken Shackles
1 Dream Leash
1 Redirect
1 Take Possession
1 Gather Specimens
1 Steal Enchantment
1 Knowledge Exploitation
1 Mind Control
1 Memnarch
1 Persuasion
1 Treachery
1 Body Double
1 Helm of Possession
1 Spelljack
1 Sphinx Ambassador
1 Clone
1 Copy Artifact
1 Copy Enchantment
1 Cryptoplasm
1 Vesuvan Shapeshifter
1 Sculpting Steel
1 Vesuvan Doppelganger
1 Sakashima's Student
1 Rite of Replication
1 Shapesharer
1 Twincast
1 Mimic Vat
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Sakashima's Student
1 Stolen Identity
Reciprocation (6)
1 Proteus Staff
1 Riptide Shapeshifter
1 Gilded Drake
1 Avarice Totem
1 Puca’s Mischief
1 Reins of Power
Precipitation (7)
1 Extraplanar Lens
1 Gauntlet of Power
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Caged Sun
1 Leyline of Anticipation
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Hinder
Foundation (38)
1 Scrying Sheets
1 Temple of the False God
1 Tolaria West
1 Vesuva
1 High Market
1 Academy Ruins
1 Thespian's Stage
31 Snow-Covered Island
Duplicant. Not only does this fit into your theme, it also gives you an answer to Brooding Saurian. I've noticed more and more people starting to run this guy in playgroups, and he can totally stop you in your tracks.
Academy Ruins. Honestly, this is easily a top 3 land in the format IMO. Recurring Shackles is sick, as well as being able to recycle the previously-mentioned Duplicant, Helm, and Gauntlet. It cuts into your snow count, but it's worth it.
Miren, the Moaning Well. Also cuts into your snow count, but it gives you another sac outlet that doesn't realistically cost you a deck spot.
This was a tricky late cut, because it wasn't quite on-theme enough. I know the deck has no real removal of its own, so it's a pretty obvious re-inclusion if people start running Saurian, or anything else that notably shuts me down.
I really tried to do the opposite of Shirei with this deck and keep the utility land count down. That said, if you absolutely think these two are worth it, it probably won't hurt to put them in.
Also, since your deck is likely somewhat weak to token/horde strategies, seeing as how you can only really clone/steal one creature at a time (outside of Gathering Specimens), some cards like Propoganda might be good.
Oh, and a card I've come to love is Psychic Posession. There's someone at every EDH table who loves to draw a lot of cards - just stick this on them and go crazy. Plagiarize is great in this respect, too. And if you care to have a little more draw power, Trade Secrets is excellent, and earns political favors, as well.
Oh yeah, and Braids, Conjurer Adept is a marvelous way to get people to drop their biggest beasties into play.
Good luck!
Mines not AS theft heavy, since it doesn't run some of the worse theft cards like Govern the Guildless and instead runs some CitP guys and flash outlets(which also make theft spells much better, as its like pseudo haste) to make full use of Sakashima (Just yesterday I flashed in Sakashima copying my Draining Whelk to counter a spell for instance). And since you can bounce Sakashima getting something like a Mulldrifter every turn you need it isn't that bad either. Although this might not be the direction you want to go with the deck.
Let me know how well the Bribery Sphinx is doing, I haven't played it myself but I see it walking the line between "really funny" and "unplayable jank". If it works out well enough for you I would try it in my own list
EDIT: also just realized you are missing Keiga the Tide Star and Sower of Temptation. Sower in particular interacts with Sakashima very nicely. Also realized that my ctrl+f is apparently broken because you do in fact have Desertion in your list.
Halfdane
Sek'Kuar
Please remember to autocard, just do [ card ] CARD NAME [ / card ] and for decks you can cover the whole thing in one deck tag like this: [ deck ] All of the cards in the deck [ / deck ]
Seems reasonable to me. I'm just thinking about how people would react to the deck in the future. Dealing with Brooding Saurian down the road definitely isn't that far-fetched if people in your playgroup wise up and try to figure out how to beat the deck.
Miren isn't something your deck positively needs to have. If you don't want to run it and keep the snow count and basic count high, then that's perfectly fine. Academy Ruins on the other hand is a card that is too good to ignore. Blue hardly gets recursion, so you might as well take advantage of the best piece of recursion it has.
Also, I've played with Sphinx Ambassador, and she is just incredible. Probably one of my favorite cards in EDH. Maybe it's just me, but I have almost always been able to make people guess wrong when I pick a creature out of their deck. The nature of the format helps greatly, but the trick is to find the solid utility creatures that your opponent usually won't guess and still gain solid card advantage + board position.
Echo Mage was a late cut - I've found from my Dralnu deck that he isn't as good as he looks. Although I suppose being in mono-blue might help a bit. The other problem is that this deck doesn't have that many instants or sorceries itself. Misdirection and Willbender were in a little package of Swerve-type spells that got cut in its entirety for lack of other things to get rid of. And Quanar is so, so expensive for what it does. I really need to play with the deck a bit to see if I need to run instant/sorcery shenanigans, or would benefit from doing so, in my playgroup.
It's a really off-theme card that is also rather boring. The only boring cards I left in this deck are the ones that are just too good not to have.
Both Plagiarize and Possession were cut for being just a bit too jank, since both of them are pretty close to dead if there isn't another blue mage at the table. Trade Secrets seems terrible when Recurring Insight (also not run here) exists, because I'm pretty sure political favours don't hold much currency in such a back-stabby playgroup as ours. Ditto Braids.
Already there!
Pretty much the last sentence. I figure optimising this deck is just going to make it less fun, and frankly I don't care about winning with it in the slightest.
As SC said, it's insanely good. I've used it in other decks, and had it used against me, and it's pretty much impossible to guess what dude they're going for most of the time, so you've basically got yourself a Bribery on a stick.
Sower is too fragile for my tastes, I don't know why it's so popular in EDH. Never seems to do anything. Keiga was in there until about 105 cards, but my friend insisted that I cut it because it's not very good until I get a Clone effect. Which is true.
I don't think I've ever known anyone in our playgroup change their deck to pack answers for another specific deck, so I have high hopes.
Alright, I'll lump it in.
Thanks guys.
Sower I can understand since its a meta choice (in mine creatures are typically more resistant to spot removal then artifacts and enchantments, and when you combine it with different bounce shenanigans *cough*Riptide Lab*cough* it can be better than Control Magic.) But Keiga is kind of nuts because you often won't be attacked with it on the board. And since you already run High Market and are going to be running Miren you have outlets to steal stuff at instant speed(always good) if you need to. I'd test it out over something as bad as Govern the Guildless IMHO
Halfdane
Sek'Kuar
Please remember to autocard, just do [ card ] CARD NAME [ / card ] and for decks you can cover the whole thing in one deck tag like this: [ deck ] All of the cards in the deck [ / deck ]
The real issue is that players, however casual, have a deep-seated hatred for getting their stuff stolen. For some reason, most players dislike it even more than having their creature removed, or even counter-spelled. There's just something about control magic that pisses people off on an internal level. That was ultimately why I dismantled the deck.
I still play some light control magic in Jhoira, but if you're dedicating an entire deck to the idea, Sakashima is 110% the General to do this with. Careful with it though, you'll need a very understanding playgroup to let you get away with it more than once.
Also I agree that Miren, the Moaning Well should be in the deck...and might be better than Hight Market. Or you could just run both.
My favorite part about the MTGSalvation Deck Compilation is that it allows you to take ideas and morph them into your own playstyle. I have to say that this is a really cool deck viper. So from your original list...here is what I have done to tag this deck with my flavor.
-1 Aura Thief
-1 Govern the Guildless
-1 Avarice Totem
-1 Riptide Shapeshifter
-1 Spawnbroker
-2 Snow-Covered Island
-7 Total
+1 Followed Footsteps
+1 Duplicant
+1 Recurring Insight
+1 Timetwister
+1 Memory Jar
+1 Reliquary Tower
+1 Miren, the Moaning Well
+7 Total
So here is my deck.
1 Sakashima the Impostor
Lands: 38
1 Academy Ruins
1 High Market
1 Miren, the Moaning Well
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Scrying Sheets
1 Temple of the False Gods
1 Tolaria West
1 Vesuva
30 Snow-Covered Island
Creatures: 16
1 Body Double
1 Callous Oppressor
1 Clone
1 Dominating Licid
1 Duplicant
1 Empress Galina
1 Gilded Drake
1 Keiga, the Tide Star
1 Memnarch
1 Quicksilver Gargantuan
1 Shapesharer
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Sphinx Ambassador
1 Thada Adel, Acquisitor
1 Vesuvan Doppelganger
1 Vesuvan Shapeshifter
1 Annex
1 Confiscate
1 Control Magic
1 Copy Artifact
1 Copy Enchantment
1 Dream Leash
1 Followed Footsteps
1 Leyline of Anticipation
1 Mind Control
1 Persuasion
1 Pucas’ Mischief
1 Steal Artifact
1 Steal Enchantment
1 Take Possession
1 Treachery
1 Volition Reins
Spells: 14
1 Acquire
1 Blatant Thievery
1 Bribery
1 Commandeer
1 Desertion
1 Dominate
1 Gather Specimens
1 Knowledge Exploitation
1 Recurring Insight
1 Rein’s of Power
1 Rite of Replication
1 Spelljack
1 Timetwister
1 Twincast
1 Extraplanar Lens
1 Gauntlet of Power
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Helm of Possession
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Memory Jar
1 Mimic Vat
1 Proteus Staff
1 Sapphire Medallion
1 Sculpting Steel
1 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Soul Foundry
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Vedalken Shackles
After a bit of testing...I am sure that this will change even more.
[EDH] Ob Nixilis the Fallen
So, firstly:
-Govern the Guildless
-Aura Thief
+Corrupted Conscience
+Cryptoplasm
Yay for fewer dead cards!
Okay, you're right that it's probably better than Govern the Guildless. In fact, having now played with this deck a fair bit, it's better than a few cards here. Let's try this:
-Cultural Exchange
+Keiga, the Tide Star
Well, as I said, I've now played the deck a good deal. And my playgroup doesn't seem to mind it too much. We mostly play cutthroat enough decks that they can cope with me (or whoever else is using the deck) stealing stuff round the edges. That's not to say it never wins, though, and it doesn't seem to draw more than it's fair share of hate.
Volrath's Shapeshifter isn't in because graveyard order is annoying. Cytoplast Manipulator isn't in because it's slow, squishy and obvious. Everything else isn't in because it's off-theme, although Palinchron is probably powerful enough to be one of the exceptions. I'll have to think about that.
Again, it's not really on-theme. Besides, Clone Wars are much more fun if they escalate, rather than resetting. Leave the buzzkilling to the white and red players, right?
Definitely not better than High Market - the sacrifice is the relevant part, not the life gain. And while I do love the sacrifice, I don't think I want to leave four mana up each turn on the off-chance I will need it - this deck seems to tempt me to tap out far more than most decks I use.
The latter. Chromeshell is at its best when paired with bounce, of which this deck has none. Roil Elemental is in the same boat as Sower - it just dies, and has no lasting impact.
What do you think? Have you ever tried Galina over Sakashima? If yes, how were the results?
LE
I have never tried Galina as a commander, but I have got plenty of use out of her when playing this deck, and she is never really that good. Yes, she steals commanders, but against most decks, she doesn't do much else. Most of the time, there is something more interesting than an enemy commander to take advantage of, particularly when the hard-hitters like Primeval Titan show up. Heck, I often use Sakashima as a second Solemn Simulacrum when one is needed. As such, I would certainly advise against using Galina. She sounds good on paper, but...hmm. Actually, I don't think I've activated her ability more than three or four times total. She's just slow, clunky, inflexible and dies a lot.
It's in the 'randomly awesome but often useless' category, if you ask me. A lot of the time you won't have anything that good to donate, but on the other hand it's brilliant for stealing Mana Reflections and the like. Its two saving graces in this deck are that you can basically get double value out of any Mind Control effects with it (steal a creature, swap the creature for something, then swap the Mind Control itself the next turn), and that it works great with Sakashima himself. It would also fit nicely into any deck with lots of symmetrical artifacts and enchantments.
-Dominate
-Soul Foundry
+Caged Sun
+Mana Crypt
Thank you so much mchief111 for the amazing art!
BUG is the Jund of EDH!
Modern: Jund, Grixis Delver, Bant Eldrazi, TitanShift
Commander: Brago, Yidris, Mizzix, Marath, Atheros, Daretti
-Quicksilver Garantuan: Unbearably bad.
-Empress Galina: See post 16.
+The two cards mentioned above.
Also, I apparently forgot to document that Spawnbroker was taken out for Redirect ages ago. That's fixed now.
Taking Possession or Annexing the Path.
Then probably using their path to get back you creatures from Puca's Mischief.
Pauper: UR some horrible homebrew izzet deck
Indeed! Infinite Reflection has proven itself to be immensely awful, so that's getting swapped out.
As a side note: despite not being able to run it, this is the only one of my decks that will miss Primeval Titan.
I also run a Sakashima EDH, and having clones and thefts clogging my hand and doing a whole lot of nothing is probably the biggest issue I have.
I don't recall ever being in this position. That said, if it does happen (or my hand of steal and copy is dead to Homeward Path, every creature on the board being legendary, and Sakashima getting tucked, as happened last time I pulled this out), then the deck just rolls over and dies. That's not something I want to fix, to be honest. I am very keen for this deck to remain resolutely on-theme.