This deck has 2 generals - haakon and teysa. Teysa is the official general, but they're both pretty much impossible to kill permanently, making this deck as resilient as fruitcake elemental.
see third post #4 for my most recent notes after some playtesting (one 1v1 edh game, one 6-player edh game, and 1 non-edh 1v1 game - I won all three!)
teysa obviously gets used more for her secondary ability, but imo her first ability has tons of potential in multiplayer. it can kill most anything permanently (except generals, obviously, there's only oneway to get rid of them permanently) and she doesn't need any mana, so once you've got a few creatures out, she's a loaded gun.
So basically this deck uses the threat of instant-speed removal to deter enemies from attacking and targeting you (failing at that, see deterrents and protection/recursion), which is also a non-blue deck's best way to stop combo.
knights are the deck's primary tribe, though, mostly because haakon is the coolest legend and the most worthless general. you'll probably tutor for buried alive and use it to fetch haakon, mirror entity, and knight-captain of eos or knight exemplar (defense) or kinsbaile cavalier (offense), giving you either an intractable defensive position or a brutally powerful wincon.
I'm hoping to bump the tutors up to 15 or so, but I'm having a hard time taking anything out until I get to playtest it. I won't be able to playtest it for over a week because of thanksgiving weekend though.
Since you seem to be running a number of named lands, why not find a slot for Expedition Map as well as Cabal Coffers for use with urborg once everything is a swamp.
Since you seem to be running a number of named lands, why not find a slot for Expedition Map as well as Cabal Coffers for use with urborg once everything is a swamp.
tbh i would like to add more tutors to the deck, and expedition map is on there somewhere although it's below better options like enlightened tutor. so i'll need to cut some more cards before i can get there.
coffers isn't really my favorite because, generally, the deck is pretty low-cmc so there's not a lot of need for massive mana. of course it works well with mirror entity, but it needs urborg, tomb of yawgmoth to do anything whatsoever, and that probably means two tutors. I'd rather use crypt of agadeem since at least it's a etbt swamp even if it can't generate big mana.
springjack pasture is the only real "big mana" possibility for the deck atm - say you've got 40 creatures including mirror entity - entity for 1, then sac 10 to the pasture, pump all the mana into the rest and you've got yourself a win condition.
i dunno, i feel like coffers just isn't worth it outside of mono-B (or if you have a lot of tutors and really really need a lot of black mana).
Wow. I got to use this deck for the first time tonight, and let me tell you, this deck is freaking AWESOME. It's powerful and it's fun, and it doesn't even have blue in it.
your first goal right off the bat is to fetch up buried alive and then dump haakon, stromgald scourge along with knight-captain of eos and either mirror entity or knight exemplar into the yard. after that, you've got the sweetest, most resilient position ever. you can easily keep exiling whatever looks at you funny, fogging whatever you can't target, and eventually just overrunning with tons of huge tokens and whatnot. It EASILY survives repeated wraths (even stuff like hallowed burial as long as you've got a sac outlet for haakon - i prefer phyrexian tower) and bounces right back to where it was within a turn or 2, even faster if you've got exemplar in play of course.
I'd definitely like some more tutors so i can absolutely guarantee haakon coming into play quickly, and i wouldn't mind some self-protection too (I almost died to a 25-point death grasp), maybe true believer? or dawn charm-type stuff? Not really sure. Either way, this deck is a freaking blast to play, I highly recommend it. Haakon is really an all-star card for EDH, and teysa exploits him beautifully.
The other thing that's really cool about this deck - compared to most of my other decks - is that it works just fine as a casual (non-EDH) deck, since it really uses haakon more than it uses teysa (although they're both very nice to have). it also works fine in 1v1 as well as multiplayer. So it's just a damn solid all-around deck, and there's tons of room for improvement too.
It really makes me want to put the "knight package" into any other decks I've got that have WB in them.
i kinda figured crib swap was a better all-around for use with haakon. If I put the "haakon package" into the geth deck i'm building I'll toss it in for sure though.
The protection you're looking for might be Story Circle. Maybe over Salvage Scout or Null Brooch.
story circle seems less useful in multiplayer, although it's pretty good for 1v1. I made the deck principally for multiplayer, though. knight-captain protects against pretty much any combat troubles, and i really wouldn't have predicted that death grasp was coming, so i wouldn't have played a story circle for black or white. i'd probably be better off with some lifegain, counter, or generic prevention instead in that sort of circumstance, which is why null brooch is in there.
How do you deal with Haakon getting exiled? Seems like it would kind of ruin everything.
I'd definitely run entomb, if i could afford it. it'll have to come down in price a bit before i'd consider it, though. and it's still not as good as buried alive or even corpse connoisseur.
so far he hasn't been exiled, but yes that would be a pretty big problem, i'd have to switch strategies pretty quickly. it's pretty hard to exile him though if you're being cautious. Unlike targeted reanimation like teneb, he can't be exiled in response to being cast. plus i try to keep a sac outlet for him available, so anything like stp won't work. they'd have to kill him, then exile him from the graveyard before i can cast him. And if they're about to do anything like that, I'll promise to exile every creature of theirs i can with teysa.
So he's not without defenses, but he's not invincible. I guess i could toss in pull from eternity to protect him...maybe i'll think about it. Alternately i could put in something like winding canyon so i can pull him from the graveyard. The deck can probably survive ok without him, you've got other powerful reanimators like pulsemage advocate hanging around, and other token generators that can build up a lethal army.
Consider Reveillark and Karmic Guide. With the two of them and a sac outlet, like High Market which you have, or Phyrexian Tower which you don't, you can keep sacrificing and switching Reveillark and Karmic Guide. And each time Reveillark goes to the graveyard it not only gets Karmic Guide, but a lot of your other creatures with ETB effects as well. In case you lost Haakon, you could get most of your knights back out of the graveyard with this combo.
It also looks like with Teysa out, you could sac/recur Reveillark and Karmic Guide infinitely to exile all the creatures on the table you want. Actually, here's the ruling I got on it. It works, just different than I thought. You have to have all 3 out (Teysa, Reveillark and Karmic Guide), sac all 3, then bring them all back.
see third post #4 for my most recent notes after some playtesting (one 1v1 edh game, one 6-player edh game, and 1 non-edh 1v1 game - I won all three!)
1 teysa, orzhov scion
deterrents (3):
1 cho-arrim alchemist
1 spurnmage advocate
1 stinkweed imp
discard (3):
1 nightmare void
1 scandalmonger
1 scrying glass
draw (3):
1 graveborn muse
1 slate of ancestry
1 skullclamp
voltron (backup wincon) (1):
1 blade of the bloodchief
kaaaaaniiiiggits (11):
1 crib swap
1 haakon, stromgald scourge
1 kinsbaile cavalier
1 knight exemplar
1 knight of the white orchid
1 knight-captain of eos
1 mirror entity
1 order of the sacred torch
1 pentarch paladin
1 shields of velis vel
1 stromgald cabal
lands (39)
1 caves of koilos
1 city of shadows
1 dust bowl
1 eiganjo castle
1 fetid heath
1 forbidden orchard
1 godless shrine
1 high market
1 kjeldoran outpost
1 kor haven
1 mistveil plains
1 mutavault
1 orzhov basilica
1 phyrexian tower
1 reflecting pool
1 shizo, death's storehouse
1 springjack pasture
1 thawing glaciers
1 tower of the magistrate
1 urborg
1 urborg, tomb of yawgmoth
1 volrath's stronghold
12 plains
5 swamp
1 devoted caretaker
1 eight-and-a-half-tails
1 mother of runes
1 null brooch
recursion (3):
1 nezumi graverobber
1 pulsemage advocate
1 salvage scout
removal (15):
1 abolish
1 archon of justice
1 aura of silence
1 catastrophe
1 disenchant
1 magus of the disk
1 mangara of corondor
1 mortify
1 necrotic sliver
1 oblation
1 oblivion stone
1 reliquary monk
1 return to dust
1 seal of cleansing
1 sudden spoiling
tokens (6):
1 elspeth tirel
1 elspeth, knight errant
1 marrow-gnawer
1 mobilization
1 rotlung reanimator
1 twilight drover
1 beseech the queen
1 buried alive
1 corpse connoisseur
1 demonic collusion
1 demonic tutor
1 diabolic intent
1 diabolic tutor
1 ranger of eos
1 vampiric tutor
1 viscera seer
1 weathered wayfarer
teysa obviously gets used more for her secondary ability, but imo her first ability has tons of potential in multiplayer. it can kill most anything permanently (except generals, obviously, there's only one way to get rid of them permanently) and she doesn't need any mana, so once you've got a few creatures out, she's a loaded gun.
So basically this deck uses the threat of instant-speed removal to deter enemies from attacking and targeting you (failing at that, see deterrents and protection/recursion), which is also a non-blue deck's best way to stop combo.
The deck also has a fun tribal subtheme. what tribe? well, knights, sort of, but there are tons of other tribal cards: marrow-gnawer, graveborn muse, blade of the bloodchief, knight-captain of eos, springjack pasture, necrotic sliver, mobilization, and rotlung reanimator. all of these get awesome with the combo of mirror entity or haakon, stromgald scourge + shields of velis vel.
knights are the deck's primary tribe, though, mostly because haakon is the coolest legend and the most worthless general. you'll probably tutor for buried alive and use it to fetch haakon, mirror entity, and knight-captain of eos or knight exemplar (defense) or kinsbaile cavalier (offense), giving you either an intractable defensive position or a brutally powerful wincon.
I'm hoping to bump the tutors up to 15 or so, but I'm having a hard time taking anything out until I get to playtest it. I won't be able to playtest it for over a week because of thanksgiving weekend though.
WUB Merieke Ri Berit BUW
GWU Phelddagrif 1 2 3 4 UWG
BR Kaervek the Merciless RB
B Chainer, Dementia Master B
WUB Sen Triplets BUW
BG Sisters of Stone Death GB
WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon GRBUW
GWU Angus Mackenzie UWG
R Kumano, Master Yamabushi R
WB Teysa BW
U Higure U
B Geth B
WUBRG Child of Alara 1 2GRBUW
R Zirilan R
U Arcum U
UR Nin RU
BRG Sek'Kuar GRB
U Teferi U
G Melira G
GU Edric UG
BG Glissa GB
Casual
GUB Knacksaw Clique BUG
RWU Sunforger UWR
Horobi, Death's Wail
tbh i would like to add more tutors to the deck, and expedition map is on there somewhere although it's below better options like enlightened tutor. so i'll need to cut some more cards before i can get there.
coffers isn't really my favorite because, generally, the deck is pretty low-cmc so there's not a lot of need for massive mana. of course it works well with mirror entity, but it needs urborg, tomb of yawgmoth to do anything whatsoever, and that probably means two tutors. I'd rather use crypt of agadeem since at least it's a etbt swamp even if it can't generate big mana.
springjack pasture is the only real "big mana" possibility for the deck atm - say you've got 40 creatures including mirror entity - entity for 1, then sac 10 to the pasture, pump all the mana into the rest and you've got yourself a win condition.
i dunno, i feel like coffers just isn't worth it outside of mono-B (or if you have a lot of tutors and really really need a lot of black mana).
WUB Merieke Ri Berit BUW
GWU Phelddagrif 1 2 3 4 UWG
BR Kaervek the Merciless RB
B Chainer, Dementia Master B
WUB Sen Triplets BUW
BG Sisters of Stone Death GB
WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon GRBUW
GWU Angus Mackenzie UWG
R Kumano, Master Yamabushi R
WB Teysa BW
U Higure U
B Geth B
WUBRG Child of Alara 1 2GRBUW
R Zirilan R
U Arcum U
UR Nin RU
BRG Sek'Kuar GRB
U Teferi U
G Melira G
GU Edric UG
BG Glissa GB
Casual
GUB Knacksaw Clique BUG
RWU Sunforger UWR
your first goal right off the bat is to fetch up buried alive and then dump haakon, stromgald scourge along with knight-captain of eos and either mirror entity or knight exemplar into the yard. after that, you've got the sweetest, most resilient position ever. you can easily keep exiling whatever looks at you funny, fogging whatever you can't target, and eventually just overrunning with tons of huge tokens and whatnot. It EASILY survives repeated wraths (even stuff like hallowed burial as long as you've got a sac outlet for haakon - i prefer phyrexian tower) and bounces right back to where it was within a turn or 2, even faster if you've got exemplar in play of course.
I'd definitely like some more tutors so i can absolutely guarantee haakon coming into play quickly, and i wouldn't mind some self-protection too (I almost died to a 25-point death grasp), maybe true believer? or dawn charm-type stuff? Not really sure. Either way, this deck is a freaking blast to play, I highly recommend it. Haakon is really an all-star card for EDH, and teysa exploits him beautifully.
The other thing that's really cool about this deck - compared to most of my other decks - is that it works just fine as a casual (non-EDH) deck, since it really uses haakon more than it uses teysa (although they're both very nice to have). it also works fine in 1v1 as well as multiplayer. So it's just a damn solid all-around deck, and there's tons of room for improvement too.
It really makes me want to put the "knight package" into any other decks I've got that have WB in them.
WUB Merieke Ri Berit BUW
GWU Phelddagrif 1 2 3 4 UWG
BR Kaervek the Merciless RB
B Chainer, Dementia Master B
WUB Sen Triplets BUW
BG Sisters of Stone Death GB
WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon GRBUW
GWU Angus Mackenzie UWG
R Kumano, Master Yamabushi R
WB Teysa BW
U Higure U
B Geth B
WUBRG Child of Alara 1 2GRBUW
R Zirilan R
U Arcum U
UR Nin RU
BRG Sek'Kuar GRB
U Teferi U
G Melira G
GU Edric UG
BG Glissa GB
Casual
GUB Knacksaw Clique BUG
RWU Sunforger UWR
My Current EDH Decks
WUBRG Lorwyn Block Horde of Notions WUBRG
UG Momir Vig Glimpse Combo UG
UW "Rasputin Dreamcrusher" Control UW
:symu::symr: Melek WheelStorm
:symw::symg: Trostani Enchantress (updated 6/5)
:symg::symr::symu: Unexpected Results.dec
Thada Adel Stax WIP
How do you deal with Haakon getting exiled? Seems like it would kind of ruin everything.
i kinda figured crib swap was a better all-around for use with haakon. If I put the "haakon package" into the geth deck i'm building I'll toss it in for sure though.
story circle seems less useful in multiplayer, although it's pretty good for 1v1. I made the deck principally for multiplayer, though. knight-captain protects against pretty much any combat troubles, and i really wouldn't have predicted that death grasp was coming, so i wouldn't have played a story circle for black or white. i'd probably be better off with some lifegain, counter, or generic prevention instead in that sort of circumstance, which is why null brooch is in there.
I'd definitely run entomb, if i could afford it. it'll have to come down in price a bit before i'd consider it, though. and it's still not as good as buried alive or even corpse connoisseur.
so far he hasn't been exiled, but yes that would be a pretty big problem, i'd have to switch strategies pretty quickly. it's pretty hard to exile him though if you're being cautious. Unlike targeted reanimation like teneb, he can't be exiled in response to being cast. plus i try to keep a sac outlet for him available, so anything like stp won't work. they'd have to kill him, then exile him from the graveyard before i can cast him. And if they're about to do anything like that, I'll promise to exile every creature of theirs i can with teysa.
So he's not without defenses, but he's not invincible. I guess i could toss in pull from eternity to protect him...maybe i'll think about it. Alternately i could put in something like winding canyon so i can pull him from the graveyard. The deck can probably survive ok without him, you've got other powerful reanimators like pulsemage advocate hanging around, and other token generators that can build up a lethal army.
WUB Merieke Ri Berit BUW
GWU Phelddagrif 1 2 3 4 UWG
BR Kaervek the Merciless RB
B Chainer, Dementia Master B
WUB Sen Triplets BUW
BG Sisters of Stone Death GB
WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon GRBUW
GWU Angus Mackenzie UWG
R Kumano, Master Yamabushi R
WB Teysa BW
U Higure U
B Geth B
WUBRG Child of Alara 1 2GRBUW
R Zirilan R
U Arcum U
UR Nin RU
BRG Sek'Kuar GRB
U Teferi U
G Melira G
GU Edric UG
BG Glissa GB
Casual
GUB Knacksaw Clique BUG
RWU Sunforger UWR
It also looks like with Teysa out, you could sac/recur Reveillark and Karmic Guide infinitely to exile all the creatures on the table you want.Actually, here's the ruling I got on it. It works, just different than I thought. You have to have all 3 out (Teysa, Reveillark and Karmic Guide), sac all 3, then bring them all back.WUBRG Some of these decks can actually win games...WUBRG
How I know I should build a deck: