MTG Salvation

This is my first Commander deck. Suggestions and opinions welcome.

I can honestly say this looks very solid. Good job bro.

I'm obviously going to like the deck. It's been a lot of fun and wins (more than I really deserved) for a couple years now.

I see you're going with a Lifegain/Win package. I used to use that quite heavily and I only stopped because my LGS tourneys don't award as many points for winning that way.
Lifegain is usually an "iffy" prospect in edh since it doesn't put points back on your "commander damage" total or protect from other combo wins, and there's always the annoying "10 life" effects like Magister Sphinx and Sorin. But it does very often give you a very important buffer or allow you to come back from a "10 life" effect, and can very easily result in an instawin with Felidar. It's tough to keep him out of play with so much recursion in the deck.

A few cards to maybe consider for the build...
Death Grasp - Pretty decent in any style build really.
Test of Endurance - I have used it before with mixed success. It's tougher to meet the 50 than Felidars 40, but it's also harder to get rid of. And if you can sac Academy Rector at the end of your opponents turn (and have 50 life) it's instawin.
Sanguine Bond - Mixed results again. Sometimes it was nothing, sometimes it was amazing. Coupled with an Exsanguinate or a pumped Divinity of Pride it's godawful scary.

Quote from Blackjack68

I'm obviously going to like the deck. It's been a lot of fun and wins (more than I really deserved) for a couple years now.

I see you're going with a Lifegain/Win package. I used to use that quite heavily and I only stopped because my LGS tourneys don't award as many points for winning that way.
Lifegain is usually an "iffy" prospect in edh since it doesn't put points back on your "commander damage" total or protect from other combo wins, and there's always the annoying "10 life" effects like Magister Sphinx and Sorin. But it does very often give you a very important buffer or allow you to come back from a "10 life" effect, and can very easily result in an instawin with Felidar. It's tough to keep him out of play with so much recursion in the deck.

A few cards to maybe consider for the build...
Death Grasp - Pretty decent in any style build really.
Test of Endurance - I have used it before with mixed success. It's tougher to meet the 50 than Felidars 40, but it's also harder to get rid of. And if you can sac Academy Rector at the end of your opponents turn (and have 50 life) it's instawin.
Sanguine Bond - Mixed results again. Sometimes it was nothing, sometimes it was amazing. Coupled with an Exsanguinate or a pumped Divinity of Pride it's godawful scary.

Yeah, I used your primer (among others) pretty extensively when coming up with the list. I like the life gain approach, but would you recommend another? I looked at cards like Sanguine Bond, but it just seemed so inconsistent to me.

I also looked at Bloodchief Ascension, but I figured it might be risky to play. I would imagine a card like this would really attract a lot of hate around the table, which seems like something this deck in particular wants to avoid.

Quote from Coma White

I like the life gain approach, but would you recommend another?

I wouldn't necessarily recommend something else over the lifegain package, against conventional edh thoughts on lifegain, it was surprisingly effective for me. I kinda look at it like this...

I've normally got like 3 to 6 card slots devoted to a particular "package" of cards that maybe wouldn't normally go in the deck. For the lifegain package here, I'd call those Felidar, Reverse Sands, White Beacon, and maybe Fetters and Divinity of Pride though both of those last two have quite a bit of merit in any build really.

How those slots get used up (at least in my thinking) is more of a meta call than anything, and since this is your first edh build, I'm guessing you don't know your meta very well yet. The lifegain package is somewhat less effective in a meta heavy with good Voltron builds (winning with commander damage) and Combo decks, but in a meta full of heavy creature beatdown it's fantastic.

The alternatives:
Disruption - Stuff like Sadistic Sacrament and more discard helps a lot against more combo heavy metas. Aven Mindcensor also has a lot of merit to slow combo decks from finding their pieces.
Equipment - With cards like Stonehewer Giant and Stoneforge Mystic and a few good equips, it can be pretty good. Though GCO doesn't make a good Voltron commander, other creatures like Nether Traitor and Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed ($$) work very well with it and are good enough in the deck no matter what the particular build.
Land Destruction - Great options here really, but in most groups there will be a lot of people not want to play against it.
Heavier Combo - More tutoring to try and get off the Lark/Guide combo and another piece or two like Bitter Ordeal.

Or... just go generic with it and find a few more good beaters and some more removal.

I should also make mention of the new Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter. I haven't tested him yet, and I'd usually balk at his casting cost, but he may be worth a slot given he does have lifelink and he combos with Lark/Guide. He's at least a "maybe".

Honestly though, not knowing your meta, I think you're at a good starting point already.

I also looked at Bloodchief Ascension, but I figured it might be risky to play. I would imagine a card like this would really attract a lot of hate around the table, which seems like something this deck in particular wants to avoid.

You are 100% correct. It does draw a lot of hate.

Quote from Blackjack68

Heavier Combo - More tutoring to try and get off the Lark/Guide combo and another piece or two like Bitter Ordeal.

I actually only JUST avoided putting Bitter Ordeal in there. I have quite a number of sweeps - the thought of getting one off is hilarious. Ripping apart every other deck at the table, et cetera. Other than more tutors (Vampiric Tutor, et cetera), what other cards would be good in this package?

Don't forget that Bitter Ordeal not only works well after a sweep, but also after Lark/Guide hit the graveyard a thousand times Of course, everyone should be dead at that point anyway, but just in case you had to use House Guard , Vish Kal or something else besides Blasting Station/Altar for the combo, Ordeal is still auto-win.

Besides Ordeal and a bit more tutoring, I'd be really tempted (and usually am) to put in a bit more card draw of whatever flavor suits you. Ambition's Cost, whatever. Most people use Sensei's Divining Top, I just don't have one and settle for Crystal Ball to help out with draw quality.

Maybe some help in protecting your combo like Imp's Mischief. It's always a good card to have in hand, it's saved my butt on several occasions.

Sanguine Bond - Mixed results again. Sometimes it was nothing, sometimes it was amazing. Coupled with an Exsanguinate or a pumped Divinity of Pride it's godawful scary.

For this, I love you bro.

I have a friend that was looking to build a Ghost Council EDH deck. The one question I have is why no Teysa? Maybe I just play things for flavor value too much, but I think it could work here.

Quote from KarmicNoose

I have a friend that was looking to build a Ghost Council EDH deck. The one question I have is why no Teysa? Maybe I just play things for flavor value too much, but I think it could work here.

Maybe because she provokes combo at full. For me, that is not my style.

About this deck, It looks very solid.Have you thought about adding Stoneforge Mystic and a few pieces of equipments? Maybe SoLS since it gains life and recurs certures. Battleskull is preatty good too.
Besides, you already have Skullclamp in the deck.

Maybe because she provokes combo at full.I own a Ghost Council deck and that is my reason why I didnt choose her over this guy. Coma White might have a different reason though.

About this deck, It looks very solid.Have you thought about adding Stoneforge Mystic and a few pieces of equipments? Maybe SoLS since it gains life and recurs certures. Batterskull is preatty good too.
Besides, you already have Skullclamp in the deck.[/quote]

Updated deck list with respect to the Commander pre-cons. Taken the deck in a more combo-oriented direction and put Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter and Martyr's Bond in the deck. They're both awesome.

enduring renewalAdding another combo how would you fit it in? Already have blasting station. Any other ways to abuse it?

borderline jelous how you can get great results with this deck, maybe its a mix of bad hands , amazing players playing amazing decks. I get my rear end handed to me alot, then sometimes i can bust out a combo or yosay lock some one. I love the colors love the deck just no luck with it yet, its pretty much the same deck i used the same guide that jack posted it was to great not to follow.

So I decided to invest in this deck cause it looks like a blast to play and can just win in one turn and it seems controlling and has wraths and recusions. What's not to love. A few questions though how good are the new Vamp legend and Martyr's bond. Deciding if a should try to get them now if others think the price will rise or remain stable or if I should wait for a price draop. Another question is what do you think is the main base of the deck and what cards are sort of borderline if they make the cut or not, this is cause I am trying to see what things I can add like the test of endurance win con and such. It is my first EDH deck so I will probably just build close to the lists posted on these forums. Also how does this deck get around graveyard hate. Seems like it can still get by(sort of why I wanted to add the Test of Endurance win con) but wondering if it is resilient enough to not need much help in that department

Would adding some more EtB creatures like wall of omens or shriek maw be good in here as something to sac and recure for even more advantage. Not sure what other creature that enter the battlefield would be good here