My relationship with Rafiq of the Many started almost entirely on accident. The deck was actually given to me by my brother and although it looks nothing like the original list I was given I have him to thank for my choice of Commander.
In my opinion I have gone in a completely different direction then almost any Rafiq deck I have ever seen has gone. While most people tend to run a very fast aggro deck with Rafiq souping up Rafiq "Voltron" style I run mine as a very control heavy build with two main combo finishes and Rafiq as my backup plan. I will go over the two combos in detail later in the primer but they are the Aluren Combo and the Lark Combo. I chose these two because they both revolve around cheap utility creatures I would probably normally be running anyways. This also allows me to use tutors that can find pieces of both of the combos giving me multiple options with each card and more options is never a bad thing especially in a singleton format. Also both combos require different hate to fight it making it more resilient in my opinion.
Cloudstone Curio: Part of the Aluren Combo allowing me to infinitely loop two creatures with converted mana cost three or less. Crucible of Worlds: Gets back utility lands and combos with sacrifice lands like Wasteland. Expedition Map: Trinket Mage target that helps find utility lands in a pinch. Usually my last choice for Trinket Mage target. Lightning Greaves: Solid utility for any Commander that you're gonna attack with. If you're using this guy for Shroud you're doing it wrong. Relic of Progenitus: Trinket Mage target number two and basic graveyard hate but beware of using it as it does hit you as well. Sensei's Divining Top: Trinket Mage target number one, need I say more. Sword of Fire and Ice: One of the two swords I use with Rafiq giving him evasion and gaining me card advantage at the same time. Sword of Light and Shadow: Same as above.
Acidic Slime: Awesome utility creature that also doubles as a piece of the Lark Combo as well as the Aluren Combo once you've obtained infinite mana. Body Double: Another piece of the Lark Combo but can also be used if needed to become a beater, utility creature, anything else you can imagine. Cloud of Faeries: Part of the Aluren Combo used to gain infinite mana looped with another creature. Unfortunately no real use outside that. Coiling Oracle: This card is so broken and easily one of my favorite creatures ever printed no explanation necessary. Eternal Witness: Staple in any deck that includes green. Fauna Shaman: I chose to run this card over Survival of the Fittest because it seems more fair to me. Harmonic Sliver: Can't tell you how many times I've used this guy then followed it up with a Mirror Entity, absolutely brilliant. Karmic Guide: Same as Body Double really. Knight of the Reliquary: Absolute bomb of a card. There's a reason it's used so much in Legacy. Man-o'-War: Part of the Aluren Combo can be used elsewhere in a pinch. Mirror Entity: Used as a sac outlet for the Lark Combo but also good to get some utility beats in there. Mulldrifter: Awesome utility creature that can be evoked early game and can even carry a sword late game. Reveillark: Main card of the Lark Combo need I say more. Seedborn Muse: I think we all know how much of a house this card is. Stoneforge Mystic: Along the same lines of Knight of the Reliquary, it's no secret how good this card is. Trinket Mage: Second favorite creature ever printed. Trygon Predator: Once this guy starts to connect people start hurting. Weathered Wayfarer: With the minuscule amount of basics I run I need as many things as I can that find non-basics.
Aluren: Namesake of the Aluren Combo allowing me to cast creatures for free for infinite loops with Cloudstone Curio. Aura Shards: You can never have to much hate in your deck and this one turns your creatures into hate, how fun is that. Mirari's Wake: One of the most common "must kill" cards of Commander and for a good reason. Mirri's Guile: For when you can't find your Sensei's Divining Top. Oblivion Ring: Can remove anything and combos well with Capsize. Rancor: Turns Rafiq into a two turn clock from a three turn clock while also giving him evasion. I've been told it's kind of hard to get rid of as well. Rhystic Study: Hard to remember this guy sometimes but when I do it nets me tons of cards. Treachery: Not the greatest but it's fun as hell and has won me some games. Combos well with Mirari's Wake netting me mana when cast.
Beast Within: Instant speed permanent removal with a small drawback. Capsize: Completely busted card that gets even better with Seedborn Muse, Mirari's Wake, and wins with infinite mana. Condemn: Sends those pesky Commanders to the bottom as long as they're attacking. Dissipate: Sometimes you don't wanna see that Genesis Wave come back. Eladamri's Call: Tutors for a creature at instant speed finding me that missing combo piece of an answer. Enlightened Tutor: Finds Aluren or Cloudstone Curio along with a bunch of other stuff. Evacuation: Saves my ass more times then I can count. Fact or Fiction: One of the best instant speed draw spells in Commander. Forbid: Counterspell with buyback, what's not to love. Hinder: Blue Commander staple that is almost always used on an opposing Commander. Krosan Grip: Split Second is so underrated in this format. Mystical Tutor: My most underwhelming tutor since it can't find a combo piece but still good. Oblation: Tucking at instant speed or card draw from me at the cost of a permanent. Path to Exile: Should probably be Swords to Plowshares but whatever. Pognify: Should also probably be Swords but who no one expects removal when I have one blue open. Return to Dust: One of the few cards that can deal with Darksteel Forge and the like. Voidslime: Can counter almost anything making it the perfect answer. Worldly Tutor: Eladamri's Call's ugly cousin but consistency is king.
Balancing Act: Wish this card could be Balance but gotta settle with this. Bribery: Can find Primeval Titan or Blightsteel Colossus making this a five mana bomb. Day of Judgment: Should probably be Wrath of God. Fabricate: Can find Cloudstone Curio or a sword. Hallowed Burial: Tuck all the Commanders! Idyllic Tutor: Same with Fabricate can find a combo piece or an answer. Natural Balance: Just so happens my curve stops at five. Restock: Best recursion next to Eternal Witness in my opinion.
There are some obvious Commander staples that I purposely didn't include in my list. I am going to list them here because these cards have already been tested and found either to be overkill, unfun/unfair, too expensive, underwhelming, or just too high in my curve to warrant an inclusion. If you have a huge problem with any card on this list please private message me to reduce the amount of clutter on this thread. This should reduce the number of comments I get that will be ignored making everyone happier.
This combo require you to have Cloudstone Curio and Aluren on the field first and foremost. It is important to drop the Cloudstone Curio first because once Aluren resolves the combo can be done at instant speed. Basically what you will do is drop one creature with converted mana cost less then three for free thanks to Aluren and then drop a second one returning the first to your hand thanks to the Curio making a loop that can be infinitely repeated. Most of the creatures with converted mana cost three or less can be used to start but here are some examples.
Man-o'-War: The end result you want bouncing all opposing creatures indefinitely. Cloud of Faerie's: Generates infinite mana allowing you to loop Acidic Slime which with Man-o'-War results in no opposing permanents. Coiling Oracle: Draws most of your deck finding the first two if you don't already have them. Eternal Witness: Gets back any pieces that you've already lost earlier in the game.
Basically you want either Karmic Guide or Body Double in the graveyard along with Mirror Entity and any creature with power two or less preferably Acidic Slime plus Reveillark in your hand. The sequence goes like this.
I would say Jenara with your current setup. If you had a blessing/might of the nephilim, shield of the oversoul or some other enchantments, Rafiq would be better. That's how I run my Rafiq deck.
I figured Jenara would be better since I don't try to run the Commander out as fast as possible and use it more like a finisher once I've got control of the game. Thanks.
Ok first, your Jenara vs Rafiq debait. I think you are a bit closer to a Jenara setup than a Rafiq one. If you want to run Rafiq you need to run it a strictly agro deck and pick up some Exalt support. If you like it somewhat control based like you currently have, Jenara is a bit more versatile.
Ok as for some suggestions. Cut the following:
Sword of Body and Mind it is just bad for EDH. Throwing out a bear and milling someone 10 cards just doesnt cut it in my mind. Other than ignoring the ability for green creatures to block this sword does very little.
Sword of War and Peace worst of the swords in EDH. It generates no card advantage and gaining life in EDH is just sort of suck. I would consider adding Jitte if you need an equipment in this slot but these 2 just suck.
Loaming Shaman generally he is seen in dredge / mill decks. I guess if you encounter a lot of milling in your meta you could use him but you have very few ways to tutor for him. I just dont see much support for him for the deck. If you need to combat milling perhaps toss in an Eldrazi just for the shuffle up effect.
Meddling Mage I personally don't care much for this guy in multiplayer EDH. The only time he is good is if there is one specific commander that you just totally cannot deal with. Even then I would rather run Declaration of Naught as being an enchantment makes it a lot harder to kill.
Some exchanges I would consider: Worldly Tutor -> Eladamri's Call for one more mana you get the card into hand. I find this a worthwhile change as it is only going from one mana to two and it is still instant speed.
Some cards worth mentioning for your list: Bribery obviously with the release of Homeward Path this card is going to see a bit of a hit. I am going to keep running it though and use it to go get a creature with a strong comes into play ability. That way if someone steals it back later they will get a lesser effect. Bribery is still a great card and assuming you get lucky, if your meta doesn't run Homeward Path just go to town and go get those big guys.
Avenger of Zendikar such a good wincon. I use him all the time to kill people. He is sort of a must wrath sort of target who will kill people starting the next turn.
Rampaging Baloths similarly to Avenger he creates a lot of dudes and a lot of attack force very quickly.
Reveillark you currently have a ton of creatures with whom he can rez back into play. This is a great way to get some extra use out of your smaller creatures.
Sun Titan You have tonnnns of targets for this guy to rez back into play. He is a good sized creature as well. I love using him as a psudo primeval titan rezing fetchlands to go get more lands.
Overall I would say just increase your number of wincons. You are relying on your commander and equipment a lot in this deck currently. I would say a few creatures who can get there on their own would be a good thing to look into.
Feel free to check out my Jenara decklist as well. The link to it is in my sig.
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I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
My friend usually just switches between the 2, but he has told me that Jenara is his preferred choice due to the fact that you can pump her up. If he knows he is gonna face a crap-ton of removal, he usually switches back to Rafiq though.
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Level 1 Judge
Standard: :symu:Control:symw:
Modern: Just about anything that doesn't include Tarmogoyf or Karn
Ok first, your Jenara vs Rafiq debait. I think you are a bit closer to a Jenara setup than a Rafiq one. If you want to run Rafiq you need to run it a strictly agro deck and pick up some Exalt support. If you like it somewhat control based like you currently have, Jenara is a bit more versatile.
General consensus is Jenara it looks like so that's what I'll go with.
Sword of Body and Mind it is just bad for EDH. Throwing out a bear and milling someone 10 cards just doesnt cut it in my mind. Other than ignoring the ability for green creatures to block this sword does very little.
Sword of War and Peace worst of the swords in EDH. It generates no card advantage and gaining life in EDH is just sort of suck. I would consider adding Jitte if you need an equipment in this slot but these 2 just suck.
Loaming Shaman generally he is seen in dredge / mill decks. I guess if you encounter a lot of milling in your meta you could use him but you have very few ways to tutor for him. I just dont see much support for him for the deck. If you need to combat milling perhaps toss in an Eldrazi just for the shuffle up effect.
Meddling Mage I personally don't care much for this guy in multiplayer EDH. The only time he is good is if there is one specific commander that you just totally cannot deal with. Even then I would rather run Declaration of Naught as being an enchantment makes it a lot harder to kill.
The two swords are in there to complete the set of five and are mainly in there for flavor so they're gonna stay even though I'm aware there's better choices.
Loaming Shaman for me is not used as an anti-mill as you're suggesting, although there is a Geth deck in our group that this helps immensely against. It's uses are two fold; one is to take some of the key cards that may have ended up in my graveyard back into my deck, the other being as a pseudo gravehate against my opponents.
I'm sure there are better cards out there then Meddling Mage but it's a pet card of mine I've used since it was printed and it has to stay.
Some exchanges I would consider: Worldly Tutor -> Eladamri's Call for one more mana you get the card into hand. I find this a worthwhile change as it is only going from one mana to two and it is still instant speed.
I have a Worldly Tutor I don't have a Eldamari's Call it's that simple. When I acquire one it will be going in addition to not replacing it though.
Some cards worth mentioning for your list: Bribery obviously with the release of Homeward Path this card is going to see a bit of a hit. I am going to keep running it though and use it to go get a creature with a strong comes into play ability. That way if someone steals it back later they will get a lesser effect. Bribery is still a great card and assuming you get lucky, if your meta doesn't run Homeward Path just go to town and go get those big guys.
Avenger of Zendikar such a good wincon. I use him all the time to kill people. He is sort of a must wrath sort of target who will kill people starting the next turn.
Rampaging Baloths similarly to Avenger he creates a lot of dudes and a lot of attack force very quickly.
Reveillark you currently have a ton of creatures with whom he can rez back into play. This is a great way to get some extra use out of your smaller creatures.
Sun Titan You have tonnnns of targets for this guy to rez back into play. He is a good sized creature as well. I love using him as a psudo primeval titan rezing fetchlands to go get more lands.
Overall I would say just increase your number of wincons. You are relying on your commander and equipment a lot in this deck currently. I would say a few creatures who can get there on their own would be a good thing to look into.
Feel free to check out my Jenara decklist as well. The link to it is in my sig.
It may be different in other playgroups but in practice Jenara and the equipments have been enough for me. If I feel the need for more threats the ones you've suggested are obvious inclusions.
The one I may consider is Reveillark. I've seen this card quite a bit and never considered it for my deck. Is it that useful outside the combo? I refuse to add infinite combos in there so I must consider if this card is useful outside the combo.
I for one rarely combo out using Reveillark I evoke him just to rez 2 other guys all of the time. One of my favorite moves was once when I had Reveillark on a Mimic Vat I had a Sakura-Tribe Elder and a Saffi Eriksdotter in the bin. I used it to pull 2 lands a turn into play. It was a great interaction. If you play lots of small guys he is just great.
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I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
I like the amount of control you have packed in here. I guess a quick question would be what sort of plans do you usually go with to win the game? Do you rely heavily on Jenara to do most of your work? Do the utility guys + equipment do most of it? Or do you count on comboing out with the lark combo?
One of my current concerns about your list is the low number of creature tutors. I run a lot more creatures than you do but I like being able to tutor for the ones that I need. I guess what I am getting at is if you rely on Jenara and she gets tucked what is the next plan? I very rarely find having tutors in a deck a bad thing unless someone locks you behind a stranglehold that you cant break.
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I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
I like the amount of control you have packed in here. I guess a quick question would be what sort of plans do you usually go with to win the game? Do you rely heavily on Jenara to do most of your work? Do the utility guys + equipment do most of it? Or do you count on comboing out with the lark combo?
One of my current concerns about your list is the low number of creature tutors. I run a lot more creatures than you do but I like being able to tutor for the ones that I need. I guess what I am getting at is if you rely on Jenara and she gets tucked what is the next plan? I very rarely find having tutors in a deck a bad thing unless someone locks you behind a stranglehold that you cant break.
Well usually my gameplan goes something like this.
Step One: Gain control of the game.
Step Two: Beat face with Jenera.
Backup Step 2: Beat face with utility creatures carrying swords till I find Jenera
Backup Backup Step 2: Combo out with Lark.
The combo is a very recent addition because I had no trouble stopping people from killing me but often had trouble sealing the deal. The Lark combo helps close that gap.
I try not to run too many tutors in my Commander decks because I feel that in excess it takes away some of the feel if the singleton aspect of the format. I try to make it so every card in the deck is valuable by itself so I'm not relying on the same cards every game.
Sorry for any typos or anything that doesn't make sense I'm posting from my Droid and its being a pain in my ass.
Have you considered running Brutalizer Exarch? I run mine first and foremost as a removal card but its nice that it can tutor. This way you don't have to run it as a tutor unless you really need it to be one. Otherwise it is an answer on a stick that can be equipped with a sword and run in for damage or chump block. It is a decent backup plan for if Jenara gets tucked you can dig her out of the deck.
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I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
You only run 3 mass-wipes. If you want to lockdown and then shutdown, you need a couple more to clear the way for beatface Jenara phase. You instants look pretty solid.
EDIT: Also, I don't know how strict your playgroup is, but Crucible of the Worlds is either a no-no card or banned. I think it's banned.
Three board wipes has been enough for me because I do play multiplayer and that means someones wiping the board every other turn. Plus my game plan is never lockdown as you put it but more so to just control the game enough to stay alive. Staying alive has never been my problem with this deck it's more so sealing the deal that I tend to have issues with.
If I were to add another board wipe or two what would be considered?
Also Crucible of Worlds is not banned on the "Official" ban list however it is banned on both one versus one ban lists which is what you might be thinking but I don't play one versus one at all so Crucible is fine.
There are a few problems with man lands in my opinion. The main one being they come into play tapped making them considerably slow. Other then that they just don't do enough, even with Rafiq on the board, in such a high life format.
Or you could just swing in with rafiq for 8 damage and save your mana. It would cost soooooo much mana to drop Rafiq into play and animate Collonade in the same turn. I have to agree with the thought that manlands are too slow. If you can afford better lands I would usually do it.
I understand that the Collonade has flying which is a good evasion, however I dont see it being that impressive all in all for it coming in tapped and requiring so much mana to animate.
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I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
Intuition great card but I dont see much versatility that you can target here. What are your potential targets and how big of a toolbox do you usually find it to be in here??? I just don't know how big of a toolbox this card really is for you so I guess this is more of a question than me telling you it is no good in here.
Pongify / Condemn personally I guess I would have to say these are probably the worst of your spot removal. Pongify sort of sucks in the fact that it doesnt deal with indestructable / persist very well and it gives them a dude out of it. Beast Within is similar but it can hit noncreatures which makes it better. Condemn sort of pisses me off because if my hand is too full I cant use it before discarding and you cant use it on utility commanders / combo out pieces. In my mind these are probably your worst 2 options in your spot removal. If you cut something from the spot removal category I would make it one of these 2.
Also, what utility are you getting out of the artifact lands? I know they are potential targets for Trinket Mage but that alone doesn't feel good enough to have them wiped in an Oblivion Stone (It struck me that O stone specificly says nonlands. Still Nev Disk, Akroma's Vengeance, Austere Command, etc.)
Crop Rotation was just added and hasn't been tested at all. Having said that my idea behind adding it to the list was that it's instant speed land search. This allows me to find any of my utility lands at a moments notice. Yes I realize Knight of the Reliquary does the same thing but she doesn't last more then a turn or two in my playgroup so I thought redundancy would help. You could be right and more testing will find that out.
Intuition great card but I dont see much versatility that you can target here. What are your potential targets and how big of a toolbox do you usually find it to be in here??? I just don't know how big of a toolbox this card really is for you so I guess this is more of a question than me telling you it is no good in here.
Intuition usually finds the missing parts of my Lark Combo instead of using Survival of the Fittest. I understand Survival is better but whenever I dropped it someone either removed it before I could use it, removed my graveyard, or killed me. Nothing says I'm about to combo like resolving that thing (Survival). It also often grabs two utility lands and Crucible of Worlds.
Pongify / Condemn personally I guess I would have to say these are probably the worst of your spot removal. Pongify sort of sucks in the fact that it doesnt deal with indestructable / persist very well and it gives them a dude out of it. Beast Within is similar but it can hit noncreatures which makes it better. Condemn sort of pisses me off because if my hand is too full I cant use it before discarding and you cant use it on utility commanders / combo out pieces. In my mind these are probably your worst 2 options in your spot removal. If you cut something from the spot removal category I would make it one of these 2.
You're right on the money here but at the same time missing the point. Yes those two are my worst spot removal (although I'd argue Pognify is awesome because it's blue) but I want as much one mana removal as possible. Now if you said something like cut these two for these two better cards I'd be more inclined to listen but as of now you're just saying out of everything these are the weakest so they should go.
Also, what utility are you getting out of the artifact lands? I know they are potential targets for Trinket Mage but that alone doesn't feel good enough to have them wiped in an Oblivion Stone (It struck me that O stone specificly says nonlands. Still Nev Disk, Akroma's Vengeance, Austere Command, etc.)
It took months and months of my brother constantly badgering me to actually add these to my list and after one game I was convinced they were worth it. I don't know about your playgroup but Disk hasn't been played around here in months. Akroma's Vengeance does see some play but I can assure you the number of times I've Trinket Mage'd one of those guys far outweighs the times I've regretted having them because of that. The one that hurts the most is Austere Command because I use that one and it does usually call artifacts. It's a blurry line between useful and hurtful on this one and for now it's on the useful side. Things change though so who knows.
Always a pleasure debating card choices with you though ISBPathfinder.
How about this change then, Intuition -> Wargate you can wargate right into survival if you want and skip the middle man. I also like that Wargate can be used for 0 mana to go get any utility land you might want or used for more mana to go get anything you could want. I have found it to be a versatile tutor. Plus you can skip a bit of tutoring if you have Mystical Tutor and want to get to Survival in play. Overall, Wargate has just been a very versatile card that can be used for different things at many different stages of the game. I feel that Impulse is very narrow on the other hand in this deck.
I guess if you haven't had any problems with the artifact land then go ahead and keep them in. I just don't find trinket mage for a land into hand being worth the possibility of them being blown up.
As for the spot removal. I was just trying to highlight the worst of them. If you feel that you need all of that spot removal than go for it. I like a bit of a smaller spot removal package though.
How about this change then, Intuition -> Wargate you can wargate right into survival if you want and skip the middle man. I also like that Wargate can be used for 0 mana to go get any utility land you might want or used for more mana to go get anything you could want. I have found it to be a versatile tutor. Plus you can skip a bit of tutoring if you have Mystical Tutor and want to get to Survival in play. Overall, Wargate has just been a very versatile card that can be used for different things at many different stages of the game. I feel that Impulse is very narrow on the other hand in this deck.
I guess if you haven't had any problems with the artifact land then go ahead and keep them in. I just don't find trinket mage for a land into hand being worth the possibility of them being blown up.
As for the spot removal. I was just trying to highlight the worst of them. If you feel that you need all of that spot removal than go for it. I like a bit of a smaller spot removal package though.
If you read my post I stated that I used to run Survival to get the Lark Combo but it drew too much hate and made me and my graveyard a huge target so now I run Intuition to grab whatever pieces of the Lark Combo I don't already have at Instant speed and dump them in my yard or hand and since most of the pieces are better off in the yard it works perfectly.
Not that there's anything wrong with Wargate I'm just telling you Intuition is not the card to cut for it if it deserves a spot at all. I must say it being Sorcery speed does hurt it quite a bit though.
Cut Time Warp for Acquire basically reversing the change I made a few days ago. Change wasn't working out the way I thought it would and I think this way is better.
Also considering cutting Swiftfoot Boots for possibly Oblivion Stone. DasBoots2 are exactly what they're advertised as, a second pair of boots. In a deck designed around attacking with one creature the redundancy just wasn't needed. Board wipes are awesome and a board wipe which is easy to tutor for is even awesomerer (I realize this isn't a word so don't even).
Exploration is a bomb when drawn at the precise time but a dud any other time and has been a dead draw one two many times. I've been having some bad luck with top decking land late game when in desperate need of a good draw Abundance might help remedy that.
Primer is a work in progress. -Dm225
1 Rafiq of the Many
Land
1 Academy Ruins
1 Ancient Den
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Arid Mesa
1 Breeding Pool
1 City of Traitors
1 Darksteel Citadel
1 Dust Bowl
1 Exotic Orchard
1 Flooded Strand
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Kor Haven
1 Marsh Flats
1 Meteor Crater
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Polluted Delta
1 Reflecting Pool
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Riftstone Portal
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Seat of the Synod
3 Snow-Covered Forest
3 Snow-Covered Island
3 Snow-Covered Plains
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Temple Garden
1 Temple of the False God
1 Tree of Tales
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Wasteland
1 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Yavimaya Hollow
1 Acidic Slime
1 Body Double
1 Cloud of Faeries
1 Coiling Oracle
1 Eternal Witness
1 Fauna Shaman
1 Harmonic Sliver
1 Karmic Guide
1 Knight of the Reliquary
1 Man-o'-War
1 Mirror Entity
1 Mulldrifter
1 Reveillark
1 Seedborn Muse
1 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Trinket Mage
1 Trygon Predator
1 Weathered Wayfarer
Instant
1 Beast Within
1 Capsize
1 Condemn
1 Dissipate
1 Eladamri's Call
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Evacuation
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Forbid
1 Hinder
1 Krosan Grip
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Oblation
1 Path to Exile
1 Return to Dust
1 Pongify
1 Voidslime
1 Worldly Tutor
1 Balancing Act
1 Bribery
1 Day of Judgment
1 Fabricate
1 Hallowed Burial
1 Idyllic Tutor
1 Natural Balance
1 Restock
Artifact
1 Cloudstone Curio
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Expedition Map
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
Enchantment
1 Aluren
1 Aura Shards
1 Mirari's Wake
1 Mirri's Guile
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Rancor
1 Rhystic Study
1 Treachery
In my opinion I have gone in a completely different direction then almost any Rafiq deck I have ever seen has gone. While most people tend to run a very fast aggro deck with Rafiq souping up Rafiq "Voltron" style I run mine as a very control heavy build with two main combo finishes and Rafiq as my backup plan. I will go over the two combos in detail later in the primer but they are the Aluren Combo and the Lark Combo. I chose these two because they both revolve around cheap utility creatures I would probably normally be running anyways. This also allows me to use tutors that can find pieces of both of the combos giving me multiple options with each card and more options is never a bad thing especially in a singleton format. Also both combos require different hate to fight it making it more resilient in my opinion.
Crucible of Worlds: Gets back utility lands and combos with sacrifice lands like Wasteland.
Expedition Map: Trinket Mage target that helps find utility lands in a pinch. Usually my last choice for Trinket Mage target.
Lightning Greaves: Solid utility for any Commander that you're gonna attack with. If you're using this guy for Shroud you're doing it wrong.
Relic of Progenitus: Trinket Mage target number two and basic graveyard hate but beware of using it as it does hit you as well.
Sensei's Divining Top: Trinket Mage target number one, need I say more.
Sword of Fire and Ice: One of the two swords I use with Rafiq giving him evasion and gaining me card advantage at the same time.
Sword of Light and Shadow: Same as above.
Body Double: Another piece of the Lark Combo but can also be used if needed to become a beater, utility creature, anything else you can imagine.
Cloud of Faeries: Part of the Aluren Combo used to gain infinite mana looped with another creature. Unfortunately no real use outside that.
Coiling Oracle: This card is so broken and easily one of my favorite creatures ever printed no explanation necessary.
Eternal Witness: Staple in any deck that includes green.
Fauna Shaman: I chose to run this card over Survival of the Fittest because it seems more fair to me.
Harmonic Sliver: Can't tell you how many times I've used this guy then followed it up with a Mirror Entity, absolutely brilliant.
Karmic Guide: Same as Body Double really.
Knight of the Reliquary: Absolute bomb of a card. There's a reason it's used so much in Legacy.
Man-o'-War: Part of the Aluren Combo can be used elsewhere in a pinch.
Mirror Entity: Used as a sac outlet for the Lark Combo but also good to get some utility beats in there.
Mulldrifter: Awesome utility creature that can be evoked early game and can even carry a sword late game.
Reveillark: Main card of the Lark Combo need I say more.
Seedborn Muse: I think we all know how much of a house this card is.
Stoneforge Mystic: Along the same lines of Knight of the Reliquary, it's no secret how good this card is.
Trinket Mage: Second favorite creature ever printed.
Trygon Predator: Once this guy starts to connect people start hurting.
Weathered Wayfarer: With the minuscule amount of basics I run I need as many things as I can that find non-basics.
Aura Shards: You can never have to much hate in your deck and this one turns your creatures into hate, how fun is that.
Mirari's Wake: One of the most common "must kill" cards of Commander and for a good reason.
Mirri's Guile: For when you can't find your Sensei's Divining Top.
Oblivion Ring: Can remove anything and combos well with Capsize.
Rancor: Turns Rafiq into a two turn clock from a three turn clock while also giving him evasion. I've been told it's kind of hard to get rid of as well.
Rhystic Study: Hard to remember this guy sometimes but when I do it nets me tons of cards.
Treachery: Not the greatest but it's fun as hell and has won me some games. Combos well with Mirari's Wake netting me mana when cast.
Capsize: Completely busted card that gets even better with Seedborn Muse, Mirari's Wake, and wins with infinite mana.
Condemn: Sends those pesky Commanders to the bottom as long as they're attacking.
Dissipate: Sometimes you don't wanna see that Genesis Wave come back.
Eladamri's Call: Tutors for a creature at instant speed finding me that missing combo piece of an answer.
Enlightened Tutor: Finds Aluren or Cloudstone Curio along with a bunch of other stuff.
Evacuation: Saves my ass more times then I can count.
Fact or Fiction: One of the best instant speed draw spells in Commander.
Forbid: Counterspell with buyback, what's not to love.
Hinder: Blue Commander staple that is almost always used on an opposing Commander.
Krosan Grip: Split Second is so underrated in this format.
Mystical Tutor: My most underwhelming tutor since it can't find a combo piece but still good.
Oblation: Tucking at instant speed or card draw from me at the cost of a permanent.
Path to Exile: Should probably be Swords to Plowshares but whatever.
Pognify: Should also probably be Swords but who no one expects removal when I have one blue open.
Return to Dust: One of the few cards that can deal with Darksteel Forge and the like.
Voidslime: Can counter almost anything making it the perfect answer.
Worldly Tutor: Eladamri's Call's ugly cousin but consistency is king.
Bribery: Can find Primeval Titan or Blightsteel Colossus making this a five mana bomb.
Day of Judgment: Should probably be Wrath of God.
Fabricate: Can find Cloudstone Curio or a sword.
Hallowed Burial: Tuck all the Commanders!
Idyllic Tutor: Same with Fabricate can find a combo piece or an answer.
Natural Balance: Just so happens my curve stops at five.
Restock: Best recursion next to Eternal Witness in my opinion.
Avenger of Zendikar
Consecrated Sphinx
Primeval Titan
Sun Titan
Survival of the Fittest
Chord of Calling
Austere Command
Genesis Wave
Green Sun's Zenith
Primal Command
Gaea's Cradle
Original Dual Lands
Man-o'-War: The end result you want bouncing all opposing creatures indefinitely.
Cloud of Faerie's: Generates infinite mana allowing you to loop Acidic Slime which with Man-o'-War results in no opposing permanents.
Coiling Oracle: Draws most of your deck finding the first two if you don't already have them.
Eternal Witness: Gets back any pieces that you've already lost earlier in the game.
1. Evoke Reveillark returning Mirror Entity and Body Double copying Reveillark to play
2. Activate Mirror Entity for zero an arbitrary amount of times letting one resolve killing fake Revillark and Mirror Entity
3. Bring back Body Double copying Revillark again and Acidic Slime with fake Revillark activation allowing another Mirror Entity trigger to resolve
4. Repeat steps two and three till satisfied
Experimental Kraj
Experimental Kraj
Ok as for some suggestions. Cut the following:
Sword of Body and Mind it is just bad for EDH. Throwing out a bear and milling someone 10 cards just doesnt cut it in my mind. Other than ignoring the ability for green creatures to block this sword does very little.
Sword of War and Peace worst of the swords in EDH. It generates no card advantage and gaining life in EDH is just sort of suck. I would consider adding Jitte if you need an equipment in this slot but these 2 just suck.
Loaming Shaman generally he is seen in dredge / mill decks. I guess if you encounter a lot of milling in your meta you could use him but you have very few ways to tutor for him. I just dont see much support for him for the deck. If you need to combat milling perhaps toss in an Eldrazi just for the shuffle up effect.
Meddling Mage I personally don't care much for this guy in multiplayer EDH. The only time he is good is if there is one specific commander that you just totally cannot deal with. Even then I would rather run Declaration of Naught as being an enchantment makes it a lot harder to kill.
Some exchanges I would consider:
Worldly Tutor -> Eladamri's Call for one more mana you get the card into hand. I find this a worthwhile change as it is only going from one mana to two and it is still instant speed.
Expedition Map -> Primeval Titan Primeval Titan is sooooooo good I cannot even consider not running him.
Some cards worth mentioning for your list:
Bribery obviously with the release of Homeward Path this card is going to see a bit of a hit. I am going to keep running it though and use it to go get a creature with a strong comes into play ability. That way if someone steals it back later they will get a lesser effect. Bribery is still a great card and assuming you get lucky, if your meta doesn't run Homeward Path just go to town and go get those big guys.
Avenger of Zendikar such a good wincon. I use him all the time to kill people. He is sort of a must wrath sort of target who will kill people starting the next turn.
Rampaging Baloths similarly to Avenger he creates a lot of dudes and a lot of attack force very quickly.
Reveillark you currently have a ton of creatures with whom he can rez back into play. This is a great way to get some extra use out of your smaller creatures.
Sun Titan You have tonnnns of targets for this guy to rez back into play. He is a good sized creature as well. I love using him as a psudo primeval titan rezing fetchlands to go get more lands.
Overall I would say just increase your number of wincons. You are relying on your commander and equipment a lot in this deck currently. I would say a few creatures who can get there on their own would be a good thing to look into.
Feel free to check out my Jenara decklist as well. The link to it is in my sig.
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EDH: :symg:Omnath:symg: 82% Foil/Pimped!
:symbg:Prossh "Melira Pod" Reanimatior:symrb:
General consensus is Jenara it looks like so that's what I'll go with.
The two swords are in there to complete the set of five and are mainly in there for flavor so they're gonna stay even though I'm aware there's better choices.
Loaming Shaman for me is not used as an anti-mill as you're suggesting, although there is a Geth deck in our group that this helps immensely against. It's uses are two fold; one is to take some of the key cards that may have ended up in my graveyard back into my deck, the other being as a pseudo gravehate against my opponents.
I'm sure there are better cards out there then Meddling Mage but it's a pet card of mine I've used since it was printed and it has to stay.
I have a Worldly Tutor I don't have a Eldamari's Call it's that simple. When I acquire one it will be going in addition to not replacing it though.
My curve is very low, especially in the creature department, and while Primeval Titan is a great card I just don't find it necessary.
It may be different in other playgroups but in practice Jenara and the equipments have been enough for me. If I feel the need for more threats the ones you've suggested are obvious inclusions.
The one I may consider is Reveillark. I've seen this card quite a bit and never considered it for my deck. Is it that useful outside the combo? I refuse to add infinite combos in there so I must consider if this card is useful outside the combo.
Experimental Kraj
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Experimental Kraj
One of my current concerns about your list is the low number of creature tutors. I run a lot more creatures than you do but I like being able to tutor for the ones that I need. I guess what I am getting at is if you rely on Jenara and she gets tucked what is the next plan? I very rarely find having tutors in a deck a bad thing unless someone locks you behind a stranglehold that you cant break.
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Well usually my gameplan goes something like this.
Step One: Gain control of the game.
Step Two: Beat face with Jenera.
Backup Step 2: Beat face with utility creatures carrying swords till I find Jenera
Backup Backup Step 2: Combo out with Lark.
The combo is a very recent addition because I had no trouble stopping people from killing me but often had trouble sealing the deal. The Lark combo helps close that gap.
I try not to run too many tutors in my Commander decks because I feel that in excess it takes away some of the feel if the singleton aspect of the format. I try to make it so every card in the deck is valuable by itself so I'm not relying on the same cards every game.
Sorry for any typos or anything that doesn't make sense I'm posting from my Droid and its being a pain in my ass.
Experimental Kraj
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I've been changing between 5-10 cards around each week and I feel like it's getting closer and closer to being as stream-lined as I want it to be.
Experimental Kraj
Experimental Kraj
EDIT: Also, I don't know how strict your playgroup is, but Crucible of the Worlds is either a no-no card or banned. I think it's banned.
EDH: Raf*** of the Many
EDH: Xira, the non-Jund
If I were to add another board wipe or two what would be considered?
Also Crucible of Worlds is not banned on the "Official" ban list however it is banned on both one versus one ban lists which is what you might be thinking but I don't play one versus one at all so Crucible is fine.
Experimental Kraj
Acquire was only good when I grabbed Blighty otherwise it was just an overcosted Sol Ring.
Time Warp is not only an awesome card overall but can go infinite with Capsize and Eternal Witness.
Does this warrant the inclusion of Erratic Portal or Crystal Shard?
Experimental Kraj
Experimental Kraj
I understand that the Collonade has flying which is a good evasion, however I dont see it being that impressive all in all for it coming in tapped and requiring so much mana to animate.
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Experimental Kraj
Crop Rotation I tend to see this the most in decks with Gaea's Cradle in them. Is there a land you feel you need to land every game? Is Primeval Titan / Knight of the Reliquary not enough to go get your utility land?
Intuition great card but I dont see much versatility that you can target here. What are your potential targets and how big of a toolbox do you usually find it to be in here??? I just don't know how big of a toolbox this card really is for you so I guess this is more of a question than me telling you it is no good in here.
Pongify / Condemn personally I guess I would have to say these are probably the worst of your spot removal. Pongify sort of sucks in the fact that it doesnt deal with indestructable / persist very well and it gives them a dude out of it. Beast Within is similar but it can hit noncreatures which makes it better. Condemn sort of pisses me off because if my hand is too full I cant use it before discarding and you cant use it on utility commanders / combo out pieces. In my mind these are probably your worst 2 options in your spot removal. If you cut something from the spot removal category I would make it one of these 2.
Also, what utility are you getting out of the artifact lands? I know they are potential targets for Trinket Mage but that alone doesn't feel good enough to have them wiped in an
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Crop Rotation was just added and hasn't been tested at all. Having said that my idea behind adding it to the list was that it's instant speed land search. This allows me to find any of my utility lands at a moments notice. Yes I realize Knight of the Reliquary does the same thing but she doesn't last more then a turn or two in my playgroup so I thought redundancy would help. You could be right and more testing will find that out.
Intuition usually finds the missing parts of my Lark Combo instead of using Survival of the Fittest. I understand Survival is better but whenever I dropped it someone either removed it before I could use it, removed my graveyard, or killed me. Nothing says I'm about to combo like resolving that thing (Survival). It also often grabs two utility lands and Crucible of Worlds.
You're right on the money here but at the same time missing the point. Yes those two are my worst spot removal (although I'd argue Pognify is awesome because it's blue) but I want as much one mana removal as possible. Now if you said something like cut these two for these two better cards I'd be more inclined to listen but as of now you're just saying out of everything these are the weakest so they should go.
It took months and months of my brother constantly badgering me to actually add these to my list and after one game I was convinced they were worth it. I don't know about your playgroup but Disk hasn't been played around here in months. Akroma's Vengeance does see some play but I can assure you the number of times I've Trinket Mage'd one of those guys far outweighs the times I've regretted having them because of that. The one that hurts the most is Austere Command because I use that one and it does usually call artifacts. It's a blurry line between useful and hurtful on this one and for now it's on the useful side. Things change though so who knows.
Always a pleasure debating card choices with you though ISBPathfinder.
Experimental Kraj
I guess if you haven't had any problems with the artifact land then go ahead and keep them in. I just don't find trinket mage for a land into hand being worth the possibility of them being blown up.
As for the spot removal. I was just trying to highlight the worst of them. If you feel that you need all of that spot removal than go for it. I like a bit of a smaller spot removal package though.
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I don't run Survival of the Fittest though lol.
If you read my post I stated that I used to run Survival to get the Lark Combo but it drew too much hate and made me and my graveyard a huge target so now I run Intuition to grab whatever pieces of the Lark Combo I don't already have at Instant speed and dump them in my yard or hand and since most of the pieces are better off in the yard it works perfectly.
Not that there's anything wrong with Wargate I'm just telling you Intuition is not the card to cut for it if it deserves a spot at all. I must say it being Sorcery speed does hurt it quite a bit though.
Experimental Kraj
Also considering cutting Swiftfoot Boots for possibly Oblivion Stone. DasBoots2 are exactly what they're advertised as, a second pair of boots. In a deck designed around attacking with one creature the redundancy just wasn't needed. Board wipes are awesome and a board wipe which is easy to tutor for is even awesomerer (I realize this isn't a word so don't even).
Experimental Kraj
-Swiftfoot Boots
+Oblivion Stone
I've already been considering the change but I'm finally going to act on it.
-Exploration
+Abundance
Exploration is a bomb when drawn at the precise time but a dud any other time and has been a dead draw one two many times. I've been having some bad luck with top decking land late game when in desperate need of a good draw Abundance might help remedy that.
Experimental Kraj