Since we discussed Aggro the last time around, I figured that so-called Voltron should be the next archetype to look at since it has similar strengths and weaknesses.
For those who are not familiar with that archetype let me copy and paste something that I found extremely useful for understanding:
"Voltron is a deck archetype with the goal of casting one creature, then using other cards such as Auras and Equipment to enhance that creature and making it a true threat to the opponent. The archetype's name derives from the Japanese animated series Voltron which features several small robots that combine into one large robot." (taken from http://mtgsalvation.gamepedia.com/)
In commander in particullar that "one creature" is most often your general since you have access to him/her/it every game and is therefor the most reliable creature to build around - in basically every meaning of the word, because robots and stuff... weeeeell and commander damage is basically un-"healable" damage that kills at half the starting-life-total.
Nonetheless I think Voltron-strategies are viable that don't involve your commander suiting up if built correctly, but more on that later. The main steps to go through when advancing your game plan are:
- Get a threat on board
- Suit it up on way or another (if needed)
- Attack people
- Protect it
- Repeat steps 3) & 4) until you see need of step 6)
- In case of failing at step 4) don't break glass but start from step 1)
As I see it Voltron-strategies come in two ways i you reduce them to the core:
- One-Shot Voltron
- Slow-but-Resilient Voltron
ONE-SHOT VOLTRON
As the name implies, you'll try to attack people exactly one time for either their whole life-total, 21 commander damage or 10 poison counters. Since "their whole life-total" can range from best case 1 to worst case 100000+ I don't consider that as an option so let's focus on command and poison damage.
Commander damage should - of course - involve a commander that is good at getting bigger and meaner. Usually you get something in between something that has built in protection so you'll mainly have to worry about getting enough damage pumped onto him/her/it and something that is hard hitting on its own and will be thankful for some protection.
But how can we provide any of those things you ask (maybe) ?
Mostly through Auras/Enchantments and Equipments. Going with only one of these card types is highly recommended since that will have the extra benefit of being able to incorporate special tutors and synergies and as you might have seen the above mentioned Uril and Bruna don't really go too well with Equipment.
Whatever way you choose you'll find damage, protection and card draw/other utilities on both card types so if it doesn't matter because of your commander you can go with whatever you like more. Bear in mind though that Enchantments are more vulnerable since Equipments will stay in play when your creature dies and Auras don't. On the other hand Enchantments are a tad bit more powerful.
While something like Mythic Proportions will offer a huge boost in damage output,, you'll still need a commander that's a 13/13 to deal 21 damage at once. So most often than not you'll need a way to double/triple/... your damage. Well, magic doesn't offer triple strike (unfortunately) but:
On top of simply providing additional cards with "Double Strike" combing those with actual double strike cards can result in some pretty nasty turns as suddenly 6 power is enough => 6 x 2 (doublestrike) x 2 (double damage / attacking a second time) = 24
Poison damage on the other hand, is all about that one keyword: Infect.
"This creature deals damage to creatures in the form of -1/-1 counters and to players in the form of poison counters. A player with 10 or more Poison counters loses the game."
Now commander based Voltron with Infect has only one option:
I mean, yeah Mono-Black can still play equipment and if you manage to get +1/+0 and a doubling effect you can one-shot people, but I think I can do better than that as only having access to black will decrease the efficiency of your equipment package to a point where you might want to consider going for a more slow and steady route. Here's what I can see working:
You can play Rafiq and Shu Yun as simple support creatures for the actual threat which will have Infect. Then it's only a matter of getting your poison carrier to 5 power and we're good to go.
In fact I personally play a Rafiq-EDH that relies on cheap creatures and pump spells that give +3/+3 until end of turn. That way every creature with power 1 can be lethal since it will get +1/+1 from the Exalted Trigger and the remaining +3/+3 to reach 5 power from the spell while getting Double Strike from Rafiq (or other sources, but then you'll need an additional 1 power from somehwere). Backed up with protection spells and counters it's a force to be reckoned with each turn even with an empty board as long as you manage your card properly and don't overextend too much.
The same could be done with Shu Yun I suppose but I since you'll loose the green pump spells maybe Equipments/Enchantments are the better choice. And if they can't find an infect-critter to do the dirty work, Shu Yun and Rafiq can pick up this bad boy and do it themselfs:
And then there is Doran the Explorer... At first that might seem an odd choice but if you thinkcarefully you'll slowly realize.............
Throw some doubling effect on those and you've got yourself some serious critters. Actually the printing of this card...
...has helped that deck quite a lot since now you have another way to provide the Doran-effect while it actually has the additional use of being able to pump your creatures.
Speaking of pump, you might even be able to do something like this:
Or when every other option has let you down there are rumors that those three cards can end games as well:
CONCLUSION
Whatever you choose to do, the most important word when using a Voltron-strategy is: PROTECTION. These decks can generate absurd amounts of pressure and damage out of nowhere, but at the price of being vulnerable to removal. Therefor you should do two things when playing any Voltron-deck, first of all always calculate carefully so you don't play any unnecessary cards. This means if you have one creature to suit up, don't play the second until someone got rid of the first one. Unless the situation needs you to of course. And secondly you should always incorporate a way to protect your cards that are in play into your deck.
Not only am I talking of the creature that gets pumped but of the stuff you pump it with, since, for example, if you loose your precious Enchantments on Uril he will be a 5/5 Hexproof... not too exciting is it? Keeping a good balance between the power cards (creatures, enchantments/equipments/pump spells) and supportive cards (utility, protection) is the key to unlocking the full potential of a Voltron-deck along with playing correctly, which involves playing patiently sometimes.
I hope I've provided enough for you to get a few ideas and maybe even start to build a Voltron-deck right now because that's it for now.
See y'all 'round!
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