Not many decks can compete with the nice flavor of a well built tribal EDH. And even though, Tribal isn't always competitive at heart, some deck still can pack quite some punch. For example I am the proud owner of a Zurgo, Helmsmasher Goblin Tribal EDH, and while I definitely have more than one deck that's better in terms of powerlevel, I just enjoy playing with those little green guys.
Today I want to vent out some ideas I had on Tribal EDHs, one recently, some a little older. As always I will try not to build a whole deck but only lay out a basic idea, a sketch of a kind, for anyone to build on if they so desire. And of course I'm not into building the more "standard" tribes like Goblins or Elves.
Aw yeah! I'm really excited for those three... most of you might have guessed the tribes right after seeing the commanders, at least the first two. Snakes and... ok I'll admit it, Birds were not easy to guess because Wizards like tapping and just from the looks of it Minotaurs might've fit better, but I think Mogis is the best Vampire-Commander even though Olivia Voldaren would be a Vampire herself. And since I want to keep the sweetest of them all for last lets actually start with Mogis right away.
MOGIS, GOD OF VAMPIRES
As with all the Gods of Theros, one of the biggest upsides with playing them as your commander is that, they're not an actual creature for a big portion of the game. Mogis is no exception to that, since seven devotion is quite a lot especially if most of your devotion comes from creatures.
What I like about Mogis is that he offers a HUGE body if you manage to turn him on, and even when he's not turned on, he will deal fairly large amounts of damage over the course of the game or net you card advantage little by little. Coming back to the Vampire-theme, the fact that you'll most likely be one of the most creature heavy players on the table requires you to be able to connect with those every once a while if you want to win. Mogis does all that, he either deals your opponents damage or they'll loose a precious blocker. Either way, you're happy. Olivia couldn't have offered all that and is actually more expensive to cast and requires you to spend additional mana on her activations.
Now that we've all agreed why Mogis is the best choice, let's see why one should actually play Vampire-tribal (beside it being such a badass-tribe). In black, the main home of vampires accross the magic multiverse, things get as real as they can get. I'm leaving out the normal Lords-type cards since they're boring...
What've we got here? Oh, just our Vampire-specific Gray Merchant of Asphodel (that you can play as a second copy of some sort), a one-sided edict machine, an Uberlord that offers a boost that stays around even when he gets killed, and a lategame-removal-machine-manasink. Not too bad of a start I'd say.
Now why do we want to play red instead of any other color? Well, the mentioned Olivia Voldaren lies in those colors as does one vampire lord. That's already more than most of the other colors can offer. And if you're not sold yet, maybe those can do the trick...
Besides Olivia being that really nice utility-creature in the lategame, we have another lord-like creature in Rakish Heir that will leave something behind even when handled. Falkenrath Marauders can be quite powerful I feel, since once you've connected twice on a player that didn't have a blocker, they can get out of hand quite fast. Both the Heir and the Marauders have the connect-ability that is very common for vampires, which is one of the reasons I like Mogis so much. And last but not least Vein Drinker, being that nice "Utility-Creature-Eater" that will actually become a decent threat if left unchecked.
Once you've settled for the vampires you want to play, it is time to look for sweet non-creature spells to go with our bloodsucking friends. Things to look for are removal obviously, but since you play creature heavy it gains the additional effect of making you able to connect with creatures, and maybe some additonal ways to enlarge your creatures directly or indirectly by allowing them to connect...
...and maybe a Sulfuric Vortex? I guess he other cards are quite self-explanatory, but the Vortex has that nice synergy with Mogis. Since people normally are willing to trade life for cards, most of the time people won't sacrifice a creature to your Mogis, but with a Vortex out that can change pretty fast since 4 damage a turn is A LOT and even if they then do decide to sacrifice a creature, they'll just have prevented 2 damage... bad for them whatever they choose.
Moving on...
Has anyone actually mentioned that the good ol' Sakura-Tribe Elder is a snake?! And while most of the time you will of course still sacrifice him for a land, drawing one lategame at least makes him a body to potentially draw a card of.
Snakewise that's definitely a start, how about some more snakes I would consider playing?
I have to admit, I've always been in love with those pay (2) or take another 2 damage snakes. And the Ambush Viper is actually not that bad as both attacker and blocker since you can flash her in as a mono-green removal-spell of some kind or attack with her to draw a card since not many people will want to block a 4/3 Deathtouch. On top of that the Kashi-Tribe Elite will do a nice job of protecting your commander and possible other Legendary Snakes while bringing another body to draw cards with.
Talking about bodies to draw cards with...
All those nice tokens will go really nice with our general, and all of them except the Hydra will be reusable. Now since both the Hydra and the Hatchery would be best to play with a huge pile of mana, I would recommend running a not-too-small ramp package, along with some amount of card draw besides your general and a amount of cards to deal with enchantments/etc. that is higher than one.
On to our last commander for the day...
What've we got here? Oh, just our Vampire-specific Gray Merchant of Asphodel (that you can play as a second copy of some sort), a one-sided edict machine, an Uberlord that offers a boost that stays around even when he gets killed, and a lategame-removal-machine-manasink. Not too bad of a start I'd say.
Now why do we want to play red instead of any other color? Well, the mentioned Olivia Voldaren lies in those colors as does one vampire lord. That's already more than most of the other colors can offer. And if you're not sold yet, maybe those can do the trick...
Besides Olivia being that really nice utility-creature in the lategame, we have another lord-like creature in Rakish Heir that will leave something behind even when handled. Falkenrath Marauders can be quite powerful I feel, since once you've connected twice on a player that didn't have a blocker, they can get out of hand quite fast. Both the Heir and the Marauders have the connect-ability that is very common for vampires, which is one of the reasons I like Mogis so much. And last but not least Vein Drinker, being that nice "Utility-Creature-Eater" that will actually become a decent threat if left unchecked.
Once you've settled for the vampires you want to play, it is time to look for sweet non-creature spells to go with our bloodsucking friends. Things to look for are removal obviously, but since you play creature heavy it gains the additional effect of making you able to connect with creatures, and maybe some additonal ways to enlarge your creatures directly or indirectly by allowing them to connect...
...and maybe a Sulfuric Vortex? I guess he other cards are quite self-explanatory, but the Vortex has that nice synergy with Mogis. Since people normally are willing to trade life for cards, most of the time people won't sacrifice a creature to your Mogis, but with a Vortex out that can change pretty fast since 4 damage a turn is A LOT and even if they then do decide to sacrifice a creature, they'll just have prevented 2 damage... bad for them whatever they choose.
Moving on...
SESHIRO, SNAKE ON A PLANE
Beside offering a big boost to all your snakes, Seshiro does one thing no other mono-green general can do: draw a huge pile of cards. Having a source of card draw as your commander in a creature based deck, where you will want to build a board, is insanely strong, since if you manage to connect only once with some amount of snakes, allows you to recover from any mass-removal without too much of a problem while also forcing the issue by putting quite some pressure on the board because of all those snakes getting +2/+2.
On top of that, having him cost 6 isn't that big of a deal being in mono-green and having access to really good ramping options. And damn he can shoot with two bows in two different directions at once... you can't go wrong with that!
Now you might say: "I've looked for creatures that have "Snake" in their type online, and most of them are pretty bad, isn't that a problem?!" Partially yes, of course I would wish there were more playable snakes, but let's take a look at some of the good ones:
Now you might say: "I've looked for creatures that have "Snake" in their type online, and most of them are pretty bad, isn't that a problem?!" Partially yes, of course I would wish there were more playable snakes, but let's take a look at some of the good ones:
Has anyone actually mentioned that the good ol' Sakura-Tribe Elder is a snake?! And while most of the time you will of course still sacrifice him for a land, drawing one lategame at least makes him a body to potentially draw a card of.
Snakewise that's definitely a start, how about some more snakes I would consider playing?
I have to admit, I've always been in love with those pay (2) or take another 2 damage snakes. And the Ambush Viper is actually not that bad as both attacker and blocker since you can flash her in as a mono-green removal-spell of some kind or attack with her to draw a card since not many people will want to block a 4/3 Deathtouch. On top of that the Kashi-Tribe Elite will do a nice job of protecting your commander and possible other Legendary Snakes while bringing another body to draw cards with.
Talking about bodies to draw cards with...
All those nice tokens will go really nice with our general, and all of them except the Hydra will be reusable. Now since both the Hydra and the Hatchery would be best to play with a huge pile of mana, I would recommend running a not-too-small ramp package, along with some amount of card draw besides your general and a amount of cards to deal with enchantments/etc. that is higher than one.
On to our last commander for the day...
DEREVI, BIRD TACTICIAN
Now Derevi is certainly not a stranger for most of you as being printed specifically for the EDH-Format ensured her a lot of play. But besides being that cutthroat-stay-general that everyone hates, Derevi can actually do nice things too, like leading a huge flock of birds to victory.
At first, one might want to use Kangee as a commander for Bird-Tribal, but then you realize you'll have to pay 8 mana for a +2/+2 effect on all your birds... the first time you cast him. Not too appealing is it? And if that were not enough, with Derevi you'll be allowed to play an additional color, you will always be available through her last ability and she allows for some sweet bird-synergies which you'll see in just a second. If you really want to stay Blue-White for reasons of a cheaper mana base or something else, I could see playing Isperia or the mentioned Kangee but I think Derevi will simply be the strongest of the three.
Now let's see what the mentioned synergies with Derevi are when it comes to Birds:
I guess techincally the Worshippers aren't a Bird but they produce Birds when untapping so I think you can count them as one... kind of. All the other cards work really, really well with Derevi as you might've noticed. Kepper of the Nine Gales + Derevi just needs one other Bird in play for you to allow a line like:
Now let's see what the mentioned synergies with Derevi are when it comes to Birds:
I guess techincally the Worshippers aren't a Bird but they produce Birds when untapping so I think you can count them as one... kind of. All the other cards work really, really well with Derevi as you might've noticed. Kepper of the Nine Gales + Derevi just needs one other Bird in play for you to allow a line like:
- Attack with Derevi + Kepper + Random Bird.
- Untap Derevi + Kepper + Random Bird.
- End of Turn before your turn, use Keepers ability to either bounce some good permanent of an opponent or bounce a creature of your own that has a "enters the battlefield"-ability for you to reuse.
Crookclaw Elder doesn't even need Derevi to do the same, and every extra two birds draw an additional card, while you still get to attack (given that you're able to connect but since Birds are all flying that shouldn't be too hard). Battle Screech combined with Derevi does something similar, since the two tokens you get the first time + Derevi can attack and untap themselfs to then tap them again for the Flashback costs.
In addition to these synergies with your commander, the Bird-tribe actually offers quite a lot of nice tribal effects like card-draw, recursion or anthem-effects...
Airborne Aid is possibly my favourite Bird-card since there are so many ways to generate a big amount of Bird-tokens (I've shown you two but there are quite a few more), which will then result in drawing 4+ cards for 4 mana. Celestial Gatekeeper is obviously a really strong card for you here, recurring two of your Birds to play again - possibly after a mass removal which then puts you into a really good spot. Oh and did I mention that the Aerie Worshippers are f***ing Clerics!!!!
But the sweetness doesn't stop here. There actually are birds that are playable in a vacuum, meaning they're good on their own but will potentially get better with more birds in play...
Are you not satisfied?! Well, I am for sure! Still there are several other birds and creatures that do something for birds, so I'm pretty sure everyone who wants to ponder with the idea of building a Bird-Tribal-deck will get his fair share of cards to consider. And as always, you'll need to incorporate some amount of general-stuff into the deck like Enchantment-Removal (which actually comes in Bird-form), some more card-draw, etc.
Now there is only one thing left to do: Start up your prefered database-website like Gatherer or magiccards.info, and start digging for more birds, snakes and vampires to play. And if you're not building a tribal-deck after reading this, fine with me too, I'm glad you stayed with me 'till the end of todays post.
See y'all 'round!
In addition to these synergies with your commander, the Bird-tribe actually offers quite a lot of nice tribal effects like card-draw, recursion or anthem-effects...
Airborne Aid is possibly my favourite Bird-card since there are so many ways to generate a big amount of Bird-tokens (I've shown you two but there are quite a few more), which will then result in drawing 4+ cards for 4 mana. Celestial Gatekeeper is obviously a really strong card for you here, recurring two of your Birds to play again - possibly after a mass removal which then puts you into a really good spot. Oh and did I mention that the Aerie Worshippers are f***ing Clerics!!!!
But the sweetness doesn't stop here. There actually are birds that are playable in a vacuum, meaning they're good on their own but will potentially get better with more birds in play...
Are you not satisfied?! Well, I am for sure! Still there are several other birds and creatures that do something for birds, so I'm pretty sure everyone who wants to ponder with the idea of building a Bird-Tribal-deck will get his fair share of cards to consider. And as always, you'll need to incorporate some amount of general-stuff into the deck like Enchantment-Removal (which actually comes in Bird-form), some more card-draw, etc.
Now there is only one thing left to do: Start up your prefered database-website like Gatherer or magiccards.info, and start digging for more birds, snakes and vampires to play. And if you're not building a tribal-deck after reading this, fine with me too, I'm glad you stayed with me 'till the end of todays post.
See y'all 'round!
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