Playing a ton of Magic

Look at me, the floating jellyfish of doom!

Hey everyone.  I've taken a little bit of a break from minis and I'm focusing my efforts on building up my EDH Commander decks for Magic the Gathering.  For those of you who play the game, I think I can share off some of my decks for all to see.

The first deck you see here is my Kira, Great Glass-Spinner mono-blue deck.  I originally created this deck as a multiplayer counterpart to my 1v1 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir deck using the French Duel rules. As you can see, I have purposely left out of the more obvious combos and spell selections that blue has to offer. You will not find Teferi and Knowledge Pool lockdowns here, nor will you find Mind Over Matter or Tunnel Vision combos. In fact, there are only three true counterspells in the entire deck and none of them are free. That's right, you will not find Pact of Negation or Force of Will in this deck.  What you see is what you get.

Yes, I deliberately took out most of the well-known combos that makes blue a rather frustrating color to play against. The deck has virtually no bounce, no counters and no control-heavy elements that would otherwise lead to unneeded tears and bickering. My playgroup right now is super casual to say the least, so I have adjusted my deck to accommodate as such. Don't get me wrong though, this does not mean the deck is weak, not by a long shot. The fact that a toned-down mono-blue deck can still dominate the playing field is testament to the power of the color.

Combo-central INC!

Creature (25)
1x Arcanis the Omnipotent
1x Archaeomancer
1x Body Double
1x Consecrated Sphinx
1x Deadeye Navigator
1x Diluvian Primordial
1x Draining Whelk
1x Duplicant
1x Erayo, Soratami Ascendant
1x Grand Architect
1x Great Whale
1x Guile
1x Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
1x Memnarch
1x Palinchron
1x Phantasmal Image
1x Phyrexian Metamorph
1x Sakashima the Impostor
1x Snapcaster Mage
1x Solemn Simulacrum
1x Stormtide Leviathan
1x Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
1x Thassa, God of the Sea
1x Venser, Shaper Savant
1x Wurmcoil Engine

Instant (11)
1x Blue Sun's Zenith
1x Capsize
1x Cyclonic Rift
1x Evacuation
1x Hinder
1x Mana Drain
1x Mystical Tutor
1x Reins of Power
1x Spell Crumple
1x Stroke of Genius
1x Time Stop

Artifact (13)
1x Caged Sun
1x Chromatic Lantern
1x Gauntlet of Power
1x Gilded Lotus
1x Sapphire Medallion
1x Scroll Rack
1x Sculpting Steel
1x Sensei's Divining Top
1x Sol Ring
1x Sword of Feast and Famine
1x Thran Dynamo
1x Venser's Journal
1x Worn Powerstone

Land (40)
1x Academy Ruins
1x Cavern of Souls
1x Halimar Depths
1x Maze of Ith
1x Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1x Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
1x Reliquary Tower
1x Riptide Laboratory
1x Seat of the Synod
30x Snow-Covered Island
1x Tolaria West

Sorcery (6)
1x Fabricate
1x Recurring Insight
1x Rite of Replication
1x Time Spiral
1x Transmute Artifact
1x Wash Out

Enchantment (5)
1x Copy Artifact
1x Equilibrium
1x Leyline of Anticipation
1x Propaganda
1x Rhystic Study

Boom, you're dead!

The next deck that I have is something completely different to my usual obsession with blue.  For the Commander, I like to run with Aurelia, the Warleader.  Why?  Because I absolutely love destroying my opponents through combat damage.  You can say that I'm playing a combo-version of Aurelia in that respect.  I see 3 different versions of this commander when built properly: Voltron, synergetic creature combos, or tokens. Tokens can get really ridiculous really quickly with multiple combat phases, but you probably already know that.

Personally, I like to play with a lot of fake lords and buff sources. You can tell from my choice of: Angel of Jubilation, Spear of Heliod, Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, Marshal's Anthem, Legion's Initiative, Balefire Liege. This helps pile on the damage while your higher quality creatures become a threat on their own. Even the smallest soldier becomes a threat at this point, so your bigger fatties are all possible game-enders with Aurelia on the field.  This is the kind of swingy damage that I like doing.

I'm not playing with a Voltron-style deck because I don't like that kind of gameplay. While I do see the benefits of the playstyle, I like more creature-based interactions. For this reason, I've decided that cards like Angelic Renewal and Gift of Immortality is just too good to pass in a deck with Sun Titan. Stack on 2 infinite combos via Restoration Angel + Kiki-jiki, Mirror Breaker and the obvious Sword of Feast and Famine + Aggravated Assault/Hellkite Charger. Other notable mentions are that most of my fun-sized creatures are 2-attack when they go to the graveyard. This makes Reveillark that much better to recur with Karmic Guide or Gift of Immortality. Not to mention gift + Burnished Hart is just an unfair amount of ramp.  Oh, one last thing: Secret tech card Purity vs. a very popular commander that makes people draw and take damage. Oh yes, you know the one. That damn bastard Nekusar, the Mindrazer.

Creature (28)
1x Angel of Jubilation
1x Archetype of Aggression
1x Archetype of Courage
1x Aurelia, the Warleader
1x Avacyn, Angel of Hope
1x Balefire Liege
1x Baneslayer Angel
1x Burnished Hart
1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1x Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
1x Grand Abolisher
1x Heliod, God of the Sun
1x Hellkite Charger
1x Hero of Bladehold
1x Karmic Guide
1x Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
1x Knight of the White Orchid
1x Molten Primordial
1x Mother of Runes
1x Purity
1x Restoration Angel
1x Reveillark
1x Silverblade Paladin
1x Solemn Simulacrum
1x Stonehewer Giant
1x Sun Titan
1x Tajic, Blade of the Legion
1x Urabrask the Hidden

Enchantment (11)
1x Aggravated Assault
1x Angelic Renewal
1x Concerted Effort
1x Fervor
1x Gift of Immortality
1x Gratuitous Violence
1x Land Tax
1x Legion's Initiative
1x Marshal's Anthem
1x Spear of Heliod
1x True Conviction

Instant (5)
1x Boros Charm
1x Enlightened Tutor
1x Master Warcraft
1x Return to Dust
1x Savage Beating

Land (38)
1x Ancient Amphitheater
1x Arid Mesa
1x Battlefield Forge
1x Bloodstained Mire
1x Clifftop Retreat
1x Command Tower
1x Eiganjo Castle
1x Emeria, The Sky Ruin
1x Homeward Path
1x Kor Haven
1x Marsh Flats
1x Mistveil Plains
6x Mountain
11x Plains
1x Reflecting Pool
1x Reliquary Tower
1x Rugged Prairie
1x Sacred Foundry
1x Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep
1x Slayers' Stronghold
1x Strip Mine
1x Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion
1x Wasteland

Artifact (13)
1x Basilisk Collar
1x Boros Keyrune
1x Boros Signet
1x Chromatic Lantern
1x Darksteel Ingot
1x Darksteel Plate
1x Gilded Lotus
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Sensei's Divining Top
1x Sol Ring
1x Sunforger
1x Swiftfoot Boots
1x Sword of Feast and Famine

Sorcery (5)
1x Reforge the Soul
1x Steelshaper's Gift
1x Vandalblast
1x Wheel of Fortune
1x World at War

As always, feel free to leave me with any comments and feedback.  This might be a little different than the usual minis talk, but most of you probably have some experience with MtG anyway.  EDH is by far the best format for swinging a few cards around with friends.  Otherwise, I have Modern to fill that competitive niche.