Saskia's Samurai

Commander / EDH* BRGW GW (Selesnya)

ThistleCity

Creature (30)

• 1x Akroma, Angel of Fury
• 1x Akroma, Angel of Wrath
• 1x Alesha, Who Smiles at Death
• 1x Anger
• 1x Brawn
• 2x Brothers Yamazaki
• 1x Bushi Tenderfoot  ^Flip
• 1x Captain Sisay
• 1x Fumiko the Lowblood
• 1x Godo, Bandit Warlord
• 1x Graveshifter
• 1x Hand of Cruelty
• 1x Hand of Honor
• 1x Iizuka the Ruthless
• 1x Indebted Samurai
• 1x Isao, Enlightened Bushi
• 1x Kentaro, the Smiling Cat
• 1x Kitsune Blademaster
• 1x Konda's Hatamoto
• 1x Konda, Lord of Eiganjo
• 1x Nagao, Bound by Honor
• 1x Nezumi Ronin
• 1x Ronin Houndmaster
• 1x Samurai Enforcers
• 1x Sensei Golden-Tail
• 1x Sigarda, Heron's Grace
• 1x Takeno, Samurai General
• 1x Torchling
• 1x Toshiro Umezawa

Land (36)

• 1x Cathedral of Serra
• 1x Command Tower
• 7x Forest
• 1x Jungle Shrine
• 6x Mountain
• 1x Mountain Stronghold
• 1x Nomad Outpost
• 7x Plains
• 1x Riftstone Portal
• 1x Sandsteppe Citadel
• 1x Savage Lands
• 1x Shadowblood Ridge
• 1x Shimmering Grotto
• 4x Swamp
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse
• 1x Vivid Grove

Sorcery (9)

• 1x Cultivate
• 1x Decimate
• 1x Hull Breach
• 1x Kodama's Reach
• 1x Painful Truths
• 1x Rampant Growth
• 1x Read the Bones
• 1x Relentless Assault
• 1x Time of Need

Enchantment (5)

• 1x Guardian Project
• 1x Journey to Eternity  ^Flip
• 1x Nature's Blessing
• 1x On Serra's Wings
• 1x Quest for Renewal

Commander (1)

Artifact (12)

• 1x Baton of Morale
• 1x Commander's Sphere
• 1x Expedition Map
• 1x Helm of Chatzuk
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Nemesis Mask
• 1x Oathkeeper, Takeno's Daisho
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Talisman of Impulse
• 1x Talisman of Indulgence
• 1x Talisman of Unity

Instant (7)

• 1x Abzan Charm
• 1x Crackling Doom
• 1x Eladamri's Call
• 1x Harrow
• 1x Mortify
• 1x Putrefy
• 1x Shared Summons

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An attempt to improve Samurai through Banding. Samurai actively want to be in combat in order to receive a buff from Bushido. Banding makes it so if one is blocked, everyone has to be blocked. Give them trample from Brawn, and use a lure effects to force a block and you have the potential to do a significant chunk of damage.

Creature Selection: A bulk of the creatures are Samurai, naturally. The overarching theory is to take advantage of the large number of legendary creatures for synergy within the deck. Time of Need and Captain Sisay can dig up whatever legend would be most helpful, and the two banding lands will give all Red and White legends "Bands with other legends", which is all but two of them. Shared Summons can find whatever other cards you may need, most likely a relevant Legend or one of the Incarnations. The two Akroma are in the deck to increase pressure and make the decision to block a band a lose/lose situation (Also, Akroma was one of my first ever pulls when I started playing so I'll shoehorn her in whenever I can).

The Banding Plan: Samurai grow larger when blocked, and actually become more efficient. Banding leverages this to it's full potential. When attacking in a band, if one samurai is blocked, they all become blocked and therefore all instances of Bushido will be activated. I'll skip the in depth explanation of banding, but basically it allows the attacker to assign damage, maximizing the survival rate of your creatures, and any trample damage can be assigned over the blocker assuming it receives lethal. If Akroma bands with two samurai and the band is blocked, if the samurai have enough damage to kill the blockers Akroma can assign all six of her damage to the opponent as trample damage. Another fun corner case is that banding also allows you to assign damage when blocking. This isn't always super relevant, but it can allow you to assign all damage from a creature with trample to the blocker, and not let any through, even if it could trample over your creature.

The Rest: Spot removal is spot removal, ramp is ramp, etc... I may take out some removal and replace it with board wipes. It's a hard call to make, you don't appreciate how good creatures that have built in removal are until you can't use them. The enchantments help with the banding strategy. Seton's desire is a lure effect, Retaliation gives +1/+1 for each blocking creature. Nature's Gift pulls double duty, it gives your choice of counters, banding, first strike, or trample while giving you a way to pitch your Incarnations and Riftstone Portal.

Date added	4 years
Last updated	4 years
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	4 - 0 Mythic Rares 23 - 0 Rares 35 - 0 Uncommons 14 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.26
Tokens	Human Soldier 1/1 W, Morph 2/2 C