Let the Topdecking Begin | Budget Specter Primer

Commander / EDH Budget Control Cruel Control Discard Four Color Midrange

THE_WTF_Brewer

Lands (39)

• 1x Arcane Sanctum
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x Crumbling Necropolis
• 1x Darkwater Catacombs
• 1x Dimir Aqueduct
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Grand Coliseum
• 4x Island
• 1x Izzet Boilerworks
• 2x Mountain
• 1x Nomad Outpost
• 1x Orzhov Basilica
• 2x Plains
• 1x Rakdos Carnarium
• 1x Shadowblood Ridge
• 1x Skycloud Expanse
• 7x Swamp
• 1x Tainted Field
• 1x Tainted Isle
• 1x Tainted Peak
• 1x Tarnished Citadel
• 1x Temple of Deceit
• 1x Temple of Enlightenment
• 1x Temple of Epiphany
• 1x Temple of Malice
• 1x Temple of Silence
• 1x Temple of Triumph
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse

Ramp (7)

• 1x Coldsteel Heart
• 1x Commander's Sphere
• 1x Dimir Signet
• 1x Izzet Signet
• 1x Orzhov Signet
• 1x Rakdos Signet
• 1x Sol Ring

DiscardMatters (4)

• 1x Geth's Grimoire
• 1x Sangromancer
• 1x Spirit Cairn
• 1x Waste Not

BoardControl (13)

• 1x Anguished Unmaking
• 1x Banishing Light
• 1x Capital Punishment
• 1x Complicate
• 1x Crosis's Charm
• 1x Disallow
• 1x Disenchant
• 1x Negate
• 1x Oblivion Ring
• 1x Return to Dust
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Undercity Plague
• 1x Utter End

Specters (13)

• 1x Abyssal Specter
• 1x Blazing Specter
• 1x Blizzard Specter
• 1x Crosis, the Purger
• 1x Guul Draz Specter
• 1x Hypnotic Specter
• 1x Needle Specter
• 1x Nicol Bolas
• 1x Order of Yawgmoth
• 1x Scythe Specter
• 1x Sedraxis Specter
• 1x Shimian Specter
• 1x Silent Specter

Value (8)

• 1x Asylum Visitor
• 1x Blood Tyrant
• 1x Fact or Fiction
• 1x Lim-Dul's Vault
• 1x Magister Sphinx
• 1x Queen Marchesa
• 1x Skyline Despot
• 1x Windreader Sphinx

Commanders (2)

Other (9)

• 1x Curtains' Call
• 1x Elspeth, Sun's Champion
• 1x Frost Titan
• 1x Gamble
• 1x Grave Titan
• 1x Kambal, Consul of Allocation
• 1x Liliana Vess
• 1x Malicious Affliction
• 1x Ob Nixilis Reignited

MassDiscard (6)

• 1x Capital Punishment
• 1x Larceny
• 1x Pain Magnification
• 1x Painful Quandary
• 1x Syphon Mind
• 1x Words of Waste

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Maybeboard

Other (7)

• 1x Eastern Paladin
• 1x Gemstone Caverns
• 1x Ghostly Prison
• 1x Hide / Seek
• 1x Hollow Specter
• 1x Meteor Crater
• 1x Prismatic Lens

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Introduction Show

Hey guys, and welcome to my primer! Today we are going to talk about my all time favorite pet deck! I've been playing magic for three to three and a half years. I started somewhere in november to december 2013, when Theros was the big set. Some of my favorite cards has always been Sangromancer and Blazing Specter , and I've wanted to build a deck around them for ever. Unfortunatly, Blazing Specter is not moder legal, and a deck built around 4 drops isn't legacy competitive, so I decided to head to commander. The deck was orginally grixis, and the leader at the helm was Nicol Bolas. Don't get me wrong, Nicol Bolas is a great card, but he was unseated at the helm because of his tendancy to make me a target in my playgroup. I then switched to Crosis, the Purger , and I was doing decintally well, but I still tended to get hate on by all mono color decks ever, and I lacked card draw to keep the specters coming, which I realized I wanted in my commander slot. Thus, my third general was Garza Zol, Plauge Queen, But she was lacking, so I abandoned the deck and traded back the cards.

When Conspiracy 2, Take the Crown, came out, I was instantly draw to Queen Marchesa. I tried Control Variants, Pillowfort variants, and Monarch Tribal variants, Assassin Tribal Variants, everything! (But I didn't go into Stax). Then I realized after scrapping that idea too... What is I played Queen Marchesa in specter tribal?!? Yeah, I do lose two specters and some cool legendarys, but I also gain Confessor, a very fun, underrated card that can gain me upwards 20 life, Spirit Carin, which works great with Larceny , and Oblivion Ring, Utter End and friends. But the blue really had the "I win the game" factor with giant fatties that if not gotten rid of could ruin opponent's days. But then came out Commander 2016, which allowed me to make it four colors! It also provided me with two near perfect commanders, both which draw cards, and on opponents powerful turns, which you try to limit, so it helps there, and the other on combat damage, which is great with flyers!

Ok, Story Time is over. Let us jump into the general strategy!

The deck is built around flyers, discard, fatties, and card draw. You are the "Police" of the table, not letting players amass large boards or full grips of cards, forcing repeatable discard form turn 3 or 4 with your early game specters, while drawing of Tymna the Weaver. You also have a handful of removal spells to keep things that slip through early or after a board wipe in check. Then, you have mass discard to really strip down hands around turn 5 or 6, which also work great with spells like Waste Not and other discard-matters cards. Once your opponents are all empty handed, you continoue to supress with specters. Big creatures like Crosis, the Purger and spells like Capital Punishment largely lower other players board control, hand size, and life total.

Card Choices Show

Creatures Show

We are gping to kick off card selections with creatures. Creatures are the most important card type in the deck (discounting lands) as they provide a large part of our discard and finishers. They also help draw cards of Tymna the Weaver.

Abyssal Specter : Though one of the weakest, if not the weakest, specter in our deck, abyssal specter still makes the cut due to it's synergy and we want to consistently draw 1 to 2 specters in the first 5 turns of the game, and late game specters help keep late game broken things in check. Because abyssal specter is "weak", many players won't bother killing it, so it can by itself force opponents to discard 6,7, or 8 times a game.

Banshee of the Dread Choir: While not officially a specter, the banshee is an honorary one, and can be the best of the bunch at times. It tops off our specter curve close to Silent Specter , and it is not rare to have this down on turn 4, and turn 2 is possible with Sol Ring + Signet. The Myriad ability can force multiple opponents to shave their hands by one, which really puts you ahead.

Blazing Specter : My personal favorite specter, haste really puts this one way ahead. Being able to swing when it comes in almost makes it like you played it on turn 3, and the surprise factor is there. It also makes the best topdeck of all the cheap specters.

Blizzard Specter: I use the discard ability unless an opponent is obviously mana flooded, or they nothing but lands early game and you suspect they have more lands in their hand. Otherwise, It's just a Abyssal Specter with a slightly harder cost.

Blood Tyrant: One of our huge finishers, blood tyrant gets the nod as a powerful card that swings for 9 on the turn after you play it, and 12 or 13 the next. The one damage to you is annoying, but you should have more life than your opponents on turn 6 or 7 if all is ideal.

Confessor: My favorite white card in the deck, Confessor just looks like card disadvantage, but in reality is 15 life if no board wipes are played and can get a card back with Tymna the Weaver.

Crosis, the Purger : The one part of the cycle that isn't the biggest playable daddy dragon in his colors, while still being the most played in the cycle. Yay for Grixis! Ok, but actullly, Crosis is very powerful. He makes mono white players cry, or a red player without Wheel of Fortune do the same. He can also be decent against two color decks, or players with full hands.

Other Cards I am considering Show

Coming very soon!

Conclusion Show

Thanks, for reading, i hope you enjoyed my primer! Also, If anyone knows the code for the background stylesheet, please post it in the comments. Thanks a million! One more thing: I'm trying to get this to be the most upvoted Kraum and Tymna deck on the site, and the most upvoted specter tribal deck. Thanks!

Date added	8 years
Last updated	8 years
Splash colors	W
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	8 - 0 Mythic Rares 41 - 0 Rares 22 - 0 Uncommons 14 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.89
Tokens	Assassin 1/1 B w/ Haste, Dragon 5/5 R, Emblem Elspeth, Sun's Champion, Emblem Ob Nixilis Reignited, Morph 2/2 C, Soldier 1/1 W, Spirit 1/1 W, Monarch Emblem, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders	EDH, 13Jan2022 EDH Specter Deck