griffstick says... #2
i would not do edh with that at the helm but it would make a better tiny leaders deck
July 2, 2015 12:03 a.m.
The one problem with this deck is that Anax and Cymede are built for creature heavy decks. You have way to many instants, but not a lot of creatures to target.
I'm gonna fire off some cheap, yet good creatures that may help.
Beetleback Chief - Pretty much a 3 for 1 creature that can be broken with your commander.
Captain of the Watch - The same idea, but a 4 for 1 creature instead. It can also pump up your commander as well as your other creatures.
Suture Priest - Can be as good as Soul Warden, but is cheaper and allows you to make your enemies lose life.
Krenko, Mob Boss - Can add multiple creatures at once, but with an exponential rate.
Anyway, those are just a few. Hope these help.
If you want, you can check out my Boros EDH deck for more budget edh possibilities.
July 2, 2015 12:16 a.m.
Anax and Cymede are tough to use as a commander because it requires you to play a creature damage based deck, which is an archetype that has a rough time with all the wrath effects in the format. That being said, there are a few points you could consider that would help:
Small creatures in Commander lose effectiveness as attackers quickly because the early game damage they do doesn't mean a whole lot when you are facing multiple opponents with high life totals. You will rarely take anyone down before they start dropping larger creatures to block with. Small creatures should preferably have an ability that can help advance your game plan even if you get them in the late game.
Creature damage based Commander decks usually either focus on winning with commander damage, find ways to cheat or ramp big creatures on to the board before opponents start to establish their board, or try to go wide and overrun opponents with lots of tokens. When on a budget, as SirFowler's suggestions hint at, you are often better going with a token strategy. Assemble the Legion and Mobilization are cheap to buy and can help you fill your board with more creatures even after a wrath spell. Rise of the Hobgoblins and Increasing Devotion give you ways to drop a large number of tokens at once.
Cards that trade one-for-one can provide useful answers to problems but also suffer from card disadvantage in multiplayer games because you have used one spell to get rid of one other card while your other opponents have lost nothing. That's why wrath spells get played so often in Commander, they can kill a lot of creatures for just one card. Card advantage is key. Keeping in mind casting cost, the more cards you can hit with one spell the better. (Although people do still play cheap spot removal like Swords to Plowshares in Commander, you just don't want to run too many in your deck.) Aurelia's Fury would let you kill multiple threats or just tap down an opponent's blockers so that you can swing through. If you use it after declaring your attackers, you could even send 1 damage at Anax and Cymede to activate its ability and give all your creatures a boost.
Another option is to have spells that you can recast so that you get multiple uses out of them, especially if they can target Anax and Cymede. Conviction, Crown of Flames, Flickering Ward, Ghitu Firebreathing, and Sun Clasp can all return to your hand to be recast, letting you get multiple triggers off of your commander. If you are running auras, make sure to run Swiftfoot Boots to help prevent you from being two-for-oned by an opponent's spot removal.
There are other factors to consider for the Commander format, but those should be enough for now to help you adjust your deck. Aim for being able to get lots of creatures out on the battlefield so that Anax and Cymede's ability can help cause more damage and try to find ways to make your deck more resilient to wrath effects by having more non-creature ways to repeatedly produce creatures, like Heliod, God of the Sun.
July 2, 2015 2:39 a.m.
SaberTech made an excellent post, he said everything that needs to be said.
Anyways, I'm going to suggest that you switch Anax and Cymede to either Agrus Kos, Wojek Veteran for W/R soldiers or Aurelia, the Warleader for tokens. Tokens is probably the easier of the two to make, so use cards like Mobilization , Assemble the Legion, Rise of the Hobgoblins and Tempt with Vengeance to produce tokens. Then, use anthem effects like Marshal's Anthem, Spear of Heliod, Dictate of Heliod and Legion's Initiative to smash. Boros Charm stops a wrath effect, Purphoros, God of the Forge gets damage through even if you can't swing. Finally, spells that deal direct damage, like Lightning Bolt, are generally bad in EDH; it's much better to use unconditional removal like Swords to Plowshares or Path to Exile to kill creatures. Finally, ALWAYS include 2-4 wrath effects, as it's always better have them and not need them then it is to need them and not have them. In this case, I'd recommend Brightflame, Rout, Wrath of God and Blasphemous Act.
Hope that helps!
July 2, 2015 9:28 a.m.
libraryjoy says... #7
I run an Anax and Cymede budget human/soldier commander, and I think it's a lot of fun. It's not terribly competitive, but it works well in 1v1. When it wins, it's usually by commander damage. My favorite combo is Assemble the Legion + Goldnight Commander . Goldnight Commander is great in token strategies, especially if you can give your stuff haste. It doesn't take long to get out of hand, especially if you can trigger Anax & Cymede even once. I also like enchantments like Cathars' Crusade to beef up your army quickly. I included some enchantment creatures to both trigger Anax & Cymede or help push damage through if the base creature gets destroyed. Check out mine here:
Anax & Cymede Human Soldier EDH <$25 Budget Playtest
Commander / EDH
SCORE: 2 | 4 COMMENTS | 296 VIEWS
July 2, 2015 11:29 a.m.
Heroic can be an ability that's hard to abuse, but there are options to do so if desired. One such method would be Cloudstone Curio for instance. If you have the artifact on the field and your commander you could rapidly cast and recast two different auras on your commander such as Dragon Mantle and Cartouche of Solidarity though any two combination of auras/enchantments would also work. This can also be further abused with Sigil of the Empty Throne.
Another mechanic you can abuse with your commander is the deathtouch keyword. Since your commander has Vigilance, First Strike, and Trample throwing in deathtouch would be an easy way to pile over damage with trample. Furthermore vigilance and first strike with deathtouch also makes your commander a lethal blocker as well as incentivizing big creature decks to swing more at their opponents rather than lose their best creature when attacking you. I would suggest possibly adding Basilisk Collar.
Another strong card to consider would be In the Web of War which not only gives your creatures haste but can work as a repeated Rally the Peasants whenever you have a bunch of tokens enter the battlefield. Speaking of Rally cards you might want to consider Rally the Righteous which can actually target your commander. In essence that spell reads your creatures gain +3/+1 trample and vigilance at instant speed which is pretty good when you're going wide.
YourQuietDeath says... #1
I know you said you have a tight budget, but I would strongly suggest Aurelia, the Warleader. I switched from playing Iroas to Aurelia, and haven't looked back. It does basically the same thing you are planning on doing with Anax and Cymede, but much more efficiently. I was playing 2v2 with a few friends last night, my team was Aurelia and Kaalia, the enemy were both Grixis control. We won on turn 10 with 94 total life damage, and 36 total commander damage. Curses are also your best friend for any boros deck. Curse of blood-letting is a must. Add lightning bolt, you just did 6 damage for a 1 drop.
Just understand that Boros can be frustratingly difficult to synergize, and therefore, costly to build. A much better budget friendly deck would be a red/green aggro IMO. I started a Xenagos, God of Revels wolf/werewolf deck that is pretty nasty, total value of the deck is like sixty bucks minus xenagos (I have no clue what his value is right now, sorry :/ )
July 1, 2015 11:53 p.m.