Arbiter's Law, Tax Season (EDH, Azorius Stax)
Commander / EDH* Casual Control Multiplayer Stax Theme/Gimmick WU (Azorius)
Artifact (26)
- 1x Amulet of Vigor
- 1x Azorius Cluestone
- 1x Azorius Signet
- 1x Basalt Monolith
- 1x Cloud Key
- 1x Commander's Sphere
- 1x Damping Matrix
- 1x Damping Sphere
- 1x Darksteel Ingot
- 1x Fellwar Stone
- 1x Icy Manipulator
- 1x Imi Statue
- 1x Inspiring Statuary
- 1x Mindlock Orb
- 1x Norn's Annex
- 1x Orb of Dreams
- 1x Pearl Medallion
- 1x Sapphire Medallion
- 1x Seal of the Guildpact
- 1x Sol Ring
- 1x Thorn of Amethyst
- 1x Thought Vessel
- 1x Torpor Orb
- 1x Unwinding Clock
- 1x Voltaic Key
- 1x Winter Orb
Sorcery (4)
Land (35)
- 1x Azorius Chancery
- 1x Azorius Guildgate
- 1x Command Tower
- 1x Glacial Fortress
- 1x Halimar Depths
- 11x Island
- 1x Nimbus Maze
- 1x Pillar of the Paruns
- 11x Plains
- 1x Port Town
- 1x Prahv, Spires of Order
- 1x Prairie Stream
- 1x Sejiri Refuge
- 1x Temple of Enlightenment
- 1x Tranquil Cove
Instant (13)
- 1x Azorius Charm
- 1x Brainstorm
- 1x Dramatic Reversal
- 1x Hindering Light
- 1x Intellectual Offering
- 1x Mana Leak
- 1x Reality Spasm
- 1x Render Silent
- 1x Restore the Peace
- 1x Silence
- 1x Spell Pierce
- 1x Swift Silence
- 1x Time Stop
Planeswalker (2)
Commander (1)
Creature (13)
- 1x Azor, the Lawbringer
- 1x Azor's Elocutors
- 1x Chancellor of the Annex
- 1x Council of the Absolute
- 1x Isperia, Supreme Judge
- 1x Lodestone Golem
- 1x Loxodon Gatekeeper
- 1x Magus of the Moat
- 1x Spelltithe Enforcer
- 1x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
- 1x Trophy Mage
- 1x Vryn Wingmare
- 1x Windborn Muse
Enchantment (6)
"The Arbiter is a conduit of justice, a will so disciplined that it dispenses justice without ego or remorse." - Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
We are all dreading it... it's tax season. Nobody wants to try and navigate the meaningless bureaucracies that it takes to file. Why are there so many rules?
Let's show everyone just how merciless a petty lawmaker can be.
The Grand Arbiter Augustin IV has come to launch tax season and collect on residents from all planes to fund the Azorius Senate. We are going to impose the worst kind of taxation and bureaucracy Azorius can offer on our opponents to make them weep as they capitulate to our new rules for the gathering. What are our rules? If you want to play, you're going to have to pay...
What any modern person can tell you is that the stress and annoyance of filing taxes can easily outweigh some of the most frustrating confrontations one may have. The rules are convoluted, it takes too long, and all it is for is just to accurately represent what the government takes away from you. In this deck, just like in real life, while the taxes claim to be universal at face-value, loop-holes and exemptions are built-in to make sure the lawmaker is always the one benefiting.
So what sounds fun about that? Well, fortunately, in this deck, we will be the lawmakers.
Deck Strategy
The plan of the deck is largely an oppressive stax strategy, buttressed with control spells.
"We have confiscated your spells as evidence. Once we conclude our investigation, you may petition to have them returned." - Render Silent
While the focus of the deck is permanent-based lockdown, we cannot ignore that in many games we need some instant insurance to make sure our plans pan out over the course of a typical EDH game. Those insurances are what we will look at first...
Spell Injunctions
I'm a big proponent of the effectiveness of preemptive removal. Sure, we could include some strong instant-speed removal, but why not rock some quality counterspells that deliver alternative advantage as well? In this vain I run some high quality Azorius counterspells like Hindering Light and Render Silent in order to prevent opponents from making plays that are disruptive towards the Senate's tax scheme. I also run the low-cost Mana Leak and Spell Pierce for additional tax on specific targets if needed.
Arrests
I wanted to include these, mostly as Azorius flavour-adds, but they have this nice thematic synergy of arresting those who dare to engage in Magic's most uncivilized phase - combat. Well worth the flavour if you ask me.
Cease and Desists
I tend to lean on including at least one board wipe per game, for those sticky pillow-fort situations that sometimes rear their heads. That is the justification behind Supreme Verdict. Furthermore, the inclusion of Silence and Time Stop give us a couple outlets where if an opponent is looking dangerous to us we can effectively shut down a turn to buy us some time to setup over grand governing body...
With the instant-authority effects keeping us active in the game when sudden circumstances aren't favourable, we can comfortably get our lockdown fielded most of the time.
"His assistants calculate the amount of the tribute. He measures out the punishment for delinquency." - Spelltithe Enforcer
The focus of our deck, for both strategic and thematic reasons, will be our taxes. We have many tax collectors in our deck, and we hope to be running 3+ mana tariffs on all spells by turn 4. No matter, we have enough of it in the deck that we can prove the old adage true. You simply cannot avoid paying your taxes.
We have two primary categories of taxes in the deck, the hard tax collectors, and the combat tariffs. Each one provides a different level of defense and tax, and we want more, more, more of both at all times...
Hard Tax Collectors
- Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
- Spelltithe Enforcer
- Vryn Wingmare
- Lodestone Golem
- Chancellor of the Annex
- Thorn of Amethyst
- Aura of Silence
- Council of the Absolute*
And we can't forget the face of big brother himself... Grand Arbiter Augustin IV!
*The tax on Council of the Absolute is very particular - it is a hard tax... on a single card. However, we can use this against opposing commanders that are just a little to nasty for this bureaucracy.
Combat Tariffs
Our combat tariffs are few, but will help to secure us in from incoming offense. Of course, our alternative solutions like Magus of the Moat will provide a solid blockade, a taxing disincentive is just as helpful and fitting in our deck scheme.
"The priests tried cursing it. The mages tried dispelling it. In the end, they all obeyed it." - Damping MatrixA major component of any stax strategy is the regulations... all that bureaucratic red tape your local conservative politician moans about! We want to impose as many regulations as we can that prevent our enemies from utilizing their resources. Our main arsenal is going to consist of some familiar tap-down lockdwon cards and also some rather punishing and less commonly placed frustration engines.
Tap-Down Lockdown Repetoire
We can immediately recognize the tap-down lock-down we plan to have in place, most notably with our main pieces Winter Orb and Imi Statue which will help keep all the cards tapped via Orb of Dreams out of the way.
However, we want some alternative red-tape interfering with our opponents' plans. It may hit us, but if our plans to lay out our taxes and regulations are sufficiently in place this can more or less halt any interruption or combo setup we may encounter.
Alternate Frustration Engines
Seeing as our deck is made to frustrate more than eliminate, we have some serious headache-inducing we can do with alternative additions like Mindlock Orb and Damping Matrix. Usual suspects like Torpor Orb keep most blink strategies at complete bay.
Planeswalkers
It is the "Red-Tape" section of the deck in which we will utilize our planeswalkers. While they are mainly assets due to their useful ultimates, all of their abilities will play into our deck's strengths. Also, I think it is fair to expect more ultimates from our crew than usual considering the amount of shutdown we are playing.
Our main priority is to ultimate Dovin Baan who runs as our alternate, non-foil, modern art version of Static Orb and fills the slot shared with Imi Statue and Winter Orb.
Narset Transcendent is going to have a much more 'alternate' interference ultimate in terms of overall deck cohesion, but her ultimate is excellent and her other two effects are going to be huge advantages in our deck getting each piece out sooner rather than later. So both our planeswalkers will be quality additions.
"The missing piece to every puzzle" - Voltaic Key
Tax Deductions
Our tax deductions, along with the taxer in chief, Grand Arbiter Augustin IV, are focused on sparing us from our tax effects. Our goal is to impose cruel taxes on the board, but of course we want to exempt ourselves wherever possible. These cards help us accomplish those exemptions.
Tap Exemptions
Instant Aid
*We can use Intellectual Offering for some fun diplomacy as well!
Our tap-down lockdown is going to e pretty punishing if alkl the pieces hit the field. Fortunately, we only need a few pieces to wake up our board out of this tapped slumber. We can totally dodge Orb of Dreams-type effects with a simple Amulet of Vigor. Unwinding Clock is going to do wonders keeping us all untapped most of the game. Then, for particular the instances we need it (if we need to tap down or untap an Imi Statue for example), we can use Icy Manipulator and/or Voltaic Key to make sure our artifacts are always in the tap status we want - and theirs aren't.
Conclusion
Well, I think what we have built here is a reasonably structurally sound stax deck. As always I play EDH multiplayer with friends, so, despite the oxymoronic concept of casual friendly stax, I can't wait to experience the imposition of our tax regime over the table. If you are like me, what makes Magic special is the interactions of all the strategies and board states that keeps the game fresh with each new game. I'm looking forward to see the way my friends will be interacting with, and being frustrated by, the taxes of the Azorius Senate.
Tax season is upon us. Make sure you file.
Thanks for viewing my deck, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I have! Suggestions are welcome - I'm open to hearing what ideas other have to make the deck even more wild and fun for everyone! I build for and play with friends, feel free to check out the other decks on my profile as well!
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| Date added | 6 years |
| Last updated | 6 years |
| Exclude colors | BRG |
| Splash colors | WU |
| Legality | This deck is Commander / EDH legal. |
| Rarity (main - side) | 6 - 0 Mythic Rares 37 - 0 Rares 21 - 0 Uncommons 13 - 0 Commons |
| Cards | 100 |
| Avg. CMC | 3.12 |
| Tokens | Emblem Dovin Baan, Emblem Narset Transcendent |
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