Daxos, Four Swords Adventures

Commander / EDH Control Voltron WU (Azorius)

ninnyz

Creature (20)

• 1x Containment Priest
• 1x Danitha Capashen, Paragon *f-pre*
• 1x Devoted Caretaker
• 1x Drogskol Reaver
• 1x Geist of Saint Traft
• 1x Gilded Drake
• 1x Grand Abolisher
• 1x Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
• 1x Hanna, Ship's Navigator
• 1x Linvala, Keeper of Silence
• 1x Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker
• 1x Phyrexian Metamorph
• 1x Puresteel Paladin
• 1x Spelltithe Enforcer
• 1x Stoneforge Mystic
• 1x Stonehewer Giant
• 1x Sublime Archangel
• 1x Sun Titan
• 1x Thada Adel, Acquisitor
• 1x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben

Instant (8)

• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Mystical Tutor
• 1x Pact of Negation
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Return to Dust
• 1x Swords to Plowshares

Sorcery (4)

• 1x Austere Command
• 1x Bribery
• 1x Rite of Replication
• 1x Supreme Verdict

Land (36)

• 1x Academy Ruins
• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Buried Ruin
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Drifting Meadow
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 1x Glacial Fortress
• 1x Halimar Depths
• 1x Hallowed Fountain
• 9x Island
• 1x Lonely Sandbar
• 1x Nimbus Maze
• 9x Plains
• 1x Prairie Stream
• 1x Remote Isle
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Secluded Steppe
• 1x Temple of Enlightenment
• 1x Temple of the False God

Enchantment (6)

• 1x Aura of Silence
• 1x Crackdown
• 1x Frozen Aether
• 1x Oblivion Ring
• 1x Rhystic Study
• 1x Smothering Tithe

Planeswalker (5)

• 1x Jace, the Mind Sculptor
• 1x Kasmina, Enigmatic Mentor
• 1x Mu Yanling, Sky Dancer
• 1x Narset Transcendent
• 1x Venser, the Sojourner

Commander (1)

Artifact (20)

• 1x Azorius Signet
• 1x Batterskull
• 1x Bloodforged Battle-Axe
• 1x Coalition Relic
• 1x Darksteel Plate
• 1x Expedition Map
• 1x Haunted Cloak
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Power Matrix
• 1x Seashell Cameo
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Sword of Feast and Famine
• 1x Sword of Fire and Ice
• 1x Sword of Light and Shadow
• 1x Sword of the Animist
• 1x Sword of War and Peace
• 1x Talisman of Progress
• 1x Torpor Orb
• 1x Treasure Map  ^Flip

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Sideboard

Artifact (1)

• 1x Darksteel Plate

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Maybeboard

Creature (1)

• 1x Dragonlord Ojutai

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Daxos of Meletis the overlooked Control Voltron Commander

Why play just 99 when you can "borrow" (steal) your opponent's cards to serve your needs? Welcome to Daxos, Controltron!

Daxos started off about 6 years ago as a simple idea of building a W/U Theft deck with effects like Double-strike and Unblockable auras. I learned quickly that getting 1 or two top decks you do not know lead to some underwhelming casts and that i may not have the mana to even cast something that I DO want. Lucky for me I had bought a box of Modern Masters and was able to pull 2 swords do aid me in changing the deck around. Next I needed to figure out, what is the most I can do to borrow a strategy from my opponent while not suffering diminishing returns? Cards like Bribery , Thada Adel, Acquisitor , Phyrexian Metamorph and Rite of Replication were first thoughts in my mind. After that i needed ways to avoid small creatures, gain advantages on combat and stop or slow my opponents down. I looked to Crackdown since all of our equipment holders are white, Grand Arbiter Augustin IV to discount and tax, Frozen AEther the blue Kismet (mainly because I don't own Kismet yet and htis deck is heavy white), Thalia, Guardian of Thraben , Spelltithe Enforcer , Aura of Silence and Rhystic Study to tax, slow or gain advantage from their plays.

Why not "these" W/U Voltron commanders?

• Geist of Saint Traft : most of the decks i have seen have some synergy with Sundial of the Infinite type effects to keep a token or produce more tokens. While Giest is in my 99 i didn't feel like that gimmic was to fragile for my tastes.
• Brago, King Eternal : also a common commander for the control aspect of this, Flying is solid evasion and can get around plenty of early blocks. Brago, however, is a very different kind of build than what Daxos can allow. Brago gains more advantage from blinking and ETB effects and tends to be built in that way.
• Bruna, Light of Alabaster a great voltron commander but Bruna needs Aura as opposed to equipment.

So what exactly are we trying to do?

• Control the board so that we are getting through with our Commander or our "Backup Team"
• If we get behind we need to survive with our Tax and Protection packs
• Some recursion in the event that we REALLY get behind
• Make our opponent feel silly for underestimating our Commander

That shouldn't be so tough huh? let's get more in depth with these bullet points

Control

The most recent change to this deck is the inclusion of some Lantern-control mechanics. Lantern has always been in the deck but never has really done much, now with some of the package that makes it a nightmare in Modern are used here for much the same reason. Ghoulcaller's Bell , Codex Shredder , Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Jace, Memory Adept can do the top of deck manipulation. Our Commander can also end up "stealing" a top deck card if it is worth it to do so or simply remove that as a option for our opponent.

Torpor Orb makes a return to this deck. it really only shuts off my Containment Priest , Puresteel Paladin , Stoneforge Mystic and Sun Titan ETB Triggers but in the long run i want them more for their abilities. I can also use Venser, the Sojourner to Exile it for my turn if he is on the field.

Equipment and holders

Danitha Capashen, Paragon : She aids in the casting of our equipment but having First strike and vigilance helps in being an early attacker if the top of the deck does not matter.

Drogskol Reaver : evasion and doublestrike, at minimum its a 2 card draw and 6 damage but as its the top of my curve it will likely do more to finish the game.

Geist of Saint Traft : Evasion of targeted spells and a free 4/4 angel given for combat boost.

Linvala, Keeper of Silence : i mostly want her to shut off any effects that would be negavite for my field but when she is needed to swing in, she can.

Stonehewer Giant : being able to swing and attach exactly what i need at that moment can really put my opponent into a situation where answers are gradually limiting.

Tax and protection

Containment Priest : stopping cheated and revived creatures from reappering, i usually save her till she need's to be cast.

Devoted Caretaker and Eight-and-a-Half-Tails : both do similar effects but for different reasons. One is more mana effective but taps and only stops instants and sorceries while the other protects AND changes spells to white.

Grand Arbiter Augustin IV , Thalia, Guardian of Thraben , Spelltithe Enforcer , Smothering Tithe , Rhystic Study , Frozen AEther : all act to make our opponents spells cost more, need to cost more or force our opponent to choose what spells they can cast AND how they can afford to pay all taxes needed to prefent our profiting.

Our weapons

Batterskull : powerful equipment, temporarliy a creature and a possible voltron target also.

Darksteel Plate : Sometimes deathtouch can be a problem but it's here to help survive wipes and targeted removal.

Haunted Cloak : in rare cases my voltron teem needs trample to get effects from our swords, Vigilance is also a huge plus for our commander as he has no way of blocking a retaliation attack.

Power Matrix : Before the days of equipment, artifacts like these existed and this might be one of my favorite hidden gems. If your familiar with Elspeth, Knight-Errant , her second ability gives something of the same effect. Originally she was in this deck but i often ran into a "protection from white matters" and she could no longer aid my voltron target. this gets around it by being an artifact.

Swiftfoot Boots : Hexproof mattered to me more than Shroud, otherwise card:lightning grieves would be here

Swords of...: this deck draws the majority of it's power from these equipment. It's not uncommon to win with 1 of these alone but without them i doubt this deck would be as strong as it is. That said this deck CAN still come out on top without them, it's just a little harder to pull out.

Sword of the Animist : This deck is designed to run off of 4-5 mana sources. But we sometimes need more if we want to steal more from our opponents, White and Blue are not too quick with ramping so this is here to give us a little push in that department, also, with less lands we draw more spells.

The Containment Priest/Torpor Orb Problems

This is really a question that i have more than a problem. Containment Priest gives this deck a lot of power of control, but it can also mess up some of our advantages.

Cannot cast with her on the field

• Bribery

Stifled effects

• Geist of Saint Traft
• Sun Titan (creatures)
• Venser, the Sojourner (on creatures)

Sometimes I question if she would be better off outside of the deck.

Torpor Orb : As stated before it can stifle some of our effects like...

• Containment Priest (trigger)
• Gilded Drake (etb)
• Puresteel Paladin (trigger)
• Stoneforge Mystic (etb)
• Sun Titan (etb)

Like Containment Priest, Torpor Orb has been in and out of this deck for various reasons. everytime i take it out i tend to lose ground from ETB or Triggered effects and i work it back in. Ultimately, Are these cards working for me, or against me?

Upgrades and Changes

I just revived this deck and i'm looking for the best cards to fully make this deck what it wants to be. A low CMC, Control/voltron deck with some thievery and evasion. My hopes is that this can become a Primer with community help and discussion. all updates and changes will be placed here in chronological order.

Thank you for the read and any suggestions!

Date added	11 years
Last updated	5 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	17 - 0 Mythic Rares 38 - 1 Rares 15 - 0 Uncommons 12 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.00
Tokens	Angel 4/4 W, Copy Clone, Elemental Bird 4/4 U, Emblem Mu Yanling, Sky Dancer, Emblem Narset Transcendent, Emblem Venser, the Sojourner, Phyrexian Germ 0/0 B, Treasure, Wizard 2/2 U
Folders	Active EDH Decks, EDH, EDH Options, Commander, Daxos, Budget, Decks, Edh likes