EDH Licia, Gladii, Sanguis, Valeria Victrix
Commander / EDH
SCORE: 54 | 52 COMMENTS | 10977 VIEWS | IN 22 FOLDERS
Odric, Lunarch Marshal would be great for your combat steps. Giving your whole team relevant keyword abilities!
August 19, 2017 2:44 a.m.
Ever since adding Serra Ascendant I've been thinking about how horribly broken this can get if you would disregard the Vampire/Soldier theme... Vizkopa Guildmage's second ability, Rhox Faithmender, Mother of Runes, Kambal, Consul of Allocation to name just a few examples, I'm sure there are more. Seriously tempted to sneak the vizkopa in though!
I'm looking forward to this friday! I have pretty much everything prepared, but my playgroup wants to play with just the precons for a bit before we modify them.. so won't get to actually test my own brew just yet :'(.
August 22, 2017 5:26 p.m.
TheSpiritombEnthusiast says... #5
No one has mentioned Ivory Tower. This must change.
August 23, 2017 8:35 p.m.
As soon as I saw Licia though, I was fully convinced in a voltron deck. The vampire theme is cool but your general doesn't lend itself very well to tribal. Up to you though how much you want to stick with the theme! Just happy observing how you shape the deck out to be.
August 24, 2017 12:17 a.m.
CptCrumpet says... #7
Hey, brilliant list you've got here. Just curious to why you're a little low on the boardwipe side of things?
August 24, 2017 6:13 p.m.
@TheSpiritombEnthusiast: The Ivory Tower is fantastic yeah, but do you think I have enough draw to keep my hand properly filled for it? Draw's pretty much always been my weak point.
This would be very nice if I also added in a Land Tax actually.. hmm.
@CptCrumpet: thanks! I have a bit of spot removal for real pesky things, but I was considering Damnation and Wrath of God at first. I figured I could get away without wipes as long as I gained enough life and had enough unblockable/trample gimmicks to still deal damage - or just drain opponents directly. It might actually be a different story if I had more non-creature life gain as right now most of my gain comes from Lifelink, not so much through spells. So the way I thought about it, blowing up all creatures would probably set me back more than my opponents. Chandra's Ignition is different because even though it wipes the board, I do gain life from it.. whereas Fumigate for example would technically work as well but would potentially not give as much life. Killing Wave would be good though, especially with Exquisite Blood, but the 'problem' there is the X for mana.
Eh I guess the bottom line is I want my wipes to benefit me most, and I'm really picky haha.
August 25, 2017 4:41 a.m. Edited.
Tragic Arrogance is a great boardwipe. It lets you keep your best stuff and your opponents get their worst.
August 25, 2017 8:24 a.m.
CptCrumpet says... #10
Bou: Thanks for the clarification. Now that I think about it, I guess it comes down to your meta (if it's more creature based or not). I think in the coming weeks while everyone is dipping their toe in tribal, boardwipes might be more useful than usual but I'm sure that's not the case for everyones playgroups.
Anyway, I look forward to hearing how this deck preforms for you. I've got my own Licia deck brewing and yours has given me a few ideas I wouldn't have thought of. Keep it up!
August 26, 2017 4:01 a.m.
Lastnotice says... #12
Words of Worship would allow you to get licia off consistently turn 3 every game. Assuming you have 1 mana rock/dork.
For me getting licia off turn 2/3 is key so that is what I'll be focusing on with my deck. I haven't posted it yet but when I do I'll link you.
August 28, 2017 3:36 p.m.
@felletje: Tavern Swindler looks good yeah! but knowing my luck with flips and gambles, I'd probably never get the life haha..
@CptCrumpet: These new commanders added and reprinted some really amazing cards so it's very understandable that everyone is experimenting with Tribal :) I pretty much build nothing else, though I have lately been deviating a bit and am starting to pull away with this deck the more goodies I add >_>.
@Lastnotice: It's harder than I thought to get all three colors early on, might throw in more mana rocks to help with that. Turn 3 is definitely possible if you manage to get the colors and I would be happy if we could get her out on turn 3 consistently. But turn 2? ehh.. You'd need an insane hand with pretty much all the expensive cards I don't have haha. I'd love to see that though, so be sure to tag/link me when you finish your deck!
August 28, 2017 4:06 p.m. Edited.
Maumoleseullevrai says... #14
Hey! After playing with this commander, I discovered that it is a pure Voltron commander, and that lifegain is good when it allows you to play Licia faster. Cards like Vampire Nighthawk are not that good actually (well it depends how you want to play your deck).
You can take a look at my deck here for ideas : Brutal Voltron Licia, Sanguine Tribune
By the way, i see Bond of Agony in your decklist. I don't know if you realize that you must also pay X mana and the X life, making it a very poor card. Debt to the Deathless is far better.
It's cool to see someone else play a Licia deck!
August 30, 2017 8:43 a.m.
Hey Maumoleseullevrai! I've taken a look and it really is more brutal ;). I'm going to elaborate a bit on both your comment here and from your deck, so it's a little big.
I agree with your consideration that lifegain is not a real priority with Licia. It definitely helps casting her and Licia herself hits like a truck but once she's in the field the lifegain is pretty moot so I do understand that perspective on it. I guess why people focused on small lifelinkers is to make the life more accessible. I initially started this as a life drain deck - make everyone lose more life than you and if possible, gain from it. But have moved more and more towards voltron, though some elements do remain.
Bond of Agony is one such element. I know that you have to pay mana and life to make everyone lose life, but as we have Licia.. our life loss doesn't matter, theirs does. I would much rather cast Bond of Agony for , have everyone at the table lose 5 life equally, and then swing with licia to get 10(+) life back, than putting that same 6 mana in Debt to the Deathless, which would have to be . Sure, it would get me 6 Life and would drain everyone 2, but the dedicated mana is a hurdle I considered too high. The difference between these two spells is the intention, do you want to gain life or do you want everyone to lose life? Of course if you have more than 6 mana to spend the difference becomes a lot bigger, but I like to consider 6 a soft cap and keep mana open for other spells, instant removal etc.
As for Aerial Responder and Vampire Nighthawk, if you consider it from a pure voltron then I agree that these are not that good, however, I put them in for three reasons. They're cheap at 3CMC for the power and effects they give, They can block or attack when Licia is not in the field or is tapped, and the keywords become game-breaking, absolutely insane when I play Odric, Lunarch Marshal. Flying, Vigilance, Deathtouch, First Strike, Lifelink Licia, Sanguine Tribune? hell yes! Don't forget Odric gives these effects to all your creatures eh? so those rather small and meaningless creatures suddenly evolve into world-oblitherating killing machines that beat face for breakfast.
My concerns with going pure voltron is that I usually play in a group with 3 sometimes 4 other players. If I get too strong (or if I forget to get the next round of drinks or really any reason bleh), they will definitely focus me down. I've seen the same with my Saskia deck EDH Saskia's Warband, and I really don't want a repeat of that as I had to retire it rather early. Especially lifegain is something they can't cope with, if you play the effect once they'll assume you have more, so you can afford to take more hits. This is what I have to keep in mind when I build my decks, and that is also one of the reasons I haven't yet gone pure voltron. It's absolutely possible to swing Licia in turn 4/5 for 20/20 lifelink double strike, but if I were to do so, it would be my first and last attack in that game.
Licia is exciting! But I think putting her in one specific corner, whether it be lifegain matters or pure voltron, is a bit of a waste. She's a general, so plan ahead and use everything you can to come out victorious.
August 30, 2017 10:04 a.m. Edited.
Maumoleseullevrai says... #16
thanks Bou for the big answer!
I understand the choice for bond of agony, even if I don't find it that useful. By the way, Debt to the Deathless with actually deals 4 damage to each opponent and you gain 12 life points because the damage is doubled up (that's why it's such a good card). for 6 CMC that's the same as exsanguinate, and the difference goes up a lot after that.
I don't know if you have tried it but Sanguine Bond is crazy good, far better than Exquisite Blood because even a cheap block can deal huge amounts of damage with Licia.
By the way, if you're more on the planning side of things, you can consider Queen Marchesa. Gives you the crown, deathtouch haste for Ordic, and is pretty cheap for her power(unless you want her in foil). People don't often consider her in the 99 but I think she can be quite good.
On my table, people underestimate Licia a lot, seeing how poorly she does in the precon deck. They didn't touch mine until she was a 28/28 indestructible. That was pretty fun!
August 30, 2017 11:12 a.m.
Oh you're absolutely right, Debt to the Deathless deals double, I missed that in the big type-up ha. The color dedication still stands for me though, but damage-wise you're right.
Sanguine Bond is much much better than Exquisite Blood, it's not even funny how much damage it can deal to a target opponent. I actually just removed the paragraph detailing these cards from my description as I've been editing since your last comment, but I didn't include Sanguine Bond precisely because it was too effective and targets only one player. Vizkopa Guildmage does the same but for every opponent, I feel if everyone loses it's a bit more fair. If you do play Sanguine Bond, consider Blood Tribute as well, maybe a bit mean but you can outright kill someone with it (just checked and you already have it ;)).
I've just taken out Exquisite Blood because I felt it was a bit unnecessary, better to add in some more removal or protection for Licia. Perhaps in the late-game it would be more useful but let's be honest.. Licia will tear people apart early enough.
I hadn't considered Queen Marchesa at all! I guess because I initially started with a Vampire tribal so I never considered others.. The Monarch is something I have been considering in other decks of mine to help with draw so this is pretty interesting, Adds a little more Politics and the keywords help with Odric as well yeah! Nice find, I'll have to take a look at what to cut out for her.
August 30, 2017 11:54 a.m. Edited.
Hatred, Unspeakable Symbol, Treasonous Ogre, Aetherflux Reservoir - Give your life and blood for victory.
Children of Korlis, Tainted Sigil - Get it all back immediately!
September 4, 2017 8:10 a.m.
TheRealMcFoy says... #19
Just used a proxy of this deck for my first ever EDH games. I was playing against a few people who were trying new decks, but I won both games! This deck is super fun to play, it just feels like Licia spends the first part of the game charging up and selecting weapons, before wading in and just wrecking the opponents. I'm going to start slowly acquiring the main deck to play it legitimately.
September 9, 2017 5:12 p.m.
Wow! that's great to hear! I'm glad you had fun and totally stoked that you used this deck to jump into EDH! You might want to try some other decks before you start buying the cards though, EDH offers many many options but some cards can be pretty pricey if you can't use them in other decks.
September 10, 2017 8:13 a.m.
What do you think about Erebos, God of the Dead as a substitute for Greed? It's practically the same thing but it's indestructible and its a dude that can swing for 5 most often. Been playing around with this idea in my deck
October 16, 2017 6:28 p.m.
The big difference between Greed and Erebos, God of the Dead when it comes to drawing cards, is that Erebos costs a lot more mana per draw. If you scroll up to the comments from August 18th it has some elaboration. What I've noticed in my plays is that I need to keep as much mana available for either instants or pretty much don't manage to get enough mana to begin with, so I prefer smaller costs such as with Greed. But, if you have the mana, Erebos is definitely the better choice due to it being an indestructible creature AND having the gimmick where people can't gain life - you can shut down another lifegain/vampire life deck completely. If I were to put it in, I'd probably need to reassess the mana-base as well.
October 19, 2017 12:16 p.m.
Not a fan of Haunted Cloak, it's somewhat narrow but might like to see a card like Rhox Faithmender in here (by itself reduces Licia cost by a minimum of two, potentiall getting her down to WBR easily) I feel similarly about Prowler's Helm, although its effect might be more easily replaced with the more standard Whispersilk Cloak.
If you've found Killing Wave to be great, awesome, but in my head in the commander format I'm just not sure I can wrap around it, it wipes out token swarms but doesn't take out critical creatures that need to be removed unless you're somehow representing lethal with it ?
Cards in general that might be good: Blood Tribute, Grasp of Fate, Recumbent Bliss (pacifism and gain one life every turn seems nice), Death Grasp is expensive but I personally like it as targeted removal and also lifegain synergy. Lategame could even become player removal if you've lowered life totals enough.
November 29, 2017 10:09 a.m.
I'm actually thinking of replacing Haunted Cloak, but the Haste / Trample are generally very useful. I might replace it with Trailblazer's Boots to add to my Prowler's Helm, which works amazing because literally nobody plays walls (with the exception of that blasted Mutavault). Whispersilk Cloak is very nice but I don't like the Shroud on it which blocks my Chandra's Ignition, Arcbond, or Shelter for example.
Rhox Faithmender is difficult. On the one hand he looks great because double life yay! The thing is, I really don't need more Life. I could use it more often maybe, but double the life only makes me more of a target. Alhammarret's Archive does the same, but I can easily get ~100+ Life without it. I will see how things go with Ad Nauseam in play, perhaps adding Rhox will be more practical then.
Don't underestimate Killing Wave haha! I usually cast it for 10+ and it works really well, if they do pay the life to keep a creature you can just swing with Licia (which we can keep because Life doesn't matter as I tend to keep between 50-100 Life and Licia gets it back for me anyway). So far, it's done everything I wanted it to do.
Grasp of Fate looks pretty good. Death Grasp would be amazing if it hit all opponents, but I recently re-added Lightning Helix and Warleader's Helix and this might fit in as well.
November 29, 2017 10:58 a.m.
Philoctetes says... #25
Hey there! Good to see some love for Licia! She is one of my favorite decks currently.
Although my build is a much different direction (storm build) I always feel there is crossover that can be learned exploring well designed deck lists and yours is no exception! Notably, one card I very obviously missed that you reminded me of is Ad Nauseam. I like how all the busted card draw is playable by virtue of the near infinite life we produce.
I dont know where you come down on it, but since my entire deck is built around it Id be remiss if I didnt ask about Aetherflux Reservoir - I find it to be the defining reason to play Licia. What are your thoughts on the card?
How has Chandra's Ignition performed for you? In my experience before cutting it I was repeatedly blown out by removal before achieving the wombo with Licia our.
Bou says... #1
I actually started off with a Sunforger but took it out as I kept cutting instants. I'm now considering adding more protection / finisher-copy cards like Reiterate, Reverberate, Wild Ricochet, maybe even Arcbond, so its not a bad idea to re-add the sunforger yeah! that would certainly help.
Big fan of the Sword of the Animist as well, and I've seen Land Tax explode often enough to know it's definitely worth it - I mention it in the "Ramp" section I typed up - but have been thinking lately about getting an older and slightly cheaper version. Erebos, God of the Dead and similarly Greed or Vampiric Rites are quite nice. What bothers me though is the relatively high mana cost for each draw, making it difficult to repeat each turn. I'm obviously okay with paying the life but I need the mana for my other spells. This is why Necropotence is so good, and why I'm considering Ad Nauseam and / or Moonlight Bargain. While these are single cast instants, 5 mana can get so many more cards than the ~ 2 cards Erebos could get you. Greed on the other hand would get you 5 cards so that's pretty much even with Moonlight Bargain. I guess it depends on whether you want the indestructible creature or the extra cards.
At the moment though I'm more or less satisfied with the ramp and would probably try to include the above mentioned red spells first as my group has begun playing a lot more removal lately and I need a way to protect my non-land permanents better. I might cut out some more creatures, but it's getting more and more difficult.
August 18, 2017 8:09 p.m. Edited.