Free Spells Are Fun (Narset, Enlightened Master)
Commander / EDH
SCORE: 100 | 82 COMMENTS | 28395 VIEWS | IN 85 FOLDERS
I see your point on the instants Gravity-senpai. Like you I don't know what to remove. The planeswalkers are too good, and the equipment/enchantments are pretty high in value. I don't run the ascendancy because there are so few creatures. It's just not as valuable as something like Reconnaissance. Monastery Swiftspear is certainly a good card in standard, but in a 4 player pool its body is a bit underwhelming. I'd rather just have another card to hit with Narset. I had FCT in the list originally and may bring it back. What kind of high-impact instants would you consider adding? Can you elaborate on some specifics?
January 12, 2015 7:18 a.m.
Gravity-senpai says... #3
You're in the right colours for a Jeskai Charm, so that's one suggestion I'd go for. Burn is always nice, especially if you can play a bunch for free off your Narset and either clear an opponents board for you to deal combat damage with your commander to them or to directly damage your opponent. I'd also suggest buff spells to play on your commander. Just trying to think of specifics as I only recently started playing blue and red and both my other decks involving white are super creature heavy or token swarm based. Considering you're mainly playing them for free, you could even look into the more expensive instants that aren't usually played purely for mana cost. I personally wouldn't mind dealing five damage from a single card I played for free with Narset like with Lava Axe. Price of Progress is excellent for any format where you expect your opponents to be using lots of non basic lands, but potentially too suicidal if you run a lot yourself.
January 12, 2015 8:06 a.m.
The problem with burn in commander is 4 man pools of players with 40 life. Its really hard to deal that much damage. Also while I can cast then for free, those kind of expensive spells are a problem when I draw them.
January 12, 2015 10:30 a.m.
Gravity-senpai says... #5
True, true. Good point. Sorry I couldn't be of more help.
January 12, 2015 7:25 p.m.
No problem. You reminded me of FCT so that's a plus all on its own!
January 12, 2015 9:35 p.m.
Lloyd156_BLUE says... #7
I have a Narset deck. Why are you not playing Mystical Tutor, before you attack fix your library with a nice instant/sorcery to play. I play the lock down game, I swing with Narset....I win! I lock the entire board down with cards that stop my players from untapping, I have many extra turn cards/combat phase cards and Armaggedon which is what I use mystical tutor for. As long as Narset is on the battlefield, you do not need mana anymore. Like you said...free spells win the game!
January 17, 2015 8:09 a.m.
Yeah I'm still working on the deck but didn't have a Mystical Tutor on hand, but it will make an appearance.
January 17, 2015 8:22 a.m.
zombie_sky_diver says... #9
How do you keep her alive with all those board wipes? From what I see you only have 2 cards that can keep her alive after them.
And I suggest time magic. Some people don't appreciate it in commander but its meant to be.
I have a Narset build in the works. I'll send you a link when I finish my ideas.
January 24, 2015 11:43 a.m.
The board wipes should be used strategically. Obviously, if you hit one on a flip and she isn't indestructible its a bit of a waste, but in multiplayer pools I feel like some amount of boardwipe is necessary. I definitely want some extra turn effects in here, and as I acquire them I will be adding them in.
January 24, 2015 12:21 p.m.
Lloyd156_BLUE says... #11
Here is my Narset deck if you're interested
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/just-one-attack-is-all-it-takes/
January 25, 2015 6:29 a.m.
That was ... wow, ok so I ran this with a couple other decks and this ended up at 400 something life and all the opponents had no lands cuz Venser would flick Spine of Ish Sah and just damn this whole thing is really dirty
January 25, 2015 8:31 a.m.
Yeah blinking SoIS is insane. So much fun. I also love casting Ral Zarek and enough stuff off of Narset triggers with Inexorable Tide out so that I can ultimate him in a turn.
January 25, 2015 1:19 p.m.
JamesAzimuthPHD says... #14
I have a friend that built a stupidly cruel Narset EDH Deck around Planeswalkers. Narset, Enlightened Master is the only creature in his entire deck, and he uses Proteus Staff to abuse this to no end. Combine that with things like Time Stretch, Waves of Aggression, and any mass Token generation results in an easy win.
February 5, 2015 9:27 a.m.
JamesAzimuthPHD - Yeah, I've seen Proteus Staff used in Narset decks, but I don't want to make mine super irritating because my play group tends to hate out players because of a memory of a single game where a deck did really well. So I want the deck to be powerful, but not necessarily cruel because of that, and I think Proteus Staff breaches that line.
February 5, 2015 5:52 p.m.
JamesAzimuthPHD says... #16
I completely understand what your saying. My friends Narset Deck is impressive, but we all hate him for using it. :P
February 6, 2015 9:59 a.m.
I also own a Narset EDH deck and i've got a few suggestions ;)
I use Divine Reckoning intead of Blasphemous Act cause i don't want to cut my Narset out of the board. It costs less and can be reused with flashback.
Iroas, God of Victory is also a great addition to prevent Narset from being blown away while attacking and to force your opponent to block with more than one creature. It's also Indestructible, so you'll still have it after a big board sweeping.
Vedalken Orrery or Leyline of Anticipation cause it's better to cast things faster when you reveal them with Narset.
If i had to suggest some cuts, i'll definitely cut the Chandras. Don't know dude, i also tested them, and all they did was slow down all my games..by the way +1, your move ;)
February 10, 2015 7:42 a.m.
The Chandra's are sooo good though. -2 fork and card advantage are great with this deck. I do like the suggestion of divine reckoning and will perhaps try out the others as well. Thanks for the suggestions, hadn't thought of Iroas in that way
February 10, 2015 8:47 a.m.
shermanido37 says... #19
I hate to break it to you, pal, but Mizzium Mortars' overload cost can't be played with Narset, and Sphinx's Revelation's X is equal to 0 when cast with her, so these are two cards that can go in my opinion. Also, jace the living guildpact and plea for power are underwhelming IMO - the former is a terrible wannabe Jace, the Mind Sculptor, and the latter will always be Concentrate - no one will vote for you to get a turn.
Ring of Three Wishes is costly, clunky and slow, I would instead run Long-Term Plans which can tutor something big for Narset to swing into. Same for Spine of Ish Sah - it's alright when cast with Narset, but I can't imagine you casting it from your hand, which can be a bitch if it dies somehow. Also, it's really fun to Mystical Tutor into a Temporal Mastery at the opponent's end step then Time Walk on your draw step.
Burn spells - I know you have Gisela (which is, by the way, more suitable for a Kaalia deck) but your burn spells aren't helping you in my opinion... I mean I don't know about you, but in my meta there's spells like Artisan of Kozilek, Terastodon, Rune-Scarred Demon, and I need to have reliable removal against them. Since you're running white Swords to Plowshares and Path to Exile are a must. Two more removals more suited for noncreatures or, on another note, commanders, are Chaos Warp and Oblation. Lastly you need some good noncreature removal which white has plenty of - Return to Dust and Wear / Tear are some good choices.
A funny option with Oblivion Ring is casting it on Narset or on Barren Glory that you have on your board, then casting Apocalypse. WIN! But seriously, if you cast Armageddon it will help you secure your PWs.
February 22, 2015 9:32 a.m.
I'm personally a big fan of running Strionic Resonator as it allows you to dig through 4 more cards with Narset for only 2 mana. I would take out Loxodon Warhammer for it, as this isn't really a beat down deck. And in the same vein, I think Spirit Mantle is a much stronger choice over Sword of War and Peace as the latter prevents you from targeting Narset and makes your evasion enchantments to fall off.
And finally, Long-Term Plans works quite well with Narset. Acquire, however, sounds rather lackluster unless artifact decks are heavy in your meta. Bribery on the other hand is almost always hilarious, especially if you copy it.
March 17, 2015 8:03 p.m.
Teal_Fox - I originally had Strionic Resonator in the deck, but it was only usable once per turn so I felt like it was weaker than my other options. Spirit Mantle is certainly a good suggestion. The reason I run the Warhammer is because I tend to get targeted since Narset's potential is so high, and the life I can gain back helps to buy me enough time to turn the game on its head. Also, Sword of WaP is more for the protection it offers since I face a lot of red and white with my friends. Long-Term Plans is another good suggestion, I'll see how I can fit that into the deck. I want a Bribery, I just don't have one right now, but I would probably run it in addition to Acquire. It is much less lackluster than you may expect since it puts the artifcat right onto the battlefield. In general there are many powerful artifacts in EDH decks and stealing them is great. Thanks for the reminders on these cards, I will add them into the maybeboard until I figure out how to fit them in and get a copy of each.
March 17, 2015 9:46 p.m.
hey what do you think about the new narset Narset Transcendent and that new enchantment Myth Realized
March 18, 2015 2:02 p.m.
Bnon - I love them. I just hadn't added them to the maybeboard yet. I've been testing them out with proxies among friends and I am liking what I'm seeing. Thanks for saving me from opening the deck editor, now I can just click the "accept suggestion" button! ;D
March 18, 2015 3:29 p.m.
RageFactory says... #24
I highly recommend running a Scroll Rack. Also, dropping the Aurelia and Gisela would let you use Proteus Staff to completely stack your deck and win outright.
March 21, 2015 4:33 p.m.
RageFactory - I have had that recommendation in the past, it was cleared with the comments. While Proteus Staff is amazing, it would cause a lot of grief for me in my playgroup. It's the kind of thing we have a sort of understanding upon where we draw the line of good strategies and things that are just not fun to play against. As for Scroll Rack, I should consider this. I am not fully adept with utilizing this card yet, but it really should make an appearance, so thank you for bringing it back to the forefront of my mind. I will add it to the maybeboard until I can acquire one. It is expensive, so that might be awhile.
Gravity-senpai says... #1
I don't actually play Commander, so I hope my suggestions are still useful, but I do play Jeskai so I thought I'd offer some potential advice. Personally, if you plan to really maximise on Narset I'd put in a Jeskai Ascendancy, maybe one or two good Jeskai prowess cards (perhaps a Sage of the Inward Eye and a Monastery Swiftspear?) and a Flying Crane Technique. I'd also suggest more instants in general personally so you can cast them in combat as you swing with Narset rather than waiting for your second main phase. As for what to remove, my apologies, but I'm really not so certain.
January 12, 2015 6:36 a.m.