How to Make Enemies and Irritate People (Stax) (Commander / EDH MTG Deck)

How to Make Enemies and Irritate People (Stax)

Commander / EDH Control Pillow Fort Stax WUB (Esper)

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Land (36)

Planeswalker (1)

1x Ashiok, Dream Render

Artifact (19)

Enchantment (12)

Sorcery (7)

Commander (1)

Creature (15)

Instant (9)

Bolas's Citadel

The main goal of this deck is to grind opponents out by setting up a sturdy Pillowfort of enchantments and Hatebears, hammer the board with Stax and other oppressive effects, and to control the board (or at least represent the ability to control the board). We try to get opponents to attack and interact with each other instead of us as a result, while we build our evil death fort, then swoop in late game and finish them off with beatdown bombs or other wincons. Of course in doing so, we usually become the arch enemy, but that's ok too, as this deck is comfortable in a 3v1. I'm not really a blue player and I generally don't like to make other players feel terrible so this deck is a bit of a departure for me.

Oloro is our general, mainly for access to Esper colors, but the eminence life gain has its benefits that I've tried to build around a bit. We can cast him for the card draw if necessary, but he'll mainly sit in the command zone.

Like all decks, it’s always a work in progress, though it's mostly tuned up now, both for my play style and playgroup. We like to play semi-competitively, though we all agree to not put in anything TOO degenerate. By Command Zone standards, I’d guess this is a power level 7 or probably 8. That said, it's not nice. At all. This is my "Every once in a while" deck, because if I played it all the time, I wouldn't have a playgroup anymore. As such, I may have pulled back the reigns a bit on power level at times, and there's a lot of cards for the deck that I don't own, that I'm not in a hurry to rush out and get.

I've tried to be thorough as to why I selected each card, and also why I didn't choose a lot of cards as well. I'm getting my sea legs a bit in EDH now, but really I don't get to play often so I still may make some mistakes, either in evaluation or in practice. As such, suggestions and discussion are always appreciated, especially because this is my first Stax/Pillowfort deck, and because I don't tend to play blue. I'm sure I've misevaluated some cards, but as I said, while I recognize the Archtype is mean I don't want to go TOO far because my group is definitely not playing cEDH. On to the deck!

Oloro

No, I'm sorry... you can't do that.

One of the first things we want to do to make the table groan is start stacking up effects that start with "Players Can't" or even better, "Opponents Can't". If we can set up pieces of our board early, we're going to be way ahead by midgame.

Cards in the Deck

Static Orb - REALLY locks down the table. Best to cast when we have a couple rocks on the board.
Winter Orb - Another lockdown Orb that works best when we have some rocks online.
Torpor Orb - The last of our Orb trilogy, this one is less oppressive to the table, but completely shuts some decks down.
Crawlspace - Does a great job of shutting down decks that go wide from swinging at us.
Solemnity - This one is a meta call, but it synergizes well with Dark Depths.
Ashiok, Dream Render - Shuts down Tutors, Fetches, and the like... and as a bonus, neuters graveyard strategies to boot. His -1 ability could be a bit of a nombo with The Immortal Sun, but it's a risk I'm willing to take.
Linvala, Keeper of Silence - Completely oppressive Angel that puts an end to creature ability shenanigans.
Hushbringer - Torpor Orb on a flyer that lifelinks. Perfect fit.
Grand Abolisher - When it's my turn, you're gonna need to just sit back and watch.
Strip Mine - I know you don't have a lot of lands, but I'm not gonna be able to let you keep that one.
Wasteland - Or that one. Sorry not sorry.
Maze of Ith - Blanking a creature attacking us every turn for effectively 1 mana (since this doesn't tap for mana) definitely feels good.
Kor Haven - Blanking a creature attacking us every turn for effectively 3 mana (since we pay 2 and don't tap this for mana) still feels good. Not as good, but still good.
Bojuka Bog - Pretty staple GY hate.

Stax Maybeboard

Ok, you can do that... but it's going to cost you.

Part of setting up an effective wall around us will be making opponents pay an ever-increasing admission fee to hang out. Taxing spells, taxing attacking, taxing everything. Between the Stax restrictions and the Pillowfort taxing, opponents should look elsewhere, at least in the early/mid game.

Cards in the Deck

Ghostly Prison - One of my favorites, swingtax works so well in my meta and the art is so freaking cool.
Propaganda - It's literally just Ghostly Prison but Blue. Super great art, as well.
Windborn Muse - You guessed it, Ghostly Prison on a 2/3 flyer.
Norn's Annex - Not quite as good as the above 3, but same concept.
Aura of Silence - A great early play (the earlier the better), severely slowing down artifact ramp. And if someone tries to remove it, you can blow something up at instant speed.
Grand Arbiter Augustin IV - The reduction to our own spells is nice and helps counteract Thalia a bit for us, but the real reason this is in is making all our opponents spells cost one more, putting them further behind.
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben - Her tax is symmetrical, but it is harder on them than it is on us.

Pillowfort/Tax Maybeboard

Pendrell Mists - Just need to get one of these. Completely destroys go wide decks.
Energy Flux - This one is pretty heavy, but the symmetrical effect might hit us a tad too hard.
Sphere of Resistance / Lodestone Golem - Both great cards, I just down't own them yet.
Sphere of Safety - Potentially more expensive to swing in than Ghostly Prison or Propaganda, but more expensive to cast, as well.
Thorn of Amethyst - Another card on the "www.cardkingdom.com" list.
Defense Grid - This card has been on the borderline of inclusion, but ultimately I don't want to neuter my own removal, or (more importantly) our counter protection to save our board.
Ensnaring Bridge - With all the draw in this deck, we hope to be holding a grip at all times, which is too much of a nonbo with this card.
AEther Barrier / Spelltithe Enforcer - Just a little bit of extra tax, they fit the deck nice, but no room.
Lightmine Field - Really hoses go wide decks. Not as punishing for go tall decks.
Unsettled Mariner - Another nice but not over the top tax effect.
Dovin, Hand of Control - Like The Wanderer, another card I feel probably really belongs in the deck. Adds a one sided tax, and blanks a creature four or five times. What to take out?
Leonin Arbiter - Ultimately went with Ashiok, Dream Render to shut down tutors and fetches but this is a close runner up.
Nether Void - Another super (SUPER) expensive card I do not own and cannot justify buying.
Frozen Aether / Kismet / Authority of the Consuls / Blind Obedience - I really debated adding one of these into the deck somewhere, as slowing down our opponents is definitely something we want to be doing. But I couldn't justify a cut somewhere else to fit any of them in.
Wall of Denial / Fog Bank, etc. - Walls are great on defense (duh) but I wanted what little creatures I had to be doing something a little more proactive to the gameplay than just sitting there.
Mystifying Maze - Blanks a creature for a turn, but at essentially 5 mana, it's too high a cost.

You did a thing! Say hello, now tell it goodbye.

Forcing opponents to watch their permanents go bye bye is something the deck needs to do in order to control the mid and late game. Wether through sacrifice, destruction, or exile, we have to be able to control the tempo and keep things grindy.

Cards in the Deck

Smokestack - The card the archtype is named after. Rather $T4KS, or as some people call it Sac and Taxes. Totally oppressive card with a symmetrical effect we do our best to build and play around.
Karmic Justice - Petty card that will make opponents think twice about killing our stuff.
Containment Priest - Shuts down a lot of cards, and some decks in their entirety.
Sheoldred, Whispering One - Recursion and Edict on one huge Praetor body. With Swampwalk. Usually draws out a removal spell or 10.
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite - Our other Praetor buddy makes our dudes a bit bigger, but the real reason she's included is watching opponents small tokens cease to exist.

Edict/Sacrifice Maybeboard

Mana Vortex - Absolutely punishing card, if I ran a way heavier Mana Rock suite I'd definitely add one in.
The Abyss - Next time I find $500 in the washing machine, I still probably won't buy this. But it sure would be good in the deck.
Grave Pact / Dictate of Erebos / Butcher of Malakir / Martyr's Bond - All really great cards that detour opponents from killing our stuff. Seems like they should be in, cutting down to 99 was so dang hard.
Dread - Another card that has actually been in and out of the deck, good beater that makes opponents think twice.
Rest in Peace - The ultimate graveyard hoser. I went with Ashiok, Dream Render because it does a couple things instead of one, but I feel like this really belongs.
Leyline of the Void - Similar to RIP that doesn't exile on ETB, but can be free if you draw it in your opener.
Honor the Fallen - Same as above but it doesn't stick around.
Fleshbag Marauder / Merciless Executioner - Great edicts to pitch a faerie token to. Just couldn't find a home for them.
Descent into Madness - Another card I don't own, seems really good if not a little mad.

That was a bad thing you tried to do.

If opponents can somehow get things to stick, we'll need to weaken their resolve and annihilate them via Single Target Removal or Boardwipes. Counters are included in this section because we certainly can use them to counter board threats, though they're mainly included to protect our own board state against enemy wipes.

Cards in the Deck

Anguished Unmaking - The loss of 3 life is completely irrelevant in this deck. Exiling a permanent at instant speed is unbeatable.
Utter End - One mana more than Anguished Unmaking, which makes it a bit worse, but it's still really good.
Vindicate - Destroy is definitely not as good as exile, but it still targets all permanents, not just creatures.
Cyclonic Rift - One of the best cards in EDH. If you're in blue, it's an obvious auto-include.
Damnation - It's Wrath of God, but black. And it kills creatures dead.
Wrath of God - It's Damnation, but white. And it kills creatures dead.
Swan Song - For one blue, this protects us against most things we'd be worried about blowing us out. Mainly Cyclonic Rift, Merciless Eviction, Austere Command, Vandalblast, and the like.
Negate - Same as above, but costs one generic more.
Disallow - A bit more expensive, but can hit absolutely everything including planeswalker loyalty abilities, cast triggers, crewing vehicles, fetchland activations, and more.

Removal/Counter/Boardwipe Maybeboard

Additional Mana Sources

If we're going to be denying our opponents (and ourselves by extension) access to land based mana, we're gonna need other ways to produce. The idea is to have more options that our opponents do under our oppressive blanket, putting us further ahead. This is a category that I may have skimped on a bit, I'm thinking maybe 10 rocks in addition to the other effects is closer to the magic number. Due to the high amount of cuts I agonized over when building, the only way to know for sure is to playtest.

Cards in the Deck

Sol Ring - If you're not playing Sol Ring, I don't know what you're doing with your life. Probably the one auto-include card in every EDH deck, ever.
Orzhov Signet / Dimir Signet / Azorius Signet - The signets are nearly as ubiquitous to EDH as Sol Ring, and are a must-run in the deck.
Arcane Signet - This superstar signet is fast on the rise to being included in every multicolored EDH deck as well. Especially 3 color and up.
Chromatic Lantern - Staple rock that gets us all our colors all the time.
Gilded Lotus - Another pretty staple mana rock that helps us a lot when it comes to casting Avacyn, Angel of Hope, Necropotence, and other double and triple pip spells.
Smothering Tithe - Fast becoming a staple if you're running white, this insane ramp card stacks up Treasure alarmingly fast, generating huge amounts of colored mana. And groans.
Black Market - Another enchantment that has the ability to generate a ton of mana pretty quickly, especially with Smokestack doing its thing.
Bolas's Citadel - Part of a sweet combo (more on that below) and also card advantage, but I put this card in this section because paying life to cast cards is mana advantage, and in this deck we're not worried about the life we're losing. Completely essential.

Maybeboard

Card Draw and Advantage

We always want to make sure we have a full grip of cards (and then some). You can't control the board if you don't have options, and keeping a full hand with blue mana open, even if a bluff, is often enough to scare opponents from casting their stuff.

Cards in the Deck

Maybeboard

Dark Confidant - I don't own one, otherwise it would be in the deck.
Ad Nauseam - Better known as a combo card, and not how I want to win, usually.
Ancestral Vision - It costs 0 mana and it draws three cards, but it's a one-time effect and it's too slow.
Underworld Connections - The actual cost is 1 mana and 1 life, since you have to tap down a land to activate it. Good in black devotion though.
Greed - Just a bit expensive, even with the lifegain.
Erebos, God of the Dead - Even more expensive than Greed, but at least it shuts down opponent lifegain.
Mesa Enchantress - Decent but a bit too narrow.
Sphinx's Revelation - This one-shot spell checks two boxes for the deck, but at the end of the day, it is a one-shot.

Tutors

Having the right card for the right situation is always crucial for any deck, but more so for this one, as finding the right Stax, Pillowfort, Control, or Finishing pieces will likely be critical to grinding the game down and ultimately winning. I didn't put a lot into the maybe board, as I don't want to run more than about 5 tutors for my meta.

Cards in the Deck

Demonic Tutor - The Grand Daddy. I run one in every black deck I have. Unless I'm looking for something specific, my first target is usually Avacyn, Angel of Hope.
Mystical Tutor - There's a few things to go get but usually, it's gonna be Cyclonic Rift.
Enlightened Tutor - Great tutor that gets even better with Bolas's Citadel.
Idyllic Tutor - Not quite as good as Enlightened as it can't get an artifact, but it puts it in your hand, so it's still worthy of a slot.
Zur the Enchanter - Tutoring an enchantment straight to the battlefield is exactly what the deck wants to be doing. Try to get as many swings in as you can before he's removed.

Maybeboard

Vampiric Tutor - It's only not in the deck because I don't own one.
Spellseeker - I was running this before just to go get Rift, but there's too many effects in the deck that hose ETBs so this card became a nonbo.
Imperial Seal / Grim Tutor - Waaaaaaaaay too expensive (in USD).
Diabolic Tutor / Cruel Tutor / Beseech the Queen, etc. - Each of these has some drawback compared to the ones in the deck, though I'm open to suggestions.

Other Effects

This section is kind of a catch-all for the cards that don't easily fit in other categories.

Cards in the Deck

Paradox Haze - Two upkeeps means so much for this deck. Double Oloro lifegain, double Smokestack, double Bitterblossom tokens, double everything.
Bitterblossom - The loss of life is negated by the gain of life from our commander sitting in the command zone, and the faerie tokens made are perfect to sacrifice to Smokestack.
Oona, Queen of the Fae - While a 5/5 flyer can definitely do some damage, Oona is in the deck for her ability to exile chunks of opponents deck and create faerie tokens to sac to Smokestack.
Alela, Artful Provocateur - You guessed it, We're making more faerie tokens to sac to Smokestack. Making the tokens a bit bigger is nice I guess, and the lifelink is relevant.
Aetherflux Reservoir - Part of a sweet combo, but also just sits there and gains us a ton of life, which is a resource we're going to use a lot of.
Avacyn, Angel of Hope - I often go get Avacyn with Demonic Tutor. Making our entire board indestructible is a HUGE part of our resiliency. We just have to watch out for exile and bounce, and keep a counter up.
Teferi's Protection - Another card that's only in the deck to protect the board we worked so hard to build. Feels so great to cast this in response to Cyclonic Rift or Merciless Eviction.

Maybeboard

Venser's Journal - I feel like this may really deserve a slot. It gains a ton of life, especially with how much card draw we have and with Paradox Haze it's just nanners. Plus not forcing us to discard makes a lot of the draw cards in the deck even better. What should I take out?
Sun Titan - One of the cards I had a really hard time cutting, as I feel it definitely should be included. Vigilant beater and gets enchantments back after a wrath.
Aura Thief - Gaining control of all enchantments can be absolutely amazing, or it can completely whiff. For that reason, it's not in at the moment.
Sanguine Bond - It should definitely be in the deck but I took it out to "power down" just a bit for my meta. I've played it before and the feelbads were very real. That's not even touching the combo.
Exquisite Blood - Combos with Sanguine Bond for a finisher. I am not running either card because it's a bit much for my meta.
Medomai the Ageless - I had this in for a while, extra turns are cool.
Thing in the Ice - Combos well with Solemnity to flip straight away. a 7/8 beater for 2 mana is really good, but it just didn't do anything else oppressive, and I'm already running Dark Depths.

Wincons

Aside from durdling all day long, the deck needs a way to win. In addition to the (small amount of) beaters in the deck, we need a plan B. This is the section I felt the most indecisive about, and in the end I don't really have a lot of noncombat wincons, or rather, there's quite a few more in the maybeboard. I'm just not too sure what my meta will consider ok to lose to. As a result, this section will probably see the most flux. Suggestions in this area are very welcome.

Cards in the Deck

Exsanguinate - Classic EDH finisher.
Debt to the Deathless - Really the same as above, a bit harder to cast but twice the effect.
Dark Depths - Drop this after resolving Solemnity and you get the flying, indestructible 20/20 Marit Lage for free.
Bolas's Citadel + Sensei's Divining Top + Aetherflux Reservoir - With all three out, tap top to draw and put top on top of your library. Cast top for 1 life with the Citadel, and gain 1 life with Aetherflux. Tap top again, draw, and put top on top of your library again. Cast top for one life with the Citadel, and this time gain 2 life with Aetherflux. And so on and so on, gaining 1 more life each time. When you have enough life, usually around 15-17 activations, you can do 50 damage to 3 opponents.

Wincon Maybeboard

Torment of Hailfire - Similar to Exsanguinate and Debt to the Debtless, but gives the opponents a choice. If I put in It that Betrays, it gets a lot better, good enough to replace Debt.
Death Cloud - Another card that is on the bubble, but seems just not quite as good.
Approach of the Second Sun - This used to be in, and I have won with it twice in concert with Necropotence. As such, I took it out so I don't win with the same combo over and over with the same group. But the two cards together is a very good wincon.
Felidar Sovereign - I'm also only not running this because it's a bit too easy to win the turn it comes down if I have it in my opening hand. I'd rather have a little more of a game.
Crested Sunmare - This one was hard for me to cut, as I've been able to leverage it before to seal up the game. Creating an Indestructible 5/5 every turn reliably is very, very good. I was also running Swiftfoot Boots before not for Oloro, but the horse.
It That Betrays - As Eldrazi go, I want to run this one even more than I want to run Void Winnower. Annihilator 2, synergizes super good with Smokestack... eventually I'm gonna have all your stuff. Unless I can get some big mana online, this big boy seems a little like a pipe dream. On the other hand, I do have some ways of making a lot of mana. Do you think it's worth a slot?

So that's the deck! Like most EDH decks it's still very much in flux, but despite some indecision I'm feeling that it's closer to where I want it to be now. Obviously I'm still on the fence about a few things, a couple things are meta calls, and I have a few things I probably won't add because my meta isn't cEDH.

Comments and +1’s are very much appreciated! Thanks for looking!

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Casual

98% Competitive

Revision 11 See all

(4 years ago)

+1	Adarkar Wastes	main
+1	Aetherflux Reservoir	main
+1	Alela, Artful Provocateur	main
+1	Alhammarret's Archive	main
+1	Arcane Sanctum	main
+1	Avacyn, Angel of Hope	main
+1	Bitterblossom	main
+1	Bojuka Bog	main
+1	Caves of Koilos	main
+1	Command Tower	main
+1	Consecrated Sphinx	main
+1	Dark Depths	main
+1	Debt to the Deathless	main
+1	Demonic Tutor	main
+1	Enlightened Tutor	main
+1	Esper Panorama	main
+1	Exsanguinate	main
+1	Fabled Passage	main
+1	Fetid Heath	main
+1	Flooded Strand	main

and 57 other change(s)

Date added	6 years
Last updated	4 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	18 - 0 Mythic Rares 57 - 0 Rares 14 - 0 Uncommons 5 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.38
Tokens	Bird 2/2 U, Faerie 1/1 U, Faerie Rogue 1/1 B, Faerie Rogue 1/1 UB, Marit Lage, Treasure
Folders	Esper
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