Hi, I really love this deck! It's very clear you've put a ton of care and thought into it. Elenda captured my eye, but most takes on it I've seen are "Vampire tribal with Elenda subtheme" which likely has better commanders. Pox seems perfect-- it really makes use of Elenda and lets her shine. It's mean, but not cruel like most resource denial decks-- which is perfect for my meta. I've been playtesting it, and have a few resulting questions for you:

What are your typical tutor targets, particularly early-game? It looks like you've foregone draw in favor of tutor (my meta also prefers one or the other but not both). I find myself in topdeck mode frequently, wishing I had any way of getting a few more cards in hand, especially when facing down some of the stalemates this deck can produce. Have you tested some of the synergistic draw options like Mentor of the Meek or Skullclamp, and if so what were your thoughts on excluding them?

I love the old janky cards with weird effects like Death Match, but it's hurt me as much as it has helped me. I find I hold onto it until I'm already in a great position, at which point its usefulness is diminished. How do you find yourself using this card?

This deck is, by its nature, going to be weaker against decks which don't rely on creatures as heavily. This rock-paper-scissors nature of the game is totally acceptable. However, graveyard hate is not uncommon with Meren and soon Muldrotha being popular, and cards like Rest in Peace throw large wrenches in the plan for just two mana with only Anguished Unmaking being a surefire answer. Do you find you have enough interaction with non-creatures in this deck?

Thanks so much for this awesome take on Elenda!

really like the deck. I love the synergy beetwen consume the weak and elenda.P.S. you should really build a rakdos, lord of riots deck (please)

grays77: Hmmm. Honestly, it really depends. This deck plays several different ways and the gameplan shifts a lot and adjusts what I'm going to tutor for. Here are some examples, though:

If I have Contamination in hand, I'd tutor for Bitterblossom or any hard-to-remove consistent token source.

If I'm ahead, I'd tutor for Cataclysm to keep it that way.

If someone has cards that would mess with me (say, Rest in Peace) I'd tutor for answers.

If I have several non-creature token sources I might tutor for Death Match, especially if I have Elspeth, Sun's Champion (it works wonders when people can't use their triggers to remove my token-creators, in answer to your question).

If I'm behind I'd go for Toxic Deluge usually?

Really depends ;) I tend to only pull this out against creature-heavy decks (I have other decks, like Locust God, for when I feel like interacting with other permanents), but I haven't had huge issues with GY hate here. The deck still has its WB tokens plan without relying on the GY. Hope that helps clarify things a bit ;)

chemuzef: Thanks man! I've tinkered with Rakdos before, but he has a very "build me this way" look to him (consistent damage sources, draw, big RB/colorless win-cons), and I've just never had the major inclination to try, personally...

I absolutely love your deck! It's really nice to see a fellow Elenda do get justice like that. With that being said, I'm probably gonna take inspiration from your deck and tweak mine a bit!

Anyways, I'm surprised to see that you did not include Nim Deathmantle + Ashnod's Altar combo. Those two with Elenda would be an infinite token generator right there.

If you need another outlet to filter through your deck, might I recommend Bontu the Glorified? She's one of my personal favorite sac options since she's indestructible, a great attacker/blocker if needed, and her sacrifice ability is pretty nice.

Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim is another option. Lifegain is nice, but that second ability is great removal.

A card I've included in my deck is Barbed Battlegear. In a pinch it'll boost up Elenda to 5 power and kill her at the same time. It can also be paired with Supernatural Stamina for that extra nudge upward.

Helm of the Host is pretty unique, as making multiple Elenda tokens is never a bad thing.

Eldrazi Monument might be worth considering. The power boost alone is nice, but giving all your creatures indestructible is great, especially against board wipes. Heck you could cast a board wipe and be completely unharmed!

Speaking of board wipes, maybe Austere Command or Merciless Eviction would be helpful?

I hope this helps!

KingZamiel: Thanks man!! Answering your various thoughts:

• I am actively NOT running any infinite combos. This is my deck for when people complain about my infinite combos (the one exception is Gift of Immortality and Sun Titan and any free sac outlet, but I just don't ever use that one if I draw it since it's mostly incidental).

• Bontu the Glorified: I feel like Bontu's ability is too much mana to be worth it...I'll think on it. Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim is pretty conditional, since I frequently get punched a lot in this deck...

• Ooh, Barbed Battlegear is interesting! I think for the moment I'll stick with Grafted Wargear (only 1 power less, no equip cost, and it acts as a sac outlet in a pinch), but I'll consider adding that in the future!

• Eldrazi Monument is already in here :3 Austere Command sounds amazing, I need to get me a copy...

Hi Daedalus19876, glad at least one suggestion was useful!

• Fair enough with the infinite combos though. I'm sure that as soon as the Deathmantle entered the field that you'd draw instant aggro anyways :P
• I know Bontu's ability is a bit costly over time, but I just like that she can do more than just sac a creature. Ayli definitely is situational, especially since you don't have any lifegain otherwise, so pretty understandable.
• If you were to remove the Grafted Wargear from Elenda, would she still benefit from the buff before being sacrificed?
• Sorry I somehow glossed over the Monument!
• Also, what do you think of the Helm of the Host?

KingZamiel: Fair point on Bontu. Bontu didn't do much in this deck's predecessor (The Hungriest Aetherborn: Yahenni EDH) but she might do more here...

Elenda does not keep the boost from Grafted Wargear when it's removed, but I rarely use my effects as sac outlets FOR her...plus, my board wipes and opponents' actions usually take care of killing her.

Helm of the Host is an interesting card. I guess I'm just not convinced about it here (SO much mana), but I've never had a chance to cast it in any deck yet so I may be underestimating it.

whoops I dropped this my bad

Daedalus19876, that sounds like an interesting deck. I'll have to check that out later!

That's right, Elenda's sac trigger is just icing on the cake for this deck. With in mind, I agree your wargear is better suited overall.

Helm of the Host is crazy costly, there's no denying that. I don't blame you if you can't find anything to trade it out for either. I will say this though: if you have Anointed Procession already on the field, whatever the helm is copying will make 2 of that creature. If you equip it to Grave Titan, not only would that make 2 of it, but it would make 8 zombie tokens as well. Every turn! Giving it to Massacre Wurm would give your opponents' creatures -4/-4 every turn, Lord of Lineage  ^Flip would be ungodly powerful even if you can proc it just once, etc. It's a heavy investment for sure, but I think it's at least worth considering.

Also, maybe Memorial to Folly and Cabal Stronghold might be helpful?

KingZamiel: You may be right on Memorial to Folly (arguably also Memorial to Glory). I'll have to test and see how much the ETBT hurts the deck.

Okay, you've convinced me to at least try Helm of the Host here, haha - you make fair points. Do you think that there's any obvious cuts here?

I also need to add Austere Command and Sadistic Hypnotist. Bleh. I don't want to make cuts...

Hey Daedalus19876! Gosh, removing cards is always a pain :P

How's Luminarch Ascension working for you? I love the card myself, but I know that as soon as I play it, all the aggro comes to me. It's definitely amazing once it starts going, but how often/quickly do you normally get it up and running?

Does History of Benalia really help that much? The tokens are nice, but outside of those guys Elenda and the Hero are the only ones to benefit from the 3rd chapter, right?

Speaking of Hero of Bladehold, maybe that's an option if you don't find yourself attacking with her that often?

Rite of Belzenlok also doesn't seem too helpful overall, but I've never used it myself...

Lastly, is Liliana that useful?

KingZamiel: You make some good points, but now I also have more cards I want to add from Battlebond :'( heh. So it goes.

(Luminarch Ascension is pretty great in this deck, though, especially after a board wipe or Cataclysm.)

Since WotC added another Pox effect I thought I'd mention it.

Fraying Omnipotence

Oh this is why you suggested Eleda lol You already made a pox version. Are you going to throw in the new Mangus of Balance?

Hello there! It's been quite a while since I've contributed here, and I'm truly sorry for that. When life takes up all your time even for fun...

Anyways, though I'm pretty sure you've already cycled through the latest sets I'll go ahead and put in my two cents. First off, I have to say that I found little to no cards from Battlebond and Core '19 to be that beneficial to your deck. At least, none that I could truly recommend replacing something already in your deck. That said, there are a handful of cards I saw that might be worth considering.

• Archfiend of Dispair: Pairs insanely well with any Pox like effects, though 8 CMC is notably a steep price to pay.

• Fraying Omnipotence: like ScionLocke mentioned in their post, a nice extra pox effect.

• Krav, the Unredeemed: a strange one that I think is better without its partner. A good sac outlet if needed, and reliable card draw.

• Regna's Sanction: I know counters aren't a big focus in your deck, but maybe this is just good enough to consider?

• Thrilling Encore: probably the card with the most potential? Great after a board wipe.

Now this year's Commander decks have quite an interesting array of cards that - if I'm not being too bold - feel like at least one could find a cozy home in your deck. Here are my top picks:

• Forge of Heroes: I feel it's a fairly strong land. Doesn't come in to play tapped and bulks up your commander (if even a little bit).

• Magus of the Balance: powerful but tricky. As a creature its already a bit weaker than other cards with similar effects, plus having to tap it for its ability isn't helping it. On the bright side, with it being a creature you can bring it back for multiple uses. Plus 1 W isn't too shabby. Oh yeah, and I suppose you could activate its ability at instant speed, so that's something.

• Night Incarnate: it's like Sweltering Suns but with a body!

• Skull Storm: badass name to go with the badass effect! Yes it's bloody expensive, but it's almost like it was made specifically for your deck!

Well, this was quite the lengthy post, but I hope it is worth your while!

Zimmers_0: I'm considering it! :D

KingZamiel: Thank you for the detailed comment! To be honest, I've been pretty absent here as well, due to work and having broken a hand. In order:

Archfiend of Dispair: I can definitely imagine a deck where this is bonkers, along with Wound Reflection. I don't think it fits here, though - I don't have enough reanimation to get him out early enough :(

Fraying Omnipotence: Oh, I SLAMMED that into this list, haha.

Krav, the Unredeemed: ...Huh. I'll consider! I'm just nervous about the CMC, in a deck that plays almost zero ramp.

Regna's Sanction: Hmmm. I'll consider it as well! There's just too many things and too few slots...

Thrilling Encore: Honestly? I tested it and didn't like it much (I don't want to hold up 5 mana continuously, and almost never have the mana to cast the board wipe myself).

Forge of Heroes: Meh - I care more about the colors than a marginal +1.

Magus of the Balance: I'm considering it. I'm just worried that it sets me behind compared to artifact-heavy decks.

Night Incarnate: I love this card. I need to find a hime.

Skull Storm: I never plan to cast Elenda more than once from command zone, though. And that late in the game, I can't imagine people not having creatures to sac.

Thanks for the thoughts!!

Hey Daedalus19876! Dang I'm sorry to hear about your hand, but I hope it heals quickly (and properly)!

With Archfiend of Dispair, I figured it'd be an iffy one, and that's a good point about the reanimation (that I totally didn't even think about). On a side note, Wound Reflection is a wonderful card that I never knew existed, so thanks for that!

Krav, the Unredeemed is definitely teetering between being good, or completely useless. At his base he's a 3/3 for 5CMC, so that's actually pretty bad... but if you could activate his ability at least once sacrificing a couple tokens, then it's somewhat worthwhile? He's definitely not a card you'd want to draw/play if you're far behind though.

I like the "Friend or Foe" mechanic. It's pretty cool in multiplayer matches. My only issue is that most of those cards rather suck. Regna's Sanction I think is just at that borderline of not sucking. I believe it's also one of the only ones that have one colored mana in its CMC? Anywho, I definitely couldn't tell you what it could replace if you did decide to try it out.

I honestly did not think about that with Thrilling Encore, so my apologies! But yeah, I suppose with this deck having five open mana would set off all kinds of red flags for your opponents.

Forge of Heroes: Fair enough. Can't argue with sound reasoning like that.

Magus of the Balance: Ah, very true. It's definitely weaker compared to other Pox effects, and it's practically useless if you're ahead. And not being able to hit mana rocks and the like is a big loss. And with the new Saheeli deck coming out with all those shiny new artifacts, I'm sure there'll be a big artifact surge.

Skull Storm: Ah, another oversight on my part. First, I forgot that Elenda is mainly just another cog in the pox machine. Second, I realize that I was focusing on plays far too situational to truly warrant its use.

Oh, what are your thoughts on Isareth the Awakener? A 3/3 Deathtouch for 3 CMC definitely isn't bad, but how useful would its ability be to you?

Until next time!

This is exactly the kind of deck i was looking for to get into commander, +1. Keep up the awesome work!

Divine Visitation was just spoiled, you think it could fit?

KingZamiel: Thank you once again for your thoughts! Apologies it's taken me like 2 months to get back to you :/ long story short, I'm not much of a fan of Isareth the Awakener due to that stupid replacement effect on her reanimation effect (seriously? denying me Vampires? so petty). What do you think of the new changes as of Guilds?

lickitypikity: I'm glad you like it! How has it worked so far in testing? And oh yes I'm very excited about Divine Visitation :3 Just got a copy this weekend.

Daedalus19876: So far so good, got into some grindy games but won most of them so far! May I ask why you removed Leonin Warleader? I personally love it with Divine Visitation, Cathars' Crusade and Anointed Procession. It gets totally out of control if you get it!

Hey Daedalus19876! I hope you're doing well! No worries, life happens and such.

Anyways, personally I love the new Guilds set. So much so that I'm trying to put together a standard deck again (I haven't been keeping up with standard since the first Amonkhet set, sadly). Also there's no denying that there's phenomenal additions to edh, like Assassin's Trophy. That said, I saw very few cards that would be worthwhile to this deck. I'm just gonna assume that there'll be better game with the next set and Orzhov will shine once more.

Anywho, like lickitypikity suggested, Divine Visitation would definitely add some punch.

Another card that you might consider is Ritual of Soot. It's a little more limited than other board wipes, but it does leave Elenda unaffected. Great for token and weenie decks though!

Alternatively, there is Citywide Bust. It'll more than likely hit Elenda as well if she's powered up, but it's only 3 CMC.

Mausoleum Secrets is an interesting tutor card, and one I think is worth mentioning.

Honorable mentions:

Plaguecrafter. Maybe it can be a cheaper alternative to Barter in Blood?

Dawn of Hope. I know life gain is not that big in this deck but there should be enough there to make consistent use of the card draw. Plus it makes tokens so it's not completely useless otherwise.

As usual, I hope this helps some!

lickitypikity: The issue was that it wasn't pulling its weight outside of those circumstances, TBH. Not to mention that, as a 4-drop, it conflicts with my commander's spot on the mana curve. It was between cutting that and Hero of Bladehold, but 1) I like the Battle Cry on that, to push some extra damage and 2) Hero of Bladehold is a pet card of mine ;)

KingZamiel: Almost exactly my thoughts on the matter! :) Divine Visitation and Plaguecrafter got added, but I've been considering Dawn of Hope and the two conditional board wipes. I think I'd rather run Retribution of the Meek over Citywide Bust as a general thing, and I'm not running that because it hits too many of my cards. I could see the argument for Ritual of Soot, but Consume the Meek is only okay because it's an instant so I'm not really convinced here. And I agree, I'm really hoping for some good Orzhov stuff from Ravnica Allegiances!! :) Can't wait...

Shade's Form is a thing, dunno if you have the mana to support it though, nor what it would replace

Coward_Token: How have I never seen that card??

It MIGHT fit, I'll see what I can do. It's not as good of protection as Gift of Immortality, but it can also steal an opponents' thing after a board wipe...I'll think on it! Thanks!!