Just Stay Dead (Saffi cEDH)

Commander / EDH enpc

SCORE: 321 | 204 COMMENTS | 77520 VIEWS | IN 139 FOLDERS


DiamondFlavor says... #1

Fiend Hunter also creates a sacrifice loop with Karmic Guide / Reveillark / Sun Titan :

Fiend Hunter enters, ETB exiles Karmic Guide .

Sac Fiend Hunter to Ashnod's Altar for (2).

Karmic Guide enters, ETB returns Fiend Hunter , repeat.

I would actually rescind the Angel of Glory's Rise for Wurmcoil Engine swap, but that's just me. Glory's Rise is a fantastic card in this deck, as it loops with both Saffi and Fiend Hunter while also grabbing any other humans.

In my experience something like Wurmcoil is just begging to be hit with Bribery , Acquire , Reanimate , Gilded Drake , Phyrexian Metamorph etc. etc. If you really want to bolster your aggro I'd say go for True Conviction or Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite .

I'm personally not a fan of Sorcery ramp, especially in Selesnya which has no recursion for it short of Eternal Witness . I'd swap Search for Tomorrow and Rampant Growth for Wood Elves and Yavimaya Elder . Both of them love Reveillark / Sun Titan / Skullclamp and so on.

As far as the Persist combo goes, I highly recommend Woodfall Primus . If you can loop him you will destroy all non-creature perms you don't control and almost always force a scoop. Juniper Order Ranger also works as an enabler here (and also loves Reveillark, Glory's Rise, general aggro, etc.). Oran-Rief, the Vastwood and Gavony Township are slower enablers.

Phyrexian Altar is, in my humble opinion, the best sacrifice outlet alongside Altar of Dementia .

Worldly Tutor , Steelshaper's Gift , Altar of Bone , Sterling Grove , and Idyllic Tutor can really help consistency.

I like Lightning Greaves for your tap abilities and some reach on the aggro front.

Overall really good and tight list. I love Saffi. Here is my list if you want more ideas.


Saffi Playtest

Commander / EDH DiamondFlavor

SCORE: 2 | 0 COMMENTS | 741 VIEWS

I might take you up on the Avenger of Zendikar with Nim Deathmantle synergy. With infinite mana from Ashnod's or Phyrexian Altar, you can just Nim to repeatedly sac and recur any creature, like Acidic Slime for a big blowout.

June 20, 2014 1:24 a.m.

enpc says... #2

Cheers for the feedback :D

I didn't even realise the fiend hunter loop, thats awesome. Another one to add to the combo list.

I appreciate the comment about the angel, she might go back in the deck for something else but for now I want to keep the wurmcoil. It is a pain if he gets stolen yeah, but my opponent stealing an Elesh norn is MUCH worse for me. One Elesh Norn and my deck can potentially go to pieces (this has happened a few times). I have borrowed one and tested her in the deck before but she just gets countered straight away or stolen or whatever. I've had more luck with wurmcoil than Norn.

As for the ramp, I see what you're saying. I should probably try them out. There is this intrinsic part of me that just doesn't like Yavimaya Elder though because technically he doesn't ramp. But I should just bite the bullet on that one and try him out. I agree with the comment about Wood Elves , I'll try to get my hands on one and swap him in.

As for Phyrexian Altar , I absolutely need one. Its just actually finding one thats the problem. I just haven't gotten around to ordering one online yet.

I usesd to run Juniper Order Ranger but found that Cathars' Crusade is better. Although its not a creature itself, it still provides an infinte sac loop but makes all of your stuff bigger as apposed to just one thing which can be more easily removed. And I would much prefer Cathars' Crusade + Avenger of Zendikar over Juniper Order Ranger + Avenger of Zendikar .

I used to run Woodfall Primus , but I find him too big and clunky (mana wise that is). With the sac outlets I use, I would rather just win the game than blow up everything of my opponent's. I just got the feeling he was "win more". I need more fetches for the deck, but unfortunately most of the ones I want are in blue. Enchantments are nice but most of my combos are artifacts. I used to run Sterling Grove but took it out for just that reason. And I would prefer things like Stoneforge Mystic over Steelshaper's Gift . Part of me is considering putting Deathrender back into the deck and if thats the case, I might do a minor rebuild.

Again, I would like to run Lightning Greaves , its just a matter of space.

As for the Avenger of Zendikar + Nim Deathmantle combo, its just brutal. And even just once a turn is still a bucket load of creatures. Deathmantle is just good in any sac deck. Use it with Solemn Simulacrum to get infinte mana and then draw your entire deck or even just a persist creature and ashnod's and make sure something else sees it for infinite life or whatever.

Cheers for the link, I shall have a ponder.

June 20, 2014 2 a.m.

DiamondFlavor says... #3

All your points are valid. I have never had Norn stolen and used against me, but I can see how that's actually much worse than Wurmcoil.

I just realized the Fiend Hunter loop myself, and my jaw dropped. He is also a great include because the deck wants sac outlets so much and he can act like Duplicant when you have one down if you sac him before his ETB resolves.

You're right of course that Yavimaya Elder isn't technically ramp, but he ensures that you will hit land drops and is very easy to recur via Sun Titan, Reveillark, Saffi, etc. He is an advantage monster since he is effectively a 4-for-1.

I want to add Cathars' Crusade to my own build but haven't decided what should be cut for it. Maybe I should just cut the Juniper. I think I have more tutor and recursion for creatures than enchantments which is why I chose him in the first place. I would follow your lead and cut Elesh Norn, but I just added Kamahl, Fist of Krosa and together they can make a land destruction combo.

I am not currently running any of the pieces for the Ashnod's, Nim, Avenger combo but I own them all and they all warrant a spot in the deck. But what to cut?

I also run both Steelshaper's Gift and Stoneforge Mystic . Stoneforge is super good, I just don't like to suggest cards over 20 bucks because a lot of people are on budgets.

June 25, 2014 11:10 p.m.

enpc says... #4

I appreciate the budget thing. Currently I'm not looking to spend more than $25 per card unless it really adds something to the deck. I've found that a lot fo the cards in Saffi are a bit more niche, which helps on price. I'll have a look and see what you might be able to cut, but I agree about your Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite and Kamahl, Fist of Krosa combo. I've seen it in action before (my girlfriend runs a brutal Captain Sisay deck) and it is very broken. If I wanted to go full land destruction, I should probably reconsider putting it in this one :P

June 25, 2014 11:30 p.m.

billelftmanjr says... #5

+1

Love the combo

August 14, 2014 10:58 a.m.

Classic_JP says... #6

I noticed that you run Reap and Sow . Have you considered Mwonvuli Acid-Moss? for a simillar effect.

November 19, 2014 2:09 a.m.

enpc says... #7

I have considered it before, yeah. The thing about Reap and Sow is that it can fetch any land, namely High Market. It's actually in there for the ramp more than the destruction. The problem with Mwonvuli Acid-Moss is that its slow as far ramp goes. The land destruction is nice but in the early stages of the game I'm more interested in outpacing everyone else and 4 mana for 1 tapped forest is a bit slow. It definately gets better late game though. The other question is, what would I take out for it?

November 19, 2014 2:31 a.m.

Classic_JP says... #8

There's nothing else to replace, i wasn't sure how useful you thought Reap and Sow was. Somehow i was only thinking about "you can fetch your Temple Garden with Mwonvuli Acid-Moss" but completly forgot that you could tutor an untaped High Market with Reap and Sow. That can be game changing more than having the 2 effects for 4 mana anyway.

November 19, 2014 10:02 a.m.

enpc says... #9

All good :D Yeah, High Market is kinda broken like that.

November 19, 2014 6:10 p.m.

Ever think of using Regrowth or does Noxious Revival really fill that role?

I like this deck, a LOT, it seems like fun shenanigans that are better than just a simple blink.

What kinds of decks do you play with in your meta? We run a fairly fast and competitive table just wondering if this is an early, mid, or late game deck.

December 11, 2014 5:04 p.m.

enpc says... #11

@Forceofnature1: Cheers, I've spent a while getting this deck where it is so it's nice to see that other people feel similarly about it. The deck is a lot of fun to play, it's actually my most enjoyable deck I think.

I used to run Regrowth but yeah, swapped it out for Noxious Revival. Although Regrowth puts the card to hand, I often found that the 2 mana was a prohibiting the deck from comboing off that turn anyway (usually I only have 1 or no mana spare to get he combo up and running). The other thing is the instant speed of revival meant that I could save something in response to somebody exiliing my graveyard. The other big benefit of it is that it is actually "target player" as well. It means That if I need to make a temporary truce with a player to get them back a wrath or removal spell to stop a 3rd player I can. And I can also screw with other reanimtor decks by putting their reanimation target on top of their library, which also then fixes their draw for a turn. On the whole, I just found it to be a better card (and the phyrexian mana is really nice).

As for meta - I have a casual group and a competitive group. I use this deck every now and again in my casual meta, but it is designed for competition. In that meta, you see a LOT more combo. The noted ones are a Damia, Sage of Stone combo deck, a Sharuum the Hegemon artifact deck, a Captain Sisay beats deck, as well as some other ones like a mono blue Oona, Queen of the Fae deck, a Prime Speaker Zegana deck, Karador, Ghost Chieftain graveyard combo, a Maelstrom Wanderer storm deck, the list goes on. So depending on the banlist (we have a custom one) I will either play this or my Damia, Sage of Stone deck (there are like three at our league) which canbe found here: Damia Morgendorffer.

As for play styles, yeah, the league is fast. This is one of the cheaper costed decks but most of the veteran decks at hte league sit anywhere from $1000 to $3500 which is one of the most expensive (but it is foiled out). As for where this deck fits in - I will try to combo off ASAP. the longer the game goes, the weaker the deck gets. Because I don't have blue or black for card draw, I can get stuck top-decking, which is less than desirable. The fastest the deck CAN combo is turn 3 (with a Sol Ring drop) but I don't like to count that. Realistically the deck becomes a threat in a big way at about the turn 5/6 mark. With a bit of early ramp, I can drop all of the combo pieces (Saffi Eriksdotter is usually on the board turn 2 or 3 anyway) in one turn and combo off. That or by turn 9 / 10 get something like Avenger of Zendikar + Craterhoof Behemoth via something like Birthing Pod. But yeah, its definately an early to mid deck.

December 11, 2014 7:24 p.m.

I agree with you on both points, the instant speed prior to your turn starting is a way better option and the no mana phyrexian just makes it even sweeter. I hadn't thought about the response to a graveyard removal (super crappy on a recursion basis) and the awesome political ability of that card to be used on another player.

Wow I just read through the comments before me and I am flabbergasted. This deck looks like so much fun, and I like that there are multiple combos that work together.

What is your favorite removal in this deck? I play a fairly competitive (not $3,500 foil competitive) meta so I have to think about both "doing something" and "stopping them from doing something"

I already have a LOT of the individual pieces, including Kamahl and Elesh Norn who I've been dying to use in a deck (was considering a white weenie deck but this is way more enticing), plus I want to get away from using Blue (Last 3 commanders were Oloro, the Ageless Aesthetic, Riku of Two Reflections, and Jhoira of the Ghitu.

Have you Considered using the Angel of Serenity or does the bounce to hand make it too slow? Could be used sorta like Fiend Hunter, just way more expensive.

December 13, 2014 2:24 p.m.

enpc says... #13

If you've got Kamahl, Fist of Krosa and Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite then why don't you build a Captain Sisay deck?

As for Angel of Serenity, I used to run it to do the same as Fiend Hunter. It is a great card, but the problem with it is the mana cost. The three card exile is really awesome, but I usually want to pair it with something like High Market to make sure they stay dead, and at that point all other value that the angel gives is irrelevant. So ultimately I'm paying 7 (or 8, depending on how you look at it) mana to exile 3 things. It is a fairly good trade-off, but usually there's only one thing I want gone and I would rather something like Path to Exile or Oblation which is instant speed. Cheers for the suggestion though. :D

As for favourite removal, that would go to Path to Exile / Swords to Plowshares or Rout, because you can take people by surprise and its funny to watch them wimper when you drop an instant speed board wipe (especially when you have Saffi Eriksdotter / Twilight Shepherd in play).

December 14, 2014 6:15 p.m.

griffstick says... #14

pretty damn good. i've gone against a deck like this one and it was frustrating to go up against. that commander is underrated and overpowered. if theres one thing i would focus on its looking for the cards like the ones you have but do it on a multiplayer scale.

March 27, 2015 1:41 a.m.

enpc says... #15

Cheers. Most of the control effects in the deck only need to slow down my opponents or remove problem pieces (like Linvala, Keeper of Silence or Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite) until I can combo off. Big effects defiantely are nice, but on the whole they are too expensive. Rout is the only exception to this because every deck should run at least one crowd control effect. And I much prefer Rout over Wrath of God for the instant speed play.

March 27, 2015 3:58 a.m.

griffstick says... #16

Well yes cards like those. I have one suggestion Luminate Primordial

March 27, 2015 1:07 p.m.

enpc says... #17

Hey, sorry I didn't see the post - the update got piled under a bunch of others and I haven't checked the list in a while.

I like Luminate Primordial. But he's too mana intensive for a sorcery speed removal and usually I only want to exile one thing. But cheers for the suggestion.

April 10, 2015 10:55 p.m.

With how fast this deck aims to be, I question how good the tap lands are. Are temple of plenty and evolving wilds really important enough to slow you down with their "come into play tapped" effects? I'm not a huge fan of the panoramas here either. Check lands (such as Sunpetal Grove) seem like they'd be quite decent in the deck, since your shocks as well as basics trigger them (and any basics or shocks you fetch do as well). Additionally, with the amount of land to graveyard that you run, Riftstone Portal seems like it could be decent for keeping your colorless sources tapping for colored as well (and your fetches, allowing you to save them to activate landfall triggers when needed). I'm generally a fan of not running any come into play tapped lands in a 2 color deck, especially in a fast, rampy, or aggressive one, because the amount that it slows you down just isn't worth a small bit of reliability that you're usually getting anyway.

It seems like the most useful of the tap lands would be the temple, since the scrying helps ease the lack of card draw in the deck. Perhaps consider running more card draw? Harmonize is a classic in green, and with the amount of recursion in the deck, Life's Legacy and Momentous Fall also seem like perfectly valid options. A bit slower option, but also somewhat of a pet card, is Carnage Altar, which provides repeatable sack to draw cards.

Yup. Good luck with the deck. :3

April 20, 2015 6:36 p.m.

enpc says... #19

The_Flying_Hydras: Thanks for the feedback.

As for the tapped lands, I absolutely agree with you. Currently Evolving Wilds and the Panoramas are placeholders until I can get Misty Rainforest, Verdant Catacombs, Marsh Flats and Arid Mesa. I also plan to take out Temple of Plenty and Stirring Wildwood and put in Gaea's Cradle. I'm contemplaiting going up to 37 lands including the cradle, but all of this is entirely cash dependent.

I used to run Harmonize but swapped it for Sensei's Divining Top. As a general rulethe card draw is ok, I wouldn't mind more but I'm having a hard enough time finding things to cut for Gaea's Cradle. Out of those three, I think I still like Harmonize the most, its not dependent on a board state.

Thoughts?

April 20, 2015 8:20 p.m.

neverdie says... #21

Have you considered the Eternal Sun combo? Angelic Renewal + Sun Titan. The scope may be narrow, but it adds significant value. It can be a one-off recur effect, or help you draw your deck with Eidolon of Blossoms.

May 26, 2015 9:42 a.m.

enpc says... #22

Cheers for the feedback neverdie :D

Yeah, I've seen that combo before. It's agood combo but my biggest issue with it its that it requires Angelic Renewal to see the creature die. Other than Saffi Eriksdotter herself, I have tried to pick cards which I can drop down to get after the fact reaniamtion effects. This means the combos are mor estable and don't entirely have to rely on my hand working with only my current boardstate.

The interaction with Eidolon of Blossoms is really good (I've used Gift of Immortality to similar effect - thats how you get dirty looks :P) but again, without Sun Titan its only really a once off draw.

The biggest thing I'm holding out for at the moment is more artifact tutors in white/green. Although this is very unlikely, one can hope right?

May 26, 2015 7:42 p.m.

Femme_Fatale says... #23

Might want to crop your alter.

June 10, 2015 10:20 p.m.

enpc says... #24

You mean the corners?

June 10, 2015 10:26 p.m.

Femme_Fatale says... #25

The whole border. This is because all the normal cards on T/O are all cropped, so having alters that aren't cropped removes a bit of the site's aesthetics.

Also, where did you make your card? Because you MUST credit the original artist AND put the licensing for WotC onto the card. I suggest you install Magic Set Editor, make the card there, and then utilize photoshop to alter whatever else you want afterwards. I'm pretty sure you can do overlays in Magic Set Editor however.

However if you did not create this alter, ignore me and post this onto whoever made it :D

Example of cropping:

June 11, 2015 10:39 p.m. Edited.

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