It looks like we're still missing an Azami decklist. there's an excellent competitive Azami, Lady of Scrolls deck + Primer written by tenrose that can be found here: azami tide. I recommend using it.

Ohthenoises How does that work can you target Archaeomancer twice with Ghostly Flicker? How do you get that and Time Stretch back?

Sorry I meant to add Mnemonic Wall, that's what you always add.

Rules question - Am I allowed to give my opinion on the Azami list, since I run an Azami deck myself?

Roryrai Opinions on how optimized a deck list is from those who play that commander are generally welcomed I believe. It's discussions about where that commander is ranked that you should refrain from.

It's fine as long as you are able to remain objective. If you can't that's why the rule is there.

@Roryrai: Absolutely! The more knowledgeable you are on a deck, generally the more valuable your opinion is. If you'd have any feedback at all on a commander you've played or played against, doesn't hesitate to post it.

Azami added! Thanks tenrose!

For the new commanders, here is the ranking I will use for now:

• Breya, Etherium Shaper tier 2

• Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder tier 1 -> Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge tier 2?

• Saskia the Unyielding tier 3

• Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis tier 4

• Atraxa, Praetors' Voice tier 3

No idea about partners for now... In my next update ;)

Until I actually get playtesting done with atraxa, cant agree nor disagree with the tier list. I would refrain from immediate t1 status IMO but that is just due to lack of certainty with matchups before release. I would think Atraxa works decently works as HD/Doomsday combo since it has resiliency and benefits from planeswalker tutors. Not to mention how she works well with Deepglow+deadeye+pentad prism/druids repository/mana bloom/mana bloom. Not sure if stax is the way to go but SD/Doomsday seems solid for her IMO

Yeah, my tier placement is nowhere near fixed, I only added them like this for them to be in the list.

Hopefully I dont get the royal banhammer for this but can I get some suggestions for my atraxa build?

atraxa

Commander / EDH chaosumbreon87

32 VIEWS

If not with that, Im trying to build a WBx commander built around Divine intervention. Any help with optimal commanders/suggestions/builds would be appreciated.

Thanks all. "Long live the king" -kaya to brago

Okay, a group project for school distracted me, but here's my thoughts on Azami, and the example list.

As a disclaimer, I'm not by any means an expert on competitive optimizations, these are just my thoughts on the card, and this list, based on some playtests and my own experiences with Azami. I'll try to remain as objective as I can. tenrose's list is by no means bad - in fact, it has a more consistent win that anything that I've come up with. I just want to raise a few points for discussion.

I think Azami as a commander has two main issues that need to be solved for competitive viability: speed and consistency (and resiliency).

Most of the speed issues can be solved with mana rocks, as the example list does. This is a pretty simple problem. Consistency and resiliency are the bigger issues Azami has.

The example list attempts to solve those issues with a slew of Transmute cards. While this is a good idea, and it makes a notable improvement in consistency, I think it comes at the cost of both speed and game presence. As an example, Dizzy Spell into Mystical Tutor into Long-Term Plans into Mind Over Matter or Drift of Phantasms into Long-Term Plans into Mind Over Matter are both very consistent in that they allow finding any one of those cards to lead into a win condition. That said, they also require 7 and 6 mana, respectively, just to get Mind Over Matter into your hand, and the transmute mana has to be spent on your turn. Having to tutor for tutors because your tutors aren't specific enough gets really mana intensive, really quickly. Having to do at least one step of it main phase will come at the cost of game presence.

Some of the dig spells, like Dig Through Time, seem to do really well, and I need to incorporate them into my own optimization attempts. Others, like Anticipate, feel sub-par, and I wish they were other cards (namely control wizards).

I think that in this example, the dig spells and the transmutes will tunnel a little harder than necessary on the combo.

Speaking of combos, I think that the Palinchron/High Tide combo is too mana intensive for Azami. I've been running it for a while, and the fact that it requires a minimum of six lands in a deck that can't run land ramping means you have to last a really long time.

Here's my take on those same problems. Once again, I'm not claiming it's the right one, only that it's a different one.

My solution to the speed problem is pretty much exactly the same. As many mana rocks as we can get away with, to the point that I'm even testing cards like Sky Diamond that enter tapped. One thing I've been finding a lot of success with in this area is Sea Scryer. It ramps early, filters your rocks, and draws a card when you don't need either.

With regards to consistency, taking advantage of Azami's drawing power seems reasonable. She's one of the strongest draw engine's available in the command zone, it feels like a waste not to use it. Given the variety of effects you can get on wizards, I can often get away with not digging quite as hard as I would with spells. Also, in an extended game, wizards will net more value than draw spells will. The consistent card advantage Azami provides from the command zone ought to be enough to keep the disruption going until you find what you need.

I've been going for a while so I'm going to leave it at this.

I think the most reliable infinite mana/draw combo in Azami right now is Dramatic Scepter.

U has PLENTY of artifact tutors and plenty of Instant tutors meaning that assembling the combo quickly is incredibly easy.

Also, given a christmas hand you COULD net infinite colorless mana on T1 which is a feat in and of itself. (T1 Sol Ring + Mana Crypt or Mana Crypt + Mox Diamond/Chrome Mox/Mox Opal then play, imprint, and activate Scepter)

Obviously that's pure fantasy but the idea is there but the real threat is if you manage to have one of those non-land rocks that taps for color you win on the spot by casting the commander, drawing deck, dropping LabMan and drawing again. This could happen as early as T2.

IMO these are better than a High Tide package, that being said if you have slots for a HT package you may as well.

Yeah, Dramatic Scepter is actually insane in Azami. I've been trying to work out how to make it more consistently accessible, because it essentially wins the game the turn it comes out. I agree it's better than High Tide, and it's a large part of why I think Palinchron isn't worth running anymore.

Maybe one day I'll get lucky and pull the magical turn 1 win.

Oh derp, that second Mana Crypt was meant to say Mana Vault my bad.

If you're running a lot of artifact and instant tutors for Dramatic-Scepter, would Basalt-Rings also be worth it? Maybe in place of Palinchron?

I've never liked Basalt Monolith, it always felt so slow but that's a personal issue with the card. Rings of Brighthearth may be alright due to the density of 0 cost counters that azami should be running so there's less of an issue tapping for utility.

I've been playing a lot with Docent of Perfection  ^Flip and I have to say, it's amazing so far but you have to be able to abuse it. If you are going off with HT it's great but what I found with it is Captain of the Mists. He will trigger on each token Docent makes giving you not only additional gas but he also can net you "infinite" mana with Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx. (Generating more and more for every spell you cast)

This combo is usually plan Y, just above Docent beats but it's happened a few times where this has just snuck in there and done the whole "oh, this works?"

I feel like thrasos partnered with a WB commander will not only make tasigur look bad but what about General Tazri? Tazri list don't generally run red anyways and thrasos can actually be cast and used to dig for combo pieces and of course you get an extra commander to use as you see fit...

Of course looking at our WB partner commanders are a little disappointing at first but I think both are good options:
Ravos, Soultender, while I find it hard to imagine a tazri list being stuck to long merely because their two cast from exile or three allie wincons are stuck in a graveyard this guys would always be available if you needed him. while at first he looks like the obvious choice I'm actually more interested in option #2:L
Tymna the Weaver, and now you see why I wasn't excited about WB partners, while hopefully her ability to swing at open opponents herself will be enough Tazri simply isn't really a swinging deck... all the same she is a digging tool that is always at your disposal

So then I thought: what if we cut white?! I'ts mana base become much less strained becoming a 3 color deck after all, the Tazri list in the link runs a total of 3 white mana symbols, while these three happen to be Enlightened Tutor, Silence, and Swords to Plowshares, all extremely useful cards, I thought dropping white might be worth looking into:

Ikra Shidiqi, the Usurper, I suppose swinging with himself once heals 7 which of course could fuel ad nauseum but like Tymna it really can't be used to it's full potential in a Tazri list
Reyhan, Last of the Abzan, maybe a chump blocker, terrible (for a Tazri list I'm interested in what combos are going to be found for this guy). He can also turn the food chain combo into inf. +1/+1 counters which is also underwhelming.
Silas Renn, Seeker Adept, The only targets are mana rocks which is underwhelming (but more could be added if that's the route people want to take it) I do have dreams of Recurring Lotus Petals though (lol)

So there you have it Thrasos Is good I agree with tier 2 for now but I'm fairly confident he'll hit tier 1

Thrasios cant swap for General Tazri in Food Chain builds because

A) the infinite mana generated by Chain + Scourge/Griffin must be spent for creatures so you cant use Thrasios' ability as an outlet

B) Tazri fetches the allies as win-cons once the combo is assembled

Ohthenoises I tend to agree on Basalt and Rings, it's a good mana combo in casual but I don't like it in competitive builds. I've been toying with Docent of Perfection  ^Flip for a while now too because it just provides so much for an Azami list, plus it's funny with Dramatic Scepter. I'm glad you brought up the Captain of the Mists interaction, it's something I hadn't actually thought of and it's kind of funny. It's similar to Docent of Perfection  ^Flip and Intruder Alarm in that regard I guess. Not something to actively try to find but silly when you do.

Captain of the Mists + Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx is silly since most of the combo pieces in Azami (namely Azami herself) have a pretty high saturation of symbols.

Those three in play the shrine taps for 6 meaning every spell you cast and every human you play that's under 2 mana will net mana. I look at Captain as a bad Mind Over Matter though.

Yeah, I'm doing some testing with the Captain to see how I feel about it. As a combo piece I think you're right that it's just not as good as other things, but it does have utility outside of that which is worth something.

Also, with regards to Dramatic Scepter, I feel like it's worth pointing out that the combo also works with Sigil Tracer replacing Isochron Scepter, it just has slightly more specific requirements.

(Sorry, by "those three" I meant Docent, Captain, and Azami)

has anyone tried tana silas as a stax build yet? since silas offers the ability to bring back smoke stacks, and the black for cards like grave pact. also strapping a shroom with a Stoneforge Masterwork is pretty noice if it comes down to it. it would be more versatile Ghoulcaller Gisa, if a bit slower because of it.

has anyone tried tana silas as a stax build yet? since silas offers the ability to bring back smoke stacks, and the black for cards like grave pact. also strapping a shroom with a Stoneforge Masterwork is pretty noice if it comes down to it. it would be more versatile Ghoulcaller Gisa, if a bit slower because of it.