Maybeboard


Give out tokens to goad, then get in player combat damage without killing too many creatures.

A lot of the cards here have a "jack of all trades, master of none" thing going.

For token gifters (including Forbidden Orchard & Heidealtered) that lets you control who gets the tokens, I suggest offering this relatively simple deal before officially targeting/choosing:

On their next turn, they must have the tokens attack another opponent or planeswalker an opponent controls, and not attack you or a planeswalker you control on that turn with those tokens. Also, before they've attacked with the tokens on that turn they're not allowed to use the tokens for blocking or sacrifice unless forced by another player's effect.

Do adapt the wording for you playgroup tho, since coming across as overly serious in a casual game can provoke anti-Spikes into breakings deals for the sake of messing with you. And yes, the deal intentionally lets them do whatever they want with the tokens afterwards, and they're likewise free to attack you with other creatures they control on the turn in question.

Blind Obedience, Thalia, Heretic Cathar, & Kinjalli's Sunwing help by making sure gifted tokens can't block on the turn they're created. The first two will also hopefully slow down enemy ramp. (There's unfortunately conflict with Rite of the Raging Storm tho.)

Cards like Curse of Opulence and Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa help take advantage of token gifting.

Giver of Runes obviously provides both resilience and evasion.

Green Sun's Zenith targets:

Individual tokens created by Skyknight Vanguard/Anduril, Flame of the West can be sent to attack any opponent, not just the one the Skyknight/equipped creature is going for. Also, note that they (and e.g. Myriad tokens) can bypass pillow fort cards that only care about declaring attackers, e.g. Propaganda. (https://tappedout.net/mtg-questions/bypass-effect/)

Artifacts animated by Karn, the Great Creator stay like that until your next turn, so feel free to make an enemy's Sol Ring run smack dab into blockers.

As Marisi himself will be attacking plenty, commander damage is a viable killcon. The deck has a few ways of bumping his power so that he can get in a 3KO or 2KO (or even a 1KO when the stars are right). Inkmoth Nexus can play a similar role (in addition to just being a good backup player combat source).

The deck doesn't take much advantage of Marisi's first ability, but you can at least cast Instants during combat without having to worry about counterspells. (Watch out for Willbenders and the like though.) (Honestly, I'd prefer Marisi just having menace instead.)

Hushbringer is in conflict with some other cards (7 by my count, including Craterhoof Behemoth). Still, I think it inconveniences other decks much more than this one, and you can decide when to bring it out. (Besides, sooner or later someone will be fed up and hit it with removal, so it's unlikely to get in your way too much.) Notably excluded from conflict is Ravenous Slime and token-making removal spells like Mogg Infestation, since they don't use "when" or "whenever" wording.

Apart from giving situational evasion, Earnest Fellowship also e.g. protects Marisi from Blasphemous Acts and Swords to Plowshares'. Just be aware that it's also in conflict with Giver of Runes.

Soltari Visionary's ability is triggered by any kind of damage to any player, so if someone e.g. casts Rakdos Charm, it will try to destroy one of your things.

Creatures stolen with Insurrection will not be goaded when you deal combat damage to their owners.

Beckoning Will-o'-Wisp & Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa unfortunately don't play nice together for creatures with power at 2.

The deck has a bit of removal (8 cards by my count). However, if there's a problematic permanent you currently can't deal with, then you can hopefully politically convince an opponent to get rid of it for you since the owner of that permanent is probably being exempt from your goading fun.

Creatures you goad will not be able to attack enemy planeswalkers (or your own for that matter, unless you're down to 1v1).

Vengeful Ancestor is symmetrical, which can be quite nasty if someone steals Marisi, even temporarily. (On the flipside, the Ancestor makes Marisi a lot more useful 1v1.)

As with most creature-based decks, hold back on casting a couple of your creature cards from your hand so that you don't find yourself out of gas when a board wipe happens. (Noncreature permanent token makers like Court of Grace are OK tho.) Haunted Library can help you rebuild if you have a bit of spare mana; paying after an opponent wraths and then re-casting Marisi when it's your turn could enable goading everyone again right away, since the tokens have evasion.

Relevant reading: http://tappedout.net/mtg-questions/must-attack-with-propaganda-effects-in-multiplayer/ (Note that if an opponent wants to attack with a creature you goaded and the other two opponents have Ghostly Prison or similar, they can attack you and your PWs with that creature.)

Meta hate cards in the maybeboard worth considering: Titania's Song (and Opalescence), Angel of Jubilation, and Linvala, Keeper of Silence (extra funny with Living Plane). These all increases the number of permanents that are effectively vulnerable to goading (AoJ keeps tokens from just being saced, Linvala keeps dorks from tapping before combat etc.), so I recommend swapping out token gifters for them.

The deck used to have a bunch of CMC 1-2 dorks, but they were cut for land tutors due to wrath fears. They're still in the maybeboard if you prefer them.

While it's unlikely to come up very often, do note that creatures buffed by Elspeth, Knight-Errant will not be brought back by Luminous Broodmoth until EoT, so watch out for e.g. Pongify. (At least it doesn't last as long as Vivien, Champion of the Wilds's buff.)

Inspired by Gahiji: Forever War

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Top Ranked
Date added 5 years
Last updated 2 weeks
Legality

This deck is Commander / EDH legal.

Rarity (main - side)

13 - 0 Mythic Rares

61 - 0 Rares

12 - 0 Uncommons

6 - 0 Commons

Cards 100
Avg. CMC 2.90
Tokens Angel 4/4 W, Centaur 3/3 G, Copy Clone, Elemental 1/1 R w/ Haste, Elephant 3-3 G, Goblin 1/1 R, Gold, Incubator, Inkling 2/1 WB, Ox 2/4 W, Phyrexian 0/0 C, Soldier 1/1 W, Spirit 1/1 C, Spirit 1/1 W, Survivor 1/1 R, The Monarch, Thopter 1/1 C, Treasure, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders My (Mostly) Finished Stuff, EDH, Marisi Ideas, Decks I Want to Build, References, Inspiration, Goad deck, cool decks, EDH, EDH Decks I Like
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