@Verim: Captain Sisay helps Eight-and-a-Half-Tails show up in more games, but he would still be in my 99 without her. As you mentioned, you need to have mana open during your opponents' turns to get the most out of him. Well, the same is true of Mayael! If I keep 6 mana open, I have a choice of activating my commander OR protecting 2 of my permanents. Those are both powerful options. If I chose to spend that mana to "make my board stronger", my options start getting narrower. I mean, strengthening your board position is obviously a good and necessary thing, but I've found that kind of logic can lead to overextension. Piloting this deck effectively isn't a matter of dropping as many fatties as possible. It's a matter of dropping the fewest number of threats you need to win, and then protecting them well. Otherwise, there's a huge risk of being blown out by a Wrath of God.

@CastleSiege: Avenger of Zendikar will be getting a chance to audition once I have more fetch lands at my disposal.

@Xenagonian: I feel like if I've built this deck to the standards I was shooting for, then Quicksilver Amulet shouldn't be necessary. My suite of topdeck filters should be limiting how many fatties land in my hand. Birthing Pod is super fun if you're exploiting ETB or death triggers, but here it's just a tutor. I'm not a big fan of tutors.

Spellbreaker Behemoth could be very useful here.

nicosvobio11, there's nothing wrong with a 5/5 for four mana, especially one that makes fatties uncounterable, and I'm not MaelstromHobo, but I personally think Spearbreaker Behemoth is better. The purpose of Mayael the Anima is to pull creatures from your deck, not really hard casting them.

Being able to make everything indestructible is invaluable to be sure. Personally, I always play to counter control decks. I would probably just end up running both.

Have you considered using Land Tax? It helps you avoid missing land drops during the early parts of the game and increases the chances of getting creatures using Mayael. You might need to add some more basics though.

Looking at the list, Eiganjo Castle, Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep and Petrified Field seem a bit unnecessary.

Also, Hall of the Bandit Lord might be a better option than Slayer's Stronghold.

Illusionist's Bracers are another good Rings of Brighthearth that you don't have to pay for once they're attached. Slightly more limited since they only work on creatures, but you have at least a few decent targets, and of course your commander.

I don't know what to say. I've never been great at Commander, but this deck sure looks great. I have a question about the description: how did you make the little spoilers? I upvoted like 4 months ago, otherwise I would again.

Wow man, this deck is really good. My Mayael's Friends is a Primal Surge based deck. Super Timmy. But in my current playgroup, control and combo seems to take the cake. Had someone use Arcanis the Omnipotent/Mind Over Matter combo on me turn 5.

But after looking through this deck build, I must say, that I kind of want to emulate it. I would make a few changes for personal choice. Since control is a thing here, I feel like tutors will be implemented.

+1 for such a well thought out deck.

The key was Rout in my game with this deck. Once I had 6 mana and creatures and killed all of their best it was an easy game. I never even had to use Mayael again.Also Captain Sisay is a giant bomb. 10/10.

Mayael's Aria

If only MaelstromHobo got paid every time someone linked/suggested Mayael's Aria. I think you need to put something about your choice of not using it up front and center.

@Megalomania: Your mana base is such a useful, and often untapped (pun definitely intended), resource that I don't feel it's wise to run more than a few basics. Land Tax is a card you kind of have to build around, and doing so usually means you're not getting as much utility out of your mana base. I like it for mono-white, and maybe even 2-color, but not in this build.

Hall of the Bandit Lord never impressed me. 3 life is pretty steep, even in commander, but the ETB tapped clause is what really kills it for me. Not to mention it only works for casting creatures, so a fatty dropped by Mayael will never benefit from it.

@raefgall: Oh how I've hemmed, oh how I've hawed. The problem here is not that Illusionist's Bracers lacks power. I mean, obviously it's really good when it works. I don't think I've ever whiffed on two consecutive activations of Mayael. The problem is that it's a kill spell superconductor. Poor Mayael never seems to last more than a turn (hell, sometimes no more than a phase) when she stars accessorizing. As such, the only equipment I run at the moment is Lightning Greaves because it comes with a built-in shield.

@Prima: Funny you should ask, Epoch just wrote an article on how to write a primer where he goes into detail on the nuts and bolts of HTML coding. You can find it here.

@Eternaldark866: Thank you for the kind words. Good luck with your deck!

@lightningshard: Captain Sisay is really awesome tech that I rarely see run in Mayael. I happened to be looking through my list one day, noticed that a huge chunk of the deck was legendary, and put her in on a whim. Now, she's so important that legendary status is one of the criteria I look at when determining if a card is worth running.

@ninjaman16782: The short answer is that it doesn't do much for me, and I have better 3-drops vying for a spot. I have plans to update the primer to explain this in greater detail.

@thewyzman: Lol. I think that even if I put it in extra large, bold font I'd still be making bank. That said, expect an update to the primer soon.

Awesome deck. I can see a lot of time and effort went into putting it together and setting this page up, +1.

Alright, that makes sense. Love the deck.

i STRONGLY recommend Archetype of Endurance as one of the best way to protect your creatures, as well as turn off opposing Lightning Greaves or even hex proof generals.

i would say it is the second best creature for protecting your investments, (second only to Avacyn, Angel of Hope ).

another slight difference that i chose was switching from Artisan of Kozilek to Karmic Guide. i know artisan is a mayael target, but then you don't actually get the triggered ability, and then if you aren't getting the triggered ability it is probably just worse than many other options for mayael targets.

@bmorri9 Just as a heads up, Archetype of Endurance removes hexproof from opponent's creatures, but it doesn't remove shroud. So it would disable Swiftfoot Boots, but not Lightning Greaves

lemmingllama ahhhhhh true, thanks. My mistake. Good catch.

@bmorri9: Here's the problem I've always had with Archetype of Endurance. As soon as you play him, everybody is scrambling to wipe the board. I've never seen a creature provoke more mass removal. I mean, that's great I guess, because it means he's a threat. But it also means he rarely works. Sparklepig got my board blown up with such regularity that I decided it was time to try something new. Eight-and-a-Half-Tails took his place and I haven't looked back.

Karmic Guide is awesome, no doubt about it. I've been looking for a way to slip it into the deck. But I don't think that removing Artisan of Kozilek is the way to go. I'm running juuuust barely enough Mayael targets as is. On average I whiff once per game, and I'm trying to correct that. Annihilator pulls it's weight, enough so that the "when you cast..." clause on most Eldrazi can just be considered gravy.

I know you're packing lightly on enchants, but where you're interested in ramping and knowing what's on top (i.e., Courser of Kruphix), have you considered Into the Wilds? With Courser, you're potentially playing two lands each turn AND keeping those land clumps off the top of your library, giving Mayael better chances.

I use it in my own Rompin' Stompin' Big'uns to pretty good success.

@thewyzman: Ooh I like that. Looks like I need to stop by my LGS today.

My LGS has a "junk rares" box for rares under a buck (LOVE me those super-budget cards!). It's insanely cheap for the amount of value it provides for decks like this. It's a little slow in that it takes until T5 (without other ramp) to start working, and there are plenty of good 4-drops out there, but if nothing else, like I pitched, it keeps land off the top and improves Mayael's effectiveness.

Also, do you care about mana dorks? Arbor Elf does pretty well since it can untap Temple Garden and Stomping Ground; or Voyaging Satyr can simply untap ANY land. They all die to wraths, but can help you build up quicker (don't know how you feel about speed of this deck).

I might even replace Stalking Vengeance with Pelakka Wurm. When I used SV in my deck, it was pretty idle and didn't bring a lot of value cuz people would just kill it, and the goal of any game is to NOT have your guys killed. Pelakka brings an efficient body (7/7 for seven), 7 life, a trampler, and a card draw if it's killed.

Elderscale Wurm helps you not lose and usually gets a lot of sad faces from opponents, and Blitz Hellion is like a smack in the face that comes back for more if you use Mayael's ability on your turn typically.

cool deck man. Looks hard to beat. Essentially if Mayael goes off, it's over.

@thewyzman: I think most mana dorks are far too fragile for most EDH decks. There are exceptions, of course, but they're usually tied to builds specifically designed to maximize small creatures or massive ramp (elves, for example). I don't bring this deck to tournament tables, so speed isn't really a huge concern. As long as I'm hitting my land drops (with a little ramp sprinkled in, perhaps) it's usually a fair, fun game.

I tend to get decent value out of Stalking Vengeance. He's definitely not the most exciting creature in the deck, but he serves a purpose. People think twice about wrathing when he's on the board, and he turns my wraths into potential finishers. I would not be opposed to replacing him though, I just don't think it would be with Pelakka Wurm. I like the card a lot, but something like Regal Force seems like a more powerful option. Pelakka Wurm seems more at home with somebody like Saffi Eriksdotter at the helm.

Blitz Hellion doesn't jive with my typical strategy. I'm usually activating Mayael at the end of my opponent's turn, so he just doesn't live up to his potential here.