Patolea, threat assessment is the ability to look at the table, take the clues that are present, such as the commanders and the board state, and understand what the biggest threats are in the current game. Sometimes this means seeing how someone else can win and stopping it before they can, sometimes this means understanding how you yourself are in the best position to win, and understanding how that win could be stopped if you don't play correctly. Threat assessment is your ability to understand what tactics are likely to be employed against you based on all available information about the current game, the archetypes present at the table, and the tendencies of the players across the table. Good threat assessment is knowing how the game is likely to unfold and the components of the evolving win. Bad threat assessment is having clues about the evolving win, but overlooking them due to lack of understanding.

With a deck that beats people with their own deck, knowing how other people can win is essential in both preventing it as well as constructing your own win out of the threats that they bring to the table. Good threat assessment is essential with this deck. Some decks just stumble into a win, just by deploying it's own assets. This deck has to work with every bit of everyone's assets to get the win. This is not a deck you just hand to a beginner and hope that they have fun.

Thank You, now I understand. Things like, its better tutor for Delirum or Batwing Brume depending on How The table Works.

Brand new spoiler from ravnica allegience,

Smothering tithe 3W

Whenever an opponent draws a card, that player may pay 2. If the player dosen’t, you create a colourless treasure artifact token with “tap, sacrifice this artifact: add one mana of any colour.”

I feel like this could fit in real nicely and is worth testing

https://imgur.com/a/oJjur57

This may find a home in the deck. The Queen does need to levy taxes.

Funny. I hadn't seen your comment and I came to the same conclusion ThaneGarrus. I also like Electrodominance. That will be good. Not sure if perfect for this deck, but good someplace.

Yes Yes Yes! Smothering Tithe is exactly what I've been looking for in this deck! I find myself needing to leave mana up for responses (or bluffing) from mid-game onwards. This means cards like Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs and Master of Cruelties rarely see play due to their high mana cost; yes, 5 CMC feels high in this deck!

Having those artifacts at our disposable would be an absolute godsend. More than happy to pay preorder price for this card to get it day one.

Not sure if you already know this but I just discovered a cool alternative to Solemnity for the no-damage combo with Delaying Shield in the form of Mirage Mirror. You can essentially leave up and turn mirror into shield in response to a incoming damage effect to transfer the counters to it.

Also you can add this to your primer if you want, but another good use of Duelist's Heritage is that it gives Queen Marchesa or her tokens the ability to fend off any ground attacks (and killing attacking creatures) without dying due to double strike which is effectively another pillowfort effect.

Not sure if I've misunderstood something Enral. Duelist's Heritage can only target attacking creatures - how would that assist defending?

I love Mirage Mirror. Such and underrated card. I had noted that interaction Enral, but thanks for making it clear to anyone else following. Similar to the other weirdness with things that collect or use counters, like Dark Depths. Amazing card without these interactions, but using it with this counter interaction is just icing on the cake.

RobotCowhand Ignore that part of the comment, you're right it only works on attacking creatures.

precociousapprentice I agree...Mirage Mirror is such an amazing card.

Looks like Blood Tribute just got an upgrade in this deck. Check out Revival//Revenge. The first ability adds only a little, but it does add come, and the second no longer needs a vampire. Pretty well pure win.

With Smothering Tithe coming and the Treasure tokens it makes, I'll be looking to put Treasure Map  ^Flip into the deck as well. Some scrying early on, then flips for a way to draw extra cards.

That is a great point AeoniX. I had treasure map in for a while when it came out because I was maximizing the scry effect, and felt that it was slow and left me without much effect. The 3 treasure were OK, the scry was OK, but an extra non-basic land that only created colorless was not great, and the card draw was basically limited to only 3 cards total, and that was if I cashed in the treasure. With another treasure source, it could be much better. I may try it again, too.

The new set, Ravnica Allegiance seems to include more rakdos and orzhov stuff for more nonsense to add to this deck. I was wondering which cards you were already considering? The new card spoiled only today [Captive Audience] seems perfect for this deck.

precociousapprentice yo have you seen Captive Audience yet?! Idk about you but its an auto include for me

Yes Weefy117, I have. Intriguing, but I worry about the CMC. Definitely fits the theme some from lower power versions of the deck, but keeping the average CMC low means passing on some of the 7 drops.

I don’t like Captive Audience in this deck, let me explain

1. In my experience the games I usually win are the ones where I am politically policing the strongest decks at the table then turn the tide on an opponent going off, that means I already barely have the chance to cast cards like Stolen Strategy in most cases because I’m holding mana up for a counter play

(yes Academy Rector can cheat it into play)

1. Captive Audience will likely draw on the full hate of the one player you select (if they can’t remove it, they will try to remove you) which means your resources will be heavily taxed (split between surviving and trying to win)

I can’t wait for Smothering Tithe to come out because I would really like to play both the proactive and reactive parts of the deck! This is by far my favourite deck to play

ThaneGarrus and precociousapprentice very good points. 7 mana is alot, but i would make the exception with this card because its so juicy. However, it would make me an instant target at the table, not just by the enchanted player, but the other player (my play group is 2 other friends of mine) just because its a dick card lol. Maybe ill have this card in a curse deck of some kind in the future, but its one of those cards i know i want to play with. But youre both right, it doesnt fit very well in here. Smothering Tithe looks so perfect for this deck tho, i can definitely see this being great with fetching Debt to the Deathless and mana sink in this like crazy. Also, do you think the new orzhov split card could replace Blood Tribute?

Weefy117 I completely agree that it’ll be perceived as a huge dick move by everyone (like playing Iona, Shield of Emeria against a mono coloured deck)

I think that Revival/Revenge is definitely an upgrade from Blood Tribute since the kicker is highly improbable and Vampire Nighthawk is no longer in the deck, a bonus is that revival could prove useful in future builds

Hmm... Your meta may work a little differently than mine. Usually ours is pretty cutthroat & they'll say: "better him than me" to this sort of card. They'll be happy with the 5 zombie gift (though who knows what they'll do with it). Obviously if you can stick it you put it on whatever lame, Solitary Confinement turtle wants to let everyone fight amongst each other... We do it for the larfs & poetic justice.

Wanted to throw in my motions for my meta-tuning/upcoming release :

Blood Tribute -> Revival//Revenge - Well covered in thread already! Strictly better.

Thaumatic Compass  ^Flip -> Weathered Wayfarer - I typically find myself with this card in hand in low mana situations, leaving me in a position where I'm painfully waiting for a third mana to crack it. Wayfarer is cheaper and can find maze quicker than Compass transforming if desired.

Curse of Opulence -> Smothering Tithe - Same effect, but more upside without singling out an opponent

Virtus the Veiled -> Surgical Extraction - Virtus generates too much heat at my table without evasion/haste feels like a dead card; I feel the same about master of cruelties, but payoff is far greater. I've seen a rise in early game Entomb/Reanimate effects - I've been hit twice with a turn 2 It That Betrays in the last month, along with a Shadowborn Apostle deck becoming a heavy hitter at my local LGS and an infinite spore frog loop.. I don't want to use Rest In Peace, etc. since that will generate too much hate, as opposed to singling out a combo piece. Also, the surprise 0 cost will catch even the best players off guard.

Xantcha, Sleeper Agent -> The Scorpion God - Too many sacrifice effects in my meta for this to be worth the slot; it’s also killed me twice due to Homeward Path type effects. Scorpion God seems like a good politicial tool and dump for mana kept open for instants before next turn, also card draw.

Caves of Koilos > Cabal Coffers -> Lots of Urborg usage in my meta.

I only desagree with one instance:

"Curse of Opulence -> Smothering Tithe - Same effect, but more upside without singling out an opponent"

Curse of Opulence has two goals, generate treasures and make people attack other player than you, I don't know if I will cut Curse, It's a tough decision.

Revival//Revenge It's AEWSOME! LOL

precocious: do you have any specific combos in mind for Electrodominance , or are you just going to use it as a swizz army knife of Quicken /mana filtering/finisher/emergency removal as appropriate from moment to moment?

@Patolea

Yeah, in theory I agree with you. In practice you are generating an imbalance at the table with one person falling behind the other 3 people. It typically doesn't last long on the table, with the downside of you showing your political leanings extremely early in the game. Chances are, you are playing the curse on the biggest perceived threat....now that threat is focused on you. In odd circumstances, I've seen contrarians attacking ME because they don't want to feel like sheep and attack the person I've marked.

I LOVE this primer. It's great. Well done and thought out. But I have to say something that's important. You know that cards like Burning Wish don't work in EDH right? It's in the rules of the game. Since the game is strictly 100 cards, you aren't legally allowed to fetch from outside the game.

Abilities which refer to other cards owned outside the game (Wishes, Spawnsire, Research, Ring of Ma'ruf) do not function in Commander without prior agreement on their scope from the playgroup.

That's rule 13 from here. So that being said, what would you replace those cards with? Just because in my case we play with all existing rules and no house rules. Just because I can't use those cards.