Hi What do you think about [force of despair] and [kaya’s guile]? I think they fit in this deck, but which card would you change?

I could easily see someone playing Kaya's Guile . Not a bad card. I think it is a bit high in CMC for what I like for that effect, but pretty nice. Force of Despair looks interesting, and probably warrants some playtesting in multiple decks to see how it plays. I am not sure how often the multiple creatures into play this turn is a frequent enough event to make it worth the slot.

What are your thoughts on Brought Back ? Seems like a powerful and versatile card that I'm really keen on trying out.

Hi! I'm relatively new to this aikido style of control/pillow fort. I've already learned a bit from everyone's comments already, so thank you guys! :)

I've made a list of cards that I imagine fits the archetype but that I haven't seen in most lists. I would really appreciate if i could get your experienced opinions on them. Thank you all in advance :)

Oblation / Chaos Warp - Removal spells that double up as a way to rescue your own permanents. Also sweetens the pill for your opponent when you remove their things - at least they get something.

Spectral Grasp - Prevents a creature from attacking you like the Vows do, but unlike the Vows, Spectral Grasp also makes them unable to block your creatures.

Varchild, Betrayer of Kjeldor - Gives your opponents 1/1s that can't attack you or block,incentivizing them to hit each other with them. When Varchild eventually bites the dust you even get all the survivor tokens that have, well, survived.

Scheming Symmetry - A cheap Imperial Seal that lets you cooperate with an opponent.

Crown of Doom - Incentivizes your opponents to attack each other and can't be returned to you.

Mathas, Fiend Seeker - Rewards you and your opponents for killing creatures that don't belong to you.

Flash Conscription - Seems to fit aikido quite nicely if I've come to understand the term correctly. Steals an opponent's creature at instant speed to block, and it even gets a lifelink-effect if you payed white. Does cost 6 mana though...

Master Warcraft - Its uses include making opponents' creatures kill each other, assuring your survival one combat step if an opponent is threatening and letting your creatures slip past clogged up boards for lethal damage.

Disharmony - Steals an attacking creature to let you block with it.

Jabari's Influence - Gain permanent control of a creature that attacked you. Its drawbacks is that it costs 5 and only works on nonblack and nonartifact creatures which limits its uses, in addition to shrinking its power slightly. Still feels pretty on theme.

Soul Snare - Similar to Gossamer Chains in the way that you make it clear for your opponents that attacking someone else is in their best interest.

Boros Fury-Shield - A narrower Deflecting Palm that costs 1 more mana. Still fits the theme nicely I think.

Encircling Fissure - One sided fog. Can punish an opponent for being overly aggressive with their creatures. Can also help out an opponent in a pinch to make them owe you a favour later on.

Treacherous Urge - Can steal an opponent's creature from their hand and hit them with it. It's also a instant, so you can use it in response to someone attacking you.

Mindclaw Shaman - Quite similar to Treacherous Urge , but hits instants and sorceries instead.

Coveted Jewel - Provides you or the one who steals it from you with ramp and cards. Everyone wants in on that good stuff, right? I imagine that this could get tossed around a bit, but maybe 6 mana is a bit much, even if you get 3 of them back right away...

Older20 It's better use Second Sunrise or Faith's Reward .

MahBoi100 Like Jack the Ripper, let's go by parts:

The first three cards are removal spells, we are not trying to control the board, we are trying to conduct towards a result that benefits us.

I really like the idea of Varchild, you strengthens your opponents while protecting yourself.

Scheming is nice and dangerous at the same time.

Crown didn't create any value for your own.

Mathas attract to much attention.

Flash is CMC 6, that's too heavy, but it's a alternative to Word of Seizing , a card that saw a lot of play in this deck in the past.

You blowed my mind with Master Warcraft , excellent card for the aikido strategy.

Disharmony is like a fog of one creature or a removal spell, since you can get and block another attacking creature with it, both of the effects has better options in magic.

Jabari's Influence it's a alternative to Word of Seizing , a card that saw a lot of play in this deck in the past.

Soul Snare I like the reason behind the use of this card. Nice!

Boros Fury-Shield Man, this card is aewsome, it's better than Delirium and Backlash .

Encircling Fissure you usually don't have creatures to abuse of this, but it's a nice fog, can enter in the place of other.

Treacherous and mindclaw are heavy, cmc 5, and a shot in the dark.

Coveted act likes the monarch itself, a second monarch for 6 manas.

Patolea Thank you very much for your response and for sharing your insight with me! I appreciate that you took your time to provide me with second opinions on the cards that I listed! :)

What do you think of Intervention Pact ? Being free damage prevention gives you another layer of defense when you need it, and it gives you life to boot! It costing 0 mana does allow you to feign being shields-down to weed out a potential betrayal. But you wouldn't want to be in a shields-down situation like that to begin with, I guess x)

MahBoi100, those are all Aikido style cards, some saw play in this deck in the past, some are too expensive to be optimal, but are nice alternates or duplicates, and some are a little to expensive for their effect to be worth it.

On that list, I think my favorite are Varchild, Betrayer of Kjeldor and Scheming Symmetry . Varchild just makes for chaos, and Symmetry is great for control in a way that can be political. Get someone to take out a threat for you, get a tutor for your efforts. I have not tried it, but in less than cEDH metas, it is probably good.

precociousapprentice, thanks for the reply, and thank you for making this decklist! I've learned a lot from reading the description of it and similar decks. You've opened my eyes for a new type of control. The funny thing is that I've been longing for an opportunity to use cards like Comeuppance and Lapse of Certainty , but haven't really gotten the chance till now. So again, thank you! :)

I'm curious why you have Twinflame , my only guess is the combo with Dualcaster Mage but after reading your primer you mention staying away from common combos?

Dockside Extortionist is just too good to ignore

The new seems super sweet and on flavor.

Guess I can't link stuff. The card I was attempting to refer to was Bloodthirsty blade from c19.

SGDJ The problem I see with Bloodthirsty Blade is that an opponent can simply attach it back to one of your creatures, as there's no clause preventing that.

Crown of Doom does have that clause and I love it for this style of deck, but it keeps getting cut every time I add it...

Freakjob it may be attached but your opponent doesn't control it... They can't attach it to something else

Elywood Aha, I missed that, thanks for the catch. In that case, I dig it!

I’m in the Adirondacks hiking mountains for the last week, no electronics. I’ll weigh in later, but I like both those new cards for this style of deck. As for the combo, my meta needs a combo finish, this was the most ok theme and only required a single changed card, and has not changed the threat level in the eyes of my meta. It has worked for me. May not for everyone. We can discuss a little about getting past the primer later.

precociousapprentice That honestly is explanation enough, I'm sort of in the same boat in my group. I am interested in "getting past the primer" though!

Hey topic creator and fellow Aikido players. I just wanted to say that I've made my own version of this deck. It's a work in progress but I was fortunate enough to have some of the more expensive cards in my collection. I have to say that I LOVE this deck. I was skeptical at first, but was intrigued by the idea so I built it. Everything in the comments is true: it really does scale to the power level of other decks and it comes out of NOWHERE to win. My current win rate is over 75% of the deck. Some of the decks in my meta are Sydri artifact deck, Emmara token deck, Inalla, Tymna, Varina and Saheeli decks. This deck is INSANE. One of my best friends who I play with threw a fit yesterday and said he never wants to play with me as he feels like he can never win. I think it is true when the TC said this deck is best played every so often and not every game, although every game is so different.

It is crazy how low of a threat that the deck has and it's ability to steal games out of nowhere. I love it.

I am currently working on improving my deck a little. I want to take out some of the big threats and add some more Aikido cards that are long overdue but just haven't picked them up yet. I must say that out of the 2019 commander decks, Bloodthirsty blade might be a good include as you can requip it and goading a huge enemy creature might seem worth it. Obviously would have to try it out.

Yesterday in 4v all game: Game 1: Emmara deck and I were last on the battlefield, and she had over 300 power on the board with 60 life and I had 6. I had a Solitary Confinement out, he was fishing for answers, and found enchantment removal. He killed my S.C. but I pulled a Sun Titan, pulled it back and won by summoning a Gisela and Duelist's Heritage.

Another game it was left with me and the Emmara Deck, I had no enchantments on the field. I pulled a Mob Rule (one of my favorite budget Aikido cards btw), stole all of his creatures, then at the end of turn I Word of Seizing his Throne of the God Pharraoh. He was left with 10 life. Next turn he swang big and I was ready with a Batwing Brume. He was PO'd.

Anyways, let's keep updating this deck. I would really appreciate any feedback on mine. It's still a work in progress. I want to add a Nevermore, Rakdos Charm and a Hushwing Griff to the deck. Those are my next inclusions.

Thanks for reading! :)

jamesschlegel That's awesome! I'm currently building a list myself, so it's really encouraging to hear that the deck works well for you! :)

MahBoi100 Yes, I was skeptical as I was building because every meta is different but honestly, the deck really does use their big threats against them so it really does work well against all decks that I've played against so far. If you're just building the decklist, take a look at mine:

https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/queen-marchesa-aikido-politics-control/

I built it using the cards that I had in my collection thats why Sarkhan and Arvad are in there, although they fit the rattlesnake theme quite well. I will most likely take them out when I update with the next set of cards I buy.

Over performing cards so far: Mirage mirror, wound reflection, rakdos charm, Sun Forger (obviously), Mob Rule (SO GOOD budget option), Thaumatic compass, Mystifying Maze(budget option) ,Gisela, Vampire Nighthawk, Duelist's heritage, Animate Dead, Solitary Confinement and Delaying Shield. The whole deck really, I just love every card!! Not sure what your budget is but Dark Confident is a great turn 2 play as it is like a mini Queen Marchesa for card advantage (had this card in my collection).

I'd like to see what cards you've included. :)

jamesschlegel Here's a link to my list:

https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/pillowcase-politics/

I'm looking forward to playing politics, as well as bringing home the fact that attacking me is perilous, even with little to no board presence. I'm also really happy that I finally found a place for my pet card, Illicit Auction ! ^_^

Why are you playing sun droplet?

Hey bud, I love the time and effort you've put into this, really interesting and inspiring! I'd love to talk you about a similar style deck but with the new Elsha from C19. I've been using your deck as a starting point, but would love to chat with you about card inclusions and game plan!

Thoughts on the new madness C19 deck? Bloodthirsty Blade seems like an autoinclude for me, but I reeeeaally like the way Anje feels just playing her out of the box. Any ideas on maybe how to incorporate her into this playstyle as a card engine? She also seems pretty non-threatening so might fly under the radar

I have added Bloodthirsty Blade for testing. I have yet to draw it. It seems perfect.

skylinerees, PM me a decklist. I am definitely interested. Elsha may be my next deck as well. I would love to collaborate.