Raff - Never Tap Down

Commander / EDH WU (Azorius)

redace10

Land (36)

• 1x Academy Ruins
• 1x Adarkar Wastes
• 1x Cavern of Souls
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 1x Glacial Fortress
• 1x Hallowed Fountain
• 1x Irrigated Farmland
• 10x Island
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Minamo, School at Water's Edge
• 1x Myriad Landscape
• 1x Mystic Gate
• 1x Nimbus Maze
• 7x Plains
• 1x Prairie Stream
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Sea of Clouds
• 1x Tectonic Edge
• 1x Temple of Enlightenment
• 1x Windswept Heath

Instant (13)

• 1x Arcane Denial
• 1x Cryptic Command
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Mana Drain
• 1x Mystic Confluence
• 1x Nexus of Fate
• 1x Pact of Negation
• 1x Paradoxical Outcome
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Reality Shift
• 1x Sphinx's Revelation
• 1x Swords to Plowshares

Creature (20)

• 1x Arcanis the Omnipotent
• 1x Avacyn, Angel of Hope
• 1x Brago, King Eternal
• 1x Djeru, With Eyes Open
• 1x Dragonlord Ojutai
• 1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
• 1x Ephara, God of the Polis
• 1x Hanna, Ship's Navigator
• 1x Heliod, God of the Sun
• 1x Jace, Vryn's Prodigy  ^Flip
• 1x Jhoira's Familiar
• 1x Kefnet the Mindful
• 1x Kytheon, Hero of Akros  ^Flip
• 1x Medomai the Ageless
• 1x Oketra the True
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Thassa, God of the Sea
• 1x Torrential Gearhulk
• 1x Venser, Shaper Savant
• 1x Wurmcoil Engine

Planeswalker (10)

• 1x Ajani Steadfast
• 1x Elspeth, Knight-Errant
• 1x Elspeth, Sun's Champion
• 1x Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
• 1x Jace Beleren
• 1x Jace, the Mind Sculptor
• 1x Narset Transcendent
• 1x Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
• 1x Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
• 1x Venser, the Sojourner

Commander (1)

Artifact (16)

• 1x Azorius Signet
• 1x Cultivator's Caravan
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Gilded Lotus
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Mirage Mirror
• 1x Mox Amber
• 1x Oblivion Stone
• 1x Relic of Progenitus
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Skysovereign, Consul Flagship
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Talisman of Progress
• 1x Thought Vessel
• 1x Wayfarer's Bauble
• 1x Weatherlight

Enchantment (2)

• 1x Oath of Gideon
• 1x Oath of Teferi

Sorcery (2)

• 1x Karn's Temporal Sundering
• 1x Urza's Ruinous Blast

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Raff Capashen is my favorite commander to come out for Azorius in a long time (Sorry Azor, you're not as good as I had hoped).

Be Afraid of My Hand

--- Azorius Control decks have never had such a powerful leader as Raff. Augustin just draws hate and your opponents almost certainly know what you're up to the second you reveal him. --- Raff is so much more unpredictable, and that much stronger for it. It's very hard for opponents to swing into you or have removal/counter spells ready for you when they're staring at all your untapped lands and handful of possible cards you could play.

The Very Definition of Draw-Go

--- With Vedalken Orrey in the command zone (and that's what Raff is with how this deck is built), it's a lot of fun to dictate the pace of the game and be political, whilst waiting for the right time to build up your board state. The flexibility to do that while also holding up lands for countering/removing is really special, and draws considerable synergy with all the instant speed debauchery UW plays so well at. --- Wincons are generally Venser, Teferi, or Narset activating their ultimate. The other planeswalkers also pose sufficient threats. This can easily turn into a beat down deck with Elesh Norn, the various God creatures, and other big legendaries leading the charge.

Notable Inclusions

--- 10 Planeswalkers and two more creatures that flip into walkers. I keep reading that UW has great answers to problems, but has trouble bringing threats themselves. --- I'm still tinkering with which power cards I should include. Avacyn, Angel of Hope instant speed to a board wipe is fairly hilarious. Still, here I feel confident that going the walker route solves the colors lack-of-threats issue, and is especially great at instant speed. --- Other suggestions would be considered. Admittedly I have dug deep into Blue-White legendaries on gatherer, but magic is so vast I have almost assuredly missed something cool.

Notable Exclusions

--- All cards that aren't historic or can't inherently be cast at instant speed are not under consideration. Sorry Supreme Verdict and Time Warp, I don't want to play the deck at other player's speed. --- The Chain Veil is a mighty interesting card, and seems pretty powerful. However, I have concerns that it is slow and is a dead card without a planeswalker present. --- There are other artifacts out there that are powerful, but I chose not to run because I didn't want that to be the theme of the deck. I'm all ears if there are artifacts that fit the deck though.

Comments/Suggestions are always welcome, no commander deck is ever truly finished.

Date added	6 years
Last updated	2 years
Exclude colors	BRG
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	29 - 0 Mythic Rares 36 - 0 Rares 13 - 0 Uncommons 5 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.59
Tokens	Emblem Ajani Steadfast, Emblem Elspeth, Knight-Errant, Emblem Elspeth, Sun's Champion, Emblem Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, Emblem Jace, Vryn's Prodigy, Emblem Narset Transcendent, Emblem Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, Emblem Venser, the Sojourner, Enchantment Cleric 2/1 W, Knight Ally 2/2 W, Kor Ally 1/1 W, Manifest 2/2 C, Soldier 1/1 W, Warrior 1/1 W w/ Vigilance, Wurm 3/3 C w/ Deathtouch, Wurm 3/3 C w/ Lifelink
Folders	commander, EDH Deck Ideas, snazy (EDH), Raff