Vizier of Resilience

Commander / EDH WU (Azorius)

The_Revenant_Wyvern

Land (35)

• 1x Azorius Chancery
• 1x Castle Ardenvale
• 1x Castle Vantress *f-pre*
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Dark Depths
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 1x Glacial Fortress
• 1x Hallowed Fountain
• 1x Irrigated Farmland *f-pre*
• 10x Island
• 1x Mystic Gate
• 1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 10x Plains
• 1x Prairie Stream
• 1x Reflecting Pool
• 1x Thespian's Stage

Instant (13)

• 1x Blue Sun's Zenith
• 1x Cackling Counterpart
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Disallow
• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Generous Gift
• 1x Heliod's Intervention
• 1x Lazotep Plating
• 1x Mission Briefing
• 1x Mystic Reflection
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Sublime Epiphany
• 1x Swan Song

Creature (16)

• 1x Blade Splicer
• 1x Burnished Hart
• 1x Deputy of Detention
• 1x Desolation Twin
• 1x Dream Trawler
• 1x Golden Guardian  ^Flip
• 1x Hanna, Ship's Navigator
• 1x Heliod, God of the Sun
• 1x Knight of the White Orchid
• 1x Mother of Runes
• 1x Reef Worm
• 1x Regal Caracal
• 1x Senate Guildmage
• 1x Sun Titan
• 1x Thassa, God of the Sea
• 1x Urza, Lord High Artificer

Sorcery (10)

• 1x Austere Command
• 1x Clone Legion
• 1x Finale of Glory
• 1x Idyllic Tutor *f-pre*
• 1x Phyrexian Rebirth
• 1x Rite of Replication
• 1x Saheeli's Artistry
• 1x Secrets of the Golden City
• 1x Supreme Verdict
• 1x Warrant / Warden

Planeswalker (3)

• 1x Dovin, Grand Arbiter
• 1x Elspeth, Knight-Errant
• 1x Tezzeret, Artifice Master

Commander (1)

Artifact (13)

• 1x Akroma's Memorial
• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Azorius Signet
• 1x Bident of Thassa
• 1x Bonehoard
• 1x Expedition Map
• 1x Lithoform Engine
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Mox Opal
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Spear of Heliod
• 1x Talisman of Progress
• 1x Wayfarer's Bauble

Enchantment (9)

• 1x Anointed Procession
• 1x Imprisoned in the Moon
• 1x Kiora Bests the Sea God
• 1x Land Tax
• 1x Rhystic Study
• 1x Shark Typhoon
• 1x Smothering Tithe
• 1x Thopter Spy Network
• 1x True Conviction

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This is probably my favorite commander deck, as I have a great time taking commanders that are traditionally considered weak, and then "breaking" them. The reason I find this to be a fun challenge is that 1) people are less likely to groan the minute you pull the commander out, and 2) unless you just put in the most generic, auto-win combos there are, you actually can only get so high up the power level spectrum. I would say this deck typically hits a high 7 or low 8 on my power-scale. For reference, my scale would consider the majority of pre-constructed decks to be a 4-5, and cEDH to be exclusively a 10.

The key with this deck is to make use of Temmet's ability early on, but also realize that going wide is (usually) the best way to win with combat damage in commander. Yes, you can obviously KO someone quite easily with a Marit Lage or even an 8/8, Hexproof, Kraken, but most games will be closed out with at least 3-4 tokens on board. This does not mean that Temmet's ability never comes into play; it does quite often. It's just easier to go wide with tokens, so having the ability to do so can be the difference between winning and losing.

Something that makes Temmet great for this type of strategy (besides his ability) is the fact that you very rarely will feel pressured to commit too many resources to the board. If you already have, say, 3x 1/1 Flying Thopters and a 4/4 Golem token with Temmet, then you are in a much better position then your opponents may realize. Considering how people tend to overlook flyers, and Temmet does give a temporary +1/+1 to the token that is unblockable, this means that we have up to 8 damage with one swing, which (when you do the math) represents a 5th of someone's starting life total. Now yes, knocking players out with little bits of chip damage in increments of 5 or so can take a while. But that's where the endgame finishers come into play. True Conviction takes that potential 8 damage mentioned in the previous example, and turns it into 16, while also padding out our life total by 16. Or, if you throw in something like Akroma's Memorial, now the entire team get's Flying, Vigilance, First Strike, Trample, Haste, and Pro Black and Red. Essentially, we can have a small to large force for both offense and defense, and we do not need to (as often) worry about the crack-back.

So, why do I call this deck "Vizier of Resilience?" That is due to a combination of the graveyard package as well as the ease at which this deck can make a comeback from a board wipe. Cards like Sun Titan and Hanna allow you to reuse some of your key cards, and Mission Briefing is just a good card in general. Also, Temmet is a cheap commander, but can even create a token by embalming himself in the graveyard, while a couple of our lands make tokens as well. Gold Forge garrison, when left alone, can be an annoyance for many opponents. When you pair with an Anointed Procession, it becomes strong. When you pair it, or both it and Anointed Procession, with Thespian's Stage? This results in a mini army every table rotation. And, thanks to our general, one of those golems will be smacking one of our opponents for an 8th of their starting life total. Another example of value happening is in the deck's main saga. Kiora Bests the Sea god is good on it's own, but paired with Hanna, Ship's Navigator, it can be a must answer threat. 8/8s are no joe on their own, but the Hexproof they come with makes them even more problematic. And, of course, if the army get's wiped over and over again, we can rebuild into a new one with Shark Typhoon. Just play any non-creature spell and watch as your board erupts into a flying shark air-force!

As for other synergies, flexible removal is especially important, as our board state can certainly scare our opponents (especially once they learn what this deck can and will do). Teferi's Protection is on my list of cards to get at some point, but for now I have found that a flexible defensive suite has been key to many victories. Cards like Swan Song, Disallow, and Sublime Epiphany fill multiple roles in the counter-spell categories, while Heliod's Intervention can be the perfect removal or life gain card. Generous Gift answers anything, and Supreme Verdict says that the board WILL be wiped, regardless of if your opponents have counters of their own. Another odd card that does not get a lot of play is Warrant / Warden. More often than not I used the Warden half of the card, but Warrant can bounce a creature that just might be to big to handle. Also, Imprisoned in the Moon is a card that I believe should be run in more decks. It is not quite as powerful as Song of the Dryads, but since we are not in green, this is the next best thing. I believe this to be better than Darksteel Mutation, as the permanent we enchanted is now a land, so it is much harder to remove. It cannot be sacrificed to an alter, it cannot still attack or block, it does not put it into the bin for those pesky re-animator decks. No. It just sits there as a land, and is much harder to deal with through more creative ways. The opponent needs to remove the aura, or they pretty much cannot get their planeswalker, creature, or enchantment combo-piece back. Austere Command is a nice, flexible, but pricey board wipe, as is Phyrexian Rebirth. But, what makes Phyrexian Rebirth so good is that it leaves behind a monstrosity that our cheap commander can ensure hits someone. As for the Rift, Does Cyclonic Rift really need explaining?

Beyond removal, there is a small "artifacts matter" sub-theme in this deck, hence why I am running Mox Opal over Mox Amber. I have tried both, but seeing as there will be times when your commander is not in play, and you might not have any legendaries out, I would much rather have something that will most likely tap for mana as soon as I just get a thopter and one other mana-rock out. The golem tokens I mentioned earlier have won me a game or two, and again, I find people overlook flyers more then they out to, so thopters are great for offense and defense.

Some cards that I know people might scratch their heads at are cards like Dovin, Grand Arbiter and Disallow over, say, basic Counter Spell. I will be the first to say that Dovin is by no means going to be public enemy number one, but that is part of the reason why he actually works quite well. If you set up the board right, the odds of him getting his ultimate off are surprisingly high, and being able to draw the best three cards out of your top ten is an incredible effect. And the best part? You do not even have to show the cards to the rest of the table. As for Disallow, that one extra mana (I feel) is WELL worth it! Say your opponent is about to resolve a triggered ability that starts an infinite combo, like with Sanguine Bond and Exquisite Blood. Original Counter Spell, Pact of Negation, Force of Will, and really any other "counter" effect will not be able to stop this from happening. I am not trying to say that Disallow is better than Force of Will in most scenarios. But if you are playing in a more casual environment, the extra utility from Disallow makes it a better answer to more situations on the battlefield.

All in all, this deck works ridiculously well. I've played it against spell slingers, aristocrats, control, token swarm, drain, and wheel decks, and it has held its own if not won against all of them. I am not trying to say that this is going to be a meta-defining type of deck, but I am saying that my playgroup now fears our little 2/2 vizier from Amonkhet. They know that he helms a deck that is not to be trifled with.

Date added	3 years
Last updated	3 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	15 - 0 Mythic Rares 48 - 0 Rares 8 - 0 Uncommons 8 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.52
Tokens	Angel 4/4 W w/ Vigilance, Bird 2/2 U, Cat 1/1 W w/ Lifelink, City's Blessing, Construct 0/0 C, Copy Clone, Eldrazi 10/10 C, Elephant 3-3 G, Emblem Elspeth, Knight-Errant, Emblem Tezzeret, Artifice Master, Enchantment Cleric 2/1 W, Fish 3/3 U, Foretell, Golem 4/4 C, Human 1/1 W, Kraken 8/8 U w/ Hexproof, Kraken 9/9 U, Marit Lage, Phyrexian Germ 0/0 B, Phyrexian Golem 3/3 C, Horror */* C, Shark */* U, Soldier 1/1 W, Soldier 2/2 W, Sphinx 4/4 WU, Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun 2/2 W, Thopter 1/1 C, Treasure, Whale 6/6 U, Zombie Army 0/0 B