Hi mastermew. Thanks for your suggestion. I have reviewed those equipments some time ago already. But I feel they are too mana intensive for what they do. I have been away for a while, so my response took a while :-)

Hey MegaMatt13,

Great to see you came by to check on my build. Sadly I was out of the country for a long while. So I was unable get back to you. But today I planned some free time and want to work on this deck too. Let me review what you commented;

I have been swapping and changing many equipments, also the less impact full. But after many games I felt that - and I see you are saying partially the same later on - that the low mana equips are not something I am willing to add. Just to storm through the deck. I believe that anything that should be added, should bring something extra to the battlefield.

Trailblazer's Boots and Unquestioned Authority both have been selected before, but I would like to give them a new try.

I am a huge fan of ramping, because more mana is also more options to play the deck faster. If you get some decent extra draws during the game, it would be nice to actually cast and equip them asap. Extra mana gives us edge. Don't you agree?

Thanks for the great imput!

Hello Gleeock,

thanks for the review here. In the past I played with Scorched Ruins, but land destruction is something common here. Everyone runs Strip Mine. If they strip this one, than I get a serious blow. But on the otherhand, it is indeed great ramp. How do you feel about this, knowing that strip mines are common here?


Hi CrimsonWings3689,

thanks for sharing your input. I am curious on your stance after my answers;

Cultivator's Caravan : Basically for 3 mana you get to draw a card and get 1 mana available in return. With ramp for the next turns as a result. I feel this is something that helps me equip faster midgame.

Myth Realized : acts as a backup plan. Mainly to make him a bloker on instant speed when needed. It's a try, since I didnt get to play him yet. But I do not plan on equipping him that often. But perhaps it's too narrow to keep?

Opal Palace : Since colorless mana is not a real issue in this deck, then what do I have to lose if I do not use that second ability that often?

Darksteel Axe is on the chopping block and I agree with you about its ineffectiveness for Sram. Basilisk Collar lost its place in the past, but I can see it return for this build again.

Empyrial Plate : This card had some great plays in my deck. I am a fan of it!

Strata Scythe : Although you sac a land, it's still gives lots of value and in our playgroup there are several white players boosting me too :-)

Cheers!

Regarding Scorched Ruins that would make a difference if I had such high probability for any opponent to run a Strip Mine any given game. I've only had it happen once, where an opponent played it 1st, but I have about 40 lands in my Sram deck so I just sat with the ruins as a dead card in my hand & played plains until my opponent popped something else. Otherwise, if I can get Scorched Ruins out first and crack it for the 2 ramp I sometimes feel it already gave me the value I was asking for (I feel it is much more of a hindrance with Strip mine played 1st as a deterrent, where you may not even get a chance to tap for mana)...So maybe in a more land-packed Sram deck it is more worth the risk.

Yes! -- Empyrial Plate, that card really forces people to make some decisions faster than they want to!

Hmm, my mistake, I've tamed Sram down to 38 lands since then.

One thing you mentioned about Sram that I like alot is that "Plug & Play" feeling. You say you swap out and try different equipment here & there. I do the same thing because I'm not usually too worried about suddenly changing the balance of this type of deck & accidentally nerfing myself. I enjoy your reviews of equipment that have been surprisingly effective.

I'm going to give this new build a testrun tonight. Lets see how it holds in a decent competitive scene. I will report back once its done...

Possible commander encounters: Jhoira, Phenax, Kydele+Thrasios, Silver Overlord.

The results where pretty decent. Played against Kydele+Thrasios three games. This guy plays with cards like Mishra's Workshop. Usual amount of mana available on turn 3 is 10+. I still went 2-1 in my favor.

I have serious doubts about Paradox Engine. It just feels not in place. I am pretty sure that tonight I will remove him and perhaps a few other limping cards...

• Neat, sounds like your opponent was trying to combo out but you got him with commander dmg too early.

• I'm not sure about Dox Engine either. There are some solid plays but I don't think this deck has the same vast amount of tap-to-activate abilities that GREEN/white would field.

• Do you play this duel commander a lot then? Usually I play in 4 player format.. He still performs well, even with the highly focused nature of the deck/lack of ability to spread the love.

• I'm excited about Dowsing Dagger: 1) Equip, 2) Damage w/ Sram, 3) MLD, 4) Transform dagger and reset the game with a 3 mana production

Indeed. He played artifact heavy, with lots of new hands and extra turns to find wincons. Like playing Karn in turn 3 and such. I must say I did pretty well. It's a real competitive deck he has. But I felt that with Sram, we can do a little better than I saw last night. We have to be more focussed on cards that end up being vital all day long. A dead card midgame could be the difference in winning and losing against such decks. You gotta get momentum and reach the 21 before things turn to the worse. Tunnel vision might be happening for myself...

Well, I prefer to do the dual Commander alot during the weeks to stress test decks, cause there is no hiding in single player. Its fun, fast and gives you plenty of hands to get a good feel about what is working and what isn't.

Dowsing Dagger was on my maybelist as well. But in the last update I decided to let him go. What felt lacking was that I do not want my commander to 'shrink' while I have momentum. But playing MLD gives it a whole other perspective. I do not play the MLD path. Did you try this already?

A new deck update has been posted on the top. Thanks SFCD, MegaMatt13 and Gleeock for your recent contributions so far!

@ PartyJ : Yep, my initial construction of Sram was just an evolution of a VERY equipment heavy Nahiri construction, so it was stacked full of MLD to try to effectively ult. my walker/commander. I had some Mass Creature Destruct as well, but MLD + Staxy stuff was choice for me for a couple of reasons:

• Mono White. My opponents all play 3+ colors often, so I was seeing large advantage to bottlenecking everyone's color selection while enjoying low-color demand or colorless plays (especially fun when players already sac-landed to get duals & whatnot). This also meant I had a much stronger likelihood of bounceback after MLD.

• Metagame. My meta LOVES their sorceries & instant turnaround plays. MLD reinforced keeping my playgroup honest by making sure they fielded some early permanents or risked being closed out if they tried to 'wait-&-play'.

• High Permanent Usage. I often field permanents early, sometimes with free equip, usually I have the nastiest commander, who can really work disproportionately when MLD sets everyone back.

• Combat Tricks. MLD often allowed me several turns to hit a couple of nasty combat triggers (which our equipment provides bunches of) whilst not worrying about having no mana.

• Card Draw. Sram's ridiculous hand replenishment often put me ahead of the competition after MLD or wipe

• ALL the above theories have been put to practice as my deck was built with some stax & MLD since the beginning. The MLD was not a SURE thing, but I found that more often than not they made for a strong or useful move. The kind of artifact + mana rock heavy deck you played against would be more dangerous to play MLD however.

You deck is looking great!

I recently added Dowsing Dagger to mine and I am finding it very useful. I understand what you mean about losing some of Sram's power, but I have found ramping by 3 mana to outweigh that. It makes equipping so much easier.

MegaMatt13 : I'm going to follow you and going to give the Dowsing Dagger  ^Flip a try. I feel this could get interesting :)

Gleeock : Had some good games lately? I am giving Extraplanar Lens a second try. If it serves me well, then I will find enough snowcovered lands, just to be safe in my meta. How is Nahiri, the Lithomancer doing for you? When I tried it, it always felt underwhelming or sometimes just a dead card in hand.

Curious! 2 changes mentioned incoming for next weekend.

People fear the deck here now, as it can go nuts in the right setting xD

@PartyJ Nahiri, the Lithomancer has been good in my boardwipe-heavy meta. Also, heavy with "opponents sac creature" triggers. So she has made for good leave-behind for creaturewipes, she has been great with my MLD, and she makes some fodder.... All those specifics are very meta dependent though. Yes, sometimes she feels like a dead draw for me too, I'm tempted to just replace her with more raw power or just increase the manabase. I had a game with Hammer of Nazahn that basically became "GG". For whatever reason my biggest waste-card has proven to be Celestial Mantle

People also fear Sram at my table, He was ridiculous during a "chase" subformat game

Any strong Sram showings lately? He absolutely mopped the floor in my last 4 player FFA. A mono-blue fellow said he was gunning for me (due to earlier saltiness :)) so I chose Sram as my usual best response to threats of constant counterspell + targeting. I was on winning streak so when I did my turn 1 Enlightened Tutor I tried to lighten things up by searching for Sword of the Animist - for more of a "long game" approach... Then I immediately pulled Armageddon blew everything up, and the opponents just couldn't match up to the consistency of me constantly landing tapped plains onto the battlefield for each attack... Also had puresteel paladin, so it looked like I was goofing around when I put 2 equipment on the field but I was just building to threshold.

After several interesting games with mixed results I felt that my meta pushes me in the direction of having a backup plan, since stax is getting more prevalent here. Gleeock mentioned his MLD aproach earlier on which I feel could be the mid/endgame plan to buy more time to get the last opponents out of the way. The latest update - posted on the top - will handle the changes I made to get this implemented. It might not be optimal yet, therfor I want to test it out and ofcource I am looking forward to your ideas regarding this.

A heads up... your nostalgic Land Tax does find new mid-late game life with MLD. Forces people into awkward positions and if you get that 3 basic search your suddenly way ahead of the curve again.

That card indeed recieves praise in this setup. Normally it gets garbage when drawn mid/endgame. But this is not the case!

Good observation Gleeock! Thanks for the great suggestion. I have removed Remember the Fallen for it.

Yep, it also can be pretty strong for land-filter in a Sram deck that wants to be drawing impact plays off all that excessive draw & has pretty low curve demand at that point. This is one of the times where I usually opt to draw 3 & throw the overflow in to my graveyard if I need to.

Hi! I see that your list is way more all-in on the voltron route than mine.I'll start by asking how some of your cards have performed

O-Naginata I considered this one in the past, but I don't like the fact that Sram can't wear it without help. I often play 1v1 where the first turns are crucial

Sword of Light and Shadow I can see this one in my list but in yours it doesn't seem very strong since you have very few creatures. Do you run it just for protection (it's probably the best sword for that, admittedly)?

Batterskull How does this one perform in EDH? I feel like the lifelink is not that relevant and when the germ dies it becomes very inefficient

Bloodforged Battle-Axe, Trepanation Blade, Golem-Skin Gauntlets, Conqueror's Flail, Sword of Vengeance I don't like these ones, they seem too weak. The first two are too gimmicky and unreliable in my opinion. The gauntlets require too much effort to be relevant, the Flail can be good but I did cut Grand Abolisher in the past and I don't regret it, although I can see that your gameplan relies more on the big swings with Sram and you don't like to be interrupted. The sword is just inefficient, half of the keywords that it provides don't really matter most of the times.

Leonin Abunas I often consider this one, but every time I decide that it is unnecessary. With the amount of equipments that you have, you sholdn't be scared by targeted removal, since you should have a flow of card-draw superior to your opponents anyway. I could see it if its cmc was lower, but in my opinion 4-cmc slots should be taken by cards that immediately bring a presence on the board. However, if it permorms well for you, maybe you should consider Indomitable Archangel to have more redundancy of the effect in the deck(?)

Cultivator's Caravan I tried this one but I didn't like it. The cantrip is nice but I found that most of the times it ends up being just a mana rock, and I really don't like 3-cmc mana rocks. You don't really want Sram to tap for letting your mana rock attack or block usually..

I like Dowsing Dagger  ^Flip and Empyrial Plate, maybe I'll try to find room for them in my list.

I'm also interested in your pseudo-storm package: Semblance Anvil, Cloud Key, Gonti's Aether Heart and in your land destruction package, which I'd really like to find room for.

I also like your mana base but I don't quite have the budget for it now. We agree on the 33-land count though.

IMO that is a pretty good critique of some of the stuff you question. It is not my deck, but my all-in voltron is similar enough that I take interest in this deck as well.

• Sword of Light and Shadow has primarily been for the protection (black/white targeted), impact play, and occasional chance that a key creature needs returning. Not the most imperative sword, but if you have it - it has shown value to the 99 regardless of lifegain or graveyard synergy being near non-existent.

• Sword of Vengeance is a bit clunky, but has personally won me a game when it was one of 2 equips on Sram & I had hit an early MLD. Keyword soup + a buff can be very strong on Sram after you make yourself public enemy #1 and you know everyone's remaining permanents will be coming at you. I don't have Batterskull but I'm sure it is useful in the same way.

• Bloodforged Battle-Axe & Trepanation Blade - with trep. blade being kindof a fun gamble card in a deck that is often a little boring on the variable front :) just adds different dimensions to the deck & never really seem to be too much of a detriment.

• the others I can't really say much one way or the other because I don't run many of them, except a couple of the ones with positive critiques. I can tell you that Dowsing Dagger  ^Flip and Empyrial Plate have been worth it for me every time I see them. Gonti's Aether Heart just won me another game as well.

• The others

I see. I can understand the occasional boredom with a voltron deck. In fact, while the voltron kill is my plan A, at the same time it's also the least enjoyable type of victory and I am excited if the opponent pushes me to go wider with the midrange strategy. So, in a way, I already avoid that issue.

Last time I forgot to ask about one card: what's your opinion about Godsend guys?

I just recently cut it and it took all my mental strength to do it. On one hand, I love the card. I love it for flavour reasons, I love it because of the gorgeus art,I love it because of the catchy name, I love it because Elspeth is my favourite walker and because, let's be honest, the effect of the card is just cool. However, on the other hand, if I stop and look at it from a strategic standpoint... well, it's not that good. Actually, I think it's pretty bad. Its' clunky with its 3 to cast and 3 to equip, it functionally says "+3/+3 unblockable... sometimes", because no one wants to lose their fatties early, but no one will have a problem in just chump blocking with some random tokens. And when you will really need to alpha-strike someone because they threaten to kill you next turn, you'll find out that Godsend does absolutely nothing, it might as well read "+3/+3". Its also an anti-sinergy with Batterskull and Umezawa's Jitte.

Actually, it's more useful in defense to discourage attacks towards you, but you can't really play the defensive game if you go all-in voltron.

So, what do you guys think?

Hey JoeBlondie,

thank you for your honoust opinions. I always appreciate people who add something valuable to an ongoing deck discussion.

Let me respond on your points in the same order as you posted them.

O-Naginata : I can understand your point about it being 'dead' in your opening hand. But as a Voltron player it brings more than just this backdraft. For 1 mana it draws us a card and it brings us 3 extra commander damage and the trample ability to make sure that commander damage gets through. I've had several games where the extra 3 damage added midgame made a difference to reach 21 commander damage. And with double strike/damage present it is even more impactful!

Sword of Light and Shadow : I have been running it for the +3 +3 and the protection yes. But I am aware that this is the weakest of the swords in my build. Till the moment I was solely aiming for lethal commander damage without a MLD backup plan it was there since there was nothing relevant for me to pick as replacement. I feel that Worldslayer could be a interesting substitute, now that I play with MLD. Do you agree on this?

Batterskull : Its a card I have a love-hate affair with. It saved me from dying a few times because of the lifelink and being able to cast it at instant speeds as a blocker with Sigarda's Aid. But on the otherhand it can feel clunky indeed. For now I do not know what relevant replacement I would even pick.

Bloodforged Battle-Axe : It proved the use in a few games I had the opportunity to use it. My opponent went nuts when 2 versions triggered and said GG to me. With Sigarda's Aid in play gives this piece of equipment a strong Voltron feeling.

Trepanation Blade : It is a gimmicky card for sure :) But the random lottery part brings some spice to the table; do I get the fatal blow THIS turn already? ... insert evil smile

Golem-Skin Gauntlets : It's a placeholder card which performed in a few games and was lacking in other games. What would you suggest as a replacement?

Conqueror's Flail : This is mainly a meta call. Lots of blue decks are present here and they all would love to counter any of my MLD spells.

Sword of Vengeance : It's a fine card that helped me several times. I do not think that there is any other equipemnt that will fulfill a better role at this place.

Leonin Abunas : You will be surprised how many times I wished I had this card present on my battlefield. People tend to 'breakdown' my voltron equipped commander just too often, removing vital pieces from it just to stall me long enough. It would be best if it was a non creature spell, but that is not the case. Why bother with another creature with the same cmc that needs metalcraft to be active?

Cultivator's Caravan : It is a mana rock for 3 cmc and lets me draw another card when he is cast. The crew ability I never used. I feel it is a decent pick, but which manarock could replace this spot?

Godsend : You nailed it spot on! I have the exact same feeling with this equipment. I can't reason it better than you did. But the fact remains that we need a valuable substitute for this card. I will finalize my opinions regarding possible changes at the bottom....

Conclusion:

• Sword of Light and Shadow can be replaced for Worldslayer for extra MLD 'outs'

• Batterskull can be pointed at as a placeholder if something more valuable appears

• Golem-Skin Gauntlets can be pointed at as a placeholder if something more valuable appears

• Cultivator's Caravan is doing well, unless there is a rock that is superior to him

• Godsend can be pointed at as a placeholder if something more valuable appears

Also thanks for answering Gleeock. You are always truely welcome in here!

I really like Worldslayer if you can set it up semi-reliably, you probably need Shield of Kaldra as a second Darksteel Plate for that, so you can establish a devastating hard-lock and make everyone scoop. Of course the best would be doing it at instant speed with Stonehewer Giant or Sigarda's Aid. If your meta is small the trick could get old pretty quick though.I am hesitant at trying it in mine because all the cards involved are a bit slow and I don't have the mana base that you have.

For the Leonin Abunas thing, of course it's your call, if you need a second source of the effect (you say that often you wish you'd have it) you could try the angel. The metalcraft shoul be almost free in your deck and it flies which can be helpful.

The thing with the equipments is that the very good ones are few, so if you want the critical mass,like you do, of course you have to include some that are not optimal (but maybe are fun!). That being said, I see people running Quietus Spike but I don't like it very much, doesn't help with commander dmg and it's effect decreases a bit if the creature becomes larger.

Actually I think that, with the amount of stats boost that you already have, the most effective thing is to just have more double strike sources: Battle Mastery is on theme and nets you a card, Silverblade Paladin I saw that you cut him in the past, but I really like him. Sure, it doesn't cantrip, but it's functionally a Fireshrieker that does't need to be equipped. Plus, there are upsides for running a little more creatures: it's mostly a meta call and maybe you don't bother, but usually black decks are heavy on edict effects, which completely bypass your protections if you only have Sram on the field. I'm also saying this because I run much less voltron support (less than half of yours) and still I can reach lethal or near-to-lethal damage without too much effort. Inquisitor's Flail + any double strike source and a little random boost is lethal, Empyrial Plate + flail or double strike is probably close to lethal. With the amount of tutors that you have it should be pretty easy to assemble any of this combinations every game.

Of course, as you say, people will destroy your things if they cannot kill Sram. You have two options to work around this issue. Either you have a critical mass of equips that replace the ones destroyed, like you do, or you have ways to recur them. I prefer the latter option because this allow me to run only the best cards. People become pretty upset when they kill your sword multiple times but it keeps coming back. I personally recommed Restoration Specialist and Ironclad Slayer because they can bring back both auras and equips, the specialist can be also card advantage (and is a dwarf :) ). They are also targets for Sun Titan for additional value and that's why I run them and not Remember the Fallen.

Then, a card I really like is Mask of Memory, it doesn't help with damage but if you can connect with Sram, it filters the topdeck like crazy.

Unfortunately, two of my favourite equipments Skullclamp Deathrender don't fit well here.

For the Batterskull thing, I'd just keep the Loxodon Warhammer as a lifelink source to tutor if you are really desperate since it's more easy to cast and the trample helps too. But again, I don't run a Batterskull so I've never really tried it.

Finally, about Cultivator's Caravan, the reason I don't like it is that I find 3cmc rocks that only offer one mana really awkward. I usually keep hands with 2 lands because it's enough to play Sram and hopefully draw quickly into more lands, but I'm also ok having 2-lands + a 2-cmc rock and delaying Sram by one turn. The thing is that spending your 3rd turn tapping out for the caravan with Sram out and unprotected is questionable, other deck with much more ramping power by that time have finished ramping and will start to leave you behind, I think that we should focus on what we are better and establish a board position while they ramp. And even if you draw the caravan later, are you willing to slow down a turn to play it when the game is in a possibly hot phase? These are the reasons why I don't like the caravan or things like Commander's Sphere, instead I like things like Thought Vessel and Mind Stone, which I saw you cut.

But again, maybe I am overthinking it, I am a bit more driven towards 1v1 scenarios and I have a weaker mana base.. with metalwalker, the moxen, crypt and vault you probably can afford it. I would still cut it because it's weak compared to those.Also I am surprised that you don't run Ancient Tomb.