Mairsil vs Volrath
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on Aug. 25, 2019, 12:20 a.m. by DrukenReaps
So Volrath, the Shapestealer and Mairsil, the Pretender have a little different way of going about things but I think they come out similar enough that I can't decide if I want to keep Mairsil or make Volrath. I might do both but there is significant overlap between the two...
Mairsil is a commander with a low floor but a high ceiling. Which means he can totally flop or be totally awesome without any influence from your opponents.
Volrath seems like he should have a higher floor but a lower ceiling. Maybe? He will always do something when you play him but I currently just don't see quite the silliness that Mairsil can get up to mainly because the caged cards almost can't be interacted with and Mairsil toys with artifacts and creatures not just creatures.
The colors are very similar but this is where Volrath plugs a big hole that Mairsil has... Green makes a lot of mana while red can but generally only in temporary bursts. I know Mairsil is a mana hungry deck and I fully expect Volrath to be too.
I think lastly I just like Volrath's art more... So what do you guys think about the two of them? Mairsil has been my go to deck with Should I Pretend This Or That? for a year and a bit now... Not sure if I want to give that up for the new guy.
CrimsonChaos says... #3
As far as Volrath, the Shapestealer goes, one of the great things about him is that he can copy creatures with any kind of counter on it. This includes your own creatures with +1 counters and the like, and not just an opponent's creature that gets slapped with a -1 counter. This makes him relatively flexible, which is a nice bonus. Volrath can also use his copy ability at will, more or less, given you have the mana to do so.
August 26, 2019 1:29 p.m.
King_Kaliban says... #4
Volrath is a bit more versatile, Marsil will get auto targeted as soon as he hits due to his abilities but volrath can turn indestructible, hexproof, whatever. I personally like it a lot. I'm running a really fun deck right now too.
September 2, 2019 11:49 p.m.
DrukenReaps says... #5
King_Kaliban I settled on running Volrath too. At least for now my list is Look I'm You! Haven't gotten to play it enough to make up my mind yet but it looks every bit as fun as Mairsil was.
September 3, 2019 12:01 a.m.
King_Kaliban says... #6
Check mine out when you get a second. https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/volrath-mr-steal-yo-girl/
dbpunk says... #2
So here's my thoughts: both are super versatile decks, and they might play differently than expected.
So Mairsil, the Pretender is definitely going to be more fifty-fifty on artifacts and creatures. You're going to want to have much higher value in your cards. You're probably going to want cards that combo with each other, lots of untap abilities, bounce for Mairsil and a lot of abilities that can add to your cards value. Meanwhile, Volrath, the Shapestealer is going to need more counter distribution, and is going to want to steal other creatures value if you can. You would also play much more creature stealing.
So you might want to build separate decks tbh.
August 25, 2019 1:32 a.m.