The gods
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on Jan. 15, 2021, 2:07 a.m. by TheMonOmnath
My wife is trying to build a tribal god deck but she’s having multiple issues with the deck.
First thing is she can’t decide on a general. She’s hesitating between
Child of Alara: Whipping the board over and over and only having her gods on the board.
Golos, Tireless Pilgrim, playing big mana creatures with multiple colours in their identity to add the devotion count.
Kenrith, the Returned King: I forgot why she thought that one was a good pick.
She having a lot of troubles finding win cons other that Opalescence and God-Eternal Rhonas with a bunch of her gods.
Also, would a devotion themed deck be better than a tribal god deck which needs devotions?
TheMonOmnath says... #3
CasualCucumber Yeah it’s one possible wincon but she didn’t like it when I proposed it to her.
She need’s to get all the necessary mana to activate it (it could be awhile since she can get golos out as soon as turn two with a land, a Sol Ring and any other 2cmc mana rock on turn one and a land on the next turn) and that’s IF her opponent let the search of golos resolve or the world tree search resolve once you’ve found all the mana to activate it.
You also have to make sure that you have enough gods (and the right amount of colors) to make them activate each other’s devotion. Although the new Kaldheim gods and the Amonkhet gods should help for the last point.
The real problem with is to dodge all the Strip Mine, Ghost Quarters, Tectonic Edge or any remove target permanent cards which people will try to do because it’s an obvious wincon if you built your deck correctly.
It just seemed slow even with golos as the general.
January 15, 2021 6:55 a.m.
How about Morophon, the Boundless of she is lookig for a tribal deck?
Golos and some blink effects can ramp/mana fix pretty good. Also golos activations can be really fun and or powerful.
January 15, 2021 7:56 a.m.
GhostChieftain says... #5
Kenrith is a good pick because he just does everything. My choice would be golos for this though since both abilities are relevant and you can also add in utility lands. I would also not just jam all the gods in, rather focus on 2-3 colors to make their devotion more consistent and have the best ones in the other colors basically as enchantments.
January 15, 2021 8:37 a.m.
Kenrith, the Returned King is extremely broken any mana loop wins the game. but this has nothing to do with the deck you are building.
I agree with CasualCucumber to run Golos, Tireless Pilgrim and fetch The World Tree, only thing i would add to that is to use Jegantha, the Wellspring as as a companion if its an option
January 15, 2021 10:28 a.m.
as for it being slow
in most 5 color decks i would advise a tree build
meaning your color balance is mostly focused on green, but then branches off into 2 other sub colors and then branch again dabbing into 2 more
example if your running a typical 35/65 build
5w 15u 25g 15b 5r & 35 lands
05 - White Mana Symbols
15 - Blue Mana Symbols
25 - Green Mana Symbols
15 - Black Mana Symbols
05 - Red Mana Symbols
by focusing mostly on green you get plenty of access to ramp,color correction and the ability to get lands back from the graveyard
but the advantage is its easy to balance and combo your deck because it mostly plays like any other 3 color commander deck while still giving you access to all 5 colors
the example i provided is sultai focused but this can be done with Jund, Bant, Naya, Temur, & Abzan as well
this should address all your previous concerns about running Golos, Tireless Pilgrim & Jegantha, the Wellspring with The World Tree
January 15, 2021 11:17 a.m. Edited.
DarkMagician says... #8
Golos in order to grab The World Tree is definitely the best option. If answers are your concern then the same can be said about every other choice made in the deck. Ramping to ten is easy enough and you have access to every color so protecting/recurring the Tree is also easy to do. If you manage to activate the tree then you should have enough devotion off of the gods alone and will probably end up killing opponents off of Purphoros, God of the Forge triggers.
January 15, 2021 1:15 p.m.
FormOverFunction says... #9
Maybe you get all the devotion cards and pile them in? For theme and fun? Basically a “religious devotion” deck?
January 15, 2021 10:50 p.m.
DarkMagician suggested Purphoros, God of the Forge this seems like a good idea
if you include God-Eternal Bontu, The Locust God, & Erebos, Bleak-Hearted
you have a serious end game potential just off The World Tree activation
these 4 plus 5 other gods would be 18 damage etb (they have to be active for this to work)
sac the other 5 gods and 1 land out to bontu (all hit stack at same time so they don't get a chance to deactivate each other)
5 erebos triggers into 5 locus tiggers into 5 purphoros for 10 damage (28 total)
6 bontu triggers into 6 locus triggers into 6 purphoros for 12 damage (40 total to each opponant)
note: God-Eternal Bontu would deactivate Jegantha, the Wellspring companion ability. but it seems worth it
only problem left to solve is finding 9 gods that will activate each other
January 16, 2021 1:18 p.m.
plakjekaas says... #11
If you're worried about not enough devotion for your gods to be creatures, I'd definitely take a commander with 5 actual color pips in its casting cost over a Golos or Kenrith. Child of Alara will help your devotion a lot more, and it's a deterrent to the other players, not wanting their stuff to blow up, giving a lot more time to execute your slower game plan.
Just in case you'd need some more sillier options to consider: Karona, False God is a silly card, but it does have God in the name, making it some sort of flavor win, or ironic flavor fail, depending how you look at it. Just make sure the other players won't beat you down with it, it will hit someone for 8 commander damage every player's turn on an empty board. Indestructible God blockers help though, beware tribal decks. Progenitus is some sort of hydra-god that will seriously contribute some devotion if you'd actually could get it into play.
January 16, 2021 2 p.m.
TriusMalarky says... #12
God Tribal, I'd totally take the Golos-Tree path. I REALLY recommend using Chromatic Lantern to help activate Tree(in most other cases I find it pretty meh, but it's great here).
My recommended Golos plan is:
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Use mana dorks like Elvish Mystic. You definitely need Birds of Paradise if you can afford it. Add Noble Hierarch if you can pay for that, and Deathrite Shaman if you're using fetchlands.
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Rituals, such as Dark Ritual, Simian Spirit Guide, and Rite of Flame are good for running out Golos. Seething Song is amazing here, as it reads '3-mana golos'. Jeweled Lotus is great if you have the cash.
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I'd run all the Talismans and signets, as well as Fellwar Stone and Arcane Signet.
At this point, you're probably at an impressive 30-40 ramp spells.
You'd then include a variety of Gods. I'd recommend a package something like this:
Purphoros, God of the Forge and Changeling Berserker, Changeling Titan and Changeling Hero. You'll use the three Changelings to create an ETB loop and kill every single opponent.
Alternatively, you can use Purphoros, Bronze-Blooded to give all your Gods haste and kill people with hastey slaps.
January 17, 2021 1:56 p.m.
How about Sisay, Weatherlight Captain ? I use it in my Legendary commander deck :)
January 18, 2021 9:27 a.m.
I second Sisay, Weatherlight Captain as your commander. It can fetch any god she wants and legendary hatebears at instant speed (she can tutor a Narset, Parter of Veils in response of a Windfall and basically insta win for example).
As wincon, Its really hard to suggest without looking at what direction and power level she is building toward. Thassa's Oracle + Demonic Consultation is an obviously strong option. One more thematic since use gods is God-Eternal Kefnet with infinite turns (you cast extra turn with Kefnet, draw it, put it on top of the library somehow and this is infinite)
If she prefers combat and damage Purphoros, God of the Forge and the other gods probably can deal enough damage by themselves.
January 18, 2021 11:07 a.m.
I believe you can't use Jegantha, the Wellspring as your companion with The World Tree like people are suggesting. The other side of the Tree is 2GG.
Otherwise I would totally rock The World Tree in my Horde + Jegantha deck.
January 19, 2021 3:50 a.m.
DarkMagician says... #17
TriusMalarky That loop..... that's just pure evil genius right there. I love it.
January 19, 2021 4:21 a.m.
Cadois Its likely you are mistakenly applying the 903.4c exception of 711.4a to more than just color identity. The World Tree is the only side checked by Jegantha, the Wellspring.
January 19, 2021 4:56 a.m.
plakjekaas says... #19
No, Cadois is mistaking the land The World Tree with the card Esika, God of the Tree Flip
January 19, 2021 5:05 a.m.
Oop, nvm I mixed up The Prismatic Bridge and The World Tree as well. Ignore my previous comment.
January 19, 2021 5:06 a.m. Edited.
@plakjekaas Oof, you're right! I was certain that The World Tree and the God of the Tree were a double-faced card. I guess I'll be able to use The World Tree in my deck after all. xD
January 19, 2021 5:15 a.m.
plakjekaas says... #22
To be clear after that confusion, Esika, God of the Tree Flip does violate Jegantha, the Wellspring's companion restrictions, because the front has double pips.
The World Tree is a land, which has no mana cost, therefore not violating Jegantha's restriction, making them a great combo in Golos decks. Add Maskwood Nexus for all the hilarity you could ever ask for.
January 19, 2021 7:19 a.m.
TriusMalarky says... #23
Oh, yeah -- you should go Golos x Jegantha for super ramp.
I think you can
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t1 Sol Ring, Arcane Signet
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t2 Golos to 6 mana
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t3 Dark Ritual into Jegantha
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t4 you should have at least WUBRG from Jegantha. You can also use cards like Manamorphose to fix some of those colors. Also Channel the Suns, Composite Golem, Kaleidostone, Cascading Cataracts, and Crystal Quarry.
I think if you can topdeck Channel, you can pull off a full t4 Purphoros Combo Kill w/World Tree.
CasualCucumber says... #2
I have not much to add since I've never build a deck around the gods. But running Golos, Tireless Pilgrim as the commander to fetch The World Tree seems like a wincon to me.
January 15, 2021 5:18 a.m.