This post is an entry for a Reddit contest by PrinceParghato and sponsored by him and MTGOTraders. The contest can be found here.
What we are supposed to do is simply. We have to build an Ixalan 1v1 Commander Budget deck using a Legendary Commander from Ixalan or Rivals of Ixalan. Our entry needs to consist of the decklist, a strategy guide, and a meme. What will be judged is creativity, depth of our strategy guide and how funny/poignant are meme is. So here is my entry.
On Ixalan a race began between Brazen Coalition, Sun Empire, Legion of Dusk and River Heralds all trying to get first to the Immortal Sun. The Brazen Coalition is a society of pirates. Descendants of different races, including goblins, orcs and sirens, that fled to the sea when Legion of Dusk conquered the continent.
Ixalan as we - Magic players - know it is a tribal set featuring Pirates (Brazen Coalition), Humans and Dinosaurs (Sun Empire), Vampires (Legion of Dusk) and Merfolk (River Heralds). Merfolk, Vampires and Humans are nothing new to Magic but Pirates kind of are and Dinosaurs were also very rare.
We have many players that enjoy tribal and the inception of a new tribe is something that rejoice many. Many tribal players play EDH and there the number of creatures with the specific type needs to be higher than in Tribal Wars format. Thanks to this set we can now relatively commonly see people playing with Pirates or Dinosaurs. Pirate decks existed in the past but could be only two-color deck (Ramirez DePietro or Skeleton Ship) and their power level was very weak if someone wanted to stay on theme. In Ixalan, Pirates got a new color - red (similarly Vampires got white).
Wizards of the Coast not only brought us new tribes, they also provided us with legends for the tribes. Wizards of the Coast not only brought us new tribes, they also provided us with legends for the tribes. We have thus legendary Vampires (Vona, Butcher of Maga, Elenda, the Dusk Rose, Mavren Fein, Dusk Apostle), legendary Merfolk (Kopala, Warden of Waves, Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca), legendary Pirates (Admiral Beckett Brass, Captain Lannery Storm) and legendary Dinosaurs - there are 5 of each color and 2 multicolored ones (Gishath, Sun's Avatar and Zacama, Primal Calamity). There is one more legendary creature that doesn't really fit Ixalan at first glace since it is not a human, nor merfolk, nor dinosaur. It is a blue-white Sphinx named Azor and actually comes from Ravnica. The card's name is Azor, the Lawbringer and if you are wondering what Azor is doing on Ixalan I suggest you read the Ixalan/Rivals of Ixalan story because it is really worth it, and it is fun! Back to my deck though...
Out of these legends I wanted to play with either Elenda, the Dusk Rose or Admiral Beckett Brass. I've played my share with Merfolk in all kind of different colors (all but red) and none of the decks seemed good nor fun (and Kumena cost me 9 tix, see my problem?). Here is an example of one of these decks - Kumena. I also meddled with Dinosaurs but I seriously hate them. Vampires are really cool, but what I wanted to build is an aristocrat deck and that reached the 10tix limit very fast and the deck is not particularly fun to play on Magic Online. So I decided to go back to Pirates and Admiral Beckett Brass. I had lots of fun with Pirates in Limited, Standard and EDH so this should be fun too, shouldn't it?
Admiral Becket Brass - Grixis Pirates
There are 86 creatures with the creature type Pirate. On Magic Online the number is lower because some of the Portal ones were not released there even though we actually got some in Treasure Chests. This is a sufficient number to build an EDH deck, actually even 40 is as I found out earlier before Rivals of Ixalan was released because I already built a Pirate deck when Ixalan was released.
Pirates
This is one fo the decks that is able to create value thanks to synergy. Pirates have all kind of abilities. Some are very strong. For example Siren Stormtamer is really good at protecting creatures and also is capable to counter spells like Settle the Wreckage
or Vona's Hunger
(with Ascend). Warkite Marauder
has a nice unique ability that in this deck doesn't do that much (since my deck lacks removal). It still means that with this card in play and attacking you can just temporarily deal with one blocker. Dire Fleet Poisoner
is a really nice addition and it is a good card both during offense or defense. Kitesail Freebooter
can steal a Wrath effect. Forerunner of the Coalition
and Lightning-Rig Crew
work with other Pirates and make opponent lose 1 life repeatedly. Ruthless Knave
can create Treasure tokens out of creatures that are about to die and can also turn them into a card draw even when the ratio is not really great. Ruin Raider
'draws' cards which is pretty neat! Dreamcaller Siren
can tap down defense or offense and is also one of the big creatures in this deck. Marauding Looter
let's us loot through the deck. Pitiless Plunderer
will turn dead creatures into Treasure tokens. This card has been doing wonders. Captivating Crew
allows us to steal something big and bash our opponent with it. Protean Raider
can copy also a rather annoying creature and put our opponent in similar position as we were a minute ago. As you can see, Pirates can do a lot of stuff and it is up to you to use them to their full potential.
Attaaaaaack!
Pirates have many cheap aggressive creatures that are either suited for aggressive or a tempo deck. Even though we have defensive Pirates most still find their home in tempo decks. Pirates need to attack. When they attack we can trigger Raid abilities that can be found on many Pirates. For that Pirates need some evasion. Many Pirates already fly or have Menace but some don't and we need to help them get through unopposed or give them some kind of evasion. For that I choose to play Archetype of Imagination which practically makes all your creatures unblockable (unless the Archetype dies). There's also Open into Wonder
that will make some of your creatures unblockable but will also draw you cards and Pirates like to hoard anything they can, especially Treasure and cards! I included Keeper of Keys
which is a very strange card but it also gives your creatures unblockable even with a delayed effect. This card is to be played before you can deal lethal damage with all you have in play, because the Monarch ability will often work against you (it's difficult to stay Monarch for long with this deck - Pirates won't unite under a ruler nor they are good at being the rulers). Teleportal
is also a neat card when you want to make your creatures unblockable. The last card I didn't talk about is River's Rebuke
that can turn the tide in your favor.
Cards, cards and more cards!
As I said Pirates like to draw cards. In truth they have to. This deck runs many weak creatures and thus needs a steady stream of them in order to be able to win against decks that run stronger cards (and creatures). Since the deck is designed to attack the best card draw is the one that works well with that - Bident of Thassa, Coastal Piracy
, Chart a Course
. There are also other cards like Treasure Map that helps smooth out draws, creatures Treasure tokens and allows us to turn Treasure tokens into cards. Arguel's Blood Fast
can draw us cards for 1B mana whenever we want. Vance's Blasting Cannons
can be also a card advantage in later stages of the game and can also be a win condition under rare circumstances.
We love shiny things! Treasure!
Ixalan introduced Treasure tokens. The Treasure token mechanic is primarily on Pirates and other blue, red or black cards. They made the set tricky in terms of understanding a tempo in match and also allowed us to either accelerate or fix out mana. This way a pirate deck could play their Captain Vraska (which is a green card)! My deck will need Treasure tokens sometimes to fix mana since 10 tix limit doesn't allow us to play a good mana base. They can also be used to win a game in a rare case thanks to Revel in Riches
.
That's the meme if you didn't get it ^_^
We can be stronger!
Unfortunately sometimes Pirates need more power and that means going bigger. It is something I'd like to avoid but against certain decks it is needed. For that reason there are also cards that pump Pirates somehow. Admiral Beckett Brass is an anthem effect that you have accessible always but sometimes you need more of them to get through. There are thus other cards like Adaptive Automaton. There is also Fell Flagship
, that can be tutored for by Deadeye Quartermaster
. Vanquisher's Banner
is a rather expensive anthem effect (costs 5) but it also draws cards for every single Pirate played which is pretty insane. The remaining two are Door of Destinies
and Obelisk of Urd
which are both very powerful cards. Door of Destinies can make Pirates way too big and Obelisk of Urd can be played earlier than normal thanks to Convoke. In RIX Pirates got another Pirate lord - Dire Fleet Neckbreaker
- that gives attacking Pirates +2/+0.
Strategy
The general strategy of the deck is to play cheap creatures and deal damage with them as soon as possible. This deck will run out of steam very fast so you need to be also drawing cards as soon as the deck allows you to. In midgame you will either find yourself in position in which you can't attack at all or will be able to attack only with some of your Pirates. At this moment what you need to do is look for ways how to make your Pirates elusive or how to win with Treasure (this is an opportunistic win not something you can really try to force, the deck is not built to win in that way). Note that even if you can't attack through your opponent's creatures, your creatures are still invaluable. You will still need tem to deal the lethal damage eventually. That is exactly the reason why you need to pressure your opponent since the beginning of the game so you could deal lethal damage in one unblockable swing. You should wait for the right moment to strike and make sure you win the game when this happens.
The strong point of this deck is that it is fast (if the mana base allows it). Against many decks you will be able to deal enough damage to deal the remaining damage in a creative way. Since you have no strong and good cards available you will have to be very cautious about what you do, plan ahead and prepare your board so you win in that one single turn.
If you will ran into a deck that runs more global removal you will have to be less aggressive. This deck can't usually win before the first Wrath of God effect will hit, so you need to keep in mind that you will need to play some creatures post-Wrath. The decks running this kind of effects are often very light on creatures so your creatures will be more likely to get through and deal damage.
If you wonder how your opening hand should look like, it's easy. You need at least 2 cheap creatures and if possible about 3 lands. Without creatures this deck doesn't work at all, so those are the hands you will have to mulligan. Of course, if you don't see any land you will have to take a mulligan too.
This is a very fun casual deck that allows you to play different kind of games and will require you to devise a plan well ahead and try to play to your outs. Often it will be an uphill battle but you won't get easily crushed. This deck provides enough of ways how to turn the game in your favor and sometimes you will win. Whenever you will win, you'll know that you earned the victory. Sooner or later you will also manage to win to a Revel in Riches upkeep trigger!
Thank for reading!
S'Tsung (stsung on Magic Online, stsungjp at Twitter)
Decklist
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Grixis Pirates
by STsung, 9tix
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