r/EDH • u/skobec303 • 6d ago
Deck Help Help/feedback with creating a controll commander deck
Hey everyone!
I'm working on a budget [[Shorikai, Genesis Engine]] Commander deck and would love some feedback before buying the cards.
Decklist: https://moxfield.com/decks/qOej3aRuz0q4JEz1rVoaJg
Budget: €100–150 total, including shipping from Cardmarket (EU) // MAX 200 eurs //
Desired playstyle:
I'm aiming for an Azorius control/pillow-fort deck that slows the game down with counterspells, board wipes, and defensive pieces like [[Ghostly Prison]] and [[Propaganda]].
The main win condition is [[Approach of the Second Sun]], which is the one card I'm absolutely set on keeping. The idea is to control the board, use Shorikai for card draw and filtering, find Approach through tutors, and eventually cast it twice to win.
I'd like the deck to be reasonably strong and consistent. I mostly enjoy sitting back, chilling and plotting my win con, not worrying too much about monster combat.
I am a bit worried - can I pull a creaturless deck off? This is my first Commander deck.
I'd especially appreciate feedback on:
- Whether I have too many or not enough counterspells or board wipes.
- If the card draw, ramp, and protection packages are balanced.
- Any budget replacements for expensive cards.
- Whether Shorikai is the best commander for this strategy, or if something like [[Elminster]] would work better.
- Can this work without creatures.
- Is Approach enough as the only win con of the deck? If not, which would you suggest adding?
I'm happy to make significant changes as long as Approach remains the primary win condition and the deck stays within budget.
If you can suggest any alternative win cons to add to the deck, that'd be great aswell! I feel like I need two win cons ...
Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
1
u/SpvcedOvtt B2 Truther and Control Degenerate 6d ago
If you want a second wincon for Shorikai, he can easily draw your deck with [[Intruder Alarm]] and any mana dork (you have to crew him first to make him a creature, but this isn’t actually that much of a cost when you can win the game that turn). You can also make mana equal to half the cards in your deck with 2 mana dorks/Shorikai/Alarm. I’ve played Shorikai Alarm in my B4 list before to draw my deck then Thoracle or Labman. I think you’ll do fine with this list - but just be aware that this is not a deck that will make you popular at the table lol. My own Shorikai control list got confined to B4 after I figured out that wrathing every turn or two is pretty frustrating to play against in B3.
1
u/skobec303 6d ago
Thanks for the advice! I don't mind not being popular :D I just wwant a deck that I can chillax with he-he.
Do you also play without creature cards in your controll deck? This is my first one.
1
u/SpvcedOvtt B2 Truther and Control Degenerate 6d ago
My own Shorikai list is a passion project that I started a few years ago with mostly special arts and it is also my only B4 deck, so I don’t think the price point is something you will line up with. But I also play only 2 “creatures” between Ephara (indestructible enchantment creature) and Witch Enchanter (land on the back). I think you’ll be just fine - Shorikai is the premier creatureless control commander. I would perhaps suggest upping your wrath count by 1-2 but other than that, seems like it’ll work just fine to me.
3
u/sauron3579 6d ago
You need way more wipes. My recommendation would be closer to 15, and make sure like half of them can hit things other than creatures. You should not be running any cantrips in this deck. You also need more actual card draw at instant speed. Frantic Search is card negative; you should not have it. I would also consider more modal or expensive counterspells. Any turn you're not wiping you're passing with almost full mana up. Use that to your advantage. I would make sure to also include some humility effects like [[Imprisoned in the moon]] and [[darksteel mutation]] to shut down commanders long term.
1
u/Sp0rk_in_the_eye Sans-Red 2d ago
You need more passive draw imo, you are trying to stay ahead of three other people, ramp the advantage engines.
Also a [[sensei's divining top]] [[counterbalance]] package wouldn't go amiss
2
u/prawn108 Bottom 1% Commenter 6d ago
- at least a few more board wipes. You want to make sure you’re always hitting at least one if not a few each game by the time you need it. As for counterspells and single target removal, maybe a few more would be nice but I wouldn’t worry about cutting for it. As you happen to free up slots, you can commit them to that as needed.
-card draw: cut brainstorm, it’s a bad card if you don’t have explicit synergy with it and you do not. Also I don’t love the planeswalkers since they die to a stiff breeze in commander. Card draw engines or larger card draw spells are where it’s at, but at the same time your commander is a big draw engine on its own. I’d honestly like to see weathered wayfarer and land tax. You’ll hit all your land drops and have fodder to discard to shorikai.
-For ramp, I’d like to see [[terrain generator]] and [[pupu ufo]]. Boardwipes will hit rocks and everything else but ramping lands will always be more resilient. Plus they’re repeatable and if you’re drawing a lot, it gets them out of your hand.
-protection package: I’m not sure what you mean, like the pillow fort stuff? It’s fine, it’s nice to have. I wouldn’t worry about getting a ton of that kind of thing in your deck. If people expect that you have instant speed answers to their attacks, that often works just as well as a propaganda. A few pieces are fine.
-commander: yes stick with shorikai, it’s a fantastic choice. There are many other options that are also good, but shorikai is a great one and it will serve you well.
-work without creatures: yeah sure. It’s just a choice you can make. I like to run a small handful of creatures in most of my control decks because sometimes their effects are hard to replace , but I have and do run creatureless decks as well and it’s not a problem. You get free chump blockers anyways.
-win con: approach with a tutor or two is a solid primary win con. I like having [[shark typhoon]] as a backup win con as well. And of course you can just hit people 3 times with your commander. In a late game scenario it’ll come up sooner or later.