This deck has become my favorite after months of tuning. It’s a flicker control deck that prevents my opponent’s from casting instants and sorceries. I also have lots of taxing effects combined with pillow forts to make attacking me painful. Adding in path of Teferi add not only lets me flicker Azor but allows my other walkers like new Teferi and venser to ultimate. The flicker also works on archoemancer and snapcaster mage to let me recast my time warps. I imagine it is miserable to play against. Which is why I love it.
I would look at Alhammaret's Archive more as a way to lower the cost of your revelations rather than necessarily double the effect. You could see it as doubling the maximum you can get out of it with your mana...or halving how much mana you need to get the same rate without it. Could let you play spells and still get a revelation in the same turn.
Excellent approach. I would still want more support. I really don't like cards that ONLY work with your commander but it's easy to make sure there is card draw in your deck to "combo" with the archive. You might have convinced me.
A very underrated new card in blue is Kumenas Awakening- City's Blessing is easy enough in Standard, it just Happens in EDH- seems like a good include for this deck.
Love the video and i built my azor deck as a pillow fort control with an artifact sub theme and just for fun i play emrakul, the promised end and kozilek the great distortion with a planar bridge
DJ, have you thought about blue white aggro with Azor. Normally what that deck lacks is a way to refill its hand without breaking tempo which Azor can help with, and turning off board wipes for a turn or more if you blink him can be really useful in that deck.
I did not think of that. Like a Geist of ST shell but Azor at the top end instead .... sounds kinda good to me. It also protects the board you just set up from many board wipes. I'm liking the way this sounds. Good stuff!
I built my Azor deck to double down on card draw and life gain effects, and put in mechanisms to make use of the life and cards you'll be getting. Felidar Sovereign and Aetherflux Reservoir turn a pile of life into possible wins. Mind Over Matter turns every card you draw into Twiddle, allowing you to generate even more mana to draw more cards and gain more life--and also allows you to accelerate Azor's Gateway towards transforming. It's certainly not the most competitive deck ever, but it's so much fun.
I dont know about using him as a commander, but i just made a hillarious deck with Isperia the Inscrutable as the commander, and just for flavor i threw Azor in and he is awesome as part of the 99, especially since Isperia can toolbox him out right when i need him
Dude, as always great job. I watch the videos even if I don't want to build the commander. Just feel so informed afterwards and it might give me an edge if I play against someone running them as a commander. Keep up the good work!
You got me interested when you mentioned the Monarch mechanic! That is my favorite mechanic in EDH! I never thought that I'd want to build an Azorious deck! Blue and white are my least favorite colors, and I've never been a fan of the typical control, which is what Azorious does.
One of my favorite mechanics too. I like all styles of control deck but I think control can be difficult to play in multiplayer because you are forced to divide up your attention. This usually means that your big plays need protection which could be a weakness of Azor.
A good flavor add, however not the best, would be Medomai, the Ageless, also, extra turn effects and cards would be very powerful with Azor. You could potentially combo off the Azor's Elecutors to get those 5 turns that you need (in MTG Xmas land of course), but also.. Even one extra turn allows you utilize the cards you just drew with Azor while also giving you the ability to pass turns with "Draw-Go" mana having still utilized Azor the previous turn. I think he is a casual powerhouse and there is a lot left out of the thought-pool in this video for optimal building of him. However, love the videos as always!
I actually run Azor in my Arcades deck for the Sphinx's Revelation ability. Ideally I have it out with Shalai and something along the lines of Alpha Authority or Curator's Ward on Shalai. I generally try to run hexproof auras to put on Shalai in any deck with her - so you slap down Shalai and ward her, then you cast Azor and basically win. Even if Arcades isn't out for some reason and the defenders can't attack, with a warded Shalai and Azor out, I rarely lose. In order to get rid of Azor, my opponents have to unward Shalai, then get rid of Shalai, THEN get rid of Azor. I tried running Azor as a commander and found that the commander tax was punishing. Azor is expensive! But, if I were running Azor as commander, run it with Awakening which untaps lands at the beginning of each upkeep and other stuff that untaps lands. Also, with regards to Azor's Gateway... I think I've seen it transformed twice.
Jumbo, Sword of Feast and Famine on your commander may SOUND like magical christmas land, but Fabricate, Tezzeret the Seeker, and Trophy Mage are all great ways to grab it in blue, and white has Steelshaper's Gift, Enlightened Tutor, Stonehewer Giant, and Stoneforge Mystic. Plus with Azor as the general it becomes fairly easy to hit one of eight versions of your Sword of Feast and Famine.
Jumbo. I'm sure you know, but if you don't, Maze of Ith can also be used to untap creatures that have already dealt damage at the end of combat. So if your commander can hit do it.
A small commentary after this video probably doesn't get much more traffic. I think Azor is most suited to Titan-Magic style strategies. He's a 6/6 for 6- with an ETB, and an attack Trigger- so I'd naturally want to start the deck with Sun and Frost Titans- and then fill it out with incidental fatties, and lots of enablers- and then begin to skim the pieces away until I can find a more focused strategy later. Some friends got miffed with me, because I made fun of him when he got spoiled- but I stopped playing Arbiter to play Ephara for my main EDH build anyways. I think what Azor really wants is a combination of Titan Magic, some "extra rules" cards, and more emphasis on protection than a regular UW deck. So, Azor would ideally be a "Protect the Queen" strategy- but leans into Titan Magic and very light Stax-like effects to bait out whatever threatens the general (instead of just trying to stick it like Ojutai)
I am oh so grateful to see you give us an Azor deck tech. I just built Azor after absolutely falling in love with the card. I built a fairly traditional control deck with blink as a value subtheme. Lab Maniac, Deadeye Navigator + Peregrine Drake and Runechanters Pike on Azor are my current finishers: tappedout.net/mtg-decks/senate-strike-team-control/#c3247811 Your suggestions and insights have been very helpful, thank you!!
I love the "draw it all" thing you got going on. It sucks that you need to generate that mana during the combat phase to sink it into Azor or else you could add more combos to your strategy. Still sounds super fun.
Jumbo Commander I always thought iron man was more like Karn, silver golem. For the whole colorless=mech thing. But that's a fair point, and I agree he's cool. He wouldn't cost 3 bucks otherwise, I mean, look at other legendary sphinxes prices...
hey dude i love your vids. they are educational, (atleast about mtg) entertaining and they have helped me to think more about single cards and how to make the most out of every deck. keep doing what you're doing.
Righteous authority, sunbondy things on a flying commander with access to tappaliciousness in white/blue, dear sir sign me up. Alternative win cons in laboratory maniac/approach of the second sun, felidar soverign, I feel that this guy will command a very fun deck.
so... just a thing about alhamarets archive. a better way too look at it is not "i can get double cards and double life" its more so, "hey i can pay literally half the mana i would need too to get the same amount of life and the same amount of cards, leaving me open so i can defend myself better with my blink effects"
I feel azor could run one mean stasis deck, the whole goal of the deck is to make it so opponents can’t keep cards in their hands, attack, ect. And you’d use azor as your advantage to get cards. It’d shut everyone out but you.
Solid synergy. I do shy away from cards that ONLY work with your commander. Maybe there are some other attack triggers we could abuse. Sword of the Anamist or Arbiter of the ideal :D
Those look great! Maybe Argentum Armor or Blade of Selves? Not sure on those interactions. I thought about putting Recon in my Edgar Markov deck, though you bring up a good point. I should probably look through it and see if it has any other interactions first. On the plus side, it's a one white mana enchantment that at worst gives all your creatures vigilance :P
The thing that makes Azor a little better than it could’ve been is that it’s Sphinx Revelation part when it attacks and not when it deals combat damage.
I like the ideas you have. About the whole tap control thing though, i think itd be better to find cards that give azor vigilance (like trial of solidarity as a weak example but i feel like theres tons of cards that give creatures vigilance)
Why not make a flying tribal deck? With an alternative life gain / draw win? You have heavy control, you have heavy draw, and heavy life gain.. with cards that reduce Sphinx/flying cards with air pumping? So you make your commander big, and cheap and abuse the trigger on attack to gain more fuel. Biggest issue would be lands sense everything cost so much mana. So you need allot of artifact support.
The Spinx theme can also get some fun usage with the new card Arcane Adaption. I think this commander would best be suited as a hybrid Pillowtron deck. Azor seems like the the kind of character that would lead his troops into battle or valiantly charge in to, of course, bring order to chaos etc, etc...;)
Arcane adaptation does some silly things. I think it would be hilarious although Sphinx's don't have as much synergy as other tribes. They seem to like to do their own powerful thing.
I feel like Unesh is just better, even when it comes to gaining cards. If you set up Panharmonicon, Urza's Incubator, or even Warden of Evos Isle you're just constantly pumping out Fact or Fictions, looking for sphinxes and control until you draw your rite of replication and get 30 Unesh activations. Throughout it all you're playing cheap blue fliers with sick activated abilities and fat bodies, crashing into your opponents and costing so little that you can leave mana up for counterspells and other blue shenanigans. You can even go sadistic and set up a prison subtheme that locks everyone out from drawing as you Unesh your way into a winning boardstate.
Same! Zada was my first commander (based loosely on your video, so thanks for that) but lately I've been building a Unesh deck. Who's your favorite commander, if you don't mind me asking?
How can you say Azor's Elocutors is bad? I mean, all you need is a combo to give you infinite turns, and then probably some way to make the Elocutors indestructible (and probably hexproof) and then you can win with them XD (Such a stupid card, lol - yet for some reason I'm determined to find a deck they could be good in (or at least less terrible...) - I'm guessing proliferate will need to be involved...) More serious question - I've noticed a few times, with a bunch of different deck builders - when including the 'limiting attackers package' it's usually Crawlspace and Silent Arbiter - is there a reason people don't tend to include Lightmine Field? I can see that it might draw some hate for not letting other players attack each other, but surely no more so than Silent Arbiter? And even if it does draw some removal, that would be removal that then can't be used on your Propaganda/Ghostly Prison, which would seem like an OK trade-off. Is there something I'm missing? (or is it just one of those cards that has slipped through the cracks of time and people have forgotten about?)
I've focused on my azor on the draw go control only using ability if I'm empty or if I have free counterspells in hand (force of will, foil, daze, thwart ect.) Still haven't played it though I'm just finishing it up.
They can be GREAT! Or they can sit in your hand. I'd put misdirection > Commandeer because your commander is a threat so misdirection will likely be a good card to protect Azor.
Awesome video! Love the monarch mechanic cause it adds flavor to the game. Do you think monarch can be a mechanic to design a deck around (tribal monarch)?
Jack0811 Marchesa would be down that alley, while Leovold is down "pain and no cards for opponent torture that even Satan doesn't think anyone deserves" alley. Then the next one is Goblin goad avenue
Haha. I had a Leovold deck before it was banned. In my group, if I played Leovold it would become an archenemy scenario. But anyone who plays Leovold should know that going in before playing it. I know I'm one of the few, but I wish that when Legendary Creatures were banned EDH, they were only banned from being the Commander and could be included in the 99.
There are so few monarch cards I think it'd have to feature Marchesa (as mentioned in this thread). I do like monarch subthemes. I have an Abzan toughness deck that is quite defensive that runs many many monarch cards. It's really fun.
I wouldn't use this guy as a commander, but i would include him in my brago build. Swing with him and use all my mana rocks to pay for the ability since i'll be able to blink/untap them with brago anyway.
Downside of being on a 6/6 flying stick is that eventually your opponents will die and you won't be able to draw more cards. New tech Agoraphobia on your commander, doing it!
oh man... Grand abolisher + Azor is enough to piss off everybody. If you drop eldrazi displacer on the table... I believe stax is the way to play azor, with lots of extra turn cards. he has the draw built in, just lock the board and watch the caos.
When i build my WU commander deck i'm gonna put Azor in my 99 under Brago. That way, I get the 'sphinx's revelation' ability on his attack, it resolves, then i get Brago's trigger from the damage, it resolves, and then i have a freshly blinked Azor to get his ETB trigger.
Interesting take, but it was a bit annoying hearing you delete the "can't cast instants on their next turn" part of the text. You changed it to read as tho it only affects sorceries. I heard why you reworded Azor's ability, but the "can't cast instant or sorceries" part DOES matter. I wait until my opponent is tapped out from casting an instant removal spell on my turn, and then cast Azor. Now neither the instant or sorcery cards my opponent has can be cast once their turn starts. There isn't a lot of steps in between as you worded it. Opponent tape out and cast Azor, their turn starts and they need cards of very specific types to deal with it. For some colors, that greatly limits their responses. I'm glad that Azor DOESN'T say what you diminish it to say... "Just protects against sorceries" , cuz now their removal spell means nothing on their turn after Azor came out.... Even if it IS an instant. Then my turn starts and I'm untapped again to protect if need be. I'm not saying it's impossible to kill Azor, but the part of the text that says "instant or sorcery" DOES matter.
He really isn't. Let's break it down. Protection: Ojutai has hexproof as long as he is untapped. That means that when he hits the battlefield he is immune from anything that isn't a wrath or a sacrifice effect until you untap. And if you give his vigilance (as you should) he has hexproof permanently. Vigilance also grants Ojutai superb blocking potential. Azor stops opponents casting instants or sorceries in their next turn when he enters. This means that he is immune to most board wipes. However like Ojutai he is weak to sac effects which most often come in the form of creatures or enchantments. Fleshbag Marauder and Dictate of Erebos being good examples. He also dies to instant speed spot removal which is even more likely to find its target when you are stopping everyone from casting sorceries. And if there is even a chance you could flicker him, the table is going to target you. Card Advantage: On hitting someone, Ojutai lets you anticipate. Now this isn't a overwhelmingly powerful ability and he has to connect so chump blockers can hinder him. However it is unlikely that all players in a pod will have blockers. That said Azor is more reliable in this regard. Ojutai has one big thing up on Azor here though. His card advantage engine doesn't require mana. You only need to invest 5 mana into him and you get everything. Azor will draw you more cards. But you have to tap mana on your turn to do that. And that puts you in a spot where you can't react which is something Jumbo says in this video. Lets say you have access to 7 mana after you play this. You can activate this for 4. If you do that, yes you are drawing 4 cards but you can't use those cards until your next turn. You have to wait a turn cycle before you can use them. With Ojutai you can use what you get right away. I am not saying Azor is worthless. He seems fun. But as hinted at in this video there are a lot of commanders that do things he does better.
Ojutai ain’t expensive. Azor’s ability is great because you can cast him and not have to hold up countermagic for their removal. Even if they have instant speed removal, you will get to untap before they can use it.
654billygoat i despise the fact you aren't serving Yawgmoth's will or Phyrexia #phyrexiaforever #neverforgettheperfectionruinedbyasnobnosedartificer #freegarrukandmurdernissa
The Orzhov Syndicate has heard your request and will contract with the Simic Combine to "improve" the azorious .... for an appropriate price of course. #orzhovwhilelucrative
Dude are you ok? Is the something going on in you personal life? Is there something about making these videos that's bothering you? I only ask because the tone of this video was uncomfortably negative AGAIN. Yes this was more constructive than your video on Blood Sun, but you seem to be really down on new cards and the hype that surrounds them in general. Is it that you don't actually want to be doing videos on these subjects? Maybe you feel that you have to because of Patreon? Have you been getting into arguments on social media and using your platform on RU-vid as a way to get the last word? Whatever it is that's going on there has definitely been a noticeable change in your content as a result. One of the things that had initially attracted me to your channel and truthfully the main reason why I have continued to follow it for so long, was how genuinely stoked you were about the decks you build and the card interactions you have found for them. 2017 was a rough year for content creators, Wedge had some serious personal struggles, the Prof. had bouts of illness and was bogged down by controversy, and we nearly lost Sieben Lore. I would hate to think that you are headed down a similar path, but it appears that you enthusiasm has waned somewhat in recent weeks and whether we want to admit it or not, we may have already lost a special part of our game's community.
I'm all good. I would prefer to categorize this as intellectual or critical rather than negative. It is easier to make overly enthusiastic videos about a card but I saw Azor as a challenge and an opportunity to see how he really fits into more traditional azorious decks. I think people wanted to slam him as a control general or rely on blinking him as a psedo-staxationcommander. I think that will leave people unhappy with the way their deck plays. Some cards warrant unbridled enthusiasm. The elder dinos definitely received that treatment and more of that will come in the future. Thanks for looking out, I'm happy, healthy, busy, and enjoying magic. I honestly don't get into arguments on social media. I'll engage anyone but I have no problem walking away from toxic bickering. I also have no problem chatting with you about this. I really hope my next videos have you feeling good. Cheers
Jumbo Commander thank you for your timely response. I'm am pleased to hear that you are well and I sincerely hope that continues to be the case. I also would like to reiterate how much I value your contributions and look forward to your future content. Thank you.
