I really like Derevi and bant colors in general, but I need help finding more competitive/better cards for him. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
How does a non sanctioned format have banned cards?
French commander is very popular overseas. It may not be sanctioned, but it is popular enough to need a banned list. The tournaments would be madness if not.
Keep in mind French commander is completely different from traditional
Usually a 4 player pod is best for traditional whereas duelist is 1v1
Completely different worlds and deck builds
I pretty much only play 1vs1 EDH with no stupid ban list. Except big Grizzy. He should be banned in everything.
Grizzy is only good if you can get him out fast. He's even legal in French EDH because they banned the broken mana rocks/tutors. You can even have him as your general!
So... Does anyone know of good cards for him or...?
Quote from: JordanCirk on January 27, 2014, 05:07:14 PM
So... Does anyone know of good cards for him or...?
{deadeye navigator}, a permanent that will make you 3 mana when you tap it ({gilded lotus}) and derevi. Add in your favorite enters/leaves battlefield trigger creature, and have fun! Some ideas:
Any type of splicer {blade splicer}, {wing splicer}, or anything that gets you token(s) when it enters will get you infinite creatures.
{essence warden} for infinite life. {Fiend hunter} can wipe the board of all other creatures, if you know how to stack your triggers correctly. {Thragtusk} is another fun one, so is {mulldrifter}.
Orb effects.
{Winter Orb}
{Homori, Dust Drinker}
{Rising Waters}
{Tangle Wire}
{Stasis}
{Static Orb}
Derevi makes these a nightmare for your opponents. Tap their lands and/or untap your lands, making it so that while you play spells, your opponent never has access to more than 2 mana. Add {Prophet of Kruphix} and {Seedborn Muse} for even more fun.
{Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger}
Is similar and in the colors
Just expect hate
Mana rocks ({Gilded Lotus}, {Sol Ring}) love Derevi. Also,here is the article on why Derevi is banned, use some of the combos mentioned and win.
"Derevi, Empyrial Tactician is one of the more innovative Commanders to come out of the Commander 2013 set. It started out rather slow, placing only three copies in the top 8s of the three biggest tournaments this season, but then quickly rose to the top of statistics, taking multiple spots in the top 8s of later tournaments.
This led us to scrutinize quite deeply how Derevi decks function and what could explain their sudden rise to dominance. On the surface the Commander looks rather harmless, its triggered ability comparing quite unfavorably to Edric, Spymaster of Trest's. Its reduced cost didn't seem much of a problem as the body is weak and it's a good strategy to leave Derevi on the battlefield and concentrate your removal on the other threats.
However, a closer analysis revealed that Derevi combines with many cards to create an enormous advantage very quickly. Combined with Hokori, Dust Drinker, you can lock your opponent while not suffering the effects yourself. Combined with Bloom Tender, you can create 6 mana on turn three, for exampling letting you cast Frost Titan and completely lock your opponent out of the game. Combined with Birthing Pod you can tutor multiple creatures into play every turn, crushing the opponent under value. And these are only a few examples.
As a result, when playing against Derevi, you're torn apart between trying to stop various threats which are quite good on their own, and trying to deal with a Commander that can come back very cheaply again and again. Not many decks are able to do that and still remain competitive against the rest of the field. Some specialized answers exist (Lignify, Darksteel Mutation, Gilded Drake) however we don't want to turn matchups against Derevi into a lottery of whether you can find and resolve one of those scarce answers. So rather than try and ban any number of those otherwise interesting cards, we prefer banning the engine."
Quote from: Ertai on January 27, 2014, 12:19:07 PM
How does a non sanctioned format have banned cards?
Here is the official council that makes the ban lists for French 1v1 Commander: http://duelcommander.com/
Quote from: Agrus Kos, Enforcer of Truth on January 27, 2014, 08:44:37 PM
Mana rocks ({Gilded Lotus}, {Sol Ring}) love Derevi. Also,here is the article on why Derevi is banned, use some of the combos mentioned and win.
"Derevi, Empyrial Tactician is one of the more innovative Commanders to come out of the Commander 2013 set. It started out rather slow, placing only three copies in the top 8s of the three biggest tournaments this season, but then quickly rose to the top of statistics, taking multiple spots in the top 8s of later tournaments.
This led us to scrutinize quite deeply how Derevi decks function and what could explain their sudden rise to dominance. On the surface the Commander looks rather harmless, its triggered ability comparing quite unfavorably to Edric, Spymaster of Trest's. Its reduced cost didn't seem much of a problem as the body is weak and it's a good strategy to leave Derevi on the battlefield and concentrate your removal on the other threats.
However, a closer analysis revealed that Derevi combines with many cards to create an enormous advantage very quickly. Combined with Hokori, Dust Drinker, you can lock your opponent while not suffering the effects yourself. Combined with Bloom Tender, you can create 6 mana on turn three, for exampling letting you cast Frost Titan and completely lock your opponent out of the game. Combined with Birthing Pod you can tutor multiple creatures into play every turn, crushing the opponent under value. And these are only a few examples.
As a result, when playing against Derevi, you're torn apart between trying to stop various threats which are quite good on their own, and trying to deal with a Commander that can come back very cheaply again and again. Not many decks are able to do that and still remain competitive against the rest of the field. Some specialized answers exist (Lignify, Darksteel Mutation, Gilded Drake) however we don't want to turn matchups against Derevi into a lottery of whether you can find and resolve one of those scarce answers. So rather than try and ban any number of those otherwise interesting cards, we prefer banning the engine."
Quote from: Ertai on January 27, 2014, 12:19:07 PM
How does a non sanctioned format have banned cards?
Here is the official council that makes the ban lists for French 1v1 Commander: http://duelcommander.com/
Sounds like my derevi deck haha... It was my 1v1 for a short time...knew it wouldn't last though...I called this as soon as I played my first game with her...
She is TOO good, I wouldn't be surprised if multiplayer very rapidly follows with the banning of her.
Sooo who will actually call the bluffs on banned cards when playing EDH?
People who are losing
And by that time it won't matter.
There's a thread for discussion about banned cards.
Back on topic, there are a few good legends for derevi:
{Edric, Spymaster of Trest} - great way to draw cards with the mana dorks you play.
{Grand Abolisher Augustine VIII} - makes most of your deck cheaper, and makes everything harder to cast for your opponent.
{Unezawa's Jitte}: Turns the tide of combat in your favor.
...and some non legends!
{Stoneforge Mystic} - fetches:
-{Birthing Pod} - lets you sacrifict a creature to get another better one! You can even sacrifice derevi and get a 4 drop, then pay 4 mana to bring him out again, untap pod, and get another 4 drop!
- swords. The two best ones are {Sword of Feast and Famine} and {Sword of Fire and Ice}
- {Skull Clamp} - draw 2 cards for 1 mana is fantastic. Sorry mana dork...you have served your purpose!
...and also the before-mentioned jitte.
{Knight of the Reliquary} - helps find lands like {Gaea's Cradle}, {Strip Mine}, {Wasteland}, and {Maze of Ith}, or just color fixes you! Also a fine beatstick.
Steal creatures!!! Stealing someone's general is often GG. The two best options for this are {Gilded Drake} and {Sower of Temptation}. You can get both easily with {Birthing Pod}, especially sower since it costs 1 more than your general!
{Opposition} - turn all of your creatures into the ultimate lockdown machine!!!
Efficient removal: {Swords to Plowshares}, {Pongify}, {Condemn}, etc. are great ways to get rid of a threat.
If people in your meta play combo, add an {Arcane Laboratory}. It stops most combo decks and is tutorable with {Enlightened Tutor}.
{Enlightened Tutor} is very good. It fetches birthing pod, swords and other equipment, {Sylvan Library}, mana rocks like {Sol Ring}, and many more useful cards!
Other great tutors are {Worldy Tutor} and {Mystical Tutor}. I probably would not include their sorcery counterparts, {Sylvan Tutor} and {Personal Tutor}, because they are far easier to disrupt and you lose the element of surprise you get with an instant. Also it is more helpful to be able to have mana up to cast your instant, but if your opponent does something unexpected you still have mana open to counter/deal with it, and you can just cast your tutor later.
There are many more cards but I have to run! Good luck building that derevi deck!
Quote from: Coffee Vampire on January 28, 2014, 06:00:33 PM
There's a thread for discussion about banned cards.
Back on topic, there are a few good legends for derevi:
{Edric, Spymaster of Trest} - great way to draw cards with the mana dorks you play.
{Grand Abolisher Augustine VIII} - makes most of your deck cheaper, and makes everything harder to cast for your opponent.
{Unezawa's Jitte}: Turns the tide of combat in your favor.
...and some non legends!
{Stoneforge Mystic} - fetches:
-{Birthing Pod} - lets you sacrifict a creature to get another better one! You can even sacrifice derevi and get a 4 drop, then pay 4 mana to bring him out again, untap pod, and get another 4 drop!
- swords. The two best ones are {Sword of Feast and Famine} and {Sword of Fire and Ice}
- {Skull Clamp} - draw 2 cards for 1 mana is fantastic. Sorry mana dork...you have served your purpose!
...and also the before-mentioned jitte.
{Knight of the Reliquary} - helps find lands like {Gaea's Cradle}, {Strip Mine}, {Wasteland}, and {Maze of Ith}, or just color fixes you! Also a fine beatstick.
Steal creatures!!! Stealing someone's general is often GG. The two best options for this are {Gilded Drake} and {Sower of Temptation}. You can get both easily with {Birthing Pod}, especially sower since it costs 1 more than your general!
{Opposition} - turn all of your creatures into the ultimate lockdown machine!!!
Efficient removal: {Swords to Plowshares}, {Pongify}, {Condemn}, etc. are great ways to get rid of a threat.
If people in your meta play combo, add an {Arcane Laboratory}. It stops most combo decks and is tutorable with {Enlightened Tutor}.
{Enlightened Tutor} is very good. It fetches birthing pod, swords and other equipment, {Sylvan Library}, mana rocks like {Sol Ring}, and many more useful cards!
Other great tutors are {Worldy Tutor} and {Mystical Tutor}. I probably would not include their sorcery counterparts, {Sylvan Tutor} and {Personal Tutor}, because they are far easier to disrupt and you lose the element of surprise you get with an instant. Also it is more helpful to be able to have mana up to cast your instant, but if your opponent does something unexpected you still have mana open to counter/deal with it, and you can just cast your tutor later.
There are many more cards but I have to run! Good luck building that derevi deck!
Thanks for the amazing feedback! I've been playing my deck and have been having a lot of fun, Derevi is just amazing and in almost every match up makes me dump my hand very quickly. I'll look Into a lot of the cards mentioned, thanks!+1
{mind over matter}, and {Arcanis, the omnipotent}. Draw your whole library.
Quote from: Double-O-Scotch on January 29, 2014, 11:16:56 AM
{mind over matter}, and {Arcanis, the omnipotent}. Draw your whole library.
{Mind Over Matter} + {Temple Bell} + {Kozilek, Butcher of Truth} = mill everyone else that doesn't have kozilek.
Quote from: JordanCirk on January 29, 2014, 02:23:52 PM
Quote from: Double-O-Scotch on January 29, 2014, 11:16:56 AM
{mind over matter}, and {Arcanis, the omnipotent}. Draw your whole library.
{Mind Over Matter} + {Temple Bell} + {Kozilek, Butcher of Truth} = mill everyone else that doesn't have kozilek.
How does this work?
Quote from: Ertai on January 29, 2014, 02:26:53 PM
Quote from: JordanCirk on January 29, 2014, 02:23:52 PM
Quote from: Double-O-Scotch on January 29, 2014, 11:16:56 AM
{mind over matter}, and {Arcanis, the omnipotent}. Draw your whole library.
{Mind Over Matter} + {Temple Bell} + {Kozilek, Butcher of Truth} = mill everyone else that doesn't have kozilek.
How does this work?
When you discard kozilek to mind over matter to untap temple bell, your graveyard will shuffle back into your library so you can keep drawling cards with the mind over matter temple bell combo then once u hit kozilek again you do the same until your opponents run out of cards.
Tap bell - everyone draws a card
Mind over matter - discard, untap bell repeat. Mill into a creature that allows you reshuffle your GY into library once creature his GY.
Repeat till everyone has no cards in library.
Good idea to exile a GY at that point, then pass turn, each opponent unable to draw loses.
Just be careful loading up your opponents hang with their deck
So why did I get thumbs downed for answering his question? People these days.
There's tons of ways to build derevi. I play her just as access to bant colors. I okay a hard control version though and use her as a chump
blocker and control attacks/blocks.
A friend of mine plays her as well, with many ETB cards:
{conjurers closet}
{reivillark}
{karmic guide}
{thragtusk}
{prime speaker zegana}
That's just a few of his ETB cards.
{survival of the fittest} is really good woth derevi too
Quote from: Jlamb5 on January 31, 2014, 02:15:32 AM
{survival of the fittest} is really good woth derevi too
Survival of the fittest is good in almost any deck it is put in.