Two years can change a Commander deck quite a bit when you think of all the new sets, cards and product released annually by Wizards. Couple new product with the change in playgroups, metas, ideas and strategies and you have yourself an evolved EDH deck. Welcome to my revised primer for Wrexial, the Risen Deep. Below is a combination of old and new as we dive into the year 2015!
The play “Julius Caesar” contains one of Shakespeare’s most famous quotes, Et Tu Brute? (Latin for “You Too Brutus?”). This Wrexial, the Risen Deep Commander Deck forces your opponents creatures and spells to betray them through a myriad of copy and steal effects.
Leading this team of backstabbing copycats is none other than Wrexial, the Risen Deep. Wrex and Effects brings his own style of manipulation and havoc as he uses his islandwalk and swampwalk abilities to explode past an opponents defense and used their own instants and sorceries against them.
Wrexial, the Risen Deep Primer
Black/Blue Copy Steal Commander EDH Deck
Et Tu Brute?
Creature Selection
Clones!
One of the major changes to Et Tu Brute is the reduction in the number of clones. Disbanded is the collection of shapeshifters that we referred to as Ocean’s Ten in the original primer. Over time I found more and more that my clones sat in my hand proving too much of a good thing was not a good thing. My playgroup had changed and I found my Wrexial deck craving answers and card draw.
So which clones made the final cut? Phantasmal Image for starters. Despite its drawback of being destroyed if targeted, a 2 mana cost clone is hard to pass up. Besides, chances are it would die anyway from whomever was doing the targeting. My personal favorite, Phyrexian Metamorph, can clone a creature or can enter the battlefield as an artifact. It is not uncommon for me to use Phyrexian Metamorph in the early game to copy a mana rock such as Sol Ring. Sakashima the Imposter refuses to give up her namesake when she copies a creature. We can use this to our advantage and warp the MTG legendary rule by having two copies of Keiga, Wrexial, or any other Legendary creature on our side of the board. Another one of my favorites, Evil Twin, can clone a creature and then kill off the original! Dimir Doppelganger is quite the all-star as he copies and then removes a creature in a graveyard from the game. He can continue to exile graveyard creatures and reset himself for just . Activating the Doppleganger in response to graveyard shenanigans can frustrate opponents. Last, but certainly not least, is arguably the best clone in all of the MTG universe Clever Impersonator. Mega-Clone copies any permanent on the board for only 4 mana. Any permanent. Yes, even Planeswalkers. This clone is soooo good and a welcome addition to any copy themed edh deck.
As with all clones, copies of a Commanders/Generals does not count towards commander damage. What is best about cloning effects is that most do not target the permanent they are copying when they enter the battlefield, you simply “choose”. This is fantastic for getting around cards that have shroud or hexproof.
Thieves!
As promised by the deck title, Et tu Brute, there will be a fair amount of my opponents creatures and spells caught in the act of betrayal as they join forces with Wrexial, the Risen Deep. First and foremost, get Thada Adel, Acquisitor onto the battlefield as early as you can. Thada reaches into your opponent’s libraries and rips out Mana Rocks and other useful Artifact toys for you to play with. Possibly one of my favorite steal creatures is Phyrexian Infiltrator. This card works against any opponent not playing Blue. Simply put, you swap a vanilla 2/2 creature for one of their creatures and this can be done at Instant speed adding to their frustration! Phyrexian Infiltrator on a Mimic Vat makes the game really ugly. Memnarch seems to be a card that everyone hates to see on the table and will instantly make you the multi-player target. That being said, his uncanny knack for being able to start stealing everything on the table may be a good reason why people hate to play against him. Next up is Roil Elemental. This critter allows theft of creatures with the simple drop of a land. Finally, there is Perplexing Chimera. The Chimera offers us the unique ability to steal an opponents spell. Well, actually it is more of a “swap” than a steal. With Perplexing Chimera on the board we can take an opponents spell for our own, but then we hafta give them the Chimera. Still though, this is a great way to break up combo pieces or have a bit of fun at the expensive of others.
If you want to see opponents lose their mind and sweat putting creatures on the board put a Dominating Licid in your deck. I don’t know what it is but an early game Licid, but it draws more than its fair share of hate. Great political piece!
I found that I get attacked less if I leave Keiga, the Tide Star out as a blocker. We can also clone our Keiga or, better yet, get her on her Mimic Vat to pose a creature stealing fit that will draw the ire of the table. More on Keiga here in just a second.
Havengul Lich can steal creatures from any graveyard for the cost of mana plus the casting cost of the creature. Unfortunately, we will only be able to cast Black, Blue or Artifact creatures in this manner due to our commander’s color identity. The main reason that Havengul Lich had found it’s way back into The Kraken’s Supporting cast, however, was due to the legendary rule change in M14.
If we have a clone in our graveyard and the Lich plus Keiga, the Tide Star on the battlefield we have a small combo that steals creatures. Lets say that we cast Phantasmal Image (or any other clone) from our graveyard using Lich and bring it into play as a copy of Keiga. The M14 rule states that we get to choose one copy of the legendary dragon to remain on the battlefield and the other to go to the graveyard. Sending the Phantasmal Image is the obvious choice which will activate the Keiga “when it dies” ability allowing us to steal an opponent’s creature. So with Havengul Lich and Keiga on the battlefield, the ability becomes :mana2: :symu: to cast Phantasmal Image from our graveyard, copy Keiga, Steal creature. Rinse, and repeat.
Supporting Cast
Well not all of the creatures in the EDH deck are copy or steal. Wrexial has a good chunk of creatures that I like to call “The Supporting Cast”. Let’s start with Spellskite. Spellskite is not a common choice for this type of deck, but it’s ability is amazing. For a mere 2 life, Spellskite will take the brunt of targeted removal or steal aura and other spells/abilities intended for an opponent’s creature. Kira, Great Glass-Spinner adds frustration for our opponent as her ability requires them to use 2 removal spells instead of 1 to deal with creatures we control. Although Kira doesn’t interact well with a small number of our other deck choices, having her on the battlefield raises my comfort level.
Non-blue mages will grown at this next deck choice, Consecrated Sphinx. There have been so many talks of banning Consecrated Sphinx and in this deck you can see why. An early Consecrated Sphinx will have you drawing cards for days… especially in a multiplayer game and having cloned copies of him can just get ridiculous.
Glen Elendra Archmage was reprinted in the original Modern Masters set and became an immediate inclusion for control in Wrexial’s toolbox. Being able to Negate a couple of non-creature spells has earned my respect for the archmage. Riptide Shapeshifter is a bit of a pet card of mine. With the exception of creature type “wizard” and “shapeshifter” I should be able to plop just about any other creature into play without issues. I wrote an entire article on Riptide if you are interested in reading the EDH Deck Tech article and how good this card can be.
Planeswalkers for Blue/Black
At one time Wrexial was good friends with four planeswalkers in his crew of 99. Tamiyo, Karn, Lilli Vess and two other itterrations of Jace have moved on and attribute to several of my other EDH decks. Now, only one planeswalker remains, Jace, Architect of Thought.
Its not that Tammy, Big Jace, Lilli and Mr. K weren’t good in the deck, because they worked very well, but it was simply a matter of wanting to enhance the copy/steal theme.
I have yet to cast Emo Jace, but feel that his -2 will probably be my go to activation. A mini Fact or Fiction is card advantage I can get behind. However, if I can get himdown early game or control the board long enough, I will be ticking his loyalty up to get to that on theme ultimate. If I ever get to use that -8 to steal aka Bribery every opponent, you, the readers, will be the first to know!
Copy/Steal Spells for EDH
Copy Spells
Copy, Copy, Copy… Here is my selection of non-creature copy abilities. First up, Mimic Vat. We could discuss Mimic Vat’s possibilities all day long, but it’s primary use in this deck would be to imprint a clone or an opponent’s utility creature. As mentioned above, Mimic Vat + Phyrexian Infiltrator is just downright dirty. Another of my all-time favorite artifacts is an all-star, in its own right, Sculpting Steel. I usually consider it a mana rock as it can copy a Sol Ring, Thran Dynamo, or any other artifact we or an opponent controls. Copy Artifact works fairly well in this deck and is always a solid draw. Copy Enchantment may be the weakest copy spell in the deck, but when it’s good, it’s good. I have used it to copy auras, Sylvan Library and my own enchantments such as Treachery. In 2013, Gatecrash introduced us to the Cipher mechanic. Cipher is included here with Stolen Identity. Not only does Stolen Identity copy a creature or an artifact, but it allows the spell to be encoded on a creature allowing for more token copies every turn.
Tell me if you have heard this phrase announced during a game before: “I will cast Rite of Replication – kicked.” Heck ya, you know what I’m talking about; Crunchy goodness.
Steal Spells
Reins of Power has been on the chopping block so many times that I have lost count. However, it seems that every time I have Reins in hand, it provides a game shifting effect in my favor. I’m here to tell ya, Reins of Power wins games. Vedalken Shackles is included in this deck for “funsies”. It is more powerful in mono-Blue with lots of Islands. Late game, however, the Shackles serves its purpose and allows me to gain control of threats and continue on my way. My classic steal spell is one that I cracked in a pack of Urza’s Legacy many moons ago, Treachery. Treachery can steal a creature and then untap my five lands so that I can cast something else or hold mana for a counterspell on my opponents turn. Blatant Thievery has survived recent deck cuts despite the high mana cost. Being able to grab an important piece of each opponent’s board state is a powerful effect in multiplayer games. Steal Enchantment is the perfect solution for a Theros Block god-heavy environment. Stealing an opponent’s god, especially if it is there commander, will make you some allies and friends. There are also Sylvan Libraries, Phyrexian Arenas, Propagandas, and other enchantment goodies to take. Not to mention swiping an opponent’s combo piece!
In addition to stealing permanents that are already on the board, Et tu Brute can also steal spells and cards from an opponent’s library. It’s like taking the sandwich out of a fellow employee’s lunchbox. Lets start with el numero uno steal spell of all time, Bribery. The power of grabbing any creature from any deck on the table for just 5 mana is ridiculous and I dig it! If you have been on the receiving end of a Bribery then you know that helpless feeling you get while someone fondles your deck. I liked Bribery so much that I included a similar card, Acquire. While Acquire usually nabs me a mana rock or Sword of X and Y, there is also the opportunity to take a powerful artifact creature such as Wurmcoil Engine or Blightsteel Colossus. Praetor’s Grasp allows you to search and swipe a card from an opponents deck. You can play it right away or save it and play it later on in the game. Heck, you don’t even have to play it. Removing a vital piece of an opponents gameplan for the game is powerful enough. Of course, to cast this card, it must be within Wrexial’s blue/black/colorless color identity. Most of the time, for me, this will be a blue counterspell, black wrath, or Sol Ring.
Knowledge Exploitation is a new addition to Wrexial that I have not had the opportunity to cast. In theory, however, being able to pull a wrath or other powerful instant or sorcery from an opponent’s library seems super-duper fantastic to me. Time will tell.
Wrexial’s Toolbox – Dimir EDH Goodstuff
Et tu Brute – Wrexial EDH Commander has a good chunk of utility spells and cards that provide a toolbox of effects to help in many situations. Probably the most unknown, yet powerful piece of equipment for Blue Mages is the Neurok Stealthsuit. Neurok Stealthsuit protects your creatures from targeted removal for the cost of UU and instant speed attachment from one creature to another.
DRAW SPELLS: My favorite draw spell, Impulse is here. In fact, if you do notplay Impulse in your Blue decks, then I highly recommend my EDH Tech article on Impulse. Factor Fiction, Rhystic Study and Plea for Power are also tops on my “pet card draw” spells and included in this deck. Rhystic Study is a card drawing machine in multiplayer and annoys the opposition with the constant, repeated questions “Can I Draw a Card?” and “You gonna pay 1 extra for that?”
COUNTERSPELLS: We hafta protect our board state and exert some control, so here are some of the counterspells we will employ for the task. Desertion‘s versatality allows us to steal a creature when it is cast or straight up hard counter a non-creature spell. Alsoon theme of the deck is my newest acquisition, Spelljack
With Sphinx and Rhystic Study nabbing us extra cards, Forbid seems like an auto include due to its buyback cost. Force of Will gives us a second chance if we get caught with our pants down while Cryptic Command provides a hard counter with a buy one get one free effect.
Finally, there is Muddle the Mixture. Muddle may only counter an instant or sorcery, but its transmute cost gives us a tutor that can snag a two mana cost card from our deck. Cards like Rift and Swine. Speaking of which…
REMOVAL: Whether it’s a reset button or just need to get some gunk out of the way, this commander deck relies on removal. Cyclonic Rift allows for a one-sided, untargeted bounce effect that torments all of my opponents and leaves my board state where it is. As of the date of this EDH Primer, Cyclonic Rift is still legal in EDH/Commander despite some public outcry that the Overload ability is too strong. In this writer’s opinion. Meh, its powerful but not ban worthy. Curse of the Swine is one of my favorite spot removal cards. Exiling creatures to make some piggies is the best thing since crispy bacon! Capsize is an obvious inclusion for its early bounce effect and lock-down buyback in the late game. Sometimes the board state will appear to be a losing battle, so having access to Damnation allows for one of the best “reset” buttons in the game.
Perilous Vault is a mass board wipe, exiling everything. Since I don’t have a lot of graveyard shenanigans the Vault gets the nod over Disk and O-Stone. My playgroup abuses graveyards so let’s get that stuff outta here!
Two of my favorite pieces of removal are both included here. Sudden Spoiling and Polymorphist’s Jest both reduce an opponents army to 0/2 creatures or 1/1 frogs respectively and allow us to get around Eldrazi, indestructible, hexproof and other nasty creatures that may be taking aim at kicking our teeth in.
Tutors and Mana Rocks
Black/Blue provide a good variety of tutors that allow the EDH Player to find cards that they need in their massive commander library. Vampiric Tutor and Mystical Tutor are extremely important for finding the right card at the right time, as is the beofre mentioned Transmute tutor, Muddle the Mixture. One of my personal all time favorite cards with a giant wall of rules text is Lim-Dul’s Vault. Lim-Dul’s Vault allows us to rifle through our deck at the cost of 1 life per 5 cards, putting our favorite group of 5 on top of our library in any order. This deck only consists of four (4) mana rocks: Sol Ring, Coldsteel Heart, Thran Dynamo, and Gilded Lotus. My short list of mana producing artifacts may seem to be a bit underwhelming at first glance, but remember that with cards like Copy Artifact, Sculpting Steel, Praetor’s Council, Phyrexian Metamorph, Acquire and Thada Adel, Acquisitor, it is easy to copy and steal artificial mana producers from other players when needed.
Lands
EDH Staples are here: Command Tower, Fetch lands such as Polluted Delta, and several Dual Lands such as Underground Sea. Reliquary Tower is a must for this Commander EDH deck due to the possibility of massive card draw from Rhystic Study and Consecrated Sphinx. Vesuva and Thespian’s Stage‘s ability to COPY another land is extremely useful and fits the theme of the deck. Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth comes in handy making every land a SWAMP in addition to its normal type. This helps Wrexial, the Risen Deep use its SWAMPWALK ability and makes it easier to cast the Black spells of this deck.
Volrath’s Stronghold is another utility land that becomes heavily utilized and helps retrieve Clones and other creatures from my graveyard. Bojuka Bog is a must have for black in EDH. Finally there is Halimar Depths, a card I like just for the library manipulation.
Clones and the M14 Legend Rule
The 2014 LEGEND RULE states:
Let’s dive in, shall we? The “legend rule,” rule 704.5k for those of you following along at home, is changing. Under the current rules, any time two or more legendary permanents with the same name were on the battlefield, they would all be put into their owners’ graveyards as a state-based action. Under the new rules, any time two or more legendary permanents with the same name are controlled by a player, that player chooses one of them and the rest are put into their owners’ graveyards as a state-based action.
Question: Was the M14 Legendary Rule good or bad for Et tu Brute, Wrexial EDH?
Answer: GOOD
Honestly, the new legendary ruling is going to make this deck even better. Using clones to blow up commanders and use them as removal was not a fun tactic, although most blue mages are guilty of doing so at some point in their EDH career. With the M14 change, our clones are now doing what they were meant to do. Copy good-stuff on the board. Nowadays, we are able to use a clone effect to have a copy of Avacyn, Gisela, Sheoldred, Elesh Norn, Iona, Mikaeus, or any other legendary creature, land or artifact on the board. If we need to remove a legendary creature, we have Evil Twin available and we can still use spells like Desertion, Treachery or Blatant Thievery to steal or counter their legendary permanent(s). To battle hexproof generals, we still have cards like Cyclonic Rift, Sudden Spoiling and Damnation
Click Here For more information on the M14 Core Set Legend Rule change.
Check back periodically for further developments!
Oh, for fans of the older version of my Wrexial Copy/Steal themed deck, I have included it here for reference:
[spoiler title=”Version 1.0 of Wrexial Copy/Steal Et Tu Brute – 2014″]
Et Tu Brute?
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[/spoiler]
On to the next!
—wallyd
57 comments
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Might as well make this a blue deck… you have like what… 12 black cards.
Author
Anyway… I’ll take the bait and throw out an answer… Yes, this is a heavy Blue deck with Black support… but the Dimir colors work great together to steal/copy from graveyards and the battlefield. And… I really like Wrexial! In order to run Wrexial in EDH, we require Blue/Black…
So, to quote Lovie Smith, “wREX is our Quarterback“, lol.
How does the new legendary ruling influence this deck build?
Author
Honestly, I am very excited about the new rules for Wrexial and his band of clones: Ocean’s Eleven. The heaviest influence will be the reappearance of Havengul Lich and the consideration of obtaining Kokusho, the Evening Star (Unless he gets banned again… we will wait until the next EDH ban list changes before buying him for $20 or more).
I have included the new Havengul/Keiga/Clone combo created by the M14 rules in the Primer above. Scroll up or Click here to read more:
M14 Rule Changes – Et Tu Brute, Wrexial, the Risen Deep and Clones
I will update the list with Havengul Lich soon… Not sure who to take out yet…
Oh… and the power of Evil Twin just went up!
Thank you for your comment, much appreciated!
Who did you take out for havengul lich?
Author
Theoretically, I took out Diluvian Primordial for Havengul Lich. With Memory Plunder and Wrexial, the Risen Deep it seemed that Diluvian Primordial was “expendable”.
What did you pull for the Lich?
Author
Thanx for returning to MTGCasualPlay.com!
I have included a “PLAYTESTING” section at the bottom of my Strategy Guide/Primer for Wrexial. Wrexial seen action in several games last night and dominated. 🙂
Here are some highlights on the cards we are currently “PLAYTESTING” (Extremely pleased with the results)
IN: Havengul Lich OUT: Diluvian Primordial. Havengul casted a few graveyard critters… notably abusing a Fleshbag Marauder in the Black mage’s graveyard. However, in the several games we played, we didn’t see the Clone+Keiga combo…
IN: Riptide Shapeshifter OUT: Roil Elemental. Riptide naming LEVIATHAN. Yes, Yes, Yes!
IN: Far // Away OUT: Twincast. Far and Away needs a little more playtesting, but the Bounce + Sacrifice effect came in handy a time or two.
IN: Cryptoplasm OUT: Windfall. Cryptoplasm early turn, was left alone, and eventually became a 6/6 Demon beater. No ETB effects, but still, good times!
IN: Cryptic Command OUT: Conjurer’s Closet. Cryptic Command performed to expectations!
IN: Glen Elendra Archmage OUT: Tamiyo, the Moon Sage. Glen Elendra also performed great – As Expected!
IN: Coldsteel Heart OUT: Spell Crumple. Was meh.
IN: Reins of Power OUT: Redirect. Switched creatures with the guy that had just made 82 Cat Tokens (2/2), attacked and won the game.
Other ALL-STARS from last night’s play were Memnarch, Rhystic Study, Mimic Vat and Jace, Memory Adept
Hope this helps answer your question!
Updated list?
Author
Hi again! Welcome back to my Wrexial article. I have updated the decklist. However, as I noticed in my most recent playtesting, Cryptoplasm was slightly unimpressive since he did not receive the benefit of th ETB effects. I am going to try one of the following in his place… Dominating Licid, Aquire, Evacuation or reinsert Tamiyo, the Moon Sage or Windfall.
Once I playtest a few more times with the above new additions, I plan on updating my strategy guide/primer.
Thank you again for your return visit and continued conversation on my Wrexial EDH Decklist!
—wallyd
Why not run Mindleech Mass?
Author
Hi EDHfanMag! Thank you for taking the time to read my Wrexial EDH Primer/Strategy Guide.
I have actually considered both Mindleech Mass and his ninja cousin Silent-Blade Oni. They both fit the theme of stealing and using my opponent’s spells, but here are my current reasons for excluding them in my decklist:
1) Casting Cost. Mindleech Mass costs 8 mana to cast. For this area of my mana curve, I would rather run Sphinx Ambassador (casting cost 7) on the “steal” side of the deck and for the fun factor.
2) Effectiveness. When Wrexial damages an opponent I can already “see” what cards I want to cast out of their graveyard. However, with Mindleech Mass I am “guessing” there is something in their hand I will be able to cast. I think most of the time my opponent is not going to have a card I would want to cast.
SUMMARY… I have never tried Mindleech Mass in this deck, so you never know I may try him out someday. However, at this time, I am just not a fan of his effect when combat damage is dealt is worth or equal to his casting cost.
Thanx again for your comments and don’t hesitate to post any other questions or comments!
I see your points. I just like the synergy of running him, Oni, and wrexial together. Throw in a cyclonic rift before attacking and things can get really interesting.
What changes will you make with Theros out?
Will you put in Whip of Erebos or other Theros cards?
Author
Hey there Doktorsleepless, welcome back!
Yes, there are two cards that I will be playtesting in Et Tu Brute.
The first is Curse of the Swine. I just can’t help but giggle after I clone their Avacyn or Sheoldred and then use Curse of the Swine to turn them into bacon.
The second that I will be adding is Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver. This will definitely be a “playtest” card and we will see how it goes, but Ashiok fits the “steal theme” and only costs 3 mana to put down. Lack of protection for Ashiok may be an issue, but after I get my copy and try it out, I’ll report back.
The hard part is what do I replace. My immediate thoughts were removing Duskmantle Guildmage and Mindcrank for a while. If not these two then maybe Dominating Licid and Far // Away.
Replacing cards is getting harder to do with the release of every set. :\
I put in thassa god of the sea, her trident, the crab kraken promo from prerelease, and a bestow crab that can generate cards. I like the flavor that matches the old one Wrexial. I’ll prob get around to putting in ashiok as well just for testing.
Author
Hmm. You may be on to something. I just realized that Thassa, God of the Sea only costs . Very well, you have talked me into it, I will also give her a try. Since I’m at it, I already have a Bident of Thassa, so I’ll try them together. I’d be interested to know how the Theros additions worked for you after some playtesting so keep us updated.
Took out bestow and put in Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver.
Have you playtested it yet?
Author
Unfortunately, I haven’t ordered my copy of Ashiok yet. I had a chance and passed at $15 thinking he was going to come down some and now he’s up to about $25, ugh. How is he working for you?
Anyway, here are my current substitutions:
IN: Thassa, God of the Sea. OUT: Duskmantle Guildmage
IN: Bident of Thassa. OUT: Mindcrank
IN: Curse of the Swine. OUT: Whispering Madness
I am also thinking about adding Forbid & Acquire. Not sure what is on the chopping block to get these in though, maybe Memory Plunder and not sure what else.
I think I am going to steer away from the small mill package in Wrexial, since it is not very often I need to cast him anyway.
First, thanks for the decklist, I had been wanting to play Wrexial for a little while, and I’ve found your article very helpful in assembling and playing the deck. RE: Ashiok, I happened to pull one and I love it. Unlike say, JaceMA, in order to play it effectively, you do need to focus on one person, so there are some political ramifications, but it is very well in theme with the rest of the deck. Wondering about you opinion on a few cards you may or may not have tried: Callous Oppressor, Volition Reins, Meletis Charlatan/Echo Mage, Necrotic Ooze, and Knowledge Exploitation.
Author
Welcome to MTGCasualPlay.com. I am glad you found this article helpful in creating your Wrexial deck. Feel free to stop by and comment anytime. Now then… On to the cards you mentioned:
Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver. So wish I would have bought him at $15 when I had the chance, now he is at about $30 so I fully intend on waiting for his value to plummet some before picking him up. I fully agree though, he will be great flavor for this deck and I cannot wait to get my copy.
Callous Oppressor: I have honestly never seen this card before, but yes he definitely looks to fit our theme quite well. He seems to be along the same lines of Dominating Licid (which I am currently playtesting). I am going to stay with the licid for the time being, but let me know if he works for you, he definitely deserves a shot!
Volition Reins: Another one that I don’t blame you for running in your build. On theme, and takes any permanent on the board. At this time, however, I will not be testing it and plan on sticking with the similar spell Blatant Thievery.
Meletis Charlatan/Echo Mage: Echo Mage I have tried, and really didn’t care for him. It seemed he would be stuck in my hand or in-play but I didn’t have the mana to level him up. When I did get him to level up, there honestly wasn’t a lot of instants or sorceries for me to copy. Love the theme, but had to cut for value (as I did with Twincast.
Necrotic Ooze: One of my favorite cards, I definitely love the ooze, and I have tried him in this deck before, but it just didn’t live up to expectations. I found that the activations he aquired that I did want to use were usually outside our Black/Blue color wheel so I wasn’t able to use them. Necrotic Ooze did, however, find a home in my Chainer, Master Dementia deck where he is quite good with the other cards in that deck.
Knowledge Exploitation: Bribery for an Instant or Sorcery. This is definitely some good. I don’t think I have ever tried this out because of the mana cost . But it is definitely on theme and could be fantastic so let me know how it works for you and maybe I will give it a try.
Thanx again for reading my Wrexial article. Stop by again!
Author
Hi all,
I traded and sold quite a few cards so I am now the proud owner of a Jace, the Mind Sculptor so of course I am going to try it out in this deck.
IN: Jace, the Mind Sculptor OUT: Jace, Memory Adept
THEROS Update
Still waiting for Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver to drop in price. I will probably replace Far // Away when I get one.
Here are my other cards I have recently added to playtest:
IN: Thassa, God of the Sea OUT: Lazav, Dimir Mastermind
IN: Curse of the Swine OUT: Duskmantle Guildmage
IN: Forbid OUT: Mindcrank
IN: Psychic Intrusion OUT: Whispering Madness
I don’t have a lot of spot removal or discard and have taken out most of my mill so Lazav just doesn’t seem as good. I was never able to get the Duskmantle Guildmage + Mindcrank combo to work either. And Whispering Madness comes out for Psychic Intrusion which, I admit, intrigues me and is more on par with our copy/steal theme.
On a side note, I plan on taking Lazav, Dimir Mastermind and giving him command of his own deck that will be centered around a mill strategy. All of the other 4 cards I took out today will also be joining him.
I will be updating the Primer/Strategy Guide Soon, however, the decklist is current. Hoping to play next weekend and am excited to see some of these new Theros cards in action!
I’m thinking about adding Leyline of Anticipation ,Sensei’s Divining Top, or Vedalken Orrery.
Or all of these.
What do you think?
Author
I honestly think that Leyline and Vedalken Orrery are dependent on your playstyle and meta. Honestly, in my version of Wrexial I do not have a lot of urgency to cast spells at instant speed. I have no current or future plans to use either of these cards as they would take 2 more spots away from my copy/steal theme.
With Sensei’s Top however, well, that is good in any deck. I would probably include this one, especially if you running Thassa, God of the Sea in which case you can use top to set up a proficient scry. Great card, but I only have one in my collection and it is allocated to another deck at the moment (Hanna)
Stop back by soon, I have some Commander 2013 changes in the works!
Commander 2013 changes?
Author
Hello my friend! Once again, thank you for your visit!
I have added Tempt with Reflections to Wrexial replacing Kira, Great Glass-Spinner. The past few times I have had Kira on the battlefield, I have had a few issues with what I was trying to do with Thassa and Rite of Replication. So I have decided to give her a break. Of course, I gushed with card-love for Tempt with Reflections in my Top 10 Commander 2013 Review, if you want to see my thoughts on it. I really dig TwR and it fits my copy/steal theme quite well. 🙂
BTW… How is Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver working out for you? I have found it extremely slow and underwhelming and think I may end my playtest experiment with it already. Not only does Ashiok under-perform, but also becomes a huge target.
Hope to be updating my Primer soon so… Until next time!
YES. I’ve been looking for a good Blue/Black commander for a long time and this fits perfectly. If you don’t mind my asking, how might you twist this to involve a little more emphasis on artifact manipulation? I see some serious potential for Master Transmuter/Inkwell Leviathan/Sphinx Summoner abuse, especially in line with cards you already have like Phyrexian Metalmorph, Sculpting Steel, and Memnarch. I’d really like to synergize the two strategies but you’d definitely know Wrexial better than I would.
Author
Hi Ryan, thank you for reading my article and visiting http://www.MTGCasualPlay.com! If you were to go with a more artifact based build using Wrexial, I would really recommend keeping Riptide Shapeshift in your line-up. By activating his ability you could name “Leviathan” or “Sphinx” and put one of your big guys directly into play. Also, Tezzeret the Seeker is an absolute must.
Other big guys to cheat into play would be Blightsteel Colossus or Darksteel Colossus. You could also add Show and Tell and Quicksilver Amulet in addition to Master Transmuter to get them on the field. The artifact lands work well with Master Transmuter and Quicksilver Fountain could ensure your islandwalk is relevant.
Hope this helps, good luck!
Any born of the gods Changes?
Also, Psychic Intrusion is in the list up top twice.
Author
Hey there! Welcome Back!
By the way… I am in the process of building Lazav, Dimir Mastermind so I can move my MILL cards to Lazav and concentrate on COPY/STEAL in Wrexial.
Nothing really stands out as an immediate must-have for Wrexial yet. But here is the handful that I will be evaluating and/or playtesting:
Phenax, God of Deception: Just when I move further away from mill in this deck they release Phenax. Oh man. Even still.. I am considering giving him a try.
Fated Infatuation: The Sorcery speed casting cost isn’t favorable, and it’s worse than Cackling Counterpart, but it is still right on track with my Copy Theme.
Whelming Wave: Worse than [cash]Wash Out[/card], BUT it could leave Wrexial, the Risen Deep and Stormtide Leviathan all by their lonesome for a turn.
Fated Return: THIS follows my Copy/Steal theme, makes the creature indestructible and cast at Instant speed? It’s just so expensive… but still…
Gild: Maybe add for spot removal. Curse of the Swine has been doing very well for me… so maybe this too.
Siren of the Silent Song: Not to high on this card, but I have considered. Could be useful, however, I am sticking on my gameplan to focus on Copy versus Mill.
Thanx for the letting me know about the duplicate Psychic Intrusion in my decklist. Honestly, this may be a spell that will be replaced soon. Not sure.
So what are your thoughts on these cards? Did I miss any other possible Born of the Gods inclusions? Looking forward to your reply!
JOU changes?
Author
Hello again my friend!
Unfortunately, I have really struggled to find anything that I would want to try in my Wrexial deck. If I were to pick at least one card, however, I would really like Disciple of Deceit. Being able to transmute is really cool, but without a way to abuse the inspired mechanic, I think it would be way too slow and clunky. 🙁
What do you think about JOU? Any ideas that I may have missed?
OUT: Shipbreaker kraken IN: Wash out- Still have the flavor with something powerful.
OUT:Kira, Glass Spinner IN: Sword of Fire and Ice- Fake hexproof is important in this Wrex beatdown but Kira does interfere to much with what you do as well. If not this then I’d put in Forbid.
OUT: Jace, Memory Adept IN: Volition Reins-Who wants to work for a shitty commander when one can work for Wrexial/Cthulhu.
Author
Nice choice on Wash Out. It is definitely one of my favorites in my build. 🙂
I do like me some swords… Also, I still need to see more with Kira, Great Glass-Spinner. In my deck she doesn’t interact well with Spellskite, Thassa or the Stealthsuit.
I have had Forbid in for a while now… so ooberly awesome!
Jace, Memory Adept and Jace, the Mind Sculptor have both had successful runs in this deck, but I think it’s time to get “on theme” (referring to the ultimate) and give Jace, Architect of Thought a try. What do you think!?
Great deck! I’ve been trying to look for a deck ever since I got Wrexial from a booster, and this fits the card perfectly.
Can you update the primer with the new cards? I’d like to know if there are changes in the play style of the deck after removing cads like Conjurer’s Closet and Tamiyo. Thank you 🙂
Author
Hey there! Thanx for visiting MTGCasualPlay.com. Always great to chat with another Wrexial player. 🙂
This Primer will definitely be undergoing a tune up over the next couple of weeks complete with new inclusions from M15 and/or Conspiracy. Be sure to check back!
Primer update please!
Author
You betcha! Just about finished updating my Uril Primer… Wrex is Next! 🙂
Author
Possible Changes… As I try to get back on theme with COPY and a little bit of STEAL. 🙂
Possible CNS (Conspiracy Changes).
Thinking about trying Split Decision. It matches our “Copy” theme or could prove to be a good Counterspell.
Possible M15 Changes
Mercurial Pretender reads You may have Mercurial Pretender enter the battlefield as a copy of any creature you control except it gains “2: Return this creature to its owner’s hand.
Would be an auto include except is says YOU control. Still, I may give this a shot. 🙂
Possible Changes with Older Cards:
Followed Footsteps. Have I tried this card before? I should have!
Jace, Architect of Thought: I want to ultimate him… at least once to say I did. 🙂
Any changes>
Author
Hey there! Been a while. Hope all is well.
The decklist above is current. My meta shifted a ton so I had to reduce my clones and include more removal and non-creature spells. Probably swapped about 12 cards in and out. The most recent two have been Steal Enchantment to steal those pesky theros gods and opponent’s Rhystic Studys. I was super excited when Khans of Tarkir brought us Clever Impersonator. He was born to serve Wrexial! Of course with all of the changes my primer is now grossly outdated. I have started working on the revision, but have been trying to get some more play time with the deck first.
Commander 2014 really didn’t have anything that jumped out to include here. Although I really do dig the new product and a lot of my other decks received pieces of new stuff.
How’s Wrexial been for you? Any updates!?
I bought it on MTGO.
Here is my current list.
I’m still tweekin it.
Any recommendations?
1 Caged Sun
1 Animate Dead
1 Bad River
1 Blatant Thievery
1 Body Double
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Bribery
1 Cackling Counterpart
1 Capsize
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Chromatic Lantern
1 Clone
1 Command Tower
1 Copy Artifact
1 Copy Enchantment
1 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Cryptic Command
1 Curse of the Swine
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Damnation
1 Darkslick Shores
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Desertion
1 Dominating Licid
1 Drowned Catacomb
1 Evil Twin
1 Forbid
1 Force of Will
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Halimar Depths
12 Island
1 Keiga, the Tide Star
1 Memnarch
1 Muddle the Mixture
1 Phantasmal Image
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Polluted Delta
1 Psychic Intrusion
1 Reins of Power
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Riptide Shapeshifter
1 Rite of Replication
1 Sakashima the Impostor
1 Sakashima’s Student
1 Sculpting Steel
1 Sol Ring
1 Stolen Identity
1 Stormtide Leviathan
1 Tainted Isle
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Thada Adel, Acquisitor
1 Thassa, God of the Sea
1 Treachery
1 Underground Sea
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Vedalken Shackles
1 Vesuva
1 Vesuvan Doppelganger
1 Volrath’s Stronghold
1 Wash Out
1 Watery Grave
5 Swamp
1 Rhystic Study
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Consecrated Sphinx
1 Far/Away
1 Lim-Dûl’s Vault
1 Mana Crypt
1 Jace, Architect of Thought
1 Temple of Deceit
1 Mana Drain
1 Temple of the False God
1 Acquire
1 Counterspell
1 Burnished Hart
1 Coldsteel Heart
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Clever Impersonator
1 Sudden Spoiling
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Neurok Stealthsuit
1 Wrexial, the Risen Deep
Author
A solid looking decklist my friend. I would love to have this on MTGO to play around with. How is it working for you?
Looking at your list, Cackling Counterpart never worked for me that well… it was one of the cards I had to remove right away. I would suggest either Praetor’s Grasp or Thada Adel, Acquisitor as a replacement. These are both great tools for stealing Sol Rings or other mana rocks.
Other than that, I don’t see a lot of holes. In my build, I had to cut out a number of my clones. Unfortunately, my meta changed and they sat in my hand too long. I replaced them with a bit more control and draw (Impulse and Plea for Power). Twincast has also been fun lately ( I copied an opponents Bribery, lol.).
Hoping my work schedule slims down so I can play more soon. A couple of more outings with Wrex and I should have enough play time to feel comfortable in updating my primer. 🙂
BTW… Mana Drain!? Heck ya! I need one of these someday. 🙂
Author
The Primer has been updated!
—wallyd
12/17/2014
http://mythicspoiler.com/dtk/cards/clonelegion.html
Author
OMG! I couldn’t be more excited! Going in for sure!
What do you think about Dragonlord Silumgar and Necromaster Dragon?
Cloning Necro get lots of token value… I don’t know about Dragonlord… It is on flavor but weak to any kind of disruption.
Author
Hey friend! Sorry, just seen your comment.
Definitely including Clone Legion, but just not sure what to replace yet. My Wrexial list is really tight.
I would actually rather have Mindscour Dragon over Necromaster Dragon. Mindscour doesnt require future mana sinks AND, I can smack a defenseless player, but mill a different player. But, since I don’t play mill, I won’t include these in Wrexial. I am contemplating one or both for my Lazav MILL deck though.
I am on the fence with Dragonlord Silumgar, for the exact same reasons you mentioned. But, stealing a planeswalker seems like a lot of fun!
Keep me updated on any new cool tools you find!
Author
It was a hard decision, but gonna replace Knowledge Exploitation for Clone Legion… and really debating Roil Elemental vs Dragonlord Silumgar. I’m thinking the Roil stays. It can steal multiple creatures and I can copy it.
Author
While treason may be in order, I am a bit tempted to give Dragonlord Silumgar a quick trial run as Commander of this deck. After a couple of swings and whiffs by recent Wrexial games, I’m looking at the immediate value Silumgar provides. I just don’t have the mill anymore that supports Wrex…
What do you think?
I was thinking of making a deck like this and was wondering… Why no Ashiok? I personally might be overvaluing it, but for 3 mana it can potentially get rid of some huge threats.
Author
Hey there Ryan! Thank you for the comment and welcome to MTGCasualPlay.com. Actually, I tried Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver in this deck for quite a while back during Theros block. Ashiok was inconsistant and took too much time to develop. It only exiles three cards and Ashiok usually whiffed on finding a valuable target 75% of the time. Not only that, but it drew an incredible amount of hate as soon as I activated his +2.
Don’t get me wrong, though… I was quite excited about Ashiok in the beginning. In fact, he was on my Theros Top 10 list. Here is what I said about it: http://www.mtgcasualplay.com/top-10-theros-cards-edh-commander/
Anyway, let me know how your build goes… and if Ashiok proves to be awesome in your deck!
Any additions with Commander 2015?
Author
Hey there my friend! Hope all is well.
I’m really considering a few from this set for the deck. Mainly looking at Aethersnatch and Mystic Confluence. I like Mirror Match but I think it is too situational and unfortunately Gigantoplasm just isn’t good enough.
How about you? Trying any new goodies???
gigantoplasm is in. I could make room for mystic confluence.
Identity thief tho
Sexy Wrexy deck list
1 Hero’s Downfall
1 Bad River
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Bribery
1 Capsize
1 Sunken Ruins
1 Phyrexian Arena
11 Island
1 Copy Artifact
1 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Cryptic Command
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Damnation
1 Darkslick Shores
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Drowned Catacomb
1 Evil Twin
1 Thief of Sanity
1 Nezahal, Primal Tide
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Halimar Depths
1 Phantasmal Image
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Polluted Delta
1 Reins of Power
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Rite of Replication
1 Sakashima the Impostor
1 Sakashima’s Student
1 Sculpting Steel
1 Insidious Will
1 Tainted Isle
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Thada Adel, Acquisitor
1 Underground Sea
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Imprisoned in the Moon
1 Volrath’s Stronghold
1 Wash Out
1 Watery Grave
5 Swamp
1 Rogue’s Passage
1 Darksteel Plate
1 Whelming Wave
1 Vizier of Many Faces
1 Twincast
1 Temple of Deceit
1 Temple of the False God
1 Flood of Tears
1 Coldsteel Heart
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Clever Impersonator
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Steel Hellkite
1 Saheeli’s Artistry
1 Rhystic Study
1 Baleful Strix
1 Aethersnatch
1 Crush of Tentacles
1 Stunt Double
1 Grave Titan
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Burnished Hart
1 Praetor’s Grasp
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Keiga, the Tide Star
1 Dread
1 Command Tower
1 Mind’s Dilation
1 Fetid Pools
1 Sword of Body and Mind
1 Sol Ring
1 Helm of the Host
1 Torment of Hailfire
1 Thaumatic Compass
1 Mana Drain
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Hostage Taker
1 The Scarab God
1 The Immortal Sun
1 Nadir Kraken
1 Spark Double
1 Castle Vantress
1 Ashiok, Nightmare Muse
1 Agent of Treachery
1 Wrexial, the Risen Deep