Welcome to my Profile! Stay Awhile and Listen...


Hello! My name is Astro, and I'm a Magic: the Gathering player with a serious fetish for foils and old-bordered cards; bonus points if they're foiled and old-bordered! I play every color, although my favorite color is green, and my least favorite color is red. Right now, my favorite style of play is prison - where you prevent your opponents from being able to play Magic - although I do really enjoy combo and storm. I favor interaction over no interaction, and I tend to take preventative-style approaches to dealing with threats.

In the past, I've played kitchen table, standard, and modern. However, my longest-played and favorite format is EDH/Commander. I've played EDH since 2014 and it's the only format I currently play, although I have thought about getting into Pioneer due to nostalgia for my favorite standard deck, Mono-G stompy around the Kaladesh/Amonkhet/Ixalan/Dominaria standard. I used to play cEDH, but stopped since the group I played with went our separate ways. High-Powered EDH is my favorite format, as games usually have a ton of interaction, decks can be extremely well-tuned, and there is a lot more room for creativity and variation in deck building.

While I do enjoy deckbuilding, playing Magic, and talking about Magic, my absolute favorite thing is deck tuning. I love tuning decks and making them better. I can churn out a decent deck list for a commander within 15 minutes, but the evolution that the deck goes through in the months or even years afterwards is a phenomenal feeling. Just watching something you made slowly (or quickly) turn into an absolute beast is just so satisfying.

All of the decks I currently have physically assembled can be found in the sidebar. All others on my account are either quick brews, plans, or decks I've built and taken apart.


Outside of Magic, I'm a Product Specialist for the SalesForce E-Commerce platform. I spend far too much time listening to music. I listen to a little bit of everything, besides Nashville-based pop-modern country. Folk country is infinitely superior. My favorite artists/albums are probably:

  • Bell Witch - Mirror Reaper (Funeral Doom Metal)
  • Avenged Sevenfold - Waking the Fallen (Metalcore)
  • Caladan Brood - Echoes of Battle (Atmospheric Black Metal)
  • Dawnbringer - Into the Lair of the Sun God (Heavy Metal)
  • Darkest Hour - Deliver Us (Metalcore)
  • Gojira - From Mars to Sirius (Technical Death/Progressive Metal)
  • Woods of Desolation - Torn Beyond Reason (Depressive Suicidal Black Metal/Blackgaze)
  • Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d city

This is a basic list of several of my favorite cards:


Here's some other misc. info about myself in regards to Magic:

  • Favorite Color: - Mono-Green
  • Favorite Guild: - Selesnya
  • Favorite Shard: - Grixis
  • Favorite Wedge: - Abzan
  • Favorite Playstyle: Prison/Stax
  • Second-Favorite Playstyle: Storm
  • Favorite Tribe: Angels

I started playing Magic: the Gathering in early 2014, specifically just after the Born of the Gods set released - also my freshman year of high school. My first ever deck was a 60-card Mono-Green mana ramp deck that won off of Vorapede and Avenger of Zendikar beats that was given to me by my friend Tusco. The deck absolutely terrorized my school, but then again it was competing against decks that ran things like Sengir Vampire and Hunted Wumpus.

After probably about two months, I got the urge to brew my own deck. I remember going up to my local game store to play with the dude who initially made me my deck, and there was another person there who had a standard Selesnya tokens deck. I thought the idea of making a bunch of creatures and beating someone with them was cool, so I decided the first deck I'd try to brew myself would be a Selesnya Tokens deck. Keep in mind this is the RTR/Theros standard. It was a failure. Trying to build a G/W token deck without a single Voice of Resurgence or Temple Garden is kind of destined to fail miserably. Then again, I didn't really understand the nuances of deckbuilding at this time - after all, my first deck was a mono-colored creature-based deck, and I didn't see the need for things like instants, sorceries, enchantments, or artifacts because they didn't turn sideways and beat people.

Fast forward to late 2014, specifically, about a month after the release of the Khans of Tarkir expansion. By now, I had made a B/G Constellation deck that was nowhere near as good as the standard variant, but still performed quite well at my school. In addition, I had also made a relatively cheap Rakdos aggro deck that also did decently. It was around this point I met and started to play with ForceSymphony - someone I still play Magic with to this day. He had a pretty fierce Jeskai deck that he often kicked my ass with. However, it was around this time I also got introduced to a format called Elder Dragon Highlander - also known as Commander. I bought the Oloro, Ageless Ascetic pre-con because it was touted as the "strongest" of the bunch, and immediately was hooked. Not long after, I ended up building a janky lifegain-based Trostani, Selesnya's Voice EDH deck that was not good in the slightest.

After experiencing a small lull in my Magic career the second-half of my sophmore year and most of my junior year, I started to play much more again around the release of the Shadows over Innistrad set in April of 2016. I don't think I played any standard around this time, but instead I picked EDH back up, building Chorus of the Conclave +1/+1 counters that would eventually become Selvala, Explorer Returned +1/+1 counters. By now, I had gained a better understanding of deckbuilding, particularly EDH deckbuilding.

Fast forward to November 2016 - specifically the release of the Commander 2016 set. I bought the Atraxa, Praetors' Voice pre-con, and I bought the Breya, Etherium Shaper pre-con for my friend ForceSymphony - his first EDH deck. I should say, back in 2014, Magic took my school by storm, especially my grade. There was always around 15~30 people in the library in 8th period playing Magic, and usually half of them were my grade. However, by late 2016, ForceSymphony and I were the only two people who still played Magic. So, as such, we only really played against one another, and we had a literal arms race against each other.

It was around late-2016 to early-2017 that I started to dabble in more combo-esque styles of play. It was around this point I built Karametra, God of Harvests combo, that won off of generating infinite mana by repeatedly casting things like Whitemane Lion with mana rocks and Paradox Engine out. I loved the deck, and won a ton of games with it. It was also around this point I got into cEDH, and built Selvala, Heart of the Wilds - a deck I still have together to this day, albeit much more refined. It was also around this time I started to get into Modern with the Affinity deck. However, I'd never complete it.

I graduated high school in May 2017, and left for college. At the University I attend, no one plays Magic; or at least, not back when I first got there. It was sad, but it meant a hiatus for my Magic career.

Or at least, that's what I thought too. In mid-2018, WotC decided to release Arena on the PC, and I decided to pick it up. It was here I found my favorite 60-card deck since my first ever deck - Mono-G Stompy in the Kaladesh/Amonkhet/Ixalan/Dominaria standard. I have such fond memories of swinging with a 9/9 Llanowar Elves at people. I miss this deck. However, after Kaladesh rotated out of standard later that year, I stopped playing Arena, and Magic altogether.

Around Summer 2019, I had started working in a Warehouse. I met some guys at this job who played Magic, but I thought I had finally put my Magic career behind me, and I ended up selling many of my cards to them. However, I still kept the bulk of my collection. By now, I was pretty sure I was done with Magic, and even well into 2020 I still thought about selling off my collection. However, I am very glad I didn't.

Early 2021 my friend BioFrost117 - a good friend of mine I worked with and sold a bunch of cards to - told me he was getting back into Magic. Since we were in Pandemic-mode at University, I was living back at home and actually knew people who played locally. I decided that I'd get back into Magic, and haven't stopped since.

I began by rebuilding my Brimaz, King of Oreskos tribal soldier deck. Then, about a month or two later, I built Oona, Queen of the Fae combo. A month after that, Zo-Zu the Punisher. Finally, in June 2021 perhaps my favorite legendary creature since Selvala, Heart of the Wilds was released - Sythis, Harvest's Hand. I had a bunch of enchantments laying around from my days of building Karametra, God of Harvests and Sigarda, Host of Herons, so I figured she'd be a relatively cheap and easy build for me. I was wrong. I ended up taking Sythis, Harvest's Hand a completely different direction, and built her in a Prison-esque method, which quickly became my new favorite style of play - beating out combo.

Since then, I've gotten big into building and brewing; more than I previously had been. Currently, I'm trying to find a Grixis storm commander that I really like, as I really want to build an instant/sorcery-based storm deck that isn't mono-red.

I've ran the following Standard decks before:

  • G/W Tokens (RTR, Theros)
  • B/R Aggro (RTR, Theros)
  • B/G Constellation (Theros, M15, KTK)
  • Mono-Green Aggro (Kaladesh, Amonkhet, Ixalan)

I've ran the following EDH decks before. Build order is in descending order:

I'm currently running these EDH decks in order of oldest to newest:

  • Titania, Protector of Argoth - Built in 2017, disassembled in 2019, remade in 2022. I used to run a lands-matter goodstuff list, but I wanted it to remake it and be better, so I remade it into a lands-based combo deck.
  • Oona, Queen of the Fae - Built March 2021. Revamped November 2021. This was a fairly degenerate combo deck with a large control package, but I ended up nerfing it into tribal faeries, albeit I did keep a bit of combo and control elements.
  • Sythis, Harvest's Hand - Built June 2021. This is my current "main" deck, and my favorite deck I currently have assembled. I built her in a prison style, and I currently have the highest rated Sythis deck on TappedOut. I consider my list a fringe-cEDH list, and I love it.
  • Adeline, Resplendent Cathar - Built in 2021, disassembled in 2022, reassembled in 2023. Evolved from my Brimaz, King of Oreskos deck. It's a very fast and aggressive combat-based deck that seeks to quickly overwhelm my opponents with tokens and anthems.
  • Giada, Font of Hope - Built in 2024. Angels are my favorite tribe in Magic and I really wanted to build a tribal Angel deck, so I did.

I've done all my own custom HTML/Markdown on my account and decks. If you need help, feel free to hit me up. This also goes for EDH decks! I'm always down for helping tune or refine decklists. However, if you do ask for my help, please be certain on what you're looking for help with. For example, if you ask for suggestions without saying what you want suggestions/help with (i.e; removal, win-cons, ramp, etc,) I'm probably going to tell you to reread this little bit.

Vessiliana says... #1

Thank you for the interest in my Giada! <3

May 31, 2024 12:42 a.m.

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Anatak thank you for your comment! I'm glad you've been inspired to make your own Angel deck!

As for Traveler's Amulet, I like it as we can tutor for a basic and help to thin the deck. It isn't absolutely necessary, as you could probably get away with something like Extraplanar Lens if you really wanted to. Plus, it can be recurred with Serra Paragon so we can get more value out of it.

May 31, 2024 9:29 a.m.

JackNavi Thank you for your comment!

I had no idea Reprieve worked like that. That's nifty! I'll definitely consider it!. As for the other suggestions, I'm not wanting to be too in-depth in the equipment subtheme. I do run a few because I do want to be swinging, but I'm not really sure Helm of the Host or Blade of Selves is the direction I want to take the deck.

As for Serra's Emissary, it just makes me wish Iona, Shield of Emeria was legal >_<

May 29, 2024 5:49 p.m.

abstractfive Thank you for your comment!

I'm very well aware of that. The fetchlands are too good not to run and Angel of Jubilation is the only card in the deck that turns them off. The odds of them interfering with one another in an actual game environment is low. It's a bit of a non-bo but I'm still willing to run them.

May 29, 2024 2:10 p.m.

RiotRunner789, you are 100% correct - the quest for perfection is never complete.

I just feel a certain way about some cards for no apparent reason, and Smuggler's Share is one of those cards I just feel iffy on. I don't really have a good reason as to why - I just don't really like it for whatever reason.

I thought about Well of Lost Dreams. Honestly I kind of like it more than Dawn of Hope as you could potentially pay 1:1 instead of 2:1. However it comes with the downside of being two more mana. Honestly though thinking about it I may end up swapping the two. You might've convinced me.

As for Court of Grace, I just don't vibe with the Monarch mechanic. I don't really have a good reason as to why, I just don't. I could consider it as you're right - protecting the Monarch title is easier with a bunch of fat flying angels. I'll consider it.

As for Reconnaissance, you might've just convinced me to put it into another deck I run, Adeline, Resplendent Cathar. I had been considering it for some time, but I completely forgot about the cleanup step after damage is dealt. I didn't even consider using it then, haha. Unsure about it for Giada, but definitely for Adeline.

May 28, 2024 8:33 p.m.

RiotRunner789, I do agree Mask of Memory is better because it's cheaper mana-wise and draws more than Rogue's Gloves. That might just be the winner.

plakjekaas, I've never seen that sword before. It seams neat, but personally I'm not a fan of exiling cards and then trying to play them, as if you don't end up playing them you can't play them after that turn. Not that it's a bad card, I just don't like those type of effects.

FormOverFunction, I ran Skeleton Key in my Brimaz, King of Oreskos deck for a bit, but don't really remember it all that much. Personally I think Mask of Memory is better in that regard as it's the same mana-wise and draws one additional card. Plus, with my commander being Giada, Font of Hope and a vast majority of the creatures in the deck being angels, it's likely I'll have the highest power on board.

Thank you three for your comments! I appreciate the input!

May 28, 2024 6:36 p.m.

Greetings folks of the forums.

I come to you today asking for opinions in regards to card draw in mono-white. In particular, for my Giada, Font of Hope tribal angel deck found here: [EDH] Giada's Angel Harem

Now, specifically, I'm trying to decide between an equipment-based piece of card draw that is tutorable with Steelshaper's Gift, Open the Armory, and Stoneforge Mystic. Currently my options are Sword of Fire and Ice, Mask of Memory, Rogue's Gloves, and Infiltration Lens. However, if others exist that do similar effects I'd be open to considering them.

I really like Sword of Fire and Ice due to the added protection it gives to whatever creature in two removal-heavy colors. It also gives an added ping which can be useful in taking out hatebears and dorks.

I like Infiltration Lens because we can attach it to large creatures and force our opponents to block. However, at the same time, it's dependent on our opponents actually blocking, and since most of the creatures in this deck have flying I'm not sure how often it'd actually draw us cards.

I like Mask of Memory due to it being able to draw two cards, however, you also lose a card by being forced to discard a card. You cycle through your deck faster, but at the same time you lose a bit of card advantage at the same time since you have to discard.

I like Rogue's Gloves because it's arguably the most simple of them all - deal combat damage to a player, draw a card. However, it's four mana for this effect, and for one more mana Sword of Fire and Ice adds a lot more utility.

Which card should I go with? In addition, what card should I cut?

May 28, 2024 1:15 p.m.

Said on Totally Easy & …...

#7

"...so you get the turn 1 win almost every time (if you ignore the times you don't)."

I see absolutely zero flaws in this logic. 10/10. I love it. Absolutely fantastic deck with a 100% winrate.

May 27, 2024 4 p.m.

Said on The Charnel Army...

#8

Phyrexian Dreadnought is also an option. Plus, it sac's itself!

May 27, 2024 1:50 p.m.

Said on Sproutwalker...

#9

Seconding what Tsukimi and Balaam__ have said - it's generally a bad idea to buy large amounts of bulk off of websites like Amazon. I don't know how new or experienced with the game you are, but based on your profile being a couple days old I'd guess your fairly new to the game. If you're looking for specific cards, I'd recommend checking out TCGPlayer for your singles needs. You could also try CardKingdom or StarCityGames, but in my experience they're typically more expensive than TCGPlayer.

If you're looking for more bulk-style product, I'd recommend playing Sealed or Draft at your Local Game Store. They're formats/gamemodes you can buy into for usually around ~$30. In Draft you are put into a pod of typically 6~8 and take turns drafting cards from packs and build a deck around the cards you pick. In Sealed, you get 6 packs to start and build a deck with those 6 packs. I personally really enjoy Sealed, and they're a great way to get cards from the new sets. In addition, if your LGS supports it, many times these events have prize support so you could get additional packs for doing well. If you want practice drafting or building a sealed deck, DraftSim is a great resource where you can practice before you go and compete at your LGS.

If you're looking to get help with your decks, lots of people are very friendly and willing to help - just ask! I myself am mostly knowledgeable in the Commander/EDH format, but I know Balaam__ has tons of experience in 60-card formats and is incredibly helpful.

May 27, 2024 12:11 p.m.

Friends

Scytecjaymc1130Balaam__JackNaviForceSymphonyDebraBioFrost117

Followers

ScytecBalaam__JackNavisnoticeForceSymphonyPsychotog

Specialties

Commander / EDH - GW (Selesnya), Commander / EDH - Lands, Commander / EDH - Prison, Commander / EDH - Stax, Commander / EDH - Combo, Commander / EDH - Mono-White

MTG Decks

[EDH][Primer] Giada's Angel Harem

Commander / EDH AstroAA

SCORE: 11 | 8 COMMENTS | 753 VIEWS | IN 6 FOLDERS

[EDH][Primer] Adeline Anthem Beatdown

Commander / EDH* AstroAA

SCORE: 14 | 14 COMMENTS | 3080 VIEWS | IN 2 FOLDERS

[EDH][Primer] Titania Land Combo

Commander / EDH AstroAA

SCORE: 7 | 2 COMMENTS | 965 VIEWS | IN 2 FOLDERS

[EDH][Primer] Sythis Enchantress Prison

Commander / EDH AstroAA

SCORE: 74 | 43 COMMENTS | 15987 VIEWS | IN 30 FOLDERS

[EDH] Oona Tribal Faerie Combo

Commander / EDH* AstroAA

SCORE: 4 | 226 VIEWS | IN 2 FOLDERS

Finished Decks 70
Prototype Decks 65
Drafts 0
Playing since Born of the Gods
Points 140
Avg. deck rating 12.33
T/O Rank 91
Helper Rank 74
Favorite formats Commander / EDH, Pre-release
Cards suggested / good suggestions 86 / 50
Venues The Game Closet
Cards Added/Fixed 1
Joined 10 years