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Legality
| Format | Legality |
| 1v1 Commander | Legal |
| Archenemy | Legal |
| Block Constructed | Legal |
| Canadian Highlander | Legal |
| Casual | Legal |
| Commander / EDH | Legal |
| Commander: Rule 0 | Legal |
| Custom | Legal |
| Duel Commander | Legal |
| Highlander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Leviathan | Legal |
| Limited | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Pauper Duel Commander | Legal |
| Pauper EDH | Legal |
| Planechase | Legal |
| Quest Magic | Legal |
| Tiny Leaders | Legal |
| Vanguard | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
Devoted Retainer
Creature — Human Samurai
Bushido 1 (When this blocks or becomes blocked, it gets +1/+1 until end of turn.)
StopShot on
Alesha, Who Smiles at Extra Combat
5 years ago
Hmmm, I could think of a few ways to up-tune this deck if you'd like your combat phase to be a little spicier.
Akroan Hoplite I would swap for Eidolon of Countless Battles as it's power and toughness are equal to the number of creatures you have, not just the attacking creatures.
Archetype of Aggression has three power so it can not be recurred with your commander. Since most of your creatures have 2 power giving them trample is not the greatest keyword ability you could give them. Instead I think Goblin War Drums could give your creatures more of an edge and damage output instead.
Armored Transport is alright, but Everdawn Champion would be a good upgrade as you can also use the champion to block without it dying, and it doesn't die to artifact removal.
A better card for Ashmouth Hound would be Benalish Cavalry as it has one more toughness and it decreases the blocking creature's power as well. This makes the Cavalry better as it is much more likely to survive in combat unlike the Hound.
Attended Knight is alright, but a stronger inclusion would be Blade Splicer as it puts more power on the board for the same mana, and if the Splicer dies, recurring it multiple times produces bigger tokens than the Knight.
Battle-Mad Ronin can be a 3/3 for 2 mana, but when it's not blacked it doesn't do a lot of damage to your opponent, and sometimes you are forced to attack with it when it would not be preferable to do so. War-Name Aspirant would be more preferable, as you get a 3/2 with an added ability that makes it harder for your opponent to block it. It also doesn't have to attack each turn so you can use it to block if needed.
Capashen Knight is alright, but if you're short on mana to pump into him he can be rather ineffective. A reasonable replacement would be Knight of Grace which should easily be a 3/2 first strike if you or another player have a black card or creature on the battlefield. Having a constant 3-power first strike creature would be the equivalent of paying 4 mana into the Capashen Knight every turn. Plus the Knight of Grace has one more toughness and hexproof from black so it's much harder to remove as well.
Devoted Retainer's Bushido can make it a 2/2, but Isamaru, Hound of Konda would be a strong inclusion as it's always a 2/2 which means it would deal more damage to your opponent when not blocked.
Dragon's Eye Sentry can be a sizeable 1 mana defender, but I think this deck would enjoy Snubhorn Sentry more as most of the time it will be a 3/3 for one mana that can also attack.
Kiln Walker is a standard 3 mana 3/3, but a better card to run would be Nighthowler as having just 3 creatures in any graveyard makes it just as big all the time rather than when only attacking. In commander graveyards tend to fill up fast so the Howler will always be larger and larger as the game drags on.
Paragon of Fierce Defiance, Paragon of New Dawns, and Paragon of Open Graves do provide anthem effects, but since their anthems are limited by color of creatures you won't always get the paragon you need to buff up your whole team. Instead I would recommend running Angel of Invention, Ravos, Soultender, and Drana, Liberator of Malakir as they all can pump up your creatures regardless of color restrictions.
Pulse Tracker has a unique effect however you may want to switch it out for Vicious Conquistador as it is the same exact card, but with 1 more toughness, which will help it last longer in combat.
Rogue's Gloves does provide card draw, however; you may enjoy Mask of Memory more as the equip cost is cheaper, and drawing two cards then discarding one card can be more advantageous than drawing just one card.
Legion's Initiative only really buffs the attack of half your creatures which can be not as helpful if you don't have any red creatures out besides your commander. Leonin Sun Standard may prove better as it can pump all your creatures multiple times if needed.
Orcish Oriflamme can provide increased attack power for your creatures, but it's nowhere near as good as Glory of Warfare which provides more attack power, and it also provides more toughness when you need blockers.
You might also want to touch up on your mana-base a bit. Path of Ancestry works exactly like Nomad Outpost as it produces the same colors, but you can also scry with your commander off it. Command Tower and Ash Barrens also provide excellent mana fixing that you might want to look into. Other lands you may want to consider obtaining would be Wind-Scarred Crag, Tainted Peak, Isolated Chapel, Clifftop Retreat, Graven Cairns, Fetid Heath, and Rugged Prairie.
I hope you find these card suggestions useful to you.
BugGirl1999 on
7 years ago
-Devoted Retainer is a smooth turn 1 drop with that sweet bushido mechanic.
-Boros Recruit is great because he can be cast with either of your mana colors, and has first strike, which can come in handy if he gets blocked right off the bat.
-Legion Loyalist sneaks in 1 damage with haste before your opponent even gets a chance to block, and later on in the game he can give several other of your creatures both first strike and trample.
Icbrgr on
Samurai deck
7 years ago
I love the idea/flavor behind a samurai deck so +1 for that alone :p in terms of suggestions... a lot of that depends on how/where you play this deck... if you wanna go more competitive but maintain the theme my number 1 suggestion would be to trim the fat from the average mana cost of the deck by running a few lower CMC samurai like Devoted Retainer or Battle-Mad Ronin.... id also ditch running Mirror Gallery and simply get a wider variety of creatures... like instead of running TWO legendaries with the same name just run one of each and add in some of the one your missing like Opal-Eye, Konda's Yojimbo.
happy brewing and good luck!
OOBS on
Tribal Dudes
7 years ago
Okay, three one drops I favor in my build are Icatian Javelineers, Thraben Inspector, and Soldier of the Pantheon. Icatian Javelineers hits a surprising number of things in the format, and really shine against other aggro deck that are faster than White Weenie, such as Infect and Affinity/Robots. I'd look into a 2 of instead of 2 Devoted Retainer. Thraben Inspector gets you a decent body and replaces itself later in the game, I'd consider running 2 instead of Devoted Retainer. Soldier of the Pantheon is straight up better than Elite Vanguard and just 32 cents. Getting some lifegain is the least of it: the protection from cards like Kolaghan's Command and Electrolyze are where it really shines. Now onto the 2 drops. I really like Consul's Lieutenant, because either your opponent has to deal with it or it starts running away with the game. Because it has first strike, it is really nice for pushing through damage. I'd probably run 4 instead of your 4 Unruly Mobs. I'd also consider losing some of your top end cards (maybe 2 Frontline Medic and 1 Silverblade Paladin) for 3 Brave the Elements. This card is absolutely nuts, providing you with a way to protect your guys from removal while also being able to block for free, force chump blocks, or just outright swing in for lethal saying that creatures of the named color can't block.
berryjon on
7 years ago
The single biggest thing I see that's going to shoot you in the face is that you have no 1-drops. Devoted Retainer fits the bill. Next, I know Kamigawa is the Legendary Block, but Honor-Worn Shaku isn't doing you any good when your Legendaries are tied up in your creatures. And when 12/19 of your creatures are Legendary, and you're depending on Mirror Gallery to bypass that problem, it's a poor design decision all around.
Fate Forgotten is a poor choice when you can roll with Samurai of the Pale Curtain and a cheaper card like Disenchant does the same thing - plus the Samurai is a Samurai.
Sensei Golden-Tail is a vital choice, especially as it makes more Samurai, the the Bushido stacks.
Kentaro, the Smiling Cat is only useful when you're splashing non-white Samurai, and in this deck, can be replaced by something like Samurai of the Pale Curtain at the same cost, but a better creature.
As for Lands, consider Eiganjo Castle from that block, even though, yes, I am strongly suggesting that you tone down the Legendary creatures.
Alright, let me lay it out. Samurai are White Weeny Aggro focused, despite the Bushido mechanic being more defensive in nature. You've tagged this deck as 'midrange', but I don't see it. And I've built this deck before.
DarkLaw on Eternal Masters Spoiler Thread
8 years ago
NarejED For a moment, I thought you were talking about Devoted Retainer. Kamigawa still haunts me.
Also, I agree with the reprints-for-availability-over-drafting thing. From what I know, that's pretty much the reason why Serum Visions wasn't in MM2- scrying wasn't a mechanic in MM2.
JonathanSamurai on
8 years ago
Samurai Glory is my personal take on Samurai. No Devoted Retainer, Kitsune Blademaster or Samurai of the Pale Curtain? Call to Glory is worth main.
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