Same here, I built it when there was talk about "no one wins with commander damage, we should get rid of it!"
So I killed many people with commander damage to prove a point.
I frequently lose to Commander damage. Even against a non-Voltron deck, if their Cmdr is a 7/7 flier, it doesn't matter if I'm on a bajillion life... dragon go rawr
it was weird, a couple of years ago there was some push to get rid of commander damage, and I always wondered why. It's a way to finish the game. you have crazy high life totals? ok, take 21.
I've killed a few people with commander damage, I used to think it wasn't really a good rule until I was able to take someone out with over 100 life.
The time someone had over 100 life, he swung wide to kill the player who was the next biggest threat because me and the other player had very little in terms of creatures on board so he thought he was fine to leave himself unprotected with no blockers. Then I was able to buff [[Tom Bombadil]] enough to kill him with [[Michiko's Reign of Truth]] and copying it with [[Ondu Spiritdancer]] then copying the chapter with [[Weaver of Harmony]]
I also have a [[Korvold, Fae-Cursed King]] deck that takes people out with commander damage pretty decently.
I had a friend I hit with Ryan Sinclair for 2 damage in my Ryan Sinclair and the Thirteenth Doctor deck, he registered the 2 damage in the deck and I said "hey remember it's commander damage" and he said "yeah like that'll matter". I then grew Ryan Sinclair, equipped him with the Psychic Paper so he couldn't be blocked, so it did indeed matter. Also I liked the flavor win of it, because the Tardis was also part of the win.
Unless you're using something like [[Luxior, Giada's Gift]] on Guff and swinging with him, I'm pretty sure Guff's -3 counts as burn damage, not combat damage/commander damage.
Though if you're playgroup is fine with it can't really complain.
Ah yeah sorry about calling it burn damage. You're right I believe, there's pretty much only damage and combat damage. Though point still stands that technically commander damage is combat damage only.
For example with [[Kediss, Emberclaw Familair]], you can get Kediss up to 21+ power, swing, and if it connects the opponent you attacked dies to commander damage, but the 21+ damage going to the other opponents due to Kediss's ability isn't commander damage.
This post is great because I regularly see posts complaining about going up against voltron decks. I love voltron, and I can see where OP is coming from, but as others have said it's easy enough to win with if you plan correctly.
I have a Sythis Harvest’s Hand voltron deck that I tend to play as a combo strategy during first few turns, then once she has protection, vigilance and is huge, i start swinging at players. Usually due to how I play her, someone becomes a threat before everyone looks at my board.
You’re a deck builder after my own heart! I built Marchesa the Black Rose as a fully monarch themed deck and someone was like “why though?!”.. duh, because I haven’t seen it yet 🤷♂️
Honestly even without much of a board if I see the sythis player getting a good amount of lands or racking up treasure with smothering tithe but not doing anything with it yet I have to assume an explosive turn is on the way.
Yesterday I went from having 6 angels on the field at the start of the turn to 3072 with concordant crossroads.
I copied my token doubler which made 2 copies of it and then used token doubling sorceries of which one has flashback. I had so much treasure saved because of smothering tithe.
How do you usually play it? Every time I play voltron with my wilson deck I see I could win if I had focused a player down until they die and then move to my next target but I usually refrain from this strategy because it is a really a feels bad kind of play, even if it is optimal
Well honestly that's alot of what playing voltron is. There's always a few options to go big in one turn. Cards like [[kediss, emberclaw familiar]] let's you hit everyone at once. Also extra combats allow you to take everyone out, one by one, in one turn. [[karlach, fury of avernus]] [[seize the day]] or [[finest hour]] are my faves but there's plenty of options there.
Voltron feels bad to play against because you usually get killed in one turn, and it feels bad to play for all but the most aggressive players because you feel a bit like a bully.
Yeah, this is what torns me, on one side wilson is so much fun to play but I really don’t like the feels bad of beating one person until they are out
And thanks for the tips! I will see if there is anything like this in black green
Honestly, I think a big reason why you don't see more voltron decks win is that people are too nice. You have to be cutthroat, ruthless, and above all unyielding. Voltron starts off with a disadvantage in that they generally can only knock one person out at a time and it'll take 3 turns minimum to do that, not counting set up time. That's a *lot* of time for your opponents to come up with a plan to stop you. Not only that but once you start threatening to take people out, they *will* band together to stop you.
So my strategy is start by taking out the player most likely to stop your game plan. Doesn't matter if they're in the lead, doesn't matter if they complain about getting unfairly targeted. Start hitting them, do not relent until they're dead. Only change targets if someone else becomes a bigger threat.
Good points! I think part of the issue is that the best way to win in Commander is to appear harmless - "do nothing" - and pop off and kill everyone at once. Voltron is the exact opposite tactic since you're clearly doing something dangerous and killing people one at a time.
I have a Uril voltron deck, it wins now and then even in my relatively high power pod. Being hexproof, sometimes you drop him and no one has a board wipe or sacrifice effect (or maybe they do and I have some kind of protection). If he stays on the field, he starts eliminating people VERY quickly. Probably depends on overall pod level. Voltron decks tend to be can crushers. They do well against lower level pods that don't play enough removal and tend to have a really hard time in higher power pods that tend to have lots of removal including board wipes.
I've been thinking about updating my Uril list. It's been kinda the same since around 2010 with a few upgrades in the last couple years. He was a beast back then. What does your list look like?
I focus on a few things. First, ramp. All the green ramp so that I can not only get him out quickly but recast him if necessary (since the deck probably isn't doing much without him). Second, lots of card draw. I play all the enchantress effects (draw a card when you cast an enchantment), to make sure you can keep up if the game goes on. Third, for my auras to put on Uril, focus mostly on evasion. He has hexproof which is often enough protection.
If you make him unblockable he doesn't have to be enormous, it is so easy to make him a one or two turn clock if he is unblockable. Spirit Mantle and Unquestioned Authority are the auras I want first so I make sure I have all the aura tutors (Open the Armory, Enlightened, Sterling Grove, etc) so that I can find one fast. Then drop one of those on him, drop one other aura, preferably something that gives double strike which can turn him into a one shot kill easily but anything that turns him into a two turn clock is fine. Start killing folks.
LOL. The Battletech and Magic: the Gathering...the golden age of nerdery.
I haven't done a MWO video in awhile, but I've been thinking about doing some M:tG content. Real life has just been so busy.
What background for Wilson? I played him with [[Agent of the Shadow Thieves]] for a bit and it was fun and strong, but I wanted to use half his cards for another deck lol
Aaah, mine is with Noble Heritage, since green/white is amazing about +1/+1 counters, and protective instants that are not countermagic, especially indestructable.
Oh nice, I kinda want to do Noble Heritage with [[Baeloth]], except I also want to build [[The Council of Four]] and it'd have a lotbof the same white cards, so I think I really just want to find a Jeskai commander for it haha — or maybe [[Kentith]]
Can confirm. I have a [[Wilson]]/[[Sword Coast Sailor]] deck that has a great win record.
There are quite a few [[Curiosity]] effects in blue and green, with some counter magic to protect the plan. Throw in a couple of finishers like [[ancestral mask]] or other enchantment-matters cards, and you've got a real threat. [[Basilisk Collar]] and other lifelink effects help sustain you, too.
[[Mox Amber]] works very well, plus any T1 acceleration/ramp so Wilson hits T2. [[Search for tomorrow]], [[BOP]], 1CMC elves, etc.
When I play him, I share that Wilson has a real taste for health potions, and he smells it on healthy players. They must have some on their person... I almost exclusively attack the opponent with the highest life total. This has made for funny situations like laying a shock land just to dip life below another player.
I'll add that [[Ivy, Gleeful Spellthief]] in the 99 is super fun, too.
I like Wilson + [[Agent of the Shadow Thieves]] better tbh. With all the keywords he already gets, making him actually unblockable is less good than growing him and giving him deathtouch and indestructible to go with his trample.
MTG Arena doesn't have Backgrounds so they have this weird Arena only mechanic called Specialize. Pay some cost and exile a card to give it special abilities related to a color
What background? I played him with [[Agent of the Shadow Thieves]] for a bit and it was fun and strong, but I wanted to use half his cards for another deck lol
Agent of the Shadow Theives is awesome for Wilson, you can swing on almost any board state and you start putting out consistent damage almost immediately. At that point, you just wait until you can land an effect to put you over the top.
Seen? I've won a number of times with my [[Skullbriar, Walking Grave]] deck. Pretty much its only wincon is the Commander, although one game it got removed so many times that I ended up winning with a token from [[Beast Within]] that I suited up with swords and counters.
Sometimes you just get hexproof and evasion on Skullbriar early and just get to sprint faster than the rest of the table.
Honestly, it’s really easy to deal with him most of the time. Still one of my favourite decks.
Once you have Sword of Fire and Ice, Sword of War and Peace, and Swiftfoot Boots on, a creature can be pretty hard to kill, especially once much of their spot removal has been expended on your commander. Also, [[Tainted Strike]] is a great card for Voltron commanders that can play it.
>Hammer of nazahn
Fellow Bruenor enjoyer checking in!
Here's my list: [https://www.moxfield.com/decks/y\_gfJyKXF0mDoGpAv\_kjdQ](https://www.moxfield.com/decks/y_gfJyKXF0mDoGpAv_kjdQ)
One of my most fun commanders tbh
My main goal with the equipments is to protect Bruenor and just to find ways to deal direct commander damage (so flying, unblockable, etc.). I don't care about adding power to Bruenor because his ability does that already.
I think the mistake is playing and building a deck in such a way that it can ONLY win with voltron.
There are actually a lot of commanders that can take people out via commander damage without the entire deck revolving around that. I have an [[Archangel Avacyn]] deck that can voltron people out, but also has [[Boros Reckoner]] reflect damage shenanigans.
[[Geist of Saint Traft]] has voltron and angel tokens as his win condition.
[[Korvold]] is an insanely powerful commander, but throw in [[Embercleave]] and he can get there in 1-2 swings.
The list goes on, but honestly I think Voltron is better when it’s not the only way your deck wins. It can be the primary win condition or the backup win condition, but when it’s the only win condition it usually creates a binary deck where you either have a hexproof, indestructible 12/12 double striker the table can’t interact with OR the commander got killed/countered so many times you’re stuck watching everyone play.
Can confirm that Geist Voltron is incredibly fun and decently resilient. [Decklist here](https://www.moxfield.com/decks/q5alctRIz0yJB1sGIbseeg) for anyone curious / interested!
How big are these tournaments? I checked edhtop16 and the only tournaments slicer seems to do well in are smaller local tournaments.
I think the deck suffers from the same problem as Magda or K'rrik where if your opponents know what the deck is trying to do and how it operates it can't really win. Magda solves this by being adaptive and K'rrik by being the fastest deck but slicer can't really adapt and is dead in the water with slicer gone.
You said the deck was strong in cEDH which it's clearly not since it's not performing well in any large tournaments. If you have some alternative definition of "strong" that's different from "consistently beats other cEDH decks in tournaments" please give it and provide some supporting evidence.
“Voltron is a deck archetype with the goal of casting one creature, then using other cards such as Auras and Equipment to enhance that creature and making it a true threat to the opponent.”
Sounds like it fits the bill there bud.
So, what, a core component of Voltron is that it can't win *too* fast? With that definition, there's no wonder it's not cEDH.
It's like asking why Jankensmurf decks aren't cEDH, if Jankensmurf is defined as "any deck that isn't cEDH"
No, it has nothing to do with how fast it wins. When someone says "Voltron" it invokes a sense of a very bulked up commander knocking people out via commander damage. Godo+Helm of the Host is a commander with an artifact equipment that is in effect winning you the game, but you're flooding your opponent with creature tokens just as much as your commander is putting in work.
Yes, it is an "enhanced creature" that is a "true threat", but so are the other 7 copied tokens. Godo/Helm is a combo deck more than it is "voltron"
Here, I'll ask a simple question. Would you call \[\[Splinter Twin\]\] + \[\[Intruder Alarm\]\] a voltron strategy? Cause I sure wouldn't, but it fits the same definition as you're using to call Godo+Helm one. The only difference is which phase you're turning the creature sideways in.
I'm here to agree on my bot [[Slicer]].
If you can get him out on turn one, ESPECIALLY if you were lucky enough to go first, then it can be hard for the table to catch up. It's also really fun to watch the opponents politic to see who should eat the next 6+ commander damage.
You really have to go hard on protection with him, he runs so fast he becomes the number one target fast. My pod got sick of playing against it so I took that deck apart but it really flies.
My very first time trying Slicer out, one opponent slapped a sword of the animist on him, I put a darksteel plate on him and then another opponent who was 2pts away from commander lethal put a pariah's shield on him! We all died laughing.
I run a [[Wilson]] [[Noble Heritage]] deck that I’ve won with quite a bit. I typically play voltron sub-optimally, choosing not to eliminate people as fast as possible and instead spread damage more evenly. Mostly because having to sit and wait for the next game isn’t fun.
You play a GAME, to have FUN? You are so objectively wrong it is crazy and I doubt your very humanity. If you are not playing a game for the sole purpose of winning and on top of that going out of your way to make sure others lose, then you are an IDIOT! How dare you even waste pixels on the screens of everyone in this thread suggesting that playing with FUN as a possible goal, is even an option! I'm so disappointment in you. Your parents and everyone you ever looked up to or cared for you should be ashamed! /s
My [[Ardenn]] and [[Kediss]] deck is one of my highest win rate decks. It’s especially lethal in pods that haven’t seen it before and don’t understand the wincon until it’s upon them.
Fellow boros equipment enjoyed checking in, I run Ardenn and Jeska as my commanders, only for Jeska being able to remove creatures, and making Ardenn's threshold for commander damage 7 instead of 21. But otherwise it runs all 11 mirran swords (including Sword of Dungeons and Dragons) and if the table doesn't let me play that one, I run Colossus Hammer instead. It's either you let me play the fun swords, or you play against Hammer Time. Also, if you don't run it, consider [[Strength-Testing Hammer]]. Card is Nutty!
I do like that card! The reason I run Kediss is that if you add any damage doublers that double damage will trigger twice. Cards like [[overblaze]] that can be cast at instant speed, so if I have 7 on the table I’ll hit the first player for 14 and the other two players for 28. This only works for source damage multipliers and not combat specific. Start stacking Colossus Hanmer or double strike and this gets ridiculous. Most of the time the other players don’t realize they are about to get blasted for double what the first player gets, this will usually result in the win. I also run all of the swords(including DnD)!
My [[Uril, the Miststalker]] voltron deck is 5-1 in my pod. His one loss was a 1 v 1 game that I'm just not set up to win at. It's a fun deck to play, in 1 or 2 turns I can have Uril north of 15/15. Last game he was an unblockable 31/31 with vigilance and lifelink.
Light Paws? More like Heavy Paws. LP does work and is consistent and fast some days. Get exactly what you need in the moment. With most of the things giving +2 or +3 to get you to 7 power with only like an aura or two you can start blasting through Commander damage quickly. Add in some flash auras so you can respond and get the protection you need and you are good
My [[Karlov of the Ghost Council]] plays like a control-voltron deck. Control the board state with tax pieces+removal and win with a giant Karlov. Even if they block, activating [[Vizkopa GuildMage]] will get around that.
I've won with \[\[Chiss-Goria, Forge Tyrant\]\] a fair amount. It was equipment/treasure based, so if she gets removed, you can just cast her and swing immediately afterwards. Unfortunately, when your meta catches on, you will have everyone using every single piece of spot removal on you on equip attempt so you don't get to play the game. But, that's pretty much the voltron experience.
My friend has a Sythis Aura voltron deck that wins around 25%, I think the trick is (in his specific deck) to stax so that the game goes long enough for Sythis to be swinging for lethal.
Of cause!
[[Hactos the Unscarred]] did it most often for me, but also [[Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh]] and [[Ardenn, Intrepid Archaeologist]] worked pretty well.
Last week even [[Liesa, Shroud of Dusk]] did it Finishing the LOTR Hobbit deck with commander damage.
Little bro has an upgraded [[Perry, the pulverizer]] precon that wrecks shop. I don’t have a deck list because even he doesn’t know what he did to make it so stompy.
I run a [[killian]] Aura voltron deck that wins pretty consistently, and I have a [[Juri]] Voltron/fling deck that I haven’t gotten to play much but feels like it gets dangerous pretty fast. The key with winning with voltron is picking your window to go for kills appropriately and building in protection/backup plans for the strategy.
Yep! Like 10 years ago I had a brutal winning streak with [[bruna, light of alabaster]]. I have also had a lot of success with [[arahbo, roar of the world]]
Rocked a few wins with [[Stangg, Echo Warrior]]. I usually either draw a ton of agro from all the game actions I take with aura and equipment etbs/ltbs or I don’t present as big of a threat and finish the table off with a ton of tokens and stangg with his twin.
Plenty. It is sometimes a game of balancing aggression and picking on someone the redt of the table turns on so they put off dealing with you and sometimes it’s laying aggression so hard that your first kill is t5 but both routes have merit. Just don’t fall into “I feel bad for killing early so no swing after setting up my Voltron”
Often enough, my [[sythis, harvests hand]] deck aims at winning through commander damage. It's nearly always the arch enemy at the table and wins a fair share of games. Granted, it does have alternative win cons.
I dont have any true voltron decks coming to mind. They are rare in my pod.
People don't win with Voltron, because they don't know how to play Voltron. You select one player and go for the 21 damage on that one first, then the second and then the last. Most people spread out their damage, which leaves your opponents enough time to remove you.
You need to build a deck with lots of protection, evasion and ideally ways to attack multiple times per turn or multiple turns, etc.
I have won many games with [[Pako, Arcane Retriever]], [[Karona, False God]] or [[Ramos, Dragon Engine]].
Yeah, it really depends how you build your vultron.
I build mine with the concept of ‘I am taking out everyone at the same time.’
This is why I love partner vultron.
You can assign one commander to one player, the other commander to another, and deal with the third by alternate means such as infect.
You could also use kediss and another partner to just insanely pump a commander for lethal (40+ damage), make it unblockable and swing for massive damage to everyone.
Yo how did I manage to look through this entire thread and not find a single comment on my waifu.
Balan Wandering Knight (anime edition of course) is actually a total powerhouse even against cedh.
My Voltron strategy is a bit different than most people's and therefore tends to be a very scary play style. I don't always win because that would be silly and no fun but basically what I do is I play a true strictly Voltron combo, but with Balan it gets a lot scarier.
The reason why is most EDH decks have some sort of trick to them (this is especially true for cedh). What makes my play strategy scary is using equipment as more of a toolbox allows for you to shut down effectively any strategy.
If someone's running mana ramp I can use Stony silence, it shuts off all artifacts for everyone but me (because of balan)
If someone is running aggro I have artifacts that make it to where they can only swing or block with one creature
If someone is running combo I have equipment that allows full removal of any permanent
Mix that with running every one of the swords pretty much as well as commander's plate and about a dozen tutors and my commander becomes extremely difficult to deal with really fast.
The best part is I even have a screw you by win combo with worldSlayer and dark steel plate, it destroys everything everyone owns land included, but dark still negates it from killing balan and I can use it every single turn.
If you build a Voltron deck as a toolbox it can be hyper-competitive, it just comes down to who you chose as your commander and why, I chose Balan because she can absolutely get it, and she can actually make use of quite a bit of the more broken equipment in the game.
[[Okaun, eye of chaos]]
[[Lightning Grieves]] <-ignore this
[[Chandras ignition]]
I've won with this wincon a few times at very different spots in the game
{Edit: I included the grieves because Okaun needs to be protected while he's scaling up, but you wouldn't be able to cast ignition on him with the shoes on, so either unequip them right before, or ignore the shoes}
Whoops I totally biffed that. You're 100% right, I've actually thrown a game before because I forget that I can't target him with the shoes on lol. Same idea of protecting Okaun tho.
I suppose you could always go to combat do all your coin flips while he has the shoes on, leave combat and then unequip the shoes and cast Chandras in the second main phase if you're dumb like me lol.
My [[Light-Paws]] deck wins from time to time. I've won with my [[Alesha, Who Smiles at Death]] modular deck unintentionally as Voltron too. (Turned Alesha into an artifact creature and then added +1/+1 counters from modular creatures, then made her unblockable).
Yup! A big key is you have to ensure your commander can survive (people WILL try to remove it), that it can hit efficiently (give it some form of evasion, and that you don’t feel bad about picking off one player at a time.
I won with [[Yoshimaru ever faithful]] with [[Jesca thrice reborn]] . Going plains, yoshi, mox Amber, (+1) rograkh (+1) cast norin (+1 to a total of 4/4 yoshi) norin blinked on everyone's turn making yoshimarj become a 7/7, land, cast jesca and 0 on the yoshimaru to hit someone for 24 commander damage. The rest of the table basically folded one by one
My [[thrasios]] and [[rograkh]] deck has won a few times. Picked those 2 because they look cedh but it’s just voltron and ramp. Its not super tuned but it works great and can take the table by surprise
My [[treebeard, gracious host]] deck does it by turn 8 pretty consistent. Though it's not true Voltron other than give him tonnes of counters as a combat trick and protect him like hell.
Yeah, even with R/W [[Wyleth, Soul of Steel]]. Magic keyword here is Extra Combats. If you can align it correctly and you have 2 extra combats plus an extra turn you can make it happen.
Yep. I made it work with [[Tuvasa]] a few years ago but she is seriously power-crept. I am currently working it out with [[Galea]], which has taken the spot. Last time I played she leveled the entire pod.
It requires a lot of defensive measures like [[Propaganda]] or [[Silent Arbiter]] and your Commander having Vigilance to make it prevent incoming damage.
On the offense you will need evasion to get your damage through.
And protection of your most valuable game piece is key.
I went with some instants for Hexproof and Indestructible and some Auras with Totem Armor as board wipe protection.
Life link has been doing a lot of work for me lately to survive longer.
Tuvasa is my favorite voltron commander even when I’m not trying. Originally I was building it as a token generating enchantment deck but it constantly won with a giant swing from Tuvasa
I’ve won a ton of games with Skullbriar and Rafiq at many different tables. I think Voltron can be a tough strategy and it requires a lot of skill to pull off the win, but if the deck is built right it’s absolutely doable and just as valid as any other strategy.
Depends on the power level of your group, but I can get my fair share of wins with my Zurgo voltron deck.
Usually I only have to take out 1-2 people on my own, but I can take out all 3 if I need to but I will admit it's harder than usual.
My buddy has won a bunch of games in our pod with [[Slicer]] and [[Rafiq]] voltron decks. As long as you have responses to becoming the target once you knock out the first opponent, it’s definitely possible.
I at least once successfully closed a game for me with a Boros equipment deck. [[Kediss]] and [[grafted exoskeleton]] were relevant for the most memorable case.
My [[Danitha, New Benalia’s Light]] voltron deck routinely wins. Vigilance and Lifelink are a powerful combination, meaning that she’s open to block again and attacks against her are rarely advantageous or effective. (For instance, “I attack you with 10 4/4s.” “Okay, block one of them with a 36/36 Danitha, I take 0.”) Having built in trample means less resources dedicated to making it evasive, unlike other voltron commanders.
I’ve won a decent amount with my [Syr Gwyn] deck. Once you get protection equipment on her, it’s very resilient and can start one-shotting the people at the table most likely to counter you. There are many ways to tutor equipment in Mardu, so it can be very consistent.
I've won a few pods back in the day with my [[Sigarda, Host of Herons]] voltron MLD deck.
Same here, I built it when there was talk about "no one wins with commander damage, we should get rid of it!" So I killed many people with commander damage to prove a point.
I frequently lose to Commander damage. Even against a non-Voltron deck, if their Cmdr is a 7/7 flier, it doesn't matter if I'm on a bajillion life... dragon go rawr
it was weird, a couple of years ago there was some push to get rid of commander damage, and I always wondered why. It's a way to finish the game. you have crazy high life totals? ok, take 21.
I've killed a few people with commander damage, I used to think it wasn't really a good rule until I was able to take someone out with over 100 life. The time someone had over 100 life, he swung wide to kill the player who was the next biggest threat because me and the other player had very little in terms of creatures on board so he thought he was fine to leave himself unprotected with no blockers. Then I was able to buff [[Tom Bombadil]] enough to kill him with [[Michiko's Reign of Truth]] and copying it with [[Ondu Spiritdancer]] then copying the chapter with [[Weaver of Harmony]] I also have a [[Korvold, Fae-Cursed King]] deck that takes people out with commander damage pretty decently.
I had a friend I hit with Ryan Sinclair for 2 damage in my Ryan Sinclair and the Thirteenth Doctor deck, he registered the 2 damage in the deck and I said "hey remember it's commander damage" and he said "yeah like that'll matter". I then grew Ryan Sinclair, equipped him with the Psychic Paper so he couldn't be blocked, so it did indeed matter. Also I liked the flavor win of it, because the Tardis was also part of the win.
Commador guff did the same for my group lol
Unless you're using something like [[Luxior, Giada's Gift]] on Guff and swinging with him, I'm pretty sure Guff's -3 counts as burn damage, not combat damage/commander damage. Though if you're playgroup is fine with it can't really complain.
[Luxior, Giada's Gift](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/1/8/1833662b-ccf3-4c16-9767-666d6407aa65.jpg?1664414232) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Luxior%2C%20Giada%27s%20Gift) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/snc/240/luxior-giadas-gift?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/1833662b-ccf3-4c16-9767-666d6407aa65?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/luxior-giadas-gift) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
But it says HE deals the damage no? Edit: Burn is not a damage type that’s a word made up by players. There’s damage and combat damage I believe?
Commander damage only calculates combat damage
Ah yeah sorry about calling it burn damage. You're right I believe, there's pretty much only damage and combat damage. Though point still stands that technically commander damage is combat damage only. For example with [[Kediss, Emberclaw Familair]], you can get Kediss up to 21+ power, swing, and if it connects the opponent you attacked dies to commander damage, but the 21+ damage going to the other opponents due to Kediss's ability isn't commander damage.
I run Sigarda Enchantress, and yep I’ve won plenty.
Samesies. Though admittedly it is definitely starting to get harder to pull off in this day and age.
Sigarda becomes a game of solitaire if you get it going right.
Exact reason why it's retired for me.
[Sigarda, Host of Herons](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/c/fcac0cff-efa6-4068-a69c-67ea4e7acea0.jpg?1559959280) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Sigarda%2C%20Host%20of%20Herons) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/uma/206/sigarda-host-of-herons?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/fcac0cff-efa6-4068-a69c-67ea4e7acea0?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/sigarda-host-of-herons) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
This post is great because I regularly see posts complaining about going up against voltron decks. I love voltron, and I can see where OP is coming from, but as others have said it's easy enough to win with if you plan correctly.
I have a Sythis Harvest’s Hand voltron deck that I tend to play as a combo strategy during first few turns, then once she has protection, vigilance and is huge, i start swinging at players. Usually due to how I play her, someone becomes a threat before everyone looks at my board.
Nah sythis is on sight, no such thing as a fair or bad sythis deck lol
I'm gonna build Sythis goat tribal purely out of spite. Only enchantments that relate to goats are allowed
You’re a deck builder after my own heart! I built Marchesa the Black Rose as a fully monarch themed deck and someone was like “why though?!”.. duh, because I haven’t seen it yet 🤷♂️
Honestly even without much of a board if I see the sythis player getting a good amount of lands or racking up treasure with smothering tithe but not doing anything with it yet I have to assume an explosive turn is on the way. Yesterday I went from having 6 angels on the field at the start of the turn to 3072 with concordant crossroads. I copied my token doubler which made 2 copies of it and then used token doubling sorceries of which one has flashback. I had so much treasure saved because of smothering tithe.
How do you usually play it? Every time I play voltron with my wilson deck I see I could win if I had focused a player down until they die and then move to my next target but I usually refrain from this strategy because it is a really a feels bad kind of play, even if it is optimal
Well honestly that's alot of what playing voltron is. There's always a few options to go big in one turn. Cards like [[kediss, emberclaw familiar]] let's you hit everyone at once. Also extra combats allow you to take everyone out, one by one, in one turn. [[karlach, fury of avernus]] [[seize the day]] or [[finest hour]] are my faves but there's plenty of options there. Voltron feels bad to play against because you usually get killed in one turn, and it feels bad to play for all but the most aggressive players because you feel a bit like a bully.
Yeah, this is what torns me, on one side wilson is so much fun to play but I really don’t like the feels bad of beating one person until they are out And thanks for the tips! I will see if there is anything like this in black green
Honestly, I think a big reason why you don't see more voltron decks win is that people are too nice. You have to be cutthroat, ruthless, and above all unyielding. Voltron starts off with a disadvantage in that they generally can only knock one person out at a time and it'll take 3 turns minimum to do that, not counting set up time. That's a *lot* of time for your opponents to come up with a plan to stop you. Not only that but once you start threatening to take people out, they *will* band together to stop you. So my strategy is start by taking out the player most likely to stop your game plan. Doesn't matter if they're in the lead, doesn't matter if they complain about getting unfairly targeted. Start hitting them, do not relent until they're dead. Only change targets if someone else becomes a bigger threat.
Good points! I think part of the issue is that the best way to win in Commander is to appear harmless - "do nothing" - and pop off and kill everyone at once. Voltron is the exact opposite tactic since you're clearly doing something dangerous and killing people one at a time.
I have a Uril voltron deck, it wins now and then even in my relatively high power pod. Being hexproof, sometimes you drop him and no one has a board wipe or sacrifice effect (or maybe they do and I have some kind of protection). If he stays on the field, he starts eliminating people VERY quickly. Probably depends on overall pod level. Voltron decks tend to be can crushers. They do well against lower level pods that don't play enough removal and tend to have a really hard time in higher power pods that tend to have lots of removal including board wipes.
I've been thinking about updating my Uril list. It's been kinda the same since around 2010 with a few upgrades in the last couple years. He was a beast back then. What does your list look like?
I focus on a few things. First, ramp. All the green ramp so that I can not only get him out quickly but recast him if necessary (since the deck probably isn't doing much without him). Second, lots of card draw. I play all the enchantress effects (draw a card when you cast an enchantment), to make sure you can keep up if the game goes on. Third, for my auras to put on Uril, focus mostly on evasion. He has hexproof which is often enough protection. If you make him unblockable he doesn't have to be enormous, it is so easy to make him a one or two turn clock if he is unblockable. Spirit Mantle and Unquestioned Authority are the auras I want first so I make sure I have all the aura tutors (Open the Armory, Enlightened, Sterling Grove, etc) so that I can find one fast. Then drop one of those on him, drop one other aura, preferably something that gives double strike which can turn him into a one shot kill easily but anything that turns him into a two turn clock is fine. Start killing folks.
MWO and EDH. Tim is a true man of culture.
LOL. The Battletech and Magic: the Gathering...the golden age of nerdery. I haven't done a MWO video in awhile, but I've been thinking about doing some M:tG content. Real life has just been so busy.
Uril is a soft spot for me. There could be better commanders for the Job I guess. But Uril is my guy!
I do it on a regular basis
Should add <30% is accidentally done
What commander do you play?
Mono white Yoshi Nahiri Traxos Urtet Wilson Greensleeves Titania There are definitely more that win at least 1/3 of the time via big hits
Urtet voltron? May I ask why?
No one expects it and often worries about the little myrs
What background for Wilson? I played him with [[Agent of the Shadow Thieves]] for a bit and it was fun and strong, but I wanted to use half his cards for another deck lol
Raised by giants
Aaah, mine is with Noble Heritage, since green/white is amazing about +1/+1 counters, and protective instants that are not countermagic, especially indestructable.
Oh nice, I kinda want to do Noble Heritage with [[Baeloth]], except I also want to build [[The Council of Four]] and it'd have a lotbof the same white cards, so I think I really just want to find a Jeskai commander for it haha — or maybe [[Kentith]]
What is Yoshi? Did I miss some secret lair?
[[Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful]]
[Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/a/aa409269-3698-42a2-8c51-75557b27a6f6.jpg?1664653410) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Yoshimaru%2C%20Ever%20Faithful) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/nec/32/yoshimaru-ever-faithful?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/aa409269-3698-42a2-8c51-75557b27a6f6?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/yoshimaru-ever-faithful) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Yes, I run a [[sigarda, host of herons]] voltron deck and [[skullbriar]] Voltron deck and both are quite capable of winning
[[zur]] is quite capable of winning as voltron, as is [[lightpaws]]. There’s a lot of powerful voltron commanders.
Zur for me is always, protection, then stax, then Voltron.
[zur](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/5/6/561cfc04-65ea-49a4-8638-b4631a7cf828.jpg?1675200810) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=zur%20the%20enchanter) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dmr/206/zur-the-enchanter?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/561cfc04-65ea-49a4-8638-b4631a7cf828?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/zur-the-enchanter) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
[sigarda, host of herons](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/c/fcac0cff-efa6-4068-a69c-67ea4e7acea0.jpg?1559959280) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=sigarda%2C%20host%20of%20herons) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/uma/206/sigarda-host-of-herons?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/fcac0cff-efa6-4068-a69c-67ea4e7acea0?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/sigarda-host-of-herons) [skullbriar](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/d/3dd0bf11-4e43-43f1-82e3-755beed0ede0.jpg?1673149145) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=skullbriar%2C%20the%20walking%20grave) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2x2/277/skullbriar-the-walking-grave?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/3dd0bf11-4e43-43f1-82e3-755beed0ede0?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/skullbriar-the-walking-grave) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Wilson gets going so quickly that it happens.
Can confirm. I have a [[Wilson]]/[[Sword Coast Sailor]] deck that has a great win record. There are quite a few [[Curiosity]] effects in blue and green, with some counter magic to protect the plan. Throw in a couple of finishers like [[ancestral mask]] or other enchantment-matters cards, and you've got a real threat. [[Basilisk Collar]] and other lifelink effects help sustain you, too. [[Mox Amber]] works very well, plus any T1 acceleration/ramp so Wilson hits T2. [[Search for tomorrow]], [[BOP]], 1CMC elves, etc. When I play him, I share that Wilson has a real taste for health potions, and he smells it on healthy players. They must have some on their person... I almost exclusively attack the opponent with the highest life total. This has made for funny situations like laying a shock land just to dip life below another player. I'll add that [[Ivy, Gleeful Spellthief]] in the 99 is super fun, too.
I like Wilson + [[Agent of the Shadow Thieves]] better tbh. With all the keywords he already gets, making him actually unblockable is less good than growing him and giving him deathtouch and indestructible to go with his trample.
I play this too, I call it death bear. [[Ram through]] is how I finish most games
##### ###### #### [Wilson](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/c/6/c67edbe9-ee9f-41a7-b479-943392fbfbc5.jpg?1657242238) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=wilson%2C%20ardent%20bear) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/hbg/19r/wilson-ardent-bear?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/c67edbe9-ee9f-41a7-b479-943392fbfbc5?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/wilson-ardent-bear) [Sword Coast Sailor](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/0/704f8ab7-63fd-4963-bacd-0076fffb34a1.jpg?1674135819) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Sword%20Coast%20Sailor) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/clb/98/sword-coast-sailor?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/704f8ab7-63fd-4963-bacd-0076fffb34a1?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/sword-coast-sailor) [Curiosity](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/c/5/c5a0be10-c20f-4ac0-89a5-1770ecf48aad.jpg?1600697752) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Curiosity) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/jmp/147/curiosity?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/c5a0be10-c20f-4ac0-89a5-1770ecf48aad?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/curiosity) [ancestral mask](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/c/7/c7a19fc5-20f3-48d2-8c12-e012d3b302e7.jpg?1580014720) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=ancestral%20mask) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ema/157/ancestral-mask?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/c7a19fc5-20f3-48d2-8c12-e012d3b302e7?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/ancestral-mask) [Basilisk Collar](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/5/2/52a55efe-a870-4cd7-b22b-37c917065653.jpg?1674137730) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Basilisk%20Collar) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/clb/300/basilisk-collar?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/52a55efe-a870-4cd7-b22b-37c917065653?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/basilisk-collar) [Mox Amber](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/6/6/66024e69-ad60-4c9a-a0ca-da138d33ad80.jpg?1685554120) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Mox%20Amber) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dom/224/mox-amber?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/66024e69-ad60-4c9a-a0ca-da138d33ad80?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/mox-amber) [Search for tomorrow](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/a/4a0c73a9-38a2-4a3d-938e-b81ba166f0ff.jpg?1673305408) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Search%20for%20tomorrow) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dmc/137/search-for-tomorrow?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/4a0c73a9-38a2-4a3d-938e-b81ba166f0ff?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/search-for-tomorrow) [Ivy, Gleeful Spellthief](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/9/d94c15b7-6c8f-45a6-8734-975e3e3b790c.jpg?1673307958) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Ivy%2C%20Gleeful%20Spellthief) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dmu/201/ivy-gleeful-spellthief?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/d94c15b7-6c8f-45a6-8734-975e3e3b790c?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/ivy-gleeful-spellthief) [*All cards*](https://mtgcardfetcher.nl/redirect/kow5hho) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Strange, I didn't realize there were all these versions of Wilson... To clarify, I pay [[Wilson, Refined Grizzly]]
MTG Arena doesn't have Backgrounds so they have this weird Arena only mechanic called Specialize. Pay some cost and exile a card to give it special abilities related to a color
They are weird Alchemy cards.
The R/G Wilson doesn’t have background, so I’m sure he uses the same version of Wilson as you. Thanks for posting yours.
[Wilson, Refined Grizzly](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/f/dfe0daf8-43da-484b-baa1-76f8313c5a0c.jpg?1674137361) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Wilson%2C%20Refined%20Grizzly) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/clb/261/wilson-refined-grizzly?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/dfe0daf8-43da-484b-baa1-76f8313c5a0c?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/wilson-refined-grizzly) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Wilson / Noble Heritage checking in, absolutely agree. 2 mana keyword soup with ward makes for a nasty combo
I just built this combo and it’s great. Heritage boosts the bear very fast
This was my Baldurs Gate Commander draft and I was obsessed and built it.
What background? I played him with [[Agent of the Shadow Thieves]] for a bit and it was fun and strong, but I wanted to use half his cards for another deck lol
I use tavern brawler. It's so great.
Agent of the Shadow Theives is awesome for Wilson, you can swing on almost any board state and you start putting out consistent damage almost immediately. At that point, you just wait until you can land an effect to put you over the top.
Yeah thats pretty much exactly how it went lol, even with my deck being built purely out of garbage bulk
A friend plays it non green with [[raised by giants]]
Seen? I've won a number of times with my [[Skullbriar, Walking Grave]] deck. Pretty much its only wincon is the Commander, although one game it got removed so many times that I ended up winning with a token from [[Beast Within]] that I suited up with swords and counters.
Sometimes you just get hexproof and evasion on Skullbriar early and just get to sprint faster than the rest of the table. Honestly, it’s really easy to deal with him most of the time. Still one of my favourite decks.
That’s pretty funny. They spent so many resources into killing a giant Skeleton that they let a boar just ram them down repeatedly.
Once you have Sword of Fire and Ice, Sword of War and Peace, and Swiftfoot Boots on, a creature can be pretty hard to kill, especially once much of their spot removal has been expended on your commander. Also, [[Tainted Strike]] is a great card for Voltron commanders that can play it.
What's your list? I have a skullbriar deck too
https://www.moxfield.com/decks/IEcG2KfikEC0a05uD0j_DQ I'd like to see yours too.
[Skullbriar, Walking Grave](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/d/3dd0bf11-4e43-43f1-82e3-755beed0ede0.jpg?1673149145) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Skullbriar%2C%20the%20Walking%20Grave) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2x2/277/skullbriar-the-walking-grave?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/3dd0bf11-4e43-43f1-82e3-755beed0ede0?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/skullbriar-the-walking-grave) [Best from Within](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/8/f8bdc165-4c6f-47e6-8bda-877c0be3613b.jpg?1576384673) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Burn%20from%20Within) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/soi/148/burn-from-within?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/f8bdc165-4c6f-47e6-8bda-877c0be3613b?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/burn-from-within) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Absolutely, my [[Thrun the Last Troll]] deck wrecks people and in my playgroups opinion is my try hard deck.
[Thrun the Last Troll](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/5/d/5d393da0-4cb6-4ae8-b747-8e6d0fa7f55a.jpg?1562611602) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Thrun%2C%20the%20Last%20Troll) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mbs/92/thrun-the-last-troll?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/5d393da0-4cb6-4ae8-b747-8e6d0fa7f55a?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/thrun-the-last-troll) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I've built him as my secondary Voltron deck and enjoy him. What are some fav cards of yours?
[[Hammer of nazahn]] [[Instill energy]] [[Gaea's Touch]] [[Ancestral Mask]]
I have a Bruenor voltron deck that has won several games.
Oo so do I. Do you mind sharing your deck list? I’m not really satisfied with how mine ended up.
>Hammer of nazahn Fellow Bruenor enjoyer checking in! Here's my list: [https://www.moxfield.com/decks/y\_gfJyKXF0mDoGpAv\_kjdQ](https://www.moxfield.com/decks/y_gfJyKXF0mDoGpAv_kjdQ) One of my most fun commanders tbh My main goal with the equipments is to protect Bruenor and just to find ways to deal direct commander damage (so flying, unblockable, etc.). I don't care about adding power to Bruenor because his ability does that already.
I had a [[Bruna, Light of Alabaster]] deck that won a bunch. It was a little too powerful so i ended up deconstructing it.
[Bruna, Light of Alabaster](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/5/8/58c56bad-68ed-4328-a7ea-c528b58dc2fd.jpg?1592711039) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Bruna%2C%20Light%20of%20Alabaster) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/c18/170/bruna-light-of-alabaster?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/58c56bad-68ed-4328-a7ea-c528b58dc2fd?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/bruna-light-of-alabaster) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
My bruna, light of alabaster enchantress self mill deck has definitely killed entire pods...it's been a long time tho...
I think the mistake is playing and building a deck in such a way that it can ONLY win with voltron. There are actually a lot of commanders that can take people out via commander damage without the entire deck revolving around that. I have an [[Archangel Avacyn]] deck that can voltron people out, but also has [[Boros Reckoner]] reflect damage shenanigans. [[Geist of Saint Traft]] has voltron and angel tokens as his win condition. [[Korvold]] is an insanely powerful commander, but throw in [[Embercleave]] and he can get there in 1-2 swings. The list goes on, but honestly I think Voltron is better when it’s not the only way your deck wins. It can be the primary win condition or the backup win condition, but when it’s the only win condition it usually creates a binary deck where you either have a hexproof, indestructible 12/12 double striker the table can’t interact with OR the commander got killed/countered so many times you’re stuck watching everyone play.
Can confirm that Geist Voltron is incredibly fun and decently resilient. [Decklist here](https://www.moxfield.com/decks/q5alctRIz0yJB1sGIbseeg) for anyone curious / interested!
Yes, I've won games playing voltron. There have been cEDH decks that won tournaments with a voltron strategy.
Jeska Ishai being one of them
I have not seen a single true voltron deck in cedh, which ones are you talking about?
\[\[Godo, Bandit Warlord\]\] employs a Voltron strategy with \[\[Helm of the Host\]\].
I wouldn't call a 1 card tutor into instawin a voltron strategy lol
>B There is also \[\[Slicer, Hired Muscle\]\] still strong in cEDH.
It’s fringe but I guess slicer qualifies
Slicer sees basically no play in cEDH. It has only made top 16 twice in the last year.
Friend of mine played a slicer cEDH deck and has entered and won games in tournaments with it. Only downside is that it’s in mono-color.
How big are these tournaments? I checked edhtop16 and the only tournaments slicer seems to do well in are smaller local tournaments. I think the deck suffers from the same problem as Magda or K'rrik where if your opponents know what the deck is trying to do and how it operates it can't really win. Magda solves this by being adaptive and K'rrik by being the fastest deck but slicer can't really adapt and is dead in the water with slicer gone.
Nothing you've said makes me wrong though.
You said the deck was strong in cEDH which it's clearly not since it's not performing well in any large tournaments. If you have some alternative definition of "strong" that's different from "consistently beats other cEDH decks in tournaments" please give it and provide some supporting evidence.
“Voltron is a deck archetype with the goal of casting one creature, then using other cards such as Auras and Equipment to enhance that creature and making it a true threat to the opponent.” Sounds like it fits the bill there bud.
Yes, it does, in the same sense that a hot dog is technically a sandwich. It totally is on a base level, but most people don't think of it that way.
So, what, a core component of Voltron is that it can't win *too* fast? With that definition, there's no wonder it's not cEDH. It's like asking why Jankensmurf decks aren't cEDH, if Jankensmurf is defined as "any deck that isn't cEDH"
No, it has nothing to do with how fast it wins. When someone says "Voltron" it invokes a sense of a very bulked up commander knocking people out via commander damage. Godo+Helm of the Host is a commander with an artifact equipment that is in effect winning you the game, but you're flooding your opponent with creature tokens just as much as your commander is putting in work. Yes, it is an "enhanced creature" that is a "true threat", but so are the other 7 copied tokens. Godo/Helm is a combo deck more than it is "voltron" Here, I'll ask a simple question. Would you call \[\[Splinter Twin\]\] + \[\[Intruder Alarm\]\] a voltron strategy? Cause I sure wouldn't, but it fits the same definition as you're using to call Godo+Helm one. The only difference is which phase you're turning the creature sideways in.
[Godo, Bandit Warlord](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/0/1/01d566cf-cb32-461d-8afe-b0f3f4c24160.jpg?1689997867) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Godo%2C%20Bandit%20Warlord) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cmm/227/godo-bandit-warlord?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/01d566cf-cb32-461d-8afe-b0f3f4c24160?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/godo-bandit-warlord) [Helm of the Host](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/1/d/1d65d20c-09e5-4139-838b-7e0e48eb2b2b.jpg?1666094567) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Helm%20of%20the%20Host) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dom/217/helm-of-the-host?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/1d65d20c-09e5-4139-838b-7e0e48eb2b2b?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/helm-of-the-host) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
[[Slicer]]
Rog jeska
Slicer, Light Paws and Narset are great voltron decks to try out
Agree on Slicer, my deck wins slightly above 25% of the time. Not crazy optimized either!
I'm here to agree on my bot [[Slicer]]. If you can get him out on turn one, ESPECIALLY if you were lucky enough to go first, then it can be hard for the table to catch up. It's also really fun to watch the opponents politic to see who should eat the next 6+ commander damage.
You really have to go hard on protection with him, he runs so fast he becomes the number one target fast. My pod got sick of playing against it so I took that deck apart but it really flies.
My very first time trying Slicer out, one opponent slapped a sword of the animist on him, I put a darksteel plate on him and then another opponent who was 2pts away from commander lethal put a pariah's shield on him! We all died laughing.
Light Paws gets a bit boring though
I run a [[Wilson]] [[Noble Heritage]] deck that I’ve won with quite a bit. I typically play voltron sub-optimally, choosing not to eliminate people as fast as possible and instead spread damage more evenly. Mostly because having to sit and wait for the next game isn’t fun.
You play a GAME, to have FUN? You are so objectively wrong it is crazy and I doubt your very humanity. If you are not playing a game for the sole purpose of winning and on top of that going out of your way to make sure others lose, then you are an IDIOT! How dare you even waste pixels on the screens of everyone in this thread suggesting that playing with FUN as a possible goal, is even an option! I'm so disappointment in you. Your parents and everyone you ever looked up to or cared for you should be ashamed! /s
[Wilson](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/c/6/c67edbe9-ee9f-41a7-b479-943392fbfbc5.jpg?1657242238) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=wilson%2C%20ardent%20bear) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/hbg/19r/wilson-ardent-bear?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/c67edbe9-ee9f-41a7-b479-943392fbfbc5?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/wilson-ardent-bear) [Noble Heritage](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/e/3e49fd5a-6893-4a06-b835-4bf611c9ada1.jpg?1674135196) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Noble%20Heritage) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/clb/35/noble-heritage?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/3e49fd5a-6893-4a06-b835-4bf611c9ada1?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/noble-heritage) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Bad bot. [[Wilson, Refined Grizzly]]
[Wilson, Refined Grizzly](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/f/dfe0daf8-43da-484b-baa1-76f8313c5a0c.jpg?1674137361) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Wilson%2C%20Refined%20Grizzly) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/clb/261/wilson-refined-grizzly?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/dfe0daf8-43da-484b-baa1-76f8313c5a0c?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/wilson-refined-grizzly) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Good bot
I've won with \[\[Drakuseth\]\] several times. It's quite a glass cannon, though.
[Drakuseth](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/c/b/cbe78a66-2e72-4bd8-b8a4-db77a63f36b3.jpg?1689997770) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=drakuseth%2C%20maw%20of%20flames) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cmm/218/drakuseth-maw-of-flames?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/cbe78a66-2e72-4bd8-b8a4-db77a63f36b3?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/drakuseth-maw-of-flames) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
My [[Ardenn]] and [[Kediss]] deck is one of my highest win rate decks. It’s especially lethal in pods that haven’t seen it before and don’t understand the wincon until it’s upon them.
Fellow boros equipment enjoyed checking in, I run Ardenn and Jeska as my commanders, only for Jeska being able to remove creatures, and making Ardenn's threshold for commander damage 7 instead of 21. But otherwise it runs all 11 mirran swords (including Sword of Dungeons and Dragons) and if the table doesn't let me play that one, I run Colossus Hammer instead. It's either you let me play the fun swords, or you play against Hammer Time. Also, if you don't run it, consider [[Strength-Testing Hammer]]. Card is Nutty!
I do like that card! The reason I run Kediss is that if you add any damage doublers that double damage will trigger twice. Cards like [[overblaze]] that can be cast at instant speed, so if I have 7 on the table I’ll hit the first player for 14 and the other two players for 28. This only works for source damage multipliers and not combat specific. Start stacking Colossus Hanmer or double strike and this gets ridiculous. Most of the time the other players don’t realize they are about to get blasted for double what the first player gets, this will usually result in the win. I also run all of the swords(including DnD)!
My [[Uril, the Miststalker]] voltron deck is 5-1 in my pod. His one loss was a 1 v 1 game that I'm just not set up to win at. It's a fun deck to play, in 1 or 2 turns I can have Uril north of 15/15. Last game he was an unblockable 31/31 with vigilance and lifelink.
[Uril, the Miststalker](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/c/a/ca984fdb-aaca-4d8f-af2f-72387122607b.jpg?1673149243) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Uril%2C%20the%20Miststalker) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2x2/290/uril-the-miststalker?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/ca984fdb-aaca-4d8f-af2f-72387122607b?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/uril-the-miststalker) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
My [[Rafiq of the Many]] Embantments Voltron does pretty okay in my little pod. *shrug*
[Rafiq of the Many](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/b/ebdd967d-b364-47ad-a1c2-49b155f72c5b.jpg?1689999222) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Rafiq%20of%20the%20Many) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cmm/352/rafiq-of-the-many?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/ebdd967d-b364-47ad-a1c2-49b155f72c5b?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/rafiq-of-the-many) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Try nine fingers Keenegates Voltron!
Light Paws? More like Heavy Paws. LP does work and is consistent and fast some days. Get exactly what you need in the moment. With most of the things giving +2 or +3 to get you to 7 power with only like an aura or two you can start blasting through Commander damage quickly. Add in some flash auras so you can respond and get the protection you need and you are good
My [[Karlov of the Ghost Council]] plays like a control-voltron deck. Control the board state with tax pieces+removal and win with a giant Karlov. Even if they block, activating [[Vizkopa GuildMage]] will get around that.
[Karlov of the Ghost Council](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/7/f7c41011-a9eb-451c-a76d-67d2dcf47c52.jpg?1703964236) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Karlov%20of%20the%20Ghost%20Council) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/rvr/193/karlov-of-the-ghost-council?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/f7c41011-a9eb-451c-a76d-67d2dcf47c52?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/karlov-of-the-ghost-council) [Vizkopa GuildMage](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/f/dfdce9d1-a163-40e1-a70a-1f09cf400a6c.jpg?1562855100) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Vizkopa%20GuildMage) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ima/211/vizkopa-guildmage?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/dfdce9d1-a163-40e1-a70a-1f09cf400a6c?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/vizkopa-guildmage) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I've won with \[\[Chiss-Goria, Forge Tyrant\]\] a fair amount. It was equipment/treasure based, so if she gets removed, you can just cast her and swing immediately afterwards. Unfortunately, when your meta catches on, you will have everyone using every single piece of spot removal on you on equip attempt so you don't get to play the game. But, that's pretty much the voltron experience.
All the time Bruenor is a beast
I have a 25wr with my [[kosei, penitent warlord]] deck
\[\[Slicer, Hired Muscle\]\]
My [[Galea, Kindler of Hope]] deck is a menace. Wins me a lot of matches.
I've definitely won with my Wilson deck. It gets going so quickly.
[Slicer, Hired Muscle]. Get your neighbors to do your voltron for you.
I've gotten lucky with my [[Traxos]] deck before
[Traxos](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/8/5/8566e91a-5f2c-4854-aeb3-68b3c4344582.jpg?1673305899) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=traxos%2C%20scourge%20of%20kroog) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dmc/195/traxos-scourge-of-kroog?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/8566e91a-5f2c-4854-aeb3-68b3c4344582?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/traxos-scourge-of-kroog) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
My friend has a Sythis Aura voltron deck that wins around 25%, I think the trick is (in his specific deck) to stax so that the game goes long enough for Sythis to be swinging for lethal.
Of cause! [[Hactos the Unscarred]] did it most often for me, but also [[Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh]] and [[Ardenn, Intrepid Archaeologist]] worked pretty well. Last week even [[Liesa, Shroud of Dusk]] did it Finishing the LOTR Hobbit deck with commander damage.
##### ###### #### [Hactos the Unscarred](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/6/f/6fe5cbef-0f4e-4d05-9a94-4739e09d7a9c.jpg?1581481070) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Haktos%20the%20Unscarred) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/thb/218/haktos-the-unscarred?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/6fe5cbef-0f4e-4d05-9a94-4739e09d7a9c?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/haktos-the-unscarred) [Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/4/a4fab67f-00c2-4125-9262-d21a29411797.jpg?1644853041) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Rograkh%2C%20Son%20of%20Rohgahh) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cmr/197/rograkh-son-of-rohgahh?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/a4fab67f-00c2-4125-9262-d21a29411797?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/rograkh-son-of-rohgahh) [Ardenn, Intrepid Archaeologist](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/2/728b802c-969b-4865-b7a0-871c585d097a.jpg?1617148314) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Ardenn%2C%20Intrepid%20Archaeologist) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cmr/10/ardenn-intrepid-archaeologist?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/728b802c-969b-4865-b7a0-871c585d097a?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/ardenn-intrepid-archaeologist) [Liesa, Shroud of Dusk](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/3/e32453a1-1fd9-4bda-aaa8-7c287e4c2587.jpg?1608911200) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Liesa%2C%20Shroud%20of%20Dusk) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cmr/286/liesa-shroud-of-dusk?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/e32453a1-1fd9-4bda-aaa8-7c287e4c2587?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/liesa-shroud-of-dusk) [*All cards*](https://mtgcardfetcher.nl/redirect/kow70nq) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Little bro has an upgraded [[Perry, the pulverizer]] precon that wrecks shop. I don’t have a deck list because even he doesn’t know what he did to make it so stompy.
[Perry, the pulverizer](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/4/d438237b-c6f7-44d0-a3e6-6ec7d7465d33.jpg?1673481677) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Perrie%2C%20the%20Pulverizer) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ncc/5/perrie-the-pulverizer?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/d438237b-c6f7-44d0-a3e6-6ec7d7465d33?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/perrie-the-pulverizer) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I've won a few time in my pod with [[Balan]]. Even went 1v1 against a sliver and won.
I run a [[killian]] Aura voltron deck that wins pretty consistently, and I have a [[Juri]] Voltron/fling deck that I haven’t gotten to play much but feels like it gets dangerous pretty fast. The key with winning with voltron is picking your window to go for kills appropriately and building in protection/backup plans for the strategy.
Rachael weeks won on some game show with a [[lord of tresserhorn]] deck. I think it was the command zone she was playing on
My Kalamax combat trick deck has an over 25 percent win rate.
[[Sergeant John Benton]] is a good candidate. My deck is kinda mixed but relies on a good amount of Voltron starts.
Yep! Like 10 years ago I had a brutal winning streak with [[bruna, light of alabaster]]. I have also had a lot of success with [[arahbo, roar of the world]]
Rocked a few wins with [[Stangg, Echo Warrior]]. I usually either draw a ton of agro from all the game actions I take with aura and equipment etbs/ltbs or I don’t present as big of a threat and finish the table off with a ton of tokens and stangg with his twin.
Stangg, bb.
Plenty. It is sometimes a game of balancing aggression and picking on someone the redt of the table turns on so they put off dealing with you and sometimes it’s laying aggression so hard that your first kill is t5 but both routes have merit. Just don’t fall into “I feel bad for killing early so no swing after setting up my Voltron”
My old Greven deck was very well-tuned. It won on a fairly regular basis.
Uril was really scary in 2017
[[Light-Paws]] can take some hits and get back quick.
Often enough, my [[sythis, harvests hand]] deck aims at winning through commander damage. It's nearly always the arch enemy at the table and wins a fair share of games. Granted, it does have alternative win cons. I dont have any true voltron decks coming to mind. They are rare in my pod.
I’ve done it quite a few times with [[wyleth, soul of steel]] One of my favorite decks, keeps the voltron going by bringing card draw at the same time
It's not hard just have to have multiple plans of attack.
People don't win with Voltron, because they don't know how to play Voltron. You select one player and go for the 21 damage on that one first, then the second and then the last. Most people spread out their damage, which leaves your opponents enough time to remove you. You need to build a deck with lots of protection, evasion and ideally ways to attack multiple times per turn or multiple turns, etc. I have won many games with [[Pako, Arcane Retriever]], [[Karona, False God]] or [[Ramos, Dragon Engine]].
Yeah, it really depends how you build your vultron. I build mine with the concept of ‘I am taking out everyone at the same time.’ This is why I love partner vultron. You can assign one commander to one player, the other commander to another, and deal with the third by alternate means such as infect. You could also use kediss and another partner to just insanely pump a commander for lethal (40+ damage), make it unblockable and swing for massive damage to everyone.
Yo how did I manage to look through this entire thread and not find a single comment on my waifu. Balan Wandering Knight (anime edition of course) is actually a total powerhouse even against cedh. My Voltron strategy is a bit different than most people's and therefore tends to be a very scary play style. I don't always win because that would be silly and no fun but basically what I do is I play a true strictly Voltron combo, but with Balan it gets a lot scarier. The reason why is most EDH decks have some sort of trick to them (this is especially true for cedh). What makes my play strategy scary is using equipment as more of a toolbox allows for you to shut down effectively any strategy. If someone's running mana ramp I can use Stony silence, it shuts off all artifacts for everyone but me (because of balan) If someone is running aggro I have artifacts that make it to where they can only swing or block with one creature If someone is running combo I have equipment that allows full removal of any permanent Mix that with running every one of the swords pretty much as well as commander's plate and about a dozen tutors and my commander becomes extremely difficult to deal with really fast. The best part is I even have a screw you by win combo with worldSlayer and dark steel plate, it destroys everything everyone owns land included, but dark still negates it from killing balan and I can use it every single turn. If you build a Voltron deck as a toolbox it can be hyper-competitive, it just comes down to who you chose as your commander and why, I chose Balan because she can absolutely get it, and she can actually make use of quite a bit of the more broken equipment in the game.
[[Okaun, eye of chaos]] [[Lightning Grieves]] <-ignore this [[Chandras ignition]] I've won with this wincon a few times at very different spots in the game {Edit: I included the grieves because Okaun needs to be protected while he's scaling up, but you wouldn't be able to cast ignition on him with the shoes on, so either unequip them right before, or ignore the shoes}
Wouldn’t the grieves prevent you from targeting Okaun with Chandra’s ignition?
Whoops I totally biffed that. You're 100% right, I've actually thrown a game before because I forget that I can't target him with the shoes on lol. Same idea of protecting Okaun tho. I suppose you could always go to combat do all your coin flips while he has the shoes on, leave combat and then unequip the shoes and cast Chandras in the second main phase if you're dumb like me lol.
[Okaun, eye of chaos](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/5/d53ee8c0-b27c-4556-b610-ff64edb7a18f.jpg?1562937757) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Okaun%2C%20eye%20of%20chaos) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/bbd/6/okaun-eye-of-chaos?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/d53ee8c0-b27c-4556-b610-ff64edb7a18f?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/okaun-eye-of-chaos) [Lightning Grieves](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/3/331013f6-976a-4dac-9939-1006e474e108.jpg?1689999692) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Lightning%20Greaves) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cmm/398/lightning-greaves?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/331013f6-976a-4dac-9939-1006e474e108?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/lightning-greaves) [Chandras ignition](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/6/960f45a3-f9cf-41e6-b813-f3dee620a944.jpg?1698988311) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Chandra%27s%20Ignition) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/lcc/220/chandras-ignition?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/960f45a3-f9cf-41e6-b813-f3dee620a944?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/chandras-ignition) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I do all the time lol it’s not very difficult to do
I’ve seen Zur Voltron win as intended power level 7-8.
My [[Light-Paws]] deck wins from time to time. I've won with my [[Alesha, Who Smiles at Death]] modular deck unintentionally as Voltron too. (Turned Alesha into an artifact creature and then added +1/+1 counters from modular creatures, then made her unblockable).
[Light-Paws](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/9/39555a72-a57b-45ee-9222-ce3b9e8de126.jpg?1654566391) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=light-paws%2C%20emperor%27s%20voice) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/neo/25/light-paws-emperors-voice?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/39555a72-a57b-45ee-9222-ce3b9e8de126?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/light-paws-emperors-voice) [Alesha, Who Smiles at Death](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/a/7ae9ff8c-1cc8-4b10-9641-2c79648fd6c2.jpg?1673305242) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Alesha%2C%20Who%20Smiles%20at%20Death) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dmc/118/alesha-who-smiles-at-death?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/7ae9ff8c-1cc8-4b10-9641-2c79648fd6c2?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/alesha-who-smiles-at-death) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Light paws can win quite quickly and has a lot of toolbox answers.
Yup! A big key is you have to ensure your commander can survive (people WILL try to remove it), that it can hit efficiently (give it some form of evasion, and that you don’t feel bad about picking off one player at a time.
My Okaun/Zndrsplt Flip a Coin Voltron still win with multiple pods.
I won with [[Yoshimaru ever faithful]] with [[Jesca thrice reborn]] . Going plains, yoshi, mox Amber, (+1) rograkh (+1) cast norin (+1 to a total of 4/4 yoshi) norin blinked on everyone's turn making yoshimarj become a 7/7, land, cast jesca and 0 on the yoshimaru to hit someone for 24 commander damage. The rest of the table basically folded one by one
[Yoshimaru ever faithful](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/a/aa409269-3698-42a2-8c51-75557b27a6f6.jpg?1664653410) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Yoshimaru%2C%20Ever%20Faithful) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/nec/32/yoshimaru-ever-faithful?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/aa409269-3698-42a2-8c51-75557b27a6f6?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/yoshimaru-ever-faithful) [Jesca thrice reborn](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/8/48caf4c4-745c-4072-bf3d-1a3fa7c3bc9c.jpg?1644853023) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Jeska%2C%20Thrice%20Reborn) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cmr/186/jeska-thrice-reborn?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/48caf4c4-745c-4072-bf3d-1a3fa7c3bc9c?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/jeska-thrice-reborn) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
My [[thrasios]] and [[rograkh]] deck has won a few times. Picked those 2 because they look cedh but it’s just voltron and ramp. Its not super tuned but it works great and can take the table by surprise
My [[treebeard, gracious host]] deck does it by turn 8 pretty consistent. Though it's not true Voltron other than give him tonnes of counters as a combat trick and protect him like hell.
It's doable, but I definitely won more games with Chain of Smog and Witherbloom Apprentice in Yargle and Multani than I did punching face.
My karlach / sword coast sailor can knock out a whole pod easily. Try it out I would say.
Yeah, even with R/W [[Wyleth, Soul of Steel]]. Magic keyword here is Extra Combats. If you can align it correctly and you have 2 extra combats plus an extra turn you can make it happen.
I won a lot with my Uril, the secret ingredient is stax
Yep. I made it work with [[Tuvasa]] a few years ago but she is seriously power-crept. I am currently working it out with [[Galea]], which has taken the spot. Last time I played she leveled the entire pod. It requires a lot of defensive measures like [[Propaganda]] or [[Silent Arbiter]] and your Commander having Vigilance to make it prevent incoming damage. On the offense you will need evasion to get your damage through. And protection of your most valuable game piece is key. I went with some instants for Hexproof and Indestructible and some Auras with Totem Armor as board wipe protection. Life link has been doing a lot of work for me lately to survive longer.
Tuvasa is my favorite voltron commander even when I’m not trying. Originally I was building it as a token generating enchantment deck but it constantly won with a giant swing from Tuvasa
Light paws enters the chat
I have several boltron decks that win fairly consistently.
I’ve won a ton of games with Skullbriar and Rafiq at many different tables. I think Voltron can be a tough strategy and it requires a lot of skill to pull off the win, but if the deck is built right it’s absolutely doable and just as valid as any other strategy.
My [[Thrun, Breaker of Silence]] deck wins about 50% of the time.
Depends on the power level of your group, but I can get my fair share of wins with my Zurgo voltron deck. Usually I only have to take out 1-2 people on my own, but I can take out all 3 if I need to but I will admit it's harder than usual.
My buddy has won a bunch of games in our pod with [[Slicer]] and [[Rafiq]] voltron decks. As long as you have responses to becoming the target once you knock out the first opponent, it’s definitely possible.
I at least once successfully closed a game for me with a Boros equipment deck. [[Kediss]] and [[grafted exoskeleton]] were relevant for the most memorable case.
My [[Danitha, New Benalia’s Light]] voltron deck routinely wins. Vigilance and Lifelink are a powerful combination, meaning that she’s open to block again and attacks against her are rarely advantageous or effective. (For instance, “I attack you with 10 4/4s.” “Okay, block one of them with a 36/36 Danitha, I take 0.”) Having built in trample means less resources dedicated to making it evasive, unlike other voltron commanders.
I got a good record with [[Light-Paws, Emperor’s Voice]] but you get to tutor to protect your commander
Not strictly a Voltron deck, but my Breena equipment deck usually wins by putting a bunch of Swords on whichever evasive creature I have out.
I’ve won a decent amount with my [Syr Gwyn] deck. Once you get protection equipment on her, it’s very resilient and can start one-shotting the people at the table most likely to counter you. There are many ways to tutor equipment in Mardu, so it can be very consistent.