Aurelia RW Reanimator vs Jodah, Kaalia, Valduk | EDH Gameplay

Boros Angel Reanimator with Aurelia the Warleader
decklist: tappedout.net/mtg-decks/aureli...

[@rodrigothompson2375]

No early scoops! Incredible!

[@CommanderReplay]

I know right?! Weird with the disconnect though, Kaalia could have made a difference later on when they got into hardcast territory.

[@francoisdesjardins6493]

This is an impressive deck, I must say. Looks fun to play too!

[@CommanderReplay]

Thanks its one of my favorites too play, but it is a little bit slow. it doesn't start doing much until turn 6 so you gotta make sure the game is going to last at least 9 turns. The board wipes help slow things down though. But once you get into the late game having a bunch of angels that reanimate each other is super fun.

[@julientorres9781]

I always love the Aurelia games. Every single one takes me one step closer to covering to R/W angels instead of mono white :333

[@CommanderReplay]

Yep I think I mentioned them in the video but, I cant reiterate how powerful the sword of the animst and mask of memory combo is with Aurelia. Second, Aurelia means you only need about 2 other angels to take someone out of the game. She allows you to close it out really fast cause of the doubled damage. Third you get access to Gisela who does more of the same. Aurelia and Gisela together are good for 32 damage. Oh also wheel of fortune, magus of the wheel, reforge the soul fill in the missing card draw blank that white hasn't been able to solve up to this point. However, you do get the mana doublers in mono white, and that new artifact in C18 will help mono white with drawing more. Also that Pegasus might power up mono white a bit more. So yeah a lot of reasons that I prefer Aurelia over other angel commanders, but little bit help on the way for the mono white commanders.

[@julientorres9781]

@@CommanderReplay Also eldrazi conscription just to be crazy with it? Annihilator 2 x2 basically makes her a 13/14 one shot killer, right? Then Gisela lets you kill 1 player each combat...

[@CommanderReplay]

Yeah ive always thought about that, but now for roughly the same mana you can just get helm of the host, which I believe is also way cheaper in paper. Conscription spiked in paper a while back, not sure if ever came down. The conscription is a little bit Christmas land, if it works it will probably win the game, but 1 swords or doomblade and you'll want to cry.

[@julientorres9781]

@@CommanderReplay Idk. Personally, I had always thought that getting huge value always felt better than going infinite, especially on a two card combo. Eldrazi conscription on paper is only $13 USD tho and on paper, that's considerably cheap for a fun card. I always liked to prolong games just to get a shot at having some fun with different cards, and not going infinite and stopping just short of killing everyone brings the most strategic parts of folks out to make it interesting.

[@RandyG1975]

I love these Aurelia videos!

[@CommanderReplay]

Thanks she's one of my favorites! So much so that I have 2 paper Aurelia decks...it confuses people. If you haven't seen the videos where I talked about it, the logo for my channel is actually an alter of Aurelia that I had done, which is what I use when I play. It makes me happy :)

[@RandyG1975]

Commander Replay Yes, I have watched all of your videos at least once now. I really enjoy the pacing. My only complaint is how often people scoop early. People need to try harder. Crappy starts can still win because people stop worrying about you until it’s to late.

[@CommanderReplay]

Oh thanks for watching! Yeah I really wish I could do more about the scoops. I know theres another youtuber who doesn't show games with scoops....id literally never be able to post a video. It does change how the game plays out pretty dramatically. It adds an extra few turns to the game when you are trying get everyone down to 0.

[@RandyG1975]

Commander Replay I have used an equipment build of Aurelia for a fewest games now and really enjoy the toolbox feel to it. I’m considering giving the reanimator build a try though, which do you prefer?

[@CommanderReplay]

So Ive played the equipment build of Aurelia literally hundreds of times, so I enjoy the angel tribal deck just a bit more cause its newer and you get to slam big angels. That being said, the angel deck is significantly slower so I wouldn't recommend it for a fast meta. However, if games regularly go atleast 9-10 turns its a solid choice, also good in board wipe heavy metas since you can rebuild quickly. Also 2 cards not listed here but have been meaning to do an update on, Altar of Dementia looks sweet with this deck, also gives an infinite combo with aurelia and adarkar valkyrie, and mesmeric orb is something i also want to try out. If I know that my opponents decks are slow enough I will reach for angel tribal just cause I like :) Ive also been trying to rework this list a little to up the angel count by a few cards...more to come on that.

[@admanios]

Back to reliable Boros! I love watching your angel deck in action, PJ. It almost makes me want to disassemble my Kalemne deck into an angel deck of my own!

[@CommanderReplay]

Thanks! I highly recommend Aurelia/Gisela over Kalemne. This deck is great, but note that it is slow, so you dont get to do a lot before like turn 6, and you need to make sure the game goes at least 9 turns. Its a fair deck that I use to fight other fair decks, not the deck for fighting turn 6 decks. When the unfair decks come out I grab my other Aurelia or mono black. But its super fun, I love getting all the reanimation going and rebuilding super fast after a board wipe.

[@Druidoftheyew]

Finally angels got what they were looking for good on ya bro keep it going

[@CommanderReplay]

Thanks! I was pretty happy when I got this deck up and going. My original Aurelia deck was trying to be angels, but it didn't do a very good job. Glad I could make it playable.

[@EliPye35]

RW Reanimator: Back from the dead to kick in yo head. Good to see the underutilized creature type Spellshaper getting some love in the deck, a bunch of them have fantastic abilities and the discard cost always enables decks that use the graveyard.

[@CommanderReplay]

Yeah sadly I haven't played it enough to really get a good look at their abilities, but it seems like they should be really solid.

[@tonyontilt3522]

Love it when you play R/W I learn good ways to play boros every time, you need to teach the command zone guys a thing or two

[@CommanderReplay]

Thanks! I would love the opportunity to do that. Periodically I comment on their videos they throw shade at Boros. They make it sound so much worse than it is, just wish they'd be a bit more careful given their large audience size. Id like to start working on some Jor Kadeen builds as my next Boros project, seems like there is a lot of damage potential there.

[@EliPye35]

Jor Kadeen gets to rock out with this sweet new card. scryfall.com/card/c18/57/retrofitter-foundry

[@HateParty]

Ah yes. The nice Aurelia reanimate deck I’ve played against. Such a good deck. Very powerful in the late game

[@CommanderReplay]

Were you an opponent in this game? Have I faced you before? Yeah it has a really slow early game, so obviously not great for turn 5 or turn 6 metas. But I love what this deck can do in the late game. Even if people get carried away wiping the board every turn, the deck rebuilds super fast.

[@HateParty]

Commander Replay I haven’t been in any games you were recording. I’m BrighterView on MTGO. We’ve maybe hopped in the same game 3 or 4 times maybe.

[@tee918]

Yeah Aurelias back

[@CommanderReplay]

I wanted to give it her a little rest since I did a lot of content on her last year. Still my 2 most played decks in paper though. Ive been playing this one a lot in paper and continuing to make small but meaningful updates. Ive also been meaning to do the Aurelia helm of the host video, but the problem ive been having is that either I win too easily or just get crushed. Not really any counterplay so it hasnt been terribly interesting to watch. Just found out that C18 isnt coming to MTGO until december though, so I might use the rest of the summer to catch up on some vidoes that I wanted to do.

[@mortycremwatch]

Could you record more videos with this deck? I'm a huge fan Would love to see your take on Uril enchantress too

[@CommanderReplay]

Im out of town but Ill try and work it into the rotation when I get back. I have 2 cards I'm excited to try out which are altar of dementia and mesmeric orb.

[@mortycremwatch]

Commander Replay that would be awesome. I've never had the guts to self mill

[@CommanderReplay]

me either. will need to see if it works.

[@mistertadakichi]

It didn’t end up mattering in the video due to boardwipes, but it’s worth noting how great Council’s Judgment is. Because it doesn’t actually target anything, it can remove things with Shroud, Hexproof, or Protection from White.

[@CommanderReplay]

Great point! Really sweet card, ive been trying to adopt into my white decks a little bit more, I would say that I have been under valuing it for quite a while.

[@XR_TRON]

These Boros decks look super awesome and fun to play. It also makes me miss my old Jor Kadeen deck. :-( That was an awesome showcase of the utility/power of Austere Command. Ever since you recommended it to me, it has done so much work. Often times, it's a 6 mana one sided board wipe. Also, is Mask of Memory the signature card of Commander Replay? :-P

[@CommanderReplay]

Yeah I like this deck. Its bad in fast metas though, Id consider this deck about 7 power wise, it really needs the game to at least 9 turns to have a chance. Ive been all about Austere Command and Hour of Revelation lately so much work. Yeah mask of memory really is the best with Aurelia or anything with double strike. And most people don't find it threatening enough to spend removal on it. But a few double hits with it and you probably have more cards in hand than the blue player.

[@XR_TRON]

Commander Replay What if we added a couple smaller/more selective board wipes to help improve the deck in fast metas? Maybe Sweltering Suns or Anger of the Gods? I'm not sure what you could cut, but it could get the deck up to an 8 in power level :-) I think there's special quality about powerful cards like Mask of Memory that are great, but not good enough to draw a targeted removal spell like you said. We should try a deck with only above average cards just to see how it goes haha.

[@CommanderReplay]

Lol yeah. This deck could be sped up a little bit, but the problem will remain that your 6 mana creature is liable to get blown out by swords, fleshbag marauder, or counterspell. That being the case Ive generally accepted that this deck isn't going to be taking people down on turn 5. But I am happy that ive made a deck that is very playable, and once in a while it does steal wins from higher powered opponents, especially if board wipes are flying and the game slows down. I like the all creatures build or the equipment build if I'm going against higher powered decks. You don't get the tempo blow out if someone counters your 2 drop. Also ive actually been wanting to build Jor Kadeen. Looks like it could be a pretty fast commander if built right. Its been on my to do list.

[@Devin-oh7gr]

I played in a budget league using jor and i called him jor kadeen the junk monger

[@jeffswett4579]

Love watching this deck go. Its a shame the videos are always pretty quick lol.

[@CommanderReplay]

This one did go pretty quick. Kristen and I had a mirror match with our angel decks the other day. IT was 15 turn grinder. I did film it but we were both in voice chat, just kind of chatting and not really commentating so I don't know entertaining it would be to post, but if wanted a healthy serving of angels....that was a long game.

[@jeffswett4579]

@@CommanderReplay i for one love to hear banter back n forth plus anything you put out will be gobbled up by me and like minded. Hope to see it!

[@Devin-oh7gr]

Im not the least bit shocked kaalia scooped, had a kaalia player in my lgs that would always scoop if you popped their commander.

[@CommanderReplay]

Lol yeah. So I mentioned it a little in the video but going more in depth. If you blow up Kaalia, its a deck full of 8 drops and a few signets, so they wont be playing much magic for the rest of the game. If Kaalia isn't in play attacking, its a really bad deck that you would never ever build. But sometimes Kaalia comes down turn 3 and you get hit with Rakdos and friends. If you want the definition of glass cannon, that be Kaalia. Sorry that you have to deal with the same scooping in your local. I actually had 2 copies of Kaalia from way back in the day. I sold one, then always had plans to build the deck. But after I realized how fragile it is, and the fact that once people have seen it one time you don't get to play magic, I just never really felt like trying to complete the deck.

[@Devin-oh7gr]

It was a more of kaalia players are super salty and run their commanders out with no protection thing XD

[@A221Tokki]

Hi! Ive been trying to play your RW reanimate angel deck on untap to get the feel of it. Is it common for to not to be able to do anything for a long time? I feel like I have to discard my angels in order to do anything, and when I do, I only have a few angels. So most of the time, around 7th or 8th turn, I have like 1 or 2 angels in thrme graveyard and 1 reanimator angel in my hand. I just feel like I dont get to play anything and nothing feel like it synergizes. I want to see how I can make this work cause ive been trying to make a good angel tribal deck.

[@CommanderReplay]

Hey I am sorry its not working as expected for you. My first question is did you include all of the same mana ramp that im using in my most updated version of the deck? Right now the deck runs about 15 pieces of ramp, most of which produces multiple mana in one way or another and thats a super key element. Also i had a few of the land tax, tithe, gift of estates type stuff, and those are important also. For my build I decided to be a ramp deck first, and reanimator second. But you could easily flip flop those by cutting a few ramp cards, adding a few more draw/discard, and more breath of life type reanimation spells. The setting for this deck is important also. I would rank this deck in the upper portion of mid power, but i wouldnt call it a high power deck. Big creatures are always going to struggle against cheap removal. So its not well setup for blue based combo. If you are running into 3 color value decks, add a board wipe or 2, the original build of this deck had 6. Typically you will be one spell a turn or so with this deck, until you get some ramping done, but around turn 7 or 8 it shouldnt be terribly difficult to get a second angel into play. Ive had situations where ive had dawnbreak reclaimer and burnished hart and do that a few times through the mid turns, then i have like 12 lands on turn 8 or 9. So anyway yeah, the deck will probably just play less spells than other decks because it is full of 7 and 8 drops, but the way you go about that is by producing a ton of mana. If you are working on a budget its important that you keep about the same number of cards in each role, the 15 pieces of ramp, 2-3 cards that find lands, and the 5ish board wipes are super important to make the deck function. If you have a list posted somewhere I can take a look at if you like.

[@A221Tokki]

@@CommanderReplay Thank you for replying! I did stick with the same amount of ramping and lands. I only replaced cards that were extremely expensive like Wheel of Fortune, Strip Mine, etc. During the test run, mana ramping wasn't the issue, just the lack of creatures. If you are only playing a few spells each turn, maybe I have to tweak it a bit to suit my playstyle. I really love the smothering tithe + everyone draws combo, so I've been trying to look for other cards that can do that.

[@CommanderReplay]

Yeah I def recommend tweaking to your play style. What I might recommend is the cut following: 2 cards at 8cmc, and 1 and 7cmc and replace with angels between 4-6cmc. Dropping the curve like that means you can probably also cut a ramp spell and add another creature in that range. Also wouldn’t say no to faithless looting type card or hazorets monument. Additionally the deck is prone to some weird draws in its current state and you’ll either need to mulligan or wheel out of them. Btw underworld breach and legions initiative were test slots so those 2 can be literally anything you feel like you need. Any way try dropping the curve a bit, and try a few more hands with it, I promise it’s a very solid deck for 8-10 turn games of commander just that the drop a single huge creature and hold your breath plan isn’t for everyone. Let me know how it goes.

[@motorologist]

11:38 That chatbox though.

[@CommanderReplay]

They were idle for about 5 minutes...was getting impatient. I get annoyed when people disconnect.

[@TreefrogOriginal]

The Jodah player is another KZbinr super small channel but it's called Sealed Success go check him out

[@RatKillerSVS]

Finally, my favorite deck makes a comeback! Aurelia's power to make opponents scoop is so sweet. Why no Helm though? You mentioned couple of times that sword and mask go well with Aurelia, but Helm is the best to close out the game out of nowhere =) Have you ever considered strionic resonator for this deck? It adds to the reanimator part of the deck,, but I can't say how much because I still need to find a spot for it in my deck. Oh, and another suggestion for consideration - Glory. Saved my ladies couple of times already. HoR helps is a lifesaver when you have a slow start and this card in your hand. I see you are not as big of a dick as me - I run Iona over Reya, since most of the time Emeria Shepherd does all the work and there's almost always a better 9 mana investment than Reya *ahem..helmofthehost..ahem* (even though I like Reya and wish she'd done more in my games) And seriously, no Nykthos? It can generate decent amounts of white mana in angels deck.

[@CommanderReplay]

Ive intentionally kept this deck around a 7 power wise, so I'm not running the helm. My equipment Aurelia deck does though, video should be somewhat soon on that build. Casting angels isn't really where you want to be against fast high powered decks, and helm fits better into those circumstances. Right now its a fair deck that I use against other fair decks. If I know people are grabbing well tuned decks Ill go for something else. I actually run Iona in my paper version of the deck, I'm still making tweaks. I want to get angelic arbiter and platinum angel in, both in my paper list but haven't made the digital list yet. Nykthos needs to get added in, this deck is mostly W mana symbols. Ive also thought about really altering the mana base to be able to use caged sun and gauntlet of power, not sure if its worth it though. Reya fits in with our reanimate everything. You get her down late and she brings back the whole team, its glorious. Glory seems ok but with all the reanimation maybe not entirely necessary. I do have a flex slot with angelic renewal that I've been testing out for protection. Glory could go in that slot.

[@hstuken]

Why would you have 40 lands in a mono-color deck?

[@CommanderReplay]

I believe it was Jodah who had 40 lands.

[@themoviewatcher]

As good as your deck is, I feel like both the Jodah and/or Kaalia decks should have been able to wreck you (if fully optimized)...I usually have an eldrazi or a huge angel/demon coming out by turn 4 with both decks I have, or I'm holding up counter magic mana with Jodah because my deck has 20 counters to protect him or my huge spells. Solid win, though.

[@CommanderReplay]

For sure this deck will get hammered by fast decks. I think we do have a fighting chance against Kaalia with the 6 board wipes and swords and path, but its imperative to prevent that first Kaalia attack. Once we get them into the late game this deck rebuilds from board wipes super fast where Kaalia will struggle. The only chance against a tuned Jodah though is preventing that first cast, but yeah that seems like a bad matchup all the way around. This deck really needs the game to go about 9 turns to really have a chance. So you analysis is correct, this is not the deck you want for fast or powerful metas.

[@zaman6789]

Fuck I love your vids, keep it up.. first btw

[@CommanderReplay]

Thanks! This is one of my favorite decks to play, not great against really fast high power decks, but if I know the game is going to go atleast 8-9 turns I generally grab this one. Also, congrats!

[@zaman6789]

Commander Replay yeah I love watching this deck in play and getting upgraded everytime I see it.