Anowon, the Ruin Thief | Upping the Average

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[@andreusemanuel4868]

Just throwing a budget recomendation: if folks are feeling the need of dealing more damage Stoneforge Masterwork is pretty cheap and pairs well with unlockable creatures. Like another quietus spike

[@watchsilverback]

Well I’m glad to know I’m not the only one struggling with this deck. Not sure if I’ll go in the same direction but I love the video and the amount of work you did. Thumbs up

[@hermesthenerd9967]

LOVE THE DND REFERENCES!!!!! also great upgrade guide!

[@roberteldritch6285]

Yooooo! I absolutely love how you question certain metas.. love the way your brain works. Subscribed

[@olivegardenofficialtm8153]

I really like Silent-Blade Oni and Fallen Shinobi here. They're not rogues, but ninjutsu plays so well with our unblockable creatures that I couldn't help but to add them to my list. Ink-Eyes is great if you're focused on the mill strategy too.

[@mizzlchieizzl]

Great diagnosis of the problems building Anowon : )

[@primemarketingunleashed]

Nice remarks about Anowo. thanks for sharing! On another note, I'd love to check out your Syr Konrad deck.

[@EDHRECast]

archidekt.com/decks/234654#Syrah_Konnor :)

[@DAsrada]

I just got the precon. Time to see how Joey goes with this.

[@adam_papamastorakis]

I’m actually really thankful I found this video because I’m in the exact same situation right now. I didn’t even know about this prebuilt commander deck but about three months ago I started building a blue black mill deck and as time went on I realized that I was moving towards a rogues-mill hybrid because that just seemed like a fun thing. Eventually I caught up to the issue that troubled me so much and it’s just the fact that these two things don’t actually have such a great synergy, although I’m still trying to make it work. Building a blue black deck is really tricky because you have many strategies to choose from and especially with decks like these you’re like ahhh including mill is so tempting because it’s so close yet it’s really far away win-con wise. Attacking to mill your opponents and also being unblockable are really fun strategies but after a few games you realize that you’re trying to win with two completely different strategies and you have to pick one. Anyway again thanks for helping me clear my mind on the issue, you’re the first person I found who actually addresses this instead of skipping it and making a video with recommendations during the deck’s hype period for views.

[@Dubi264]

I've done that mill/payoff balancing act with my Mirko Vosk deck. I've barely managed to get it to be fun and effective, and can't imagine having to also worry about creature types at the same time.

[@DarkInuyasha12]

I needed this

[@Sawfty]

Now THIS is the upping the average I was waiting for!

[@Draconior87]

Best deck tech channel. Period.

[@Eddyb1e]

I built Anowon as "mill thru my own card draw" via enchantments that when I draw, everyone else mills. This made it a lot easier for me to focus on my main them, Draw, and then a sub theme, draw some more. I think as mentioned, there a lot going on and a forced focus on a theme, whichever it may be, is the key to making Anowon successful.

[@jonasdietrich8109]

A few of the goodies in my Anowon deck: -Oblivion Sower: Not a rogue, however: If you cast this spell in the later game and have done some exile preparation, then you can easily get 5 to 10 lands. Otherwise you will at least have a strong body on the field. -Sire of Stagnation: Not a rogue as well, but a hell of a draw machine. If this doesn't get removed within a few turns, then you have brutal card advantage.

[@jonathansosa2380]

I play this deck and I also took away every direct milling card. Enough milling happens naturally with Anowon that you don't need it . I like to keep Bonehoard, Consuming Aberration, Nighthowler and others tho because they are win conditions more often than not. I have good results with my build but this video gave me some nice ideas. Teferi's Veil is an incredible addition. If any of you guys play some interesting and not common cards with this deck I'd love to know. First MTG deck and I'm having a blast :D

[@casmiry]

I'm using Burakos in the build. Also, Varragoth.

[@chrisdelassus3769]

I began playing MTG a short time ago and I found that I really liked this pre-con. I don't know much yet about deck building, but I sort of thought the mill aspect of this deck was brilliant. Especially if you lean into a [[Changeling Outcast]] (make it a rogue obviously), [[Bonehoard]], and [[Scytheclaw]] combo for insane damage which leads to even more milling. It may seem convoluted and overkill, but its fantastic when it all comes together!

[@crossr1984]

I love that it is a more long-term project.

[@AbyssArray]

Oh dang, I was already going into this direction with my deck I think Teferi's Ageless Insight is nice for the deck, doubles up the card draw effect

[@kingginger3335]

I've found that the best Rogue's can steal my opponents permanents so I've built it around a Rogue tribal / steal your stuff deck. I utilize Anowon's mill ability to fill my opponents graveyards and then steal things out of them. The golden pig of the deck is Maskwood Nexus. It's just make the deck do crazy things

[@Sawfty]

Thank you for your statement on mill vs this combat damage. These two totally different avenues, and Rogue tribal really shouldn’t be mill focused IMO.

[@bloodbathnbeyond]

I think leaning into the mill aspect is totally detrimental to the overall deck...I agree with the analysis of this deck.

[@ncuco]

Dam! You're doing a deck every other day

[@deadNdivine12]

Cool. A pal of mine has a Anowon deck and it has many cards listed in this here video.

[@kothhammer4788]

My strategy with anowon is mill opponents in the early game and draw cards. In late game, i use cards on opponents gy against them. Been effective and winning a lot of games using that strategy.

[@jpwertyQC]

Exactly, I use the rogue synergie early to mils cards and defend my life. But late game the 1/1 on all rogues is not that strong, so i like to switch to big creature to end it easily. Work well.

[@benturtl9076]

I had an anowon deck that was actually kind of a combo deck trying to combine stuff like psychic corrosion, teferis ageless insight, whispering madness and notion thief. I emptied quite a few of libraries this way.

[@JadeHex]

A Couple really nice Rogues in my Opinion are Faerie Macabre (an ok flyer on its own that you can also discard to exile scary stuff from the GY), plus just some more 1 drop evasion rogues - Prickly Boggart has Fear, Nightshade Stinger and Faerie Miscreant have Flying, Merfolk Rogue and Quag Vampires have Island and Swampwalk respectively, Vampire Cutthroat has Skulk and Lifelink but skulk doesn't work too well with buffs.

[@samwayne8961]

you are absolutely right man. graveyard play is dangerous. i think ill out a few exile grave yard cards, some more target removal, counterspells and card draw

[@Sinistra359]

If you have the budget, Bruvac and maddening cacophony (kicked) can be a two card win combo

[@happybrain2674]

first inclusions in decks like that: spark double and sakashima .

[@happybrain2674]

oh and infect...

[@RollieB89]

Nothing is better than copying the commander and then attacking I once had 3 Anowon on the field and total of 10 unblockable damage going through

[@MrT0XY]

I also removed a lot of graveyard abusers but added command the dreadhorde. Eventually there will be a ton to things in graves and 1 card that can pull them out can be massive game changer

[@mj1mj3]

My friend just started playing EDH just like 3 weeks ago and he brought the Anowon precon to get started. He's been getting pretty frustrated by it cause he's new to multiplayer formats like EDH, and is having a hard time working with the decks strategy, so i decided to build him a $60 Yarok, the Desecrated deck instead cause it will be easier to pilot, and upgrade as necessary.

[@mateotrimboli1232]

Loved the video as usual, could you make an upping the average for The Mimeoplasm, he is one of my favourite commanders!

[@beepboopkendo4206]

My pet card in this deck is profane momento. It usually keeps me alive just long enough

[@Dubi264]

I run a crypt incursion for the same reason.

[@EJsGameplay]

I have an Anowan deck, but mine uses Gyruda as a companion. Also, I want that Teferi's Veil asap!

[@kingginger3335]

I'd like to show my non budget list that's basically all about stealing your opponents things. For example Opposition Aggent and Varragoth Bloodsky Sire are both Rogue's. You can attack with Varragoth, then activate his ability on the stack, flash in Opposition Aggent and then search for your opponents best spell. That way you can then cast the spell you steal instead of putting it on top of their library. It's a really fun deck. If you can't win with one of their wincon's then I also run Bloodchief Ascension and Mindcrank to kill my opponent when I swing with an unblockable rogue

[@Zero4revolution]

I have Anowon too. I play lots of rogues but I do have cards that support mill as secondary strategy. I won few times by milling our opponents with combos or with cards like Psychic Corrosion + Whispering Madness, Duskmantle guildmage + Mindcrank

[@towelguy]

I want to recommend planar void a graveyard hate piece, it may not empty them but keeps them as they are

[@Armiesintoart]

I appreciate the dnd reference.

[@TheEr910]

After playing this deck a bunch, I cut all reanimator effects and non-rogues except Syr Konrad. I added Inkfathom Witch to punch harder. I run board control and card draw effects. Attack, attack, attack...

[@stoiccrane4259]

A year later, have to recommend bitterblossom now that it's much cheaper and rogue class. Very nasty combo that'll have you taking opponent's cards left and right. The deck seems convoluted but if you use bloodchief's ascension with mindcrank it makes sense.

[@rosel953]

6:22 I completely agree I have a Alesha combo deck and I won against a Anowon deck without using a single tutor the entire game, because Anowon provided me card advantage.

[@maxwellnichols3873]

Joey used Move to Maybeboard on the wild Syr Konrad! It's not very effective...

[@Antare5]

God I wish Etrata the Silencer was a rogue....

[@Antare5]

@vinicius Reis you right tho

[@splatakoi]

Thank you for finally helping me find cards to fix the deck. I really wanted to use him but rogues are odd to play with

[@oom-3262]

Well, slot in a void winnower then

[@Ciecior_95]

I've treated my Anowon deck as a dimir version of Edric, the spymaster. Added a couple of anthems and my secret tech first strike equipments to possibly double the draw from Anowon trigger. Also i added some cheap protection(counterspells) for my commander.

[@Explosive371]

Huh... I love that. It doesn't make you mill any additional cards, but it does give you the chance to draw 2 cards off a single player because you get a trigger at First Strike Damage and a second trigger from your other Rogues at regular Combat Damage. In the same line, Fireshrieker makes a single rogue get 2 triggers on 1 player, potentially drawing 2 cards.

[@Ciecior_95]

@@Explosive371 They help you rebuild after boardwipe and also some rouges have deathtouch.

[@josecisneros7730]

I only have the scarab god as my only reanimation spell I went a more bident of Thassa (basically a U/B Edric deck) route with notorious throng as a finisher half the time I don’t even cast anowon as there are many draw on combat effects in blue

[@Circular_Square]

Still waiting for Ghave to be done. You could take so many different routes with that deck.

[@troullo90]

can you update the list at archidekt for kaldheim, time spiral and strixhaven?? i believe varragoth, crippling fear and mystic reflection are must have cards

[@shadowreign5532]

Mikokoro, Center of the Sea is super, super good with Notion Thief.

[@adamcappella8088]

Ouch to removing drown in the loch. You're still milling with anowon weather you focus on it or not. That's a hell of a spell to remove that you can still use.

[@rubyseverinwhitworth9066]

so can you do Licia, Sanguine Tribune because I have noticed that the life gain deck is severly lacking in life gain and would like to see how you would fix it

[@williangomes594]

My deck is based on combat damage. Mill is only for drawing cards and taking resources from the opponent. Decklist: tappedout.net/mtg-decks/anoao/?cat=custom&sort=name&cb=1613708961

[@RollieB89]

This was a difficult deck for me to build because i wanted to make it mill focused but then realized that only worked once and never again Then i changed it to rouge tribal with a focus on dealing damage

[@RollieB89]

I added cards that made creatures unblockable, like that anowon or gonti can go in for an attack. I also put in cards like metallic mimic and brass herald to increase their attacks.

[@TheChemicalstylez]

Just built anowon. You need a lot of +1/+1 pump creatures that also double as rogues.

[@lancearmada]

That teferi's veil is interesting given you typically dont build vigilance at all.

[@blindcommander]

I literally went full mill and use the rogues to assist in that. So far it rains VERY well.

[@heyitz_aaron]

how did you build your deck? i cannot seem to either find a good balance between mill and combat or rely on either 1 of those wincons

[@blindcommander]

@@heyitz_aaron I used ALOT of mill cards. Archideckt is giving me problems with some stupid Facebook as that locks me up. I was gonna add the link to my deck here. As soon as I can get it, I will share it. Also, now that some of the work has to be on the pilot and the choices they make. When I pilot my deck I prioritize mill and attack only if/when it benits the mill strategy.

[@blindcommander]

@@heyitz_aaron Got it going! www.archidekt.com/decks/842529#Silent_Curses I believe that is the most recently updated version that I have. I am on Twitter @blindccommander of you have any questions at all. 😃

[@heyitz_aaron]

@@blindcommander Hi sorry for the late reply. Thank you so much! I shall find you on twitter soon :D

[@blindcommander]

@@heyitz_aaron It's no problem at all.

[@devyncleghorn477]

In my personal opinion the way you play anowon is to steal things. That's the point of mill, steal from the graveyard. The sun theme of rogues is to steal, stuff like agent of treachery for example. That's my take anyway, it worked for me last time I built him.

[@AaKkisa]

Would love to see your take on Breya.

[@TheChickenLego]

Hol' up. 5-ish time watching the video, just realised you talked about cutting mindcrank, but it's in the final list. What's up with that? Edit: also no deathcult rogue in the final list, even though you talked about adding it. Edit No. 2: oh the deathcult rogue was instead of the inkfathom infiltrator if you wanted less expense. Right, gotcha.

[@YaBoyEdGames]

With an evasive deck I think mindcrank had to stay even if the video skirted that point. It’s just too good of a card to ignore in this situation.

[@Kazz1187]

For this direction of unblockable combat damage card draw, I like Dauthi Voidwalker for early hate and to maybe get an awesome card

[@stephenwalker5061]

I went with a rogue tribal deck and have a doomsday combo backup if the game goes too long and said the mill is incidental

[@Kazz1187]

Is faceless haven from kaldheim worth the adjusting of the mana base to mostly snow (land that has active: 3 snow to become 4/3 changeling)?

[@billnye8739]

no it has no sinergy

[@tosmart999]

i would love you to do Omnath, Locus of Creation

[@pauljimerson8218]

If I'm taking our expensive bitterblossom then expensive bloodchief ascencion is way more worth it for the combo

[@MitsuSC]

Agreed, Bloodchief Ascension to me is a must include in this deck. If you build properly around it, you can literally mill opponents to death

[@sarahmanly7322]

So i actually have build him enterly on rogue tribal. As u have said, creature based mill, that relys on them connecting to an enemy is just rly rly bad. (: Go for rogues, go for raw dmg. (: Code of Arms is awesome in here, also an Adaptive Automaton and effects like such. You rly don't need mill payoffs. Maybe put a mindcrank and a bloodchiefs asscencion or duskmantle guildmage...for extra salt. If you want to, i can send you guys and grrrls my Decklist (: 53% Winrate is something (: dev. A threat and an absolute granate in higher Midpower.

[@project-ghostphazed6293]

I think the mill is good and fun for this deck but should be used as a plus

[@fastydave]

I disagree with this direction and that's totally fine.

[@chrisrobin4962]

But...but...this is the internet!

[@bigmacmm5]

Is he cancelling cancel culture?!

[@Hashbrown1682]

Which direction would you take?

[@danishtitans1644]

Why not bloodchief ascension + mindcrank instead of Sir + Mind Crank?

[@lancearmada]

while mill enables reanimators, I still consider him a worthwhile rogue commander due to his card draw and anthem effects, alongside his colors. Just don't build the rest of your deck around mill, build it around rogues and combat damage triggers.

[@chrisnicolella1641]

How have you not done a upping the average for Syr Konrad yet?

[@philiprussell1497]

How about dauthi voidwalker as the main focus and the cards get mill to the exiled pile instead of the graveyard and you copy dauthi with some spells and steal win cons.

[@tyrantofruin]

If you don’t have 30 Rogues would it be a Tribal Rogue-like?

[@shmapple29]

ofc this is the first deck i chose to play

[@ncuco]

You mention other tribes, how about upping a lesser played deck? grand warlord Radha?

[@AKRenlor]

Just by the law of numbers wouldn't it be better to put the Infect enchantments into the deck? And or a Double Strike option? Then you are looking to do 30 points of damage, 10 to each...with infect rather that 30-40 to each of the opponents.

[@stoiccrane4259]

Any recommendations?

[@appleslicemtg4368]

Is syr Konrad in for ur pet card or was it just a joke and he actually made it in

[@troullo90]

where is Adaptive Automaton?? its a second Anowon

[@lordsnom5287]

Joey roll for stealth

[@Keijspermeister]

But I played Consuming Abberation yesterday and it became 53/53

[@snipothermia]

Nurgils conscription is good

[@the_names_rob]

Loved it. Always thought the mill theme they started for rogues felt forced

[@williangomes594]

discard > mill

[@the_names_rob]

@@williangomes594 *self mill

[@stephanevally170]

I'm not sure about the Keeper of the Keys. Anowon has no defense per se. He'll never keep the so precious monarch token

[@MitsuSC]

But you can easily get it back if you attack with cheap unblockable 1/1s

[@stephanevally170]

@@MitsuSC yeah but you need to be the monarch at upkeep to have your creatures unblockable

[@MitsuSC]

@@stephanevally170 that's right. I play Propaganda and try to keep spot removal to help halt attacks, but it certainly becomes much more difficult in a multiplayer match

[@robertfranklin8522]

Commensurate, not commiserate. The first means what you want, the second means to grieve with. And if you think i'm being picky well when you use words for a living you should strive to use them properly. Don't even get me started on "decimate"!

[@togkemper2275]

The deck I made really shot up in price because of my tables play style we play extremely competitive so in order to keep up my deck has cards that answer like force of will fierce guardianship vampiric tutor and along with many other pricy cards to either get to a win con or answer someone else’s win con

[@Chukijay]

I just got this deck and played it out of box against a Commander Legends deck. It was fun but only after 1 game I can already see that you have to pick one of the abilities and let the others be coincidence. You can’t balance mill, creature type, damage, and buffs in one deck. This deck was meant to be played as-is against other similar decks as-is. I could see adding a few of the good rogues from MTG past and present, upgrading the mana base, and swapping some of the cards out for strictly better versions of that card, but I don’t ever see anowon being more than a tier 2 at best commander. You’d have to lean heavy into rogues and disregard mill, or lean heavy into mill and disregard creature type. Also, Teferi’s Veil seems awesome but it completely opens you up to attacks from the rest of the table. If you’re in a pod of 4 and they swing for 10 damage, you’re taking 30 because you have no blockers. They’re phased out. So you better have a board wipe or a ton of removal/control in hand

[@ianlawrence1576]

I added Thassa to my deck to make my rogues unblockable

[@leress]

Wait isn't 'Murder' like $0.01? I don't think you can really go price neutral nor lower than that.

[@RoastedPheasant]

The standard and historic "Dimir Rogues" deck doesn't use mill as its win condition. It wins through combat damage, and uses mill as a tool to prevent the opponent from drawing key cards and recovering. Reanimation is the tertiary focus of the deck, if it's there at all.

[@EnemyToad]

Up the average by playing Marchesa (the real Marchesa) and adding red. (heirloom blade gets real good)

[@daxamlhant7285]

No earwig squad? deck is unplayable

[@basicstiger346]

He didnt even talk about the actual cards in the list?

[@talzumon101]

This video was a 10 minute explanation as to why this is not a good deck to run lol

[@xpeezy3292]

i wish you changed anowon foor oona

[@G_Wheezy]

It feels bad to me to basically ignore half of the card to make it functional. If we're not going to do anything graveyard related, why are we playing this commander in the first place instead of a commander that will do more for us?

[@Yarradras]

I disagree with your general assessment. I don't see Sneak Attack/Anowon as a pure tribal deck. It obviously builds on rogues, but the milling replaces the removal and there are many cards in the deck who give you card advantage to always have a full hand. I usually don't win by going wide and attack with a large board, but by having 1 or 2 creatures out that win my the game with the next 1-3 attacks. obviously it's getting hard countered by every deck that specializes in using a full graveyard. But then every deck out there has some sort of hard counter. And there are a lot of decks out there who cannot abuse their graveyards. It might not be the the most cometitive deck concept, but it is a lot of fun.

[@AndrewWoodford]

I’m trying really hard not to leave a Dislike after you cut Military Intelligence. 🤣😭