Atraxa, Praetors' Voice | Upping the Average

Check out the decklists here:
Atraxa Superfriends: archidekt.com/...
Atraxa Budget Superfriends: archidekt.com/...)
Atraxa +1 Counters: archidekt.com/...
Atraxa Infect: archidekt.com/...
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Title sequence by Daniel Woodling / MTG Explainers: bit.ly/3982yYa
Card images courtesy of Scryfall: scryfall.com/
Elevate by LiQWYD / liqwyd
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Music promoted by Audio Library / nw

[@EDHRECast]

Yup, there was a misread on Relic of Legends, it only taps legendary creatures, not any legendary permanent. So it goes! Hope you enjoy the decks :)

[@hrocxvid]

I was going to say, I didn't see Gideon Blackblade in the deck list

[@spacecanary8786]

Honor-Worn Shaku works nice though!

[@skillganon606]

I might put it in cause I'm running a few Chads.

[@lord_more_dino]

If atraxa is out it still is a 3 mana rocks that produced 2 mana at absolute worse so its a great include. I'm growing to love that rock like crazy ! Still a great video!

[@Oopsall]

You can replace it with Honor-Worn Shaku, it lets you turn all your walkers into mana dorks

[@darkxzero13]

5:22 Super-friends 13:56 +1/+1 counters 20:57 Infect

[@muddyboy999]

Not all hero's wear capes

[@willvmurdaugh]

I'm gonna go cuddle up to my Atraxa saga deck and cry myself to sleep.

[@maxberry7908]

oh my god it's 4 decks in one video :D edit to add: joey you are so good at linking in the functionality of the website! A+ salesmanship

[@dougystyle79]

I once had an Atraxa 'Walker deck with 32 Planeswalkers. I could hear the grumbles as I approached the tenth minute of my turns. 'Never again,' I said as I dismantled it. I made an Atraxa Energy deck that was really fun, but just didn't have enough pieces to make it fluid enough. Loved the video!.. Though it hasn't convinced me to build an Atraxa deck again... the target it puts on your back is loud. BTW - I wonder what Joey looks like in non-neutral colors... *shrug*

[@joshuahowell4785]

I thought about reworking my Riku energy into Atraxa, but I'd rather have red than white and black.

[@JustforKikX]

I bought Ixhel's precon and enjoyed it so much I turned it into Atraxa. Decided to make it all phyrexian (cards must be from a phyrexian set, have a phyrexian symbol, phyrexian story etc). So it doesn't have cards like DS or RS. Even my counters have to be phyrexian. Added a few completed PW, and used TONS of ONE cards.

[@Squiggypie]

I was on my home from work when I thought to myself, "when I get home, it's time to check in on Joey. Hopefully there's a new Upping the Average video!" Thanks Joey. Your timing is impeccable.

[@MrPinkpanzer]

I may be in the minority here, but I don't think this deck will thrive on a budget, espicaily with the mana. Atraxa has been a red flag for many players for a long time, and stumbling on colors may mean you never get the opportunity to do your thing. If you're going to upgrade your deck, the manabase should be your first priority.

[@drunkgerbil9962]

I've struggled to make an Atraxa deck. Never been able to settle on a theme. +1/+1 seems so bland, planeswalkers are expensive and fragile, and Infect is just Toxic!

[@daydreamindaze]

Just proxy the Planeswalkers.

[@Sun-ng7gj]

Play all three

[@stevematthews4473]

Awesome video as always. I just wish atraxa wasn’t #1. Love the “off the wall” stuff like baby lasagna to bring variety to my lgs.

[@Kukyodragonfly]

I recently got the precon for cheap, and I loved how the precon worked, even with the weird added cards. I saw that people hated the Superfriends version of Atraxa, but ended going with a +1/+1 version that's really fun, and people don't go for me starting the game lol. Great video as always!

[@infernotitan1158]

At 4:57 or so, you said "there isn't such a thing as a 'bad' card for Atraxa". While I 100% agree with the sentiment, I'm gonna take the meme route here and reply with "yeah there is, anything in the red section of the color pie is terrible, as you can't use it HURHURHUR" 🤣

[@Yesnomu]

These videos are so great, and you outdid yourself here! What an accomplishment.

[@egoish6762]

My lift home from the LGS was playing beamtown bullies for ages, a Christmas i got him an atraxa as a thank you for the lifts and to get him away from leveller kills. Was a good time to buy and hopefully he finds this.

[@rogerrabbit132]

I'd love to see a superfriends deck, but with only "compleated" planeswalkers. Call it "Atraxa and the SuperBaddies"

[@TrumpSkillz]

This may have been THE most informative and easy to understand Atraxa video I’ve found on KZbin… thanks so much for your help. Any LOTR cards worth adding for infect strat?

[@CouchtrollPodcastDS]

I’ve been trying to get my poison Atrex deck better. Mana and spell support is tricky.

[@azuram]

I love phyrexians and I managed to pick up an atraxa right before the price moved, super excited to build it.

[@westwing23]

I bought Atraxa as my first commander because it reminded me of Khan Makr from Doom Eternal. I amm totally doing great for my first magic deck build 😂

[@wardcombs6453]

I've been waiting for an Atraxa deck for so long I love this!

[@NateSix2Six]

I just got the precon! And having trouble building her so hyped for this

[@armoredduck]

I am surprised new Ezuri didn't make every list. Enables and rewards you for what each deck wants to do. Contagion Engine surviving over Contagion Clasp is also very surprising. Engine is very clunky and needs to be activated twice to get a 2cmc advantage over Clasp.

[@Sawfty]

As an infect player, a Craig if you will, I loved this episode! Once again, great timing sir! ❤

[@joshuarolfsmeyer8014]

Are we just calling ourselves Craig now in honor of the Mr infect himself?

[@Sawfty]

@@joshuarolfsmeyer8014 but of course! 😉

[@sanfranfan53]

I love how much stronger my Atraxa Infect deck has gotten from this set. She may be playable against a table now. 😅

[@somersetbassett4580]

Yup, it's currently the "for Lols" deck. I play it when I want a break, start infecting the board then pro.. time for a sandwich!

[@PADisAwsome]

Anyone else excited to see this come up on their subscriptions page but then immediate sadness because the three top Atraxa "themes" aren't directions you want to go with her? I really want to see an Atraxa list more ala Perrie the Pulverizer where its' "the weird counters". Maybe even expanding to 5c for things like All Will Be One or Lux Artillery .

[@danielgoldberg2129]

If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em! After getting beat by Infect/Poison 4 times the first week ONE was out I decided to take apart my Atraxa +1/+1 deck and build Infect myself. The good part is that I already had the mana base and most of the expensive cards. I’m still making the tough cuts so this video was very well timed for me! Thanks! (As another bonus, I’m not gaining another deck!)

[@bushidoman96]

Great video. I went a more unorthodox route with Atraxa: spore counters. Lots of fun, not overpowering.

[@mrnixon2287]

great video. very informative. bravo. Spike Weaver is a favourite card of mine ;)

[@Slo-Mode]

Daaaaang you did THREE lists?!?!

[@James-vl2hh]

In just two weeks time, Atraxa decks from going over 16000 to over 18000……

[@IamJoshEast]

Would love to see the new Urtet on here

[@d9_1056]

It doesn't take much work to make a good Atraxa deck. Just be ready to fight off the entire table.

[@simpledanman]

Have you done a praetor tribal edh deck? I’d LOVE to see a deck tech for one.

[@lord_more_dino]

Relic can't tap planeswalkers Y-Y I wish it could

[@spartanalphazuluxy]

If Atraxa is out, or if you have a permanent of each color, then consider Bloom Tender and Faeburrow Elder in the deck. These two creatures go infinite with Teferi, Who slows the Sunset and The Chain Veil. EDIT: Do I not see Liliana, Dreadhorde General..?

[@florianschwarz9460]

Oh man, I ever clicked on video this fast. As a magic-loving data scientist, I absolutely adore your site and your podcast and listen to it every week! My Atraxa Superfriends list is my longest surviving commander deck so far and I have put hours upon hours into it, so I was unimaginably excited for this upping the average! And I have to say, you really delivered! Probs on that! :) I especially share your opinion on the mana base and the 'does this win me the game'-evaluation and have done my planeswalker cuts with the same thought in mind. The average durdlyness of the deck is high enough in my opinion, so we don't have to stretch the game even more! 'You should feel excited about playing any of them' is also a very nice sentiment that I share about the deck! I didn't really agree with adding Sun's Champion and Garruk at first but then realized that your list indeed creates quite a couple of tokens, so that's cool! Some cards I would consider to add: 1. Krosan Verge: Nice fixing, ramp, and two landfall triggers for Evolution Sage. 2. Neoform/Eldritch Evolution: Cash in Atraxa and cheat in Deepglow out of the deck for two mana. Also nasty in combination with Arena Rector as Neoform on her will search a planeswalker and ultimate it right away, giving you an ultimate of your choice from the deck for 6 (7) mana, which can catch your opponents by surprise. Can also find Carth or any other utility in a pinch. 3. Sakura Tribe-Elder: Ramp is important in this deck and he can pseudo-block a creature and still ramp you. Can also be looped over and over again with Moon Sage Emblem to ramp or even win the game through Sleeper Agent Emblem. 4. Aminatou: Resets your planeswalkers, Deepglow Skate, Oaths or Carth and unbricks Deepglow together with a fetch land if you want him in the deck for your pod effects. 5. Oath of Gideon: I prefer this over Brokers Ascendency as is gives the loyalty right away for your turn to maybe get to an ultimate. Giving it at the end of the turn might be non-desirable, your planeswalker will oftentimes get handled anyways and we are not playing enough +1/+1 counter shenanigans in superfriends for that part to offset that in my opinion. Also, Oath gives you tokens for the Garruk/Sun's Champion Emblem or for protection. 6. Dream Devourer: Personal favorite as it can give you a discount for your combo turns and make something like Doubling Season or Vorinclex into a planeswalker feasible as you don't have to pay 10+ mana in one turn anymore. He can block if necessary or search Evo Sage/Flux Channeler with a pod if necessary. 7. Reanimate: We don't play a lot of creatures, but the ones we play can easily make the difference between getting off an ultimate or not. It can also cheat in Deepglow or Vorinclex earlier if we discard them with Master of Time of by other means.

[@oldshotbotgg]

Super clean and helpful video. Engaging. Thank you.

[@nickelousqbraswell24]

thinking about picking up this deck but it seems like there isnt alot of mana. does anyone have this deck ? if so do you get mana drowned alot ?

[@NateSix2Six]

Tell me when I am about to build all 3 LOL

[@JJMickeyMedia]

Well done, Joey!

[@themanI0I]

very good job. Informational

[@doku6255]

I ended up being sad about it coming out pre march of machine

[@connorcreighton6499]

Curious why no Norns decree?

[@MvRcscIsM]

Bought this deck at Walmart for $35 years ago

[@JakwobTheGreat]

My favorite KZbin series to date 😊

[@GruntOrBust]

As sad as it is, I think cont clasp, and engine need to come out of the deck. You maybe use either once per game, tops, but I feel some of the other proliferate cards are just cheaper. Like the fetch for 1 basic land, then proliferate, for 1 green. Many others to name as well. I feel like by the time you get clasp or engine out, you could have already cast multiple cheaper cmc proliferates, because at that mana value and at the late game, you better have counter spells etc ready cause you're already the target and thats not hitting the board. Not in a high lvl play group at least . Be curious if anyone has any counter thoughts to that, I'm currently rebuilding my atraxa infect with no budget limit.

[@maxproulx24]

Hi In the +1+1 version At the end, you speak about honorable mention $$$ I have cut a brunch of tap land for 10 fetch Cut the master chief for the great henge But i wasnt sure to what cut for the teferi protection 🤔 Think about Heroic intervention or inspiring call 🤷‍♂️ what do you think about it ?? Thanks

[@rajat_bhanot5037]

i have a fairly expensive and competitive superfriends deck, just a tip from personal experience, if anyone is thinking about making superfriends or any atraxa deck, highly highly recommend protection for atraxa, swiftfoot or lighting or whispersilk, or anything else you can think of... because you will be getting nuked by the entire table you are playing against lol

[@ImAussieMate]

I like using ring of evos isle. It goes down early. equips for one and starts the +1/+1 counters. It also adds hexproof so just hold up 2 mana and it will do its job. It's a random budget card that I like to use. However I have built atraxa a few times and am not that big of a fan. I think the proliferate per turn is overrated. She does so much more just being a 4/4 flying lifelink deathouch viligancer. I have been meaning to try atraxa voltron. I think Umezawa's Jitte and protection is all she needs.

[@ReeseWRX]

curious i thought hydroid krasis might be a pretty locked addition for the +1 counters creature deck. It's great in all stages early-late, card draw, health. and if you do manage to get it to survive long enough it obviosuly benefits from all the proliferate throughout the deck.

[@GusJKlaus]

Acording to errata, all of these creatures in the poison deck are phyrexian, so i'm putting all that has something about tribal phyrexian, including the seedcore and the cavern of souls

[@BalefulStr1x]

Great episode! Only thing I will disagree with is the Tamiyo cut as she is primarily a second copy of the power permanents (granted it mostly kills her but it still counts)

[@iManticore]

I would feel remiss as a long-time die-hard Sisay and legendary creature playing if I didn't point out. Relic of Legends needs to tap a legendary creature.

[@jinxclaessen1544]

for me the problem with atraxa is that she doesnt have red colour identity... now i ant play her as a commander for my 5 colour planeswalker deck...

[@kevsen6854]

Sorry, i'm not sure but can we "tap" a planewalker with relic of legend to make mana ?

[@hiver285]

No, it specifies Legendary Creature. So unless you have a Gideon in creature mode, you won't be tapping Planeswalkers with it.

[@kevsen6854]

@@hiver285 okay ty my friend 👌

[@hiver285]

@@kevsen6854 No problem. Good luck on your deck builds!

[@ChristopherSmithGPlus]

Yeah, that was a bit of a mistake. You *can* get there sort of with Honor-Worn Shaku, but it is colourless mana.

[@Scott_L_Jeffrey]

I made my Atraxa deck into an angel Tribal, didn't want to do the popular deck, and now I will swap her with the new one and the deck will not change

[@briannielson6903]

The best card I added to this deck is replicating ring. In fact, it’s one of my all time favorites.

[@dchavez62]

That was a fantastic video to cover the basics. However I would love to see zombie versions as they are mu favorite

[@Turn2Ugin]

Oh baby

[@OzzyJackal72]

I needed a second look.... I thought you were wearing an Ascot for a moment

[@deadpull7761]

+1 counter deck with physician tribal is hella fun.

[@aethershield4307]

Can we have some tech on the new myr commander next? Be it going big or wde :D

[@joshuaandreas4133]

holy praetor! i just today know you can advance search :o

[@teebee4699]

#1 of all time.... only cuz golos was banned

[@Anonymous-hh4js]

How about Saskia? Atraxa is already popular.

[@corvidcognition]

Dad joke proliferation at the end there Joey... well done

[@geotle]

"Atraxa tension" was a Matt-level dad joke.

[@IamJoshEast]

I’d love to see an oldie but a goldie…..Prossh.

[@brad94jones]

Does anyone know what happens if you give a creature with toxic infect? Ex: if you give tyrranax Rex infect with tainted strike and the opponent does not block do they get 4, 8, or 12 poison counters? 🤔

[@daydreamindaze]

12.

[@koda0418533218]

Can u update the decklists for the new set ?

[@ethancamelo8524]

can you do kharn the betrayer?

[@mikes3667]

I switched from Super-Jerks to Toxic/Infect. Hoping it can win some games!

[@emarmy00]

deff looking into infect!!

[@ignacioduran5070]

For an Atraxa infect can I use the same lands for the budget superfriends? Give or take some utility lands

[@ignacioduran5070]

Most of my budget will burn on the other deck pieces

[@kirkwright8954]

I imagine the budget land base should work well enough for any builds of an Atraxa deck. Just pay attention to your mana pips and make sure you’re representing them proportionally with your mana base.

[@AmetDj]

What would you remove to make space for "The Great Henge" and "Teferi's Protection"?

[@maxproulx24]

Ive ask the same question. No answer till now but, i have personally swap -1 master chief +1 the great henge -1 heroic intervention +1 teferi protection Great henge and master are the same thing but great do may much more For heroic vs teferi, i have look to swap a protection for another In fact heroic dosent protect your board from cyclonic rift and other bounce. And do nothing again exile all of a merciless eviction or a mass sacrifice effect. Teferi does it and protect you for a complet turn of the table. That my move but i dont know if is that Joey have in mind

[@AmetDj]

@@maxproulx24 thanks mate! That actually makes total sense 👌

[@maxproulx24]

With the new release you can add 2 new very nice card 1st cut the incubation druid and add a Kami of whispered hope 2nd add a Ozolith, the Shattered Spire. That card look really Nice for +1+1 on creature but also on artefact too and you can cut something like « lae’zel » who cost more for almost the same thing since you aint target yourself and play no PW so. Or you can cut « falco » if you dont love him and want to add more trigger of additional counter +1+1 Note that laezel add 1 more of any counter that Target a PW, a creature or ourself. But on our creature we only run +1+1 counter, except for falco.

[@AmetDj]

@@maxproulx24 great shout! I was in fact looking at the new set to see if there was something worthy. Thanks for the tips, will have a look ;)

[@Jptorrent004]

Infect POG

[@Wistbacka]

Nice video! Meanwhile I built my Atraxa all around the other keywords that are not proliferate, because that is not what ppl expect. I do full Voltron with evasion from single target removal, and also somewhat resistant boardwhipes too. Most importantly: doing it voltron, makes it much cheaper than going superfriends or infect.

[@CaptUvula]

Love a good Voltron deck and Atraxa is a juicy commander for that strat

[@Luminaire180]

Atraxa doesn't need her average upped. Even the worst Atraxa deck is the strongest deck in your play group.

[@draconic367]

I disagree. Ultimating planeswalkers is not the ultimate goal of a Planeswalker deck. It's more like tribal with planeswalkers. At least to me anyway.

[@jordancee6595]

If you have doubling season on the board, Jace is one of the PWs that can ultimate the same turn he's played. Don't like the cut but I'm commenting before watching the rest of the video

[@jaygriffiths100]

Tezzeret the Seeker can "tutor up" the Chain Veil or untap some Mana Rocks to help cast more Planeswalkers. Seems like an auto include but he is conspicuously absent from your Superfriends list.

[@Suhrvivor]

Upping the average? We need to tone it down, she's one of the most broken commanders.

[@jadegrace1312]

Cutting birds of paradise is very incorrect. That card is a big part of the reason to even play green.

[@jovismarshall]

THRUMMINGBIRD BAD! He says still playing Mikaeus, the Lunarch. Who has the same problem of beeing slow and if played for 2 dies imidiatly for the counter or needs to be more expencive to stay in play or only does it every other turn, the only upside is that Mikaeus offers another way of gain the initial counter but at such a down side it hurts. In my expirence odds are slim that every opponent has a fying or reach blocker. THRUMMINGBIRD GOOD! (also Grateful Apparition)

[@raymondweiss7393]

Here's a list of Atraxa players' favorite things! Music: "Good." Food: "Good." Weather: "Good."

[@ingolf82]

I'm sorry to tell you Joey, but Toxic =/= infect. in fact, it is massively inferior (Secret: that's why they did it), but I do get why you are doing it, this is a proliferate deck so proliferating them to death shouldn't be a problem. one funny combo is something that gives all attacking creatures deathtouch, like that black archetype creature and Fynn the fangbearer. those 2 with a massive board of evasive fliers should end games quickly. I'm thinking you take the Simic Edric deck which runs all fliers, throw those creatures in here with those 2 things and call it the day and Thrumming bird is useful in the infect version if you add the archetype and Fynn. if you add the blue archetype creature everything has flying. the green one gives trample, don't remember what the white one did.

[@EDHRECast]

This video was pretty dang clear that infect and toxic are two separate abilities, yo.

[@alto_cumulus]

worst

[@Ultrasoul3d]

This video was good until you help reinforce the community that budget commander is where we should be at. It's not okay to make people with more expensive cards feel outlawed in the community.

[@EDHRECast]

Huh? We never say people SHOULD play budget. This video had four decklists and only one of them was explicitly budgetized. We play high-cost decks all the time. Check your ears and take your attitude elsewhere.

[@rileypowell5354]

Atraxa is a bad card. literally the only thing that makes it a good commander is the colors in it.

[@TheRealLachlan]

brother. a scarf inside?

[@keetakitten]

We need 36 lands… alright imma head out