Shilgengar, the Underrated New Commander | Magic: the Gathering

It's not an 8 mana combo commander. It's a self contained sacrifice engine that can wreak havoc on the board. Let's break it with blink!
These Modern Horizons 3 Commanders are just so good!
Deck List:
www.moxfield.com/decks/tvF3z6...
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Writers and Producers:
Nicplz
Sasha Jelten
Lead Deck Brewer:
Sasha Jelten
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Follow on all platforms:
linktr.ee/nicplz
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00:00 Intro
01:22 The Playstyle
05:19 The Creatures
15:29 Instants and Sorceries
19:00 The Artifacts
20:06 White Ramp Package / Mana Base
23:24 How To Pilot The Deck
#magicthegathering #modernhorizons3 #commander #mtgcommander #mtgedh

[@superg1036]

super interesting engine you've put together here, another sweet build! looks like a ton of fun to pilot with all kinds of interactions

[@nicplz]

Thank ya!

[@slightly_confused_angel]

Very cool play style you're going for! I'm looking into building this guy and this is my favorite version I've found so far. I'm really looking forward to trying him!

[@nicplz]

Awesome! I am glad we could help!

[@patrickchula]

When I first saw the art….i knew. I’m making this deck…no how many times I lie to myself.

[@nicplz]

I feel it. Have you built em yet??

[@wintrkvitravn2723]

Built a variation of this deck that includes Syr Konrad, Mirkwood Bats and Cruel Celebrant for some burn, and threw a few demons in so i could throw in Liliana's Contract for that fringe win con. Had to use a less powerful mana base for budget purposes but it came out to a solid power lvl 6... for casual play and, of course.. FLAVOR 😆

[@theoneneoky]

Ended up putting together this exact build because I wanted to try it out. And you are right, it will definitely test your knowledge of the stack and promote very strategic triggers. I have only played it a few times since putting it together, but I feel like it it’s missing out on a little bit of card advantage and missing out on some powerful wincons. Don’t get me wrong, it is SUPER fun and VERY interactive. I noticed time and time again that I had blink effects in hand with no real value in utilizing them. I’ll likely be making a few adjustments to add in some extra card advantage(through draw or mill(ripples of undeath from MH3 feels sweet)), and swapping out some of the other blink effects for some bomb angels and other fun ETB/LTB stuff. Thanks a bunch!

[@nicplz]

Thanks for sharing! Yes, this current build is not relying on any big nutty wincons. The deck wants to win with Attrition Warfare! lol I could see a couple big bombs being helpful is a POD that has fast decks. Let us know what end putting in!

[@pops91]

So fun little story, i actually am using Shilgengar on my shadowborn apostle deck. They synergize pretty good with him and can reanimate them again to bring more demons into play. My shadowborn apostle deck was heavily inspired by the battlebond lovers of ragna and krav, it is a demon angel deck with shadowborn apostles in the middle. Essentially how my deck works is by using shadowborn apostles to bring demons into play which in turn tutor angels that will bring back the shadowborn apostles (which are humans) to then tutor more demons. Its very fun deck and when i saw shilgengar i knew i had to add him in for flavor and theme. I am more than happy to share my list one day. P.S: Solemnity is a great include other than the obvious. Add phyrexian unlife and be immortal.

[@brunoottens3445]

great video! Actually pulled this Commander in my first prerelease box. Will probably have to build another commander deck today hahaha

[@nicplz]

How do you think you'll build it?!

[@zackkelley2940]

Could also run things such as Marionette Mater/ Apprentice, Disciple of the Vault/Agent of the Iron Throne to make it hurt when you inevitably sac all those blood token.

[@Timbuktu-qt2lj]

Cool brew, i'm gonna give it a shot next week.

[@nicplz]

Let me know what ya think!

[@jessesandburg]

Such a dope deck

[@handsomegdjack4497]

Super interesting love the blink and recursion effects I built this in a similar way I would love to get your input

[@zackkelley2940]

Conversely you could also run cards such as Hex Parasite, Power Conduit, Scholar of New Horizons, and Fain the Broker to remove and BENEFIT from the finality counters.

[@nicplz]

I like how you think, Zack!

[@NinjaJerky]

Some tech for my fellow Shilgengar enjoyers, Breathkeeper Seraph and Mirror Entity.

[@NinjaJerky]

Also thoughts on Guardian of Faith?

[@lilith_spohn]

Will it allow me to destroy the souls of my friends? Yes... Perfect

[@nicplz]

Destroying friend's souls is the cutest thing one could ever do.

[@dragade101]

@10:11, depends what meta you are in. If your opponents love to steal your creatures, it very much matters that you can flicker "owned" creatures than only flickering creatures you control.

[@contrakt666]

Im kinda confused on the working and use of Karmic Guide? Do we just use it for the recursion effect and sac it before the echo cost in the next upkeep? since if we mass reanimate with the commander, the ETB of karmic guide is no use to us anyway. so its only ever useful before that. so blinking it before that seems like waisting a blink effect.

[@nicplz]

Yeah that’s a good way to use it. Sac it before the echo cost for sure to get extra Blood Tokens. Karmic Guide is helpful when we’re layering creatures ETBs under other blink creatures. Once the finality counters are removed it can offer some extra flexibility, while sacing other creatures, and getting extra ETBs. Even an extra round of Angel of Serenity can be excellent at exiling 3 more opponent creatures. I hope that makes sense!

[@sashajelten329]

You're right that Karmic Guide's ETB is not useful when we mass reanimate. But it is a really strong ETB effect that can be really useful when we don't have Shilgengar's reanimation ability up and running. It also happens to be an angel. Since this deck is a blink deck, there are lots of tricks you can accomplish with or without Shilgengar. You can use the ETB sort of like a blink effect if you have a sacrifice outlet.

[@rainbowrapier872]

Looking over the decklist I'm liking a lot of what I'm seeing and having build my own shilgengar brew theres a few holes I think the deck should definitely patch for anyone looking to build it and have consistent games with it. First off the draw package is abysmal. with only 3 "dedicated draw" pieces you're more likely to play out your hands before turn 3 and be left with none of the pieces you need at all. Big recommendation in this regard is Black Market Connections, not only is it consistent draw, but the shapeshifters it makes are angels, synergise with tokens-matter cards AND its ramp that is paid for by the trickles of lifegain made incidentally off some of the other cards. Then looking at the ramp package, I think it's fine mostly my only big question mark is the urborg, cabal combo, imo in a two color deck with literally 2 ways to search it out and 7 swamps, you're gonna be dead drawing with cabal coffers more often than not regardless of if you've fetched 4 or more of your swamps. It seems the strength of the ramp package is largely based in land reanimation to capitalise on fetches which while interesting strikes me a bit slow for a deck with this much budget thrown into the landbase as well as a relatively high average cmc and a commander you're scared to drop before having 8 mana open if anyone has any removal up. In my experience shilgengar attracts a lot of "oh fuck that commander has a lot of text and a pretty scary big ability thats getting bombed. The reanimation package is nice in this regard but doesnt do much to stop any old path or swords, the decks only protection against this is instant blink effects of which there are....3.. in a deck with this little draw. I love him as a blink commander and a lot of the choice in this deck running what I'd hazard to call "oblivion ring combo"-esque removal with exile etb sac reaction and I think that's a really cool way to use the commander to synergise with the removal suite. but again that implies the commander is out without being blown up for a turn cycle. Thus ends my (too indepth for a youtube) comment critique of the build. Overall I think its a very interesting direction with a lot of the choices but the deck need more "veggies" to have any level of consistency i imagine. Now to not be all doom and gloom I've a couple fun recs that could make adding the veggies feel less sad. Seen some people mention Mirkwood bats and I definitely agree its an insane wincon in this deck especially if you lean into the token generation more. More in that line I love Marionette Apprentice for a smaller mv effect like mirkwood bats (also makes her own servo for sacking :D) Now for veggies, in draw the aforementioned, BMC is obviously great but some other great pieces I like are Sanctuary Warden for finality counter removal, draw and a fat butt angel for sacing, Pointed Discussion is a nice little draw spell that nets you a blood token for paying one extra into a night whisper. and finally the goated Battle Angels of Tyr is BUSTED here, you make two myriad tokens that can be saced after combat damage while drawing you, ramping you even catching up on life if you've taken some dings. For ramp suite, to feed blinkables, knight of the white orchid white all-star ofc, another odd little choice I like is Milikin, puts some cards in the yard over time, and also can be one little extra blood token if you need it (everyone forgets its a creature haha). This comment is already years too long than any youtube comment should be but I got REALLY invested in trying to build this guy in a billion different ways. I play on a relatively smaller budget than this one goes for and my deck definitely leans into the angels more with a hope for a mirkwood finisher but if anyone who gets this far is interested heres what I'm currently playing and I think it's fun. archidekt.com/decks/8026303/shilgengar_orders_seconds Definitely gonna throw in thalisse though for my deck now! (P.S for more yummy looping shenanigans, I dont dare run it but Priest of Gix seems nutty especially if you focus toward blink effects)

[@nicplz]

Thanks for the comment! Black Market Connections could totally be a card to add if you felt you wanted more card draw. But during our extensive play testing we didn't encounter any issues around card advantage. Abusing the ETB on a cards like Callous Bloodmage and Inspiring Overseer, or even the Scry on Charming Prince was keeping us in more than a solid place. As far as ramp package, did you have a chance to watch the section on the white ramp package we're running? This deck's devotion favors white. The white ramp package we have is outstanding and is very strong! Priest of Gix is a fun one in blink. But you're right, it can get out of control! Thanks again for sharing your thoughts and your decklist!

[@sashajelten329]

Hey @rainbowrapier872, I appreciate the thorough thoughts and interest in the deck, I didn't see this comment until just now. I'm going to try and address some of the concerns you brought up as to the deck building choices. 1. I think one of the key things you are overlooking in regards to the ability for the deck to find action, is how effective blood tokens are at digging deeper and putting the cards we want in the yard. In order for Shilgengar to be effective we want to be playing a very high creature count, so our slots for non-creature cards is fairly competitive. In general, a couple blood tokens will allow us to dig deeper and faster than Black Market Connections could. You're not wrong in concern about a low "draw effect" count, but since our commander can help us dig effectively (which turns into card advantage with all of the recursion we have), it was a conscious decision that worked well in the 5+ playtests we did before the video came out. There's nothing wrong with wanting to put more draw effects in, but I just want to warn against lowering the creature count much. 2. In this deck, Urborg/Coffers is not the primary land goal/strategy. Emeria is the greater priority to enable in most games. That being said, the cost of inclusion for Coffers is quite low with the amount of fetch lands and duals we have. We only need 3 swamps for the coffers to act like a normal land. With 18 of our lands either being swamps or being able to find swamps (in addition to the brought back effects multiplying the fetches and our non-land ramp/recursion cards), it is very rare for a Coffers to not at least break even if you're being mindful with your fetching, even without Urborg. In addition to that, Yavimaya and Urborg are so common in commander now, you frequently don't even have to think about it. The mon-white ramp package and be incredibly fast if you have any of your brought back effects, going from 4 to 7 lands or more in one turn is generally all you need. 3. The way you generally dodge path and swords is with your ability to reanimate creature based blink effects at instant speed. Or by sacrificing and reanimating in response. We also have Command Beacon with tons of ways to recur it to dodge commander tax incase there's something we aren't able to dodge (which is rare once we get set up). 4.As far as wincons go, I had a ton of different options that I considered, you could certainly go a more aristocrats style. I personally decided against it not only because we already had strong wincons, but also because I find that play pattern less fun (lots of pinging opponents here and there will quickly make you the primary target at the table). Vito and/or Angel beatdown has been plenty effective in the playtesting we’ve done. 5. Those are all sweet suggestions for cards to try. I personally don’t like adding creatures that won’t do much if they’re summoning sick since we’re blinking so much, but I could certainly see them being reasonable if someone wanted to try some different ideas. Thanks again for the thoughtful comment with lots of ideas. Hopefully some of my explanations make sense as to why the list is the way it is. As far as budget goes, there’s more than $500 in the mana base that can be budgetized down to $50 or less without that dramatic of a power shift. I’m glad you were able to get some stuff out of the video for your own brew, I’ll check it out :)

[@kylekopac5685]

​@@sashajelten329 not the original poster. But thank you for writing this up. I always enjoy reading people talking about there thought process for deck creation. It helps me a lot when building my own brews

[@sashajelten329]

@@kylekopac5685 Thanks for saying that man, I’m glad it was helpful :)

[@landenisalive7182]

Already made a tier 3 cedh deck with this dude he's very bad in cedh but it's silly so I like it.

[@nicplz]

I love that. This is one of those commanders that is probably best in the setting of high power casual. Feels like it's too slow for tier 1 cedh. BUT still fun either way. Tip of my hat that you built it! I'd love to see the list.

[@lukeschaming532]

Suggestion that I don't see in the list: Mirkwood Bats and Rosie Cotton When Rosie is out, blood tokens put counters on your angels, which turn into more blood tokens, which recurs more angels. If you've got the bats out too, you're just pinging everyone to death in a loop or two

[@nicplz]

I honestly think we need to do a video just on how many things get broken with Rosie. I love that it's also a Hobbit who isn't from one of the main Fellowship. haha

[@Shanatide]

I built shilgengar but it was way too strong for the pods I was playing in so I made it into Innistrad theme deck playing only cards from Innistrad or cards that depict Innistrad and it’s so much fun

[@nicplz]

Whoa that sounds super fun. What are your main win cons then??

[@Shanatide]

@@nicplz mainly just Angel beatdown with a bit of a life gain engine and worst case just hard cast Avacyn

[@alexanderibarra6386]

Gdi, I just built my WBG angel deck and now I want this guy too.

[@nicplz]

Nice. Modern Horizons 3 really coming with the hits here!

[@sashajelten329]

🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@bigmacmm5]

Shilgengar then Cavileno 🥰

[@mbeining11]

Thief of blood wouldn't see exile counters on mass reanimation? I thought reanimation, even tho everything comes in at same time, ETB layer would allow us to choose sequence of effects?

[@nicplz]

Then main thing here is that Thief of Blood has an “as it enters” effect which is a replacement effect rather than an ETB. 
"As (card) enters" effects need to be figured out before the card enters, meaning it's only looking at things before it enters, not after it enters. This same concept applies to clone effects, they enter "as" a copy, that's why they'll trigger any ETB they are cloning. If they didn't copy until they were already in play, then they would have already “Entered The Battlefield” by the time they became a copy.

 Hopefully this helps!

[@ricardoaguilar9790]

The power creep is insane

[@nicplz]

fav cards from the new set?

[@ricardoaguilar9790]

@@nicplzI'm all about the energy thing so the landfall energy counters Roil Cartographer but anyways this set is fire and definitely getting some packs

[@obadijahparks]

I like him with Rudolph.

[@ambrosebrown7989]

I know, It's random but you said the spell Another Round would remove your opponents creatures. How? It just targets creatures you control, I understand using it to get multiple blinks but it's creatures you control, and this deck doesn't seem to take control of creatures your opponents control. (your video is still awesome though, keep up the great content).

[@nicplz]

Nice call out. It's something we should have explained a little more in detail here. The removal of your opponent's creatures come from a card like Angel of Serenity. If you break the ETB/LTB triggers, with how you stack your triggers, you're able to exile 3 opponent creatures per round of blink. Fiend Hunter is another example but only with one creature per blink round. We break down that tech around 7:00 in. Also, something to note, is that Flickerwisp can help this cause if you're trying to swing for lethal! You can't break the card since there are no separate ETB/LTB. So they will return at the next end step. However, if there is no next send step for them... it won't matter! haha I hope this helps!

[@allmight6003]

Deck list is great, but where is the Solemnity?

[@nicplz]

Exactly! haha

[@michaelgeurts9405]

I was cool nice deck. Then saw the price. But without the landbase its probably even affordable.

[@nicplz]

Yeah, narrow down the mana base and it's still a strong and affordable deck.

[@michaelgeurts9405]

@@nicplz Yeah it looks indeed like it was still a good deck with normal mana. I saved it already. Thanks.

[@frankienieves8583]

People who play solemnity do be for freaks… sometimes 😐

[@zackkelley2940]

Laughs in Phyrexian Unlife.^^

[@nicplz]

hahahaha

[@fordesgol7947]

This thimbnail looks like you've become the demonlord himself!

[@nicplz]

YUH!