I'll Make a Dakkon Out of You [EDH]

[Oversoul]

I made a Dakkon Blackblade deck. It is OK.

1 Arcane Denial
1 Archaeomancer's Map
1 Arcum's Astrolabe
1 Ascendant Spirit
1 Blackblade Reforged
1 Blood on the Snow
1 Boreas Charger
1 Brainstorm
1 Counterspell
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Dakkon, Shadow Slayer
1 Damn
1 Dark Petition
1 Dead of Winter
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Dovin's Veto
1 Dreamscape Artist
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Ever After
1 Expedition Map
1 Fierce Guardianship
1 Force of Negation
1 Force of Will
1 Frost Augur
1 Generous Gift
1 Grave Titan
1 Icebreaker Kraken
1 Kami of False Hope
1 Land Tax
1 Mana Drain
1 Marit Lage's Slumber
1 Mother of Runes
1 Mox Diamond
1 On Thin Ice
1 Planar Birth
1 Rhystic Study
1 Scaretiller
1 Scroll Rack
1 Scrying Sheets
1 Seal of Cleansing
1 Search for Glory
1 Serra Ascendant
11 Snow-Covered Island
11 Snow-Covered Plains
11 Snow-Covered Swamp
1 Sol Ring
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Strip Mine
1 Sun Titan
1 Sunstone
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Swan Song
1 Sword of Hearth and Home
1 Sword of the Animist
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Teleportation Circle
1 Terminus
1 Thawing Glaciers
1 Time Wipe
1 Tithe
1 Tragic Arrogance
1 Twilight Prophet
1 Unburial Rites
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Wasteland
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Weathered Wayfarer
1 Zuran Orb

 

[Oversoul]

I haven't played with this deck very much and I want to prioritize getting some more games in with it before I have to scrap it for parts. This deck sets the stage for a message that might be a repeated theme with my EDH decks in 2022. And I don't feel like I did anything particularly wrong or that I need to change my approach just yet. I like the snow theme and I like most of these cards a lot. Unfortunately, I have the uncomfortable feeling that I didn't do Dakkon Blackblade justice, even though I don't think that's really true. In some ways, I went out of my way to make the deck built around the commander. It's unique, but pretty reasonable.

So what's the problem? Quite simply, the bar is higher than it was a few years ago, back when I did most of my "Legends legends" decks in the West Coast Commander League. This deck would have been of above average power level when lined up against my 2019 and 2020 EDH decks. Not by a lot, and certainly some of my concoctions were far deadlier. But when I think back to those decks, this list looks pretty good. Of course a lot has changed: most of my opponents are different people. But I'm also playing against a lot of newer players and against a lot of decks that constitute jank. The jank in 2022 is faster and stronger than the jank of 2018 or 2019.

I've built and played two other decks since I first ran with this one, and I'm running into the same issue with all three decks. I'm guessing that it will come up again with future decks. It's not that I mind losing so much or that I can't play at a higher power level. It's just that I used to be able to run a lot of suboptimal stuff and have fun with it, even if it didn't win. I still can to some extent, but I'm noticing that I'm just outraced and outgunned by the efficient, hypersynergistic options that are available these days, even to new players. Simple, potent engines and infinite combos are more prevalent than they used to be, at least in my games. So in hindsight, I've been bringing this deck to EDH nights, but I've been reluctant to put it on the table, because I've usually gotten the vibe that the power level would be too high for it. I'm not in a hurry to build more oppressive decks, so I suspect that this will keep happening. I need to work out how I'll adjust my deckbuilding...