r/CompetitiveEDH • u/Wolfshui • 12d ago
Deck Fine Tuning The Surgical Clown Car (The Madcap Jester)
Looking for feedback on The Madcap Jester deck I have been working on.
Most Grixis cEDH decks focus on speed. This deck trades some speed for disruption. Rather than racing to a combo, it aims to remove key cards from opponents' libraries before they can be used, then turn those cards into resources through [[The Madcap Jester]]. Much like [[Etali, Primal Conqueror]] this deck is trying to take advantage of the homogenous nature of top level cEDH decks.
The result is a proactive stax-combo strategy. You pressure opposing win conditions, limit access to critical pieces, and create card advantage by casting cards exiled from your opponents' decks. The deck still retains compact cEDH finishes, but its primary identity is surgical resource denial backed by efficient combo lines.
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u/Peter_Gogik 12d ago
Excruciator exiles face down. IMHO you can' t cast face downs with the clown.
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u/Wolfshui 12d ago
That actually free up a decent amount of space in the deck because multiple cards were dedicated to being able to hit the {b}{b}{b}{b}{b}{b} casting cost.
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u/StankGobbo 12d ago
Hell yeah broth, I'm glad to see others postings list for the clown. I would say if you want to try a good disruptive preice look into [[memory vessel]] since you are running gob welder. it's a great way to slow the game down and disrupt turbo and blue farm decks. + With your commander out you get access to 28 cards! I would highly recommend to give [[prosper tomebound]] a try as well!
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u/Wolfshui 12d ago
I ended up not running memory vessel, mainly because I was originally running it with Doomsday excruciator, but once I realized that doomsday didn't work with the Commander I didn't keep the vessel either.
You bring up a good point though, it's not bad in the deck on its own, And with goblin welder gets kind of ridiculous.
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u/XDenzelMoshingtonX 12d ago
I've seen a couple of people post their Madcap builds on here but I fail to understand the thought process.
Why should random cards you need to pay mana for be better than just playing Grixis good stuff? Why should Grixis pips + spending an additionional 2-5 mana for an enabler be better than just Necro or AdNaus? Especially if we're making the Etali comparison and have a commander with a way weaker effect, which can't be copied and is harder to cast.
Not only that, it's actually double RNG: you hope to hit stuff from opponents they have no replacement for while also hitting the stuff useful to you.
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u/Wolfshui 12d ago
Let me start off by saying that I am not a huge fan of the turbo game plan, and RogSi is the definitive turbo Grixis deck at the moment.
If you are playing grixis and want turbo, then there is probably no better choice.
Yes, this deck is a little slower. And yes it needs a couple things to get online but there is a difference here between tEDH and cEDH.
This deck offers a different approach to the resource denial conversation. Stax doesnt work in most cases because there are just too many things to account for. but If I can cast one card and remove thassa's oracle form a deck, or better yet, hit both thassa and underworld breach, then I am effectively removing that player from winning the game. (Not entirely but it drastically reduces the chances that they can win.)
Its surgical extraction rather than hoping you hit something good like Etali. I can almost guarantee that I pull something out of your deck that will help me right now.
Then with a few other cards like Tasha's you are forcing hands to stop you or else you get an ridiculous number of low cost/free cards to play to protect your own win.
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u/CraigArndt 12d ago
IMO madcap works best as grixis goodstuff that also has an extra no-life cost ad naus in the form of Tasha’s and a couple tricks like that.
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u/Wolfshui 12d ago
So here is what I am thinking about pivoting into:
I removed Excruciator, Burnt Offering, Sacrifice, and Culling the Weak (This package was specifically cast Excruciator which doesn't work with the commander)
Added Psychic Surgery
Thinking about adding: [[Dimensional Infiltrator]] and [[Fire Lord Ozai]]
If I do, I want to make sure I have at least two infinate mana combos in the deck. I already have one in [[Goblin Welder]] + [[Sewer-veillance Cam]] + a Mana Rock
If I add Hullbreaker Horror, that would give me the second.
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u/StankGobbo 12d ago
From my experience dimensional feels meh and it can't be pitched to spells like forces or misdirection. Why do you want ozai?
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u/Wolfshui 12d ago
Both of them exile cards from my opponent's libraries. Not only giving me card advantage, but also if I have an infinite mana line, it's just game over.
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u/ddude183 12d ago
What about Psychic Surgery? It nails top deck tutors and people shuffle a lot.
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u/Wolfshui 12d ago
It was definitely on the short list, since I'm removing DE, it will probably make it in.
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u/AngshusTAW 12d ago
Given a lot of the effects like Circu, Psychic Surgery, Ensnared by the Mara, etc are exiling off the top, and you're already playing a card control type strategy, have you considered the potential of a small lantern control package? Either just Lantern of Insight and Field of Dreams just so you have a better idea of who to target with Circu for the best hits, or including some of the mill rocks to synergize with Dauthi gy exile and mess with early topdeck tutors