Dies to Removal

So I'm looking for a few ideas for my next deck. I've got Teysa and Ashling sleeved up, but I like having several different options. My play group is pretty small, and only one of them is really a threat on the board. His deck's tend to lock down the table and win in the most degenerate way he can set himself up to win. Usually by dropping creature threats that we couldn't deal with even if we could play through his counterspells. So his are the decks I'm playing to beat. Additionally, we don't go infinite with combos and we try not to over use stax effects or additional turns. Aside from that pretty much anything goes.

High on my list so far is Gaddock Teeg, and maybe Derevi, Empyrial Tactician. Cards like Krosan Grip, Linvala, Keeper of Silence, [card]Ivory Mask[/
card], Tajuru Preserver and Melira, Sylvok Outcast are all techs I know I want to run. But I'm still wide open to suggestion, especially for who to put in the command zone.

Sounds like Derevi would be extremely good against the counterspells/big creatures guy. Can't be countered and taps down the creatures! She's very powerful when built correctly.

Gaddock Teeg is good, my wife plays it, but she often has trouble sealing the deal. With little card draw and a bunch of non-hasty creatures, I've found that it can be tough to force that last bit of damage through.

Derevi's pretty great and is the General for the player that likes to have a way out of any situation.

Great colors for answers, easy to create synergy, and the Commander himself just does a ton of work.

I like Teeg's abilities a lot, but I know he'd draw hate immediately and not just from one person. So I'd be tasked with ramping to my win-con and protecting Teeg at the same time. Or waiting to cast Teeg and hoping "just one more round before I can stick him" isn't one round too many.

Derevi can't be countered?

Not easily. Using her activated ability puts her directly into play. You need a Stifle or a Trickbind to hit that.

Oh! I get it.

It has been my noticing that derevi tends to helm a lot of "toolbox" style decks, and she's good for it, at her very worst she's a 4cc chump blocker on demand, and that's not even trying to use her even moderately effectively.

As it happens, tool-boxing is how I've been narrowing down card choices in my head. I haven't picked specific tools yet though, I've just kinda dumped it out and set all the like tools aside for later consideration.

[deck]You Can't Touch Me
1 Gilded Light
1 Ivory Mask
1 Solitary Confinement
1 True Believer
1 Imperial Mask
1 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Spirit of the Hearth
1 Witchbane Orb[/deck]

Ivory Mask, [cards]Leyline of Sanctity[/cards] and Witchbane Orb seem good.

[deck]You Can't Make Me
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
1 Tajuru Preserver
[/deck]

Both are attached to bodies, so there's that. Sigarda is less squishy.

[deck]Don't Touch My Junk
1 Archetype of Endurance
1 Asceticism
1 Leonin Abunas
1 Oak Street Innkeeper
1 Privileged Position
1 Fountain Watch
1 Greater Auramancy
1 Sterling Grove
[/deck]

[card:
1iyjccoy]Asceticism[/card] is a gimme. I'm definitely interested in the Greater Auramancy + Privileged Position combo. Playing them at the same time, and early enough that they don't get disrupted, would be ideal. So ramp and tutor will be useful.

[deck]Leave Me Alone
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Gaea's Herald
1 Leyline of Lifeforce
1 Savage Summoning[/deck]

Making things stick isn't always a problem, but when it becomes one its a huge problem because someone is either rocking an Omniscience or a Prophet of Kruphix/Seedborn Muse and a million lands, plus mana doublers.

Obviously, not all of those cards are going in the deck.

I can say from experience that witchbane orb and ivory mask won't do what you think they will.

Okay. Why? Not that I don't trust your experience, just that I have to have reasons.

There aren't as many effects that directly target players as you would think. Lots of the things you would think it stops are actually "each opponent". It's only major contributions are stopping edicts and some discard effects.

You're right, a lot of the things I'm thinking it will stop are "everyone sac" effects.

Shifting gears to offense, I'm split between using Derevi's ability to keep the opponents tapped down, and using Derevi's ability to untap my lands to play more stuff. I feel like the latter could have more impact in a multiplayer environment. I'll need draw effects to take advantage of that. Lucky me I'm in Blue.

arcanis the omnipotent sits at the unique intersection of card draw and good target for untapping.

Also if you can swing it I've always wanted to see how phyrexian processor worked in commander, and combining it with derevi seems like a natural.

I think you could come up with a pretty strong and unique list if you used a bunch of the cards from my Riku list and (I think) a Jenara list that Khaos posted a long time ago.

That's just what I thought of when you explained your goals for the deck.

Prelim list based on ideas from those two lists, plus others I know I want to consider:

[deck]
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
1 Archaeomancer
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Duplicant
1 Eternal Witness
1 Sun Titan
1 Consecrated Sphinx
1 Avacyn, Angel of Hope
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Coiling Oracle
1 Farhaven Elf
1 Wood Elves
1 Restoration Angel
1 Rafiq of the Many
1 Mulldrifter
1 Harmonic Sliver
1 Acidic Slime
1 Sphinx of Uthuun
1 Reveillark
1 Karmic Guide
1 Fauna Shaman
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Void Stalker
1 Pestermite
1 Yavimaya Elder
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Spike Weaver
1 Prophet of Kruphix
1 Deadeye Navigator
1 Avenger of Zendikar
1 Craterhoof Behemoth
1 Terastodon
1 Genesis
1 Arcanis the Omnipotent
1 Seedborn Muse
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence[/deck]

[deck]Maybeboard
1 Fierce Empath
1 Ixidron
1 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Gilded Drake
1 Body
Double
1 Phantasmal Image
1 Stonecloaker
1 Ephara, God of the Polis
1 Karametra, God of Harvests
1 Master Biomancer
1 Prime Speaker Zegana
1 Fathom Mage
[/deck]