So yesterday I mosey on down to the Comic Book Shoppe for the Gauntlet and there's someone sitting there that I vaguely recognize, vaguely because he didn't have a goatee almost 20 years ago, but the voice starts stirring up old memories in the back of my head. Memories of the "Boeing 747" deck and so on...and then he goes "It's Dan, Dan MacDonald from the old Downtown Gamer's Club".
I'm obviously floored at this point so we start catching up on what's gone on the past...decade or so and then I hear he's been brought back into Magic through the Commander pre-cons and his group of friends and that he's heard of the Gauntlet event and that he'd like to try it out. This is obviously fantastic news, as new players joining the fray is always fun, and even moreso when it's a real old friend joining in. We look at his Oloro pre-con and discuss stuff and then he pulls out this little weapon of mass destruction, because what's scarier than a bunch of animated garden tools and household appliances coming over the hill, really? We laugh about it then lo and behold we're in the same pod in round one.
Now, far be it for me to bemoan the lack of focus fire and "Screw Pierre" philosophy at the magic tables of late, but guess who gets the first hit from that Stormscape Familiar? Yep...good ol' Charlie Brown. So I spent the entire game trying to manipulate Dan into helping me out and he does a great job of killing some of Kevin Belisle's soldier tokens (Kevin still kills me) and then wins the table with a drain life effect. Bear in mind Dan hadn't touched Magic cards in well over a decade, so I'm super happy for him, but at the same time...I feel shame for not giving Dan the absolute trouncing he deserved for that uncalled for Stormscape Familiar assault. Wait till next time Dan, when you don't have 80+ life points to buffer yourself. Just you wait...
Fetchlands return, huzzah!
So anyone that's been playing any Modern to Legacy format (or EDH) knows how valuable these lands are. For a cost of one life and a land slot, you get to find your shocklands or dual lands and smooth out your mana base. Unfortnately, scarcity had driven up prices on some of these to close to $90 in some cases and around $50 or so for some of the less used fetchlands. As philisophical troubadour and internet buzzhumour proponent Nick Sirman has stated on more than one occasion, making your mana "Rare" isn't the smartest of moves on the part of Wizards. You need multi-lands to make the game and your strategies more fun and though Wizards does need to sell packs to stay in business, it's just a grind on players that need to get their painlands/fetches/duals and thus to pounding others in fays. Hopefully we can be a little greedy here and have the Zendikar fetches come back in the coming year or so as well.
Planeswalkers as Commanders? Not the end of the world but...
So people have bene asking to have legendary permanents of whatever kind as Commanders forever. Not sure how I feel about a Mindslaver commander, or a Gaea's Cradle commander, but that's neither here nor there. The new Teferi has been making some waves, and his abilities are pretty silly (untapping any four permanents and using Planeswalker abilities as instants is pretty dumb) but the new Commander products will live or die by the other Planeswalker abilities. Green, White, Black, Red...also need to be doing things at instant speed, or at the very least need to be on par with Teferi's abilities or there will be little reason to buy them outside of potential reprints in these products.
Speaking of reprints, since the cat is out of the bag as far as Portal Three Kingdoms stuff, how about Temporal Mastery, Riding the Dilu Horse or Imperial Seal in the Commander precons? The new versions will only be around $20 or so but it will put more of them in circulation. What about it, Wizards?
,
Monday, 1 September 2014
Sunday, 15 June 2014
"You're doing it wrong."
Welcome back to the EDH in Ottawa blog. In my many forays across the untamed wilds of the Internet commenting and reading about EDH, the most striking divide so far has been the split between casual and competitive players. The first side has an almost zealous attachment to "The Spirit of EDH", but what exactly is this spirit? Let's examine things a bit further on that topic.
The Spirit of EDH
One of the most frustrating items being brought forth whenever competitive players discuss their EDH metas is that the other side constantly brings up the nebulous "Spirit of EDH" as if that were the guideline. A perusal of the front page of mtgcommander.net, however, shows us deck construction rules and, under Philosophy, the following statement (emphasis mine in the post):
"1. Commander is designed to promote social games of Magic.
"It is played in a variety of ways, depending on player preference, but a global vision ties together the global community to help them enjoy a different kind of magic. This vision is predicated on a social contract: a gentleman's agreement which goes beyond these rules to include a degree of interactivity between players.
Players should aim to interact both during the game and before it begins, discussing with other players what they expect/want from the game.
"House rules or "fair play" exceptions are always encouraged if they create more fun within the community."
Right. So the gist is that each group needs to decide what works for them and to try to make the game have some back and forth. This has been the case in nearly all games I've played in Ottawa since I have started the format. Even the competitive players (and they are many) rarely just vomit out a combo win before turn three to four. You have a chance to deal with their threat or combo as it comes down. Of course, there are always corner cases like Ad Nauseam and Shane Shuster's Memnarch deck, but even those can be somewhat disrupted.
Now, for a variety of reasons the Ottawa EDH is fairly competitive. Whether it's people migrating from Legacy or Vintage that want to use all their brokens and dual lands, or just others (such as myself) that fine-tune their decks each week to shore up matchups or just to close gaps, for whatever reason Ottawa has a thriving EDH tournament scene, with events in multiple stores drawing anywhere from 8-32 people. On top of that, we all have a variety of more casual decks to field if newer players enter our groups. These players are never pushed aside and help (including cards but also deckbuilding advice) is always provided to anyone that asks.
Now, the thorny issue that arises is this: how can one pinpoint a Spirit of EDH when players, groups and even card pools wildly diverge? The starting point is, of course, the banned list. That gives us a pretty good idea of what the Rules Committee (RC) doesn't want played. Super fast mana like the moxen, expensive cards like Library of Alexandria and other problem cards like Protean Hulk, Recurring Nightmare, Griselbrand and Yawgmoth's Bargain are all evident in their ability to warp games quickly and repetitively, ending the game more abruptly than a group might like. Of course, the same can be said for Tooth & Nail and Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, among other issues. So what's wrong and right when it comes to the format? Let's find out...
"Doing it wrong never felt so good."
If we apply a somewhat reductionist approach to EDH, it's a game. A game has a winner or loser, and some games allow for draws as well, Magic being one such game. If you're going to win you'll want to do it efficiently. If you're going to do it efficiently you'll need a commander that suits your needs. I personally just love smashing face with a side order of griefing, so Krenko, Thrun, Thalia, Turbo-fog Edric and Mogis are what I'm bringing to the table. I could make my Thalia deck Soldier or Human themed, but that would make it less of a threat. So in come staples like Sol Ring, Mana Crypt, Top and so on. Eventually the deck hits a nice curve when you're winning on turn four to six pretty consistently. Consistency is good as it stems from good deck-building and rewards you with wins. Wins mean store credit and respect from your peers. The former means better decks and the latter means people ask you questions about the format. And no, Fungusaur shouldn't be in your Ghave deck. Ever.
So what's "wrong" with any of this? Well, here's where our schools of thought diverge. The RC wants us to be playing "battlecruiser magic", where we throw large bombs out at later stages of the game. A portion of us here in Ottawa want to be playing drone magic or stealth bomber magic, where a target is acquired and analyzed then the proper tools are used to mercilessly obliterate said target, before moving to the next target.
Here's the bottom line: by playing with suboptimal cards and throttling your deck's ability, you're hurting yourself.
A big part of Magic is improving as a player. I'm not gonna point fingers or name names or be that guy but I know a dude that showed up to a Magic tournament at Carleton with a deck full of bats, rats, terrors and a Lord of the Pit. Dude got told by Ms. Serra Angelou and her friend Winter Orbius. Yeah, bad times. Thankfully he had friends and became a bad Commander player instead of a bad Extended and Standard player.
The long and short of it? For a game to grow it needs competition and it needs opponents. No one says you can't have your funky Tetsuo Umezawa deck but it's good to have a higher level deck that can compete and take on the best your metagame has to offer. Don't hold back because of some abstract or arbitrary moral or gaming code. Your opponent wants to win, you want to win. So win.
Unless you're Dan Lanthier. Stop being a steamroller for once? Just once? Geez.
In closing, here's some Issac Hayes. Just substitute "loving you" with "my EDH" and you'll get the idea.
If Loving You is Wrong, I Don't Wanna Be Right
EDH this week:
Gamebreakers 780 Baseline Road, 613-228-9554. 1 v 1 Thursday, 19 June $5 entry, 6:00 p.m. Start time.
Wizard's Tower 3350 Fallowfield Road, 613-843-0705 1 v 1 Saturday, 21 June $5 entry, 4:00 p.m. start time.
Carta Magica 1179 St. Laurent Blvd. 613-746-9099 2HG Saturday, 21 June $5 entry, 7:30 start time.
Comic Book Shoppe 228 Bank Street 613-594-3042 1 v 1 Sunday, 22 June $5 entry, Noon sharp start time.
The Spirit of EDH
One of the most frustrating items being brought forth whenever competitive players discuss their EDH metas is that the other side constantly brings up the nebulous "Spirit of EDH" as if that were the guideline. A perusal of the front page of mtgcommander.net, however, shows us deck construction rules and, under Philosophy, the following statement (emphasis mine in the post):
"1. Commander is designed to promote social games of Magic.
"It is played in a variety of ways, depending on player preference, but a global vision ties together the global community to help them enjoy a different kind of magic. This vision is predicated on a social contract: a gentleman's agreement which goes beyond these rules to include a degree of interactivity between players.
Players should aim to interact both during the game and before it begins, discussing with other players what they expect/want from the game.
"House rules or "fair play" exceptions are always encouraged if they create more fun within the community."
Right. So the gist is that each group needs to decide what works for them and to try to make the game have some back and forth. This has been the case in nearly all games I've played in Ottawa since I have started the format. Even the competitive players (and they are many) rarely just vomit out a combo win before turn three to four. You have a chance to deal with their threat or combo as it comes down. Of course, there are always corner cases like Ad Nauseam and Shane Shuster's Memnarch deck, but even those can be somewhat disrupted.
Now, for a variety of reasons the Ottawa EDH is fairly competitive. Whether it's people migrating from Legacy or Vintage that want to use all their brokens and dual lands, or just others (such as myself) that fine-tune their decks each week to shore up matchups or just to close gaps, for whatever reason Ottawa has a thriving EDH tournament scene, with events in multiple stores drawing anywhere from 8-32 people. On top of that, we all have a variety of more casual decks to field if newer players enter our groups. These players are never pushed aside and help (including cards but also deckbuilding advice) is always provided to anyone that asks.
Now, the thorny issue that arises is this: how can one pinpoint a Spirit of EDH when players, groups and even card pools wildly diverge? The starting point is, of course, the banned list. That gives us a pretty good idea of what the Rules Committee (RC) doesn't want played. Super fast mana like the moxen, expensive cards like Library of Alexandria and other problem cards like Protean Hulk, Recurring Nightmare, Griselbrand and Yawgmoth's Bargain are all evident in their ability to warp games quickly and repetitively, ending the game more abruptly than a group might like. Of course, the same can be said for Tooth & Nail and Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, among other issues. So what's wrong and right when it comes to the format? Let's find out...
"Doing it wrong never felt so good."
If we apply a somewhat reductionist approach to EDH, it's a game. A game has a winner or loser, and some games allow for draws as well, Magic being one such game. If you're going to win you'll want to do it efficiently. If you're going to do it efficiently you'll need a commander that suits your needs. I personally just love smashing face with a side order of griefing, so Krenko, Thrun, Thalia, Turbo-fog Edric and Mogis are what I'm bringing to the table. I could make my Thalia deck Soldier or Human themed, but that would make it less of a threat. So in come staples like Sol Ring, Mana Crypt, Top and so on. Eventually the deck hits a nice curve when you're winning on turn four to six pretty consistently. Consistency is good as it stems from good deck-building and rewards you with wins. Wins mean store credit and respect from your peers. The former means better decks and the latter means people ask you questions about the format. And no, Fungusaur shouldn't be in your Ghave deck. Ever.
So what's "wrong" with any of this? Well, here's where our schools of thought diverge. The RC wants us to be playing "battlecruiser magic", where we throw large bombs out at later stages of the game. A portion of us here in Ottawa want to be playing drone magic or stealth bomber magic, where a target is acquired and analyzed then the proper tools are used to mercilessly obliterate said target, before moving to the next target.
Here's the bottom line: by playing with suboptimal cards and throttling your deck's ability, you're hurting yourself.
A big part of Magic is improving as a player. I'm not gonna point fingers or name names or be that guy but I know a dude that showed up to a Magic tournament at Carleton with a deck full of bats, rats, terrors and a Lord of the Pit. Dude got told by Ms. Serra Angelou and her friend Winter Orbius. Yeah, bad times. Thankfully he had friends and became a bad Commander player instead of a bad Extended and Standard player.
The long and short of it? For a game to grow it needs competition and it needs opponents. No one says you can't have your funky Tetsuo Umezawa deck but it's good to have a higher level deck that can compete and take on the best your metagame has to offer. Don't hold back because of some abstract or arbitrary moral or gaming code. Your opponent wants to win, you want to win. So win.
Unless you're Dan Lanthier. Stop being a steamroller for once? Just once? Geez.
In closing, here's some Issac Hayes. Just substitute "loving you" with "my EDH" and you'll get the idea.
If Loving You is Wrong, I Don't Wanna Be Right
EDH this week:
Gamebreakers 780 Baseline Road, 613-228-9554. 1 v 1 Thursday, 19 June $5 entry, 6:00 p.m. Start time.
Wizard's Tower 3350 Fallowfield Road, 613-843-0705 1 v 1 Saturday, 21 June $5 entry, 4:00 p.m. start time.
Carta Magica 1179 St. Laurent Blvd. 613-746-9099 2HG Saturday, 21 June $5 entry, 7:30 start time.
Comic Book Shoppe 228 Bank Street 613-594-3042 1 v 1 Sunday, 22 June $5 entry, Noon sharp start time.
Tuesday, 3 June 2014
Year II Invitational and Conspiracy thoughts.
Ever since Gilles Labelle and Vincent Laplante graciously handed over the reins of Sunday events to Ryan Carnegie and Stéphane Bisson, people have been clamoring to know whether there would be such an event at the end of the year. While Ryan has been fairly cagey on the topic (as a veteran Grixis player should and would be), the general impression has been that it’s being looked at, that there’s going to be something that might happen and that...they need to work stuff out first.
From this player’s point of view, a Year II Invitational
needs to happen for several reasons. First, it creates a buzz around the
community and pushes players to excel over an extended period. Second, it’s
just a damned cool event overall and it’s nice to be surrounded by your peers
and to see what absurd piles of 100-card magic they can put together. Last of
all, it helps grow the game of Commander. If you know there’s going to be a
higher strata of performance to reach, you’ll want to be there. If you want to
be there, you’ll make an effort to show up. If you’ll make an effort to show
up, you’ll improve. It’s just gravy for everyone you play EDH with on a regular
basis if you play well, since you’ll bring up the level of your peers throughout
the area.
There was a lot of worry early on that people might be
excluded and that people had no idea about the event, but those
concerns would be allayed fairly early on. People more or less know an event
is being tossed around, so there should not be any worry about missed
opportunities. The categories are all fairly decent too: top Gauntlet
performer, players of the month, best sportsmanship and then we get down to the
more debateable categories. Do you reward someone that plays a different deck
every week or do you prefer someone that dedicates themselves to one cause?
Personally, as someone that likes to pimp out one or two decks, I’ll show up
for Gauntlet with either Mogis, God of Slaughter or Thrun, the Last Troll.
Either deck can just savagely facehug an opponent and hey, who doesn’t like
gigantic, uncounterable, hexproof beaters? Oh yeah, blue. Oh well, as stated so
eloquently in Some Like It Hot: “Nobody’s
perfect!”
So where am I going with this? How about a player’s choice
vote for one of the spots? Have everyone submit a vote for a player they feel
exemplifies the kind of player they enjoy playing against or that brings it on
the most consistent basis, or that they just think of when Commander comes up.
Have them send a vote to Ryan toward the end of the year and votes get
tabulated, a player gets chosen by their fellow gamers, magic! (Pun intended,
of course.) I realize there are disadvantages to this method: more frequent CBS
attendees will likely be getting more votes; gregarious or popular players can
sway the process as well. Still, it would be a nice way to reward that steady
attendee, or that guy/gal you just like playing with or whose decks you just
detest.
How about it Ryan and company?
So everyone is abuzz about the funky new draft-focused set
coming out in a few days. Cards that focus on the cards you’re drafting, when
you draft them, how you draft them. Confusing but very fun stuff.
Interestingly, the magic gurus have also taken the
opportunity to release a bunch of staples that will please Commander and Legacy
players and that might lower the prices somehow on somesuch cards (Hello, foil
Brainstorms!) as well. We all know the Reserved List and why it happened. Chronicles threw a massive wrench into
the collectibles aspect of the game. Popular
cards and hard-to-find gems like Nicol Bolas or City of Brass were now flooding
the market and prices were dropping like stones. So Wizards made sure our old
cards could keep their values by insuring that the dual lands, moxen and a
whole load of older cards would never
see reprint status, or at least not as functionally
identical reprints. So Time Walk never gets reprinted, but Time Warp
variants are fine. Except that there are still a ton of good old cards that
aren’t covered by the Reserved List. Cards from Saga block for example. Or from
Onslaught block. Or from...well, any set that might have some heavily played
rares or even lower rarity cards you might want or need. I know I'm excited at the possibility of opening a Stifle, a Pernicious Deed or a foil Altar of Dementia!
So where does Wizards go from here? Well, they can have
stuff come back with Modern Masters (on a limited print run) or they can come
out with new box sets like the From the Vault series, or they can make a new
Conspiracy-styled set. Hey, they have to reprint those fetchlands eventually,
don’t they?
Sunday, 2 March 2014
Duel Commander Cometh...
Welcome back to the EDH in Ottawa blog. This week we have an annoucement about the Duel Commander format and a short look at what makes the format different, and perhaps just as enjoyable as regular 1 v 1.
Duel Commander Tournaments
Starting Saturday, March 29 2014 at 4 p.m. (please register early!) and every last Saturday of the month, Wizard's Tower Barrhaven will be hosing Duel Commander events. Entry fee is $5 as usual and store credit, in the form of coins, will be given to the top participants.
Why Duel Commander and why now?
There are a lot of people that enjoy Commander but there's always an undercurrent of dissatisfaction with the standard banned list (SBL) as provided on www.mtgcommander.net. Some people don't like the fast mana available, others like the fast mana but not super accelerants like Mana Crypt. Others think Serra Ascendant is too strong an early play. There's also another section of the playerbase that wants to try Duel Commander but there has been limited traction so far.
Having a monthly event will allow people to get their feet wet. It will likely be a culture shock to pull all that fast mana out of your deck, and some other rules make the format somewhat more viable for aggro strategies, but we're hoping to have good turnouts for these. The more people show, the better the competition gets. The better the competition gets, the better you get. It's win-win.
Alright, so Duel Commander...what's the deal?
I recommend that all players head to www.duelcommander.com for a full read of the banned list and rules. I'll point out some of the bigger changes here though, including some cards that are surprisingly left roaming free in the Magic multiverse.
Starting Life Total:
Each player's starting life total is set to 30. 20 life is probably too little even for a highlander format, and 40 life makes it harder for aggro to push through the various Wrath effects, not to mention any potential lifegain which slows down red zone assaults even more. It's possible to whittle down your opponent but 5-10 points early, lose your forces then mount some sort of attack afterward.
Tuck you? I think not!
One element leading to deck sameness is most blue decks pack Hinder, Spell Crumple and other tuck effects to store the commander away. While this is a legit strategy, it hurts aggressive strategies that want to get in for 21. Commanders are always avaiable as long as you have the mana, which is harder than it seems with the lack of super mana rocks. Tuck spells are still quite good to get rid of obnoxious threats, but they lose their format-altering effect on commanders.
The Banned List is focused on 1 v 1 play.
Rather than elaborate, let me list the current Banned List for Duel Commander:
Ancestral Recall
Ancient Tomb
Balance
Back to Basics
Black Lotus
Channel
Crucible of Worlds
Gifts Ungiven
Grindstone
Hermit Druid
Humility
Imperial Seal
Karakas
Library of Alexandria
Loyal Retainers
Mana Crypt
Mana Drain
Mana Vault
Mind Twist
Mishra's Workshop
Mox Emerald
Mox Jet
Mox Pearl
Mox Ruby
Mox Sapphire
Natural Order
Necropotence
Oath of Druids
Protean Hulk
Sensei's Divining top
Serra Ascendant
Shahrazad
Sol Ring
Strip Mine
The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
Time Vault
Time Walk
Tinker
Tolarian Academy
Vampiric Tutor
Winter Orb
Yawgmoth's Bargain
Banned as Commanders:
Braids, Cabal Minion
Derevi, Empyrial Tactician
Edric, Spymaster of Trest
Erayo, Soratami Ascendant
Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
Zur the Enchanter
Wow, that's a lot of stuff banned. But what about this card?
You can use that! You can also use Primeval Titan, Recurring Nightmare, Sundering Titan, Metalworker, Upheaval ( :p ) and a host of other really annoying cards that will KILL YOUR OPPONENT'S LIFE TOTAL or their will to live, which makes their life total irrelevant!
The entire goal of the format is that you can do broken silly things, just not before turn five. That lets your opponent get on the board, perhaps form a defensive base and counter your strategies. Metalworker is pretty obnoxious, but it's also a 1/2. If you want to protect it it needs a Force of Will or countermagic or Lightning Greaves, more mana or more time. Bear in mind that since this is a 1 v 1 format you can expect decks to pack a ton of creature removal. It's a little akin to Legacy that way (says the guy that's played three games of Legacy...) where you can get your quick edge but your opponent can fight back and so on.
So, what are some of the best decks in the format? Going by this thread. tracking Duel Commander tournament results, Geist is always making a good showing, Oloro has gained some traction but non-blue decks like Marath, Thalia, Maelstrom Wanderer, Prossh are all biting at the heels of the last winners. The committee is also pretty quick to react to overwhelming strategies, but they tend to take a cautious route before banning commanders outright. They banned Vanishing to harm Zur but it wasn't enough and Zur kept its strength so it finally got the axe.
I'm looking forward to at least trying the format in a few weeks. Plesae show your support (I know you're out there...) if you are interested in Duel Commander. We can't run these events without you!
Duel Commander Tournaments
Starting Saturday, March 29 2014 at 4 p.m. (please register early!) and every last Saturday of the month, Wizard's Tower Barrhaven will be hosing Duel Commander events. Entry fee is $5 as usual and store credit, in the form of coins, will be given to the top participants.
Why Duel Commander and why now?
There are a lot of people that enjoy Commander but there's always an undercurrent of dissatisfaction with the standard banned list (SBL) as provided on www.mtgcommander.net. Some people don't like the fast mana available, others like the fast mana but not super accelerants like Mana Crypt. Others think Serra Ascendant is too strong an early play. There's also another section of the playerbase that wants to try Duel Commander but there has been limited traction so far.
Having a monthly event will allow people to get their feet wet. It will likely be a culture shock to pull all that fast mana out of your deck, and some other rules make the format somewhat more viable for aggro strategies, but we're hoping to have good turnouts for these. The more people show, the better the competition gets. The better the competition gets, the better you get. It's win-win.
Alright, so Duel Commander...what's the deal?
I recommend that all players head to www.duelcommander.com for a full read of the banned list and rules. I'll point out some of the bigger changes here though, including some cards that are surprisingly left roaming free in the Magic multiverse.
Starting Life Total:
Each player's starting life total is set to 30. 20 life is probably too little even for a highlander format, and 40 life makes it harder for aggro to push through the various Wrath effects, not to mention any potential lifegain which slows down red zone assaults even more. It's possible to whittle down your opponent but 5-10 points early, lose your forces then mount some sort of attack afterward.
Tuck you? I think not!
One element leading to deck sameness is most blue decks pack Hinder, Spell Crumple and other tuck effects to store the commander away. While this is a legit strategy, it hurts aggressive strategies that want to get in for 21. Commanders are always avaiable as long as you have the mana, which is harder than it seems with the lack of super mana rocks. Tuck spells are still quite good to get rid of obnoxious threats, but they lose their format-altering effect on commanders.
The Banned List is focused on 1 v 1 play.
Rather than elaborate, let me list the current Banned List for Duel Commander:
Ancestral Recall
Ancient Tomb
Balance
Back to Basics
Black Lotus
Channel
Crucible of Worlds
Gifts Ungiven
Grindstone
Hermit Druid
Humility
Imperial Seal
Karakas
Library of Alexandria
Loyal Retainers
Mana Crypt
Mana Drain
Mana Vault
Mind Twist
Mishra's Workshop
Mox Emerald
Mox Jet
Mox Pearl
Mox Ruby
Mox Sapphire
Natural Order
Necropotence
Oath of Druids
Protean Hulk
Sensei's Divining top
Serra Ascendant
Shahrazad
Sol Ring
Strip Mine
The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
Time Vault
Time Walk
Tinker
Tolarian Academy
Vampiric Tutor
Winter Orb
Yawgmoth's Bargain
Banned as Commanders:
Braids, Cabal Minion
Derevi, Empyrial Tactician
Edric, Spymaster of Trest
Erayo, Soratami Ascendant
Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
Zur the Enchanter
Wow, that's a lot of stuff banned. But what about this card?
You can use that! You can also use Primeval Titan, Recurring Nightmare, Sundering Titan, Metalworker, Upheaval ( :p ) and a host of other really annoying cards that will KILL YOUR OPPONENT'S LIFE TOTAL or their will to live, which makes their life total irrelevant!
The entire goal of the format is that you can do broken silly things, just not before turn five. That lets your opponent get on the board, perhaps form a defensive base and counter your strategies. Metalworker is pretty obnoxious, but it's also a 1/2. If you want to protect it it needs a Force of Will or countermagic or Lightning Greaves, more mana or more time. Bear in mind that since this is a 1 v 1 format you can expect decks to pack a ton of creature removal. It's a little akin to Legacy that way (says the guy that's played three games of Legacy...) where you can get your quick edge but your opponent can fight back and so on.
So, what are some of the best decks in the format? Going by this thread. tracking Duel Commander tournament results, Geist is always making a good showing, Oloro has gained some traction but non-blue decks like Marath, Thalia, Maelstrom Wanderer, Prossh are all biting at the heels of the last winners. The committee is also pretty quick to react to overwhelming strategies, but they tend to take a cautious route before banning commanders outright. They banned Vanishing to harm Zur but it wasn't enough and Zur kept its strength so it finally got the axe.
I'm looking forward to at least trying the format in a few weeks. Plesae show your support (I know you're out there...) if you are interested in Duel Commander. We can't run these events without you!
Monday, 3 February 2014
Bannings, Command Tax Tweak and Invitational Success!
Welcome back to the EDH in Ottawa blog after a much too prolonged absence. 2013 was a great year for the format, with several upheavals in the release of new Commander product and some game-altering (some might say format-warping) cards, chief culprit among them Derevi, Empyrial Tactician. Ottawa also had its first EDH Invitational, graciously hosted by Gilles Labelle, Vincent Laplante and the Comic Book Shoppe.
Sylvan Primordial Banned.
Let's start with the most recent move, the banning of Sylvan Primordial in Commander.
While I was fully expecting Deadeye Navigator and possibly Tooth & Nail to hit the banned list, SyPrime had been getting a ton of hate and generating enough animosity over the past while that the EDH had enough. As they said, if it had only killed a permanent or only ramped or had an option to destroy permanents it would have survived, but it did too much, too early and there had been a mounting uproar over it for the past year or so. Goodbye Sylvan Primordial, say hi to Primeval Titan in the dustbin of history.
EDH Invitational
Gilles Labelle, who should probably be just named the Patron Saint of EDH at this point for his tireless organizing and playing, was gracious enough to set up an Invitational event for the top placing players at his events and much fun and destruction was had. Dan Lanthier crushed dreams and annihilated hopes with his Captain Sisay build and took home a snazzy looking katana. Sword of a nice prize if you ask me...Other prizes ranged from a Star Wars stormtropper jacket to a 100% marble chess set, Ascension the game, a framed Dr. Who portrait with all the doctores and a full-size talking Ted doll. Here's our winner with his new toy. As the French would say: "Temps de Jitte les gants..."
Commander Tax Tweak
There's been a fair amount of spitballing on the EDH forums about a potential alternative to the current Commander tax. At the moment, if your commander dies you pay its CMC + 2 colorless for each time it's been placed in the command zone. While this is fairly easy to handle, the issue (if it is an issue at all...) is that the abundance of mana rocks and ramp in the format obviate the purpose of the tax, which is to put somewhat of a throttle on Commander availability and have it available, presumably, occasionally rather than permanently.
So here's the rules text. I'd very much enjoy some data from you on the topic. If you get around to it, try a few games with this and PM me commanders, times removed and impact of the delay on your game.
So, the proposal:
"While the commander is in the command zone with no time counters on it, it may be cast. At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a time counter from your commander. If a commander would be put into a graveyard or exile, its controller may put it in the command zone with X time counters on it, where X is the number of times it has been cast from the command zone."
Reaction has been mixed so far. We tested it twice at Wizard's Tower and while Sydri had four time counters on her at one point, the first death is inconsequential. After four it got a little dicey, but still manageable due to other threats in my library. Bear in mind that under this scenario, the commander is always played at its original cost. Also note that you can't use Clockspinning or cards that remove counters since it's not a spell or permanent.
What does this do in real life? If you're piloting Vorel and it dies once, you put it in the command zone with a time counter. At the beginning of your upkeep, you remove the time counter and can play it as normal. The second time it gets two time counters and so on. While there are valid concerns that you could be locked out of your commander, it becomes a question of giving it hexproof or shroud or protecting it by other means. Basically, with an increased awareness of your commander's availability you may be more likely to go "all in" or play something with Hexproof or other innate protection.
That's all for this week. Next week we take a look at Born of the Gods and its impact on the format.
Until then, may your never have to mull to three to start a match.
EDH in Ottawa this week:
Comic Book Shoppe - 232 Bank Street (613) 593-3042: Sunday, February 9. 1 v 1 event, $5 entry. Signups at 11:00 to 11:45. Store credit prizes.
Wizard's Tower - 3350 Fallowfield Road (613) 843-0705: Saturday, February 8. 1 v 1 event, $5 entry. Signups at 3:45 - 4:00 p.m. Store credit prizes.
Algonquin College - 1385 Woodroffe Avenue, Student Commons: Wednesdnay, February 5. 1 v 1 event, $5 entry. Signups 5:00-5:30.
Sylvan Primordial Banned.
Let's start with the most recent move, the banning of Sylvan Primordial in Commander.
While I was fully expecting Deadeye Navigator and possibly Tooth & Nail to hit the banned list, SyPrime had been getting a ton of hate and generating enough animosity over the past while that the EDH had enough. As they said, if it had only killed a permanent or only ramped or had an option to destroy permanents it would have survived, but it did too much, too early and there had been a mounting uproar over it for the past year or so. Goodbye Sylvan Primordial, say hi to Primeval Titan in the dustbin of history.
EDH Invitational
Gilles Labelle, who should probably be just named the Patron Saint of EDH at this point for his tireless organizing and playing, was gracious enough to set up an Invitational event for the top placing players at his events and much fun and destruction was had. Dan Lanthier crushed dreams and annihilated hopes with his Captain Sisay build and took home a snazzy looking katana. Sword of a nice prize if you ask me...Other prizes ranged from a Star Wars stormtropper jacket to a 100% marble chess set, Ascension the game, a framed Dr. Who portrait with all the doctores and a full-size talking Ted doll. Here's our winner with his new toy. As the French would say: "Temps de Jitte les gants..."
Commander Tax Tweak
There's been a fair amount of spitballing on the EDH forums about a potential alternative to the current Commander tax. At the moment, if your commander dies you pay its CMC + 2 colorless for each time it's been placed in the command zone. While this is fairly easy to handle, the issue (if it is an issue at all...) is that the abundance of mana rocks and ramp in the format obviate the purpose of the tax, which is to put somewhat of a throttle on Commander availability and have it available, presumably, occasionally rather than permanently.
So here's the rules text. I'd very much enjoy some data from you on the topic. If you get around to it, try a few games with this and PM me commanders, times removed and impact of the delay on your game.
So, the proposal:
"While the commander is in the command zone with no time counters on it, it may be cast. At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a time counter from your commander. If a commander would be put into a graveyard or exile, its controller may put it in the command zone with X time counters on it, where X is the number of times it has been cast from the command zone."
Reaction has been mixed so far. We tested it twice at Wizard's Tower and while Sydri had four time counters on her at one point, the first death is inconsequential. After four it got a little dicey, but still manageable due to other threats in my library. Bear in mind that under this scenario, the commander is always played at its original cost. Also note that you can't use Clockspinning or cards that remove counters since it's not a spell or permanent.
What does this do in real life? If you're piloting Vorel and it dies once, you put it in the command zone with a time counter. At the beginning of your upkeep, you remove the time counter and can play it as normal. The second time it gets two time counters and so on. While there are valid concerns that you could be locked out of your commander, it becomes a question of giving it hexproof or shroud or protecting it by other means. Basically, with an increased awareness of your commander's availability you may be more likely to go "all in" or play something with Hexproof or other innate protection.
That's all for this week. Next week we take a look at Born of the Gods and its impact on the format.
Until then, may your never have to mull to three to start a match.
EDH in Ottawa this week:
Comic Book Shoppe - 232 Bank Street (613) 593-3042: Sunday, February 9. 1 v 1 event, $5 entry. Signups at 11:00 to 11:45. Store credit prizes.
Wizard's Tower - 3350 Fallowfield Road (613) 843-0705: Saturday, February 8. 1 v 1 event, $5 entry. Signups at 3:45 - 4:00 p.m. Store credit prizes.
Algonquin College - 1385 Woodroffe Avenue, Student Commons: Wednesdnay, February 5. 1 v 1 event, $5 entry. Signups 5:00-5:30.
Monday, 25 November 2013
Exclusive: Commanders write to Santa!
Imagine my surprise when I was walking down Elgin street one night and found an empty mailbag. Being an upstanding, honest and responsible citizen, my first inclination was of course to head to the post office and drop it off. But then, a biting curiosity took hold of me and I opened said bag.
What did I find but a bunch of letters to Santa Claus, from some of the more popular commanders in the format?
Let's take a look inside the mailbag and see what we can learn.
Dear Santa, my Commander needs...
Azami, Lady of Scrolls: "It's not much fun being a wizard without an Academy to attend..."
Azusa, Lost but Seeking: "Fastbond isn't really that much better than Exploration is it? With 40 life and three other players, I'm not sure it's even playable. Can we give it a test unban please?"
Captain Sisay: "I really wish the rest of the Weatherlight crew outside Karn and Rofellos were, you know, useful?"
Damia, Siege of Stone: "To become One with Nothing for the rest of the game."
Derevi, Empyrial Tactician: "Dear Santa, I really wish someone would get rid of all these needles sticking out around the house. They're stopping me from spreading my wings."
Edric, Spymater of Trest: "A better spy network. Why is everyone directing their frustrations at me?"
Karador, Ghost Chieftain: "A Morality Shift for the late game, and perhaps being reunited with Protean Hulk or Griselbrand?"
Maelstrom Wanderer: "What I'd really like is a friend."
Memnarch: "1UU: Target Santa becomes an artifact. 3U: Gain control of target Santa. You make toys only for me now, elf."
Omnath, Locus of Mana: "I'd love to focus my energies into a Doubling Cube for something more constructive, like world domination."
Prossh, Skyraider of Kher: "A short term alliance with Purphoros, God of the Forge. I bring friends and you bring the pain."
Rafiq of the Many: "Bant Commander seeks creature companions willing to work alone. Infectious personalities welcome."
Riku of Two Reflections: "Reuniting with Primeval Titan would be great, capturing Jingzhou before the next event even better."
Ruhan of the Fomori: "A distributor for my new hit single: 'We are Fomori, I've got all my bounce spells with me.' "
Sen Triplets: "I don't need anything really, I'll just use whatever you keep lying around."
Sliver Queen: "That all the servant races realize that I am, indeed, imbued with Omniscience."
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben: "Some enchanted weapons please. It's nigh impossible to get them here due to extortive duties on items."
Thraximundar: "An audience of one."
Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter: "Ask not what Vish Kal can do for you, but what you can do for Vish Kal. *Sacrifices entire kingdoms, burps slightly.*"
Zur the Enchanter: "I'd really like Aggravated Assault as a blue aura, with a blue or white activated ability. Or a horsemanship aura maybe. Wizards riding horses is really cool!"
Other Items of EDH Interest:
Just a small reminder that there is no Commander event at CBS Sunday of this week, as GP Toronto is going on. It resumes next week with a 1 v 1 event and six spots open for the Invitational. Get playing!
Wizard's Tower is hosting 1 v 1 events starting at 4 p.m. every Saturday night. It's a more casual environment so give it a try, entry $5 and prize is Wizard's Tower coins (store credit).
Not really tied to Commander, but December 7th there will be the annual CHEO event over at Wizard's Tower. It's for a fantastic cause and there will be some cool stuff for auction if you want rarities or alters. It all ends up helping a great plce so there we go!
What did I find but a bunch of letters to Santa Claus, from some of the more popular commanders in the format?
Let's take a look inside the mailbag and see what we can learn.
Dear Santa, my Commander needs...
Azami, Lady of Scrolls: "It's not much fun being a wizard without an Academy to attend..."
Azusa, Lost but Seeking: "Fastbond isn't really that much better than Exploration is it? With 40 life and three other players, I'm not sure it's even playable. Can we give it a test unban please?"
Captain Sisay: "I really wish the rest of the Weatherlight crew outside Karn and Rofellos were, you know, useful?"
Damia, Siege of Stone: "To become One with Nothing for the rest of the game."
Derevi, Empyrial Tactician: "Dear Santa, I really wish someone would get rid of all these needles sticking out around the house. They're stopping me from spreading my wings."
Edric, Spymater of Trest: "A better spy network. Why is everyone directing their frustrations at me?"
Karador, Ghost Chieftain: "A Morality Shift for the late game, and perhaps being reunited with Protean Hulk or Griselbrand?"
Maelstrom Wanderer: "What I'd really like is a friend."
Memnarch: "1UU: Target Santa becomes an artifact. 3U: Gain control of target Santa. You make toys only for me now, elf."
Omnath, Locus of Mana: "I'd love to focus my energies into a Doubling Cube for something more constructive, like world domination."
Prossh, Skyraider of Kher: "A short term alliance with Purphoros, God of the Forge. I bring friends and you bring the pain."
Rafiq of the Many: "Bant Commander seeks creature companions willing to work alone. Infectious personalities welcome."
Riku of Two Reflections: "Reuniting with Primeval Titan would be great, capturing Jingzhou before the next event even better."
Ruhan of the Fomori: "A distributor for my new hit single: 'We are Fomori, I've got all my bounce spells with me.' "
Sen Triplets: "I don't need anything really, I'll just use whatever you keep lying around."
Sliver Queen: "That all the servant races realize that I am, indeed, imbued with Omniscience."
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben: "Some enchanted weapons please. It's nigh impossible to get them here due to extortive duties on items."
Thraximundar: "An audience of one."
Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter: "Ask not what Vish Kal can do for you, but what you can do for Vish Kal. *Sacrifices entire kingdoms, burps slightly.*"
Zur the Enchanter: "I'd really like Aggravated Assault as a blue aura, with a blue or white activated ability. Or a horsemanship aura maybe. Wizards riding horses is really cool!"
Other Items of EDH Interest:
Just a small reminder that there is no Commander event at CBS Sunday of this week, as GP Toronto is going on. It resumes next week with a 1 v 1 event and six spots open for the Invitational. Get playing!
Wizard's Tower is hosting 1 v 1 events starting at 4 p.m. every Saturday night. It's a more casual environment so give it a try, entry $5 and prize is Wizard's Tower coins (store credit).
Not really tied to Commander, but December 7th there will be the annual CHEO event over at Wizard's Tower. It's for a fantastic cause and there will be some cool stuff for auction if you want rarities or alters. It all ends up helping a great plce so there we go!
Monday, 11 November 2013
The importance of paying taxes, Sleeper Commander 2013 picks.
Welcome back to the EDH in Ottawa blog after a somewhat prolonged absence.
This week we'll look at why you should be looking at "tax" strategies like Grand Arbiter Augustin IV, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben or even throwing the odd Winter Orb into your deck to make your EDH games less monotonous and more taxing, if you'll forgive the pun.
So what do EDH players like to do? Ramp. How do they ramp? Fetchlands, green cards like Kodama's Reach or Cultivate, artifacts like Solemn Simulacrum or Wayfarer's Bauble. Why do they ramp? Well, the more lands you have the quicker you can deploy your strategy. The quicker you deploy your strategy the quicker you can win. You want to do that too right? Ehhhhhhh maybe not.
While it would be great if we all played group hug and drew a zillion cards and so on, someone has to put the reins on all this growth and proliferation. That person can be you. Why should it be? Read on, dear reader and we'll get you into a stifling new comfort zone.
Asking someone why you want to be THAT guy/gal that wears the black hat is a lot like asking John Wayne why he'd want to be a nasty sumbitch in The Searchers, which you should really see even if you're not a big western-genre fan. Sometimes having a target painted on your deck, err...neck can improve your play and make you a better and somewhat reviled EDHer. In the case of our first friend, Grand Arbiter Augustin IV, there isn't much to like if you're looking across from him. He makes all your stuff cost more while your opponent's spells cost a bit less to play. What are the benefits of playing Pope, as he's knowin in the parlance of our time? Well, you're in maybe the two best control colours around. You have access to sweepers, great planeswalkers, a ton of other tax effects in blu and white and like any pope worthy of his name, probably a little mind control thrown in.
GAAIV lends himself to other "slow to a crawl" cards like Winter Orb, which is woefully underplayed these days. Let's face it, EDH is a greedy format and we tap out all the time. All. The. Time. So much so that you can sometimes resolve a Rhystic Tutor. Pope probably isn't going to get you through commander damage, but his friends will put you behind as well, whether it's in card draw from Consecrated Sphinx or just stealing your recently played hope for the red zone with Sower of Temptations. Magic (in whichever format you prefer), is all about pace. You want that early Sol Ring to cast Cultivate, but if the Sol Ring costs 2 and Cultivate 4 you're not going to get there, sorry.
And hey, who says you can't equip up GAAIV with a sword or two and smack your opponent around? Stranger things have happened, like the time my Thalia deck overcame pope and Tabernacle to gnaw away 40 life points.
Speaking of Thalia, she's another commander that would see a little more play if people weren't afraid of being complete douchenozzles, or being tied to a colour with really weak card draw and an entirely combat-based strategy. But hey, throw a Tangle Wire in here, a Thorn of Amethyst there and your opponents will sit helpless until they reach 7+ mana and just cast Malestrom Wanderer for no penalty since it's a creature and all that. But hey, no plan survives contact with an Opposition or whatnot.
The important thing is that tax sttrategies are somewhat viable and certainly shouldn't be discarded without a second look. If nothing else they turn the game into a bit more of a chess match and a little less of 52 pickup, or 100 pickup, as you were.
Sleeper picks from Commander 2013
With the new Commander product flying off the shelves faster than a Lightning Greaves equipped Ball Lightning, the focus (and rightly so) has been on the big guns like Prossh, Jeleva and utility like Toxic Deluge and Unexpectedly Absent. There are a few eyebrow-raising (and possibly game-altering) cards left in the pile though. While these probably won't be traded for much return, they will cause your opponents to pay attention to the battlefield a little more, which is never a bad thing.
White
Darksteel Mutation 1W
Enchantment - Aura (Uncommon)
Enchant Creature
Enchanted creature is a 0/1 Insect artifact creature with Indestructible and loses all other abilities, card types and creature types.
A better Lignify in a colour that really needed another, somewhat more permanent, way to deal with creatures on the battlefield. There have been a lot of 'semi-exile" cards (Chained to the Rocks being the most recent), but this one zeroes your target to the point of no return. Again, there are probably stronger options in this colour but it isn't a bad start for utility depth.
Tempt with Glory 5W
Sorcery - (Rare)
Tempting Offer - Put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control. Each opponent may put a +1/+1 counter on each creature he or she controls. For each opponent who does, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control.
Probably way overcosted for 1 v 1 play but interesting in multiplayer. If you're running a commander that relies on counters and your opponent just has beaters then who cares? You're getting more fogs out of your Spike Weaver, more Ghave shenanigans and so on and so on. There are likely much, much better options to use though (Doubling Season comes to mind) but hey, it could end up being a make or break in a group game.
Blue
Borrowing 100,000 Arrows - 2U
Sorcery - (Uncommon)
Draw a card for each tapped creature target opponent controls.
If it draws you four to five cards it's more than paid for itself. It's eminently splashable and can serve as gas to find a sweeper as well, particularly useful in a mono-blue build that's gaining a lot of hate.
If nothing else, it's an always useful semi-cantrip. If your meta doesn't field many creatures then you're looking elsewhere in blue for answers.
Djinn of Infinite Deceits - 4UU
Creature - Djinn (Rare)
Flying - 2/7
T: Exchange control of two target nonlegendary creatures. You can't activate this ability during combat.
Pretty meh as far as mana costs go, seeing you've got Consecrated Sphinx which is much more of a game breaker in that same range. However, it's just to be fun just to exchange a creature that's about to be hit by Doom Blade for their commander or something that's alive. And hey, you don't lose control of the creature when you untap so you can keep giving them your crap all game long.
Illusionist's Gambit - 2UU
Instant - (Rare)
Cast Illusionist's Gambit only during the declare blockers step on an opponent's turn.
Remove all creatures from combat and untap them. After this phase, there is an additional combat phase. Each of those creatures attacks that combat if able. They can't attack you or a planeswalker you control that combat.
The new blue Fog, Reins of Power being the first that comes to mind. Has the capacity to totally blow out an unprepared player at your table, especially if they've already tapped their Maze of Ith, Kor Haven, Mystifying Maze et al. on a previous opponent. If nothing else it saves your planeswalkers for an extra activation, which can be huge tilt in and of its own.
Strategic Planning - 1U
Sorcery - Uncommon
Look at the top three cards of your library. Put one of them cards in your hand and the rest in your graveyard.
Subtly powerful, this "graveyard impulse" will lead to endless shenanigans. You can set up a Genesis trigger, a Crucible of Worlds usage, a potential reanimation target and many things beside. And you still get one of the three as well, hopefully to put the rest to good use. Even if you're just dumping extraneous cards away it's still a "mini-Top". Should see some play, though I'm not looking forward to seeing it in action.
Tempt with Reflections - 3U
Sorcery - Rare
Tempting offer - Choose target creature you control. Put a token onto the battlefield that's a copy of that creature. Each opponent may put a token on the battlefield that's a copy of that creautre. For each opponent that does, put a token on the battlefield that's a token of that creature.
Oh shenanigans thy name is blue. Give everyone a Solemn Simulacrum? How about a copy of your Edric (Then choose a copy to keep for yourself, perhaps the new untapped one)? Or a tapped Magus of the Disk? Or...? Nice rattlesnake effect that can potentially pull some aggro off yourself if you gift things right.
Black
Price of Knowledge 6B
Enchantment - Rare
Players have no maximum hand size.
At the beginning of each opponent's upkeep, Price of Knowledge deals damage to that opponent equal to the number of cards in that player's hand.
Hmm, permanent Sudden Impact mixed in with a Reliquary Tower for each player. Anyone have a Krosan Grip?
Black has been underserved in the Commander product, exclusing multi cards. The early returns on Toxic Deluge have been mixed at best, Baleful Force hasn't seen a lot of play and the black Temptation card hasn't raised a lot of eyebrows. Thankfully there have been some nice reprints like Decree of Pain and Sanguine Bond, both of which do see some play in EDH decks all over.
Red
From the Ashes - 3R
Sorcery - Rare
Destroy all nonbasic lands. For each land destoryed this way, its controller may search his or her library for a basic land card and put it onto the battlefield. Then each player who searched his or her library this way shuffles it.
So people hate Ruination and Armageddon effects. Sure. How about Ruination with Ghost Quarter tied to it? Weak for competitive play unless the deckbuilder can't get any nonbasics, but will get rid of all those annoying Mazes of Ith, Gaea's Cradles and so on and give them something just not nearly as good.
Mass Mutiniy - 3RR
Sorcery - Rare
For each opponent, gain control of one target creature that player controls until end of turn. Untap those creatures. Those creatures gain haste until end of turn.
Well it's no Insurrection, but it's not bad. Your average "Ray of Command" Costs four converted mana, this costs one more and gets you three creatures. The problem is for the same mana cost (and as an Instant) you can just Word of Seizing their irritating Kiki-Jiki or any other permanent with impunity. Could still be a fun card in a casual build.
Sudden Demise - XR
Sorcery - Rare
Choose a color. Sudden Demise deals X damage to each creature of the chosen color.
Pretty superfluous card but a clear push to players to play multi-coloured decks. I guess if you need an extra sweeper in your deck and your meta leans toward mono-color it's not bad, but I'd still rather Startstorm or Bonfire of the Damned or Earthquake or...
Widespread Panic - 2R
Enchantment - Rare
Whenever a spell or ability causes its controller to shuffle his or her library, that player puts a card from his or her hand on top of his or her library.
In love with this design. There is a metric ton of shuffling and this comes as a tax effect in a colour that hasn't had access to that in a while. Sure it stops being useful once their hand is empty but unless they have a Top or incoming card draw on the stack this should slow people down enormously. And hey, it's not like this costs five or six mana. At three mana you can get this out turn two and cost your opponent some enchantment removal they might need for other targets or...they start trading cards in hand for lands from their fetchlands. Not a choice I'm looking forward to.
Green
Curse of Predation - 2G
Enchantment - Aura Curse (Uncommon)
Enchant Player
Whenever a creater attacks enchanted player, put a +1/+1 counter on that creature.
Could be a nice sleeper pick for a Ghave deck or someone using Spikes or a Triskelion or whatnot. With Doubling Season or another card featured in the Commander product (Primal Vigor, see below) could get out of control. Even if you aren't tricksy, your creatures are still getting bigger and your opponent is getting crushed. Sounds good to me!
Primal Vigor - 4G
Enchantment - Rare
If one or more tokens are put onto the battlefield, twice that number of tokens are put onto the battlefield instead.
If one ore more +1/+1 counters are put onto a creature, twice that number of +1/+1 counters are placed on that creature instead.
The fixed Doubling Season. Bruce Richard on the mothership explained why Season had unintended consquences and needed a tweak:
"Since Doubling Season was printed, it has been the gold standard for any card that doubles. It doubles token creatures and any counter that can be put on a permanent. The problem with Doubling Season is that Planeswalkers didn't exist when Doublng Season was created. Planeswalkers present two problems when combined with Doubling Season:
Restore - 1G
Sorcery - (Uncommon)
Put target land from a graveyard onto the battlefield under your control.
Wording is key. It isn't from your graveyard, it's from any graveyard. That means you can re-use your opponent's Strip Mine, fetchlands, destroyed lands, whatever. With the amount of land churn in the format, this eminently splashable sorcery should find room in nearly any deck. The limited testing I've done with it had me holding it until turn 4 or 5 (people were wary of using fetchlands and so on) but it still got excellent mileage.
Multicolor
Shattergang Brothers - 1BRG
Legendary Creature - Goblin Artificer (Mythic Rare)
3/3
2B,Sacrifice a creature: Each other player sacrifices a creature.
2R,Sacrfice an artifact: Each other player sacrifices an artifact.
2G,Sacrifice an enchantment: Each other player sacrifices an enchantment.
Black and Red finally get some enchantment removal not named Dystopia or Apocalypse.
Having played against this dude in his Prossh precon home, I can honestly say he's a massive pain in the ass. I don't even want to think about what kind of weirdo would throw a Lifeline into a deck, use the Brothers to sacrifice a Porphoros creature, have it come back as (potentially) an enchantment that keeps its creature type, two for one? Hopefully I'm terribly wrong about this.
Wizard's Tower CHEO Event
So CHEO is pretty amazing. I had the opportunity to go there as a kid to deal with a hip issue and the staff are top notch, the hospital wing itself just screams "comfy for kids" and it's been going for seemingly decades now. Wizard's Tower is hosting a CHEO Event, proceeds going to the hospital, on December 7th. If you can make it, drop by, if only to taste some of Mama Noworaj's goodies; if you're lucky enough to play against her son Andrew, you'll be seated against one of the most skilled Magic players in the region. There will also be an auction with various goodies too, like alters, a dual land and lots more being sorted out!
EDH This Week:
Saturday, November 16th:
Wizard's Tower Fallowfield - 3350 Fallowfield Rd (613) 843-0705
Casual play all day and 1 v 1 tournament starting at 4:00 p.m. $5 entry for the tournament, prize in Wizard's Tower coins.
Sunday, November 17th:
Comic Book Shoppe - 228 Bank Street (613) 594-3042
1 v 1 tournament, $5 entry fee, prizes distributed in store credit.
Be there early folks! Gilles has alerted us that the cutoff for reg is 11:50. so try to be there well before that.
Congrats to Chris DiNardo (boo Edric booooooooooo!), Dan Lanthier, Danny Sit and Gilles Labelle for getting the invite to the swanky EDH Invitational! Hope you guys crush all that opposes you.
Until then, may you never be group hugged by a sorority of gorgons.
This week we'll look at why you should be looking at "tax" strategies like Grand Arbiter Augustin IV, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben or even throwing the odd Winter Orb into your deck to make your EDH games less monotonous and more taxing, if you'll forgive the pun.
So what do EDH players like to do? Ramp. How do they ramp? Fetchlands, green cards like Kodama's Reach or Cultivate, artifacts like Solemn Simulacrum or Wayfarer's Bauble. Why do they ramp? Well, the more lands you have the quicker you can deploy your strategy. The quicker you deploy your strategy the quicker you can win. You want to do that too right? Ehhhhhhh maybe not.
While it would be great if we all played group hug and drew a zillion cards and so on, someone has to put the reins on all this growth and proliferation. That person can be you. Why should it be? Read on, dear reader and we'll get you into a stifling new comfort zone.
Asking someone why you want to be THAT guy/gal that wears the black hat is a lot like asking John Wayne why he'd want to be a nasty sumbitch in The Searchers, which you should really see even if you're not a big western-genre fan. Sometimes having a target painted on your deck, err...neck can improve your play and make you a better and somewhat reviled EDHer. In the case of our first friend, Grand Arbiter Augustin IV, there isn't much to like if you're looking across from him. He makes all your stuff cost more while your opponent's spells cost a bit less to play. What are the benefits of playing Pope, as he's knowin in the parlance of our time? Well, you're in maybe the two best control colours around. You have access to sweepers, great planeswalkers, a ton of other tax effects in blu and white and like any pope worthy of his name, probably a little mind control thrown in.
GAAIV lends himself to other "slow to a crawl" cards like Winter Orb, which is woefully underplayed these days. Let's face it, EDH is a greedy format and we tap out all the time. All. The. Time. So much so that you can sometimes resolve a Rhystic Tutor. Pope probably isn't going to get you through commander damage, but his friends will put you behind as well, whether it's in card draw from Consecrated Sphinx or just stealing your recently played hope for the red zone with Sower of Temptations. Magic (in whichever format you prefer), is all about pace. You want that early Sol Ring to cast Cultivate, but if the Sol Ring costs 2 and Cultivate 4 you're not going to get there, sorry.
And hey, who says you can't equip up GAAIV with a sword or two and smack your opponent around? Stranger things have happened, like the time my Thalia deck overcame pope and Tabernacle to gnaw away 40 life points.
Speaking of Thalia, she's another commander that would see a little more play if people weren't afraid of being complete douchenozzles, or being tied to a colour with really weak card draw and an entirely combat-based strategy. But hey, throw a Tangle Wire in here, a Thorn of Amethyst there and your opponents will sit helpless until they reach 7+ mana and just cast Malestrom Wanderer for no penalty since it's a creature and all that. But hey, no plan survives contact with an Opposition or whatnot.
The important thing is that tax sttrategies are somewhat viable and certainly shouldn't be discarded without a second look. If nothing else they turn the game into a bit more of a chess match and a little less of 52 pickup, or 100 pickup, as you were.
Sleeper picks from Commander 2013
With the new Commander product flying off the shelves faster than a Lightning Greaves equipped Ball Lightning, the focus (and rightly so) has been on the big guns like Prossh, Jeleva and utility like Toxic Deluge and Unexpectedly Absent. There are a few eyebrow-raising (and possibly game-altering) cards left in the pile though. While these probably won't be traded for much return, they will cause your opponents to pay attention to the battlefield a little more, which is never a bad thing.
White
Darksteel Mutation 1W
Enchantment - Aura (Uncommon)
Enchant Creature
Enchanted creature is a 0/1 Insect artifact creature with Indestructible and loses all other abilities, card types and creature types.
A better Lignify in a colour that really needed another, somewhat more permanent, way to deal with creatures on the battlefield. There have been a lot of 'semi-exile" cards (Chained to the Rocks being the most recent), but this one zeroes your target to the point of no return. Again, there are probably stronger options in this colour but it isn't a bad start for utility depth.
Tempt with Glory 5W
Sorcery - (Rare)
Tempting Offer - Put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control. Each opponent may put a +1/+1 counter on each creature he or she controls. For each opponent who does, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control.
Probably way overcosted for 1 v 1 play but interesting in multiplayer. If you're running a commander that relies on counters and your opponent just has beaters then who cares? You're getting more fogs out of your Spike Weaver, more Ghave shenanigans and so on and so on. There are likely much, much better options to use though (Doubling Season comes to mind) but hey, it could end up being a make or break in a group game.
Blue
Borrowing 100,000 Arrows - 2U
Sorcery - (Uncommon)
Draw a card for each tapped creature target opponent controls.
If it draws you four to five cards it's more than paid for itself. It's eminently splashable and can serve as gas to find a sweeper as well, particularly useful in a mono-blue build that's gaining a lot of hate.
If nothing else, it's an always useful semi-cantrip. If your meta doesn't field many creatures then you're looking elsewhere in blue for answers.
Djinn of Infinite Deceits - 4UU
Creature - Djinn (Rare)
Flying - 2/7
T: Exchange control of two target nonlegendary creatures. You can't activate this ability during combat.
Pretty meh as far as mana costs go, seeing you've got Consecrated Sphinx which is much more of a game breaker in that same range. However, it's just to be fun just to exchange a creature that's about to be hit by Doom Blade for their commander or something that's alive. And hey, you don't lose control of the creature when you untap so you can keep giving them your crap all game long.
Illusionist's Gambit - 2UU
Instant - (Rare)
Cast Illusionist's Gambit only during the declare blockers step on an opponent's turn.
Remove all creatures from combat and untap them. After this phase, there is an additional combat phase. Each of those creatures attacks that combat if able. They can't attack you or a planeswalker you control that combat.
The new blue Fog, Reins of Power being the first that comes to mind. Has the capacity to totally blow out an unprepared player at your table, especially if they've already tapped their Maze of Ith, Kor Haven, Mystifying Maze et al. on a previous opponent. If nothing else it saves your planeswalkers for an extra activation, which can be huge tilt in and of its own.
Strategic Planning - 1U
Sorcery - Uncommon
Look at the top three cards of your library. Put one of them cards in your hand and the rest in your graveyard.
Subtly powerful, this "graveyard impulse" will lead to endless shenanigans. You can set up a Genesis trigger, a Crucible of Worlds usage, a potential reanimation target and many things beside. And you still get one of the three as well, hopefully to put the rest to good use. Even if you're just dumping extraneous cards away it's still a "mini-Top". Should see some play, though I'm not looking forward to seeing it in action.
Tempt with Reflections - 3U
Sorcery - Rare
Tempting offer - Choose target creature you control. Put a token onto the battlefield that's a copy of that creature. Each opponent may put a token on the battlefield that's a copy of that creautre. For each opponent that does, put a token on the battlefield that's a token of that creature.
Oh shenanigans thy name is blue. Give everyone a Solemn Simulacrum? How about a copy of your Edric (Then choose a copy to keep for yourself, perhaps the new untapped one)? Or a tapped Magus of the Disk? Or...? Nice rattlesnake effect that can potentially pull some aggro off yourself if you gift things right.
Black
Price of Knowledge 6B
Enchantment - Rare
Players have no maximum hand size.
At the beginning of each opponent's upkeep, Price of Knowledge deals damage to that opponent equal to the number of cards in that player's hand.
Hmm, permanent Sudden Impact mixed in with a Reliquary Tower for each player. Anyone have a Krosan Grip?
Black has been underserved in the Commander product, exclusing multi cards. The early returns on Toxic Deluge have been mixed at best, Baleful Force hasn't seen a lot of play and the black Temptation card hasn't raised a lot of eyebrows. Thankfully there have been some nice reprints like Decree of Pain and Sanguine Bond, both of which do see some play in EDH decks all over.
Red
From the Ashes - 3R
Sorcery - Rare
Destroy all nonbasic lands. For each land destoryed this way, its controller may search his or her library for a basic land card and put it onto the battlefield. Then each player who searched his or her library this way shuffles it.
So people hate Ruination and Armageddon effects. Sure. How about Ruination with Ghost Quarter tied to it? Weak for competitive play unless the deckbuilder can't get any nonbasics, but will get rid of all those annoying Mazes of Ith, Gaea's Cradles and so on and give them something just not nearly as good.
Mass Mutiniy - 3RR
Sorcery - Rare
For each opponent, gain control of one target creature that player controls until end of turn. Untap those creatures. Those creatures gain haste until end of turn.
Well it's no Insurrection, but it's not bad. Your average "Ray of Command" Costs four converted mana, this costs one more and gets you three creatures. The problem is for the same mana cost (and as an Instant) you can just Word of Seizing their irritating Kiki-Jiki or any other permanent with impunity. Could still be a fun card in a casual build.
Sudden Demise - XR
Sorcery - Rare
Choose a color. Sudden Demise deals X damage to each creature of the chosen color.
Pretty superfluous card but a clear push to players to play multi-coloured decks. I guess if you need an extra sweeper in your deck and your meta leans toward mono-color it's not bad, but I'd still rather Startstorm or Bonfire of the Damned or Earthquake or...
Widespread Panic - 2R
Enchantment - Rare
Whenever a spell or ability causes its controller to shuffle his or her library, that player puts a card from his or her hand on top of his or her library.
In love with this design. There is a metric ton of shuffling and this comes as a tax effect in a colour that hasn't had access to that in a while. Sure it stops being useful once their hand is empty but unless they have a Top or incoming card draw on the stack this should slow people down enormously. And hey, it's not like this costs five or six mana. At three mana you can get this out turn two and cost your opponent some enchantment removal they might need for other targets or...they start trading cards in hand for lands from their fetchlands. Not a choice I'm looking forward to.
Green
Curse of Predation - 2G
Enchantment - Aura Curse (Uncommon)
Enchant Player
Whenever a creater attacks enchanted player, put a +1/+1 counter on that creature.
Could be a nice sleeper pick for a Ghave deck or someone using Spikes or a Triskelion or whatnot. With Doubling Season or another card featured in the Commander product (Primal Vigor, see below) could get out of control. Even if you aren't tricksy, your creatures are still getting bigger and your opponent is getting crushed. Sounds good to me!
Primal Vigor - 4G
Enchantment - Rare
If one or more tokens are put onto the battlefield, twice that number of tokens are put onto the battlefield instead.
If one ore more +1/+1 counters are put onto a creature, twice that number of +1/+1 counters are placed on that creature instead.
The fixed Doubling Season. Bruce Richard on the mothership explained why Season had unintended consquences and needed a tweak:
"Since Doubling Season was printed, it has been the gold standard for any card that doubles. It doubles token creatures and any counter that can be put on a permanent. The problem with Doubling Season is that Planeswalkers didn't exist when Doublng Season was created. Planeswalkers present two problems when combined with Doubling Season:
- Double the starting loyalty. If you double the starting loyalty on most Planeswalkers, reaching that final ability is just far too easy. Look at Elspeth, Sun's Champion (or any Elspeth for that matter). If Doubling Season is out when you play Elspeth, you start with eight loyalty counters. You can use her -7 ability the first turn she is in play! That is not supposed to happen.
- They don't work the way most people think. Many players believe that when you use Elspeth's +1 ability with Doubling Season on the battlefield, you get 2 loyalty counters. Doubling Season doubles effects, not costs. Adding a loyalty counter to Elspeth to get 1/1 Soldiers is the cost to get the Soldiers. This is not intuitive, since Doubling Season basically reads, "double token creatures and counters."
Restore - 1G
Sorcery - (Uncommon)
Put target land from a graveyard onto the battlefield under your control.
Wording is key. It isn't from your graveyard, it's from any graveyard. That means you can re-use your opponent's Strip Mine, fetchlands, destroyed lands, whatever. With the amount of land churn in the format, this eminently splashable sorcery should find room in nearly any deck. The limited testing I've done with it had me holding it until turn 4 or 5 (people were wary of using fetchlands and so on) but it still got excellent mileage.
Multicolor
Shattergang Brothers - 1BRG
Legendary Creature - Goblin Artificer (Mythic Rare)
3/3
2B,Sacrifice a creature: Each other player sacrifices a creature.
2R,Sacrfice an artifact: Each other player sacrifices an artifact.
2G,Sacrifice an enchantment: Each other player sacrifices an enchantment.
Black and Red finally get some enchantment removal not named Dystopia or Apocalypse.
Having played against this dude in his Prossh precon home, I can honestly say he's a massive pain in the ass. I don't even want to think about what kind of weirdo would throw a Lifeline into a deck, use the Brothers to sacrifice a Porphoros creature, have it come back as (potentially) an enchantment that keeps its creature type, two for one? Hopefully I'm terribly wrong about this.
Wizard's Tower CHEO Event
So CHEO is pretty amazing. I had the opportunity to go there as a kid to deal with a hip issue and the staff are top notch, the hospital wing itself just screams "comfy for kids" and it's been going for seemingly decades now. Wizard's Tower is hosting a CHEO Event, proceeds going to the hospital, on December 7th. If you can make it, drop by, if only to taste some of Mama Noworaj's goodies; if you're lucky enough to play against her son Andrew, you'll be seated against one of the most skilled Magic players in the region. There will also be an auction with various goodies too, like alters, a dual land and lots more being sorted out!
EDH This Week:
Saturday, November 16th:
Wizard's Tower Fallowfield - 3350 Fallowfield Rd (613) 843-0705
Casual play all day and 1 v 1 tournament starting at 4:00 p.m. $5 entry for the tournament, prize in Wizard's Tower coins.
Sunday, November 17th:
Comic Book Shoppe - 228 Bank Street (613) 594-3042
1 v 1 tournament, $5 entry fee, prizes distributed in store credit.
Be there early folks! Gilles has alerted us that the cutoff for reg is 11:50. so try to be there well before that.
Congrats to Chris DiNardo (boo Edric booooooooooo!), Dan Lanthier, Danny Sit and Gilles Labelle for getting the invite to the swanky EDH Invitational! Hope you guys crush all that opposes you.
Until then, may you never be group hugged by a sorority of gorgons.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)