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!
