UL's Favorites: Top 10 Wedge Commanders

Since I'm a whore for lists, top 5's and the like, it was only a matter of time before I decided to start doing them for TGZ.

For my first one, I'm going to talk about Wedge, or Tri-Color Generals.

Though they're really not my favorites, I have gotten a chance to play with and against many of these Commanders, so I figured we'd start with the smaller card pool and work our way towards the big mono-colored ones.

Before I rattle 'em off though, I'd like to talk about the process of grading, and how I'll continue to gift these lists in the future.

Most likely, what will put any given legend in a top list is the creature's ability to differentiate. I'm very much a proponent of the "right card, right deck" mentality, and it excites me when I see decks that can inhibit the perfect fit for many different strategies and many different cards. 

Another quality will be potential for originality. There are only so many strategies, but when a general can inhibit different builds and strategies that feel fresh and super-fun, you've got yourself a good Commander.

The way I've decided to rank them is to actually put all three-colored guys into their respective colors, and rank them within their wedge group first, and then ultimately comparing the top cards to each other.That way each color combo is representin' in the top 10, and you get to see how I ranked them against each other, which will help you build decks if you just like those colors.

Obviously, some cards got a better shot at making the list, like RWU Americans only had 3 in their color while Grixis BRU had 10 to judge. So keep that in mind.

I will post the sub-rankings also, for your enjoyment.

Here we go!

10. Kaalia of the Vast

Should come as no surprise that Kaalia made the list for RWB.



However, if you know me, than you know how difficult it was for me to put Kaalia in the list.

On the margin, I find Kaalia overplayed and mostly unoriginal. I'm not too big on this card, because I think that cheating Angels, Demons, and Dragons into play sounds more like a bad Dan Brown novel than a Magic card.

The reason, however, that I was able to suppress the vomit in my throat and pick this flying 2/2 is because I had the silliest idea for either an unnatural Kaalia Voltron build or a Cleric Tribal deck with this obnoxious overused woman, and it made me laugh. Also, it helped that I was able to compare it to one of my favorite decks I ever built, which was a rogue Oros Land Destruction deck, and I realized that, though the latter would be way more effective, people would think I was just picking jankier cards to be an EDH Hipster. So I threw you folks at home a bone while maintaining some credibility, I guess.

BRW Division Standings
1. Kaalia of the Vast
2. Oros, the Avenger
3. Tariel, Reckoner of Souls

 9. Angus Mackenzie

But since you can't question my credibility with Kaalia, I decided to challenge you here.

Yeah, I picked Angus over Rafiq.

Overall, I just thought that this card actually has more to offer.

As a semi-permanent fog machine, Angus is in the unique position of being quite the Scottish/Irish man of mystery, allowing you to disguise a control strategy or a nice little horde-bashing-beatdown deck.

Because anyone who plays against Rafiq knows to keep an opening hand with a Doom Blade or a Path to Exile.
I just felt that having a Rafiq hidden in the deck with ways to tutor for it would be better than putting him on display.

Bant Division Standings
 1. Angus Mackenzie
 2. Rafiq of the Many
 3. Jenara, Asura of War
 4. Pheldagriff
 5. Ragnar
 6. Rubinia Soulsinger
 7. Treva, the Renewer
 8. Arcades Sabboth

   8. Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund


There is just no one better than the Tyrant of Jund here.

For 7, he's a flying 7/7 with haste that can provide with you with extra value if your metagame is filled with the oldest of dragons.

This deck also provides you with a multitude of different strategies and combos, including ramp, Voltron, beatdown, and even a little land destruction.

That said, he's still low on the totem because he can't generate consistent value, only being able to take dragons and all.




Jund Division Standings
1. Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund
2. Sek'Kuar, Deathkeeper
3. Kresh the Bloodbraided
4. Vaevictis Asmadi
5. Xira Arien
6. Darigaaz, the Igniter
7. Adun Oakenshield
8. Bartel Runeaxe

  7. Uril, the Miststalker

For Naya, it was a pretty straightforward choice.

Uril is the winner here for the following reasons:
a) he looks like the big brother of the characters from Maurice Sendak's Where The Wild Things Are.
b) Uril's a 5/5 for five with hexproof.
c) He makes playing Auras actually relevant.

Though he's in the back of the pack because he's played a lot, I'm pretty up on this card. Unless Uril is countered, or Wrathed, the only direction he's coming is towards you, for damage, and death.





 Naya Division Standings
 1. Uril, the Miststalker
 2. Rith, the Awakener
 3. Hazezon Tamar
 4. Palladia-Mors
 5. Mayael the Anima
 6. Johan
 7. Jacques le Vert

 6. Thraximundar

Thraximundar has great value as a general. The reason it wins in the heavy Grixis division is because Thrax pumps when people have to sacrifice creatures, and he triggers that ability when he attacks.

Though fairly obvious as a general, Thrax has the blessing of being able to head up control decks and be the only real creature in the deck, or be one of my Zombies in all-the-brains-you-can-eat buffet.

In my mind, he gets the edge over Garza Zol because he's generates a little more battlefield value, which is drastically under appreciated in primarily UB combination builds. Also, his synergy with sac outlets like Shivan Harvest could pump him up fast in a value-driven Voltron-style build.

 Grixis Division Standings
1. Thraximundar
2. Garza Zol, Plague Queen
3. Mishra, Artificer Prodigy
4. Sol'kanar the Swamp King
5. Nicol Bolas
6. Sedris, the Traitor King
7. Gwendlyn Di Corci
8. Crosis, the Purger
9. Tetsuo Umezawa
10. Lord of Tresserhorn

  5. Ertai, the Corrupted

If we're really honest with one another, Ertai, the Corrupted really is just better than Zur. I know, I'm being blasphemous, but seriously-
The Ertai deck gets to do whatever it wants. It can lock you down playing aggro. It can lock you down playing enchantments. It can even lock you down playing enchantment Voltron, what Zur is known for.

The best thing about this iteration is that you don't have to worry about your enchantments being under 3. As I also said, with Undying and Persist, this deck could be a sweet Esper beatdown deck.





You'll also notice that I ranked Merieke Ri Berit above Zur too. That's because she can control the board better than Zur too, and no one will really know how things are going to play out until it's too late.

As for Ertai, well, it made the Top 5 because it's one of the most exciting yet drastically under represented Generals I've ever seen, and I don't think any of us have even begun to understand his greatness.


 Esper Division Standings
 1. Ertai, the Corrupted
 2. Merieke Ri Berit
 3. Zur the Enchanter
 4. Dakkon Blackblade
 5. Sharuum the Hegemon
 6. Dromar, the Banisher
 7. Sen Triplets
 8. Lady Evangela
 9. Chromium
 10. Halfdane

  4. Doran, the Siege Tower

Ghave is really good, and I won't deny that. Teneb is really rampant, and has been effective for a long time.

I'm not saying anything people don't know, but the reason I picked Doran here is because the 0/5 Treefolk really can do a lot of neat things, including turning his usually weak friends into All-Stars.

In my mind, there's also a lot more to do with Doran. With Teneb and Karador, the graveyard makes for a pretty typical Commander strategy. Even Ghave likes to sacrifice things.

Doran, however, is more of an amalgam in this regard. Because he's the strangest 5/5 for 3, he's just more odd, compelling, and downright more fun to play. All kinds of new cards get to be used and abused, and he inhibits some other cool strategies like enchantment Voltron, the Defender deck, and Treefolk battles that we haven't seen since Treebeard and his buddies flooded Isengard.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is how Trees get it done.

BGW Division Standings
1. Doran, the Siege Tower
2. Ghave, Guru of Spores
3. Teneb, the Harvester
4. Karador, Ghost Chieftain

  3. Ruhan of the Fomori

I would've never predicted that Ruhan would slide so far up this list, honestly- cause I know you're thinking it.

That's fair, cause Ruhan getting here honestly isn't. Sharing colors with Zedruu makes the decision so easy, even blind, ignorant Ruhan could've made the choice, if he was allowed to pick himself without any moral/ethical hangups.

For me, Ruhan beats Numot out for king of the American Division because there's some great ridiculous things that can be done with him.

Voltron, obviously is Ruhan's game, and he's just soo freaking good at it. With access to Godo and Stoneforge, he's pretty much getting there in a great way.

But Ruhan was chosen because of the VALUE. a 7/7 for four still blows my mind, regardless of the drawback, which could be completely removed in a 1v1 environment.

Having blue also helps to protect Mr. Big Stick here, and he provides a nice, recurrable guy that can protect control decks early game or go on the damage plan.

I like this guy, though I've never been able to make him work. He's funny, awesome, and a beating in one.

RWU Division Standings
 1. Ruhan of the Fomori
 2. Numot, the Devastator
 3. Zedruu the Greathearted

  2. Damia, Sage of Stone

Damia probably wouldn't be an easy choice for most people, considering that The Mimeoplasm is so popular.

Being Anti-Mimeoplasm though, it was, and for more reasons than the fact that I just plain can't stand The Mimeoplasm.

Let's talk about how Damia won this, cause Vorosh is probably one of the best enemy-colored Time Spiral Dragons.

Having played Vorosh, the card is solid. Getting a 6/6 for six that pumps is awesome, and I think everyone can get behind this.

However, Damia plain outclasses Vorosh, because these colors aren't about the battling, really.

Damia, to me, is better cause library manipulation and card drawing allow you as the player to outdraw other people.

Though this sounds like a boring theme, there's actually many different ways this card can get played, ranging from my heap build to Living End combos to even sweet builds with Relentless Rats.

I just don't know how anyone could pass up a way to get to play all the Relentless Rats, and sweet cards like Doubling Chant and Rite of Replication in the same deck.

On a personal note, my Damia build allows me to play some cool stuff like Trade Routes and Worm Harvest along side a bunch of other cool retrace stuff like Spitting Image.

BUG Division Standings
 1. Damia, Sage of Stone
 2. Vorosh, the Hunter
 3. The Mimeoplasm

 1. Maelstrom Wanderer

Maelstrom Wanderer didn't have to go far to win out in the RUG group. Sure, Animar gives him a little bit of a battle, but in the end it's not even close.

Wanderer, if the deck is made right, goes to work spinning the wheel and beating face. Though the deck is obviously pretty linear, and kind of a one-trick pony, it's a great one-trick pony, because the spells that get cast in his wake are never the same thing twice.

Grandpa Growth plays this deck a lot, and I have to tell you it's not a lot of fun to play against in 1v1. Two extra spells wreck face every time, and there's really no way to actually win after it gets cast if you play it right.

Any of those two cards that get flipped can create lethal combos. One of the worst is Regal Force and Avenger. Even disruption is gross, like Beast Within and Pongify. Planeswalkers take the cake though. flipping Chandra 3.0 or Tamiyo or Jace will just end the game.

Though it may not be fun, paying 8 for a 7/5 fervor on a stick that can flip cards with less than 7 CMC means that you're perhaps paying 8 to get up to 14 extra mana in a single turn. So it's worth it, if you believe that the devil has better uses for your soul than you do.

The only other thing I have to say about the RUG generals is this- Riku is a joke.

RUG Division Standings
1. Maelstrom Wanderer
2. Animar, Soul of Elements
3. Intet, the Dreamer
4. Riku of Two Reflections

Alright. That's my list. Please share your thoughts. I'm curious to know what's up.

Passsssssss....

-UL

Your Decks (Here) on TGZ!

Hey fellow TGZers-

It's been a little while since I updated the Decks archive with some of my more recent stuff, and so I did that recently.

I've been a little behind the curve as far as some of the big projects on the site, and I still haven't got caught up, but I promise there are good things on their way, including a new fun variant I hope to be playtesting soon.

Speaking of decks and decklists, I'd really like to add some more stuff to our little home here on TGZ.

So this is a call for ALL decks! Seriously.

If you have decks, share your tech! Post it on a deckbuilding site like tcgplayer.com or tappedout.net and shoot an email over to UncleLanddrops@gmail.com with your username/real name/criminal alias and I'll be happy to put it up in the TGZ deck archive.

No deck is too bad, no deck is too good. I know I sound like car salesman, but I'm for real.

Many embarrassing decks of mine are there, so feel free to check that out. We've all got to start somewhere, you know.

Anyway, just wanted to let you know I'm not dead, and not to touch your radio dial. We're still here, alive, and potentially relevant.

Fin.

-UL.

Super Secret Sunday #5: Reader Request

Welcome back err'body! This is Super Secret Sunday, where we normally discuss underplayed cards, under the radar strategies, and under-thought thoughts. Today, in lieu of my normal ramblings, we will be discussing a reader submitted topic: Persist and Undying. How can you use them? How do you build a theme? What cards should you definitely be playing? Come along as I shout out some of my favorite cards that feature these mechanics.

Let's start at the top. If we want to have a theme then we need to start by giving our guys Undying or Persist.

If you are running some sort of mid-range value deck like Momir Vig or Riku. Then you should really be in on Conjurer's Closet. It lets you recycle your ETB effects for extra value. Cauldron fits a similar role. It let's recycle your triggers, but it protects you from removal, board sweeps, and makes combat generally unbearable for you opponent.

Cauldron Haze, obviously fits flavor-wise with its namesake card. Putting this effect on an instant though make it much more powerful. The surprise impact of this card can win games, particularly when your opponents needs removal in order to survive.













Mikaeus is no stranger to EDH decks. He is a choice 6 drop general that just oozes power and card advantage. The key to unlocking the Unhallowed power is to give your creatures Persist as well, or get a creature that already has it. he also works great with things that allow you to pull off +1 counters. Things like Triskelion, Pentavus, Ghave, or my personal favorite: the FUNCRUSHER.







Now that we know how to make our guys bounce back from death. Let's talk about what we can do with that!

















Excellent. Now we have something useful to do. Barbequing our opponents junk and drawing cards are both very useful abilities. These two cards fit right into a Grixis shell. Self milling, reanimation. Think Sedris, the Traitor King or Prince of Thralls. River Kelpie can also be used as a hate card AGAINST these strategies.

There is another kind of  ____Crusher that wants to join the party in this kind of deck. Perhaps just a Mono U Flashback deck?















So now we have a theme and some powerful synergies to take advantage of, but what if you don't want to go whole hog. What if you just want some solid role players to fill out your deck list. Let's see what we've got.


If you aren't yet a fan of TWOO Brews then it's time to get on board. Travis Woo is an innovative deckbuilder. He refuses to play mainstream decks, never wants to play a mirror match, and he always has hawt new tech to check out. You can follow him on facebook or twitter.
This card is straight out of the Dirt Cheap Dirty Red deck TWOO has been running in standard. Turns out people like to chump block in Commander too. Don't let them.

Speaking of chump blocking...this guy makes a great one. He can take a bullet for you every turn. Then he gets up, dusts everything off, and gets back to work. Heartmender is a powerful enabler for the kinds of shenanigans we talked about earlier in the article. It is also the hard counter so Midnight Banshee for whatever that is worth.







Alright, lets move onto the esssential tech that you pretty much should be running regardless of whether or not Persist/Undying is the central theme of your deck.

 Primus, in addition to being a super sweet band, is also one of the most played cards in EDH, as well a cube staple. Along with Kitchen Finks it is maybe the most recognizable example of Persist. It is a giant threat, a giant beating, and all card advantage. This is also an excellent late game answer to planeswalkers. It comes down right before many planeswalkers will be going ultimate.






The last card for today is a real doozy. A familiar threat in mono white builds, shepherd provides a ton of card advantage, a large flying attacker that can also play defense, and resistance to removal and board sweeping.
The casting cost is a bit restrictive, but well worth it. Compare to things like Archon of Justice. That extra W mana buys you a lot.







Well that is all for today little ones. Hope you enjoyed this weeks special request article. If not, then we will probably be back to your regularly scheduled programming next week.
Until then. I am passing the savings on to you. -GG

Firemind's Ravings

 

Drawing Cards and Burning Hard

Hello planeswalkers! It's been a while since I last posted (nearly two months, I believe), but now I'm back from my otherworldy journey with some +1s to share with you.

As a fan of the original Ravnica block and the entire Ravnica backstory, I was so happy when Wizards released Return to Ravnica. I was equally happy that they released the Izzet vs. Golgari Duel Decks, and I had to get one to see if they actually could make a decent pre-constructed deck.

After buying the Izzet deck and playing around with it, my suspicions that this was not a great 60 card deck proved to be true, unless I played against the Golgari pre-constructed deck (not the best either). Taking a look through my Izzet deck, I realized that the deck was practically a singleton deck to begin with and that Niv-Mizzet would certainly make an awesome general....

So I ran with it! New EDH deck with The Firemind as the General? What's not to love? I took out the few duplicate cards from the deck, took out some more impractical cards, and built this on the fly:

Instant (20)

Bone to Ash         

Brainstorm

Chemister's Trick

Desperate Ravings        

Dynacharge

Essence Backlash        

Fire // Ice

Firemind's Foresight

Force Spike

Izzet Charm

Lightning Bolt

Magma Spray

Overwhelming Intellect

Prophetic Bolt

Pyromatics

Reverberate

Street Spasm

Think Twice

Thoughtflare

Thunderheads

 

Artifact (4)

 

Isochron Scepter

Izzet Keyrune

Izzet Signet

Sphinx-Bone Wand

 

Creature (16)

 

Charmbreaker Devils

Djinn Illuminatus

Flameblast Dragon

Galvanoth

Gelectrode

Goblin Electromancer

Izzet Guildmage

Izzet Staticaster

Kiln Fiend

Mad Prophet

Ogre Savant

Rage Nimbus

Scourge of Geier Reach

Shrewd Hatchling

Spellbound Dragon

Wee Dragonauts

 

Enchantment (5)

 

Arcane Melee

Magefire Wings

Pursuit of Flight

Quicksilver Dagger

Racecourse Fury

 

Sorcery (15)

 

Act of Treason

Amass the Components

Burning Inquiry

Faithless Looting

Fireball

Invoke the Firemind

Mystic Retrieval

Reminisce

Rolling Temblor

Shattered Perception

Switcheroo

Train of Thought

Traitorous Blood

Vacuumelt

Wild Guess

 

Land (39)

 

Forgotten Cave

Island (x17)

Izzet Boilerworks

Lonely Sandbar

Mountain (x18)

Nivix, Aerie of the Firemind

 

The ultimate win con with this deck is draw and burn your opponents to death, with things like Act of Treason to mess around with their creatures and Rolling Temblor as a board wipe. The strategy relies heavily on Niv-Mizzet, however, since having him out makes the burn a lot quicker. That being said, if you can get the general out and keep him on the field, the game becomes insanely fast-paced.

Cards like Rage Nimbus and Chemister's Trick help to control the opponent's board by forcing attacks, which can remove important creatures. Izzet Staticaster seems like an odd choice for EDH, but it's a highly effective saproling/elf/spirit/[insert token creature] killer. Magefire Wings and Pursuit of Filght help give some of my earthbound creatures more offesinve worth by making them harder to block and giving a power boost.

 

However, the real magic comes in the draw power of this deck. Obvious draw spells include Invoke the Firemind (which is twice as good if Niv-Mizzet is on the field) and Brainstorm. Some of the most surprising draw cards were actually red commons. I was pleasantly surprised to see how well Wild Guess and Mad Prophet worked to keep my hand in check, and in most games, they proved to be invaluable. Faithless Looting and Desperate Ravings were also great because of the flashback, which allowed for a second chance to replenish my hand.

Charmbreaker Devils, although 5R to cast, is an unbelievable card, showing itself to be useful both as an offensive creature and as a hand replenisher. Being able to return an instant or sorcery at the beginning of my upkeep won me a few games. Also, Djinn Illuminatus made cards like Lightning Bolt, Reverberate, and Act of Treason stupidly awesome (yeah, there was a game where that happened).

Some of the cards in the Duel Decks original decklist I kept in as placeholders until I found better cards, which I was more than happy to replace. Ogre Savant is way too expensive to be practical, especially for only a 3/2; and since he doesn't have flash, well, that just makes his bounce target creature ability nearly useless. There was also a big problem with Vacuumelt, which returns target creature for 2U and replicates for 2U. My ruling: too expensive, not playable (it's a sorcery), and the replicate is just not feasible compared to Cyclonic Rift. Seeing such unplayable cards sparked the first changes I made to the original draft.

Replaced Vacuumelt with Cyclonic Rift, then replaced Ogre Savant with AEther Adept (doesn't have flash, but it's only 1UU, so I automatically like it better than the Ogre).

During play, I also saw the distinct lack of board and spell control. As a blue player, I felt lost; I had focused too much on burn while neglecting my roots. I only had five counterspells in the deck, two of which were only counter-target-creature spells, one of which that costs 4UU, and two which can be overridden if the spell's controller pays 1 or 2, respectively. I added Counterflux, which is an awesome RUU counterspell that can't be countered AND has an overload cost for just 1 more mana! Also added was Double Negative, Dream Fracture, and Spell Crumple. I ended up replacing Bone to Ash with Exclude (it costs U less), and replaced Force Spike with Disrupt, which lets you draw a card.

To make room for the four aforementioned cards, I had to take out Dynacharge (I wasn't playing enough creatures for this to be beneficial), Pyromatics (whose replicate is just too expensive to be practical), Burning Inquiry (which ended up helping my opponent rather than helping me), and Magefire Wings (once again, this wasn't appearing at times when it'd be beneficial).

Another change that made a huge improvement was the addition of Quicken, a one-drop instant which lets you cast your next sorcery as an instant and gives you a card. I replaced Switcheroo with this, despite my desire to be goofy and give a 3/3 flying weird to someone (Thunderheads is a surprisingly lifesaving card). The change did help fix the mana curve, however, so I wasn't too sore with the switcheroo (bad magic puns, anyone?).

Mana was another thing that needed fixing. I took out two Islands and three Mountains and put in an Izzet Guildgate, a Shivan Reef, a Gixis Panorama, an Evolving Wilds, and a Terramorphic Expanse.

After some more playtesting, I saw that even though Racecourse Fury proved somewhat useful for using Niv-Mizzet right after casting him, it wasn't doing much otherwise. I opted instead for Curiosity, which if placed on Niv-Mizzet creates an infinite draw/damage loop. Can't believe it took me eight games to realize that.

Think Twice certainly helped out on multiple occasions, but Merfolk Looter is by far a more effective card-draw engine, since Think Twice can only be used, as the card says, twice (assuming you don't have a way to fish it out of the graveyard).

The new design looks something like this:

General: Niv-Mizzet, The Firemind


Instant (23)

                    

Brainstorm

Chemister's Trick

Counterflux
Cyclonic Rift
Desperate Ravings

Disrupt
Double Negative
Dream Fracture

Essence Backlash

Exclude
Fire // Ice

Firemind's Foresight

Izzet Charm

Lightning Bolt

Magma Spray

Overwhelming Intellect

Prophetic Bolt

Quicken

Reverberate

Spell Crumple
Street Spasm

Thoughtflare

Thunderheads

 

Artifact (4)

 

Isochron Scepter

Izzet Keyrune

Izzet Signet

Sphinx-Bone Wand

 

Creature (17)

 

AEther Adept
Charmbreaker Devils

Djinn Illuminatus

Flameblast Dragon

Galvanoth

Gelectrode

Goblin Electromancer

Izzet Guildmage

Izzet Staticaster

Kiln Fiend

Mad Prophet

Merfolk Looter

Rage Nimbus

Scourge of Geier Reach

Shrewd Hatchling

Spellbound Dragon

Wee Dragonauts

 

Enchantment (4)

 

Arcane Melee
Curiosity

Pursuit of Flight

Quicksilver Dagger

 

Sorcery (12)

 

Act of Treason

Amass the Components

Faithless Looting

Fireball

Invoke the Firemind

Mystic Retrieval

Reminisce

Rolling Temblor

Shattered Perception

Train of Thought

Traitorous Blood

Wild Guess

 

Land (39)

Evolving Wilds 

Forgotten Cave
Grixis Panorama

Island (x15)

Izzet Boilerworks
Izzet Guildgate

Lonely Sandbar

Mountain (x15)

Nivix, Aerie of the Firemind
Shivan Reef
Terramorphic Expanse

Tappedout.net estimated that this deck is about $69 total, which is fairly cheap, considering that the most expensive card is the General, which is about $13 (median price). Not exactly a Dollar General deck, but if you already have the Izzet Duel Deck, like I did, that's over half the cost!

More testing revealed that this revised deck has a strong flavor of control, but generally has weak creatures (unless you pull out the Flameblast Dragon or Scourge of Geier Reach) and is vulnerable to trample and voltron style decks centered around Uril or Rafiq, which could only be stopped if those commanders were countered multiple times.

This deck's strong points (besides control) are draw and creature removal. I always had the card advantage and creatures like Gelectrode, Izzet Staticaster, and Rage Nimbus were great at taking out key weenies (like Dryad Militant or Beguiler of Wills).

My favorite part of this deck, though, is that it's just plain fun. And goofy! The way the deck plays is both challenging and rewarding, even if you don't win. Not to mention some of the silly cards: Thunderheads, Traitorous Blood + Djinn Illuminatus. Hell, I might even put Switcheroo back in (or at least sideboard it) to make it even sillier. The point is, I wanted to make a fun deck, so who cares if it's not Tier 1 material? At least I killed my oppenents with laughter every game.

Thanks, and stay classy!

-Venser's Journalist

Gatecrash Spoilers- Already? Yup!

Couldn't believe they'd already started spoiling what's to come in 3 months or so.

5 cards. All Mythic. Check em out here, or read the short list and my notes/opinion below. Gatecrash Spoilers!

Aurelia, the Warleader
-Boros Guildleader
-2RRWW mana cost for a 3/4 seems high, but then again she's loaded down with text and ability.
-Flying, Vigilance, Haste
-You get an additional combat phase whenever you attack with Aurelia and your other creatures for the first time each turn.
-Seems good for the Boros EDH decks.

Borborygmos Enraged
-Gruul Guildleader
-4GGRR is not really aggressive or good for these colors. He's also a 7/6, again.
-you deal damage and get land cards revealed this way, which you can pitch to deal 3 damage to a creature or player, which seems awesome- but not for 8. 
-Not good at all.

Hellkite Tyrant
-4RR for a 6/5 Flyer with Trample
-When you deal damage to a player you can take their artifacts
-If you have 20 or more artifacts on your upkeep, you win.
- Seems EDH worthy. I'm not going to ever play this card, but I think I'll have to play against it and all the dumb combos people are going to try. Just be aware of the new tech with Mycosynth Lattice.

Domri Rade
-PW for 1GR
-Has some good abilities. +1 gets you a creature off the top of your library, it's -2 can be removal, and its -7 wins you the game pending a boardsweep.
-Not sure it's realistically going to be viable in EDH, but it seems good and fun.

Enter the Infinite
-8UUUU for a sorcery that gets you every card in your library, and you put one card back on top. You also have no max hand size until the end of your next turn.
-This card will be banned in EDH. and soon after release. This kind of card, from a design perspective, doesn't inhibit fun games when Blue gets to hold their whole deck in their hands. It's meant for Legacy/Modern combos, if meant to be played at all.

Super Secret Sunday #4: "Do you want to make it a combo?"

In case you weren't paying attention, it's Sunday again. Super-Secret Sunday, in fact. There place and time for underplayed cards, under the radar strategy and under-thought thoughts.
For all you playing along at home thinking I am all about value and spiking wins from casual players who don't take EDH seriously....then you are mostly right. Today however, we are going off. As in comboing...but also the deep end. I will not advocate playing bad cards, but occasionally you can slam two bad cards together and they magically become fun cards. These brews are pretty janky, but worth a look...and a laugh. Get ready. This episode comes with fries and a drink.

From where I play, it seems like most Magic players these days don't remember hack effects. When I say 'hack effects' they don't even know what that means. Then I explain it and they don't know why anyone would print these cards. The answer is that color hate cards used to be much less subtle and much more powerful. So it wasn't unreasonable to print cards that hosed the hosers. That made sense to me anyway.The idea is that you play a Cabal and point a hack effect at it to make it counter whatever you want. If you think Isochron/Counterspell is all played out then down grade to this and let the fun begin anew. Bonus points if you know what creature Volrath is working on there. Similar bonus points if you know which helmet is in the background of Stromgald Cabal.



















Credit for this combo goes to Angry Graybeard. An EDH blogger after my own heart. He writes a Tumblr called I Remember Banding. Give it a look/see: http://irememberbanding.tumblr.com/. He has a series of posts called "EDH Tech You've Never Heard of." Very similar to this series, but dedicated to going real deep.

If you don't like countering spells...you are reading the wrong blog, but if you don't like blowing things up you're on the wrong planet. Everyone likes a good kill spell, right?



















I know this looks pretty suspicious, but I recommend playing Viashino Heretic in mono-red builds anyway. If you are running a land destruction theme, then this is sick. Adjust your removal suite to use things like Shatter or Demolish instead of direct damage. If you can get the coating into play you suddenly have a stack full of Vindicates instead of Demolish.

Do you know someone who likes fatties? Maybe a little too much? Do they like to skimp on removal because they don't know enough about Magic? GET 'EM.


















Pretty strong against certain colors of mono-brews. This combo is also kind of a trump in the mono red mirror if you can stick it to the right guy. Not that trumping mono red mirrors was a significant feat...
Oh well young ones that's all the time old grandpa has for today. It almost time for my afternoon nap. Come back next week.

"Would you like to try an apple pie for 99 cents?"
"I'll pass."

UL's Card Corner: Invader Parasite

His legs are pretty much Slurpee straws.
I hope that explains my dumb nickname.

Guess you could say I've been bitten by the Red bug.

It's no secret to anyone that this is clearly not my color of choice, and it still isn't, but I'm all the more well-rounded as a result. 

Invader Parasite, which I call "Slurpee Bug," is perhaps the most appropriately named card for the way in which this particularly dreadful EDH color has influenced my playing as of late.

Though I wish it were one less colorless to cast, Invader Parasite has been a pretty decent card, especially going downhill (on the play, making consistent landdrops) in my Fumiko the Lowblood EDH, which I play when I'm not trying to be serious about Magic.

What I've found though, is that Invader Parasite is great utility, and has influenced my opponents in great ways. Much of my metagame has been very resistant to the idea of Land Destruction, and as a result, everyone seems to want to go off with Extraplanar Lens, Cabal Coffers, and Gauntlet of Power to play more of the arms race game.

Annoyed with people wanting to play games fast, I've changed many of my decks to be full of goofy tricks, and Slurpee Bug is one of them.

Comparatively, this card is on par with the less expensive Avalanche Riders or the less utlity Acidic Slime, and in my mind, generates card advantage on the board the way that Control Magic effects do in blue. You go up a card, a removable dude, but your opponent goes down a potentially valuable land.

Additionally, you have the incentive and the option to go for pains and exile a basic land, which will really cripple mono-Green ramp and people like me who love to play Boundless Realms.

Worse comes to worse, they waste a piece of removal, so your Inferno Titan is free to throw the beats next turn.

Overall, I've find this card to be pretty good in most red decks, considering disrupting your opponent's mana curve and playing dudes are your only real shots to victory in mono-Red or dual-colored red decks.

The Slurpee Bug is a very downhill card though if you've got it in your opening hand. In the late game, it's essentially going to become a card that either gets rid of a land essential to your opponent's strategy like Cabal Coffers or it's not really going to do anything at all but delay a decent combo deck one turn.

Whatever the tempo, make sure you can adjust accordingly. If you can, then Slurpee Bug is gonna be sweet, and you'll be slurp-derp-ing your opponent's lands and life totals to victory. Every bit of damage counts in red, and he helps. So get in there with Invader Parasite.

Peace, Love, Land Drops.

-UL

Team Sheldon, Stand Up!

For lack of a currently better title, let's just say when it comes to EDH and the Rules Committee, I'm okay with the job EDH guru Sheldon Menery and co. have done with the format.

If this were Twilight, we'd be Team Sheldon.

Fortunately, this isn't a horrible vampire high school romance novel. My readers deserve tip-top blathering from a tip-top blatherer such as myself, and I'm gonna give it to them.

Recently, GG and I have had an intra-Facebook debate about the legitimacy of the EDH rules committee, and we thought we'd bring our points to the place that they should be- right here on The General Zone. So expect Grandpa's two cents here soon.

What does it mean to be a "Menery-o-nite?"

It means that I support the rulings and decisions that have led to the creation of the basic rules and changes that the Committee has made currently and hopefully will going forward. They've demonstrated to me that, as a collective, the RC has the knowledge and insight to continue to create coherent, fun, and competitive games of Commander all across the world.

Before this, EDH was sort of a back-alley Magic Game played by shady long-time spellcasters next to sketchy dice gamblers behind your local game store. The core set of EDH rules as we know them, weren't firmly established, leading to people playing 30 life, or distributing an even life total out of 200 amongst the people in the game.

There was madness, chaos, and it was filled with annoying super-pro-competitive players who just played it to break the format.

Moxes were cast, and combos were played, sometimes before anyone else got a turn. As a result, only a handful of people who knew the format and really, really loved playing it were about the only people kept interested.

It was Sheldon and his team that formed and continues to establish EDH as you see it today. They set the life totals to 40. They created the 21-and-done Commander damage rule, and layed down rules to help support the more in-depth interactions that can happen as a result of the atypical coagulation of mechanics and the random exile-but-not-exile place you and I know as "The Command Zone."

Just like they set the rules, the RC, through much gameplay, has created an "Official Banlist" of cards that they've proven, through playtesting and a verdict, that such cards shouldn't be permitted to play due to a logical and thorough set of rules.

I put "Official Banlist" in quotes because this is the way that the RC wishes for you to perceive their rules. They are merely the groundwork for a bigger social component, which is part of EDH, and why it continues to grow.

The name of the game is and always has been "Choose Your Own Adventure." This is something the RC continues to promote and endorse. The only reason the banlist was made "Official" is because it's the preferred nomenclature of Magic Try-Hards who most likely get into the game by playing 60-card competitive games. Anything less wouldn't be taken seriously, and without a certain overarching structure, games would be less accessible and more difficult to get into. 

Having this stable set of rules and regulations allows people to get into games quicker now because the expectations are simple, and you should be actively knowing what is and isn't acceptable etiquette, like anything else in life.

While EDH is still a very gritty game wrought with many strange board interactions with cards that were never supposed to be put together, the RC has been instrumental, at least to me, in creating a way to have some reasonable expectations when you sit down at a table with strangers who have a 99 mysterious cards in their library out of a 20,000+ card pool.

The rules also provide a decent illusion about the format that lures players of other Magic formats into playing EDH. The idea that there is a neutral structure to accept destroys some of the pre-existing stigmas associated with EDH, such as the fact that this game is only for people who've been playing a long time, and therefore have infinitely good, old cards and an extensive knowledge of the rules.

As a result, Commander as a format has become very popular- so much, in fact, that Wizards of the Coast had to alter their own product design to meet our needs, and from what I know, will be doing so over every year for as long as the format remains a serious part of their target market. 

This stability with rules, including the bannings, only helps the format because you have a starting point that isn't a question mark. It's concrete, complete, and at your fingertips if you can find the closest thing with Internet.

One of the cards that GG and I both think should've been put on the banlist IMMEDIATELY was Triumph of the Hordes. Since we're pretty notorious green players, we found that this card ended games unusually quick and our games became complete bummers.

That was perhaps the most taboo card we had, and even if we didn't like something the other person was playing, we just played through the pain anyway. It's how we learned.

We also had softbans on the Legendary Eldrazi and Blightsteel Colossus, mostly for the challenge, but also because they're just big 'ol dumb cards that were really only fun casting once or twice.

In my new playgroup though, they are welcome, and they aren't problems for me. I beat Ulamog and Kozilek in consecutive turns last Wednesday in a game with a Mono-Red Deck, so believe me when I say, "Ain't Nothin' But A G-Jura Thang." 

That said, I don't think that people should be trying to create their own rules if they aren't EDH-Smart. If that leads to Menery and pals having some sort of "papal power" over us, than let it be. The work they've done is in place so newer players can bypass certain barriers to entry for the format and have knowledge of what isn't in the metagame, which should help them to understand what cards aren't really fun anyway, should they continue to play the game.

Since Kokusho was unbanned, I'm actually fairly pleased with the current banlist. Because GG and I have played a majority of the cards on the list, I can tell you that I completely understand and agree with what is currently there.

I also like the fact that cards like Coalition Victory and Biorhythm are banned. I'm of the opinion that these cards are actual nonsense anyway, and if you're playing these cards you're not being cute, funny, or some attractive hybrid. You're just being lame, and I'm lamer if I have no way to find an answer to your goofy-bad card.
However, as a person who does enjoy making up various sub-formats of Commander, I think that it's important to learn about these cards if you like the game, so that you can have experience playing with and against cards you do and don't like to enhance your own games.

I see no way else to become a knowledgeable player than by finding a place to start with a little order. Under the right circumstances and in the right groups, changing EDH to fit your visions of what you like about the game can really be great in groups where the games have gotten stale, or you just want to change the dynamic to balance the game in a different way.

Still, these kinds of variants can really only be successful when everyone is on board, and you have a decent enough relationship with people in your playgroup. This means that you have to have met the people and properly communicated the knowledge to do so, which is sometimes difficult if you play in stores and only see these people once a week.

Anyway, that's all I really gotta say about Team Sheldon.
Look for GG's article, which I'm sure is prepared to be slanderous, rebellious, and all things contrary, but in a good way, cause he hates the banlist.



Always curious to hear your thoughts, comments, etc.

So for goodness sake-

untap and play along.

-Uncle Landdrops

Super Secret Sunday #3: Never coming back

Welcome to another edition of the Magic Show....I mean SUPER SECRET SUNDAY! Where we discuss some underutilized cards, under the radar strategies, and under-thought thoughts.

Today we are going to look at a couple of Black cards. There are some very good reasons to go Black in Commander. I can't tell you why people never go back, but that's really a discussion for another time.


We have a spicer right off the bat here. I like card advantage. I love disruption. This tight little package has been ripping up my pauper cube. If you are playing Hymn to Tourach already, then good on you. You know how destructive this effect can be. It's time to add a second copy.
Casting this on the play often comes down to whether they want to keep an early accelerant/equipment or be down on cards. I have seen my fair share of opponents discarding two lands and being choked on mana while you deploy threats.






I am a big fan of free information. I like to play cards like Gitaxian Probe and Duress because they let me get that information, but still break even on cards. Most people don't have the sniper skills to play Cabal Therapy in Commander. If this sounds like you then try Brain Pry. You can name the card you are most scared of and draw if you miss. Just like the Therapy, you name the card on resolution, not when you cast it.You can combine this with other Duress effects for sure hits or wait for them to present some sort of tutor effect so see what they searched up.
Even if you end up just cycling it, the free information let's you play around what your opponent has and makes it that much easier to set up a winning line of play.




Infernal is a strange one. Honestly, I don't run this card in any decks, but a friend recently saw it and asked if it had any potential or if it was just dead in a singleton format. The truth is: this is probably going to sit in your hand until you have no other cards, which is very situational. However, having another tutor effect when your hand is almost empty can be very powerful. At the very least you can cash this to get a Swamp at almost any point, which isn't so bad. I have been known to Diabolic for lands on many occasions since Black can have some trouble getting it's lands going without a persistent card draw engine. This is probably the sketchiest card I have presented here so far on Super Secret Sundays, but not for long....






And.........we've hit a new high on the all-time sketchiest tech list. I never see anyone playing this card anymore. Perhaps its appeal has been eroded through time, bannings, and the coming of functional reprints. To me, this card is still a ton of fun. If you are in the TL;DR crowd, shame on you, but I understand. Here is how it works in Commander:
You name a card in your deck. Then exile the top 6 cards of your library. If the named card is there, scoop 'em up, you've lost. If it isn't in the top 6 you start exiling cards off the top until you find it. Put it into your hand and everything else goes away.
I know it sounds bad. Why would I play a card that will just make me lose, Grandpa? Well let's say you already have about 19 cards out of your deck. Pretty typical for turns 6-10. You have a 6/80 chance of losing, and probably another 6/80 chance of not having enough cards left in your deck to win once everything is all said and done. That's a 15% chance that every goes horribly wrong and you lose BECAUSE you cast this card. The other 85% percent of the time you get an instant speed demonic tutor for B. Now, take into account that even if this card were something else, you're reasonably likely to lose about half the downside games anyway (assuming you have a competitive matchup), so you are really only hurting yourself about 8% of the time. Now the question of whether or not you should play Consultation becomes clear: Will casting this make you win in the other 92% of games? It's tough to say. Even if you do end up winning, it might be unclear whether Consultation was THE reason you won.
Even if you are very risk averse, you can still name a basic land off this and be almost guaranteed for the drawback not to matter.
At best, this is an instant speed DT that can get you the answer you need, even with a threat still on the stack (think Pact of Negation). At worst, this is a quirky and fun tutor card that leads to great stories no matter how the game turns out. 

If you didn't like all the nonsense going on in Demonic Consultation, but you thought it was on the right track, then this for you. You can't lose automatically. The chance of drawing out later is minimized because you can stop exiling cards whenever you want. It's still an instant-speed trump-tutor. You can't ever hit two of the same card, either. You still end up showing your opponent what you tutored for and half your deck in the process, but that's not so bad. It does cost TWICE as much as consultation while still only being half as fun, but some would call that a plus. Basically...play this. It's too good not to.








This is the last card for today and probably the safest and most consistent of the tutors I have presented. It's the one I am sure you are most likely to play and see others play. Largely because its additional cost isn't very hard to plan for and it's price tag is low compared to other top quality tutors. If you are on a budget and must have tutor effect, then this is what you're looking for. A great compliment to Diabolic Tutor and also a decent stand-in for Demonic Tutor. Pretty solid. Nothing fancy.





That's all for today young ones. Hope you found something you liked. Until next time.
Peace out. A-town down.....or whatever it is you kids say.
Paaaassssssssssss.