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
No comments:
Post a Comment