(Bringin' It) Back From The Brink #1: Spellshapers

Happy Thor's Day Zoners!

JC's off this week, so I thought I'd kick off a new-but-not segment here on TGZ called Bringin' It Back From The Brink.

Mostly, we're going to be doing reviews on card cycles that are out of Standard and have probably been so for a long time.

The idea is that maybe you'll find some cool new cards to add to pre-existing decks or to build around in new decks. So I won't be doing a whole lot of grading, per se. I will be ranking them though.

Today we've got the Legendary Spellshapers from Prophecy on the docket. So let's get started.

GREEL, MIND RAKER

We'll start off with my favorite.

Greel's ability is probably the strongest in the cycle, even without looking at color identity. Mind Twist is one of Grandpa's favorite cards, and there's a reason it's been banned in French Duel Commander rules. On the play and with even minimal acceleration, Greel creates a legitimate threat that your opponent(s) will have to deal with. It's a lot of pressure, especially because there aren't a lot of aggro decks that can effectively get rid of their hand before he takes it away.

In this way, your own discard is a small price to pay, regardless of what you're throwing away. Having to pitch two cards to force your opponent to pitch 4 isn't great, but it's only one card more than typical Mind Twist.

And this is all without even the simplest design strategy. With access to removal and Reanimate, there's plenty of card advantage to be had by pitching big, over-costed threats and cheating them into play.

Maindeck, I could see this card having value too. There is a strict value assessment we make when we choose a Commander and taking that away makes this card pretty good too.

MAGETA THE LION

Going right down the line, Mageta is the second most powerful, but there's a lot less freedom in design.

Greel has a lot of space for threat choices and decent access to card advantage.

With Mageta, and by extension, the rest of the spellshapers on the list, there's significantly less redundancy, or really even reasonably playable cards.

As a Commander, the deck is doable though it'll probably be fairly expensive. Big playable cards like Endless Horizons and Land Tax provide enough land to ensure that there is a Wrath every turn, while a Crucible and Sun Titan will need to be there to eke out extra card advantage.

Therein lies the problem though. Mageta's ultimate reliance on typical "GoodStuff" does work to balance the power out. Still, it really doesn't do much to win this way. This deck will still need win conditions, and if Mageta is also the win condition, that feels like a little too much responsibility.

JOLRAEL, EMPRESS OF BEASTS

This is probably my favorite artwork of the cycle. Very regal.

Jolrael appeals to me as a Commander because she's an offensive force and a serious rattlesnake card to control players who like to Wrath.

Green supports her effect pretty well with its monopoly on ramp, but it comes at a hefty price. Pitching cards is a lot higher of a risk in these colors because there's essentially zero value to be had.

Still, if you like to be the Overrun guy, this is a cool deck. It's unique among Green decks because most builds, like Azusa, want to ramp and play dudes. In this one, you get to focus on ramp and  noncreature permanents like Akroma's Memorial that help to pump the squad.

Honestly, I like this one a little bit better than Mageta, but all it takes is Oblivion Stones to shut it down.

Alexi, Zephyr Mage

We're now in the realm of the not-quite-useful ones.

There are way better options in blue, and I don't see the appeal.

Alexi's a lot worse than cards that do what she does and so spellshaping with her feels basically useless.

I'm sure that there are good Blue decks that could win without a Commander. That's where I'd play this.

I think you guys know me well enough. I like bouncing stuff. Generally, it's pretty good, but if I have to discard in a blue deck, I'd rather be Looting.

LATULLA, KELDON OVERSEER

I'm not sure Latulla's actually worse than Alexi, mostly because Latulla can actually do some damage. Still, both have a lot of trouble finding value in their own colors.

Latulla's not realistic. The lengths that someone has to go to in order to develop synergies and get combos off look like way too much work when there's better options for Burn-style decks.

I see a lot of wasted turns trying to get combos off. Furthermore, actually netting additional cards in red is so hard I could see Latulla only being activated once or twice before you're forced into top deck mode.

Overall, I just find HH to be better. The lists will be fairly identical- Illusionist's Bracers, Basilisk Collar, and other damage doublers, so why not just play the better card?

Overall, this cycle is pretty neat and relatively underplayed. I'd love to see more Mageta and Jolrael decks. More Spellshaping would be great to see in general.

Till then, Take it Sleazy. And Enjoy Those Theros Spoilers.

-UL