Much like Theros, New Mexico is referred to as the "Land of Enchantments." Hence the title, and the theme of today's Stack installment.
Enchantments are becoming a much bigger part of the EDH metagame, thanks to this newest plane in the multiverse, and it's about time we had something to rival what has been traditionally the "weakest" card type, minus big namers like Land Tax, Exploration, and the rest of the Enchantment Elite.
We picked some of our favorites today, for your enjoyment. So let's get to it.
THIS IS THE STACK!
VENSER'S JOURNALIST'S PICK
Maybe it's because I'm all about Azorius. Maybe the first good deck I built was Blue/White. Maybe it was all the copies of Isperia Classic and the Geist of Saint Traft my buddy traded to me. Every time, this card is a game-winner. Maybe not every time, but you get my point. No greater amount of damage, no better life-gain have I gotten than with this on a big U/W bruiser. Granted you need a creature to really make this card effective, it still is worth the effort.
Lifelink alone is fantastic. Unblockable is superb. I've never seen a scoop as radical as the time I slapped this onto GoST (who wasn't my commander, but in retrospect, should have been). Tables weren't flipped, but I was knocked out of every multiplayer game first for about two weeks.
Johnny Confidant- THUMBS UP
I enjoy netting +2/+2 Lifelink and unblockable on my new Daxos general. Steel of the godhead is a good mix of abilities. Id prefer vigilance but since daxos seems to be a late blomer I cant complain during his initial test runs.
Uncle Landdrops- THUMBS UP
I played this card in Big Pauper Zur. It was pretty good there, but I doubt I'll be found playing it anywhere outside of that deck or in another format. Also, there's a lot more enchantment hate at the kitchen tables these days.
Grandpa Growth-THUMBS DOWN
No, I don't think so...I have a U/W deck that is SPECIFICALLY DEDICATED to slamming auras on a genuinely busted creature. That deck does not play this card. Mainly because there really isn't a reason to small ball. If you are going to play a snapped card like Bruna, or Zur, or Geist why bother playing fair enchantments? If you are going to violate the social contract of EDH you might as well do it proudly.
GRANDPA GROWTH'S PICK
Yep. I did it. The OG. The skull. Necro. It established some very important strategic elements within the game. Cards are worth more than life. Card advantage wins games. Card advantage enables you to find combo pieces. Perhaps the most important lesson that we learned from Necro is this: when you play a threat and your opponent answers it, the game doesn't always return to parity. Sometimes one party can get ahead on tempo or mana. Perhaps your deck is threat-light, so you only have a few creatures and it is important to keep them alive or else you can't ever win. In the case of Necropotence, you play it and you are ALWAYS up on cards no matter when or how they answer the necro. This residual value makes it pretty much impossible to lose in a grindy match up. Hince why I like necro...since Commander is the grindiest format ever devised by man.
Johnny Confidant- THUMBS DOWN
First of, to say that I would never play this card would be a lie, If I had this card it would be in Karador and Sylvan Library would be removed for a tutor spell. I've seen it's power, I've known the advantage it brings, and I'm all for it.
It's tough to hate on a card that you would love to play, but it's probably the most broken card that I have ever played against. The moment it resolves you've got nothing really short of Split-second to save you from a painful and quick end.
Venser's Journalist- THUMBS UP
I wouldn't say that this enchantment has won me over. I wasn't initially going to give this card the thumbs up, but GG makes some very important observations. First off, card advantage is almost always more important than life... in combo decks. Some decks are really built around life and creatures, so this is a very niche card. The BBB mana cost also makes it pretty damn niche.
My problem with the card is the fact that the cards set aside are not given to you instantly. You have to wait for your next discard phase, so if you're looking for a quick response, let's hope you pulled it last discard phase. Also, skipping one's draw phase seems a little risky considering the long spiel on card advantage.
After a lot of thought, and seeing this card used in sacrifice/life gain decks, I've decided that it's a good enchantment. That being said, you won't find me using this card in any of my current decks.
Uncle Landdrops- THUMBS UP
This is a card I've played, and as usual, that's why it gets a thumbs up. It's a challenging card, not only because it keeps you ahead, but also because it is not an easy card to manage- especially if you're behind.
Buyer beware though- Necro is a great enchantment for most decks, but not for one of black's biggest archetypes; Reanimate. At least, it's really awkward when you draw a bunch of cards that have to go to exile.
JOHNNY CONFIDANT'S PICK
Johnny Confidant- THUMBS UP
This card is so much fun to have around. Sun titan approves, It's super tutorable in Black/White, and it has Flash. Toss in a "any graveyard" and pass a glass- I'm here to cheer for Necromancy!
I have used this for revival denial, my own creature recursion, Combining it with a Kill-Steal spell mix, and everything in between. It's a card that if I could have any foil, I would have this.
Grandpa Growth - THUMBS UP
Sick card is sick. One of the best reanimation effects ever printed. It has gone through some ups and downs as updated rules and errata tweak its functionality, but it is still strong. Having an Animate Dead/Shallow Grave Split card definitely makes combat interesting and Commander players know all too well how to capitalize on a stocked graveyard.
Venser's Journalist- THUMBS DOWN
Having an enchantment you can play at instant speed is pretty interesting. Being able to choose a creature from any player's graveyard is great flexibility. So it seems like this is a pretty neat enchantment, huh?
I'm not so sure. I can't say I've ever seen this in play and in theory, this could make for some solid graveyard recursion, but I just can't get over the fact that it can become an instant, and thus lose the ability to gain a useful creature. The mechanic is just bizarre. So you can play it as an instant, grab a creature out of someone's graveyard, then because it's an instant you have to bury Necromancy, and once that leaves play you have to bury the creature you chose? Seems a bit too convoluted to me.
Why not just use Cremate to stop a potential re-animate? Plus Cremate nets you a card!
Uncle Landdrops- THUMBS UP
I'm playing this card. It's sweet. The art is some of the scariest, and it has some versatility for the desperate times. I wish more enchantments had even this much flexibility, even if its not an optimal play. It can at least get you out of the danger zone.
UNCLE LANDDROPS' PICK
I had a tough time picking my actual favorite, because I'm more of an artifact guy.
Nature's Will is a cool one though. Not a universally good card, but it works well with Yeva. An extra dude early on is usually pretty good also.
Most of the other enchantments I like I've talked about a lot, like Nevermore and Parallax Wave, so we're not necessarily picking my favorite.
What makes the card useful in Yeva is the ability to cast a sorcery spell, like Harmonize or Conjurer's Closet, then untap so I can play a dude for additional value.
Different matchups make this a little better. Against control, it allows me to get another threat. I can attack and get downhill momentum to resolve spells. In control decks that splash green, it's pretty good too. Playing great lands like Yavimaya Hollow, Mikokoro, and Rogue's Passage help to boost its power, and can also provide nice ways to use mana that might go unchecked the first time around. Definitely a card I had to build around, but I like it when I can play offense and defense at the same time. On curve, it can pay for itself, and every turn after, there's some marginal benefit.
Johnny Confidant- THUMBS UP
I used to play bear umbra (and don't ask me why bears get your mana to untap) but the hard part for me with that was getting through with that creature. I upgraded to Seedborn Muse and had much more consistency with maintaining my manabase with responsive spells.
What this has to do with this enchantment is power creep with my mana base. Ideally, the more evasion creatures you have makes this card more useful. The sad part is that it doesn't trigger for each connection made per creature which would be tricky to manage outside of flash but ultimately would be better. It's a good card if you have consistency.
Grandpa Growth- THUMBS DOWN
It is unclear to me why anyone would play this card instead of SoFaF. The process of equipping things can be a pain, but for that two mana you get to have protection from two colors, a power and toughness boost, and they have to discard a card? Deal. The idea of tapping your opponents lands really isn't much of a bonus. If you wait till after you attack in hopes of protecting your spells from counters, you end up wasting the advantage of tapping your lands twice anyway. Not to mention that you are ahead on board by default. You have this and enough of squad to actually get in hits, so you shouldn't need to commit more to the board. You need to leave up your mana to protect this position, if possible.
Venser's Journalist- THUMBS UP
This is like a more aggressive Seedborn Muse, and I like that about this enchantment. It puts a strong slow-down on control decks, but can also be great for a control deck. Few things are more satisfying than being able to play a bunch of huge creatures in your 1st main phase, deal combat damage, then have all your mana available for more shenanigans during the 2nd main phase or mana open for instants.
That's all we got for today. Be sure to tune in tomorrow as Grandpa begins assessing Commander 2013.
Until then, be excellent to each other. And Party On Dudes!
-UL, GG, VJ, and JC's Excellent Adventure
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