Today we take a special look inside one of the newest Commander-specific additions to the mana Multiverse in Opal Palace.
Normally, I talk on Card Corner about how super-awesome-extraordinary a card is or can be when put in the right deck.
Surely, this is not the case for Opal Palace. I've tried it out now in a few decks, and I've got some good scouting efforts. So let's get to them.
In the Commander 2013 Review, GG talked about how he felt Command Tower was grossly overpowered. I think he's pretty right. Our expectations of getting something equally as powerful or even more were definitely dashed when they spoiled this thing, which looks more like the rejected concept art for the Wizard of Oz, or a rainbow forcefield on the secret command center for the Power Rangers.
Still, I don't think Opal Palace is terrible- but it really does have to be in the right deck. And if you played any of the preconstructed versions of the deck for any length of time, you may know that the only one that this belonged in was the Marath deck.
Marath meets most of the conditions that allow this deck to thrive, and with a few key changes to its design, Opal Palace could actually be OP.
The first of those conditions is that Marath is a general centric deck, probably focused on 21 general damage and/or setting up combos to get infinite mana, infinite dudes, or infinite +1/+1 counters. You want to cast him early and often, and as long as he doesn't get tucked, you're not worried about your opponents killing him, or Marath being a victim of your own board sweeps. Naturally, all these things are inhibited by an easy-to-meet original CMC.
Many other Commanders share these qualities too. Vorel, Daxos, Ulasht, Animar, Exava, Glissa T's, Isamaru, Omnath- all of these cards would like to have this card out because of the things that they can do with it.
However, the Opal Palace comes with some consistency issues. I had trouble justifying it in Animar without ways to go get it. Furthermore, there really wasn't any reason to want to go get it. Most of the decks I mentioned all have green or great ways to ramp and/or tutor lands, whether it's Weathered Wayfarer, Sylvan Scrying, or just straight up Diabolic Tutor.
Again, though- is Opal Palace going to be a first choice land? No way. In most games I've played with Daxos, having Opal Palace was nice, but it wasn't something that made me want to go out of my way to get. At best, it's a third, fourth, or fifth target for Wayfarer, and a late-late game addition for a deck like Omnath, should it get that far.
That doesn't mean Opal Palace is terrible. After all, it still taps for something. It's just more cut-able than other parts of the mana base.
Have you guys had experience with or against Opal Palace yet?
Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below.
Until next time, ____________________________________ (fill in the blank)!
-UL
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