In General: The BotG Conversion Chart

Hello and welcome to In General. Every Sunday on The General Zone I, Grandpa Growth, write a column about higher level topics. Fundaments of strategy, psychology, theory, and player trends. In a departure from the norm, today I will be talking about specific cards.

Theros block has had a significant impact on the Commander format. Entirely new decks have been born to take advantage of the Devotion mechanic, as I discussed at length last week. Today, I will follow up on that article by sharing what I call a conversion chart. Every time a new set comes out, I comb through the spoilers for the cards that I believe will make immediate entrances into my favorite formats. These cards are usually updated versions of older cards, being either stronger, cheaper, or more versatile than their spiritual predecessors. To clarify I will present an easy example, sans context.



Triton Shorethief shares the same mana cost, but adds a second relevant sub-type and increased toughness. For all intents and purposes, Merfolk of the Peal Trident is strictly worse, effectively being obsoleted by the printing of Shorethief. So as a new set is released I will look to obtain copies to replace Merfolk of the Pearl Trident wherever I was using it. The conversion chart is the complete list of all such replacements that I want to make for a given set, but it is important to note that I don't only replace older cards with newer ones. As I will demonstrate, it is important to think about how new cards will affect the standing of other related cards. Specifically, the God cards in Theros block made certain kinds of removal less desirable so I will look to replace them with more effective alternatives from previous sets in response to the new threats.

If you're thinking this is pretty basic, you're right. These types of changes have already been detailed by Magic writers and thinkers all over the internet. This isn't new or unique, merely a collection of my own thoughts, scribbled into one space for others to share. For reference the obsolete card is on the left, the card replacing it will be on the right. Some cards that fit the theme of 'spiritual sequels' have been intentionally left off because the format hasn't yet reached saturation with this type of effect and both it and its predecessor will be played alongside one another. E.g. Courser of Kruphix and Oracle of Mul Daya. Also, this is by no means an exhaustive list. If you think something deserves mentioning, make sure to let me know in the comments below. Share the tech, share the wealth. That's quite enough preamble. Let's look at the chart:






These cards fit the role of being Black token hosers and, while they individually only see very limited play in Commander, it is worth noting that superior options have become available. Although, I feel obligated to point out that in both cases the flavor text has gotten DECIDEDLY worse.

Both Day of Judgment and Hallowed Burial are cards that have been on the fringe of playability in my decks for quite some time, despite being generally accepted by the format at large. Now, with the addition of serious pressure to build around the Gods, I have found myself with no real choice in the matter. I simply MUST play Hallowed Burial because it can answer the Gods and I can't afford to play Day because it doesn't.



I have made a habit of including Vengeance in decks for a long time as s way of hedging my bets. I despise playing situational answers. I want to know my opponents and have the right answers for their threats. In most cases that means just playing more general, more versatile removal. The Cycling ability adds extra flexibility for when I don't need a sweeper. Unfortunately, now I have other things to worry about. Specifically, I am more worried about being able to answer the Gods than I am about incidentally answering random Artifacts and Enchantments.




















I want to note, I don't actually play Naturalize in any deck, this is more of a general commentary: I am going to discontinue playing all Artifact/Enchantment removal that can't answer God cards in play. I already dedicate very few slots in any given deck to this type of effect and I can't afford to waste them on cards that aren't going to be effective against the format's threat du jour.




















Similarly, I am much more worried about answering a God card in play than I am about busting peoples chops for taking to much time to rearrange their library with Sensei's Divining Top. I always felt cheaky and clever when I 'got' people with Grip, but things have changed and so must my decks. At least for the time being...



This is mostly a consideration for Pauper, where I will be switching in copies of Fall of the Hammer in both Commander decks and my Pauper Cube.



Again, this is a general commentary about moving away from niche removal. At this point I would rather have a worse card that can at least interact with the Gods in some way, even if it isn't ideal.

Well, there you have it Zoners. Those are the general changes I making in my decks to combat the new tech in BotG. I hope you enjoyed the look inside of your old Grandpa Growth's decks. If you have thoughts on these changes or if you want to talk about the changes you are making in your own decks, share your thoughts in the comments. Till next week Zoners!
-GG

The Stack #50- Repeal the Banlist (Sort of)

Well, it's just GG and UL here on this Saturday's somewhat controversial Stack.

Last week, we talked about the cards we wanted to get banned. So naturally, we decided to pick a couple cards we thought we'd like to see unbanned.

So let's get to it! This is THE STACK!

UNCLE LANDDROPS' PICK 

Uncle Landdrops-  THUMBS UP
I do my best to support and uphold the banlist. It's the best way to ensure consistent game play where the group isn't some small clique of kids playing in a basement or apartment. That said, I've also played with a lot of the banned cards in this latter setting with GG, so been there, done that.

Academy, I suppose, used to be less baffling than it is now. I know Artifacts are more important than Enchantments, which is why this is here and Serra's Sanctum isn't, but I don't see the big deal now. Nykthos is a thing. Cabal Coffers is still a thing. Gaea's Cradle is a thing. We already play hate for it in the metagame. I agree with Gifts and Karakas and Recurring Nightmate and most of this suggested list. Academy could definitely be revisited, in my opinion.


Grandpa Growth-  THUMBS UP
I don't like the idea of imposing outside restrictions on my possibility space and typically I won't accept it. There are some standards I will accept however, but the EDHRC's official banned list doesn't seem to follow them. Chief among these standards is consistency. I see no profit in drawing arbitrary lines to decide what is 'good enough' and 'too good'. I have no doubt that Academy is more powerful than Nykthos, Cradle, Sanctum, and Coffers. That said, I don't agree with just drawing a line in the sand and saying, "Academy is too good. Anything as good or better should be banned." If fast mana is a problem, limit all fast mana. This card is not much better than Sol Ring, and would only show up in a fraction of the decks, but you don't see people crying out for the banning of Sol Ring.

GRANDPA GROWTH'S PICK

Grandpa Growth- THUMBS UP (for unbanning)
I think that it's worth stating that I don't support any card being banned in Commander. Limiting myself to talking about just a few cards feels like it is sending the wrong message. This card shouldn't be banned, but neither should any other. So bear in mind that this discussion does not have any bearing on what I think it the 'most deserving' of ban list amnesty.

If your stars sway low, let them wobble to and fro'. I think this card is silly and not a real threat to anyone. I don't think people would play it with sufficient regularity for it to become a 'problem'. That problem wouldn't even be a issue of card strength either. There is simply no in-game reason to limit the play of Sway because there simply isn't any strategic reason to play it at all. This card doesn't create a degenerate board state, doesn't instantly grant a player an easy victory, and is more difficult to take advantage of than other similar cards. Its cost is already prohibitive. At best it is worse than Upheaval. What the EDHRC doesn't like about this card is that it is mass disruption. Mass feel-bads for people who have over-spent their resources setting up "impressive", but fragile, board states. Upheaval should be legal. Sway should be legal. And if you had the first you would never even hear about the second.

Uncle Landdrops- THUMBS DOWN
I wrote Thumbs Down, but it's more of a leaning thing than a pure "No." I have the same relationship with this card as GG mentioned last week in talking about Top. Whereas Top is a card that can be used for skill and value, it is often a card Bad Magic Players use thinking they can be better at Magic. I feel the same way about Sway because I too was bad at Commander once, and did in fact buy this card with the intentions of playing it. Honestly, I think that reason is decent enough grounds for banning, and I don't mind being told what to do in this regard, simply because my experience and knowledge about this card and the way it impacts the game isn't necessarily so much a "spirit of the format" argument as much as it is a preventative measure for bad magic players and Kitchen Table Trolls who enjoy chaos decks where they blow up the board without intentions. Most cards of this caliber have a purpose, which isn't to blow stuff up for the sake of itself.

Unbanning wouldn't be so much a big deal- I just don't see how giving bad Magic players another card to play enhances the game. If Top is annoying, this would be a lot worse. Thank goodness most people prefer not to play Goblin Game.

UNCLE LANDDROPS' PICK 

Uncle Landdrops-  THUMBS UP
I know all about the boring 'ol infinite turns combo and that's surely enough to explain why Mirror is on this list. However, if a conversation ever arose in my group about someone who wanted to play this without Time Walking everyone, or Infini-Wrathing the board, I'd love to see the kinds of weird stuff that could be put on this card.

Grandpa Growth- THUMBS UP
I concur. There is a wealth of interesting interactions that can be created with this card and two-card instant-win combos are still available in every color combination. Why single out this card? Because it was popular? Because it is more versatile? Because it could actually be used as a value engine when a higher powered alternative wasn't available? That last explanation seems plausible at least, but this is still substantially worse than a good deal of combo cards that are still legal, which erodes the evidenciary argument for why this shouldn't be played.

GRANDPA GROWTH'S PICK

Grandpa Growth- THUMBS UP (for unbanning)
Using the same thought process as above, I see no real strategic reason for banning this because it simply isn't strong enough to play. The EDHRC seems to be afraid of cards that declare instant victory, as the prospect of several players experiencing disappointment simultaneously is apparently not an event they want to be seen to condone. The unfortunate truth (at least for the potential players of Coalition Victory, is that it is so unrealistic that you will hardly ever achieve it. This renders the idea of it being a problem to the format irrelevant. Additionally, this is a "win-more" card. If you have access to perfect mana and a board full of choice permanents...why aren't you winning already? In your five color deck you couldn't just assemble a handful of cards that were good enough to just win outright? I find that hard to believe. I find it even harder to believe that Coalition Victory would grant even a slight increase to the odds of five color decks winning more often were it made legal. Even though the printing of Nylea's Presence makes achieving the first half of the conditional clause the easiest it has ever been, this card is still abysmal and a waste of time for players who are serious about winning. In that light, it just seems like we are banning cards BECAUSE they are gimmicky and that is akin to having no reason at all.

Uncle Landdrops- THUMBS DOWN
Sometimes I don't read cards. It's only recently that I realized this card is not an Enchantment with an upkeep trigger, but a Sorcery that says "Win Target Game," should you hit its double rainbow of conditions. Were it an enchantment, I'd be more likely to say yes.

I guess I feel like there's zero sum in unbanning this card. I know GG, and he wasn't going to play this janky piece of chaff, and I think it'd be the general consensus among the more serious Commander players. I don't disagree with his point about saying "No" in an inconsistent way and limiting deckbuilding. But this is a rare case where I don't think we should care about this card, and we shouldn't have to consider it in the metagame either.

Do you agree or disagree with us? Would you have picked something else? Be sure to tell us in the comments below.

Have a good day. Pass it up.
-UL/GG

UL's "Better" Deckbuilding: Doran's Siege Tower Defense Squad EDH

Happy Almost Friday Zoners!

A month or so ago I promised you the results of several different Commanders that I'd been re-invigorated to try with new lists- Sygg, River Cutthroat, Momir Vig, and my favorite Happy Tree Friend, Doran, the Siege Tower, which I'm excited to share with you here on TGZ.

LAST TIME WE SAW DORAN...

A while back I was rocking a list I called "Doran the Explorer," which was an extensive low-CMC Enchantment Voltron deck mostly for use in 1v1.

After a while, the deck got pretty boring, and I was forced once again to ask the beloved Siege Tower for his Matrix of Leadership. Reluctant, but not discouraged, the big Treefolk receded into my binder, waiting for his chance again.

Because if you're a unique Legend in sweet colors with a fun and exciting ability, you're never out of the game for too long.

SO WHY DORAN AGAIN?

Earlier this year I was re-examining the various hilarious Doran Defender lists and made an interesting discovery- there wasn't a single list wholly committed to the Wall strategy.

Naturally, this gave me a challenge, and a chance for me to get Doran out of the binder once more.

That, and I'm a sucker for the flavor text.

THE RESTRICTIONS

Obviously, there's no creature in the main deck without Defender. But there are a few other nice subthemes included in the deck to help support our lack of consistent attacking "threats."

The next is a looser definition of Life Gain. Most people think of Life Gain decks and their minds jump to Test of Endurance, Celestial Mantle, Beacon of Immortality, Storm Herd, etc.- big, "beat-me-over-the-head" obvious cards that make your plan very obvious, and cost you a card slot in doing so.

Instead, what we're talking about here is the inherent value lost when you cast a creature and decide not to attack, for fear of dedicating resources to a futile cause, or fear of losing the creature in combat for an uneven trade. In either case, forcing your opponents not to attack you, but to go after someone more open at the table not only nets you life, but also influences them to pick off the easier targets. So playing defenders, in this case, is kind of like politics- except you don't have to say anything. By giving up your ability to attack, your defense is secure, and the more impatient Aggro-players at the table looking to get in the red zone have to find relevant removal or evasion.

However, backed up with an adequate amount of Wrath effects, we create another significant value bump. Since our opponents can only really hope to get quality evasion, or waste removal spells on Doran or one of his silly walls, we can actually force our opponent(s) to over-extend, creating quite a bit of card advantage via attrition. We can also play Planeswalkers, which, when protected by our walls, can further create value and keep combat damage away from us, thereby "gaining" more life.

The third theme is "tutorless." Now, some people might define that as zero cards containing "search your library." Here, I do have the Kodama's Reach suite of ramp, but nothing else. So I still have to draw into answers and game enders.

SO HOW DOES THIS DECK WIN? 

We've got several ways to win once we're able to get a few Walls online and protect our board state. Some are obvious cards that are powered-up by the lack of real threats in this deck. Some are just purely janky plans that should never happen if the game is going well. It is these two polarizing qualities that make this Doran list a pretty interesting little deck.

THE JANK

Rolling Stones here is one of the few enablers I have to jailbreak my creatures from the self-inflicted bonds that hold them.

Obviously, this kind of card has to be played with a lot of planning. Between Mick Jagger and Co. and Wakestone Gargoyle, there's really no way to get damage in. Even with this card out, we still have to have Doran in play to deal maximum damage.

Truly, it is a silly combo. However, if we're steadily eating our opponent's removal and they can't keep a consistent stream of cards in hand in the late game, there's a chance we can win.

Wall of Blood is perhaps my favorite "win-condition." Combined with Animate Wall, Warmonger's Chariot, or Rolling Stones above, we can usually get a nice chunk of damage in on our opponents in the late because our life total is just so much more lopsided.

The scalp count is up to two already at this point with Wall of Blood, and I've already been told that this dumb little card will never be underestimated again. It was not expected that I would pump Wall's power to lethal. Though the first was a very silly play early on in a 5-man pod that caused me to go to 5 life, it's worth the sacrifice to tell the story and call your opponent's bluff. Keeping your habits unpredictable amongst your play group is a formidable trait, and it can even make a difference in the game. Lesson learned.

THE BOOM BOOMS

Really, the best ways for me to win are through D to the D and Exsanguinate. Tipping the life total scales means I have to do a lot less work.

Normally, I find these cards pretty boring. In decks where there's already decent, established power amongst most of the cards, this is just a boring end to a boring game.

However, what I've found is that by making this and Exsanguinate the best of a handful of ways for me to win, I'm more satisfied with casting them, and my opponents suffer less dissatisfaction with a loss.

The deck is designed to support using these cards in the mid-to-late parts of the game, with a few ways to dig them back out of the graveyard in case of emergency.

Karn, ye olde Sorin Markov, and Vraska are the three planeswalkers I play in this deck. Again, all of them are obvious power cards people like to automatically sling into decks.

Here they serve the same purpose, even though their intentions have been altered from being "just another card" in a GoodStuff deck to being a card with a need, a healthy purpose, and a piece of the design that fills a need. These three share many similar qualities, but mainly they help to move the game along from a gridlocked state. Karn can re-start the game if I get a nice threat or two from my opponent(s). Sorin's second ability becomes significantly less "cheap" in a game where it's still hard to do 10 damage, and Vraska, well- I'm not sure I'm ever going to kill someone with assassins, but I have that flexibility too.

And if all else fails, when the world is in trouble, we call our Colossus of Akros.

The wrath-proof-iest Defender turned threat the world has ever seen is arguably our least resource-intensive way of getting the "W," and with this healthy stream of Wrath effects, it's one of our best ways to end the game in a few turns.

THE TECH

So we've talked about the ways Doran wins, and some of the ways we compensate for the challenges of the Defender design. However, we still have a few unique cards I found to help further the design.

Let's start off with a spicy little one-side Wrath.

It's true that Wave of Reckoning is not a Wrath of God, and it could end up putting us in a bad spot against Commanders with big butts. However, when you consider that most of the threats people want to play are Titans with equal Power and Toughness, Wave of Reckoning is a nice way to drown our opponents while not drowning us.

It's a small price to pay for an edge in board position, and we have access to a couple more in Solar Tide and Retribution of the Meek, the latter of which I also play in Lin Sivvi.

Of the couple of cards that survived from the original Doran build, Ad Nauseam quickly made its way back into the new 99 because of its sheer draw power. I really believe that short of Necropotence this is the best way to draw into cards if you're playing black, and it's even better when you can protect your life total.

In the original deck I was slightly more conservative with the amount of cards I drew, as I was looking more for ways to get general damage in than an actual spell. So I was most paying 15-20 life to draw 6 or 7 cards.

In this deck, I'm much more aggressive, willing to pay 25-30 life to dig as far down as I can to find both threats and answers. Since I don't have any tutors for spells or permanents, this is another reason I have to be aggressive with Ad Nauseam, but that's cool. It keeps the game interesting, and again, powers up the value of this card. I also play Necrologia, Phyrexian Arena, and Dark Tutelage, which are "like" effects that truly pale in comparison to the power of Ad Nauseam.

The last little piece of tech I'm playing in here, like Doran, is a fairly special tree. I'll admit it's been a while since my Boseiju had seen action, and I was skeptical about sliding it in after my last Doran deck edit.

However, I got a chance to get it out, and boy did it do work. In conjunction with Blind Obedience, I was basically netting life in the process of making sure my key spells couldn't be stopped.

Getting off Debt to the Deathless for X=11 with little to no response is exactly what this deck needs, and I'm glad this last minute inclusion paid off, even if it's a widely known as a strong card. I don't play against a heavy counterspell metagame, but it's still useful to be able to stick my Wraths and game enders when necessary.

This is still a deck I'm working on, so here's my list if you want to take a peek. Feel free to comment and +1 it if you're part of the TappedOut Community.

UL's Doran Siege Tower Defense Squad

Pass Turn.
-UL

Glowing Ranks #1: Counterspells

G'day Zoners!

Today we're kicking off a new TGZ segment to celebrate my favorite cards with specific functions int the typical Commander deck. Much like Oprah, I have favorite things, and while there's a laundry list of literature about them here on TGZ, Glowing Ranks will be where I'll grind out a concrete top 5. 

We'll be kicking off the series today with one of EDH's most controversial card archetypes- the counterspell. Here we go.

Honorable Mention- Cryptic Command

Duh. I felt really bad about not mentioning this in the list, but it's worth explaining why. 

Cryptic Command is more than just a counterspell. It does basically everything you'd want a card to do as a blue player, and so it's really impossible for me to justify putting it in a list where most of these cards don't do half the things Cryptic does.

I think it goes without saying that Lost in the Mist and Dismiss are two possible functions that this card can be, and neither of them could crack my Top 5, so I felt weird about putting this here, even if it is an excellent card. 

5. Negate

Playing enough removal to answer creatures has been, for a long time, a sufficient answer. Although I may have to change that with the Gods out now, I'm still much more inclined to sit back and let people have creatures, but not relevant game-ender spells. 

Negate is great, and though it sounds lyrical, it's doesn't make it less true. The power that this card has is miles above the silly, more specific counters like Annul or Swan Song. Hitting P-dubs is a huge deal in the grand scheme of things, and Negate has the ability to cover all the cards you really don't want to see in EDH. Creatures can be dealt with. G-Waves and Exsanguinates have to be stopped on the stack. 

It's not pure counterspell, but I'm okay with that. I mentioned a while back on The Stack that Island-Island is can be played into or played around. This is one of the advantages of Negate, especially in most of my double-colored decks. The mana cost allows me the flexibility to have other cards in my hand, and if all I have to give up is a creature, I'm not worried. 

4. Memory Lapse

Memory Lapse is a house. Against decks that can draw out of it, it still costs them resources. Against decks that can't, it stops their tempo "instantly." As I'm so often on the play due to my die-rolling deficiency, Memory Lapse is often the way I keep my opponent(s) from getting too far ahead. Used properly near the end of the game, it can even give you a whole turn before your opponent goes off.

Like Negate, the converted mana cost provides an insane flexibility for such a powerful card. However, unlike Memory Lapse, the better cards to counter are creatures in the late, and silly mana rocks like Sol Ring and Darksteel Ingot, or Cultivate, in the early game. 

In Daxos, I also play this when I decide that what my opponent's casting is something I really want. 

3. Lapse of Certainty

Lapse of Certainty has the same function as Memory Lapse, but it they are completely different. 

I won't argue that ML is better than LoC. In fact, I had a game last week where both were in my hand, and I ran into a mana situation because this is more expensive. Still, I'll be honest- it's ahead on this list because it's not blue.

That's not meant to be color-discriminatory, because I don't dislike blue as a color at all- it just goes along with what I was saying about broadcasting Island-Island earlier. This spell is surely going to catch people off their guard, and the element of surprise is great, even if you know I play this, and could expect it. 

I also like the art way better. It's kind of a weird thing to be from Conflux, especially because it doesn't look like anything from any of the Shards, but I'll take it. Some cards are just too playable to pass up.

2. Trickbind

This is a piece of tech I feel people know little about. 

For those who don't know GG, or have never played against him in a game of Magic, there's almost always going to be an Oblivion Stone, a Nevinyrral's Disk, or both in the context of a given game. 

Frustrated with having to force the Wraths, I decided it was time to find more answers than K-Grip. A Gatherer search following a particularly unpleasant game against Glissa T's proved to be well worth my while. I found this and another little spell called Interdict, which I immediately slammed into my decks the following week and proceeded to shutting down his silly slow-rolling. 

What I've discovered further about this card is that it breaks more than just Disks and Stones. Creatures with ETB effects are a vast majority of the meta, and Trickbind stops them too. The fact that this also adds triggered abilities gives this insane value. Terastodon and Tricking Purphoros with a huge Goblin Offensive on the stack are my best accomplishments to date when it comes to triggered abilities. Hitting Fetchlands and Strip Mines is also pretty tech too. 

1. Voidslime

I love everything about Voidslime. To me, this is the primo counterspell. It covers everything I'd want to stop, the art is sweet, and its converted mana cost makes it uniquely fitted for UG, which is a color combination I love to play. 

This card is one of the few special answers for infinite combo decks like Saffi or Black Mike, which thrive on triggered abilities. 

Like I said- I love everything about it. Even the bad flavor text. 

Well, that wraps up our first Glowing Ranks.

Do you have five favorite counterspells? Be sure to share yours in the comments below. Your thoughts are always appreciated. 

Thanks again! Pass Turn.

-UL

In General: RAMPANT FEAR-MONGERING

All right Zoners. This is In General. I am Grandpa Growth. I am back from having a week off. I hope you missed me because today you're gonna get your medicine!

You're watching reading The General Zone's Sunday segment, In General, where I talk about the bigger topics. Broad strokes strategy, game theory, player psychology, etc., and today I have a complaint. I don't like what the Theros God cards are doing to Commander. I am projecting a bleak future where we all live in subservience to the overwhelming indestructibility of the Legendary Enchantment Creature. It is undeniable that they have had a profound impact on what cards get main-decked and Devotion strategies have quickly become a pillar of the format. In fact, the ubiquity of these decks has all but completely edged out the existence of other mono-color decks. Although I don't necessarily expect it to stay that way forever, things are likely to get a lot worse before they get better. Let's break down a few of the things that make Devotion great in Commander and what we can do about them. Typical SWOT analysis. Let's bring down the Theros tyrants!

STRENGTHS:
Obviously, the keystone of the Devotion strategy is one of the God cards. The ability to continually re-cast them from the Command zone means that you can quickly exhaust your opponents counters and exiling removal. The low casting cost of these cards ensures that you will be able to put them into play multiple times; even if they are answered. Indestructible requires specific types of answers. Opposing sweepers are less effective. Your own sweepers are less destructive and easier to use. In the case of Erebos, you get easy access to card advantage. Heliod gives you a steady stream of tokens to abuse. Thassa balances your draws to ensure an even flow of gas. All of these things are just strong anyway, but when you have the added reliability of being tough to take away, you have a solid foundation for a winning strategy.

I wasn't all that thrilled with the Devotion mechanic until I saw Nykthos. At that moment I knew it could only go down one of two ways: either it sucks or it's awesome. When cheap, fast mana is involved, there isn't much a middle ground. You just get there or you don't. As it turns out, giving a brand new strategy its own Cabal Coffers that can be used for ANY color is pretty filthy. Nykthos is a powerful enabler that kick starts some blindingly fast draws. Devotion is a proactive, board-centric strategy. If you empty your hand quickly and begin to attack aggressively early on in the game, then your opponent can have a lot of trouble stabilizing. Note that Nykthos gets out of hand VERY FAST. You often have only one chance to kill the first Creature they play before they dump five more on the board next turn.

Mono Devotion strategies have the advantage of using older single-color tech like Scrying Sheets. The fact that you can play so many basic lands protects you from much of the potential hate, like Back to Basics, and you generally have fewer mana problems than multicolor brews.

That is pretty much it. Adding a resilient threat, ongoing incremental advantage, and fast mana to any deck would make it an instant metagame breaker. You just don't need anything else.

WEAKNESSES:

There are only a few cards that can deal with the Gods directly, but because of the popularity and ubiquity of Devotion strategies, you can expect to see them often. Some more regular tech is incidentally good against the Gods as well. Spin into Myth, Spell Crumple, and Hinder should already be format staples in your local metagame, but now you can bet more copies of Hallowed Burial, Condemn, Terminus, Deglamer, Unravel the Aether, and others, will show up.

Devotion requires particular card selections to be optimally effective. We want Creautres in play that add the highest possible number to our devotion. Unfortunately, these cards will require more colored mana and be harder to cast. The means things like Wasteland or Blood Moon can really get our goat if we aren't careful. This is even more true in multicolor decks.


OPPORTUNITIES:

Black and Red decks make easy pickings because they don't have ANY way to remove our God card. That is going to be very frustrating for them. They can still go after our resources, like cards and lands, but that is true of any deck we would want to play. Devotion has a real competitive advantage here.

White and Green have the most relevant answers AND the most of them so these matchups will be more interactive, but not necessarily tougher to win. Devotion has built in protection from board sweepers and can go toe-to-toe with token+Overrun strategies. Voltron style decks will have a very tough time getting past your huge, Indestructible, never-goes-away blocker.

THREATS: 

Blue, the perennial scourge of nearly every format, tends to present the most problems for Devotion. They have access to Control Magic effects to capitalize on all the powerful permanents that we put into play. They can use bounce and counterspells to stall out our fast draws and make us 'play fair' by casting our threats one at a time. When you are trying to use Nykthos for extra mana, a simple Boomerang can often set you back more than one turn if you no longer have a high Devotion. Blue also has a decent array of permanent answers to God cards as I mentioned above. Of all the possible decks you could face, Blue based Aggro-Control is by far the most effective against Devotion. Particularly, Blue-Green and Blue-White tempo like Edric, Spymaster of Trest.

That's all for this week Zoners. I hope you have all the information that you need to keep Devotion decks in check around your kitchen table. I'll see you next week.
-GG

The Stack #49- Shut It Down

Often, there are cards that invade our local playgroup and have such a force that it seems there are no answers.

In this episode, The Gang and I examine the cards that we've banned or might want to ban in our local groups, and the picks might just surprise you.

After all, THIS IS THE STACK!

GRANDPA GROWTH'S PICK

Grandpa Growth- THUMBS DOWN
You'll notice I have given a thumbs down to my own card, indicating that I do not, in fact, believe it should be banned. I would hazard a guess that I thumbs down more of my own cards than anyone else here on the blog. I have no idea why I feel so strongly about cards that I really don't play that much, but...c'est le vie.

This is a particularly interesting topic for me because I am such a strong proponent of not ever banning cards  for any reason and am a harsh critic of the EDHRC banned list as an institution. I have authored more than one scathing indictment of its flaws on this blog and elsewhere. I am like a banned list libertarian. Let my cards be played, I say! My issue with Top, isn't actually with Top. It is with neophyte players who have to top twice in one turn because they forgot what order they stacked the cards in. If you top excessively or at inconvenient times, forcing other players to wait while you stress your infant brain to the limits of its unfathomably small processing capacity, I hate you strongly discourage you from doing this. If I were a tyrant, I would take away your Tops just so you can't waste your own time. Luckily for some people, I am a freedom fighter! I will staunchly defend your right to do as you please, including the right to play like a goldfish who has lost his ONE IOTA OF OBJECT PERMANENCE.

There are certainly cards that I have willingly chosen not to play, like Triumph of the Hordes or Sinkhole, but I would never be so bold as to require others to abide by that choice.

Venser's Journalist- THMBS DOWN
This is no doubt a powerful card, and if put in the right decks (many designs around Karn and Arcanis come to mind), can be the catalyst for the "Screw you, I'm going to play my entire deck" combo.
But, I think people should know by now that combo decks need all the right pieces, and do not depend on one card. Therefore, the Top by itself is not unfair at all. There are plenty of cards that let you Scry, plenty of cards that let you draw, and plenty that let you do both of these multiple times. The Top is just more of a Swiss army knife when it comes to deck manipulation.

Uncle Landdrops- THUMBS DOWN
I'm a big proponent of practice and preparation. 9 times out of 10, my decks get some serious Magic Solitaire in so I can learn stuff, like, when to Top and what cards I need to draw at certain stages in the game. I'm with GG on this, but I'm more upset about the boisterous announcements that come to the table with "Play-With-Yourself" effects like this and cracking a Terramorphic. Cause even if I did have a Krosan Grip or a Trickbind, I'm sure as hell not using it on either one of those cards.

I have a little bit of empathy for this Top conundrum though. Overthinking is something I used to do, it's silly, and it probably means you're going to lose, so staring at the cards that aren't your answer won't do you any good anyway. If you do the leg work before you play the game, you can trust yourself better with information you have and make faster, more efficient plays, even if you make a mistake. After all, Top is a good card, but it isn't going to compensate for your bad Magic playing. So respect the card, respect your opponent, and if you aren't willing to do either, at least respect yourself.

Also, it's a total bummer we're not talking about Triumph of the Hordes. I was anticipating that and kind of looking forward to it.

UNCLE LANDDROPS' PICK 

Uncle Landdrops-  THUMBS UP
We banned Avacyn in our group late last year after the rules change, but even before that, I sold my copy and called it a day.

Even when I had one, I didn't really like it very much, but not enough to deem it ban-worthy. I'd actually played this in a Sigarda deck alongside Iona and proceeded to bring my Noob-ness to Theaters everywhere.

Between the fact that you can use her as a Commander, and the fact that there's now less ways to remove her and more ways to make non-interactive board states, I'm more surprised this hasn't been banned yet, and I'd be anxious to hear what Menery and Co. have to say about it. I feel like it has that "focus the game around me" quality that no one really liked about Sundering Titan, Primeval Titan, and now Sylvan Primordial, so I've no idea what could be holding this thing up from getting axed. Because playing this card right means not paying its mana cost, and not paying its mana cost is absurd, annoying, and abusive.

Grandpa Growth- THUMBS DOWN
At worst, it is a resilient, Flying threat. At best it is an 8-mana "I win". I am comfortable with the cost and effect of this card. This is the kind of thing that people want to do in Commander. This is what Commander is all about for some people. Flavorful and exciting 'Timmy' Creatures are much more palatable to most people than disruptive, 'griefer' cards like Terastodon. I would certainly agree it has the ability to change the pretense of the game and draw the attention of other players, the so-called "sub-game effect", but that is true of all cards that are inherently powerful. An 8-drop Creature SHOULD be able to change the texture of the game AND change the way your opponents play. Also of note: this is achieveable with virtually every Planeswalker, all of which are less expensive, save for Nicol Bolas. On balance, an NBP trumps an Avacyn basically every time so I don't really see the problem here. Annoying? Certainly, but that isn't a problem with the card, that is a problem with your friends.

Venser's Journalist- ONE THUMB UP, ONE THUMB DOWN
I appreciate this card in theory, and in practice, I find it to be alternatingly fun and annoying. GG nailed it by saying that an 8-drop creature should be powerful enough to be a game changer and Avacyn is certainly that. I will say though, she can be a real pain if you're on the wrong side of her. There are many ways to give Creatures like this Hexproof and Shroud so that nobody has a chance of removing her, or worse, using her against you. I admit that I'm one of those players that will make extra precautions like that, which can make a game 'unfair'.

The problem with that logic is that by the time anyone can play her AND pocket the game, you probably want someone to win. I've rarely seen Avacyn make it on the battlefield before turn ten, and even when she does come out early, someone has a way to exile or take control of her. Besides being game-changers, 8-drop creatures are meant to be challenges. As far as banning her back to the Helvault with Grizzly-brand, I'm on the fence right now.

VENSER'S JOURNALIST'S PICK

Venser's Journalist- THUMBS UP
Admittedly, for the longest time I wanted this card in my Isperia's Thunderbolts deck, but the price deterred me from ever getting it. Now that I've seen Kira as both general and supplement to many Blue control decks, I'm certain that there is a level of grief this card produces that I'm not willing to put in any of my decks.
I first learned how evil this card could be when I saw it in a Talrand "Just Say NO" deck. The deck was already stuffed with counterspells, so when this spirit was slapped out on the field, I wanted to flip the table. It's not that the card is unfair; all you need to do to get around it is cast a second spell, but it's just so damn annoying that the second spell might not even be worth it if you look at your opponent's smile and his eight open Islands...

Uncle Landdrops-  THUMBS DOWN
I got a copy of this card a while back, and I feel like it does nothing. I've played it, seen people play it, and I feel like if it's a problem in a metagame, it's simply because there aren't enough Wraths. There are so many ways to interact with Kira I don't see this as a problem.

Grandpa Growth- THUMBS DOWN
Landdrops brings up a good point here. If you have trouble with things like Kira or more generally: things that have Shroud, Hexproof, or Protection, then your real problem is that you are over-relying on spot removal. Even at face value, sweepers provide better card economy and fail less often. It is especially beneficial for multiplayer games where there are often multiple, pressing threats controlled by different players. The increased mana cost of sweepers is not usually as much of a hindrance in Commander as it would be in other formats.

The best solution to a Kira, or any early problem, is simply to be proactive. A turn one Thoughtseize will give you an early warning to tricky threats AND provide a way to stop them from hitting the battlefield.

Do you have a card that you believe should be banned? Do you agree or disagree with our thoughts? Let us know in the comments below!

Also, if you're interested in being a guest on The Stack, or you have some comments or ideas for future stacks or other Commander-related questions, be sure to email me at UncleLanddrops@gmail.com. I'm always around, and love to hear from the community. 

Thanks again. Pass it up.

-UL/VJ/GG

The Most Overrated Commanders

Heya Zoners. It's your boy Landdrops here bringin' a fun little list for fun, controversy, and all things in between.

Much has changed towards my card philosophy these days. For example, much like my attitude toward guns, I no longer hate specific cards so much- just the way that people play them.

Still, there's some Legendary Creatures that I believe are incredibly annoying, not only because they're talked about on the Internet as if they're incredible/unstoppable, but because they're also so net-decked that they are relatively unexciting. 

Naturally, this kind of article is going to have one and only one certainty. That the most overrated Commander is, has, and forever will be, (at least, according to me), the gorram Mimeoplasm. This is a given, I've beat it to death, and I don't really want to dignify that piece of sludge with any more publicity.

So enough talk. I've found my soapbox, and I'm ready to go. 

8. Kaalia of the Vast

Congratulations, Kaalia players. This card is significantly less boring than I originally thought. Maybe that's because I have one of the rare breed of Kaalia players that understands Armageddon and Avacyn just aren't that cool a thousand freaking times. No, I'd say definitely. Because if I had to play that deck, I'd still not like Kaalia. Don't get me wrong. In the words of Pepper Brooks, "It's a bold strategy, Cotton." It's just not an original one. These days even new commander players seem to know what's up, and that makes me happy. 

7. Prossh, Skyraider of Kher

This deck was popping up pretty frequently on TappedOut until the end of January, and I just didn't get it. Though the art is cool, casting Prossh and sacrificing a bunch of dudes to get Commander Damage still feels lame. Go ahead and continue to attack with your silly Dragon. I have removal spells, two thumbs, and to be punny, I just don't "Kher." 

6. Nekusar, the Mind Razer

I was apparently wrong when I said that no one was going to play this card. Obviously, I forgot that people like to play with themselves and Windfall whilst doing nothing. The only thing less appealing to me about this card is the fact that every time I look at it I have to see atrocious art, and terrible top-to-bottom design. There is literally nothing I like about this card. It's like Niv-Mizzet, but for Kids. 

5. Arcum Dagsson

I had the chance to play against this deck, and I'm glad I did. Because contrary to what ex-CommanderCast recurring guests and the silly 1v1 thing they have going on in France, it's pretty bad. Rather than blather on though, I'm going to let my favorite Santa Barbara Police Chief tell you how I feel: 

Silliness aside, what this deck actually does is very little to try and win the game. I liken it to the way the fact that you can really only put out so many Stax effects before it becomes easy to predict. Obstacle Courses don't win you the game. They just stop other people from doing it.

4. Grand Arbiter Agustin IV

I've been bad at EDH too guys. I played GAAIV long ago when I didn't have a code or any respect for the value of artistry and craftsmanship in the deckbuilding process. Even without my melodramatic eloquence, there's a lot you can telegraph to your opponent about your Commander, even if they don't know what is in your deck. Good players and long time-ers that retain half of what they know about Magic can create solid educated guesses about what's in a 99-card deck. For me, this is one of the few decks people still play that really screams, "Hey! I'm playing GoodStuff! I have no idea what Commander is! HAHAHAHAHAHA!" I think my list is around for validation, but just go Google it and prove me wrong. There's really no "theme" that can be crafted in this deck except Hate Bears, and then you're just playing a deck similar to Arcum deck.

Anyway, please don't build this deck. There are so many better U/W Commanders now, and our entire staff has experience with all of them. Let us help you from making a huge mistake.

3. Diaochan, Artful Beauty

So for you longtime Zoners, this might not be a surprise that I don't like this. Back when they released Commander's Arsenal, I talked mad crap about this piece of chaff. 

Still, if it's a surprise to you that it wound up on a list of Overrated Commanders, well, this is the way I look at it. If a single person on the planet looked at this card, cocked their head, and went, "Hmm...Maybe I can make this work," it's overrated.

All I have to say is that if there's a God, or a Cthulu monster out there, that thing better help the person who's got the guts to show up at a kitchen table in my general vicinity and try to play it. I have a feeling my reaction might be similar to what Stewie Griffin did to Will Ferrell after he saw Bewitched.

2. Riku of Two Reflections

Riku is both Green and Red because it wants to take you to Magical Christmas Land, where mana is infinite and Genesis Waves only get cast for a minimum of X=75. What most Riku players fail to understand though that Niv-Mizzet and even evil ol' Momir Vig have way more goodies under their Christmas Trees. This deck annoys me because people consider it "competitive," yet I don't see how it beats even a good Animar deck, which happens to be only "Tier 2," if you believe in that sort of thing. This Commander makes every card in your deck cost more, which means that Molasses.dec should be able to beat this thing no problem. Especially with no access to solid Wrath Spells. 

1. The Mimeoplasm

I didn't thwart your expectations here. We have a saying here on TGZ that "Friends don't let Friends play The Mimeoplasm," and there's a pile of good reasons why. Like Kaalia, this deck does a lot of boring stuff trying to create combos that only make the deck worse. Actual Reanimate decks own this thing because it has to eliminate card advantage to win. Now, I'm not always opposed to inefficient effects, but this is just where I've drawn the line. 

Well, that wraps up my thoughts for today. Be sure to have fun arguing me and calling me stupid if I hated on your Commander in the comments below.

Have a wonderful evening. Pass Turn.
-UL