I was told when I posted the topic that "tech" was "too broad" a topic, and I don't tend to disagree. Each person has their own idea of what tech could be in this instance.
Even in our staff, we disagree about this word. Grandpa Growth thinks it more along the line of "Staple," a good card that can get slotted into any deck.
I'm more inclined to believe there's a special quality to a tech card- something that gives an individual card an optimized role and additional power-up when placed into a certain list.
Anyway, enough chit chat. This is THE STACK!
UNCLE LANDDROPS' PICK
Uncle Landdrops- THUMBS UP
It's no doubt Animar makes every card better, but this card makes Animar absurd. Do you think you're going to chump block Animar? Do you think you're going to play creature tokens? That doesn't work either, and at such a low CMC, I can play him early, or play him as a next-to-last spell a la Boros Bushwhacker to create the element of surprise. Hashtag, The Right Way To Make Battalion Creatures And Flavor Work.
Grandpa Growth- THUMBS DOWN
Ehh, I am not all that impressed with this card. Even in an Animar deck I don't see the need. Animar is huge and can't be by 40% of Creatures anyway. Of the remainder...well Animar is enormous and usually brings friends. I am definitely on board with attacking past walls of tokens. Those little buggers really get annoying after a while.
GRANDPA GROWTH'S PICK
Grandpa Growth- THUMBS UP
I have been quoted as saying: "Don't play CounterTop. It's not good in Commander." I also have a lot of fun when I am just flat out wrong. Counterbalance has a place in Commander: Value Vig. Through a combination of Momir Vig triggers and Scroll Rack, a local player of mine showed me that you can really stump some player with basic Countertop combo. This pairs up well with other great cards that you just want in Momir Vig lists anyway. Wild Pair is great since you have already built your deck with the idea of specific casting costs in mind. Lurking Predators hits a high percentage of the time when you know in advance what your top card is (Hint: you put a Creature on top with Vig). Alchemist's Refuge lets you cast a Creature at instant-speed to trigger Vig and set up a Counterbalance trigger. Equilibrium and Cloudstone Curio let you put permanents back in your hand, which Scroll Rack can then transfer to your library for Counterbalance. Watching this whole system in action is a beautiful thing. It is easy to look-off because there are so many working parts, but you don't need the whole machine to make it work; they are all strong cards in their own right! You don't need to lock a player out of the game with Counterbalance, countering two things will probably be enough! Imagine: You play a threat, counter their threat, AND guarantee that you are drawing another threat next turn. That is a massive advantage in tempo and on board.
Uncle Landdrops- THUMBS UP
This is a card, it just sounds like Momir Vig's got a special direct route to Magical Christmas Land. I'm not sure how this survives in other decks, and if someone gets this off, everyone deserves to lose. That's basically the way I feel about it.
GRANDPA GROWTH'S PICK
Grandpa Growth - THUMBS UP
In my current playgroup, I have a person who is a very early adopter. He is constantly changing his decks to try out the newest things and play with the newest Commanders from any set. Needless to say he jump on the God cards immediately when they came out. In the last few months I have had ample opportunity to battle against his brews and have learned a few things about fighting the God cards. I put my thoughts to paper in the set review on how I thought you could beat the inevitable flood of Devotion decks, but it wasn't clear at that time what existing decks tier-2 decks would simply BE BETTER and not have to adjust as much.
So far against the gods, I have had the most success with my UW Bruna, Light of Alabaster deck. Because I only really ever want one Creature in play, I can afford to play a ton of sweepers which allow me to regularly turn off the Gods and reduce Nykthos to a reasonable Devotion count. I also have access to the old school lock of Isochron Scepter Silence, which can preempt the casting of a God. What I have been most impressed with though is Meddling Mage. With plenty of Auras to protect it, like Pentarch Ward or Protective Bubble, Meddling Mage can really put the God cards back in their place. I still don't think this card is worthy of widespread play in Commander, but certain decks that can keep it in play forever will benefit from the ability to "just say no".
Uncle Landdrops- THUMBS UP
I really dig this pick. I've played Nevermore for a while now in Lin Sivvi, and I think it's kinda funny GG would rather play this than something you don't have to dedicate more protective resources to (like Nevermore), but I get it. I too have a soft spot for MM. It was one of the first rares I pulled in a booster, the name of this card is just too fun and flavorful. I like Poe, but the subtle, unconscious supplanting of him into the gothic horror of Innistrad still feels cheap, even though Kevin Bacon's TV show, The Following seems to be winning the Cheesy Poe Rip-Off battle against Mist Raven, Nevermore, and Co.
UNCLE LANDDROPS' PICK
Uncle Landdrops- THUMBS UP
My tech is a little more Commander-special, not just for every deck. After letting this fall off my last several orders for no reason, I finally got a copy and put it into Glissa T's, and the answer is yes- This card is almost another copy of Executioner's Capsule. I say almost because it hits the things Capsule can't, while also being less compromising of a mana cost, but also may involve killing Glissa to get a big threat out of the way. I like to combine it with silly equipment like Accorder's Shield so that I can make things a little more one-sided, but the results have been nice, even without it. Since most of my creatures have Deathtouch, fighting is fun.
Grandpa Growth- THUMBS DOWN
This is definitely technology. It is buried so far underground it is hanging out with my dead grandma. I like the idea of combining Glissa the Traitor with anything though, so I will probably give this a shot. That is just one of my favorite decks to play because I like value engines so much. It is also pretty fair, except when you get to abuse the bricks off of recursion until the board looks more like a deck tech than an actual game. Get all the lands in play, twenty something cards in hand, every possible Artifact you can cram onto the table. Good times.
Pass.
-UL/GG
It's no doubt Animar makes every card better, but this card makes Animar absurd. Do you think you're going to chump block Animar? Do you think you're going to play creature tokens? That doesn't work either, and at such a low CMC, I can play him early, or play him as a next-to-last spell a la Boros Bushwhacker to create the element of surprise. Hashtag, The Right Way To Make Battalion Creatures And Flavor Work.
Grandpa Growth- THUMBS DOWN
Ehh, I am not all that impressed with this card. Even in an Animar deck I don't see the need. Animar is huge and can't be by 40% of Creatures anyway. Of the remainder...well Animar is enormous and usually brings friends. I am definitely on board with attacking past walls of tokens. Those little buggers really get annoying after a while.
GRANDPA GROWTH'S PICK
I have been quoted as saying: "Don't play CounterTop. It's not good in Commander." I also have a lot of fun when I am just flat out wrong. Counterbalance has a place in Commander: Value Vig. Through a combination of Momir Vig triggers and Scroll Rack, a local player of mine showed me that you can really stump some player with basic Countertop combo. This pairs up well with other great cards that you just want in Momir Vig lists anyway. Wild Pair is great since you have already built your deck with the idea of specific casting costs in mind. Lurking Predators hits a high percentage of the time when you know in advance what your top card is (Hint: you put a Creature on top with Vig). Alchemist's Refuge lets you cast a Creature at instant-speed to trigger Vig and set up a Counterbalance trigger. Equilibrium and Cloudstone Curio let you put permanents back in your hand, which Scroll Rack can then transfer to your library for Counterbalance. Watching this whole system in action is a beautiful thing. It is easy to look-off because there are so many working parts, but you don't need the whole machine to make it work; they are all strong cards in their own right! You don't need to lock a player out of the game with Counterbalance, countering two things will probably be enough! Imagine: You play a threat, counter their threat, AND guarantee that you are drawing another threat next turn. That is a massive advantage in tempo and on board.
Uncle Landdrops- THUMBS UP
This is a card, it just sounds like Momir Vig's got a special direct route to Magical Christmas Land. I'm not sure how this survives in other decks, and if someone gets this off, everyone deserves to lose. That's basically the way I feel about it.
GRANDPA GROWTH'S PICK
In my current playgroup, I have a person who is a very early adopter. He is constantly changing his decks to try out the newest things and play with the newest Commanders from any set. Needless to say he jump on the God cards immediately when they came out. In the last few months I have had ample opportunity to battle against his brews and have learned a few things about fighting the God cards. I put my thoughts to paper in the set review on how I thought you could beat the inevitable flood of Devotion decks, but it wasn't clear at that time what existing decks tier-2 decks would simply BE BETTER and not have to adjust as much.
So far against the gods, I have had the most success with my UW Bruna, Light of Alabaster deck. Because I only really ever want one Creature in play, I can afford to play a ton of sweepers which allow me to regularly turn off the Gods and reduce Nykthos to a reasonable Devotion count. I also have access to the old school lock of Isochron Scepter Silence, which can preempt the casting of a God. What I have been most impressed with though is Meddling Mage. With plenty of Auras to protect it, like Pentarch Ward or Protective Bubble, Meddling Mage can really put the God cards back in their place. I still don't think this card is worthy of widespread play in Commander, but certain decks that can keep it in play forever will benefit from the ability to "just say no".
Uncle Landdrops- THUMBS UP
I really dig this pick. I've played Nevermore for a while now in Lin Sivvi, and I think it's kinda funny GG would rather play this than something you don't have to dedicate more protective resources to (like Nevermore), but I get it. I too have a soft spot for MM. It was one of the first rares I pulled in a booster, the name of this card is just too fun and flavorful. I like Poe, but the subtle, unconscious supplanting of him into the gothic horror of Innistrad still feels cheap, even though Kevin Bacon's TV show, The Following seems to be winning the Cheesy Poe Rip-Off battle against Mist Raven, Nevermore, and Co.
UNCLE LANDDROPS' PICK
My tech is a little more Commander-special, not just for every deck. After letting this fall off my last several orders for no reason, I finally got a copy and put it into Glissa T's, and the answer is yes- This card is almost another copy of Executioner's Capsule. I say almost because it hits the things Capsule can't, while also being less compromising of a mana cost, but also may involve killing Glissa to get a big threat out of the way. I like to combine it with silly equipment like Accorder's Shield so that I can make things a little more one-sided, but the results have been nice, even without it. Since most of my creatures have Deathtouch, fighting is fun.
Grandpa Growth- THUMBS DOWN
This is definitely technology. It is buried so far underground it is hanging out with my dead grandma. I like the idea of combining Glissa the Traitor with anything though, so I will probably give this a shot. That is just one of my favorite decks to play because I like value engines so much. It is also pretty fair, except when you get to abuse the bricks off of recursion until the board looks more like a deck tech than an actual game. Get all the lands in play, twenty something cards in hand, every possible Artifact you can cram onto the table. Good times.
Pass.
-UL/GG
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