In General: A Theoretical Mailbag Part II

Hello and welcome back to In General. Last time we were discussing some questions that I am frequently asked by readers. At the time of this writing I am travelling in preparation for my Thanksgiving celebrations, so today's article will be short and sweet. If you missed the previous article scroll and down to read below. Let's get to the questions.

How did you get you start with Magic?

I began playing the game when I was very young. My brothers were given some cards by a friend. It was mostly junk from the early expansions of the game. At the time, Ice Age had just come out. I really had no idea about the bigger game because I was so young at that time. I thought that the cards that were in that box were the only cards that would ever exist.

I became obsessed with Blue early on, mostly because that was the only thing that I could play. One brother had staked off Red and the other Green and White. I remember trying to cram more and more counterspells into my deck until it was about eighty or so cards. There were only two creature cards in the whole deck: a Merfolk of the Pearl Trident and a Leviathan, probably thirty counterspells. This was not a good deck. It was until a few years later before I started to realize why I lost all the time. I thought that the game was one hundred percent luck. It hadn't yet occurred to me that I had choices and those choices could affect the outcome of the game. It was Magic that taught me that skill existed and what it meant.

I started playing and learning about the game more seriously when Mercadian Masques came out and I started to buy boosters and play at the local store much more. That is when things started to really pick up. I began playing MTGO right as 7th Edition came out because they let you play a free trial which was really cool to me since I still had a monthly allowance from my parents of like ten bucks.

What is your favorite draft format of all time?

I am going to assume that we aren't talking about Cube, because we all know that I would say Cube. I loved Rise of the Eldrazi, but so did pretty much everyone else, because it was sweet. I really like Invasion-Planeshift-Apocalypse. I like that old-timey wild west feel that formats used to have. Wizards has really made a lot of progress in simplifying and streamlining the limited experience in the last ten years, but some part of me will always be partial to the old school Magic I used to know. Drafting prior to 8th Edition was a whole different ball game.

What was your favorite set?

Champions of Kamigawa. No further explanation.

Favorite card?

Grandpa Growth. Duh.

Well, what was your favorite constructed environment?

Again, assuming that current Pauper doesn't exist? The last time I played Standard was years ago. The last time that I enjoyed Standard was long before that. Probably, Onslaught-Mirrodin Standard. Everyone remembers how brutal Affinity became, but no one remembers that Affinity had a very bad matchup against Astral Slide. Do you know why? WRATH OF GOD. The last time Wrath was legal was about a full decade ago, and after they took it away Magic went through one of the worst periods in its history. Coincidence? I think not.

Why do you always want to draft five color?

I am not going to tell you what my limited rating is, but it is high. Higher than you'd believe. I play a lot of limited and I understand the game well enough to see the lines that you can draw across formats. When I get tired of playing a format, which happens pretty quickly these days, I just like to play five color. Many modern limited sets are so similar to each other that they often get solved in a matter of weeks. I want to keep playing, but I can't keep myself interested unless I am still learning and trying new things.

Plus, we all know it deep down inside: Five color was the way that the game was meant to be played.

That's all for today Zoners. I hope you enjoyed your turkey and time off. We will be back next week to start off our second annual year-in-review series, starting with the "Hits". I'll see you then.

-GG

In General: A Theoretical Mailbag

Hello and welcome to In General, the segment where your old Grandpa Growth talks about a broad range of topics like: strategy, psychology, new formats, and whatever else I feel like throwing at you. Today we're not doing that.

Today, we are answering questions. You're questions. To Me. It is like a 'mail bag' article, but we don't get mail. Please don't send me anything. This is a blog. On the internetz. We communicate with electricity instead of paper. Welcome to the future...

What formats are you playing?

I don't play Legacy, Vintage, or Modern. I think that these formats are all very interesting, but they just don't appeal to me. In paper, the constant activation of fetchlands makes any game in an eternal format very laborious. Also, they tend to get stale very quickly once the buzz from a new set dies down. Take Modern right now: It was solved and there were established decks, Khans comes out and changes those decks, but now there is a new set of decks. I wouldn't exactly call it 'solved', but we are close enough that you are just going to be playing the same few matchups over and over. For that reason, I try to steer clear. I play Commander in paper and I will play Cubes of various flavors, but that is pretty much it.

Online, I don't mind fetchlands at all. The interface on MTGO may not be the best, but it cuts down a lot of the wasted time that you need to do things like draft or shuffle. I love to play online for the convenience. I partake in Pauper, MTGO cube, Commander, and a variety of limited events. Currently, I am playing a lot of Khans draft because it is pretty great.

I have heard that a lot of people play Standard. I don't. The last time I played in a Standard event was an FNM in Shards-Zendikar Standard. The last time I played a competitive REL or higher event was in the mid 2000's.

What decks do you play in format x?

Commander: My decks don't change much. I only change a few cards per year unless something dramatic happens. I have been playing Glissa the Traitor, Maelstrom Wanderer, and Bruna Light of Alabaster since they were released. I also have a Jhoira of the Ghitu deck that I have been playing since Scars block and a Nicol Bolas deck that I have had in various forms for many years off-and-on. I always have at least two side projects that I will get excited about and build, but never really develop. Currently, those are Sharuum the Hegemon and Purhporos God of the Forge.

Pauper: I literally own the entire format. My MTGO collection, much like my paper collection, is old and includes thousands of cards. So I basically play whatever I want to when I enter the cue. Delver is still the best deck, that is pretty obvious. I have been brewing a lot lately trying to come up with something else to play that can actually compete with the field. I have been working a new version of Mono Black that is more aggressive, but I am stuck at an impasse. If you want to beat Delver you can. There is a way. Play your own Delvers, but maindeck all four Hydroblasts and all four Pyroblasts. Don't play Counterspell, play Dispel. The problem with this is that you are worse off against any other decks and you are only like 60-40 vs. Delver. That is a lot of loss for little gain.

Sidenote: I have played against the same guy 6 or 7 times in the last couple weeks and he is playing UW control with Jeskai Student. He is beating the crap out of me with a deck that looks like a steaming pile. I might have to play that, maybe it is the future.

But what else are you playing?

When I am not playing Magic...? That is what I do to exercise my mind. I play drums to exercise my creative muscles. I like jazz, blues, and progressive metal. I play Ultimate Frsibe to exercise my body. When I am goofing off I play a variety of Steam games. I am addicted to the value of Steam sales.

What is your creative process?

When I first began writing about Magic I never thought about it. I just turn on some music and sit down at my keyboard. It was well into my second year before I stopped and thought: "what am I going to talk about this week?" If you have never done a periodical you may not think about the commitment it takes to regularly produce something on the same schedule without hitting any hiccups. Everyone has deadlines at work, but this is something that we do in our 'off time' you might say. So finding room in my schedule to write for an hour or two hours (in the case where no additional research is required) is tough. I just have to get it done so I can move on to other things (or play more Borderlands apparently). 

My creativity comes in waves, so I have to capture that in the moment. Sometimes I will just jot down all my ideas on a list and pull from them later. Sometimes I will write multiple articles weeks in advance. I am almost always a week ahead so that I can take care of editing and formatting issues before the piece goes up, but there have definitely been times where I was writing my articles the day of. So far, I have been doing it over two years and only missed one post. I am satisfied with those results.

The easiest way that I get material is that I sit down to write and have more to say than I originally thought. We have targets for word count and such so I often have to break my articles into multiple parts to keep the length appropriate. That results in me writing up to a month's worth of content all at once, and uploading it over time. That was the case with the Pauper Cube series and that is also the case with this very article.

You're an MTG writer, do you like any other MTG community authors?

Of course! I love to read and to digest other opinions. That is the primary way that I learn about the game. My favorite is Matt Sperling of Channel Fireball, particularly "Sperling's Sick of It". I agree with him about a great many things and I love to bark up the authority tree when I see someone do something that doesn't make sense to the community.

Also on CFB, I like Alexander Shearer and Frank Karsten. They have a very analytic approach to the game that I respect. The numbers don't lie kids.

I dig pretty hard on Adam Styborski, creator of Gatheringmagic.com I modeled my Pauper Cube off his design and routinely go to his site for all my spoilers.

Are you actually a Grandpa?

No. Also, my last name isn't actually Growth.

Why do you even have pen names then? 

That is a really good question. UL had one, and when I came on board I just followed suit. So did the other guys. It is kind of our thing, I guess. We don't really have anything to hide, in fact, if anything our anonymity is kind of bad. It prevents us from growing our audience face to face. People wouldn't ever recognize me if they saw me at a store or event.

That is all for this week guys. Next week, I will be doing another article like this, tackling more of the most common questions that I get from players and readers. After that, we are on to December, the end of the year, and time once again for our annual review articles. See you then and enjoy the turkey.

-GG

Card Corner: Let's Make A Deal...Broker

Zoners, I'm sure it happens more often than not that I miss cards that represent pure, unadulterated value. Sometimes, it is just miscalculation, sometimes I'm just looking at the card in the wrong light.

Whatever the case, today's Card Corner segment is an attempt to redeem myself on perhaps the best tech to come out in Conspiracy.

Ladies and Gentlezoners, I missed a colorless Merfolk Looter, and while I'm sure you can see all the massive block of text which could made me ignore it, there is no excuse, and that's why we're here- it's all about redemption.

The truth is, Deal Broker breaks, in my mind, the concept of a bargain. It's a utility dude a la Looter that slots into every artifact deck in the format, and every deck that wants the benefit of an extra card or a Reanimator package. If you're thinking, "Hey, that's like... 70 different decks," well, you're right. It's about as useable as Solemn Simulacrum.

Now, we've got to talk about the drawback. Obviously, there's a couple points I need to make to counterbalance the Nic Cage "high praise" I've heaped on this card.

First and foremost, three-cost looters don't bode well against the control deck curve. What makes Merfolk Looter innately powerful as utility is that your opening hand can survive 2 lands, nonsense and a Looter because most decks aren't going to want to waste a counter early on, or you're on the play and they don't have double Island yet.

At 3 CMC, it's going to be slower than you might want. Let me remind you though, that most of the decks going to play this are going to be ones that both want draw power, and have access to artifact-synergy.

The decks that will take the best advantage of Deal Broker's game-breaking card advantage will be blue and red decks, as they already have access to similar cards or redundancies and artifact color support.

Glissa the Traitor is in a unique position to get immense value from Deal Broker, with abundant tutelage, Beacon of Unrest, and Glissa engine triggers.

Aside from being supported well in the Glissa T's Murder Machine, I can't see it being supported well in Green and Black, which might be a problem if you're trying to create something more consistent.

White is going to present less options, which will make this great addition, but a volatile one. The cool thing is that it has some synergy with Equipment decks that like to grab artifacts out of the bin, and is conveniently a 3-cost permanent, which makes it fair game for Sun Titan.

Price-wise, this is a $.25-.50 card, making it prime for high investment. I suggest you buy-low. Cause if anything, my massive purchases of this card will only artificially inflate it.

Eat Your Wheaties, Play Your Solemns, and Go Forth Unto The World and Break The Game With Deal Broker.

Pass.
-UL

Commander 2014 Review: Utility and Mana

Welcome to the fourth and final installment of The General Zone's Review of Commander 2014. We have been very excited about this set, both because of the cards and the establishment of a pattern that signals yearly releases for Commander products in the future. If you have missed any of the previous segments of the review please check them out here: Threats, Legends, Answers.

In this segment we will finish up the review by taking a look at the mana and utility cards. A mana card is simple to define: it produces mana, fixes colors, or puts lands into play. Utility cards is a much broader category. Generally speaking, they expand the options and functionality of your deck. They might allow you access to new lines of play or increase your resource base. This category is essentially a catch-all for everything that doesn't fit anywhere else. Check the individual card descriptions for details.

Our first offering is a spin-off of an old theme. The 'siren' mechanic is flavorful and powerful, but has often been relegated to limited-only play. The ability to sing someone's Creature to shipwreck in a suicide charge is useful, but highly situational. This card would have similar problems if it weren't for the ability to direct attackers elsewhere around the table. In a multiplayer game this really can't go wrong, unless the opposition chooses to gang up on you for your abuse of their attack steps.

Realistically, this is going to get removed by the first person who gets pissed off by it, but I don't think that is so bad. Getting them to spend removal on your cheaper, low-end cards is a good way to save your game-enders from getting immediately killed. Most of the time though, this is either going to paint a target on your back or get swept up in a Wrath. As interesting as this twist on a limited favorite may be, I can't recommend it for serious players.



I only have one question: why doesn't this untap lands? That is a real bummer. Picture this scenario: The game has moved into the sunset stages; what Uncle Landdrops affectionately terms the late-late game. Somebody topdecks a nightmare card, but everyone is out of gas. You know that you don't have a counterspell, but it doesn't seem like anyone else is going to be able to do anything either. So you draw a bunch of cards to dig toward and answer, but you spent a ton of mana trying to do it. You can let someone else do the same, but they may not have the land to cast the counterspell that they find either. You're stuck.

The above situation might seem like a narrowing of the card's potential, but if I may speak honestly: that kind of desperation is the only reason I could see myself casting this card. For the same mana cost you can get the same amount of cards or more and NOT give any extra advantages to an opponent. You need a reason to cooperate with the people who are trying to defeat you, like a cheaper price tag or a unique effect. This card really has nothing that I want.


Perhaps someone can take this opportunity to explain the point of group hug decks to me. The goal of the game is to win. If you are not trying to win the game you are really just an obstacle to the people who are taking the game seriously. If you look at Magic as a means to socialize, you picked a great hobby, but that doesn't mean that you need to go so far as ignoring the strategy of the game. I like close games. Grindy games. I don't like it when somebody plays weird crap like this and just enables another player to combo off instantly. That is not 'in the spirit of the format' or in the spirit of stuff Grandpa likes either.

A separate argument: Do you know how many cards you could get yourself for this amount of mana? I mean without giving anyone else any. Because that number is big. Convincingly big, if you will. Big enough to make me never want to play Pheldagriff.



This card is pretty lame. It is pretty much a hundred percent worse than other Furnace effects. Why the design team thought that this was the direction they wanted to take things, I can only guess. Quite frankly, I find this kind of stuff offensive. This is chaff and should have been omitted from the product entirely. The only reason I choose to comment on it here is that it opens up avenues for future development in this design space. Below I have submitted a sample design for review by our readership:

--
Bitter-er Feud
4{R}
Enchantment

As Bitter-er Feud enters the battlefield, choose two players.

Creatures controlled by one of the chosen players may only attack the other chosen player or a planeswalker that player controls.

If one of the chosen players leaves the game, sacrifice Bitter-er Feud and the other player may draw a card.
--


This card is going to lead to some incredibly one-sided victories. Some people are going to say that this is bad. They are going to try it out and have it under-perform their expectations. These people are bad at Magic, bad at deck building, and generally don't understand the concept of strategy. This is one of the best cards in the set and it is totally broken. You can quote me on that. Troll on my minions.






I would love for other people to beat the crap out of each other for my personal gain, but I am just not interested in investing a card and SEVEN mana in making that happen. There is another way to achieve this outcome: be less obnoxious than at least one other player in the game.

I am the type of guy in my play group where, when we all shuffle up to play, I am the number one target from the jump. People don't need any excuse to come after me because they know that I am packing heat and I play to win. I could easily see equipping this onto a Creature and then everyone else in the game just refuses to attack with it because they know that if it is part of my game plan, they are better off not playing along.



It is pretty unfortunate that they keep printing mana rocks that cost more mana than I want to pay. You see, I shy away from Artifact mana because it is so fragile. Commander's Sphere actually deals with this problem nicely by letting me cash it in for a fresh card with no activation cost. However, I have completely stopped playing mana rocks that cost more than two.

When I make my mulligan decision, I am not going to keep a hand that features two lands and an accelerator that I can't cast. I have lost too many games that way. I prefer to have more real lands in play and keep land heavy hands with the expectation that the game will go on for many turns. This happens to be the case in most Commander matches anyway.

I do especially enjoy the juicy irony that a Commander-specific card is basically unplayable in all of my Commander decks. I would really look forward to playing this in Pauper Cube if the templating weren't so decidedly asinine.


Masterwork of Ingenuity is another in the not-so-long line of Legacy-staple cards that have been specifically introduced in Commander sets for the purpose of intentionally bypassing Standard legality. Remember True-Name Nemesis...yea...that was fun.

I have some serious gripes about the design of this card though. It has the equipment subtype, but no equip ability. It is, I believe, the first card designed this way. It seems as though the design team created it with the sole purpose of combining it with Stoneforge Mystic in Legacy. I like that they made this card, but I have serious misgivings about the way that they chose to implement this idea and the impact that  choice could have on other formats besides Commander.

It is an overly expensive mana rock that doesn't even produce a single color. This card is stone unplayable. Or rock unplayable if you enjoy puns. People are going to retort that this card is good because it has extra value later in the game...here is an idea:

Why don't you add value by DOING YOUR FREAKING JOB! 'Added' value means going above and beyond the call of duty. Going before and below said call and also stopping to pick up a snack on the way home is not adding value.





My friends, I believe that we finally have the answer.

Just kidding, we don't have a damn thing. Remember Homeward Path and how sweet it was when it first came out? Everyone was playing it and thinking it was so great. And for a while it actually was pretty good, but there is an upper limit on how much pollution you can poor into your mana base before your deck is completely unplayable.

I don't play Homeward Path because I am not worried about people stealing my stuff. I hardly have anything of my own anyway. I have more Control Magics in my decks than I do actual threats. The same logic will keep me from sleeving up Arcane Lighthouse. I just play more Wraths and less Paths. Seems like an easier way to defeat Geist of Saint Traft than getting color screwed.


This card is pretty hot. I don't think I am ever going to be able to reveal an Elemental. I am going to be revealing so many Mulldrifters in my Maelstrom Wanderer deck!

Many decks want hasty threats. Actually, all of them do, but some people don't understand the value of it. This card has the potential to come into play untapped a nonzero percentage of the time AND it produces colored mana. That makes it a huge upgrade to Hall of the Bandit Lord. Oh and also you don't have to pay a chunk of life every time you tap it. That's kind of nice too. The trade off is that it makes your guy cost two more for the privilege, which could be a genuinely prohibitive expense. This card certainly isn't going to break the format and probably won't even see wide scale play, but it is worth a second look and is sure to catch people off guard.

I saved the best for last. This is my personal favorite card from the set. Krosan Verge has long been overlooked in the format. With so many flashy rares and Legendary lands running around it seems to get lost in the shuffle, but Verge has quietly been one of the most powerful lands in the entire game. Maybe now with the printing of an OBVIOUSLY INFERIOR VERSION of the card people will start to remember why it is so good and jam it back into their decks.

Note: despite not being able to fix multiple colors or fetch dual lands, I will still be playing this card in every deck with 16+ basics. Spell lands are insanely good. Rampant Growth is insanely good. A Rampant Growth land is thereby insanely good.

Well it was a long journey, but we finally reached the end. What do you think about the new cards? Are these pre-constructed decks everything that you had been hoping for? As always, remember to leave your feedback in the comments below. We read and respond without fail.

Things will be back to normal starting on Tuesday again so be sure to check back and see what UL has cooking up to take advantage of the new goodies from CMDR14.

Till next time Zoners.

-GG

Commander 2014 Review: Answers

Welcome back to The General Zone's Review of Commander 2014. If you missed any of the previous action, make sure you take a look here to catch up on what you missed: Threats, Legends.

Today we are covering the answer cards. Answers are what you use to counteract your opponent's threats. This can take many forms. Discard, removal, counters, sideboard cards, etc. Many things can be an answer, but the most important question you need to ask to evaluate these cards is: "what is this meant to stop?" With that in mind we can decide whether it does a good job or if we even need to dedicate resources to solving that problem. Let's begin:

This is one of my favorite cards from the set. It is also the card with the worst name BY FAR. This is essentially an Instant-speed, focused Wrath effect. It is sure to 'get' a lot of people and turn around some very unfavorable board states in a hurry. I would recommend including this in all your control decks. Aggressive equipment based builds or token decks don't need or want this, but the Yosei decks of the world should be making space for this asap.

Comeuppance also clearly defines the upper bound for how much text can be on a card. Any more than this and it will run right off the page. They even had to shrink the font.



Hate bears have been taking a turn in recent years. They are getting more and more niche, but they are also getting more and more hateful, if that is even possible. Flash really drives these Creatures over the top. You were expecting to reanimate a fatty and pass with the shields up? Sorry bro. Counter your dude and next turn I am cracking in for two. This is a sick little beater than cleverly answers some of the formats most popular victory conditions.

I expect this card to see a fair amount of play in other formats as well, so be prepared for this card to command a high price and hold value over time.



This is why I constantly feel justified for going on rants about how Wrath is the central card in the Commander metagame. Despite lip service to the idea that they want Creatures to be better and spells to be worse, R&D continues to print increasingly powerful sweep effects. Supreme Verdict and Duneblast at least had the decency to cost multiple colors. This card was specifically costed to be splash-able. Look forward to seeing this everywhere. Sigh.






Now before I even get started here I need to tell you: This card is light years ahead of Hex. Hex was bad. This card is good. I will now explain the difference:

Requiring six specific targets is a drawback, not a benefit, so you would expect a price reduction. We get that, even though it breaks the symmetry that made Hex such a cool design. Secondly, the targeting restriction on this card is much wider. Any nonland permanent? Sure, I bet there are tons of those lying around. Lastly, killing your own things is rarely a good idea. Bouncing your Creatures though, can have tons of benefits. Getting to re-buy the effects of an ETB trigger or Kicker cost is sweet. Cleaning off Aura-based removal is just a blowout.

I am quite certain that you will play against this card in Commander. Hopefully you are also playing with it. I am willing to bet that every time an opponent resolves this, I will be making a vomiting noise just to emphasize how brutal it is. It will make people physically uncomfortable.



Well you don't get to attack with them, but you get to chump block with somebody else's stuff. For clarification: that is awesome.

This is my favorite way to use Ray of Command. That was a common. How can we turn this into a playable rare? Well, I don't know...give you three of them? DING! We have got a winner.









The best spot removal spell that we have seen since Dismember. Period. If you don't know why it is good, you don't understand Magic.

So much has already been said about this card around the Magic blogosphere so I am going to leave it at that. Play it or lose to it. Your choice.










A Black Duneblast that lets you steal somebody's stuff AND retrigger enter the battlefield effects...WHERE DO I SIGN UP?!

It sucks that this costs so much and so much of it must be Black, but let's be honest. This would be pretty broken if you made it cheaper.








This card seems sweet to me. There are a handful of anti-Wrath cards out there, but most of them are too expensive to see serious play. This one has the perfect cost. I imagine this doing some serious work in a Ghave deck. Having a single card like Ghave that demands a Wrath all by itself sets you up very well to take advantage of your opponent's best answers. They play a Sorcery, you drop a fatty into play at the end of their turn and continue to smash. You can't beat that. Figuratively, at least.






This card is crazy. An Instant speed reanimate effect is already awesome. The only widely adopted comparable here is Necromancy, which also has an end of turn deadline. For a very small cost you get to bring back additional Creatures to ambush your opponent's attackers and also re-trigger ETB effects. That is a lot of value to get from one card and is very likely to result in a victory.

The obvious drawback of this card is that you don't get to keep the things you dig up and you can only use them to block incoming attackers, but the deal you are getting on this effect is just too good to pass up.



I love it. Tricky Red cards are something that we need more or. Red is at such a low power level in Commander because it lacks the ability to interact with important cards. This is an awesome addition to the color's toolbox. It is no Snapcaster Mage, but I think this guy will be doing some serious work in the format.










This does require set up, which is a quality that I am not fond of in my answers, but the leg work is so easy. Did you attack? Did they? Did anybody do anything useful this turn? Heck, even if you combine this with a Lightning Bolt you now have an Instant-speed Arc Lightning for 1R. I will take that deal every day of the week.









Both the effect and the templating of this card are kind of complex, but I don't think that makes it bad. Your opponent is going to have to read it a couple of times, but they will always arrive at the same result: this is bad for them.

My only problem with this card is that it hits you as well. If you are winning on board, you don't want to sweep away your own Creatures. If you are behind on board, you probably don't want to take any more damage than you have to. This is a powerful sweeper and great damage source, but it is also unique. It is a sweeper that you really don't want to be using on a full board. Combining this with something like a Goblin Bombardment will help improve the effect and break the symmetry.




Unlike the other 'offering' cards, this one is never bad for you and is also sick in one vs. one. Imagine playing this in a duel. Blow up your opponent's best and worst nonbasic then kill their best and worst Creature...as an Instant...for five? I think that is pretty hot. I am definitely going to be using this card to great effect in my Grixis all-spell deck.

If you are in a multiplayer game you are going to be doing even better, but it won't rain all over just one person's parade and you don't have to take all of the blame for the targeting choices. This is a stabilizing card that will put the game back into reach if you or another player fall behind early, which is something that we don't often see in a format full of game-winning hay makers.




Is music an Enchantment? This flavor concept has been utilized many times before, notably in Urza's block with the 'verse' cycle, but it just doesn't sit right with me.

This is an excellent removal spell and fits the color pie perfectly. I love the visceral, top-down design. We are turning this thing into a tree...how does that work on a card? Well, Wizards pretty much nailed it on this one. Green needs more high quality spot removal and this card will be embraced by the community.




Twitter is a wave of vitriol. Youtube comments are a wave of vitriol. This card is a joke.

I can't figure out whether you want to leverage this or not. I would rather my opponent have a Plains than a Umezawa's Jitte, but can I still win if I let everyone else search for 3+ basic lands while I get nothing? What if I have a ton stuff in play that this blows up...am I better off keeping my Doubling Season or tapping all my mana, discarding this card, and shoveling my own stuff into the graveyard?

This card is definitely puzzling, but I think in this case that isn't a good thing.



I debated whether or not I should include this in the threat article. It is here because it is more situational and the fact that it requires certain conditions from your opponent makes it feel like an answer to me. But if I may speak frankly, if you think you are going to 'answer' your opponent(s) full grip of cards with a wolf token or two you are sadly mistaken. In Commander I would always rather have seven cards than six and a 2/2.

This is the general plight of reactive threats: If you are going to include it in your deck, don't you want it to do something? I mean actually impact the game. Will it win? The answer for this is an unenthusiastic "potentially". I would rather have just cast Wolfbriar Elemental. Which, conveniently, is also in this set.

Well that is it for today folks. More of a mixed bag here. Mostly unexciting junk, but there are a few surefire gems that will see play all over. We will be back in a couple of days to finish up the Commander 2014 review action with the utility and mana cards.

-GG

Commander 2014: Legends, and the Planeswalking Dead

It's Tuesday, Commander 2014 Review week has kicked off, and ya boi Landdrops is here with the Legends and our special guests- the Errated Walkers.

So let's get started talking about what should and should not be allowed into the Command Zone.

Feldon, AKA "Creaky-Jiki," has the most to offer in terms of what it does for its color pie.

A cheap card to cast, Feldon gives Red essentially another copy of Mimic Vat.

While I'm not sure this is one of the major needs for the color in our format, the old man will provide support and improve already good decks like Kiki-Jiki, and support the U/R Pestermite combo that's already being played.

For me, the artwork and flavor text combine to evoke powerful Shakespearean level of classicism. While most players, including myself, weren't playing when Feldon was trying to resurrect Lora by every means necessary, it's always good to see artists and R&D having success transcending the cardboard with Literary allusion and emotion. These are the qualities that make Magic more than just a game.

While there are several issues I have with Gisa, none of them are function or flavor. Coming out of the command zone, Gisa is going to be a nice rattlesnake-style addition to the suite of mono-black generals that add value to the strategy.

It goes without saying that since Wizards changed most of the sacrifice effects to "sacrifice another creature" that we've seen a steep decline in power. However, this is one of the few places where I feel like the blend of fairness and sensibility collide without compromising the integrity of the card.

Additionally, the Ghoulcaller also provides Zombie tokens that happen to all be standing up. Unlike Army of the Damned, you're going to get your dudes quick. And the best part- like Skeletal Vampire, you can start turning your Zombies into more Zombies, should you need the card advantage.

Overall, I love sac outlets, so this will be a card I play. Gisa presents a nice threat, one that can either come from hand or the general zone, and work hard to pressure your opponents into a state of the game where they have to "Wrath, or die."

The only nit-picky thing I have about this card is the way the design team decided to package her and her silly brother Geralf in separate decks. It's a big picture thing, but I find this little sibling side skirmish to be as irrelevant here as it was back in Innistrad. I've always been one to get the CliffNotes because I find that these stories are often too conveniently structured (and usually involving Jace).

Still, I question the importance of these characters, as I was under the impression the best part of Innistrad was Liliana getting darker and White Mike going Black. I don't think Gisa is a bad card, but she's kinda out of nowhere.

All my complaints essentially center around Geralf. Of course, Wizards labeled the Stitcher's work throughout the block, so it wasn't as "out-of-left-field" as finding out that he had a much more powerful sister back when the two were spoiled in August.

Which I guess is the bummer here. For as interesting as this card is, I find to be about as unimpressive as Jalira from this year's core set.

Yet unlike Jalira, I fail to see the value. Geralf is not nearly worth casting, due to the issue of making him and his sister symmetrical in design, and his activated ability is about as bad as the trigger for The Mimeoplasm.

Frankly, I don't condone trying to play this card, unless you've found yourself trying to be ironic, cheeky, or committed to playing an Iron Man format. If the latter is the case, well, then I hope for your sake your opponent plays Doom Blade.

Well, if all this Zombie talk was going to bring something back from the dead, becoming an appropriate segue into the next topic, I'm happy it's AJ's bro, Jazal Goldmane.

Even though his name sounds feminine, and a little less fly for a White lion, this is another nice character I was happy to see included in the new product. It's almost as if Nicol Bolas never killed him, right? RIGHT!?!??!!

As far as homages and elegies go, this is a decent card. Whereas Feldon got heaps of praise for being nostalgic and literary in presentation, Ajani's big bro feels a little more forced in design, making it feel a little more like Gisa and Geralf.

It's clear based on his connection to Ajani and the Zombie-making twins that Wizards feels siblings should all have the same converted mana cost. I know AJ's got a few different ones, but his first and his most recent CMC's are four, so let's stick with those. This is weird to me, not only because I feel like my brother and I would be completely different, but also because it's too "easy" of a technique to use in design.

Mechanically, I think New-Fasa (I called Brimaz "Mufasa," which may or may not be a mistake with this card in circulation soon), is a nice card. I'm a fan of reasonable casting costs, static abilities, and something to do with our mana when the game gets big. Art-wise, I wish this didn't just look like any Cat Warrior. Even the two Mirri's have a "Legendary" quality about them, and that's not my impression, no matter how many pictures of Cat creatures in Magic.

...And now for a creature that looks more like the cards we want to see in Commander products!

In talking with the guys in my local game store, they feel that Wizards' design for Commander product gives the format too many cards created under the intentions of being Commander playable, and I find that to be a fair point. Kaalia, Ghave, Animar- those first cards- really changed the format, and almost not in a good way.

While I believe one of the biggest reasons we still see those cards is because they're the most playable creatures in Enemy colors, these last two commander products have brought us more of these kinds of cards.

Though the attention is flattering, what I want to illustrate is that the most interesting cards Commander players really want to see are the ones we have to "work to make work."

Titania here is a good example of this principle. At face value, she's probably not strong enough by herself to stand up on her 5/3 frame. However, with a little research and a little help, there is a deck here. And no- it's not Elf-Tribal.

Personally, she's my favorite of the bunch, and I think my friends are right.

Now, onto the "Planeswalkers as Commanders" in the room...

First things first, the disclaimers:

1. Never, do I ever, think that it's okay to play Planeswalkers as Commanders. (Argument will be for another time)

2. None of these P-dubs, in my mind, feel like I'd want them in a Command Zone.

Now, let's talk about Daretti, the Goblin that thinks he's the Pope.

I dig it. I have no idea who he is or where Daretti sits in the Multiverse, but I certainly am going to play this card. This is the style of design WotC has created for card advantage in Red decks, aligning itself with artifacts, as well as being able to set up and dig for combos. While GG might cite structural inferiority, I'm more inclined just to learn how to play the hands we get dealt.

Of the P-Dubs aspiring to be from the Command Zone, I'm most likely to play Daretti. That's because this Mono-Red deck is going to most resemble the Bosh Iron Golem or Slobad decks, which can afford to draw into their Commanders, and are more interested in finding janky trinkets to play.

When protected, Daretti feels like a much more solid investment than the rest of the cycle. He's cheap to cast, going to be worth the value, and it's really hard to go wrong when you firmly attach yourself to Artifacts.

Moving in descending order of Commander viability, we have Teferi, which I find says a lot about the power of these cards.

Let's start with just how expensive this card is to cast. Holy frijoles, Batman. Even if I wanted to cast this from the general zone, one of the big problems players are going to run into is the notion that they are going to have to play extremely defensive to keep Magic's favorite Zhalfirian from exiting after the first turn.

This is already blue's M.O., and they are continuing to get the power necessary to achieve this objective. With the addition of Rapid Hybridization, Aetherize, Polymorphist's Jest, and Aetherspouts, there's never been a better time to invest in blue magic.

Additionally, artifact ramp will help to provide the best chance to get Teferi online- because the first turn is going to have to be a -1. I see no way around it if you're trying to be on-curve.

Yet the biggest problem with Teferi, and these walkers with fresh errata, is that they don't actually provide nearly enough advantage to counteract the value you'd be getting from even the lowliest utility Commanders.

There's no better example of just how much these guys barely miss the mark than with Original Obie Nixxx.

The science behind most Walkers is that they design themselves to have some method of protection in their first two abilities. Some are cheeky, like Jace, Architect of Thought, which takes away a point of power to every creature that attacks you or it. Better ones, on the other hand, like Gideon Jura, or most of the versions of Elspeth, either act as removal or spit out more permanents to protect the investment.

I say Obie is a good example of what went wrong because even taking him down on the first turn to get a 5/5 Demon is almost never going to be worth the five mana spent to cast it. Additionally, I think you're wrong too if you +2 and try to gain an eensy-weensy bit of life. That ability is just too on the nose for my taste. P-Dubs innately gain you life, simply by being attacked. I fail to find the advantage in being redundant.

You'll notice I haven't even talked about ultimates. That's because I don't believe anyone will be able to pull off an ultimate that's relevant in a competitive game. Congrats if you get one, but it's probably just going to happen in Magical Christmas Land as part of a "Win More" scenario.

The only reason I think Nahiri is generally worse as a planeswalker than the last two is because she's the Equipment manager, and that's a really niche-yet-common archetype.

I still think this card is significantly better at what it does for its deck than the two above (Mostly because I have no idea where you'd put Teferi walker or Obie), and it's cool.

As a Commander, this surely has a lot more design potential. It's basically unanimous amongst the community when it comes to how much people love their Elspeths, and this blends itself into Commander relevance nicely by being to drag out your overcosted equipment, effectively eliminating half the costs of some really unplayable nonsense. In short, she opens doors, and can keep churning out dudes that can play with all of your stuff.

Again, she doesn't fit into every deck, but she's worth throwing together a quick list for if you want a Planeswalking Commander. And she'll fit right into your white Voltron decks.

It's clear to me that Freyalise is the worst, but that's not entirely terrible. Sure, you'll want to play Acidic Slime over her EVERY SINGLE TIME, but if you're already playing it, and want a little more mileage out of a card than just sleeving up an Indrik Stomphowler and calling it a day, I could understand.

Let's be clear- paying 3GG to get rid of an artifact or enchantment is probably outdated now, considering how much indestructibility is out on the market. Still, I think it's the most common reason Freyalise is going to want to be cast, from the Command Zone or otherwise.

However- what confuses me and bothers me about this card is the fact that this is neither the basic instinct nor what is in your best interest when it comes to Freyalise. And you can blame that ultimate!

Out of the five, she's the one that presents a heavy incentive to get her loyalty big. Fortunately for Green, this is a color that already has Doubling Season, and is a major player if you're looking for Token-based decks. So not only will she be able to protect herself, but you should be able to find some serious draw power here.

Still, I think this walker is the bottom of the totem because of how non-linear the incentives are in its design. It's clear overall that intentions created a lot of rigid-ness in the design of these old players, and it could've been hit better if R&D had taken a little extra time to smooth them out.

For me, the moral of the story is not to wake the dead. While I am a sucker for the nostalgia of simpler days, and interested in hearing the stories of Magic's past, not even the consistent artwork or the inviting faces of old friends could keep me from questioning why these couldn't be just a little bit stronger. With the exception of Geralf, they really did right by the Legends- what happened here?

In the words of Sheriff Rick Grimes- I think they have to go back.

Anywho, that's all I got for today. Be sure to share your thoughts in the comments below as we continue spoiler week here on TGZ.

Pass.
-UL

Commander 2014 Review: Threats

Hello and welcome to The General Zone's Review of Commander 2014! I am your host Grandpa Growth. Here at TGZ we take Commander very seriously, so you know we are pulling out all the stops when it comes to the new Commander products. This year we have mono-colored decks filled to the brim with awesome new cards and I can't wait to take a look.

First, let's lay down the ground rules. Same as always:

• We will only be looking at cards that are relevant to Commander. If you think you can make a case for playing one of the cards that we leave out, post your ideas in the comments. We love to hear from you.
• I will not be discussing any reprints. Commander is an eternal format, if a card has been around for a while, we know what its place is in the format. A new card frame or flashy new art isn't going to change that.
• The review will be broken down into sections based on what the card does in a typical game: legends, threats, answers, utility, and mana. For analysis of the new planeswalkers and new potential commanders, you have to wait to hear from Uncle Landdrops in a few days.

Today we will be discussing the threats. A threat is something that you use to win the game. Creatures are the most common type here, but they can take on other forms as well. The best threats win the game quickly, are aggressively costed, and generate card advantage on the way to victory. Time to find out whether or not CMDR14 can cut the mustard. (Spoiler alert: it can!)


Top of the first inning, throwing out the opening pitch and the celebrity jerk bag at home plate just stands up and knocks it out of the park. This is a true powerhouse and is going to end many games with minimal effort. Just picture it: they make all the tokens. They cast their pump spells and their anthems. They swing for lethal all around the table. Players sweating left and right...and you just crap all over their cereal.

This card is stupid powerful. It has a decent size body and tons of added value, plus Flash. Historically speaking, Instants have done some pretty filthy things in Magic. Buy as many of these as you can get, play it in every deck. You won't be disappointed. There are some other cards that have me very excited in this set, but this is the runaway favorite for biggest hit in the set...and we are only one card into the review!



Here we get our first look a new mechanic: Lieutenant. Which is about as underwhelming as it gets. I have said it before and I will say it again here: the number of keyword mechanics coming out of Wizards these days is TOO DAMN HIGH!

I am particularly displeased with keywords that need to then be explained fully by their own rules text. The point of using keywords is so that they can act as a shorthand for COMMON mechanical themes. We already know what Flying means, so you can shorten "This Creature can only be blocked by Creatures with Flying or Reach." into just "Flying". Never, I repeat, NEVER should the use of a keyword make the text box of a card LONGER. There is just no reason to put it there. If I don't know what it means it shouldn't be on the card.

Luckily, I won't be bothered by this particular keyword too much because it is only on a handful of cards (another reason it shouldn't be a keyword) and they all pretty weak.



Hi kids, do you like tokens?! I know you do. Here, have a few more. This certainly makes a lot of dudes, but the real question that we need to ask is: is this better than what we already have? Storm Herd is probably going to make more tokens if you were winning. Perhaps fewer if you are losing or if the board is stalled something fierce. Those tokens also fly though, which is a huge upgrade over not flying. Try it, don't be surprised if you lose with this card still rotting in your hand.





I am really into this card. Unlike Deploy to the Front, this card can actually attack on its own and it resists the first piece of removal. I like this quite a bit. A single piece of equipment can make all of your early, interactive Creatures into ideal threats. This card isn't the best thing ever, but it is a piece of a winning game plan. A strategy that will produce reliable victories. That is the mark of a good card.






If the number of keywords is too damn high, the number of Leviathans, Krakens, Angels, Hydras, and Dragons is also way too high. This is a big dumb Creature that doesn't have much to offer the sophisticated EDH player. We have seen this all before and we choose not to play it because we just have better options. It will be great most of the times that you cast it, but there will be plenty of games that you never get to cast it or even worse, when you cast it and it just doesn't matter. If you aren't the biggest, the fastest, or the best, chances are that you aren't making it into one of my decks.



This is a very intriguing card. At first blush, it seems like it costs a few too many mana for my tastes. Still though, it provides some defense, the inevitability of a late-game threat, and the possibility for card advantage. I don't expect this to be a format warping hit, but it seems like it is worth a try. The more internal synergies your deck has with sacrifice effects, the better.








Kraken alert! I am down with Hexproof. That opens the door to do some pretty sick things with this, but sadly I can't see this making the cut. It is just damage and unless you can stick your commander, you aren't getting a great deal with this card. If you do manage to keep your commander in play through several combat phases...CONGRATULATIONS! You are already winning. Keep up the good work.







In a startling departure from the norm, Wizards chose not to template this cycle of cards with a new, irrelevant keyword. That being the case, I have taken it upon myself to dub this the "me and my homies" mechanic.

It is no secret that I hate multiplayer. It is also no secret that Commander is most often played in multiplayer. You will see a lot of this card and its cycle-brethren, but I am not going to be falling for this trap. Why? Here are some questions to help you analyze a game state to determine if this is good:

Can you win the current game without this card?

• If yes then: why would you even bother casting it?  
• If no: can you still win after you give your opponents free stuff? 

Wouldn't you rather have had something else in your deck. You see, the thing is that you can't trust your opponents. They DON'T WANT YOU TO WIN! That is all you need to understand when you consider giving the other players the benefits of choice AND doubt.
Now, if you are the kind of person who likes this interaction and finds Chaos decks amusing: I do not understand you. I do not like you.


This guy is going to to do some damage. There is a huge glut of gigantic Black Creatures that you want to be playing in all your decks though. There are just so many good ways to win the game that it is hard to choose which is best. Is this the best one? Heck if I know. It doubles as removal. It creates multiple bodies. It provides card advantage. It has evasion. This all sounds like good stuff right? So why am I not convinced that this is a home run...






There is no such thing as a constructed-playable 2/6. I am only putting this in the review so that I don't have to answer comments about it later. It's important to be thorough.
















It's a giant Red dragon with Haste! YAAAAAY! We don't have any of those already...


















This card is bad, but it has 'multiplayer interaction' written all over it. Which means two things to me:

1. I will never play it.
2. Someone else will and I will wonder why.

Gigantomancer sees a fair bit of play in token decks and rightly so. This card is cheaper, has a relevant body on its own and also grants Trample. This all sounds awesome, and it is, but it comes with a price. Higher activation costs, smaller pump effect, and more strict color requirements. All that said, I expect this to be a major player in many token decks in the coming months simply because having a pump effect that also beats down is just so much better than having a static Enchantment.





Honestly, I cannot think of a even a single deck that has a use for this. There are Elf and Druid theme decks, you might even be able to make a Beast deck, but why would you bother? The thing is, this is so powerful and so awesome. I want it to be good, I really do. I just can't imagine you winning any game where you cast this. Worst case scenario you just ran right in a Wrath of God. Best case scenario you gave every single opponents AT LEAST one Creature back. For what? A 5/7? Sorry boys, I don't think this is the one.




If you are playing along in The General Zone drinking game, you should be pretty well plastered by now. We have already had two angels, two dragons, a Kraken AND a Leviathan, a rant about design, and now a Hydra. If we were playing bingo the only thing we would be missing is a flavor rant...and trust me we will get there.

This card seems pretty sweet. It is basically mono Green exclusive, but that is okay. There are plenty of those decks running around. Unfortunately this is going to be pretty small for the cost. At six you have a 3/3. The only other 3/3 for six mana that I think I would ever play is Nacatl War Pride.

I like this. Giving a big army a way to punch through is a quick way to win the game. However, in Green, these effects are a dime a dozen. Bellowing Tangle Wurm, Overrun, Craterhoof Behemoth. Why play this instead? Sorceries don't need Hexproof. ETB triggers can't be killed.












This gives you a metric ton of power for very little cost. It diversifies your threats; many bodies both wide and tall. 'Me and my homies get dudes' is pretty awesome, but I don't want cards that lose to Wrath. It is so popular and so common that you must build your deck with removal in mind.

I just don't see the point in giving your opponents a bunch of Creatures to block your new Creatures either. That doesn't seem like a good way to win.




This is the text book definition of a 'win more' card. You have an army of Creatures. You have your Commander in play. Your opponent didn't cast Wrath last turn to sweep your board...AND YOU STILL AREN'T WINNING? What is this a beauty contest? There are no style points. Get in there are smash with your guys. Alpha Strike. Swing. Deliver the beats. Serve. Whatever you call it, you don't need this nonsense. You need a counterspell.

Well there you have it. That is the lot of them. What do you think so far? Be sure to share you thoughts in the comments: about the blog, the review, the cards, the terrible things you did after you lost the drinking game. We want to hear it all. I will be back later this week with more Commander 2014 action here on the blog. Stay tuned!

-GG