My Decks, The Tech, At Year's End.

Happy Last Shopping Weekend Zoners!

Today, we're going to take a quick walk through my Deck Portfolio. I've done a lot of re-tooling this year on most of the stuff that's come through the Better Deckbuilding series, and I thought it'd be a good idea to re-visit what I've been playing and show you the fresh-er tech from the changelog.

Let's go in alphabetical order.

THE ANIMAR DECK

The Thug in RUG got a huge mana upgrade with the scry lands, as well as some moderate pimping as I've started to collect some choice artwork and the cheaper foils. I snapped up copies of all the Duels Titans over the last year, and a few nice promo arts of Mulldrifter, Sakura-Tribe Elder, the cutest foil Pilgrim's Eye, and a cheeky foil Sigiled Skink. I was gifted a foil Clone from a Core Set and foil Archetype of Imagination, which acts as another copy of Sun Quan.

The non-block content was kind to my boy too, getting a sweet Conspiracy card in Dack's Duplicate, and a really excellent support card in Thunderfoot Baloth. I haven't added a Clever Impersonator, but if I can get a foil, I totally will.

BARRIN, MISTER WIZARD

This Barrin deck has been probably the most surprising and most rewarding deck I've built this year. Stacked to the brim with a bunch of cards that I like, I've had a significant amount of fun grinding out games trying to figure out how I'm going to win.

Playing and building this deck has helped me to forge a stronger understanding of myself and the cards I want to play, which has really changed my technical approach of building on TappedOut and scrolling through Gatherer. I still do these things, but putting cards in your hand in the decision-making process is always going to be helpful.

Reef Worm has been my top performer in this deck, probably by a mile. I think the $5 price tag on him explains a lot, but with Barrin, I have ways of ensuring that I get to release the proverbial Kraken. Teferi, Temporal Adept hasn't been too shabby here either, but not as good as Aetherspouts and Polymorphist's Jest, which are possibly better than they look.

GREEN EGGS AND GLISSA

Wanting to get more excited about Glissa, I took off her Dollar General Salary Cap, but kept her namesake's promise intact. In fact, we went old School with the removal, adding Smokestack and Triangle of War, the latter of which being pretty one-sided with a handful of Deathtouch and some seriously big bodies.

The biggest shakeup with Glissa was that she got more threats. She got my Jitte, my Soul(of New Phyrexia), a Spirit(monger) with new art, and a pimpin' promo Thopter Assembly. Oh, and a Doom Engine, that's been known to do a bit of Scuttling.

Still, the best changes I made were to gain some flexibility. Enter Vedalken Orrery, and a foil Shimmer Myr (pronounced Sher-mur-mur), which have been stronger than I thought. All in all the curve got bigger, but the deck got better.

HEARTLESS HIDETSUGU

Me and HH have been through a lot. In the beginning,  he entertained Kiki-Jiki, Siege-Gang Commander, Zealous Conscripts, and a whole host of over-costed removal and burn spells.

This last year, HH has been through a few different transitions. Being probably the most-played of all of my decks, he's seen a lot more cards in his squad. For the first half of the year, I played an eclectic build with Defenders. Post-Khans, I rocked some of the better Morph creatures.

The creature base is still something that needs work, and I like where it's going without the themes. Fortune Thief was a nice pickup, and actually put me in position to win a couple of times. Soul of Shandalar, Impact Resonance, and Flamekin Village were all nice grabs too.

But Daretti though! Probably one of the best Red cards Wizards has printed for us in the last two years. Depending on how you feel about his Commander-ability, he could potentially be among the top Commanders, next to Purphoros. Personally, I'm just happy to see another Red card that gives me access to "Rummaging" aka "Reverse-Looting" effects. Really, he's put this new Sarkhan to shame in terms of deck performance. We shouldn't stop talking about him. All hail Daretti, that glorious spider-wheelchair driving, goblin pope son of a bitch. Red is trending upwards folks. This calls for a Shiva Blast.

WHO'S THAT GIRL? NOT JESS...

Obvious Zooey Deschanel sitcom references aside, it's a fact here on the blog that I Love Land, and I'm not just looking around the room and just saying I love it.

I also love Titania. If there was no Narset in Khans, I think Titania would easily be the best new Commander.

It is for these reasons that Silvos got retired to the great pool of cards sitting in cardboard box on my desk. I Love Land, so does Titania, and she enables the Aggro-Loam deck that Grandpa Growth and I have both attempted to make in various capacities over the years.

The deck has practically built itself, but I've got a few more cards to tune and tweak for the first Better Deckbuilding of 2015. So stay tuned for that.

"THIN LIZZY," DEFIANT HERO

Lin Sivvi has had plenty of power since I designed the deck in the latter half of last year. I really wish I could get more games in with her, but the truth is that she's always going to be a Quality over Quantity kinda gal. So even though she doesn't get a whole lot of play due to time constraints, she's always playing for the long game, which brings the dynamic back to equilibrium.

This is probably a deck I could dedicate some more time to re-tooling in the next year. She's received an equal amount of attention relative to the basic upgrades I made in all of my mono-colored decks (you know, Deal Brokers, Myriad Landscapes, Blasted Landscapes, etc.), but only a handful of other cards have been slapped in. Jazzy G (Jazal Goldmane) found a home in place of a Heliod which I didn't think helped a whole heck of a lot. Arcane Lighthouse is a good tutorable option to help me better spot remove. I was able to trade for an Entreat the Angels. This deck burst onto the scene with a lot of power, so it's just been baby steps. I don't need to invent new ways to win- just new ways to play Mirror Entity.

SAFFI, DA BROKEST

My favorite infinite martyr got some scry land, but didn't need much more upgrading than a Deal Broker. She's such a boss that it wasn't necessary.

KARN AKA MR. BROWNSTONE

We talked about my Karn deck last week, so there isn't much to tell other than the fact that I just traded for a Planar Portal. He gets played, he combos, or we get conquered.

THE REST

We can take a moment of silence for Greel, but I'm not mourning any of the decks that didn't last this year. Greel was one of the most economically sensible approaches to mono-Black, and I wouldn't be surprised if I tried to bring him back. For now though, I'm going to be looking for something new to slot in his place in the portfolio.

In the meantime, I'm rocking Lyzolda, and Obzedat as adequate color replacements. So look forward to stories about them as well.

The last bit of news is pretty sweet. I know you guys haven't seen a lot of me this year, but I'll be ever-present in the online Commander content moving forward. In addition to running TGZ, your home for me and GG's awesome opinions and insight, I will also be writing for CommanderCast.

CommanderCast has produced some of my favorite non-TGZ content over the years, even given me a good framework for sharing all the Super-Secret-Tech I do here. So be sure to peruse the archive and check out the rest of their stuff. They worship Wrexial, Ib Halfheart, and the ever-flavorful Giant Shark, so you know it's good.

My first article runs next week, so if you need to escape the pesky cousins or obnoxious, clueless aunts, uncles, and/or grandparents, you can read how I use basic Poker techniques to improve my Commander game.

Well, that's all I got. All the lists are on TappedOut if you want to check 'em out, +1, and/or follow me.

Anyway, Be Safe, Make Good Choices, Happy Holidays, Pass Turn.

-UL

Glowing Ranks: Played and Unplayed From Commander 2014

Hey all. Landdrops here with another episode of Glowing Ranks.

Today we're gonna talk Commander 2014. I've had a pretty swell time checking out the new tech, and now felt like a good chance to get out of the streets and report in on my findings.

Since I've been a little behind the curve, I'm double dipping on Top 5's today, and it's going to work out. There's a lot to like out of the C14 stuff- some I've gotten a chance to play, some I haven't. So there's the dichotomy- 5 best cards I played, and my fave five that are looking to get in on the action.

THE UNPLAYED


5. Aether Gale

I don't have a copy of this card yet, and though apprehensive, I'm gonna trust GG's assessment in the review and throw it into my Barrin "Pile Of Fairness" deck I wrote about last time.

Unlike other blue cards, my biggest concern is the slowness of the card, not maintaining six legal targets. Sorcery speed makes this card, too fair. Maybe it find a home with other fair things. I don't know.








4. Fell the Mighty

This Lin Sivvi Rebels deck I've been running is going to love another one-sided "Power Wrath." Retribution of the Meek is one of the biggest bombs I have to use in conjunction with Mirror Entity. While this costs a little bit more, I'm with GG on this- Fell the Mighty is gonna be a house everywhere it can see play.

The big reason is that it has the capacity to protect low-power Aggro Commanders like Daxos and Doran, creating an evasion haven for these guys to go Voltron and put your opponent a turn behind the curve. It's a solid card that's easy on the eyes.





3. Masterwork of Ingenuity

I'm a sucker for clone effects and equipment, which made me apprehensive in my pre-order due to the "pizza milkshake" concept. For those who don't know what I'm talking about, this is what I mean.

Pizza = Good.

Milkshake = Good.

Pizza + Milkshake = Plain Gross.

Another reason to play this card is that not only can you tutor for it with Stoneforge, Taj-Nar Swordsmith, Steelshaper's Gift, and Stonehewer Giant, but it's also a great card for the mono-Blue Trinket Mage package. Do your opponents like to show off their Swords of X and Y? Do they like to play Jittes and swing beats? If so this is a nice metagame option for like, one-fifth to one-tenth of the market price for the Good Stuff.

2. Domineering Will

DW is a card I predict to be much more one-sided in a deck where Barrin is the general. At instant speed, I can generate about as much or more value in an opponent's combat step with exponential opportunities for value.

The lines of play are always going to result in x-for-1 trades, where x is dependent on how you want to interact with Barrin, especially with mana later on in the game.


1. Malicious Affliction


My top card is Double Doom Blade, and the reason it's not in any deck yet is because I have yet to ascertain what this card means. It's not bright. It's not vivid. It's that morbid, disgustingly good kind of card I try to save for my favorite decks.

Recently, I retired Greel, so it might be a while before I find a home for this sucker. If the fixing were better, this is really a Glissa T's card, but not one I want to have to count on, with it being double black and Glissa T's having double green. We'll see. I might just get the itch to throw it in anyway.

THE PLAYED

5. Nahiri, the Lithomancer

Now, Nahiri isn't a card I've physically played, but I've seen enough of it already to tell you it's kind of exciting, even though I'm not fond of walkers coming from the Command Zone.

With her Stoneforging ancestor and the aforementioned Equipment tutor package, Nahiri is in a unique position to power up bad equipment and break the top tier cards. Add the Lithomancer to a list of cards the rock with Skullclamp. Mono-White now has a way to create a card draw engine.

The -2 is also nice when you have clunky Kaldra pieces or an Argentum Armor for which there is no reason on this earth to pay full price.

Overall, I'm still okay with it. It's not game-ending, but she does work.

4. Daretti, Scrap Savant

I'm surely guilty of liking this card too much, but I don't think anyone can blame me.

I've already dusted off the Inglourious Basterds "Doh-me-neek Dee-co-co" jokes when I activate his abilities. I hold out my hand and say, "More Dah-ray-tee."

None of the Daretti cards in my group stay out for long, but it's too fun to miss every time Goblin Pope of Artifacts finds himself out and looting. So don't be a square. Buy your Daretti today.

3. Titania, Protector of Argoth

I texted GG about this card, but what I really wanted to do was pull a Back to the Future and say, "Yo, Chuck. This your cousin, Marvin Berry. You know that sound you been looking for?" and then hold the phone up so he could hear the sounds of repeated Strip Mines and multiple Life from the Loam triggers as I stomp my opponents with 5/3's.

No one wants, or should buy, the mono-Green Commander product- unless you want all of the Elves. But unlike Titania, that bores me.

Silvos got retired because of just how nuts the dedicated Titania Aggro-Loam deck has been. There are so many elements of combo and card advantage and tempo that are just too good to pass up.

Titania is the card I thought she was going to be in the Legends Review, and the deck is exactly what I thought it would be. All in all, it's fresh, unique, and I hope R&D are able to find more ways to combine these styles of effects and incorporate them into Commander.

2. Reef Worm

Lil Reefy fit perfectly into the Barrin deck I'd started playing at the time it was spoiled, so I knew it was a must-have in the pre-order.

Again, the Worm's been as good as anticipated, comboing with Barrin to give me chump blocks, a threat, and multiple chances to bounce things that are in my way.

There are some people who haven't gotten the Kraken yet. Obviously, this deck is a great niche include because it's always going to be, as Qui-Gon says, the proverbial "bigger fish."

1. Myriad Landscape

I got 8 copies of Myriad Landscape in my pre-order. That's not only a testament to how much I believe in the power of card advantage, but also in anticipation of this card tripling or quadrupling in price.

Being that most of my decks at any given time are mono-colored, this wasn't just mindless and arbitrary either. All of my decks are packing the immense value you're going to get from this card. It's one tap-land I think I can get behind, even in decks that I thought might not want it.

Opening hands with 2 lands and a Landscape have never been so sweet. Getting value at your deck's foundation is the best thing the design team did for us in this product, and that kind of structural support really helps to pave way for more of these big bad monsters and spells they also like to pump out every year. It's just one card, but Myriad Landscape is a gigantic step in the right direction.

What did you like in C14? What did you hate? Let us know in the comments below!

Pass Da Turnski.
-UL

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