In General: Out of Fashion

Hello, and welcome back to In General! On Sundays here at the General Zone I, Grandpa Growth, write about high-level, conceptual topics. Metagame strategy, player psychology, game theory, fundamental strategy, etc. Last month, I spent each Sunday discussing the metagame breakdown of Commander. I started with what a metagame composition is, how one gets created, what the driving force behind the Commander metagame is (it's Fashion in case you missed the series), and I spent the last two weeks discussing how to update your decks for the current trend in the format: Devotion. I received a lot of positive feedback on these articles and we saw a big rise in views here on the blog. However, I saw one question cropping up a lot and was even asked face-to-face in my personal life: If Commander is so heavily dominated by the decks that are 'in fashion', then what are we missing? What should we be playing instead?

This is an interesting question. Not often do I openly assume my analysis to be correct, but that is the default position I have to take in order to answer this query. If I am right and people are OVER-playing Devotion, what decks should they play instead to improve their percentages and playing ability? Well, not surprisingly, I have a couple of unsubstantiated ideas.

I am going to talk about the three Devotion decks that I have personally played against the most. I think personal experience is the best place for me to speak from when answering such a nebulous question. It would, of course, be preferable to fall back on the data proving which decks get played and what has the highest win percentage, but such documents simply don't exist. Instead we will have to settle for anecdotal evidence. Let's take a look.

Making Big Red sexy since 2013.

It is tough for me to think of Purphoros as over-played because I legitimately believe it to be the best Mono Red deck in the format AND the best choice for a Commander port of a pure 'Red Deck Wins' strategy. I like that it exists, I like that people play it. They are trying something old and new at the same time. Aggro needs to be good for Commander to be healthy. The ETB trigger on Purphoros just makes so many cards into must counter spells. Firecat Blitz. Goblin Offensive. Hostility + basically any burn spell. Purphoros has put Mono Red in the most competitive spot it has ever held in Commander, but this deck does have one glaring weakness that I can't stand. It lacks disruption. Zoners, you should know by now that Grandpa loves his disruption. So what do we do instead...?

Disclaimer: I am not responsible for your
friends hating you. 

I bet you weren't expecting that! "But Grandpa, you hate gimmick decks! You hate chaos decks! Why are you supporting the enemy?!" Simple. Norin is good. Much better than most players would give it credit for. The deck is just rock solid AND the internet community has pretty much nailed down an air-tight competitive version. This is a highly resilient, highly disruptive combo deck that attacks from a very unconventional angle. It has only gotten better since Theros block dropped. In fact, Nykthos and Purphoros are two of the best cards in Norin decks! Now, I am not ENCOURAGING you to play Norin, because that would mean a nonzero percentage of people would start doing it and then I might have to play against some of those people and that would lead to an immediate and measurable decline in my quality of life, BUT hell man...at least I am honest.

You wouldn't want to take him home to
Mom and Dad, but ladies love his whip.

Erebos is also very good, but unlike Mono Red, Mono Black has a wide variety of high quality generals to choose from. Mono Black also has a deep pool of cards that can act as Devotion enablers. Phyrexian Obliterator and Necropotence come to mind. There are plenty of other decks that can leverage the power of these cards, and Nykthos as well, while using a different captain for their ship. The generic strategy of getting ahead on cards and getting ahead on board works for Erebos, but in this case the simplicity makes it somewhat vulnerable. Sweepers and removal can represent a hurdle for decks trying to assemble a high Devotion count. That is the silver lining for people trying to stay off the Devotion band wagon.

Early in the game I'd rather have a Erebos,
but in the late stages I'd much rather have
an active Geth. 

Because people need to dedicate more slots in their decks for answering and managing the God cards, less space is available for niche hate cards and other semi-sideboard technology. In this case I am talking specifically about graveyard hate, but other examples can be shown. I recommend playing a graveyard-centric Black deck. Both strategies are powerful, both are vulnerable to specific hate cards, but I have learned an important lesson from playing competitive constructed events. The less popular combo decks are more successful. Take a look at Twin decks in Modern. The more popular the deck becomes, the worse it performs. As Twin's win percentage falls, people tend to become more concerned about beating Pod or Storm, which, in turn, leads to a rise in the success rate of Twin. The analogue for Commander is clear: both Black recursion and Black Devotion decks are powerful and popular, but the one you want to be playing at any given moment is the one that your opponent DOESN'T have the hate for.

Drawing 2-3 cards per turn is a great way
to overcome removal and take over the game.

Of all the Gods printed so far, Ephara's triggered ability is the most appealing to me. What can I say? I dig drawing extra cards. It is also easy to trigger. In fact, of all the replacements I am talking about today, this is the easiest to make. GoST and Ephara really want to be in the same deck, but the choice of which to play as a general is very dependent on the matchup. They are both resistant to certain kinds of removal, but not THE SAME kinds. They synergize incredibly well together. They both belong in a fast, disruptive, aggro-control brew. The kind of deck that I can really get behind.

This is turning into GG's list of the most
annoying cards to play against.

I feel a little dirty recommending that people play Geist. In fact, at the height of Hexproof's popularity in Standard, I was playing against more Geist decks than I could stand -  in every format. Geist is just good; not much else to say. A second alternative could be Bruna, Light of Alabaster, but I don't want to shamelessly recommend a deck that I, myself, play. That seems like a conflict of interest to me. That being said, if you want a more dedicated theme in your deck, or just don't want to play a lockout, Counterspell deck, then Bruna is a great place to start. It is strange to me though: for all the history and popularity Blue/White has in Magic, there are very few UW Legendary Creatures that are really playable in Commander. By contrast, Esper, which is historically a much less popular control deck, has many, many more appetizing Commander choices.

Thanks for reading guys! I promise: the five week rant about the Gods is finally over. Next week we will be back to more regular topics here on In General. As always, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments. What decks do you think are being underplayed because of new Theros block cards?
-GG

Born of the Gods Set Review: The Legends

Heya Zoners!

With Born of the Gods prereleasing this weekend, I thought we'd go ahead and kick things off a little early with my role in TGZ's Set Review as we review the hot new Legendary Creatures coming to a kitchen table near you.

THE CARDS

In our first card, the creature type claims it's one of two things Liam Neeson is most likely to unleash (The other being his particular set of skills).

However, all I see is an oversized snake with a claw and an octopus hand (which is pretty cool, I'll admit) wrecking a seaside town in a bad purple Kabuki Theatre costume (In this case, "R" comes before "E," because I'm being totally pretentious).

All I can think is he must've fallen asleep and missed the planeswalk to Kamigawa. Cause if it weren't for the rules, we'd be done and moving on.

So thank goodness we aren't judging books by their covers.

Now, I don't get the flavor of conditional Hexproof, but I have to admit, it's neat, and moderately exciting. It really does nothing for your opponent. There is nothing save a lonely and unplayable Basandra, Battle Seraph getting in the way of your opponent blowing him up in combat.

This second ability is pretty sweet, and makes him an actual threat. I already saw a list on TappedOut last week where the deckbuilder put in tap effects so that he can force Tromo's unblockable abilities, because yeah, that's a thing.

So if you really want to play this card, the questions is this: How much almost-unblockable-almost-hexproof do you want?

Kidding aside, I do like this card. I'm a sucker for sea monsters and 8/8's that are low maintenance. This will make blue decks even easier to play pure control because they don't have to play a bunch of Wizards like Azami or silly infinite combo pieces to win. So if you see it around, look forward to more counterspells, and jokes made out of bad lines which Liam Neeson has salvaged and immortalized on the silver screen.

The name of our next card was actually a misprint. Because there's really only one true Lion King, and his name is MUFASA! (I'll also accept Aslan, but I think we know this is totally Mufasa's M.O.).

So make sure you correct your friends. It's important to me that we use proper nomenclature in this obviously inconsiderate, non-hilarious world. We wouldn't want to offend anyone.

And since we're two cards in, I think the time is appropriate for an angry Grandpa Growth-esque tirade, so let's begin Brimaz's evaluation with it:

Why do we have Cat Royalty? Who is he ruling over? The SIX other cats on that have been printed in this block? And how does he rule over a wild, hexproof, and indestructible Fleecemane Lion? Many times, I think the world would be a better place if we just stopped and asked ourselves, "Where were the Parents At?" But to be more relevant, I must ask- Where are the Kittens!?!?! This guy has no frame of reference. He might as well have gone through the drive-thru at Burger King and asked them for a birthday crown, because that's how relevant his title feels to me right now.

[end rant]

Obvious flavor misgrievances aside, this is definitely something for the competitive players. He is "Diet Jedit Ojanen of Efrava," if you like oddly lengthy comparisons to cards from Future Past (Unintentional New X-Men Movie Plugs. The Jedit to which I am referring is not the Legends one, but the Planar Chaos version. Hence my labeling.). I guess this is where the cats are supposed to come from.

So if you can afford it, play it. If you play Kemba or Raksha, this is a card for that deck. This card is cool, available, and practically sells itself my making more adorable, Skullclamp-able pals. I still think it's ridiculous that he has to make his own kingdom. There's just something that's a little fishy going on with that. Talk about playing god...

Puns. Eww.

Now to talk about actual gods. First up is Ephara, being so obviously clumsy with her whole bottle of Nyx-Juice. Did Artist Eric Deschamps just catch her in a bad moment, or is it just odd? You tell me.

If all the Gods are being this carefree, then it's no wonder the dirty bohemian satyr Xenagos decided to ascend into Godhood. Seems like a pretty big party foul to me.

Anywho, Ephara. Because everyone knows "polis" means "city" in Greek, this clearly makes our U/W God the master of Urban Planning. This is the beginning of what I think is hilarious job specialization amongst Gods. I can't wait for Kruphix, God of Celery Sticks, or Pharika, God of Gorgon-Related Accessories. Apparently, there is a limit to omnipotence, and some of these guys are going to end up in really crappy cubicles.

Okay- let's actually review this card. Cool art. It's almost cool enough to distract me from the fact that this is probably the weakest god next to Nylea, but "draw a card" did get squeezed in at the last second, so- maybe it's good? I'll be anxious to see if people can get her live. I think that's necessary to make her any good.

There have just been so many U/W options to come out in the last few sets that feel more worth your time as a Commander than her, but that doesn't mean she isn't great support. Isperia's fine, but she's a chump compared to Daxos, Lavinia, and Medomai. All of these cards are just significantly more powerful.

Overall, Ephara is probably going to be best kept in the Lavinia deck, where creatures are coming in all the time. I don't think that it'll stop her from being boss over her own decks though. This is a playable card, even if it's not the greatest.

Karametra is the God of the deck I'm backing to crack ESPN Top 10 Highlights. Welcome to Ramp Whilst We Ramp University. Do you like to play dudes? Do you like Rampant Growth? Well, now both is happening.

There's just no way you can really lose. Card Advantage doesn't matter anymore. You can now play all your lands and all your dudes AT THE SAME TIME.

At 6/7, Karametra is also going to be a creature that's smashing face. Green is a color with great ability to get devotion as well as trample, and many of the white flying creatures you probably want to be playing will have at least double white in their cost. So keeping her off devotion will be a huge part of Karametra's metagame.

The only other downside to this card is that Timmy's gonna have to wait to play, "Haaave you met Ted?" for another week (Sorry if you're not a "How I Met Your Mother" Lover. We can't all be them, can we?). This is surely going to be a relationship not even Match.com can, well, "match." Maybe she isn't all that attractive, but lumpy, amorphous Gods with dreadlocks need loving too, and I guarantee she will be loved anyway. Instantly a Commander. Probably a mistake otherwise.

Of the Gods in this set, I think Mogis is probably the one that most improves his part of the color pie.

Not only is he extremely playable as a Commander, but he also has cool flavor. He got a title I think a god should have. He has the head of a cow and is murdering people. He's pain or removal, Indestructible, and a 3-turn clock.

Hashtag, This Is What Vegetarians Were Afraid Of.

Hashtag, In Soviet Theros, Meat Murders You!

While I am worried about the damage tax being an option, and the lack of available removal against this decks biggest offender, Tokens, this card is ironically very lovable.

Especially for Rakdos players in Commander.

There are a lot of things to like about this card. Phenax is a super-cool name, and sports an equally dapper yet mysterious moniker.

Clearly, I'm willing to overlook what exactly is deceiving, and to whom Phenax believes he is doing this to, but we really shouldn't.

I don't get his relevance, and I don't get how this deck wins. Does he just hang out in Wrexial/Lazav decks? Is Phenax his own man? Will Guns'N'Roses ever stop making music? Will Cell survive Goku's Spirit Bomb?

All of these are examples of questions we're just going to have to wait to find out on the next episode of Dragon Ball Z. Cause I'm interested, just not sure what anyone could or should want to do with Phenax. Definitely a puzzle, but not one that I think is totally unplayable. Mill is a hard strategy, and this just might be the card those decks need, or the card they deserve.

Well, we knew it was coming. Xenagos is a god and he's evil. He bears the sash, the mark of Multiverse Mischief. Don't believe me? Look at Disciple of Bolas, Mindclaw Shaman, and Augur of Bolas. All sashing it up, like they're old cowboys or something.

So let's talk about Xenagos' new job. Webster's dictionary defines "Revel" as, "to engage in lively festivities, especially those with drinking and dancing." I know because I had to look this up, and it's a really stupid word to use. I think it's worth pointing out yet again that this is a very awkward position to have as an omniscient being, but hey. Party planners tend to make pretty good money, right? Isn't that the job they give to Jennifer Lopez in every film she's in?

As far as Xenagos is concerned, I'm more a fan of this art than I am of the rules text. I'm not sure Red and Green needed something like this, but I don't think these silly R/G decks and silly players will turn it away. Animar decks everywhere can continue to punish you for not playing an Animar deck, and they will do it by playing their copy of Xenagos, but that's all I god.

Overall, I'm not sold on Xenagos as a God and Commander, but I'm keeping an open mind.

Well, that's all I got for today folks. We love the comments, so keep 'em coming!

Until next time, Keep Calm and Good Luck at Prerelease!

-Ya Boi Landdrops