Glowing Ranks: Red Legends

Happy Weekend Again Zoners!

Continuing with our on-going Glowing Ranks segment, today's topic is Red Legends.

Because the card advantage is basically non-existent when we compare it to the other "slices" in Magic's color pie, Red has been historically the "least competitive" mono-color.

Although I don't disagree with the popular opinion, I can tell you that Red decks still have a lot to offer the general metagame, forcing tempo and pressure even without the taboo. When up against the amalgam of 20 years of Magic's most overpowered, it's a daunting task to risk managers and control players who feel the need to play the format with better support.

What draws me to the red decks I've played is both the inherent challenge of overcoming better designs and flipping the script on the players who are more Wrath-inclined. By going all-in, dedicating a majority of your deck to aggressive combos, most of the best decks have success in creating an early pressure, which forms chaos, which opens up the game to players making mistakes. And if you play them with tempo, it can both render control-heavy decks completely useless and set you up on a path to victory.

Coupled with the latest in R&D, there's really never been a better time to invest in the Red sector, and I'll show you why.

Honorable Mentions

Starke of Rath

Starke is my latest red deck as a result of my Old Border/New Border "Double Rainbow" Mono-colored project. While not good by himself (hence why he didn't crack the Top 5, and probably not even a top 10), he's worth mentioning in relation to the upward trend.

The first Commander product is what gave Starke an actual chance at the table, as he inherited a very lonely road named Homeward Path. Add an Expedition Map, and now you have two copies, giving us a "free" slot in our mana base and a real slot which could also provide design for a nice set of nonbasics, which does come in handy.

As mentioned in the Better Deckbuilding article, the trick with Starke is to assemble a removal engine with an indestructible artifact, and a way to copy his ability, whether it be the beat-me-over-the-head Rings of Brighthearth, or an untap effect like Umbral Mantle. Using the Stack, your first target is the indestructible item, and then whatever thing your opponent has, making sure Starke never leaves.

The amount of half-decent cards that can enable Starke and aid in building an offensive engine give this deck a very nice little control package that gives you enough time to find other heinous combos you'd want to play with Rings, or perhaps you just take the route I did and load it up with Dragons for the later stages. Overall, it's a neat deck with cool tricks that gives you a chance, which, if you're any good, is really all you'll need.

Squee, Goblin Nabob

This is a deck I've heard about for a long time, and a new design in my playgroup.

Often, most of the red card draw spells aren't going to give you an advantage, because they take cards away. With Squee as your Commander, these problems can be lessened, and a Red engine deck can begin to emerge.

Unlike Starke, Squee is probably the most travelled commander you'll see. The card will go to the graveyard, the player's hand, and the battlefield more than several times throughout the course of the game, and it is both very difficult to stop, and inefficient to waste single removal spells on. He'll basically do whatever you want, whenever, from the too-easy Skullclamp, to the



5. Ashling, the Pilgrim

When I first started this blog a couple years ago, one of the big gimmicky decks was the self-explanatory Ashling + 99 Mountains design.

The idea behind this deck, and most "Aggro" red decks in the format is that they're going to try and find a nice combination of combat damage and burn to finish an opponent off. Ashling is pretty successful in this way, considering that she has the ability to do two things at once: Control the board and deal damage to everyone and everything.

What limits her from beating out the other decks in the list is how many times you're going to have to cast her in a given game. Hence the Mountains moniker and joke for this deck. You have to commit to a serious amount of lands, but it's worth it. There are very few other cards you'll want to play that are as good as just laying down Mountain, and at a certain point, all you'll need to have is one big combat dealing 6-10 damage to make sure you're ahead. Of course, getting a Loxodon Warhammer or Basilisk Collar will help too.

4. Heartless Hidetsugu

In terms of using Warhammer and Collar to combo with damage, HH is just superior. The ratio of damage-to-CMC is not only a signficantly better return on investment compared to Ashling, but it's also a lot easier to set up. While Ashling comes out earlier, it will still take turns to set up the bomb, whereas HH sets up proactively and is the last part of your combo to come to the party.

One of the other things about HH is that he matches up significantly better with decks using life gain strategies, effectively halving the big boppers like Beacon of Immortality, and stopping the slow-rolling Oloro deck from staying ahead in the game, and therefore keeping the deck from its big Lim-Dul's Vault or Ad Nauseam.

HH also makes burn spells better, as he magnifies them exponentially throughout the course of the game. Two activations of HH can effectively put you in a position where one 4 power dude and a decent Fireball can finish an opponent, potentially more than one.

3. Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker

HH and Kiki-Jiki are really "even," I think, but for the purposes of this list, Kiki wins. Though significantly less consistent than Heartless Hidetsugu, the better combos in this deck are better than the things that HH can do in a 1v1 situation. In the HH/Kiki matchup, I also think Kiki wins due to the innate creature-based design and the fact that HH's best plays can be dealt with effectively in mono-red.

Against most other decks, I think HH is going to hold up better on the whole, as Kiki-Jiki, even if you don't go infinite, brings a stigma to the table that people might not like. He's going to be a lot harder of a commander to stick at the table than HH, even if HH brings more devastation.

2. Purphoros, God of the Forge

The new God on the block has really come out and made quite an impression on the greater metagame. Being a no-nonsense, tough-to-remove ETB and Combat Damage machine, the God of the Forge is a formidable Aggro deck.

One of the reasons for Purfy's vastly superior success when compared to the other gods is the fact that the card is generally not going to be a creature if you're playing it right. Unlike his fellow com-Pantheons, Purph's strength lies in a combination of him, haste outlets, and spells/permanents that spit out copious amounts of tokens. The deck's success is attributed mostly to the noncombat damage each opponent takes when he comes into play, which avoids people playing their own chump blockers while you create your own.

It is very similar HH and Ashling in this respect, the big differences being resilience and like Kiki-Jiki, it's dedication to token copies for ETB value. This blend is really a potent recipe for face-smashers everywhere.

1. Norin the Wary

Despite the God's magnanimous presence, he still pales in comparison to the effect of the Norin deck. Together, the two are also a pretty unbeatable 2 damage every turn.

What makes Norin so good is his ability to get everyone's best creatures via Confusion in the Ranks or Pandemonium, while basically dodging every relevant removal spell.

The deck is surely one of the more inconsistent decks without reliable tutelage for the key combo pieces, but it's nothing a Crystal Ball and Scroll Rack and Memory Jar and a few Wheel Effects can't find. In the meantime, this deck can also bide time with Genesis Chamber and Kiki-Jiki, as most of the better cards in Red fit right into this deck without too much tinkering.

The result is a map of various routes to chaos, which becomes a powerful ally for the Norin deck and a hard thing for an opponent to have to play against when they're already playing against another person.

That's all we have for today. Do you like these ranks? Do you disagree? Did I miss something? Lemme know in the comments below.
-UL

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

The Stack #27- Good Gods, Man!

Well, it's Spoiler Season again at TGZ, and we hope you're excited.

With Theros officially spoiled, we're kicking it all off today rating the big boppers in this "Legendary" set.

This week I had our little gang do something different for this week's Stack. After all, with special cards comes great responsibility special ways to rank them, and that's what special cards need, after all.

So enjoy. THIS IS THE STACK!

GG's Ranks

I had a lot of good ideas of what scale to rank these god cards on. I have long been a student of classic literature and culture so I knew instantly that I wanted to compare these cards on a scale that would have meaning in the context of Greek culture.

Alternate options were:
-Most likely to be used for a Deus Ex Machina.
-Most likely to be sporting a 'prodigious burden' (that's a comically large phallus for those out of the loop).
-Most likely to cross dress.
-Which animal/human forms I think would be coolest for these gods.

Ultimately, I decided that the best way to rank these characters was with the following criteria:

Theros Gods Most Likely to Have Illegitimate Children

5. Erebos, God of the Dead.

Jeez, this guy isn't doing himself any favors with his outfit. He looks super creepy. There is no way he is eating properly; look at how skinny and gaunt he is!

Also, carrying around a whip isn't a way to make friends. This gives a clear S&M signal and that is going to be a turn of to a lot of people.

Being the god of the dead also isn't exactly a dream job. The ladies want like, investment banker or doctor that only does charity work in developing countries. Hades had to resort to kidnapping to get a girlfriend and she couldn't even stand being around him.

My advice? Cut your horns, wear a collared shirt, and start working out.

4. Nylea, God(dess) of the Hunt

Right off the bat, Nylea should be a goddess, not a god. She obviously has female features. If gender isn't a relevant concept for the divine powers of Theros, then R&D is betraying one of the most interesting and important facets of the Greek culture on which this set is based....and also making my choice of ranking topic look a bit silly.

Still, she is pretty attractive for a humanoid, but I am getting a prickly vibe off of her. She probably takes her job too seriously and is worried that she won't be treated fairly  if she can't out-compete the men. Ironically, this just makes her less desirable to the men she was trying to be accepted by. No one likes a try hard.

3. Thassa, God(dess) of the Sea

There are plenty of fish in the sea, right? So her odds of scoring a few notches on her bedpost seem pretty good, but the part of this saying that gets left off makes me hesitate. There are plenty of fish in the sea, but many of them are going to end up in a single net.

However, if Tritons breed anything like real-life Earth fish then we could have a whole different problem on our hands. It could be a free-for-all tidal orgy down there. Who knows what can happen? We will need Maury Povich to sort out who the father is!

2. Purphoros, God of the Forge

Man, this guy looks like he has a huge temper problem, but I knew plenty of guys like that in college and they never had any problems with the ladies.

This is exactly the kind of guy you want to be friends with. He has to throw killer parties. Check it out: he sets off fireworks whenever a new friend shows up and he really knows how to get the whole crew riled up and ready to do something stupid. I am sure this guy is showing his hammer to a new girl every weekend.

1. Heliod, God of the Sun

More like God of the Son, am I right?. Let's be honest here. Every land animal is going to be praying at this guy's altars.

Who wouldn't love a shot at the number one personality on the whole plane? This guy is the closest thing you can get to an MtG celebrity.

Jace might have more power, but nobody knows his name when he jumps to a new plane.

On Theros Heliod is the most eligible bachelor and I bet he can't wait to pump out more little clerics to help spread the word about his spear.

JC's Ranks

The way I will be evaluating the gods is by looking at their abilities in combination with their artifacts.

When Wizards said they'd be releasing a Greek mythology-based set I was skeptical. So far I have been surprised at how they took to the theme and captured the feel with powerful effects and the flavor of devotion.  It's my favorite of all ancient civilizations, and I didn't want them to do it wrong.

The gods were a bittersweet release for me, honestly. They felt strong and the devotion mechanic seemed to really fit in but their equipment feels a bit off. As a planeswalker in this world should you be able to wield the weapons of the gods? I'd say not unless the devotion was high. I foresee these as an strong resource that grant strong effects for just existing and that will make EDH a much more dangerous place.

5. Heliod, God of the Sun / Spear of Heliod.

Counting down, this is the weakest link. Mr. Vigilance and his Devotion Crew that feels simply like Mobilization with a creature. Nothing really Impressive to me about him but I'm sure in the right deck he would shine. Token decks will love having another static token producer.

His Spear is odd. Somehow it strengthens your troops. Although I completely get the Avenging Arrow that is attached to it. Feels right that Heliod/Zeus would be able to strike down with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy his "brothers." The pair of them help but there is not as much synergy between them.

4. Erebos, God of the Dead  / Whip of Erebos.

This was a tough guy to place. Ultimately shutting down your opponent's ability to gain life seems lackluster in the grand sceme of Black. I was anticipating Phyrexian Arena on a stick. Instead, we got a corrected draw ability that isn't abusable like Gristlebrand or Necropotence. Kinda disappointed in the God of the Dead.

His Whip is also disappointing. Lifelink is good so in theory shutting down your opponent's life gain abilities makes for an strong advantage and the activated Unearth-like ability seems like alot of power checking on one card. You can't flicker it, or return it to hand or else it's Exiled anyway. Sundial of the Infinite would be the only way to keep it a little longer, but not much. I suppose Sedris Decks will utilize it more than anyone else.

3. Thassa, god(dess) of the sea / Bident of Thassa

Scry is the name here and all my Melek friends out there love to scry but how strong is scry 1 to each player? When we have cards like Top, Scroll Rack, and Soothsaying, why even think of running her? Her ability is where the power lies if you ask me. It's the lowest cost of the 5 and it makes any creature unblockable.

As for her Fork...now this thing has the real power of blue. Capturing the essence of Curiosity and Alluring Siren in overdrive. Though the Siren ability seems out of the color-pie, I'm fine with it.

2. Purphoros, God of the Forge / Hammer of Purphoros

When I was looking at gods that I would play in this set both (green and Thassa called to me for my RUG Animar commander but then This guy came into the fold and Thassa was kicked out for him. Why? Heavy creature decks tend to fall into the aggro style of play and main win conditions really come down to combat damage both by Generals and creature beatdown. Having Purphoros around helps keep on the pressure and spread out the damage to make getting damage through both easier and faster. While he is on the field, each creature entering makes a reusable Shock that gets better with Flash and Flicker battle-tricks. While I'll rarely use his pump, I can see a scenario where that would be necessary but very infrequent with the triggered shock.

His artifact is more powerful when he's on the field. Granting haste to all newcomers especially if your sacrificing your lands to make more creatures, which reads like "sac a mountain, put a 3/3 creature into play and (red god) deals 2 to each opponent.

1. Nylea, God(dess) of the Hunt / Bow of Nylea

The Queen of green. Strong, beautiful and dare I say Enchanting? A 6/6 for 4 that grants global trample is right up my alley with my more aggresive decks. Not to mention her mana sink ability that feels a little overcosted for what it does but to be fair its not a once per turn limit. Turning her into a creature wont he hard seeing as green is the best color (second to white) that has more mana symbols per spell ratio.

Her bow is a completely different story. All creatures you control have deathtouch? Wizards are you kidding me? Thats a ridiculous ability just to have for three mana, not including the wide range of abilities to choose from for 1G making this bow and arrow something Hawkeye would use.

VJ's Ranks

5. Heliod, God of the Sun
Flavor-wise, I like this card. Pumping out weenies and making them Vigilant is a trademark of white mana.

Unfortunately, He's just not that amazing or innovative. "Let's put Serra's Blessing on a 5/6 that makes overpriced 2/1s" is no way to make a Legendary creature.

4. Erebos, God of the Dead

I see what they did here. Put Greed on a creature. But 2 mana and 2 life is too much for just one more card in your hand.

I'd think the dead of Theros would be a bit more generous.

3. Purphoros, God of the Forge

Although I don't use burn very often, I like the direction this card is taking. It's almost like Warstorm Surge on a creature.

2. Nylea, God(dess) of the Hunt



Trample is good, as is +2/+2 buffs. It's almost a one card combo, but the creature buff ability is way too expensive. Still, she's a 6/6 Primal Rage and that is both a sign of good flavor and good power.

1. Thassa, God(dess) of the Sea

I like to scry, and I'm infinitely pleased to see it making a comeback in Theros. Although Scry 1 isn't much, it's a glimpse into the future or one less card you have to draw to get out your win con. I've always enjoyed deck manipulation. Non-cheating cheating basically. Unblockability is also fun to play with.

UL's Ranks
Much of the appeal of Theros for me so far is the artwork. As I get further into my Magic playing habits, I find that this particular part of the card aesthetic is becoming much more important to me- especially as I get better as a player and cards, like the Gods, creep in power.

My ranks are going to be much more influenced by this, though I do plan on trying to get copies and play all of them.

5. Heliod, God of the Sun

Perhaps Heliod is gonna be the low man on the totem pole for many people, but he's really not functionally as bad to me as Nylea. GG will tell you Vigilance is a last minute throw on ability, and maybe he's right. I'm not sure, but I find that it's relevant in most of the time. I like it when I get to keep up my defenses.

Spitting out babies seems really good here, and even though it's a little costly, people with Serra's Sanctum will be able to add some good value here.

But that sounds like I like this card. Though the sparkly nonsense almost gets there, like the rest of this artwork, it doesn't go the distance for me. I don't like how we can see Nyx in his body. I don't like the way the light reflects in the sky, giving him this hazyness over his face, and the same goes for his trusty spear and his peasant brown-ish robes.

I just do not like them "Sam I Am." I would not like them in Japan. I would not like them with a can of SPAM.

DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ABOUT NO GREEN EGGS AND HAM!

Also, is that a halo on his head? Cause it looks like bull horns, like for a bull that has calcium deficiency.

In the words of my life coach and cinematic mentor, The Dude, "This Artwork will not stand, man." It's so unappealing that I might not even play it, if it weren't for his meddling abilities.

4. Thassa, God(dess) of the Sea

Milotic, for you Trainers who hung up
your Poke Balls after Gold and Silver

For a God of the Sea, we really don't see the sea in her art much, do we? I'm not much a fan of that or her coloring in this art, mostly because she looks like the Pokemon Milotic with a face. Still, I liked Milotic, and I do think I can deal with my grievances because her abilities are sweet. There's no law against playing cards with bad art.

3. Erebos, God of the Dead

Erebos gets the nod here because he has the best use of his sparklies. The way the background matches the enchantment border really helps to stretch the perception of what the card looks like. If you've seen some of my proxies, I'm kind of a fan of stretching and re-shaping that aesthetic.

In terms of functionality, GG sort of changed my perspective on this card. I mean, I knew shutting down life gain and drawing cards was good; Being a 5/7 though really helps out his case though. In the color pie, Black gets a lot of B's in its casting cost, which was originally supposed to help balance its power. I can't see that being the case for much longer.


2. Purphoros, God of the Forge

Total surprise that I'm putting this one at Number Two, but it's well deserved. The gold and smoke over top of the mountain give him this really great regal look, and I really dig his abilities. Great design for a red card, and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to talk about it. This could make for a few great red token combos with Hostility, specifically.

1. Nylea, God(dess) of the Hunt

Fell in love with the art when they spoiled it at Comic-Con, and it's still my favorite. I also love me a good warrior woman. I find her abilities somewhat redundant, but she's probably going to be the most "active" as a creature. I'm not sure where that leaves her, but I like this card, even if it is a little underpowered comparatively.


Anywho, get excited folks. There's much more Theros to talk about in the next few weeks.

Be sure to check those out. I have a feeling this set is going to change Commander quite a bit.

So pull out your old Led Zeppelin tracks and start driving your ships to new lands and banging your Hammer of the Gods-

The Chamber of Busted-ness has been opened.

Release the Kraken.
-UL and the TGZ Heroes