Card Corner: Sunscorch Regent

Happy Day of Thor, Zoners!

We're ankles deep into spoilers, and I hope you're feeling wondrously overwhelmed by the influx of the biggest, baddest tribal in the Multiverse.

Today on Card Corner, we're gonna take a look at the CommanderCast preview card I got to check out a few weeks ahead of time, which was a pretty awesome experience.

So after sitting on my thoughts for a week and a half, I get to do some analyzing and postulating, and I hope you'll join me as we talk about the White Dragon Regent!

THE FLAVOR

Although there are Dragons scattered across every color in Magic History, the most compelling part about this block's theme was the sort of "future flavor," if you will, in design. While Red, Black, and even Blue have that innate "enemy" color persona, Green and White have never really been able to reproduce the same kind of reverence when it comes to making a Dragon feel like a Dragon.

The sneak peek in Fate Reforged did little-to-nothing for me in terms of mapping out how they were going to demonstrate this, and I have to admit I felt a little cheated. For starters, Dromoka didn't feel complete as a Dragon (or a Legendary Creature, in my opinion), and the two cards we did get (Wardscale Dragon and Destructor Dragon) barely seemed to communicate a precedent for this design space.

In all fairness, these colors pose a challenge. With Green, Flying is a static ability left almost exclusively to small bugs and bees, while White has the opposite problem- too many creatures with Flying, and not enough space to separate their feel from Angels or Birds.

Relating to Sunscorch Regent, it's pretty clear that the Tarkir flavor REALLY overpowers the essence of this card as a Dragon, which is fine, but it's not aligned with my personal impressions and expectations as a marketed product. While I won't say it was a let down, because I understand what Design and Development had to do to make this work, I have to admit I was a little disappointed. I'm still not sure what a White Dragon looks like, and even though it's a foolish human impulse to use one card to demonstrate the whole, it was clear that Sunscorch Regent wasn't going to be that card, and we were still in the hunt.

THE MECHANICS

Mechanically, I think this card is pretty nice. This is probably attributed to the fact that they really went what they call "Bottoms Up," designing cards with rules and stats before giving it a name and all that.

As it relates to Tarkir, and what we understand of Dragons, and the underlying motivations of the Dragon Broods, it does this well. A reactionary, opponent contingent trigger provides balance while maintaining the power of that old green Forgotten Ancient made by the Magic Community a long time ago. Infused with the afterthought of incremental life gain, we're reminded that this is in fact a card we're gonna pay Plains mana to play, while also giving us additional value driven incentive.

Here in Commander, this card is playable, simply because a 5-Cost creature with evasion and a reason to remove it provides enough incentive for our opponent(s) to think about it. There is going to be a drastic difference between its value in multiplayer versus 1v1, but I think it will be fine for either.

THE ART

The last thing I want to talk about is the artwork, so I've posted it at again. I find it both cool and strange. The colors and scaliness of the dragon itself are typical of what we understand to be the differentiation between the kinds of Dragons on the plane- almost a regional phenotype. Much like desert lizards, these dragons are dry, scaly things that are easily distinguishable.

What I don't like is the color palette. It's just too beige to distinguish the dragon from the background. It's almost like camouflage, which could be an arguable flavor point, but I'm not sure that's really Dromoka brood thing.

Which leads us to the part I both like and dislike- the beam of light coming from Sunscorch Regent's mouth. This is where our eyes are drawn, and I like this eerie, glowing quality. Immediately, I thought Sunscorch Regent was abducting two small people, and I found this notion to be fairly charming, for no real reason.

The thing I dislike is that the more I've been thinking about this, the more I realize that it doesn't make sense when you think about what the card ACTUALLY does. We don't know whether or not Sunscorch Regent is helping or hurting these people. Regardless, how does that relate to the flavor? If he is using it to "sunscorch," that doesn't sound like a good thing. And his reactive, triggered ability suggests that this is a creature more incentivized by hitting back than hitting first. This art doesn't convey these things clearly, based on what I know about the story of Tarkir and the innate-ness of the card.

CONCLUSION

Overall, I think this card is pretty average for us. I like the weirdness, and am really happy, regardless of whether or not it slides into any deck I make, that I had the privilege of getting to see it before everyone else.

Let me know what you think about my thoughts here in the comments below, or on Twitter, where you can now FOLLOW ME @UncleLanddrops! I'm anxious to hear your thoughts!

Pass.
-UL

Fate Reforged: The Legendary Khans

Whaddup Zoners! It's spoiler season, and I'm kicking it off with what might be the first Khans on the plane of Tarkir.

In the interest of being theme-y and fun, I've decided to break up the Legends into two segments- Khans and Dragons. So let's begin the Siege, shall we?

Much like Daghatar, I'm adamant this card will probably not be played at the helm of any Abzan deck looking to do some +1/+1 counter "shenans."

I did some abbreviation because 1) this card isn't worth the extra two syllables that make that word fun and 2) I'm taking the Grandpa Growth road of sheer pessimism and telling you to avoid Old Man Abzan if you know what's good for you.

If we're going by CMC, White Mike can do the stuff we want to do with Daghatar already, and cheaper. If we're going full color identity, there's just Ghave. He rules supreme over all dice bags and accidental combos, and this vigilant 4/4 for 3W is doing nothing to topple his massive throne.

Still, optimistic me wants to tell you to be a hipster and Daghatar up your metagame. The artwork is cool, he's aggressively costed, and he's in some solid coloring that's sure to trip up some people in your playgroup with the way color identity works in Commander. Still, we know the better ways to play these colors, and I think the other legends provide better work for the new color "disguise."

Tasigur combines the coolness of Delve and the creepy aesthetic of former White Stripes frontman, Jack White. Ironically, he might even be engaged in a kinky cross-verse Skype with an equally unamused Teysa. He's probably looking at her like that because she lacks an imagination when it comes to whips.

Overall, I'm a huge fan of the Golden Fang for two reasons. First, I've been hoping we'd see some Legendary interaction with Delve, which I think gives design a lot of space to add power to our format and the sanctioned ones without giving anybody the distinct impression that a card was designed for one or the other. In that way, "Sassy Tassy" really does feel like a nice go-between for Commander and Limited, at the very least, even if he didn't have another ability.

I'll tell you I'm only half of a fan of the second ability. It's just one colorless too much or one card short of completing the proverbial Happy Meal for me. What I do like though, is that even if you hit nothing on the mill, your opponent still has to give you a card, and I think a proactive self-mill deck will be able to negate any opportunity your opponent has to feel like they're actually picking a card. You can get rid of the ones you don't want with Delve or straight exile, and assemble a grave-based Gifts Ungiven package every turn.

What I most like about this card is the color palette. Freaking phenomenal, in my opinion, even in spite of it looking like some Jack White erotic art. The shade of Teal really sucks you in, giving this card all kind of elegant dimension, and even the sense that the black border around the card's edge is an extension. Take notes, future Magic card artists- this is what I like to see.

There's a lot to like and a lot to criticize when it comes to the most unafraid Mardu Mauler of 1280 years ago.

First, this name is terrible. And by name, I mean name, not title. Maybe you guys can help me in the comments below. Is it Ale-sha? Uh-Lee-Shuh? Ah-Lesh-Ah? Ah-Lay-Sha? Uh-Lesh-Uh? As a general ethos, if I have to do this much work trying to pronounce anyone's name in real life, I ask if they have a nickname. If they don't have one, we move on to last name basis, or until I make one up. Since this is actual cardboard, not a real person, this bitch's name is Smiley, which is derivative of the best part of the card's nomenclature anyway, so I think everyone wins. Even Smiley here.

Because isn't it wonderful to have a post-comma title like this? Reading this the first time made me smile. Actually, just about every time I read it, I'm smiling. Conquering death from a mental standpoint is a sweet achievement.

Alright, enough smiling. I'm not so impressed with this artwork. It's regal, professional, and got some panache, with the streaming direction of the flags and Smiley's iconic, warleader stance. Stylistically, I think it encapsulates our Khan- I just wish it were a little closer, perhaps from an angle 45 degrees to the left, so we could get a little bit more face. As far as legendary creatures go, I think these are the ones people identify with and want to play more. Call me an art snob if you want- that's just me trying to improve on the design.

The theme across all of these Commanders is their generally low, aggressive casting costs, which is meant to reflect the youthfulness of the rivalry on this plane. Smiley here is the best example of this, as he combines a combat-ready body with a sweet combat-reanimator effect. I haven't done the research on Mardu creatures with power 2 or less, but I'm sure there are some good ones. Bloodghast, BS Champ (Bloodsoaked Champion), Figure of Destiny, Serra Ascendant- creatures you've probably already thought about- are just what I can rattle off the top of my head, and they all seem pretty fun to play here. With m15's Return to the Ranks as well as Immortal Servitude from Gatecrash, I'm sure there's some pretty serious room for a nice Aggro deck here. We might still be on the lookout for America's Next Top Aggro deck, but with this cycle of cards, I don't see how anyone can say Wizards isn't trying to juxtapose baby creature beatdown into our 40-life format.


Speaking of Aggro decks- who would've thought we'd be seeing an aggressive card with a BLUE border? I sure as hell didn't, but C is for Cookie, and it's good enough for me.

Other notable alphabet facts about Jeskai Blue Shu:

D is for Double Strike, and it makes Shu Yun a subtle, political powerhouse. Now, not only do your creatures get the bonus, but you have the power to power-up everyone else's beatsticks for lethal damage. For people who already bought Mind Control and Treachery off Amazon, I'd like to refer you to a creature which gives you a threat that requires a lot less work.

P is for Prowess, which makes this an even stronger design combination. A 3-cost Commander with the opportunity to get all "Rafiq of the Many" on Turn 4 should make for quick games.

And last, T is for Trick, as in, "Trick" Voltron- the concept of 21 damage being done via Instant-speed alpha strikes. I'll be talking more about the strategy and concepts of this archetype in a CommanderCast article soon, but I think that when we look at some of the Commanders and mechanics and spells that have come out in the last couple years, we're going to be seeing a lot more of this archetype.

I could be just blowing smoke here, but I like Shu Yun a lot. This is the kind of feel-good card design I expect from Wizards because of their romance with blue mana.

The last Khan was the first spoiled, which gave me a lot of time to think about it. I'll admit, being witty at this point in any article can prove to be challenging. Fortunately for me, we have a card with straight up face-smashing "Gruul Syndrome."

Honestly, I'm still a little mesmerized by the color identity going on here, because that shit is exciting. For our Commander table, it will create some double takes and adjustments as we can no longer afford to look at a top right corner and process Devotion. We have to see the card as a whole to understand its color pie possibilities.

This double-taking is what I like about Yasova Dragonclaw. Though a very straightforward, beatdown green creature, almost every ability on here warrants having to re-reference the card, which is an odd experience. He has Trample? He's a 4/2? He can take a creature? This only costs 2G?

Yeah folks, it's all there. The only thing that doesn't make sense, and continues to bug me in terms of the Temurs is their obsession with bears, their namesake connection to Dragons, and now we have what appears to be either a tame or slain giant Sabretooth/Live Cougar in the photo. I just want to know whether I can call Yasova Dragonclaw, "Ricky Bobby."

Well, that's what we got. Be sure to tune in as Grandpa Growth and I get to talking about this super-sweet set.

Pass.
-UL

M15 Set Review: The Legends

Heya Zoners!

Welcome back to TGZ Spoiler week (and a half). Today's the typical day Grandpa takes off in our little two-cents on the set review, and Landdrops steps in to talk Legends.

Here's a few quick links to what we've gone over so far, in case you missed it:

M15 Threats, Part I
M15 Threats, Part II

We'll start with a sarcastic Kudos to Wizards. Now that they've changed the card border, there's no excuse- Just print entire sets of planeswalkers. We officially won't be able to tell the difference, and it's all the more clearer with this new border that they really want to.

For those newer to the game, my first look at Anorexic Avacyn drew an aesthetic comparison to Jaya Ballard, Task Mage, which rumor has it, was supposed to be R&D's first hack at designing p-dubs.

As far as design goes, AA and Jaya couldn't be more different. Mostly, this is color pie nonsense, and not being a fan of original Avacyn, my unconscious dislike for it is unfairly projected in here as well. But I'll try to be nice.

The rules change on Legendary Creatures and Clone Effects made old Avacyn pretty annoying to play against in my metagame, being that anyone playing Avacyn, Angel of Hope, and anyone with a Clone basically made their board state inpenetrable short of a handful of tuck and exile effects.

I imagine this, along with the key word changes to indestructible, are a few of the compelling reasons R&D might have had to make a new card for her. This one is obviously more fair, which if you subscribe to my pal Grandpa Growth's Rosetta Stone, means it's a significant power-down from her first moments of fresh air out of the Helvault.

Still, I think she's totally playable. As a guy who favors 6-cost or less creatures with relevant static and cheap activated abilities, there's room for design and abuse. An evasive, two-way attacker that can shape the battlescape and protect herself on the cheap is still useful. Couple that with a big 5WW cost emergency button, and you've got a Commander that has the potential to shut down most mono-colored and non-artifact-based two color decks as well.

From Avacyn, however, the rest of these Legends seem pretty bad as Commanders.

Take Jalira. Like surgeons, the designers on this card nipped and tucked until they were sure a Master Polymorphist couldn't do anything that was "unfair," which makes her look more like a novice than anything else, and R&D like chumps once again.

Personally, I see no problem with a Master Polymorphist possessing any or all of the following qualities:

1. Being able to turn one's self into something else.
2. Having the ability to do this with as little resources as possible.
3. Being able to turn any creature into any other creature, regardless of sub- or super-type.
4. Having the skills necessary to do this as quick as possible.

When we examine this card, the designers only got one of these right. But ask yourself- would it be busted if Jalira could turn herself into something? Would it be "un-fun" if she could Polymorph into Kozilek?

I don't think giving a Master Polymorphist these kinds of powers would make her worse- especially if you held all her other qualities constant. And even if Jalira was 2U, it would compare with something like Proteus Staff, which as far as I know, isn't a heinous imposition on any metagame anywhere.

Based on what we have, which does not include information from the Future-Future-League, like R&D does, I find this card pretty disappointing overall. If anything, a card should at least be able to validate its own flavor text, and when it doesn't, I'm a little peeved.

In case you haven't gotten the vibe from our first couple of cards, I'm not particularly enthralled with our newest additions to the Commander pool.

That said, Kurkesh is a card that possesses more of the qualities I'd like to see, even if I'm not thrilled about it.

For starters, the Onakke Ancient is a 4/3 for 2RR. So even if the rules text is no bueno, we still have a Legend with the ability to hack and slash our way to 21.

Looking at this rules text, we've got a pretty weird one, which is particularly refreshing for me, as it gives us Commander players excuse to do some research, even if it's a dead end.

I haven't done any for a potential Kurkesh deck, but having a cheap trigger for the activation of artifact abilities seems good.

Yet perhaps the most exciting part of this card to me is his creature type. Ogre Spirit. Awkward, unique, and from a place we haven't been yet- Shandalar. All of these add up to an overall okay design, even if it's not something that jumps out at me as "good" or "playable."

Last time on Zendikar, Ob Nixilis was a lowly, spark-less Legendary creature trying to make his way through a world of Hedrons, Kor, and Eldrazi in an attempt to be a planeswalker again.

Thanks to Brad Muir, it looks like our boy O.B. Nix is looking more like his old self. Just look at Karl Kopinski's artwork. This is some seriously scary-looking art.

Looking past flying and trample, it's pretty clear this version of O.B. is intended for us EDH players. Punishing players for library searching is something that is severely lacking in Commander outside of Psychogenic Probe, and I like that Ob Nixilis is a potential piece of removal that also forces removal because he gets bigger if you don't.

All that said, I still feel he's overcosted. It's clear this card wouldn't be fair at 3BB without an additional cost, but it still feels like a shaky investment, even when I have an intangible emotional investment in the Demon ex-Planeswalker as a character.

Why do all of our new characters have to have unbelievable fantasy names in this set?

I know I've been complaining a lot, but Yisan is a dumb name. So is Kurkesh, and so is Jalira, but Yisan is the straw. They all look and sound terrible, but Yisan is just- I don't know. They don't feel like names. It just looks like someone pulled out scrabble letters and strung a few together until it sounded like a car accident.

The actual design of this card isn't horrible, but surely underpowered. While I don't get how a Bard is also a Rogue that can summon creatures, like Kurkesh, I'm more intrigued than completely put off by the design.

Unlike Aether Vial, the Yes Man (this is his nickname, because I don't want to say his name. I know it's terrible, but this is improv) doesn't have access to all colors, so he's really on the bad of the eight ball when thinking of ways to double up his verse counters. I imagine he'll be part of a gimmicky squad or the General for some fun toolbox decks, but not much more than that, which is disappointing. I like to see bad cards become better, and I like to hold out for the hope that they can. But this is just not gonna work.

Our last creature is perhaps the most boring thing Wizards could've come up with. An Indestructible Sliver granting other Slivers Indestructible. I'd vomit if it didn't already look like I did.
Just look. ----------------------------------------------------->

Now I'm not a "Sliver Hater." They are a very powerful tribe in Magic, and I think it's possibly one of the most unique-to-Magic tribes in the card game, as they have an expansive presence throughout its history.

Mostly, I'm just bored with the way Wizards is attempting to revive the tribe and make it exciting. This is one of the easiest decks to put together across every format the game has to offer, and that's just horrible for a person like me who plays Commander, and values the artistic process of building a deck.

Since their revival in last year's Core Set, it seems that my distaste is only going to grow as they continue to give Slivers every ability imaginable, and I get it, but I'm not okay with it. I wish they had their own specific abilities, not just sharing common static, activated, and triggered abilities within themselves. It's not uncommon knowledge that Harmonic Sliver and Necrotic are two of the most popular, and it's not just because they are great at policing the board. They are representative and reminiscent of specific cards in the game, and their power is checked.

Sliver Hivelord basically gives this deck a cheaper Darksteel Forge, which is a very "win-more" card, I think, as far as the Sliver deck goes. While it's true most of these decks are aggressive, losing Slivers isn't really a problem because they have access to Living Death and Patriarch's Bidding.

Mostly, I think this was designed for some of the reasons I mentioned above, but also to help beat into the ground all these new rules changes they made about indestructible. Being a Core Set, it offers old players getting back into Magic and new players the chance to understand the game, and so here's the obligatory "garbage pop" card they make for these players, who, I'd guess, probably won't even like it.

Our last card is also tragically bad, possibly worse, and I'm genuinely disappointed about this.

Back in Innistrad, we heard the story and seen the $70 version of Liliana super-charged with the veil, and watched our formerly Green Hunter Garruk get infected with the Veil's curse.

Now that it's here, I'm angry about it. Not only does it make zero sense flavor-wise, but it's inclusion in this set is baffling.

I know Core Sets represent all the cards from pre-existing planes, but this was an integral part of a set- Why was it not included then, if the card was obviously already designed?

Furthermore, how is this a curse? Planeswalkers getting to activate their abilities again seem like a privilege to me. The only thing that's a curse is if you don't have planeswalkers.

And on top of all of this, why is it so expensive to play and cast? How does that make sense at all? In a world where we're talking about Rings of Brighthearth doing better work to copy a P-dubs abilities, or Proliferate cards being able to add the counters you need, I don't believe I need more evidence to demonstrate how sad and pathetic The Chain Veil really is. Truly a "Win-More" card, when you consider no player in any format is going to let you have more than one P-Dub out, unless they are already going to lose anyway.

Well, that wraps 'er up for today. Godspeed at your prereleases. Make good choices.
-UL

UL's Buy or Sell: C13's Evasive Maneuvers (The Bant Deck)

It's been eight days since Wizards released our favorite kinda product, so this installment of Buy or Sell might seem a little late.

However, we're twisting the routine with a hands-on assessment of the Commander 2013 product. This week, I had a chance to get in some games with a few of the new decks, so I thought it'd be nice to examine them from a perspective that was less theoretical and less about inherent value by looking at their straight out-of-the-box playability.

I'll be grading the deck's creatures, noncreatures, and mana base in order to answer our favorite question: Is it a buy or sell?

CREATURES

GRADE: B-

Creature List

1x Derevi, Empyrial Tactician
1x Acidic Slime
1x Aerie Mystics
1x Angel of Finality
1x Azami, Lady of Scrolls
1x Bane of Progress
1x Deceiver Exarch
1x Diviner Spirit
1x Djinn of Infinite Deceits
1x Dungeon Geists
1x Farhaven Elf
1x Fiend Hunter
1x Flickerwisp
1x Hada Spy Patrol
1x Karmic Guide
1x Kazandu Tuskcaller
1x Lu Xun, Scholar General
1x Mirror Entity
1x Mistmeadow Witch
1x Murkfiend Liege
1x Phantom Nantuko
1x Pilgrim's Eye
1x Roon of the Hidden Realm
1x Rubinia Soulsinger
1x Selesnya Guildmage
1x Skyward Eye Prophets
1x Stonecloaker
1x Thornwind Faeries
1x Winged Coatl
1x Wonder
This is a little generous. If we examine the 30 creatures in this deck, I really like half of them. Numerically, I feel like that's deserving of an average grade.

However, Derevi really deserves a little more credit. He turns a lot of these lemons into a tasty lemonade. Politically, there's not a whole lot of incentive to block janky chaff cards like the new Diviner Spirit or Hada Spy Patrol.

Playing with Derevi is a lot like casting a 4-cost Titan, which is basically what happens after he dies the first time. His enter the battlefield trigger is a serious tempo swing. Tapping down a creature and getting another helps the triggers really add up, which makes piloting the deck challenging. What I like the most about Derevi is that he doesn't give a crap about additional Commander costs, so wasting removal on him is pretty dumb. He also navigates around control decks very nicely too.

Bane of Progress is one of the newer cards I like from this set. The deck's pool of artifacts, as you'll soon find, are pretty expendable later on in the game. Having a big scalable threat is pretty nice, even if it doesn't have trample.

My biggest issue with the creature base is that a lot of the tap creatures aren't as successful as the design team could've hoped. Untuned, the deck's at its best when it's swinging its full force of 1 and 2 powered creatures at your opponents. Which is why Azami and Skyward Eye Prophets feel like really weird choices. Azami can't even deal damage, and it leaves these other guys particularly vulnerable if your opponent knows what to block.

The better creatures in this deck are the utility guys that can get out early, like Farhaven Elf and Pilgrim's Eye. Mistmeadow Witch, as you might guess, is pretty good utility as well. Not having to spend untap triggers on these guys really helps compensate for some of its other deficiencies.

NONCREATURES

GRADE: C-

Noncreature List

Instants
1x AEthermage's Touch
1x Arcane Denial
1x Blue Sun's Zenith
1x Krosan Grip
1x Selesnya Charm
1x Unexpectedly Absent

Sorceries
1x Borrowing 100,000 Arrows
1x Kirtar's Wrath
1x Restore
1x Tempt with Glory
1x Wash Out

Artifacts
1x Azorius Keyrune
1x Basalt Monolith
1x Conjurer's Closet
1x Darksteel Ingot
1x Leonin Bladetrap
1x Selesnya Signet
1x Simic Signet
1x Sol Ring
1x Surveyor's Scope
1x Swiftfoot Boots
1x Sword of the Paruns
1x Thousand-Year Elixir
1x Thunderstaff

Enchantments
1x Control Magic
1x Curse of Inertia
1x Curse of Predation
1x Curse of the Forsaken
1x Darksteel Mutation
1x Flickerform
1x Leafdrake Roost
1x Presence of Gond
There isn't a lot to like. Ironically, the best card also explains what happened to the good noncreature spells. They're Unexpectedly Absent. GG talked about this card in his review, and I am basically in full agreement. It is a house.

Meanwhile, the rest of this part of the deck is topsy-turvy. Even traditionally good cards like Control Magic and Basalt Monolith feel a little odd juxtaposed with the aforementioned Bane of Progress. Monolith is also part of another big problem, even though fans of Magical Christmas Land will love the free untap triggers.

In all honesty, the best target to untap in all of these is whatever creature that happens to be enchanted with Presence of Gond. The rest is a waste of time.

I did find a little value in Curse of Inertia, but it's really only marginal. Mediocre cards in bad decks are typically overrepresented.

My least favorite cards in here have been Leafdrake Roost and Borrowing 100,000 Arrows. Neither of these cards represent half the value they appear to be. Roost requires at least three untap triggers, while Borrowing really wants your opponent to have more creatures than you.

Still, Krosan Grip, Arcane Denial, and Restore offer some quality goodies. I'm pleased that they added K-Grip, and Restore is really underrated.

LANDS

GRADE: D

Lands

1x Azorius Chancery
1x Azorius Guildgate
1x Bant Panorama
1x Command Tower
1x Evolving Wilds
1x Faerie Conclave
6x Forest
7x Island
1x Opal Palace
7x Plains
1x Rupture Spire
1x Saltcrusted Steppe
1x Seaside Citadel
1x Secluded Steppe
1x Sejiri Refuge
1x Selesnya Guildgate
1x Selesnya Sanctuary
1x Simic Guildgate
1x Temple of the False God
1x Terramorphic Expanse
1x Transguild Promenade
Despite my heavy criticism of the spells, it's really the mana base that I can't stand the most. Tap Lands are the devil. Ravnica Dual Lands are the world's most risky Strip Mine targets. Even with untap triggers, it's a huge waste of time, and doesn't actually help to accelerate the deck.

With the heavy mana curve, 38 land just isn't enough. Even with the mana rocks. Getting good opening hands with this deck was really difficult. This deck wants to run 40-41 lands, and definitely more basics.

VERDICT

Overall, there were some frustrating moments. In multiplayer, it can hold its own, but not well. It's tricky to figure out, and involves some serious skill to navigate straight out of the box.

So after talking with Mad Money's Jim Kramer, him and I came up with a pretty decent verdict.

Even if you're not playing it right out of the box like I am, there's a nice little ball of clay to work with. Wizards did a solid job of putting solid Commander favorites in here. It's worth the money, and it's a player's deck that wants to be edited and played. New art Karmic Guide, Unexpectedly Absent, Derevi, Rubinia Soulsinger, and Restore provide some fresh cards and decent power to work with. It's not great immediately, but if you're looking to start, and have some access to decent cards right away, Derevi is a pretty strong choice.

That's all we got for today. Until tomorrow, the cake is a lie; but that shouldn't stop you from eating some anyway.

Treat yourself.
-UL

Commander 2013 Impressions, Round 2

Heya Zoners!

We're back with another round of impressions. I know it's been a few days since the set got spoiled. Hopefully, that gave you time to form some opinions. So let's compare notes.

SHATTERGANG BROTHERS

This time we'll start with the last one out.

I really like the Shattergang Brothers. I'm a huge fan of removal, sac outlets, and creating value engines.

This is pretty neat fit for Jund. A while back, I attempted to make a Kresh deck based around the idea of non-blue control. I liked the idea of making something that wasn't a typical Kresh design, featuring the all-you-can-Evoke buffet and other typical GoodStuffs.

Clearly, the Shattergang Brothers are a much better fit, not only in terms of creating Jund non-green control, but also a "stronger" Goblin combo deck.

Again, I'm not really sure thematically where this card is supposed to sit in the Multiverse, but I think when we look at other Jund Legends, it's different enough that the deck has an identity, yet similar enough to provide homes for other legends like Sek'Kuar, Savra, both versions of Wort, and a handful of other legendary creatures as support.

NEKUSAR, THE MINDRAZER

I have a lot of problems with Nekkie. Let's start with the art. The first thing I thought of was not a Wizard, but the king of the Dead Army that Aragorn persuades to fight. Even the background isn't something that I would consider to be the chamber of a Wizard. I'm not saying he needs to fit stereotypes, and that it's not decent art- I'm just saying this shoe is fitting a little small for me.

In examining the card from the "waist down," things get a little more confusing. I've had a few experiences with Group Slug, and I have to say, this is doing no favors for a player. Grandpa Growth has mentioned a couple of times that creating strategy around the idea of "not winning" is not effective, and I agree. Giving people cards has never done me any favors, and so I'm not too enthusiastic about this one.

On a positive note, he is drastically different from his Grixis pals. He's got a midrange mana cost, and does some punishing, but I'm just not terrified, like I am of Thrax or Garza. I'll take the pain if I get to draw cards. I ain't never skeered about that.

SYDRI, GALVANIC GENIUS

With Sydri comes "renewed" design space, and I like that. Truth be told, there's quite a bit to like.

Sydri's first ability is already a thing, but her coloring makes this a lot better. There's plenty of access to animating artifacts, comboing, and tutelage now. Before, there was a lot of goofy Karn decks on the struggle bus. Now, there seems to be quite a bit of power available for those aiming to find it.

Also, we have yet again another Terese Nielsen art that I believe really showcases what she's best at- depicting characters among piles and piles of highly-detailed junk. I like it when she does stuff like this more than the abstract pieces like Enter the Infinite. Perhaps this is one of the best new Legendary arts in the Commander 2013 product.




GAHIJI, HONORED ONE

Speaking of art. I love what Brynn Metheney did here. It's crisp, it's got good technique- and we get a real nice "original" action pose showing off the ferocity that is Gahiji.

Unfortunately, the text box feels like a let down for me. The politicality that they've put into this release is polarizing for me. What I see here is a very non-theatening "Edric-style" bonus that really isn't going far. Unlike the Aura Curse cycle in the new product, I fear the worst for him as a Commander. With no real incentive to cast (outside of a Voltron build), casting Gahiji and protecting seems very uneconomical.

I like my Commanders to have under-the-radar value, but I think this flies too far under, despite the fact that Gahiji is probably sports 1 of 2 pieces of artwork that actually looks like a Commander. It's surely a neat card, and I'm interested to see how it plays. Still feels like it's going to be too "Huggy" for me.


ROON OF THE HIDDEN REALM

Our last new friend is... laughable.

Don't get me wrong- We needed more Flicker creatures. But not like this.

Roon of the Hidden Realm is great, I guess, if the Hidden Realm in Magic is Candyland, A Lisa Frank Coloring Book, or Barney's Asshole.

Pastel castles and indeterminate happy landscapes are not what I play this game for, and they definitely make this Rhino Soldier look out of place. He might as well be wearing a dress. I know, this is a game for people that aren't just me, but I think it's hard to take this card serious, even after you see the gross overcompensation that was done in his text box.

Silly name and a silly art can really influence how much I don't want to play a card, and this is the best example. This is the kind of card that makes me feel embarrassed to play Magic because I'm an adult that loves card games, and not a little girl with pigtails licking a lollipop at the County Fair.
All that said- Blinking in conjunction with Vigilance is huge. I don't think this will be good, but it'll be a deck people will play. There are some nice little synergies I can see, and it surely is different than the big Bant Commanders that see play.

Anyway, that's all I got.

I'd love to hear what people are thinking about the new Commander stuff. So leave something for me in the comments below, will ya?

Until next time, leave me a comment somewhere. You know how to find me.
-UL