I love this game. I love writing about it. Compiling lists about it. Evaluating it. Sometimes, I even play it. I'm an Accidental Player.
Welcome back to the wonderful world of Commander multiplayer, featuring decks and games from Sunday Commander, the PRE I run every Sunday at 16:00 GMT! Enjoy.
Table of Contents
- Commanding News
- Try this at home
- The SUNCOM Chronicles
- What about some action now?
- Commander Resources
COMMANDING NEWS
All silent news-wise in the Commander world. We're still in the mute period in between sets, Journey Into Nyx spoiler season hasn't started yet (it'll be released into MTGO in May 12), and the next summer's special set is Conspiracy, which being multiplayer might have Commander applications but we don't even know if it'll be even partially ported into MTGO, due to the technical extravagance of some of its mechanics. Cards like this one (yeah, it's a special set meant to be drafted, which is weird in itself)...
...aren't easy to translate into the client, be it new or old (and with the new one, they still have more issues to solve before devoting programming resources to this kind of thing. In fact, it was recently established that the Magic design teams will start thinking, "How will this work on MTGO?", before coming up with single random follies that require more work to implement than a whole set of regular cards, with little to no gain overall, especially when we're talking casual cards).
We also don't know much about Magic 2015 yet (except the paper release date: July 18). Just that it'll get a slightly improved frame with a decreased border size to allow more room for picture and text. Maybe you already saw it, but it's this one (I, for one, like it: it's not that different from the modern one, but it looks even better).
Incidentally, Waste Not ("designed by the Magic community", as part of the You Make The Card initiative) looks like something Commander players will gladly use. Which possibly reflects the amount of Commander players in the Magic community?
TRY THIS AT HOME
So, say you want to permanently (i.e. not as a 1-turn deal like with Sneak Attack or Through the Breach) cheat big dudes into play from your hand (so not by reanimating them, which presumes some kind of previous discard/mill/entomb action) without paying their mana cost. What are the options in an all-inclusive format like Commander?
Colorless Stuff
Aether Vial: Kind of slow in Commander, but the games might also be long enough to get it to a large number of counters eventually. And it still bypasses countermagic.
Belbe's Portal: Asks for tribal builds, but it's solid and easily repeatable. 3 mana for a Dragon? Yes, thanks.
Copper Gnomes: It's specific (and fragile) but effective. 4 mana for a Blightsteel Colossus can't be a bad deal. As a bonus, it works with stuff like Darksteel Forge and Spine of Ish Sah as well.
Cryptic Gateway: Absolutely needs a tribal build. At that point, becomes great. Still, hard to have many small dudes working to cheat into play a big dude with the same type, but it can be done with the right tribe, or some trick (Changeling, anyone?).
Deathrender: It requires death, but death isn't that hard to conjure in Commander.
Dragon Arch: There's plenty of multicolor fatties out there. In the right build, it becomes a strictly better Quicksilver Amulet.
Mercadian Lift: Essentially a very bad Aether Vial. That's why you probably never saw it played.
Quicksilver Amulet: A classic, probably the most effective engine of this whole bunch.
Summoner's Egg: Like with Deathrender, to activate the effect you need for something to die (in this case, the egg itself). But it's cheaper and doubles as a defense in the meantime.
Triassic Egg: Basically, you spend 10 mana along 2 or 3 turns to cheat your fattie onto the battlefield, which isn't ideal. It also works from the graveyard, though.
Green Stuff
Dramatic Entrance: Simple, effective, surprising. Only involves green creatures, but you know there's stuff you want to cheat into play among those. And by de facto giving flash and haste to the creature, it doubles as removal. Try it with Progenitus for maximum effect (and if you fetched him with Summoner's Pact, you hit the green jackpot).
Elvish Piper: Timeless. The most fragile yet cheapest way to cheat fatties into play.
Garruk, Caller of Beasts: His minus ability is a Dramatic Entrance. Overall, it costs 1 mana more (and most importantly, it's not instant speed), but you get a planeswalker as a bonus.
Eureka: Not the safest thing to play in Commander, with all those opponents only waiting to drop their Ulamogs. But you might build your deck in such a way to make this truly classic still powerful (same goes for Hypergenesis, of course, which is a suspend, cascade-friendly Eureka that's however a bit hard to pull off in Commander).
Hunting Grounds: It needs 7 cards in your graveyard (and, well, one white mana) to get online. But at that point, you'll become unstoppable. Or, to better say, you'll need to be stopped.
Lure of Prey: A slightly cheaper, slightly more conditional Dramatic Entrance. Can be effective.
Myojin of Life's Web: He's a fattie of his own, so you need to ramp into him (can't cheat him into play, or you'll just get a vanilla dude). He can drop your hand full of fatties onto the battlefield, though. Maybe make sure to drop a Grozoth first.
Norwood Priestess: Ever see her played? No? Well, maybe it's because she's not online (and in the paper world, she's rare enough). She should, though, because she looks good enough (in the Oracle text, she has a tap symbol for that ability, unfortunately).
Root Elemental: Okay, you essentially pay 3 then 7 for the effect (and you get just a 6/5 vanilla for your troubles). Maybe in some Eldrazi-heavy build?
Tooth and Nail: One half of its non-entwined version is just, "Pay 7, put two fatties from your hand onto the battlefield". It's more than that, of course, but it's already amazing that way (and a staple of green in Commander if there's one).
Blue Stuff
Aetherplasm: It's a bit complicate, and super-fragile, but it might work. At the end of the day, it's Inkwell Leviathan for 4.
Braids, Conjurer Adept: So, everyone gets to do it. Can be risky, might be fun.
Dermoplasm: Okay, it's specific: only creatures with morph. There's a few interesting ones, though. For instance, Grozoth.
Master Transmuter: The best way to cheat a Colossus into play, and abuse Triskelion and Duplicant, and many other things. The power level here is high.
Mindwrack Liege: A 6-mana creature that can put Dragons and Sphinges into play for 4. Not really sure it's worth it, but it might.
Quest for Ula's Temple: It's for a very specific build, but it's a very specific super-cool (and super-casual) build!
Show and Tell: The king of all the cheaters. It's so powerful it's not even funny. (No, seriously, it's not.)
Other Colored stuff
Kaalia of the Vast: All right, who doesn't know Kaalia? And who doesn't instinctively fear her?
Surprise Deployment: Granted, it's a temporary effect. But say you use this to cheat Inferno Titan or Hornet Queen? It's a great combat trick for sure. Plus, white doesn't get much else.
There are a few tribe-specific cheaters, as well, like Didgeridoo, Preeminent Captain, Goblin Lackey, Goblin Wizard, Warren Instigator and Willow Priestess. Some of these hardly qualify as "fattie-cheating" cards, though (well, I guess the Goblin ones can cheat Siege-Gang Commander, and Willow Priestess can cheat Oona, but it's not much).
In the next installment: What if I want to tutor and cheat my fattie?
THE SUNCOM CHRONICLES
SUNCOM 61 winner: the_arend with Prossh, Skyraider of Kher.
Prossh is quickly becoming a powerhouse of competitive Commander, thanks to the fatal interaction with Purphoros and Food Chain, plus of course simply Craterhoof Behemoth or Garruk Wildspeaker. The typical Prossh deck features a strong token theme, with cards like Doubling Season, Bitterblossom, Awakening Zone, Goblin Bombardment, and Primeval Bounty all shining through. Green provides ramp, black provides tutoring, what else do you need in a soft combo deck? [NOTE: This build predates the banning of Sylvan Primordial]
SUNCOM 62 winner: justcanceled with Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge.
Despite Jeleva seemingly inviting a milling strategy (which we know it's hard to pull off in Commander when you have to mill up to almost 300 opponent cards), this deck mostly play as Grixis good stuff, with lot of deck access and Jeleva providing crucial advantage in the form of free spells.
SUNCOM 63 winner: raf.azevedo with Oloro, Ageless Ascetic.
The new commanders are really taking SUNCOM by storm: here Oloro's lifegaining is used to fuel Ad Nauseam. Most of the cards in the deck cost 0 or 1, leading to a Laboratory Maniac win. A surprisingly effective build that already won two events in a row.
SUNCOM 64 finalist: Gordani with Grand Arbiter Augustin IV.
In SUNCOM 64, raf's Oloro/Ad Nauseam team won again, but one of the aficionados of the event, Gordani, made final table with this Augustin build. Congrats, Goran!
WHAT ABOUT SOME ACTION NOW?
From SUNCOM 64, an amazing, incredible battle between Oloro (piloted by raf.azevedo), Augustin (piloted by Gordani), and Gaddock Teeg (piloted by justcanceled). Watch Oloro surprisingly coming up on top against the two fiercest hosers in the business!
COMMANDER RESOURCES
THE COMMANDER ESSENTIALS
77 cards with colorless identity for every Commander deck (review here, propose additions)
LANDS: Command Tower, Opal Palace, Vesuva, Thespian's Stage, Strip Mine, Wasteland, Ghost Quarter, Tectonic Edge, Dust Bowl, Homeward Path, Reliquary Tower, Winding Canyons, Miren, the Moaning Well, Boseiju, Who Shelters All, Maze of Ith, Mystifying Maze, Thawing Glaciers, Reflecting Pool, Deserted Temple.
MANA ACCELERATORS/MANA FIXERS: Sol Ring, Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Everflowing Chalice, Grim Monolith, Mind Stone, Worn Powerstone, Thran Dynamo, Dreamstone Hedron, Coalition Relic, Chromatic Lantern, Gilded Lotus, Expedition Map, Armillary Sphere, Journeyer's Kite, Solemn Simulacrum, Doubling Cube, Extraplanar Lens, Gauntlet of Power, Caged Sun.
EQUIPMENTS: Lightning Greaves, Swiftfoot Boots, Whispersilk Cloak, Darksteel Plate, General's Kabuto, Champion's Helm, Skullclamp, Umezawa's Jitte, Sword of Fire and Ice, Sword of Light and Shadow, Sword of Feast and Famine, Basilisk Collar, Loxodon Warhammer, Nim Deathmantle, Argentum Armor.
DRAWING/TUTORING: Sensei's Divining Top, Scroll Rack, Seer's Sundial, Mind's Eye, Illuminated Folio, Staff of Nin, Citanul Flute, Planar Portal.
ANSWERS: Ratchet Bomb, Powder Keg, Oblivion Stone, Nevinyrral's Disk, Contagion Engine, Duplicant, Steel Hellkite, Triskelion, Karn Liberated.
MISCELLANEA: Crucible of Worlds, That Which Was Taken, Quicksilver Amulet, Trading Post, Wurmcoil Engine, Sculpting Steel.
And that's it. See you in the SUNCOM room next Sunday at 16:00 GMT, and with the Commander Chronicles here next month! Commander ho!
1 Comments
The game mentioned above (Oloro vs. Gaddock Teeg vs. Augustin) wasn't ready by the time I submitted the article, so I'll try and link it from this comment later. [EDIT: Didn't happen. We can thank the disappearance of the replays for that.]