Two weeks ago I told you guys how I wanted to account for each of the cards I have used in the past so that I can get a better understanding of the cards that I use and overuse, and also so that I can expand my card choices. The first half of my accounting can be found HERE. Last week, I added another deck, so I am now up to 53 total decks. My accounting has been updated to take this into account.
Just a quick reminder, this accounting doesn't consider deck doctor decks, unfinished deck ideas, or decks created by other people. This only counts decks that I finished and created. Also, I don't count the Commanders of the deck, so if you see a legendary creature it was used in the main deck. Again, hopefully you guys will see some cards that you can use in the future or give you some additional deck building ideas. With that preamble out of the way, let's get started with more lists!
GREEN
I used Green in 21 different decks. But in almost all of those decks Green was a focus. Since I'm the type of guy that likes to live in the Red Zone, you can bet that I used a ton of Green creatures. I was also surprised at the amount of good support spells Green has. I used to brush off people who argued that Green was the most powerful color in Commander, but I just can't do that anymore.
Here are the 106 different Green creatures I used:
Wow, there are a lot of guys here that get used a bunch. The king is Oracle of Mul Daya, who I used 18 times, followed by Genesis who I used 17 times. I used Yavimaya Elder 16 times and Eternal Witness 15 times. This makes sense as all of these cards are pretty much staples that are great at what they do. They either help with recursion, or ramp. I've always liked the Elder and you guys should too. The Oracle is pretty much the only one that doesn't always do what you want it to do, and of course that's the one that I use the most.
In the second tier I used Woodfall Primus, Vigor, Sakura-Tribe Elder, Primeval Titan and Acidic Slime. Here we have 2 card that is great at destruction in the Primus and Slime, and 2 cards that are good for ramping in the Elder and the Titan. The Elder is pretty good, especially if you can recur it a lot through the use of something like Geth. And of course the Titan is always amazing. In my last deck using Thelon of Havenwood I tried extremely hard not to include him, but unfortunately it turned out I needed his ramp to help push the Thallid horde over the top. And Vigor is just a personal favorite. I really like attacking, and Vigor makes your creatures amazing in combat. Nothing like making your horde of little dudes much larger just because someone blocked.
Obviously Green has a lot of creatures that help with ramping you out, and which ones you use really depend on what you're trying to do with your deck. There are also a good number of token creators. Card draw comes in the form of Regal Force, Skullmulcher, Garruk's Packleader and Masked Admirers, so mainly through the use of tokens. There are also a variety of really large creatures for you to beat down with.
I know that there are a lot of fungi on this list, but don't plan on seeing me use them anymore. However, I do really need to use Seedguide Ash more. The ramp he provides just seems too good to keep passing up. I really like Engulfing Slagwurm but unfortunately he never seems to make the final cut in my decks. I haven't used Riftsweeper yet, but I need to. Things get exiled way too often for me to keep ignoring it. And 2 other token creators I really want to use are Kessig Cagebreakers and Nacatl War-Pride. Both of those just seem really fun.
I do have to say that Craterhoof Behemoth was a bomb each time I played it, so I'm sure that I am going to be using it a bunch more. And Hydra Omnivore just seems too cool to stay on the sidelines.
Next, moving on to the 30 enchantments I've used.
Mana Reflection is top dog here, followed closely by Sylvan Library and Greater Good. There are obvious benefits to Greater Good and Mana Reflection: The Reflection doubles all of your mana making abilities, while the Good is card draw and protection for your fatties from getting exiled. Sylvan Library is the one that doesn't quite fit here. Yes, it allows you to dig a little bit into your library, arranging the top of it or drawing a couple extra cards for an extremely great cost. For me, it was basically a substitute for Sensei's Divining Top, a card that I definitely don't like. However, I honestly think that I didn't need to play it that much. I have only played one deck where the top of the library mattered. I just don't think that it will be a card that I use nearly as much.
The biggie here is Survival. The card can be downright nutty if used in conjunction with Squee or Incarnations, or even Living Death. It's one of those cards that are so good it can win pretty easily once it gets going, assuming it is left alone for a little bit. I'm sort of on the edge about whether I want to increase my use of this card. It just seems unfair sometimes.
City of Solitude is an amazing card that I know I should use more often. And Perilous Forays is great with Rampaging Baloths and Emeria Angel. And Defense of the Heart is one of those cards that seem to stay out in play for way to long, until someone busts it.
Now on to the 18 instants I used.
Card draw and destruction! Krosan Grip is at the top of the heap here, and for good reason. Split second has screwed me and my opponents many times, and is worth the extra mana over something like Naturalize. Momentous Fall comes in at number 2. A sacrifice outlet, instant speed card draw and life gain all in the same card! There are plenty of huge monsters that get played in this format, and the Fall rewards you for using those guys.
Next up we have 2 tutors in Chord of Calling and Worldly Tutor, but they fulfill very different functions. Obviously the Chord works great in token deck, and gives you the ability to put an answer creature or a large fatty directly into play at instant speed. Meanwhile, the Tutor doesn't require that you have a large amount of mana available or a token army for use. All you do is lose a draw step. But in order to get exactly the creature you want, that is a small price to pay.
Avoid Fate was a great card that I've only used in one deck, but I'd love to use it more often. Berserk is an underused card as well. For 1 mana you can essentially increase a fatty's power by double. You can even use it on an opponent's attacking creature to get rid of a problem as well! I've also had great success with Hunter's Insight, which is usually more draw than Harmonize, so I'm sure you'll see me use that in the future as well.
Here are my 42 Green sorceries.
Ok, we have a whole mess of different stuff here. The most popular is mana ramp, with Kodama's Reach, Explosive Vegetation and Cultivate topping the charts. Skyshroud Claim would be farther up there as well, but it only came online within the past year. Primal Command is the first non-ramp spell on the list. The Commands are all pretty good in Commander (get it?) due to the variety of choices they provide. Bounce, tutoring and gaining life all in one card? Sounds good! Tooth and Nail is also pretty popular.
There is some recursion here, with Praetor's Counsel, Recollect and Restock. Interestingly I never used Regrowth, but I guess that's what Eternal Witness is for. There are also plenty of token creators, with Beacon of Creation, One Dozen Eyes, Howl of the Night Pack and Gelatinous Genesis all available. Of course, each of these has a few limitations, but you do have options.
Some of the stuff that I would like to use more includes Rude Awakening and Life from the Loam. Both of these can have game changing effects, although the Loam takes a little while to get going. Rude Awakening is a card that I don't think I've ever seen played, but it can definitely end games out of nowhere.
As for the planeswalkers, I used Garruk Wildspeaker 10 times and Garruk, Primal Hunter 4 times.

Both of the Garruks are good, but serve slightly different purposes. The original is great for mana ramp and help, especially if you like running Coffers or Gaea's Cradle. The token is sort of a bonus. Primal Hunter, however, is nice for the card draw ability. I just find it interesting that both of them make beast tokens, but that for the old one it's a -1 ability, while the new one it's a +1 ability. As for Nissa Revane, I just don't think I'll ever use her. I'm not a huge elf fan, and even if I made an elf deck she just doesn't seem like she's worth the hassle.
BLACK
Black has a whole lot going for it. Mono-Black control is a pretty common archetype mainly because it can do everything like blow up creatures, draw cards, get stuff from graveyards, etc. Even the ability to deal with artifacts and enchantments, something the Black is supposed to be bad it, can be dealt with using artifacts. You can even go the aggro route, using everybody's favorite tribe, zombies! As you'll be able to tell from the list, I did go the zombie route a few times. Another up and coming tribe is vampires, which Wizards seems to be pushing more and more with each set.
I used Black in 24 decks different decks, making 4 mono-Black decks, the most out of any color. That may be the reason I used 112 different Black creatures in my decks.
- Abyssal Gatekeeper
- Abyssal Persecutor
- Ascendant Evincar
- (6) Avatar of Woe
- (2) Bane of the Living
- Balthor the Defiled
- (2) Big Game Hunter
- Blood Seeker
- Blood Speaker
- (5) Bloodgift Demon
- (5) Bloodghast
- Bone Dancer
- Bone Shredder
- Braids, Cabal Minion
- (7) Butcher of Malakir
- Cairn Wanderer
- Carnifex Demon
- Carrion Feeder
- Cemetery Reaper
- Chainer, Dementia Master
- Chancellor of the Dross
- (5) Coffin Queen
- (2) Corpse Harvester
- Crypt Rats
- Dark Hatchling
- (2) Dark Impostor
- Death Baron
- Deathgreeter
- Deathspore Thallid
- (3) Dimir House Guard
- (4) Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief
- (9) Dread
- Falkenrath Noble
- Fallen Angel
- Filth
- (5) Fleshbag Marauder
- Gempalm Polluter
- (3) Geth, Lord of the Vault
- Grave Defiler
- (3) Grave Titan
- (16) Graveborn Muse
- Gravedigger
- Gravespawn Sovereign
- Guul Draz Assassin
- Harvester of Souls
- (2) Havoc Demon
- Hell's Caretaker
- (2) Helldozer
- Infernal Caretaker
- (3) Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni
- (6) Kagemaro, First to Suffer
- Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet
- Khabal Ghoul
- Korlash, Heir to Blackblade
- Krovikan Horror
- Kuon, Ogre Ascendant
- Kuro, Pitlord
- Liege of the Pit
- Lim-Dul the Necromancer
- Lord of the Undead
- Magus of the Abyss
- (4) Magus of the Coffers
- (3) Massacre Wurm
- Mephidross Vampire
- Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
- Mindslicer
- Mortivore
- (2) Myojin of Night's Reach
- (2) Necrotic Ooze
- Nefashu
- Nether Shadow
- (3) Nether Traitor
- (6) Nezumi Graverobber
- (2) Nirkana Revenant
- Noxious Ghoul
- (3) Ob Nixilis, the Fallen
- Pawn of Ulamog
- Pestilence Demon
- Phyrexian Delver
- (3) Phyrexian Plaguelord
- (5) Puppeteer Clique
- Royal Assassin
- Reaper from the Abyss
- (3) Reassembling Skeleton
- (2) Reiver Demon
- (5) Rune-Scarred Demon
- (2) Sadistic Hypnotist
- (3) Sangromancer
- Seizan, Perverter of Truth
- Sengir Autocrat
- Shambling Swarm
- (3) Sheoldred, Whispering One
- Shepherd of Rot
- (6) Shriekmaw
- (4) Skeletal Vampire
- Soulless One
- Stronghold Assassin
- (2) Tar Fiend
- Twisted Abomination
- Undead Warchief
- Vampire Aristocrat
- Vampire Nighthawk
- Vengeful Dead
- (2) Vengeful Pharaoh
- (5) Visara the Dreadful
- Viscera Seer
- Void Maw
- (7) Withered Wretch
- Woebearer
- (2) Xathrid Demon
- (3) Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed
- Zombie Trailblazer
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Black creatures can do a little bit of everything, but by far the card I used the most was Graveborn Muse, coming in to 16 different decks. The Muse is great due to being able to beat down, and draw some cards. People aren't nearly as afraid of the Muse as they are of Phyrexian Arena because they know that at some point someone will Wrath and deal with it. But if left alone, especially with another zombie or 2 on the field, she can be a powerhouse. Now, admittedly, in a non-zombie deck Bloodgift Demon is just better than her. For 1 mana more you get a flier with an additional point of power. And I've been using the Demon a lot as well. But I still have a soft spot in my heart for the Muse.
Dread is my solid #2, coming in on 9 different decks. Having No Mercy on a large body that can beat means that you can play offense and defense. Fear is very underrated and I almost always look to add this guy to my Black decks. Withered Wretch and Butcher of Malakir have been used in 7 different decks. The Wretch is just a very efficient form of graveyard removal, able to take out the good things in people's yards with pinpoint accuracy without the use of colored mana. And the Butcher would go into more of my decks if his mana cost wasn't so high.
A couple of cards that I have been high on recently are Dark Impostor, Sangromancer and Falkenrath Noble. Despite the high activation cost, the Impostor's ability has become very necessary recently. Sangromancer is great for when creatures start getting picked off, and especially great when people play Wheel of Fortune or Windfall. The Noble is also great with creature death, especially tokens or cards like Bloodghast that recur themselves a ton. I should also start playing with Blood Artist as well.
Finally, Void Maw seems like he'd be fun. Unfortunately the mana cost keeps making me cut him. Sorry big guy.
Here are the 35 Black enchantments I've used.
Well, Phyrexian Arena is the clear winner here. The incremental card advantage is just great. For the same 3 mana you could also play Rhystic Study, but that doesn't guarantee you any cards. The Arena is good enough that it typically eats some form of enchantment hate fairly quickly.
I've sort of soured on Oversold Cemetery. The requirements for it to work are more difficult than ever to meet, and as such I don't play with it nearly as much as I used to. Phyrexian Reclamation has taken its place as my go to graveyard reanimator. Animate Dead is another great card, and works well with Sun Titan.
A couple of cards I really want to use more are Chains of Mephistopheles, Dauthi Embrace and Tombstone Stairwell. The Chains are great at keeping people from drawing a ton of cards and should go into all Nath decks. If you want to hose Blue players and Niv-Mizzet players, this card is for you. The Embrace is great at making sure that you get your creatures through to connect. I really, really like Tombstone Stairwell. Unfortunately I just can't find another deck that's right for it. I want to not only use it, but abuse it, and make sure that I have more creatures in my graveyard than my opponents. I actually had it in a version of my Lady Evangela deck, and managed to get it out with Vish Kal. That was tons of fun.
Here are the 11 Black instants I used.
Obviously I like one card in particular. Tutors are good, especially if your deck revolves around specific cards. I know a lot of people can't afford Vampiric Tutor (I got mine back when it was around 22 tix), but if you have one or can afford it, I would say you should grab it and use it a lot.
Insidious Dreams is a great card for reanimation decks, especially if you want to cheat fat into play. And now that the Graveborn deck was handed out to a bunch of people during the Anniversary give away, you all should be able to get a hold of Entomb a lot more easily.
But the number 1 card that I should play a lot more often is Sudden Spoiling. Being able to make Avacyn or Blightsteel Colossus into a tiny creature without any abilities is great. The fact that it's practically uncounterable is even better. I don't know why people (including me) aren't playing it more often.
All right, on to the 46 Black sorceries I have used.
There are lots of cards here, but the most popular are Demonic Tutor and Damnation, each being used 19 times! Getting the card you want for a cheap price is just good, and wiping the board isn't all that bad either. After that I had an unnatural love affair with Beacon of Unrest, using it 12 times. Being able to get back an artifact like Oblivion Stone or a Sword from someone's graveyard is good, but I don't think I should have used it as often as I did. I got into sort of a rut with that card.
I used Promise of Power 9 times. I really like the card for the ability to combine card draw with the ability to make a fat flyer. Profane Command I used 8 times. Again, versatility has its advantages. Direct damage, recursion, killing off an indestructible creature, or making your dudes hard to block all in the same card is great. I also used Decree of Pain 8 times, since Wrathing and drawing cards at the same time is good I hear. I've actually cycled it for good effect as well.
Black has some good recursion and animation. Everything from Living Death to Yawgmoth's Will to Patriarch's Bidding means that you can get creatures and other stuff back from your graveyard. As a matter of fact, Yawgmoth's Will is great in the right kind of deck, and is likely underplayed by people.
Cards that I would like to use more of are Army of the Damned, Sever the Bloodline and Essence Harvest. The Army is great for making a token army all at once and flashing it back makes it even more awesome. Severing a Bloodline exiles creatures, something that is tough to do outside of White. But the fact that you can flash it back for a second usage is great. And Essence Harvest is a card that I haven't been able to use yet but I think it'll get a shot soon.
As for the planeswalkers, I've used Liliana Vess 5 times and Sorin Markov once.
Liliana Vess usually acts as a tutor. The discard ability is nice when you are down to 1v1 play as well. I don't think I've ever seen her ultimate go off, although I'm sure that it's happened. As for Sorin, I can't really see myself using it ever again. Similar to Magister Sphinx, he's mainly used to knock a guy down to 10 life. Sometimes it's necessary, but most of the time it's used to just kill someone out of nowhere. Now, I don't mind killing people with a hasty army, but something about Sorin just feels dirty.
Liliana of the Veil could be good in a reanimator/discard deck I guess. I just haven't found the right spot for her yet.
GOLD
All right, Gold refers to any multi-colored card. This basically means for color identity, so you'll see cards in here like Momentary Blink. Interestingly I've only created one 5 color deck so far, but I have definitely used lots of Gold cards. Here are the 94 creatures I used.
- (6) Angel of Despair
- (2) Augury Adept
- (2) Azorius Guildmage
- Balefire Liege
- Blood Tyrant
- Boartusk Liege
- Bringer of the Red Dawn
- (3) Charnelhoard Wurm
- Child of Alara
- Cold-Eyed Selkie
- (3) Creakwood Liege
- (2) Dauntless Escort
- Deathbringer Liege
- (2) Deathbringer Thoctar
- Desolation Angel
- (2) Desolation Giant
- Deus of Calamity
- (2) Defiler of Souls
- (2) Dimir Doppelganger
- Divinity of Pride
- (4) Dragon Broodmother
- Drogskol Reaver
- (2) Duergar Hedge-Mage
- Empyrial Archangel
- Ethersworn Adjudicator
- Evil Twin
- Figure of Destiny
- Gaddock Teeg
- Garza Zol, Plague Queen
- Gilder Bairn
- Gleancrawler
- Godhead of Awe
- Godsire
- (2) Grave-Shell Scarab
- Harmonic Sliver
- Havengul Lich
- Hellkite Overlord
- Igneous Pouncer
- Izzet Chronarch
- Jenara, Asura of War
- Jhessian Zombies
- Kaervek the Merciless
- (2) Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund
- Knight of the Reliquary
- Lich Lord of Unx
- Lightning Angel
- Lightning Reaver
- (3) Lord of Extinction
- (2) Madrush Cyclops
- Maelstrom Archangel
- Magister Sphinx
- Malfegor
- Mayael the Anima
- Meglonoth
- Mindleech Mass
- Mistmeadow Witch
- Murkfiend Liege
- (2) Mystic Snake
- (2) Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
- Novablast Wurm
- Nucklavee
- (3) Oona, Queen of the Fae
- Plaxcaster Frogling
- (2) Prince of Thralls
- Pygmy Hippo
- (3) Qasali Pridemage
- Rakdos Guildmage
- Rakdos the Defiler
- (2) Razia, Boros Archangel
- (2) Rhys the Redeemed
- Saffi Eriksdotter
- Shadowmage Infiltrator
- Sharuum the Hegemon
- Shivan Wurm
- Simic Guildmage
- Simic Sky Swallower
- Sovereigns of Lost Alara
- (3) Sphinx of the Steel Wind
- Sphinx Sovereign
- (2) Spiritmonger
- Spitemare
- Stoic Angel
- (3) Sygg, River Cutthroat
- Teneb, the Harvester
- Thraximundar
- (4) Trygon Predator
- Tsabo Tavoc
- Vampiric Dragon
- Vein Drinker
- Vithian Renegades
- Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter
- (3) Vulturous Zombie
- Wrexial, the Risen Deep
- Zur the Enchanter
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The Gold creature I used the most was Angel of Despair, who went into 6 different decks. This makes sense as the ability to blow things up is always valuable. When you attach that ability to a fat flier, in colors that make it easy to reanimate a creature, it just gets even better. But after that, the creatures are a whole bunch of randomness. There is token creation, large fat, recursion, large fat, conditional permanent destruction, large fat, library search and large fat. There is a little bit of a theme here.
Some of the guys that I have only played once but really enjoyed were Empyrial Archangel, Tsabo Tavoc, Havengul Lich and Blood Tyrant. Of course, all of these have fairly high casting costs, and as such they don't go into every deck. The Archangel works really well in conjunction with Darksteel Plate or Vigor. Tsabo is great, especially with vigilance or the ability to untap. And the Tyrant is just a fun, huge beater. Havengul Lich, however, is good enough that I need to find reasons not to put him into decks in the future. I really liked using him in my Ramses Overdark deck and my guess is that I'll use him a lot more in the future.
I guess Novablast Wurm deserves another shot as well. Especially with Avacyn now available, it seems like the two of them would go well together. Tooth and Nail would be a good way to get them out at the same time.
I used 20 different Gold enchantments.
Mirari's Wake and Debtors' Knell were the cards that I used the most. For the Wake, it makes sense. Doubling mana is always great, and the pump to your creatures isn't bad either. As for the Knell, I think I probably overused it. The Knell requires that it last a full turn before it does anything useful. And it's possible that nothing useful will be in the graveyard when it comes time to use it. The unknown pay off is what makes it something that I should definitely cut back on.
As for the rest of the stuff, the ones that I need to use more are Pernicious Deed and Spiteful Visions. I seriously cannot believe that I've only used Deed in one deck. And I've owned the card for a long time. That's just silly. The Visions is just sort of a fun card that can really hurt people that are intent on drawing cards at the same time. It's lots of fun! And Necrogenesis is just another, difficult to deal with form of graveyard hate that gives you a little bonus as well.
I used 23 Gold instants.
Removal is king here, with Putrefy taking top honors, followed by Mortify. Flexible removal is always good to have, and on top of those cards we have stuff like Terminate, Unmake, Artifact Mutation, and even Bant Charm. It's always nice to be able to deal with problem permanents.
Of course, there is some other stuff here as well. Vanish into Memory is card draw with a blink effect, and Swerve is a cheaper form of Misdirection. Memory Plunder basically is a one shot version of Wrexial's ability, which can be pretty darn good. And Lim-Dul's Vault is pretty much the same as a tutor, with the ability to stack the top of your deck as well.
The one thing I notice is that I rarely played with any of the charms. There are plenty of good charms out there, including Dromar's Charm, Esper Charm and Jund Charm. Like I've been saying, versatility is great, and the charms have lots of it.
Here are the 14 Gold sorceries I've used.
Hull Breach is great because of the ability to get rid of multiple targets for a very low cost. Unlike Decimate, which requires a target of each kind of permanent, you don't need to blow up an artifact and enchantment with the Breach. Not that Decimate is a bad card. In a 4 player game you will almost always have targets for the card.
A couple of Ultimatums make the list. Cruel and Titanic are just good cards. I think Violent Ultimatum is definitely worth playing as well, I just have to find the right deck for it. And of course Clarion is horrible, and Brilliant doesn't seem like the best either, but may be worth a shot at some time. And Spitting Image is a card that I really like. Being able to Clone a bunch of times in the late game is always a good time. Finally, Vindicate is a card that I recently acquired, and will probably be playing more.
As for planeswalkers, I used Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker twice, Sarkhan the Mad once, Venser, the Sojourner once and Sarkhan Vol 5 times.

Bolas is just a beast. If you're playing Grixis colors, you should always consider him. Sarkhan Vol is primarily a haste enabler, so he goes into lots of Gruul decks. I was pretty impressed with Sarkhan the Mad the one time I played him. I think that in the right type of deck, with a sort of dragon emphasis, he can actually do some pretty good things. In fact, you don't even need a dragon emphasis. Just creatures that don't mind going to the graveyard. Making a Solemn Simulacrum into a dragon isn't a bad deal.
The Gold planeswalkers I haven't used so far are Sorin, Lord of Innistrad, Ajani Vengeant, Garruk Relentless and Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas. Each of these cards just needs the right deck. Some of them are also pretty recent, and I may not have gotten my hands on them yet. I thought about Garruk Relentless in my Thelon deck, but he didn't make the cut in the end. Tezzeret seems like he'd be sweet in an Esper build. Eventually I'm going to make that just to fit him in. As for Ajani Vengeant, he's another card that I don't really see myself playing. Yes, he can tap stuff down (that has already been tapped). But people really worry about his ultimate, and for good reason. I just have never found him necessary.
LAND
All right, now we get to land. Land is in every deck that I play, obviously, so there are going to be a lot of different choices here. I realize that a lot of my decks can roll over and die to non-basic hate, and I'm fine with that. Although I have made a little bit more of an effort to include at least 20 basics in most of my decks just so that Back to Basics doesn't screw me every time it's played.
Land can provide a variety of different effects. It can be used as a sacrifice outlet, recursion, additional creatures, or even protection. You can get a lot out of your lands. I used 104 different ones, not including fetch lands and those that only produce mana. For some reason I decided not to count those. Let's take a look at everything else.
- (15) Academy Ruins
- (3) Ancient Tomb
- Bazaar of Baghdad
- Blasted Landscape
- Blinkmoth Nexus
- Blinkmoth Well
- (22) Bojuka Bog
- (3) Buried Ruin
- (13) Cabal Coffers
- (3) Celestial Colonnade
- Cloudpost
- (2) Creeping Tar Pit
- (2) Crypt of Agadeem
- Crystal Vein
- Desert
- (5) Deserted Temple
- (9) Diamond Valley
- Dread Statuary
- (3) Dust Bowl
- Eldrazi Temple
- (7) Emeria, the Sky Ruin
- (3) Evolving Wilds
- (2) Eye of Ugin
- (3) Faerie Conclave
- (4) Flagstones of Trokair
- Forbidding Watchtower
- (7) Gaea's Cradle
- (2) Gargoyle Castle
- (3) Gavony Township
- (2) Ghitu Encampment
- (13) Ghost Quarter
- Ghost Town
- Glimmerpost
- Gods' Eye, Gate to the Reikai
- (3) Halimar Depths
- (5) Hall of the Bandit Lord
- (2) High Market
- (5) Homeward Path
- Ice Floe
- Island of Wak-Wak
- (3) Kessig Wolf Run
- (4) Khalni Garden
- (10) Kher Keep
- (6) Kjeldoran Outpost
- (8) Krosan Verge
- Lavaclaw Reaches
- Llanowar Reborn
- (6) Maze of Ith
- (14) Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
- (14) Minamo, School at Water's Edge
- (29) Miren, the Moaning Well
- Mishra's Factory
- (6) Mistveil Plains
- (15) Mosswort Bridge
- (7) Mouth of Ronom
- (5) Mystifying Maze
- New Benalia
- Novijen, Heart of Progress
- Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers
- (6) Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
- (3) Pendelhaven
- (3) Petrified Field
- (2) Phyrexia's Core
- (6) Phyrexian Tower
- Prahv, Spires of Order
- Quicksand
- (4) Raging Ravine
- (35) Reliquary Tower
- (2) Riptide Laboratory
- Scorched Ruins
- (5) Scrying Sheets
- (2) Sejiri Steppe
- (2) Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep
- (14) Shizo, Death's Storehouse
- (2) Skarrg, the Rage Pits
- Spawning Pool
- (18) Spinerock Knoll
- (4) Springjack Pasture
- Stalking Stones
- Stirring Wildwood
- (25) Strip Mine
- (6) Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion
- (4) Tectonic Edge
- (29) Temple of the False God
- (6) Terrain Generator
- (3) Terramorphic Expanse
- (18) Thawing Glaciers
- The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
- (7) Tolaria West
- Tower of the Magistrate
- (5) Treetop Village
- Unholy Grotto
- Urborg
- (17) Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
- (2) Urza's Factory
- (3) Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
- Vault of the Archangel
- (15) Vesuva
- (2) Vitu-Ghazi, the City-Tree
- (19) Volrath's Stronghold
- (3) Windbrisk Heights
- (3) Winding Canyons
- Zoetic Cavern
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Lots of interesting stuff here. The top cards are Reliquary Tower, Strip Mine, Miren, the Moaning Well and Temple of the False God. Each of these is colorless, and can go into every deck. And Reliquary Tower helps out when you have the ability to draw cards. It's the card I've used the most, coming in on 35 different decks. 35 out of 53 decks is a pretty good clip, but it makes sense. Actually, out of all of these, Miren is the one that has started to take a back seat. The activation cost is pretty high, even though the amount of life gained is much greater than something like High Market. As such it's been a little while since I've used it.
After that group come the top colored lands in Bojuka Bog, Volrath's Stronghold, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, plus Thawing Glaciers. Other than the Glaciers, these are essentially all Black lands. You can pretty much consider them auto-includes. Urborg is the only one that may not be, but the recursion ability of the Stronghold, and being able to take out a graveyard for free, are pretty sweet abilities.
After that we have Mosswort Bridge and Spinerock Knoll. Both of these cards are really good, essentially giving people "free" spells. These are good for having action when you are out of cards in hand. Vesuva is great for either helping copy another good land, or getting rid of a problem legendary land. And Academy Ruins is additional recursion. Great for getting back Wurmcoil Engines or Expedition Maps.
A couple of cards are very underplayed. The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale really hurts decks that rely on creatures, especially tokens. It seems illogical to run The Tabernacle in a Green deck most of the time, but it certainly make the land easier to search up. Tower of the Magistrate is great for dealing with voltron Commanders, as the equipment will just fall right off. And if anyone plays Scorched Ruins, good for them. I know I'll never blow it up because it certainly takes guts to play it.
So there you go, every card that I've played. This was a good exercise for me, because it showed just how many possibilities are out there for use. If there's anything that you guys think that I've overlooked, let me know! I had plenty of great suggestions last time, and I'm looking forward to receiving more. I hope you guys liked this overview.
BANNED
So I'm sure you all know by now, but the following 2 cards have been banned from Commander:

I don't think that anyone is really sad to see either of these cards go. Griselbrand was really overpowered, as both a Commander and as a regular creature. I faced off against him powering a Commander deck twice. In one of those games, the player built a Standard only zombie deck. Essentially, when Griselbrand came out to play, he completely took over the game. There was nothing particularly special about the deck, no combos or anything. Just the ability to draw a ton of cards, with a little bit of life gain mixed in, and he dominated. I had yet to see him used as a regular creature, but it seems apparent from hearing stories that the games where he comes out revolve around stealing and reanimating him, or dying to the person who has him. Sure, he can be fun in the right deck (see: Standard zombies) but otherwise he's just overpowered. Unfortunately for me, I bought a foil Griselbrand 3 hours before the banning announcement. Sad times.
As for Sundering Titan, he was just super annoying. If it weren't for the fact that he blew up lands when he entered play and when he left, he would be much more manageable. As is he was mainly used in mono-Green ramp decks (see: Azusa, Lost but Seeking) to hose players playing 5 colors or pick off random targets. If it was mass destruction like Ruination, I think it wouldn't be as annoying. But this Titan could be reanimated to further annoy people. I'll be honest, prior to that game I showed in my Ramses Overdark article I hadn't seen him used in a while. I think the cheese factor kept people from playing him more often. But obviously he was enough of a problem that he had to go. And I'm not sad about it.
Until next time!
Leviathan, aka Tarasco on MTGO
mrmorale32 at yahoo dot com
CONQUEROR & COMMANDER ARCHIVE
4 Comments
Great stuff. I have been looking forward to seeing this project finished.
Like last time I'll throw out a few personal faves you haven't tried.
Green
Heart Warden- if you want mana dorks he is a good one. The ability to "mind stone" himself gives him nice flexibility and some value. Plus if you draw him late, he basically cycles.
Scryb Ranger- She is just a personal favorite of mine. She is a combat trick, she is a landfall enabler, she flies, she can block blue baddies all day, she just has a huge bag of tricks.
Carpet of Flowers- It is risky card, but it seems most times someone will be blue. It can be hit or miss, but when it hits, it can accelerate you massively.
Gutter Grime- I have grown to love this card lately. It lets you grab more value with every creature you play, and help critter decks maintain pressure against board sweeps. Can also throw a nice wrench want to gave pact their way to victory. It is a fun card.
Holistic Wisdom- This card can be disgusting in the right deck. It is best in green combo decks to just loop big spells and creatures. Even in a regular deck the ability to rebuy the bast cards in your graveyard can be super powerful.
Black
Seems like all of my favorite black critters you have tried.
Spreading Plague, Tainted Pact- I have used both of these to great effect in my creatureless deck. They are powerful, but won't win you many friends.
Mind Slash- In a deck looking to sac it's own creatures this card can force your opponents into top deck mode for answers.
Cremate- Really painless graveyard hate. If you are staring down a deck looking to abuse the yard, hold it and burn when they try something nasty. If they are all playing it straight then just use it real fast with a spare mana to cantrip it.
Skeletal Scrying- I am a bit surprised you have never run this one. It is bargin priced instant speed card draw. The one down side is you have to chew up your yard and it is hard to use early one, but that really isn't to big of a deal.
Brainspoil- Sure it is in your deck for the transmute, honestly though I probaly use it as spot removal as often as a transmute. Its Just a really flexible card.
Gold
You made me realize that I don't run a ton of gold cards. I guess it is because the vast majority of my decks tend to be mono or two colored. There is really only one card that stood out at me as one you had not used.
Soul Manipulation- It is just a hand two for one counter, that you can also just use one mode in a pinch. I find it pretty handy.
As far as the land you pretty much have me covered. Although let me just say give the Tower of Magistrates a little more play. There is so much powerful equipment running around, and it can really throw a wrinkle at it. Plus people forget about it all the time, and you can really burn them when they make bad attacks or blocks. It is a staple for me in any deck that can squeeze it in.
After both articles you've certainly used an impressive amount of cards. I'll have to bookmark both your articles so I can refer to them in the future when making decks.
One multicolored card that wasn't on your list that I've recently enjoyed is Fracturing Gust. The ability to get rid of all artifacts and enchantments at instant speed is great and the life gain is pure gravy.
Thanks for the suggestions guys, I'll try to give all of these a shot!
Those are interesting cards. Very powerful and very useful. - Paul Kadri