I'm running a Jenara list that was inspired by ZenZ's primer. I've tuned it to my liking and have my maybeboard narrowed down to a manageable list, but I was wondering what people's opinions were on Cataclysmic Gearhulk and Austere Command. I brought up the topic of other card choices on that thread, but it's pretty inactive.
In my experience so far, Gearhulk has a lot of power in keeping board states under control, but it never really eliminates the most powerful threats on the field since your opponents get to choose what sticks around. The upside is that it is tutorable as both a creature and an artifact and also can be abused with blink effects. It also forces opponents to sacrifice which gets around indestructibility.
Austere Command seems much more flexible since you get to choose which modes will hurt your opponents the most as well as eliminating everything of the chosen type rather than leaving your opponents with the most powerful permanent. The downside is that I can't blink it and I have far fewer tutors to find it.
Cataclysmic Gearhulk seems great in the right deck, but that deck, to me is more Voltron-ish. You know that because your opponents get to choose what stays you can still make the best of the situation and it matters less what stays - you're really just cutting enough of their field for your threat to connect.
Austere Command seems tailor made for this deck. It's super versatile, can sweep bigger threats away and leave Jenara on the field, to me it's a no brainer. I get the recursion thing, but to me ideally if you're including the RIGHT sweeper you really shouldn't have to use it more than once or twice anyway to make an impact on the table.
In my experience so far, Gearhulk has a lot of power in keeping board states under control, but it never really eliminates the most powerful threats on the field since your opponents get to choose what sticks around. The upside is that it is tutorable as both a creature and an artifact and also can be abused with blink effects. It also forces opponents to sacrifice which gets around indestructibility.
Austere Command seems much more flexible since you get to choose which modes will hurt your opponents the most as well as eliminating everything of the chosen type rather than leaving your opponents with the most powerful permanent. The downside is that I can't blink it and I have far fewer tutors to find it.
What is your experience between the two?
1x Jenara, Asura of War
Creature (32)
1x Acidic Slime
1x Bane of Progress
1x Body Double
1x Clever Impersonator
1x Consecrated Sphinx
1x Eldrazi Displacer
1x Ephara, God of the Polis
1x Eternal Witness
1x Gilded Drake
1x Glen Elendra Archmage
1x Harmonic Sliver
1x Karmic Guide
1x Mirror Entity
1x Mulldrifter
1x Mystic Snake
1x Nissa, Vastwood Seer
1x Noble Hierarch
1x Phantasmal Image
1x Phyrexian Metamorph
1x Prime Speaker Zegana
1x Recruiter of the Guard
1x Resolute Archangel
1x Restoration Angel
1x Reveillark
1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
1x Scavenging Ooze
1x Seedborn Muse
1x Snapcaster Mage
1x Stonecloaker
1x Sun Titan
1x Venser, Shaper Savant
1x Wood Elves
1x Venser, the Sojourner
Land (35)
1x Adarkar Wastes
1x Alchemist's Refuge
1x Breeding Pool
1x Brushland
1x Canopy Vista
1x Celestial Colonnade
1x Command Tower
1x Flooded Strand
4x Forest
1x Glacial Fortress
1x Hallowed Fountain
1x Hinterland Harbor
3x Island
1x Miren, the Moaning Well
1x Misty Rainforest
1x Mystic Gate
3x Plains
1x Prairie Stream
1x Reflecting Pool
1x Reliquary Tower
1x Seaside Citadel
1x Strip Mine
1x Sunpetal Grove
1x Temple Garden
1x Temple of the False God
1x Wasteland
1x Windswept Heath
1x Yavimaya Coast
Artifact (6)
1x Chromatic Lantern
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Sensei's Divining Top
1x Sol Ring
1x Sword of Feast and Famine
1x Sword of Fire and Ice
1x Beast Within
1x Chord of Calling
1x Counterspell
1x Cryptic Command
1x Cyclonic Rift
1x Disallow
1x Eladamri's Call
1x Enlightened Tutor
1x Fact or Fiction
1x Mystical Tutor
1x Path to Exile
1x Sphinx's Revelation
1x Swords to Plowshares
1x Voidslime
Sorcery (9)
1x Austere Command
1x Cultivate
1x Eldritch Evolution
1x Kodama's Reach
1x Supreme Verdict
1x Temporal Manipulation
1x Time Warp
1x Tragic Arrogance
1x Wargate
Enchantment (2)
1x Survival of the Fittest
1x Sylvan Library
Maybeboard (6)
Instant (2)
1x Mana Drain
1x Teferi's Protection
Creature (3)
1x Oracle of Mul Daya
1x Saffi Eriksdotter
1x Cataclysmic Gearhulk
Land (1)
1x Buried Ruin
BLiliana, Heretical HealerB| |GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
GWBDoom Plane EnchantressBWG
Austere Command seems tailor made for this deck. It's super versatile, can sweep bigger threats away and leave Jenara on the field, to me it's a no brainer. I get the recursion thing, but to me ideally if you're including the RIGHT sweeper you really shouldn't have to use it more than once or twice anyway to make an impact on the table.
BLiliana, Heretical HealerB| |GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
GWBDoom Plane EnchantressBWG