Personally I think it’s deck dependent. It’s a finisher card for sure, so there’s every chance it’s a great replacement (that being said it doesn’t grant trample so your choice will need to be Craterhoof or Ibex for combat wins). Often times Zenith is an early/mid game advantage engine for me in Nissa. This definitely doesn’t fill that slot unless you have crazy mana early.
In a 3 colour deck though it gives you a great reanimation option though and there’s plenty of options out to get big mana going. I don’t see why you can’t run both.
Do you guys think in decks with 3 or more colors Finale of Devastation will generally be better than Green Sun's Zenith? Is the ability to get any color creature and the extra potential wincon worth the extra G and inability to shuffle itself? I'm inclined to believe so, but it probably depends.
I think its going to be better from a practical standpoint. You can burn it early as a ramp card (fetching Dryad Arbor), then recur it later for something big. GSZ's shuffle clause makes it a lot less desirable to burn it as a ramp spell unless you are mana screwed. I think that not shuffling coupled with no color restriction is well worth the extra mana.
I just wanna Command the Dreadhorde Deepglow Skate and a walker back.
Well, that sounds gross. Maybe Muldrotha ... lots of self mill, lots of value, then bam - ult multiple walkers.
What are the best ultimates in multiplayer?
I assume you mean "In Sultai" given the Muldrotha comment, which takes away my two favorites (Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God and Tamiyo, Field Researcher). I think the best, roughly in order, are...
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon: Draw 7, gain 7, play 7 SHOULD just win the game on the spot. Liliana, Dreadhorde General: One-sided Tragic Arrogance effect that also hits lands should completely cripple opponents to the point that winning is just a formality, and unlike most of these chumps she sticks around! Jace, Architect of Thought: Super duper bribery on all opponents AND a free permanent for you to find any of these other 'walkers or game winning effects. Less good in this specific case compared to the Doubling Season case because if you pull a 'walker you won't necessarily get to ultimate again. Jace, Unraveler of Secrets: This doesn't win the game, but Erayo, Soratami Ascendant is banned and this gets you that same effect. Your opponents might just scoop in disgust?
From there, there are several sort of "Tier 2" effects that aren't as powerful but are still game-winning especially in concert with a few other walkers.
Mu Yanling: Surprising, for sure, but "take an extra turn and tap all possible blockers" should be a powerful play if not necessarily a game-winning one. Liliana Vess: Rise of the Dark Realms on a budget is fun, and she helps you assemble the comboes. Kiora, Master of the Depths: 24 power and three fight triggers isn't broken or anything like some of these, but is a good way to end the game in concert with any of these other effects. Vraska, Relic Seeker/Sorin Markov: Powerful effects but need some support to make it an instant win. Teferi, Temporal Archmage: If you are going for a long, grindy game this emblem makes all your Planeswalkers super powerful and obnoxious.
I just wanna Command the Dreadhorde Deepglow Skate and a walker back.
Well, that sounds gross. Maybe Muldrotha ... lots of self mill, lots of value, then bam - ult multiple walkers.
What are the best ultimates in multiplayer?
I assume you mean "In Sultai" given the Muldrotha comment, which takes away my two favorites (Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God and Tamiyo, Field Researcher). I think the best, roughly in order, are...
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon: Draw 7, gain 7, play 7 SHOULD just win the game on the spot. Liliana, Dreadhorde General: One-sided Tragic Arrogance effect that also hits lands should completely cripple opponents to the point that winning is just a formality, and unlike most of these chumps she sticks around! Jace, Architect of Thought: Super duper bribery on all opponents AND a free permanent for you to find any of these other 'walkers or game winning effects. Less good in this specific case compared to the Doubling Season case because if you pull a 'walker you won't necessarily get to ultimate again. Jace, Unraveler of Secrets: This doesn't win the game, but Erayo, Soratami Ascendant is banned and this gets you that same effect. Your opponents might just scoop in disgust?
From there, there are several sort of "Tier 2" effects that aren't as powerful but are still game-winning especially in concert with a few other walkers.
Mu Yanling: Surprising, for sure, but "take an extra turn and tap all possible blockers" should be a powerful play if not necessarily a game-winning one. Liliana Vess: Rise of the Dark Realms on a budget is fun, and she helps you assemble the comboes. Kiora, Master of the Depths: 24 power and three fight triggers isn't broken or anything like some of these, but is a good way to end the game in concert with any of these other effects. Vraska, Relic Seeker/Sorin Markov: Powerful effects but need some support to make it an instant win. Teferi, Temporal Archmage: If you are going for a long, grindy game this emblem makes all your Planeswalkers super powerful and obnoxious.
I was just curious which were the best. I think Muldrotha will be the best shell since you can dredge, Eternal Witness from your graveyard, cast Command the Dreadhord.
In the end, I have about 70 cards I am going to try, spread across 34 decks.
Probably won't end up even putting all of those in, but I am still very positively surprised about the quality of this set, commons and uncommons in particular have a lot of pretty usable stuff compared to earlier sets.
As usual, the spread is pretty uneven; got a couple of decks that got nothing from the set (Damia land/discard, Tazri ally etb combo) and a couple of decks that are getting 6 cards (Karametra land animator, Licia legendary lifegain).
A lot of cards are just 'that looks fun' more than actually 'this is exactly what my deck does' though, so I'll see how much of the cards actually stick once I have to figure out what to take out to put them in...
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X Hope of Ghirapur Swordpile W Ghosty Blinky Anafenza U Nezahal- Big, Blue and HERE! B Gonti Can Afford It R Etali, Primal 'Whatjusthappened?' G Polukranos Wants More Mana WU The Exalted Vizier Temmet WB Home, Athreos WR Basandra, Recursive Aggression WG Karametra, Momma of Lands UB Wrexial Eats Your Brains UR Arjun, the Mad Flame UG The Fable of Prime Speaker BR Hellbent, Malfegor Style BG Jarad, Death is Served RG Running Thromok WUB Varina and ALL the Zombies WUBYennett, the Odd Pain-Train WUR Zedruu the Furyhearted WUG Arcades' Strategy, Shmategy, Sausage and Spam WBR A Case of Mathas' Persistent F*ckery WBRLicia's League of Legendary Lifegain Layabouts WBG The Karador Advantage PackageWRG Gahiji Rattlesnake Collection UBR Jeleva... does... things UBG Damia's Just Deserts URG Yasova's Has More Power Than Sense BRG Wasitora, Bad Kitty WUBRBreya, Eggs, Breya'd Eggs WUBG Tymna and Kydele, Extended Borrowing WURG Kynaios and Tiro, Landfall Impersonations WBRG Saskia Pet Card EnchantressUBRG Yidris of the Chi-Ting Corporation WUBRG Tazri's Amazing Allies
One very odd thing I've noticed about War of the Spark - lots of fun new legendary creatures, but very few that actually seem fun to build a commander deck around. When you look at the most popular commanders for the past week and month, only Feather, the Redeemed shows up - #1 most popular in the past week, #10 most popular in the past month.
I wouldn't read too much into how many of the new generals have been built before we even hit the prerelease. I'd guess that people are more likely to build around a card they have in hand, whether that's because they opened it or ordered it.
There are a couple other factors as well. Most of the legends in the set are also mono colored, which are typically less popular. Of the multicolored ones, Roalesk plays awkwardly with the command zone because of the dies trigger and Storrev has competition like Meren and Karador playing in a similar area. Niv is powerful, but 5C manabases put off a lot of people and it doesn't offer a lot of direction. Feather is in the sweet spot in terms of number of colors and providing something new to the color combo, so it's bound to be the most popular. I also get the sense that there's some lore appeal. I saw a lot of complaints that Feather wasn't getting a card during both the GRN and GCT spoiler seasons. The other multicolored options all seem like minor characters from a few seconds of wiki investigation and I don't think I've ever seen them mentioned when people discuss which characters need cards. Niv is a popular character, so I suspect that's being held down by being the fourth version of the character printed and a big departure from what the character has traditionally been about.
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[Pr]Jaya | Estrid | A rotating cast of decks built out of my box.
I had no idea there was a new sarkan. He will be amazing in my dragon deck. (Come at me bro. Oh well your creatures die due to damage befor they connect)
I may run the immortal sun, but it's the static effect I care about. If I get him out before the immortal sun though, even better.
One very odd thing I've noticed about War of the Spark - lots of fun new legendary creatures, but very few that actually seem fun to build a commander deck around. When you look at the most popular commanders for the past week and month, only Feather, the Redeemed shows up - #1 most popular in the past week, #10 most popular in the past month.
I think Weebo hit the nail on the head; most of the potential commanders in this set are not cards that really inspire people to want to build around them, either because their abilities are not "build around me" kind of abilities or because of the color restrictions. If you look at the actual options available, this is not really that big of a surprise.
God-Eternal Oketra - I expect that this is the one sleeper general of the set. Mono-white is terrible as far as commanders go, and Oketra makes me want to actually build a mono-white deck. The ability is just so powerful. I would expect an uptick on Oketra in the near future.
Fblthp, the Lost - I think Fblthp has some potential in the 99, but not as a Commander.
God-Eternal Kefnet - This one is at least somewhat interesting, but it doesn't necessarily do what it does so much better than other mono-blue options. Mono-blue spellslinger also typically runs a fair amount of counters, which are a non-bo with Kefnet.
God-Eternal Bontu - I would expect that Bontu will find its way into a lot of decks, but eventually I think it will also become one of the more popular mono-black generals. There is just so much potential value to be had with all the various death triggers in black that having Bontu in the Command Zone makes for a scary proposition.
Massacre Girl - Really cool card, but one more suited to the maindeck in my opinion. I guess its nice to have a potential Wrath effect on demand, but I think a lot of people like to build around more proactive abilities than reactive.
Ilharg, the Raze-Boar - There are some potentially scary creatures you can drop into play on the cheap, but the creatures you want aren't totally obvious (like Eldrazi are much less scary without Annihilator triggers, and Red Myojin is even less scary without its Divinity counter). I think its a matter of time before people figure out how to drop Avatar of Slaughter for 1-shot Commander wins, or Blightsteel Colossus for 1-shot poison kills. Overall though, I just don't think that people find his ability all that interesting.
Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin - I don't think he supplants the original Krenko as the commander, although I would expect to see him in the maindeck of every Goblin tribal deck.
Neheb, Dreadhorde Champion - This is the one that I think can be one of the best generals in the set. Being able to tear through your deck, feed your graveyard, and generate tons of mana in the process seems like a winning proposition to me. Again, I think that the way to really go with Neheb isn't totally obvious, but there are some much more interesting options out there than with Ilharg for mono-red fans.
God-Eternal Rhonas - As someone who plays Ezuri, I can attest to the power of having an Overrun type effect as your commander, but gaining Vigilance instead of Trample is a big letdown. I think that Rhonas could be a fine Commander, but it doesn't really stack up against many of the fine mono-green options already out there and it doesn't do anything so different that its interesting to build around.
Mowu, Loyal Companion - Seems like a leftover Partner commander, and not a very powerful one at that.
Feather, the Redeemed - This is the flavor of the week, new shiny object that everyone is focusing on, but I honestly don't buy the hype. It just seems like the same RW kind of commander to me. Its at least a unique effect and people are excited that it is different from other RW commanders on the surface, but I think that the kinds of decks that Feather promotes are just going to be more of the same. It is nice to see Boros getting some love from the EDH public though.
Niv-Mizzet Reborn - A 5-color commander that actually requires all five colors to cast it (as opposed to something like Ramos) and greatly incentivizes you to run as many gold cards as possible will make for a daunting task for most people to build just based on trying to assemble a workable mana base.
Roalesk, Apex Hybrid - I'm actually kinda stoked about Roalesk as a card, but I think that most people shy away from Commanders with "dies" triggers because of how they don't interact well with the command zone.
Storrev, Devkarin Lich - A solid creature with solid stats that provides solid value is a fine playable but not a very exciting commander.
Tolsimir, Friend to Wolves - There are a lot of little things going on here, but nothing big enough on its own to justify building around. Also, not having red makes this a no-go as far as being the head of a Wolf Tribal deck.
- God-Eternal Oketra: Hampered by her own colours, but Oketra's Monument into her is one hell of a beating. Also Anointed Procession is a card. I think this will easily be a top 5 mono-white commander, maybe even top 3, and in the 99 of any build that relies on spamming creatures she'll be fantastic. Great in both command zone and the 99.
- Tomik, Distinguished Advokist: This is not a good commander, but he's a great hatebear in any build like, say, Gaddock Teeg or Sigarda, Host of Herons.Poor to mediocre in the zone, Decent to backbreaking in the 99.
- God-Eternal Kefnet: Don't underestimate the value of copying valuespells, and the power of Brainstorm abilities to pull shenanigans. While he plays poorly with counterspells, do consider the ramifications of Scroll Rack and Time Warp. Amazing commander, not nearly as good in the 99.
- Fblthp, the Lost: While it may look silly as a serious commander, there are two cases. The first is a blue deck that doesn't NEED it's commander but does appreciate a 2 mana cantrip. The other is Proteus Staff. In the 99 he's a decent value dork a la Elvish Visionary except blue and on occassion even better. Funny commander, Valuable in the 99.
- God-Eternal Bontu: My question when you have this as your commander is: Why not Krav, the Unredeemed? While the ETB effect means you spend 1 less mana, Krav can repeat without the need of a recast, and can add White to his repetoire. Same question in the 99. As a backup for Krav, sure. Very good but outclassed both in the 99 and in the zone.
- Massacre Girl: She telegraphs your plan, which will lead to empty-ish boards. Take advantage of that and she'll lead to interesting games. But she is better in the 99 to come out and wipe the board, and maybe do so again on a revive. Great rattlesnake in the zone, potent boardwipe in the 99.
- Ilharg, the Raze-Boar: This thing is severely hampered by the colour identity, and the fact that whatever Ilharg wants to do, Sneak Attack does better. As a commander, it doesn't fix Red's main issues so I think it'll be best in the 99 of "Cheat Fatties Out.dec". Meh in the zone, hard to judge in the 99.
- Neheb, Dreadhorde Champion: Now this is what I'm talking about. While he does need to connect in order to trigger, it's likely there's always SOMEONE you can smack. Refueling your hand is something Red loves, the extra mana lets you fire off your big guns earlier...it's not a perfect card, but both in the commander zone as well as in the 99 of various decktypes he'll do work.
- Krenko, Tin-Street Kingpin: I like that unlike the original Krenko he's both a threat and a token maker on his own. While he's easier to stop by virtue of big blockers preventing him from wanting to attack, he can also be more explosive by decking him out with some fancy equipment. Great option as a commander, probably a staple in Goblin decks in the 99.
- God-Eternal Rhonas: Lack of trample hurts. Green decks don't tend to have issues with being bigger than the opposition, they need to be able to punch through. Likely going to slide into various decks (Selvala, Heart of the Wilds says 'sup) that can make use/abuse of his effect but won't be a common commander. Dangerous but meh as commander, niche in the 99.
- Mowu, Loyal Companion: The goodest boy of the set, Mowu is not a good card. Great for memes and there's probably a build possible that makes him real big real fast, but his best place is probably Pauper commander or Puppers.dec. Very poor both in the zone and the 99.
- Feather, the Redeemed: Oh yeah we'll be seeing a lot of her. Then people will realize she's not THAT good a commander and she'll fade a bit, but she'll always be one of the best Boros commanders around. In the 99 she's too specific to be good. This is probably only one of two cards in this set that's only good as commander and not at all in the 99.
- Roalesk, Apex Hybrid: As pointed out, having a Dies trigger hurt his commander viability. Besides that, I'd think Pir & Toothy will lead any deck he'd want to lead better. That said in the 99 he can be a true terror, whether you're playing Superfriends or some other counter-shenanigans. So yeah, piss-poor in the zone, but a viable threat in the 99.
- Storrev, Devkarin Lich: Golgari Stupid Stuff, the Legend. Yea it's hard to write anything about this one. Better in the zone than in the 99. Meren exists.
- Tolsimir, Friend to Wolves: Don't play him as a wolf tribal commander. Build a Selesnya deck with some occasional wolf-synergy instead with him at the wheel and you'll see it's pretty decent - if nothing earth shattering - value. Being able to snipe some utility creatures while patching up your life is far from a bad ability. Might see play in some blinky decks. Cute commander, decent in the 99.
- Niv-Mizzet Reborn: The other command-zone-only card, Niv can pull up huge value. The trick is finding the right rations of guild cards, which ain't easy. Going to be seen more often than his power level justifies.
All in all, I'm seeing a big mix of highly playable commanders, great cards for the 99, and some who can do both, on varying power levels. I think this is one of the greatest spreads we've seen in the past few years. Aside from Feather, none of the new commanders have a "One true way to build it and if you don't why are you even playing" kind of vibe over them, though some of them (Kefnet, Krenko in particular) push you towards a direction.
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My Commander decks:
Chandra, Torch of Defiance - Oops! All Chandras.
Prime Speaker Zegana - Draw for Power.
Pir & Toothy - Counterpalooza.
Arcades, the Strategist - Another Brick in the Wall.
Zacama, Primal Calamity - Calamity of Double Mana.
Edgar Markov - Vampires Don't Die.
Child of Alara - Dreamcrusher.
God-Eternal Bontu: My question when you have this as your commander is: Why not Krav, the Unredeemed? While the ETB effect means you spend 1 less mana, Krav can repeat without the need of a recast, and can add White to his repetoire. Same question in the 99. As a backup for Krav, sure. Very good but outclassed both in the 99 and in the zone.
While Krav can be re-used without blink or reanimation shenanigans, Bontu lets you sacrifice any kind of permanent, not just creatures. If you've got a pile of Treasures, for example, from Revel in Riches or Pitiless Plunderer, you can turn those into cards when you don't have things to spend the mana on.
If you have a sac outlet other than Bontu himself (not uncommon for a mono-black deck), you can also sacrifice Bontu in response to his trigger, then sacrifice at least 3 permanents to the trigger and he's back in your hand, if re-using him is critical.
So I went through my decks last night, looking to see what singles from WAR I should buy to update them.
...
I want 11 copies of Finale of Devastation. I haven't felt like buying so many copies of a new single since Avacyn Restored with Cavern of Souls...
That's a lot of copies. I can see myself wanting 1 or 2... but Chord of Calling will still be my go-to. Convoke and Instant speed is so good... and the ability to reanimate a creature is not as important in my decks since I have a lot of graveyard recursion.
I'd still put Chord of Calling above Finale of Devastation but it's close. Having a built in recursion option is a significant upgrade for the long game. Realistically, most of the time I'd want one I'd probably want both.
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[Pr]Jaya | Estrid | A rotating cast of decks built out of my box.
I'm still reeling a bit from the last two sets. There are just so many good cards to try out. Now that I have my hands on a few, I'm actually trying to figure out what might go where. Here are my thoughts on what I think is the best of the crop in War of the Spark:
White Finale of Glory - I don't run as much ramp in my Rhys Tokens deck, but it still supports a few good X-spell token makers. On the "FO Token Scale" (assume one token doubler and one Anthem, add the total power, and divide by mana cost) this rates a meh 3.0 at X=2, a solid 3.6 at X=3, and a fantastic 4.0 at X=4. It just keeps getting better after that. God-Eternal Oketra - At a minimum, this is going into Varina Zombies and Captain Sisay Legends decks. Prison Realm - Will likely make it in my Uril Enchantress deck
I also like Gideon Blackblade and Ravnica at War, but I have no place for them yet.
Blue Commence the Endgame - This is going into Varina Zombies, Jalira Polymorph, and possibly Ni-Mizzet and/or Damia. I'm really digging this card. Flux Channeler - This is going into Atraxa Superfriends for sure and possibly Vorel. God-Eternal Kefnet - I really want to try this in Niz-Mzzet.
I'm a fan of Spark Double but I don't know what to do with it. I'm also wondering whether Aven Eternal and Eternal Skylord will be good enough for Varina Zombies
Black Bolas's Citadel - This card is nuts. It will slot in nicely in my Endrek Sahr deck once I figure out what to cut. Davriel, Rogue Shadowmage - This card is going into Nicol Bolas Discard Dreadhorde Invasion - Going into Varina Zombies Finale of Eternity - This is going to go into a few decks that want some mass removal without wanting to really Wrath the board like Obzedat, Varina, Prossh, and Ghave God-Eternal Bontu - This is going into Varina Zombies, Endrek Sahr, Prossh, and Ghave to replace Skullmulcher. Lazotep Reaver - This is going into Varina Zombies where I think it will play a nice role as two bodies for only two mana. Liliana, Dreadhorde General - This is also going into Varina Zombies, Endrek Sahr, and probably Prossh
I'm also looking for a place to play a copy of Massacre Girl.
Colorless Ugin, the Ineffable - Karn, Bosh, and probably Atraxa Firemind Vessel - Niv-Mizzet and Bosh Interplanar Beacon - Atraxa Karn's Bastion - I can probably swing this in 2-color Vorel, but I don't think it will work in 3-color Ghave or 4-color Atraxa. I also might run it in my Colorless Karn Eldrazi deck just for aesthetic purposes even though the Proliferate ability would only interact with 7 cards in the deck. Mobilized District - Maybe in Sisay Legends
Soooo... yeah. Holy *****. I've got a lot of work to do, especially given that I never really finished updating decks from Ravnica Allegiance or Guilds of Ravnica. Good times....
the ball for unreleased cards in modern horizons is offically rolling
are first card is "astral drift" basicly a strictly better astral slide because it can cycle itself and cycling itself can cause the ability to trigger and you'll notice the art is a Fleetwheel Cruiser drifting
(the other is nothing more than flusterstorm reprint)
Real question though: if they're printing a cycling theme in the set, will they print the other half of the cycling duals as the mana fixing? That'd be dope.
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Zedruu: "This deck is not only able to go crazy - it also needs to do so."
Oh boy, another astral slide makes me excited! Hopefully they do the other half of the cycling duals, but hopefully they also bring some other cool stuff.
My concern, is how many EDH staples would become extremely expensive because they’re suddenly legal in Modern.
Can’t think of an example atm, but it’s haunting.
Don't worry, because there are no examples.
Expensive cards used in EDH are already expensive because of EDH or reserve list. And even then, there's many substitutes available that deck building and having fun in EDH don't require massive budgets.
You should be concerned with new powerful cards that are printed that become expensive must haves.
My concern, is how many EDH staples would become extremely expensive because they’re suddenly legal in Modern.
Can’t think of an example atm, but it’s haunting.
Don't worry, because there are no examples.
Expensive cards used in EDH are already expensive because of EDH or reserve list. And even then, there's many substitutes available that deck building and having fun in EDH don't require massive budgets.
You should be concerned with new powerful cards that are printed that become expensive must haves.
Wouldn’t those expensive cards become even MORE expensive due to “Modernization”?
In a 3 colour deck though it gives you a great reanimation option though and there’s plenty of options out to get big mana going. I don’t see why you can’t run both.
Well, that sounds gross. Maybe Muldrotha ... lots of self mill, lots of value, then bam - ult multiple walkers.
What are the best ultimates in multiplayer?
8.RG Green Devotion Ramp/Combo 9.UR Draw Triggers 10.WUR Group stalling 11.WUR Voltron Spellslinger 12.WB Sacrificial Shenanigans
13.BR Creatureless Panharmonicon 14.BR Pingers and Eldrazi 15.URG Untapped Cascading
16.Reyhan, last of the Abzan's WUBG +1/+1 Counter Craziness 17.WUBRG Dragons aka Why did I make this?
Building: The Gitrog Monster lands, Glissa the Traitor stax, Muldrotha, the Gravetide Planeswalker Combo, Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix + Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa Clues, and Tribal Scarecrow Planeswalkers
I think its going to be better from a practical standpoint. You can burn it early as a ramp card (fetching Dryad Arbor), then recur it later for something big. GSZ's shuffle clause makes it a lot less desirable to burn it as a ramp spell unless you are mana screwed. I think that not shuffling coupled with no color restriction is well worth the extra mana.
In my opinion, Tamiyo, Field Researcher, Ugin, the Spirit Dragon, Venser, the Sojourner, Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, Tamiyo, the Moon Sage, and Teferi, Temporal Archmage are my favorites in my Atraxa deck. Some of the Nicol Bolas planeswalkers are also pretty good.
Jalira, Master Polymorphist | Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder | Bosh, Iron Golem | Ezuri, Renegade Leader
Brago, King Eternal | Oona, Queen of the Fae | Wort, Boggart Auntie | Wort, the Raidmother
Captain Sisay | Rhys, the Redeemed | Trostani, Selesnya's Voice | Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight | Obzedat, Ghost Council | Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind | Vorel of the Hull Clade
Uril, the Miststalker | Prossh, Skyraider of Kher | Nicol Bolas | Progenitus
Ghave, Guru of Spores | Zedruu the Greathearted | Damia, Sage of Stone | Riku of Two Reflections
I assume you mean "In Sultai" given the Muldrotha comment, which takes away my two favorites (Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God and Tamiyo, Field Researcher). I think the best, roughly in order, are...
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon: Draw 7, gain 7, play 7 SHOULD just win the game on the spot.
Liliana, Dreadhorde General: One-sided Tragic Arrogance effect that also hits lands should completely cripple opponents to the point that winning is just a formality, and unlike most of these chumps she sticks around!
Jace, Architect of Thought: Super duper bribery on all opponents AND a free permanent for you to find any of these other 'walkers or game winning effects. Less good in this specific case compared to the Doubling Season case because if you pull a 'walker you won't necessarily get to ultimate again.
Jace, Unraveler of Secrets: This doesn't win the game, but Erayo, Soratami Ascendant is banned and this gets you that same effect. Your opponents might just scoop in disgust?
From there, there are several sort of "Tier 2" effects that aren't as powerful but are still game-winning especially in concert with a few other walkers.
Mu Yanling: Surprising, for sure, but "take an extra turn and tap all possible blockers" should be a powerful play if not necessarily a game-winning one.
Liliana Vess: Rise of the Dark Realms on a budget is fun, and she helps you assemble the comboes.
Kiora, Master of the Depths: 24 power and three fight triggers isn't broken or anything like some of these, but is a good way to end the game in concert with any of these other effects.
Vraska, Relic Seeker/Sorin Markov: Powerful effects but need some support to make it an instant win.
Teferi, Temporal Archmage: If you are going for a long, grindy game this emblem makes all your Planeswalkers super powerful and obnoxious.
Tamiyo, the Moon Sage and Will Kenrith are also usually pretty spicy, but less good in Muldrotha. Jace, the Mind Sculptor is also obviously very powerful but can't ultimate instantly without additional support.
RCRDaretti: Superfriends Forever RCR
WGBDoran: Ent-mootWBG
GGGMultani: Group Bear HugGGG
GB(B/G)The Gitrog Monster: Dredgefall DurdleGB(B/G)
RGWGahiji, the Honored Group Hug MonsterRGW
UB(U/B)Yuriko, Ninja Trinket AggroUB(U/B)
WUBRGAtogatog: Assembling a OHKOWUBRG
I was just curious which were the best. I think Muldrotha will be the best shell since you can dredge, Eternal Witness from your graveyard, cast Command the Dreadhord.
Karador, Ghost Chieftain would also work.
Then there is Sedris, the Traitor King with Archaeomancer or Snapcaster Mage.
There is also Adun Oakenshield.
Can you think of others?
I am thinking dredge or Hermit Druid to set up the combo.
8.RG Green Devotion Ramp/Combo 9.UR Draw Triggers 10.WUR Group stalling 11.WUR Voltron Spellslinger 12.WB Sacrificial Shenanigans
13.BR Creatureless Panharmonicon 14.BR Pingers and Eldrazi 15.URG Untapped Cascading
16.Reyhan, last of the Abzan's WUBG +1/+1 Counter Craziness 17.WUBRG Dragons aka Why did I make this?
Building: The Gitrog Monster lands, Glissa the Traitor stax, Muldrotha, the Gravetide Planeswalker Combo, Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix + Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa Clues, and Tribal Scarecrow Planeswalkers
https://helix-gaming.com/blogs/news/war-of-the-spark-commander-review-week
A lot of new staples for commander
Oh gideon’s sacrifice that’s a “gotcha” catergory edh card in all fronts
(Sudden turn the tables with one card)
I mean fire at a stuffy doll for example
Or with a vigor in play
A single indestructable creature
hornet nest that’s a truck load of hornets
And ofcoarse the best of them all boros reckoner I guess souls of the faultless too
Probably won't end up even putting all of those in, but I am still very positively surprised about the quality of this set, commons and uncommons in particular have a lot of pretty usable stuff compared to earlier sets.
As usual, the spread is pretty uneven; got a couple of decks that got nothing from the set (Damia land/discard, Tazri ally etb combo) and a couple of decks that are getting 6 cards (Karametra land animator, Licia legendary lifegain).
A lot of cards are just 'that looks fun' more than actually 'this is exactly what my deck does' though, so I'll see how much of the cards actually stick once I have to figure out what to take out to put them in...
There are a couple other factors as well. Most of the legends in the set are also mono colored, which are typically less popular. Of the multicolored ones, Roalesk plays awkwardly with the command zone because of the dies trigger and Storrev has competition like Meren and Karador playing in a similar area. Niv is powerful, but 5C manabases put off a lot of people and it doesn't offer a lot of direction. Feather is in the sweet spot in terms of number of colors and providing something new to the color combo, so it's bound to be the most popular. I also get the sense that there's some lore appeal. I saw a lot of complaints that Feather wasn't getting a card during both the GRN and GCT spoiler seasons. The other multicolored options all seem like minor characters from a few seconds of wiki investigation and I don't think I've ever seen them mentioned when people discuss which characters need cards. Niv is a popular character, so I suspect that's being held down by being the fourth version of the character printed and a big departure from what the character has traditionally been about.
I may run the immortal sun, but it's the static effect I care about. If I get him out before the immortal sun though, even better.
I think Weebo hit the nail on the head; most of the potential commanders in this set are not cards that really inspire people to want to build around them, either because their abilities are not "build around me" kind of abilities or because of the color restrictions. If you look at the actual options available, this is not really that big of a surprise.
In the end, I think that God-Eternal Oketra, God-Eternal Bontu, and Neheb, Dreadhorde Champion will all see some increased play as a commander over time, but as of right now it makes sense that nothing is really generating the kind of buzz that Feather, the Redeemed is generating.
Jalira, Master Polymorphist | Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder | Bosh, Iron Golem | Ezuri, Renegade Leader
Brago, King Eternal | Oona, Queen of the Fae | Wort, Boggart Auntie | Wort, the Raidmother
Captain Sisay | Rhys, the Redeemed | Trostani, Selesnya's Voice | Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight | Obzedat, Ghost Council | Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind | Vorel of the Hull Clade
Uril, the Miststalker | Prossh, Skyraider of Kher | Nicol Bolas | Progenitus
Ghave, Guru of Spores | Zedruu the Greathearted | Damia, Sage of Stone | Riku of Two Reflections
- God-Eternal Oketra: Hampered by her own colours, but Oketra's Monument into her is one hell of a beating. Also Anointed Procession is a card. I think this will easily be a top 5 mono-white commander, maybe even top 3, and in the 99 of any build that relies on spamming creatures she'll be fantastic. Great in both command zone and the 99.
- Tomik, Distinguished Advokist: This is not a good commander, but he's a great hatebear in any build like, say, Gaddock Teeg or Sigarda, Host of Herons.Poor to mediocre in the zone, Decent to backbreaking in the 99.
- God-Eternal Kefnet: Don't underestimate the value of copying valuespells, and the power of Brainstorm abilities to pull shenanigans. While he plays poorly with counterspells, do consider the ramifications of Scroll Rack and Time Warp. Amazing commander, not nearly as good in the 99.
- Fblthp, the Lost: While it may look silly as a serious commander, there are two cases. The first is a blue deck that doesn't NEED it's commander but does appreciate a 2 mana cantrip. The other is Proteus Staff. In the 99 he's a decent value dork a la Elvish Visionary except blue and on occassion even better. Funny commander, Valuable in the 99.
- God-Eternal Bontu: My question when you have this as your commander is: Why not Krav, the Unredeemed? While the ETB effect means you spend 1 less mana, Krav can repeat without the need of a recast, and can add White to his repetoire. Same question in the 99. As a backup for Krav, sure. Very good but outclassed both in the 99 and in the zone.
- Massacre Girl: She telegraphs your plan, which will lead to empty-ish boards. Take advantage of that and she'll lead to interesting games. But she is better in the 99 to come out and wipe the board, and maybe do so again on a revive. Great rattlesnake in the zone, potent boardwipe in the 99.
- Ilharg, the Raze-Boar: This thing is severely hampered by the colour identity, and the fact that whatever Ilharg wants to do, Sneak Attack does better. As a commander, it doesn't fix Red's main issues so I think it'll be best in the 99 of "Cheat Fatties Out.dec". Meh in the zone, hard to judge in the 99.
- Neheb, Dreadhorde Champion: Now this is what I'm talking about. While he does need to connect in order to trigger, it's likely there's always SOMEONE you can smack. Refueling your hand is something Red loves, the extra mana lets you fire off your big guns earlier...it's not a perfect card, but both in the commander zone as well as in the 99 of various decktypes he'll do work.
- Krenko, Tin-Street Kingpin: I like that unlike the original Krenko he's both a threat and a token maker on his own. While he's easier to stop by virtue of big blockers preventing him from wanting to attack, he can also be more explosive by decking him out with some fancy equipment. Great option as a commander, probably a staple in Goblin decks in the 99.
- God-Eternal Rhonas: Lack of trample hurts. Green decks don't tend to have issues with being bigger than the opposition, they need to be able to punch through. Likely going to slide into various decks (Selvala, Heart of the Wilds says 'sup) that can make use/abuse of his effect but won't be a common commander. Dangerous but meh as commander, niche in the 99.
- Mowu, Loyal Companion: The goodest boy of the set, Mowu is not a good card. Great for memes and there's probably a build possible that makes him real big real fast, but his best place is probably Pauper commander or Puppers.dec. Very poor both in the zone and the 99.
- Feather, the Redeemed: Oh yeah we'll be seeing a lot of her. Then people will realize she's not THAT good a commander and she'll fade a bit, but she'll always be one of the best Boros commanders around. In the 99 she's too specific to be good. This is probably only one of two cards in this set that's only good as commander and not at all in the 99.
- Roalesk, Apex Hybrid: As pointed out, having a Dies trigger hurt his commander viability. Besides that, I'd think Pir & Toothy will lead any deck he'd want to lead better. That said in the 99 he can be a true terror, whether you're playing Superfriends or some other counter-shenanigans. So yeah, piss-poor in the zone, but a viable threat in the 99.
- Storrev, Devkarin Lich: Golgari Stupid Stuff, the Legend. Yea it's hard to write anything about this one. Better in the zone than in the 99. Meren exists.
- Tolsimir, Friend to Wolves: Don't play him as a wolf tribal commander. Build a Selesnya deck with some occasional wolf-synergy instead with him at the wheel and you'll see it's pretty decent - if nothing earth shattering - value. Being able to snipe some utility creatures while patching up your life is far from a bad ability. Might see play in some blinky decks. Cute commander, decent in the 99.
- Niv-Mizzet Reborn: The other command-zone-only card, Niv can pull up huge value. The trick is finding the right rations of guild cards, which ain't easy. Going to be seen more often than his power level justifies.
All in all, I'm seeing a big mix of highly playable commanders, great cards for the 99, and some who can do both, on varying power levels. I think this is one of the greatest spreads we've seen in the past few years. Aside from Feather, none of the new commanders have a "One true way to build it and if you don't why are you even playing" kind of vibe over them, though some of them (Kefnet, Krenko in particular) push you towards a direction.
Chandra, Torch of Defiance - Oops! All Chandras.
Prime Speaker Zegana - Draw for Power.
Pir & Toothy - Counterpalooza.
Arcades, the Strategist - Another Brick in the Wall.
Zacama, Primal Calamity - Calamity of Double Mana.
Edgar Markov - Vampires Don't Die.
Child of Alara - Dreamcrusher.
...
I want 11 copies of Finale of Devastation. I haven't felt like buying so many copies of a new single since Avacyn Restored with Cavern of Souls...
While Krav can be re-used without blink or reanimation shenanigans, Bontu lets you sacrifice any kind of permanent, not just creatures. If you've got a pile of Treasures, for example, from Revel in Riches or Pitiless Plunderer, you can turn those into cards when you don't have things to spend the mana on.
If you have a sac outlet other than Bontu himself (not uncommon for a mono-black deck), you can also sacrifice Bontu in response to his trigger, then sacrifice at least 3 permanents to the trigger and he's back in your hand, if re-using him is critical.
Two Score, Minus Two or: A Stargate Tail
(Image by totallynotabrony)
That's a lot of copies. I can see myself wanting 1 or 2... but Chord of Calling will still be my go-to. Convoke and Instant speed is so good... and the ability to reanimate a creature is not as important in my decks since I have a lot of graveyard recursion.
8.RG Green Devotion Ramp/Combo 9.UR Draw Triggers 10.WUR Group stalling 11.WUR Voltron Spellslinger 12.WB Sacrificial Shenanigans
13.BR Creatureless Panharmonicon 14.BR Pingers and Eldrazi 15.URG Untapped Cascading
16.Reyhan, last of the Abzan's WUBG +1/+1 Counter Craziness 17.WUBRG Dragons aka Why did I make this?
Building: The Gitrog Monster lands, Glissa the Traitor stax, Muldrotha, the Gravetide Planeswalker Combo, Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix + Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa Clues, and Tribal Scarecrow Planeswalkers
White
Finale of Glory - I don't run as much ramp in my Rhys Tokens deck, but it still supports a few good X-spell token makers. On the "FO Token Scale" (assume one token doubler and one Anthem, add the total power, and divide by mana cost) this rates a meh 3.0 at X=2, a solid 3.6 at X=3, and a fantastic 4.0 at X=4. It just keeps getting better after that.
God-Eternal Oketra - At a minimum, this is going into Varina Zombies and Captain Sisay Legends decks.
Prison Realm - Will likely make it in my Uril Enchantress deck
I also like Gideon Blackblade and Ravnica at War, but I have no place for them yet.
Blue
Commence the Endgame - This is going into Varina Zombies, Jalira Polymorph, and possibly Ni-Mizzet and/or Damia. I'm really digging this card.
Flux Channeler - This is going into Atraxa Superfriends for sure and possibly Vorel.
God-Eternal Kefnet - I really want to try this in Niz-Mzzet.
I'm a fan of Spark Double but I don't know what to do with it. I'm also wondering whether Aven Eternal and Eternal Skylord will be good enough for Varina Zombies
Black
Bolas's Citadel - This card is nuts. It will slot in nicely in my Endrek Sahr deck once I figure out what to cut.
Davriel, Rogue Shadowmage - This card is going into Nicol Bolas Discard
Dreadhorde Invasion - Going into Varina Zombies
Finale of Eternity - This is going to go into a few decks that want some mass removal without wanting to really Wrath the board like Obzedat, Varina, Prossh, and Ghave
God-Eternal Bontu - This is going into Varina Zombies, Endrek Sahr, Prossh, and Ghave to replace Skullmulcher.
Lazotep Reaver - This is going into Varina Zombies where I think it will play a nice role as two bodies for only two mana.
Liliana, Dreadhorde General - This is also going into Varina Zombies, Endrek Sahr, and probably Prossh
I'm also looking for a place to play a copy of Massacre Girl.
Red
Chandra, Fire Artisan - This looks like it could be a good addition to Gisela Burn
Ilharg, the Raze-Boar - I was wracking my brain trying to find a place for him when it hit me that Riku is perfect
Jaya, Venerated Fire Mage - Straight into Gisela Burn
Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin - Straight into RB Wort Goblins
Neheb, Dreadhorde Champion - Gisela Burn and Niv-Mizzet both want a crack at the new Neheb
Green
Bloom Hulk - Will find a spot in either Ghave or Vorel. I'm currently trying to split all the various cards between the two decks so that they have minimal overlap.
Evolution Sage - Atraxa, Vorel, and Ghave all want this.
Finale of Devastation - This is going to get a tryout in RG Wort, although this is one of those cards that can go into like 10 different decks.
God-Eternal Rhonas - Will find a home in Captain Sisay Legends
Jiang Yanggu, Wildcrafter - I'm a fan of this in either Ghave or Vorel plus it might get a spot in Atraxa
Paradise Druid - Ezuri Elves likes Elf Druids that produce mana
Pollenbright Druid - Ezuri Elves like Elf Druids that also synergize with cards like Metallic Mimic, Rishkar, Peema Renegade, and Marwyn, the Nurturer
I'm also looking for a place to play Planewide Celebration, Vivien's Arkbow, and Vivien, Champion of the Wilds
Colorless
Ugin, the Ineffable - Karn, Bosh, and probably Atraxa
Firemind Vessel - Niv-Mizzet and Bosh
Interplanar Beacon - Atraxa
Karn's Bastion - I can probably swing this in 2-color Vorel, but I don't think it will work in 3-color Ghave or 4-color Atraxa. I also might run it in my Colorless Karn Eldrazi deck just for aesthetic purposes even though the Proliferate ability would only interact with 7 cards in the deck.
Mobilized District - Maybe in Sisay Legends
Multi-Colored
Tezzeret, Master of the Bridge - Atraxa
Bioessence Hydra - I'll give this a try in Atraxa since I opened one, but this seems unlikely to make the cut
Casualties of War - This looks like a good addition to Jarad
Deathsprout - I really want this to be good enough to play, so I'm going to give it a whirl in Jarad as well
Despark - Will go into Obzedat
Elite Guardmage - Something to consider for Brago Blink
Enter the God Eternals - I think this is good enough for Oona Mill
Merfolk Skydiver - Probably Vorel
Neoform - Riku is the right spot for this
Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God - Into Nicol Bolas Discard
Pledge of Unity - This could be good enough to run in Ghave
Ral, Storm Conduit - This card seems awesome for Niv-Mizzet
Roalesk, Apex Hybrid - Atraxa or Vorel, but both decks are going to be tough to fit stuff into without some deep cuts
Role Reversal - Even Zedruu got another toy to play with
Tolsimir, Friend to Wolves - This might have a spot in Sisay Legends
Ashiok, Dream Render - This seems great for Oona Mill
Kiora, Behemoth Reckoner - The untap ability is very welcome in Vorel and possibly in my Derevi Pingers deck
Saheeli, Sublime Artificer - Niv-Mizzet is going to love this
I also like Domri, Anarch of Bolas, but I'm unsure that I have a place to even give it a tryout.
Soooo... yeah. Holy *****. I've got a lot of work to do, especially given that I never really finished updating decks from Ravnica Allegiance or Guilds of Ravnica. Good times....
Jalira, Master Polymorphist | Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder | Bosh, Iron Golem | Ezuri, Renegade Leader
Brago, King Eternal | Oona, Queen of the Fae | Wort, Boggart Auntie | Wort, the Raidmother
Captain Sisay | Rhys, the Redeemed | Trostani, Selesnya's Voice | Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight | Obzedat, Ghost Council | Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind | Vorel of the Hull Clade
Uril, the Miststalker | Prossh, Skyraider of Kher | Nicol Bolas | Progenitus
Ghave, Guru of Spores | Zedruu the Greathearted | Damia, Sage of Stone | Riku of Two Reflections
the ball for unreleased cards in modern horizons is offically rolling
are first card is "astral drift" basicly a strictly better astral slide because it can cycle itself and cycling itself can cause the ability to trigger and you'll notice the art is a Fleetwheel Cruiser drifting
(the other is nothing more than flusterstorm reprint)
Can’t think of an example atm, but it’s haunting.
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR Voltron Control
Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun WU Unblockable Mirror Trickery
Ra's al Ghul (Sidar Kondo) and Face-Down Ninjas
Brudiclad, Token Engineer
Vaevictis (VV2) the Dire Lantern
Rona, Disciple of Gix
Tiana the Auror
Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
O-Kagachi, Mathas, Mairsil
"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs
cant wait to see more cycle cards
Don't worry, because there are no examples.
Expensive cards used in EDH are already expensive because of EDH or reserve list. And even then, there's many substitutes available that deck building and having fun in EDH don't require massive budgets.
You should be concerned with new powerful cards that are printed that become expensive must haves.
Wouldn’t those expensive cards become even MORE expensive due to “Modernization”?
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR Voltron Control
Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun WU Unblockable Mirror Trickery
Ra's al Ghul (Sidar Kondo) and Face-Down Ninjas
Brudiclad, Token Engineer
Vaevictis (VV2) the Dire Lantern
Rona, Disciple of Gix
Tiana the Auror
Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
O-Kagachi, Mathas, Mairsil
"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs