Hey there burn aficionados. I've recently been getting into modern and I've been running Gruul burn. It's probably been my (only) deck for about 6 months, but I'm sure there's a bunch of stuff I'm missing. What should I change?
Going to second Ayumi, the last visitor. Thrun is maybe a better voltron general - especially after the tuck change - but having evasion and an innate 7 power is huge. She's also in a color with access to a lot of hexproof.
Iname, Death Aspect can combo with somewhat vicious speed and reliability but remains relatively unknown.
Linessa, Zephyr Mage, on the other hand, is one I've only ever seen myself build. There are ways to activate grandeur, but she's still playable without them.
Kaho, Minamo Historian is boss and it isn't hard to figure out why. I would honestly call him pretty top tier after azami. Up there with teferi and venser and the like.
Heidar, Rimewind Master is a slight step down but is once again a repeatable answer. All you have to to do to activate him is run snow-covered islands, which has a heap of other benefits.
Jalira, Master Polymorphist is fun and new but I'd honestly say it's better to run polymorph effects in Kaho. Part of what makes him so great is his versatility.
Kind of along with errata-ing the nephilim, could you change around some cards (read: certain kamigawa legendaries, maybe Haakon, maybe Phage) so that they could be cast from the command zone with all of their benefits?
If you're willing to open up to a new general Iname, Death Aspect is great. He is naturally spirit tribal(ish) and has amazing combo potential in different ways - yet still flies under the radar.
I also like ayumi, the last visitor voltron but my deck has very little to with with arcane or spirits.
He's a trap. Not really as good as he looks. Having said that, I run him in Yeva - probably the only deck I'd consider him in - and between the big mana and the flash he can be problematic.
Tuck rule was necessary because only some specific colours could tuck generals.
I don't think any of the listed generals, apart from possibly Derevi(and even then, he doesn't really need one), need a ban. Prossh and Maelstrom wanderer are pretty much just nukes; they come, they do something amazing, but then they don't do much. Same with Derevi. He/she does his thing when he hits the board, and that's it.(I'm ignoring infinite combos that can be done for the sake of this)
I don't think prossh and MW need a ban, but when you say "don't do much" I think what you mean is win the game. That is what happens when they are cast.
Derevi was already oppressive as all getout, and if you build her that way she still will be. That's likely what the RC will say if banning talk comes up - easy to break by a small subgroup and we don't want to take away an awesome commander from everyone. And I can feel it, she was ridiculous before tuck. Plus, really competitive decks just completely ignore their generals anyway.
I wish D-Sphere and O-ring would work a little differently (eg not give the option to go to the command zone).
But as it is, Cryo's right. Hitting a commander with something is pure card disadvantage. With the CMDR tax, though, most generals become completely unplayable after their first cast unless they deck is rampy rampy ramp or the meta is really slow.
For example, I play Kaalia. The deck usually comes in waves. She comes down t3-t4 and is always swinging by t4. She almost always invariably dies, though, and paying 6 mana for her is huge. If she isn't uncounterable and there isn't protection on the field it isn't worth it - because by turn 5/6 people have removal so she won't last, and any of my ADDs would be much higher impact than her. So I usually cast her once and then start reanimating/hardcasting my stuff and only turn to her if I'm out of gas.
Azusa is a little different. And Derevi just sucks. But remember that your other people will have the same problem with your commander as you will with theirs.
I think the only people complaining are those that face competitive "unfair commander" decks all the time. The majority of EDH players isn't like that, and isn't even spending so much on this board or similars. If you 1000 people are playing competitive, sure the rules suck. the 1000000 players playing EDH with weird commanders, delibaretly chosen or not subpar strategies, jank instead of staples, they rejoice with their Hakim, Loreweaver voltron and Melek, Izzet Paragon spellslinger decks.
If you're so furious about the change and mad how "out of touch" the RC is with the EDH community, then you should try to realize it's not the "unfair/competitive" players that are the base, target group and "meat" of the EDH community. harmless timmys are. You're so afraid of "unfair" commanders, you neglect that the most part of the EDH community just doesn't play them, or at least not in the broken way.
And if your group agrees on commanders being too oppressive, make a house rule for tuck.
I don't think the ration of "competitive" to "harmless timmys" is 1:1000. That's a little out of touch isn't it? While most groups aren't cutthroat turn 4-combo with AdNaus/Hermit Druid, those decks weren't hurt by the change anyway. A lot of very popular and powerful commanders got better with this change. A lot of people play stuff like the c13 generals or wanderer or something similar.
"spirit of EDH" is ridiculously subjective. It's up to personal preference. Both are good, fun commanders. Ghave is really strong and can draw some hate because he can go infinite ridiculously easy. Nin is also good but slightly less combolicious and will fly under the radar more.
In short, they are extremely different generals. What are you looking for?
Iona keeps getting a lot of hate here, and honestly I don't understand why. Academically, I know she can "shut one player out", but I've never seen that happen. I've posted before about her not being overpowered (which everyone here seems to agree on) or too much of a griefer card to see play. You're right - she is a big, splashy angel, and people I know love that. And she is eminently answerable, even by a mono-color deck. Other powerful creatures exist that have a similar affect on gameplay and never come up.
I don't think anything should get banned for being unfun. Out of all the subjective adjectives in existence, that is probably the worst defined. There are any number of cards - literally too many to list - that could contribute to make a game unfun. Check out the stax primer or something. But if one card gets banned for being "unfun" or "not letting people play magic" then I see hundreds of cars getting the axe in the future. Iona doesn't warp the format, win the game t1, or overcentralize the game - especially compared to currently legal cards. I say let her be.
I have no vested interest in panoptic mirror, and wouldn't run it even if it was unbanned, but if the worst case scenario is some kind of wrath/board wipe every turn, then what's the big deal? You get avacyn and jokulhaups out together and the game is over regardless - aka the first casting of all the worst-case scenarios is enough to seal the deal.
True. I do run some more traditional lifegain in Karador (sangromancer, trostani, various sac outlet) because commander damage is rarely an issue - I can keep them off the field pretty well.
It might still be worth testing though because some of my other 7-drops are starting to underperform. It probably won't make the cut - my list is pretty tight - but recurring it would be powerful. Better in that category than regal force as I'm never short on cards.
4 Monastery Swiftspear
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
2 Grim Lavamancer
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Rift Bolt
4 Lava Spike
4 Skullcrack
2 Destructive Revelry
2 Searing Blaze
2 Searing Blood
4 Atarka's Command
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Bloodstained Mire
8 Mountain
2 Aura Barbs
2 Destructive Revelry
2 Back to Nature
3 Dragon's Claw
1 Torpor Orb
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Molten Rain
1 Forest
2 Blood Moon
I've been thinking about boarding in some smash to smithereens for the aura barbs. Thoughts on that or the deck in general?
Also I've been playing around with one (or sometimes 2) become immense. Has anyone else tried it out?
Iname, Death Aspect can combo with somewhat vicious speed and reliability but remains relatively unknown.
Korlash, Heir to Blackblade is kind of common but is definitely fun.
Linessa, Zephyr Mage, on the other hand, is one I've only ever seen myself build. There are ways to activate grandeur, but she's still playable without them.
Kaho, Minamo Historian is boss and it isn't hard to figure out why. I would honestly call him pretty top tier after azami. Up there with teferi and venser and the like.
Heidar, Rimewind Master is a slight step down but is once again a repeatable answer. All you have to to do to activate him is run snow-covered islands, which has a heap of other benefits.
Jalira, Master Polymorphist is fun and new but I'd honestly say it's better to run polymorph effects in Kaho. Part of what makes him so great is his versatility.
I also like ayumi, the last visitor voltron but my deck has very little to with with arcane or spirits.
A life from the loam engine is also serious card advantage.
Praetor's grasp, sadistic sacrament, jester's cap, bitter ordeal may be what you're looking for. Although that last one is more commonly used as a combo piece.
I also enjoy lots of boardwipes and spot removal with the bananaman and then just slowly grinding people out. With him keeping a low CMC is important.
I don't think prossh and MW need a ban, but when you say "don't do much" I think what you mean is win the game. That is what happens when they are cast.
Derevi was already oppressive as all getout, and if you build her that way she still will be. That's likely what the RC will say if banning talk comes up - easy to break by a small subgroup and we don't want to take away an awesome commander from everyone. And I can feel it, she was ridiculous before tuck. Plus, really competitive decks just completely ignore their generals anyway.
So no one will get banned.
But as it is, Cryo's right. Hitting a commander with something is pure card disadvantage. With the CMDR tax, though, most generals become completely unplayable after their first cast unless they deck is rampy rampy ramp or the meta is really slow.
For example, I play Kaalia. The deck usually comes in waves. She comes down t3-t4 and is always swinging by t4. She almost always invariably dies, though, and paying 6 mana for her is huge. If she isn't uncounterable and there isn't protection on the field it isn't worth it - because by turn 5/6 people have removal so she won't last, and any of my ADDs would be much higher impact than her. So I usually cast her once and then start reanimating/hardcasting my stuff and only turn to her if I'm out of gas.
Azusa is a little different. And Derevi just sucks. But remember that your other people will have the same problem with your commander as you will with theirs.
I don't think the ration of "competitive" to "harmless timmys" is 1:1000. That's a little out of touch isn't it? While most groups aren't cutthroat turn 4-combo with AdNaus/Hermit Druid, those decks weren't hurt by the change anyway. A lot of very popular and powerful commanders got better with this change. A lot of people play stuff like the c13 generals or wanderer or something similar.
In short, they are extremely different generals. What are you looking for?
I don't think anything should get banned for being unfun. Out of all the subjective adjectives in existence, that is probably the worst defined. There are any number of cards - literally too many to list - that could contribute to make a game unfun. Check out the stax primer or something. But if one card gets banned for being "unfun" or "not letting people play magic" then I see hundreds of cars getting the axe in the future. Iona doesn't warp the format, win the game t1, or overcentralize the game - especially compared to currently legal cards. I say let her be.
I have no vested interest in panoptic mirror, and wouldn't run it even if it was unbanned, but if the worst case scenario is some kind of wrath/board wipe every turn, then what's the big deal? You get avacyn and jokulhaups out together and the game is over regardless - aka the first casting of all the worst-case scenarios is enough to seal the deal.
It might still be worth testing though because some of my other 7-drops are starting to underperform. It probably won't make the cut - my list is pretty tight - but recurring it would be powerful. Better in that category than regal force as I'm never short on cards.