Another long overdue update. Not as much happened here, but the big acquisition was Minamo, School at Water's Edge, while the big loss(for con funds) was Scrubland.
While Cycrift is a super feel bad card against you, it's far from a reset state. That honor goes to Kederekt Leviathan and others that reset board states(yes, I know Upheaval is already banned, just making a point). Cycrift at least gives the caster a chance to get caught up/finish the game. Kederekt has no such compunctions and can be cheated in VERY easily. Karn 2.0 is hated, but is often in a very powerful deck enabling him to get disgusting. Upheaval was gone in a hot minute, and good riddance.
Like cryogen, just about every experience I have with Cycrift, it's been a good play, even if I'm one of those suffering.
The other thing to consider about planeswalkers as commanders is just how much they slow games down. They often encourage you to protect your walkers from creatures and the loyalty of the walkers extends life totals in a lot of ways because the game slows down as people attack into walkers instead of into life totals. There is also the thought that really any walker who can suddenly emblem the turn they enter off of Doubling Season should also be something to keep in mind. It potentially would lead to needing to ban Doubling Season assuming you were to allow walker commanders.
That's something I occasionally screw up on myself, and is an excellent point to make. Half the time I stop and think about my moves against a superfriend deck, it's because I'm wondering if I can afford getting slapped around by the walkers while I'm trying to kill my opponent. Add in politics and table talk, and an already-slow game can grind to a halt more often than not.
Apologies, but there's a lot to chime in on from my perspective, so I'm going to bullet point them, and hope references won't be a problem.
1. "Lorwyn 5 introduction"
What you're proposing is a lot of work, which is strike one there. Quite frankly, being the safest would also likely mean they are the least exciting, which would mean that barely anyone(aside from a niche group) would bother playing them, which leads to lack of feedback. But even so, let's look at what abilities could be stretched since they are 'on-demand': Ajani has lifegain and permanent anthem, Garruk has untap 2 and beast generation, Lili has semi-tutor and discard, Chandra has...burn, and Jace has hug draw and personal draw.
Out of those, Lili, Garruk and Jace are the ones that could be EASILY abused, and in fact are in colors that benefit greatly from those effects...moreso if they are repeatable and on-demand. Ajani and Chandra are extremely 'eh'(which pains me to admit because Ajani was my first PW), but three out of five is concerning to start. Add in that aside from Lili, they're cheap to repeatedly cast, and...I see problems, even from my limited viewpoint.
2. "ISB's list"
Obviously, that's between you and ISB, but I will say I too am interested in giving that a read ISBPathfinder.
3. "Superfriend defense and before PWs, buildings"
Not everyone WANTS to fight through a defensive deck, only to have their work mean absolutely nothing because the planeswalker went off. I hate superfriend decks with a passion precisely BECAUSE all they need to do is throw up enough walls and blocks to make the rest of the game trivially simple. I would loathe and outright detest seeing any of the 'non-Commander' planeswalkers staring at me from across the table, flipping the bird because they're letting me know the game is on a clock...every chance they can get cast.
On your second point, huh? I've played MTG since fourth edition, and I don't remember defending buildings or anything except yourself.
3. "Worse things than a repeatable Overrun"
But it's not something to be ignored either. If a person is able to repeatedly swell their ranks every couple of turns, that repeatable Overrun suddenly turns a close game into a very bad day. Think of the last time you played a game where one guy had the right card to a situation over and over and over again. Similar situation...most often, all they need are bodies; Garruk will do the rest. Multiply this scenario by however many planeswalkers are a concern; all you need is X, [PW] will provide the Y. Honestly, that removes part(not all, I admit) of the challenge of deckbuilding as well; less need for protection for your PW, because it won't be affected by stuff like wraths or a lot of targeted destruction.
4. "BaC =/= 'not broke, don't fix it"
I can't really chime in on this too well, so I'll be brief: BaC was met with some grumbling. Some creatures were reportedly fine in the 99, and this provided some flexibility in that regard. I can understand the RC's reasoning on it, but note that this was done with a lot of discussion and thought, which led to it's dissolution. I really don't think that said discussion and thought will lead to relaxing the rule of, "Commander must be a legendary creature."
I'm a little surprised that no one thought of(even as an honorable mention)Guardian of the Gateless. Sure, it's 5 CMC, but for that, you get a wide, self-buffing blocker with a usable body.
First, you can help us help you by utilizing card tags. Putting these [_c_] [_/c_](without the underlines) makes Leyline of the Void into Leyline of the Void. Check the FAQ for more details.
So, Kozilek, Butcher of Truth and Leyline of the Void(I don't think either version of Leyline matters at this point). Ruling for Leyline states, "8/15/2010 Leyline of the Void’s second ability prevents cards from ever reaching your opponents’ graveyards. Abilities that would trigger when those cards are put into an opponent’s graveyard (such as Hoarding Dragon’s last ability) won’t trigger."
So yes, precisely as greywyn said. What you're thinking of is incorrect, and it's worth noting and being keenly aware of, especially in EDH...if Kozilek, Child of Alara or Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre are your commanders and get killed, putting them into your command zone also does not count to activate GY triggers.
Ah, the days of seeing this while playing a weenie deck.
One guy at my LGS plays a lot of older cards, and people in our pod usually listen to me for indications if what he plays is bad news. Of course, he played this one time, which hurt the other three decks for a while(elfball, a deck that dropped fatties for cheap, and mine). Unfortunately, it was my tapped Mirri that really crippled everyone.
Very handy to use, would recommend for any weenie or token swarm deck.
I like this card. I have fond memories of a friend casting and popping it to wipe my board state...only to get it tricked.
In seriousness, I never like seeing it come down, and I think the hate is pretty universal, as I haven't seen it in like...5 years of my playing EDH. SO many better options...
Bloodhusk Ritualist = helps put a body on the field as well as add to Haunt's counters. Sangromancer = not necessarily something that helps Haunt, but loves to ride on his cape-tails. Megrim = see below Liliana's Caress = just in case Haunt is targeted, might as well get more value out of all that discard you be doing. Sword of Feast and Famine = always(?) a good Voltron addition, if only for the untap trigger...but the singleton discard is good for another boost(too bad it comes post-damage). Decree of Pain = cycling this sucker will probably get you a considerable amount of value, but if you need the wrath, you've got it. Plague Wind = that CMC...can be worth it if you want to just be one-sided. Mind Sludge = since you're going mono-black, this should be an auto-include. Liliana's Specter/Hypnotic Specter = more 'discard creatures'...every little bit you know about helps point you towards the best.
Markov Blademaster? I ran a search on the thread and didn't see it mentioned, so I wonder if you've at least thought about it. Fits into your aggro style, even with the double R cost, and it can get scary fast.
Not a problem at all. As was implied by both of us, Saph's worth a test. And I easily give the slot to Ponder...you picked up two of my earlier recommendations, so I got no grudge, lol.
Like cryogen, just about every experience I have with Cycrift, it's been a good play, even if I'm one of those suffering.
That's something I occasionally screw up on myself, and is an excellent point to make. Half the time I stop and think about my moves against a superfriend deck, it's because I'm wondering if I can afford getting slapped around by the walkers while I'm trying to kill my opponent. Add in politics and table talk, and an already-slow game can grind to a halt more often than not.
Apologies, but there's a lot to chime in on from my perspective, so I'm going to bullet point them, and hope references won't be a problem.
1. "Lorwyn 5 introduction"
What you're proposing is a lot of work, which is strike one there. Quite frankly, being the safest would also likely mean they are the least exciting, which would mean that barely anyone(aside from a niche group) would bother playing them, which leads to lack of feedback. But even so, let's look at what abilities could be stretched since they are 'on-demand': Ajani has lifegain and permanent anthem, Garruk has untap 2 and beast generation, Lili has semi-tutor and discard, Chandra has...burn, and Jace has hug draw and personal draw.
Out of those, Lili, Garruk and Jace are the ones that could be EASILY abused, and in fact are in colors that benefit greatly from those effects...moreso if they are repeatable and on-demand. Ajani and Chandra are extremely 'eh'(which pains me to admit because Ajani was my first PW), but three out of five is concerning to start. Add in that aside from Lili, they're cheap to repeatedly cast, and...I see problems, even from my limited viewpoint.
2. "ISB's list"
Obviously, that's between you and ISB, but I will say I too am interested in giving that a read ISBPathfinder.
3. "Superfriend defense and before PWs, buildings"
Not everyone WANTS to fight through a defensive deck, only to have their work mean absolutely nothing because the planeswalker went off. I hate superfriend decks with a passion precisely BECAUSE all they need to do is throw up enough walls and blocks to make the rest of the game trivially simple. I would loathe and outright detest seeing any of the 'non-Commander' planeswalkers staring at me from across the table, flipping the bird because they're letting me know the game is on a clock...every chance they can get cast.
On your second point, huh? I've played MTG since fourth edition, and I don't remember defending buildings or anything except yourself.
3. "Worse things than a repeatable Overrun"
But it's not something to be ignored either. If a person is able to repeatedly swell their ranks every couple of turns, that repeatable Overrun suddenly turns a close game into a very bad day. Think of the last time you played a game where one guy had the right card to a situation over and over and over again. Similar situation...most often, all they need are bodies; Garruk will do the rest. Multiply this scenario by however many planeswalkers are a concern; all you need is X, [PW] will provide the Y. Honestly, that removes part(not all, I admit) of the challenge of deckbuilding as well; less need for protection for your PW, because it won't be affected by stuff like wraths or a lot of targeted destruction.
4. "BaC =/= 'not broke, don't fix it"
I can't really chime in on this too well, so I'll be brief: BaC was met with some grumbling. Some creatures were reportedly fine in the 99, and this provided some flexibility in that regard. I can understand the RC's reasoning on it, but note that this was done with a lot of discussion and thought, which led to it's dissolution. I really don't think that said discussion and thought will lead to relaxing the rule of, "Commander must be a legendary creature."
Could you make your opponents pay for it? :3
Also, ANY creature can become a good blocker, really.
EDIT: None can touch the master. lol
So, Kozilek, Butcher of Truth and Leyline of the Void(I don't think either version of Leyline matters at this point). Ruling for Leyline states, "8/15/2010 Leyline of the Void’s second ability prevents cards from ever reaching your opponents’ graveyards. Abilities that would trigger when those cards are put into an opponent’s graveyard (such as Hoarding Dragon’s last ability) won’t trigger."
So yes, precisely as greywyn said. What you're thinking of is incorrect, and it's worth noting and being keenly aware of, especially in EDH...if Kozilek, Child of Alara or Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre are your commanders and get killed, putting them into your command zone also does not count to activate GY triggers.
One guy at my LGS plays a lot of older cards, and people in our pod usually listen to me for indications if what he plays is bad news. Of course, he played this one time, which hurt the other three decks for a while(elfball, a deck that dropped fatties for cheap, and mine). Unfortunately, it was my tapped Mirri that really crippled everyone.
Very handy to use, would recommend for any weenie or token swarm deck.
In seriousness, I never like seeing it come down, and I think the hate is pretty universal, as I haven't seen it in like...5 years of my playing EDH. SO many better options...
Ah yes, Goblin War Drums. Menace before it was menace.
Good at what it does, a persistent veteran that should find its way into aggro decks. Remember when this was EVERYWHERE in Fallen Empires...
Sangromancer = not necessarily something that helps Haunt, but loves to ride on his cape-tails.
Megrim = see below
Liliana's Caress = just in case Haunt is targeted, might as well get more value out of all that discard you be doing.
Sword of Feast and Famine = always(?) a good Voltron addition, if only for the untap trigger...but the singleton discard is good for another boost(too bad it comes post-damage).
Decree of Pain = cycling this sucker will probably get you a considerable amount of value, but if you need the wrath, you've got it.
Plague Wind = that CMC...can be worth it if you want to just be one-sided.
Mind Sludge = since you're going mono-black, this should be an auto-include.
Liliana's Specter/Hypnotic Specter = more 'discard creatures'...every little bit you know about helps point you towards the best.
But since we're going that route, Oketra's Monument. Even more bodies.