A couple of the choices aren't quite optimal (Walk the Aeons should just be any of the other two 5 mana Time Warps, for instance), but the deck is quite fun. I did well at the last Ann Arbor, MI tournament but I feel the deck is pretty weak against a field of mostly blue control at my local meta. I started playing Wanderer again because I really wanted to cast the new Sarkhan and I finally cast him a bit during this tournament and he performed quite well. I won vs. Kaalia, Braids, and Tasigur and lost to Grenzo. Kaalia was a bit scary and got me G1 with Rakdos, the Defiler but stumbled hardcore G2 and G3 when I was able to Sunder and Cyclonic Rift to keep my mana advantage. Braids was interesting because I thought it was going to be very hard, but Thran Dynamo saved my ass G1 and G3 to enable me to cast Wanderer and build up my resources to overcome the Braids upkeep trigger. Grenzo then comboed me twice despite a T4 Wanderer game 1. I mulled to four G1, faced little opposition G2, and the Tasigur pilot made a critical error in letting a Tezzeret resolve G3 (it got Lotus Bloom, which he Maelstrom Pulsed, but I got Thran Dynamo on my turn to cast Wanderer into Karn). I played against GAAIV in the quarterfinals and lost hardcore including a mull to 4 G2.
Is there some tutorial out there for building the MSE-Installer file for custom templates? I got the watermarks for each clan and dragon brood of Khans of Tarkir block to work with the other watermarks, but to make the Mardu/Kolaghan watermarks look like they do in real life, I have to increase the width of the watermark space, so I figured I'd just make a template identical to the M15 one with the modified watermark width. I just have no idea how to distribute it with the MSE-Installer extension.
So there are two formats: Commander and Duel Commander.
Commander is the original EDH. Their website is here. Sol Ring is legal in this format (mostly due to nostalgia/"cool plays"/multiplayer politics balancing) and Emrakul is not. When you see a side event at a GP or SCG Open, it typically played with this banlist and is usually multiplayer in nature (4-5 man pods). The cards on this ban list typically are abusive in multiplayer (Biorhythm or Emrakul), just broken in general (Black Lotus, Moxen), or very expensive since it would be an autoinclude (Library of Alexandria, Time Vault).
Duel Commander is an offshoot of normal Commander and was previously known as French EDH. Their website is here. Sol Ring (and most "good" fast mana) are banned and Emrakul is legal. Duel Commander events are typically by themselves although they do occur as side events in Europe for Bazaar of Moxen and other eternal-format tournaments. The cards on this ban list are just the generally broken cards (Lotus, Moxen) and specific cards and commanders that have proven to be over-the-top-dominant. They try to achieve balance between control, combo and aggro and its metagame and cards look a lot like Legacy as a result.
I remember last standard rotation, Scars and Innistrad, there was a combo elves deck that utilized Village Bell-Ringer and Genesis Wave. Is that something that has been explored with this deck or is what the deck run's now strictly better?
Just curious as I am looking into Legacy and this is the deck that seems to speak to me the most.
Also, great article Julian! Really great read, a lot of great insight for me as a new pilot of the deck.
The legacy list can do similar things with Priest of Titania/Elvish Archdruid and Quirion Ranger/Wirewood Symbiote. However, I suggest reading the primer on the Source to get an idea on how the deck plays.
That's assuming there's no disruption though. If my opponent plays Pyroclasm, then the elves are history. Works against infinite squirrels too, good sideboard for red.
You must never draw Cradle in your opener with a mana dork then. T3 NO kills are pretty much defined by T1 mana dork into T2 dump most of hand with Cradle (2 1 drops, Cradle, Visionary/more 1 drops, potential Visionary/Symbiote shinanegans if you are lucky). Either that or T1 mana dork into T2 Glimpse, Quirion Ranger, Heritage Druid, another 1 drop into many dudes (you can win T2 with this setup as well, but usually I end up passing due to drawing multiple NOs/GSZ).
Edit: After not assuming my opponent had 2 creatures and running 2 more titania and I was willing to attack with 4 creatures, I found turn 4 supposed wins happen a lot more often, but no turn 3s yet.
Turn 3 wins usually involve turn 1 mana creature into turn 2 Cradle which with enough 1 drop elves and/or Heritage Druid means you can dump your hand to set up for a T3 NO or hardcast Hoof with a second Cradle.
For those interested, here is my report for my 30th place finish at GP: DC.
That is why this set feels so lackluster, as a fellow EDH player even I find this set lacking a certain creative flair. This set is just flat out boring for every format even limited and that is really unfortunate. It seems like development doesn't want to take as many chances with reducing card costs and is instead inflating them. Not every card has to expensive fun for EDH (at least we got the Colossus of Akros) or cheap speedy goodness for standard/modern/legacy, but at least put some effort into limited and not up the cost of old cards and slap on scry 1.
Well, here's the list of cards I'm thinking about adding to decks:
Nylea - I still have Primal Rage in my Multani, Maro-Sorcerer Commander deck. She is just straight-up better for not much more cost.
Nykthos - I have 3 Commander decks that are mono-color with the other 2 on the way. All of them need this (especially white and red).
Prophet of Kruphix - Have you seen this guy? Completely, utterly bonkers.
Thassa - She will be my mono-blue Commander. Most of my Commander decks are very Commander-centric. Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker, Kemba, Kha Regent, and Prime Speaker Zegana all definitely require their respective generals to play their strategy to the best they can. While a lot of this stems from my Commander-deck-building philosophy, I honestly want at least one deck where I can cast my Commander once and forget it, and Thassa seems to fit the bill. I get to scry every turn and smooth out my draws, and I get to make things unblockable when I need to do damage. She doesn't do anything fancy, doesn't die easily, doesn't need to be built around, and isn't annoying like half of the other mono-blue guys.
Triad of Fates - If I build a BW Commander deck anytime soon, it will be her. Teysa 1 has a signficant hate level associated with her (too easy to "combo out" and the others are either non-impactful (both Ghost Councils, Selenia) or expensive (Vish Kal, Teysa 2). Triad has a lot going for it; a wanton amount of untap effects and "haste" enablers like Thousand Year Exilir, and very flexibile in terms of how you deal with things your opponents do.
That's just everything off the top of my head. I hope you come up with other stuff you want from Theros, but I think there are some excellent format all-stars, notably Nykthos and Prophet of Kruphix.
Just wanted to say thank you for taking the time to post this - though I had to stay up really late tonight to get all of the new cards up on SCG, it means I can get a lot more sleep Sunday right after midnight.
- Ben
Really? Someone may have violated an NDA/TOS to get this out and you publicly thank them? I know you are joking a little bit....but you might not want to do that in the future.
Yeah, no kidding. Looking like at least two or three, possibly up to five new cards. I'm definitely finding a spot for Dark Prophecy and Tenacious D, might end up adding Bogbrew Witch and Festering Newt as well though probably not the Cauldron since it can only do one sacrifice a turn.
Yeah, I think the only reason a land will be legendary nowadays is for power-level reasons...which will be just as unlikely anyway since they are definitely inclined not to print such powerful lands. It's a good direction anyway, multiple players with multiple legendary lands is as often forgotten as Howling Mine triggers.
Less people play High Tide because of Candelabra of a Million Dollars so it is less of a problem. It also combos faster.
Ding ding ding. You don't need to draw your entire deck just to setup your win with High Tide. There is a decent difference in the time both decks take to win.
As for the announcement, that is too bad. I was casually building Eggs to just have another deck in the gauntlet, but now it will go back to wallowing in low tier Modern. Second Sunrise is one of my favorite cards in Magic :S. RIP sweet prince.
Ok, so if she's not for Rites, she's for Commander.
In fact, I think it's just been confirmed that DGM Champs are for EDH.
Aside from the occasional creature that is turned Legendary for balance reasons (think Geist of St. Traft or Thalia), all Legendary creatures printed nowadays are for EDH. Thanks for the update, captain.
EDIT: As an aside, new Teysa is very much bleh. Vish Kal already had the slot in WB as the overcosted general and he is much better than Teysa.
1 Maelstrom Wanderer
Lands
1 Arid Mesa
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1 Breeding Pool
1 Cascade Bluffs
1 Cavern of Souls
1 City of Brass
1 Command Tower
1 Crystal Vein
3 Forest
1 Hinterland Harbor
2 Island
1 Karplusan Forest
1 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Mana Confluence
1 Misty Rainforest
2 Mountain
1 Reflecting Pool
1 Rootbound Crag
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Shivan Reef
1 Steam Vents
1 Stomping Ground
1 Sulfur Falls
1 Taiga
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Temple of Abandon
1 Temple of Mystery
1 Tropical Island
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Volcanic Island
1 Wasteland
1 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Yavimaya Coast
1 Basalt Monolith
1 Chromatic Lantern
1 Coalition Relic
1 Coldsteel Heart
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Everflowing Chalice
1 Fellwar Stone
1 Fire Diamond
1 Gruul Signet
1 Izzet Signet
1 Lotus Bloom
1 Mind Stone
1 Moss Diamond
1 Simic Signet
1 Sky Diamond
1 Talisman of Impulse
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Worn Powerstone
Creatures
1 Balefire Dragon
1 Consecrated Sphinx
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Inferno Titan
1 Primeval Titan
1 Sphinx of Uthuun
1 Wurmcoil Engine
Planeswalkers
1 Dack Fayden
1 Garruk Wildspeaker
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Karn Liberated
1 Sarkhan Unbroken
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
Utility
1 Beast Within
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Scroll Rack
1 Sylvan Library
1 Ancestral Vision
1 Brainstorm
1 Concentrate
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Harmonize
1 Plea for Power
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Urban Evolution
Sweepers/MLD/Time Walks
1 All Is Dust
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Boom // Bust
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Destructive Force
1 Devastation
1 Jokulhaups
1 Mizzium Mortars
1 Pyroclasm
1 Slagstorm
1 Sunder
1 Temporal Mastery
1 Time Warp
1 Upheaval
1 Walk the Aeons
1 Wildfire
A couple of the choices aren't quite optimal (Walk the Aeons should just be any of the other two 5 mana Time Warps, for instance), but the deck is quite fun. I did well at the last Ann Arbor, MI tournament but I feel the deck is pretty weak against a field of mostly blue control at my local meta. I started playing Wanderer again because I really wanted to cast the new Sarkhan and I finally cast him a bit during this tournament and he performed quite well. I won vs. Kaalia, Braids, and Tasigur and lost to Grenzo. Kaalia was a bit scary and got me G1 with Rakdos, the Defiler but stumbled hardcore G2 and G3 when I was able to Sunder and Cyclonic Rift to keep my mana advantage. Braids was interesting because I thought it was going to be very hard, but Thran Dynamo saved my ass G1 and G3 to enable me to cast Wanderer and build up my resources to overcome the Braids upkeep trigger. Grenzo then comboed me twice despite a T4 Wanderer game 1. I mulled to four G1, faced little opposition G2, and the Tasigur pilot made a critical error in letting a Tezzeret resolve G3 (it got Lotus Bloom, which he Maelstrom Pulsed, but I got Thran Dynamo on my turn to cast Wanderer into Karn). I played against GAAIV in the quarterfinals and lost hardcore including a mull to 4 G2.
Commander is the original EDH. Their website is here. Sol Ring is legal in this format (mostly due to nostalgia/"cool plays"/multiplayer politics balancing) and Emrakul is not. When you see a side event at a GP or SCG Open, it typically played with this banlist and is usually multiplayer in nature (4-5 man pods). The cards on this ban list typically are abusive in multiplayer (Biorhythm or Emrakul), just broken in general (Black Lotus, Moxen), or very expensive since it would be an autoinclude (Library of Alexandria, Time Vault).
Duel Commander is an offshoot of normal Commander and was previously known as French EDH. Their website is here. Sol Ring (and most "good" fast mana) are banned and Emrakul is legal. Duel Commander events are typically by themselves although they do occur as side events in Europe for Bazaar of Moxen and other eternal-format tournaments. The cards on this ban list are just the generally broken cards (Lotus, Moxen) and specific cards and commanders that have proven to be over-the-top-dominant. They try to achieve balance between control, combo and aggro and its metagame and cards look a lot like Legacy as a result.
Hopefully that was useful.
The legacy list can do similar things with Priest of Titania/Elvish Archdruid and Quirion Ranger/Wirewood Symbiote. However, I suggest reading the primer on the Source to get an idea on how the deck plays.
You must never draw Cradle in your opener with a mana dork then. T3 NO kills are pretty much defined by T1 mana dork into T2 dump most of hand with Cradle (2 1 drops, Cradle, Visionary/more 1 drops, potential Visionary/Symbiote shinanegans if you are lucky). Either that or T1 mana dork into T2 Glimpse, Quirion Ranger, Heritage Druid, another 1 drop into many dudes (you can win T2 with this setup as well, but usually I end up passing due to drawing multiple NOs/GSZ).
Turn 3 wins usually involve turn 1 mana creature into turn 2 Cradle which with enough 1 drop elves and/or Heritage Druid means you can dump your hand to set up for a T3 NO or hardcast Hoof with a second Cradle.
For those interested, here is my report for my 30th place finish at GP: DC.
Well, here's the list of cards I'm thinking about adding to decks:
Nylea - I still have Primal Rage in my Multani, Maro-Sorcerer Commander deck. She is just straight-up better for not much more cost.
Nykthos - I have 3 Commander decks that are mono-color with the other 2 on the way. All of them need this (especially white and red).
Prophet of Kruphix - Have you seen this guy? Completely, utterly bonkers.
Thassa - She will be my mono-blue Commander. Most of my Commander decks are very Commander-centric. Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker, Kemba, Kha Regent, and Prime Speaker Zegana all definitely require their respective generals to play their strategy to the best they can. While a lot of this stems from my Commander-deck-building philosophy, I honestly want at least one deck where I can cast my Commander once and forget it, and Thassa seems to fit the bill. I get to scry every turn and smooth out my draws, and I get to make things unblockable when I need to do damage. She doesn't do anything fancy, doesn't die easily, doesn't need to be built around, and isn't annoying like half of the other mono-blue guys.
Steam Augury - Simply here for my Sunforger package in Ruhan of the Fomori.
Triad of Fates - If I build a BW Commander deck anytime soon, it will be her. Teysa 1 has a signficant hate level associated with her (too easy to "combo out" and the others are either non-impactful (both Ghost Councils, Selenia) or expensive (Vish Kal, Teysa 2). Triad has a lot going for it; a wanton amount of untap effects and "haste" enablers like Thousand Year Exilir, and very flexibile in terms of how you deal with things your opponents do.
That's just everything off the top of my head. I hope you come up with other stuff you want from Theros, but I think there are some excellent format all-stars, notably Nykthos and Prophet of Kruphix.
Really? Someone may have violated an NDA/TOS to get this out and you publicly thank them? I know you are joking a little bit....but you might not want to do that in the future.
Yeah, no kidding. Looking like at least two or three, possibly up to five new cards. I'm definitely finding a spot for Dark Prophecy and Tenacious D, might end up adding Bogbrew Witch and Festering Newt as well though probably not the Cauldron since it can only do one sacrifice a turn.
Ding ding ding. You don't need to draw your entire deck just to setup your win with High Tide. There is a decent difference in the time both decks take to win.
As for the announcement, that is too bad. I was casually building Eggs to just have another deck in the gauntlet, but now it will go back to wallowing in low tier Modern. Second Sunrise is one of my favorite cards in Magic :S. RIP sweet prince.
As opposed to two 5/5 wurms for 6 mana and one card...
The card is fine and all, but it is definitely not God's gift to mankind.
Aside from the occasional creature that is turned Legendary for balance reasons (think Geist of St. Traft or Thalia), all Legendary creatures printed nowadays are for EDH. Thanks for the update, captain.
EDIT: As an aside, new Teysa is very much bleh. Vish Kal already had the slot in WB as the overcosted general and he is much better than Teysa.
No, you do. God, paying 7 mana for that and not to get the token...