Hello once again!
I’m now on to part 2 of my article covering the new commander decks! Once again here’s the link for all your commander questions in regards to rulings and gameplay:
I’m now on to part 2 of my article covering the new commander decks! Once again here’s the link for all your commander questions in regards to rulings and gameplay:
The Five decks lists!
Anndddd the visual spoiler:
http://www.wizards.com/magic/tcg/article.aspx?x=mtg/tcg/commander2013/cig#
^This is still needed due to the fact the database I am using to link cards to hasn't updated with the 51 new commander cards just yet.
^This is still needed due to the fact the database I am using to link cards to hasn't updated with the 51 new commander cards just yet.
Remember this article covers the last 3! If you want to read
about the Oloro deck or the Marath deck
see my last article!
The third deck!
Prossh, Skyraider of Kher
This deck is pretty awesome with lots of synergies! This
Prossh deck has all kinds of different ways to sacrifice your general so you
can re cast him for more value or sacrifice creatures to him to finish off your
opponents! Remember it only takes 21 damage from any one general to kill you no
matter your life total which makes Prossh a 3 turn clock!
Fecundity
also does a
good job to ensure you can draw exactly what you need each game.
Suggestions for
making the most of your general!
Unfortunately this card just keeps going up in price but it
has wonderful synergies with Prossh and can produce tons of mana with all the
tokens you’ll be producing so you can keep casting him again and again!
So with this, 6 kobold tokens, and Prossh the turn after you
play him you swing for 35 damage. Not to mention each time you recast him the
numbers increase! 63! 98! Might end up needing a little push to make it through
like Garruk Wildspeaker
, or
Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
.
Cool things that will
get you killed!
That’s right. ALL THE KOBOLDS. Just exile Prossh and two
more Kobolds each time to produce Thousands of Kobolds and thousands of mana!
Sek'Kuar, Deathkeeper
This guy is great at keeping creatures on the field and
providing attack power as well as sacrificial fodder! With all the sac outlets
in the deck like
Goblin Bombardment
and
Golgari Guildmage
you’ll never stop
pumping out Hasty 3/1s while getting rewarded for doing so.
Suggestions for
making the most of your general!
As long as we’re sacrificing guys this can get pretty handy!
He almost always comes back and with little investment to do so! For an
especially good time go ahead and throw in
Perilous Forays
! And remember the
Forays doesn’t just get basics! It can also get duals and the Shadowmor utility
lands!
With this guy you may not be able to turn him into a
creature anytime soon but with Sek’Kuar you can ensure your opponents creatures
aren’t going to live for long! And never forget all the gods are indestructible
and it makes them increasingly difficult to kill!
Cool things that will
get you killed!
This card with Sek’kuar is good on its own, but add in
Phyrexian Altar
and an Enabler such as
Genesis Chamber
and quickly you have
almost everything you need to win the game! Not as simple as some of the combos
but can end games fast and in a hurry!
Shattergang Brothers
I’ve always loved Sacrificing things and these guys do a
nifty job of keeping the board clear! Each activation cost is a little much but
I have high hopes for these brothers! With cards already in the deck to abuse
their abilities like
Endless Cockroaches
and
Spine of Ish Sah
!
Suggestions for
making the most of your general!
These little artifacts are awesome they give you minor value
in the beginning until you need to start cashing in on your investments and
keeping your opponents playing a fair game!
These things can help you make the best out of the
Shattergang for buy one get one free status!
Remember the part it copies is whatever is after the colon! You won’t
have to sacrifice but 1 permanent each time!
Cool things that will
get you killed!
Unfortunately due to the activation cost of Shattergang I
have yet to find anything truly degenerate you can do with it. However with the
hammer you are provided with all 3 Types! To sacrifice and manipulate your
opponents as you wish!
And now time to
mention cards that are new to magic being printed for the first time in this
deck!
Opal Palace
–This being much like an
Unknown Shores
and
Oran-Rief the Vastwood
stapled together doesn’t seem half bad. It also has
obvious synergies with
Marath, Will of the Wild
,
Ghave Guru of Spores
from the
old Commader sets as well as
Animar, Soul of Elements
! It’s also the only
new card to be featured in all 5 decks!
Fell Shepherd
- This guy’s first ability is interesting and
works well with his second ability but I believe the fact he has that second
ability is the whole reason I would play him. You may not like big creatures
like this but if you do this guy is going to be doing some work for you. Toss
in some
Gravecrawler
,
Bloodghast
action and you’ll be set!
Hidden Horror - I like how this guy was made in the fact that
he helps even the board when one player has a little too much power or life.
Playing into the whole style of the Commander decks!
Ophiomancer
- This guy is sweet! It basically give you evil
little chump blockers who shall let non pass unless they wish to die. Not to
mention all the previously listed sacrifice outlets ensure you get the best
value getting a token during every upkeep!
Terra Ravager
-Interesting cards unfortunately no trample or
other abilities to speak of. He can still be a pretty big attacker but I’m not
terribly impressed.
Curse of Chaos
-This is neat and could play with some madness
and flashback cards as well as just basic filtering. Not my favorite curse but
still cool.
Curse of Predation
-Now this IS my favorite curse. Very
little effort is requires to anthem your creatures and after a few turns with
maybe some
Thrummingbird
;) you’re creatures are out of control.
Curse of Shallow Graves
- This hurts me that it requires your
opponent to have creatures in play. There are lots of decks out there that don’t
utilize creatures as their win conditions but that CAN BE FIXED! Cards like
Hunted Horror
and
Exotic Orchard
can ensure you get your Zombies no matter what
your opponent wants!
Primal Vigor
- This card is awesome. Players love
Doubling Season
and while this may not be another Doubling Season it’s pretty darn
close, pumping out tons of creatures with tons of counters making game states
insane. However remember this card like
many new cards in the set affect all players at the table. You won’t be the
only one seeing double.
Restore
- I really, really, like this card. I think it’s
sweet. The fact that it can target opponent’s graveyards is just awesome and
there are plenty of good targets for it in Commander.
Sudden Demise
- This thing is really, really, good. It’s
cheap and can be very, very, effective. Depending on the style deck you’re
playing you can just burn away an opponent’s creatures! And this is especially
good in big red decks that use lots of artifact creatures!
Tempt with Vengeance
- Cards like this make me think back to
playing against a deck with
Death Match
. Creating mass panic and causing
bloodshed throughout the Tablelands. Not to mention playing this with anthem
effects like
Beastmaster Ascension
!
Widespread Panic
- This thing like many red enchantments
before it is going to be obnoxious. Not exactly an effect I can appreciate but
as I’ve mentioned with previous red enchantments in this vein, I know just the
person that will be casting this.
And lastly for those
with high appreciation of art here's a list of reprints getting new art in this
deck!
The fourth deck is
here!
Jeleva, Nephalia’s Scourge
This deck is pretty sweet and is close to the type of play
style I like. With cool cards to cast off of her like
Phthisis
or
Cruel Ultimatum
for all the value you’ll be hammering down your opponent’s life total
in no time. She’s aggressively costed with cool abilities and that’s why I like
her.
Suggestions for
making the most of your general!
Jace is a great card his own and a formidable force in all
formats he is legal in. With Jeleva when you draw cards you want to cast you
simply just activate brainstorm ability and put say Overwhelming Forces on top
and cast Jeleva. Now proceed to slaughter!
When talking about powerful spells in commander bribery is
definitely one of the first that comes to mind for me. All kinds of decks use
it just as a value card, but with Jeleva we get to it at little to no cost and
punish our opponents for playing especially powerful creatures by using our
especially powerful spells!
Cool things that will
get you killed!
This card is already pretty insane. Casting it for 4 mana?
Also insane. There is also a way to set up a very complicated loop with it in
addition with
Riptide Laboratory,
Archaeomancer
,
Lightning Greaves
, Jeleva, and Jace.
If you can manage that kind of feat more power to you.
Thraximundar
Thraximundar comes out of nowhere crashing into your
opponent’s side of the field and hopefully getting rid of some of their best
creatures. Everyone’s favorite zombie assassin is not new to the commander scene
and demanded a hefty price tag for a card which only sees play in commander.
Whether you’re throwing a ton of equipment on him and crashing into the red
zone or making the most of a tribal synergy I can only imagine his popularity
will only continue to grow.
Suggestions for
making the most of your general!
This thing has been around for a while and continues to
deliver sweet justice across the board. I can imagine Ol’Ugly face and Thraxi
walking together side by side as best friends. Be sure to play plenty of sweet
sacrifice effects with these two to make the most out of it!
This thing can get pretty insane on its own and a few
creatures dying but with Thrax it just adds on the goodness! The Sweet Cinnamon
Goodness! Can also go well if you’re looking at a zombie themed deck!
Cool things that will
get you killed!
Rooftop Storm
Not as much of the general is involved in this but a very popular play in “Zombie Themed” Commander decks. Rooftop Storm and Gravecrawler is a match made in heaven! With these two and a sac outlet Thrax will become large enough to crumble entire civilizations, or at least crumble opponents.
Not as much of the general is involved in this but a very popular play in “Zombie Themed” Commander decks. Rooftop Storm and Gravecrawler is a match made in heaven! With these two and a sac outlet Thrax will become large enough to crumble entire civilizations, or at least crumble opponents.
Nekusar, the Mindrazer
That’s right finally your
Underworld Dreams
on a stick is
here and he’s looking a lot like the Lich from Adventure Time. With this guy
and an active
Jace's Archivist
your opponent’s life totals will dwindle fast,
along with a few cards like
Prosperity
and
SkyScribing
your opponents aren’t
going to last long.
Suggestions for
making the most of your general!
This card has made many a multiplayer game more and more
interesting and with this general you get extra cards and get to contribute in
your opponent’s demise while pretending to be their friend.
This card is ANNOYING. It doesn’t look like it as first but
when it’s on the field you’ll begin to realize that you don’t get to make many
decisions about what’s going to happen in your future. Not to mention the 4+
damage a turn your opponents will incur if this in on the field with Nekusar.
Cool things that will
get you killed!
Now this doesn’t synergize terribly well with your general
but both cards I could see getting play in your Nekusar deck so I don’t doubt
one day the opportunity shall arise. Teferi’s Puzzle Box and
Notion Thief
this
means your opponent can only cast instants during their upkeep and will never
draw another card they get to keep. You do your normal draw before the Box
ability is put on the stack.
And now time to
mention cards that are new to magic being printed for the first time in this
deck!
Baleful Force
- This is a big Ol’dude with a good but not
insane ability. He will kill people for you and help you draw cards to do it
but he’s got a lot of commitment in that mana cost.
Diviner Spirit
- This card has some political power and if
you love group hug style Commander this is for you! However be weary where you
swing this thing, some people won’t want you drawing cards even if they get to
as well.
True-Name Nemesis
- This thing is insane! He fits right at
home in any Voltron deck that can run him and he’s pretty difficult to deal
with. Of course he gets worse with more people at the table but he’s still
pretty insane. He will also have some pretty great applications in legacy as a
3 mana
Progenitus
that can carry equiptment, not to mention he’s also a $35
card….
Curse of Inertia
- This whole cycle I think is pretty cool!
They’re aggressively costed and at least 4 out of 5 I’d play in a deck! This
one in particular can make everything unblockable help keep lands uptapped and
tons of other cool things! Think big like
Arcanis, the Omnipotent
!
Eye of Doom
- Another card utilizing multiplayer interactions
and political power! I like it! It reminds me very much so of Dark Confidant’s
Flavor text. Yes for a fairly cheap price I’m going to get to blow some things
up but at what cost to myself….
Illusionist's Gambit
- This thing is like parting The Red
Sea. I don’t care where all this is going but it’s NOT coming at me! Might take
a few read through each time you play it but definitely worth a slot when
you’re playing against creature heavy decks!
Price of Knowledge
- Great card to go along with your Nekusar
deck. Punishing your opponents for trying to enjoy the wonderful gifts you’ve
bestowed upon them.
Tempt with Reflections
- All the tempting cards! Definitely a
cool card as all this cycle seems to be, makes for exciting gameplay and less
one sided battlefields. The only thing that hurts me is the requirement to
choose a creature YOU control.
And lastly for those
with high appreciation of art here's a list of reprints getting new art in this
deck
These last ones
aren’t entirely new but previously art was exclusive to a promo version of it.
IT IS TIME! The final
deck!
Derevi, Empyrial Tactician
This card is pretty darn cool making good use of the
Commander zones and getting around the cost of recasting a general. Especially
good With
Basalt Monolith
producing lots of mana and
Azami, Lady of Scrolls
for
all the card draw! And yes Derevi is a wizard as well!
Suggestions for
making the most of your general!
When talking about tapping and untapping things I just can’t
help but want to mention this guy. If you like drawing cards I have no doubt in
my mind you wouldn’t mind playing these two together.
This thing with lots of attackers in a Derevi deck I imagine
can be particularly devastating. Being able to blow up possibly multiple
permanents a turn just seems insane. Remember however, the creatures must deal
combat damage.
Cool things that will
get you killed!
I actually don’t particularly even think this is “Cool” but
it for sure will get you killed. Under the right board state Stasis and a
Vigilant Derevi can lock your opponents out of the game entirely while you slowly
but surely tick down their life totals or have them just draw their entire
decks with the help of additional lock down cards like
Frozen Aether
.
Rubinia Soulsinger
I’m very excited to see this thing reprinted with some
wonderful new art and a nice and easy to understand text box! Rubinia ensures
that what’s yours is mine and what’s mine…..is still mine. Taking control of
your opponents creatures and happily offering them up to block can make your
opponents very weary of messing with you.
Suggestions for
making the most of your general!
People are amazed this card exists every time I play it and with
Rubinia you can get the most value out of it. Sacrificing your opponent’s
creatures to get more creatures to steal your opponent’s creatures!
Really any good value sacrifice outlet is great in this
deck. People will want to get their creatures back or kill Rubinia and playing
sweet cards like this lets you make the most of each time you swipe their
creature so they can’t get them back!
Cool things that will
get you killed!
This card actually doesn’t do anything too insane with Rubinia
as it can let you sacrifice all the creatures in play your opponents play but
if you do not have a sacrifice outlet it’s not so good. The reason I bring it up
is a card in the deck called
Presence of Gond
. With presence of Gond you can
produce as many 1/1 warriors as you could possibly imagine.
This guy is pretty great. Flickering has only gotten better
with time as creatures have progressively gotten better with sweeter abilities.
And being able to do it all the time is quite profitable. Roon works great with
cards in the deck like
Flickerwisp
(he will not target permanents) and
Karmic Guide
!
Suggestions for making the most of your
general!
This is a pretty cool card honestly for a deck like this. Now
remember he will not target just any permanent but he with Flickerwisp will
ensure you can destroy target permanent every turn and possibly more if you can
manage to untap him!
When thinking of cards that are worth flickering this one
cannot help but pop into my head, she gets back everything and gives you
options you wouldn’t normally have and you can use her over and over with Roon.
Cool things that will get you killed!
Cards like these are Degenerate to begin with. Add in some Eternal
Witness/
Archaeomancer
action and you lock in any amount of turns you desire. This
will give you everything you need to render your opponents defenseless and conquer
the battlefield!
And now time to
mention cards that are new to magic being printed for the first time in this
deck!
Angel of Finality
- She’s nicely costed and has a good
ability for flicker style decks not to mention she stops many unfair things
from going on when you don’t want them to. For sure worth a slot as a solid graveyard
hate card.
Bane of Progress
- This guy is really cool not only is he a
pretty awesome flicker effect he gets counters on top of it! Tons of deck will
want this guy, he may not be a high dollar money card but I guarantee he will
have several decks that will look to play him. Do remember though he will
destroy yours as well! Play him wisely!
Djinn of Infinite Deceits
- this guy is interesting and I’m
sure will create some awesome game states. One cool thing I’d like to point out
is that he does in fact have utility in permanently giving yourself creatures
which you otherwise only controlled temporarily though not very smoothly I might
add.
Darksteel Mutation
- Very reminiscent of cards like
Turn to Frog
and
Humble
. Good way to keep opponents creatures at bay as
0/1s! I imagine there might even end up situations where you target your own
creature with this! A word of warning
however, if you play this on their creature and they have lots of equipment
they can strap on all the equipment and it’ll get all equipment bonuses, only
previous abilities will be lost!
Surveyor’s Scope
- this card is pretty sweet very happy to
see it here. Especially good with Ravnica bounce lands and the original Karoo’s!
Not to mention just using it for value in games where you’re falling behind.
Needless to say I will be casting this sometime in the future.
Tempt with Glory
- Not one of the most reasonably costed of
the cycle especially for the ability it gives. I don’t doubt I will want to
cast all of them but this one falls short compared to the rest I believe.
Ajani Goldmane
would perhaps be far better suited for the position.
Unexpectedly Absent
- This card is pretty sweet the most
optimal way to play it being in response to a shuffle effect to ensure you
opponent’s won’t be seeing their permanent anytime soon! I highly doubt X will
equal many numbers but “0” the majority of the times this will be cast. Also it
has some legacy promise due to its versatility in a format of shuffling and
undercosted cards that need undercosted answers such as this.
And lastly for those with high appreciation of
art here's a list of reprints getting new art in this deck!
These last ones
aren’t entirely new but previously art was exclusive to a promo version of it.
Whew! Well guys that’s all for now. My next project will be
to take and in-depth look at one of the commander decks and break it down to
make improvements which best utilize the general. Here’s a quick list of the
generals for you to choose from.
- Derevi, Empyrial Tactician
- Gahiji, Honered One
- Jeleva, Nephalia’s Scourge
- Marath, Will of the Wild
- Nekusar, the Mindrazer
- Oloro, Ageless Ascetic
- Prossh, Skyraider of Kher
- Roon of the hidden Realm
- Shattergand Brothers
- Sydri, Galvanic Genius
I haven’t included reprint generals as they’ve been out for a
while and most have been thoroughly explored by now. Anyways feel free to vote
on which you prefer whether it be on the facebook link to this article or you
have a blogger account throw it on here. I understand this is still new so if I
don’t receive enough suggestions I will randomly choose one.
Hope you guys enjoy your commander decks! Till Next time! –Clio
Canfield
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Visit us on the web:
www.dothanfanatix.com
www.facebook.com/dothanfanatix
