~ The competition is but one aspect of the spectacle ~ I always like to sneak in one last game before I start writing my posts for this series. That final game always seems to go so differently than the previous matches I played between posts. This week was no different. I was able to sneak in a final game on Friday night where the power level balance felt perfect and everyone seemed to actively enjoy the game. The idea of balance is such a fleeting concept that it seems we as commander players are always chasing.
I’ve employed a “Welcome All Challengers” approach while testing my Taranika deck. The deck is about improving and upgrading. Being unafraid to play against decks of differing, or more accurately, higher power levels, gives me concrete ways to show my improvement and define my flaws. However, the discussion of power level is unavoidable especially because my three opponents aren’t necessarily looking for the same experience that I am. I’m often setting up a game specifically to test my Taranika deck. When I present its power level, I tend to avoid the common 1-10 scale. Instead I try to frame the deck relative to experiences with which other players are likely familiar. In its current form, I most often compare Taranika to a precon. The deck has a clear game-plan and some definite synergy as many of the precons do. It’s also slow developing, has clunky interaction, and comparatively inefficient card choices. If you were to match this deck up with the Nahiri the Lithomancer precon, I imagine they would square off quite evenly. Despite my urging that the power level of Taranika didn’t need to be matched by the table, I often found myself setting the power cap by playing the deck. The people I’ve played against have seemed generally uncomfortable playing higher power level decks against something that is admittedly of lower power. I understand the latter concern as well. I’m not looking to play my Taranika deck against lists lower down the chain either. This has presented two unique problems. First, it can be difficult to find a game at times. Outside of variations on preconstructed commander decks, it seems like most players on SpellTable lack a low power level deck that they would feel comfortable playing against a precon. The second problem is that when people do have those decks, they rarely seem to enjoy playing them or enjoy the game. Lower Power games tend to be a drastically different experience from the commander experience to which most people are familiar. The games are grindier, plays are less explosive, and the margins are smaller. Extracting extra value from each card you play becomes a much more difficult process. The decisions you make matter more and mean less. Taranika is built to thrive in this environment with cards that allow the caster to maximize their value and reward patience. However, this is not an experience people are used to building for or necessarily want to have. The games where people have attempted to match my power level the closest have seemed like the least fun experiences for the table. Alternatively, the games where my opponents tried to match power level less aggressively have been some of the most enjoyable. In these games, my opponents focused less on sheer strength and instead, focused on decks that were seeking to achieve a similar experience. While their decks may have been stronger than mine, they still played lists that lent themselves to slower, grindier games. In these games, my opponents seemed happier and the table seemed to have more fun. The decks may not have been of the same power level but the goals behind the game were similar and the power levels were close enough that people still had meaningful decisions. What I learned from playing this Taranika deck these past two weeks isn’t about individual cards in the deck, it’s not even about the deck itself, but it’s about the format in which the deck operates. Creating a quality experience is about more than matching two theoretical numbers together. It’s about understanding the environment in which your deck is built to function. Taranika cannot play at a table that requires efficient answers or linear game-plans. It doesn’t require that everyone be playing low power decks, but does need a table that can support an inefficient and slow developing game-plan. In the game I described earlier, my opponents likely had decks slightly stronger than my own, but that didn’t matter. The strategies they employed were slower plans that required a gradual build up. I was able to stick around in the game, pick my spots, and make the most of my spells. I could have the experience I desired, in the environment I wanted, with decks that weren’t at a precon level. There’s no magical solution to solving issues of power level and rule zero conversations in commander. It’s impossible to gather all the information you need in a single sentence or heuristic. Instead it’s about collecting tools to help us navigate rule zero. My experience with finding games with Taranika has given me another tool to help create better experiences with the people whom I play.
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Entry 4: New Arrivals ~ Every choice alters the path of fate ~ Normally commander players groan at the thought of having to make cuts, but not me, and especially not with this project. I’ve been looking forward to these initial changes since I put together the preliminary list. Every decision I made when building this deck was made with the knowledge nothing was permanent. While I was pleasantly surprised by the performance of the list, the deck still had plenty of issues and there are still dozens of cards from 2020 I’m hoping to try. These initial changes are a reflection of both the initial deficiencies of the deck and serve to satiate my own curiosities. THE CUTS Every action has an equal but opposite reaction. If I'm adding cards, something has to be taken away. Cutting cards can be excruciating, but the utilitarian nature of this list meant there were plenty of cards on the chopping block. It wasn’t hard to find a number of cards to cut, but to further restrict myself I limited my cuts to cards I was actually able to play. The challenge of this deck was to play cards I hadn’t gotten a chance to try yet. The least I can do is actually play a card one time before cutting it. With that in mind, here are the cards that have been cut from my 2021 Deck Diary.
Basic Plains One of the cards that I’ll be adding to this list is a land. As such, it made sense to swap a land card for a land card. The deck has plenty of basics so I expect another non-basic to feel somewhat negligible at this early stage. THE ADDITIONS Choosing what cards to add ended up being more difficult than choosing which to cut. In the end, I prioritized cards that I was excited to try. The primary goal of this project was to play more new printings and so I picked a couple new cards that had intrigued me since their release. At this early stage, I’m less concerned with how those cards compliment the deck's primary strategy and more concerned with how the cards play in a game. I'm trying my. best not to plan ahead, and instead, try and remain blind to how the choices I make now may impact the future of this deck.
WRAPPING UP
The best part of this editing process is that I started with three cards that had run their course and now I’m adding three cards I can’t wait to play. Especially early in this project, my focus is centered on individual cards rather than the deck as a whole. As the deck is, I’m happy with its functionality and now it’s about letting the deck evolve as I get a chance to play with more exciting cards from 2020 and beyond. As both cuts and additions change the landscape of the deck, I'll have to tackle new and unexpected challenges, but I look forward to finding unique solutions as the year continues.
Entry 3: First Impressions ~ When wielded by a true believer, it matters little whether the sword is a relic or a replica ~ There aren't many moments in magic that compare with the pure excitement the first game with your new commander deck. Finally sleeving up your cards. Shuffling the deck for the first time. Drawing the initial opening hand. Mulliganing that opening hand because you didn't draw any lands and holding up the game for 20 minutes so you can get that really good shuffle. Nothing compares. There's also an inherent tension for that first game. Building a commander deck is an investment. We invest our time, and our money, into these decks, and you certainly hope that they will work. The tension was a bit different for my first game with this Taranika deck. In my second entry, I discussed my intention to strike a balance between function and limitation. If the deck didn't function perfectly, that was more than fine. The goal, after all, was to upgrade and tune this deck throughout the year, but what if the deck just wasn't fun? What if I had curbed the power too much? My plan is to play this deck with frequency over the course of this year. If the deck wasn't fun to play with or play against, the first few months of this project might turn out to be miserable. THE GAMES My concerns for any potential failings at the outset of this project were soon put to bed. My first game, and every game there-after, has been a blast. The deck has completely over-performed. Currently, the decks overall record stands at 2-3 (40% win rate) with the two wins coming in the first two games I played. More important than winning though, the deck is just plain fun to play.
While Taranika could aggressively attack my opponents life totals, the deck was also great at protecting my own. In part, this is because of the vigilance and vigilance-like abilities described above, but I also found that the answers I had were completely serviceable. This deck does not feature any fast mana so making sure the game lasts long enough for me to win via combat damage is a must. I've been able to cast a wide variety of the removal in the deck and I've been impressed by both the spot removal and board wipes. Neither Slash the Ranks nor Nevinyrral's Disk are the best at what they do, but they've been extremely serviceable. Slash the Ranks feels especially good after a Taranika attack, and the spot removal offers enough versatility to to deal with most permanents.
CONCLUSIONS AND CHANGES I've been impressed with how this deck has performed so far. It has exceeded my initial expectations, and I'm happy with my ability to get the most out of my card choices while playing. That isn't to say that there aren't weaknesses. The deck unsurprisingly has some issues with consistency and everything I do is fairly telegraphed. Playing Etched Oracle for card draw hasn't been ideal either. I can meet the conditions to activate it, but that doesn't mean I ever will. For now, I'm uncertain of the changes I want to make. On one hand, I have the opportunity to address some initial functionality issues. On the other hand, there are tons of cards that didn't make it into the initial build that I'm curious to play with. My plan right now is to address potential changes and make my first edit later this week so be on the lookout for that post. Till then, I'm sure I'll be jamming games still because right now, I'm a big believer in this deck — even if it's only a shell of what it might grow to be.
Entry 2: The Build ~ "I don't know where my destiny lies, but I know it isn't here" ~ The construction of this deck was a balancing act. I had two opposing forces: the goal of making an effective budget list and the desire to avoid a non-linear gameplan. A linear gameplan can be a huge boon for budget decks allowing the builder to extract the most power out of otherwise inexpensive and innocuous cards, but that's not the goal of this project. I'm not looking to create a finished product right away nor am I looking for a deck with a clear, or straightforward, path to improvement. The deck I want is one that can evolve and adjust as I try new cards from both the past year and moving forward. My strategy for creating a deck that fit this goal began with a choice in commander — Taranika, Akroan Veteran.
THE COMMANDER Taranika serves three main functions that assist my goals for this deck: she's budget friendly, she's strategically flexible, and she's far from the best option. Being kind to the wallet was an obvious requirement for the commander. As outlined in my introductory post, no card in the starting deck is worth more than one dollar including the commander. Better mono white commanders exist for less than one dollar, but Taranika has two additional benefits. Her ability is an interesting build around, but not necessarily a powerful one. This deck features a focus on counters and double strikers to help take advantage of Taranika's ability. However, I'm not completely attached to Taranika as the deck moves forward. As the year continues, a new commander may come out that I want to test or I may want to completely evolve the gameplan of the deck. Striking the balance between commitment and flexibility is exactly what I was looking for in a commander at the outset of this project. THE REST As for the 99, the same tenets applied. The deck is constructed to balance between flexible and linear which is normally the opposite of where you want to be for optimization purposes. The deck's primary strategy is winning via the combat step. To do so, I added variety of creatures with abilities that work well with Taranika. In this deck, Taranika's ability is primarily used as a "pump effect". To accentuate this ability, I added creatures with double strike, lifelink, or who enter the battlefield with counters. This means Taranika can turn a creature like Fencing Ace into an intimidating early threat. The deck also features a variety of plus one counter enablers and synergies which fit well into a combat deck but don't lock me into a specific direction. Part of avoiding a linear plan was avoiding ramp and other fast mana. Without ramp, you have to rely on answers to slow down your opponents. A deck then naturally evolves into a more midrange style. So as for staying alive, 2020 had a wealth of budget board wipes and spot removal to help me out. While weaker than the removal white is known for, cards like Humble, Sheer Drop, or Slash the Ranks are still completely serviceable if not ideal. The hope is to put together enough of a speed bump to slow my opponents down and keep myself in the game. THE WRAP-UP I think I accomplished precisely what I set out to do when I started this project which is simply — I don't know where this deck will end up. Especially in the early going, I expect the adjustments to this list will be haphazard and unspecific. There's a handful of cards from 2020 I want to try, as well as, new cards being released in Kaldheim. Perhaps as the year progresses I'll have a clear plan for this deck, but for now I don't know where it's headed, but "I know it isn't here." 2020 was – a year. I want to avoid a prolonged reflection of it, but for me it brought some notable positives. First, I started this blog. It has served as a great outlet for creativity, experimentation, and has been something productive to do throughout quarantine. Secondly, it saw me connect more with the commander community. As an extrovert in 2020, it’s been great to be able to socialize with other people who love magic in a year when it would have been otherwise impossible. However, despite the amount of time I spent thinking and interacting with magic in 2020, it didn’t feature a whole lot of new decks for me. Now I don't want to be misunderstand; I did brew. I brewed a lot, but these were just that – brews. Whether it was for my 31 decks in Moxtober, a post to this blog, or just general brainstorming, I spent a lot of time theory crafting. Those ideas, lists, or posts I crafted, never became paper decks. One of my goals for this year is to spend more time building — and tuning — new EDH decks. As I’ve become a more “entrenched” magic player, more and more of the building process has been front-loaded. Rather than building a deck and improving it over time, most of my deck building decisions are made before I play a single game. This is in stark contrast to when I first started playing commander and decks were more just an amalgamation of cards before being tuned over the course of months or years. I don’t believe the experience I described above is especially unique. The EDH Boxing League is one commonly used solution; however, the cost of this sub-format is outside my comfort zone. To recreate the feeling of the boxing league, I’ve created the following restrictions for myself. 1. Start with a deck made only of cards worth less than $1. The goal of this project is to create an initial deck that will be affordable, functional, and full of potential. Designing on a budget is a great way to not only save money, but acts as a natural power cap. 2. Start with a deck made of only cards printed in 2020. There are a variety of creators who build powerful decks on a budget. In order to further limit the initial potential of this build, I’m restricting the cards to which I have access. 2020 is a great year to do this because of the Mystery Booster Product which not only cut the cost on many cards but gives me access to a variety of reprints. This project gives me a chance to not only symbolically improve on the year 2020 itself, but also try out many of the new cards I otherwise haven’t had the chance to play. 3. After every 3 games upgrade that deck using only cards printed in 2020 or after. I want to make sure that this deck doesn’t have a linear path for improvement. By limiting the sets from which I can upgrade the deck, it forces me to improve and grow with new printings rather than reaching into the past for known strategies and powerful cards. The requirement of 3 games gives me plenty of games to explore each iteration of the deck. 4. Upgrades can be in the form of 3 cards, each with a value of less than $1 or a single card with value greater than $1. If I’m going to do this over a year, I need the deck to experience a controlled growth, but also has the flexibility to reach for a variety of cards. This price limit gives me a decision. I can either grab multiple cards to mold the deck more noticeably or grab a single card to possibly solidify a strategy or introduce a new one. I should have the initial deck built in paper shortly, and if you want to see the deck list you can find it here. As for the upgrading/tuning restrictions I have in place, those are currently still in flux. I’m not sure if I’ll need to extend the amount of time between each upgrade, change prices, or add a new restriction. That said, I do think that these base rules are a good starting point from which to begin this experiment.
My blog will also shift focus to accommodate this new experiment. As I play and tune my deck, I’ll continue to update my blog with my experience and the evolving decklist. Once the deck is assembled, I look forward to getting to jam some games with it soon. This is the second part of a series on the worst cards in each of my decks. If you’re interested in reading Part 1, you can find that here. To recap, this series looks at an individual card in each of my commander decks and asks two questions: Why is it in the Deck? Why is it the Worst Card? Part 2 has a lot more decks that are built from a mechanical rather than a flavorful perspective. That means many of the cards in this list will be analyzed not from what they flavorfully add, but what they mechanically lack. Similarly to the original post, I won’t go into great detail on the decklists, so let your mind wander on what else could possibly exist in these lists. Sai, Master Thopterist Why is it in the Deck? My Sai deck underwent a facelift not long ago. When Sai was first spoiled, I absolutely loved the Adam Paquette art. It captured my imagination and made me want to build a deck with only cards from the plane of Kaladesh. When I started playing the deck further, I discovered I don’t just love the art of Sai, but I love the abilities as well. From that realization, the deck evolved by adding various artifacts from outside the restriction to which I had access. Why is it the Worst Card? There’s nothing exceedingly wrong with Darksteel Ingot. Compared to other cards from my previous list and this one, it’s completely playable. Essentially it comes down to the fact that Darksteel Ingot feels like filler in this deck. It’s completely replaceable and uninspired. In a deck unrestricted by theme, it would be the first cut and that makes it the worst card. Grenzo, Dungeon WardenWhy is it in the Deck? There aren’t many cards in magic that actually care about the bottom card of your library. Grenzo, Dungeon Warden and Cellar Door are two exceptions. While most commonly, my decks lean toward the Vorthos aspect of deck building, the focus being on flavor, this harkens to my Mel side. There aren’t many decks where Cellar Door would feel at home and this is the only one I own. Why is it the Worst Card? This deck is a combo deck, and as such the effect from Cellar Door, though easy to trigger, is somewhat irrelevant. While I can take advantage of the 2/2 zombies, the deck is not built around exploiting the tokens. Further, removing a card from the bottom of your library before activating Grenzo doesn’t come up that often since the only time you know the bottom card is when you put it there for Grenzo. So while the effect is fun, it’s still probably unnecessary if I were trying to optimize the list. Radiant Archangel Why is it in the Deck? Pilgrim’s Eye does a lot of things well for this build of Radiant. First, it’s a flyer which Radiant obviously wants. Two, it search for a land and there are a surprising number of flyers in this deck that care about landfall. In that same vein, an early creature that can ensure a land drop is always nice to help ensure a smooth start. Why is it the Worst Card? While a nice roleplayer that can definitely be justified, it’s also not anything special. In a deck that isn’t making room for flavor accommodations, that means that Pilgrim’s Eye finds itself at the bottom of the pecking order. Add to the equation that this list features hatebears like Hushbringer, Hushwing Gryff, and Tocatli Honor Guard and that means sometimes it’s a dead card. Daxos, Blessed by the SunWhy is it in the Deck? This was an experimental addition. Isolated Watchtower looks kind of interesting on paper. It only takes up a land slot so the opportunity cost appears to be relatively low. The upside is that should you fall behind this card can do some filtering and possibly ramp you. Why is it the Worst Card? I said I included this card because the opportunity cost “appeared” low. In practice, I’ve found the cost of playing this card over a basic plains has been high. I’ve actually not been behind enough to activate the card with any frequency. When I have been behind, it rarely does enough to catch me backup to my opponents. The clunkiness of this card earns it the dubious distinction of being the only land in this list. Dakkon BlackbladeWhy is it in the Deck? Dakkon Blackblade was the first deck I built and as such has undergone many iterations. My current list is primarily made without flavor in mind, but I couldn’t help but include some flavorful pieces for one of my favorite magic characters. In his story, Dakkon is a blacksmith so it only makes sense that I include an anvil in his deck. Why is it the Worst Card? Anvil of Bogardan is the most expensive card on this list. It’s also arguably the best card on this list. However, just because a card is good doesn’t mean it’s universally good in every deck. In this deck, Anvil is definitely a strong card, but it definitely enables my opponents more than it does me. This list is a traditional control list that wins using commander damage. As such, I don’t take advantage of the loot ability as much as some of my opponents and the symmetrical draw can help keep opponents in the game. Nonetheless, I don’t plan on cutting this card soon. NebuchadnezzarWhy is it in the Deck? I’m not a huge fan of foils, but occasionally I find a fantastic one. Psychotic Episode has an amazing foil treatment. The ability itself is also fairly unique. It has madness, which this deck cares about, and can not only take a card from your opponent’s hand, but you also get to check the top of their library too. Why is it the Worst Card? This deck was designed to be a discard deck in a format that normally doesn’t care about discard. There aren’t many targeted discard spells in the deck, but this is one survived because of its art. Targeted discard is obviously weaker in commander because you have more opponents, but Psychotic Episode gets special consideration. Atris, Oracle of Half-TruthsWhy is it in the Deck? Dralnu Lich Lord is a sweet Dimir card and having ways to take advantage of the graveyard is definitely something that Atris wanted. Similar to my Alela deck from part 1, this list was made of cards I had. I’ve had Dralnu for awhile but never found a good deck for it to go into. Being that Atris can at least take some advantage of the lich, I had to include it. Why is it the Worst Card? For Dralnu to be fun you kind of have to like high risk cards, and I do. That said, this is certainly not an optimal list for Dralnu and chances are that you’re going to be sacrificing some permanents to the Lich Lord. Luckily he can sacrifice himself as well to ensure that feel bads aren’t too severe. ConclusionIf you have a lot of commander decks, I highly recommend you try this exercise. Not only was it rewarding to reflect on some of my pet cards and pet decks, but it’s also a helpful exercise to understand the weak points in your decks. Perhaps after this exercise, making that next cut won’t quite be as difficult, but I doubt it.
To me, commander is a format all about personality. From the way we play to the way we build our decks, the format is an extension of our personalities and a form of self expression. The inherent nature of a singleton multiplayer format, mixed with a culture that encourages Rule-0 discussions, allows for a format with high variance and an eclectic assortment of cards. That leaves plenty of room for self-expression in the deck building process. For me, that self-expression comes through the worst cards in my deck. The title of “Worst Card” is a prestigious honor in my eyes. Where in other formats the “worst card” in a deck is the card that would be first to get cut when a new addition arrives. The worst cards in these commander decks are more often than not pet cards, favorite arts, or humorous additions that are as unlikely to get cut as some of the best cards in the deck. The presence of these cards is one of the ways in which my decks set themselves apart and feel uniquely mine. For this post, I wanted to walk through the worst cards in my decks and discuss two questions: Why is it in the deck? And Why is it the Worst Card? I have quite a few commander decks and apparently a lot to say about these cards so I broke this into two parts. There’s no particular order these cards are presented, but I wanted the focus to be on the cards. There’s no decklist and the only description of the deck is what I give when discussing the card. I hope that leaves your mind to wonder what could make up these decks' contents. Lavinia, Azorius Renegade Why is it in the Deck? - Hallowed Ground is one of my favorite magic cards. Artistically, the iconography of the card and the setting of Ice Age Block are two aspects of pre-2000s magic I enjoy. Historically, the card was in the deck that won the first ever Pro Tour. Mechanically, the effect is extremely unique within the white color pie. Those factors have led me to always be on the lookout for a home to give this card. I did not expect it to be in one of my more “unfun” decks. This Lavinia deck has several locks including the well known Knowledge Pool Combo alongside an above average amount of land destruction. Hallowed Ground is a mediocre way to break the parody of this land destruction by letting you protect some lands by putting them in your hand. Why is it the Worst Card? - This is a really inefficient way to break the parody of land destruction. In addition, it doesn’t really do anything else in the deck. There’s no landfall or extra land drop cards to try and take advantage of the ability. That said, ways to enhance this card do exits. This deck has not been updated since the addition of Modal Dual Faced Lands. The MDFCs will work nicely into this build and work well with Hallowed Ground as a way to get the spell effect after you’ve played them as a land already. With Crucible of Worlds, you can even recur the spell half. Honorable Mention: Armistice Nezumi Graverobber / Nighteyes the DesecratorWhy is it in the Deck? - This Nezumi deck is a “Graveyard” deck, and by graveyard I mean that all the cards in the deck depict a literal graveyard. The art in this deck features crypts, tombs, cemeteries, and other depictions of our inevitable final resting place. So Wall of Tombstones is not only one of the stranger creatures in the deck but also one one the stranger arts. I’m not sure what inspired the designers of this card to make it, but somehow it’s found a home in this specific deck. Why is it the Worst Card? - This deck has a lot of mediocre cards in it, but none of them are as frequently irrelevant as Wall of Tombstones. The deck itself actually cares a lot about manipulating the number of cards in graveyards and that can mean the power of Wall of Tombstones stays pretty low. When the power does get out of hand, it’s pretty meaningless because there’s no way to make this wall attack. The extremely low floor of this card means that it beats out Cemetary Gate for the title of worst card. Alela, Artful Provocateur Why is it in the Deck? - I can’t remember the exact reason I even own an Icy Prison, but I didn’t buy it for this deck. I do know that I love the art and the effect though. The design itself is reminiscent of Serra’s Bestiary, but the upkeep cost functions differently. Instead of requiring the control to pay the upkeep, any player can play the upkeep cost. That makes for a unique political tool. If you exile a mean enough creature, you might be able to get your opponents to help with the cost. That unique effect on an enchantment not a lot of people have seen, meant it found a home in this Alela deck. Why is it the Worst Card? - This card becomes inefficient very quickly. Three mana is a big ask for most opponents and yourself early, and late game that mana is still quite the tax. On top of that, this deck, like most of my decks, doesn’t win fast, so I can expect to pay that tax a lot. In practice, opponents are less willing to pay for my card than I’d like, and I’m not vindictive enough to let the enchantment go as punishment. Torbran, Than of Red Fell Why is it in the Deck? - While the card being mechanically horrible and inefficient is something I enjoy more than I should, the reason the card is in the deck comes down to flavor text. [Flavor Text] I love playing under supported, weird, and old tribes. Dwarves have been in magic since 1993 and were traditionally mono red. So instead of Depala, I built Balthor, which became Torbran, and will likely change again with Kaldheim. Why is it the Worst Card? - Like I said before, this card is horribly inefficient. Lightning Bolt is a great card. Lightning Bolt is completely playable in commander. If Lightning Bolt were to cantrip, people would lose their minds, but what people won’t lose their minds for is a cantriping lightning bolt at seven mana. You just can’t beat that flavor text though. Skeleton ShipWhy is it in the Deck? - This is probably one of my favorite decks because of its dedication to the theme. The cards in this deck essentially fall into three categories: Nautical Puns, Piracy, and Skeletons. Skull Storm falls into the Skeleton category. The unique ability of commander storm plus the distinctive art work make it an iconic addition to the deck. Why is it the Worst Card? - I seriously considered putting Skeleton as the worst card in this deck, but in actuality it isn’t even the second worst card in this list. That said, when your 9 mana card requires you to cast your 5 mana commander that you briefly considered as the worst card in your deck — that’s not a good sign. Most of the time, Skull Storm has been a 9 mana Liliana’s Triumph, but the personality it adds to my deck is worth it. RagnarWhy is it in the Deck? - When most people think about clerics, I doubt that blue is the color that comes to mind. With recent printings, the colors most associated with clerics are probably black and white, but Ragnar is not a recent printing. The legend from Legends is bant and as such I wanted to use some of the few blue clerics that do exist. Noble Benefactor is possibly the most unique cleric in any color and as such got a slot in this deck. Why is it the Worst Card? - Noble Benefactor is kind of a card you want to build around similar to Scheming Symmetry, and this deck is not built around it. The combos that do exist are multi card combos that require a bit of set up, and the overall power level of the deck is lower because of its thematic restrictions. As such, this card is quite a liability and when it dies you have to think of a contingency plan for what your opponents are finding. VIlis, Broker of Blood Why is it in the Deck? - Demons have gotten a lot better since the early days of magic, but I still love my old bordered cards. Vilis gives some of these demon creatures new life. In this deck, their downsides can actually become an upside by turning it into card draw. Additionally, I knew I wanted the opportunity to win via Liliana’s Contract and Minion of Tevesh Szat is one of the five demons in the deck that can let that happen. Why is it the Worst Card? - Just because Vilis makes the card better than it was before, doesn’t mean it makes the card good. This card is still an overcosted creature on a mediocre body. On top of that, without Vilis it’s back to just being a bad card. A really bad card. Tevesh Szat should be disappointed. Hazezon TamarWhy is it in the Deck? - This deck was built around the idea of deserts and is full of cards that depict deserts of all kinds. When you’re working on such a specific theme it becomes important to find key pieces to help enable the deck to function. Things like removal and card draw are all things that are important for any deck to have. And sometimes, when you’re working with a specific theme you have to make pretty dramatic concessions. Why is it the Worst Card? It’s hard to imagine a card that could be much worse than this. It’s a conditional 3 for 1 against yourself that requires you to give up one of the most important resources in the game, lands. No other card really came close to contending even despite the fact that Swirling Sandstorm can potentially be four mana to do nothing. Sram, Senior Artificer Why is it in the Deck? - This deck started as an attempt to build an Aura based Sram deck and slowly morphed into a Cleric Wizard Tribal Auras deck. Quite a few wizards and clerics in white care about auras, unfortunately, Sunseed Nurturer is not one of them. However, there aren’t many white wizards and making sure I had enough wizards was important for the tribal elements of the deck. As such, the three cost mana creature made the cut. It helps that the art is fantastic too. Why is it the Worst Card? - Three cmc mana creatures are not necessarily where you want to be in commander, and Sunseed Nurturer doesn’t do much of anything else. The ability that cares about a five power creatures is rarely going to trigger and when it does the two life is basically meaningless. On top of all of that, the body on this creature isn’t even up to par with its converted mana cost. If that art wasn’t so fantastic, I’d probably be looking to see if some new white wizards had been printed recently. If you enjoyed this and are excited for Part 2 you can rest assured that it is under work and nearing completion. Thanks for reading!
My primary form of gameplay on Arena has been draft and brawl. I enjoy brewing the occasional standard or historic deck, but those decks only keep me entertained for so long. Brawl has been a fantastic way for me to complete the daily quests, earn gold, and pay for drafts. While completing one of these quests, I needed to build a deck that could cast white and blue spells. As such, I built Yorion and had a ton of fun.
The fun and success I had playing Yorion in brawl made me curious what the legendary serpent could do as an EDH commander, but I had a dilemma. Should I build Yorion as Mono White or Azorious? I took to the twitterverse for an answer.
Based on a narrow margin, I decided to dive in and build a Mono White Yorion deck, and while doing so, I realized that both Lurrus and Zirda were also interesting commanders that could be built as mono white decks. While building these decks, I came to a frustrating conclusion.
If you’re someone who is tired of hearing about hybrid mana in commander, please feel free to scroll down a bit to the deck lists below.
This is what makes these companion designs slightly frustrating to me. Building these decks was a fairly unique experience in the context of mono white. Prior to the printing of Livio, Oathsworn Sentinel, mono white didn’t have a general that could blink other permanents similar to Yorion. The same can be said for the unique abilities of both Lurrus and Zirda in the context of white. This isn’t to suggest that these companions should have been mono white, but these commanders do represent the potential of the mono white color pie that has yet to be expressed in mono white commanders. There has been a lot of frustration this year about white printings, and while some of it has been unfair, some of it is justified. Clearly there is potential in the white color pie and building these hybrid commanders has opened my eyes to some of that potential that hasn’t been tapped into yet.
That said, if you’re looking to explore the capability of a Mono White deck with some powerful commanders, take these lists for a spin.
Yorion, Sky Nomad
You’ll notice that each one of these decks are “all-in” on their commanders. This deck is all about creating a loop with Yorion and another exile effect such as Charming Prince or Flickerwisp. Once this loop is created, the deck simply oozes value, drawing cards, exiling creatures, or ramping with each cycle. Additionally, you can time the cycles to create one sided board wipes. I also wanted to add one additional hybrid card in the 99 of each deck. For this deck, I added Worldpurge, which can be mean enough on its own, but if you set up your flickers right you can protect your board from the Worldpurge and get way ahead of your opponents. If you want to embrace this space further you can also add Dimensional Breach to the deck.
Decklist: https://archidekt.com/decks/951490#Mono_White_Yorion
Lurrus of the Dream-Den
Building a deck around cards with converted mana cost two or less is still a surprisingly open ended restriction. What I noticed while working through my options was that most of the enablers that care about auras and equipment were 2 cmc or less. Kor Spiritdancer, Sram, Senior Artificer, Stoneforge Mystic, and Relic Seeker are just a few examples of the enablers that can be recast with Lurrus. Combine that with the fact that Lurrus can help take away some of the card disadvantage of auras and it was a logical strategy to try. As stated above, these decks are built heavily around the commander, as such a majority of the deck can be recast by Lurrus with the other cards in the deck being powerful payoffs.
Decklist: https://archidekt.com/decks/951510#Mono_White_Lurrus
Zirda, the Dawnbreaker
Searching for cards with activated abilities is tricky, but luckily Scryfall is an amazing sight. I decided to take Zirda in a token direction. This deck is probably the least reliant on its commander because Zirda simply makes all of the cards hyper-efficient. The deck looks to create a board of tokens which can then be turned into a powerful army with anthem effects like Gerrard’s Battle Cry. Additionally, for some added fun I included an interesting combo into this list and it’s not Basalt Monolith. Using Waves of Aggression (the hybrid card I included in this list), Slab Hammer, and Sword of Feast of Famine, you can generate a lot of combat steps. If you also have Sword of the Animist out, you can maintain the number of lands you have rather than having to lose one with each combat step.
Decklist: https://archidekt.com/decks/955497#Mono_White_Zirda
I do hope we see more mono white commanders with abilities as unique and flexible as these hybrid commanders, and the designs of 2020 make me believe it's more of a “when” than an “if”. Until then, hybrid commanders will make an acceptable stand-in for those who are comfortable setting their own restrictions.
I love flavor. I haven't mentioned it much to this point in my writing, but more often than not I prioritize flavor in my personal decks rather than functionality. The flavor can be based on a tribe or art, but one of my favorite restrictions is building around a single MTG Plane. Building around a single plane can be a great way to enjoy the Vorthos aspects of Magic while still having a functional deck for most metas. Magic sets are built to function on their own. Within each color, there are usually ways to remove threats, build engines, and win the game. When you expand from a set to a plane, you can gain access to multiple sets and supplemental sets that feature art, characters, or scenes from a chosen plane. In a single plane you'll likely find the pieces that you need to make a functional commander deck, but the power level of this deck can be stifled quite a bit. I've found that most of my "Planar Decks" can function against other more optimized decks depending on the power level of the commander I choose. In my personal collection, I had a Sai, Master Thopterist deck that I could play at my local gamestore without fear of being stomped out of a game in only a couple turns. However, I was definitely behind the eight ball. The decks below are perfect for people who love playing with restrictions, enjoy trying to maximize sub-optimal cards, and appreciate the flavorful side of Magic the Gathering. I've also found that "Planar Decks" are great ways to judge the capacity of a commander. You'll find some commanders can carry your deck while others need more support. Because these decks are built around a specific plane, you'll also find yourself playing cheaper cards, draft chaff, and bulk rares you may already have lying around. These five decks each come with their own rewards and challenges, and picking the right plane is important to building a deck that is at a power level you're comfortable playing. Colfenor, the Last yew Colfenor may be the most powerful of the commanders I built for this post and Lorwyn may be the most powerful of the planes I visited. Normally, building from a plane that has only been visited one time can be quite the struggle as options become extremely limited. However, Colfenor benefits from not only being three colors but also being from a plane with four sets rather than three. The unique construction of Lorwyn Block, having two big sets and two small sets, meant that there were a lot of choices for this deck. Someone else could undertake this same challenge and come to a completely different build than myself. Despite all of these benefits, Colfenor suffers from one glaring weakness — there aren't many good sac outlets to enhance his specific strategy. However, even with this missing piece, Colfenor seems like a powerful and flexible option for this type of restriction. Deck List: https://archidekt.com/decks/915773#Vorthos_Builds:_Colfenor Hamza, Guardian of arashinWhile Colfenor may have had the most options, Hamza might have had the fewest. I was excited to build this deck as I love Khans Block, but, similar to Lorwyn, the plane of Tarkir has never been revisited. While the structure was still not traditional (Khans Block was big set, small set, big set), the options for Hamza still felt more limited than Colfenor. In part, Hamza only being two colors also contributed to this problem, but as you'll see other two color commanders still featured plenty of flexibility. Hamza's saving grace was his synergy with the themes of the Abzan and Dromoka clans in Tarkir. Hamza wants a deck to have plenty of ways to put +1/+1 counters on creatures and because this was a theme throughout the block plenty of cards exist to make this strategy happen. Hamza is a great example about how a well-focused commander can enable this deck building restriction. Despite this, Hamza could still use some more boardwipes and graveyard hate that we would see in a revisit of Tarkir. Deck List: https://archidekt.com/decks/916740#Vorthos_Builds:_Hamza,_Guardian_of_Arashin Breeches, Brazen Blunderer / |
AuthorMonoWhiteBorder -- A man who loves MtG and his small dog. Archives
June 2021
Categories"MonoWhiteBorder" and corresponding content is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.
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