The General Magic: The Gathering Thread

[Yaxley]

Anybody have a suggestion for a good commander for EDH? Trying to find a good one for blue-black, and I have Szadek, but I just don't feel he's quite good enough. Suggestions?

I know some people like Skeleton Ship, but I'm not sure what the deck strategy is there.

So up until now I've been playing with 4 Sylvan Scryings in my deck, and thought they were quite good. Then my friend pointed out that seeing as I only have one mana colour in my deck, and I'm paying 2 mana to get one forest into my hand, I may as well replace the Sylvan Scryings with forests. It just seems like there must be some kind of advantage to Sylvan Scryings, though.

I suck at probablities, so I can't see any flaws in his plan yet. Can anyone else?

Playing cards that put other cards into play thins your deck out (ever so slightly). So fetching a land with a spell makes it that much more likely that you'll draw a card you need instead of another land. The advantage of Sylvan Scrying is that it can get any land, even a non-basic. But if all you have are forests anyway, Rampant Growth or Nature's Lore would be better because they put the land directly into play and get around the one land per turn rule.

EDIT: While I'm here, has anyone else checked out MTGO since the crew talked about it during the latest pod/vidcast?

[theDreamer]

My green deck runs cultivates, sylvan scouts, harrows, and rampant growths like no tomorrow, to give me a) land advantage and b) increase my odds of pulling a fatty and c) giving me tons of lands to play the fatty and d) if it's liege of the tangle, giving him tons of forests to turn INTO fatties.

[theDreamer]

Oh, so Robert, I'm looking at Black/Blue commanders that deal with opponent deck control.

Oona, Queen of the Fae has some legit potential.

If you fill your deck with Rogues, unblockables, flying, and fear/intimidate cards, Sygg, River Cutthroat can get some crazy card advantage for you.

Wrexial, the Risen Deep Has some sweet potential.

Those three I think are probably the best out of those two colours.

[Matt]

Oona is the commander of Kathleen's Faerie deck.

-m

[theDreamer]

...I'm not sure if I'm reading this right.

Do you choose the colour before or after the opponent as removed X cards?

It says "as the ability resolves" So...

[Robert Merlow]

Oona. I likes Oona, but Wrexial looks like a potential for a quick win. Make him unblockable, inflict 21 damage, win. I think it just might work.

Oona would be really good to unleash a hoard of Faeries and kick ass that way... I'll see what I can do.

[Yaxley]

You pay the cost to activate the ability. If the ability is not countered, it resolves. Once the ability resolves, you do what it says in that order. So first, choose a color. Then, target opponent exiles the top X cards of his or her library. Finally, for each card of the chosen color exiled this way, put a 1/1 blue and black Faerie Rogue creature token with flying onto the battlefield.

At least that's how I understand it.

[theDreamer]

Oh, so, in free-for-all, the only real advantage is the opponents don't know WHICH of them will be targeted.

[Matt]

You pay the cost to activate the ability. If the ability is not countered, it resolves. Once the ability resolves, you do what it says in that order. So first, choose a color. Then, target opponent exiles the top X cards of his or her library. Finally, for each card of the chosen color exiled this way, put a 1/1 blue and black Faerie Rogue creature token with flying onto the battlefield.

At least that's how I understand it.

This is correct.

I'm playing an opponent who has a mono-black deck.

I pay the cost.

It is not countered.

I say "Black"

I name my opponent.

He exiles X cards.

I then put as many faerie tokens into play as black cards were revealed and exiled.

-m

[Matt]

Oona. I likes Oona, but Wrexial looks like a potential for a quick win. Make him unblockable, inflict 21 damage, win. I think it just might work.

Oona would be really good to unleash a hoard of Faeries and kick ass that way... I'll see what I can do.

I don't believe the casting of cards from the graveyard counts as commander damage.

-m

[Robert Merlow]

I meant straight up damage. The sorceries and instants would be good just to take out anything pesky in the way.

[Matt]

I meant straight up damage. The sorceries and instants would be good just to take out anything pesky in the way.

ah. Granted.

This is basically the same plan I'm using for my deck, minus the unblocakbility. Ton of removal + buffs = straight cmdr damage + CMDR ability to clear chumps off the board.

-m

[theDreamer]

Wanna know a great card to win with commander damage?

Vorosh, the Hunter

And look, he's black blue. And green.

Vorosh, give him fear, give him a giant growth. Next turn, win, and he's now an 18/18.

Oh hai.

[Matt]

Next turn he's 15/15, not 18/18. The giant growth doesn't persist.

still, he's killing your ass crosseyed.

-m

[theDreamer]

Sorry.

Turn 1, play him.

Turn 2, play giant growth, hit for 9, AND stick 6 +1/+1s on him.

Turn 3, slaughter a player by hitting for 12 (+9 from before, therefore win), AND stick another 6 +1/+1 counters on him, making him an 18/18.

Turn 4, give him a small buff and take out the next player in line. Give him those last counters if you don't want to deal with buffing him.

Turn 5, kill the NEXT player inline.

Loop until you win the whole game.

Counting starts at a point when you CAN play him, obviously.

[Yaxley]

I think he's saying that you deal 6, activate the ability, next turn Giant Growth him, swing for 15 which makes 21 commander damage and knocks the victim out of the game, then activate the ability again and be left with an 18/18 dragon.

EDIT: Gah, isn't it supposed to warn me if someone has posted in the meantime?

[Matt]

whoops, I just misread the card. I thought it was add as many counters as damage dealt this way, not 6 counters.

(6/6) + (+9/+9) = 15/15

-m

[theDreamer]

Yaxley: not if you use quick reply.

Anyways, no matter how you look at it, Vorosh could easily be the commander of a "slaughter you with my commander" EDH deck.

[LackingSanity]

One of my commanders, Brion Stoutarm, is also reasonably good for commander damage, especially when coupled with cards like Hamletback Goliath, Impelled Giant, and Act of Treason.

[Trymantha]

my latest EDH is
EDH Decklist incoming






1x Ashling the pilgrim(General)

98X mountains
1X Valakut the molten pinnacle

[Robert Merlow]

Are you just planning to mountainburn to death? Sounds like fun, but kind of janky.

[Roadie]

sliver deck:
brood sliver (4G-creature-sliver deals combat damage add a sliver token to play)
burgeoning (g-enchantment-opponent plays land, so can you)
chrome mox (0-artifact-mana producer)
coat of arms (5-artifact-each creature gets +1/+1 for each other of same type)
essence sliver (3w-creature-sliver deals damage gain that much life)
gemhide sliver (1g-creature-each sliver has tap add one mana of any colour to pool)
glimmervoid (land-any colour mana)
heartbeat spring (2g-enchantment-tap a land, extra mana from it)
howling mine (2-artifact-extra draw card per turn)
lotus blossom (2-artifact-sack add x mana)
lotus pedal (0-artifact-sack add 1 mana)
memnite (0-creautre-1/1)
metalic sliver (1-creature-1/1)
muscle sliver (1g-creature-slivers get +1/+1)
ornithopter (0-creature-0/2)
birds of paradise (g-creature-tap for any mana)
homing sliver (2r-creature-slivers have 3-search deck for sliver and replace from hand)
rupture spire (1-land-any mana)
quick sliver (1g-creautre-sliver spells are instants)
screeching sliver (b-creature-slivers had tap-target player puts top card into grave)
sliver queen (wbkrg-creature-2add a sliver token to play)
sliver legion (wbkrg-creature-all slivers get +1/+1 for each other sliver)
spell book (0-artifact-no max hand size)
transparent sliver (2-creature-all slivers are colourless no colour in mana cost eg: 1g mana is a 2)
well of knowledge (3-artefact- 2draw a card)
darkheart sliver (kg-creature-all slivers have sack to gain 3 life)


optionals:
root sliver (3g-creature-slivers cant be countered)
ward sliver (4w-creature-slivers protection from 1 colour)
winged sliver (1b-creature-slivers have flying)
necrotic sliver (1wk-creature-all slivers have 3sack destroy target permanent)
acidic sliver (kr-creature-all slivers have 2sack deal 2 damage to target creature or player)

basics of the deck: very fast mana producer that makes massive amounts of tokens per turn and they are each scaling larger with each new token or creature played.
howling mine keeps draws high, more than enough mana to play everything in hand each turn, quick 0 artifacts for hold from damage if needed, lots of options for opponent to just give in (high life, decking, overwhelming token damage, out of combat damage, destroy permanents etc)

[MowDownJoe]

Anybody have a suggestion for a good commander for EDH? Trying to find a good one for blue-black, and I have Szadek, but I just don't feel he's quite good enough. Suggestions?

As has been said before, it depends on how you want to play. I have a friend with a brutal mono-blue EDH mill deck, and if he wanted to, he'd add black and make Szadek his general. (Or Red and make one of the new R/U generals that have been previewed ahead of schedule his general... Nim the Painsmith, I believe?)
But if you want to piss people off by playing traditional U/B control, I honestly think there's no better General than Wydwen. Admittedly, playing a control deck may put a target on your head. I know whenever I break out my Momir Vig deck, I suddenly get alot of angry glares just because my deck has a few counterspells. (I'm playing U/G... creature kill is pretty uncommon.) (And seriously... it's only a few... Voidslime, Hinder, Mystic Snake, Draining Whelk, just added Condescend.)

[Trymantha]

Are you just planning to mountainburn to death? Sounds like fun, but kind of janky.

nah i just build up ashling and when they try to kill her is just blow her up

[Robert Merlow]

@MowDownJoe: I think straight up U/B control is what I'm looking for. Wydwen looks quite good, perhaps backed up by Jin-Gitaxias and Sheoldred when they're released. Sheoldred is like a black Emeria only makes the opponent sack! I love it. I can actually understand why you're immediately targeted with blue in the deck. My friends do the exact same thing to me when I break out the U/B Infect/Control deck I'm running in standard.

@Trymantha: Interesting... You could certainly swing for massive damage if it comes to that as well.