MTG Salvation

so the wheels archetype officially has a general now. This should be fun.

Quote from Geaux

Gahiji seems pretty cool but Nekusar is pretty awesome. I think both of these are more interesting than the first 5 they previously spoiled.

Agreed. Very excited about both these guys. The others...not so much.

Gahiji seems very bland and boring. I don't see why he is legendary at all. He looks like an old, bad legend from Chronicles or Legends.
Kinda sad about that. I mean, why not make him give all your guys Haste, First Strike and Vigilance or something like that. Much more exciting than giving a bland power boost.
He seems ok for being a normal guy in your deck, but he is not a legend I would ever select as a commander.

Edit: oh it is not only your guys, I misread the card. Hmm it makes him more interesting but not more likely to play him as commander. I still think he should give your own guys a bit more exciting boosts, but this is fun in the playgroup as a normal dude, as a few friends like to play lots of small guys (I don't, so it is more to help them than a build around for me).



The Lich King though is really awesome. Extremely cool art, good ability and very balanced (they get to draw the first extra card before you do). He is nice as a commander and also just as a guy in your deck.

Nekusar and Notion Thief, together forever.

Nekusar fills a really nice void for the people who wanted to build Wheel-decks in EDH, actually. Grixis is the best colour combination, but there hasn't been a good general for it until now. He's costed perhaps a bit too highly -- 1UBR or even just UBR would have likely been fine, but I think he'll still see a lot of play.

Uh, no. Spiteful Visions makes everyone draw extra and hurts everyone.

The new general doesn't hurt you.

Quote from Azurie

It's Naya, he's getting "worshipped" by little folks around.

Meh, his power isn't even 5 or higher. 0/10 would not worship.

Also, it seems to be a reptile, while most Nayan gargantuans are mammal-ish (to differentiate them from Jundian monsters).

Kaiju is coming out!!!
we need a Jaeger now!!!

Is it just me or does Nekusar, the Mindrazer look a lot like Skeletor?

Quote from Subbak

Same here. Although it was planned even before Nekusar was spoiled, because not having Thief of Notion in the same deck as Nin has always annoyed me.

Funny thing is that, I had planned to dismantle my Nin deck, but I was going to convert it to a Tibor and Lumia deck, but dang it Nekusar looks like everything I wished Nin was and more.

Quote from Justicarphaeton

Nekusar fills a really nice void for the people who wanted to build Wheel-decks in EDH, actually. Grixis is the best colour combination, but there hasn't been a good general for it until now. He's costed perhaps a bit too highly -- 1UBR or even just UBR would have likely been fine, but I think he'll still see a lot of play.

can you explain what do you mean by Wheel-deck? thanks

Wow, could these be any less interesting?

The Naya one seems kinda bland and why exactly does Naya get political cards while its archtype is big fatties? I know it can follow a token-recipe (which it almost certainly will to make the deck worse within the product) but isn't it a bit too narrow to basically make Counterpunch v.2?
The creep and ability is somewhat interesting, but it seems like a mismatch in colors and what you'd want to do.

The Grixis one is Spiteful Visions without self-harm. I guess I'm missing an activated ability like Regeneration since his body is rather dull. Riku kinda follows the same pattern but he just seems to have a much better static/triggered ability.
Having him work like Howling Mine with a self-tap ability would have been incredibly good IMO as you can then more or less control what happens.
If you want you could make him work as a Howling Mine for yourself and it would have a drawback that he wouldn't be able to block.

IMO it could lead to a more interesting general that way.

Ghaiji is screaming to have combat abilities, but they missed that mark obviously. He should have had vigilance and trample or something to make him a little more threatening. He reminds me of a global version of that shadowmoor spirit avatar. The red white one.

Quote from Tzefick

The Naya one seems kinda bland and why exactly does Naya get political cards while its archtype is big fatties? I know it can follow a token-recipe (which it almost certainly will to make the deck worse within the product) but isn't it a bit too narrow to basically make Counterpunch v.2?
The creep and ability is somewhat interesting, but it seems like a mismatch in colors and what you'd want to do.

The Grixis one is Spiteful Visions without self-harm. I guess I'm missing an activated ability like Regeneration since his body is rather dull. Riku kinda follows the same pattern but he just seems to have a much better static/triggered ability.
Having him work like Howling Mine with a self-tap ability would have been incredibly good IMO as you can then more or less control what happens.
If you want you could make him work as a Howling Mine for yourself and it would have a drawback that he wouldn't be able to block.

IMO it could lead to a more interesting general that way.

Red gets a handful of good pillow fort cards, and white and green offer some of the best defensive options in the game. I'm guessing throw down some friendly enchantments, plug this guy in play, sit back and build yourself up to be unbreakable, and win under everyone. That wouldn't suggest tokens, that would suggest privileged position, Worship, Rites of Flourishing, Ghostly Prison, Sphere of Safety, and Raging Ravine

I really think the grixis guy is interesting, if only because his ability is dealt damage, meaning to everyone else at the table he's doing commander damage to them. This gives him that poison factor of "I am going to beat you in a way you don't come back from".

Quote from KageHamusuta

I really think the grixis guy is interesting, if only because his ability is dealt damage, meaning to everyone else at the table he's doing commander damage to them. This gives him that poison factor of "I am going to beat you in a way you don't come back from".

Unfortunately, Commander damage only comes from Combat Damage, but because he deals damage if you give him infect, through cards like Grafted Exoskeleton, Glistening Oil, or Corrupted Conscience he will deal poison counters, giving him that brutal edge that you were talking about earlier.

@ Nekusar, the Mindrazer

Memory Jar, Jace's Archivist, Whirpool warrior, winds of change, windfall, Chandra Ablaze, WHeel of fortune, underworld Dreams, Minds Aglow i could go on but this has the nuts built in him

I like the naya one only because in a multiplayer game, if an opponent attacks you they get no bonus....but attack someone else, bonus, its a nice way of saying hey leave me alone without saying it

I really like both of them. The Grixis guy immediately becomes the general in a deck already built around Wheel of Fortune effects plus Megrim and Underworld Dreams type cards.

The Naya guy gives Naya tokens a great general that actually plays some politics for you on top of beating face.

I think many people misread Gahiji. From what I'm hearing, a lot of you seem to think he just gives the +2/+0 to opponents who attack other opponents, but it also gives that buff to your attacking creatures. That's actually pretty nice, if you think about it. Every creature is getting buffed and hits for more, provided it isn't aimed at you. Combined with Naya's already beefy dudes, I can see how this ability would work in a deck.

Anybody who can appreciate Stonebrow as a General, should appreciate Gahiji. Same deck building principles apply, but accessing white opens a metric tonne of options that Stonebrow would kill for. Stonebrow lists are either usually built with all trample creatures, or a lot of trample enablers, and multiple combat steps... Gahiji plays better with tokens, doesn't need tramplers (but would appreciate the enablers), plays just as well with multiple combat steps and encourages your opponents to further your goals.

I think he is awesome. Not god tier, sure, but more powerful and interesting then people are giving him credit for.

Quote from Pysces

Anybody who can appreciate Stonebrow as a General, should appreciate Gahiji. Same deck building principles apply, but accessing white opens a metric tonne of options that Stonebrow would kill for. Stonebrow lists are either usually built with all trample creatures, or a lot of trample enablers, and multiple combat steps... Gahiji plays better with tokens, doesn't need tramplers (but would appreciate the enablers), plays just as well with multiple combat steps and encourages your opponents to further your goals.

I think he is awesome. Not god tier, sure, but more powerful and interesting then people are giving him credit for.

I dunno about "not god tier". Anyone who has built a well tuned stonebrow deck knows that getting the clips in early can lead to upsets for "god" generals who were kinda just hoping 40 life would keep them running. Stonebrow can kill a table fast, and can specifically take out a player before anything degenerate begins.

This guy can do the same, while using it's political aspects to make it all the easier when their targetting you ends up meaning they are stuck with your massive boot swinging for them to be kicked out of the game(through drainage of life.)

That being said, my point above was that a token strategy isn't necessarily the only thing going on here. Magic has a vested interest with playing with red's abilities in commander. We all know it's generally the weakest color choice.(not to say it can't do anything, but it has had the least tools to make a presence in longer games.) Wizards may build up a political pillow fort theme into the red white green deck to give red these tools, since a lot of the other tools(those of a more aggresive nature) exist in the game in other places already.

Gahiji does tend to have 5+ power. He grants his pump effect to himself, as well, so it's close enough. Apocalypse Hydra is printed as a 0/0, but is obviously Naya.

In the last 6 hours since seeing Nekusar, my mind's been doing terrible things, concocting new combos for him. Seriously, I could merge my Niv 1.0, Wrexial and Tariel decks into something led by this guy that could really wreck some faces.

Oh God, please someone stop me.