I may be in the minority here, but I love love love creature stealing effects in Maelstrom Wanderer. Nothing worse than slamming him down onto a crowded board and getting stuck in the mud.
Pick any mono green legendary creature you own. Get 40 forests. Dump the contents of the green section of your rare binder, mana costs 5-8, onto the floor and sleeve them up. Add cultivate and kodama's reach and you're good to go!
Here's my second try at primer-writeage. This is a work in progress, and any thoughts are welcome! My last primer, Zedruu, was very much a community effort, and I hope this one can reach those heights as well. I've been playing this guy for a few months now with great success. Without further ado...
URGWho is Maelstrom Wanderer?URG
Maelstrom Wanderer is one of the five new commanders from the Planechase 2012 precons. Despite his "legendary" status, we haven't been given too much backstory to this monstrosity. We can speculate, however, that he was spawned from the Maelstrom of the plane of Alara, a churning vortex of mana where the five shards converged during the mending of the plane. From the mtgsalvation wiki:
"The Maelstrom is a chaotic storm of mana that was created in the Conflux, located at the point where the five Shards met. It was fueled by the war between those five worlds, a war that Nicol Bolas orchestrated. The elder dragon stepped into the center of the storm to regain his godlike powers of old, but was ultimately stopped by Ajani Goldmane."
No, really! It's as if you put Bloodbraid Elf in the copier, set it to "Commandersize", and Maelstrom Wanderer printed out. Lets break it down:
Mana Cost:5URG Maelstrom Wanderer is not a cheap commander. For 8 mana, you better get something that busts the game open in commander, and that's exactly what Maelstrom Wanderer does. Despite the steep cost, you can expect to cast the commander at least twice, maybe three times, over the course of a commander game, because of Maelstrom Wanderer's stellar color combo. URG is a fantastic combination in commander (our big Bloodbraid Elf has doubled in cost and added U into the mix). You get green ramp and blue draw to grease the wheels, and while red isn't an incredible color in commander, it gives us access to a wider variety of powerful cards than if we were straight UG. And, of course, the fatties are second to none.
Creature Type: Elemental
There are a number of cards that interact with the creature type Elemental. A friend of mine runs Horde of Notions, which allows you to CAST Maelstrom Wanderer from a graveyard, so you get the cascade effects. But, there isn't anything with a suitable power level in RUG to warrant inclusion.
Power/Toughness: 7/5 Maelstrom Wanderer has the magic commander power of 7, which means that he can take out a player in three hits, dealing exactly 21 commander damage. This is definitely a factor that a Maelstrom Wanderer deckbuilder could take advantage of. 5 toughness is big enough, but given the prevalence of 5+ power creatures in commander, it's likely that he won't escape unscathed. And look- his power/toughness has a similar ratio to our Bloodbraided friend!
Ability #1: Creatures you control have haste.
As our Bloodbraid Elf has grown in size and cost, so has the scope of her ability: now, ALL of your squad gains haste! Haste is a keyword that WOTC has been throwing around a lot more often, and its utility in commander is well-proven. When you never know if the creatures you cast will dodge the wrath and wheel around for an actual attack, haste lets you get in there for some surprise damage. Of course, this includes our commander, making him a sizable beater, if not one with a lack of evasion. It also grants haste to any creatures that you happen to…
Ability #2: Cascade
… Cascade into! Cascade is stupid. Drawing cards is good. Now imagine when you draw the cards, you never draw lands. Now imagine if instead of drawing the nonland card, you got to play it for free, right away. That's how dumb cascade is. It's a LITTLE more risky in commander, since you have a much broader mana curve, but still, cascading into a hasty creature and smashing is pretty cool.
SURPRISE ABILITY #3 CASCADE AGAIN LOL
You're not seeing double. Double cascade means you're virtually burying your opponent in card advantage and hasty beats. You get a second spell cost 7 or less for your trouble.
Put it all together, and you get a freight train of awesomeness. Maelstrom Wanderer is, with a little luck, the architect of some of the most insane plays in commander, some of which I'll detail below.
URGHelp Me Fivecolorjunk Should I Play Maelstrom Wanderer?URG
Maelstrom Wanderer is THE creature for turning an empty or unfavorable board state into an advantage. Nothing swings the game in your favor like a double cascade.
Like playing lots of creatures and beating down.
Maelstrom Wanderer is creature centric. You could play lots of powerful spells, but you'd be losing out on all that hasty goodness.
Crushing your opponents under the weight of your massive card advantage.
If you're the type of player that needs to have a full hand and a full board to have a good time, look no further than this deck.
One of the big downsides of Maelstrom Wanderer is that one of blue's greatest abilities, countering spells, becomes a liability when most countermagic turns into dead cascades. This is going to be a ramp and beat down operation.
Want consistency
Even though you're getting consistent beats, you never really know what you're gonna get if you blindly cascade. If you like your games to play out in a prescribed way every game, this may not be your commander.
Want a fast deck
Even thought your mid to late game is unparalleled, the deck necessitates a ramp strategy early game that will leave you fairly open until you hit 8 mana. My build especially has a very steep mana curve, which allows me to avoid bad cascades. So long as you can handle being open in the early game, the deck promises power later on
URGStrategyURG
Ramp to 8, cast Maelstrom Wanderer, cascade twice and laugh like a pirate.
URGAdvanced StrategyURG
Ok, fine. We'll discuss some of the finer points of the deck.
THE PROBLEM WITH CASCADE
Despite its potential for huge upside, having a cascade-centric deck unfortunately causes us to build our deck a little differently than usual. Every card choice must be boiled down to a simple question: Do I ever want to cascade into this?
There are a few categories here.
ABSOLUTELY, GOD YES, EVERY DAMN TIME
Cards in this category are the broken parts of the deck. There are several downright busted plays off of a Maelstrom Wanderer. Palinchron, when cascaded into, will untap 7 lands and allow you to bust out another fatty, as will Time Spiral. Mass removal like Devastation Tidewill also elicit this type of reaction, since it clears the board for Maelstrom Wanderer. And while All is Dust is nice, imagine a Jokulhaups! Additionally, any time you cascade into a tutor like Mystical Tutor or Brutalizer Exarch first, you get to set up your next cascade, which is obviously dangerous.
SWEET, I LOVE THIS GUY/SPELL
Any fat 5, 6, or 7 mana creature means that you've cascaded well enough to be satisfied. Titans getting double activations with haste. Free Primordials. This is what the deck loves to do. Additionally, I wholeheartedly endorse creature-stealing effects like Mass Mutiny, Molten Primordial, and the incredibly powerful Blatant Thievery. These spells clear a path for a big, hasty combat step and are my personal favorite cascades.
I GUESS THIS IS ALRIGHT BUT I'M NOT HAPPY ABOUT IT
Every deck needs to run its answers and role players, so I try to keep them to a bare minimum. Like, I'm not going to NOT run Eternal Witness. But cascading into Eternal Witness isn't exactly my idea of a good cascade. Cascading into ramp isn't especially exciting, but since you need to run the ramp in order to, um, get to 8, it's a necessary speed bump. And really, cascading into ramp isn't the end of the world, since it sets up your next Maelstrom Wanderer cast. Draw is fine as well- necessary if unexciting. Clones are a little more variable as well, since you could cascade into them with nothing super good on the field worth copying, but in general they've tested well.
WHAT A WASTE OF 8 MANA
My goal in building this deck has been to avoid the kind of situations where I'm cascading into effects that are so small that they don't warrant the 8 mana investment. Like, Expedition Map is a fine card. But nobody wants to spend 8 mana cascading into Expedition Map! Cards like Whispersilk Cloak, which I used to run for gen damage beats, find themselves upgraded to fatter, splashier spells like Akroma's Memorial often.
This is where deckbuilding gets difficult. There is a spectrum of playability vs cascadability that all cards sit on. Acidic Slime and Flametongue Kavu are great examples. They've been part of the deck at various points. They're fine answers in any commander deck. But they've seen the hatchet as I try to streamline my deck into a beefier, meaner cascade machine. I try to make sure there are as many useable 4 and 5 mana spells as possible, so I don't completely shut off my early game. But the curve is bad intentionally: you get a better shot at cascading into splashier cards.
THIS IS A DEAD CASCADE, CURSE YOU MARK ROSEWATER
There are a handful of cards that straight up don't work with cascade. I loves me some Clan Defiance. Nope, can't run it. Cascade into it and it sucks. Same goes for powerhouses like Genesis Wave and/or Blue Sun's Zenith. Most heartbreaking are the lack of useable counterspells. I've selected four counterspells that actually function, since they don't fizzle out when cascaded into. Spelljack actually can target, counter, and exile Maelstrom Wanderer for a second free cast and another pair of cascades. But you'll have to weed these awful dead cascades out of your list before shuffling up.
BUT WAIT FIVECOLORJUNK THIS COSTS 8+ IS THAT OKAY?
Sure, yeah. It's fine. Just don't expect to cast it for free. Your curve already sucks, so don't push it.
This deck looks fun for sure, but the mana curve on this bad boy needs work. By my count you have a whopping twenty-one spells that cost 7 or more mana, a 6-mana commander, a mere four spells that cost less than 3 mana, and only thirty lands (+nine ramp effects, none of which are "doublers" that might let you skyrocket up to the 8+ mana needed to cast 20% of your deck).
I'm definitely running 40 lands (11 nonbasics, and 29 basics), so that's not an issue.
You're probably right that I've gone too far on the top-heavy mana curve. I've been playing fast and loose with mana "curves" in commander of late, and haven't found too much issue with top heavy decks. I should add more of the men who fetch lands early, but they don't strictly accelerate, just fix. Mana doublers are probably a good option, but I don't feel like eating six. Let me sort out where I can drop some expensive fat (I'm looking at you, Eldrazi) and throw in Ondu Giant and that elk from Innistrad. Maybe some more, even.
Remember, I can cheat a lot with those enchantments. Call of the Wild only needs 4 mana!
The deck is built around Ruric Thar, and runs a whopping 50 creatures. Control decks will be put on the defensive by continuous threats and punisher damage from Ruric's ability. I've selected the best of the best of red and green creatures, trying to find a decent balance of ramp, removal, tokens and fat.
By running so many creatures, the enchantments such as Lurking Predators will trigger left and right, flooding the board with free minions. When the aggro plan fails, I can cast Primal Surge for my entire deck, wiping out my opponents with hasty, tramply damage, or with the Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker/Zealous Conscripts combo.
I have no idea if this will work, but it should be fun as hell to play.
FCJ's red-akroma list from 3+ years ago was what actually got me into this format in the first place!
Bwahaha, nice! Glad I was of service. That was my first commander deck. I love Akroma, she's just waaaaay too straightforward for my current commander tastes. As far as beatdown generals go, she's nigh untuckable and packs a punch, but I'd rather go with Godo any day. Much more flexible.
Draw is less of an issue for mono red than it is for, say, mono white. Wheel of Fortune, Wheel of Fate, Reforge the Soul and Dragon Mage won't get you ahead in card advantage, but they serve the invaluable function refilling your hand, preventing topdeck mode and giving you options. Also, Red has LOTS of cards that interact with Skullclamp.
I still like the new art, though!
1 Zealous Conscripts
1 Conquering Manticore
1 Molten Primordial
1 Treachery
1 Blatant Thievery
Nothing feels better than having that huge combat full of choice guys.
1 Maelstrom Wanderer
Creatures
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Rite of Replication
1 Body Double
1 Keiga, the Tide Star
1 Deadeye Navigator
1 Consecrated Sphinx
1 Frost Titan
1 Conquering Manticore
1 Inferno Titan
1 Etherium-Horn Sorcerer
1 Progenitor Mimic
1 Duplicant
1 Phyrexian Ingester
1 Palinchron
1 Sphinx of Uthuun
1 Chancellor of the Spires
1 Diluvian Primordial
1 Molten Primordial
1 Sylvan Primordial
1 Avenger of Zendikar
1 Moldgraf Monstrosity
1 Simic Sky Swallower
Creature Theft
1 Zealous Conscripts
1 Mass Mutiny
1 Treachery
1 Blatant Thievery
Countermagic
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Cryptic Command
1 Spelljack
1 Chain Reaction
1 Devastation Tide
1 Evacuation
1 All is Dust
1 Kederekt Leviathan
Draw
1 Greater Good
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Future Sight
1 Time Spiral
Tutor
1 Worldly Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Brutalizer Exarch
1 Tooth and Nail
Miscellany
1 Scroll Rack
1 Crystal Shard
1 Akroma's Memorial
1 Eternal Witness
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
Ramp
1 Sol Ring
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Kodama's Reach
1 Cultivate
1 Explosive Vegetation
1 Skyshroud Claim
1 Boundless Realms
1 Krosan Tusker
Land
1 Command Tower
1 Transguild Promenade
1 Rupture Spire
1 Alchemist's Refuge
1 High Market
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Breeding Pool
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Hinterland Harbor
1 Flooded Grove
1 Simic Growth Chamber
1 Steam Vents
1 Sulfur Falls
1 Cascade Bluffs
1 Izzet Boilerworks
1 Stomping Ground
1 Rootbound Crag
1 Raging Ravine
1 Fire-Lit Thicket
1 Gruul Turf
1 Tolaria West
1 Halimar Depths
1 Vivid Creek
1 Vivid Grove
1 Vivid Crag
1 Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep
6 Forest
4 Island
2 Mountain
Here's my second try at primer-writeage. This is a work in progress, and any thoughts are welcome! My last primer, Zedruu, was very much a community effort, and I hope this one can reach those heights as well. I've been playing this guy for a few months now with great success. Without further ado...
Maelstrom Wanderer is one of the five new commanders from the Planechase 2012 precons. Despite his "legendary" status, we haven't been given too much backstory to this monstrosity. We can speculate, however, that he was spawned from the Maelstrom of the plane of Alara, a churning vortex of mana where the five shards converged during the mending of the plane. From the mtgsalvation wiki:
"The Maelstrom is a chaotic storm of mana that was created in the Conflux, located at the point where the five Shards met. It was fueled by the war between those five worlds, a war that Nicol Bolas orchestrated. The elder dragon stepped into the center of the storm to regain his godlike powers of old, but was ultimately stopped by Ajani Goldmane."
Maelstrom Wanderer is a really big Bloodbraid Elf.
No, really! It's as if you put Bloodbraid Elf in the copier, set it to "Commandersize", and Maelstrom Wanderer printed out. Lets break it down:
Mana Cost: 5URG
Maelstrom Wanderer is not a cheap commander. For 8 mana, you better get something that busts the game open in commander, and that's exactly what Maelstrom Wanderer does. Despite the steep cost, you can expect to cast the commander at least twice, maybe three times, over the course of a commander game, because of Maelstrom Wanderer's stellar color combo. URG is a fantastic combination in commander (our big Bloodbraid Elf has doubled in cost and added U into the mix). You get green ramp and blue draw to grease the wheels, and while red isn't an incredible color in commander, it gives us access to a wider variety of powerful cards than if we were straight UG. And, of course, the fatties are second to none.
Creature Type: Elemental
There are a number of cards that interact with the creature type Elemental. A friend of mine runs Horde of Notions, which allows you to CAST Maelstrom Wanderer from a graveyard, so you get the cascade effects. But, there isn't anything with a suitable power level in RUG to warrant inclusion.
Power/Toughness: 7/5
Maelstrom Wanderer has the magic commander power of 7, which means that he can take out a player in three hits, dealing exactly 21 commander damage. This is definitely a factor that a Maelstrom Wanderer deckbuilder could take advantage of. 5 toughness is big enough, but given the prevalence of 5+ power creatures in commander, it's likely that he won't escape unscathed. And look- his power/toughness has a similar ratio to our Bloodbraided friend!
Ability #1: Creatures you control have haste.
As our Bloodbraid Elf has grown in size and cost, so has the scope of her ability: now, ALL of your squad gains haste! Haste is a keyword that WOTC has been throwing around a lot more often, and its utility in commander is well-proven. When you never know if the creatures you cast will dodge the wrath and wheel around for an actual attack, haste lets you get in there for some surprise damage. Of course, this includes our commander, making him a sizable beater, if not one with a lack of evasion. It also grants haste to any creatures that you happen to…
Ability #2: Cascade
… Cascade into! Cascade is stupid. Drawing cards is good. Now imagine when you draw the cards, you never draw lands. Now imagine if instead of drawing the nonland card, you got to play it for free, right away. That's how dumb cascade is. It's a LITTLE more risky in commander, since you have a much broader mana curve, but still, cascading into a hasty creature and smashing is pretty cool.
SURPRISE ABILITY #3 CASCADE AGAIN LOL
You're not seeing double. Double cascade means you're virtually burying your opponent in card advantage and hasty beats. You get a second spell cost 7 or less for your trouble.
Put it all together, and you get a freight train of awesomeness. Maelstrom Wanderer is, with a little luck, the architect of some of the most insane plays in commander, some of which I'll detail below.
You should probably avoid playing Maelstrom Wanderer if you…
Despite its potential for huge upside, having a cascade-centric deck unfortunately causes us to build our deck a little differently than usual. Every card choice must be boiled down to a simple question: Do I ever want to cascade into this?
There are a few categories here.
Cards in this category are the broken parts of the deck. There are several downright busted plays off of a Maelstrom Wanderer. Palinchron, when cascaded into, will untap 7 lands and allow you to bust out another fatty, as will Time Spiral. Mass removal like Devastation Tidewill also elicit this type of reaction, since it clears the board for Maelstrom Wanderer. And while All is Dust is nice, imagine a Jokulhaups! Additionally, any time you cascade into a tutor like Mystical Tutor or Brutalizer Exarch first, you get to set up your next cascade, which is obviously dangerous.
Any fat 5, 6, or 7 mana creature means that you've cascaded well enough to be satisfied. Titans getting double activations with haste. Free Primordials. This is what the deck loves to do. Additionally, I wholeheartedly endorse creature-stealing effects like Mass Mutiny, Molten Primordial, and the incredibly powerful Blatant Thievery. These spells clear a path for a big, hasty combat step and are my personal favorite cascades.
Every deck needs to run its answers and role players, so I try to keep them to a bare minimum. Like, I'm not going to NOT run Eternal Witness. But cascading into Eternal Witness isn't exactly my idea of a good cascade. Cascading into ramp isn't especially exciting, but since you need to run the ramp in order to, um, get to 8, it's a necessary speed bump. And really, cascading into ramp isn't the end of the world, since it sets up your next Maelstrom Wanderer cast. Draw is fine as well- necessary if unexciting. Clones are a little more variable as well, since you could cascade into them with nothing super good on the field worth copying, but in general they've tested well.
My goal in building this deck has been to avoid the kind of situations where I'm cascading into effects that are so small that they don't warrant the 8 mana investment. Like, Expedition Map is a fine card. But nobody wants to spend 8 mana cascading into Expedition Map! Cards like Whispersilk Cloak, which I used to run for gen damage beats, find themselves upgraded to fatter, splashier spells like Akroma's Memorial often.
This is where deckbuilding gets difficult. There is a spectrum of playability vs cascadability that all cards sit on. Acidic Slime and Flametongue Kavu are great examples. They've been part of the deck at various points. They're fine answers in any commander deck. But they've seen the hatchet as I try to streamline my deck into a beefier, meaner cascade machine. I try to make sure there are as many useable 4 and 5 mana spells as possible, so I don't completely shut off my early game. But the curve is bad intentionally: you get a better shot at cascading into splashier cards.
There are a handful of cards that straight up don't work with cascade. I loves me some Clan Defiance. Nope, can't run it. Cascade into it and it sucks. Same goes for powerhouses like Genesis Wave and/or Blue Sun's Zenith. Most heartbreaking are the lack of useable counterspells. I've selected four counterspells that actually function, since they don't fizzle out when cascaded into. Spelljack actually can target, counter, and exile Maelstrom Wanderer for a second free cast and another pair of cascades. But you'll have to weed these awful dead cascades out of your list before shuffling up.
Sure, yeah. It's fine. Just don't expect to cast it for free. Your curve already sucks, so don't push it.
One area that I would encourage you to develop is the "who is Zedruu" section. Wizards actually DID provide a backstory for our bearded lady!
From the mothership: Savor the Flavor
And, from Magic Lampoon (for giggles)
Otherwise, great work and keep it up. Zedruu is a fun commander.
I'm definitely running 40 lands (11 nonbasics, and 29 basics), so that's not an issue.
You're probably right that I've gone too far on the top-heavy mana curve. I've been playing fast and loose with mana "curves" in commander of late, and haven't found too much issue with top heavy decks. I should add more of the men who fetch lands early, but they don't strictly accelerate, just fix. Mana doublers are probably a good option, but I don't feel like eating six. Let me sort out where I can drop some expensive fat (I'm looking at you, Eldrazi) and throw in Ondu Giant and that elk from Innistrad. Maybe some more, even.
Remember, I can cheat a lot with those enchantments. Call of the Wild only needs 4 mana!
-1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth, -1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre, -1 Verdeloth, the Ancient
+1 Dawntreader Elk, +1 Ondu Giant, +1 Seedguide Ash
1 Ruric Thar, the Unbowed
Creatures
1 Bogardan Hellkite
1 Conquering Manticore
1 Craterhoof Behemoth
1 Garruk's Horde
1 Inferno Titan
1 Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
1 Molten Primordial
1 Spearbreaker Behemoth
1 Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger
1 Worldspine Wurm
Tokens
1 Avenger of Zendikar
1 Chancellor of the Forge
1 Dragon Broodmother
1 Dragonlair Spider
1 Hornet Queen
1 Siege-Gang Commander
1 Verdant Force
Creature Removal
1 Duplicant
1 Flametongue Kavu
1 Gruul Ragebeast
Noncreature Removal
1 Acidic Slime
1 Sylvan Primordial
1 Terastodon
1 Woodfall Primus
1 Brutalizer Exarch
1 Fauna Shaman
1 Fierce Empath
1 Knollspine Dragon
1 Regal Force
1 Soul of the Harvest
Recursion
1 Deadwood Treefolk
1 Eternal Witness
1 Genesis
1 Moldgraf Monstrosity
Noncreature Permanents
1 Call of the Wild
1 Guild Feud
1 Impromptu Raid
1 Killer Instinct
1 Lurking Predators
1 Mirri's Guile
1 Sensei's Divning Top
1 Domri Rade
Combo
1 Primal Surge
1 Anger
1 Urabrask, the Hidden
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
1 Zealous Conscripts
Ramp and Fixing
1 Dawntreader Elk
1 Farhaven Elf
1 Krosan Tusker
1 Ondu Giant
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Seedguide Ash
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Wood Elves
1 Yavimaya Dryad
1 Yavimaya Granger
1 Yavimaya Elder
1 Command Tower
1 Fire-Lit Thicket
1 Gaea's Cradle
1 Gruul Turf
1 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers
1 Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
1 Raging Ravine
1 Rootbound Crag
1 Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep
1 Stomping Ground
17 Forest
12 Mountain
The deck is built around Ruric Thar, and runs a whopping 50 creatures. Control decks will be put on the defensive by continuous threats and punisher damage from Ruric's ability. I've selected the best of the best of red and green creatures, trying to find a decent balance of ramp, removal, tokens and fat.
By running so many creatures, the enchantments such as Lurking Predators will trigger left and right, flooding the board with free minions. When the aggro plan fails, I can cast Primal Surge for my entire deck, wiping out my opponents with hasty, tramply damage, or with the Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker/Zealous Conscripts combo.
I have no idea if this will work, but it should be fun as hell to play.
But hell man, Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger and Spearbreaker Behemoth is fun too.
Bwahaha, nice! Glad I was of service. That was my first commander deck. I love Akroma, she's just waaaaay too straightforward for my current commander tastes. As far as beatdown generals go, she's nigh untuckable and packs a punch, but I'd rather go with Godo any day. Much more flexible.
EDIT: Lol I'm not.