We all know how awkwardly useless he is but I don't think enough people have talked about how this guy has one of the creepiest artworks to ever grace a magic the gathering card. This guy actually has more uncanny valley than the original prints of Solemn Simulacrum, Snapcaster Mage, and all those other cards that are based on photographs of players and I'm kinda glad he's an utterly pointless card so I don't have to see this unnerving abomination at any table I play at.
You would hate me then, I play him in Saskia Samurais
I know there are commanders that you can't even cast from the command zone, but this has to be in the running for most frustratingly useless ability for a commander to have, right?
Cards like this are why I rail so hard against Niche Creature Types, Imagine if this guy was a Warrior or a Knight.
I imagined, and he'd still be a garbage commander because he's a mono color dude with a Mana fixing ability. He'd be passably mediocre in the 99 as a knight (his ability isn't going to be particularly useful in 2 color, and just ok in 3), but id put him in a 5 color warrior deck headed by the battlebond warrior lady. But I see that you have already found a similar use for him in Saskia samurai, so he'd really only be slightly more useful (and only because warriors are a better tribe. If samurai were more pushed rather than grossly underpowered, they'd be equivalent).
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The Meaning of Life: "M-hmm. Well, it's nothing very special. Uh, try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations"
Onering's 4 simple steps that let you solve any problem with Magic's gameplay
Whether its blue players countering your spells, red players burning you out, or combo, if you have a problem with an aspect of Magic's gameplay, you can fix it!
Step 1: Identify the problem. What aspect of Magic don't you like? Step 2: Find out how others deal with the problem. How do players deal with this aspect of the game when they run into it? Step 3: Do what those players do. Step 4: No more problem. Bonus: You are now better at Magic. Enjoy those extra wins!
If you can get cost reducers like Urza's Incubator online, then Kentaro can cause some of your samurai to be free to cast, but you know, Samurai isn't a very comborrific creature type... or even good at beating down.
Cost reducing effects do not change a spell's CMC, and so if you're using Kentaro's ability to cast the samurai, you're still paying full cost.
If you can get cost reducers like Urza's Incubator online, then Kentaro can cause some of your samurai to be free to cast, but you know, Samurai isn't a very comborrific creature type... or even good at beating down.
Cost reducing effects do not change a spell's CMC, and so if you're using Kentaro's ability to cast the samurai, you're still paying full cost.
Kentaro still gives an alternate cost, right? And cost reductions still apply to alternate costs (CR 117.9d), right?
If you can get cost reducers like Urza's Incubator online, then Kentaro can cause some of your samurai to be free to cast, but you know, Samurai isn't a very comborrific creature type... or even good at beating down.
Cost reducing effects do not change a spell's CMC, and so if you're using Kentaro's ability to cast the samurai, you're still paying full cost.
Kentaro still gives an alternate cost, right? And cost reductions still apply to alternate costs (CR 117.9d), right?
Sure looks like it per the rulings "Kentaro doesn’t change when you can cast Samurai. It just makes Samurai castable for generic mana."
If people are sick of reading about stuff just stop taking part. You have 100% control over what you read. Simic Ascendancy isn't going to get banned just because you didn't tell someone to shut up on the internet.
Yep, looks like what would happen is that Kentaro would allow you to pay 7 to cast Konda, and Urza's incubator would reduce that cost to 5. Kentaro would create the option of an alternated cost, at 7 because that's Konda's CMC, and the the incubator would reduce that alternate cost by 2. It works because its a static ability that enables alternate casting costs on other cards, rather than an activated ability where you are paying X to cast a card without paying its mana cost.
Private Mod Note
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The Meaning of Life: "M-hmm. Well, it's nothing very special. Uh, try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations"
Onering's 4 simple steps that let you solve any problem with Magic's gameplay
Whether its blue players countering your spells, red players burning you out, or combo, if you have a problem with an aspect of Magic's gameplay, you can fix it!
Step 1: Identify the problem. What aspect of Magic don't you like? Step 2: Find out how others deal with the problem. How do players deal with this aspect of the game when they run into it? Step 3: Do what those players do. Step 4: No more problem. Bonus: You are now better at Magic. Enjoy those extra wins!
He's kinda my idea of the generic walker, tbh. He does things, never broken things, with an ultimate ranging from "alright" to "dumb with [outside effects]".
Would have been better with planeswalker type "Ob" instead.
Hard agree on the planeswalker type. I fully expected that too.
Not the best nor the worst. All of his abilities can be relevant, so he's not unusable, just not often the first choice for either card draw of creature destruction in decks running B. As a really good plus, he's one of the few non-conditional creature destruction options in B. Decent swiss army knife of a walker, which I generally always prefer to a walker with a busted ult you're never going to hit.
So, when you get two things that cost 1BB on a card, it becomes 3BB. Oh, and I guess there's turbo-Underworld Dreams too.
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Card advantage is not the same thing as card draw. Something for 2B cannot be strictly worse than something for BBB or 3BB. If you're taking out Swords to Plowshares for Plummet, you're a fool. Stop doing these things!
Unbroken planeswalker that removes annoying things, with lots of value that doesn't really draw that much aggro. Great go-to card if you don't know what to put in your black deck, and probably a bit later than that. The ult is also completely unnecessary and not that powerful - which is perfect, people will care less about him.
It's a 5 mana planeswalker with + Draw a card and - Removal. Which seems to be pretty much the standard design these days. If he sticks around, he can do a lot of work as at least one of those two abilities is always going to be relevant. The problem is, as always with 'walkers in EDH, getting him to stick. If you've spent 5 mana for a sorcery speed Murder, it's not a good card. Even getting one draw on top of that isn't amazing. So, unless you can consistently get three turns of use out of him, I'd probably look elsewhere and pick either an efficient kill spell or efficient draw rather than trying for an inefficient card that could do both.
I think negative emblems that you put on an opponent are much more interesting in terms of gameplay than than the classic emblems. Unfortunately, they are also considerably weaker.
Riku of Two Reflections - Copy, then copy again | Shattergang Brothers - Token Sac&Recur | Gahiji, Honored One - Multiple attack steps | Karametra, God of Harvests - Landfall, Creaturefall, Shroud | Ruhan of the Fomori - Stop hitting yourself | Zurgo Helmsmasher - Equipment&Wraths | Crosis, the Purger - Dragon Tribal Reanimator | Derevi, Empyrial Tactician - No stax, just tap and untap fun | Anafenza, the Foremost - Enduring Ideal Enchantress | Sharuum, the Hegemon - Sphinx Tribal Control | Noyan Dar - Spellslinger | The Mimeoplasm - Counterpalooza
Lists can be found here.
Still convinced the guy on Beseech the Queen is wearing a Mitra-type hat. Wake up sheeple!
He does, but you're unlikely to use Bloodgift Demon to help opponents unless you already have some Underworld Dreams variant. But if you want that 5/4 flying body, there's that.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Card advantage is not the same thing as card draw. Something for 2B cannot be strictly worse than something for BBB or 3BB. If you're taking out Swords to Plowshares for Plummet, you're a fool. Stop doing these things!
I should be playing this card. Everyone is so focused on building good decks without angering their play group, the art of angering people without being good is nearly unexplored!
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Zedruu: "This deck is not only able to go crazy - it also needs to do so."
Despite their niche uses in early game and against 'all-in' players, I have never liked tax counterspells and avoid them like the plague. Hard pass on this.
Re Ob Nixilis : This guy is the reason I started my rule of "need to have 3 Planeswalkers decent Planeswalkers" in every commander deck.
Yes Planeswalkers are not the super most powerful cards in Commander, but not long after SoI came out my playgroup ran into the situation of "Someone Had a Moat, Token.dec had gone off..and if we killed the Moat the tokens would kill us all so the game stalled out big time." I had Ob Down and ticked him up to the point where I could emblem on the token player and draw out, so now I always have a planeswalker that is relevant tot he deck's plan in the deck, they are an absurdly good way to resolve a stagnant field.
There was also me ulting Sarkhan Unbroken against a Child of Alara player because child of Alara cost 20 and everyone was out of gas.
For a taxing counterspell to be worth playing in this format, it has to be pretty mana efficient and actually put a decent cost on the spell. Basically, Spell Pierce and Mana Leak, and even then, the former is somewhat meta dependent. This is expensive and only taxes for 1. If you got to chose what they discarded, or it was at least random, it might be borderline playable, but as it is, you'll get to odd gotcha moment where it counters a spell and makes them discard something strong, but more often than not, it'll be a dead card, and even when you do get to counter something, the discard won't be particularly good.
For a taxing counterspell to be worth playing in this format, it has to be pretty mana efficient and actually put a decent cost on the spell. Basically, Spell Pierce and Mana Leak, and even then, the former is somewhat meta dependent.
I picked Miscalculation over Spell Pierce in my Edric, Spymaster of Trest build.
Taxing counters are only great if you can reliably draw into them early in the game, when opponents are rather prone to tapping out and if your deck is aggressive enough that those early counters help pushing through.
You would hate me then, I play him in Saskia Samurais
Dragons of Legend, Lead by Scion of the UR-Dragon
The Gitrog Monster
Gonti, Lord of Luxury
Shogun Saskia
Hive World
Atraxa hates fun
Abzan
I imagined, and he'd still be a garbage commander because he's a mono color dude with a Mana fixing ability. He'd be passably mediocre in the 99 as a knight (his ability isn't going to be particularly useful in 2 color, and just ok in 3), but id put him in a 5 color warrior deck headed by the battlebond warrior lady. But I see that you have already found a similar use for him in Saskia samurai, so he'd really only be slightly more useful (and only because warriors are a better tribe. If samurai were more pushed rather than grossly underpowered, they'd be equivalent).
Onering's 4 simple steps that let you solve any problem with Magic's gameplay
Step 1: Identify the problem. What aspect of Magic don't you like? Step 2: Find out how others deal with the problem. How do players deal with this aspect of the game when they run into it? Step 3: Do what those players do. Step 4: No more problem. Bonus: You are now better at Magic. Enjoy those extra wins!
Two Score, Minus Two or: A Stargate Tail
(Image by totallynotabrony)
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Onering's 4 simple steps that let you solve any problem with Magic's gameplay
Step 1: Identify the problem. What aspect of Magic don't you like? Step 2: Find out how others deal with the problem. How do players deal with this aspect of the game when they run into it? Step 3: Do what those players do. Step 4: No more problem. Bonus: You are now better at Magic. Enjoy those extra wins!
Would have been better with planeswalker type "Ob" instead.
He's kinda my idea of the generic walker, tbh. He does things, never broken things, with an ultimate ranging from "alright" to "dumb with [outside effects]".
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Hard agree on the planeswalker type. I fully expected that too.
Not the best nor the worst. All of his abilities can be relevant, so he's not unusable, just not often the first choice for either card draw of creature destruction in decks running B. As a really good plus, he's one of the few non-conditional creature destruction options in B. Decent swiss army knife of a walker, which I generally always prefer to a walker with a busted ult you're never going to hit.
8.RG Green Devotion Ramp/Combo 9.UR Draw Triggers 10.WUR Group stalling 11.WUR Voltron Spellslinger 12.WB Sacrificial Shenanigans
13.BR Creatureless Panharmonicon 14.BR Pingers and Eldrazi 15.URG Untapped Cascading
16.Reyhan, last of the Abzan's WUBG +1/+1 Counter Craziness 17.WUBRG Dragons aka Why did I make this?
Building: The Gitrog Monster lands, Glissa the Traitor stax, Muldrotha, the Gravetide Planeswalker Combo, Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix + Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa Clues, and Tribal Scarecrow Planeswalkers
On phasing:
Tamanoa - Welcome to the Jungle
Lists can be found here.
(U/B)(U/B)(U/B) JUMP IN THE LINE, ROCK YOUR BODY IN TIME
(R/W)(R/W)(R/W) RISING FROM THE NEON GLOOM, SHINING LIKE A CRAZY MOON
(U/R)(R/G)(G/U) STEALIN' WHEN I SHOULD HAVE BEEN BUYIN'
He does, but you're unlikely to use Bloodgift Demon to help opponents unless you already have some Underworld Dreams variant. But if you want that 5/4 flying body, there's that.
On phasing:
I should be playing this card. Everyone is so focused on building good decks without angering their play group, the art of angering people without being good is nearly unexplored!
Still playable in Baral?
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
EDH decks: 1. RGWMayael's Big BeatsRETIRED!
2. BUWMerieke Ri Berit and the 40 Thieves
3. URNiv's Wheeling and Dealing!
4. BURThe Walking Dead
5. GWSisay's Legends of Tomorrow
6. RWBRise of Markov
7. GElvez and stuffz(W)
8. RCrush your enemies(W)
9. BSign right here...(W)
Yes Planeswalkers are not the super most powerful cards in Commander, but not long after SoI came out my playgroup ran into the situation of "Someone Had a Moat, Token.dec had gone off..and if we killed the Moat the tokens would kill us all so the game stalled out big time." I had Ob Down and ticked him up to the point where I could emblem on the token player and draw out, so now I always have a planeswalker that is relevant tot he deck's plan in the deck, they are an absurdly good way to resolve a stagnant field.
There was also me ulting Sarkhan Unbroken against a Child of Alara player because child of Alara cost 20 and everyone was out of gas.
Dragons of Legend, Lead by Scion of the UR-Dragon
The Gitrog Monster
Gonti, Lord of Luxury
Shogun Saskia
Hive World
Atraxa hates fun
Abzan
Taxing counters are only great if you can reliably draw into them early in the game, when opponents are rather prone to tapping out and if your deck is aggressive enough that those early counters help pushing through.