Has Alchemist's Refuge preformed well? I played it a while ago and to be honest Strip Mine seems to have more utility in general (to be honest, counterspells don't run rampant in my meta) how about Boseiju, Who Shelters All? although it enters tapped it can protect a game-winning Tooth and Nail or Wildfire more consistently.
None of them are really all that great. I'm switching it out for Blighted Woodland which at least doubles as ramp and doesn't ETB tapped.
I guess I should also remark on Boseiju and the role of countermagic in Commander. Basically, nobody should ever counter a threat that isn't going to win the game NOW. Mana Drain is an exception because it causes a massive tempo swing where I might counter a non-threat just to get 4 mana to cast Wanderer the next turn. If player A plays a "good card" and player B counters it, players A and B are down a card (and tempo) while players C and D are up a card and tempo. Only use countermagic to stop others from winning and to protect yourself. Boseiju is really just protection against bad players and play groups that slows you down since it ETB tapped. The whole point of Wanderer is to lob "I win" and/or "you lose" until the other plays run out of answers.
Duck, what are your thoughts on Crush of Tentacles? If surge were triggered versus being an alternate cost, I'd say it's a no-brainer. As is, it's a potentially good cascade, although I'll need to test it before I say it has a home, but has good upside because we can easily play it for surge cost from hand, resetting Wanderer and our rocks. I assume I will end up testing it.
I'm pretty sure Crush is an auto-include, probably over Cyclonic Rift (which is an awful cascade). I don't think the surge option is even all that relevant. Bouncing the board is just really really strong since it leaves our ramp intact while setting back everything but spell-based combo.
It's a massive change. I used to aggressively mull out everything except Tooth and Nail over 4 CMC in my opening hand just because I could. Without that kind of mulliganning, there's a real risk of getting stuck at 4-5 mana for a while. I'll have to play with it when I have time, but I think this means more ramp and fewer bombs by a smidge. Maybe more sac outlets for Wanderer since there's no fear of him being tucked.
I don't know that those ever pull their weight. The question is whether or not this justifies running the various Fyndhorn Elders and more two-drop acceleration. Four drop acceleration occupies a sweet spot in that it either produces a lot of mana or thins your deck fairly aggressively.
We kinda have to remove some gimmicky/bombs for lands/ramp since the new mulligan blows...
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Legacy URGBOops all my spellsBGRU URBYoung GrixisBRU
~Commander~ BUDralnu/ReanimatorUB GRUMaelstroM WanderiNgURG GBMerengue Clan of SalsaBG
WUGeist of Saint TraftUW UTalrand PolymorphishU UAzami, Lady of CAU BRWZurgo, Worldslayer BearerWRB BWUMerieke Ri Berit UWB UVendilion CliqueU
Modern:U Mono-U TroN U
I haven't had time to test recently owing to a new baby and job hunting/interviewing. I don't think Spelljack and Mystic Confluence are gimmicks.
Honestly, it's not clear to me how viable Wanderer is without the ability to abuse the mulligan rules by turning early-game-unplayable bombs into ramp. This deck was built to abuse that style of mulligan and without it you can easily get very poor opening hands that have no ability to interact in the midgame. I think this is a huge shift in favor of decks with massive redundancy and/or good draw fixing. The change also makes prison decks much better as it's easier to lock out a player who can't sculpt their opening hand.
I think Derevi, Krenko, and every other deck whose general is a combo piece gained a lot when the rules changed. I think Derevi and Doomsday gained more than most as they're built the most like a Legacy deck to begin with.
The way I think about it is that you did something like 1:1:1 (One third lands, one third ramp, one third bombs) because you could mull into lands and ramp. Now it's more like 3:3:2, and that reduces the quality of your cascades.
The rule change had the effect of making this much less consistent and making late-game topdecks worse. This may no longer be a top tier competitive deck.
I agree that the new mulligan rule has reduced the viability of this deck. However, I don't think this deck was ever tier 1. There isn't that much interaction, there is a reliance on fast mana in order to cast your general, if you get Armageddon'd then you are basically out of the game.
That being said, this is still a strong tier 1.5-2 deck that can hold its own against other 'fair' or 'midrange' decks. We come out fast, and our opponents have to stall their own boardstate development in order to stop us from ramping. And our deck is filled with more bombs than theirs, so we can generally win topdeck wars.
If we still want to make this a t1 deck, we need to diversify ramp sources (rocks, lands, dorks), play more combos than just Food Chain, and probably up the tutor count. Food for thought.
I can't say I ever had problems with Ensnaring Bridge. It's a mild nuisance that might fog you for a turn. It's also not a card you expect to see at a competitive table as Hermit Druid and Doomsday completely ignore it.
Arcane Lab is far more likely to be seen, but it's only a problem for your general: you can still lob a potentially game-ending bomb every turn.
I've never seen GAA4 at a competitive table since it just gets archenemied. It's in no opponent's best interest to let GAA4 live.
Winter Orb you do occasionally see in competitive play alongside Derevi and sphere effects. It's a problem, to be sure. But they're just as vulnerable to your Moons as you are to their Orbs. Plus you have a bunch of artifact acceleration.
Derevi/Krenko/Druid/Doomsday just have a lot more consistency than Wanderer does.
Do you guys play Blood Moon? I currently play Wildfire and Sunder when I go to competitive pods. If I were to switch it to a basic-heavy build with Ruination and Magus of the Moon, it could be very interesting... I would love to hear some feedback/experience that you all have on that type of build.
Seasons Past is an incredible bomb. Even if it just gets back a fetch, some ramp, and another spell, you're up three cards. Late game, this just gets brutal since you can easily bring back 4-5 cards given our CMC diversity.
I haven't, but I typically mulliganed 4 cards from my opening hands. Losing the abusive ability to have a nearly high CMC-free opening hand means I have to adjust both the list and my play style.
If you compare it to Sylvan Primordial, it's pretty bad. But...that's a banned card. I don't think it's worth recurring in a format with mass board wipes.
I guess I should also remark on Boseiju and the role of countermagic in Commander. Basically, nobody should ever counter a threat that isn't going to win the game NOW. Mana Drain is an exception because it causes a massive tempo swing where I might counter a non-threat just to get 4 mana to cast Wanderer the next turn. If player A plays a "good card" and player B counters it, players A and B are down a card (and tempo) while players C and D are up a card and tempo. Only use countermagic to stop others from winning and to protect yourself. Boseiju is really just protection against bad players and play groups that slows you down since it ETB tapped. The whole point of Wanderer is to lob "I win" and/or "you lose" until the other plays run out of answers.
https://www.cubecobra.com/cube/list/p420
https://www.cubecobra.com/cube/list/p420
[EDH] Rafiq of the Many
[EDH]Chainer, Dementia Master
[EDH] Maelstrom Wanderer
https://www.cubecobra.com/cube/list/p420
I recently added a few more draw cards, and Thought Reflection is looking better and better. Perhaps it is worth testing now.
https://www.cubecobra.com/cube/list/p420
https://www.cubecobra.com/cube/list/p420
We kinda have to remove some gimmicky/bombs for lands/ramp since the new mulligan blows...
URGBOops all my spellsBGRU
URBYoung GrixisBRU
~Commander~
BUDralnu/ReanimatorUB
GRUMaelstroM WanderiNgURG
GBMerengue Clan of SalsaBG
UTalrand PolymorphishU
UAzami, Lady of CAU
BRWZurgo, Worldslayer BearerWRB
BWUMerieke Ri Berit UWB
UVendilion CliqueU
Modern:U Mono-U TroN U
Honestly, it's not clear to me how viable Wanderer is without the ability to abuse the mulligan rules by turning early-game-unplayable bombs into ramp. This deck was built to abuse that style of mulligan and without it you can easily get very poor opening hands that have no ability to interact in the midgame. I think this is a huge shift in favor of decks with massive redundancy and/or good draw fixing. The change also makes prison decks much better as it's easier to lock out a player who can't sculpt their opening hand.
I think Derevi, Krenko, and every other deck whose general is a combo piece gained a lot when the rules changed. I think Derevi and Doomsday gained more than most as they're built the most like a Legacy deck to begin with.
https://www.cubecobra.com/cube/list/p420
I cut down on bombs and time warps in favor of a more consistent early game. Getting to that coveted t4 Wanderer is basically the goal at this point.
The rule change had the effect of making this much less consistent and making late-game topdecks worse. This may no longer be a top tier competitive deck.
https://www.cubecobra.com/cube/list/p420
In fact, there are tons of hate cards that totally hose Wanderer. My least favorite to play against is Grand Arbiter Augustin, IV. Ughhhhh. Besides that, any Arcane Laboratory effect, Nevermore, Winter Orb, or even Ensnaring Bridge can take you out of the game.
That being said, this is still a strong tier 1.5-2 deck that can hold its own against other 'fair' or 'midrange' decks. We come out fast, and our opponents have to stall their own boardstate development in order to stop us from ramping. And our deck is filled with more bombs than theirs, so we can generally win topdeck wars.
If we still want to make this a t1 deck, we need to diversify ramp sources (rocks, lands, dorks), play more combos than just Food Chain, and probably up the tutor count. Food for thought.
Arcane Lab is far more likely to be seen, but it's only a problem for your general: you can still lob a potentially game-ending bomb every turn.
I've never seen GAA4 at a competitive table since it just gets archenemied. It's in no opponent's best interest to let GAA4 live.
Winter Orb you do occasionally see in competitive play alongside Derevi and sphere effects. It's a problem, to be sure. But they're just as vulnerable to your Moons as you are to their Orbs. Plus you have a bunch of artifact acceleration.
Derevi/Krenko/Druid/Doomsday just have a lot more consistency than Wanderer does.
https://www.cubecobra.com/cube/list/p420
https://www.cubecobra.com/cube/list/p420
https://www.cubecobra.com/cube/list/p420
Azusa - Derevi - Glissa - Mizzix - Sharuum - Wanderer - Wort
https://www.cubecobra.com/cube/list/p420
https://www.cubecobra.com/cube/list/p420