Two Samite Healers stapled on one card, randomly green because why not? (I swear, the Legends team thought being multicolor or legendary was itself advantageous.)
My first multicolor legend was Ayesha Tanaka, and she's slightly better (countering activated abilities), slightly worse (mana cost), and has an incomprehensible ability really could be made a lot more understandable if they just cut out "banding while attacking", no one uses that anyway.
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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!
That's a tough sell for me. 5 color land that doesn't hurt you is great, but only creatures is something I'm very uncomfortable with. But I'm sure people use it to great effect.
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Zedruu: "This deck is not only able to go crazy - it also needs to do so."
I don't think I've ever made a deck with such a high percentage of creatures that I'd want to run this. Doesn't even help with creature activated abilities. And on top that, you better be playing minimum 3 colors (more likely 4-5) for it to make sense even if you do have 90% creatures.
I own it but have never wanted to run it in any of my 70+ decks.
Animar is my flagship (and first) deck, so this card is in a way rather prominent to me since it has been there for literally the whole time, but yeah, I've never ever considered a second copy for any of my other decks.
Glad I remembered to pick one FNM copy up as soon as I saw one after I decided to foil out my decks (it helped it was a prominent presence in the flagship, so there was no time for "would I not use this in the future" doubts that happens with some cards) before the spike (not sure how long before and how much, since I actually didn't pay attention to the price trajectory for that card for a very long time, but I definitely got it at a price lower than how much a regular would cost now).
I'm also scratching my head over the price spike though, is there some creature-only modern/legacy/vintage that caused the spike, or were people so desperate for a budget Cavern of Souls they settled for this (I think it spiked before Unclaimed Territory was a thing).
Modern Humans became top tier and plays playsets of all multicolor triballands you named. Thats why it and the others spiked over the last 12 months or so.
I don't feel there is a place in my creature heavy edh deck though. If it just tapped for colorless too it would be awesome but probably way OP.
Basically, it's Cavern of Souls #2 for five-color Dragons/Humans/Slivers/Allies/Elementals, but without the "can't be countered" clause which makes Cavern of Souls worth anything.
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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!
I know there are better options for basically the same effect, but I've played my fair share of Ondu Giants.
Nothing wrong with this guy. He ticks boxes, combos with Reveillark, Alesha. Not the guy you write home about, but never the guy you're unhappy to see.
He's actually a really efficient card in a lot of ways. Looking from a limited POV, he's a 2-3 mana effect with a 3 mana body, stapled together to save a card, and with a lower total cost. Unfortunately in commander, a 2/4 isn't much different than a 1/1 and there are 1/1s that ramp at lower cost and more useful types (elves). And you'd often rather have another land a la explosive vegetation than the body, unless you're planning to recur it. So he's mostly been kind of left behind by power creep that renders his 2/4 body pretty meaningless.
He actually blocks pretty well. He's not nearly good enough ramp for his spot on the curve when you get Seedguide Ash on 5, so he's not very competitive, but his ability to just run himself in front of medium threats can prove useful.
He's actually a really efficient card in a lot of ways. Looking from a limited POV, he's a 2-3 mana effect with a 3 mana body, stapled together to save a card, and with a lower total cost. Unfortunately in commander, a 2/4 isn't much different than a 1/1 and there are 1/1s that ramp at lower cost and more useful types (elves). And you'd often rather have another land a la explosive vegetation than the body, unless you're planning to recur it. So he's mostly been kind of left behind by power creep that renders his 2/4 body pretty meaningless.
All of those are older and generally better. (Ondu here works for Rise of the Eldrazi because he's bigger and the limited format was generally slower, nothing more.)
That said, I do use Ondu Giant in a few decks. First, he has potential in a Wild Pair list, just because he's a 6; the downside is, of course, that if I'm at six mana, I probably don't need to ramp much. Secondly, he has two power, which matters to Reveillark, Ensnaring Bridge, and Meekstone, and his toughness is greater, which matters to Doran, the Siege Tower and Wave of Reckoning. Thirdly, if a deck has a particular reason to run more creatures (Animar, Ruric Thar), he's only slightly less efficient than Wood Elves and Farhaven Elf. (Well, okay, Wood Elves also refunds you one mana, but until three months from now, budget 3+ color lists won't be running all available shocks, and neither will budget Azorius, Simic, Gruul, Rakdos, or Orzhov.)
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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!
I like him a lot. Having played a ton against the likes of Alesha, who smiles at death, that big butt comes in pretty handy. Depending on the deck, I try to stay as far away from spell based ramp as possible because it’s less efficient if you plan on recurring creatures from the ‘yard. While you are mainly paying the extra mana for the body, and better effects come at that cmc, I’m always hard pressed to cut a dude like this unless absolutely necessary. Late game, top-decking this over Explosive Vegitation can be the difference in winning(or more like not losing) and losing, I’ve had it happen on both sides of the table.
He's actually a really efficient card in a lot of ways. Looking from a limited POV, he's a 2-3 mana effect with a 3 mana body, stapled together to save a card, and with a lower total cost. Unfortunately in commander, a 2/4 isn't much different than a 1/1 and there are 1/1s that ramp at lower cost and more useful types (elves). And you'd often rather have another land a la explosive vegetation than the body, unless you're planning to recur it. So he's mostly been kind of left behind by power creep that renders his 2/4 body pretty meaningless.
All of those are older and generally better. (Ondu here works for Rise of the Eldrazi because he's bigger and the limited format was generally slower, nothing more.)
But then you've got Courser of Kruphix which is probably the most similar to what Ondu does as far as CA+Blocking goes, and also asks your opponent to remove it. I'd call that creep if OG wasn't a humble common making his way in the world. Rares are allowed to be a bit better.
All of those are older and generally better. (Ondu here works for Rise of the Eldrazi because he's bigger and the limited format was generally slower, nothing more.)
I actually didn't mean power creep in this effect specifically - in terms of small/medium bodies with land ramp attached, ondu is quite respectable and I daresay he'd be a fairly high draft pick in most formats that allow ramp as an archetype.
The issue is more that commander has gotten so many bombs that render 2/4 bodies irrelevant, even if you're not trying to combo on turn 4. So there just isn't much reason to pay an extra mana for the bigger body unless your meta is very casual.
He's still useful in certain decks. Let's break him down piece by piece.
He's primarily a creature that ramps you a basic. He's slow for that effect and therefore far enough down the list of options that most decks won't want him. He clearly is a great option for people with small collections or limited budgets (not that the alternatives are very expensive, but budget players are pushed to running more basics and thus benefit from more basic land ramp. He's better than Wood Elves when you don't have non basic forests and need fixing).
He's also a giant. There isn't a ton of giant synergy, but it's there. Unfortunately, giant tribal is more RW than RG, despite there being a number of solid green Giants. For goofier decks, like Lady of the Mountain giant tribal (have built it) or 5 color Giants (actually inspired to brew this now), this is needed.
Lastly it's stats, being a 2/4, is important. Doran has already been mentioned, as well as the numerous 2 power or less matters cards. I currently have him in Sidar + ikra. He gets in via Sidar for his 2 power and gains extra life from ikra and his large butt.
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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!
This is a strong ramp commander, but in my experience, it's deceptively difficult to pilot. It's very easy to fall accidentally into a kingmaking position by thinking the 5/5s with death triggers are enough damage to close a game. I highly recommend having Hurricane and Earthquake around to pressure life totals alongside the furious elemental.
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Zedruu: "This deck is not only able to go crazy - it also needs to do so."
Great commander - takes some reasonable skill to pilot and a well constructed deck to make the most of. When all the pieces come together he can be pretty devastating.
Can be built decently even on a very tight budget, at the same time it gets a lot stronger with a bigger budget (Fetches, Crucible, D-Season and others). Isn't overly complicated to maneuver, yet a real beast in the hands of a skillful player.
Bottom line, i'm very happy to have a deck with him. I bought one for less than a buck back in 2015 and i have no idea why he spiked lately.
He's a solid general on his own, and a wonderful threat in Lord Windgrace decks (which I expect would account for the price spike NoNeedToBragoBoutIt, though I had no idea there'd been a price spike). He has been extremely solid in my own Windgrace deck, straight-out killing opponents with elemental swarms.
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My first multicolor legend was Ayesha Tanaka, and she's slightly better (countering activated abilities), slightly worse (mana cost), and has an incomprehensible ability really could be made a lot more understandable if they just cut out "banding while attacking", no one uses that anyway.
On phasing:
That's a tough sell for me. 5 color land that doesn't hurt you is great, but only creatures is something I'm very uncomfortable with. But I'm sure people use it to great effect.
I own it but have never wanted to run it in any of my 70+ decks.
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
I mean, most lands are bad command towers. But this card deserves a 50 cent pricetag at the highest. Not sure what happened to make it spike.
Animar is my flagship (and first) deck, so this card is in a way rather prominent to me since it has been there for literally the whole time, but yeah, I've never ever considered a second copy for any of my other decks.
Glad I remembered to pick one FNM copy up as soon as I saw one after I decided to foil out my decks (it helped it was a prominent presence in the flagship, so there was no time for "would I not use this in the future" doubts that happens with some cards) before the spike (not sure how long before and how much, since I actually didn't pay attention to the price trajectory for that card for a very long time, but I definitely got it at a price lower than how much a regular would cost now).
I'm also scratching my head over the price spike though, is there some creature-only modern/legacy/vintage that caused the spike, or were people so desperate for a budget Cavern of Souls they settled for this (I think it spiked before Unclaimed Territory was a thing).
I don't feel there is a place in my creature heavy edh deck though. If it just tapped for colorless too it would be awesome but probably way OP.
Modern: WUBRG Humans - GBW Traverse - GWU Knightfall - GRW Bushwhacker Zoo -
On phasing:
I know there are better options for basically the same effect, but I've played my fair share of Ondu Giants.
Nothing wrong with this guy. He ticks boxes, combos with Reveillark, Alesha. Not the guy you write home about, but never the guy you're unhappy to see.
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR Voltron Control
Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun WU Unblockable Mirror Trickery
Ra's al Ghul (Sidar Kondo) and Face-Down Ninjas
Brudiclad, Token Engineer
Vaevictis (VV2) the Dire Lantern
Rona, Disciple of Gix
Tiana the Auror
Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
O-Kagachi, Mathas, Mairsil
"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
Have to disagree about powercreep:
Wood Elves
Skyshroud Claim
Explosive Vegetation
Kodama's Reach
Farhaven Elf
All of those are older and generally better. (Ondu here works for Rise of the Eldrazi because he's bigger and the limited format was generally slower, nothing more.)
That said, I do use Ondu Giant in a few decks. First, he has potential in a Wild Pair list, just because he's a 6; the downside is, of course, that if I'm at six mana, I probably don't need to ramp much. Secondly, he has two power, which matters to Reveillark, Ensnaring Bridge, and Meekstone, and his toughness is greater, which matters to Doran, the Siege Tower and Wave of Reckoning. Thirdly, if a deck has a particular reason to run more creatures (Animar, Ruric Thar), he's only slightly less efficient than Wood Elves and Farhaven Elf. (Well, okay, Wood Elves also refunds you one mana, but until three months from now, budget 3+ color lists won't be running all available shocks, and neither will budget Azorius, Simic, Gruul, Rakdos, or Orzhov.)
On phasing:
Also with G/W get a draw off Mentor of the Meek.
But then you've got Courser of Kruphix which is probably the most similar to what Ondu does as far as CA+Blocking goes, and also asks your opponent to remove it. I'd call that creep if OG wasn't a humble common making his way in the world. Rares are allowed to be a bit better.
The issue is more that commander has gotten so many bombs that render 2/4 bodies irrelevant, even if you're not trying to combo on turn 4. So there just isn't much reason to pay an extra mana for the bigger body unless your meta is very casual.
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
He's primarily a creature that ramps you a basic. He's slow for that effect and therefore far enough down the list of options that most decks won't want him. He clearly is a great option for people with small collections or limited budgets (not that the alternatives are very expensive, but budget players are pushed to running more basics and thus benefit from more basic land ramp. He's better than Wood Elves when you don't have non basic forests and need fixing).
He's also a giant. There isn't a ton of giant synergy, but it's there. Unfortunately, giant tribal is more RW than RG, despite there being a number of solid green Giants. For goofier decks, like Lady of the Mountain giant tribal (have built it) or 5 color Giants (actually inspired to brew this now), this is needed.
Lastly it's stats, being a 2/4, is important. Doran has already been mentioned, as well as the numerous 2 power or less matters cards. I currently have him in Sidar + ikra. He gets in via Sidar for his 2 power and gains extra life from ikra and his large butt.
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!
This is a strong ramp commander, but in my experience, it's deceptively difficult to pilot. It's very easy to fall accidentally into a kingmaking position by thinking the 5/5s with death triggers are enough damage to close a game. I highly recommend having Hurricane and Earthquake around to pressure life totals alongside the furious elemental.
Can be built decently even on a very tight budget, at the same time it gets a lot stronger with a bigger budget (Fetches, Crucible, D-Season and others). Isn't overly complicated to maneuver, yet a real beast in the hands of a skillful player.
Bottom line, i'm very happy to have a deck with him. I bought one for less than a buck back in 2015 and i have no idea why he spiked lately.