Hey there people of MTGSalvation! So after months of hard work on my Etali EDH deck I finally hit that purchase button and I now own the full deck! This should be an exciting thing for me... but in the wake of Core 2019 and the release of a certain Elder Dragon my joy has turned back to contemplation. Vaevictus Asmadi the Dire has my three favorite colors, plays a similar game to Etali and allows me to pursue a sort of lands matter sub theme (which has come up before in my Dune Brood Nephilim deck). I'm now considering going back to the drawing boards entirely and turning my brand new Etali deck into a Vaevictus deck. The way I see it, each commander has it's advantages and disadvantages.
Etali Advantages
Casts spells
Capable of effectively using mana doublers
Takes from everybody at the table
Elder Dinosaur
Vaevictus Asmadi
Jund colors - access to more cards
Commander acts as removal but can set my opponent's up too
Loses mana doublers but gains access to green's ramp
Elder Dragon
Better Name
Etali casting things off the top is incredibly important to my current list. I use it to cast MLD and Eldrazi spells to gain as much power as I can from it. That being said Vaevictus' colors may just be strong enough to warrant not casting things off the top since he has access to more powerful cards in general. Above all of this I can't stop considering the fact that Etali still has a spot in this deck which means my love for him doesn't have to die entirely.
Anyways, I feel like I'm beginning to rant now. With that, what do you all think of this dilemma? Should I make my switch to Vaevictus or do you all think Etali works fine independent of other colors? Please let me know, thank you and have a nice day!
I think it ultimately boils down to what you want from the deck.
Etali strikes me as the more aggressive, proactive deck of the two - especially if you're looking to take advantage of MLD and Eldrazi. With Etali, I'm sure you're mostly focused on your own top card and whatever you take from others is just gravy, really. He's a dino that does flashy nonsense and, something he does have above Vaevictus is he does cast the spells.
Vaevictus on the other hand is more controlling. The old "jund em' out" probably still applies with him and it's attack trigger is harder to utilize, since you don't benefit from it exclusively. If you're not running Lantern of Insight-type effects, you're still Chaos Warping your opponent's best stuff away and (likely) cheating something silly into play. Sadly he doesn't cheat non-permanents and you don't get cast triggers, so MLD could get a bit harder.
I'm a bit torn. I'd like to say that Vaevictus Asmadi, the Dire is better, but he requires a few more hoops to get the most out of. But he is three colors, that opens up new doors by itself. Etali, Primal Storm cheating out MLD and a few opponents spells sounds backbreaking if your deck does that regularly. In either case, you don't have any rush; if you ever get bored of Etali, you can change it into Vaevictus later.
If you were deciding between the two before actually building your first deck, I would suggest going with Vaevictus Asmadi, the Dire. It can do a lot of what you seem to like with Etali, Primal Storm, more colors is generally stronger than mono red, and like you said, it can include Etali in the 99.
However because you already have the deck built and still seem to be enjoying it, my suggestion would be to take the budget you would use for upgrading/altering Etali and simply build a 2nd deck with a completely different commander archetype or colors. Being newer to EDH, I think you'll get more enjoyment out of having more than one deck to play with, especially if you often play multiple games in a session.
I was in the exact situation as you when I began with a single deck and contemplated a commander shift. I realized I would rather have the variety of options. It kept my first deck fresh and fun for longer. Eventually, I did make the switch in that first deck, but only after I had played it out completely and had other decks to rotate.
Etali Advantages
Vaevictus Asmadi
Etali casting things off the top is incredibly important to my current list. I use it to cast MLD and Eldrazi spells to gain as much power as I can from it. That being said Vaevictus' colors may just be strong enough to warrant not casting things off the top since he has access to more powerful cards in general. Above all of this I can't stop considering the fact that Etali still has a spot in this deck which means my love for him doesn't have to die entirely.
Anyways, I feel like I'm beginning to rant now. With that, what do you all think of this dilemma? Should I make my switch to Vaevictus or do you all think Etali works fine independent of other colors? Please let me know, thank you and have a nice day!
Etali strikes me as the more aggressive, proactive deck of the two - especially if you're looking to take advantage of MLD and Eldrazi. With Etali, I'm sure you're mostly focused on your own top card and whatever you take from others is just gravy, really. He's a dino that does flashy nonsense and, something he does have above Vaevictus is he does cast the spells.
Vaevictus on the other hand is more controlling. The old "jund em' out" probably still applies with him and it's attack trigger is harder to utilize, since you don't benefit from it exclusively. If you're not running Lantern of Insight-type effects, you're still Chaos Warping your opponent's best stuff away and (likely) cheating something silly into play. Sadly he doesn't cheat non-permanents and you don't get cast triggers, so MLD could get a bit harder.
I'm a bit torn. I'd like to say that Vaevictus Asmadi, the Dire is better, but he requires a few more hoops to get the most out of. But he is three colors, that opens up new doors by itself. Etali, Primal Storm cheating out MLD and a few opponents spells sounds backbreaking if your deck does that regularly. In either case, you don't have any rush; if you ever get bored of Etali, you can change it into Vaevictus later.
However because you already have the deck built and still seem to be enjoying it, my suggestion would be to take the budget you would use for upgrading/altering Etali and simply build a 2nd deck with a completely different commander archetype or colors. Being newer to EDH, I think you'll get more enjoyment out of having more than one deck to play with, especially if you often play multiple games in a session.
I was in the exact situation as you when I began with a single deck and contemplated a commander shift. I realized I would rather have the variety of options. It kept my first deck fresh and fun for longer. Eventually, I did make the switch in that first deck, but only after I had played it out completely and had other decks to rotate.
You can always make the switch to Vaevictus Asmadi, the Dire down the road.
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