The advantage of Salvage Slasher is mostly that if the deck runs out of gas, it is still relevant. Glaze Fiend needs gas to work. That being said, the non-bo with Drafna's Restoration is big enough that Fiend is the better option. We have no evasion or protection options for Salvage Slasher anyway.
I am not sold on Lotus Petal, especially in any build with Trinket Mages or Faithless Lootings. 3 mana is still a fair bit, and if our Sculptors fail to stick, mana will be needed over multiple turns. I agree that it is worth considering though.
Golem Foundry is a great idea for the slower, grindier matchups. It's not fast enough to be relevant against Stompy or Burn (then again, is this deck?), though, so it probably earns its place in the sideboard rather than maindeck. Faithless Lootingis powerful, but the problem really is space. I would really want to have 18+ eggs, 15+ lands. Perhaps eating into the wincons is the correct way to go - with the amount of eggs we are bound to draw into them pretty fast. Something like.
The 4th blast in the side is an easy substitution for the Nihil Spellbomb against many of the more aggressive decks that need not rely on their graveyard. Foundries are strong against anything that lets us play to turns 6 and up, though Dinrova Horror easily resets it. Smash to Smithereens is just a strong card overall, but if Faithless Lootings are being played, there is certainly a case to be made for Ancient Grudge. It might be a stretch if playing online and using Frantic Salvage unless you adjust the manabase though. Only 12 of the eggs played actually filter mana at the moment.
My mind must have totally blanked on the Glint-Nest. For some reason I thought it was a common all along. I even sleeved some up without noticing!
Trinket Mage costs 1 more and does the job better. I'll probably go +1 Firebrand Archer, +2 Trinket Mage. Should probably start thinking about finetuning some singletons for the mage to find, though. At least a one-of Nihil Spellbomb seems like an obligatory inclusion. Alternatively, Galvanic Blast is always an option with the artifact count and general gameplan. I originally planned on including some, but steered away from them precisely because I wanted a high artifact count for Glint-Nest Crane. A Terrarion or two wouldn't hurt, either. The deck really has a lot of cards competing for that space.
Drafna's Restoration might be the tougher exclusion. It feels like a strong option for getting gas. Casting it with a sculptor and any of the other creatures on board allows for chains of considerable damage. It does form a non-bo with Salvage Slasher, though, so increasing the count of those might make sense if the Restoration is cut. Implement of Examination, perhaps. It draws the same as Courier's Capsule, but is better if you manage to land multiple Etherium Sculptors. That being said, I would not feel bad replacing with Galvanic Blasts if you felt you were falling short by just a few points or getting swarmed by dudes.
Any ideas? The current list is mostly aiming to be fairly fast, hence the low land count. 15 is low, but the deck does have 26 cards that dig for more, so it should be okay. It might be reasonable to go slower and have the silver bullets for Trinket Mage instead.
I think a life-focused approach is a solid plan not only because it enables our new draw spell, but because it is also a solid plan versus a variety of matchups.
With that in mind, I think the 1-drop Martyr of Sands is excellent, especially with a control gameplan, which makes me believe it would be relevant almost throughout the entire game.
It is more likely just a case of necessity. It enables our only draw spell, and apart from Glint Hawk, Palace Sentinel and Thraben Instructor shenanigans, largely our only card advantage source. The problem is that we essentially end up running some odd hybrid between Hawkblade and Kuldotha boros, except with our lifegain plan we are not running quite as much business as either.
As for removal of threats, I think Faith's Fetters is a cool idea, but might be a bit clunky. 2-of at most, I would guess.
Otherwise, I'm very happy running both Sunlance and Journey to Nowhere. Journey especially seems like a staple in all White decks.
I would probably run 1 Faith's Fetters main and two more in the side. I do not want to get stuck with multiple in a format with Kuldotha Boros and their Kor Skyfishers. On the other hand, Fetters is reasonable against the large threats of Affinity (Gearseeker Serpent, Atog, Myr Enforcer), Delvers (Gurmag Angler, Sultai Scavenger), the main black board wipers (Pestilence and Crypt Rats), and considerably better than most other removal against burn. I am not sure if it is too slow against Stompy, but it does shut down Rancor when it lands.
Likewise, I do not think Sunlance is maindeckable much for the same reason. You could convince me otherwise if we had access to card selection in the form of Brainstorm or Faithless Looting. This depends a lot on the meta, though - if you keep facing stompy, Lance is great. It is a dead card against Bogles and Kuldotha boros, and mediocre at best against Dinrova Tron.
As such, 4x .Journey is probably the right call. I am still partial to Hobble, and feel it at least merits testing.
==========
Some notes.
- Kor Skyfisher can bounce Fetters or Hobble if needed.
- We need some form of grave hate in the sideboard. Dealing with Deep Analysis that goes 4-for-1 and/or Death Denied shenanigans does not seem like a great way to spend an evening. This is worse in paper, as your opponents have access to Disturbed Burial.
Since the goal is to stay at a fairly high life total for Survival Cache, it seems odd to not include Faith's Fetters. 4 life is nothing to sneeze at. Unlike exile-creature-effects, it also shuts down Rancor. I would consider supplementing it with Hobble. Yes, it's also slow, but it does provide rather reliable card advantage.
Rest for the Weary is probably not maindeckable. Yes, it is great in some matchups, but at the same time it is straight up card disadvantage, and I do not think this deck can afford that even with Survival Cache and Palace Sentinels. The latter is also debatable - it will be hard to stay as the monarch in quite a few matchups against aggressive decks, and dropping a 2 mana 2/4 definitely does not help. In a meta where Delver and Kuldotha Boros are top contenders and everyone and their mother is playing Vault Skirge, I would most likely either play sentinels in the sideboard or commit more to dealing with fliers. Either way, Lone Missionary seems a superior inclusion in the main 60 to Rest for the Weary, and so does Aven Riftwatcher. If the goal is to simply generate a lot of life, Martyr of Sands ought to be superior in monowhite context.
Some amount of artifact/enchantment hate could be mainboarded. Even burn runs Curse of the Pierced Heart, so Delver decks seem like the only matchup where it would be a dead investment. That being said, Faith's Fetters deals with equipment and Pestilence pretty well, so it might not be necessary.
Either Standard Bearer and/or Coalition Honor Guard should be considered in the 75. They single-handedly wreck certain strategies and are a considerable hindrance against others.
==========
Overall, I do not know if monowhite will be reliable enough. Black splash gives Pestilence, Crypt Rats, and those combo well with Guardian of the Guildpact and Wall of Hope, while taking care of the largest problem white control decks have in the format - lack of access to reliable sweepers. White has plenty of stall, but no real way to establish board control against swarm decks. Cards like Gossamer Chains can be used to force overcommitment, but not punish it. Blue splash on the other hand gives access to Mulldrifter, which is of course one of the best pauper creatures, and it can be further combined wit Angelic Renewal and the ilk.
Derp Zone: Just putting out thoughts.
- Glittering Lynx blocks like a champ. It will eat more mana from the opponent than it cost, making it relatively efficient roadbump against blockable ground dudes. Not too much of those around, though.
- Reinforcements. Is there any efficient way to exploit this in pauper? Surging Sentinels does not look like a keeper, and Enlistment Officer is unfortunately an uncommon.
- Leonin Squire generates card advantage for relatively cheap.
- Prismatic Strands and/or Orim's Cure are effective ways to deal with burn, or to protect our creatures.
- Runes might be maindeckable, depending on the meta, thanks to their cyclability.
- Mistmoon Griffin is probably the most exploitable white creature overall.
- White really would like to recur artifacts, with Remember the Fallen and Sanctum Gargoyle.
- Or auras. Ironclad Slayer, Heliod's Pilgrim, Monk Idealist, Totem-Guide Hartebeest.
- Desperate Sentry is considerable value if Delirium was achievable.
So, what all information is shared between Twitch and Curse now that the accounts are merged? Does Curse, for instance, have access to my purchase or viewing history on Twitch or what?
Perilous Research vs Costly Plunder is not as straightforward as it seems, as Perilous Research allows your opponent to respond to it by killing the permanent you wanted to sacrifice themselves, and forcing you to sacrifice something else - quite likely a land - instead. Costly Plunder also allows you to sacrifice a creature with dredge, and then use the card draws to dredge it back, milling quite effectively. This does not work with Perilous Research.
Ritual of Rejuvenation is not particularly exciting by itself, but combined with Survival Cache being degraded to common, I can see some kind of white stall deck taking place.
Sailor of Means is quite respectable, really. Not quite a blue Nest Invader, but it does colourfix at least, and the stats allow it to block a fair amount of ground dudes if needed.
The advantage of Penumbra Spider is that it is a good card by itself. It essentially generates 4/8 worth of stats for four mana. Renowned Weaver is essentially a 1 mana 1/1 or a 3 mana 1/3 reach, and Ambush is a 3/3 with flash and a flashback too expensive to ever be realistic.
As far as just reachers go, Hidden Spider is a sideboard candidate, although sadly it doesn't generate tokens.
Enrage creatures, such as Sun-Crowned Hunters and Ravenous Daggertooth combine hilariously well with Pestilence and Crypt Rats. The former enrager in particular will almost certainly end the game in conjunction with either one. We will almost certainly get some more common cards with the keyword, as well.
I'm like 15 drafts and a lot of sealed deck into my cube with Ultra Pros and I have to replace 20 or so after each draft now. Part of that is that I've got some insane shufflers in my group, and part of it is that the regular Ultra Pro Mattes are awful sleeves.
If so, I have either been extremely lucky with mine or the quality has dropped recently. I bought a bunch around 6 years ago, mostly used in EDH. Hundreds - if not thousands of games - combined with idle shuffling whenever a deck happens to be nearby as I attempt to do schoolwork, and I have barely had to replace few individual copies. My Zur deck hasn't had a torn sleeve to date. This being EDH with fetchlands and tutors and whatnot, these decks also get shuffled a lot each game. Genuinely less than 20 total.
I would chalk this down to shuffling. FWIW, I shuffle with the cards aligned - bottom of the card in the closed end of the sleeve and pushing closed end to the side of the deck - and do not rifle shuffle. This much should be common sense, as rifle shuffling damages cards even when they are sleeved and trying to stick the open end of sleeves against each other roughly equates to sleeve genocide.
And yet players, at least according to the Rules Committee, do not feel as though being unable to afford an Imperial Seal is a barrier to entering the Commander format. As such, the Rules Committee has not banned Imperial Seal. Imperial Seal's "worthiness" of being played is completely irrelevant here. If Storm Crow was expensive, inaccessible, and players felt as though they needed to own the card in order to play, that would be banned under the perceived barrier to entry criteria as well. On the flip side, if the Moxen were as ubiquitous as Sol Ring, they would almost certainly be legal.
So, the criteria is based on what some random dudes believe some other random dudes they have never met are feeling.
I maintain my claim on absurdity. This is, amongst other problems.
A: Self-sustaining and prone to confirmation bias, as people who would feel Imperial Seal's cost is a barrier to entry are not playing the format and as such, are not complaining about the decisions. B: Necessarily down to trivially small sample sizes, limited to the local playgroups of whoever makes the decisions and the vocal minority online. C: Not testable or verifiable with a reasonable amount of resources. D: Open to biases and opinions by the people making the decisions. E: Reliant on the assumption of omniscience by the people making the decisions. F: Driven by factors such as relative scarcity of the cards - players are less likely to complain about Bazaar of Baghdad being absolutely dumb in anything running dredge since they have never seen one in the flesh to begin with. This is like saying "It can be rare, powerful, and expensive - as long as it is rare and expensive enough!"
I get it now - I understand what it is - But I genuinely find myself scratching my head and trying to figure out who thought this criteria was a good idea in the first place. That is, I really do not understand the merit of a guideline or criteria that is so easily manipulated and unverifiable as this one.
Like Axotol said, this just doesn't sound like the format for you.
So, if the number one casual format at all kitchen tables isn't for me, and I do not have time nor interest to attend the few rare non-standard tournaments that happen in the entire country, maybe MtG just isn't for me?
[quote]So, at the logical conclusion we just keep Limited Resources because Commander players like lands, eh?
Stopping the game at 2-3 lands seems like a great idea! Hope you have enough rocks to actually play Magic!
If all the regular Moxes and Black Lotus would be unbanned, you can bet that everyone would be running so much artifact mana that they didn't even need lands.
LOL goddamn that's funny. Yeah, everyone would be running Moxen and Black Lotus, because everyone will shell out $10,000 on their mana bases, just to play a casual format. Oh, and that's if you can actually find them, *****s rare yo.
In case people are still missing the point, unbanning the entire P9 was what the article we were discussing was advocating. All I really said was "Yeah, might as well get rid of the entire banlist then. Except Limited Resources, that is!". In retrospect, I should have said exactly that instead of making the sarcasm easy to miss.
However, being legal, people unfamiliar with the format would see the power 9 being legal in the format and assume its out of their reach, just like they do with Vintage.
Yes, we all know that they aren't necessary to play in the format , but if the whole argument is "perceived" barrier to "entry" (which applies more to new and potentially new players), doesn't it ironically make it more sensible that at least the duals go away because the a combination of the attention of the Reserved List and to Color Identity help greatly in the "perception" that they are necessary (regardless of whether they actually are or not).
Remember, you have the RC's authority to tweak the ban criteria as you see fit, they encourage house-rules. If you feel like your particular group is overpowered/underpowered based on the current banlist, make a change. I promise that the EDH police won't come and arrest you.
And if I play with varied groups? If I do not know the players at the table, I run the risk of either having a game that I cannot win (or cannot even interact with in a meaningful manner) if I pick a casual deck, a game which I would trivially win with a competitive deck, or just something that ends up pressing table-flip level berserk buttons. The problem isn't much better in areas with little players of the format, where the 5 regulars are unlikely to agree on the power level and discussions frequently run down to stupid arguments of "on what turn is it okay to win, then?" or "just don't be a dick". If anything, lack of tiers that could be more easily agreed upon has a severely fragmenting effect on the Commander playerbase in these regions. I've seen more than a few playgroups split because of this, where if an officially acknowledged "tier 4" banlist existed that could be agreed upon - and optimized for by the more competitive players - could have kept the players having fun together.
Further, house rules are obviously subjective, often end up promoting certain strategies massively over others, and rarely are comprehensive enough to actually address the problem instead of addressing a symptom of the problem. I have seen tables that ban Armageddon but not Ravages of War, for example, and tables with a blanket ban on land destruction can still get Solitaired by Dagsson or Jeleva. Saying "just do something else instead then" is also just a lazy excuse to avoid responsibility while clutching to the power to enforce a standard banlist in the first place.
For all the philosophical togetherness mumbo-jumbo the Commander site and forum are full off, there is seriously little effort put into making that happen.
I don't see how the Perceived Barrier to Entry criteria is absurd. The Rules Committee wants players to feel as though Commander is an accessible format.
It is obviously not enforced in any meaningful manner. Original duals are $250+/pop - this alone ensures that 3+ color decks are going to run near $1k. Timetwister is, for whatever reason, legal. Mana Drain is legal, Jace, the Mind Sculptor is legal, Mana Crypt is legal, Gaea's Cradle[/card ] is legal, Candelabra of Tawnos is legal, Bazaar of bleeping Baghdad is legal. The list goes on: Ravages of War, Moat, Mishra's Workshop, Imperial Seal.. Many of these cards are not as obnoxious to the casual player as Tabernacle is, but the list of reasons to not run Imperial Seal in any black deck is exclusively limited to "I cannot afford it." - and it is more expensive than Mox Pearl for instance.
So, being expensive is obviously okay, as long as it's "fun" as well, or something. Except apparently The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale is more fun than Mox Opal by this logic. Really, think about it - by your own words:
Taxing effects like Tabernacle are understandably unpopular with the Commander audience, and while it may be in players' best strategic interests to play with such cards, that isn't what Commander is about.
Tabernacle is less fun and more expensive than Mox Opal. There are two reasons to ban Tabernacle over Opal, yet the reverse banning is in place. The argument is like "Players shouldn't ruin everyone else's fun, unless they want to and can afford it." Even the argument of "try to make game most fun for most people" genuinely fails to address this.
And this part of the criteria genuinely is absurd:
It has to be high priced, be iconic and a near-auto-include in any deck that could run them.
Also they never banned a card for that aspect since the original release of the banlist have they?
As argued, many more decks should run Tabernacle. Every black deck should run Imperial Seal. Iconic is just some subjective mumbo-jumbo, but apparently Timetwister as a part of P9 is not iconic enough.
Have you ever considered that Commander might not actually be a format for you?
No, since I am capable of not conflating format rules and players. What I would like to be able to do:
A: Sit down at a table of strangers playing Commander, and with a quick question, decide what power level of deck to play.
B: Be able to have sustainable Commander playgroups where players with varied interests can come together and enjoy as a group*.
*Without constant arguments about what should be banned, in regions where the playerbase isn't large enough to support multiple playgroups.
I am not sold on Lotus Petal, especially in any build with Trinket Mages or Faithless Lootings. 3 mana is still a fair bit, and if our Sculptors fail to stick, mana will be needed over multiple turns. I agree that it is worth considering though.
Golem Foundry is a great idea for the slower, grindier matchups. It's not fast enough to be relevant against Stompy or Burn (then again, is this deck?), though, so it probably earns its place in the sideboard rather than maindeck. Faithless Lootingis powerful, but the problem really is space. I would really want to have 18+ eggs, 15+ lands. Perhaps eating into the wincons is the correct way to go - with the amount of eggs we are bound to draw into them pretty fast. Something like.
4x Disciple of the Vault
1x Firebrand Archer
4x Reckless Fireweaver
4x Etherium Sculptor
1x Glaze Fiend
2x Trinket Mage
Eggs (19):
4x Chromatic Star
4x Chromatic Sphere
4x Barbed Sextant
4x Conjurer's Bauble
2x Pyrite Spellbomb
1x Nihil Spellbomb
3x Drafna's Restoration
3x Galvanic Blast
4x Thoughtcast
Lands (15):
4x Seat of the Synod
4x Great Furnace
4x Vault of Whispers
1x Mountain
1x Island
1x Swamp
4x Smash to Smithereens
3x Golem Foundry
1x Galvanic Blast
The 4th blast in the side is an easy substitution for the Nihil Spellbomb against many of the more aggressive decks that need not rely on their graveyard. Foundries are strong against anything that lets us play to turns 6 and up, though Dinrova Horror easily resets it. Smash to Smithereens is just a strong card overall, but if Faithless Lootings are being played, there is certainly a case to be made for Ancient Grudge. It might be a stretch if playing online and using Frantic Salvage unless you adjust the manabase though. Only 12 of the eggs played actually filter mana at the moment.
Trinket Mage costs 1 more and does the job better. I'll probably go +1 Firebrand Archer, +2 Trinket Mage. Should probably start thinking about finetuning some singletons for the mage to find, though. At least a one-of Nihil Spellbomb seems like an obligatory inclusion. Alternatively, Galvanic Blast is always an option with the artifact count and general gameplan. I originally planned on including some, but steered away from them precisely because I wanted a high artifact count for Glint-Nest Crane. A Terrarion or two wouldn't hurt, either. The deck really has a lot of cards competing for that space.
Drafna's Restoration might be the tougher exclusion. It feels like a strong option for getting gas. Casting it with a sculptor and any of the other creatures on board allows for chains of considerable damage. It does form a non-bo with Salvage Slasher, though, so increasing the count of those might make sense if the Restoration is cut. Implement of Examination, perhaps. It draws the same as Courier's Capsule, but is better if you manage to land multiple Etherium Sculptors. That being said, I would not feel bad replacing with Galvanic Blasts if you felt you were falling short by just a few points or getting swarmed by dudes.
There's also Courier's Capsule, Implement of Examination and/or Metalspinner's Puzzleknot if we need to refill, and pretty much any of the implement cycle, the first spellbomb cycle or the second spellbomb cycle can be used for utility. In addition, both Trinket Mage and Leonin Squire essentially replace themselves. Then again, Glint-Nest Crane is probably better since it's cheaper.
The icing on the cake? Drafna's Restoration. Yes, let's chain some eggs again.
4x Disciple of the Vault
3x Firebrand Archer
4x Reckless Fireweaver
4x Etherium Sculptor
3x Glint-Nest Crane
1x Salvage Slasher
4x Chromatic Star
4x Chromatic Sphere
4x Barbed Sextant
4x Conjurer's Bauble
3x Pyrite Spellbomb
Spells (7):
3x Drafna's Restoration
4x Thoughtcast
4x Seat of the Synod
4x Great Furnace
4x Vault of Whispers
1x Mountain
1x Island
1x Swamp
Any ideas? The current list is mostly aiming to be fairly fast, hence the low land count. 15 is low, but the deck does have 26 cards that dig for more, so it should be okay. It might be reasonable to go slower and have the silver bullets for Trinket Mage instead.
It is more likely just a case of necessity. It enables our only draw spell, and apart from Glint Hawk, Palace Sentinel and Thraben Instructor shenanigans, largely our only card advantage source. The problem is that we essentially end up running some odd hybrid between Hawkblade and Kuldotha boros, except with our lifegain plan we are not running quite as much business as either.
With Squadron Hawks and the 2/3 flying soldier bros it is much more reasonable than the decklist in the OP.
I would probably run 1 Faith's Fetters main and two more in the side. I do not want to get stuck with multiple in a format with Kuldotha Boros and their Kor Skyfishers. On the other hand, Fetters is reasonable against the large threats of Affinity (Gearseeker Serpent, Atog, Myr Enforcer), Delvers (Gurmag Angler, Sultai Scavenger), the main black board wipers (Pestilence and Crypt Rats), and considerably better than most other removal against burn. I am not sure if it is too slow against Stompy, but it does shut down Rancor when it lands.
Likewise, I do not think Sunlance is maindeckable much for the same reason. You could convince me otherwise if we had access to card selection in the form of Brainstorm or Faithless Looting. This depends a lot on the meta, though - if you keep facing stompy, Lance is great. It is a dead card against Bogles and Kuldotha boros, and mediocre at best against Dinrova Tron.
As such, 4x .Journey is probably the right call. I am still partial to Hobble, and feel it at least merits testing.
==========
Some notes.
- Kor Skyfisher can bounce Fetters or Hobble if needed.
- We need some form of grave hate in the sideboard. Dealing with Deep Analysis that goes 4-for-1 and/or Death Denied shenanigans does not seem like a great way to spend an evening. This is worse in paper, as your opponents have access to Disturbed Burial.
Rest for the Weary is probably not maindeckable. Yes, it is great in some matchups, but at the same time it is straight up card disadvantage, and I do not think this deck can afford that even with Survival Cache and Palace Sentinels. The latter is also debatable - it will be hard to stay as the monarch in quite a few matchups against aggressive decks, and dropping a 2 mana 2/4 definitely does not help. In a meta where Delver and Kuldotha Boros are top contenders and everyone and their mother is playing Vault Skirge, I would most likely either play sentinels in the sideboard or commit more to dealing with fliers. Either way, Lone Missionary seems a superior inclusion in the main 60 to Rest for the Weary, and so does Aven Riftwatcher. If the goal is to simply generate a lot of life, Martyr of Sands ought to be superior in monowhite context.
Some amount of artifact/enchantment hate could be mainboarded. Even burn runs Curse of the Pierced Heart, so Delver decks seem like the only matchup where it would be a dead investment. That being said, Faith's Fetters deals with equipment and Pestilence pretty well, so it might not be necessary.
Either Standard Bearer and/or Coalition Honor Guard should be considered in the 75. They single-handedly wreck certain strategies and are a considerable hindrance against others.
==========
Overall, I do not know if monowhite will be reliable enough. Black splash gives Pestilence, Crypt Rats, and those combo well with Guardian of the Guildpact and Wall of Hope, while taking care of the largest problem white control decks have in the format - lack of access to reliable sweepers. White has plenty of stall, but no real way to establish board control against swarm decks. Cards like Gossamer Chains can be used to force overcommitment, but not punish it. Blue splash on the other hand gives access to Mulldrifter, which is of course one of the best pauper creatures, and it can be further combined wit Angelic Renewal and the ilk.
==========
I did consider white tron with Rhystic Circle, Dawnglare Invoker, and Starlight Invoker briefly, but it does seem too slow and unreliable.
==========
EDIT: Have rebels been tested/considered by anyone? Aven Riftwatcher and Bound in Silence are both pauper-legal, so Ramosian Lieutenant, Defiant Falcon, and Amrou Scout can all generate considerable value over time. Children of Korlis, Nightwing Glider and Thermal Glider are tolerable singletons. If the game can be stalled long enough, this might win it.
==========
Derp Zone: Just putting out thoughts.
- Glittering Lynx blocks like a champ. It will eat more mana from the opponent than it cost, making it relatively efficient roadbump against blockable ground dudes. Not too much of those around, though.
- Reinforcements. Is there any efficient way to exploit this in pauper? Surging Sentinels does not look like a keeper, and Enlistment Officer is unfortunately an uncommon.
- Leonin Squire generates card advantage for relatively cheap.
- Prismatic Strands and/or Orim's Cure are effective ways to deal with burn, or to protect our creatures.
- Runes might be maindeckable, depending on the meta, thanks to their cyclability.
- Mistmoon Griffin is probably the most exploitable white creature overall.
- White really would like to recur artifacts, with Remember the Fallen and Sanctum Gargoyle.
- Or auras. Ironclad Slayer, Heliod's Pilgrim, Monk Idealist, Totem-Guide Hartebeest.
- Desperate Sentry is considerable value if Delirium was achievable.
Sailor of Means is quite respectable, really. Not quite a blue Nest Invader, but it does colourfix at least, and the stats allow it to block a fair amount of ground dudes if needed.
Costly Blunder is a powerful engine with things like Ichor Wellspring or Chromatic Star.
Dual Shot kills weenies pretty well, and it's cheap.
Ixalli's Diviner is one of the potentially playable explorers. Sort of pauper friendly, Wall of Blossoms. Tishana's Wayfarer is another, though 3/3 for 3 is not particularly impressive.
Dragon theme pushed with at least a few cards, and Compass is a reasonable mana rock, but nothing particularly exciting.
As far as just reachers go, Hidden Spider is a sideboard candidate, although sadly it doesn't generate tokens.
If so, I have either been extremely lucky with mine or the quality has dropped recently. I bought a bunch around 6 years ago, mostly used in EDH. Hundreds - if not thousands of games - combined with idle shuffling whenever a deck happens to be nearby as I attempt to do schoolwork, and I have barely had to replace few individual copies. My Zur deck hasn't had a torn sleeve to date. This being EDH with fetchlands and tutors and whatnot, these decks also get shuffled a lot each game. Genuinely less than 20 total.
I would chalk this down to shuffling. FWIW, I shuffle with the cards aligned - bottom of the card in the closed end of the sleeve and pushing closed end to the side of the deck - and do not rifle shuffle. This much should be common sense, as rifle shuffling damages cards even when they are sleeved and trying to stick the open end of sleeves against each other roughly equates to sleeve genocide.
Apparently.
So, the criteria is based on what some random dudes believe some other random dudes they have never met are feeling.
I maintain my claim on absurdity. This is, amongst other problems.
A: Self-sustaining and prone to confirmation bias, as people who would feel Imperial Seal's cost is a barrier to entry are not playing the format and as such, are not complaining about the decisions.
B: Necessarily down to trivially small sample sizes, limited to the local playgroups of whoever makes the decisions and the vocal minority online.
C: Not testable or verifiable with a reasonable amount of resources.
D: Open to biases and opinions by the people making the decisions.
E: Reliant on the assumption of omniscience by the people making the decisions.
F: Driven by factors such as relative scarcity of the cards - players are less likely to complain about Bazaar of Baghdad being absolutely dumb in anything running dredge since they have never seen one in the flesh to begin with. This is like saying "It can be rare, powerful, and expensive - as long as it is rare and expensive enough!"
I get it now - I understand what it is - But I genuinely find myself scratching my head and trying to figure out who thought this criteria was a good idea in the first place. That is, I really do not understand the merit of a guideline or criteria that is so easily manipulated and unverifiable as this one.
So, if the number one casual format at all kitchen tables isn't for me, and I do not have time nor interest to attend the few rare non-standard tournaments that happen in the entire country, maybe MtG just isn't for me?
In case people are still missing the point, unbanning the entire P9 was what the article we were discussing was advocating. All I really said was "Yeah, might as well get rid of the entire banlist then. Except Limited Resources, that is!". In retrospect, I should have said exactly that instead of making the sarcasm easy to miss.
Timetwister is P9 and legal.
This would make much more sense to me. Banning the original duals, alongside Ravages of War, Imperial Seal, The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale, Timetwister, Bazaar of Baghdad, etc.
So, did you actually have a counterargument or do you just enjoy acting condescendingly towards people you disagree with and hoping they go away?
And if I play with varied groups? If I do not know the players at the table, I run the risk of either having a game that I cannot win (or cannot even interact with in a meaningful manner) if I pick a casual deck, a game which I would trivially win with a competitive deck, or just something that ends up pressing table-flip level berserk buttons. The problem isn't much better in areas with little players of the format, where the 5 regulars are unlikely to agree on the power level and discussions frequently run down to stupid arguments of "on what turn is it okay to win, then?" or "just don't be a dick". If anything, lack of tiers that could be more easily agreed upon has a severely fragmenting effect on the Commander playerbase in these regions. I've seen more than a few playgroups split because of this, where if an officially acknowledged "tier 4" banlist existed that could be agreed upon - and optimized for by the more competitive players - could have kept the players having fun together.
Further, house rules are obviously subjective, often end up promoting certain strategies massively over others, and rarely are comprehensive enough to actually address the problem instead of addressing a symptom of the problem. I have seen tables that ban Armageddon but not Ravages of War, for example, and tables with a blanket ban on land destruction can still get Solitaired by Dagsson or Jeleva. Saying "just do something else instead then" is also just a lazy excuse to avoid responsibility while clutching to the power to enforce a standard banlist in the first place.
For all the philosophical togetherness mumbo-jumbo the Commander site and forum are full off, there is seriously little effort put into making that happen.
Tiered banlists are regularly used in Pokemon.
It is obviously not enforced in any meaningful manner. Original duals are $250+/pop - this alone ensures that 3+ color decks are going to run near $1k. Timetwister is, for whatever reason, legal. Mana Drain is legal, Jace, the Mind Sculptor is legal, Mana Crypt is legal, Gaea's Cradle[/card ] is legal, Candelabra of Tawnos is legal, Bazaar of bleeping Baghdad is legal. The list goes on: Ravages of War, Moat, Mishra's Workshop, Imperial Seal.. Many of these cards are not as obnoxious to the casual player as Tabernacle is, but the list of reasons to not run Imperial Seal in any black deck is exclusively limited to "I cannot afford it." - and it is more expensive than Mox Pearl for instance.
So, being expensive is obviously okay, as long as it's "fun" as well, or something. Except apparently The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale is more fun than Mox Opal by this logic. Really, think about it - by your own words:
Tabernacle is less fun and more expensive than Mox Opal. There are two reasons to ban Tabernacle over Opal, yet the reverse banning is in place. The argument is like "Players shouldn't ruin everyone else's fun, unless they want to and can afford it." Even the argument of "try to make game most fun for most people" genuinely fails to address this.
And this part of the criteria genuinely is absurd:
As argued, many more decks should run Tabernacle. Every black deck should run Imperial Seal. Iconic is just some subjective mumbo-jumbo, but apparently Timetwister as a part of P9 is not iconic enough.
No, since I am capable of not conflating format rules and players. What I would like to be able to do:
A: Sit down at a table of strangers playing Commander, and with a quick question, decide what power level of deck to play.
B: Be able to have sustainable Commander playgroups where players with varied interests can come together and enjoy as a group*.
*Without constant arguments about what should be banned, in regions where the playerbase isn't large enough to support multiple playgroups.