I built Yidris when the Lord Windgrace C18 deck was spoiled. Lord Windgrace just wasn't the lands deck I thought it would be. Adding blue also added Trade Routes and Meloku the Clouded Mirror, great additions for a land theme.
Riku comes in literally two reflections. Spellslinger.dec with or without Storm, or a creature copy/clone/token deck. Both can be fairly strong, but I find that a token strategy is generally more consistent, and less dependant upon Riku: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/riku-mirror-master-2/
So I don't see any of you listing the 2 Odyssey lands skycloud expanse and sungrass prairie like ever.. Are those just strictly budget options.. Or when would you use them?
Also are signets and tailsman always used in your decks as accelerants or are this more budget options and shouldn't be used.
Thanks again
The problem I have with the Odyssey filter lands (Signet lands) is that they require another mana source to tap. If they are your first land, or only untapped mana source, they can not be used.
This is a niche criticism, but with such a variety of dual lands available to 3 colour decks, they don't make the cut for me.
I do slot these lands into my 2 colour decks though, they are still very good.
The number of basic lands you include is really dependent upon your meta.
In general, there are significant advantages for replacing basic lands with an equivalent non-basic that has an upside (e.g. Minamo, School at Water's Edge is just better than an Island).
However, if your deck relies on basic fetch spells (e.g. Cultivate, Kodama's Reach), or if your playgroup plays cards that have you routinely searching for basic lands (e.g. Field of Ruin, Collective Voyage), then you need to have a critical mass of basic lands.
Personally, the instances where I fall behind from a group basic land tutor is so rare amongst my playgroups, I'd rather have fewer basic lands.
My standard 3 colour template (36 lands):
Cavern of Souls
Path of Ancestry
Ancient Tomb
Temple of the False God
Command Tower
Reflecting Pool
Legendary Land (e.g. Minamo)
2x Ramp Lands (e.g. Gaea's Cradle, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx)
2x Protection Lands (e.g. Kor Haven, Yavimaya Hollow)
3x Utility Lands (e.g. Mystifying Maze, Winding Canyons)
3x Fetch Lands
3x Shock Lands
3x Filter Lands
1-2 Mirage Fetch Land(s)
2-3 Bounce Lands
1-2 Bond Land(s)
2-3 Fast Lands
1-2 Bicycle Land(s)
2-3 Check Lands
1+ Basic Lands (Deck Dependent)
But I also include at least 10 sources of mana ramp in my decks. I also prefer fetch spells to find any land, like Sylvan Scrying and Realms Uncharted.
Potential Suggestions:
1. Have everyone build a deck with an interesting shared theme for themed episodes:
|-Bears (2 CMC 2/2s): e.g. Emmara/Hapatra/Karlov/Lavinia
|-Gods (Theros, Ahmonket)
|-Elder Dragons (Old or New)
|-Ravnica Guild Leaders
|-Legendaries from a new set
2. Random deck assignment (or of commanders to build around), playing someone elses deck mixes things up a lot.
3. Utilise variants to mix things up:
|-Planechase
|-Two-headed Giant
|-Star
|-Emperor or similar
I would avoid chaos cards for a livestream tbh, otherwise you may have long stretches of just debating rules or the complex state of the stack. My two cents.
I currently have:
Tokens and dice in a Twin Flip'n'Tray
4 Comp Decks in Boulders inside an Arkhive
5 Casual Decks in Boulders inside a SuperHive (along with playmats etc.)
15 Casual Decks in a CardKingPro "The Spell Box" BBB Storage Case, its essentially a suit case designed for holding cards.
Had I known how good the Legion Garage was I probably would have gotten two of those to hold my 20 casual decks instead of the SuperHive + Storage Case.
Enemy cycles of some of the land cycles they've printed the Allied cycle of would definitely be nice. Especially the fetchable BFZ ones.
This.
We are missing the other half of the cycles of Bond lands, Battle lands, Reveal lands and Bicycle lands. Bicycle would be my #1 for getting the missing half of the cycle.
I have most of the Commander staples now after trading in most of my collection of jank (e.g. fetches, cradle, mana crypt, mana drain).
However, I don't think I'll ever be able to get the ABU duals or Timetwister. Would definitely welcome another non-tournament-legal print of any of these to bolster the casual market.
Incubation Druid is the only Adapt card that I consider remotely viable enough for Commander, and even that is niche. Bloom Tender is better most of the time.
If I ever have to pay the Adapt cost on Incubation Druid instead of using virtually any other more efficient means of gaining a +1/+1 counter, then things are not going well.
The Adapt ability is over-costed for a format swimming in +1/+1 counters and synergies. Some Adapt creatures may be played in niche decks for the synergy of their other abilities or effects with +1/+1 counters, but Adapt itself is just awful.
Teysa Karlov – I really like this card, but I don’t have a deck in the right colors with enough death trigger cards to make use of it. Varina Zombies is the closest with 6 cards with death triggers. Perhaps this gives me an idea for a WRB deck that just focuses on creating death triggers for things like Stalking Vengeance, Vicious Shadows, etc.
Just wanted to add a comment for reconsidering Teysa for Varina. The double death triggers is only half the benefit here. Not only does she double Grave Pact/Dictate of Erebos triggers if you've built for that, but she also gives your zombie tokens lifelink AND vigilance. At 4 cmc her double token buff alone is strong, the double death triggers is a situational extra bonus IMO.
I've tried several angel tribal deck designs, but I keep going back to Avacyn, Angel of Hope. Packed with plenty of artifact ramp to get Avacyn out early, the deck performs suprisingly well considering its mono-white. A life-gain subtheme fuels some additional draw to try and subvert the card advantage weakness of mono-white.
I was really disappointed with the lands-matter deck in Commander 2018, so instead of building the Lord Windgrace Jund deck I intended, I added blue and went with Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder.
No regrets, Yidris is an excellent enabler leading the deck, and adding blue allowed me to add Thrasios, Tatyova, Meloku and Trade Routes. Definitely a less common lands-matter commander option, but very powerful.
I have Varina and Arcades. Both play similar, tribal combined with card advantage.
Varina has a broader variety of builds, ranging between any combination of zombie creature tribal, zombie tokens, card advantage/selection, combo (e.g. Phyrexian Altar + Gravecrawler + any zombie enters/dies trigger), and graveyard manipulation through discard. The disadvantage of Varina (and zombie tribal) is that it isn't very good at dealing with flying. There are ways to mitigate this weakness, but they will dilute the deck without synergising with its strategy. Deck list here: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/varina-zombie-queen/
Arcades has a narrow build, defenders or bust. You can add in some alternative wincons, flicker effects, and ramp, but you don't have much choice on the bulk of the deck. Bant is an arguably more consistent colour combination compared to Esper. Esper is far from "weak" in comparison; however, the benefit of green ramp in our format cannot be understated. I'm also yet to find a natural weakness within Arcades, it doesn't seem to matter what its paired up against, it performs consistently well. Again, that might just be because its Bant. Deck list here: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/arcades-defender-strategist/
I personally do not recommend Gishath, though take that with a grain of salt as I haven't built the deck myself. I've watched it played, and it is another Naya big-creature stomp deck. That can be very boring, but it may suit some players well. No judgement for those that find Gishath fun, just wouldn't be suitable for me.
Recommend Varina if you want more build variety, and Arcades if you want play consistency.
Yisan is a powerful, competitive toolbox commander, but he can be difficult to bring down in power level without compromising synergy.
Yidris has the benefit of versatility. Yidris can support a wide variety of deck strategies, he is generally a good commander. I have him as the commander of my lands deck: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/yidris-maelstrom-landscape/
I built Yidris when the Lord Windgrace C18 deck was spoiled. Lord Windgrace just wasn't the lands deck I thought it would be. Adding blue also added Trade Routes and Meloku the Clouded Mirror, great additions for a land theme.
Riku comes in literally two reflections. Spellslinger.dec with or without Storm, or a creature copy/clone/token deck. Both can be fairly strong, but I find that a token strategy is generally more consistent, and less dependant upon Riku: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/riku-mirror-master-2/
You don't appear to be playing any blue, you could look at changing things up with a The Locust God or Brago, King Eternal deck. Personally, my favourite blue commander is Braids, Conjurer Adept. She plays a "group hug" but not really strategy, where you gain significantly more benefit from her ability than your opponents do: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/braids-dreamer-of-reality/
I've also just built a Prime Speaker Vannifar deck that I really really enjoy; however, she is also building a reputation for power and combo etc. She will likely have Zur level notoriety soon: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/pod-speaker-vannifar-3/
The problem I have with the Odyssey filter lands (Signet lands) is that they require another mana source to tap. If they are your first land, or only untapped mana source, they can not be used.
This is a niche criticism, but with such a variety of dual lands available to 3 colour decks, they don't make the cut for me.
I do slot these lands into my 2 colour decks though, they are still very good.
In general, there are significant advantages for replacing basic lands with an equivalent non-basic that has an upside (e.g. Minamo, School at Water's Edge is just better than an Island).
However, if your deck relies on basic fetch spells (e.g. Cultivate, Kodama's Reach), or if your playgroup plays cards that have you routinely searching for basic lands (e.g. Field of Ruin, Collective Voyage), then you need to have a critical mass of basic lands.
Personally, the instances where I fall behind from a group basic land tutor is so rare amongst my playgroups, I'd rather have fewer basic lands.
My standard 3 colour template (36 lands):
Cavern of Souls
Path of Ancestry
Ancient Tomb
Temple of the False God
Command Tower
Reflecting Pool
Legendary Land (e.g. Minamo)
2x Ramp Lands (e.g. Gaea's Cradle, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx)
2x Protection Lands (e.g. Kor Haven, Yavimaya Hollow)
3x Utility Lands (e.g. Mystifying Maze, Winding Canyons)
3x Fetch Lands
3x Shock Lands
3x Filter Lands
1-2 Mirage Fetch Land(s)
2-3 Bounce Lands
1-2 Bond Land(s)
2-3 Fast Lands
1-2 Bicycle Land(s)
2-3 Check Lands
1+ Basic Lands (Deck Dependent)
But I also include at least 10 sources of mana ramp in my decks. I also prefer fetch spells to find any land, like Sylvan Scrying and Realms Uncharted.
1. Have everyone build a deck with an interesting shared theme for themed episodes:
|-Bears (2 CMC 2/2s): e.g. Emmara/Hapatra/Karlov/Lavinia
|-Gods (Theros, Ahmonket)
|-Elder Dragons (Old or New)
|-Ravnica Guild Leaders
|-Legendaries from a new set
2. Random deck assignment (or of commanders to build around), playing someone elses deck mixes things up a lot.
3. Utilise variants to mix things up:
|-Planechase
|-Two-headed Giant
|-Star
|-Emperor or similar
I would avoid chaos cards for a livestream tbh, otherwise you may have long stretches of just debating rules or the complex state of the stack. My two cents.
Tokens and dice in a Twin Flip'n'Tray
4 Comp Decks in Boulders inside an Arkhive
5 Casual Decks in Boulders inside a SuperHive (along with playmats etc.)
15 Casual Decks in a CardKingPro "The Spell Box" BBB Storage Case, its essentially a suit case designed for holding cards.
Had I known how good the Legion Garage was I probably would have gotten two of those to hold my 20 casual decks instead of the SuperHive + Storage Case.
This.
We are missing the other half of the cycles of Bond lands, Battle lands, Reveal lands and Bicycle lands. Bicycle would be my #1 for getting the missing half of the cycle.
However, I don't think I'll ever be able to get the ABU duals or Timetwister. Would definitely welcome another non-tournament-legal print of any of these to bolster the casual market.
If I ever have to pay the Adapt cost on Incubation Druid instead of using virtually any other more efficient means of gaining a +1/+1 counter, then things are not going well.
The Adapt ability is over-costed for a format swimming in +1/+1 counters and synergies. Some Adapt creatures may be played in niche decks for the synergy of their other abilities or effects with +1/+1 counters, but Adapt itself is just awful.
Just wanted to add a comment for reconsidering Teysa for Varina. The double death triggers is only half the benefit here. Not only does she double Grave Pact/Dictate of Erebos triggers if you've built for that, but she also gives your zombie tokens lifelink AND vigilance. At 4 cmc her double token buff alone is strong, the double death triggers is a situational extra bonus IMO.
Runner-up is probably Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder, a land themed deck I built but adding blue to a previously disappointing Jund land deck.
No regrets, Yidris is an excellent enabler leading the deck, and adding blue allowed me to add Thrasios, Tatyova, Meloku and Trade Routes. Definitely a less common lands-matter commander option, but very powerful.
Decklist: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/yidris-maelstrom-landscape/
Varina has a broader variety of builds, ranging between any combination of zombie creature tribal, zombie tokens, card advantage/selection, combo (e.g. Phyrexian Altar + Gravecrawler + any zombie enters/dies trigger), and graveyard manipulation through discard. The disadvantage of Varina (and zombie tribal) is that it isn't very good at dealing with flying. There are ways to mitigate this weakness, but they will dilute the deck without synergising with its strategy. Deck list here: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/varina-zombie-queen/
Arcades has a narrow build, defenders or bust. You can add in some alternative wincons, flicker effects, and ramp, but you don't have much choice on the bulk of the deck. Bant is an arguably more consistent colour combination compared to Esper. Esper is far from "weak" in comparison; however, the benefit of green ramp in our format cannot be understated. I'm also yet to find a natural weakness within Arcades, it doesn't seem to matter what its paired up against, it performs consistently well. Again, that might just be because its Bant. Deck list here: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/arcades-defender-strategist/
I personally do not recommend Gishath, though take that with a grain of salt as I haven't built the deck myself. I've watched it played, and it is another Naya big-creature stomp deck. That can be very boring, but it may suit some players well. No judgement for those that find Gishath fun, just wouldn't be suitable for me.
Recommend Varina if you want more build variety, and Arcades if you want play consistency.