So I haven't been able to play much for....probably 3 months or so at this point. May end up downsizing the collection at some point soon. Playgroup just lost a lot of interest. Happens. So I figure if I could, I'd like to make one last commander deck. Maybe to take to a LGS sometime, but not cutthroat or anything. Down to two options as the 3rd pairing for my Drana vamp tribal and Sigarda human tribal decks - Alesha or Feldon.
Basically I'd just like some fun shenanigans out of the graveyard. Have built Alesha before and enjoyed her, but always felt like I was missing a constant theme for it. Feldon always seemed fun too, but haven't ever fiddled with artifacts much.
Just looking for a little feedback if anyone would feel up to throwing out some advice or suggestions. Thanks folks!
A friend of mine has a similar Sea Monster style deck with Thassa at the helm. While I understand the desire to play with the shiny new cards, it's merfolk that's been expanded into green, not sea monsters. If you want to stay on theme, who better to lead the Sea Monsters than Posei.. I mean Thassa The fact that she as a card tremendously helps your deck get the proper cardflow to set it up helps too.
If you want too play UG Merfolk though, why not make that a new, separate deck?
I tend to agree with Ertai here on staying consistent in blue. They should know. They started as a blue legend! But if you're really wanting to add green and branch out a bit, your best bet is probably Zegana as mentioned above. She'll synergize the most with the theme, as she can enter when you have even just 1 beastie out, draw you cards to refill the hand and be big enough herself. Technically, if you're a fan of Lovecraft at all, having a merfolk can be a thematic nod to sea monsters as Lovecraft has a story or two around cults that worshipped the old ones from the sea. In the Shadow over Innsmouth, ( which clearly helped inspire Shadows over Innistrad) the cult even had fishlike appearances. Could work thematically from that angle, if green is where you want to go.
well you want to go big with Sunbird's invocation and Selvala you could go with Radha, heir to keld, she is cheap and small but provides mana to ramp you up, Alternatively I would suggest Stonebrow, Krosan Hero There are plenty of Tramplers in both Red and Green or Heck with it...Old Classic time Stangg
Hmmmmm....few older options there that could be worth the look; thanks for the suggestions! Stangg for flavor could be neat....
It probably depends heavily on the specific meta, but my Xenagod hydras are a fun tribal where I piled in disruption cards and hydras. Very simple, very reliable. It does what it does with very little worry of off-kilter play. Just depends on whether someone's packing a deck that can get around things fast enough. Another fun one would be a value town creature-based Ruric Thar, the Unbowed.
I've been intrigued by the Hydra decks for awhile - saw a lot of people suggesting that theme for Selvala 2.0, which makes a great deal of sense. If I didn't have such a desire to test out the new Sunbird's Invocation and get a little Red going again, I might have just gone for a mono-green deck. Anything the deck does specifically that keeps it pretty consistent for you?
Ruric Thar has swapped in and out with Xenagod as the head of my werewolf deck, so I love that dumb beststick. Hopefully he'll be a nice addition to this deck in whatever form it takes.
Given afforementioned options and your goal of being aggressive in combat, I think it would be worth considering how you plan to draw cards and deal with inevitable board wipes. After you have your route chosen, which commander to use will be a bit clearer.
I think I like the idea of Yasova or Samut, personally, even mostly ignoring the third colors they bring.
Is the deck going to have recursion? How much ramp are you going to run? What is the critical amount of beefy bodies you'll need to kill people reliably? Is this a Craterhoof Behemoth deck?
Hmmm...all good questions! Ideally, the deck would mostly just rebuild after a board wipe via card advantage. Thinking cards like Lifecrafter's Bestiary to keep the hand full and options available. Ramp would depend on the top-end density, I would suppose. Craterhoof would be nice, if I had one. :/ I love the Overrun type effects though (Kamahl, Fist of Krosa is one of my favorite win-cons in Sigarda), so with or without hoof I'd like to have a similar effect or two available to seal the deal if needed.
Buddy runs Bolt in his Gisela deck, where it can obviously do more than just 3. I feel like if you're running red or some color combo that just needs efficient removal for dorks or utility creatures, bolt can still be fine.
As for mental misstep, I think counters need a bit more "oomph" in this format, and it answers a narrower subset of cards than bolt or other counters, so i can't see myself running it.
Pretty straightforward question, I'd hope. Feeling really good with where my Mono-Black Vampire midrange deck and Green White Hunan tribal deck are sitting right now, but despite both being solid, I'm still craving that feeling of being the aggressor that can just beat you down if you don't stop me. The old-fashioned Gruul "turn dudes sideways, MUSH" strategy. My werewolf deck is constantly tinkering with being that, but I'm trying to get something a bit more.....consistent and powerful, I guess. Plus I have a sweet foil Selvala, Heart of the Wilds and Sunbird's Invocation that I would love to get some proper use out of.
Problem is, I'm afraid to just do Xenagos, God of Revels or Prosh, Skyraider of Kher when I feel I've seen each more or less solved. So anyone have something else they've brewed or had fun with along the aggro-lines? Don't mind going 3 colors in any capacity, but 4 colors I just always feel iffy on. Just looking for something to ignite the aggro passion a bit. At least until werewolves get a little more viable.
Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer felt way too linear for me, even with an attempted sub-theme of Mirrodin Pure. Seems like he'd be fine in the 99, but not enough there to keep me invested as the head of the deck.
Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder I could never finish a deck for. When spoiled, he seemed so up my ally. Randomness of cascade leads to different gameplays and lines of interactions, and his ogre typing would allow for many a bad puns from me during play, but I couldn't ever narrow the deck to a certain focus. Too much was available, and it just always looked like a goodstuff pile, which isn't my thing. So he just never found a home in my stable
Decided to go Tolsimir for a few reasons: one, only legendary wolf in the game. White wolf needs his ghost, so that was issue 1. I dedfinitely agree on the pragmatism, but I feel Jon also can be stubbornly honorable like Ned at points and not expect his enemies to fight underhanded, like Ramsay or Thorne. He rushes into things sometimes because he's so focused on the task at hand he doesn't stop to plan, which sounds more white than blue to me. The dense of duty and community tend to fit right in line with Selesnya, although I'd definitely be open to other thoughts.
Great suggestions on Aemon and the impending hour of promise. Yeah, the oath is definitely one of those moments I haven't found the right match for. I might have to check out the old Exodus cycle as I'm not familiar off of the top of my head. Thanks for the great input, friend!
In mono-black, it's fairly easy to ramp up your mana via cabal coffers and other shenanigans. Which led once to my Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief feasting on the turn after my dragon-playing friend went ham with Utvara Hellkite out. As it turns out, letting Drana suck dry 4 dragon blockers for 32 mana and turning her into a 28/4 flying general causes some concern for other players.
Even at her worst, Drana being able to snipe the small role-players like Mentors of the Meek or Bastion Protectors every turn she's out is incredibly useful.
I think, you should add a huge wall to the deck to represent The Wall. Dazzling Ramparts seems to fit the bill. Maybe build a Snow Fortress or similar as stand in for Castle Black.
How about Thraben Doomsayer? Could stand for Sam, and it fits the token theme.
I like those suggestions quite a bit. Was figuring I'd need some sort of wall in there, and I like the Doomsayer for Sam, especially given the current season. Any suggestions for a possible Longclaw? Haven't found an equipment I like for the role yet.
Karma. Like they always say, why play mono-black, when you could not?
Also humility and overwhelming splendor are stupidly annoying cards to either my Drana or Avacyn decks. Or most any deck anyone plays. They're just soooo annoying. I play creatures to use their effects and stats; not so I can just have a 1/1. Ugh...
Hello again friends of the forums. I've been mulling over different ways to branch out my love of wolves in Magic beyond my 60-card kitchen table werewolf deck and my always-being-fiddled-with-because-their-flip-trigger-is-super-limiting werewolf EDH deck. For the moment at least, one deck is solved and the other is what it is. So growing ever more a fan over the past 2 years of the show, I wondered if I could extend my love of the direwolf-sigiled House Stark from Game of Thrones over into the realm of Magic. At the same time, maybe I could take a break from werewolves and focus on just regular old wolves and wolf tokens instead. And so here I am.
The idea for the deck is to have Tolsimir Wolfblood serve as my Jon Snow stand-in. Like the former Lord Commander and King in the North, Tolsimir does his best to support the greater good and fights for his people, in this case by boosting GW creatures. In addition, Tolsimir brings a wolf companion Voja into battle, as Jon brings his direwolf Ghost along as well. Flavor seems sound enough from there to start. It would be great if Tolsimir came with one ability, say vigilance or first strike, but eh, close enough. He puts out the only legendary wolf in the game and boosts the team. Plus something is going to have to be my Longclaw, so I'll find some sort of sword to give him a boost.
So if anyone happens to be a fan of the show, wolf token decks or just has some advice on how to bring the show theme and token theme together, I'd really appreciate the help and insight. As always, thanks in advance everyone!
I'll never not recommend my girl Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief. She acts as a consistent threat-remover, can buff herself, and allows either vampire tribal, reanimation or whatever you feel. Maybe not the most unique in her effects, but for flavor, flexibility and if you just enjoy good old-fashioned removal, she can't be beat.
Glad to have you back after a few months, Ashiok, and well done on another great story! I can't claim to be all too familiar with Lorwyn's lore - which is ironic due to how Irish my family is, but it was years before I joined the game - but from what little I know of the story and characters, all of the characters, locations and the ecosystem-focus of the story felt perfectly at home for the world. As others have said, great work on that as well as creating a story of conflict to fit within the more whimsical aspects of Lorwyn and the existing canon of the plane.
I really enjoyed how you worked in the different locations and tribes into the story, as well as the depiction of the primal beyond. It felt perfectly in-flavor and was quite enjoyable to read based on how unique it felt, as well as the evocative images you gave those sections. I really felt like the location descriptions in this piece were some of the better ones you've had so far, and I love to see those in your stories.
If I had to suggest anything, it might just be to tweak the dialogue a bit. Overall what was being said felt right, but it felt a bit.....robotic, I guess for lack of a better term. Not to say it was by any means bad. If I had to describe my issue, it simply felt a lot was said that was similar amongst varying speakers. Developing a bit of a unique tone or voice for the key characters would be great, but I also understand that's far from an easy thing to do, and the dialogue was still very effective here. It's just that I can clearly remember Gisa's tone and voice from her story, whereas I felt Doran could may e have stood to be a bit more stoic in his speech.
But I'm also just a dialogue dork, so pay me no mind. I in no way meant that to be overly-critical, and I always love your works. Just trying to offer some feedback, as the rest of the story was excellent. Can't wait for the next one!
Basically I'd just like some fun shenanigans out of the graveyard. Have built Alesha before and enjoyed her, but always felt like I was missing a constant theme for it. Feldon always seemed fun too, but haven't ever fiddled with artifacts much.
Just looking for a little feedback if anyone would feel up to throwing out some advice or suggestions. Thanks folks!
I tend to agree with Ertai here on staying consistent in blue. They should know. They started as a blue legend! But if you're really wanting to add green and branch out a bit, your best bet is probably Zegana as mentioned above. She'll synergize the most with the theme, as she can enter when you have even just 1 beastie out, draw you cards to refill the hand and be big enough herself. Technically, if you're a fan of Lovecraft at all, having a merfolk can be a thematic nod to sea monsters as Lovecraft has a story or two around cults that worshipped the old ones from the sea. In the Shadow over Innsmouth, ( which clearly helped inspire Shadows over Innistrad) the cult even had fishlike appearances. Could work thematically from that angle, if green is where you want to go.
Hmmmmm....few older options there that could be worth the look; thanks for the suggestions! Stangg for flavor could be neat....
I've been intrigued by the Hydra decks for awhile - saw a lot of people suggesting that theme for Selvala 2.0, which makes a great deal of sense. If I didn't have such a desire to test out the new Sunbird's Invocation and get a little Red going again, I might have just gone for a mono-green deck. Anything the deck does specifically that keeps it pretty consistent for you?
Ruric Thar has swapped in and out with Xenagod as the head of my werewolf deck, so I love that dumb beststick. Hopefully he'll be a nice addition to this deck in whatever form it takes.
Hmmm...all good questions! Ideally, the deck would mostly just rebuild after a board wipe via card advantage. Thinking cards like Lifecrafter's Bestiary to keep the hand full and options available. Ramp would depend on the top-end density, I would suppose. Craterhoof would be nice, if I had one. :/ I love the Overrun type effects though (Kamahl, Fist of Krosa is one of my favorite win-cons in Sigarda), so with or without hoof I'd like to have a similar effect or two available to seal the deal if needed.
As for mental misstep, I think counters need a bit more "oomph" in this format, and it answers a narrower subset of cards than bolt or other counters, so i can't see myself running it.
Problem is, I'm afraid to just do Xenagos, God of Revels or Prosh, Skyraider of Kher when I feel I've seen each more or less solved. So anyone have something else they've brewed or had fun with along the aggro-lines? Don't mind going 3 colors in any capacity, but 4 colors I just always feel iffy on. Just looking for something to ignite the aggro passion a bit. At least until werewolves get a little more viable.
Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder I could never finish a deck for. When spoiled, he seemed so up my ally. Randomness of cascade leads to different gameplays and lines of interactions, and his ogre typing would allow for many a bad puns from me during play, but I couldn't ever narrow the deck to a certain focus. Too much was available, and it just always looked like a goodstuff pile, which isn't my thing. So he just never found a home in my stable
Decided to go Tolsimir for a few reasons: one, only legendary wolf in the game. White wolf needs his ghost, so that was issue 1. I dedfinitely agree on the pragmatism, but I feel Jon also can be stubbornly honorable like Ned at points and not expect his enemies to fight underhanded, like Ramsay or Thorne. He rushes into things sometimes because he's so focused on the task at hand he doesn't stop to plan, which sounds more white than blue to me. The dense of duty and community tend to fit right in line with Selesnya, although I'd definitely be open to other thoughts.
Great suggestions on Aemon and the impending hour of promise. Yeah, the oath is definitely one of those moments I haven't found the right match for. I might have to check out the old Exodus cycle as I'm not familiar off of the top of my head. Thanks for the great input, friend!
Even at her worst, Drana being able to snipe the small role-players like Mentors of the Meek or Bastion Protectors every turn she's out is incredibly useful.
I like those suggestions quite a bit. Was figuring I'd need some sort of wall in there, and I like the Doomsayer for Sam, especially given the current season. Any suggestions for a possible Longclaw? Haven't found an equipment I like for the role yet.
Also humility and overwhelming splendor are stupidly annoying cards to either my Drana or Avacyn decks. Or most any deck anyone plays. They're just soooo annoying. I play creatures to use their effects and stats; not so I can just have a 1/1. Ugh...
The idea for the deck is to have Tolsimir Wolfblood serve as my Jon Snow stand-in. Like the former Lord Commander and King in the North, Tolsimir does his best to support the greater good and fights for his people, in this case by boosting GW creatures. In addition, Tolsimir brings a wolf companion Voja into battle, as Jon brings his direwolf Ghost along as well. Flavor seems sound enough from there to start. It would be great if Tolsimir came with one ability, say vigilance or first strike, but eh, close enough. He puts out the only legendary wolf in the game and boosts the team. Plus something is going to have to be my Longclaw, so I'll find some sort of sword to give him a boost.
Anyways, as most Tolsimir decks go, the plan is to go wife as often as possible. Get the token generators for wolves and soldiers on-board, bring the direwolves and Night's Watch to the fight, get Tolsimir Snow out and swing the army. Already going for the snow-covered lands for flavor, and figured Garruk Wildspeaker or Garruk, Caller of Beasts could serve as my Tormund while Odric, Lunarch Marshal could be my Davos. Along with cards like Kjeldoran Outpost, Mobilization, Captain of the Watch, Howl of the Night Pack, Master of the Wild Hunt, Raised by Wolves and Cathars' Crusade, I think I have a solid basis to build from.
So if anyone happens to be a fan of the show, wolf token decks or just has some advice on how to bring the show theme and token theme together, I'd really appreciate the help and insight. As always, thanks in advance everyone!
I really enjoyed how you worked in the different locations and tribes into the story, as well as the depiction of the primal beyond. It felt perfectly in-flavor and was quite enjoyable to read based on how unique it felt, as well as the evocative images you gave those sections. I really felt like the location descriptions in this piece were some of the better ones you've had so far, and I love to see those in your stories.
If I had to suggest anything, it might just be to tweak the dialogue a bit. Overall what was being said felt right, but it felt a bit.....robotic, I guess for lack of a better term. Not to say it was by any means bad. If I had to describe my issue, it simply felt a lot was said that was similar amongst varying speakers. Developing a bit of a unique tone or voice for the key characters would be great, but I also understand that's far from an easy thing to do, and the dialogue was still very effective here. It's just that I can clearly remember Gisa's tone and voice from her story, whereas I felt Doran could may e have stood to be a bit more stoic in his speech.
But I'm also just a dialogue dork, so pay me no mind. I in no way meant that to be overly-critical, and I always love your works. Just trying to offer some feedback, as the rest of the story was excellent. Can't wait for the next one!