Starting with this set, all planeswalkers past, present, and future will have the supertype legendary. They will also be subject to the "legend rule." The "planeswalker uniqueness rule" is going away. What does this mean? In short, everything that's true about legendary permanents will now be true about legendary planeswalkers. Also note that this does not mean legendary planeswalkers can be your Commander unless an ability says so.
Under the new rules, if a player controls more than one legendary planeswalker with the same name, that player chooses one and puts the other into their owner's graveyard. This means that if you control Jace, Unraveler of Secrets and cast Jace, Cunning Castaway, both Jaces can exist under your control.
So, no more new planeswalker commanders, but there might be some beastly past/future iteration combos.
That wasn't on the page originally, it seems it was edited in.
Been playing online, don't have the cards in paper to test there yet. Honestly, I can't think of anything that was particularly problematic but that probably just means it needs more testing. Maybe combo kills like scapeshift would be rough depending on how much life I can get from the coursers. I'll try to get more games with my version to figure out what it doesn't do so well against.
Tireless tracker might be worth testing but I think in almost every case I'd rather be casting a Courser.
Abrupt decay is in my sideboard for matchups that Maelstrom Pulse is just too slow but I think there are enough 4+ mana problem permanents that aren't cleanly dealt with through Kcommand and Lightning Bolt to justify Maelstrom Pulse. Almost every threat in Tron, Nahiri, Thought-knot seer, Reality Smasher, Primeval Titan. Plus it can be recast with Goblin Dark-Dwellers, in which case Maelstrom Pulse is strictly better.
I have a couple Thrun in the sideboard for control matchups. Hasn't been relevant so far but he will be at some point
Domri Rade's +1 does miss somewhat often if he's alone but with Courser, Chandra, Duskwatch Recruiter, and shuffle effects I can pretty reliably manipulate the top of the deck to get value from it. And even if I can't, the ult is pretty threatening and demands an answer before he gets there. I've won quite a few games by ulting him and following up with a trample, double strike, hexproof, haste Goblin Dark-Dwellers. That's not to say that something else wouldn't be better but he's certainly been pulling his weight.
Well, I hate to double post but as discussion on this one is at a minimum I'm going to have to.
The Stormbreaths in my list definitely need to go, I don't feel that they have enough impact in the match to justify the 5 mana. Especially when it's competing with Goblin Dark Dwellers in my hand, I'd much rather cast that and reuse Kcommand or maelstrom pulse. Not sure what I want to replace them with, possibly something in the 4 drop slot. Maybe I'll go back to Huntmaster.
The Chandra's have been powerhouses so far. She's picked off many creatures, let me swing through with GDD at critical moments, and provided tons of card advantage. Much more effective than Arlinn was before I switched them.
The abbots I switched out for recruiters. Much better when I need to grind out value and has been really good for changing the top card of the deck for Courser, Chandra, and Domri.
Switched 1 Kcommand and 1 lightning bolt for 2 Terminate. It's been ok so far, not sure whether I want it to be dreadbore instead.
Scavenging Ooze doesn't feel right main deck. I want to switch it for the new Grim Flayer.
I played around with the deck for awhile and this is my current iteration. It still needs some tweaking but this has been pretty solid so far. Seems entirely worth it to splash black for Kcommand and Maelstrom Pulse, reusing either of those with Goblin Dark-Dwellers is too good to pass up.
Test it and see what happens. That's what I've been doing and my list has been giving me good results so far. I'm considering a few changes at the moment, mainly to drop Nahiri to 2 copies to add a 3rd Oath of Gideon back in. She's been great so far, but she's also by far the weakest planeswalker to play alone. The Planar Outbursts have definitely been doing good work for me so far as well. It's one of the best ways to take advantage of using all these planeswalkers, wipe their board but keep the important parts of your own and then start dropping tokens again.
Dropped the number of planeswalkers and wipes, added Sylvan Advocates and an Emeria Shepherd. The Emeria Shepherd is there to give Nahiri's ultimate a target, but I'm not sure if that's the best target. This build has been doing well against some SOI midrange brews so far.
A Super Friends deck that plays red and leaves out Chandra, Flamecaller is not where I want to be. She is the second most powerful card in the format imo and a much better finisher then Avacyn or Dromoka.
You're right, I like that more than Descend Upon the Sinful in my list.
Kevinsera is right, that's going to get run over by aggro. I've been looking at the same kind of deck but I think it needs to be far heavier on removal and board wipes than what you posted. Here's what I came up with earlier this week:
I think running a couple Avacyns and a Linvala in a deck without any other creature threats probably means they're just going to eat removal right away since your opponent isn't going to have anything else to use it on so I'm ditching creature threats entirely to just focus on keeping the board clear instead.
Perhaps also Dark Petition, and then more good reanimation targets. Call the Bloodline seems to be a pretty efficient discard outlet, then the tokens can be turned into other cards with Evolutionary Leap and Vampiric Rites. Sidisi can exploit either the tokens or herself to find Ever After, and then if Sidisi exploited herself or she was sacrificed to Evolutionary Leap or Vampiric Rites she can be reanimated with Ever After. Then she can exploit herself to find the Ever After that just put itself back in the deck which then can be used again next turn to reanimate Sidisi and another target. So far, I'm thinking other good reanimation targets might be Priest of the Blood Rite or Greenwarden of Murasa. Going for a third color could open up even more options.
Stripping control's hand with Duress, Transgress, and Pact has been pretty effective at getting an Aurora to resolve. Clash of Wills barely even counts as a counter because it can generate so much more mana than they can.
Going Great Aurora into a combination of Duress, Despise, and Tasigur's Cruelty is often backbreaking. There's probably parts that could be refined but so far I've had a lot of success testing this.
In testing, a friend and I have been having a lot of success with a GB Aurora/Pact list. Lots of ramp, 6-7 removal spells, a hand destruction package including the pacts, and some Ulamogs and Ugin's to close out the game. Casting Aurora and then picking apart their hand is a pretty effective way to lock your opponent out from casting anything useful. It can remove the pacts with Aurora, Ugin's -, or Ugin's Construct. I can post my version a little later.
That wasn't on the page originally, it seems it was edited in.
And yet the existing planeswalker commanders work just fine with this rule.
Abrupt decay is in my sideboard for matchups that Maelstrom Pulse is just too slow but I think there are enough 4+ mana problem permanents that aren't cleanly dealt with through Kcommand and Lightning Bolt to justify Maelstrom Pulse. Almost every threat in Tron, Nahiri, Thought-knot seer, Reality Smasher, Primeval Titan. Plus it can be recast with Goblin Dark-Dwellers, in which case Maelstrom Pulse is strictly better.
I have a couple Thrun in the sideboard for control matchups. Hasn't been relevant so far but he will be at some point
Domri Rade's +1 does miss somewhat often if he's alone but with Courser, Chandra, Duskwatch Recruiter, and shuffle effects I can pretty reliably manipulate the top of the deck to get value from it. And even if I can't, the ult is pretty threatening and demands an answer before he gets there. I've won quite a few games by ulting him and following up with a trample, double strike, hexproof, haste Goblin Dark-Dwellers. That's not to say that something else wouldn't be better but he's certainly been pulling his weight.
The Stormbreaths in my list definitely need to go, I don't feel that they have enough impact in the match to justify the 5 mana. Especially when it's competing with Goblin Dark Dwellers in my hand, I'd much rather cast that and reuse Kcommand or maelstrom pulse. Not sure what I want to replace them with, possibly something in the 4 drop slot. Maybe I'll go back to Huntmaster.
The Chandra's have been powerhouses so far. She's picked off many creatures, let me swing through with GDD at critical moments, and provided tons of card advantage. Much more effective than Arlinn was before I switched them.
The abbots I switched out for recruiters. Much better when I need to grind out value and has been really good for changing the top card of the deck for Courser, Chandra, and Domri.
Switched 1 Kcommand and 1 lightning bolt for 2 Terminate. It's been ok so far, not sure whether I want it to be dreadbore instead.
Scavenging Ooze doesn't feel right main deck. I want to switch it for the new Grim Flayer.
3x Abbot of Keral Keep
4x Birds of Paradise
4x Courser of Kruphix
3x Eternal Witness
3x Goblin Dark-Dwellers
3x Scavenging Ooze
2x Stormbreath Dragon
4x Kolaghan's Command
4x Lightning Bolt
3x Maelstrom Pulse
Planeswalkers
2x Domri Rade
2x Chandra, Pyromaster
Lands
1x Blood Crypt
4x Bloodstained Mire
3x Forest
3x Mountain
2x Overgrown Tomb
4x Stomping Ground
2x Swamp
4x Wooded Foothills
I played around with the deck for awhile and this is my current iteration. It still needs some tweaking but this has been pretty solid so far. Seems entirely worth it to splash black for Kcommand and Maelstrom Pulse, reusing either of those with Goblin Dark-Dwellers is too good to pass up.
4 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
3 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
3 Arlinn Kord
3 Nahiri, the Harbinger
2 Chandra, Flamecaller
4 Oath of Nissa
2 Oath of Gideon
Wipes/removal (9)
4 Declaration in Stone
3 Planar Outburst
2 Radiant Flames
4 Sylvan Advocate
1 Emeria Shepherd
Dropped the number of planeswalkers and wipes, added Sylvan Advocates and an Emeria Shepherd. The Emeria Shepherd is there to give Nahiri's ultimate a target, but I'm not sure if that's the best target. This build has been doing well against some SOI midrange brews so far.
You're right, I like that more than Descend Upon the Sinful in my list.
4 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
4 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
4 Arlinn Kord
3 Nahiri, the Harbinger
4 Oath of Nissa
3 Oath of Gideon
Wipes/removal (13)
4 Declaration in Stone
4 Planar Outburst
3 Radiant Flames
2 Descend upon the Sinful
I think running a couple Avacyns and a Linvala in a deck without any other creature threats probably means they're just going to eat removal right away since your opponent isn't going to have anything else to use it on so I'm ditching creature threats entirely to just focus on keeping the board clear instead.
Evolutionary Leap/Vampiric Rites
Call the Bloodline
Ever After
Sidisi, Undead Vizier
Perhaps also Dark Petition, and then more good reanimation targets. Call the Bloodline seems to be a pretty efficient discard outlet, then the tokens can be turned into other cards with Evolutionary Leap and Vampiric Rites. Sidisi can exploit either the tokens or herself to find Ever After, and then if Sidisi exploited herself or she was sacrificed to Evolutionary Leap or Vampiric Rites she can be reanimated with Ever After. Then she can exploit herself to find the Ever After that just put itself back in the deck which then can be used again next turn to reanimate Sidisi and another target. So far, I'm thinking other good reanimation targets might be Priest of the Blood Rite or Greenwarden of Murasa. Going for a third color could open up even more options.
2 Blighted Woodland
4 Jungle Hollow
4 Llanowar Wastes
5 Swamp
1 Shrine of the Forsaken Gods
8 Forest
Creatures 4
2 Ugin's Construct
2 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
Enchantments 4
4 Demonic Pact
Sorcery 24
1 Crux of Fate
1 Dark Petition
3 Despise
2 Duress
3 Explosive Vegetation
3 Languish
2 Nissa's Pilgrimage
1 Nissa's Renewal
2 Tasigur's Cruelty
2 The Great Aurora
2 Transgress the Mind
2 Ob Nixilis Reignited
2 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
2 Complete Disregard
2 Display of Dominance
2 Duress
2 Gaea's Revenge
4 Jaddi Offshoot
1 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
2 Virulent Plague
Going Great Aurora into a combination of Duress, Despise, and Tasigur's Cruelty is often backbreaking. There's probably parts that could be refined but so far I've had a lot of success testing this.