Yeah, not much to say about Shelly other than she's pretty damn solid. To be fair though, I really commonly find that she gets pinged before my turn swings back around.
Honestly, I'm a little bummed at Omnath. Cool that it's celebrating Pride month going for rainbow status and all, but it's easily it's weakest iteration. Not without it's charm, but not something I want to build around.
Sac outlet not mentioned above - slightly janky but doesn’t combo and could be of use: Vampiric Rites. Not as strong as Evolutionary Leap, but could still be of use. Or, if you need more ‘gain life equal to toughness’ there’s Disciple of Griselbrand or Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim. That last could be savage here if you find yourself with incidental mana to spare.
Also, just wondering, you run Value Hulk, have you considered Woodland Bellower? Sort of a mini Hulk for board presence, and it looks like there’s a few pieces currently in your build it could grab. Not sure how clutch they are, but Bellower does great things in my Nissa build. You could even grab it by popping Hulk and grab an extra 3 or less critter - if you run Saffi too, you could get your Hulk back and pop it again without going full combo.
Also, just wondering - considering this is a pretty grindy build, have you considered adding a few control pieces to slow your opposing boardstates a little? Thalia, Heretic Cathar is a card I bang on about all the time, it comes down at the right time to do what it does. Dragonlord Dromoka could give you some mid to late game breathing space too - being as they’re critters you shouldn’t have any problems keeping them around either.
Obviously take all this with a grain of salt as I’ve never run Karador.
Hey, I got a nod in this one! Thanks WizardMN Thread looks great, and would easily hit primer status should you wish to in the future, either here or in the promised land.
I've looked at building Karador in the past, but he's damn hard to track down these days. This looks like a lot of fun to play. As we've noted from my previous deck discussions, I do love a grindy deck that uses the yard, so this would be one I would enjoy playing. For now, I don't really have any suggestions, other than that I really do love a deck that uses strong cards without giving in to infinite combos. Fine if you want to, but it's not my jam and I just won't*.
*tStorm's Zedruu, and by extension my budget bastardised version get a pass because you've never seen combo so janky or convoluted.
can only speak for myself, but I was equally annoyed with muldrotha when it was spoiled. It's seems like so many new legends require next to nothing to be enormous threats. I much preferred when most commanders required a lot of thought and clever deckbuilding to be great. Which has been less and less important since...probably since the precons started tbh.
Generally I agree, but there's a fair few Timmies about, and that's ok - I like a mix of decks in my box, some of them are Timmy, some mid rangey, some just weird jank. This one is mostly a Timmy commander for sure.
Most of the precons have been reasonable, but every year there's been at least one or two that are busted as hell. There's definitely been a trend of more of these in the last few years, and it feels like it's really quite common with recent releases - to be fair though, that could just be the sheer number of releases we're getting these days. It seems like we're inundated - 3 new products in as many months, with precons out in 6-8 weeks is a little crazy imo.
I agree, but the question was asked, so people explained further.
I don't like Muldrotha either, but she could easily be dealt with via graveyard hate, which most EDH decks have some these days, compare to Yarok where it copies automatically and there are less ways to counter a spell or a trigger. Oh, Yarok is also cheaper to cast, with combat keywords that'd keep you and your PW safer.
Well, yeah. Torpor Orb et al are things too, though. I dunno, of the two Muldrotha seems less original and inventive to me, for that specific wedge anyway. Sultai has done Graveyardinteractions before, and better in both cases to my mind. I'm not bothered; I think it's reasonable but by no means overpowered, and seems fun but obviously not all that inventive. It's fine, for me, just....nothing supremely amazing like what we saw with Modern Horizons in Yawg and Urza.
It's strange though, I don't remember this sort of critique when Muldrotha, the Gravetide was spoiled, and to be fair it hits the same level of 'mundane commander' feels. And it's easily one of the most built commanders in my meta, both online and locally - has been since spoiling. I just internally groan when I see it now. I guess it just seems like we're judging Yarok on a different scale to Muldrotha, and all that's changed is a year has passed.
I don't care either way, personally. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and entitled to build a deck the way they want to. If you don't like it, don't play it.
Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord makes me wish I could find the edgar percon deck for a decent price lol..Now I'm glade I picked up an amulet of vigor as well
As someone who owns the precon and currently runs Edgar, I'm honestly not that stoked to run the new Sorin. Edgar works best with as many bargain basement cheap vampires as possible with some combat evasion and efficient draw - by this standard, Knight of the Ebon Legion is a lock for the deck. That's...pretty much it. It's very good at what it does, but it's also very much a one trick pony. If you're after a vampire themed with more style or traditional Stoker-esque gothic feel and vibe to it, I'd 100% go for Olivia Voldaren instead.
Yeah, Yarok, the Desecrated isn’t the most imaginative legend ever, but still seems fun enough without having one really obvious build path. If I can grab a copy I might give it a whirl, as I’ve never really built Sultai and I’m not overly crazy about the existing generals in the wedge.
New green Leyline seems cool without being a lock in every green deck ever. Seems made for Rishkar, Peema Renegade. Nice to see a reprint of scry lands too. Not the most sought after dual lands obviously, but handy nonetheless.
Fair enough! I guess it just comes across that way in a summary article because there are so many guilds to track through ~1-2 pages of information. I always thought the nephilim would play more of a part, too, considering how unique they are.
Thanks so much Jay. This is the last bit of lore I've really wanted to know for a while. Teferi being one of my favourite characters and wanting to know more about the Mending and 'modern Bolas', this was a great read, and well timed coming into Dominaria.
Great article. Long but not unnecessarily. I can pretty well agree with the conclusion too. My first thought was Leshrac, but not knowing a HUGE amount of older lore (I started playing at a young age), Leshrac seems unlikely. Lim-Dul fits the bill. It would be a great twist at some point too.
What are the odds the reveal happens in the upcoming Dominaria set next year? Fingers crossed.
WOW. That's nuts.
Go for maximum irony and name it The Colonel.
Also, just wondering, you run Value Hulk, have you considered Woodland Bellower? Sort of a mini Hulk for board presence, and it looks like there’s a few pieces currently in your build it could grab. Not sure how clutch they are, but Bellower does great things in my Nissa build. You could even grab it by popping Hulk and grab an extra 3 or less critter - if you run Saffi too, you could get your Hulk back and pop it again without going full combo.
Also, just wondering - considering this is a pretty grindy build, have you considered adding a few control pieces to slow your opposing boardstates a little? Thalia, Heretic Cathar is a card I bang on about all the time, it comes down at the right time to do what it does. Dragonlord Dromoka could give you some mid to late game breathing space too - being as they’re critters you shouldn’t have any problems keeping them around either.
Obviously take all this with a grain of salt as I’ve never run Karador.
I've looked at building Karador in the past, but he's damn hard to track down these days. This looks like a lot of fun to play. As we've noted from my previous deck discussions, I do love a grindy deck that uses the yard, so this would be one I would enjoy playing. For now, I don't really have any suggestions, other than that I really do love a deck that uses strong cards without giving in to infinite combos. Fine if you want to, but it's not my jam and I just won't*.
*tStorm's Zedruu, and by extension my budget bastardised version get a pass because you've never seen combo so janky or convoluted.
Generally I agree, but there's a fair few Timmies about, and that's ok - I like a mix of decks in my box, some of them are Timmy, some mid rangey, some just weird jank. This one is mostly a Timmy commander for sure.
Most of the precons have been reasonable, but every year there's been at least one or two that are busted as hell. There's definitely been a trend of more of these in the last few years, and it feels like it's really quite common with recent releases - to be fair though, that could just be the sheer number of releases we're getting these days. It seems like we're inundated - 3 new products in as many months, with precons out in 6-8 weeks is a little crazy imo.
Well, yeah. Torpor Orb et al are things too, though. I dunno, of the two Muldrotha seems less original and inventive to me, for that specific wedge anyway. Sultai has done Graveyard interactions before, and better in both cases to my mind. I'm not bothered; I think it's reasonable but by no means overpowered, and seems fun but obviously not all that inventive. It's fine, for me, just....nothing supremely amazing like what we saw with Modern Horizons in Yawg and Urza.
I don't care either way, personally. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and entitled to build a deck the way they want to. If you don't like it, don't play it.
As someone who owns the precon and currently runs Edgar, I'm honestly not that stoked to run the new Sorin. Edgar works best with as many bargain basement cheap vampires as possible with some combat evasion and efficient draw - by this standard, Knight of the Ebon Legion is a lock for the deck. That's...pretty much it. It's very good at what it does, but it's also very much a one trick pony. If you're after a vampire themed with more style or traditional Stoker-esque gothic feel and vibe to it, I'd 100% go for Olivia Voldaren instead.
New green Leyline seems cool without being a lock in every green deck ever. Seems made for Rishkar, Peema Renegade. Nice to see a reprint of scry lands too. Not the most sought after dual lands obviously, but handy nonetheless.