- toctheyounger77
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Member for 7 years, 6 months, and 7 days
Last active Mon, May, 17 2021 19:48:38
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Jun 10, 2018toctheyounger77 posted a message on Ravnica: The Living GuildpactThe next core set is purported to be set on Tarkir, so the Sarkhan/Ugin thing might be a possibility.Posted in: Articles
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May 21, 2018toctheyounger77 posted a message on Ravnica: The Broken GuildpactFair 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.Posted in: Articles
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May 21, 2018toctheyounger77 posted a message on Ravnica: The Broken GuildpactMan, that was convoluted as hell.Posted in: Articles
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Feb 27, 2018toctheyounger77 posted a message on Time Spiral and the MendingThanks 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.Posted in: Articles
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Sep 27, 2017toctheyounger77 posted a message on Who is the Raven Man?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.Posted in: Articles
What are the odds the reveal happens in the upcoming Dominaria set next year? Fingers crossed. - To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Ah, I see. My bad.
I'm definitely not tied to replacing Silverheart with another creature. Two of the biggest things this deck struggles with is problematic emblems (there's an atraxa superfriends deck that Nissa struggles with), and early game stalls. Essentially, I could feasibly swap out for a mana dork like Sakura-Tribe Elder or Ondu Giant, or a big epic board-changing spell like The Great Aurora. Flavourfully, I'm sorely tempted by TGA - I'm just not sure if it's something that would help this deck or not.
Gatherer. It sounds obvious, but if there's a specific mechanic you're after, or a specific trigger, or a specific clause on a card, there is no database better.
Sheldon Menery does a commander review for each new set. It's a generalized overview tailored towards Commander, going over some of the highlights, upcoming staples, flavour wins, and general good cards. Usually its a week before the set drops, but the articles are googlable. They're pretty good. Far from exhaustive, and Sheldon does from time to time pick cards to highlight that he will build around, skipping over others that might be useful, but generally its a decent resource.
If it's an existing commander, often my best area of brewing is right here in the commander decklist database. You get a good feel for how people play, what cards fit where and the primers often include set updates as they're released.
I agree with both of these assessments at the same time - any need decks to be well built to win games - synergy is combo's oft-forgotten brother, and either way it's the use of advantage that is leveraged by each - be it turn by turn in large increments, or in one fell swoop. If you can't generate more than one card's worth of value from most of the cards you play you will struggle to win.
I feel like the guy in the losing situation in this scenario had 18 turns of opportunity to make something stick, and getting sour about not having an answer this late in the game is unfair. There is no deck that has no flaws or weaknesses, so every deck should have some sort of answer, and there's no complaining about the colours you run, because they're available in every one.
I'd be interested to see it, of course! And your friend sounds familiar - currently I have 15, and the amount of legendaries in the upcoming standard set is just obscene. I'm going to be hard pressed not to build again.
I'm pleased to hear you've got some options for your playgroups - it sounds like a bad crowd you were playing with - I'm no woman, but if I were the subject of 'this is why you don't play magic with women' I'd have punched the guy in the dick and never returned. I hope it all works out well, don't let a few bad experiences spoil what can be a ton of fun.
To be clear, I don't think we're talking about levels of competitiveness here, I think we're talking about people who just have the wrong sort of goals in mind for their gaming experience. Ideally, you want a group of people who want everyone to have fun, with winning being a secondary goal. What you have right now sounds like a bunch of jerks who aren't interested in anyone else's experience and are quite willing to upset people to win a game. In a format thats meant to be social primarily, that's not healthy or productive.
Here's what I think you should do. Try playing with a different group, dip your toes in it for a couple games and see if there's a tangible difference. If it's the same, or if you don't enjoy yourself, go back to the original group and play. If not, you've lost absolutely nothing but some bad experiences you never need to think about again.
There should be plenty of ways to find another meta - Facebook, putting the word out at your LGS (my guy is really good - he actively deters ********s from coming into the shop), existing friends...there's bound to be a group out there.
a. I'm not someone who uses combo in a big way, I try to go for more 'overall synergy'. But I have no problem with it in theory. If a deck is tuned to combo out t3/4 I'm not interested. If it's a 'just in case' way to win the game that isn't consistently and reliably available each and every game, I'm happy.
b. Absolutely not. Some games just drag on, and they need to end. Your meta may vary, but there's something really frustrating about sitting in a game no one can win.
c. Control isn't easy. In most decks/metas/cases, anyway. You really need to know your deck well, know your meta well, and know when you have space to make your move. I don't consider t3/4 combo decks to be control. That's a different beast. Also, I don't think every control deck runs combo, nor does every combo deck run control.
d. Well, sure, that's kind of the essence of combo. Unless you're stretching out with a 4 card combo, most of the usual combos do come out of nowhere - you have neither component on board, all of a sudden both are there, you win. At that time in the game though, you can hardly complain, which seems to be the point you were driving at. I think you're fine.
The way I get round this is to have 2 of each token I produce in a deck - one for tapped, one for untapped. I make it as clear as I can how the numbers change during combat phases, and haven't had complaints so far. There aren't many situations this solution can't work around.
It's not that this isn't good, it's just that I've never really had anywhere specific to use it. I just feel like there's better sac outlets and better ways to nuke creatures. That's just me though, I could be underselling this.
I've been seeing Glissa in LGSes for the last half a dozen years and being intrigued by her. The art is awesome, she looks deadly and alluring at the same time, Chris Rahn is an incredible painter. I've also always recognised that the card itself is strong. For GGB you get a first striking deathtoucher, with bonuses when stuff dies? She's great value.
The problem was always being busy building other decks, and not knowing what I wanted to do with her. Part of that is that she's a commander that doesn't have an immediately clear build path; she could support combo, voltron with equipment, artifact creatures, reanimation, stax, or a mishmash of the above. In all honesty, I've struggled with this here and there - being able to do so much makes it a lot harder to decide what I want to do. That has changed from time to time, but I believe the build I currently run is something that I'm very much happy with in terms of enjoying the way it plays.
Since picking her up I've tried two differing builds; the first was a specific artifact/eggs recursion build, and it was a little inconsistent and durdly (the list is still below, but doesn't represent an existing deck). It was fun enough, but struggled to achieve anything before being walked over.
The build I've moved towards now is a more dedicated Birthing Pod build. With this in mind, every creature inclusion is fit to curve and establishes its place with either value on board or a solid ETB trigger, or both. There's a certain degree of resilience built into the deck, in terms of being able to recur artifacts and creatures while still building presence. I'm not entirely convinced that it's perfect, but what deck ever is? At any rate, the deck is an evolving beast, and I've very much enjoyed building it, playtesting it and tweaking it.
As with all of my builds I'm always interested in improvements, increasing synergies and plays I haven't thought of or thought through, so I very much encourage feedback.
Birthing Pod list
3 Glissa, the Traitor
Creatures
0 Hangarback Walker
1 Deathrite Shaman
2 Myr Retriever
2 Sakura-Tribe Elder
2 Scavenging Ooze
3 Eternal Witness
3 Filigree Familiar
3 Fleshbag Marauder
3 Scarecrone
3 Scrap Trawler
3 Sylvok Replica
3 Wood Elves
4 Meren of Clan Nel Toth
4 Phyrexian Obliterator
4 Pitiless Plunderer
4 Ravenous Chupacabra
4 Solemn Simulacrum
5 Lord of Extinction
5 Massacre Girl
5 Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest
5 Sidisi, Undead Vizier
5 Verdurous Gearhulk
6 Duplicant
6 Grave Titan
6 Marionette Master
6 Noxious Gearhulk
6 Wurmcoil Engine
7 Myr Battlesphere
7 Rune-Scarred Demon
7 Sheoldred, Whispering One
8 End-Raze Forerunners
8 Terastodon
8 Woodfall Primus
3 Beast Within
3 Krosan Grip
4 Deathsprout
Sorceries
2 Torment of Hailfire
3 Maelstrom Pulse
5 Living Death
7 All is Dust
Artifacts
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Skullclamp
1 Sol Ring
2 Fellwar Stone
2 Lightning Greaves
2 Mind Stone
2 Swiftfoot Boots
3 Ashnod's Altar
3 Mimic Vat
3 Oblivion Stone
4 Birthing Pod
4 Hedron Archive
4 Nevinyrral's Disk
4 Smokestack
4 Thran Dynamo
4 Trading Post
Enchantments
3 Journey to Eternity
3 Necropotence
3 Pernicious Deed
3 Phyrexian Arena
4 Deathreap Ritual
4 Greater Good
5 Revel in Riches
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Cabal Coffers
1 Inventor's Fair
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Buried Ruin
1 Woodland Cemetery
1 Command Tower
1 Blast Zone
1 Tree of Tales
1 Vault of Whispers
1 Hissing Quagmire
1 Tainted Wood
1 Forbidden Orchard
1 Temple of Malady
1 Twilight Mire
9 Forest
12 Swamp
This build was my first take on her - I recognise that she's a versatile commander. I think in many cases this can lead to a variety of builds, and/or very unfocused builds. I had wanted to avoid this, and had decided against Voltron, Deathtouch tribal, Stax, in favour of a 'recursion of artifacts for enduring value' type of deck. It was a little hit and miss, and durdled a lot. Ultimately I disbanded this build, but with a bit of work this could've been a viable strategy.
3 Glissa, the Traitor
Artifacts
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Wanderer's Twig
1 Traveler's Amulet
1 Expedition Map
1 Codex Shredder
1 Executioner's Capsule
1 Sol Ring
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Skullclamp
2 Fellwar Stone
2 Golgari Signet
2 Ratchet Bomb
3 Mimic Vat
3 Oblivion Stone
3 Mirage Mirror
4 Birthing Pod
4 Jester's Cap
4 Vedalken Orrery
6 Salvaging Station
Creatures
1 Disciple of the Vault
2 Myr Retriever
2 Sakura-Tribe Elder
2 Scavenging Ooze
3 Wood Elves
3 Moriok Replica
3 Sylvok Replica
3 Scarecrone
3 Scrap Trawler
3 Burnished Hart
3 Fleshbag Marauder
3 Merciless Executioner
4 Arcbound Reclaimer
4 Solemn Simulacrum
4 Ravenous Chupacabra
4 Treasure Keeper
4 Graveborn Muse
4 Crypt Ghast
5 Sly Requisitioner
5 Acidic Slime
5 Kuldotha Forgemaster
5 Sidisi, Undead Vizier
6 Duplicant
6 Marionette Master
6 Wurmcoil Engine
6 Noxious Gearhulk
7 Myr Battlesphere
7 Sheoldred, Whispering One
11 Darksteel Colossus
3 Necropotence
3 Phyrexian Arena
3 Pernicious Deed
4 Deathreap Ritual
5 Revel in Riches
5 Dictate of Erebos
Instants & Sorceries
1 Crop Rotation
2 Exsanguinate
3 Beast Within
3 Cultivate
3 Dismember
3 Krosan Grip
7 Necromantic Selection
8 Decree of Pain
Lands
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Darksteel Citadel
1 Cabal Coffers
1 Command Tower
1 Hissing Quagmire
1 Inventors' Fair
1 Llanowar Wastes
1 Woodland Cemetery
1 Tree of Tales
1 Vault of Whispers
1 Buried Ruin
1 Tainted Wood
1 Arcane Lighthouse
1 Forbidden Orchard
1 Foul Orchard
1 Phyrexia's Core
7 Forest
14 Swamp
This has probably been the most challenging deck to build - not so much in terms of acquiring cards, the challenge has been to make it do what I want it to, but without losing focus, spreading myself too thin, just plain durdling, achieving nothing, you name it. It's been really easy to add in 'goodstuff' and let it loose, but keeping the deck focused and effective has been difficult.
Part of what I've tried to achieve is value at every part of the game and in every type of card included, but also giving myself options for rebuilding where needed. Glissa is great, but she gets removed a lot. It's inevitable. So, Scrap Trawler is her lieutenant. As is Meren of Clan Nel Toth. Birthing Pod helps us get threats out early, and if it gets removed, we can build in other ways with Sheoldred, Whispering One or Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest and punish our opponents with things like Smokestack and Dictate of Erebos.
So, with all of this going on I've tried my best to curve with Birthing Pod as well as Scrap Trawler, and still keep all of our other threats as relevant to Glissa as possible. It truly has been a real balancing act, and I'm not entirely sure I have it spot on, but it's as good as it has been.
There's always considerations for further playtesting or building. Here's what's down for consideration at present:
Please do feel free to make suggestions and recommendations.
Thanks!
I agree - they both stand out as strong. Regal Behemoth seems winmore at first glance, so I wonder if its worth it. I don't have a ton of experience with monarch. I've seen people misplay and attack when they shouldn't, so it could be interesting. Bane of Progress...as much as it sets me back too, I have recursion. And sweeping the board with it leaves an enormous creature, almost guaranteed.
This is really only considering replacing like with like (creature with creature), which isn't a given. That capital OF makes me think you might have a better suggestion, weltkrieg.
I loved this article Jay. It was really well written and made a ton of sense.
So if I had only one of each, Time Walk would either go in Zedruu, replacing Walk the Aeons, or Yidris replacing Temporal Extortion. Ancestral Recall would go in Dralnu replacing Recurring Insight, or Lazav replacing Opt.