We will get 2 Planeswalker Legendaries, 1 Legendary Creature that enables or supports planeswalkers, and 1 random legendary creature
(I believe we've been getting 4 new generals per deck)
Hoping for some great reprints since they increased the price by $5 this year. SOURCE
If they increased the price just because it's popular and don't print product of slightly more value, I'm gonna be slightly annoyed. Not because $5 breaks my back, but because there's no guarantee they won't arbitrarily increase prices again, which bums me as a consumer if the quality of the product is the same when it was $35.
I'm pretty sure, that they said the price increase is because they will power the decks up. I'm fine with this and hope for real cool decks
I think, if they go with Planeswalkers we will get at least one per deck (if we get 'Partner with' maybe 2).
Previews start on June 12th... that seems so far away
Wait there will be a higher price? Can you link a source?
Your deck is a true Judo deck, punishing people for attacking into open mana. I’m trying a slightly different angle here by trying to prevednt attacking me as an option alltogether and therefore forces me into blue. That makes Gahiji not an option.
If you say so. I actually do not see very many blue cards that you really need for your strategy. Sure, blue has a lot of nifty combat manipulation, but almost all Propaganda effects are actually white (except Propaganda itself and Collective Restraint). Green, on the other hand, gives you access to Sterling Grove and a bunch of enchantment support. But of course that's just my two cents, it's your deck after all! ;-)
When looking for what to cut, I would advise you to get more focused on your main strategy: pillow fort and forced attacks. Cut most or all of the stuff that is aggro or combat oriented in your own deck, such as:
- All the cards in your "other" and "other creatures" category except maybe Territorial Hellkite. If you don't want to be a committed Voltron deck, don't play these.
- Crimson Honor Guard (trust me you will hurt yourself a lot with this)
- Odric, Lunarch Marshall
- Heliod, God of the Sun
- Emeria Shepherd (not great in a three color deck)
- Sun Titan
Also, cut these cards because they are only cute in theory but will underperform in practice:
- Erratic Portal
- Crystal Shard
- Slow Motion (all of these three cards are only good if you happen to have War's Toll or Mana Web out, which won't happen all that often)
If you manage to consistently set up a good pillow fort, the Monarch cards might be cool. In particular, Protector of the Crown and Darksteel Plate are a cool combination.
It's been a while since I played this deck, but I recently took it out for some games and have decided to give it another shot. Let's see what these changes will do.
Personal opinion, but I'd really like them to stop pushing walkers and ditch the partner mechanic. I just want interesting legendary creatures that on their own are worth building around.
I'd really only be happy with printing walker cards of established characters from the story's past, hopefully within the 99. This way they do not have to weaken or limit the card or waste a good legendary creature slot where the commander should be.
Can I get an Amen.
Amen
Amen
(I do like the partner mechanic though. But walker commanders don't excite me that much)
I think it is pretty safe to assume they will be headed by multicolored planeswalkers. Given that there will be only 4 decks and not 5, I do not expect a symmetric cycle. There might even be a monocolored deck among them, who knows (but I hope not). I would expect both two colored and three colored decks. I could also see more partner legends coming.
EDIT: The teaser for the product reads:
"Choose your commander and carve your path to victory in this unique multiplayer Magic format. Call on powerful planeswalkers and deploy their signature strategies to make sure you're the last player standing." I take that to heavily imply planeswalker commanders. (Source: https://magic.wizards.com/en/products/coming-soon)
I already play most of the playable etb card draw creatures of course. But Expedite and Accelerate are good examples of what I am talking about. They would be great fun with Zada, but on their own they are really subpar, and hence including them over, say, unconditional draw or mana ramp will decrese the consistency of the deck. Yes, it is fun when it happens, but too often it is frustrating when it does not come together. However, I do not see this deck going all in on the Zada strategy along the lines suggested by BlazingRagnarok, since I simply do not want to dilute the actual main theme of flickering too much.
In any case, thanks for all the suggestions! I was not actually expecting feedback on the deck but only wanted to give an example the illustrate the type of trade off I have in mind.
I have noticed that my newer decks are much more geared towards originality than the decks that I built a couple of years ago, who had more staples and functional cards (ramp, draw, removal) in them. In other words, my deckbuilding style has evolved in a way that I tend to favor originality over consistency. However, my play experiences often turn out to be very similar to what PrimevalCommander described above: no matter how fun and original some ideas seem in theory, if the deck just fizzles out I never get to play them. So I often find myself cutting back on some originality / overly heavy reliance on thems after testing a new deck for a bit in favor of more conservative deckbuilding. So, paradoxically, the less fun-seeming card choices make for more fun gameplay.
When looking for what to cut, I would advise you to get more focused on your main strategy: pillow fort and forced attacks. Cut most or all of the stuff that is aggro or combat oriented in your own deck, such as:
- All the cards in your "other" and "other creatures" category except maybe Territorial Hellkite. If you don't want to be a committed Voltron deck, don't play these.
- Crimson Honor Guard (trust me you will hurt yourself a lot with this)
- Odric, Lunarch Marshall
- Heliod, God of the Sun
- Emeria Shepherd (not great in a three color deck)
- Sun Titan
Also, cut these cards because they are only cute in theory but will underperform in practice:
- Erratic Portal
- Crystal Shard
- Slow Motion (all of these three cards are only good if you happen to have War's Toll or Mana Web out, which won't happen all that often)
Some cards you might consider for the deck:
- Island Sanctuary
- Angel of the Dire Hour
- Disrupt Decorum
- Stuffy Doll
- Illusory Ambusher
- Purity
- Darien, King of Kjeldor
- Domineering Will
- Portal Mage
- Comeuppance (yeah I know you don't want to build a judo deck but this card is so so nice)
If you manage to consistently set up a good pillow fort, the Monarch cards might be cool. In particular, Protector of the Crown and Darksteel Plate are a cool combination.
- Crimson Honor Guard
- Vampire Nighthawk
- Molten Disaster
- Burning Earth
- Zo-zu the Punisher
+ Aura of Silence
+ Erebos, God of the Dead
+ Lyra Dawnbringer
+ Sangromancer
+ Dega Sanctuary
+ Lavaclaw Reaches
+ Isolated Chapel
It's been a while since I played this deck, but I recently took it out for some games and have decided to give it another shot. Let's see what these changes will do.
- Magmaquake
+ Fault Line
+ Molten Disaster
A little upgrade on the X damage sweepers.
(I do like the partner mechanic though. But walker commanders don't excite me that much)
Another commander that may be even better for the strategy you described is Gahiji, Honored One. If you want blue for the propaganda effects, consider Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis, which will also give you access to Edric, Spymaster of Trest.
I would in any case cut all the cards in your "other" category. Focus on your main strategy.
EDIT: The teaser for the product reads:
"Choose your commander and carve your path to victory in this unique multiplayer Magic format. Call on powerful planeswalkers and deploy their signature strategies to make sure you're the last player standing." I take that to heavily imply planeswalker commanders. (Source: https://magic.wizards.com/en/products/coming-soon)
In any case, thanks for all the suggestions! I was not actually expecting feedback on the deck but only wanted to give an example the illustrate the type of trade off I have in mind.
I have noticed that my newer decks are much more geared towards originality than the decks that I built a couple of years ago, who had more staples and functional cards (ramp, draw, removal) in them. In other words, my deckbuilding style has evolved in a way that I tend to favor originality over consistency. However, my play experiences often turn out to be very similar to what PrimevalCommander described above: no matter how fun and original some ideas seem in theory, if the deck just fizzles out I never get to play them. So I often find myself cutting back on some originality / overly heavy reliance on thems after testing a new deck for a bit in favor of more conservative deckbuilding. So, paradoxically, the less fun-seeming card choices make for more fun gameplay.