Clickbaity titles that don't complete their thought...
that's what's stopping us from using planeswalkers as our generals.
To be fair, it worked, as I clicked to see what the rest of the question was. But would it kill people to not follow the clickbait trend?
As for a serious response, can you imagine Sorin Markov as a general? Guaranteed drop-someone-to-10-life ability available in the command zone, throughout the game, every game, that can't even be stopped by tuck, destruction, or exile? That sounds terrible.
The game just isn't balanced fro some of the walkers to be in that position.
I really don't get the hate here. He's a kill spell on a big body with grave hate and tribal pump. It's like Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet and Dark Hatchling had a baby in Gavony Township - a very messed up baby, but a solid card. Sure, it costs 4BB, which should be on the upper end, but there are lots of cheap vampires to run as you build up to this. And with all those cheap ones already on the field, he acts as immediate pump for them upon entering.
In part. It also rewards Red for being able to clear the board of Commanders. Gives Red reach which AFAIK has been sorely needed in multiplayer formats like Commander.
Or for stealing their commander. Talk about adding insult to injury.
Boneyard Scourge made me immediately think of Bladewing's Thrall (a card I haven't seen played for years). I doubt they'd bother to reprint that, but I feel like they could be really fun together. Throw in Scourge of Nel Toth for all the zombie dragon feels.
Agree. I'm not any less inspired to buy what I wanted when I first saw these leaks. O-Kagachi especially. Excitement for that will never fade even after playing him for years as my Kamigawa deck general.
Hell I'm still hype about Kynaios and Tiro, and Thrasios/Kydele.
You could say I'll buy because I'm enfranchised, but those that aren't wouldn't seek the early leaks anyway, then.
Dont get me wrong. I'm still buying the dragon deck. Its just that because the major cards for today were leaked today as a spoiler day kinda sucked.
I dunno - finally getting confirmation that they are real was pretty exciting for me. I can't wait to pick up that deck.
Can I scry after spending mana produced by that land to cast my commander?
According to the article, yes.
Also, the article said "starting with Commander 2017 and moving forward, the Commander sets will be built around themes rather than color." Of course, they could always change this in the future, but I actually like that we don't have to re-tread color combos we've already done just for the sake of cycles. Hopefully they choose interesting themes and don't get too redundant.
Just a random trivia note - Maro totally missed pointing out in his history of cats article that Mirri, Cat Warrior is possibly unique in another way - she was mis-reprinted as a 2/2 rather than a 2/3, so there are versions of her with the wrong stats. I can't think of any other creature that effectively has a power and toughness errata. (I'd link the card, but apparently mtgsalvation doesn't have Anthologies in the card database).
I love people who say "nothing that happened mattered because of the combo." It really betrays a fundamental lack of understanding of the nuances of the game. If you want to just play creatures and attack, I'm pretty sure pokemon is a better option.
I love people who make a strawman argument and assume that boring creature aggro is the only preferred way to play by people who dislike game-ending infinite combos. It really betrays a fundamental lack of understanding of the four main player/deck types and of the nuances of social interaction. And it's especially great when they decide to throw out Pokémon insults, as if that's original.
To be fair, I'm only assuming you lumped me into that comment because your reply was right after mine and practically quoted me when I said:
Just like that, the game was over. Nothing anyone had done mattered. No prior damage mattered; no spells anyone had played. All invalidated in one boring display that amounted to "let's shuffle up and start from scratch again."
But you fundamentally and deliberately took it out of context, given that I quite specifically stated just one sentence before that that we were building up boards with more than just creatures.
See, there are many different ways to build and play - aggro (which you seem to despise), control, combo, vorthos, and any combination of the three.
I'm the first to admit that combo is a legitimate strategy for winning. But even combo can be played a variety of ways. There's value combo, control combo, lethal aggro combo, and infinite combo. I love games where people play combos throughout the game; I even love a good game-ending combo after the game has been going a while, after a great tug-of-war of interactivity, where it looks like one player is going to win, then another, then it swings back to the first player's favor. What I hate is someone ignoring the rest of the table, playing solitaire, and then expecting that we enjoyed their masterbatory display as much as they did. That I find boring.
As I stated in my previous post, I play Magic to interact with people, to be social. I don't play it to ignore them.
You pick the order that the triggers resolve, but each trigger must resolve fully. Which means you can draw two cards first or do the Reshaper trigger first. You cannot, however, split the two draws and interrupt it with a separate trigger.
We had a game a couple months ago where everyone had just started to build their boards (land, artifacts, enchantments, creatures, maybe even a planeswalker, and the game had just started to be interactive, when someone Tooth and Nailed Mike and Trike. Just like that, the game was over. Nothing anyone had done mattered. No prior damage mattered; no spells anyone had played. All invalidated in one boring display that amounted to "let's shuffle up and start from scratch again." And then the guy said he had to leave - which was probably good for him, because I guarantee the next game would have been Archenemy, only without the schemes.
We also had another game, in which a mono-blue player sat there drawing cards and ignoring damage and spells. He didn't bother to counter anything or bounce anything - until he had his combo. And because he had played solitaire and ignored us, he had counterspells available to protect his combo. He didn't need to interact until that moment, and all he had to do was negate any interaction on our part.
And finally, the last time I played, someone made us watch him play solitaire as he took one extra turn after another after another, while we all sat there unable to do anything other than stop one of the extra turns. It was boring.
All three of these examples share something in common. I play Magic to interact with people. I do run some combos (non-infinite) to get extra mileage. And I even include very few infinite game-ending combos, but almost always three or more cards and never with the intent to tutor them. I'm not entirely opposed to combos; I think they have a place in the game. The problem I have is when someone disregards and disrespects the other players by wasting their time. If your group loves combo, great. But if not, if someone wants to play solitaire or show how smart they are - in essence, if they want to be antisocial - don't play a social game.
It's definitively not clerics (as much as I want it to be), and it doesn't read like rogues or wizards would. And the image has similarities to the Vesuvan shapeshifters (check out this image from Sarpadian Empires). Outside of it being some other viking thing, Vesuvan shapeshifter makes the most sense.
And man, it's a tribal theme, but it makes absolutely no sense why a type that could be any tribe would get put in there. Sure, lol. They definitely haven't done that in Tribal-centric sets, right?
"I don't like it therefore it is illogical" isn't a really compelling argument.
That image you linked is a real stretch to say that it could be Shapeshifter tribal.
- The two cards selected do not show us at all what a shapeshifter looks like. They show us what a shapeshifter copied.
- The particular elements circled are a cloak clasp and a hat/hood. So, common fashion design?
Don't get me wrong, I love shapeshifters/clones and even have a Lazav tribal clone Commander deck. I just find that image a ludicrous stretch.
I found it odd that there was so much talk about a combat oriented color combo needing more ramp, yet no one mentioned Sword of the Animist. It may not be hyper-competetive, but it gets the job done.
People did mention that Boros has other forms of card advantage, and one is things like Soltari Visionary and other creatures with either saboteur effects or ETB abilities.
I've played a few Boros decks, and they can be a little difficult, but I'm convinced that multi-player is often more about how you play than what you play. Play the politics of the table, don't over-commit to the board, and you should be fine.
I'm really wondering what I can use to fill in the slots after 37 lands and like 37 walkers...unless I just use two versions of each lady...
I was ready to reply when I saw this, but I'm glad I read Gashnaw's response, because it contained a lot of the same stuff I would have said.
37 walkers is way too many and will leave you with tons of dead cards in hand and unsupported walkers on the battlefield. I run 21 walkers in a superfriends deck, and I don't run more than 2 versions of any one walker. I used to run up to 3, but I had too many times of drawing multiple versions and having to keep a dead card in hand or having to lose a walker to play a walker. You also need a lot of support cards to keep the walkers alive.
You've made an interesting restriction for your deck. I hope it works out for you.
Another question is how is your mana base? The more ETBT or slow fetches you run, the worse 5c gets. Plus easier to get mana screwed. Along with that being said, would you need to add more mana ramp? If so, again what are you giving up to make your mana base cleaner.
As a counterpoint to this statement, 4-color is actually harder to pull off than 5-color because it loses so many land options.
Dual Lands, Shocklands, Check Lands, Battle Lands, Slow Lands, Filter Lands, Gates, any bi-color land cycle - 5c can use all ten, but 4c can only use six
Trilands (budget fixing) - 5c can use all ten, but 4c can only use four
Four color has all of the complications of needing lots of specific colors, but it restricts itself from running large portions of available solutions. I run five color decks, and I've never really had an issue of missing "that one color." If I can get to four colors, I probably already have all five.
All that said, Atraxa has the most synergy with planeswalkers.
Yes, and no. Atraxa can proliferate planeswalkers, but only at end of turn, creating a minor 1 hit point speed bump to anyone trying to kill the walker. Atraxa does not let you proliferate up to enough loyalty right before you ultimate.
On the other hand, there are other five color commanders that do synergize in other ways.
Sliver Queen produces chump blockers to protect your walkers. It also synergizes very well with Doubling Season, which any superfriends deck should be running (as long as they have G).
Sliver Hivelord is indestructible, providing a resilient blocker that can stay even through your own board wipes.
I personally run Sliver Queen, but Atraxa and Hivelord both have points in their favor.
I consider my graveyard to be a resource or secondary hand.
That's kinda weird because your list has only two cards that actually return anything from your gy. Oversold Cemetery Victimize
Don't forget Volrath's Stronghold. Repeatable recursion. And yeah, I seem to have gone light on the recursion. As someone pointed out earlier, I sort of crammed everything with -1/-1 counters in the deck. I'm working on adjustments still.
Angel of Despair may have recently been outclassed, but it will remain my favorite card - awesome art and a powerful ETB ability in colors than allow it to be recurred either by blinking or through reanimation, all stapled to a big flying body. What's not to love?
that's what's stopping us from using planeswalkers as our generals.
To be fair, it worked, as I clicked to see what the rest of the question was. But would it kill people to not follow the clickbait trend?
As for a serious response, can you imagine Sorin Markov as a general? Guaranteed drop-someone-to-10-life ability available in the command zone, throughout the game, every game, that can't even be stopped by tuck, destruction, or exile? That sounds terrible.
The game just isn't balanced fro some of the walkers to be in that position.
Also, the article said "starting with Commander 2017 and moving forward, the Commander sets will be built around themes rather than color." Of course, they could always change this in the future, but I actually like that we don't have to re-tread color combos we've already done just for the sake of cycles. Hopefully they choose interesting themes and don't get too redundant.
Just a random trivia note - Maro totally missed pointing out in his history of cats article that Mirri, Cat Warrior is possibly unique in another way - she was mis-reprinted as a 2/2 rather than a 2/3, so there are versions of her with the wrong stats. I can't think of any other creature that effectively has a power and toughness errata. (I'd link the card, but apparently mtgsalvation doesn't have Anthologies in the card database).
To be fair, I'm only assuming you lumped me into that comment because your reply was right after mine and practically quoted me when I said:But you fundamentally and deliberately took it out of context, given that I quite specifically stated just one sentence before that that we were building up boards with more than just creatures.
See, there are many different ways to build and play - aggro (which you seem to despise), control, combo, vorthos, and any combination of the three.
I'm the first to admit that combo is a legitimate strategy for winning. But even combo can be played a variety of ways. There's value combo, control combo, lethal aggro combo, and infinite combo. I love games where people play combos throughout the game; I even love a good game-ending combo after the game has been going a while, after a great tug-of-war of interactivity, where it looks like one player is going to win, then another, then it swings back to the first player's favor. What I hate is someone ignoring the rest of the table, playing solitaire, and then expecting that we enjoyed their masterbatory display as much as they did. That I find boring.
As I stated in my previous post, I play Magic to interact with people, to be social. I don't play it to ignore them.
We also had another game, in which a mono-blue player sat there drawing cards and ignoring damage and spells. He didn't bother to counter anything or bounce anything - until he had his combo. And because he had played solitaire and ignored us, he had counterspells available to protect his combo. He didn't need to interact until that moment, and all he had to do was negate any interaction on our part.
And finally, the last time I played, someone made us watch him play solitaire as he took one extra turn after another after another, while we all sat there unable to do anything other than stop one of the extra turns. It was boring.
All three of these examples share something in common. I play Magic to interact with people. I do run some combos (non-infinite) to get extra mileage. And I even include very few infinite game-ending combos, but almost always three or more cards and never with the intent to tutor them. I'm not entirely opposed to combos; I think they have a place in the game. The problem I have is when someone disregards and disrespects the other players by wasting their time. If your group loves combo, great. But if not, if someone wants to play solitaire or show how smart they are - in essence, if they want to be antisocial - don't play a social game.
- The two cards selected do not show us at all what a shapeshifter looks like. They show us what a shapeshifter copied.
- The particular elements circled are a cloak clasp and a hat/hood. So, common fashion design?
Don't get me wrong, I love shapeshifters/clones and even have a Lazav tribal clone Commander deck. I just find that image a ludicrous stretch.
People did mention that Boros has other forms of card advantage, and one is things like Soltari Visionary and other creatures with either saboteur effects or ETB abilities.
I've played a few Boros decks, and they can be a little difficult, but I'm convinced that multi-player is often more about how you play than what you play. Play the politics of the table, don't over-commit to the board, and you should be fine.
37 walkers is way too many and will leave you with tons of dead cards in hand and unsupported walkers on the battlefield. I run 21 walkers in a superfriends deck, and I don't run more than 2 versions of any one walker. I used to run up to 3, but I had too many times of drawing multiple versions and having to keep a dead card in hand or having to lose a walker to play a walker. You also need a lot of support cards to keep the walkers alive.
You've made an interesting restriction for your deck. I hope it works out for you.
Dual Lands, Shocklands, Check Lands, Battle Lands, Slow Lands, Filter Lands, Gates, any bi-color land cycle - 5c can use all ten, but 4c can only use six
Trilands (budget fixing) - 5c can use all ten, but 4c can only use four
Four color has all of the complications of needing lots of specific colors, but it restricts itself from running large portions of available solutions. I run five color decks, and I've never really had an issue of missing "that one color." If I can get to four colors, I probably already have all five.
Yeah, I don't think you'll have a problem. Unless someone starts dropping Back to Basics, Ruination, Blood Moon, Magus of the Moon, Wave of Vitriol, etc.
Yes, and no. Atraxa can proliferate planeswalkers, but only at end of turn, creating a minor 1 hit point speed bump to anyone trying to kill the walker. Atraxa does not let you proliferate up to enough loyalty right before you ultimate.
On the other hand, there are other five color commanders that do synergize in other ways.
Sliver Queen produces chump blockers to protect your walkers. It also synergizes very well with Doubling Season, which any superfriends deck should be running (as long as they have G).
Sliver Hivelord is indestructible, providing a resilient blocker that can stay even through your own board wipes.
I personally run Sliver Queen, but Atraxa and Hivelord both have points in their favor.