When I acquired my Cradle, I put it in my Titania deck. It made a world of difference--as if the deck was "unlocked" because of the sheer power of that much mana in one card, while being able to look for it easily, while being able to recur it with Titania if need be.
Like some of the other people said though: its not for every deck. If your deck can properly make tokens at a consistent basis (Wort, Marath, Ghave, etc) then you run that business. As for the Gitrog Toad...it depends. Aside from the mass-token producers you listed, consider how many other creatures you are running at a low CMC. I'm talking stuff like Farhaven Elf, Wood Elves, and any other mana producers be it from tap abilities or land fetch. If you can get those sort of cards out almost every game then it may be worth to run the Cradle since it won't be such a dead card all the time.
Rith: One of the funner ones. Plays very well with certain enchantments, and you can either go wide or go big with Rith.
Oros: My second Commander deck ever. Versatile and doesn't require a specific direction. Sometimes will not be cast, as you are playing him for the colors and as a back-up plan for having a 6/6 for 6.
Numot: You will be targeted. Friend from a long while ago played him as a traditional control deck. Jeskai is always a good combo. Very good to have, but know what you're signing up for.
When I get stuck at what to build, I typically look at my current roster and ask "What kind of archetype am I not doing yet?" and just go from there with a little research. If nothing strikes me as interesting, I repeat the process with a different archetype until something strikes me fancy.
As for what you want to build... You like tribal, but it seems like you lack a deck that goes "very wide" and a "pillowfort" type of deck as well. Good thing Darien, King of Kjeldor is great for both of that. I highly recommend giving him a shot.
This set is great for EDH players, for certain. What it will look like for me is buying very few singles as most of the stuff I already have. The following I'm looking for are:
JtMS (Any Blue deck I plan to use it with)
Sneak Attack (Brion)
Force of Will (Any Blue deck I plan to use it with)
Enlightened Tutor (Darien)
and Mana Crypt (Darien)
Jace is actually not that good in general for Commander. He usually ends up being a 4-mana sorcery-speed Brainstorm, which is really bad.
I won't deny that JtMS isn't as face as other potential Walkers in EDH, but I should of clarified earlier that I want to have it for the sake of "owning one". As well, if I were to make a deck with blue that can utilize Walkers, I would have him in the spot for certain. I was thinking of a Brago list that used some Walkers, and he would be a good candidate to re-use abilities with.
I have always keep running into this problem. When I'm making decks, I tend to look for generals that best compliment what I want for that archetype. Some generals are unorthodox, but allow me to work around their mechanics to great effect (Zurgo Superfriends) and some just really help what you want to do. (Titania Stax/Lands)
Derevi is best suited for Stax, Combo, and Enchantress, even though she can be built a huge number of ways. The problem with her is that she holds a huge reputation for being oppressive, and plants a target on your head. In addition, games just simply last far too long with her around unless you plan on cheesing an Enchantress combo with her.
Roon is the marquis Blink general... until Brago showed up. Nowadays you only use Roon to put in great green creatures in there, but sometimes it's hard to cram 3 colors in one deck with so many options to choose from.
Jenara shares the same versatility as Derevi except she's more aggressive. You can Planeswalkers, Counters-Matter, Enchantress...
Rafiq is a straight up value machine with Sword of X and Y Voltron and Enchantments, but that's his only end goal.
Angus encourages Enchantress and Planeswalkers.
Rubinia is also Enchantress, though you can work around her theft ability with niche cards like Cold Storage.
Treva is most commonly found as an Enchantress.
And there's Ragnar I guess.
With all of these generals, I found out the problem I had is two-fold: The generals were either too stream-lined (Roon, Rafiq), or they were so broad that they really feel like I'm just playing them for the colors. In short: Most of them manage to encourage the use of good stuff.
I have thought about odd ideas such as Derevi Birds, Roon Enchantress, Jenara Counters Matter, and the like. But every time I visited these ideas, I was only making the deck for the colors. Personally, I just don't sit well with that.
This set is great for EDH players, for certain. What it will look like for me is buying very few singles as most of the stuff I already have. The following I'm looking for are:
JtMS (Any Blue deck I plan to use it with)
Sneak Attack (Brion)
Force of Will (Any Blue deck I plan to use it with)
Enlightened Tutor (Darien)
and Mana Crypt (Darien)
My Daxos and Brion decks recieved the most compliments, Zurgo got the most "OOOOH SNAP" reactions due to packing Batwing Brume/Rakdos Charm/Deflecting Palm in it.
Surprisingly (to me), my Mishra deck got the most flak, with even one person claiming it to be a "degenerate" deck. Granted, my Mishra deck leans more on group chaos/slug than most builds.
I haven't heard anyone complain about my Tasigur... yet,
One thing I am hoping from all of this is that they pull a Fate Reforged and make the generals more malleable for deck construction. Alesha, Who Smiles at Death can be built as a Boros or a Rakdos deck. Even though all three colors have the best chance of deck construction, the option was still presented if people feel like they want a challenge.
Nicol Bolas if you want to strip down their resources and utilize black and blue's theft, recursion, and disruption.
Dragon Tempest automatically makes Nicol discard a hand of an opponent of choice since he states "whenever he deals damage".
Bladewing the Risen provides decent reanimation.
Dragonlord Silumgar is never a bad card.
Yes you will lose out on green with Xenagos and the Atarkas, but playing the villian with an impactful discard ability is powerful.
Jor Kadeen can be equipment based, but the problem with that is that he doesn't directly benefit from it. You can't voltron him easily as Aurelia just does it better. I found that either Stax or going-wide compliments more to his playstyle.
On topic: There are Commanders from the next Commander product that I would be interested in seeing. On the base assumption that they are allied-paired:
WU: A "Flying Matters" general. Yes, Isperia the First and Kangee exist, but a quality of life change for the archetype would be appreciated. That and the aforementioned "Telepathy" general.
UB: Exile matters. Similar to Processing/Ingest in the new Zendikar block but aimed for Commander play.
BR: A damage matters theme. Like, hard core burn-everything-and-everyone. Heck, I would be interested in seeing a general with an existing enchantment effect on a creature, similar to Arjun.
RG: A sort of punisher theme following Ruric Thar's thematic. Then again, this could very well be a good chance to make a Werewolf Commander if they don't do it in Eldrich Moon.
-Number one thing I wish for: A political Blue/White Commander that can reveal opponents hands, be it exactly Telepathy or a similar effect. For now I'm using Sen Triplets solely for the effect.
-A Red/White Equipment based Commander. I already have Brion for a more "standing army" sort of control deck, Gisela for a "burn everything" deck, and Iroas for a Soldier Tribal "Go wide" deck. Having an Equipment Commander in these colors would cover the "early aggro" plan I want to do with hatebear creatures.
-A Black/White/X Knight Tribal Commander. I loved Knights for the longest time, and my old 60-card Casual Haakon deck got me to appreciate them. Olivia v.2 is the closest we have for that, but I want White, darn it.
-A Green/Blue Activated Abilities matter Commander. (Yes Kraj exists, but I'm looking for something different.)
I want to bring up a discussion about this (these?) guy(s) because I recently acquired a Judge foil of him and I've been toying with Temur deck ideas with him.
It's no secret that Animar, Soul of Elements and Maelstrom Wanderer are the top Temur commanders, and for very good reasons too. But after a few years I've seen Riku be used less and less, especially since he's fallen out of favor upon Mizzix's release.
The thing that stands out the most is that he can be built in so many ways it's not even funny. Animar can be built competitively, but other Animar decks have deviated from the norm with Morph-Matters, Artifacts-Matter, Primal Surge.dec and so on. Maelstorm Wanderer can also be built competitively with ramp as fast as you can/Jokolhoups, with just general goodstuff. But Riku? He has given me the impression that he can be built in so many ways, but the question is: What is a fun way to approach Riku in a semi-competitive environment? Something that's 75% but has a janky gameplan.
The first I've thought was a Ramp-Everything approach with general good stuff (especially Time Warp effects). I've heard of token builds being utilized as well.
So... what would you do to make Riku stand out, competitive or casual or 75%? I'm looking for interesting ideas.
I think Tasigur is the full package when it comes to control. You can even spice it up and do some reanimator as well, see Dies_to_Doom_Blade's list if you want an example of an optimal Tasigur reanimator control deck.
Like some of the other people said though: its not for every deck. If your deck can properly make tokens at a consistent basis (Wort, Marath, Ghave, etc) then you run that business. As for the Gitrog Toad...it depends. Aside from the mass-token producers you listed, consider how many other creatures you are running at a low CMC. I'm talking stuff like Farhaven Elf, Wood Elves, and any other mana producers be it from tap abilities or land fetch. If you can get those sort of cards out almost every game then it may be worth to run the Cradle since it won't be such a dead card all the time.
Oros: My second Commander deck ever. Versatile and doesn't require a specific direction. Sometimes will not be cast, as you are playing him for the colors and as a back-up plan for having a 6/6 for 6.
Numot: You will be targeted. Friend from a long while ago played him as a traditional control deck. Jeskai is always a good combo. Very good to have, but know what you're signing up for.
My vote goes for Rith.
As for what you want to build... You like tribal, but it seems like you lack a deck that goes "very wide" and a "pillowfort" type of deck as well. Good thing Darien, King of Kjeldor is great for both of that. I highly recommend giving him a shot.
I won't deny that JtMS isn't as face as other potential Walkers in EDH, but I should of clarified earlier that I want to have it for the sake of "owning one". As well, if I were to make a deck with blue that can utilize Walkers, I would have him in the spot for certain. I was thinking of a Brago list that used some Walkers, and he would be a good candidate to re-use abilities with.
Derevi is best suited for Stax, Combo, and Enchantress, even though she can be built a huge number of ways. The problem with her is that she holds a huge reputation for being oppressive, and plants a target on your head. In addition, games just simply last far too long with her around unless you plan on cheesing an Enchantress combo with her.
Roon is the marquis Blink general... until Brago showed up. Nowadays you only use Roon to put in great green creatures in there, but sometimes it's hard to cram 3 colors in one deck with so many options to choose from.
Jenara shares the same versatility as Derevi except she's more aggressive. You can Planeswalkers, Counters-Matter, Enchantress...
Rafiq is a straight up value machine with Sword of X and Y Voltron and Enchantments, but that's his only end goal.
Angus encourages Enchantress and Planeswalkers.
Rubinia is also Enchantress, though you can work around her theft ability with niche cards like Cold Storage.
Treva is most commonly found as an Enchantress.
And there's Ragnar I guess.
With all of these generals, I found out the problem I had is two-fold: The generals were either too stream-lined (Roon, Rafiq), or they were so broad that they really feel like I'm just playing them for the colors. In short: Most of them manage to encourage the use of good stuff.
I have thought about odd ideas such as Derevi Birds, Roon Enchantress, Jenara Counters Matter, and the like. But every time I visited these ideas, I was only making the deck for the colors. Personally, I just don't sit well with that.
JtMS (Any Blue deck I plan to use it with)
Sneak Attack (Brion)
Force of Will (Any Blue deck I plan to use it with)
Enlightened Tutor (Darien)
and Mana Crypt (Darien)
Surprisingly (to me), my Mishra deck got the most flak, with even one person claiming it to be a "degenerate" deck. Granted, my Mishra deck leans more on group chaos/slug than most builds.
I haven't heard anyone complain about my Tasigur... yet,
Venser, Shaper Savant is technically a counterspell, Glen Elendra Archmage is an excellent counter stick.
War's Toll is a noncreature anti control card that gives that counter happy blue player a headache as to who to counter during a turn cycle.
While not a counterspell, World Breaker (or any on-cast Eldrazi for that matter) will really hamper your Ephara friend over.
Something like this is what I'm hoping for:
Lack Black 3W
Legendary Creature - ???
*/*
Dragon Tempest automatically makes Nicol discard a hand of an opponent of choice since he states "whenever he deals damage".
Bladewing the Risen provides decent reanimation.
Dragonlord Silumgar is never a bad card.
Yes you will lose out on green with Xenagos and the Atarkas, but playing the villian with an impactful discard ability is powerful.
Jor Kadeen can be equipment based, but the problem with that is that he doesn't directly benefit from it. You can't voltron him easily as Aurelia just does it better. I found that either Stax or going-wide compliments more to his playstyle.
On topic: There are Commanders from the next Commander product that I would be interested in seeing. On the base assumption that they are allied-paired:
WU: A "Flying Matters" general. Yes, Isperia the First and Kangee exist, but a quality of life change for the archetype would be appreciated. That and the aforementioned "Telepathy" general.
UB: Exile matters. Similar to Processing/Ingest in the new Zendikar block but aimed for Commander play.
BR: A damage matters theme. Like, hard core burn-everything-and-everyone. Heck, I would be interested in seeing a general with an existing enchantment effect on a creature, similar to Arjun.
RG: A sort of punisher theme following Ruric Thar's thematic. Then again, this could very well be a good chance to make a Werewolf Commander if they don't do it in Eldrich Moon.
GW: Very defensive Enchantress OR Land based.
-A Red/White Equipment based Commander. I already have Brion for a more "standing army" sort of control deck, Gisela for a "burn everything" deck, and Iroas for a Soldier Tribal "Go wide" deck. Having an Equipment Commander in these colors would cover the "early aggro" plan I want to do with hatebear creatures.
-A Black/White/X Knight Tribal Commander. I loved Knights for the longest time, and my old 60-card Casual Haakon deck got me to appreciate them. Olivia v.2 is the closest we have for that, but I want White, darn it.
-A Green/Blue Activated Abilities matter Commander. (Yes Kraj exists, but I'm looking for something different.)
-
It's no secret that Animar, Soul of Elements and Maelstrom Wanderer are the top Temur commanders, and for very good reasons too. But after a few years I've seen Riku be used less and less, especially since he's fallen out of favor upon Mizzix's release.
The thing that stands out the most is that he can be built in so many ways it's not even funny. Animar can be built competitively, but other Animar decks have deviated from the norm with Morph-Matters, Artifacts-Matter, Primal Surge.dec and so on. Maelstorm Wanderer can also be built competitively with ramp as fast as you can/Jokolhoups, with just general goodstuff. But Riku? He has given me the impression that he can be built in so many ways, but the question is: What is a fun way to approach Riku in a semi-competitive environment? Something that's 75% but has a janky gameplan.
The first I've thought was a Ramp-Everything approach with general good stuff (especially Time Warp effects). I've heard of token builds being utilized as well.
So... what would you do to make Riku stand out, competitive or casual or 75%? I'm looking for interesting ideas.