Chief of the Wilds | Art by Tomas Duchek

This week’s featured type is one of my favorites, but their recent treatment has me somewhat perplexed.

They’re really cool because they are commonly depicted as valuing the collective over the individual. In fact, they’re the emblem of the closest things to protagonists in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, the Stark family, who are noteworthy for their close ties and strong familial bond.

They were also the mascot for one of the schools I used to teach and coach football at, which adds to the personal connection I have with them.

Have you guessed it? It’s Wolves!

Wolves are pack animals, which makes them perfect for a card game sold in packs. I kid, but Wolves are great for showing a different side to Golgari, a color pairing usually centered around the graveyard.

Wolves got a lot of support in The Hobbit, but not all of it seems to fit with the literary or mechanical roles of Wolves.

Wolf History

Wolves haven’t been around for a long time, but they have often been depicted as bonding with humanoid species. Anara, Wolvid Familiar protects its partner; Tokka & Rahzar, Terrible Twos and Tokka & Rahzar, Unsupervised are grouped together; Ukkima, Stalking Shadow partners with Cazur, Ruthless Stalker; and Voja, Jaws of the Conclave cares about Elves.

Some of the Wolves in The Hobbit even care about Armies, Orcs, and Goblins, furthering the humanoid pairing theme.

But most of the Wolves in The Hobbit are focused on a different theme: ferocious, or caring about creatures’ power being four or greater. I’m not saying Wolves aren’t ferocious, but it feels really weird for a pack animal to care about one member being big instead of sharing the wealth.

As a result, this deck will be focused on the pack mentality. Wolves might not have the battalion ability of Soldiers, but they do have the ability to swarm the board.

The tough part will be trying to mesh the go-wide token theme from previous iterations with the ferocious theme of The Hobbit.

So how do we get these pieces to work together? And what does Chief of the Wilds bring to the table?

What Does Chief of the Wilds Do?

Chief of the Wilds is a menacing 4/4, with its stats and combat ability not only proccing ferocious but also requiring teamwork to take down. 

But it can do far more than that.

Every Wolf that enters, token or otherwise, grows our Chief with a pair of +1/+1 counters. The leader of the pack gets stronger and stronger the bigger the pack it commands, which is a nice way of meshing the go-wide and go-tall strategies.

The Chief doesn’t just draw power from the pack, however. It also acts as a Panharmonicon for Wolves and Battles.

Admittedly, this deck will not go into Battles, however. It does bother me a little bit to not use all of a commander's abilities, but this is a Wolf deck first and a Chief of the Wilds deck second, so it doesn’t have to be the epitome of a Chief deck, just a Wolf deck.

After all, the lone Wolf dies, but the pack remains.

Key Cards for Chief of the Wilds

Wolves serve a variety of roles in Magic, and we will be trying to use Wolves to do the jobs of our deck whenever possible. Our aim is to swarm the board, so we will be using Wolves that are low to the ground, share power or abilities, or make multiple bodies.

Ferocious Pup and Pack Guardian both enter with a Wolf friend. Since the ability triggers as they enter, our commander can double the furry fury. And all these Wolves entering make it very big very quickly.

In addition to the pack aspect, Wolves are incredible hunters, which is shown mechanically via flash. Jumping into battle at instant speed enables Wolves to catch opponents by surprise, with Briarpack Alpha also growing a packmate.

Swarming the board takes mana, and we need to ramp. Wolfwillow Haven is a Wild Growth that can make a Wolf token, while Herald's Horn reduces the cost of our Wolves and can help to find more. Both of these help us get more Wolves onto the board as quickly as we can.

In addition to swarming the board, we need to keep other boards from getting out of hand. Thematically, it makes sense to use “bite” effects, which refer to fight effects that are one-sided.

Bite Down and Band Together are perfectly thematic removal effects, showing Wolves chomping down with their rows of sharp fangs and working together to bring down opposing threats.

Card draw and advantage aren’t a huge focus for us, as we want to end the game quickly and push as much damage out as quickly as possible. We do need some cards that dig, however, even if it’s just cantripping (drawing a card to replace the one that was just cast) like Sarulf's Packmate or an expensive mana sink like Skalla Wolf.

Mosswort Bridge and Secret Tunnel are both nonbasic lands that highlight our creatures working together. Mosswort cares about our total power, which can work with ferocious and large creatures or tokens and a wide board of small creatures. Secret Tunnel allows a couple of our Wolves to work together to find a way around opposing defenses, which is also how Robb Stark got around the Golden Tooth and won a key battle at Oxcross in Game of Thrones.

But how do we close the game out?

How Does This Chief of the Wilds Commander Deck Win?

This is primarily a combat-oriented deck, looking to go wide with Wolves while also going tall with our commander. Since there isn’t a limit on how big the Chief can get, we can attempt to eliminate with commander damage anyone who we can’t swarm.

Wargling works with both strategies, growing a creature and giving our Wolves trample so we can make blocking difficult, especially with our big commander. The Overlord goes more in the other direction, increasing our board exponentially, which also grows our commander to incredible size.

The Deck List

Conclusion

Wolves have a few different strategies, from tokens to ferocious and quite a lot in between.

How would you build Wolves? And who would you use to command them?

The post Building Wolf Typal with Chief of the Wilds appeared first on EDHREC.

Nekusar, the Mindrazer | Art by Mark Winters

Beginning Our Descent into Madness

Welcome, one and all, to another edition of Commander Makeover! Here, we take commanders older than hills, and give them new life. Today, we're tackling a commander from one of the first preconstructed deck releases, and one that was a boogeyman of sorts in the early days of the format. No, not that early, but close enough.

Our commander for this week comes in at five mana, where it starts to become expensive for decks not in green (unless you run lots of mana rocks and Treasures). That said, Nekusar, the Mindrazer does one thing and does it really well: draw cards! As a bonus, he pings our opponents for each card they draw, and that adds up really fast, especially once you account for cards like Wheel of Fortune. However, what are people on EDHREC running in their Nekusar decks these days?

Wizard's Staff

The most important thing here is that our commander's a Wizard, meaning double the draws, and double the pings. This will be easy to equip for a brain-melting number of triggers. It almost reminds me of Cathars' Crusade, a card I loathe for exactly the same reason. There's much beauty in simplicity, but if you can handle all those triggers, be sure to give this card a try.

The Master of Lake-town

One word: Ew.

One longer word: Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

The card's going to be absolutely disgusting here. For each card an opponent draws, they lose a life and mill a card, too. Maybe some masochist opponent who loves fiddling with their graveyards will get a kick out of this, but it adds up real fast. He's also got deathtouch, making him a valuable blocker as well.

Krang, the All-Powerful

A card that, in this deck, is identical to Wizard's Staff. Again, if you can keep track of the triggers, you're in a good spot. On top of that, because of our commander, everyone will be drawing two cards, including our opponents. That means Krang will get huge very fast, making him a real threat in the 99. The caveat is that he's also five mana, like our commander. The priority should always be getting said commander out first, then dropping Krang.

Mana Sculpt

For one mana more than the infamous Mana Drain, we get a fixed version. Here, we're getting the mana only if we have a Wizard out. Our commander just so happens to be a Wizard, so we can get the mana if he sticks. Otherwise, we're better off running Cancel or one of its many variants. If we're looking to run Mana Drain in Bracket 2 without the feel-bads, this is the way.

Flashback

With all of those cards in our hand, we're likely discarding them (unless you're paranoid about that and shove in as many cards that negate maximum hand size as possible). On top of that, we also discard our cards when we wheel. Flashback (the card, not the mechanic) ensures we can reuse an instant or sorcery a second time before it goes for good. It also has the namesake mechanic, so we can do it again.

Hexing Squelcher

While the body may be fragile, the abilities are not. This ensures our spells always go through while also adding a layer of protection to all of our creatures, including the commander himself. If we so happen to take a lot of heat for what we're doing, then perhaps the Squelcher will help.

Do Not Run This!

No, seriously. Don't.

There are about 775 decks on EDHREC running this card, and no doubt the allure of a repeatable Wheel of Fortune sounds promising, but the problem comes with how to prepare it. Our commander will ensure someone will always have cards in hand, thus this card being a nonbo with our commander. If our deck tries to deplete our opponents' hands (which, spoilers, will ensure you get ganged up on and die), then maybe this card works, but even the Wheel draws everyone seven cards. This will make preparing the creature again very unlikely.

Razorkin Needlehead

While this creature is doing a pretty good impression of our commander, it's also much more frail. That said, it does come down sooner. The double red isn't bad, either. We're not in four or five colors, so casting it shouldn't be hard. The conditional first strike is essentially flavor text here: we're seldom going to be blocking with this card, opting to keep it alive to ping our opponents instead.

Scrawling Crawler

Another card that does a (somewhat) even better impression of Nekusar, the Mindrazer, only easier to remove. I take issue with all this redundancy, but that's a topic for another article. The draw trigger only happens during our upkeep, so it'll be a bit slow for it to get going alone. Again, we're also not really going to be blocking unless our life total is low. Note that the ping done by the Crawler isn't damage but life loss, meaning certain cards won't bump that number up.

Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls

If I thought The Master of Lake-town was "ewwwwwwww," as I described it here, Valvy's going to be "EW! EW! EW!!!!!!!"

Under our commander's influence, Valgavoth will grow scary, very fast. A single ping from an opponent drawing cards will give Moth Boy here a counter and us a card. It's very much a kill-on-sight card, even in the 99 of a deck that can wield it so effectively. The ward cost certainly makes it even better, too. I suppose this goes to show that it's not just busted as a commander (and we'll soon cover him, too. Foreshadowing!)

Niv-Mizzet, Visionary

Now that's a good way to continue the tempo after dropping our commander! No maximum hand size means we can go silly with drawing cards. On top of that, each ping an opponent gets for drawing cards means we draw one as well. That said, it's also a creature, making it rather frail. On top of that, this will not work with the earlier mentioned Scrawling Crawler, as Niv-Mizzet checks for damage, not life loss. This sort of thing was the bit I was alluding to in that section.

Removal Galore!

Over the last two years, we've got ourselves some new removal. Firstly, Withering Torment is one of black's only ways of dealing with enchantments alongside the likes of Chaos Warp (in red) and Feed the Swarm, so I'd be running this in every black deck I can. The life loss is also negligible, so we can use this with impunity. The second is Blasphemous Edict, which can be good against those pesky token decks. Just note that this impacts us, too, so time it right for the best results.

Enlightenment!

Next week, on our Precon Remastered series, we begin Commander 2015, so tune in for that. However, as I wrote this piece, I noticed that Bloomburrow rotated out about a month ago (It must've gotten lost in the earlier real-life chaos that unfolded), so the next installment will be from there. Tune back in the week after next to see who that might be.

The post Nekusar, the Mindrazer | Commander Makeover appeared first on EDHREC.

Inalla, Archmage Ritualist | Art by Yongjae Choi

Some things in this world are inevitable. Death, taxes, fire, and ice. In that order.

Welcome once again to Fire and Ice! This is the data-driven series where I go over cards that are becoming more or less popular for different Commander decks, and talk about why they may be gaining or losing popularity. I'm Julia, EDHREC's Duchess of Data, and I'm super excited to jump into today's article!

EDHREC, of course, has a ton of data. We'll draw conclusions from that data about how certain commanders' decks have changed over time, give insight about new cards, and hopefully provide some tech for your favorite commander's list.

Today, we're focusing on Inalla, Archmage Ritualist, a Grixis () Wizard typal commander with eminence. She currently sits as the 137th most popular commander on EDHREC, with more than 14,000 decks to her name.

Inalla, Archmage Ritualist

What's Hot and What's Not for Inalla, Archmage Ritualist

For , Inalla is a 4/5 Human Wizard that lets us tap five untapped Wizards we control to cause a player to lose seven life. But, more importantly, she has an ability that is active whether she's in the command zone or on the battlefield: whenever a nontoken Wizard enters the battlefield, Inalla lets us pay to make a temporary, hasty copy of that Wizard.

Inalla may cost five mana, but it's rare for her to leave the command zone at all. Pilots often leverage her eminence ability to copy super powerful Wizards, and double up on ETB triggers at a nice clip. Among her most popular cards are Bloodline Necromancer (74% inclusion), Step Through (66% inclusion), and Flame of Anor (41% inclusion).

What's Fiery for Inalla Decks?

Wizard's Staff - Fire Score of 14.32

Trigger doublers are particularly potent in this deck. If we do manage to cast Inalla (and pay the reduced equip cost to get this Staff on her), we can make two copies of any nontoken Wizards we control that enter the battlefield!

That's (obviously) a super powerful play pattern, and makes this Equipment a fantastic inclusion for Inalla pilots. But other trigger doublers are a bit more potent. Cards like Panharmonicon, Harmonic Prodigy, and Naban, Dean of Iteration let us make a second copy of a Wizard with Inalla's ability and allow each of the Wizards that enter the battlefield to trigger their abilities again. With one of these cards on the field, we can get a total of six triggers from one Wizard entering the battlefield (assuming we pay the + to make copies).

Wizard's Staff is good, but there are better options out there.

Gandalf, Goblins' Bane - Fire Score of 8.56

This is a fantastic iteration of Gandalf. It's on-rate for a pinger with prowess, allowing us to whittle down our opponents' life totals while acting as a potent attacker in its own right.

But it's 2026! That powerful set of abilities isn't enough for Wizards of the Coast to print as a mythic rare. This card also has what amounts to Wrenn's Resolve as a built-in spell. That's just icing on the cake.

We can't really make copies of Gandalf, because he's legendary, but this Avatar Wizard is certainly good enough to land in most Inalla lists.

Mana Sculpt - Fire Score of 5.02

If we don't have a Wizard on the field, we're playing this deck wrong. That fact makes Mana Sculpt into a slightly worse version of Mana Drain, allowing Inalla pilots access to a small downgrade on one of Commander's best counterspells.

Players in higher brackets may have a hard time playing a three-mana counterspell, but Mana Sculpt should be great in Bracket 4 and below.

Flashback - Fire Score of 1.49

Everywhere I go, I see his face...

It seems that Flashback is popping up in every deck that can play it these days, and for good reason. It's a great way to buy back the best spell from our 'yard at a cheap rate. We can even give a spell in our bin flashback at instant speed!

Inalla decks often play a pretty high number of instants and sorceries, which only adds to Flashback's appeal. Flashback, and whatever spell we recast with it, can also trigger all of our synergy Wizards like Talrand, Sky Summoner and Niv-Mizzet, Parun.

What's Icy for Inalla Decks?

Conjurer's Closet - Ice Score of -1.27

Five mana is a lot to spend on an artifact that has no immediate impact on the game. We've got to spend a bunch of mana on this card and hope that we make it to our end step without incident if we want to get any value, and that's a bad bet to make in higher power games.

Other blink sources, like Ghostly Flicker and Essence Flux, provide us with some benefit as soon as we cast them. I'd be much more comfortable including those spells over this artifact.

Cloudkin Seer - Ice Score of -1.14

This three-drop is in the deck for its ETB ability, but spending to draw one card (or to draw two cards if we make a copy of this Wizard) just isn't very good. "Virtual French Vanilla" creatures like this aren't very good outside of dedicated blink decks.

I'd much rather spend my three mana on Magus of the Wheel or Serum Visionary for some upgraded card draw, if that's what we're in the market for.

Counterspell and Negate - Ice Scores of -1.16 and -1.15

Each of these spells is fantastic. They're Commander classics, and they're hard to beat! But when a Cancel variant that can provide us with boatloads of hits the scene, it's understandable to swap one of these spells out for the shiny new toy.

Both Counterspell and Negate have likely fallen in popularity due to Mana Sculpt's introduction. While I'd rather play a two-mana counterspell in some situations, I understand this change!

Reliquary Tower - Ice Score of -1.13

Yes! Another opportunity to espouse hatred for this land. Reliquary Tower's ability doesn't do enough to justify including a land that doesn't fix our mana. Given the composition of most Inalla decks, we'll very rarely have more than seven cards in our hand when we move to the cleanup step. But, we'll have a need for specifically colored mana quite frequently!

The utility provided by this so-called "utility land" is minimal, and it's best left for low-color decks that are dedicated to drawing cards. I'd expect to see this land in a deck built around Azami, Lady of Scrolls or Jolrael, Mwonvuli Recluse (not a deck built to make copies of Wizards).

What's in an Inalla, Archmage Ritualist Deck?

Conclusion

Inalla is a super strong commander, but she's not quite as broken as other commanders with eminence... looking at you, Edgar Markov. Inalla requires a mana investment, which makes her ability feel a lot more fair than others. Edgar gives us Vampires for free!

Inalla also enables some sweet combos, and I encourage any interested pilots to check out her Commander Spellbook page for more. But, all told, we are done with this week's Fire and Ice! I will see you all next week for more.

The post Which Cards Are Hot and Cold for Inalla, Archmage Ritualist? | Fire and Ice appeared first on EDHREC.

Sol Ring | Art by Qistina Khalidah

Breach the Bay 2 took place on August 22nd, a hybrid event of a Competitive EDH $25K, with 429 players, and the annual TopDeck Invitational. Besides the vastly different player counts, there was one other major difference between the two events: the Invitational was run with the typical "X points for a win, 1 point for a draw" system that has been the standard in the United States, and Breach the Bay 2 was run with the more typically Japanese point structure of starting with 1000 points, with a set percentage of those points being anted in each round, winner take all. In a crucial point, however, if there is no winner in the Japanese system, no one gets those points.

In a stark contrast between the two events, Breach the Bay had a draw rate of 9.89%. The Invitational? 35.59%.

For those that haven't been a part of the cEDH tournament meta lately, that second number wasn't a surprise, even with it being worse than usual. Siege at the Castle, a $10K in Colorado back in June, had a draw rate of 27.15%. The Quest for a Cause, a charitable Oregon $10K in May? Players drew 31.91% of their games. On and on it goes: Misplay on the Lake? 27.68%. The Boil? 36.57%. Tabernacle? 30.59%. The Royal Rumble, the first big tournament of the year? 34.74%.

(Betrayal at the Vault | Andreas Zafiratos)

There's no question that cEDH has been getting more popular, but if you've watched streams of tournament play, you honestly might wonder why. Swiss games devolve into a draw discussion at the drop of a hat, and if you ask the average tournament grinder they'll assure you that there's no way to resolve the "king-making" problem without these draws. The average scenario goes something like this: Player A puts a win on the stack. Player B, who is obviously set up to win on their turn, passes priority. You, Player C, have a single counterspell in hand. Do you counter Player A, and let Player B win, or do you just throw up your hands, say it's all hopeless, and let Player A resolve their win? This is where most tournament folks would step in and say "Neither. You offer them both a draw." This avoids the king-making conversation entirely, and everyone gets a draw point as a consolation prize. After all, it's an impossible situation, right?

Well, is it? Because players make these same decisions as if they're not impossible at every single tournament in the finals. A draw in top cuts means that whichever player is in seat one (with the best record) wins, at least since time limits were reintroduced after the infamous 11-hour game in Salt Con last year. In other words? Only one player in the game can take a draw, so everyone plays to win. When presented with the exact scenario above, the player with the counterspell makes the determination that gives them the best chance at winning and utilizes their spell accordingly.

So: players don't like these decisions, but both Top 16 games and Breach the Bay 2 show that they can make them. Therefore, if we don't want 30% draw rates to be part of the game, we just adopt the Japanese rules structure, no?

Well, a few folks didn't like those options, so they made another. The one leading that charge? Josh, AKA Mormonator, owner of FourthSeat, along with him being a well-known face in the cEDH community as a moderator of several dozen cEDH Discords and the r/CompetitiveEDH subreddit. I sat down with Mormonator to discuss what FourthSeat is and how they hope that it will improve the cEDH draw problem in tournament play.

Doug Y: So, what is FourthSeat?

Josh W: We’re releasing an event/tournament website specific to cEDH that we claim will be a mathematically more sound way to conduct cEDH tournaments, leagues, and circuits. It’s exciting because this is a new way to organize cEDH events in such a way that claims to minimize biases like turn order advantage and other competition-specific hindrances to the format. It’s led by a team that will continue to try and innovate not only on the format itself but on things like tournament structure without actually touching the rules of Magic/[Commander].

Doug Y: In other words, you're trying to do something about the menace that is the current draw meta in tournament cEDH.

Josh W: FourthSeat is a culmination of many years of testing and theorizing how cEDH could be "better", or at the very least a bit more statistically viable. We've tried to tackle a lot of problems; the draw issue you mentioned is just one of many. This past year we finally found the time and resources to bunker down, evolve beyond hand-to-hand Python programs on flash drives and Google Sheets, and deploy a website, fourthseat.gg, where our solutions can be put to the test[.]

Doug Y: And what exactly will you be putting to the test?

Josh W: The whole thing runs on a new points system that we've called "Prowess", named as not only a pun of the keyword ability, but also a claim that this Prowess can be viewed as a measurement of skill within cEDH.

Doug Y: So, is the Prowess points system what separates you from other tournament software?

Josh W: I'd say it's our biggest change visually, but the list of differences is quite a bit larger than just the points. On the outside looking in, most tournament attendees across all of Magic are accustomed to seeing things like Win/Loss/Draw numbers and their total points in the form of a rounded number with their [Opponent Win Record] (OPWR) tiebreakers. Given that we're altering that expectation drastically, yeah, it qualifies as the most impactful change.

Doug Y: Okay, so if not how well your opponents do, then what is the point system based in?

Josh W: The points system is based on Elo-equations that you would see being used in things like chess, or hidden behind your favorite online competitive video game. What we then did was rewrite them from the ground up with a few different expectations: four players, skill-based, an overwhelming assumption that players usually don't win games of cEDH, and then, the most important thing, adjustments of gains and losses based on turn order.

Doug Y: You're talking about what's seen as one of the other main problems in cEDH, the fact that first and second seat in a given match win at a much higher rate than seats three and four, leading a lot of players to feel that it's all a bit predetermined.

Josh W: In cEDH, as you had mentioned[,] the fourth player is at a massive disadvantage. The why behind that is an entertaining conversation, but not as important to now thousands of data points we have to prove it. If you play cEDH long enough you'll most definitely experience something like losing on your turn one and your opponent's turn two. So, our solution for this was to build on tiebreakers. In any Magic format, and I believe for most games in general, your tiebreakers are meant to indicate the difficulty of your experience in that tournament. The harder experience you had, the better, or more forgiving, your tiebreakers are. So, you went fourth? Better tiebreakers. That's the simple explanation for our biggest change, and the one that really starts to make the average tournament experience feel more fair.

Doug Y: I think I get the gist, but not the specifics. Is there a detailed breakdown you give folks before a tournament?

Josh W: If you're looking for specific numbers or visuals on the equations themselves, I don't think we'll ever be able to share those.

Doug Y: Proprietary information, then? A bit of a black-box system?

Josh W: I actually tend to hand out a cheat sheet, explaining that everyone is starting with points and that they'll see massive increases when they win and small decreases when they lose. Your Win-Loss-Draw ratio is still the key indicator. If you're 3-0, you'll always be above those who are 2-1, and so on. The 'Prowess' points are just an easy bite-sized way to show you current standing and your tiebreakers in a single number that gives you a clear idea of your current rankings.

Doug Y: So, I see here that the system starts with this "1200" number, but it seems like it's a bit deeper than it just being the number you start with at the beginning of each tournament.

Josh W: And now we're getting into the fun innovation about draw 'prevention' and doubling down on our predictions of player skill. It's both. Behind the scenes, each individual player has two associated numbers: their local Prowess and their global Prowess. Someone's local Prowess is isolated to a single event. You go to a tournament this weekend, start with 1200 points, win a few games, draw some others, and end with a final total of 1245~ (making this up). The next week, you decide to go out again, and start fresh at 1200, that's your local Prowess resetting each event. However, what has changed between the first week and the second is your Global Prowess (which is not used in any specific event), which can be seen on our leaderboards. Your Global Prowess will now read 1245. Should you perform favorably again, maybe your Global Prowess is now 1290 by the end of that second tournament. What this implies is that each individual cEDH match has a larger impact outside the isolation of a single event's snapshot.

Doug Y: Okay, so there's a separate global ranking that sticks around after each event, and a leaderboard. Those already exist, however, so what does this have to do with draw prevention?

Josh W: Currently, a lot of the draw meta is motivated by a short-sighted incentive to Top16, achieve internet clout, and lose in a spectacular fashion to first seat in your semifinals match. But what if the players knew that there was more at stake[?] Remember that scenario I mentioned earlier about a high-ranking chess player taking a draw against a low-ranking novice and then seeing their points go down? I had said that happening wouldn't be seen in any individual tournament and I stand by that, but it's not the case for an entrenched player with dozens or even hundreds of games built up over the course of a competitive season/circuit. Remember that this system is built on predictions/expectations vs actual values. So a highly ranked player walking into any array of cEDH matches is predicted to win. Should a draw happen instead, well, things are different. While your individual tournament won't be affected, you may start to see your global ranking slip in doing so. For enfranchised players, taking an easy draw may not be the meta gameplan anymore.

Doug Y: So, essentially, instead of getting points for Top Cuts, you get points for each win, and as an experienced player, lose points for both losses and draws. All of this is only for your Global Prowess ranking, however, which has no effect on the event itself. Is that right?

Josh W: Beating someone of a better global ranking than you will affect your global ranking. It will have no effect on the immediate tournament you're in as it's in isolation. This also does something to the 0-3 drop ideology, and I'm not sure for better or for worse, as a player may feel like sticking around to at least try and balance out their Global Standings may be better than just giving up on the event with an 0-3 drop because they won't Top Cut.

Doug Y: Having had a few abysmal tournament days, I like the idea of being able to stick around with a larger goal in mind.

Josh W: The leaderboard still has its merits as we don't ever plan on charging LGSs to participate in said circuits. Profit margins are already tight enough for a local game store. Players who do not find themselves being able to attend/travel larger events will still be able to witness progression within their own spheres. [It] boils down to trying to find and encourage incentive behind winning.

If we can develop or encourage a culture in new players to either:

a) Get to last round, realize that they're kinda sorta in the running for Top Cut, could take a draw here, but then realize that they are aiming for a regional invitational, and a win here could solidify that Global Prowess cut more than just barely scraping into Top16, so they decide to play it out and push for a win: 👍 -> Huge Success

b) Get to last round, realize that they're kinda sorta in the running for Top Cut, could take a draw here, but then remember that their chances of progressing through Top16 are slim to none because of the overwhelming advantage that 1st Seat has in Top16, that they decide to play for a win to better their chances of getting a higher seat in Top16, so they decide to play it out: 👍 -> Huge Success.

c) Get to last round, realize that they're kinda sorta in the running for Top Cut, could take a draw here, but then realize that they're going 1st and will take a negative tick against their Tiebreakers, which could mean that if more tables draw this round, they'll be at the bottom end of all tiebreakers into the Top Cut bubble, so they decide to play it out and shoot for a win: 👍 -> Huge Success

These are all scenarios where I strongly believe we can encourage a change to the draw meta by changing things specific to tournament cadence[--]nothing about Magic rules themselves[--]and get the game to where it should be: a winner's format.

Doug Y: Yeah, I can actually see players stopping to think about that, especially if taking a draw means losing points in their global ranking, or could actually keep them out of Top Cut in the first place, rather than getting them in! Is that all, when it comes to changes from the norm that has created the draw meta in cEDH?

Josh W: Dead players receive a game loss for that round.

Doug Y: Oh, that is quite the change, and one I quite like the sound of!

Josh W: [It's a] nerf to a literal card, which isn't something you'd think you can do with a tournament structure change, and that's Pact of Negation. [W]e do not have a lot of data on this, but Pact of Negation is often the go-to king-maker-prevention-tool-all-in-one-draw-forcer-magic-spellbook.

Doug Y: You're talking about the infamous "king-making" scenario, where someone can counter someone else's win, but will die to their Pact trigger on upkeep if they do.

Josh W: So now we throw in the twist, the caster of Pact of Negation, should they die, is now getting a loss for that round, even if the game eventually went to a draw. Similarly, we'll draw up a different scenario: the expenditure of resources in an attempt to encourage a draw. What this refers to is something like a player in desperation deciding to spend all their life on Necropotence to try and force a draw state. My favorite way this happens is when Tivit is trying to win the game and someone realizes that, because of a potential restriction to time in the round, they can vastly impact that Tivit's chances of winning by taking themselves out of the game and hoping the match will go to a draw. It's a perfectly legal game action within today's rules and wouldn't even qualify as stalling. So what if that line of reasoning was no longer possible, or viable, because that player would just get a loss anyway? Hopefully that would lead to a draw being prevented and a clear deserved winner emerging from the rubble.

Doug Y: Yeah, killing yourself to prevent Tivit from getting enough Treasures to keep on taking infinite turns with Time Sieve doesn't really work out for you if you just take a game loss and everyone else gets the draw, with probably only one or two of those players even benefiting from said draw.

Josh W: This new change to our tournament rules was moreso [sic] meant to encourage different deck-building strategies, or at the very least encourage a more intelligent expenditure of resources. Thereby stopping an Ad Naus player from feeding 40+ cards to the Rhystic slop board state just to hope and pray that the following stack battle results in a draw even though they die to an opponent's Ragavan on the next turn. What it boils down to is discouraging players from taking themselves out of the game just to chaotically disrupt game cadence so they can slink away with a draw point. To be honest, there are probably numerous application[s] for this new rule that we've missed.

Doug Y: This might even make aggro decks, which are currently few and far between, slightly more viable as well. Raph and Mikey, Winota, and Najeela are all more than capable of taking out single players if they focus on them, so if they manage that and then get blown out and end up in a draw, they've done slightly better on tiebreakers as a result.

Josh W: Correct. And it’s not just about tie breakers but also denying an opponent progression in the tournament. That one loser may never catch up points-wise. Other than that, I think all the [draw] bases are covered, [although I'd] like to reiterate that wins in fourth are now worth a lot more, so hopefully that positively impacts [fourth seat] players' desire to just give up and play for a draw versus trying to present a win.

So: what do you think? Would changing how a draw is handled in your seat change how you played? Would you be more likely to go for wins--even at greater risk--if you knew doing so would affect your overall ranking? How do you feel about dead players getting a loss instead of "credit" for a draw?

Let us know in the comments!

The post FourthSeat.gg Takes on the cEDH Draw Meta appeared first on EDHREC.

Cosmogoyf | Art by Chris Rahn

As always, this year's Modern Pro Tour, Pro Tour Marvel Superheroes, was the most exciting competitive Magic event of the year for me to watch. Unlike Standard, Modern is a format that really rewards archetype specialists, and the range of viable decks is wide enough that every event is sure to have a handful of players that specialize in unconventional decks. This time around, the talk of the tournament was Jund () Cosmogoyf. While working on another deck for an installment of 60 to 100, I had an epiphany about Cosmogoyf and stopped everything to put it together. I'm really excited to tackle this deck, so let's get to work.

The Source Material

The basic premise of Cosmogoyf is really simple: put as many cards as possible in exile very quickly. This is accomplished with cards like Serum Powder and Devourer of Destiny, both of which can start exiling cards before the first turn. Once the exile zone is fully stocked, Cosmogoyf can be deployed as an incredibly large creature for just two mana. From there, it's possible to win either through combat or using a Fling effect, like Thud, to burn your opponent out.

One tidbit about this deck's construction that fascinates me is its lands. There are no fetch lands or shock lands! Why? As far as I can ascertain, there are two answers. First, having a bunch of fetch lands and a small number of shock and surveil lands to find with them introduces a new point of failure. What if I exile all my Overgrown Tombs to Devourer of Destiny and Serum Powder before the game even starts? I may suddenly find myself unable to find the necessary colors to cast my spells with those fetch lands. Second, this deck isn't expecting to play more than a few turns in the majority of cases. Gemstone Caverns and a suite of fast lands, like Blackcleave Cliffs, are more than adequate in that scenario and don't cost any life to use. That extra life could easily be the difference between losing to Izzet () Prowess on turn three and surviving one more turn to kill them first.

The Commander

As a game plan, making a huge Cosmogoyf and flinging it at unsuspecting opponents encounters a small problem in Commander. Where are all the Fling effects that can hit all three opponents? It's bad enough that a huge two-mana creature doesn't make the cut in Commander, but I can't even win the game with Thud! Enter: Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord. Jarad is this deck's only way of converting a 40-power creature into a win. As such, I've placed him in the command zone. It's a little sad that this cuts off access to a lot of sweet red cards, namely Thud and Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes, both of which I was initially very excited about when figuring out how to adapt this deck. Sadly, the benefit is too great to ignore.

A Collage of Archetypes

Building this deck was a blast due to how much other popular 60-card archetypes have seeped into its construction. You'll find components of Legacy Lands, Doomsday, and even Standard's Mightform Harmonizer combo deck.

So, how am I putting enough cards in exile to make Cosmogoyf a 40/41? Serum Powder and Devourer of Destiny are great, and they're still here. But the fun part of building the deck in Commander is that Commander's card pool gives me the opportunity to pull out bigger guns. That's where Tainted Pact, Demonic Consultation, and Doomsday come in.

Doomsday is the real star of the show, and is almost always going to be the first card I tutor for. For just three mana, Doomsday can put a grotesque number of cards in exile and act as a super-powered Vampiric Tutor that can put Cosmogoyf and relevant interaction on top of my library in whatever order I need.

Necropotence and Necrodominance get the job done in a slightly more cumbersome manner than Doomsday. Because both of these enchantments redirect cards that would go to the graveyard into exile, like a one-sided Rest in Peace, it is possible to pay a bunch of life into them and ultimately wind up with a fully stocked hand and all the cards that would get discarded to hand size at clean up will be exiled.

It's important to have backup plans. There are two points of failure I need to prepare for. First, what happens if Cosmogoyf is exiled? Only having one creature that can be used to win the game is a catastrophe waiting to happen. Second, what if I can't get enough cards into exile to make a lethal Cosmogoyf? This isn't quite as big of a concern, but still a bottleneck that I'd expect to encounter every few games.

Formless Genesis and Dark Depths are my solution to the first scenario. Formless Genesis is a kindred sorcery with retrace that complements this deck's ability to fill the graveyard via Hermit Druid. For just three mana, it makes a token with power and toughness equal to the number of lands in the graveyard. In the late stages of a game, this token should be large enough to end the game. Dark Depths, paired with Thespian's Stage and a lot of tutors, can produce an indestructible 20/20 Marit Lage token. This is where the power amplification cards that solve the second problem come in.

Mightform Harmonizer and Berserk can double a creature's power, turning any creature that isn't quite there into a lethal threat. Notably, doubling a Marit Lage token's power hits the magic number exactly, making the Dark Depths backup plan much more realistic.

During preview season for The Hobbit, I wrote about halflingcycling and mentioned that I had a perfect deck for Hobbit Hole. Well, here it is! Hobbit Hole can be used to tutor Delighted Halfling, Chomping Changeling, and Formless Genesis. To make things better, it can be recurred with Life from the Loam, a card that has a miniature engine living within the deck's lands.

This deck is bizarre for many reasons, but chief among them is that it's a deck that both wants to put cards into exile en masse while also hosting a plethora of cards with graveyard synergy. My rationale is very simple: the games where most of the deck ends up in exile will be over before these graveyard synergies matter. Life from the Loam and its many accomplices are here merely as an additional gear the deck can shift into when a game gets weird.

All About Doomsday

Let's circle back to Doomsday. This card is notoriously complex to use correctly, and it comes with some pretty major risk. For that reason, prospective Doomsday casters deserve a little guidance.

First up is the "when." The ideal time to cast Doomsday is as early as possible. I'd feel totally fine curving a turn-two Demonic Tutor into a turn-three Doomsday. From there, Jarad can be deployed on turn four, then turn 5 is as simple as casting Cosmogoyf and activating Jarad. An ideal opening hand for these scenarios is just five-mana sources and a tutor. That's a pretty low bar compared to many other combo decks.

A Common Doomsday Configuration

An average Doomsday for this deck will be setting up Cosmogoyf, Cavern of Souls, and a piece of protection, like Not of This World, Sylvan Safekeeper or Veil of Summer. Ideally, one or more of these components is already in my hand, but that's where a lot of Doomsday's complexity lies. Can I afford to wait an extra draw step?

The bottom two cards of the Doomsday Pile aren't likely to be seen at all. These slots are where I will hedge with a recursion piece, like Animate Dead, and maybe a second protection spell. It's also possible to put a tutor target at the bottom for some weird scenarios involving Crop Rotation or Green Sun's Zenith.

Cosmogoyf Commander Deck List

Conclusion

This Cosmogoyf deck is, without question, in Bracket 4 (Optimized). There are more than three Game Changers and the deck can routinely win before Bracket 3's 6 turn guideline. It would be fairly trivial to tune the deck down for Bracket 3 (Upgraded) play, but I simply could not resist the temptation of Game Changers like Necropotence and my dragon's hoard of tutors.

The idea for this deck came to me while working on a deck built around Terravore. My plan for that deck to overcome graveyard hate was to include a Cosmogoyf to fling at my opponents with Jarad, just as I intended to do with Terravore. While initially intended as a means of recovering from getting hit with Bojuka Bog, it turned out to be a stronger main plan than using Terravore. Then, I was hit with the big revelation: Doomsday puts all but five cards into exile, and works very nicely with Cosmogoyf. The rest is history.

The post Building Modern Cosmogoyf in Commander appeared first on EDHREC.

Omenpath Journey | Art by Nereida

Reality Fracture is fast approaching, and as I review the sets that build up to it, I had some thoughts I wanted to explore. In the last few years of Magic, Wizards has tied synergies across sets in far more subtle ways. Repeating keywords is all well and good, but printing green-white Mounts, which tap creatures, and then printing Survivors, which have an effect if they’re tapped post-combat, is brilliant design. It’s a very apparent synergy, but because it’s not directly called out, players feel smart for finding it. Their delivery of story in all this has evolved as well, and I was struck with a notion: is there a legend from each of these "Magic years" that can tie together some of those undercurrent themes?

I think so! So here are three quick mini-techs on two recent Standard-legal legends, and a blurb on a third. These initial packages would lean toward Bracket 1 (Exhibition), being very flavor-forward and mostly coming from only four Magic sets each.

Kellan Adventures, Discovers, Sleuths, and Plots…

In 2023, Wilds of Eldraine became the prologue to the on-going narrative, showing a broken and disrupted Eldraine, the courts weak and the wilds strong. There we find the first protagonist who would receive a card for four sets in a row: Kellan. I’ll be picking his three-color iteration from the end of the tale: Kellan, the Kid.

Kellan, the Kid is a 3/3 with flying and lifelink. His most relevant text is that whenever you cast a spell from anywhere other than your hand (exile, graveyard, top of the library, etc.), you can put onto the battlefield either a land or nonland permanent with a mana value less than the spell being cast. So you’re free-casting or playing extra lands, gaining mana advantages aplenty for this Paradox deck. Here’s the fun thing: every single set of the year has some card which allows a Bant deck to cast cards from somewhere other than the hand.

Wilds of Eldraine has plenty of Adventure cards, but also a few cards that care about the non-hand casting clause. Up the Beanstalk permanently scarred Wizards into making sure to check for mana spent, but Kellan gets a fun reminder of that time he climbed into the realm of the giants to find a way to break the curse on the land. Meanwhile, Extraordinary Journey is another nice source of card draw while showing the moment he left Eldraine entirely, having broken the curse and found out about his missing father: Oko, Thief of Crowns.

Kellan takes a backseat during Lost Caverns of Ixalan and Murders at Karlov Manor — he’s doing some exploring and sleuthing, some preliminary levelling up before he can take on the final boss of his arc. There are still some Paradox mechanics in both. Discover is mostly in red, but there’s the Hidden cycle of Cave lands and Chimil, the Inner Sun. Including those Caves makes it a simple matter to bring in the rest available, as well as some ways to synergize or search them up, like Spelunking or Glimpse the Core. Kellan, Daring Traveler will Walk with the Ancestors, flirt with a vampire (sadly with a black color identity), and make his way to Ravnica.

There, Kellan, Inquisitive Prodigy helps with Kaya and Proft’s Officious Interrogation, Analyze the Pollen until they’re On the Trail and ultimately make the Dramatic Accusation against the killer and find what’s Buried in the Garden... Okay, yeah, there are just a lot of utility cards here, but also Case of the Uneaten Feast and Case of the Locked Hothouse let us cast spells from either our graveyard or the top of our library, and that’s neat!

Finally, Kellan makes his way to Thunder Junction. There are a lot of solid plot cards here, like Slickshot Lockpicker (two triggers for Kellan!) and Make Your Own Luck. On the plane, he is finally reunited with Oko, the Ringleader, who’s about to Plan the Heist into an ancient Fomori stash, but first they’ll need to Seize the Secrets as to the location of The Key to the Vault. They’ll face a Betrayal at the Vault as Kellan realizes his dad is a total jerk, and then the colleague they believe to be Ashiok turns out to be Jace Reawakened, who steals what they thought was theirs and makes his escape.

This is a value-town kind of deck, but the fact that Kellan is a flying lifelinker shouldn’t be overlooked! If looking to fill out the deck with some non-Standard cards, look to Kaldheim and Throne of Eldraine!

Kellan’s Adventure

Loot Bounces, Survives, Drives, and Harmonizes…

The fuzzball stuck in a Fomori vault and rescued by Jace, Loot is just a little guy with a map of the Multiverse and all of its Omenpaths in his mind. Neat! Jace and Vraska had survived the Phyrexian Invasion, but with plenty of scars (not all of them physical). Jace had an idea of how to make things better, but he needed to know how to get there. Enter: Loot. We’ll again use the latest iteration: Loot, the Pathfinder.

Little Loot passed through Bloomburrow, which one Ral Zarek was mightily annoyed by, as he saw Jace on Thunder Junction and wanted answers about why the mono-blue planeswalker was staying hidden. Instead of Jace, he found Dragonhawk, Fate's Tempest, which was weird, because Bloomburrow doesn’t have dragons… While there, let’s mention that using Shore Up or Gossip's Talent to untap Loot and use another one of his exhaust abilities or Splash Portal and Lilysplash Mentor to reset him and reuse those abilities is pretty sweet.

After that, he was separated from his adoptive family on Duskmourn, where Valgavoth managed to snare him after barely fending off a group of Multiversal heroes, including Tyvar, the Pummeler and Zimone, Mystery Unraveler, there to rescue Nashi, a nezumi from Kamigawa who had been adopted by one Tamiyo. Jace tried to rescue Loot, even going so far as to betray Kaito (non-fatally), but didn’t manage it. Duskmourn brings some of the tapping shenanigans, like House Cartographer and the iconic Kona, Rescue Beastie, as well as blinking payoffs like the manifest dread from Curator Beastie. Why tapping shenanigans? Well, we already want to untap Loot a lot, and there are the next two sets to consider…

During the Ghirapur Grand Prix, as seen in Aetherdrift, Valgavoth sent Winter with Loot to cheat his way to victory and win the Aetherspark. Chandra rescued him and went Full Throttle to get to the end (this spell, by untapping Loot twice, allows him to attack three times AND use all three exhaust abilities in one turn!). Jace set in motion his Unstoppable Plan to cause chaos at the end of the race to retrieve Loot. Dragons attack, forcing Chandra to let Jace get away. We’ll pick up some Vehicles like Rangers' Aetherhive and Lumbering Worldwagon to tap down our Survivors and occasionally give Loot something to do if he’s totally exhausted and not been blinked or bounced. And since we have blinking at large, let’s add in some value permanents with exhaust, like Skyserpent Seeker or Elvish Refueler.

Finally, Jace knocks Loot out with some mind magic and makes his way to Tarkir, the source of the Dragonstorms. As Ureni, the Song Unending shows, there are new Dragonlords in place. But all is not well: Sarkhan's Resolve shows him working a ritual taught to him by the scheming Taigam, Master Opportunist to try to return to the old ways. Jace tries something similar in Ugin’s Meditation Realm, but breaks apart, leaving Loot with an emotionally weary Vraska. From this set, we’ll pick up some of the harmonize spells like Glacial Dragonhunt to grind out value, alongside Dragonback Assault and a few solid dragons for a way to end games.

Casting Ancestral Recall multiple times in a game should be enough to end it, especially with some of these haymakers that Loot can ramp into by casting green’s version of Dark Ritual. This is a deck that can be upgraded all the way to Bracket 4 with enough infinites and fast ramp, but I like the early stages of it as a silly lore deck.

Loot Hijacks the Hijinx

Lluwen Explores a Strange Multiverse…

Short version here since we don’t have all four sets! The throughline from Edge of Eternities, Lorwyn Eclipsed, and Secrets of Strixhaven is duality. The Edge is defined by being outside the Multiverse. Lorwyn and Shadowmoor are defined by their opposition to each other, much like the Strixhaven colleges. This is exemplified in Lluwen, the Lorwyn elf who escaped his plane after a moral conflict to enroll in Strixhaven. Watching the beloved archons of his new home go crazy, he traveled with his fellows to find the cause.

Ajani and Jadzi guided them, both keeping calm and trying to puzzle out the situation. Along the way, they found Chandra, who had been mentally wounded by Jace during Aetherdrift. She and Ajani disagreed about how to handle the problem, and in the confusion, Tam pushed Jadzi into one of the mysterious rifts that had been opening and causing the chaos. Lluwen was able to lead everyone in a ritual to calm the archons, but the damage was done. Tam is revealed to be a construct of Jace, and the outline of his plans is becoming known…

For the record, I would probably use Lluwen, Imperfect Naturalist to tie together the various land and graveyard effects from the past three sets. We’ll see how Reality Fracture shakes out — might want to change up the "main character."

And Now…

In the new design process, there are a lot of cohesive themes and subthemes flying around. This has been noted in the way Bloomburrow built its ten draft archetypes around the mechanics rather than the type line. As flavor and mechanics merge, decks intended for Bracket 1 - Exhibition like these can actually end up feeling closer to Bracket 2 - Core. There’s a lot of discussion about Wizards raising the ceiling of power, but there’s something interesting to be said about how the floor is rising with it.

I hope you enjoyed these story-focused decks; be sure to let me know if you’d like more in the future!

The post Road to Reality Fracture, By the Cards appeared first on EDHREC.

Dáin of the Ancient Halls | Art by Manuel Castañón

Hello, Boros enthusiasts and The Hobbit fans. Magic: The Gathering's The Hobbit (HOB) was released last month with extraordinary fanfare. Accordingly, Commander players have created thousands of deck lists for HOB's standout legendary creatures.

In addition to HOB's main set, Wizards of the Coast added nine unique legendary creature cards to Collector Boosters. Each of the nine cards will have alternative versions in a future product release.

Among them is Dáin of the Ancient Halls, a Dwarf Noble. Dáin's stats and abilities synergize well with Dwarves and combat-focused strategies. What makes Dáin of the Ancient Halls an ideal choice for a Dwarf and Equipment-themed deck? Let's find out together.

What Does Dáin of the Ancient Halls Do?

Dáin of the Ancient Halls is a 4/5 creature with vigilance, haste, and a triggered ability. Upon attacking, Dáin deals damage equal to the number of Dwarves you control to each opponent. Dáin's card design is clearly meant to lead an army of Dwarves into battle. Notably, you'll want to give Dáin some protection to survive combat damage and fight again.

Although Balin, Loremaster isn't , it does share similarities with Dáin. Balin possesses a five-mana casting cost and a triggered ability that indirectly damages each opponent. What differs is that Balin's ability requires an enduring story to maximize its output. Furthermore, the amount of indirect damage Balin deals is dependent on the number of cards you discard from your hand. While Balin requires more setup to reap the rewards, its ability is easier to repeatedly trigger than Dáin's.

Key Cards for Dáin of the Ancient Halls

Dwarves

Dáin of the Ancient Halls needs kinsmen skilled in combat. HOB delivers by including new-to-MTG Dwarf cards like Dáin Ironfoot, Dwalin, Weaponmaster, and Thorin, Mountain-king. Dáin Ironfoot enters with an Equipment artifact token and an attacking ability, while Dwalin, Weaponmaster powers up Equipment further. Thorin, Mountain-king suits up your available Equipment for a monstrous attack. Each legendary Dwarf provides a synergistic benefit that helps your team drain opponents' life totals.

However, not all Dwarves are meant for the frontlines. Kíli the Resourceful plays a supportive role by reducing the cost of equip abilities and drawing you cards. Glóin the Mighty and Fíli and Kíli, Joyous may look like attackers, but their main job is generating extra mana.

At the top end of the curve are several potent Dwarves. Thorin, King of Durin's Folk powers up your creatures based on the Treasure tokens it and other cards produce. Speaking of Treasure, Thorin, Company's Leader wants you to collect tons of Treasure tokens. Not only does Thorin, Company's Leader generate Treasure tokens when a Dwarf bonks an opponent on the head, but it also grants double strike on all of your creatures for only . Both Thorin cards provide repeatable sources of Treasure for various abilities and spells.

Equipment

Equipment is a Dwarf's best friend. As such, the 99 is loaded with hammers, axes, and other fine weaponry.

Colossus Hammer is an auto-include as the original Core Set 2020 (M20) artwork depicts a Dwarf with a gigantic hammer. You can circumvent Colossus Hammer's equip cost via the abilities of Bruenor Battlehammer, Kíli the Resourceful, and Thorin, Mountain-king. Also, Sigarda's Aid and Forge Anew reduce equip costs to in some instances.

Your Dwarves should enjoy swinging around two Equipment cards from HOB. Long-Lost Lances is interesting because during your turn, all creatures you control that are equipped receive first strike and vigilance. You'll often have multiple creatures equipped among 16 Equipment cards in the 99 and additional ways to create Equipment tokens.

Orcrist, Goblin-cleaver looks like a combination of The Reaver Cleaver and Stoneforge Masterwork. Moreover, Jeremy Rowe wrote an excellent article titled "Is Orcrist, Goblin-cleaver a New Staple for Typal Commander Decks?" that discusses its pros and cons. Although Orcrist, Goblin-cleaver may not fit in every deck, its abilities align well with the 99 of Dáin of the Ancient Halls.

Another Equipment with Dwarf synergy is Helm of the Host. With Helm of the Host equipped to Dáin of the Ancient Halls, you can attack with a copy of Dáin and trigger its attacking ability without losing your actual commander. Additionally, creating token copies of Dwarven Recruiter, Dáin's Company, Fíli the Pathfinder, and Dáin Ironfoot will trigger their enter-the-battlefield effects. You'll also want to copy Torbran, Thane of Red Fell, Thorin, Company's Leader, or Ori, Plate Stacker depending on the game state.

How Does Dáin of the Ancient Halls Win?

Commander Damage

Suiting up Dáin of the Ancient Halls and swinging for lethal commander damage is viable. Granting Dáin trample is imperative to bust through blockers. Trample-bestowing Equipment such as Embercleave, Shadowspear, and Orcrist, Goblin-cleaver also provide additional stat boosts. Layer on Colossus Hammer, Bearded Axe, or Stoneforge Masterwork to turn Dáin into a fearsome wrecking ball. In case an attack doesn't go as planned, you can pull Dáin out of combat with Reconnaissance. Note that Reconnaissance's ability will work after resolving Dáin's attack trigger.

If you can't break through the lines, try a different approach. Brotherhood Regalia, Rogue's Passage, and Secret Tunnel help creatures sneak past blockers. It also shouldn't be difficult to pair another Dwarf with Dáin for Secret Tunnel's ability.

Creature Damage

When Dáin of the Ancient Halls is unavailable, you can overwhelm opponents' defenses with a swarm of Dwarves.

Fíli the Pathfinder helps you go wide by generating 2/2 red Dwarf creature tokens. In addition, gaining an enduring story turns Fíli the Pathfinder into a +1/+1 beacon for your creatures. Follow up with An Unexpected Party and At the Door for even more shenanigans.

The onslaught continues with the all-star tag team of Magda, Brazen Outlaw and Thorin, King of Durin's Folk. This duo amplifies your Dwarves' power as Magda's Treasure tokens improve Thorin's ability. You can double the Treasure token output with Roaming Throne.

Instead of doubling Treasure tokens, Cadric, Soul Kindler doubles legendary permanents. Cadric's static ability breaks the legendary rule for tokens, ensuring temporary copies of Dáin of the Ancient Halls, Bruenor Battlehammer, and Hammer of Nazahn demolish opponents. Almost all of your creatures and nine artifacts are potential targets for Cadric's copy ability. Moreover, you may get lucky enough to have Cadric and Helm of the Host under your control at the same time.

Aggravated Assault Combos

Beyond Game Changers, three late-game infinite combos in the 99 turn this deck into a Commander Bracket 3. Prominently, all three infinite combos involve Aggravated Assault.

Magda, Brazen Outlaw and Aggravated Assault form a two-card combo that grants infinite combat steps. First, attack with at least five Dwarves to generate enough Treasures to fuel Aggravated Assault's extra combat step ability. Repeatedly attacking with five or more Dwarves maintains the combat step loop, as long as Magda stays alive.

Thorin, Company's Leader and Aggravated Assault's combo only requires three Dwarves to initiate. However, you'll need three Dwarves to deal combat damage to an opponent so Thorin creates six Treasure tokens. Sacrifice five Treasure tokens to Aggravated Assault to do it again, leaving one extra Treasure token. Not only do you get infinite combat steps and damage (if unblocked) with Thorin, but you also receive infinite mana from those leftover Treasure tokens.

The third two-card combo requires The Reaver Cleaver attached to a creature with power five or greater. You'll need to deal six or more combat damage with a creature equipped with The Reaver Cleaver to receive the same amount of Treasure tokens. As with Thorin, Company's Leader, exchanging five Treasure tokens to activate Aggravated Assault's ability leaves a Treasure token behind. Infinite combat steps, damage, and mana are your rewards for executing this two-card combo.

Be sure to shout Khazâd ai-mênu! when you are about to win with Dáin of the Ancient Halls, a horde of Dwarves, or an aforementioned Aggravated Assault combo.

Dáin of the Ancient Halls Commander Deck List

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Path to Exile | Art by Todd Lockwood

The Block Era

This series is an homage to three-set blocks while remembering the Standard formats of days of old. It uses this starting point to find cards from this bygone era that have remained popular in Commander. Last time, we focused on Scars of Mirrodin, Zendikar, Magic 2011, and Magic 2012, and this week, we're traveling further back in time to see what we can discover. Let's get started!

Shards of Alara, Lorwyn/Shadowmoor, Tenth Edition, and Magic 2010

Between the fall of 2008 and the summer of 2009, the Standard format was awash with cards from the two mini-blocks of Lorwyn/Morningtide and Shadowmoor/Eventide alongside Shards of Alara block. Tenth Edition (earlier on) and Magic 2010 (later on) supplemented these blocks as the Standard-legal core set of this era.

What kind of strategies did cards from these sets enable?

Aggro

Aggressive decks built around many different color combinations and creature types. had an aggressive Kithkin-centric deck set apart by cards like Wizened Cenn and Goldmeadow Stalwart. decks had hasty threats like Boggart Ram-Gang, Hellspark Elemental, and sometimes even a top end of Demigod of Revenge. Elf-focused decks could access Llanowar Elves (reprinted in both 10e and M10) as synergistic ramp, Wren's Run Vanquisher as an efficient early creature, and Chameleon Colossus as a game-ending threat.

Token producers like Cloudgoat Ranger and Spectral Procession formed the cornerstone of many aggressive and midrange decks. Hybrid mana from Shadowmoor block meant cards like Figure of Destiny and Kitchen Finks showed up in all sorts of strategies, from monocolored aggro to midrange or even more controlling builds. There was even a Treefolk deck built around Doran, the Siege Tower!

Midrange

As soon as Bitterblossom came out in Morningtide, Faeries remained an absolute menace in Standard for over a year. The core of the deck bolstered this two-mana enchantment with efficient countermagic in Spellstutter Sprite and Broken Ambitions, instant pump/protection in Scion of Oona, and four-mana powerhouses in Cryptic Command and Mistbind Clique that could essentially cause an opponent to miss their entire turn. The deck had it all, between efficient countermagic and removal, hand disruption, instant-speed aggressive creatures, and late-game power.

Jund (), another iconic midrange deck, had its start around this time with the release of Bloodbraid Elf in Alara Reborn, although its heyday came slightly later after Lightning Bolt, Verdant Catacombs, and Raging Ravine all existed in Standard together.

Reveillark, a versatile source of card advantage, saw play in its classic control form alongside cards like Mulldrifter, Sower of Temptation, and Cryptic Command. It also showed up in a deck called "Boat Brew" that had cards like Ranger of Eos, Mogg Fanatic, and Siege-Gang Commander.

Control

The mana base of Lorwyn's vivid lands combined with Shadowmoor's (reprinted) Reflecting Pool and filter lands like Mystic Gate meant some decks traded a slower early game for the ability to cast the most powerful cards available in every color. Throughout the game, 5-color control decks from this era often needed for Hallowed Burial, for Cryptic Command, for Volcanic Fallout, for Esper Charm, for Broodmate Dragon, and an epic for Cruel Ultimatum. And they somehow made it work!

Combo

Speaking of tons of different mana symbols, the most played combo deck from this era was called Cascade Swans. It set up the two-card combo of Swans of Bryn Argoll with Seismic Assault (reprinted in 10e). The plan was to throw tons of lands at the Swans until it had assembled ten lands in hand. Then, it could throw 20 damage at an unfortunate opponent. For the moment when Tenth Edition, Shadowmoor, and Alara Reborn were all in Standard, the deck used Bloodbraid Elf and Captured Sunlight to automatically cascade into the Assault (combined with as many as 40 lands to make sure it was hard to peter out once the combo was assembled).

A similar combo shows up in Commander with Swans + Chain of Plasma.

But what did these blocks mean for Commander overall?

Impact on Commander

Staples

Some cards from this era have remained format staples, showing up in 900,000 to over 3.6 million decks.

The most popular cards are unsurprisingly lands that can go in any deck – Exotic Orchard and Reliquary Tower. These lands are followed in popularity by Path to Exile, Negate, Austere Command, Ponder, Mulldrifter, and Sign in Blood.

Elves, Types Matter

Because Lorwyn is all about creature types, many prominent Elves showed up around this time. These creatures range from ramp that can go in any deck like Devoted Druid and Farhaven Elf to Elves mainstays like Elvish Archdruid. Devoted Druid shows up in counters-matter decks like Auntie Ool, Cursewretch and Tayam, Luminous Enigma and can even go infinite when combined with Myrkul, Lord of Bones or the new Thranduil, the Elvenking.

This block also introduced Shapeshifters with the changeling keyword to Magic, like Mirror Entity, Taurean Mauler, and the land Mutavault. Finally, Distant Melody, Shared Animosity, and Door of Destinies are great for any typal deck!

Tokens

Bitterblossom was a fearsome threat in Standard, and is still a powerhouse in Commander in any deck that cares about Faeries (Alela, Cunning Conqueror, Maralen, Fae Ascendant), tokens (Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER, Silverquill, the Disputant), or both (Alela, Artful Provocateur). Fleshbag Marauder is also a good fit for tokens decks, and has since inspired many similar cards like Accursed Marauder, Gravelighter, and Plaguecrafter.

Dragon Fodder easily slots into popular decks led by commanders like Krenko, Mob Boss and Zada, Hedron Grinder.

Lastly, Mycoloth unsurprisingly appears in lots of decks that care about Fungi and/or Saprolings, like Slimefoot, the Stowaway, Shroofus Sproutsire, and The Mycotyrant.

cEDH and Combo Enablers

This era released one of the most powerful cards in cEDH in the Game Changer Ad Nauseam, which shows up in high percentages in competitive partner pairings like Tymna the Weaver/Kraum, Ludevic's Opus and Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh/Silas Renn, Seeker Adept.

Magic 2010 saw the release of Silence, one of the best ways to prevent a player from comboing off with a card like Ad Nauseam.

Springleaf Drum is also a cEDH favorite, especially paired with Rograkh to create an early mana advantage — it's at 86-91% inclusion in the most popular builds of decks featuring this Kobold Warrior as a partner.

Rings of Brighthearth combines with Basalt Monolith for a simple, two-card infinite colorless mana combo that can go in any deck.

Thousand-Year Elixir isn't a combo piece itself, but is a welcome pseudo-haste enabler for combos in colors that don't usually have access to this ability.

Sanguine Bond, half of one of the most popular combos in the format altogether, was originally printed in Magic 2010.

Other Archetypes

Idyllic Tutor and Sigil of the Empty Throne are important pieces for -based enchantress strategies.

Kederekt Parasite is perfect in popular group slug builds like Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls, Nekusar, the Mindrazer, and Ob Nixilis, Captive Kingpin.

Cold-Eyed Selkie shows up in Merfolk decks and strategies that care about dealing combat damage to opponents, like Felix Five-Boots and Gonti, Canny Acquisitor. Another combat-focused permanent is Dolmen Gate, which goes in strategies that care about all-out attacking, like Anzrag, the Quake-Mole and Isshin, Two Heavens as One.

Vigor shows up in more niche fight decks like Grothama, All-Devouring and Neyith of the Dire Hunt and the +1/+1 counters it grants supplements commanders like Skullbriar, the Walking Grave and Shalai and Hallar.

Nuts and Bolts — Disruption, Ramp, Lands

Rounding it out are the simple building blocks of Commander — mass removal, disruption, protection, and mana ramp.

Cryptic Command can prevent opponents from attacking — and even clear the way for a lethal attack. With enough mana, Martial Coup can be a powerful sweeper that leaves a fearsome army behind.

Glen Elendra Archmage can protect important threats or break up something your opponents are up to — twice!

Acidic Slime and Shriekmaw are classic "enters the battlefield" creatures that can answer opposing permanents.

Knight of the White Orchid, Etherium Sculptor, Noble Hierarch, Bloom Tender, and Mana Reflection serve as different kinds of mana acceleration/fixing for different strategies.

Scapeshift can search up a smattering of utility lands, but is more likely to end the game in short order when combined with lands-matter commanders like Hearthhull, the Worldseed, The Necrobloom, and Tifa Lockhart.

Speaking of lands, this era introduced or supplemented many cycles we take for granted today, like Magic 2010's checklands, Shadowmoor's filter lands, Shards of Alara's trilands, and Lorwyn's hideaway lands.

Conclusion

All in all, there is a Burren-TON of cards from this time that are still around in the Commander format we know and love today.

What cards and decks do you remember most from this era? Also, please chime in about your favorite niche cards — including commanders — from around this time that didn't make the list. Thanks for reading, and see you next time as we keep researching the depths of Magic history.

The post Lorwyn, Shards, and Magic 2010 | The Block Era appeared first on EDHREC.

Captive Audience | Art by Dmitry Burmak

Hello, and welcome to Am I the Bolas? This week, an audience!

This column is for all of you out there who have ever played some Magic and wondered if you were the bad guy. I'm here to take in your story with all of its nuances so I can bring some clarity to all those asking, "Am I the Bolas?"

I'm ready to hear you out and offer advice. All you have to do is email amithebolas@gmail.com with your story, a pseudonym you want to use, and of course, only include details you don't mind in the column! You might see your story below one day.

I'm Mike Carrozza and I have a theory.

I have a theory about theories!

(Post edited for brevity, clarity, and then some.)

SUBMISSION

VERDICT

Thank you for writing and asking me to weigh in on your story. As I mention every week, if folks don't write to me, there's no column, so if you, the reader, want to send me a story, whether it's your own or one from Reddit or a friend's, please send it to amithebolas@gmail.com and I'll get to it here.

Before getting into things, while I cut it from the submission, Prill mentioned that he really enjoyed Am I the Bolcast?, this column's spinoff podcast I recently ended. He added this submission to the end of it, but I wanted to take a moment in the column to say thanks to everybody who listened to the podcast. It was a blast while it lasted, but now that the sun sets on the Bolcast, I've got a few things to clear up. I'm still writing the column on EDHREC (hey, you're reading it now!), and I've got articles up on Cascade Cascade from time to time! I'm happy to guest on podcasts, but I need a little time before I get back to hosting a podcast. Anyway, thanks, everybody! Very nice of you to check out the podcast and then also say nice things about it once it's over.

On to the submission!

As a taker of complicated turns that can go a little longer than I'd like, I get it. It's so much fun. A ton of game actions and triggers are what make the game so exciting. I'm a big fan of engines! When it comes to building my decks, I build it with a ton of permanents that I have to pay attention to. It's my big joy when playing Magic. To be able to get away with it as much as I can, I goldfish the heck out of my decks. I take the time to get to know my lines and how different permanents interact with each other, and I still make mistakes when I'm playing. How do you not? Am I right? With that in mind, it's very likely that you've got a little bit of blindness to your own gameplay.

I also understand that when others take really long turns, where they seem to be taking their time and they don't know what certain bits and pieces do together, it can be very frustrating. There's a little bit of grace that you owe your opponents when they're playing this game, at least casually, that is. If a player is messing up triggers in a more competitive setting, go off.

However, if they are just going through many, many triggers and actions, that's how the game goes sometimes, and that's part of it. What do you do? If you're in a pod with a group of good pals, you could make it more of a communal affair! Everybody tracks the triggers collectively. Resolving this turn is more fun to work out together, even if we're all fighting each other.

If you've got a playgroup where long turns are a bit of a pattern with certain players, there are house rules that can be implemented, such as using a turn timer and setting a limit. There are cards that can be played, like Rug of Smothering, that will help cool things off. "But Mike, isn't that a stax piece?" Yes! It's a soft stax piece. "Uh oh! This article is really about how we should be embracing stax a little bit, now? What the heck is going on with Mike?" Stax is a solution to counter the folks who tend to cast their decks in one go. Use it sparingly and go with stuff more like the Rug and Vexing Bauble and less like Winter Orb or Stasis.

So where's the sweet spot? That depends! What are you willing to tolerate? At what point do you speak up? At what point do you scoop? I think a conversation is always the first place to start, but if you're going to claim someone is taking a bunch of time on their turn, you can't just go at them. Some people have a knack for making four minutes feel like an eternity, but is four minutes a long turn when you've got four boards to be aware of and a top-deck draw can introduce a ton of possibilities you hadn't even considered? I'd say, if someone routinely spends over ten minutes a turn or even averages five minutes a turn, a conversation needs to happen. Your early turns usually are just set up turns where you've got a land and maybe a ramp piece for the most part if you've got a casual game going. If someone is hemming and hawing about their land drop on turn two enough to spend five plus minutes and they're an experienced enough player that not every card needs puzzling over, then maybe start with asking if they're okay!

In order to discuss this kind of thing, it has to be a significant amount of time or a pattern. One 30-minute turn is absurd and worth talking about at the 20-minute mark. Two 10-minute turns means that when the turn moves onto the next player, maybe the table agrees that you've got to maybe take a beat to plan your turn before it comes time for it. All in all, have a little bit of patience with folks who are getting their deck to do the cool thing that tickles their brain the way your deck does it for you.

I think it's hypocritical to take long, long turns and then balk at others who do the same. Just because you're better about the long turns you're taking, that doesn't mean that you aren't also inflicting the same kind of "torture" you receive when people do the same to you. Talk it out, be kind, offer solutions.

Bolas - if the idea is only you can do a thing, that sounds like villain talk and I say eeeeeeevil!

The post Am I the Bolas? - Big Turn for Me, but Not for Thee appeared first on EDHREC.

Marchesa, the Black Rose | Art by Matthew Stewart

Greetings and salutations, my monarchic friends, and welcome to a new Trim. I'm Arnaud, and I'm delighted to take you on a journey of countless counters, thematic thieves, and belligerent betrayals.

I'm rather happy with the results of last time's poll. It seems you were more interested in the choices offered, as 156 of you cast your vote. Third place, by far, went to Gisela, the Broken Blade, with 22 votes (14%). Broken she was, broken she shall remain. Second place went to Calamity, Galloping Inferno, with 64 votes (41%). This fiery pony led the way for quite a while, so much so that this is probably not the last you've seen of it. With 70 votes (45%), the top spot therefore went to none other than Marchesa, the Black Rose.

Paliano's finest was first featured in the original Conspiracy set. A fantastic setting, both from a lore and a gameplay perspective. And while I'm keeping expectations low given the current trend, I can't help but hope that someday Wizards of the Coast will decide to revisit this draft-dedicated environment. Just like I'm hoping for Battlebond 2. But I digress.

Marchesa is a fun commander to build around, with several different avenues, which we'll analyze in a moment.

For the time being, let's grab each and every card from the regular and budget sections and throw them into Archidekt.

317 cards. A good start.

First Trim – Jewelery Is Not For the Miser

As is now custom, a warm welcome to all the new readers of this series! The core idea is rather simple: building a deck using the cards on EDHREC, while forgoing anything worth $1.11 or more.

As usual, let's start by getting rid of the bling. After the initial axing, there are still... Oh, 211 cards left under $2. That's rather low, but let's not give up just yet.

Before moving on, let's take a look at the best options between $1.11 and $2, just in case you have a bit more of a budget:

• Mob Rule: I still believe this card is underrated. And especially here, it's a crown jewel. Steal all the big guys and swing for the win.
• Rakdos Signet: Wait, what? Signets are above $1.10 now?
• Talisman of Dominance: Bis repetita.
• Archpriest of Shadows: Another underrated body: worst-case scenario it's a 5/5 for five mana that reanimates on damage. Best-case, it's a surprise reanimation with a body.
• Bojuka Bog: See Signets.
• Kari Zev's Expertise: I'm going to miss this one. Two for one with perfect synergy with the commander is no small feat.
• Molten Primordial: And another.
• Fain, the Broker: Sacrifice outlet and card draw, all in one. What's not to like?
• Alesha, Who Laughs at Fate: Cheap and efficient recursion. Since you're already attacking, you might as well make the most of it.
• Talisman of Indulgence: The most expensive of the Talismans, just below the $2 bar. This is getting ridiculous.

This leaves five cards in the $1.00-$1.10 range:

• Tainted Peak: Excellent dual land.
• Fabled Passage: It's slowly creeping back up, I wouldn't be surprised if I had to kiss it goodbye in a couple Trims.
• Zulaport Cutthroat: A classic pinger, glad to have you on board, pal.
• Baleful Strix: Cheap, efficient, and protective. Lovely.
• Unspeakable Symbol: One of the best cards in the deck, period.

All this leaves 187 cards to work with. Not the worst, but definitely far from the most lavish ever seen in these parts. Let's move on.

Second Trim – Rotten Veggies

You've heard it everywhere, I'll say it one more time: a deck can't work if you forgo its veggies. You need gas to keep playing, and you need ramp to play ahead of time, not to mention the rest.

At the moment, this is where things stand:

More than enough to get around. Almost no board wipes, but the two in the list are more than adequate.

As usual, I'll keep a decent number of card-draw outlets. Ramp should be fine in the 10-12 range. Removal will be kept to a bare minimum, as the core of the deck should be enough to deal with threats.

Let's cut:

After giving the land base a good shave, the list is down to 132 cards. Already I've had a hard time cutting some of these. Let's hope it doesn't become a trend. Onwards.

Third Trim – The Best Adornments Are Stolen Ones

Let's talk strategy for a bit.

As I hinted before, there are many ways to build Marchesa. You can make an invincible army of creatures armed with +1/+1 counters. You can ping your opponents to death. You can reanimate stuff over and over.

Or you can be the ultimate monster and steal stuff for good.

If ever there was a commander made for all the Threaten effects out there, Marchesa's the one. She doesn't care who the owner of a creature is. As long as it had a +1/+1 counter when it died, it will come back under your control. Luckily, she has the means to provide said counter rather easily.

Therefore, the game plan is rather simple: steal the best stuff from your opponents, and put it to good use. What I love about this strategy is that it scales with the table's power level. The stronger the threats, the better for you.

Beware, though: there's a distinct possibility your pod will kindly ask you not to play this anymore with them once they realize you get to play with their own cardboard. Trust me, I've been there.

Now that the strategy has been established, let's take a look at what's left:

• Threaten spells: By this I mean spells that take control of a creature until end of turn. Steal the critter, swing with it, sacrifice it, get it back for good.
• Sacrifice outlets: Absolutely necessary for you to be able to enact your plan. This is the one section I'm not going to be skimpy about, especially for the free repeatable effects.
• Counters: This one I'm more partial to. I'm not sure you need that many ways to put counters on creatures, not with your commander out, which you'll need anyway to execute your plan.
• Recursion: A few outlets here and there. Out.
• Random stuff: Most will leave.

This is what I'm getting rid of:

Down to 110 cards. Onwards to the last stretch.

Final Trim – The Best of the Best

Congratulations on making it this far!

At this point in the build, if a card is still in the list, it most probably isn't bad. Therefore, take each and every cut from now on as a matter of personal taste.

Here goes:

• Thundering Raiju: I kinda like the fact that it provides counters and pings. But realistically, I don't believe it will deal that much damage in the end.
• Warstorm Surge, Flayer of the Hatebound, and Stalking Vengeance: I love these cards, really. But they also sport a really high mana cost and don't really do anything on their own.
• Baleful Strix: It pains me, it really does. But it's also not really recursive nor does it provide that much card advantage.
• Captivating Crew: On paper, it has everything you'd dream of for such a card. But in practice, it costs to cast, and then another to activate. Not the cheapest way to steal a creature.
• Hostage Taker: Pretty much the same argument. You're removing a creature, but you also need to pay its cost to get it on your side, and this deck is all about cheating such costs.
• Wrangle: Cheap cost, but also cheap power theft. Pass.
• Bone Splinters: I'm running out of ideas here.
• Bloodthrone Vampire: The least efficient of the sac outlets.

All this leads to:

The Deck List

Additional Trim – A Look Into the Past

As is customary, let's take a look at a deck from roughly eighteen months ago, and see how it fared.

Today, it's time to look back at good old Captain Howler, Sea Scourge. Can you believe Aetherdrift is already this old?

Good news is: it could be worse. Bad news is: it's still not that good.

There are currently 10 cards above the set $1.10 limit:

• Magus of the Wheel: $1.11
• Talisman of Creativity: $1.70
• Ghostly Pilferer: $1.81
• Swiftfoot Boots: $2.30
• Decanter of Endless Water: $2.42
• Thought Vessel: $2.44
• Malcolm, Alluring Scoundrel: $2.74 (!)
• Matzalantli, the Great Door: $2.92 (!)
• Brass's Tunnel-Grinder: $3.33 (!!)
• Fiery Islet: $4.55 (!!)

Are there suitable replacements? Of course!

• Key to the City: Makes it unblockable, and loots.
• Frostboil Snarl: Not as good as the Islet, but still a decent land.
• Tolarian Winds: At $1.09, this barely passes the test. I'm not complaining.
• Change of Fortune: To make up for some of the lost card draw.
• Decaying Time Loop: How did this evade my attention? That retrace is sweet!
• Hobgoblin, Mantled Marauder: Basically a second copy of your commander.
• Mind Stone: Still a decent mana rock.
• Drake Haven: Getting more bodies is never a bad thing.
• Blasphemous Act: Removal, removal, removal.
• Conspiracy Theorist: One of the few decks where he feels truly at home.

You can find the updated list here.

Conclusion

One down, a lot more to go.

I'd like your opinion now, Marchesa players. Did you take the same route? A different one?

Did I miss something critical?

Let me know in the comments below, and I'll see you in two weeks for another Trim!

The post Bow Low to Marchesa of the Black Rose and Her Trimmed Thefts appeared first on EDHREC.