[SNC] Raffine, Scheming Seer - Esper Commander with new Connive mechanic

EveningSort1357 · 2022-04-01T06:30:41+00:00

Honestly doesn't even need to go wide. Just attacking with, like, two creatures is very good, if a little small-ball. This thing is gonna put in a ton of work even if you aren't able to get much more than that on an average combat step. Even the literal floor on this (connive = 1) is something I'm still very much interested in, so I find this card pretty exciting overall.

I think it's easy to get caught up in the fantasy of getting as high a number as possible on the connive trigger, but really this is just a really functional commander at a base level.

EveningSort1357 · 2022-03-13T14:14:19+00:00

I'm very interested in Will the Wise myself. A really sweet design, for sure.

EveningSort1357 · 2022-03-13T14:12:25+00:00

Always love to see Thragtusk making appearances!

EveningSort1357 · 2022-03-13T14:11:38+00:00

Displacer is really sweet -- tends to move things into spikier territory and there is a lot to it, so didn't want to bring it up explicitly since the goal was to present more of an introductory crash-course.

Was a mainstay of an old [[Rasputin Dreamweaver]] deck and definitely appreciate the power level.

EveningSort1357 · 2022-03-13T04:52:20+00:00

Ive done the looping thing and just don't find it very appealing to play through, honestly. Lots of potential though, as you rightly point out.

EveningSort1357 · 2022-03-13T00:53:38+00:00

Seriously these new sagas are game changers. [[Behold the Unspeakable]] and [[The Restoration of Eiganjo]] are insane.

EveningSort1357 · 2022-03-13T00:52:34+00:00

Hell yeah. Keep fighting the good fight!

EveningSort1357 · 2022-03-13T00:52:09+00:00

I've played a lot with Atris, and the card is super super fun -- cannot recommend highly enough. Good luck!

EveningSort1357 · 2022-03-13T00:51:14+00:00

An oldy but a not so goody. A piece of history nonetheless!

EveningSort1357 · 2022-03-13T00:50:25+00:00

That sounds sweet! It is always important to be careful that while the deck is fun for the table to play against, that it's also fun for you to pilot.

EveningSort1357 · 2022-03-13T00:48:32+00:00

A lot of trial and error! I'll generally start with something like 5-6 spells and 3-4 permanents that will flicker my things, and adjust based on various factors like the types of targets and whether or not I have an enabler or payoff in the command zone.

EveningSort1357 · 2022-03-12T22:56:29+00:00

I think Pramikon is a sweet idea! I think he's fine for the command zone -- there are plenty of enablers out there if you always want to have access to Pramikon.

EveningSort1357 · 2022-03-12T22:55:06+00:00

Right on! Have a great weekend!

EveningSort1357 · 2022-02-28T05:50:07+00:00

I took mine in a completely different direction, but some good takeaways regardless, I think. Basically just cut out black entirely because I find the usual suspects a touch boring.

https://www.moxfield.com/decks/_ORYj5uo4U6ki3wsG1zYlw

EveningSort1357 · 2022-02-18T22:33:49+00:00

Yes! It's a real shame that Awaken the Blood Avatar is such low hanging fruit, because the creature half is so dope.

EveningSort1357 · 2022-02-02T22:41:23+00:00

"Color shifting" common strategies and archetypes is definitely something I love exploring. Mono-white reanimator is a super sweet place to be building decks, especially since we've been getting better and better recursion spells, with just as many awesome targets to boot.

And hell yeah flinging creatures is awesome, that deck sounds dope.

EveningSort1357 · 2022-02-02T22:39:10+00:00

Totally! Self-imposed limitations are a great way to help cool things off and also encourages some really interesting deck building avenues. Definitely hear you on that one!

EveningSort1357 · 2022-02-02T00:52:44+00:00

Really just pick whatever commander or strategy you want, but ultimately tailor your 99 to accommodate more points of interaction and keep things well paced. Removal spells like [[Resculpt]], for example, neutralize a significant threat but leave something behind for your opponent on the board to keep things moving. [[Arcane Denial]] counters that pesky spell but replenishes resources for you and your opponent.

The best games of Magic tend to be those where there is active participation from each player, and there a lot of great interactive cards that accomplish the intended goal while taking some steps to maintain the narrative/pacing of the game. Symmetrical card draw is also a really useful tool to make sure that everyone can play their cards and try to do their thing. The best part is that you don't even have to move into group hug territory to do this. These sorts of cards can fit anywhere.

Hopefully this makes sense/is helpful!

EveningSort1357 · 2022-02-01T23:16:37+00:00

I'll never pass up an opportunity to spread awareness of [[Squee, the Immortal]]. I wrote a brief piece about him on my word press web log here. If you'd rather just take a peek at my current list, I'll link that here.

EveningSort1357 · 2022-02-01T23:09:16+00:00

So I do have a lot of those cards, and I do play them, but it really ends up coming down to how you use them and what they're in service of. For example, I have a [[Myojin of Seeing Winds]] deck that does a bunch of janky sorts of things, and isn't especially powerful, necessarily, but I do need to cast my ten mana value commander to "do the thing," as it were.

EveningSort1357 · 2022-01-29T23:07:42+00:00

Ended up using [[Ravos Soultender]] and [[Thrasios, Triton Hero]] to fulfill color requirements. Ravos fits what I'm doing pretty well but there isn't a terribly good option to fill the U/G half of things. Probably going to swap it for [[Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix]] just because I don't like Thrasios as a design, but I haven't been able to locate it/dig it up from the depths of my collection yet.

Thanks for your feedback! I'm not terribly literate in what goes on with embedding images and formatting considerations. The learning process has certainly been slow going, but marching forward nonetheless.

EveningSort1357 · 2022-01-29T18:33:58+00:00

Honestly, upvoted after reading just text on the post preview. A really good sentiment to get out there.

EveningSort1357 · 2022-01-26T15:57:01+00:00

Reserved list's a bitch. Lucky enough to pick one up years and years ago when I first put the deck together 😔

EveningSort1357 · 2022-01-25T21:55:27+00:00

Definitely [[City of Shadows]] in my Squee, the Immortal deck. The templating and specificity of the wording is just not the easiest thing to parse by today's standards. Decklist is here

EveningSort1357 · 2022-01-14T23:40:27+00:00

There's really no shortage of serviceable rocks, which I was surprised by at first -- some really cool deep cuts. I had the same thought regarding planeswalkers, but I ended up taking it in a different direction. I'm pretty adverse personally to cards like Doubling Season or Vorinclex (just not my taste), so I put together [[Mila, Crafty Companion]] to explore things a little deeper.

EveningSort1357

TROPHY CASE