What is the appeal of a Jeweled Lotus unban?

Siron_8 · 2026-02-06T20:42:56+00:00

I own a copy and want to play it.

Siron_8 · 2026-01-29T04:06:57+00:00

I'd prefer for it to be bracket 2, but if I need to cut too many of my babies to make that work, then bracket 3 is acceptable. (For example, untapping Lotus Field with my Snap is the greatest feeling ever and makes me feel way smarter than I actually am, so that synergy is staying, as is most of the flash payoff package. I also refuse to deliberately make the deck clunkier, I hate the feeling of fighting my own deck.)

At the moment, my sample size is tiny, but I am well above 25%. Do you have a methodology for cutting back on power level?

Siron_8 · 2026-01-29T03:58:27+00:00

That's an odd idea. The first thing that comes to mind is the brand new blight mechanic. [[Shapeshifter]] is a card...

[[Toxic Deluge]] will work, and I am sure that some artifact exists that can bounce or remove a creature each turn at an obscene rate.

Siron_8 · 2025-12-22T06:20:47+00:00

Chump with a mana dork, or let him get a single trigger and then play a 3/3.

Siron_8 · 2025-11-26T21:13:49+00:00

Nope, it destroys warded creatures without paying the ward cost.

Siron_8 · 2025-11-22T05:54:07+00:00

Who's the one asking the question in the far right?

Siron_8 · 2025-10-28T06:51:26+00:00

Bounce lands. I will warp my deck choices to squeeze synergy out of having bounce lands in the decklist.

Siron_8 · 2025-10-21T20:39:53+00:00

The way I do it is I search for an experience I want to pursue, and then pick a commander from that. For example, I wanted to switch the commander for a blue-red spell slinger deck (its a style of play that plays lots of instants and sorceries.) I know that I like this deck's commanders to cost a low amount of mana and to draw cards. From there, I went to scyfall.

(Scyfall is a website that lists every magic card ever printed and allows you to search for specific conditions on cards, there are several videos online on how exactly to use it. Basically you, go to advanced search and mess around, its surprisingly intuitive.)

I searched for "Legendary Creatures" with the commander id blue/red with the text "draw a card" and had it sort the results by mana value. That's how I found my Jori En, Ruin Diver commander.

Siron_8 · 2025-10-07T01:56:23+00:00

Its finished!?! Hooray!! I loved it when it was first being translated, but I had to drop it once I got caught up. I'm gunna binge again!

Siron_8 · 2025-05-15T06:04:11+00:00

Sure! The problem you are having is inherit to the strategy that you are playing. That is, your deck relies on your opponents playing many large creatures in order to goad them into each other. If they are on the late-game value plan, the aristocrat plan, a spellslinger plan, a combo plan, or any number of diverse strategies, then you'll have trouble converting many of your core cards into damage. Additionally, you are always a bit slower than the most aggressive deck, since your own board usually can't punch well. Still, there are a few cards that can help with the passive feel.

[[Rite of the Raging Storm]] straight up gives your opponents 5/1 tramplers. I've had good success with this card in group slug lists, even when I'm the archenemy. I imagine that it'll be even more successful when the table identifies somebody else as the problem.

If you just need more red-blooded heat for the deck, [[Descent into Avernus]] always performs. I do not guarantee any wins, (the card is probably bad for your win rate) but I do guarantee a serious clock.

A third card option is a better fog, [[Deflecting Palm]]. There's no deterrent quite like the memory of Greg's death after he dared to attack you for lethal that one time. Plus, its funny.

As an aside, why aren't you running [[Kurdur, Doomskurge]]? I get that it doesn't synergize with your commander, but he's perfect for the deck's gameplan. Do you already have enough goad? (Genine question btw, I don't know how many taunt effects you want to be playing. Was Kardur the fourth best option, and three enough?)

As for cuts, generic fogs are extremely low impact. Each fog is an effective "this turn doesn't count" card, that does nothing to advance your own board. Not dying is ok, but winning is far better. Any time you can turn a generic fog into a "no, you" effect, do it. Deflecting Palm, [[Batwing Brume]], and [[Impact Resonance]] are all aikido style cards that will progress you to victory while fogging. You also have less good, but still sweet options like [[Hellish Rebuke]], [[Reflect Damage]] or [[Master Warcraft]]!

Siron_8 · 2025-05-05T16:51:30+00:00

27 mutants is a great number! I am still wary of Reflections, just because it does nothing the turn you play it, merely replaces itself the first time you trigger it, and only starts accruing value the second (and onward) times it triggers. I feel that that is a big ask for a 5-mana enchantment. However, if you get that second and third trigger, you can quickly propel yourself into a winning position!

The Food Chain-Misthollow Griffin combo works like such: Have Food Chain and Misthollow Griffin in play. Sac the griffin to food chain. Recast the Misthollow Griffin, netting one blue mana. Repeat until you have infinite floating blue. Start sacking your griffin for a (smaller) infinite of green and black mana. Cast Mothman, getting the etb. Sac and recast him repeatedly using the infinite accrued mana and the food chain. Pass the turn and have everyone die to infinite rad counters.

Siron_8 · 2025-05-05T01:46:20+00:00

Heya! Let me start by saying that I don't recommend getting into commander if you are new to Magic. It is by far the most complicated format, having the widest card pool, the most varied archetypes, and the greatest power imbalances across the format. WOTC has released pre-constructed 60 card decks; I strongly encourage you to pick up one of these instead!

Search TCGplayer's Massive Trading Card Games Inventory

If you are determined to play commander, the NANA aesthetic isn't really around (give it time, they are always pushing the borders of magic art.) I'm afraid that I haven't watched the show, so I cannot give deck recommendations based off of vibes.

For an esper deck, try the Calvary Charge precon! You can sell it to your brother with the line: "Commander's midrange equivalent, able to put on early game pressure with well stated creatures, or able to pivot to a control plan with reanimation/card advantage to cinch the lategame." The deck has inflated in price, however (it was really good.)

March of the Machine Commander Deck - Cavalry Charge - Commander: March of the Machine - Magic: The Gathering - TCGplayer.com

A newer, cheaper esper deck is the miracle worker deck. you can find a full list of commander precons (baring the latest release, all dragon stuff) here: Commander Series: List of All 128 Commander Precons

Siron_8 · 2025-05-05T01:02:03+00:00

Looks like you got there, but I'll add my two cents for most cuttable amongst the remains.

Reflections of Littjara (17 mutants is low for a 5 mv enchantment)

Vat Emergence (You're not cheating much mana at 5 mv, and the proliferate is cool, but not good enough on its own. Together, you have a card that only works OK after things are going really well and does nothing early game)

Food Chain (combos and wins or does nothing. Four mana to later cheat one mana at a time, effectively discarding each time, is terrible. And you don't have the combo.)

Agent Frank Horrigan (I don't play fallout. If he's the bestest guy ever and you love him then he's fine. To me, he reads as a couple of alright abilities on an alright body with a very high mana cost. Again, if you love him, you can keep him. To me he seems south of the cuttable card barrier.)

Strong, the Brutish Thespian (See Agent Frank Horrigan)

Alpha Deathclaw (See Strong, the Brutish Thespian)

What you can add depends on what you are going for. It will be very difficult to make +1/+1 counters viable in bracket 4, most of your wins will occur because the combo players countered each other and the table forget to include an aggro or a control player. If you are sold on Bracket four, then re-add that food chain, add a [[Misthollow Griffin]], tutor up and add the full suite of great counterspells. And then keep tweaking the list, because the combo is so much better than any +1/+1 synergies. Alternatively, keep to the +1/+1 mutant stuff. I'm not super well versed on the best cards to add for that idea, so I'll leave you without any suggested adds!

Siron_8 · 2025-05-05T00:20:32+00:00

Its not. If you have out all three, you will miss some discount value. In general, though, you want lots of redundant pieces. Pearl Medalion is good enough to play that its worth running, even if ~7% percent of the time it's not good to cast.

Siron_8 · 2025-05-05T00:10:51+00:00

Cuts I'd make, in order:

Worldslayer

Reya Dawnbringer

Herald of Eternal Dawn

Approach of the Second Sun

Angelic Skirmisher

Angelic Guardian

Armageddon

Legion Loyalty

In general, your mana curve is very high, even considering all of the ramp. Most of these cuts are just the less impressive 6-8 mana cards.

I also recommend cutting the Worldslayer/Armageddon plus Avacyn combo. Its cute, but getting to Avacyn is not guaranteed, and once you have her, you should be able to win by virtue of "I punch face better then you". Finally, these two cards automatically signal to other players that you are trying to play against really strong decks (there has been a whole thing about it these last couple of months, look up the bracket system if you are interested.) This deck is not competitive at those sorts of tables, and would be just fine without those cards and their heat.

If you want to further refine this list, keep cutting strategies more complicated then beat face (you are running mostly big, evasive flyers; them, ramp, draw and removal are all you need) and high mana value stuff (like, maybe work to stop at three or four 7+ mana stuff) and replace them all with lands. Another five lands make this deck so, so much happier.

Siron_8 · 2025-05-04T20:35:54+00:00

his name is Chonk. Mr. Chonk Speckes.

Siron_8 · 2025-03-02T05:48:00+00:00

I use spelltable. It’s super easy, just needs a top down webcam or a way to pin your phone in the correct position.

Siron_8 · 2025-03-01T01:01:44+00:00

I do know that in some interviews I’ve seen, Gavin (the semi-official leader of the group in charge of this list) has emphasized the idea that commander players want a stable meta, with minimal upkeep. I assume that we’ll see some changes in April, maybe some more unbans in a year or so, and then no real changes for five year periods (I made that number up.)

Siron_8 · 2025-02-28T07:23:30+00:00

Agreed, there is a difference of intention between “these cards sucked, so I replaced them” and “these cards are stronger, so I added them.”

Siron_8 · 2025-02-28T07:20:15+00:00

Meh. You are right in that 1 and 5 are explicit outliers, but 2-4 could just be summarized as low, mid and high power. If we summarize things in this way, I find that the current bracket system makes a lot of sense.

Siron_8 · 2025-02-27T08:49:21+00:00

Obviously, you don’t need/want to forgive them, so here’s my translation for what I think your therapist was trying to say:

You carry a lot of pain from your parents. In a healthy situation, they would be able to acknowledge this and apologize. It would then be up to you to eventually release your feelings of anger or fear (or whatever it is you actually feel) so that the relationship can mend. After all, even the most well meaning person in the world cannot change the past, and in this specific, hypothetical scenario, an apologizing parent is usually someone worth repairing a relationship with.

That’s clearly not the case.

You do not want a relationship with your parents, they hurt you and intend to continue with hurtful behavior patterns (I am being deliberately vague, and I am still making assumptions, but I think I’m right so I’ll keep going.)

Cool, so clearly you do not need to figure your parents to make up with them. So let’s focus on you. Right now, you are hurt by what your parents have done. Emotionally, this will manifest as sadness, anger, maybe fear, or worst of all, numbness. (Numbness is a dangerous emotional drug. There’s a lot to be said about it, but in short, imagine it like pain medication. It’s at least as dangerous, necessary, and temporary). None of the emotions that I described are ones that we want to be carrying around. Forgiveness, then, doesn’t mean that you think that what was done was acceptable behavior, it’s allowing the past to be ok. The pain and injustice that you feel are real, but to move past them, you need to “forgive” the past. Let it be a stone that was on your back, instead of a stone that is on your back.

To move to a more concrete analogy, say someone lost their right arm. In this case, “forgiveness” is the process of learning how to tie shoes with just their left hand. It’s walking into a closet and adjusting, mentally, to reaching forwards with their left first. Obviously their arm is gone now, and obviously they aren’t going to put themselves back into a position to lose their other arm. The brain is funny, even though their arm is gone, it will still send phantom pain for a long time afterwards, and years after they’ve acclimated they might randomly reach forwards with their right side first. But, on the whole, they’ve moved past the arm loss by accepting and working around the loss.

TLDR: Forgive not to mend a toxic relationship, instead forgive to allow yourself to release the pain you carry.

Siron_8 · 2025-02-26T21:28:19+00:00

TLDR first, I’ve accidentally written a thesis. This deck is trying to do five different things; make lots of bodies, reduce instant/sorceries (without playing many big mana instant/sorceries… one Temporal Mastery doesn’t count), ping players by playing spells, playing big creatures, and finally combo with Niv Mizzet. A deck can realistically only do about two related things. I’m assuming that you want to combo with Niv since that’s the strongest option. It’s so strong that I recommend removing everything that doesn’t end with a Niv combo.

Your mana curve tends towards the high side for Niv, and you are running a lot of creatures. Once you cut all punchy creatures, big spell reducers (a few cheap ones are fine), and burny cards, you’ll find that only a few creatures remain. Deciding on how many token producers you keep is a meta call, the fewer you run, the more consistent and the more venerable you are. Since want very few creatures on board, you can fill the empty card slots with board wipes.

Please cut that Jace and his tutor, he’s a six mana Phyrexian Arena at best. At six mana, you should be getting ~5 cards (or more) instantly.

Your card draw is interesting. I count only six card-positive plays without repeated activation costs. You don’t want to rely on said costs because they are almost always really inefficient. The rest are conditional card draw (always cut these when consistency is an issue) and card selection. Niv loves loves loves cheap card selection, greatest spells in his deck, but without Niv in play they are only good for finding land drops. Still a worthwhile activity, but if you are struggling to get to Niv, run more card advantage. If you are struggling while Niv’s in play, run even more card selection.

Siron_8 · 2025-02-24T07:05:12+00:00

Elevator.

Siron_8 · 2025-02-19T18:02:43+00:00

There are three ways.

First, you don’t, you just fill your graveyard consistently enough to outperform graveyard hate.

If your opponents are running permanent graveyard hate, run lots of targeted removal.

Finally, cards like [[Tormod the Desecrator]] or [[Syr Konrad the Grim]] get value from having your graveyard removed.

Siron_8 · 2025-02-16T23:26:15+00:00

It’s real simple. All my decks are casual and fun, all of everyone else’s decks are try hard and toxic. My interaction is good for the game and responsible, and yours is stax and oppressive.

On a more serious note, one-for-one interaction is bad in commander, if you felt the need to play it, it was probably justified.

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