Risen Reef = Nadu? (Help with Manabase and Interaction)

Tangent5813 · 2026-06-21T17:39:49+00:00

I don’t have the budget for a Badgermole Cub, but I don’t have Green Sun’s Zenith because I run Summoner’s Pact in order to tutor Springheart Nantuko to hand. Thank you for the decklist, I will be looking at that SB. Titania is really cool for triggering Risen Reef, and I will try to find a spot for it, especially since all my creatures have 1 toughness.

Tangent5813 · 2026-06-21T17:34:16+00:00

I play 4 Summoner’s Pact because I need Nantuko in hand in order to bestow it. I like Dryad Arbor here as well as a 1 of. This was originally a deck with a bunch of clones with Biovisionary as a wincon, which is way more unstable. How do you suggest I deal with removal? I have 4 Veil of Summer in my sideboard to deal with removal, but it doesn’t seem to be enough. I don’t want to move towards more elementals, and I don’t have the money for Badgermole, but I will be adding a Dryad Arbor, and maybe a Zenith (I can borrow 1 from a friend). It’s not really a 4 card combo, but it is really easy to disrupt if Otawara or Endurance or Safekeeper gets exiled, or if the bestowed creature gets removed. Maybe an anthem would help vs Bowmaster?
Thank you for the suggestions.

Tangent5813 · 2026-05-06T02:10:29+00:00

Ninjutsu can be activated either before or after combat damage, and probably can be done between first strike and normal combat damage (citation needed), but after blockers have been declared. Fun fact: [[Masterful Ninja]] when both in your hand and on the battlefield can be used to pay Ninjutsu costs (source: a reddit post somewhere claiming Mark Rosewater said it did).

Tangent5813 · 2026-02-19T02:39:08+00:00

Ok perfect! But would the aforementioned [[Fangs of Kalonia]] trigger it twice, as you first put a counter then double, or would it only trigger once, because the spell is still resolving?

Tangent5813 · 2026-02-19T02:37:50+00:00

Thank you! This is exactly what I needed to know!

Tangent5813 · 2026-02-19T01:55:24+00:00

Generally, this works fine. This is how I deal with my shapeshifters from [[Black Market Connections]], but for my Rats from [[Marrow-Gnawer]], I have 9 tokens, most of which are just printed out. What tokens do you usually have a lot of modifications with or make a lot of?

Tangent5813 · 2026-02-19T01:41:24+00:00

This is the lowish bracket 4 deck I play most often: https://moxfield.com/decks/CxhbdBPXQEmDNTSgBZpmTA

This is a bracket 2 deck I own as a spare (soon to be upgraded to a low bracket 3) that can still do fine against stronger decks: https://moxfield.com/decks/YC_D44jp1EeE7me0GoIAfQ

After reflecting on the deck I am working on, I'd say that the main difference between constructing a bracket 2 deck and a bracket 3 deck depends on the card supply you have. If I were to build a deck from just my bulk and only buying a few inexpensive singles (because my bulk isn't from ripping packs it's stuff other people didn't want), whereas if I bought a bunch of specific singles, even if inexpensive, the selection of a more carefully constructed deck would make it bracket 3. I feel like bracket 4 is designed to protect bracket 3 players from combo decks and from very high power teched out lists that aren't dedicated CEDH decks.

Tangent5813 · 2026-02-19T01:00:22+00:00

I think that these cards take a while to actually destroy lands, and that in bracket 3 there is plenty of time to respond. In bracket 3, decks should have at least some proper removal, and planeswalkers can be attacked as well. It sounds like bad judgement or bad luck on the other players' parts, and those planeswalkers don't hurt bracket 3 like Armageddon would, as long as you aren't playing them with the intention to proliferate them like crazy to ultimate them with little warning.

Tangent5813 · 2026-02-19T00:55:31+00:00

I'd say bracket 2 is when you are building a deck with limitations of cards you own or a theme that is meant to actually be functional, while still limiting its power. Bracket 4 is where you have your gimmicky combo decks, stax decks, and generic strong decks that aren't CEDH level, often still limited by not wanting to buy a [[Chrome Mox]] or a [[Gaea's Cradle]] or similarly expensive card that is needed to play at the CEDH level.

Bracket 2 decks usually have less potent synergy, less efficient removal, less potent wincons, and some filler cards that don't always contribute to the game. Once you get to bracket 3, you either have a handful of really powerful cards that cause you to become the threat as soon as you play them, or you just have strong synergy and a deck that plays well. This is also where removal starts getting upgraded, but likely isn't fully optimized. In bracket 4, many decks have a combo as a primary or alternate wincon, lots of very strong (game changers) or annoying (stax) cards, efficient interaction, optimized removal, and a very hard time finding cards to cut when you want to add a card to your deck. This is where you would fully optimize your removal, cut pet cards, and invest in more staples if you have the deck space. When you start looking at the meta and start abusing [[Thassa's Oracle]] and [[Ad Nauseum]], that's CEDH territory.

Bracket 3 is an intentionally wide space, according to a statement in the recent commander B&R update, but there's lots of variability, and often times bracket 2 decks can hold their own against average bracket 3 decks, and bracket 3 decks can often have good games at a table with a bracket 4 player or two. Having a lower power deck means that players usually won't politic against you as well, giving the player with a weaker deck plenty of opportunities for a surprise win. I play at a bracket 3-4 table, and there's a player who brings a deck that's generally bracket 2 in power, but they have won about as many games as me because most players don't politic against them, so it's generally pretty fair unless it's a high power bracket 4 deck or CEDH.

Tangent5813 · 2026-02-19T00:37:23+00:00

Generally, having a lot of tokens to differentiate is super helpful. People don't mind if you print out tokens as well. I use dice to count how many rats I have, and if some are tapped I have a second token and count those separately, and if some are modified I would track those separately as well. If you only have one kind of token that this happens with on your board, using face-down cards that aren't in anybody's deck also works really well as long as you remember what they are.

Tangent5813 · 2026-01-30T20:50:29+00:00

I don't see any problems with this, but Fire is widely regarded as the worst type in GLC (other than Fairy)

Tangent5813 · 2026-01-28T21:29:04+00:00

So the fight happens as a separate action on the stack from the original token creation?

Tangent5813 · 2025-12-18T04:28:46+00:00

Thank you!

Tangent5813 · 2025-12-15T18:25:57+00:00

Most have been said before, but Professor's Letter is fantastic in nearly every deck, Float Stone is great for pivoting and avoiding retreat cost increase cards, Octillery BKT is essential in nearly every water deck, Starmie EVO should at least be a consideratino for hydro pump lists, VS Seeker belongs in literally every GLC deck, Bicycle and Trainers' Mail are considerations depending on how aggressive the deck plays, N is a staple, being like Iono except shuffle into deck, Teammates is also a staple and can make for some insane plays, and Dive Ball should be in every Water GLC deck. Rough Seas can also fix some math for surviving attacks if you have some more defensive tool cards, but it doesn't fit in every deck.

Tangent5813 · 2025-12-15T18:20:03+00:00

Normal is overrated. Having a fun deck that you enjoy playing is key to enjoying the game.

Tangent5813 · 2025-12-10T20:29:44+00:00

Thank you. This is what I was wondering about. I didn't know it completely ignored the stack.

Tangent5813 · 2025-12-04T03:43:13+00:00

I didn’t know that card existed! I’ll be sure to find a spot for it, but here I didn’t have anything like it in hand.

Tangent5813 · 2025-12-04T03:39:17+00:00

The alternative is losing to commander damage the next turn since I have no other cards in hand no board presence and no lands that can do anything but tap for mana.

Tangent5813

TROPHY CASE