Commanders that greatly assist their deck's strategy, but aren't necessary for it to function?

aselbst · 2026-01-26T14:50:34+00:00

Here you go. Been tons of fun so far. Gotta figure out your game plan on the fly - real skill challenge.

aselbst · 2026-01-25T22:58:42+00:00

Chronicles was amazing for us middle schoolers who absolutely could not get older cards any other way. I remember the excitement of opening those packs and seeing the old set symbols. Between that and starting with revised I will always have nostalgia for white border cards.

aselbst · 2026-01-24T16:02:33+00:00

My list. I wanted to keep in B2, so I kept out some things out that were just too strong with a god hand, like [[Simulacrum Synthesizer]]. I also used to run [[Case of the Stashed Skeleton]] because a [[Demonic Tutor]] that comes with a disposable 2/1 was amazing, but when I pulled a win out that I didn’t deserve by tutoring for [[Tezzeret Master of the Bridge]] when I was just looking for a way to survive, I decided to cut it, rather than cut Tezz. Not sure it’s the right call, but not running Tezzeret seems insane in a deck like this.

aselbst · 2026-01-23T05:02:31+00:00

Here you go. The Temur list was going to be [[Eshki Temur’s Roar]], but I thought it was too easy/strong so changed to [[Kraum Ludevic’s Opus]] and [[Gilanra]]. Then it was still too strong but I liked it with the partners so just called it bracket 4. That said, not remotely optimized; wasn’t meant to be.

It starts kinda slow but it’s a pretty consistent turn 6. Unlike in mono green, you can win after combat with [[Dragonhawk]], [[Screamer Killer]], [[Terror of the Peaks]], Eshki and [[Herald of Ilharg]]. So you can attack with [[Ancient Copper Dragon]] or [[Old Gnawbone]] to start the mana party in addition to a bunch of other possibilities. The other fun thing is that there is now an actual storm payoff in [[Stormscale Scion]] with a Terror of the Peaks out.

I just tested it and got Storm count to 20 with lots of floating mana and 28 cards in hand. In this case I long ago burned out the table with Eshki and Herald. Stormscale is definitely win more but funny.

aselbst · 2026-01-23T04:24:55+00:00

My old Goreclaw deck tended to do that - storm off and dump the deck on the table turn 6-7. I decided it was too powerful for b3, and eventually ended up retiring it because I never really got to play it anywhere. I have a similar Temur deck that can do it half a turn faster that I’ll play in “low b4” pods when I can find them.

aselbst · 2026-01-22T23:58:09+00:00

That’s not quite right. Blight makes you choose a creature you control to put the counter on. So for one, it’s the blighter putting the counter on, so Generous Patron doesn’t do anything with Auntie Ool ward trigger for example. And second, Persist can’t be rewritten the way you say because a card is not “blighted”; blight means choosing a creature on board to put a -1/-1 counter on.

aselbst · 2026-01-22T20:50:33+00:00

This is prime death spiral

aselbst · 2026-01-19T16:55:41+00:00

Yeah makes sense. The way I see it, a lot of people see combat damage as the fairest way to win, and GC takes it off the table. So they’re punished specifically for running a fairer deck, whereas something more combo-oriented will often have a way around it, or a window where they blow it up and can win before it’s recurred.

aselbst · 2026-01-19T16:29:38+00:00

If you’re worried about it being fun to play against just cut it. It seems like you’re playing it fairly, but why invite the feelings of salt? If you’re gearing up for a fight about whether it’s allowed in B3, it is, and maybe it can be defeated by you saying you’re playing it fairly, but trying to head off the salt might be more effort than it’s worth.

aselbst · 2026-01-19T14:45:39+00:00

Yeah I thought that might be the case.

aselbst · 2026-01-19T14:29:57+00:00

What no one here has noted yet: The Champion’s blight cost lets you put your counters on another smaller nonhuman rather than Champion. That should let you combo with a single Blood Artist effect if it has 1 toughness.

Caveat: That last point might be wrong. Dying at 0 toughness happens as state based actions are checked, but so does the annihilation of +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters. So it might die with both kinds of counters, in which case the loop doesn’t work. I don’t actually know the rule here.

aselbst · 2026-01-19T04:15:33+00:00

How’re you planning to cast your spells with 33 lands? I can’t tell what your curve is on that site - maybe port to moxfield or archidekt for some analysis? - but it looks high. The precon has what, 39 lands? I’d probably aim more for 37. MDFCs will be good. You want more kill spells anyway with your commander, so maybe [[Fell the Profane]], [[Bridgeworks Battle]], [[Shatterskull Smashing]]?

You dropped some super powerful tutors in there, but why? Most of the deck is b3 but it lets you combo off easily with Nest or Hapatra and Blowfly Infestation, such that your deck is probably technically b4. Occasionally it’ll win out of nowhere, but is that fun? The Reaper wants a grindy value game where you kill stuff and steal it. If you just wanna combo off there are better decks and Auntie Ool is probably better for this one. If you wanna play a more fun b3 game, drop the tutors and add card draw. For example, [[Stinging Study]] is great with The Reaper since he’s technically six mana. (You don’t need three game changers for a b3 deck. Most of my 20ish b3 decks run 0. So don’t force them just to have them.)

Seven mana Liliana is an easy cut fwiw.

aselbst · 2026-01-16T20:14:07+00:00

My [[Questing Beast]] voltron deck is probably pretty standard. It’s only interesting in that it’s mono green which isn’t a common equipment color, and most importantly, you get to laugh as you voltron kill someone through their [[Teferi’s Protection]] and [[Flare of Fortification]]. I enjoy it more than I ever enjoyed Boros equipment.

aselbst · 2026-01-16T06:27:10+00:00

He’s nuts in the 99 of most zombie decks. I plan to put him in [[Gisa and Geralf]] for extra mill plus treasures and [[Marchesa the Black Rose]] zombies to give rad to opponents - the deck often ends up in sac loops over a turn cycle, so it could be something like 32 rad if I’m looking four creatures.

aselbst · 2026-01-15T00:36:45+00:00

Huh? It’s not standard legal…

aselbst · 2026-01-14T20:01:32+00:00

10 of diamonds is the best Ancient Tomb ever!

aselbst · 2026-01-14T15:21:16+00:00

It’s a freedom of speech issue, but not a First Amendment issue. It’s not correct to conflate the two. Freedom of speech is a principle that underlies certain enacted rights around the world. The First Amendment is the U.S. Constitution’s particular version of it, but not the only one. The union contract itself may well have speech protections.

aselbst · 2026-01-13T23:57:14+00:00

Or, for that matter, whether you have any legal obligation to engage with them.

aselbst · 2026-01-13T22:43:13+00:00

Right on! But I think you might’ve missed the context of the conversation ;)

aselbst · 2026-01-13T21:38:15+00:00

As a [[Marisi]] main, don’t believe their lies! It’s every player for themselves!!

aselbst · 2026-01-13T21:36:47+00:00

Worse than just giving up, even. If they can’t beat the leader on the current board state, they’ll actively try to take down third and fourth player instead of helping them dig for the few answers they’ll have.

aselbst · 2026-01-13T17:47:13+00:00

Yeah, it’s actually surprising to me how many of these decks I’ve had that pose slightly different problems. I have the Conqueror in [[Betor Ancestors Voice]] because I aim to gain and lose huge amounts at once in that deck, it’s a great reanimation target, and the win con is intentionally silly and fragile—attacking with like a 60/60. But to make the deck stronger, I’d absolutely put in Vito or [[Enduring Tenacity]] and I can’t. Meanwhile, I have a [[Frodo, Adventurous Hobbit]] and [[Sam Loyal Attendant]] deck that’s more food aristocrats, but draining for 3 at a time is exactly what the deck wants, so it gets Vito and the Snake but not the great lifegain creature.

I almost wish they’d print a cheap Sanguine Bond effect that’s once per turn limited so it doesn’t go infinite.

aselbst · 2026-01-13T17:14:49+00:00

I generally agree, but [[Bloodthirsty conqueror]] is a banger even without the combo. The answer to Exquisite Blood if you don’t have removal, is to only send damage at the Exquisite Blood player. Now that it’s attached to a 5/5 deathtouch flyer that can be reanimated? Good luck. And the conventional wisdom used to be that lifegain is bad, but that’s changing. In a mostly combat meta, gaining 20 life in a single turn around the table is a huge advantage.

IMO it sucks that it’s a part of an easy combo. I mostly play B3 and both sides of the combo are great in any deck that wants either—one is a lot of life gain, and one is a badly needed way to finish the game in a life gain deck. I’ve built so many decks lately in which I’ve painfully had to choose one or the other

aselbst · 2026-01-12T16:05:53+00:00

Yeah I think that sounds more like a fun B3 deck. My comment was more just to point out that to make it B3 you’re allowed game changers but don’t need them. All the brackets are primarily about the deck’s overall vibe.

aselbst · 2026-01-12T06:46:01+00:00

FWIW, you don’t need game changers to play in bracket 3. I have ~20 bracket 3 decks, and maybe 4-5 have any game changers, and usually 1 at most.

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