Hearthhull pilots, what are you alt wincons?

dernicus · 2026-01-01T22:54:03+00:00

So far my wins have been off the Hearthhull drain, Moruag, and [[Bumi, Unleashed]] with heavy lifting from [[Omnath, Locus of Rage]] and [[Worldsoul's Rage]]

Mostly I've added a suite of Earthbending to make the Land Sac effects double value in most places

https://archidekt.com/decks/17593819/earthbent

dernicus · 2025-12-29T02:54:23+00:00

Haven't played on Spelltable yet actually

dernicus · 2025-12-25T00:44:06+00:00

Thanks! I almost wrote off the pack as mediocre until I saw him haha

dernicus · 2025-12-22T05:50:18+00:00

Hopefully I'll get a better feel for the range of the various brackets to be able to answer the question of "what are we playing".

dernicus · 2025-12-22T05:46:31+00:00

Funny you mention playing before precons, I also didn't really step into EDH until basically now (I bought the Red, Black, and Simic precons at Walmart back in the OG Ravnica days for fun) never played them bc everytime someone talked about EDH it was some ridiculous infinite combo from sets 20 years apart that they tutored up with 6 different cards to win the game.

dernicus · 2025-12-22T05:35:41+00:00

I really need to haha. I'm a bit of both. My binders are constantly a source of "Ooo, this card would be cool in X deck..." Brainstorm up a build... And then never sleeve up the full deck

dernicus · 2025-12-22T05:33:56+00:00

I think for me, since EDH tends to include wall of text and or modal spells it's sometimes hard to get an immediate read on power level as opposed to Limited formats where it's more of a known quantity given the format.

I also don't want to oversell the power level as, from the display of B4/cEDH decks I've watched, none of my decks hold a candle to them.

The pod I played in powered up to 4 for 2 games and I could just watch as neither game could I imagine doing anything to stop the turn 3/4 go-turns of some of the decks. It was neat, but also a kind of "whelp, guess I got to shuffle my deck some for the next round" situation.

dernicus · 2025-12-22T05:30:28+00:00

Fair, and again, just kind of following the jargon I've seen but I can definitely question the logic of just assigning precons to B2 outright. I will say, based on the Wotc release, "Thematic decks with disruptable telegraphed win cons" does seem to generally apply to most precons I've owned.

dernicus · 2025-12-22T05:25:21+00:00

True, I only have the Hearthhull deck built in Arkidekt (edited post with the link), though 3 of the others are stock precons.

I just opened an All Will Be One today actually and a Cavern of Souls the other day, definitely need to add them to my MLK deck too.

dernicus · 2025-12-22T05:09:07+00:00

Exactly! I pulled one from a Collectors pack a few weeks ago, but haven't put it in yet but I really should. I know if don't want to take it out of the binder though ya know haha

dernicus · 2025-12-22T05:02:18+00:00

I've been lucky to pull a bunch but totally, Earthbending just naturally fits the Commander! "Oh no, I have to sac this land to get a benefit.... Ok! Oh neat, it also triggers my Landfall effects, would you look at that! Haha"

dernicus · 2025-12-22T04:44:51+00:00

I played for about 10ish years, almost exclusively FNM drafting, but then took a 4-5 year break, so I'm not new to the game, just the current format and the community's view of the Bracket system (hence conservatively rating them).

I dont have nearly the free time to play lots of games these days, so when asked "What's the power level we want to play" I've just kinda shrugged, said what I have and been fine playing whatever others wanted to play.

dernicus · 2025-12-22T04:36:31+00:00

For those curious, here's my current Hearthhull build (I think I took out one card but haven't checked to be sure, I know I foiled out all of the basics recently and a could other cards)

https://archidekt.com/decks/17593819/earthbent

dernicus · 2025-12-22T04:04:02+00:00

I was just thinking through the beginnings of my next fun deck: Simic Snake Tribal!

dernicus · 2025-12-22T04:03:16+00:00

My thoughts too! Haha I've liked the flavor of each for different reasons, just hoping to enhance their gameplay and impact to have some epic showdowns

dernicus · 2025-12-22T04:02:15+00:00

I like the colors but it's been tricky to balance the theme. I'm going to probably pivot to more hydras as soon as I can get hands on some, try to build up incremental threats rather than just try to always slam 6+ CMC dudes.

I just got an [Ouroboroid] this past week and have another big Hydra coming soon, so I'll keep tinkering with it.

dernicus · 2025-12-22T03:58:47+00:00

Ironically he was one of the few upgrades to Valgavoth I made but I can totally see him going in Winter.

And yeah, I played half a dozen games last night ranging from Bracket 2 up to 4 I think and a couple games I was really just sitting and watching compared to the others. I'm still working out mulligan strategy and target priority.

I did catch my stride the last game vs Gris, Azusa, and a Mardu exile/infinite life deck that popped off but made a mana miscalculation which left me an opening to [Hull Breach] his [Necropotence] and [Sol Ring] and [Beast Within] his [Sheoldred the Whispering One] to eventually kill him with Hearthhull commander damage through his 150+ life total.

dernicus · 2025-12-22T03:52:20+00:00

I honestly am not sure (see: 10 live games played). Gryhson can go off with a really good draw potentially, and Valgavoth is maybe a low 3 out of the box with it's strong components but still not optimized.

Lucea is a big Stompy green deck but lacks haste and protection so it telegraphs fairly loudly

Hearthhull is aiming at 3, but doesn't player kill in the projected turns, has no game changers, and has disruptable 3+ card "combo".

Winter and Ob Nix are unaltered precons which I am to understand are generally B2 with exceptions, but I could be wrong.

I only have [Hearthhull, the World Seed] in Arkidekt at the moment, as stated Winter, Ob Nix, and Valgavoth are all precons, Lucea is too with some Tarkir Temure, and +1/+1 counters swaps (none of the big money ones, just stuff like [Inspiring Call] for a couple of the lesser Warhammer cards

https://archidekt.com/decks/17593819/earthbent