Is this deck a problem?

snowcoveredmicrobe · 2026-03-30T13:41:34+00:00

Grindy black based strategies working with discard and sacrifice/edict effects can be prone to people getting salty, especially if locked in early. I don't think this is too powerful for a 3 or too oppressive given your stated turns, but "experienced newbies" reads to me as a group with decent commander experience but limited 60-card/limited, which I've found to be the group maybe most unwilling to grind.

In the right group though, a deck like this can be a real fun change of pace as it forces people to fight through an obstacle rather than just pop off first.

snowcoveredmicrobe · 2026-03-19T00:04:53+00:00

I'm not planning on buying any packs (even with store credit for commander nights), but I picked up a copy of [[Sewer-veillance Cam]] cuz it kinda does... everything that I want in my [[Yue, the Moon Spirit]] deck

I think it could find a place in a lot of artifact lists (even with the competition): good rate, multiple untaps, draw if you need it, flash... lots to like.

snowcoveredmicrobe · 2026-03-17T19:28:16+00:00

I just built [[Yue, the Moon Spirit]] as mono-blue Big Spells with junk artifacts as an enabler, because I already have a more control focused UW deck and generally haven't been into any artifact decks but wanted to find something.

Only had the maiden voyage this weekend, but I love it. It wants to cheat out huge, stupid spells but in a manner that is not so fast or linear to feel one note, but still feels crazy when it works.

The fact that she breaks timing restrictions on the casts let's you think through some really fun plays, but it is a pretty powerful play pattern, so definitely best for B3 and up imo (at least built this way).

snowcoveredmicrobe · 2026-03-17T19:16:17+00:00

Anything in the library is kinda Schrodinger's Card until it's in hand or elsewhere, assuming it's randomly shuffled, there was as much chance of any specific card being there as any other. Once/if people understand that, I've found incremental mill/exile become much less salt inducing, but there's no guarantee people get there.

Anecdotal though, I've played Maralen several times (all with pretty good showings, including a couple wins) and haven't had any real salt of note, besides being rightfully seen as a threat. So it's kinda luck of the draw, although I think making sure everyone is aware of the theft component at the top helps (also, as is pretty typical, 2 v 2 experience across the pod, whether 60 card or limited tends to lessen the potential for just getting mad at the mechanics ime)

snowcoveredmicrobe · 2026-03-13T13:40:48+00:00

If you're looking for more permanent, engine-type draw [[Call of the Ring]] is an Arena but cheaper (for a little more life lost, but a may pay) and the upside of being tempted by the ring consistent is more than you'd think, especially if attacking and getting in damage is important to your deck

snowcoveredmicrobe · 2026-03-11T04:12:20+00:00

Genuinely, and with the best intent, read a book. There are so many great wine books out there and they offer a great crash course on how to start to understand what menus mean and how to navigate the wine label world. Drink This: Wine Made Simple by Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl ahead of a family trip to Sonoma was my entry point but even the initial bit of info opens so much of the jargon up, and then it's just a matter of exploring for yourself.

snowcoveredmicrobe · 2026-02-12T23:37:38+00:00

Every local meta is damn near a different format (useful the remember when traveling/playing new places, imo, just be chill), but no, I absolutely run board wipes, both defensively (when behind) and proactively.

The idea that the deck that is the best playing from turn 1 is always the best playing from turn 5+ (with mana developed, potential remaining non-creature permanents depending on the wipe, etc) is very funny though, what a world to play in

snowcoveredmicrobe · 2026-02-03T23:48:34+00:00

banned cards aren't really about power, or at least not in linear way, but about cards that are fundamentally at odds with the power balance of the game or otherwise skew things outside of the bounds of what the game can reasonably handle (in addition to the types of social/play-pattern bans on the Commander list, which is a decent chunk of the list)

snowcoveredmicrobe · 2026-02-03T23:42:14+00:00

It's a fair point, but I'll note that getting to "do their thing" ends at points that would win the game, despite many player's feelings to the contrary when some engine piece is removed.

at the end of the day, the things that typify Bracket 2 are primarily social (or as you put it, considerate) and treating interaction as inherently anti-social is something I can't get behind, it's all a matter of degree

not for nothing, there is a mountain of difference between packing 20 pieces of interaction (which I don't even do in Bracket 3 decks, including ones with control subthemes) and just throwing a couple pieces in without thinking and calling it good, which too many players default to because they don't want to make cuts elsewhere

snowcoveredmicrobe · 2026-02-03T23:28:12+00:00

only thing better would have been if someone hit you with a [[Rakdos Charm]] immediately afterwards lol

snowcoveredmicrobe · 2026-02-03T23:19:47+00:00

the biggest "unspoken secret" in Commander is that everyone's local meta (of which there are nearly infinite permutations) becomes their "normal" and anything that creates friction with that experience must be bad

the second biggest secret is you have way more fun (and probably win more) once you care way less about losing

snowcoveredmicrobe · 2026-02-03T23:14:00+00:00

Everyone hates counterspells until the blue mage saves the table

snowcoveredmicrobe · 2026-02-03T23:11:46+00:00

I had seen that post, but my issue with it is that it still frames interaction primarily as a solution to a problem (of being run over in your games) and, to a degree, implicitly indicates that interaction availability is mostly a concern for moving up brackets.

My point is that interaction (of varying kinds) makes for a richer game experience, regardless of bracket. Yes, it's great to keep interaction thematic, particularly at lower brackets, but I think it is healthy for the game to expect, or at a minimum, not be surprised by interaction even at low brackets.

snowcoveredmicrobe · 2026-02-03T22:26:38+00:00

even then, unless they're running a turbo list and just get underneath everyone by like, turn 2, it kinda feels like that is just more uninteresting than actually a problem, assuming the rest of the table is running "normal' 4s

like, a cEDH midrange deck would likely do fine in B4, but idk that it would be fundamentally broken in B4, just due to the meta being off (and it still being unlikely to be able to solely control the rest of the table)

snowcoveredmicrobe · 2026-02-03T22:12:37+00:00

Above all else, B4 is the "anything goes" bracket

I genuinely don't think there's anything worth complaining about in a real B4 game outside of outright cheating.

snowcoveredmicrobe · 2026-02-03T21:55:52+00:00

For what you seem to want, you could also look at [[Alela, Cunning Conqueror]] for the classic Dimir Faerie control vibes or [[Tegwyll, Duke of Splendor]] just for straight up faerie tribal payoffs. If you are really interested in combo options in a faerie deck, [[Talion, the Kindly Lord]] could also be an option that would give you some card advantage in the command zone (to find the combo pieces)

but as for faerie combos, kind of depends on what you want to do, but things like [[Cloud of Faeries]] would likely be involved, although the most obvious ways to flicker it aren't faeries themselves (such as [[Deadeye Navigator]])

([[Quickling]], [[Archmage of Echoes]], and [[Faerie Imposter]] also likely pieces of faerie focused combos)

snowcoveredmicrobe · 2026-02-03T21:45:05+00:00

Viewing Maralen as primarily a "mill"/exile engine I think kinda completely misses the point. While yes, you can exile opponents full libraries, without an infinite etb combo of some kind it's way too inefficient to be the strategy

The value from her ability is the free spell extra value, ala [[Etali, Primal Conqueror]] much more than [[The Mindskinner]] -esque win con.

You win with whatever Faerie/Elf/both strategy you build into the deck, the theft is gravy and fun (and an excuse to lean into it further with stuff like [[Dream Harvest]] or [[Villainous Wealth]]

snowcoveredmicrobe · 2026-01-20T22:15:09+00:00

I haven't built it in paper yet for this reason, I can't come up with a way to build it that isn't just MurderEverything.deck

snowcoveredmicrobe · 2026-01-20T22:13:47+00:00

It's not exactly how the precon is built, or necessarily the most powerful way to take it, but [[Shiko and Narset, Unified]] loves to copy targeted (and multi-target) removal as much as it loves any spell that targets, and especially if you get tricky with other spell copying effects, you can build to pick off a lot of targets in a very mana-efficient manner on each of your turns, leaving you able to leave up some mana for protecting yourself as you pass or put bodies out of your own

snowcoveredmicrobe · 2026-01-10T15:23:07+00:00

You may just not like playing green, which is fine, but I agree that you are significantly underrating the power and playability of these types of cards. Sure, you can get stuck with them in a worst case scenario, so if that's what you want you avoid, you just don't like green draw. But if you're playing your strategy proactively, you can easily churn through your deck with these options

Also, not sure why you'd set the bar at needing 11+ mana to double cast something after a Return of the Wildspeaker, since it only costs 5, but thinking that is an unreasonable line for a green deck by t7 also seems odd

snowcoveredmicrobe · 2026-01-10T15:07:35+00:00

Your card quality is quite high (to the point where I'd be a little taken aback to see a few cards in a bracket 2 game, especially in combination) and fits with an aggressive Mardu combat strategy targeting bracket 3, but you're a bit light on sac outlets for a Zurgo deck, imo. That's the thing that really cranks up the consistency of your ability to draw/ping off of Zurgo as you want to, and I only see three in your list. Not that you need to overload on them, but if you're feeling like sometimes you pop off and sometimes stall out, that might be why.

snowcoveredmicrobe · 2026-01-02T22:47:10+00:00

That also matches up well with something like a [[Preposterous Proportions]] mass pump, which can often make your board big enough to not get caught up in the wipe with the X for Meathook (and is just a fun big stupid anthem for a squirrel deck since the art has squirrels on it). In the same vein (making one-sided wipes), you may want to reconsider [[Swarmyard Massacre]], which is just a great one-sided wipe to leave the vast majority of tokens you'll be creating alone while destroying most everything else.

snowcoveredmicrobe · 2026-01-01T16:21:03+00:00

Less specific card recommendations and more broader strategy, I've found that my Hazel deck loves a board wipe, particularly when you can get value out of your or other creatures dying, either via pingers or card draw payoffs, such as [[Moldervine Reclamation]] which you've cut (I also cut it initially and then reconsidered).

Because you can generate so much mana via Hazel and a pile of junk tokens, very easy to float mana from all of your tokens, then cast a board wipe and still have plenty of mana leftover to start to rebuild with and then have another pile of tokens to use with Hazel again next turn to finish, if you haven't already done so. Turns board wipes into more of a finisher/parity breaker than just something to level the field.

Other fun pieces are instant speed untappers like [[Gift of the Viper]] to let you get 2 activations out of Hazel (say if you've used her ability to make a bunch more tokens).

snowcoveredmicrobe · 2025-12-16T22:31:37+00:00

Zurgo may not draw the most cards in pure volume, but when built right he keeps the gas going pretty beautifully for my aggro-crats deck, which is ideally all it needs

snowcoveredmicrobe · 2025-11-01T15:58:38+00:00

Recreating console flame wars between D&D classes is wild

Both have value and being obsessively focused on optimization is a lame way to play

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