The following had been added to the list at right, but I hadn't actually pointed them out as completed yet. So here are the decks that have been finished in the last week:
Completed:
Rhys the Redeemed
Sisters of Stone Death
Circu, Dimir Lobotomist
Hakim, Loreweaver
Ob Nixilis, the Fallen
Patron of the Moon
Sek'kuar, Deathkeeper
Uril the Miststalker
Doran the Siege Tower
Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero
Wort, Boggart Auntie
Asmira, Holy Avenger
Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs
Homura, Human Ascendant
Newly Started:
Joven
Zirilan of the Claw
Verdeloth the Ancient
Maralen of the Mornsong
Child of Alara
Fifty-seven down! I'm at less than 400 to go! :-]
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Forming the Head: Part 2
So in my last Voltron post, I went through the things that I thought can make a good Voltron commander. So far in the 54 decks I have built, 5 have been solid Voltron decks, with another few having major parts being Voltronish in nature. If that rate keeps up (and looking at the criteria I went through last time, there are plenty of viable Voltrons out there), I’m looking at somewhere around 45 or so decks that will be committed to hitting people in the face with their general.
Yeowch.
As I’ve said before, I’m not going to be spending an excess of money on this quest. This means that I’m not going to have three dozen Swords of Fire and Ice or Umezawa’s Jittes available to make these decks as good as they can be. Heck, I may not even be able to get that many Loxodon Warhammers and Lightning Greaves with my budget. This means that I’m going to have to look at alternate options when it comes to my equipment and aura selection, and loading up on some sub-par budget heroes. It’s still early in my quest, but I’ve already begun re-evaluating some cards and I thought I’d share my thoughts. Here are some oft-overlooked cards that, while they may not be what most decks are looking for, are certainly serviceable in a pinch:
Auras
First of all, any of the return-to-hand auras is worth considering, so even though I only list a few of these in this section, don’t forget the others like Launch, Brilliant Halo, False Demise, Sleeper’s Guile, and Undying Rage. I liked these cycles.
Blessing of Leeches, Fortitude, Gaea’s Embrace, Savage Silhouette, Skeletal Grimace, Trollhide – Regeneration helps boost that whole “resiliency” issue quite nicely, but you usually only want to play ones that also grant power and toughness. Still, Blessing of Leeches’ 0-cost regen and Fortitude’s hand-returning ability make for a certain amount of playability.
Canopy Cover, Shielding Plax – Hexproof! These certainly will be used in Voltron decks I make in the future, as Hexproof is certainly one of the more powerful abilities to grant. Being immune to targeted removal but still targetable for your pump sounds pretty good to me.
Aspect of Mongoose, Alexi’s Cloak, Diplomatic Immunity, Pemmin’s Aura, Zephid’s Embrace – These are decent as capstone cards, auras you put on once you’ve loaded up your creature with what you want already, since they all grant shroud and you can’t put more on after these. The blue ones are all currently starring for me in my Hakim, Loreweaver deck, which while not really a Voltron deck can become a fairly decent approximation when necessary. Hexproof is better, but sometimes shroud will do, especially on nice evasive guys.
Rancor- Rancor has been one of my favorites since its release back in my high school days. The +2 power for one mana is nice, but what really makes it powerful is the reusability and the trample. I probably didn’t even need to mention Rancor, because it actually gets respect in most circles, but since I actually have large numbers of this card, you will see me lean on it for any green-based aggressive deck quite often.
Instants/Sorceries
Instants and sorceries are often ignored by most voltron decks, as they tend to give temporary bonuses that cannot be relied on to carry you through the game. They can even be nullified completely by instant-speed removal, which is enough for most folks to write them off for good. I don’t really have that luxury here, so I’ll go into a few that I have found to be worth re-evaluating.
Elvish Fury, Seething Anger, Haze of Rage – Ah, buyback. Now there is an ability we will never see in print again. While there are many strong buyback cards in EDH, most of the ones that anyone plays are blue, by which I mean Capsize. Elvish Fury is a simple +2/+2 boost at instant speed for one green. This is normally nothing that would come anywhere near an EDH deck, but the ability to be bought back makes me take a second look at it. Four colorless mana is a piece of cake to most green decks, even cheap-o budget ones like mine, and I could see this potentially being a blowout finale card against many people. I’m currently trying one out in my Autumn Willow Voltron, to see how it works. I have good feelings here. Haze of Rage and Seething Anger are less useful due to their sorcery speed, but I could see using them in the right kinds of decks.
Predator’s Strike, Sylvan Might, Wildsize, Colossal Might – I’m lumping all of these together because they serve the same basic purpose: granting more power and the ever-important trample. Sylvan Might and Wildsize may serve better than the others also due to the slight card advantage you get with each.
Fury Charm – I LOVE THIS CARD. I discovered this one as I was searching for cool red stuff to put on an Isochron Scepter, and this is EXACTLY the sort of thing I need to find more of for this quest. It’s cheap to acquire and is versatile, covering something that every deck needs to do (kill artifacts) but can be used as creature pump / evasion-granter when it has to be.
Might of Oaks – This one doesn’t give the almighty trample, but it does give seven power and seven toughness. Not good enough for a typical EDH deck, but good enough for me.
Consume Strength, Agony Warp – Not… horrible, at least. They can boost one guy and weaken/possibly kill another. These two probably won’t get played only because they are two-colored, and there probably will be only a few decks that they could fit in logically, and there may be better options available.
Daring Leap, Leap of Flame, Mighty Leap – This card and others like it are also possibilities, as they grant flying in addition to P/T. Again, whether or not they are used will likely depend on the specific decks/generals that they could logically fit into.
Equipment
Equipment is definitely the main go-to card type for Voltrons. Most of the best stuff that people like slapping onto the generals is equipment, as the ability to stick around when the creature dies is certainly nice. Here's a list of pretty much all the equipment that I've found to be both helpful for Voltrons, and also low in price. Some you know, many you may laugh at, but my point here is to dig really deep for things that can work well that some people may never have considered before.
Whispersilk cloak - Probably the best equipment available for a low, low price, the cloak offers both the ever-important shroud and the wonderful inability to be blocked. An absolute staple for Voltrons, even when budge is not an issue.
Neurok Stealthsuit - For any deck using blue, this is a viable substitute for lightning greaves / whispersilk cloak as a shroud enabler. The extra bonus of being able to move it at instant speed can be incredibly helpful as well
Horned Helm - Also transferable at instant speed, this is good for green generals that don’t already have the pseudo-evasion ability of trample. Not the greatest, but workable enough to get by in many instances.
Trailblazer’s Boots - Good for most decks as a redundancy to the cloak, since this will essentially mean “unblockable” against 99% of decks out there.
Grafted Exoskeleton - This one turns heads when it is played. Even the most benign general starts looking quite scary when he or she has been granted infect. A very solid choice that can be had for not much money, but don’t expect it to stay in play long.
Darksteel Axe - Seriously underestimated by many. The ability to stick around through numerous board wipes and immunity to other “destroy effects” makes it definitely useable, and the cheap cost to cast and equip means that that +2 damage can be present easily and may go a long way towards the required 21 damage.
Fireshrieker - Double strike! Not as cheap as some on this list, but many people who played during Mirrodin block have tons of these lying around. Alas, I was out during that time, but I have picked up a few since my return.
Grafted Wargear - Three to cast and zero to equip for +3/+2 isn’t shabby. Who cares if you have to sac your guy if you unequip? Why would you want to equip this to someone other than your general? Just watch out for Tower of the Magistrates…
Infiltration Lens - Though this doesn’t directly help you do 21 points of general damage, when it becomes obvious that you’re trying to do that, you will be blocked. So get some advantage from it!
Mask of Avacyn - A newcomer, but yay for hexproof! And a little bit of power boost as a nice bonus, too.
Specter’s Shroud - If your general of choice already has some evasion, this can help keep an opponent’s resources low for a cheap casting and equip cost, but beware reanimation decks.
Strider Harness - This is on here solely for being the cheapest haste-granting equipment around, and sometimes haste is incredibly important. Swiftfoot boots are better though.
Swiftfoot Boots - Obvious choice is obvious? Cheap for now, so pick up a bunch if you can. Though not better than greaves (because you can’t equip them as soon as you have the ability to cast your general), they are certainly excellent.
Vorrac Battle horns - More trample, for a low equip cost and a bonus of being unable to be gang-blocked.
The last parts of this post were written on far too little sleep, so I apologize if they aren’t phrased as well as they could be. I could probably list dozens more in each category that are serviceable, but I figure that most people aren’t going to be digging quite as I am, so this should cover for most people. When I find a truly good gem, I may post about it later.
Until then, happy deck building!
Yeowch.
As I’ve said before, I’m not going to be spending an excess of money on this quest. This means that I’m not going to have three dozen Swords of Fire and Ice or Umezawa’s Jittes available to make these decks as good as they can be. Heck, I may not even be able to get that many Loxodon Warhammers and Lightning Greaves with my budget. This means that I’m going to have to look at alternate options when it comes to my equipment and aura selection, and loading up on some sub-par budget heroes. It’s still early in my quest, but I’ve already begun re-evaluating some cards and I thought I’d share my thoughts. Here are some oft-overlooked cards that, while they may not be what most decks are looking for, are certainly serviceable in a pinch:
Auras
First of all, any of the return-to-hand auras is worth considering, so even though I only list a few of these in this section, don’t forget the others like Launch, Brilliant Halo, False Demise, Sleeper’s Guile, and Undying Rage. I liked these cycles.
Blessing of Leeches, Fortitude, Gaea’s Embrace, Savage Silhouette, Skeletal Grimace, Trollhide – Regeneration helps boost that whole “resiliency” issue quite nicely, but you usually only want to play ones that also grant power and toughness. Still, Blessing of Leeches’ 0-cost regen and Fortitude’s hand-returning ability make for a certain amount of playability.
Canopy Cover, Shielding Plax – Hexproof! These certainly will be used in Voltron decks I make in the future, as Hexproof is certainly one of the more powerful abilities to grant. Being immune to targeted removal but still targetable for your pump sounds pretty good to me.
Aspect of Mongoose, Alexi’s Cloak, Diplomatic Immunity, Pemmin’s Aura, Zephid’s Embrace – These are decent as capstone cards, auras you put on once you’ve loaded up your creature with what you want already, since they all grant shroud and you can’t put more on after these. The blue ones are all currently starring for me in my Hakim, Loreweaver deck, which while not really a Voltron deck can become a fairly decent approximation when necessary. Hexproof is better, but sometimes shroud will do, especially on nice evasive guys.
Rancor- Rancor has been one of my favorites since its release back in my high school days. The +2 power for one mana is nice, but what really makes it powerful is the reusability and the trample. I probably didn’t even need to mention Rancor, because it actually gets respect in most circles, but since I actually have large numbers of this card, you will see me lean on it for any green-based aggressive deck quite often.
Instants/Sorceries
Instants and sorceries are often ignored by most voltron decks, as they tend to give temporary bonuses that cannot be relied on to carry you through the game. They can even be nullified completely by instant-speed removal, which is enough for most folks to write them off for good. I don’t really have that luxury here, so I’ll go into a few that I have found to be worth re-evaluating.
Elvish Fury, Seething Anger, Haze of Rage – Ah, buyback. Now there is an ability we will never see in print again. While there are many strong buyback cards in EDH, most of the ones that anyone plays are blue, by which I mean Capsize. Elvish Fury is a simple +2/+2 boost at instant speed for one green. This is normally nothing that would come anywhere near an EDH deck, but the ability to be bought back makes me take a second look at it. Four colorless mana is a piece of cake to most green decks, even cheap-o budget ones like mine, and I could see this potentially being a blowout finale card against many people. I’m currently trying one out in my Autumn Willow Voltron, to see how it works. I have good feelings here. Haze of Rage and Seething Anger are less useful due to their sorcery speed, but I could see using them in the right kinds of decks.
Predator’s Strike, Sylvan Might, Wildsize, Colossal Might – I’m lumping all of these together because they serve the same basic purpose: granting more power and the ever-important trample. Sylvan Might and Wildsize may serve better than the others also due to the slight card advantage you get with each.
Fury Charm – I LOVE THIS CARD. I discovered this one as I was searching for cool red stuff to put on an Isochron Scepter, and this is EXACTLY the sort of thing I need to find more of for this quest. It’s cheap to acquire and is versatile, covering something that every deck needs to do (kill artifacts) but can be used as creature pump / evasion-granter when it has to be.
Might of Oaks – This one doesn’t give the almighty trample, but it does give seven power and seven toughness. Not good enough for a typical EDH deck, but good enough for me.
Consume Strength, Agony Warp – Not… horrible, at least. They can boost one guy and weaken/possibly kill another. These two probably won’t get played only because they are two-colored, and there probably will be only a few decks that they could fit in logically, and there may be better options available.
Daring Leap, Leap of Flame, Mighty Leap – This card and others like it are also possibilities, as they grant flying in addition to P/T. Again, whether or not they are used will likely depend on the specific decks/generals that they could logically fit into.
Equipment
Equipment is definitely the main go-to card type for Voltrons. Most of the best stuff that people like slapping onto the generals is equipment, as the ability to stick around when the creature dies is certainly nice. Here's a list of pretty much all the equipment that I've found to be both helpful for Voltrons, and also low in price. Some you know, many you may laugh at, but my point here is to dig really deep for things that can work well that some people may never have considered before.
Whispersilk cloak - Probably the best equipment available for a low, low price, the cloak offers both the ever-important shroud and the wonderful inability to be blocked. An absolute staple for Voltrons, even when budge is not an issue.
Neurok Stealthsuit - For any deck using blue, this is a viable substitute for lightning greaves / whispersilk cloak as a shroud enabler. The extra bonus of being able to move it at instant speed can be incredibly helpful as well
Horned Helm - Also transferable at instant speed, this is good for green generals that don’t already have the pseudo-evasion ability of trample. Not the greatest, but workable enough to get by in many instances.
Trailblazer’s Boots - Good for most decks as a redundancy to the cloak, since this will essentially mean “unblockable” against 99% of decks out there.
Grafted Exoskeleton - This one turns heads when it is played. Even the most benign general starts looking quite scary when he or she has been granted infect. A very solid choice that can be had for not much money, but don’t expect it to stay in play long.
Darksteel Axe - Seriously underestimated by many. The ability to stick around through numerous board wipes and immunity to other “destroy effects” makes it definitely useable, and the cheap cost to cast and equip means that that +2 damage can be present easily and may go a long way towards the required 21 damage.
Fireshrieker - Double strike! Not as cheap as some on this list, but many people who played during Mirrodin block have tons of these lying around. Alas, I was out during that time, but I have picked up a few since my return.
Grafted Wargear - Three to cast and zero to equip for +3/+2 isn’t shabby. Who cares if you have to sac your guy if you unequip? Why would you want to equip this to someone other than your general? Just watch out for Tower of the Magistrates…
Infiltration Lens - Though this doesn’t directly help you do 21 points of general damage, when it becomes obvious that you’re trying to do that, you will be blocked. So get some advantage from it!
Mask of Avacyn - A newcomer, but yay for hexproof! And a little bit of power boost as a nice bonus, too.
Specter’s Shroud - If your general of choice already has some evasion, this can help keep an opponent’s resources low for a cheap casting and equip cost, but beware reanimation decks.
Strider Harness - This is on here solely for being the cheapest haste-granting equipment around, and sometimes haste is incredibly important. Swiftfoot boots are better though.
Swiftfoot Boots - Obvious choice is obvious? Cheap for now, so pick up a bunch if you can. Though not better than greaves (because you can’t equip them as soon as you have the ability to cast your general), they are certainly excellent.
Vorrac Battle horns - More trample, for a low equip cost and a bonus of being unable to be gang-blocked.
The last parts of this post were written on far too little sleep, so I apologize if they aren’t phrased as well as they could be. I could probably list dozens more in each category that are serviceable, but I figure that most people aren’t going to be digging quite as I am, so this should cover for most people. When I find a truly good gem, I may post about it later.
Until then, happy deck building!
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Quick update: I passed the 50 commanders completed mark yesterday (now at 52). The fiftieth one I completed was Sek'kuar, Deathkeeper. About 1/9th done! Woo!
I've actually slowed down this week not from lack of ideas, but from spending time doing other tasks required for this quest. I spent one whole afternoon going through old boxes at my LGS looking for Darksteel Ingots and Wayfarer's Baubles, and buying them in large quantities, as well as numerous other things. They're being pretty supportive of me doing this, and so let me buy a bunch of stuff at bulk price, since a bunch of it was stuff they couldn't see really selling. So now I have a bunch of mana artifacts of varying kinds, as well as Mirage fetches, Whispersilk Cloaks, and various other cheap staples, which should last me for a little while. Not all the way to the end, of course, but for a few good legs of the journey at least. So thanks to The Game Preserve (Greenwood) for participating!
They of course also run the EDH games I participate in on Tuesdays. This time I ran Eron the Relentless, Lord of Tresserhorn, Sisters of Stone Death, Jor Kadeen, Azusa, Atalya, and Morinfen. Lord of Tresserhorn and Jor Kadeen, being some of my pre-quest decks that are very strongly built, performed excellently, though their kin Azusa did not (seriously, stuck on 2 land and a crapton of 3 mana accelerants in a 48 land deck? grr...). Morinfen and Atalya were also surprisingly excellent, with Atalya nearly pulling out a ridiculous win in a match against Jhoira, Rafiq, Progenitus, and Scion of the Ur-Dragon. The others were average, but not horrible at least.
Second post of my Voltron discussion should be up before the end of the weekend. Until then, back to deckbuilding!
I've actually slowed down this week not from lack of ideas, but from spending time doing other tasks required for this quest. I spent one whole afternoon going through old boxes at my LGS looking for Darksteel Ingots and Wayfarer's Baubles, and buying them in large quantities, as well as numerous other things. They're being pretty supportive of me doing this, and so let me buy a bunch of stuff at bulk price, since a bunch of it was stuff they couldn't see really selling. So now I have a bunch of mana artifacts of varying kinds, as well as Mirage fetches, Whispersilk Cloaks, and various other cheap staples, which should last me for a little while. Not all the way to the end, of course, but for a few good legs of the journey at least. So thanks to The Game Preserve (Greenwood) for participating!
They of course also run the EDH games I participate in on Tuesdays. This time I ran Eron the Relentless, Lord of Tresserhorn, Sisters of Stone Death, Jor Kadeen, Azusa, Atalya, and Morinfen. Lord of Tresserhorn and Jor Kadeen, being some of my pre-quest decks that are very strongly built, performed excellently, though their kin Azusa did not (seriously, stuck on 2 land and a crapton of 3 mana accelerants in a 48 land deck? grr...). Morinfen and Atalya were also surprisingly excellent, with Atalya nearly pulling out a ridiculous win in a match against Jhoira, Rafiq, Progenitus, and Scion of the Ur-Dragon. The others were average, but not horrible at least.
Second post of my Voltron discussion should be up before the end of the weekend. Until then, back to deckbuilding!
Monday, October 17, 2011
Forming the Head (Voltron generals part 1)
One of the more common archetypes found in EDH/Commander is the “Voltron” style deck, where the deck attempts to play its general and then use equipment and/or auras to focus on doing 21 general damage to each of its opponents. There are a lot of popular Voltron generals out there, with the most frequent I’ve seen being Rafiq of the Many, Uril the Miststalker, Jenara, and more recently Ruhan of the Fomori and Skithryx the Blight Dragon. These are, however, far from the only legends that work well as Voltron generals. My first Voltron-style deck was a fun take on Lord of Tresserhorn, who with his ten power can pack a real punch, if you can avoid dying to his drawbacks. I’ve also built my own Rafiq deck, and since this little quest began I’ve built Konda, Morinfen, and Autumn Willow as all having significant Voltron aspects.
As I’ve been working on Uril lately, I’ve had some thoughts on Voltron generals that I decided to write down, and so I figured I’d write them down. There are a few aspects that make generals better at being battle leaders and swinging for 21 than other generals. These aren’t hard and fast rules, but they are a good starting point, I believe:
1. High power: The bigger the power, the faster 21 damage can be dealt. Certainly any general with at least 7 power should be considered a fairly good prospect to become a Voltron general. Three swings is a lot easier than four in most circumstances, and a quick jump from equipment can bring that down to two in many cases. Here are a list of (legal) legends with at least that much power:
Kozilek (12)
Ulamog (10)
Progenitus (10)
Lord of Tresserhorn (10)
Kuro, Pitlord (9)
Zhou Yu, Chief Commander (8)
Silvos, Rogue Elemental (8)
Myojin of Life’s Web (8)
Lorthos, the Tidemaker (8)
Iname as One (8)
Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger (7)
Vaevictis Asmadi (7)
Tsabo Tavoc (7)
Taniwha (7)
Sliver Queen (7)
Sliver Overlord (7)
Sliver Legion (7)
Sisters of Stone Death (7)
Ruhan of the Fomori (7)
Rakdos the Defiler (7)
Patron of the Orochi (7)
Palladia-Mors (7)
Nicol Bolas (7)
Myojin of Infinite Rage (7)
Lady Orca (7)
Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund (7)
Iona, Shield of Emeria (7)
Commander Greven il-Vec (7)
Chromium (7)
Ayumi, the Last Visitor (7)
Arcades Sabboth (7)
Long list, right? Now, you may have noticed that not all of those would really make a good general. Who wants to swing with a Myojin, which as a general won’t even have the best, indestructible part of itself? This leads me to the second of my criteria:
2. Resiliency: Many of the best generals have ways of protecting themselves once on the field. These could be as simple as a cheap regeneration cost (Lord of Tresserhorn, Silvos, Korlash, Thrun), or as mind-blowingly good as indestructible (Konda, Ulamog, Sapling of Colfenor) or even shroud / hexproof (Autumn Willow, Multani, Uril, Thrun again). All of these help a creature stay on the field once it has arrived there, and that leaves one less thing to worry about as you proceed. Even better, they can make the “Voltron” aspect that much better, because of the next of my criteria:
3. Synergy with auras/ equipment: While you can build a deck to play aggressively with its general without using outside boosters, it really doesn’t feel all that Voltron-y if you’re not putting multiple pieces together to create a monstrosity that opponents will fear. The aforementioned “resilient” creatures are good at this, save the shroud folks, because they are less likely to be killed in response to whatever you are pumping them with, so you’re not wasting as many spells nor as much mana when you boost them. There are some creatures that are even better, however. Uril the Miststalker probably stands out as the best example in this category, as he was built in the veins of the old Rabid Wombat, a creature that gets bigger the more auras you enchant it with. The Hakim, Loreweaver deck I recently finished has aspects of this as well; though mine isn’t truly meant to be a Voltron deck, it could be built to be such. Other types of creatures that go well with these boosts are ones with double strike. The most obvious of these is Rafiq of the Many, but I’ve seen a pretty effective Rashka, Golden Cub deck as well. Rafiq and Uril also help tie into the next section as well, though they require a bit of help
4. Easy Gigantification: Okay, so I may have made up that word, but some creatures can get pretty large all on their lonesome. Omnath, Locus of Mana is the big example here, and he makes for a very quick, very threatening opponent. The Blackblade clan brings us Korlash and Dakkon, both of whom can have fairly large strength with which to beat with. There is a large group of legends who base their P/T off of cards in hand, be they your opponents’ or your own, or all of the above. Multani, Soramaro, Adamaro, Masumaro, Kiyomaro, Kagemaro, and Maromaro (may not exist) all look to there in order to get large, and with all the card draw in EDH and the relative depowering of discard spells, they can all manage to be rather effective when it comes time to beat. And once these guys get super-large, it’s time to look into hitting faces with them, which leads to the final, and most classic, piece of criteria for face-beating.
5. Evasion: What good is a 10/4 (good buddy) regenerating creature if you keep running into freaking saprolings? Having some way around all those little ground-pounders at some point will become a necessity. Many Voltron decks just let the auras and equipment do this work for them, but I find that generals that have this built in will tend to be just a little bit more flexible when it comes to smash options. This last point is one reason why many people love Portal: Three Kingdoms generals. It’s more than just the pimpness of having hard-to-find guys in command; it’s the inability to be blocked except by horsemanship that can make for some killer beats. Now, you don’t have to saddle up to be evasive in EDH; there are still the fallbacks of flying, trample, and unblockability that can each get the job done. To list all of the flying and trampling generals would probably just insult your intelligence, so I’ll just proceed on now.
Now, of course I’m not saying that a good Voltron general must have all of these aspects. I’m not even saying that it needs to have three, or two, or even one of them. Heck, I’ve seen some pretty killer Isamaru, Hound of of Konda lists, who fits none of those (I don’t think there are enough low cost guys that are good to make another full point). I’m just saying is that when I look at a general and it does meet one or more of these criteria, I think about the Voltron route.
In my next post, I'll go through some of the less commonly used pieces that can work in a Voltron deck for those working on the cheap like me.
As I’ve been working on Uril lately, I’ve had some thoughts on Voltron generals that I decided to write down, and so I figured I’d write them down. There are a few aspects that make generals better at being battle leaders and swinging for 21 than other generals. These aren’t hard and fast rules, but they are a good starting point, I believe:
1. High power: The bigger the power, the faster 21 damage can be dealt. Certainly any general with at least 7 power should be considered a fairly good prospect to become a Voltron general. Three swings is a lot easier than four in most circumstances, and a quick jump from equipment can bring that down to two in many cases. Here are a list of (legal) legends with at least that much power:
Kozilek (12)
Ulamog (10)
Progenitus (10)
Lord of Tresserhorn (10)
Kuro, Pitlord (9)
Zhou Yu, Chief Commander (8)
Silvos, Rogue Elemental (8)
Myojin of Life’s Web (8)
Lorthos, the Tidemaker (8)
Iname as One (8)
Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger (7)
Vaevictis Asmadi (7)
Tsabo Tavoc (7)
Taniwha (7)
Sliver Queen (7)
Sliver Overlord (7)
Sliver Legion (7)
Sisters of Stone Death (7)
Ruhan of the Fomori (7)
Rakdos the Defiler (7)
Patron of the Orochi (7)
Palladia-Mors (7)
Nicol Bolas (7)
Myojin of Infinite Rage (7)
Lady Orca (7)
Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund (7)
Iona, Shield of Emeria (7)
Commander Greven il-Vec (7)
Chromium (7)
Ayumi, the Last Visitor (7)
Arcades Sabboth (7)
Long list, right? Now, you may have noticed that not all of those would really make a good general. Who wants to swing with a Myojin, which as a general won’t even have the best, indestructible part of itself? This leads me to the second of my criteria:
2. Resiliency: Many of the best generals have ways of protecting themselves once on the field. These could be as simple as a cheap regeneration cost (Lord of Tresserhorn, Silvos, Korlash, Thrun), or as mind-blowingly good as indestructible (Konda, Ulamog, Sapling of Colfenor) or even shroud / hexproof (Autumn Willow, Multani, Uril, Thrun again). All of these help a creature stay on the field once it has arrived there, and that leaves one less thing to worry about as you proceed. Even better, they can make the “Voltron” aspect that much better, because of the next of my criteria:
3. Synergy with auras/ equipment: While you can build a deck to play aggressively with its general without using outside boosters, it really doesn’t feel all that Voltron-y if you’re not putting multiple pieces together to create a monstrosity that opponents will fear. The aforementioned “resilient” creatures are good at this, save the shroud folks, because they are less likely to be killed in response to whatever you are pumping them with, so you’re not wasting as many spells nor as much mana when you boost them. There are some creatures that are even better, however. Uril the Miststalker probably stands out as the best example in this category, as he was built in the veins of the old Rabid Wombat, a creature that gets bigger the more auras you enchant it with. The Hakim, Loreweaver deck I recently finished has aspects of this as well; though mine isn’t truly meant to be a Voltron deck, it could be built to be such. Other types of creatures that go well with these boosts are ones with double strike. The most obvious of these is Rafiq of the Many, but I’ve seen a pretty effective Rashka, Golden Cub deck as well. Rafiq and Uril also help tie into the next section as well, though they require a bit of help
4. Easy Gigantification: Okay, so I may have made up that word, but some creatures can get pretty large all on their lonesome. Omnath, Locus of Mana is the big example here, and he makes for a very quick, very threatening opponent. The Blackblade clan brings us Korlash and Dakkon, both of whom can have fairly large strength with which to beat with. There is a large group of legends who base their P/T off of cards in hand, be they your opponents’ or your own, or all of the above. Multani, Soramaro, Adamaro, Masumaro, Kiyomaro, Kagemaro, and Maromaro (may not exist) all look to there in order to get large, and with all the card draw in EDH and the relative depowering of discard spells, they can all manage to be rather effective when it comes time to beat. And once these guys get super-large, it’s time to look into hitting faces with them, which leads to the final, and most classic, piece of criteria for face-beating.
5. Evasion: What good is a 10/4 (good buddy) regenerating creature if you keep running into freaking saprolings? Having some way around all those little ground-pounders at some point will become a necessity. Many Voltron decks just let the auras and equipment do this work for them, but I find that generals that have this built in will tend to be just a little bit more flexible when it comes to smash options. This last point is one reason why many people love Portal: Three Kingdoms generals. It’s more than just the pimpness of having hard-to-find guys in command; it’s the inability to be blocked except by horsemanship that can make for some killer beats. Now, you don’t have to saddle up to be evasive in EDH; there are still the fallbacks of flying, trample, and unblockability that can each get the job done. To list all of the flying and trampling generals would probably just insult your intelligence, so I’ll just proceed on now.
Now, of course I’m not saying that a good Voltron general must have all of these aspects. I’m not even saying that it needs to have three, or two, or even one of them. Heck, I’ve seen some pretty killer Isamaru, Hound of of Konda lists, who fits none of those (I don’t think there are enough low cost guys that are good to make another full point). I’m just saying is that when I look at a general and it does meet one or more of these criteria, I think about the Voltron route.
In my next post, I'll go through some of the less commonly used pieces that can work in a Voltron deck for those working on the cheap like me.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Update!
Too bouncy to sit and play FNM for a few hours, so I stayed home and finished up work on a couple of decks.
Just completed:
Atalya, Samite Master
Morinfen
Oyobi, Who Split The Heavens
Soramaro, First to Dream
Nearly finished:
Hakim, Loreweaver (50%)
Sisters of Stone Death (50%)
Begun construction:
Circu, Dimir Lobotomist
Rhys, the Redeemed
Uril, the Miststalker
Yeah, I'm going for a couple easier ones to work on at the moment. I've managed to get some really bad generals out of the way (Jasmine Boreal, Oyobi, Autumn Willow, Atalya), and some of those turned out to be pretty fun decks. Jasmine Boreal is a G/W "vanilla" deck, with power/toughness boosting auras and equipment and Muraganda Petroglyphs to round it out. Autumn Willow is a strange green Voltron with lots of pump spells and graveyard recursion. I just finished Atalya and Oyobi, so I haven't tested them yet, but Atalya looks fun to play (or at least frustrating to play against) with all her damage prevention/life gain (topped off with Felidar Sovereign of course). Oyobi, well, just looks bad, frankly. Not one of my stronger efforts. There are quite a number of good spirits in mono-W out there, but most of them that I own are in other decks, and I don't want to break my quest rules. I think I'll run her out on EDH night next week and see how she plays. I don't have high hopes.
I would have been much further along this week, but I spent some time doing two other things for the quest beyond deckbuilding: One, I searched out all my sleeves that I still have and sorted them so that I knew what I was going to need; and Two, I've actually been pre-planning a bunch more decks. I've got preliminary decklists ready for another dozen decks beyond what I'm working on now. Some of them are way too big, others far too small, but they are good starts. Generals with these decklists right now include Garza Zol, Tobias Andrion, Ob-Nixilis, Endrek Sahr, Mistform Ultimus, Experiment Kraj, Adamaro, and Glissa the Traitor, among others just begun. I don't plan to build all of those soon, but as I pull together cards for other decks, I'll set aside cards that I know I've put on those lists so that I can start prepping them.
Just completed:
Atalya, Samite Master
Morinfen
Oyobi, Who Split The Heavens
Soramaro, First to Dream
Nearly finished:
Hakim, Loreweaver (50%)
Sisters of Stone Death (50%)
Begun construction:
Circu, Dimir Lobotomist
Rhys, the Redeemed
Uril, the Miststalker
Yeah, I'm going for a couple easier ones to work on at the moment. I've managed to get some really bad generals out of the way (Jasmine Boreal, Oyobi, Autumn Willow, Atalya), and some of those turned out to be pretty fun decks. Jasmine Boreal is a G/W "vanilla" deck, with power/toughness boosting auras and equipment and Muraganda Petroglyphs to round it out. Autumn Willow is a strange green Voltron with lots of pump spells and graveyard recursion. I just finished Atalya and Oyobi, so I haven't tested them yet, but Atalya looks fun to play (or at least frustrating to play against) with all her damage prevention/life gain (topped off with Felidar Sovereign of course). Oyobi, well, just looks bad, frankly. Not one of my stronger efforts. There are quite a number of good spirits in mono-W out there, but most of them that I own are in other decks, and I don't want to break my quest rules. I think I'll run her out on EDH night next week and see how she plays. I don't have high hopes.
I would have been much further along this week, but I spent some time doing two other things for the quest beyond deckbuilding: One, I searched out all my sleeves that I still have and sorted them so that I knew what I was going to need; and Two, I've actually been pre-planning a bunch more decks. I've got preliminary decklists ready for another dozen decks beyond what I'm working on now. Some of them are way too big, others far too small, but they are good starts. Generals with these decklists right now include Garza Zol, Tobias Andrion, Ob-Nixilis, Endrek Sahr, Mistform Ultimus, Experiment Kraj, Adamaro, and Glissa the Traitor, among others just begun. I don't plan to build all of those soon, but as I pull together cards for other decks, I'll set aside cards that I know I've put on those lists so that I can start prepping them.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Game Night and Update!
Update for today:
Tibor and Lumia now completed
Oyobi at about 50% done
Soramaro at about 33%
Started work on:
Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero
Atalya, Samite Master
hakim, Loreweaver
Didn't spend much time tonight on any decks, as it was EDH night at my local shop. Sent Eron for a test run, and he can come out to a quick start, but needs some card advantage badly. Bedlam is killer, though.
After that I went back to playing some old faves (almost pulled crazy come-from-behind victories in 4-ways with both Tsabo and Karn). Won a 2HG with Jor Kadeen by Into the Vaults-ing my other head's Akroma's Memorial so he could swing through with Omnath. Played my first game of the "Horde" EDH variant, and we destroyed it with someone else's Kaalia, Konda, and my Karona wall deck. Got a FTV Memory Jar for my troubles, which will definitely be put to use. Picked up a couple of Isochron Scepters while I was there too, and arranged to buy a stack of usable commons off the store for a decent price if I sort them myself.
Tomorrow I should be able to finish up a couple, since I'm on fall break (which for me, means only working until 1:00). I've began putting together a quick-grab "staple" box for filling out decks that are a few cards short after their themes come together, things like Relic Crush, Into the Core, and extra mana fixing. Man, I'm going to need a lot of Dreamstone Hedrons...
Tibor and Lumia now completed
Oyobi at about 50% done
Soramaro at about 33%
Started work on:
Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero
Atalya, Samite Master
hakim, Loreweaver
Didn't spend much time tonight on any decks, as it was EDH night at my local shop. Sent Eron for a test run, and he can come out to a quick start, but needs some card advantage badly. Bedlam is killer, though.
After that I went back to playing some old faves (almost pulled crazy come-from-behind victories in 4-ways with both Tsabo and Karn). Won a 2HG with Jor Kadeen by Into the Vaults-ing my other head's Akroma's Memorial so he could swing through with Omnath. Played my first game of the "Horde" EDH variant, and we destroyed it with someone else's Kaalia, Konda, and my Karona wall deck. Got a FTV Memory Jar for my troubles, which will definitely be put to use. Picked up a couple of Isochron Scepters while I was there too, and arranged to buy a stack of usable commons off the store for a decent price if I sort them myself.
Tomorrow I should be able to finish up a couple, since I'm on fall break (which for me, means only working until 1:00). I've began putting together a quick-grab "staple" box for filling out decks that are a few cards short after their themes come together, things like Relic Crush, Into the Core, and extra mana fixing. Man, I'm going to need a lot of Dreamstone Hedrons...
Monday, October 10, 2011
The Journey Begins...
My friends think I'm insane, though in a good way.
I play Magic: The Gathering quite a bit. At the time when Magic made its first push nationwide, my mom worked with an afterschool program for kids. She picked up a couple of starter decks (of Unlimited), but when she got to the rules about ante, she decided the program shouldn't have it. Instead, she tossed them to me (aged 11) and told me to "learn how to play this and teach me later".
I've always been an avid gamer. My parents both played Dungeons and Dragons in college and after, and they started me early with the "First Quest" boxed set when I was in second grade. So I eagerly got into this new game, and it was a match for me from the very first. I played it (and other CCGs) avidly throughout middle school and high school. I sat out during most of college, but towards the end some of my roleplaying friends got me back in and dragged me to the Guildpact pre-release, and I've been back ever since.
Fast forward several years, and the format of EDH (now Commander) comes along, and it's like a whole new ball game of interesting interactions and decks to discover. In Magic, I've always been a builder. I never had the cash as a kid to build competitive decks, so I went for interesting themes and crazy ideas. This format was perfect for me. I can't seem to stop coming up with ideas and building new decks. Over the past two years I've gone crazy over it. Perhaps maybe my friends were right about my insanity, because I've decided to do something that definitely sounds pretty nuts.
With a deadline of two years from now-ish, I am attempting to acquire and then build an EDH/Commander deck for every commander in Magic.
Here's how it's going to work:
So, you may be asking, what is this blog for? Glad you asked! This is where I will be keeping interested parties updated with my progress in the quest, hopefully at least a couple of times per week. I may, if requested, also post decklists that people want highlighted, though only with the promise that any such decklists will be critiqued with my limitations in mind.
Before I end, I want to put out a few words of thanks. First, to Ben, who made a significant donation of signets, talismans, and generals to help me in this quest, and who I promised to give thanks to first. Second, to my other Magic playing buddies for their support and derision. Third, to the valiant workers at my local gaming store for their support, and for setting up an EDH night where I can test my abominations. Fourth, to my parents, who I really ought to push into getting them playing again (I did eventually teach them and they played for several years). And finally and most importantly, thanks should be given to my wife Susan, who lets me play with little pieces of cardboard and never calls me silly for it.
And with that, I say so long for now. The quest is ON!
I play Magic: The Gathering quite a bit. At the time when Magic made its first push nationwide, my mom worked with an afterschool program for kids. She picked up a couple of starter decks (of Unlimited), but when she got to the rules about ante, she decided the program shouldn't have it. Instead, she tossed them to me (aged 11) and told me to "learn how to play this and teach me later".
I've always been an avid gamer. My parents both played Dungeons and Dragons in college and after, and they started me early with the "First Quest" boxed set when I was in second grade. So I eagerly got into this new game, and it was a match for me from the very first. I played it (and other CCGs) avidly throughout middle school and high school. I sat out during most of college, but towards the end some of my roleplaying friends got me back in and dragged me to the Guildpact pre-release, and I've been back ever since.
Fast forward several years, and the format of EDH (now Commander) comes along, and it's like a whole new ball game of interesting interactions and decks to discover. In Magic, I've always been a builder. I never had the cash as a kid to build competitive decks, so I went for interesting themes and crazy ideas. This format was perfect for me. I can't seem to stop coming up with ideas and building new decks. Over the past two years I've gone crazy over it. Perhaps maybe my friends were right about my insanity, because I've decided to do something that definitely sounds pretty nuts.
With a deadline of two years from now-ish, I am attempting to acquire and then build an EDH/Commander deck for every commander in Magic.
Here's how it's going to work:
- The first and most important rule of this quest is that every deck must be built in actuality with real cards, including no proxies and nothing that requires swapping cards between decks. Yeah, that last one may be the one that kills me.
- Not all of these decks will be optimized! I am going to need more than 45000 cards for this quest. Making about 40% of that basic land may be the only thing that keeps this from breaking the bank. I am going to be doing the best I can with what I have, and when I run out of cards, I will use whatever I can get my grubby little hands on. I will, of course, be attempting themes and synergy wherever possible and will not be just throwing sixty-odd cards in a deck with forty lands or so.
- I am separating this quest out into two year-long sections. Year one I will attempt to get all non-Portal: Three Kingdoms commanders, with the second year focusing solely on that set.
- If I have counted correctly, there are 453 legends not in silver borders, plus 5 from Unglued / Unhinged. Since 5 more decks is nothing compared to the monumental task still in front of me, I might as well throw those in. Besides, I've already got a half-built Richard Garfield deck.
- I am, of course, not including flip cards that become legends, as these are not legal generals.
- I am including currently banned generals in the binder in case they become unbanned during this time, but will not be building decks for them until such a thing actually occurs.
- I will be keeping up with current Magic releases and building decks for legends found in those sets. Here's hoping next year isn't a return to Kamigawa/other legendary block.
- I will not be attempting to acquire and build a deck for the 1996 World Champion card. Obviously.
So, you may be asking, what is this blog for? Glad you asked! This is where I will be keeping interested parties updated with my progress in the quest, hopefully at least a couple of times per week. I may, if requested, also post decklists that people want highlighted, though only with the promise that any such decklists will be critiqued with my limitations in mind.
Before I end, I want to put out a few words of thanks. First, to Ben, who made a significant donation of signets, talismans, and generals to help me in this quest, and who I promised to give thanks to first. Second, to my other Magic playing buddies for their support and derision. Third, to the valiant workers at my local gaming store for their support, and for setting up an EDH night where I can test my abominations. Fourth, to my parents, who I really ought to push into getting them playing again (I did eventually teach them and they played for several years). And finally and most importantly, thanks should be given to my wife Susan, who lets me play with little pieces of cardboard and never calls me silly for it.
And with that, I say so long for now. The quest is ON!
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