Ah, it’s that glorious time of year, when a brand new set of Magic cards has been spoiled but has not yet been put through the crucible of tournament play. Tons of cards are ripe with promise, inspiring those of us who enjoy deckbuilding with endless possibility. This is when you can literally throw all sorts of ideas against an imaginary wall where everything sticks because it’s all theorycraft.
That flush of excitement doesn’t last long, so let’s enjoy it while we can!
I’ve got a ton of ideas that I’ve been sketching out. Some of them haven’t coalesced into actual 60-card decklists, just a few synergies with new cards that I haven’t figured out how to best utilize. But I do have some 60-card decklists that show some promise and wanted to share the ideas with my readers to solicit feedback and suggestions or maybe inspire some new ideas of your own.
Fight!
One of the new cards that quickly caught my eye was Pit Fight. Even though it’s a hybrid Gruul card, I find it most exciting as a green card, giving green decks some instant speed removal. We’ve seen some successful green-based "Fight Club" decks, notably the G/B one that Brian Kibler has been working on. Of course, if you’re splashing black (or, now that Gruul’s mana base is available, splashing red) you’ve got lots of better choices, but Pit Fight lets you take the Fight Club shell and explore splashing white or maybe even blue.
Creatures (24)
Planeswalkers (2)
Lands (24)
Spells (10)
I’m partial to splashing white into Fight Club to give the deck some much needed air defense with Restoration Angel and access to the super flexible Selesnya Charm. Add Pit Fight to the mix and that’s a lot of flexible things you can do at instant speed, not even counting activating Ulvenwald Tracker.
I also totally flipped for Frontline Medic. As awkwardly designed as it seems to be, I’m totally stoked that Wizards gave us midrange fans a maindeckable weapon against the otherwise devastating Sphinx’s Revelation and Bonfire of the Damned. Even against other creature decks, its battalion trigger is incredibly useful when you want to be aggressive, and making your creatures indestructible opens up some nice opportunities for arranged—and totally unfair—fights with other creatures outside of Predator Ooze.
I’ve not yet fleshed out a good list for blue splash Fight Club, but I am looking forward to what Simic Charm brings to the table!
The Junk in My Trunk
I’m an unabashed fan of Golgari colors, but Selesnya isn’t far behind… And if the mana works, I love green/black/white, a color wedge often termed "Junk." I’ve got Standard cards to make Golgari decks and cards to make Selesnya decks, but I’ve also picked up a playset of Isolated Chapels in the hopes that Gatecrash might bring some additional toys worth mashing the three colors together.
Holy Obzedat, Batman—have they ever!
Creatures (30)
- 4 Restoration Angel
- 2 Wolfir Avenger
- 4 Ulvenwald Tracker
- 4 Thragtusk
- 2 Angel of Serenity
- 2 Treasury Thrull
- 2 Obzedat, Ghost Council
- 2 Alms Beast
- 4 High Priest of Penance
- 4 Frontline Medic
Lands (24)
Spells (6)
I just LOVE this decklist! Now, I know I’m probably being rather…optimistic on some of the synergies I’ve got going in the deck, but hey—I want to give them a try! I’ve got the Ulvenwald Tracker / Frontline Medic action going on and have added High Priest of Penance to the mix. I’m figuring if we’ve got the High Priest running in as part of the Medic’s battalion, making it indestructible lets you turn the Tracker activation into a free neo-Vindicate.
I know not too many people seem to be overly impressed with Alms Beast, but a 6/6 for four might have some extra opportunities in a deck with Ulvenwald Tracker, don’t you think?
Treasury Thrull does a poor imitation of Angel of Serenity but is lower on the curve and opens up some extort potential to squeeze out the last few points of life from an opponent.
Pure Orzhov
Ob-ze-dit, Ob-ze-dat, life drains down, brah!
Lala how the life drains down…
As much as I want to cram green, white, and black together, I do realize that I might just want to run pure Orzhov. There are a few options to explore…but I want to live in a world where Treasury Thrull is a good card in Standard! Is that too much to ask?
Creatures (22)
- 4 Restoration Angel
- 3 Angel of Serenity
- 3 Treasury Thrull
- 4 Obzedat, Ghost Council
- 4 High Priest of Penance
- 4 Frontline Medic
Lands (24)
Spells (14)
While searching a card database and pondering cards that might end up in the graveyard prior to Treasury Thrull attacking, I ran across Scroll of Avacyn. Might there be enough good Angels to play to make recurring Scroll for a card and five life (plus, you know, extort from the Thrull) worth exploring?
A maindeck Glaring Spotlight doesn’t seem like a bad call. I’m pretty sure that hexproof isn’t going to diminish any in the upcoming metagame—especially with Simic Charm around—so there’s that side of the coin, but what’s really nice about Spotlight’s design is the ability to protect your own creatures and make them unblockable by activating it. While I wouldn’t call this deck hugely aggressive, there are certainly plenty of creatures I wouldn’t mind crashing in regardless of blockers.
I’m figuring between Treasury Thrull and Angel of Serenity you can keep plenty of gas in the tank, buying you time and applying pressure to allow your real weapon—Obzedat, Ghost Council—time to do his dirty work.
Oh, and Vault of the Archangel! Such a great card…
Here’s another Orzhov deck:
Creatures (29)
- 4 Diregraf Ghoul
- 4 Gravecrawler
- 4 Geralf's Messenger
- 4 Blood Artist
- 3 Obzedat, Ghost Council
- 3 Frontline Medic
- 3 Thrull Parasite
- 4 Cartel Aristocrat
Lands (24)
Spells (7)
Immortal Servitude was a card I was extremely excited about…until I realized that the X value in the text was just X, not "X and below." I originally thought if you cast X=2, it would bring back creatures with casting cost zero, one, and two! Since someone straightened me out, I’ve cooled a little bit, but I still think it has some value in an aggressive deck like Zombies. I’ve certainly been in situations where all my Gravecrawlers have ended up in the graveyard and while drawing no additional Zombies I look longingly at the Diregraf Ghouls in the graveyard. X=1 and I get the Gravecrawlers and Diregraf Ghouls back to start the madness all over again.
One thing I thought might be worth exploring is adding Thrull Parasite’s extort ability to Blood Artist’s life drain. If there’s a way to sacrifice Gravecrawler, you can play him again out of the graveyard, draining your opponent both coming and going. Cartel Aristocrat is an intriguing possible sacrifice outlet, leading to a big turn where you sac a couple one-drops with a Blood Artist in play then get them all back with Immortal Servitude.
I also dig how Thrull Parasite can keep your Geralf’s Messenger undying over and over by removing that +1/+1 counter!
He Went Back to Jarad
When I started looking at Gruul’s bloodrush cards, I immediately thought of two cards in particular that kinda like having creatures in the graveyard: Splinterfright and Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord. Might there be a mono-creature deck that can make good use of the creature/spells?
Creatures (36)
- 4 Diregraf Ghoul
- 3 Splinterfright
- 4 Gravecrawler
- 4 Geralf's Messenger
- 3 Ulvenwald Tracker
- 4 Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
- 4 Lotleth Troll
- 2 Thrull Parasite
- 4 Slaughterhorn
- 4 Wasteland Viper
Lands (24)
I was initially extremely high on Wasteland Viper until I realized you can only use the bloodrush ability on an attacker, which shouldn’t be too much of an issue in this aggressive deck, but I’m a bit bummed by its restriction. Still, giving an attacking and trampling Lotleth Troll or Splinterfright deathtouch effectively kills the blocker and pushes through their entire power in damage.
The triple black on Geralf’s Messenger looks a little awkward next to the double green/double black of Jarad, but I’m hoping Golgari Guildgate and Cavern of Souls on Zombie will help smooth this out.
A Vision of Johnny
When I first saw Biovisionary, I scoffed. An obvious casual card, and since the only casual format I play is Commander, being able to only have one Biovisionary in the deck kind of defeats the purpose (outside of Rite of Replication kicked).
So why would I ever play it?
Then I started thinking about Standard…with Cackling Counterpart…Seance…and the new card Stolen Identity. Might making token copies of Biovisionary–possibly with a dash of populate—be actually viable?
Creatures (18)
- 4 Elvish Visionary
- 4 Thragtusk
- 1 Trostani, Selesnya's Voice
- 4 Azorius Arrester
- 4 Biovisionary
- 1 Prime Speaker Zegana
Planeswalkers (2)
Lands (24)
Spells (17)
What’s especially neat about Biovisionary is that his alternate win condition doesn’t dilly-dally around—once you assemble four copies in play, you win during the end step. So often, alternate win conditions have to linger around to trigger during your upkeep, but Biovisionary has "haste!" There’s gotta be something there, right?
The trick to a good Biovisionary deck is to make sure it can still play out decently even without the namesake card; you know, in case someone decides to Slaughter Games you. Using some lessons from my previous attempts at making a Seance deck, I’ve put in some decent copy targets (Thragtusk!). One thing I thought might be fun is to cast Stolen Identity targeting Azorius Arrester, detaining the lone blocker and letting whatever creature you’re attacking with get the Stolen Identity cipher imprinted on it, and swinging in to trigger another copy (say, another Arrester to make sure all blockers are accounted for).
I also kinda dig Stolen Identity in a world with Thundermaw Hellkite and Vedalken Aristocrat getting played against you, letting you copy a hasty flier, imprint the cipher on it, swing in, and then get to copy something else—or heck, why not another filer?
I’m not sure why, but I’m kinda obsessed with Biovisionary since the win condition "has haste"—it triggers during the end step rather than having to wait until your upkeep. I’m not looking to be mono-Biovisionary. I want the deck to be able to win without it (Slaughter Games), mostly looking for the potential "oops, I won" with Biovisionary. One approach seemed to be making token copies of Biovisionary and then populating to ratchet up to four copies.
While combing through the card database, I also ran across Infinite Reflection, which looked exciting—you could make multiple copies of Biovisionary in one fell swoop! The only problem was that it quite decisively doesn’t nice in a deck with a large number of token creatures. No…using Infinite Reflection would demand a different approach.
Creatures (33)
- 4 Elvish Visionary
- 4 Strangleroot Geist
- 4 Young Wolf
- 4 Restoration Angel
- 4 Thragtusk
- 3 Zameck Guildmage
- 4 Biovisionary
- 2 Prime Speaker Zegana
- 4 Frontline Medic
Lands (24)
Spells (3)
I’m figuring that Infinite Reflection demands having durable creatures you want to stick around long enough to Reflect the Infinite. Maybe that calls for our green undying crew Young Wolf and Strangleroot Geist? Since we’re already playing Simic with Biovisionary, Zameck Guildmage seems like a good addition, playing the Thrull Parasite role here by making the undying guys immortal while drawing cards. Seems like a good deal!
By tossing white into the mix, we get Restoration Angel to hold the skies, reset an undying guy, or Blink something with an enters-the-battlefield trigger (Visionary, Thragtusk) and Frontline Medic to protect against Bonfire or even let you get aggressive with your smallish team.
Between Elvish Visionary, Zameck Guildmage, and Prime Speaker Zegana, I’m hoping we’ve got enough draw power to find Biovisionary and Infinite Reflection. And if we don’t find Biovisionary or keep him play, slapping down Infinite Reflection on a Restoration Angel or Thragtusk doesn’t seem like a bad Plan B, eh?
Do you think any of these ideas have merit for at least a fun run at FNM? What cards from Gatecrash have you excited? Let me know in the comments below!
Take care,
Bennie
starcitygeezer AT gmail DOT com
Make sure to follow my Twitter feed (@blairwitchgreen). I check it often so feel free to send me feedback, ideas, and random thoughts. I’ve also created a Facebook page where I’ll be posting up deck ideas and will happily discuss Magic, life, or anything else you want to talk about!
New to Commander?
If you’re just curious about the format, building your first deck, or trying to take your Commander deck up a notch, here are some handy links:
- Commander Primer Part 1 (Why play Commander? Rules Overview, Picking your Commander)
- Commander Primer Part 2 (Mana Requirements, Randomness, Card Advantage)
- Commander Primer Part 3 (Power vs. Synergy, Griefing, Staples, Building a Doran Deck)
- Commander Starter Kits 1 (kick start your allied two-color decks for $25)
- Commander Starter Kits 2 (kick start your enemy two-color decks for $25)
- Commander Starter Kits 3 (kick start your shard three-color decks for $25)
My current Commander decks (and links to decklists):
- Aurelia, the Warleader (plus Hellkite Tyrant shenanigans)
- Oona, Queen of the Fae (by reader request)
- Karador, Ghost Chieftain (my Magic Online deck)
- Karona, False God (Vows of the False God)
- Skullbriar, the Walking Grave (how big can it get?)
- Phage the Untouchable (actually casting Phage from Command Zone!)
- Johan (Cat Breath of the Infinite)
- Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind (Chuck’s somewhat vicious deck)
Previous Commander decks currently on hiatus:
- Yeva, Nature’s Herald (living at instant speed)
- Nefarox, Overlord of Grixis (evil and Spike-ish)
- Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius (new player-friendly)
- Trostani, Selesnya’s Voice (new player-friendly)
- Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord (drain you big time)
- Riku of Two Reflections (steal all permanents with Deadeye Navigator + Zealous Conscripts)
- Phelddagrif (Mean Hippo)
- Sigarda, Host of Herons (Equipment-centric Voltron)
- Bruna, Light of Alabaster (Aura-centric Voltron)
- Ruhan of the Fomori (lots of equipment and infinite attack steps)
- Ghave, Guru of Spores (Melira Combo)
- Glissa, the Traitor (undying artifacts!)
- Grimgrin, Corpse-Born (Necrotic Ooze Combo)
- Damia, Sage of Stone (Ice Cauldron shenanigans)
- Geist of Saint Traft (Voltron-ish)
- Glissa Sunseeker (death to artifacts!)
- Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer (replacing Brion Stoutarm in Mo’ Myrs)
- Thelon of Havenwood (Campfire Spores)
- Melira, Sylvok Outcast (combo killa)
- Konda, Lord of Eiganjo (The Indestructibles)
- Vorosh, the Hunter (proliferaTION)
- Progenitus (Fist of Suns and Bringers)
- Savra, Queen of the Golgari (Demons)
- Uril, the Miststalker (my "more competitive" deck)