NOT SO RAGOST ANYMORE
NEW!
I just can't give up on the idea of having 3 'commanders'. I dabbled with the idea of using Othelm instead of Hargilde today, and there is suprisingly some resemblance of a theme.
In the old version with Ragost as the commander, the theme was very limiting and the play patters grew to be very repetitive. Classic case of it sounds cool but actually not very fun in practice. I also realized that I wasn't making fukk use of Zirda.
In this rendition, the theme is (looking to be) combat (goad) and graveyard focus.
So Bjorna goads by saccing artifacts (that can also be creatures) and Zirda makes it so that creatures can't block and reduces the cost of Othelm's ability. Maybe Bjorna can ping our own creatures so Otheim can bring them back (maybe too crazy but the possibility is there)?
So this will be a 4-color (WURG) deck, that has 2 commanders and a companion, focusing on combat, reanimation, artifacts and maybe politics?
Sounds fucking AMAZING!
I went to Japan and got some LEGENDARY cards
Spent theis morning goldfishing so I kinda have a functioning list so why not write an update
So I went to Japan and of course I had to visit Hareruya, after all it's '"The Place" for Magic: the Gathering fans!' as they say on their website. I came to the store a total of 4 times. I went multiple times because I fucked up my order the 1st time, got to the store too late to fix my order the 2nd time, finally got the cadrs I needed the 3rd time and had nothing to do so I went for the 4th time. I had 2 main goals going to Hareruya. 1. Pick up cards to finish my Izzet Terror Pauper deck and 2. Pick up cards for this blog's deck. Both required weird/kinda hard to find cards not readily available where I lived. And I was looking for cool souvenir cards on the side and some that my friends needed as well. So what did I actually buy for this list?
This is my current list, in it the cards I got from Japan are:
I got other cards as well of course but they're currently not in the deck so I'm not listing them here.
I've realized that I really like the Legendary subtheme in this deck so I just went full throttle into it. This also means that the artifact theme is dialed down now (Osgir felt especially awkward this morning, still keeping him in for now tho), but I actually like that, because I already have an Artifact deck that I love and I don't like my decks feeling the same. For Bjorna's ability, I think just having some artifact token producers and cantriping artifacts would be enough.
Last week I actually went to my LGS and played the deck. I played 2 games. The 1st one I think I won (?) So it got to a 1v1 and I had Protective Sphere in play against a mono red deck and they just conceded. I think they were a newer player and got tired/frustrated so they just quit. But hey a win is a win, and it was the deck's 1st game at that! The 2nd game was quite uneventful, got stomped (as expected) by the Jodah player (Phyrexian Praetor tribal is unsuprisingly very good when your commander is broken Martin). BUT after the game while I was putting the new cards into the deck, the other Martin (husband of the store owner) said my deck was weird. And it's extra funny comming from him, who just played a gambling Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge deck and has a, what I can only describe as, 'artifact masturbation' Ratchet, Field Medic deck, which whenever transforms he makes the Transformers tranforming sound. We both share a passion for dumb builds, only that his are kinda dumber.
Things are kinda coming toghether
Just attended Lorwyn Eclipsed prerelease and got some new toys!
PRERELESE REVIEW
Quite a lot of people attended the event (I played on Saturday but I think even more played on Sunday), that's what happens for actually having a good in-universe MTG set! Prior to the event things kinda got spoiled a bit by people reportedly getting TMNT rares as their prerelease promos AND Wizards removing the prerelease stamp, but fortunately no turtles invaded my LGS. For the promo, I just took a fine tip permament marker and wrote the date next to the set symbol. I actually experimented quite a bit for this, using all kinds of pens (gold, POSCA, permament) trying multiple styles but settled on this. It doesn't obstruct the text or art and is reminiscent of old prerelease stamps which I like. Might try other colors next time.
In terms of the event itself, I did quite good! I finished in 4th plTolarian Academyace so just missed getting a prize pack. I cobbled up toghether a GW Kithkin deck with a bunch of changelings. I actually really really like changelings in this format, they're so versitile and fit into so many strategies. The craziest thing that happened was that I managed to get swing with a 20/18 trampler for the win in one of the games. My pulls were also not too crazy, got 2 Hallowed Fountains tho, one got into this blog's deck of course and my friend Long traded the second one for a Bloom Tender that he pulled, which OF COURSE is for this blog's deck! Additionally, Giang pulled a full art double sided Temple Garden which I bought.
This is my current list. I actually went over an overhaul of all of my decks and decided to dismantle a few, so the deck's mana base is quite good now.
The deck is coming toghether quite nicely. I've came to the conclusion that this is a strictly Bracket 2 deck.
On a side note, although I was skeptical when WOTC took over EDH, the Commander Format Panel has done a great job managing the format, especially for introducing the Bracker system.
From the 5-ish games I've had with the deck, it feels really satisfying once it "does the thing", which is something like playing The Seriema to tutor for Anzrag, the Quake-Mole, which stations The Seriema to give itself indestructible, so next turn it can use its ability to force blocks and constantly attack with a flying Seriema for the win. Or just simply removing all the counters on Dark Depths in one turn with Zirda. Yes, these synergies are all very clunky and mana expensive, but that's why this is a bracket 2 deck. The problem always is getting to the point where I can "do the thing".
The problem boils down to an ineffective distribution of card effects. Being a deck that has many potential play paths in one game, I find it hard to find the right balance. One aspect I greatly overvalued was 'Zirda protection'. Because Zirda is a Companion, not a Commander, if it were to get removed, I can't just replay it from the "Companion Zone". But I've realized that since I have so many play paths, I usually don't even need Zirda on the field. The same was for Haste providers, I had Footfall Crater in the deck, thinking I could just Cycle it if I didn't want it. But again BECAUSE the deck has so many play paths, I usually either don't need it; it's too expensive (I have to tap a land to use it, in a 4-color deck); or I won't have enough mana to activate the creature's ability in the same turn I cast it anyways.
The solution, as The Command Zone suggests, was to add more card draw (as i was writing this sentence, I realized that BoP is not really good here, since I only have 7 lands that can tap for green on turn 1, can't bolt the bird if I don't have one. Replaced it with Windfall). Additionally, Bjorna never really contributed to games, to the point there was no real point to cast her besides enabling Bloom Tender or Faeburrow Elder. So I added more artifacts that drew cards. Some of them are Bag of Holding (always the 101st card, but it goldfished well), Living Lectern and Combat Courier (these 2 I saw on Archidekt, from other lists that had the same Commander-Companion combo, making me realize I'm not as hipster as I thought, noooooo). Some other additions that I really like are Voldaren Thrillseeker (found it in my LGS' binder, interesting removal/fling effect), Skyserpent Seeker (isn't this just Simic Baleful Strix, also 420), Rhys, the Evermore, and Derevi.
Finally, as it's tradition now, This is my current list.
The deck consistently feels good to play now!
Had a trip to Hanoi recently and visited Floating Dojo for the first time. The location is great, people were friendly and manged to pick up some cool cards! Namely Tome of Legends and Azor's Gateway providing additional draw power, as well as a FNM 2010 copy of Qasali Pridemage that I vastly prefer the art over the old one I had.
Additionally, I've traded to add some cards that have really been overperforming. Loot, the Pathfinder is the only card of the character whose art I don't completely hate. And it's no suprise that having Ancestral Recall and Lightning Bolt on a stick is good. My friend Huy, whom with my girlfriend and her brother have been having weekly commander nights, traded me a copy of Linvala, Shield of Sea Gate and although there is no way in the deck to trigger her party ability, just having a Flying 3/3 that provides protection to the whole board feels really nice (Although I did play with the idea of adding things that interact with types/give Chaneling like Oko, Lorwyn Liege or Mirror Entity since there are some cards in the deck that would also benefit from this kind of effect, but there isn't enough of them to make the change). I played it 30 minutes after he traded it to me and I think he alredy reggreted it. Finally, the BIG trade is a copy of Minamo from my friend Derek. I traded away a copy of The Ozolith that I cracked from a pack, which I actually really wanted to make good use of the card for years but never found a home for. I got the LOTR version of Minamo, or Dol Amroth, but I don't really mind. The art is great and the building looks like Tolarian Academy. Guess my list is not budget anymore.
UPDATED DECK DESCRIPTION
Just realized that the deck might have gone through quite a few changes in both philosophy and gameplan, so I'll describe it in its current state.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION: 4-color (WURG), Bjorna & Othelm partner pairing, with Zirda companion. Bracket 2.
STRATEGY: Legendary tribal. Midrange. Play and attack with creatures while trying to keep them alive.
POWERFUL CARDS: Relic of Legends, Otharri, Suns' Glory, Bloom Tender, Derevi, Empyrial Tactician, Minamo, School at Water's Edge, Captain Sisay.
PET CARDS/CARDS THAT MAKE ME FEEL SMART FOR PUTTINF THEM IN THE DECK/JUST FUN: Skyserpent Seeker, Puca's Eye, Protective Sphere, All-Fates Scroll, Heirloom Epic, Voldaren Thrillseeker, The Mana Rig, Plargg, Dean of Chaos//Augusta, Dean of Order, The Deck of Many Things.