Messages

1

Commander Discussion / Re: Commander Brackets Beta

« on: February 15, 2025, 04:00:19 pm »

Each card being assigned an overall power level could be a nightmare. You're talking 30k+ cards in all of MTG. How many do you assign a level or do you assign them all one? That's what this initially started out to be and this is what it morphed into.

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Commander Discussion / Re: Commander Brackets Beta

« on: February 13, 2025, 04:08:41 pm »

So I updated my Varina decklist on Moxfield today and it lists it as a Bracket 1 deck. That would not be a fun matchup for anyone at a bracket 1 table.

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Commander Discussion / Re: Aetherdrift Thoughts So Far

« on: February 13, 2025, 03:23:00 pm »

You could already build Esper zombies with Varina.

Speaking of the new commanders, Hashaton is looking pretty popular and very few of the builds are zombie.

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Commander Discussion / Re: Commander Brackets Beta

« on: February 12, 2025, 05:29:20 pm »

I went through the 7 decks I play the most. Going strictly by their criteria, three are bracket 3, the rest are bracket 1. There's no way Sidisi or Varina is a level 1, and Purphoros is only a level 3 because it has Jeska's Will. Purphoros is a weaker deck than either Sidisi or Varina. And my Endless Punishment upgrade is a level 3 because it has a 2-card combo (Exquisite Blood- Sanguine Bond). 

There's still going to have to be some common sense about what the real power level of your deck is.

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Commander Discussion / Re: Aetherdrift Thoughts So Far

« on: February 12, 2025, 05:06:35 pm »

I think max speed is too slow to really impact the format. I'll likely try Howlsquad Heavy in Purphoros since it will also pump out tokens and gave all my goblins haste, and if I get to the max speed ability, it's an added plus.

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Commander Discussion / Re: Current state of Commander

« on: February 12, 2025, 05:04:05 pm »

There's not really an option that suits me. I'm taking a wait and see approach, but I will be playing in the meantime. I'm fine with what they've done (and not done) so far. We'll see how it goes over the next few months (them tweaking the brackets as needed, anything they do with the banlist).

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Commander Discussion / Re: Commander Brackets Beta

« on: February 12, 2025, 02:07:41 am »

So Trouble in Pairs is too much but Necropotence isn't?

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Commander Deck Reviews / Re: [EDH / Commander] Varina Zombies

« on: February 10, 2025, 06:25:24 pm »

Feel like Necroduality is better than Liliana. Graveborn Muse for more card draw.

Revision 69

Added/removed cards:
-1 Liliana, Untouched by Death
-1 Razorlash Transmogrant
+1 Graveborn Muse
+1 Necroduality

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Commander Discussion / Re: How To Manage Not Building Highly Tuned Decks (EDH/Commander)

« on: February 10, 2025, 03:14:13 pm »

Funny enough Wolfie, I think starting out in commander is actually a LOT easier to make optimized decks.  EDHREC and Decklists online just get you there. 

There are also sites, such as MTGtop8.com, that list every deck entered in tournaments of other formats and their results. So it's just as easy (if not easier) to take the top decks and buy them. 

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Commander Deck Reviews / Re: [EDH / Commander] Varina Zombies

« on: February 09, 2025, 11:08:54 pm »

Monument just feels like you want to be discarding on each players turn to payoff, not really doing that in my build.

Onto playing On Wings of Gold.

Revision 68

Added/removed cards:
-1 Monument to Endurance
+1 On Wings of Gold

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Commander Discussion / Re: How To Manage Not Building Highly Tuned Decks (EDH/Commander)

« on: February 09, 2025, 10:57:10 pm »

Commander is the most complicated of all the formats because of the multiple opponents and the massive card pool, so that being where a new player starts puts them at a disadvantage on the learning curve. It really has to almost be information overload when starting out. I had the advantage of playing from the time the game came out when I started in commander (while it was still EDH) and the multiplayer aspect was still an interesting thing to adjust to (and that's having played Planechase and other variations that were multiplayer).

I wouldn't say I'm against it, each player starts in their own place, but that has to make it that much harder to adjust to the game. Let alone trying to build optimal decks to compete at any table.

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Commander Deck Reviews / Re: [EDH / Commander] Varina Zombies

« on: February 09, 2025, 04:38:33 pm »

Got in some games last night and drew a few more of the new cards.

Accursed Duneyard was nice, helped me regenerate Varina twice. Was nice to save the full cost.

Lost Monarch of Ifnir did some work. It's interesting seeing your opponent's chose between picking the combat damage or whether they take the afflict damage. It was a nice little play pattern.

Hashaton I'm liking. It was nice a few times to get both the token from his ability and then use Zul Ashur to reanimate it. It does have me thinking about retesting Cleaver Skaab as well as Rot Hulk. Not solely as Hashaton targets but for their abilities, which could be even nicer now with Hashaton. The one thing about Hashaton is he's a removal magnet.

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Commander Discussion / Re: Aetherdrift Thoughts So Far

« on: February 09, 2025, 02:56:42 pm »

I know one of the three local shops didn't do any pre-releases due to lack of interest. They had a signup sheet up for two weeks (as soon as previews started) and they had seven people signed up. Usually, they have so many signed up ahead of time that they have to close signups due to the amount of room in the shop.

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Commander Discussion / Re: How To Manage Not Building Highly Tuned Decks (EDH/Commander)

« on: February 09, 2025, 02:54:47 pm »

But that would depend on having a big enough collection to where you have that many cards to play around with them in paper first. If the person has only been playing a year and a half, they may not have enough of a collection to do that.

I do agree though, it's hard not to optimize a deck if you're using some of the online sites like EDHRec, especially depending on what way you plan to build the deck and if it's a common build with lots of options.

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Commander Discussion / Re: How To Manage Not Building Highly Tuned Decks (EDH/Commander)

« on: February 08, 2025, 05:39:56 pm »

Using less than optimal commanders can get you there, so can budget. The thing is, you have to stick to whatever way you try to do it. You have to commit to it and not stray. That's how I ended up upgrading my Geralf budget deck. I strayed from the goal.

You can also build commanders that will never be top tier. My merfolk deck is fun to pilot, and can have an explosive turn, but it's not a deck that is going to overpower the table in a quick manner and not let go of that advantage. Some strategies just aren't as powerful themselves. It's very vulnerable to board wipes and I don't play tutors for quick recovery. I built it with the intention of playing at lower power tables.