Random Set Swaps - Something Old, Something New, Something Banned...

...and nothing Blue!

Well, it took a while, but I've finally gotten together all of the recent "random set" updates to the deck. If you are waiting to see what Gatecrash brings - be patient! I'm waiting on one more card before that update goes up! For now, I present to you the three newest additions to the deck - one from Onslaught, one from M13, and a creature who should have been playable long ago!

Kokusho, the Evening Star replaces Admonition Angel

I held on for a long time to Admonition Angel because I did have some very good experiences playing the card and oblivion ringing many permanents. That said, in theory, the card just doesn't work in the deck - low creature count means opponents have more removal saved for me,  and slightly low land count means the ability can't trigger as often as I'd like. Unlike Angel of Serenity, this creature doesn't even do anything the turn it comes into play unless you've got a land drop to make still - and then, it still doesn't do as much. If this card was being released in the newest set, I would write it off immediately as something that simply doesn't fit in the deck. I had a ton of fun playing it, but it's time to drop it and get something more powerful in.

And fresh off the banned list is the black dragon whose mere mention inspires fear in casual tables across the world - Kokusho! I've been in favor of his unbanning for a long time now, usually citing a dozen easier, less banned, and more destructive combos than anything you can do with Kokusho (keeping in mind that Recurring Nightmare is banned). In this deck, Kokusho is simply (and maybe to his detriment) an extremely fair card - he'll be scary, and then die. Taking a life upswing of 10-15 can be great in a long multiplayer game where you need a boost of life to give you the time to stabilize. I will often choose creatures which are more resilient or immediately effective, and while this dragon is neither of the two, his ability gives him the benefits of both - your opponents will neither want to target him with destroy effects nor attack you such that he could die lest they suffer his trigger, giving you plenty of stall power - and that's really exactly what this deck wants to do. Kokusho also helps out Sarkhan the Mad, a planeswalker I always keep in mind so I can take full advantage of that card (and show off the "Mad" alter that Chippy did on it). Finally, while not a perfect synergy, the card still does very well on a Mimic Vat provided you can block or be blocked by something that can kill it. It'll only take one time before your opponents stop attacking or blocking until the Vat is dealt with!

How to Pimp #1: Using eBay

If I made a Frequently Asked Questions about my Commander deck, number one would be "How much is it worth?" The answer to that is, "A lot more than what I paid." I was fortunate to get in ahead of the curve - for example, I paid less for my Foil Japanese Urborg than the price Star City is currently selling English foils for, and that's one of the more tame price jumps. Pimping a deck these days can be very expensive, especially if you are a fan of tapping for blue mana. Even worse, the cards can be nearly impossible to find depending on their obscurity - I have a great example of this later on in this post.

Which brings me to the second most frequently asked question - "Where the hell did you find these?". This is a topic I'm going to address in a series of posts, focusing on different places you can go to find the cards you want and some tips I've picked up that have helped me get the deck to where it is now.

Part 1: Improving your eBay Mileage

Ebay is the first site that nearly everyone is going to check for their pimp cards. If you are new to the market, you'll perhaps be surprised to find that a number of sellers have huge inventories of Japanese foil cards for sale, so it can be pretty easy to find a number of the cards you are looking for. But how do you know you are paying a fair price, and how can you find the cards that aren't listed? Check out the tips below for the answers!

Why do I play Oros?

"What does he do?"

I love that question. I'd have to love the question to want to play with a deck like this because that's all I ever hear, but I especially love it when people point at Oros and ask it. "Not a lot," I'll usually respond, "He can Sunlance everything for 2W when he deals combat damage to a player."

"Seems pretty bad."

Actually, Oros is far and away the best commander for this deck. I say that with full knowledge that Kaalia of the Vast and Tariel, Reckoner of Souls are, in fact, options for playing WBR. Oros is not the most powerful commander - he's not even powerful at all. He doesn't have any special abilities outside of Flying, you have to pay for his ability when he actually connects (and lack of Trample hurts those odds), and when you pull the effect off, you can't even hurt white creatures or kill things with toughness 4 or more. Everyone who has said he's bad is pretty much spot on. Oros is a bad creature, which is actually why I say he is the best commander for the deck - being a bad commander and a good creature are, in fact, two different things!

Didn't Make The Cut #1

Since its implementation, Wizards's new policy of "print cards for Commander" has made tweaking a deck like this one harder than ever. With every new set, there's a number of cards that can make it in, so deck space is at a premium. I'm constantly trying to juggle playing the most powerful cards, the most fun cards, and giving some love to each color (*cough* RED *cough*). Unfortunately, that means not every card that is playable or powerful actually can make it in the deck. As I always try to tell people at the shop, a Commander deck is a personal thing and should represent how you like to play Magic and with which cards. Below are some recent, solid cards that many people would play, but for one reason or another, aren't yet in my deck list. This is the first part in what I hope is a continuing series of posts that will provide some insight into my thought processes when adding and cutting cards. Hope you can get something out of it!

Olivia Voldaren

Olivia is a creature that I desperately want to play. Finding a spot for her is very difficult, though. She was on the list for attempted inclusion in the Gatecrash update, but still hasn't found a place yet. She should, though - she's a creature (!), she's cheap, she's Red (I try to push to fit more Red in the deck as it is so criminally underrepresented) - but the creatures making it in are so much more abusable in this format. Because of her ability to kill things, steal things, and grow herself, she will remain on the list for inclusion for a while, I'm sure, but she didn't quite make it in this round simply because the Gatecrash update is too large.

Innistrad Block Swaps

Over a year is a new record for lack of updating. Magic is no longer my primary hobby, as I spend nearly every tournament working the front counter at the card shop or judging the event. I've since found other ways to entertain myself - I play a lot of Warhammer 40k, board games, comics, and spend time with my fiancé. 

But that makes it sound so much sadder than it is! I still love Magic even though I don't play very much, and I think there are a lot more people out there like that. I still play in every prerelease and I get in Commander games when I can, but without the weekly 5-round to play in, it's hard to obsess. Still, Oros is always close to my heart, and even in the break I've made some more tweaks. Gatecrash has gotten me very excited with some awesome new cards for Boros and Orzhov, and we are going to see the largest card swap in the deck in years! So here I am again, giving you an update on the deck. Hope you enjoy the read and pick up a bit of my own experience in the format - I'm by no means an expert, but I do think everyone's got something to add to your own worldview, no matter their experience level. So enough philosophy - let's find out what's shaking up Oros these days!

Card Spotlight - Klug Alters

The deck has finally been completed!

Aside from upgrading the duals from questionable-condition Alphas to NM Betas (something my wallet is NOT excited to do), after getting these two alters in the mail, I'm only looking forward to new sets and unbanned cards (come on, Kokusho!) to modify the deck. Speaking of which, Innistrad prerelease is right around the corner, so look forward to an "Innistrad's Top X Commander cards" style post in the near future. There's definitely some cool cards in the set, and I'm going to have a tough time fitting them into this deck!

For today, however, I want to spotlight the last two cards to go into the deck, and the man who made them happen. Eric Klug is a well known, fulltime card alterist - meaning his main 9-5 (or whatever hours he decides) is actually taking Magic cards and modifying them. He's got some insane skills, and you should absolutely check out his website here and see all of his incredible alters. Here's what he did for me:

These two cards, if you can't tell, are Chaos Warp and Command Tower, both from the Commander preconstructed decks. If you've read my previous article on collecting in which I outlined my personal hierarchy of "pimp" (and if you haven't, you should go ahead and check it out here), you'll understand precisely why I had to get these altered - If they can't be Japanese and Foil, they have to be one or the other and altered, with preference given to foils.

It's really tough for a card to even make it into a built and tuned Commander deck these days, and I hope to touch more on that in the future. But these two were easy picks from the Commander precons - Chaos Warp is a fun and powerful tuck effect that might have the chance of winning a game out of nowhere in a last ditch effort targeting something of my own. Command Tower is a shoe-in in most Commander decks (mono-color ones being a bit of an exception - a lot of mono-color decks would just rather have a basic land!), and certainly in a wedge colored deck which previously had no lands of their own three colors. This made it very easy to pick out an alter for Oros' very own land - let's just put him on it! Klug used a very distinct art style with subdued colors which really makes the card stand out. And you can see Oros has his personal flock of scale birds with him, as usual! It's just too bad he built his tower so small. I wonder who lives inside?

The Chaos Warp alter is a bit more farfetched. I had brainstormed with several friends in my local playgroup, and after throwing out such hit ideas as Ian Malcom ("Chaos Theory" guy from Jurassic Park), Chaos (the Final Fantasy boss), and - my personal favorite - Tuvix, a character from Star Trek (I'm not even a fan of the series!) who was "chaotically" merged from two people while they were warping back to the ship, I think we finally hit gold when we thought about the Warp Pipes from Super Mario Bros. I adjusted the idea a little to be referencing the Warp Whistle from Super Mario Bros 3, as it's simply hard to find any acceptable art for any Mario game before that, and it's probably the most well known and loved. We even got to work in the tornado that warps Mario and get that "chaos" idea from that. Overall, I'm very pleased with the idea, and as always, Klug's execution is simply flawless.

Once more - Klug's art can be found at http://klugalters.blogspot.com/. The guy seriously deserves your money, his work is crazy good!

So now I've got everything I need, and I'm finally back to playing this deck again. It's been a while, and the deck is still a blast to play. And Innistrad is just in time to ruin that victory for me, forcing me to fit more cards in where there is no room. Next update is going to focus on precisely that - Innistrad's impact on Commander, and the swaps I will be making in the Oros deck - if I can decide in time!

Thanks for reading!

Until next time,
Day 2 Dan

Go Tuck Yourself!

A hot debate raging between Commander playgroups regards a certain type of effect nicknamed "tucking". Tucking is the act of placing a card into the library (not usually on top, as it's hardly "tucked away" then). It's a highly effective tactic to use on cards you don't want to see again, because if a card is on the bottom of the library, it's as good as gone - cards deep in the library are often much harder to access than cards in the graveyard or the command zone. The commonly used rules for Commander found on the official rules committee website only allow a commander to be moved to the command zone if it is placed in the graveyard or exiled - tucking the commander actually does not allow you to move it there, so tuck effects can severely cripple decks that rely heavily on the commander to win. Of course, you can always modify the rules in your own playgroup if you feel this hinders the fun too greatly, but be careful if you intend to play Commander with players outside your group! The committee's official rules are widely accepted and your opponents might not agree with the change as there are some very solid arguments to be made for allowing tuck effects to function properly.

In case you can't read English, this
is a Japanese tuck effect.

Before I get into the arguments, it might be helpful to get a list down of the most common tuck effects. These are the cards you are most likely to run into if you are worried - or the ones you should consider if you are looking to add some!

• Condemn
• Oblation
• Hinder
• Proteus Staff
• Spell Crumple
• Spin into Myth
• Chaos Warp
• Warp World

Some of these have recently been reprinted in the Commander preconstructed decks, and Chaos Warp and Spell Crumple are actually new cards made specifically for the format. So though it doesn't mean a whole lot, it does show that the people in charge of building the precons were aware of and supportive of the existence of tuck effects.

The biggest issue facing tuck cards is that many players dislike when they are prevented from doing something. This is the same reason that land destruction cards and counterspells are currently at a low in power level and/or population - a certain group of players just can't stand when they can't do something. They would mind casting their Commander again and again when it gets hit with destroy effects, but when you Spell Crumple it, it's like you gained an emblem that says, "Timmy Everynerd can't cast his commander". I can certainly understand the frustration, but I feel Timmy should consider his options before getting upset. I have a simple acronym for dealing with problems in Commander (or any casual format): CAR.

• Change: Change your deck so that you don't lose to one type of effect. If losing your commander kills you, change your commander or change the deck so it can stand on its own.
• Adapt: Modify your deck with cards that deal with the effects that are good against it. Against tuck effects, try including more search effects or protective spells.
• Reshuffle: Lose the game, shuffle up, and play again. It's a 100 card format, so even with all the tutors in the world your opponent won't always have the tuck spell, and if all he or she is doing is trying to tuck your commander, use that knowledge to modify how you play to try to win the next game. The great thing about casual formats is that nothing is ever on the line - you can always shuffle up and try again.

Now, of course, the argument from Timmy's side is: Why should I change my deck to deal with your unfair effects? As I stressed in my post on competitive-casual playing, someone  has to change their deck at some point if two players are going to get along and play nice. If both refuse to do so, the only option is to find a new playgroup. So either you have to take the tuck effects out of your deck to play with him, or he's got to find a way around them. So who is right? Let's look at the effects of both options. (The option to modify the rules for tucking commanders so that they may be put into the command zone has roughly the same effect as simply taking the tuck effects out of your deck for the purpose of this discussion.)

Not so enchanting when he's on
the opposite side of the table.

If tuck effects are removed...

Without tuck effects, Timmy is certainly free to cast and recast his commander as much as he pleases. However, Spike McPhearson to your right is playing Zur the Enchanter, and he also is free to recast Zur as much as he wants - until he wins. Anyone playing notoriously powerful commander decks will enjoy the freedom of not having to force their deck to work for them when their commander gets Hindered or Chaos Warped. So while Timmy gets to have fun casting his commander, your chances of winning against Spike are much lower now. So use CAR, right? Well, Adapt is out - Timmy won't play if we modify the deck to deal with Zur permanently. So we can either Reshuffle and try again - which against a "Tier 1" commander deck tends to feel pretty hopeless, but if winning doesn't matter and you just want to cast spells, maybe that's for you. Last, we can Change the deck - but the problem isn't spells that deal with our deck, it's the opponent's deck winning by playing solitaire. So can we play a deck that wins faster? I guess we're playing a Tier 1 deck now too!

If Timmy changes his deck...

Now Timmy's added Time of Need, Planar Portal, and Worldly Tutor to his deck. If we Spell Crumple his commander, he has a few ways to search it out. If we're playing with Spike too, we can still deal with Zur or Azami or whoever he's playing today. Nobody had to change decks, Timmy simply added a few already good cards to his deck so he can always cast Silvos when he really wants to. And he really, really wants to.

Interestingly enough, though, if we were playing with Timmy and Spike from the beginning, it's very likely that Timmy would've never dealt with the Spell Crumple at all because all eyes were watching Zur. Multiplayer formats already have a built in mechanism to deal with "unfair" effects, and it's effect is magnified in Commander where you only have one of each card in your deck. That mechanism is threat level - Zur was so much more threatening than Silvos that, if we even drew Spell Crumple, we'd be saving it to hit Zur unless Timmy played an entwined Tooth and Nail or something equally or more threatening. Since we've only got one Spell Crumple, as soon as we hit Zur with it, Timmy can let down his guard a bit because that's one tuck effect already gone. What it comes down to is this - unless you are playing a commander that needs tucking to exist to balance him, tucking probably won't affect you anyway! 

Tucking shouldn't be such a nuisance if your playgroup knows what they are doing. You can play a less powerful commander and worry about it less, or you can play a more powerful commander and deal with it. And as a side benefit, the existence of checks to powerful commanders means we keep the banned list smaller, because with no way to permanently deal with Zur and Azami they could go the way of Rofellos, leaving many players with useless Commander decks. So keep this in mind next time your commander gets Spell Crumpled (or Scrumpled, as I prefer to say), and never forget that you can always shuffle up and play again.

Until next time,
Day 2 Dan