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!