1) I got married! Yay me and my understanding wife! This is why updates got very slow. But if you really need a fix of what I offer, I'm on Twitter @WordOfCommander and that's fun too.
2)I'm switching to AutoCardAnywhere, and I cannot urge you strongly enough to do the same. It doesn't have a mobile version yet, but for Safari, Firefox, and Chrome, this is outstanding.
I've had a chance to play with some Gatecrash cards, and I'm excited about updating my EDH decks with new cards.
This is going to be both easier and harder than the Return to Ravnica updates.
Easier: I'm down to nine decks now and that's much less to manage.
Harder: The Primordial cycle is pretty amazing. I have two decks with heavy Gruul use (Adun and Animar) and Simic (Animar and Kraj) so there's a lot of cards I have to at least consider putting in.
In my initial pass through the set, I could pretty much build a new Animar deck with the cards in Animar's colors.
It's also notable that Gatecrash has some truly awesome creatures, and I tend towards creature-based decks.
Two things are a given: play shocklands and play Thespian's Stage. I cannot think of many decks where Stage won't be useful--for an answer to Gaea's Cradle or other Legendary Lands or just to copy someone else's Maze of Ith. Pretty soon I'm going to have to write an article on 'Just how many colorless lands can one deck take?'
Again, we are going in alphabetical order of my generals.
Sepulchral Primordial
Sylvan Primordial
Hellkite Tyrant
Domri Rade
Lord of the Void
Coming out:
Tsabo Tavoc
Havoc Demon
Terastodon
Elderscale Wurm
Rakdos, Lord of Riots
Close but not good enough:
Gruul Ragebeast
Hellraiser Goblin
Molten Primordial
Clan Defiance
Signal the Clans
Illusionist's Bracers
Ogre Slumlord
Five-Alarm Fire
Giant Adephage
Borborygmos Enraged
Wrecking Ogre
Skarrg Goliath
Ghor-Clan Rampager
I am really on the fence about the three Bloodrush creatures. They are great bonuses, and they all work well with my general, because I could Bloodrush a creature, bring it back to hand, and Bloodrush it again, given enough mana and no disruption. I'm inclined to say that they aren't good enough, but I want to try them, so I will. Eventually.
Domri Rade is going to be noncreature #6 for this deck.
I want to play Gruul Ragebeast, except that it's not a 'may' ability. Even if there's no creature under my opponents' control, I have to have new creatures fight, the Ragebeast if nothing else. If I weren't so focused on keeping the noncreature count low, I'd add the Bracers, because I've got some amazing tap abilities in this deck, including Adun himself. I really want to find space for the Lord of the Void.
In:
Hellkite Tyrant
Enter the Infinite
Sylvan Primordial
Diluvian Primordial
Unexpected Results
Zameck Guildmage
Master Biomancer
Prime Speaker Zegana
Fathom Mage
Out:
Yavimaya Elder
Sphinx Ambassador
Primordial Hydra
Acidic Slime
Ring of Evos Isle
Ring of Kalonia
Silverglade Elemental
Mindclaw Shaman
Pilgrim's Eye
Close but not good enough:
Simic Manipulator
Ivy Lane Denizen
Gyre Sage
Crowned Ceratok
Hellraiser Goblin
Gruul Ragebeast
Biomass Mutation
Domri Rade
Signal the Clans
Illusionist's Bracers
Keymaster Rogue
Rapid Hybridization
Sapphire Drake
Molten Primordial
Wrecking Ogre
Burst of Strength
Experiment One
Giant Adephage
Skarrg Goliath
Borborygmos Enraged
Clan Defiance
Elusive Krasis
Ghor-Clan Rampager
Nimbus Swimmer
See that list? That's a whole deck. Between the Gruul and Simic cards, Animar decks have a tremendous amount of options. I can't disagree with anyone who wants to run these cards that I chose to leave out. Mindclaw Shaman has been a lot of fun, but has missed more often than I expected. I changed the mana around some, and so I needed less mana creatures. The Rings were not nearly as effective as I wanted (and I just added a Champion's Helm!) and thanks to deckbox.org, I just got offered a Japanese Survival of the Fittest, and that's why I'm taking out Acidic Slime. I've got Indrik Stomphowler already, and adding another tutor engine is a good thing.
In:
Enter the Infinite
Out:
Vedalken Aethermage
Close but not good enough:
Diluvian Primordial
Rapid Hybridization
Stolen Identity
Aetherize
I've been unhappy with the Aethermage, since I just use him to find Willbender, and I hate tutors that stay predictable. Since this is my 'big blue' deck, and I have Omniscience in there already, Enter the Infinite absolutely goes in.
Balthor the Defiled
Wight of Precinct Six
Out:
Phyrexian Ghoul
Close but not good enough:
Crypt Ghast
Only one amazing Zombie in this deck for ol' Bally, and it'll be a big bruiser for very cheap. The Ghoul is one of several sacrifice outlets in the deck, and I don't mind losing a little redundancy. If Crypt Ghast was a Zombie, then we'd really be in business.
In:
Sapphire Drake
Simic Manipulator
Experiment One
Master Biomancer
Prime Speaker Zegana
Simic Charm
Unexpected Results
Zameck Guildmage
Illusionist's Bracers
Fathom Mage
Out:
Boundless Realms
Cytoshape
Silvos, Rogue Elemental
Scarwood Bandits
Spitting Image
Snakeform
Blockade Runner
2 Island
1 Forest
Close but not good enough:
Ivy Lane Denizen
Crowned Ceratok
Biomass Mutation
Gyre Sage
Burst of Strength
Simic Fluxmage
Sylvan Primordial
I had 43 land in this deck! Some testing showed that was overkill, so 40 it is. The Simic creatures are just ridiculous in this deck. I'm chomping at the bit to abuse Master Biomancer with Kraj. Instant, free counters are exactly what this deck wants. Illusionist's Bracers is a card that should never be allowed to stay on the field! Gyre Sage is absolutely good enough--but there's many, many infinite combos with the Sage and I want to avoid those in this deck. Sheldon Menery said it thusly: "The secret to this format is not breaking it." It's plenty fun to build a deck that's powerful without being redundant.
In:
Duskmantle Seer
Out:
Chancellor of the Dross
Close but not good enough:
Dimir Charm
Stolen Identity
Crypt Ghast
This is my foiling-in-process Vampire tribal deck. Eventually, I'm going to have to decide between flavor and foiling, because some Vampires will never be in foil. (Baron Sengir, Castle Sengir, Shauku, Endbringer) A friend was kind enough to give me a Duskmantle Seer in foil as a wedding present, so in he goes. Chancellor was just too expensive to cast.
In:
Lord of the Void
Hellkite Tyrant
Aurelia, the Warleader
Boros Charm
Merciless Eviction
Angelic Skirmisher
Out:
Balefire Dragon
Restoration Angel
General's Kabuto
Brightflame
Akroma's Vengeance
Close but not good enough:
Blind Obedience
Luminate Primordial
Sepulchral Primordial
Molten Primordial
Aurelia's Fury
Deathpact Angel
Firemane Avenger
Immortal Servitude
Wizards loves Kaalia. They really do. Every set since the Commander preconstructed decks has gotten several awesome Angels, Dragons, and Demons to consider for Kaalia decks. And why not? She's powerful but fair...as long as you have instant-speed removal in your deck. With every set, the arguments about which A/D/D to add gets better and better. Lord of the Void is an auto-include for this, and maybe for all black decks. I can't imagine it hitting a player and missing on the ability. Aurelia is not good to drop in with Kaalia's ability, but if you drop Kaalia on five and then Aurelia, I suspect you're killing a player.
Boros Charm is ridiculous. It's cheaper and more flexible than Rootborn Defenses, and it's going to become a Sunforger staple.
Brightflame is a tough cut for me, but I'm likely to go back to Sudden Spoiling soon. The sad truth is that I most often used it to kill Saproling hordes, and that's an affront to this amazing card. I picked up a Stoneforge Mystic for this deck, so I felt I could cut one equipment, and the Kabuto is the worst. Vengeance for Eviction is an easy swap. Skirmisher is a test, because I opened a foil one. I know the ability isn't that great on the turn I drop her into play, but if she lives, she is terrifying.
In: none
Out: none:
Close but not good enough:
Cinder Elemental
Hellraiser Goblin
The Queen of Pingers is not impressed with these offerings. Cinder Elemental is interesting but vulnerable, and the Goblin forces attacks, which this deck doesn't want.
In:
Five-Alarm Fire
Assemble the Legion
Sunhome Guildmage
Merciless Eviction
Boros Charm
Out:
Dragonlair Spider
Austere Command
All Suns' Dawn
Boundless Realms
Geist-Honored Monk
Close but not good enough:
Legion Loyalist
Massive Raid
Immortal Servitude
The token decks got even more toys to play with! I'm drooling over the idea of going Parallel Lives into Assemble the Legion, or Assemble with Cathars' Crusade, or any number of interactions. The Guildmage is yet another entry in the "One card + mana = winning" that this deck loves so dearly. I'm looking forward to attacking one person with a token horde, and killing a different player with all the Five-Alarm Fire counters. Merciless Eviction is going to become a staple quite rapidly, I suspect. The cards I'm taking out just weren't living up to my hopes for them, except perhaps Boundless Realms. That card is amazing, but after resolving it, I'm a huge target! I'm adding Boros Charm because it actually says PERMANENTS are indestructible. Just ridiculous.
Yes, this process took me three weeks. Don't judge!
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