Relentless Rats is my pick. A Rat Colony swarm is a lot easier to stop without the toughness boost, and Pack Rat still adheres to the singleton rule.

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Gisela, Blade of Goldnight seems a pretty great one to pair up via partner. My first thought was to pair her with Heartless Hidetsugu so you've got a two card combo in the command zone (just checked and saw this one's also in the thread darrenhabib linked), and my second was to pair her with Ruric ...

As a short answer, I'd look at rough estimations of average CMC (if available), interaction density, tutor density and the main avenues the deck leverages to win (e.g. tokens, voltron, combo, stax, MLD, haymakers, etc.). Everyone thinks their decks are 7/10. Ding ding ding! We have a winner! I think...

I feel we've seen this exact comparison before I don't believe we have. Since we've had so many comparisons, I use the search function to check my choices before posting; the past comparisons I found were Beguiler vs. Rootwater Matriarch and Willbreaker vs. Sower of Temptation . The comparison of Z...

The Extortionist as treasure generation on ETB gives it a much higher ceiling.

Bonus Round: In addition to comparing the cards themselves, which flavor text do you like more?

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Korvold requires thought and build-around, but rewards you for doing so; I find him the more interesting commander and expect decks with him at the helm to have greater depth.

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I prefer Field Researcher due to the lower CMC, the card advantage being a plus ability instead of a minus and the ultimate having a more immediate impact.

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If I ever play full-blown cEDH I'll be playing Derevi, largely because of the playstyle that Stasis and similar cards enable. Control in its purest, most beautiful form

Hoof Daddy, because it can break through gummed up boards and finish games.

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Funny these two come up; I'm in the process of completely redesigning Derevi and reincarnating Roon , and these decks will be using Medomai and Azor respectively. The one I prefer is definitely Medomai, as having twice as many turns as your opponents gives you a great resource advantage. Besides tha...

Zendikar Resurgent. Don't get me wrong, The Great Henge is amazing, but the raw power of a mana doubler wins games.

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Yes and yes. Priority must be passed by both players before Cauldron Familiar 's ability can resolve. Since Cauldron Familiar returns to the battlefield as part of the resolution of the ability, it will still be in the graveyard when your opponent gets priority and hence be a valid target for Surgic...

Deathtouch on attack: Bow of Nylea , Ohran Frostfang First Strike & Vigilance: Akroma's Memorial Vigilance: Vivien Reid emblem, Sight of the Scalelords (Conditional: Toughness >= 4 only) There are other effects, but they are either one-offs (e.g. God-Eternal Rhonas ), affect only some creatures ...

Mind Twist for its flexibility and less pip intensive mana cost.

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Dig Through Time; that it puts one less card into hand and (potentially) costs one more mana is well worth the flexibility of it being instant and that it digs so much deeper for whatever you're after. Also, although it's a niche scenario, it gets around cards like Spirit of the Labyrinth or Narset,...

Eenie-meenie-Em-ra-kul Grab her by the ten-ta-cle If she's banned, let her go Eenie-meenie-Em-ra-kul (It's been a long day :P ). As an actual answer, I'd go for Emrakul. If I'm playing it, I prefer it as the more powerful and direct effect, even if it doesn't repeat itself. If I'm playing against it...

Hmm, do I go for the simplicity and effectiveness of Dread, or the big, splashy plays of Hostility with Earthquake tribal and the like? I'll go with Dread because it just does its thing and doesn't need to be enabled, although I'm sure Hostility has resulted in more epic stories than Dread has. Myoj...

I think they're reasonable if used appropriately within the context of your playgroup's power level, especially as a way to allow players to play on an even field. As an overly-simple example, if everyone else in your group is running Craterhoof Behemoth , but you don't have one, feel free to proxy ...

I've never seen this before; it sees the most play in Estrid, which is unsurprising, with Zur and Tuvasa coming in afterwards. I think it would see more play in Derevi stax if not for Kataki, War's Wage|SOK, since being a creature and 1 CMC cheaper are both pluses.

Literally any other card.

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I hadn't noticed until you pointed it out, but you're absolutely right. That John Avon island might even be able to unseat my bird-head Islands in Kefnet , although it's hard to beat matching basics, commander and playmat. Speaking of OG Kefnet, Mystic Sanctuary is a must have. Being able to bounce ...

I'd go for Aven Mindcensor, although both are really appealing to me. The flash lets you catch opponents unaware and likely cause them to lose resources, where Stranglehold will simply make them hold back. That it's a flying beater (hey Marisi ) and has the Wizard subtype (hey Azami ) is more valuab...

I got to live the dream with my Marisi deck tonight in a 5-player game, although Marisi himself had nothing to do with it. My opponents were playing Saheeli, the Gifted (precon), Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain (big artifacts), Scion of the Ur-Dragon (dragon tribal) and Zur the Enchanter (reanimator). ...

Zealous Conscripts, even when it's not applied as a combo piece; the utility of being able to borrow any permanent, such as that Glacial Chasm that's been holding you off, is pretty respectable. Though I'd favour the Primordial in a very go-tall, battlecruiser meta. Faith's Reward vs. Gerrard, Weath...

In a dedicated combo deck trying to combo out by turn 3 or so, I'd go for Preordain; otherwise Impulse. The deeper dig and the instant speed make Impulse better as a reactive tool, which is worth the extra mana to me.

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