Bruna, the Fading Light - Mono-W Moat Control

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Post by toctheyounger » 3 years ago

Well I briefly got a game in this morning. It was a bit stunted in that at least one person left the game early, but also kind of hilarious, as my opening hand had an answer for most of what the table would have tried to achieve.
Xyris, the Writhing Storm was taken care of with Eye of Singularity, Tariel, Reckoner of Souls I had Homeward Path and Mizzix of the Izmagnus left early. It ended up being a little one-sided because of the scoop, but ultimately I won with convincing aplomb. Plenty of options in the grave, plenty of land in play, and a full grip of control to throw at the board too.

Anyway, here's what I've done lately:

I specifically tutored Blackblade out for this game and didn't even realise the extent of the pump it could bring. I swung in with an 18/18 Lyra Dawnbringer at one point, that also had a Sword of the Animist on it, so pumped further on attack. Obviously, there was no particular evasion with it, especially against the last player standing which was Tariel, Reckoner of Souls, but it's still a nice addition and gave me enough heft in combat to make me a bit happier with swinging for a big tempo change. I'd still potentially think about adding Loxodon Warhammer and Sword of War and Peace, but the list is tight, so one thing at a time. As ISB mentioned I do sort of resent having to leave two spaces for shoes, so if I can somehow track down haste options for the land base I'd be happy to add a couple of extra combat equipments in.

Bounty and Magus are in there for removal options, though I haven't seen either come up just yet. I like the curve dropping some, and while I'm a little sad to see Sunblast go, it seemed comparable to swap it out for the Magus as a suitable wipe on legs. Bounty, we'll just see how it goes I guess. Sephara, Sky's Blade was fine if a little reactive and pillow fort-y, so I don't feel any particular sense of loss for cutting her.

The Immortal Sun we've already spoken of, and I don't regret cutting it at all. It's comparable to Monarch for draw, and considerably more expensive. The control it comes with I think I mostly have covered. I can hit walkers with Tragic Arrogance and Hour of Revelation so I'm fine with that.
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Post by Sinis » 3 years ago

toctheyounger wrote:
3 years ago
The Immortal Sun we've already spoken of, and I don't regret cutting it at all. It's comparable to Monarch for draw, and considerably more expensive. The control it comes with I think I mostly have covered. I can hit walkers with Tragic Arrogance and Hour of Revelation so I'm fine with that.
I think this is where my antsy thoughts about not cutting TIS was coming from; I haven't gotten used to having a full suite of Monarch. I'm not so concerned with the walker-hate part of TIS, but, mostly the card draw. But, Monarch gives us a good option that survives wipes (which we could, and already are leaning into).

Maybe it's time to say goodbye to TIS (for this deck, lol, there's a home for it somewhere in my decks, probably Emry).

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Post by toctheyounger » 3 years ago

Sinis wrote:
3 years ago
toctheyounger wrote:
3 years ago
The Immortal Sun we've already spoken of, and I don't regret cutting it at all. It's comparable to Monarch for draw, and considerably more expensive. The control it comes with I think I mostly have covered. I can hit walkers with Tragic Arrogance and Hour of Revelation so I'm fine with that.
I think this is where my antsy thoughts about not cutting TIS was coming from; I haven't gotten used to having a full suite of Monarch. I'm not so concerned with the walker-hate part of TIS, but, mostly the card draw. But, Monarch gives us a good option that survives wipes (which we could, and already are leaning into).

Maybe it's time to say goodbye to TIS (for this deck, lol, there's a home for it somewhere in my decks, probably Emry).
Speak for yourself; the trade value is too good, I'm gonna flip it myself. Bare minimum it gets me Scourge of the Throne and Moraug, Fury of Akoum for Purphoros the sequel, or some shocks now that they've rotated, or something towards Commander Legends singles.

It's a decent card in the right place, I just don't really have a place for it. The only deck I have that's got any particular dedication to big artifacts also runs a full walker suite, so it just doesn't fit.
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Post by ISBPathfinder » 3 years ago

I still use Immortal Sun in a few places but it tends to be more where I would want draw and an anthem or some draw and cost reduction. Being a six drop though cost reduction is a bit weird with expensive drops like Sun.

The hate for walkers is decent, I just think that this deck has tools like creatues with flying for that task as well. The fact that monarch draws at the end of our turn where as Immortal Sun doesn't draw until next turn is also a big deal in that Immortal Sun is a target and if it eats a Naturalize I am going to be annoyed with this deck.
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Post by ISBPathfinder » 3 years ago

@toctheyounger I feel like I want to discuss Wall of Omens real quick (you have it in your OP list). I myself ran this card for a long time. It can be rezed via both Emerias and Sun Titan and it cantrips cheaply. I think ideally if the plan is to run big angels then it gives early game defense in a meaningful way. My issue and the reason I cut it myself was that I found myself lowering my curve and having less top end angels. With doing this it meant that I had more on board earlier and the need for Wall of Omens was kind of going away as far as needing a blocker.

The big reason I feel like I wen't away from it though was that Scrabbling Claws can provide a lot of the same functionality as Wall of Omens but in a way that I felt helped me more against decks. Its true that Emeria land can't res claws but can rez omens but if rezing wall of omens is your best play from Emeria then you are either doing VERY well or VERY badly. Scrabbling Claws can for the same mana cantrip when unnecessary or if you need the draw but the ability to constantly nibble at a deck with recursion and respond with removing a target as needed is kind of huge.

Really, in my mind you should list off the type of decks that cause us issues and or you find yourself losing to and ask how Wall of Omens helps against any of those. Then ask if Scrabbling Claws could help against any of them. For me, it tends to be token, combo, and ramp decks that can give me issues. There was a time I would throw recursion into that list but I added a lot of hate to them and generally speaking the recursion decks that tend to actually be an issue tend to feel more like combo engines. I just don't see how Wall of Omens really fits into our gameplan anymore after having played Bruna for a long time. I get that its classic mono white control but aggro really isn't much of an archetype in this format and a good deck tends to have more draw and a lower curve which is sort of the opposite of what Wall of Omens would be included for.
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Post by toctheyounger » 3 years ago

ISBPathfinder wrote:
3 years ago
@toctheyounger I feel like I want to discuss Wall of Omens real quick (you have it in your OP list). I myself ran this card for a long time. It can be rezed via both Emerias and Sun Titan and it cantrips cheaply. I think ideally if the plan is to run big angels then it gives early game defense in a meaningful way. My issue and the reason I cut it myself was that I found myself lowering my curve and having less top end angels. With doing this it meant that I had more on board earlier and the need for Wall of Omens was kind of going away as far as needing a blocker.

The big reason I feel like I wen't away from it though was that Scrabbling Claws can provide a lot of the same functionality as Wall of Omens but in a way that I felt helped me more against decks. Its true that Emeria land can't res claws but can rez omens but if rezing wall of omens is your best play from Emeria then you are either doing VERY well or VERY badly. Scrabbling Claws can for the same mana cantrip when unnecessary or if you need the draw but the ability to constantly nibble at a deck with recursion and respond with removing a target as needed is kind of huge.

Really, in my mind you should list off the type of decks that cause us issues and or you find yourself losing to and ask how Wall of Omens helps against any of those. Then ask if Scrabbling Claws could help against any of them. For me, it tends to be token, combo, and ramp decks that can give me issues. Wall of Omens is weak against all of those strategies.
This is pretty solid food for thought. Honestly, if it wasn't a wall (read - has defender) it'd be a no-brainer to keep it, but not being able to take it into combat does hurt, early. Late game obviously it's far from the sort of thing I'd want to swing with even if I could. Early game I find mostly I don't really care about blockers in any meaningful way, so it's mostly surplus in that respect, too.

I guess it's at least a little hard to gauge whether Scrabbling Claws would be a suitable replacement purely because I don't really have a stable meta (I really need to get some of my RL pals into the game); online games have a stupendously wild amount of variance. All that being said, there's quite a few scenarios that Claws would help with, even if it's just nerfing an early fetch - that's bottom of the barrel for value and it's still not nothing. Being able to do it at instant speed is great, too.

I think ultimately it's a reasonable addition; that or Soul-Guide Lantern would be, I just can't for the life of me track down more than the one copy I have, and it's too good to cut from Glissa's eggs suite. As you say, there's one less thing that can reanimate it with Emeria, the Sky Ruin, butike you say, I think if Omens is what you're reanimating you're either just looking for a cherry on top, or you're in trouble. And by the time Emeria is good to go you really ought to have some stellar options to reanimate that probably trump bringing back a cantripping rock, or a wall that does the same, so I think that's neither here nor there anyway.
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Post by ISBPathfinder » 3 years ago

toctheyounger wrote:
3 years ago
This is pretty solid food for thought. Honestly, if it wasn't a wall (read - has defender) it'd be a no-brainer to keep it, but not being able to take it into combat does hurt, early. Late game obviously it's far from the sort of thing I'd want to swing with even if I could. Early game I find mostly I don't really care about blockers in any meaningful way, so it's mostly surplus in that respect, too.

I guess it's at least a little hard to gauge whether Scrabbling Claws would be a suitable replacement purely because I don't really have a stable meta (I really need to get some of my RL pals into the game); online games have a stupendously wild amount of variance. All that being said, there's quite a few scenarios that Claws would help with, even if it's just nerfing an early fetch - that's bottom of the barrel for value and it's still not nothing. Being able to do it at instant speed is great, too.

I think ultimately it's a reasonable addition; that or Soul-Guide Lantern would be, I just can't for the life of me track down more than the one copy I have, and it's too good to cut from Glissa's eggs suite. As you say, there's one less thing that can reanimate it with Emeria, the Sky Ruin, butike you say, I think if Omens is what you're reanimating you're either just looking for a cherry on top, or you're in trouble. And by the time Emeria is good to go you really ought to have some stellar options to reanimate that probably trump bringing back a cantripping rock, or a wall that does the same, so I think that's neither here nor there anyway.
I get you on the Wall of Omens not being able to attack front. Its fairly rare that I am activating Emeria and I feel behind to be honest. I won't pretend that I haven't been at the point of rezing Wall of Omens from Emeria but I also don't think I have ever seen it come down to that being what would keep me in a game. I think its probably a fairly narrow situation where Wall of Omens might help you out more than having graveyard hate.

That card availability thing really sucks. For me I just throw a card in a cart and next time I order something I end up with an extra card that was in my cart previously. My orders during covid have been spotty at best which sometimes makes me forget about them lol. When I was regularly playing prior to covid though I would have cards showing up usually weekly.
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Post by toctheyounger » 3 years ago

ISBPathfinder wrote:
3 years ago
I get you on the Wall of Omens not being able to attack front. Its fairly rare that I am activating Emeria and I feel behind to be honest. I won't pretend that I haven't been at the point of rezing Wall of Omens from Emeria but I also don't think I have ever seen it come down to that being what would keep me in a game. I think its probably a fairly narrow situation where Wall of Omens might help you out more than having graveyard hate.

That card availability thing really sucks. For me I just throw a card in a cart and next time I order something I end up with an extra card that was in my cart previously. My orders during covid have been spotty at best which sometimes makes me forget about them lol. When I was regularly playing prior to covid though I would have cards showing up usually weekly.
Yeah I think if you're relying on a Wall to save your bacon you're probably gonna have a bad time. If it's that bad, it's why Teferi's Protection is in my list. Even then, most games it's my ace in the hole I never have to use, so I have been tossing up if it's needed or not.

Funny thing is it's just Soul-Guide Lantern. There's a few other bits I've had eyes out for and this is the one that I just can't get (well that and Combat Celebrant, but that's not crucial now that Moraug, Fury of Akoum exists). I could order online, but shipping to NZ is surprisingly expensive from anywhere other than SCG, and their actual card prices aren't the best, so it's a lose lose either way you cut it for me there. Besides, my LGS is pretty damn great, so if I do shell out money, I'd much prefer to give it to my man Tom. During lockdown he actually delivered stuff direct to my letterbox, sealed and sanitised. That's how good my LGS is. At any rate, point is, I guess I'm pretty happy to keep eyes peeled for this one to just crop up at some point.

Also, afterthought - now that we know monarch is back in Commander Legends, hopefully we get some new hype for the build!
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Post by weltkrieg » 3 years ago

Wall of omens is solid, surely. However, if it's about being able to resurrect it and attack, Thraben Inspector might be worth a shot. Being a human means it is capable of being resurrected by bruna and carries early equipment well. Downside is that it isn't that good at blocking and you have to pay mana later to draw the card.

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Post by ISBPathfinder » 3 years ago

weltkrieg wrote:
3 years ago
Wall of omens is solid, surely. However, if it's about being able to resurrect it and attack, Thraben Inspector might be worth a shot. Being a human means it is capable of being resurrected by bruna and carries early equipment well. Downside is that it isn't that good at blocking and you have to pay mana later to draw the card.
Somewhat of a quick take of the pros and cons of Thraben Inspector vs Wall of Omens.

Pros: Cons: My own thoughts, I think its a fairly similar card slot that you will get somewhat similar results from. I think that in our current build plan I slightly favor Wall of Omens but if you were to go into anthems (likely what would happen with a human tribal approach) or if you go into using Ranger of Eos / Ranger-Captain of Eos a bit more it does make a lot more sense to consider and or attempt to do. I am sort of kicking around a human tribal Bruna list with a few support angels and with that list I seem to have a bit more for go wide buffs where I think its a bit better. The ranger package also tends to go sort of wide in that you get 2-3 bodies for 4-6 mana with that which goes back to the go wide with anthems idea. My own current bruna list wouldn't value a 1/2 human much but I think there are ways of building Bruna that would.
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Post by toctheyounger » 3 years ago

I mean at this point I'm neither here nor there on either Claws or Inspector, there are arguments for either. I think I'm pretty happy to sit on it and see what, if anything, comes out of Commander Legends before I make any further changes at present.
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Post by ISBPathfinder » 3 years ago

I am not sure if its needed but since I am talking about new cards even though they are officially spoiled I will throw it in a spoiler in case someone does not want to see / review the new set official spoils.
Commander Legends Official Spoils
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NEW MONARCH CARDS WHOOOOO
  • Archon of Coronation - So, if I understand this right, it will stop the first combat damage that would be dealt to you but you also lose monarch when it happens. It doesn't protect the monarch itself but it protects you from losing life when you lose the monarch. Its also a decent flying body that can help retake monarch and or block decently. I am not really sure how I would compare it to Protector of the Crown offhand but I think I have a little preference towards Protector. The fact that it stops opponents from getting monarch and drawing a card as well as stopping a few 1/1s from overtaking Monarch from us is kind of nice. I guess its possible we could run both but offhand if I am comparing them against each other, I think I have a small preference to the Protector but some of that might just be due to me knowing and being used to it. I could also see a lot of benefit in Archon of Coronation against token swarm decks in that you can regain monarch and negate them from hitting you again. That kind of sounds nice when I think about it.
  • Court of Grace - I like this a lot more than Palace Sentinels. Sentinels can be rezed but its rare that it would eat a counterspell. I suppose this enchantment is more likely to eat a counterspell but I think I will definitely add it in place of Sentinels at the least.
I think I might start with replacing Palace Sentinels with Court of Grace and see if I can't add Archon of Coronation to the list not replacing a monarch card. Monarch has been good to me and I think I would like to increase the number of monarch enabling cards I have. I think that Archon of Coronation and Court of Grace both offer some utility beyond just the monarch and even if I already have the monarch they offer some utility to me. Very happy to see more white monarch cards.

Livio, Oathsworn Sentinel is a kind of cool human but given that Angel of Condemnation exists its likely just a worse copy of her in the 99. As a commander partner though in a multicolored setup he is probably reasonable. Still, I like the design but it doesn't fit here.
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Post by toctheyounger » 3 years ago

ISBPathfinder wrote:
3 years ago
snip
Nah, there's probably no need for spoilers, they're being officially leaked and we're all thirsty for some goodness, so let's fire away.

I quite like the Archon of Coronation. Protecting the Monarchy aside, its reasonably more useful in combat than Protector of the Crown, and has evasion too, which makes it a reasonable include for card advantage as well as possible equipment carry/foe bludgeoning.

Court of Grace I like a lot more than Palace Sentinels too. Sure, we can't attack with it directly, but it almost certainly gives us big, beefy bodies on a regular basis, so I think there's every reason to try this one out.

Thinking on it, my opinion in the spoiler thread aside, Jeweled Lotus would actually fit pretty nicely here, having previously spent upwards of 15 to cast Bruna. We've got a couple of different ways of reusing it with Sun Titan and Emeria Shepherd. It's potentially a pretty niche card, as gross as it looks at first glance, but it does sort of fit our niche.
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Post by ISBPathfinder » 3 years ago

I think Jeweled Lotus is going to be more of a card for decks that proactively play out their gameplan. I often play Bruna reactively rather than as soon as I can because if I just turn 4 curved Bruna in I wouldn't have anything to rez. Its part of why I don't really run that much ramp in my deck because getting to Bruna fast and early really isn't my goal. Furthermore, it only helps cast her once. I think if you get up to needing to cast her for 15 you need more of a sustainable way to cast her than you do help doing it once.

Jeweled Lotus is going to be a crazy card but I think we still have to treat it like a Dark Ritual effect. Generally speaking its one turn positive tempo at the cost of card advantage. Generally speaking you want to be moving VERY fast with a deck or have really good card draw to make up for using said tactics. Generally speaking decks that fall into this category are already running things like Mox Diamond / Chrome Mox / Gemstone Caverns / Mana Vault / Grim Monolith. I own copies of all of these cards but Bruna being a responsive commander as well as being mono white (I rarely get into tempo tactics in mono white due to draw issues) I don't really think it fits here.

I also think that commanders that care about artifacts in general and or discard tactics might also find better results from the lotus. Daretti, Scrap Savant for instance might be the epitome of a commander that would LOVE to run this new lotus. Out of my current lists I likely will consider running it in my Anje and Sai decks. Anje can discard it later and Sai cares about artifacts being cast and has tons of draw.

I don't think that Jeweled Lotus is going to be an everywhere sort of card. Think about decks and ask yourself if Dark Ritual was in these colors would I run it? I think more decks wouldn't than would. Its also going to be really over hyped both price tag as well as expectations. I think its a terrifying card to have made but I also don't think it goes everywhere.
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Post by Sinis » 3 years ago

Okay, but we can agree War Room gets a slot, yeah?

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Post by toctheyounger » 3 years ago

ISBPathfinder wrote:
3 years ago
I think Jeweled Lotus is going to be more of a card for decks that proactively play out their gameplan. I often play Bruna reactively rather than as soon as I can because if I just turn 4 curved Bruna in I wouldn't have anything to rez. Its part of why I don't really run that much ramp in my deck because getting to Bruna fast and early really isn't my goal. Furthermore, it only helps cast her once. I think if you get up to needing to cast her for 15 you need more of a sustainable way to cast her than you do help doing it once.

Jeweled Lotus is going to be a crazy card but I think we still have to treat it like a Dark Ritual effect. Generally speaking its one turn positive tempo at the cost of card advantage. Generally speaking you want to be moving VERY fast with a deck or have really good card draw to make up for using said tactics. Generally speaking decks that fall into this category are already running things like Mox Diamond / Chrome Mox / Gemstone Caverns / Mana Vault / Grim Monolith. I own copies of all of these cards but Bruna being a responsive commander as well as being mono white (I rarely get into tempo tactics in mono white due to draw issues) I don't really think it fits here.

I also think that commanders that care about artifacts in general and or discard tactics might also find better results from the lotus. Daretti, Scrap Savant for instance might be the epitome of a commander that would LOVE to run this new lotus. Out of my current lists I likely will consider running it in my Anje and Sai decks. Anje can discard it later and Sai cares about artifacts being cast and has tons of draw.

I don't think that Jeweled Lotus is going to be an everywhere sort of card. Think about decks and ask yourself if Dark Ritual was in these colors would I run it? I think more decks wouldn't than would. Its also going to be really over hyped both price tag as well as expectations. I think its a terrifying card to have made but I also don't think it goes everywhere.
Yeah, I mean its best place is going to be in Sai, Master Thopterist and Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain, where (while the commander is on the field) its literally just a cantrip and a thopter respectively. Honestly, if I end up with a copy I trade it for value immediately.
Sinis wrote:
3 years ago
Okay, but we can agree War Room gets a slot, yeah?
Definitely, for me.

Otherwise though, it seems like we got a little shafted for chase/mythic rares. Akroma, Vision of Ixidor is disappointing, to me. Built for white weenies or Odric, Lunarch Marshal predominantly, and there's not a ton else I'm super excited about. Triumphant Reckoning is kinda cool, but for 9 mana I'm not sure it's a lock.

Commander's Plate is decent and puts us in viable range of voltron kills, but it's far from crucial to my mind. I'd be just as happy to not have it if I didn't pull it.
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Post by Sinis » 3 years ago

toctheyounger wrote:
3 years ago
Definitely, for me.

Otherwise though, it seems like we got a little shafted for chase/mythic rares. Akroma, Vision of Ixidor is disappointing, to me. Built for white weenies or Odric, Lunarch Marshal predominantly, and there's not a ton else I'm super excited about. Triumphant Reckoning is kinda cool, but for 9 mana I'm not sure it's a lock.

Commander's Plate is decent and puts us in viable range of voltron kills, but it's far from crucial to my mind. I'd be just as happy to not have it if I didn't pull it.
Yeah, I was thinking of commander's plate, but, eh. Maybe it's the solution to the evasion we've been lacking though.

I think Akroma is for a different deck. I actually really like that she's got Partner; I've played Akroma, Angel of Wrath|LGN as a general before (Gauntlet or Caged Sun makes it a 3-shot!), and a big part of the problem was just being in mono-white. I'm looking forward to maybe pairing this new Akroma with either the green or blue familiar. Or maybe, the black or red one? Or, maybe with Ikra Shidiqi, the Usurper? Maybe some kind of bant draw action with Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix. There are a lot of options for colours, and it'd be nice to have that huge beater in the command zone while playing more than one colour. I'll agree she's not especially maindeckable, but I think she's cool (I know, I know, I'm in the minority, here).

As for 9-mana rez everything some things, I'll pass. Actually, I think it is complete trash: It does not return creatures (well, creatures that aren't *also* artifacts). And really, if you're not bringing back a bunch of bodies with Akroma's Memorial, what's even the point?

Even if it rezzed creatures, I'm not sure it'd be for Bruna. We'd just get a bunch of empty triggers after. So, anyway, totes not worth it for us, possibly not for anyone. Bulk Mythic IMO.

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Post by toctheyounger » 3 years ago

Sinis wrote:
3 years ago
toctheyounger wrote:
3 years ago
Definitely, for me.

Otherwise though, it seems like we got a little shafted for chase/mythic rares. Akroma, Vision of Ixidor is disappointing, to me. Built for white weenies or Odric, Lunarch Marshal predominantly, and there's not a ton else I'm super excited about. Triumphant Reckoning is kinda cool, but for 9 mana I'm not sure it's a lock.

Commander's Plate is decent and puts us in viable range of voltron kills, but it's far from crucial to my mind. I'd be just as happy to not have it if I didn't pull it.
Yeah, I was thinking of commander's plate, but, eh. Maybe it's the solution to the evasion we've been lacking though.

I think Akroma is for a different deck. I actually really like that she's got Partner; I've played Akroma, Angel of Wrath|LGN as a general before (Gauntlet or Caged Sun makes it a 3-shot!), and a big part of the problem was just being in mono-white. I'm looking forward to maybe pairing this new Akroma with either the green or blue familiar. Or maybe, the black or red one? Or, maybe with Ikra Shidiqi, the Usurper? Maybe some kind of bant draw action with Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix. There are a lot of options for colours, and it'd be nice to have that huge beater in the command zone while playing more than one colour. I'll agree she's not especially maindeckable, but I think she's cool (I know, I know, I'm in the minority, here).

As for 9-mana rez everything some things, I'll pass. Actually, I think it is complete trash: It does not return creatures (well, creatures that aren't *also* artifacts). And really, if you're not bringing back a bunch of bodies with Akroma's Memorial, what's even the point?

Even if it rezzed creatures, I'm not sure it'd be for Bruna. We'd just get a bunch of empty triggers after. So, anyway, totes not worth it for us, possibly not for anyone. Bulk Mythic IMO.
This is a good point - pro is nice in combat. Plus, if we're equipping it to melded commander, it's a 2 turn clock, one shot if we can manage double strike. Might be worth a look. I certainly like it more than Shadowspear which we've previously discussed.

Akroma, Vision of Ixidor - I sort of like Gilanra, Caller of Wirewood or Halana, Kessig Ranger with her. They both give you a bonus for casting her, although I could see Kodama of the East Tree too, as boring as I find that card.

I agree, 9 mana mythic is just not for us.
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Post by Sinis » 3 years ago

toctheyounger wrote:
3 years ago
This is a good point - pro is nice in combat. Plus, if we're equipping it to melded commander, it's a 2 turn clock, one shot if we can manage double strike. Might be worth a look. I certainly like it more than Shadowspear which we've previously discussed.
I think it could be good, and it'd be really affordable mana-wise.
Akroma, Vision of Ixidor - I sort of like Gilanra, Caller of Wirewood or Halana, Kessig Ranger with her. They both give you a bonus for casting her, although I could see Kodama of the East Tree too, as boring as I find that card.
Yeah, there are a lot of options for Akroma, here. I actually want to pair Halana with Sengir. I feel like Gilanra, Caller of Wirewood is pretty lukewarm, though. 3-mana mana dork, maybe draw a card with it. It's... a little too generic, and feels a little too weak.

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Post by toctheyounger » 3 years ago

Sinis wrote:
3 years ago
toctheyounger wrote:
3 years ago
This is a good point - pro is nice in combat. Plus, if we're equipping it to melded commander, it's a 2 turn clock, one shot if we can manage double strike. Might be worth a look. I certainly like it more than Shadowspear which we've previously discussed.
I think it could be good, and it'd be really affordable mana-wise.
Akroma, Vision of Ixidor - I sort of like Gilanra, Caller of Wirewood or Halana, Kessig Ranger with her. They both give you a bonus for casting her, although I could see Kodama of the East Tree too, as boring as I find that card.
Yeah, there are a lot of options for Akroma, here. I actually want to pair Halana with Sengir. I feel like Gilanra, Caller of Wirewood is pretty lukewarm, though. 3-mana mana dork, maybe draw a card with it. It's... a little too generic, and feels a little too weak.
Yeah it does seem solid. I can imagine even popping it on a Serra Ascendant early would be strong. It also comes under Sun Titan too, so that's nice. We'll see where the price ends up I guess, or if I crack one it'll end up here.

Gotta be honest, most of the partners I'm fairly underwhelmed with at first glance. The set feels a bit weird really - like there's SO many legends, like that's the only thing about this format that we would ever want. It just kind of feels like they've crammed it full of legends at the expense of everything else that could be good for the format. Sure there's some great new stuff, but it's mostly wading through a varied batch of legends to find them. Strange set.
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Post by Sinis » 3 years ago

toctheyounger wrote:
3 years ago
Gotta be honest, most of the partners I'm fairly underwhelmed with at first glance. The set feels a bit weird really - like there's SO many legends, like that's the only thing about this format that we would ever want. It just kind of feels like they've crammed it full of legends at the expense of everything else that could be good for the format. Sure there's some great new stuff, but it's mostly wading through a varied batch of legends to find them. Strange set.
I'm more excited by the prospect of people just putting together odd combinations of partners. When C16 came out, there were 105 combinations, and I think we've seen pretty much all the cutesy ones, and the 'best pair' has been solved. There were some that were meant to be together because they were printed adjacent in the precons (like Reyhan + Ishai), but you'd still see the odd Sidar Kondo + Ikra Shidiqi for weird toughness-based lifegain, or sometimes someone would pair Ishai and Kraum because they wanted to build something to punish playing too many cards. Or Kondo + Tymna hatebears. Realistically though, there's only a handful of synergistic pairs; Ludevic was too awful to see play, and others that I thought would be sleepers just got overshadowed by another partner in the same colour combination (like how no one plays Kydele, because Thrasios exists). I think I've seen maybe 10 different combinations, tops.

But now? There are so many combinations, we'll see so many weird ideas come out. Yeah, you're not likely to see a Glacian + Anara deck or something, but, there are going to be weird combinations. So far, I think I'm the only person I know who wants to play Szat and the Kobold so I can just chew through the Kobold for 3 cards at minimal cost. And I bet other people have ideas that I haven't had. I look forward to sitting down with players who have two partners and I have never thought of pairing them, and that's more likely than ever before.

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Post by toctheyounger » 3 years ago

Sinis wrote:
3 years ago
toctheyounger wrote:
3 years ago
Gotta be honest, most of the partners I'm fairly underwhelmed with at first glance. The set feels a bit weird really - like there's SO many legends, like that's the only thing about this format that we would ever want. It just kind of feels like they've crammed it full of legends at the expense of everything else that could be good for the format. Sure there's some great new stuff, but it's mostly wading through a varied batch of legends to find them. Strange set.
I'm more excited by the prospect of people just putting together odd combinations of partners. When C16 came out, there were 45 combinations, and I think we've seen pretty much all the cutesy ones, and the 'best pair' has been solved. There were some that were meant to be together because they were printed adjacent in the precons (like Reyhan + Ishai), but you'd still see the odd Sidar Kondo + Ikra Shidiqi for weird toughness-based lifegain, or sometimes someone would pair Ishai and Kraum because they wanted to build something to punish playing too many cards. Realistically though, there's only a handful of synergistic pairs.

But now? There are so many combinations, we'll see so many weird ideas come out. Yeah, you're not likely to see a Glacian + Anara deck or something, but, there are going to be weird combinations. So far, I think I'm the only person I know who wants to play Szat and the Kobold so I can just chew through the Kobold for 3 cards at minimal cost. And I bet other people have ideas that I haven't had. I look forward to sitting down with players who have two partners and I have never thought of pairing them, and that's more likely than ever before.
That is cool, yeah. I guess I'm just a little bummed they didn't come through on the reprint front. There's some real bombs in the mythic slots, sure, but past that there's not a lot that really needed to see another printing. I have a large list of stuff I'd have liked to see and none of it made the cut, which is entirely unexpected, but still a bit disappointing.
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Post by ISBPathfinder » 3 years ago

Sinis wrote:
3 years ago
Okay, but we can agree War Room gets a slot, yeah?
I honestly....... don't know if it makes my cut. I understand that its like.... better than a lot of the other versions of card draw on a land we have seen but its really not that different from Bonders' Enclave. This one is better in that we don't need any board presence to do it and the offset of one life is better but..... honestly I haven't really found this utility on a land something I have been willing to really play around with for this deck.

Its possible I might include it over the monarch land just because the whole "sacrificing a land thing" is kind of rough but at the same time, that land is probably still better in my mind than this one because spining up monarch permenantly at the cost of activating once and losing a land is probably better than paying 4 mana more than once.

As of right now, I am probably going to pass on it. I have two boxes preordered so I will probably play it somewhere but it probably won't be in Bruna for me.
toctheyounger wrote:
3 years ago
Yeah, I mean its best place is going to be in Sai, Master Thopterist and Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain, where (while the commander is on the field) its literally just a cantrip and a thopter respectively. Honestly, if I end up with a copy I trade it for value immediately.
Sinis wrote:
3 years ago
Okay, but we can agree War Room gets a slot, yeah?
Definitely, for me.

Otherwise though, it seems like we got a little shafted for chase/mythic rares. Akroma, Vision of Ixidor is disappointing, to me. Built for white weenies or Odric, Lunarch Marshal predominantly, and there's not a ton else I'm super excited about. Triumphant Reckoning is kinda cool, but for 9 mana I'm not sure it's a lock.

Commander's Plate is decent and puts us in viable range of voltron kills, but it's far from crucial to my mind. I'd be just as happy to not have it if I didn't pull it.
Akroma is kind of cool but she is horribly designed to go in the 99 of any other deck in my opinion. Maybe if your commander is literally Odric, Lunarch Marshal but what kind of amused me was the potential pairing of her with Sakashima of a Thousand Faces. It makes them both into 11/11 creatures lol. Two shotting people would be amusing especially given there are two if them runing about doing it in a UW control shell no less.

I think Akroma is cool, but she doesn't transition to the 99 of many decks.
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Post by Sinis » 3 years ago

ISBPathfinder wrote:
3 years ago
I think Akroma is cool, but she doesn't transition to the 99 of many decks.
I think she's dreadful in the 99. Maybe she has a home in Samut, Voice of Dissent, but probably little else.

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Post by toctheyounger » 3 years ago

Sinis wrote:
3 years ago
ISBPathfinder wrote:
3 years ago
I think Akroma is cool, but she doesn't transition to the 99 of many decks.
I think she's dreadful in the 99. Maybe she has a home in Samut, Voice of Dissent, but probably little else.
Ironically, she'd probably be alright in her own 99. It'd make a 2 shot commander damage win at least.
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