MTGNexus

I run one deck that can Tooth and Nail into Avenger and Craterhoof. I play too many green decks to bother with this nonsense line in too many games because I'm not out here to play the exact same game with 5 different decks.

The most creative use for Avenger of Zendikar was in an aristocrats style deck that didn't care about the landfall trigger as much as it just just giving a ton of bodies to sac. I can't even remember if the deck was Jund or Azban. I only remember seeing them go off and thinking, "Huh, that's kind of a neat use for it."

i still have Fertilid in my Colfenor anthems deck. ok it's pointlessly recursive good stuff but it's the exact sort of thing a very long lived treeman would do. Avenger of Zendikar is really good too, I love green plant guys

Avenger of Zendikar has done some good work with Perilous Forays in my Shandalar deck. . .


(not Shandalar themed EDH - the updated fan Mod Shandalar that uses cards through BFZ)

I throw it into most green decks as the 100th card. It rarely disappoints, but it feels so played by now.

In OG Hazezon and Phylath, to me it always feels like a poor substitute for your general. Not bad: I'd include it every time, but I'm probably casting them again before it.

Thursday, November 17th, 2022; Cleansing Nova

Honestly a really nice wipe. Paying 1 extra isn't a huge deal in this format, and the flexibility is major. Basically the mid-point between Wrath of God and Austere Command - and I think if you're splitting the difference between those two, it's better than that theoretical midpoint would be.

Farewell has made it look a bit weaker, though, as Farewell adds a lot more value relative to austere command imo. Being able to hit graves and exiling instead of destroying are major adds, in additional to the austere-command-esque flexibility.

Love me some Cleansing Nova, and with Selfless Spirit, Flawless Maneuver, Avacyn, Angel of Hope, or Zurgo Helmsmasher.

As far as Farewell, it depends on the deck. I wouldn't want to run Farewell in my Orzhov deck with Ravos, Soultender.

Honestly I'd run both because I'm a horrible boardwipe spammer that hates fun or whatever the kids say.

I like Cleansing a lot. Its not usually my first sweeper but its flexability is solid and there are a lot of times when playing white that exiling my own cards is a big disadvantage over just blowing them up. I usually run Austere first but there are a lot of times where I want this effect after running Austere.

Doomskar, Damn, Cleansing Nova, then if I need another either Fire Covenant or Blaphact. You're welcome for THAT gift, may you never be able to unsee it.

Cleansing Nova is alright, but white's pool of board wipes is insanely deep - there are a bunch of synergistic and/or asymmetric options for most decks, and that's before you even start looking at multicolor options. It's not as flexible as Farewell or Austere Command, but I've been in some fast games recently that ended before I hit six mana, so I can definitely see the appeal of playing a cheaper (but still flexible) board wipe.

As for white only wraths, I will stick with Tragic Arrogance over the aforementioned, with Austere being second. Usually not a fan of exiling my own stuff when in white, so Nova would see play over Farewell.

Imho, Nova is too awkward to be top tier. Creature wraths can be had cheaper, and more thorough wraths are only 1 mana more. I either want the efficiency or the efficacy, no half measures.

Cleansing Nova is a great budget boardwipe and I'm glad its been reprinted to the ground, but I also agree it tends to not be a top-play for me.

- If I want efficiency, I am looking at shaving off one more mana and jamming Wrath of God, Day of Judgment, or Devastating Mastery. Vanquish the Horde and Hour of Revelation can also be cheaper. There's also relative newcomers Doomskar, Shatter the Sky, and Depopulate - I do prefer Nova to these, but they're close. Let's be real - you're choosing the creature mode 90% of the time right? So the extra 1 mana is just for the 10% insurance policy versus artifact.dec or enchantress.dec.
- If I want flexibility, it's hard to not prefer Austere Command and Farewell for one more mana, as it's much easier to break the symmetry of those spells. Also have to mention Rout and Fated Retribution as instant-speed is gold for a controlling deck.

Once upon a time when every deck ran 6+ boardwipes, this would be a looker. But now we both have way more wipes printed and we have way less incentive to jam more than 2 or 3 in the typical commander deck. Even for a really controlling deck like Phelddagrif or a Boardwipe.dec list like Tajic, Blade of the Legion or Zurgo Helmsmasher that might run 10+ wraths, this is only on the margins especially once other colors add options like Blasphemous Act or Supreme Verdict to the mix.

Saturday, November 19th, 2022; The Beacon Cycle!

I think the Beacon cycle has some interesting designs, but they've mostly been power-creeped out of the format. The 'shuffle into deck' ability is also a lot less exciting when you're running 99 cards, since your odds of redrawing them are significantly lower. Still, it does come up occasionally if you come close to decking.

• Beacon of Unrest is probably my favorite of the bunch, largely due to its somewhat-unique ability to reanimate artifacts. Five mana is a bit overpriced for the effect, but it does have a lot of flexibility.
• Beacon of Immortality has some use cases in lifegain decks... or you can one-shot opponents with Tainted Remedy.
• Beacon of Tomorrows is miserable. It's outclassed by Nexus of Fate, but still allows infinite turns with an empty library (or tutoring), but not something I'm interested in.
• Beacon of Destruction is pretty clunky - five mana for five damage is not a particularly exciting rate, at least in EDH.
• Beacon of Creation is a card that I don't think I've ever seen played. Maybe in a monogreen token deck? It's a strong effect, and the existence of Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth certainly helps it, but I'm not that excited by pure token production. Hmmm...

Anyway, I feel like most of these cost 1-2 too much mana to see play these days, but they may be okay in some lower-powered metas. I'll call out the Zenith cycle as some more modern successors.

I'm pretty sure Beacon of Immortality was once banned in commander. Those must have been the days…

Honestly I think the white and green ones are my favourites. White is obviously not bannable, but it is a hell of a lot of life for one spell if that's something you care about. And the green one is probably the best token-making spell in some mono-green deck somewhere.

Red is just too inefficient in modern commander, or frankly anywhere except limited (where it would be just decent). Black is slightly unique for grabbing artifacts, but that's kinda niche and there are much much more efficient reanimation spells. Blue is far worse than nexus on multiple levels, and it's not an effect that needs redundancy, so it's now basically worthless. Any deck that ever played the card is likely obnoxious too. No way you're paying 8 for an extra turn without plans to pull some BS.

DirkGently wrote: ↑

1 year ago

I'm pretty sure Beacon of Immortality was once banned in commander. Those must have been the days…

Huh, you're right. Looks like it was one of the earliest bans too.

• Start: Vintage banlist
• October 2002: Test of Endurance
• May 2003: Wishes
• October 2004: Beacon of Immortality
• April 2005: Black Lotus and most of the rest of the Power 9, Upheaval, etc.

...so apparently Beacon of Immortality > Power 9, at least in terms of banworthiness.

Sunday, November 20th, 2022; Arjun, the Shifting Flame

Stupid in the 99 of Locust God, one of the most paint by numbers, shut your brain off commanders ever printed. As a commander itself, I've rarely seen it. When I have it's been a lot of cards that do something whenever you draw a card, like psychosis crawler.

Originally in the same deck as Mizzix, this felt like the first of the izzet combo bait that gets printed yearly. At 6 mana, though, it's pretty hard to leverage.

I prefer it as an enchantment that costs one blue mana less, and comes with one of my favorite flavor texts.

If you haven't experienced this effect, I recommend it. Not even like a Psychosis Crawler build around, just play the card and feel the power of picking your favorite from a fresh hand every spell.

I have an Arjun deck. Honestly, it's short a couple of cards that trigger off drawing cards. The mill cards are just not good enough IMO.
But the way I play it is that I have a lot of 0 mana spells and a lot of cantrips so that I can keep going until I draw a win con. I think you need a ton of ramp and a fair amount of protection to make it capable of winning.

Just once I wanna stick a Underworld Dreams/Kederekt Parasite against this guy........