Re: Xenagos, God of Revels
Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2020 4:28 pm
Here are my overdue card summaries/evaluations for Zendikar Rising and Commander Legends. I just bunched them all together and tried to limit the scope of what cards are being discussed. There might be something I missed of course, but hopefully I got the main ones.
Alena, Kessig Trapper - More mana is always welcome and the big creatures in this list means she is probably tapping for a fair amount each turn. But being that she is 5 mana, it is hard to just throw her in. I think there might be an argument to include her but her cost and slowness of her ability means it probably isn't worth it to try to make her work.
Moraug, Fury of Akoum - Being a green deck, it shouldn't be too difficult to get a few extra combats per turn. Even just playing our land for turn is fine. And since Xenagos's ability is exponential, having a 5/5 to start with gets us a 10/10 into a 20/20 into a 40/40 with three combats which is pretty good. I think I might even like this over Gearhulk or Inferno Titan. I don't want to increase the curve too much so I am leaning toward Gearhulk being the right cut.
Apex Devastator - With the ramp of the deck, and the big creatures this deck has, I just don't think I can pass up this card. I have no idea what is going to happen with it as it can't really be cheated if I want anything more than a 10/10 that can be chumped. But being able to cast this and get 4 free spells on top of it can really turn a game around. I know I am going to whiff by hitting 4 things I really don't want though But I am going to find a spot for it in the deck just to see what it can do.
Court of Bounty - An Exploration type card that also adds in some card draw and, maybe, a free creature is something I think this deck will like. Adding Monarch into a game shouldn't be done lightly, but this deck is all about aggression so it shouldn't be too tough to get it back. It is possible the sequencing for Monarch changing means I never get the free creature but the land and the card draw might be enough.
Kamahl, Heart of Krosa - I like Kamahl, Fist of Krosa but that is because he scales reasonably well. This is 8 mana up front vs 6, but is free every subsequent turn (and the turn he enters for that matter) to pump up the team. But I can't get any more than just +3/+3 out of him. I think I would rather stick with Fist of Krosa as a way to really pump up my team.
His activated ability is pretty decent as well, especially when combined with his trigger, so there is some merit to that. But I don't think it ends up being good enough when stapled to an 8 mana creature.
Kodama of the East Tree - So, I have to admit, I am not really a fan of the design of this card. That is, it seems overly powerful and might end up just being oppressive, even when not specifically being built around. With that being said though, it isn't a griefer card on its own necessarily and doesn't just end the game. And it fits pretty well into this type of deck, especially when I might be able to get something else for free after activating Sneak Attack. I am going to find a spot for it but with the caveat that I may remove it later if I really don't like the plays it enables.
Magus of the Order - While I tend to keep my tutors to a minimum, I think one that works as slow as this and is as restrictive as this is fine. I don't include Natural Order but I think this offers more interesting lines of play both from me as well as my opponents since it can be dealt with beyond just playing blue. I am going to give it a try to see what it ends up doing but cheating in a Nyxbloom Ancient seems fun (for me anyway ).
Reshape the Earth - This deck doesn't have a lot of utility lands so this would basically just end up being a massive ramp card. I also don't have a lot of landfall cards and have chosen not to include Scute Swarm just yet so there isn't a lot of extra benefit to the lands entering. Even without that though, this deck is pretty mana hungry at times and doubling my mana potential can really help. Because this deck is fairly aggressive, it is possible this card ends up being too slow but I am probably going to try it out.
Although, if I add in Moraug I do have another Landfall card and I am sure I can figure out *something* to do with 10 extra combats...
Hans Eriksson - Hans is interesting in that he is another way to cheat out a creature but he also isn't a complete whiff if a creature isn't on top. If I look at him as card draw when he attacks, he is pretty good just for that. And then, of all the creatures I could get that could also kill him, I think I am fine with that trade. About half the creatures could kill him and only one creature (Lifeblood Hydra) is a complete whiff so it seems reasonable to try him out to see what he can offer.
Red Cards
Moraug, Fury of Akoum - Being a green deck, it shouldn't be too difficult to get a few extra combats per turn. Even just playing our land for turn is fine. And since Xenagos's ability is exponential, having a 5/5 to start with gets us a 10/10 into a 20/20 into a 40/40 with three combats which is pretty good. I think I might even like this over Gearhulk or Inferno Titan. I don't want to increase the curve too much so I am leaning toward Gearhulk being the right cut.
Green Cards
Court of Bounty - An Exploration type card that also adds in some card draw and, maybe, a free creature is something I think this deck will like. Adding Monarch into a game shouldn't be done lightly, but this deck is all about aggression so it shouldn't be too tough to get it back. It is possible the sequencing for Monarch changing means I never get the free creature but the land and the card draw might be enough.
Kamahl, Heart of Krosa - I like Kamahl, Fist of Krosa but that is because he scales reasonably well. This is 8 mana up front vs 6, but is free every subsequent turn (and the turn he enters for that matter) to pump up the team. But I can't get any more than just +3/+3 out of him. I think I would rather stick with Fist of Krosa as a way to really pump up my team.
His activated ability is pretty decent as well, especially when combined with his trigger, so there is some merit to that. But I don't think it ends up being good enough when stapled to an 8 mana creature.
Kodama of the East Tree - So, I have to admit, I am not really a fan of the design of this card. That is, it seems overly powerful and might end up just being oppressive, even when not specifically being built around. With that being said though, it isn't a griefer card on its own necessarily and doesn't just end the game. And it fits pretty well into this type of deck, especially when I might be able to get something else for free after activating Sneak Attack. I am going to find a spot for it but with the caveat that I may remove it later if I really don't like the plays it enables.
Magus of the Order - While I tend to keep my tutors to a minimum, I think one that works as slow as this and is as restrictive as this is fine. I don't include Natural Order but I think this offers more interesting lines of play both from me as well as my opponents since it can be dealt with beyond just playing blue. I am going to give it a try to see what it ends up doing but cheating in a Nyxbloom Ancient seems fun (for me anyway ).
Reshape the Earth - This deck doesn't have a lot of utility lands so this would basically just end up being a massive ramp card. I also don't have a lot of landfall cards and have chosen not to include Scute Swarm just yet so there isn't a lot of extra benefit to the lands entering. Even without that though, this deck is pretty mana hungry at times and doubling my mana potential can really help. Because this deck is fairly aggressive, it is possible this card ends up being too slow but I am probably going to try it out.
Although, if I add in Moraug I do have another Landfall card and I am sure I can figure out *something* to do with 10 extra combats...