[mtgnexus] Random Card of the Day - Rishkar, Peema Renegade

[Serenade]

We just got Blade Historian, too, and there's the original way to give it to the ENTIRE board, Avatar of Slaughter!

Any time I get it out, a wrath hits soon after. Maybe just bad luck for me.

[toctheyounger]

I like it for being the only way to get double strike on an entire board. The lifelink is nice too, but it is expensive to cast. Being what it is its probably really restricted to use in mono white or Boros these days, and there's no other permanent that does global double strike in these colors that I'm aware of.

Happy to be proved wrong though, Bruna would appreciate the drop in CMC.

Rage Reflection and Berserkers' Onslaught have entered the chat.

Anything in white?

[Mookie]

I like it for being the only way to get double strike on an entire board. The lifelink is nice too, but it is expensive to cast. Being what it is its probably really restricted to use in mono white or Boros these days, and there's no other permanent that does global double strike in these colors that I'm aware of.

Happy to be proved wrong though, Bruna would appreciate the drop in CMC.

Rage Reflection and Berserkers' Onslaught have entered the chat.

Anything in white?

Goring Ceratops and Odric, Lunarch Marshal / Concerted Effort, but they're rather conditional. Akroma's Will as a one-shot effect is definitely worth discussion though - realistically, how many turns is True Conviction going to stick around? Using Akroma's Will as a finisher seems like it would be easier in a large portion of situations.

[toctheyounger]

Rage Reflection and Berserkers' Onslaught have entered the chat.

Anything in white?

Goring Ceratops and Odric, Lunarch Marshal / Concerted Effort, but they're rather conditional. Akroma's Will as a one-shot effect is definitely worth discussion though - realistically, how many turns is True Conviction going to stick around? Using Akroma's Will as a finisher seems like it would be easier in a large portion of situations.

Yeah it is strong. Will I mean. The problem in mono white lies in combat being your primary wincon most of the time, so redundancy becomes a little more important. Games have to end and for all conviction costs what it does is strong.

[umtiger]

I really like those interactive, mindgame-y cards. Always wanted to build a commander, who utilizes these effects.

Unesh and some sphinxes have lots of mind games built in.


Oh man, True Conviction and Opalescence is my jam and jelly and bread.

[Toshi]

Anything in white?

Goring Ceratops and Odric, Lunarch Marshal / Concerted Effort, but they're rather conditional. Akroma's Will as a one-shot effect is definitely worth discussion though - realistically, how many turns is True Conviction going to stick around? Using Akroma's Will as a finisher seems like it would be easier in a large portion of situations.

Yeah it is strong. Will I mean. The problem in mono white lies in combat being your primary wincon most of the time, so redundancy becomes a little more important. Games have to end and for all conviction costs what it does is strong.

I've been a Charge Across the Araba guy for the longest time.

[Igzex]

Sometimes, the best kill is overkill...

[tstorm823]

I've been a Charge Across the Araba guy for the longest time.

Seriously, whoever made that card an instant is a lunatic.

[materpillar]

I've been running True Conviction in my Chromium deck for about a decade. It's been great there and continues to be great. Mostly because it's part of an Academy Rector package. Rest in Peace to blow out graveyard decks. Ephara, God of the Polis for early game card advantage that'll last. True Conviction for late game when it's time to smash some faces with Chromium equipped with Sword of Fire and Ice.

It makes you functionally immune to most fair win-conditions. The amount of health you can gain per turn is insane. If you've got games going past turn 10 it is fantastic at stabilizing the board.

Akroma's Will in likely just a stronger card on average. True Conviction is an enchantment for those synergies and let's you play offense and defense at the same time..

[3drinks]

Saturday, November 13th, 2021; Krenko, Mob Boss

[pokken]

This general is almost calculated to create really awful gameplay experiences in my experience. So many times I've sat across from a Krenko player and they go "Equip targeting Krenko" and I go "Swords to Plowshares Krenko" and then a couple turns go by and they make a bajillion goblins and someone wraths them. Then they're out of the game and sit there derping.

Then one in ten games they go off and no one has an answer and they infinite combo us. Whee?

[3drinks]

We just got Blade Historian, too, and there's the original way to give it to the ENTIRE board, Avatar of Slaughter!

Any time I get it out, a wrath hits soon after. Maybe just bad luck for me.

I need to get this guy into a Kardur, Doomscourge deck and reanimate it early and often. Add some Total War, and Bedlam to the mix, maybe even some Norritt with a dash of Fumiko the Lowblood. Dang, that sounds so fun.

...brb, gonna go browse edhrec and see what kind of stuff people are pouring into Kardur these days to find all the total war variants. >_>

[materpillar]

Saturday, November 13th, 2021; Krenko, Mob Boss

Let me tell you. It never gets old sitting down with Tivadar of Thorn, having my opponent plop down their Krenko, Mob Boss and watch their face when they read my general. Extra points if I resolve Tivadar's Crusade.

Amusingly, the last time I did that they played Goblin Chirurgeon and I died to a pile of goblins.

[Igzex]

What you don't actually see in his rules text is "Partner with Purphoros, god of the forge"

[Mookie]

Krenko, Mob Boss is a very swingy commander. If you have him out for a few turns, he'll generate exponentially increasing numbers of goblin tokens. If you have Goblin Warchief or another way to pump your team / give them haste, that will often be enough to wipe the table in a turn cycle or two... or if you have Purphoros, God of the Forge, you can just wipe the table immediately. Alternatively, throw in Thornbite Staff and a sac outlet to go infinite.

....on the other hand, if the board is wiped or people have spot removal for Krenko, that gameplan will be halted entirely and you'll be stuck playing a bunch of Goblin Pikers - not exactly impressive. Red is also one of the worst colors for protecting its creatures - you can't grant them indestructible or hold up countermagic, so your only real bet for protecting Krenko is Deflecting Swat effects (or Tibalt's Trickery, I suppose). As a result, I don't find Krenko's gameplan to be that engaging - either it spirals out of control or it gets boardwiped into oblivion, with few games in-between.

....not that I've seen Krenko around recently, of course. As a monocolored commander that needs to both live a full turn cycle and requires a boardstate to make use of, Krenko has sort of been powercrept out of the format. I guess Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin exists as a slightly more self-contained successor to the strategy.

On a somewhat related note, I've been waiting for a Krenko reprint for a while so I can add him to my Samut deck. Token-producing tap abilities on creatures tend to be pretty weak, since they often result in Limited board stalls, which isn't a very fun play pattern. As a result, I've cut a lot of token producers from my deck over the years. However, Krenko seems like a snap-include, primarily because of his ability to scale - I can't think of any other tap abilities that scale exponentially with the number of untaps you have. Even with no other goblins, a single turn cycle with Seedborn Muse out lets him produce 16 bodies, which is sort of absurd.

[hyalopterouslemur]

I've played Rith, the Awakener before and while I wouldn't call her anywhere near top-tier, she doesn't disappoint. This is cheaper and has no hoop (though I do run a set of cards to give Rith trample), the downside being tribal focus, and no access to Parallel Lives and friends, or Aura Shards, or most anthems (or Cathars' Crudssade[/card) if he's your commander.

But critically you still do have access to a ton of cards that make a huge difference. Try on [card]Purphoros, God of the Forge or Warstorm Surge or Hellrider. Or just plop down Coat of Arms. And unlike Rith, Krenko can easily use Mana Echoes.

But perhaps, perhaps Krenko belongs in ur for Intruder Alarm.

[plushpenguin]

If you want a gobbo strat that doesn't get completely halted from a single boardwipe, there is always Muxus, Goblin Grandee.

Bring your manarocks for that one.

[onering]

I always preferred Wort 1.0 for goblins, because she telegraphs a fair strategy and opponents are willing to let her live, while she helps you recover from wipes. Krenko is stronger, but his gameplay sucks, and a weaker deck played well can win more games.

[BeneTleilax]

Krenko turned me off to all-in swarm decks, and I've been looking for a more resilient, less bursty version since. I think I've found that in Millicent at last.

[Toshi]

...brb, gonna go browse edhrec and see what kind of stuff people are pouring into Kardur these days to find all the total war variants. >_>

Honey, don't forget about Maddening Imp.

[3drinks]

...brb, gonna go browse edhrec and see what kind of stuff people are pouring into Kardur these days to find all the total war variants. >_>

Honey, don't forget about Maddening Imp.

Brilliant. That's the other total war effect I needed.

[illakunsaa]

I've been running Krenko in my Moron goblins and he is not the best. A lot of times he just eats removal without doing anything. Lot of times something like Beetleback Chief is better.

[3drinks]

Sunday, November 14th, 2021; The Cavalier Cycle

[Serenade]

You know the Leo meme from OUATIH? I've never had that moment with any of these cards when deckbuilding.

[pokken]

The number of times cavalier of thorns has whiffed for me in my 42 land deck was so many I stopped playing him.

Weirdly I think the red one is one of the best in commander. It's a really powerful haste enabler and mana dump that gives you some real velocity too.

Night seems good, forgot all about it. May want to try it in breena since it recurs her.

Dawn is solid but I've found myself not wanting to pay 5 mana for it a bunch.