[C19] Marisi, Breaker of the Coil (SCG)

[Caranthir]

[CommanderMaster999]

Oh no

Goad is back

[Lifeless]

Excellent, this could be what I always hoped R Grenzo would be.

[5colorsrainbow]

Oh hey its that one Bolas agent in Alara Reborn.

[DirkGently]

Hey, it's like if thantis, the warweaver was actually pretty strong.

For a low or medium-power group this seems like it'll do some serious work. Too bad evasion is a little light on the ground for RG...good thing white flyers can chip in to get things moving.

Definitely some potential to do shenanigans during combat without fear of disruption, too. Glad it's in naya so most of the nastier combos aren't available (afaik).

[TheMagicWord]

Oh hey its that one Bolas agent in Alara Reborn.

I know him from Marisi's twinclaws, but what did he do as Bolas' agent?

[The Fluff]

Oh hey its that one Bolas agent in Alara Reborn.

did not know he's one of those who worked for Bolas. Was he tricked into working for the dragon?

[shukkets]

Hurray! Now I can finally build that Naya Nyaa Nyaa cat tribal deck.

[5colorsrainbow]

Oh hey its that one Bolas agent in Alara Reborn.

I know him from Marisi's twinclaws, but what did he do as Bolas' agent?

Oh hey its that one Bolas agent in Alara Reborn.

did not know he's one of those who worked for Bolas. Was he tricked into working for the dragon?

In the past he had lead a civil war of the Nacatl, believing that race had become weak and needed to be more wild to regain their strength. He was thought long dead but was kept around by Bolas. He tricked Zaliki, Ajani's only friend, into helping him kill Jazal. He was later killed by Zaliki who grew into a huge size and squashed him.

[theMarc]

This guy might be too goofy for me to not build.

I know him from Marisi's twinclaws, but what did he do as Bolas' agent?

He turned the Wild Nacatl against the Cloud Nacatl by feeding social tensions.

did not know he's one of those who worked for Bolas. Was he tricked into working for the dragon?

Not tricked, but he made a deal with Bolas when he was young and brash. He regretted it by the time of Alara block, but was in too deep to back out.

[The Fluff]

@5colors and theMarc

Very interesting. Thanks for all that info. I was curious about this guy, because as a legacy zoo players years ago.. I have wondered who is the Marisi on flavor text of Wild Nacatl.

[SyntheticDreamer]

This is beautiful. Attack somebody and then sit back and say "I didn't do it!"

[SecretInfiltrator]

So what you all are telling me here is that the mechanics are on point flavor-wise. I gotta say that it's satisfying even beyond what I imagined to get all those cards for characters with previously uninteresting or ill-fitting cards or that were present in lore and lacked a card. Every card that isn't a Necro-Alchimist released this way was especially satisfying just by fitting neatly in the story we know.

[hyalopterouslemur]

Hey, it's like if thantis, the warweaver was actually pretty strong.

Basandra, Battle Seraph was actually pretty strong, you mean.

[Rumpy5897]

I looked at the card, the little lightbulb in my head came online with shadow and various other unblockables. I spun fantastic tales of being perma-goaded from turn four onward to my playgroup, who promptly discouraged me from pursuing it. Aww.

[DirkGently]

Basandra, Battle Seraph was actually pretty strong, you mean.

I guess it is a bit closer to her. It always drove me nuts that her ability was symmetrical in the combat trick colors. Glad to see that fixed that. I'd be more likely to build Marisi if it were Boros though, Naya is...meh. Ah well. We got Feather, I should probably stop beating that horse.

[hyalopterouslemur]

Basandra, Battle Seraph was actually pretty strong, you mean.

I guess it is a bit closer to her. It always drove me nuts that her ability was symmetrical in the combat trick colors. Glad to see that fixed that. I'd be more likely to build Marisi if it were Boros though, Naya is...meh. Ah well. We got Feather, I should probably stop beating that horse.

Green's also big on combat tricks, though. Giant Growth (both individual and mass Growth effects), Fog, and instant-speed untap (and granting reach), mostly. Green also gets instant-speed indestructible, which, like instant-speed hexproof, can work as a makeshift counterspell; unlike hexproof, indestructible is a combat trick. And of course instant-speed tokens and creatures with flash.

Boros did get Gerrard, which is also good. The problem with Boros has always been the focus on combat above all else, though. This is great when you have 20 life, really great in limited, but when you have 40 life and a bunch of alt cons, not so great.

So, while a veteran of Alara's crisis could fix Boros's crisis, I don't think they'd put two Boros commanders in a (Naya, Jeskai, Mardu) deck.

[Mookie]

This looks fairly interesting. I think the pseudo-card-draw effect of Grenzo, Havoc Raiser is a more powerful ability than being able to goad everything, but access to more colors likely makes Marisi, Breaker of the Coil stronger overall. Goad is a pretty potent ability that, unfortunately, doesn't show up on that many cards, but it's a fun multiplayer ability. Many games have stalemate situations where no one wants to attack, and goad cracks those games wide open. Marisi could be a decent aggro commander for that reason.

Building around the fact that your opponents will be attacking a lot... fewer blockers means you could get in with saboteur effects. Evasion is important to trigger Marisi. More tapped creatures makes stuff like Sunblast Angel interesting. Alternatively, throw in a Lightmine Field.

Unlike Basandra, Battle Seraph, Marisi only stops your opponents from casting spells. This makes combat tricks and cards like Savage Beating better, since your opponents can't interact with you. Alternatively, make use of the temporary Silence on every players' turn to protect an instant-speed (or combat-speed) combo, such as Maze of Ith + Krosan Restorer + Comet Storm.

Overall verdict: likely not competitive, but should make for fun games - Goad is a fantastic mechanic, and I'm glad to see it again.

[DirkGently]

Green's also big on combat tricks, though. Giant Growth (both individual and mass Growth effects), Fog, and instant-speed untap (and granting reach), mostly. Green also gets instant-speed indestructible, which, like instant-speed hexproof, can work as a makeshift counterspell; unlike hexproof, indestructible is a combat trick. And of course instant-speed tokens and creatures with flash.

Boros did get Gerrard, which is also good. The problem with Boros has always been the focus on combat above all else, though. This is great when you have 20 life, really great in limited, but when you have 40 life and a bunch of alt cons, not so great.

So, while a veteran of Alara's crisis could fix Boros's crisis, I don't think they'd put two Boros commanders in a (Naya, Jeskai, Mardu) deck.

I know green makes the deck better, but Naya rarely appeals to me for whatever reason. I did some thinking about what it is that I like in commanders, and I think a big part of it is that I want to either be able to see a novel build for a viable commander, or find a viable build for a commander that most deem not viable. Boros has classically been weak, so I've always been eager for anything that looked even remotely viable. Naya is a lot more viable card-pool-wise, and also tends to funnel into the classic rampy stompy midrange strategies that are very common in commander - well trod ground, hard to find anything very novel in - especially not in the sorts of ways I usually try to find novelty (usually control, politics, being obsessively commander-focused and having a very focused gameplan).

Also white has plenty of instant-speed indestructible (idk which has more, it's probably close).

Gerrard doesn't interest me personally - I can't see any builds, looking at him, that interest me (even if he's not combat-oriented). But that's fine, Feather made up for quite a bit of Boros frustration for me.

[Candlemane]

I've been trying to build a combat politics deck forever. This might work in the lead role, but I'll have to test and see. Definitely better than Basanadra, Battle Seraph, even though I love me some angels.

What I like that having Green in the deck gives the opportunity for ample trample.

I tried to do Mana symbols, but my post wonked out.

[hyalopterouslemur]

I just see it as a decent attempt to make combat more relevant. A lot of Commander games run on combos, so making combat more relevant diversifies the meta.