Unreleased and New Card Discussion

[CommanderMaster999]

What the heck!?! obeka 2.0 is beyond busted for a rare I feel that's a mythic rarity card

[Mookie]

Yeah, Obeka looks quite sweet. There are some strong upkeep triggers available that are balanced by the fact that you may lose your creature before the turn gets back to you. If you can play something like Exalted Flamer of Tzeentch and get immediate value, that seems quite nice... to say nothing of growing threats like As Foretold and The Magic Mirror that can sometimes feel too slow.

[Uncle_Krupi]

Quick and messy Shrines list that polymorphs tokens into either Zur the Enchanter or Obeka, Splitter of Seconds.

https://www.moxfield.com/decks/huzO8gLMDUe7WuyL7Z9ZJw

[Hermes_]

not sure if this was already pointed but Obeka, Splitter of Seconds is nasty with Descent into Avernus,there's also the initiative

[TheAmericanSpirit]

Eriette, the Beguiler is pretty cool! I'm not sure I'd play it, but I do dig a solid theft commander every now and then.

[CommanderMaster999]

Obeka works fantastic with suspend cards as well by the way

[MAGUSZANIN]

Obeka with the Court cycles is the best suggestions I've seen. With eight upkeeps you can just mill the table out with Court of Cunning for example.

My main issue with her is simply that there is a very narrow list of upkeep triggers that can genuinely close the game like that, and your deck list is going to end up looking like a pile of random stuff with no synergy if she gets shut off.

[Dragonlover]

Obeka's being slapped straight into wincons cause like, all of them care about upkeeps save two. Also tempted to put it in Abaddon, I've got a lot of upkeep global damage triggers in there and it can't hurt to try and triple up on them.

Dragonlover

[NZB2323]

Obeka's being slapped straight into wincons cause like, all of them care about upkeeps save two. Also tempted to put it in Abaddon, I've got a lot of upkeep global damage triggers in there and it can't hurt to try and triple up on them.

Dragonlover

Yeah, it's not that hard to win with her and Revel in Riches.

[Dragonlover]

She takes me to a possible 7 upkeeps a turn, at that point Azor's Elocutors gets there in one fell swoop and something like Revel is easy mode.

Dragonlover

[CommanderMaster999]

There he is there's Akul

Essentially he cheats out a creature from your hand by sacing three of them. (Has the only once clause and also can only be sorcery speed)

So to give a trick right now he's not the commander Quicksilver Elemental can just keep targeting him to make new instances of the ability so you can do it mutiple times

Fun fact his ability is basically make it so you can get any creature in to play the exact same way you cast Slifer, Obelisk, and Ra in yugioh

[CommanderMaster999]

Last mythic is gold vein hydra

And there goes Shivan Devastator high power

This is that on steroids

"Flying" switched for "viligence" + "trample"

And… do I have to mention you get treasure tokens based on P/T when it dies

Yea this is gonna be nuts

[DirkGently]

Tbf shivan devastator was garbage in this format.

[Mookie]

Goldvein Hydra looks nice. Big creatures with death triggers always have a bit of tension - do you keep it around and beat down (but potentially have it exiled / stolen / etc), or do you sacrifice it for value? I think the hydra leans towards beatdown - three aggressive keywords make it particularly good at attacking, while tapped treasures mean any payoff you get from it dying is delayed a turn.

To me, the main appeal of Goldvein Hydra is as a green Fireball. Red has plenty of scaling burn effects that beat Shivan Devastator, but green's options are significantly more limited. I guess Mistcutter Hydra and Hurricane exist, but neither are great. I could see decks using it for 10+ hasty damage in the lategame, or even more. Beyond that, it works with +1/+1 counter and treasure synergies, plus there are some hydra decks out there that will love it. Not a staple, but it definitely has its place in the format.

"Crispy Crab Akul" (waiting for actual name) looks fine, but doesn't particularly excite me. Hordeling Outburst is now Show and Tell? Sure.

Hollow Marauder is interesting. Seven mana is a lot, but if you can get it down to two or three mana then you have a discount Syphon Mind, plus a 4/2 flyer. Seems fun for graveyard-y decks.

[DirkGently]

Wow, return the favor is awesome. Wild Ricochet with a massive glow-up (though could be worse off sunforger).

[NZB2323]

Annie joins up is great with Rocco, Cabaretti Caterer.

Am I interpreting the rules correctly? An ETB trigger is a triggered ability, right?

[DirkGently]

Anyone want to guess which commanders I've grading as "ugly"? (i.e. I will groan when I see my opponent playing them)

So far there are six This set seems pushed af.

An ETB trigger is a triggered ability, right?

Yes.

[Mookie]

Annie Joins Up looks alright. I wish it copied activated abilities instead, but I guess we already got Ertha Jo, Frontier Mentor in the set. My Samut deck doesn't have many triggered abilities, but the floor of an alright removal spell on ETB means you don't need to copy that many for it to be worth running. Obviously great for commanders like Atla Palani, Nest Tender that actually have triggered abilities, and filthy in legend-focused decks like Jodah, the Unifier.

Anyone want to guess which commanders I've grading as "ugly"? (i.e. I will groan when I see my opponent playing them)

So far there are six This set seems pushed af.

Pretty confident:

• Bonny Pall, Clearcutter
• "Crispy Crab Akul"
• Ghired, Mirror of the Wilds
• Kellan, the Kid

My other guesses for your list are Rakdos, the Muscle and The Gitrog, Ravenous Ride. I could see Geralf, the Fleshwright or Kambal, Profiteering Mayor, but those are more likely to induce groaning for reasons other than power level.

In defense of Bunyan, Paul: the payoff is generic, but it does require attacking... and gives you a literal massive pile of beef to attack with. I think that means Bonny decks will be a bit less durdley than most other Simic 'ramp and draw cards' decks. I won't say it's an amazing design, but the idea of beating down with a 10/10 Ox does bring a smile to my face.

[Serenade]

Obeka and Ghired, for sure. Kellen cheats on mana too easily.

Yeah, this set is warped. Every green creature should cost two mana more.

Also, the set promotes casting spells and has excellent enemy-dual legends? Strixhaven 2.0 is pretty great.

[cheonice]

Anyone want to guess which commanders I've grading as "ugly"? (i.e. I will groan when I see my opponent playing them)

So far there are six This set seems pushed af.

SPOILER

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Rakdos, Gisa, Ghired, Obeka, Bristly Bill, Bonny Pall

[DirkGently]

@cheonice is the closest so far.

Rakdos I'm pretty sure can storm combo his way through his deck instantly off Demon of Death's Gate, Scourge of Nel Toth, Shadow of Mortality, Torgaar, Famine Incarnate, etc and all the fast mana.

Gisa is like Koma, Cosmos Serpent if it made twice as many tokens, they had menace, and it cost 2 less (and had more setup cost tbf).

Ghired is just absurd. even with no particular synergy pieces he can put lethal on board within a turn or two after hitting play, and he costs 3.

The other three have not been named.

Obeka, Gitfrog, and Bill are all pretty close but I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt for now.

Kellan I think is actually kinda mid? If he wasn't limited to permanents I'd be a lot more impressed, but most of the good "cast from elsewhere" stuff is instants/sorceries so it seems kinda clunky, and it's difficult to get better value than doubling your mana - which sounds good but it takes a lot of work to achieve that, and it doesn't accelerate your curve, just let you double-up on spells. Not saying he's bad but I think he reads a lot better than he'll play.

Akul I haven't graded yet since we don't have a name, but I think he's probably just a worse Rakdos, Lord of Riots/Kaalia of the Vast?

Surprised how many votes for Bonny Pall, I've got her rated "bad". Her attack trigger seems quite weak for a 6-drop (uro does it way better), and making one big token that isn't your commander doesn't sound all that useful. You could abuse it in certain ways, sure, but for a 6-drop I think you can do a lot better. It's a decent amount of generic value but idk what you'd really do with it beyond that. Absolute back-breaker in limited though.

[pokken]

This is dumb but I really enjoy Wylie Duke, Atiin Hero and will probably make an Earthcraft tribal deck to replace my Zimone, Quandrix Prodigy deck. :D

[Sporegorger_Dragon]

Anyone want to guess which commanders I've grading as "ugly"? (i.e. I will groan when I see my opponent playing them)

So far there are six This set seems pushed af.

My guess is that the last three are Kambal, Laughing Jasper, and Lilah, all three are MV 3 and so can be delpoyed early to wreak havoc.

I suspect Lilah earns your greatest ire as she stockpiles free spells for later simply by casting them, and doesn't even have to remain on the board.

This is dumb but I really enjoy Wylie Duke, Atiin Hero and will probably make an Earthcraft tribal deck to replace my Zimone, Quandrix Prodigy deck. :D

Your post suddenly made me realize Wylie has vigilance and so the "proper" way to use him is to Saddle Mounts and Crew Vehicles.

[DirkGently]

My guess is that the last three are Kambal, Laughing Jasper, and Lilah, all three are MV 3 and so can be delpoyed early to wreak havoc.

I suspect Lilah earns your greatest ire as she stockpiles free spells for later simply by casting them, and doesn't even have to remain on the board.

Maybe it's personal bias but I freaking love Lilah and really want to play her xD having a bunch of stockpiled free spells and then going off with Guttersnipe sounds like a sick plan to me. But we'll see, if she's popular I probably won't.

Kambal and Laughing Jasper seem fine to me. Jasper I think I rated "bad", though he looks reasonably fun at least. In general I think it's very hard for anything that lets you cast enemy spells while paying for them to be too strong. Kambal is like Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim except more expensive and more restrictive, but with a cute hate effect (which you can abuse a bit but probably not that much).

Of the three remaining:

1 is one of the precon commanders.

1 I'm pretty on the fence about, could definitely be wrong.

1 I can't believe no one has said yet xD

[Uncle_Krupi]

Jem Lightfoote, Sky Explorer is very solid for Azorius draw-go decks. Likely to trigger her card draw clause and an efficient flying vigilant body for the cost. The downside being that unless she herself was cast from a non-hand location, she won't be drawing any cards until the following end step. Nonetheless considering her for Chun-Li.