Ugh... I'm pretty new here... how do I start?
*ahem*
Users of mtgnexus, valued Google bots, guaranteed present NSA-agents, but most importantly: dear Tribe Tribal players,
in the last weeks I have pondered on how to formulate this post. I still have some doubts if it is a good idea to post it at all. Those thoughts (and the summer heat in my small attic flat) didn't let me sleep, so this post is going to be written mostly by my overtired mind. The perfect condition for nonsense!
Don't you hate it, when you have three tribes you want to build a deck around, but only have the budget for one of them and you can't decide on which one?
Don't you hate it, when the other players in your group play global effects like Elvish Champion but only they benefit from it because no one else plays elves?
Don't you hate lands, especially those of other players?
Don't you want to see your opponents cower in fear?
If you have those problems, then congratulations:
Today I want to introduce you to the solution of your problems.
The Commander I want to talk about today is a weird looking one:
Reaper King
A Commander that supports a tribe that only offers a handful of useful cards beside him. A Commander that's flexible in his casting cost. And that's the whole point of the deck: Flexibility!
You might like Reaper King if:
- you want a deck that's centered around a rather unique Commander
- you hate your opponents' permanents
- a five colored Vindicate with legs suits your style of play
- you have a few unused tribal lords lying around and don't know what to do with them
- you like to end games in different ways
- five colored decks are too much for you
- you want to play Fatties or Aggro
- you want to let your opponents play with their cards
- you are disgusted by too many tribes in a deck (there can't be too many, so you are just weird)
- you like highly competitive formats and only deride EDH (seriously, what are you doing here then?)
Why Reaper King?
Let's take a look at EDHrec, specifically at the 5c Legends. We get some cool looking ones. But let's look at the top 10:
1. The Ur-Dragon - Dragon Avatar
2. Jodah, Archmage Eternal - Human Wizard
3. Ramos, Dragon Engine - Dragon
4. Sliver Overlord - Sliver Mutant
5. Najeela, the Blade-Blossom - Human Warrior
6. General Tazri - Human Ally
7. Scion of the Ur-Dragon - Dragon Avatar
8. Child of Alara - Avatar
9. Progenitus - Hydra Avatar
10. Reaper King - Scarecrow
So many Dragons, Humans, but even more Avatars. And then something that stands out. Sliver Mutant A Scarecrow! A five colored Commander that seems to point to a specific path in deckbuilding but is still interesting enough to build and not an autopilot. My former 5c decks were all either Chaos or Maze's End focussed ones... so it was time for something new.
Reaper King - Harvest Moon
Approximate Total Cost:
Looks like a pile, you say? Good. That's what our opponents should think. But don't worry. This deck has a clear strategy.
The Strategy
The main strategy of the deck is to get out Reaper King fast and start destroying the opponents' permanents to hinder them on finding their way into the game. Our Commander has in-built land destruction. Use it! This can catch opponents by surprise as they realize that no permanents are safe from the harvest.
"But Kitsu, you are only playing four other Scarecrows in the entire deck, how do you want to Vindicate everything constantly?"
They are Changelings, remember?
Well... most of the normal Scarecrows are way too bad. Field Creeper my a**. We need something better. Fake Scarecrows! That's why the list utilizes around 20 creatures with the Changeling keyword plus other Shapeshifters that can become a copy of another creature. Most of them are also really cheap to cast. Additionally there are cards like Panharmonicon or Conjurer's Closet to make more Vindicate triggers.
Everything on one Card
The many tribes allow for unusual options in support cards that synergize well with the creature tribes.
The answer to "Do you have a creature with type x in play?" is often just "Yes."
Lords and other Finishers
First of all: Which lord effects you want to use is up to you. My choices are the following:
Azami, Lady of Scrolls - Card Draw
Crested Sunmare - Indestructible for the team and the possibility to create more 5/5s.
Drogskol Captain - Protection and Buff
Morophon, the Boundless - name Scarecrows for maximum value
Regal Caracal - Lifelink and buffs for the team
Risen Reef - Coiling Oracle has called and is very jealous
Scion of Oona - Protection and Pump with Instant-speed
Seshiro the Anointed - Buff and Card Draw
Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign - Cost Reduction and heavy Card Advantage
Vanquisher's Banner - Buff and Card Draw
Full Moon's Rise - Trample, Buff and one-time regeneration
Liliana's Contract - You will notice that we have oftenimes more than four different named Demons on the board; also Card Draw
Rooftop Storm - Cast every Changeling for 0? Sounds good to me
Crux of Fate - Spares most of our board
Whelming Wave - Somehow a lot of our creatures are Krakens, Leviathans, Octopuses or Serpents... At the same time!
Finishers:
Thassa, Deep-Dwelling - The blinking tool of our choice. Even provides pseudo vigilance to the blinked creature if it attacked before
Deathbellow War Cry - Gets Changeling Berserker, Changeling Hero and Changeling Titan which normally is an instant tablekill.
Panharmonicon - Double them EtBs, baby!
Kindred Charge - Let's have another round of Vindicates for everyone
Rite of Replication - The star of the deck. Kicker it on Reaper King for 25(!!!) Vindicates
Eerie Interlude - Protection against Removal and more EtB Shenanigans
Ghostway - A low-budget Teferi's Protection, but it shines in a deck like this
And if you assembled all parts of the Exodia, you may even get a loop of Changeling Berserker, Changeling Hero and Changeling Titan in which one exiles one of the other two which brings back the third one which exiles the first one and so on. That makes for an indeterminate number of Vindicates for Reaper King that can destroy the board, the table, your friendships and probably the world if you don't pay attention with all of those triggers.
Lords to consider:
Battletide Alchemist - Political tool to protect other players as well, if you want to go that route
Gilt-Leaf Archdruid - Depending on if friends are just a nice bonus in your life or really important to you
Knight Exemplar - More Indestructible and Buff
Lord of the Unreal - Protection and Buff
Midnight Entourage - Buff and Card Draw
Shared Animosity - For a more aggressive variant
...
This list is far from done, maybe you have some more recommendations what could go into the deck?
I just want to say, playing all tribes at once is unbelievably fun. Nearly every new set gives this deck new tools to test out and if other players on the table are playing global buffs you profit from those as well. (Old Slivers anyone?)
I hope you enjoyed this short trip to the land of Changelings and I'd love to hear your thoughts about it!
With that in mind:
It's harvest time.