Which Planar Factions Do You Identify With? [Guilds, Wedges, etc.]
Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2021 1:47 am
With the release of Strixhaven and the introduction of the Colleges as yet another group of two-color factions, I am deeply curious which factions across Magic's numerous planes you personally identify with and why. Since this preference bleeds heavily into how we select commanders and otherwise build decks, I want to know what in worldbuilding and card design draws players in. This doesn't need to be limited to just the named guilds and wedges. If, for example, you're really drawn into the tribal archetypes of Ixalan or something I want to know! My picks are almost exclusively from mechanical design, including the following:
Ravnican Guild:
Orzhov - I love sacrifice synergies, lifegain and drain effects, and the general aesthetic of corrupt religious figures. Orzhov combines these effectively and (minus some flops in War... but that's War for you) it generally does a little bit of everything I want to do in this color combination.
Strixhaven College:
Witherbloom - Noticing a theme here already, see above love of employing life as a resource with a side of sacrificial shenanigans. Witherbloom also has a very chill vibe in general as a faction, and I lean heavily into themes of life and death in the various forms of media that I enjoy consuming, making Witherbloom a great choice after I dropped Silverquill.
Alaran Shard:
Grixis - Graveyard mechanics, removal galore, and general value just ooze from the Grixis options in the format. One of my earliest Commander decks was Sedris, the Traitor King and I always have some kind of Grixis reanimator deck in my stable. For me personally, since blue is my least favorite color, this wedge takes advantage of what I do enjoy about blue: scary value creatures and card advantage engines that also feed the grave.
Tarkir Clan:
Abzan - Karador, Ghost Chieftain is my favorite deck and he represents just about everything that appeals to me in Abzan. The keyword once again is value with limitless ways to seriously empower the battlefield while using the graveyard as a toolbox. The pure flexibility offered by the combination of colors really brings me in. Do you want to control the battlefield with bombs and wraths? How about another lifegain strategy? Sacrifice synergies? How about pure graveyard value? All right here in spades and thus the color combination I most identify with.
Honorable Mentions:
The Vampiric Estates of Innistrad (Voldaren, Falkenrath, and Markov) and the Dusk Legion of Ixalan are both quite interesting to me. Vampires are my favorite tribe in the game (with my first real standard success being Zendikar-era Mono Black Vampires) and being able to play tribal vamps is just another of the appeals of Commander for me. I very much love the flavor and visual design for these, especially the armor and clothing design.
New Phyrexia is entirely my aesthetic as well, as I have always had a thing for transdimensional horror and these guys are absolutely the tip-top-tier when it comes to that. Sure the Eldrazi do some interesting stuff with that too, but you just can't deny how clean the design of Phyrexians is.
Dishonorable Mention:
Silverquill - As a writer by trade and general creative, I was fully anticipating loving everything about Silverquill. Sadly, the combination of heavy bully saturation, weirdly militaristic art design choices, and an aggro focus in mechanical design (I empathize with Boros stans now), they ended up a complete failure for me. Maybe in the inevitable return to Strix.
Ravnican Guild:
Orzhov - I love sacrifice synergies, lifegain and drain effects, and the general aesthetic of corrupt religious figures. Orzhov combines these effectively and (minus some flops in War... but that's War for you) it generally does a little bit of everything I want to do in this color combination.
Strixhaven College:
Witherbloom - Noticing a theme here already, see above love of employing life as a resource with a side of sacrificial shenanigans. Witherbloom also has a very chill vibe in general as a faction, and I lean heavily into themes of life and death in the various forms of media that I enjoy consuming, making Witherbloom a great choice after I dropped Silverquill.
Alaran Shard:
Grixis - Graveyard mechanics, removal galore, and general value just ooze from the Grixis options in the format. One of my earliest Commander decks was Sedris, the Traitor King and I always have some kind of Grixis reanimator deck in my stable. For me personally, since blue is my least favorite color, this wedge takes advantage of what I do enjoy about blue: scary value creatures and card advantage engines that also feed the grave.
Tarkir Clan:
Abzan - Karador, Ghost Chieftain is my favorite deck and he represents just about everything that appeals to me in Abzan. The keyword once again is value with limitless ways to seriously empower the battlefield while using the graveyard as a toolbox. The pure flexibility offered by the combination of colors really brings me in. Do you want to control the battlefield with bombs and wraths? How about another lifegain strategy? Sacrifice synergies? How about pure graveyard value? All right here in spades and thus the color combination I most identify with.
Honorable Mentions:
The Vampiric Estates of Innistrad (Voldaren, Falkenrath, and Markov) and the Dusk Legion of Ixalan are both quite interesting to me. Vampires are my favorite tribe in the game (with my first real standard success being Zendikar-era Mono Black Vampires) and being able to play tribal vamps is just another of the appeals of Commander for me. I very much love the flavor and visual design for these, especially the armor and clothing design.
New Phyrexia is entirely my aesthetic as well, as I have always had a thing for transdimensional horror and these guys are absolutely the tip-top-tier when it comes to that. Sure the Eldrazi do some interesting stuff with that too, but you just can't deny how clean the design of Phyrexians is.
Dishonorable Mention:
Silverquill - As a writer by trade and general creative, I was fully anticipating loving everything about Silverquill. Sadly, the combination of heavy bully saturation, weirdly militaristic art design choices, and an aggro focus in mechanical design (I empathize with Boros stans now), they ended up a complete failure for me. Maybe in the inevitable return to Strix.