Every Background + Backgrounded Synergy
Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2022 11:38 pm
Just finished creating a spreadsheet for every combination of backgroundable commander and background, and rating their synergy 1-4 stars. Color order, then alphabetical. Sorry the names are a bit scrunched along the top.
tl;dr - here are some highlights.
Strongest Synergies:
Erinis, Gloom Stalker + Street Urchin - the machine gun of death
Baeloth Barrityl. Entertainer + Raised by Giants - Do nothing, win anyway?
Most synergistic legends:
Burakos, Party Leader has a lot of options between treasures, attacking, and tribal
Baeloth Barrityl. Entertainer goes nuts with power boosting or treasure value
Karlach, Fury of Avernus is the king of anything combat related
Least synergistic legends:
Gale, Waterdeep Prodigy is a strong card but doesn't combine with anything in particular
Volo, Itinerant Scholar actively shuns tribal and sucks in combat, so he doesn't pair with much of anything
Wyll, Blade of Frontiers just sucks
Faceless One obviously
Most synergistic backgrounds:
Flaming Fist is a solid all-purpose enhancement for anyone who wants or needs to get into combat
Inspiring Leader is great with anything that makes tokens
Noble Heritage and Master Chef are great with anything that uses counters or power/toughness
Clan Crafter is strong with anything that makes treasures or cards about power
Cloakwood Hermit and Veteran Soldier are great for anything that likes tokens
Least synergistic backgrounds:
Far Traveler isn't really supported well in backgroundables, only one has an etb, and the "eot, if something left, do X" abilities don't work with it
Candlekeep Sage provides some minor card draw, and that's about it for most legends
Shameless Charlatan is the coolest card ever, but for obvious reasons it's hard to synergize with
Passionate Archaeologist seems like a precon-specific option as main set legends don't seem to care much about casting from exile
Faceless One obviously
Other takeaways:
Backgrounds seem more balanced compared to legends - Karlach and Baeloth are so insane just as standalone cards, and then they get added value from backgrounds. Whereas the strongest-in-a-vacuum backgrounds generally aren't very synergistic (like Shameless Charlatan and Haunted One), and the most widely synergistic backgrounds aren't that flashy. Somewhat surprising as backgrounds go all the way down to common whereas legends stop at uncommon, but all the common backgrounds are pretty decent. The worst one is probably Scion of Halaster and it's still decent reliable value.
tl;dr - here are some highlights.
Strongest Synergies:
Erinis, Gloom Stalker + Street Urchin - the machine gun of death
Baeloth Barrityl. Entertainer + Raised by Giants - Do nothing, win anyway?
Most synergistic legends:
Burakos, Party Leader has a lot of options between treasures, attacking, and tribal
Baeloth Barrityl. Entertainer goes nuts with power boosting or treasure value
Karlach, Fury of Avernus is the king of anything combat related
Least synergistic legends:
Gale, Waterdeep Prodigy is a strong card but doesn't combine with anything in particular
Volo, Itinerant Scholar actively shuns tribal and sucks in combat, so he doesn't pair with much of anything
Wyll, Blade of Frontiers just sucks
Faceless One obviously
Most synergistic backgrounds:
Flaming Fist is a solid all-purpose enhancement for anyone who wants or needs to get into combat
Inspiring Leader is great with anything that makes tokens
Noble Heritage and Master Chef are great with anything that uses counters or power/toughness
Clan Crafter is strong with anything that makes treasures or cards about power
Cloakwood Hermit and Veteran Soldier are great for anything that likes tokens
Least synergistic backgrounds:
Far Traveler isn't really supported well in backgroundables, only one has an etb, and the "eot, if something left, do X" abilities don't work with it
Candlekeep Sage provides some minor card draw, and that's about it for most legends
Shameless Charlatan is the coolest card ever, but for obvious reasons it's hard to synergize with
Passionate Archaeologist seems like a precon-specific option as main set legends don't seem to care much about casting from exile
Faceless One obviously
Other takeaways:
Backgrounds seem more balanced compared to legends - Karlach and Baeloth are so insane just as standalone cards, and then they get added value from backgrounds. Whereas the strongest-in-a-vacuum backgrounds generally aren't very synergistic (like Shameless Charlatan and Haunted One), and the most widely synergistic backgrounds aren't that flashy. Somewhat surprising as backgrounds go all the way down to common whereas legends stop at uncommon, but all the common backgrounds are pretty decent. The worst one is probably Scion of Halaster and it's still decent reliable value.