I'm Counting on the Dead [Competitive]

Commander / EDH* grimcase21

SCORE: 9 | 12 COMMENTS | 3900 VIEWS | IN 3 FOLDERS


Revisiting Old Cards —April 19, 2018

Removing

Adding

grimcase21 says... #1

Hope the holidays were great for ya SlavicGhaespar. I too though that I should of auto included Autumn's Veil, Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord, Phyresis and/or Glistening Oil, but after some testing I've had some problems with each of them. Hear me out,

Autumn's Veil: great card, but I choose not to color hate, mostly cause it can be a dead card if you don't play against those colors. In my group, I guess it's ok, and can change with Vines of Vastwood. However it doesn't stop Path to Exile or Swords to Plowshares.

Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord: for a slower more value deck grind, yes, this card can be insane for a multiplayer version of this deck. In this deck there are a few main problems with having him in this deck. He is too expensive for an underwhelming payoff. As a tempo play for a proactive deck, do you want to play a 4 mana 2/2 that doesn't help you with your combo, but rely on the scavenge already done. He is a bad scavenge target if he is in the graveyard (GGBB can be hard to make and he will most likely be a 2/2 because there is no recursion in the deck so you scavenge any creature that hits the graveyard). The main target will to put your counters on will be 99% of the time be your commander. The question is, do you really want to sacrifice your 14/14 or 15/15 commander that you invested, your commander, a high value scavenge target that you won't get back, and any resources used to assemble that combo (tutors etc.). Lastly, along with a bad tempo play, he is a win more card. Let's say you play mana dork on 1, commander on 2, Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord on 3. Now compare that to, some of my other plays that you could do on that turn, how about Jarad's Orders get Elvish Spirit Guide in hand and Phyrexian Dreadnought in graveyard. Scavenge the the Phyrexian Dreadnought with the Elvish Spirit Guide swing with a 14/14. These are why I don't think he's that good in the deck (also if you play him on turn 4, you lose your ability to protect him. Regen in commander is not as good as you may think. The removal is usually exile, -x/-x and bounce against me like Cyclonic Rift, Toxic Deluge, Path to Exile, Swords to Plowshares and Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite)

Phyresis and/or Glistening Oil: If I have a 15/15 commander and they block the creature will die (most of the time) infect or not infect. If they have a creature, they'll block a 15/15 commander anyways. Due to it being sorcery, you can't surprise win like Tainted Strike and steal a win. Yes you might get it a win here and there with it, but having too much redundant effects on a condition win can leave you with a not very good position. Besides, there are quite a few tutors in the deck that help reduce this redundancy for the best cards for the finishers (Berserk > Tainted Strike > Phyresis and/or Glistening Oil.

January 7, 2018 4:33 a.m.

SlavicGhaespar says... #2

Nice to see someone take their deckbuilding seriously. Gj!! And with competitive level of play I totally agree with what you wrote. Only thing I have had really great success with in a more competitive environment is Autumns Veil, other cards are definitely out of the picture.Hope you also had a great holidays and now are ready for a new season of head bashing. If you find time, check out my Sidisi Budget combo for EDH. Maybe you find some things that would need some change :)

January 7, 2018 5:18 a.m.

grimcase21 says... #3

I remember looking up that card awhile ago when I was making the deck chadsansing, back then it was a win more card. With this iteration, I'm really considering it, just hard to find a spot in this list XD. I'll try to squeeze it in without taking out a land.

April 13, 2018 8:34 p.m.