A few changes with Origins
Commander Deck Help forum
Posted on July 24, 2015, 11:41 a.m. by ComradeJim270
So I'm looking through the Origins cards I got. Some fun stuff! But I'm not sure how to get it in my decks.
I mean, Life of the Party would like to have Gideon's Phalanx, I'm just not sure what to take out. Also not sure if Alhammarret's Archive is worth putting in.
The archive is definitely a good choice for Not Quite From Scratch though. But what to take out?
I'd appreciate suggestions on how to make room for those cards!
ComradeJim270 says... #3
Hmm... I don't think that'd be a good tradeoff. Both of those cards are very powerful in my deck. The phalanx doesn't quite pass muster in comparison. I agree on the archive, the card draw likely will not be happening enough to justify it and I gain enough life as it is.
For Daretti, I am presently using the Colossus as one of my win conditions, so I would not be comfortable cutting it for something that is not also a win con. I was actually thinking about taking out Dreamstone Hedron, but I'm not sure on that. Being able to bring back the Hedron to draw more is pretty nice. But the amount of draw the Archive allows with Daretti is also awesome.
July 24, 2015 12:42 p.m.
VampireArmy says... #4
Orbs of Warding is another one people are overlooking.
July 24, 2015 1:02 p.m.
ComradeJim270 says... #5
Yeah, given that my Daretti deck is increasingly control-heavy the Orbs are already in the maybeboard. I don't have a copy yet though.
July 24, 2015 1:07 p.m.
Schuesseled says... #6
I like how that card basically says up yours to Urza's Armor.
July 24, 2015 1:52 p.m.
ComradeJim270 says... #7
Orbs doesn't stop burn damage, but since you have hexproof only global burn gets past it anyway. I'm more interested in the hexproof, really.
July 24, 2015 1:53 p.m. Edited.
FinchFalcon says... #8
I'd take out Comet Storm. You've got better sweepers, and with infinite mana it's an auto win, but I think the archive is stronger overall- you'll use it every time you get it to boost your commander, unlike comet storm which is really pretty bad unless you're already going infinite.
July 24, 2015 1:58 p.m.
ComradeJim270 says... #9
Comet Storm is actually one of my main win conditions, if not the main win con. I rarely use it as a sweeper, it's almost always "Comet Storm for an arbitrarily large number... another game?".
July 24, 2015 2:49 p.m.
Gideon's Phalanx is 4 bodies and 8 total power for seven mana. Considering what most token decks are capable of at seven mana that is ludicrously inefficient. Don't run it.
July 27, 2015 1:46 p.m.
ComradeJim270 says... #11
Alright, I've made some changes to the decks and managed to get some of this stuff in. I've taken the advice of the folks in this thread and decided against the Archive in my Trostani deck. But I am testing Gideon's Phalanx, which has a pretty low floor but an impressive ceiling. Still no Archive in Daretti, I may need to move more than one card around to make it work without compromising the effectiveness of the deck.
@sonnet666: If it were just four 2/2 bodies for seven mana I'd agree wholeheartedly. However it's the second clause that really caught my eye. The amount of boardwipes and sweepers flying around my meta makes it extremely relevant and a quarter of my deck is instants and sorceries so Spell Mastery isn't that hard to hit.
But you have a good point; it may not work out. For now I'm experimenting with it; replaced Trostani's Summoner since I don't have a way to get more value out of her unless I imprint her on to Mimic Vat. I'll see how it goes, you may well be right but time will tell.
July 28, 2015 2:26 a.m. Edited.
Run some more lasting wrath protection then: Eldrazi Monument, Cauldron of Souls
Seriously, you're going to hold up 7 mana in a token deck just in case someone wraths? Not usually a good play. If you really want this effect just put in Rootborn Defenses; it's way more likely to be useful.
Also only 15% of your deck is instants and sorceries. On turn seven you'll have drawn 14 cards. The likelihood of you drawing 3 instants or sorceries by that point (one of them being Gideon's Phalanx) is not actually that high.
What I'm trying to say is this is a really bad card no matter how you look at it.
Also if you want more wrath protection there's always Faith's Reward, Ghostway, and Twilight Drover.
July 28, 2015 1:02 p.m.
Ignore the part about 15%. I was looking at Not Quite from Scratch, my mistake.
July 28, 2015 1:04 p.m.
ComradeJim270 says... #14
Good points, sonnet666. I do already run Rootborn Defenses for that reason.
The problem with a lot of the cards you named is that my tokens would die anyway. Still, you're right about holding up 7 mana for the Phalanx, it's only useful if I wrath. And all my boardwipes leave me with creatures anyway.
I'll take it back out, it's too situational. Thanks for pointing all that out.
July 28, 2015 1:17 p.m. Edited.
That's why I've always felt that ETB token spawners like Cloudgoat Ranger, Trostani's Summoner, and Evangel of Heliod are superior to sorcery token spells like Advent of the Wurm, Increasing Devotion, or Gideon's Phalanx. With the creatures you can copy them, recur them, persist them, blink them (Conjurer's Closet), put them on Mimic Vat then populate the token... and then you get your army back when they come in. With the sorceries you play them, and then when someone wipes you're screwed and can't get them back with anything short of an Eternal Witness.
July 30, 2015 8:05 p.m.
ComradeJim270 says... #16
Cathars' Crusade + Increasing Devotion is just too funny not to do, though.
Arvail says... #2
Remove either Worldspine Wurm or Phyrexian Processor for it if you really want it. Don't put in the archive. Lifegain is already a sort of meh way to generate resources. A card that increases this isn't really all that amazing here. You can axe Colossus of Akros for the archive in Daretti.
July 24, 2015 12:28 p.m.