Gitrog Monster or Ishkanah, Grafwidow?
Commander Deck Help forum
Posted on July 17, 2017, 11:15 p.m. by Kaneki___Ken
Lemme start off by saying I love being original but I also wanna win a good amount. I can't decide between a these two generals. I love Gitrog but he's so overplayed and I have someone in my pod playing him... Ishkanah looks fun but I know she isn't as competitive and I know no one at my lgs runs her. What should I do? I just wanna make a golgari self mill deck (dredgeish) with one of the two but can't decide.
Kaneki___Ken says... #3
I'll look into Varolz actually. I totally forgot about that guy! Would you say Gitrog would be good in the deck? Since I have a copy it would be a shame not to use him.
July 18, 2017 8:31 a.m.
Kaneki___Ken says... #4
I'm doubting Ishkana would be too good in a Varolz deck
July 18, 2017 8:34 a.m.
LittleBlueHero says... #5
I built Ishkanah and have had a blast with her.
Benefit 1: No one at the table is ever overly intimidated by her. So I don't get teamed up on until my board becomes overly saturated with tokens and such.
Benefit 2: She can finish games. Not every commander has the ability to take someone out without attacking. It won't happen every game but it will be relevant more than you'd think.
I built her with a lot of self mill but I also tried to keep Enter the battlefield effects in mind rather than focus on spiders. If she enters the field enough times she builds her own army.
Panharmonicon, Cloudstone Curio, Erratic Portal are all all stars in any deck with a ETB commander... pair that with cards like Eternal Witness, Reclamation Sage and such and you have a nice annoying package that can come back from the yard too since you are golgari.
I do like hypnotoad but I love the Spider Queen.
July 18, 2017 11:08 a.m.
Kaneki___Ken says... #6
Hmm that is an interesting thought, making her an almost golgari flicker deck. Have a Decklist?
July 18, 2017 11:34 a.m.
LittleBlueHero says... #7
Sure:
It hasn't been updated in a hot minute but you can get the groundwork of what I was doing.
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/arachnomancy-1/
July 18, 2017 11:47 a.m.
Varolz likes cheap high power creatures in the yard like Phyrexian Dreadnought or Death's Shadow. You can run him with infect critters to make wiping out opponents easier. It will paint you as a target but it could be fun. Death's Presence can be decent tech as can be Skullbriar, the Walking Grave since he will keep counters on him in the GY.
Flagellum says... #2
Gitrog is a lot better than Ishkanah in terms of competitiveness. However, it comes down to do you want to combo or aggro? Neither of those two will be very "original" par se. Mr. Frog relies on the Dakmor Salvage loop and Ishkanah is limited to spiders for the most part (and not a well-supported tribe). So Hypnotoad will let ya win a lot more than Ishkanah, but you might step on your friend's toes. But between the two I'd go for the horny toad. There are other Golgari generals you could run.
Other Golgari generals of note:
Meren of Clan Nel Toth is another Golgari general who is great, but also overplayed. Glissa, the Traitor, Nath of the Gilt-Leaf stax, or Varolz, the Scar-Striped for your dredging + scavenge needs. Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord is another one but is very mana intensive.
July 18, 2017 3:23 a.m.