Maralen or Xiahou Dun?
Commander Deck Help forum
Posted on June 3, 2017, 1:35 p.m. by Winterblast
I've always used Maralen in this build, but now I'm thinking about using Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed instead.
Both have their values in the same list, but the playing style is very different. I'd like to hear some opinions on the matter...the tutor ability is really cool if it can be used correctly (see description and decklist) but always available graveyard recursion is also interesting
Winterblast says... #3
in this deck there's a high chance I won't ever pay additional costs for the commander because I always let the commander go to the graveyard in this deck...either reanimation then or putting the card on the library with Volrath's Stronghold or taking the commander to the hand with Command Beacon and Crucible of Worlds when i put it into the command zone. Or imprinting it in Mimic Vat and only work with temporary copies of the commander...
The question is simply which effect is more useful and if I rather take the commander I can play at all times (which has a bit weaker effect but is 3/2 basically unblockable) or the one which has to be played at the correct moment to be any good. Maralen is definitely not a commander which you can just play because there's nothing else to play that turn and that made me consider the change ;)
June 3, 2017 2:58 p.m.
Spatialdebris says... #4
Unfortunately copies of a commander don't deal commander damage
June 3, 2017 4:56 p.m.
Winterblast says... #5
Spatialdebris xiahou dun's ability can only be used before the attack anyway so the mimic vat token would never attack. Same for maralen, the mimic vat would result in a tutor when activated in the previous end step or in the upkeep...attacking isn't the point of that thing then.
June 3, 2017 5:14 p.m.
Spatialdebris says... #6
I figured but the horsemanship evasion lends itself well to voltron... seems pointless to waste...
June 3, 2017 5:16 p.m.
Winterblast says... #7
There's Hatred when the original commander is in play but other than that the deck is rather a control build. Hands are empty very quickly and there's even Ensnaring Bridge to prevent attacks completely.
While Xiahou Dun was in the 99 I maybe used him once or twice because he didn't came up often, so dealing dmg with the horsemanship evasion hasn't been present in the deck so far.
June 3, 2017 5:39 p.m.
Did you consider Sidisi, Undead Vizier? imo she's by far the most consistent in mono black control and was my choice after trying hard to make maralen work. I run a deck basically full of answers and hate with a few Phyrexian Altar and Gravecrawler combos as finishers that wins fairly often in 1v1 or multiplayer.
June 3, 2017 10:43 p.m.
Winterblast says... #9
Yes dlamars, I had sidisi in the 99 and I didn't like it much...too few situations in which I was actually able to sacrifice another creature. I have some token producing stuff in the deck now, so I might put sidisi in the deck again. I actually wanted to reduce the average cmc in the deck to make it faster and especially to have more useful turn 1 and 2 plays, so adding another cmc 5 card is a bit tough.
If I play with Xiahou Dun I would cut Dark Deal, which would open a slot for sidisi. I'd rather had put in a card with cmc 0-2 there...
June 4, 2017 2:11 a.m.
Winterblast says... #11
Ah lol, never thought of that...guess I haven't read the exploit ability correctly
June 4, 2017 6:56 p.m.
Yeah, I just think she's a better commander overall than maralen it's easy in black to have the mana to cast her 2 to 3 times a game sacrificing herself. Command Beacon is already in the deck too, it'd be a easy switch...
June 5, 2017 1:26 a.m.
Winterblast says... #13
What doesn't work though is casting her EOT because the searched card would get lost by all the upkeep discarding effects. The deck now works based on the ability to cast or reanimate maralen at instant speed in an opponent's turn in order to prevent card draw (always a nice surprise) and to save mana in my own turn while being the first one to search (then she usually gets sacked again). I will probably put all 3 in the deck and test all as commander.
RedmundR2 says... #2
Well I mean what are the chances your opponent will have horsemanship? Thats pretty solid evasion. I feel that there are much cheaper ways to get some graveyard recursion, especially since the more times your commander dies the less useful it will be. Maralen seems like a better fit overall for your deck and seems more useful, but Xiahou Dun is a really dope card with great art. Its tough but personally i'd lean towards Maralen
June 3, 2017 1:44 p.m.