I Live! I Die! I Live Again!

Commander / EDH theLegendred

SCORE: 44 | 16 COMMENTS | 7802 VIEWS | IN 33 FOLDERS

Long Time No Smell! —July 7, 2018

It's good to be back, baby!

Before I had a few people I know express interest in playing the game, after I had some changing job prospects, and since I've been without a car for a few weeks I haven't really been able to play, but things are slowly starting to look up.

Anxiety all of the things!

Recent Swaps

OUT: Harvester of Souls -> IN: Library of Leng: I made this swap/addition for two reasons. 1.) This will protect my hand from wheels. I normally don't mind wheels, but it's here just in case. 2.) This will spare me the trouble of always needing Reliquary Tower when I want to draw a massive hand with Necropotence. I haven't missed Harvester of Souls' ability since I've made this swap so far.

OUT: Gilded Lotus -> IN: Sudden Spoiling: I can live without this artifact since I have plenty of other ways to get the mana I need. I have been in situations before where I wish I had one more thing that could save my hide, buy me some time, or stop a combo. This will also help me wipe out stuff for less with Toxic Deluge. It will be an answer to my prayers until or if I find something else that I like more.

OUT: Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx -> IN: Cabal Stronghold: In the games I've played, I've always been a little shy in devotion until late in the game. Since the stronghold was printed I wanted to stick it in the deck because I can assuredly get more out of it. Access to another boost like Cabal Coffers is in our better interest.

OUT: Swamp x2-> IN: Marsh Flats & Verdant Catacombs: This might sound a little weird, but these are here for a reason. I installed these when I installed Crucible of Words to help ensure that I can get my land drop every turn. I've since taken out Crucible since it never made too big of an influence in my games. Despite that change, the fetch lands are staying because they help fuel Cabal Ritual when they're in the graveyard - something that has a reputation of being fairly shallow when I want to play it.

OUT: Swamp -> IN: Aetherflux Reservoir: This jewel went unnoticed for a little while until I asked myself, "what am I still missing," and "what else is out there that can help me win?" Like Necropotence and Toxic Deluge it can put our surplus life to good use. In a pod of four players you have the option to bomb somebody after killing Kokusho once. I hesitated a little when I first saw the "pay 50 life" part of the card, but tools that can be used to gain life back like Consume Spirit, Exsanguinate, Sanguine Bond, Strionic Resonator, Alhammarret's Archive and so on brush all of that off. Now, imagine my laughter when I discovered how well it works with Exquisite Blood. GG, boys. It's the Fireball I've always wanted.

Sideboard and other Considerations

Not much has changed, but there have been a few things that have crossed my mind.

Myr Battlesphere vs Wurmcoil Engine: Both are good and there are plenty of things in the deck that can interact with them, but it all really comes down to user preference and what they offer the player when they either enter the graveyard or battlefield. We all know that they can both be used for an infinite creature combo with Ashnod's Altar and Nim Deathmantle, but without that combo in play, to break it down it a little more, we can determine what more or less you can do them. How many things do I get to sacrifice? How much will these help me with Contamination and/or Smothering Abomination in play? How many Grave Pact triggers can I get out of them? Do I mind if the tokens die immediately when equipped to Skullclamp? (Note: Tokens that die to Skullclamp will also die to Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite.) All things considered, I think Wurmcoil Engine stands a little bit taller simply because it has lifelink, but the Battleshpere is still a reasonable substitute.

Temporal Extortion: I probably don't need it, but access to extra turns outside of is pretty outstanding. Plus it's ok if an opponent says "no" because it'll cost them half of their life. Using Strionic Resonator, Exquisite Blood, and/or Wound Reflection adds extra pressure to your opponents and can almost certainly guarantee you another turn. The fallback I've seen with this card is that the player with the least amount of life and/or the one that has been the least involved in the game will offer their life to counter it because they have least to lose.

How 'bout that 2019 Core Set?

M19 seems good, but I'm more excited about what we'll see in the upcoming commander set and the upcoming Guilds of Ravnica block. I mean, we were there six years ago. What happened? So much for the Guild Pact and the Dragon's Maze thing. I'll just go back and do whatever with the Dimir, Gruul, Orzhov, maybe Rakdos... something.

Open the Graves: Plenty of stuff dies in the deck, but even so the yield from this thing will probably be too low here. I can really only see this thing shine with Grave Titan, Corpse Dance, and Wurmcoil Engine. This will be better in a token heavy deck.

Desecrated Tomb: Plenty of stuff comes out of the graveyard in this deck too, but as mentioned with Open the Graves, the yield from its effect will probably be too low unless I use it with one of my infinite creature combos. I can imagine both of these cards being abused in a deck like Grimgrin, Corpse-Born. I can also see people that use combos like Reveillark & Karmic Guide get a good laugh out of these too.

Diamond Mare: We'd enjoy this more if we played Storm.

Thoughts, Recommendations, and Upvotes are always welcome.