Gahiji: Forever War

Commander / EDH* awalloftext

SCORE: 153 | 83 COMMENTS | 25894 VIEWS | IN 81 FOLDERS

Set Exploration: Commander 2016 —Oct. 28, 2016

New Recruits

Another year, another set of wacky random cards from the Commander set! Taking a look at what this year has to offer for Political Gahiji, starting with the really exciting stuff...

• Goblin Spymaster: YES. This card makes me incredibly happy. It covers two pillars of this deck - symmetrical token generation and forced attack phases! There's a lot to love here, but it's not a perfect card; keep in mind that the token generation happens every turn, so technically you are creating a fresh blocker, even if you're forcing the rest of their army into action. Like Varchild's War-Riders this card is a risky move, but it's exactly what the deck wants to be doing. Can't wait to try it out.

• Duelist's Heritage: Why, you may ask? "Whenever one or more creatures attack..." doesn't specify only your creatures. Politics in full force here! Gahiji buffs your benefactor's forces, and you can give their biggest, most evasive creature double strike - lovely! I'm really struggling to find room for this, but I highly recommend it. Perhaps in place of Master Warcraft?

• Benefactor's Draught: More card advantage is never bad. If you're forcing two other players to clash, you can windmill slam this and draw a ton of cards; however, untapping everyone's blockers might be problematic when you want to swing. This card does have some clever utility as well, resetting creatures like Selvala, Explorer Returned, Knight of the Reliquary, Rhys the Redeemed and Mother of Runes. If nothing else, this card is certainly interesting.

• Charging Cinderhorn: Hmm, I'm conflicted on this guy. I love that he forces people to attack or become a copy of Naar Isle. However, realistically, I'm having a hard time imagining him getting scary enough to be relevant. Still, I think he warrants trying, if for no other reason than he seems really funny.

• Entrapment Maneuver: This reminds me a lot of Arachnogenesis, in that it's a card that looks great for this deck, but will most likely end up being too situational. You could, however, make the argument that if you have any pillowfort elements going, then you're probably only getting swung at with a few big things; ergo, profit. Also relevant, it is tutorable with Sunforger.

Trying the Spymaster for sure, but I really want to find room for Duelist as well.

Other Cards to Consider

Maybe these won't make the cut, but they might have some potential...

• New Removal Divergent Transformations and Sylvan Reclamation: Sure, why not. I like the flexibility of Reclamation in particular.

• Ash Barrens: Budget color fixing! Nice.

• Selfless Squire: 9/10 times it's going to be underwhelming. 1/10 times it's going to be a 50/50 human that MIGHT turn the game around. Whether or not that's worth it is up to you, but for my money, I'd rather run Comeuppance.

• Primeval Protector: Realistically, late-game this is gonna be a 10/10 for that buffs your board. Counterargument - You can probably also afford Craterhoof Behemoth or Pathbreaker Ibex at this point, and win instead.

• Tana, the Bloodsower: Only worth consideration if you run a healthy evasion package. Sort of a budget Rhys the Redeemed. Not terribly exciting.