[Primer] Colored Mana is for the Weak
Commander / EDH*
SCORE: 78 | 53 COMMENTS | 15970 VIEWS | IN 49 FOLDERS
Testing New Cards and Old Cards w/out Paradox —April 3, 2022
I have done a pretty decent amount of testing and some games against various decks, primarily cEDH as that is the intended power level of this deck. With that in mind, here are the current cards that are either performing very well or very poorly and may be removed in favor of other options. Do note that this deck has shifted much more into a "turbo-Kozilek" deck (basically think of it as the cEDH version of a Battlecruiser deck, i.e. limited interaction but does really terrifying things really quickly, kind of like a Godo, Bandit Warlord deck). For the three main traits of the deck ("combo", "combat", and "stax" respectively), the deck has dropped a lot of combo potential with the rude and unnecessary banning of Paradox Engine and has opted to go heavier into stax and combat.
Cards that are performing better than expected:
Trinisphere: This card is great, and is fairly easy to land turn 1 or 2 which can completely kill off cEDH opponents on the spot given how much cEDH relies on fast mana instead of lands. Goes great with Mishra's Workshop. Still a very good stax piece to follow an early Eldrazi Titan as it makes it more difficult for an opponent to free themselves from the threat that is posed by Kozilek and pals, especially with Annihilator 4 cutting them off of mana.
Forsaken Monument: To absolutely no one's surprise, this card is really good in this deck. I originally slotted it in as a replacement for Paradox Engine but it is also just a good value piece in general that happens to go infinite with Basalt Monolith.
Urza's Saga: Insanely good land to play turn 1 or 2 as it can just grab a Sol Ring or Mana Crypt a few turns later. The versatility of being able to grab a Voltaic Key if you have a Mana Vault or whatnot is also very good. Jeweled Lotus is also a good option to net positive a few extra mana for an early Kozilek.
Ashnod's Altar: A frequent card of discussion but one that I find myself tutoring for very frequently with Moonsilver Key. It is fairly easy to get infinite mana in this deck but that does not guarantee victory on the spot whereas being able to loop any card in my library an arbitrary amount of times by sacrificing and re-casting Kozilek does. I have lost before with infinite mana and a ridiculous boardstate that without any question would have guaranteed victory for me the next turn. The Altar is here to stay, barring them somehow printing a better version of the same effect.
Azor's Gateway Flip: I like this card quite a bit as a way of filtering draws and as a potential mana source. It will almost always eat a removal spell if it gets anywhere near the 5 different CMC cards required to flip it but I would prefer that my opponents waste their removal spells on this over my actual mana production. Also goes very well with Unwinding Clock and various other untap shenanigans. A particular interaction worth noting that shows up surprisingly common is infinite mana through Basalt Monolith and Forsaken Monument or Rings of Brighthearth as well as having access to Clock of Omens. I have had this 4 or 5 times now and an observation I made is that one of the artifacts to tap for Clock of Omens can always be the Basalt Monolith (which can untap itself). Doing this allowed me to dig around 30 cards deep to find an Ashnod's Altar so I could actually go infinite and win the game.
Geode Golem: This is almost always going to eat a removal spell but it is a very good way to suddenly get everyone's attention given that it is effectively a slow Kozilek, Butcher of Truth for half the mana.
Cards that are performing below average and may be cut in future iterations:
Sensei's Divining Top: I never thought I would see the day that this card gets cut but it is has gotten significantly worse with the banning of Paradox Engine as it is no longer a backup option to draw your library with an untap from a Voltaic Key or Clock of Omens. Given the low volume of tutors available in colorless, it is pretty frequent to activate the top, see three completely useless cards, and be stuck having to draw them as I cannot shuffle them away.
Staff of Domination: Another card that got worse with the banning of the engine as the turns where I have absurd amounts of mana and just need to dig a few cards deeper are less common. The combo with Metalworker makes it useful but Metalworker is a VERY high priority target and basically never survives unless it is cast on turn 1 or I immediately equip it with Lightning Greaves or Swiftfoot Boots. I am mildly hesitant to cut this given the high volume of Drannith Magistrate's floating around that can cut off Kozilek as an infinite mana sink but it has proven to be one of the weakest cards in the deck.
Mindslaver: This card is either the best possible thing ever and immediately wins me the game or gets me back from a guaranteed loss, or completely useless and ends up bricked in my opening hand with no way to cast it. I am extremely hesitatant to cut this but it is occasionally annoying. 99% of the time, I would rather have Emrakul, the Promised End instead as her cast trigger is much harder to stop and the extra turn they get to recover is almost always useless for them as they are either just dead or so far behind that it doesn't make a difference.
The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale: I knew this going in that this card is either incredible and absolutely wins the game for me or completely useless but it is still worth reiterating that given the absurd price tag that the card commands. If your meta has a lot of decks that run a ton of mana dorks or tokens and the like, this card is incredible. If your meta is nothing but storm decks, don't expect to tutor for this card often. Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth as well as the other versions the deck already ran to make your lands tap for other stuff still makes it worth running if you can afford one or don't mind using proxies like a normal person.
Cards that I am unsure of and will need more testing:
Wandering Archaic Flip: This card is good enough that it shows up from time to time in cEDH decks that are not mono-colorless. Some games it has been great for me and other games it has been completely useless. Not too sure what to think of it yet.
Recent cuts:
Kozilek, the Great Distortion: I cut him to improve consistency with the new plan of casting a really quick Eldrazi Titan. He was by far the weakest of the payoffs I ran anyway. I still have him and will occasionally run him against lower power level groups as the commander given that he is much easier to deal with and doesn't go infinite anywhere near as easily as the real commander does.
Conduit of Ruin: I liked this as a way to tutor up an Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger or Emrakul, the Promised End but that is almost always unnecessary given that Sanctum of Ugin and Eye of Ugin can already do that.
I'm tired of typing. Feel free to ask any questions you have in the comments and I can address them there.