A General Look at Theros
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on Sept. 18, 2013, 2:59 a.m. by SnowCoveredRevenge
There are a total of nineteen legendary creatures in Theros
Five of which are multi-color and fourteen that are mono-color.
Today I will discuss the golden legends and their potential to be generals
Anax and Cymede was one of the very first cards we saw from Theros, and boy was this one a doozy. a 3/2 for three mana with vigilance and first strike is already a deadly combination. Tacking on the Heroic ability that grants your WHOLE TEAM +1/+1 and Trample until end of turn is just silly.
Anthrax and Cyanide. (which my friends have taken to calling this card) has a pretty promising future as a General, In a Boros Aura tron deck, this card will come down early and be a high level threat. There are plenty of red and white auras to make this a genuine threat, and we still have two sets of an aura crazy block to go.
Verdict// B+, Great stats, broad and abusible ability, but no on-board evasion or protections make it fall short of the level of other Tron generals such as Uril, the Miststalker , Geist of Saint Traft , and Zur the Enchanter
Daxos of Meletis once again a three mana legend, but this time a 2/2 with no evergreen mechanics. That being said there are some powerful and rather unique combination of abilities on this card.
He cannot be blocked with anything with power 3 or more. What does this mean? Your opponent will never be able to block favorably.One of the biggest problems with aggressive generals is that an opponent can chump and set you back. /Whenever he deals combat damage, they exile the top card of their library (which right off the bat in a singleton format is resource denial) and then gain life equal to it's converted mana cost. (WHOOT life gain! everyone loves life gain). Until end of turn you can cast that card and may spend mana of any color to cast it. O_O WHOA!, oh look at that Sol Ring , oh that is a really nice Jace, the Mindsculptor you got there. Oh! is that a Thrun, the Last Troll ? I have always wanted one of those in this deck!
Verdict// A+ Daxos of Meletis is hands down absolute bonkers. You can throw Auras on him, you can use equipment, hell use anthem effects even but this guy is the real deal, I would advise all interested in this card to pick them up now before the Standard Sheeple drive the cost up, currently (9/18) foils are presaling for 8.99 which is a steal!
Medomai the Ageless what a fun card, a 4/4 flying mythic sphinx that Time Walk s when he connects. I really like what this card is doing, placing what is rather a taboo in EDH onto a general, it seems devious and dirty but oh such a guilty pleasure it will be. However, he cannot attack during extra turns, which will keep you from steam rolling decks that lack adequate air forces.
where this card could really shine is in a control shell that abuses deceleration of attack effects or in a control build. as it will allow you to use one turn to "tap out" to get boots on the ground and set your board up and then the second turn to untap and have creatures ready to attack and defend while keeping mana open for your goofy tricks or counterspells.
Verdict// B-, a body that is maybe a power/toughness short of being a self-contained threat, but respectable. A controversial ability that I am sure has and will be blown out of proportion for years to come, make this a hot topic card that has a fair amount of potential but is ultimately constrained by the nature of needing to deal combat damage to the converse of it's colors not being favorable to repeated assault of opponents. plus as soon as you declare this sphinx as your general, the disdain of your opponent's will be tangible.
Triad of Fates
ultimately this card is too slow and cumbersome to be a front-line general. Just gonna put that out there, yeah I know there are cards that can untap tapped creatures, but ultimately if your general needs a crutch or band-aid to be effective, maybe you should reevaluate the decision to run that card. However it is a very interesting card as you can blink cards of your own to repeat enter/exit the battlefield triggers as well as net a two card draw just for doing it Also it can be used to bounce your opponents creatures as a combat trick.
Verdict// D, I like the flavor but having to take a turn to place fate counters onto targets will be the downfall of this card. This could have been traded for a higher activation cost such as 1WW or 4BW even. However this card does get a tip of the cap for being the absolute most flavorful legend from Theros.
Tymaret, the Murder King , this cards second ability is rather pointless in EDH but his first ability can be put to some good use. my first gut reaction is that a reanimation heavy deck that abuses both enter/exit the battlefield triggers and death triggers could really make him shine, Ultimately he falls short do to his narrow ability, and low stats.
Verdict// C, A nod for being the most constructed playable of the Generals but overall not enough horsepower to beat out Lyzolda, the Blood Witch who has relatively the same ability and a second ability and with better stats. That being said, I am sure foils of this look absolutely insane.
I was under the impression that Tymaret, the Murder King 's first ability will only be able to be activated if the second is used first.
September 18, 2013 9:23 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #4
@atewi: I assume you concluded that because the first ability says "another." You're misinterpreting the wording; "another creature" simply means "a creature that isn't this one."
September 18, 2013 10:15 a.m.
atreyujames says... #5
I know I've already seen a medomai deck abuse Illusionary Mask and Crystal Shard for infinite turns.
I am working on a Tymaret, the Murder King deck at the moment and its quite fun. I am always being asked; "why not lyzolda" to which I reply "BRAINZ". I chose the king mainly to do zombie tribal. The other abilities are just gravy. Especially that it is a sac engine on the field as well as the grave. This guy almost never see's the command zone twice in one game.
September 18, 2013 10:57 a.m.
FaustHarbinger says... #6
I'm really loving Daxos of Meletis really debating putting him as the commander of a B/W (mainly white) Soldier tribal....
September 18, 2013 11:42 a.m.
I've got a white samurai deck and I'm debating putting Daxos of Meletis as the commander just for shenanigans.
September 18, 2013 12:15 p.m.
You can't use Medomai the Ageless to get infinite turns, even by bouncing it. Due to the wording, it can't attack during ANY extra turn, whether it be from Medomai or Time Walk effects.
However, you could give Medomai double strike and take 2 extra turns if both hits connect.
Ajani, Caller of the Pride
Battle Mastery
Concerted Effort
Silverblade Paladin
True Conviction
September 18, 2013 12:22 p.m.
PenitentKnight says... #9
@meechtThat's where Sakashima the Impostor comes in. Copy Medomai with him and you can get infinite turns if your hits connect.
September 18, 2013 1:18 p.m.
SnowCoveredRevenge says... #10
@smash10101 you should look into Lyzolda, the Blood Witch similar ability but can net you a card draw, as well it can hit creatures and players.
So who do you think is the best legend from this set?
For my money Daxos of Meletis is the best far and above.
September 18, 2013 1:19 p.m.
SnowCoveredRevenge says... #11
Not to be that guy but why are we attempting to find a way to break and already insane general? I do not know about you guys but my league does not look to kindly on lock out combos
September 18, 2013 1:20 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #12
@PenitentKnight: Sorry, that still doesn't work.
Whenever a card uses its name in its text (without saying "a card named ~"), then the name is self-referential and means "this object."
Sakashima the Impostor would replace Medomai the Ageless 's name with its own in both abilities.
September 18, 2013 1:25 p.m.
While my playgroup and I would agree with you, SnowCoveredRevenge, not every league is that way. Some can be very cutthroat and see everything as fair game.
I agree with you, too, that Daxos of Meletis is probably the strongest general out of Theros. Being able to freely cast your opponent's spells can be huge. Throw in Thada Adel, Acquisitor and you can pretty much play your opponents' decks as well as your own.
September 18, 2013 1:40 p.m.
atreyujames says... #14
@meecht: as I said up top, Illusionary Mask +Crystal Shard + any way to give it haste= infinite turns.
September 18, 2013 5:50 p.m.
I think I understand now.
Use Illusionary Mask
to "morph" Medomai the Ageless
Attack with the 2/2
If it connects, instead it flips and deals damage as Medomai
Medomai ability triggers
Bounce Medomai back to hand with Crystal Shard
Next turn, repeat
Is that correct?
September 18, 2013 11:18 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #16
@meecht: That is correct. Because Medomai the Ageless is attacking as a 2/2 pseudo-morphed creature, it has none of its abilities and is not bound to the extra turn restrictions while in "morphed" form. Illusionary Mask 's replacement effect will cause the 2/2 to "unmorph" when it would deal damage, so the creature will deal damage as Medomai the Ageless , thus triggering its ability again.
September 18, 2013 11:21 p.m.
How are you rating these legendaries as generals? I personally disagree with your points on Triad of Fates
and Tymaret, the Murder King
.
While the triad's abilities are slow, they're strong in that you get to reuse etb effects or kill any non-hexproofed creature, or even exile one of your own tokens to draw the cards. She's in BW colors, two colors that are good for tokens and pillowfort effects. Just the threat of her activating her abilities is enough to serve as a pillowfort. In response to attacks being made against you, you can place fate counters on opposing attacking creatures. Even if the triad goes back to the command zone, she can just come back and kill the creatures you placed fate counters on.
Tymaret, the Murder King
's second ability is far from useless. Unless you're scared of him getting shuffled back into your library from your graveyard, having him die and activating his recur ability is not a bad thing. He's an excellent sac enabler, especially in a stax-effect deck. His inherent problem is his color combination, but as a card he's cheap, and has a build-around-me effect that's excellent when given support. Not to mention he beats out on Lyzolda, the Blood Witch
in that he doesn't care if the sacrificed creature is colorless.
smash10101 says... #2
oohh. I will so be making a Tymaret, the Murder King deck. R/B is something I have yet to delve into and graveyard shenanigans are always fun. And I have a feeling that I will be using his second ability.
September 18, 2013 5:28 a.m.