Riku or Wort?
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on Jan. 7, 2021, 10:36 a.m. by Sultai_Sir
I love value. I really love free value. But you know what I really really really love? VALUE COPIED LITERALLY 400 TIMES. And I found the perfect commander(s)! There's Riku of Two Reflections, which fuels crazy plays and gives you access to blue, but is a huge target for removal, while Wort, the Raidmother flies way under the radar and gives you value the turn you come out, while losing both the creature aspect of Riku of Two Reflections and blue. I haven't tested Wort yet, and I haven't played Riku against anyone, given that I'm stuck inside. So who's better? For reference, I'm a Timmy/Johnny.
Are you the kind of Timmy that’s satisfied with going wide, instead of playing big creatures? If so, go wort. As explained above, wort has a more straightforward game plan.
However, if you like playing really big/flashy creatures (Avenger of Zendikar), then riku is an absolute blast to play. Not nearly as competitive, but I’ve never met someone who played riku and hated it.
January 7, 2021 11 a.m.
Riku has a higher ceiling, but is harder to play and more vulnerable. Needing three colors to cast him means your mana base and draws need to be good, and you need lots of blue mana if you plan to copy more than one thing a turn.
With that said, Riku is capable of some absurd shenanigans and if you go off, the only thing that has a chance of stopping you is usually a board wipe (I had someone Cruel Ultimatum me once and responded by copying it five times, I've had turns where I put 23 big creatures and every land in my deck into play, I wrecked an Allies deck by copying their stuff until I was a better Allies deck, etc)
January 7, 2021 11:54 a.m.
Also: Riku has to be protected hard, because people will try to remove him and he's a 2/2 for with no defensive abilities. Keep that in mind.
January 7, 2021 11:56 a.m.
plakjekaas says... #6
Wort flies under the radar... Once. When you see a Wort deck go off, you'll prioritize getting rid of Wort in the future just as much as getting rid of Riku.
At least I will '^^
January 7, 2021 1:05 p.m.
griffstick says... #7
I like wort. I think it's worth the build. Just the thought of a copied Burn at the Stake sounds fantastic to me
January 7, 2021 2:30 p.m.
Last_Laugh says... #13
Riku being a wedge means you have both / and / in your manabase. Those colors can be rather expensive to buy decent lands for if you don't have them already.
January 7, 2021 4:44 p.m.
Sultai_Sir says... #14
Last_Laugh: I already have a good Simic Base (Shock, Horizon, Check, Pain), but no Izzet of Gruul. How much would a budget mana base cost for a Riku deck?
January 7, 2021 6:14 p.m.
I had a Wort deck for some time and it’s quite fun. But the king of free value is Imoti, Celebrant of Bounty, I love that deck so much. Casting a ghalta for 2 and getting a free 10,9,8,7,6 and 5 drop on top is crazy. While that is magic Christmas land without scroll rack you always get 1 free spell out of it for sure and often more.
January 8, 2021 12:10 p.m.
Honestly have a foil wart I've been trying to get rid of that nobody ever seems to want lol
January 23, 2021 11:38 p.m.
Honestly should have said I play riku as well haha the fun thing I did with it is incorporate the Godzilla cards in it even the hanger back Walker one haha for obvious reasons but I like the way he plays he has alot of value when played right
Gabe_The_Controller says... #2
I've seen a couple of both lists, and wort was stronger by far from all the games I played.
With wort the game is to play token makers like dragon fodder and conspire them so that you haveore andore tokens so that every spell you Cass is copied. Then plan the Mana producing spells and finally burn with a giant x cost conspired (like Jaya's immolating inferno)
The big thing with riku besides copying creatures is the fact that you get acc as to extra turn spells so if that's more up your alley do riku, otherwise I'd go with wort.
January 7, 2021 10:43 a.m.