Should Karametra, God of Harvests *f-etch* be banned as a Commander?
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on March 6, 2014, 6:21 p.m. by MortisAngelus
Hello,
I just thought to hear your opinion about Karametra, God of Harvests as a commander. In my humble opinion this card has ramp-potential like few others. If Primeval Titan and Sylvan Primordial is considered overpowered due to ramp I think this, as a commander, also would be too powerful.
Compared to Azusa, Lost but Seeking this Karametra, God of Harvests do not require you to have the lands in your hand to play them; very much like the Titan and Primordial. NOTE: I dont say that Karametra, God of Harvests is in the same league of annoyance as either the Primordial or Titan, but she is definitely a lot worse than Azusa, Lost but Seeking for a) the reason mentioned above, and b) it is an INDESTRUCTIBLE 6/7 Enchantment creature.
So my point is: I think Karametra, God of Harvests should not be allowed AS COMMANDER in commander (not banned all together). What do you think?
No. It relies on other cards for strength, unlike Sylvan Primordial and Primeval Titan . She completely depends on you drawing cards and playing a lot of creatures to fuel her abilities, so she's actually quite conditional.
March 6, 2014 6:38 p.m.
NoPantsParade says... #4
Although Karametra, God of Harvests is really good, especially as a commander, I don't think she warrants a ban. I happen to play her as my commander, so I might have a bias, and it normally wins. Yes, she does get out of control, and I have seen other versions that are equally strong. She is extremely powerful when combined with Whitemane Lion and other things. Similar to what GoldGhost012 stated, (1) she can still be removed through enchantment or creature exile, provided she is a creature (2) she can be bounced with Cyclonic Rift (which is very common), and (3) the lands come into play tapped. However, combining Sterling Grove is just brutal at times. I do understand the whole 6/7 thing, though, as I have won multiple times through commander damage after destroying everything.
tl;dr: she is strong but doesn't warrant a ban.
March 6, 2014 6:42 p.m.
She also encourages massive overcommital to the board which is fantastic when someone has a wrath in hand.
March 6, 2014 6:47 p.m.
Definitely not.
Another reason why Karametra is way different than previously banned cards is that it doesn't destroy opponents' things so it doesn't lead to LD or MLD.
However, on a side note, this thread does make me personally feel a lot better about some of the complaints I have gotten. It's not just me!
March 6, 2014 6:55 p.m.
Didgeridooda says... #7
The red/green god is better I think. Both good, but R/G guy is a beast.
March 6, 2014 7:09 p.m.
The other reason Prime Time was banned is because the text just reads "up to two lands." Notice the absence of any description as to what KIND of land. Attack and go get my Maze of Ith and Library of Alexandria ? Yes, please.
March 6, 2014 7:23 p.m.
Didgeridooda says... #9
anewsome that was not a reason. It is because they don't like me. So they banned my guys.
March 6, 2014 7:26 p.m.
Ohthenoises says... #10
Lol Wut? Zur the Enchanter seems ok I guess...
Karametra, God of Harvests is a 5 drop that can be answered rather easily. It can be countered, exiled, and tucked. She has no immediate impact on the boardstate unless you wait till you can cast a creature on the same turn. She is NOT broken in any way, shape, or form. Compare her power level to Uril, the Miststalker or Geist of Saint Traft and you'll see that she isn't bad.
March 6, 2014 7:51 p.m.
- She is green/white, hardly a choice favorite, especially for X effects that benefit from this like Sphinx's Revelation .
- She is near-invincible, making the fact that she is a commander that can be replayed less viable. She is good in commander, but better as a filler than as a commander. She sticks either way.
March 6, 2014 8:04 p.m.
nobu_the_bard says... #12
She's not that crazy. As the other users mentioned, she needs you to cast creature spells to have her trigger occur. I don't think any of the other Commander banned cards with triggered abilities work exclusively on casting (except Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
?).
Most the banned creatures like Primeval Titan , Sundering Titan , Sylvan Primordial have ETB triggers that are easy to abuse with a long list of ways to flicker or cheat them into play. The other creatures have similarly easy-to-abuse abilities that are only slightly different from those.
March 7, 2014 10:22 a.m.
The other thing about Karametra's ramp is that it only gets Plains or Forests. Most EDH decks are jammed full of as many non-basic lands as you can afford. Since there are <10 non-basics with the type Forest or Plains, this means that if you want true ungodly amounts of ramp, you need to get rid of a lot of the great utility lands. So, there is another balancing factor on her.
March 7, 2014 10:29 a.m.
SharuumNyan says... #14
I don't see her as OP. Most elf decks have a lot of mana ramp, but what usually happens is they do a mana combo, make 150 mana, and then have nothing they can play with it. Unless you have a Reliquary Tower and some kind of card draw machine, it's not that great. You're going to sit there with an empty hand.
March 7, 2014 11:29 a.m.
Ohthenoises says... #15
@SharuumNyan that's why my elfball edh commander is Omnath, Locus of Mana . 150 mana means a 151/151 omnath.
March 7, 2014 2:12 p.m.
SharuumNyan - you use Omnath. The mana doesn't drain and she gets huge. You have to address her every single time she's played or you lose.
March 7, 2014 2:41 p.m.
Sorry, I didn't read yours.
Although restricting yourself to mono green is not ideal in EDH.
March 7, 2014 2:53 p.m.
Ohthenoises says... #19
Don't be sorry lol. I was having a laugh.
Mono green edh is actually pretty easy to make disgusting. My Rollover Minutes for example, gets nasty looks whenever I dust it off because they don't like the combo.
March 7, 2014 3:02 p.m.
Ohthenoises says... #21
Asceticism , Nim Deathmantle , and Aluren ... Good luck ;)
For real though every edh in my meta has 5-7 wipes so I'm used to it.
March 7, 2014 3:12 p.m.
SharuumNyan says... #22
But if Karametra was the commander, Omnath would be destroyed immediately. That's the problem with most decks not using Omnath as the general.
March 7, 2014 3:34 p.m.
MortisAngelus says... #23
Going off-topic now guys. Please stay to the topic.
GoldGhost012 says... #2
Eh, I don't really think Sylvan Primordial wasn't really banned because of its ramp effect, more because players hated the fact that their lands kept getting blown up.
The nice thing about Karametra is that the lands come in tapped, unlike Primeval Titan . And since the ability only activates when a creature is cast, I don't feel that it's overpowered. Harder to remove and able to generate a lot of ramp yes, but it really doesn't generate the amount of mana Omnath, Locus of Mana does.
Plus there's quite a bit of enchantment exile removal in EDH. She's really not all that difficult to remove.
March 6, 2014 6:30 p.m.