Trouble in Pandemonium
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on Aug. 4, 2020, 1:26 p.m. by MindAblaze
Hi Everybody!
I haven’t been playing as much magic recently, like most of you I imagine, so I only recently stumbled across Terror of the Peaks. Wow. Warstorm Surge on a stick.
Now considering I was already playing my Kaalia of the Vast deck as a dragon build around Warstorm Surge, Scourge of Valkas, Dragon Tempest et al. I decided to add him but the more I playtest this deck the more I see a glaring standout that hurts me more than my opponents.
On the surface, 4 mana Warstorm Surge but in a deck heavily dependent on a 2/2 creature, every creature throwing its weight around when it enters the battlefield means there aren’t a lot of 2/2s left standing.
What would you people do about this? Do I need more than Lightning Greaves and Swiftfoot Boots? I’ve also got a bunch of reanimating spells with no Entomb effects so that was kind of the original plan, but it’s much slower than protecting Kaalia and it’s tempting to use the reanimation spells on fatties like Bladewing the Risen.
Anyway. Thoughts? Ideas?
TriusMalarky says... #3
Hmmmm.
It really depends on your playgroup. I personally just run stupidly powerful cards and figure out awesome, under-the-radar really wack and unused interactions and see how much I can do with it.
If I lose, then I lose. To me, EDH is about seeing how many overly powerful interactions your friends will let you get away with before ganging up on you and whupping your butt.
Good thing is I always bring a knife with me just in case they get aggressive.
August 4, 2020 1:44 p.m.
griffstick says... #4
I'd say add in Vicious Shadows and Stalking Vengeance to the mix and turn the Pandemonium against them for killing your shit.
August 4, 2020 2:15 p.m.
GhostChieftain says... #5
Im with synergy here. It will likely hurt you more than it will help.
Better off doing something like Panharmonicon or a Furnace of Rath effect to get the extra damage at that cmc because it wont be as likely to get your kaalia kiillied. If you are open to entomb and similar effects, I would run that instead because it is objectively better.
August 4, 2020 2:29 p.m.
Do you,
The low cmc with cheating out fatties could be an ealy game advantage
Couple hexproof giving angels could protect later in the game
Same note ditching it wouldnt be a bad idea eather becouse it could cost you the game against the wrong deck
Personally i would stray away from the heavy cmc etb enchantments
and focus more on getting kaalia out fast with haste, protecting her, etb Tutor demons, and a winning combo
But the only right awnser here is the one you enjoy playing becouse you could make any of it work
August 4, 2020 8:08 p.m.
GhostChieftain says... #7
DeinoStinkus that is a good suggestion with goldfishing a lot of cards, but goldfishing with Pandemonium doesn't really work since the big reason not to play it is how your opponents use it against you.
August 4, 2020 10:04 p.m.
another option to think about
instead of worrying about protecting Kaalia of the Vast allow and even help focus her to be the target
build the deck around her dying, and then recurring to battlefield with haste
keep your opponents so busy dealing with bouncing kaalia that they fail to see the board state / combo your building to take the win.
this could work with or with out Pandemonium
August 4, 2020 10:13 p.m.
MindAblaze says... #9
Alright I’ve taken the Pandemonium out and am experimenting with an Embercleave for now, it’s not really protecting Kaalia but without the Pandemonium it doesn’t really matter.
Though I do like the idea of risking it for the brisquet as some might say...it’s all for fun anyway right?
August 4, 2020 11:40 p.m. Edited.
TriusMalarky says... #10
DeinoStinkus xD
Fortunately nobody's pulled a gun on me yet. I might have to use my foldable AK I keep in my [Redacted]* if it gets that bad.
*Redacted in case one of the people I used to play with see this post. I don't know if they know my current address, but it's better to be careful.
On that note, Pandemonium looks fun in tandem with land destruction, but then again, everything in red looks fun in tandem with land destruction. I recently found Epicenter....
August 5, 2020 12:21 p.m.
MindAblaze says... #11
Thoughts on Mother of Runes/Giver of Runes to protect my guys if I did want to go the high risk high reward route and keep the Pandemonium? Too easy pickings? Just delaying the inevitable?
August 5, 2020 9:13 p.m. Edited.
griffstick says... #12
Also add in Blessed Sanctuary, and Leyline of Sanctity.
August 5, 2020 10:13 p.m. Edited.
MindAblaze says... #13
TriusMalarky how about Pandemonium and Burning Sands?
August 5, 2020 11:17 p.m.
TriusMalarky says... #14
MindAblaze ah, yes, I too like to build monored 'nobody can have permanents, including me'
SynergyBuild says... #2
Drop Pandemonium, it's really not worth it unless you have a way to make sure it doesn't hurt you.
Really, whenever someone plays it, it shows the table that that player should be targetted by every trigger you get, as it is really only used as an outlet for infinite combos or busted synergies. Better to kill that player with it's benefit before they get to that.
Run the rest, but drop that one.
August 4, 2020 1:29 p.m.