Hello! Welcome to my set review of March of the Machine, where I will pick five cards of each colour and discuss my favourite cards from them.
Given that March of the Machine (aka MOM) also comes out with a set of preconstructed Commander decks, I’ll also be covering my favourite new cards from there in another article.
Without further ado, here are my favourite Red cards!
This is one of the most busted cards in the set. Three green pips keeps it solidly in green, but wow what a card. Tendershoot Dryad with the city’s blessing gives you a card every turn. There are already infinite combos with this and persist creatures. The most egregious of these combos is Kitchen Finks, Tribute to the World Tree, and a sacrifice outlet like Phyrexian Altar, Altar of Dementia, or Ashnod’s Altar.
With Finks entering, you draw a card and gain 2 life. Sacrifice it to Phyrexian or Ashnod’s Altar for mana. Persist triggers. Kitchen Finks returns as a 2/2 triggering Tribute to the World Tree, adding +1/+1 counters, thus removing the -1/-1 counter and allowing for Persist again. You gain two life. Sacrifice to an altar of your choice to repeat the cycle. Infinite mana, infinite mill. This works with persist creatures with power 3 or less. Just a crazy card that’s going to do a lot of wild stuff. Keep a copy in a binder, you might need it.
Hello, new Chromatic Lantern! I love the mana fixing on this card, but the real fun comes from its abilities. The +1 doesn’t untap the land, notably, but a 3/3 with vigilance, hexproof, and haste is a fine attacker or defender. The -2 fills your graveyard for a Muldrotha deck and pops a permanent among them to hand. The real spice is the restriction free emblem of playing lands and permanent spells from your graveyard. Wowee, this makes me want to build something green for the first time in a long time. Yes, it’s silly to evaluate based on an ultimate, but come on, live a little!
Ogre Battledriver is a solid card in red. For green to get a similar card in the command zone that changes the two point buff to a counter when green has plenty of Hardened Scales effects, that’s crazy powerful. Giving board wide trample to your creatures is also very strong on a beefy 6/5 body. In terms of in the 99, Surrak and Goreclaw just care about you playing non token creatures and similar to Tribute to the World Tree play really well with Persist. Cauldron of Souls, a sacrifice outlet, and an ETB creature that uncaps an artifact will create loops for days!
Kami of Whispered Hopes is one of two Hardened Scales effects in the set, but this one is a mana dork too. Ozolith plays nice with its second ability and if you need to cycle it away, that’s a great option to have. Ozolith’s a far cry from its first appearance, that’s for sure, but knowing how strong Hardened Scales is, these two cards are more value on a single card. They also cascade in mana value. These are worth highlighting for the simple fact that this effect is powerful but also extremely popular.
Fine. He made it to the top. Does Vorinclex fully deserve to be in the top cards of the set, maybe. ETB tutor for two Forests to hand on a five drop is… underwhelming. Having a 6/6 trample, reach body can deter attacks or allow you to get through and that’s nice. The flip side is where it’s at and truly, that first chapter is what’s worth repeating so get your Hex Parasites ready because we’re going hunting. Mill ten and pick up to two creatures from the pile to pop into play right away? Yeah, bud, it’s a narrow and less powerful Tooth and Nail, but it adds some excitement. Will they whiff? Will them get the perfect combo? Flip the ten!
Second chapter is fine especially with Doubling Season or the aforementioned Hardened Scales effects. The final chapter is kind of… hmm. It’s not quite a board wipe. It allows you to be strategic about using your creatures to fight threats and you’ll have a 6/6 to sling around at least. My least fave Praetor of the bunch and knowing my luck, I’m going to open several and none of the ones I like.
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Hello! Welcome to my set review of March of the Machine, where I will pick five cards of each colour and discuss my favourite cards from them.
Given that March of the Machine (aka MOM) also comes out with a set of preconstructed Commander decks, I’ll also be covering my favourite new cards from there in another article.
Without further ado, here are my favourite Red cards!
Surprising absolutely no one, Urabrask is at the top of this list. It’s a Birgi, God of Storytelling for instants and sorceries and half a Guttersnipe in damage and targets on one four mana 4/4 first striker. Build a burn deck around this and go absolutely ham. Toss in Fiery Emancipation and every Faithless Looting is also a Bolt!
Plus after just three instants and sorceries in a turn, you can pay A SINGLE RED MANA to flip Urabrask into The Great Work which can absolutely wreck an opponent’s board and hit them for three to the face. Next chapter leaves you three Treasures to prepare you for the ULTIMATE Past in Flames that allows you to cast instants and sorceries from ANY graveyard. I’m calling this the best Praetor of the bunch. Easily. It’ll have to be in spellslinger shells only but my god, what a pay off.
A Vampire that knows how to have fun. Toss this in a Jund deck with Yargle and Multani. For three mana, you can make this a 3/3 that becomes a Lightning Bolt as its sacrifice ability, or you can give another creature +2/+2 and give it that same ability.
+1/+1 counter decks are going to like this. Vampire decks will like this. Brion Stoutarm decks if there are still around, let’s get you a back up plan. I think this card is a lot of fun. It’s fun and goofy!
One of the best Dragons ever printed is on the back of a battle. An Amplify-able Shock for two that becomes a Tarkir inspired Dragon like the Dragonlords with triggered abilities for when Dragons attack turning each attack into a Shock of their own. The Ur-Dragon, any red Dragon deck, they all want this. Maybe not Scion of the Ur-Dragon because this can’t be tutored, but I’m sure players who have a Scion deck are still gonna jam this.
As a passive ability alone, Chandra, Hope’s Beacon is a Double Vision, which is already an insane start. The -X on a 5 loyalty planeswalker is dealing that much damage to up to two targets. You can +2 for two mana of whatever combo you need and the +1 helps you dig for that instant or sorcery you need right now.
The +1 is tough because you can only cast a single instant or sorcery from among them, but with the other abilities, Chandra is a heavyweight that will make a splash in spellslinger decks no doubt. Or big mana decks that need the fixing. Man, the alt art version is so sick.
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker is the OG creature cloning as token legend. Jaxis, the Troublemaker and Rionya, Fire Dancer both have been extremely popular. Orthion, Hero of Lavabrink brings a different wrinkle to the playstyle by allowing you to cash in on big mana and making FIVE tokens. A repeatable kicked Rite of Replication on an ability is fantastic. Dockside Extortionist is busted enough, but there are cards like Red Dragon that read “nug the table for 20 a piece” when Orthion makes copies of it. Hell, you could target Wrathful Red Dragon and then play Blasphemous Act to send six instances of 13 damage around or finish someone off with 78 damage
Orthion and Jaxis share similar space for me and I’ll be using them interchangeably with the other in the 99 for a while. It’s a lot of fun and I highly recommend this kind of commander!
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Hello! Welcome to my set review of March of the Machine, where I will pick five cards of each colour and discuss my favourite cards from them.
Given that March of the Machine (aka MOM) also comes out with a set of preconstructed Commander decks, I’ll also be covering my favourite new cards from there in another article.
Without further ado, here are my favourite Black cards!
Sheoldred is like a Chain Devil that hits planeswalkers too on its front side. A 4/5 menace won’t come into play much though because there’s a great chance you’ll be flipping this Praetor as much as possible in any reanimation or mill shells.
First chapter just snipes a creature or planeswalker for each of your opponents, second chapter is asymmetrical mass discard three and mill three, making sure that when you hit chapter three, you’re going to Rise of the Dark Realms a hefty amount of creatures. A lot of set up is going into this, but my god, that pay off! Dimir mill never lived so hard! Rakdos aristocrats and Ever-Changing ‘Dane decks will be jamming Sheoldred, easily. I am so excited for her return so soon after Dominaria United.
This removal spell is top notch. Is it free in the way that Deadly Rollick is? No. But if you’re running creatures, it might as well be. Destroying a target creature or planeswalker at instant speed with Convoke would have been enough for me on a card, but that Surveil 2 could very well be relevant. I know when I play Araumi of the Dead Tide, there are times I Encore creatures out that I don’t necessarily need to attack with. The solution? Tap them for mana and Pile On. This is sweet!
Breach the Multiverse is the type of card the format was built on. Is it your turn? Is this a big mana late game spell? You’re damn right. Everybody mills ten and you get four of the best creatures spanning all graveyards. They’re also Phyrexians which has implications in Phyrexian creature themed decks with the new Brimaz for example, or with say Elesh Norn’s backside board wipe. A very fun card I hope to see a lot! Played by me specifically.
Alright, okay. Prosper, Tome-Bound is the most popular Rakdos commander of all time. This card is going to be seeing play in the Prosper decks that are not tuned toward cEDH. This is such a fun card. Convoke it out, now everything Prosper exiles can be discounted. Not just that, but you get to tutor up and exile a card face down! Keeping everybody on their toes against your Rakdos prince. This might be the only tutor I run in the deck. I really love this dorky looking dragon.
A modal board wipe on a permanent that can be blinked? Whose idea was this? It’s an absolute house for decks like Aminatou, the Fateshifter planeswalkers – in which I’ll find room for this for sure. New Jodah, the Unifier can choose to destroy non-legendary creatures and keep his board. Then the backside is Marchesa (long may she reign) as a 3/6 menacing deathtoucher who can kill battles or planeswalkers on attack. Beware, Hydra decks! And if you go a turn cycle without being attacked, you get a Phrexian Arena trigger.
What is not to love about this card? I mean, besides it being played against you.
The first of the colours to have a sixth card getting called the best of the set is of course Invasion of Innistrad. While the battle side is not that impressive since it’s a four-mana Tragic Slip, it still is a permanent and can be blinked potentially. But that back side is where you want to be. Get two Zombies out of the deal, but most importantly, you get graveyard hate that can make a 2/2 untapped Zombie for cheap and if you’ve got hella mana, you can make a lot of them at once before your turn in, say, The Scarab God, where you’re already holding up mana for the activated ability. I think this is stronger in 60 cards, but this is fun and cool!
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Hello! Welcome to my set review of March of the Machine, where I will pick five cards of each colour and discuss my favourite cards from them.
Given that March of the Machine (aka MOM) also comes out with a set of preconstructed Commander decks, I’ll also be covering my favourite new cards from there in another article.
I’m not going to lie, I’m a little low on the blue cards this set. There are a few that are pretty stellar, but the amount blue cards that I’m going to include in decks is lower than I initially thought and hoped. Without further ado, here are my favourite Blue cards!
Again, the Praetors are all pretty fantastic with maybe Vorinclex being the most disappointing. Jin-Gitaxias has protection built in and rewards you by making all 3-plus mana value noncreature spells cantrips. Adding Teferi’s Ageless Insight and Alhammarret’s Archive to a deck helmed by Jin makes the transformation much more likely. The first Saga chapter doubles your hand size which is already amazing. Bouncing all non-Phyrexian creatures almost makes me want to not play other Phyrexians in this deck because the third chapter lets you cast them all over again. The third chapter being a turn long Omniscience and then flipping to Jin-Gitaxias again means that your hand is going to keep filling up as long as you’re casting 3-plus mana value noncreature spells. I really like Jin for my clones list and spellslnger lists. Maybe even a wheels list. This card is pretty wild.
Yuta Takahashi’s World Champion invitational card design is pretty solid. I know he wanted it to be a 1/3, but he has a killer card to his name. Two mana with flash in a format where players often draw multiple cards, you’ll be drawing a ton of cards. In a wheel deck, you’ll draw an extra three cards. For 3U, you can give a group hug deck a try. Making this maybe even a wincon. I love this card! It’s going to see tons of play in the format.
Are you playing a noncreature spell-focused strategy that makes creature tokens here or there? Maybe an Izzet burn deck that loves making Dragon Fodder? Or an enchantress list that wants to turn your Mesa Enchantress into a mana dork?
Caetus, Sea Tyrant of Segovia is a card I’ve been hoping gets made for a long time. Untapping four creatures at your end step doesn’t mean that you have to have them for convoke! Maybe you’ve already got a Circle of Dreams Druid or a Mike, the Dungeon Master. There’s lots to like about this card. I’m going to mess with it in a few lists like Zaffai, Thunder Conductor.
This is the first time we’ve seen “This spell can’t be copied” on a card. We’ve finally hit critical mass of copying effects that require this.
This is also a copy spell that copies spells on the stack as well as creatures. I think it’s incredible. Eight or more cards in a graveyard is not difficult at all. Getting to copy a spell and then a creature is huge. There’s not much to say about this card beyond “hey, this is good and applies to many situations.” Put this everywhere.
The Locust God just pulled up and said “Get in, we’re going tapping.” You’ll be able to not only draw a ton of a cards but create more flying Insects to keep the pummelling going.
Do you have a Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver deck? Congrats on your new favourite draw spell. You’ll need four blue mana to pay the UUUU, but turning all your Zombies into card draw at instant speed is fantastic. Distant Melody is stronger in tribal decks for sure, but this is a solid draw spell. Decks focused on X spells like Magus Lucea Kane or Zaxara, the Exemplary are also getting a nice addition to the their draw suite.
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Hello! Welcome to my set review of March of the Machine, where I will pick five cards of each colour and discuss my favourite cards from them.
Given that March of the Machine (aka MOM) also comes out with a set of preconstructed Commander decks, I’ll also be covering my favourite new cards from there in another article.
Without further ado, here are my favourite White cards!
I’m pretty confident that I’ll be talking about the Praetors in each of the colour articles. They are insanely pushed and so, so cool.
Elesh Norn is just daring your opponents to deal damage to you or your creatures. It’s not like the damage is prevented, but every instance of damage is turned into two-life loss for the source’s controller. Blasphemous Act while you’ve got a ton of tokens out? Okay, you better have saved up some mana. If you’re going to hit me, it better be for lethal! We haven’t even gotten to the backside.
The Argent Etchings, aside from having incredible art, is bomb set up. You get five 2/2 artifact creatures for your trouble, and if you had any untransformed Incubator tokens, you flip those too. Then add a +1/+1 and double strike to create some wild 3/3s. Chapter three annihilates the board and brings back your queen. It’s time to concede, opponent.
Phyrexian Rebirth, is that you? Sunfall is not only one mana less than the spell this evolved from, but it also EXILES all creatures. How brutal! All creatures get exiled and you get an Incubator artifact token with +1/+1 counters on it equal to all the creatures exiled with this. If I’m playing this, it’s in a control shell, a token deck, or an aristocrats/sacrifice deck. I have a planeswalker deck that is happy to have a second Farewell…
Oh, wow this is the chase uncommon of the set. Being able to run a narrow Fog that also is a less restricted Veil of Summer, that’s amazing. You and your permanents getting hexproof can be a huge difference in a turn. But better than that, Surge of Salvation in response to a Blasphemous Act that your opponent thinks is a big gotcha moment – chef’s kiss, baby. Shut it down.
I don’t know about battles just yet, but some of these seem extremely strong. Invasion of Gobakhan’s ETB is Elite Spellbinder on a battle. See a hand, get some information, and tax an opponent. Then hit it for three damage and you get Lightshield Array, one of the coolest enchantments for an aggressive deck, or just a deck that wants on board creature protection. You get so much out of this if you’re attacking with your creatures. Got a vigilant crew? Good luck, opponents. This is a battle that turns into an activated ability version of a creature Heroic Intervention.
Unfortunately, battles don’t have a ton support just yet as they’re a new type of card. It’s not like this gets slotted in an Enchantress deck or something yet, but hopefully one day we’ll get to that level of support. I think this is one of the coolest battles printed… so far.
Incredible surprise to get such a strong stax piece in a standard set like this lately. This rewards players who enjoy playing Phyrexian spells, but ultimately, if you slam this baby down even without the Phyrexian angle, you’re putting a stop to a ton of spells and while there are a bunch of solid Phyrexian creatures that see play. This is going to give your opponents pause. You’ll need to learn how to sequence a little bit if you go up against this, but it’s a Phyrexian Ethersworn Canonist with terrifying and fun art. I really love this and hate it at the same time.
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Hello and welcome to A Seat at the Table, the column where I pick a commander and talk about what I’d include in the 99. This week, a Rakdos legend plucked from my DREAMS, darling!
For 1BB, Ayara, Widow of the Realm is a Legendary Creature – Elf Noble 3/3 with a wall of text and a back side! Let’s see both textboxes:
“T, sacrifice another creature or artifact: Ayara, Widow of the Realm deals X damage to target opponent or battle and you gain X life, where X is the sacrificed permanent’s mana value.
5pR: Transform Ayara. Activate only as a sorcery. (pR can be paid with either R or 2 life.)”
And now the back side! She becomes Ayara, Furnace Queen, a 4/4 Phyrexian Elf Noble whose colours become black and red with –
“At the beginning of combat on your turn, return up to one target artifact or creature from your graveyard to the battlefield. It gains haste. Exile it at the beginning of the next end step.”
Wowee!!!
A powerhouse with versatility that lets people know you’re a force to be reckoned with in the early or late game.
Things to note:
Let’s add some cards to the 99.
Since Ayara, Furnace Queen triggers at the beginning of your combat step, what better way to take advantage than to have more than one combat step? Ideally, you’ve got your extra combats stapled to a creature. Bloodthirster, Port Razer, Karlach, Fury of Avernus, Moraug, Fury of Akoum, and Combat Celebrant are all going to give you extra combats and if you’ve got multiple extra combats like with Port and Thirster, you can get lots out of your graveyard to play. Pair Combat Celebrant with a sacrifice outlet and your commander, that’s infinite combats. Lithoform Engine and Strionic Resonator let you double your commander’s reanimation ability or the frontside ability, which is extra useful if you’re already getting multiple activations.
Other cards that give you more combats are Aggravated Assault and Zariel, Archduke of Avernus. Enjoy!
It’s a Rakdos deck so you know there’s sacrifice synergy. Phyrexian Altar, Ashnod’s Altar, Illuminor Szeras, Fain, the Broker, Krark-Clan Ironworks, and Burnt Offering are sacrifice outlets that give you mana. Get stuff in your graveyard with Altar of Dementia, Keskit, the Flesh Sculptor, and Goblin Engineer.
Card draw and selection from Braids, Arisen Nightmare, Morbid Curiosity, Trading Post, Deadly Dispute, Village Rites, Warehouse Thief, Viscera Seer, and Woe Strider. Get some damage going with Goblin Bombardment and Oni-Cult Anvil.
But the most fun is a recent release: Kethek, Crucible Goliath. You’ll have big beefy creatures and at your end step, you can stack the triggers to sacrifice the reanimate creature to Kethek, so you can basically cascade into another threat.
I mentioned you’ll have big creatures. The following is a list of creatures that reduce their cost and come with some added benefit beyond just being a solid sacrifice to Ayana’s front side. Get extra removal out of Chandra’s Incinerator, Avatar of Woe, Obsidian Charmaw. Some ramp out of Conduit of Ruin and Mycosynth Golem. Games end when Blast-Furnace Hellkite comes down!
Here’s the rest I found that might be worth it:
Ancient Stone Idol, Avatar of Fury, Capricious Hellraiser, Dargo, the Shipwrecker, Draco, Embercleave, Emrakul, the Promised End, Gorex, the Tombshell, Marshmist Titan, Metalwork Colossus, Molten Monstrosity, Scion of Draco, Shadow of Mortality, Torgaar, Famine Incarnate, and Writhing Necromass.
You’ll want to reanimate some bombs with Ayara, Furnace Queen.
Throw some damage around with Warstorm Surge, Flayer of the Hatebound, Kokusho, the Evening Star, Gray Merchant of Asphodel, Drakuseth, Maw of Flames, and Balor.
Time to draw some cards with Magus of the Wheel, Phyrexian Dragon Engine, Ox of Agonas, Dragon Mage, and Knollspine Dragon. Don’t mind the discard, it’s more fuel for Ayara. Elder Brain and Brainstealer Dragon take from your opponents instead and make them feel the pain. Combustible Gearhulk can draw you cards or deal loads of damage if you’ve got a high mana curve.
Your removal suite is wild! Noxious Gearhulk, Massacre Wurm, Markov Enforcer, Cavalier of Night, Butcher of Malakir, Shard of the Void Dragon, Rakdos, Scion of Draco, Fleshbag Marauder, Bearer of the Heavens, Bane of Bala Ged, Archon of Cruelty, Balefire Dragon, Portal to Phyrexia. Even Sire of Insanity can get rid of hands at the end of your turn.
Speaking of Portal to Phyrexia, reanimate other creatures with Ancient Brass Dragon, Phyrexian Delver, Sepulchral Primordial, Rakshasa Debaser, Apprentice Necromancer, and Doomed Necromancer. Keep your creatures around with Mikaeus, the Unhallowed.
Take control of your opponents’ creatures with Coercive Recruiter and Firbolg Flutist.
Make some tokens with Wurmcoil Engine, Abhorrent Overlord, and Bladewing, Deathless Tyrant.
You’ll need a lot of mana and in these colours, Treasures are the way to go. Mahadi, Emporium Master, Pitiless Plunderer, Ancient Copper Dragon, Professional Face-Breaker, Goldspan Dragon, and Ruthless Technomancer make a ton of Treasures in death or combat.
Black Market can turn all the deaths into a ton of mana in your precombat main phase while Neheb, the Eternal has you covered for the postcombat main.
Descent into Avernus gets crazy really quick and with Ayara, Widow of the Realm swinging damage everywhere and gaining you life, you’ll be taking an easy lead.
You know how I feel about tutors, but here are useful tutors to bring things to the graveyard – Gravebreaker Lamia, Entomb, Buried Alive, Disciples of Gix, Goblin Engineer.
This is a deck I can’t wait to brew!
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Hello and welcome to A Seat at the Table, the column where I pick a commander and talk about what I’d include in the 99. This week, another team-up card – Zimone and Dina! Immediately after being previewed, this card was being called the most busted of the bunch so far.
A Sultai commander in colour identity, Zimone and Dina are a 3/4 Legendary Creature – Human Dryad for Sultai mana (BUG) with a hell of a textbox. Let’s take a look at what people are raving about:
“Whenever you draw your second card each turn, target opponent loses 2 life and you gain 2 life.
T, Sacrifice another creature: Draw a card. You may put a land card from your hand onto the battlefield tapped. If you control eight or more lands, repeat this process once.”
Hot damn. That’s nuts! Here are some things to note.
With that in mind, let’s put some cards in.
Let’s maximize the damage! Cards like Sanguine Bond and Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose turn your life gain into more life loss for your opponents.
When you’re aiming to drain an opponent for two life every turn, multiply that life loss every end step with absolute bombs like Archfiend of Despair and Wound Reflection. A Transformer steps up – Blitzwing, Cruel Tormentor can keep the life loss going every end step and when it doesn’t, it becomes an evasive beater. Even Warlock Class, requiring a bunch of mana to get there, can be levelled up for an additional nine mana to double life loss on your turn, but with all the lands you’ll have in play, that’s peanuts.
You’ve got a commander that puts lands into play, you’re going to have some Landfall synergy. You can have creature token generators like Tendershoot Dryad for every turn, but what about Greensleeves, Maro-Sorcerer, Scute Swarm, Sporemound, Zendikar’s Roil, or Rampaging Baloths? You can use Landfall to take control of your opponents’ creatures to sacrifice to Zimone and Dina with Roil Elemental. Get a little more life loss in with Ob Nixilis, the Fallen and Retreat to Hagra. Need more mana? Lotus Cobra, Stone-Seeder Hierophant, and Tireless Provisioner have your back.
Bloodghast is my favourite for this because you can sacrifice it to the ability and put a land into play, getting Bloodghast right back onto the battlefield and keeping the cycle going. There’s plenty more landfall, but we’ll get to those…
To use the second ability, you’ll need to untap your commander. Thousand-Year Elixir, Seedborn Muse, Freed From the Real, Aphetto Alchemist, Fatestitcher, Minamo, School at Water’s Edge, Magewright’s Stone, Mind Over Matter, Murkfiend Liege, Patriar’s Seal, Pemmin’s Aura, Instill Energy, Quirion Ranger – there’s no shortage of ways to untap in blue-green-black.
My favourite’s are Intruder Alarm and Retreat to Coralhelm. With Intruder Alarm, anytime a creature enters, as long as you have another creature, you’ll be drawing a card and ramping, maybe even draining an opponent. Retreat to Coralhelm can untap your commander when a land enters the battlefield. Slam a land from the second ability and get to untap again. Don’t forget your Amulet of Vigor and Tiller Engines!
You need to draw two cards a turn to be able to trigger that first ability. Cards like Howling Mine, Kami of the Crescent Moon, and Font of Mythos help that happen on your turn, but also give your opponents cards. Temple Bell can get that second card if you’ve got that tap activation ready.
You’ve got a lot of untapping already, Arcanis the Omnipotent can snap three cards for you every activation.
Rhystic Study and Mystic Remora are classic cards that people hate to play against but love to play.
Consecrated Sphinx is probably the cleanest way to get Z&D’s first ability to trigger every turn. Alhammarret’s Archive and Teferi’s Ageless Insight turn the single activation of Z&D’s tap ability into an immediate trigger of the their first ability.
Teferi’s Puzzle Box keeps your hand rolling like the tides to be sure you always have a land to put into play.
Remember Landfall? Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait and Tatyova, Benthic Druid give you a card when you pop a land into play. Nissa, Vital Force’s ultimate ability is easy to reach and turns all your land drops into cards. Will you always have lands to play? No. But how to get more?
Moonfolk are very useful for getting lands back into your hand to put into play again. The best one is Meloku the Clouded Mirror. For just one mana, you return a land to your hand and create a 1/1 creature that you can sacrifice to Zimone and Dina. Soramaro, First to Dream is an expensive activation, but turns a land to hand into a draw. Soratami Cloudskater, Soratami Mirror-Mage, Soratami Rainshaper, Soratami Savant, Soratami Seer, and Uyo, Silent Prophet each have their advantages. Flooded Shoreline brings two Islands back to hand to bounce a creature. Trade Routes allows you to pick up a land for one mana which doesn’t seem worth it if you’re not discarding it to its second ability, but with Zimone and Dina putting lands back into play and all that landfall synergy, Trade Routes is like double dipping, baby!
I cannot wait for this set!
If there’s a commander you’d like covered, please message me @mikecarrozza on Twitter and Instagram!
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Hello and welcome to A Seat at the Table, the column where I pick a commander and talk about what I’d include in the 99. This week, another team-up card I think is cool as hell but will absolutely ruffle feathers at any table – Drana and Linvala!
For 1WWB, Drana and Linvala are a Legendary Creature – Vampire Angel 3/4 with flying and vigilance. Look at this textbox:
“Flying, vigilance
Activated abilities of creatures your opponents control can’t be activated. Drana and Linvala has all activated abilities of all creatures your opponents control. You may spend mana as though it were mana of any color to activate those abilities.”
It’s a fun mash-up! Linvala, Keeper of Silence is a Flying 3/4 Legendary Angel that says “Activated abilities of creatures your opponents control can’t be activated.” That’s most of the card! Drana brings the vigilance and the ability theft to the card. This can either do a lot or nothing at all, but ultimately, the commander screams stax.
So let’s talk stax. First, what is stax? Stax is a playstyle that derives its name from Smokestack. A card like that should tell you all you need to know. It’s about resource denial. It’s a permanent-based control deck. It’s a prison deck.
A few things to remember:
Here are some cards I’d put together in a Drana and Linvala deck.
There are ways to get your opponents to slow down. This is a big deal in stax. Stuff like Authority of the Consuls makes your opponents’ creatures enter tapped and boost your life to shoulder the brunt of whatever attacks you’ll be receiving. Blind Obedience does the same with creatures, but also your opponents’ artifacts. The Extort ability on Blind Obedience can make the difference in the long run. Make sure you keep using your mana to drain the table! Need a creature to have your back with this effect? Thalia, Heretic Cathar and Archon of Emeria are solid inclusions.
Deafening Silence can be backbreaking against spellslinger decks and be a boon for you if you’re going more for of a creature build. Same goes for Ethersworn Canonist if you’re more of an artifact build. Similarly, Eidolon of Rhetoric restricts everybody’s ability to cast multiple spells a turn, just like Rule of Law. Don’t want things to untap? Winter Orb is hated big time for a reason.
Spirit of the Labyrinth restricts card draw to just one a turn. Containment Priest stops pesky reanimate decks from doing their thing (or worse, like Winota). Phyrexia: All Will Be One gave us one of the craziest versions of a Praetor in Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines – shutting down ETB triggers and doubling yours.
Okay, this one is a little messed up: Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth and Kormus Bell. Using this combo with your commander out means that your opponents can’t tap their lands for mana and you get to use any of the abilities from those lands with D&L. And if anybody plays a board wipe, that’s an Armageddon for everybody.
Everything your opponents do against a stax deck costs a little extra. Smothering Tithe turns their card draw into a Treasure for you unless they pay two. It gets out of hand quickly and there’s a reason it’s one of the all-time best white cards.
Do your opponents want to crack a fetch land? Deep Gnome Terramancer, Archaeomancer’s Map, and Archivist of Oghma get you lands or cards.
Kambal, Consul of Allocation and Liesa, Shroud of Dusk makes spells cost life. Spelltithe Enforcer tells your opponents to pay up or sacrifice a permanent.
Sheoldred, the Apocalypse gives you life when you draw and your opponents drawing their cards costs two life now.
You want to attack me with two or more creatures? You want to cast two spells? Gotta pay the Mangara, the Diplomat toll and I’ll draw a card! One of my recent favourites is Aerial Extortionist – exile a non land permanent on ETB or combat damage to a player and when your opponents cast spells from anywhere but their hand, you get a card.
Damping Sphere and Rug of Smothering make storming off a lot harder to do and turn spellslinger decks into an expensive affair. Aura of Silence makes artifacts and enchantments cost two more and can be cashed in to get rid of a strong artifact or enchantment when it does land. God-Pharaoh’s Statue puts another clock on the game while making everything your opponents cast two more mana. Painful Quandary makes their spells cast an extra card or five life. It adds up!
You need to control the board by diverting attention. Sphere of Safety, Ghostly Prison, Windborn Muse, and Archangel of Tithes make attacking you cost mana or impossible altogether. Deter them more with Cunning Rhetoric which lets you have one of their cards if they attack you.
You’ll need spot removal and board wipes. Cleansing Nova, Austere Command, Farewell, Damn, Swords to Plowshares – there is so much removal in the format. Pack a Shadowspear for your commander and use that activated ability to get rid of pesky cards making things difficult for you.
You don’t want to make everything a bad time. It’s time to make some friends.
Loran of the Third Path allows you to blow up an artifact or enchantment when she ETBs but can also tap to snap cards for you and an opponent you like. Cut a Deal is a draw three for three that gives your opponents a card too. Secret Rendezvous does the same but give the three cards to a single opponent. Maybe they’re going to die soon anyway! Forbidden Orchard can give a creature to an opponent. Hunted Horror does the same while adding a 7/7 to your board.
Turn an artifact an opponent controls into a creature with Karn, the Great Creator so you can use artifact activated abilities with your commander.
If you really want to make friends, give them your commander! Assault Suit on your commander means that they’ll be able to use everybody else’s creatures activated abilities and their opponents won’t be able to during their turn. Goad D&L with Parasitic and Martial Impetus. This should put a solid clock on the game.
We talked about Extort with Blind Obedience but it’s worth mentioning with Crypt Ghast and Pontiff of Blight. Life Insurance does double duty as it turns aristocrat decks into further fuel for your decks.
Exsanguinate, Debt to the Deathless, and Torment of Hailfire are X spells that are perfect for all the mana you’ll have saved up to end the game. Gray Merchant of Asphodel is a massive drain on legs with its ETB draining for black devotion. If that’s not enough to kill your opponent, you should have enough life for Aetherflux Reservoir to finish the job. Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose and Sanguine Bond turn all your life gain into life loss for your opponents. Exquisite Blood paired with either of these turns either of those last two cards into an infinite combo win.
That does it. Let me know if there’s a commander you’d like covered! @mikecarrozza on Twitter and Instagram!
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