Tale of Two Commanders #5- Crushing Power

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GoldGhost012

21 March 2014

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(Types like mad to get this finished...) The fifth installation of Tale of Two Commanders is here! No time to start celebrating, we need to start right away to make up for lost time! Let us once again pit my build against one submitted in the last article!

I'm sure you remember last article when I faced down one of the most popular and powerful Commanders, Kaalia of the Vast. In fact, I found this list of the most popular Commanders that people were running in 2013. It was a goldmine of information for me. Kaalia of the Vast was actually the third-most popular Commander on the list, behind the newer and more available C13 Commanders, Nekusar, the Mindrazer and Oloro, Ageless Ascetic.

So, today's matchup will be against another great beater of face, Mayael the Anima, General of MindAblaze's submission Mayael and Garruk's Wild Pair-ty. Well, Mayael doesn't do the beating, but, like Kaalia, she fetches huge creatures to to the beating. According to the list, Mayael is also the third-most popular Commander that wasn't released as a card playable in other formats in a Precon deck (technically she was released as an oversized foil in Commander’s Arsenal). The fact that it’s a big stompy deck that’s not terribly hard to manipulate most of the time is a bonus too.

Deck Tech

This isn’t your typical Mayael the Anima deck. Sure it places a lot of emphasis on searching for beefy creatures and smashing with them, but there are quite a few other tools this deck uses as well. It can use a lot of draw power with Knollspine Dragon and Regal Force, a couple Praetors, with a splash of powerful enchantments that all swing the battle Mayael's way. Here are five cards that I feel are all some of the most powerful cards, not really in any particular order:

1. Avacyn, Angel of Hope. Avacyn is definitely one annoying creature. And she turns your other creatures into annoying creatures as well. Evasion, grants indestructibility, high power and toughness that can be dropped with Mayael... If she's dropped, I have a feeling my dragons will find it much harder to deal with the deck, especially since I rely on mostly combat damage to kill things.

2. Wild Pair. This thing can pack a punch. Cast Linvala, Keeper of Silence, get a free Aurelia, the Warleader! This can get very deadly with Warstorm Surge, and it’s easily tutorable!

3. Warstorm Surge. Wow does this card form a powerful interaction with Wild Pair or something like Mayael the Anima or Godsire. Lots of damage to the face and another very tutorable spell.

4. Mayael the Anima. Get her out early and keep dropping fatties turn after turn. With 21 creatures in the deck with 5+ power, there’s always a good chance that one will be pulled each turn.

5. Akroma, Angel of Wrath. This thing has protection from over half my spells. And none of my pure green spells can stop it. So in essence, it has protection from all my spells not named Lux Cannon or Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre. Yikes.

So then, what defenses do I have?

1. Not too much; I basically need to get out as many large creatures as I can as fast as possible. The cards that reduce costs, ramp, and cheats will all help me the most. The problem is drawing them.

Yeah... Once again, I’m a bit at a disadvantage. There's no specific way I can play to prevent Mayael from popping out huge creatures, so the only thing I can do is just continue to play. D will stand for Dragons and have thoughts be italicized while M will stand for Mayael and thoughts will be bolded.

Disclaimer: Both these decks are played by me on the Tappedout playtester. I am definitely not a MTG pro. Far from it. I WILL make mistakes and misplays. This is for me to improve my skills as well as for the viewers.

Let's Begin

D wins the roll and will go first. He mulligans a hand of Soulbright Flamekin, Bojuka Bog, Quicksilver Amulet, Mosswort Bridge, Kessig Wolf Run, Reflecting Pool, and Forest. Large amount of land here, but no way to cast the Flamekin early and no large creatures for the Amulet. I think I'll take my chances with another hand. Keeps a hand of Moonveil Dragon, Forest, Mountain, Cavern of Souls, Jund Panorama, and Scourge of Valkas. This should be good. One more land and I can cast Scourge, hopefully drawing into more lands and Dragons.

M keeps a hand of Green Sun's Zenith, Karmic Guide, Stomping Ground, Sol Ring, Angel of Serenity, Marsh Flats, and Windbrisk Raptor. Whoa, hello good stuff! One more land and I should be fine with mana for the early stages.

Turn 1

D plays Cavern of Souls, choosing Dragon.

M draws Reflecting Pool, then plays Marsh Flats and cracks it (D: 40; M: 39), searching her library for Savannah and putting it on the battlefield, shuffling her library. She then casts Sol Ring. This was a good start. Could hardly ask for a better one!

Turn 2

D draws Ruby Medallion, which he casts after dropping Jund Panorama. Good, I'm in prime position to cast red spells.

M draws Novablast Wurm and plays Stomping Ground tapped.

Turn 3

D draws Hellkite Charger and plays Mountain.

M draws Sylvan Library and casts it after playing Reflecting Pool. End of turn, D sacrifices Jund Panorama to search his library for a Mountain and put it onto the battlefield tapped before shuffling his library.

Turn 4

D draws Garruk, Primal Hunter. He plays Forest and casts Scourge of Valkas. Scourge's ability triggers, dealing damage to M equal to the amount of Dragons D controls (D: 40; M: 38).

Sylvan Library's ability triggers at the beginning of M's draw phase, allowing her to draw Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger normally and additionally draw Beast Within and Cultivate. Well, I can’t cast Vorinclex yet, so there’s no reason to keep him, but I'll keep the removal and ramp. She puts Vorinclex back on top of her library and pays 4 life to keep the others (D: 40; M: 34). She activates the ability of Sol Ring, adding 2 colorless mana to her mana pool and casting Cultivate, searching her library for a Plains and a Forest, putting the Plains onto the battlefield tapped and the Forest in her hand before shuffling her library. She then plays the Forest.

Turn 5

D draws Fire-Lit Thicket, which he plays before casting Moonveil Dragon. In response, M casts Beast Within, destroying Scourge of Valkas and giving D a 3/3 Beast token before Moonveil resolves. Managed to prevent some future damage, so I think that wasn't a bad play, especially if he keeps dropping dragons. You... you will regret that.

M draws Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger normally, additionally drawing Paleoloth and Winding Canyons with Sylvan Library's ability. She puts Paleoloth on top of her library and pays 4 life to keep the rest (D: 40; M: 30). Now that I can cast Vorinclex, I'll have a great advantage. I'll be able to cast twice as many spells and he'll only be able to cast half as many. She plays the Canyons and casts Vorinclex. Need removal, need removal, need removal! Before this guy gets out of control!

Turn 6

D draws Darigaaz's Caldera. Not removal. Not what I need. This is one of the worst land I could have drawn; I can't cast Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund, which may need to be my saving grace this game. If I drop the Caldera, I can push through more damage this turn with Moonveil Dragon, but won't be able to cast Karrthus next turn. But with my mana locked down, I think I should wait and cast Karrthus next turn- he'll probably be more aggressive than Moonveil. And it's a good attack deterrent for my Beast token. Attacks with Moonveil (D: 40; M: 25). Plays Caldera, bouncing Cavern of Souls back to his hand.

M draws Paleoloth normally, additionally drawing Godsire and Spinerock Knoll with Sylvan Library's ability. She puts Godsire and Paleoloth on top of her library. Paleoloth isn't very effective right now, and I can't cast Godsire at the moment with what I have planned. Let's see what else Spinerock pulls for me. Plays the Spinerock, triggering its Hideaway ability. M looks at the top 4 cards of her library, which are Godsire, Paleoloth, Mana Crypt, and Bloodstained Mire. Well, it's pretty obvious which will be most powerful here. Exiles Godsire face down, putting the rest on the bottom of her library. Since Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger doubles the mana her lands create, she activates Sol Ring and taps Savannah, Winding Canyons, and Plains to cast Angel of Serenity, leaving 1 colorless mana floating. The Angel's ability triggers, exiling D's Moonveil Dragon, Beast token, and Scourge of Valkas. Yeah... this kinda sucks. Uses the floating mana and her remaining lands to cast Green Sun's Zenith, with X=6. Of my green 6-drops, I can pull Soul of the Harvest or Paleoloth. Neither will really affect me right now, but Soul could be useful for later. Or I could pull Seedborn Muse out, letting me play creatures on his turn since it would untap Winding Canyons. Yeah, I think I'll go for utility. Searches her library for the Muse and puts it onto the battlefield, shuffling her library. Great. Now all her permanents untap during my untap phase. And she can flash creatures in. I'm really not sure what can save me now. Attacks with Vorinclex (D: 33; M: 25).

Turn 7

During D's untap phase, all M's permanents untap due to Seedborn Muse. D draws Quicksilver Amulet. ...Wow. Talk about not helpful. Plays Cavern of Souls naming Dragon and casts his Commander, Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund, for the first time. Unfortunately, M has no Dragons to steal. Commander damage is most likely the only way I'll win. Really hoping I don't regret this… Attacks with Karrthus. M activates Sol Ring to activate the ability of Winding Canyons, letting her flash in Karmic Guide. Its ability triggers, but M has no creatures in the graveyard. Karmic Guide blocks Karrthus. And I think I've royally screwed myself. This is not good.

During M's upkeep, she pays Karmic Guide's echo cost. Draws Mana Crypt normally, additionally drawing Soul of the Harvest and Wasteland with Sylvan Library's ability, paying 8 life to keep all three (D: 33; M: 17). Hey, a couple of these look familiar... Plays Wasteland and casts Mana Crypt. Activates Sol Ring's ability to help cast Windbrisk Raptor. Attacks with Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger, Angel of Serenity, Karmic Guide, and Seedborn Muse, all gaining lifelink from the Raptor until the end of combat (D: 17; M: 33). It's like I used Soul Conduit! Taps Stomping Ground to activate Spinerock Knoll's ability, casting Godsire from exile.

Turn 8

During D's untap phase, all M's permanents untap. Due to Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger's ability, D's lands (since he used them all last turn) don't untap. D draws Emerald Medallion. ...I can't even pretend this would be useful even if my land was untapped. During his end phase, M activates the ability of Mana Crypt, adding 2 colorless mana to her mana pool to activate the ability of Winding Canyons. She casts Soul of the Harvest and then Novablast Wurm. Since another nontoken nontoken creature entered the battlefield, Soul of the Harvest's ability triggers and she draws Sterling Grove. I'm pretty sure it's already checkmate, but I want to add insult to injury. I can get rid of Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund by attacking with Novablast Wurm, but then I'd lose all my creatures too. I have a better idea.

During M's upkeep, M flips a coin as per Mana Crypt's ability. D calls heads and it ends up tails. M draws City of Brass normally, additionally drawing Mountain and Misty Rainforest with Sylvan Library's ability. She puts City and Misty on top of her library and plays Mountain. She casts Sterling Grove, with WG floating. Spends G to activate Grove's ability, sacrificing it and searching her library for Oblivion Ring, reveals it, and puts it on top of her shuffled library. She then casts her Commander, Mayael the Anima, for the first time. Soul of the Harvest's ability triggers, and M draws and casts the Ring, exiling Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund, who D returns to the Command Zone. Attacks for game.

deck-large: Mayael and Garruk's Wild Pair-ty

wins the game!

Afterword

Naya stompy destruction for the win! Well, okay, not exactly destruction since the only thing that was destroyed was Scourge of Valkas, but I think you get my meaning. Even if Mayael the Anima didn't get played until the last turn and thus didn't do anything, the creatures she'd be routinely be busting out have an absolutely devastating effect on the game when dropped immediately onto the battlefield. Like if Avacyn, Angel of Hope was dropped onto the field, I might've flipped the (virtual) table.

How can you slow/stop these decks? Uh... well, removal and counterspells work. If you can remove the things that give them massive amounts of mana (i.e. Sol Ring and Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger), you've partially slowed them down. Mayael's search ability needs 6 mana to work too, so you have a little breathing room to blast it. But it's very effective at being a quick stomper.

Greatest Contributors: Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger, Winding Canyons, Sylvan Library, Seedborn Muse.

Remember my idea to win by flooding the field with ramp and Dragons? Yeah, that turned on me. Once again, my deck didn't really do much of anything; most of M's life loss was from Sylvan Library. Facing down Vorinclex wasn't exactly great either; being on land lockdown sucks. Vorinclex is one of those cards where it's very fun to play with him but completely evil to play against.

Greatest Contributors: Uh... Moonveil Dragon, Ruby Medallion? I mean it did cut down costs...

Lessons to Take Away From This:

Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger can be an evil, evil card when you're facing him, but he's your best friend when he's on your side.

Sylvan Library is one of the best sources of card draw in green. Screw the life loss, I have cards!

Many thanks to MindAblaze for allowing me the chance to get stomped by Mayael and Garruk's Wild Pair-ty. It’s super fun to run and not hard to figure out. And I think you know the drill by now- submit your decks in the comments below for the chance to face Excuse Me, But There's A Dragon Eating Your Face (he, mini-pun) in the next article!

Stipulations for next article: None, another 1-v-1 match.

I have decided upon a schedule for future articles. Around Article 10, I'll move past 1-v-1 matches into multiplayer matches, most likely 3-player games at first. Then around Article 15, I'll play a couple articles of an EDH variant, such as Duel/French Commander and maybe even Pauper Commander. From there, it'll be a cycle of single player, multiplayer, and EDH variant every article.

Thanks for reading! Have a nice day guys.