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Commander / EDH temeref

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playtesting & performance update —May 1, 2021

Playtesting these last few days has gone quite well! I've been testing things on Cockatrice while the new additions arrive in the mail and genuinely couldn't be happier with their results.

Here's a quick run-down of how the new stuff's working out.

• Angel of the Ruins // Very solid self-discarding reanimation target, which is something I've been searching for for a long time now. Waker of Waves is a card comparable for utility, but their persistent effect isn't even close to being as good as the angel's. Also, now that I have all of the dual lands this list needs, effects that search for nonbasic plains are extremely strong. Mid and High power tables tend to run a lot of mana doubling enchantments and other scary stuff, and this can help to keep those in check. Pair it with Parallax Tide and you can stun somebody really hard. They don't have a persistent ability which allows for creature targeting, but still work just fine. Also, they're an artifact, so they die to artifact removal which is funny.
• Chrome MoxGC // I obtained one of these a few months back for my competitive list and figured I might as well slot it in here. I don't need to tell you how good this card is, but something I appreciate about it is that it helps solidify the importance of the cards in your hand and clear up which route you want to take.
• Keen Duelist // Haven't drawn this much during playtesting. Nice to get out early but can be a little lackluster later. I really need more generic value generation outside of huge multi-piece combos though so I'll keep her in. If anything, she's great at making pals at any point in the game.
• Trove Warden // This one's certainly tricky to use. In order to get anything back and not just lose it forever, they have to die. Exile and hand bounce don't work. This can be really dangerous, but I feel like making people play around it's insane payoff is well worth it. They're actually one of the reasons I began testing Seal of Doom, an otherwise lackluster removal piece, which ended up being really strong with all of the rest of the recursion. Hilariously, I've had the most success with them vs. other graveyard decks as a way to hide away cards similar to Brainstorm vs Thoughtseize. I have high hopes for this creature, and I'm confident that as I get more familiar with playing around them, they will be a star piece in the list.
• Wandering Archaic  ^Flip // Another great reanimation target that can put itself in the graveyard thanks to it's alt face. Pretty much amazing at all stages of the game, but especially early when folks are casting ramp spells. I've seen this guy in a few competitive lists over the last week, and honestly I'm glad people are picking up on how insane many of the new cards Wizards has been printing are. Lots of cases of this have been popping up recently, most notably Jeska's WillGC which, after catching on, spiked 5x in price. I'm not very enthusiastic about it, but I don't see this trend stopping any time soon.
• Monologue Tax // This one's a bit of an underperformer since I don't have much instant-speed interaction in this list. I'm happy it's not another Smothering TitheGC, but will continue playing it because it's fun. At least for now.
• Seal of Doom // This one's got a very specific purpose: be reanimated with the 3cmc package, tutored with Zur as a threat, or used to pop a creature like Trove Warden. The utility it provides is important in a reanimator deck -- a good example of this would be needing to kill Resolute Archangel so she can ETB again via reanimation. 3cmc removal that can't hit black can feel pretty bad, but it's also a terrible looming threat that can be used in either big turns or at crucial moments later down the line. I really can't stress how important it is for cards in this list to be sub-3cmc and permanents.
• Seal of Removal // Cheap utility! Absolutely loving this one. It doesn't synergize as well with the reanimation engine, but can be used to save key targets like Zur from any and all removal. Disruption, protection, and a permanent -- all for 1 blue. Amazing card.
• Unspeakable Symbol // This is a backup Spatial Binding that has some really fun synergies with Resolute Archangel, and is mostly used for the same purpose: targeting and controlled life loss. Can be considered pseudo-removal during the declare blockers phase in rare situations. If this list had any double-strike, this card would be even better, but for now it's just a fallback.
• Baleful Mastery // It's good, and making a friend is good. That's all.
• Brainstorm // This isn't new, but my foil Mystical Archive of this card just came in and I'm really excited about it. My moniker is Staxcat after all, what better way to represent that than with a cat having a mental breakdown?
• Gift of Estates // I'm running this over Oreskos Explorer for now because it more consistently gives 3 lands. For Oreskos to work, I'd need a way to kill off my own lands and a way to flicker them. I'm working on a Mardu Smokestack list right now that would love to have them, that's for sure. Will see how that goes.
• Incarnation Technique // Potentially my favorite card from c21? Most reanimation effects make you target what you're bringing back whenever they're cast, but this one doesn't so that the card can work with an empty graveyard. This also means that if you bring back a Doom Whisperer or mill Cephalid with the first, you can mill the everliving fuck out of yourself before the copy resolves, giving you a much wider reach over what you can get. Also, you can make a friend!... maybe. Nobody I've demonstrated this to yet has milled anything relevant. Theoretically that makes the card way better, but commander is a social game, isn't it? Ah well.

So yeah, tl;dr is the results have been super good. I have to be more careful around mulligans due to the lowish land count, but I haven't played a game yet where that was a problem. Gift of Estates, Tithe, Land Tax and Angel of the Ruins have helped immensely there. Something that is fair to worry about is having to spend mana to get mana -- run too much ramp or card generation and you won't have any mana left to do anything with the board. This leads to other folks generally getting ahead due to you either not being in a position to stop them from doing so or just because you spent all of your advantage on more ramp. It's a tricky balance to hit, but I think this list fares well enough with it since it cheats stuff out rather well.

That's all I have to say on these changes for now. Feeling confident about the year ahead for this list.