Papa Nurgle's Chief of Medicine
Commander / EDH
1622 VIEWS
Experiment Prologue and First Results —Sept. 9, 2022
Rather than use these updates for the likely intended purpose, I'll be using them as a log of sorts for my Mono Black EDH deck. As the original Commander has since proven simply too archaic, too clunky, to operate on a basic level in the evolved game, I'll note what went well and what went wrong. Mono Black is by far my strongest color and I will maintain an EDH deck in it, especially with all the cards I love and have invested in, so rather than scrap decks and remake blueprints, I intend to salvage each failed iteration until I finally find a Commander with staying power. The date on this particular update is incorrect, however, this idea was hatched on Novermber 5th, 2022 and I decided that some record keeping was in order as I move to a new Commander to experiment with. The date I chose was based upon the release of the successor Commander, although the actual switch was made during spoiler season. That said, this first experiment report will be done in retrospect...
Where Ashling, the Extinguisher went right:
Fun: Ashling has been one of my favorite MTG characters since I dove into Lorwyn's lore. She's a card I'm happy to just play.
Killing power: Ashling could clock someone for a ton of damage once she gained momentum, which was augmented by how little a threat she oft was perceived as. Her absurd mana output also made traditional game enders like Torment of Hailfire capable of leveling even heavily entrenched decks. Once moving, Ashling could legitimately threaten anyone at a given point, no matter the defenses.
Consistency: Due to the very specific cards she needed to constantly see, Ashling had great access to her tools at all times, which especially proved potent when equipment were blown up or I needed to shift gears.
Boardwipe resilience: Wrath of God isn't a game ender, I know, but boardwipes can still knock a great many decks down. Ashling, however, could rebound relatively easily with her high mana output and as long as there were cards to play, she could strugglebus her way into comebacks.
Predation: Ashling has lived up to her original role as predator and decoy. She has done well in kingslaying and being a deciding force in who wins, if she can't pull the W.
Where Ashling went wrong:
Age: No matter what powerful cards I have, nothing can change how poorly she has aged, and how much powercreep has taken MTG. It's a terrible sign when the Commander is the worst card in the deck, as much as it hurts to admit that.
Brittleness: Relatively low amounts of disruption, especially if used by a seasoned player, could stop her from ever getting off the ground. Additionally, picking off her means of swinging directly effectively stifled her, which lead to frequently putting all my chips on Hail Mary moves like Eldrazi and game-ending spells as the primary strategy fails.
Narrowness: Ashling is almost incapable of flirting with more than one threat. Even as a pseudo-Voltron, Ashling still retains the primary Voltron weakness of yesteryear, paired with potentially the worst color for mono color Voltron. This also means players will feel safe taking only potshots at her, as Ashling can only really fire at a single person at a time, or drop boardwipes. The issue with boardwipe reliance, however, is that it tends to make enemies. This leads to making lots of enemies, but only being able to manage one.
Predictability: Due to the high level of consistency with which I access the same few cards, it became extremely clear what I could do at any given point, and how in order to keep up, I needed to see the same haymakers every game.
No synergy: Ashling does nothing alone, which means the entire deck had to be bent around her to make her work.
Misfires: All decks have some inherent chance of misfiring, that's just RNG, but her rate of misfiring was extremely high due to the sheer number of inflexible cards such as Jet Medallion and Whispersilk Cloak. A number of single-minded cards is acceptable, but when you have a high number of them, you rely on RNG and tutors to even piece something together. But, using your precious tutors for lands or equipment costs more than it's really worth.
Ashling, the Extinguisher's successor is Braids, Arisen Nightmare, and here's what has me hopeful:
Synergy: Braids is an engine on her own, and only needs to be fed. Black has no shortage of sacrificial lamb cards.
Stability: Being able to just draw cards constantly will mitigate the chance of misfiring.
Flexibility: Increasing draw power increases the deck's ability to toolbox, as combat will not be the only way to effectively address threats.
Streamlined strategy: By withdrawing from a strategy as committal as Voltron, there will be fewer moving parts that need managed
Invisibility: Switching to a strategy that gradually whittles opponents down while picking off cards across the board here and there, there will be a great many times where Braids will just amass too much power while Breya, Etherium Shaper and Atraxa, Praetors' Voice are too busy trying to kill each other, and will be able to win because it became too difficult to guage who the proper threat was.
Defense: It may require some committing to Pillow Fort tactics, but between being able to field cannon fodder (...Braids fodder...?) and splashing Stax-like elements, Braids should be better able to keep more physical threats at bay.