Gerth, Forefront of the Rampage
Custom Cards forum
Posted on Feb. 15, 2022, 12:52 a.m. by TypicalTimmy
- Absorb - Currently mono-white and is a great way to have 'indestructible' without having it. Like how Ward is a weaker version of Hexproof, yet just as powerful in many cases
- Flanking - Strongly rooted in Naya
- Frenzy - Although this is currently mono-black, but flavorfully it fits too damn well to not include
- Haste - With 933 cards, it's silly to not include
- Melee - Strong Naya support, but started as Boros
- Menace - Mostly Rakdos with green being the largest support. Makes it a very weak 2/3rds Naya. However, being such a combat-matters Commander with flexible choices, it's worth having
- Provoke - Exclusively Naya, lest a single unset card
- Rampage - Mostly Gruul with white being a strong support
- Trample - 989 cards. It's going in
- Undying - Largely Jund, which makes it 2/3rds Naya and is flavorful enough to warrant the inclusion
- Vigilance - 566 cards and very strongly combat-matters
- Ward - Mostly Bant, but it's a better balance than Hexproof which is also mostly Bant; Again, making it 2/3rds Naya.
TypicalTimmy says... #3
Omniscience_is_life, reworking now.
As for the Enchantment, two reasons - with one being inconsequential.
- 1.) I like the feel and flavor and design of it. Totally irrelevant, though.
- 2.) On Alara, within Naya, enchantments were a very large theme. I felt it fitting to have one "come alive" for a Legendary creature. Esper had plenty of Artifact creatures, and Jund if I recall had manlands. So it makes sense, to me, to have at least one Enchantment Creature for Naya.
I'm looking less for evergreen keyword abilities and more for non-common ones. Ones that can be stringed together in different combinations. Otherwise it'll probably always be:
- Vigilance to hold up blockers
- Vigilance and +0/+3 to sustain blockers
- Vigilance and Hexproof to protect blockers
I'm looking to make him extremely flexible, based on what is going on at the time of combat.
February 15, 2022 2:43 a.m. Edited.
TypicalTimmy says... #5
I think I'll try to make one more of these Commanders, then set to work building precons for them. This is including my Shark Commander, Sikozen of the Read Sea.
So Sikozen is all about casting instants and sorceries and dealing direct damage.
Gerth is all about going wide and attacking relentlessly.
I think the third one should handle graveyards, finishing the synergy because Sikozen will be dumping spells into their graveyard and Gerth will likely have creatures being dumped into it left and right from all players.
February 15, 2022 3:29 a.m.
So, you cast it three times, and you pull out Frenzy, Menace, and Provoke. If you have more than half as many creatures as an opponent, they can all get through, getting a temporary +2/+0 in the process.
Alternatively, you go with Rampage, Provoke, and Absorb, and basically turn combat damage into a one-sided wipe.
Or Melee and Flanking and pretend to be zealously persecuting during combat. Throw Vigilance in there, too.
Ward seems a little odd, and undying slightly less so. The colors are fine, and they help protect your undoubtedly massive army, they're just not as directly combat-y.
February 15, 2022 3:56 a.m.
seshiro_of_the_orochi says... #7
This is one hell of a keyword soup. Love it! And the artwork is gorgeous!
February 15, 2022 7:36 a.m.
TypicalTimmy says... #8
I wanted to limit at 10 and he has 12. I can remove undying and ward to focus it a bit better
Omniscience_is_life says... #2
The first ability needs a little retooling to work with magic's current rules--here are a few options for wordings you could use:
"...where X is the number of times you've cast a card named ~ this game..."
Or
"...where X is the number of times you've cast your commander from the command zone this game..."
Also seems a little odd that they're an enchantment. I just don't follow the logic there.
Other than that, I do approve of Rampage and Provoke being on the same card as Menace--this'd be a fun card to explain to new players
February 15, 2022 2:17 a.m.