Commander 2019 Spoilers

[H]

Why is Gerrard red and Volrath green? Neither of those colors make sense on the characters.

It's almost always just either completely obvious or totally arbitrary.

I mean, Gerrard has been on Red cards in the past, and I guess in a sense Vollrath brings things to life, even if they are only made to be killed. In the end though, it's just whatever they want.

See (original printing of) Maniacal Rage, and Volrath's Laboratory for example.



On a different note, some other reprints will be: Thespian Stage, Ixidron, and Strionic Resonator.

[Mr. Safety]

It can turn jank from your hand into 2/2s for free once its on the battlefield. It also combos with Dreadnought.

Ooh...nice catch!

[Megadeus]

The morph artifact is sick. I'll take any excuse to play deadnought

[FourDogsinaHorseSuit]

The morph artifact is sick. I'll take any excuse to play deadnought

So when I played the torpor orb/illusionary mask deck one of the creatures you could play was Myr Superion because it only comboed with Mask and none of the other enablers. This changes that by being the second cheat source you didn't have before.. It also can replace Torpor Orb allowing you to play Tribute (trinket, or trophy) mage.

[Mr. Safety]

I think that in a deck like Dreadstill this could be very good as a simple way to turn extra cards (from Standstill) into threats. In my experience I often have extra lands in hand that I wish were something better or a Daze that has lost it's usefulness. Converting it into a 2/2 seems very, very good. This is obviously secondary to just putting a Dreadnought into play and then flipping it for 1 mana (under Standstill even). I have liked Torpor Orb in the past but I also really like Snapcaster Mage in Dreadstill, which doesn't play well with Torpor Orb.

[morgan_coke]

I've just realized that you can cheat any fatty (or other, expensive stuff) into play as long as you have a Flicker effect.

Especially cool with Eldrazi Displacer to get your own, one-sided DIY Show & Tell.

Astral Drift Baby!!

(Just kidding, it's a cool trick, but does nothing to help with the deck's real problems)

[H]

I think that in a deck like Dreadstill this could be very good as a simple way to turn extra cards (from Standstill) into threats. In my experience I often have extra lands in hand that I wish were something better or a Daze that has lost it's usefulness. Converting it into a 2/2 seems very, very good. This is obviously secondary to just putting a Dreadnought into play and then flipping it for 1 mana (under Standstill even). I have liked Torpor Orb in the past but I also really like Snapcaster Mage in Dreadstill, which doesn't play well with Torpor Orb.

Yeah, I think that is a good point, about this getting in bodies under Standstill. I think the major question on this card is the 3 CMC. The effect is no doubt useful, could even be used in decks featuring lots of Lands/Mana Acceleration Artifacts, like Eldrazi Post, or Karn Post decks. But, especially for 'Naught, is 3 just too much to pay? Unsure, I haven't played it in a while, since StP was so popular in my little meta for a while...



Also, some more reprints for the Morph deck include Bane of the Living and Deathmist Raptor.

[H]

Hmmm, it's neat, could be fun, but only getting counters from tokens and giving your opponent creatures is a little "meh." You could certainly make him real big with Pestilence though. Even so, it hurts that it's at End Step though.

[FourDogsinaHorseSuit]

Yeah, I think that is a good point, about this getting in bodies under Standstill. I think the major question on this card is the 3 CMC. The effect is no doubt useful, could even be used in decks featuring lots of Lands/Mana Acceleration Artifacts, like Eldrazi Post, or Karn Post decks. But, especially for 'Naught, is 3 just too much to pay? Unsure, I haven't played it in a while, since StP was so popular in my little meta for a while...

I think 3 cmc is fine. Is frustrating, but the timing should be enough where it's not really a drawback. Like, when you did Orb/Mask -> Dreadnought it was 2+1 both at sorcery speed. With this it's 3+1, but I can flash in the Dreadnought EOT. It's less than stifle, but then again maybe you Swords'd a land I used to bait your removal?

[H]

I think 3 cmc is fine. Is frustrating, but the timing should be enough where it's not really a drawback. Like, when you did Orb/Mask -> Dreadnought it was 2+1 both at sorcery speed. With this it's 3+1, but I can flash in the Dreadnought EOT. It's less than stifle, but then again maybe you Swords'd a land I used to bait your removal?

Fair points. You are only going to "get" them once though, they will realize they need to wait and just give you the possibly 12 life.

Here is a dumb idea, because I am really good at them, but what about a UB 'Naught deck?

You could run some Dark Rituals to run the Scroll out. You can covert later "useless" Rituals into bodies, those bodies can be landed under Standstill, or just fuel Cabal Therapy, for example. I mean, I don't think that is necessarily feasible though, but it's an idea to possibly explore, I guess.

[FourDogsinaHorseSuit]

Fair points. You are only going to "get" them once though, they will realize they need to wait and just give you the possibly 12 life.

Here is a dumb idea, because I am really good at them, but what about a UB 'Naught deck?

You could run some Dark Rituals to run the Scroll out. You can covert later "useless" Rituals into bodies, those bodies can be landed under Standstill, or just fuel Cabal Therapy, for example. I mean, I don't think that is necessarily feasible though, but it's an idea to possibly explore, I guess.

When I first built this deck, it was UB. Ritual, hymn, Mask, all backed up with Force, daze, and brainstorm. I might need to revive the old thread.
Also, if you're only casting Dreadnought face-down, and using colorless sources: Can you be a chalice deck?

[H]

When I first built this deck, it was UB. Ritual, hymn, Mask, all backed up with Force, daze, and brainstorm. I might need to revive the old thread.
Also, if you're only casting Dreadnought face-down, and using colorless sources: Can you be a chalice deck?

Chalice is certainly is one way to beat Swords. But Decay would still be a pain in the ass. But not too many Decays around.

But man, Hymn and Dreadnaught sure does make me happy. But, it might be the case to drop the attempt at "tempo" in the case of Scroll, even with Ritual, and focus on a more Midrange plan? Maybe?

New card:


An Ape Snake? Ape. Snake. Ape Snake.

[FourDogsinaHorseSuit]

Chalice is certainly is one way to beat Swords. But Decay would still be a pain in the ass. But not too many Decays around.

But man, Hymn and Dreadnaught sure does make me happy. But, it might be the case to drop the attempt at "tempo" in the case of Scroll, even with Ritual, and focus on a more Midrange plan? Maybe?

New card:


An Ape Snake? Ape. Snake. Ape Snake.

Snape. It's even Hogwarts in the background.

[Cire]

If you're only counting cost? Yes, better than hivemind.
Well, Hivemind was more resilient because if they have a counterspell you would get to counter the counter. And as an enchantment getting to copy all your opponent's spells dos have its benefits. Also Hivemind doesn't require any targets.

EDIT: EDIT: No wait I was right the first time!

Hmm, why not both? Looking at the old Hive Mind thread I found the following list:

// Lands
1 Volcanic Island
5 Island (3a)
1 Polluted Delta
3 City of Traitors
3 Ancient Tomb
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Scalding Tarn
2 Flooded Strand

// Creatures
3 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn

// Spells
4 Show and Tell
4 Intuition
3 Grim Monolith
3 Gitaxian Probe
4 Hive Mind
4 Force of Will
4 Pact of Negation
4 Pact of the Titan
4 Ponder
4 Brainstorm

--

Removing the probe which is banned and replacing it with Sudden Exchange might just be an instant improvement? From there you might think about just adding in additional accel - to play Sudden Exchange out earlier.

Edit - you can also remove Intuition/S&T/Emrakul plan B and put in more counters and additional draw?

[Mr. Safety]

Yeah, I think that is a good point, about this getting in bodies under Standstill. I think the major question on this card is the 3 CMC. The effect is no doubt useful, could even be used in decks featuring lots of Lands/Mana Acceleration Artifacts, like Eldrazi Post, or Karn Post decks. But, especially for 'Naught, is 3 just too much to pay? Unsure, I haven't played it in a while, since StP was so popular in my little meta for a while...



Also, some more reprints for the Morph deck include Bane of the Living and Deathmist Raptor.

True-Name Nemesis is a common addition to Dreadstill now, and I've played both Snapcaster Mage and Narset, Parter of Veils before. Hitting 3 lands isn't a big deal because of the higher than average land count for a low curve deck (to include Wasteland and Factories.) With so many colorless lands, being an artifact actually really helps this new card's playability.

[H]

True-Name Nemesis is a common addition to Dreadstill now, and I've played both Snapcaster Mage and Narset, Parter of Veils before. Hitting 3 lands isn't a big deal because of the higher than average land count for a low curve deck (to include Wasteland and Factories.) With so many colorless lands, being an artifact actually really helps this new card's playability.

That is true, plus, if we were to cut Delver (not sure if we should or not, mind you) it does help avoid a bit of the Wrenn and Six effect, being one toughness. You lose that attempt at tempo, but Scroll should let you play a longer game, in theory. Unfortunately, that isn't where Stifle is at it's best though, but then again, Scroll mitigates that to some degree. It's hard to say what the ideal approach would be, since Scroll is such a different card than anything that was previously available for the deck.

I kind like, in theory, the idea of splashing Black, since Scroll can turn top-decked, useless, Discard spells into bodies. Not to mention, silly shit like Dark Ritual into Hymn/Therapy, with Daze backup. Plus, you know, Underground Sea is like the coolest kid in the class,

[Fox]

Dreadnought artifact is quite good. Finally have a more reasonably costed Mastery of the Unseen effect. I dislike calling it "manifest" as this mechanic implies from top of deck. This card is highly uninteractive (like Vial), which makes it quite a bit better than it should be. Most importantly it provides the mana discounting needed to make morph/megamorph a playable mechanic at legacy speeds.

This card is kinda BS with new Teferi and it's EoT untouchable take 12's.

[H]

Dreadnought artifact is quite good. Finally have a more reasonably costed Mastery of the Unseen effect. I dislike calling it "manifest" as this mechanic implies from top of deck. This card is highly uninteractive (like Vial), which makes it quite a bit better than it should be. Most importantly it provides the mana discounting needed to make morph/megamorph a playable mechanic at legacy speeds.

This card is kinda BS with new Teferi and it's EoT untouchable take 12's.

Yeah, I think White also has some really nice advantages to offer in this as well, Mother of Runes and new Teferi for certain.


Another new card, Walking Sponge now has a brother:


Kind of sucks, but a 4 mana 4/4 if they Brainstormed. But, really, this is an EDH card for certain.

[Barook]

Green pseudo-board wipe.

[FourDogsinaHorseSuit]

So which deck got the full spoiler today?