New set, new cards, new possibilities.
For a small set Aether revolt is packed full of goodies for Commander players to mull over.
First up it contains a complete cycle of mono-coloured legendary creatures.
Sram, Senior Edificer is something white sorely misses and that's a draw engine. Okay he is restricted to Auras, Equipment and Vehicle cards but white rarely gets to draw cards that easily.
Baral, Chief of Compliance will be instantly (see what I did there?) added to my daughters Mizzix deck and I can see him being built around as a stand alone commander.
Yahenni, Undying Partisan is asking to be built around as a voltron style commander especially as they (I understand Aetherborn are sexless) grow bigger and protect themselves.
Kari Zev, Skyship Rider is a bit underwhelming for me for a commander. Okay they produce a monkey when you attack which I guess can be taken advantage of and she is a pirate - pirate tribal anyone?
Rishkar, Peema Renegade makes all creatures into mana dorks! That's huge amounts of ramp on a body and two of your creatures get a bit bigger as well. I like, I like a lot.
There is also one other legendary creature in the set:
Small though this Thopter maybe, I can certainly see people rising to the challenge and building a colourless commander deck around him.
Next up are the Planeswalkers of the deck.
Let's play a little game I like to call spot the difference:
Each new set, starting with the previous set, will feature two preconstructed decks championing two planeswalkers.
As you can see Ajani, Valiant Protector and Tezzeret, Master of Metal are supposed to be the less playable planeswalker cards. However, Tezzert's -8 is not to be sniffed at.
I have to say I like all four of these planeswalkers and I'm now really tempted to make an Ajani themed deck. I just need to work out who to use as my Green/White commander.
Speaking of which there are several legendary cards that aren't creatures in the set as well.
Superfriends or Planeswalker good stuff decks are a definite thing. Especially since Atraxa was released in this year's Commander 2016 decks. I can see Oath of Ajani making it's way into such decks with ease.
Paradox Engine with plenty of mana rocks is highly abusable. I expect to see a deck that can draw and play itself out in a single turn - winning the game in the process.
Planar Bridge should read 'Search your library for a game finishing creature....' okay it costs 8 to use but it lets you search it out and put it onto battlefield. Note it does not cast said creature which is important when considering what permanent you go hunting for.
Two hearts but two very different cards.
Gonti's Aether Heart allows you to take an extra turn something not necessarily available in all colours. But, the catch is you need to be able to generate enough energy to pay the 8 energy cost.
As an aside I really dislike the way wizards have implemented multiple energy costs. Anything over 5 I find I have to pay close attention to. They are not as easy to read, in my opinion, as normal mana costs.
Heart of Kiran I've included for completeness really. It's a strong Standard card but I don't think it has the kind of impact or utility people seek for creatures in Commander/EDH.
Cogwork Assembler is useful for copying artifacts, Wurmcoil engine comes to mind as a likely target. But you can always use Liquimetal coating, a personal favourite of mine, to get clever with the Assembler.
Crackdown Construct on the face of it seems useful but not overly powerful. That was until the community broke it.
Turn Wandering Fumarole into a creature and you can repeat its activated ability as many times as you like as it has 0 cost. Every time you do so Crackdown Construct gets bigger and bigger and bigger.
Inspiring Statuary provides a way to use artifacts to make your spells cheaper. It works with creature tokens quite happily like Myrs, Thopters, Servos or even Clues. Having cheaper spells is never a bad thing.
Lifecrafter's Bestiary is one of the easiest to use permanents with repeatable draw that I've seen. Especially as it's focused on Green the colour expected to cast more creatures than any other. The little extra scry at the beginning of your upkeep is just an added bonus.
Merchant's Dockhand is somewhere between draw and tutoring. Okay you have to tap a number of artifacts but it's easy to produce lots of artifacts in Commander. I can see Blue players using this to rifle through their deck for answers, combo pieces etc.
We all know that Tribal is a thing so it's not surprise that I've included Metallic Mimic in my list. It'll help fuel Ghave if you name Saprolings and I'm sure has many other uses too.
Pacification Array was a borderline choice for me, but I decided to include it because it can shut down any deck where they want a single creature to attack. The only problem you'll have is Hexproof shuts down the Array.
Universal Solvent is colourless reusable permanent destruction. Even though it takes 7 mana to use it there was never going to be any question of it being included in this list given any deck that wants to use it can.
Watchful Automaton allows you to repeatedly Scry. Again I'm not totally convinced this is commander worthy but the ability doesn't require the creature to tap which led me to include it where otherwise I would have dismissed it.
There's only one not basic land in Aether Revolt but it does warrant inclusion in my choices.
Given that most commander decks I've created or seen play artifacts in some form Spire of Industry has the same ability as City of Brass. However, it can also tap for colourless with no life loss if you don't need mana of a specific colour. That makes it a land I'll get to include in my decks.
There aren't that many spells over and above the muticoloured spells I've already look at. But there are a few I've chosen to include here.
Not sure about Dark Intimations but I figure it may end up in a Nicol Bolas deck.
Tezzeret's Touch I've included because it has the ability to protect an artifact for you, returning it to your hand should it find its way to the graveyard.
Winding Constrictor works with any type of counter but only for Creatures and Artifacts. I'd use it in my old Ghave deck. A word of caution; if your opponent is playing infect this will just help them kill you more quickly.
Efficient Construction is great for artifact focused decks. Keep in mind they have to be cast. Someone like Silas Renn works well with this card because he casts from the graveyard as well as the hand.
Illusionist's Stratagem takes advantage of all those enter-the-battlefield effects that we see in Commander. It also replaces itself.
Mechanized Production is an alternate win condition, and who doesn't like those. You can go small with Thopters or clues or go big with Gearhulks and the like.
Aethertide Whale is effectively impossible to permanently get rid of. As it creates enough energy counters to use to return it back to your hand any time something happens that means it would die or be exiled just return it to your hand.
Baral's Expertise is one of a cycle of cards from which I've picked the two I like most. You get to bounce and then cast something with a mana cost 4 or less from your hand. So you can either mess with your opponent's board state and then cast a spell. Or bounce something back to your own hand only to cast one them again for free.
Sorry did you just ultimate your planeswalker? I think I'll Disallow that!
Skyship Plunderer needs to be read carefully. Great for manipulating Experience counters or charge counters or, most importantly, loyalty counters on a planeswalker.
It is Improvise that made me sit up and take note of Whir of Invention without it then it's an expensive proposition, with it the card becomes awesome. Oh did you notice it was an instant?
Aid from the Cowl only works at the beginning of your end step because of this it was also a borderline card. I still think it's pretty decent but I'm not sure how good.
Heroic Intervention I feel will be an auto-include in any deck playing green. Keep in mind it protects permanents. Oh you played In Garruk's Wake to destroy my planeswalkers? Let me introduce you to my Heroic Intervention.
Lifecrafter's gift is an instant so I included it because of it's ability to mess up your opponents blocking choices in a complex combat round.
Rishkar's Expertise let's you draw plenty of cards and then cast one of them for free. Pretty much a no-brainer where I'm sat.
Scrounging Bandar's ability to shift +1/+1 counters during your upkeep I think will be useful in certain decks.
If you can repeatedly bounce Maulfist Revolutionary then I think he could be useful. One of a few cards I've highlighted that get to give you, one of your opponents or a permanent an extra counter.
Green usually only gets direct damage in the form of sweeping Hurricane type effects or cards that let your creatures fight with another creature. This is a new type of card for Green and I like it.
Call for Unity is one of those cards Wizard's make from time to time that make Tribal decks so much fun. Especially as they are also increasing counter manipulation from what we've seen.
Consulate Crackdown is a great way to remove ALL of your opponents artifacts. It'll make the Consulate a big target but it'll still be fun to cast. Especially if they're running artifact tokens.
Exquisite Archangel is interesting, it stops you loosing the game via loss of life. But not via any other method. But if you loose the game from loss of life WITH the Archangel in play I have to wonder why you're not in a better position.
The interweb has gone metal about Felidar Guaridan because he goes infinite with the Planeswalker Saheeli Rai.
Doesn't she look oh so innocent? It's her -2 that creates a copy of Felidar Guardian that exiles her and returns her to the battlefield so she can repeat it. Note the Guardians get Haste.
Solemn Recruit has Double Strike and can make herself bigger and bigger. Which in my book makes her a simple but awesome Dwarf Warrior.
For me Black really suffers in this set with very few of the cards worthy of consideration.
I've included Fatal Push just because it's a curious removal spell but I don't think it'll see much Commander play really.
Herald of Anguish can be cast early enough that his discard ability can cause problems. He can also be used for targeted removal.
Yahenni's Expertise is a mini board wipe that lets you cast another card. I wasn't originally planning to include this but felt there were so few other choices that I may as well put this up for consideration.
Red is almost as poor as Black. But then I guess the whole block is really about Artifacts and Vehicles.
If I get the idea correctly, you play spells that put artifact creature tokens into play and lots of very large very splashy creatures. Then you sac the tokens with Indomitable Creativity and drop those huge creatures onto the battlefield. I am sure someone will try it in Commander.
Lightning Runner has Double Strike and Haste which is alright for it's 5cmc but it's the fact it can get you an extra attack phase that really stands out for me.
Pia's Revolution can be used as limited protection for your artifacts good but not great.
Scrapper Champion is another creature with Double Strike that makes itself bigger. Anything with Double Strike that gets bigger in my book is worthy of consideration because sooner or later they are going to become a serious problem.
So there you have it. My thoughts on Aether revolt. Overall it's a good set unless you purely play Rakdos decks.
Until next time. If you're going have fun at the prerelease.
Phil
No comments:
Post a Comment