Hello, folks! What do you do when you get the Commander itch and the itch to draft? How can you do both?
Commander Cube!
It has the joy of a Cube project you can pore over at length, and also the multiplayer Commander aspect built in too. You already have a group of people
there for drafting Cube, right? Might as well shuffle up and play together right afterwards!
For more than a year, I’ve been maintaining a real-life Commander Cube and updating it regularly. Just last week, I discussed some of the lessons I’ve taken
away from my Commander Cube.
Today I want to bring you up to date on two major topics. What new hotness from Fate Reforged is heading in? Why? What’s likely not to make the cut? And
what cards are on my short list, with an eye to putting them in later if they play well? Next I want to explore the changes I’ve made to my Cube since it
was last updated, as well as changes from the lessons mentioned last week.
So let’s get started with the next hotness!
What cards do I like from Fate Reforged for the Cube of Commander-ness?
The obvious place to investigate first is the five leaders of the clans:
For the first time in the history of my Commander Cube, I have the ability to be picky about which wedge-colored leaders we choose for the Cube and to lead
potential future drafts. As of today, I include every wedge-colored Commander in a desire to maximize their deck-potential. That means Temur, as one
example, rocks Surrak Dragonclaw, Intet, the Dreamer, Maelstrom Wanderer, Riku of Two Reflections, and Animar, Soul of Elements. I want five of each wedge
commander, and some colors have just four (an uneven number were printed). So I can choose who to add, pull out, and more.
So, some cards are just being added in order to bring me to five: Shu Yun, Alesha, and Tasigur.
But we have two clashes: we have an extra card in the Abzan and Temur colors.
The problem of Daghatar is that he’s a bit of a +1/+1 counter lord just like Ghave, Guru of Spores and Anafenza, the Foremost. If I pull something else for
him, then I have three duplicative leaders clashing hard on that theme. I don’t want that! That means I really need to consider if Daghatar is better than
Anafenza or Ghave and replaces one. Well, Ghave is just too good.
Anafenza is cheap at three mana and has a big butt. She also hoses opposing recursion and graveyards a bit. Then, in addition, she brings the ability to
pop a +1/+1 counter to your best attacking creature when she brings the heat.
Daghatar is a 4/4 for four mana, with vigilance. He’s the same size but one more mana (although easier to play via mana costs). You can move counters from
one dork to another, and that includes stealing them from opposing creatures to your own. He’s a better support card for the theme.
So:
In: Daghatar the Adamant for Anafenza, the Foremost
Now, what to do with Yasova? I like her. She’s a fun, cheaper, dripping with flavor creature. I could pull Intet. That would remove a dragon, which is
always sad, but frankly, Intet isn’t exactly the worldbeating-est of that that uber-cycle of ten dragons. I run the entire cycle, and losing one is sad. Of
the others, Surrak and the Wanderer aren’t going to get touched. That leaves Animar or Riku as candidates. Animar is odd to build around in Draft, and yet
is shielded from a lot of targeted removal. At first, you think Animar is improved by rocking creatures, but finding the right set is always tricky. You
want them to have large colorless costs. Riku is very flexible, you can build him around big spells, big creatures, or both. He’s a great ramp guy to use
when you get the right ramp cards in your draft.
So it’s Animar or Intet. Grrr….
In: Yasova Dragonclaw for Animar, Soul of Elements
Sorry Animar.
I also want to have an equal number of allied tri-colors with my enemy tri-colors. I currently rock six each of my legendary hosses in the allied colors.
So I will pull one out of each to get me to an even 50 three-colored legendary leaders.
These are being removed:
Grixis – Sol’Kanar the Swamp King
Jund – Kresh the Bloodbraided
Naya – Jacques Le Vert
Bant – Phelddagrif
Esper – Halfdane
None of these cards were the best in their colors by any stretch. This trims a lot of fat.
Oh, and while I’m at it, let’s drop our five-color options. People aren’t taking them that much, and you almost never want them. I just want to run the
four that are supported (Horde of Notions; Karona, False God; Reaper King; and Scion of the Ur-Dragon).
Out:
Now, what about the dragons?
Any followers of my Cube will know that it has a strong dragon tribe. It’s the strongest tribe in the Cube. Add in stuff like Keiga, the Tide Star and the
many dragons of red, as well as a ton of great legendary options that are pro dragon, like Bladewing the Risen, Scion of the Ur-Dragon, and Karrthus,
Tyrant of Jund. Shoot, we even run Kaalia of the Vast. I once included Crucible of Fire because of how back-breaking it was with my many dragons. (Although
to be fair, I still have in Dragonstorm.)
And now I have a bit of a dragon-themed set here? And we’ll likely have some more in the next set? Whoa baby! I love this new injection of hot dragon love!
We’ll look at adding in a couple of mono-colored things, but we have some useful dragon elements here as well.
I wish I could just throw in my whole dragon cycle and call it, but some just aren’t worth it as commanders. Plus, my dual-color cards are the toughest to
crack because I have such limited space. So I don’t want to take up a precious Azorius space with Ojutai unless it’s better than other options. Is it
better than my current Azorius control option of Isperia, Supreme Judge? Isperia is an extremely sexy option for control builds that are sensitive to card
advantage, and Ojutai just taps some stuff. I’m just not feeling a swap over. On the other hand, there are some that I think are replaceable:
Dromaka the Eternal for Asmira, Holy Avenger
– The delayed death trigger to give counters to Asmira was always odd. By adding one mana to the price of your guy, you get +3/+2 to your flyer. And, you
get bolster to play with counters in a color combo with Ghave, Guru of Spores among other options. It’s the better class of card. The fact that it works
well with dragons is just a plus. (Draft this with Mirror Entity…oh my.)
I like both Atarka and Kolaghan. But they fight for space with existing dragon legendaries in their color as a commander. The one thing I adore about
Atarka is that you can kill in two attacks with unblocked Commander damage. So cards that I run for smashing with Thromak the Insatiable will also work
with Atarka as well. I’m not ready to commit yet, but I’m considering Atarka for Ruric Thar, the Unbowed or Borborygmos Enraged.
What other cards from Fate Reforged strike my fancy?
We still get some interesting opportunities with white. We run Temple Acolyte already, so if the creature types for Arashin Cleric were better, then it
would go in immediately. But they aren’t, so I’ll keep it mind in case I want another later on. Jeskai Barricade plays well generally as a wall that
flashes to block that can also save a creature if needed. It works with the Azorius and Esper control builds, and Doran will adore it. Meanwhile, the Bant
blink builds also can find a useful home for it. It plays well with a lot of strategies. Monastery Mentor is a great card, but it might just miss out
because it’s in the wrong colors. However, it can be a mana-free way to make dorks in Boros aggro and Selesnya token builds. It won’t embarrass you out
there. I just wish it were blue.
Because it can serve two roles, Fascination is an interesting spell with some potential. The Monastery Siege plays well with Zur the Enchanter and can also
be a strong play as just khans, giving you a two cards drawn and one discarded every turn. That’s a great way to sift through your deck and fill your
graveyard at the same time. Reality Shift adds a valuable exiling option for blue, but adding manifest into my Cube is not what I’m looking for. Blue and
white have a strong tempo element that’s under the current and often gets drafted by folks with commanders that are mucking about in the red zone and
wanting to get in hits, or to at least be safe, such as Geist of St. Traft, Brago, King Eternal, Rafiq of the Many, and Zur. I’ve been looking to push my
tempo element some more, and Supplant Form is an interesting way to do so while adding a card other decks could use. Whether you are playing control or
tempo, bounce + Clone is a useful ability.
Fearsome Awakening plays into the dragon theme of my Cube rather nicely, and I’ve been looking for another reanimation spell or two. I think Mardu
Shadowspear can play really well in an aggro build, such as a Mardu deck led by Zurgo Helmsmasher. Meanwhile the Noxious Dragon is a good midrange guy that
has a death trigger that plays well with Jund’s sacrifice theme and our dragon theme. The khans choice of Palace Siege is basically an Oversold Cemetery
without needing to fill it up first. We know how good the Cemetery has been all of these years, and the Palace Siege seems a lot better, right?
It seems like a fun body in the Boros or Gruul aggro builds, so Flamerush Rider is on my radar. Put the end of combat exiling trigger on the stack, and
then sacrifice your token to something like a Goblin Bombardment. For the sacrifice tricks, the dragon’s choice on Outpost Siege will yield you some nice
damage triggers. You can choose the khans trigger elsewhere and just get a pseudo-free card every turn without spending any mana.
Destructor Dragon is a highly intriguing choice for my cube. It gives green a flying creature, plays heavily into the Jund sacrifice theme, rocks the
dragon tribe, and is a useful card for the color since it can kill something annoying on death. You can play it with anything and it works. Because it can
be a Naturalize or a Wing Snare, Return to the Earth has a lot of value. I already know a card it can replace too. Another obvious replace situation rocks
Shamanic Revelation.
I’m not sure how good bolster on a sorcery or instant will be in a Commander Cube Draft format. Do you really want to cast a spell that pumps your Vine
Trellis over that attacking Indrik Stomphowler? If there is going to be a bolster spell that works, it’s Map the Wastes. It’s a bit like Growth Spasm. It’s
a land fixer that also plays into a fun ability of green.
I like the Scroll of the Masters in spell-heavy decks, like control builds or Izzet spell decks. People won’t want to waste their removal on it until it
gets sickening. You’ll get a lot of value out of it before then. It works.
What changes are we making?
In: Frontier Siege for Hibernation’s End
– Easy change.
In: Shamanic Revelation for Collective Unconscious
– Another easy change.
In: Palace Siege for Painful Quandary
– Ditto.
In: Return to the Earth for Eaten by Spiders
– Again, just an obvious swap.
In: Monastery Siege for Copy Artifact
– I retain the Zur-fetchable nature of this slot, and send in something really nice for everyone. Copy Artifact was in my original Cube list, but over the
months, I’ve added in lots more blue-artifact support, so I’m comfortable pulling this weaker support card.
In: Supplant Form for Flash
– Flash was a one-note card for the right deck, and Supplant Form can fit in a lot more stuff, is more control-y and tempo-y for decks that want that
stuff. Plus this gives me a chance to try this thing out!
Some of these cards I don’t own extra copies of yet (Ugin; Monastery Mentor), so they won’t get added in anytime soon.
And we are complete with Fate Reforged additions for now! Next up, what other changes have I made?
In: Goblin Bombardment for Blood Frenzy
– Blood Frenzy is a fun card in a multiplayer matchup because you can pump a creature and then kill it. You can pump Jane’s attack on Jack, while sitting
back, and then Jane’s critter dies afterward. Laughs ensue! But we have Fatal Frenzy in the Cube already to give a similar Berserk-style effect (although
it can’t be used to kill opposing dorks). So instead, I want to pull this for another adjunct to the sacrifice theme red has with Rakdos and Jund. You can
find use for it in other, unconventional places as well I think (Naya Tokens?). Plus it’s a more useful card than the Frenzy.
In: Beetleback Chief for Vulshok Battlemaster
– The Battlemaster is a fun guy with an interesting trick built into it. In an equipment-based deck, you get to equip it for free after it arrives, and
that works well with Godo, Bandit Warlord and the Boros equipment theme. Outside of that theme, it’s not that strong of a card. Meanwhile, our Beetleback
Chief plays well with aggro themes, like Boros Aggro, while also providing a triad of creatures in case you have a sacrifice engine ready, right
Rakdos/Jund? It also works well with Gruul’s Wort, the Raidmother or Thromak, the Insatiable. It’s a solid addition because it has a lot more homes than
the Battlemaster.
In: Mimic Vat for Chalice of Life –
I stripped apart one of my decks, and that freed up this awesome Mimic Vat, so it’s replacing the Chalice of Life. That’s a good strong way to strengthen
my Cube.
In: Dakra Mystic for Merfolk Looter
– It’s hard to find good one-drops for blue, so this speeds up my deck. The Mystic is better at enabling the same strategies the Looter works for. It helps
reanimation and graveyard strategies more, card drawing more, and so forth. Plus it’s a wizard (for Azami, Lady of Scrolls) and cheaper to play (and
redundant, since we have two other two-drop Looters). The Mystic is a good choice to flesh out my Cube a lot more.
In: Basalt Monolith for Isochron Scepter –
I was increasingly not feeling the Scepter. When it works, it’s really good, but it usually doesn’t. A short while ago I drafted a Melek, Izzet Paragon
spell-matters deck, and I found the Scepter, and at the end of the draft, I only had three instants that qualified as Stick options. In the deck that would
most benefit from the Scepter, I couldn’t even manage it. It was time to head to the sidelines.
In: Ob Nixilis Of The Black Oath for Elbrus, the Binding Blade
– In decks that can tutor for Elbrus when needed (Godo, Bandit Warlord, Treasure Mage, Stoneforge Mystic, etc.), the Binding Blade is an amazing card.
Unleashing your inner 13/13 demon can quickly alter the game. You can also use black’s Cabal Coffers or Crypt Ghast to drop it and equip without much of an
issue. But the problem is that, outside of these mechanics, the card is just not played much. The Ob is flexible enough to be played in virtually every
black deck that drafts him. This is an easy swap.
In: Overseer Of The Damned for Dread Cacodemon
– There are two major reasons that I run Dread Cacodemon. Firstly, I wanted to give black a high-end creature to drop when it gets that mana thing going.
Secondly, it gives you a top-end creature to drop for your Golgari ramp deck. In those decks, it’s a strong card that often makes the cut. I’ve seen it in
a few Dimir control builds too. Outside of that, you just don’t run it unless you have to (because you didn’t draft enough creatures or something). It’s
time to bench our good Cacodemon.
In: Stroke of Genius for Blue Sun’s Zenith
– Just a small change to massage my Cube a little to make this effect easier to play.
In: Daretti, Scrap Savant for Trash For Treasure
– Why play the spell when you can drop the planeswalker?
In: Sea Gate Oracle for Raven Familiar
– Raven Familiar is solid in the blink deck and an adequate enough body and support card outside of it, but the echo really isn’t my thing. I was looking
at Sea Gate Oracle, Archaeomancer, Omenspeaker, Augury Owl, and Augur of Bolas as potential replacements. All of those fit blink needs, are perfectly fine
early bodies for blue, and don’t worry about echo and upkeeping it later. Because Raven Familiar draws you a card, I ultimately wanted something more than
just fixing your deck with a card like Omenspeaker. If you wanted a solid flyer in the range of Raven Familiar’s casting cost, then Pestermite would be
interesting.
In: Myr Battlesphere for Clockwork Dragon
– I hate to cut a dragon right now, but this is a needed move. The Clockwork Dragon is an odd duck of a card with no real abilities outside of a mana sink
for a ramp deck. Meanwhile, the Myr Battlesphere brings you a 4/7 and four 1/1 artifact tokens. It has value in four major archetypes – artifacts (like
Esper), blink decks (Azorius or Bant), sacrifice decks (Jund), and token decks (Selesnya). You can abuse it with stuff like Momentary Blink, Trostani,
Selesnya’s Voice, Goblin Bombardment, and Master of Etherium. It looks like a weaker card, but once you begin to unlock the value, it’s got a lot of
substance under the hood.
In: Steel Overseer for Masticore
– I just picked up an extra Overseer, and this is a huge artifact critter upgrade for my deck stock.
In: Momir Vig, Simic Visionary for Trygon Predator –
I also purchased this guy from SCG in order to give my Simic section another legendary creature to bring it up to snuff with all of the other colors out
there.
These cards are on the watch list as well:
I’m not a big fan of cards like Engineered Explosives, Helvault, and Stone Idol Trap either, while we are talking about it.
All but Akroma are on my watch list because they play into just one major archetype and are weak outside of it. Redkroma isn’t as good as a lot of dragons
and such coming out these days and is not necessarily on the same wavelength, but I may wait until the next set is released to pull her because I’m
confident that there’ll be at least one great mono-red dragon worth adding into my draconic machine.
Anyway, those are my additions from Fate Reforged and other major updates to my Commander Cube.
Oh, and if you want to play it or check it out, you can find the google.doc of my Cube here.
Otherwise you can check it out online over at CubeTutor.com. You can also draft it as well and
build a deck and save it. Sometimes people need to copy and paste the link to get it to work.
What do you think? Anything you’d recommend?