I love my Commander decks, all 35 of them. I love to set up the table in the game room, turn on NFL Red Zone (on Sundays, anyway), and get up to my elbows
in cards. New cards in, old favorites out. Trying to figure out a better way to sort the stacks. Admiring what a pile of 35 decks looks like and figuring
out if I have them arranged correctly on the shelf (alphabetical by commander? Creation date?). Let’s just say that I’ve come to terms with my inner Magic
nerd. New sets give me another reason to do all that, so you can expect to find me this weekend making changes to all (well, most) of those decks.
Commander 2014 is jam-packed with cards that absolutely must go into them. Of the 60-some new cards in the set, I’ve managed to find homes for 42 of them.
I didn’t plan it that way, but obviously Commander is the meaning of life. The universe knows (just like the dice; the dice always know). Here is the
breakdown, by deck, of the whats and whys of the changes.
ADUN’S TOOLBOX
In:
Out:
As a toolbox deck that likes to have utility creatures in the graveyard, Adun will make good use of Flesh Carver to put creatures there. The format is
sometimes wrath-happy, so getting an immediate recovery off one of them is a nice backup plan. Feldon will also make use of those creatures in the yard
since plenty of them either have good enters the battlefield triggers or are great attackers. Kokusho, the Evening Star, is obviously the one I’ll want to
copy again and again. Wild Beastmaster is out for two reasons. First, I don’t attack in the swarms that make it valuable, and second, I don’t have too many
ways to pump it up. If I really want the creature in this deck to be beefier, I should get Creakwood Liege.
ANIMAR’S SWARM
No changes. This is a first time in a long time that I haven’t had changes to Animar, Soul of Elements. There are any number of cards that would go in
here-like Lifeblood Hydra-but they all seem better served elsewhere. It’s not like the deck has any glaring needs.
AURELIA GOES TO WAR
No changes
CHILDREN of a LESSER GOD
No changes. Hey, it’s brand new. Give a Child a break.
EREBOS and the HALLS OF THE DEAD
In:
Out:
Erebos just wanted a little spot removal, and Dread Return wasn’t working out.
GLISSA, GLISSA
In:
Out:
Jhoira’s Toolbox ended up being too situational, so it can go. Because so much of the deck is colorless, Unstable Obelisk is a nice mana rock early, then
when I can afford to start using it and regrowing it with Glissa, it should provide a great deal of board control.
HELIOD, GOD OF ENCHANTMENTS
No changes.
DREAMING OF INTET
In:
Out:
Domineering Will is going to provide so many memorable results that it’s one of the cards I’m most looking forward to playing. Ditto for Dualcaster Mage.
As I was looking at the decklist for Intet, I realized that I have only one enchantment (Rhystic Study) and five artifacts. I knew I had a home for Wave of
Vitriol. The non-basic land count is a little high, but I’ll make it work. Wave of Vitriol means I can take out Artifact Mutation. Overwhelming Intellect
is the victim of being a card which I’ve played for a long time and now I want to play other things. I constantly found Curse of the Swine to be
underwhelming, or at least always incompatible with the other things in my hand.
KAALIA and HER DEMONS
In:
Out:
After playing it just a few times, I’m already not sure how much I like Kaalia. It can really take over a game very early. If Kaalia doesn’t get dealt
with, the game comes to a hyper-focus. It’s not anywhere near ban-worthy, but it is a card that I’m unlikely to play with very casual groups. All that
aside, Demon of Wailing Agonies seems like it’s built for Kaalia. Abhorrent Overlord is a card which wants to be in a different kind of deck.
HALLOWEEN WITH KARADOR
In:
Out:
Hallowed Spiritkeeper will combo very nicely with Teysa, Orzhov Scion, and is something cheaply recast with Karador. Wake the Dead is sure to be a great
combat trick. It might also be a method of getting some much-needed enters the battlefield triggers, like with Sepulchral Primordial, Karmic Guide, or
Eternal Witness. Kheru Dreadmaw is already out because it’s too expensive to both cast and use repeatedly. Ready//Willing is finally out because I’ve been
trying to get rid of it for a long time, but I’ve hung onto the idea that this is the only deck in which I can play it. I finally got to the emotional
state where I could just let that go.
KARN, BEATDOWN GOLEM
No changes
KARRTHUS, WHO RAINS FIRE FROM THE SKY
In:
Out:
I know you’re scratching your head right now that Yavimaya Elder is on the cut list. The simple fact is that it’s not a dragon. There are other ramp and
land fetching abilities in the deck, so it’s a reasonable cut. Dragonlair Spider is also not a dragon. They both needed to come out to make room for more
fire raining from the sky. They should have just called it Karrthus’ Familiar. I like that Warmonger Hellkite can pump anyone’s creatures. There are a few
situations in which that might be very good. There’s the obvious someone needing just a few points of damage to be able to knock out the table’s problem
child. There’s the less obvious case of doing something with Elspeth, Sun’s Champion’s -3 ability. Okay, that’s a little corner-casey.
KRESH INTO THE RED ZONE
In:
Out:
I made a mistake last week with Ghoulcaller Gisa,
thinking that it made one big creature instead of a swarm of 2/2s. The way it actually works is way more dangerous, especially with a deck that has Goblin
Bombardment in it. Ob Nixilis’ ultimate isn’t going to happen that often, but when it does it will be awesome. I can only see using the -2 ability in an
emergency situation. Otherwise, it’s +2 until we get to -8. Gisa basically replaces Jarad, which I find that I don’t like playing that much when it’s in
the deck to be fetched with Survival of the Fittest. It’s a cheap, one-shot kill of the table, and I’d rather have to work a little more for it. Red
Elemental Blast has been an old friend and trusted service, but it’s time for it to retire. Like Brett Favre, it will probably make several comebacks.
LAVINIA BLINKS
In:
Out:
Teferi, Temporal Archmage almost didn’t have a home. It’s there for the wild situation in which I can blink something as an instant with Venser, the
Sojourner, or Brainstorm every turn with Jace, the Mind Sculptor. Medomai wasn’t doing much. Most often by the time I cast it, there were defenders
everywhere. The number of extra turns it helped me take were near non-existent.
LAZAV, SHAPESHIFTING MASTERMIND
In:
Out:
Admit it: you think I’m crazy for taking out Sol Ring. The bottom line here is that this deck is more color-hungry than it is mana-hungry. Commander’s
Sphere fits the bill and then replaces itself once I have enough lands in play. If I wasn’t putting new cards into only one deck, I’d obviously put
Commander’s Sphere in Glissa. In fact, there’s no deck that it won’t go in, all because of the second ability. Spoils of Blood almost went into Obzedat,
but I thought it’d be more hilarious to have it imprinted on Isochron Scepter.
ZOMBIES OF TRESSERHORN
In:
Out:
I actually thought that I had taken all of the fetchlands out of my decks, so when I was looking for something to take out in favor of Myriad Landscape,
Bloodstained Mire jumped right to the front. I’m very happy with the trend of R&D printing cards like this and Burnished Hart in order to help the
non-green colors keep up with the ramping.
MELEK’S MOLTEN MIND GRIND
In:
Out:
Although I’m also going to play Infernal Offering and Intellectual Offering, Volcanic Offering seems like the one with the least potential downside. And
who wouldn’t want to copy it that with Melek, Izzet Paragon? Note that you might want to be careful with Melek. If you cast something off the top of your
library, copying it is not optional (there’s an absence of the word “may” there).
MERIEKE’S ESPER CONTROL
In:
Out:
Merieke is about control, and forcing people to pick up stuff is controlling the board. Arcane Lighthouse will help Merieke be able to steal things which
are protected by Asceticism or just their native abilities. I found that I was very rarely piling up counters on Calciform pools, so it was the logical
choice to go. Obviously, this leaves a hole in the list. Aether Gale seems like the leading candidate to go in so far.
THE MILL-MEOPLASM
In:
Out:
This Mimeoplasm deck puts things into graveyards so that I can copy them. It also has the Plan B of milling out people-which has actually turned into Plan
A. Playing the deck for a long time now, I’ve noticed that there are simply too many good things in other players’ graveyards. It’s tough to deal with all
of them at once. Geralf will help with the mill plan by being able to exile an Eldrazi so that the player only gets it once.
NATH of the VALUE LEAF
In:
Out:
Nath is all about the value. All the cards have a converted mana cost of five or less. They’re supposed to also be inexpensive, which is why Dark Tutelage
is in there instead of Dark Confidant. It’s also part of the reason that Lotus Cobra is headed out-that and the deck doesn’t really take that much
advantage of the landfall anyway.
NYLEA OF THE WOODLAND REALM
No changes
OBZEDAT, GHOST KILLER
In:
Out:
And now, a Public Service Announcement: Homeward Path is an on-board trick. Okay, maybe that’s a personal reminder.
PURPHOROS and HIS ANVIL
No changes
PURPLE HIPPOS and MARO SORCERERS
In:
Out:
The purple hippo is all about drawing cards, so I figured I’d commit to it. I’ll do my best to make good political alliances with it. Even more politics
can be played with the untapping part. You don’t have to choose the same opponent for both parts, so you can end up making lots of friends. Stormsurge
Kraken is also about drawing cards. Or dealing damage, which is also okay with me. Hunting Wilds is ramp redundancy, and the deck is pretty good at
ramping. Magus of the Library was there for the card drawing, but I found that I too often had more than 7 cards in my hand.
ZEGANA and a DICE BAG
In:
Out:
Freyalise doesn’t actually go with the theme of the deck, but it’s nicely functional. If I ever make an elf deck, it gets swapped over. There are a number
of hydra in this deck, so Lifeblood Hydra will have some company. The reason I didn’t put it in Animar, Soul of Elements is that I remember unfortunate
incidents with Lurking Predators (mostly involving Bane of Progress). Zameck Guildmage could have been the card I took out for Hardened Scales. Momir Vig
is tutoring, and it involves too much time-wasting with all the searching and shuffling.
RAKDOS: LIFE IS SHORT
In:
Out:
Rakdos, with more than a dozen artifacts, is the deck that will make the best use of Daretti. Even in kind of a mean deck, I don’t want to be the guy
playing Sorin.
RITH’S TOKENS
In:
Out:
More and more, Rith is all about the soldier tokens. Deploy to the Front makes them. Jazal Goldmane makes them dangerous. I’d call these two cards a combo.
March of Souls went because it creates spirits, not soldiers. Garruk Wildspeaker is a casualty of playing it in a number of other decks-although I might
reconsider this choice and take it out of another deck where it’s just ramp, then putting it back in here where the overrun could be lethal.
RUHAN: YOU DID THIS TO YOURSELF
In:
Out:
I’m so happy with the cards for this deck that I almost listed it first instead of alphabetically. I can’t wait to have Comeuppance make a whole army
commit suicide. I also look forward to players getting twitchy whenever they think about trying to deal damage to me. Incite Rebellion is more of the same.
It’s even better the Gisela, Blade of Goldnight. The most difficult choice about Containment Priest was choosing which deck to put it in. I eventually
settled on this one because while I sometimes like you have big things to have you kill yourself with, I’d like to have another layer of protection as
well. It’s also the deck that Containment Priest hurts me the least. It also led me to take out Bribery, which will no doubt find itself a new home
quickly.
RURIC THAR AND HIS BEASTLY FIGHT CLUB
In:
Out:
Ruric Thar no longer has a Beastly Werewolf Fight Club, just a Beastly one. The werewolves as a sub-theme didn’t make any particular sense other than being
janky. These new beasts will both lead to other beasts crushing my enemies and hearing the lamentations of their women. I wonder if I can get someone to do
a Conan alter on Ruric Thar.
THASSA, GOD OF MERFOLK
In:
Out:
Breaching Leviathan in for Lorthos is simply exchanging a cool new giant sea monster for a cool old one. Reef Worm is 2014’s Mitotic Slime. Okay, maybe I
need to rethink this and put Reef Worm in a deck that can support Greater Good.
THE ALTAR OF THRAXIMUNDAR
In:
Out:
I’m not completely sold on Infernal Offering, but we’ll see how it goes. Obviously, I can choose someone who doesn’t have any creatures in the first place.
Since I can see most tricks coming, I doubt there are reverse blowouts, but seeing graveyards (which are often very spicy) might mean hanging onto this
instead of casting it. This deck kills creatures, so Overseer of the Damned will create many, many zombies-which can then be sacrificed to Attrition. Now I
just need an enchantment that says, “whenever a zombie token enters the battlefield, add B to your mana pool.” The copy spells are fun, but I’m trying to
tighten up the deck a little thematically. In this deck, they actually both most often served as ramp spells, copying someone else’s Rampant Growth or
Explosive Vegetation.
TROSTANI and HER ANGELS
In:
Out:
Angel of Dire Hour could have just as easily gone into Ruhan, but since I put Containment Priest in there, I decided to put it in the angel deck instead.
Remember that you don’t have to wait until someone is attacking you to cast it. During the end of combat step during which creatures have damaged or maybe
even killed someone else, those creatures are still attacking. Angelic Field Marshal is a bit of a nod to the theme. We’ll see if it’s worthwhile. Guardian
Seraph never did all that much for me; if any local players start playing Pestilence, I’ll reconsider. Ajani’s Presence was always way too expensive to do
what I wanted to. Ghostway or Faith’s Reward are lower-cost choices.
Not only are there a ridiculous number of cards to poach from the Commander 2014 decks for your existing ones, the decks themselves look like a great deal
of fun to play against each other. I’ll probably pick up a set of them just to keep them intact and have available for a change of pace when there are five
of us looking for something different to do. I can’t say enough about this product. Kudos to the folks in R&D who have given us a set that for years
down the road will give us epic memory after memory.
Here is the latest database version of all my decks:
ADUN’S TOOLBOX
; ANIMAR’S SWARM;AURELIA GOES TO WAR;CHILDREN of a LESSER GOD;DEMONS OF KAALIA;EREBOS and the HALLS OF THE DEAD;GLISSA, GLISSA;HELIOD, GOD OF ENCHANTMENTS;DREAMING OF INTET;FORGE OF PURPHOROS;KARN, BEATDOWN GOLEM;HALLOWEEN WITH KARADOR;KARRTHUS, WHO RAINS FIRE FROM THE SKY;KRESH INTO THE RED ZONE;LAVINIA BLINKS;LAZAV, SHAPESHIFTING MASTERMIND;ZOMBIES OF TRESSERHORN;MELEK’S MOLTEN MIND GRIND;MERIEKE’S ESPER CONTROL;THE MILL-MEOPLASM;NATH of the VALUE LEAF;NYLEA OF THE WOODLAND REALM,OBZEDAT, GHOST KILLER;PURPLE HIPPOS and MARO SORCERERS;ZEGANA and a DICE BAG;RAKDOS: LIFE IS SHORT;RITH’S TOKENS;YOU DID THIS TO YOURSELF;RURIC THAR AND HIS BEASTLY FIGHT CLUB;THASSA, GOD OF MERFOLK;THE ALTAR of THRAXIMUNDAR; TROSTANI and HER ANGELS
If you’d like to follow the adventures of my Monday Night RPG group (in a campaign that’s been alive since 1987), ask for an invitation to the Facebook
group “Sheldon Menery’s Monday Night Gamers.”