Commander 2016 Rotisserie Draft League Update

As we zero in on the release of Commander 2017, I figured I’d update you on the latest from our Commander 2016 League. If you want to check out exactly what we drafted, here’s both Part 1 and Part 2. Mostly due a little emergency room adventure (I’ve recovered nicely, thanks) some weeks back, it’s been more than a month since we played. It’s been so long, in fact, that we hadn’t played any games since doing the Amonkhet supplemental draft. We finally got together and played an afternoon and evening’s worth of games before doing the Hour of Devastation supplemental. A full report follows.

Amonkhet Supplemental Draft

As I mentioned a while back, I’d raced out to a large lead in the League on the back of a few dominant games courtesy of Selvala, Heart of the Wilds. Seat order is determined by inverse standings, with the person in last place picking who sits in Seat 1. In this case, Anthony chose to take overall first pick for himself. I’m pretty sure wanted to make sure no one else got Samut, Voice of Dissent.

I was happy to get both of my first choices in Vizier of the Menagerie and Archfiend of Ifnir. I had some ideas about using Survival of the Fittest along with the Archfiend—but I abandoned the Archfiend after not really being able to decide what I’d cut for it.

I suspected the Monuments were going to go high, so I was happy to get mine. I thought it was neat that both Shea and I drafted a God and its corresponding Monument in the same round. I got rid of Triumph of the Hordes because I just didn’t want to be that player and Gigantoplasm because it hadn’t made the cut into the deck and I was pretty sure no one else would want it. As you’ll see along the way, several of us did indeed become interested in things other people cast aside.

Obviously, Heart-Piercer Manticore comes with the dream of resolving it with Lord of Extinction on the battlefield. The draft of Sudden Spoiling came from understanding that, with such a large lead in the standings, I’d be a constant target (given that there’s an additional point for killing the player in first place), so I’d need to provide a little more on the defensive end. Plus, it’s just a great card—especially after someone casts a battlefield wipe and Shea has resolved that Heroic Intervention.

Really like Tom’s pick of Decimate here. In a five-player game, you know there will always be juicy targets. There aren’t too many extremely good lands at play in the League, although Shea has Homeward Path and Keith has Academy Ruins.

I started getting a little drifty here, thinking about moving into a more control option, which got me onto Nissa. Given the aggression of a few of the decks, however, I’d need to go more full-on control to make her worthwhile, which would mean too much of an overhaul. Paradox Engine is a more defensive card. I figured that I could battle, cast something, and untap my creatures for blocking. Sure, there could be some silliness with Selvala, Heart of the Wilds, but in general, nothing broken. I dropped Gonti, Lord of Luxury because I hadn’t slotted it in, and I know that Tom really likes the card, so I figured I’d give him a chance to play it. Shea seems to have an unnatural hatred for the card, and he hasn’t really articulated why, just that the card irritates him.

Love Keith’s Selfless Squire so much—although I obviously can’t play it in this League. Maybe I’ll be able to Stunt Double it for super value at some point. Oracle’s Vault is a card I had hoped to have some fun with, but it hasn’t panned out just yet. Praetor’s Grasp was just sitting there unplayed, a situation in need of correction.

Games 8-12

We played two games before Anthony got off work, then three more after. Tom had the best day all around, closing a large portion of the gap in the standings. His deck is quite aggressive. Saskia the Unyielding doubling up damage on someone can make them dead rather quickly, so he tends to be the one setting the tone in the early part of games. Shea is the only real control player, although Keith has some elements of it was well, especially once he gets Breya, Etherium Shaper online.

For these games, I decided to switch out Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder as my commander and go with the partners, Thrasios, Triton Hero and Vial Smasher the Fierce. The two of them give me a little more early-game than I had before, and the ability to get defensive should I need to. Thrasios has been an unintended source of points. In three of the five games we played, I used it to get the First Blood point (for being the first player to damage an opponent—no, you can’t shockland yourself into the award). When it survives, especially in the mid- to late-game, it’s reasonably good card draw. There have been a few times when I had some extra mana to use, and Thrasios was there to do something with it.

In Game 10, at the urging of the rest of the table (who only knew it was “super greedy”), I kept a hand that I thought was questionable. I Tweeted it, and the overwhelming response was “snap keep.”

It consisted of:

I get that in a mono-green deck this is a keeper. In four-color? Seems risky, especially knowing that Selvala always wears the huge target hat. I didn’t get all the way there, getting to use Selvala only once—but at least I got to the fourth mana to cast both Solemn Simulacrum and Oracle of Mul Daya. I also got enough mana to cast the Lurking Predators I drew, which put me in the driver’s seat. It was the only game in which I was the last person standing.

In that same game, Keith was awarded Cool Play for goading Tom into attacking him and then killing him with Deflecting Palm. The attack involved dealing a significant amount (although not lethal) amount of damage to me via Saskia the Unyielding. Keith simply said “If you attack me, I won’t block.” Tom, who had some pretty hefty creatures, fell for it. His attack took more than half my life from 60, but the source—Sunscorch Regent—was big enough to kill him.

Keith later used Deflecting Palm again in a cool fashion, this time in the last game, and it set up a scenario I’m not sure we’ve seen before (ever, in any of the games in or out of the League which our extended group has played). Tom had already killed Anthony, and Keith had killed Tom. It was looking extremely bad for me, although I had fifteen mana and some cards. Keith’s life total was pretty high—65, to be exact—and he had 30 toughness of creatures on the battlefield. I had four creatures and Overwhelming Stampede in hand, but it’s not enough to deal with both Keith and Shea, since Shea has copied my Urabrask the Hidden.

I have to focus on Keith because my life total was high enough to survive something from Shea. With all that mana, I cast Makeshift Mannequin, targeting the Malignus in my graveyard. I cast Xenagos, God of Revels, which is active. I then cast Overwhelming Stampde, giving all my creatures (to include the Malignus) +33/+33 and trample. Life is obviously easier if Malignus is untapped, but then I certainly have enough to kill both of them (as is would be 132/132, tramply, and unpreventable—something about Malignus that folks sometimes forget). Anyway, the creatures I have are enough to kill Keith—even when he casts Deflecting Palm on the largest of them. Unfortunately, that also kills me. Shea ends up in the position of being the last person standing in the game—although he hasn’t killed anyone.

Here’s what the standings look like after twelve games:

You can see that Tom has closed the gap, leaping over Shea into second place and conceivably a game or two from taking the lead. The day after the session, we did our Hour of Devastation supplemental draft online, in preparation for Saturday’s games. Anthony once again chose to sit in Seat 1. Here’s how it went down:

Hour of Devastation

This whole draft for me is about playing some defense, and taking some cards while setting up some possibilities so that I can survive even if I’m the early target. I know exactly what Shea is taking in front of me, since he’s been talking about it for weeks, so I don’t even dream that Torment of Hailfire is a card I’m going to get. I’m reasonably sure that no one is picking up Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh in front of me, and I may have even delayed it until later, but I want to lock it in. When Tom takes Neheb, the Eternal right in front of me, there are really only two cards I want. There are a few other Hour of Devastation cards I pick up, both there’s nothing I feel like I miss out on.

Mirage Mirror can create some fun game states, so that’s a definite pick. During the games we had just played, the discussion came up of no one having Bribery, despite all the great creatures in everyone’s decks. I made a note of it then, and picked it up before anyone else remembered the conversation. I held out some hope that Reason // Believe, Refuse // Cooperate, and Driven // Despair might be available later, but I’m not horribly disappointed that they aren’t. I like Anthony’s pick of Perilous Forays to go along with the Yasova Dragonclaw he picked up after I dropped it last time. Nice tech (which he’s been on the receiving end of from my own The Threat of Yasova deck).

Gilded Drake is just Gilded Drake, right? Trading it for one of the awesome beasts roaming around our battlefields is the right choice. Grab the Reins was more than just the choice of a good card—not to mention Tom tells us he was just about to pick it—but it was part of a strategy I later abandoned. Namely, I was going to grab Glacial Chasm so that, at some point, I could just turtle and wait for the big Fling or whatever. I was going to take Glacial Chasm as the last pick in the draft so that, at least until the next waiver wire, I’d have free rein with it. In the end, I decided that I didn’t like the idea of not attacking. At my heart, I still live in the Red Zone. Always be combatting! Combatting is for closers.

Anthony’s pick of Avacyn, Angel of Hope is okay by me because I have Clones. His pick of Wild Pair also seems saucy, except for the fact that he’s playing Containment Priest. We’ll have to see what he’s up to. I can only hope it means Containment Priest goes away.

This might have been the spiciest round. Tom’s obviously going all-in on the attack step now (not like he shied away from it before). I got a little excited with his pick of Siege Behemoth, thinking that it was Regal Behemoth. Who doesn’t love being the monarch? Anothony’s Ground Seal signaled that he’s not planning on putting up with any graveyard shenanigans. Keith’s pick of Ulamog’s Nullifier is nothing short of inspired. My picks this round were clearly defensive. Tsabo can block the other commanders (save for Atraxa, Praetors’ Voice) and kill lots of stuff. I should have gone with my cool round of Tsabo plus Empress Galina. I’m sure I’ll be quite happy with the value I get out of Virtue’s Ruin, but as you’ll see next round, Keith came out of nowhere and grabbed Empress Galina. He told me after the fact that Gilded Drake was what got him thinking about it, but the pick of Tsabo Tavoc cemented the choice for him.

I can’t say I’m displeased with Keith’s choice of Oracle of Dust and his desire to put cards back into my graveyard, but I know that he’s just doing it for The Scarab God fuel. Crawlspace is hopefully a way to keep (mostly) Tom off of my face. Shea kills with big Atraxa swings, so it won’t help there, but that’s why I’m committed to playing Spore Cloud and Sudden Spoiling (although Sudden Spoiling doesn’t help much against Atraxa with a pile of counters on it). Keith also doesn’t commit large forces to combat, and we’ll see how Anthony’s deck develops after all these new choices.

When Shea dropped Ikra Shidiqi, the Usurper, it was the final blow to the Glacial Chasm plan. I love the card, and it’s going right in as soon as I find my copy of it. I know I just picked up Paradox Engine, but the more I looked at it, the more I realized that it just wasn’t going to do much in this deck. There are some cards in my reserve pool that I might not play but that I don’t want to let loose on the field, such as Pathbreaker Ibex and Nylea, God of the Hunt (which Tom tried to draft before realizing that I already had it). Every card I have seems both worth playing and worth not letting anyone else latch onto, so future waiver wires might get awkward.

We have more Commander 2016 Rotisserie Draft League games on the docket for the weekend. We’re also going to select which of the Commander 2017 decks we’ll play in the next League. We’re going to run it just like we did with the Commander 2015 decks—play them straight out of the box and update them one card at a time. Since there are only four decks in Commander 2017, Tom volunteered to sit out because he’s a bit busy, having just moved into a new apartment with his fiancee Marina plus needing to plan a wedding. This way, we can have concurrent Leagues running—one available when all five of us can get together, and one when Tom can’t show up. It’s a perfect solution. More details on the new setup to come.

This Week’s Idiotic Combo

We have to throw a Commander 2017 card into the mix right away. Sometimes you have cool combos which can net lots of value, but then you can’t stop them because the abilities aren’t optional. Scatteredsun on the official forums suggested this one:

The Locust God + Kindred Discovery (naming Insect) + Obstinate Familiar

Obstinate Familiar—an otherwise kind of unplayable card—prevents you from decking yourself. You can draw as many cards as you like or need, and then stop. Sure, you could also just use a sacrifice outlet one of the other two cards, but that’d just be silly.

This week’s Deck Without Comment is the build I’m playing in the League at this very moment, although that’s subject to change game to game.

Thrasios, Triton Hero and Vial Smasher the Fierce

Sheldon Menery

Test deck on 08-25-2017

Commander

Creatures (41)

• 1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Kokusho, the Evening Star
• 1 Sun Quan, Lord of Wu
• 1 Yavimaya Elder
• 1 Llawan, Cephalid Empress
• 1 Protean Hulk
• 1 Stalking Vengeance
• 1 Vesuvan Shapeshifter
• 1 Big Game Hunter
• 1 Farhaven Elf
• 1 Puppeteer Clique
• 1 Woodfall Primus
• 1 Lord of Extinction
• 1 Oracle of Mul Daya
• 1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
• 1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
• 1 Consecrated Sphinx
• 1 Sangromancer
• 1 Urabrask the Hidden
• 1 Disciple of Griselbrand
• 1 Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
• 1 Malignus
• 1 Maelstrom Wanderer
• 1 Consuming Aberration
• 1 Crypt Ghast
• 1 Sepulchral Primordial
• 1 Erebos, God of the Dead
• 1 Burnished Hart
• 1 Xenagos, God of Revels
• 1 Dack's Duplicate
• 1 Oblivion Sower
• 1 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
• 1 Stunt Double
• 1 Selvala, Heart of the Wilds
• 1 Rashmi, Eternities Crafter
• 1 Noxious Gearhulk
• 1 Vizier of the Menagerie
• 1 Bontu the Glorified
• 1 Heart-Piercer Manticore
• 1 Razaketh, the Foulblooded

Planeswalkers (1)

• 1 Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh

Lands (12)

• 8 Swamp
• 1 Terramorphic Expanse
• 1 Exotic Orchard
• 1 Evolving Wilds
• 1 Kessig Wolf Run

Spells (44)

• 1 Sensei's Divining Top
• 1 Mana Drain
• 14 Forest
• 1 Tooth and Nail
• 1 Living Death
• 4 Mountain
• 6 Island
• 1 Decree of Pain
• 1 Spore Cloud
• 1 Explosive Vegetation
• 1 Survival of the Fittest
• 1 Greater Good
• 1 Sudden Spoiling
• 1 Makeshift Mannequin
• 1 Lurking Predators
• 1 Momentous Fall
• 1 Overwhelming Stampede
• 1 Asceticism
• 1 Birthing Pod
• 1 Cyclonic Rift
• 1 Mind's Dilation
• 1 Selvala's Stampede
• 1 Bontu's Monument

Check out our comprehensive Deck List Database for lists of all my decks:

SIGNATURE DECKS

Purple Hippos and Maro Sorcerers; Kresh Into the Red Zone; Halloween with Karador; Dreaming of Intet; You Did This to Yourself;

THE CHROMATIC PROJECT

Mono-Color

Heliod, God of Enchantments; Thassa, God of Merfolk; Erebos and the Halls Of The Dead; Forge of Purphoros; Nylea of the Woodland Realm; Karn Evil No. 9

Guilds

Lavinia Blinks; Obzedat, Ghost Killer; Aurelia Goes to War; Trostani and Her Angels; Lazav, Shapeshifting Mastermind; Zegana and a Dice Bag; Rakdos Reimagined; Glissa, Glissa; Ruric Thar and His Beastly Fight Club; Gisa and Geralf Together Forever;

Shards and Wedges

Adun’s Toolbox; Animar’s Swarm; Ikra and Kydele; Karrthus, Who Rains Fire From The Sky; Demons of Kaalia; Merieke’s Esper Dragons; Nath of the Value Leaf; Rith’s Tokens; The Mill-Meoplasm; The Altar of Thraximundar; The Threat of Yasova; You Take the Crown, I’ll Take Leovold; Zombies of Tresserhorn;

Four-Color

Yidris: Money for Nothing, Cards for Free; Saskia Unyielding; Breya Reshaped

Five-Color

Children of a Greater God

Partners

Tana and Kydele;

THE DO-OVER PROJECT

Animar Do-Over; Glissa Do-Over; Karador Do-Over; Karador Version 3; Karrthus Do-Over; Steam-Powered Merieke Do-Over; Lord of Tresserhorn Do-Over; Mimeoplasm Do-Over; Phelddagrif Do-Over; Rith Do-Over; Ruhan Do-Over

If you’d like to follow the adventures of my Monday Night RPG group (in a campaign that’s been alive since 1987) which is just beginning the saga The Lost Cities of Nevinor, ask for an invitation to the Facebook group “Sheldon Menery’s Monday Night Gamers.”