New LGS, New Muldrotha Play-by-Play And Bonus Top Ten Core Set 2020 Quick Hits

One of the things I’ve been wanting to do for a while is to regularly hit up my local gaming shop and check out their Commander scene. I’m fortunate enough to have a great place, called Johnny B’s, barely a mile from the house. Even more fortunately, the owner and the regulars have crafted a nice spot to play in. The shop is in a strip mall and looks relatively small from the outside. Fortunately it opens up into a much wider space than you’d think, providing plenty of table space for games, and even a private room (with a big paned-glass window) for RPGs. The shop has a regular schedule of games of all kinds. It’s simply a good place to go, and the kind of spot you want to help build in your community.

Important to me is their Commander scene. Wednesdays are the “regular” Commander days, Thursdays generally (but not always) feature cEDH. The Commander League organizer, among which Brian Leighton is a leader, have crafted the points system to create the kind of game the group (which generally gets anywhere from 12-30 players, pretty good for an area the size of Lakeland) really appreciates. Rounds are an hour long. When time is called, you finish three full turns per player, so rounds can obviously run longer than an hour. The points system is simple and has a few pieces to highlight.

The big one is that there are no holds barred after the 45-minute point. If you do something completely degenerate after that, good for you. If you combo off before the 45-minute point, you lose all your points and can gain none that evening; I think there are even negative points for doing it. The rest of the system is pretty straightforward and league points never expire. They go towards earning stuff off the prize wall. It’s $10 for the month, and you get a drink each time you play. It’s a nice deal.

I hadn’t done a play-by-play in a while, so I figured that it’d be a chance for you to get to some of the folks that hang out there as I’m getting to know them. I’m playing with the aforementioned Brian (Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign), Kalen (Sharuum the Hegemon), and Chris (Oloro, Ageless Ascetic). I bring along Muldrotha. Seems like folks enjoy blue. Brian, who’s definitely an old-school player, says that he’s running Mono-Blue Aggro; he later shipped me the list, which is linked here. Turns out he’s running Sphinx tribal, and there will be lots of mini-Fact of Fictions. Kalen is young, maybe 20-ish, and is the least experienced but most excitable player at the table. Chris is a little older and seems to have played slightly longer. They’re seem to be a good representation of the shop’s cross-section.

Brian, Kalen, and Chris’ Commanders

TURN ONE

• Brian (Unesh): Island
• Kalen (Sharuum): Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• Me (Muldrotha): Bayou
• Chris (Oloro): (42) Mana Confluence, taps it (41) to play Serum Visions.

TURN TWO

• Brian (Unesh): Island
• Kalen (Sharuum): Isolated Chapel. Discovery (from Discovery // Dispersal). Puts Godless Shrine into his graveyard.
• Me (Muldrotha): Forest, Oversold Cemetery.
• Chris (Oloro): (43) Swamp.

TURN THREE

• Brian (Unesh): Island, Darksteel Ingot.
• Kalen (Sharuum): Ancient Den, Ashnod’s Altar. I’m getting a sense of things here already. Something tells me there’s a Magister Sphinx soon. I mention it and Brian confirms.
• Me (Muldrotha): Swamp.
• Chris (Oloro): (45). Ghost Quarter, taps Mana Confluence (44) to cast Serra Ascendant. Brian chuckles.

TURN FOUR

• Brian (Unesh): Draws his card and then says, “I put this into the deck and didn’t know if it would do anything other than counter spells or draw cards.” He shows us Archmage’s Charm. He points at Serra Ascendant.
• Kalen (Sharuum): Command Tower, Trinket Mage for Sol Ring, casts it.
• Me (Muldrotha): I don’t want to miss a land drop, so I cast Demonic Tutor for Command Tower and play it.
• Chris (Oloro): (46). Taps Mana Confluence to play Crawlspace (45). Seems as though he’s forgotten about the fact that his Mana Confluence is also a Swamp.

TURN FIVE

• Brian (Unesh): Island. Caged Sun for blue. Attacks Chris with his own Serra Ascendant (39), goes to (46).
• Kalen (Sharuum): Swamp.
• Me (Muldrotha): Filigree Familiar and miss my land drop (42).
• Chris (Oloro): (41). Island, Greed. I have to respect his card choice.

TURN SIX

• Brian (Unesh): Casts Unesh. His habit for the rest of the game will be to pass the card choices around the table. I write them down as best as I’m able without slowing down the game. He keeps Island and Urza’s Incubator. He casts the Incubator, naming Sphinx. Aggro Sphinx indeed. He casts Prognosticator Sphinx and the split is 3x Island and Basalt Monolith. He keeps the lands. At end of turn, Kalen flashes in Shimmer Myr. Then he sacrifices his Trinket Mage to generate the mana to flash in Kuldotha Forgemaster.
• Kalen (Sharuum): Casts Diabolic Tutor, then casts Trophy Mage for Chromatic Lantern. Under normal circumstances I would have watched his hand to see if the Trophy Mage had been what he tutored for, but I was busy writing. I suspect that it wasn’t the Trophy Mage.
• Me (Muldrotha): Forest, Birthing Pod, then Pod away the Familiar (40) to get Solemn Simulacrum and Island, hopefully getting me back into this game.
• Chris (Oloro): (43) Swamp.

TURN SEVEN

• Brian (Unesh): Island, Glyph Keeper. He keeps Island/Windreader Sphinx over Island/Opt. He casts the Windreader Sphinx, getting a split of Lightning Greaves/Island and Clone/Commander’s Sphere, keeping the latter. He spreads some attacks across the board, most notably sending Serra Ascendant back at Chris. There’s scrying and drawing and when the dust settles, I’m at (34), Chris (39), Kalen (35), and Brian (52). After combat he casts Tribute Mage, getting Thought Vessel and playing it. He casts Sphinx of Foresight, getting a split of Thaumatic Compass/Rhystic Study and Body Double/Gilded Lotus, which is what he keeps, telling us that he’s drawing enough cards already and he doesn’t want to annoy the table. I like him even more after that. At end of turn Kalen sacrifices three artifacts to generate enough mana to flash in Magister Sphinx, setting Brian to (10). Yeah, that tutor definitely wasn’t for Trophy Mage.
• Kalen (Sharuum): Casts Cranial Plating and Grafted Exoskeleton. Equips them to Magister Sphinx and battles Brian, who blocks with Glyph Keeper.
• Me (Muldrotha): I pod away Solemn Simulacrum for Acidic Slime and take out the Caged Sun. It looks like Brian might be on the ropes but I think he’s about to kill Kalen, and I think he can do it without the Caged Sun. If that’s the case, then we’re better off if he doesn’t have it. At end of turn, Chris Greeds himself up five cards (28).
• Chris (Oloro): Command Tower, Cleansing Nova for creatures. Okay, so much for that. Of course, that means there’s a Magister Sphinx recurring.

TURN EIGHT

• Brian (Unesh): Island, Gilded Lotus, Commander’s Sphere, Thran Dynamo.
• Kalen (Sharuum): Casts Sharuum but regrows Kuldotha Forgemaster instead. I think he assumes this will earn him some goodwill. I can’t speak for the other two, but not from me. The threat is still there.
• Me (Muldrotha): Drowned Catacomb, Farhaven Elf. I Pod it away (32) to get Arixmethes, suspecting that Chris won’t Ghost Quarter it right away.
• Chris (Oloro): (30). Gilded Lotus and Kaya, Orzhov Usurper. Uses the +1 to exile Magister Sphinx and Shimmer Myr (32). Kalen makes a point of telling us that he could have recurred the Sphinx with some version of he “didn’t want to be that guy.” I gently remind him that if he didn’t want to be “that guy,” he wouldn’t have put Magister Sphinx in his Sharuum deck.

TURN NINE

• Brian (Unesh): Recast Unesh, keeping Kefnet the Mindful/Island off the trigger. Casts Kefnet’s Monument. Casts Cerulean Sphinx, keeping Sphinx of Jwar Isle/Island. Casts Sphinx of Jwar Isle, keeping Sphinx of Magosi/Island. Casts Spellbook, followed by Sphinx of Lost Truths, kicked, keeping Warden of Evos Isle/Island. Casts Mox Opal, with the metalcraft. Casts Warden of Evos Isle, then we remember his Kefnet’s Monument triggers; he taps down Sharuum and Kuldotha Forgemaster.
• Kalen (Sharuum): Demonic Tutor. I ask him if he’s going to combo out and he tells me that 45 minutes hasn’t passed yet. Seems fair. Sacrifices Sharuum to Ashnod’s Altar and casts Bolas’s Citadel. His first look is a land, which he plays. Casts Jhoira’s Familiar and Scrap Trawler off the Citadel (28). Casts Wayfarer’s Bauble from his hand. Blanks on the top card.
• Me (Muldrotha): Miren, the Moaning Well. Cast Muldrotha, then use it to bring Solemn Simulacrum out of the graveyard. I Pod it away (30) for Thragtusk (35). I’m mostly just watching what happens in this game, trying to get a sense of the players and their habits, styles, rhythms, and (as much as I can while I’m writing stuff down) their tells.
• Chris (Oloro): (35—I must have missed something that gained him life since his last turn). Greeds to (33). Casts Omniscience. Casts Nevermore, naming Sharuum. Spin Into Myth on Muldrotha, but Brian decides to Muddle the Mixture. I’m thankful but confused. Exquisite Blood — and then blanks, having no more card draw in his hand and no Greed mana. He uses Kaya to take out my Acidic Slime and Solemn Simulacrum (35). Brian and I gently needle Chris about being the first person we’ve seen whiff on Ominscience. He takes it with quite good humor.

TURN TEN

• Brian (Unesh): Brian’s plan becomes clear when he casts Clone on Muldrotha then uses it to regrow Caged Sun. Chris, however, counters the Sun with Absorb (38). Uses Muldrotha for Windreader Sphinx keeping Arbiter of the Ideal/Island. Casts Arbiter, keeping Quasiduplicate/Island. Remembers Kefnet, taps down Thragtusk and swings 23 damage into Kalen (5), who goes into full “I could have recurred Magister Sphinx” mode. Brian is not moved. He also points out Bolas’s Citadel is now kind of useless.
• Kalen (Sharuum): Cracks his Wayfarer’s Bauble, casts Platinum Angel.
• Me (Muldrotha): Woodfall Primus, taking out Omniscience. I don’t think I have a nine mana creature in the deck but I Pod it away just in case, taking out Ashnod’s Altar on the Persist. In hindsight, I should have hit Kaya since Kalen was pretty much dead and my graveyard is my friend. Time is called during my turn.
• Chris (Oloro): (40). Drowned Catacomb, Greed three times (34). Gets Merciless Eviction, casting it for creatures. Uses Kaya’s +1 for two of Brian’s creatures (36).

TURN ELEVEN

• Brian (Unesh): Recasts his commander, getting Jwar Isle Avenger/Island. Casts Jwar Isle Avenger, getting Guardian of Tazzem/Whispersilk Cloak; he casts the former, keeping Consecrated Sphinx (versus three Island), which follows. He Quasiduplicates Consecrated Sphinx, keeping Counterspell/Swiftfoot Boots. He puts the latter on Unesh and kills Kalen with it. He has one card left in his library; telling us that he’s going out on his own terms, he casts Sphinx of Uthuun. Eminently fair. At end of turn, Chris does Ghost Quarter Arixmethes. I can’t get angry.
• Me (Muldrotha): Watery Grave untapped (31). Puppeteer Clique, getting his Serra Ascendant. Sacrifice Puppeteer Clique to Birthing Pod, getting his Rhox Faithmender. Pod gets me Kokusho, the Evening Star. I battle him with both creatures; he goes to (28), me to (45). At end of turn, they’re both exiled.
• Chris (Oloro): (30). Impulse, Greeds (28) into Ponder into Felidar Sovereign. +1 Kaya, taking out Arixmethes and Farhaven Elf (30). At end of turn, I sacrifice Kokusho to Miren, the Moaning Well, taking him to (30), me to (55).

TURN TWELVE

• Me (Muldrotha): It looks as though neither of us can kill the other, so it’s just a case of not making any huge mistakes. I take the opportunity to see how observant Chris is. He’s actually already demonstrated that he is, mentioning more than once when I overhand shuffled my deck that the top cards haven’t moved. He doesn’t want to be unpleasant about it, but he’s right — even in a casual game and even if we’re in a hurry (everyone’s waiting for us to finish to move to the next round) and the cards at the top are unknown, sloppy shuffles aren’t good enough. I battle Thragtusk into him, clearly a bad attack unless I have a trick. He sees the bluff and blocks with Felidar Sovereign. I cast Progenitor Mimic, copying Felidar Sovereign for giggles. At end of turn, he draws a card with Greed (28).
• Chris (Oloro): (30). It’s the last turn. He evokes Mulldrifter, casts Narset, Parter of Veils, uses the -2 to get Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, digs with Greed and comes up with nothing. He offers the handshake and we scoop it up to get to the next round.

It was a good table to play with and reinforced what I’d noticed the first few times playing there: even the casual tables at Johnny B’s aren’t for durdling around. This is probably a consequence of the format’s popularity: the more people are playing it, the more the level of play is going to rise. It’s an okay place by my standards even if it’s a bit rougher than what I was used to over at Armada, where things were for the most part SUPER casual. Knowing the level of play is extremely important, as we’ve discussed many times, so that you can adapt and build the appropriate level of deck. I get concerned that sometimes environments like this get into arms races, but the way Brian and the league administrators are doing it is the right way to prevent such things from happening. Expect to see and hear more about Commander adventures at Johnny B’s in the near future.

Top Ten Quick Hits from the Core Set 2020 Preview Season

Some people think white is the weakest color in Commander. It’s still red, and cards like Cavalier of Dawn widen the gap.

You’ll have to decide whether you’re building around Sephara or jamming her into the 99.

Hey Brian, there’s a new Sphinx for your deck.

Card I’m putting back onto the battlefield? Gilded Lotus.

The burning question is “what’s coming out of my Karador deck?”

It’s not nearly as collude-y as Trade Secrets; it’s a great political card and will lead to people getting out of tight spots.

Evidence that red will stop being terrible in Commander? We can hope.

Hydra Tribal and so much more! Put Giant Growth on Isochron Scepter and go to town.

I think my Temur problem just got worse.

Or maybe my Sultai problem…

Core Set 2020 is already bonkers for Commander. We’ll be talking about it a great deal over the next month or so.

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.”