The Ezuri Plan

Last week, I talked about our new Commander 2015 League setup idea. Earlier this week, we settled on a framework for the rules and started play. We agreed on the simpler rules set. There are many things to like about the more convoluted setups; we simply want to focus on a slow update and having fun with the decks. We agreed to do two picks per game: one based on a point system, and the other on a bounty system, but unfortunately Keith had to work late and Todd was sick, so we didn’t work out the last details. I’ll let you know what we decided on.

Michael, Shea, and I agreed to play a three-person game anyway for rights to a single pick (we thought two might be too much), with Keith and Todd getting a pick of their choice after (which they were okay with). Their order doesn’t matter since Todd has the red/blue deck and Keith the black/green. It also occurred to us that in the game we played, pick order didn’t much matter. Neither Michael (red/white) nor Shea (black/white) has my colors, so even if I were to pick third, I’d get my choice. They simply agreed on which cards they were going to take and since there was no overlap, they were both happy. Here were the picks:

Michael (R/W): Conjurer’s Closet in; Basalt Monolith out.

Shea (W/B): Blind Obedience in; Crystal Chimes out.

Me (U/G): Cyclonic Rift in; Zoetic Cavern out.

Keith (B/G): Greater Good in; Tribute to the Wild out.

As of press time, Todd hadn’t yet sent me his changes.

Michael started slowly, so Shea didn’t have much help early on with keeping me in check after Turn 3 Ezuri. The board eventually got clogged up as I built up counters on Ezuri and some creatures, but without evasion or trample (Sword of Vengeance got blown up twice), I wasn’t punching anything through despite spreading around lots of +1/+1 counters. Eventually Michael and Shea each had an indestructible creature and plenty of flyers, so we were log-jammed. Michael was down to two, but then cast Arbiter of Knollridge with Shea and me both at nineteen—perfect for Anya, Merciless Angel. I finally whittled down his number of flyers to just Anya and attacked him with two creatures in the air and Illusory Ambusher (with eight counters) and Ohran Viper (with twelve counters) on it for good measure (in case he had tricks). He did have a trick: He blocked Illusory Ambusher with his entire team. His total power was more than the number of cards I had left in my deck, so I had to cast Arachnogenesis (that card is a complete beating) to save myself. I suppose I could have just killed him and died at the same time, but making a fun game go longer is the better choice. Fortunately for me, one of the creatures he blocked with was Taurean Mauler—which is, among all other things, a Spider. It dealt thirteen damage, so I drew enough cards that on the next turn, I had enough gas to take down both of them.

Realizing that a three-player game will be radically different than a four- or five-player game, the deck showed me that what it really needs is breakthrough power. You’ll see that reflected in some of the update choices.

Updating Ezuri

I want to go into the League with a sketched-out plan on how to update Ezuri. The simplest way to do that is look at what I’d do with the deck if I could replace around 30 cards right now, then plot out in what order I might do it. Of course, I’ll have to have some contingencies in case I get cut on a card. I want to plan it out so that there’s no single wheel card—one that will upset the balance of the deck if someone else picks it. I want to play into the deck’s strengths, cut its weaknesses, and understand the environment in which it will get played—namely, with similarly powered Commander 2015 decks. The latter part becomes rather important because we are definitely playing within a closed environment. Certainly this plan will develop as we play games, see which are the high-impact cards and strategies, and how we’re both winning and losing, but I want a long-range plan going in.

First of all, let’s evaluate the deck. Here’s the list:

Strengths: Getting creatures onto the battlefield, getting experience counters on Ezuri, and drawing cards.

Weaknesses: Targeted removal, board control, graveyard hate, defense, evasion.

This is clearly a deck meant to get creatures onto the battlefield and then attack with them. It has some tricks, Ezuri will generate an immense number of experience counters, and any single creature can become enormous. I like the aggressive style but would still like to reserve a few more conservative things.

I’ve broken down how I’ll replace cards into three categories: early, middle, and late. The early cards will move out some of the dead weight and get the deck firing on all cylinders in short order. The middle cards are upgrades and make the deck more consistent with the theme of putting lots of Saprolings onto the battlefield. The late cards are simply thoughts for taking the deck to another level. The early picks are in the most likely order that I’d pick them. The middle and late aren’t; I’ll want to be a little more flexible after seeing how the deck plays and possibly react to how the other decks win.

Early Picks:

In:

Out:

The deck needs some defensive power. There are very few board wipes in the closed environment, so other players will be ready to commit their resources knowing that unlike normal Commander games, there isn’t a Wrath effect coming any time soon (although I suspect they will be early picks from the white decks). Because there is another blue player, I’ll wanted to cut this off early. Even if it’s not a major part of my own plan, I don’t want it played against me. For me, 41 lands are too many in the deck. With all the card draw, I’m reasonably certain to hit land drops every turn in the early to midgame, so you’ll notice that three lands are the first ones cut. I’m not a fan of all the enters the battlefield tapped lands, so those will definitely be the cuts. First, though, is a colorless land that doesn’t do much for me (yes, I get it gives me an experience counter if I play it as a morph, but that’s just not enough).

In:

Out:

If Avenger of Zendikar is gone when I get to my second pick, I might actually go with The Great Aurora as a way to get through the boardstate logjams.

In:

Out:

Loaming Shaman is weak graveyard hate unless you can blink it, although it’s nice because you can recycle your own. It’s a card that could conceivably come back later on. Early in the league, Night Soil will serve me way better, especially since it creates Saprolings. It does double duty in building my army while particularly nerfing the Golgari deck.

In:

Out:

Don’t hate me. I tried to not make my plan just a good stuff deck, but we can have some power along the way.

In:

Out:

Saproling Symbiosis is a card I might not play in a Wrath-heavy environment, but in one where those wipes will be few and far between, it seems pretty saucy—particularly with Ezuri on the battlefield pre-combat. It’s a straight upgrade to Orochi Hatchery, which costs a great deal to cast and activate. If I were playing a more defensive deck, the Hatchery might stay.

In:

Out:

I want some beef. In a five-player game, Multani is it. With all the card draw in my deck, I expect he’ll average in the 25/25 range. Caller of the Claw’s value goes way down when you’re creating lots of tokens instead of regular creatures and down even further when the environment has fewer Wraths.

In:

Out:

You know I love my sacrifice outlets, so this could be Ashod’s Altar or Phyrexian Altar since Keith already snatched up Greater Good. Seems like it probably would have been just a win more card, but we’ll see. The obvious problem with Altar of Dementia is that it helps fuel Keith’s deck. We’ll see how things play out. Desert Twister is too spendy to be worthwhile. I’ll take my defense in other ways.

In:

Out:

I already have the most awesome of all Fog effects, Arachnogenesis, but I’d like at least one more. Tangle is cheap and helps out great deal in that regard. There is a pretty strong argument to put Cryptic Command in this slot, assuming it’s not already gone. When it comes time, I’ll still give it thought, but once again try to move off of just putting in staples, Tangle seems more consistent with the vision. It’s unlikely the Cobra Trap ever gets sprung, and since Saproling Symbiosis is coming in, it can go.

In:

Out:

I really dislike playing Scytheclaw and Quietus Spike, using the latter only because it gives the creature deathtouch. If Oracle (which is there to help out with the obvious plus Avenger) is unavailable, I’ll likely bump up Spike Weaver a spot, then fill it in with Spike Feeder.

In:

Out:

There’s enough card draw that Wistful Selkie can go out. Spike Weaver doesn’t trigger Ezuri, but it sure helps in other ways, especially if Ezuri can put a pile of counters on it (same for Spike Feeder).

In:

Out:

In the big picture, Sword of Vengeance is meh (although it made some difference in that three-player game). Mimic Vat is not—although I concede that it might not work out as well as I hope. My primary plan is to keep making copies of my own Solemn Simulacrum. We’ll see how that works out. By the time we get to this selection, I might also be picking one of the other swords—War and Peace being the one which first comes to mind.

Middle Picks

(Again, unlike the previous part of the list, this one is in no particular order.)

In:

Out:

Seems right to use previous Commander products to update this deck. Experiment One isn’t going to get all that big, and I don’t care about the regeneration. I know this is swapping out a one-drop in favor of a seven, but I’m not otherwise messing with the curve too much, so it should be fine.

In:

Out:

Garruk simply helps in more ways than the Guardian. I considered for this spot Archetype of Imagination in order to ensure attacks get through, but I like the flexibility of Garruk in both the mana acceleration and the overrun possibilities.

In:

Out:

This will likely be one of the late swaps out unless I find Noble Quarry being just dreadful. Nylea may jump up to an earlier swap in if I find that the trample is the last thing I need.

In:

Out:

A nice landfall effect that I might not play in an environment in which creatures regularly don’t last more than two or three turns. I’m hoping this one can churn out more creatures than the one it’s replacing.

In:

Out:

Every time I play Overbeing of Myth in my Phelddagrif deck, I love it. It must be played more. The deck’s card draw will make it very spicy. Stingerfling Spider is nice and all, but unless I find it an MVP (which I doubt), it can go.

In:

Out:

Even in an environment in which there aren’t too many artifact wipes, I’d rather have the extra land than the mana rock. In my deck, with Bane of Progress, it seems like having fewer artifacts is better. If Cultivate is gone, some other available ramp spell will do fine—Nature’s Lore or Search for Tomorrow or whatever. Maybe Tempt with Discovery? Get really techy and go for Boundless Realms?

In:

Out:

Same as above.

In:

Out:

Doubling Season is pretty obvious in a deck that makes tokens and puts +1/+1 counters on things. Thought Vessel seems like a nicely valuable early play, not so much later since I’ll likely already have Reliquary Tower.

In:

Out:

Keep Watch, at less than half the cost of Biomantic Mastery, will draw nearly as many cards. It will be particularly crazy to play during my own attack step with Overbeing of Myth and/or Multani, Maro Sorcerer getting into the red zone.

In:

Out:

It’s the 21st century. We can be all about the man bag. Verdant Confluence is nicely flexible, but I want to make the mana curve a little tighter. Unless I was going all in on a landfall deck, there are other options.

In:

Out:

Certainly a later pick, just a simple upgrade from one land to another.

In:

Out:

Ditto.

In:

Out:

Okay, maybe that Tempt with Discovery idea wasn’t so bad. The thing keeping this a late pick is that I’m not actually sure what I’d do with all that mana (in this build).

In:

Out:

Party crasher is coming for you, and he’s bringing friends. I’ll be fine playing Broodbirth Viper for a while, but I suspect that the original dies during combat with some frequency.

Late Picks:

In:

Out:

Here I’m mostly looking for something to shuffle up so that I can’t get milled out while still being a useful card. If anyone can cast 10+ mana stuff, it’s this deck. Myriad is a cool mechanic, but keeping alive the original becomes problematic. This deck helps a little by having Kaseto, but I don’t want to put all my eggs in that basket.

In:

Out:

One of the things I resisted doing with this deck is just making it into a steal/copy/clone deck. Cloning someone else’s giant thing then buffing it with Ezuri seems like a grand idea, but I wanted to keep the original idea intact. Generating lots of tokens means trading one of them for something great with Helm of Possession is a grand idea. Skullwinder seems pretty decently politically, but I suspect it’s not going to be as good as folks think it is—giving someone else back a card can get dangerous.

In:

Out:

Viridian Shaman will likely do okay, but I want a little more flexibility in the long run. Conclave Naturalists is an upgrade to Indrik Stomphowler—plus the latter isn’t available because it’s in the other green deck.

In:

Out:

Simply put, I love Day of the Dragons. It turns little Saprolings into big Dragons. It provides some Wrath protection for your creature cards—assuming you can make it go away. Without having cool sacrifice outlets for it, it’s less great. Praetor’s Counsel may be more of what the deck is looking for in the long run. That said, I could change an earlier pick to Akroma’s Memorial, which would make Day of the Dragons worth keeping for good. By the time we get to these picks, I’ll have a better sense of how good Day of the Dragons has been.

In:

Out:

Dream scenario: attack with a swarm of creatures. Play Keep Watch. Draw Spontaneous Generation. Synthetic Destiny seems a little weird without lots of big creatures in the deck to plop out in exchange for a pile of tokens. We’ll see how it runs, though. I found Mass Polymorph a little awkward in my Intet deck (although it was really sexy combo’d with Reins of Power), so we’ll see how it goes here. Again, it might be one of those cards that just shows itself to be invaluable. Especially since there is Doubling Season here, I also considered Clone Legion for this slot.

There are certainly other cards I considered for the deck. Of those I didn’t list last week, Edric, Spymaster of Trest is one, although regular readers know how I feel about giving cards to other players. Keiga, the Tide Star is another. Stealing creatures will be stronger in this league than in others because there is no Homeward Path or Brooding Saurian in the decks, and I doubt anyone puts them in without good reason. Bioshift might be interesting in being able to get a Commander damage kill with Ezuri by putting a pile of counters on something at beginning of combat, then shifting them to him after blockers. Evolutionary Leap could be very interesting in turning a token into something better. Of course, all this assumes that there isn’t something in Oath of the Gatewatch which absolutely, positively, must go in the deck. We’ll see soon enough. Until then, I’ll keep you posted (normally as a sidebar, unless we have particularly awesome games) on how things go.

This week’s Deck Without Comment is Merieke’s Esper Dragon Control

Check out our awesome Deck List Database for the last versions 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 DRAGON CONTROL;
THE MILL-MEOPLASM;
MIMEOPLASM DO-OVER;
NATH of the VALUE LEAF;
NYLEA OF THE WOODLAND REALM;
OBZEDAT, GHOST KILLER;
PURPLE HIPPOS and MARO SORCERERS;
ZEGANA and a DICE BAG;
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;
THE THREAT OF YASOVA;
RUHAN DO-OVER;
KARADOR DO-OVER;
KARRTHUS 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 and is just now getting started with a new saga called “The Lost Cities of Nevinor”), ask for an invitation to the Facebook group “Sheldon Menery’s Monday Night Gamers.”