Finally we move onto the most interesting color combinations. We are now in tri-colored territory! Tri-colored cards are my favorite, because they originate all the way back in Invasion and Apocalypse, and more recently in the Shards of Alara block, which is my favorite block. For the first Tri-colored combination, we have the mechanical plane of Esper, which is Black, White, and Blue. As for our general, we have the most used General in EDH himself, Sharuum the Hegemon!
For six mana, Sharuum the Hegemon is a 5/5 flying that is an artifact creature. Sharuum's ability is what makes him so popular. When Sharuum comes into play, you may put an artifact card from your graveyard to play. This is so good because you have a constant source of recursion, but not only that, a big creature to back you up if you get into trouble. Plus since Sharuum is pretty big, he can deal a good amount of commander damage. Now that is where the extent of Sharuum's abilities end, and where the deck that backs him up comes into play. The best way to take advantage to Sharuum's ability without playing him over and over again would be to keep blinking him on and off the battlefield. Blinking is exiling a creature but then it returns at your next end step. The bets way to do this is to to use Venser, the Sojourner's +2 ability to blink Sharuum, and when Sharuum comes back into play, you can bring another artifact to play. Another way to do this constantly would be a Mystifying Maze, where you attack with Sharuum and exile him. Sure you will be missing out on commander damage, but at least you get another artifact back! One more way to do this is to use Ghostaway, but since that is an instat, I would recommend using it only when Sharuum is in jeopardy.
Sharuum's deck is very not dependant on Sharuum himself, so make sure you have a deck that absolutely works without Sharuum in play.
You can buy Sharuum the Hegemon and all of the other cards you wish to buy for his deck for a low price at http://www.mtgfanatic.com/!
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Commander: Golgari General (Green/Black)
Golgari is now the lest of the bi-colored combinations. The generals for black and green were much more common then the Izzet, Simic, or Boros generals. I finally had a large list to choose from, and of course, I go ahead and choose the first general on the list, but it isn't my fault that Glissa, the Traitor happens to be the best of the Golgari generals. My friend runs a Glissa deck, so I know quite a few combos that he uses that works very well with Glissa, but I hate playing against his deck because of all the unfair combos.
First off, Glissa is a 3/3 for 3 mana which is great to start, but that is not all. She is one of the only creatures that starts off with First strike and Deathtouch. That is right, unless she is being blocked by something indestructible, she can't be killed by blocking. In fact, my friend runs a combo where he puts Lure on Glissa and attacks with her, forcing every single creature to block her, leading to a lot of dead creatures and a lot of artifacts coming back to his hand. That is right, Glissa's other ability is whenever an opponent's creature dies, you get to return an artifact card from your graveyard to your hand. So going along with more combos, let's say that one of the artifacts that my friend brings back is Mindslaver. Yeah, with Glissa, you can have an infinite Mindslaver combo. My friends and I have given up more games against his Glissa deck than any other deck before, just because it is incredibly boring when you don't have any turns that are actually your own. In my opinion, Glissa is probably one of the best bi-colored generals you can possibly have. In this deck, make sure you can have artifacts that you can continuously use, and make sure they can put many dents into your opponent as well. A big thing to watch out for with this deck is you will constantly be targeted by your opponents, so don't give up on it if you find yourself in a game where everybody is against you. If you don't like being the public enemy, then Glissa is not a commander for you.
You can buy Glissa, the Traitor and all of the rest of the cards for her deck fr a low, low price at http://www.mtgfanatic.com/!
First off, Glissa is a 3/3 for 3 mana which is great to start, but that is not all. She is one of the only creatures that starts off with First strike and Deathtouch. That is right, unless she is being blocked by something indestructible, she can't be killed by blocking. In fact, my friend runs a combo where he puts Lure on Glissa and attacks with her, forcing every single creature to block her, leading to a lot of dead creatures and a lot of artifacts coming back to his hand. That is right, Glissa's other ability is whenever an opponent's creature dies, you get to return an artifact card from your graveyard to your hand. So going along with more combos, let's say that one of the artifacts that my friend brings back is Mindslaver. Yeah, with Glissa, you can have an infinite Mindslaver combo. My friends and I have given up more games against his Glissa deck than any other deck before, just because it is incredibly boring when you don't have any turns that are actually your own. In my opinion, Glissa is probably one of the best bi-colored generals you can possibly have. In this deck, make sure you can have artifacts that you can continuously use, and make sure they can put many dents into your opponent as well. A big thing to watch out for with this deck is you will constantly be targeted by your opponents, so don't give up on it if you find yourself in a game where everybody is against you. If you don't like being the public enemy, then Glissa is not a commander for you.
You can buy Glissa, the Traitor and all of the rest of the cards for her deck fr a low, low price at http://www.mtgfanatic.com/!
Commander: Simic General (Blue/Green)
As I go through the legendary creatures for the remaining bi-colored combinations, there seems to be less and less creatures to pick from. As for Simic, which is green and blue, I was only given three options, two of which were just awful cards. So I took the one that was actually good for something and that card turns out to be Momir Vig, Simic Visionary.
Now Mormir Vig is a very weak creature, for he is a 2/2 for 5 mana. There is not a chance that you will be able to deal enough commander damage to win with him. The way you are going to win with him is by a lot of tutoring. Mormir's ability allows him to tutor creatures. If you play a green creature spell, then you get to look in your library for another creature and put that on top of your library. Now if you play a blue creature spell, you get to reveal the top card of your library and if it is a creature, you put it in your hand. I know that there are better ways to tutor, but what makes Mormir Vig worthwhile is if you play a blue and green creature. If you do that, both abilities activate and you can stack them, meaning you can choose what happens first. Obviously the way to do this is to look for a creature card, put it on top of your library, then reveal it and put it your hand. This is all a fancy way of saying "Look for a creature card and put it into your hand." Now that can be useful, because you can constantly tutor out some nice creatures by playing more creatures. The way to win with this deck is to just bring out the nastiest blue and green creatures and beat the pulp out of your opponents with them. Now that is fun!
You can buy Mormir Vig, Simic Visionary and all of the other cards that work well with him for a low price at http://www.mtgfanatic.com/!
Now Mormir Vig is a very weak creature, for he is a 2/2 for 5 mana. There is not a chance that you will be able to deal enough commander damage to win with him. The way you are going to win with him is by a lot of tutoring. Mormir's ability allows him to tutor creatures. If you play a green creature spell, then you get to look in your library for another creature and put that on top of your library. Now if you play a blue creature spell, you get to reveal the top card of your library and if it is a creature, you put it in your hand. I know that there are better ways to tutor, but what makes Mormir Vig worthwhile is if you play a blue and green creature. If you do that, both abilities activate and you can stack them, meaning you can choose what happens first. Obviously the way to do this is to look for a creature card, put it on top of your library, then reveal it and put it your hand. This is all a fancy way of saying "Look for a creature card and put it into your hand." Now that can be useful, because you can constantly tutor out some nice creatures by playing more creatures. The way to win with this deck is to just bring out the nastiest blue and green creatures and beat the pulp out of your opponents with them. Now that is fun!
You can buy Mormir Vig, Simic Visionary and all of the other cards that work well with him for a low price at http://www.mtgfanatic.com/!
Commander: Izzet General (Red/Blue)
Continuing on with the conflicting bi-colored combinations, we now have Red and Blue, also known as Izzet. Now a very common mechanic in red and blue colored cards is the draw burning, meaning that you deal damage to a player every time you draw a card. The legendary creature that works perfectly with this is none other than Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind.
Niv-Mizzet is one of the best creatures out there. He was ranked the best dragon card, and that is saying a lot seeing all of the amazing dragons there are out there. Now Niv-Mizzet is just a 4/4 flying for 6 mana, which is about your normal dragon power and toughness and casting cost. What makes Niv so good is that his first ability states "Whenever you draw a card, Niv-Mizzet deals 1 damage to target creature or player." Notice how it says that Niv-Mizzet deals damage, not you deal damage. That's right, you can deal commander damage with Niv-Mizzet without having to attack. But that is not all, Niv-Mizzet's second ability is the kicker. If you tap him, you draw a card. First off, anything that allows you to just draw a card is awesome. Secondly, that is another 1 damage right there. So with Niv-Mizzet, you have yourself a draw engine and a constant source of commander damage. I think he suits a commander's needs pretty well.
The best thing to carry in this deck would be drawing and draw hating. Something like Psychosis Crawler would work well. And as for draw, definitely put Minds Aglow into the deck. It is a great way to draw a lot of cards and dish out copious amounts of damage.
You can buy Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind and any other card that works with his deck for a low price at http://www.mtgfanatic.com/!
Niv-Mizzet is one of the best creatures out there. He was ranked the best dragon card, and that is saying a lot seeing all of the amazing dragons there are out there. Now Niv-Mizzet is just a 4/4 flying for 6 mana, which is about your normal dragon power and toughness and casting cost. What makes Niv so good is that his first ability states "Whenever you draw a card, Niv-Mizzet deals 1 damage to target creature or player." Notice how it says that Niv-Mizzet deals damage, not you deal damage. That's right, you can deal commander damage with Niv-Mizzet without having to attack. But that is not all, Niv-Mizzet's second ability is the kicker. If you tap him, you draw a card. First off, anything that allows you to just draw a card is awesome. Secondly, that is another 1 damage right there. So with Niv-Mizzet, you have yourself a draw engine and a constant source of commander damage. I think he suits a commander's needs pretty well.
The best thing to carry in this deck would be drawing and draw hating. Something like Psychosis Crawler would work well. And as for draw, definitely put Minds Aglow into the deck. It is a great way to draw a lot of cards and dish out copious amounts of damage.
You can buy Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind and any other card that works with his deck for a low price at http://www.mtgfanatic.com/!
Friday, August 5, 2011
Commander: Boros General (Red/White)
Finally we move on to Boros, probably my favorite bi-colored combination. Red and White, unfortunately, is probably the most underwhelming color combination in EDH as well. Our goal today is to find a creature that will be able to compete with all of the other color combinations and be able to bring Boros to the top. Once again, Boros is a color combination with a lack of legends, so out of the five creatures, I found that Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer is probably the most useful out of them all, so let's see just what Jor Kadeen can do.
Now for Jor Kadeen, the biggest priority is to get metalcraft going for him. The best way to do this is by having artifact lands and plenty of mana producing artifacts. Another great way to go through with this is to have low costing equipment that offer protection, buffs up Jor Kadeen, and is able to take large bites out of your opponent's life total. Once you have metalcraft active, then you are set. Your commander is now an 8/4 with first strike that also gives all of your other creatures +3/+0. This will provide a lot of damage when you're either attacking with Jor Kadeen or with Jor's massive army that you should be building up. Either way, you should undoubtedly be able to deal enough commander damage with Jor Kadeen to win the game.
Once again, the only negative to an aggro deck like this is the surplus to mass removal that thrives in EDH. The best way to run an aggro deck is to accept the fact that you will lose your army more than once, and that you need to have a fail safe that allows you to rebuild quick and strike back even harder.
You can buy Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer and other cards that fit into his deck for a low price at http://www.mtgfanatic.com/!
Now for Jor Kadeen, the biggest priority is to get metalcraft going for him. The best way to do this is by having artifact lands and plenty of mana producing artifacts. Another great way to go through with this is to have low costing equipment that offer protection, buffs up Jor Kadeen, and is able to take large bites out of your opponent's life total. Once you have metalcraft active, then you are set. Your commander is now an 8/4 with first strike that also gives all of your other creatures +3/+0. This will provide a lot of damage when you're either attacking with Jor Kadeen or with Jor's massive army that you should be building up. Either way, you should undoubtedly be able to deal enough commander damage with Jor Kadeen to win the game.
Once again, the only negative to an aggro deck like this is the surplus to mass removal that thrives in EDH. The best way to run an aggro deck is to accept the fact that you will lose your army more than once, and that you need to have a fail safe that allows you to rebuild quick and strike back even harder.
You can buy Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer and other cards that fit into his deck for a low price at http://www.mtgfanatic.com/!
Commander: Orzhov General (Black/White)
Now if I though that looking for a Green and White general was hard, looking for a Black and White general was even harder. Why? Because there are only four Orzhov colored legends! In the end, I decided to chose Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter as my commander.
The reason that Vish Kal would be the best black and white aligned general is because well, he is just much more well rounded that the other generals. He comes in as a 5/5 flying and lifelink, which is pretty damn good. If you go ahead and sacrifice a creature, then he gets +X/+X, where X was the sacrificed creature's power. So if you sacrifice a Demon of Death's Gate, he is a 14/14. Pretty much, if you can give him haste somehow, sacrifice a bunch a creatures to get him up to at least a 21/21, then you can win first turn you play him, whihc is pretty insane. But of course, that is not all. If you remove all of the +1/+1 counters from Vish Kal, then you can put that many -1/-1 counters on another creature, so Vish Kal is alos a good source of removal too! What else can this vampire do? Well that is where his abilities end, and after that, it is up to you on how you can synergize other cards with him to make him a force to be reckoned with.
The only bad part about Vish Kal is that he has no evasion and is a whopping 7 mana, so if he dies, then its going to be very costly.
You can buy Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter and any other card you wish to buy for his deck for alow price at http://www.mtgfanatic.com/!
The reason that Vish Kal would be the best black and white aligned general is because well, he is just much more well rounded that the other generals. He comes in as a 5/5 flying and lifelink, which is pretty damn good. If you go ahead and sacrifice a creature, then he gets +X/+X, where X was the sacrificed creature's power. So if you sacrifice a Demon of Death's Gate, he is a 14/14. Pretty much, if you can give him haste somehow, sacrifice a bunch a creatures to get him up to at least a 21/21, then you can win first turn you play him, whihc is pretty insane. But of course, that is not all. If you remove all of the +1/+1 counters from Vish Kal, then you can put that many -1/-1 counters on another creature, so Vish Kal is alos a good source of removal too! What else can this vampire do? Well that is where his abilities end, and after that, it is up to you on how you can synergize other cards with him to make him a force to be reckoned with.
The only bad part about Vish Kal is that he has no evasion and is a whopping 7 mana, so if he dies, then its going to be very costly.
You can buy Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter and any other card you wish to buy for his deck for alow price at http://www.mtgfanatic.com/!
Commander: Selesnya General (Green/White)
For green and white, the search for a useable general was very hard, for there are NO good generals that are Selesnya colors. Finally I came across this one creature that is just decent enough to build a deck around. In fact, he could severely mess your opponent up once he is on the battlefield. His name is Gaddock Teeg, he might be th eonly Advisor creature ever, and man does he have a big forehead.
Anyway, what Gaddock is good for is halting your opponent's progress. He doesn't allow non-creature spells with a mana cost of 4 or greater to be played. In Commander, that is almost every type of mass removal and a lot of other spells, which will mess up your opponent's progress. He also doesn't allow non creature spells with X in their mana cost to be played either, which isn't as great, but it does eliminate a group of cards. Now since Gaddock is only a 2/2 with no evasion, he can be killed with just a simple Doom Blade. So your best bet is to put alot of protection on him so you can continue to halt your opponents. Gaddock also costs only 2 mana, so you can play him early and many times.
Now a large recoil from using Gaddock is that you are also affected by Gaddock's ability. The way to work around this is to just not put high casting cards into your deck and win with the little guys.
You can buy Gaddock Teeg and the rest of the cards that fit into his deck for a low price at http://www.mtgfanatic.com/!
Anyway, what Gaddock is good for is halting your opponent's progress. He doesn't allow non-creature spells with a mana cost of 4 or greater to be played. In Commander, that is almost every type of mass removal and a lot of other spells, which will mess up your opponent's progress. He also doesn't allow non creature spells with X in their mana cost to be played either, which isn't as great, but it does eliminate a group of cards. Now since Gaddock is only a 2/2 with no evasion, he can be killed with just a simple Doom Blade. So your best bet is to put alot of protection on him so you can continue to halt your opponents. Gaddock also costs only 2 mana, so you can play him early and many times.
Now a large recoil from using Gaddock is that you are also affected by Gaddock's ability. The way to work around this is to just not put high casting cards into your deck and win with the little guys.
You can buy Gaddock Teeg and the rest of the cards that fit into his deck for a low price at http://www.mtgfanatic.com/!
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