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radramblog · 4 years ago

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My commander decks, Pt. 2

I don’t like leaving these two-parters open for too long, so I’m gonna nip this one in the bud now.

Zada, Hedron Grinder- Mono-Red Storm/Tokens

My Zada deck came from having played a weird Red/Green Werewolves/Zada Aggro/Combo deck in Shadows over Innistrad standard, and then getting to come back to it some time later since a lot of those cards took a really long time to rotate out for some reason. The deck was, admittedly, kind of a pile, but it was huge fun and could just kill people out of nowhere. This commander deck, based on a very well-put-together list on tappedout, spawned from how much I ended up loving Zada, with her unique effect lending surprisingly well to an all-in combo deck.

This deck doesn’t come out of the box very often, and for pretty good reason. Not a lot of people appreciate getting combo’d off against, especially when it’s as loose and indeterminate as this deck is, and there is just so much math involved that even piloting it can become a pain. It’s incredibly powerful, being fragile in some ways but resilient in ways you wouldn’t expect. It’s actually probably the closest thing to a cEDH deck I have, though it would obviously stand no chance at an actually competitive table.

The deck, at this point, has deviated pretty heavily from the primer it was based on, both since I don’t want to buy overpriced cards that aren’t significant upgrades and because I have some jankier effects I wanted to play (also, because that list has been consistently updated and mine hasn’t). I’ve had it called a Goblins deck, and while there are a lot of Goblin cards in it (I mean, Goblin Matron is there), it actually kinda gets under my skin when people do that. It’s not a Goblin deck, Goblins just happen to be really good at making tokens! I don’t really like Goblins. (Zada is an exception.)

Basandra, Battle Seraph- Boros Forced Combat/Pillowfort

Basandra was one of four decks I built after I got really bored, hit Random 4 times on EDHRec, and designed four decks based on the results. While I did end up proxying up 2 of the others (Seizan Mono-B Group Sl/hug, DL Atarka Dragons/Panharmonicon), Basandra was the only one that resonated with me enough to want to build it for real. It represents to me the possibilities of Boros beyond just aggro and the handful of archetypes the colour pair has been crumbed over the years.

It also happens to be a pretty political deck. While the plan of making people fight each other instead of me is all well and good, in a perfect situation you’re still going to have one more opponent left to deal with. The deck is pretty light in ways to actually win the game, although having a Flying commander does help a little bit (See, she does do something!). With that said, I’ve played the deck enough times to have racked up a few wins, so it’s far from helpless, and the random hate pieces that are mostly in to keep people from going over my defences can just lock some decks out of the game. (If you’re a deck that loses to Aven Mindcensor then you deserve to lose to Aven Mindcensor, sorry)

I really enjoy the Thalia’s Lancers package. Tutors like this and like Mwonvuli Beast Tracker in the Radha deck are fun to build around, with the right combination of cards letting them turn into mini toolboxes. In this deck, the Lancers can find land, ramp, removal, pillowfort effects, card draw, making them extremely versatile. While I am generally opposed to tutors, Lancers get a pass.

O-Kagachi, Vengeful Kami- 5-Colour Spirit Tribal/Cast Triggers

This deck is stupid bad but it’s built around a bunch of silly cards that I love. The spirits of Kamigawa look and feel bizarre, but in an elegant way- they’re off in their own little world, doing whatever, while the rest of the game happens around them.

Unfortunately, most of them kinda suck. There’s a reason I didn’t build around Soulshift, and it’s not because I’d die to Rest in Peace.

This deck, therefore, is an eclectic collection of spirits, good and bad, with the stated goal of finding enough cost reduction to start loop-casting members of the -Onna cycle, generating value through “whenever you cast a Spirit or Arcane spell…” effects. Getting to this point, however, is it’s own endeavour. The deck is desperately in need of a rebuild, with way too high a curve and not enough ramp to support itself. The deck includes the entirety of the Myojin cycle, all 5 Dragon Spirits, and all 3 pieces of Iname- not to mention, most of the Spirits that actually have good effects are fairly mana-hungry themselves. Even the manabase is a bit silly, though I have gotten away with proxying fetches and shocks since the deck doesn’t need any help flopping.

When the deck does get going, though, it can get pretty out of hand. Literally, in fact-the deck can rip through people’s hands and occasionally lands, but the cards doing so are so expensive and bad that it feels more earned than just dropping Narset/Windfall or Armageddon. No-one can stay mad when they lose to Myojin of Infinite Rage, since the Myojin is the one with all the Rage. It can be resilient as well, with great recursion effects such as Karador and Iname, Life Aspect just happening to be Spirits. It’s still not good, but it’s something.

Gonti, Lord of Luxury- Mono-Black Theft/Control

Like Zada, Gonti spawned from a standard deck I enjoyed playing, in this case the Azor’s Gateway Mono-Black Control deck I piloted to surprising success for a long time. A fair few cards in the deck come directly from that list, including the incredibly water-damaged Torment of Hailfire and some of the weirdo one ofs like Tetzimoc and Liliana, Death’s Majesty. The deck is grindier than anything, with incremental draw being the name of the game and murdering opponent’s threats the subtitle. Gonti, in addition to being one of my favourite cards of all time, supports Mono-Black Control quite well, being able to grab answers to things that would normally be pretty difficult for mono-B to handle off of other people’s decks, or creating synergies where no-one expects them. As a result, while there’s not as many of this type of effect as many Gonti decks, there is still some amount of cards that let Gonti re-enter than most decks they helm, there’s still a fair few ways to do so.

Theft is not a particularly well-supported strategy, especially in Black, but it serves to add replayability and versatility to the deck. The deck doesn’t play a huge number of threats, and most of the ones that it does are those that add to the steady value train or that double as something else. I haven’t quite committed to putting Praetor’s Grasp in, but I’m thinking about it. I also opted not to add in the new hotness of Opposition Agent, because as it turns out that’s not the kind of magic I want to play, and with a full hand and frequent planeswalkers on the board I don’t really need to go out of my way to generate more hate.

Playing this deck does harken back to that old standard deck, thinking ahead about which cards I need to keep around to answer certain threats I guess are coming up, and getting unexpected surprises off the top of my opponent’s library to win in unexpected ways (I once Gonti’d a Radiant Destiny off of my opponent’s Vampire deck, realised between Gonti and a few Gifteds I had a pile of Aetherborn cooking, and beat them down with that). Control is far from my favourite deck archetype, but it’s nice to have the option there if I want it.

Hallar, the Firefletcher- Gruul Kicker

My Hallar deck was given to me as part of the EDH subreddit’s Secret Santa, the maybe only year it was ran, and it still shows some evidence of the budget limit that exchange carried. While I have done my best to improve on it and diversify it, there’s really only so much one can do with such a narrow commander.

With that said, it’s not like the deck is bad. Especially since the addition of more Kicker cards in Zendikar Rising, Hallar has more option to choose from, and they can get burning very quickly. From what I’ve seen, however, most Hallar decks build around cheap Kicker costs, trying to trigger their ability as many times as possible as quickly as possible. And while some of these cheaper cards are of course present in my list, I chose to instead play some of the other bigger kicker cards, along with more ramp, to help spread the attention away from Hallar as needed and to give the deck something to do if they start costing upwards of 10 mana. I’m not convinced this added resilience is the correct path, but it’s my path, and the deck performs admirably even faced against substantially more expensive lists.

With that, I have listed all of my current commander decks. While I have a few in the build process, maybe I should stop? Because 10 is likely enough. Either way, I hope you enjoyed reading about what and why these decks are, and I hope to see you on the other side of a table soon. (I won’t play Zada game one, promise.)

#ramble #edh #commander #mtg

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markrosewater · 5 years ago

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Hi Mark! Regarding the Omnath birthday trivia: Iname, a legendary spirit from Kamigawa, has 3 cards: both the mono-green (Iname, Life Aspect) and the mono-black (Iname, Death Aspect) versions were printed in Champions of Kamigawa, and the golgari version (Iname as One) was printed in Saviors of Kamigawa. She preceded Omnath by 14 years in accomplishing this achievement, earning it in the same block he was introduced in! FYI

FYI

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inventors-fair · 5 years ago

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End of the Story pt. 2 ~

@fractured-infinity — She Who Breathes Life

Maybe I just don’t “get it.” Why does she have protection from people with the most permanents? What’s the payoff for fifteen mana that you have to spend at lease five mana of all colors on? What on earth is an Eldrazi Plant? There’s nothing fantastically wrong about this card, but it feels, for lack of a better adjective, “messy.” I’m not informed about why a creature who apparently thrives on lots of life and stuff has or NEEDS protection from the person with the most. I don’t feel the mechanical weight that Emrakul brings. Out of all the available five-color legends, it’s the most difficult to cast with what feels like the least reward or potential.

@gollumni — Grand Firescripter Augustin IV

Interesting here. The first nitpick is that creature spells 99% of the time don’t have targets, so the first line only really applies to instants, sorceries and Auras (which I think is cool), so the ‘noncreature’ in there doesn’t feel necessary. But the fatal flaw is in that same wording error that erryone makes all the time — you as a player can’t deal the damage; you have to have a card source. “Grand Arbiter etc. DEALS damage to any other target equal to that spell’s CMC.” Something to keep in mind. And are you sure there’s no room for potential flavor text?

@i-am-the-one-who-wololoes — Mayael of the Selesnya Conclave

Hm, that’s...a name. But let’s talk about the contest. Who is Mayael in the story of MTG? An elf from Naya, on the plane of Alara, who saw the sundering of the Planes in a vision and experienced the eventual Conflux. So what is this depiction doing to twist that story? I think there may have been a misinterpretation in the contest. The intent was to see new outcomes, potentials, or experiences for legendary characters in their own story. Taking Mayael and putting her on Ravnica removes her from the kind of environment in which the contest asked you to base your cards. I feel that her design is okay and the choice to make her uncommon is daring. The objective of the contest, however, was not necessarily fulfilled.

@indecisive-i-think — Anthoussa the Peacekeeper

“Pacify counters” reads weird for me because I’m a picky nerd, but let’s talk about the card. It’s grindy, it’s controlly, it’s hard to remove, it halts the board state because the creatures can still attack or block despite the counters being named (or not) after a famous aura that prevents creatures from attacking or blocking — but there is one specific reason, the only real reason, that I like this card. It takes up a slot. In another world, the Triad of Fates would have some green legendary slot, and this card would be in the BW rare slot. And that’s neat to me! It’s not useful, and it doesn’t make this card any less of a grindfest in practice, but it’s neat.

@justincase-1012 - Iname, Chaos Aspect

I’m playing four of this card and nothing but free cantrips and cycling until I can put free spirits with massive P/T onto the battlefield. Busted beyond belief.

Kol — Sedris, Paragon of Grixis

Firstly, let’s talk about wording. Since it’s a single ability that puts cards you own from your hand onto the battlefield: “3RWU: Put a creature CARD from your hand onto the battlefield. It gains lifelink and haste. At the beginning of the next end step, shuffle it into your library and draw two cards.” Secondly, let’s talk about story. Sedris was a king of the shard eventually known as Grixis (trans: “traitor”), who succumbed to demons’ promises, killed his family and slaughtered civilians in order to attain immortality. Now. What is this card doing differently to contrast, inform, update, or bring new understanding to that horrific tale?

@misterstingyjack — Yargle, Acolyte of Temperance

I’ll admit, I turned white-guy-blinking.gif when I first saw this. To your credit, the flavor text does reference the event. But! How does the frog become Yargle if Yar-kul is thus suppressed? Semantics aside, though. This card is super interesting and, honestly? I’d make it a rare. The draw plus potential token synergy and the repeated unblockability of potentially big creatures? Definitely a rare. I, uh, dunno if I’d dial the “silly” up so high. But it’s cute. I suppose.

@mydeergod-blog-blog - Saffi Everlost

See, this is the kind of WILD STUFF I like. I think the card is potentially broken and weird, but she’s cool as heck and I kinda love her. Isn’t it weird how there’s no real story behind her except that she got a shoutout on Lhurgoyf? “Flash” doesn’t need a period, “the” after the color needs to be capitalized, “5″ should be written out, and “in” should be “into.” Aside from that, it’s busted and I love it.

#mtg #magic the gathering #custom magic card #contest #entries #commentary #twisted legends #inventor's fair

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jodellejournals · 4 years ago

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why i wear my heart on my sleeve... but keep people at arm’s length

i’ve always known that i’m a fragile human being. i get so emotional easily in the slightest of things and happenings — may they be scenes from movies or real life. i’ve been very vocal of my emotions too and this is probably why people close to me would describe me as someone who is sweet or kind and i have no problem with that. in fact, i even make it a point to express myself always. hence, i write and sort of make art in ways i can. i have mentioned in my previous entry that my sixteen-year-old self advised me to not kill my soul and so i make her proud by living up to it. i refuse to let the world harden my soft ways and sappy heart. however, some people see softness as weakness which is not always the case but i could not just also enforce my beliefs and values on them. for me, being soft is being in tune with your feelings and emotions. crying doesn’t make you weak. instead, it shows how strong and brave of a person you are because you can express your feelings instead of surpressing them. i figured out this is why i wear my heart on my sleeve — because i embrace the spectrum of emotions there is and I relish in each one of them. i allow myself to immerse in every feeling and emotion and i have discovered along the way how wonderful it is be every bit of human.

on the downside, i have to admit that being “too” soft gets me in trouble and i get all the blame for it. i have reminded myself many times to be extra careful in wearing my heart on my sleeve because not everyone is a friend or a listening ear. some just hear so they can share your misery to the world. that’s when i learned to keep everyone at arm’s length. i know it sounds paradoxical for me to say but honestly, i have found it quite easy. i have made it a life rule to not get out of touch of kindness and gentleness, traits which i have always believed that we humans were born with but... never let anybody too close to see my bare soul. it goes for everyone, even my best of friends or family members. not that i do not trust them because i greatly do, but what i’m saying is, protect yourself at all costs. never be too complacent with people to the point that you expose yourself too much to those who do not deserve to know you ‘that much’.

i have learned to select relationships, of every kind, where i will invest myself in. i’ve read somewhere, “son’t develop feelings for temporary people” and so it should be. i am not just talking romantically here but in all aspects. i knew how much i can give and the length i’d go for the people i love. it’s either all of me or nothing, i fight for you against the world or you don’t exist in my world at all. so in the process, i have built walls high enough because the world we live in is not all of good intentions and kindred spirits. i carefully choose people in my circle and i give ladder to those deserving enough. why am i so critical regarding this? you may ask. well to answer you, it’s because i grew up believing everyone is kind at heart and no one is too evil to create dark tactics — and that’s where i got invaded. i had no walls in the first place so i was easy target. not everyone should have access to me and my energy and that is a lesson i have learned the hard way. hard enough that i do whatever it takes to avoid getting burned by the same flame twice. but i still have a heart and let loose with the right people. they are the exceptions because with great love comes full acceptance. for example, i have always known that my mother becomes a mad woman when she’s annoyed. i cannot just build my walls around her, right? because she is my mother, no matter what, “even if the world turns upside down” as people point out. blood is really thicker than water. so i will always invest emotions on her but i have also come into terms of her ways. see, acceptance, in all its glory. we don’t get to choose our family and loving them is the most unconditional form of love i have yet know and experienced. through thick and thin. i am forever grateful to have grown up with a strong support system so thank you, dear god.

on the flip side, we get to choose who becomes friend and family and if they’re worth to emotionally invest in. i have read that you become the five people you spend most of your time with. so i make sure to choose wisely and re-evaluate: do they have the same values and beliefs with me? are they a positive influence? do they clap even for my small wins? were they there when i was at my lowest? do they nurture me to become a good person? if the answer is yes, then welcome to the club. if no, then they have a separate lane. these evaluation pointers were not made overnight but several years in the making through good and not-so-good friends. at least, i learned something from them. for relationships, though inam not in the position to say, here is a piece of advice that i give to friends since i instantly become their love doctor: be with someone you want your future son or daughter to be with. choosing a life partner is an essential decision because that person also becomes your parenting partner who later on influences your children, your food buddy for thousands of meals, shoulder to lean on during endless hours of plane ride and when the world turns its back against you, somebody to share the mundane days and life’s milestones with, retirement companion, and confindant who you’ll tell how your day went or random stories of once upon a times and vice versa. oh, the things that come with a ring! intense, i know. but i believe that if with the right person, it’s bliss. a major emotional investment and lifetime commitment indeed and sometimes, the thought of it makes me chicken.

am i chicken? naybe yes. emotional investment can take a toll in a person after all. and of all the people i know, my very own self is the most fragile of them all. so it is but my nature to shield for my defense. what’s clear to me as of this time is that i am not chicken enough to wear my heart on my sleeve — to be warm and welcoming and gentle and giving. a strength that some could not have for they see it as weakness. more so, i am not chicken enough to keep those not-good-enough for my soul at arm’s length. that’s where i set the boundaries. i accept all that i am today but i hope one day, i may not be too chicken to emotionally invest and passionately commit to people who deseve a place in my heart. and i do not rush because there is also so much joy in being young and running around barefoot with no care in the world. the big “adult” things take time and it is unwise to just jump into them only to find out it’s too late to chicken out. it’s best to take my precious time, keep wearing my heart on my sleeve but with restrictions, and i will eventually become the adult that i am supposed to be. a woman who can emotionally invest and passionately commit — slowly but surely.

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longtran18 · 5 years ago

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The Irony of Leadership

December 11, 2018

By: Long Tran, Samantha Palomino, Adam Engle-Sorrell, and Sabrina Chang

Most of the time, when people think of leaders, they think of strong communicators who are outspoken, highly intelligent, and sane. They believe leaders must have the best qualities in order to effectively direct others. However, that may not always be the case. Traits that we often see as negative, such as introversion, low IQ, and psychopathy, can ironically make people better leaders.

Introversion is often seen as a terrible trait for an effective leader to possess. There is a stigma that they are unsociable and incapable of vocalizing their ideas. Therefore, it is hard to see someone like that leading a group. But in reality, it can actually be a great thing. Introverts generally are more reserved and calm, reflecting on a situation before sharing their thoughts. They are generally more thoughtful and less dominating.[1] These aspects of introversion actually allow an individual to be more people-oriented, reasonable, and approachable. People are more likely to be comfortable with sharing ideas when they feel that a superior is approachable.

Although important figures like Einstein and Shakespeare have high IQs, a study shows that a high IQ does not necessarily make one a good leader. With the pressure of having to be ‘smart’, this study refers back to that expectation and lists its findings with their study. According to the study, high intelligence can make you a better leader but up to a certain point.[2] This research rounded up more than 300 leaders working for different companies in Europe with the average IQ being 110. And, while the study discovered new information, researchers found a positive correlation between intelligence and leadership. The IQ range of this correlation was from 120 and below. With that statistic being present it only reinforces the belief that the brightest among us are less of a good leader.

In another spectrum of personalities altogether, psychopathy is a surprisingly prevalent trait of many leaders that helps in ways that are counter-intuitive to many people. When one imagines a psychopath at work, one tends to think of a creepy man or woman slinking about with criminal intent and a history of suspicious behavior, yet, in reality, many psychopaths tend to be very charismatic and sociable people who use their likability to gain face and move up in the corporate world, manipulating those they need to be successful. While having people like this can be dangerous or immoral, they can be good leaders in the sense that they do a good job with their work and make sure others do.[3] Psychopaths tend to have similar average intelligence to the general population, but, if they are smart enough to move up in the corporate world, they are smart enough to maintain that position without damaging too many others in the process. While intelligence may be highly important for a psychopath to maintain a leadership position, it plays a different role in the average leader.

Overall, there is not necessarily a set list of traits that all good leaders possess. However, the primary trait that seems to over-arch these ironic characteristics is relatability. Workers seem to work better with people that they can relate to. Relatable leaders make it easy for their subordinates to approach them, thus forming a comfortable work environment. A positive workplace benefits not only the workers, but also the efficiency and productivity of the business. Therefore, a person who can produce such an environment constitutes a good leader. Anyone can develop strong leadership skills as long as they utilize their assets and talents properly. Accordingly, leaders come in all shapes and sizes.

[1] Inam, Henna. “The Good News For Introverted Leaders.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 16 Apr. 2018, www.forbes.com/sites/hennainam/2018/04/15/the-good-news-for-introverted-leaders/#6103fa7c192f.

[2] Rachel, Hosie. “High Levels of Intelligence Make You Worse At Being A Leader, Study Finds” Independent, 15 Nov. 2017, https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/most-intelligent-people-worse-leaders-study-university-lausanne-iq-a8055846.html

[3] Lipman, Victor. “The Disturbing Link Between Psychopathy And Leadership.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 3 Dec. 2018, www.forbes.com/sites/victorlipman/2013/04/25/the-disturbing-link-between-psychopathy-and-leadership/#64cdfd554104.

#leadership

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luminous-umbra · 8 years ago

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In the interests of simplifying the process for others, I figured I’d make a list for the Quantum Commander format thought up by @flavoracle over here.

I’ll be adding to the list in the future, with new cards and any I miss along the way.

Please, if you find any I miss, let me know.

Akroma (Akroma, Angel of Wrath, Akroma, Angel of Fury, or Karona, False God)

Color(s): White and Red or All Colors

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Anafenza (Anafenza, the Foremost and Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit)

Color(s): White, Black, and Green

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Ankle Shanker (Ankle Shanker and Vial Smasher the Fierce)

Color(s): White, Black, and Red

Notes: Depends on the group, as Ankle Shanker is not legendary

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Ashling (Ashling the Pilgrim and Ashling, the Extinguisher)

Color(s): Red and Black

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Atarka (Atarka, World Render and Dragonlord Atarka)

Color(s): Red and Green

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Avacyn (Avacyn, Angel of Hope, Avacyn, Guardian Angel, or Archangel Avacyn/Avacyn, the Purifier)

Color(s): White or White and Red

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Balthor (Balthor the Stout and Balthor the Defiled)

Color(s): Red and Black

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Borborygmos (Borborygmos and Borborygmos Enraged)

Color(s): Red and Green

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Braids (Braids, Cabal Minion and Braids, Conjurer Adept)

Color(s): Blue and Black

Notes: Depends on the group, as Cabal Minion is banned in normal EDH

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Bruna (Bruna, Light of Alabaster and Bruna, the Fading Light)

Color(s): White and Blue

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Chandra (Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh//Chandra, Roaring Flame with Chandra Ablaze, Chandra Nalaar, Chandra, Flamecaller, Chandra, Pyrogenius, Chandra, Pyromaster, Chandra, Torch of Defiance, or Chandra, the Firebrand)

Color(s): Red

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Crovax (Crovax the Cursed, Ascendant Evincar, or Crovax, Ascendant Hero)

Color(s): Black or White and Black

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Daxos (Daxos of Meletis and Daxos the Returned)

Color(s): White, Blue, and Black

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Drana (Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief and Drana, Liberator of Malakir)

Color(s): Black

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Dromoka (Dromoka, the Eternal and Dragonlord Dromoka)

Color(s): White and Green

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Emrakul (Emrakul, the Aeons Torn and Emrakul, the Promised End)

Color(s): None

Notes: Depends on the group, as Aeons Torn is banned in normal EDH

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Ertai (Ertai, Wizard Adept and Ertai, the Corrupted)

Color(s): White, Blue, and Black

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Ezuri (Ezuri, Renegade Leader and Ezuri, Claw of Progress)

Color(s): Blue and Green

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Gideon (Kytheon, Hero of Akros//Gideon, Battle-Forged with Gideon Jura, Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, Gideon, Champion of Justice, Gideon, Martial Paragon, or Gideon of the Trials)

Color(s): White

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Gisa and Geralf (Ghoulcaller Gisa or Stitcher Geralf with Gisa and Geralf)

Color(s): Blue and Black

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Gisela (Gisela, Blade of Goldnight and Gisela, the Broken Blade)

Color(s): White and Red

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Glissa (Glissa Sunseeker and Glissa, the Traitor)

Color(s): Green and Black

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Grenzo (Grenzo, Dungeon Warden and Grenzo, Havoc Raiser)

Color(s): Black and Red

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Iname (Iname, Death Aspect, Iname, Life Aspect, or Iname as One)

Color(s): Black and Green

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Isperia (Isperia the Inscrutable and Isperia, Supreme Judge)

Color(s): White and Blue

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Jace (Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy//Jace, Telepath Unbound with Jace Beleren, Jace, Architect of Thought, Jace, Memory Adept, Jace, Unraveler of Secrets, Jace, the Living Guildpact, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Jace, Cunning Castaway, or Jace, Ingenious Mind-Mage)

Color(s): Blue

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Jedit Ojanen (Jedit Ojanen and Jedit Ojanen of Efrava)

Color(s): White, Blue, and Green

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Jeska (Jeska, Warrior Adept, Phage the Untouchable, and Karona, False God)

Color(s): Red and Black or All Colors

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Kalitas (Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet and Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet)

Color(s): Black

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Kamahl (Kamahl, Pit Fighter and Kamahl, Fist of Krosa)

Color(s): Red and Green

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Karn (Karn, SIlver Golem and Karn Liberated)

Color(s): None

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Kolaghan (Kolaghan, the Storm’s Fury and Dragonlord Kolaghan)

Color(s): Black and Red

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Kozilek (Kozilek, Butcher of Truth and Kozilek, the Great Distortion)

Color(s): None

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Liliana (Liliana, Heretical Healer//Liliana, Defiant Necromancer with Liliana Vess, Liliana of the Dark Realms, Liliana of the Veil, Liliana, the Last Hope, Liliana, Death Wielder, or Liliana, Death’s Majesty)

Color(s): Black

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Linvala (Linvala, Keeper of Silence and Linvala, the Preserver)

Color(s): White

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Maralen (Maralen of the Mornsong and Oona, Queen of the Fae)

Color(s): Blue and Black

Note: Arguable, depending on the group.

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Marchesa (Marchesa, the Black Rose and Queen Marchesa)

Color(s): White, Blue, Black, and Red

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Memnarch (Memnarch and Mirari)

Color(s): Blue

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Mikaeus (Mikaeus, the Lunarch and Mikaeus, the Unhallowed)

Color(s): White and Black

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Mirri (Mirri, Cat Warrior, Mirri the Cursed, and Mirri, Weatherlight Duelist)

Color(s): Black and Green, White and Green, or White, Green, and Black.

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Nahiri (Nahiri, the Lithomancer and Nahiri, the Harbinger)

Color(s): White and Red

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Narset (Narset, Enlightened Master and Narset Transcendent)

Color(s): White, Blue, and Red

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Neheb (Neheb, the Worthy and Neheb, the Eternal)

Color(s): Black and Red

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Nicol Bolas (Nicol Bolas with Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker, Nicol Bolas, God-Pharoah, or Nicol Bolas, the Deceiver)

Color(s): Blue, Black, and Red

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Nissa (Nissa, Vastwood Seer//Nissa, Sage Animist with Nissa Revane, Nissa, Nature’s Artisan, Nissa, Vital Force, Nissa, Voice of Zendikar, Nissa, Worldwaker, Nissa, Genesis Mage, or Nissa, Steward of Elements)

Color(s): Green or Green and Blue

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Niv-Mizzet (Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind and Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius)

Color(s): Blue and Red

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Ob Nixilis (Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath, Ob Nixilis, the Fallen, Ob Nixilis, Unshackled, and Ob Nixilis, Reignited)

Color(s): Black

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Obzedat (Ghost Council of Orzhova, Obzedat, Ghost Council, and Karlov of the Ghost Council)

Color(s): White and Black

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Odric (Odric, Master Tactician and Odric, Lunarch Marshal)

Color(s): White

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Ojutai (Ojutai, Soul of Winter and Dragonlord Ojutai)

Color(s): White and Blue

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Olivia (Olivia Voldaren and Olivia, Mobilized for War)

Color(s): Black and Red

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Omnath (Omnath, Locus of Mana and Omnath, Locus of Rage)

Color(s): Red and Green

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Pia Nalaar (Pia and Kiran Nalaar and Pia Nalaar)

Color(s): Red

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Rakdos (Rakdos the Defiler and Rakdos, Lord of Riots)

Color(s): Black and Red

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Rhys (Rhys the Exiled and Rhys the Redeemed)

Color(s): White, Black, and Green

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Rorix Bladewing (Rorix Bladewing and Bladewing the Risen)

Color(s): Black and Red

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Samut (Samut, Voice of Dissent and Samut, the Tested)

Color(s):White, Red, and Green

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Selvala (Selvala, Explorer Returned and Selvala, Heart of the Wilds)

Color(s): White and Green

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Sidisi (Sidisi, Brood Tyrant and Sidisi, Undead Vizier)

Color(s): Blue, Black, and Green

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Sigarda (Sigarda, Host of Herons and Sigarda, Heron’s Grace)

Color(s): White and Green

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Silumgar (Silumgar, the Drifting Death and Dragonlord Silumgar)

Color(s): Blue and Black

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Surrak (Surrak Dragonclaw and Surrak, the Hunt Caller)

Color(s): Blue, Red, and Green

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Sygg (Sygg, River Guide and Sygg, River Cutthroat)

Color(s): White, Blue, and Black

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Taigam (Taigam, Ojutai Master and Taigam, Sidisi’s Hand)

Color(s): White, Blue, and Black

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Teferi (Teferi, Temporal Archmage and Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir)

Color(s): Blue

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Teysa (Teysa, Orzhov Scion and Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts)

Color(s): White and Black

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Thalia (Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and Thalia, Heretic Cathar)

Color(s): White

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Ulamog (Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre and Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger)

Color(s): None

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Urza (Blind Seer and Urza, Academy Headmaster)

Color(s): All Colors

Notes: Depends on your group, as Academy Headmaster is an un-card.

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Venser (Venser, Shaper Savant and Venser, the Sojourner)

Color(s): White and Blue

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Wort (Wort, Boggart Auntie and Wort, the Raidmother)

Color(s): Black, Red, and Green

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Xenagos (Xenagos, the Reveler and Xenagos, God of Revels)

Color(s): Red and Green

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Zurgo (Zurgo Helmsmasher and Zurgo Bellstriker)

Color(s): White, Black, and Red

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#magic the gathering #quantum commander #flavoracle

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trekkingnearbangalore · 4 years ago

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Below are the best weekend gateways near Bangalore:

1. Bheemeshwari

Laying on the banks of Kaveri River with verdant spaces and quiet environmental factors, Bheemeshwari makes for an extraordinary escape. While it is perfect for a charming cookout with your family and friends and family, Bheemeshwari likewise has a few experience camps and angling destinations for the individuals who need to enjoy sports like waterway boating, kayaking, angling and trekking.

On the off chance that you are a natural life aficionado, Bheemeshwari Wildlife Sanctuary is only the spot to be. Encircled by lavish greenery in the midst of the characteristic cascades of Barachukki and Mekedatu, it is swarm with extraordinary widely varied vegetation. The uncommon Mahseer Fish is found in bounty here. For fowl watchers, there are standard sightings of species like cormorant, ibis, and kingfisher.

Neighboring Kokrebellur Pelicanry, Sangam, and Doddamkkali are other key attractions you should visit on your excursion.

Investigate Hotels close Bheemeshwari

2. Lepakshi

This sluggish town along the Karnataka-Andhra outskirt has a fanciful associate. Legend holds that Ravana executed Jatayu here who was at that point conceded moksha after Rama expressed the words "Le Pakshi" ('Rise Bird' in Telugu). Thus, the town got its name.

The town despite everything holds some sixteenth century treasures, making it perfect for a speedy escape from Bangalore.

As you enter the town, a monster sculpture of Nandi, cut out of a solitary stone welcomes you. The primary fascination is the Lepakshi Temple committed to Veerbhadreshwar. The sheer design brightness of the complex is sufficient to have you hypnotized. With celebrated frescoes and Vijaynagar wall paintings, the sanctuary is a show of ageless workmanship

When you leave the principle sanctuary, there is the delightful outdoors Kalyana Mantapa, wore with particularly etched columns, accepted to be the wedding spot of Shiva and Parvati.

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3. Shivanasamudra Falls

This little island town is ideal for a one day trip from Bangalore. Encircled by forested slopes and verdant valleys, the town is situated on the banks of stream Kaveri. Having sliced through the stones and gorges of the Deccan Plateau, the stream drops downstream to shape the key fascination of the island-the stunning Shivanasamudra Falls.

Appreciate the quiet of nature in the midst of the thunder of the falling falls here. This spot is ideal for a little outing with your family or companions.

Connect with your profound side at the compositionally wonderful Ranganatha Temple.

Experience darlings and untamed life devotees can make a beeline for the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary to appreciate the game of trekking, angling and rock climbing while fascinating fish and feathered creatures every so often shock you.

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4. Mysore

Bragging rich social over a significant time span day urbanization, Mysore is a delightful mix of customary and current attractions. From regal castles and lavish sanctuaries to nurseries and exhibitions, there is such a great amount to investigate in this 'City of Palaces'.

On your way, do make a short stop at Channapatna. Well known for its toy emporiums, the beginning of a portion of the wooden toys can be followed back to the rule of Tipu Sultan.

When you are in the city, investigate its way of life and history through the palatial landmarks. Stroll through the grand Mysore Palace. With many-sided themes, imperial crystal fixtures and unmistakable furnishings, the royal residence is a dazzling scene of Dravidian, European and Roman design styles. Do visit the Jagmohan Palace also.

Around 2 kms from the Mysore Palace is the Karanji Lake. Flanked by the Chamundi Hills, with a butterfly park and an aviary in the region, the lake awards you the genuinely necessary comfort. Appreciate sailing in the lake as colorful feathered creatures like swans and pelicans ripple their wings in water to cool themselves. On the off chance that you are fortunate, you may get a sight or two of a peacock.

Do incorporate Chamundeshwari Temple, Mysore Zoo and Brindavan Gardens to your movement agenda.

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5. Kabini

On the off chance that you are an untamed life fan and look for a loosening up escape in the rich green environmental factors, head to Kabini.

With a dazzling perspective on forested slopes, cadenced progression of Kabini River and falling cascades, the Kabini Forest Reserve has a rich assortment of widely varied vegetation. Appreciate coracle riding as a gathering of elephants take a dip in the water; or take a vessel safari to notice uncommon winged animal species. A center of Asiatic elephants, you can likewise go for an euphoric elephant safari to the rough territories and profound woods of Kabini.

An early morning jeep safari to Nagarhole National Park is ideal for families and youngsters. Catch Bengal tiger, Indian buffalo, cap macaque, brilliant jackal, pangolin and other extraordinary creatures in their regular natural surroundings.

Book your evenings for a little while to espresso bequests and zest ranches in the town of Kutta. On the off chance that you have time, drive to the Iruppu Falls in Brahmagiri Range. A little sanctuary committed to Lord Shiva lies at the base of this delightful cascade.

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6. Yercaud

Settled among the Shevaroy Hills in the Eastern Ghats, Yercaud is a curious slope station close to Bangalore, perfect for an end of the week trip.

The key fascination of Yercaud is the Emerald Lake. Encircled by thick woods and slopes with a lavish nursery on its banks, the lake is a dining experience for the eyes. You can appreciate drifting through the gleaming waters of the lake and catch begrudge actuating pictures.

While around, trek through the spiritualist thick woodlands to the Killiyur Falls. The stupendous cascade lies near the Yercaud Lake and falls down to the Killiyur valley offering a sensational view.

On the Eastern side of the Yercaud slopes lies the acclaimed Pagoda Point. A Rama Temple sits near this spot. You can appreciate a pleasant perspective on Attur and Ayothiapattinam from this outing spot.

Yercaud is popular for oranges and espresso ranches. Near one of these rambling espresso domains is the acclaimed Bear's cavern which positions high on each voyager's schedule.

On the off chance that you have an inquisitive psyche, drop by the Silk Farm close to Lady's Seat to comprehend and watch the creation of silk directly without any preparation!

Investigate Hotels in Yercaud

7. Chikmagalur

Encircled by rambling espresso estates and amazing perspective on the valley, Chikamagalur is a significant monetary and exchange center point of Karnataka. Yet, that isn't all to it.

The town has a few nature parks, untamed life havens, slope withdraws and experience sports locales.

Getting a charge out of boating in the wild waters of Bhadra River as the rich green Western Ghats cast shadow on you.

In the event that you look for comfort, drive to Mullayanagiri. Known for its serene mood, the pinnacle is settled between Nilgiri Hills and the Himalayas. The territory is well known among trekkers attributable to its tough rough landscape.

Do remember the caverns for Inam Dattatreya Peetha and Bharath Wildlife Sanctuary in your movement agenda. On the off chance that you have time, take a day outing to Kemmanagundi to visit the Rock garden, Z point, Hebbe falls, Kalahasti falls, Bababudan slope town and the Shiva sanctuary.

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8. Ooty

Verdant slopes, all encompassing perspectives and immense tea domains legitimize why Ooty earned the moniker of 'Sovereign of Hills'. Passing through the town grandiose mountains, thick woodland, rambling prairies and miles and miles of rich field will enjoyably welcome you.

With a few key attractions to investigate, plan your calendar to remember the vast majority of them for your schedule.

Go for an upbeat toy train ride through dim passages and foggy profound timberlands to find the perfect fortune of the Nilgiri Hills. Go for a walk through the very much kept up terraced gardens at Ooty Botanical Park. A few assorted assortments of blossoms and trees are found in plenitude here. A sole 20-million years of age fossilized tree is a mainstream fascination of the nurseries.

Catch the picturesque excellence of Ooty with your focal point at the Doddabetta Peak. Appreciate a trek to the Dolphin's Nose to get the stunning perspective on the Catherine falls and the conjunction of Coonoor stream and Kotagiri stream. Accumulate your cookout bushels to invest an incredible energy with your people close Kamraj Sagar Lake. Tucked away between forests, the spot is incredible for a sweet outing and furthermore angling.

Your excursion to Ooty is fragmented without tasting its uncommon white chocolate!

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9. Wayanad (278 km)

Found flawlessly over the Western Ghats, this rustic heaven invites weekenders, experience searchers, and untamed life devotees. Hope to be entranced by the delightful nature trails, falling cascades, sweet-smelling sections of land of espresso manors, green rice fields, and rich regular stores. Aside from absorbing the normal magnificence, you can go for trekking in one of the numerous path or visit an espresso estate to taste newly fermented espresso or take a natural life visit to detect a few elephants.

Instructions to reach: Take a short-term train excursion or recruit a private vehicle from Bangalore to reach Wayanad

Spots to visit: Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, Edakkal Caves, Karappuzha Dam

10. Kanchipuram (278 km)

Viewed as one of the most cherished strict spots in Southern India, Kanchipuram is swarmed by lovers from all aspects of the nation. They come here to look for divine endowments at the numerous Shaiva and Vaishnava sanctuaries. One can follow the presence of these Hindu sanctuaries till the second century. Aside from the strict importance, another motivation behind why sightseers visit this end of the week escapes close to Bangalore is for the well known hand-woven Kanchipuram silk sarees.

Step by step instructions to reach: You can either take the immediate transport support or set out on the every day prepares that utilize among Bangalore and Kanchipuram

Spots to visit: Kanchi Kudil, Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary, Kamakshi Amman Temple, and Ekambareshwara Temple

#weekendgateways #bangalore #explore #fun

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akoxsixnate · 5 years ago

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Kolonyalismo at Sikolohikal na Sanhi at Epekto ng Edukasyong Kolonyal

Noong nakaraan, iniulat naming magkaklase ang teksto ni Bienvenido Lumbera na pinamagatang Edukasyong Kolonyal: Sanhi at Bunga ng Mahabang Pagkaalipin. Nakinig naman ang aming mga kaklase at may mga oras pa nga na gusto nilang makilahok sa diskusyon. Ipinunto namin sa aming presentasyon na ang awtor ay walang ibinigay na matibay na kongklusyon kung paano masusugpo ang pagkakaroon ng mga Pilipino ng kolonyal na mentalidad. Pagkatapos ng aming pag-uulat, kagyat na nagsalita ang aming propesor at inilahad ang mga katanungan na ipapaliwanng ko na lamang ang buong diwa: “Ano nga ba ang dahilan kung bakit alipin pa rin tayo ng kolonyal na mentalidad? Bakit gusto ito ng mga dayuhan? Bakit mabisa ang wika sa pananakop”

Bago muna tayo pumunta sa mga dahilan ng mga dayuhan kung bakit sila nanakop, alamin muna natin ang kalagayan ng colonial mentality sa ating bansa. Ayon kay E. J. R. David, PhD, isang psychologist, sa mga indicators na inilahad, sinasabing 30% ng mga Pinoy ay inaming mayroon silang colonial mentality, habang 70% ang nagsasabing wala sila nito. Magandang pakinggan pero hindi pa riyan nagtatapos ang resulta. Sang-ayon pa rin sa nasabing sarbey, 56% ng mga Pinoy ang nagpapakita ng inferiority sa kulturang Pinoy at superior naman ang tingin nila sa kulturang Amerikano. Ang komunidad na kinabibilangan ng isang Pinoy, ayon sa survey, ay exposed sa colonial mentality ng 90%. Kabilang sa epekto ng colonial mentality ay mababang pagtingin sa sarili, mababang life satisfaction, depression, at iba pang anxiety symptoms.

Bakit nga ba tayo sinasakop ng mga malalaking bansa? Sang-ayon sa nabasa kong teksto ni Phillip Hoffman ng Caltech, nanakop sila upang mas lalo pang lumakas sa larangan ng teknolohiya at pakikidigma (ginamit niyang halimbawa ang gunpowder bilang dahilan ng pagsakop ng mga Europeo sa Asya upang magamit ito sa lakas-militar ng mga Kanluranin). Kung sa Pilipinas ang konteksto, sinakop tayo ng mga dayuhan dahil sa mayaman ang ating lupa at maraming yamang-dagat, maganda ang posisyon ng Pilipinas sa Asya na pwedeng maging base ng military dahil malapit ito sa noo’y pinakamatandang imperyong Tsina at mga karatig nitong bansa, magandang sentro ng kalakalan, at mga mababait na mamamayan (kilala ang mga Pilipino na mapagkumbaba at maalalahanin). Siguro ay ‘given’ na ito, ngunit may gusto akong i-focus na psychological aspect: ang inferiority complex sa pagitan ng bawat bansa.

Hindi pupunta sa silangan ang Espanya kung hindi dahil sa Portugal. Ang Portugal ang sinasabing mga unang manlalayag ng Europa dahil kay King Henry the Navigator. Nakarating sila sa iba’t ibang lugar at ginawa itong kolonya. Dahil dito, naiinggit ang Espanya, hindi sila papalamang. Nagkaroon ng tunggalian sa ekspedisyon ng mga lupain hanggang sa namagitan na si Pope Alexander VI Borgia na siyang naghati sa mga lupain na pwede lamang sakupin ng Portugal at Espanya. Ang Portugal ay sa silangan habang ang Espanya ay sa kanluran. Ngunit, nagbago ito nang sakupin ang Espanya ang Pilipinas na nasa silangang parte ng mundo.

Ang US, namana nila ang white man’s burden ng Europe. Naniniwala sila na responsibilidad nila na palaguin ang kamalayan ng mga Pilipino at bigyan ito ng edukasyon. Dito naman pumapasok ang “messiah complex”, isang psychological condition na kung saan ang iniisip ng isang tao na siya ang sagot o sa kanya lamang pwedeng manggaling ang tulong. Masasabi ko rin na dahil din sa inferiority complex dahil sa kakumpetensya nilang mga bansa na may sphere of influence sa China. Dahil dito, nagbunsod ng karahasan ang US sa mga Pilipinong sundalo at mga Moro, na mariing tinuligsa ni Mark Twain, isang popular na manunulat na kontra sa imperyalistang pananaw ng mga Amerikano.

Sa modernong panahon, ang globalisasyon ang nagsilbing makabagong paraan ng pananakop. Karamihan ng financial advisers ng Pilipinas ay mga dayuhan, at karamihan ng mga malalaking namumuhunan ay mga dayuhang negosyante. Samakatuwid, ang koloniyalismo ay hindi pa rin basta basta matatapos. Ang IMF at World Bank ay karaniwang nagpapautang malaking halaga sa mga bansang third world, at kapag baon na sa utang ang isang bansa, dito na papasok ang mga malalaking bansa na “tutulong” sa mga bansang baon sa utang sa pamamagitan ng pag-aalok ng trabaho (OFW) at pagpapapasok ng dayuhang negosyo (mining companies at mga business empires, sa madaling salita, kapitalismo).

Bilang pagtatapos, masasabi kong ang akda ni Lumbera ay lubhang nakakapagpamulat. Kung susuriin ang teksto, walang kongkretong solusyon na inihain si Lumbera, dahil sa laganap nga ito at mahirap sugpuin, ngunit hindi imposible.

Sa isinulat ni Lumbera, hinahamon tayong mga mambabasa na makialam at makibahagi sa kondisyon ng ating bayan. Gamitin natin ang kapangyarihan ng dekolonisasyon, gamitin ang ating natutunan upang nang sa gayo’y mapalawak pa natin ang malawakang pagkilos na magpapanumbalik sa tunay na kalayaan na ating inaasam.

Mga Pinagkunan: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/unseen-and-unheard/201711/filipinos-colonial-mentality-and-mental-health

https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/why-did-western-europe-dominate-globe-47696

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inferiority_complex

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_imperialism_in_Asia

https://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/1898/twain.html

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-high-functioning-alcoholic/201702/the-savior-complex

#pinoyako

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mtgbracket · 4 years ago

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Round of 1024 - Batch 9 results

Here are the latest results!

The full spreadsheet is here and the visual results are here.

Today’s results in full:

Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh defeats Pang Tong, "Young Phoenix" with 92.4% of the vote Slobad, Goblin Tinkerer defeats Kei Takahashi with 87.0% of the vote Kykar, Wind's Fury defeats Glacian, Powerstone Engineer with 85.1% of the vote Trostani, Selesnya's Voice defeats Lady Evangela with 83.5% of the vote

Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow defeats Silvar, Devourer of the Free with 82.4% of the vote Chromium, the Mutable defeats Lieutenant Kirtar with 81.6% of the vote Slimefoot, the Stowaway defeats Dosan the Falling Leaf with 73.0% of the vote Kytheon, Hero of Akros defeats Chandler with 72.4% of the vote

Pako, Arcane Retriever defeats Daughter of Autumn with 72.2% of the vote Eladamri, Lord of Leaves defeats Jiwari, the Earth Aflame with 71.5% of the vote Titania, Protector of Argoth defeats Mina and Denn, Wildborn with 71.3% of the vote Gyrus, Waker of Corpses defeats Kyoki, Sanity's Eclipse with 69.8% of the vote

Tomorrow, Azami's Familiar defeats Yomiji, Who Bars the Way with 68.8% of the vote Lyzolda, the Blood Witch defeats Shizuko, Caller of Autumn with 67.7% of the vote Azor, the Lawbringer defeats Myojin of Life's Web with 67.2% of the vote Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive defeats Arahbo, Roar of the World with 65.3% of the vote

Anya, Merciless Angel defeats Hakim, Loreweaver with 62.7% of the vote Karlov of the Ghost Council defeats Kamahl, Heart of Krosa with 61.4% of the vote Edric, Spymaster of Trest defeats Muxus, Goblin Grandee with 61.1% of the vote Zareth San, the Trickster defeats Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch with 60.9% of the vote

Dwynen, Gilt-Leaf Daen defeats Adun Oakenshield with 60.8% of the vote Geth, Lord of the Vault defeats Danitha Capashen, Paragon with 60.2% of the vote Norin the Wary defeats Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder with 58.8% of the vote Rakka Mar defeats Iwamori of the Open Fist with 58.2% of the vote

Yisan, the Wanderer Bard defeats Heliod, Sun-Crowned with 56.6% of the vote Tahngarth, First Mate defeats Maga, Traitor to Mortals with 56.5% of the vote Circu, Dimir Lobotomist defeats Valduk, Keeper of the Flame with 56.1% of the vote Arjun, the Shifting Flame defeats Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet with 55.4% of the vote

Iona, Shield of Emeria defeats Varolz, the Scar-Striped with 55.1% of the vote Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs defeats Gahiji, Honored One with 53.2% of the vote Varina, Lich Queen defeats Szadek, Lord of Secrets with 53.0% of the vote Sylvia Brightspear defeats Iname, Life Aspect with 52.2% of the vote

#mtg #magic the gathering #mtgbracket #tournamentofchampions

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radramblog · 3 years ago

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Every Mono-Black Commander, Part 2- The Kamigawa Zone

Last week when I was doing this, we had to go through a massive pile of Homelands cards and Portal Three Kingdoms cards- this time we’re going to have to do similar but with the three Kamigawa sets. See, WoTC decided that the best way to do “Legendary set” was to make every rare creature legendary (and some uncommons), so there are a fair few to talk about! In fact, I’m extending the length of this post just so I don’t have to be talking about spirits for two weeks, because much as I love Kamigawa and it’s Kami, that’s a lot.

There’s a few things to get to before that though, so.

Volrath the Fallen (78 decks, 52nd most played)

Volrath is once again an older character that eventually got a newer better different card to represent them, but unlike with Greven this one isn’t completely awful. Now, it is 6 mana with no protection and evasion, but it is not particularly hard to kill someone with that ability- to be fair, though, there’s only one card the deck can run that lets him hit 21 without double strike (it would be 2, but Emrakul is banned, so Draco it is). By the looks, most people are giving the deck an Eldrazi Reanimator backup plan, which makes a lot of sense- if you can’t kill them with a giant commander, why not try a giant space monster? Volrath is far from the top echelons of commander, but he’s an interesting and solid enough pick to build a deck around- a far cry from most of what came before him.

Greel, Mind Raker (17 decks, 81st most played)

Greel, on the other hand, is a bit more painfully mediocre. I’m not going to act like Mind Twist isn’t a powerful effect, but it’s not as broken in commander when there’s 2 other opponents to deal with, and card advantage effects are more plentiful, and it costs an additional 5 mana and an extra card, and it’s attached to a 3/3 with no other rules text. Man, Prophecy really wasn’t a good set, huh. Art kinda kicks ass, though.

Cabal Patriarch (9 decks, 96th most played)

This is as good a time as ever to note that despite Braids, Cabal Minion being banned, she’s still got more decks than this guy. He doesn’t even have a name! He’s also a 6 mana card with two abilities that are barely worth it, they don’t kill nearly anything in this format, and for 3 mana and another resource? It’s kinda pathetic. At least at this point, all the legends have actual rules text, but on the other hand, I’d like their rules text to look a bit more interesting.

Chainer, Dementia Master (423 decks, 16th most played)

Oh shit, there we go! The first card on this list to breach 100 decks, and by a country mile, Chainer is just a badass card. BBB: Reanimate something is just kinda nutty, and the downside is easy to mitigate with black’s myriad sacrifice outlets. Let alone the loops you can get into with stuff like Phyrexian Altar, K’rrik, or Pitiless Plunderer.

Ultimately, though Chainer only really does One Thing. He does happen to be very very good at that One Thing, but it is his One Thing. Considering his contemporary competition, though, I’d say that is far from holding him back. I’ve only played with Chainer once (borrowing a mate’s deck), and I accidentally won the game with Gary. And if that’s not how I want to be playing magic then I don’t know what is.

Balthor, the Defiled (112 decks, 40th most played)

On the other hand, I’m actually kind of shocked how many decks Balthor has. He’s got an incredibly powerful effect, but not only is it pseudo-symmetrical but it includes a colour you could not possibly have, making it even more likely you’re benefitting not just yourself. Missing out on big colourless creatures is also a pain.

As well, looking at the cards most played in Balthor decks, I’m kind of shocked at how little non-symmetrical graveyard hate is being packed in here. That does seem like the best plan, stocking your graveyard and removing theirs so you get all the value from a big reanimate. At the same time, I genuinely respect living on the edge like people are apparently doing. Fucking go for it queens.

Visara the Dreadful (11 decks, 91st most played)

Visara is Shauku but less interesting. She’s a murder things commander that will largely have to choose between doing Her Thing and actually attacking, which isn’t particularly great. She can at least kill just about anything, but at the cost of having not much else to do most of the time. Probably give her a pass.

Also, though, what the fuck is she? Like apparently she’s a Gorgon, but she has wings and those look a lot more like giant fuckoff horns than snakes. She must have incredible neck strength to keep that propped up all the time.

Phage, the Untouchable (267 decks, 23rd most played)

Ah, Phage. The original Big Dick Energy commander, because nothing says baller like a Commander that tries to kill you for daring to cast her. The number of ways to not die to Phage has slowly gone up, although more and more of them are in colours that Phage doesn’t get to run in the zone (White, mostly), but there’s enough there that she’s more than playable.

And what a payoff. I feel like if you get killed by Phage, you don’t get to be mad about that. Like, that’s just hats off at that point. Such a feat deserves nothing but respect. She’s the original and the best “player deathtouch” card, before deathtouch even existed. Can’t even argue.

Also you can’t do it with her in the zone but Fractured Identity targeting Phage is a very funny way to win a game of Commander.

He Who Hungers (13 decks, 89th most played)

Oh fuck, it’s the KAMIGAWA ZONE. We’ve finally made it. Surprisingly, this is the only Mono-black commander with Soulshift, so I’m not going to bother explaining it.

I’m just going to say off the bat- I love Spirit tribal, and all the Kamigawa spirits are glorious in their gorgeous surreal art and bizzarro effects, and there are actually a lot of things that say Spirit on them even in Mono-Black. With that in mind, just about every Mono-B spirit is draft chaff and the deck will not be good. But you don’t come to He Who Hungers for good, though I suppose Thoughtseizing repeatedly isn’t that bad an effect. He Who Hungers is probably really solid in WB+ where you have plenty of token effects to fuel him, but there really isn’t enough production in Mono-B to support him. Perhaps a shame.

Horobi, Death’s Wail (257 decks, 24th most played)

Horobi is one I’ve actually considered building, considering their incredibly unique effect. It’s one of those fun commanders that just gets to play a bunch of otherwise really bad cards, and take advantage of them like no other deck can. It’s such a ruthless form of board control, that can often shred through entire swathes just as easily as it does individual threats.

The thing is, though, that dealing with creatures isn’t really something Black needs help with- and that’s all Horobi really helps you do. However, I suppose that does free the deck up for more slots that can deal with more concerning permanent types. Horobi is just kind of a really good control commander, particularly when you’re looking at a low-combo metagame. Would recommend!

Iname, Death Aspect (105 decks, 42nd most played)

I really enjoy the three Iname cards, silly as they kind of are, and Death Aspect isn’t an exception. Aside from being one of the sickest looking creatures I’ve ever seen, Iname DA subverts the problem of Mono-B Spirits being not great by giving you access to literally your entire deck’s worth of them, provided you have a mass reanimation effect handy. It’s a pretty ballsy play, considering how vulnerable you will then be to graveyard hate after casting your six-mana commander, but you gotta make the plays to get the wins, right.

Iname is also a great enabler for things like Mortal Combat that care about number of creatures in the ‘yard, because they just dump so many in there. Also I’m pretty sure if you have Syr Konrad out with Iname you…just win? Anyway.

Kiku, Night’s Flower (29 decks, 71st most played)

In an odd reversal of Shauku/Visara, Kiku costs significantly less but her ability costs significantly more. This does make her probably worse, unfortunately, since 4 mana is a lot to be burning every turn and it’s a lot worse with repeat untap effects like Thousand-Year Elixir. The nature of her ability is brilliantly flavourful, but unfortunately makes it kill a lot less things as well. She’s really neat, but neat doesn’t equal playable, unfortunately.

Kokusho, the Evening Star (134 decks, 35th most played)

Oh, how the mighty has fallen. Wait, no, Ryusei was the Falling Star, right?

For the unaware, Kokusho used to be banned in this format, and I’m not particularly sure why- like you could gain a shitload of life and deal a bunch of damage with them, but I would hardly call that oppressive. Perhaps it’s because I’ve never seen them in action outside of my own 5C spirits deck. It does scale really nicely into multiplayer, I suppose.

So what does Kokusho do? Kokusho just needs to find a way to die over and over to drain your opponents out and gain a shittonne of life. This will have gotten a lot easier with the recent advent of Supernatural Stamina and related effects, as well as last year’s rules change to death triggers. Aside from that, well, they’re big dragon and they can hit you I guess. That seems less efficient than having them die, so probably just do that instead.

Also can someone explain to me why this card is still so expensive, it’s the only one of the cycle I don’t have the original print of but it’s like 30 bucks and I ain’t paying that, please………

Kuro, Pitlord (7 decks, 99th most played)

Shoutouts to my boy Braden for running this guy for a bit. Kuro is…well it’s 9 mana plus another 4 every single turn. That’s enough of a turnoff for most people, I think. It does basically just kill everything with that ability, but at 9 you’re probably not at a particularly monstrous life total so it’s a real cost to start dropping 4/4s left and right. I’m not opposed to reanimating this, I guess, but prooobably leave it out of the zone.

Marrow-Gnawer (1618 decks, 3rd most played)

I am actually kind of shocked this is as high as it is. I probably shouldn’t be, it’s the de facto Rats commander considering it’s basically Rat Krenko but they also get evasion, but I didn’t expect Rats to be as popular as this.

The recent reprints probably helped.

Marrow-Gnawer is a devastatingly efficient swarm commander, as it starts almost doubling your board over and over. The comparison to Krenko is obviously very deliberate, but paying an extra mana to get Fear on the team as well is pretty worth it in my eyes. Requiring a sacrifice makes it a bit softer to removal, but like, no way are they killing some random Rat when they see this guy in the zone. And Rats are pretty replaceable- I mean, just look at Relentless Rats/Rat Colony.

It’s still kind of astonishing that Marrow-Gnawer is this popular, to me at least. I mean, the other Rat options are a bit more mediocre (as we’ll see shortly!), but really? I guess that’s probably why it’s so big, as while there are decently spread options for other black tribes (zombies, vampires, demons etc.), Rats doesn’t really have anything better than this. So here it is, third best. Fucking go off king. Er, Lord, I guess.

Myojin of Night’s Reach (6 decks, 103rd most played)

Hey wait Myojin is a badass card, sure it’s 8 mana (tied for the cheapest of the Myojin, lmao), but it’s effect is nuts! Just get rid of all of their hands, fuckin get em! Why is no one playing this?

Oh, you only get the counter if you cast it from your hand? Well, fuck, I guess. Moving on.

Seizan, Perverter of Truth (188 decks, 29th most played)

I actually designed a Seizan deck and proxied it up at some point, and it was pretty fun. Not good, but fun. Seizan is honestly pretty decent as a more open-ended option, being funnily enough viable both for Group Hug or Group Slug, or some perverted hybrid of both (heh). It’s also just a big beefy idiot, and therefore if you slap some evasion (and like, one more power) on it not a bad wincon for either deck. It’s kind of a shame that they help your opponent draw into an answer for your deck, but that’s the game you play with a card like this. As long as you aren’t at the table where people kill Howling Mine on sight, Seizan probably has a seat waiting for it. I genuinely really like it, and would consider rebuilding it if I didn’t already have, you know, 2.5 mono-black decks already.

Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni (48 decks, 58th most played)

One of the two Other Rat Commanders, and only really because it’s the only other legendary Rat (excluding changelings). She’s also a Ninja which is neato I suppose. I mean, let’s not beat around the bush, Ink-Eyes looks and plays absolutely sick as hell, red mist streaming from her eyes and an effect that ganks some absolutely silly creatures off your opponents. Unfortunately, you can’t activate Ninjutsu from the Command Zone (fuck off Yuriko no one asked), so she’s kind of just stuck trying to pitch in on her own. And she’s not super effective at it. I suspect she’s another 99-er, though she has more decks than most things I’d put in that category, so eh.

Kyoki, Sanity’s Eclipse (23 decks, 76th most played)

Aside from having easily one of the edgiest (and thereby coolest) names I’ve ever seen, Kyoki doesn’t have a whole lot going for it. For the cost of putting literally Craw Wurm in the zone, you get to exile one card every time you cast a Spirit/Arcane spell. And there aren’t that many good ones of those you get access to. Now don’t get me wrong, I do play Kyoki in my O-Kagachi deck, and everyone tries to kill it on sight in that, so maybe it’s better than I’m giving it credit for. But I wouldn’t put it in the zone.

Holy shit though look at that flavour text, motherfucker almost has as many epithets as it does power.

Patron of the Nezumi (34 decks, 64th most played)

I’ve actually (briefly) discussed Patron of the Nezumi on this blog before, and spoilers, it isn’t great. Rat Offering is…fine… but they really could have made the other trigger affect your own stuff and maybe the card would actually have been fine. Like, none of the Patrons are spectacular, but this just doesn’t do enough at all. At least most of the rest of them have interesting effects- ironically the one with the best tribe, Patron of the Akki, somehow has the most boring effect. ZZZZ.

Shirei, Shizo’s Caretaker (970 decks, 7th most played)

Another card that gets to run a bunch of fun nonsense, Shirei has been a fun and popular commander for a very long time at this point. There are a surprisingly huge number of 1/Xs with powerful effects available to loop in mono-black, and it isn’t that hard to protect Shirei long enough to get them off. Add in a relatively recent reprint at uncommon, making them not only affordable, but considering how many of its key pieces are common/uncommon and you’ve got an excellent budget list.

Seriously though, looking at it’s “High Synergy Cards” and “Top Cards” on EDHREC has literally 3 cards over a dollar, and you really don’t need Ashnod’s Altar for this deck to be good. If you told me I had to build a commander deck for 10 bucks, Shirei is one place I’d be heading right for. You get to run Basal Thrull! Everyone loves Basal Thrull.

Toshiro Umezawa (515 decks, 13th most played)

Okay look I’m going to be biased here obviously because I am literally building this deck, but Toshiro is cool as fuck. It’s spellslinger without Red or Blue, and it gets to do fun stuff like playing the MDFC instants as lands from the graveyard. It’s another unexpected cards commander, and there’s a bunch of fun stuff like False Cure that you can cheekily slide in to really catch people off guard.

Not only is it spellslinger, but he also gets to play mostly at instant speed, which is obviously always a boon. And yeah, it does just get to kill everything and chain Doom Blades if you really want. He’s unfortunately reliant on your opponents having creatures, but that’ll happen, things die in this format. Just a fun commander, shame he was overshadowed by his bloody sidearm.

Yukora, the Prisoner (7 decks, 98th most played)

Somewhat unsurprisingly, Juzam Djinn but with an arguably worse downside is not a particularly popular commander. I’d be interested in trying them with those “one creature matters” cards from AVR/DTK, but there are much much better things to stack those onto.

It’s probably not that bad in draft, though? If you aren’t running many creatures? Idk.

Akuta, Born of Ash (10 decks, 93rd most played)

So this is a mediocre creature, that you can reanimate if you have the most cards in hand out of everyone, at the cost of setting yourself back a lot of tempo. Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Infernal Kirin (18 decks, 80th most played)

Kay so this one is actually powerful. In O-Kagachi. Like, this can just rip hands apart if you’re doing it right. Unfortunately, locking yourself into Black only with Spirit/Arcane spells is again way too restrictive to work with still, and as a result I completely understand not playing this. But actually though don’t sleep on this bad boy, I’m a big fan.

Kagemaro, First to Suffer (23 decks, 77th most played)

…is this somehow the first “boardwipe on a legend” so far? Hang on, I just checked and there’s only like two of these in Black, what the fuck.

Okay, well, Kagemaro. It requires a lot of hand presence to kill things, but it also gets around Indestructible, so that’s nice. Look at all those blades its never going to use because let’s be honest this is getting sacrificed most of the time. It’s, like, fine? I guess? I suppose there’s nothing stopping you from loading up your hand and slugging someone to death with this, and while that effect is common in other colours, I’m pretty sure this is the only Black version, and Black is pretty good at drawing, so go for it I suppose.

Kuon, Ogre Ascendant/ Kuon’s Essence (21 decks, 78th most played)

On the one hand, getting Kuon to flip probably isn’t super hard. On the other hand, the payoff is extremely mediocre, and it’s super disappointing that it isn’t asymmetrical. Like, there’s a few cards you could just play that do the same thing, though to be fair I’m pretty sure all of them are 4CMC or higher. Kuon doesn’t really provide a way of winning the game, either- like most of the things on this list can at least attack, but if Kuon is flipped they’re probably staying that way.

Interestingly, this was the only BBB costed commander at 3CMC until Eldraine, so I guess if you were trying to turbo-devotion this is a thing? But like, why wouldn’t you just use Erebos or something. Also, does the devotion even count if it’s flipped? Questions I don’t want to bother answering.

Maga, Traitor to Mortals (62 decks, 56th most played)

Our final Kamigawa commander, and therefore the last one I’m going to go through today because jesus this is getting long. This card’s name has only gotten more perfect with age, but the card itself hasn’t done that well. It’s a solid enough leader for giant mana decks, filled with doublers and such, as it effectively has haste with that ETB, but if you aren’t producing excessive amounts of B then I’m pretty sure Maga just sucks. Like in other, less cardboard circles.

Aight that’s, what, 27 cards? For reference, I do plan on continuing at a 20-ish per installation speed, but I just wanted to burn through Kamigawa for possibly obvious reasons. Now that we’re through Spiritland, we can move onto bigger and better things- Time Spiral, Lorwynmoor, and beyond. Until then.

#ramble #mtg #commander #edh #mono-black

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