#tajic blade of the legion

[jones-friend]

In an Effort to Archive my Decks here is every list.

Sai, Master Thopterist - MonoU Thopter Artificing

Daretti, Scrap Savant - MonoR Artificing

Lathliss, Dragon Queen - MonoR Dragons

Oviya Pashiri, Sage Lifecrafter - MonoG big n tall

The Council of Four - Azorius Profiteering

Tajic, Blade of the Legion - Boros Damage Redirection

Tasha/Sygg - Dimir Theft

Lazav, Dimir Mastermind - Dimir Mill

Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver - Dimir zombie tribal

Vadrik, Astral Archmage - Izzet Spellslinget

Jori En, Ruin Diver - Izzet Cantrips

Athreos, God of Passage - Orzhov Aristocrats

Obzedat, Ghost Council - Orzhov Lifegain

Prosper, Tome-Bound - Rakdos Treasures

Chainer, Nightmare Adept - Rakdos Reanimator

Prime Speaker Zegana - Simic Counters

Ixhel, Scion of Atraxa - Abzan Poison

Kathril, Aspect Warper - Abzan Keyword Counters

Kestia, the Cultivator - Bant Auras

Roon of the Hidden Realm - Bant Fair-er Flicker

Aminatou, the Fateshifter - Esper Topdeck

Sharuum the Hegemon - Esper Artificer

Zurgo and Ojutai - Jeskai Combat Control

Sidisi, Brood Tyrant - Sultai Self Mill

Riku of Two Reflections - Temur Hug

Maelstrom Wanderer - Temur Topdeck

Horde of Notions - 5c Elementals

Ramos, Dragon Engine - 5c Casting Tribal

The Ur-Dragon - 5c Dragons

[thecommandertable]

Contextualizing Card Evaluations in Commander

Is Hedron Archive a good card?

Some say yes. Some say no. How about Temple of the False God?

Some say yes, some say no. Many of those who say no say that the people who say yes are wrong, and bad at Magic/Commander, and a variety of other ad hominem attacks, because, well, the internet doesn't generally reward nuance and empathy. (But that's a whole other thing.) Is Gerrard's Battle Cry a good card?

I think most Commander players' response to that question would be, "What's 'Gerrard's Battle Cry'?" And upon seeing it, I think the most common response would be, "No, not really." I bring up Gerrard's Battle Cry not because I think it's a hidden gem that I think you should give a go in your Commander deck. This Tempest rare is only 49 cents for a reason: it's not a great rate for its effect. There are much more efficient ways for White decks to pump up all their creatures, from Cathar's Crusade to Akroma's Will to Inspiring Leader. I bring it up because of an interaction I had in the comments of a YouTube video (I know, I know). Someone commented on a "Good Commander Budget Cards" video, citing Gerrard's Battle Cry as a cheap card that they've found to be pretty good. My first instinct was to respond with, "There are much better ways to pump your creatures in white on a budget, like Inspiring Leader or Valor in Akros." But I stopped myself. Who am I to tell this person, who's been playing with this card and found it to be good, that they're (essentially) Doing Magic Wrong? Yeah, it's possible that they're underestimating the tempo loss from activating such a taxing activation cost... but probably not! They've probably killed their friends with it! If they're opinion of the card is high, it's probably from their lived experience playing Magic; presumably their play group probably doesn't play with a lot of board wipes and so this person gets a lot of creatures to stick on the board. Instead, I recommended they try the card Leonin Sun Standard.

Like Gerrard's Battle Cry, the Sun Standard is less than 50 cents. It costs one more mana to get onto the battlefield, but its activation costs one less. This person seemed to appreciate the recommendation, and I moved on feeling a little better about my online presence.

For those of us living in the zeitgeist of online Commander content-- using EDHREC, listening to podcasts, and watching Commander gameplay videos-- it's easy to imagine the Commander landscape as more homogenized than it is. We go to CommandFests and encounter seas of people who have decks with fetchlands and Esper Sentinels and Constant Mists. The more enfranchised we are, the more we interact disproportionately with other enfranchised players. It's easy to forget that the majority of people who play Magic have never gone to an LGS; they play at home, at school/work, or at a friend's house. Geography can play a role, too. I live in a highly suburban area, and within an hour's drive I have a handful of LGS's I could attend to fling cardboard, and while there are slight differences in the respective Commander metagames at those stores, I can bring the same suite of decks to any of them and have basically similar experiences. However I have, on a few occasions, found myself in more remote game stores: a couple out in rural Pennsylvania during college, and one by my grandparents' in rural Virginia. That latter store tends to host Commander games with five or sometimes six players, and they take forever. One game in particular sticks in my mind: one player had a Tajic, Blade of the Legion deck built all around board wipes. Creature board wipes and land board wipes.

More often than not the bastard didn't even have two other creatures to attack with. He just swung in for two damage with Tajic every five minutes. I hung in there, doing what I could, but some of the other players had come to the table with what could only be described as Draft Chaff Commander decks; they were playing out cards like Syndic of Tithes and Stonefare Crocodile. Like lambs to the slaughter. A very, very slow slaughter. I remember saying something to the effect of "Y'all live like this?" before scooping and heading back to my grandparents' house. A friend of mine told me of a playgroup of his ex-girlfriend's where all the players in the game would take their turns at the same time. You know how in a game of Two-Headed Giant, you and your teammate will untap, draw your cards, and go to combat at the same time? Like that, except everyone's declaring attackers and blockers at each other at once in a messy Magic thunderdome. As a judge, I shudder to picture it.

The point being, though, is that there is far greater variety in Commander playgroups and localized metagames than we tend to give credit, and that variety can cause folks to have drastically different opinions about the same card. In another comment from the same YouTube video, someone said that they don't think the signet cycle is very good; in their playgroup there are a lot of artifact board wipes. They'd probably be down on Hedron Archive, too, but might rate it slightly higher than Thran Dynamo. For those living in the thunderdome, the card Flurry of Wings would probably be pretty good. For the poor fools playing against Tajic.Board Wipes.deck, Sacred Ground might be an all-star.

These are extreme examples. Lots of disagreements around cards like Temple of the False God come down to the speed of a Commander playgroup's games, which is highly correlated to the general power level they play at. If games regularly last 11+ turns, the Temple is a good deal, since you have a lot more turns where it can tap for two mana. If your games generally end around turn seven or eight, it looks a lot worse. (That's not to say that sometimes individuals can't just be bad at evaluating cards. It's easy to remember all the times that Rise of the Dark Realms won you the game- it's harder to recall how often it gets stuck in your hand; opportunity cost is a difficult thing to judge, and confirmation bias can also muddy the waters. And if someone finds that Temple of the False God is too often their fourth land but is playing it in a deck with only 30 lands, well then, yeah, that's kind of on them.) The next time you find yourself disagreeing with someone about the relative strength of a card in Commander, and it isn't someone from your regular playgroup, consider that their usual Commander experience might be different from yours. Feel free to ask! Whether they play against a lot of modified precons, or with folks who are less experienced, or if they play exclusively high-powered Commander or even cEDH-- that info can offer the conversation a lot of context. Just as it is with disagreements about things in everyday life-- once you understand where the other person is coming from, finding common ground is a lot easier.

[edh-a-to-z]

Budget EDH - Tajic, Blade of the Legion

Check it out here: (deck link)

Hail planeswalker!

I had been working on a deck tech for Angus Mackenzie (the next in my series of alphabetical commanders, coming soon!) when I realized something.

It’s crazy prices - Angus alone is over 150. Crazy expensive manabase (for maximum effectiveness), and basically pricey overall.

So, I wanna see if I can make a deck out of spare parts. Spare parts and under $50 dollars. So, here we go!

Tajic is a straightforward commander - get some dudes on the board, smash in.

We need Voltron parts, Tokens to go wide (plus go-wide support), some utility cards, and a cheap mana base. Let’s get to it!

Voltron

Our plan is to get Tajic out, soup him up, and lay waste.

We want evasion, haste, and damage. Luckily, Tajic is indestructible, which makes him much stickier - we can get away with leaving him around.

We want Tajic to swing through without problems, so that means unblockable on trample, and we need to pile on the damage (we also want him swinging at +5/+5, but that’s a token problem).

For unblockability, we need Spectra Ward. Protection from all colors is functionally unblockable. Hot Soup doesn’t have a downside for us, Whispersilk Cloak is great, and Rogue’s Passage are great and cheap.

Inquisitor’s Flail has no downside and doubles it’s equipped creatures damage, and Sword of Vengeance gives us a boatload of buffs. Relic Seeker is a cheap option to fetch us equipment, and Thalia’s Lancers can fetch us any legendary including Tenza, Godo’s Maul which works great with Tajic. 

Open the Armory and Godo, Bandit Warlord are cheap tutors.

Tokens

Captain of the Watch; by Greg Staples

Sunhome Guildmage can pop out hastey tokens and buff the team. Captain of the Watch is one of my pet cards, as she’s a one-man army and buff. Myr Battlesphere can bring an army and clear blockers, Trading Post gives you options and very scary 0/1 goats (that can attack!), Chancellor of the Forge is a fatty with tokens, Darien King of Kjeldor just went down in price. Conqueror's Pledge, Nomad’s Assembly, and Increasing Devotion are one-card armies

Paying to make tokens with Master Trinketeer, Oketra the True, and Drogskol Cavalry are also options.

There’s also some options for tokens not involving creatures. Assemble the Legion, Mobilization are great. 

Utility

Cast Out, Banishing Light and Oblivion Ring are some great removal options.

While we wanna avoid board sweepers, as we’re so devoted to the board, we wanna try out a few - it’s not like Tajic will die! While OG Wrath is over budget, we can consider Rout and Sublime Exhalation. Solid choices both, and both budget.

Rapid fire:

Draw from Staff of Nin, Mentor of the Meek, Magus of the Wheel and Skullclamp is a must.

Firemane Angel and Frontline Medic are great Battalion creatures.

Forsake the Worldly, Oblation, Swords to Plowshares, Condemn, Darksteel Mutation, Duergar Hedge-Mage, 

Marshal’s Anthem and Cathar’s Crusade are THE anthems. 

Adriana Captain of the Guard wants you to hit everyone, and Nobilis of War and Veteran Swordsmith make sure your tokens hit hard. Bring in Phantom General and Intangible Virtue as well.

On the defense, use Pariah on Tajic (he can take it!), and Plea For Guidance to get that (and any other) enchantments.

Chandra, Flamecaller nets you cards and can spam out creatures.

Stonecloaker, Sun Titan, Archon of Justice, Boros Guildmage, Twilight Shepherd, Hellkite Charger and Hoard-Smelter Dragon I didn’t feel like sorting. But they’re fun.

Mana Base

This is gonna be interesting.

Take a look at all those dual lands. Rugged Prarie, Sacred Foundry, Plateau. Look at them and weep.

We’re a guildgate kinda deck.

Start with 15 Mountains and 15 Plains. Plus Evolving Wilds and Terramorphic Expanse. Then Needle Spires, Boros Guildgate and Garrison, Wind-Scarred Crag, Slayer’s Stronghold also help. Add some cycling lands and cheap utility lands as you see fit.

On the manarock side of things, we use Boros Keyrune and Cluestone, Darksteel Ingot, Commander’s Sphere and Mindstone for some light ramping. 

After Building the Deck

We want Tajic, our commander, to hit the ground turn 4, and by turn 5 be a swinging 7/7. With some help, he should be able to kill another player with commander damage in 2-3 good swings. We also need him activated. If that means we swing in with a 0/1 Goat and a 1/1 Solider, do it. Make tokens often and fast - swarming is our backup plans. Don’t worry about board wipes, we have so many bodies on the field it’s easy to come back.

Bargain with your opponents - especially one’s in White or Black who can exile or -X/-X Tajic. Our only real fear is that, or Pacifism. 

Diplomacy is quick and hard in EDH, and time your attacks to kill someone with another’s help. 

Once you go a couple rounds with this deck, take it apart and analyze what works for you. Add some better cards from your collection, or experiment with some bulk you have.

Tajic, Blade of the Legion; by James Ryman

So, there you have it. Under 50 bucks. Uses a lot of EDH staples that can be used later, and can easily be upgraded to a more token based strategy, or a better equipment package.

Well campers, that was fun. If you want me to feature another budget commander, let me know! Questions, comments, ideas, hit me with it, I��m always looking for stuff in my inbox!

[inventors-fair]

The Cheers Start Coming - Relentless Optimism Winners

Hello hello, everyone! So many cool entries this week! It was definitely a challenging contest to toe the line, since we all want to make super splashy and exciting designs, but the winners this week were the ones who reined the splashiness in for the sake of a well-balanced, clean-looking card. So without further ado:

Deadly Sins by @starch255

Okay, I just... wow. An insanely flavorful design that really encapsulates the cool, spooky feeling of the deadly sins. As others have pointed out, playing all seven of these would just barely kill you without lifegain (21 damage), but each one offers you increasing power, starting out with a cantrip and evolving to digging through a huge chunk of your deck. It does seem kind of funny that you’re actively trying to collect as many sins as possible, but hey, that’s black mana for ya. Increasing power at increasing cost. Honestly, I don’t have much more to say about this card, since it’s so simple and clean. If I had to nitpick something, I would say it’s kinda disappointing that you can lose future copies of the Deadly sins to your grave if you hit more than one at a time, but that just powers up your next cast, so it’s really not a huge loss. The card is incredible, and perfectly straddles the line between “interesting enough to play” and “bonkers insane when the deck is full of them”.

Tuktuk Scout by @demimonde-semigoddess This is definitely pushing the boundary of how complex a relentless common could be, but it does it so well. The fact that there’s so many different ways to play this is what intrigues me. You can just go right for amassing an army of scouts, skipping their adventure bit. And then cast a single Rush Ahead to send them all into a frenzy. By the way, A+ flavor that as soon as one of them “rushes”, all of them go nuts. Alternatively, you can alternate between the two and slowly build a wider and taller board. The haste part also works super nicely, since it can allow the most recently played Scout to join the attack. I do wish the Adventure could somehow grant haste to the creature it's on if you play it right after, but that’s a limitation of Adventures more than anything. I do like that their toughness isn’t boosted as well- much like Rat Colony, they’re very formidable in combat, but also very fragile. This card is just solid across the board.

Blade of the Legion by @hiygamer My first thought was “colorless relentless card would be very dangerous for a cheerios deck”, but then I realized... eh? There’s enough 0 cost artifacts already that needing multiple cost reducers before you can dump these out probably isn’t worth it, unless you’re specifically using them for their equipment purpose rather than a draw-your-library kinda combo. I really do like how this plays- the initial investment seems steep, but the fact that the equip cost cares about any other equipments rather than other Blades means that this can just be used to round out the edges of an equipment deck. This means you don’t have to go all in on these, which is pretty nice. I do think it would be a bit of a pain with Leonin Shikari, but hey, isn’t most equipment? This makes for a pretty straightforward and fun deck to play, and I would love to try it for a test run. Side note, is it intentional that this shares a name with Tajic’s epithet, or was that a neat coincidence?

Congrats to the winners, and I will see you shortly for runners-up!

[ravnicaforgoblins]

Ravnica for Goblins

More Awesome NPCs of Ravnica

NPCs are one of the most important tools in a DM’s campaign. Your assorted guards, informants, bartenders, hench-persons, random civilians, and, of course, your quest-givers. Optimistically, you hope to have certain NPCs stick around for a while to have the party build a relationship with them, as opposed to getting murder-hobo-ed because your party doesn’t like their attitude. Which is why it’s so great that Ravnica is filled with cool NPCs who are definitely stronger than your party (for a while)!

A couple notes; I already did a list of Awesome NPCs, focusing on the Ladies of Ravnica, so this time I thought I’d try and give the boys (and Melek) some spotlight. Secondly, as I’ve by now made annoyingly apparent, I’m focusing on characters in the modern era of Ravnica, i.e. after the Decamillennial, because everything before the Decamillennial is a nightmare to figure out and you don’t need that headache.

Tajic, Blade of the Legion

You can’t have the Boros without Tajic. Well, you can, but you don’t want to. Tajic is the Legion’s Champion as well as their Mazerunner, and embodies all the ideals the Legion stands for. Unity, strength, passion; an unbreakable shield against all who would threaten Ravnica’s citizens. He is technically considered a Firefist, but special considerations should be made to give him the flavor he really deserves. Both of Tajic’s MTG cards have had some manner of protection against damage when involving other creatures. In addition, Firefists are actually primarily spellcasters, whereas Tajic is never seen without a blade in his hand or his name. So, to sum up, take a Firefist, add in some manner of damage resistance or even immunity contingent upon having allies present, throw in a weapon trick or two for his big wavy sword, and ta-da! You’ve got Tajic!

Momir Vig, Simic Visionary

I know I said no pre-Decamillennial, but Momir Vig is a special case. Technically, the former Guildmaster is dead, but the shadow of his reign still lingers over the Simic Combine. Momir Vig symbolizes everything Ravnica fears about the Combine; progress without restraint. Vig’s cytoplasts were oozes designed for personalized evolution in subjects to correct flaws and deficiencies (regrowing lost limbs, bolstering weakened immune systems, extra brain cells, etc). The only problem is that the project worked so well that Vig stopped seeing the need for consent, creating a new form of cytoplast that only needs to touch a host to bond with it. This raised some understandable concerns among Ravnican citizens, as well as the other Guilds. These concerns went to 11 when Vig’s Project Kraj, a gargantuan organism composed of thousands of cytoplasts, was activated to purge Ravnica and start over with a fresh slate. They went to a further 12 when Vig was killed, Project Kraj summoned every cytoplasm back to it (maiming, crippling, or killing a large number of hosts), and proceeded to go on a rampage that only ended after it ate Rakdos and went into a coma.

Momir Vig is exactly the kind of mad scientist to escape the grave, go underground, and continue his research unimpeded until it’s ready. A Rogue Guildmaster with no boundaries, or as we like to call it, a ready-made Big Bad.

Melek, Izzet Paragon

As with Vig, Melek is canonically dead, but that sort of “dead” that could conceivably be temporary if the story requires it. Melek is a Weird designed by Niv-Mizzet himself to be the Izzet Mazerunner. A certain sparkmage had other ideas however, so he absorbed the sentient being of pure elemental energy into himself at the start of the Maze and took its place, then tried to shock the other runners to death because, you know, winning. But following the physics principle that energy cannot be created or destroyed, only changed into a different form, it’s believable that Melek could return someday. Probably with a grudge against said sparkmage. Melek is a fascinating build, combining high-level spellcasting with complete elemental resistance or possibly even immunity. Basically, a wizard who can tank. Even more intriguing, any lab run by a being composed of pure energy would be calibrated to channel said energy, possibly allowing short-range teleportation within said lab. This is a brilliant exercise in lair mechanics, so don’t hold back. Lest we forget Melek is a personal project of the Firemind, aka, the single most brilliant, powerful, and egocentric fire-breathing ancient dragon wizard in Ravnican history.

Tomik Vrona, Distinguished Advokist

Given the Orzhov Syndicate’s seeming fascination with being a faceless hierarchy of priests, lawmages, ghosts, tax collectors, etc; it’s nice to have another face with a name. Tomik Vrona is a lawmage who apprenticed under Teysa Karlov herself, making him a master of Ravnican law. It also makes him uncharacteristically open to relationships with other Guilds, as he is effectively Teysa’s link to the outside world during her imprisonment. Tomik carries a strong respect for the law, but is a passionate lover of interesting & creative loopholes. In short, he’s not inherently evil/greedy like most of the Syndicate, but still has ambition in spades. He prefers to use gargoyles for transportation, treasures every book he owns, and is canonically dating/living with that hot-tempered sparkmage mentioned previously. Whether the relationship is public or not is up to you. I personally see it as a measure of trust between the NPCs and the party; it’s a pretty controversial pairing of Guilds. It could even be a Romeo & Juliet (Julio?) kind of affair, just putting that out there.

Vorel of Hull Clade

If Momir Vig represents the dark side of the Simic Combine’s experiments, Vorel represents the infinite possibility they can offer. A former Gruul shaman, he made the decision to give up a piece of his clan’s territory to a Boros Legion garrison to better fortify their home turf, and was nearly killed when they turned on him for perceived cowardice. Vorel escaped and joined the Combine, where he was given Merfolk traits and an environment that embraced his ideas & strategic thinking. Vorel is extremely grateful to his new Guild, and believes himself to be an example of how anything is possible through the Simic, no matter one’s origins. His strong passion & drive have led to great breakthroughs, but he’s definitely more emotionally-driven than most Simic researchers. Here is a Biomancer that isn’t afraid to get dirty or bloody in combat. This could be a fun experiment in crafting a Simic Melee Weapon.

Tolsimir Wolfblood, Ledev Guardian

You know that one leader elf in fantasy stories who everyone else takes orders from but never fights themselves? Yeah, this isn’t that elf. This is what you wish that elf was, a warrior archer who leads his soldiers into battle atop a giant dire wolf and kicks some serious ass. The Ledev are Selesnya’s elite mounted force, skilled fighters, archers, swordsmen, and even spellcasters. They are the cavalry, the breaking dawn on Hornburg, the “oh shit” in an enemy’s mouth. Please don’t make the mistakes of countless fantasy novels by being on bad terms with such badass warriors. Having any member of the Ledev behind you should be a boost to the party’s courage & resolve. Having Tolsimir fight alongside you should be one of the greatest honors of your life. The chance to finally recreate that “besties” relationship between Legolas & Gimli as you see who can kill the most enemies in battle.

Domri Rade, City Smasher

I hesitate to include Domri, I genuinely do. He’s a scraggly little punk who nearly brought about the destruction of the Gruul (and all of Ravnica) ultimately because he was too weak and too stupid. I include him here out of respect for the lore, but you can honestly do better. Domri Rade was considered too small & weak for any Gruul clan, so he instead bonded with the savage animals of the Rubblebelt, eventually discovering he could incite them into stampedes at will. This new power finally granted him admission into Borborygmos’ own Burning Tree Clan, but he panicked during the burial rite of passage and planeswalked away for the first time. Eventually he learned to control his powers, returned to the Rubblebelt, challenged Borborygmos for leadership of the Burning Tree clan, and won by sending wave after wave of stampeding boars to trample the cyclops Guildmaster. He was enlisted by Nicol Bolas to help destroy Ravnica, and failed to realize that meant him too as an eternal ripped out his Planeswalker Spark, killing him. Domri Rade is basically a cheap knockoff of Garruk Wildspeaker, only smaller and weaker and dumber and infinitely less dangerous. He is, however, considered by many to be an omen of the End-Raze, heralding the return of the Boar God Ilharg and the burning down of Ravnica by the Gruul who follow the Old Ways. So maybe play up that angle if you include him in your campaign.

Ral Zarek, Izzet Viceroy

If you only include one NPC from any of my lists in your Ravnica campaign, you must include Ral Zarek. Failing to do so is denying your players the opportunity to interact with the single coolest character in Ravnica. He beats out Vraska for the sole reason that he’s a much more public & accessible figure than the Gorgon Assassin, and an unexpected encounter with him is significantly less likely to end in your death/petrification. Between his good looks, cocky grin, brilliant mind, and lightning powers that put Thor to shame; Ral is certain to make any situation more interesting. He’s a great contact to have within the Izzet, a brilliant researcher, extremely talented with designing gadgets or magic items, an astonishingly powerful magic user, and a fun guy to hang around with. He can definitely have a temper on him, so understand when to back away. Hint: His hair turns from black to white when his electromancy powers are activating. You’ll also probably notice the sounds of static discharge building up around him, perhaps a faint smell of ozone, crackling energy coming from his gauntlet, and, oh yeah, his eyes glow and his smile turns into a growling grimace of death as he fills you with lightning. Whether by design or accident, Ral is basically the mascot for Ravnica, and it’s almost unthinkable for him to be absent from a campaign set there.

[radramblog]

Every Boros Commander, Part 1

Every one of these rambles is going to be longer and nerdier than the last, I guess. We’ll see how long I can keep that up for.

If you aren’t or haven’t been at least a casual fan of Magic: The Gathering, this post is going to be completely lost on you, sorry.

Oh also I’m having to split this in half since it took basically all afternoon to write and its still juuuust not done.

Boros gets a lot of shit for being bad and having bad generals for EDH until recently, and seeing as its my favourite two-colour pair I felt like exploring, well, every option we have for the combo. I’m excluding the new Commander Legends partner commanders in this, since I don’t have all day, and I’m also not covering Akiri and Bruse Tarl since no-one ever builds just Boros with them, and I’m not including 3-5 colour decks that just happen to have red and white in them. That’s not Boros.

Boros’s strengths are in manipulating combat, in tokens, and with Voltron strategies. It is the best pair for Equipment decks and top tier for Aggressive decks, to the point of being arguably shoehorned by WOTC into such strategies for a long time. Its weaknesses are mostly to do with card draw and ramp, possibly the most important things in a casual game of Commander, but the former is alleviated by many of red’s recent card draw options and the latter easily supplemented with mana rocks- if you have enough money, any deck can have good ramp, but enough budget options exist these days that it isn’t too bad even for the “worst colors”.

Anyway, enough beating around the bush lets get into this. Going in Chronological order.

Agrus Kos, Wojek Veteran (29th most played as of writing)

…It seriously took until Ravnica to get a legendary RW creature? Heinous. Cool as Agrus is as protagonist of the Ravnica novel, his card simply does not hold up in 2021, let alone beforehand. He’s a Glorious Anthem style commander, except he works best only with creatures that are both red and white, and not nearly enough cards produce multicolored tokens for him to boost. Oh, also he’s a 5 mana 3/3 with no protection or evasion that has to attack to get his effect. Save it for the novel.

Razia, Boros Archangel (30th most played as of writing, the last place finalist)

Speaking of Ravnica. Razia is fucking cool, between the art and unique, if underwhelming, activated ability. She is also 8 mana and not green. She is the only commander to my knowledge that can redirect damage to opponents’s creatures, so if that’s the deck you want to build, go for it, though enjoy the distressingly small cardpool. God, they couldn’t have given her an extra power, could they?

Brion Stoutarm (6th most played as of writing)

Brion is the first actually viable commander of the bunch, being a pretty decent head to either a Fling deck with Ball Lightnings or Acts of Treason, or just Giant Tribal with his Lorwyn compatriots. I don’t think I’ve ever seen or played against Brion yet, but I’d be interested in doing so. Having lifegain in the command zone with a deck that likes throwing damage around is pretty nice. It’s surprising that he’s still so high, especially considering EDHREC (my data source) only now pulls from the last 2 years of decks, but I’m certainly not sad to see him there.

Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer (19th most played as of writing)

Spoilers: Jor is actually the best Anthem commander. +3/+0 is huge, and when most of your ramp and some of your draw is artifacts you’re not going to have a hard time getting metalcraft. 5 mana is a fair chunk for an aggressive deck but he turns the damage output up enough notches that I think he’s pretty good. Underrated in my opinion. How are there more Tajic, Legion’s Edge decks than Jor Kadeen decks?

Basandra, Battle Seraph (24th most played as of writing)

Basandra is the head of my current Boros deck, being a pillowfort/combat manipulation deck. She’s, uh, not ideal in that even, since she stops even you from casting removal and such during combat. Having an extra must attack effect in the zone is nice, though, and a flying commander can be nice for closing games out. Basandra at least has the gift of being fairly open-ended, but also, she doesn’t really do anything, so that’s probably got something to do with it.

On a side note, fuck you Terese Nielsen for turning out to be a cunt. No-one else seems to have drawn this character, so I can’t even make an alter. Fuck.

Gisela, Blade of Goldnight (10th most played as of writing)

Gisela has a lot of very attractive words on her. Unfortunately, 7 mana and that ability means that as soon as you drop her out of the zone, you better use her quick because she isn’t sticking around long. Obviously lends herself to group slug or Earthquake decks, but the former paints an even bigger target on your head and the latter is even mana hungrier than normal. I prefer her in the 99.

Aurelia, the Warleader (5th most played as of writing)

Aurelia was the “best” Boros commander for a long time, and it’s easy to see why- haste and an extra combat trigger add up to a lot of damage very quickly and it’s not like there was much competition for a while. She’s actually the only one of the top 5 Boros commanders that wasn’t printed in the last 5 years, so I guess she’s stood the test of time, much like Brion.  I’d argue she’s pretty boring though, seeing as she has the one thing she does, but she does it well and there’s no faulting her for that. She’s the closest we have to r/custommagic’s favourite “double combat triggers” legend. A lot of people seem to run her as Angel Tribal too, which of the available Angels in the zone I’d argue that’s a pretty good shout. The Red/Boros Angels are fun!

Tajic, Blade of the Legion (20th most played as of writing)

The first on this list I’d consider playing as Voltron, Tajic’s first card is indestructible which as a former Sapling of Colfenor player is fucking excellent in the zone for when you have to play defensively. He does, however, require other creatures in the deck to truly shine, and you do have to have those creatures attack, so it can be awkward to get the most out of him. He’s a cool dude though, much better than his other card imo.

Anax and Cymede (23rd most played as of writing)

The first draft I ever played was a Born of the Gods draft in which I splashed Anax and Cymede. Clearly, I had no idea what I was doing. Anax and Cymede look a lot like Tajic in deck, to be honest, since they’re creatures that like having buffs but also want other creatures around to benefit. Heroic is kind of an awkward requirement, however, and I suspect you’d be spending more time just having it as a buff for the royals themselves. Its nice to see a loving married couple as a Magic card, though, I’m sure things will be good for them always.

Iroas, God of Victory (9th most played as of writing)

Somehow despite it being common in the 99 of aggressive decks, I don’t think I’ve ever seen an Iroas deck in my local metas. I think it has the potential to be pretty powerful, since if you can meet his (admittedly harsh) requirement he’s an indestructible evasive commander with that magical 7 power making commander damage a 3HKO. And when he’s not ready to rumble, he’s nigh impossible to kill on account of the limited targeted enchantment exile people tend to play in the format. Otherwise, he makes attacking free and bountiful for other creatures, and so is just kinda good to have around- I can see running him for that alone.

Munda, Ambush Leader (27th most played as of writing)

Somehow more people are playing Munda than Razia or Agrus, despite being just the worst commander with Ally in the text (outside the type line, love you Zada) and not doing actual anything outside of that. Why the fuck doesn’t he draw the cards? Why does he just stack them? God, Munda sucks. Also I have like 3 of them, since I drafted a lot of that deck in that environment and people just pass him around. Anyone want one? Be my guest.

Kalemne, Disciple of Iroas (11th most played as of writing)

Precon face commanders always get a bit more love and a bit more power than the average legend, and Kalemne is no exception. Double Strike in the zone on a creature that gets bigger is just nuts, and it means she kills people astonishingly quickly. Even my non-voltron Kalemne deck that just wanted to play big idiots had her as a huge threat since even if she gets killed she stays big. Kalemne also happens to be probably better for Giant tribal than Brion, though he does at least get to yeet those removal magnets if they do get removed.

Anya, Merciless Angel (26th most played as of writing)

I didn’t think Anya would be this low. While she is another indestructible commander, it is conditional, and her abilities are self-sabotaging- if someone is in range of being killed by her, you’re probably not going to want to attack them just so you can keep indestructible and buffs, but you also, yknow, want to kill them. I can see her being political in this way though- keeping someone alive with her swords at their throat can have some fun implications. I think shes underrated despite her awkwardness.

Archangel Avacyn (14th most played as of writing)

(Her colour identity is RW since her other face is a red creature. It’s a bit odd, I know)

Avacyn was fucking unbeatable in draft and obnoxious in Standard (though one of my favourite magic stories involves her, so,), and since I never managed to get one for Kalemne when that deck was around I have no real love for her. She’s generically powerful without leading in a particular direction, but her flip ability is pretty cool as is her story in the set. It’s OK. Also why do people keep putting her in Angel decks? You know she doesn’t flip off those, right?

Adriana, Captain of the Guard (22nd most played as of writing)

Adriana, Adriana. I didn’t dislike Adriana as much as I did until I actually did the math on her. Typical commander games are 4-player, so she is a +3/+3 anthem at maximum assuming you have good attacks on every single opponent and that none of them are dead yet. I’m really not sure why you’d play this over Jor Kadeen, and it looks like people aren’t, so. Melee was a fun mechanic in draft, but I completely understand why it hasn’t crossed over, ever, to other formats, seeing as there are 7 total cards with it and most of them are draft chaff. CONTINUED IN PART 2...ANOTHER DAY. PROBABLY SOON SINCE IT’S 2/3 DONE ALREADY.

[mtgbracket]

Round of 1024 - Batch 5

It’s time for the next batch!  Today we have some distantly related Umezawas, Polukranos, Niv-Mizzet, Doran, and more!

You can vote on all the matchups now here.

The full list of matchups for today:

Patron of the Moon vs Rayne, Academy Chancellor Karametra, God of Harvests vs Tajic, Blade of the Legion Tishana, Voice of Thunder vs Lu Bu, Master-at-Arms Rienne, Angel of Rebirth vs Rhonas the Indomitable

Tajic, Legion's Edge vs Rankle, Master of Pranks Sakashima the Impostor vs Sygg, River Guide Thalia, Heretic Cathar vs Intet, the Dreamer Halana, Kessig Ranger vs Tormod, the Desecrator

Polukranos, World Eater vs Omnath, Locus of Rage Liu Bei, Lord of Shu vs Sunastian Falconer Anthousa, Setessan Hero vs Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind Teysa, Orzhov Scion vs Gadwick, the Wizened

Doran, the Siege Tower vs Dragonlord Atarka Kalamax, the Stormsire vs Reki, the History of Kamigawa Veldrane of Sengir vs Uril, the Miststalker Phage the Untouchable vs Hivis of the Scale

Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy vs Surrak Dragonclaw Lathliss, Dragon Queen vs Alharu, Solemn Ritualist Baru, Fist of Krosa vs Ghost Council of Orzhova Odric, Lunarch Marshal vs Samut, Voice of Dissent

Grenzo, Havoc Raiser vs Zacama, Primal Calamity Kefnet the Mindful vs Vazal, the Compleat Rishkar, Peema Renegade vs Thalisse, Reverent Medium Tetsuo Umezawa vs Questing Beast

Halfdane vs Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund Lorthos, the Tidemaker vs Kaheera, the Orphanguard Pavel Maliki vs Ashling, the Extinguisher Radha, Heart of Keld vs Rosheen Meanderer

Toshiro Umezawa vs Bruvac the Grandiloquent Arashi, the Sky Asunder vs Thelon of Havenwood Irini Sengir vs Sliv-Mizzet, Hivemind Ich-Tekik, Salvage Splicer vs Linvala, Keeper of Silence

[homebrewdtyrant]

How to Lose Friends Fast: Pariah’s Plate

Tired of dying to combat damage? Does your deck just not have enough “fog” type effects/spells? Well boy do I have a card combination for you! Presenting to the Brewdlings: the Pariah’s Plate!

For those who haven’t gotten the combo, let’s break it down! Equip the Darksteel Plate to a creature to make it indestructible, then equip the Pariah’s Plate to the indestructible creature. Whenever we would take damage, the Pariah’s Shield will divert that damage to the Darksteel equipped indestructible creature.

Now we can equip these two cards to any random creature and just buffer our life with it, but where is the fun in that?? I think we need to add a bit of spice to the mix!

Punish your opponents for attacking you by suiting up a Truefire Captain, Boros Reckoner or Spitemare with the Pariah’s Plate. A real “Why you hittin’ yourself?” moment when the Nekusar deck makes you draw a metric butt-ton of cards and then THEY are the ones taking the damage from the draws. 

Create a small but gradually growing army whenever an opponent tries to beat your face in. In the case of Hornet Nest, you get an actual swarm of flying deathtouchers.

With the introduction of Ixalan, we received a new mechanic in the form of Enrage, which I find works really well with the Pariah’s Plate. Speaking of enrage, let’s use this as a seg-way into the next part of this post, how to abuse the Pariah’s Plate:

Cacopho-Spewer:

Equip the Cacophodon with the Pariah’s Plate, then tap the Spear Spewer to deal 1 damage to each player. Pariah’s Shield will deflect the damage we would take back to the Cacophodon and then trigger its enrage ability, untapping the Spear Spewer. You can also replace the Spear Spewer with a Hidetsugu if you really want to go for the dramatic kill and draw immediate attention to yourself!

The Nekusar Slayer:

Equip the Ripjaw Raptor with the Pariah’s Plate and cast Arcbond on the Raptor. Whenever we would draw a card, if Nekusar is out under an opponent’s control, we take one damage, redirected to the Raptor, dealing one damage to everyone and drawing a card, redirecting the damage back to the Raptor, dealing one damage to everyone and drawing a card, and rinse and repeat. We could essentially draw ourselves out to death since there is no “may” on Ripjaw  but we’re gonna lay on the hurt to that darn Wheel-n-Deal monster while we do it! 

It’s a Trap!:

Nearly impossible to remove once fully equipped with the Pariah’s Shield and Darksteel Plate. Hexproof, indestructible AND it takes all the damage that would ever be dealt to you but doesn’t die. As long as the Pariah’s Plated Angler Turtle is in play, you essentially cannot die and all your opponents will have to tap out each turn to attack you, leaving you wide open for the back swing. My FAVORITE use of this combo by far. Definitely an all star.

HEROES NEVER DIE!!:

Along the lines of Angler Turtle, hexproof and indestructible are nearly impossible to get around outside of sacrifice type effects. Sigarda, Host of Herons just eliminates that factor, adding a whole new level of protection to your impenetrable fortress. 

What Doesn’t Kill Me... Probably Kills You:

Equip the Wall of Hope with the Pariah’s Plate and then enchant it with Spiteful Shadows. Whenever we take any damage, that damage will be redirected to the Wall of Hope, gaining us that much life, and then triggering Spiteful Shadows since the Wall took damage, dealing that much damage back to us again, looping the damage and life gain until we have a large enough pool of life to use an Aetherflux Reservoir to pay 50 life at instant speed to deal 50 damage to any creature or player... preferably an opponent. If the Reservoir is destroyed and we have no way to stop the combo we will end the game in a stalemate as there is no “may” abilities on the cards. We will gain infinite life. 

A parting thought on the Pariah’s Plate. This card combo is incredibly fun to assemble and use but I encourage moderation and protection. While the equipped creature will be indestructible, it can easily be removed with exile and bounce effects. Having a Swiftfoot Boots or Lightning Greaves in play before hand is always encouraged as the hexproof and shroud add another line of defense to the combo.   Some commanders I could really see abusing this strategy besides Sigarda, Host of Herons are Thantis, the War Weaver, Tajic Blade of the Legion, Sapling of Colfenor and any of the Amonkhet Gods. 

With Vigilance, Reach, and Indestructible from the Darksteel Plate, Thantis will be a complete boss unit as it forces your opponents to tap out into it, growing itself for the backswing while you safely take no damage. 

For the last three I mentioned (Sapling, Tajic and the Amonkhet Gods), they don’t really need a Darksteel Plate as they themselves have indestructible. Running a Pariah’s Shield in any of these decks would be a definite improvement to help stall out the game a bit as your opponent tries to figure out a way to deal with the damage lock. 

[metridiumfields]

"Hold on to your ideals. They'll be tested more than your armor or the edge of your blade."

—Tajic

Tajic, Legion’s Edge

illus. Anthony Palumbo

Quote: Fresh-Faced Recruit

[weatherlight2]

Mtg Card: Tajic, Blade of the Legion

Timmy/Tammy: Mazerunner

Johnny/Jenny: Beatdown Finisher

Spike: Good in Limited

Mel: Large Pump with Indestructible to incentize aggression. Otherwise, strong defensive card.

Vorthos: Would Tajic get along with Feather?

[oldtumblhurgoyf]

Commander Booster Draft Archetypes

The following cards won’t all necessarily be included (current plan is to narrow it down to three of each) but I wanted to ask for a quick look to verify the following commander could roughly be supported in some manner in the archetype I’ve slotted them. Did I miss any choices in those color combos for those archetypes? Which stand out as the top three in a given color for the archetype in question?

WU Control Daxos of Meletis Dragonlord Ojutai Grand Arbiter Augustin IV Dwafa Hazid, Profiteer Isperia, Supreme Judge Lavinia of the Tenth Medomair the Ageless Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper Ojutai, Sould of Winter Taigam, Ojutai Master

UB Mill Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker Phenax, God of Deception Szadek, Lord of Secrets Wrexial, the Risen Deep

BR Aggro Dragonlord Kolaghan Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch Grenzo, Dungeon Warden Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury Olivia, Mobilized for War Rakdos, Lord of Riots

GR Ramp Mina and Denn, Wildborn Radha, Heir to Keld Rosheen Meanderer

GW Tokens Asmira, Holy Avenger Rhys the Redeemed Sigarda, Heron's Grace Tolsimir Wolfblood Trostani, Selesnya's Voice

WB Sacrifice Athreos, God of Passage Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim Ghost Council of Orzhova Teysa, Orzhov Scion Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter

UR Storm Jori En, Ruin Diver Melek, Izzet Paragon Mizzix of the Izmagnus Tibor and Lumia

BG Reanimator Glissa, the Traitor Iname as One Meren of Clan Nel Toth Sapling of Colfenor Skullbriar, the Walking Grave Varolz, the Scar-Striped Vhatli il-Dal

RW Aggro/Midrange I guess Adriana, Captain of the Guard Agrus Kos, Wojek Veteran Anax and Cymede Anya, Merciless Angel Aurelia, the Warleader Basandra, Battle Seraph Brion Stoutarm Gisela, Blade of Goldnight Iroas, God of Victory Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer Kalemne, Disciple of Iroas Razia, Boros Archangel Tajic, Blade of the Legion

GU Counters Edric, Spymaster of Trest Momir Vig, Simic Visionary Rashmi, Eternities Crafter Tishana, Voice of Thunder

[jones-friend]

Hello all! I’m going to be ousting 20 EDH decks over the next month. Each day I’ll have a new list to look through. If you’d like to buy a deck please DM me privately and we’ll work out a cost. I will provide sleeves and a clear box, as well as shipping costs to you for free. All cards are in the stated printing and all cards not listed in the 100 will be basic lands of no financial value, included with the deck for free (I’m not charging you for basic lands).

Decks over the next few weeks will include:

Oketra the True

Unesh the Criosphinx(SOLD)

Ayara of Locthwain

Grothama/Baru Wurms

The Council of Four

Lathiel

Godzilla (SOLD)

Phylath

Tajic, Blade of the Legion

Akiri 2.0

Grismold (SOLD)

Doran

Kathril

Jinnie Fay

Aminatou

Kess

Korvold

Queen Marchesa

Ghen

Esika/Prismatic Bridge

If you would like details on a deck before its release please DM me.

[commander-of-the-week]

Commander of the Week

Zurgo Helmsmasher (Board Wipe Edition) 

Someone gave me an idea for this gem, it sounds absurd and grindy I know. But it has the potential to be quite effective, since Zurgo is indestructible during your turn you can just clear the board of threats and keep beating face unimpeded. Eventually people will get the message and just not commit to the board any more. And It only takes three hits to kill a player with this monster. Lets see what I can do. 

Oh Look, the world ended...Again

I did suggest this would be a board wipe tribal which does mean that any creatures we do put in the deck are either expendable or have indestructible themselves. There aren’t many creatures that are innately indestructible though, just Stuffy Doll, Tajic, Blade of the Legion, Avacyn, Angel of Hope and the gods, there are a few Darksteel creatures that are indestructible too, but they’re a bit expensive and lets not forget Blightsteel Colossus if you’re that desperate to win. Anya, Merciless Angel is also indestructble if an opponent is at half their starting life total. 

Complete Destruction 

There are a lot of board wipes out there now, most just get rid of creatures, which we will have in abundance, But there are some that are tailored to get rid of certain things like Austere Command and Sudden Demise, which can be tailored to deal with artifacts or enchantments as well as creatures of high or low CMC or even creatures of a certain color. Merciless Eviction can be used to get rid of any card type permanently. And End Hostilities gets rid of Equipment and Enchantments that are attached to creatures too. I was going to put in land destruction too, but then I hate it when that happens, so I didn’t. 

I need things to hit you with 

So now everything’s gone, hopefully we still have some useful equipment lying around that the survivors can use to get their own back, while your opponent’s are at a disadvantage. First we have Open the Armory and Steelshaper’s Gift as well as Stonehewer Giant or Stoneforge Mystic to help us go and find this awesome stuff. You know, like a cool Sword or Cloak or Battering Ram, or even an overpowered God Spear thing (You know what I mean). Also with Sigarda’s Aid you can have angels handing zurgo this stuff at instant speed. 

Elspeth, Gideon and Nahiri  

I don’t usually use planeswalkers if I can help it. But these might be useful here. Elspeth, Sun’s Champion can help us clear some of the bigger threats if the game drags on for a while. Gideon, Ally of Zendikar and Gideon of the Trials can both become powerful indestructible creatures that can probably get a bit of extra damage in if Zurgo isn’t around. Nahiri the Lithomancer is always useful in an equipment deck as she can avoid mana costs for equipment and even return them from the graveyard, as well as make an indestructible Stoneforged Blade with grants +5/+5 and Double Strike to the wielder. 

And Finally... 

I think this deck has the potential to be hilarious, even if you do only get to play it once. Some lands could include Cathedral of War, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, Vault of the Archangel and Bojuka Bog. The rest is up to you. I do hope you find this both helpful and fun and until next time Happy Deck Building.

[edh-a-to-z]

Hello! What's your thoughts on a Firesong and Sunspeaker-led EDH deck? Do you think that type of deck could work well?

So Minotaur pair!

A spellslinger deck is not naturally Boros.

Though I’m a big Boros fan (love me some Tajic Blade of the Legion), F&S has numerous problems.

First, Izzet+ makes the best spellslingers IMO. From Mizzix to Narset, most of my spellslinging fun comes from a mash up of having at least blue and red. Having Red gives us some options, but it’s not as much as the utterly amazing Blue Cantrips you could have. So you’re already playing sub-optimal.

With that in mind, a Brawling deck that has White LG spells that are now functionally removal are nice. So any lifegain getting a Lightning Bold attached to it is a helluva upgrade, and damage from the likes of Star of Extinction can functionally put you out of damage range for the game.

Try for artifact or lifegain based win-cons (the trio of Aetherflux Reservoir, Felidar Sovereign, Test of Endurance, and white’s ways of tutoring them, are key), throw in some heavy damage options like a ton of Damage-based board wipes, get life, and auto-win. That’s your best win options IMO.

[sphinxwalker-when]

Agrus Kos, Wojek Veteran? Tajic, Blade of the Legion? Maybe my mentality is a little too narrow, because all I can think of are people who worked for my guild...

Neither of those individuals are correct.

[ravnicaforgoblins]

Ravnica for Goblins

Ladies of Ravnica

Dungeon Masters running a campaign in Ravnica may start to notice a trend with many of the city’s most powerful figures of authority (or notoriety); they are largely women.

Whether this an intentional choice on the part of WOTC for gender equality or purely accidental, most of Ravnica is run by the ladies. Not only do we see equal numbers of each gender represented within each race, each class, and each guild (except the Gruul Clans for some reason), but even a large number of the Guildmasters are/have been female:

Isperia, Sphinx Guildmaster of Azorius Senate

Lavinia, (acting Human Guildmaster of Azorius Senate following Isperia’s death)

Aurelia, Angel Guildmaster of Boros Legion

Feather, (former Angel Guildmaster of Boros Legion)

Razia, (Angel Founder/Parun of Boros Legion)

Vraska, (acting Medusa Guildmaster of Golgari Swarm following Jarad’s death)

Kaya, (official Human Guildmaster of Orzhov Syndicate following death of Obzedat)

Teysa, (unofficial Human Guildmaster of Orzhov Syndicate follow death of Obzedat)

Trostani, Dryad Guildmaster(s) of Selesnya Conclave

Zegana, Merfolk Guildmaster/Prime Speaker of Simic Combine

Vannifar, Hybrid Guildmaster/Prime Speaker of Simic Combine

In addition to this, every Angel and Medusa on the plane is exclusively female, with no exceptions. What does this mean for DMs plotting a Ravnica campaign? It means in all likelihood you’re going to be working on more female voices than male, so get practicing. If you are born a girl, this will be easier for you. If you’re born a guy, you’ve got some work to do. Because if you want to take a hard stance against doing female voices in your campaign, you are likely depriving your players the chance to interact with some of the coolest, most badass NPCs in all of Ravnica.

Lavinia of the Azorius Senate is an icon for the guild’s ideals, a champion for the laws of Ravnica, and steward of Jace Beleren, the Living Guildpact. Everything Jace wants to do with his nigh-limitless power as the embodiment of Ravnican Society has to pass through Lavinia first. She dictates his schedules, official commandments, and public appearances. Most importantly, Lavinia ensures that the most is made of the limited time the frequently-absent Guildpact is around. She is harsh but fair. A great choice for when the DM needs to intervene to save the players.

Judith the Scourge Diva is the Grand Dame of the Cult of Rakdos, it’s most in-demand performer, and the last word on anything that goes on backstage. She has more to do with the day-to-day goings-on than Rakdos himself, as the hedonistic demon Guildmaster rarely attends performances and often spends weeks, months, or even years in his lava pit. She does most of the work while Rakdos claims the adoration of the guild’s fanatics, cultists, and performers. Dramatic, demanding, devoted, demented, and she’s got a thing for blades & blood. She is the closest thing to a ranking member of the chaotic guild of stylized hedonism and carnage that is the Cult of Rakdos. She can be reasoned with.

Massacre Girl is currently the Azorius Senate’s number one fugitive.

Real Name: Unknown

Guild: Rakdos

Allegiance: Herself

Motive: Unknown

Crimes: Murders in every guild, including her own

Signature: High body counts, high-ranking figures, excessive violence

Perks for PCs: Instant Citywide Notoriety for taking her in/down

Drawbacks for PCs: Almost Certain Death for failing to take her in/down

Teysa Karlov, former Grand Envoy of Orzhov Syndicate, currently imprisoned for attempting to overthrow Ghost Council. Teysa is one of the few members of the Syndicate who isn’t motivated by greed or self-interest. Make no mistake, Teysa is as ambitious as they come, but her interests actually extend outside of her guild. She is one of the only high-ranking figures within her guild who actually tries to establish relationships with other guilds. It has dawned on her that the day may come when the Orzhov Syndicate might require the assistance of the other guilds, so maybe, just maybe, they should try to not have every other guild actively despise them. A groundbreaking proposal, the first step of which involved the overthrowing of the Greedy Old Men, aka the Obzedat, and establishing her as new guildmaster. Unfortunately, Grandfather Karlov outplayed her, and both Teysa and her ally Tajic of the Boros Legion were thrown in jail. Tajic was bailed out, but Teysa remains imprisoned thanks to bribes made with high-ranking officials to keep her so. In addition, to keep her from dying and achieving freedom as a ghost, she’s been fed food to magically lengthen her life in prison. All that said, Teysa is the best ally available within the Orzhov, one of the few not morally bankrupt, and knows the laws of Ravnica better than even the Azorius. A perfect choice for a prison break quest.

Emmara Tandris is one of the most well-known faces within the endless bounty that is the Selesnya Conclave. She’s a childhood friend of Jace Beleren, the Living Guildpact, and a public figure for inter-guild cooperations. This, plus the fact that she is a kind & caring individual with a special gift with animals, fey, and elementals, and the fact that Selesnya’s dryad trio Guildmaster(s) Trostani are vague at best, completely silent at worst, makes her a perfect choice for distributing missions, quests, and animal companions.

Last NPC I’ll mention is Vraska, of the Golgari Swarm. Vraska is the Planeswalker Medusa Assassin Pirate Queen of the Undercity. Think of something cooler than that, I dare you. It doesn’t exist.

*Edit: More Kickass Female NPCs!

Etrata, the Silencer. That name alone should inspire fear. Not just a vampire, not just an assassin, she’s more of an urban legend Boros soldiers tell each other about when they get stuck on overnight guard duty and want to spook their buddy. Lacking the tedious mind games of most House Dimir operatives, Etrata is an old-school killer for hire. She cares neither for politics, nor influence, nor subtlety. Your name shows up in her book, you’re gonna die tonight. She’s the only Dimir agent capable of actually challenging Lazav for his position of Guildmaster. What it will come down to is this; is he smarter than she is deadly? Etrata is great because her exploits are much easier to track than other Dimir. If someone is dead from a vampire bite in a locked room, they’ve just had a visit from Etrata.

Izoni, Thousand-Eyed should honestly have been the Golgari Guildmaster. Not only is she infinitely more interesting and distinctive than the run-of-the-mill Lich Jarad Vod Savo, but she embodies the Swarm in a way Jarad just doesn’t. Scuttling by your feet, buzzing around the air, lurking wherever death can be found; Izoni and her ever-present insect swarms have presence. Jarad, on the other hand, has a bow, very little personality, and the only real accomplishment he’s had as Guildmaster is surviving assassination attempts. Which, let’s be honest, for the Golgari, is just par for the course. Izoni has room to grow, to expand, and she’s exactly the sort of cackling, nasty, power-hungry dark witch players like to fight. Except she somehow makes being covered in bugs hot.

Pierakor az Vinrenn D’Rav, better known as “Feather”, was the Boros Guildmaster before Aurelia, and a former Wojek Officer. Her wings were bound and she was forced to serve in the Wojek for some reason that hasn’t been explained, then when the original Guildmaster and Parun Razia was slain, Feather stepped up. Her reign was short-lived when Aurelia challenged her as unfit to serve as Guildmaster given her unspoken crime that she was charged for however long ago. Feather gave up the mantle and left Ravnica, going into a self-imposed exile in the lawless Red Wastes beyond the Rubblebelt. Basically, this means that there is a Guildmaster-Level NPC living all alone in the most savage wilds on the entire plane searching for redemption. The story is literally just sitting there, waiting to be written.