End the Festivities 2021 - PlayEDH favorites 3/5
Let’s continue with some PlayEDH favorites of 2021 by asking people about their favorite cards.
The other articles in this mini-series can be found here:
https://www.playedh.com/articles/etf-01 - onceisonce, Markus, Dukeblock
https://www.playedh.com/articles/etf-02 - Necro, beard umbra, Cryptic
https://www.playedh.com/articles/etf-04 - Chief, Senatorious, Reyemile
https://www.playedh.com/articles/etf-05 - Thehealbus, Sydelio, Exxaxl
Rahvin, Mormonator (Josh), Alchmyst
Rahvin
Favorite non instant, non ‘can be your commander’ card:
Tasha’s Hideous Laughter. I love the actual DnD spell so the reference is appreciated. I also play Krarkashima and getting multiple copies of this spell in the right powerlevel is just devastating.
Mill isn’t the strongest strategy in Magic, but exile-mill covers some of it’s bigger weaknesses and this card is just great all around.
Favorite ‘in response…’ card:
You Find Some Prisoners. I find myself using this card more and more. Impulse draw is always nice, the added artifact removal can be extremely relevant.
What commander caught your eye the most:
Prosper, Tome-Bound. I love Prosper. I didn’t think much of him at first, but then I realized that impulse draw breaks parity on a lot of discard effects, and ramp + card advantage in the Command Zone is phenomenal. I think Prosper is my favorite deck that I’ve made in 2021. It helps that Warlock is my favorite class in DnD, and i specifically like the Fiend + Pact of the Tome variety.
Mormonator (Josh)
Favorite non instant, non ‘can be your commander’ card:
Esper Sentinel. As a long-time player of mono-white and typically hanging out in faster, higher power lobbies, the ability to drop a psuedo Mystic Remora that doesn't have an upkeep cost was too fantastic of an addition to turn down. On top of this it’s an artifact, which triggers my favorite mono-white commander, Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle.
The card has made a huge splash in both Max Power and High Power as a way for players dipping into White to remain relevant over the course of a match. It is also now a go-to tutor for the already printed Ranger-Captain of Eos.
Favorite ‘in response…’ card:
Tibalt’s Trickery. I'm a sucker for playing non-blue decks in surprising ways and being able to drop a "counterspell" on someone while playing Rakdos will never not be entertaining. At the power-levels I play, the odds of something incredibly relevant being revealed off the top are slim, making it a fun 2-drop counterspell in a place where I normally wouldn't have one to protect my rather fragile combos.
What commander caught your eye the most:
Codie, Vociferous Codex. When Codie was first released, there was not much potential for it. It didn’t catch my eye because, well… the card that really flipped the deck on its head wouldn't be released for a few months (Profane Tutor).
Instead, early optimized builds were extremely convoluted attempts at things like the other already existing suspend cards; none of which were very good or felt optimal in the list. However, upon the release of Profane Tutor in Modern Horizons 2, the deck not only quickly filled in as a top competitor for the archetype of turbo-naus, it filled a unique build niche and limitation as a list that wasted to play as many 1 cmc spells as possible without sacrificing the overall card quality of the deck.
With things like Alchemist's Retrieval getting printed, I am exciting to see a future Codie deck that is "rolling nothing but 1's".
Alchmyst
Favorite non instant, non ‘can be your commander’ card:
Harmonic Prodigy. I already have a soft spot for wizards and this card is no different. I feel like Prodigy had an immediate and substantial impact on the format across a variety of power levels, yet did not get quite as much attention as new creatures such as Ragavan or Dauthi Voidwalker.
From obvious spots to shine such as another enabler for Krark (more on that in a moment) to more obscure places such a Ghired decks (yes, Ghired IS a shaman), Harmonic Prodigy is just so useful in so many different decks.
Harmonic Prodigy, along with honorable mentions such as Tavern Scoundrel and even Veyran, made running Krark with a non-Sakashima partner incredibly viable as enough support now exists that there does not necessarily need to be a Krark copy readily available in the command zone. This led to powerful variants such as Krark/Vial Smasher, combining all the power of Krark copies with the efficiency of black tutors and rituals.
Favorite ‘in response…’ card:
Alchemist’s Retrieval. I am so so so humbled that they named a card after me ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°).
In all seriousness, this is an incredibly useful spell that I think got overlooked a bit during spoiler season but now players have opened their eyes to. I still stand by my opinion that cleave is a rather clunky mechanic, I think this spell is an example of how it can be done well.
At normal mana cost, the low low price of a single blue mana, Alchemist’s Retrieval can act as a pseudo protection spell for your important pieces by bouncing them back to hand in response to removal.
In decks such as Inalla where combos are started via an ETB effect of something like Spellseeker, Alchemist’s Retrieval also provides a way to easily restart those loops if need be. That’s already a pretty sweet deal, but for an additional 1 colorless mana you can instead pay the cleave cost and you now have a (temporary) removal spell for any problematic non-land permanent on the board.
This can be used to remove a stax piece before a combo turn that would otherwise be stopped, it can be used to bounce a Mystic Remora or Rhystic Study before a storm turn, or in a pinch remove a creature about to deal lethal damage to you. The possibilities are endless.
What commander caught your eye the most:
Lynde, Cheerful Tormentor. From the initial spoilers I thought the existence of a true curse commander (sorry Ghen) especially in Grixis, was so so cool. I also recognized the sheer difficultly of building a deck like this.
Curses are often limited in what they can accomplish and better suited for a 1 v 1 format. It’s quite easy to fall into the “I’m going to run every curse” trap which does not yield great results, especially since a lot of curses also give opponents some solid advantages.
I have built several Lynde lists but still have not put it into paper quite yet because of how much balancing is needed. If done correctly, Lynde is a pretty solid source of card advantage.
The key is leveraging this aspect of her and adding tons of effects that will either copy her directly or provide additional upkeep triggers in order to make the most of the card advantage and ensure you do not get stuck with a bunch of nasty curses yourself. I think Lynde will be my first project of 2022.
Next time: Chief, Senatorious, Reyemile
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