End the Festivities 2021 - PlayEDH favorites 4/5
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-03 - Rahvin, Mormonator(Josh), Alchmyst
https://www.playedh.com/articles/etf-05 - Thehealbus, Sydelio, Exxaxl
Chief, Senatorious, Reyemile
Chief
Favorite non instant, non ‘can be your commander’ card:
Esper Sentinel. This is the exact design space I was hoping white would get for card draw. Esper Sentinel does a pretty good impression of Mystic Remora, even though it's limited to one spell per opponent per turn.
Use anthems, equipment, or +1/+1 counters to raise its power and make it too difficult for your opponents to pay the cost. I play it in a lot of decks, but his best performance is probably in my Heliod, Sun-Crowned deck.
Heliod can easily put a bunch of counters on it and the Maximum Power environment tends to have a high number of noncreature spells every turn cycle. The fact that it's an artifact creature also allows extra synergy with a lot of other cards that I also play in my decks, such as Enlightened Tutor, Argivian Find and Inventors' Fair.
Favorite ‘in response…’ card:
Cathar Commando. I was hyped when Gavin Verhey said that white was going to start utilizing flash on creatures more often, since I love to play creature decks and Rule of Law effects.
Cathar Commando is a versatile card that can be flashed in any time that you have mana and can be used to destroy an artifact or enchantment on another turn without casting a spell. This makes it a perfect fit for my decks. It's amazing to me that this is a common. Being a human is also a boon, since I run it in decks with Cavern of Souls and Pyre of Heroes - don't sleep on this card.
What commander caught your eye the most:
Adeline, Resplendent Cathar. Even though I love mono-white, I've never been very enthusiastic about tokens. Adeline managed to convince me to play a strategy with a token subtheme because she's a ridiculously efficient beater that doesn't require tons of additional support in order to do her thing.
I've been working on a decklist for a while - it's nice to finally have homes for obvious includes like Skullclamp and more obscure cards like Court Street Denizen in the same decklist. Adeline is also a great fit for the white aggro support from the past couple of years. Akroma's Will, Paladin Class, and Intrepid Adversary will put in so much work.
Senatorious
Favorite non instant, non ‘can be your commander’ card:
Dauthi Voidwalker was perhaps the second most commonly included card among all of my decks this year. The graveyard hate is always an excellent tool of course, but the sacrifice ability to cast cards exiled by Dauthi has really made this card a staple.
I find that effects that let you cast cards owned by your opponents gives Black a flexibility that it sorely lacked. Here you have an option that is fairly easy to both include and more importantly, recur repeatedly. Having access to effects that Black struggles with, or getting to cast very powerful cards from your opponent's decks will always be both powerful and tons of fun.
Favorite ‘in response…’ card:
Mystic Reflection grabbed my imagination instantly. There isn't a Blue deck I wouldn't run this in. In my opinion this card sits among the premier mono-Blue interaction cards for it's broad potential uses.
On one face, Mystic Reflection is a bit like an Essence Scatter. Your opponent casts a creature, you cast Mystic Reflection, and boom: their game winning creature is now a Saproling -which is pretty good when you can set it up to be just one blue mana on the turn you need it while also keeping it safe with Foretell. But it's so much more than that.
It's a clone, better yet with effects that make multiple tokens it's a mass clone effect. Mystic Reflection can help you fill holes left by your colors with your opponents' creatures, or let you snowball your own strategy by doing something very powerful in Commander that you normally don't get to do: Have more than one of the same card.
What commander caught your eye the most:
Vadrik, Astral Archmage opened up a playstyle for me. Spellslinger has long been an archetype I was interested in but ultimately I could never find a commander for a spellslinger deck that I found sufficiently interesting. All of them seemed to be tweaks on personal opinions of what the most optimal leader was for effectively the same deck filled with auto-includes. There was Mizzex of the Izmagus if you wanted to do a Big Spells deck, but I didn't like the hoops you had to jump through. Then along came Vadrik.
here are lots of ways to build up a creature's power and Vadrik gave me days of brewing potential options. Opening up the possibility of casting powerful but over-costed spells, or repeatedly using Buyback spells, or any number of other possibilities stretched my deckbuilding imagination and finally I decided that while Vadrik could be built for Mid or High I knew I would have the most fun with him in Low. It may not be the Apex of Power, but it sure feels like it.
Reyemile
Favorite non instant, non ‘can be your commander’ card:
Maskwood Nexus, a cool effect that gives several colors access to entire tribal builds they didn’t have access to before. Being all types instead of one means cards like Kaalia, Zenith Seeker and Rin and Seri get new toys. Unlike arcane adaptation and similar effects, you can still benefit from it on a totally empty board. I’ve definitely chump blocked or stolen the monarchy with 2/2 shapeshifter changelings.
Favorite ‘in response…’ card:
Solitude. It’s nice for white to get nice things, and being a creature that sacs itself opens up a lot of recursion shenanigans that “Force of Plowshares” wouldn’t.
What commander caught your eye the most:
Birgi, God of Storytelling. I love that the two faces play very differently and that you can build around one, the other, or flex between both.
Next time: Thehealbus, Sydelio, Exxaxl
“This article is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.”
