Spring League 2023 - Mid Power
In 2023, we started an EDH league for the power levels Battlecruiser, Low Power, and Mid Power. It didn’t seem logistically doable to make a tournament with time constraints for these power levels—PlayMAX has a 70-minute round timer—due to the slower nature of the decks being played there, and we were looking for a replacement for our monthly ‘Patreon Game Day’ and landed on the idea of a league.
This league is divided into four seasons per year, with Spring League starting in February and ending in April. At the end of the season, players move to a top 16 within their power level and battle it out in a final match where one player per power level would be considered that season’s winner.
The winners of the league received a Commander Legends Extended Art Foil Sol Ring and Arcane Signet.
In addition, everyone who made it to the top 4 in each power level gets one of each Mystical Archive Swords to Plowshares, Counterspell, Dark Ritual, Chaos Warp and Krosan Grip!
I caught up with AlarionMTG—winner of the Spring League Invitational for Mid Power—to discuss the deck that he played during the event. Let’s get started!
Chief: First of all, congratulations on winning the Spring Weekend League for Mid Power! You were playing a Mizzix of the Izmagnus deck during the Invitational. Can you tell me what made you decide to brew Mizzix and why you chose to play it during the event?
AlarionMTG: Sure, this is a deck that I have had for a few years now, and it is one of the first that I got checked here in PlayEDH. While I play different strategies, I am particularly fond of combo decks and chaining spells to pull off a win, sometimes out of nowhere. Coming up to the Invitational, I decided on my Mizzix since it is a deck that I really enjoy, it has a fair amount of interaction, and I know how to pilot it well since I have had a lot of experience with it.
I wanted to bring something to the table that can produce a fast win, as I have seen Mid decks tending to go for it around turn 5-6, while also being able to interact, and while this deck can be fragile, clearly the potential is there to either steal the game or stall it while I am able to do my own win attempt. For that reason and in preparation for the Invitational, I added a couple more cards to increase my chances and it worked out in the end.
Chief: It definitely seems to have paid off. Spellslinger decks can be pretty powerful in the Mid Power environment. What are some of the biggest challenges that you run into while playing a deck like this one?
AlarionMTG: Mid Power is supposed to be quite an interactive environment, and my deck in particular can be quite Commander-dependent, so one of the challenges of a deck like this is staying alive until some kind of combo attempt can be performed, while hopefully keeping Mizzix around all the way through. It is also very important to make sure to use resources carefully, in particular when casting spells, as gaining precious experience counters changes the way you see spells in hand and can greatly influence how you respond in a given situation.
It’s also worth trying to work with the table, since everyone has different ways to assess threats, and some people can sometimes have a knee-jerk reaction to some spells or creatures, like my commander, ignoring other potential bigger threats, so I think it is important to try to have a conversation with the table if possible when something like that comes up.
On a final note, the deck itself, at least on my current build, faces the extra challenge of not being particularly good with ramp, so it can fall behind, and not playing the best interaction like others do in Mid, can sometimes just make it harder to close the game or prevent someone from doing so. So keeping a good starting hand is essential, hopefully one that can ramp out Mizzix, defend her, and hopefully draw some cards.
Chief: Yeah, I definitely try not to let Mizzix stick around on board when I play against the deck because those experience counters can get out of hand. Can you tell me some of your favorite things about your commander?
AlarionMTG: She is a badass Goblin in a wheelchair, that started from the bottom and rose to the top, becoming one of the Izmagnus and serving directly under Niv-Mizzet—one of my favorite characters—so character-wise she won me over from the start!
In terms of mechanics I really like the way she gets experience counters, which makes the order in which spells are cast all the more important, and I love the fact that the cost reduction makes chaining spells easier. While she is not the only Izzet commander that can do something like that, I find her to be one of the most flexible, and her mana cost is still quite reasonable. Also I really like playing Reiterate with Mizzix, which is one of my favorite spells of all time, and is part of the best combos in the deck.
Chief: That’s one of the cards that I strongly associate with Mizzix. What are some of your other favorite cards in this deck?
AlarionMTG: One card that you will not see that often is Fall of the Titans, though in Mizzix it can shine and be an outlet for the win. If we are able to infinitely Reiterate spells, or have infinite mana, it will usually win the game, and in other cases it can also simply be a nice instant creature removal for two threats on the board, ideally if casting it for its surge cost. I also quite like both Unwind and Rewind in Mizzix, as both can be with cost reduction from Mizzix, a ritual and a counterspell in one, which can make for good setup or even fuel an ongoing combo attempt.
Most other cards I play, I would say, are known good cards, though maybe honorable mention goes to Desperate Ritual and Pyretic Ritual, since they usually only add one extra red mana, but get much better as soon as you can cast them for only one mana, and even better if you are comboing off using Reiterate with enough setup.
I do play two X cost counterspells—Power Sink and Syncopate—that are not particularly good, and should probably be replaced with better interaction, though it is my personal preference to keep them in for their slight synergy and also because I don’t feel like I should try to go all in with a deck for Mid Power.
Chief: Great choices. Were any of these cards a factor during the Invitational?
AlarionMTG: If I recall correctly, I won both matches using Fall of the Titans. Reiterate also came up in different situations.
Chief: Can you tell me some of the other fun things that your deck can do?
AlarionMTG: As a focused combo deck, my aims to get Mizzix out, get a good amount of experience, and try to cast things like Finale of Revelation and Finale of Promise for big value plays with the ideal being of course X equal or greater than 10.
My favorite lines involve usually casting a spell to get an experience counter, hold priority and cast another spell of the same mana value to get another trigger, to still be able to benefit from both spells. And assembling a win from having Mizzix out and chaining spells using cards like Snap and Frantic Search, though the usual destination is to either draw into a tutor to get a combo piece or draw into the combo piece itself.
A couple of other plays that I think are quite nice are sneaking something out using an Electrodominance, casting Tezzeret's Gambit for free, hopefully getting two cards and two experience counters in the process and casting an overloaded Mizzix's Mastery.
Chief: That last one seems mandatory. Are there any other cards that you'd like to highlight as MVPs for this deck in particular?
AlarionMTG: Well, there is the obvious Firemind's Foresight, that can grab all the needed pieces for a combo and offers a great deal of flexibility on the choices thanks to the deck construction. Other than that, I have already mentioned I find Mystic Retrieval and Past in Flames are real gems in the deck, since things don't always go as planned, and they can re-enable lines that may have been disrupted.
Then there are the probably best value cards in most red decks: Dockside Extortionist and Jeska's Will, the latter all the more sweet if cast using the Mizzix discount. I would also include Deflecting Swat in a similar tier to these cards. It would be excellent in this list, but I chose to not proxy it as I already use it in many other decks.
Chief: I can respect that. It can be boring to run the same cards in all of your decks. Were there any newer cards that you were excited to add to the deck and try out? (this article was published early July 2023)
AlarionMTG: After the Invitational, I did add Urabrask//The Great Work to the deck because it does so much and it can provide a way to win if you’re able to pull off a Reiterate loop. I also added Complete the Circuit because it seems like a perfect fit.
Beyond that, I’m considering trying out Borne Upon a Wind and Filter Out, and I’m definitely adding Experimental Augury when I can.
Chief: There definitely isn’t a shortage of choices for a deck like this one. I look forward to seeing the evolution of the deck over time. Now that we’ve gone in depth about your deck, let’s talk about power levels. How would you describe PlayEDH Mid Power? Is it your favorite power level or did it just wind up being the one where you managed to get the most wins?
AlarionMTG: What I like the most about Mid Power is that it is a really varied environment, where lots of different strategies are viable. This makes for lots of different matchups. I also particularly like that it is a power level where I usually find more games, and where games tend to be shorter, so shorter games, ends up meaning I have time for more games.
I would love to play more on High Power, but unfortunately it is really rare to find a table there during my usual hours. I also feel that this power level can feel a bit too close to Max Power, so Mid Power is where I end up gravitating most of the time.
It is worth noting is that most of my checked decks have been checked for Mid, so that also plays a big role. I try to play each of my decks an equal amount of times, and since most are Mid Power, I play the majority of my games in Mid Power. On that note, I do try to play in Low Power often for that same reason.
Chief: I also play a lot of Low Power and Mid Power games, so I hope to catch you in a game at some point. Can you tell me about your experience in the Spring League? Will you be trying to run it back in the Summer League?
AlarionMTG: I quite enjoyed it, and I have been playing in the Summer League as well, though I think there is a big challenge regarding timezones and the fact that we can only play in the League LFG, so getting enough games is not even possible for some players, which is something I even heard from others. It can be challenging if you want to win the League or make it to the invitational. That was very palpable during the Invitational itself, where coordinating our games was a challenge on its own due to the timezone differences.
Chief: Yeah, it can be hard for players to get on the same schedule when people are playing on different sides of the ocean from one another. I’m hoping that the Summer League and beyond bring higher participation so there are more games firing for people in every timezone. Is there anything that you’d like to tell people who are curious about the Weekend League but haven’t given it a try?
AlarionMTG: I would remind them of the following: get your decks checked so you’re eligible to play them during the Weekend League, don't stress if your decks are not 100% optimal and playing all the best cards—mine weren’t, and just jump into the League LFGs. At the very least, get your extra deck check for playing one game during the League, and have fun while making the queues more active for everyone.
Chief: In the spirit of Mizzix, I’d like to take the opportunity to cast Reiterate on one of the points that you made there: you can get an extra deck check by playing in the Weekend League each time that it is going on! Thank you for joining us, Mid Power champion. Any last words of wisdom?
AlarionMTG: You’re very welcome. Thank you so much. Play the Weekend League if you’re reading this! Get free deck checks!
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