TLDR: This cube originally had a split-personality because I was trying to do too much with it, so these changes are intended to embrace a less spikey commander format. The combo, fancy manabase, and some curveout-durdle stuff is going into a separate legacy-vibes cube designed for more traditional play.
Big changes to the lands/mana:
- Out: Shocks, Fetches, Duals, Triomes
- In: Two cycles of ETB-tapped duals (Gainlands and Towns) and the ETB-tapped Tri-lands
Moving the big expensive manabase into the legacy cube I'm building. I think that a less-pushed set will fit better anyway for the commander cube, especially because we want to make use of Magic's base land mechanics as a natural restriction instead of color identity. Should bring the overall powerlevel down and force more consistency across decks, severely hurting the potential for 5c goodstuff piles and encouraging more intentional deckbuilding. I made sure to include a couple more 3-mana 5c mana-rocks so the fixing remains available for the decks that need it, but at a cost.
- Out: 1v1 Tempo and Eternal combo cards
- In: More Commanders!
I've also added another 2-color commander for each color pair, since the big manabase overhaul freed up ten new slots. Might seem counterintuitive with the weaker manabase, but I embraced the opportunity for more variety in "commander-y" card choices and potential build-arounds.
I also removed a lot of other cards that would fit better in the 1v1-style matchups and replaced them with more bombastic commander stuff. Specifically, I took away the last of the storm cards (we'll be jamming them in the legacy cube) and cards that originally appealed to me for curve-efficiency powerlevel reasons.
Since I added in the cycle of gain-lands, I increased some support for potential lifegain payoffs, with inclusions like Aerith from the new FF set. I also gave a little more beef to potential 5-color dragons.
- Shiny Impetus
- Sulfuric Vortex
- Alexios, Deimos of Kosmos
- Kaboom!
- Yet Another Aether Vortex
- Molten Exhale
- Bogardan Hellkite
- Savage Beating
- Territorial Hellkite
- Ruin Grinder
- Urabrask's Forge
- Legion Extruder
- Scrapwork Mutt
- Krenko, Baron of Tin Street
- Storm-Kiln Artist
- Goblin Engineer
- Goblin Welder
- Fable of the Mirror-Breaker
- Imskir Iron-EaterDecadent Dragon
- Oni-Cult AnvilStormfist Crusader
- Daretti, Scrap SavantRivaz of the Claw
- Hollow MarauderAncient Brass Dragon
- Diabolic ServitudeDrana, the Last Bloodchief
- Myr BattlesphereDingus Staff
- Silent ArbiterInfiltration Lens
- Retrofitter FoundryGeode Golem
- Hangarback WalkerCarnelian Orb of Dragonkind
- Jeskai BrushmasterElsha of the Infinite
To make room for BIG STOMPY DRAGONS--
cutting more cards that perform more for 1v1 magic and niche packages. Removing the whole Goblin Welder package is a big change to read, but it was too durdley for commander, so red is leaning more into big stompy dragons on the high end and more prowess and group-slug elsewhere.
Not cutting all the artifact stuff, but this shifts it to primary blue urza stuff (which makes more sense anyways if the cube's meant to be more represenative of expectations) but still has a little red for overlap with prowess, treasures, mishra and other reanimation stuff etc.
Other changes reflect the overall move from less boardclutter to cards that impact the whole table.
- Starfield of NyxOdric, Lunarch Marshal
- Muster the DepartedDuelist's Heritage
- Mondrak, Glory DominusAvacyn's Collar, the Symbol of Her Church
- Delney, Streetwise LookoutSpectral Grasp
- Rite of ReplicationTrade the Helm
- Prosperous ThiefEagle Vision
- Sling-Gang LieutenantUnholy Annex // Ritual Chamber
- Mizzix's MasteryPowerbalance
- Underworld BreachHumble Defector
- Shigeki, Jukai VisionaryHunter's Talent
- Life from the LoamWebstrike Elite
- Scute SwarmGenesis Wave
- Experimental OverloadFell Beast's Shriek
- Baron Bertram GraywaterElenda, Saint of Dusk
- Clement, the WorrywortVoidslime
- BiovisionaryBiomass Mutation
- Memory JarMaelstrom Archangel
Primarily this update replaces niche synergy, engine, and combo cards in favor of more board-based cards that push momentum.
- Temur Battlecrier
- Mardu Siegebreaker
- Dimir Doppelganger
- Jeskai Brushmaster
- Lie in Wait
- Armament Dragon
- Wargate
- Naya Charm
- Unscythe, Killer of Kings
- Protector of the Wastes
- Sidisi, Regent of the Mire
- Charnelhoard Wurm
- Aminatou, the Fateshifter
- The Master of Keys
- Turnabout
- Warren Soultrader
- Elemental Eruption
- Ramunap Excavator
- Phyrexian Reclamation
- Oubliette
- Exploration
- Sevinne's Reclamation
- Empty the Warrens
- Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines
- Caretaker's Talent
- Brain Freeze
- Frantic SearchMarang River Regent
- Riku of Two ReflectionsEshki Dragonclaw
- Tuvasa the SunlitRafiq of the Many
I removed two cards from each color to make room for an additional nonlegendary slot for each three-colored combination.
The cards removed were too niche (storm my beloved I am sorry) or too oppressive (oubliette, elesh norn). Also made a couple swaps for the three-color commanders.
A couple of these additions are temporary and will be replaced with something cooler once I get my hands on some good replacements from the new set.
Biggest change is removing Jodah:
Powerful cards that make you the archenemy are cool because multiplayer inherently balances that-- but Jodah can dominate even when everybody else works against him. His presence also warps the draft by being a must-pick, a must-hate, or even just making 5-color goodstuff too appealing... just in case you happen to open him.
Other changes include some equipment upgrades. Loxodon Warhammer and Assault Suit are very cool, but the high equip costs makes them unfortunately unplayable without having a subtheme that attaches for free. Replaced them with some more playable equipment.
Unburial Rites and Diabolic Servitude provide additional options for reanimator, so it doesn't need to rely only on Reanimate and Animate Dead, which could be gobbled up by goodstuff decks.
Also cut Kodama of the West Tree, if only because it might send the wrong signal. Modified creatures isn't really an archetype, so he was intended as someone who'd provide occasional value. Easy enough to just replace him with more removal.
Cutting Horde of Notions lets us turn Risen Reef into the Coiling Oracle that it was always meant to be.
Master of Keys fixes the three-color commander imbalance left by cutting Oloro. He provides a cool build-around that nicely combines archetypes from the two-color pairs within him.
Salvager to Entity Tracker gives more support to enchantments and tokens won't miss the Salvager.
Loxodon Warhammer might cost much mana to be impactful without having an equipment theme, but I wanna give it a try. Was looking at maybe Mimic Vat here too.
TLDR:
A lot more spot removal, more finishers and ways to break through stalls.
Cut back on redundant board-clog engine cards.
After the first couple of drafts, we got a clear view of where the cube needed the biggest improvement: it was too easy for boards to clog up without enough ways to punch through and end the game.
Therefore the goal of the first major revision is to bulk up the finishers and cut down on boardstalls. The majority of these changes involve replacing redundant engine-value cards with finishers and a lot more spot removal.
In order to make room for 2 more cards in each color, I cut 1 card from each two-color-pair (including moving Ayara, Widow of the Realm and Etali, Primal Conqueror to their monocolored categories).
The cards that I cut were chosen with two key thoughts in mind: redundant effects that have too much overlap with other commanders, and cards that contribute to board states with too much stuff.
Out (some examples):
In:
The second part of this major update is an archetype change-- the threaten-sacrifice theme in red-black doesn't have as much impact in a multiplayer game as it would in 1v1, so some of the key cards for that deck have been replaced with cards that support an aggressive "group slug" strategy. This should also go a long way towards pushing damage through to close games out.
Out (some examples):
In:
Also in line with this same thought process, I replaced a couple of other cards that are strong in 1v1-- but turned out to not scale well in multiplayer. These small upgrades should contribute more punch and less grind.
Note: I also still don't have Oloro, apparently he was lost in the mail. Since he would contribute to grind though, I'm happy leaving him out for now. It leaves Esper with only one three-color commander (easy to fix tbh)-- but for the time being we have an extra three-color card anyway (Sphinx of the Steel Wind), which I added as another finisher for reanimator and welder. :shrug: We'll see how it plays out.
Thanks for reading! Looking forward to some test games with this second draft of the list. :)