So, the size of the deck matters a lot, too big and the themes are diluted, too small and the themes are basically non-present. Per normal deckbuilding rules, we're looking for 97.6% chance to draw on the first card per the ol' hypergeometric calculator.
60 CardsSo, at the moment I'm eyeing a 60 card deck (24 lands). To keep things simple, that's a 10-card core pack with four of those lands. Split the remaining fifty and we get 25-card single packs, at 10 lands each. Leaving 15 card slots--oof. Considering constructed commander leaves about 45 slots†.
100 CardsFor commanders sake, lets consider an 100-card deck (40 lands).
Keeping parity that's a 16-card core pack with 6 lands. That's 42 cards to play with in each pack, each with 17 lands and 25 cards slots. Ignoring parity that's a 20-card core pack with 8 lands, 40-card packs, 16 lands and 24 card slots. This makes some degree of sense to me, but If I do as planned and include 2 chase-rares in the sets, at this size that's 25.5% on the ol' hypergeometric calc. With tutors far from an absolute, I worry that this is too large.
For consideration, meet them halfway at 80-cards (31 lands.)
Keeping parity again comes to 13-cards in the core. Given that that number needs to be even to keep deck sizes equal, let's instead assume a 14-card core with 5 lands. That's a 33-card pack, with 13 lands and 20 card slots. Assuming the same number of rares I'm looking at a 31.2%.
Okay, final consideration, at the size of a deck+sideboard 75-cards with 30 lands (that's an additional 0.01% chance to draw, but I'm willing to call it even). This leaves us with a 13-card core pack at 6 lands (sound familiar?). That's a 31-card pack, with 12 lands and 19 card slots each but a 33.0% chance on those rares.
Which to pick?I'm honestly not sure. For the record the 60-card deck had a 39.9% chance.
I'm leaning towards 60 at the moment, but I might break to 80. 100 feels harsh for the format, with the amount of inherent shuffling. CMR is 60-card, so maybe I should just stick to the status quo?
Let's see how I feel after building the decks.
† Starting with an 100-card deck, and following the 8x8 method that's ~16 core ramp/draw and 40 lands. 100 - (40 + 16) = 44 open card slots. If any of that ramp/draw fits the theme, that's ~45.
On second thought, tinybones was way too fast (even in a 1v1).
There are quite a few commander staples, and I'd like to avoid doubling-up on these cards in packs. This will be the 10-card seed pack that adds to the 25-card jumpstart packs.
Understanding that most 60-card decks have 24 lands, four of the cards are lands. The rest will be commander staples that every deck could use.
Lands:
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My Pick: Feathered Friends with Archon of Absolution and a pillowfort sub-theme. Dogs and Unicorns suffer from tiny cardpools, and I think I can make it distinct from the blue flyers deck if a subtheme can be added. 2x Black Rogues
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My Pick: Rogues allows me to avoid the madness question in the Armix vs Urgoros question, since it becomes the hand-control archetype. Tinybones, Trinket Thief feels right, if I give the rest of the deck some downside and make ramping a little more difficult.
. For the second I think I'm going to go specific over general with a Curses theme'd witch deck. It does something besides reantimator or discard, and I think there's enough support for it. Accursed Witch would take the helm. 2x Green Cats
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My Pick: I'm immediately drawn to Lands as the first theme, and I think Destiny Spinner wins purely on enchantments being a great subtheme (perhaps some squirrel farming?), I'll see what I do.
. The second theme's feels like a best of a bad lot, none of the themes have incredible interaction and two of them are tribes Wizards only started caring about (or, for that matter existed) in the last three years. Despite the time advantage, I don't think I can pick Walls, it's been white's thing since Alpha, I also don't feel like there's a good single commander. For this reason, I think I'm leaning Dinosaurs, with Thundering Spineback at the helm (but that's an expensive commander). Both Dinos and Cats are also missing colors (naya dinos, selesnya cats) so, well...There's always the chance I'll say f- it and make my own archetypes.
- Zurzoth, Chaos Rider
- Goblin Matron
- Baird, Steward of Argive
- Rebbec, Architect of Ascension
- Urgoros, the Empty One
- Breeches, Brazen Plunderer
- Dargo, the Shipwrecker
- Grunn, the Lonely King
- Ich-Tekik, Salvage Splicer
- Brinelin, the Moon KrakenSlinn Voda, the Rising Deep
- Syr Elenora, the DiscerningCurious Homunculus
- Alena, Kessig TrapperSyr Carah, the Bold
- Syr Carah, the BoldKinetic Augur
I'd like to ensure that each deck has a Jumpstart face card, and it's also a basic way to ensure that the decks have some diversity in theme. Whenever possible, I'm going
Cube Themes~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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##Mismatches:
Themes Without CommandersConclusion: Revisit which "commanders" from the potential list, and consider which to cut.
The more I go, the less it makes sense to maintain the exact cards, as many of them aren't prefect fits for what I think a theme can accomplish (especially in the case of Brinelin, the Moon Kraken, who misses the Merfolk angle of Slinn Voda, the Rising Deep.
Big update to come, I think.
New Cards/Archetypes
Baird, Steward of Argive pillowfort
Kwende, Pride of Femeref first strike
Syr Elenora, the Discerning card advantage
Urgoros, the Empty One discard
Syr Carah, the Bold spellslinger
Grunn, the Lonely King voltron
So, acknowledging the shortcomings of CMR mono-colored partners, I wanted to expand the pool a bit, and highlight some other uncommon legendaries that maybe do something the others don't:
White:
No to: Rashka the Slayer (Reach isn't outdone by Radiant's flyers, and at best it's a 4/5 for
.) Danitha Capashen, Paragon (Ardenn fits that slot), Syr Alin, the Lion's Claw (Kwende fits that first strike matters role better)
Blue:
No to: Slinn Voda, the Rising Deep (Brinelin does that), Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive (Ghost of Ramirez DePietro fits that mechanic in a go-tall way. Might reconsider.)
Black:
No to: Ishan's Shade (While protection is good, it's simply outdone by the joy of Yargle) Syr Konrad, the Grim (Urgoros fills that role in a more interesting way) Whisper, Blood Liturgist (Keskit kinda sorta does this. Might reconsider.)
Red:
No to: [[Eron the Relentless] (Competes for space with Rograkh)
Green:
No to: Mowu, Loyal Companion (Slurrk does this), Syr Faren, the Hengehammer (Grunn does this and is build-around-me...for his CMC. Might reconsider) Sachi, Daughter of Seshiro (Gilanra's territory for sure)
I'm auto-excluding the devotion legendaries because it's a parasitic mono-color mechanic that would advantage some pairings over others (boo!).
I'm also auto-excluding kamigawa flip cards because it's a confusing mechanic and with rare exception they depend on flip parameters that are difficult to guarantee.
Brothers Yamazaki also got the ax for being secretly the partners-with mechanic.
For argument's sake, I'mma pretend this is a brawl cube real quick. Let's review if any planes-walkers would make sense, knowing that they're inherently strong and that the nature of commander letting them reset their Loyalty in the same turn for the cost of the commander tax as they're expired is fudging nuts.
White: No to: The Wanderer (Holy heck exile on a stick is a bad idea in this format).
Blue: No to: Kasmina, Enigmatic Mentor (Syr Elnora and Alirios both do parts of this), Narset, Parter of Veils (It's simply too strong, like damn it shuts down regular commander).
Black: No to: Davriel, Rogue Shadowmage (Urgoros fills that slot) Ob Nixilis, Hate Twisted (Punishes playing the game, and destruction on a stick).
Red: No to: Jaya, Venerated Firemage (Syr Carah does that archetype) Chandra, Novice Pyromancer (It's simply all over the place).
Green: No to: Jiang Yanggu, Wildcrafter (elbows in on Gilanra)
- Ardenn, Intrepid Archaeologist
- Prava of the Steel Legion
- Radiant, Serra Archangel
- Rebbec, Architect of Ascension
- Brinelin, the Moon Kraken
- Ghost of Ramirez DePietro
- Glacian, Powerstone Engineer
- Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator
- Siani, Eye of the Storm
- Armix, Filigree Thrasher
- Keskit, the Flesh Sculptor
- Tormod, the Desecrator
- Breeches, Brazen Plunderer
- Dargo, the Shipwrecker
- Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh
- Gilanra, Caller of Wirewood
- Ich-Tekik, Salvage Splicer
- Numa, Joraga Chieftain
Let's start by adding all of the non-kessig-twins non-familiars commanders. This gives us almost four-ish of each color (20)...fudge. Why would they do that? Why would they put five blue uncommon partner commanders like that?
White x5
Blue x5
Black x5
Red x5
Green x5
I'm excluding familiars as a starting rule purely on the basis that they are not build-around-me cards. They don't make an engine, they support someone else's engine...as pretty as Anara, Wolvid Familiar is.
To add when in the system:
Nadier, Agent of the Dusknell (b)
Toggo, Goblin Weaponsmith (r)
Slurrk, all ingesting (g)
