Commander

Christmas Magic 2022

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

With Noah in exams until the Thursday before Christmas, we did not have an opportunity this year to play any Magic before the start of the break. The boys found some JumpStart 2022 packs in their stockings on Christmas morning and that was our first game of the holiday season.

Christian’s two packs were Ferocious Detective (B). Noah ended up with Snow Law (WU) and I got Cruel Gigantic (BG). No big money cards in any of them. My best draw was Runadi, Behemoth Caller, a card I like (I like big green things) but not sure where it might go just yet.

We decided to do our usual round robin tournament. Noah easily beat Christian 2-0 due to a couple of mana floods and early signs that the two packs were not very synergistic. I played Noah next and went down 1-2. My best performer was Creeping Bloodsucker, a common that pings your opponent for one and gives you one at the same time. Slow and steady but it was not enough to withstand the bruising attacks from Noah’s deck. Christian and I played for the spoils and the lack of synergy in his deck was clearly in evidence as he went down 1-2.

I like the Jumpstart concept – It’s great to simply get two packs, slam them together and be ready to play. But it is frustrating when they don’t work well together. And gameplay is not particularly complex, a good thing for new players but a bit of a let down for more experienced ones (yes, I’m talking about Christian and Noah).

I will split mine out and add them to the small collection of Jumpstart packs to use when we’re looking for an easy game or when we look to introduce someone to the game.

From there, it was time for some more serious action. Noah bought Christian and I each six draft booster packs of Kamigawa as our Christmas present. Or in my case five and one Kaldheim pack as the store apparently ran out. The idea was that the two of us would build a sealed deck and over the next few weeks, Noah will add a new pack for us to enhance our decks (or build something new) in a mini-league.

Unfortunately, that left him out of the play. Fortunately, I had some Kaldheim set boosters that I had bought some time back for a rainy day. We decided to use those and to get Noah in on the action. We each gave him two of our Kamigawa packs and then complemented that with 4 Kaldheim set boosters and 2 for Christian and I to cover the two we had just given him. Think of this as some weird version of chaos sealed.

It all made for some rather odd games with no one really standing out over the others with our first builds. We’ll have to see if we continue down this path and add new packs to the mix. It definitely shows though that set boosters don’t work very well for sealed. You’d think that it would be easier with less randomness but it all felt forced – almost like playing Jumpstart but with even less synergy.

Finally, it was time for some Commander. Out came the Warhammer 40K decks. Christian and I are still running them unmodified but Noah has switched out seven cards, adding both his Mana Crypt as well as a Mox Amber pulled from the recent The Brothers’ War set among a few other cards.

Noah started slowly but both Christian and I know that the Necrons can go off quite quickly and explosively. I concentrated my first few turns on him, given that he did not have any creatures out. Christian did not attack but was progressively adding creatures and building his board state.

I was feeling quite optimistic when I played my Space Marine Devastator and cranked out three copies with my extra mana. Along with Marneus Calgar as my Commander, I was starting to amass a good number of tokens. It was time to deal with Christian. I risked it all. And ran into a wall of removal and instant speed tricks on top of the monstrous creatures he had on the battlefield. It was not my finest move by a long stretch and I ended with more losses than I had expected. The attack got through but left me wide open and reeling.

Next turn, Christian proceeded to pump up his creatures, including a couple of 12/12s, gave them all flying and swung in for 39 points of damage. That was it for me.

Noah managed to last another turn but the writing was on the wall and a further turn was enough to seal his fate. The Tyranids rule the Warhammer universe… For now.

And so ended another season of Christmas Magic.

Warhammer 40,000 Commander for Thanksgiving!

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

Thanks to the awesome folks at North of Exile, four new Warhammer 40,000 Commander decks showed up at our door Friday morning.

Christian had been looking forward to this release ever since it was first announced. What can be better than the combination of two his of his favourite games? He had already left for class so I texted him to let him know that there was something awesome waiting for him when he got home.

Christian knew that he would pick up at least one deck as soon as they were unveiled. When further details emerged, he changed his mind and decided to go for two: The Chaos and Tyrannid decks. We chatted some and I told him that I would buy one and it was not long before Noah joined in the fun. Noah opted for the Necron deck and I went for the Imperium one.

North of Exile was able to hook us up with the four decks at a great price even as the decks began to surge in price as previews began.

When Christian got home Friday evening, we immediately cracked open our decks and got ready for war. Christian played his Chaos deck. It was a relatively short game with Noah going out first without ever really being able to mount a credible threat. After a slow start (shuffling new decks is very important I keep telling myself), I was pretty happy with my board state. Then Christian pulled a board wipe and things changed instantaneously. It was still a close affair but in the end, the forces of the Imperium were overwhelmed by Abaddon and his Chaos army.

For our second game, Christian switched to his Tyrannid deck. It was his turn to suffer a slow start. A few turns into the game, I was given the choice of eliminating him or deal with at a growing Necron threat, which included 14 Necron tokens. Christian offered a deal in which he would deal with Noah if I let him live. With a board wipe in hand, I opted to finish off the Tyrnannids, knowing I could deal with the Necrons as well. I turned the deal down and took out Christian. The board wipe then decimated the Necron threat thanks to my having an Assault Intercessor to inflict 2 points of damage for each creature Noah lost. His Psychomancer dulled that damage but when the smoke cleared, he was down to 3 health. Noah was able to rebuild a bit on his turn, showing how powerful the Necron deck can be. Fortunately, on my next turn, I drew a Knight Paladin and the game was over.

For our third game, Christian switched back to his Chaos deck. He opted to bring his Commander out early while Noah and I slowly built up. I drew a number of ramp cards and quickly found myself with an abundance of mana. For his part, Noah had plenty of removal and used it deal with Abaddon not once but several times. The last time Abaddon came out, he cost 11 mana!

While the brothers fought each other, I built up a strong position using all that mana now at my disposal. A very frustrated Christian conceded and Noah turned his attention to me. But by then it was too late and the Imperium once again swept the Necrons out of this part of the universe.

As this is the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, I’m hoping we can squeeze a few more games in. Perhaps we will switch through the decks to get a feel for the different flavours. But I also have to go build more Tau’s for my army! And there’s turkey still to be eaten!

Question of the day: Where are all the Snow-covered Plains?

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

Question of the day: With all of the Magic cards that we have in our house, why is it that I’m two Snow-covered Plains short for my new Ruhan Commander deck?

I asked the boys and neither one could provide even one! Not sure if it’s a lack of said cards so much as a lack of organization on their part. Given how many packs of Kaldheim we opened, I’m sure they have those snow lands somewhere but just can’t find them.

I don’t think that the two additional Snow-covered Plains would have made much of a difference in Ruhan’s first game though. Noah brought out his Breena, the Demagogue deck, upgraded from its precon days while Christian chose his Xanathar deck. Needless to say, Christian earned himself a lot of attention early in the game and found himself out before his beholder could behold!

From there, it was between Noah and I. He brought out an Archfiend of Depravity which limited the number of creatures I could have on the board. Meanwhile, he was able to build up his side of the board and Ruhan found himself beaten in short order.

I’ll post the full deck in a bit.

Birthdays are a time for Magic cards

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

Another birthday is now in the books. I was fortunate to get some cool Magic cards from the boys to celebrate.

From Christian, I got an Utvara Hellkite for my Kaalia deck as well as two draft packs of Kamigawa Neon Dynasty. The Hellkite will replace a Leyline Tyrant, a move that will give the deck a bigger finishing threat.

As for the two packs, I pulled a Jugan Defends the Temple in one and a Greasefang, Okiba Boss in the second. The Jugan could end up in an enchantments deck should I finally start to build one as I’ve said in the past that I would.

From Noah, I got a Plummet, a card that is becoming a running joke tradition between us. In recent months, we keep finding opportunities to gift each other at least one Plummet (More on this in a future post perhaps). I also got a number of goblin cards as Noah and I are thinking of entering the next Modern tournament (in late September).

I thought (naively) that a Goblins deck would be cheap but early signs suggest that a somewhat competitive deck will require a bit of an investment especially as I lack many of the goblin and land staples. I probably should have done a bit more research before declaring my intention!

He also gave me a Balor for my Kaalia deck. Given that I emphasized angels and dragons, I think I will keep it as backup should the Utvara Hellkite prove not to be the punch that I’m hoping for.

Finally, Noah also gave me the Unlicensed Hearse he came home with. I told him to keep it given that he’d won it (albeit in a random draw) but he told me that I needed it more than he did given how many graveyard shenanigans the boys use in their decks. I told him that snark like that was enough for me to gladly accept the present and find a deck for it to go into.

Kaalia of the Vast’s first triumph

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

A fearsome game of Commander took place today at the house. Kaalia of the Vast and her army of mainly angels and dragons took on Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath (Noah) and the partners, Krark, the Thumbless, and Sakashima of a Thousand Faces (Christian playing his traditional shenanigans).

Noah started slowly with a bit of a mana drought but brought out his Rhystic Study. That earned him some unhappiness from Christian and I and some well deserved damage for the oft-repeated “Will you pay the one?” that invariably follows this card. The first time Rhystic left the board thanks to my Mortify, Noah had only earned one card from it (as we kept paying the one). When he brought it back, he knew he would be a target again.

He quickly followed up his Rhystic with a Thassa, Deep-Dwelling. Fortunately, he did not have any card on the board with a worthwhile ETB but Christian and I knew that it was only a matter of time. We struck an agreement whereby he would play a Role Reversal for me to take control of Thassa in exchange for my Radiant Destiny going to Noah where it would be of little help (much as Thassa was for me). In return, I promised not to attack Christian for two turns.

Unfortunately for Christian, the agreement said nothing about board wipes. I brought down my Ruinous Ultimatum on the next turn as both he and Noah had used up all their mana and there was no risk of a counterspell. There was no response except some groans and I was left in control of the board. From there I was able to quickly wrap up the game thanks in large part to a Sunscorch Regent that had grown to be quite formidable thanks to all the spell casting that had taken place in earlier turns.

Definitely not our longest game but definitely a fun one where everyone had the opportunity to be perceived as the main threat at one time or another.

And so, Kaalia earned her first house win, earning the distinction of having to sit out the next game. It only took about a year.

How did he guess Ruhan?

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

Hopefully the boys don’t read this entry before I finish my next Commander deck. With Giants close to rotating out of Standard as I write this, I’ve been building a Giant tribal Commander deck with Ruhan of the Fomori at the helm.

I’m not known as a fast deck builder (translation: I tend to procrastinate a lot) so I have yet to finish. On an afternoon outing today with Christian, I did let it out that I was building a new Commander deck (that was not Gor Muldrak, Amphinologist). He asked about the colours and I revealed that the deck was built around White, Blue and Red.

Christian turned to me and asked, “You’re building a Ruhan deck?” I was stunned: There are 17 Jeskai Commanders, according to Scryfall. How did Christian guess that I was building a Giants deck? And how did he know about Ruhan? I thought this was some obscure Commander. At times like this, I think that he has memorized all of Magic’s cards (upwards of 20,000 at this point, I believe).

Granted, it may have something to do with the fact that I have been vocal about enjoying my Giants deck in Standard. Clearly, the kid not only knows his Magic cards but does listen to his father as well, even if he does not let on that he does.

For what it’s worth, Ruhan is ranked #425 as I write this by EDHRec. Maybe not quite as obscure as I thought he might be but definitely not among the most popular either.

Not wanting to give anything away, I told him he would have to wait until the deck is finished. “Is it Elsha of the Infinite?” he probed.

“Not telling,” I responded.

“Is it Narset of the Ancient Way?”

How does he know all of these cards? I barely remember that Steel Leaf Champion is a a GGG card and it is a card that I love.

I’ll post the deck list when I finish the deck.

Father’s Day & Magic – Salamanders & Commander

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

I’m a bit late on reporting how Father’s Day went down but better late than never, I’ve been told. I’ll gloss over the fabulous brunch (fresh quiche & an assortment of croissants and pains au chocolat) and will focus instead on the gifts from the boys.

Noah reached deep into his Magic collection and put forward a challenge. He gave me a Gor Muldrak, Amphinologist. Not familiar with this field of zoology, I turned to Google to discover that Amphins are a race of salamander-like creatures that live on Shandalar, one of the many plains that exist in Magic. I do wonder though whether Gor Muldrak, let’s call him Gor for short, is a herpetologist. Perhaps he even knows Bennie Bracks the Zoologist or Lonis the Cryptozoologist. Okay, enough with the tangent.

So why did Noah give me Gor? He challenged me to build a new Commander deck with him as my commander. My first thought was that Noah wanted me to build a salamander tribal deck but with only 13 cards that mention these amphibians (aside from Gor), it was quickly clear that this was not even remotely possible.

I’m not sure what direction this deck will take but I suspect it may be a group hug kind of deck. Definitely not something that I normally play. Maybe coupled with lots of removal to ensure that all my new friends don’t have anything but salamanders on their boards.

Noah also gave me a few cards that he thought I would find useful, including a Shatterskull Charger for my Giants deck and a Legion Angel.

For his part, Christian got me a few cards from my wish list. Among those is a Goblin Matron, a Munitions Expert (for a future Goblins deck) as well as Clever Lumimancer and a Luminarch Aspirant. The former will likely end up in a Magecraft kind of deck while Luminarch is likely to make its way into my Atraxa deck. A Legion’s Initiative is headed into a future Commander deck that I will reveal when it’s done (I don’t want to say more in case one of the boys reads this entry).

We also managed to squeeze in a game of Commander in the afternoon. As always, it was good fun but, Father’s Day or not, both played with winning in mind (as it should be).

All in all, a perfect way to spend Father’s Day.