Commander 2013 Special Review Part 2: Red, Green, Artifacts, and Land

And we're back to finish the review of the 51 new cards introduced specifically for EDH and maybe even a Legacy playable card or two. Once again, MGR and I are tackling this set review together and are quite eager to see if our card eval skills will measure up when we finally see these cards in action. After all, I once thought Oni of Wild Places was unplayable but it beat me once and now I respect it for the powerhouse it truly is.

MGR: This is probably the best curse with the best incentive. Looting is always great.

QSP:

MGR: This is a reason to play more basic lands. I wish this was modern playable. I can see this getting played and used a lot in any deck that has red, in combination with price of progress, ruination, etc.

QSP:

QSP: I see this card and two cards spring to mind: Cleansing Beam and Mizzium Mortars. Cleansing Beam is in the stock Kaalia list and usually seems hilariously overcosted. It is an instant which is a nice screw you against token decks like Rhys maybe but most of the time a pyroclasm would suffice. Or even Lightning Bolt. Now Mizzium Mortars does the hit only opponents creatures part too and does it better but is limited to 4 damage. I think this may be better than Mortars in EDH due to scalability and not making too many enemies at once. If only I could replace Cleansing Beam with it. Alas, that dream will face a sudden demise.

MGR: A much much much better cleansing beam. That's it.

QSP: This can be a very potent card in decks that want tokens. It's like that join forces card, Alliance of Arms, in token making power for everyone. Except it goes to show how tempting offer is a better mechanic than join forces. With Alliance of Arms, you have your work cut out for you to convince the other players to feed mana in so every gets a sizable army. And if you have some way to abuse it, well good luck getting them to contribute. But with this card, you pay the mana upfront and each other player sees if they can use a free army as well and I would imagine that someone is bound to agree to join in. As a plus, if it happens that the player to your right is the current top dog that needs to be dethroned, everyone around him will agree to your offer and he'll face multiple hastey tokens of doom.

MGR:This could be insane in a deck where you have doubling season or parallel lives, as you will still get double the tokens someone else does. I think overall it's a good card to play.

MGR: I don't really see the reason for this unless you have some way to give trample. It's pretty weak on its own, and it reminds me a lot of spitemare (which I would rather play)
At 4 CMC there are probably better things you can do.

QSP:

MGR: This is a great card, I could even see this seeing legacy play. There are so many shuffle effects in every format except standard, that this gives great incentive to not shuffle. Another reason to be playing more basics!

QSP:

QSP: It's like a beefed up Sulfuric Vortex! Give yourself shroud or hexproof and watch in awe as your opponents roll a die and accuse each other of witch craft. It's a fun card that I hope would have cost a mana or two less but as is, I think it's too easily dealt with and has too little impact for damage when it passes around like it does.

MGR:A fun "chaos" card, I think it's a pretty poor card in general. Would rather play sulfuric vortex or even Erebos for the can't gain life clause.

QSP: I might be overreacting here but this seems extremely powerful as a Reveillark-able, Green Sun's Zenith-itizing target for big rampy green decks. Fracturing Gust on a stick that sets back all the decks that use mana rocks to accel. It's as good as land destruction! But lots of decks depend on some utility artifacts or enchantments, including big green ramp decks, so this may be held in check. Who knows but I am not looking forward to facing it.

MGR: Although QSP thinks this will be a good card, I think it will be less so. A lot of decks depend on ramp, but decks that play reveillark or stuff also rely on artifacts and enchantments as well, as trying to just slow roll your way to 6 mana is pretty bad, even in multiplayer EDH. It also isn't the best to GSZ with, I think there are better targets at CMC6 or less.

MGR: This one is probably one of the better curses, as it gets better the more creatures you attack with. I can see this being really good in token strategies or the naya deck where you attack with a lot of guys. Pretty great with edric.

QSP:

MGR: This seems pretty bad, it might be fun just to see what everyone has on the top of their library, but there are way better creatures green has at CMC8. And, what if everyone reveals a land!!

QSP:

QSP: Giving everyone a Doubling Season effect may not matter most of the time since how many other decks are there that abuse +1/+1 counters or tokens. And if you do face one, you can play the waiting game till you can abuse it then hopefully remove it (maybe with Bane of Progress even!) before they take advantage of it. But I still think most of the time it serves as a nice budget Doubling Season #2.

MGR:It's nice as an additional doubling season, but I can see this backfiring on you very easily if your opponent starts proliferating or has a planeswalker or something. I probably wouldn't want to play it and just play doubling season and parallel lives.

QSP: What a cool card. You can target a land from any graveyard so, when combined with Strip Mine, this will be a gold mine! It's not the worst form of ramp when combined with fetch lands either. I want to try this out and see if it lives up to my expectations.

MGR:This could be a great sideboard card vs a lands deck in legacy, to take away a wasteland or something. In EDH, it holds the same value. Additionally, it acts as ramp, and can take an opponent's fetch easily. Great card.

MGR: This seems pretty bad. 8 mana and you tie up a land to put a 5/5 into play. I am a bit tired, but I am pretty sure QSP will come up with something that is cheaper that puts tokens into play that's better.

QSP:

MGR: I like this card in big multiplayer strategies. You can get any land card, and can end up with a huge amount of lands. Seems great, especially with a landfall ability, you will make your opponent think twice about that.

QSP:

QSP: I think the theme of this multi part set review is that Hidden Strings is a good card. Derevi looks to be a great enabler for such strategies and this isn't even taking into account his Cheaty Face McGee powers from the command zone. I like it in a deck that wants to do things at instant speed all the time. Because it's stylish. Even if you walk right into a player who untaps and draws the counter.

MGR:It's nice, and as a bird wizard tactician, has nice flavor, but I really think Roon is the best commander in the list. However, I think this guy goes great with edric as his backup.

QSP: Of the two new Naya generals, I prefer Gahiji (who has an awesome name btw) since it feels fresher than Marath and his Ulasht/Ghave mish mash. I know this is just a mix between the abundance of power boosting effects and Edric's punish opponents ability but I like it. And it makes the token army into a real power house. More fun for all!

MGR:I feel that this creature is very uninspired, a very basic ability. But in a deck such as Naya, it works and is great. Especially since a lot of the cards printed in the naya shard depend on your creature having 5 power, and this effectively will get creatures to that threshold.

MGR: So I personally love this card because the ability is a bit different, although I do not think it will be that great. There is going to have to be some heavy ramp (in a edh deck that doesn't have green) to make this work, on top of things like the boot or greaves to make her work very well at all.

QSP:

MGR: I love that this card already had an errata to it, X cannot be zero. I can foresee some type of combo deck to just shoot your opponent out of the game and recasting him for more mana and more counters. I like his utility a lot and think he will be a great general.

QSP:

QSP: I've said before that I'm not a fan of this strategy but I'm glad Wizards has printed a general for those who are. I'm not sure how powerful he'll end up being as he looks easy to remove to me but he is a solid choice for all you fans of Windfall and Wheel of Fortune effects.

MGR: In addition to what QSP said, liliana's caress and megrim are also good cards to go with this general and what he said.

QSP: I've never had a deck built around life gain effects but this guy makes those decks far easier to function. I'm excited to try it out with the precon he's in. And the ability to draw cards off the life gain can quickly get out of hand. Gogo extort deck copter!

MGR:I personally think the ability is very good, and he seems the best of the 5 generals, however I think he is very boring in terms of ability and how to build a deck around him.

MGR: I don't really like jund token strategies, but Prossh is very good at what he does. An all in deck with prossh swinging in for a lot of damage seems very viable here.

QSP:

MGR: I think this guy is nuts, he can attack and activate his ability. The fact that he can hit any other creature is huge. I foresee blink and ETB being even more crazy.

QSP:

QSP: A trio of goblin brothers who like to shatter things, what's not to like? The abilities seem kind of costly but very versatile. I think Prossh makes for a better general for creature sacrifice decks but these guys would be fun to try out for the disenchant options. Makes me think about what kind of deck can really use all the options.

MGR:Nice utility commander, and I like the flavor a lot. However, like QSP said, I don't know any deck that can abuse the abilities. Maybe I am overlooking something.

QSP: She's so pretty! Just like MGR said in a spoiler article. Other than that, I like that esper players have another artifact themed general to choose that's not Sharuum. I'm sure esper Karn will be fun to use. Her ability to make artifact creatures into Vampire Nighthawks should not be underestimated either.

MGR: Reminds me of the opposite of Oblivion Stone. I think it will be funny if you can move the doom counters around, or if you start blinking this to have a lot of doom counters everywhere. First thing I am putting a doom counter on is an opponent's land!
I think this has great political power. I can see the following happening "We have to kill the general or you will die, don't put a doom counter on my permanent or I won't blow it up!"

QSP:

MGR: Seems like a really good card with landfall, and a great card to put in a deck if you know you are playing big multiplayer EDH games. Sadly though, it seems horrible in 1v1 EDH.

QSP:

QSP: Ah the new card that takes the former Command Tower slot. I was curious how they'd try to top their previous EDH land and this one is a doozy. At worst it's a Shimmering Grotto which, let's be honest, isn't the worst possible land to have in a multicolor deck, and at best it pushes some generals into a nicer power/toughness stat for just one more mana. Sometimes that extra boost creates a turn faster clock so it evens out. It even combos with generals like Ghave, Skullbriar, and of course, the powerhouse Animar. I'm especially excited in that it reliably turns Progenitus into a two turn clock instead of three which can really matter in tight games. And if this is the 11th time I've cast Progenitus this turn, even better! I hope to live the dream one day.

MGR: I don't think this card is as good as people may think it is. Except for 1 spell you cast (no matter how many times you cast it) , every other time it is shimmering grotto. If you are playing a heavy deck that is 5 colors or you plan to recast your general a lot, this card is great. Otherwise, I think this card is just overhyped.

Sunday Report: Thursday Night Magic

So this past week all I really did was Thursday Night Magic. I was on junk midrange for standard. As usual, here is the report:

Round 1, I faced against mono green devotion. The life totals were all over the place, with his tuskers, a nylea, and a bow getting me down to 3 life. Luckily I had a trostani and an obzedat to start
gaining me life back, and start draining him.
In the second game, I got out a trostani turn 3, whip turn 4, obzedat turn 5, and it proved too much as I doom bladed a lot of his guys to keep Nylea off of devotion count. I won this match 2-0




Round 2 was against a mono red ramp deck. This deck had a burnished hart and ember swallower to try to win out the game.

In game 1, he was mana flooded, he ended up getting about 12 lands before I killed him. In game 2, he only brought out one burnished hart that I immidately devour flesh'd, then started swinging in with an unblocked obzedat, quickly ending the game. I won this match 2-0.

Round 3 was against a bant planeswalker deck.
In game 1, I was incredibly unlucky. Mulligan to 6, no lands. Mulligan to 5, no lands. Mulligan to 4, I have 2 lands, a doom blade, and a reaper of the wilds. I decide I have to keep it. I never draw a third land while he has 7 lands and is able to cast anything in his deck. I eventually just scoop them up as I look and see I am not drawing a land for another 5 turns.
So game 2 rolls around and I decide to shuffle it up very well. He has an ajani, caller of the pride with gideon, champion of justice combo. He is able to swing at me 10 life points a turn with this combo, but I am able to stabilize with the whip of erebos and gain more life than he can.
Game 3 comes up, and again I have to mulligan until I mulligan to 5 to get some lands. I am able to stabalize to 13 life but he destroys my whip of erebos, then his following turn he animates gideon, +1's with ajani, then summons a second ajani and +1's it again, then summons a third ajani to give the gideon double strike and flying. It is enough to put me at -1 life, thus losing the match.

The final round was against rakdos aggro. He brought me down to 1 life before I was able to summon a whip and stabilize. He had used a mogi's maurader and Tymeret, the murder king to shotgun me down to one life. I was only able to survive thanks to sylvan caraytid being hexproof and a great blocker at three defense.
Since I knew all of his tricks, second game I was playing around mogi's maurader, grey merchant of asphodel, and Tyrmeret the entire game. I drew an early trostani and regenerated it twice with a golgari charm to keep it alive, gaining me more life than he could do damage with.


So that is my report for this week. I only played one event, mainly because I didn't have anyone else to go with to any other events. I usually don't like to play events by myself, having friends is what makes events more fun!
Outside of the bad land hands, I am still happy with how this deck is running. I felt that lands were a bit clunky, as even in rounds I am winning I am stuck with 2 or 3 lands and having to have sylvan caraytid get me there. So I was faced with an option. Do I want to put in another land? Do I want to put in some way to fix my draws? Do I want to put in elvish mystics?

I settled with putting in 4x read the bones after Thursday Night magic. Sadly I haven't had a chance to test it since then, but maybe next week!

Sample Saturday: More food while playing Magic

So the first food item I have for review is the Fiery doritos taco from taco bell. Here is what it looks like when you first unwrap it.

Here were my impressions of it: It tasted just like a regular taco but a bit more spicier due to the taco shell. The taco shell was extremely salty though. So much so that at times that is all I could taste and it did not mesh well with anything else. At a $1.50 after tax, it's not too bad, but I'd rather just get a regular taco. I'd give it a 2/5

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Next up, is a drink I bought at the card store:

So, I bought this because I've never had it before. When I drank it, it reminded me very much of canned brisk iced tea or lipton iced tea, even the after taste you get from those drinks, just a bit more sugary. If you haven't had that before, I can describe it as just very sugary lemon water. It's not the greatest, but also not bad. The worst part is that aftertaste still makes you thirsty wanting more. 2/5 rating.

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Later on, QSP and I met a friend at a place called Michael's Pizza Bar and Grill. Here is a link to their location or store to check it out. http://michaelspizzabarandgrill.com/

So first up, at this place I got an appetizer of some Hummus. Here is what it looks like if you order it:

The Hummus was pretty good in my opinion. It was a bit watered down than most hummus I have tried in the past (not much) but the best part was that the taste was not as strong, so it did not overpower anything. It blended well with the items it was served with. I would give it a 5/5.

The next item was an item that QSP got but let me try for the sake of review, their sweet potato fries:

So the fries, although they look salty, are much much less salty than the doritos fiery taco that I had eaten earlier in the blog. The fries were very good. They were not as salty as they looked, and felt very light. I would give them a 4/5.

Finally, on to the main course I had at the pizza bar and grill. I asked for one of the items that was most popular so I could review it of course!

This was the barbeque cheeseburger with a side of potato salad. My first impressions were that it smelled good, the potato salad looked very fancy, and the bun that they used for the burger was very big.

This is what is inside the burger:

What we have are grilled onions, bacon, barbeque sauce, and the patty.

Now what can I tell you about how everything tasted. Well first, I will comment on the potato salad. It tastes like regular potato salad. It is essentially just mashed potatoes with mayonnaise and some chives on top. What makes the potato salad taste a bit better though was the potato skins in it. It gives it some nice texture. I would give it a 3/5.

Now onto the burger. The first thing I will tell you is that extra napkins are needed. A lot of extra napkins. Here is what I mean:

The sauce oozes out and it gets very messy. Depending on the kind of person you are, this could be a deterrent.

Anyway, on to the actual taste. The burger tastes a lot like the Carl's Jr Western Bacon Cheeseburger. The barbeque sauce tastes the same, and the onions vs onion rings are very similar. The only real difference is that there is a thicker patty which means more food. In addition, the bun is toasted and tastes a lot more fresh than the regular buns they use at Carl's Jr. However, this burger uses a bit too much BBQ sauce, some of the bites are just drowned in the BBQ sauce and you cannot taste anything else.
For those who have not had this type of burger, I would definitely try it. In general, the cheese, bacon, grilled onion with the burger all blend together well. However, because of the fact that half of my bites were just drowned in BBQ sauce and I couldn't taste anything else, I'd have to give this burger a 3/5.


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Next adventure, a few items from Burger King!

A premier food choice for someone on a budget, the first item I tried out at Burger King was the French Fry Burger at one dollar. When you first unwrap the burger, this is what you will see:

And here is the inside:

So a bit about the burger. First, I will say, this meat patty with all meat patties that burger king uses, has this charbroiled taste. Some people really despise the taste, while others like it. So, keep that in mind.
Anyway, I think this is a great value burger. I personally think the charbroiled taste is pretty good, and the lettuce and bun makes for a nice simplistic burger. Most bites you cannot really taste the french fries, as they are not crunchy but a bit soggy from the ketchup and mayonnaise, but I think it adds a little bit of extra "starchy-ness" to the flavor. I would rate it a solid 3/5.

The next value item (since we are poor college MTG players) was the bacon cheeseburger. Here is what it looks like when you unwrap it:

Here is what comes inside of it:

The first thing that comes to my mind is, where is the cheese?! Haha.
Anyway, again, the meat patty has a nice charbroiled taste to it while the bacon is a bit soft. Some people like their bacon soft and undercooked, while others like their bacon cooked and crispy. I think this bacon tasted very cooked, and again was a bit soft due to the mayonnaise probably. If you like bacon on your burger, I would recommend this at the value level. I would also rate this at a 3/5. If you have not had bacon in a burger, I would try this burger. I personally think bacon in small amounts like this tastes great in a burger.

Thirsty Thursday: In depth view of Junk Midrange

So I know I have briefly touched on junk midrange in the past, however, I am going in an indepth review of the deck that I won gameday with, the deck that I went 5-3 at states with, and going forward from there.

Disclaimer: This post is pretty long.

So, to understand junk midrange, I must first go through what I think the best decks, or the metagame, currently is. The reason? Junk midrange is a threats and answers deck. It plays threats your opponent must deal with, and answers to your opponents threats and plans.

Currently, the way I see it, the top decks in standard are:

Mono blue aggro, Gx devotion, Black devotion, UWx control, RDW, GW aggro, and multicolor midrange (boros, orzhov, naya, jund, junk)

So when going under each card's evaluation, I will reference the above decks. Any deck being made in standard at the moment must keep each of the above deck archetypes in mind.

Firstly, the mana base of the deck:

So 23 of the 24 lands are pretty self explanatory. Max out on the shocks, max out on the scry lands that fit your colors. 1 golgari guildgate, 4 forest, 1 swamp, 1 plains. The way the curve and colors work, this has worked best for me.
As for the 24th land:

Mutavault is a great flex spot. You usually do not want it until after turn 5, where it is great as a extra creature instead of just a land. I will explain how it does vs each archetype.
Vs Mono blue aggro: It acts as an extra blocker that can't be dispersed or cyclonic rift'd after they bounce your creatures.
Vs Gx devotion: Again acts as an extra blocker to get you there.
Vs Black devotion: It is able to block a blood baron, tap down a desecration demon in a pinch.
UWx control: Is a creature that survives wrath effects, acts as an emergency sac outlet to save another creature when devour flesh'd or far//away.
RDW: Acts as an extra blocker in a pinch.
GW aggro: Again, acts as an extra blocker. Most important vs something like soldier of the pantheon.
Midrange: Survives anger of the gods, gets around chained to the rocks, survives any sorcery speed removal, can tap down a desecration demon.


Now I will be going over the creatures of the deck.

This is the farseek of the deck. It helps you accelerate, mana fix, and is a blocker that cannot be targetted by the enemy. I'd rather have a farseek, but this creature is great at times as a blocker.

Scavenging ooze is a great card, and if I was not playing whip of erebos I would be playing it as a 4 of. Instead, since I mainly want to use it to interact with my opponent's Graveyard, I play a 2 of. It is a great 2 drop, that as a minimum, acts as a road block vs any aggressive decks. It is also a premium source of life gain.
Vs mono blue aggro: Again, it acts as a road block for the deck, allowing you to draw an answer. Additionally, if you can start killing their little guys, you can make this guy outclass theirs.
Vs Gx Devotion: An early road block while you set up your bigger guys, you will be killing all of their guys to make this guy big.
Vs black devotion: It is another target for them to kill. More importantly, it will stop their whip activations.
Vs UWx control: After a board wipe, you will be able to make this guy very big. Additionally, it is one of your few creatures that can block a blood baron.
Vs RDW: A road block and life gain means that you will be able to win easily vs RDW.
Vs GW aggro: An important road block vs soldier of the pantheon as most of your guys are multicolored.
Vs midrange: Depending on the deck, it will be fighting whip activations and opposing scavenging oozes.

One of the main reasons I play junk instead of jund!
Vs mono blue aggro: At the minimum, it acts as a persist blocker.
Vs Gx Devotion: Again, acts as a persist blocker. However, the token it makes can match the strength of a lot of the big green guys.
Vs black devotion: They have to use 2 removal spells to get rid of voice plus the token.
Vs UWx control: Forces them to think before they start casting spells on your own turn. Any wrath also still leaves you with a creature.
Vs RDW: Acts as a persist blocker and something that they have to use multiple burn spells (that would otherwise be redirected towards you)
Vs GW aggro: Probably worst in this matchup, it still acts as something that makes them think before they use a combat trick such as god's willing or selesnya charm during your combat step.
Vs midrange: Great vs any deck that is not running anger of the gods.

Before I go into specific matchups, I will say that this is the card that made me not play 4 golgari charm in my 75.
Vs mono blue aggro: Acts as a big wall that can attack through. It will make them not want to trade because you will get to scry, and their main thing is that they have massive card advantage vs you in bident of thassa, which is somewhat negated.
Vs Gx Devotion: Is able to trade with any of the opposing creatures no matter how big.
Vs black devotion: Always keeping 2 mana up means this guy cannot be killed with hexproof. Additionally, you can swing fearlessly as you can profitably trade.
Vs UWx control: A wrath means you are scrying, A LOT. Additionally, outside of a blood baron, you will be trading with any creature.
Vs RDW: Cannot be mortars or burned at all. Any creatures dying means you are that much closer to victory and getting something that can get life gain.
Vs GW aggro: Dodges selesnya charm while beating a smiter in a straight fight. If they don't have a god's willing, their creatures are dying in combat to this thing.
Vs midrange: Great as it can't be spot removed and can trade with any creature.

The first of the big 3 combo. This thing is insane and I always want to play 4 even if it isn't always the easiest to do.
Vs mono blue aggro: It's probably the only way you are getting damage through once they clog the board with elemental tokens.
Vs Gx Devotion: Again, the only way you are getting damage through their big guys.
Vs black devotion: Dodges doom blade and ultimate price. Can only be killed by 3cmc removal which is nicer for you.
Vs UWx control: Cannot be hit by the sorcery speed wrath, something that control has a very very hard time dealing with.
Vs RDW: The lifegain this gives has always been relevant in any RDW matchup.
Vs GW aggro: Is bigger than most any GW creatures, they can only deal with this with a selensya charm
Vs midrange: It's a super efficient creature that will potentially be dealing 7 a turn. Also something that is hard to deal with as half the removal in the format is sorcery speed (chained to the rocks, detention sphere, mizzium mortars, etc.)

Part 2 of the 3 part combo. This creature was the other reason I wanted to play White over red. This creature living essentially ends any RDW from beating you. It also means any creature you play gains you life, and any tokens you have will get out of control. Additionally, it has 5 toughness, which is very relevant. The only hard thing is the GGWW mana cost.
Vs mono blue aggro: Can block everything except thassa, can gain you life to stay in the game, can create additional blockers.
Vs Gx Devotion: The life gain from this will be one of the ways you stay in the game.
Vs black devotion: Although it is a prime removal target, if it can get off one populate ability then you are making it that much harder for black to win.
Vs UWx control: A resolved trostani means that your opponent has to have a wrath effect otherwise your tokens will get out of hand.
Vs RDW: The lifegain and toughness means that your opponent is probably losing.
Vs GW aggro: Is able to block smiter and anything weaker.
Vs midrange: Again, the lifegain and toughness matter a lot in these close matchups. Any time you populate means any 1 for 1 removal that your opponents are using are sort of wasted.

So the final creature is an instant, but I count it as a 5/5 trample flash for 4 mana creature that has a CMC of 0 after leaving the stack. Probably one of the best creatures in the deck, it is great with a trostani on the field as you instantly can gain 5 life.
Vs mono blue aggro: Can trample over their creatures for those last points of damage.
Vs Gx Devotion: Is able to go toe to toe with most of the creatures here.
Vs black devotion: The fact that it has flash means that they have to keep mana open otherwise at the end of their turn you can cast it and swing for 5 damage out of nowhere.
Vs UWx control: Great because you can flash in someone after a wrath effect, it also importantly blocks a blood baron.
Vs RDW: Is able to defeat every one of their creatures in combat and is out of any burn range.
Vs GW aggro: Important because it blocks soldier of pantheon, also is as strong as their strongest creatures.
Vs midrange: It is just as efficient as any of the creatures that any midrange deck will be playing.

So that is all of the creatures that are in the deck. Before I talk about the removal (answers), I will be talking about one card that does not fit into either a creature or an answer.

This is part 3 of the big 3 combo. With lifelink alone, you are gaining great value and ability to race any deck. However, the fact that it can permanently bring back an obzedat is great. This plus an obzedat plus a trostani means you are gaining 12 life a turn and potentially dealing 7 damage to an opponent. It is an insane life swing.

So the first up on our list of removal is doom blade. It is a great removal.
Vs mono blue aggro: It hits cloudfin raptors that are too big, tidebinder mages that have your guys locked down, and most importantly master of waves.
Vs Gx Devotion: Hits every creature they have.
Vs black devotion: Doesn't hit any creature here. Sideboard it out.
Vs UWx control: Will only really hit an aetherling here. Sideboard it out.
Vs RDW: Hits every creature they have except rakdos cackler.
Vs GW aggro: Hits every creature they have.
Vs midrange: Depending on the build. Vs naya it will hit every creature they have. If vs orzhov or jund you should probably be siding these out.

This piece of removal is even better! The reason that you do not just run 4 of this and 0 doom blade is that the aggro decks are too fast, you want to be killing their stuff on turn 2 if you are not putting up a blocker.
Vs mono blue aggro: Hits master of waves most importantly again, but can also hit nightveil specter that doom blade cannot to turn off thassa.
Vs Gx Devotion: Can hit every creature plus garruk.
Vs black devotion: This can actually hit the creatures! Great in this matchup.
Vs UWx control: Can hit any creature that is not blood baron. More importantly, it hits elspeth and jace.
Vs RDW: Hits every creature they have, however it is a bit slow.
Vs GW aggro: This can be a bit slow in this matchup, as you will spend 3 mana to cast and they will spend 1 mana to gods willing or brave the elements.
Vs midrange: A great great card as it will hit all creatures and all problem planeswalkers.

You always want a diversification of answers as each will answer a different thing. That is what this does, and it is great at 2 mana.
Vs mono blue aggro: Most importantly it hits nightveil specter.
Vs Gx Devotion: Hit's their lower guys like mystic or satyr. Might want to sideboard out.
Vs black devotion: Can hit nightveil specters which is nice and pack rats. Might want to sideboard out though.
Vs UWx control: Hits detention spheres and ashioks. Also as a bonus can't be countered.
Vs RDW: Hits pretty much everything except fanatic of mogis. Notably it can hit the hammer of purphoros.
Vs GW aggro: It can hit a lot of things, most importantly a boon satyr or a smiter or an unflinching courage. However, it cannot hit a soldier of pantheon.
Vs midrange: Important targets not said above include: Boros reckoner, chained to the rocks, bow of nylea, and any tokens like advent of the wurm or elemental tokens from voice of resurgence.

This is my flex removal spell. I feel like in a threat and answer deck you will want 8-12 removal spells. This fills spots 7 and 8.
Vs mono blue aggro: You will probably sideboard this out, however, it is tech to sacrifice your own creature to gain life.
Vs Gx Devotion: Same as with the mono blue deck.
Vs black devotion: This is great as they will sometimes run out a solo desecration demon or something that you can get rid of.
Vs UWx control: Again, great as it is one of your few ways to deal with a blood baron.
Vs RDW: Great as the tech to gain you some life. Also, if they are swinging with a solo mutavault you can gain huge tempo vs them.
Vs GW aggro: Same as with mono blue deck.
Vs midrange: Most midrange decks will only run out 1 or 2 threats at a time, so this can actually be good depending on the matchup. Additionally, it can deal with sylvan caraytids on turn 2.

The last removal spot is actually experimental. I have heard that vraska has done a lot of work for people in rock and junk decks and so I want to test her. The fact that she can hit any nonland permanent that isn't blood baron is great. I can see her being good hitting some big creatures my other removal cannot hit, and is an actual threat as I can keep ticking her up to shoot with her again.












So to officially recap what we have gone over so far, here is the main deck and its numbers:

//lands
4 overgrown tomb
4 temple garden
4 godless shrine
4 temple of silence
4 forest
1 swamp
1 plains
1 golgari guildgate
1 mutavault

//creatures
4 voice of resurgence
2 scavenging ooze
4 sylvan caryatid
4 reaper of the wilds
4 obzedat, ghost council
3 trostani, selesnya's voice

//removal
2 devour flesh
2 hero's downfall
2 abrupt decay
2 doom blade
1 vraska the unseen

//other spells
4 advent of the wurm
2 whip of erebos


Now let's move to the sideboard.

Vs mono blue aggro: You will want to sideboard this in as it can hit master of waves and every creature except nightveil specter. In this match, it is doom blade #3.
Vs Gx Devotion: Most of the time, it can hit everything except burning tree emissary. Again you will want to board this in.
Vs black devotion: Great as a doom blade substitute, it can hit the desecration demon.
Vs UWx control: Would not board in here. It can only hit aetherling really.
Vs RDW: Depends on the build. Cannot hit boros reckoner or rakdos cackler. I would not board in.
Vs GW aggro: Would not board in. Most of their creatures are multicolored. (Dryad militant, voice of resurgence, loxodon smiter, fleecemane lion just to name the ones off the top of my head)
Vs midrange: Most midrange decks have multicolored creatures, would not board in.

In the original build of this deck, it was maindeck'd. However, because of how fast RDW is, I moved it to the sideboard as it was a dead card. However, against any non aggro matchup you will always want to side in as many as you can.

One of the cards I always want to run as 4 of in my 75, but in my current iteration I only have 2 in my sideboard.
Vs mono blue aggro: Wipes out all tokens as long as they only have 1 master of waves. Also destroys a bident of thassa.
Vs Gx Devotion: Probably would not side in, but it does give you a combat trick in regeneration.
Vs black devotion: Would definitely side in. Hits whip of erebos and regenerates vs their spot removal.
Vs UWx control: Would definitely side in. Hits detention sphere, regenerates vs a wrath, kills all elspeth tokens.
Vs RDW: Questionable to side in. The regeneration is not as big of a deal, and most of the creatures will be unleashed or naturally x/2. I would side them in before when I had 4, but maybe not as 2.
Vs GW aggro: Same as with RDW. It does hit unflinching courage though.
Vs midrange: Most likely siding in. Regenerates vs spot removal and hits chained to the rocks and assemble the legion.

I'm not going to comment on this too much as it is something I plan to take out. I used to play 4 elvish mystic in the deck as well, and then it was a bit better. It was mainly for the mono green and mono blue matchups, as I had no way really to deal with all of their creatures. However, I think this flex spot should be scavenging ooze (as an additional road block or vs black devotion for whip targets), skylasher (for mono blue), or underworld connections (to shore up all my midrange and control matchups)

This is a great sideboard card that I wish I had at states.
Vs mono blue aggro: Would not side in.
Vs Gx Devotion: Would not side in.
Vs black devotion: Would not side in.
Vs UWx control: It hits elspeth and detention sphere. I would side in if you see those as they are somewhat problematic cards.
Vs RDW: It does hit boros reckoner but would not side in.
Vs GW aggro: Great in this matchup as it hits almost all of their creatures. Most importantly it hits a voice of resurgence.
Vs midrange: It hits chained to the rocks, boros reckoner, assemble the legion, elspeth, or any creatures with white in them.

MVP sideboard card when it gets brought in, and can single handedly win games.
Vs mono blue aggro: Dodges everything except an overloaded cyclonic rift, ratchet bomb ticked to 1, or a mutavault.
Vs Gx Devotion: Would not side in
Vs black devotion: I could see merit in siding it in here, as they make themselves lose a lot of life and this is a fast clock at midgame.
Vs UWx control: Definite side in, as it can't be countered and if they don't have a blocker they are taking a lot of damage. Also dodges azorius charm.
Vs RDW: Would not side in.
Vs GW aggro:Would not side in.
Vs midrange: Probably not siding in, most midrange decks don't have blue in them.

A great sideboard card that has seen its way in and out of my sideboard depending on what I predict the meta to be.
Vs mono blue aggro: Would probably not side in.
Vs Gx Devotion: Would definitely side in. It can take a polukranos, a nylea, or some other big problematic creature.
Vs black devotion: Would definitely not side in.
Vs UWx control: This has good merit and I would side it in depending on the build. It hits obzedat and blood baron. Additionally, it can't be blocked by elspeth tokens and let's you see your opponent's hand.
Vs RDW: Would not side in.
Vs GW aggro:Would definitely side in as you get to hit any creature in their deck.
Vs midrange: Most likely you can side this in. Most creatures are multicolored so you will most likely hit almost every creature.



So to recap the sideboard:

//sideboard
1 ultimate price
3 thoughtseize
2 golgari charm
2 merciless eviction
2 glare of heresy
3 mistcutter hydra
2 lifebane zombie


I would definitely consider adding a 25th land in the main deck now that I have so much more scry power and have a higher top heavy curve. It is something else to test as well.
Anyway, that is my deck and its in depth review, and my thoughts when sideboarding in and out; as well as the changes I am currently contemplating going forward with the deck.