#basandra

[art-of-mtg]

Basandra, Battle Seraph (Commander 2011) - Terese Nielsen

[5ecardaday]

More Sunday, more Patron-chosen homebrews, and more legendary creatures from CM11! Two of them this weekend, and the first is the classic Basandra, Battle Seraph. Basandra is also the first of the two-color commanders I’ve done from this set, though the others should be coming soon. I’ve almost done all the three-color, after all. Hope you enjoy the work!

If you’d like to support me and get some great benefits at the same time, feel free to check out my Patreon! Or if you’d like, buy me a coffee for a chance to get a card of your choice converted.

[jpsz6]

Una #Basandra gigante #mtg #mtgfoil #basandrabattleseraph #commander

[localproalters]

#basandra available on www.localproalters.com #mtg #magicthegathering #alteredartmtg #alters

[sylvhem]

The art of Terese Nielsen - Multicolor

Some of my favourite Terese Nielsen’s pieces of art for Magic: the Gathering.

In alphabetical order :

Basandra, Battle Seraph

Blast of Genius

Call of the Conclave

Hana, Ship’s Navigator

Heroes’ Reunion

Immerwolf

Sydri, Galvanic Genius

[halandalena]

Just started a Basandra commander deck. I'm on fire for EDH now :D

I love Basandra, boros angels make me so happy (I think I own a copy of all of them?)

[halandalena]

I haven't been online ALL DAY because I was irresponsible about my homework ) : and had to do it last minute, and then I went to play magic with my friend, and then we both went to play magic (and video games) at our club meeting.

We drafted conspiracy! I won in my pod, but we had to stop before we could finish the champions pod we were doing because the student center closed. But I am 100% a-okay with that because I drafted THE card from conspiracy that I really, really wanted. :D

[commandertheory]

Your thoughts on Basandra?

I like your blog, so I thought I'd submit my favorite commander, and get your thoughts on it.

My commander deck builds on Basandra's ability (manipulate combat) by forcing players to attack, and then having punishing blockers.

 Forcing to attack is represented by Grand Melee,War's Toll, Goblin Diplomat, Boros Battleshaper Gideon, and Fumiko. There's also a subtheme to choose who attacks : Stun Sniper, Spear of Heliod, Martial Law, Maze of Ith, Kor Haven.

 Punishing blockers include - Creatures that "share pain" such as Boros Reckoner, Mogg Maniac, Spitemare, Stuffy Doll - Indestructible: Colossus, Manor Gargoyle, Ulamog- Creatures that are better off dying: Academy Rector,Cathedral Membrane, Perilous Myr, Ryusei,Solemn Simulacrum- Creatures that have cool blocking abilities: Aether Membrane,

 Board wipers play on that sub-theme (Blasphemous Act, Chain Reaction, Destructive Force, Rough / Tumble, Slagstorm, Slide and Dice, Wave of Reckoning), either bouncing off indestructible, of reflecting more pain.

As for the budget, no real restriction right now. The last few games, I found myself in topdecking mode, with no creatures on the field, but I'm not sure if that's my deck's fault, or just bad luck...

Here is my deck, looking forward to your comments!

http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/basandraedh-1/

I think your punishing blockers are problematic because they're mostly just one-for-one trades-- you block a 5/5 with Boros Reckoner or a Spitemare, you deal the damage to the 5/5, and they trade. The question is, is this plan of trading cards better than just running real removal? What advantage do you get from running Cathedral Membrane over something like Swords to Plowshares? Or Ryusei over something like Magmaquake?

You can also run creatures that kill stuff when they enter the battlefield so that you get the effect of removal, plus a body that sticks around. Flametongue Kavu and Sunblast Angel are a decent start, but I think you should be running Duplicant and Luminate Primordial as well.

You should probably take a look at each one of your creatures and ask yourself whether it generates card advantage, because I think the reason that you're ending the game with no cards in hand is because you're running a ton of cards that don't replace themselves. If you play out Goblin Diplomats, Coalition Honor Guard, and Cathedral Membrane and an opponent casts Day of Judgment, then you're out three cards with nothing to show for it. If instead you cast Stoneforge Mystic, Solemn Simulacrum, and Archon of Justice before Day was cast, then get two cards, get a free land, and exile one of your opponents' permanents, netting card advantage in the exchange.

Blockers aren't the only way we can punish our opponents if they try to attack us. Spear of Heliod was a great choice, and we can expand the theme with Michiko Konda, Kazuul, Lightmine Field, and Retaliate.

Be aware that not all board wipes are created equal; dealing three damage to each creature with something like Anger of the Gods may be relevant in Limited, but in Commander, the creatures are often huge, and three damage won't do much against Titans or Primordials. If you actually want to kill creatures, you're going to want to play wipes that explicitly kill everything (Wrath of God), or which you can scale up to the size of the threats you're facing (Earthquake).

You don't want to run symmetrical draw effects like Otherworld Atlas or Temple Bell because they help your opponents more than they help you. The first card you draw off of Temple Bell is basically replacing the Bell itself; you're at +0 cards while all of your opponents get a free card and are at +1.

Copy effects like Chandra the Firebrand and Reverberate aren't great in this deck because most of your instants and sorceries don't do anything when copied. Copying a board wipe is basically useless, so you only have like four cards that you can get value off of with Chandra/Reverberate.

Finally, one thing that your colors are really good at doing is searching out equipment. Stoneforge Mystic, Steelshaper's Gift, Stonehewer Giant, and Godo, Bandit Warlord are great tutors, and Mask of Memory, Empyrial Plate, Quietus Spike, Sword of Fire and Ice, and Nim Deathmantle are all great equipment.

I hope all that was helpful. Good luck with your deck!