Deck Showcase: Heavenly Inferno
It took me way too long, but I finally made up my mind to get the Heavenly Inferno deck. I actually have to thank my younger brother for being the deciding factor.
At the release event we had 3 pods of 4 or 5 players each. Unfortunately my pod included all three players at the store who bought Heavenly Inferno. I would have preferred a less randomized pod formation that tried to separate players running the same decks, mainly just for a more diverse experience. The other guys and I agreed to play different commanders, so we didn't encounter the legendary rule as often as we could have, but having 2 other guys running the same deck as I was limited my experience with the precons and ability to talk about them.
It was a total blast. I was the first out thanks to Death by Dragons with me as the player to not get a token (I think I had the highest or near highest life total at that point), Crescendo of War with 13 counters on it, and a player who cast Master Warcraft to make the other guy attack me. I was at 16 life and had no blockers to stop an 18/5 dragon, and the Lightning Greaves prevented me from exiling it with the Soul Snare I had had in play almost all game. It was some of the most fun I had losing ever.
So what's new with this deck?
The commanders were the most important part in swaying my decision. I know a lot of players won't like the random aspect of Tariel's triggered ability, and I totally understand. Normally I wouldn't like something like this either, and I don't really know why I do. To be honest, the randomness only bothers me in that it could slow the game down a bit.
It's the CMC that bothers me more; I chose Tariel as my commander for the event since one of the other guys really wanted to run Kaalia; as much as I love Tariel, I also love casting Commanders. It took me forever to cast her, and then I lost her the second time to a Spell Crumple. Sure, that could happen with Kaalia, too, but with a cheaperto-cast commander, I might have played her a couple more times than just twice as with Tariel (or at least the precons could have better land search; I want more lands and deck thinning, something Signets don't do). That's why I like Kaalia, since she's cheap, plus can get out Tariel faster anyway.
First of all, these two are seriously fighting each other for coolest art in the set.
I already like Kaalia because she's under the arbitrary 5 CMC line I drew for myself for my commanders. I don't want to be waiting until turn 6-7 to cast my Commander, and then only be able to cast it a few times more after that. If your commander doesn't get tucked, then it's likely you'll be casting him or her or it a lot in a normal game, and I'd like to be able to without completely crippling my ability to cast other spells.
Kaalia also rewards me for playing a couple of other creatures I've always liked in Red and Black as well; I've always wanted to play Flameblast Dragon, Malfegor, and Reiver Demon. With Kaalia these wouldn't just be there because they're good removal, but also because they fit in with the Commander, and I love building for a commander.
Speaking of, Mana-Charged Dragon fits there too.
In my opinion, this is the absolute peak of Join Forces. Many of the other cards are interesting, sure, but this is where it's at. Are you willing you help me kill Bob over here? If so, give me your lands. But maybe you really need Bob to stay in the game, because you know he's the only one who can stop me. Or you just need Bob to be your personal speedbump until you draw the cards you need to steal victory from me.
The Command Tower, is, of course, in all of the decks. Apparently that is how all of the rarities for the new cards are determined - In 1 deck, it's Rare or Mythic Rare (Mythic only if it's one of the Wedge legends); in 2-3 decks, it's a Uncommon; in all 5 it's Common.
Oh, do I like the Command Tower. Not as much as I would have liked Wedge versions of the Alara tri-lands, but that's something I'll talk more in-depth later. Personally, I am glad they made a powerful land for Commander and made it unplayable in Legacy. These are Commander Precons, after all.
As Commander products, though, I should return to the last new Legendary Creature in the deck: Bassandra. Her global ability does hurt her popularity, no doubt, and I know many players will feel it would have been more flavorful if it read "Your opponents can't."
Personally, I agree. But I like her anyway. Maybe it's the art. I'd like the last ability a little bit better if you could force the creature to attack target opponent as well, but a card can't give you everything you want. I wonder if seeing into R&D's thought process on the card (perhaps a Multiverse article?) would calm some player's nerves.
It doesn't take much to work around the ability. There are plenty of really good sorcery-speed removal spells that you wouldn't normally be able to cast them then anyway. The card can easily be worked around, and hopefully after you do so it will hurt your opponents enough that your special deck restriction was worth it.
Personally, I decided to go with a lot of creature-based removal such as Nekrataal and Shriekmaw. Royal Assassin still works, mind you, and is really nice after you force a pesky creature to attack with Bassandra.
I might as well just cover all of the Vows at the same time.
Vow of Wildness is my favorite, as it makes the most sense to me based on the color. Green's "Removal" has been mainly aura-based, like Lignify and Utopia Vow (hey, another Vow!). Both sort-of remove the creature but give it something in return - An option for defense, a mana generator, and in the new vows a decent attacker against a third party.
They each fit in with the color, it's just that it seems more out of place for the other four - Red, White, and Black have better removal, and Blue is less likely to have removal anywhere like this.
I find the White one to be the worst of the bunch because Vigilance is a great ability to have. With the others you either gave their creature an aura with "This creature can't attack," or they're utilizing their newfound boost to attack and leaving them open for you to rush through the hole. With Vigilance, that's not an option.
Of course, the cards still prevent them from attacking you (or a planeswalker you control - I really like that addition). I think their best use is to throw all 5 into any Karona, False God deck - now when you give away your Commander, you won't be seeing her come at you. If your opponents attack you without her instead, then their creatures won't get any pump - Instead of giving your opponents a huge advantage, you'll just be getting the disadvantage of losing a single card. I never would have played a Karona deck in the past, but with these, her ability becomes much less scary for her owner.
For a {W} activating cost you get a semi- Swords / Path. But it's an enchantment, so you can't use it as a combat trick, and it can be removed as well as countered.
However, as an Enchantment, it works as a nice "Rattlesnake" effect - that is, players see it ("hear the rattle"), and they are turned off of attacking because of it. I'm a little biased towards it as it fits nicely in my Rafiq deck, which took a turn toward Enchantment themed recently.
Ah, now this is the type of Red players expected to see on Bassandra. "Your opponents can't search libraries" - goodbye Demonic Tutor, Tooth and Nail, Maralen (No drawing or searching, just the -3 life!). That's hopefully more common in your playgroup, but if you have to deal with Multiple Turn Mikes a lot in your group, then the first part could just be icing on the cake compared to making duds out of a great many of their better spells.
Plague Wind on a stick, that hurts you a tad so you can't win the turn it comes into play. It's a sweet card, and I know it reads "if you cast it from your hand" to keep the power level in check, but the fact that the ability I'd want it for doesn't work with Kaalia, the Legend that serves as the precon's initial Commander, is disappointing, and feels out of place.
The flavor on this card is spot-on. Basandra's flavortext quote is saying "I'm tired of this turtling. Let's end this." The card does just that. It is a sweet card, though not quite as sweet as the art led players to desire. I know at first most players thought this would be one of the two WBR legends, and I at least was sure it'd be the WR one.
Unfortunately for the card I probably won't run it, as I tend to not like giving my opponents stuff as well.
The same goes for Archangel of Strife, as you're giving your opponents power as well. Will anyone choose Peace? Maybe, but they shouldn't; anyone who chooses War negates your Peace, and your creatures were no closer to removing theirs. This would be amazing in Doran if you can find room for it, as that player essentially gets to choose both.
Hey, it's a new Syphon! It's a pretty sweet card, too. Forcing players to sacrifice creatures may not always be as good as targeting them, since they get to choose what to lose, but it affected everyone like the Abyssal Gatekeeper, except you don't have to do so as well and instead get tokens out of the deal. I'll probably run it in my own Kaalia build to provide fodder for Fallen Angel, Wayward Angel, and Eldrazi Monument, and they get pumped up by Cemetery Reaper.
Finally,Death by Dragons. It's a cool card in what it does to multiplayer games, but it's a little out of place. It gives you a Dragon, but that only partially works with Kaalia as it's not a creature. The deck could be changed to greatly rely on Dragons, and this would be more flavorful. In the end I like this card more for Political Puppets than for Heavenly Inferno.
Before I go, I had a one disappointment with this and another deck that involves a card that already exists: Solemn Simulacrum. The only deck that got the card was Devour for Power, and that deck has green. Yes, Solemn Simulacrum is a great card, but Devour for Power has green, which gives you much better land search, and Blue, which gives you much better draw. Heavenly Inferno and Political Puppets are the only two decks without Green, and not only do they not even get some of White's land search, they don't get one of the best artifact ones.
Alright, I lied: There's another. Eternal Dragon would have fit very well in the deck, as you could put it into play with Kaalia or just keep using it's Plainscycling ability, which won't be as great in the precon as in what I'll turn mine into, as mine will be more White-heavy than the precon.
Well, that's it for Heavenly Inferno. Although I've been generally skipping Tuesdays lately so I can focus on my work, I'm going to try to cover another precon tomorrow.
