Jan 5, 2019
seen from Singapore
seen from United States
seen from Belgium
seen from Nigeria
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from France
seen from Yemen
seen from Singapore
seen from Russia
seen from Canada
seen from Bangladesh
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Germany
seen from Malaysia
seen from Türkiye
seen from Brazil
seen from Japan
seen from China
Dragonlords Vs. Planeswalkers
OK, let’s say that the next time we see Tarkir in a set again, the storyline will focus on the clans rebelling against the dragons, and each clan reclaims the third color they lost when the dragons took over.
And just for fun, let’s pretend that each clan rebellion is getting some outside help from an enemy-color pair planeswalker. (I say, “just for fun” because I’m not actually predicting that would happen, but it’s still fun to think about.) While each of these planeswalkers could help the clans rediscover their lost colors, the main action would be a one-on-one battle between that planeswalker and the dragonlord that the clan they’re helping is rebelling against.
OK, enough introduction. Let’s get to the match-ups!
Dromoka vs. Kaya
Ojutai vs. Ral Zarek
Silumgar vs. Vraska
Kolaghan vs. Nahiri
Atarka vs. Kiora
So, what do you think? Who would win? Who would you be rooting for? How do you imagine such a one-on-one battle playing out?! Let me know what you think!!!
Khans of Tarkir - The Dragons of Tarkir (Magic the Gathering)
On the plane of Tarkir, five savage dragon clans fight for supremacy over a land choked by war. Each is led by a powerful elder dragon, ruling over the mortals of the plane with an army of their own unique brood. The five Elder Dragons that parse up Tarkir are Ojutai (white-blue bird dragons), Silumgar (blue-black self-indulgent toxic dragons), Kolaghan (red-black lighting dragons), Atarka (red-green, massive horned dragons), and Dromoka (green-white armored dragons with light breath).
The Gold Standard in Tribal Commander Design
This year’s Commander product is going to offer four new decks based on “some of Magic's most popular, and interesting, tribes!”
As I’ve been thinking of which creature types they might be offering decks for, I’ve come to the undeniable conclusion... that I haven’t the foggiest idea which tribes they’ll go with.
BUT!! Thinking about it has also gotten me thinking about which Commanders I think have the best design to build tribal decks around, and since Commander 2017 will be giving us four new decks, I thought I would list my four personal favorites...
#4 Depala, Pilot Exemplar
Depala does a lot of good things for Dwarves and Vehicles. For one thing, she’s a lord for both (she’s actually the only lord on this list.) Her ability triggers when she taps, which works well with the Crew mechanic. And she enables you to speed up finding more Dwarves and Vehicles in your deck. Perhaps best of all, her colors are red and white, allowing Commander players to build a deck that uses both the red Dwarves of Magic past and the white Dwarves of Magic present. (Honestly, if there were just more Dwarves available, Depala probably would have moved up to #3 or maybe even #2 in this list.)
#3 Gisa and Geralf
Admittedly, I am not a huge fan of playing Zombie tribal in Commander, but I still appreciate the clean design and direction of Gisa and Geralf. The card plays right into the strategy that a blue/black Zombie deck naturally leans to. Namely, getting Zombies into your graveyard, and then playing Zombies from your graveyard. Plus, they let you play with all the great blue and black Zombies that Innistrad has to offer!
#2 Kaalia of the Vast
It took a while for Hydras and Sphinxes to settle in as the iconic creature types for green and blue, but Angels, Demons, and Dragons have all been iconic pretty much since the beginning of Magic. And Kaalia brings them all together! Serving three masters could pull focus if not done right, but with Kaalia the message is clear: “Go big and swing for the fences!!” Because her ability is so extreme, it really offers the incentive necessary for players to stuff their decks with almost exclusively high-cost, high-power Angels, Demons, and Dragons. Not only is this exciting to watch, but it also leads to decks with VERY strange deckfellows. It’s not every day you the the angelic, demonic, and draconic icons of Magic together on the same side of the battlefield!
#1 Doran, the Siege Tower
Look, I’m going to be honest with you. This entire post began as a love letter to Doran. I just decided to include the three Commanders above to even things out and expand it a bit. But in my mind, Doran is THE best designed tribal Commander that Magic has ever made. For starters, he was printed in Lorwyn, which is the best and heaviest tribal block in Magic history, and it added a lot of great new Treefolk. Secondly, Doran’s colors allow players to add almost ANY Treefolk ever printed in a deck that has Doran for a Commander. Finally (and perhaps most impressively) he has a unique and potent ability that provides a very clear direction and incentive for playing lots of other Treefolk, without ever having to actually reference the Treefolk creature type on the card!!
So there you have it, my top four favorite tribal Commanders! If the Magic Design Team can create anything in Commander 2017 that captures my excitement like the legendary creatures above, I will be one happy nerd indeed!
How about you? Is your favorite tribal Commander missing from this list? Agree or disagree with my choices? Let me know what you think!!
Wild Speculation Wishlist: Amonkhet Gods, Colors, and Creature Types
OK, so my Wild Speculation Wishlist for Amonkhet basically boils down to three main categories, which I’ll list off in just a second, and then I’ll get into some specifics.
Keep in mind that I’m not trying to convince anyone that my speculations here are correct (I’ll leave others to making realistic and reserved predictions) but these are things that I think would be cool, and that I could see as possibilities not outside the realm of plausible.
OK, so everything below hinges on these three wishlist items:
Five factions built around the three-color shards
My main reasoning for believing this is plausible is the fact that we know Nicol Bolas is going to show up at some point, and I would be VERY surprised if he isn’t in his signature blue/black/red color identity. If Bolas is already going to push players to build around three colors, why not include the other four shards in the design as well? (Plus, it’s been almost a decade since we left Alara.)
Two-color themes built around the ally-color pairs
If there’s one design lesson I learned from the Tarkir block, it’s that designing wedge factions means that experienced players will want to draft enemy-color pairs, because that gives them the most flexibility to go with one wedge or the other, depending how the draft goes. Maro has also stated in the past that there’s not as much design space in the three-color shards as Alara gave the impression of. Putting some of that pressure back on ally-color pairs could take some of it off the shards.
Tribal themes with anthropomorphic animal creature types
In all fairness, my love for tribal-themed decks means that I could add “tribal themes” to just about any Wild Speculation Wishlist, and for those of you that have been around my blog for a while, you’ll know that I’ve been dreaming about an anthropomorphic tribal set for a long time. But that’s not to say this idea doesn’t have ANY merit beyond just wishful thinking. We’ve already seen some art that suggests there are at probably Aven and some jackal-variant of Ainok on Amonkhet. And it looks like each of the gods have animal faces, so this could be the time!!
OK, so with those three main categories acknowledged, I’m gonna break down my speculation into some more specifics. I’ll break these into groups using the primary color of the factions tying them together, and I’ll say the god, theme, common creature type, and rare creature I’d love to see for that faction.
White-Centered Faction
Cat God Colors: White (primary) Green (secondary) Blue (tertiary) God of Sight, with white representing light and truth, green representing knowledge of the past, and blue representing knowledge of the future
Common Creature Type: Cats (leonin) Primary in white, secondary in green
Rare Creature: An all-seeing Archon in White/Green
Blue-Centered Faction
Bird God Colors: Blue (primary) White (secondary) Black (tertiary) God of Judgement, with blue representing exactness, white representing order, and black representing retribution
Common Creature Type: Birds (aven) Primary in blue, secondary in white
Rare Creature: Classic Sphinx in Blue/White
Black-Centered Faction
Crocodile God Colors: Black (primary) Blue (secondary) Red (tertiary) God of Hunger, with black representing avarice, blue representing thirst for knowledge, and red representing passion and hunger
Common Creature Type: Crocodiles (new race) Primary in black, secondary in blue
Rare Creature: Nightmarish Demon in Black/Blue (maybe Razaketh?)
Red-Centered Faction
Hound God Colors: Red (primary) Black (secondary) Green (tertiary) God of Journeys, with red representing individuality and courage, black representing determination, and green representing destiny
Common Creature Type: Hound (jackal-variant ainok) Primary in red, secondary in black
Rare Creature: Crocodile-like Dragon in Red/Black
Green-Centered Faction
Snake God Colors: Green (primary) Red (secondary) White (tertiary) God of Fertility, with green representing vitality and growth, red representing love, and white representing life
Common Creature Type: Snakes (more like the naga than the orochi though) Primary in green, secondary in red
Rare Creature: Cobra-headed Hydra in Green/Red
WHEW!! OK, that was a lot to unpack. If you’re still here with me, let me know what you think! Obviously I don’t expect to be 100% right with these guesses, but honestly I’d be happy with 10% right!
How about you?! Any of these predictions you’d like to see show up in Amonkhet?
Commander 2017 Arena – Dragons vs. Cats! (Part 6 of 6)
Wow, it has been a minute since I wrote the last part of this series. My sincere apologies, I remembered nearly every week and tried to set aside time to write this up and it felt like I never had time or something always seemed to pop up… No excuses though, I obviously need to finish the series and that is what I am doing… Right now!
ROUND ONE! WHAT’S LOUDER, THE MEOW OR THE ROAR?!
Since it has been a minute since Dani and I played these games, I may have trouble remembering all the details. Luckily, I was taking pictures as we played of the more interesting parts, so we should be good.
I remember piloting the Cat deck while Dani took Dragons. She decided to run Ramos, Value Engine and I tested out Nazahn, Tutor of the Real Commander; A Hammer. Both nicknames proved to be true, as Dani had a very scary turn once Ramos hit the field and the Hammer of Nazahn did most of the work for me. Honestly, the Hammer is an insane piece of Equipment. It works as a buff, a semi-Darksteel Plate AND an Equipment-Specific Sigarda’s Aid. My “play of the game” was casting Kindred Summons with only a couple of Cats on the field. With an outstanding bit of luck, I got Qasali Slingers FIRST and then Leonin Shikari, meaning I got two triggers of Slingers and was able to get rid of Ramos and something else on Dani’s side of the board. I tossed a bunch of swords and axes onto one of my ferocious felines and hit her in the a few times for the win! (Jazal Goldmane on the field definitely did not hurt, either.)
Result:
Dragons: 0
Cats: 1
ROUND TWO! ONE V ONE ME, BRUH!
I swapped out the Tutor of Hammers for Mirri, Weatherlight Duelist while Dani tried Ramos out again. Honestly, no one can blame someone for wanting a Commander that gets huge just for casting spells and then pops that power for straight value in the form of 10 mana, so I fully understand her choice. Still, I liked the idea of Mirri taking some of the power away from the Dragon deck, which is designed to ramp up, drop LOTS of big dumb dragons and swarm/swoop in for big damage to win. With Mirri tapped, only one Dragon was going to fly in and that seemed amazing for me.
Again, Dani ramped up and started doing really mean, broken things easily. I am still astounding how everyone critiqued the Dragon precon for the basic-dominant mana base and it seems to perform very well, despite this “weakness”. Still, my Commander only costing 3 was a boon, as I got my defense and offense started quicker. It very much felt like I was simply a step ahead always. A White Sun’s Zenith for 11 pretty much spelled the end without a board wipe in Dani’s hand and that was the match!
FINAL RESULTS!
Dragons: 0
Cats: 2
FINAL THOUGHTS
Again, since this game was awhile ago, I do not plan on trying to get Dani to remember it well enough to give final thoughts. I have a vague memory of how it went down, so I will offer what I can. In the end, it seemed like a match-up of quick, dangerous aggro vers. the big stompy deck, which suffered from needing to ramp up and simply being unable to match their opponent. I think Dragons can definitely be improved with a better mana base, but overall I felt it worked great every time Dani or I played it.
Cats honestly felt more like Tribal Equipment. I get that many of the great Cat creatures interact with Equipment, but I felt they could have gone a different way to make it feel more tribal for the creature type. Still, the deck is fun, fast and simple to pilot. Honestly, I do not know if I want build Mirri with a token theme or some kind of “hidden Commander” theme with Nazahan, naturally with a Balan in the deck.
SERIES THOUGHTS
Since this is the last game, I wanted to reflect over all six games. I know if we go back and look at the results of the games, it might appear that I stomped on Dani a lot, but having played each game, I can contest that most of the 2-0 games (and even some of the games in the 2-1 matches) were largely since we were playing precons and I drew better cards. As a rule, precons are not the most well-built decks because the three different Commanders all have different strategies and the deck is loosely supposed to represent each strategy. Still, I think the decks were decent at what they did. Wizards did a very good job, despite a lot of people (myself as one of them) critiquing the lists when they were released.
Well… That is it! We have all six games for the Arena series in the bag. I have a few ideas for what I will be writing next. Some ideas are a fanfiction story I have loosely been thinking about, a weekly series each Wednesday on my thoughts of the Commander VS game, or just random thoughts I want to embellish on that take more than 280 characters for the Tweeters. I will be working on writing more often. I am unsure of whether I mentioned this in a previous post, but I started writing a series for EDHREC.com and I hope you check it out! It is called “Replacement Commanders” and it is about the 8 “other” Legendary Creatures of the precons and how to build around them.
Until next time, everyone, follow me on Twitter and I hope you check Praetor Magic out on YouTube!
Jaime Jones’ Dragons