Category Archives: EDH

June 12, 2011

The Top 10 Proliferate Cards for Commander

By MTGColorPie

http://wp.me/pGq1u-zA

Everybody and their mother now sees +1/+1 counters and other counters on a new card and they instantly go to everyone’s favorite new mechanic: Proliferate. So, here’s my list of the top 10 cards that have Proliferate for use in the Commander format. The way I wrote that, makes it sound like it was an Oscar category announcement.

Honorable Mentions:

Core Prowler –

Running into a 2/x creature would kill it. But it’s basically a wall or kills an opponent’s token as it just sits around waiting to be killed.

Grim Affliction –

Because let’s give one creature a -1/-1 counter. For 3 mana. Yeah, that’ll be amazing in Commander. (Yes, I know technically it would give 2 -1/-1 counters, but that still isn’t enough for 3 mana).

Thrummingbird –

Great in the early game when you have nothing to Proliferate. I want to see it get past my Dragon turn 6.

Steady Progress –

Well, at least it’s instant speed. It’s got that going for it, which is nice.

And now, the Top 10:

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1 Comment   |  tags: , , | posted in Commander, EDH, Mirrodin Besieged, New Phyrexia, Scars of Mirrodin

June 1, 2011

26 Scars Block Foil Cards You’ll Want a Year From Now*

By MTGColorPie

http://wp.me/pGq1u-yJ

*Obviously we’re going to ignore the Commanders.

Yes, I’m back. For the full story, come back Friday.

4 Comments | posted in Commander, EDH, Mirrodin Besieged, New Phyrexia, Scars of Mirrodin

February 21, 2011

It’s Something Unpredictable, But in the End It’s Right

By MTGColorPie

If you ever went to one of those end of the year school assemblies, you might recognize the title from a certain song’s lyrics. I’m just partly wondering if they even do this song anymore, or if its too old for today’s generation.

Yes, as of today, I’m not looking to create original content for 99EDHProblems.com.

Don’t don’t be sad, it’s not all bad news. Here’s some possible questions that you might have:

Really? Why are you shutting this blog down?

If you’ve noticed that there has be little content on this blog recently. It’s not because I don’t love you guys. I just can’t create content for this blog as often as I’d wish.

So, you’re not writing about Magic anymore?

Whoa, that’s not true at all. For those that don’t know, I started the blog MTGColorPie.com (hence my name), years before this one. After I started to fall in love with EDH/Commander, I started another blog (where you’re currently at) about the format. So, for over a year, I was managing 2 blogs about two separate Magic topics at the same time, where this one accepted user content as well. That’s when a new variable entered into my life:

I’ve been writing for ManaNation about EDH/Commander.

For those keeping track, I’m also writing for part time on QuietSpeculation.com and in discussion to write for another website for which I can’t talk about just yet. MTGColorPie is continuing as well (a new post should come in the next day or two for those that are wondering). As I’m planning out articles and topics, 99EDH was the one that always got shafted because of the overlap with ManaNation. Anything I would want to write for this site kept getting pushed back and put in the pile “I’ll get to it next week.” When people asked where I wrote, this blog was starting to get left out of my locations. Not because I didn’t love it, it was just getting too much to keep track of. I didn’t want to write about Commander for ManaNation and then do the same thing for this blog as well. I had been holding back in both places afraid to step on toes.

And I’m afraid it was hurting my work.

Now I won’t hold anything back for when I write for ManaNation.

But the other thing good for you is that except for a break when I was on the Magic Cruise, I’m writing every week over there. You were lucky to get one every other week on here. That’s great for you, since you’re actually getting content on a regular basis, and great for me, since I won’t feel like I’m trying to spread things too thin. Because you’re getting my Commander thoughts there, this blog has really become redundant.

But what about stuff like Stone Cold Commander of the Century (Of the Week)?

I’ve got a ton of ideas. I don’t have the time nor the energy to do them all. I thought that I could do something fun and easy to keep this blog going. We know how well that went. So, I’m taking my talents to ManaNation where I might be talking about things like that every once in a while. SCCotC(OtW) seems like a nice thing I might tack onto the end of posts every once in a while, so it’s not going to disappear.

What happens to this site?

I’ve paid for the domain name until later in the year. I’m not deleting this blog at all so if you keep coming back here you’ll find the same stuff. I was struck earlier this year about how UGMadness.net has now gone down and is gone for us forever. While I may or may not keep the domain name, I’m keeping the blog up for reference.

Listen, I’m not saying that stopping this blog this is a bad thing. This blog has helped launch my work for ManaNation.com and Derfington’s at QuietSpeculation.com with both of us writing about Commander. You’re still getting Commander content, it’s just not going to be here.

I hope you guys understand that, and respect that. It’s been great giving you my thoughts on this blog, I wish you’re with me for the next step at ManaNation.com where I’m continuing the adventure.

Thank you for the fun times at 99EDHProblems.com

3 Comments | posted in Commander, EDH

January 10, 2011

Stone Cold Commander of the Century (Of the Week) – Mannichi, the Fevered Dream

By MTGColorPie

New year has come and gone. Let’s get you caught up. This is still happening. Even though I moved my Commander posts over to ManaNation (articles here), I finally figured out what to do with this blog. What’s going to appear here:

  • Reviews of Sets. Unless Trick wants anything in particular, I think I’ll keep them over here. Yes, Derfington did a great job last time but I’ll work time into my busy schedule to work it in (hopefully). Did you know Derfington’s writing about Commander on QuietSpeculation? (articles here) Yep, we be spreading out.
  • Talking about upcoming Commanders. Yes, Glissa 2.0 has been revealed and I’ll get to that shortly (before Mirrodin Besiged gets released). Again, not as long, but that will be the focus.
  • Random things. I want to do some charts on this site, such as what you can tutor up with Trinket Mage, etc. All in due time.
  • And now, introducing today’s column, once a week.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I bring you the “Stone Cold Commander of the Century (Of the Week)”. Where does this come from?

Yes, an Adult Swim video about football with Carl from Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Listen, I know I’m not the only one that loves MTG, and football, and Adult Swim (but I don’t like ATHF, don’t like the humor). And, I may be the one or two that love the “Charlie Whitehurst in a living nativity scene” joke, but we’re rolling with it. After all, I live in the Seattle area, and I still haven’t lived down the excitement of Lynch going full on “Beast Mode” to seal the game.

Alright, enough Football talk. Yes, you’re getting a weekly column where I write some notes about a Commander chosen randomly from Magiccards.info. Yes, completely random (only I won’t repeat them if I’ve done them in this context before). Hope this will give you some good ideas for decks if you’ve been thinking about building around them. If you already have, make your comments below about what you’ve done with him/her.

And yes, this is all completely random. You have seen who the Commander is in the title, but as of this I have no idea. Ready?

Oh, fun.

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7 Comments | posted in Commander, EDH, Stone Cold Commander Of the Century (Of the Week)

December 14, 2010

December 2010 Commander Bannings

By MTGColorPie

Editor’s Note: While I haven’t written on here since the big change in the format, it will be addressed. I have talked about it over on ManaNation, and eventually they will be linked over here. But now is not the time nor the place for that discussion.

Good news, everyone!

The scourge of all that is unfun in EDH/Commander is finally over. Yes, let’s take a look at the announcement and bask in all of it’s glory:

BANNED
Emrakul, the Aeons Torn

This is one on which we listened heavily to what the community was saying, and nearly without exception, everyone hates Emrakul. It’s a card that makes the game devolve into a war over a single card whenever it hits the table. Add to that the fact that its combination of abilities made is seriously unfun to play against. We had already had our eye on it, and when the community spoke, we listened.

Ding dong the witch is dead, the witch is dead.

Alright, seriously. For the two of you that are crying about this move (don’t worry, you’ll like the other announcement then), Emrakul was a bad card for EDH. It’s unfun and it was practically the only card you had to prepare yourself against in any metagame. “But there are ways to get rid of it!” Yes, But with the culmination of all of it’s abilities, it was just too unfun for 99.9% of EDH players. It could go in any deck, which made it worse. For my GDS2 entry, it was that one card I said shouldn’t have been printed because it was unfun. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Be glad it’s gone so we can focus on the next bit of news:

RULES UPDATE
Color Identity (which will be added to the Magic Comprehensive Rules)

Rule #2 is amended as follows:
When building a Commander deck, the mana symbols in the text box are just as important as those in the cost of a card. The Commander’s color identity restricts what cards may appear in the deck.

* The color identity of a card is the colors of all mana symbols on the card, along with any color defined by a characteristic-defining ability (CDA) in the card’s rules text.

* Cards in your deck may not have any colors in their color identity not shared by your Commander.

* Mana you produce of colors that are not in your Commander’s color identity is colorless instead.

* Mana symbols in reminder text are not part of color identity.

The major impact here is that there are a few Legendary Creatures who no longer invalidate themselves as Commanders: Memnarch, Bosh, Iron Golem, Thelon of Havenwood, Daughter of Autumn, and Rhys, the Exiled. It means that you can have these creatures as Commanders, and you can generate mana of their color identity (so if you’re playing Memnarch, you can generate blue mana, or if you’re playing Thelon, you can generate black and green).

The RC spends quite some time considering the needs of the format itself and the voices of the format’s player base, making an effort to strike the balance that while keep the format strong and healthy for a long, long time.

While it’s great that they’re finally listening to us, here’s the big deal: Finally you can play with the Generals/Commanders he mentioned (All of the ones are in the picture above). So, while you players lose Emrakul, you can now play with Memnarch (I’m finally glad that Tolarian Academy is banned). Basically all of the other rules are the same, only that color now applies to mana symbols in the entire card. Some other changes:

  • Transguild Courior is now only legal in 5 color decks (it also means it’s now a 5 color Pauper Commander).
  • The Kobolds are now Red decks only (if you really wanted to put them in a deck for a combo or something).

Apparently color identity doesn’t mean the card is changing colors, but just the overall feel of it. I got a little excited with some of my ideas, but was cooled down by the Twitter crowd. Make note of this people.

Putting on my MTGCP Magic designer cap, what this means can be very exciting in the future. If you noticed, there hasn’t been too many Legendary Creatures that have been printed off-color recently. Why? Because they couldn’t be used as Generals/Commanders and a large part of WotC guys play EDH/Commander. Why print something if players couldn’t use them in that format? So, I guarantee that in the future there will be off-color Legends that will be printed. Why? No idea, but that opens up a whole lot of design space to play around in.

So, tell all your friends about this change. Knowledge is power. These rules take effect December 20th. The EDH/Commander Banned List has been updated.

4 Comments | posted in Commander, EDH, EDH Bannings

November 11, 2010

The Really Big (Long Overdue) SOM EDH Review

By Derfington

Editor’s Note: I asked Derfington to step in and give his impression of Scars of Mirrodin for terms of EDH.

In order to get this out (because it’s super duper late), I’ve skipped most of the formatting. Hopefully, you won’t mind. Yes, that means card links this time.

White (13 Cards)

Arrest

I’m not a fan of Arrest in EDH. Enchantment removal is fairly prevalent where I play, so it’s not a stretch to have an Arrested creature freed to run amok once again. Anything I want to Arrest I’d rather steal, destroy or exile. And Faith’s Fetters is a vastly superior version for just one more mana.

Dispense Justice

Dispense Justice is an excellent piece of removal for taking out the big bombs. Regeneration, Indestructibility and Shroud cannot stop it, and Metalcraft is just icing on the cake. I like it a bit more than Wing Shards because it has a lighter mana commitment, and because it’s easier to get value out of it. Wing Shards has greater potential for value, but you don’t want potential in a removal spell; you want reliability.

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11 Comments | posted in Derfington's Corner, EDH, Really Big EDH Review, Scars of Mirrodin

September 9, 2010

SOM EDH General Review – Geth, Lord of the Vault

By MTGColorPie

Certainly not Lord of the Dance

A few days ago, Doug Beyer (who always gets the Legends. Why? He’s a Flavor guy) finally brought to us a missing Legend from the last time we were on Mirrodin. We had Geth’s Grimoire, and that’s it. Hey, Completetis what to know all about him (and have most likely read the novels and know a little more).

If you read that post, you can find out that his undead head was attached to a Phyrexian body and, wow, really? I thought it was because of all the steroids. Maybe they were influenced by Dr. Quinn’s Robot chainsaw hands. Who makes this stuff up? Oh yeah, the flavor guys. I think it’s time for their monthly CAT scan WotC.

Alright. On to Geth, who just so happens to be the second Mono-Black Mythic General with evasion to be revealed in the first week of previews. Let’s see what he has in common with his little book.

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4 Comments   |  tags: | posted in EDH, General Review, Magic: the Gathering, Scars of Mirrodin

September 6, 2010

SOM EDH General Review – Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon

By MTGColorPie

I dare you to say his name three times fast

With the release of Scars of Mirrodin about a month away, it’s about that time to start seeing previews of this new (hopefully) exciting set. Like always, I don’t talk about a card on here unless it’s been officially previewed or is on the DailyMTG.com visual spoiler (at the time of this printing, that wasn’t up).

Today, Mark Rosewater decided to show us a really awesome General. As you can see it’s a Dragon, the first Dragon General that’s been released since the start of this blog. There was some question if Poison was going to be relevant in EDH and today I think we go our answer. Plus, even if he didn’t deal with Poison, I’d still think he’d be great. Maybe not that Mythic rarity, but still a pretty good dragon.

Oh, and I’m not writing Skithiryx a hundred times; I’m calling him Blighty.

As with everything, if you don’t want to actually spoil anything for the set, I would recommend not to read past here, though again, I’m only talking about cards that have been officially previewed.

So, let’s meet Blighty.

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11 Comments   |  tags: | posted in EDH, General Review, Magic: the Gathering, Scars of Mirrodin

August 20, 2010

Guest Post – Deathkeeping It Real

By MTGColorPie

By the power of Grayskull, I HAVE THE POWER!

Editor’s Note: I love getting articles from people, and I love posting them if they’re really good. This is a guest post by a Mr. Max Kautsch, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

I love EDH.  Who doesn’t?  I love using cards I’m too cheap to have more than one of.  I love using one-ofs from my collection that have never before seen play.  I love the staggering deckbuilding possibilities inherent in over 7,000 card choices.

One thing I do not love: the way multiplayer games bog down as each player tries to build up for an alpha strike that will defeat one or more opponents while not leaving himself exposed to a deadly counterattack.

My solution?  A deck that will end the game quickly one way or another.  Kill or be killed.  None of this interminable posturing and politicking.  A deck like that would probably have to involve some devastating combo that can just win the game.  So what, you say, kill combos have been done ad nauseam.  Ok, maybe so.  But by that logic, all control and aggro strategies have “been there done that.”  So I think the question becomes, what would be a unique, not-too-broken way to combo out against all your opponents at once in EDH?

When I Gathered (I’m going to use Magiccards.info for the links. Why? Because I’m the editor, that’s why – MTGCP) for possible combolicious generals, I couldn’t help but notice that the rules text for Sek’Kuar, Deathkeeper beings with the word “whenever”.  As all good Johnnys know, “whenever” can be the key to going infinite.  So why not give it a shot?

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8 Comments   |  tags: | posted in EDH, Magic: the Gathering

August 5, 2010

Tarmogoyf is a Pair of Bad Idea Jeans

By MTGColorPie

Even though it's over I'm going to tell my wife about the affair.

There’s an old Saturday Night Live sketch called “Bad Idea Jeans” (Link here on Hulu, sorry to those out of the country who can’t see it). Basically the gist is it’s a parody of 90’s jeans commercials where the actors in the ad say a bunch of, you guessed it, bad ideas:

“Hey, we’re gutting our apartment. Ripped the floors, pipes, wiring, having everything completely redone.”

“You’re renting, right?”

“Yeah!”

See, that’s a bad idea since you’re wasting money on something you don’t own. The whole ad had the men spout out such ideas to promote the brand “Bad Idea Jeans” much like if you’re going to advertise a perfume called “Whisper” you have the people in the ad whisper. What does this have to do with our friend Tarmogoyf? Well, we’re going to be talking about EDH deck construction today.

In EDH, he’s a pair of Bad Idea Jeans.

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8 Comments | posted in EDH, Magic: the Gathering, MTGO