Commander

Troll Ascetics – Man In The Mirror

Hello, fellow Commandeer-ing Commanders!

Welcome to another thrilling, pulse pounding, card-slinging edition of Troll Aesthetics. I’ve been tinkering around with the semi-new precons that were just released, and I’m still finding myself pleasantly surprised by their construction and ease of piloting. I’m of the opinion that Wizards could not have made a finer product to introduce people into the format, but I’m not without my critique of this fantastic product as well.

While Devour for Power and Counter Punch are turning out to be the crowd favorites, Mirror Mastery has been singled out for being the runt of the bunch. Be it that the wrong commander is being used, lack of overall synergy, or the fact that Wizards themselves pitched the product incorrectly, I’ve seen more people butchering this deck in particular for rares and stuff to add to their collection. This is something that not only doesn’t need to happen, but also ignores the overall point of the product. I mean, seriously guys-if you just wanted the individual rares inside, there’s always straight up ordering them online.

All the same, with a little bit of polish (and by “a little”, I mean under a hundred dollars worth), Mirror Mastery can become something you won’t be embarrassed to play.

For reference, here’s the list:

[Deck Title=Mirror Mastery (Pre-Con)]
[Lands]
7 Island
8 Mountain
13 Forest
1 Command Tower
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Fungal Reaches
1 Gruul Turf
1 Homeward Path
1 Izzet Boilerworks
1 Kazandu Refuge
1 Rupture Spire
1 Simic Growth Chamber
1 Temple of the False God
1 Vivid Crag
1 Vivid Creek
1 Vivid Grove
[/Lands][Creatures]
1 Riku of Two Reflections
1 Magus of the Vineyard
1 Veteran Explorer
1 Fierce Empath
1 Edric, Spymaster of Trest
1 Animar, Soul of Elements
1 Conundrum Sphinx
1 AEthersnipe
1 Chartooth Cougar
1 Rapacious One
1 Spitebellows
1 Deadwood Treefolk
1 Elvish Aberration
1 Baloth Woodcrasher
1 Hydra Omnivore
1 Nucklavee
1 Valley Rannet
1 Intet, the Dreamer
1 Faultgrinder
1 Krosan Tusker
1 Simic Sky Swallower
1 Trench Gorger
1 Avatar of Fury
1 Magmatic Force
1 Artisan of Kozilek
[/Creatures][Planeswalker]
1 Garruk Wildspeaker
[/Planeswalker][Artifacts]
1 Sol Ring
1 Armillary Sphere
1 Gruul Signet
1 Izzet Signet
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Prophetic Prism
1 Simic Signet
[/Artifacts][Enchantments]
1 Vow of Flight
1 Vow of Lightning
1 Vow of Wildness
[/Enchantments][Instants]
1 Brainstorm
1 Fire//Ice
1 Tribute to the Wild
1 Colossal Might
1 Invigorate
1 Spell Crumple
1 Electrolyze
1 Ray of Command
1 Prophetic Bolt
1 Hunting Pack
[/Instants][Sorceries]
1 Collective Voyage
1 Hull Breach
1 Cultivate
1 Kodama’s Reach
1 Firespout
1 Ruination
1 Explosive Vegetation
1 Chain Reaction
1 Death by Dragons
1 Vengeful Rebirth
1 Disaster Radius
1 Call the Skybreaker
1 Savage Twister
[/Sorceries][/Deck]

At a glance, it is difficult to tell what the exact goal or theme of the deck is, especially since most people tend to think of this being a [card]Riku of Two Reflections[/card] centered build. Honestly, all of the commander precons are built  using any of the generals featured in mind, so the obvious question would be which would be best to play right out of the box, right? This is something that seems easy to answer, or a question that is largely subjected to personal taste, but if we take a moment to sit back and glance at the build and what the deck is trying to accomplish (which by itself is an excellent question we’ll get to in a moment), what should be a trivial matter suddenly becomes a much bigger problem. There simply aren’t enough creatures with Enter The Battlefield abilities or worthwhile spells to copy with Riku, but the ability to create two copies of [card]Magmatic Force[/card] or [card]Artisan of Kozilek[/card] is not something to toss aside. [card]Animar, Soul of Elements[/card] provides a nice body and ability on his own-but is in dire need of some evoke creatures such as [card]Mulldrifter[/card] and [card]Cloudthresher[/card], and could combo nicely with cards like [card]Palinchron[/card]. Intet is just as good as he always has been, but falls a bit behind in terms of raw power compared to the other generals-hence, he’s going to be put aside for the rest of this article. If you’re interested in what a proper [card]Intet, The Dreamer[/card] deck looks like, send me an email and I’ll gladly point you in the right direction.

While we’ve narrowed down our choice on generals a bit, the question still remains as to whom would be better to play. With the list as it is, I see players getting a much better use out of Animar due to many of the relevant creatures being huge and considering it also has protection from three of the other precons, Animar quickly becomes not only a great early game resource, but a splendid way to end the game. If this card was loose in the wild of slower formats than Legacy, people would surely be posting about how the card busted the game in their favor or their opponents. If we take both Animar and Riku by themselves and hold them side by side, Riku is arguably a more powerful general due to his combo potential and the creatures he has access to playing around with, but as we’re looking to get as much bang for our minimal amount of bucks as possible, I still find Animar to be the best possible choice.

There is never going to be a moment when he isn’t doing something useful and relevant for a low cost and building with him also allows us to smash the face of our enemies with some of the format’s most popular creatures. Riku is definitely a competitive general, and one I look forward to building around in the future but in the mean time, I want to beat people over the head savagely. Quite a departure from my usual, quiet “don’t get noticed” approach, isn’t it?

Removing Riku and Intet instantly gives us two slots, but changing two cards is neither the path to originality or an improvement, so let’s take a gander at what else could be snipped from the deck in favor of something far more versatile and worthwhile:

Vow of Wilderness/Lightning/Flight: I know the political tricks that can be pulled with this cycle tend to make them a ton of fun, but in a format with widespread targeted enchantment/artifact destruction, running any of these without a means of recurring seems like a less than optimal idea.

[card]Magus of the Vineyard[/card], [card]Death By Dragons[/card], [card]Ruination[/card],  [card]Veteran Explorer[/card] & [card]Edric, Spymaster of Trest[/card]: The symmetrical nature of these cards makes me doubt their effectiveness. Yet again, the political influence they possibly have over the table seems like a good idea on paper, but as all three are either giving your opponents vital resources (mana) or options (card draw), there are going to be times that these backfire on you horrifically by speeding up the game to an absolutely manic pace.

Similarly, I’ve even given consideration to cutting [Card]Collective Voyage[/Card], however since it is probably one of the best mana ramp spells ever printed and is highly splashable, the disadvantages that could possibly be incured from it are minimal compared to how quickly it could accelerate you into a win. [Card]Death by Dragons[/Card] isn’t as politically useful when you’re trying hard to kill everyone in as quick a manner as possible and giving your opponents beaters/bloackers is a terrible idea. [Card]Ruination[/Card] is more suitable in non-wedge decks and is a less than stellar choice due to the massive amount of negative political favor it will generate you.

[card]Hydra Omnivore[/card], [card]Baloth Woodcrasher[/card]: A beater without evasion that turns me into the biggest douchebag at the table if it hits? No thanks. While the Vow cycle makes Hydra a little better, this card simply doesn’t have the immediate impact that we look for in Commander and so fails to meet the cut. Likewise, Woodcrasher is a six mana 4/4 that is an occasional 8/8 with trample. Call it years of being spoiled to power creep, but last time I checked, paying six mana for something such as that is well into the realm that players have lovingly labeled “sucktastic”.

[card]Colossal Might[/card], [card]Invigorate[/card]: Why on earth would you ever play a one-shot creature pump when cheaper answers are already available that give permanent buffs and boosts? One shot spells like this aren’t unexpected-they can net you a few surprise wins out of nowhere, but not consistently enough to be considered awesome, especially when cards like [Card]Gaea’s Anthem[/Card] are in your colors.

[card]Tribute to The Wild[/card], [card]Disaster Radius[/card], [card]Hunting Pack[/card]: Simply put, Tribute isn’t targeted removal and will fail you more often than it will succeed. Disaster Radius is not only fat, but entirely dependant on what’s in your hand. Hunting Pack could potentially force a wrath-effect if necessary, but at seven mana, even being instant speed leaves something to be desired. I’m of the opinion that this is strictly here for some sort of synergy with Riku. I don’t particularly enjoy having conditional cards, do you?

[card]Nucklavee[/card], [card]Rapacious One[/card], [card]Trench Gorger[/card], [card]Conundrum Sphinx[/card]: Yet another sign of the overall weakness of Mirror Mastery in comparison with the other decks is its card selection has little to no synergy with the rest of the build or is sometimes a weak consideration over another card in the same rarity slot or lower, that sometimes the cards are just BAD. I’ve yet to find a reasonable argument for [Card]Trench Gorger[/Card] outside of deck thinning, which could very easily backfire if someone were to play [Card]Armageddon[/Card] or mass Ponza effects. [Card]Conundrum Sphinx[/Card] is a bad card draw engine, especially without [Card]Sensei’s Divining Top[/Card], [Card]Crystal Ball[/Card] or [Card]Jace, The Mind Sculptor[/Card] alongside it. In fact, the deck has no real way to trigger the Sphinx outside of [Card]Brainstorm[/Card] or [Card]Prophetic Bolt[/Card].

Nucklavee isn’t a bad card but with [card]Mnemonic Wall[/card] and [card]Izzet Chronarch[/card] able to grab any Sorcery or Instant while shaving off a mana, makes them more versatile (I personally prefer the wall due to it’s bigger defense and slightly splashier costs). And [Card]Rapacious One[/Card] has my head scratching, is it suppose to ramp me? provide blockers? Look like a giant phallus symbol as it’s charging across the field? Seriously, they tossed this guy in Political Puppets too!

Now that we’ve trimmed the fat, the next step is deducing what options we should choose to meet our ends of making our opponent weep openly. For a deck using blue, there’s a woeful lack of card draw. While trying to stay as budget as possible leaves out a Shockland/Dual land and Fetchland package, that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of old standbys we can use. Lastly, Red isn’t just for burn, there are plenty of low (financially speaking) cost options that can help net us a blow out.

1. A Card Draw Package – [card]Fact or Fiction[/card], [card]Compulsive Research[/card], [card]Frantic Search[/card], [card]Slithermuse[/card], [card]Mulldrifter[/card] & [card]Stroke of Genius[/card]: Some old standbys, some staples in the format, and a few critters to compliment not only Animar’s ability, but are also tutorable via a few of our forthcoming selections. Slithermuse and Mulldrifter are under rated, but it’s easy to forget them in a sea of all star cards. But as they’re beaters AND fill our card draw hole while still remaining well under budget, they’re definitely worth giving a nod to.

2. Beaters, Bashers & Teeth Gnashers – [card]Avenger of Zendikar[/card], [card]Gaea’s Revenge[/card], [card]Hateflayer[/card], [card]Thornling[/card] & [card]Tornado Elemental[/card]: These big boys might be a bit top heavy, but also create a serious problem the moment they hit the board. Avenger gives you a potential army of beaters for roughly the same amount of work and mana that [card]Hunting Pack[/card] would without depending on anything else being cast, and Gaea’s lack of Trample and weak defense are an arguable trade off considering it’s unique ability to dodge most removal. [card]Hateflayer[/card] is a card that like [card]Mulldrifter[/card] and [card]Slithermuse[/card] is often recommended but forgotten, but considering it can do rather permanent damage, it’s hard to ignore it utterly. As flying win-cons are as common as they are annoying, [card]Tornado Elemental[/card] hits almost every relevant sky-bound beater while still giving an admirable body on it’s own. [card]Thornling[/card] is a card many people (myself included) are on the fence about, and while I’ve yet to experience any real success with him, he’s versatile enough to have proven himself a worthy inclusion in any build that has room for him.

3. Ramping It Up Like My Name Was Tony Hawk – [card]Fertilid[/card], [card]Wirewood Elf[/card], [card]Sakura-Tribe Elder[/card], [card]Farhaven Elf[/card], [card]Smokebraider[/card] & [card]Solemn Simulacrum[/card]: Given that Wizards was kind enough to include a well-rounded group of mana rocks to handle the deck’s problems with it’s real estate, it seems only proper to round this out with a set of creatures to advance you, continually forward. While our middle three choices aren’t elementals persay, they’re still affordable options for some fantastic mana ramping. [card]Fertilid[/card] and [card]Smokebraider[/card] are, if I were to speak in a sane manner about them at all, absolutely the stones. And I’ve yet to find a guy that didn’t appreciate having a Solemn in his hands.

4. Utility, Utility, Utility – [card]Flamekin Harbinger[/card], [card]Incandescent Soulstoke[/card], [card]Brighthearth Banneret[/card], [card]Quicksilver Elemental[/card], [card]Ingot Chewer[/card], [card]Anger[/card], [card]Brawn[/card] & [card]Fauna Shaman[/card]: Think of these as the cards that set you up for quicker, more wince-inducing successes. Harbinger and Banneret will affect a great deal of the creature base due to our pseudo-elemental theme, and [card]Incadescent Soulstoke[/card] will give a slight buff, yet don’t think of him as a lord. Think of him as what he was actually designed to do, which would be cheat as many of your bigger guys into play while evading those sometimes expensive Evoke costs as possible. [card]Quicksilver Elemental[/card] is actually strong enough on it’s own to warrant a spot, but there are also possible combos with [Card]Mycosynth Lattice[/Card] and [Card]March of The Machines[/Card] if you so decide to feature those in your build.  [card]Fauna Shaman[/card] and [card]Brawn[/card]/[card]Anger[/card] seems an obvious inclusion, especially since tutoring for answer-creatures is something you’re going to be doing quite a lot of anyways.

5. Best of the Rest – [card]Wheel of Fortune[/card], [card]Krosan Grip[/card], [card]Sylvan Library[/card], [card]Tooth and Nail[/card], [card]Primal Command[/card], [card]Worldly Tutor[/card], [card]Greater Good[/card], [card]Mass Hysteria[/card], [card]Mimic Vat[/card] & [card]Eternal Witness[/card]: The typical tutors, Enchantment and Artifact removal and card draw for decks such as this. Saccing your guys to [card]Greater Good[/card] after you’ve evoked them seems good and [card]Mimic Vat[/card] gives you the option to feed that chain while also giving you far more mileage out of [card]Ingot Chewer[/card], [card]Mulldrifter[/card] and others. I almost forgot about witness until I realized I made the same mistake with a previous list I was writing about for this week, which you guys will get a peek at next week after some refinement.

Phew! That was a long, boring wall of text. Note that I’ve given you more suggestions to add than I have to cut. When building a deck, I tend to keep an open mind as to the possibilities I have available to me, which is an important practice to keep up if you’re hoping to achieve an optimal list. The reasoning for this is quite simple, Commander is a format where literally anything is possible and every card has a place somewhere, in some potential and theoretical build. True, there are some cards that may shine a little more than their neighbors (Regrowth and Witness, for example), but when we only pay attention to cards with a pedigree, which narrows our thinking and thus limits the potential that not only our deck could obtain, but ourselves as well. Free your mind, and the wins will follow.

And yet, that piece of advice isn’t always so easy to follow, is it? Putting it into some self-contained textual phrase doesn’t make obtaining that perfect list any less of a quest, especially when you’re operating within the confines of limited resources and time. But is there any such thing as a “perfect” list for Commander? Considering that at any given time there could be between a hundred or a hundred thousand people working with your general, even finding a point of reference can be difficult, as no two lists may be the same. Keeping an open mind is simultaeneously and ironically the best and worst thing that you can do to yourself, as you’ll be innundated with options to the point of having simply TOO much to work with.

As you go out into the wild in search of new tech and deck lists, be sure to also keep a sharp focus so that your untamed wanderlust doesn’t get completely out of hand. Looking at the above list, it’s easy to tell when I started wandering off track myself. I had originally decided to go with a tribal theme for Animar, but also wanted to accommodate cards that I felt were simply too good to ignore. But in doing so, I’m now left with a pile of cards on my desk that aren’t any more synergistic with each other than when I took the deck out of the box. Focusing on what matters isn’t just a fancy phrase that players toss around for the hell of it, it applies to nearly every aspect of the game, and is no different in a casual format than it is a serious constructed environment.

I know it’s easy to get lured by absolutely crazy deck lists. Likewise, I know how fun it is to play with exciting cards, and have those explosive moments in your games. Without turning this into a discussion of Spikes Vs Timmies, Johnnies, or whatever other crazed psycograhic Wizards is trying to pen the playerbase into this week, it’s only through a healthy balance between the two that an optimal (but not perfect) list can flourish into something suitable. Seeking the mythical “perfect” list is a hopeless endeavor due to the wealth of constantly increasing options available and always gazing at those options rather than what they add to your list can detract away from what you’re trying to accomplish.

To emphasis this, I’m going to give you not just one decklist, but TWO. One based on the suggestions I have here, and one totally baller-holic, make-it-rain-all-about-the-benjamins-bay-beh list. To get a good grip on what Animar can do for you, I suggest taking a list at both, possibly testing them on your online play method of choice, and deciding for yourself what works best for you.

[Deck Title=Jack Lacroix – Cheap Ol’ Animar]
[Commander]Animar, Soul of Elements[/Commander]
[Lands]
13 Forest
8 Mountain
7 Island
1 Vivid Grove
1 Vivid Creek
1 Vivid Crag
1 Temple of The False God
1 Simic Growth Chamber
1 Rupture Spire
1 Kazandu Refuge
1 Izzet Boilerworks
1 Homeward Path
1 Gruul Turf
1 Fungal Reaches
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Command Tower
[/Lands][Creatures]
1 Fauna Shaman
1 Incandescent Soulstoke
1 Mulldrifter
1 Slithermuse
1 Ingot Chewer
1 Anger
1 Brawn
1 Wirewood Elf
1 Fertilid
1 Farhaven Elf
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Avenger of Zendikar
1 Gaea’s Revenge
1 Tornado Elemental
1 Flamekin Harbinger
1 Hateflayer
1 Artisan of Kozilek
1 Krosan Tusker
1 Chartooth Cougar
1 Valley Rannet
1 Elvish Aberration
1 Deadwood Treefolk
1 Spitebellows
1 Aethersnipe
1 Faultgrinder
1 Magmatic Force
[/Creatures][Spells]
1 Brainstorm
1 Fire // Ice
1 Spell Crumple
1 Electrolyze
1 Ray of Command
1 Firespout
1 Chain Reaction
1 Vengeful Rebirth
1 Call The Skybreaker
1 Savage Twister
1 Hull Breach
1 Cultivate
1Kodama’s Reach

1 Explosive Vegetation
1 Collective Voyage
1 Prophetic Bolt
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Compulsive Research
1 Krosan Grip
1 Earthquake
1 Wheel of Fortune
[/Spells][Artifacts and Enchantments]
1 Mimic Vat
1 Greater Good
1 Sol Ring
1 Armillary Sphere
1 Izzet Signet
1 Gruul Signet
1 Simic Signet
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Mass Hysteria
[/Artifacts and Enchantments][Planeswalkers]
1 Garruk Wildspeaker
[/Planeswalkers[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Jack Lacroix – Ani-“Kobe Bryant”-Mar]
[Commander]Animar, Soul of Elements[/Commander]
[Lands]
5 Forest
5 Island
5 Mountain
1 Primal Beyond
1 Command Tower
1 Reflecting Pool
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Steam Vents
1 Breeding Pool
1 Stomping Ground
1 Flooded Grove
1 Cascade Bluffs
1 Fire-Lit Thicket
1 Taiga
1 Tropical Island
1 Volcanic Island
1 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
1 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
1 Mosswort Bridge
1 Hall of the Bandit Lord
1 Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep
1 Yavimaya Hollow
1 Gaea’s Cradle
1 Vesuva
[/Lands][Creatures]

1 Palinchron

1 Solemn Simulacrum

1 Fauna Shaman
1 Incandescent Soulstoke
1 Acidic Slime
1 Ingot Chewer
1 Mulldrifter
1 Slithermuse
1 Fertilid
1 Avenger of Zendikar
1 Farhaven Elf
1 Eternal Witness
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Azusa, Lost but Seeking
1 Primeval Titan
1 Inferno Titan
1 Brawn
1 Anger
1 Wonder
1 Genesis
1 Flamekin Harbinger
1 Tornado Elemental
[/Creatures][Enchantments]

1 Prismatic Omen

1 Mana Reflection

1 Future Sight
1 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Sylvan Library
1 Survival of the Fittest
1 Mimic Vat
1 Greater Good
1 Mass Hysteria
[/Enchantments][Artifacts]
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Sol Ring
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Coalition Relic
1 Simic Signet
1 Izzet Signet
1 Gruul Signet
[/Artifacts][Spells]

1 Hull Breach

1 Scapeshift

1 Krosan Grip

1 Artifact Mutation

1 Time Warp
1 Time Stretch
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Beacon of Tomorrows
1 Red Sun’s Zenith
1 Realms Uncharted
1 Sylvan Scrying
1Kodama’s Reach

1 Cultivate
1 Explosive Vegetation
1 Twincast
1 Reverberate
1 Beast Within
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Regrowth
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Sylvan Tutor
1 Worldly Tutor
1 Earthquake
[/Spells][/Deck]

These are two very distinct lists; one is chocked full of combo, beaters, baddies and more and the other a step up from our initial investment. The best part about having both of these lists before us is that our aforementioned troubles assembling those difficult to obtain slips of paper are non-existent unless your playgroup has a strict policy about proxies. While both of these lists may appear at severely different levels of power, adequate testing is really the only way to prove which is superior. After all, multiplayer politics still exist, and our second list will attract quite a bit of attention, something worth considering before assembling it.

Until next time folks, keep your playgroup out of the loop and beat them senseless. Have a great week everybody.

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