I hadn't thought about it before this article, but like Epsilon says, Sphere was probably restricted to give storm decks a chance. That way we can have some equally playable pillars again - storm, creatures, dredge, weaker shops. That way it's not just a bunch of Legacy creature decks slamming into each other.
And Oath I guess but I have found Oath to be unplayable over the last couple years because of all the Grizzly Bears with attached enchantment hate they keep printing.
Shop decks aren't as dominant in Vintage; there were no restrictions needed. Probably because of Power 9 to balance out the other decks, but possibly also because of cost / availability issues. We'll see how big a deal Workshop is when Vintage comes online where the deck is way cheaper.
I agree that your green was underwhelming. It hurts not being able to play the Promo card. I think you probably made the right choice, but overall I have to think that the pool left something to be desired. :/ I picked the Green pack as well and opened really good blue to go with it and was able to go 3-1.
I was just including cards that disrupted/countered/were otherwise useful against artifact strategies, not necessarily saying that those were the only uses (obv, Nature's Claim and Trygon Predator, among others, are both good against Oath) or even the primary, intended uses on the part of the deckbuilders. In this case, Tower could be used for blocking an artifact creature as well as responding to an equip activation. Hope that clarifies things. Thanks for the feedback and I agree about being excited about a metagame shakeup.
To be fair, I disagree with the DCI about Sphere getting the ax and I have no problems with people criticizing them on that front. My complaint is with those claiming the format was 'fine' and Affinity/Stax were 'just another deck.' I think, however, the restrictions are more positive than negative and I think the format needed a change. As for why they didn't make the same change in Vintage, the numbers don't support the deck being a dominating/format-warping force in Vintage. 20% of top 8s is a far, far cry from 40% of Top 8's. In Vintage, because of Moxen, Shops (whether Affinity or Stax) is just another very good archetype. In Classic, it was, IMO, THE archetype to the point where it was difficult to rationalize going with any other strategy if you wanted to maximize your chances of winning a tournament (especially a DE).
Let's bracket, for a moment, all the arguments in this post, as well as the responses. Here we are, presented with what -- I hope -- is essentially a fresh and brand new metagame, regardless of the justice of the restriction decisions.
All the sudden Seeds of Innocence is awesome again. Landstill is again a deck in the metagame. Null Rod and Stony Silence are cards that matter instead of only matter 50% of the time. All the sudden Gilder Brain is ... ... never mind, I'd better take care of something.
For the record, Tower of the Magistrate is an equipment hate card, not really artifacts hate. Though there isn't any equipment in the tournament.
I disagree with your sweeping generalization that "This is great/ding dong the witch is dead".
I think it is troubling in many ways because we are being treated like guinea pigs. Why would they make a unilateral change against a singular deck (be fair, this affects affinity but completely NEUTERS stax) and not do the same in vintage?
My biggest (see: only) beef is that they restricted sphere of resistance. Talk about overkill.
I look forward to hearing what you disagree with me on.
Dredge: I agree that Dredge is kept in check by hate, but the difference between Dredge and the situation before 2/5 re: Shops is that if people pack the Dredge hate, the deck just withers. I have a lot of difficulty imagining the deck could take down 2/3 of the Dailies if the field was full of maindeck Cages and a bunch of people were playing something like Helmline or something, but that's comparable to what you've been seeing with Shops despite all the Katakis, Fluxes, Trygons, Grudges, etc. In other words, it's not just the raw amount of hate, it's the fact that the deck continues to perform as strongly as it does through the hate. (One of the arguments that restriction wasn't necessary was that the metagame needs to adjust. My argument is that it had adjusted and then some, and not in ways that are characteristic of a healthy, balanced format.)
The degree of hate against Vintage decks past: Obviously, putting together the actual hard data to the degree I did in this article is difficult. I know Fish decks with Null Rod were pretty big during 4 Thirst Tez and that Shops were commonly played during the Gush eras to counter that strategy. (In fact, one of the reasons the Stax strategy caught on in 2003 was because its Sphere of Resistances were very effective against Gro strategies.) Flash decks saw plenty of Leylines, especially with Dredge in the format at the same time, which was one of the most effective ways to shut the deck down.
Nice article. Always good to see a wombat! Mishra's Factory was the first four tree houses, right? (via Antiquities) So Pendlehaven would come in at least 5th.. Is Keebler Elves a card yet?
I thought the article was an interesting read. I must admit I don't necessarily agree with all points, and I'll delve into that in a moment, but I appreciate having more classic content.
Let me ask you a (rhetorical) question: How is dredge kept in check? By hate, right? Look, it is no secret that people need to side 7-8 cards to have a legitimate shot at beating dredge. It is simply too powerful. I haven't done the research here, but I can guarantee there have been DEs and QTs who had such a disproportionate # of hate cards for dredge it would be jaw dropping...
Was there that much hate against *any* of the vintage decks where you cited that were crippled in the past?
Thanks man! I think your analysis is pretty spot on and I think you're right that Jeleva needs more board wipes. I would just do everything in my power to avoid X-spells, because they do NOTHING when under her. So Blasphemous Act, Chain Reaction, Damnation, etc. There are plenty of options that don't have X in the casting cost. I had plenty of times where those cards got put under Jeleva and it just annoyed the crap out of me.
I think Grafdigger's Cage really changed the dynamic of that matchup, esp. for Affinity because it gave an out to the Turn One Oath play. As for the Oath v. Stax matchup, I think if you are Oath and you win the roll and have your combo on Turn One or Two, you are in business, esp. in Game One before they board in the hate. However, on the draw, esp. if they have a Turn One Sphere effect and you don't have FoW, it's pretty bad for you.
As for Sphere, I'm not convinced that it was the right card and I probably wouldn't have restricted it if I were the one making the decisions (I think Wire and Golem were the worst two offenders), but I think something had to be done. The Shop decks were just so statistically dominant, even in the face of all the hate. Even in the League this week, which came out after this article, the Shop decks went 6-1 (the only loss being in the mirror) and the final two DEs before the restriction were both 4-0 Shops. Personally, I wouldn't even mind Montolio calling me an idiot or thewoof2's more polite accusation of bias, if they would add some actual statistics cited, counter-arguments, or something.
I have to say as a very very casual Classic format indulger (one could even say "bon vivant"), I am not convinced that Lodestone would be the right target without Sphere of Resistance. The pair locked out lots of possible decks. I played quite a bit of shops affinity a few years ago (though never in DEs) and my feeling was if Oath got its nut draw it could just end the game before I even got going. Affinity never played out that way, itself. I think once in a PRE I got turn 1 Lodestone off Shops + Opal and it was promptly countered with FOW and then my Shops wasted and what land (CoT I think)came next was stripped. (The guy went on to win the whole thing btw.) Locking me out. And the guy didn't even have his good draw. Sure at times you get blowouts with Lodestone but I think the hype was far larger than the actual effect.
Personally, I am not invested in Classic so the bannings don't bum me out so much but I can see why they are engendering some hate. The fact that shops affinity is still playable doesn't make it a problem any more than Oath or Dredge or any other mainstay deck is. And in fact people may abandon it for greener pastures since it no longer has an edge the way it used to.
All right, I admit the piece is a little ranty, mainly as a reaction to some of the complaining about the restrictions and assertions that the format was 'fine.' However, I site several statistics as far as hate cards being played, percentages of top 8s, specific examples of how I felt Shops were warping the format, etc. as well as linking to my original article on the subject, which has even more stats about the format. If I'm off, I'd love to hear an actual critique of the statistics I cite, the examples I use, the comparisons I make, etc. However, all I get is people criticizing 'tone,' 'bias,' 'you're the worst player in Classic,' 'you're an idiot,' 'I don't care what the numbers say,' 'the format was fine,' etc.
Michael I am sure you have many good ideas/input but I have to say when I read your piece you speak as if everything is 100% fact and you come across to me as very biased. That might be your intentions but for me it is hard to look at your analysis as objective, kinda like hearing republicans talk about Obamacare - way too biased for me (*this is not an endorsement of Obamacare*). I understand everyone is biased, as I am, so maybe it is just the combination of writing everything as fact and not ever considering the other side of the coin.
There has to be some deck of vorthosian quality that has a heroic fella killing a hydra to invoke gaea's revenge.
To address the point brought up by Silencer a bit more. There are people like myself who dabble in mad science and then there are the real mad scientists. My mad science tends to either be more timmy or spike than pure Johnny and I find that to perfectly fine (and fun) but Boosh is one of the guys you gotta read if you want some hidden tech no one even remembers anymore that will destroy your opponents in style. And by style I mean in true Red Skull fashion...(that bastard!)
On a side note I am a big fan of Nick Fury, I just wish they hadn't erased his past as a WWII vet when they reinvented him for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. which is an OK show but needs more Marvel.
That's why I say everyone should use my deck as a foundation for their own brewing. :)
Conscription is in there because this deck packs a lot of mana, and it's fun to put on viridian joiner, as well as an already huge hydra. A Double Strike Savage Hydra that's already huge and then gets that bump can be epic.
The Thran Dynamo bit is actually a typo,: I meant to say Stuffy Doll + POWER MATRIX + silklash spider.
If you tap the matrix and give stuffy flying, you can then activate the silklash and wind up damagin' the fudge out of your opponent by damaging the flying-stuffy.
For some reason I always confuse Thran Dynamo and Power Matrix.
Every single time I put Hunter's insight in a deck, Commander, classic, or otherwise it gets cut. It's too conditional for me. I would pick Soul's Majesty over it every time, and that's usually what I do.
As for "practical synergies which happen more often, not only on paper."
If you are looking for fun, zany Johnny combo brewing that is wacky to play, then come to me :) If you are looking for the tip of the johnny combo iceberg which often floats over into spike territory and want a deck that wins everytime without fail, then our play styles are different so you will probably always be slightly disappointed in my decks.
And, finally, as for Stuffy Doll: Rolling Earthquake, the silklash combo, and clan defiance can be used to severely damage your opponent while if your opponent has hexproof from a leyline or something, you can use banefire or red sun's zenith on the stuffy to get through to your opponent. It's indestructibility lets it live through wrath spells, if he's untapped opponents really don't like attacking knowing some of the damage is coming back to them, and regardless of anything else, it pings your opponent for a damage everytime you tap it.
Also, I write pretty large articles filled with graphics I personally make. I feel like throwin in tons of deck analysis would not only be time consuming but would also prevent folks from trying the deck themselves. I also don't have the time to record matches and post them.
Jeleva needs "deals X damage to everything" cards to kill off your Jeleva without leaving yourself open. Sac effects could do this job, but you gain more momentum with wipe spells and in Jeleva's colors, you either have expensive wraths or X spells. Having picked up this deck in paper just because selling TNN made it free, I love both decks and built them into seperate decks and Baleful Force is a beast in Nekusar. You obviously want to include cards that take advantage of you drawing cards as well as ones that punish your opponents for drawing and Baleful is a huge enabler. And Jeleva's biggest weaknesses are wanting to swing into blockers with multiple good spells under her and not being able to get her to die when she doesn't. Yes, having an X spell tucked under her is bad, but so is having creatures, lands, etc. but you wouldn't build the deck without those. I'd love to see you build these decks seperate, especially Nekusar. He is my new favorite multiplayer commander due to him being a skill tester. You have to be able to differentiate between the benefits of his Howling Mine side and the negatives of his Underworld Dreams side when playing against him and it makes for interesting games. I do want to thank you for continuing to put these up. Playing only paper Magic makes it hard to find other players when you can't FNM so its nice to see a game and get my fix.
Maybe you could just write a bit more about how this deck looks in games and focus more on practical synergies which happen more often, not only on paper. By the way, what is so good about "Stuffy Doll + Thran Dynamo + Silklash Spider"? ;]
I also don't really like some slots like Praetors' Counsel, Eldrazi Conscription or Stuffy Doll, but the rest is cool. In the big power creature decks, you should play Mosswort Bridge and Hunter's Insight no matter what type of player you are and what cards you like ;)
Nylea's presence is a fringe part of the deck, many lists are down to two copies now. It's a pretty weak card. The real enabler is Sylvan Caryatid, it ramps, it fixes and it's essentially impossible to interract with in block (Anger of the Gods only kills it in a relevant amount of time when you're on the play). That's actually a really interesting possible ban target. If the deck had to rely on voyaging satyr for ramp, it becomes a lot easier to interract.
You've got me thinking there, but as I said, I hope we don't need to think about this post-BNG :).
Now I'm wondering if Great Sable Stag will see play again. It swings past any faerie, token or otherwise, and any zombie (I've seen devotion decks lately), and it's immune to any mode of Cryptic Command. I might add it to my sideboards again.
Armageddon
Aside: Kinda glad I sold my paper Damnation last week before the price plummets
I hadn't thought about it before this article, but like Epsilon says, Sphere was probably restricted to give storm decks a chance. That way we can have some equally playable pillars again - storm, creatures, dredge, weaker shops. That way it's not just a bunch of Legacy creature decks slamming into each other.
And Oath I guess but I have found Oath to be unplayable over the last couple years because of all the Grizzly Bears with attached enchantment hate they keep printing.
Shop decks aren't as dominant in Vintage; there were no restrictions needed. Probably because of Power 9 to balance out the other decks, but possibly also because of cost / availability issues. We'll see how big a deal Workshop is when Vintage comes online where the deck is way cheaper.
I agree that your green was underwhelming. It hurts not being able to play the Promo card. I think you probably made the right choice, but overall I have to think that the pool left something to be desired. :/ I picked the Green pack as well and opened really good blue to go with it and was able to go 3-1.
I was just including cards that disrupted/countered/were otherwise useful against artifact strategies, not necessarily saying that those were the only uses (obv, Nature's Claim and Trygon Predator, among others, are both good against Oath) or even the primary, intended uses on the part of the deckbuilders. In this case, Tower could be used for blocking an artifact creature as well as responding to an equip activation. Hope that clarifies things. Thanks for the feedback and I agree about being excited about a metagame shakeup.
To be fair, I disagree with the DCI about Sphere getting the ax and I have no problems with people criticizing them on that front. My complaint is with those claiming the format was 'fine' and Affinity/Stax were 'just another deck.' I think, however, the restrictions are more positive than negative and I think the format needed a change. As for why they didn't make the same change in Vintage, the numbers don't support the deck being a dominating/format-warping force in Vintage. 20% of top 8s is a far, far cry from 40% of Top 8's. In Vintage, because of Moxen, Shops (whether Affinity or Stax) is just another very good archetype. In Classic, it was, IMO, THE archetype to the point where it was difficult to rationalize going with any other strategy if you wanted to maximize your chances of winning a tournament (especially a DE).
Let's bracket, for a moment, all the arguments in this post, as well as the responses. Here we are, presented with what -- I hope -- is essentially a fresh and brand new metagame, regardless of the justice of the restriction decisions.
All the sudden Seeds of Innocence is awesome again. Landstill is again a deck in the metagame. Null Rod and Stony Silence are cards that matter instead of only matter 50% of the time. All the sudden Gilder Brain is ... ... never mind, I'd better take care of something.
For the record, Tower of the Magistrate is an equipment hate card, not really artifacts hate. Though there isn't any equipment in the tournament.
I disagree with your sweeping generalization that "This is great/ding dong the witch is dead".
I think it is troubling in many ways because we are being treated like guinea pigs. Why would they make a unilateral change against a singular deck (be fair, this affects affinity but completely NEUTERS stax) and not do the same in vintage?
My biggest (see: only) beef is that they restricted sphere of resistance. Talk about overkill.
I look forward to hearing what you disagree with me on.
Dredge: I agree that Dredge is kept in check by hate, but the difference between Dredge and the situation before 2/5 re: Shops is that if people pack the Dredge hate, the deck just withers. I have a lot of difficulty imagining the deck could take down 2/3 of the Dailies if the field was full of maindeck Cages and a bunch of people were playing something like Helmline or something, but that's comparable to what you've been seeing with Shops despite all the Katakis, Fluxes, Trygons, Grudges, etc. In other words, it's not just the raw amount of hate, it's the fact that the deck continues to perform as strongly as it does through the hate. (One of the arguments that restriction wasn't necessary was that the metagame needs to adjust. My argument is that it had adjusted and then some, and not in ways that are characteristic of a healthy, balanced format.)
The degree of hate against Vintage decks past: Obviously, putting together the actual hard data to the degree I did in this article is difficult. I know Fish decks with Null Rod were pretty big during 4 Thirst Tez and that Shops were commonly played during the Gush eras to counter that strategy. (In fact, one of the reasons the Stax strategy caught on in 2003 was because its Sphere of Resistances were very effective against Gro strategies.) Flash decks saw plenty of Leylines, especially with Dredge in the format at the same time, which was one of the most effective ways to shut the deck down.
Nice article. Always good to see a wombat! Mishra's Factory was the first four tree houses, right? (via Antiquities) So Pendlehaven would come in at least 5th.. Is Keebler Elves a card yet?
Hey Epsilon,
I thought the article was an interesting read. I must admit I don't necessarily agree with all points, and I'll delve into that in a moment, but I appreciate having more classic content.
Let me ask you a (rhetorical) question: How is dredge kept in check? By hate, right? Look, it is no secret that people need to side 7-8 cards to have a legitimate shot at beating dredge. It is simply too powerful. I haven't done the research here, but I can guarantee there have been DEs and QTs who had such a disproportionate # of hate cards for dredge it would be jaw dropping...
Was there that much hate against *any* of the vintage decks where you cited that were crippled in the past?
Anyways - good read. Keep writing.
Zach
I've taken care of some comments that to me seemed more inflammatory than they needed to be.
Thanks man! I think your analysis is pretty spot on and I think you're right that Jeleva needs more board wipes. I would just do everything in my power to avoid X-spells, because they do NOTHING when under her. So Blasphemous Act, Chain Reaction, Damnation, etc. There are plenty of options that don't have X in the casting cost. I had plenty of times where those cards got put under Jeleva and it just annoyed the crap out of me.
As for my Nekusar deck: http://puremtgo.com/articles/conqueror-commander-vol-lxxviii-nicol-bolas
I don't think I'm going to rebuild it any time soon, but you never know.
I think Grafdigger's Cage really changed the dynamic of that matchup, esp. for Affinity because it gave an out to the Turn One Oath play. As for the Oath v. Stax matchup, I think if you are Oath and you win the roll and have your combo on Turn One or Two, you are in business, esp. in Game One before they board in the hate. However, on the draw, esp. if they have a Turn One Sphere effect and you don't have FoW, it's pretty bad for you.
As for Sphere, I'm not convinced that it was the right card and I probably wouldn't have restricted it if I were the one making the decisions (I think Wire and Golem were the worst two offenders), but I think something had to be done. The Shop decks were just so statistically dominant, even in the face of all the hate. Even in the League this week, which came out after this article, the Shop decks went 6-1 (the only loss being in the mirror) and the final two DEs before the restriction were both 4-0 Shops. Personally, I wouldn't even mind Montolio calling me an idiot or thewoof2's more polite accusation of bias, if they would add some actual statistics cited, counter-arguments, or something.
I have to say as a very very casual Classic format indulger (one could even say "bon vivant"), I am not convinced that Lodestone would be the right target without Sphere of Resistance. The pair locked out lots of possible decks. I played quite a bit of shops affinity a few years ago (though never in DEs) and my feeling was if Oath got its nut draw it could just end the game before I even got going. Affinity never played out that way, itself. I think once in a PRE I got turn 1 Lodestone off Shops + Opal and it was promptly countered with FOW and then my Shops wasted and what land (CoT I think)came next was stripped. (The guy went on to win the whole thing btw.) Locking me out. And the guy didn't even have his good draw. Sure at times you get blowouts with Lodestone but I think the hype was far larger than the actual effect.
Personally, I am not invested in Classic so the bannings don't bum me out so much but I can see why they are engendering some hate. The fact that shops affinity is still playable doesn't make it a problem any more than Oath or Dredge or any other mainstay deck is. And in fact people may abandon it for greener pastures since it no longer has an edge the way it used to.
All right, I admit the piece is a little ranty, mainly as a reaction to some of the complaining about the restrictions and assertions that the format was 'fine.' However, I site several statistics as far as hate cards being played, percentages of top 8s, specific examples of how I felt Shops were warping the format, etc. as well as linking to my original article on the subject, which has even more stats about the format. If I'm off, I'd love to hear an actual critique of the statistics I cite, the examples I use, the comparisons I make, etc. However, all I get is people criticizing 'tone,' 'bias,' 'you're the worst player in Classic,' 'you're an idiot,' 'I don't care what the numbers say,' 'the format was fine,' etc.
Michael I am sure you have many good ideas/input but I have to say when I read your piece you speak as if everything is 100% fact and you come across to me as very biased. That might be your intentions but for me it is hard to look at your analysis as objective, kinda like hearing republicans talk about Obamacare - way too biased for me (*this is not an endorsement of Obamacare*). I understand everyone is biased, as I am, so maybe it is just the combination of writing everything as fact and not ever considering the other side of the coin.
There has to be some deck of vorthosian quality that has a heroic fella killing a hydra to invoke gaea's revenge.
To address the point brought up by Silencer a bit more. There are people like myself who dabble in mad science and then there are the real mad scientists. My mad science tends to either be more timmy or spike than pure Johnny and I find that to perfectly fine (and fun) but Boosh is one of the guys you gotta read if you want some hidden tech no one even remembers anymore that will destroy your opponents in style. And by style I mean in true Red Skull fashion...(that bastard!)
On a side note I am a big fan of Nick Fury, I just wish they hadn't erased his past as a WWII vet when they reinvented him for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. which is an OK show but needs more Marvel.
That's why I say everyone should use my deck as a foundation for their own brewing. :)
Conscription is in there because this deck packs a lot of mana, and it's fun to put on viridian joiner, as well as an already huge hydra. A Double Strike Savage Hydra that's already huge and then gets that bump can be epic.
The Thran Dynamo bit is actually a typo,: I meant to say Stuffy Doll + POWER MATRIX + silklash spider.
If you tap the matrix and give stuffy flying, you can then activate the silklash and wind up damagin' the fudge out of your opponent by damaging the flying-stuffy.
For some reason I always confuse Thran Dynamo and Power Matrix.
Every single time I put Hunter's insight in a deck, Commander, classic, or otherwise it gets cut. It's too conditional for me. I would pick Soul's Majesty over it every time, and that's usually what I do.
As for "practical synergies which happen more often, not only on paper."
If you are looking for fun, zany Johnny combo brewing that is wacky to play, then come to me :) If you are looking for the tip of the johnny combo iceberg which often floats over into spike territory and want a deck that wins everytime without fail, then our play styles are different so you will probably always be slightly disappointed in my decks.
And, finally, as for Stuffy Doll: Rolling Earthquake, the silklash combo, and clan defiance can be used to severely damage your opponent while if your opponent has hexproof from a leyline or something, you can use banefire or red sun's zenith on the stuffy to get through to your opponent. It's indestructibility lets it live through wrath spells, if he's untapped opponents really don't like attacking knowing some of the damage is coming back to them, and regardless of anything else, it pings your opponent for a damage everytime you tap it.
Also, I write pretty large articles filled with graphics I personally make. I feel like throwin in tons of deck analysis would not only be time consuming but would also prevent folks from trying the deck themselves. I also don't have the time to record matches and post them.
Jeleva needs "deals X damage to everything" cards to kill off your Jeleva without leaving yourself open. Sac effects could do this job, but you gain more momentum with wipe spells and in Jeleva's colors, you either have expensive wraths or X spells. Having picked up this deck in paper just because selling TNN made it free, I love both decks and built them into seperate decks and Baleful Force is a beast in Nekusar. You obviously want to include cards that take advantage of you drawing cards as well as ones that punish your opponents for drawing and Baleful is a huge enabler. And Jeleva's biggest weaknesses are wanting to swing into blockers with multiple good spells under her and not being able to get her to die when she doesn't. Yes, having an X spell tucked under her is bad, but so is having creatures, lands, etc. but you wouldn't build the deck without those. I'd love to see you build these decks seperate, especially Nekusar. He is my new favorite multiplayer commander due to him being a skill tester. You have to be able to differentiate between the benefits of his Howling Mine side and the negatives of his Underworld Dreams side when playing against him and it makes for interesting games. I do want to thank you for continuing to put these up. Playing only paper Magic makes it hard to find other players when you can't FNM so its nice to see a game and get my fix.
Maybe you could just write a bit more about how this deck looks in games and focus more on practical synergies which happen more often, not only on paper. By the way, what is so good about "Stuffy Doll + Thran Dynamo + Silklash Spider"? ;]
I also don't really like some slots like Praetors' Counsel, Eldrazi Conscription or Stuffy Doll, but the rest is cool. In the big power creature decks, you should play Mosswort Bridge and Hunter's Insight no matter what type of player you are and what cards you like ;)
Nylea's presence is a fringe part of the deck, many lists are down to two copies now. It's a pretty weak card. The real enabler is Sylvan Caryatid, it ramps, it fixes and it's essentially impossible to interract with in block (Anger of the Gods only kills it in a relevant amount of time when you're on the play). That's actually a really interesting possible ban target. If the deck had to rely on voyaging satyr for ramp, it becomes a lot easier to interract.
You've got me thinking there, but as I said, I hope we don't need to think about this post-BNG :).
Thanks Michael. :D One of these days a Commander list, again. And eventually more art. :)
Next Step the Starship Enterprise ;)
I didn't know the they had figured out an edible 3d food source but I am not surprised. I am hoping it tastes better than it sounds.
I agree about Gaddock.
Now I'm wondering if Great Sable Stag will see play again. It swings past any faerie, token or otherwise, and any zombie (I've seen devotion decks lately), and it's immune to any mode of Cryptic Command. I might add it to my sideboards again.