Sunday, October 30, 2016

Commander 2016: Artifacts

So far I have liked White and Green the most, and that is probably just my Johnny casual deck builder bias.


Armory Automaton: this is pretty sick if you have already played a bunch of Equipment.
Boompile: There are cards, mostly in Green, to speed up the game. This card will do the opposite. It will stall gameplay if the coin flip triggers destruction. Makes a multiplayer more interesting. Someone is creating a board of destruction, you drop this, and they go back to nothing. I like it a lot.
Conqueror's Flail: Very good in a four-color deck. Even better in a five-color deck.


Crystalline Crawler: color rock.
Prismatic Geoscope: another color rock.
Akroan Horse: Needed to make Oath of Druids work.


Assault Suit: Confusing. I will have to see it in play to get what it does. Once it shifts control to an opponent, the 'you' in this card is no longer you....
Astral Cornucopia: I had so much with this card when it was in Standard. A casual all-star. Use Proliferate on it, and it can be a huge mana source.
Blinkmoth Urn: mana rock for colorless mana. Another 'group hug' card, but with a twist. You can be the only one who benefits from it if you are the only one playing a lot of artifacts.


Bonehoard: this can get really big in Commander.
Cauldron of Souls: Persist is fairly broken. This is a solid artifact from Shadowmoor.
Chromatic Lantern: one of the best mana rocks for mana fixing, and a key reprint in this product.


Commander's Sphere: solid mana fixing.
Cranial Plating: Awesome reprint. It goes bonkers quickly when you are playing lots of artifact.
solid mana fixing.


Empyrial Plate: I am so not a fan of these 'card in hand' cards. I want to play my cards. I don't want them stuck in my hand because I want to make an Equipment more powerful.
Etched Oracle: Awesome reprint. 'draws three cards' is awesome.
Everflowing Chalice: solid mana rock.


Fellwar Stone: great in multiplayer if you have many opponents. It would be awesome if five people can sit down and play each one of these five decks.
Golgari Signet: mana rock.
Gruul Signet: mana rock.


Howling Mine: classic 'group hug' card. Used in a milling deck. In Commander, it can speed up the game.
Ichor Wellspring: casual card draw.
Keening Stone: milling outlet that can be used against an opponent or for you to place needed cards in your own graveyard.


Lightning Greaves: classic Equipment and a Modern staple.
Loxodon Warhammer: classic Equipment.
Mycosynth Wellspring: another color helper.


Myr Battlesphere: A great beater, especially in Commander, and even better if you are having problems gathering up four colors for other plays.
Myr Retriever: a deterrent if someone wants to block it, and it they do and it dies, you can get one of your much better artifacts out of the graveyard.
Nevinyrral's Disk: Legacy's Oblivion Stone. A great reprint.


Orzhov Signet: mana rock.
Psychosis Crawler: Another 'cards in hand' card. It makes me want to have an artifact or land that allows me to have a hand of any size.
Rakdos Signet: mana rock.


Shimmer Myr: Enables really surprising game plays.
Simic Signet: mana rock.
Skullclamp: another broken artifact from Mirrodin block. A great reprint.


Sol Ring: If you buy X Commander decks, you will have X Sol Rings.
Solemn Simulacrum: Great reprint. It helps you smooth out your mana and when it dies, you draw a card.
Soul of Phyrexia: If you have five mana at the ready, it can save you from a board wipe.


Sunforger: very interesting tutor effect.
Swiftfoot Boots: solid Equipment, a classic.
Temple Bell: another 'group hug' card. I love these. They speed up game play, and who doesn't love to share the fun of drawing more cards? Especially true in casual where you want everyone to have fun.


Trading Post: easily one of the most versatile artifacts in all of Magic. Great reprint. Great stall with that Goat token.
Venser's Journal: Here it is. This is the artifact that makes all those 'group hug' and 'cards in hand' cards work better for you than for your opponents.
Wispersilk Cloak: solid Equipment, a classic.

I am not planning to review the lands. The money land in this product is Forbidden Orchard, another trigger for Oath of Druids and great for mana fixing in four and five color decks.