Saturday, October 29, 2016

Commander 2016: Red

I still think the best selection of cards by color are in White. Let's see what Red has to offer.


Charging Cinderhorn: In a balanced table someone will be attacking this turn. It reads like a card with limited use that can cause mayhem in the right situation, which fits what Red is supposed to do.
Divergent Transformation: I would have to choose the two biggest threats, and then hope that the free cast does not come back to bite me.
Frenzied Fugue: An Act of Treason for permanents is a really strong card. It's an even stronger card if you also play a card that reads 'sacrifice a permanent you control.'


Goblin Spymaster: Pure mayhem. I like it. If you buff this and wipe for -1/-1, you can get rid of all those tokens while causing your opponents to attack with creature they don't want to attack with. It can definitely come back to bit you.
Runehorn Hellkite: Another 'this card can go horribly wrong when you cast it' card. Your opponents are getting seven cards, and some of them may not have any cards in hand.... I am not getting why this card would work most of the time. I am thinking of situations when you cast this card and pretty much guarantee you lose. Maybe if the table is down to you and one opponent and it makes sense for that one player to cause them to discard their hand and draw seven new cards... I am still puzzled in finding the up side of this effect.
Alesha, Who Smiles at Death: In Commander, you should not have too many low drops. I don't see this card having a big effect on games.


Blasphemous Act: One incredible board wipe in Commander.
Breath of Fury: Reads like a game finisher if well timed. You are losing the creature if you are able to deal combat to the player, and then you get the bonus of untapping and attacking again.
Chaos Warp: Well named. This effect can be awesome, and it can be game crippling, hence the word 'Chaos' in the name.


Daretti, Scrap Savant: Let's quote what it does.
[+2: Discard up to two cards, then draw that many cards.
−2: Sacrifice an artifact. If you do, return target artifact card from your graveyard to the battlefield.
−10: You get an emblem with "Whenever an artifact is put into your graveyard from the battlefield, return that card to the battlefield at the beginning of the next end step."
Daretti, Scrap Savant can be your commander.]
Whichever deck Daretti is in, having Daretti will make up for any of the other red cards that can backfire (and there seem to be enough of these in red).
Dragon Mage: I am not getting the up side with this card. Your opponents are often going to have less than seven cards. True, when they draw a new batch of seven cards, they will be drawing some lands. Still, this can go sideways on you, I think.
Godo, Bandit Warlord: Seems like a weird include because some of the wording favors Samurai, and I am sure the Commander deck this card is in does not have a bunch of samurai.


Grab the Reins: You get a lot, and for a lot of mana. Its Commander, it's OK.
Hellkite Igniter: With a lot of artifacts, it can hit for a lot. Nice that it has Haste.
Hellkyte Tyrant: Trample makes it deal damage to a player much more easily, and if you steal a bunch of artifacts, you can use them to boost Hellkite Igniter.


Humble Defector: I played against this card in Standard, and, yes, there are ways to make it a one sided card draw, but I was not looking forward to playing it. Maybe it's because I like more linear forms of play.
Kzuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs: It can deter opponents from attacking you, or it can give you tokens. Either way, there is a bonus involved.
Past in Flames: I think this is the most valuable card of all of the decks at the point of being spoiled. Of course, this product will be printed to demand, and that means that the current price of Past in Flames is not that important anymore. An incredible late game play with a lot of available mana.


Reforge the Soul: This is the third 'discard your hand, draw seven cards' I have come across. Unless I am missing something, this effect is a little lame unless you have some effect that benefits from it, and I have not come across it yet in these cards (something like 'whenever an opponent draws a card, they lose 1 life').
Slobad, Goblin Tinkerer: A good way to protect a valuable artifact with the sacrifice of a less valuable artifact. You can play it early game. Someone will want to target remove it.
Stalking Vengeance: Another deterrent card. I imagine some players will be happy chump blocking to make sure the damage cost does not get assessed.


Taurean Mauler: This was one of my go to creatures when I was making Modern decks featuring Hardened Scales. This thing can get big fast. An unique and great reprint.
Trash for Treasure: Another 'discard an artifact to recover a better artifact' card. Sounds good to me depending on how treasured the recovered artifact is.
 Volcanic Vision: It can be an easy board wipe against all opponents. That is one awesome effect in a Commander game.


Wheel of Fate: This is the fourth 'discard your hand, draw seven cards' I have come across. There must be a commander that does something awesome when this effect gets triggered.
Whims of the Fates: Wow, one unique way for everyone to start from a different strategic vantage in their respective gameplay. This is an awesome card in multiplayer.
Whipflare: A great way to clear the board of a bunch of weenies.