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PLAYTESTING!

Great news! The deck has just finished day 1 of playtesting. A couple things  to be clear about.

First of all each “Day” of playtesting is the period where we test a certain iteration of the deck. Day 1 has been going on for the past 6 days, as I tried to get a good basis of how the deck works, and what needs to be changed.

Second, the naming convention. Each iteration is being given a name. Currently, we’re on Alpha 3, Take 1. This means we’ve made two major changes to the list, and 0 minor ones. After the next major change, we’ll be on Alpha 4, Take 1. If we only made a minor change, it would become Alpha 3, Take 2. We also have been writing the names as just numbers, as 0.3.01. 0 first because we’re still in alpha, 3 because we’re in the third iteration of alpha, and 01 is the take.

Lastly, I’m now working with a “team”. The other team members are just playtesters, who will be testing the deck on their own, ad reporting problems back to me. Other than C-annon, none of them will be doing anything related to the blog. I’m calling them C-annon because they wanted to remain anonymous (anon), and we’re playtesting pirates, so cannon just sounded right. C-anon will be editing what I write (mostly) and will help with actually editing the deck. Huge thanks to this guy.

Without further ado, let’s talk pirates in commander.

Okay, so first of all, Alpha 1, Take 1 (0.1.01) needed some major changes. It started with only 31 lands, and 47 pirates. This was a little awkward to play, since I always had a hand full of pirates, but no mana to cast them.

For Alpha 2, Take 1, (0.2.01), we added more lands, but kept the pirate count the same. The new problem was that the deck lacked utility cards, and often couldn’t do much following a board wipe.

For the current Version, Alpha 3, Take 1 (0.3.01), we took out 11 pirates, and went up in the number of spells and utility creatures we used, up to 29 of them. the deck still has problems. Namely, it can’t recover from a board wipe, the pirates are often killed before they can attack, they can’t attack through tokens, the deck doesn’t mulligan well, and it doesn’t interact with various situations. Cards that are probably going to be cut are Rishadan Brigand  and Lookout’s Dispersal. Dispersal wis outclassed in the late game, and being easier to cast during the early game isn’t a big deal, especially when trying to counter a board wipe on turn 7 or 8. Rishadan Brigand wasn’t putting in the work it needed to. It’s not strong enough removal, and the evasion is outclassed by the efficiency of the other pirates in the deck. We’ll probably be releasing a version 0.3.02 either later tomorrow, or early this weekend. Until then, happy plundering!

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I think the best solution to a balanced standard is a mix of two key things. First is a narrow-ish mana base. Have enough lands that two color decks are strong, three colors can be played, but 4 colors are out of reach. More importantly, the pyramid needs several peaks, not just one wide one. Make it so there are powerful cards with strong supporting pieces that DON’T work WELL if AT ALL with the other peaks. Make it so Energy has strong plays, but can’t utilize other strong cards. Make Cycling or Tribal decks have awesome pieces that can have decks built around them, but don’t feed their power into others. I think standard needs distinction BEFORE deck building, that is to say, from R&D themselves, that create unique and SEPARATE decks. This would enable a more diverse, and theoretically, healthier format. Note that I’m pretty much exclusively a commander/cube player, so I may have the wrong outlook on this.

Argument: the greatest plague to Standard since Khans has been that the mana base is too easy

Fetches in Khans, Smuggler’s Copter being colorless, Emrakul being colorless and with cost reduction, and now energy that can circumvent the normal color pie in one way or another.

Each of these comes back to it being too easy to jam good stuff into a deck and play it.

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Budget Merfolk EDH

I’m bringing something a little different today. Instead of the usual pirate stuff, I have a budget commander deck, headed be Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca. Right now, before the release of Rivals, so some cards might not have entirely accurate pricing. The only cards not factored into the price are basic lands and Kumena. In total, the deck costs $102.28, averaging about $1.03 a card. The deck has an average cmc of 1.96, which is incredibly low for commander. It is also heavily upgradeable.

To start with, let’s breakdown card types. We have 48 creatures, 5 artifacts, 7 enchantments, 4 instants, 3 sorceries, and 33 lands.

Starting with the lands, we start with 16 Islands and 7 Forests. In The deck, there are a total of 74 blue mana symbols in mana costs, and only 24 green ones. A lot of 2 drops also cost double blue. Next, dual lands. We run Unclaimed Territory, Lumbering Falls, Temple of Mystery, Simic Growth Chamber, Vivd Creak, Vivid Grove, and Path of Ancestry. Because our curve is so low, we need as many untapped lands as possible, so we don’t run many duals, since most budget ones come into play tapped. Lastly, we run Riptide Laboratory. While expensive, many of our creatures are also wizards, so the laboratory is very powerful. However, to go more budget, it could be replaced by a Reliquary Tower, or an Island if you really don’t want to spend any money.

Next are the Artifacts. First it Swiftfoot Boots. Boots are very strong, keeping our commander safe from harm. Bident of Thassa draws us a lot of cards, since we try to go as wide as possible. Simic Signet provides strong acceleration, along side Sol Ring because Sol Ring, and Pillar of Origins as a mana fixer.

Our first Instant is Realty Shift, which is possibly the best removal spell in blue. Counterspell and Rewind are our hard counters, and Thassa’s Rebuff usually is a hard counter, since our devotion to blue can get very high.

For our Sorceries, Aquitect’s Will cycles, disrupts our opponent’s mana base, and can enable out islandwalkers easily. Distant Melody is an extremely potent draw spell, often able to draw us ten or more cards. Lastly, Chord of Calling can tutor out any of our lords or desired creatures. I would advise against replacing chord with Green Sun’ Zenith, since very few of our creatures are green. If you wanted a budget replacement for chord, I would suggest Capsize as a late game mana dump.

Our first Enchantment is Asceticism. Giving all of our creatures Hexproof and being able to regenerate them is a big deal. There really is no replacing this card, but if you want to save a few bucks, you could through in a Rhystic Study, or go really budget with a Mystic Rhemora or Shaper’s Sanctuary. Lignify and Imprisoned in the Moon are both powerful removal spells. Deeproot Waters and Aquatic Incursion both produce tokens, and Incursion helps you merfolk get in for damage. Merrow Commerce allows you to utilize Kumena’s abilities multiple times each turn cycle, or gives your merfolk pseudo-vigilance. Lastly, Growing Rites of Itlimoc gives huge boosts in mana.

Lastly, the creatures. Since the goal of the deck is to capitalize on Kumena’s abilities, we run a large number of creatures, 48 to be exact. Reef Shaman is able to enable our islandwalkers and mess with mana bases. Riverwise Augur is Brainstorm on a stick. Merfolk Looter lets us filter cards. Rootwater Thief gives us incredible disruption for combo decks, and even allows us to potentially take them out of the game. Saprazzan Heir is basically unblockable, and Scroll thief draws a card when it connects. Seafloor Oracle is a Merfolk only Bident of Thassa, and Seahunter gets us any merfolk we want from our deck. Seasinger steals a creature, and Shapers of Nature are  serious mana dump later in the game. Silergill Adept replaces itself, and Silvergill Douser can protect us from large attackers. Stonybrook Banneret gives us a discount on our merfolk and wizards. Streambed Aquitects either enable our islandwalkers, or give islandwalk. Swiftwarden can save one of our merfolk in a pinch, and Tempest Caller can tap an opponent down so we can get in for the win. Thada Adel lets us steal artifacts, which are omnipresent in commander. Tidal Courier can find us some merfolk, and sometimes has flying. Tishana, Voice of Thunder is essentialy Distant Melody on a creature, and can draw us plenty of cards. Vineshaper Mystic Buffs some merfolk, and Vodalian Illusionist can deal with big threats. Vodalian Mage gives us force spike on a creature, and Vorel, of the Hull Clade can get absolutely insane. Wake Thrasher can get absolutely giant, and Cold-Eyed Selkie can draw a lot of cards. Corralhelm Commander can become a lord, and Cosi’s Trickster can grow very quickly. Dakra Mystic can both help filter out our library and disrupt our opponent’s. Deepchannel Mentor can guarantee that our merfolk get in for damage. Deeproot Elite can make our merfolk bigger, and Enclave Cryptologist can either loot or draw us cards. Forerunner of the Heralds gets big and tutors up a merfolk, and Harbinger of the tides can bounce something. Herald of Secret Streams can make all of our merfolk unblockable and Jungleborn Pioneer brings a friend. Kiora’s Follower can untap stuff, and Kopala, Warden of Waves, protects our Merfolk. Lord of Atlantis is the classic lord. Lullmage Mentor is awesome, it’s a counterspell and token producer. Master of the Pearl Trident is another lord. Master of Waves can cover the entire board with elementals, and Merfolk Mistbinder is a new lord. Merfolk Sovereign is yet another lord, and Merrow Harbinger is another tutor on legs... or fins? Merrow Reejery is another lord, and interacts well with Kumena. Wistful Selkie replaces itself. Lastly, Wanderwine prophets can give you turn after turn after turn after turn after turn after turn after turn.

Closing notes. This deck is awesome if you want to flood the board with as many fish as you can. Play conservatively with your counter spells, they’re your only real protection against board wipes. Don’t be afraid to dump your entire hand, Kumena will help you draw a new one. Lastly, don’t be afraid to be attacking a lot. This is an aggro deck, so play aggressively. In terms of upgradeability, there are a few ways to take this deck. Even though it’s budget, most of the best merfolk are already in here. The best upgrades come in the form of interaction. Cyclonic Rift comes to mind. Other Upgrades to consider are Paradox Engine and Coat of Arms can go crazy in this deck. Azami, Lady of Scrolls and Lab Maniac can help give you a secondary win con.

Even if you don’t want to use this deck, here are a couple tips for building budget or introductory commander decks.

 1) Ignore the 75% rule. This rule says to not optimize your deck so it’s more fair and fun for everyone at the table. This rule is aimed at higher end decks, and a deckbuilder building on a budget, or lacking the experience in the format probably can’t build a true 100% optimized deck. By trying to go 100% with a budget or introductory deck will usually land you where you want to be, or give you a platform you could cut cards from. 

2) Don’t be afraid to include some more expensive cards. For example, I’m running Riptide Laboratory, Chord of Calling, and Asceticism. I can run these over $10 cards because I run so many $0.05-$0.50 cards. Don’t say “Each card will be $1 or less”, say “I’ll average to $1 a card.”

3) Lastly, include some staples. I run a couple cards, like Sol Ring or Swiftfoot Boots that can be considered ‘staples’. As you continue buying into the format, these will be cards you’ll use over and over. Asceticism and Chord both make great inclusion in any creature based green deck, and Growing Rites is a poor man’s Gaea Cradle (or more accurately, A “Not Rich Man’s”). These cards will see play in other decks, say, for instance, Roon of the Hidden Realm.

I hope you got some insight from this post. I’ll be adding gatherer links to all the card names when I get a chance.

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Fast Mana

The next thing I want to address for this little Commander  deck is ramp/acceleration.

First off, Sol Ring because Sol Ring. It’s probably the best acceleration in the game, even better than the moxen when it comes to acceleration. As long as it’s legal, it’s worth playing.

Mana Crypt is a little different. It provides the same acceleration, cheaper, with increased risk. Bolting yourself over and over matters, so it often is avoided.

Mana Vault is similar, costing 1 life for every turn it is tapped, and costing 4 mana to untap.

Signets are also strong. While not providing nearly as much acceleration, they also fix mana.

The last mana rock that will be discussed (for now anyways), is Pillar of Origins, which provides any color of mana for our pirates.

This deck doesn’t need that much acceleration, since it really looks to be curving out and consistently landing creatures. Since there are so many self inflicting damage sources in the deck, most of which haven’t been discussed, it’s possible to just die. Because of this, Mana Crypt is too risky. Mana Vault squeaks by, because it’s easier to keep yourself from dying. Overall, we’ll probably run Sol Ring, Mana Vault, the Signets, and the Pillar of Origins. We’ll also run a little surprise...

Aether Vial is a very strong card in constructed. We have a lot of powerful etb effects we would love to have at instant speed. Cheating in a Dire Fleet Dardevil or a Hostage Taker could be huge. Aether Vial serves as a way to 1) Get Pirates for free and 2) Get Pirates at instant speed. While it’s a lot less powerful in commander than say, modern, it definitely is good in a deck like pirates with a lot of creatures of similar mana cost. 

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Rivals of Ixalan Conclusion

We’re going to finish talking about Rivals cards for the deck, and wrap up everything before starting the actual building process. Hype!

Let’s start with Angrath. First, the one I really don’t care about. Angrath the Flame Chained is technically a Pirate, by story, so I’ll talk about him. First of all, his plus ability scales in multiplayer games, which is a good start. It’s also fairly significant once you activate 3 or more times. His minus three is decent. Some commanders are on the lower end of cmc (I’m looking at you Animar), and taking a creature for a turn is a good way to finish a game. Just borrow that Ulamog for a second, and BOOM. Game’s over. Finally, that ultimate really hoses graveyard decks. It also can close games, and works well with the plus ability. A solid walker.

Now the real meat. Angrath, Minotaur Pirate. His plus two is... lame. It effects all opponents, which is nice, but hardly does much. It might hurt the token players, but they’ll probably have anthems. Overall, not very exciting. The minus three gets real. The real question is “Is this better than just having Volrath’s Stronghold in the deck?” I say maybe. If there’s a significant problem with graveyard recursion, this ability is great. His targeted ultimate will probably take any one player out of the game entirely. Overall, Angrath, Minotaur Pirate is a narrow walker, that really doesn’t affect the average commander board state. It feels like he belongs in a pre-con as the “reason to buy” card. Weird.

Since we’re talking Angrath, I should at least mention Angrath’s Fury. Targeted removal, plus some incidental damage, on a tutor. First of all, there are better targeted removal spells, and there are better tutors. The incidental damage isn’t worth much. In total, then, is Angrath, Minotaur Pirate worth this card? No. I would prefer a demonic tutor over this card, even though I lose the removal.

Now, let’s wrap up Rivals. I wanted 4 things out of rivals. I wanted a direction to take the deck, a lord, another legendary, and more good pirates. So, how did we make out? The deck didn’t receive much in terms of a direction. I continues to be too slow to be an aggressive deck, but not strong enough to handle a midrange opponent. Because of this, it still exists in this weird “I’ll kill you... somehow” point. We did get a lord, and a pretty good one at that. We didn’t get another legendary. All the other tribes got one, and Dinosaurs got SIX! What a ripoff. We did, however, get more good pirates. So the deck actually runs more smoothly. To address one final thing, I have a mock up of around 80-90 cards that I’ve been evaluating as “the deck”. I’ll talk about the support cards and anthems I’m playing soon, and the deck should be designed by the end of the month. How exciting!

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It hurts... *sniff*. I just wanted another legendary pirate :,(

A little salty…

…we got SIX Dinosaur legends in rivals, but not a single pirate legendary???

Even vamps and merfolk got new ones??? But they like naaaaa pirates you good.

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Rivals is here!

Let’s cut right to the chase. Here’s the pirates!

First up is Crafty Cutpurse. This one is funny... but I don’t know if it’s all that powerful. Against legacy lands, I would play it in a heart beat. In commander, there aren’t that many tokens I would like to steal, aside from the odd kicked Rite of Replication. That being said, it’s a decent little trick, so it’s not out yet.

Deadeye Rig-Hauler is boomerang when you trigger raid. It’s common filler, and suffers from the “only affects one opponent” problem, but it’s trigger is decent enough.

Kitesail Corsair is a 2/1 flying for 2, and is definitely limited fodder, not for us.

Sailor of Means is here again. Okay, doesn’t mean it’s good.

Siren Ravager is a 3/2 flying for 3, or 4 with raid. Not very exciting, but a decent body none the less.

Slippery Scoundrel is the first card with ascend we’ll talk about. To start with, Ascend in commander is really a free bonus. Most decks, pirates included, reach ten permanents rather quickly. So, this creature is best seen as a 3 mana 2/2 hexproof that can’t be blocked. Pretty darn good.

Timestream Navigator is a wonderful gift. A 1/1 for 2 isn’t optimal, but that ability makes this card PHENOMENAL. Using it once can definitely open up some options, and is quite powerful. It also enables us to run Grenzo, Dungeon Master + Haste for infinite turns. Just saying.

Warkite Marauder is a great way to get in damage. Cutting the defending player’s best blocker out of the picture is wonderful. It’s also strictly better than Kitesail Corsair.

Dinosaur Hunter is pseudo-deathtouch on a bear. Not good enough.

Dire Fleet Poisoner is a remarkably good combat trick, for both offense and defense. Worth the slot.

Fathom Fleet Boarer is annoying. A 3/3 for 3 sometimes with an insignificant drawback that is essentially vanilla kinda sucks, but at least it’s on curve. I really can’t tell.

Forerunner of the Coalition is just YES. Lifedrain for every pirate etb is good. A 2/2 for 3 is passable. A pirate tutor on a stick is AMAZING. JUST GET IN MY DECK!

Grasping Scoundrel is a 2/1 for 1. Savannah lions isn’t exactly a powerhouse, but we don’t have a critical mass of pirates that let’s us be picky. Playable, but super underwhelming.

Pitiless Plunderer is annoyingly decent. As a 1/4 for 4 , the body is terrible. Whenever a creature you control dies, you get a treasure. That ability is very strong, but I’m not sure how relevant it actually is... Yet.

Tomb Robber is another half-way card. A 1/1 for 3 isn’t great, but exploring is good. At the cost of a card and a mana, you can either replace that card with a land, or filter your topdeck and grow the pirate. With a decent draw engine, it’s a strong enough card. Otherwise, it’s not very good.

Angrath’s Ambusher, even as a Planeswalker deck common, is very strong. A 2/3 for 3 is good for a body, and that bonus if fine. I’ll talk about Angrath in another post, and oh boy will I talk about him.

Brazen Freebooter is a 4 mana 3/3 that makes a treasure when it enters the battlefield. Meh.

Daring Buccaneer is a 1 mana 2/2 that has a trigger that isn’t relevant. This guy is probably stronger in a standard deck, but it may be good enough for an aggro deck.

Dire Fleet Daredevil is pretty cool. Snapcastering an opponent is pretty awesome, especially if they are playing a spell based deck. Even if they aren’t, the Daredevil has a good body that attacks well.

Fanatical Firebrand is a hodgepodge of old goblin stuff. Cheap cost, haste, and sacrifice to ping. Not all that great all together, but noticeable.

Goblin Trailblazer is a 2/1 with menace for 2. Nothing special to really talk about.

Storm Fleet Swashbuckler is cool. A bear that gains double strike is strong, especially if equipped.

Swaggering Corsair is a 3 mana 2/2, sometimes a 3/3. As with most pirates at common so far, underwhelming, not very playable.

Swab Goblin is a red bear. Next.

Now we get to the ones I’m really excited about. First, Dire Fleet Brawler. 4 mana for a 2/4 with deathtouch means the brawler attacks well, and that ascend trigger is awesome. Drawing cards is never bad, and having strong attacks is good.

Next is Dire Fleet Neckbreaker. This card answers one of my biggest hopes I had for Rivals. That will b discussed later. Regardless, a 3/2 for 4 isn’t amazing, but buffing all attacking pirates TWO power is extremely strong.

Storm Fleet Sprinter is decent 3 mana for a 2/2 with haste that also can’t be blocked is strong.

Finally, my favorite pirate from this whole set. Protean Raider. Not only do I think it’s the best pirate for commander, I also think it’s one of the best clones in the format. And deck that can attack, and wants to, will love this guy. First off, he’s cheap. Only 3 mana for a clone is rare. They tend to start at 4 mana. The next big thing is it isn’t a dead draw on an empty board. Having power and toughness so you can use him if there is nothing to clone covers clones’ greatest weakness. And obviously, for us at least, it’s either our strongest pirate, or a massive threat if we do use it’s clone ability. 10/10, another auto-include for the pirates deck.

I discussed all the pirates! A quick cleanup, I said Rivals would have 25.56 new pirates. There are 26-28 total (I couldn’t be bothered to count accurately), and on is a reprint, so there were really 2-27, right where I predicted. Cool. That means there are 85-87 total pirates, meaning we can cut over 40 of them, which we will definitely be doing soon.

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Evaluating EVERY Pirate

To start with:

http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?type=+[pirate]%7C%7Csubtype=+[pirate]

This is a list of every card with the sub type “Pirate”, whether printed on the card or errataed. And here is my evaluation of every single on of them (excluding Rivals of Ixalan, that will come later). First, a warning. ow knowing how Ixalan shaped up, I have to be way more generous with my evaluations. Before Rivals, there are only 59 pirates. I need 65 non-lands, and I expect around 40 (maybe a few more or less) to be creatures. So I can no longer call cards like Captain Lannery Storm “not an auto include in the 99”, because comparatively, she’s absolutely amazing. Also, this is really long.

First up, Admiral Becket Brass. I’ve said it a million times before, I’ll say it again. Win-more. She only really shines when you’re already ahead. Being the only pirate that’s legendary and in Grixis colors, she gets a free pass into the command zone.

Next, Angrath’s Marauders. I want to like this card, but a damage doubler on a 4/4 body for 7 mana isn’t amazing. Sure, it can be crazy, but it usually lasts 1 turn cycle before disappearing. It’s strong enough for an include, but I feel just 1 more toughness would make this card good.

Old school, Armored Galleon. It’s not that hard to find a blue player in commander, or force a player to get an island through some simple trickery. The draw back isn’t too extreme... If commander wasn’t a 100 card singleton format. A 5 mana 5/4 isn’t worth building around, so this one gets the axe.

Brazen Buccaneers. A 4 mana 2/2 haste is pretty awful, but exploring helps a little. If enough cards talk about exploring, I can add library manipulation, and anthems will help that body. Basically, it says pirate, so I’ll include it if I need to.

Captain Lannery Storm. I once called her not an auto include. Now, she very much is. Essentially a better Brazen Buccaneers. A 2/2 with haste that could be a 3/X, but costs 1 less mana, and even pays you back a little. Welcome aboard, Captain Storm.

Captivating Crew. A powerful ability that serves as an incredible mana dump late game. With a sac outlet, this becomes amazing (And there’s a strong candidate for that outlet later). AND it’s body is pretty good. In terms of Pirates, this one is very good.

Another oldie in Cloud Pirates. A 1/1 for 1 with flying is meh in commander. With anthems, it’s a real threat, but you need to eventually build said anthems up. The lack of blocking ability doesn’t really faze me, since I really want to be turing creatures sideways. Again, it says Pirate, so in it goes.

Daring Saboteur. A 2/1 for 2 is okay, and the ability to become unblockable makes it possible to get in those last few points of damage. Early game it filters cards. I’ll call it good enough.

Deadeye Plunderers. My personal favorite pirate (Rather, tied for first place). It stores mana, while growing it’s own body. I rarely see it start as a 3/3 for 5. Normally, it starts as a 5/5 or 6/6, and on good days I’ve seen 8/8 and higher. Sure, that was standard, with a dew more artifact things happening, in a non singleton format, but that doesn’t stop them from being good. Turn 3 with a Sol Ring isn’t the best play in commander history, but it really works for us.

Deadeye Quartermaster is no Stoneforge Mystic, but It gets the job done. A 2/2 for 4 is (as I’ve said before), a weak body, but when it brings a sword along to play, it’s much more threatening. This is the definition of an auto-include.

I panned Deadeye Tormentor once before, but as a 2/2 for 3, I can let it pass. The incidental discard is nothing to write home about, but I guess technically it does put someone behind (in a small/insignificant way), and is a pirate, so...

Deadeye Tracker is graveyard hate, which is useful. It can also grow itself,  which is useful, and occasionally draw cards, which is useful. All around, a solid 1 drop that affects the game at all stages. In the deck it goes.

Desperate Castaways is a 2/3 for 2, and will almost always be able to attack. With essentially no drawback, it’s an above curve body, so I really can’t ask for more.

Dire Fleet Captain is a strong card, even if it is win-more. It helps close out the game once you get set-up, so he makes the cut.

Dire Fleet Horder is a vanilla creature on the battlefield, that pays back a little of his cost upon death. Not the best, but not the worst.

Dire Fleet Interloper also suffers as a 4 mana 2/2 that explores on etb with a keyword. Just Like Brazen Buccaneers, it’s a pirate that is decent enough.

Dire Fleet Ravager is Ugh. A 4/4 for 5 with Menace and Deathtouch is godly for a pirate, but that triggered ability is just so... narrow. On turn 5-6 or earlier, while people are all around the same life total of 32-40, It a symmetrical effect. If you’re ahead on life, but not on board, it’s uncastable. When you’re behind on life by a fair margin, it’s a good play. Basically, when you draw it, it’s 50/50 on whether or not you should cast it.

Dreamcaller Siren a decent end-step trick to clear the path for damage. It’s also a pretty good flying body. I’ll include it.

Fathom Fleet Captain makes more pirates. We need more reusable token generators, but having to attack is risky. Menace helps a lot, however. A solid include.

Fathom Fleet Cutthroat is no Nekrataal, but it’s hard to say no to removal on a body. The restriction isn’t hard to meet, escpecially if we’re doing what we want. It isn’t even a win-more card, because it’s not hard to sneak a damage or two in every now and then. I say put it in.

Fathom Fleet Firebrand is a bear that ha a nice pump ability. It’s not the strongest, but is a good mana dump that can close games.

Headstrong Brute is a 3/3 for 3. It can get Menace. That’s all good by me. As for that downside, I wouldn’t want to be blocking with it anyways. A side note, A couple times so far, I’ve ignored downsides that stop creatures from blocking. The reason is that, if I have to hold back and block, and can’t threaten them on the backlash, I’ve already lost, so one block won’t matter. Sure, the one block could matter, but not enough to warrant calling this card “bad”.

Now for my other favorite pirate, Hostage Taker. At worst, a glorified O-Ring. At best, it stealing an Eldrazi Titan. Even at it’s worst it’s incredible so, again, the definition of auto-include.

I’ll be honest, I never noticed Kari Zev, Skyship Raider was a pirate. A 2 mana 1/3 with Menace and the not-so-relevant-on-a-one-powered-creature first strike is a decent body. Bringing a 2/1 into combat is pretty sweet. Sadly, that 2/1 isn’t a pirate. But hey, monkeys are still pretty awesome.

Kitesail Freebooter is strong in standard. No doubt about that. However, that power doesn’t transfer to commander. Sure, other players will leave it alone to keep the exiled card in exile if you nailed a good target, but only attacking one player means you really are taking a gamble. However however, a 1/2 flying for 2 is a good enough body.

Kukemssa Pirates are the first old-school pirates I’m really excited about. They scream block me, sure, but against the right deck, they are an absolute nightmare. It’s best to look at them as a 0/2, since most of the time you’ll be stealing one of the sweet artifacts that are omnipresent in commander. This guy really can be a nightmare, and when he dies, you don’t even need to give the artifacts back. He is, truly, a pirate.

Lightning-Rog Crew is a pinger that I usually can use 2 or 3 times in a turn cycle. Their ability scales in multiplayer, though, so the activation makes a difference. It can also make up for some of the other bad blockers, too, with a big 5 toughness for 3 mana. Once he gets going, it’s hard to stop him.

Marauding Looter makes me kinda sad. It’s a decent body, at 4/3 for 4 mana, but the raid ability is just too underwhelming. Looting isn’t bas, but pure card draw is just so much better. To be fair, it’s stronger than a good number of the other pirates we’ve talked about, so it gets a pass... this time.

Pirate Ship is... strange. The “can only attack a player that controls an island” is, again, not something I want to build around. It can attack incidentally if an opponent controls an island and just be used as a pinger otherwise. That being said, a 5 mana pinger is a lot to ask, so it gets onto the short list of cards that probably won’t make the deck.

Prosperous Pirates is strange. At first glance, it’s a 5 mana 3/4. Once you consider it makes treasure, it’s virtually a 3 mana 3/4, but only kind of. It also can act as a pseudo-ramp spell, setting you up for a big play later down the line. Of all the filler pirates, this one is the most filler-y, but also can be somewhat flexible. It’s not totally off the table.

Ramirez DePietro is a 4/3 first strike for 6. That’s all there is to it. I really don’t know what else to say, other than, it’s not a great card. It’s also expensive, even considering the other pirates we’ve seen. Not a high pick to go into the deck.

Reef Pirates is a 2/2 for 3, and double blue. It’s ability only messes with decks that manipulate their top-deck a lot, and usually those decks can avoid having anything good milled. Other than the rare whammy, this card just isn’t worth double blue on turn 3, even if I plan on using a higher end mana base.

Rigging Runner is a 1/1 with first strike for 1, or a 2/2 if you wait to attack with something else first. If this ends up as an aggro deck, this card is incredibly welcome, but otherwise, it’s a bit lack-luster.

Rishadan Airship is a 3/1 flying for 3 that can only block creatures with flying. A decent body, so it’s not quite of the list yet, but it gets beat out by almost anything with a relevant ability.

Rishadan Brigand is the first creature with the old pirate sacrifice ability. Basically, each opponent has to pay X mana (in this case, 3) or sacrifice a creature. Other than that, it’s a 5 mana 3/2 flier that can only block creatures with flying. The question becomes, is that taxation ability that strong? Normally, the answer is no. But sometimes, it can be relevant. If the ability was activated, this would be insane. Since it’s not, it’s mediocre at best.

Rishadan Cutpurse forces each opponent to sac a creature unless the pay 1, and is a 1/1 for 3. Unlike the debatably okay Rishadan Brigand, Cutpurse is just not good. The cost is to easy to pay, 1 mana is rarely relevant, and the body suffers way to much to be any good.

Rishadan Footpad taxes 1 more mana than cut purse, gets 1 more power and toughness, and costs 1 more. Scaling everything up by 1 didn’t make the card any better. Brigand is good because it has evasion AND the taxation ability at an impactful cost. Even though the brigand costs 5 mana, not 3 or 4, It’s Immediately more impactful, and more likely to force a sac and get in for damage than these other two are.

Rowdy Crew shouldn’t be a mythic rare. Fortunately for them, rarity doesn’t really count against them... in commander. A 4 mana 3/3 with trample doesn’t do a whole lot, but drawing 3 cards is nice. Discarding two at random is... just, no. This is one of the few new pirates I refuse to play. Discarding one card at random for an insane effect, like gamble, is a real risk/reward situation. Rowdy Crew doesn’t have anywhere close to the same impact as gamble. It’s worst case scenario is so crippling, that I think it’s unlplayable.

Ruin Raider. Oh, Ruin Raider. I (personally) hate Dark Tutelage. A 3/2 for 3 is hard to pass up, though. Thankfully, most other pirate’s cmc isn’t to high, so running him shouldn’t be too painful... I hope.

Ruthless Knave is the Sac Outlet for Captivating Crew. Sure, it’s seven mana to eliminate only one of your opponent’s creatures, but you get two treasure, so it’s really only  five, and getting rid of that Ulamog is probably worth it...

Sailor of Means is a 1/4 for 3 that gives you a treasure. It serves best as a blocker, and unfortunately, that isn’t what this deck wants to do. 

Shipwreck Looter is a 2/1 for 2 that loots if you trigger raid. It’s no Merfolk Looker, but it does do something...

Siren Lookout is a 1/2 with flying for 3 that explores on etb. As with the other explore pirates, good enough.

Siren Stormtamer is a better Cloud Pirates. A 1/1 flying for 1, that can also psuedo-Turn Aside. Since two 1/1 flyers for 1 is too many, Stormtamer gets the spot.

Skyship Pluderer can combo well with planeswalkers or +1/+1 counters, and a 2/1 flying for 2 isn’t bad. We really don’t have the counter shenanigans as is, though, so it’s a card to keep our eyes on, but not be to hasty about.

Steam Frigate is a 3/3 for 3 that can, sigh, only attack if the defending player control an island. I’ve said enough about this ability. Into the trash pile it goes.

Storm Fleet Aerialist is a 1/2 flyer for 2. Cool. With Raid, it’s a 2/3 flyer. Amazing. Another flying threat to get over those Moats (No really, I play* a Moat in Oloro, so I need to be able to get through that). But in all seriousness, flying threats are just better than ground threats especially with our commander’s ability.

Storm Fleet Arsonist almost is like Deadeye tormentor. Only targeting one opponent to get rid of one ting of their choice isn’t very powerful. Unlike Deadeye Tormentor, Storm Fleet Arsonist is a 4/4 for 5. Playable for the body, not the ability.

Storm Fleet Pyromancer gets a big, fat F. A 3/2 for 5 is a weak body without evasion. With raid, you get to shock something. Shock isn’t good in commander. Heck, Lightning Bolt isn’t good in commander. If the body was good, the incidental ping would be passable, but not on a 3/2 for 5.

Storm Fleet Spy finally brings real card draw to the table. At 2/2 for 3, I can say that this is playable in the deck.

Talas Air Ship is a 3/2 flyer for 4. I can say, good enough as filler but I don’t want to play it.

Talas Explorer is a 1/1 flyer for 2 that lets you see and opponents hand. The ability isn’t good, but it isn’t bad. Compared to other pirates, the body isn’t even that good. Overall, it’s a mediocre card.

Talas Merchant is a 2 mana 1/3. That’s it, and that’s all I have to say.

Talas Researcher is weird. Basically, it’s a 1/1 for 5 mana that can tap to draw a card with some timing restrictions. Is it good? No. It’s body is horrific, and it draws you 1 card a turn cycle. Comparatively, Rhystic Study can draw anywhere for 2 to10 cards in a single turn cycle. I have nothing else to say.

Talas Scout is a 1/2 flyer for 2. A strictly worse Storm Fleet Aerialist, and not worth playing.

Talas Warrior is 3 mana, is a 2/2, and can’t block. This is worse than Reef Pirates, and I said I wouldn’t play them.

Wanted Scoundrels is a 4/3 for 2. When it dies, target opponent gets two treasures. A ridiculously strong body with a downside that is really a political upside is very, very playable.

Lastly, Wily Goblin. A 2 mana 1/1 that makes a treasure. Double red as a cost is a huge draw back, and I have to say, it ruins this card. Sure, a high end mana base can pretty easily nail double red on turn 2, and have double blue or black (or both) tun three. Sure, I plan on using a high end mana base. Sure, it makes a treasure, so it effectively costs 1. That doesn’t mean that double red doesn’t force sacrifices, and that doesn’t mean it’s playable. The body and treasure gets worse on turn 3+, so it’s turn two or bust for this guy. If he’s not in your opening hand, he’s not worth it, so he’s not worth it at all.

*An Index Card with Moat written on it. I’m not that rich/careless with my money.

Whew. That was long (it took about two hours to write). Once Rivals of Ixalan Spoilers come Out, I’ll write evaluations for those pirates, and get to work on the actual deck. 39/299 (13%) of Ixalan Cards were Pirates, and if we assume Rivals will be the same, 25.56 of the 196 cards in Rivals will be pirates. That means we’ll have a total 84.56 pirate cards, and we’ll only have to play around half of them, maybe a few more. That’s really good for the deck. Of course, I can’t really predict what Rivals will look like, so we may be stuck with what we’ve got (but I doubt that). I look forward to being able to rule the seas, or, at least, the table with this deck. Until nest time.

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Gearing up for Rivals

First things first. My first semester as a college student was a lot more time consuming than expected. This is my excuse for not posting, but that’s not really important. So for the two of you (probably that many) who actually read this, I’m ready for rivals to deliver the much needed boost in power for the pirates deck. So, I’ll start off with what I think the deck still needs.

1) A solid direction. So far, I’ve taken pirates as a fast start, then grind the game out by going wide deck, that lies somewhere between aggro and mid-range. I’d like to definitively be aggro or mid-range, and not some weird middle point. So, I need aggressive pieces, or a couple more 4-7 drops that make an impact.

2) ANOTHER FEAKIN LORD. I know there are strong options, like Adaptive Automaton, Door of Destinies, Shared Animosity, etc, but the deck really needs creatures to attack, so of the options, only Adaptive Automaton, Metallic Mimic, and Brass Herald really fill that role. They really lack the punch they need to, so it almost always feels bad to be casting them instead of a shared animosity. However, the deck really needs a critical mass of creatures to make an impact, especially with a win more commander like Brave.

3) Another option for the commander. I know that this is incredibly greedy, but Admiral Beckett Brass just doesn’t fit well in the command zone. Casting her early doesn’t do enough, but in the late game it’s harder to trigger her ability. She really is a win-more commander, so I’d like more options. This doesn’t mean she’s a bad commander, but she doesn’t scale well against any other commanders... in my meta. This really is a meta call, so maybe she just doesn’t run well in a semi-competitive environment.

4) More good pirates. If I shove almost all the playable pirates in a deck with the previously mentioned non-creature buffs and some select support cards, the deck works. Not well, but it works. I just want 8-10 decent pirates that I can be content with casting. I just really hope that this isn’t to much to ask for.

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Pirate Evaluation #2 (Long)

I’m going to do these two cards together because of the similar niche they fill.

Both of these cards care about the new Treasure tokens. Because it’s hard to tell how difficult it will be to make them, it’s kind of hard to evaluate these cards. One key piece to both of these cards is that they generate treasure, so they can be used as stand alone cards, but will be much better if paired with other generators. Another important detail is how they pair with one of the other cards I’m looking to include, Revel in Riches. 

Now I’m going to go over key differences. First and foremost, Captain Lannery storm is far more aggressive. She wants you to make tokens, use those tokens, and cast more inexpensive stuff. On the other hand, Deadeye plunderers acts more like a mana battery, helping you store away mana for a big turn later, as well as becoming bigger in the process. Overall, I think that Deadeye Plunderers is a stronger treasure card, especially in a big slow format like commander where you’ll control more artifacts other than treasures. Captain Lannery might be a solid filler pirate/treasure generator if I need one, but I don’t think she is an auto include in the 99.

One of these cards has to be Nami. A creature that benefits from treasure = A navigator who enjoys her money. Ultimately, I think Deadeye Plunderers take the cake, since they want to keep the treasure around, while Storm wants it to be spent... I also think Plunderers is stronger.

Next up:

This guy could be really strong or incredibly weak. He suffers from being a “win more” card, since you already need a significant board presence as well as safe large attacks to be amazing. At worst, however, he’s a 2/2 for RB that is a pirate, which could be descent with enough support from outside of Ixalan. Really, only play testing will tell.

For his alter, I’m not sure. He really feels like a filler pirate right now, so I’m cautious of putting any major characters on this card. Maybe Capone Bege, since his devil fruit power relies heavily on other people? It’s a hard decision.

Lastly:

Here’s a card I actually think is worthless. At 3 mana, a 2/2 body isn’t doing much. His raid trigger, in a four player game of commander, will do absolutely nothing. If the targeted player can’t recover from discarding one card, they’ll have more problems than just this guy. It even hurts that they get to choose which card to discard. A weak body and weak trigger earns him the title of “I will include just about any pirate before you”. In limited, he’s a decent creature. In exchange for a slightly below curve body, you get a little bit of card advantage. Not great, but okay for a common. In a limited pirate deck, sure, he’s fine. I just can’t justify putting him in a commander deck unless you really need creatures. It’s sad to see a pirate slip away so soon, but hopefully we’ll get plenty more playable ones soon. I'm not going to give him an alter, because I don't want to put him in the deck.

Now a surprise evaluation:

Technically, it isn’t a pirate so I can go ahead and evaluate without being a liar. This card is... Well, I really wish the land was the front side. Like Captain Lannery Storm, and Deadeye Plunderers, I need to see how hard it is to make treasure tokens to really evaluate this card. The major downside is you need other generators for those tokens. Sure you get three, but those will run out really fast. Right now, Storm, Plunderers, and this guy (Hooray for website inconsistency), are the only treasure generators. I really don’t like any of them with Treasure Cove. And now the front of the card. Oh god. Oh god. 1 mana scry one is... Well, before it flips it’s a worse Crystal Ball. In an aggressive pirates deck, this could be used to rebuild after you get wrathed, but I would rather include Rhystic Study of Patriarch’s Bidding to do that. It doesn’t generate as much card advantage as Phyrexian arena, Rhystic Study or Even Coastal Piracy do for less effort. It’s hardly a ramp card, since it’s 5 mana over 3 turns to ramp 1 mana, 4 the first turn you flip if you’d rather sac the treasure mana instead of drawing cards. In a format with the signets and Sol Ring, that’s just too slow. Really, this card is a hodgepodge of things that are individually strong, like scrying, ramping, and drawing, but it takes so much to do any of these. We want to be dropping pirates like mad right now, so this card is a fun, albeit useless, include. Maybe if you were shooting for a casual deck, but this is my Piece Project dammit, and I’m going all the way. Okay, I'm done ranting about a card I like in theory, but not in practice. The only good thing this card does is give me hope for a transforming pirate card to alter into Brook!

Okay, that was long. Tell me what you thought about this evaluation, and of the cards themselves. Also, feel free to point out any mistakes. On my last evaluation (Admiral Beckett Brave), I used the wrong pronoun (I did fix it, thanks trantifa, for pointing it out), like an idiot. Definitely call me out on mistakes like those. Finally: IXALAN HYPE!

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Admiral Beckett Brass

Here we go, our first pirate evaluation! As of right now, I’m 100% sure this is my commander:

So let’s get started! For starters, she's a classic +1/+1 lord in the command zone, so having more buffs mixed with an obscene number of pirates is pretty much game. Her second ability is a little sad. You really need to already be winning to trigger it, so it's only real purpose is keeping you in a winning position.

As our commander, there is no pirate this should be other than Monkey D. Luffy. There is no real flavor reason, Luffy just gets the good ol' protaginist treatment.

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As of Yesterday...

Ixalan spoilers! For people who haven’t seen them yet: look here!

If you don’t want to read the article: The leaked cards were spoiled officially. This means I’m going to move forward as if spoiler season has started, including a daily Pirate evaluation. These evaluations will include a section on possible alters for them, and flavor evaluations. Later tonight (really soon actually), I’ll evaluate the new pirate leader: Admiral Beckett Brass!

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In the Meantime...

Since I still have a while before I really start building my Pirate deck, I’m going to work on designing another deck instead. So, without further ado, my commander of choice for this next deck:

I tried to start with a outline that didn’t use Derevi to do totally broken things... Then decided screw it, this will be my “competitive” deck. Essentially, I’m going to be building a STAX deck with her at the helm. I’ll be designing the deck to be about $250, excluding cards I already own.

Until, Ixalan spoilers actually start, my blog will probably be a lot of designing commander decks. If you want to see me try to design any specific commanders, tell me what commanders you would like to see, and any challenges! (like no creatures, everything is an artifact, etc.)

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This is MTGCardsmith. What Color pie?

2003 called. They want their mana burn back.

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New EDH Project

Hello Tumblr! I’ve started a new blog mostly about my newest EDH project: creating a Pirate Tribal EDH deck, that’s One Piece themed! How do I make it One Piece themed? Alters! I’ll be building this deck and Altering ALL non-land and some land cards in the deck to be places/people/things from One Piece! 

Come help build the deck, check out what cards will be altered as who, and suggest cards and alters! Or, just come watch the this whole thing go down!

Two quick things about this blog: First, I’m working under the assumption that the Ixalan leaks are real and that people who follow my blog have seen them. That being said, I’m going to avoid putting spoilers on the one page of my blog and in posts in case someone randomly comes across it. Secondly, because there is still some time until Ixalan comes out, thesis also going to be just an EDH blog.