#Konrad would be the obvious red herring suspect at the start

[nevesmose]

"The Night Lords? You said we were meeting the Blood Angels. These are not the Blood Angels."

"I've heard it both ways. Just don't stare at Konrad's lack of inhibition."

"He's ten feet tall and wearing nothing but a feather cape, Shawn. His lack of inhibition is practically hitting us in the face."

[housebeleren]

Throne of Eldraine New Commanders

Throne of Eldraine Standard is in full swing, and I know people are already brewing with the new Commanders, but it’s never too late to take a spin and evaluate all the goodies this set brought for the best format.

For this set, most of the Legendary Creatures are monocolor, which isn’t really my thing, but we did get the four Brawl deck Commanders as well, plus the Buy-a-Box, so there are options. Also, since Brawl is now a thing, I’ll mention my thoughts of them for both formats, and touch on the Planeswalkers at the end. Let’s start there:

Might as well start here, right? Normally I don’t love five color commanders, but this one is flavorful enough I’ll give it a pass. There’s a lot you can do here, and it should be trivial to set up some pretty absurd combos with abilities like these. I like that all the abilities can target any player, so you can play this super politically, which is how I would build it if I were to. He works for group hug, and works for combo. The versatility here makes him something very interesting, and I suspect lots of people will try variants.

For Brawl, I think if you’re not building him to be a Happily Ever After deck, what are you even doing?

Moving on to the Brawl commanders, Chulane is the most obviously busted of all of them. There’s just so much you can do with this. He draws you cards, he ramps, he allows you to reuse ETBs. In short, he does it all, and it will be absolutely trivial to create a pretty obscene Simic-based combo deck out of this. It practically screams creature storm, so... that’s a thing. If I were to build him, I’d go hard on Adventures and the “storyteller” theme, which would be jankier, but probably more fun.

In Brawl, he’s really not any less broken, given how powerful Green/Blue is in Standard right now. It’s possible in a year, after the Hydroid Krasis and Frilled Mystic rotate out this won’t be so dumb, but I’m not holding my breath.

Alela seems slightly less broken than Chulane, but that’s not saying much. There are a few ways to go about building this. The first, most obvious, and most annoying, would be to build Esper Stax, which Alela will helpfully help you break parity on by constantly churning out extra tokens. Another direction I’ve heard is Alela Anthems, which probably isn’t that good, but will certainly be funny if it works. There are a lot of good ways to build around her, and that flexibility is good. I will say, however, both Alela and Chulane come across as huge and obvious threats, so do plan for getting hated on with either of these.

The nice thing is that for Brawl, she’s way less insane, but is still really solid. She strikes me as really well balanced for the more restricted format, while still being lots of fun.

Korvold is my favorite of the four Brawl commanders (which is bizarre, given that he doens’t have Blue). What I like about him is that, while he is a clear threat, I actually think people will underestimate him a little bit more, since on the surface he looks just like a big beater. But the real power is in his card draw, and if you can get a steady stream of tokens or sac fodder out, you can draw deep into your deck really quickly. 

Of course, the “intended” direction here is to build him as the Food commander, and that is definitely a thing you can do. But there are tons of other ways to build this, with Red Goblins and Green Saprolings being two of the first ones that spring to mind. Sadly he doesn’t directly synergize with Food Chain, because that would be amazing. 

In Brawl, Food is definitely where you want to be with Korvold.

I’ve gotta say, I really do like how they built these four commanders around four set themes. One of them had to be Knights, and it was bound to be a bit of the odd one out. Honestly, the main thing they needed to do for Syr Gwyn would be to make her a tiny bit smaller and chop off a mana or two. Then she’d be phenomenal. As it is, 6 mana is a huge lift, particularly without Green, though the card draw is very welcome for these colors. 

She strikes me as totally reasonable in Brawl, but will be a little more niche for people who really want to build Knights in regular Commander.

It’s interesting that the only other multicolored general in the set is an Uncommon, but that’s the way it is now that Uncommon Legends are a consistent thing and we’re in a monocolor-focused set. Grumgully has some decent options in commander, but it’s unfortunate you can’t put Murderous Redcap in it for the combo win. My guess is there are better Red/Green commanders, and better +1/+1 commanders but he’s a fun option for a more offbeat deck.

In Brawl, there’s some fun synergy with Gruul Riot creatures from Ravnica Allegiance, but again, I think Grumgully would be better in the 59 rather than at the helm in those builds. Especially since you can run Domri at the helm.

Questing Beast doesn’t feel like most Legendary creatures, but sure enough he is. The likely key if you want to build him in Commander is to try to exploit his “Damage can’t be prevented” ability by making this a turbo Fog deck, since the damage your creatures do will still occur. It’s janky, but people won’t expect it the first time and could lead to some blowouts. Otherwise, he’s just Green stompy. 

For Brawl, he belongs in the deck, not in charge. You have better options for mono Green, and he will be in the deck for all of them.

Rankle isn’t the best mono Black commander out there, but he has some interesting deckbuilding options. The challenge is that he has to connect to be worth anything, but once he does you get a fair amount of utility out of him. I also imagine there will be plenty of EDH decks built around other generals who would be interested in him in the 99.

In Brawl, he’s about as good as any mono Black option, though Ayara is probably a touch better. He’s phenomenal in the deck of my Lazav deck, though.

Ayara is fantastic. She has some stiff competition for the leader of mono Black decks, but I can see her being a reasonable choice. After all, she’s got a win condition and draw power built in, and that’s pretty phenomenal. I’ll certainly be running her in the deck of basically any mono Black deck as well, so I expect to see her a lot.

In Brawl, mono Colors struggle a bit against 2 or 3 color builds, but Ayara is a reasonable choice if you really want to go mono Black. She plays really well with Gutterbones and similar self-reanimators, so there definitely is potential here.

Torbran actually has some potential across the board. In Commander, you have access to Purphoros, which is disgusting when combined with Torbran and any sort of token maker. Kinda no matter what, Torbran will be great either at the helm of or in the 99 of mono Red decks.

In 1v1 Brawl, Torbran is disgusting, and plays out basically just like the Standard Red deck does. He’s probably worse in multiplayer, but is anyone playing multiplayer Brawl? (I’m just playing 1v1 on Arena, so... yeah Torbran is annoying.)

For 100 card Commander, there are way better mono Green options out there. Yorvo is just “go big”, and that doesn’t quite cut it when Elfball and things are possible in the color. I don’t expect him to see much play.

In Brawl, he’s one of the better mono Green creature commanders out there, but there aren’t that many to speak of. Gargos is probably better, but neither are going to be anywhere near as good as Nissa, Who Breaks Formats.

Linden seems like a solid NOPE for Commander. As I’ve mentioned, Righteous Cause isn’t that great of a card, even when you get it in your Command Zone. There might be niche applications for her, but I’m not guessing any major play is likely.

She’s not that much better in Brawl, but she is fun with Ajani’s Pridemate. Problem is, you really want to be in W/B if you’re going to go for lifegain in the current Standard.

Lots of people are hyped about Gadwick, but I’m not guessing he’ll make too many waves. I’d run him in Wizard decks like Azami, and probably pass on him the rest of the time.

Mono Blue is probably the worst mono color in Brawl right now, and having card draw and a creature that can tap things isn’t going to make up for it much. He belongs in several brawl decks, but not leading them.

Emry is pretty much busted in half. Mono Blue Artifact decks already have tons of overpowered options in Commander, and adding Emry to the pile just adds to the insanity. Urza is still probably your best bet, but Emry could be a more fun and more budget way to do something similar.

In Brawl, I’ve seen people attempting Emry decks, but I don’t think they have enough way to close out the game, at least with the current card pool. A few animated artifacts just aren’t going to cut it with the amount of removal and big creatures in the format.

Oh right, we got a cycle of Uncommon Legendary Knights as well. Um... Syr Elinora is probably the worst of the bunch, for both Brawl and Commander. I just don’t see her making a splash in either format.

Syr Alin... has the same problem. He’s really meant for Limited play, and this ability just doesn’t do enough to be interesting in either Commander or Brawl. He’s probably slightly better than Syr Elinora in Brawl, but that’s not saying much.

Honestly, Syr Faren is probably better than Yorvo as a mono Green general, though it still bugs me tremendously that he didn’t follow the 5 CMC cost of the rest of the cycle. Oh, and this is for Brawl. He’s pretty useless in Commander.

Syr Carah provides repeatable impulse draw in a color that doesn’t often get it, so she’s worth looking at. In Commander, there are maybe a few decks where she’d fit in the 99, but 5 mana and without Haste is a lot to ask. In Brawl, I’d run her in most mono Red decks unless I was going super-weenie. But Torbran is your better bet as a general.

And that leaves us with Syr Konrad, and it’s honestly shocking just how much better he is than every other card in the cycle, and many of the Rare Legends as well. Seriously, this ability is so freaking good, even if it is hard to parse. He’s got potential in Commander as a General of some sort of gross mill/Living Death deck, and honestly with enough creatures on the board and in your graveyard, that could win on the spot. I don’t think he’s the best mono Black Legend ever printed, but he builds an interesting deck that’s a little different from a lot of the others, so I like that a lot. And he belongs in the 99 of so many other builds.

In Brawl, I love him in the deck of basically anything that runs Black, and you can get some of the same fun as Commander by casting a massive Finale of Eternity. In Brawl, I might actually run Ayara as the commander more, but Syr Konrad belongs in every Black deck in the format. Period.

Alright, now we move on to the Planeswalkers, since they are technically legal as Brawl commanders. And just like in Standard, Oko is pretty much busted as a Brawl general. In 1v1, you might as well scoop if your opponent lands a turn 1 Gilded Goose to land Oko on turn 2. He’ll be less obscene in multiplayer, where his +1 ability won’t just completely nullify everything you lay down. But he’ll still be great. So, you have a choice. You can build an Oko Brawl deck and understand that literally nobody will enjoy playing against you. Or you can build something else and let other people have fun. Your choice.

Garruk is pretty fantastic. I don’t know if he’s better than Vraska if you’re looking for a Golgari Planeswalker to lead your team, but he will be good. He’s got removal and threats built in, and he’s bound to be great, either as a commander or in the deck of another build.

The Royal Scions are great. Unlike Oko, who is just good and it doesn’t matter what you build, the twins here have a specific deck they work in, so it has to be a little narrower. Which is a good thing. This deck will be a lot of fun, and I think it can flex anywhere from casual to surprisingly powerful. Which is a great place to be for Brawl.

Oh yeah, there’s another Oko. Fortunately, this one is pretty much awful. There’s some potential here for a Simic Ascendancy type of build, which makes this better than it might be. The weird thing, however, is that Oko’s middle ability doesn’t synergize particularly well with his +1, since he’ll be a copy with no counters. It would be way better if he has a -1 that created a token copy of a creature you control, because at least then you could get ETB effects out of them. In any case, I doubt there will be many Oko, the Trickster builds, especially when Thief of Crowns is so ridiculous.

And finally, there’s Rowan on her own. I like that her +1 mimics the second ability on The Royal Scions. Honestly, Torbran is still  the mono Red general of choice, but Rowan isn’t the worst I’ve ever seen. Getting to an Insurrection on her ultimate is game ending, and if you can keep her alive long enough, she generates solid value. Honestly, I’d be curious to see what people do with a Rowan build, but more likely she’d just end up in the deck of some of the mono Red Superfriends decks I’ve seen running around.

So that’s it. All the new Legendary Creatures and Planeswalkers from Throne of Eldraine (and it’s related products). What deck are you going to build?

[dandelionthoughts]

A Backstory Of The Frey & McGray Books & Review Of ‘Loch Of The Dead’.

So, this blog is more about my writing, rather than critiquing other's writing. But, I have just finished, probably my favourite book in the Frey & McGray series by Oscar De Muriel, and if I don't get down my thoughts on it, I might explode. I shall start by detailing my finding of the Frey & McGray series, and a little backstory into the books. I will apologise, I didn’t know that when I started writing this it would turn out so long, over 1500 words! This review will contain some spoilers, but most of them are from the beginnings of the books anyway, but I implore you, please, have a look into reading the books, more people need to find out about this incredible book series.

I distinctly remember browsing the shelves in the book section of my local Sainsburys, now I'm not normally one to judge a book by it's cover, but I saw the cover of the first Frey & McGray book, 'The Strings Of Murder', and I fell in love. I usually read the blurb, and the first few pages to get a grasp of whether I'll like the book. I read the blurb, and I instantly wanted to know more, so I read the prologue, and again, I wanted to carry on reading, and so I bought it, and I haven't regretted it since. The series has fast become my favourite series, I did have another, but that was spoilt due to a film made of it, which in my eyes has rendered the sequels from the first book useless. The second Frey & McGray book was released a year later, 'A Fever Of The Blood', and reading the synopsis on Amazon, I saw that it was set at Pendle Hill, not far from where I live, and a place I have been countless times. As you may know Pendle is synonymous with the Lancashire Witches, one of which, Alice Nutter, I am  (according to my father's cousin) related to by marriage some where along the line. Needless to say, I was ecstatic about it being set so close to home, and I was delighted to have something in common with Frey's maid, Joan, she came from my hometown. Not that there's much to be proud of in my town, but to know someone, even fictionally, who is such a strong character is from my town, was great. The third book was announced, 'A Mask Of Shadows', and when I saw the news on twitter, I said 'I screamed like a banshee', and the author, Oscar, tweeted back saying it was funny I mentioned that. The third book told the tale of prophecies from a banshee, during the time Henry Irving, Ellen Terry and Bram Stoker were in Edinburgh with their rendition of Macbeth. Now we come to the fourth book, which I will review in just a moment, I know this has been long so far, but please, bear with me.  

The series is set in November 1888 at the start of the first book, and the two main characters of the series are, Ian Percy Frey, and Adolphus 'Nine-Nails' McGray. Ian is a Londoner, or a 'Southron' as McGray calls him, he comes from a well to do family, and is an Inspector for the CID. His tale began in London, where he was ousted from his post in London, due to Sir Charles Warren being ousted from his post as head of Scotland Yard by Lord Salisbury, the prime minster at the time, and James Monro taking his post. Frey was then forced to take a position in McGray's subdivision in order to keep his place in the police, the sub division itself is made a mockery by the majority of the police, the division is the 'Commission For The Elucidation Of Unsolved Cases Presumably Related To The Odd And Ghostly.' Needless to say, the prim and proper Frey, is not at all happy about being sent up to 'Edin-bloody-burgh' as his father calls it, and being in the most mocked subdivision of the entire CID. With his career in tatters, he visits his fiancée, Eugenia, who announces to him that she is calling their engagement off, due to a better offer, which Frey would later find out is his older brother Lawrence, whom he detests. With nothing left to lose, he embarks to Edinburgh, where he soon meets, the infamous 'Nine-Nails' McGray.

McGray is as Scottish as they come, on their first meeting, Frey describes McGray as being one of Mary Queen of Scots jesters, as apart from his moth eaten overcoat, and tattered shirt, he is covered in tartan. McGray's backstory is a rather tragic one, his father a distiller of whiskey, and on June 23rd 1883, on a family holiday to their home in Dundee, tragedy struck when his younger sister, Amy 'Pansy' McGray, then only 16 years old, in a spate of madness, murdered both of their parents, and hacked McGray's ring finger off on his right hand, hence his nickname. When the good Dr. Clouston, the doctor from Morningside Lunatic Asylum in Edinburgh came to the family after the tragedy, the last thing Amy said, was that it was the devil who had caused her violent outburst. Since the tragedy, she has resided in Morningside, apart from in the 3rd & 4th book, when Dr. Clouston took her to the Orkneys to try and improve her condition after the events of the 2nd book, where she was witness to a rather brutal murder. Since, the McGrays are a laughing stock, and everyone takes the opportunity to remind Adolphus of his mad sister, or what happened, which is usually met with a swift punch to the face from McGray. Since the tragedy, McGray has poured all of his efforts into finding a cure for his sister, so much so, that he created the division he and Frey work in, and has entirely funded it himself. His office at both home and work is full of books, and artefacts related to the paranormal.

Frey & McGray's relationship is a rather ragged one at the start, Frey not liking McGray's vulgarity, his uncleanliness, and his predilection for violence. McGray on the other hand can't stand the soft southron he has been partnered with, and winds him up at every opportunity. The relationship, and banter between them both, is one of the strongest suits of the series, though they are starting to come to a mutual understanding.

Now, we move on, briefly, to the events of the 4th book. McGray has gone to visit his sister in the Orkneys, and Frey still in Edinburgh, with his uncle, Maurice Plantard, who is one of his favourite members of his family, the other being his younger half brother, Elgie, who after the 3rd book went back down to London after appearing in the 1st book. Frey gets a visit from a Millie Fletcher, a servant of the wealthy Koloman family who reside in a elegant, extravagant manor on the shores of Loch Maree, a rather interesting loch, as within it’s waters, are a number of islands, one of which has a smaller loch inside, she comes asking to see McGray, because she believes he, and only he can help with the case, and in return, she can help cure his sister of her madness, with mystical waters from a well on Loch Maree, which are said to cure madness, and cured the madness of Mr. Nellys, who resides on Juniper Island which is in the loch. Millie had a son, 16 years ago, after being raped by Maximillian Koloman, the wayward, womanising brother of Konrad Koloman. Due to Millie being a servant in the Koloman's household, and also the child conceived out of wedlock, it was improper for her to keep the child, named Benjamin, so he was sent to Thruso to live with a priest. Millie now believes there is a serious threat against her son's life, after having a brick thrown through a window, with a note saying as much. With a few murders, and a gloomy, and mysterious setting Loch Of The Dead is quite the read.

The book, like the others is incredibly well written, De Muriel has quite a way with describing scenes so vividly, the gloomy loch, contrasts with the vibrant elegance of the Koloman’s house. He also has a knack for creating well rounded, and believable characters, describing them in great detail, giving them intriguing and believable backstories, and giving them quirks, which make them more human and relatable, like in this book, we find that McGray has debilitating sea sickness, and now has a distaste for salted herrings, and the incredibly clever, and curious twin daughters of the Kolomans, Veronika and Natalja, who have a shadows room in the house, and are interested in the science of light, and conduct experiments using different shaped prisms. The books usually keep you guessing right up until the end, with plenty of red (salted) herrings thrown in, though I had my suspicions in this one, I felt that Dominik and Calcraft were rather obvious, but I didn't count them out, I also suspected Minerva Koloman, since she is talented at medicine, and all of the wounds suffered by the victims were described as being done with surgical precision. De Muriel’s background in chemistry allows him to write the intricacies of the scientific elements in greater detail. The book also leaves a rather interesting cliffhanger, McGray had taken a sample of water from the well on the loch to take back to Edinburgh for Dr. Clouston to give to Amy. Regardless, I am very excited for the 5th book, which Oscar has said on twitter he is working on now.