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tabletoptrinketsbyjj · 3 years

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Trinkets, Rings, 3: Enough rings and bands to wear three on every finger and toe while still having dozens to spare. Rings, especially magic rings are a very common item of jewelry in fiction and roleplaying. From a basic ring of protection, to the life saving ring of regeneration, the ring of the Nibelungs, the rings of the lantern corps, the ring of Gyges, any wedding ring ever depicted, the ring of Solomon, Sir Perceval’s ring, Aladdin’s genie housing ring, the nine rings of mortal men and the precious one ring of power, these small circular pieces of gems, metal, wood or bone always add more to the story than the sum of their parts. None of these rings are intensely magical in their own right but can serve as basis for a magical or plot relevant ring. When a DM rolls a d100, the bog standard ring of protection +1 they were going to give out now has a unique look and personality rather than just a mechanical benefit.

A big heavy ring made of sterling silver. On the face of the ring is a skull the size of a large man’s thumb, run through with a lance and a flag fluttering around it. Knowledgeable PC’s will recognize the sigil as that of the Mad Lancer’s an infamous cavalry unit that was a force of nature as much as a military company.

An onyx ring set with a shimmering opal, from which a thin line of black smoke continuously billows forth.

A shinning brass signet ring that proudly displays a raised fist against a red starburst. Knowledge PC's will recognize the sigil as the symbol of a paladin order known as the Boros Legion. There's a weight to it that belies its size, a weight of strength and of pride.

A cheap-looking tin ring that has a small dial adorned with letters of the alphabet that can be aligned with various strange pictographs. Knowledgeable PC's will recognize it as a decoder ring and can be used to decipher texts that were written using this specific ring or a twin of it.

A ring comprised of two interlocking bands, one gold engraved with a motifs of laughing faces and the other granite with a motif of faces set in stony silence.

A lead ring bearing engravings of an otherworldly entity spreading its unnatural gifts.

Ring of Fire Detection: A pure white ring set with a transparent red gemstone. The gemstone will light up and emit a piercing sound if the ring comes into direct contact with fire, magical or otherwise.

A simple black ring is polished to a shine, and written in gold lettering around the outer band is the phrase "I am better off healed than I ever was unbroken."

A crudely made gold ring set with a huge green gemstone that glows faintly even in full daylight.

An iron ring set with a dark ruby of great size and splendor. Within its heart flickers a mysterious flame, entrapped there in ages past by a masterful mage.

—Keep reading for 90 more trinkets.

—Note: The previous 10 items are repeated for easier rolling on a d100.

An onyx ring set with a shimmering opal, from which a thin line of black smoke continuously billows forth.

A ring comprised of two interlocking bands, one gold engraved with a motifs of laughing faces and the other granite with a motif of faces set in stony silence.

A lead ring bearing engravings of an otherworldly entity spreading its unnatural gifts.

A simple black ring is polished to a shine, and written in gold lettering around the outer band is the phrase "I am better off healed than I ever was unbroken."

A crudely made gold ring set with a huge green gemstone that glows faintly even in full daylight.

An iron ring set with a dark ruby of great size and splendor. Within its heart flickers a mysterious flame, entrapped there in ages past by a masterful mage.

A thin ring made of two intertwining strands of silver and gold, both ornate and simple in appearance.

A silver ring in the shape of a spider whose legs clasp around the wearer’s finger and whose body is a yellowish gem.

An unassuming copper ring clean and shiny like a new penny, it has dozens of smiling faces faintly carved into its surface.

A silver ring with golden ram's horns curling around the edge of its crown.

A bog iron ring with a poem in Druidic on the inside.

An onyx ring. When tapped three times, a faint blue light shows the symbol of an assassin’s guild.

A pair of black iron body piercing rings, with a chain linking them.

A copper ring with a small clear gem that shimmers slightly even in the dark. It is badly crafted with scuffs and scratches along the loop and yet there is something quaint about it that suggests more value than the first impression would suggest.

A silver banded ring with a single white gem encased in the center. Etched into the surface are ancient glyphs, binding its power to an individual to be used as a focus. The head of the ring is a flat surface which is adorned with an intricate ritualistic circle design.

A lavender ring with a cosmic gemstone faceted into it. The gem moves and glows like outer space, and has a spiral vortex pattern along its edges.

An iron signet ring whose symbol can be changed once per day by the bearer. The image must be something the bearer has seen and remembers clearly.

A crystalline ring in the shape of a dragon, that changes based on the bearer’s emotional state.

A gold ring whose Randomly Colored gemstone levitates just out of the socket, following wherever the ring goes.

A platinum ring that has a large blue sapphire embedded in the band. When the bearer looks into the stone, he can see a perfect reflection of himself that appears to have a life all of its own. Engraved on the inside of the band one can see a message that reads; "Never lose sight of your true self".

A single human tooth encased in a brass ring, inscribed with a twin-tailed comet. Knowledge PC’s will recognize it as a holy reliquary of a relatively famous prophet and devout follower of the God of the Outer Stars.

An oxidized copper ring etched with ancient hieroglyphs that tell a timeless fable.

A brass ring set with an oversized, round brown bezoar for a gemstone. Extremely ugly, by modern standards.

A heavy silver ring with a flat, round head. A cap lifts off the top, revealing a folded-down needle, which may be lifted into place, and the markings of a sundial around it. None of the marks, all twiggy, natural shapes, correspond to modern notation, save the fact there are 12.

A ruby ring, heavy, plain, and gold, set with a fat, badly cut ruby that's entirely stuck on a finger bone. In modern times, it would be a man’s thumb ring, though an ugly one. The band surrounds a thick finger bone and won’t come off (But could be chiseled out) as the knuckles are knobby and too wide. The bone is fragile with age, and conspicuously blackened.

A signet ring, quite wide, made of cast iron. The signet face is that of a beaked skull, one halfway between that of a human and a crow. The ring is too wide for a human to wear and seems to have been designed for a finger twice that size.

A horrific black ring that turns translucent when submerged in a water and uncoils into a slippery, leech-like tentacle when unworn.

A wide, red brass ring, that's plain, on the exterior. There is lettering inside the band, raised and sharp. If worn on a clenched fist, the lettering digs painfully into its finger, leaving the word "memento" imprinted in red welts.

A mithral ring, engraved with a pattern of rolling waves that encircles the entire band. The ring is immune to rust, both from natural oxidation and rust caused by magical effects.

A steel ring that carries the sign of an armorers’ guild: a stylized helmet with visor, two crossed swords and the rune “A” engraved beneath them.

A lapis colored gemstone embedded into a ring that is stylized with the alchemical symbol of a circle inside a square, inside a triangle, inside another circle.

A mysterious ring; ancient, covered in runes. After spending some minutes sniffing, touching, and examining the thing, the bearer can safely say it exudes an aura of magic. When worn is makes the bearer's hairs stand on end and sparks jump between the metal and his fingers.

A ring carved from a single solid gemstone that glows with an inner light and pulses with its wielder’s heartbeat.

A simple pale stone that sits atop a plain steel band, flickering every so often with unknown power.

A simple gold band studded with blue diamonds. Knowledgeable PC’s will recognize it as a ring of office for the Grand Vizier, the highest advisor to a great rajah.

Ring of Bubbles: A delicate ring made of multicolored glass. When this ring is held between two fingers and dipped it into a solution of soap and water, a creature can blow through it to produce dozens of fist sized, glowing, technicolor bubbles which are difficult to pop and last for up to a minute.

Ring of the Firebuilder: A ring made of worked flint. When struck with a piece of steel, it sheds sparks that are able to ignite objects as normal. The sparks created from the ring never harm the bearer, who gains Advantage on igniting objects with the ring.

A ring crafted of simple silver. The band is etched with different letters from all languages of the realms, some unrecognizable to any living person.

A thickly banded ring made of black steel. It sits heavy on the bearer's finger never feeling fully comfortable.

A sapphire banded in gold with a loop of string around it to go around the bearer's neck. The inside of the gem appears to be filled with flowing water that swirls and sloshes magnificently inside the sapphire.

A pewter ring with an inlaid gold band that slowly rotates.

A band of tarnished silver bearing no ornament or inscription, but is icy cold to the touch. The patches of dark corrosion on the ring subtly move and change. This never occurs while anyone observes the ring, but happens constantly.

A gold ring shaped in the form of a manacle, uncomfortably tight regardless of how it's worn.

A brass band in the shape of a dragon’s claw, scuffed and tarnished with age and frequent use.

A ring made from woven lead and silver.

A brass ring, set with rubies and engraved with fire runes, holds a lens of orange-red crystal that has an esoteric circle lightly etched in the glass.

A ring of silver green mithril engraved with runes from the enchantment school of magic. Though plain looking, the edges of the band are decorated with an intricate design of miniaturized knotwork.

An oversized ancient golden ring bears the silver hawk crest of the Yragerne family line on its large flat top.

An ornate golden ring set with a perfect square-cut emerald. A noble insignia on both sides of the gem features two eagles flying in opposite directions.

A platinum ring in the shape of a coiled snake. Its eyes are two perfectly cut rubies. The ring has a mesmerizing aura that attracts the eyes of the greedy and the vain. Only a person with clear desires and unclouded wants is unaffected by its allure.

A dwarven-forged amethyst ring bearing the inscription “Cracked from the hammer of the Forge-Father”

A garnet ring that causes the bearer’s hand to appear to be clawed and demonic.

A signet ring that will magically re-size itself to fit the wearer, but only if the wearer is a direct descendant of the creator of the ring.

A rose gold ring that, when put on, periodically gives the wearer the distinct feeling that he or she is forgetting something important.

A platinum ring set with an opal cracked in a star pattern, like a tiny sun when the light passes through it.

A simple black ring polished to a shine, and written in gold lettering around the outer band is the phrase "Three things cannot be long hidden: the Sun, the Moon, and the Truth.

A bizarre looking ring that could easily be mistaken for a piece of forest debris. Its thorn covered surface throbs with the sensation of a beating heart when placed on the left ring finger.

Sphinx Ring: A small band with a little head of a lion, made of limestone. By stroking the band while worn, the lion whispers a riddle based on events which its bearer has witnessed, and the riddles can vary widely in difficulty, from simple riddles to questions only previous bearers could logically answer. If the answer is correct, the ring purrs, while if incorrect, it roars. It is mostly used to pass the time during long travels, but nobles have been known to use them in party games.

A transparent ring of blue-green resin that smells of strange magical forests. The band is slick to the touch, but never slips off of a finger accidentally.

An unassuming bronze ring that seems less than spectacular in every way and boasts no gems to speak of on its surface. However, within the band lies a diamond pressing softly against the bearer's skin.

A rusty iron ring that appears to show a dusty landscape within it, changing as it’s moved. The finger the ring is worn on always feels warm and dry.

A sealing ring, with the image of a smiling, winking imp.

A band carved from a single chunk of raw amethyst, capped with a black pearl in a truesilver setting. In darkness, the ring glows with a faint purple hue.

A ring whose outer edge has six flat edges, so that it presents a hexagonal appearance. One of the sides bears a setting carved of obsidian, topped by a small black diamond

A ring that is more like a wrap designed to completely encase the bearer’s finger. It is formed of what appears to be a thin sheet of platinum laced with spidery gold webbing. Once slid over a finger, the covering becomes as flexible as cloth and stays in place until the bearer removes it.

A ring consisting of a truesilver core surrounded by a torus of azure ice coated in a slick sheen, as though in the process of melting. The ring is cold to the touch and though the ice remains slippery, it never melts and the ring is never in danger of slipping off the finger unexpectedly.

A ring crafted from pure white gold encrusted with speck- sized fragments of diamond. When held to the light, it produces a prismatic effect, sparkling and gleaming with all the colors of the rainbow.

A ring made entirely of silver, intricately carved in fine patterns. Four small opals are set into the surface at regular intervals. When the ring is worn, they slowly orbit the finger without ever leaving the band.

A black ring made from a single piece of obsidian and bears a gold inlay design of chains.

A ring made up of filaments of bone and black iron of various thicknesses, twisted together in a strange mottled composite.

A ring carved from moonstone in the shape of a miniature, cable-twisted torc. The end-caps of the "torc" rest where a signet would be, each mounting a tiny, curved feline claw cast from silver.

A signet ring made of heavy lead with a distinctively abnormal design carved into it.

A brass ring encasing a small, polished moldavite.

A silver ring made out of very fine wire worked into rather complicated decorative ornament.

An ornate brass signet ring with a coiled serpent design with two freshwater pearls for eyes. The ring has a poison pill compartment that is currently empty.

A small copper ring, inset with flawed pearls.

A ring made out of blond hair and porcelain braided together. Wearing it slowly causes the bearer to experience apathy towards everything.

A mysterious bronze ring, ancient and marked with eldritch signs.

A pewter ring in the shape of a crab with its claws pressed to its body and the legs forming the ring. The shell, claws, and legs of the crab are set with polished abalone and the eyes are tiny garnets.

An adamantine ring is set with a cabochon cut water opal.

A platinum ring set with a large diamond surrounded by a circle of smaller sapphires and rubies. The gems gleam brightly in even the dullest light. An inscription on the inside of the band reads simply “for Alenea” in Elven.

A larger than average ring that looks like sheets of gold woven together into a simple pattern. Despite its size, ring feels almost weightless. On the inside of the ring there is an engraved; "A.Z."

A silver ring encrusted with dark gems. Upon inspection the ring itself smells of earth, mud and worms.

A brass ring that is crudely constructed with dent marks and battle burns.

A lapis colored gemstone embedded into a ring that is stylized with the alchemical symbol of a circle inside a square, inside a triangle, inside another circle.

A simple bronze ring sized for a giant's finger.

A plain-looking wooden ring with no characteristic marks or engravings. It almost looks as though the carpenter who fashioned it never got around to finishing it.

A copper ring shaped like knotted brambles.

A copper ring shaped like a dragon clutching its own tail, holding a moonstone it its mouth.

A petrified stone fist wearing a golden ring. It is impossible to remove the ring without destroying the fist.

A silver ring shaped like rolled arrow.

A bone ring with a deep purple inlay, set with an onyx.

An emerald ring that gives the bearer an abnormally strong sense of balance. The bearer is rendered immune from mundane vertigo effects such as dizziness from heights or seasickness.

A black stone ring made for the middle finger of a man's hand. The band is carved in the shape of a vine with thorns.

An iron band flecked with onyx pieces and is always cold to the touch.

A rough-hewn silver band with a single purple stone inset. No matter how long it is held, it is cold to the touch. While worn, the bearer occasionally hears strange dissonant whispers in Deep Speech promising power and domination over others.

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rojaceartandgaming · 2 years

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A Mind Wreathed in Flame: Chapter Four

I HAVE BEEN TAUGHT HOW TO DO THE READ MORE THING ON MOBILE. THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING! SHOUTOUT TO @leafdrake-haven FOR SAYING HOW TO AND SHOUTOUT TO THEM AND ALL OF YOU FOR ENJOYING THIS STORY THUS FAR!!

It had grown close to night, sunset peeking over the towering buildings that cast long shadows over the streets. Tolro paused, looking up at the impressive architecture, allowing himself to relax a little bit. He had started to appreciate Ravnica a little bit. It was… unique. He learned that there were ten guilds, each aligned with two colors of mana and each with a certain job. That this "plane" was basically just a giant city.

This place was drastically different then how home was. But it had become weirdly calming. Being far from constant reminders of what he had caused. Maybe things could somehow go back to normal? That would be nice. Though after what Jace had elaborated had happened in recent time… they had doubts about this.

Frankly he was glad his "spark" hadn't ignited sooner. Especially since there was apparently great danger to planeswalkers in Ravnica recently. Maybe he had avoided things being a lot worse.

He got back to walking, enjoying the cool air. At least for now things seemed fairly normal. And with no chaos to be had, hopefully.

Those hopes were quickly dashed as he heard commotion down another side street. Flickering lights, mixed sounds of elation and… horror? Despite everything telling them to just mind their own business, keep walking, and avoid trouble. But alas, curiosity easily wins over logic, and he peered around the corner.

Tolro saw a macabre sight - or simply a bizarre one, he couldn't figure out which one it was. A stage that must be made to be moved often due to the lack of well made supports. Performers, so it seemed, were doing their act. A bloody dangerous one too. People with wheels of flame, fire-breathers, an impish creature hooting as it hung from a highly placed wire. Several innocent bystanders looked either frankly horrified or insanely intrigued. And frankly, quite a few were dangerously close to the flames - to no visible concern of the "performers".

The Cult of Rakdos, if I remember right…

Tolro didn't like the look of all this, and put up his hood, before backing up a little bit and turning. This isn't my problem. Those law-enforcers… what were they called… Boros? They could handle this. Not that I see any in sight… but this has to be an anomaly, right?

They glanced left and right, noticing the street they were aiming to walk back on was empty. A scream of shock or from that side street rang out, and froze Tolro in his tracks. He completely froze, staring blankly at the road ahead as his mind raced frantically.

I can't interfere. This isn't my problem. Besides, I don't even know how to fight, my control of fire so far is minimal and I've not tried to influence people like that before. I'd probably just make things worse, I should go. The last time I did this with innocent people nearby people got hurt.

He tried to take a few steps forward, before turning and looking back at the corner. His hands shook as his thoughts continued to run rampant. But if I just walk away, I'm just as guilty, right? It's like how a lie of omission works. They don't look like they're just performing, there was a murderous glint in some of their eyes. And the buildings on both sides were made out of stone. Surely people would run away when they realize the danger?

Before he could let himself rationalize about all of this, Tolro found himself moving back towards the side street. Running without himself even meaning to back towards the potential danger. They didn't know what they were doing. It's not like they had a plan. But they had to do something.

He shoved an important looking person with an Azorius signet on their person out of the way as fire definitely came that person's way. Tolro stared the flame down and brought his hand up, sending the fire up and out of the way. He froze, now feeling several pairs of eyes on him and wondering how the hell he even did that.

"Huh? An outsider, gettin' in the way of our performance?" One lanky human with gnarled teeth and clad and leather huffed, looking Tolro up and down. He smirked. "What, you want trouble that bad? You're clearly not from here."

Tolro sighed, realizing quickly that he definitely was not going to get out of this easily. What to do, what do… act confident?! He straightened up, pushing his shoulders back, trying to seem cool and collected. "I can't let you endanger these people."

"Come on, you don't appreciate fun, outsider."

"Look around. People look more horrified than entertained."

"Ha! Any attention is good attention."

"I don't agree with that."

"What, want to prove us wrong?"

Tolro narrowed his eyes, staying silent. Well. Guess I'm doing this.

The Rakdos Reveler smirked, looking down at him. "Well look here boys, looks like we've got a volunteer! Let's let him have it."

A chain wielding imp sprang down from a pillar of the wooden stage, springing towards Tolro. He yelped, jumping out of the way as the chain whipped past him. He quickly regretted this, but he couldn't run now.

He noticed the fire-breather holding a torch, and had to damn near drag the fire towards him and suggest the man holding it look away. Tolro had to grow the flame while in motion, giving it a little more leeway with sparks flying off unintentionally. This was it. The real test. Do or die.

God I don't want to die.

#mtg #magic the gathering #mtg oc #fanwalker #mtg fanfic #fanfic #a mind wreathed in flame

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teatime-with-owl · 3 years

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Hello! I'm interested in your deck lists you mentioned earlier, would you mind sharing them ? Imalso a long time knight player, and i got a gisela goldnight commander that I'm working on :) have a nice day !

Of course I'll share them!

first my Knight deck that I use for both Arena and paper magic

12 Plains (GRN)

4 Rimrock Knight (ELD)

3 Luminarch Aspirant (ZNR)

1 Luminous Broodmoth (IKO)

4 Venerable Knight (ELD)

7 Mountain (RNA)

3 Selfless Savior (M21)

1 Maul of the Skyclaves (ZNR)

3 Skyclave Apparition (ZNR)

3 Showdown of the Skalds (KHM)

1 The Circle of Loyalty (ELD)

2 Embereth Shieldbreaker (ELD)

3 Worthy Knight (ELD)

2 Basri's Lieutenant (M21)

4 Inspiring Veteran (ELD)

1 Bonecrusher Giant (ELD)

1 Giant Killer (ELD)

2 Seasoned Hallowblade (M21)

1 Temple of Triumph (M21)

2 Furycalm Snarl (STX)

And for my Commander deck

Commander

Aurelia Exemplar of Justice

Planeswalker (1)

1 Gideon Jura

Creatures (14)

1 Ash Zealot

1 Danitha Capashen, Paragon

1 Odric, Lunarch Marshal

1 Sram, Senior Edificer

1 Brass Squire

1 Tiana, Ship's Caretaker

1 Ironclad Slayer

1 Oreskos Explorer

1 Relic Seeker

1 Wyleth, Soul of Steel

1 Kor Cartographer

1 Rebbec, Architect of Asecension

1 Ardenn,Interepid Archaeologist

1 Frontline Medic

Spells (17)

1 Dawn Charm

1 Generous Gift

1 Wear // Tear

1 Swords to Plowshares

1 Unbreakable Formation

1 Boros Charm

1 Temur Battle Rage

1 Master Warcraft

1 Disenchant

1 Deflecting Palm

1 Winds of Rath

1 Response // Resurgence

1 Return to Dust

1 Open the Armory

1 Valorous Stance

1 Path to Exile

1 Sevinne's Reclamation

Enchantments (10)

1 Spirit Mantle

1 Ethereal Armor

1 On Serra's Wings

1 Unquestioned Authority

1 Timely Ward

1 Faith Unbroken

1 Sigarda's Aid

1 Quest of the holy Relic

1 Sage's Reverie

1 Sheilded by faith

Artifact (17)

1 Blackblade Reforged

1 Boros Signet

1 Sol Ring

1 Blazing sunsteel

1 Fireshrieker

1 Commader's Plate

1 Loxodon Warhammer

1 Sword of the Animist

1 Brass Squire

1 Sword of Vengeance

1 Arcane Signet

1 Sunforger

1 mask of memory

1 Prowler's helm

1 Talisman of Conviction

1 Swiftfoot Boots

1 Seraphic Greatsword

Lands (40)

14 plains

9 Mountains

1 Rogue's Passage

1 Boros Guildgate

1 Boros Garrison

1 Terramorphic Expanse

1 Evolving Wilds

1 Wind-Scarred Crag

1 Slayers' Stronghold

1 Memorial to War

1 Command Tower

1 Stone Quarry

1 Rupture Spire

1 Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion

1 Forgotten Cave

1 Encroaching Wastes

1 Myriad Landscape

1 Rupture Spire

1 Secluded Steppe

(sorry if its a bit of a long post)

#ask response #Knights #mtg #gisela goldnight commander seems like she would be such a great commander!#sorry I'm responding so late but thank you for the ask!

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of-forossa · 3 years

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@yellowfingcr // rows of faces marked by trials and tribulations each, the height of legends within their reach // accepting.

“O-Oh gods, oh no, oh no, no, no, no, no--!”

An explosion rocks the entirety of the tower with a thundering boom, smoke billowing out from what once was a pristine laboratory filled with all manner of wonders and oddities given shape by the boundless energy and lack of restraint courtesy of the Izzet League. From the fresh window blown into the side of the building, a thoroughly singed and sooty assistant peers out and down into the panicking streets below, expression positively radiating anxiousness and nervousness... before turning a concerning shade of green on account of a sudden bit of nausea from the terrible height. “G-Gods, oh gods, t-this is worse than the Great Ferreting! H-How do I fix this, gods, how d-do I fix this?!”

A sudden pounding on the door nearly startles him off the edge, and he pinwheels his arms desperately in an attempt not to end up plastered onto the cobblestones below, resulting in him falling flat onto his back just in time for his superior to blast the door off its hinges. Said door flies through the ragged hole and into the sky trailing smoke and sparks with little concern or care for anyone in its way. “Vas! Get up you useless slacker and tell me you nearly toppled this entire building for a good cause!”

“U-Um, well, I, um, you see sir...” Vas stammers up at the mage, too absorbed in his groveling to properly make note of the small flames still burning the edges of his robes and a few spikes off his untamed hair. “There was, um, a little too much pressure put into the Weird I was working on and, er, it c-consumed a generator and a s-signet and... well... it blew up?”

“Is that a question or an answer?”

“Y-Yes?”

“Vas!”

“Y-Yessir!”

Vas gulps at the murderous look on the mage’s face and the way her fingers flex in preparation to summon at least several thousand volts worth of irritability. “That generator was worth more than six of you, and you were banned from working with signets after the polymorph fiasco with the Azorious! You give me one good reason not to dangle your sorry hide from the top spire and use you as a lightning rod!”

“T-That was an accident! I j-just tripped and, um...”

“You turned three justicars and a judge into ferrets, which was somehow even worse than what you did to the Boros armory!”

“W-Why do sharpening runes and r-rust enchantments share the same formula anyway?!”

Oh dear, that’s either the sound of her teeth grinding or the wind up of her thunder gauntlet. With a terrified yelp, Vas manages to just roll away from a torrent of crackling lightning, taking cover behind the goopy remains of the detonated weird even as another bolt rockets just over his head. “Get back here you useless schmuck!” Sifting through the scraps of scorched bronze and viscous slime, he manages to pry free a length of metal just in time to bat away the next bolt-- only for it to run through the length of him with a loud pop before the metal warps and writhes as though alive within his grasp.

A small puff of smoke flees from his mouth with a cough. “Ow.”

Vas flinches and cowers behind the thoroughly transfigured metal upon her approach, but the mage thankfully only has eyes for the writhing artifact in his hand, which she promptly snatches out of his hands to examine more closely. “Is this... how did you manage to alter the elemental properties with a single current of electricity?”

“Um, well, I--”

“Don’t answer that, I won’t believe that you did this on purpose.”

With a resigned sigh, Vas lowered his hand and his head as she continues, temper seemingly sated. “I’m taking this with me, assistant. Keep up the good work!” Turning on her heel, the mage didn’t look back once, leaving him to the utter wreckage that had once been his (now doorless) laboratory.

“Oh man...”

#yellowfingcr #// OLD MUSE OLD MUSE #// one of my very first. an accident prone assistant.#// vas belerek. dude's worked for damn near every guild and got thrown out until he went izzet.#// turns out he's pretty good at this whole mad scientist thing when next to every explosion leads to DISCOVERY!

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jones-friend · 5 years

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Legendary Commentary: Commander 11

Commander 2011 brought us our first foray into commander precons. The old builds are highly sought after, and the original commanders have some wonderful flexibility. Lets take a look.

Kaalia is a legend that needs little introduction. We saw a new balanced version of her with M20. Kaalia’s original print is very strong. The deck came with Sol Ring and Signets, letting you drop Kaalia as early as turn 2-3. She has many busted plays but the difficult part becomes getting past your first few turns. Your main aggression comes down within the first turns where all your opponents have their control spells at the ready. Shielded by Faith is a great option for protection, being able to swap it around. Grand Abolisher as well. Playing this deck its easy to become the table boogeyman, you may want to consider what creatures you do and don’t run because your opponents have to assume the worst.

Tariel is one of my favorite mardu commanders. Coming in late game, you can swing and recur instant speed. You just won’t pick what you recur. Tariel decks can cause mass sacrifice, wheel, even light mill with effects like Dread Summons. A note, in builds like these you may want to hug to keep your opponent playing things so you can kill them. Howling Mine seems solid. Boldwyr Heavyweights is a big boy and gives all your opponents any creature they want, a risk but if they pick their best stuff you can reanimate it.

Basandra came out swining as boros’s foray into EDH. While players cannot cast spells abilities trigger, if all your combat relevant tech is in combat triggers you still can manipulate combat. Regardless, R to force attacks is sweet as you can peel away your opponents’ tech creatures and force swings. Its a solid choice for combat control if you build into the lack of combat instants.

That’s all for today’s. Mardu really got fleshed out as an aggressive colorset here. I’d love to hear your thoughts on these, builds, or experiences here. Safe planeswalking.

#mtg #edh #commander #legendary commentary

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nehebthewordy · 4 years

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EDH DECK TECH: Gahiji, Honored One

Hello everyone and welcome back after an unfortunately long hiatus. Tonight we’re building a political favorite from the second-ever commander precon release. As always, we’ll prioritize cheaper alternatives to more widely-known favorites.

Gahiji is an amazingly flexible commander, however this open-ended-ness can make it difficult to build a deck around him. Our list will focus on his potential as a political tool. By empowering any creature that attacks an opponent of yours and some forced combat we can encourage other players to keep an aggressive focus while you slowly strengthen your own board.

As we always do, let’s begin with RAMP. This section will be fairly standard: Ring and guild Signets supported by Cultivate, Kodama’s Reach, and Explosive Vegetation. If you want to keep a creature focus going across the deck, you can make effective use of those abilities stapled onto bodies. Solemn Simulacrum and Farhaven Elf are reasonably efficient, while Elvish Rejuvenator can often be expected to hit something.

Following up, we need to generate CARD ADVANTAGE, which is where we’ll need to start getting creative. Colossal Majesty is an excellent start for us, which will draw us an additional card for each round we can keep a reasonably-large creature in play. If you’re playing a lot of large creatures or large-creature-producers, Elemental Bond and Garruk’s Packleader can be highly effective means of keeping our hand stocked up. On top of those, Drumhunter can function as both a mana dork and a backup Majesty, while Keeper of Fables draws cards when you go on the offensive. Finally, though this section is nowhere near complete, Rites of Flourishing can replenish your hand while also allowing an extra land drop each turn - at the price of giving your opponents this benefit as well.

Before we look at forced attack though, we need to PROTECT ourselves. Though a little more expensive than many of us would like, Ghostly Prison and Windborn muse do a terrific job of keeping our hordes of mandatory attackers away from us. Fortunately, there are no shortage of alternatives: Archon of Absolution, Baird, Steward of Argive, and Sphere of Safety come to mind. To dissuade other attackers, you may also choose to run Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs. Tapping down problematic creatures may also be useful, and there are few better uses for one of my favorite enchantments of all time: Citadel Siege.

Finally, we’re here, it’s time for MANDATORY CHAOS. This is where Gahiji goes from Naya goodstuff to absolute fun. Fumiko the Lowblood, Curse of the Nightly Hunt, Goblin Diplomats, Goblin Spymaster, and even Boros Battleshaper force creatures to attack. You may not get to choose where for certain, but our package above can certainly encourage certain actions over others.

While all this chaos is nice, you need to be able to win yourself. Because of how Gahiji’s ability applies per-creature, a TOKEN strategy can enable you to quickly close the game against an opponent with no blockers. Goblin Assault is a good start, acting as the important half of Goblin Rabblemaster or Legion Warboss. Taking this to an extreme, Assemble the Legion may be one of the most powerful scaling token producer in our colors. For fliers, Thopter Assembly can churn out five 1/1s whenever you run out and Loyal Apprentice creates one each combat if you have your general. Though expensive, playing Elemental Mastery on Gahiji or another large creature can produce a substantial number of attackers or blockers. For larger tokens, You may choose to run Kazandu Tuskcaller, Rampaging Baloths, or Rakka Mar.

All this gas, however, won’t do you any good if you can never get attacks through: you’ll need REMOVAL for the greatest threats. Like our mana acceleration package, this will be fairly generic, with a few exceptions. Swords to Plowshares, Chaos Warp, and Oblation are all reliable, while Return to Dust and Forsake the Worldly can deal with troublesome artifacts and enchantments. Where we get interesting, however, is with my favorite cycle of political removal cards; while they don’t remove permanents from the board, Vow of Duty, Lightning, and Wildness can make your opponents’ creatures more powerful while completely preventing them from ever attacking you.

From here, you can fill the gaps with whatever you think might work in your playgroup. Just as a whole, remember that playing politics works much better when your board doesn’t look particularly threatening, so perhaps consider some haste enablers while you keep your best cards in your hand until you’re ready to swing for the game. Your mana base can be easily solved with Jungle Shrine, Rith’s Grove, and whatever guildgates and taplands you have on hand; once you have the deck working, you can upgrade those to shock or buddylands as necessary.

Thanks for following another deck tech. If you’d like to see more, be sure to send in requests for your favorite commander (or maybe even your least favorite.) Until next time, keep your opponents focused on each other while you rip victory out from under their noses. See you on the battlefield.

#Deck Tech #commander #gahiji #mtg #magic the gathering #nehebthewordy #long post

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blogging-phelddagrif · 5 years

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EDH Deck Tech: Feather Heroic

[you can see every deck tech here]

Hello & welcome to this weekly deck tech! This week we’re back into EDH for a brand new deck coming with War of the Spark: Feather Heroic. The deck is fairly simple and built around the new card Feather the Redeemed

Basically, you want to use her ability to it’s full potential by using instants & sorceries that target your creatures to get them back and re-use them over & over & over again. The deck doesn’t really combo off for a SUPER fast win, but it can apply A LOT of pressure, and get A LOT of card advantage, which is crazy for a Boros deck which usually struggles with card advantage. Let’s get right into it and see what it’s all about.

Creature Package

The deck doesn’t play that many creatures, but the ones you do run go very well with Feather’s ability. You want cards like Mirrorwing Dragon & Zada Hedron Grinder to copy all your spells and target each of your creature, something that is VERY good in here; as well as cards with heroic like Tenth District Legionnaire or Akroan Crusader & Vanguard of Brimaz which lets you go wide. Or honestly just some creatures that benefit from this kind of Boros shell like Aurelia Examplar of Justice, Dreadhorde Arcanist & Tajic Legion’s Edge. Those creatures have great synergy with the deck and are really powerful by themselves as well.

Going Full Value

There’s some other creatures that let you go all-out on the value of casting spells over & over again; cards like Monastery Mentor, Balefire Liege, Electrostatic Field, Firebrand Archer, Guttersnipe, Thermo-Alchemist & Young Pyromancer. As well as cards like Primal Amulet, Pyromancer’s Goggles, Sentinel Tower & Sunforger, those cards are insanely good in this deck. With those you will ooze with value and be able to overwhelm your opponent by casting your cheap spells.

Cantrips For Days

These are what most of the deck is comprised of. You want to use those cheap cards to gain good effects as well as draw a card, and just use them again the next turn on top of the new card you just drew. This makes sure that your hand is always full of action and that you can be as explosive as possible. You want to play cards like Balduvian Rage, Crimson Wisps, Defiant Strike, Expedite, Psychotic Fury, Samut’s Sprint, Titan’s Strength, Temur Battle Rage & Assault Strobe (they don’t draw you cards but the double strike is amazing), Reckless Charge, Renegade Tactics, Rile & Seize the Day (ok that one just gives you an extra attack step...which is amazing when you end up with 2 attack steps/turn really). With all those cheap cards you’ll always have a full grip of cards and be able to apply crazy amount of pressure.

Protection For Days

Another good part of the deck is targeted protection spells; saving your creature is really important, and when you can do it every single turn it becomes incredible hard for your opponent to deal with your stuff. Basically you want cards like Acrobatic Maneuver, Ajani’s Presence, Boros Charm, Cloudshift, Eerie Interlude, Ephemeral Shields, God’s Willing, Justiciar’s Portall, Liberate, Long Road Home, Otherworldly Journey, Shelter & Sheltering Light. You gotta protect your stuff, it’s imperative!

Removal For Days

Now we have to talk about some pretty interesting removal spells. First of all you have your basic ones like Path to Exile, Swords to Plowshares, Oblation & Chaos Warp; but you also have some that you’ll be able to re-use with Feather’s ability since they also target one of your creatures like Fall of the Hammer, Reckless Rage & Chandra’s Ignition, as well as X spells that you can target 1 of your creatures as one of the targets and send the rest of the damage elsewhere like Rolling Thunder or Aurelia’s Fury (that card is INSANE in this deck, really it’s crazy how good it is). With these few removal spells you can deal with anything your opponent sends at you and you can do it all over again if necessary.

Mana Sources

Boros doesn’t have proper ramp, but you need to have some sort of mana fixing/acceleration, I’d recommend playing cards like Knight of the White Orchid, the Boros Cluestone/Locket/Signet, Commander’s Sphere, Darksteel Ingot, Fire Diamond, Marble Diamond & Star Compass. You gotta ramp it up!

Wrap-Up

That’s it for this week! I hope you enjoyed this deck tech as much as I did. The deck is really fun, the plan is to land Feather and a couple of utility creatures and just go nuts with your spells and protect your stuff. The deck is also fairly cheap, as well as really aggressive. If I missed anything please let me know. I’ll see you all next week for a very spicy standard deck tech!

#mtg #magic #magic the gathering #magic: the gathering #edh #deck tech

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mishas-workshop · 5 years

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Chainer, Your Opponents’ Worst Nightmare

I have to say, when the deck themes were revealed for Commander 2019, I was not very excited. Flashback decks have been done, same with tokens. Morph was kinda neat. The only one that gave me any bit of excitement was the madness one. After the full spoilers, the madness deck was still the only one that had any appeal to me. A big reason for this was Chainer, Nightmare Adept. I have wanted to build a deck around the original Chainer, but Bontu and Skithiryx were already in my rotation, so I didn’t really want to add another mono black commander. The Nightmare Adept had me up all night, brainstorming ideas for how I could build around him. So, I did. Shortly after my LGS opened, I went and picked up a copy of the Merciless Rage precon.

Chainer is essentially, a fixed version of Recurring Nightmare, a card so powerful, it was banned from commander. Not to mention, I am a huge fan of reanimator style decks, so that is the direction I went. In short, you fill your graveyard through looting type cards, then reanimate your creatures and take out everyone! The preconstructed version focuses very heavily on the madness mechanic, and while this deck still utilizes the abilities, it is more focused on accruing value through the graveyard.

Since this is a reanimator deck, let’s start by taking a look at the cards that we will be using to cheat death. Animate Dead is going to be very useful. Very little drawback, not to mention that it combos with Worldgorger Dragon, which allows the deck to do all sorts of crazy infinite combos. Reanimate will bring anything back at the cost of some life. Stitch Together is also in here because of the threshold synergy with a big discard pile. Grave Betrayal has a cmc of seven, but I put it in the deck because taking opponents’ dead creatures is just extra value, especially when someone drops a boardwipe. Not to mention a handful of other things like Boneyard Parley and Mimic Vat.

There are many great reanimation targets that the precon already gave us. Archfiend of Spite is a madness costed Phyrexian Obliterater, Flayer of the Hatebound is a second Warstorm Surge for the deck and Meteor Golem is removal. A few other targets I added include Demonlord Belzenlock, for some additional card advantage. Tsabo Tavoc, to destroy legends at will. Sepulchral Primordial to get even more reanimation value. Finally, Archfiend of Ifnir is a force to be reckoned with in a deck that has so much discard.

That demon is far from the only card in the deck that rewards discarding. Faith of the devoted can help us win over a longer period of time if we need to grind out a win in a control matchup. Bone Miser is a new card from the precon and it is outstanding in a deck like this, it is an inverted Waste Not. Some cards with the original Madness mechanic are: Call to the Netherworld (free Raise Dead), Big Game Hunter (removal), Stromkirk Occultist (card advantage) and Fiery Temper (bolt) among others. Plus, Anger and Filth to benefit all of our creatures if they wind up in the yard. Squee, Goblin Nabob and Sanitarium Skeleton are also here to ensure that we always have something to pitch.

Looting is another mechanic that is a huge part of this deck. Red and Black have a hard time drawing cards without a cost. However, this deck tries to turn that cost into a benefit, seeing as how we want the graveyard to be stacked. Anje Falkenrath, Mad Prophet and Rummaging Goblin are all looters on bodies. Similarly, this build of the deck also runs Magus if the Wheel for an all out discard and draw en masse, if necessary. Tormenting Voice, Cathartic Reunion, Faithless Looting and Burning Inquiry all do a great job at filling both our hand and discard pile. I also put Ill-Gotten Gains in the deck as a way to not only disrupt opponents, but to get extra value out of discarded cards.

Rakdos decks tend to have a bit of a problem with ramp. Solemn Simulacrum is great, especially when it can be used multiple times. However, that isn’t nearly enough. The full ramp package also includes: Rakdos Signet, Rakdos Locket, Sol Ring, Hedron Archive and Gilded Lotus, plus an Armillary Sphere for additional fixing. At some point, I might increase the size of this aspect of the deck by one or two cards. As of right now, it seems a little light to me. More play testing is required before I make a decision.

Removal is something that Rakdos, as a color combination, has loads of. Excluding anything mentioned previously, here is the full removal package: Decree of Pain, In Garuuk’s Wake and Nightmare Unmaking are all mass creature removal. Shattering Spree works as both single and multi target artifact destruction. Bedevil, Dreadbore and Chaos Warp are the other single target removal spells. Chaos Warp can be great at removing enchantments, as Rakdos has an extremely hard time dealing with them in general.

Lastly, I want to touch on some cards that are hard to categorize. Swiftfoot Boots is great and can easily be upgraded to a Lightning Greaves, or paired with on for additional protection and haste. Key to the City helps fill the grave, allow our creatures to get in unblocked and can draw cards to replace those we discarded. Read the Bones is just a solid draw card that can fix the deck before drawing. Entomb puts any one creature i to the graveyard *cough* Worldgorger Dragon *cough*. Wildfire Devils are in here because... I want to see how they do. Garna, the Bloodflame is also here because they allow us to save some of our graveyard if someone threatens it.

This deck is a very fun, very strange deck to play. Often times, it feels like you are shooting yourself in the foot and then suddenly, you have the upper hand. I am pleased with how this deck turned out, but I know there can be even more modifications made. I hope this guide helped some people who may have been interested in a Chainer deck or a reanimation deck, or were on the fence about which of the new Commander 2019 products to pick up. Happy Brewing and as always here is my list: https://manastack.com/deck/chainer-nightmare-adept-5

Artist Credit:

Steve Prescott - Chainer, Robert Bliss - Reanimate, Michael Sutfin - Tsabo Tavoc, Greg Staples - Squee, Zoltan Boros & Gabor Szikszai - Burning Inquiry, Dan Scott - Solemn Simulacrum, Mathias Kollros - Decree of Pain, Wayne England - Worldgorger Dragon

#mtg #mtgcommander #mtgcommunity #edh #magic the card game #magic the gathering #commander 2019 #rakdos #nightmare #budget

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daleketer · 5 years

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O'er the Ramparts We Watched 2019-08-24

by DaleKeter

Mainboard (100)

Land (39)

1 Ash Barrens

1 Azorius Chancery

1 Boros Garrison

1 Celestial Colonnade

1 Command Beacon

1 Command Tower

1 Evolving Wilds

1 Exotic Orchard

1 Forbidden Orchard

1 Geier Reach Sanitarium

5 Island

1 Izzet Boilerworks

1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea

5 Mountain

1 Mystic Monastery

1 Needle Spires

5 Plains

1 Rainbow Vale

1 Swiftwater Cliffs

1 Temple of Enlightenment

1 Temple of Epiphany

1 Temple of the False God

1 Temple of Triumph

1 Terramorphic Expanse

1 Tranquil Cove

1 Wandering Fumarole

1 Wind-Scarred Crag

Instant (8)

1 Blue Elemental Blast

1 Domineering Will

1 Fact or Fiction

1 Hydroblast

1 Mandate of Peace

1 Pyroblast

1 Red Elemental Blast

1 Reins of Power

Creature (17)

1 Akroan Horse

1 Boldwyr Heavyweights

1 Charmed Griffin

1 Dockside Extortionist

1 Hunted Dragon

1 Hunted Phantasm

1 Kami of the Crescent Moon

1 Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs

1 Magus of the Disk

1 Magus of the Moat

1 Shah of Naar Isle

1 Soldevi Sentry

1 Swans of Bryn Argoll

1 Varchild's War-Riders

1 Wall of Shards

1 Wall of Stolen Identity

1 Windborn Muse

Artifact (10)

1 Azorius Signet

1 Bloodthirsty Blade

1 Boros Signet

1 Commander's Sphere

1 Font of Mythos

1 Helm of Awakening

1 Howling Mine

1 Izzet Signet

1 Norn's Annex

1 Sol Ring

Planeswalker (4)

1 Jace Beleren

1 Ral Zarek

1 Rowan Kenrith

1 Will Kenrith

Commander (1)

1 Pramikon, Sky Rampart

Sorcery (12)

1 Besmirch

1 Council's Judgment

1 Disrupt Decorum

1 Divine Reckoning

1 Expropriate

1 Fortunate Few

1 Mass Diminish

1 Order of Succession

1 Play of the Game

1 Show and Tell

1 Slaughter the Strong

1 Windfall

Enchantment (9)

1 Crescendo of War

1 Fevered Visions

1 Ghostly Prison

1 Mana Flare

1 Oath of Scholars

1 Propaganda

1 Vow of Duty

1 Vow of Flight

1 Vow of Lightning

#mtg #commander #group hug #jeskai #pramikon

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17-ghidora · 5 years

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The Outsiders origins: Lyran part 1 - Q17

Parade day on Ravnica was never dull. Lyran was sitting on a window ledge above the street. She watched as a garrison of Boros soldiers marched below in precise unison, they were all supporting banners and wearing chestpieces emblazoned with the Boros signet. The majority of the soldiers were humans but there was also the occasional goblin, viashino or even a giant, and leading them all was a minotaur. She was easily noticible by how big she was. She towered over the rest of the garrison, she was twice as tall as most of the human soldiers and three times as wide.

Three Windows across from where Lyran was sitting two goblins were throwing eggs at the soldiers below. The minotaur barked some indistinguishable orders and two soldiers broke from the formation and charged into the building. The goblins ducked back in the window and next thing lyran saw was both of them thrown back out. Before they could hit the floor a blur of red and white streaked past leaving the goblins chained to the ledge above by their ankles.

Lyran wasn't surprised, it would of been foolish to not have some of the legions angels flying overhead in case of a disruption. Still she was impressed as she always was at the angels speed.

As the last of the garrison marched past Lyran decided it was time to go. The dying suns light splashed across the roof above her, signalling that night was approaching and that was when the Golgari and the Rakdos would stage their performances, and while the former of which was more disturbing than dangerous, the Rakdos had a nasty habit of including their audiences in the show, willingly or not.

Lyran stood on the ledge, flexing her tail and claws. She used her viashino instincts and reflexes to safely climb down the walls. As she touched the cobblestone floor she glanced back at the goblins above and saw them pleading with the dispersing crowds below to get them down. Lyran smiled and started home.

Later that night while lying on her cot she reflected on the various showings from the guilds. "What one would I fit in?" She asked the empty room. After receiving no answer she shuttered the lamp beside her cot and drifted off to sleep.

#mtg #ravnica #short story #fanfiction #boros legion

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zach-co · 5 years

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Something Old, Something New - Part I

First and foremost, thanks for taking the time to check out my blog.

I absolutely love the Commander format, and I have been developing a series I am calling “Something Old, Something New” (SOSN). The premise of this is to create four pre-built Commander decks leveraging old and new design spaces.

One of the things that MTG Commander players pine for is an expansion for Red/White commanders to do interesting things outside combat tricks. Looking back at MTG’s history, land destruction was included in White, however I did not want to resort to “Armageddon” effects and I wanted the mechanics to be fun.

Primary Overarching Theme: Geomancy

Mechanical Themes: Land Destruction, Nomad Tribal, Deserts

Beric, Master Geomancer (new character) is the face of the Red/White Commander SOSN. During your turn, your opponents lands lose their abilities and become Deserts, which can add a mana of any color, but will cost 1 life. Additionally, he gives your deserts the ability to tap for 1 red or white mana.

Danolay (new character) is a Kor trapmaster with a few interesting abilities. Ideally, she can be used to hose BGU graveyard/land synergies, as well as using the lands you have sacrificed to flash her in and pump to destroy an attacking creature. Flash is tertiary in Red but I think her mechanics suit the color.

Kirtar (established character) was an Aven leader of the Order on Otaria (Dominaria). Reading his lore, his personality and actions lend itself to Red/White as opposed to just White. Pianna, Nomad Captain said it best: “His strengths are pride, devotion, and ambition. His weaknesses are the same.”

Kirtar lets you target an opponent’s nonbasic land on your end step and destroy it if they have more lands than you. Unfortunately, I had to use some form of the word “control” three times to get the wording right.

Intet (new character) is a Nomad Monk from the Shefet Dunes of Amonkhet. He buffs your creatures and gives them Desertwalk, which ties in nicely with Beric’s ability to turn their lands into deserts during your turn.

Another benefit of this project is that I get to explore design spaces that haven’t had a whole lot of support. The Nomad class goes back to Arabian Nights, and there are a handful of non-reserved list cards that could use some updating.

Additonally, Deserts got some support with Amonkhet; however there weren’t many (if at all) creatures or other cards that interacted or leveraged them.

Full List (96 cards)

https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1729092#paper

1 Avalanche Riders 1 Battle Mastery 1 Battlefield Forge 1 Boil 1 Boros Charm 1 Boros Signet 1 Brave the Sands 1 Burning Sands 1 Cartouche of Solidarity 1 Cartouche of Zeal 1 Chaos Warp 1 Command Tower 1 Crucible of Worlds 1 Deflecting Palm 1 Desert 1 Desert Cerodon 1 Desert Nomads 1 Desert Sandstorm 1 Desert of the Fervent 1 Desert of the True 1 Desert's Hold 1 Dogged Hunter 1 Dual Casting 1 Endless Sands 1 Eternity Vessel 1 Evolving Wilds 1 Fall of the Thran 1 Field of Ruin 1 From the Ashes 1 Ghost Quarter 1 Gilded Cerodon 1 Helm of the Host 1 Hyena Umbra 1 Lightning Helix 1 Memorial to War 8 Mountain 1 Myriad Landscape 1 Nomad Mythmaker 1 Painted Bluffs 1 Petrified Field 1 Phantom Nomad 1 Pianna, Nomad Captain 1 Pillage 8 Plains 1 Planar Birth 1 Ramunap Ruins 1 Rest for the Weary 1 Retreat to Emeria 1 Retreat to Valakut 1 Reverse the Sands 1 Ruination 1 Sand Golem 1 Sand Strangler 1 Sandblast 1 Sandcrafter Mage 1 Sandskin 1 Sandsteppe Outcast 1 Sandstone Deadfall 1 Sandstone Oracle 1 Sandstone Warrior 1 Sandstorm Charger 1 Scavenger Grounds 1 Scouring Sands 1 Shefet Dunes 1 Skullclamp 1 Sol Ring 1 Solitary Camel 1 Spirit Mantle 1 Stonehewer Giant 1 Sun Titan 1 Sunforger 1 Sunscorched Desert 1 Survivors' Encampment 1 Swiftblade Vindicator 1 Swirling Sandstorm 1 Sword of the Animist 1 Tectonic Edge 1 Wake of Destruction 1 Wall of Forgotten Pharaohs 1 Weathered Wayfarer 1 Wind-Scarred Crag 1 Winnow

Thanks so much for reading and please let me know what you think about this series.

Next time: W/U/G Spellshapers & Wizards!

#custommagic

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edh-a-to-z · 6 years

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17 - Anax and Cymede

LORE:

Go tell the Spartans. It’s time to abuse the Heroic mechanic.

Anax and Cymede are the King and Queen of Akroas, AKA Theros version of Sparta. Except with less slavery and more noble warrior stuff.

From here:

Anax is a burly man in his late 40s, once a follower of Iroas. In his later years he has turned to Purphoros as he steers his people through the creation of a small empire. This shift is reflected in the trend in art now seen from Akroan artisans. Swords and armor are now decorated. Pottery, clothing, wall paintings, and weaving show ancient Akroan patterns and symbolism handed down for generations. To his people, Anax is a great leader to be followed without question. To other poleis, he is known as a skilled tactician and heartless killer.

Cymede worships Keranos primarily. She is a skilled warrior but a more powerful seer. Having herself been struck by lightning and given a glimpse of the future, Cymede is seen by some as being partly responsible for her husband's effectiveness as king. Cymede is beginning to become aware of the power of godly creatures such as nymphs. She has seen abstract glimpses of their power and feels the gods are bestowing gifts on the faithful. Because of this, the cult of Keranos is gaining a foothold in the Kolophon. Cymede has even had a special temple built on a distant mountain summit where the storms are particularly severe. During the storm season, she visits there, meditating on a silver platform.

THE CARD:

Though it takes a bit jumping through a hoop, Anax and Cymede offer something rather rare in Boros colors - Trample.

The card is also pretty solid for a 3 drop - First Strike and Vigilance are great on a 3/2 three drop, and the aforementioned buff will be how we win.

BUILDS:

We want to abuse Anax and Cymede’s Heroic ability. For that, we need combat tricks, Auras that can be cast multiple times, and the ability to go wide. And we need them to stay alive.

Luckily, we’re in Boros colors. We have plenty of cheap and effective combat tricks and auras that we couldn’t use elsewhere. We’ll have plenty of tokens, and we’ll use an equipment fetching tech to keep out commander alive.

This deck is also super budget. The basic version can be done for under $100 (probably lower, but I’m not in the mood for math), and can be easily upgraded.

BATTLE PLAN:

We want things that work like Heroic (Anax and Cymede plus the best of the Heroic cards).

Then we want things that target - multi targeting cards with Strive, Enchantments that can bounce to hand and target again, anything to activate heroic. Then, we need to make use of A&C’s ability - we need to go wide. Lots and lots of tokens to throw at the enemy, that get buffed and have trample.

Akroan Crusader, by Johann Bodin

First we want Akroan Crusader, Akroan Conscriptor, Akroan Line-Breaker, Dawnbringer Charioteers, Fabled Hero, Favored Hoplite, Hero of Iroas, Leonin Iconoclast, Phalanx Leader, Tethmos High Priest, and Vanguard of Brimaz are all great Heroic choices (most of the remaining just have some +1/+1 counter syngery, which is a little underwhelming).

We also want Mirrorwing Dragon and Zada, Hedron Grinder. We cast battle tricks and buffs on them, and they copy it for the whole team.

EDIT: Whoops! Looks like I got that wrong, the copies Mirrorwing and Zada make won’t trigger Heroic for your whole team, as Heroic works on a casting trigger, not just being the target. They’re still amazing cards to play with since we’re running this many combat tricks, so try them out! Thanks for the catch, @imadrewid!

For spells we want two groups: reusable enchantments, and combat tricks that can target multiple creatures (alternatively, you can just do single targets with the desire to hit Anax and Cymede and nothing else).

I wish this card wasn’t 10 dollars. - R Angelic Destiny, by Jana Schirmer & Johannes Voss

Conviction, Crown of Flames, Flickering Ward, Ghitu Firebreathing, Mark of Fury, and Sun Clasp are all enchantments that can be cast more than once. They’re all super cheap, and if you have more money to burn, there’s Angelic Destiny and Eldrazi Conscription.

Next, we have the instants and sorceries. We want the best of the Strive cards, plus some fun combat tricks, preferably ones that replace themselves or hit multiple targets.

Ajani’s Presence, Desperate Stand, Launch the Fleet, Phalanx Formation, Rouse the Mob, and Twinflame are some of my favorite instants. Check here for some more ideas.

C’mon guys, we’re almost at Arbys! Launch the Fleet, by Karl Kopinski

Finally, we need an army. Any token generators, especially ones that make multiples or can do it repeatedly, are great choices. We already have Akroan Crusader and Vanguard of Brimaaz, and there’s Assemble the Legion, Hanweir Garrison (don’t forget Hanweir Battlements too!), Captain of the Watch, Hero of Bladehold, Monastery Mentor, and Sram’s Expertise. There are more, but these are my favorites.

THE REST:

If the deck has one weakness, it’s the Boros color’s aggro - weak draw. We can make up for this with a few cards.

We also want to protect Anax and Cymede - our deck is really designed around them not dying. So a basic equipment package is our go-to, so check this out here. Plus, anything that adds hexproof or indestructible are great choices. The Kaldra trio, Darksteel Plate, Mask of Avacyn, Swiftfoor Boots are great equipment.

On the enchantment side of things, try Shielded by Faith, Unquestioned Authority, Indestructible, Spirit Mantle, and Holy Mantle - a mix of Protection from Creatures and Indestructible works great on the battlefield. Add some enchantment tutors to speed things up.

“Alright peasants, this is a sword. Hold it like this” - Mentor Mentor of the Meek, by Jana Schirmer & Johannes Voss

We can draw with the White classic of Mentor of the Meek (given all the tokens we’ll be making). Plus Sram, Senior Artificer works great with our auras that jump around. Also to consider - Mesa Enchantress and Kore Spiritdancer for more draw.

There’s also spell doublers. Chandra, the Firebrand, Dual Casting, Primal Amulet/Wellspring do it on the cheap, and Dualcaster Mage, Fork, Reverberate, Howl of the Horde, Increasing Vengeace are more doublers, but need mana to fire off to make copies. Extra copies is extra heroic triggers. May or may not work with the deck.

There’s always classic Boros Legendaries like Aurelia, Blade of the Legion, Iroas, God of Victory, and Gisela, Blade of Goldnight. I just love having these guys around, and they work in any Boros deck.

WEAKNESSES:

Heavy reliance on the board state leaves us vulnerable to Board Wipes, and Boros colors has a hard time recurring that.

”SCREW YOU, STUPID SWORD!!!” - That guy, probably Disenchant, by Andrew Goldhawk

Defensive measures likes Propaganda or Silent Arbiter hurt our efforts. We need to bring White’s responses of Disenchant, Oblivion Ring effects, and Return to Dust. Plus any artifacts that can do they same are also good.

We can’t wipe the board easily. While Mass Calcify can be an option, the presence of red cards in our deck, plus White creatures potentially being in other players decks, makes this card less reliable than I like. Alternatively, you can run Avacyn, Angel of Hope, Thalia’s Lancers (to tutor her), plus as many Board wipes as you want.

Boros also lags behind in ramp, so add in the normal - Boros Signet/Cluestone/Keyrune are great, as are basic fetches of Evolving Wild and Terramorphic Expanse. Knight of the White Orchid is great, Land Tax, Solemn Simulacrum, Burnished Heart, Weathered Wayfarer all pricey, all great.

Knight of the White Orchid, by Mark Zug

RATINGS:

Control: 4/10

You don’t have a lot of options outside of White’s Hate creatures and Board wipes, but you can’t use the latter whenever you want since you’re married to the board.

With the exception of the Avacyn + board wipes, you’re relying almost 100% on the board, aside from whatever white single target removal you run.

Aggro: 9/10

This deck rewards aggressive behavior, and does it great. With evasion and team buffs, Anax and Cymede go for the throat. The cards I reccommend are heavily influenced by this idea.

Combo Potential: 7/10

Depends what you mean my combo. There’s lots of potential here without insane levels of power. The commander itself has combo synergy, but doesn’t break the game.

Overall Power: 4/10

While a decent choice for EDH, and great in Tiny Leaders, it’s a cEDH Tier 4 leader, and lags behind the pack in most respects. And Boros is the weakest EDH color pair.

Versatility: 6/10

There’s a lot of way to build it for a Boros deck. Not unlimited, but they’re there. Unfortunately they’re all limited to aggro versions.

Affordability: 10/10

This is one of the fiscally cheapest commanders I have covered. Easy manabase, easy mechanic to abuse, a lot of stuff at low rarities.

Overall Score: 40/60

A surprisingly respectable score. Anax and Cymede offer aggressive players a lot to work with, and a lot of room to work in. Plus, cards that work well with them are super-budget, or work excellent in other Boros aggro commander decks.

One of the 99: Decent

While it takes some buildaround to use Heroic, Anax and Cymede have a decent body for a creature, and can add a lot of value to an Aggro Boros build.

FINAL VERDICT:

While a little small, with some work, they make a solid workhorse of a Boros commander. While not a powerhouse, they can hold their own against a lot of decks.

That’s it for now campers! Stay tuned for Angus Mackenzie, Bant god of turbofog decks!

#mtg #edh #edhatoz #commander #theros #anax and cymede #atoz commander

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