Community

This thread is for discussion of this week's Serious Fun, which goes live Tuesday morning on magicthegathering.com.

Fiend Hunter and Phyrexian Ingestor aren't the same - Fiend Hunter brings back what it exiled when it leaves play, a la Oblivion Ring and Journey to Nowhere, but Phyrexian Ingestor has imprint, which just exiles the target and never brings it back, ever, baring a Riftsweeper.

How on earth did they forget to put the Vensor, The Sojourner into this?  He is blue white and does exactly what the deck want's many of its cards to do!  I realize they put his creature card in, but why not run both with a deck theme this strongly related?

You forgot the Synod Sanctum step in between. Also, "we're building this for fun and not for power" and the whole "let's add Batterskull and Swords because we can" kind of contradict.

Apr 3, 2012 -- 12:32AM, Zindaras wrote:

Also, "we're building this for fun and not for power" and the whole "let's add Batterskull and Swords because we can" kind of contradict.

So does the "I want to redeem Grand Arbiter and show that he isn't ALWAYS a **** general. Hmm... better throw in Sundering Titan."

And yes, I know it didn't make the final cut, but it shouldn't have even been an option in the first place.

May I suggest Voyager Staff? Plus the several wonderful ETB creatures that all you to return an artifact from the GY to hand, including Sun Titan? I've also used it in casual multiplayer games for retargetting Stuffy Doll after an opponent is killed off (RU fabricate/tinker version)

I'm also using it to develop a dastardly Archenemy deck. GWu Astral Slide with Terastadon, Sun Titan, Voyager Staff, Fiend Hunter, Wall of Blossoms, Carven Caratid, plus a bunch of cycling. Going to splash blue for (can't remember the name) the instant that bounces all creatures with the same name. Adios 3/3 Elephant tokens! Plus, I need to look through this list...I bet there are a few gems in there for my deck as well.

Apr 2, 2012 -- 9:29PM, sarroth wrote:

Fiend Hunter and Phyrexian Ingestor aren't the same - Fiend Hunter brings back what it exiled when it leaves play, a la Oblivion Ring and Journey to Nowhere, but Phyrexian Ingestor has imprint, which just exiles the target and never brings it back, ever, baring a Riftsweeper.

Yep. I meant to touch on Duplicant and Ingester, but also wanted to point out how to do the same if Fiend Hunter. Gavin did a cleaner breakdown of Furebd Hubter in today's ReConstructed; hitting Duplicant/Ingester would have been enough.

Apr 3, 2012 -- 12:04AM, darkpoet837 wrote:

How on earth did they forget to put the Vensor, The Sojourner into this?  He is blue white and does exactly what the deck want's many of its cards to do!  I realize they put his creature card in, but why not run both with a deck theme this strongly related?

I "forgot" Venser because I was building this from my Commander box. I skipped adding the planes walking Venser fit the same reason I don't have a Koth yet: I was waiting to add the new Duel Deck to the box. I wrote this article and submitted it before the new Durk Deck release.

Apr 3, 2012 -- 6:41AM, cryogen wrote:

Apr 3, 2012 -- 12:32AM, Zindaras wrote:

Also, "we're building this for fun and not for power" and the whole "let's add Batterskull and Swords because we can" kind of contradict.

So does the "I want to redeem Grand Arbiter and show that he isn't ALWAYS a **** general. Hmm... better throw in Sundering Titan."

And yes, I know it didn't make the final cut, but it shouldn't have even been an option in the first place.

The power of cards is an arbitrary judgment. I added some of my favorite staples because we all do anyway. Could I skip them altogether? Sure. Is the more fun? Potentially not. It's okay to have powerful things to do, I just make sure to include more than enough wacky and off-beat options too. Duplicant is a powerful staple, but should it be skipped because if that?

I also write to give more options than the ones I prefer. I would guess thaMaas many readers hate seeing Sundering Tutan against them as there are those who actively try to play it. I chose norobe here, but it's certainly a powerful option to flicker!

Apr 3, 2012 -- 8:00AM, JohnQMtgplayer wrote:

May I suggest Voyager Staff? Plus the several wonderful ETB creatures that all you to return an artifact from the GY to hand, including Sun Titan? I've also used it in casual multiplayer games for retargetting Stuffy Doll after an opponent is killed off (RU fabricate/tinker version)

I'm also using it to develop a dastardly Archenemy deck. GWu Astral Slide with Terastadon, Sun Titan, Voyager Staff, Fiend Hunter, Wall of Blossoms, Carven Caratid, plus a bunch of cycling. Going to splash blue for (can't remember the name) the instant that bounces all creatures with the same name. Adios 3/3 Elephant tokens! Plus, I need to look through this list...I bet there are a few gems in there for my deck as well.

Yes! I'm been hunting a foil Staff for awhile, and it would have fit perfectly here. Astral Slide with ample cycling is definitely something I'll look at too. I played the deck Friday night and won, but only on the back of copying a Primeval Titan multiple times, then having multiple copies of Lord of Extinction late in the game. I definitely would have loved more to do in between!

Ooh, I love Sundering Titan. Especially on Safe Haven, with a Crucible of Worlds. Every turn, 2 mana nuke some basics?

Can we just rename this column "Commander" and call it like it is?

Don't get me wrong; I love Adam Styborski's articles. I play mostly casual Magic, so this column falls under my interests. I occasionally take a swing at FNM, pre-releases, and other tournament style events, but mostly, I play casual.

I do have a few Commander decks, so it's fun to sometimes read about other Commander decks. But I also love Planechase; and Archenemy; and Horde Magic; and Planar Invaders (the combination of Planechase and Archenemy); and The Eternities Map; and Two-Headed Giant; and Star Duels; and Cube; and all kinds of other casual gameplay ideas. The pauper cube article last week was a great article. In fact, I think an article about playing pauper decks (whether that be Cube, or block constructed, or whatever) would be a great read. Pauper block constructed seems just restricting enough to be challenging without being impossible.

Prior to checking the facts, I estimated that approximately 80% of the articles that Stybs writes are about Commander, and the other formats/variants/ideas are relegated to the other 20%. Actually looking at the articles for the past couple of months, I'd probably knock that number down to 50% Commander, 50% other. Some of those Commander articles are mixed in with others (For instance, the Stybs plays Horde magic using a Commander deck, so that article hits both casual variants.

Given the updated estimate, I'd say that it's a bit much to accuse Adam of catering mostly to Commander players, but I still think he writes about Commander more often than I'd like. Granted, I know that he's writing for a wide audience and not just myself. I know that he has expectations to meet from Wizards of the Coast and other players, but I'd wager that I'm not the only one who'd like to see a little more variety in his articles.

/rant

Okay, setting that aside, I still think the article was interesting. It sounds like a fun deck to play, and you picked a great commander for such a deck (in general, Grand Arbiter Augustin IV is a great commander). I've been meaning to build a W/U "flicker" deck around cards like Mistmeadow Witch , Turn to Mist , and Momentary Blink , but I had intended it to be a typical 60-card deck. Perhaps I'll give the Commander version a go.

Great article!