Guest Article – Sharing is Caring

Today we have our first guest submission! Jason contacted us with his article and though he’s the first we hope he isn’t the last. If you’d like us to share those MtG musings you’ve been having you can reach us through our Facebook page, Master of Magics or Twitter @MasterOfMagics!


Right then, first of all hi, my name is Jason. I am a general nerd and big lover of MTG. I started a few years ago and got pretty quickly into the rules and mechanics of the game. This led me to get into brewing almost straight away. I also occasionally write about MTG and the like focusing on either cards I love that I don’t feel have found a home or how to help create a better gaming environment for your store.

While I started off playing standard I have since moved into being primarily an EDH and modern player. Mostly EDH. But I play either Druid combo or Eldrazi Tron in modern, which to be honest, is also a lot like EDH.

I just enjoy making the most out of the incredibly stupid things that the mechanics in magic let you get away with. Infinite mana on turn 3, fantastic, sign me up. Chalice of the void on one, great, take that burn player. People play MTG for lots of different reasons and have fun in different ways.

EDH shows this off more than most formats because what you can do in EDH has such an incredible array of cards. The style of play tends to be different group to group and person to person. Some people want to close the game out as quickly as possible either with an aggro deck or a combo deck. Others want to build a huge board state or play a group hug deck. Some people want to play Stasis and Winter Orb. There is a name for the last group of people which doesn’t belong in this article.

You can build an EDH deck around a few things. You can choose a theme and then find a commander that fits it, so making a life matters deck and then choosing your preferred commander, I like Karlov of the Ghost Council as he lets you really make the most of all the life you are gaining. You can choose colours you like and then find a commander that allows access, I went for Progenitus for my planeswalker deck. You can also find a commander that you like the look of and then go with that commander.

The Mimeoplasm is a creature which enters as a copy of one creature in a graveyard with the power of another dead creature added on as 1/1 counters as a result there are a few ways you can build it. I went for a few things. The main two themes are mill, which is hard in an EDH game, more so in a multiplayer EDH game, and clone effects. This allows me to always play at the same level as everyone else in the game. At least that is the plan. I just want to delve into some of my favourite cards in the deck.

My favourite clone in the deck is Vesuvan Shapeshifter. It is a clone with morph and at the beginning of your upkeep you can turn it face down, this allows you to keep cloning the best creature even when it changes. I have had a lot of fun changing it at instant speed into something which changes the game, copying other commanders is obviously a huge win as well.

Faerie Artisans is another fantastic clone effect. It is unpredictable as you have no say in what gets cloned but you can hit some really great etb effects as a result of it cloning every creature that enters the battlefield.

Disruption wise I love Void Winnower it is also a great way of killing with commander damage as it is hard to block and with a power of 11 naturally it doesn’t take much to make it a one hit kill with The Mimeoplasm.

One thing that I like having is a lot of mana, one thing I like doing is taking my opponents lands. Herald of Leshrac does just that. While I adore the card, it gets killed pretty quickly as stealing land makes you a viable target.

The best mill card in the deck is Traumatize for five mana you get to put the top half of someone’s deck into their graveyard. Every so often it is best to choose yourself for more card, but I tend to choose whoever I think has the best creatures.

Lighthouse Chronologist is just a stupid card, once you have it levelled up enough you get an extra turn after everyone else’s turns. I think that explains why I like it.

Next are three cards which let you just play cards from your opponents deck. First is Mind’s Dilation, which is an enchantment which lets you take the top card of your opponent’s library whenever the cast their first spell of the turn and you get to cast it for free. You can hit some great stuff from this. Second is Villainous Wealth which let’s you play the top X cards from a target opponents library, with the ramp you get from being in green generally you can hit some great numbers, I try to never let X be less than ten. Finally is Eternal Dominion which is an Epic spell, you can not cast any spells having cast this, so try to make sure you have Birthing Pod out, once every one of your turns you get to choose an opponent and pick an Artifact, Creature, Enchantment or Land card and just put it into play.

Finally we have a win button. I love playing commander, I also like winning, so I try to make sure each deck has a win button. In this deck it is Buried Alive you can put three creatures into your graveyard from your deck. To win you fetch up Triskelion and Lord of Extinction. You turn The Mimeoplasm into Triskelion and give it Lord of Extinction’s power in +1/+1 counters and just ping everyone to death.

Ultimately what happens when you play this deck can be up to everyone else, you can play the perfect game and just win the game, or you can play around a lot more and have a copy of everyone else’s commanders in play or spend the game playing someone else’s deck.

I love having multiple lines in any deck I play and this one has some of the most interesting as they change with every person you play. I hope you have enjoyed this little love letter to the nonsense I play for fun. Feel free to find me on twitter @EnotheStrife and tell me what kind of decks you like to play or if you want to discuss any ideas you have.

Deck List

Lands (38)
Swamp
Island
Forest
Jungle Hollow
Geier Reach Sanitarium
Evolving Wilds
Llanowar Wastes
Lumbering Falls
Command Tower
Dismal Backwater
Blighted Woodland
Sunken Hollow
Thornwood Falls
Blooming Marsh
Mana Confluence
Opulent Palace
Golgari Guildgate
Botanical Sanctum
Choked Estuary
Woodland Stream
Exotic Orchard
Fetid Pools

Creatures (38)
Simic Manipulator
Clone
Primordial Hydra
Sire of Stagnation
Terastodon
Phyrexian Crusader
Djinn of Infinite Deceits
Lord of Extinction
Fleshbag Marauder
Diluvian Primordial
Evil Twin
Silent-Blade Oni
Vesuvan Shapeshifter
Faerie Artisans
Damia, Sage of Stone
Gonti, Lord of Luxury
Fauna Shaman
Dimir Doppelganger
Torrent Elemental
Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur
Consuming Aberration
Szadek, Lord of Secrets
Clever Impersonator
Triskelion
Altered Ego
Void Winnower
Rashmi, Eternities Crafter
Dragonlord Silumgar
Cryptbreaker
Herald of Leshrac
Notion Thief
Lighthouse Chronologist
Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker
Progenitor Mimic
Sidisi, Brood Tyrant
Necrotic Ooze
Stunt Double
Cold-Eyed Selkie

Planeswalkers (1)
Kiora, Master of the Depths

Artifacts (2)
Grimoire of the Dead
Birthing Pod

Sorceries (13)
Rampant Growth
Far Wanderings
Mind Grind
Traumatize
Splendid Reclamation
Life from the Loam
Nissa's Renewal
Victimize
Nissa's Pilgrimage
Villainous Wealth
Eternal Dominion
Buried Alive
Life's Finale

Enchantments (5)
Mind's Dilation
Animate Dead
Sultai Ascendancy
Grave Betrayal
Monastery Siege

Instants (2)
Dig Through Time
Grisly Spectacle

 

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