Murdoch Monthly
05 Feb 2010 | Fox Murdoch
Welcome readers once again to Murdoch Monthly! My name is Fox Murdoch and I’ll be your host for this evening. Last time I had a writing stint (back in the mtgparadise.com days) I wrote about random topics related to Magic. This time around I’m more active out and about so expect more store based shinanigans. I’m still keeping this as a predominantly casual column and to that extent I’m starting off with the funnest casual format I know of (well, second) Elder Dragon Highlander (EDH).
What’s EDH?
If you just asked that question you’re new to Magic, ain’tcha? The rules are simple enough, here’s an abrupt list:
- Pick a legendary creature to be your general. They’re exiled before a game starts and sit in the “General zone.”
- All cards in your deck have to share a colour with your General (only your General)
- Your deck has to be 100 cards (this includes the General, so 99 in-deck) minimum
- Players start with 40 lives
- Taking 21 combat damage from any single General will kill you as a state based effect.
There’s further rules on Generals and special rules surrounding how certain Legends act as General. Bosh and Memnarch are Red or Blue Generals respectively, despite being colorless. You also cast your General from the General/Command zone meaning someone like Phage really makes a rotten choice. Each time your General is cast from the General/Command zone they cost (2) more for each time they’ve already been cast.
That’s a simplification of the rules, the nittygritty is found right here. That’s for beginners though, I’m going to talk deck building stratedgy now for those who are familiar with EDH.
How important is your General?
The biggest question surrounding EDH decks is which General you’re using. Everybody knows everyone’s General before a game begins, so there’s a lot you can tell. Say you’re playing a Szadek deck you can expect to see milling. Or if you’re playing against a Kaervek deck you can expect to see cruel things happen. Though a player may go an entire game without once playing their General, so just how much importance does it deserve?
As much or as little as you like. If you want to make a green white weenies deck that plays control then it makes sense to sport Gaddock Teeg as your (bloody annoying) General. Tolsimir Wolfblood works well if you enjoy the beatdown. What if you’re just wanting a green white deck to play those Karstoderm’s/Blastoderm Glorious Anthem/Gaea’s Anthem combos? Jasmin Boreal is your on-colour gal!
The advantage of playing a General you won’t care to play is having a “99” card deck. Furthermore you won’t worry about your General winding up with a 15GW casting cost. The advantages you miss out on though, such as the tribal synergy of Sliver Queen, the reuseable card advantage that Arcanus the Omnipotent provides or the corner stone of a brilliant attack that Stonebrow lends a green/red stompy deck, is enormous. This is EDH however, where there’s 5 players who’re going to see Arcanus come into play and place a big fat target on his head. Mr Black player certainly won’t ignore him. Finding the balance of “good ability” with “but not instant-death worthy” is difficult.
Chewin’ the peasants. Uh, cud.
I’ll show you two decks today that focus differently on their Generals and how they work. First up is Rony’s Sliver Queen. He gave us a few minutes for a quick interview:
|
Hi Rony, thanks for joining us.
Rony: Glad to make it.
FM: Just some quick deets first off. Where do you play?
Rony: Usually Good games in Sydney, as well as Battlecraft Games in Eastwood and GE near Mac U.
FM: Who’s your favourite General?
Rony: Um, ah, there’s a few… Hoard of Notions?
FM: Favourite colour or colours?
Rony: Combination of colours is green/blue, but mono colour is red.
FM: When did you first get into Magic/get back into Magic?
Rony: ‘97 I started, playing Ice Age. Started again at the end of Time Spiral block.
FM: How did you hear about the EDH format?
Rony: From my friend Petr Joura, he’s the heart of casual Magic.
FM: Really?
Rony: No.
FM: What’s your favourite thing about EDH?
Rony: It’s so random, every card can change the game.
FM: What’s the best play you ever made?
Rony:
Somebody played Obliterate when I had the following board: Karmic Guide, Kiki-Jiki, Sakashima, Revaillark, Woodfall Primus, Angel of Despair, Seedborn Muse and lands. Reveillark brought back Karmic Guide and Kiki-Jiki, Jiki made a Karmic Guide token to get back Sakashima and Woodfall Primus while Sakishima copied Kiki-Jiki and made another copy of Karmic Guide to get back Seedborn Muse.
FM: Wow, why did they even play Obliterate! What’s the best play you ever saw someone else make?
Rony: It was a 3 player game and someone had a lethal Fireball pointed at someone’s dome. Using Winding Canyons they instant speed out Oona with Mana Reflection and Palinchron in play. Infinite mana they insta-speed mill them to death as well.
FM: Who’s the worst General to use?
Rony: Norin the Weary. Uh, Hakkon is useless. Phage of course.
FM: Best General?
Rony: In multiplayer, Zur the Enchanter. He’s been banned before. In 1-on-1, Rufellos.
FM: Final Question – if you could change any of the rules of EDH which would it be?
Rony: I’d go back to the free mulligan rule.
FM: Ta for your time.
Here’s Rony’s decklist for his Sliver Queen deck. One of its many combos uses Sliver Queen and Mana Echoes to go infinite Sliver tokens and mana. Seeing EDH is a singleton format and that 100 cards is a lot to read I’ve taken snapshots of each card type seperately, putting the actual cardlist in a separate sidebar.
General – Sliver Queen
Angel of Despair
Body Double
Duplicant
Eternal Witness
Flickerwisp
Genesis
Izzet Chronarch
Karmic Guide
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
Magus of the Future
Mulldrifter
Mystic Snake
Oracle of Mul Daya
Palinchron
Reveillark
Sakashima the Imposter
Seedborn Muse
Sphinx of Lost Truths
Squee, Goblin Nabob
Trinket Mage
Venser, Shaper Savant
Vesuvan Shapeshifter
Wood Elves
Woodfall Primus
24 Creatures
Coalition Relic
Darksteel Ingot
Fellwar Stone
Gilded Lotus
Oblivion Stone
Sensei’s Divining Top
Skullclamp
Sol Ring
Spectral Searchlight
9 Artifacts
Mana Echoes
Mana Reflection
Mirari’s Wake
Phyrexian Arena
Sterling Grove
Survival of the Fittest
6 Enchantments
Bant Charm
Capsize
Enlightened Tutor
Intuition
Krosan Grip
Memory Plunder
Reiterate
Return to Dust
Vampiric Tutor
Wild Ricochet
10 Instants
Demonic Tutor
All Suns’ Dawn
Austere Command
Farseek
Life from the Loam
Planar Cleansing
Primal Command
Rite of Replication
Skyshroud Claim
Tooth and Nail
Untamed Wilds
11 Sorceries
Academy Ruins
Arcane Sanctum
Barren Moor
Blood Crypt
Boseiju, Who Shelters All
Breeding Pool
Cascade Bluffs
Crumbling Necropolis
Exotic Orchard
Forgotten Cave
Godless Shrine
Grand Coliseum
Hallowed Fountain
Jungle Shrine
Kor Haven
Krosan Verge
Lonely Sandbar
Misty Rainforest
Murmuring Bosk
Overgrown Tomb
Rupture Spire
Sacred Foundry
Savage Lands
Seaside Citadel
Secluded Steppe
Steam Vents
Stomping Grounds
Temple Garden
Tolaria West
Tranquil Thicket
Vivid Crag
Vivid Creek
Vivid Grove
Vivid Marsh
Vivid Meadow
Volrath’s Stronghold
Watery Grave
Winding Canyons
Yavimaya Hollow
39 Lands
General – Sliver Queen
Artifacts
Enchantments
Sorceries
Instants
Creatures
Lands
Rony’s deck makes critical use of its General, seeing Queen is part of 2-card infy dorks combo. That means he needs 5 colours and to stick the giant Sliver for an entire round to win. Great example of an EDH deck that really uses its General.
Now my EDH deck, using Uril the Miststalker. He’s a grumpy Beast who’s reclusive as all hell and best friends/bed partners with Big Foot. My deck is a lot more casual and geared towards weird dorky plays that make other players go “Woah!!” right before they win anyway. Like sword tricks to scare off a gun wielding Indiana Jones.
General – Uril, the Miststalker
Masako the Humorless
Coalhauller Swine
Yomiji Who Bares the Way
Akki, Lavarunner
Arc-Slogger
Kiki-Jiki Mirror Breaker
Ib Halfheart, Goblin Tactician
Zozu the Punisher
Megnoloth
Blazing Archon
Fumiko the Lowblood
Nacatl War-Pride
Marisi’s Twinclaws
Ben-Ben Akki Hermit
Fortune Thief
Keeper of Progenitus
Defiant Vanguard
Homing Slither
Cliffridder Ronin
Vulshok Battlemaster
Gamekeeper
Orcish Librarian
Changeling Titan
Mirror Entity
Arbiter of Knollridge
Desolation Giant
Stonehewer Giant
Captain of the Watch
Siege-Gang Commander
Cloudgoat Ranger
Tornado Elemental
32 creatures
Chandra Nalaar
1 Planeswalker
Lightning Bolt
Valor Made Real
Radiate
Naya Charm
Lace with Moonglove
Bathe in Light
Flames of the Blood Hand
Hanabi Blast
Mana Tithe
Second Sunrise
Reiterate
Wild Ricochet
Magnetic Theft
Scout’s Warning
Rith’s Charm
15 instants
Steelshaper’s Gift
Tooth and Nail
Harmonize
Recollect
Savage Twister
Journey of Discovery
Kodama’s Reach
Reborn Hope
Vengeful Rebirth
Call of the Herd
Rough // Tumble
11 sorceries
Umezawa’s Jitte
Gruul Warplow
Crucible of Worlds
Sunforger
Pariah’s Shield
Shield of Kaldra
6 artifacts
War’s Toll
Mana Barbs
Rage Reflection
Stormbind
Porphryry Nodes
5 enchantments
9 Mountains
9 Forest
9 Plains
Temple Garden
Sacred Foundry
Beseiju, Who Shelters All
Gemstone Mine
Skarrg, the Rage Pits
Selesnya Sanctuary
Gruul Turf
Terramorphic Expanse
Arena
Saltcrusted Steppe
Fungal Reaches
Ancient Amphitheater
Spinerock Knoll
40 lands
General – Uril, the Miststalker
Planeswalkers
Creatures
Instants
Sorcery
Artifacts
Enchantments
Lands
This here is a deck that doesn’t care what it’s General is doing. Uril loves Enchantments. Number of enchantments: 5. More specifically he loves Auras. Number of Auras: 0. In this deck the General is used purely for his body [he is a sexy beast] and colours, and a solid 5/5 for 5 who can’t be picked off by Hex or likewise is a good deal.
The rest of the deck is perfectly capable of twirling simple combat and easy board positions into smoldering storms of slag. Radiate the board with Lightning Bolt, why not? Attack with Ronin Cliffrider and cast Lace with Moonglove on him! Scout’s Warning a Megnoloth into play, cast Honor Made Real on him and blample an opponent right out of the game. Entwine Tooth and Nail to get Fumiko, the Lowblood and Blazing Archon then sit back and laugh your ass off. Attack with Nacatl War-Pride while Silent Arbiter [not pictured] sits back and says “No no, only one blocker for all them attacking token copies. Tsk tsk.”
Cruel, unfair, hilarious when it’s not happening to you. There’s plenty of other odd combos in this deck though to look at individual cards you’ll wonder why on earth they were included (Lace with Moonglove is a prime candidate). The inclusion of Zozu the Punisher was weird at its time, considering I want 9+ mana for big tricks, but seeing Landfall is going to work it’s way into EDH now it sounds like a really smart option.
There are plenty of other ways to make your EDH deck, including an evolving/rotating decklist and the ever popular themed decklists. I’m thinking I’ll hunt down a saucy little Dragon EDH deck for next time.
That is ALL for this month, oh dearest readers, join me next time when I try and get my Allie’s to align with my opponents face, and look over Worldwake’s combolicious rating [I’m thinking about a 6.5].
Make sure to leave a comment in the forums as well. Tell me what you liked, shout at me for what you hated, but make sure to include what you thought of the snapshots taken of both EDH decks, compared to having written lists. Did you like it, wanna see it again or not?
Fox Murdoch.
For discussion.