Just like everyone else, I have been busy trying to craft a Modern deck reflecting the DCI Banned & Restricted List changes that you are all likely aware of by now. Previously,  I had been playing with a Naya-plus-[card]Deathrite Shaman[/card] build (a la Brian Kibler) that I liked very much, but with this update I decided it was time to build a deck on my own.

I decided that I needed to either get on the [card]Wild Nacatl[/card] train, or stick with my guns and run a [card]Noble Hierarch[/card] deck similar to what I was running before the B&R update. I felt that the one-drop I chose here defined the style of deck I would end up with. After hours of deckbuilding, theorycrafting, and playtesting, it became clear that my hypothesis of 4/4 creatures being brick walls against Nacatl and company held true. I felt that a lot of the field would try to employ the big cat (not to be confused with [card]Brimaz, King of Oreskos[/card]), making the midrange route even better.  I had a GPT to play in, so this deck came about between the time of the (un)bannings and the Saturday that followed. The deck performed better than expected, and helped me to what should have been a 5-1 finish, but ended up being a 4-2 finish for 14^th place. This list takes full advantage of diverse threats that the current metagame just isn’t prepared to deal with efficiently, and the deck is also proactive as possible. I’ll walk through the significant card choices and how they performed. Although nothing here is revolutionary, I feel it is well positioned for your next Modern tournament!

[Deck title=Naya Midrange by Jordan Levitan]
[creatures]
4 Noble Hierarch
2 Birds of Paradise
2 Qasali Pridemage
2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Tarmogoyf
3 Voice of Resurgence
2 Scavenging Ooze
1 Kitchen Finks
4 Loxodon Smiter
4 Knight of the Reliquary
1 Thundermaw Hellkite
[/creatures]
[Spells]
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Path to Exile
3 Domri Rade
[/spells]
[Lands]
3 Forest
1 Plains
4 Arid Mesa
4 Verdant Catacombs
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Temple Garden
2 Stomping Ground
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Kessig Wolf-Run
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Stirring Wildwood
[/lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Choke
1 Qasali Pridemage
2 Ajani Vengeant
2 Blood Moon
2 Aven Mindcensor
2 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
2 Stony Silence
2 Bonfire of the Damned
[/sideboard]
[/deck]

Overperformers

[card]Stomping Ground[/card], [card]Voice of Resurgence[/card], [card]Loxodon Smiter[/card]

It may seem odd to put [card]Stomping Ground[/card] in this category, but it really does a lot for you. When you fetch on turn one, you almost always want it because of your turn-one green requirement on top of [card]Lightning Bolt[/card]. You are likely to have a [card]Noble Hierarch[/card] if you have a one-drop, so we don’t need to worry about [card]Path to Exile[/card] mana since Hierarch produces white (but not red). This may also be a sign we need more copies of [card]Birds of Paradise[/card] and potentially fewer [card]Noble Hierarch[/card]s.

[card]Voice of Resurgence[/card] lived up to its $30 price tag all day. I played against a fair assortment of the expected metagame in the tournament, with the exception of Tron (which isn’t that good anymore, anyway). Against my blue opponents, Voice caused their counterspells and instant speed interaction to be extremely inefficient, especially [card]Remand[/card]. I did play against one UWR opponent, but he wasn’t packing any [card]Pillar of Flame[/card]. This was fortunate for me, since I feel it is the best answer to Voice would run some sideboard copies myself if the card were more popular.

And now I come to what ended up being the most powerful card in the deck: [card]Loxodon Smiter[/card]. Each and every time I cast this monster, he evoked a long, drawn-out sigh from my opponents. Perfect. In each matchup, the card performed beyond expectations. My control opponents who commonly held up counterspell mana for my follow up to a Bird or Hierarch were sorely disappointed when Mr. Cannot-Be-Countered came down. He requires a [card]Path to Exile[/card], getting you a two-for-one. The rate on Smiter is incredible because blue decks rely on card advantage to win. Not to mention that this is all a huge tempo swing, which is also very important element against blue decks. When matched against Jund, Smiter shined when [card]Liliana of the Veil[/card] came down, or when fighting early [card]Tarmogoyf[/card]s, [card]Dark Confidant[/card]s, and [card]Wild Nacatl[/card]s (Yes, I played against Nacatl Jund).

It seems obvious that having the largest creature on the board is favorable, but it remains a relatively unpopular strategy. The combo matchup is much more reliant on your opponent’s draw, but Elephant Man still does his job, which is serving as a five-turn clock that comes down on turn two or three. Really, it’s more like a four-turn clock if left unchecked, since we often Bolt ourselves with our lands in Modern. It also helps that you have the rest of your hand putting pressure on them. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, we absolutely trounced any form of Zoo that let us untap with [card]Loxodon Smiter[/card]. Being able to play another formidable blocker or a removal spell lets you take over the board, and with it, the game. It turns out a 4/4 for three is very good right now. I was proud of myself for predicting this as a deck builder and as a player. Small victories, right?

Underperformers

[card]Domri Rade[/card], [card]Tarmogoyf[/card], [card]Kessig Wolf Run[/card]

It’s kind of surprising that in a deck with nearly 30 creatures, [card]Domri Rade[/card] just did not shine. I have some theories on why. If my board is developed enough to use Domri’s -2 ability, then I already have my opponent in “[card]The Abyss[/card]” anyway. These [card]unexpected results[/card] could also be a product of well…my results. Domri often got countered or immediately [card]Abrupt Decay[/card]ed. I don’t really think he is a bad card in this deck, but I would like to try him again to be sure.

[card]Tarmogoyf[/card] underperforming has a mostly straightforward explanation. What am I putting in my graveyard besides lands and the occasional instant? [card]Tarmogoyf[/card] was often only a 1/2 or a 2/3. While not bad, we can surely do better in Naya colors. There are two main reasons [card]Tarmogoyf[/card] is so dominant in Jund. The big reason is that it is an attrition deck, so it is trading cards one for one, and this means lots of cards in the graveyard. Often overlooked but still important is that Jund has sorcery spells that it wants to cast proactively. This Naya deck does neither of those things. It is possible that there is another card we want instead of this particular lhurgoyf.

[card]Kessig Wolf Run[/card] was in the deck to take advantage of [card]Knight of the Reliquary[/card]. Knight had new life breathed into it with the banning of [card]Deathrite Shaman[/card], so I figured he was worthy of the role I gave him in the deck as a four-of. Wolf Run never ended up making an appearance. The fact is that you are usually dumping more than enough lands in the graveyard through fetches and activating the Knight’s ability is often a tempo loss you cannot afford. While it is possible Wolf Run is necessary to win board stalls or mirror matches, it is definitely a possibility that we want another utility land or one that produces colors. If we did go with more mana dorks, we could easily play a [card]Gavony Township[/card] or two.

Next time, I’ll go over the changes I am considering making to the deck, as well as a discussion of sideboard strategy and possible changes. Suggestions and questions are always welcome, so feel free to comment below, or you can contact me on Facebook or Twitter @InkwellLevitan. Hope I could help!

JL

This time on C+C Magic Factory, we’ll be reviewing the Commander 2013 deck, Evasive Maneuvers.

Here’s a review of the grading system we’ll be using.  The first grade for each card is a Cube grade, the second, a Commander grade.

Cube:

[A+]: First-pick card on power level alone or tier 1 for associated archetype(s).

[A]: High powered alone or in the context of 2 or more archetypes.

[B]: High powered in the context of one archetype.

[C]: Role-filler in a niche archetype or mid-powered utility card.

[D]: Might see play in large or restricted lists (e.g. peasant)

[F]: Not playable in cube.

Commander:

[A+]: Best in Class.  These cards are at the top of the list for any deck wanting the effect.

[A]:  Excellent card according to two or more of: power level, size-of-effect, card interaction, or politics.

[B]:  Excellent card according to one of: power level, size-of-effect, card interaction, or politics.

[C]:  Solid role-filler or theme supporter.

[D]:  Playable, but better options exist.

[F]:  A knife at a gun fight.

Bant Deck: Evasive Maneuvers

Commanders: [card]Derevi, Empyrial Tactician[/card] [F]/[B], [card]Roon of the Hidden Realm[/card] [B]/[A-], [card]Rubinia Soulsinger[/card] [F]/[B-]

Alter by Cardkitty

Similar to Mind Seize, Evasive Maneuvers offers a very solid trio of commanders.  While Rubinia may be the least exciting of the bunch, she is still a very well-selected Legends reprint that can woman the helm of a goodstuff deck, since the ability to take the best creature at the table will always be relevant.  The other two generals present some fun themes for the EDH deck builder to exploit.  Roon has two modes: beat your face with commander damage or slide guys for value.  He is aggressively costed, has a nice rhino-sized body and his rules text sings with synergy.  While most players in my groups have built Roon to grind value with [card]Reveillark[/card] and friends, one has gone the Voltron route and made the swap with [card]Rafiq of the Many[/card] as his Bant commander.  Though he doesn’t threaten as much damage, Roon still loves a [card]Finest Hour[/card].  EDH isn’t the only place where Roon is tagging in for Rafiq, either. In my cube, Roon is getting a shot at my lonely Bant slot since blink.dec is a very real archetype in most rare cubes.  I like my shard cards to be high-impact, though in cubes that just want the best, Roon may not compete with [card]Bant Charm[/card] for the top slot.

Derevi is perhaps the new commander I’m most excited to brew with, but her puzzle is not one that’s easily solved.  The precon clearly emphasizes untapping token generators for Fibonacci-esque value with inclusions like [card]Kazandu Tuskcaller[/card] and [card]Presence of Gond[/card], but the fun does not stop there.  Other applications include generating stupid amounts of combat step-mana, trying to go infinite with her alternate cost and a sacrifice outlet (seems difficult), or simply being annoying and tapping down lands and blockers in a multiplayer game.  However, what got the attention of my inner griefer was the idea of pairing her with [card]Winter Orb[/card] and [card]Stasis[/card] to get all the zero-sum fun.  While currently much less popular than Roon, I feel Derevi may have a longer shelf life and inspire much more variety. (Since the first writing of this section, Derevi has been banned in 1v1 French Commander.)

New Cards

[card]Angel of Finality[/card] [D-]/[C+]

With [card]Bojuka Bog[/card] being one of the most played cards in EDH, any card with the same rider must be taken seriously.  The C+ may seem low, but I feel this is the highest grade that can be given for a piece of disruption.  [card]Bojuka Bog[/card], [card]Nihil Spellbomb[/card], and [card]Relic of Progenitus[/card] are all basically free; [card]Angel of Finality[/card] costs a card but the 3/4 flyer is free.  Decks that want this either can’t deal with exiling their own ‘yard, can reuse the effect, or come close to wanting a 3/4 flyer for 4 mana.  How important this card is for you comes down to your meta and how many Karador/Mimeoplasm/Sheoldred shenanigans you can expect to see.

Angel of Finality just shows how awesome [card]Restoration Angel[/card] is in cube, since Resto is always a high pick while [card]Angel of Finality[/card] would be a sideboard card at best.

[card]Bane of Progress[/card] [F+]/[A]

I have a [card]Yosei, the Morning Star[/card] artifact deck that folds to [card]Akroma’s Vengeance[/card] or [card]Austere Command[/card].  I can now add [card]Bane of Progress[/card] to that list of foils.  Six-mana mass [card]Naturalize[/card]s are already quite playable in EDH and this is perhaps the best yet, being stapled to a creature and being in the best color to ramp it out without bemoaning the effect.  With a base-two power, it even comes back with [card]Reveillark[/card]!  That Bane will usually represent an on-curve green fatty once the dust settles is gravy.  This card has excellent casual appeal and is the sort of card that can find a home in multiple decks, especially now that [card]Sylvan Primordial[/card] got sent packing.

The closest comparison in cube is to cards like [card]Acidic Slime[/card] or [card]Mold Shambler[/card].  Even though the effect is desirable, the cheaper options will get played because Bane will so rarely hit more than on target and can’t destroy planeswalkers or land.

[card]Curse of the Forsaken[/card] [F]/[D]

See Eternal Bargain review.

[card]Curse of Inertia[/card] [F]/[D-]

See Mind Seize review.

[card]Curse of Predation[/card] [A]/[C]

See Power Hungry review.

[card]Darksteel Mutation[/card] [D]/[C]

See Eternal Bargain review.

[card]Diviner Spirit[/card] [F]/[D]

See Mind Seize review.

[card]Djinn of Infinite Deceits[/card] [F]/[C]

Djinn seems custom-tailored to this deck as packaged, synergizing with Derevi and all the token-producers.  With Roon, you can even takesy-backsies the gifted creature!  The effect is fun, powerful, and primed for abuse, but sits on a slow and expensive body.  [card]Gilded Drake[/card] is more powerful, especially in Cube, but Djinn is repeatable all on his own and is easier on the wallet.

[card]Restore[/card] [F]/[C+]

See Power Hungry review.

[card]Surveyor’s Scope[/card] [F]/[C]

If [card]Surveyor’s Scope[/card] was a guaranteed [card]Rampant Growth[/card] for two in 1v1, it would be a very good card, since Cube decks love mana rocks and many EDH decks run green to gain access to the effect.  Sadly, the behind-by-two-lands clause makes this unplayable in Cube and asks something of your deck construction in EDH.  Between bounce lands, borderposts, and activating the scope with a fetch on the stack, it is fairly easy to get your card back and in multiplayer games the best case is ridiculous.  However, you really want to be playing multiplayer to run this in your deck, since signets are much more reliable when it comes to ramping for 1.

[card]Tempt with Glory[/card] [F]/[D-]

Easily the worst Tempting Offer card, Tempt with Glory has a prohibitive mana cost in addition to being narrow in application.  As such, it will be staying out of cubes whether or not they support token strategies.  Costing twice [card]Curse of Predation[/card], you would really have to want redundancy of anthems to include this offer, at which point it will never get accepted.

[card]Unexpectedly Absent[/card] [A-]/[C+]

While only a utility card, [card]Unexpectedly Absent[/card] is about as good as it gets.  In Commander, the value comes from being able to tuck a problematic commander or strategic lynchpin.  While the versatility is great, the card only shines if you can pay a large enough X to get rid of the problem for real or catch your opponent with a shuffle trigger on the stack, since the tempo matters less.  In Cube or 1v1, this card is excellent.  Usually X will be 0, which is fine, since this card is all about the tempo blowouts by being able to hit an equipment or extra blocker mid-combat or reset a near-ultimate planeswalker with no card disadvantage.  Even though [card]Unexpectedly Absent[/card] has not yet been adopted in Legacy, this card is the third most powerful single card in Commander 2013 after [card]True-Name Nemesis[/card] and [card]Toxic Deluge[/card].  Since the rest of the deck has good value, look to pick these up in trade as they may be relatively undervalued.

Notable Reprints

[card]Azami, Lady of Scrolls[/card] [F]/[B-]

Unplayable in Cube for a variety of reasons, Azami is the go-to commander for mono-blue control decks, though [card]Thassa, God of the Sea[/card] gives players another solid option.  Prior to this reprint, Azami was a few dollars, so seeing her here adds a little more value to this precon.  Despite being a card players hate to see across the table, there are a couple Azami decks in my groups. The allure of draw-go-draw-draw is too sweet to ignore for some.

[card]Basalt Monolith[/card] [B-]/[C+]

While ramping to seven mana on turn four is not as broken as the six on turn three that Basalt’s grim brother provides, [card]Basalt Monolith[/card] still powers some broken plays in both 40 and 100-card formats.  In addition to ramping, Monolith goes infinite with [card]Wake Thrasher[/card], an interaction featured in the MTGO cube.  The only strike against Basalt Monolith is that it’s worse at ramping than [card]Sol Ring[/card], [card]Mana Vault[/card], [card]Grim Monolith[/card], [card]Worn Powerstone[/card], and [card]Thran Dynamo[/card]. That said, all of those cards have availability issues within my groups, so the presence of a budget option is welcome.

[card]Control Magic[/card] [B-]/[B]

The OG “take your guy” spell is back, with a black border and new art, something some cube owners care about.  [card]Control Magic[/card] is still in my 630-card unpowered cube and is doing a better job earning its stay of execution than [card]Clone[/card] by virtue of being undercosted compared to modern options.  What sells CM for EDH is that it fills the role of spot removal sans card disadvantage and snatching an opposing commander is one of the better ways of dealing with it.  If your group runs a lot of enchantment removal or bounce, it gets worse, so plan accordingly.

[card]Dungeon Geists[/card] [C]/[C-]

[card]Dungeon Geists[/card] is on the cusp of inclusion for medium-to-large sized cubes due to competition in blue.  As a very-good-but-fair value card, it’s card advantage until it’s not, which is less of a drawback in EDH than one might expect, since Geist and whatever it’s locking down are both likely dying to the same sweeper.  What keeps it from seeing more play in 100-card decks is that the 3/3 body just doesn’t do enough on its own.

[card]Flickerwisp[/card] [C]/[D]

Flickering is a popular effect in both EDH and Cube, but in Commander, the effects must be repeatable to really make the cut.  For example, [card]Flickerwisp[/card]’s 3/1 evasive body can close out a game when players start at 20 life, but in EDH, the one-shot trigger isn’t breaking any game states and a 3/1 won’t get there.  If the plan is to abuse ETB triggers, either go cheap ([card]Cloudshift[/card]) or go big ([card]Deadeye Navigator[/card]).

[card]Karmic Guide[/card] [B+]/[A+]

Proxy by theProxyGuy

Welcome to valuetown!  Another inclusion with significant appeal for Cube, Commander, and collectors, [card]Karmic Guide[/card] is excellent in some decks and quite good in others, justifying its pre-reprint $12 price tag.  Together with [card]Reveillark[/card], it is the glue that holds together the blink archetype in Cube by having one of the best and most aggressively costed ETB triggers for casual formats.  Though not as abstractly powerful as [card]Reanimate[/card], [card]Karmic Guide[/card] is a better version of the effect for Commander by being abusive, bringing value to the table, and arriving at a point in the game when opponents may be out of answers.

[card]Lu Xun, Scholar General[/card] [D+]/[C]

Though I don’t run the Scholar in my cube, the effect is cube-worthy, as can be seen by the inclusion of [card]Thieving Magpie[/card] in the MTGO cube.  Lu Xun is better than Magpie but worse than [card]Shadowmage Infiltrator[/card], since horsemanship is basically unblockable but not worth the extra mana.  In Commander, Lu Xun is a perfectly reasonable four-drop, since he’ll always get through and the scratch is unlikely to incur the wrath of your opponents until he starts scratching with a sword.  While there are better ways to keep the gas flowing, Lu Xun is a welcome inclusion here and will never be a brick in any deck running him.

[card]Mirror Entity[/card] [B]/[B]

[card]Mirror Entity[/card]’s primary use is to threaten lethal damage from a small cohort of creatures.  In Commander, the cohort must be significantly larger, relegating the Entity mostly to weenie and token builds.  Nevertheless, [card]Mirror Entity[/card] is a high-impact three-drop that has many synergies with cards throughout Magic’s history, including part of an infinite combo (that sadly requires too many pieces for Cube).

Overall – Value:[A]/Playability:[C]

Though lacking a top-tier commander like Prossh (unless you count a banned Derevi) or an eternal card à la True-Name, Evasive Maneuvers is deep in playables.  It has the most incentivizing rares, a great set of generals, high-caliber reprints, and a potential eternal staple in [card]Unexpectedly Absent[/card].  The list is deep enough that there are notable cards like [card]Murkfiend Liege[/card] and [card]Thousand-Year Elixir[/card] that I left out of this review.  Even one of its commanders is seeing play in Cube.

However, the deck suffers from the same difficulty that most of these precons do: the themes presented by the new commanders are too divergent.  Half the deck is all about untapping for value and the other half wants to abuse ETB triggers, with only the commanders crossing themes.  The best use of Evasive Maneuvers is to put it in your cube or turn it into two separate Bant builds, and luckily this precon offers a solid start to all of these options.

Next time, we’ll review the final Commander 2013 deck,  Nature of the Beast.

Contact:

Email: djkensai at gmail dot com

Twitter: @djkensai