Thursday, October 10, 2013

Commander: Garza Zol, Plague Queen

I generally don't name my Commander decks, because they already have unique titles: the Commander leads the deck, thus bestows the name. But in this case, I have a little subtitle for this one,  Everybody I Know Has Fangs.

Commander:
Garza Zol, Plague Queen
 Artifacts
Blade of the Bloodchief
 Obelisk of Grixis
 Enchantments
False Demise
 Control Magic
Sorceries
Blood Tithe
Blood Tribute
Dream Cache
Earthquake
Rush of Knowledge
Slave of Bolas
Sinkhole
Feast of Blood
Exsanguinate
Consume Spirit
Soul Burn
Sunder from Within
Demolish
Lands
Crypt of Agadeem
 Dreadship Reef
 Urborg Volcano
 Crosis's Catacombs
 Lake of the Dead
 Barren Moor
 Izzet Boilerworks
 Dimir Aqueduct
 Rakdos Carnarium
9 Mountain
9 Island
11 Swamp
Instants
Brainstorm
Dark Ritual
Lim-Dûl's Vault
Swerve
Murmurs from Beyond
Repulse
Yamabushi's Flame
Glacial Ray
Reverberate
Sulfurous Blast
Think Twice
Urge to Feed
Vampiric Fury
Vampiric Tutor
Creatures
Lord of Lineage/Bloodline Keeper
 Blood Tyrant
 Vampiric Dragon
 Vampire Nighthawk
 Vampire Lacerator
 Izzet Chronarch
 Skeletal Vampire
 Sengir Nosferatu
 Sengir Vampire
 Baron Sengir
 Irini Sengir
 Child of Night
 Blood Seeker
 Rakish Heir
 Falkenrath Marauders
Creatures
Krovikan Vampire
 Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet
 Malakir Bloodwitch
 Guul Draz Vampire
 Gatekeeper of Malakir
 Butcher of Malakir
 Pulse Tracker
 Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief
 Mephidross Vampire
 Mirri the Cursed
 Guul Draz Assassin
 Captivating Vampire
 Bloodlord of Vaasgoth
 Triskelion
 Olivia Voldaren

I suppose that the first thing I ought to do is repeat my general Commander philosophy. This format is where I get to shove in all the weird, unused cards or singletons that I wouldn't get to play otherwise. In Commander, I try a little harder to consider theme and the glory of cool things, than I do the success of a plan in relationship to victory.

I realize that making a vampire tribal deck may not seem like something out of the ordinary but I dislike making decks that I know work. Vampires have been pushed steadily since Zendikar block and while I don't know that a winning vampire deck has been mapped out, making a traditional 60 card deck is just too easy. Unless I can put a slant on it that is unique (read: probably bad) then I find it difficult to be interested.

I frontload all this because I have had people tell me, in a slightly pitying tone, "Vampire Lacerator really doesn't work in Commander."

Trust me: I know how this format works. It works any way you want it to and I want to make a vampire tribal deck. It's OK if some of the cards are bad; that's partly why I'm writing, to properly look at these decks and swap bad cards for better ones.

But in Commander I'm more willing to accept my choices because they are cool. Telling me that something doesn't work when it's clearly part of the theme is ignoring what my goals are and is unhelpful advice. That doesn't mean I'm going to keep the Lacerator in forever but it's good for the time being.

Let's roll it out!

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