Reading Wrapup

Cerebral Eruption does not do what I thought it did.

I had thought that it would cause each opponent to reveal their top card and if anyone revealed a land, then the Eruption would return to my hand.

No: it's instead a four-mana spell that if it whiffs, allows me to pay four mana to do it again. And that's no good at all: I have room for either goofy spells that go wide or serious spells that don't but not goofy spells that are narrow.

The lesson here: take your time, read and understand the card before you take action.

Also, I still have Pawn of Ulamog in this deck. Despite these missteps, Licia has been performing pretty well! In my last game against Noah and Matt, I had an excellent position up until Noah animated all my lands, cast Wrath of God and that pretty much took me out. Sure, I was still a player but I was just waiting to die. In his defense, Noah felt bad about that.

Divine Reckoning and Gisela, Blade of Goldnight are coming in to replace the cards I'm taking out. I'm keeping Defiant Bloodlord in my back pocket though.

Divine Reckoning is there to give me more board resets and Gisela is one of those cards that is really good for me, and really a pain for any opponents. Why attack me if your forces are blunted, or worse, you're going to be on the end of a very nasty stick next turn?

If Gisela doesn't work out well, then Defiant Bloodlord is a great way to run a duplicate Sanguine Bond. I'm just reluctant to do so because Bloodlord is so expensive.

Still, I think I'm set with this deck. It's playing well, though better in multiplayer than in 1v1, and I'm enjoying my time playing it. It's a little slow to get out of the gate but the life gain helps keep me in games until I'm able to make my move.

Next up, I'm taking on a deckbuilding challenge!

Second Set of Swaps

Got a lot of games in this past week, which as been great. Before I did, though, I made the following changes:

Out:
Go for the Throat
Swords to Plowshares
Heirloom Blade
Blookhusk Ritualist
Bloodsworn Steward
Teferi's Protection

What's added in:
Sorin, Grim Nemesis
True Conviction
Cerebral Eruption
Exsanguinate
Venser's Journal
Chancellor of the Dross

Of these, I'm really only unsure of Cerebral Eruption. It's a cutsie trick but I'm not sure how often it will really pay off. Still, it's a weird card that could have some legs in multiplayer, so I'm running it for now, because after taking out two removal spells, I absolutely needed another sweeper spell of some kind.

Everything else is about the lifegain. Chancellor of the Dross even has the benefit of being a vampire, so it can play nice with some of my vampire-relevant cards.

True Conviction has been incredible when it's appeared, and even Venser's Journal has been useful; free lifegain every turn means that casting Licia gets easier, even if it's just a little bit and helps negate the Commander Tax.

That said: in a three player game a couple days go, I got a lesson in both being aware of the environment and reading the fucking card. Matt had played out a Shaman of Forgotten Ways and I remembered that it tapped for two mana...and didn't recall the rest.

But we were in a bar that wasn't extremely well lit, so instead of reaching over to read the card and remember, I just relied on my memory.

In the meantime, Caitlin was playing a ramp deck and had quickly gotten all of our board states to about eleven lands or so.

And if there's one big disadvantage that Licia has, it's that there aren't a lot of creatures in the deck.

So when I had the chance to play Licia, I didn't: Black Market and True Conviction were my plays.

Next turn, I died to Matt's activation of the Shaman.

It was a pretty simple mistake but one that I should've avoided. I was too focused on my next turn, the one where I cast Licia as a double striker, with free mana coming to me if any creature died, that I failed to focus on this one.

Focus only on what matters. Still good advice.

Solid Starts

Things have started off well for Licia: games against Zedruu, piloted by Fuz and Ragnar, piloted by Noah, have resulted in wins.

I still have questions about some cards, especially the ones that lean heavily on the tribal theme, such as Kindred Boon, although that card has proven to be VERY good, and keeping Licia on the table with indestructability isn't anything to sneeze at. Still; it's not as good as it would be in a strict tribal deck and even with Rivals of Ixalan providing more vampire fodder-and more Commander cards at large-I want to keep my eye on it.

The cards that are too narrow, like Swords to Plowshares or Bloodhusk Ritualist are also suspect. Pinpoint removal does have its place but Commander is too often a multiplayer format for me to be comfortable with these kinds of answers.

I had a pretty bonkers result from Black Market in my game with Noah, since at one point it was making eight mana a turn, and it really makes me want to up the number of Debt to the Deathless effects in the deck. However, without reliable mana sources, I just don't think Black Market would work as effectively as I would like. I certainly don't want to take one really good experience and then expect Licia to repeat it every time, without gearing my deck to perform that way.

The First Adds-

So after a weekend...well, OK, a frantic Sunday night...spend looking at the internet and paging through some binders, here are my current card choices and a short explanation for them, for Licia:

Orbs of Warding-why attack me? The damage is blunted. And I can't be targeted... (possible duplication: Urza's Armor)

Celestial Force-let's gain life every turn. This will automatically-3 the cost for Licia. Possible duplication effect: Venser's Journal.

Aurification-signal: attack somewhere else.

No Mercy-ditto, just in black

Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts-ditto, just in black/white
Sensei's Divining Top-without blue, here's a good way to do some card filtering.

Subterranean Tremors-Artifacts are dumb and should go away. Maybe I can get an 8/8 out of the deal.

Windbrisk Raptor-a big maybe card but a flyer with lifegain fits in the Commander meta.

Congregate-It's just really good lifegain. Possible add to make cool: Scout's Warning.

Debt to the Deathless-also substitutes as a win condition.

Chandra's Ignition-win condition, inspired by posters on Reddit's EDH forum. 

Is this good? I don't have the slightest idea. I have run it through the analyzers at deckstats.net and tappedout.com and what it's looking like at least for now, is that there might be a little too much black mana in there. But with an average mana curve close to 4, I should have a lot of flexibility in terms of what I can cut or swap out.

There are definitely a few more cards to look at, too: Pawn of Ulamog for example, but I think I've got a way to start playing and that will do. Theory only gets you so far: I have to run this deck through the grinder, too.

To that end, I'm going to take the rest of the year off of blogging. I want to take some time to just play games and take notes, and I also need some time to just not write, too. So happy holidays, everyone and I'll see you Jan 2, 2018.

Commander Licia, Sanguine Tribune

This...ought to be a little weird. We'll start with the unchanged list.

Licia, Sanguine Tribune	1 Kindred Boon 1 Blind Obedience 1 Black Market 1 Sanguine Bond 1 Underworld Connections 1 Outpost Siege 1 Curse of Vitality 1 Curse of Disturbance
1 Teferi's Protection 1 Crackling Doom 1 Return to Dust 1 Swords to Plowshares 1 Go for the Throat 1 Skeletal Scrying 1 Mortify	1 Blade of the Bloodchief 1 Door of Destinies 1 Well of Lost Dreams 1 Heirloom Blade 1 Boros Signet 1 Orzhov Signet 1 Rakdos Signet 1 Skullclamp 1 Sol Ring 1 Worn Powerstone
1 Edgar Markov 1 Mathas, Fiend Seeker 1 Kheru Mind-Eater 1 Patron of the Vein 1 Bloodsworn Steward 1 Crimson Honor Guard 1 Anowon, the Ruin Sage 1 Bloodlord of Vaasgoth 1 Blood Baron of Vizkopa 1 Butcher of Malakir 1 Captivating Vampire 1 Dark Impostor 1 Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief 1 Malakir Bloodwitch 1 Sangromancer 1 Skeletal Vampire 1 Vein Drinker 1 Bloodline Necromancer 1 Blood Artist 1 Bloodhusk Ritualist 1 Falkenrath Noble 1 Pawn of Ulamog 1 Vampire Nighthawk 1 Rakish Heir 1 Stromkirk Captain 1 Tithe Drinker	8 Swamp 4 Mountain 3 Plains 1 Path of Ancestry 1 Akoum Refuge 1 Bloodfell Caves 1 Bojuka Bog 1 Boros Garrison 1 Boros Guildgate 1 Cinder Barrens 1 Command Tower 1 Evolving Wilds 1 Forsaken Sanctuary 1 Kabira Crossroads 1 Nomad Outpost 1 Opal Palace 1 Orzhov Basilica 1 Orzhov Guildgate 1 Rakdos Carnarium 1 Rakdos Guildgate 1 Scoured Barrens 1 Stone Quarry 1 Terramorphic Expanse 1 Urborg Volcano 1 Wind-Scarred Crag
1 New Blood 1 Disrupt Decorum 1 Kindred Charge 1 Fell the Mighty 1 Blood Tribute 1 Consuming Vapors 1 Damnable Pact 1 Merciless Eviction 1 Ambition's Cost 1 Read the Bones 1 Syphon Mind

So why Licia? Because she doesn't get a lot of attention. What am I going to do? Well, change things up because I already have a vampire commander deck.

Lauriel and Matt have both been working on what she called "spikey fort decks"; decks that want to steer you away through discouragement. I like this concept and will probably play it up a bit for now, as it gives me a star to steer the ship by. The vampire subtheme can stay: Edgar doesn't have anywhere else to go but a commander deck and Mathas can be fun. However, it means that for now, some obvious cuts should be made.

Remove:
Teferi's Protection
Kindred Charge
New Blood
Door of Destinies
Bloodlord of Vaagoth
Kheru Mind-Eater
Rakish Heir
Patron of the Vein
Anowon, the Ruin Sage
Captivating Vampire
Malakir Bloodwitch

I'm not sure what will go in next, so that's this weekend's research project!