Briars Cleared

Now I've come to the end of my Skullbriar tweaks.

The final cuts were Blood Bairn and Diabolic Servitude for Yavimaya Elder and Drana, the Last Bloodchief.

Yavimaya Elder is something that probably should go in more decks, honestly. The mana fixing is too relevant in the format to ignore. I cannot think of how many games I have lost because of mana issues

Drana is a neat threat with +1 counters as part of her mechanic. The recursion doesn't hurt, so that card slots in better for Diabolic Servitude. 

Which is to say that I like where the deck is at now! It's still got some quirks-it's quite likely Mazirek doesn't belong here. I'm certainly not maxing that card out. 

But I'm not really maxing any card out, which is how I like to play Commander. Games should end, but I don't need turn 3 loop combos to take over. I've beefed up the removal and the overall creature quality, while also improving on some of the synergies I wanted Skullbriar to emphasize. 

Seems pretty good. 

Instant 1 Altar's Reap 1 Tribute to the Wild 1 Golgari Charm 1 Grisly Salvage 1 Putrefy 1 Wretched Confluence 1 Inspiring Call	Artifacts 1 Skullclamp 1 Sol Ring 1 Golgari Signet 1 Lightning Greaves 1 Bonehoard 1 The Ozolith
Enchantment 1 Branching Evolution 1 Pernicious Deed	Sorcery 1 Victimize 1 Ambition's Cost 1 Sever the Bloodline 1 Barter in Blood 1 Rise from the Grave 1 Spider Spawning 1 Overwhelming Stampede 1 Dread Summons 1 Dig Up 1 Casualties of War
Lands 1 Command Tower 1 Evolving Wilds 1 Golgari Rot Farm 1 Jungle Hollow 1 Polluted Mire 1 Slippery Karst 1 Tainted Wood 1 Terramorphic Expanse 1 Vivid Grove 1 Vivid Marsh 13 Swamp 12 Forest 1 Skemfar Elderhall 1 Pine Barrens 1 Bonders' Enclave Planeswalkers 1 Garruk, Cursed Huntsman 1 Vraska, Relic Seeker	Creatures 1 Sakura-Tribe Elder 1 Viridian Emissary 1 Wall of Blossoms 1 Korozda Guildmage 1 Phyrexian Rager 1 Skullwinder 1 Wood Elves 1 Eternal Witness 1 Corpse Augur 1 Bloodspore Thrinax 1 Shriekmaw 1 Indrik Stomphowler 1 Kessig Cagebreakers 1 Banshee of the Dread Choir 1 Acidic Slime 1 Mycoloth 1 Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest 1 Vulturous Zombie 1 Great Oak Guardian 1 Thief of Blood 1 Pathbreaker Ibex 1 Cloudthresher 1 Butcher of Malakir 1 Scourge of Nel Toth 1 Caller of the Pack 1 Verdant Force 1 Winding Constrictor 1 Corpsejack Menace 1 Sarulf, Realm Eater 1 Grakmaw, Skyclave Ravager 1 Necropolis Regent 1 Steelbane Hydra 1 Yavimaya Elder 1 Drana, The Last Bloodchief

Early Skulls

 

One thing I like about Skullbriar is that it has an early game; a turn two Skullbriar is pretty common and gets the game going early. If Skullbriar grows to a 3/3 or 4/4, then not only does it have a legitimate chance to end the game on its own, it is a threat that isn't easy to remove or block!

Sure, Skullbriar often eats a removal spell early too but now that's one less thing they have to deal with my other creatures. 

The deck does seem to rely on haymakers to do it's thing; Pathbreaker Ibex, Mycoloth, that sort of card that can really change everyone's combat math.

That might be something to keep in mind as testing goes forward-either needing more mid-range cards to get me where I need to be, or ways to protect my heavy hitters so that I can get my attacks in. In this regard, it might be better to swap out Necropolis Regent for Drana, Liberator of Malakir, for example. 

There's also a question about removal and how much of it will be needed. Adding Pernicious Deed to the deck was a smart choice but do I have enough effects there to keep me in the game?

All things to work on. 

Skullbriar and The Databases

 With a bit of diligence and a salting of lazy, I made these additions to Skullbriar:

Pine Barrens (which everyone knew I was going to do)
Grakmaw, Skyclave Ravager
Inspiring Call
Necropolis Regent
Garruk, Cursed Huntsman
Pernicious Deed
Bonders' Enclave (testing this out)
The Ozolith
Steelbane Hydra
Dig Up
Vraska, Relic Seeker
Casualties of War

I made some last minute adjustments because I have an issue with Terastodon and Champion of Stray Souls. 

I never understood why Champion is/was a thing. It's been reprinted three times! But a 4/4 for six mana with no evasion and an expensive tap ability seems bad. Especially at Mythic rarity. Even though I am creating some tokens in this deck, this card just doesn't generate the kind of impact that I want it to.

Terastodon though is thought of as a Commander staple. A popular card, there are nine! reprints of this one, five of them in Commander sets. That is wild to me. 

However, I never thought of it as good. Eight mana for a 9/9 with no evasion that has a reasonable ability but a not inconsiderable drawback...there has got to be better ways to do this, especially in Black/Green. 

That left me two creatures to try and replace in Skullbriar, ones that should be on the top end of the curve and really do something that impacts the game!

I promptly got as lazy as I could about it and just thought: Well, why not look for Planeswalkers? It didn't take long for me to decide on Garruk, Cursed Huntsman and Vraska, Relic Seeker. (Although I will admit I was looking for a Garruk Apex Predator in my collection at first. Surprisingly I don't have any!)

I feel a wee bit disappointed about this, but also: who has the time? 

Here's what I mean: Planeswalkers are the most powerful card type in the game. They've posed a problem since they were introduced and I don't see that ever changing. While their power has been curbed a bit since War of the Spark started giving players common removal spells, the fact still remains they are very strong.

So, if I'm looking for a card to fill a role in a deck, why wouldn't I start with Planeswalkers every time? Especially in a format like Commander, which allows and encourages players to build up manabases to cast absurd spells. 

Given this quality, plus the sheer volume of Magic cards that come out now, anything that we can do to minimize the processing time we have to spend just figuring out what card should go in a deck vs getting to play said deck is a bonus in my opinion. 

Magic is a game that you now want an online database to access for deckbuilding. That's part of being a 30 year old game, and part of a flood of new material appearing over the past five years. 

There are certainly creatures I could consider for this deck but because the possibilities can only be managed with a database, it's overwhelming to deal with unless you've just got a lot of time. It's why sites like EDHrec become so valuable! 

Even then though, why mess about? Why not just look at the strongest card type in the game and see if something fits?  

That still feels lacking to me, though. As if an element of creativity has been dimmed. 

That observation aside, I do like my picks. Garruk and Vraska both do something necessary in Commander games: Work to an endstate. If I can ultimate either of those Planeswalkers, I am putting myself in a position to either win or be defeated, and quite promptly. No faffing about with destroying your permanent but also making a 3/3 elephant, or waiting a turn to combo tokens into other creatures that don't just win. 

So let's run it like that.

The Dilemma (Or: Play to Your Outs)

I got a game with Skullbriar in with Noah last weekend that really stuck a point to me. As the game was winding down, Matt showed up, so as the last turn comes up there are three people looking at the situation.

Noah is playing a RUW goad deck, forcing players to attack, punishing them when they attack. He's at close to 40, which actually doesn't matter because I have a 14/14 Mycoloth in play, with eight tokens and a Pathbreaker Ibex, one of the dumbest cards in the deck. 

It's Noah's turn and he doesn't have a way to deal with the oncoming bad times. But what he does have is a Vengeful Ancestor and a flying white creature I cannot remember, but he attacks me down to one life, goading the Pathbreaker Ibex with the Ancestor.

My hand has Victimize, and my graveyard has a Wall of Blossoms. Neither Matt or Noah know my hand or deck but we discuss what my options are. After a lively bit of chatter, things are boiled down. 

My options are very simple: I need to gain one life, or I need to be able to destroy Vengeful Ancestor. Once we've established that, I decide to go for my extra draw because it is possible that I win off the right draw! 

But my brain doesn't actually sit with that information. What it knows is that when I attack with the Ibex, I lose. It conveniently dismisses that the only way to win is with Ibex.

So when I play Victimize, I sacrifice the Ibex, to return the Wall of Blossoms and another creature that doesn't kill the Vengeful Ancestor.

Wall of Blossoms draws into Jungle Hollow. A card I knew was in my deck and seemingly played into!

Except I sacrificed the only card that allowed me to win the game.

This was a bit epic, in the worst way. 

Skullbriar: Removals and Additions

Here's what I'm going to axe:

Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord (I don't like this card at all in anything)
Thought Vessel 
Dread Summons
Eater of Hope
Champion of Stray Souls (maybe)
Phyrexian Plaguelord
Viridian Zealot
Primal Growth
High Market
Centaur Vinecrasher (maybe)
Mulch
Grim Backwoods

That's seven, possibly eight cards that I don't like. I'm also uncertain about Terastodon, since between green and black, any permanent type can be eliminated.  Checking out the build at EDHrec, and there are some goodies. 

Now, in Skullbriar there seem to be three overall themes; Graveyard recursion, Tokens, and +1 counters. I've decided to cut the recursion elements to give me more tokens and supplement the +1 counters. 

The initial games I've played have been fine though. I haven't hated this build but I also haven't been as enamored with it either. I definitely appreciate being able to have a turn two play that is relevant: casting Skullbriar on turn two can definitely put the screws to opponents. Plus, there are plenty of very powerful cards that boost the deck, but with a de-emphasis on the graveyard recursion aspect, I think the cuts I'm making are sensible. 

What I'm left with asking is: what does Skullbriar want or need now that I've whittled away 11ish cards I don't like?

My considerations:

Inspiring Call
Silkguard
Find/Finality
Casualties of War
Trailblazer's Boots
Phyrexian Scriptures
Bonder's Enclave
Thundering Mightmare
Reyhan, Last of the Azban
Necropolis Regent
Grakmaw, Skyclave Ravager
Drana, Liberator of Malakir
The Ozolith
Dig Up
Assassin's Trophy
Steelbane Hydra
Pine Barrens

Some of these cards, like Pine Barrens, are easy picks-lands usually are. Trailblazer's Boots is one that I'm wondering if it should be auto-included in every Commander deck. The rest I want to be careful about, because I don't want to go all in on cards like Inspiring Call or Silkguard and find myself unable to deal with enchantments or be mana screwed because I cut Mulch. 

Commander: Skullbriar, the Walking Grave

 Skullbriar, the Walking Grave

Instant 1 Altar's Reap 1 Tribute to the Wild 1 Golgari Charm 1 Grisly Salvage 1 Putrefy 1 Wretched Confluence	Artifacts 1 Skullclamp 1 Sol Ring 1 Golgari Signet 1 Lightning Greaves 1 Thought Vessel 1 Bonehoard 1 Eldrazi Monument
Enchantment 1 Diabolic Servitude 1 Branching Evolution	Sorcery 1 Mulch 1 Victimize 1 Primal Growth 1 Ambition's Cost 1 Sever the Bloodline 1 Barter in Blood 1 Rise from the Grave 1 Spider Spawning 1 Overwhelming Stampede 1 Dread Summons
Lands 1 Command Tower 1 Evolving Wilds 1 Golgari Guildgate 1 Golgari Rot Farm 1 Grim Backwoods 1 High Market 1 Jungle Hollow 1 Polluted Mire 1 Slippery Karst 1 Tainted Wood 1 Terramorphic Expanse 1 Vivid Grove 1 Vivid Marsh 13 Swamp 12 Forest	Creatures 1 Sakura-Tribe Elder 1 Viridian Emissary 1 Wall of Blossoms 1 Viridian Zealot 1 Korozda Guildmage 1 Blood Bairn 1 Phyrexian Rager 1 Skullwinder 1 Wood Elves 1 Eternal Witness 1 Corpse Augur 1 Centaur Vinecrasher 1 Bloodspore Thrinax 1 Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord 1 Shriekmaw 1 Indrik Stomphowler 1 Kessig Cagebreakers 1 Banshee of the Dread Choir 1 Phyrexian Plaguelord 1 Acidic Slime 1 Mycoloth 1 Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest 1 Vulturous Zombie 1 Great Oak Guardian 1 Champion of Stray Souls 1 Thief of Blood 1 Pathbreaker Ibex 1 Cloudthresher 1 Butcher of Malakir 1 Eater of Hope 1 Scourge of Nel Toth 1 Caller of the Pack 1 Verdant Force 1 Terastodon 1 Winding Constrictor 1 Corpsejack Menace

Here we have what is probably 99% base deck from the original WotC did years ago. 

Let's give this a tune up.