General Musings: Commanding the World of Theros

Friends, Akroans, countrymen, welcome to Theros! Moreover, welcome to Theros from a Commander perspective. We have a fresh batch of cards from the Wizards oven just waiting to be tasted. Without further ado, I present your Top 8 Theros cards for Commander as per Javier!

8. Bow of Nylea

Four nifty abilities guide Bow of Nylea to our Top 8 list. The spring season of growth provides +1/+1 counters to protect our utility creatures from Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite or a cycled Decree of Pain (or make our heavy hitters even HEAVIER). The harsh winds of summer shoot down light fliers like Mulldrifter and Kaalia of the Vast. The fall harvest gains us 3 life, which adds up over time. Finally, winter storage protects our creatures from opposing reanimation while re-buying useful creatures with tutor engines like Birthing Pod or Momir Vig, Simic Visionary. Shout outs to John Wyly for pointing out the cool seasonal themes and 1, 2, 3, 4 pattern on this card.

7. Medomai, the Ageless

All I want is to give this guy Double Strike. But in all seriousness, I was looking through the list of U/W generals for a control deck and was pretty unimpressed by the results. Ith, High Arcanist requires more creatures to work, both Isperia, Supreme Judge and Isperia the Inscrutable don't feel powerful enough, and Grand Arbiter Augustin IV just feels griefy. Medomai provides a relevant ability that doesn't make the whole table upset (as his ability only triggers on combat damage to players and cannot be reused during extra turns). Medomai's effect is especially effective with Planeswalkers like Ajani, Caller of the Pride and Venser, the Sojourner for their second abilities and Planeswalkers' inherent ability to make good use of extra turns.

6. Whip of Erebos

Mono-Black Lifelink, hell it's about time. With Grisel-banned, Mono-Black decks had to rely on Equipment cards, Wurmcoil Engine, and Drain Life effects stem the Greed-bleed of additional card draw that the color offers. Now decks have a passive Lifelink source that allows them to feed life-hungry Enchantments like Phyrexian Arena and Necropotence, which couples well with their large creatures holding a Lashwrithe or Nightmare Lash. The Reanimate effect attached to the Whip is a powerful source of card advantage as well, giving creatures one last charge into the red zone before being dragged to the Underworld for all time. Or, with cards like Conjurer's Closet or Faceless Butcher, even that downside can be circumvented.

5. Purphoros, God of the Forge

Purphoros may have a bit of trouble remaining a creature in red decks, but his other two abilities impact the board in a big way. Running creatures onto the battlefield is something most red decks like to do anyway; having those creatures Shock EACH of your opponents increases their damage output tremendously. Purphoros pairs exceptionally well with token generators like Siege-Gang Commander or even the new Prossh, Skyraider of Kher and will probably end the game on the spot with a big Krenko, Mob Boss activation. Giving your team Firebreathing also increases the threat level of each of your creatures; even a battalion of 0/1 Kobolds becomes scary after a couple pumps.

4. Curse of the Swine

Affectionately dubbed "Bacon Within" or "Hamnation," Curse of the Swine is a Blue, mana-hungry Wrath of God with conviction. I talked about this card a little bit in Into the Deck Box: Arcum Dagsson, but that was a bit of a narrow context. Curse of the Swine has strong synergy with not only Upheaval effects like Dromar, the Banisher and Kederekt Leviathan, but also has effectively no downside if its controller has an Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite on board. A far cry from Blue's usual role in the color pie, Curse of the Swine provides a powerful effect for a color that has trouble dealing with resolved threats. 

3. Elspeth, Sun's Champion

I'm never disappointed to draw Elspeth in Standard and I feel this sentiment would persist in Commander. Both her first AND second abilities protect her (from small creatures and large ones respectively) and her ultimate is game-ending. On top of her three strong abilities, Elspeth's loyalty numbers are worth taking a closer look at. She starts with 4 and ultimates at 7, which means she can ultimate off of a Doubling Season AND SURVIVE, or just needs to be protected for three Untap Phases to turn any and all of your creatures (present or future) into relevant threats. And if you manage to get an emblem and use her first ability again... let's just say your opponents will hate seeing you get 9 more power in flying every turn. 

2. Ashen Rider

Move over, Angel of Despair, there's a new Vindicate-stick in town! And it's better in every which way... For a low upgrade fee of 1 mana, Ashen Rider exiles instead of destroys, and repeats the effect upon death. This card is pretty much an auto-include in any B/W/x Reanimator strategies and works well enough as a curve-topper in other decks. Ashen Rider also works well with sacrifice effects (including the new Rescue from the Underworld). The only reason I'm still playing Angel of Despair is its synergistic subtype. Oh well, Kaalia, we have other friends anyway!

1. Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx

Cabal Coffers for everybody! Well, not quite... This land ACTUALLY rewards you for playing one color (instead of however many colors you want and a copy of Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth). That's not to say Nykthos only belongs in Mono-Colored decks - lands with the potential to tap for more than one mana are a boon to any deck - it is simply easier to get online in a Mono-Colored deck. Nykthos also has the advantage of tapping for colorless mana, which keeps it from ever feeling like a missed land-drop. Much easier to keep in check than Coffers, Nykthos feels similarly powerful, yet more balanced. Nykthos is also a great addition to any Elf-ball decks out there (maybe I'll stop raving and actually BUILD one of those soon.)

Honorable Mentions: 

Burnished Hart - Mana fixing for non-Green decks. Tying up your turns 3 and 4 is a little harsh, but you can't really ask for better colorless ramp. Also Sun Titan recurrable; not the worst. 

Gift of Immortality - awesome with cards like Ashen Rider and Ashnod's Altar, but doesn't really do anything on its own. Pretty good Voltron-esque card, though; protects your Uril, the Miststalker from forced sacrifices. 

I hope you're as excited to play with these cards as I am and can't wait to experience all the WTF moments they create. Good luck on the battlefield, fellow Commanders!

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-Javier Remy

PTQ Born of the Gods: Tournament Etiquette and Team Building

'I've never played in a PTQ before, but I keep hearing about them. How can I enter one and what should I expect?'

After 3 PTQ seasons and roughly a year of competitive Magic, Casual Net has not only gained many players, but we have reached out to many competitive and casual players alike throughout the Central Fl and South Florida communities. When players are looking to 'up' their game and play in a more competitive setting and even play along side our team, they tend to have a list of questions. What is a PTQ like? Should I act differently? How do I get on the team?

First of all, don't act differently. Competitive REL events are just like FNM but a little more formal. In this article, I'll briefly walk through the IPG, some expectations you can have at your first PTQ and how you can ease any nervousness. Afterwards, I'll talk about what it means to a member of Team Casual Net and how you can play join us at events and be apart of the team.

So, what does Competitive REL stand for? REL stands for Rules Enforcement Level; it labels the caliber of the event and the conduct expected of both its players and judges.

Regular REL: FNM, Prereleases, Game Day, Local Events
Competitive REL: Grand Prix Trials, SCG Invitational Qualifiers/Opens, Pro Tour Qualifiers
Professional REL: Day 2 of Grand Prixs, Pro Tours, Worlds

For the purpose of this article, we'll just discuss the differences between Regular and Comp REL.

The philosophy behind Regular REL is for the players to have an enjoyable experience and serves as a teaching experience for both players and judges. They mainly serve to educate players on rulings and give players a friendly atmosphere to play Magic. Penalties are only given in severe circumstances such as cheating or aggressive behavior.

Competitive REL is more formal, which is first seen when you walk in the door; Magic judges in uniform handing you a decklist registration sheet asking you to fill it out and submit the sheet at the Player Meeting. At Comp REL, players are expected to demonstrate a higher understanding of the rules and penalties can be issued for having an error in your decklist (Deck-Decklist Problem - DDP), making an illegal action in our game (Game Rules Violation - GRV), or even Bribery and Wagering. The Infraction Procedure Guide (Sept 2013) is the document that judges follow as a guideline to issuing penalties and provides the philosophy behind these penalties. I would recommend skimming this document before a big event just to be aware of what judges expect from players in their events. In case the document is too long for you...

Abridged Version:

DO NOT: Cheat, Lie, Steal, Bribe your opponent, Offer to wager the match on flipping coins/rock-paper-scissors, Be Aggressive/Violent, or Talk strategy with someone who is currently in a match.

DO: Fill out your decklist correctly, Follow the instructions by the judges and tournament organizers, and Call a judge if you have any questions or concerns.

I definitely can't summarize the entire document, but essentially, don't be a dick.

For Maitland, Fl this season, our PTQ is the Theros Sealed Format. In Sealed PTQs, the expected conduct has a few slight differences. In the beginning of the event, you'll receive 6 booster packs of Theros and a deck registration sheet. First, you'll fill in your name and DCI number and register the contents of the 6 booster packs on that sheet. For logistic reasons, you want to keep all of the cards in alphabetical order and organized by color. Afterwards, you'll ship this registered Sealed Pool in some arbitrary direction that is at the discretion of the Head Judge. You'll then receive a new Sealed Pool that you will generally verify to ensure that the contents are indeed correct. At this point, the Head Judge may leave you with that pool or ask you to pass the pool once more, it differs every time. Once you've received the final Sealed pool, that is yours to keep and play with for the remainder of the tournament. The Sealed Pools that you initially open are NOT yours to keep.

What happens if I open 6 Tarmogoyfs in my initial Sealed Pool and I want to keep them all?! Contact a Judge before passing the Sealed Pool and make sure the Scorekeeper knows so they can remove you from the Wizards Event Reporter; the judges can handle the rest from there.

Finally, unlike Regular REL where you can continuously modify your Sealed deck throughout the tournament, your deck must be in tact as you initially registered in Game 1 of every Round. Your entire Sealed Pool serves as your sideboard throughout the tournament. It's very important to have your land distribution and the archetype you feel is most competitive registered correctly because any 'fixes' to your deck will have to wait until Games 2 and 3 in every round.

Here's a few random terms that might come in handy:

Match Slip: Slip of paper including table number and both players names; used for recording the results of a given match. Generally, the winner of each match submits these to the Scorekeeper.

Player Meeting: Pairings before Round 1 where each player is seated alphabetically for players to listen to Head Judge and Tournament Organizer announcements and for judges to collect deck registration sheets (Constructed). Sealed Pools are registered during the Player Meeting in Sealed PTQs.

Deck List Registration Sheet: Sheet used to register either your Constructed deck or Sealed Deck. These sheets are often provided at the venue.

If you're still feeling a little uneasy, don't hesitate to contact one of our admins or local judges on the Facebook forum and barrage them with questions. Trust me, they like it.

Speaking of Casual Net, what is Team CasualNetGaming.com? (or Team CNG for short)

The actual 'Team' is somewhat of a vague term, but we use it to explain what we are and what we represent. Although I wouldn't consider ourselves a real testing team with sponsorship, a lot of us are friends that enjoy playing Magic together and going to events.

The group was founded on the principles of playing kitchen table Magic and Commander, so the mission of the community and team has remained the same for several years: embrace casual Magic and help teach new players. The competitive part of the team started in the PTQ Gatecrash season in 2012 and is now generally reserved for those that want to continue to play competitive Magic. Personally, I feel very strongly about treating new players well and helping make our Magic community a more inviting and friendly place. In a way, I hope our team can break the negative stigma of competitive Magic players being elitist and arrogant. I've heard many stories about prejudice against new players, women, overweight people, etc etc. I think this bullying is ill-placed by insecure people who seek refuge in a card game, and that behavior needs to end. I hold teammates to a high standard and I expect a lot out of them. If you feel like the mission of Casual Net is something you feel passionately about or want to be involved in, contact an admin about joining.

Who is on the team and how can I join? Our Team is open-invite and anyone may join. Considering the Team is like a group of friends, joining is as simple as having the right attitude and showing up to events to play with us and wanting to represent the group. As of now, there's no official roster considering the forum has 200+ people, but it's not out of the realms of possibility that we'll make one in the near future. As for team shirts, we will be producing more but they won't be as inclusive as they once were because they are difficult to order and make. In the future, the admins will collectively decide when a player has 'earned' the privilege to own a shirt, like a rite of passage. We will generally choose people who not only demonstrate prowess in playing ability, but people who display good character and are role models for all Magic players.

Thanks for putting up with all these logistics. I wish I had the time to write about actual Theros Limited, but I just completed my third draft yesterday and I don't think I could do the format justice just yet. Hopefully in a few weeks, I'll have a better grasp of the format and write about Theros Limited for PTQ Sarasota. Hope to see you all in Maitland this weekend and drive safely!

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-David J.

Counsel of the Wyly: Delving Deeper Than Ever Before

Hello and welcome to Counsel of the Wyly, the monthly article series about the Constructed formats of Magic: the Gathering. This time, we're going to look at one of my favorite creatures in one of my favorite formats; we're talking Delver of Secrets in Legacy! This little 1/1 who could has totally shaken up the format and has been used in various decks in the past two years since its printing and we'll look through the various decks that Delver sees play in.

We're going to start with the most popular and well-known Delver deck known as RUG Delver or 'Canadian Thresh' if you've been around a while.

Creatures (12):
4x Delver of Secrets
4x Nimble mongoose
4x Tarmogoyf

Spells (30):
4x Brainstorm
4x Daze
1x Forked Bolt
3x Gitaxian Probe
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Ponder
3x Spell Pierce
3x Stifle

Lands (18):
3x Flooded Strand
2x Polluted Delta
3x Scalding Tarn
3x Tropical Island
3x Volcanic Island
4x Wasteland

Sideboard (15):
1x Ancient Grudge
2x Flusterstorm
1x Grafdigger's Cage
2x Pyroblast
2x Rough//Tumble
3x Submerge
1x Sulfur Elemental
1x Tormod's Crypt
1x Young Pyromancer
1x Zuran Orb

This is a deck that has been around in various forms for years before Delver was even printed, but certainly received new life with the Human Wizard and allowed RUG Delver to dominate the Legacy format for the better part of 2012. The deck's game plan is to resolve a threat and then protect that threat using mana denial to keep their opponents behind on resources. This new list features one copy of Young Pyromancer in the board, which is a change I absolutely love since this deck already features a hefty 30 spells. Gitaxian Probe is another change in this list over previous versions that I fully support, since knowing if you'r eplaying your Delver into removal usually doesn't end well for the Delver player. This is a deck I'd mostly suggest to people who like resilient threats and outplaying your opponent.

The next Delver deck we're looking at is very different. Don't think sharing two colors makes the decks similar, since there are some drastic differences. let's take a look at American Delver.

Creatures (12):
4x Delver of Secrets
2x Geist of Saint Traft
2x Grim Lavamancer
3x Stoneforge Mystic
1x Vendilion Clique

Spells (29):
1x Batterskull
4x Brainstorm
4x Daze
3x Force of Will
4x Lightning Bolt
3x Ponder
2x Spell Pierce
4x Stifle
3x Swords to Plowshares
1x Umezawa's Jitte

Lands (19):
4x Misty Rainforest
4x Scalding Tarn
4x Tundra
3x Volcanic Island
4x Wasteland

Sideboard (15):
1x Engineered Explosives
2x Flusterstorm
1x Force of Will
2x Meddling Mage
2x Red Elemental Blast
1x Relic of Progenitus
1x Rest in Peace
1x Submerge
1x Surgical Extraction
1x Sword of Feast and Famine
1x Swords to Plowshares
1x Wear//Tear

So here we have a deck list I find absolutely fascinating. Cause what's better than Delver of Secrets? Delver holding a Jitte! We also have way more threat diversity compared to RUG Delver. We do have to add an extra land since a quarter of our threats cost three mana. This deck offers really interesting sideboard choices like Meddling Mage and Sword of Feast and Famine. I'd recommend this deck if you like Stoneforge Mystic but want to be more aggressive than the traditional Stoneblade lists.

Our next Delver deck is one I've been really curious about since we don't see it much in the States, but I've heard it's been big in Europe. Here we have Grixis Delver.

Creatures (13):
4x Delver of Secrets
4x Dark Confidant
1x Grim Lavamancer
4x Young Pyromancer

Spells (29):
4x Brainstorm
4x Daze
2x Dismember
3x Force of Will
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Stifle
4x Gitaxian Probe
4x Ponder

Lands (18):
4x Flooded Strand
1x Misty Rainforest
3x Scalding Tarn
3x Underground Sea
3x Volcanic Island
4x Wasteland

Sideboard (15):
2x Baleful Strix
1x Grim Lavamancer
3x Flusterstorm
1x Red Elemental Blast
2x Submerge
1x Venser, Shaper Savant
1x Bonfire of the Damned
3x Cabal Therapy
1x Perish

Wow, now that's an interesting deck. I mean, where else do you see cards like Bonfire of the Damned in Legacy? This version also runs the highest number of creatures out of all the decks we've looked at (and four of those creatures are even Young Pyromancer!) I think this card will find itself more and more in Legacy where cheap draw spells (cantrips) and low cost counterspells are flying around. Young Pyromancer's interaction with Cabal Therapy is also pretty sweet. We also see Dismember, which is a card you see in some RUG Delver Sideboards to deal with opposing Tarmogoyfs. The ability to maindeck this removal spell and not always have to pay four life is huge. You should pick up this deck if you love Dark Confidant (let's be honest, who doesn't?) but don't want to take a billion damage off revealing a Tombstalker.

The last Delver deck I'm gonig to discuss is one of my favorite decks in Legacy and the deck that sparked my love with Delver of Secrets. We're talking some good old fashioned U/R Delver.

Creatures (15):
4x Delver of Secrets
4x Goblin Guide
3x Grim Lavamancer
4x Snapcaster Mage

Spells (27):
4x Brainstorm
3x Chain Lightning
2x Daze
4x Force of Will
4x Lightning Bolt
3x Ponder
3x Price of Progress
2x Spell Pierce
2x Vapor Snag

Lands (18):
1x Arid Mesa
1x Bloodstained Mire
3x Island
3x Misty Rainforest
3x Mountain
4x Scalding Tarn
2x Volcanic Island
1x Wooded Foothills

Sideboard (15):
3x Flusterstorm
1x Price of Progress
1x Pyroblast
1x Red Elemental Blast
3x Smash to Smithereens
2x Sulfuric Vortex
3x Surgical Extraction
1x Vendilion Clique

So this deck differs greatly from the other Delver decks we've looked at here because this list can function like a burn deck if necessary and also has some light counter magic to keep the matchups against combo decks fair. Plus you get to play Price of Progress, which is one of the most underrated spells in Legacy in my opinion. Go on, read it a bit and let it soak in.

You'll generally cast this for 6-8 damage on average and it's an amazing spell to abuse with Snapcaster Mage. Vapor Snag is a concession to this deck's weakness against big creatures like Tarmogoyf, since a single one can stop your Goblin Guides in their tracks. being two colors also allows you to play a few more basic lands, making this deck a lot stronger against Wasteland. I'd recommend this deck to someone newer to the format or someone who wants to cast burn spells to the face and likes playing good cards.

So that's my Delver wrap up, I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the various Delver strategies in Legacy and maybe even convince you to try the little 1/1.

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-John Wyly

Vivid Williams: Standardized Testing

I'd like to start this article off by apologizing for the lack of content on my part from last month. A lot of time has been taken up from not only school, but work and my social life as well. With that said, words do not describe how excited I am to play in Theros Standard! With just two weeks of the format, there have been multiple decks seeing some kind of success. States/Provincials was this past weekend (not to be confused with TCG Player Fall States) and I attended the Florida States. Although the tournament only had 29 players, it still gave me a sufficient enough sample size to potentially figure out what deck I'm going to set myself on for the next couple of weeks.

Going into the event, I knew I wanted to play some kind of pro-active deck that didn't just fold to the aggressive Red Deck Wins and G/W decks that are usually popular at the beginning of rotation. This led me to the deck I had been working on at the end of Innistrad-Return to Ravnica Standard, Mythic Midrange (B/W/R). This deck is capable of doing a lot of powerful things going on from creature/Planeswalker removal, to hand disruption, to the amazing interaction between Whip of Erebos and Obzedat, Ghost Council. I ended up going 2-3 in the tournament, losing to the mirror, Naya Midrange (#nicklocastro), and RDW in the final round. Looking back, I felt like I tried to make both the aggro and control match too favorable for Game 1 which led to awkward draws against both. For anyone trying to play Midrange or Control, I'd suggest hedging your Game 1 against Control and focus Games 2 and 3 against aggro.

What should you play in the upcoming weeks? The format is so open right now that I don't think there's a 'best deck' or even a deck to beat. I really like the midrange decks that have been floating around as they can switch gears and be a role player as either a control deck or an aggro deck. G/W Aggro is amazing as it can dump its opening hand and have bigger creatures than RDW and other aggro decks. I'm also super interested in seeing how Mark Nestico's U/W Waves deck does in the upcoming weeks.

Creatures (13):
2x Frostburn Weird
4x Master of the Waves
4x Omen Speaker
3x Thassa, God of the Sea

Spells (22):
2x Elspeth, Sun's Champion
4x Jace, Architect of Thought
1x Jace, Memory Adept
3x Detention Sphere
4x Azorius Charm
1x Cyclonic Rift
3x Sphinx's Revelation
4x Supreme Verdict

Lands (25):
8x Island
5x Plains
4x Azorius Guildgate
4x Hallowed Fountain
4x Mutavualt

One of Nestico's buddies took this list to states in Oregon and won. It seems like an interesting and somewhat under the radar kind of deck that I would expect a lot of people to jump on board with. It kind of reminds me of a tempo deck, that can set up for some back breaking kills or just slowly grind their oponent out. Master of Waves having Protection from Red gives a lot of incentive to play him against RDW. A lot of the removal in Standard is Red outside of Doom Blade, Hero's Downfall.

Me personally? I'm gonna stick to the B/W/R deck I've grown accustomed to playing or try out some interation of G/W or Naya Midrange. Slamming fatties on the table and beating face has always been fun for me, so I figure why not stick to what I like. All of these lists also do reasonably well against all of the popular archetypes which is a major plus side. The format is super open right now, and even with the Pro Tour coming up this weekend, i still feel like there are infinite possibilities for someone who wants to take down their local FNM or even a 5k.

In my last article, I did some quick hits on cards that I thought would gain a lot of value post rotation. Blood Baron shot up from $8 to $20 and Jace, Architect of Thought went up to a ridiculous $26!! I don't mean to say 'I told you so' but let's face it, I told you so! As far as what to keep an eye on now, Kalonian Hydra's price has steadily dropped into the upper teens. If he becomes a $10-15 card, I'd suggest picking up a few copies. Master of Waves is also another card that hasn't received much attention aside from Mark Nestico and friends. This card is around $5 right now and $20 for a playset of Mythic playables seems pretty good to me. Garruk, Caller of Beasts has also been on the decline as of late. Everyone is so focused on Red and Blue that Green isn't getting any love. If you can get a couple of copies or even a set for a good price, I'd say go for it! It's also a good time to buy into the Theros dual lands while they're still in print. Having all of the dual lands for your decks while they're cheap ensures you can play almost any deck you want in the format.

That's all I have for you guys today! I'm not sure when I'll have time to sit down and write another aticle, but I"ll try to push them out as often as possible. I'll also answer any questions on decks or card choices anybody has, just message me on Facebook or hit me up at CCG when I'm there. 'Til next time, Casual Net!

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-Robert Williams