Some sets feel like black holes to me. I look at the mechanics and the legends and they just seem stale. They're either too straight forward or they do everything by themselves and are uninteresting to build or play. On the flip side, there are sets where I find inspiration everywhere. Old ideas I can repurpose, half built decks that were waiting for 1 or 2 cards to bring it all together, and new commanders that have interesting angles I know would go unexplored. Bloomburrow is the latter. That was pretty surprising to me but a pleasant surprise. I had 3 serious ideas pulling me in different directions. Today's deck allows me to explore one of those Bloomburrow ideas and knock off another color combination from my list of unexplored deck options. I wanted to get it out ASAP since everyone seems to be talking about my commander of choice.
A little ways back I did some live tweeting of a build for Flubs, the Fool. Upon this frog being spoiled I knew there was something about him. The ability to draw additional cards is very powerful. You really want every card you play to be the only card in your hand. The flip side of that draw ability comes with having to discard a card if I happen to have another card in hand. I never want to discard spells. I'm not looking to loot or rummage. I want options in my hand. Why didn't I hop off this frog idea? You might say I was mad.
Madness was the first mechanic to come to mind. Flubs makes me discard when I play practically anything. Why not turn the downside into an upside? Madness generally makes the spells cheaper to cast when discarded, with some exceptions. It's making the discard happen in the first place that tends to slow the process down. With Flubs it's a natural extension. What are some of these heavy hitters to drive your opponents mad? What about Emrakul, the World Anew? 12 mana is a lot, but 6 is more manageable. Welcome to the Fold is a spell that gets more powerful when I discard it. I can tailor the X to steal the best creature on the table. Similarly, I have Avacyn's Judgment. I can dump all my mana into X and burn an opponent badly or wipe out several problematic value creatures.
Since so many of these cards come from Innistrad there is a bit of Vampire synergy going on, which is a little weird in a frog deck. Take Stensia Masquerade. For starters it has madness, so it fits the theme. Giving first strike to my attackers is powerful. The fact it gives added value when a vampire connects is that little push I like in a deck. Stromkirk Occultist is a Vampire that rewards me with impulse draw when it hits. Impulse with Flubs sets me up to discard more cards and if I time it right just draw a card and keep it. More on this casting from exile idea later. Bloodmad Vampire seems pretty low impact. You should never underestimate a creature that grows its own power. When you can get in for damage you should, and those counters just make it more of a threat later on. Bloodmad Vampire is also much cheaper to pay its madness cost. 4 damage for 2 mana is a great rate.
I won't always have Flubs on the field and I don't want my madness plan to completely fall apart. Luckily I have cards like Anje's Ravager. When it attacks, and it has to attack every turn, I'll discard my hand and draw 3 new cards. That's very powerful. The fact that it's a vampire just means all those vampire synergies I mentioned before are getting paid off even harder. I included Bag of Holding to cover my bases as well. This artifact lets me loot and save the discarded card. If it happens to have madness though, I can just cast it. If not, like I said, I'll have access to it later on if I jump through a couple hoops.
Something like Drake Haven lets me pay off this plan even further. I'll be discarding often so paying the 1 nabs me a 2/2 flier. At least I don't have to ask my opponent's want to pay. Glint-Horn Buccaneer goes even further when I discard. The damage will add up over time which is nice. He also can trigger rummage when he attacks. It feeds the discard and I still get to draw. Wharf Infiltrator lots when it connects. The fact it has skulk means it's harder to block. Just like Drake Haven I can pay when I discard to make a token creature. My board presence is adding up.
Expanding on casting from exile I have Inti, Seneschal of the Sun. He enables discard when he attacks which fits my theme. He can also make me impulse a card away. I have access to it until my next turn. If it doesn't push my plan forward, no big deal. I'll just let it go away forever. Cemetery Illuminator is a weirder version of this. It exiles a card when it comes out or attacks. That's fine graveyard hate. It goes further though, letting me cast the top card of my library if it shares a type with one of the exiled cards. One extra card might not seem like a lot, but it means the card I draw with Flubs is less likely to be a dead draw that sits in my hand.
After deciding on madness I quickly noticed something specific. After you discard a card with madness you exile it and cast it from exile. Was there room for Flubs to shine when paired with the exile zone? Immensely. I quickly IDed 3 mechanics that fit that consideration: Plot, Foretell, and Adventure. Why do I care about casting from exile? There are some serious benefits to playing from exile with Flubs. I can empty my hand fat and cast the creature side when it's most advantageous. I can time it right and draw extra cards or set up my madness plan by discarding something cheap. Playing 2 spells in a turn is always powerful.
What am I plotting with this part of the build? With Plan the Heist I just have to wait until I have no cards in hand and I'll grab 3 cards when the time is right. Pitching away cards that I don't need makes this draw spell even better. Pyretic Charge is another one like Anje's Ravager. Discard my hand and draw 4. I'll make the timing work. It's a little telegraphed as an overrun effect, but I'm here for it. Fblthp, Lost on the Range is great because it extends Plot to all my cards. Accessing more cards from the top of my library means I can ensure the ones that come into my hand will be impactful. Doc Aurlock, Grizzled Genius works in the opposite direction. It will make my exiled cards cheaper to cast and reduce my Plot costs. Goodbye, commander tax.
Foretell is similar to plot but it will enable me to hide some information from my opponents. I don't prepay the entire cost up front. This flat cost keeps all my spells mysterious and dangerous. Opponents are more likely to avoid me when I have several cards in exile waiting to fire off. Delayed Blast Fireball and Spectral Deluge are both one sided board wipes. Fireball even gets more powerful when cast from exile. Ravenform is solid targetted removal, trading a bird for a problematic artifact or creature.
The last of the 3 is Adventure. I have some real role players here along with some solid staples. I love to include Beanstalk Giant in decks. The early ramp is always appreciated. The beater on the other side is a potent threat opponents have to pay attention to. Stormkeld Vanguard and Embereth Shieldbreaker star as cheap removal. The creature sides are at wildly different power levels. There are also 2 newcomers for me. Tlincalli Hunter offers great cost reduction each turn. The adventure side is a great set up for it. Kellan, Inquisitive Prodigy offers me the ability to ramp early on. As a creature though the 2 key words work well together. He also works to clear problematic artifacts or allow me to trade on I don;t need for a new card in hand. This will keep the wheels turning with Flubs.
Before wrapping up I want to highlight one more type of card. Counter spells. People can get bitter when you counter their spells. I just tend to think of it as removal so I've never shied away counters. How else can blue effectively deal with Artifacts or Enchantments? The mix of exile spells means opponents will see some coming and not others. They also add a layer of complexity. I have to decide if it's better to let the problematic spell resolve to keep the right cards in my hand or pop off the counter and ultimately discard something I could use later on more effectively. That's a fun puzzle. Saw it Coming, funny enough, is cheaper in the moment, but fortelling makes it 1 mana more, cumulatively speaking. Green Slime stops problematic abilities, which people never expect. Hypnotic Sprite starts off as a counter spell the way I play it. I'm not afraid to drop it in the first couple turns and hit a piece of ramp. Circular Logic can be impossible to counter since I expect to have tons of cards in my graveyard thanks to Flubs. Last on the list is Broken Concentration. This spell is better off cast from my hand, but the added one mana with madness makes the puzzle of piloting this deck that much more interesting.
With all these exiled spells I'm going with a controversial card. Knowledge Pool is one half of a back breaking combo that shuts down the game. Don't play this with Drannith Magistrate out. Or do if you're really far ahead on the board. Knowledge Pool forces my opponents to contend with having the spell they want cast exiled from hand and having to choose one from a pool of 3 others. I'm looking to cast a ton of stuff from exile, cards that I'll be setting up en masse early on in the game. While opponents spin their wheels I'll have control over what hits the board thanks to madness and my big 3 card types.
Where is the deck now? It looks like this.
Flubs, The Fool
Anje's Ravager Plan the Heist Argentum Masticore
Arrogant Wurm Pyretic Charge Bedlam Reveler
Basking Rootwalla Brimstone Roundup Containment Construct
Blazing Roorwalla Fblthp, Lost on the Range Curator of Mysteries
Bloodmad Vampire Doc Aurlok, Grizzled Genius Bag of Holding
Emrkul, The World Anew Stingerback Terror Drake Haven
Incorrigible Youths Delayed Blast Fireball Faldorn, Dread Wolf Herald
Reckless Wurm Ravenform Glint-Horn Buccaneer
Skophos Reaver Saw it Coming Inti, Seneschal of the Sun
Stromkirk Occultist Spectral Deluge Surly Badgersaur
Avacyn's Judgement Green Slime Wharf Infiltrator
Broken Concentration Beanstalk Giant Cemetary Infiltrator
Circular Logic Hypnotic Sprite Nalfeshnee
Fiery Temper Merchant of the Veil Passionate Archeologist
Just the Wind Tlincalli Hunter Knowledge Pool
Malevolent Whispers Embereth Shieldbreaker Thirst for Discovery
Nagging Thoughts Kellan, Inquisitive Prodigy Thirst for Knowledge
Obsessive Research Stromkeld Vanguard Tragic Lesson
Stensia Masquerade Kodama's Reach Compulsive Research
Welcome to the Fold Rampant Growth Savvy Trader
Mana Geyser Curse of Swine Cultivate
Blasphemous Act
Frontier Biouvac Sheltered Thicket Cinder Glade
Bristling Backwoods Lush Oasis Eroded Canyon
Temple of Abandon Temple of Mystery Temple of Epiphany
Ghost Quarter Myriad Landscapes Forest X9
Island X9 Mountain X8
A deck like this is wide open to customization. I know I'm going to dump my hand early an often. I added Stingerback Terror because I know it's going to be a beater very early on. I didn't go full Hellbent with the deck, but I could see an avenue to add cards like Rakdos Pit Dragon or Hazoret the Fervent.
This feels like a challenging deck to pilot. When to play that land? What to discard? How best to sequence everything? Anytime I have a deck that has so much consideration I know it needs to be played frequently in succession. This keeps me from taking too long on any one turn. I'm worried if I put down a deck like this for too long I would take forever when I eventually pick it back up. Time will tell.
I'm glad I put this out there as quickly as I did, even if it's not tested. If you want to help me put this together in paper, use my TCG Player link when you pick up your next set of cards.
Comments