This Week: I have an original EDH article focusing on using spells that target my own creatures to fuel Heroic and heroic style triggers. The deck can be very aggressive and is easy to pick up and play.
One of the first articles I wrote was a color shift of the Heroic mechanic. I argued it was a Red White strategy so I turned the idea on its head by playing Blue Heroic. Check it out HERE. I still have that deck and enjoy playing it. So naturally I wanted to riff on the idea. Could I do something so predictable and make a Green Black Heroic deck? Maybe. I'm all in on Making EDH Weird Again but I still want any deck I design to have a chance. There just wasn't enough meat on the bone for a GB version. But Green had some interesting plays. If nothing else it gave me a reason to play Rancor. I scoured Theros cards for something that would fit but came up empty. The idea sat around my mind for a while almost forgotten.
Inspiration struck in the most inopportune way. It came in a Universes Beyond Secret Lair. I've never purchased a secret lair and I'm not a fan of Universes Beyond. I'm not paying a premium for funky or stylized art of a card. I have no problem with the product overall. In some ways I think it's a positive as it can drive down prices on singles. I do lament the end of the shared visual language of the game. When there is one defacto version of the art I can recognize it and know what the card says without looking at the words. Playing internationally and in a foreign language that shared visual language is a real positive when the language barrier starts to break down. As for the Universes Beyond, I don't think it's good for the game long term. Let Magic keep its identity and let Wizards devote the resources involved to their own IP. Improve the lore. Do RandD for Magic sets to balance more formats.
That's a lot not about the deck. Let's get back on track. The card in question came out of Street Fighter, specifically Blanka, Ferocious Friend. He was a little pricey at 5 mana but had a suite of abilities. Haste is great to better time when you play a creature. Wait till an opponent is open for maximum effect. As for the other abilities, 3 spells is a lot to just get trample. There are better ways to push damage through. As for the second, it read to me Heroic: Pump and Burn. Perfect. I turn my commander into a powerhouse, which plays nice with the trample ability if I can get it, and I throw damage around to my opponents. I knew I needed to keep my hand full and ramp into pump spells. I immediately had to pump the brakes. I had to wait for the actual Magic version of the card to drop months from the spoiler. So the shell sat there some more.
Despite my best efforts not to think about the deck I had already done a fair amount of brainstorming by the time The Howling Abomination was released. With my Commander being so important I know I have to protect it. There are some great options that target the creature and are even permanents. Regeneration and Trollhide come to mind. They're repeatable as long as I have the mana. In Green that's not terribly difficult. It's also a nice deterrent as I find opponents less inclined to use removal on my commander if they know it's going to get blanked. For the surprise factor, I have instants like Tamiyo's Safekeeping. Sometimes it's ok to draw out the removal from opponents. Since it's so cheap keeping 1 mana open I'm less likely to telegraph I have the protection spell handy.
Now that my commander is safe and sound I needed to keep triggering him. I started with cantrips, cheap spells that have a small effect but enable me to draw another card. Rile seems like an odd choice as it damages my own creature. Sure I could pick off a value creature with 1 toughness early on. In all the times I've played this deck I never have. I was apprehensive at first of damaging my own creature, but I have protective options and enough autonomy of when to use this enrage trigger I haven't killed myself yet. Charge Through is all the upside without the worry of 1 damage. Something like Expedite is less desirable for my Commander but a card is a card and it's great to use on some of my other Heroic style creatures.
As nice as my 1 mana options are my deck really shines with 2 mana spells. Fists of Flame charges itself up. Timing this is always easy as it's always good. Couple it with Temur Battle Rage and I can push a lot of damage through to an opponent's life total. I don't have to tell you how great Deathtouch is with Trample so Poison the Blade was an auto include.
There is another class of triggers I want to highlight: cards with Strive. Rouse The Mob is a great combat trick on its own. The ability to extend the effect and get more triggers is very powerful. Two is not an uncommon number of creatures to target with this but I've maxed out at 3 and never pushed to a 4th. I like Nature's Panoply because the counter sticks around. These cards always over perform. They're good with only one creature on the field to target but great when there are 2 or 3 there to target.
Those are all great. But this deck isn't a Commander damage deck. Sometimes my best option isn't even my Commander. Even better, Venerated Rotpriest rewards me in a big way no matter who I target. It's a great turn 1 play but everyone takes notice immediately. I find it's best to play it immediately in a game or late once I have a protection option and after my opponents have burned through some of their removal. Turn 1 is best as no one else really has blockers so the Toxic is very relevant. Even opponents will get in on the poison counters if they have a proliferate option. People like to talk about how many poison counters are the right number for a game of Commander. Some players think it's fine and since ten is the benchmark it should be the same in EDH. Others argue that since life totals are double the number of poison counters you can accrue should double as well. I largely think ten is fine. 9 poison counters just means your opponent is still alive. 9 poison and 39 damage are the same thing. The difference between damage and poison comes down to the fact once the poison playing player is eliminated the threat is largely mitigated whereas damage remains a problem other players can keep adding to.
With that out of the way let's get back to creatures that are better to play than my commander. Labyrinth Champion acts like a second copy of my Commander once the Abomination gets too expensive. It's also easier to cast. That was relevant once when I was stuck on Mountain after Mountain with no Forest in sight. I was lukewarm on Akroan Conscriptor at first but it actually does good work. I can steal a crucial blocker and throw it at another opponent to block and remove. Rosnakht, Heir of Rohgahh is pleasantly aggressive. There are a couple of token makers here and the power bump from Battle Cry is always appreciated. Rosnakht is even better with Zada, Hedron Grinder. There is very little Zadda doesn't make better, really. I can fill my board with some cheap creatures then hit Zadda with a couple of pump spells and turn my board into a pseudo-surprise knockout. Plus with all those cantrips I mentioned previously the opportunity to draw cards for a cheap spell, I can keep my hand stocked. I've yet to do it with Rile for fear I wipe out my tiny Kobalds and Satyrs. The last to highlight is Gnarlback Rhino. Is it really better than the Howling Abomination? Not really, except that I need to keep my hand stocked with surprises and triggers. Drawing cards is never bad. That's why I extend the effect to all of my creatures with Season of Growth.
To be a little more out there I also included some non traditional doublers. I guess you could call them that. Bonus Round and Double Vision. Bonus Round doubles the effects of my spells. It's not going to work with something like Rancor but it will with Aggressive Urge. Double Vision acts similarly. The trade off is interesting though. Since Double Vision is a permanent it sits around and I gain continuous value from it. The fact it limits me to the first instant or sorcery each turn reward me for playing spells every turn rather than dumping my hand all at once. That's the exact opposite of Bonus Round. I'm still waiting for the day I get to copy Bonus Round With Double Vision and then go off.
There are two more classes of cards I want to mention as paying off the targeting of creatures. Bestow creatures and creatures with Adventure. Bestow has popped up as a theme in a few other decks I've put together. It provides good protection against a board wipe, leaving behind a competent creature. I liked the effect enough to enchant it onto another creature, I'll like it a second time. The only downside is they tend to be a little expensive for an Aura. Boon Satyr is nice for the flash. A poor surprise blocker is better than just a poor blocker. My surprise hit is Noble Quarry. Lure is a fun effect to throw into a game. To get it back to back is even better. It's enabled me to finish off an opponent on a subsequent turn before but it can also spread the misfortune around. Sometimes lowering life totals is enough just to let Abomination throw enough damage around to finish off an opponent.
As for Adventure I have a series of small effects to keep costs down. Boulder Rush is no Giant Growth and Rimrock Knight isn't a great creature, but together they work in an aggressive plan. This was a little tough to wrap my head around initially. I just had to keep telling myself the trigger was more important than the effect. Then I went ahead and put in Dread Linnorm. Way stronger of an effect than Rimrock Knight but at a premium price. If it wasn't for the protection factor it wouldn't be here. Two-Handed Axe is a better option in this deck. Doubling up with an attacker is very powerful, especially at instant speed. The ability to later double power for my attackers is even better long term.
The last thing I want to talk about is a couple of enablers. Ramp and draw are critical with this strategy. I'm not usually a fan of mana dorks in games as they are so fragile but Zhur-Taa Druid is just fun. Even if I don't use the mana I tap him before my turn to ping the table. Goblin Anacromancer is more straightforward forward providing cost reduction. The last piece is something I have avoided in the past but thought was too good a fit this time. Storm-Kiln Artist rewards me for playing spells with fuel for more spells. The pump is ok but I like keeping that dwarf around and rarely use him as an attacker. I think treasure isn't going to be great for the format long term but today I'll be part of the problem.
Where is the deck? Right here.
The Howling Abomination
Bothersome Quasit Akroan Conscriptor Aggressive Urge
Defiler of Instinct Akroan Crusader Charge Through
Efreet Flamepainter Akroan Line Breaker Expedite
Bonus Round Heroes of The Revel Fists of Flame
Double Vision Hero of The Games Invigorated Rampage
Geistflame Reservoir Labyrinth Champion Poison the Blade
Season of Growth Satyr Hoplite Tamiyo's Safekeeping
Wild Defiance Setessan Oathsworn Verdant Rebirth
Goblin Anacromancer Staunch Hearted Warrior Rile
SormKiln Artist Venerated Rotpriest Rancor
Zur-Tah Druid Zada, Hedron Grinder Temur Battlerage
Chaos Warp Gnarlback Rhino Trollhide
Desert Twister Rosnakht, Heir of Rohgahh Regeneration
Scour From Existence Boon Satyr Colossal Heroics
Wildmagic Surge Noble Quarry Nature's Panoply
Pest Infestation Everflame Eidolon Rouse the Mob
Blasphemous Act Dread Linnorm Solidarity of Heroes
Decree of Annihilation Gardenbrig Carver Setessan Tactics
Broken Wings Rimrock Knight Unquenchable Fury
Return to The Earth Two Handed Axe Renegade Tactics
Bestial Fury Balduvian Rage Ancestral Anger
Enter the Unknown
Karn's Bastion Blast Zone Ghost Quarter
Scavenger Grounds Field of Ruin Myriad Landscapes
Forest x14 Mountain x15
There is plenty of room to upgrade the deck. The recent Wilds of Eldraine gave me more options to pay with. Picnic Ruiner is at the top of the list to find a home here along with Ferocious Werefox. Intrepid Trufflesnout is a clear upgrade to Garenbrig Carver and should be an easy swap. My bigger problem is do I keep two Heroic based decks, this and Orvar in blue? I don't need to make a decision right now, but I can't imagine they will both stay in their current forms indefinitely.
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