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Hello 7-Point Highlander players,
This is my Commander Legends set review. I'm a few months late but whatcha gonna do?
Premium Highlander card. This can go in almost any blue deck.
Hullbreacher joins the ranks of Leovold, Emissary of Trest and Narset, Parter of Veils. There is also Notion Thief and Spirit of the Labyrinth, but Liliana, the Last Hope and Wrenn and Six ensure their rank does not get above private.
When there is a disruptive presence in the format, there is a tipping point. If the presence is small, players will play around it by sequencing differently. For example, cracking your fetchlands early against Blood Moon. But once that disruptive presence grows beyond the tipping point, players will instead make deck building decisions to reduce the chance of being disrupted. Continuing the Blood Moon example, if there were lots of Blood Moons in the metagame, Sultai players may switch to Grixis instead.
To put this concept in terms of Hullbreacher, we may be close to the tipping point where blue decks cut Brainstorm, Preordain, Ponder, Mental Note and Thought Scour, and instead play an extra land, an extra removal spell, an extra counterspell, an extra planeswalker, etc. I don't think we're at the tipping point yet but it's expectable.
At the very least players should not be brainstorming with Jace, the Mind Sculptor into three open mana from a blue opponent.
It's interesting that WotC chose to give this 'no extra draws' effect to the colour blue. It's bad design because if blue rises to the top of the meta (like in Highlander), then one of the best tools against blue is blue itself. It reduces colour diversity and should've been a white mechanic in my opinion.
Hired Blade is an acceptable floor. Even if the opponent isn't trying to draw cards, Hullbreacher will typically trade for something.
The faster you can get Hullbreacher on the battlefield, the more likely you are to catch a draw from the opponent. It plays well with Ancient Tomb, Chrome Mox and 1CMC mana dorks.
I have witnessed myself and others fall for the slight difference in effect of Hullbreacher and the more familiar Leovold or Narset. Hullbreacher stops all additional draws, whereas Leovold and Narset still allow one draw in the opponent's turn.
Hullbreacher is great with cards that force your opponent to draw. Here are some good ones:
Wheel of Fortune
Tutoring is engrained in Highlander; the great power of the best cards in the game, combined with the one-of nature of Highlander has made searching your library as common as attacking with creatures and drawing cards. Even monored runs fetchlands to fuel the graveyard. Until now there hasn't been enough 'tutor-hate' to make people think twice about searching. Stifle has seen some play but is not popular. Aven Mindcensor is not popular because of its anaemic 2/1 body. Leonin Arbiter, Blood Sun and Suppression Field are very effective but they push their controllers to not run fetchlands, thus reducing the power of the rest of the deck.
Opposition Agent may cause players to run less search effects. Which would not be a bad thing; tutoring consumes game time.
Opposition Agent is a controversial card; Some players recognise tutoring as overpowered and are happy to punish it, whereas other players see tutoring as unavoidable, and therefore see Opposition Agent as too powerful.
If Opposition Agent steals a search effect, it's back breaking, especially if it's an early fetchland. Players have learnt very quickly to play around it. A single card causing widespread play-sequence change indicates how powerful it is.
In reality Opposition Agent rarely steals a search because players are wary. It acts more like a 3/2 Stranglehold. When casting Opposition Agent I've found it's generally better to play it immediately rather than pass the turn and hope they search. This is because if the opponent plays a fetchland next turn, they will recognise the risk of Opposition Agent, not crack it, and then when you cast Agent at the end of their turn, they will respond by cracking.
Like Hullbreacher, Opposition Agent is even better if accelerated out, e.g. with Ancient Tomb or a 1CMC mana dork. What's really scary is Dark Ritual plus Opposition Agent. The opponent won't see it coming and it's probably game over if it steals a search.
Ultimately I think Opposition Agent won't stop players running fetchlands. Players have 1, 2 or 3 turns to crack fetchlands before Opposition Agent comes down, and afterwards they can have removal ready to protect their searching.
Removal, that is a big change that Opposition Agent (and Hullbreacher) may cause: decks that rely on tutors are now pressured to run more instant-speed removal. Aggro, midrange and control decks are already doing so because there are many creatures that must die immediately, e.g. Tireless Tracker, Monastery Mentor, Kess, Dissident Mage, etc. Combo was different because it was able to ignore the value generating creatures. It only had to worry about disruptive ones like Harsh Mentor, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben or Kambal, Consul of Allocation. Combo must choose whether to ignore disruptive creatures or adapt to the increased amount. To adapt they can aim to combo on turn two before disruptive creatures come down, or they can run lots of removal. It seems lose-lose: aiming to combo turn two leaves you vulnerable to cheap counterspells and discard, but running lots of removal dilutes your deck. I think combo decks will survive; They can reduce their 3CMC tutors, run modal removal like Izzet Charm and Collective Brutality, and they can move towards running multiple combos instead of tutoring for just one.
The question has been raised as to whether Opposition Agent should recieve a point. Generally I am against putting points on cards that can be played around. Cards like Back to Basic and Price of Progress have been (incorrectly) pointed before. Those cards effect their controller as well, and are bad if the opponent is prepared. However, Opposition Agent is different to those examples because it doesn't effect its caster. Being a vulnerable creature is its weakness. In addition to playing around it and running less >2CMC tutors, players can run more cheap removal. Killing a three-mana creature for one-mana is a significant punish.
You'll need to dump your hand quickly to minimise the cards you discard before drawing 7, and you'll need to be aggro to put pressure on your opponent's damage bid.
This is a real skill testing card. How much damage does the opponent think 7 cards is worth to them or you? If you're far enough ahead it is easy to ensure you draw 7 because you just bid really high and it doesn't matter if you take a little extra damage, that's why Wheel of Misfortune is meant for aggro strategies. However, if the game is close, it gets really difficult.
Some cards allow you to bid less life, e.g. Hullbreacher, Narset, Parter of Veils, Notion Thief and Kederekt Parasite.
You can turn the damage into an advantage if you have Death's Shadow, or you can gain it all back if you have Children of Korlis.
Wow, I realised you can bid as much damage as you want. That means you gain infinite life with Intervention Pact or Samite Ministration, and also get a one sided Wheel of Fortune! Ohhh, things get weird when you use Hallow: neither player can take damage and therefore both players want to choose the highest number they can, and I believe the rules state you aren't allowed to choose 'infinite' as a number, so good luck with that one LOL! WotC may have originally had "can't be prevented" in the text like Volcano Hellion circumspectly does, but removed it to make space.
Some ideas:
Ardenn could be good if WotC print some cheap equipment with really powerful effects but a huge equip cost as the catch. At the moment there's only Colossus Hammer.
- The thrulls can attack, so buffing them with equipment or anthem effects is effective.
- Tevesh Szat can sacrifice Academy Rector and Arena Rector.
- Good in a Transmogrify strategy.
Nine mana is too expensive to cast naturally, but if you can 'cheatcast' it somehow then you win the game with Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle and/or Field of the Dead.
Mizzix's Mastery and Dream Halls are the first cards that come to mind for cheatcasting big sorceries.
Amazing if it can attack but most of the time it will die immediately or get bounced by Karakas.
Artifact strategies are typically low on removal, especially removal that isn't blanked by Collector Ouphe.
I like this if your whole deck is full of cheap cards that you can dump, or if you're able to return this to your hand before end of turn.
I also like this if you're able to sacrifice enchantments easily. One day I'll build a Hatching Plans deck and perhaps this and Treacherous Blessing will go in it, alongside Demonic Pact.
The next level of strategy is to use him like a sweeper. If you have a Maze of Ith you can take a hit from the rest of their creatures and then they either lose the rest of their guys or they discard two to give you back the Reaper. The 'Mind Rot' is much more likely, but in the late game there's a good chance they don't have the cards to discard.
Easy to dismiss as a crappy limited uncommon but I think it's good. Underwhelming early but gets huge late.
Very niche, but if you're already running several ways to repeatedly remove cards from your graveyard, then Tormod is good. Here are some examples: Scrabbling Claws, Phyrexian Furnace, Relic of Progenitus, Kaya, Orzhov Usurper and Deathrite Shaman. Making a zombie before dying to removal is respectable. Making multiple zombies is excellent. Psychatog is the most exciting partner for Tormod.
This deck smells like Mist of Stagnation, a very powerful card that I'd like to try.
We only want to sacifice things that replace themselves, otherwise Dargo may simply get Swords to Plowshares'd or Karkas'd and we'll fall behind on resources.
I can imagine Dargo in an 'eggs' strategy.
I did some Scryfalling and bellow is a list of cards that are excellent at rushing him out:
Arcum's Astrolabe
There's only 15 cards on the above list. We really want more than 20 in our deck to get us above ~80% to cast Dargo for 'R'. There's abundant 2CMC artifacts and creatures that give value when sacrificed, but that's getting too clunky.
This might get sideboarded out postboard because once the opponent brings in disruption, the games tend to go long and the opponent's hand size will be too small.
Zero mana spells are always noteworthy. I'm imagining 'storming off' with Glimpse of Nature, Beck//Call, Song of Creation, Experimental Frenzy, Future Sight, etc.
Outside of combo, Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh may be playable in Warrior tribal.
You'll want Dryad Arbor in your deck for easy access to a sacrificial creature via green fetchlands.
Juri wants you to save your fetchlands then sacrifice them once he's on the battlefield. However, Opposition Agent who I discussed earlier compels players to sacrifice them ASAP. Running a decent amount of instant-speed removal with Juri will relieve some of that tension.
Of course not all sacrificing involves searching; Wasteland and Strip Mine are good examples. Gene Holland has been working on a sweet deck that uses Juri and Mayhem Devil with Balance, Cataclysm and Lotus Field. That's a lot of damage.
If you and Juri survive an annhilator trigger from Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, then you may still have a chance of winning.
Here's some lore on Liesa. Pretty cool and kindda sad, stupid Avacyn.
I've always wanted to build an angel deck. The bottom of the curve would be discard spells to protect your angels and stop you from getting combo'd, then the angels will swoop in to handle opposing creatures and planeswalkers.
Most decks would prefer a planeswalker or a creature that leaves behind some value if removed but I can't dismiss Bell Borca. First there's his fun name and second, I can imagine him in a Blood Moon deck being Ancient Tomb'd out fast and effectively drawing two cards every turn.
I've always wanted to build an angel deck. The bottom of the curve would be discard spells to protect your angels and stop you from getting combo'd, then the angels will swoop in to handle opposing creatures and planeswalkers.
Liesa's final ability is great against Storm if you can get her out fast enough.
You risk a lot of tempo playing a 5-drop but at least Liesa is too big to burn and can't be Fatal Push'd or Skyclave Apparition'd, which are very popular.
You may even Path to Exile your opponent's huge thing and attack for a big chunk of damage.
If I ran Bell Borca I wouldn't run anything with >4CMC, to be sure that I can cast whatever gets exiled.
The challenge with decks that are heavy on equipment is protecting the creatures from removal and disrupting combos. If I built an equipment heavy deck today I would fill it with creatures that either protect other creatures or disrupt the opponent. A creature with equipment on it generally doesn't need help doing damage. Therefore, Reyav, Master Smith may not be playable. Having said all that, I'm a sucker for double strike and Mox Amber, and who knows, perhaps Dwarven Recruiter will be good one day.
There are now 12 proactive cascade cards with <6CMC. That's barely enough for the all-in Hypergenesis deck to exist. The rest of the spells are a hopeful Force of Will and Misdirection, then you fill it out with all the best blue fatties to drop with Hypergenesis. The mana base has a few lands that sacrifice for extra mana. I'm refering to the series of shard lands from Invasion. Hopefully those lands allow you to cast the above 5-drops faster than aggro or combo can kill you.
There are two inherent triggered abilities associated with being the monarch. These triggered abilities have no source and are controlled by the player who was the monarch at the time the abilities triggered. The full texts of these abilities are “At the beginning of the monarch’s end step, that player draws a card” and “Whenever a creature deals combat damage to the monarch, its controller becomes the monarch.”
Good sideboard for ramp decks against control.
A castable powerful enchantment that's worth finding with Academy Rector.
I think this is maindeckable. Stopping an opponent's creature from attacking makes it far more likely that you retain the monarch.
Jared is straight off the cover of an erotic novel.
MONARCH CARDS
In case you haven't played with 'the monarch' before, here are the rules from Gatherer:
There are two inherent triggered abilities associated with being the monarch. These triggered abilities have no source and are controlled by the player who was the monarch at the time the abilities triggered. The full texts of these abilities are “At the beginning of the monarch’s end step, that player draws a card” and “Whenever a creature deals combat damage to the monarch, its controller becomes the monarch.”
Admittedly in my set review of Conspiracy: Take the Crown, I embarassingly misread how the monarch mechanic worked and disregarded several good cards (I won't link you to my shame).
Commander Legends introduces enough new monarch cards that control players need to pay attention. Control is especially afraid of the monarch because they play very few creatures to steal it.
Each of the following monarch cards are below-rate. If the opponent has more creatures than and you play one of these monarch cards, it's likely that the opponent will gain the tempo lead, steal the monarch, retain it and bury you in card advantage. For this reason, monarch cards should typically be in the sideboard and only brought in against decks with few creatures that can steal the monarch.
In addition to being suited to the sideboard, monarch cards should typically be played with creatures to take back the monarch in case the opponent gets it.
If you're so inclined, the monarch mechanic gives you the opportinity to use something ridiculous for the monarch indicator. For example, I've seen one of these used:
One of the cheapest ways to become the monarch. Gets better if you gain value from milling yourself.
Gets destroyed by Hydroblast and Blue Elemental Blast postboard, which are very popular, so beware of that.
Better in the sideboard of aggro decks where the 3 life loss is more valuable.
Court of Grace is an exceptional monarch card because it creates tokens. This allows it to be run in decks that don't have many creatures.
The black and white courts are especially devastating against control, not only because of their effect, but also because they aren't destroyed by Pyroblast or Hydroblast.
Isaac Egan has already taken maindeck Court of Grace to a major event top8 finish at Moxing Day, hosted by Maze of Fitzroy. Michael Billinghurst also just won a webcam league top8 with maindeck Court of Grace.
You can play this on your own creature if your opponent doesn't have one. In that scenario you obviously need to beware of instant-speed removal from the opponent. I can imagine playing a mana dork on turn one, then the opponent plays a turn one Preordain, giving you the all clear to Fall from Favor your own dude and start drawing cards.
Commander Legends has a few crappy looking creatures that give the monarch but I actually think they're excellent sideboard cards, especially the nonred nonblue ones that can't be Hydroblasted or Pyroblasted.
Done building ship. Argh? Aye matey? Yes captain? Ahoy. I would love to. You're the captain
Captain on the bridge. Aye Captain? Skipper. Set sail? Aye aye sir. Aye captain. Under way.
Uhhh, a fire djinn on a wooden ship?
CONCLUSION
Opposition Agent will influence when players sacrifice their fetchlands, and Hullbreacher will push players away from card draw sorceries. Combined, these 3/2's will also increase the amount of cheap instant-speed removal in the metagame.
I believe Hullbreacher should not be pointed. Players can easily adapt and run less cantrips. Opposition Agent I'm less sure of. Today I say it should not be pointed. Time will tell if running tutors and removal together is a viable answer, or simply not running tutors at all. If neither of those options are viable and players are often getting shafted by Opposition Agent, then I'll reconsider, but I think players will be able to adapt.
Creature decks have several new monarch cards for their sideboards against control. Control may need to play less planeswalkers and more creatures.
Here is my list of best cards in the set in descending power level:
Thanks for reading. I was a couple months late with this one. Hopefully I can get Kaldheim out before the next major event.
Cheers,
Mulch
Mulch
