For a good part of the month, I thought I wouldn’t have anything to complain about. But then, last Monday fixed that for me.

I started writing this, let’s call it, column in order to talk a bit about my process of working through the Commander 32 Deck Challenge. However, I also ended up writing some commentary here and there since some events affect Commander and my collection. As you can probably guess, last Monday’s Secret Lair drop was one of those. I will talk a bit about this issue, but then I will get back to talking about decks as well, since I got to do some cool things here and there.

Goblin Storm

Last Monday, there was a Secret Lair drop for a very beautiful Goblin Commander deck. We are talking about stunning art from Wizard of Barge. As a cherry on top, if you play Commander, the deck had a ton of good cards. A day before the release, Wizards of the Coast announced that, for this specific drop, buyers could only get one copy of it, instead of the usual two. That didn’t really stop it from getting sold out in 30 minutes in Europe and in 34 minutes for the rest of the world. And ten minutes later, you could see listings of the deck on various sites at 3 times the original price, at the very least. I wanted one of those decks. There is a slot still open in my Challenge list for mon-red, and goblins made a great fit. Plus, I could shift some cards around in other decks as well. But it’s gone now.

Is it the scalpers? Is it WotC not printing enough product? Is it the FOMO? I mentioned in a previous post, right after the Dandân Secret Lair, that Secret Lair is not for everything, at least, not in its current implementation. But the way it works now is for WotC to be able to say to the investors, “This product was sold out in 34 minutes”. And that’s what matters. But this is a very short-sighted approach. The failure of this Secret Lair, at least for the community, introduced people to proxies. It was also the little nudge some players wanted to start using proxies. I’m not saying this will damage the bottom line any way soon, but it’s causing cracks in the community, and, at one point, things will break, and there is no Mending spell in this universe. Anyway, I am not wasting any more of your time, or mine, on this. If you want to learn more, there are a ton of videos and posts for you to enjoy. Time to go to the cool stuff.

Secrets of Strixhaven Commander Decks

I have finally gotten the chance to try every precon deck of Secrets of Strixhaven. I haven’t tried them all an equal number of times, but I know what each deck is trying to do and how good it is at doing it. So let’s check them out a bit.

Lorehold Spirit

I think this is the one I have tried the least, along with the Witherbloom one. While it’s technically a Spirit token deck, it has a lot of reanimation effects, plus Flashback. Quintorius, as a commander, is quite good, but its status as a Planeswalker makes it a target even when you are not the current threat. However, sometimes this is a good call, because you can have some pretty explosive turns. In one of the games I played with this deck, I wasn’t a threat for the whole game until I ended up with an army of buffed in one turn. I am considering tweaking the deck more towards Flashback by adding Lorehold, the Historian, library top manipulation, and more miracle spells. But this will have to wait, since there is a queue on my make/tweak list and it’s getting longer. However, it definitely makes the Challenge list.

Prismari Artistry

This is an unlucky one, and I will tell you why in a bit. The purpose of this deck is to cast big spells that will create big elementals. And the Izzet colours are the best way to do that. The way this deck can move varies a lot. I’ve seen the deck make insane plays on turn 4. And then, there was I, winning on turn 8 or so, with a series of 8-mana spells that created a bunch of elementals. Really fun deck. Both commanders are pretty cool. Will definitely continue testing it. Sadly, however, it won’t make the Challenge list, for now. Ghyrson Starn is there to stay, and they are ready to defend the position of Izzet. Plus, I’ve been making an upgrade list for that deck as well.

Quandrix Unlimited

The Quandrix deck is the one I’ve seen do the most insane stuff in one turn. Your focus is on spells with X on the mana cost and how to make that cost as high as possible. Well, Zimone, Infinite Analyst doesn’t make this difficult. Protect Zimone with some counterspells while also casting X spells, and you will swing for lethal with an army of fractals. Plus, I believe this deck is very easy and simple to upgrade. Just add some more Hydras. Hydras always make things better. Does it make the list? You bet it does.

Silverquill Influence

While I really like this deck, I am doing something wrong with it. Or I’m just unlucky and can’t set a proper board state. The play is to control the game through enchantments, on your creatures, on enemy creatures, and on the opponents themselves. I feel the opening hand matters a lot for this deck, and since I don’t really care about the opening hand that much, this is where I’m missing a few things. Of course, it makes the Challenge list, and I will keep playing it until I figure it out.

Witherbloom Pestilence

Of the five Secrets of Strixhaven precons, this is the go-to for Nicole. That means I have seen how it plays, but I haven’t had much experience playing it. I think the deck is at a level of technique that is good for players who aren’t new, but they aren’t very experienced either. There can be many triggers, but not to the level of World Shaper, which is my current go-to brain tester. Dina, Essence Brewer is a good commander, and the deck can do very well without any upgrades. I’ve been having the urge to make a Ygra deck for quite some time now, and this deck feels like it could be the starting point. At the very least, it makes the Challenge list.

Other Commander Deck Updates

But wait, there’s more! I’ve got to talk about some more decks that are not from Strixhaven

My Soul Yearns for Your Suffering 2: Electric Boogaloo

This month, I’ve been thinking about my mon-black deck. It was cool, and I built it as a test to see if the way I had organised my cards was efficient. Yes, it was becasue I built it in an hour or so. But it was a bit over the place and didn’t have a much of a focus. So I tweaked it a bit and tried to focus it more on sacrifice. It’s not perfect but I need to test it first. This will happe in a hours from when I’m writing this and I am very looking forward to it.

Beary Pawer

Nicole was gifted an altered version of Ayula, Queen Among Bears. She wanted to make a Bear deck for some time now, so that was the perfect opportunity. I helped with providing some cards and some feedback. The deck likes bears. The deck really likes bears. Plus, all those enchantments can end up giving a bear 8 +1/+1 the moment it enters the battlefield. I have tried it a few times and mono-green feels so nice to play. I decided to add it to my Challenge list.

The Bant Conundrum

The Bant slot of the Challenge list, has been empty forever. Every other three colour slot has been filled. It’s been a headache for me to try and find something I would enjoy. Two days ago, I took a look at Evasive Maneuvers, an old precon I have, and Derevi, Empyrial Tactician started looking interesting. I’m not going to add the precon to the list because I don’t like it in its current state. However, I’ve been working on coming up with a better deck list for Derevi. Plus, Roon of the Hidden Realm looks like a fun blink commander. I am happy I have finally decided on a Commander for this slot. The deck will soon follow.

And that’s all for now, friends. But before I leave you, let’s take a look at the list.

Now, that’s a fine list, if you ask me. And the fun isn’t over yet. I have so many slots left to fill. And the best part is that some slots have decks fighting over them. But now I must leave you because Commander Night starts in an hour and I’ve got a backpack to make.

And until next time, have fun!