As a result, most of the creatures in the deck are going to struggle to get in too much damage. If you draw this in your opener, you’re probably just playing the land half, which is totally fine. If your board is empty and you just need to make your land drops, playing the land side doesn’t seem like a terrible sacrifice. This is the “go big” to Avenger of Zendikar’s “go wide.” Of course, putting Phylath in the Commander slot doesn’t preclude you from playing Avenger too, and to be honest, you’ll probably be doing both (unless you, like many, are tired of Avenger at this point.) The core idea of the deck and the Commander are supported relatively well. At six mana for a 5/7, this outpaces some of LSV’s favorite draft picks in terms of sheer value for mana. If you are looking to save a slot in your white go-wide deck, then Kabira Takedown is an option available to you that isn’t “strictly worse” than Swords or Path. I said the Party mechanic was feast or famine earlier, and apparently I was not kidding. This card was not made with Commander in mind, and doesn’t technically work in Commander. Its best use is to lead the charge as the cornerstone of your deck, but it can probably fit into your 99 as well. With options like Cunning Evasion available to this archetype there will be at least some possibility for recursion while playing it for an efficient cost but not that many other decks will be able to abuse this card. It’s interesting that past three lands in a single turn, Omnath provides no additional benefit, so dropping lands three at a time seems like the desired outcome. Well, sorry Zareth San, but you’re stuck in the 99 of a Rogue deck, which, based on my Anowon build, isn’t the worst place in the world to be. Life gain has been around as a win condition for a long time – Test of Endurance was the first alt-win based on it back in the days of Judgment, and Felidar Sovereign is its more well-known cousin that cuts 10 life off the goal and caused much consternation regarding Commander when released – in retrospect, the card is totally fair. Even in the actual Party deck, ... technically Trove Warden isn’t in Zendikar Rising, it’s in one of the Zendikar Rising Commander Precons. This is such a weird card that I’m not even sure it belongs in a kicker deck, but it says kicker on it, so legally I have to try it and find out. This is the kind of card that could go in every deck, but honestly shouldn’t. If you’re all in on the Party mechanic, this is a great payoff – for just B, you get a Demonic Tutor and a further discount of up to four more mana on another spell, potentially the one you tutored up. The Coastal Piracy trigger can really generate a huge advantage and further cements the feast or famine nature of the more powerful Party effects. Obviously it costs more to steal an artifact with Thieving Skydiver than it does with a card like, say, Steal Artifact, but this effect is immune to Disenchant effects and therefore quite a lot more powerful. That won’t do much to help with the Rule Zero problems that hatebears often encounters, nor can you just smash Archon of Emeria into any old white deck without making sure you aren’t Rule of Lawing yourself into oblivion. Another Zendikar Commander card, and this one brings back Prowl! A Mirror Image that’s also a Rogue fits right in if you’re playing Rogue Tribal, and having a land on the other side is a fantastic upside. 3350 Fallowfield Road A 1/1 for 2G isn’t my idea of an amazing deal, but once you’re at the point of copying Scute Swarm itself, you’re basically demanding a wrath. I won’t be reviewing every card, so if I don’t talk about one, that means I probably don’t see it as very valuable in Commander. Even in the actual Party deck, you do have to wonder if your deck would be playing Serra Ascendant, which is probably better most of the time if you discount theme. When the body does become relevant is when you steal an Equipment, as you get that free attach. Somewhat reminiscent of Seasons Past, Agadeem’s Awakening keys off multiple different CMCs, but instead of bringing cards back to your hand, this spell’s output is more like a Nethroi mutate. It either enables the theme by itself or is something you’re looking to take advantage of over the course of your ideal game. Regardless of power level, there tends to be a land in someone else’s graveyard at all times, and that puts this card on par with its namesake, Vampire Nighthawk, right off the bat. I’ve cast Crackling Doom in Commander before, but not in a few years – now I’m more excited as I don’t have to dip into full Mardu to play it. With some low budget upgrades, you can have this deck more powerful than most prebuilt Commander decks while spending less than the cost of other preconstructed Commander decks. It also means a precarious situation during gameplay where you’re going to be one or two Coffin Purges away from disaster at all times. That said, I think this is relegated to Party decks only. While it feels a bit ‘magical Christmas land’ to say that this will be a four-mana 3/3 that will get you four tokens upon entering the battlefield, it will probably get you at least two or three fairly often, especially since it is a Warrior itself. I’m not convinced this is the payoff Party decks want, but I’ll be trying it in Tazri. Let there be no ifs, ands, or buts about it: seven mana is a lot of mana. The two unique cards aside from the Commander itself also look to be strong additions to the overall format. If you can play it as a creature on turn 2, it’s an okay accelerant, and in all other circumstances, it’s probably a land. Don’t expect the Commander of the deck itself to hold value, unfortunately. Zendikar Commander is giving us a lot of gifts here. Is that better than getting damage dealt now? Those are the rules. For seven mana, my powerful draw spell had better draw me cards when I don’t have any, not just when I’m already overflowing with options. All Rights Reserved. It’s much easier to stomach using a land slot on something that’s unexciting but necessary, but the colorless mana generation can be a dealbreaker in a 3+ color deck. I’m a sucker for giving my whole team hexproof or indestructible, but I think it might have been okay for this card to do both. It’s not the first card I’d go to for either of those things, but for just two mana, it certainly makes the list, and with the option to kick it into the five power mode, it’s better than it appears at first blush. All that doesn’t even take into account the powerful sequences that involve playing this as a land early, then bouncing it back to hand and casting the spell half. Is this the best card in the set for Commander? One, Trove Warden recurs Skyclave Apparition, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see them show up in a lot of the same decks. With some budget upgrades, this deck could be incredibly powerful. Usually that’s not the most exciting thing in the world, but some Group Hug decks may be interested. It’s less consistent than something like Outpost Siege or Vance’s Blasting Cannons, but the highs are much higher. In fact, I think it’s especially good at countering walkers, but if I nab a huge creature or three when I cast this, I won’t be disappointed. If your deck has a bunch of triggers that key off of you drawing cards, Valakut Awakening is a fantastic card. Its exile-from-grave ability will be able to target lands in Lands Matter decks, utility creatures in Aristocrats, artifacts in Teshar, Ancestor’s Apostle or Eggs decks, and the little enchantments that tend to get destroyed or sacrificed in enchantment decks. The idea that I have to spend two mana now (by paying 1 and tapping it) to make two mana later is not terribly attractive. Zendikar Rising Set Review – White. Nepean, Ontario Add three more mana and your big creature gets even more irrelevantly large. If not, put this card away. Off the top of my head, I can see this finding a niche in Group Hug, Lifegain, and Clone decks, but honestly that’s probably barely scratching the surface. Kargan Intimidator has everyone’s favorite piece of rules text: Cowards can’t block Warriors. With a lower curve Rogue list, this card is easily obtainable and powerful. Think of this card as a land first and a creature second, and you probably understand it better than you would the other way around. Mon - Fri 9 am - 10 pm In mono-Red, you obviously can’t ramp as hard, which is why I see this as more of a player in a Gruul deck than a Commander itself. New Cards from Sneak Attack. At the high-power tables, anything that costs that much mana should be winning you the game. The last rare on this list is a Zendikar Rising – Commander exclusive: Whispersteel Dagger! Online Store is always OPEN! WizardTower.com is not affiliated with, endorsed, sponsored, or specifically approved by Wizards of the Coast LLC. Doug has been an avid Magic player since Fallen Empires, when his older brother traded him some epic blue Homarids for all of his Islands. I’ll have to try out an Ally Party build for Tazri and report back! The actual fail case of hitting no creatures is pretty bad, but if all you get is small utility friends, they still roll up in a midsize sedan made of +1/+1 counters. Maybe! Two of these probably get very annoying in Limited, but in Commander it’s more about triggering things that care about Kicker while setting up more value in the future. Even for those of us that don’t fit the bill of a Johnny or a Jenny, however, this card is going to sneak into some lists. It’s probably worth dedicating other slots in your deck to cards that work with a build-around. Zendikar Rising features two Commander decks intended as on-ramps for newer players and introductions to the amazing world of Commander.. Tech Card: Counterplay is important, and if a card doesn’t fit into one of the above categories but is good enough at countering other strategies, it’ll be included here. I bring up Journey to Oblivion not because you should play it, but because you probably shouldn’t. It’s not just party that’s feast or famine – the Prowl mechanic is the same way. That’s still pretty niche, but it’s certainly not nothing. While Ondu Inversion is less “free” than Emeria’s Call due to the fact that its land half cannot come into play untapped, I’m actually more of a fan of it than the mythic version.