Lulu, Loyal Hollyphant//Candlekeep Sage
I have a very deep love for playing and drafting the Commander Legends: Baldur's Gate set which has lead me to building a dedicated commander deck based around my favorite partner pairing to draft Lulu, Loyal Holyphant and Candlekeep Sage. With that being said this blog is going to be a dedicated timeline for my reviews of each game I play with the deck as well as each change and tweak I make along with way!
The building restrictions I've placed on this deck build, along with the usual no Sol Rings or tutors, are that the deck is going to be specifically built using only commons and uncommons worth less than 50 cents.
Check out the deck list below!
Overall Record 10-11
*Titan Games (4-5)
**The Hobby Horse (5-4)
***Grognard Games (0-1)
****217 Games (1-1)
5/28/24 (Overall Record 0-1) Lost to Late Game Combo*
Winner- Thalia and The Gitrog Monster
-The deck wasn't able to hit any Initiative or Dungeon cards till WAY later in the game, which lead to having multiple dead cards in my hand through the game.
-The back up win condition of commander damage and attacking with flyers was very effective.
-The combination of Lulu and Candlekeep Sage along with multiple blink//flicker effects was highly effective in drawing multiple cards a turn, as well as saving Lulu from removal multiple times.
-The constant card draw made sure I hit my land drops each turn as well as helping me rebuild quickly after multiple board wipes.
-I was in the lead for the majority of the game till we all lost to a late game combo kill.
-The MVP cards of the game were easily Mistmeadow Witch, Campfire, and Basilisk Gate.
-My other takeaway from this game is that without some type of self sacrificing permanent in play it's difficult to always take full advantage of Lulu's ability. Cards like Navigation Orb, Wayfarer's Bauble, and Mind Stone were all very effective in being able to untap my creatures on my end step.
-I also now know that as fun as having a specific Dungeon deck seems to be in theory it might be better off just being a blink voltron value deck with a sub theme of Dungeons. Also with that being said I don't believe it is necessary to keep the cards in the deck that bring the Initiative into the game but I will still keep the enter the dungeon cards.
Cards Being Removed:
Cards Being Added:
Reasons for Additions:
-Combat Courier, Commander's Sphere, Dire Mimic, and Mimic are all going to be added because of what I stated earlier about how effective self sacrificing permanents are to the success of the decks engine running properly.
-Justiciar's Portal is being added for the extra blink//flicker effect.
-Loran, Disciple of History is being added because after seeing how much I blink Lulu in this deck it's going to be easy to trigger Loran's ability multiple times in order to return an artifact to my hand from my graveyard since her ability says "another legendary creature enters the battlefield under your control" instead on on cast. This kind of just seems like a no brainer to synergize with not only me wanting to sacrifice my artifacts to trigger Lulu's ability all the time but also with the artifacts themselves.
-You Come to a River is being added because it has a useful modal ability.
-Veteran Solider was added to give my commander pseudo myriad by creating solider tokens.
6/4/24 (Overall Record 1-1) Won With Combat*
Winner- Yogurt Poutine Midrange
-Once again the Dungeon theme took a backseat to the flyers theme since I wasn't able to hit my Venture into the Dungeon creatures till mid way through the game. Once I was able to deploy some Dungeon creatures I managed to flicker them enough times to complete my dungeon twice.
-The combination of Lulu and Candlekeep Sage along with multiple blink//flicker effects once again was highly effective in drawing multiple cards a turn, even though I got stuck by multiple early game removal of Lulu.
-The MVP of this game was definitely Pegasus Guardian as well as Sword Coast Sailor and Vhal, Candlekeep Researcher.
-Takeaways from this game are that the deck can still function pretty well as a blink deck without Lulu in play, but is much more efficient if she is. I also don't want to play her out too early if I don't have some type of blink or creature protection. With enough early game removal it might become too costly to try and cast her multiple times later in the game. I believe the last time I cast her it cost me a turn and eight mana.
-My other takeaway was that not only does the permanent sacrifice theme work well for targeting Lulu but also the spell slinger blink strategy. I may need to add some cards that trigger whenever you cast an instant or sorcery if i continue to cast as many blink spells as I did this game.
Cards Being Removed:
Cards Being Added:
Reasons for Additions:
-Invasion of Xerex is being added just to try something new as it both synergies with the deck as it is a bounce spell on one side than a flying creature on the other.
-Kirtar's Wrath is being added because the deck is in much need of another board wipe to go along with Slaughter the Strong for when I play more go wide decks.
-Trail of Evidence is being added to help trigger both the spell slinging aspect of the deck, like I mentioned above, as well as creating me more permanents to sacrifice in the process.
6/9/24 (Overall Record 2-1) Won With combat**
Winner- Yogurt Poutine Midrange
-The deck got off to a faster start this time and is starting to feel more smooth. The only problem being that trying to balance the Dungeon gimmick along side the actual flicker aspect of the deck sometimes feels very clunky and not necessary as I'm constantly deciding if I should do the right play or just venture farther into the Dungeon for no reason.
-Once again the value I get off having both my commanders in play is unmatched. Being able to draw a card off Lulu just being cast or somebody removing her has paid off more times than I can count. Also flickering Lulu to draw two cards in response to removal is always a good feeling. I'd say this combination easily draws me an additional 8-10 cards per game, if not more.
-The MVP of this game were my array of blink spells as well as Slaughter the Strong. The blink spells worked wonders in not only saving my creatures from removal but also removing other opponents threats. Slaughter the Strong just proved to be a very effective late game board wipe against strong dragons, eldrazi, and lhurgoyfs.
-Takeaways from this game are that I won this game once again through combat damage which leads me to believe that it maybe best to abandon the Dungeon strategy altogether and focus on flicker value engines and winning with flyers. Since that seems to be the most constant path to victory.
Cards Being Removed after MH3 Release:
Cards Being Added After MH3 Release:
Reasons for Additions:
-Charitable Levy is being added because I think it has potential to be a strong early game card or an effective late game one with its softy tax effect along with its draw ability.
-Hydroelectric Specimen and Witch Enchanter are being added because they are effective creatures with useful etbs as well as MDFC in case I need the lands instead. Hydroelectric Specimen is an effective redirect spell when blinked while Witch Enchanter is a white Rec Sage on a stick.
-Razorgrass Ambush is being added as it can be removal when needed while also being an MDFC.
-Sink into Stupor is just a sold bounce spell while also being another MDFC.
**As I'm thinking about moving away from the Dungeon strategy more changes may come in the next couple days.**
Dungeon Cards Being Removed:
Cards Being Added:
**Changes are temporary. More changes may be made or I might go back to the Dungeon build.**
6/11/24 (Overall Record 2-2) G1 Lost to Aesi//Psychosis Crawler*
Winner- Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait
-The deck got off to a pretty quick start as I had both commanders in play by turn 5. I had all the tools I needed to have a solid game including both commanders in play and ways to blink Lulu.
-This game was lost to a Aesi and Psychosis Crawler combo where the Asei player basically threw down a bunch of lands off Boundless Realms while drawing additional cards using Teferi's Agelss Insight.
-The entire table died in one turn, so not much could've been done to stop this from occurring.
-No MVP of this game as the game ended on turn 7.
-My only takeaway from this game is I need to add a bounce spell for decks that produce a mass amount of tokens.
6/11/24 (Overall Record 2-3) G2 Lost to Ghalta Stompy*
Winner- Ghalta, Primal Hunger
-The deck got off to another fast start with me having all my pieces assembled with both commanders in play by turn 5. The Ghalta player just got off to a VERY quick start casting Ghalta on turn 4. He then followed this up with an Unnatural Growth and Zopandrel, Hunger Dominus. At this point he basically ran over the table one at a time saving me for last. I could only do so much before also dying to commander damage.
-No MVP of this game as this game was over relatively quickly as well.
-My takeaway from this game is that it's hard for my deck to stop large trample creatures from taking me out with commander damage.
**Not many changes will be made to the deck as I wasn't able to play the deck enough to know if the changes i recently made were beneficial or not. The main deck changes will be removing some of the MDFC from the deck while the MH3 prices are settling, as some of them are too high in price to be included in the deck at the moment.**
Cards Being Removed:
Cards Being Added:
Reasons for Additions:
-Echoing Truth is a bounce spell that is good against mass amounts of token generators.
-Pilgrim's Eye is a repeatable land tutor that can help me smooth out my land base as I often get flooded with more plains than islands.
-Turn to Mist is another blink effect that I can use on my own creatures or on my opponents creatures if needed.
6/15/24 (Overall Record 3-3) Won With CMDR Damage**
Winner- Yogurt Poutine Midrange
-The deck has been consistently been getting off to a quick start which has me at least being able to assemble both my background and commander by turn four if not by turn three.
-Once my commanders have been cast it really depends on my opening hand and what my first couple draws are as to what direction ill try and take the deck for that game.
-This game was won because I was able to get my commander damage strategy going pretty quickly as I drew into Flaming Fist almost immediately. This was also quickly followed by me drawing multiple gates which allowed me to pump my commander up to a 7/6 with Basilisk Gate each combat.
-The other saving grace to this game was that I managed to draw into the larger portion of my flicker package through the game which not only allowed me to get draw value off my commander but also protect myself from bigger threats.
-The MVP of this game was Flaming Fist as well as Basilisk Gate. Flaming Fist allowed me to assign double the commander damage while Basilisk Gate allowed me to put my commander up +4/+4 each combat.
-It should be noted that although I was in command for a majority of the game I still only managed to win at 1 life.
-Takeaways from this game are that relying on my commander to win through commander damage is more effective than I originally thought. I also realized that knowing how control the table through threat assessment and self awareness can really allow you to live to the end of the game.
-Also even though I originally removed the Initiative cards I'm thinking about adding some of them back in because somebody else having the Initiative might be a good diversion from focusing on me each combat when they think I'm the main threat.
Cards Being Removed:
Cards Being Added:
Reasons for Additions:
-Aarakoca is a flying creature that gives me the Initiative whenever it enters play.
-Feywild Caretaker also gives me the Initiative when it enters play, but with the added benefit of giving me a 1/1 Faerie Dragon if I control the Initiative on my end step.
-Feywild Visitor is a good value token generator based off the amount of damage I deal to my opponents with non token creatures each game.
6/22/24 (Overall Record 3-4) G1 Lost to Alternate Wincon**
Winner- Ghired, Mirror of the Wilds
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-This game my deck got off to another great start while I was able to cast all my commanders on curve.
-I was also able to use my blink effects to great success this game. Which allowed me to not only protect myself but protect other players from dying, earning favors from them in return.
-We lost the game to non combat direct player damage after a long beat down from both of the other voltron decks at the table.
-I really don't have any MVP's for this game because I didn't see many cards besides lands. I drew into a couple blink effects, which came in clutch, but I didn't start drawing into my creatures until later in the game when it was too late. Both of the voltron decks also had protection from U//W swords so it was sometimes hard to deal with the threats at the table.
-My final thoughts for this game are that even with the perfect start it's hard to pull out a win against decks playing Swords with protection against my colors.
6/22/24 (Overall Record 4-4) G2 Won Through Damage**
Winner- Yogurt Poutine Midrange
-This game my deck got off to a fast start yet again. I was able to cast Sword Coast Sailor into Candlekeep Sage, and then Lulu. Setting up a quick go to win with commander damage strategy.
-There was a lot of stuff going on in this game which had my opponents dealing a lot of damage to each other while trying to take each other out. This then allowed me to stay alive long enough to win the game with my commander.
-One of my favorite go to side themes of the deck is pumping up my commander with Basilisk Gate. People never expect it but it's proven to be a very effective way to pump up Lulu by at least +4/+4, if not more.
-The MVP of this game was Sword Coast Sailor. The ability to attack my opponents and not worry about having Lulu getting blocked without having to use extra mana to cast spells is always an awesome feeling. This also allows me to get away with not getting targeted for attacking my opponents since I'm forced to attack the opponents with the highest life total.
-My final thoughts on this game are that sometimes you can last long enough, play smart enough, and make the correct plays to win the game. It's true that sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.
**I was also happy with my decks performance these last two games so I won't be making any changes at this time**
6/25/24 (Overall Record 4-5) Lost In the Late Game*
Winner- Aloha, Merry Thief//Master Chef
-In todays game I got off to a good start casting everything right on curve. So far through my nine games I've played I've pretty much been able to at least hit all my land drops and cast both my commanders on curve.
-Even with my hot start the Elminster and Riku deck both managed to build up a solid board state in what seemed to be a single turn or two.
-Even though I got the Initiative started early based on how the game played out it didn't seem to be a major factor when it came to who was going to be attacked. It actually helped out the winner at the end of the game more than myself.
-It was interesting seeing how the deck operated tonight without me relying too strongly on my blink effects since I didn't draw into many until later in the game.
-At the end of the game it came down to a 3 way stale mate with one of us basically having to play king maker regardless of which of the 3 of us got taken out first. It really could've been either of our games, except the Elminster player who got eliminated after flying too close to the sun.
-Even with the lose the MVPs of this game were definitely Githzerai Monk and Cone of Cold.
Githzerai Monk in tandem with my blink effects did a great job of keeping not only Elminster and all his faerie dragons in check but also my other opponents. Cone of Cold also bought me a very important two turns of attack after I rolled a nat 20.
-My final takeaways are that even without the constant cheap blink effects the deck still manages to work rather well as I made it to the last round in a winning position. This is also the first tine I really played other decks that deployed a large amount of flyers much like myself. This kind of situation is where I realized the cards that tap down my opponents creatures, even if its for one turn, seem invaluable.
**I was happy with my decks performance tonight so no changes will be made at this time**
7/2/24 (Overall Record 5-5) Won With Flyer Damage**
Winner- Yogurt Poutine Midrange
-All four decks got off to a pretty quick start tonight, especially the Bristly Bill deck.
-I got all my main pieces into place buy turn four, like I usually do, but I was once again lacking in the flicker card department. I did draw into them later but with so many threats in play it made more sense to remove the threats than flicker my own creatures for value.
-The Rilsa player actually introduced the Initiative into the game, which then allowed us both to take advantage of using it. My main gameplan is always to use it as a diversionary tactic to keep the archenemy tag off myself, but in this game I actually took advantage of the dungeon rooms for myself.
-Honestly I won this game thanks to one of the players making very poor play decisions and not completely on my own.
-The MVP of this game was my Feywild Caretaker who I was able to blink enough to complete a dungeon while also providing me with faerie dragons to use as chump blockers.
-My overall thoughts on this game was that it could've gone in a completely different direction had some smarter decisions been made by certain players but a win is a win.
Cards Being Removed:
Cards Being Added:
Reasons for Additions:
-Wash Out is being added because I've discovered more time than not mass bouncing someone's token army is more beneficial to me than actually destroying the entire board. Especially when you're playing a deck that actually does benefit of having death triggers to win a game.
-Opal Palace is being added because I cast Lulu anywhere from 4-5 times a game so having her enter with additional counters on her is going to be a great benefit. I don't know why I never added it before.
7/7/24 (Overall Record 5-6) Lost Game Because I Can't Count**
Winner- Galea, Kindler of Hope
-I also managed to patrol the board rather well this game by either helping remove the threats that were on board or by removing them myself.
-The Galea player ended up having a pretty commanding board state with multiple Swords or X and Y in play which helped him eliminate both the Ayula player and the Rusko player.
-The game came down to my final turn where I was able to cast Candlekeep Inspiration and turn my three flying creatures into 8/8s. I then miscounted and was only able to take the Galea player down to 1 life before I lost on his turn. I also had the instant in my hand I needed to cast before I cast the Candlekeep Inspiration in order to pump my flyers up to 9/9s, which would've been enough to get me the win.
-The MVP cards of this game would have to be all my "Oblivion Ring" type of removal spells that really helped me get rid of a lot of pesky problems as well as Washout which helped me bounce all of the Ayula's players bears back to his hand when he almost had lethal damage on me.
-My final takeaways on this game are that even when you have all the answers and play a near perfect game it doesn't always mean you're going to win especially if you make silly mistakes at the end of the game. I also need to learn how to count better apparently...
**I was happy with my decks performance tonight so no changes will be made at this time**
DECK UPDATE (UPGRADE TEST)
As many of you who keep up with this blog know my deck is built completely out of commons and uncommons worth 50 cents or less. Now when I was building the deck originally I never planned for it to be a deck made out of just Cs and UCs but there wasn't enough rares of mythics for me to justify putting in just one or two. But now that I'm happy with where the deck is at performance wise, after playing 11+ games with the original deck, I'm going to swap out a couple cards with the Rs and Ms I've been wanting to add in order to see if it will actually make a significant difference in the decks performance or not.
These changes will not be permanent as this is more of just an experiment for my own peace of mind.
All the cards I'm adding also follow the same price guild lines as the rest of the deck which means all the rares and mythics will be worth 50 cents or less.
Cards Being Removed:
R//M Being Added:
7/9/24 (Overall Record 5-7) Lost to Combat*
Winner- Arahbo, Roar of the World
-I got off to my normal start this game hitting all my land drops while being able to cast my commanders all on curve.
-The other decks also got off to a similar fast start which saw the Arahbo deck being able to knock me down to 29 life before turn five.
-After this I managed to recover by following my normal play pattern of attacking with my commander before flickering her to draw cards and gain massive card advantage.
-I actually had a sizeable lead at one point in the game with each other player being below 20 life while I remained at 29. I also had a good amount of control pieces in my hand at the time of my elimination which included multiple exile spells, a bounce spell, and a couple protection spells.
-Towards the end of the game I could've lived a couple more turns, and possibly still won the game, if I chose to block but I decided to take the 40+ point damage attack from the Arahbo player which had me losing the game.
-The MVP of this game would be my blink spells, which once again proved useful in not only drawing me cards but also as protection for my commander from removal.
-My overall thoughts on this game is that the deck performed well enough to put me in a commanding board state even if I did lose the game. I also did mention before that I was adding a few Rs and Ms to the deck to see how much of a difference it actually made in the decks performance compared to my normal build. But with that being said I didn't see enough of an improvement in deck performance in this game to warrant me keeping them in the deck.
-There were a couple Rs and Ms I'd like to keep in the deck as I feel it compliments my decks strategy but in the end I think I will be removing them in favor if the Cs and UCs I took out.
7/13/24 (Overall Record 5-8) Lost to Combat***
Winner- Rashmi and Ragavan
-This game started out like any other where I was hitting on all cylinders getting out all my base pieces on curve.
-As these decks were definitely stronger than what I'm normally used to I was impressed with how well my deck held its own to the very end.
-I did kind of take two big hits from Vial Smasher to start the game out which had me going down to 29 life before we even got to turn 6, while everyone else was still at 40 life.
-Now I don't normally complain about loses because it's part of the game but this one was definitely the exception. I'm not saying I should've won, even though I was heavily situated to, but I should've at least had a better shot at it.
-Let me paint the picture of the last couple turns for everyone reading this right now and you can decide for yourself who should've won.
-The Rashmi and Ragavan player has a commanding board state featuring Ancient Copper Dragon,Old Gnawbone, Displaced Dinosaurs, and at least 11 7/7 dinosaur/treasure tokens. He may have had a couple more creatures that I can't recall, but there was a lot.
-He then goes to combat dealing enough damage to take the Vial Smasher player out of the game take the Mirko Vosk player down to four life, and myself down to 20 life. He then rolls a D20 off Old Gnawbone hitting a 12 giving him more dino treasures. I then cast Restore the Peace bouncing all his creatures that dealt damage back to his hand before his end step.
-I then basically skip my turn knowing I'm going to need to hold up some interaction depending on what happens next turn, so I recast Lulu and pass.
-Now the Mirko player has been targeting his mill strategy at the R&R player this entire time so he continues to do so by using his Keening Stone to mill him for 23 cards, bringing his graveyard count to over 40 before he then passes his turn.
-Now on his end step before the R&R player untaps I flash in Banishment hitting all his remaining dinosaur tokens which leaves him with an empty board state before he then recast his commander, Old Gnawbone, Displaced Dinosaurs, and Ancient Copper Dragon.
-I then start my turn knowing the Mirko player has the kill on board with his Keening Stone so I decide to hold up mana in order to help him take care of the R&R player who currently has the kill on board for at least one of us.
-Now the Mirko player starts his turn and I tell him he knows what he needs to do in order to save us and eliminate the R&R player but for some reason he decided he had a better idea and he pays seven mana in order to cast a Terisian Mindbreaker, with no way to give him haste. I ask him if he is sure he wants to do that because he can just kill the R&R player using the Keening Stone and his response was, "I could but this could mill half his library when it attacks." To which I respond with "yeah next turn. You have no way to attack him. Why wouldn't you just do the sure thing and mill him out now because we won't have another turn if you don't." He then says "I can still do that with my commander." So I say "okay go for it." He then proceeds to not attack with commander because the R&R player has flyers and he's scared of losing his commander so he passes his turn before saying, "I thought I had more mana.... my fault."
-Needless to say after this turn the R&R player won the game shortly after. He attacked on his turn taking the Mirko player out of the game while I was able to block some damage but he was still able to create multiple dino tokens on his turn. In the end I had one more trick up my sleeve by casting Cone of Cold but it was enough to save me from dying to all his big dino tokens.
-My decks biggest weakness still appears to be large trample creatures, especially when a player can make a large amount of them at one time.
-The MVP for me of this game was my removal spells and the cards I was able to cast in order to buy us some extra turns so we could at least come up with a strategy to stop the threat at the table.
-Overall thoughts on this game is that even if you think players will make the right decisions that doesn't always mean they will. You can play the perfect game but sometimes relying on others to help you out will cost you the game in the end.
**I was happy with my decks performance tonight so no changes will be made at this time**
7/20/24 (Overall Record 6-8) Won With Flyer Damage**
Winner- Yogurt Poutine Midrange
-I started out this game like the others hitting all my land drops as well as casting all my commanders on curve. I eventually had my entire set up, along with flicker effects and protection spells, in place by turn 6.
-This game actually lasted a lot longer than most of the games we play going to around turn 15-16. Not saying it was a bad or slow game because there was actually a lot of action and good interaction that took place. Overall it was an A game in my opinion.
-For most of the game I had a pretty solid control of the board. This even includes the multiple times the Pride of the Hull Clade player was threatening a win on board through drawing his deck. The main reason was I was able to draw into most if not all of my bounce and creature removal, which then helped me control the board.
-In the end I won the game because I was able to take out the last player with my flying creatures since he had no blockers in the air.
-The MVP cards of this game are Aether Spellbomb as well as Voyager Staff. The threat of having those on board was enough to scare the other players away from attacking me because they didn't want to waste their attack phases getting their creatures bounced back to their hands.
-Overall this was a good game by all the players and I just happened to be the last one standing. There was a couple times where any of us could've won the game but through a collective effort we were able to neutralize the threats each time. My deck also does seem to excel at being able to play the long game very well, so it always seems like the longer the game goes it's usually in my favor.
**I was happy with my decks performance tonight so no changes will be made at this time**
7/20/24 (Overall Record 7-8) Won With Flyer Damage*
Winner- Yogurt Poutine Midrange
-I started this game out on curve like all my previous games but had to deal with early removal targeted at Lulu while the field also featured two different players playing Blind Obedience.
-This made me switch to a slower paced gameplan based more around taking advantage of my other flyers being able to chip away small damage at my opponents while I also had to sit back and react to what the other players were doing more than what I wanted to do.
-Ironically my creatures coming into play tapped was a bigger help to me than it was a downside. Since I was able to keep untapping them constantly with Lulu in play.
-There was definitely some bleak times in the game when I wasn't sure if my strategy was going to be able to pull the win out for me, but due to some other players taking some big hits late in the game I was able to sneak in and get the win. Like they always say sometimes it's better to be lucky than good!
-My MVP cards of this game are my lands that sac for basics aka Terramorphic Expanse and Evolving Wilds. Not many people can use these to synergize with their decks but with Lulu they're unbelievably good. They not only allowed me to hit my land drops each turn but also untap my creatures with +1/+1 counters on them just because Lulu was in play.
-Overall it was a really good game that I was able to navigate through and somehow pull out a rare win at Titan.
Cards Being Removed:
Cards Being Added:
Reasons for Additions:
-I thought I'd give Meticulous Evacuation a try since it seemed like a good fit in the deck but after playing it and getting zero use our of it I decided it would be better to replace it with another bounce spell that can also count as a sac permanent.
8/3/24 (Overall Record 7-9) Lost to Late Game Combo**
Winner- Ob Nixilis, Captive Kingpin
-I was able to control the game for most of the game from start to finish. I knew right away it was going to be a game where commander damage was going to come into play so I really learned into that strategy early on.
-I managed to eliminate the Brion player while taking the Kalamax player down to 10 life and the Ob Nixilis player down to 5, before the Ob player then won with the Ob Nixilis and All Will Be One combo.
-I really don't have an MVP for this game as the deck really was clicking on all cylinders. I also really don't have a ton to say about this game overall besides MTG is beautiful because it's one of those games where you can play the perfect game and still lose.
Cards Being Removed:
Cards Being Added:
Reasons for Additions:
-Aloha has never really done much for the deck when she's been in play so I'm opting to remove her in favor of more creature protection from spot removal and board wipes.
8/10/24 (Overall Record 7-10) Lost to Late Game Jace, WoM**
Winner- The Locust God
-I started the game out on hot streak drawing into all my pieces I needed to take early control of the game, which includes me not only hitting my commanders on curve but also getting a turn one Campfire and a turn five Feywild Visitor.
-Early on the Vren player became then main enemy at the table to start the game. As he was able to make a large amount of rat tokens fairly quickly. I didn't expect the deck to be as good as it was.
-Later on the enemy became The Locust God player who was using his Niv-Mizzets to ping everyone to death while he drew a ton of cards.
-I was able to hold my own fairly well all the way to the end of the game.
-This was a hard fought game that lasted well over 15 turns but indeed when The Locust God player was able to capitalize on a Windfall with Jace, Wielder of Mysteries out and 34 cards in hand.
-The MVP card for this game was Campfire. People underrate that card all the time when I play it but through the course of the game it easily gained me over 20+ life, which allowed me to stay above 30 life for 99% of the game.
-Overall this was a good game where everybody had their moments to shine but in the end The Locust God player was able to take advantage of his situation more than the rest of us in order to pull of a win.
**I was happy with my decks performance tonight so no changes will be made at this time**
8/13/24 (Overall Record 8-10) Won With Flyer Damage*
Winner- Yogurt Poutine Midrange
-In todays game I played with three fairly new players to the commander format and Magic in general. They all played unmodified precons from the last couple Magic releases.
-This game started out fairly slow and for the first time in a long time I was missing MANY of my land drops. I ended the game with about eight lands, and the game went to about turn 14-15.
-Since each of my opponents was still kind of feeling out the games I pretty much sat back and kind of coasted watching what was going on in the game before I ended up winning in the long game.
-I did realize while playing this game that the Fallout precons are tuned MUCH MUCH more and just over all stronger than what a normal standard MTG Precon would be.
-The MVP of this game was my bounce spells which really allowed me to stop threats when I needed to and let me keep the game in check till I could get the win.
-Overall it was a good game and a good learning experience for myself and the newer players as well.
Cards Being Removed:
Cards Being Added:
Reasons for Additions:
-Gossip's Talent is being added because each of the levels of the Class just work too well for me not to add to the deck. It's either going to boost up or really help the deck do what it's already trying to do.
8/20/24 (Overall Record 9-10) Won With CMDR Damage*
Winner- Yogurt Poutine Midrange
-We all used the Bloomburrow commander day format this game so it wasn't like your typical game of commander. The best way to describe it was that it was more like a many game of Planechase.
-In todays game I found myself almost out matched to start the game as the Yorvo player as well as the Liberator player both got off to fast starts. I knew from the beginning of the game even though I was hitting all my land drops that in order to win I'd have to lay low and play the long game.
-The Yorvo player was the main threat early on with Hardened Scales, Ozolith, The Shattered Spire, and Yorvo out by turn 3. That's when I knew I was going to have to sit back and play the control game with all my exile and bounce spells.
-The was multiple swings in the game state and both the Yorvo player and Liberator player looked like they could win at any time but I was able to play the long game and win via commander damage over the Yorvo player.
-The MVP cards of this game are definitely all my exile effects, that helped me protect myself when needed, as well as helping me by clearing the board of threats on multiple occasions.
-Overall this was a really long and hard fought game by all the players even with the Bloomburrow format throwing a wrench into some players plans at the most inconvenient times. It was a fun game and I'm glad I was able to pull out the win.
**I was happy with my decks performance tonight so no changes will be made at this time**
9/2/24 (Overall Record 10-10) Won With Combat****
Winner- Yogurt Poutine Midrange
-This game was a fun one for me as I got to play against three commanders I don't normally see so I was excited to see what was going to happen.
-I got off to my normal start this game hitting all my commanders on curve. It should be noted that the Dakkon player was ramping each of us with Oath of the Lieges which definitely sped the game up a significant amount.
-Sadly for a vast majority of the game the Dakkon player wasn't much of a threat as he couldn't keep Dakkon in play while the Zimone and Dina player was threating to combo off each turn and the Sauron player had a demanding board state.
-I definitely came into this game as the underdog, based off what decks were being played, and I can't understate how important it is to remain off of the other players radars in order to make this deck function. If there was an archetype dedicated to not being the target this deck would 100% be the face of it.
-The MVP cards of this game are all my blink spells. I think people sometime forget how good a blink spell is at fogging a combat step if somebody is swinging on you with a big creature as well as getting rid of massive creature tokens.
-Overall the game itself was very well played by each player and saw multiple players get taken out by non combat damage like Zulaport Cutthroat. At the end of the game though I had too much mana and too many removal//blink spells which allowed me to pull the win out.
**After 20 games being played I believe I've gotten to the point where I've got the deck to around 99% completion. As of right now I'm happy with not only the power level but also the play pattern of the deck. With that being said I won't be making any upgrades to the deck from now on unless they are "strictly better" upgrades.**
9/28/24 (Overall Record 10-11) Lost to Landfall Combo****
Winner- The Necrobloom
-It's been a minute since I got to play my Lulu deck so it was nice to take it out for a spin. Granted this game was a really interesting match up since one was a chaos deck and the other were more finally tuned high power decks.
-My deck got off to a good start, granted slower than usual, but I still managed to have both of my commanders out by turn 5 and my set up ready to go.
-The complicated part of the game is I held back a certain amount of plays I could've made in the interest of the chaos player being able to try to end the game and leave, which then lead to the chaos player scooping anyway before the game was over effecting how the end of the game played out. Then the game ended with The Necrobloom player landfalling off with what seemed like a million triggers to win the game.
-I don't really have any MVP cards in this game because I got set up and didn't really do anything that effected the game.
-Final thoughts on the game is that I'm glad I got to sit down and play this deck again and even though I lost it reminded me of why I like to play it so much!
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