Master of Commander: Where Overpowered Is The Norm

We had our "Master of Commander" event last weekend and...well...let's say the turnout left something to be desired (and is the reason we're looking for more people. The more the merrier, as Wayne always says!)

We had myself, Wayne Eanes, and Tiff Higgins for a 3-way multiplayer best-of-3 match using deck and gameplay rules based on the Elder Dragon Highlander (EDH) format.

We had a very interesting set of Commanders for this tournament:

'
Promoted 3 to the Rank of Commander

Starting at the top: Wayne utilized Wort, Boggart Auntie (Rakdos Gobos), Tiffanie promoted her Numot, the Devestator (R/W/U American Air Force), and I used blonde beret Merieke Ri Berit (Esper Steal/Control).

Read (and see) more...after the jump!

 

  

Game One

Game one was underway and started strong on my part. Boseiju came down early so I didn't have to worry about counterspells for my Wraths or searchers (so very useful in a tournament where no one else uses counters!). Turn 2 Halimar Depths helped with a Turn 3 Scrubland. I was worried since I hadn't drawn any small creatures or help spells. All the while, Wayne did a Turn 2 Dark Ritual into Wort, being the first to get their Commander online.

Tiffanie's first turns were quite fruitful for being early in the game. She got an early Basilisk Collar and attached it to Frostwielder to help take creatures out quickly and gain her a few life in the process.

Then on my next turn, the unthinkable happened...

What happens when you combine the Commander format with a card so ridiculed for its uselessness it makes tournaments just for hell of it and is still never useful?

I call it revenge...

 

Yeah...I won that game. *smug*

Yes folks, that's a foil Jhessian Zombies that's Islandcycling for a Tundra (remember: Tundra is a "Plains Island" and Jhessian Zombie's landcycling abilities don't limit their searches to just basic lands). That 4th mana made all the difference in this game. I woudn't have been able to do much without it. So yes, folks, Jhessian Zombies is helpful from time to time!

As much as Wayne was getting creatures out, I was able to either attack through or steal enough creatures for it to matter (like Bribery-ing for Tiffanie's Sphinx of Jwar Isle. Thank goodness for big, shroudy fliers!). He got to recur a Goblin once before we dealt with Wort and sent her out for the rest of the game (Wayne "re-exiled" her but never could pay the mana). Tiffanie never really materialized on her potential and, as much time as we tried to give Wayne, he couldn't recover. I got Merieke out late in the game, but truth be told I felt I didn't need her. I won the first game with 2 kills to my credit and we saw two Commanders used.

Game Two

After a lunch break, we came back for Game 2. Wayne started with the same Turn 2 Ritual-Wort play. Tiffanie actually worked wonders this game. She got her Frostwielder/Collar combo going, Wayne got Goblin Tinkerer to deal with her Collar (and artifacts in general), and I got an early Wall of Denial to help block out attacks and Merieke to help with big threats I couldn't directly take care of. Unfortunately, Wall of Denial doesn't help against Fear creatures.

I got Ajani Goldmane going late and started pumping up my creatures, hoping for an offensive strike. I delt with Goblin Tinkerer with Pithing Needle, much needed thanks to my two artifacts creatures needing to stick around. Merieke combined with Thousand-Year Elixer and Minamo, at Water's Edge to start picking off 2-3 creatures at a time...until Tiff hit her tump card against me.

 

The picture's small, but you look at Tiffanie's side (top of picture) and my board (bottom) to see what's going on. If you can't see it easily, just look at all the tapped artifacts on my side.

Yep, only Kill Switch can mess me up THIS badly! :(

She offed my Merieke with the Collar'd pinger and I couldn't recover from there. I was eventually overwhelmed, even though I had THIS board (bottom of the picture) before Kill Switch and Frostweilder (which would constantly hit Merieke) did me in:

Wayne got the actual kill against me, but he had to leave no blockers in order for Tiffanie to take him out. The score's now Tiff 1, Me 1, and Wayne 0.

THE crack-up moment of the game was when Tiff tried to cast Angelic Blessing on one of her blockers...but Angelic Blessing is a sorcery! All she could do at that point?

 

No wonder she didn't see the "Sorcery" text...

With the potential for a 3-way tie, we had to come up with a points system to determine the winner. We gave 2 points for being the winner of a game, 1 point for 2nd place, and 0 for 3rd. After this, we still had the potential for a 3-way tie, so we figured we'd use the number of kills to get the winner.

The only way to tie was to have Wayne win, I come in 2nd, and Tiff be the first of us out.

Game Three

I'm off to my slowest start of the day, getting practically nothing useful after mulligaining a two-land hand into another two-land hand.

Unfortunately for me, one of those was a Vault of Whispers, an artifact land. :( And guess what Tiff had as early as Turn 2? :( :( :(

There was really no question who would win.

Tiff was off to a slow start to, only able to Kill Switch for a few turns and keeping my mana locked down until she could get Numot summoned. It wasn't enough, as Wayne was on another Ritual-Wort opening and did a ton of damage to her. She tried to Flame Rift in response, but apparently something was obstructing her view again...

She really needs to get her eyesight checked out...it's getting worse by the game!

She tried to cast a Sorcery at Instant speed again...and what makes this soo funny? She also had Angelic Blessing, the card that started her instant downward spiral, in her hand. lol!

After that it wasn't even close. Wayne got a Quest of the Goblin Lord and Kederekt Parasite early and started dinging both of us early in the game. By the time it came down to him against me, I was low on life and could only hold off a few turns.

With the win total tied and all scored tied, we went to the number of kills each of us had. Tiffanie only got 1 kill all day, despite a strong set of games for her deck. I got 2 kills, all in the first game. Wayne beat all of us, though, with 3 kills on the day.

Wayne Eanes wins our inaugural "Master of Commander" tournament!


I apologize for the lack of detail here. I'm not used to giving full  tournament reports so and get so caught up in the moment I don't remember to keep track of stuff going on to report on later. I've got a plan to remedy that so hopefully our Kamigawa tournament will have more substance for you to feed on.

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