<h1 style="text-align: left;">But I'm a Creep, I'm a Weirdo</h1>
<p>Welcome to <em>Superior Numbers,</em> where I try to do numerical analysis on cards and deckbuilding trends using a little bit of math.</p>
<p>I'd like to talk about the power of the game and how it's changed over the years, specifically regarding creatures. In December of 2019, I took a look at the year of origin of the top 100 cards in the previous two years in EDH. You can find that article <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/superior-numbers-breaking-down-the-top-100/">here</a> if you didn't get a chance to read it, or want to revisit it. Probably the most relevant bit of data is the following chart, which seems to indicate a relatively even distribution of the most popular cards in the game:</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><img decoding="async" class="aligncenter" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/ChartGo.png" /></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>You'll note I said popular, not powerful. That's all we can really rank, after all. I don't think anyone would disagree that <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Brainstorm" href="#" target="_blank">Brainstorm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a more powerful card than <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Opt" href="#" target="_blank">Opt</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, but the fact still remains that evaluating the two against each other is still at least a little bit subjective. There're decks and situations where <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Opt" href="#" target="_blank">Opt</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> may regularly be more effective. Still, we go to war with the army we have, not the army we wish we had, and a measurement of popularity is the army we have at the moment.</p>
<p>Here's what this chart and my article last year didn't show, however; the breakdown of specific card types. Because while there may be a somewhat even distribution of the year of origin of the most popular cards, that doesn't mean there's an even distribution of them based on type. And what's the one card type that <em>Magic</em> players often point to when it comes to power creep? Creatures. That's not even a far past vs present discussion; it wasn't many years back that both <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thragtusk" href="#" target="_blank">Thragtusk</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Siege Rhino" href="#" target="_blank">Siege Rhino</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> terrorized Standard, and both would struggle today to compete with the strongest cardboard bodies in the game. Look at the impact of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Baneslayer Angel" href="#" target="_blank">Baneslayer Angel</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> on Standard when it was originally printed a decade ago vs the reprint last summer.</p>
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: left;">What the Hell Am I Doin' Here? I Don't Belong Here</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Savannah Lions"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kytheon, Hero of Akros"></div></div>
<p><em>WotC</em> has specifically stated that they've tried to push creature power in recent years, in part because it was probably underpowered in early game iterations, and in part because they think it makes for more interesting gameplay. I don't have to look any further than my own decks to see that, at least for me, I heavily favor creatures from very recent sets:</p>
<p><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/20210424071317_hd.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-64948 aligncenter" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/20210424071317_hd-1024x605.png" alt="" width="1024" height="605" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/20210424071317_hd-1024x605.png 1024w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/20210424071317_hd-300x177.png 300w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/20210424071317_hd-768x454.png 768w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/20210424071317_hd-1536x908.png 1536w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/20210424071317_hd-2048x1210.png 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>The numbers are skewed even further when you realize that a lot of the creatures populating the graph prior to 2001 or so are doing so because they're highly specialized and go into a niche decks. They aren't showing up in my lists because they're particularly powerful or effective outside that shell:</p>
<ul>
<li>1993
<ul>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Verduran Enchantress" href="#" target="_blank">Verduran Enchantress</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is in my Enchantress deck, but outside that specific type of build it's rarely good enough to play.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>1997
<ul>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Crypt Rats" href="#" target="_blank">Crypt Rats</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> basically shows up in various Rat tribal decks, or my case my <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Pestilence" href="#" target="_blank">Pestilence</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> list.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>1998
<ul>
<li>This is probably the big exception as it's the year of a couple of Urza's sets, one of the most busted blocks of all time. I'm running <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Metalworker" href="#" target="_blank">Metalworker</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Karn, Silver Golem" href="#" target="_blank">Karn, Silver Golem</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> here, as well as <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Spike Weaver" href="#" target="_blank">Spike Weaver</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> from <em>Exodus</em>, which is generally a good card outside even the +1 counters deck where I use it.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>1999
<ul>
<li>This year brought me another hyper-specific card in <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thrashing Wumpus" href="#" target="_blank">Thrashing Wumpus</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> for my Pestilence deck, and a couple more strong Urza's block Enchantress-themed cards in <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Argothian Enchantress" href="#" target="_blank">Argothian Enchantress</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Academy Rector" href="#" target="_blank">Academy Rector</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>2001
<ul>
<li>2001 features the last of the old-school Pestilence-esque cards showing up in my decks in <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Infected Vermin" href="#" target="_blank">Infected Vermin</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p>Essentially, if I didn't have a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Pestilence" href="#" target="_blank">Pestilence</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> deck or an Enchantress list, I'd have five cards from 2001 or earlier.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Verduran Enchantress"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Spike Weaver"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Academy Rector"></div></div>
<p>Now, there's a couple of things to note here. First, a lot more <em>Magic</em> sets come out in the average year today than did in 1996, and the sets tend to be larger. There's also a whole host of supplemental products that also offer more opportunities for creatures to find their way into decks. Recency bias is also a thing, where you want to run a new toy or test something that just got printed.</p>
<p>Still, there's not 30 times as many cards being released today as in 2001-2003, and while I playtest cards I then take out, that can't account for all of them. The reality is creatures are just getting stronger, and thus they're also likely getting more popular.</p>
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: left;">I Don't Care if it Hurts, I Wanna Have Control</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="eternal witness"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="sakura-tribe elder"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="llanowar elves"></div></div>
<p>Okay, so the fact that I personally like running newer creatures is all well and good, but does that play out when we look at people that aren't me? I do much prefer to talk about myself, but I guess we can look at the general population as a whole, or at least the general population whose decks are scraped by EDHREC. Thanks to Nate Burgess, who you can find on twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/MisterPlorg">@MisterPlorg</a>, for pulling this bit of data for me and saving me the work of having to manually look up all 100 cards.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/a20210424103703_hd.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-64957 aligncenter" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/a20210424103703_hd-1024x623.png" alt="" width="1024" height="623" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/a20210424103703_hd-1024x623.png 1024w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/a20210424103703_hd-300x183.png 300w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/a20210424103703_hd-768x468.png 768w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/a20210424103703_hd-1536x935.png 1536w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/a20210424103703_hd-2048x1247.png 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>The contrast isn't quite as vivid as it is in my decks, but it's still rather large. I think the dip in 2020 stats is probably due to folks who aren't as diligent about updating their lists as soon as possible. I'd wager if we revisited this bit of data a year from now, we'd see 2020's statistics are a lot closer to 2018-2019 than they are to 2003-2004.</p>
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: left;">I Want You to Notice, When I'm Not Around</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Dockside Extortionist"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Springbloom Druid"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Thassa&#039;s Oracle"></div></div>
<p>Okay, so what do we take away from all of this? Well, two things.</p>
<p>First, creatures today are more popular than creatures printed years ago. Does this mean that they're stronger? Probably, though there're other factors like price, availability, and obscurity that do hinder older cardboard. They also tend to do more things, which makes them more interesting deck inclusions. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Shivan Dragon" href="#" target="_blank">Shivan Dragon</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is an iconic card, particularly with the original Alpha art, but what it offers a deck pales in comparison to something like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Goldspan Dragon" href="#" target="_blank">Goldspan Dragon</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Goldspan is not only generally stronger, it works as a force multiplier in decks that care about Treasure, sacrificing things, artifact count, tokens, etc.</p>
<p>Second, given the graph at the very top of the page showing the overall distribution of card types, it probably means that we'd see an inverse skew for a lot of other types that result in us getting that fairly even graph. In other words if card representation is mostly even through the top 100, but creatures tend to lean heavily to recent sets, that must mean that some other card type is more popular from older sets. It's not a coincidence that there're no creatures in the Power 9 after all.</p>
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Whatever Makes You Happy, Whatever You Want</h2>
<p>So let's wrap this up by learning something from what we've gathered and find a way to apply this. The primary lesson I'm taking away here is that creatures today are generally better than ones printed 4-5 years ago, and the ones then are generally better than the ones printed through the game's first 15 years. When new sets come out and you want to add a new body, the best place to look for cuts are going to usually be cutting older creatures.</p>
<p>Thanks for reading, and, as always, may your numbers be superior.</p>


Superior Numbers - Fantastic Beasts and When to Find Them

<h1>Block is for Mathers</h1>
<p>Welcome to <em>Superior Numbers,</em> where I try to do numerical analysis on cards and deckbuilding trends using a little bit of math.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ravenform" href="#" target="_blank">Ravenform</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. It's a neat little efficient bit of removal from <em>Kaldheim</em> that can exile an artifact or creature for 2U, either all at once or spread over multiple turns using the <em>Foretell</em> keyword. Sure, it leaves behind a 1/1 blue Bird creature token with flying, and it's limited to times when you can cast a sorcery, but it's still a pretty decent card.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ravenform"></div></div>
<p>And it's also not playable most of the time.</p>
<p>Why? Because there are finite slots in EDH decks, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ravenform" href="#" target="_blank">Ravenform</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is generally muscled out by other cards that do the same thing, but better. That's what I want to talk about here: cards that are, on their surface, quite good, but often can't find a slot because enough other better things exist that edge them out of the 99.</p>
<hr />
<h2>"The Only Qualifications for Being a Lineman Are to Be Big and Dumb"</h2>
<p>Now, obviously there are extenuating circumstances and caveats here. Just because cards might bump something like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ravenform" href="#" target="_blank">Ravenform</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> out of a deck in the abstract doesn't mean they do so in reality. Price, for example, is an issue than can roadblock folks. Generally speaking I'll make notes where that's relevant, but it's also the kind of thing that can be in flux. Yesterday's $90 <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Three Visits" href="#" target="_blank">Three Visits</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can become $2 today very easily.</p>
<p>Conversely, the opposite can happen. It doesn't even have to be that extreme. For some people, a card hitting $3 can push it out of their price range. Availability is also an issue in that some older cards just don't show up in store cases and trade binders, and then can limit access and make the otherwise less desirable options more attractive. As with price, this is the kind of thing I'll try to note.</p>
<p>I'm also going to focus on cards that are universally good. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Force of Will" href="#" target="_blank">Force of Will</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is generally considered one of the strongest counterspells ever printed, but not all decks have enough blue cards in their deck to reliably have one to pitch, whereas there are few if any restrictions in terms of deck construction that might preclude playing a card like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rapid Hybridization" href="#" target="_blank">Rapid Hybridization</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<hr />
<h2>"Linemen Are Like Salt: Nobody Ever Remembers the Brand"</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Pongify"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rapid Hybridization"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Reality Shift"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Pongify" href="#" target="_blank">Pongify</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rapid Hybridization" href="#" target="_blank">Rapid Hybridization</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Reality Shift" href="#" target="_blank">Reality Shift</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are three fantastic, instant-speed targeted removal spells that are often times going to slot-block <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ravenform" href="#" target="_blank">Ravenform</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. They range in price from $1 for <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Pongify" href="#" target="_blank">Pongify</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to around $4 for <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rapid Hybridization" href="#" target="_blank">Rapid Hybridization</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Reality Shift" href="#" target="_blank">Reality Shift</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> landing somewhere in the middle. Each one is both more efficient and more versatile, and they generally have less downside. Most importantly, though, you probably don't want more than three of these in a deck, especially given blue's access to counter magic than can solve these problems on the stack.</p>
<p>Now, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ravenform" href="#" target="_blank">Ravenform</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can also hit artifacts, and it can be used in a deck with other <em>Foretell</em> cards to keep it from being obvious which is sitting exiled, waiting to be cast. That's useful, but does it offset the fact that it can be cast in a much narrower window due to being a sorcery? I'm not sure it does. Also, the 1/1 Bird it leaves behind can be relevant in Superfriends decks who don't want to give their opponents evasive blockers, or decks with fliers without trample that might not want to give away chump blockers.</p>
<p>This is just looking at mono-blue decks, too. Azorius and Dimir decks are going to also have access to white and black targeted creature removal spells. All this means that a perfectly good card like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ravenform" href="#" target="_blank">Ravenform</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> winds up slot-blocked.</p>
<hr />
<h2>"When You Hang with Offensive Linemen, You Tend to Find Places that Serve the Most Food"</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Generous Gift"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Path to Exile"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Swords to Plowshares"></div></div>
<p>Speaking of cards in Azorius decks that might contribute to blocking things like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ravenform" href="#" target="_blank">Ravenform</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, white has the same problem with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Path to Exile" href="#" target="_blank">Path to Exile</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Swords to Plowshares" href="#" target="_blank">Swords to Plowshares</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> being perhaps the two best targeted creature removal spells ever printed. Both are certainly popular: Swords to Plowshares is in 114,470 decks, making it literally the second most popular card in Commander behind <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sol Ring" href="#" target="_blank">Sol Ring</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Path isn't far behind as the 21st most popular card overall.</p>
<p>These two cards are effectively keeping otherwise serviceable cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Declaration in Stone" href="#" target="_blank">Declaration in Stone</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> from seeing play. Things get further complicated in white because it has so many open-ended removal spells, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Generous Gift" href="#" target="_blank">Generous Gift</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Council&#039;s Judgment" href="#" target="_blank">Council&#039;s Judgment</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Sure, Declaration can hit a swath of tokens, but that doesn't come close to offsetting the fact that it operates at sorcery speed.</p>
<p>The reality is it's going to be really challenging for any single-target creature removal spell in white to ever break through the slot-block that Path and Swords have erected.</p>
<hr />
<h2>You Block and Tackle Better than the Team You're Playing, You Win</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Gift of Estates"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Land Tax"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Tithe"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gift of Estates" href="#" target="_blank">Gift of Estates</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Land Tax" href="#" target="_blank">Land Tax</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tithe" href="#" target="_blank">Tithe</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are the first where price becomes a consistent factor. That's not to say that <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Path to Exile" href="#" target="_blank">Path to Exile</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rapid Hybridization" href="#" target="_blank">Rapid Hybridization</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> at roughly $4 each couldn't be a barrier to entry for some people, but the $35 you see on <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Land Tax" href="#" target="_blank">Land Tax</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and $55 (and rising) you see on <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tithe" href="#" target="_blank">Tithe</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are a whole different thing. That said, those cards weren't always those prices. Some folks, myself included, were fortunate enough to get multiple copies of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Land Tax" href="#" target="_blank">Land Tax</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> at $10 and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tithe" href="#" target="_blank">Tithe</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> during the decade-long window when it cost less than <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Path to Exile" href="#" target="_blank">Path to Exile</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. If you happen to be someone in that position, or if you're someone who can spend that kind of money on cardboard, or are in a proxy-friendly environment, there's just probably never going to be a catch-up land mechanic worth running that's as good as <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gift of Estates" href="#" target="_blank">Gift of Estates</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Land Tax" href="#" target="_blank">Land Tax</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tithe" href="#" target="_blank">Tithe</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>Further complicating this is the fact that catch-up land mechanics don't stack all that well. Sure, nobody outside a <em>Landfall</em> deck really wants to top-deck that <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Nature&#039;s Lore" href="#" target="_blank">Nature&#039;s Lore</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> when you're already holding a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kodama&#039;s Reach" href="#" target="_blank">Kodama&#039;s Reach</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Three Visits" href="#" target="_blank">Three Visits</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, but those three cards stack just fine. Ramping land is ramping land; it's always going to put you ahead.</p>
<p>White's catch-up mechanics? The last thing you want to see when you have a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Land Tax" href="#" target="_blank">Land Tax</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> out letting you fetch three Plains a turn is another card that lets you put Plains into your hand. That's not to say you don't want redundancy. Redundancy is a great thing, and it increases your chances of hitting an effect you want. But you want to keep that density in check to the point where it provides consistency but doesn't become superfluous.</p>
<hr />
<h2>Football is Blocking and Tackling. Everything Else is Mythology.</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Darksteel Mutation"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Imprisoned in the Moon"></div></div>
<p>The ability to transform a creature into a worse creature while keeping it in on the board is quite powerful. A traditional removal spell allows the player to recast their creature, especially if it's their commander, and the same is even true of white's older series of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Oblivion Ring" href="#" target="_blank">Oblivion Ring</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>-esque cards thanks to the Commander replacement effect on an exiled card. With a card like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Darksteel Mutation" href="#" target="_blank">Darksteel Mutation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, your opponent's commander is just stuck in play, being useless.</p>
<p>The problem with this type of effect is even if they break through the slot-block caused by cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Swords to Plowshares" href="#" target="_blank">Swords to Plowshares</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Pongify" href="#" target="_blank">Pongify</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, you probably don't want more than one of them, and they printed the best versions in white and blue the first time around. Sure, maybe <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Heliod&#039;s Punishment" href="#" target="_blank">Heliod&#039;s Punishment</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Reprobation" href="#" target="_blank">Reprobation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> would see play if <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Darksteel Mutation" href="#" target="_blank">Darksteel Mutation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> didn't exist, but it does, and it's much harder to get rid of thanks to granting the creature indestructible. You can't just cut a deal to have an opponent chump block and kill it.</p>
<p>Same with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Imprisoned in the Moon" href="#" target="_blank">Imprisoned in the Moon</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, which can also target a troublesome land or planeswalker, and is similarly hard to deal with since it makes the target a land. Absent Imprisoned, things like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Deep Freeze" href="#" target="_blank">Deep Freeze</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> get much more interesting, but Imprisoned does exist, and you generally don't want a second, worse copy.</p>
<hr />
<h2>Anyone Can Run, Not Anybody Can Block</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mystic Remora"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rhystic Study"></div></div>
<p>The "problem" with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Phyrexian Arena" href="#" target="_blank">Phyrexian Arena</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>-style cards is they take a full turn to generate your first extra draw, providing ample time for your opponents to come up with a removal. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mystic Remora" href="#" target="_blank">Mystic Remora</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rhystic Study" href="#" target="_blank">Rhystic Study</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> eliminate that somewhat by generating potential draws immediately, assuming an opponent tries to cast a spell. They also have the potential to generate so much card advantage as to render that risk largely irrelevant.</p>
<p>Still, it's not a sure thing. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rhystic Study" href="#" target="_blank">Rhystic Study</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can draw you a dozen cards, but it can also draw none if someone has a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Nature&#039;s Claim" href="#" target="_blank">Nature&#039;s Claim</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> in hand and one extra mana. You're also limited to sorcery-casting timing. Because of this, you probably don't want too many enchantment-based draw effects. And when these two are so phenomenal, it's going to be hard for a third to push into that space.</p>
<hr />
<h2>Overtime</h2>
<p>So why am I talking about this? Well, because when it comes to evaluating cards, one thing people miss out on each spoiler season is the fact that a card being <em>good</em> isn't necessarily important. What matters is whether or not a card is good <em>enough</em> to find a slot in a deck where it may be getting slot-blocked by existing, superior cards. It was something I saw quite a bit with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ravenform" href="#" target="_blank">Ravenform</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and it's something I'd imagine we'll see again as the next expansion is revealed.</p>
<p>Before you get too caught up in how great a card is gonna be in Commander, just look if it's going to have a home, given the completion, and make your evaluation based with that in mind. Thanks for reading, and, as always, may your numbers be superior.</p>


Superior Numbers - Slot-Blockers

Superior Numbers - In the Margins Redux

<div>Welcome to <em>Superior Numbers,</em> where I try to do numerical analysis on cards and deckbuilding trends using a little bit of math.</div>
<div></div>
<div>Board wipes. They're a pretty important part of EDH, and often are what helps knock the player in the lead back down to parity with everyone else. For discussion purposes, we're going to limit board wipes to 'things that kill creatures or have the option to kill creatures.' A card like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cleansing Nova" href="#" target="_blank">Cleansing Nova</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, for example, would count for these purposes, while <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Back to Nature" href="#" target="_blank">Back to Nature</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> would not.</div>
<div></div>
<div>What I want to look at here is which of the most popular board wipes on EDHREC takes care of what specific breakdown of popular permanents from among the top 100, starting from most played to the least played.</div>
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">That's great, it starts with an earthquake</h2>
<div><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Blasphemous Act"></div></div></div>
<div></div>
<div>
<div class="card__name"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blasphemous Act" href="#" target="_blank">Blasphemous Act</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> tops our list of wipes, showing up in 44,062 decks, and with good reason; it might very well be the best board wipe in the game. More often than not, one single red mana winds up destroying all the creatures in play, as it will kill anything with toughness 13 or less that does not have indestructible, protection from red, or regeneration.</div>
<div></div>
</div>
<div>So how many creatures is that? Let's look at indestructibility first:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>4 of the <a href="https://edhrec.com/top/creatures">top 100 most popular creatures</a> in the past 2 years have indestructible, with another 1 that has conditional activated indestructible.</li>
<li>128 different total Commander-legal creatures have indestructible or the ability to grant indestructible to another permanent.</li>
<li>84 noncreature cards grant indestructibility either permanently or until the end of the turn.</li>
</ul>
<p>Next we have regeneration. Given that regeneration is no longer a supported keyword, how often is that relevant? Not often, but not zero times, either:</p>
<ul>
<li>15 different legal commanders either regenerate themselves or regenerate a target.</li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ezuri, Renegade Leader" href="#" target="_blank">Ezuri, Renegade Leader</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is currently the most popular mono-green commander in the last two years, and he has regeneration.</li>
<li>Additionally, cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Asceticism" href="#" target="_blank">Asceticism</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (10,644 decks), <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Golgari Charm" href="#" target="_blank">Golgari Charm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (9,110 decks), and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Yavimaya Hollow" href="#" target="_blank">Yavimaya Hollow</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (5,572 decks) see a good bit of play and show up in their respective category top lists.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>Lastly, we have protection from red, a keyword used even less frequently than regenerate:</div>
<ul>
<li>43 different legal cards in our format have protection from red.</li>
<li>2 legal commanders have protection from red.
<ul>
<li>Lavinia of the Tenth 89 decks</li>
<li>Tivadar of Thorn in 4 decks</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p>Since <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blasphemous Act" href="#" target="_blank">Blasphemous Act</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a damage ability, protection from things beyond just the color red are relevant here, too. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Progenitus" href="#" target="_blank">Progenitus</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> with protection from everything and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Haktos the Unscarred" href="#" target="_blank">Haktos the Unscarred</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> with protection from converted mana costs also get around it.</p>
<div>Those're a few things that specifically dodge <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blasphemous Act" href="#" target="_blank">Blasphemous Act</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, but they're probably not enough to dissuade you from running such an efficient spell. We'll revisit these numbers when we look at different wipes. Beyond the above criteria, we also have to look at cards with 14+ toughness, since <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blasphemous Act" href="#" target="_blank">Blasphemous Act</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> deals 13 damage. How often does that matter?</div>
<ul>
<li>There are no commanders in our top lists with more than 14 toughness by default.</li>
<li>There are no legendary creatures with 14 default toughness.</li>
</ul>
<p>Obviously there are creatures with variable toughness that might show up in decks, things like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Malignus" href="#" target="_blank">Malignus</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, in 2,494 decks, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bane of Progress" href="#" target="_blank">Bane of Progress</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, in 12,805 lists, but those aren't guaranteed to be over the 14 toughness threshold.</p>
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Birds and snakes and aeroplanes, and Lenny Bruce is not afraid</h2>
<div><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Wrath of God"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Damnation"></div></div></div>
<div></div>
<div><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wrath of God" href="#" target="_blank">Wrath of God</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is next as the second most popular board wipe, and since we're looking at Wrath we may as well look at her color-shifted sister, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Damnation" href="#" target="_blank">Damnation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. They show up in 28,081 and 23,827 decks, respectively. Both destroy all creatures and prevent regeneration. That means that only indestructible creatures will dodge these spells. So how many is that? Well, we touched on it when we looked at <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blasphemous Act" href="#" target="_blank">Blasphemous Act</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</div>
<ul>
<li>4 of the top 100 most popular creatures in the last 2 years have indestructible, with another 1 that has conditional activated indestructible.</li>
<li>128 different total Commander-legal creatures have indestructible or the ability to grant indestructible to another permanent.</li>
<li>84 noncreature cards grant indestructibility either permanently or until the end of the turn.</li>
</ul>
<div>So you're going to kill almost all the things save a few exceptions with these two very efficient spells. Also worth noting is that these stats apply to <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Decree of Pain" href="#" target="_blank">Decree of Pain</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, located in the tenth place spot on our list in <span style="font-weight: 400;">16,873 decks.</span></div>
<div class="card__name">
<hr />
</div>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Eye of a hurricane, listen to yourself churn</h2>
<div><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Merciless Eviction"></div></div></div>
<div></div>
<div class="card__name"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Merciless Eviction" href="#" target="_blank">Merciless Eviction</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> appears in 27,821 decks. Modular spells are always great since they can be sculpted to solve whatever current problem needs solving. In this case, the choices are between creatures, artifacts, enchantments, and planeswalkers. Eviction solves these problems by exiling them, too. The math here isn't complicated; barring an 'until end of turn' blink effect or something like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Teferi&#039;s Protection" href="#" target="_blank">Teferi&#039;s Protection</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, Merciless Eviction will get rid of every single target that qualifies for whichever mode you select. Indestructible, protection from colors, and power and toughness are irrelevant.</div>
<div></div>
<div>The downside here is that the second most popular Orzhov commander, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Athreos, God of Passage" href="#" target="_blank">Athreos, God of Passage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, has indestructible. It's nice to use your commander's indestructibility to survive non-exile board wipes, but with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Merciless Eviction" href="#" target="_blank">Merciless Eviction</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, you void that strength.</div>
<div></div>
<div>Beyond just the first Athreos, there are multiple other popular commanders in color variants running black and white where this matters: <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sliver Hivelord" href="#" target="_blank">Sliver Hivelord</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Zurgo Helmsmasher" href="#" target="_blank">Zurgo Helmsmasher</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Silvar, Devourer of the Free" href="#" target="_blank">Silvar, Devourer of the Free</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kathril, Aspect Warper" href="#" target="_blank">Kathril, Aspect Warper</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> all either have or can obtain indestructibility, which would be nullified by an efficient wipe like Eviction.</div>
<div></div>
<div>Commanders like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Alesha, who Smiles at Death" href="#" target="_blank">Alesha, who Smiles at Death</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Karador, Ghost Chieftain" href="#" target="_blank">Karador, Ghost Chieftain</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Teneb the Harvester[" href="#" target="_blank">Teneb the Harvester[</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> also interact with the graveyard in ways that might make you second-guess exiling a specific permanent type.</div>
<div></div>
<div>Still, it's a very effective wipe that is constrained by nothing but what you, yourself, don't want to lose.</div>
<div></div>
<div><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Toxic Deluge"></div></div></div>
<div></div>
<div>
<div class="card__label"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Toxic Deluge" href="#" target="_blank">Toxic Deluge</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is our first variable board wipe, showing up in 27,264 different brews. For three mana, you can kill creatures with any toughness equal to or less than the life you pay. Being able to work around your own creatures is very, very useful. It also invalidates indestructible. So let's break down how much life kills how many creatures:</div>
</div>
<ul>
<li>0/20 of the <a href="https://edhrec.com/commanders">top commanders in the last 2 years</a> die to paying 1 or 2 life</li>
<li>3/20 die to paying 3</li>
<li>11/20 die to paying 4</li>
<li>16/20 die to paying 5</li>
<li>18/20 die to paying 6</li>
<li>19/20 die to 10</li>
</ul>
<p>As a planeswalker, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lord Windgrace" href="#" target="_blank">Lord Windgrace</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will be the lone holdout, but a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wrath of God" href="#" target="_blank">Wrath of God</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blasphemous Act" href="#" target="_blank">Blasphemous Act</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> would miss Cat Daddy as well.</p>
<p>As for creatures in the 99:</p>
<ul>
<li>5 of the 5 most <a href="https://edhrec.com/top/creatures">popular creatures in the last 2 years</a> die to paying 1 life</li>
<li>9 of the top 10 die to paying 2</li>
</ul>
<p>That's pretty impressive, though a little misleading, as a lot of those are just mana dorks.</p>
<ul>
<li>25/100 most popular creatures in the last 2 years die to paying 1</li>
<li>50/100 die to paying 2</li>
<li>57/100 die to paying 3</li>
<li>74/100 die to paying 4</li>
<li>85/100 die to paying 5</li>
<li>97/100 die to paying 6</li>
<li>99/100 die to paying 7</li>
<li>100/100 die to paying 9</li>
</ul>
<div>
<div class="card__label">
<div><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Supreme Verdict"></div></div></div>
<div></div>
<div><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Supreme Verdict" href="#" target="_blank">Supreme Verdict</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> has a home in 23,583 decks, and it cannot be countered, which is great, but it loses out on Wrath and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Damnation" href="#" target="_blank">Damnation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>'s ability to get around regeneration. For Verdict, you'd look at the numbers for Wrath and also factor in the regen stats from <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blasphemous Act" href="#" target="_blank">Blasphemous Act</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Similarly, anything from Verdict applies to <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fumigate" href="#" target="_blank">Fumigate</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (18,311 decks) and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Day of Judgement" href="#" target="_blank">Day of Judgement</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (13,837 decks).</div>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<hr />
</div>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">World serves its own needs, don't mis-serve your own needs</h2>
<div>
<div class="card__label"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Austere Command"></div></div></div>
</div>
<div></div>
<div>
<div class="card__label">
<div class="card__name"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Austere Command" href="#" target="_blank">Austere Command</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> shows up in 23,030 decks. When it comes to blowing up creatures, it cares about their converted mana cost. Let's look at commanders first:</div>
</div>
</div>
<ul>
<li>Most <a href="https://edhrec.com/commanders">popular commanders in the last 2 years</a> that have 3 CMC or less: only 2 of the top 20</li>
<li>Most popular commanders in the last 2 years that have 4 CMC or more: 4 of the top 5, 9 of the top 10, 17 of the top 20</li>
</ul>
<p>As for the most popular creatures in the last 2 years:</p>
<ul>
<li>Most <a href="https://edhrec.com/top/creatures">popular creatures in the last 2 years</a> that have 3 CMC or less: 5 of the top 5, 40 of the top 100</li>
<li>Most popular creatures in the last 2 years that have 4 CMC or more: 60 of the top 100</li>
</ul>
<p>Another note here is that most (though not all) tokens have a CMC of 0, meaning that an <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Austere Command" href="#" target="_blank">Austere Command</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> set to the mode of destroying creatures with 3 CMC or less will blow them up as well.</p>
<p>As for the ability to hit enchantments or artifacts:</p>
<ul>
<li>5 of the top 10 <a href="https://edhrec.com/top">most popular cards in the last 2 years</a> are artifacts, as are 26 of the top 100</li>
<li>10 of the top 100 most popular cards in the last 2 years are enchantments</li>
</ul>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Living Death"></div></div>
<p>Lastly, we have <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Living Death" href="#" target="_blank">Living Death</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, showing up in 18,047 decks. As a sacrifice effect, it basically hits everything that an exile creature sweeper like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Merciless Eviction" href="#" target="_blank">Merciless Eviction</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> would hit, except you still get death triggers. The only other difference is that it won't do anything to your enemies who have <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sigarda, Host of Herons" href="#" target="_blank">Sigarda, Host of Herons</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tajuru Preserver" href="#" target="_blank">Tajuru Preserver</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> on the battlefield. Still, Sigarda 1.0 is only the 7th most popular Selesnya commander, and Perserver is in under 1,500 decks. That shouldn't be much of an issue considering how easily recurrable <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Living Death" href="#" target="_blank">Living Death</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is in decks that want it. That's the trick with the card, really: nobody who casts it wants to cast it once. No, they want to cast it every turn via a recurred <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Eternal Witness" href="#" target="_blank">Eternal Witness</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or something similar.</p>
<hr />
<div>
<h2 class="card__label" style="text-align: center;">It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine</h2>
</div>
<div>
<p>Hopefully all of this is at least a little helpful in deciding which creature sweepers you're looking to slot into your decks. There're a lot to choose from, and more are printed with every new set. They also make up an important part of the game, operating at times as a way to break a stalemate, reset parity, or as an outright win condition. Make sure you run a couple in decks that support the colors, and sound off below about which wipes are your favorites, and why.</p>
<p>Thanks for reading, and, as always, may your numbers be superior.</p>
</div>


Superior Numbers - Wondering What Wipes Wreck What

<h1>Writer's Block, Meet Brewer's Block</h1>
<p>Welcome to <em>Superior Numbers,</em> where I try to do numerical analysis on cards and deckbuilding trends using a little bit of math.</p>
<p>Except in the case of this particular article, where I'm going to be doing none of those things. This instead will be entirely abstract; specifically, addressing the concept of brewing block. There's no data that I can really cite here that's going to help you blast past brewing block. Instead, I'm going to attempt to talk it out.</p>
<p>I had brewer's block in 2019, though I really didn't recognize it as such until the end of the year when I realized that I had only kept one deck I built over the previous 365 days, and it was one that I built in January. That means that the other 11 months added nothing to my library.</p>
<p>It wasn't just that though; sometimes you're going to have a streak where brews just don't work, or don't captivate you, etc. The problem wasn't that I was building decks and not keeping them. No, what I realized after looking back was that I wasn't building decks in 2019 at all, or at least not getting far enough in the process to try them out at a table. Aside from the <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kresh the Bloodbraided" href="#" target="_blank">Kresh the Bloodbraided</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fling" href="#" target="_blank">Fling</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> deck that I kept, the only two decks I really tried in 2019 were <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Arvad the Cursed" href="#" target="_blank">Arvad the Cursed</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts" href="#" target="_blank">Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Anything else that I built never made it past the virtual sandbox stage.</p>
<p>We're now halfway through the nightmare year that is 2020 and I have two finished decks added to the arsenal: a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tymaret the Murder King" href="#" target="_blank">Tymaret the Murder King</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> <em>Infect</em> build, and an <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Athreos, Shroud-Veiled" href="#" target="_blank">Athreos, Shroud-Veiled</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Pestilence" href="#" target="_blank">Pestilence</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> deck. So what's the difference between 2019 and 2020, other than we're clearly living in the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POT3plx0vBs">Darkest Timeline</a>? Well, in looking back, I can see a couple of things that were issues....</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Arvad the Cursed"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts"></div></div>
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good</h2>
<p>My decks rarely show up fully formed. Maybe yours do, but mine don't. Goldfishing only goes so far for me. A deck requires reps to actually smooth off the rough edges. Take my <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vela the Night-Clad" href="#" target="_blank">Vela the Night-Clad</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> deck. It started with nothing more than the notion that a commander who grants intimidate would render a field of colorless creatures unblockable. That was the entire plan. So I slapped it together, initially using Eldrazi, then artifact creatures, and played some games. Over the course of playing them, I found out quite a few things:</p>
<ul>
<li>Since Vela deals damage when a creature leaves my battlefield, things that made artifact creature tokens were useful, so I added cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Myr Battlesphere" href="#" target="_blank">Myr Battlesphere</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hangarback Walker" href="#" target="_blank">Hangarback Walker</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</li>
<li>At that point, since I was making artifact creature tokens, I would, by definition, have a lot of artifact creatures in play. There are multiple 'walkers, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas" href="#" target="_blank">Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, who deal damage based on the number of artifacts I have in play, so why not run some of those?</li>
<li>What if I turn my other artifacts, like my rocks, into creatures? They'll also get unblockable, and I can sacrifice them afterward and Vela will generate even more damage.</li>
</ul>
<p>The important part here is that I found those things over the course of playing the deck. Would I have found them out had I abandoned the deck in the goldfishing phase, or even after 2-3 games like I did Teysa and Arvad? No. And who knows what other synergies I would have found that would have made Teysa or Arvad if I didn't give up so early? But I let the perfect be the enemy of the good; I let two decks that played fine go because they didn't play as well as a deck that had significantly evolved over the course of multiple years and a significant number of reps.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kenrith, the Returned King"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Talrand, Sky Summoner"></div></div>
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Don't Get Hung Up on Your Hangups</h2>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><a href="https://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/bluemander.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-51764" src="https://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/bluemander-1024x462.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="462" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/bluemander-1024x462.jpg 1024w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/bluemander-300x135.jpg 300w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/bluemander-768x347.jpg 768w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/bluemander-1536x694.jpg 1536w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/bluemander.jpg 2031w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a></p>
<p>I'm someone who doesn't like to build popular commanders for a multitude of reasons, almost all of which can in some way be traced back to ego. Yet I have a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Talrand, Sky Summoner" href="#" target="_blank">Talrand, Sky Summoner</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> deck, the second-most-popular mono-blue commander by a margin of 400+ decks. How is that?</p>
<p>Well, I built the deck in 2014 before EDHREC was really a thing, so what was popular or not wasn't really a known quantity beyond what I saw pop up at my local tables. It's a deck I really enjoy, too. It's interactive, making tokens for all the mediocre one- and two-mana cantrips that I cast before winning with a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gravitational Shift" href="#" target="_blank">Gravitational Shift</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>- or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Coat of Arms" href="#" target="_blank">Coat of Arms</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>-enabled alpha strike. I like playing it a lot. And you know what? If Talrand was released today and raced to the top of the popularity charts, I'd never have built the deck. I'd have let my own hangup get in the way of brewing up something I really enjoy.</p>
<p>Going into this year, <a href="https://articles.edhrec.com/author/joseph-schultz/">Dr. Joseph Schultz, Jr. III</a>, my podcast co-host and editor, challenged me to build a deck with a popular commander. I had been debating building a deck around the <em>Exalted</em> mechanic, and freed from my own weird hipster tendencies I picked <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kenrith, the Returned King" href="#" target="_blank">Kenrith, the Returned King</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Kenrith as a commander is fairly strong, but, in a deck with all <em>Exalted</em> bodies, it makes for a playable deck against decks operating at just above the precon level.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Pestilence"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Karma"></div></div>
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Look for Ideas by Looking for Ideas</h2>
<p>After having not built a deck for well over a year, I started getting restless. I knew that I didn't want a combat damage deck, but I also detest combo as a win condition. Nothing immediately caught my attention as an idea, so I went back to the beginning and just started going through cards from <em>Alpha</em>. Two cards jumped out at me as something that one could build a deck around while not reliant on the combat phase: <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Karma" href="#" target="_blank">Karma</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Pestilence" href="#" target="_blank">Pestilence</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. I couldn't really find anything else that felt like it would work well enough to make a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Karma" href="#" target="_blank">Karma</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> deck in doing a search for similar effects, but I knew <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Withering Wisps" href="#" target="_blank">Withering Wisps</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> existed as a card, and a search quickly found me <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Crypt Rats" href="#" target="_blank">Crypt Rats</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Pestilence Demon" href="#" target="_blank">Pestilence Demon</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thrashing Wumpus" href="#" target="_blank">Thrashing Wumpus</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. That seemed like enough redundant effects to build a deck around.</p>
<p>On top of all of that, a deck filled with effects to prevent damage to me on my turns and from my sources like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Pestilence" href="#" target="_blank">Pestilence</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> works pretty well with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="" href="#" target="_blank"></a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>Karma<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="" href="#" target="_blank"></a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, too.</p>
<p>The lesson here is that inspiration doesn't always come to you. Sometimes you need to come to inspiration. That may take the form of just reading through cards on old sets, or it may entail looking through decks on your favorite deckbuilding site, or watching gameplay videos or streams. Whatever method you choose, sometimes you just need to go looking for the lightning instead of waiting for the strike.</p>
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Fitter, Happier, More Productive, Comfortable</h2>
<p>Hopefully all of this is at least a little helpful if you're currently going through a brewing block. I'd love to hear from readers about what things worked for you when it comes to fighting threw the doldrums of deckbuilding. Sound off below with any tips or techniques.</p>
<p>Thanks for reading, and, as always, may your numbers be superior.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Athreos, Shroud-Veiled: Down with the Sickness" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Athreos, Shroud-Veiled
[/Commander]
[Creatures]
*1 Academy Rector
*1 Crypt Rats
*1 Pestilence Demon
*1 Stuffy Doll
*1 Thrashing Wumpus
[/Creatures]
[Enchantments]
*1 Black Market
*1 Blessed Sanctuary
*1 Blind Obedience
*1 Darksteel Mutation
*1 Death Pits of Rath
*1 Exquisite Blood
*1 Ghostly Prison
*1 Karma
*1 Land Tax
*1 Lashknife Barrier
*1 Leyline of the Void
*1 Mark of Asylum
*1 Pariah
*1 Personal Sanctuary
*1 Pestilence
*1 Phyrexian Arena
*1 Protective Sphere
*1 Revel in Riches
*1 Smothering Tithe
*1 Sphere of Grace
*1 Sphere of Safety
*1 Withering Wisps
*1 Wound Reflection
[/Enchantments]
[Sorceries]
*1 Ambition&#039;s Cost
*1 Ancient Craving
*1 Austere Command
*1 Cleansing Nova
*1 Council&#039;s Judgment
*1 Demonic Tutor
*1 Merciless Eviction
*1 Night&#039;s Whisper
*1 Obzedat&#039;s Aid
*1 Read the Bones
*1 Replenish
*1 Sevinne&#039;s Reclamation
*1 Sign in Blood
*1 Vindicate
[/Sorceries]
[Instants]
*1 Anguished Unmaking
*1 Equal Treatment
*1 Generous Gift
*1 Kaya&#039;s Guile
*1 Path to Exile
*1 Sudden Spoiling
*1 Swords to Plowshares
*1 Teferi&#039;s Protection
*1 Utter End
*1 Vampiric Tutor
[/Instants]
[Artifacts]
*1 Arcane Signet
*1 Chromatic Lantern
*1 Fellwar Stone
*1 Mind Stone
*1 Orzhov Signet
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Soul-Guide Lantern
*1 Talisman of Hierarchy
*1 Thought Vessel
[/Artifacts]
[Planeswalkers]
*1 The Wanderer
[/Planeswalkers]
[Lands]
*1 Ancient Tomb
*1 Bojuka Bog
*1 Cabal Coffers
*1 Caves of Koilos
*1 Command Tower
*1 Fetid Heath
*1 Glacial Chasm
*1 Godless Shrine
*1 Hall of Heliod&#039;s Generosity
*1 Isolated Chapel
*1 Marsh Flats
*1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
*1 Reliquary Tower
*1 Scavenger Grounds
*1 Scrubland
*1 Serra&#039;s Sanctum
*1 Silent Clearing
*5 Snow-Covered Plains
*10 Snow-Covered Swamp
*1 Strip Mine
*1 Tainted Field
*1 Tectonic Edge
*1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
*1 Vault of the Archangel
[/Lands]"></span></div>



Superior Numbers - Breaking Brewing Block

Superior Numbers - Do Dollar Duals Denote Domination?

<h2 style="text-align: center;">Lemme hear you say, "fight the power"</h2>
<p>Welcome to <em>Superior Numbers,</em> where I conduct numerical analysis on cards and deckbuilding trends using just a little bit of math.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mission Briefing" href="#" target="_blank">Mission Briefing</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a better card than <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Snapcaster Mage" href="#" target="_blank">Snapcaster Mage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Not all of the time, but a lot of the time. Most people don't realize that though, because of what I'll call <em>power memory</em>. Overestimating something based on past performance or some other factor isn't something unique to <em>Magic</em>. For example, professional athletes late in their careers often make money based on their performance years earlier than they're statistically unlikely to repeat due to age. How many people kept watching that disastrous last season of <em>Game of Thrones</em> because of everything that happened before? And Bruce Willis keeps getting cast in movies despite the fact that he hasn't actually bothered trying since 2012. People do those things for the same reasons they keep playing Snap over <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mission Briefing" href="#" target="_blank">Mission Briefing</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mission Briefing"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Snapcaster Mage"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Snapcaster Mage" href="#" target="_blank">Snapcaster Mage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> has been an absolute monster of a card since it was released in September of 2011, and it didn't stop being relevant once it left standard, seeing heavy play in Modern as well Legacy, and even Vintage. It's a non-Reserved List rare printed in the last decade whose demand pushed it to a high price of $85 back in 2015, something almost unheard of. Even today, after four additional printings, the cheapest copies still hover around $45.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mission Briefing" href="#" target="_blank">Mission Briefing</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> on the other hand is currently available for a under a dollar, and it's been about a dollar since around four months after it was released.</p>
<p>Now we don't need to go over all the situations where Snapcaster is great. If you're playing <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Riku of Two Reflections" href="#" target="_blank">Riku of Two Reflections</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> of course the ability to copy that creature for a second body is useful, as is blinking it in <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Brago, King Eternal" href="#" target="_blank">Brago, King Eternal</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or reanimating it in <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sedris, the Traitor King" href="#" target="_blank">Sedris, the Traitor King</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Having that ability attached to a body is useful in decks that care about those things. Some decks running a lot of things to sacrifice to a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Skullclamp" href="#" target="_blank">Skullclamp</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Prime Speaker Vannifar" href="#" target="_blank">Prime Speaker Vannifar</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> wants creatures to use to chain off into a combo. It's great in a lot of places.</p>
<p>It's not in others.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Talrand, Sky Summoner"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kess, Dissident Mage"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kalamax, the Stormsire"></div></div>
<p>While I don't doubt there are some <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Talrand, Sky Summoner" href="#" target="_blank">Talrand, Sky Summoner</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> decks that want to bounce their <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Snapcaster Mage" href="#" target="_blank">Snapcaster Mage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to recast it, by and large most just want that effect in spell form. There are certainly <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kess, Dissident Mage" href="#" target="_blank">Kess, Dissident Mage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> decks that do things that interact with Wizards, but by and large they want to recur that instant from the yard, and it's just gravy if that instant puts more instants and sorceries into the yard via <em>Surveil</em>. There're probably some <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kalamax, the Stormsire" href="#" target="_blank">Kalamax, the Stormsire</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> decks that want a 2/1 on the field for when they copy that <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mercadia&#039;s Downfall" href="#" target="_blank">Mercadia&#039;s Downfall</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, but by and large they'd prefer to just bring back two things off the cast.</p>
<p>There are 88 <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Talrand, Sky Summoner" href="#" target="_blank">Talrand, Sky Summoner</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> decks running Snap but not running <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mission Briefing" href="#" target="_blank">Mission Briefing</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. There are 436 Kess decks doing it too, and another 98 Kalamax decks only running the Wizard without the Briefing. Not all of those are doing so because the need a nearly-worthless chump blocker or because they intended to do something with the body. No, a lot of them are running what is in their build an inferior, radically more expensive card because they remember the power of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Snapcaster Mage" href="#" target="_blank">Snapcaster Mage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> in other formats.</p>
<p>They're letting power memory make their deck weaker.</p>
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Watch who's comin' at you. Who's got the power?</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Damnation"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Wrath of God"></div></div>
<p>Power memory doesn't necessarily have to be tied to past performance, either. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Damnation" href="#" target="_blank">Damnation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> made a splash when it was released in February of 2007, but that's mostly because people were hyped to see a color-shifted <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wrath of God" href="#" target="_blank">Wrath of God</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. It certainly didn't become a staple in other formats like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Snapcaster Mage" href="#" target="_blank">Snapcaster Mage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, though it does still see fringe Modern play in some black decks. No, the myth of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Damnation" href="#" target="_blank">Damnation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> was built by its price. See, despite being released in 2007, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Damnation" href="#" target="_blank">Damnation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> didn't see its first reprint outside two even more expensive limited edition foils until 2015. It's one of the best, most in-demand board wipes in black in Commander, and for a long time Wizards basically refused to reprint it in a way that allowed the average player to acquire a copy. So the price ballooned and ballooned until it capped out at just over $70. Even today the cheapest <em>Modern Masters 2017</em> printing is over $35. It's a card whose power memory was formed around the mystique of its price and inaccessibility.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wrath of God" href="#" target="_blank">Wrath of God</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>? Well, it was first printed in Alpha, has been reprinted approximately 115 times since then, and has almost always been available for less than the cost of a Big Mac. It has little to no mystique.</p>
<p>So why does this matter?</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Teysa Karlov"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Athreos, God of Passage"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kambal, Consul of Allocation"></div></div>
<p>The five most popular Orzhov commanders in the EDHREC database are in order <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Teysa Karlov" href="#" target="_blank">Teysa Karlov</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Athreos, God of Passage" href="#" target="_blank">Athreos, God of Passage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Karlov of the Ghost Council" href="#" target="_blank">Karlov of the Ghost Council</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kambal, Consul of Allocation" href="#" target="_blank">Kambal, Consul of Allocation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Teysa, Orzhov Scion" href="#" target="_blank">Teysa, Orzhov Scion</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<ul>
<li>88 <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Teysa Karlov" href="#" target="_blank">Teysa Karlov</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> decks are running <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Damnation" href="#" target="_blank">Damnation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> - a card that has had no printing in the last seven years fall below $20 - while not running the functionally identical but color-shifted <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wrath of God" href="#" target="_blank">Wrath of God</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, a card that has never had its cheapest version rise above $6 during that timeframe.</li>
<li>44 <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Athreos, God of Passage" href="#" target="_blank">Athreos, God of Passage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> decks are doing the same</li>
<li>18 for <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Karlov of the Ghost Council" href="#" target="_blank">Karlov of the Ghost Council</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li>31 for <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kambal, Consul of Allocation" href="#" target="_blank">Kambal, Consul of Allocation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li>18 for <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Teysa, Orzhov Scion" href="#" target="_blank">Teysa, Orzhov Scion</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
</ul>
<p>Now, some of those decks are probably people who just for whatever reason happened to have a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Damnation" href="#" target="_blank">Damnation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and no <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wrath of God" href="#" target="_blank">Wrath of God</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Some are maybe flexing their expensive promo. Some might even be strategically doing so because based on deck construction they need the white pips to rebuild after a wipe more than black ones, so spending black ones on the wipe itself makes sense.</p>
<p>That's not all of them though. No, some of those are people running a more expensive card over its functionally identical budget counterpart because the legend of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Damnation" href="#" target="_blank">Damnation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (and its price buildup and inaccessibility) tricks the brain into thinking that it's a more powerful card.</p>
<p>And why am I so certain this is why they're doing it?</p>
<p>Because I did it.</p>
<p>I recently built an Orzhov deck, and when putting my list of board wipes together, this was my literal thought process: "<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Austere Command" href="#" target="_blank">Austere Command</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and I think <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cleansing Nova" href="#" target="_blank">Cleansing Nova</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> because they're so flexible. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Merciless Eviction" href="#" target="_blank">Merciless Eviction</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will hit my indestructible commander, but it's so versatile I think I want it too. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Toxic Deluge" href="#" target="_blank">Toxic Deluge</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>? Ugh, also will kill my commander. Maybe just a old-school four drop instead. I know I have a Damnation."</p>
<p>I also have multiple copies of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wrath of God" href="#" target="_blank">Wrath of God</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, but in my head I defaulted to <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Damnation" href="#" target="_blank">Damnation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. I did catch the biased selection pretty quickly, but I still made it.</p>
<p>In this case, people might not be letting power memory make their deck weaker, but they're letting it make their deck more expensive.</p>
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Stop tripping, I'm tripping off the power</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rafiq of the Many"></div></div>
<p>This last example of power memory involves former EDH all-star <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rafiq of the Many" href="#" target="_blank">Rafiq of the Many</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Rafiq has a problem. A <a href="https://www.coolstuffinc.com/a/jasonalt-010115-solving-the-rafiq-problem">Rafiq Problem</a>, if you will. That problem? As posited by our own Jason Alt, you can build a weaker, less scary <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rafiq of the Many" href="#" target="_blank">Rafiq of the Many</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> deck, but you shouldn't bother because people will just murder you anyway. Rafiq was scary to people at your table back in 2015, so much so that they were going to archenemy you just for having him as your commander. Times have changed a little, but Rafiq still has a problem. You know what other problem Rafiq has? He has a power memory problem, because <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rafiq of the Many" href="#" target="_blank">Rafiq of the Many</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> isn't even that good of a commander in the current era of the EDH format, but people often are still going to murder you anyway because of how good Rafiq once was.</p>
<p>How far has Rafiq fallen? He's only the 7th most popular Bant commander, and he's not particularly close to <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Roon of the Hidden Realm" href="#" target="_blank">Roon of the Hidden Realm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> in 6th. Power of course isn't necessarily the same as popularity, but there is some connection, given the names above him on the list are sledgehammers like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Arcades, the Strategist" href="#" target="_blank">Arcades, the Strategist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Chulane, Teller of Tales" href="#" target="_blank">Chulane, Teller of Tales</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Derevi, Empyrial Tactician" href="#" target="_blank">Derevi, Empyrial Tactician</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Still, there are tables where, if you reveal Rafiq as your commander, people will swing at you as hard as they'll swing at someone running Arcades, Chulane, and Derevi. I've seen it happen.</p>
<p>In this case folks are letting power memory change how they evaluate the power of a commander and the threat level that comes with it.</p>
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Power to the seat that can't be beat</h2>
<p>So how do we fix this? Well, it's not easy, aside from being intentional with your card choices. Ask yourself why you're running a card, and then take your answer and examine if it's true.</p>
<p><strong>Question:</strong> Why am I running <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Snapcaster Mage" href="#" target="_blank">Snapcaster Mage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> in this deck?</p>
<p><strong>Answer:</strong> Because it's the best way to get the effect I want in this deck just like it is in other formats.</p>
<p><strong>Evaluation:</strong> Well, Snapcaster is great in other formats where having a 2/1 chump blocker or chip damage dealer can be an actual asset. Here though, those things are way less useful since a 2/1 blocker is nearly irrelevant, and you won't be casting the card at at time when you can probably use it for chip damage, something also less important when dealing with three 40-life pools instead of a single 20-life pool. The conclusion I'm going to come to then is that a lot of the utility Snap brings to, say, Modern isn't present here, and if the card has less utility maybe there are replacements that in this situation outshine it.</p>
<p>How do <em>you</em> avoid letting power memory affect your card evaluation choices? Is it a phenomenon you were even aware of? Are there any specific cards or situations you can think of that strike you as examples of power memory? Sound off in the comments below.</p>
<p>Thanks for reading, and as always, may your numbers be superior.</p>


Superior Numbers - Invalidating Power Memory

<h2 style="text-align: center;">Looking Forward to Happier Times on Blue Bayou</h2>
<p>Welcome to <em>Superior Numbers,</em> where I try to do numerical analysis on cards and deckbuilding trends using a little bit of math.</p>
<p>Let's finish up the Sultai colors for this little series, shall we? Most of these are cards from <em>Magic</em>’s earliest days, when a card that either utterly destroys your opponent or is totally worthless depending on which deck they picked up was considered good design. Luckily we've learned (Companions) from those mistakes (free spells) and no longer see disruptive cards (<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Oko, Thief of Crowns" href="#" target="_blank">Oko, Thief of Crowns</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>) that prevent people from playing the game (<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Teferi, Time Raveler" href="#" target="_blank">Teferi, Time Raveler</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>) show up in our sets.</p>
<p>EDH is a multiplayer format, though, and it’s way less likely that you’ll wind up with a dead card in hand just because your opponent isn't playing a certain deck. You generally have three or four of those opponents as well, which means that there’s a greater likelihood that one of them will be playing the color that interacts with what you have in hand. As a result of all of that, some of these older, forgotten cards that fixate on a particular color wind up putting in a decent amount of work in Commander, and I'd like to take a look at a few of them.</p>
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Oh, 'cause Blue Skies are Coming</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Abjure"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Inundate"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Abjure" href="#" target="_blank">Abjure</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is going to be one of the two cards here that more care about <em>you</em> playing blue as opposed to your opponent playing blue, but I want to talk about it because it's an absolute house in <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Talrand, Sky Summoner" href="#" target="_blank">Talrand, Sky Summoner</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. There, it's basically a one-mana hard counter, and it's sometimes better than that, as you often swap a tapped Drake you attacked with for a newly-created untapped one that can block and may even proc a trigger from something like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kindred Discovery" href="#" target="_blank">Kindred Discovery</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Sure, it's dead if you don't have a blue permanent to sacrifice, but the reality is that if you don't have a Drake to spare you're probably in such a bad position that a counter isn't going to save you from whatever is being cast.</p>
<p>While Talrand is the only commander that makes a replacement permanent when you sacrifice one to <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Abjure" href="#" target="_blank">Abjure</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, commanders like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Alela, Artful Provocateur" href="#" target="_blank">Alela, Artful Provocateur</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Breya, Etherium Shaper" href="#" target="_blank">Breya, Etherium Shaper</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer" href="#" target="_blank">Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Meloku, the Clouded Mirror" href="#" target="_blank">Meloku, the Clouded Mirror</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Oona, Queen of the Fae" href="#" target="_blank">Oona, Queen of the Fae</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Locust God" href="#" target="_blank">The Locust God</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> all provide disposable sacrifice fodder, in the form of tokens, from the command zone. Decks like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Edric, Spymaster of Trest" href="#" target="_blank">Edric, Spymaster of Trest</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> also have small, disposable bodies on board to spare, making it a really solid choice there, too.</p>
<p>It's currently in just 1,100 decks, and it really should be in more, especially the ones mentioned above.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Inundate" href="#" target="_blank">Inundate</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is in 1,272 decks, which also isn't nearly enough. Yeah, it's six mana with trip blue pips, and yes, it's sorcery speed, but in a mono-blue deck it's a mass bounce spell that doesn't touch your stuff. The main downside is that, as we're about to see with the rest of the cards in this article, there're a whole lot of blue commanders out there showing up in EDH pods.</p>
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">How I Got These Lonesome Johnny Blues</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Lightning Dart"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Parch"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lightning Dart" href="#" target="_blank">Lightning Dart</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Parch" href="#" target="_blank">Parch</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are both spells you'd probably only consider in mono-red, and even then probably only in a fairly narrow meta. Still, I think they're both playable in the right situation, specifically as cheap, instant-speed ways to deal with problem commanders. Which commanders? Well, it just so happens that:</p>
<ul>
<li>9 of top 20 most popular commanders in the last week are blue with 4 or less toughness</li>
<li>10 of the top 20 most popular commanders in the last month are blue with 4 or less toughness</li>
<li>6 of the top 20 most popular commanders in the last week are blue with 4 or less toughness</li>
</ul>
<p>How many does <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lightning Bolt" href="#" target="_blank">Lightning Bolt</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> hit as a comparison? Less than <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lightning Dart" href="#" target="_blank">Lightning Dart</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Parch" href="#" target="_blank">Parch</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>:</p>
<ul>
<li>6 of top 20 most popular commanders in the last week</li>
<li>7 of the top 20 most popular commanders in the last month</li>
<li>3 of the top 20 most popular commanders in the last 2 years</li>
</ul>
<p>Again, I don't think you run it everywhere, but if you're in mono-red and you're seeing <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kalamax, the Stormsire" href="#" target="_blank">Kalamax, the Stormsire</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kess, Dissident Mage" href="#" target="_blank">Kess, Dissident Mage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Atraxa, Praetor&#039;s Voice" href="#" target="_blank">Atraxa, Praetor&#039;s Voice</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> in every pod, it's possibly worth a slot.</p>
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">She's a Child of the Wild Blue Yonder</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Heat Wave"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Magistrate&#039;s Veto"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Magnetic Mountain"></div></div>
<p>Green has what seems like infinite ways to blast through damage if an opponent has a dense board state, but things are a little harder when you're in red and want to go send in the troops. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Heat Wave" href="#" target="_blank">Heat Wave</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is an enchantment in red that lets you punch through combat damage against blue decks. How effective is it?</p>
<ul>
<li>14 of top 20 commanders in the last week are blue and can't block creatures you control</li>
<li>14 of the top 20 commanders in the last month</li>
<li>12 of the top 20 commanders in the last year</li>
</ul>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Magistrate&#039;s Veto" href="#" target="_blank">Magistrate&#039;s Veto</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is even better, as it also makes your stuff unblockable by both white creatures <em>and</em> blue creatures, raising the stats to:</p>
<ul>
<li>18 of the top 20 commanders in the last week are blue or white and can't block your creatures you control</li>
<li>18 of the top 20 commanders in the last week are blue or white</li>
<li>16 of the top 20 commanders in the last week are blue or white</li>
</ul>
<p>There are fewer white and blue bodies on the creature list, with only 40% of the top 100 most frequently played creatures in the last two years being blue or white, but still, having 4 out of 10 blockers be unable to actually block is pretty effective.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Magnetic Mountain" href="#" target="_blank">Magnetic Mountain</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> doesn't really help poke through damage, but it's an enchantment that can shut down blue creatures, and, in particular, a lot of the ones mentioned in the section on <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Abjure" href="#" target="_blank">Abjure</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> above. The stats from <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Heat Wave" href="#" target="_blank">Heat Wave</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> show what percentage of commanders get locked down and require an exorbitant four mana to untap. This is, again, probably a meta call, but, in a meta where it consistently works, it's an absolute nightmare to see hit the field.</p>
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">She Wore Blue Velvet</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Seedtime"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Snake Pit"></div></div>
<p>Extra turns? In green? It's more likely than you think. Enter <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Seedtime" href="#" target="_blank">Seedtime</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, a card in a mere 458 decks, that lets you take an extra turn for two mana if an opponent casts a blue spell on your turn. How often can that happen? Are many instants blue? It turns out yes, many are.</p>
<ul>
<li>3 of the 5 most popular all-time instant spells are blue</li>
<li>45 of the 100 most popular of all-time instant spells are blue</li>
</ul>
<p>Counterspelling me? That's an extra turn. End of turn <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Brainstorm" href="#" target="_blank">Brainstorm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fact or Fiction" href="#" target="_blank">Fact or Fiction</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>? Extra turn. Flashing in a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Notion Thief" href="#" target="_blank">Notion Thief</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Venser, Shaper Savant" href="#" target="_blank">Venser, Shaper Savant</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>? Extra turn.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Snake Pit" href="#" target="_blank">Snake Pit</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> puts Snakes on the field so fast you'll think it's a twitter feed, and it's not just blue spells that do it; black ones proc the snek, too. It's in 330 decks, which isn't very many for a card that gets triggered by so many things.</p>
<ul>
<li>17 of 20 top commanders in the last two years are blue or black</li>
<li>18 of 20 top planeswalkers</li>
<li>9 of 20 top enchantments</li>
<li>8 of 20 top sorceries</li>
<li>12 of 20 top instants</li>
</ul>
<p>Basically, aside from artifacts, if someone plays a spell it has a better than 50% chance to make you a Snake, and that's an excellent rate for a Set It and Forget It enchantment. And if your opponent decides to not cast spells to avoid giving you the body? That's a win and worth the price of casting the card, too.</p>
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Pyroblast"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Red Elemental Blast"></div></div>
<p>So, as of writing this article, <a href="https://articles.edhrec.com/author/joseph-schultz/">Joey Schultz</a> has successfully used one of these two cards to blow up a game-saving or game-ending counterspell three weeks in a row. He's right to be running them in red decks that lack blue, too. They have SOOOOO many targets. The same stats apply here as to <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Heat Wave" href="#" target="_blank">Heat Wave</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Magistrate&#039;s Veto" href="#" target="_blank">Magistrate&#039;s Veto</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>:</p>
<ul>
<li>14 of top 20 last week die to a single red mana from <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Red Elemental Blast" href="#" target="_blank">Red Elemental Blast</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>/<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Pyroblast" href="#" target="_blank">Pyroblast</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li>14 of the top 20 last month</li>
<li>12 of the top 20 last year</li>
</ul>
<p>There're plenty of other great ways to use both, obviously, but, for me personally, I'd pay one red mana for a modular spell whose modes were:</p>
<ul>
<li>Counter/destroy 2/3 of the most popular commanders in the last two years</li>
<li>Counter 99% of counterspells</li>
<li>Counter/destroy target <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rhystic Study" href="#" target="_blank">Rhystic Study</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cyclonic Rift" href="#" target="_blank">Cyclonic Rift</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
</ul>
<p>And they both do so much more than that.</p>
<hr />
<h2 id="lyric-body-text" class="lyric-body wselect-cnt" style="text-align: center;" data-lang="en">You're Sailing Out on a Blue, Blue Sea</h2>
<p>I’d like to leave off with a decklist of mine actually running <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Abjure" href="#" target="_blank">Abjure</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and that has ran <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Inundate" href="#" target="_blank">Inundate</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> in the past. How many of you out there are running any of these color-specific cards focused on blue or are interested giving them a look? I’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments below. Thanks for reading, and as always, may your numbers be superior.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Talrand, Sky Summoner: Drakestorm" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Talrand, Sky Summoner
[/Commander]
[Instants]
*1 Abjure
*1 Anticipate
*1 Boomerang
*1 Brainstorm
*1 Counterspell
*1 Cyclonic Rift
*1 Dig Through Time
*1 Echoing Truth
*1 Fact or Fiction
*1 Fierce Guardianship
*1 High Tide
*1 Impulse
*1 Into the Roil
*1 Keep Watch
*1 Lat-Nam&#039;s Legacy
*1 Mind Games
*1 Mission Briefing
*1 Muddle the Mixture
*1 Mystical Tutor
*1 Narset&#039;s Reversal
*1 Opt
*1 Perilous Research
*1 Polymorphist&#039;s Jest
*1 Pongify
*1 Quicken
*1 Rapid Hybridization
*1 Reality Shift
*1 Swan Song
*1 Telling Time
[/Instants]
[Sorceries]
*1 Chart a Course
*1 Distant Melody
*1 Hands of Binding
*1 Hidden Strings
*1 Mitotic Manipulation
*1 Ponder
*1 Portent
*1 Preordain
*1 Retraced Image
*1 Serum Visions
*1 Treasure Cruise
*1 Winged Words
[/Sorceries]
[Creatures]
*1 Docent of Perfection
*1 Murmuring Mystic
[/Creatures]
[Enchantments]
*1 Coastal Piracy
*1 Favorable Winds
*1 Gravitational Shift
*1 Kindred Discovery
*1 Reconnaissance Mission
*1 Teferi&#039;s Veil
[/Enchantments]
[Artifacts]
*1 Arcane Signet
*1 Bident of Thassa
*1 Caged Sun
*1 Coat of Arms
*1 Everflowing Chalice
*1 Extraplanar Lens
*1 Fellwar Stone
*1 Gauntlet of Power
*1 Heraldic Banner
*1 Mind Stone
*1 Primal Amulet
*1 Sapphire Medallion
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Thought Vessel
*1 Throne of the God-Pharaoh
*1 Veilstone Amulet
[/Artifacts]
[Lands]
*1 Ancient Tomb
*1 Castle Vantress
*1 Mystic Sanctuary
*1 Reliquary Tower
*1 Scavenger Grounds
*25 Snow-Covered Island
*1 Strip Mine
*1 Tectonic Edge
*1 Terrain Generator
*1 Wasteland
[/Lands]"></span></div>



Superior Numbers - Cards Caring about Colors: Blue

<h1 style="text-align: center;">Raindrops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens</h1>
<p>Welcome to <em>Superior Numbers,</em> where I try to do numerical analysis on cards and deckbuilding trends using a little bit of math.</p>
<p>Your favorite card sucks. At least, when I play it in my decks. And <em>my</em> favorite cards might well suck when you play them in <em>your</em> decks. That's because we're different people. You like poetry and I like fiction. You eat your vegetables first, and I eat the steak. Your mom thinks about you when she sees a happy family, and your mom thinks about me... at other times. We're different, and how we play is different, and it's these differences that wind up affecting how good certain cards are in each of our hands, and I want to talk about a few of them.</p>
<p>When I originally started writing for EDHREC, I talked a lot about cards that were almost never good in your deck compared to dozens of alternatives, things like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cancel" href="#" target="_blank">Cancel</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Manalith" href="#" target="_blank">Manalith</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Naturalize" href="#" target="_blank">Naturalize</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. That isn't the case here, however. This article is going to look at cards that are generally very, very good. They're just not good in decks I brew meshed with the way I play, and looking at why that might hopefully help you look at why some cards that are otherwise great don't seem that way when you play them.</p>
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Bright Copper Kettles and Warm Woolen Mittens</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Faithless Looting"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Faithless Looting" href="#" target="_blank">Faithless Looting</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a powerhouse, seeing play in over 27,000 decks on EDHREC. That makes it the 4th most played red card in the format. It's a legit cog in cEDH decks, too, showing up in decks like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kess, Dissident Mage" href="#" target="_blank">Kess, Dissident Mage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> <em>Storm</em>, and it was disruptive enough in Modern to get banned. It's a fantastic card, and this isn't a hot take trying to argue otherwise. Because of this reputation, I've run it in multiple decks over the years, from <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Brion Stoutarm" href="#" target="_blank">Brion Stoutarm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Archangel Avacyn" href="#" target="_blank">Archangel Avacyn</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lathliss, Dragon Queen" href="#" target="_blank">Lathliss, Dragon Queen</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Still, no matter the deck, it never felt good to draw. It wasn't until the release of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Light Up the Stage" href="#" target="_blank">Light Up the Stage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, though, that I realized why it felt that way.</p>
<p>First, let's look at what <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Faithless Looting" href="#" target="_blank">Faithless Looting</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> does well:</p>
<ol>
<li>It filters down to the specific card(s) you want for a combo or play line.</li>
<li>It's a cheap and efficient way to generate two spells for <em>Storm</em> or other cast triggers.</li>
<li>Puts cards in the yard for multiple graveyard interactions ranging from reanimation to fueling things like <em>Delve</em> or triggering draw from <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rielle, the Everwise" href="#" target="_blank">Rielle, the Everwise</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</li>
<li>Finds that land you need to keep going early, or hopefully trades land cards for nonland cards later.</li>
</ol>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kess, Dissident Mage"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Light Up the Stage"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Lord Windgrace"></div></div>
<p>A whole ton of decks want to do any number of those things. If you're playing out of your graveyard, for example, Faithless Looting almost feels like a draw four for a single red mana. Some decks, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kess, Dissident Mage" href="#" target="_blank">Kess, Dissident Mage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, take advantage of all four things Looting does well. Just look at the most popular red commanders in the last two years and you can immediately see how almost all of them interact favorably with Looting. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lord Windgrace" href="#" target="_blank">Lord Windgrace</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> heads 2,890 decks and is the 6th most popular commander in the last two years, and he absolutely loves the idea of you pitching a few lands to a Loot.</p>
<p>The three decks of mine that I mentioned above? <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Brion Stoutarm" href="#" target="_blank">Brion Stoutarm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and whatnot? They didn't want to do any of those things, really, at least not in the way that I had them built. They weren't combo decks or builds looking for a particular game-winning line, there wasn't any <em>Storm</em> going on, and there wasn't any reason to intentionally bin stuff for any reason, either. The fourth reason is rather universal in any deck, but it's also not a thing that only <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Faithless Looting" href="#" target="_blank">Faithless Looting</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> accomplishes, and it's the kind of thing that only accounts for a fairly narrow slice of game time.</p>
<p>I didn't really realize any of those things until I replaced Looting with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Light Up the Stage" href="#" target="_blank">Light Up the Stage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> in a red deck, and it became apparent that what I really wanted was just raw card draw. I wanted more <em>actual</em> cards in hand, not <em>particular</em> cards in hand. That isn't true for everyone, or maybe even most people, but for my decks and my playstyle, it was, and that's when I realized <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Faithless Looting" href="#" target="_blank">Faithless Looting</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> just isn't a card for me, given the way I was building in red and the way I was playing. I'm probably not the only one, either. While it remains an excellent card, I would bet that a few of those 27,016 decks running Looting might be better off joining the mere 1,825 running <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Light up the Stage" href="#" target="_blank">Light up the Stage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, especially if you're in a meta like mine where cards aren't often allowed to sit in a graveyard long enough to take advantage of the <em>Flashback</em>.</p>
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Cream-Colored Ponies and Crisp Apple Strudels</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Archmage&#039;s Charm"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Disallow"></div></div>
<p>When is a modal spell not a modal spell? When you only ever use one mode. And again, to be clear, this is a <em>me</em> thing. You might be using <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Disallow" href="#" target="_blank">Disallow</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to shut down <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Aetherflux Reservoir" href="#" target="_blank">Aetherflux Reservoir</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> activations or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Archmage&#039;s Charm" href="#" target="_blank">Archmage&#039;s Charm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to steal 14/14 tokens made by a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Phyrexian Rebirth" href="#" target="_blank">Phyrexian Rebirth</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> in every game. For me? 99% of the time <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Disallow" href="#" target="_blank">Disallow</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> was a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cancel" href="#" target="_blank">Cancel</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Archmage&#039;s Charm" href="#" target="_blank">Archmage&#039;s Charm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> was a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cancel" href="#" target="_blank">Cancel</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> that was harder to cast.</p>
<p>Now, sometimes a modal card comes with a mode that you never use, but it doesn't matter because the opportunity cost is nothing. I don't think I've yet cast <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Return of the Wildspeaker" href="#" target="_blank">Return of the Wildspeaker</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> for the +3/+3 mode. Nothing is lost by doing that, though, as even without that mode it's still generally a better <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Soul&#039;s Majesty" href="#" target="_blank">Soul&#039;s Majesty</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. I'd probably run Return if it was just the draw half of the card. That's not true of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Disallow" href="#" target="_blank">Disallow</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>; I wouldn't run it just for the counter at 1UU, and there is an opportunity cost being paid for not using the other modes, namely an extra mana over other alternatives each time I cast it. If you aren't at least occasionally using it to <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Stifle" href="#" target="_blank">Stifle</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> something, it's just a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cancel" href="#" target="_blank">Cancel</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cancel" href="#" target="_blank">Cancel</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a <a href="https://articles.edhrec.com/in-the-margins-cancel/">terrible card</a>.</p>
<p>As for <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Archmage&#039;s Charm" href="#" target="_blank">Archmage&#039;s Charm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, you do have the alternative to cast it as a draw effect if you don't use the counter, so the mana you held up doesn't go to waste, but UUU to draw 2 doesn't feel particularly great, either. As with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Disallow" href="#" target="_blank">Disallow</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (and unlike <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Return of the Wildspeaker" href="#" target="_blank">Return of the Wildspeaker</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>) it's a card where that cost for those modes isn't worth it alone. Also, I realized that, when I was playing it, the times I was willing to hold up mana for a counterspell, it was probably because I was trying to prevent something from happening, or happening to me, and just because that thing didn't happen during that spin around the table didn't mean I was willing to burn my only counterspell to draw two cards.</p>
<p>They're both great cards, but for me and for how I'm building and playing they just didn't work as well as the less expensive <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Counterspell" href="#" target="_blank">Counterspell</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>s that almost always did the same thing as these spells but at a lower mana cost.</p>
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Doorbells and Sleigh Bells and Schnitzel with Noodles</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Reforge the Soul"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Wheel of Fortune"></div></div>
<p>First off, don't @ me with how great wheels are in your deck built to do powerful things with wheels. Yep, they're excellent in <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Nekusar, the Mindrazer" href="#" target="_blank">Nekusar, the Mindrazer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Locust God" href="#" target="_blank">The Locust God</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. They're also excellent in decks that tend to empty their hand early and fast, or ones that want to fill their yard, or ones running things like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Narset, Parter of Veils" href="#" target="_blank">Narset, Parter of Veils</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> that render them absurdly lopsided. Consider your glasses pushed up and me well-actuallied. Wheels, in the same vein as <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Faithless Looting" href="#" target="_blank">Faithless Looting</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Disallow" href="#" target="_blank">Disallow</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Archmage&#039;s Charm" href="#" target="_blank">Archmage&#039;s Charm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, are great in the right deck and in the right hands, and it's entirely possible that, given <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wheel of Fortune" href="#" target="_blank">Wheel of Fortune</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is in 11,334 decks and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Reforge the Soul" href="#" target="_blank">Reforge the Soul</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is in another 13,773, there're a whole lot of right decks and right hands out there.</p>
<p>It's just that my decks aren't those decks, and my hands aren't those hands.</p>
<p>In my red decks (or even blue decks, to account for wheels like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Time Reversal" href="#" target="_blank">Time Reversal</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Day&#039;s Undoing" href="#" target="_blank">Day&#039;s Undoing</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>) I'm not doing any of those things. My particular decks aren't getting triggers from drawing or aren't emptying their hands early, they're not looking to play from the yard, or to Leovold anyone's hand. What do wheels do in my decks? They give 7 new cards to me and 21 new cards to people trying to kill me.</p>
<p>That's <em>terrible</em> math, at least for me in my decks.</p>
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">These Are a Few of My Least Fav'rite Things</h2>
<p>So what cards are out there that are generally absolute haymakers that just don't quite work for you, specifically, and why is it that they don't work? Sound off below, because hearing about specific instances is something I find really helpful when it comes to diagnosing problems and issues with brews and builds.</p>
<p>Until next time, may your numbers be superior!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Tymaret the Murder King: Infected Wounds" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Tymaret, the Murder King
[/Commander]
[Creatures]
*1 Bloodghast
*1 Core Prowler
*1 Flesh-Eater Imp
*1 Gravecrawler
*1 Grim Haruspex
*1 Gutterbones
*1 Hand of the Praetors
*1 Ichor Rats
*1 Mogg War Marshal
*1 Nether Traitor
*1 Ophiomancer
*1 Phyrexian Crusader
*1 Plague Myr
*1 Plague Stinger
*1 Reassembling Skeleton
*1 Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
*1 Smothering Abomination
*1 Suq&#039;Ata Assassin
*1 Swamp Mosquito
*1 Whispering Specter
*1 Yawgmoth, Thran Physician
[/Creatures]
[Artifacts]
*1 Arcane Signet
*1 Contagion Clasp
*1 Contagion Engine
*1 Desecrated Tomb
*1 Everflowing Chalice
*1 Grafted Exoskeleton
*1 Mind Stone
*1 Rakdos Signet
*1 Skullclamp
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Talisman of Indulgence
*1 Thought Vessel
[/Artifacts]
[Instants]
*1 Arcbond
*1 Bedevil
*1 Chaos Warp
*1 Grim Affliction
*1 Soul&#039;s Fire
*1 Tainted Strike
*1 Terminate
*1 Virulent Wound
*1 Volt Charge
[/Instants]
[Enchantments]
*1 Bitterblossom
*1 Dauthi Embrace
*1 Glistening Oil
*1 Goblin Assault
*1 Gratuitous Violence
*1 Phyresis
*1 Phyrexian Arena
*1 Snake Cult Initiation
[/Enchantments]
[Sorceries]
*1 Blasphemous Act
*1 Caress of Phyrexia
*1 Chandra&#039;s Ignition
*1 Demonic Tutor
*1 Gravitic Punch
*1 Light Up the Stage
*1 Mana Geyser
*1 Night&#039;s Whisper
*1 Read the Bones
*1 Sign in Blood
*1 Spread the Sickness
*1 Vandalblast
*1 Yawgmoth&#039;s Will
[/Sorceries]
[Lands]
*1 Ancient Tomb
*1 Badlands
*1 Blood Crypt
*1 Bloodstained Mire
*1 Bojuka Bog
*1 Castle Locthwain
*1 Command Tower
*1 Dragonskull Summit
*1 Graven Cairns
*1 Homeward Path
*1 Inkmoth Nexus
*1 Karn&#039;s Bastion
*1 Kher Keep
*1 Luxury Suite
*5 Mountain
*1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
*1 Reliquary Tower
*1 Rogue&#039;s Passage
*1 Scavenger Grounds
*1 Shadowblood Ridge
*1 Shizo, Death&#039;s Storehouse
*1 Smoldering Marsh
*1 Strip Mine
*1 Sulfurous Springs
*5 Swamp
*1 Tainted Peak
*1 Tectonic Edge
*1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
[/Lands]"></span></div>



Superior Numbers - Your Favorite Card Sucks

<h2 style="text-align: center;">Lookin' back on the track for a little green bag</h2>
<p>Welcome to <em>Superior Numbers,</em> where I try to do numerical analysis on cards and deckbuilding trends using a little bit of math.</p>
<p>About a year ago I wrote a <a href="https://articles.edhrec.com/superior-numbers-cards-caring-about-colors-black/">column</a> looking at some Commander cards that interfaced in some way with black cards, and I analyzed how statistically effective they were based on the cards in our database. It's something I've been meaning to revisit, and as it's spring, the time of growth, talking about green seems thematically appropriate. Or at least I think it's spring. I'm not 100% sure, since I can no longer leave the house in these post-Apocalypse (not the set) times. It looks like spring out my window, though, so I'm going to assume that's true.</p>
<p>Let’s take a look back at <em>Magic’s</em> earliest days, a distant time when it seemed like a good idea to print cards that functioned based on the colors your opponent chose to play, because having a card be either brokenly amazing or worthless depending on who sat down across from you was once peak design.</p>
<p>Questionable design or not, since EDH is a multiplayer format, it’s way less likely that you’ll get wrecked by an opponent’s color choice. You generally have three or four of them, anyway, which means that there's a much greater likelihood that one of them will be playing the color that boosts the strength of your cards.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sword of Body and Mind"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sword of Feast and Famine"></div></div>
<p>Nobody is running any of the Swords of Things and Stuff in decks because of their protection clause, or at least not because of their protection from green clause. Still, it's there, and it's useful to see how often it impacts games. First, though, a quick reminder on how protection from a color works. The mnemonic "DEBT" is helpful here: Damage, Equip/Enchant, Blocked, and Targeted.</p>
<ul>
<li>Protection from a color or trait prevents <strong>damage</strong> by sources with the specified color or trait, meaning all such damage is prevented.</li>
<li>Protection prevents the target from being <strong>enchanted</strong> or<strong> equipped</strong> by permanents with the specified color or trait. Or fortified, I suppose, but <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Darksteel Garrison" href="#" target="_blank">Darksteel Garrison</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is pretty rare, anyway.</li>
<li>Protection keeps a target from being <strong>blocked</strong> by creatures with the specified color or trait.</li>
<li>Protection prevents the object from being <strong>targeted</strong> by something with the specified color or trait.</li>
</ul>
<p>For a full breakdown you can consult rule 702.16 to read the exact wording.</p>
<p>So how does that affect us?</p>
<p>Commanders:</p>
<ul>
<li>Most popular in the <a href="https://edhrec.com/commanders">last week</a>
<ul>
<li>6 of the top 10 are green</li>
<li>10 of the top 20 are green</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Most popular in the <a href="https://edhrec.com/commanders">last month</a>
<ul>
<li>5 of the top 10 are green</li>
<li>11 of the top 20 are green</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Most popular in the last <a href="https://edhrec.com/commanders">two years</a>
<ul>
<li>5 of the top 10 are green</li>
<li>10 of the top 20 are green</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p>That means that a creature equipped with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sword of Body and Mind" href="#" target="_blank">Sword of Body and Mind</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sword of Feast and Famine" href="#" target="_blank">Sword of Feast and Famine</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is going to be unblockable by slightly more than half the commanders you're most likely to see. So how about non-commander creatures?</p>
<ul>
<li>Most popular in the last week
<ul>
<li>5 of the top 5 of the most popular creatures are green</li>
<li>8 of the top 10</li>
<li>51 of the top 100</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Most popular in the last month
<ul>
<li>5 of the top 5 of the most popular creatures are green</li>
<li>8 of the top 10</li>
<li>53 of the top 100</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Most popular in the last two years</li>
<li style="list-style-type: none;">
<ul>
<li style="list-style-type: none;">
<ul>
<li>5 of the top 5 of the most popular creatures are green</li>
<li>8 of the top 10</li>
<li>51 of the top 100</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p>As with commanders, a bit over half the creatures you're likely to see can't block your bodies equipped with these two Swords.</p>
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Green grass and high tides forever</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mirran Crusader"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sphinx of the Steel Wind"></div></div>
<p>Additionally, there are another 17 creatures legal in the format with native protection from green, some of which actually see play, namely <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mirran Crusader" href="#" target="_blank">Mirran Crusader</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> in 2,268 decks and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sphinx of the Steel Wind" href="#" target="_blank">Sphinx of the Steel Wind</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> in an additional 1,823 lists in our database.</p>
<p>The same stats above apply to these 17 creatures in regards to the fact that they can't be blocked by about half the opposing bodies you're most likely to see in a pod, but it's not just blockers where protection from green is relevant. In the past week, two of the most popular instant-speed targeted removal spells are green: <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Assassin&#039;s Trophy" href="#" target="_blank">Assassin&#039;s Trophy</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Beast Within" href="#" target="_blank">Beast Within</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Both are in the top six in the last month, and while Trophy isn't present in the top ten list for the last two years due to being somewhat new, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Putrefy" href="#" target="_blank">Putrefy</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> takes its slot instead, giving green two of the top six during that time frame. Things fall way off the deeper you go, but the fact is that there's about a 40ish percent chance that a creature with pro green is going to be untargetable by the most popular targeted removal spells.</p>
<p>The stats are even better for <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sphinx of the Steel Wind" href="#" target="_blank">Sphinx of the Steel Wind</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, which shrugs off popular artifact removal spells like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Krosan Grip" href="#" target="_blank">Krosan Grip</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Nature&#039;s Claim" href="#" target="_blank">Nature&#039;s Claim</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> which show up in 31,940 and 18,886 decks, respectively.</p>
<p>The most popular targeted removal sorcery on EDHREC in the last two years? <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Decimate" href="#" target="_blank">Decimate</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and, you guessed it, it's green. Number three is also green: <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hull Breach" href="#" target="_blank">Hull Breach</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Oh, and two of the top three targeted removal spells that are enchantments are also green: <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Song of the Dryads" href="#" target="_blank">Song of the Dryads</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kenrith&#039;s Transformation" href="#" target="_blank">Kenrith&#039;s Transformation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>And hey, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Oko, Thief of Crowns" href="#" target="_blank">Oko, Thief of Crowns</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is green, so you're safe from being Elked.</p>
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Pick up a flat rock, skip it across Green River</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bereavement"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Flooded Woodlands"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mind Harness"></div></div>
<p>We've established that there are a LOT of green creatures showing up in pods. Are there any other cards that can take advantage of that?</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bereavement" href="#" target="_blank">Bereavement</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> forces a discard whenever a green creature dies, so about half of the creatures that you're most likely to see cause an opponent to discard a card when they die. That seems useful, especially if you yourself aren't running green. That's unfortunate for <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Nath of the Gilt-Leaf" href="#" target="_blank">Nath of the Gilt-Leaf</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> decks running green creatures, but for anyone else that isn't afraid to make some people irritated with hand destruction it seems pretty effective for the 1B cost. It feels like a genuinely effective card depending on your strategy, but it currently only shows up in 26 decks.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Flooded Woodlands" href="#" target="_blank">Flooded Woodlands</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a particularly brutal pillow fort effect, albeit in colors that generally aren't looking to pillow up outside maybe <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Oloro, Ageless Aesthetic" href="#" target="_blank">Oloro, Ageless Aesthetic</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Losing a land for each swinging green creature is a steep price to pay, especially if there are still other opponents to kill after you get taken down, and most people aren't going to be willing to pay it for half of the most popular creatures in the format.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mind Harness" href="#" target="_blank">Mind Harness</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> should be showing up in way more than 1/10 of 1% of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Muldrotha, the Grave Tide" href="#" target="_blank">Muldrotha, the Grave Tide</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> builds. A single blue mana to be able to steal half of the most popular creatures in the game? And that's just the green ones. Technically it hits 63 of the <a href="https://edhrec.com/top/creatures">100 most popular creature</a>s in the last two years and 13 of the top 20 commanders. It's a one-mana theft spell for 2/3 of the bodies you're likely to see show up. Yeah, it has a <em>Cumulative Upkeep</em>, but that still means it takes three turns to cost as much as <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Control Magic" href="#" target="_blank">Control Magic</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and most theft decks sacrifice the target fairly quickly, rendering the upkeep almost irrelevant. Muldrotha can recast this for U while saccing the body. That seems like insane value to me.</p>
<p>Those are the three bangers that I found that care about green creatures, but they're certainly not all of them. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Breath of Dreams" href="#" target="_blank">Breath of Dreams</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is going to force a <em>Cumulative Upkeep</em> on all those green bodies. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dream Tides" href="#" target="_blank">Dream Tides</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> imposes a two-mana tax to untap any creature, but it just flat-out prevents green ones from untapping at all. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="High Seas" href="#" target="_blank">High Seas</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> makes those green (as well as any red) creatures cost one more to cast. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Nature&#039;s Ruin" href="#" target="_blank">Nature&#039;s Ruin</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> destroys all green creatures, as does <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Perish" href="#" target="_blank">Perish</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, with the added caveat that they can't be regenerated, and lastly, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sphere of Duty" href="#" target="_blank">Sphere of Duty</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> prevents two damage from a green source. Most green sources are green, so, in effect, it prevents two damage from each green creature. You know all those green creatures that I talked about up top that fill out the ranks of the top five and top twenty most popular bodies in the format? Only 1 in the top 20 has power over 2, and that's <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tatyova, Benthic Druid" href="#" target="_blank">Tatyova, Benthic Druid</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, who's a 3/3.</p>
<p>Green brings more than creatures to the table as far as permanents go, though, as easy as that is to forget, and a lot of those are popular, too.</p>
<p>Enchantments:</p>
<ul>
<li>49 of the <a href="https://edhrec.com/top/enchantments">top 100 most popular enchantments</a> in the last week are green</li>
<li>46 of the top 100 in the last month</li>
<li>44 of teh top in the last two years</li>
</ul>
<p>Planeswalkers:</p>
<ul>
<li>36 of the <a href="https://edhrec.com/top/planeswalkers">top 100 most popular planeswalkers</a> in the last week are green</li>
<li>36 of the top 100 in the last month</li>
<li>37 of the top 100 in the last two years</li>
</ul>
<p>What cares about all of that?</p>
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">So if you want to, you got the green light</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Hibernation"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Insight"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Putrefaction"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hibernation" href="#" target="_blank">Hibernation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> returns all green permanents to their owner's hand. It's not <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cyclonic Rift" href="#" target="_blank">Cyclonic Rift</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, but it hits slightly more than half of the most-popular creatures, slightly less than half of all enchantments, and a tad (that's a technical term) over a third of the planeswalkers for less than one half the mana cost, and 1/30th of the price in terms of dollars.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Insight" href="#" target="_blank">Insight</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is only showing up in 237 decks, but there are pods that it's going to do more work than a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rhystic Study" href="#" target="_blank">Rhystic Study</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, drawing you a card off of every green spell played. In addition to the numbers for Hibernation, 35 of the top 100 sorceries in the last 2 years are green, as are 23 of the top 100 instants.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Putrefaction" href="#" target="_blank">Putrefaction</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> forces a discard whenever a player casts a green or white spell, fitting nicely in with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bereavement" href="#" target="_blank">Bereavement</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Withering Gaze" href="#" target="_blank">Withering Gaze</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> looks at target opponent's hand and lets you draw a card for each <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Forest" href="#" target="_blank">Forest</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and green card in it</p>
<p>Those three are probably the most generally impactful of the lot, but there are other options that might be worth running in a green-heavy meta with a lot of juicy targets. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Deathgrip" href="#" target="_blank">Deathgrip</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is an original card from <em>Alpha</em> and instead of drawing a card when someone casts a green spell like with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Insight" href="#" target="_blank">Insight</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, you can instead counter it for BB. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dystopia" href="#" target="_blank">Dystopia</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> similarly might be meta-dependent, forcing each player to sacrifice a green (or white) permanent during their upkeep, but there's a lot of green permanents that fit this bill, and that's even before we get to the white ones. Lastly, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Essence Leak" href="#" target="_blank">Essence Leak</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> forces the controller to sacrifice the enchanted green or red permanent unless they pay its mana cost each upkeep. As with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dystopia" href="#" target="_blank">Dystopia</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, that's a fairly large percentage of cards before we even look at the red ones that it hits.</p>
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Everything's Gone Green</h2>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Thanks for reading! How many of you out there are running any of these color-specific cards focused on green or are interested giving them a look? I'd love to hear about your experiences in the comments below. Thanks for reading, and may your numbers always be superior.</p>


Dana Roach