Rite of FlameRite of Flame | Art by Dany Orizio

Hello there! Welcome back to Fire and Ice, the data-driven series where I go over cards that are gaining and losing popularity in different Commander decks. I'm Julia, EDHREC's Duchess of Data, and I'm super excited to jump into today's article!

EDHREC, of course, has a ton of data. Using that data, we'll draw conclusions about how certain commanders' decks have changed over time, give some insight into how the format's players are thinking about new cards, and hopefully give you some cool tech for your favorite commander's list.

As per last week's poll, we'll be focusing on Myrkul, Lord of BonesMyrkul, Lord of Bones, who took home 48.09% of the vote, and Gev, Scaled ScorchGev, Scaled Scorch, who grabbed 27.87% of the vote. Orvar, the All-FormOrvar, the All-Form was sadly not as popular, taking just 24.04% of the vote. Stick around to the end of this article if you'd like to influence next week's article, too!

For now, though, we've got two super cool commanders to focus on this week. Let's get going!

For information on how we calculate the Fire and Ice scores used in this article, check out this write-up.

Myrkul, Lord of BonesMyrkul, Lord of Bones

Hot and Cold cards for Myrkul, Lord of Bones

Myrkul is a super powerful commander. For , we get a (sometimes indestructible) 7/5 God. And, whenever a creature we control dies, we can exile it to make an enchantment token copy of that card.

This is really cool, lending a second life to our best creatures if they die. This opens the door to combos with cards like Devoted DruidDevoted Druid and Barrenton MedicBarrenton Medic, or huge amounts of value with cards like Setessan ChampionSetessan Champion and Sanctum WeaverSanctum Weaver.

As for the deck's most popular cards, we see Sphere of SafetySphere of Safety in 47% of Myrkul lists, Sterling GroveSterling Grove in 60% of lists, and Braids, Arisen NightmareBraids, Arisen Nightmare in 37% of lists.

Now that we know what's in these decks, let's see what's Fiery and Icy for Myrkul!

What's Fiery for Myrkul Decks?

There's actually not too many hot cards for this commander, surprisingly. Nevertheless, let's take a look at what's gaining popularity with Myrkul pilots.

Blood ArtistBlood Artist has a Fire Score of 2.25. This is a relatively low score, likely because Blood Artist is a mainstay of Aristocrats decks. Players who wanted to include this creature in their build likely did so before March, when we began this round of data collection.

Same goes for Elas il-Kor, Sadistic PilgrimElas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim and her Fire Score of 2.14. Both of these cards are staples in decks that care about death triggers, so their moderate popularity is to be expected.

Our other two Fiery cards, Morbid OpportunistMorbid Opportunist and Pitiless PlundererPitiless Plunderer, both have Fire Scores of 2.15, and find themselves performing similar roles in Aristocrats decks. They're both payoffs for creatures dying that find themselves at the middle of a deck's mana curve.

They're integral to this archetype's success, and I'm glad to see that more Myrkul builders are coming around to that fact.

Combined, these two groups of cards show me that deckbuilders are shifting towards a more Aristocrats-style build. Many pilots are leaning harder into death triggers, and (as we're about to see) leaning away from enchantress-style cards.

What's Icy for Myrkul Decks?

There's a lot more cold cards for Myrkul, and most of them seem to be focused around enchantments. Archon of Sun's GraceArchon of Sun's Grace has an Ice Score of -2.87, Sanctum WeaverSanctum Weaver has an Ice Score of -2.70, and Setessan ChampionSetessan Champion has an Ice Score of -2.57.

All of these cards excel when paired with our enchantment-ified creatures, giving us extra tokens, mana, and card advantage, respectively. They're great cards for a deck that goes all-in on enchantments, but this deck is split between that strategy and the aforementioned death trigger-centric strategy.

Pilots are likely looking to balance their 99 between those two dissimilar themes more evenly.

There's three more similar cold cards. Eidolon of BlossomsEidolon of Blossoms has an Ice Score of -2.44, Sterling GroveSterling Grove is at -2.44, and Composer of SpringComposer of Spring is dipping to -2.05. Again, it seems that many deckbuilders are shifting their focus.

The only card-specific comment that I've got is for Sterling Grove: I imagine that the shroud it grants has some anti-synergy with a lot of the best cards in the deck (like Yenna, Redtooth RegentYenna, Redtooth Regent), so I wouldn't be surprised to see this enchantment dip in popularity even further.

Our last groups of cards are more generically powerful, rather than falling into either one of the deck's two main themes. Birds of ParadiseBirds of Paradise and Avacyn's PilgrimAvacyn's Pilgrim have Ice Scores of -2.02 and -2.57, respectively, and I'm personally puzzled by their departure. These are staples for decks that need a lot of mana, and this deck certainly needs to ramp up to its costly commander quickly.

The last two cold cards for this list both cost , interestingly enough. Teferi's ProtectionTeferi's Protection has an Ice Score of -2.72, and it's likely because it's a Game Changer. Myrkul pilots looking to play in lower Brackets need to limit the number of these cards they play, and it seems that this was an easy one to cut.

Finally, we get to Ghostly PrisonGhostly Prison and its Ice Score of -2.40. This pillow fort enchantment can certainly lend peace of mind to its pilots, but I frequently argue for more synergistic cards in its place. I'm glad that deckbuilders are seeing the light!

What's in a Myrkul, Lord of Bones Deck?

So, let's see what a Myrkul list with all of its Fiery cards and none of its Icy cards looks like!

Gev, Scaled ScorchGev, Scaled Scorch

Hot and Cold cards for Gev, Scaled Scorch

For a two-drop, Gev packs a serious punch. If we've got the proper setup to ensure that each of our opponents is losing life every turn, he'll give every single creature we cast an extra three +1/+1 counters! So, we'll make sure to ping our opponents often and capitalize off of that life loss. Sounds like a player's dream!

To that end, Iridescent VinelasherIridescent Vinelasher is one of the most popular cards in Gev decks, finding a slot in 73% of them. Payoffs for life loss, like Fireglass MentorFireglass Mentor and Flamecache GeckoFlamecache Gecko, are hugely popular too, finding themselves in 72% and 71% of Gev lists, respectively.

Notably, all of these creatures are Lizards! This plays well with our commander's second ability, and adds some nice kindred flavor to the deck.

Now that we know what Gev does, let's see what's hot and what's not for this reptile.

What's Fiery for Gev Decks?

These decks have gotten a lot of tools recently, including some extremely efficient pingers. This deck's hottest card, by far, is SabotenderSabotender with a massive Fire Score of 7.97! This is one of the most efficient landfall pingers out there, turning something as simple as a land drop into direct damage to our opponents. Plus, it's a 2/1 with reach, meaning that it can punch up as a blocker.

Gastal ThrillseekerGastal Thrillseeker is popular too, with a Fire Score of 2.51. This creature is, realistically, a one-time ping (or two-time if you count the cast trigger from our commander). But, it's a Lizard with deathtouch and lifelink. That typeline, and those abilities, make it a shoo-in for Gev players focused on more casual, typal gameplay.

There's also some popular spells that whittle our opponents' life totals down. BoltwaveBoltwave has a Fire Score of 3.81, and it's hard to beat its rate of nine damage for just . That efficiency likely explains its popularity.

As for Risky ShortcutRisky Shortcut and its Fire Score of 2.17, it seems to have replaced some less synergistic card draw spells that were previously in this deck. This spell grants us card advantage and fully activates our commander's +1/+1 counter granting ability, making it an easy pick for deckbuilders.

Our last Fiery card is, funnily enough, The Fire CrystalThe Fire Crystal with a Fire Score of 3.43. This artifact does a little bit of everything that decks want. It grants haste to our creatures, reduces the cost of most of our spells, and even gives us an outlet for our excess mana in the late game.

Every card in this Final Fantasy cycle is great, and I'm not at all surprised to see The Fire Crystal's popularity here.

What's Icy for Gev Decks?

The three Iciest cards for Gev all serve the same purpose: card advantage. Read the BonesRead the Bones has an Ice Score of -2.38, Sign in BloodSign in Blood is at -2.28, and Grab the PrizeGrab the Prize has dropped to -2.26. Each of these spells provide two cards to their caster for a relatively low cost, but each of them seems to have been replaced by the aforementioned Risky ShortcutRisky Shortcut.

The newer spell provides the same number of cards for a similar rate, but is also guaranteed to take a chunk of our opponents' life totals on resolution. Deckbuilders seem to be swapping one of these three cards for Risky Shortcut, as their similar Ice Scores seem to show.

Our next cold card is a well-known combo piece: Murderous RedcapMurderous Redcap. This Goblin Assassin's got an Ice Score of -2.25, and I imagine it's because Gev players are trying to play their decks in lower brackets. It's easy to simply remove half of a two-card combo to power down a deck, and that's exactly what many pilots appear to have done.

Our last cold card is a classic enchantment for group slug decks: Theater of HorrorsTheater of Horrors. This one's got an Ice Score of -2.02. While it's certainly an interesting card, and on theme for the deck, I view it as a trap for deckbuilders. I'm about to go on a bit of a rant, so bear with me.

First off, Theater of Horrors requires both a pip and a pip. That's usually fine in two-color decks like this one, but that requirement can sometimes prohibit you from even casting this enchantment. Second, you only get access to the cards you exile during your turn and only if an opponent lost life on that turn. That's a lot of hoops to jump through for just one card.

And, while it seems appealing that Theater's activated ability can damage an opponent, it costs to deal just one damage to one opponent. That's way too much to ask when similarly costed enchantments like Phyrexian ArenaPhyrexian Arena exist. Goodbye and good riddance, Theater of Horrors.

What's in a Gev, Scaled Scorch Deck?

Here's a Gev decklist, with all of our hot cards in and all of our cold cards out!

Conclusion

Thanks for reading this week's edition of Fire and Ice! As we've done over the past few weeks, we'd love to get your input on next week's article. There's a poll below with a few options, so please vote on which commanders you'd like to see some stats on next week!

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