Ultra Budget Brews - Melek, Izzet Paragon

Commander Showdown - Teysa vs Teysa

The 600 - Predicting the Popularity of Ravnica Allegiance Commanders

The Knowledge Pool - Prime Speaker Vannifar

<h6 style="text-align: right;">(<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Melek, Izzet Paragon" href="#" target="_blank">Melek, Izzet Paragon</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="http://www.jasonchanart.com/">Jason Chan</a>)</h6>
<h1 style="text-align: left;" align="center">Let's Get Weird</h1>
<p style="text-align: left;" align="center">Hello, and welcome to the first ever <i>Strategic Planning</i>, a column where we’ll goldfish a commander’s EDHREC Average Decklist list in order to get a better feeling for their strengths and weaknesses before brewing them ourselves! Let's get to it!</p>
<p>First, some notes about goldfishing. 'Goldfishing' is the process of testing out a deck by piloting it against an opponent (the goldfish) who does nothing. You might also call it 'solitaire.' Goldfishing can help you get an idea of how fast a given list can produce threats and find combo pieces, but it’s also useful for familiarizing yourself with how individual cards fit in to the larger engine of the deck, demonstrating which cards aren’t pulling their weight, and giving a better sense of what hands are actually safe to keep given the density of our draw and ramp effects.</p>
<p>Simply put, our opponents are <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Unexpectedly Absent" href="#" target="_blank">Unexpectedly Absent</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> while we conduct our <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Epic Experiment" href="#" target="_blank">Epic Experiment</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Unexpectedly Absent"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Epic Experiment"></div></div>
<p>Don't forget to throw yourself some curveballs! In addition to being a good way to learn the mechanics of a deck’s operation, goldfishing can be an opportunity to see how a deck handles removal or sweepers. Once a list is tuned enough that it can reliably get its engine started while goldfishing, I like to start throwing disruption at it to see how well it can bounce back. Though the specifics are largely meta-dependent, some threats are very unlikely to go unanswered in a four player format for very long. Simulating that can give you a better idea of how resilient your list is once it makes itself a target for the rest of the table, and how difficult it will be to rebuild if you’re punished for overextending.</p>
<hr />
<h3>The Weird World of Melek, Spellslinger</h3>
<p>For today’s exercise in applied goldfishing, we’re going to look at <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Melek, Izzet Paragon" href="#" target="_blank">Melek, Izzet Paragon</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, who hails from the plane of Ravnica and is currently the fourth most popular Izzet commander on EDHREC with 1,148 decks at the time of this writing.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Melek, Izzet Paragon"></div></div>
<p>Six mana in blue and red is a hefty investment, and commander tax can easily render Melek unplayably expensive. We’ll have to keep this in mind while evaluating the rest of our brew.</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: left;"><strong>“Play with the top card of your library revealed.”</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>This effect is difficult to evaluate as the extra information given to our opponents can help them play around our upcoming cards, but by the same token, so can we.</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: left;"><strong>“You may cast the top card of your library if it’s an instant or sorcery card.”</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>Though more limited than <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Future Sight" href="#" target="_blank">Future Sight</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, this line of text can provide very powerful card advantage in a build with a high enough spell density.</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: left;"><strong>“Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell from your library, copy it. You may choose new targets for the copy.”</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>This is a big payoff. Anyone who’s ever untapped with a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Swarm Intelligence" href="#" target="_blank">Swarm Intelligence</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> knows that if an instant or sorcery effect is good enough to want once, it’s even better when you can get it twice. The strength of Melek’s ability combined with his high mana investment means that he will almost certainly be a lightning rod for removal, so protecting him is a high priority.</p>
<hr />
<h2>The Average List</h2>
<p>The average list for <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Melek, Izzet Paragon" href="#" target="_blank">Melek, Izzet Paragon</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> on EDHREC is as follows:</p>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Melek, Average Paragon" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Melek, Izzet Paragon
[/Commander]
[Instants]
*1 Blue Sun&#039;s Zenith
*1 Brainstorm
*1 Chaos Warp
*1 Comet Storm
*1 Counterflux
*1 Counterspell
*1 Cyclonic Rift
*1 Fact or Fiction
*1 Firemind&#039;s Foresight
*1 Frantic Search
*1 High Tide
*1 Increasing Vengeance
*1 Insidious Will
*1 Izzet Charm
*1 Lightning Bolt
*1 Mystical Tutor
*1 Reiterate
*1 Reverberate
*1 Seething Song
*1 Turnabout
*1 Twincast
[/Instants]
[Creatures]
*1 Baral, Chief of Compliance
*1 Bloodwater Entity
*1 Charmbreaker Devils
*1 Docent of Perfection
*1 Galvanoth
*1 Goblin Electromancer
*1 Guttersnipe
*1 Hypersonic Dragon
*1 Izzet Chemister
*1 Talrand, Sky Summoner
*1 Young Pyromancer
[/Creatures]
[Artifacts]
*1 Darksteel Ingot
*1 Gilded Lotus
*1 Izzet Signet
*1 Primal Amulet
*1 Pyromancer&#039;s Goggles
*1 Sensei&#039;s Divining Top
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Sphinx-Bone Wand
*1 Thought Vessel
[/Artifacts]
[Sorceries]
*1 Blasphemous Act
*1 Bonus Round
*1 Doublecast
*1 Epic Experiment
*1 Jaya&#039;s Immolating Inferno
*1 Mana Geyser
*1 Merchant Scroll
*1 Mind&#039;s Desire
*1 Mizzium Mortars
*1 Mizzix&#039;s Mastery
*1 Mystic Retrieval
*1 Past in Flames
*1 Ponder
*1 Preordain
*1 Rite of Replication
*1 Spelltwine
*1 Treasure Cruise
*1 Vandalblast
[/Sorceries]
[Enchantments]
*1 Jace&#039;s Sanctum
*1 Swarm Intelligence
*1 The Mirari Conjecture
*1 Thousand-Year Storm
[/Enchantments]
[Planeswalkers]
*1 Jaya Ballard
[/Planeswalkers]
[Lands]
*1 Command Tower
*1 Evolving Wilds
*1 Halimar Depths
*1 Izzet Boilerworks
*1 Izzet Guildgate
*1 Reliquary Tower
*1 Shivan Reef
*1 Steam Vents
*1 Swiftwater Cliffs
*1 Temple of Epiphany
*1 Terramorphic Expanse
*12 Island
*12 Mountain
[/Lands]"></span></div>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>This list has an average converted mana cost of 3.48 and a retail price from TCGplayer of $175. Let’s take it for a spin!</p>
<hr />
<h2>Test Results and Fine-Tuning</h2>
<ol>
<li><b>Getting the engine running</b></li>
</ol>
<p>The first thing I noticed while goldfishing this average list was how many unkeepable starting hands it produced. Thanks to the high CMC of the commander and our bigger, high-impact spells, many games left us in the 'feels bad' position of spending multiple turns playing nothing with a handful of powerful cards that were too expensive to cast. The hands that allowed us to get the engine up and running before turn seven or eight usually contained at least one peice of low-CMC ramp and card draw to help us to hit our land drops.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sky Diamond"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Fire Diamond"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Palladium Myr"></div></div>
<p>To tighten this up, our final brew should contain much cheaper artifact ramp, with an emphasis on two-mana cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sky Diamond" href="#" target="_blank">Sky Diamond</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fire Diamond" href="#" target="_blank">Fire Diamond</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and the efficiently scalable <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Everflowing Chalice" href="#" target="_blank">Everflowing Chalice</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. This increases our chances of having ramp that we can afford to cast off the lands in our opening hand, which was often the deciding factor in whether the engine could get running quickly, or couldn't get running at all. Both <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Worn Powerstone" href="#" target="_blank">Worn Powerstone</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Palladium Myr" href="#" target="_blank">Palladium Myr</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are also strong inclusions, as playing one on turn three can allow us to drop our commander as early as turn four.</p>
<p>One suite of cards in particular that made an opening hand significantly more likely to get the deck’s engine running were the cheap cantrips.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Brainstorm"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ponder"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Telling Time"></div></div>
<p>In addition to saving opening hands, cantrips can be played to dig through our deck when there isn’t a good target for Melek on top of the library, and these particular cantrips also provide us the ability to put something specific on the top of the deck ourselves. Cantrips also generate exceptional card advantage for their mana cost when doublecast with Melek, and can often chain several of themselves together in one turn. Because of this, we’re going to emphasize cantrips in our final brew, which will hopefully add some consistency to our openers and help us dig into relevant interaction and protection in the mid to late game.</p>
<p>One final effect that proved invaluable was repeatable top deck manipulation, which often ended up being the difference between getting a large chain of spells out of Melek or fizzling out and being stuck staring at a top deck <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Island" href="#" target="_blank">Island</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. When goldfishing a revised brew, I was consistently impressed how much work cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Merfolk Looter" href="#" target="_blank">Merfolk Looter</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Enclave Cryptologist" href="#" target="_blank">Enclave Cryptologist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Crystal Ball" href="#" target="_blank">Crystal Ball</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> did in allowing us to take full advantage of Melek’s ability or to smooth out our draws in the early game. Though <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sensei&#039;s Divining Top" href="#" target="_blank">Sensei&#039;s Divining Top</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is another popular top deck manipulation effect, I chose not to include it in our list as I’ve yet to see a table that doesn't let out a collective groan when it hits the field. If, however, you think you can use it without it taking up too much of everybody’s time, it’s another strong option.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Enclave Cryptologist"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Merfolk Looter"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Crystal Ball"></div></div>
<hr />
<p><b>2. Keeping the engine running</b></p>
<p>Once Melek was out, especially with a way to dig through our topdeck for instants and sorceries, the value generated was explosive, but vulnerable to disruption. Simulated board wipes or creature removal while goldfishing often left us with no board state and few or no cards in hand. To try to mitigate this problem, we’ll be including several more pieces of protection for our commander, including the pair of ever-popular <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Swiftfoot Boots" href="#" target="_blank">Swiftfoot Boots</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lightning Greaves" href="#" target="_blank">Lightning Greaves</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, as well as <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Diplomatic Immunity" href="#" target="_blank">Diplomatic Immunity</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vanishing" href="#" target="_blank">Vanishing</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. This protection along with a suite of counterspells will hopefully be enough for us to stick Melek long enough to get some value.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Diplomatic Immunity"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Vanishing"></div></div>
<hr />
<p><b>3. Closing out the game</b></p>
<p>Now that we can get our engine running, it’s time to generate enough value to pull out ahead and win. To best mesh with what we’re already doing, our spellslinger payoff cards are going to focus on netting us extra value from every spell we cast. Cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Metallurgic Summonings" href="#" target="_blank">Metallurgic Summonings</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <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>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Docent of Perfection" href="#" target="_blank">Docent of Perfection</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can help us overwhelm the board with tokens.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Metallurgic Summonings"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Thousand-Year Storm"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Runechanter&#039;s Pike"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sphinx Bone Wand" href="#" target="_blank">Sphinx Bone Wand</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <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> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Firemind’s Research" href="#" target="_blank">Firemind’s Research</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> each tie some additional incremental benefit to our spells. Meanwhile, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Swarm Intelligence" href="#" target="_blank">Swarm Intelligence</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thousand-Year Storm" href="#" target="_blank">Thousand-Year Storm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> turn our cantrips up to 11. We also have two payoffs that scale based on the total number of instants and sorceries in the graveyard: <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rise from the Tides" href="#" target="_blank">Rise from the Tides</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Runechanter’s Pike" href="#" target="_blank">Runechanter’s Pike</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. The former can produce serious board presence late game, and the latter can turn our humble 2/4 into a beefy combat threat.</p>
<hr />
<h2>Our Final Results</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Weird Science" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Melek, Izzet Paragon
[/Commander]
[Creatures]
*1 Charmbreaker Devils
*1 Docent of Perfection
*1 Enclave Cryptologist
*1 Goblin Electromancer
*1 Iron Myr
*1 Merfolk Looter
*1 Palladium Myr
*1 Silver Myr
*1 Talrand, Sky Summoner
[/Creatures]
[Instants]
*1 Anticipate
*1 Brainstorm
*1 Chaos Warp
*1 Counterspell
*1 Arcane Denial
*1 Fact or Fiction
*1 Frantic Search
*1 Impulse
*1 Mystic Confluence
*1 Mystical Tutor
*1 Opt
*1 Pull from Tomorrow
*1 Reality Shift
*1 Spell Swindle
*1 Telling Time
[/Instants]
[Sorceries]
*1 Dream Cache
*1 Foresee
*1 Jaya&#039;s Immolating Inferno
*1 Knowledge Exploitation
*1 Mystic Speculation
*1 Ponder
*1 Portent
*1 Pull from the Deep
*1 Rise from the Tides
*1 Rite of Replication
*1 Serum Visions
*1 Spelltwine
*1 Treasure Cruise
*1 Volcanic Vision
[/Sorceries]
[Artifacts]
*1 Aetherflux Reservoir
*1 Crystal Ball
*1 Everflowing Chalice
*1 Fellwar Stone
*1 Fire Diamond
*1 Hedron Archive
*1 Izzet Signet
*1 Lightning Greaves
*1 Mind Stone
*1 Primal Amulet
*1 Runechanter&#039;s Pike
*1 Seal of the Guildpact
*1 Sky Diamond
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Sphinx-Bone Wand
*1 Swiftfoot Boots
*1 Worn Powerstone
[/Artifacts]
[Enchantments]
*1 Diplomatic Immunity
*1 Firemind&#039;s Research
*1 Jace&#039;s Sanctum
*1 Swarm Intelligence
*1 Thousand-Year Storm
*1 Vanishing
[/Enchantments]
[Lands]
*1 Command Tower
*1 Desolate Lighthouse
*1 Exotic Orchard
*1 Forgotten Cave
*1 Ghost Quarter
*1 Halimar Depths
*14 Island
*1 Isolated Watchtower
*1 Izzet Boilerworks
*1 Lonely Sandbar
*10 Mountain
*1 Myriad Landscape
*1 Remote Isle
*1 Smoldering Crater
*1 Temple of Epiphany
*1 Zhalfirin Void
[/Lands]"></span></div>

<hr />
<p>At an average converted mana cost of 3.18 and a TCGplayer estimated price of ~$80, our finished brew has cut down its cost in both mana curve and dollar amount! However, can it succeed where the average lists have failed?</p>
<p>While playtesting this list I was pleasantly surprised at how much of a difference in consistency and resilience the focus on early ramp and cantrips made. I was often able to get a large chunk of value out of Melek on the turn he came out by being able to cast spells that same turn, which made a simulated board wipe after passing priority a much smaller tempo loss. Though the deck still needs to be judicious about committing Melek to the battlefield, it was easier to get him there, easier to get him back out again if necessary, and easier to make sure his ability had a useful target by holding up cantrips to dig further in our top deck.</p>
<p>That’s it for this week! Please let me know in the comments if you think there’s anything I missed or if there’s a particular commander you’d like to see on a future installment of <em>Strategic Planning.</em></p>


Articles

Ultra Budget Brews - Melek, Izzet Paragon

Commander Showdown - Teysa vs Teysa

The 600 - Predicting the Popularity of Ravnica Allegiance Commanders

The Knowledge Pool - Prime Speaker Vannifar

Strategic Planning - Weird Science, Featuring Melek

Mind Bend - Rakdos Walls

Historically Speaking - The Orzhov Syndicate

Underdog's Corner - Trostani Discordant

Making the Cut - Pseudo Commanders

Epic Experiment - Dragonstorm Kaalia