<h6 style="text-align: right;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Savannah Lions" href="#" target="_blank">Savannah Lions</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | <a href="https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?action=advanced&amp;artist=[%22Daniel%20Gelon%22]">Art by Daniel Gelon</a></h6>
<h1>Old Mister Johnson Had Troubles of His Own</h1>
<p>Hello, and welcome back to <em>Singleton Shmingleton</em>, where I bend the singleton rules of Commander by building decks with as many functional reprints of a certain card as possible. This week we are taking a look at a card with a lengthy pedigree in other formats. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Savannah Lions" href="#" target="_blank">Savannah Lions</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> was the original aggressive one-drop, headlining White Weenie decks before red became the go-to aggro color. In the days when creatures were bad and games started slowly, a 2/1 on turn one demanded an answer, fast.</p>
<p>The Cat itself has dropped off some in the last thirty years, but it started a powerful lineage. Standard aggro decks live or die by the quality of their one-drops, and 2/1s often tie these decks together. Even at a time when White Weenie isn't at the top of any format, these little guys see play in Standard Soldier decks and Pioneer Humans decks. Outside of white, there's a certain <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer" href="#" target="_blank">monkey</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> that shows up all over Modern.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Savannah Lions"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Recruitment Officer"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer"></div></div>
<p>2/1 for one mana has continued to be an efficient rate in sixty-card <em>Magic</em> through decades of power creep, even if these days you're hoping for some real upside tacked on. Sadly, this is not the kind of efficiency that holds up well in Commander. Aggression in the form of small fast creatures doesn't pan out well against multiple opponents at 40 life each. Aggro decks can succeed, but they need some sort of engine that can snowball to be able to keep up with the rest of the table's development. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Savannah Lions" href="#" target="_blank">Savannah Lions</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> sees play in 1,702 decks, but that number is buffered by a lot of Cat decks and the iconic status of the card. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Elite Vanguard" href="#" target="_blank">Elite Vanguard</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, another vanilla version, only sees 733 decks, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Expedition Envoy" href="#" target="_blank">Expedition Envoy</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, which should also have the creature type boost as an Ally, only sees 681 decks. If we're going to make an engine out of these cards, we're going to need to do more than attack with them.</p>
<hr />
<h2>He Had a Yellow Cat That Wouldn't Leave His Home</h2>
<p>Every time I start thinking about <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Savannah Lions" href="#" target="_blank">Savannah Lions</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> variants, my mind starts wandering over to the dark side. Specifically, into the color black. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bloodsoaked Champion" href="#" target="_blank">Bloodsoaked Champion</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dread Wanderer" href="#" target="_blank">Dread Wanderer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gutterbones" href="#" target="_blank">Gutterbones</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>? <em>These</em> are cards I would play in Commander! Recursive bodies can fuel all sorts of shenanigans, from Aristocrats strategies to <em>Dredge</em> decks. Now, for this to be a true <em>Shmingleton</em> deck, we'll have to care about more than just their general utility.</p>
<p>Anyways, here's a list of 2/1s for one in black that can recur themselves.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="He Tried and He Tried to Give the Cat Away" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="Creature
*1 &#039;Lifetime&#039; Pass Holder
*1 Bloodsoaked Champion
*1 Cult Conscript
*1 Dread Wanderer
*1 Dungeon Crawler
*1 Gravecrawler
*1 Gutterbones"></span></div>

<hr />
<p>This isn't quite enough to count on always having one, but once we add in cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bloodghast" href="#" target="_blank">Bloodghast</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dregscape Zombie" href="#" target="_blank">Dregscape Zombie</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, we're starting to reach critical mass. The best of these "lions" are quite popular, with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gravecrawler" href="#" target="_blank">Gravecrawler</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> in 39,794 decks and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bloodsoaked Champion" href="#" target="_blank">Bloodsoaked Champion</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> at 17,700 decks. The worst by far is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dungeon Crawler" href="#" target="_blank">Dungeon Crawler</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, since we're definitely not going to put in the work for any dungeons, and it looks like no one else will either, as it sees play in only 748 decks.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="&quot;Lifetime&quot; Pass Holder"></div></div>
<hr />
<h2>He Gave it to a Man Going Far Far Away</h2>
<p>We still need a way to turn these cards into an engine, but luckily there's a perfect payoff that we can run in the command zone. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Anhelo, the Painter" href="#" target="_blank">Anhelo, the Painter</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> lets us use our tiny creatures to copy spells. Since these creatures are cheap and we can get them back, that's almost like getting a bunch of free spells! I'm surprised to find so few of these reusable 2/1s on Anhelo's EDHREC page. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bloodsoaked Champion" href="#" target="_blank">Bloodsoaked Champion</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is only in 20% of his decks, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cult Conscript" href="#" target="_blank">Cult Conscript</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is only in 11%. These are perfect enablers for him to start copying spells every turn. Now all we have to do is fill the rest of the deck with powerful spells, and we'll be good to go.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Anhelo, the Painter"></div></div>
<p>Yes, using this commander means we don't get to use the namesake <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Savannah Lions" href="#" target="_blank">Savannah Lions</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, but like I said before, I can't help turning to the dark side!</p>
<p>Also, if we're truly investigating the power of consistency, shouldn't we also fill the deck with a lot of copies of the same <em>type </em>of spell? Something that can keep the engine going? Something that always feels good? That's right, this is going to become the first double episode of <em>Shmingleton</em>, because that card is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Divination" href="#" target="_blank">Divination</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Divinations" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="*1 Archmage&#039;s Charm
*1 Counsel of the Soratami
*1 Distorted Curiosity
*1 Divination
*1 Field Research
*1 Jace&#039;s Triumph
*1 Of One Mind
*1 Secrets of the Golden City
*1 Winged Words"></span></div>

<hr />
<p>I'm surprised that <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Winged Words" href="#" target="_blank">Winged Words</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is the most played of these cards, even above <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>, but two mana to draw two always feels good, I suppose. Personally I like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Of One Mind" href="#" target="_blank">Of One Mind</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> the most, because two cards for one mana is a serious discount, and the stipulation isn't all that hard in the right deck. If you run any Humans that produce tokens, most of those tokens will be non-Human, and if you care about a creature type like Wizard or Rogue, you'll get a good mix of Humans and non-Humans in the deck just by accident!</p>
<p>This many <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Divination" href="#" target="_blank">Divination</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>s can really churn through our deck, finding more 2/1s or more <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Divination" href="#" target="_blank">Divination</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>s to keep the engine running. Even better are the four other draw-twos we'll play. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Big Score" href="#" target="_blank">Big Score</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Unexpected Windfall" href="#" target="_blank">Unexpected Windfall</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Pirate&#039;s Pillage" href="#" target="_blank">Pirate&#039;s Pillage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Seize the Spoils" href="#" target="_blank">Seize the Spoils</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> work perfectly with copy effects; we only have to pay the additional cost once, but we get twice the draws and twice the Treasure. All but <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Seize the Spoils" href="#" target="_blank">Seize the Spoils</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> end up being mana-neutral, so we can play whatever we've drawn right away!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Big Score"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Pirate&#039;s Pillage"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Seize the Spoils"></div></div>
<p>Now that we have an engine, we need to figure out what to do with it. This is one of the problems that I fall into most often in Commander: I find a way to generate value, but I don't have a next step. It feels crude to just dig into a combo or into a ridiculous finisher. Cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Craterhoof Behemoth" href="#" target="_blank">Craterhoof Behemoth</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> win the game definitively, but their power often makes it feel like they devalue all of the decisions and actions that led up to the point in the game where they're cast. I find myself wanting the endgame to be just as fun as the journey. This is a deck that draws a lot of cards, so our payoff should be a celebration of drawing cards.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Chasm Skulker"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Alandra, Sky Dreamer"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Nadir Kraken"></div></div>
<p>This is a deck that can play a grindy attrition game quite well. We can trade resources before anything spirals out of control and then keep on refilling our hands, but the deck can struggle if another player gets momentum going, and individual spot removal and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Counterspell" href="#" target="_blank">Counterspell</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>s stop being enough to slow things down. Many of our threats grow when we draw cards, so they can get to be pretty large, but this deck isn't built to go over the top the way some decks are.</p>
<p>The engine itself feels so good. Drawing cards is its own reward, and we can feel clever while doing it. It's actually not too hard to bring most of our 2/1s back, and they put in work as pesky attackers and as bodies. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Savannah Lions" href="#" target="_blank">Savannah Lions</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will never take over Commander, but this deck successfully exploits the stats of these kinds of creatures over and over again.</p>
<hr />
<h2>The Decklist</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="But the Cat Came Back, the Very Next Day" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Anhelo, the Painter
[/Commander]
[Creatures]
*1 &#039;Lifetime&#039; Pass Holder
*1 Alandra, Sky Dreamer
*1 Bloodghast
*1 Bloodsoaked Champion
*1 Champion of Wits
*1 Chasm Skulker
*1 Cult Conscript
*1 Dread Wanderer
*1 Dregscape Zombie
*1 Dungeon Crawler
*1 Ghoulsteed
*1 Gixian Puppeteer
*1 Gravecrawler
*1 Gurgling Anointer
*1 Gutterbones
*1 Haunted Dead
*1 Jace&#039;s Projection
*1 Mad Ratter
*1 Minn, Wily Illusionist
*1 Nadir Kraken
*1 Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
*1 Oneirophage
*1 Oona&#039;s Gatewarden
*1 Prized Amalgam
*1 Psychosis Crawler
*1 Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer
*1 Razorlash Transmogrant
*1 Scrapheap Scrounger
*1 Scrapwork Mutt
*1 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
*1 Skyclave Shade
*1 The Locust God
*1 Thopter Mechanic
*1 Tolarian Kraken
*1 Toothy, Imaginary Friend
*1 Tormented Hero
[/Creatures]
[Instants]
*1 Archmage&#039;s Charm
*1 Big Score
*1 Counterspell
*1 Deadly Dispute
*1 Frantic Search
*1 Tainted Indulgence
*1 Thirst for Discovery
*1 Unexpected Windfall
[/Instants]
[Sorceries]
*1 Chart a Course
*1 Compulsive Research
*1 Counsel of the Soratami
*1 Distorted Curiosity
*1 Divination
*1 Field Research
*1 Ghastly Discovery
*1 Jace&#039;s Triumph
*1 Of One Mind
*1 Pirate&#039;s Pillage
*1 Secrets of the Golden City
*1 Seize the Spoils
*1 Winged Words
[/Sorceries]
[Artifacts]
*1 Arcane Signet
*1 Dimir Signet
*1 Izzet Signet
*1 Rakdos Signet
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Thought Vessel
[/Artifacts]
[Enchantments]
*1 Improbable Alliance
*1 Ominous Seas
[/Enchantments]
[Planeswalker]
*1 Teferi, Temporal Pilgrim
[/Planeswalker]
[Lands]
*1 Arid Mesa
*1 Blood Crypt
*1 Bloodstained Mire
*1 Bojuka Bog
*1 Command Tower
*1 Crumbling Necropolis
*1 Dragonskull Summit
*1 Drowned Catacomb
*1 Flooded Strand
6x Island
*1 Marsh Flats
*1 Misty Rainforest
*1 Mountain
*1 Polluted Delta
*1 Scalding Tarn
*1 Smoldering Marsh
*1 Steam Vents
*1 Sulfur Falls
*1 Sunken Hollow
5x Swamp
*1 Verdant Catacombs
*1 Watery Grave
*1 Wooded Foothills
*1 Xander&#039;s Lounge
[/Lands]"></span></div>

<hr />
<h2>Until Next Time</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Fencing Ace"></div></div>
<p>Next time, we'll be focusing on a small creature with a very strong ability: <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fencing Ace" href="#" target="_blank">Fencing Ace</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Did you know there are ten functional reprints of this card? We'll see if we can break them!</p>


Singleton Shmingleton - Savannah Lions

Too-Specific Top 10 - Savannah Lions

<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>
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<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>
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<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>


savannah lions

Singleton Shmingleton - Savannah Lions

Too-Specific Top 10 - Savannah Lions

Superior Numbers - Fantastic Beasts and When to Find Them

Too-Specific Top 10 - Vanilla