Too-Specific Top 10 - Mind Bending

Too-Specific Top 10 - Manaliths!

Evasive Maneuvers — Protection From...

<h6 style="text-align: right;">(<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rienne, Angel of Rebirth" href="#" target="_blank">Rienne, Angel of Rebirth</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="http://www.kieranyanner.com/">Kieran Yanner</a>)</h6>
<h1>Another Day, Another Rebirth</h1>
<p>Hello, everyone! Welcome back to another installment of the <em>Underdog’s Corner!</em> If you haven't joined me before, this is where I discuss a commander that may be overlooked or underplayed and shine a spotlight on them to give them a fighting chance. This week I'm delving into one of the legends from <em>Core Set</em> <em>2020!</em> We received an entire cycle of new wedge-colored legendary creatures, which is incredibly exciting!</p>
<p>However, I'm not looking to discuss any of those five. Our legend today is the lone shard-colored commander from the set, the Buy-a-Box promo, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rienne, Angel of Rebirth" href="#" target="_blank">Rienne, Angel of Rebirth</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>! With a total of 39 decks at the time of writing, Rienne stands above only <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Atemsis, All-Seeing" href="#" target="_blank">Atemsis, All-Seeing</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Drakuseth, Maw of Flames" href="#" target="_blank">Drakuseth, Maw of Flames</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> among the twelve legends of <em>Core Set 2020</em>. Let's see what Rienne's all about.</p>
<hr />
<h2>Rienne, Angel of Rebirth</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rienne, Angel of Rebirth"></div></div>
<p>While the <a href="https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/limited-information/tools-trade-2015-06-17">Vanilla Test</a> is hardly a way to evaluate a commander, it's still helpful as a survivability metric. Rienne passes it with flying colors as a five-mana 5/4 flyer, giving us a powerful attacker and blocker when the need arises. I consider five mana to be the bottom of the curve for expensive commanders, but since Rienne has green in her color identity, we should be able to play her multiple times in a game without worry. We'll actually be able to double down on this with her abilities.</p>
<h4><strong>Other multicolored creatures you control get +1/+0.</strong></h4>
<h4><strong>Whenever another multicolored creature you control dies, return it to its owner’s hand at the beginning of the next end step.</strong></h4>
<p>Rienne cares about multicolored creatures through and through, which gives us a direction and a restriction at the same time. One avenue we could explore is leaning into her as an additional anthem-lite effect for an aggro build. Her second ability could then be a safety net for the eventual Wrath that snuffs out aggro's chances. A decent direction, but not the one we're exploring today. I'm personally going to look into how we can get the most out of her second ability.</p>
<hr />
<h2>Not Quite Necromancy</h2>
<p>How can Rienne's colors help us? While she lacks the most prominent and powerful color for recursion, green and white are the second and third best colors for recurring creatures from the graveyard, even if it's to our hand. We'll also need to remember that Rienne's specific brand of recursion is limited to multicolored creatures.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Painter&#039;s Servant"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Scuttlemutt"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Saffi Eriksdotter"></div></div>
<p>If we want a janky angle, we can include <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Scuttlemutt" href="#" target="_blank">Scuttlemutt</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or the recently-unbanned <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Painter&#039;s Servant" href="#" target="_blank">Painter&#039;s Servant</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to have the opportunity to recur all of our creatures. That's not going to be consistent, so we won't want to rely heavily on that.</p>
<p>Let's therefore discuss a card that is simply perfect for Rienne. I've talked about a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Saffi Eriksdotter" href="#" target="_blank">Saffi Eriksdotter</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> deck in my series <a href="https://articles.edhrec.com/underdogs-corner-saffi-eriksdotter/">before</a>, but she is more often played in the 99, either as a combo enabler or as a powerful support piece. For two mana, we can recur any creature on the battlefield if it dies at the cost of sacrificing Saffi. This can be a protective measure or a means to accelerate value, depending on our board state. We can even protect Rienne with this ability and still return Saffi at our end step.</p>
<hr />
<h2>Stay Gold</h2>
<p>With Rienne's focus on multicolored creatures, we're starting with a broad spectrum of choices. We can choose to run the best overall multicolored creatures we have access to, or we can pick a theme and focus on it. Cards in either direction will overlap, but it gives us direction. For this article, I'm going to focus on a "value" build, namely creatures with "enters/leaves the battlefield" abilities or those with self-sacrifice effects. We'll want to double up on these abilities.</p>
<p>Rienne's EDHREC page gives us a nice head start on this venture.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Dauntless Escort"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Loxodon Hierarch"></div></div>
<p>First up we have a suite of protection for our creatures. Returning our creatures en masse is a great boon, but sometimes we don't want to be hit by that tempo disadvantage. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dauntless Escort" href="#" target="_blank">Dauntless Escort</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Loxodon Hierarch" href="#" target="_blank">Loxodon Hierarch</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> ask our opponents to either remove them before casting a Wrath, or to have a Wrath effect that circumvents their protection. For a creature-heavy build, I think these will be mainstays.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Qasali Pridemage"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Knight of Autumn"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Duergar Hedge-Mage"></div></div>
<p>Remember when I said we were going to bring the value? <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Qasali Pridemage" href="#" target="_blank">Qasali Pridemage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Knight of Autumn" href="#" target="_blank">Knight of Autumn</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Duergar Hedge-Mage" href="#" target="_blank">Duergar Hedge-Mage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Harmonic Sliver" href="#" target="_blank">Harmonic Sliver</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vithian Renegades" href="#" target="_blank">Vithian Renegades</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> all give us access to sources of repeatable removal for a total cost of three mana each. Having access to artifact and enchantment removal is never a bad thing. While the rate may not be exceptional, we'll have ways to make each of these count.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bloodbraid Elf"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Zacama, Primal Calamity"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Gruul Ragebeast"></div></div>
<p>We also have access to impactful effects that we will want to repeat over and over. While <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bloodbraid Elf" href="#" target="_blank">Bloodbraid Elf</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> isn't as powerful in Commander as it is in Modern, being able to get a four-mana <em>Cascade</em> each turn will help us turn the corner and pull off a victory. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Zacama, Primal Calamity" href="#" target="_blank">Zacama, Primal Calamity</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> doesn't immediately strike me as a card we'd want to spend each of our turns recasting, but the longer a game runs, the more powerful Zacama's ability becomes. Casting Zacama with lands that create more than one mana can also provide us with a net gain on mana, turning the card into a very expensive ritual which can help fuel massively swingy turns. Lastly, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gruul Ragebeast" href="#" target="_blank">Gruul Ragebeast</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> turns each of our creatures into potential kill spells. With Rienne out, not only can we throw our creatures into battle immediately just to get them back, but her buffing ability also allows them to punch above their weight class.</p>
<hr />
<h2>Digging for Gold</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Evolutionary Leap"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Greater Good"></div></div>
<p>Since our gameplan is to proactively recur our creatures, we'll need sacrifice outlets. For the most part, we can get away with running some of the usual suspects, but there are a few I'd prioritize. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Greater Good" href="#" target="_blank">Greater Good</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is the first I'll mention since it lets us draw through our deck. Notably, we get a small bump from Rienne's ability as we get to draw an additional card from the power boost. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Evolutionary Leap" href="#" target="_blank">Evolutionary Leap</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a mainstay in almost every green deck I have, and it's even better here. We get to recast creatures for more value, and we get to draw another creature to loop.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Dark-Dweller Oracle"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Birthing Pod"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dark-Dweller Oracle" href="#" target="_blank">Dark-Dweller Oracle</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a bit of an outlier, but additional sac outlets that don't have obvious homes is something that I look for. After that, we have the ever-powerful <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Birthing Pod" href="#" target="_blank">Birthing Pod</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Yes, I would like to have access to several chains at any given point.</p>
<hr />
<h2>A Magic Goldberg Machine</h2>
<p>I want to talk about a pair of cards that currently appears in zero <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rienne, Angel of Rebirth" href="#" target="_blank">Rienne, Angel of Rebirth</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. The first is fun, and the second is more powerful.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Desecrated Tomb"></div></div>
<p>I've always wanted to find a home for <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Desecrated Tomb" href="#" target="_blank">Desecrated Tomb</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and out of sheer luck, Rienne happens to work spectacularly with it. Thankfully, Rienne triggers for each creature, so we get a Bat token for each creature that gets returned by her ability. That's not the most impactful effect in the world, but being able to potentially churn out several tokens for free each turn is certainly noteworthy.</p>
<p>Now let's talk about the powerhouse pick for the article.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Aluren"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Aluren" href="#" target="_blank">Aluren</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is one of the more powerful cards in <em>Magic</em>, and it even has an entire Legacy deck named after it. It allows each player to cast creatures with a converted mana cost of three or less without paying their mana costs, and as though they had flash! With Rienne and a sac outlet, we can cast and recur each of our low-drop gold creatures once a turn. That's insanely powerful.</p>
<p>On the low end of power we can cast <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Knight of Autumn" href="#" target="_blank">Knight of Autumn</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and gain 16 life each round. We could also sacrifice Saffi each turn to recur a creature that is much larger. Since we're also still casting creatures with this effect, we can trigger <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Karametra, God of Harvests" href="#" target="_blank">Karametra, God of Harvests</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Beast Whisperer" href="#" target="_blank">Beast Whisperer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> that many times as well. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Aluren" href="#" target="_blank">Aluren</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> opens up an absurd number of lines that players can customize.</p>
<p>One thing <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Aluren" href="#" target="_blank">Aluren</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> shows us as well is the power of flash in this deck. Repeated effects are powerful, but getting them outside of our turn is even better, turning our creature-based, normally-sorcery-speed-only deck into a trickier problem for our enemies. This makes cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Yeva, Nature&#039;s Herald" href="#" target="_blank">Yeva, Nature&#039;s Herald</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vedalken Orrery" href="#" target="_blank">Vedalken Orrery</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vivien, Champion of the Wilds" href="#" target="_blank">Vivien, Champion of the Wilds</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> a little more potent in our deck.</p>
<p>Aluren isn't the only crazy interaction we get to include though.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Realm Razer"></div></div>
<p>Let me summarize the following section, briefly. If this card's ETB resolves with Rienne and a sacrifice outlet on board, and our opponents are not able to remove any of the pieces with their floating mana, the game will effectively end. They can attempt to fight through it, but it will be mostly miserable. This is assuming that we (as the Rienne player) won't die to effects that are already on board.</p>
<p>When <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Realm Razer" href="#" target="_blank">Realm Razer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> enters the battlefield, it exiles all lands. Everyone's mana production is then tied to any mana rocks that are left in play (which we'll hopefully have been targeting with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Knight of Autumn" href="#" target="_blank">Knight of Autumn</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> effects over the earlier parts of the game). If Realm Razer resolves, the remainder of the game will follow a similar pattern. When we gain priority before moving to the end step of the opponent's turn prior to ours, we sacrifice Realm Razer to whatever sac outlet we have. This returns all exiled lands to the battlefield tapped. At the beginning of the end step, Rienne will return Realm Razer to our hand. We will then untap, with all of our opponents being tapped out, aside from any lands they played on their turn. We can then repeat this loop every turn. We can attack with Rienne each turn to deal lethal commander damage over the course of the next several turns, or we can continue to draw into other cards to hasten this kill condition. While it's not quite infinite, this combo is very likely to end the game.</p>
<hr />
<h2>Naya Reborn</h2>
<p>I hope you have enjoyed a brief look at this incredibly intriguing Naya commander. While she quickly got overlooked in the face of an entire new cycle of wedge-colored legends, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rienne, Angel of Rebirth" href="#" target="_blank">Rienne, Angel of Rebirth</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> offers a novel way to approach her color combination. While I covered a few distinct interactions and cards, there is still so much left to be discovered, and I hope someone out in the world dives in and really discovers all of what can make her great. For now though, I leave you with a deck with a few of my ideas.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Giving Naya New Life" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Rienne, Angel of Rebirth
[/Commander]
[Creature]
*1 Armada Wurm
*1 Birds of Paradise
*1 Bloodbraid Elf
*1 Brion Stoutarm
*1 Dark-Dweller Oracle
*1 Dauntless Escort
*1 Duergar Hedge-Mage
*1 Eternal Witness
*1 Figure of Destiny
*1 Fleecemane Lion
*1 Gahiji, Honored One
*1 Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
*1 Gruul Ragebeast
*1 Harmonic Sliver
*1 Karametra, God of Harvests
*1 Karmic Guide
*1 Knight of Autumn
*1 Loxodon Hierarch
*1 Painter&#039;s Servant
*1 Qasali Pridemage
*1 Ravager Wurm
*1 Realm Razer
*1 Ruric Thar, the Unbowed
*1 Saffi Eriksdotter
*1 Scuttlemutt
*1 Seedborn Muse
*1 Sunder Shaman
*1 Vithian Renegades
*1 Voice of Resurgence
*1 Wild Cantor
*1 Xenagos, God of Revels
*1 Yeva, Nature&#039;s Herald
*1 Zacama, Primal Calamity
[/Creature]
[Artifact]
*1 Altar of Dementia
*1Desecrated Tomb
*1 Glass of the Guildpact
*1 Vedalken Orrery
[/Artifact]
[Instant]
*1 Beast Within
*1 Brought Back
*1 Generous Gift
*1 Krosan Grip
*1 Naya Charm
*1 Swords to Plowshares
*1 Teferi&#039;s Protection
[/Instant]
[Enchantment]
*1 Aluren
*1 Evolutionary Leap
*1 Goblin Bombardment
*1 Greater Good
*1 Growing Rites of Itlimoc
*1 Rhythm of the Wild
*1 Wilderness Reclamation
[/Enchantment]
[Sorcery]
*1 Austere Command
*1 Blasphemous Act
*1 Cleansing Nova
*1 Cultivate
*1 Farseek
*1 Hour of Devastation
*1 Nature&#039;s Lore
*1 Rampant Growth
*1 Skyshroud Claim
[/Sorcery]
[Planeswalker]
*1 Domri, Anarch of Bolas
*1 Vivien, Champion of the Wilds
[/Planeswalker]
[Land]
*1 Ash Barrens
*1 Battlefield Forge
*1 Bountiful Promenade
*1 Clifftop Retreat
*1 Command Tower
*1 Emergence Zone
*8 Forest
*1 Ghost Quarter
*1 Jungle Shrine
*1 Karplusan Forest
*1 Kessig Wolf Run
*6 Mountain
*1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
*5 Plains
*1 Rootbound Crag
*1 Sacred Foundry
*1 Scavenger Grounds
*1 Spire Garden
*1 Stomping Ground
*1 Sunpetal Grove
*1 Temple Garden
[/Land]"></span></div>

<hr />
<p>Thanks for joining me in the <em>Underdog's Corner</em>!</p>


scuttlemutt

Too-Specific Top 10 - Mind Bending

Too-Specific Top 10 - Manaliths!

Evasive Maneuvers — Protection From...

Underdog's Corner - Rienne, Angel of Rebirth