Hail, Caesar Fallout Precon Review

Deep Clue Sea Upgrade Guide

Deep Clue Sea Precon Review

Hosts of Mordor - Precon Primer

<h6 style="text-align: right;">(<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Faldorn, Dread Wolf Herald" href="#" target="_blank">Faldorn, Dread Wolf Herald</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.artstation.com/jason_engle">Jason A. Engle</a>)</h6>
<h1>Epic Preparations</h1>
<p>Hello, EDHREC fans! I’m Bernardo, and this is <em>Epic Experiment</em>, a series where we throw all common sense aside and experiment with some unusual strategies, changing how we normally build our deck. Is it going to work? Who knows?! We’re making science here. When you’re an Izzet mage, blowing things up is half the fun.</p>
<p>This week, it's all about the Dread Wolf Herald!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Faldorn, Dread Wolf Herald"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Faldorn, Dread Wolf Herald" href="#" target="_blank">Faldorn, Dread Wolf Herald</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is an impressive commander. For three mana we get a token-maker that also works as a draw engine. It's also surprisingly easy to create tokens with Faldorn! Exile effects, <em>Suspend</em>, <em>Foretell</em>, and <em>Rebound</em> are just a few ways to create tokens while also getting extra value, and we even get an infinite combo with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Squee, the Immortal" href="#" target="_blank">Squee, the Immortal</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>/<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Eternal Scourge" href="#" target="_blank">Eternal Scourge</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> plus <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Food Chain" href="#" target="_blank">Food Chain</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>!</p>
<p>With that said, the second part of Faldorn's kit, while a good standalone enabler, can be a bit awkward at times, since it's easy to get an uncastable card. Some of those effects, such as <em>Suspend, </em>have alternative costs or abilities that won't work when they themselves wind up in exile from an effect like Faldorn's.</p>
<hr />
<h2>Epic Ingredients</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Arrogant Wurm"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Basking Rootwalla"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Insatiable Gorgers"></div></div>
<p>The problem with making obvious 'best-in-show' commanders for certain mechanics is that we often stop looking at that archetype for other commanders. <em>Madness</em> is a fun archetype that I feel got sucked into <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Anje Falkenrath" href="#" target="_blank">Anje Falkenrath</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>'s shadow, but Faldorn could make great use of it too! <em>Madness </em>is usually shortcutted to 'you can cast this card when you discard it' but the mechanic actually puts the card into exile, so Faldorn will make tons of Wolf tokens from <em>Madness </em>cards!</p>
<p>Not only that, Faldorn is a great discard outlet! She's perfect for <em>Madness</em> decks that want to be more stompy. How about getting two 2/2 Wolf tokens, one 1/1 <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rootwalla" href="#" target="_blank">Rootwalla</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, plus the extra card that we get with our commander, for just one mana (plus the exiled card's cost)? This leads to a very aggressive value-based strategy, as we get to put a lot of bodies on the battlefield very fast, and being Gruul means having a great stompy support suite to get maximum value out of them.</p>
<p>The lack of black can be a bit scary when considering a <em>Madness</em> deck, since a lot of the archetype is concentrated between it and red. However, our green cards feel like they were tailored to our needs. Cheap <em>Madness</em> creatures, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Basking Rootwalla" href="#" target="_blank">Basking Rootwalla</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blazing Rootwalla" href="#" target="_blank">Blazing Rootwalla</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, are great cards to be discarded with Faldorn's ability since they reduce the chance of not being able to cast the card that we exile. While big creatures, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Incorrigible Youths" href="#" target="_blank">Incorrigible Youths</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Arrogant Wurm" href="#" target="_blank">Arrogant Wurm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, usually aren't really all that relevant in the format, having them come out with up to two extra bodies and a card can really accelerate the board.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bonecrusher Giant"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Scorn Effigy"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Trumpeting Herd"></div></div>
<p>Besides <em>Madness</em>, there are a few ways of triggering our commander, which is important for making our gameplan more consistent. Our <em>Foretell</em> cards can be efficient "curve fillers", but between our commander's activated ability and the <em>Madness</em> costs that we're paying, we tend to be pretty mana-intensive anyways.</p>
<p>Then, we have plenty of heavy-hitting payoffs. It's a bit hard to find a balance between having enough of them to be able to consistently hit them, but not so many that we get flooded, or even hit them with our commander's activated ability, since they tend to be on the more expensive side of our curve. Damage-multipliers, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fiery Emancipation" href="#" target="_blank">Fiery Emancipation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, are an easy way to instantly improve our all-in potential, while <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Unnatural Growth" href="#" target="_blank">Unnatural Growth</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is an honorable mention that, while not a true damage multiplier, acts enough like it to be included here. Since we're putting a lot of bodies on the field, effects like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Warstorm Surge" href="#" target="_blank">Warstorm Surge</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Terror of the Peaks" href="#" target="_blank">Terror of the Peaks</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Purphoros, God of the Forge" href="#" target="_blank">Purphoros, God of the Forge</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> give us a nice amount of reach.</p>
<hr />
<h2>The Mixture</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Faldorn Madness" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*Faldorn, Dread Wolf Herald
[/Commander]
[Creature]
*Basking Rootwalla
*Birds of Paradise
*Blazing Rootwalla
*Boreal Druid
*Elvish Mystic
*Fyndhorn Elves
*Llanowar Elves
*Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer
*Conspiracy Theorist
*Fauna Shaman
*Anje&#039;s Raveger
*Birgi, God of Storytelling
*Bloodmad Vampire
*Bonecrusher Giant
*Green Slime
*Scorn Effigy
*Skophos Reaver
*Stromkirk Occultist
*Anger
*Insatiable Gorgers
*Purphoros, God of the Forge
*Sarulf&#039;s Packmate
*Arrogant Wurm
*Incorrigible Youths
*Reckless Wurm
*Terror of the Peaks
*Doomskar TItan
[/Creature]

[Artifact]
*Sol Ring
*The Great Henge
[/Artifact]



[Enchantment]
*Senseless Rage
*Elemental Bond
*Fires of Yaviamaya
*Furnace of Rath
*Parallel Lives
*Gratuitous Violence
*Unnatural Growth
*Fiery Emancipation
*Warstorm Surge
[/Enchantment]
[Instant]
*Nature&#039;s Claim
*Cathartic Pyre
*Faithless Salvaging
*Thrill of Possibility
*Abandon Reason
*Chaos Warp
*Demon Bolt
*Fiery Temper
*Violent Eruption
*Return of the Wildspeaker
[/Instant]
[Planeswalker]
*Domri, Anarch of Bolas
[/Planeswalker]
[Sorcery]
*Faithless Looting
*Avacyn&#039;s Judgement
*Distemper of the Blood
*Farseek
*Hull Breach
*Nature&#039;s Lore
*Rampant Growth
*Three Visits
*Chain Reaction
*Dwarven Reinforcements
*Malevolent Whispers
*Trumpeting Herd
*Alchemist&#039;s Greeting
*Blasphemous Act
[/Sorcery]
[Land]
*City of Brass
*Command Tower
*Copperline Gorge
*Cragcrown Pathway
*Exotic Orchard
*Ghost Quarter
*Grove of the Burnwillow
*Karplusan Forest
*Mana Confluence
*Rockfall Vale
*Rootbound Crag
*Spire Garden
*Stomping Ground
*Tectonic Edge
*Temple of Abandon
*Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth
*10 Forest
*10 Mountain
[/Land]"></span></div>

<hr />
<p>Having a suite of cards that gives us an alternative source of advantage is important because we won't always have our commander available. When we <em>do </em>have them in play with our commander, things get really spicy. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fauna Shaman" href="#" target="_blank">Fauna Shaman</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> works both as a <em>Madness</em> discard outlet and as a tutor that allows us to chain multiple creatures a turn. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Conspiracy Theorist" href="#" target="_blank">Conspiracy Theorist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is pretty similar to the second half of our commander, and together with her, it turns all of our looting effects into possible Wolf tokens.</p>
<hr />
<h2>Methodology</h2>
<p>Our ideal opening hand probably involves having a one-mana dork to be able to cast our commander on turn two. Our gameplan starts once we're able to tap our commander and start playing our <em>Madness</em> threats. We can also opt to delay this a bit if we want to play some of our "slow" effects, like <em>Rebound</em> and <em>Foretell</em>, so that we have a more explosive turn later on.</p>
<p>By the mid-game, we should be starting to get a sizeable army. At this point we should start looking for one of our bigger payoffs, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gratuitous Violence" href="#" target="_blank">Gratuitous Violence</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, to start enhancing our damage potential. The normal turn structure can be a bit wonky since our commander is a wild card, so that usual pattern of playing lands first or even casting in the main phase #2 can lead to bad results if we start autopiloting the deck.</p>
<p>For an aggro deck, we're surprisingly good at rebuilding our board. It can be a bit draw-dependent, but we do have some ways to quickly rebuild or get back into the game after a setback; any of our looting effects can lead into a moderate board state, and some burn spells can be used to push for that last bit of damage, especially with any of our damage multipliers.</p>
<hr />
<h2>Epic Results</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sensei&#039;s Divining Top"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Etali, Primal Storm"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Darksteel Plate"></div></div>
<p>Faldorn has a ton of directions to upgrade into. Top-deck manipulation might help us avoid bad hits with our commander, for instance. Cards like <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> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sylvan Library" href="#" target="_blank">Sylvan Library</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are a good starting point for luxurious upgrades.</p>
<p>Increasing the number of standalone threats could also improve the deck's consistency and allow us to play getting our commander removed. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Etali, Primal Storm" href="#" target="_blank">Etali, Primal Storm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a good standalone threat because it's powerful even without Faldorn in play. However, we should consider their mana costs before stuffing too many of these big threats into our deck. Oh, and if removal is something you're worried about, adding in more protective Equipment/Auras might help keep Faldorn alive. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Darksteel Plate" href="#" target="_blank">Darksteel Plate</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Spider Umbra" href="#" target="_blank">Spider Umbra</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are ways to avoid board wipes, while <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> and <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> are effective against single target removal.</p>
<p>That’s it for this <em>Epic Experiment</em>! What do you think of this list? Do you have any questions about the deck? Which cards did you like? Which did you not? Was this Epic Experiment a success? Please let me know in the comments below!</p>


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