If I had to take a poll of everyone's favorite new Commander card from Jumpstart, I am sure this card would be near the top of the list. Mill is one of the most loved mechanics in all of Magic because of it's off the beaten path type of strategy. In typical games of Magic, most people win through dealing combat damage to their opponents. This holds true in Commander with the added bonus of Commander damage being lethal (21 points of combat damage from one commander dealt to one player). However, mill operates on a totally different wavelength trying to make its opponent put cards from their library into their graveyard in a process known as "milling." Thanks to Jumpstart, mill players are going to have a new, go-to Commander:
Bruvac the Grandiloquent is a simple and straightforward Commander - if an opponent would mill cards, they mill double that amount. If they would mill one, they mill two. Mill two turns into four. You can see how the longer Bruvac stays on the battlefield, the more problems he will cause for your opponents. This 4 Quarters will be simple and to the point - mill!
1st Quarter: Blues Clues
Most 1st Quarters in these blog posts are going to revolve around ramp and added sources of mana. I think one of the areas most newer players neglect the most is ramp. As a rule of thumb, you want 8-10 sources of mana ramp in your deck. You also want these cards to put the lands directly onto the battlefield, if possible, rather than into your hand so you can get ahead on land (having 5 lands in play on turn 4 would be ahead on lands). Apprentice Wizard, while not actively ramping us, does act as a second Sol Ring netting us two additional mana. In our deck, Mitotic Manipulation is basically pay 3 mana and put an Island into play untapped, not bad at all. Dreamscape Artist may be the best ramp spell in mono Blue with the repeated ability to discard a card, sacrifice a land and put two basic land cards onto the battlefield. While having to discard a card each time isn't ideal, we are a blue deck and we will hopefully be drawing lots of cards to make up for this effect. While High Tide isn't a repeatable source of ramp, it's one time mana doubling effect for islands could lead to an explosive, late-game turn for us pushing us ahead to the victory. Total Cost of the 1st Quarter: $1.35.
2nd Quarter: Enchanted Evening
In the 2nd Quarter, we are going to start the process of milling our opponents fast and furiously (sadly, Vin Diesel will not be making an appearance in our blog)! Teferi's Tutelage, a new M21 card, will let us loot (draw a card, then discard a card) but more importantly, it will force an opponent to mill 2 cards anytime we draw a card. Sidenote: if there was a 5th Quarter, it would involve lots of card draw. We're a blue deck so make sure to have lots of ways to draw lots of cards. Sphinx's Tutelage is a similar effect to Teferi's Tutelage only this time, the opponent will repeat the milling process if two of the nonland cards milled share a color. With Bruvac out, our opponent will mill 4 cards and it gives better odds that two will share a color. Memory Erosion and Psychic Corrosion may be the two best enchantments in the deck. Memory Erosion makes an opponent mill two whenever they cast a spell and Psychic Corrosion makes EACH of our opponents mill two when whenever we draw a card. These two can force our opponents to mill a lot of cards in a hurry! Total Cost of the 2nd Quarter: $3.60
3rd Quarter: Body by Mill
There are a lot of great creatures that mill but we want either repeated effects like Manic Scribe or powerful enter the battlefield mill effects like Sphinx Mindbreaker to up the power level of our deck. With Bruvac on the battlefield, Jace's Mindseeker will enter and mill an opponent 10 cards and we get to choose an instand or sorcery from among those cards and cast it for free. Casting Jace's Mindseeker could be a big swing in any game of Commander. Lastly, Dreamborn Muse is another repeatable mill effect that is sure to mill our opponents' decks out very quickly. Commander is a game of resources and most players typically have their hands full of cards. Total Cost of the 3rd Quarter: $2.71
4th Quarter: Mill-vengers Endgame
In the 4th Quarter, we're going for the win and with mill that usually means one explosive turn to knock out an opponent or two. Sands of Delirium pairs really well with High Tide to generate a lot of mana on one turn and make an opponent mill a lot of cards. With 10 lands in play, we cast High Tide and now can pay 18 with Sands of Delirium and make an opponent mill 36 cards with Bruvac on the battlefield. But we can do even better. Fleet Swallower and Traumatize are our one shot mill kills with Bruvac on the battlefield. Wait for the opponent of your choice to tap out and go get them! Finally, we want a way to have a board presence and a chance to win outside of strictly mill. Undead Alchemist might be the best card in this build. It helps provide graveyard protection from those pesky reanimator (putting creature cards from the graveyard directly onto the battlefield) by exiling creatures that get milled. But for each creature that gets milled, we create a 2/2 zombie! And then when those zombies deal damage to an opponent, that person mills cards. So much value, so much mill! Total Cost of the 4th Quarter: $4.61
Total Cost of all 4 Quarters: $12.27
Ok so I slightly went over the budget again. I will get better in the next one, I promise. One thing is for sure though, Bruvac opens up a very powerful mono blue build for mill players. I hope this is a helpful start for you!
Stay Super,
Tim
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