Commander Clash S2 Episode 19: Conspiracy 2
Hello and welcome to Commander Clash, a video series where several MTGGoldfish contributors battle in a four player Commander game for fun and bragging rights. This week we're finally checking out some of the new-ish Conspiracy 2 commanders since some of the cards have been ported to Magic Online. We're also going to show off the Breed Lethality preconstructed deck from Commander 2016, since that was the only deck we didn't showcase yet. Here's what we've got:
- Tom pillages his opponent's libraries for sweet card advantage with Grenzo, Havoc Raiser
- Seth ramps hard while drawing cards with the creature-focused Selvala, Heart of the Wilds
- Richard sees if a preconstructed deck can compete against custom ones, piloting the Breed Lethality deck led by Atraxa, Praetors' Voice
- Tomer is totally playing a standard Boros "go wide" strategy and is definitely not up to shenanigans with Adriana, Captain of the Guard
Can a C16 preconstructed deck stand up against our custom-built decks? Let's find out! But first, quick reminder: if you like Commander Clash and other video content here on MTGGoldfish, make sure to subscribe to the MTGGoldfish Youtube Channel to keep up with the latest and greatest.
Tom's Deck (Grenzo)
Seth's Deck (Selvala)
Richard's Deck (Atraxa)
Tomer's Deck (Adriana)
Post-Game Thoughts
So there you have it: a C16 preconstructed deck has what it takes not only to compete in Commander Clash, but even wipe the floor with us. Or this is further proof that Richard is the undisputed king at Commander. Probably a bit of both! Either way, I'm very surprised and delighted that the deck actually has outs to Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre! The deck is certainly powerful and well-designed. There are some (intentionally) subpar cards in the deck, but cards like Ancient Excavation let you dig deep into your library to avoid the bad cards and just play the good ones. And good lord, Atraxa, Praetors' Voice does some serious work!
I'm also a big fan of Grenzo, Havoc Raiser, both as a commander or as part of the 99: the amount of card advantage this innocuous 2cmc creature provides is insane. With just 3 creatures getting in for combat damage, you're "drawing" 3 cards per turn. It didn't matter if you have 0 cards in hand; if you have a decent army and a ton of mana available, you're going to have some sick plays. That's why most of the table was justifiably scared of Tom's meager-looking board of a couple goblins, few/none cards in hand, but a ton of mana available: one second he's got nothing going on, the next second he's evoke'ing Reveillark and drawing cards off Fathom Mage. It's a ton of fun, and playing a lot of your opponent's cards keeps things fresh and exciting. I love it!
I was pretty bummed out that my deck didn't get to do anything. Honestly it's one of the best jank decks I've brought to Commander Clash: I was running all the Kaldra pieces and planned on going Kaldra Voltron for funsies! I took advantage of Shield of Kaldra's indestructibility by running a ton of board wipes, mostly Earthquake effects to lower everyone's life total. Since I was in control of how much damage I was taking -- and I assumed I'd be targeted heavily since apparrently I'm the new Jake of the group -- I ran Near-Death Experience as a secondary win-con, supporting it with Angel's Grace and Fortune Thief to make sure I don't dip below 1 life and even Final Fortune to win right after I dropped the enchantment.
For those looking to see what my commander, Adriana, Captain of the Guard could do, fear not because the deck was also running some of the best cards with her too: Decree of Justice, Secure the Wastes, and other token makers could surprise my opponents with an instant army, which would then swing with +3/+3 thanks to Adriana's melee. Add Breath of Fury to the mix and my big weenie army would be taking multiple combat steps, which also means even more +X/+X triggers with melee and a quick death for my foes!
But none of that was shown because I was killed off quick. Ah well. The deck is really sweet so I recommend checking it out. Maybe I'll bring it back someday, but it's going to be much harder to pull off now that my opponents know what it's up to.
Next Week: Secret Santa!
We're celebrating the winter holidays with a secret santa next week! Each of us built a holiday-themed deck that we will gift to some other randomly selected player to pilot. The decks are going to be extra janky and super fun! As always, we love to hear from you guys! Tell us what you like to see, what you don't like, any ideas that we can put forward for future videos, or anything else you'd like to tell us! You can reach us in the comments section below or tweet me @BudgetCommander.
