Tuesday, April 17, 2012

More about the Swamp King

Ben asked what the deal was with Sol'kanar. How does he fit into the deck?

Basically, he is a demon that lets me play the colors that I like. I'll probably pick up a copy of Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth for fun "swampwalk" tricks, but that's not a theme of the deck.

The deck theme (Demons!) is playable in mono-black, just not with Sol'kanar. If I do that, I lose some of the deck manipulation being provided by blue. The red isn't adding much at this point. I can really supercharge the mana in a mono-black deck. That's something I will try in the future.

The deck runs Painful Quandary. I like this card. It's interesting and in-theme. I think of demons as forcing people make tough choices. I also agree with Chris when he said that it is "brutal." If it shows up too often, I'll take it out. The Commander format requires balance: if your deck is too strong for the table, it's no fun for anyone. That's why themes are so important to me. It helps me to limit my card selections to ones that I might not otherwise use because there are other, stronger options.

Chris is working on a Kaervek, the Merciless deck. When he gets the mana to cast that guy, I know I have to have removal or a fast clock starts right there. It's good. I enjoy the "pressure" that this commander puts on table. Sol'kanar doesn't apply pressure in the same way. But he does look like a poster I might have had in my bedroom as a teenager. :)

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