Situations resulted in my getting most of Saturday to game, so I joined some friends (mostly former students from a decade ago) and traded and played Magic until I left with a mild headache. It has been more than a decade since I gamed to a headache.
Regardless, we played numerous games, to include several runs of the Away Decks, both against traditional decks, and then one 4-way game against one another and my Sygg deck. This latter game took nearly two hours to finish due to how evenly matched the decks were.
It ended to Approach of the Second Sun being cast twice. The BG deck controlled the game throughout, constantly recurring all sorts of nonsense (often Gray Merchant) with Sepulchral Primordial and Beacon of Unrest. Along the way, lots of sweepers were played, to include a Blasphemous Act for 8R. Sadly, no Brash Taunter shenanigans played out, and poor Torbran ended up with a handful of 5 and 6 cmc cards in hand.
Favorite play of the day: Torbran vs Marrow-Gnawer vs Sefris of the Hidden Ways
The Marrow-Gnawer deck started as mine, and then I sold it to its current pilot, who has been tinkering ever since. It worked this game, with an early Thrumming Stone followed by solid ripples into 25 Relentless Rats by turn six. Once the rippling had finished resolving, Torbran used Brash Taunter on a rat to halve Marrow-Gnawer's life total. Torbran followed up with Disrupt Decorum to buy a turn (sorry, Sefris), then Taunted Brashly again for the win.
Overall, I got some solid feedback on the various decks.
UW should use Shabraz, the Skyshark as Commander, not Brago, because Shabraz gets scary quick and Brago takes some set up. Otherwise, it does its thing (UW flyers) and does it well enough. Sticking slavishly to a theme means missing out on otherwise good cards, and it hurts.
The BG deck needs finishers, and Exsanguinate and Torment of Hailfire were both specifically mentioned. Torment is out of budget, but Exsanguinate is possible. Given how often the deck had an army of critters on its field, Overrun or Kamahl, Fist of Krosa could work as well. In this vein, Triumph of the Hordes is ideal, but like Torment, is out of budget. Chevill's Bounty Hunting did some amazing work, making him worth paying 12 to cast at one point.
Then again, I can lean into the creatures by adding Kamahl, Heart of Krosa and a suitable black partner - maybe Sengir, the Dark Baron.
Everyone wants to see Sol Ring and the usual suspects of rocks in the decks, but I had to remind them that these are unlikely to actually be played as full commander decks, anyhow, which mollified them a bit.
Overall, I consider this project about done, and look forward to the August-September timeframe, when these decks should migrate to their new home in Ohio.
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I also got in several Commander duels, most of which were dictated by who dropped turn 1 Sol Rings. I can understand the arguments as to why it (and other cheap rocks) are banned in some Commander formats, notably Duel Commander (sometimes called French Commander). It is too large an advantage to fight against, especially if your deck is not designed for dueling: average cmc of 3 or lower, all the rocks, tuned for efficiency, not interesting or bizarre plays.
Mostly, I am not a fan of duels, because I like the interactions of lots of people in a game, instead of one. Plus, a dueling deck is its own animal and in Commander, needs to be of cEDH quality to be worth it. By this, I mean lots of interaction via instants and more importantly, all the mana rocks, because speed is king in a duel.
Speaking of other Commander formats, I just discovered this - Dungeon EDH. If nothing else, its worth a read.
Other Magic-related discoveries from this game day: a decent Rogue tribal deck under Anowan, the Ruin-Thief is a strong deck; Traverse the Outlands is even more ridiculous than reading it suggests - if you own one, play it.
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