Welcome back! I wanted to thank everybody for the positive support they gave for Part I of this blogging adventure. Writing the post was easy, getting the confidence to share it and start the journey was more difficult.
It took some time last week, but I ultimately decided to name the blog Labyrinth of Skophos. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out a good name, as I wanted the option to write about other topics that aren't my Sethron deck. The myth of the Minotaur and the Labyrinth came to mind, and my wife encouraged me to use the Labyrinth of Skophos since it has real meaning in Magic, and it's also tied to the Minotaur polis. The intent is that I'm "navigating Commander and life, both in and outside of your playgroup". I am also included in the card in Sethron. The only issue with the extended art is that I lose out on the flavor text, but the larger art looks amazing!
When we ended Part I, I had laid out some history and the basic idea of what the deck would entail. It was a small list of cards that were obvious inclusions. As the deck continues to develop, I plan on writing about the strategy behind some of the choices I'm making. This isn't going to be a blog about me writing about a pile of cards - I'm trying to get the deck to do perform well in my playgroup.
Observant readers may have also realized that I failed to mention or show pictures of other Theros minotaurs (and haven't mentioned Amonkeht at all). That was an intentional decision on my side, as I am still in the process of acquiring them as foils. A normal Magic columnist would simply present a list and say "here's what the deck needs", I'm taking the approach of going through the journey and focusing on what I've been able to collect. I do have a personal list where I'm writing down my ideas as I search through sets for cards that can help. In the week since Part I, I was able to update a few other Minotaurs - behold, Slaughter-Priest of Mogis, Minotaur Skullcleaver, Felhide Spiritbinder, and Oracle of Bones:
Before we start talking strategy for the deck, I want to share some obvious card choices that have a bit more story to them. To start, let's look at some obvious land inclusions:
Command Tower is from C11, the original Commander release that started it all (at least for me). In the previous post, I mentioned how I bought Ghave and my brother got Kaalia, and we tinkered and played our first commander games with those decks. It only felt appropriate that Sethron has a C11 Command Tower to harken back to those days.
Dragonskull Summit, M13 Edition calls back to the era of Return to Ravnica and Event Decks. As mentioned previously, my brother had a knack for doing well at our local Friday Night Magic meta. I would try and throw a deck together and lose often, yet he would craft decks that seemed random, but then he could actually pilot them to victory. During the Innistrad-Return to Ravnica standard era, I remember one Friday Night Magic where he was playing for a top spot playing a mono-red aggro deck. Thragtusk was dominating the meta at the time in a bunch of three-color decks, yet he was able to hold his own and burn things out before his opponents could stabilize. It was during that time that he purchased the Wrack and Rage Event Deck to acquire some cards he wanted. I took him to the store to pick up the deck, which included his very first Dragonskull Summit. I remember it being a Sunday afternoon, with it also being a big deal that he had a dual land. When constructing Sethron, I knew I wanted the Dragonskull Summit from that era.
Temple of Malice, originally printed in the original Theros block, is another automatic inclusion, except this time, I'm able to get an extended art that showcases a temple in the Minotaur polis of Skophos, right on theme. I also really love how Jonas De Ro did the art for this and the Labyrinth.
Now that Story Time is over, let's look at some strategy, since this deck has a job to do. Sethron has two "sections" of game text:
Whenever Sethron, Hurloon General or another nontoken Minotaur enters the battlefield under your control, create a 2/3 red Minotaur creature token.
Casting Sethron gets us a 4/4 and a 2/3. Two creatures for the price of one. I'm all for that. Casting another Minotaur gets us another 2/3 body as well., building up a horde of Minotaurs.
2(B/R): Minotaurs you control get +1/+0 and gain menace and haste until end of turn.
Menace and haste! Two abilities I love seeing (I'm very partial to deathtouch too). Haste is a great ability in multiplayer games. Nobody plans for it, and it can lead to some massive crackbacks or knockouts. Due to Sethron being on the field, you're advertising to your opponents that you may be able to swing with haste creatures, but they will still have to worry about the menace factor and double block.
In short, Sethron wants to see a lot of minotaurs enter the battlefield (they can be reanimated or cheated in with Didgeridoo) so he can create minotaurs, and then give them menace and haste. Combat is clearly going to be a focus, which is fine, because that's exactly where my comfort zone is. The majority of decks I build tend to go this route. I rarely think about "official" win-conditions, preferring to use my creatures to deal damage and knock people out of the game. I'm not a fan of tutoring for certain cards, or creating two-card combos that allow me to win. So, while many Commander articles write about wanting to find a certain card, or play their entire library, etc, mine is more about dealing combat damage and going the route of player removal.
If we want combat, the first step is looking at ways to maximize our combat step. For that answer, I went to a classic card, upgraded with art to match the theme. I give you the Invocation Aggravated Assault:
I love the original art for this card, but in a Minotaur based deck, Amonkhet was going to win. Amonkhet has lots of Minotaurs that live on the plane, and there's even one in the forefront of the art! This enchantment will allow me to continue to add combat steps, as long as I can pay, and my Minotaurs will continue to have menace if I use Sethron's ability. Do I have a way to try and generate that extra mana? Fear not, I have plans, I just don't have the cards in hand yet. Let's just say it's another Minotaur that comes from Amonkhet...
Another way to make my hasted, menanced Minotaurs more threatening is to make them more terrifying in combat. Enter Rage Reflection, which happened to just have an awesome on-theme reprint art in Double Masters. Giving an army double strike will help speed up the damage process, especially as opponents are struggling to block. The Theros Three (as I like to call them) give my Minotaurs good keyword abilities that just get stronger when combined with double strike (Deathtouch, Trample, and Haste).
In honor of Mogis, I added Dictate of the Twin Gods. My hope is that with Flash, I can surprise an opponent to take them out suddenly, or maybe an opponent will become an unwitting ally when they swing with damage that I can turn into lethal by doubling it. I opted to use the original art, since the promo art makes it look like Iroas has the upper hand, and we can't have that!
The last two cards I want to talk about today fall into the support category of the deck. I'm really excited to add them, feeling like they have some uniqueness, as well as being cards I don't see much. Behold Bonder's Ornament & Toil//Trouble!
Bonder's Ornament, while new to the Commander format (having been released with C20 in April) is a card that I think should be as prevalent as Sol Ring and Command Tower (and the ever debatable Arcane Signet). The format is filled with 3-costing mana rocks, each with their own abilities and strengths:
Bonder's Ornament gets any color of the Commander's color identity, and by paying 4 mana, it can be used to draw a card without needing to sacrifice it. The other unique feature of the card is that each play who controls a Bonder's Ornament gets to draw a card as well. I know there are players who will say giving your opponent resources is a bad move, and I completely understand. I approach Commander as a social format. I sit down wanting to have a good time with whoever is at the table with me. It's fun for me to win, but I love the experience of the games, the back and forth between who has the upper hand and who swings in out of nowhere. Nothing keeps the game moving like drawing cards. If everybody is drawing cards, everybody gets to keep the game rolling along. I would also bet that if an opponent has their own Bonder's Ornament, you might get to draw some free cards as well.
Currently, in my own meta of friends, I have been the only one to play Bonder's Ornament (my wife has it in a few decks, but it's yet to hit the table). Whenever I use it to draw a card, I always tell my friends they could be drawing a card too, but they haven't because they won't add it to their deck. I think the card just adds a nice political element to helping people out, and it involves more interactions and deals being made. "I'm thinking of drawing a card with the Ornament, but you can't swing at me, ok? Otherwise, I'll just activate it after your turn". The key for me is that this is also repeatable card draw - I don't have to make the choice of losing my artifact or drawing cards, unlike all the other mana rocks listed.
Toil//Trouble is exactly the kind of card that I love playing in Commander. I'm surprised I haven't seen this played more. My plan is to use it like Night's Whisper and Read the Bones (both of which are on my decklist, but need to be acquired in foil). Both cards are considered some of the best draw spells when playing Black - Sorceries that draw two cards while costing 2 life. Toil does exactly this, and I plan on weighing Toil as the card to be played in most circumstances. Trouble is a bonus, since a Fuse cards can cast both sides together, meaning that if drawn late game, there's more versatility and choices without sacrificing the card draw. Since Sethron is in the correct colors, it's going in, with the possibility that maybe I can punish somebody for getting too greedy with too much drawing and unlimited hand sizes. Since I mentioned Dictate of the Twin Gods earlier, maybe I can take somebody out without them even realizing it's coming! This is a card not used in my playgroup, giving the deck some more uniqueness.
While I originally stated I wanted to build this deck before playing, I've determined that idea doesn't make much sense, especially when it comes to a lot of the support cards. Since I'm trying to foil out a good portion of the deck (with some exceptions), I don't want to invest in foils that are ultimately going to get cut, especially since I own some non-foil versions of the cards already. With the foundation of the deck already constructed (with other cards I haven't mentioned yet - I swear we will get to Amonkhet!), I have a good idea of what I want to see. Testing will allow me to make those final tweaks and edits. An example right now is the debate between if I want to run Dreadbore or Terminate. Dreadbore is more versatile, but sorcery speed. As Blue players everywhere know, nothing beats a good instant. Testing will allow me to figure out what card is better for the deck, or I might just cut another card and add both! Only time will tell.
If you have any ideas or feedback, I would love to hear it. Thanks for reading!
It took some time last week, but I ultimately decided to name the blog Labyrinth of Skophos. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out a good name, as I wanted the option to write about other topics that aren't my Sethron deck. The myth of the Minotaur and the Labyrinth came to mind, and my wife encouraged me to use the Labyrinth of Skophos since it has real meaning in Magic, and it's also tied to the Minotaur polis. The intent is that I'm "navigating Commander and life, both in and outside of your playgroup". I am also included in the card in Sethron. The only issue with the extended art is that I lose out on the flavor text, but the larger art looks amazing!
When we ended Part I, I had laid out some history and the basic idea of what the deck would entail. It was a small list of cards that were obvious inclusions. As the deck continues to develop, I plan on writing about the strategy behind some of the choices I'm making. This isn't going to be a blog about me writing about a pile of cards - I'm trying to get the deck to do perform well in my playgroup.
Observant readers may have also realized that I failed to mention or show pictures of other Theros minotaurs (and haven't mentioned Amonkeht at all). That was an intentional decision on my side, as I am still in the process of acquiring them as foils. A normal Magic columnist would simply present a list and say "here's what the deck needs", I'm taking the approach of going through the journey and focusing on what I've been able to collect. I do have a personal list where I'm writing down my ideas as I search through sets for cards that can help. In the week since Part I, I was able to update a few other Minotaurs - behold, Slaughter-Priest of Mogis, Minotaur Skullcleaver, Felhide Spiritbinder, and Oracle of Bones:
Before we start talking strategy for the deck, I want to share some obvious card choices that have a bit more story to them. To start, let's look at some obvious land inclusions:
Command Tower is from C11, the original Commander release that started it all (at least for me). In the previous post, I mentioned how I bought Ghave and my brother got Kaalia, and we tinkered and played our first commander games with those decks. It only felt appropriate that Sethron has a C11 Command Tower to harken back to those days.
Dragonskull Summit, M13 Edition calls back to the era of Return to Ravnica and Event Decks. As mentioned previously, my brother had a knack for doing well at our local Friday Night Magic meta. I would try and throw a deck together and lose often, yet he would craft decks that seemed random, but then he could actually pilot them to victory. During the Innistrad-Return to Ravnica standard era, I remember one Friday Night Magic where he was playing for a top spot playing a mono-red aggro deck. Thragtusk was dominating the meta at the time in a bunch of three-color decks, yet he was able to hold his own and burn things out before his opponents could stabilize. It was during that time that he purchased the Wrack and Rage Event Deck to acquire some cards he wanted. I took him to the store to pick up the deck, which included his very first Dragonskull Summit. I remember it being a Sunday afternoon, with it also being a big deal that he had a dual land. When constructing Sethron, I knew I wanted the Dragonskull Summit from that era.
Temple of Malice, originally printed in the original Theros block, is another automatic inclusion, except this time, I'm able to get an extended art that showcases a temple in the Minotaur polis of Skophos, right on theme. I also really love how Jonas De Ro did the art for this and the Labyrinth.
Now that Story Time is over, let's look at some strategy, since this deck has a job to do. Sethron has two "sections" of game text:
Whenever Sethron, Hurloon General or another nontoken Minotaur enters the battlefield under your control, create a 2/3 red Minotaur creature token.
Casting Sethron gets us a 4/4 and a 2/3. Two creatures for the price of one. I'm all for that. Casting another Minotaur gets us another 2/3 body as well., building up a horde of Minotaurs.
2(B/R): Minotaurs you control get +1/+0 and gain menace and haste until end of turn.
Menace and haste! Two abilities I love seeing (I'm very partial to deathtouch too). Haste is a great ability in multiplayer games. Nobody plans for it, and it can lead to some massive crackbacks or knockouts. Due to Sethron being on the field, you're advertising to your opponents that you may be able to swing with haste creatures, but they will still have to worry about the menace factor and double block.
In short, Sethron wants to see a lot of minotaurs enter the battlefield (they can be reanimated or cheated in with Didgeridoo) so he can create minotaurs, and then give them menace and haste. Combat is clearly going to be a focus, which is fine, because that's exactly where my comfort zone is. The majority of decks I build tend to go this route. I rarely think about "official" win-conditions, preferring to use my creatures to deal damage and knock people out of the game. I'm not a fan of tutoring for certain cards, or creating two-card combos that allow me to win. So, while many Commander articles write about wanting to find a certain card, or play their entire library, etc, mine is more about dealing combat damage and going the route of player removal.
If we want combat, the first step is looking at ways to maximize our combat step. For that answer, I went to a classic card, upgraded with art to match the theme. I give you the Invocation Aggravated Assault:
I love the original art for this card, but in a Minotaur based deck, Amonkhet was going to win. Amonkhet has lots of Minotaurs that live on the plane, and there's even one in the forefront of the art! This enchantment will allow me to continue to add combat steps, as long as I can pay, and my Minotaurs will continue to have menace if I use Sethron's ability. Do I have a way to try and generate that extra mana? Fear not, I have plans, I just don't have the cards in hand yet. Let's just say it's another Minotaur that comes from Amonkhet...
Another way to make my hasted, menanced Minotaurs more threatening is to make them more terrifying in combat. Enter Rage Reflection, which happened to just have an awesome on-theme reprint art in Double Masters. Giving an army double strike will help speed up the damage process, especially as opponents are struggling to block. The Theros Three (as I like to call them) give my Minotaurs good keyword abilities that just get stronger when combined with double strike (Deathtouch, Trample, and Haste).
In honor of Mogis, I added Dictate of the Twin Gods. My hope is that with Flash, I can surprise an opponent to take them out suddenly, or maybe an opponent will become an unwitting ally when they swing with damage that I can turn into lethal by doubling it. I opted to use the original art, since the promo art makes it look like Iroas has the upper hand, and we can't have that!
The last two cards I want to talk about today fall into the support category of the deck. I'm really excited to add them, feeling like they have some uniqueness, as well as being cards I don't see much. Behold Bonder's Ornament & Toil//Trouble!
Bonder's Ornament, while new to the Commander format (having been released with C20 in April) is a card that I think should be as prevalent as Sol Ring and Command Tower (and the ever debatable Arcane Signet). The format is filled with 3-costing mana rocks, each with their own abilities and strengths:
Bonder's Ornament gets any color of the Commander's color identity, and by paying 4 mana, it can be used to draw a card without needing to sacrifice it. The other unique feature of the card is that each play who controls a Bonder's Ornament gets to draw a card as well. I know there are players who will say giving your opponent resources is a bad move, and I completely understand. I approach Commander as a social format. I sit down wanting to have a good time with whoever is at the table with me. It's fun for me to win, but I love the experience of the games, the back and forth between who has the upper hand and who swings in out of nowhere. Nothing keeps the game moving like drawing cards. If everybody is drawing cards, everybody gets to keep the game rolling along. I would also bet that if an opponent has their own Bonder's Ornament, you might get to draw some free cards as well.
Currently, in my own meta of friends, I have been the only one to play Bonder's Ornament (my wife has it in a few decks, but it's yet to hit the table). Whenever I use it to draw a card, I always tell my friends they could be drawing a card too, but they haven't because they won't add it to their deck. I think the card just adds a nice political element to helping people out, and it involves more interactions and deals being made. "I'm thinking of drawing a card with the Ornament, but you can't swing at me, ok? Otherwise, I'll just activate it after your turn". The key for me is that this is also repeatable card draw - I don't have to make the choice of losing my artifact or drawing cards, unlike all the other mana rocks listed.
Toil//Trouble is exactly the kind of card that I love playing in Commander. I'm surprised I haven't seen this played more. My plan is to use it like Night's Whisper and Read the Bones (both of which are on my decklist, but need to be acquired in foil). Both cards are considered some of the best draw spells when playing Black - Sorceries that draw two cards while costing 2 life. Toil does exactly this, and I plan on weighing Toil as the card to be played in most circumstances. Trouble is a bonus, since a Fuse cards can cast both sides together, meaning that if drawn late game, there's more versatility and choices without sacrificing the card draw. Since Sethron is in the correct colors, it's going in, with the possibility that maybe I can punish somebody for getting too greedy with too much drawing and unlimited hand sizes. Since I mentioned Dictate of the Twin Gods earlier, maybe I can take somebody out without them even realizing it's coming! This is a card not used in my playgroup, giving the deck some more uniqueness.
While I originally stated I wanted to build this deck before playing, I've determined that idea doesn't make much sense, especially when it comes to a lot of the support cards. Since I'm trying to foil out a good portion of the deck (with some exceptions), I don't want to invest in foils that are ultimately going to get cut, especially since I own some non-foil versions of the cards already. With the foundation of the deck already constructed (with other cards I haven't mentioned yet - I swear we will get to Amonkhet!), I have a good idea of what I want to see. Testing will allow me to make those final tweaks and edits. An example right now is the debate between if I want to run Dreadbore or Terminate. Dreadbore is more versatile, but sorcery speed. As Blue players everywhere know, nothing beats a good instant. Testing will allow me to figure out what card is better for the deck, or I might just cut another card and add both! Only time will tell.
If you have any ideas or feedback, I would love to hear it. Thanks for reading!
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