For some reason, there are some out there that don't enjoy what blue brings to Magic: The Gathering. Let's explore why that may be the case.
Does It Resolve?
Few things strike fear into the hearts of your opponents like seeing two open blue mana across the table. Blue's most famous card has got to be good old fashioned Counterspell. Blue does not have much in the way of interaction once a permanent hits the table but is elite when it comes to stack interaction. One thing to remember though is that using a counterspell in a game of commander is technically card disadvantage in that you use a card to get rid of one spell while your two other opponents will still have a card. For some reason, this seems to be pointed out more often with counterspells than it is with single target removal spells. There are exceptions to this, of course, such as Arcane Denial which will replace itself at the beginning of the next turns upkeep, or Mana Drain which I honestly consider to be more of a ritual effect than a removal spell. A properly timed Mana Drain can really propel you ahead in a game. Mystic Confluence, while expensive can counter a spell, bounce something back to an opponents hand for a gain in tempo and replace itself. While this does cost 5 mana to play, I can't think of a time when I felt bad casting it. At it's very worst, it's a five mana instant speed draw three. When I am considering card types in my deck lists, I tend to look at it as a draw spell with upside. The Force cards and Flare of Denial make the card disadvantage situation even worse, but they are great to include in your decks because they will still catch the weary opponent who thinks they outsmarted you by waiting until you no longer had two untapped blue mana. I tend to only use these cards to do something like save me from a board wipe or protect against a win. Circling back to Arcane Denial, a lot of people really like it because it does replace itself, but at the same time it will allow your opponent to draw two cards. I am of the opinion that that is too much to give up unless I am playing a "group hug" style deck. Instead, I usually opt for Disdainful Stroke as it will counter almost every board wipe and hopefully one day Negate will make its way into a retro frame. If I am playing a deck that wants counterspells, I usually will go with 3-5 of them.
I'll Take That
That's a sweet card! I'll take it. One of my favorite things to do is to steal cards from my opponents. Be careful when doing this though because it will absolutely be salt inducing. Ray of Command is a great way to get rid of a pesky creature by stealing it and using it as a blocker. Reins of Power can be used for serious politics, the two players exchanging creatures doesn't even have to involve you. I like it for a wincon in a "group hug" strategy. Bribery is great because you can literally pick any single creature that your opponent packed into their decks. Aura Thief is a hoot, especially if you are playing several sacrifice outlets or if you can play it at instant speed. Volatile Stormdrake is a great budget alternative to Gilded Drake. At the very worse, it's sorcery speed creature removal. As the commander format has gotten faster, most creatures have a mana value of four or less. There are plenty of other options out there that have this effect as well.
Draw Those Cards
What's the most fun thing to do in Magic? Draw cards!! And boy is blue good at it. If you play blue you will often find yourself asking "Do you pay the one?" (Always pay the one!) If you are playing Dimir, you can use blue's card draw to load up your graveyard with spells like Frantic Search or Fact or Fiction. If you are using evasive fliers, Bident of Thassa may be just what you are looking for. Mystic Remora is a great card, have you ever seen someone pay the four? I think I've only ever payed it once. If you are using blue, chances are your hand will be full or close to it!
Card Filtering
This group of cards is referred to as can trips, you play the card and you get a card. The effectiveness of these cards is up for debate by many content creators. I see some say they are over played and, maybe they are? I really enjoy them because you usually have one or two mana later on in the game that you may otherwise not be able to use, why not set up your next turn? Brainstorm is one of the most broken cards of all time and is a Legacy format all star. Part of the reason for this is you can put cards you may not want to discard from hand removal back on top of your library or you can search for a counterspell. While hand destruction may not run rampant in the commander format, I like having the ability to put a card on top of my deck that I won't be able to cast for a few turns, or to ensure I am hitting my land drops each turn. If you add in fetch lands you can shuffle away the cards you don't want. What do you think? Are these cards worth a slot in your deck?
"Good Stuff"
Blue has so many good cards, I don't even know where to start. Blue has strong artifact synergies with cards like Transmute Artifact or Power Artifact among many others. It allows for large swings in tempo with cards like Aetherize, Evacuation, and Cyclonic Rift. Propaganda can buy you several turns early game without being attacked. Remember, enchantment removal is not super common in the commander format at this point. Intruder Alarm combos with a ham sandwich. Mind Over Matter can combo nicely with Arcanis the Omnipotent for a Laboratory Maniac win. Palinchron can combo to give infinite mana but has fallen out of favor in recent years. I do still like to run it sometimes just as a flier that will leave mana open for instants during your opponents turns. Faerie Seer can come down turn one and smooth out your draws while providing a pesky flier to get in for chip damage. Windfall can refill your hand while making your opponent discard the hands they chose to keep. Have you ever had a wheel cast against you when you had a hand you wanted to keep? It feels bad... If you are feeling particularly nefarious, pair a Windfall with Narset Parter of Veils. Only do if you're okay losing a friend or not making a new one in this game.
Legends
There are a lot of cool legends that are blue, especially if you enjoy artifact decks. Fblthp is such a cool card and I love just putting it in decks wherever I can. I love Empress Galina, it's so fun putting it in play and watching the "Wait, what?" moment that happens every.single.time it comes into play. Urza, Lord high Artificer is an elite card and makes a crazy strong artifact commander deck. Just know, if you sit down and reveal him as your commander you will be Target #1 at the table. But still, it is kind of fun playing an Ornithopter knowing it's really a Mox. The other thing you will often find in an Urza, Lord high Artificer deck are stax pieces such as Winter Orb due to you being able to tap the Winter Orb during your opponents upkeep. This will allow you to be able to untap your lands and break parity with your opponents.
I guess it's easy to see why a lot of players hold animosity towards blue in magic games. But, the advantages it gives you when you wield it properly in a game of commander are undeniable. I don't usually like to play mono blue commander decks but I love splashing it. My favorite typal strategy are merfolk because you can do so many different things with them, all while knowing you can protect your board and feel free to overcommit. There have been some cards printed recently that let you interact with artifact cards that are on the board but unfortunately those do not exist yet in retro frames. The same is true for creatures and enchantments with the exception of bounce spells. For these reasons, blue definitely has limitations but the ability to interact when spells are on the stack lets you interact with every spell type. Blue does take some discipline to master because you need to learn what to counter and what you can deal with later. For me, this looks like "Will this spell win the game for my opponent? Is it a critical combo piece? Will they be able to easily get it out of the graveyard? Does it destroy everything I've worked for up until this point and I will not be able to recover from it?" If the answer to any of those is yes, I counter it. If the answer is no, I will let it resolve.
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