Commander Clash S2 Episode 22: C16 Upgrades
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 each of us picked one of the Commander 2016 preconstructed decks and swapped in $20 worth of upgrades. Here's what we came up with:
- Tom tweaks Invent Superiority into a more streamlined Artifact deck with Breya, Etherium Shaper
- Seth focuses on the +1/+1 Counter aspect of Breed Lethality led by Atraxa, Praetors' Voice
- Richard turns Entropic Uprising into a full-blown Storm Combo deck with Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder
- Tomer injects a Political Tokens strategy into Stalwart Unity led by Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis
The decks that Richard and I are running come from my Budget Commander mini-series where coincidentally I took every C16 preconstructed deck and showed how to upgrade them for just $20 (and beyond), so if you're interested in an in-depth explanation of those decks you can check them out here. So, which deck benefits the most from a small boost of money? 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 (Breya)
Richard's Deck (Yidris)
Seth's Deck (Atraxa)
Tomer's Deck (Kynaios and Tiro)
Post-Game Thoughts
Sooo yeah, Yidris Storm is the real deal. $20 turns it into a crazy good Combo deck. If you want to win with Storm and your opponent don't mind you playing a little solitaire, then I highly recommend it! I think it's the most competitive deck of the bunch on a tight budget upgrade since all the Storm pieces are cheap to pick up.
I was really proud of game 2. I felt I played my hand really well and did a decent job of politics, two things I'm not often the best at. Unfortunately, I lost this week's recording (and last week's) so we used Seth's backup and you don't see my hand this game. I was sitting on Reins of Power for a long time and knew that I was going to use it to send Seth's Vulturous Zombie into his face, but I really wanted Tom out of the game first. I knew all the popular combos that Breya, Etherium Sculptor likes to run and my hand was not capable of answering them. I also knew by now that Tom is very good at downplaying his position, which he demonstrated the previous game with the Azami combo win, so even if his board doesn't appear lethal he likely has some nasty surprises waiting in his hand. Had Tom not been forced to spend his mana recasting Breya, he would have had an easy time to combo off with zero answers from me or Seth.
Once people informed me of Seth's combo potential, however, I decided to pull the trigger and take him out. Sure enough, even at 2 life remaining and an unimpressive-looking board, Tom still turned the game around in the span of a single turn. It was very impressive not just how many layers of synergies an Artifact deck can have, but that Tom was clever enough to utilize all of it so effectively. Luckily my final topdeck beat his and I took a game! It felt good to win one for once, and not in a lopsided manner like when I discovered that Notion Thief + Windfall is grossly effective. Oooh, maybe I'm now ahead of Seth in points this season?
Next Week: Anything Goes!
We're bringing whatever deck we feel like playing next week. I'll be bringing my Budget Animar deck that I posted recently; it's super fun so I jumped at the chance at playing it for a clash! 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.
