I’m back after a weekend hiatus, Steemit. Friday I got together with a couple of Steemit friends and discussed possible plot and story arcs for my Crpyotian Steemit-inspired comic. It was a great opportunity, delving in to the future of blockchain technologies and their impact on societies across the world. Saturday and Sunday were hectic preparing for my upcoming trip […next week already] to New York City and Toronto […then back to NYC, then Scranton, then back to Minneapolis. Fun!]. In the last 24 hours, a few things fell in to place including the arrival of my passport, and money to pay for everything coming up on this trip. At my most stressed, I tell myself “…it’s all going to work out.”, because it has for the last 7 years of being a freelance artist, but in those moments, it never feels like it actually will.

Real quick on Trial by Comics, the deadline for “Magic: The Gathering” theme has closed. The participating has been astounding. I know many of you do not play, so it means so much that a majority of the artists that contributed sought out the characters, creatures and planeswalkers just to contribute. 50.000 SBD’s is a nice little bump for a contest award, but it’s not a life-changing […or even week changing] bounty for most. I know this level of participation is because so many of you just love the spirit of the contest and have a deep passion for comics and illustration. Happy to announce, in addition to @danielkiessler’s 25.000 SBD’s matching my own for the 50.000 SBD reward to the winner, @vermillionfox is contributing 30.000 SBD […as an avid MTG player herself], finally giving us the chance to offer a 2nd and 3rd prize to Trial by Comics! The announcement should be made tomorrow […I’m finishing the sketch for the new theme now].

Speaking of Magic: The Gathering, tonight is the night. I’ve been saying for weeks I was going to dive in to my champion Commander/EDH, and this is it! Some quick back story; I started playing MTG with @tarotbyfergus over a year ago at @caffetto. @vermillionfox joined us soon thereafter. In time, I met @iamredbar, and he joined our group. We all played Standard format. That was the format I was introduced to and that’s what I stubbornly wanted to continue playing. @tarotbyfergus convinced us to play a couple Commander games with his decks and initially, I hated it. The cards were cartoonishly devastating, far worse than most cards in Standard. That was what he liked about the format and I began seeing the limitations of Standard as my favorite aspect of the game.

Standard was about to rotate out with the coming of Ixalan […just released last month], phasing many previous sets including Oath of the Gatewatch, Battle for Zendikar, Shadows Over Innistrad and Eldrich Moon out of my favorite format. What this meant was, we either had to build new decks, or accept that we were now playing Modern. I’d spent lots of money […and STEEM] on my decks, so I wasn’t about to abandoned them. Accepting that we were now in Modern meant we could begin building and playing with virtually anything, which lead to the possibility of building my first EDH deck. To do that, though, I needed a great Commander.

That great Commander was Padeem, Consul of Innovation! A 1/4 Legendary Creature — Vedalken Artificer for 4 mana, who gives artifacts hexproof. You also get a card draw at the beginning of your upkeep if you have the highest converted mana artifact […or are even tied for it]. That sounds like a guy you’d want on the battlefield again and again, especially if you have an army of artifact creatures! A few hundred dollars and several trips to Universe Games, Mead Hall and Dreamer’s Vault later, I had my first EDH/Commander deck!

The deck has changed since I first built it. Out of the gate, it kicked so much ass that it forced @tarotbyfergus to modify his Alicia, Who Smiles at Death EDH deck, just to cope with it. In response, I made some changes to it’s current deckles […seen below]. 

The idea is to cast Padeem early and equip him with either Lightning Greaves or Champion’s Helm. Both give him hexproof, and he gives artifacts hexproof. It’s possible […even likely] to create this situation on turn four. From here, other than board wipes, sacrifice abilities and complete board wipes […fortunately, this deck is heavy on counter spells], you’re pretty safe to move on to the next phase of the game.

Phase two is casting Planar Bridge with the help of Treasure Mage or Inventor’s Fair. Sol Ring and Gilded Lotus will help rock your mana to activate Planar Bridge to starting bringing a variety of win conditions to the battlefield […all without being cast, so they can’t be counter except by Disallow]. One way to go is sticking Mind’s Dilation on your opponent if you suspect they can’t deal with enchantments. What a horrible card, and one of my favorites. After enchanted player cast his first spell, you can cast the second card of his or her library for free! There has been games that @tarotbyfegus’ only hope was to cast a card from his hand that would win the game, and the following card […from his library] was a counter spell. It’s never fun to lose a game, but it’s another level of evil when you lose because of one of your own cards being used against you. 

Another is big, scary artifact creatures like Inkwell Leviathan or Colossus of Akros. Make Colossus of Akros monstrous for 10 mana and he becomes a 20/20 indestructible hexproof […thanks to Padeem] creature. Tap Planar Bridge again and put Corrupted Conscience on him and he gains Infect. In almost any situation, that can end the game in two swings!

Above all though, I have a favorite way to win with this deck. It’s by far the most maniacal, will breaking-win circumstance, and that’s when I win, when I should have lost. There’s always this back and forth between myself and @tarotbyfergus of who’s the bigger asshole in Magic: The Gathering, and this formula is why I feel why I wear the asshole crown. Once you’ve reached the Planar Bridge phase, it’s putting Platinum Angel on the battlefield. As long as it’s there, you can lose the game and your opponents can’t win the game and I have stretched that broken mechanic far beyond the realm of what should be allowed. A second spin on Planar Bridge can get Dark Steel Forge on the battlefield making all artifacts hexproof and indestructible, with a 4/4 flyer that can’t be targeted or destroyed. I have literally won games against @tarotbyfergus with -162 life, and WITHOUT A LIBRARY! It’s diabolical. Okay, without further adieu, here’s the deck list.

Lands

34 x Islands

1 x Darksteel Citadel

1 x Academy Ruins

1 x Westvale Abbey

1 x Inventor’s Fair

Creatures

1 x Padeem, Consul of Innovation

1 x Trinket Mage

1 x Treasure Mage

1 x Etched Champion

1 x Duplicant

1 x Inkwell Leviathan

1 x Colossus of Akros

1 x Platinum Angel

1 x Mizzium Meddler

1 x Clever Impersonator

1 x Harbinger of the Tides

1 x Phyrexian Metamorph

1 x Body Double

1 x Darksteel Colossus

1 x Torrential Gearhulk

Planeswalkers

1 x Tezzeret the Seeker

1 x Jace, Unraveler of Secrets

1 x Jace, the Mind Sculptor

Spells

1 x Champion’s Helm

1 x Gilded Lotus

1 x Sol Ring

1 x Deathrender

1 x Swiftfoot Boots

1 x Lightning Greaves

1 x Vedalken Shackles

1 x Nevinyrral’s Disk

1 x Argentum Armor

1 x Mirrage Mirror

1 x Planar Bridge

1 x Darksteel Forge

1 x Telemin Performance

1 x Steal Enchantment

1 x Blatant Thievery

1 x All Is Dust

1 x Riddleform

1 x Persuasion

1 x Coutnerspell

1 x Kefnet’s Last Word

1 x Stoic Rebutal

1 x Dream Leash

1 x Metallurgic Summonings

1 x Confiscate

1 x Disallow

1 x Mechanized Production

1 x Treachery

1 x Thirst for Knowledge

1 x Insidious Will

1 x Saheeli’s Artistry

1 x Stubborn Denial

1 x Cancel

1 x Polymorphist’s Jest

1 x Thoughtcast

1 x Spell Shrivel

1 x Extract

1 x Invasive Surgery 

1 x Fabricate

1 x Brianstorm

1 x Spelltwine

1 x Void Shatter

1 x Mind’s Dilation

1 x Corrupted Conscience

1 x Clone Legion 

Thanks for reading! I know these MTG posts aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but the game is a big part of my life and some of he only recreation I have. They’re fun to write and photograph. I post often, so for more MTG, illustration, photography and art, follow me here @kommienezuspadt!