Fishing boats by moonlight by Aelbert Cuyp (1650). Hellkite Charger by Jaime Jones.
This blog isn't just about technical discussions of deck construction, evaluation of cards and an exploration of the ways you can foster strong playgroups and healthy EDH leagues. It's also about storytelling.
This is the story of the evolution of my Mayael deck, and of one of the worst games I ever had.
Like any good story, it starts at the very beginning.
The Beginning
I first got into Commander in 2013 and brewed up a mill deck using Mirko Vosk for the commander. It was moderately successful and I enjoyed the format enough that I wound up getting the Naya Precon that Fall. I had fun with it, but wasn't at the point where I was investing money, time, or really that much thought into tweaking and improving my decks. Mayael was all about big dumb creatures cheated into play by a cute little elf. What's not to love? It won a few games, but at that point it was slow and unreliable. I moved on to other deckbuilding projects.
Fast forward to November 2015.
I picked up the Boros precon and got the bright idea to freshen up my long-neglected Mayael deck with a giant tribal theme. The C15 Boros deck had loads of giants - why not cheat them into play? This was at a time when my playgroup was gradually getting more and more competitive.
If you know nothing else about EDH, know this: there are very, very, very few tribes that can stand up in a competitive EDH environment and Giants sure isn't one of them. My playgroup wasn't playing cEDH but it was getting more mature and the decks were getting better. Well, everyone else's deck was getting better. I was building giant tribal.
To further emphasize the level of bad decision-making that was going on, I was actually excited about putting these fellas into the deck...
Letting your opponents drop anything they want onto the field in a format that allows the most overpowered and degenerate cards from the entire history of Magic is not exactly a brilliant idea. In a playgroup with lots of midrange decks it's not the worst idea ever, but when your opponents are getting more and more competitive it's not really going to help you win games. I'm not "all about" winning games, but I do dislike feeling like I never, ever win. More on that later...
So I was having fun and imagining doing goofy stuff like using Conjurer's Closet to bounce Ondu Giant, Hearthcage Giant, or Cloadgoat Ranger to "abuse" their ETB triggers. At that point in time, I still had a long way to go before truly understanding what "abusing" an ETB trigger looks like.
I played the giant tribal Mayael deck for a while and then set it aside to work on other decks. Giant tribal was big goofy fun, but wasn't going to stand up to my ever-improving playgroup. Mayael saw some play, and then went onto the back burner yet again.
Skip ahead again, this time to April 2016.
The Road Trip
I'm a few months into running our EDH league at NexGen comics.
For my son's April vacation, he and I planned a trip down to Bethelem, PA to visit my parents, my sister's family and my cat, who we had to re-home to live with my parents the previous Fall. Her name is Valentine. She's the best cat ever and I miss her terribly, so I was very glad to be making the trip.
Yes - I'm secretly hoping they will read this to her. Not even kidding.
Obligatory cat pic below, because she is awesome and this is the internet and she is a cat.
My wife wasn't able to join us, so my son and I took the opportunity to do a LGS road trip!
I had begun to start getting serious about making my Mayael deck more competitive. The plan was to stop at as many game stores as possible both on the way down and on the way back, and to try to buy at least one good card from each. Improving Mayael was a high priority.
On April 17th we drove west on the turnpike from Massachusetts to New York and then headed south to our first stop at Dragon's Den in Poughkeepsie, NY. There, I bought a foil Wurmcoil Engine for my Odric deck and we marveled at the number of children who had gathered at the store to play some card game that wasn't Pokemon. I still have no idea what they were playing but there were a lot of the little buggers.
Once we had gotten lunch and done our card shopping we hit the road and next stopped at Highlander Games in Boonton, NJ. I really loved their store, and would stop in again if I had a chance. At Highlander I picked up a copy of Varolz the Scar Striped for a new project I was planning on building.
My interest in improving Mayael meant I had to start buying more expensive cards. My old habit of trying to keep up with better, faster, more powerful decks by picking up the best commons and uncommons money can buy was simply not working. I would spend a few bucks on a dozen cards, my son would drop $20 on one or two cards and somehow, his decks kept beating mine again and again. It was time to invest in my hobby. The purchase of the foil Wurmcoil engine was not easy, but it was an important step in starting to build better decks - though if they had a non-foil I certainly would have gotten it instead.
We pulled into my parents' house that evening after the most enjoyable drive from MA to PA I had ever had. We listened to multiple episodes of CommanderCast, stopped at two great game stores, bought singles and had a great time.
Once we had made it to my parents' place, the plan was to check out the local stores and maybe even make a trip into Philadelphia. The next day we hit The Encounter, our first store in Bethlehem, PA. There I found a gem. Mayael likes to cheat big creatures into play, but smart opponents (i.e. big jerks) will counter her or kill her before letting me even find out if I'm going to drop something terrible onto the battlefield.
Building additional ways to cheat creatures into play is a good idea for any deck with big creatures, so when I spotted an Elvish Piper in the binders at The Encounter, I picked it up immediately.
Of course, all those big jerks I play with now kill Elvish Piper on sight, but that means one less removal spell for them to use against Mayael. Every now and then it sticks, though, and that's why I was also on the lookout for some fatties.
That evening my brother-in-law's favorite game store, The Portal, also in Bethlehem, PA, was having a Commander Night. I had no idea what the Commander scene was like, but we resolved to check it out and see if we could get some games in.
The Portal was a cool little store with an amazingly talented artist (she paints miniatures) working the counter, and with a good-sized room in the back for events. Their cards were in binders and the selection was only surpassed by the staff's ability to know what sets any given card had been printed in with amazing accuracy and without looking it up. I was impressed, and if I were a local, this would totally be my "home store".
I was able to pick up a Mossbridge Troll to slot into Mayael and we joined some of the regulars for some EDH. We played several games that night, but this is a story about Mayael. I played her once that night.
In the game in which I played my Mayael deck, I was able to get an Armadillo Cloak under a Mosswort Bridge and then get Bloodfire Colossus on the board, get the Cloak out from under the hideaway land and then sacrifice Bloodfire Colossus to do 6 damage to all 6 players and 8 creatures on the table... with lifelink, of course.
I shot up to over 100 life.
The only way the table had to deal with me was one of the local players who hit me with Ulamog four times, milling me for a total of 80 cards. I wasn't even mad - I had done a big dumb thing. I was happy.
It's a pity I don't have an Eldrazi Titan in that deck, but before I went out I was able to put Boldwyr Heavyweights on the table, letting everyone go grab something stupid and put it on the table before I got eliminated. It was a fun game, but it was becoming clear that I needed to get more serious about making Mayael competitive if I wanted to win the occasional game.
The Commander night at The Portal was disorganized but not lacking in potential. It seemed clear that if someone wanted to get a league going there, it could be a huge success! As a casual drop-in night, it worked, we got some games in and had fun. I expect we'll go again, the next time we're in town.
The next day we went into Philadelphia. I was on a quest to find a Phelddagrif but the game store we hit downtown near the science museum carried only booster packs. On the way back out of the city we did stop at 7th Dimension Games, just north of Philly. It was a pretty cool store, but I don't even recall what I bought there, other than a From the Vault: Annihilation for my son. I know neither store had a Phelddagrif because if they had, my wife's group hug deck would be led by a flying legendary hippo nicknamed "Phil", for having been bought in Philadelphia.
Wednesday we headed home.
We planned the trip so we could do our EDH league on Saturday, head to PA for a few days and get home well before the following Saturday for league. On the way home to New England we stopped in Brooklyn for pizza and to check out the 20 Sided Store. It was pretty cool, but had a weird iPad system for asking staff to look up cards in their archives. Then in Danbury, CT we stopped at Gamer's Gambit. I don't recall any of the cards we picked up at either of those last two shops. Still no Phelddagrif - that would be gifted to us later on by an old friend.
All in all it was a great trip, and got me thinking how to really get the most out of Mayael.
I added in Quicksilver Amulet to better cheat creatures into play. I added in Seedborn Muse because untapping your board and activating Mayael on everyone else's turn is just too much fun. I added Tooth and Nail, Blazing Archon and Blightsteel Colossus for what should be obvious reasons. Short of upgrading the manabase, which can get really expensive, I did everything I could to take her from being a janky giant tribal deck to a competitive bigstuff deck.
In June I decided I was going to play my Mayael deck all month long for EDH League. Early on I had switched decks every week, but by this time I had realized that I do better consistently playing the same deck. I make less mistakes that way.
My first week went really badly.
I was knocked out of one round when I was below 10 life, got hit by a Blightsteel Colossus, and failed to remember that it wasn't normal damage and our league infect count is 15, not 10. Later on I felt deeply stupid. Second round didn't go well either, though in both games I got Seedborn Muse out and activated Mayael on other players' turns.
The thing with Mayael is that you have to embrace variance.
Some times you'll activate her and get exactly what you need to close out the game with a win.
Other times you'll get nothing, again and again and again.
Yet other times her early game goes so poorly, you just sit there feeling like you're in the middle of...
The Worst Game Ever
For months we not only played games at league - we also played games at home once or twice a week.
My son and I both have old friends who have played Magic far longer than I, but who don't play in our league on Saturdays. These games at home are really important to me, and while I don't care about winning all the time - I do like to occasionally pull off a victory. More than anything it's about seeing friends, but I was at a point where I felt like I hadn't won a game in a really, really long time. Part of the feeling was probably the frustration of my bad games with Mayael on Saturdays, but I found myself thinking stuff like...
"What do I have to do to win a game around here?"
and
"I'd give anything just to win a freakin' game!"
I'm guessing most of you have had thoughts like that at some point or another. We all have good and bad runs of luck and times where our decks are working and times where they just aren't.
On June 7th we gathered at my house for some fun games of EDH with friends.
In the first game I played my Narset deck.
Narset is the deck I go to when I feel like I haven't won in a while. She lost. At this point in time it was still a budget Narset voltron deck, meaning that while it had nasty stuff in it, the manabase was far from optimized and I didn't even have Eldrazi Conscription yet. Somehow she got stuck with a Darksteel Mutation. I'm still a little shaky on how that happened but I trust my fellow players and it was something about it coming back out of the graveyard and therefore not targeting her. My son thinks it was Obzedat's Aid, and he's probably right.
I actually scooped because I had no creatures, no boardstate and was just going to slow things down if i stayed in. I wasn't that mad - these things happen, but it wasn't exactly a great start to the night either.
In game two I played Mayel.
I mulliganed to 6 cards and kept a hand with 3 forests and a bunch of red cards. Nothing I'd be able to cast. I hate to mulligan down past 6 so I went with it. The deck has green cards in it - how bad could it be?
Over the next hour I played lands but never got near to having the colors to be able to do anything at all.
I just sat there with lands, fortunately being ignored for not being a threat and not being worth the effort to kill.
I still had Gisela, Hammerfist Giant, and Hellkite Charger in my hand, and had drawn into Behemoth Sledge. I had managed to get a R/G nonbasic land onto the field but all my red cards were still stuck in my hand. The idea of playing Hammerfist Giant and getting Behemoth Sledge into his hands was tantalizing, but I was far from being able to get either of those out - let alone both.
I never had to discard, so I was building up a nice little forest around my solitary nonbasic land, but I had no creatures and had no idea why I hadn't scooped.
It felt bad. I don't really mind losing that much. I hate being pitied, and at this point I felt like pity was the only reason I was still in the game. I couldn't bring myself to scoop twice in one night so I stayed in.
Other players were building up boardstates, waging battle with each other, and eventually killing each other off.
I finally drew into a small green utility creature. It might have been Hua Tuo, Honored Physician, or possibly Krosan Drover. I remember that it was a sad little speedbump that didn't help me in any way. I had also drawn into Bear Umbra, which pairs really, really nicely with Hellkite Charger.
I had 4 forests, a Ghost Quarter and that nonbasic R/G land, but that was all. I didn't have the mana to play my giant, equip him with Behemoth Sledge and gain a little much-needed life. I didn't have the mana to play Hellkite Charger - I was short a red source.
When my son eliminated the last player other than me, I knew my time was nearly up.
It's not fun to sit around with no mana, no boardstate, no hope of affecting the game in any way, basically being pitied and kept in the game because it's not worth bothering to eliminate the poor fellow with no boardstate.
I expect that was the glummest I have ever looked while playing a game of EDH.
It had been an utterly miserable game, and it was about to be over. My son passed the turn.
I drew a mountain.
A freaking mountain.
A second red source.
I might, I just might be able to do some damage to somebody before being unceremoniously escorted to the exit as the last player eliminated from our second game that night. That was now my goal - to get some blood on my hands before the end of the game.
I played my land.
I played my Hellkite Charger.
I had no mana for anything else, so I swung in the air for 5 damage over his board of non-flying, non-reach creatures and then passed the turn.
I think I was at 23 life.
My son, seeing no reason to hold back, he hit me with everything he had.
I hadn't even counted up the power he had on board. I was just resigned to my fate.
He counted up 19 damage and passed the turn.
I stared, disbelieving...
I had sat there for well over an hour with no hope, no boardstate and no joy in my heart. I had endured the worst game I had ever experienced, after scooping out of the previous game to avoid wasting anyone else's time. I had bemoaned my inability to win a single freaking game in what had felt like forever.
I had even put words to the thought: "what do I have to do to win a freakin' game around here?"
I drew a card. I don't even remember what it was because it was utterly irrelevant.
I played Bear Umbra on my Hellkite Charger.
No responses.
I swung in with my Hellkite.
No responses.
I won the game.
I won the freakin' game!
It was possibly one of the most miserable games I've ever endured, but I got what I asked for. I got my win.
In the future I should probably be more specific in my requests to the Powers That Be, because in retrospect I never actually requested that the game be fun. I didn't specify that it be exciting, that I interact with my opponents, or that I even have much of a boardstate.
I just asked for a win.
So the lesson in this slightly long-winded story is simple and probably obvious.
Be careful what you ask for - you might just get it... and not one bit more.
I played a third game that night, but to be honest the utter ridiculousness of that second game is all that matters. Not only did I get a win that night. I got a story worth sharing.
Final Thoughts
You might think I don't like Mayael, but in truth she is one of my favorite commanders. I love the surprise of finding out what you've got waiting for you at the top of your deck. She's had some good stuff taken out to help build other decks since the game this story was written about, but she still packs a good punch and can win if the fates are on my side.
She can be weak early game, but strong and unrelenting mid-to-late game if you're getting the right stuff out. You will have your share of games where she never gets going or isn't fast enough but if you love big creatures and slugging it out on the battlefield, Mayael can be a lot of fun.
If you want to look at the current decklist, I keep all my decks up on TappedOut.net.