These Five Decks Are Literally Unplayable Without Jeweled Lotus, Mana Crypt, Dockside Extortionist, and Nadu, Winged Wisdom
Like many of you, I was shocked to hear of the Rules Committee's recent ban announcement barring the use of Mana Crypt
Besides the complete obliteration of the value of my life savings in the form of 1500 copies of Mana Crypt
Instead of running down the financials and explaining in great detail how I'll never escape the yoke of the landlord or be able to purchase that combination pool table/Pac-Man cabinet/Modular Warhammer 40K battlefield, let's try to focus on the good times we had with these cards and the best decks I've ever run them in.
#1. Mystic Intellect 2019 Precon
My poor, poor Mystic Intellect precon Commander deck from 2019 is now literally unplayable in Commander games. It's unfair that I, the number-one advocate for Casual-with-a-capital C Commander, am now forced to "power down" my already WotC-designated low-power starter deck to appeal to the masses. There wasn't a single card in Mystic Intellect I could use to abuse Dockside Extortionist
#2. Fast Mana Kindred
Us casual players are always catching strays in the fight to keep the cEDH players down. After this latest round of incredibly unfair and destructive bannings, my fast-mana kindred deck is completely wrecked. I promise you, there was no "unfun play pattern" in this deck. Starting the game with a Mana Crypt
#3. Cheerios
What am I supposed to do with my Flubs, the Fool
#4. Nadu, Winged Wisdom Bird Wizard Kindred
Little-known commander Nadu, Winged Wisdom
#5. Rule Zero Dockside Extortionist Commander Deck
There's been a lot of commotion in the wake of the ban announcement revolving around the Rule 0 discussion that allegedly happens before every Commander game. (Why didn't we just Rule 0-out the fast mana in the pregame chat? Surely we all had replacement cards ready to go to replace our Sol Ring
I'm a huge advocate for the Rule 0 conversation, and how we can use it to establish what kind of Commander game we want to play. For example, I (used to) always bring up how I'm actually running Dockside Extortionist
The Ban Felt 'Round the World
You wouldn't be here unless you were also fuming at the Rules Committee's tyrannical and fascist warping of our beloved and patrician Commander format. You've also found yourself consumed with vitriol, the likes of which we haven't seen since the last American election cycle.
I want you to know there is a path forward, though. I've already written and called every single one of my elected officials in Washington to make clear my disapproval of the RC's actions and demand a response from the government. With any luck, we'll see these criminals tried and jailed for their heinous acts before year's end.
Remember that you can always join me on Twitter to cry and moan and wail about your favorite collectible trading card game designed for ages 13 and up! And check Commander's Herald regularly for the latest updates on what to replace your banned cards with, and what you should spend your deckbuilding money on instead of some perceived-value r/mtgfinance-esque get-rich-slowly scheme.
