Best Commander for a "Fires of Yavimaya" Shell?
Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2020 10:57 pm
I've been feeling nostalgic for Fires of Yavimaya ever since @TheAmericanSpirit's Flametongue Kavu thread last week. For those who weren't around in 2001, the idea of the deck was quite simple - use the Haste conferred by Fires of Yavimaya alongside the raw power of the creatures of that era (many of whom either hit way above their weight class due to Fading or had awesome EtB abilities) to mow down opponents before they could mount a reasonable defense. Also powerful was the incredible tempo of mana dorks with haste, as they effectively were "free". The deck was "good" pre-Planeshift largely because Blastoderm and Saproling Burst, drawbacks though they had, were so gross - Burst, in particular, was "the fix", allowing a perfect curve of smacking opponents for 12 hasty damage on turn 4 with a board that said "wrath or die" (A dork turn 1 or 2 into a Fires turn 2 or 3 allowed for turn 4 burst removing 3 counters for 12 power). This was also sometimes known as the "Blackjack" play, as a lack of blocks or interaction meant you were taking a smooth 21 in five turns. The deck became truly great after Planeshift - Flametongue Kavu was a backbreaking two-for-one that put immense pressure on opponents and ensured they'd be super dead even if they did manage to find removal + blockers after the initial Blastoderm or Saproling Burst Blitzkrieg. Such aggressive power was unprecedented. A sample decklist would be...
A few other common additions were Kavu Titan, Ancient Hydra, Jade Leech, River Boa, and Urza's Rage. There was also the occasional heavier white splash for Rith, the Awakener and sideboard Orim's Thunders or Aura Mutations, and the more occasional black splash for Terminate, Pernicious Deed, and Darigaaz, the Igniter.
My favorite FNM-only variant utilized Shivan Wurm on the topend to re-buy FTK for maximum carnage. Even more casual players occasionally used Horned Kavu and/or Sparkcaster as well. Other players would sometimes slow the deck down, either with those Elder Dragon splashes or with a Two-Headed Dragon top-end.
The deck was definitely a product of its time - the rotation to Invasion/Odyssey block standard brought even better green cards like Wild Mongrel and Call of the Herd, but ultimately the deck wasn't unfair enough in a world of Psychatog/Upheavals or chain wishing off of Mirari's Wake mana or madnessing around turn three Arrogant Wurms. Even so, it was little Hawk's first serious FNM deck and first taste of really playing Real Magic for Winners.
Obviously a lot of that stuff isn't that exciting now. We can get 12/12s for five with a lot less effort than Burst required using stuff like Ghalta, Primal Hunger, and we can play any number of 5/X for fours that don't have hideous drawbacks...and all of that is just barely good enough for Standard, nevermind a 40 life format where nuking someone for 21 on turn 5 is just not enough.
Even so, I kinda want to try it - Wort, the Raidmother is boring me so I itch for a green/red Commander that can scrap with the best of them. As a "core", let's extrapolate - for a 100 card deck to be "in the spirit of fires", we'd ideally want 4-7 sources of mass-haste, and maybe 10-13 mana dorks to take advantage of that tempo, plus 10-13 haymakers (which I am defining as a CMC 4-6 card that either hits for 5+ or has a huge EtB effect). As a rough starting point, my shell would be...
The question from there is...who is the commander?
GRUUL:
Xenagos, God of Revels: Xenagos is the 600 lb Goat-God-Man in the room; he's clearly awesome as a commander of a deck like this. While awkward with classic Blastoderm and Saproling Burst, he functions as a pseudo-"Fires" effect out of the command zone while also ensuring our silly little beatdown plan scales to the format. He's resilient, he's powerful, and...he's a bit boring? I tried him a while ago and was underwhelemed. Sure, that was right when he released and I wasn't explicitly paying homage to my favorite archetype of yesteryear, but still. I'd like to see if anyone else is up to snuff. He will almost assuredly be in my 99 if he isn't commander though.
Radha, Heir to Keld - Provides a mana dork in the command zone to ensure smooth curving.
Gallia of the Endless Dance - Makes changelings attractive as she gives them haste; allows for some hand-fixing once the Saproling Burst fix is in.
Ulasht, the Hate Seed - cute if we want to go full self-bounce.
Neyith of the Dire Hunt - New and shiny. Some say she's just a worse XenaGod, but she does let us do fun/interesting things with Guild Feud and Ulvenwald Tracker and is super awesome with Ezuri's Predation. She also makes stuff like Thorn Mammoth or Territorial Allosaurus into more interesting pseudo-FTKs.
I wouldn't look seriously at another Gruul Commander, but let me know if you really think Grand Warlord Radha or whoever deserves a look :p.
NAYA:
Rith, the Awakener - mentioned for historical accuracy, but clearly if we go Selesnya the choice is...
Samut, Voice of Dissent - Fires in the command zone + some fun to be hand with Exert or Tap Abilities.
JUND:
Darigaaz, the Igniter - mentioned for historical accuracy. Clearly, however, the pick would be...
Prossh, Skyraider of Kher - talk about an EtB trigger and ability to "punch-out" people! Or....
Korvold, Fae-Cursed King - Boring and done to death, takes the deck into aristocrat direction, but has to be mentioned because he's so good. Also, has some funny "synergy" with Saproling Burst and Blastoderm and Fires...so there's that....
TEMUR: I am intrigued by Temur for the ability to run Temur Ascendancy as a "fires" + "draw" effect and lean harder on self-bounce with Crystal Shard, but have no clue who the commander would be. I'm too poor to go get Animar, Soul of Elements, Illuna, Apex of Wishes is a bit silly, Surrak Dragonclaw is a bit vanilla...maybe Yasova Dragonclaw with a "sac and steal" subtheme?
Five Color: With Golos, Tireless Pilgrim?
What do you guys think?
Fires of Yavimaya
Creatures: 24
Sorceries: 4
Approximate Total Cost:
A few other common additions were Kavu Titan, Ancient Hydra, Jade Leech, River Boa, and Urza's Rage. There was also the occasional heavier white splash for Rith, the Awakener and sideboard Orim's Thunders or Aura Mutations, and the more occasional black splash for Terminate, Pernicious Deed, and Darigaaz, the Igniter.
My favorite FNM-only variant utilized Shivan Wurm on the topend to re-buy FTK for maximum carnage. Even more casual players occasionally used Horned Kavu and/or Sparkcaster as well. Other players would sometimes slow the deck down, either with those Elder Dragon splashes or with a Two-Headed Dragon top-end.
The deck was definitely a product of its time - the rotation to Invasion/Odyssey block standard brought even better green cards like Wild Mongrel and Call of the Herd, but ultimately the deck wasn't unfair enough in a world of Psychatog/Upheavals or chain wishing off of Mirari's Wake mana or madnessing around turn three Arrogant Wurms. Even so, it was little Hawk's first serious FNM deck and first taste of really playing Real Magic for Winners.
Obviously a lot of that stuff isn't that exciting now. We can get 12/12s for five with a lot less effort than Burst required using stuff like Ghalta, Primal Hunger, and we can play any number of 5/X for fours that don't have hideous drawbacks...and all of that is just barely good enough for Standard, nevermind a 40 life format where nuking someone for 21 on turn 5 is just not enough.
Even so, I kinda want to try it - Wort, the Raidmother is boring me so I itch for a green/red Commander that can scrap with the best of them. As a "core", let's extrapolate - for a 100 card deck to be "in the spirit of fires", we'd ideally want 4-7 sources of mass-haste, and maybe 10-13 mana dorks to take advantage of that tempo, plus 10-13 haymakers (which I am defining as a CMC 4-6 card that either hits for 5+ or has a huge EtB effect). As a rough starting point, my shell would be...
Fires 2020
Mass Haste: 5
Mana Dorks: 10
"Haymakers": 10
Approximate Total Cost:
The question from there is...who is the commander?
GRUUL:
Xenagos, God of Revels: Xenagos is the 600 lb Goat-God-Man in the room; he's clearly awesome as a commander of a deck like this. While awkward with classic Blastoderm and Saproling Burst, he functions as a pseudo-"Fires" effect out of the command zone while also ensuring our silly little beatdown plan scales to the format. He's resilient, he's powerful, and...he's a bit boring? I tried him a while ago and was underwhelemed. Sure, that was right when he released and I wasn't explicitly paying homage to my favorite archetype of yesteryear, but still. I'd like to see if anyone else is up to snuff. He will almost assuredly be in my 99 if he isn't commander though.
Radha, Heir to Keld - Provides a mana dork in the command zone to ensure smooth curving.
Gallia of the Endless Dance - Makes changelings attractive as she gives them haste; allows for some hand-fixing once the Saproling Burst fix is in.
Ulasht, the Hate Seed - cute if we want to go full self-bounce.
Neyith of the Dire Hunt - New and shiny. Some say she's just a worse XenaGod, but she does let us do fun/interesting things with Guild Feud and Ulvenwald Tracker and is super awesome with Ezuri's Predation. She also makes stuff like Thorn Mammoth or Territorial Allosaurus into more interesting pseudo-FTKs.
I wouldn't look seriously at another Gruul Commander, but let me know if you really think Grand Warlord Radha or whoever deserves a look :p.
NAYA:
Rith, the Awakener - mentioned for historical accuracy, but clearly if we go Selesnya the choice is...
Samut, Voice of Dissent - Fires in the command zone + some fun to be hand with Exert or Tap Abilities.
JUND:
Darigaaz, the Igniter - mentioned for historical accuracy. Clearly, however, the pick would be...
Prossh, Skyraider of Kher - talk about an EtB trigger and ability to "punch-out" people! Or....
Korvold, Fae-Cursed King - Boring and done to death, takes the deck into aristocrat direction, but has to be mentioned because he's so good. Also, has some funny "synergy" with Saproling Burst and Blastoderm and Fires...so there's that....
TEMUR: I am intrigued by Temur for the ability to run Temur Ascendancy as a "fires" + "draw" effect and lean harder on self-bounce with Crystal Shard, but have no clue who the commander would be. I'm too poor to go get Animar, Soul of Elements, Illuna, Apex of Wishes is a bit silly, Surrak Dragonclaw is a bit vanilla...maybe Yasova Dragonclaw with a "sac and steal" subtheme?
Five Color: With Golos, Tireless Pilgrim?
What do you guys think?