Choosing Your Commander - "Wedge Colors"

The next set of cards we are going to look at are the commander choices for the non-allied three-color combinations, also referred to as the wedges.  As you can read in the linked article, these color combinations have long beenignored when it came to designing legendary creatures for them, but the Commander Precon Decks gave us 10 new 3-color "Wedge" commanders to use dramatically increasing the number of available options from 7 to 17.  Because these commanders were specifically designed with casual, social, and/or the Commander formats in mind, they pack a lot of punch and potential for decks to be built around them.  To say that some of these cards have become the cornerstones of the Commander "format" is probably an understatement, and their existence has dramaically changed the entire landscape of what to expect out of your commander.  I will review all of these cards here in a single post, with the the thinking that 5 different posts with only 3-4 cards each seems a little silly.

RWU

Numot, the Devastator:  Numot is one of the more powerful options for the Planar Chaos legendary dragon cycle.  Being able to destroy lands is a very dangerous ability, and the issue I have with running Numot is that everyone will perceive you as being a huge threat because of what Numot can do.  Numot can be at his best when combined with other mass land destruction, where white and red both excel.

Ruhan of the Fomori:  On the surface, ther ereally isn't a lot going on with Ruhan; he's cheap, he's big, and he likes to swing for the fences.  With 7-power, he is meant to be a player killer via commander damage, with the caveat that he has no idea which way to attack.  Ruhan has a very real drawback in that there is usually someone that you would prefer to attack, and there are times when attacking with Ruhan is going to seem downright silly.  However, there is a slight political advantage to having to choose your victim at random, exhonerating you of some of the political flack you can get when you attack people early.  Aside from the political side, Ruhan seems like a nice commaner for a 'chaos and randomness' themed deck.





Zedruu the Greathearted:
I always chuckle to myself a little every time I read the rules text on Zedruu, as his ability seems so ridiculously fun and so potentially infuriating for your opponents all wrapped up in a nice neat package.  There are quite a few cards that have abilities that you don't want, and passing those around the table a few times can cause some hilarity to ensue.  You can also play political pupeteer by giving someone who is behind a creatuer to block with or a land they need to cast something, knowing that Zedruu will reward you for your generosity.



BUG

Damia, Sage of Stone:
Damia is one of those commanders whose ability doesn't immediately jump out at you as something you build around, but more along the lines of just being a powerful, card advantage juggernaut.  I like Damia in conjuncion with the various 'Maro' creatures (cards that have varying power/toughness based on your hand size, i.e. Psychosis Crawler, Aeon Chronicler, Kagemaro, etc.), but any card that triggers when you draw cards or likes that you have a full hand can be very good.







The Mimeoplasm:  Its not just 'a' Mimeoplasm, its 'The' Mimeoplasm... and rightfully so.  Part clone effect, part reanimator effect, the Mimeoplasm has all sort of cool interactions that are way too numerous to name here, but the nice thing is that you can build such a deck without many accidental combos in it that provide instant wins.  You also have several ways of making sure you can tutor up the perfect creature for any removal situation with the various Survival of the Fittest effects in green, or Buried Alive effects in black.

Vorosh, the Hunter:  Vorosh isn't bad, but he doesn't do anything that particularly exciting.


WBR

Kaalia of the Vast:
Kaalia is dangerous.  Dragons, Demons and Angels are nothing to be trifled with, and she trifles with all of them.  She is brtually efficient in getting fairly large creatures into play on the cheap, and some of those cards sre some of the best in the game.  From Bloodgift Demon, to Angel of Despair, to Bogardan Hellkite there is no shortage of good creatures to cheat into play with Kaalia.  Her only drawback being that she has to attack which can sometimes be problematic, but suting her up with the appropriate equipment can go a long way towards making sure she survives combat.  Kaalia comes out fast and hard, so if you see her on th eother side of the table you best be prepared.

Oros, the Avenger:  Oros is great if you face a lot of token decks or aggro decks, but those are few and far between and Oros isn't necesarily the best weapon for beating them either.

Tariel, Reckoner of Souls:  Some people really like Tariel, but I am not a fan.  I don't like that the ability is random, and I don't like that it requires that your opponent have a target worth reanimating.

RUG

 

Animar, Soul of the Elements:  Animar is certainly powerful, especially for the low cost of 3 mana.  He gets especially powerful with effects that accelerate his +1/+1 counter accumulation and with artifact/colorless creatures that can eventually be cast for free.  Pro-white and pro-black are also huge benefits, giving him a surprising amount of protection to a lot of commonly used removal spells.  There are some silly infinite combos with Animar, mostly around cards like Cloudstone Curio and Tidespout Tyrant, but these are actually fairly easy to avoid while allowing you to still make a powerful and fun deck.








Intet, the Dreamer:  I like Intet, in that he allows you to do something very powerful and proactive rather than something that is powerful and destructive (like Numot).  There are also plenty of ways to make sure that juicy cards remain on top of your deck for Intet to use and abuse, and they are all in your colors.  Of the Planar Chaos legendary dragons, Intet is one that I can actually see myself playing as a commander.






Maelstrom Wanderer:
In much the same way that a properly built Intet deck can really abuse the top of your library, Maelstrom Wanderer does the same thing only at warp speed.  Cascade is a brutal ability, and having double Cascade is nearly broken.  your only real challenge is getting to the eight mana to cast him, but once you do you should have the top of your deck ready to go with all sort of busted goodies.  Avenger of Zendikar + Primeval Titan used to be one of the best pairs available, but with the banning of Prime Time this obviously won't work. 






Riku of Two Reflections:
Copying spells and copying creatures are two of the most powerful and fun things you can do in a game of Magic, and Riku helps you do both.  There are all sorts of cool spells that are absolutely insane when you can double up on their effects, and Riku can take any board position and turn it on its head in a hurry.  Riku is mana hungry, so cost savings permanents can help as well as having some mana ramp spells handy (which can conveniently be copied by Riku).  I think that as long as you aren't copying Time Warps and Regrowths for infinite turns, then Riku has a lot of potential for fun yet powerful shenanigans.

GWB



Doran, the Siege Tower:
Doran is somewhat unique among commanders in that he originally had his success as the centerpeice of a highly competetive  Standard and Extended deck.  As a commander, he provides a unique ability that has a very real effect on the game state and can be exploited through very creative means.  From things as broken as Daru Spiritualist or Angelic Protector + Nomads en-Kor or Shuko, to rather benign cards such as Parapet or Steadfastness, every card takes on a new meaning when seen through the eyes of Doran.  He is also a favorite commander for a Treefolk tribal deck.







Ghave, Guru of Spores:
Doubling Season, Corpsejack Menace, and Parrallel Lives  were all seemingly made to make Ghave a happy Fungus Shaman.  Ghave is actually really easy to break, so if you build him you need to take that into consideration.  If infinite combos are your thing, abusing things like Undying or Persist creatures, creating infinite mana with Ashnod's Altar or Earthcraft, or just playing Mikaeus, the Unhallowed are all game-winning moves with Ghave in play.  It's actually probably harder to find fun and interesting things to do that don't produce infinite combos with Ghave, so when we build Ghave we will do two different decks; one that abuses his abilities with infinite combos and one that uses his abilities in more fair and honest ways.

Karador, Ghost Chieftain:
Karador takes what I like best from The Mimeoplasm (recurring creatures from the graveyard) and from Animar (cost savings on casting creatures, in this case Karador himself) and throws them together in a different and unique way.  Karador plays right into what GBW is usually trying to do anyway; filling up its graveyard for recursion and reanimation shenanigans.  Cards like Survival of the Fittest make sure the graveyard stays full while backup plans like Living Death give you additional reasons to feed your graveyard.  Karador is great because he has a strong theme to build around that isn't conducive to infinite combos, and his ability is more suited to longer grinding games that some people find more attractive in a social setting.





Teneb, the Harvester:
Teneb plays right into what you are doing with Karador or other reanimation strategies, and he is probably my second favorite Planar Chaos Dragon Legends after Intet.  I think Karador may be more powerful, but Teneb can definitely hold his own based on the shear cost savings you can realize when you use his ability.