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In early 2008 I wrote a well recieved series of comments on all of the Legends that no one would admit to using on MTGSalvation.com or on the EDH Boards.  I have had a couple requests in recent days to do another instance of that article.  For the next few days/weeks I will be throwing together articles on generals I feel are "Unused."

As there was one user at MTGS that created a deck for every legend that exsists solely for the database there, those decks were not counted.  In general I tried to leave off generals that had only been explored for the express purpose to buld a deck with them at the helm (with no intent to play it), generals that were only explored in 1v1 and generals that "work" in EDH.  (No [card]Phage[/card] or [card]Haakon[/card] or [card]Mishra, [/card]....etc).  I also did not include generals which I was the only one that had ever admitted to using, because they are (to the general public) still unsung heroes.

Believe it or no, due to EDH's increasing popularity (and I would like to believe, some due to my article) the list has shrunk quite a bit.  [card]Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker[/card] shot into popularity after the deck I created, and I even saw a couple of other [card]Hakim, Loreweaver[/card] builds.  The first article will be tomorrow and consist of the generals on the list whose names start with 'A'.

Without further ado, here is the list I have compiled of the NEW Unsung Heroes of EDH.

Akuta, Born of Ash 
Arashi, the Sky Asunder 
Ayumi, the Last Visitor 
Balthor the Stout 
Barktooth Warbeard 
Barrin, Master Wizard
Blind Seer 
Boris Devilboon 
Cabal Patriarch 
Cao Ren, Wei Commander 
Chandler 
Cloudhoof Kirin 
Commnder Greven Il-Vec
Crovax the Cursed 
Gallowbraid 
Glissa Sunseeker 
Gosta Dirk
Grandmother Sengir 
Guan Yu, Sainted Warrior 
Hazduhr the Abbot 
Hikari, Twilight Guardian 
Hisoka, Minamo Sensei 
Hivis of the Scale 
Huang Zhong, Shu General 
Hunding Gjornersen 
Ihsan's Shade 
Iizuka the Ruthless 
Infernal Kirin 
Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni 
Irini Sengir 
Iwamori of the Open Fist 
Jacques le Vert 
Jedit Ojanen 
Jerrard of the Closed Fist 
Jeska, Warrior Adept 
Jiwari, the Earth Aflame 
Joven
Jugan, the Rising Star 
Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet
Kasimir the Lone Wolf 
Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs 
Kentaro, the Smiling Cat 
Kiyomaro, First to Stand 
Kodama of the Center Tree 
Kodama of the South Tree 
Kuro, Pitlord
Lady Caleria 
Lady Sun 
Lady Zhurong, Warrior Queen 
Latulla, Keldon Overseer 
Lieutenant Kirtar 
Linessa, Zephyr Mage 
Liu Bei, Lord of Shu 
Lu Meng, Wu General 
Lu Su, Wu Advisor 
Lu Xun, Scholar General 
Ma Chao, Western Warrior 
Major Teroh 
Maraxus of Keld
Marhault Elsdragon 
Márton Stromgald
Masako the Humorless 
Masumaro, First to Live 
Meloku the Clouded Mirror 
Meng Huo, Barbarian King  
Mirri, Cat Warrior 
Morinfen 
Myojin of Infinite Rage 
Myojin of Life's Web 
Myojin of Night's Reach 
Myojin of Seeing Winds 
Nagao, Bound by Honor 
Orim, Samite Healer 
Oriss, Samite Guardian 
Oyobi, Who Split the Heavens 
Pang Tong, "Young Phoenix" 
Patron of the Kitsune 
Patron of the Nezumi 
Pavel Maliki 
Princess Lucrezia 
Purraj of Urborg 
Rashida Scalebane 
Rashka the Slayer 
Reveka, Wizard Savant
Riven Turnbull 
Rohgahh of Kher Keep 
Ryusei, the Falling Star 
Sachi, Daughter of Seshiro 
Sakiko, Mother of Summer 
Sensei Golden-Tail 
Shimatsu the Bloodcloaked 
Shisato, Whispering Hunter 
Sidar Jabari 
Sima Yi, Wei Field Marshal 
Sir Shandlar of Eberyn 
Spirit of the Night 
Sun Ce, Young Conquerer 
Taniwha 
Tarox Bladewing 
Telim'Tor
The Lady of the Mountain 
The Unspeakable 
Thriss, Nantuko Primus 
Tivadar of Thorn 
Tobias Andrion 
Tor Wauki 
Torsten Von Ursus 
Tuknir Deathlock 
Ur-Drago 
Veldrane of Sengir 
Xun Yu, Wei Advisor 
Yomiji, Who Bars the Way  
Yuan Shao, the Indecisive 
Yukora, the Prisoner 
Zhang He, Wei General 
Zhang Liao, Hero of Hefei 
Zhao Zilong, Tiger General 
Zhou Yu, Chief Commander 
Zhuge Jin, Wu Strategist 
Zuberi, Golden Feather 
Zuo Ci, the Mocking Sage 

New Phyrexia has been spoiled in its fullest, officially on the WOTC site now a days and I have a bit of a beef with the Praetors.  EDH is an incredibly popular format these days, and even WOTC has acknowledged it.  They supposedly design cards with EDH in mind.  However in my opinion, the Preators are anything BUT EDH friendly cards.  Lets talk about each one in turn shall we.  First off, we have Elsh Norn, the white Praetor and the first NPH card to be spoiled.

Ms. Norn (it's a girl right?) is one of the lessor offenders, as Crovax, Ascendent Hero does a similar thing, but her "greifer" ability hoses cards that players already have to struggle to play with in EDH.  Any small creature is HIGHLY scrutinized before being run in EDH due to the mass removal that runs rampant in the format.  Sure, she helps your opponent's [card]Academy Rector[/card], but now (non-White)aggro decks are super hosed and they already have the under hand.  What they did get right, on the other hand, is that Elsh makes mono white weenie a much more viable strategy in EDH.  You'll find a common theme that I LOVE the praetors minus what I have been referring to as their "Greifer Ability."  Thier Greifer Abilities make them so much of a target that you will be having a much harder time getting them to stick in a game of EDH than even normal.  Being the "Most Hated Deck" at a table isn't fun for anyone and all of the Praetors do that (Except the red one, which is mostly just a cool card).  All in all, I rank Elsh ad the #2 in quality of the Praetors due to her slightly weaker greifer ability and that she requires creature combat to be bonkers.  On the flip side, she hoses strategies that are already hosed due to the nature of the format, so she is still not well designed enough.

Next we have Jin-Gitaxias, an exercise in excess.  10 mana as a mana cost makes him REALLY hard to cast more than once, which is ok, because blue can artifact ramp pretty well.  Jin's second ability is SUPER FUN and STRONG!  Who doesn't love a psudo-[card]Wheel of Fortune[/card] to be their general?  As we keep going, we see his greifer ability is SO EVIL that no one will allow Jin to stick for even a turn.  Having no hand size is the WORST thing that can happen to a player in EDH.  It it the opposite of one of EDH's favorite cards, [card]Reliquary Tower[/card].  Luckily, the tower still lets you keep a hand of infinite size while Jin is out, but barring that, Jin instantly turns the game into a mostly interactionless environment.  Yes, 10 mana should win you the game, or at least do a MAJOR part of the work, but there are ways to win that at least keep the game interesting right to the end.  Look for Jin to draw you 0 cards most of the time, as he will eat removal like a Mo-Fo.  Jin comes in at #4 on my list because his greifer ability is SO UNFUN that as soon as you reveal your General/Commander, EVERYONE will be gunning for you.

Sheoldred is a card that I am unsure how people will interpret it.  [card]The Abyss[/card] for only opponents is strong, but its just a 4 cc card, [card]Debtor's Knell[/card] is REALLY powerful, and as your general AND legal in Mono-Black, Sheoldred WILL see play both as a general and in people's other 99.  Swampwalk is often relevant due to [card]Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth[/card] and she has a big fat body to boot.  All in all, Sheoldred is EXTREMELY undercosted (Debtor's Knell is 7, The Abyss is 4, and there is no evasive beater involved in that 10 mana...she is, however, easier to kill.)  I like Sheoldred.  Her greifer ability is annoying, but not blow-me-out-of-the-water crazy like Jin and Vorinclex (whom we will discuss later).  I give Sheoldred a 3/5 because she IS better at killing dudes than Elsh, and both of the cards she combines are SUPER powerful, but I don't think she will draw the hate that the Green and Blue Praetors will.

I actually LOVE Urabrask.  His Greifer Ability is annoying but manageable and he gives aggro decks a major boost.  Mono-red is in fact getting better and that makes me happy because I hate for any one color to be considered 100% the worst color in a format.  I have very little complaints about Urabrask.  He is #1 on the list of how playable these guys are.  On to the worst of the pack

THE reason people play EDH is to play big flashy cards and other stuff they can't play in sanctioned formats.  The reason most people hate [card]Armageddon[/card], [card]Stasis[/card], [card]Winter Orb[/card]...etc is because they decrease interaction.  Most players who are not prepared for a lock-down FAR in advance simply have to sit there and hope to draw an out IF the lock isn't so complete that they cannot even respond.  Vorinclex offers a card considered to by far be the strongest in EDH (Mirari's Wake style mana ramp) plus an extremely un-fun, restrictive and "interactivity-killing" greifer ability to become Public Enemy #1 in EDH.  Along with Mono-Green's affinity for Eldrazi titan ramp decks, Vorinclex will ALWAYS get you ganged up on.  He is my least favorite of the Praetors and a major disappointment to me.  A general with mana flare on it is SO COOL, and I love green.  However, the lands of opponents being "sticky" clause makes Vorinclex something that will get you hosed.  People will assume you are playing other "most hated/most powerful" EDH cards Like [card]Primeval Titan[/card] and [card]Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre[/card]/[card]Kozilek[/card] and you WILL be hated out. 

All in all here is my list of fun/usefulness of the Praetors based on political influence they will have on other players:
1. Urabrask, the Hidden (Red)
2. Elsh Norn, Grand Cenobite (White)
3. Sheoldred, Whispering One (Black)
4. Jin-Gitaxis, Core Augur (Blue)
5. Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger (Green)

Well, That's all for today.  Until next time...

Use YOUR shoes as counters,

-Shoe

P.S.: Seems like some inspiration was drawn from other sources to create the Praetors.  Here are a few similarities I have noticed:

WOTC has been doing a hit-or-miss job on designing new cards/sets.  The sets have exciting cards in them, but it is pretty obvious which cards are supposed to be good, powerful and sub-par.  There are a lot of things that could make new sets better, and there are several tropes that were set up by Time Spiral block that could make for good practices in modern design.

1.  Combinations of old keywords:  Bringing back one keyword per set was a pretty cool idea.  One of the things that made Time Spiral block/Future Sight, fantastic, was the combination of mechanics of days past.  How cool was it to finally see Cycling and Madness on the same card, only to find it somewhat unplayable/uninteresting?  Bring back cool old mechanics that have synergy and introduce them to the same set, the same CARD even.  Scry and Kinship or Clash. 

2. Use the new mechanics from future sight to create a set's mechanical theme: Transfigure, Aura Swap, Delve, the infamous Contraptions.  These would all be great starting points for set themes.  Who wouldn't love to see another Graveyard themed block where removing cards from graveyards (instead of cards in graveyards) mattered.  Aura Swap has the potential to make an Aura themed block that has enough Oomph! that it would be recieved well, and everyone would be shocked to find out "CONTRAPTIONS ARE REAL!?"

3. Use the flavor of cards from Future Sight:  When I found out that future-shifted cards from Future Sight would be reprinted with new flavor slapped on them, I was dissappointed.  The cards that were timeshifted in Time Spiral were cool, because they appeared to have "come from the past".  The Future Sight cards don't seem to come from the future at all when they return with new art, a new frame, new flavor text...etc.  They seem like they were crammed into a set to honor the "These cards are from the future" trope so that we don't retroactively feel like Future Sight was a lie.  Also, several of the future-shifted cards appeared to spoil cool new worlds that we would be visiting in the past.  I say to you WOTC, VISIT SOME OF THOSE WORLDS!  The one Shadowmoor plant aside, we haven't visited ANY of those worlds (except on planechase planes, which were but another single glance).  I am sure there was a TON of work done on future sight.  Creating a bunch of new worlds and peeks into different planes.  Draw upon that work!  We were excited by the glimpses Future Sight gave us, GIVE US MORE !

That's all I have for today, New Phyrexia seems to be ushering in a new wave of much more interesting sets than in the recent pastthe other two in the block.  I hope WOTC keeps on that path and makes more sets like New Phyrexia for a while.  Maybe one of  them will even read this article and take my advice...who knows.

Until next time...
Use YOUR shoes as counters!

-Shoe

I have to admit, I am impressed with New Phyrexia.  As many of you already know.  The entire set was spoiled online today.  Its been a long time since I have been excited about a set on the level I am excited about New Phyrexia.  The new mana symbols are super exciting, I love colored artifacts, the planeswalker of that set is even inoffensive because he is a character from Magic's past that is SUPPOSED to be a planeswalker.  (I was not a fan of WOTC trying to jam the new planeswalker characters down my throat).

All in all, New Phyrexia will be the first booster box I will have preordered in a long time, but I want to get my hands on two if I can afford it.  

From all my work with EDH, casual play and variant formats, I have noticed that casual play of any kind can usually be broken down into 4 "Tiers."  These tiers seem like they could be useful within the growing EDH community to regulate games and to promote play of the style you prefer.  It would be much easier to say, "What EDH tier do you play?" than "Are you a Douchebag?" or "Do you play with any of the following cards: Sundering Titan, Primeval Titan, Emrakul..." etc.  A convienent system for determining competativeness/what is considered fun by any given player would do EDH a great boon.  Here is my suggestion for the 4 Tiers of EDH.

Tier I
This tier is for competative players who love the brokenness of vintage.  Nothing should be banned in this tier.

Tier II
The current EDH rules with no modifications promote Tier II play.  Players should feel free to run Sundering Titan and Time Stretch combo.  Possibly some cards could probably even come off the banned list for this Tier. (I. E. Library of Alexandria, Emrakul, Kokusho...Etc)

Tier III
This tier frowns on preventing others from playing the game but promotes playing well with cards that are a more lighhearted kind of fun.  This is the tier in which most EDH players fit and I believe the rules council wants to promote as the forefront of EDH.  This Tier would use the same banned list and possibly add Sundering Titan, Myojin of Night's Reach, Armageddon/Ravages of War and several others that prevent players from having a powerful game that swings the balance of power many times before its conclusion.

Tier IV
This tier is the one that most players consider "noobish", it would ban land destruction, possibly discard and maybe even limit counterspells.  It would assume large masses of underpowered or seemingly bad cards and the banned list would end up quite large. 

Now, I am not calling for the Rules Council of EDH to immediately support this system, or even to ever create seperate banned lists for the tiers.  My real reason for creating this system is to create lables that are easy to use when in the real world and trying to find opponents that share the same goals when they sit down to a game of EDH.

Being able to step into a new gaming group (be it LGS or just a new group of friends) and say I play Tier III EDH, what Tier do you guys play" is a convienent way to ensure a fun experience for everyone before you even sit down (and possibly invest hours in an unfun experience.)  I highly encourage any EDH players who do so in an unfamilliar enviornment to use this system.  I think it will greatly improve the EDH community and save several players a lot of time and dissappointment

Thats all for today, so until next time...
Use YOUR shoes as counters!

-Shoe

Deck Master is a pretty cool format that I recently stumbled upon and added to the site that seems to be an interesting combination of EDH/Commander and normal Magic rules.  The thing that drew me to the format was the ability to use any creature as the "Deck Master".  Several of the rules, however, seemed inherantly broken and so I did my best to "reformat" the format (that sounds stupid but it's grammatically correct).  Check out the Deck Master page to see the new set of rules and PLEASE post any results you have if you give it a shot.  Any brokenness inherit in the format needs to be tweaked.  I think this format has a lot of potential.  People always want to play with normal creatures or Nephelim as a general, and now they can.  Also, this format gives the oppertunity to play with 4 copies of a card as well.  I have strongly considered a larger than average deck size to be implimented as well, but only time will tell if that is nessisary.

So until next time, Enjoy and Use YOUR shoes as counters!

-Shoe