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Apples to Apples

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Roon of the Hidden Realm
I have an opportunity to compare two decks from disparate sources this week, and I’m pretty excited. I had a few people e-mail me a Roon of the Hidden Realm deck—or submit one to Gathering Magic and hope it would make it to me. My reddit inbox is usually pretty jammed as well—I really think this series is resonating with deck-builders, and that’s good. Since the baby bird has left the nest and people are starting to send me their takes on the 75% philosophy, we have an opportunity to compare apples to apples and see how attitudes toward what makes a deck 75% can vary. Is that going to tell us anything? Like you, I’m in suspense because I wrote this preamble paragraph before I looked at either decklist. Your guess is as good as mine at this point. Isn’t this exciting?

Our first contribution is listed first because I arbitrarily clicked on this e-mail first even though it was below the other list. Life isn’t fair, ladies and gentlemen. The question is, How fair is this Roon deck? (Boom! Segued.)

Jason Reck wrote to me because I mentioned Jason Rice last week, and he thought being named Jason was some sort of cheat code for being featured in one of my articles. I guess he’s not wrong. He also wanted to respond to my call for Roon decks in last week’s article because I guess guys named Jason R. love Roon.

He writes:

I noticed someone asking about a 75% Roon Commander deck in the comments in your article this week, and I wanted to send you my current Roon deck. I consider it fairly strong, but it was mainly put together from the Commander (2013 Edition) decks and some other cards that I wasn't using. I did buy a few things to round it out, but I consider it to be near 75% for my playgroup (not one-on-one, but with friends who have played together for a while). It definitely gets some hate when I pull it out because my opponents know they have to play better than normal to keep it at bay. In a Star Commander game, it typically results in one person locking me down with the other helping every now and then until the others are dealt with and then they can charge right at me. The only real hate that I get from the deck is when I can drop an Aura Shards onto the table with a few options for bouncing creatures—especially when it is against a mostly-artifact or -enchantment deck. Anyway, I wanted to send my list to you for your thoughts or just to give you some ideas for a Roon 75%!

Thanks for your articles; I really enjoy them.

I don’t know that forcing your opponents to play tight against you is the worst thing, but it’s something interesting I hadn’t considered. I always thought a 75% deck was handy because you could beat better decks if you played tight but they would be better than casual decks, allowing you to pump your brakes and play a little looser (“have more fun” is the way I’d put it), but a proper 75% deck forcing your opponents to play tight is a consequence I hadn’t considered. I am not sure I’m not in favor of it. Making opponents work to earn a victory will make them appreciate it more, but as long as the deck doesn’t only lose if you patronize them and not play to win, but rather if it gives them the chance if they play well and earn it, that can be good. This is especially good for exposing shortcomings in their decks, and that can drum up business for you if you’re inclined to sell cards to your group the way I am. We’re learning new stuff already.

Roon of the Hidden Realm ? Commander | Jason Reck

  • Commander (0)

I don’t see anything really all that objectionable here. I think anytime a deck is 70% precon, complaints from your playgroup should be taken with a grain of salt. I think this is a fine 75% deck, if not a bit too weak. Jason gave me a bit of insight into what his group objected to.

I should add that the combo of Aura Shards, a bouncer (like Roon), and Archetype of Endurance does make it a little hard to deal with since the only way to really stop it is a board wipe or blowing up Aura Shards. The Archetypes were new additions, and I'm not entirely sure on them yet because of how ramped they make the deck (even though I still did lose with it when the two opponents ganged up and an “ally” countered one of my spells to balance the board).

I completely agree; it's basically how I've been building my decks for a while. We play for fun, so win cons are good, but decks that don't piss people off by being over the top all of the time are the way to go.

Well, yes and no. If you’re pissing people off because they aren’t able to play their game, that’s one thing. But if the problem can be solved with the simple application of removal, they need to add some removal. There is a certain amount of a sense of entitlement in Commander groups that everyone should do their own thing, but those same people sometimes complain that their opponents’ decks are broken if they do something more powerful than theirs does.

I think the biggest problem people are having with determining whether their decks are 75% is coming from their playgroups’ reactions to the deck. I’ve had people like Jason who added $25 worth of cards to a precon accused of “buying a win” with their decks because their opponents didn’t play any removal and they went off on turn twenty-two. If your combo can be brought to a screeching halt by a Relic Crush, it’s not unfair, and you should offer to help your playgroup step up its game. It’s hard to say your deck is underpowered if your playgroup says it is overpowered, but objectively, Jason’s deck is fine. He has some game against tougher decks if he plays tight, but his group should handle him fine if they play tight. Aura Shards is a card that makes me say, “I better deal with that.” What it isn’t is a card that makes me scoop.




Simon Kristoffersen offered to show me his Roon list in the comments last week, and I was all about seeing what he came up with.

Below is the list for my Roon of the Hidden Realm deck. I've tried building it with a few things in mind: not too many mean counterspells, not too powerful creatures, and don’t slow the game down too much with tutors and Sensei's Divining Top.

Roon of the Hidden Realm ? Commander | Simon Kristoffersen

  • Commander (0)

It has a few clever combo's built in, but with no tutors, they won't go off too often:

I would say Simon’s deck is a bit more powerful than Jason’s. Simon seems a bit worried about needing to potentially tone the deck down to bring it down to a 75% level. This doesn’t seem broken to me at all. There are infinite combos here, but they are clunky, inconsistent, and easily disrupted. That’s not a bad thing, it’s a great thing! The deck doesn’t rely on these scenarios and doesn’t come by them easily, which is very 75% if you ask me.

Bant Charm
You will notice something else Simon has: spot-removal spells. He doesn’t rely on his creatures and their enters-the-battlefield triggers (I still remember when we called them 187 creatures) to do work. Oust, Krosan Grip, and Bant Charm—these spells do work. You don’t need a ton, but having spells that can deal with things helps win games.

I’m not saying you should tell your playgroup to “Planeswalker up” if they struggle against your deck, but I think there is an amount of objectivity to what a 75% deck looks like. I think Simon’s and Jason’s decks are both good examples of 75% builds, and I think examining both of them gives me an idea for another axiom.

  • If your deck is built as a 75% deck, you should be able to beat optimized decks if you play tight, and casual decks should be able to beat you if they play tight.

If your opponents can’t beat you because your deck stomps them consistently, and it does it in a similar manner every time, you can probably tone the deck down or try to build a different one 75%. But if your group complains that you win every game when in reality you’re comboing off on turn thirty-three and a Krosan Grip or Day of Judgment would have completely pulled your pants down, your deck may be objectively a 75% deck, and the issue is that your group needs to step its game up. Sometimes, scaling to their power level isn’t enough, and they just need to run a modest amount of removal or identify when you’re setting up a combo a bit better. Sometimes, they make play mistakes that allow you to win. Sometimes, they durdle too much and are more concerned with having a big army than with winning the game. Your deck may be a better 75% build than you think.

Yukora, the Prisoner
However, that doesn’t mean you keep playing that deck! I believe it was the philosopher Kierkegaard who said, “You’re not wrong, you’re just an %@$hole.”

No, it was the Dude in The Big Lebowski. Either way, you can’t argue that your deck is a good 75% build with an empty table. If your group can’t cope, help them improve, build a durdle deck to play with them, encourage them to make better lines of play, and trade them a few copies of Viridian Shaman or Venser, Shaper Savant. It’s no good to be right if you’re by yourself.

With all this in mind, I think Jason and Simon both identified the fact that, sometimes, our play results can blind us to whether our deck is a good 75% build. In the future, let’s ask ourselves two questions:

  • “Can I beat almost anyone if I get a bit lucky and play tight?”
  • “Can almost any reasonable deck beat me if the opponent gets a bit lucky and plays tight?”

If the answer to both of those questions is yes, I think we have a good 75% deck. If your opponents can’t win because they refuse to put any removal in their Yukora, the Prisoner Demon tribal deck, that doesn’t mean the deck isn’t 75%. It just means you may want to make a Thallid deck, too.


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