How They Brew It - Chain of Command

Michael Celani • May 10, 2021

Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh by Chris Seaman

Thank you for purchasing this virtual course, Global Conflicts For Fun and Profit, from The Strange Outliers. For more educational series like this for all ages, from preschool to college, please visit our website at http://www.strangeoutliers.com. This program was made possible by contributions to your local game store from viewers like you. Thank you.

Public Belligerence System

Are you conflicted about conflict? When you try your hand at the art of war, does it come out looking like a Jackson Pollock painting? Do you wish the military-industrial complex was a little bit more military-industrial simple?

You're watching Part 2 of the 12-part instructional VHS series Global Conflicts For Fun and Profit from The Strange Outliers. I'm Michael Celani, and you can find my previous entries here. If you haven't seen Part 1, we recommend you pause this video and view that tape first. If you have, keep watching and we'll pick up from where we last left off.


Now that you have a basic understanding of why everyone you murder was asking for it, let's move on to the logistics of warfare. Just like life, the early bird gets the grease, so the players that move their commanders in early and often will dominate the battlefield. To demonstrate this, let's examine a case study of a player who built [card]Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh[/card] and [card]Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix[/card] EDH to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand, kick off the July Crisis, and plunge Europe into World War I.

Kobold and Brash

Like a stray bullet, [card]Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh[/card] is free and ruins people's lives when it hits a loved one. There are many ways to take advantage of a zero-cost creature, and since this particular kobold is your commander, you've already started profiteering. Check out these tips that'll have you making a mint on your investment.

  • Although it's no Atlas Shrugged, [card]Tome of Legends[/card] is a page-turner in its own right, and a cheap commander makes it easy to add to the saga.
  • Worried about losing your soldiers on the field? Make sure to keep your [card]Commander's Insight[/card] so you've always got the personnel you need to protect yourself.
  • In your forces, loyalty is important. [card]Loyal Apprentice[/card], [card]Loyal Drake[/card] and [card]Loyal Guardian[/card] won't leave you like your ex did, and just like your ex, they're easily turned on by Rograkh.
  • Speaking of your ex, [card]Biowaste Blob[/card] is an army all on its own with its exponential growth of toxic sludge.
  • Need to go out in a blaze of glory? Sacrifice your [card]Skyfire Phoenix[/card] to [card]Ashnod's Altar[/card], then raise it from the ashes by casting your commander. If it's the first time you cast Rograkh, you'll get six colorless mana!
  • Finally, go on the offensive with [card]Thunderfoot Baloth[/card], which grants your entire squadron a substantial power boost and tramples over any resistance.

Fighting to a Draw

Although Rograkh is a powerhouse, make sure you don't focus all your efforts on him alone. If you ignore the Kydelephant in the room, she may betray you just like Benedict Cumberbatch did during the American Revolution. Keep your supply lines running and infused with plenty of mana using some sharp spellslinging tactics.

  • Instead of standard ramp spells like [card]Cultivate[/card], try [card]Growth Spiral[/card] and [card]Eureka Moment[/card]. You'll empower Kydele and drop land onto the battlefield untapped.
  • Dig into your library like you're digging a defensive trench with [card]Cathartic Reunion[/card], [card]Compulsive Research[/card], and [card]Frantic Search[/card].
    • For a more substantial return on your investment, try [card]Windfall[/card], [card]Game Plan[/card], or [card]Return of the Wildspeaker[/card].
    • Worried about the resources you're throwing in the trash? Throw the trash in the trash! [card]Regrowth[/card], [card]Bala Ged Recovery[/card] and [card]Eternal Witness[/card] each gets whatever you need back, and you can even recur your draw spells to keep digging.
  • You'll be unstoppable when your drummer boy taps out a [card]Song of Creation[/card].
    • If you end up drawing a land at the start of the turn, remember that casting Rograkh will rescue you from your own hubris and keep your chain going.
  • Spells are like French revolutions: betcha can't have just one! Copy your big spells with [card]Kalamax, the Stormsire[/card] or [card]Wort, the Raidmother[/card] and watch the fireworks.
  • While you copy spells, let [card]Quandrix Apprentice[/card], [card]Archmage Emeritus[/card], and [card]Storm-Kiln Artist[/card] copy your homework. They'll pay you back immediately by keeping the resources flowing.
  • Once you unleash Kydele's power, power out a gigantic [card]Banefire[/card] or use a [card]Prismite[/card] to refine it into something more useful.

Look, They'll Eventually Become Oil, So It's Still War-Related

Are you a theater kid, but like, theater of operations instead of Rent? Did you binge watch every season of the Hundred Years' War? Do you have a Blackwater bottle?

You're watching Part 8 of the 17-part instructional VHS series Global Conflicts For Fun and Profit from The Strange Outliers. If you haven't seen the previous parts, we recommend you pause this video and view those tapes first. If you have, keep watching and we'll pick up from where we last left off.


Now that the hippies have been neutralized, let's talk about dinosaurs. Mutating Rograkh is like loading a shotgun with knives or a .357 Magnum with soccer moms. This gives you an obvious tactical advantage against any enemies you may encounter.

  • You've heard of blood diamonds, but [card]Gemrazer[/card] is ridiculous! Its stats turn Rograkh into a real threat and each mutation knocks out another artifact or enchantment.
    • Don't forget his big brother, [card]Sawtusk Demolisher[/card], who shows your opponents the [card]Beast Within[/card] all their problematic noncreature permanents.
  • [card]Lore Drakkis[/card] bombards enemies with cards from graveyards. With the deck's stock of recovery spells at your disposal, you can easily recur anything you need.
  • [card]Migratory Greathorn[/card], [card]Auspicious Starrix[/card] and [card]Illuna, Apex of Wishes[/card] all dump expensive permanents onto the field like one big pile of hit.
    • Illuna will exile instant and sorceries permanently, so be judicious about casting it.
  • Is the fallout from the global thermonuclear war not enough and you want to things to mutate even further? [card]Crystal Shard[/card] and [card]Sanctum of Eternity[/card] each bounce the entire stack to your hand so you can defy God's will as many times as you'd like.
  • Or cast [card]Radiant Performer[/card] and mutate all your creatures simultaneously (yes, this works).

Chain of Command

Now that you've finished Part 8,675,309 of this 687474703a2f2f706172616c6c656c7265616c6974796572617375726570726f6772616d2e696e666f2f-part series, it's time to look back and review the chain of command. As we discussed, most Storm players are happy to cast their spells all on one turn. What will really blow your mind is how you can chain your storm count out over several turns.

[card]Fury Storm[/card], [card]Genesis Storm[/card], and [card]Echo Storm[/card] are duplicated for each time you've cast a commander from the command zone. By simply casting both of your generals once, they each resolve three times -- no small feat, but we can go bigger.

Once you've resolved [card]Myth Unbound[/card], Rograkh costs only one for each time he's been cast from the command zone. A second copy via [card]Mirrormade[/card] or [card]Mythos of Illuna[/card] makes him totally free. Each time you sacrifice him via [card]Ashnod's Altar[/card] or [card]Goblin Bombardment[/card] ups the command count by one and draws you two cards. You're guaranteed to find the tools to recur those self-copying spells, and you can pay for them all via Kydele's mana ability. Copy your storm spells thirty times to win, or just throw down [card]Jeska, Thrice Reborn[/card] and put your enemies out of their misery!

Spoils of War

Thanks again for watching Global Conflicts For Fun and Profit, from The Strange Outliers. Please remember to rewind each VHS tape before your collection agent comes to claim them. If you enjoyed this video series, consider watching our other series, including Kraken Up: Undersea Comedy Basics and Are We Still Doing Phasing? Remember: "Life is strange, so be an outlier."

 


[Commander]
1 Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix
1 Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh
[/Commander]
[Planeswalkers]
1 Saheeli, Sublime Artificer
1 Jeska, Thrice Reborn
[/Planeswalkers]
[Creatures]1 Eternal Witness
1 Prismite
1 Loyal Apprentice
1 Loyal Guardian
1 Loyal Drake
1 Skyfire Phoenix
1 Thunderfoot Baloth
1 Wort, the Raidmother
1 Kalamax, the Stormsire
1 Sawtusk Demolisher
1 Gemrazer
1 Illuna, Apex of Wishes
1 Auspicious Starrix
1 Dreamtail Heron
1 Lore Drakkis
1 Migratory Greathorn
1 Biowaste Blob
1 Archmage Emeritus
1 Quandrix Apprentice
1 Storm-Kiln Artist
1 Radiant Performer
[/Creatures]
[Sorceries]
1 Cathartic Reunion
1 Regrowth
1 Blasphemous Act
1 Windfall
1 Echo Storm
1 Genesis Storm
1 Road of Return
1 Banefire
1 Game Plan
1 Compulsive Research
1 Mythos of Illuna
1 Crush of Tentacles
1 Bala Ged Recovery
1 Jeska's Will
1 Ravenform
[/Sorceries]
[Instants]
1 Once and Future
1 Return of the Wildspeaker
1 Thrill of Possibility
1 Arcane Denial
1 Beast Within
1 Chaos Warp
1 Frantic Search
1 Negate
1 Fury Storm
1 Krosan Grip
1 Growth Spiral
1 Eureka Moment
1 Commander's Insight
[/Instants]
[Artifacts]
1 Arcane Signet
1 Tome of Legends
1 Ashnod's Altar
1 Crystal Shard
1 Elixir of Immortality
1 Sol Ring
1 Commander's Sphere
1 Hedron Archive
[/Artifacts]
[Enchantments]
1 Mirrormade
1 Goblin Bombardment
1 Myth Unbound
1 Song of Creation
[/Enchantments]
[Lands]
7 Island
5 Mountain
6 Forest
1 Temple of Abandon
1 Command Tower
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Temple of Epiphany
1 Temple of Mystery
1 Opal Palace
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Vivid Crag
1 Path of Ancestry
1 Sanctum of Eternity
1 Vivid Creek
1 Vivid Grove
1 High Market
1 Thriving Bluff
1 Thriving Grove
1 Thriving Isle
1 Study Hall
[/Lands]
[/Deck]

View this decklist on Moxfield



Newly appointed member of the FDIC and insured up to $150,000 per account, Michael Celani is the member of your playgroup that makes you go "oh no, it's that guy again." He's made a Twitter account @GamesfreakSA as well as other mistakes, and his decks have been featured on places like MTGMuddstah. You can join his Discord at https://gamesfreaksa.info and vote on which decks you want to see next. In addition to writing, he has a job, other hobbies, and friends.