Deck Update - September 2024

Three cards in the deck became illegal in the format with the Commander Rules Committee quarterly announcement on 23rd September 2024. My personal feelings aside on the matter, to keep the deck legal the cards had to be swapped out. These changes were done on a short notice so I have returned to two cards previously taken out of the deck, and added one new one.

Mana Crypt, Jeweled Lotus > Land Tax, Thought Vessel

Nothing can really replace the amount of mana these two artifacts were able to produce in the early game. Land Tax was replaced by Jeweled Lotus back in January 2023, so it was an easy choice to put it back in. While it doesn’t provide an early boost of mana like the Lotus, Land Tax does at least help with consistent lands drops, and later on it provides cards to discard to loot spells.

Thought Vessel is a useful mana rock for casting cost of 2, but it could be replaced with almost any other rock that can be cast early in the game. It will suffice for now but I expect it will get replaced later on.

Dockside Extortionist > Academy Rector

No other creature can provide the kind of explosive mana boost like Dockside, and to replace the goblin I looked for a creature that can do a similar role and can be tutored for by the Recruiters. Academy Rector does fit these criteria. I have already been testing the Rector as part of a combo with Eldrazi Conscription but found the Rector is more useful to tutor for Smothering Tithe, so the deck can still get a mana boost, albeit slower one. I believe the Rector fits well with the sacrifice subtheme of the deck.