How in the heck is Sarevok supposed to work?
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on Oct. 5, 2022, 8:19 a.m. by GrimlockVIII
Given the plethora of cards that sacrifice things/themselves, bounce things/themselves, destroy things/themselves, exile things/themselves, etc., how the heck are you supposed to guarantee that Sarevok, Deathbringer's life loss trigger will take effect during your opponents' end steps?
GrimlockVIII says... #3
Shoot, that's disappointing. Was hoping someone would have some secret insight in how to make the dude work in constructed.
October 5, 2022 8:47 a.m.
TheOfficialCreator says... #4
Torpor Orb and Cursed Totem might be a decent way to start if you want to shut down sacrifice strategies. It seems like he would work best as a death and staxes commander.
October 5, 2022 8:59 a.m.
GrimlockVIII says... #5
Lmao a Death and Staxes commander that actively tries to prevent the death part.
October 5, 2022 9:19 a.m.
TheOfficialCreator says... #7
Plus you can pair it with Cultist of the Absolute so
October 5, 2022 9:26 a.m.
TypicalTimmy says... #8
Sarevok, Deathbringer + Clan Crafter + Gyruda, Doom of Depths
Clan Crafter allows you to keep Sarevok from harming yourself due to his own trigger. This is because you always have an outlet to sacrifice toward. It'll also grow Sarevok's power, making him more brutal toward your opponents.
As for Gyruda, taking their stuff is always very nice. Clan Crafter also can put +1/+1 counters on Gyruda, since she is a Commander as well.
Recognize something unique with Sarevok, though. It draws attention to each player's end step, but does not stipulate in any way that the controlling player must have sacrificed something. For example, suppose there is a 4-player game between Bryan, James, Sarah and Anthony. Perhaps, for argument's sake, it is Sarah's turn. She moves to her end step, and this will put Sarevok's ability on the stack. During her turn, Sarah did not have a permanent leave the battlefield. You'd assume Sarevok would have her lose 3 life, since his power is 3. However, as par with EDH players, Anthony's turn is up next so he cracks his fetchland in response to Sarevok's ability.
Anthony searches for his Temple Garden and puts it onto the battlefield tapped.
Now Sarevok's ability moves to resolve. But what's this? It checks and sees that Anthony did in fact have a permanent leave the battlefield. Therefore, Sarah does NOT lose her 3 life.
- Just something to keep an eye out for.
October 5, 2022 8:33 p.m.
gavriel1136 says... #9
Typically by being proactive- Discard effects to stop problematic cards before they hit the field, or reactive, with board wipes galore to win via attrition.
October 6, 2022 1:59 p.m.
You could just have a high consistency of sac effects I guess, so you just outpace a majority of your opponents on that front, if you force enough sac there will be plenty of opponents without enough left to sac on their turns.
October 6, 2022 7:14 p.m.
GrimlockVIII says... #11
See, I was thinking the opposite, where you go out of your way to protect your opponents' stuff from removal while preventing them from sacrificing things altogether.
October 7, 2022 3:30 a.m.
Gidgetimer says... #12
TypicalTimmy: I must be missing something, how is Gyruda, Doom of Depths able to be a commander at the same time as a "choose a background"/background pair? Because if you are running it as a companion, it is not a commander. It is a companion.
Caerwyn says... #2
It is an Uncommon card from a draft set requiring players to select a legendary creature to helm their deck. It was designed to be a possible Commander choice if you did not draft something better, while still being a playable uncommon in draft. It is not really a card designed for constructed play.
In draft, it was a pretty solid card - no fetches, removal is rarer, and it is possible no one committed heavily to sacrifice strategies. It fairly consistently could trigger in draft, whittling away at enemy health pools.
October 5, 2022 8:39 a.m.