When I saw that CMDR Decks decided to profile a sweet Vorel deck, I almost decided to write about something else—almost. However, there are some fun new toys coming our way from Khans of Tarkir (and probably more to be spoiled soon), so I decided that you can just have two Vorel decks this week (or 1.75 I guess), and you will just have to figure out whom to e-mail to thank for all the value you've received for free this week.

My Vorel deck . . . kinda sucks. I decided to put my own deck through the rigorous deck-optimization process I take every other deck through in this series. While we're at it, we can jam a few Khans of Tarkir cards in to become mentally prepared for the prerelease.

So, what 75% principle are we highlighting this week? I'm not really sure. All I know is that I have a deck that I want to work as a 75% deck, but it's not doing well, and I want to make it better by following my deck-building guidelines. I'm going to treat this deck not like my underachieving child whom I am forced by the laws of nature to love unconditionally, but rather like a deck submitted to me by someone who wanted my advice. Without further preamble and making excuses for my list before I even show it, let's get down to bidness. Here is an attempt at a Vorel of the Hull Clade deck submitted by a reader named J. Alt. That narrows it down too much. Okay, the deck was submitted by Jason A. Enjoy.

Vorel of the Hull Clade ? Commander | Jason A.

• Commander (0)

• Creatures (34)
• 1 Arbor Colossus
• 1 Champion of Lambholt
• 1 Coiling Oracle
• 1 Cytoplast Manipulator
• 1 Deadbridge Goliath
• 1 Deadeye Navigator
• 1 Djinn of Wishes
• 1 Elusive Krasis
• 1 Fathom Mage
• 1 Fertilid
• 1 Gyre Sage
• 1 Ivy Lane Denizen
• 1 Kalonian Hydra
• 1 Lorescale Coatl
• 1 Master Biomancer
• 1 Murkfiend Liege
• 1 Phyrexian Ingester
• 1 Plaxcaster Frogling
• 1 Predator Ooze
• 1 Primordial Hydra
• 1 Prophet of Kruphix
• 1 Quirion Dryad
• 1 Sage of Hours
• 1 Scourge of Skola Vale
• 1 Silklash Spider
• 1 Simic Fluxmage
• 1 Simic Manipulator
• 1 Somberwald Sage
• 1 Sphinx of Magosi
• 1 Vastwood Hydra
• 1 Zameck Guildmage
• 1 Pentavus
• 1 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Polukranos, World Eater

• Spells (27)
• 1 Desertion
• 1 Plasm Capture
• 1 Spin into myth
• 1 Strength of the Tajuru
• 1 Cultivate
• 1 Curse of the Swine
• 1 Give // Take
• 1 Increasing Savagery
• 1 Urban Evolution
• 1 Asceticism
• 1 Cyclonic Rift
• 1 Death's Presence
• 1 Primal Vigor
• 1 Primeval Bounty
• 1 Rhystic Study
• 1 Astral Cornucopia
• 1 Chromatic Lantern
• 1 Darksteel Ingot
• 1 Dragon Blood
• 1 Illusionist's Bracers
• 1 Lightning Greaves
• 1 Mind Stone
• 1 Rings of Brighthearth
• 1 Simic Signet
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Thran Dynamo
• 1 Trading Post

• Lands (38)
• 10 Forest
• 11 Island
• 1 Breeding Pool
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Exotic Orchard
• 1 Hinterland Harbor
• 1 Khalni Garden
• 1 llanowar Reborn
• 1 Novijen, Heart of Progress
• 1 Reliquary Tower
• 1 Simic Growth Chamber
• 1 Simic Guildgate
• 1 Temple of Mystery
• 1 Temple of the False God
• 1 Terrain Generator
• 1 Thespian's Stage
• 1 Vivid Creek
• 1 Vivid Grove
• 1 Yavimaya Coast

Buy This Deck

If I had to guess why I don't win with this deck, I’d say it is because I need to be left alone and allowed to let things spiral out of control. Also, people tend to react to cards like Kalonian Hydra with a KILL-IT-WITH-FIRE! mentality rather than the that-will-be-a-64/64-in-a-turn-cycle-I-hope-he-doesn't-attack-me-with-it mentality that I really would prefer they had.

First up is Hooded Hydra. Hooded Hydra is a very good Hydra. It is one of the best Hydras. I can probably stop writing now because: How much does Hooded Hydra really need a case made for it? It's very similar to Chasm Skulker, another card I love. Skulker and Hydra both are being jammed in here. I love a Lorescale Coatl with upside, and I love creatures that punish opponents for wrathing and ones that can benefit from a Primal Vigor in a lot of ways.

I also want to try out Hardened Scales. Yes, you're not doubling the counters, but you're adding more counters, and with such a small investment of mana, I think it warrants an inclusion. I wish it had a way to natively put counters on creatures (maybe if you sacrificed it, you could put counters on a creature), but our Sage of Hours shenanigans will have to find another way.

Rather than cut the Sage of Hours for being a durdle monster, I decided to see if there were a few unobtrusive ways to add counters to him without playing Dragon Blood like it's 1998. I found a few, and while I built this deck out of a box of scraps as though my name were Tony Stark, I came pretty close to a decent deck. I did spring for a few of the Hydras, but for the most part, this was derived from bulk boxes and forgotten binders. Cards such as Pentavus were among the first added to the deck, and it hasn't undergone many modifications since I first cobbled it together. It was a good 55% first effort, but instead of tuning it up, I played with it for five months and then became disappointed when I lost. I never said I was a rational human being. I prefer making new decks to tuning old ones, but as this one is starting to grow on me a bit, I decided to give it a helping hand.

So before we bring out the scalpel, let's talk about things I like and that make it a 75% deck. I could use a Doubling Season, but I haven't spent much money on the deck nor felt the need to trade for one. I am sure it could benefit, but Primal Vigor seems a bit more 75%, especially since you can sometimes help out opponents with it. In Commander, co-players aren't enemies until you attack them, and with this deck, you don't have to attack someone twice. You don't leave living enemies, so anything that makes them less inclined to straight murder you immediately is welcome.

I like the Hydras I have, and I like durdling with Sage of Hours. I like some of the creative solutions I found to my struggle to natively put counters on Sage, such as Increasing Savagery and Llanowar Reborn. I found a few more in my poking around online, and I will be including them. Fortunately for the deck, everything is good with counters on it, so I'm not really durdling with Sage as much as I am building a deck in which drawing him doesn't cause a shift in strategy, but rather an evil grin and some menacing laughter.

Let's see what we have after we tune up a bit and jam a few new cards. Do I have an excuse for not adding Chasm Skulker weeks ago? I don't need to justify myself to you, man.

Vorel of the Hull Clade ? Commander | Jason Alt

• Commander (0)

• Creatures (34)
• 1 Champion of Lambholt
• 1 Chasm Skulker
• 1 Coiling Oracle
• 1 Cytoplast Manipulator
• 1 Deadbridge Goliath
• 1 Deadeye Navigator
• 1 Elusive Krasis
• 1 Fangren Firstborn
• 1 Fathom Mage
• 1 Fertilid
• 1 Forgotten Ancient
• 1 Gyre Sage
• 1 Hooded Hydra
• 1 Kalonian Hydra
• 1 Lorescale Coatl
• 1 Master Biomancer
• 1 Murkfiend Liege
• 1 Phyrexian Ingester
• 1 Plaxcaster Frogling
• 1 Predator Ooze
• 1 Primordial Hydra
• 1 Prophet of Kruphix
• 1 Quirion Dryad
• 1 Sage of Hours
• 1 Silklash Spider
• 1 Simic Manipulator
• 1 Somberwald Sage
• 1 Sphinx of Magosi
• 1 Spike Weaver
• 1 Vastwood Hydra
• 1 Zameck Guildmage
• 1 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Experiment Kraj
• 1 Polukranos, World Eater

• Spells (27)
• 1 Desertion
• 1 Plasm Capture
• 1 Spin into myth
• 1 Strength of the Tajuru
• 1 Cultivate
• 1 Curse of the Swine
• 1 Give // Take
• 1 Increasing Savagery
• 1 Urban Evolution
• 1 Asceticism
• 1 Cyclonic Rift
• 1 Death's Presence
• 1 Hardened Scales
• 1 Inexorable Tide
• 1 Primal Vigor
• 1 Primeval Bounty
• 1 Rhystic Study
• 1 Astral Cornucopia
• 1 Chromatic Lantern
• 1 Darksteel Ingot
• 1 Illusionist's Bracers
• 1 Lightning Greaves
• 1 Rings of Brighthearth
• 1 Simic Signet
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Thran Dynamo
• 1 Trading Post

• Lands (38)
• 10 Island
• 9 Forest
• 1 Breeding Pool
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Exotic Orchard
• 1 Hinterland Harbor
• 1 Khalni Garden
• 1 llanowar Reborn
• 1 Mosswort Bridge
• 1 Novijen, Heart of Progress
• 1 Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
• 1 Reliquary Tower
• 1 Simic Growth Chamber
• 1 Simic Guildgate
• 1 Temple of Mystery
• 1 Temple of the False God
• 1 Terrain Generator
• 1 Thespian's Stage
• 1 Vivid Creek
• 1 Vivid Grove
• 1 Yavimaya Coast

Buy This Deck

Overall, I am happier with this. I didn't add too much card-draw, and if anything, I heterogenized (that is totally a verb—trust me; I'm a scientist) the play experience by adding more flexible cards. I think Forgotten Ancient is an upgrade on Dragon Blood, Inexorable Tide is an upgrade on Mind Stone, and Experiment Kraj is an upgrade on, "Wow, did I really not have Experiment Kraj in the deck?"

A lot of my additions were a little bit obvious, but since I'd never sat down before and taken a look, I am glad I did. If I find room in the future, perhaps a Contagion Engine could find its way into the list. Tezzeret's Gambit could be a good utilitarian spell. The sky is the limit, especially with Wizards insisting on printing a new Hydra at mythic and three at rare every single set. Hooded Hydra is among the best we've seen, but I'm sure the next year will bring one even better.

Could this deck eventually become Hydra tribal? If it does, I can't think of a better commander than Vorel. If not, this deck is a lot more 75% in the new configuration. We have a bit more proliferate and ways to add more counters, a few more creatures that benefit from having counters on them, and a few cuts of durdly or substandard cards, making room for better ones. Is this deck going to take the Commander world by storm? Doubtful. I imagine it will win its share (1 ÷ N) of games and will be able to explode out of control and take down even the spikiest of decks due to the sheer volume of unfair things you can do with creatures like Champion of Lambholt.

What do you think? Is the second version playable? Is it even an improvement? Should I focus on a 75% principle and really build toward it, such as by adding a lot more creature-swiping effects, or do you build 75% by using the principles like guardrails rather than like building blocks? Let me know in the comments section! I can't wait for the full Khans of Tarkir spoiler, but with the sheer volume of big, stupid stuff so far, every deck is likely to gain at least one card it wants to try out. Thanks for reading, and we'll see you next week!