Readers!

We have a full accounting of every card in Ultimate Masters and while I kind of planned to do some sort of set review, it didn't actually make much sense when it came time to do it. The set is all reprinted cards and while this could be a nice opportunity to talk about cards we haven't talked about before, if we haven't talked about them before they're likely not relevant to 75% decks. Instead, I decided to look at a bunch of cards and talk about which 75% decks I think have gained the most in the last few sets. Ultimate Masters obviously gives a lot of cards a low enough price for people to afford them and it exposes a new audience to powerful new effects and strategies. But I'm not here to sell you Ultimate Masters boxes (not directly, but if you buy them from Coolstuff, that would be fine with me), I'm here to sell you on the concept of 75% deck-building, a task for which I feel uniquely qualified.

The idea for this new format came to me when I was scrolling through the Top Commanders page for the week and noticed a lot of Krenko decks were being built. There are two possibilities - one person imported a ton of Krenko decks to EDHREC and the other being that the swath of new Goblins printed lately gives the deck a lot of gas and people are either dusting off their old deck or building one for the first time. It's not hard to see why - the deck got a lot of new toys in the past few sets and I think our 75% Krenko list from back in the day could use a facelift. Not only that, some of the more expensive cards will be cheaper temporarily and we can slot in some stuff that we might not have before. Cavern of Souls cheaper in the short term? Seems good for Goblins! Phyrexian Altar back down where it was when I first said it needed a reprint (that was 2015)? I'll take 2! Between accessible reprints and new cards from sets like Dominaria and Guilds of Ravnica, there's a lot to update our decks with, so let's just get started. Why not Krenko since we were already talking about it?

Krenko, Mob Boss | Commander | Jason Alt

• Commander (1)
• 1 Krenko, Mob Boss

• Creatures (42)
• 1 Beetleback Chief
• 1 Chancellor of the Forge
• 1 Ember Hauler
• 1 Frenzied Goblin
• 1 Gempalm Incinerator
• 1 Goblin Arsonist
• 1 Goblin Assassin
• 1 Goblin Bangchuckers
• 1 Goblin Brawler
• 1 Goblin Bushwhacker
• 1 Goblin Chieftain
• 1 Goblin General
• 1 Goblin Guide
• 1 Goblin King
• 1 Goblin Lackey
• 1 Goblin Lookout
• 1 Goblin Matron
• 1 Goblin Medics
• 1 Goblin Piledriver
• 1 Goblin Pyromancer
• 1 Goblin Recruiter
• 1 Goblin Ringleader
• 1 Goblin Ruinblaster
• 1 Goblin Sharpshooter
• 1 Goblin Warchief
• 1 Goblin Wardriver
• 1 Goblin Wizard
• 1 Ib Halfheart, Goblin Tactician
• 1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
• 1 Mogg Fanatic
• 1 Mogg Raider
• 1 Mogg War Marshal
• 1 Moggcatcher
• 1 Sensation Gorger
• 1 Siege-Gang Commander
• 1 Skirk Fire Marshal
• 1 Skirk Prospector
• 1 Sparksmith
• 1 Spikeshot Elder
• 1 Stingscourger
• 1 Tuktuk the Explorer
• 1 Warren Instigator

• Instants (3)
• 1 Brightstone Ritual
• 1 Chaos Warp
• 1 Tears of Rage

• Sorceries (6)
• 1 Burn at the Stake
• 1 Dragon Fodder
• 1 Gamble
• 1 Goblin Game
• 1 Goblin Lore
• 1 Warp World

• Enchantments (8)
• 1 Breath of Fury
• 1 Goblin Assault
• 1 Goblin Bomb
• 1 Goblin Bombardment
• 1 In the Web of War
• 1 Mass Hysteria
• 1 Quest for the Goblin Lord
• 1 Shared Animosity

• Artifacts (4)
• 1 Coat of Arms
• 1 Skullclamp
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Umbral Mantle

• Lands (35)
• 30 Mountain
• 1 Cavern of Souls
• 1 Flamekin Village
• 1 Hall of the Bandit Lord
• 1 Mutavault
• 1 Myriad Landscape

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We have had quite a few new cards printed recently and I think there is a lot of value to add to the deck.

Goblin Cratermaker - This is a money Goblin. This can destroy a ton of permanents. While it's not ideal in a deck like this one compared with a deck like, say, Grenzo, which has an easy time looping it, Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker can turn this into a value machine. There are like 15 Goblins worse than this in my current list.

Legion Warboss - Warboss is a great way to passively create tokens and unlike Goblin Assault and Goblin Rabblemaster, it only forces the tokens it makes to attack. Token creation is a big part of what makes Krenko great and this goes in the deck.

Treasure Nabber - This doesn't work in practice as well as I hoped it would in theory but I have swiped a non-zero number of mana rocks with this in my day and I'll steal a lot more. It's not the Red staple I hoped, but there's no reason not to jam this in a Goblin deck, especially with so many ways to search for it and make that Breya player pay.

Some key reprints in Ultimate Masters that the deck could benefit from are Cavern of Souls, Gamble, Phyrexian Altar, Raid Bombardment, Seize the Day, Squee, Goblin Nabob, and Anger. That's a lot of cards for one deck in the set but it wouldn't be "Ultimate" if it wasn't pretty good.

With Krenko down, I decided to go REALLY deep into the vault and dust off a deck I was writing about back when I thought we should have seen a Phyrexian Altar reprint. We got it, and now that deck has a lot of shiny new toys and it deserves another look.

Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest | Commander | Jason Alt

• Commander (1)
• 1 Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest

• Creatures (38)
• 1 Aerie Ouphes
• 1 Archfiend of Depravity
• 1 Avenger of Zendikar
• 1 Burnished Hart
• 1 Butcher of Malakir
• 1 Corpsejack Menace
• 1 Creakwood Liege
• 1 Deathrite Shaman
• 1 Den Protector
• 1 Desecration Demon
• 1 Disciple of Bolas
• 1 Eternal Witness
• 1 Fertilid
• 1 Fleshbag Marauder
• 1 Golgari Guildmage
• 1 Greenwarden of Murasa
• 1 Grim Haruspex
• 1 Harvester of Souls
• 1 Hooded Hydra
• 1 It That Betrays
• 1 Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
• 1 Mortician Beetle
• 1 Mycoloth
• 1 Nether Traitor
• 1 Puppeteer Clique
• 1 Reaper of the Wilds
• 1 Reassembling Skeleton
• 1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1 Scavenging Ooze
• 1 Sheoldred, Whispering One
• 1 Shriekmaw
• 1 Sidisi, Undead Vizier
• 1 Skullbriar, the Walking Grave
• 1 Smothering Abomination
• 1 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Vulturous Zombie
• 1 Woodfall Primus
• 1 Wurmcoil Engine

• Instants (4)
• 1 Krosan Grip
• 1 Putrefy
• 1 Tribute to the Wild
• 1 Wake the Dead

• Sorceries (6)
• 1 Barter in Blood
• 1 Death Cloud
• 1 Decree of Pain
• 1 Killing Wave
• 1 Primal Growth
• 1 Syphon Flesh

• Enchantments (10)
• 1 Attrition
• 1 Awakening Zone
• 1 Deadbridge Chant
• 1 Deathreap Ritual
• 1 Dictate of Erebos
• 1 Evolutionary Leap
• 1 From Beyond
• 1 Grave Pact
• 1 Hardened Scales
• 1 Perilous Forays

• Artifacts (5)
• 1 Birthing Pod
• 1 Mimic Vat
• 1 Nim Deathmantle
• 1 Skullclamp
• 1 Sol Ring

• Lands (36)
• 11 Forest
• 11 Swamp
• 1 Blighted Fen
• 1 Buried Ruin
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Evolving Wilds
• 1 Ghost Quarter
• 1 Golgari Rot Farm
• 1 Grim Backwoods
• 1 High Market
• 1 Miren, the Moaning Well
• 1 Overgrown Tomb
• 1 Reliquary Tower
• 1 Tectonic Edge
• 1 Temple of Malady
• 1 Woodland Cemetery

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This deck is a real blast from the past. I almost want to tear into my last remaining Plunder the Graves precon but I could be a non-savage and just buy a copy of Mazirek. Either one works.

There have been a lot of cards printed in the last 3 almost 4 years and the ones from the latest few sets are pretty spicy. Here are a few that need to get slotted in.

Plaguecrafter - I hated whiffing on Fleshbag Marauder and while it's obviously preferable in a deck like Mazirek to make sure they have to sac something, it doesn't suck to never whiff because the control player has to discard something. If they have no hand and no board, I don't know, go kill them.

Bloodtracker - This deck gives it new and exciting ways to put counters on itself and that's great. Expect to draw a ton when you sac this.

Izoni, Thousand-Eyed - Going wide has never looked easier. Having a sac outlet to get the Grave Pact effects clicking is great and being able to fill the board with tokens is very useful. This was made for this deck, albeit a deck not many people are playing in a world where Meren exists.

Whisper, Blood Liturgist - A second copy of Hell's Caretaker? I'm listening! I would definitely jam both this and Hell's Caretaker if I rebuilt the deck today.

Tendershoot Dryad - This speaks for itself, I think.

Vona's Hunger - Dryad will help you get that City's Blessing emblem and this will help knock them down. Ixalan gave us so much for this deck.

Some reprints from 'Ultimate Masters that could help fuel this deck's future include Phyrexian Tower, Phyrexian Altar (I was holding a bunch of these when the reprint hit and I'm not even mad. I'm so happy to have this reprinted!), Mikaeus, the Unhallowed, Apprentice Necromancer, Chainer's Edict, Eternal Witness, Fecundity, Spider Spawning, Slum Reaper, Lord of Extinction, Woodfall Primus, Pattern of Rebirth... the list goes on. The really expensive cards, Tower and Altar plus Mikaeus are big wins here.

Finally, there is a reason to rejoice that there are Blue and White spells in the set!

You got your good Taigam and you got your Bizarro, Evil Taigam. Let's focus on the one that your opponents will, in some sort of Shyamalanian twist, come to recognize as the evil Taigam - the one that lets you play a bunch of Time Stretches like a monster.

Taigam, Ojutai Master | Commander | Jason Alt

• Commander (1)
• 1 Taigam, Ojutai Master

• Creatures (18)
• 1 Archaeomancer
• 1 Baral, Chief of Compliance
• 1 Daxos of Meletis
• 1 Diluvian Primordial
• 1 Dragonlord Ojutai
• 1 Empress Galina
• 1 Eternal Dragon
• 1 Grand Abolisher
• 1 Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
• 1 Medomai the Ageless
• 1 Phyrexian Ingester
• 1 Pristine Skywise
• 1 Rune-Tail, Kitsune Ascendant
• 1 Sphinx Ambassador
• 1 Steel Hellkite
• 1 Sunscorch Regent
• 1 Taigam, Ojutai Master
• 1 Thada Adel, Acquisitor

• Planeswalkers (2)
• 1 Narset Transcendent
• 1 Venser, the Sojourner

• Instants (10)
• 1 Cryptic Command
• 1 Cyclonic Rift
• 1 Desertion
• 1 Dig Through Time
• 1 Disallow
• 1 Insidious Will
• 1 Path to Exile
• 1 Return to Dust
• 1 Shadow Rift
• 1 Swords to Plowshares

• Sorceries (15)
• 1 Artful Dodge
• 1 Blatant Thievery
• 1 Bribery
• 1 Clone Legion
• 1 Expropriate
• 1 Knowledge Exploitation
• 1 Plea for Power
• 1 Research the Deep
• 1 Saheeli's Artistry
• 1 Stolen Goods
• 1 Talent of the Telepath
• 1 Time Warp
• 1 Tragic Arrogance
• 1 Ugin's Insight
• 1 Wrath of God

• Enchantments (5)
• 1 As Foretold
• 1 Dream Halls
• 1 Mind's Dilation
• 1 Reconnaissance
• 1 Rhystic Study

• Artifacts (10)
• 1 Azorius Signet
• 1 Commander's Sphere
• 1 Darksteel Plate
• 1 Dolmen Gate
• 1 Mirari
• 1 Quietus Spike
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots
• 1 Thought Vessel
• 1 Whispersilk Cloak

• Lands (40)
• 11 Plains
• 15 Island
• 1 Adarkar Wastes
• 1 Arcane Lighthouse
• 1 Azorius Chancery
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Flooded Strand
• 1 Glacial Fortress
• 1 Hallowed Fountain
• 1 Maze of Ith
• 1 Nimbus Maze
• 1 Port Town
• 1 Prairie Stream
• 1 Reliquary Tower
• 1 Rogue's Passage
• 1 Temple of Enlightenment

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I like this deck a lot and there are plenty of reasons to be about it with a key reprint in the form of Temporal Manipulation making that card a reasonable price. Its price was largely predicated on scarcity and with supply catching up to demand, it is going to get cheaper for a while so seize the opportunity to pay Time Warp money for a Capture of Jingzhou effect.

Since we made this deck, albeit kind of recently, there have been some cards that want to go in the deck.

Loyal Unicorn - This was made for a deck where you want your commander to survive but also get in there. You attac, he protec. Loyalty is a big deal in a deck like this, so don't squander it.

Aminatou's Augury - Mana is no object when you get to double the spell, so playing an 8-cost spell seems worthwhile in this deck. You're going to sculpt the perfect hand if you stick this and it definitely goes in the deck.

Primal Amulet - This can help reduce the cost of your big spells the first time you play them and then get even more value later. This is a slam dunk inclusion.

Spellseeker - There are cheap spells and expensive ones. The expensive ones are all so good, whichever one you get will be good, but the cheap ones are specific, and this is the kind of tutor I like in a 75% deck.

Some important reprints from Ultimate Masters, apart from Temporal Manipulation (a big deal, to be sure!) include Dig Through Time, Snapcaster Mage, Talrand, Sky Summoner, Frantic Search, Archaeomancer, Treasure Cruise, Mana Vault, Ancient Tomb, Rogue's Passage.

If you wanted to go with more of a Voltron build, which would be a lot of fun and which I highly recommend, the set is loaded. Sovereigns of Lost Alara and Eldrazi Conscription (a 2-card combo so potent I threw an Island in a Naya deck back in the day so I could run them together), Sublime Archangel, Daybreak Coronet, and an Umbra or two can power a build like that.

That does it for me this week. Ultimately, I think Ultimate Masters is the ultimate Masters set and will be a great product for the short amount of time it's on shelves. People who crack boxes have an additional lottery ticket in there and as dealers race to compete with each other by undercutting to get sales, prices will tank in the short term but recover in the longer term meaning buying singles at their bottom makes a lot of sense even if you don't want to pony up for a box. Even a spare booster or 3 card blister pack is a great lottery ticket to point people to if they complain they don't know what to get you for a gift-giving holiday. I'll be picking up as many Phyrexian Altars, Mana Vaults, Ancient Tombs and other colorless staples as I can for future decks and I may even grab a playset of Hierarchs and build a modern deck (Knightfall, no I don't care that it's bad) finally. Next week we'll be back at you with a new decklist and we may even start speculating more about the next Ravnica set. Until then!