It's funny how a new year often brings reflection. I find I can't help it: I take stock, look back, and I try to consider different angles. This year, one of the objects of my reflection is my Magic collection.

I've been going through my Commander decks recently and considering what I play, what I don't play, and why. Over the nearly 10 years I've been writing articles for this very website, I've built several of the decks I've built for the series in paper. Some I've played a lot, others very little, but lots of them - really any of them from more than a couple of years ago - have started to feel a bit outdated. No matter how we try to keep the game casual and fun, time marches on and cards change. Strategies which were once viable aren't, cards which were once awesome no longer are (I'm looking at you, Mind's Eye), and our understanding of deck construction continues to improve (I was startled, in doing research, by how long it took me to figure out 40 Lands was the correct amount!).

In that spirit, I thought it might be fun to look back. I'm going to take a few decks from my first year here at CoolStuffInc, specifically ones which have been built in real life and played at tables, and attempt to update them for the modern era.

I'm not going to start with the original deck. Instead, I'm going to start with just the Commander and the original intent of the deck, and build the deck using my current view rather than the one I had back then. That way I'm building from the ground up rather than having to cut, and I'll be using more modern cards where they're appropriate. And I'd like to start with one I love, played a lot for several years, and now don't because I always seem to get outclassed.

I'm also not going to post the original decklist. Instead, you can just go read the article! We've really upgraded our Cascade Commanders over the years, but back in the day, the Wanderer reigned supreme. Two instances of Cascade was insane, and stapled to a large body which gave everything Haste? There was some pretty serious power there. I think there still could be.

When it was first spoiled, the big thing to do with the Wanderer was figure out how to Cascade into incredible power. I've always been more of a "let's have fun" player, so I decided I'd rather build something with a bit more variance; it's not that the deck isn't capable of powerful plays, but it also isn't building itself to always be powerful. Sometimes you're going to whiff on your Cascades. That's okay. It'll be fun. But we can probably make it a bit smoother and update several of the spells. Oh, and it's worth noting one of the goals was every spell in the deck could be Cascaded into - nothing more than seven mana allowed.

As per usual we've got 40 Lands. Our Lands are upgraded, too; because of all the Land search, the deck ran almost exclusively Basic Lands, with a single Command Tower and the appropriate Guildgates (because the deck ran Gatecreeper Vine). Now, we have several more spells which search for Forests rather than Basic Lands, so while we've stuck with the Guildgates, we've also got Rimewood Falls, Sheltered Thicket, and a few other cards with Forest in the typeline. That includes the excellent Ketria Triome. We've also added a Kessig Wolf Run, which was a real miss from the last deck (though it could have been left out to budgetary constraints: all those decks were $75 or less back then). We have a couple of Mountains and Islands and 22 Basic Forests, so we still are mostly Basics, but we have a lot more flexibility.

And we ramp like absolute madpeople. In most games, we'll play our first ramp spell on turn three, followed by another on turn four, and play out the Wanderer on turn five. Every ramp spell we've got puts at least one Land onto the Battlefield; several of them put two. Use your discretion, but as a rule you want to get out your duals before your Basics, and your Mountains and Islands before your Forests. The cool thing about spells like Vastwood Surge and Migration Path is if we draw them, we can actually use their other modes (the Surge, in particular, can be quite strong when kicked). If you have a hand with any three Lands and a ramp spell you can play, keep that hand. You'll be fine. If you've got two ramp spells, you're golden.

One funny thing about a deck like this is we actually don't want any card draw. We want the cards in our Library, where we can cast them for free. I suppose if you wanted to make it more consistent you could run something like Scroll Rack or effects like Brainstorm, but the whole point here is to roll the dice on what we get; we keep our cards in our Library and we cast the Wanderer to play them for free. If we get a couple of ramp spells, so be it. We still have a 7/5 Haste Commander coming your way. So, no draw. Play out that opening hand and start casting your Commander; you'll get all the extra cards you need.

The upgraded power suite is really where this new version shines. Among other things, we've added some new Cascade cards, and we have a whole new mechanic in Discover, which is like Cascade except it's not tied to the Mana Value of the card with Cascade. Probably the biggest example of this is Chimil, the Inner Sun, which keeps our stuff from being Countered and gives us a Discover 5 every end step. That will also help thin out the ramp spells as we go along! But we get Annoyed Altisaur, Imoti, Celebrant of Bounty (which also gives several of our other Creatures Cascade), and Sakashima's Protege, which is great even if we don't copy something we cast that turn. All these join Etherium-Horn Sorcerer and Bloodbraid Elf, the two OG Cascade spells from the original deck.

Additionally, we get stuff like Drakuseth, Maw of Flames and Hullbreaker Horror. Cast those dudes for free and give them Haste and they're pretty serious threats. A pair of Etalis (Etali, Pirmal Storm and Etali, Primal Conqueror // Etali, Primal Sickness) both give us some more free spells. Surrak Dragonclaw and Surrak and Goreclaw are both great fun here, but I think my absolute favorite new add is Titan of Industry. That card does everything we want a card to do - it destroys something, makes something, has evasion, and is huge. Flip into a couple of those big things and the deck will do just fine. We've also added a couple of big ol' spells we can flip into. Genesis Ultimatum and Hit the Mother Lode both give us something free and should have an effect on the board.

Our answers are all stapled to our threats; we have Creatures that Fight and Creatures that blow stuff up. Acidic Slime was strangely left out of the last deck, but Silverback Elder and Kogla, the Titan Ape didn't exist yet. One thing about running a random deck like this is we can't control our answers; sometimes we'll get lucky and other times we're stuck blowing up something silly. On the other hand, we'll likely be putting on enough pressure it shouldn't matter too much.

Finally comes the way this deck really ticks along: allowing Maelstrom Wanderer to be cast over and over again. We have several cards which do what Roaring Primadox does - return a Creature to our hand. We've got a few more of these than we did before, and the more the merrier because we really want this effect. Crystal Shard and Erratic Portal are both worth it here, and Alora, Merry Thief is a fantastic addition, because she lets us make Maelstrom Wanderer unblockable (three hit kills, people!) and returns it to our hand! That's kind of perfect. First Responder is kind of hilarious, because if it lasts for two turns of this it'll be a 17/17. Temur Sabertooth is another great add; we'll almost always have the mana, and the fact we can also keep it alive through a Wrath of God is pretty great.

Keep in mind we can also use these bounce spells to get more uses out of our ETB effects. Bouncing a Sweet-Gum Recluse or a Trumpeting Carnosaur isn't a bad thing at all. Some of them can also return themselves, which is a perfectly reasonable solution to having too many of them; keeping a Species Gorger in your hand isn't a bad idea in the event the board gets Wrathed and you need to start over.

I also want to mention Averna, the Chaos Bloom, which is a fantastic effect for us. Get those Lands on the Battlefield!

Maelstrom Wanderer Revamped | Commander | Mark Wischkaemper

• Commander (1)
• 1 Maelstrom Wanderer

• Creatures (38)
• 1 Acidic Slime
• 1 Alora, Merry Thief
• 1 Annoyed Altisaur
• 1 Aurora Phoenix
• 1 Averna, the Chaos Bloom
• 1 Bloodbraid Elf
• 1 Drakuseth, Maw of Flames
• 1 Druid of the Emerald Grove
• 1 Etali, Primal Conqueror
• 1 Etali, Primal Storm
• 1 Etherium-Horn Sorcerer
• 1 Farhaven Elf
• 1 First Responder
• 1 Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma
• 1 Hullbreaker Horror
• 1 Imoti, Celebrant of Bounty
• 1 Kogla and Yidaro
• 1 Kogla, the Titan Ape
• 1 Ojer Kaslem, Deepest Growth
• 1 Ondu Giant
• 1 Oni of Wild Places
• 1 Roaring Primadox
• 1 Sakashima's Protege
• 1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1 Silverback Elder
• 1 Species Gorger
• 1 Stampeding Serow
• 1 Stampeding Wildebeests
• 1 Surrak and Goreclaw
• 1 Surrak Dragonclaw
• 1 Sweet-Gum Recluse
• 1 Temur Sabertooth
• 1 Titan of Industry
• 1 Trumpeting Carnosaur
• 1 Trusted Advisor
• 1 Wild Wanderer
• 1 Wild-Magic Sorcerer
• 1 Zopandrel, Hunger Dominus

• Sorceries (13)
• 1 Circuitous Route
• 1 Cultivate
• 1 Explosive Vegetation
• 1 Far Wanderings
• 1 Genesis Ultimatum
• 1 Hit the Mother Lode
• 1 Kodama's Reach
• 1 Migration Path
• 1 Nissa's Pilgrimage
• 1 Peregrination
• 1 Ranger's Path
• 1 Skyshroud Claim
• 1 Vastwood Surge

• Enchantments (3)
• 1 Bigger on the Inside
• 1 Sunken Hope
• 1 Warstorm Surge

• Artifacts (4)
• 1 Chimil, the Inner Sun
• 1 Crystal Shard
• 1 Erratic Portal
• 1 Navigation Orb

• Battles (1)
• 1 Invasion of Zendikar // Awakened Skyclave

• Lands (40)
• 22 Forest
• 4 Island
• 2 Mountain
• 1 Cinder Glade
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Gruul Guildgate
• 1 Highland Forest
• 1 Izzet Guildgate
• 1 Kessig Wolf Run
• 1 Ketria Triome
• 1 Rimewood Falls
• 1 Sheltered Thicket
• 1 Simic Guildgate
• 1 Tangled Islet
• 1 Wooded Ridgeline

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I'm excited to play this updated version of the deck. There are a lot of fun new toys to play with, and the Wanderer still has the juice to be relevant at a table.

How often do you update your decks? Do you ever? I'd love to hear some of your stories, so let me know on social media!

Thanks for reading.