Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Asparagus Kraj


I've been doing some spring cleaning of my commander decks recently.  Editing, making, or taking apart commander decks.  One such deck I feel that I have been neglecting and am considering dismantling is the Kraj deck.  Its a super durdley deck that takes a lot of skill and brain power to operate.  I never play it and its confusing as shit.  The thing is I haven't got the heart to take it apart.  I think its a cool commander and a powerful deck.  For these reasons, I suggest Phil take the deck to edit and play.  Kraj deserves a good home.

Let's look at Kraj and what he does.  First off, he puts 1/1 counters on any creature.  Seems good.  There's a lot of counter stuff going on these days so this card has aged well.  He's good with Persist, evolve, graft, and even spikes.  He makes creatures bigger too so even if those targets have no activated abilities they can still get a little boost.  The activated ability part cannot be overlooked either.  There's tons of stuff you can do with him with your own creatures as well as your opponents'.  Having strong activated abilities on the creatures in your deck is one thing but having everyone else's abilities is an added perk.  Needless to say there's always a lot of possibilities with this deck and every game is different.

Its all the different things Kraj can do that make this deck confusing.  Do I put a counter on something?  Use an activated ability?  Swing?  Its never entirely clear what to do with Kraj.  Put a Pemmin's Aura on him and things just get even crazier.  Kraj is confusing and as the deck has evolved, pun intended, it has just gotten harder to manage.  Much like my old wizard deck this deck has turned into something beyond my understanding and skill level.  I'm more aggro, Kraj is more controlling and requires deep analysis, pun intended.  Who do we know that can fully appreciate a deck like this?

I think this deck is more Phil's speed.  Phil plays Kikki Jikki, a deck which is fairly similar I feel.  Granted this deck is a little different than Kikki but I think Phil can handle it.  Besides I've always had a sneaking suspicion that Phil enjoyed this deck a little more than me as he was always thinking of cards that would be good in it.  So what I'm saying is I'm willing to give you the deck and all the cards in it for you to play and edit.  Otherwise Kraj will probably be taken apart.  Phil, will you accept an Oooze Muntant into your deck box?  Or should I start another petition?

4 comments:

  1. I agree that this seems like the kind of deck Phil would enjoy playing. However, I remember many times when once the deck got going it was only the complexity of all the different possible decisions that kept it from completely dominating the game, i.e. making the wrong decision when there were so many kept the deck under control. I think Phil should only play the deck after a couple of drinks, so his critical thinking skills are dulled. I'm thinking two beer minimum, 3+ beers preferred. Or just give it to Tommy and watch his head explode in frustration.

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  2. After days of careful deliberation inside the east wing, I have decided to accept the challenge of taming the Experimental Kraj. I remember when the Kraj was just a glimmer inside the kind eyes of a baby Joey Waalkes. It has come so far since then from its subsequent upbringing in the mutigenic vats of East L.A. to its 15 strikeout performance in the California Penal League, but it is now out of control. It is bad enough that it covered that entire fishing village in slimy green goo, but what he did to the Gordon's fisherman was barbaric. Because of his durdely nature, he never causes extensive damage but the insurance companies have nearly gone bankrupt from cleaning up all of the counters he is always throwing around onto people's cars, boats and chicken coops. Therefore I will adorn my cowboy hat, trailblazer's boots, and a fanny pack full of bubblegum and ride on my majestic cameline (half camel, half tiger) steed to track down this beast and teach him to live like us civilized folk. Next time you see Kraj he will be wearing a bowtie, sipping green tea and discussing Hagel with Mayank. If I do not return within 12 fortnights, we will have nothing left to do except pray to the cactus gods to contact the aliens to help us. I just hope it is not too late.

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  3. Also, is it still too late to complete that petition to make Tommy eat the deodorant?

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  4. It's never too late to try to get Tommy to eat a stick of deodorant.

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