Gatecrash EDH review Part 1

After a fun weekend of Gatecrashing the hell out of Ravnica, lets turn some of the focus over to the EDH standouts from Gatecrash. This set had a ton of interesting cards and mechanics to bring to the table and for EDH it does not disappoint. Today I will cover the new generals presented by Gatecrash. So lets get to it!

Aurelia, the Warleader

Aurelia is nothing really new for Boros EDH. She and her team like to take a double dip in the red zone. Her ability is pretty crazy, getting to take an extra combat step for free once per turn. However, it really is nothing new for Boros. Sure a 3/4 flyer with haste and vigilance is a nice touch, but it still the same stuff we would have expected from Boros.

That being said, Aurelia will find a home in many Boros EDH lists. She is strong on her own and gets dumber with the number of creatures you have attacking with her.  Add to the fact that she is an Angel (Hello Kaalia) and she is a strong contender for any R/W/x list. As a general, she seems OK at best. Her big sister still seems like a much better choice for damaging general, but Aurelia seems like a great substitute or build around general involving multiple combat steps.

Borborygmos Enraged

Borborygmos is an interesting take on a Gruul general. Most Gruul generals tend to have effects that involve getting in people's faces. This guy can potenitally sit there, rip up his own lawn, turn it into a giant bowling ball and throw it like a fast ball at someone's face. Stapling on Seismeic Assult to a 7/6 with trample and the ability to get more land with attacking is one of the most interesting interactions out of a Gruul general I have seen in a while

Borborygmos is one of the few generals that needs to be built around. He can be chucked into a R/G/x deck and do some cool things. However, the maximum effect for this guy comes from building your deck around his ability to chuck lands like fastballs at people's faces. Abusing effects that put land into your hand like Borderland Ranger or Sylvan Scrying seems like the most effective way to make this general purr.

Obzedat, Ghost Council

Obzedat feel like both an upgrade and downgrade from his original iteration. On the upside this ghostly commander deals 2 and gives back 2, while dodging all sorcery speed removal from your opponents  Hell, giving him haste on his return from exile was a brilliant move to keep Obzedat as a power player. On the downside, this ghost council is not nearly as interactive as his predecessor. Obzedat is very vulnerable to instant speed removal and that can lead to some awkward situations.

Obzedat feels like a fine Orzhov general. He seems like the kind of general you can throw into any Orzhov deck and be happy with. As a 5 power commander, he only needs to connect 5 times, barring pumps, to win the game on his own. This could be the start of a voltron general in Orzhov, since he does dodge all the mass removal of the format. Just make sure not to rely on enchantments to have Obzedat cruise to victory.

Prime Speaker Zegana

Zegana screams sexy not just in constructed. Being able to draw a metric ton of cards plus having a huge body is nothing to scoff at in EDH. She happens to be in the colors that draw a bunch of cards and give evasion to fat creatures. These facts help cement Zegana as a new popular general for players. Zegana can come down early, thanks to ramp spells, draw a few cards, then get reset by blue's myriad of ways of blinking a creature out to reload your hand.

Zegana not only seems like a general you can throw out to lead your army, but she has the easiest potential to be built around. Playing various blink effects like Deadeye Navigator, Venser, etc and she can be reset multiple time to ensure you always have cards for any situatuon. Combine that with the fact you want to play giant creatures, usually green, to get the maximum effect for Zegana and you have the recipe for a spicy EDH list.

This concludes Part 1 of the Gatecrash EDH review. Stay tuned later this week for Part 2.