Hour of Devastation Legendaries Review

Hey Wallet Warriors! This week I have something a bit different for you. After writing my deck tech on The Locust God I was almost inclined to write one for the other two gods in the set because they’re almost all equally as sweet as each other and make for interesting deck building. However, I didn’t feel like that would have been an efficient use of time so instead I’ve gone and done an entire Hour of Devastation Legend Review! I’ll be going over my general thoughts on each legendary creature in the set as well as giving them a rating based on a few different factors. I’ll quickly go over the scale here.

As a commander: This one is pretty obvious. How well I think a legend will do as a general of a deck. This is based on whether or not the card is a clear build around and how fun piloting it’s deck would be.

As part of the 99: This is to accommodate the legends that may not fit exactly as a general but are still sweet cards in the format and will work better in the 99.

Versatility: This is how well a legend works using different playstyles or archetypes.

Budget Friendliness: This is how easily a legend can be built on a budget.

Overall: The average of the scores

Let’s get started with the character that was alluded to in the previous set:

Djeru, with Eyes Open

Rating:

As a commander: 2/10

As part of the 99: 7/10

Versatility: 4/10

Budget friendliness: 3/10

Overall: 4/10

Djeru definitely has a couple powerful abilities. A five mana 4/3 with vigilance is nothing to write home about but that’s not really what we’re interested in. Djeru’s first ability to fetch a planeswalker out of your deck when he enters the battlefield, combined with his passive protection for your walkers is very powerful. Djeru reminds me of Thalia’s Lancers which is a card I am quite fond of as the limited search ability makes for interesting decisions on what to get when it hits the field. The problem with search effects like Demonic Tutor and Vampiric Tutor is that they will often end up tutoring for the same card or couple of cards every game, which effectively makes them copies two through three of the best card in your deck. This raises the consistency of your deck but is at odds with the spirit of commander which is meant to garner variety in gameplay.

I think Djeru is definitely a better fit as part of the 99 rather than leading his own army, purely for the fact that it gives him access to more planeswalkers to fetch. Planeswalkers are generally not budget friendly however Djeru fits into most decks that even just have a few walkers.

Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign

Rating:

As a commander: 7/10

As part of the 99: 4/10

Versatility: 5/10

Budget friendliness: 8/10

Overall: 6/10

Sphinx’s are one of the more niche tribes but I know there are some diehard sphinx fans out there that will have lost their minds over this card. Amonkhet seems to be the place for fulfilling some more tribal wants that the community has and I am definitely a fan. Unesh provides cost reduction for your other sphinx’s as well as a source of card advantage whenever you cast it or another sphinx. These are two effects that are traditionally very powerful in commander. This is definitely a strong card but the question is, are there enough sphinx’s to make it work?

You could definitely put Unesh in the 99 of a deck that happens to already have lots of sphinx’s in it but where it will really shine is leading a bunch of it’s brethren into battle. After doing some research, I found about 25 playable sphinx’s for Unesh’s forces (which is being pretty generous). Traditionally you never want to be scrounging for playables in a tribal deck because the bottom of the barrel can get very grimy. However Unesh’s abilities are so strong  it does not take a lot for a sphinx to be at least usable alongside it.

Razaketh, the Foulblooded 

Rating:

As a commander: 6/10

As part of the 99: 7/10

Versatility: 4/10

Budget friendliness: 5/10

Overall: 5/10

Mono black is one of the most popular archetypes in commander, and for good reason. The power that comes from devoting yourself entirely to ambition is huge amounts of mana through “swamps matter” cards such as Crypt Ghast and Cabal Coffers, as well as having no issue casting cards such as Grave Pact and Necropotence. It is not a particularly budget-friendly strategy as many of the mana doublers can get pricey. However, even with your everyday mana rocks at your disposal you can wreak some havoc with a sacrifice themed value or combo deck, depending on your preference. Razaketh is likely not going to be a competitive all-star with that hefty mana cost. In a more casual setting though, he is a powerhouse of a finisher. The ability to demonic tutor at the cost of two life and a creature is an incredible deal. In a casual deck this can act as a toolbox mechanic, grabbing you more of your late game or removal spells. In a meta that doesn’t mind infinite combos Razaketh can get you any pieces you still need to finish the game. I would avoid using him as your commander if your meta has a healthy amount of countermagic for obvious reasons.

Neheb, the Eternal

Rating:

As a commander: 6/10

As part of the 99: 6/10

Versatility: 4/10

Budget friendliness: 8/10

Overall: 6/10

Our old pal Neheb has had some major changes since we last saw him. He’s ditched the black and gone mono-red, he’s not interested in leading minotaurs or the amount of cards in people’s hands anymore. He just wants people to take damage and to generate lots of mana. I love commanders that benefit off people taking damage because it incites an aggressive playstyle which doesn’t show up in commander that often. I’m disappointed that Neheb is no longer Rakdos but the silver lining here is that he is perfect for a hyper budget aggro deck. I can definitely see a Timmy player opening this guy in a draft or at the prerelease and just putting together a pile of aggressive creatures with some fireballs and haymakers for top end (make sure to pick up a Heartless Hidetsugu to go with that fireball). Toss in 36 mountains and you’re set. He also fits perfectly into a Rakdos, Lord of Riots deck. Rakdos is all about causing everyone pain and ramping out large threats. Neheb is basically a second copy of the lord.

The Locust God

Rating:

As a commander: 9/10

As part of the 99: 8/10

Versatility: 6/10

Budget friendliness: 8/10

Overall: 8/10

Now we’re getting into the real meat of the legends: The three forgotten gods. As I’ve already mentioned, each of these gods are absolute home-runs on all fronts. Mechanically they are all interesting and super powerful. Flavorfully they are hard to kill because they are gods but in a much different way than just being indestructible. They are all great additions to the roster of legends for us to choose from.

I won’t be discussing my thoughts on The Locust God here as I’ve already written a full deck tech on it which you can check out here!

The Scarab God

Rating:

As a commander: 9/10

As part of the 99: 9/10

Versatility: 8/10

Budget friendliness: 7/10

Overall: 8/10

Zombies are one of the most supported tribes in magic’s history and there are plenty of great zombie themed commanders to choose from. The Scarab God is so powerful it instantly jumped to the top of the list for me as soon as it was spoiled. Not only does it generate zombies on it’s own, the zombies are copies of creatures in any graveyard. Getting to steal other people’s creatures is one of my favorite things to do in this format and only having to pay four mana for a repeatable reanimate effect is a great deal. Beyond that, it lets you scry before you draw which is great card selection while, at the same time, whittling down your opponents! There isn’t much this general doesn’t do. On top of everything it has the forgotten god clause of coming back to your hand when it dies making it a bit more resilient. It’s an incredible commander as well as a great addition to the 99. It obviously fits right into any zombie deck but it can also be a fine include in a mill strategy as well as a “steal your stuff” type of deck.

The Scorpion God

Rating:

As a commander: 7/10

As part of the 99: 7/10

Versatility: 8/10

Budget friendliness: 7/10

Overall: 7/10

Now, onto the final legend of Hour of Devastation. The Scorpion God is probably the least exciting of the three forgotten gods but that doesn’t mean it isn’t awesome in it’s own right. Don’t write this guy off because it doesn’t immediately look strong. Commanders that draw cards are almost always powerful. The core of a Scorpion God deck will most likely look very similar to a Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons list. However instead of generating tokens from the counters, you will be generating card advantage. This allows for an interesting playstyle that Rakdos doesn’t tap into very often, control. For win conditions your options are very open. You can run some good old fashioned combos. You can suit up your God and smack people in the face for a commander damage victory. Or you can just throw in a few late game monsters like Sepulchral Primordial or Army of the Damned.

Conclusion:

Alright, that does it for me. I’m a huge fan of all these new legends we got in this set and am really excited to see how they play out. Tune back in a couple weeks from now for our regularly scheduled deck techs!