What happens when 2 wizards go to war? Well if you are the third person at that stand off you get to sit on the side watching fire balls and enchantments fly around.

Today in a pretty fun Commander game 2 arcane wizardry decks went up against each other, while a Hapatra snake token deck mainly got to do nothing.

My arcane wizardry deck has been upgraded to be focused around Kess as the commander, and her ability. So it has less focus on getting wizards out on the battle field, and more focus on instants and sorceries, and playing them multiple times using Kess’s ability and naturally other spells that do a similar thing or make a copy of a spell that has been cast. Most of my upgrade is based on the $20 upgrade from this MTGoldfish article. I’ve strayed a little with the odd card. And I’ll put the list I’m playing with up at some point soon. I did find at one point in this game wishing I had an unlimited hand size. I can fix that by trying to squeeze in a Thought Vessel.

The other wizard at the table was also using the arcane wizardry deck but with no upgrades, and had Inalla as the commander. So they wanted to get lots of wizards out to make use of Inalla’s ability.

By the end of the game Hapatra was costing 18 mana to get out. Yeah we were controlling that battlefield. These wizard decks are reactive, especially mine. So it must have been a bit frustrating for the student. I have to admit it almost became a challenge how much can we push up that casting cost of Hapatra?

By the time it had come to delivering my winning blow I had about 8 2/2 blue drakes on the field. Not bad for a deck not specifically aimed at playing creatures.

My killing blow was most apt for a Kess deck. I cast a Comet Storm, with an X of 28, kicked, and because I paid one of the 2 mountains required using a transformed Primal Amulet I was able to copy the spell!

I know after playing this game I need a card in that gives me an unlimited hand size. It would have come in real handy when I pulled back all my instants and sorceries from the graveyard to avoid them being exiled by a bit of graveyard hate. I have an artefact that will do this. But what do I lose to fit it in?

From the spoilers I’ve seen for Dominaria (the next set), there are one or two wizards that would sit nicely in an upgraded Inalla deck. I know there are a couple of angels I want in my angel deck. I’m hoping to have the first attempt at the Elf Tribal deck done next week. Then it’s some play testing. Followed by getting the angel deck done.