Agree with you. Played em all, and Rilsa is literally the best: she is the initiative, and also, she doesn't drags out games. Once you finish the first undercity, the pain train keeps rollin'!
This was simply a combination of bad luck and some misplays. Also this variant of the deck is wonky as hell and plays some very slow and questionable cards that I"m really not a fan of. Hama is actually extremely powerful, but you are right in stating that the initiative is what really puts her over the edge. I authored a $50 combo variant that typically is able to win on or before turn 6 and it's probably my favorite deck. Even when I'm forced into a turn 3 AFR dungeon, it only delays my win attempts by a little more than 1 turn on average. He should have mulligan-ed deeper for sure. Rilsa Rael losing out on white is rough. The best flicker spells, the best initiative creatures, radiant solar, felidar guardian and restoration angel, and the best removal are all in white. If you are looking to abuse the initiative specifically, I don't think there's a better commander than Hama Pashar, but I can't say Rilsa isn't cool in her own right.
Her speed potential is pretty crazy actually. She's notorious for super early game Worldgorger Dragon loops that generate infinite mana and Anje herself allows you to sculpt a perfect hand during the loop. You can then wipe the table with something like an infinitely big walking ballista, exanguinate, or whatever else you want. It's pretty consistent too with a really high density of madness cards you are effectively playing far fewer cards in your deck because you are able to just ditch them to Anje, even when there is no upside to casting then for their madness cost, just to churn through your deck incredibly fast to find your combo pieces. It's pretty damn cheap too, though I can't say it is necessarily a ton of fun.
@@TK-zd7ym there is a budget cEDH community that will optimize like this. You still run high card quality interaction and have to make windows and protect combo lines, but I agree that decks like these often feel very samey when they are railroading one very specific win condition. The ability for a deck to pivot and adapt to the table and game state not only makes for a good deck, but a fun one.
@@dsp3660 not after a boardwipe though, it didnt change the outcome since he just hid muddstah for 3 commander, but just noting it for future reference.
its very fun to pilot, but it gets pretty fast out of hand, taking hella long turns. Its one of my favourite decks but also one of the most hated in my playgroup :D
@@DarkEinherjar well thats true. But you can also go for dungeon of the mad mage instead, doing some deep digging. Finishing Undercity is usually pretty easy and nearly impossible to stop if you hit the right cards. Like Radiant Solar or Preston. Flicker is also a hell to play against.
@@DarkEinherjar true. It's significantly faster and more efficient to go through the lost mines of phandelver. A dungeon creature on turn 3 (especially with Nadar) when you don't have an initiative creature is often the right move over your commander to improve card selection and accelerate your game plan. In my testing, having to go through the lost mines of phandelver really only delays my win attempt by a single turn. The treasures and card draw you get out of it are often enough to re-accelerate you back into a dominant position with Hama out. The Dungeon of the Mad mage should only be considered when you have to put a bunch of AFR dungeon specific triggers on the stack or you are fishing for a non-creature spell such as cloud shift or ghostly flicker to win the game which it is better at than any other dungeon. Hama with the initiative is gnarly though and usually wins me the game on or before turn 6.
