What I've learned about Cryptic Command

I've cast more Cryptic Commands than I can count, and I've learned some things about it. First, it's obviously broken, and in my opinion the best spell in Lorwyn/Shadowmoor Block (followed closely by Firespout). But you don't need me to tell you that. Fact is, I've been doing a strange thing lately. I've been cutting some copies of Cryptic Commands from my control decks. I've been building decks that can regularly pay 1UUU on turn 4, and I've decided that sometimes I don't want to cast a Cryptic Command. I first started doing this in Extended, since basically every threat in the format costs less than four mana. It worked out okay, and I got comfortable without my Commands. Now I've started doing it in Standard. Yesterday, I played a 5-color control deck with only 3 Cryptic Commands. And I didn't miss the fourth copy!

In an attrition-style control deck, Cryptic Command isn't ALWAYS the card you want. For instance, against any deck with counterspells (including Bant Charm), do you really want to try to use your Cryptic as a Fog+cantrip? Doing so is begging to get blown out. If you have more mana than your opponent, or your opponent's deck has expensive threats, you can Dismiss or counter/bounce their spells with glee.

The truth is, Cryptic Command is best as a tempo weapon. It's a complete blowout when you play some guys, get in for some damage, let your opponent play a couple of blockers to stabilize, then tap his team and kill him. It's also sick when your opponent plays his second blocker and you respond by countering it and bouncing the first blocker. I don't think any deck has ever valued its Cryptic Commands as much as Merfolk.

One last strike against Cryptic Command is that because it's so expensive, it's difficult to resolve during a counterwar. Figuring out how to do so was, I believe, one of the main strategic subgames in the Block Faerie mirror. Because those decks were so light on actual card drawing (meaning there was none, other than cantripping Cryptic or Peppersmoke), that one extra card could be a pretty huge advantage. Oftentimes, in the mirror all I want is a Negate. It counters Jace Beleren and so many other threats (EOT Mannequin my Kelpie?) without forcing you to spend more mana than you want. In a control deck, you have to do two things: have more answers than your opponent has threats, and be able to play them before you're overrun. One great way to not get overrun is to play answers that are as cheap as possible, and oftentimes Cryptic Command just doesn't fit the bill.

I started this rant by saying that I think Cryptic Command is the best spell in Lorwyn/Shadowmoor Block, and I stand by that. But I hope this will make you think about something beyond "Cryptic Command is a good card, my deck plays all the best cards, therefore I play 4 Cryptics." Feel free to disagree with me. Let me know what you think.

I'm not cutting Cryptic anytime soon. They can counter with is obviously a shitty argument. Either you can play around their counters or you can't. If you can't, you play like they don't have it. The mirror is not a big issue. If you play any Negates before you have the full amount of Cryptics, you're an idiot.

May I have your 4th Cryptic then? I have yet to fully explore the magnificent wonder that is Cryptic Command!

Solomon wrote:May I have your 4th Cryptic then? I have yet to fully explore the magnificent wonder that is Cryptic Command!

I've had a playset since 2 weeks after they came out and never played them until about a month and a half ago when I began playing reveillark, its broken..

I have 2 textless ones we can discuss.