The MycotyrantThe Mycotyrant | Art by Chase Stone

Fire and Ice? I thought you said acquire mice...

Welcome once again to Fire and Ice! This is the data-driven series where I go over cards that are becoming more or less popular for different Commander decks, and talk about why they may be gaining or losing popularity. I'm Julia, EDHREC's Duchess of Data, and I'm super excited to jump into today's article!

EDHREC, of course, has a ton of data. We'll draw conclusions from that data about how certain commanders' decks have changed over time, give insight about new cards, and hopefully provide some tech for your favorite commander's list.

Today, we're focusing on The Mycotyrant. This commander currently sits as the 264th most popular commander on EDHREC, with 9,156 decks to its name. Much like the Globglogabgalab, the Mycotyrant loves knowledge. So, let's see what this yeast of thoughts and minds can do!

The MycotyrantThe Mycotyrant

What's Hot and What's Not for The Mycotyrant

We can cast this creature for . The Elder Fungus has trample and a statline equal to the number of creatures we control that are Fungi or Saprolings (including itself). Additionally, at the end of each of our turns, this big guy lets us create a 1/1 FungusFungus token for each time a permanent card was put into our graveyard on that turn.

Pilots often seek to mill themselves out aggressively, creating a huge Voltron threat and flooding the board with 1/1s too. Because we're in Golgari, this commander also provides us with access to some of the best graveyard synergies in the whole format!

Among The MycotyrantThe Mycotyrant's most popular cards are Skull ProphetSkull Prophet (65% inclusion rate), MycolothMycoloth (60% inclusion rate), and CankerbloomCankerbloom (61% inclusion rate).

What's Fiery for Mycotyrant Decks?

Cauldron of EssenceCauldron of Essence - Fire Score of 12.55

Wow! This artifact has a super high Fire Score. This three-drop can drain our opponents' life totals, cause us to descend an extra time each turn, and even bring back whatever powerful creatures we mill over in the pursuit of Fungi.

We can get Blood ArtistBlood Artist-style effects for cheaper, but having such an effect stapled onto a permanent that can reanimate stuff for a reasonable rate is just gravy.

Mole Man, Moloid MasterMole Man, Moloid Master - Fire Score of 8.73

This three-drop is another fantastic fit for Mycotyrant decks. He lets us make use of the lands we dump into the bin, while also letting us mill even more cards through the tokens he creates. Those tokens can make for good sacrifice fodder, too.

If we pair this Human Villain with a fetch land or something like WastelandWasteland, then we'll really be in the money.

Grave ResearcherGrave Researcher - Fire Score of 8.60

This creature is a bit slow for my taste. It requires an investment of , some life points, and asks us to wait a turn before we can do anything with this creature.

Sure, it's neat that we can surveil once at the beginning of our upkeep, but I'd rather get more immediate benefit when I pay (plus another and some life down the line).

Return of the Mole ManReturn of the Mole Man - Fire Score of 5.70

Each of this enchantment's two abilities is stellar. First off, we can fill our 'yard to the brim when we hit our land drops. In a deck like this, we'll be dropping lands consistently and therefore stocking our trash pile high.

Then, when we've got a super big bin and fewer lands to play, we can invest to make a boatload of tokens that'll mill us even more quickly. Six mana is admittedly a high price tag, but we're in a -based deck! We'll be just fine.

Immoral BargainImmoral Bargain - Fire Score of 3.39

The Fungi that our commander makes are disposable. In fact, we'll often want to get rid of them to trigger our Species SpecialistSpecies Specialist and Zulaport CutthroatZulaport Cutthroat.

Three mana is already the standard rate to get rid of one nonland permanent (Generous GiftGenerous Gift, Beast WithinBeast Within, and others), so paying the same amount of mana to essentially wipe our opponents' boards is pretty sweet.

Vastlands ScavengerVastlands Scavenger - Fire Score of 2.84

This is a real head-scratcher. Yes, a three-mana 4/4 with deathtouch is technically above rate. But, that's not really relevant in our 40-life, multiplayer format. Then, if we want to cast the instant that this creature comes with, we need to spend a total of ! That's crazy, especially given the fact that we can only reanimate a creature from the seven cards that we mill. If I cast Bind to Life and whiff, I might just concede on the spot...

I'd rather play Bramble FamiliarBramble Familiar than this creature. But, truth be told, I don't think that either has a spot in optimized Mycotyrant lists.

What's Icy for Mycotyrant Decks?

Slimefoot, the StowawaySlimefoot, the Stowaway - Ice Score of -2.08

It's cute that this Fungus makes Saprolings, as both creature types count towards our commander's power and toughness. But, we don't have much Saproling synergy in our 99.

This creature operates below maximum effectiveness here, and will often act as a very bad Blood Artist instead of a neat value engine. Slimefoot is a better fit in the command zone of its own deck.

Akawalli, the Seething TowerAkawalli, the Seething Tower - Ice Score of -1.94

At its best, this creature is a 7/7 with menace and trample for just . But it doesn't do much for us beyond attacking effectively. Akawalli doesn't mill cards or make tokens, meaning it doesn't fit with our game plan very well.

Plus, while seven power and toughness seems like a lot, this card was clearly designed to be more of a threat in Limited than in Commander. In our format, it can be blocked and killed pretty easily.

Sporecrown ThallidSporecrown Thallid - Ice Score of -1.94

Two mana for a +1/+1 anthem isn't bad at all! In fact, there are very few anthems in Commander that eclipse this rate (Flowering of the White TreeFlowering of the White Tree comes to mind).

But, because the Fungus tokens that our commander makes can't block, we lose half of this Thallid's appeal. We'll usually be trying to kill our opponents with commander damage regardless, so I think it's safe to cut this creature if you want to make room for some shiny new cards.

What's in a Mycotyrant Deck?

Here's a Mycotyrant deck that has all of its hot cards and none of its cold cards.

Conclusion

I do really miss Ixalan. Each of the factions in the set is super interesting, and the story wasn't half bad this time around either. We will get some nautical nonsense next year with the release of Nauctis: The Sunken Realm, so here's hoping it's as cool as Lost Caverns of Ixalan was.

What was your favorite faction in Ixalan? Did your answer change during our last visit to the plane? Let me know in the comments below, and I'll be back soon for more Fire and Ice.