Oloro, Ageless AsceticOloro, Ageless Ascetic | Art by Eric Deschamps

I'm feeling nostalgic today, so we're kicking this week's Fire and Ice all the way back to 2013! We'll take a look at a commander that's not showing its age at all, and see which cards are gaining and losing popularity for decks led by a Giant Soldier.

I'm Julia, EDHREC's Duchess of Data, and I can't wait 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 into how the format's players are thinking about new cards, and hopefully provide some tech for your favorite commander's list.

If you guessed that this edition of Fire and Ice would be about Oloro, Ageless AsceticOloro, Ageless Ascetic, you'd be correct! Or, maybe you just looked at the featured image...

Either way, lets see what's Fiery and what's Icy for Oloro!

Oloro, Ageless AsceticOloro, Ageless Ascetic

What's Hot and What's Not for Oloro?

Oloro decks seek to turn life gain into more definitive advantage. He lets us gain two life at the beginning of each of our upkeeps, and also lets us draw a card and drain our opponents for one every time we gain life if we pay .

Notably, Oloro lets us gain life every turn if he's in the command zone or on the battlefield, meaning that we never really need to cast our commander to start generating advantage. A great many Oloro decks just use his passive lifegain from the command zone, without ever casting him!

But, whether they cast their commander or not, Oloro pilots want to gain life multiple times per turn. This life gain can be turned into life loss for our opponents with Sanguine BondSanguine Bond (in 68% of decks), card advantage with Drogskol ReaverDrogskol Reaver (in 38% of decks), and even Horse creature tokens with Crested SunmareCrested Sunmare (in 35% of decks).

What's Fiery for Oloro Decks?

An Offer You Can't RefuseAn Offer You Can't Refuse - Fire Score of 4.07

From Unexplained AbsenceUnexplained Absence to NecropotenceNecropotence, there's bound to be a juicy target for a noncreature counterspell in any Commander game. While free spells like Force of NegationForce of Negation are technically more efficient than An Offer You Can't Refuse, free spells don't see much play in casual decks.

In Bracket 3 and below, Offer is one of the best counterspells available. It even sees some play alongside free countermagic in Brackets 4 and 5, although it may not be the first choice for those high power lists.

Marauding Blight-PriestMarauding Blight-Priest - Fire Score of 3.78

Oloro decks tend to gain life multiple times per turn, meaning this three-drop can drain our opponents for five or more life every time we untap. While a card like Sanguine BondSanguine Bond is technically more effective at reducing our opponents' life totals, Marauding Blight-Priest is a nice way to add cheap redundancy to this deck's 99.

It also goes infinite with Exquisite BloodExquisite Blood and Bloodthirsty ConquerorBloodthirsty Conqueror, much like its more costly counterparts.

Dovin's VetoDovin's Veto - Fire Score of 2.54

Like An Offer You Can't Refuse, Dovin's Veto is an efficient counterspell that will almost always have a valuable target. This piece of countermagic is slightly more powerful, though, as it automatically wins any "counter war" that you may find yourself in.

Personally, I'm not sure how valuable that is outside of cEDH. Players just aren't as likely to have counterspells held up below that power level, meaning that this card isn't always worth the it costs. That doesn't mean it's a bad card, but I may play Offer over Dovin's Veto if given the choice.

Haliya, Guided by LightHaliya, Guided by Light - Fire Score of 2.44

This Soul WardenSoul Warden-style effect is fantastic. Haliya lets us gain life when an artifact or creature enters, and provides us with a bit of card advantage too. We'll easily be able to gain three life per turn, as Oloro meets two thirds of that requirement alone!

I also love that Haliya has a warp ability, letting us pay just for an extra life point and an extra card (assuming we've already gained life with Oloro the turn we cast her)!

Heliod, Sun-CrownedHeliod, Sun-Crowned - Fire Score of 2.32

This deck doesn't run a ton of creatures - fewer than 30, on average - but Heliod is a fantastic card regardless. For just , we get to put at least one +1/+1 counter on a creature we control per turn (from Oloro's life gain alone). As we gain more life, Heliod gets even stronger!

Plus, he goes infinite with Walking BallistaWalking Ballista if you'd like to go in that direction. Even if we never have enough devotion to turn Heliod into a creature, the sun God shines in this deck.

Kambal, Consul of AllocationKambal, Consul of Allocation - Fire Score of 2.17

In Brackets 4 and 5, noncreature spells can outnumber creature spells. Kambal can collect a significant amount of taxes from our opponents, making them think twice before they take a game action. Although a four life point swing may not seem like that big of a deal, it adds up over time.

Kambal is a perfect fit for this deck's 99. He may be less effective in Bracket 3 and below, but any incidental life drain he provides can make Kambal worth his mana cost.

Rhox FaithmenderRhox Faithmender - Fire Score of 2.14

I don't love the design of most "doubling" effects in Commander. I don't necessarily think that they're lazy, but it often feels like they take some of the creativity out of deckbuilding. I won't sit here and tell you that this Rhino Monk is a bad card. Paired with Oloro, it lets us gain at least four life per turn. When combined with our other life gain engines, it becomes even more powerful.

But, the question remains: Is it fun to play with this sort of effect? I say no, but if you want to increase the power of your game plan for just , then Rhox Faithmender is a great inclusion.

What's Icy for Oloro Decks?

DamnDamn - Ice Score of -4.84

This is one of my favorite spells in all of Magic. It's a perfect use of the overload mechanic, as either an on-rate kill spell or an on-rate sweeper. It's also a huge flavor win, reminding players of DamnationDamnation and Wrath of GodWrath of God.

However, I'll acknowledge that this spell is somewhat color intensive. For a three-color deck like this one, it can be hard to make and/or reliably, which I'd bet is the reason for Damn's falling popularity.

PropagandaPropaganda - Ice Score of -3.25

This enchantment is useful in pillowfort decks that want to defend their life total at all costs. But Oloro pilots will usually have more than enough life points to take a hit. It just doesn't make a ton of sense to spend on Propaganda when we could take other meaningful game actions, and simply tank whatever our opponents choose to throw at us during combat.

Rhystic StudyRhystic Study - Ice Score of -2.98

Rhystic Study is the best card advantage engine in Commander, and it's also a Game Changer. Its decline in popularity has nothing to do with the power of this enchantment, and is likely because Oloro pilots are either choosing to play in lower brackets or utilizing other Game Changers.

Lifegain combos tend to require specific pieces, like the aforementioned Exquisite BloodExquisite Blood, so tutors like Vampiric TutorVampiric Tutor and Demonic TutorDemonic Tutor may be taking Rhystic Study's place.

Test of EnduranceTest of Endurance - Ice Score of -2.38

While Test of Endurance is a fantastic win condition for Oloro players, it's also somewhat boring. It's almost "too easy" to reach 50 life with this commander, so dropping this enchantment on turn four, untapping on turn five, and instantly winning the game isn't out of the question. That can feel somewhat anti-climactic, and may be why it's seeing less play these days.

The Wind CrystalThe Wind Crystal - Ice Score of -2.34

Much like Rhox Faithmender, The Wind Crystal can let us gain a metric ton of life over the course of a game. This legendary artifact can even provide evasion and lifelink to all of our creatures, while also reducing the cost of some of our spells. But, much like Damn, this card suffers from its restrictive mana cost. It's hard to reliably make the needed for this artifact, and we don't benefit much from the cost reduction it provides to our white spells.

This Crystal is better in a mono-color or two-color deck.

Hope EstheimHope Estheim - Ice Score of -2.08

Hope is an awesome card, knitting together two disparate themes quite effectively for just . But, without any other mill synergies in our 99, Hope's effectiveness is somewhat limited. I'd be extremely interested in seeing what this Human Wizard can do at the helm of his own deck, but he's not quite good enough here.

What's in an Oloro Deck?

Here's an Oloro list, with all of his hot cards and none of his cold cards:

Conclusion

When I started playing Commander, I thought Oloro was the coolest card ever. It lets me gain life every single turn? And it lets me draw extra cards? That's amazing! But, like many Commander players, I quickly realized that life gain isn't quite as strong as it initially appears. Oloro's certainly got his place in our format's landscape, but he's not the powerhouse that I thought he'd be on first read.

Are there any commanders that you also overvalued upon your entry into Commander? Let me know in the comments below! For now, though, I'll see you all next week for another edition of Fire and Ice!