Maelstrom Pulse is a Sorcery (mana cost {1}{B}{G}; Sorcery; rarity: rare; most recent printing listed by Scryfall: Innistrad Remastered). Sc...
Maelstrom Pulse is a Sorcery (mana cost {1}{B}{G}; Sorcery; rarity: rare; most recent printing listed by Scryfall: Innistrad Remastered). Scryfall lists its Commander legality as legal, Modern legality as legal, and Legacy legality as legal. Here is what the card actually does and how to judge whether your deck wants it.
The card, on its actual text
Destroy target nonland permanent and all other permanents with the same name as that permanent.
That text is the whole evaluation. Cards earn slots by what their text does in the games you actually play — the turns where mana is tight, the board is contested, and a card drawn late has to matter immediately. Judge this one against the role it would fill in your list, not against a highlight reel, and weigh any drawback printed on it as seriously as the effect itself.
Build and check your list with the MTGBrew card database, and browse every card mentioned here in the MTGBrew AI deck builder on MTGBrew.
Which decks want it
Tune in small steps. Change two or three cards at a time, play several games, and write down what actually happened rather than what you hoped would happen. A list adjusted on evidence converges on its best version; a list rebuilt after every loss never stays still long enough to be judged.
If this topic is on your bench, keep going with Winota, Joiner of Forces Commander Spotlight: What This Legend Brings to the Command Zone — it covers the neighbouring decisions from a different angle, and the two pieces together give you a fuller picture than either one alone.
Keep reading
Keep reading: Winota, Joiner of Forces Commander Spotlight: What This Legend Brings to the Command Zone and Aether Vial in Commander: What It Does and Which Decks Want It.
The honest verdict
Ask what the deck looks like when it is merely fine. A resilient build still develops its board, still draws extra cards, and still threatens something through an average opening hand. The spectacular draws take care of themselves; spend your card choices making the average draw functional, because you will see far more average draws than perfect ones.
For current details on this card and everything like it, check the MTGBrew card database — articles like this one deliberately leave prices out, because prices move and your deck decisions should be made on live numbers.
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