Raffine, Scheming Seer -- Multifaceted

We've talked about what makes a good commander before, and this week, we're taking a Multifaceted look at Raffine, Scheming Seer! One of the powerhouse commanders from Streets of New Capenna, Raffine draws some comparisons to some of the marque commanders of cEDH. How does she compare to the likes of Tymna and Thrasios and Kraum? How much of a difference does a single colored mana symbol add to a mana cost? We're talking about all of that and more this week!
00:00 Introduction
00:49 Introducing Raffine
03:38 How does Raffine compare?
14:48 Closing Thoughts
- Our theme song is "Lonely Satellite" by Bio Unit licensed via Creative Commons
- Background music for this episode is "Maze" by Bio Unit licensed via Creative Commons
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[@BisyBackson365]

She may be in the top 3 most overlooked commanders of 2022. I just came across her a few days ago.
From a cEDH perspective, she is in the best sans red colors. Basically, no dockside, breach or Deflecting Swat. This might be a hot take, but I might argue with a stax/Reanimate build, Raffine can pressure the mid game in a similar vien as Winota AND she can run doomsday without a traditional dooms day pile.
From a casual perspective - she can be flying tribal with demons + Liliana's Contract or zombie tribal with lots of token population and graveyard recursion allowing for higher creature counts with a 2-5 cmc + Rise of the Dark Realms as the "Alpha Strike" in the late game.
She is wonderful. I have even played several games with her at the helm of my Yuriko Deck ($250 big flip version) and she runs very well with all the delve and evasion

[@williamkeiser7562]

Raffine is one if my favorites. I pulled one randonly out of a pack and just made it. Webt a go wide reanimator and have a lot of fun with it. I put a lot of creatures that reanimate themselves to up the connive count and not worry too much if they die because they just come back from the grave with no effort.

[@OgPot868]

I have a raffine deck and I absolutely love it. It’s casual, but usually one of the stronger decks at the table. I went with a flying tribal/reanimator theme. I loaded the deck with strong, but expensive fliers like Avacyn, Angel of Hope, Consecrated Sphinx, Tivit, Sephara, stormtide leviathan, dream trawler, and ancient brass dragon. Getting down some low-cost fliers means that you can attack and discard those high-cost creatures to the bin, then reanimate them. You basically just keep all the non-creature spells in your hand, while discarding all the creature spells so you can reanimate them.
I put in cards like Glen elendra, archmage, and linvala, keeper of silence to protect my board while I build it up. Glen elendra, archmage has a unique synergy because you can connive her and cancel out the -1/-1 counter from her persist ability. Recently added Serra’s emissary, but I haven’t play tested yet. While it seems enticing to choose creatures with her ability, i’m thinking choosing instants or sorceries would be better so you can still use raffine’s ability while offering a lot of protection for your creatures.
Two of my favorite cards in the deck are archfiend of ifnir and Teferi’s ageless insight. Ifnir keeps the board clear while you attack, and teferi’s ageless insight makes you draw double X, but you still only need to discard X, so you get double the selection, and raffine’s ability becomes actual card advantage. Cards like consecrated sphinx and windreader sphinx help keep my hand full for raffine triggers.
Play reconnaissance to give your creatures pseudo-vigilance, and this also allows you to attack with all creatures you own (now that esper sentinel won’t just stand there looking pretty) to get the attack triggers, but pull them out of combat if they’re blocked so they stay alive.
I think the deck really works because you get great card selection of what you want to keep, and what you want to discard. I’ve found that sometimes the hardest part about playing a reanimator deck is getting the cards you want to reanimate to the graveyard - raffine makes this really easy. You also get to play big, high-costed creatures that would normally brick hands, but you can just discard them away with raffine.
Overall, such a fun commander.

[@aklepatzky]

got a list to share?

[@theobjectiveobjectivist9138]

Just caught this video. I saw Raffine and immediately saw the reanimator side. She eventually evolved into a combo, 8.5, house. Top + Citadel + Reservoir. Animate Dead + Abdel Adrian. Naru Meha + Ghostly Flicker + Stroke, Zenith, or Drown in Dreams. Finally the last combo is Sac Outlet + Karmic Guide + Reveillark + Gary. That's my Raffine deck.