I've seen some lists on these boards that are intended to be able to swap out Thraximundar for Lord of Tresserhorn or Nicol Bolas at the helm. Personally, I don't think I could ever build a deck that could swap commanders. I tend to build in such a way that the commander at least somewhat influences every card inclusion/exclusion.
A guy at my LGS has a deck that has 4 Commanders he can swap in and out. He brings a d4 and rolls it to determine which one he plays that game. It keeps things interesting.
My Mono Black Control deck can use Drana Kalistria Highborn, Geth, Lord of the Vault or Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed as commander but really does run best with at the helm for the extra access to recursion. It is a big mana reanimator/control deck I have 2 of them in the deck and one in the command zone.
My Brion Stoutarm deck really could use any commander but Jor Kadeen . I have some synergies but they can be used with other creatures like Thornbite Staff .
No. Never. That's my one unbreakable rule about the whole format - the 99 have to support only one general.
I mean, this can still be true of practically any WR deck. Also I find that often Savra and Jarad can be interchangeable. (Recently my Jarad deck crossed the Rubicon, so to speak, into a full on dredge deck. So it isn't possible anymore, but my original rendition of the deck could have used either indescriminately.)
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Check out the thread for my cube if you have the time, and tell me how terrible it is.
Generals meant to be drafted first in a single pack of 6 cards.
And here is the actual cube, meant to be drafted in 4 regular sized packs. (60 card decks)
Animar's deck could probably work with Riku, but not as well, so I don't bother; it wouldn't be worth the extra aggro Riku would draw.
If there was anotherGUB general that dealt with card draw, then I could interchange it with Damia, since her deck is just a blue/black control deck with green for mana ramp. But the Mimeoplasm needs to be built around, and my deck isn't aggressive enough to even runVorosh, much less have him at the helm.
My Malfegor deck could probably function just as well (read: poorly) with any other BR general, but I like having access to an emergency board wipe. I also like using a general that nobody else uses.
Uril is in a Voltron deck, so it really needs him to function.
My Rhys deck actually wins with little to no aid from its general somewhat regularly, so it probably could function just as well with a different general. Either Trostani, for ludicrous lifegain, or Tolsimir Wolfblood for the extra anthem effect. (Fun fact: the deck's original general was Rith, but I eventually realized that red wasn't doing much for the deck, and I remembered that Rhys the Redeemed had just been printed, so I switched generals.)
Last, but not least, my first EDH deck was my Phyrexian deck. It has, on multiple occasions, changed generals, either temporarily or permanently. At first, Tsabo Tavoc was the general. But then, during Scars block, right around when Mirrodin Beseiged was about to come out, one of the flavor articles on the MtG mothership revealed that the Mirrodin-based Phyrexians had five leaders, the praetors, one for each color. Since the deck was already mostly black anyway, and because Tsabo drew a lot of aggro, (People like to play their commander in Commander games. Who knew?) I resolved to change the deck's general to the black praetor, regardless of what her card actually did. (It was pretty obvious right from the get-go that the praetors would be getting cards.) In anticipation of New Phyrexia getting released, I removed the red from the deck, and put Geth at the helm. Though Sheoldred is typically the general, the deck's theme is based on flavor, not mechanics, so the deck functions fine with a different general. So, every now and again, I, or whichever friend I'm lending the deck to, will switch out Sheoldred for someone else. In addition to Sheoldred herself, my choices are Geth, Ascendant Evincar, Skithiryx, and Mirri the Cursed. I kinda wanna add two more legendary creatures to the deck, so that I can claim that they're the Seven Steel Thanes, and that whoever is the general is simply the one currently winning the Thanes' internal power struggle.
Who I have as my commander seems like such an important thing to me; I can easily swap Rafiq and Jenara around and probably get much the same end result, but it seems like it just matters to me... I dunno. I don't ever intend on running more than one general.
I try to keep at least one other relevant legend in my colors in each of my decks. That way if I play someone new who's playing the same general, I can switch mine up and we can play without too much hassle. My decks definitely run better with the main general, and it doesn't always work since there's not always a similar general (I can't think of a good substitute for Treva off the top of my head).
But if I have to switch Kaervek out for Malfegor or Vorosh out for the Mimeoplasm, it's not a big deal. It's even easier if you keep a sideboard; changing out 10 cards is plenty to retune a deck for a similar general.
I've never liked the, "I'm all in on my general," method of deckbuilding... it's too easy to get blown out by Terminus or whatever.
more power to u if ur deck can swap gens. all my decks are mostly centered around the powers of my gens, so cant really switch them effectively. mono black big mana decks can easily switch around
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
GU Experiment Kraj- all your abilities belong to us WB Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts- battlecruiser GUB The Mimeoplasm- when graveyards are not safe RGW Mayael the Anima- i luv the fatties
My vampire tribal Anowon, the Ruin Sage could be changed (at least in theory) with any other legendary mono-B vampire, but the deck works the best with him.
Also I recently noticed how my Sisters of Stone Death deck could really use something like Jarad as its commander with no problem, since the deck is quite Golgari-themed, revolving around my graveyard, EtB-abilities and recursion...
(I just made the deck a few years back prior Jarad was released, but if I made the deck now, I would've probably opted Jarad for commander.)
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Quote from Prophylaxis »
Also modgaming Bur setups is kind of treading down a dark path
My deck I'll be making can use 3 different commanders.
Do any of you guys switch around your Commanders?
Posted from MTGsalvation.com App for Android
U Merfolk | GR Tron | WUR Jeskai Control | WBG Abzan Company
EDH:
G Ezuri, Renegade Leader, Fighting for Rivendell
WU Brago, King Eternal, Long Live the King
WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon, Worship the Dragon
R.I.P. Sundering Titan (6/20/12) and Braids, Cabal Minion (9/12/14)
RUG Intet, the Dreamer
WBG Karador, Ghost Chieftain
WRG Mayael the Anima
UUU Jalira, Master Polymorphist
BBB Sherei, Shizo's Caretaker
GGG Yeva, Nature's Herald
GGG Ezuri, the Renegade Leader
Constructing: Karn, Silver Golem - Ephara, God of the Polis
My Brion Stoutarm deck really could use any commander but Jor Kadeen . I have some synergies but they can be used with other creatures like Thornbite Staff .
My Momir Vig, Simic Visionary deck could not function without him.
amazingly epic sig courtesy of DarkNightCavalier at Heroes of the Planes.
Primer - Mishra, Artificer Prodigy
Thor, Ragnar Röks!
Hela, and the Enemies of Asgard
Teferi, Temporal Archmage
Erebos B | Ghost Council WB | Grimgrin UB | Jhoira UR
Jor Kadeen RW | Melek UR | Mimeoplasm GUB | Rasputin WU
Savra BG | Sisay GW | Teneb BGW | Thada Adel U | Wort BR
I draft and play EDH. If a Standard player can't understand who a card is for, it's probably for me.
I also write things about good films.
I mean, this can still be true of practically any WR deck. Also I find that often Savra and Jarad can be interchangeable. (Recently my Jarad deck crossed the Rubicon, so to speak, into a full on dredge deck. So it isn't possible anymore, but my original rendition of the deck could have used either indescriminately.)
Generals meant to be drafted first in a single pack of 6 cards.
And here is the actual cube, meant to be drafted in 4 regular sized packs. (60 card decks)
Animar's deck could probably work with Riku, but not as well, so I don't bother; it wouldn't be worth the extra aggro Riku would draw.
If there was another GUB general that dealt with card draw, then I could interchange it with Damia, since her deck is just a blue/black control deck with green for mana ramp. But the Mimeoplasm needs to be built around, and my deck isn't aggressive enough to even run Vorosh, much less have him at the helm.
My Malfegor deck could probably function just as well (read: poorly) with any other BR general, but I like having access to an emergency board wipe. I also like using a general that nobody else uses.
Uril is in a Voltron deck, so it really needs him to function.
My Rhys deck actually wins with little to no aid from its general somewhat regularly, so it probably could function just as well with a different general. Either Trostani, for ludicrous lifegain, or Tolsimir Wolfblood for the extra anthem effect. (Fun fact: the deck's original general was Rith, but I eventually realized that red wasn't doing much for the deck, and I remembered that Rhys the Redeemed had just been printed, so I switched generals.)
Last, but not least, my first EDH deck was my Phyrexian deck. It has, on multiple occasions, changed generals, either temporarily or permanently. At first, Tsabo Tavoc was the general. But then, during Scars block, right around when Mirrodin Beseiged was about to come out, one of the flavor articles on the MtG mothership revealed that the Mirrodin-based Phyrexians had five leaders, the praetors, one for each color. Since the deck was already mostly black anyway, and because Tsabo drew a lot of aggro, (People like to play their commander in Commander games. Who knew?) I resolved to change the deck's general to the black praetor, regardless of what her card actually did. (It was pretty obvious right from the get-go that the praetors would be getting cards.) In anticipation of New Phyrexia getting released, I removed the red from the deck, and put Geth at the helm. Though Sheoldred is typically the general, the deck's theme is based on flavor, not mechanics, so the deck functions fine with a different general. So, every now and again, I, or whichever friend I'm lending the deck to, will switch out Sheoldred for someone else. In addition to Sheoldred herself, my choices are Geth, Ascendant Evincar, Skithiryx, and Mirri the Cursed. I kinda wanna add two more legendary creatures to the deck, so that I can claim that they're the Seven Steel Thanes, and that whoever is the general is simply the one currently winning the Thanes' internal power struggle.
But if I have to switch Kaervek out for Malfegor or Vorosh out for the Mimeoplasm, it's not a big deal. It's even easier if you keep a sideboard; changing out 10 cards is plenty to retune a deck for a similar general.
I've never liked the, "I'm all in on my general," method of deckbuilding... it's too easy to get blown out by Terminus or whatever.
GU Experiment Kraj- all your abilities belong to us
WB Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts- battlecruiser
GUB The Mimeoplasm- when graveyards are not safe
RGW Mayael the Anima- i luv the fatties
Also I recently noticed how my Sisters of Stone Death deck could really use something like Jarad as its commander with no problem, since the deck is quite Golgari-themed, revolving around my graveyard, EtB-abilities and recursion...
(I just made the deck a few years back prior Jarad was released, but if I made the deck now, I would've probably opted Jarad for commander.)