[Official]
The Top 50 List (Indefinite Hiatus)
Poll: Which WHITE CREATURE should be removed from the list?
Ended Feb 16, 2019
Poll: Which BLACK CREATURES should be removed from the list? (Pick 4)
Ended Feb 16, 2019
Poll: Which GREEN NONCREATURE should be removed from the list?
Ended Feb 16, 2019
Poll: Which COLORLESS NONCREATURE should be removed from the list?
Ended Feb 16, 2019
I also voted to cut Relic of Progenitus, not because it isn't good (it is), but because I prefer numerous other grave-hate cards, including (in colorless) Tormod's Crypt.
I am puzzled by the reasoning of whomever voted to remove the Jitte from the list.
Though all the Swords of Value and Protection are great, of the ones on the list, Sword of Light and Shadow seems the weakest.
Expedition Map is useful in the right deck, but not enough decks to pass muster here imo. Similarly, Gauntlet is sufficiently two-edged that I think it can be cut.
Roon of the Pod People (Roon of the Hidden Realm)
Sydri, Super Genius (Sydri, Galvanic Genius)
Marchesa, the Black Rose
Lazav, Dimir Mastermind
Retired:
Grimgrin's Corpse-Beats (Grimgrin, Corpse-Born) | Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge | Varolz, the Scar-Striped (1v1) | Glissa, the Traitor
Interesting to see no LED or Mox Opal.
Jarad Graveyard Combo[Primer]!
Sidisi ANT!
Playing Commander to Win - A guide on Competitive, 4-player EDH
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I'll support Torpor Orb if it hasn't made it already.
I'll also nominate Perilous Vault. Its expensive, but you have the option of playing it and using it immediately that you don't with Nevinyrral's Disk. Plus it exiles and hits Planeswalkers.
Nominate Null Rod, because it shuts down 2/3 of the existing list as well as most of the nominations.
The following cards have received enough support to make it to week 2:
Fixed Orrery.
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Ultimately I voted for:
Caged Sun, Gauntlet of Power: While mana doublers are very strong, these cards also cost a lot of mana and only truly shine in mono color decks. They are still very good cards so it's not like I'm dying to get rid of them, but there are so many strong options and we need to reduce the list from 30 to 25.
Memory Jar: A card that is rightfully feared in eternal formats for its potential in combo decks, but those type of decks don't really appear that much in EDH. I have tried it out a few times and it always ends up getting cut because it's too expensive to play it, crack it, and use the cards in anything but the late game, and it frequently gets destroyed if you just let it sit around.
Mindslaver: This card is a bad political play and also costs a ton of mana to use. It's also a card that a lot of people consider to be "un-fun." I wanted to use it as a potential game ender in my Glissa deck at one point, but the problem is you can only really lock out one person, and the rest of the table is going to come after you as soon as this thing hits the table.
Nevinyrral's Disk: We are getting to the point where we have a decent number of colorless board wipes, and this seems like the worst. I can see it getting replaced with Perilous Vault on the list.
Nim Deathmantle: It's really hard to keep 4 mana open all the time to use this, especially in the kind of decks where you would actually want it. It's a great combo piece and works well if you have a ton of mana, but I don't think those two situations are enough to keep it on the list.
Trading Post: This card does a lot of little things, but I have never quite been satisfied with it. It was one of my last picks because I had to get to 8 cards, so I would not mind seeing it stay on the list.
Vedalken Orrery: A very niche card in my opinion. Giving things Flash just for the heck of it is not worth spending 4 mana, so I'd only play this card in decks where there was some kind of incentive to be playing things at instant speed. Definitely not worth of remaining on the list.
I'd also like to support Perilous Vault. I'll save my other nomination for later.
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Resources:Commander Rulings FAQ | Commander Deckbuilding Guide
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I'm kind of assuming those who are voting for removing the Coalition Relic are not the same people voting to add the Ingot, because yeah, otherwise that would be kind of odd.
Personally, I love Vedalken Orrery and play it frequently. It offers you a lot more flexibility in regard to when you spend your mana and cast things, meaning you can leave mana open to activate things, counter and otherwise react to stuff while still casting things before your next turn should you not need to use it until then.
I do agree Nim Deathmantle can be hard to use and could see cutting it.
Roon of the Pod People (Roon of the Hidden Realm)
Sydri, Super Genius (Sydri, Galvanic Genius)
Marchesa, the Black Rose
Lazav, Dimir Mastermind
Retired:
Grimgrin's Corpse-Beats (Grimgrin, Corpse-Born) | Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge | Varolz, the Scar-Striped (1v1) | Glissa, the Traitor
Deathmantle is a good card in its own right, but more often I see it used in conjunction with Ashnod's Altar and something like Grave Titan.
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Resources:Commander Rulings FAQ | Commander Deckbuilding Guide
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Chromatic Lantern - I don't see what makes it special enough to be on list. It is primarily a budget mana stone in that if your mana base is not optimized it works well. It is rare that optimized lists need this.
Coalition Relic - its ok, I just dont see a reason to have it specifically on the list.
Gilded Lotus - probably the hardest to justify of the mana stones that I voted to come off but in my mind its not the backbone mana stone for any deck that I include it in. Its slow to hit play as far as ramping so its sort of a surplus mana sort of stone as it rarely ramps into anything due to when it hits play.
Mindslaver - it belongs in far too few decks for me to justify being on list.
Nevinyrral's Disk - its entering tapped sadly has made it unplayable in 90+% of lists for me for far too long.
Rings of Brighthearth - great card but it seems like it does not belong in more lists than it belongs in.
Sword of Light and Shadow - I just cant see myself including it anywhere. I always think perhaps but then shoot it down before it gets into list.
Of what I voted on, I did vote fora lot of mana stones in part just because I think that Sol Ring / Mana Crypt are the ones that belong on this list and most of the others depend too much on what your list is. Mindslaver, Nevs Disk, and the Sword would probably be my top non stone picks to go out.
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[Modern] Allies
Both give +1 card advantage, but F&I gives you a random value, while L&S gives you the highest value you currently have. L&S also helps maintain that you'll have a followup creature to equip post-wrath, and mini combos with bloodrush.
And of course, the protections are far better. The number of times someone draws into a swords or path and glowers at my sword...
=== onwards ====
I nominate Karn Liberated.
Karn is a powerful planeswalker that helps solve any mono-colored deck's removal limitations. The ability to answer any permanent is simply highly powerful, and even on a single use his 7-cost buts him on par for value with other colorless removal options, except that he also exiles the problem in question.
Karn can also be very difficult for an opponent to handle, as the + ability can ramp up the loyalty very quickly, all while destroying a player's hand.
While I find that the ultimate is typically not necessary to have go off, if you've managed to crank him up that much you're likely in a commanding presence already, if you need to hit the reset button, the extra advantage it gives you doesn't technically guarantee you a win... but it's pretty close.
====
I nominate Staff of Domination.
While Staff hasn't made huge splashes since being unbanned, the sheer versatility of the cards keeps it as a massive powerhouse for any deck that wants to grind out a longer game. Each mode may be a bit overcosted, but having options, and having them be repeatable is huge. From tapping down potential attackers (I used it to stop a large number of eldrazi pre-banning), to drawing multiple cards a turn, what it does inefficiently it makes up for in volume. Due to its versatility, it can also slot into almost any deck as the various modes can help shore up any weakness.
Add now to that the obligatory combo potentials, and you have a card that not only can give you infinite mana, but does everything else you could ever want and/or need once you have it.
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
I'll support both Karn and Staff of Domination. Karn needs no explanation. He's Planewalker gold.
Since Staff has been unbanned I've been enjoying it immensely. In my Vorel deck I can generate boatloads of mana, and Staff's creature-untapping is amazing with tap-generals. In my Kurkesh deck, I have access to infinite mana through Rings + Basalt, so Staff has the danger there of being broken, but 9 times out of 10 I'm using it as Bob describes above, as a "catch-all" of sorts that helps in nearly every situation, and whose overcosted abilities are bolstered by Kurkesh.
I've even been tinkering with a minor life-gain subtheme to try and kill people with Chalice of Death. Staff rules.
Sword of Light and Shadow:
Sword of Fire and Ice:
Personally, I think the value generation of fire and ice is actually much stronger than light and shadow because it has two solid effects where as the lifegain from L&S is actually quite weak for the format. I could buy that L&S has more potential when you look at best case situations but it also has a lot of dependencies that make it more often than not a worse value than L&S per trigger. Really the only thing that L&S has over F&I for me is the protection from white.
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[Modern] Allies
I also find that the guaranteed creature is more powerful, as the creature then has added value via ETB and dies effects, potentially drawing cards through that as well (such as via Dark Prophecy or Grim Haruspex). I also find that while I typically don't want straight life gain, as an added or stapled effect it can be quite welcome.
Even early game there's usually a nice utility creature to get back. By the time you're swinging with a sword, it's turn 4 or 5 at the earliest, and trying to equip a F&I at that stage is liable to get you to eat removal as people will want to protect their own early value/utility creatures from the shocks. You should have some cheap guys like Solemn Simulacrum or Burnished Hart available already, or honestly, at that stage there are a lot of other things you'll have as options for advancing your board state.
I perhaps also overemphasize card draw in my own decks, which may devalue specific instances of it since I'm never really concerned about it.
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
Mind's Eye I find it underwhelming in so many situations. I find it so expensive and I just prefer Top or scroll rack. I only use it in decks I need draw desperately.
Skull Clamp I feel people over use the hell out of it. This card shines when used appropriately, but so often is mediocre. Reanimator decks, persist decks, token decks, and stax decks have amazing synergy with it. Ik it's very cost effective, and I prefer it over Mind's Eye, but still.
Caged Sun This honestly needs to stop being played in so many decks. It really only shines in mono colored decks, and or dual with the secondary being a splash.
Gilded Lotus I find myself wanting to put it in so many decks.... just to remove it slapping myself later. It's great in blue, with other cards like Thran Dynamo and Sol Ring, aka other artifact ramp cards.
Sword of shadow and light This card only really shines in heavy creature/reanimator decks. It's really only good mid/late game. Unless you were Sacrificing your Sakura Tribe Elder early on, something... I don't see what you can grab early on to make use of it.
Trading Post It's nice... I mean niche.. can't really say much more. There's better sac outlets if you are just looking that. I find it to expensive to utalize, and I need to run it with Voltaic, or other similar effects.
Vedalken Orrery I find it over-rated. Flash to just have flash.... meh. I barely find myself using it. The ***** I need to have flash... usually has flash, or I have other cards more worth that can do that, and more.
Nim Deathmantle To expensive, but it shines where it is needed.
Nevinyrral's Disk If only didn't come in tapped....it's still good, and I like it. There are more and more choices for removal though these days
BUWMerieke Ri BeritWUB
Weebo seconded Karn, so you can vote something else if you wish.
Current Standings:
The following cards have been nominated and or received some support but have not received enough support to make it to week 2:
The following cards have received enough support to make it to week 2:
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Resources:Commander Rulings FAQ | Commander Deckbuilding Guide
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[Modern] Allies
Woah takea step back jabhronie. I don't know why people are hating on relic of progenitus, but I'm not trying to insult them in a passive-aggressive way. Yes I'm dead serious about it, wanna fight about it? I don't know why Aether Vial isn't up there, I feel that card is amazing. Does it matter? Apparently not. You can disagree all you want, what I said holds true. They aren't bad cards, I just find people over use them, and they don't belong in a lot of decks they are placed in.
BUWMerieke Ri BeritWUB
Skullclamp is one of the most broken cards ever printed. There are many decks it does not belong in, but I really haven't noticed it being overused. It's nuts in decks that have synergy with it (tokens, stax, reanimator etc.).