Hi. Two of my friends get all four new 2017 Commander Decks and persuade me to play with them and I was surprised how cool it is. All the time before I was thinking of it as a format for players to bad for competitive constructed/limited and I am personally big fan of a competitive magic. They are fairly new to the game and I was winning mostly by the skill and sometimes they were playing 2 against me so I am not afraid that I'll be winning all the time (politics is a awesome feature of edh, make it easier to level up a game). And they are rather going to upgrade their decks (they already did a bit).
Question is if I should go for a older official commander set or singles. How difficult it would be to make a cool budget deck (£50-100) with power level comparable to those new official 2017 with possibility to upgrade to have chance in a local shop?
Glad the format defied your expectations!
You can easily make a deck for $50-100 that will be significantly stronger than the preconstructed decks. Based on how you describe yourself, I think you will find it more enjoyable to do that, as well.
The biggest piece of advice I can give you is to settle on what your goals are in playing Commander. Do you want to play Commander as competitively as you do other formats? Or do you want to use it to take a break from your other pursuits?
I would try to get a feel for what level of play your friends want to play at. Politics can be good at leveling the playing field, but it can only get you so far. It would be easy to build a deck that would consistently win in multiplayer if the expectation of how competitive the game will be is significantly different between players.
In my experience, games of Commander are most fun when everyone at the table agrees on the level of competition they would like to play at. There's no wrong way to play Commander, as long as everyone is enjoying the kind of games you're playing.
As far as going outside your friend group, I don't think there's anything we can do to advise you. Some LGSs have more structure to their Commander play than others, some are large and have many players, some are small and have tight-knit groups with pre-formed expectations. Once you've decided on how you would like to play Commander, I can only advise you to try and find an environment/players with the same goals that you have.
As far as deckbuilding goes, if you're a seasoned Magic player, I don't think I need to direct you. Just about anything, as long as it isn't over-thematic or gimicky, can win in an "average" Commander environment. Edhrec is a great resource if you're looking for ideas or to gauge what the "average" Commander deck would look like. If you want to dedicate yourself to playing Commander more competitively, I would look to the CEDH reddit - you'll get many more like-minded individuals there than here.
New art Mana Drain just looks super generic to me. The original has great art and the judge version is a little more striking. I'll admit it's also generic but I get more of a feeling of stolen mana from it. I wouldn't be upset to open an IMA one but I'd definitely try and turn it into something I wanted more.
Just got a fifth way to make coffee. Still don't own a drip coffeemaker. If I wasn't a full on coffee snob before, I'm well on my way.
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[Pr]Jaya | Estrid | A rotating cast of decks built out of my box.
I too don't like the art either, so my excitement is because I hope the price drops slightly so it makes the OG one cheaper for me to buy a second copy.
I'm excited to buy a gorgeous Channel and put it next to my awesome looking Balance, never to be played again. Hopefully Cryptic will see a slight dip also, since I'd really like to get one.
One of the tricky parts about estimating Mana Drain's price is that they haven't really reprinted a card quite like it. I would argue that it's most similar to Mana Crypt in that the majority of the demand is generated by EDH, but Crypt was also inflated by having an artificially low quantity. Italian Drains should be pretty reasonable after the majority of Iconic is opened.
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EDH playing competitive Magic cast away
Current Decks GTitania midrange RGThromok tokens/goodstuff | UB Grimgrin zombie tribal GW Sigarda enchantress | R Godo voltron U Braids aggro | WR Kalemne punisher RU Mizzix storm | BUG Mimeoplasm competitive reanimator | UG Ezuri infect
I think EMA didn't cause as much of a price drop because FoW has higher demand. Also, at least locally, EMA started popular and got quickly less popular. My shop ended up stuck with over a case of EMA that we only just finished getting rid of.
If anything I feel like Mana Drain is going to drop slightly harder than Mana Crypt. Force isn't a close comparison at all since Legacy basically makes playsets of those in demand. In similar fashion, I think there's a slightly higher demand for multiple Crypts overall within the format simply because its colorless (even if U is likely the second-most popular color behind G in the format).
Also, the alternatives for Crypt tend to be more costly (in terms of either cost, speed and/or tempo) while you could probably get away replacing Drain with Counterspell because people don't usually plan around "comboing off mana gained from Mana Drain" as opposed to "ramping up as fast as possible with no tempo loss with Mana Crypt."
Ultimately it still hinges on the supply (EMA did get a "second run / spaced release" after all) of Iconic Masters though, but I think it's pretty safe to assume Drain is going to have a lower demand than Crypt overall.
Or maybe it could just be me hoping it really drops hard, I need both a nonfoil for my Raymond Swanland collection and a foil for EDH (thank goodness I generally go for the cheapest foils and I don't really have a huge opinion on all the arts of Drain). It helps that (besides the fact I collect Raymond Swanland cards), I think it's going to be fun calling the new Mana Drain Spiky Logic Knot when I cast it.
Mana Crypt is the closest comparison, and quite apt I think. It's artificially scarce and playable in just about nothing.
Legacy and Vintage are two entirely different animals. Force has a lot more demand than Mana Drain.
And Drain is only fringe playable in Vintage anyway. Good countermagic in Vintage costs 0 or U. Drain is nice to power out Time Vault or whatever combo and that's it.
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EDH playing competitive Magic cast away
Current Decks GTitania midrange RGThromok tokens/goodstuff | UB Grimgrin zombie tribal GW Sigarda enchantress | R Godo voltron U Braids aggro | WR Kalemne punisher RU Mizzix storm | BUG Mimeoplasm competitive reanimator | UG Ezuri infect
Three card combos are a little rough to pull off most of the time. I kind of like Stuffy + Curiosity on its own and that drops the card that's not doing much outside of the combo. I'm not a fan of cards that only function as combo pieces and Guilty Conscience is mediocre removal at absolute best.
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[Pr]Jaya | Estrid | A rotating cast of decks built out of my box.
Right. Guilty Conscience on its own is not a card most people would run, though. When I say it's not doing much outside the combo, Stuffy + Conscience is the combo I'm referring to, not the three card one you posted originally. I don't like running cards I wouldn't consider outside of a combo just for the purposes of comboing. It's the same reason I'm not a fan of Mike + Trike in most decks (even aside from the fact that I generally avoid infinite combos).
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[Pr]Jaya | Estrid | A rotating cast of decks built out of my box.
Glad the format defied your expectations!
You can easily make a deck for $50-100 that will be significantly stronger than the preconstructed decks. Based on how you describe yourself, I think you will find it more enjoyable to do that, as well.
The biggest piece of advice I can give you is to settle on what your goals are in playing Commander. Do you want to play Commander as competitively as you do other formats? Or do you want to use it to take a break from your other pursuits?
I would try to get a feel for what level of play your friends want to play at. Politics can be good at leveling the playing field, but it can only get you so far. It would be easy to build a deck that would consistently win in multiplayer if the expectation of how competitive the game will be is significantly different between players.
In my experience, games of Commander are most fun when everyone at the table agrees on the level of competition they would like to play at. There's no wrong way to play Commander, as long as everyone is enjoying the kind of games you're playing.
As far as going outside your friend group, I don't think there's anything we can do to advise you. Some LGSs have more structure to their Commander play than others, some are large and have many players, some are small and have tight-knit groups with pre-formed expectations. Once you've decided on how you would like to play Commander, I can only advise you to try and find an environment/players with the same goals that you have.
As far as deckbuilding goes, if you're a seasoned Magic player, I don't think I need to direct you. Just about anything, as long as it isn't over-thematic or gimicky, can win in an "average" Commander environment. Edhrec is a great resource if you're looking for ideas or to gauge what the "average" Commander deck would look like. If you want to dedicate yourself to playing Commander more competitively, I would look to the CEDH reddit - you'll get many more like-minded individuals there than here.
Draft my Peasant Cube.
Don't forget mana drain with new art.
Misc. EDH Stuff: Commander Cube | Zombies (Horde)
Resources:Commander Rulings FAQ | Commander Deckbuilding Guide
Follow me on Twitter! @cryogen_mtg
Just got a fifth way to make coffee. Still don't own a drip coffeemaker. If I wasn't a full on coffee snob before, I'm well on my way.
I too don't like the art either, so my excitement is because I hope the price drops slightly so it makes the OG one cheaper for me to buy a second copy.
Misc. EDH Stuff: Commander Cube | Zombies (Horde)
Resources:Commander Rulings FAQ | Commander Deckbuilding Guide
Follow me on Twitter! @cryogen_mtg
One of the tricky parts about estimating Mana Drain's price is that they haven't really reprinted a card quite like it. I would argue that it's most similar to Mana Crypt in that the majority of the demand is generated by EDH, but Crypt was also inflated by having an artificially low quantity. Italian Drains should be pretty reasonable after the majority of Iconic is opened.
Current Decks
GTitania midrange
RGThromok tokens/goodstuff | UB Grimgrin zombie tribal
GW Sigarda enchantress | R Godo voltron
U Braids aggro | WR Kalemne punisher
RU Mizzix storm | BUG Mimeoplasm competitive reanimator | UG Ezuri infect
Misc. EDH Stuff: Commander Cube | Zombies (Horde)
Resources:Commander Rulings FAQ | Commander Deckbuilding Guide
Follow me on Twitter! @cryogen_mtg
Modern
Current Decks
GTitania midrange
RGThromok tokens/goodstuff | UB Grimgrin zombie tribal
GW Sigarda enchantress | R Godo voltron
U Braids aggro | WR Kalemne punisher
RU Mizzix storm | BUG Mimeoplasm competitive reanimator | UG Ezuri infect
Also, the alternatives for Crypt tend to be more costly (in terms of either cost, speed and/or tempo) while you could probably get away replacing Drain with Counterspell because people don't usually plan around "comboing off mana gained from Mana Drain" as opposed to "ramping up as fast as possible with no tempo loss with Mana Crypt."
Ultimately it still hinges on the supply (EMA did get a "second run / spaced release" after all) of Iconic Masters though, but I think it's pretty safe to assume Drain is going to have a lower demand than Crypt overall.
Or maybe it could just be me hoping it really drops hard, I need both a nonfoil for my Raymond Swanland collection and a foil for EDH (thank goodness I generally go for the cheapest foils and I don't really have a huge opinion on all the arts of Drain). It helps that (besides the fact I collect Raymond Swanland cards), I think it's going to be fun calling the new Mana Drain Spiky Logic Knot when I cast it.
Misc. EDH Stuff: Commander Cube | Zombies (Horde)
Resources:Commander Rulings FAQ | Commander Deckbuilding Guide
Follow me on Twitter! @cryogen_mtg
Legacy and Vintage are two entirely different animals. Force has a lot more demand than Mana Drain.
Draft my Peasant Cube.
Current Decks
GTitania midrange
RGThromok tokens/goodstuff | UB Grimgrin zombie tribal
GW Sigarda enchantress | R Godo voltron
U Braids aggro | WR Kalemne punisher
RU Mizzix storm | BUG Mimeoplasm competitive reanimator | UG Ezuri infect
Hello.
Misc. EDH Stuff: Commander Cube | Zombies (Horde)
Resources:Commander Rulings FAQ | Commander Deckbuilding Guide
Follow me on Twitter! @cryogen_mtg
anywho Hi donald welcome back