I really want to make a competitive equipment EDH deck, but I don't know what colors to make it, what commander to use, or even if it is possible.
I was thinking either W, UW, or UWB, but idk.
Thanks for reading!
It's not only possible but actually extremely common. All the playable equipment will provide evasion in addition to power and toughness pumping. Legendary creatures with Hexproof, Indestructable, Regenerate, or Flying are generally best suited for play style. Though you can use literally any commander you want.
If you want a competive deck you'll want a commander that can protect itself, 3-4 good equipment, and means to find your equipment - either in the form of tutors or card draw.
I'd actually suggest to avoid Sword of War and Peace as neither of its triggers are relevant. Maybe in modern and legacy, but really sub-par in EDH/Commander.
One that I haven't had the pleasure of testing with is Hero's Blade.
It's pretty good in such decks where you want to equip the commander, because at 2 it's usually going to come down first. Kemba, Narset, Lil Zurgo, Kalemne.
It depends on what you mean by "competitive". There are decks that threaten to win on Turn 5 by casting tutors and ramp on turns 1-4. You are looking at casting a creature, casting an equip, and paying an equip cost instead. Unless the creature played stops combo's, or you have cheap disruption, or you wait until later to play the equip, you're probably not going places. You're definitely not the alpha at that table.
Also, not to be even more of a wet blanket, but Maze of Ith, Kor haven, and Magister's Tower exist. They are lands that basically extract all equipments from your deck, and have you drawing to a Strip Mine or a type of Land Destruction effect that other players will complain about you playing. Equips are overrated.
But, I can't stop putting them into my deck, either. My advice, pick a general with Hexproof. Except Ojutai, more like Uril. Build out that deck to be your go-to. Then build other decks for when you don't mind losing to Expediton Map.
You can make a good edh deck focused around equipment/voltron stuff, but you won't be able to make a top tier equipment deck, it's just not powerful enough to compete with the strongest current top tier strategies.
Kemba and Rafiq play with equipment in two different, effective ways.
Red uses burn to wipe creatures. White uses single-target removal. Life gain and damage are underrated in EDH. War and Peace does not get the credit it deserves.
I don't think you can make a competitive deck and call it an equipment deck. You can make a Shu Yun, Silent Tempest deck with Sunforger and some of the top equipments listed above... but at most you will be playing 10ish equipments?
After 10ish equipments, you start running into the issue of having too many equipments, too many of which are low impact. When you play a format with this many infinite combos, you can't afford to be drawing too many equipments. They are not mana-friendly. and they don't do anything that wins the game on the spot.
If you build around a general with double strike, then you can start to break the swords and jitte to be game-winning...
But you are not building an equipment deck - just a deck that runs powerful equipment.
If you wanted a deck with 25 equipments, I would say it is too many, and not strong enough.
I dont think you can make an equipment deck actually competitive. You will be beaten by infinite combos and you will not be fast enough. My play group plays with 4 different formats. Super competitive (anything goes, infinite combos/mld), pauper, tribal, and then anything goes except for infinite combos and mld (basically very strong mid range decks lol). My Kemba equipment deck does just fine here, I win enough and do not get over ran by other decks. If I was to play this deck where infinite combos are allowed I would get absolutely steam rolled.
It would have to be a combo or quasi-combo using something like scrap master and either vulshok battlemaster or the toll collector guy.
Equipment is hot because you can spread the cost out over multiple turns and it sticks around if creature dies but in general it gobbles up resources with a delayed pay off while opponents can just focus on advancing towards a win.
IMO double strike is the single most important keyword to make equipment have value in EDH since it helps accelerate time to value.
All that said, a more casual deck can leverage equipment and hold its own, just don't expect to become the next tournament barn burner.
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Rafiq of the Many is a crad you may want to run as your general. Ruhan of the Fomori is also possible but his "Random attack" is something you will have to play around.
but Voltron deck are very competitive.
Bant is what you want to play though. Even if you don't play Rafiq, you ar egoing to wnat cards that give exalted. Sublime Archangel is a must have.
I suggest you go with Derevi, Empyrial Tactician as your commander. Doesn't accumulate its cmc. Also has flying as its evasion and blue (counterspells).
Jor-Kadeen or Thrun say yes. Thrun is uncoutnerable and you can back him up with all the Stone-Rain and Creeping Mold variants to keep your opponent land-locked. Jor with a bunch of token backup can get things done pretty quickly, plus you have Armageddon. It really depends on how competitive/cutthroat your group is though.
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Based on my experience with Nahiri top tier is going to be impossible, but you can make a list that holds its own at strong casual tables. Commander damage is a must, as the Nahiri deck would sometimes do hundreds of points to enemy players without killing any of them. Host of Herons is probably your best option since most equipment support is white.
"Competitive" is a very strange word in this format. Will it compete with hermit druid, or tuned Arcum, Zur, or Narset? Maybe not. It might have a hard time reaching those tables. However, it can stand its own against most decks in the format. In my opinion you really need either a cheap general you can cast multiple times like Isamaru, Hound of Konda or you need something with Hexproof. I've been thinking about building an Ojutai voltron deck with some cheap counterspells to break up combos or sweeps, and lots of vigilance equipment to ensure that the dragon cannot be targeted. I think it would be quite good but not competitive on the level of a tuned Mizzix list, for instance.
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Rafiq is one of the best voltrons so you can make that an equipment deck. Friends deck has won countless games and even tournaments. Bad card draw is the only thing that stops that thing... It's horrible.
My girlfriend has an Aurelia equipment deck and it's actually pretty scary. I say this knowing Aurelia isn't even a great choice... But with enough ramp and say, the swords and pro equipment... Pretty scary pretty fast.
In short, it's not only doable, it's pretty strong. It's biggest weakness though is multiplayer. In any multiplayer game, if you got the biggest or most pumped creature, you become target number 1... So note that
You can have an equipment subtheme in competitive decks, but a "tribal equipment"-style deck will not be competitive. If you wanted to play a competitive deck with lots of equipments, I would play a bunch of hatebears with a beater like Rafiq or Teneb as my commander.
It depends on what you mean by "competitive". There are decks that threaten to win on Turn 5 by casting tutors and ramp on turns 1-4. You are looking at casting a creature, casting an equip, and paying an equip cost instead. Unless the creature played stops combo's, or you have cheap disruption, or you wait until later to play the equip, you're probably not going places. You're definitely not the alpha at that table.
Also, not to be even more of a wet blanket, but Maze of Ith, Kor haven, and Magister's Tower exist. They are lands that basically extract all equipments from your deck, and have you drawing to a Strip Mine or a type of Land Destruction effect that other players will complain about you playing. Equips are overrated.
But, I can't stop putting them into my deck, either. My advice, pick a general with Hexproof. Except Ojutai, more like Uril. Build out that deck to be your go-to. Then build other decks for when you don't mind losing to Expediton Map.
I think Jusstice has good points here. Realistically if you are talking fast combo off wins super cut throat competitive, the answer is kind of an answer of no...
If your meta is not doing fast infinite combos and Stasis lock up decks, I think its totally fine but as he said mazes / tower also are totally things. I have taken to running more strip mine effects in decks I plan to play equipment with as its fairly normal for control decks to run 3-4 lands that just completely cut off equipment in my meta. I also think its very important to mention that its better to do a splash of equipment rather than trying to mash a whole bunch of them. I tend to dip into equipment in like 2-5 equipment kind of packages rather than trying to jam 8-15 equipment. There will be times in which equipment will not be the way to make things work so I appreciate a lighter package with more tutor options. It tends to work out better in the long run if you ask me.
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It's what I see serious players running the bulk of in competitive EDH. It's the fastest and most efficient way to knock a person out. Once you play a neckbeard with zur the enchanter as commander and get stomped, then become completely salty about it, you will understand. With that in mind, I immediately started building an equipment only deck with Yidris Maelstrom weilder and cascade to all of my equipment cards, then end a match by about turn 4-5 with commander damage.
I agree with jusstice, it's never going to be top-tier competitive.
I also have found recently that playing with an all-in voltron deck isn't that fun imo. If it works, and you make a big creature that your opponents can't deal with, your opponents are kind of forced to either kill you or just die digging for an answer, neither of which is super interesting imo. And if it doesn't work, you just don't get to do anything.
As an alternative, because I do love equipment as a card type, you could try nahiri, the lithomancer. She plays great with equipment and doesn't create the whole "your opponents are now required to kill you" situation that a voltron deck can. She's also the only mono-white commander I've played that didn't feel underpowered - she plays very effectively with nasty stuff like humility and armageddon - although if you wanted to tone it down a bit, she's still excellent with board wipes in general.
As most people have said, "Competitive" is a broad spectrum and you are unlikely to dominate the table the way a T1 Commander can. I think you can have some very effective lists with heavy equipment, however. I think the Silas Renn, Seeker Adept + Akiri, Line-slinger would be strongest since you get to tutor up some sick Sunforger targets, but you could also look at Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer as a Boros Beatdown deck.
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He's got a fair cost and gives you gas as you play.
As for what everyone says here about equipment in a cutthroat environment: They're both right and wrong about the validity of such a deck. They're right to say that if you're regularly sitting down against a table of hyper-tuned Ghave, Sharuum, Hermit Druid, Zur, etc. decks, you'll be made to eat dirt. On the other hand, 95% of tables I've ever played at were no such thing. More often than not, you'll end up against more intermediate players and/or casuals than a host of the format boogeymen that haunt the imaginations of MTGS users.
I'd say go for it, but realize that the top end of such a deck will probably be less powerful than singleton vintage, but I don't think the majority of the EDH player base is interested in playing top tier competitive decks anyway.
NOTE: I'm not trying to start one of those "Casual vs Competitive, Right or Wrong way to play" debates. I'm simply noting that MTGS users tend to over-represent the viciousness of the average EDH deck because, in using our communal resources and free time to develop our strategies, we demonstrate that we're more devoted to analyzing, studying, and ultimately breaking the nuances of the format than most. The average player is not generally one of us.
Yeah what TheAmericanSpirit is saying is correct. Sram, Senior Edificer has opened up the deckbuilding options. You got Voltron Enchantress, Voltron Equipment and you even got combo decks that utilize him through the use of Equipment/Auras. Even if you aren't going from some combo deck, the value he gives is massive. Lightning Greaves, Sword of War and Peace, Worldslayer, Darksteel Plate? They all now cantrip for no extra investment other than Sram's presence being on the board. Cantripping may not seem like much, but it is rewarding the controller for playing their deck like they normally would have anyway. Whether as commander or ninety-nine, Sram, Senior Edificer will find a home without a doubt.
It depends on what you mean by "competitive". There are decks that threaten to win on Turn 5 by casting tutors and ramp on turns 1-4. You are looking at casting a creature, casting an equip, and paying an equip cost instead. Unless the creature played stops combo's, or you have cheap disruption, or you wait until later to play the equip, you're probably not going places. You're definitely not the alpha at that table.
Also, not to be even more of a wet blanket, but Maze of Ith, Kor haven, and Magister's Tower exist. They are lands that basically extract all equipments from your deck, and have you drawing to a Strip Mine or a type of Land Destruction effect that other players will complain about you playing. Equips are overrated.
But, I can't stop putting them into my deck, either. My advice, pick a general with Hexproof. Except Ojutai, more like Uril. Build out that deck to be your go-to. Then build other decks for when you don't mind losing to Expediton Map.
i can't believe noone has mentioned Eight-and-a-Half-Tails, i had a Isamaru deck made for the lols, for cheap fast commander damage, using equipment, and double strikes (with equips)
it was cute when it did work, but it fell flat to serious strategies and removal
But eight and a half tails fixes all that, Maze of what? Tower of haha, kor haven?? i live in Kor heaven with all my kor's and equips, thank you very much\
protection from removal, check, protection for my equips? check, can become unblockable, for multiple strikes with my equips +triggers, check
drawback is needs mana for multiple activations in a turn, but mono white/edh mana doublers can fix that.
I was thinking either W, UW, or UWB, but idk.
Thanks for reading!
Sword of Fire and Ice, Sword of Feast and Famine, Umezawa's Jitte, Sword of Light and Shadow, and Sword of War and Peace are the best equipments to use. In that general order. There are other useable equipments but those listed pump power by two, provide evasion (or removal in Jitte's case), and utility. Few other equipments can do as much for as little mana to cast and equip.
Relic Seeker, Stoneforge Mystic, Steelshaper's Gift, Open the Armory, and Enlightened Tutor are the best white tutors for equipment. Steelshaper Apprentice, Taj-Nar Swordsmith, and Stonehewer Giant also exist on a budget but are too slow for competitive play. Black has access to omni tutors, blue artifact tutors, and green has creature tutors to find Stoneforge Mystic.
If you want a competive deck you'll want a commander that can protect itself, 3-4 good equipment, and means to find your equipment - either in the form of tutors or card draw.
I'd actually suggest to avoid Sword of War and Peace as neither of its triggers are relevant. Maybe in modern and legacy, but really sub-par in EDH/Commander.
Champion's Helm and O-Naginata are good. One that I haven't had the pleasure of testing with is Hero's Blade.
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Also, not to be even more of a wet blanket, but Maze of Ith, Kor haven, and Magister's Tower exist. They are lands that basically extract all equipments from your deck, and have you drawing to a Strip Mine or a type of Land Destruction effect that other players will complain about you playing. Equips are overrated.
But, I can't stop putting them into my deck, either. My advice, pick a general with Hexproof. Except Ojutai, more like Uril. Build out that deck to be your go-to. Then build other decks for when you don't mind losing to Expediton Map.
Red uses burn to wipe creatures. White uses single-target removal. Life gain and damage are underrated in EDH. War and Peace does not get the credit it deserves.
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After 10ish equipments, you start running into the issue of having too many equipments, too many of which are low impact. When you play a format with this many infinite combos, you can't afford to be drawing too many equipments. They are not mana-friendly. and they don't do anything that wins the game on the spot.
If you build around a general with double strike, then you can start to break the swords and jitte to be game-winning...
But you are not building an equipment deck - just a deck that runs powerful equipment.
If you wanted a deck with 25 equipments, I would say it is too many, and not strong enough.
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Equipment is hot because you can spread the cost out over multiple turns and it sticks around if creature dies but in general it gobbles up resources with a delayed pay off while opponents can just focus on advancing towards a win.
IMO double strike is the single most important keyword to make equipment have value in EDH since it helps accelerate time to value.
All that said, a more casual deck can leverage equipment and hold its own, just don't expect to become the next tournament barn burner.
but Voltron deck are very competitive.
Bant is what you want to play though. Even if you don't play Rafiq, you ar egoing to wnat cards that give exalted. Sublime Archangel is a must have.
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My girlfriend has an Aurelia equipment deck and it's actually pretty scary. I say this knowing Aurelia isn't even a great choice... But with enough ramp and say, the swords and pro equipment... Pretty scary pretty fast.
In short, it's not only doable, it's pretty strong. It's biggest weakness though is multiplayer. In any multiplayer game, if you got the biggest or most pumped creature, you become target number 1... So note that
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I think Jusstice has good points here. Realistically if you are talking fast combo off wins super cut throat competitive, the answer is kind of an answer of no...
If your meta is not doing fast infinite combos and Stasis lock up decks, I think its totally fine but as he said mazes / tower also are totally things. I have taken to running more strip mine effects in decks I plan to play equipment with as its fairly normal for control decks to run 3-4 lands that just completely cut off equipment in my meta. I also think its very important to mention that its better to do a splash of equipment rather than trying to mash a whole bunch of them. I tend to dip into equipment in like 2-5 equipment kind of packages rather than trying to jam 8-15 equipment. There will be times in which equipment will not be the way to make things work so I appreciate a lighter package with more tutor options. It tends to work out better in the long run if you ask me.
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I also have found recently that playing with an all-in voltron deck isn't that fun imo. If it works, and you make a big creature that your opponents can't deal with, your opponents are kind of forced to either kill you or just die digging for an answer, neither of which is super interesting imo. And if it doesn't work, you just don't get to do anything.
As an alternative, because I do love equipment as a card type, you could try nahiri, the lithomancer. She plays great with equipment and doesn't create the whole "your opponents are now required to kill you" situation that a voltron deck can. She's also the only mono-white commander I've played that didn't feel underpowered - she plays very effectively with nasty stuff like humility and armageddon - although if you wanted to tone it down a bit, she's still excellent with board wipes in general.
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He's got a fair cost and gives you gas as you play.
As for what everyone says here about equipment in a cutthroat environment: They're both right and wrong about the validity of such a deck. They're right to say that if you're regularly sitting down against a table of hyper-tuned Ghave, Sharuum, Hermit Druid, Zur, etc. decks, you'll be made to eat dirt. On the other hand, 95% of tables I've ever played at were no such thing. More often than not, you'll end up against more intermediate players and/or casuals than a host of the format boogeymen that haunt the imaginations of MTGS users.
I'd say go for it, but realize that the top end of such a deck will probably be less powerful than singleton vintage, but I don't think the majority of the EDH player base is interested in playing top tier competitive decks anyway.
NOTE: I'm not trying to start one of those "Casual vs Competitive, Right or Wrong way to play" debates. I'm simply noting that MTGS users tend to over-represent the viciousness of the average EDH deck because, in using our communal resources and free time to develop our strategies, we demonstrate that we're more devoted to analyzing, studying, and ultimately breaking the nuances of the format than most. The average player is not generally one of us.
i can't believe noone has mentioned Eight-and-a-Half-Tails, i had a Isamaru deck made for the lols, for cheap fast commander damage, using equipment, and double strikes (with equips)
it was cute when it did work, but it fell flat to serious strategies and removal
But eight and a half tails fixes all that, Maze of what? Tower of haha, kor haven?? i live in Kor heaven with all my kor's and equips, thank you very much\
protection from removal, check, protection for my equips? check, can become unblockable, for multiple strikes with my equips +triggers, check
drawback is needs mana for multiple activations in a turn, but mono white/edh mana doublers can fix that.
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