They say that in Commander, it's easy to make a deck that you keep tweaking for years and slowly improve or tune to fit your meta. For me...yea, not so much. Looking through my various decks, I decided this might be a fun thread to discuss about how long your decks existed, and how they changed. I'll start, going from newest to oldest.
Selvala, Heart of the Wilds - Since May 2017 - The most recent deck, I wanted a newbie-friendly deck. As in, the type a new player can pick up and play, and also doesn't feel about if it does end up stomping their new deck. So I made Hydra tribal after some failed experiments. Ravos, Soultender & Thrasios, Triton Hero - Since April 2017 - Originally a Karador, Ghost Chieftain deck, it underwent a massive change with the release of Amonkhet and became a new deck, using the same skeleton and adding blue to it. General Tazri - Since March 2017 - I have always wanted a competitive deck, and GP Utrecht allowed me to pick up the resources I needed for it. It sees the least amount of play, mostly since competitive is rare at my LGS. Selvala, Explorer Returned - Since August 2016 - Started life as a Chorus of the Conclave deck. Fun, but not really interactive, I switched to Selvala and make a controlling and semi-oppressive Selesnya deck. It's...mean, to say the least. Olivia, Mobilized for War - Since June 2016 - Initially a hilariously bad Knight Tribal deck, it was too bad even for a joke deck. It got retooled into a Dragon deck only a little while later and I haven't looked back since. Jori En, Ruin Diver - Since February 2016 - Prior to the release of Oath of the Gatewatch, I had Melek Spellslinger...that deck was just too frail for my tastes. Then Jori En got released and suddenly nobody liked me anymore at my LGS... Child of Alara - Since September 2015 - I wanted to have a deck that didn't let others play. But I didn't want to spend money on it. So I built Dreamcrusher. It still has an insane winrate. The Lady of the Mountain - Since October 2014 - Surprisingly one of my oldest decks, Lady was a case of "Can I make a vanilla Legends Legend playable." The answer is kinda as it does notch up wins and it does make use of Lady herself from time to time. Prime Speaker Zegana - Since February 2013 - The deck has gone through a lot of mutations and even flirted with other generals, but the core has always been the same. I just keep coming back to her.
Chandra, Torch of Defiance - Oops! All Chandras.
Prime Speaker Zegana - Draw for Power.
Pir & Toothy - Counterpalooza.
Arcades, the Strategist - Another Brick in the Wall.
Zacama, Primal Calamity - Calamity of Double Mana.
Edgar Markov - Vampires Don't Die.
Child of Alara - Dreamcrusher.
Technically I've only been playing Erebos for a couple of months now, but I've been playing some form of mono-black control for two years, which is as long as I've been playing EDH. I don't ever see myself disassembling it completely either because it's my signature deck style.
Beyond that the only other deck I still have assembled at the moment is Daretti, which is around a year old. My other lists usually only last a month or two before I exhaust interest in them.
Jaya Ballard, Task Mage - 6 years, give or take. Third EDH deck I built sometime in 2010 or 2011 and it's existed in some form or another since then.
Everything else - maybe two months? I build and tear apart constantly. It's unusual for a deck to last more than a few weeks. I currently have Yeva, Nature's Herald (3-4 weeks in its current incarnation but is a rebuild of a list from a couple years back), Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa/Tymna the Weaver (about 2 weeks), and Olivia, Mobilized for War (about 3 weeks). My lists are actually sticking around longer than they used to since I have less time to play. I used to rotate everything after a week or two.
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[Pr]Jaya | Estrid | A rotating cast of decks built out of my box.
Kresh the Bloodbraided was the first EDH deck I made and is about 6 years old. In that time only 17 non land main board cards have stayed the same not including Kresh. Its my favorite by far and im still smiling from playing it a few hours ago.
Rafiq of the Many Ive had for 2 or 3 years and I'm considering taking it apart. It is fun every once in a while but isnt something I seriously enjoy any more. Intet, the Dreamer Ive had for about the same time and needs some work. Ive not added any new cards to these two for at least a year.
Finally put together 4 decks this month but have torn apart two already. Going to have to wait and see if the other survive.
My oldest deck is Thada Adel, Acquisitor, built sometime between the release of Scars of Mirrodin and Mirrodin Beseiged. I'm not sure exactly when, but it was my second ever EDH deck after my Vorosh, the Hunter infect/proliferate deck built just after Scars' release and before the last Magic Player Rewards mailing ever, where I got an oversized Glissa, the Traitor that inspired my third deck.
The rest of my decks have survived, although obviously getting a few changes here and there as new cards are released. My current stable of decks sits at 28, with 48% of number 29 sitting on my coffee table and another 31 cards in the mail right now.
Daxos of Meletis- Sept. 2013, my first EDH deck. Was getting into EDH right as Theros came out so I picked a legendary creature from that set and went from there. A hybrid pillowfort-control-voltron deck. I think there are a total of about 15 cards that survive from it's original build. Skullbriar, the Walking Grave- Nov. 2013, in it's fourth version(+1/+1's, combat tricks, zombie tribal, back to +1/+1's). Animar, Soul of Elements- Apr. 2014, pretty much everyone in my playgroup had one so I figured why not. Every eight months or so I change the focus of the deck (bounce, control, artifact creatures, etc.) just to give it a different look. At one point it was actually a Sliver deck. Sidisi, Brood Tyrant- Sept. 2014, Missed spoilers due to 85+ hour work weeks but the second I pulled this in the pre-release I was in love. Basically Zombie tribal has always been it's build. Saskia the Unyielding- Dec. 2014, was Karador, Ghost Chieftan for a Shadowborn Apostles build that I kept debating switching to Kresh for access to RB demons but I didn't because there were three other Kresh decks in my playgroup and multiple others at the LGS. Saskia came out and gave me a decent four color commander option though I'm still debating maybe going the partner route if I can decide which partners. Sliver Overlord- Feb. 2015, wanted to build a five color deck so I chose him and it's still together though rarely played. Purphoros, God of the Forge- Feb. 2016, was created for a $30 budget challenge tournament and finished 2nd, enjoyed playing it so I put a little $$$ into it and still have it though I don't often play it.
Have had several other decks in between and since but I lose interest in them or people don't enjoy playing against them (Kaalia MLD for instance) and end up moving on to something else. This month (June) alone I've put together three different decks and torn them apart. A deck really has to hit the right spot for me to keep it around I guess.
Daxos of MeletisHave had several other decks in between and since but I lose interest in them or people don't enjoy playing against them (Kaalia MLD for instance) and end up moving on to something else. This month (June) alone I've put together three different decks and torn them apart. A deck really has to hit the right spot for me to keep it around I guess.
I used to be (maybe still am?) the same way. I have been looking through my old deck lists to determine what decks I have the longest and I found that I have built 39 decks over the years (maybe a couple more I didn't record the deck lists for). This may not seem like a lot (I have been playing EDH actively for about 4 years) but it shows that I would go through decks quite often as I could never really find decks I liked or fit my playstyle. My only constant deck was Karador, Ghost Chieftain since it was my first ever deck and the rest were just ones where I was trying different builds or trying to find my groove as a deck builder.
Anyway, about 10-12 months ago my oldest deck was Karador. Since it was my first deck, I always had a place for it and always kept it up to date. However, when the 4 color commander decks came out, I decided I wanted to try a different build. After a few months, I decided to tweak it further into a 4 color deck which added Red. It was led by Bruse Tarl and Ikra Shidiqi (my deck list is still in the forums). It was fun, but the 4 color aspect got old really quickly. The deck just didn't seem to have a focus anymore and it felt like it was all over the place. Since I had built a number of decks by this point, I just decided to retire it. Maybe some day it will see the light of day again.
As to the question at hand, here is what I can think of. Note that I don't remember the exact dates I built these so I just ordered them chronologically, but I didn't provide the years I built them (I tried to give approximate time frames):
Narset, Enlightened Master - I built this deck almost 3 years ago (when she was first printed) to have a deck that allows me to play in ultra-competitive metas. I have played 2HG EDH with my cousin (he piloted Zur the Enchanter) and we won or got close to winning a couple. It was never very fun though so we stopped playing. Those matches did let me tune the deck further and I am slowly tweaking it as I see fit, but I don't like the "instant-win" nature of the deck so I rarely play it.
Karametra, God of Harvests - This has been around for almost 2 years. I wanted a deck that let me just go big and it was a change to my current (as of then) deck of Karador in that it was just ramp out big threats. It was a lot more fun than I expected it to be and it has obtained a permanent spot in my deck rotation.
Thassa, God of the Sea - I built this to give me a Mono-Blue deck. I had avoided blue in general when I first started since it requires a more in depth knowledge of the format/meta to know what to respond to and when. I eventually decided I wanted to build one and settled on Venser. However, my cousin had Venser and I wanted something different. Thassa seemed to fit the bill of a non-standard mono blue control deck and so far I have been impressed by the deck and by the decision to have her at the helm.
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight - I built this for an EDH League that centered around Valentine's Day about 1.5 years ago so Red/White were the colors of choice. I built it just for the League and when the season was over, I expected to dismantled it. However, I enjoyed the deck and have been tweaking and tuning it ever since.
Garza Zol, Plague Queen - I wanted a deck that could be lower on the power scale to let me play something in an unknown meta without blowing people out of the water. I felt that if I lost in a fast meta it was much better than to win on turn 8 in an underpowered meta and this deck was meant to allow for a "litmus" test of sorts and it ended up being a fun deck. I chose Vampires as I was looking at Grixis Zombies or Vampires and my cousin had Zombies. (man, I am just realizing how many of my deck choices were made to just be different than him )
The Gitrog Monster - I had this deck built literally the day after it was spoiled (so around the end of March last year) and I have slowly gotten it to be in a place where I find it hard to find cards to cut for new cards. For example, I still have no idea what I am going to cut for Ramunap Excavator. The deck is fun to pilot and has a lot of interesting lines, but the turns can drag on. I also don't run any infinite combos (so no Dakmor Salvage). Some people have said they enjoy watching the deck go off to see what actually wins the game (often it is Ob Nixilis, the Fallen followed by Splendid Reclamation).
Ephara, God of the Polis - This was built a short while ago to give me another Blue/White deck. I used to have Rasputin Dreamweaver deck built but it never felt right. Looking back on it, I am surprised on some of the card choices. This deck is a blink deck for the card advantage and I really didn't want Brago at the helm (though he is in the deck). So far I have enjoyed it and expect it to be around for a while.
Darien, King of Kjeldor - I wanted to revisit the idea of a Mono White deck after I dismantled Kemba, Kha Regent. I didn't like the Voltron style of deck she promotes so I decided something unusual and Darien fit the bill. The deck is all about self-damage to get as many tokens as possible and the gain a bunch of life to stay alive. I don't have any anthem effects other than Cathars' Crusade so it is all about swarming as much as possible and doing what I can to get damage through. It has been fun, but I fully expect this deck to be dismantled in the next year. It just doesn't seem to have the staying power of my other other decks.
Alesha, Who Smiles at Death - This was built around 8-9 months ago. I don't really know what led me to build this deck. I think I wanted a Mardu deck and Alesha just seemed to fit my playstyle while offering a unique restriction to work around. After I built it, I fell in love with the deck. It was the first deck I fully foiled out and it is often the first deck I pull out at EDH nights. I don't expect this deck to ever be retired.
Prime-Speaker Zeganna - I built this deck for an extremely specific purpose - to combat Superfriends decks. I put it together about 8 months ago. I have a bunch of counter target activated abilities, counter target triggered abilities, counter spells and bounce and then a few things (like Craterhoof Behemoth) to give me an end game. I actually don't like the deck that much as it is meant to be extremely reactive. I only play it when I know someone is playing Superfriends. It is another deck that probably won't survive another round of "deck minimization".
Sidisi, Brood Tyrant - I built this about 6 months ago. This is the deck that is basically keeping me from reconstructing Karador. This is the deck I wanted Karador to be and never quite got there. The self mill plan to crank out Zombies and the Recursion elements make for an extremely potent deck. Followed by Twister effects, Eldrazi and Gaea's Blessing to shuffle my graveyard back, counterspells and mass bounce, and the deck performs ridiculously well. This and Alesha are in contention for my favorite deck and this deck I can see never not being assembled.
Yasova Dragonclaw - This is the first deck I had built in a long time as I just built it less than a month ago. I wanted to explore Temur colors and Yasova looked interesting. I built it around her ability so it is filled with Threaten and creature stealing effects. It is meant to win with my opponents' creatures. It is extremely fun to play, but it is another one that I feel will eventually be disassembled once the novelty has worn off.
EDIT: My post went quite long, so I wrapped each deck explanation/summary in spoiler tags.
Marath, Will of the Wild: I built this when C13 came out (November 2013), and have had it since. It is up there for being on of the only decks to stick it out through the years.
Lovisa Coldeyes: The second deck I built once I'd picked up EDH. I probably built this back in like April 2013. It's had a loooot of changes, but she's always been there.
Rashmi, Eternities Crafter: This one's only been around since January 2017. I built it more as an exercise in something I don't often play, rather than for enjoyment.
Other than decks I consider 'staples' like Marath, Lovisa, and now Saskia, I can be pretty fickle about building and breaking down decks so not many on my roster have a long history.
Xenagos, God of Revels hydra deck is oldest at about 17 months. Not a single card has changed. It is tuned perfectly for my meta. Plus, it's hydras.
Jenara, Asura of War is about 14 months old. Angels, humans, gods, and auras...what's not to love? Still haven't won, but it's fun. Recently added some more mana sources and hard answers. Hoping for better performance next time after about a 10% tweak.
Prime Speaker Zegana has only been together for about three months, a re-design from Damia, Sage of Stone. The gorgon mafia/Simic deck was just awful. Moving to only Simic and re-designing for more hard answers to counter voltron decks became a really nice move. Love the deck, now, but had to churn over 40% of the deck to get there.
I made Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord the day that the Izzet vs Golgari duel deck came out, since that guaranteed me a Jarad, and it was out before the actual set released. That was the first deck I built myself, out of many many many decks that now sit in my boxes.
Since I extensively planned out the color divisions among my decks around 2 years ago, on the technicality of "didn't completely disassemble" the deck existence, all 8 of my decks existed since 2015 (can't remember which month already, but I think it was the last quarter of the year), although certain Commanders/themes preceded them by some time. Considering they've survived until now (with some decent play times) and my prior records of disassembling-reassembling, they look set to continue being around for some time at the very least.
But if I try to retrace the root sources of my decks (considering the current 8 are a combination/variation of them in some way)... on that technicality instead...
Animar is definitely my oldest deck. I heard of EDH the year prior to the first precons but the idea of deckbuilding then was quite daunting to me so I waited until the precons came out and picked out Animar with much precision because the card screamed the battlecruiser games I wanted so badly in EDH (of course, considering how fast I modified the deck afterwards, that dauntless task of deckbuilding almost immediately disappeared once I actually got in the format). Every iteration of my EDH revamps, Animar was always there, even if I disassemble the deck I would literally reassemble it again so in the later stages I would simply start planning assuming Animar was already hogging those spots. So yeah, oldest deck from 2011 I suppose.
Grimgrin specifically on that technicality could be considered the second-oldest deck. After I got into the format, I wanted to build Zombie tribal with Thraximundar (I wanted Grixis because the M13 Bolas symbol sleeves were great). The tribal aspect was pretty bland so it felt too much like goodstuff (which makes it feel too much like Animar, which was my quota for goodstuff) so I tried to concentrate it with a sacrifice & theft theme and then the Commander changed to Lord of Tresserhorn. The threaten effects didn't feel great on their own plus eventual color constrains convinced me to just drop Red altogether and I ended up with Grimgrin instead. At least I kept the consistency of a somewhat partial zombie-tribal theme with a Zombie General intact. Considering M13's release date, I think it was around 2012.
Karador is probably third oldest. Part of my "Goodstuff" Thraximundar era was reanimation (because it fit zombies in a flavor term) but it fell off quickly because of lack of space. I wanted to give the archetype a deck of its own (I had the Graveborn deck) so I got the Ghave precon, but for Teneb and Karador specifically (it's silly in hindsight especially when I eventually went out for the Judge foil, but I guess we all made purchase mistakes some point of time in our MTG-era). Teneb led the deck initially, but Karador took over some point. It also absorbed the Legendary Subtheme I once tried to force on Animar to give it a theme (but it still ended being goodstuff) but since it has Sisay in it, it was a whole lot more successful in retaining it. I can't remember when I bought the Ghave precon, but it was either in 2013 or 2014.
Alesha was a Zurgo-Equipment Voltron deck when KTK came out, but I got bored of the Voltron strategy, so Alesha took over (the equipment theme I still try to sustain) when FRF came out, so depending on whether you wanted to count the Zurgo-Voltron era, it either was late 2014 or early 2015 and 4th oldest.
Isperia... when KTK came out I tried Narset pillowfort superfriends. Like Zurgo I didn't like it too much (plus Narset was earning her reputation for other less fun stuff), so I disassembled it and tried to put the pillowfort into Alesha. It didn't last long since the lack of blue annoyed me, so I started planning around WU. Ephara was the General for a brief period of time until I realized I should just use Isperia and try to squeeze superfriends in there as well. Technically tied with Alesha for origins, but since it transited well less smoothly, I'll say it's slightly younger than Alesha.
The remaining 3 decks were mostly results from the 8-deck suite planning, so they're more or less equally young.
Ryusei adopted a tiny bit of punisher mechanics from a terrible "everything you do punishes you" Kresh deck I built (and disassembled) way back in 2013, but is way too aligned to burn (and making the Commander work) to be considered a true successor like the other decks above.
Freyalise creature card-less was a completely original concept from the 2015 "final" revamp (well you probably noticed my monocolored decks were sort of "forced" out), but it's still such a fun idea despite being the weakest of all my decks.
Horde, bluntly speaking, wasn't part of the plan (I mean it is 5 colors, so it doesn't actually contribute to any balance) and I initially planned 7 decks. But I always wanted a land-based deck (I even got the Judge foil Crucible of Worlds way before knowing it will eventually belong somewhere) but couldn't find exactly where to put the plan in. Animar was hogging the color spots and kicking out themes with BATTLECRUISER GOODSTUFF (although I managed to wiggle Morph in there), so Titania was just chilling with Crucible. The idea of my lands-deck being mono-G didn't appeal to me too much (creature card-less sounded way more fun). Then BFZ hit the scene with Omnath and the remaining manlands. Omnath would be kicked out by Animar for sure, but I realized Titania, Omnath and (redundant mechanic-wise, but still) the manlands were all Elementals and well, they happen to have a decent 5-colored tribal Commander. So while it did technically form from pieces fallen from all other decks, the 7-8 planning were relatively close together in planning and the decks were still built together so it's tied for youngest rather than being the youngest deck I have.
Wow... trying to recall the history of all my decks ended with a grandfather story. I need to remember this thread if I ever post threads about my decks so I can instantly view a somewhat accurate-summary of the deck's history.
My Bladewing the Risen deck has been around for quite some time. I do not recall exactly when I built it but it must have been late 2011 or early 2012. That is when I converted it from a 60 card reanimator to a commander deck. I've stopped using it several times for various reasons and even stripped it of cards for other decks, but I've never once taken in fully apart. It is the deck I typically play when I play with a new group because I feel it is my most "friendly" deck. It doesn't have any hard to understand rules interactions in it, no foreign cards etc... while still being reasonably strong.
zurgo helmsmasher voltron: since 2015... it used to be a tariel reckoner of soul, with a theme of angels and reanimation, but i got bored of it pretty quickly... only thing that didnt bored me was the whole mass removal thing and the colors... so i knew i wanted a mardu voltron commander. To this day is my most expensive deck: almost full foil and almost full masterpieces
marchesa, the black rose: since 2014... i always have been dabbling on grixis since the color combination came to be known as such. when i got into commander back at 2012 the first idea was to have a grixis commander with sinergy, but the options where pretty limited: sedris and traximundar where too expensive and didnt really apeal to me. after conspiracy got out, i build marchesa, played it and never looked back. It has had various reworks each yeah and right now is my go-to 1v1 competitive deck.
lazav, dimir mastermind: since last year... hes pretty much an excuse to both play dimir and to mill agressively
I've been playing some form of my reaper king in multiplayer since he was printed in 2008. Currently thats this EDH deck. Though I will admit I ran Kaalia first before him, I took that deck apart pretty quickly because people hate her.
I started playing Commander in November of 2015. I've gone through...quite a few decks, since then.
Here's my current line-up:
Sliver Overlord - Sliverbox. It's brutal, it's efficient, and it was my first deck. I plan to always hold on to this one. At first, I used the Haven lands and the tri-lands, but because Sliver Overlord has a massive target on its heads, I decided I needed to be faster. Now, I run every OG dual, fetch, and shock, and this is the only deck of mine that I'm putting that level of power in. The rest simply don't need it; this is my competitive deck. My love for Slivers began when I discovered their existence in Time Spiral, and they very quickly became my favorite creature type. More about that in the Bolas section.
Sygg, River Cutthroat - Dimir Hugs. Started off with Mirko Vosk at the helm, but Sygg was less threatening and more on-theme, so I decided to roll with him, instead. I made this deck sometime in early 2016 and have been tweaking it since then. This was the third or fourth deck I built. It used to have a noticeable amount more mill than it does, now, and as such, it's a much friendlier deck. (At least, until I cast Omniscience.)
Glissa the Traitor - One of my favorite Legends! Glissa was actually the second deck I built, sometime between Slivers and Sygg, and she's currently in limbo, as I've completely changed her structure at least 3 different times. Currently, I'm working towards something Myr-themed, but I may just break down and go with Golgari Goodstuff if I find that the Myr build isn't to my liking. Originally, it was a GB sac control deck (with stuff like Birthing Pod + Grave Pact), as well as a Deathtouch tribal theme that complemented the sacrifice theme. Afterwards, it was Voltron, which was underwhelming when my opponent could keep powering out answers to Glissa and I couldn't keep attacking/casting her and adding protection to her. I also tried to go for a "Fight" theme with a little bit of artifact goodstuff, but that didn't work, either. So, we'll see how this fares when I finish it up.
Animar, Soul of Elements - Animar was a deck I started working on around August of 2016. I was disappointed to have missed out on the original Zendikar block (as I quit around Lorwyn block and picked it back up around BFZ), as Eldrazi seemed super powerful and I love the idea of Eldritch monstrosities devouring existence. Since they're my second-favorite creature type, I decided to dedicate a Commander deck to them, and Animar seemed to be the way to go. I threw in every card in the colors that draws me cards when my creatures are cast/EtB and decided to try to make it somewhat combo-oriented with stuff like Cloudstone Curio and the draw engines + colorless Eldrazi. Initially, it started off with a lot more cost-reduction stuff (such as Semblance Anvil) but then I realized I would rather be casting creatures, instead, and tightened up the list as time went on. The most recent addition was Vizier of the Menagerie, but I don't think I can make any more changes to the list for efficiency and consistency without going dramatically off-theme.
Thada Adel, Acquisitor - Hahahaha, the original iteration of this deck was a nightmarish control deck that was built only to prevent other people from playing the game. I built it, and in the one test game I played, I had out Unwinding Clock, Arcane Laboratory, and Isochron Scepter with Counterspell imprinted on it. Someone tried to deal with it by casting Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, I responded with Summary Dismissal, and three people scooped. I beat the fourth by attacking him with Consecrated Sphinx until he died. After that, I decided, "Well, I really like Thada, and I really like taking people's Sol Rings, so...I'll turn Thada into Artifact Goodstuff!" In honor of the original build, and to help control the pace of the game while I develop a board presence, I still run most of the best counterspells in the game in the deck (including Mana Drain and Force of Will), but the deck mostly durdles until I either draw a win condition such as Blightsteel Colossus or I combo out with Vedalken Archmage, Riddlesmith, and Paradox Engine to generate a bazillion mana with my 80 Sol Ring copies to Blue Sun everyone for 100. It's a fun deck. I think I finally completed Thada in May/June of 2017.
Nicol Bolas - I started playing Magic during the original Ravnica block. After that, Coldsnap was a thing, and then came the beauty of Time Spiral. See, Time Spiral is what started my love of Slivers...but it also helped me discover one of my favorite Legends: Nicol Bolas. I was drafting with my sibling when it was pointed out that Bolas was an old card from back in the days, and the timeshifted rarity was also pointed out. I took him as my pick and held on to a few copies through the years, even managing to keep it when most of my Magic collection was stolen at a pre-release event. After re-entering the fray, I discovered that Bolas had become a centerpiece of the Magic storyline, and that he had a version of him released with art that didn't suck. Naturally, I had to build him. My original idea for the deck was "Grixis Goodstuff", but that seemed lame and unoriginal. I gave it more thought, and finally, I found Cruel Ultimatum. I thought, "Well, that's a great card in 1-on-1, but it's a little expensive mana-wise, and how am I going to kill someone with this, anyway?" Then, I remembered that copy spells are a thing. Okay, but that's still a little ambitious. So what? Then, I remembered Mizzix's Mastery was a thing. The deck still felt like it was missing something. I kept searching for cards, and I finally found what I was looking for: Enter the Infinite, Traumatize, and Tunnel Vision. These cards would allow me to easily chuck Cruel Ultimatum and a bunch of copy spells into the grave and go nuts with Mizzix's Mastery. I'm still building this deck, and I'm uncertain as to whether or not I want to play spell retrieval creatures or pillowfort stuff, but time and testing will tell!
So, including the decks I built multiple times, retooled for a new Commander, or scrapped and changed the theme of entirely, that's 44 decks over the span of...20 months.
I think I just figured out why I'm broke all the time.
2011: Best Mafia Performance (Individual) - Best Newcomer
2012: Best (False?) Role Claim - Worst Town Performance (Group) - Best Mafia Performance (Group) - Best SK Performance - Best Overall Player
2013: Best Non-SK Neutral Performance
2014: Best Town Performance (Individual) - Best Town Performance (Group) - Most Interesting Role - Best Game - Best Overall Player
2015: Worst Mafia Performance (Group) - Best Read
2016: Best Town Performance (Group) - Best Town Player - Best Overall Player
Ufh this question could give me a headache if I tried to figure out the most accurate response.
Most of my older decks (the ones I keep in storage / "retired"), have been around for years. My very first commander deck was Jeska, Warrior Adept, which also ran Jaya Ballard, Task Mage as a swap-out. IIRC I started around the Shards block, because shortly after I made this, Rakka Mar was released and I plugged her in the deck as a 3rd swap-out general. The additon of her although made the deck pretty weak and I eventually split the deck into two separate decks, making a more voltron-style Jeska, Warrior Adept deck, and a more artifact/spell based Latulla, Keldon Overseer deck, both which I still maintain.
I know parts of Lorywn were still legal when this started, because I was infatuated with a buddies pack-foil Vendilion Clique he kept in a top-loader. I wanted it for my standard deck at the time, and never bothered to ask why he kept it in a top-loader, eventually learning that it was his commander and about this format.
Many of the original commander decks I've built back then I've revisited numerous times. Ramses Overdark was my first commander with islands, and I've revistited him easily 6x times. But per decks that have always been built, that I still have, would be the Jeska, Latulla, and a Bladewing the Risen build (all current decklists linked in signature).
Around 2011 when the first commander pre-cons starting coming out is when I really delved in to the format. At that time I had 4(ish) decks, but with the growing popularity, I started to keep a more extensive library. Around this time I fell in love with Akroma, Angel of Fury and Wydwen, the Biting Gale, and I started moving away from "fun-cards-I-like" to actually building and designing decks with a purpose (i.e. a control draw+go deck, and an actually stream-lined Akroma deck with ramp).
The only other general that really stands out to me is Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge. When she was spoiled I started brewing a time warp based deck, and jumped on her as soon as she was released. I had a functional semi-tuned deck with her the day she was released.
Some of the other decks that I keep in storage ("retired") have been around for a few years, but nothing stands out as these others have.
The other decks in my signature are more current, with only two of them being less than a year old (Jhoira, which I've re-built/revisited a few times over the past 2ish years, and Vela, which I've re-built/revisited a few times over the past 5 years, essentially built the deck after I saw what she did when planechase 2012 was released).
Now I do keep and run the same commander, but the decks are all wildly different. For example Gwendlyn Di Corci was my first grixis commander, and I've ran her in a bunch of different decks, from clones, tribal djinns, good-stuff, 1v1 control, reanimator, and so on. The first time I picked up a copy of Gwendlyn was for EDH, and that was before the 2011 commander release. It was just a generic what's-in-my-binder deck. I recall it having a bunch of zendikar cards in it since I purchased a box of that upon release. I was excited to run lorthos, the tidemaker, ob nixilis, the fallen, and the pack-foil Chandra Ablaze I had opened. So first grixis deck was around 2009ish.
If one wanted specific dates for some decks I don't actively maintain, I guess they could go to my youtube channel and rip the publication dates off some videos. May need to add a month or two to each video, since I don't typically publish something until it's had some playtesting.
My Ghave deck is my longest, as I have had it pretty much since the precon came out in 2011. My Ephara deck is my second, as it was a Venser the Sojourner deck before that. (My friends and I played a 60 card walker as commander format.) That has slowly become more of a uw control deck. Those are the only two decks I had for quite a while. I dont think I built my third until probably two or three years ago when I built Nekusar and Shu Yun. I have built a few others since, but they rarely get taken out and are more for borrowing. I am currently building Sidisi, as I wanted a mill deck in my rotation.
Once I build a deck, I tend to keep it together as I have a story I like to tell with all my decks. (Ghave is a bunch of cultists bringing to life evil plant monsters, Ephara is a future dystopia, Nekusar is a lvl 20, 9th level evil chaotic wizard, Shu Yun is Goku etc etc.) If a deck isnt working or isnt fun (like Shu Yun), I usually just go for theme and make it more of a "how much theme can I pack into this" deck.
Are mine the oldest decks right now? I thought there would be more old-timers! Anyway, I built a handful of decks in my initial wave of Commander hype around Time Spiral block in 2007, with a second wave from the Commander decks in 2011. I've built a few more and dismantled plenty of decks since then, but almost all my original decks survived. This is also not counting a handful of decks I had to put into storage when I moved countries.
Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder - Ten years old (!) - built in 2007, a year after Time Spiral. My first EDH deck.
Zur the Enchanter - Ten years old. Built when Zur was the boogeyman of Commander.
Marath, Will of the Wild - Ten years old. Originally helmed by Rith, the Awakener, switched in 2013. The Invasion and Planar Chaos dragons were the original leaders of my tricolor decks and, I suspect, many other players' decks as well.
Karn, Silver Golem - Seven years old. Built in 2010 as a mono-brown deck when mono-brown decks were still hard to build. Became a Kozilek, Butcher of Truth deck two years ago.
Started playing commander in summer of 2013 with a Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer deck, which lasted 2 months and about 4 games before I realized the struggles of RW. It had a Mirrodin/leonin/equipment theme, but felt too unfocused and never felt great. Plus, utilizing a few ideas online to get my first deck started always felt off.
Then came my true commander love in Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief, who I'd been playing in a kitchen table golgari ramp and scavenge deck. Kept the ramp and went mono-black, and by Halloween 2013 I had a deck that initially was themes as "would this card make sense at a horror theme park?" If yes, it stayed in. Then the deck became vampire tribal, then mono black ramp, then suicide black, then ramp and hand attack, and has finally settled as vampire tribal with ramp for a few finishers like Sheoldred, the Whispering One, Rise of the Dark Realms and Army of the Damned. Cut the curve down for consistency and added some unconventional black cards and love it more than ever. All throughout the decks history, Drana stayed atop and has always been my #1 girl.
Alesha is always half-built, but is currently unbuilt, and was my next oldest. Sigarda is a year old, Avacyn and Xenagos the same. But Drana is untouchable and my go-to, so I guess my first built from scratch me deck has been around in some form for 4 years now. Everything else is a rotation of 2nd in-line.
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Vorthos-player with way too much time on his hands and a love of thematic decks.
EDH - Yes, Each One is Named After a Song. I love tying music to my decks.
My Ghave deck is my longest, as I have had it pretty much since the precon came out in 2011. My Ephara deck is my second, as it was a Venser the Sojourner deck before that. (My friends and I played a 60 card walker as commander format.) That has slowly become more of a uw control deck. Those are the only two decks I had for quite a while. I dont think I built my third until probably two or three years ago when I built Nekusar and Shu Yun. I have built a few others since, but they rarely get taken out and are more for borrowing. I am currently building Sidisi, as I wanted a mill deck in my rotation.
Once I build a deck, I tend to keep it together as I have a story I like to tell with all my decks. (Ghave is a bunch of cultists bringing to life evil plant monsters, Ephara is a future dystopia, Nekusar is a lvl 20, 9th level evil chaotic wizard, Shu Yun is Goku etc etc.) If a deck isnt working or isnt fun (like Shu Yun), I usually just go for theme and make it more of a "how much theme can I pack into this" deck.
My Ghave deck is my longest, as I have had it pretty much since the precon came out in 2011. My Ephara deck is my second, as it was a Venser the Sojourner deck before that. (My friends and I played a 60 card walker as commander format.) That has slowly become more of a uw control deck. Those are the only two decks I had for quite a while. I dont think I built my third until probably two or three years ago when I built Nekusar and Shu Yun. I have built a few others since, but they rarely get taken out and are more for borrowing. I am currently building Sidisi, as I wanted a mill deck in my rotation.
Once I build a deck, I tend to keep it together as I have a story I like to tell with all my decks. (Ghave is a bunch of cultists bringing to life evil plant monsters, Ephara is a future dystopia, Nekusar is a lvl 20, 9th level evil chaotic wizard, Shu Yun is Goku etc etc.) If a deck isnt working or isnt fun (like Shu Yun), I usually just go for theme and make it more of a "how much theme can I pack into this" deck.
I love these kinds of stories and themes. Makes decks that you've seen the general dozens of times before interesting again. And personal stories are always fun to start conversations with in the games.
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Vorthos-player with way too much time on his hands and a love of thematic decks.
EDH - Yes, Each One is Named After a Song. I love tying music to my decks.
I used to play kitchen table 60-card casual for years before slowly switching to Commander over time, so a lot of this is hunches and guesstimates.
Started to build commander around 2011 (I think). My only actual clue is that my first commander was Intet, the Dreamer, probably with the fist Commander set printing. I have also had a devour-themed deck from pretty much the beginning, being helmed by various commanders (at least Kresh the Bloodbraided and Rith the Awakener come to mind) before settling to Thromok the Insatiable it has now been for several years.
I started to slowly convert my various 60-card decks (twenty-something of them) into EDH as I got ideas on how. Sometime soon after, I also decided I'd do a deck based around each of the Invasion/Planar Chaos dragons (around summer/autumn 2012 I think). Of those decks, none survive in original form but most of their ideas are still around in one shape or another. To wit: Crosis, the Purger: Discard control. Switched to Gwendlyn di Corci when my wife gifted me that, then some years later gave the deck to her to develop; my discard deck turned black-white with Athreos, God of Passage at the helm. Darigaaz, the Igniter: ramp like nuts, make everyone draw, blow up lands and creatures on repeated basis with Wildfire effects, leaving myself on top to kill people with Sudden Impact variants, copied as possible. Took it apart after a few years when I realized it was pretty horrid to play against, have not build anything similar since. Dromar, the Banisher: self-mill Leviathans and Krakens to my graveyard, then Living End them for the win. Still exists in some fractional sense in Wrexial, the Risen Deep, although Wrexial is more focused on milling opponents (just benefits from milling myself too). Intet, the Dreamer: cheat big creatures from my deck to play, in everywhich way possible. The deck that survived the longest (took it apart near last xmas), and the only one of these I might yet rebuild. Numot, the Devastator: Voltron, switched at times with Ruhan of the Fomori. Don't really have a "pure", singular-focused voltron deck anymore, although have since this first go built more than my share. Oros, the Avenger: ...I honestly don't remember what was the theme of this particular deck. My Mardu deck has been Tariel, Reckoner of Souls for quite a long time, as it's idea is probably one of my most unique and convoluted. Rith, the Awakener: Devour and tokens and anthems, nothing subtle about it. Chunk of it still exists in Thromok the Insatiable, as noted. Teneb, the Harvester: On-and-off existing graveyard reanimator/toolbox, switching places with Karador, the Ghost Chieftain depending on the deck's current direction. Graveyard shenanigans turned into a couple different 4-color decks when we got those; my current Abzan deck is Anafenza, the Foremost heroic/enchantress. Treva, the Renewer: along with Teneb and Intet, probably the longest-surviving one; took it apart couple years back. Pillowfort enchantress, whose themes then split into several decks (notably Zedruu pillowfort/voltron, and Anafenza enchantress aggro). Vorosh, the Hunter: "creature spam"; at some point I realized black had almost nothing to give to theme, that I wanted to build another Sultai general (Damia), and that Momir Vig actually gave something to the idea. 'Course, later I realized Momir Vig itself was a bore to play, but creature spam lives well in Zegana.
Other than those, my decks are anywhere between 2011 and now. I don't track making dates (or even years), and I remake/rehash/rearrange decks enough that it would be really constant tracking anyway.
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X Hope of Ghirapur Swordpile W Ghosty Blinky Anafenza U Nezahal- Big, Blue and HERE! B Gonti Can Afford It R Etali, Primal 'Whatjusthappened?' G Polukranos Wants More Mana WU The Exalted Vizier Temmet WB Home, Athreos WR Basandra, Recursive Aggression WG Karametra, Momma of Lands UB Wrexial Eats Your Brains UR Arjun, the Mad Flame UG The Fable of Prime Speaker BR Hellbent, Malfegor Style BG Jarad, Death is Served RG Running Thromok WUB Varina and ALL the Zombies WUBYennett, the Odd Pain-Train WUR Zedruu the Furyhearted WUG Arcades' Strategy, Shmategy, Sausage and Spam WBR A Case of Mathas' Persistent F*ckery WBRLicia's League of Legendary Lifegain Layabouts WBG The Karador Advantage PackageWRG Gahiji Rattlesnake Collection UBR Jeleva... does... things UBG Damia's Just Deserts URG Yasova's Has More Power Than Sense BRG Wasitora, Bad Kitty WUBRBreya, Eggs, Breya'd Eggs WUBG Tymna and Kydele, Extended Borrowing WURG Kynaios and Tiro, Landfall Impersonations WBRG Saskia Pet Card EnchantressUBRG Yidris of the Chi-Ting Corporation WUBRG Tazri's Amazing Allies
I'm constantly tearing apart decks and putting new ones together from the pieces, so very few of them survive more than a year or two, but all of them have their legacy somewhere in my current lineup. The exception is Zedruu, which started the day the first precons were released and will live on at least as long as I keep playing this game.
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Zedruu: "This deck is not only able to go crazy - it also needs to do so."
I have only been back into magic for about 9 months (I stopped playing around the Kamigawa set), but i came back and fell in love with Commander.
Oct 16: Drana, Liberator of Malakir. My first EDH "Deck". I use this term loosely as it was just a jumble of cards that i had along with a couple (including the commander) of extra cards i ordered. This was promptly dismantled once i designed and build my next deck.
Nov 16: Avacyn, Angel Of Hope. Angels, boardwipes and MLD. This deck is what i class as my real first deck.
Jan 17: Mizzix of the Izmagnus. I bought the precon cheap and began to upgrade this. Now its getting to be a combo/control/burn deck.
Feb 17: Krenko, Mob Boss. Speed vs Cunning dual deck for £5 Krenko time!
Mar 17: Nekusar, the Mindrazer. I saw Nekusar and i HAD to give him a go. Got the precon on sale for dirt so....
June 17: Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons. I was bored of playing my current decks as they were generating a little bit of hate at my LGS. So i made Hapatra.
June 17: Bruna, Light of Alabaster. Had some extra cash, so i made a super budget voltron deck to counter the Sram and Zur decks at my LGS
Jul 17: I bought the Meren precon over the weekend. Just for giggles.
As you may see in my sig, i have a couple more in the works. I am slowly aiming for one of each colour/Combination, however thats probably a little far fetched.
Selvala, Heart of the Wilds - Since May 2017 - The most recent deck, I wanted a newbie-friendly deck. As in, the type a new player can pick up and play, and also doesn't feel about if it does end up stomping their new deck. So I made Hydra tribal after some failed experiments.
Ravos, Soultender & Thrasios, Triton Hero - Since April 2017 - Originally a Karador, Ghost Chieftain deck, it underwent a massive change with the release of Amonkhet and became a new deck, using the same skeleton and adding blue to it.
General Tazri - Since March 2017 - I have always wanted a competitive deck, and GP Utrecht allowed me to pick up the resources I needed for it. It sees the least amount of play, mostly since competitive is rare at my LGS.
Selvala, Explorer Returned - Since August 2016 - Started life as a Chorus of the Conclave deck. Fun, but not really interactive, I switched to Selvala and make a controlling and semi-oppressive Selesnya deck. It's...mean, to say the least.
Olivia, Mobilized for War - Since June 2016 - Initially a hilariously bad Knight Tribal deck, it was too bad even for a joke deck. It got retooled into a Dragon deck only a little while later and I haven't looked back since.
Jori En, Ruin Diver - Since February 2016 - Prior to the release of Oath of the Gatewatch, I had Melek Spellslinger...that deck was just too frail for my tastes. Then Jori En got released and suddenly nobody liked me anymore at my LGS...
Child of Alara - Since September 2015 - I wanted to have a deck that didn't let others play. But I didn't want to spend money on it. So I built Dreamcrusher. It still has an insane winrate.
The Lady of the Mountain - Since October 2014 - Surprisingly one of my oldest decks, Lady was a case of "Can I make a vanilla Legends Legend playable." The answer is kinda as it does notch up wins and it does make use of Lady herself from time to time.
Prime Speaker Zegana - Since February 2013 - The deck has gone through a lot of mutations and even flirted with other generals, but the core has always been the same. I just keep coming back to her.
Chandra, Torch of Defiance - Oops! All Chandras.
Prime Speaker Zegana - Draw for Power.
Pir & Toothy - Counterpalooza.
Arcades, the Strategist - Another Brick in the Wall.
Zacama, Primal Calamity - Calamity of Double Mana.
Edgar Markov - Vampires Don't Die.
Child of Alara - Dreamcrusher.
Beyond that the only other deck I still have assembled at the moment is Daretti, which is around a year old. My other lists usually only last a month or two before I exhaust interest in them.
[Primer] Erebos, God of the Dead
HONK HONK
Everything else - maybe two months? I build and tear apart constantly. It's unusual for a deck to last more than a few weeks. I currently have Yeva, Nature's Herald (3-4 weeks in its current incarnation but is a rebuild of a list from a couple years back), Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa/Tymna the Weaver (about 2 weeks), and Olivia, Mobilized for War (about 3 weeks). My lists are actually sticking around longer than they used to since I have less time to play. I used to rotate everything after a week or two.
Rafiq of the Many Ive had for 2 or 3 years and I'm considering taking it apart. It is fun every once in a while but isnt something I seriously enjoy any more. Intet, the Dreamer Ive had for about the same time and needs some work. Ive not added any new cards to these two for at least a year.
Finally put together 4 decks this month but have torn apart two already. Going to have to wait and see if the other survive.
BRGKresh the BloodbraidedBRG, A box of lands and ideas.
Modern:
RG Titanshift. A deck made of cards too stupid for EDH.
Retired: Lots. More than I feel you should suffer through or I should type out.
Vorosh and Glissa have since been dismantled, as was my sixth deck (Karona, the False God). My Zedruu the Greathearted deck was converted into Narset, Enlightened Master (changing around 1/4 to 1/3 of the decklist), and my Damia, Sage of Stone deck was converted to Leovold, Emissary of Trest) (changing around a dozen cards) upon his release, which was changed again to Ikra Shidiqi, the Usurper//Thrasios, Triton Hero (changing around 1/4 of the decklist) when he was banned.
The rest of my decks have survived, although obviously getting a few changes here and there as new cards are released. My current stable of decks sits at 28, with 48% of number 29 sitting on my coffee table and another 31 cards in the mail right now.
Two Score, Minus Two or: A Stargate Tail
(Image by totallynotabrony)
Yasova I created since she came out but just put together two months ago.
Multani I break down and pick back down every few years.
Enchantress has been Anafenza for a year but was Hazezon for years before that.
Just broke down Jor Kadeem for parts, but he existed since he came out in Legendary Summer.
(U/B)(U/B)(U/B) JUMP IN THE LINE, ROCK YOUR BODY IN TIME
(R/W)(R/W)(R/W) RISING FROM THE NEON GLOOM, SHINING LIKE A CRAZY MOON
(U/R)(R/G)(G/U) STEALIN' WHEN I SHOULD HAVE BEEN BUYIN'
Skullbriar, the Walking Grave- Nov. 2013, in it's fourth version(+1/+1's, combat tricks, zombie tribal, back to +1/+1's).
Animar, Soul of Elements- Apr. 2014, pretty much everyone in my playgroup had one so I figured why not. Every eight months or so I change the focus of the deck (bounce, control, artifact creatures, etc.) just to give it a different look. At one point it was actually a Sliver deck.
Sidisi, Brood Tyrant- Sept. 2014, Missed spoilers due to 85+ hour work weeks but the second I pulled this in the pre-release I was in love. Basically Zombie tribal has always been it's build.
Saskia the Unyielding- Dec. 2014, was Karador, Ghost Chieftan for a Shadowborn Apostles build that I kept debating switching to Kresh for access to RB demons but I didn't because there were three other Kresh decks in my playgroup and multiple others at the LGS. Saskia came out and gave me a decent four color commander option though I'm still debating maybe going the partner route if I can decide which partners.
Sliver Overlord- Feb. 2015, wanted to build a five color deck so I chose him and it's still together though rarely played.
Purphoros, God of the Forge- Feb. 2016, was created for a $30 budget challenge tournament and finished 2nd, enjoyed playing it so I put a little $$$ into it and still have it though I don't often play it.
Have had several other decks in between and since but I lose interest in them or people don't enjoy playing against them (Kaalia MLD for instance) and end up moving on to something else. This month (June) alone I've put together three different decks and torn them apart. A deck really has to hit the right spot for me to keep it around I guess.
Building: Varina
Anyway, about 10-12 months ago my oldest deck was Karador. Since it was my first deck, I always had a place for it and always kept it up to date. However, when the 4 color commander decks came out, I decided I wanted to try a different build. After a few months, I decided to tweak it further into a 4 color deck which added Red. It was led by Bruse Tarl and Ikra Shidiqi (my deck list is still in the forums). It was fun, but the 4 color aspect got old really quickly. The deck just didn't seem to have a focus anymore and it felt like it was all over the place. Since I had built a number of decks by this point, I just decided to retire it. Maybe some day it will see the light of day again.
As to the question at hand, here is what I can think of. Note that I don't remember the exact dates I built these so I just ordered them chronologically, but I didn't provide the years I built them (I tried to give approximate time frames):
Other than decks I consider 'staples' like Marath, Lovisa, and now Saskia, I can be pretty fickle about building and breaking down decks so not many on my roster have a long history.
My Helpdesk
[Pr] Marath | [Pr] Lovisa | Jodah | Saskia | Najeela | Yisan | Lord Windgrace | Atraxa | Meren | Gisa and Geralf
Jenara, Asura of War is about 14 months old. Angels, humans, gods, and auras...what's not to love? Still haven't won, but it's fun. Recently added some more mana sources and hard answers. Hoping for better performance next time after about a 10% tweak.
Prime Speaker Zegana has only been together for about three months, a re-design from Damia, Sage of Stone. The gorgon mafia/Simic deck was just awful. Moving to only Simic and re-designing for more hard answers to counter voltron decks became a really nice move. Love the deck, now, but had to churn over 40% of the deck to get there.
But if I try to retrace the root sources of my decks (considering the current 8 are a combination/variation of them in some way)... on that technicality instead...
Animar is definitely my oldest deck. I heard of EDH the year prior to the first precons but the idea of deckbuilding then was quite daunting to me so I waited until the precons came out and picked out Animar with much precision because the card screamed the battlecruiser games I wanted so badly in EDH (of course, considering how fast I modified the deck afterwards, that dauntless task of deckbuilding almost immediately disappeared once I actually got in the format). Every iteration of my EDH revamps, Animar was always there, even if I disassemble the deck I would literally reassemble it again so in the later stages I would simply start planning assuming Animar was already hogging those spots. So yeah, oldest deck from 2011 I suppose.
Grimgrin specifically on that technicality could be considered the second-oldest deck. After I got into the format, I wanted to build Zombie tribal with Thraximundar (I wanted Grixis because the M13 Bolas symbol sleeves were great). The tribal aspect was pretty bland so it felt too much like goodstuff (which makes it feel too much like Animar, which was my quota for goodstuff) so I tried to concentrate it with a sacrifice & theft theme and then the Commander changed to Lord of Tresserhorn. The threaten effects didn't feel great on their own plus eventual color constrains convinced me to just drop Red altogether and I ended up with Grimgrin instead. At least I kept the consistency of a somewhat partial zombie-tribal theme with a Zombie General intact. Considering M13's release date, I think it was around 2012.
Karador is probably third oldest. Part of my "Goodstuff" Thraximundar era was reanimation (because it fit zombies in a flavor term) but it fell off quickly because of lack of space. I wanted to give the archetype a deck of its own (I had the Graveborn deck) so I got the Ghave precon, but for Teneb and Karador specifically (it's silly in hindsight especially when I eventually went out for the Judge foil, but I guess we all made purchase mistakes some point of time in our MTG-era). Teneb led the deck initially, but Karador took over some point. It also absorbed the Legendary Subtheme I once tried to force on Animar to give it a theme (but it still ended being goodstuff) but since it has Sisay in it, it was a whole lot more successful in retaining it. I can't remember when I bought the Ghave precon, but it was either in 2013 or 2014.
Alesha was a Zurgo-Equipment Voltron deck when KTK came out, but I got bored of the Voltron strategy, so Alesha took over (the equipment theme I still try to sustain) when FRF came out, so depending on whether you wanted to count the Zurgo-Voltron era, it either was late 2014 or early 2015 and 4th oldest.
Isperia... when KTK came out I tried Narset pillowfort superfriends. Like Zurgo I didn't like it too much (plus Narset was earning her reputation for other less fun stuff), so I disassembled it and tried to put the pillowfort into Alesha. It didn't last long since the lack of blue annoyed me, so I started planning around WU. Ephara was the General for a brief period of time until I realized I should just use Isperia and try to squeeze superfriends in there as well. Technically tied with Alesha for origins, but since it transited well less smoothly, I'll say it's slightly younger than Alesha.
The remaining 3 decks were mostly results from the 8-deck suite planning, so they're more or less equally young.
Ryusei adopted a tiny bit of punisher mechanics from a terrible "everything you do punishes you" Kresh deck I built (and disassembled) way back in 2013, but is way too aligned to burn (and making the Commander work) to be considered a true successor like the other decks above.
Freyalise creature card-less was a completely original concept from the 2015 "final" revamp (well you probably noticed my monocolored decks were sort of "forced" out), but it's still such a fun idea despite being the weakest of all my decks.
Horde, bluntly speaking, wasn't part of the plan (I mean it is 5 colors, so it doesn't actually contribute to any balance) and I initially planned 7 decks. But I always wanted a land-based deck (I even got the Judge foil Crucible of Worlds way before knowing it will eventually belong somewhere) but couldn't find exactly where to put the plan in. Animar was hogging the color spots and kicking out themes with BATTLECRUISER GOODSTUFF (although I managed to wiggle Morph in there), so Titania was just chilling with Crucible. The idea of my lands-deck being mono-G didn't appeal to me too much (creature card-less sounded way more fun). Then BFZ hit the scene with Omnath and the remaining manlands. Omnath would be kicked out by Animar for sure, but I realized Titania, Omnath and (redundant mechanic-wise, but still) the manlands were all Elementals and well, they happen to have a decent 5-colored tribal Commander. So while it did technically form from pieces fallen from all other decks, the 7-8 planning were relatively close together in planning and the decks were still built together so it's tied for youngest rather than being the youngest deck I have.
Wow... trying to recall the history of all my decks ended with a grandfather story. I need to remember this thread if I ever post threads about my decks so I can instantly view a somewhat accurate-summary of the deck's history.
amazingly epic sig courtesy of DarkNightCavalier at Heroes of the Planes.
marchesa, the black rose: since 2014... i always have been dabbling on grixis since the color combination came to be known as such. when i got into commander back at 2012 the first idea was to have a grixis commander with sinergy, but the options where pretty limited: sedris and traximundar where too expensive and didnt really apeal to me. after conspiracy got out, i build marchesa, played it and never looked back. It has had various reworks each yeah and right now is my go-to 1v1 competitive deck.
lazav, dimir mastermind: since last year... hes pretty much an excuse to both play dimir and to mill agressively
Here's my current line-up:
Sliver Overlord - Sliverbox. It's brutal, it's efficient, and it was my first deck. I plan to always hold on to this one. At first, I used the Haven lands and the tri-lands, but because Sliver Overlord has a massive target on its heads, I decided I needed to be faster. Now, I run every OG dual, fetch, and shock, and this is the only deck of mine that I'm putting that level of power in. The rest simply don't need it; this is my competitive deck. My love for Slivers began when I discovered their existence in Time Spiral, and they very quickly became my favorite creature type. More about that in the Bolas section.
Sygg, River Cutthroat - Dimir Hugs. Started off with Mirko Vosk at the helm, but Sygg was less threatening and more on-theme, so I decided to roll with him, instead. I made this deck sometime in early 2016 and have been tweaking it since then. This was the third or fourth deck I built. It used to have a noticeable amount more mill than it does, now, and as such, it's a much friendlier deck. (At least, until I cast Omniscience.)
Glissa the Traitor - One of my favorite Legends! Glissa was actually the second deck I built, sometime between Slivers and Sygg, and she's currently in limbo, as I've completely changed her structure at least 3 different times. Currently, I'm working towards something Myr-themed, but I may just break down and go with Golgari Goodstuff if I find that the Myr build isn't to my liking. Originally, it was a GB sac control deck (with stuff like Birthing Pod + Grave Pact), as well as a Deathtouch tribal theme that complemented the sacrifice theme. Afterwards, it was Voltron, which was underwhelming when my opponent could keep powering out answers to Glissa and I couldn't keep attacking/casting her and adding protection to her. I also tried to go for a "Fight" theme with a little bit of artifact goodstuff, but that didn't work, either. So, we'll see how this fares when I finish it up.
Animar, Soul of Elements - Animar was a deck I started working on around August of 2016. I was disappointed to have missed out on the original Zendikar block (as I quit around Lorwyn block and picked it back up around BFZ), as Eldrazi seemed super powerful and I love the idea of Eldritch monstrosities devouring existence. Since they're my second-favorite creature type, I decided to dedicate a Commander deck to them, and Animar seemed to be the way to go. I threw in every card in the colors that draws me cards when my creatures are cast/EtB and decided to try to make it somewhat combo-oriented with stuff like Cloudstone Curio and the draw engines + colorless Eldrazi. Initially, it started off with a lot more cost-reduction stuff (such as Semblance Anvil) but then I realized I would rather be casting creatures, instead, and tightened up the list as time went on. The most recent addition was Vizier of the Menagerie, but I don't think I can make any more changes to the list for efficiency and consistency without going dramatically off-theme.
Thada Adel, Acquisitor - Hahahaha, the original iteration of this deck was a nightmarish control deck that was built only to prevent other people from playing the game. I built it, and in the one test game I played, I had out Unwinding Clock, Arcane Laboratory, and Isochron Scepter with Counterspell imprinted on it. Someone tried to deal with it by casting Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, I responded with Summary Dismissal, and three people scooped. I beat the fourth by attacking him with Consecrated Sphinx until he died. After that, I decided, "Well, I really like Thada, and I really like taking people's Sol Rings, so...I'll turn Thada into Artifact Goodstuff!" In honor of the original build, and to help control the pace of the game while I develop a board presence, I still run most of the best counterspells in the game in the deck (including Mana Drain and Force of Will), but the deck mostly durdles until I either draw a win condition such as Blightsteel Colossus or I combo out with Vedalken Archmage, Riddlesmith, and Paradox Engine to generate a bazillion mana with my 80 Sol Ring copies to Blue Sun everyone for 100. It's a fun deck. I think I finally completed Thada in May/June of 2017.
Nicol Bolas - I started playing Magic during the original Ravnica block. After that, Coldsnap was a thing, and then came the beauty of Time Spiral. See, Time Spiral is what started my love of Slivers...but it also helped me discover one of my favorite Legends: Nicol Bolas. I was drafting with my sibling when it was pointed out that Bolas was an old card from back in the days, and the timeshifted rarity was also pointed out. I took him as my pick and held on to a few copies through the years, even managing to keep it when most of my Magic collection was stolen at a pre-release event. After re-entering the fray, I discovered that Bolas had become a centerpiece of the Magic storyline, and that he had a version of him released with art that didn't suck. Naturally, I had to build him. My original idea for the deck was "Grixis Goodstuff", but that seemed lame and unoriginal. I gave it more thought, and finally, I found Cruel Ultimatum. I thought, "Well, that's a great card in 1-on-1, but it's a little expensive mana-wise, and how am I going to kill someone with this, anyway?" Then, I remembered that copy spells are a thing. Okay, but that's still a little ambitious. So what? Then, I remembered Mizzix's Mastery was a thing. The deck still felt like it was missing something. I kept searching for cards, and I finally found what I was looking for: Enter the Infinite, Traumatize, and Tunnel Vision. These cards would allow me to easily chuck Cruel Ultimatum and a bunch of copy spells into the grave and go nuts with Mizzix's Mastery. I'm still building this deck, and I'm uncertain as to whether or not I want to play spell retrieval creatures or pillowfort stuff, but time and testing will tell!
I also currently have a budget Commander deck in Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund (no cards over $2 except the Commander allowed), and a Pauper Commander deck in Reassembling Skeleton.
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Decks that I have played in the past but no longer have assembled:
Kaalia of the Vast
Marrow-Gnawer
Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
Malfegor
Athreos, God of Passage
Kokusho, the Evening Star/Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed
Iname, Death Aspect
Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter
Ulasht, the Hate Seed/Kresh the Bloodbraided
Ezuri, Claw of Progress
Genju of the Realm
Karona, False God
Lu Bu, Master-at-Arms
Isamaru, Hound of Konda/Kytheon, Hero of Akros
Sidisi, Brood Tyrant
Maralen of the Mornsong
Atraxa, Praetors' Voice
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
Thraximundar
Homura, Human Ascendant
Jori En, Ruin Diver
Patron of the Moon/Memnarch
Progenitus
Norin the Wary
Ob Nixilis, Unshackled
Rafiq of the Many
Sydri, Galvanic Genius
The Gitrog Monster
So, including the decks I built multiple times, retooled for a new Commander, or scrapped and changed the theme of entirely, that's 44 decks over the span of...20 months.
I think I just figured out why I'm broke all the time.
Decks I might be interested in building someday:
Vela the Night-Clad
Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder
Azusa, Lost but Seeking
{мы, тьма}
2012: Best (False?) Role Claim - Worst Town Performance (Group) - Best Mafia Performance (Group) - Best SK Performance - Best Overall Player
2013: Best Non-SK Neutral Performance
2014: Best Town Performance (Individual) - Best Town Performance (Group) - Most Interesting Role - Best Game - Best Overall Player
2015: Worst Mafia Performance (Group) - Best Read
2016: Best Town Performance (Group) - Best Town Player - Best Overall Player
Most of my older decks (the ones I keep in storage / "retired"), have been around for years. My very first commander deck was Jeska, Warrior Adept, which also ran Jaya Ballard, Task Mage as a swap-out. IIRC I started around the Shards block, because shortly after I made this, Rakka Mar was released and I plugged her in the deck as a 3rd swap-out general. The additon of her although made the deck pretty weak and I eventually split the deck into two separate decks, making a more voltron-style Jeska, Warrior Adept deck, and a more artifact/spell based Latulla, Keldon Overseer deck, both which I still maintain.
I know parts of Lorywn were still legal when this started, because I was infatuated with a buddies pack-foil Vendilion Clique he kept in a top-loader. I wanted it for my standard deck at the time, and never bothered to ask why he kept it in a top-loader, eventually learning that it was his commander and about this format.
Many of the original commander decks I've built back then I've revisited numerous times. Ramses Overdark was my first commander with islands, and I've revistited him easily 6x times. But per decks that have always been built, that I still have, would be the Jeska, Latulla, and a Bladewing the Risen build (all current decklists linked in signature).
Around 2011 when the first commander pre-cons starting coming out is when I really delved in to the format. At that time I had 4(ish) decks, but with the growing popularity, I started to keep a more extensive library. Around this time I fell in love with Akroma, Angel of Fury and Wydwen, the Biting Gale, and I started moving away from "fun-cards-I-like" to actually building and designing decks with a purpose (i.e. a control draw+go deck, and an actually stream-lined Akroma deck with ramp).
The only other general that really stands out to me is Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge. When she was spoiled I started brewing a time warp based deck, and jumped on her as soon as she was released. I had a functional semi-tuned deck with her the day she was released.
Some of the other decks that I keep in storage ("retired") have been around for a few years, but nothing stands out as these others have.
The other decks in my signature are more current, with only two of them being less than a year old (Jhoira, which I've re-built/revisited a few times over the past 2ish years, and Vela, which I've re-built/revisited a few times over the past 5 years, essentially built the deck after I saw what she did when planechase 2012 was released).
Now I do keep and run the same commander, but the decks are all wildly different. For example Gwendlyn Di Corci was my first grixis commander, and I've ran her in a bunch of different decks, from clones, tribal djinns, good-stuff, 1v1 control, reanimator, and so on. The first time I picked up a copy of Gwendlyn was for EDH, and that was before the 2011 commander release. It was just a generic what's-in-my-binder deck. I recall it having a bunch of zendikar cards in it since I purchased a box of that upon release. I was excited to run lorthos, the tidemaker, ob nixilis, the fallen, and the pack-foil Chandra Ablaze I had opened. So first grixis deck was around 2009ish.
If one wanted specific dates for some decks I don't actively maintain, I guess they could go to my youtube channel and rip the publication dates off some videos. May need to add a month or two to each video, since I don't typically publish something until it's had some playtesting.
Links to my most current deck lists;
Primary EDH; Rakka Mar Token Perfection, Crosis Mnemonic Betrayal, Cromat Villainous, Judith Gravestorm, Rakdos Empty Storm, Exava Artifacts, Bant Trash, & Fumiko Voltron!
EDH kept at home; Ruzzian Isset & Rakdos LoR!
EDH (nostalgic/pimp/retired) in storage;
Latulla Burns, Akroma Smash, Jeska Voltron, Rakdos Storm, Bladewing Darghans, Lyzolda Worldgorger, Xantcha Steals your Heart, Jori Storm, Wydwen Permission, Gwendlyn Paradox, Jeleva Warps, & Sigarda Brick!
Legacy Showanimator and High Tide!
Once I build a deck, I tend to keep it together as I have a story I like to tell with all my decks. (Ghave is a bunch of cultists bringing to life evil plant monsters, Ephara is a future dystopia, Nekusar is a lvl 20, 9th level evil chaotic wizard, Shu Yun is Goku etc etc.) If a deck isnt working or isnt fun (like Shu Yun), I usually just go for theme and make it more of a "how much theme can I pack into this" deck.
Club Flamingo Wins: 1!
Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder - Ten years old (!) - built in 2007, a year after Time Spiral. My first EDH deck.
Karador, Ghost Chieftain - Ten years old. Originally a Teneb, the Harvester goodstuff deck, then became a Doran, the Siege Tower deck with high toughness theme. Switched to Karador four years later when the first Commander preconstructed decks appeared.
Zur the Enchanter - Ten years old. Built when Zur was the boogeyman of Commander.
Marath, Will of the Wild - Ten years old. Originally helmed by Rith, the Awakener, switched in 2013. The Invasion and Planar Chaos dragons were the original leaders of my tricolor decks and, I suspect, many other players' decks as well.
Karn, Silver Golem - Seven years old. Built in 2010 as a mono-brown deck when mono-brown decks were still hard to build. Became a Kozilek, Butcher of Truth deck two years ago.
Tasigur, the Golden Fang - Six years old. Originally a Damia, Sage of Stone goodstuff deck when the precons appeared in 2011.
Riku of Two Reflections - Six years old. Same deal as Damia, from the 2011 precons.
Derevi, Empyrial Tactician - Four years old. Built in 2013 when it appeared in Commander precons.
My Cube (DeckStats)
My Pauper Cube: 540 (CubeTutor link!)
Level 1 Judge
Then came my true commander love in Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief, who I'd been playing in a kitchen table golgari ramp and scavenge deck. Kept the ramp and went mono-black, and by Halloween 2013 I had a deck that initially was themes as "would this card make sense at a horror theme park?" If yes, it stayed in. Then the deck became vampire tribal, then mono black ramp, then suicide black, then ramp and hand attack, and has finally settled as vampire tribal with ramp for a few finishers like Sheoldred, the Whispering One, Rise of the Dark Realms and Army of the Damned. Cut the curve down for consistency and added some unconventional black cards and love it more than ever. All throughout the decks history, Drana stayed atop and has always been my #1 girl.
Alesha is always half-built, but is currently unbuilt, and was my next oldest. Sigarda is a year old, Avacyn and Xenagos the same. But Drana is untouchable and my go-to, so I guess my first built from scratch me deck has been around in some form for 4 years now. Everything else is a rotation of 2nd in-line.
EDH - Yes, Each One is Named After a Song. I love tying music to my decks.
B Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief B - Fear of the Dark
WG Sigarda, Heron's Grace WG - Strength in Numbers
RG Xenagos, God of Revels RG - Fullmoon (It's werewolves)
RW Archangel Avacyn // Avacyn, the Purifier RW - The End is Nigh
60 Card Kitchen Table Decks
WUB Avacyn, Spirit Ferrier
RG Arlinn Kord's Howlpack
I love these kinds of stories and themes. Makes decks that you've seen the general dozens of times before interesting again. And personal stories are always fun to start conversations with in the games.
EDH - Yes, Each One is Named After a Song. I love tying music to my decks.
B Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief B - Fear of the Dark
WG Sigarda, Heron's Grace WG - Strength in Numbers
RG Xenagos, God of Revels RG - Fullmoon (It's werewolves)
RW Archangel Avacyn // Avacyn, the Purifier RW - The End is Nigh
60 Card Kitchen Table Decks
WUB Avacyn, Spirit Ferrier
RG Arlinn Kord's Howlpack
Started to build commander around 2011 (I think). My only actual clue is that my first commander was Intet, the Dreamer, probably with the fist Commander set printing. I have also had a devour-themed deck from pretty much the beginning, being helmed by various commanders (at least Kresh the Bloodbraided and Rith the Awakener come to mind) before settling to Thromok the Insatiable it has now been for several years.
I started to slowly convert my various 60-card decks (twenty-something of them) into EDH as I got ideas on how. Sometime soon after, I also decided I'd do a deck based around each of the Invasion/Planar Chaos dragons (around summer/autumn 2012 I think). Of those decks, none survive in original form but most of their ideas are still around in one shape or another. To wit:
Crosis, the Purger: Discard control. Switched to Gwendlyn di Corci when my wife gifted me that, then some years later gave the deck to her to develop; my discard deck turned black-white with Athreos, God of Passage at the helm.
Darigaaz, the Igniter: ramp like nuts, make everyone draw, blow up lands and creatures on repeated basis with Wildfire effects, leaving myself on top to kill people with Sudden Impact variants, copied as possible. Took it apart after a few years when I realized it was pretty horrid to play against, have not build anything similar since.
Dromar, the Banisher: self-mill Leviathans and Krakens to my graveyard, then Living End them for the win. Still exists in some fractional sense in Wrexial, the Risen Deep, although Wrexial is more focused on milling opponents (just benefits from milling myself too).
Intet, the Dreamer: cheat big creatures from my deck to play, in everywhich way possible. The deck that survived the longest (took it apart near last xmas), and the only one of these I might yet rebuild.
Numot, the Devastator: Voltron, switched at times with Ruhan of the Fomori. Don't really have a "pure", singular-focused voltron deck anymore, although have since this first go built more than my share.
Oros, the Avenger: ...I honestly don't remember what was the theme of this particular deck. My Mardu deck has been Tariel, Reckoner of Souls for quite a long time, as it's idea is probably one of my most unique and convoluted.
Rith, the Awakener: Devour and tokens and anthems, nothing subtle about it. Chunk of it still exists in Thromok the Insatiable, as noted.
Teneb, the Harvester: On-and-off existing graveyard reanimator/toolbox, switching places with Karador, the Ghost Chieftain depending on the deck's current direction. Graveyard shenanigans turned into a couple different 4-color decks when we got those; my current Abzan deck is Anafenza, the Foremost heroic/enchantress.
Treva, the Renewer: along with Teneb and Intet, probably the longest-surviving one; took it apart couple years back. Pillowfort enchantress, whose themes then split into several decks (notably Zedruu pillowfort/voltron, and Anafenza enchantress aggro).
Vorosh, the Hunter: "creature spam"; at some point I realized black had almost nothing to give to theme, that I wanted to build another Sultai general (Damia), and that Momir Vig actually gave something to the idea. 'Course, later I realized Momir Vig itself was a bore to play, but creature spam lives well in Zegana.
Other than those, my decks are anywhere between 2011 and now. I don't track making dates (or even years), and I remake/rehash/rearrange decks enough that it would be really constant tracking anyway.
Oct 16: Drana, Liberator of Malakir. My first EDH "Deck". I use this term loosely as it was just a jumble of cards that i had along with a couple (including the commander) of extra cards i ordered. This was promptly dismantled once i designed and build my next deck.
Nov 16: Avacyn, Angel Of Hope. Angels, boardwipes and MLD. This deck is what i class as my real first deck.
Jan 17: Mizzix of the Izmagnus. I bought the precon cheap and began to upgrade this. Now its getting to be a combo/control/burn deck.
Feb 17: Krenko, Mob Boss. Speed vs Cunning dual deck for £5 Krenko time!
Mar 17: Nekusar, the Mindrazer. I saw Nekusar and i HAD to give him a go. Got the precon on sale for dirt so....
June 17: Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons. I was bored of playing my current decks as they were generating a little bit of hate at my LGS. So i made Hapatra.
June 17: Bruna, Light of Alabaster. Had some extra cash, so i made a super budget voltron deck to counter the Sram and Zur decks at my LGS
Jul 17: I bought the Meren precon over the weekend. Just for giggles.
As you may see in my sig, i have a couple more in the works. I am slowly aiming for one of each colour/Combination, however thats probably a little far fetched.
UBRJeleva, Nephalias Scourge: ...and the storm arrivedRBU
BGHapatra, Vizier of PoisonsGB
WAvacyn, Angel of Hope: Avy, Baby!W