Teysa, Orzhov Scion: Around 6 years old, my first EDH, and for a long time favourite, deck and has gone through a whole raft of changes down the years. Now pretty much retired as I've played it to death, I rarely pull it out and the main reason it's still together is because I haven't needed the pieces elsewhere.
Karador, Ghost Chieftain: A couple of months younger than Teysa, this is, has always been, and always will be (barring a good 5C commander that fits) my spirit tribal deck. Janky as hell and incapable of functioning with any degree of effectiveness unless the game turns into a long grindfest it's not something I play often, but I do enjoy it, and there's nothing in the deck worth anything, so there's little reason to ever take it apart.
Aurelia, the Warleader: Probably around 4 years old, it's a good old Boros face beating list that I've invested a fair bit into down the years, particularly on premium cards (e.g judge promo Swords of X and Y). I'm thinking of giving it a bit of freshening up by switching over to Akiri/Tymna to get a few new toys to play with without losing the core feel of the deck, which I do enjoy.
Jalira, Master Polymorphist: I've had a mono-blue deck for about as long as my Karador list, but settled on the current general around 2 years back. Currently more of a control list that tries to get a fatty into play quickly, then keep it safe and prevent others doing anything too strong while I beat them to death. I'm getting a little bored of it, but I've no real inspiration for doing something else with it at the present.
Chainer, Dementia Master: About two years old, mono-black reanimator/control. One of those lists I don't see myself ever taking apart as it's very flexible in how it can play depending on what my opponents decks are (and thus what I can take from their graveyards) while still being able to operate with only it's own resources.
Saffi Eriksdotter: ~20 months old, started as a general ETB abuse deck, though has morphed into a dedicated combo list with some hatebear backup. When I'm playing full on "competitively", this is the list I have most fun with so is unlikely to be majorly changed any time soon.
Titania, Protector of Argoth: 18 months old. Does pretty much what you expect for Titania - ramps like hell, kills my own lands, beats face with 5/3s but is pretty fast and resilient, and has a highly unique playstyle so is probably my all round favorite deck.
Zada, Hedron Grinder: Put together around a year ago, probably the most swingy of my decks - when it works, it really works, but is kinda inconsistent. As such, I don't play it that much, but I don't think I'll ever get tired of drawing 10 cards for a single red mana, and again, there's little of value in here so will stick around.
Edric, Spymaster of Trest: Similar age to Zada, this is basically flying men tribal, and along with Saffi the second of my competitive decks, and probably the strongest. Pretty unique playstlye for an EDH deck and a fondness for cards that really shouldn't see play in the format (Slither Blade is the best card printed in years...) means I do enjoy playing it, though of all these decks, it is the one that most needs decent opposition - playing it against decks which can't interact with me before I win gets kinda dull.
Atraxa, Praetors' Voice: Since she came out, and yes, it's a superfriends list. Was originally put together about 6 months before that with Angus Mackenzie in charge but Atraxa was just so good for what it wanted to do that I jumped on the bandwagon.
Kozilek, Butcher of Truth: Classic mono brown, this was a list I was working on getting the pieces for a long time, and finally had enough of the expensive rocks to put it together at the start of this year. Crazy ramp plus card draw and a massive beatstick in the command zone, and interesting restrictions placed on the deck building due to the lack of colours means this will likely be a long term keeper, and I can always switch to the other Kozilek for variety.
Xenagos, God of Revels: My newest deck, only a couple of months old and basically built because I wanted to run some good old fashioned fatties and hitting people for crazy damage is fun. Doesn't really to win much, but I always seem to kill at least one opponent so I'm happy.
As for other deck I have built. My first deck was slivers and it was back in 2009. I ran that for a few months then Buit Oona mill (Whcih did not work) and then switched it up to Arcum Dagsson (Easily my favorite deck i played and gave me the most luck (Effectively getting Sol ring 9/10 games opening hand. It got to the point where we had a judge draw my had to make sure I was not slipping a sol ring in there. We had people inspect the deck (Make sure i only had 1 sol ring) and it just got to the point where people were upset by my luck. Eventually I would get 3v1 every match, and while I did win most it was tiring. As soon as Nin, the Pain artist was Spoiled I built her. She was deadly and have a few infinite combos. I also soon after built Erayo, to get people to stop going 3v1 me regardless of the deck I ran. (It worked and people got mad.)
I have ran other decks, (My sig has a few) but most decks I ran only lasted a few months at most. Arcum, nin and Wort being the exception and I don't even have their deck lists in my sig.
I used to maintain upwards of 18 decks at a time. The earliest three were from 2009.
At some point i decided i didn't need a 12th copy of staple #342 and took nearly all my decks apart. Now I maintain 3-6 decks.
I try to always have a competitive, a low power fun, and a high power fun deck with me so i can play at any table.
My Edric deck as the competitive one has been together the longest continuously since I don't often like to build spiky decks. It's been together since late 2011
I don't really remember how long ago I built my very deck, except that it would have been some time between Lorwyn block (when I picked up playing again for the first time since Mirrodin) and Zendikar block, after which I took a break until Return to Ravnica. Call it 2007-09-ish? It was a Zur the Enchanter deck and I only dueled against a friend's Momir Vig, Simic Visionary deck. Most games came down to whether or not I could hit three colors on my "el cheapo deluxe" lands package and lock him down before he hit five mana and tutored up his combo. Our non-interactive, boring games warned the rest of our playgroup off the format, which focused instead on 60-card constructed multiplayer games. Over time, I took apart Zur and eventually traded him away.
Eventually, years later, the group started to get interested in EDH again. Another friend talked us into it and I washed the taste of Zur out of my mouth. This would have had to be during Theros block, as it was before Frontier borders but I built Tymaret, the Murder King as my first "second-generation" EDH deck. Call it 2013. He's my oldest still-built deck and was a powerful enough B/R control deck in his own time, but advances in our metagame have sort of left him behind. I keep telling myself that I'm going to rework him to relive his past glory, but it hasn't actually happened yet.
Shortly after Tymaret, I built a Horde of Notions 5-color-green elemental-themed goodstuff deck. It's basically where I throw all the high-cc cards I want to play with but don't really fit into any particular deck. It's a lot of fun but not especially good. I also built Teneb, the Harvester as a deck with ~50 board wipes. That deck has since changed commanders to Tymna the Weaver and Ikra Shidiqi, the Usurper and had a reboot of its mana base and a few card choices, turning into a fairly effective control deck.
Yeva was the last of the mono-color decks that I built, despite Green being easily my favorite color. It must have been spring of 2016, making her a little over a year old now. However, as I started to play her, she quickly became my favorite deck (I should have never doubted green). About six months ago, I made an investment in her manabase and card choices that kicked the deck into overdrive, resulting in its current incarnation as a control-ish deck rather than a midrange goodstuff deck.
The rest of my decks (I currently have 20 EDH decks sleeved up and ready to go) range in age from about a year old to Surrak Dragonclaw chromamancy, which is just a few weeks old. As that is, along with 53 60-card multiplayer decks and 10 60 card duel decks, 83 decks, I've had to divide them up into five groups, rotating which one comes with me every Friday. The only constant is that Yeva, Nature's Herald always gets to come along for the ride.
I don't remember when I built my decks, but It has been common for me to build around the release date and rarely disassemble decks. I currently have 37 decks built and have only disassembled 10-15 decks.
My oldest decks are Khemba, Kha Regent and Geth, Lord of the Vault. Both of these have been around in some form since before Scars of Mirrodin, changing commanders on release. Those have been assembled since mid 2009. These were originally built to combat each other.
The next longest running deck is one of my Riku of two reflections, which had previously been Intet, the Dreamer. That has been together since the release of the first precons in 2011, followed closely by Nin, the Pain Artist which branched out of the previous deck in early 2012 when I couldn't cram everything I wanted into 99 cards.
Most of the rest were either built on their release or when something newly printed sparked an idea. I made Animar during Tarkir for morph "tribal", Uril (now Genju of the Realm) during Theros, etc.
My Selenia and Intet decks have existed for over two years. I started my current build of Intet (Dragon tribal) around four years ago. I've had Selenia for at least three years, with a brief break.
Most of my other ones have existed for around a year, though a few are newer. (The C16 ones are newer, obviously.)
I recently rebuilt my old Dakkon Blackblade deck. I initially created it about six years ago and tore it apart in early 2016. It's not exactly the same as it was - a little less competitive - but the core concept remains intact.
My Ezuri deck is my oldest at about 5 years old. I haven't built a new deck in probably 2 years. I tend to keep my deck intact unless they're not fun, or not working.
I have about 8 decks right now, but only 3 of them are more than a year old. Those would be:
Narset, Enlightened Master superfriends. I barely ever play this, probably going to scrap it soon. It has lost its novelty and is now pretty unfun. I think it's less than 18 months old.
Kuon, Ogre Ascendant control. This is my baby. I've never met another Kuon player, and I love impressing people with my unusual commander and his synergies. However, the deck tends to draw hate and is more cutthroat than most of my decks. I don't play it often, but I love every game I get with it. It's about two years old, and I'm never taking it apart.
Lazav, Dimir Mastermind spellslinger/mill/voltron/control. Lazav is the only commander that I've taken apart and wanted very badly to put back together. So much that I've actually done it twice. Lazav is such a versatile and fun card, and his abilities ensure that no two games will be the same. He also enables me to build a deck that can pivot seamlessly from one strategy to the next, which I enjoy greatly. The original deck was built maybe three years ago, and the latest incarnation is about a year old. I can't see myself ever taking him apart again.
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Currently Playing...
Modern: Kiki ChordWBRG
TokensWB
EDH: Kuon, Ogre AscendantBBB
Most of my decks are about 1-3 years old since I haven't been brewing much recently.
My Godo deck, on the other hand, has been largely unchanged since mid-2006 when I started playing EDH with a couple friends who couldn't afford other formats. It has always been an artifact ramping equipment based deck with a sub-theme of dragons. It was the 2nd deck I ever started building (after failing to brew a Crosis good stuff deck).
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EDH playing competitive Magic cast away
Current Decks GTitania midrange RGThromok tokens/goodstuff | UB Grimgrin zombie tribal GW Sigarda enchantress | R Godo voltron U Braids aggro | WR Kalemne punisher RU Mizzix storm | BUG Mimeoplasm competitive reanimator | UG Ezuri infect
Intet, the Dreamer: almost one month. I had a bunch of dragons and simic spells gathering dust, so I decided to toss together a Dragonstorm deck. It's pretty fun, and I'm still tinkering with it.
Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim: About three months. It's a cleric tribal deck. I wanted to build something out of cards you could buy for $1 or less, and so far it's been pretty reliable.
Wort, the Raidmother: Six months or so. Like with Intet, this was a deck built out of things I had lying around from previous dismantled decks and rares sitting in my binder. Big spells and tokens.
Braids, Conjurer Adept: A year and change. It seemed like a fun deck to build. It's mostly big sea monsters and extra turns. No counterspells to speak of, but people still hate it.
Damia, Sage of Stone: Over two years, but it's been shifting mandates several times since then. At first it was a Landfall deck, then a +1/+1 counters deck, and finally, a Legion Of Doom deck. It's the strategy I find the deck is most comfortable playing. And it's fun!
Jaya Ballard, Task Mage: Four years. I saw Weebo's deck back then, and I thought it was delightful. Jaya Ballard is my favorite MTG character, so I thought I'd try it out. I managed to pick up most of the top-end cards for the deck, and I traded in a stack of cards at GP Toronto 2013 for a Gauntlet of Might, which remains the crown jewel of my collection.
Glissa, the Traitor: Six years. I built my first Glissa deck sometime in 2011, and it was pretty fun, so I kept it around. The deck has evolved over the years, but there's a few cards which I know have never left it because I'd plundered them right out of the Devour For Power precon: Eternal Witness, Solemn Simulacrum, and Oblivion Stone. It's still one of my most powerful decks, and I'm not sure I'll ever take it apart.
My oldest, long since dismantled, deck dates back to about 2009: It was a terrible, top-heavy Selenia, Dark Angel tribal Angel deck filled with boardwipes and life-drain. I loved it.
Squee has been around since early 2010. It is my fourth and most beloved EDH deck, and the oldest one I still have together.
Child of Alara Dreamcrusher is from later in 2010. Ironically, even though it is all commons, it is my most expensive deck since it is all foiled out. I honestly don't play it much anymore, but it still crushes dreams on occasion!
Selvala 1.0 was built in 2014 as soon as it was released. The deck is dumb, and I only bring it out for competitive or show-off games.
Sasaya (flippy green Kamigawa snake) was just built a few months ago. I like it enough that it will probably be together for a long time.
I've had Darien since Alara Block. Otherwise it's been constantly ripping apart and building. I'm more attracted to brewing lists than actually playing.
-Lazav, Dimir Mastermind - This is my favourite deck flavour wise, and was one of the first I built. It's probably now 4 years old, and started as a 'Shapeshifter general' deck. Until I realised that I could portray some of the characters from my favourite series of books through the deck. Since then, it's pretty much one of the decks I'll probably not ever take apart. In fact, I'm thinking of doing another vorthos deck from the same series of books with Kresh the Bloodbraided at the helm.
- Dralnu, Lich Lord - Has been together about a year. It's very resilient and fun, so it'll probably stick around.
- Kozilek, Butcher of Truth- Probably about 18 months old. It's ok, I've been thinking about taking it apart and feeding it to my other decks, but I don't know whether I want to yet or not. Sydri, Galvanic Genius - One of my favourite decks. Also one of the oldest. Again about 4 years old, and it's probably not going anywhere at all. It would take a very special Esper general to move Sydri off the throne. Thraximundar - My oldest deck - Also my most fun. It was Jeleva, then Grimgrin, now Thrax. Had considered Marchesa instead, but I like the way it runs now. This one will stick with me. Gisa & Geralf - A year old. Tribal zombies, it's a lot of fun even if it doesn't perform perfectly right now. I'm likely to keep it about. Braids, Conjurer Adept - My pet deck. It's been together about 3 years and probably won't ever get taken apart. Group hug in a weird way, it's just fun to play. Ghave, Guru of Spores - Has been together about 18 months. He's my go to for competitive aggressive 'game hard' games. So he'll probably stick around for that reason. Atarka, World Render - This is my 'give to a newbie' deck, for when someone wants to play but doesn't want a rube goldberg deck. It does what it says on the tin, and will probably stick around for that reason. Bruna, the Fading Light - Kind of really love this deck. About a year old, pulled Gisela and Bruna when EMN released and it's been coming together nicely since. Lots of fun, Mono white control is a good time. Queen Marchesa - 6 months old. Probably the next deck on the chopping block. It plays well enough, it just isn't active enough for me. Meren of Clan Nel Toth - Started life as Savra, Queen of the Golgari 2 years ago and only recently changed to meren. It's a lot less interactive, but closer to the sweet spot of being able to achieve wins. Savra was a lot of work for very little effect, and Meren is closer to where I want it. Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun - Obviously only 2 months old. He's fun and works well. He might stick around. Nissa, Vastwood Seer - About 6 months old, and not going anywhere. Lots of fun, lots of effect, Nissa is a blast. Zedruu, the Greathearted - In full form about 4 months old. It's not really my deck, just a close iteration of the crazy build tstorm83 has. It's a crazy thing and I love to play it. Chainer, Dementia Master - About 6 months old. I love reanimator, and this guy is one of the best, so he'll probably stick around. Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix & Thrasios, Triton Hero - 2 months old, it's relatively untested at present. It's been interesting enough so far, too soon to tell if it will stick or not. Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder - 2 months old. My take on a crazy play everything build. He's fun, but a bit durdly at present. He'll stick around simply because he's the only 4c commander I play or intend to. Krenko, Mob Boss - 3 months old. - Combo goblins, and quick about it too. One of three tribal decks, this is probably the meanest. Based on Jay13x's primer, I'm likely to keep it around. At least until I find a mono red commander I like more.
I've also had a number of decks I've torn apart. Its funny - doing this makes me realise that most of the time, it's not whether it wins or not that makes the decks stick.
Bruna, Light of Alabaster - Was the first legendary creature I owned. I started playing during Dark Ascension, and pulled Bruna during a draft shortly afterward. Friends suggested I build her into a commander deck, and this was my introduction to the format. I still play this deck and love it. It's sort of my comfort blanket deck, that I like to play when I get frustrated with the game and need to remind myself why I love it. Strangely, white and blue are my two least favorite colors. Built in Summer 2012.
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker - When the mono-colored cycle of M13 legends was introduced, I knew I wanted to build around Krenko, Mob Boss. I did, and kept that deck for a while, until I got a copy of Kiki-Jiki for the deck. The deck quickly shifted commanders and strategies, from a goblin tribal deck to a mono red combo deck, and has never looked back. Built in Summer 2012, but commander changed in 2015
Chainer, Dementia Master - This deck was built during a pretty rough time in my life, as a coping mechanism, I guess. It's now my favorite deck, and the only one I've bothered to foil out (I've posted pics here, in case anyone's interested). If I had to play just one deck forever, I would choose this one. Built in Winter of 2014
There was a long period of time where I built a ton of decks, played them once, and then took them back apart.
Azami, Lady of Scrolls/Neheb, the Worthy - Both were built very recently, mostly out of parts I had laying around, just to try out. I still have them together, so they're here, I guess. Azami is fun, and has potential to be a keeper. Neheb will probably be rebuilt when the mood strikes me. Built in Summer 2017
Trostani, Selesnya's Voice - Only separate from the above two, because this is a deck I know I'll keep around. It's sort of the counter to the above Chainer deck. That was built out of negative experiences, this deck was built to celebrate more positive emotions. I've played it a few times, and can't wait to continue building and playing with it. Built in Summer 2017
Forever. I did not make the deck; I saw its form inherent to the material, already perfect, and merely sculpted away the excess dross.
...just kidding. My beloved Sidisi, Brood Tyrant was originally, about 2014 or so, The Mimeoplasm (the first card I ever ordered online) and was pretty much just all my cool Dredge cards from the Izzet/Golgari duel decks (freaking awesome decks btw). After a year, I traded for and made it Sidisi, and it's been that way ever since. Pretty much all of my other decks have been ephemeral affairs -- Jeleva lasting the longest, as a reservoir for my cares-about-instant/sorceries cards -- but that one's stuck around.
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"It is better for all the world if, instead of waiting to execute degenerate offspring for crime or to let them starve for their imbecility, society can prevent those who are manifestly unfit from continuing their kind. The principle that sustains compulsory vaccination is broad enough to cover cutting the Fallopian tubes... Three generations of imbeciles are enough."
--Buck v Bell, 1927. This case, regarding the compulsory sterilization of inmates at mental institutions, has -- somehow -- never been overturned. Just a wee PSA for ya.
I first got into EDH when I was out of work in 2009. I don't have my original deck now (it was pretty bad anyway) but Vendillion Clique was the first deck, which ultimately became Teferi, Zhafir Mage when they stopped the tucking rule, same deck different commander. I have had Captain Sisay and Sharuum since early 2010, I still remember that date because I had just invested in Tolarian Academy, then it was banned.
I'm a reasonably fresh face, only joining the EDH party in 2014. Patron of the Orochi came together as my second paper list towards the end of that year, and things just clicked. I've been loving its crazy jank combo/swarm ever since, and have no plans to rip the deck apart (even if Selvala 2.0 takes some of this deck's virtues and does them better).
My other safe from destruction deck is Daxos the Returned. I've always had a thing for enchantments, and this unassuming C15 legend allowed me to build them in a fun, weird way. I snapped up a precon upon release, melding it to my vision over a few months. That was a fun thing to do.
The only other thing I've got assembled at the moment is my Tromokratis. It was originally a budget deck built not long after Patron, but then fell out of favour due to a meta shift. I never formally disassembled it, but I didn't touch it at all for a year or so. It's had a second wind breathed into it by some power cards taken from a disassembled Prime Speaker Zegana. I don't have many decks, it takes a lot to get me excited about a legend and then also apparently a hefty shot of luck to get the deck to stick around.
My other decks come and go, but Intet, the Dreamer has been with me since the printing of the first batch of commander precons and is still my baby to this day.
However, her time may finally pass once The Ur-Dragon is released...
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Karador, Ghost Chieftain: A couple of months younger than Teysa, this is, has always been, and always will be (barring a good 5C commander that fits) my spirit tribal deck. Janky as hell and incapable of functioning with any degree of effectiveness unless the game turns into a long grindfest it's not something I play often, but I do enjoy it, and there's nothing in the deck worth anything, so there's little reason to ever take it apart.
Aurelia, the Warleader: Probably around 4 years old, it's a good old Boros face beating list that I've invested a fair bit into down the years, particularly on premium cards (e.g judge promo Swords of X and Y). I'm thinking of giving it a bit of freshening up by switching over to Akiri/Tymna to get a few new toys to play with without losing the core feel of the deck, which I do enjoy.
Jalira, Master Polymorphist: I've had a mono-blue deck for about as long as my Karador list, but settled on the current general around 2 years back. Currently more of a control list that tries to get a fatty into play quickly, then keep it safe and prevent others doing anything too strong while I beat them to death. I'm getting a little bored of it, but I've no real inspiration for doing something else with it at the present.
Chainer, Dementia Master: About two years old, mono-black reanimator/control. One of those lists I don't see myself ever taking apart as it's very flexible in how it can play depending on what my opponents decks are (and thus what I can take from their graveyards) while still being able to operate with only it's own resources.
Saffi Eriksdotter: ~20 months old, started as a general ETB abuse deck, though has morphed into a dedicated combo list with some hatebear backup. When I'm playing full on "competitively", this is the list I have most fun with so is unlikely to be majorly changed any time soon.
Titania, Protector of Argoth: 18 months old. Does pretty much what you expect for Titania - ramps like hell, kills my own lands, beats face with 5/3s but is pretty fast and resilient, and has a highly unique playstyle so is probably my all round favorite deck.
Zada, Hedron Grinder: Put together around a year ago, probably the most swingy of my decks - when it works, it really works, but is kinda inconsistent. As such, I don't play it that much, but I don't think I'll ever get tired of drawing 10 cards for a single red mana, and again, there's little of value in here so will stick around.
Edric, Spymaster of Trest: Similar age to Zada, this is basically flying men tribal, and along with Saffi the second of my competitive decks, and probably the strongest. Pretty unique playstlye for an EDH deck and a fondness for cards that really shouldn't see play in the format (Slither Blade is the best card printed in years...) means I do enjoy playing it, though of all these decks, it is the one that most needs decent opposition - playing it against decks which can't interact with me before I win gets kinda dull.
Atraxa, Praetors' Voice: Since she came out, and yes, it's a superfriends list. Was originally put together about 6 months before that with Angus Mackenzie in charge but Atraxa was just so good for what it wanted to do that I jumped on the bandwagon.
Kozilek, Butcher of Truth: Classic mono brown, this was a list I was working on getting the pieces for a long time, and finally had enough of the expensive rocks to put it together at the start of this year. Crazy ramp plus card draw and a massive beatstick in the command zone, and interesting restrictions placed on the deck building due to the lack of colours means this will likely be a long term keeper, and I can always switch to the other Kozilek for variety.
Xenagos, God of Revels: My newest deck, only a couple of months old and basically built because I wanted to run some good old fashioned fatties and hitting people for crazy damage is fun. Doesn't really to win much, but I always seem to kill at least one opponent so I'm happy.
Mazirek, Kraul death Priest: Since early April (2017)
Vela the Night-Clad: Since end of May (2017)
As for other deck I have built. My first deck was slivers and it was back in 2009. I ran that for a few months then Buit Oona mill (Whcih did not work) and then switched it up to Arcum Dagsson (Easily my favorite deck i played and gave me the most luck (Effectively getting Sol ring 9/10 games opening hand. It got to the point where we had a judge draw my had to make sure I was not slipping a sol ring in there. We had people inspect the deck (Make sure i only had 1 sol ring) and it just got to the point where people were upset by my luck. Eventually I would get 3v1 every match, and while I did win most it was tiring. As soon as Nin, the Pain artist was Spoiled I built her. She was deadly and have a few infinite combos. I also soon after built Erayo, to get people to stop going 3v1 me regardless of the deck I ran. (It worked and people got mad.)
I have ran other decks, (My sig has a few) but most decks I ran only lasted a few months at most. Arcum, nin and Wort being the exception and I don't even have their deck lists in my sig.
UB Vela the Night-Clad BUDecklist
WBG Ghave, Guru of Spores GBW
WUBRGThe Ur-DragonWUBRGDecklist
At some point i decided i didn't need a 12th copy of staple #342 and took nearly all my decks apart. Now I maintain 3-6 decks.
I try to always have a competitive, a low power fun, and a high power fun deck with me so i can play at any table.
My Edric deck as the competitive one has been together the longest continuously since I don't often like to build spiky decks. It's been together since late 2011
Eventually, years later, the group started to get interested in EDH again. Another friend talked us into it and I washed the taste of Zur out of my mouth. This would have had to be during Theros block, as it was before Frontier borders but I built Tymaret, the Murder King as my first "second-generation" EDH deck. Call it 2013. He's my oldest still-built deck and was a powerful enough B/R control deck in his own time, but advances in our metagame have sort of left him behind. I keep telling myself that I'm going to rework him to relive his past glory, but it hasn't actually happened yet.
Shortly after Tymaret, I built a Horde of Notions 5-color-green elemental-themed goodstuff deck. It's basically where I throw all the high-cc cards I want to play with but don't really fit into any particular deck. It's a lot of fun but not especially good. I also built Teneb, the Harvester as a deck with ~50 board wipes. That deck has since changed commanders to Tymna the Weaver and Ikra Shidiqi, the Usurper and had a reboot of its mana base and a few card choices, turning into a fairly effective control deck.
My fourth deck started its genesis when Battle for Zendikar was spoiled (late 2015) with Zada, Large Hedron Collider. I had so much success and fun with its token spam -> cantrips -> lolhugegoblins, especially with the consistency as compared to the budget mana bases in my multicolor decks that I decided to make a mono-color deck of every color. Out of that in late '15/early '16 came Tomorrow, Azami's Familiar (Mono-U combo/control), Sidisi, Undead Vizier (built as a ETB combo deck around Gray Merchant of Asphodel and Blade of Selves), Isamaru, Hound of Konda (voltron; now commanded by Sram, Senior Edificer), and Yeva, Nature's Herald
Yeva was the last of the mono-color decks that I built, despite Green being easily my favorite color. It must have been spring of 2016, making her a little over a year old now. However, as I started to play her, she quickly became my favorite deck (I should have never doubted green). About six months ago, I made an investment in her manabase and card choices that kicked the deck into overdrive, resulting in its current incarnation as a control-ish deck rather than a midrange goodstuff deck.
The rest of my decks (I currently have 20 EDH decks sleeved up and ready to go) range in age from about a year old to Surrak Dragonclaw chromamancy, which is just a few weeks old. As that is, along with 53 60-card multiplayer decks and 10 60 card duel decks, 83 decks, I've had to divide them up into five groups, rotating which one comes with me every Friday. The only constant is that Yeva, Nature's Herald always gets to come along for the ride.
Mogis, God of Slaughter is probably a year old.
Krenko, Mob Boss since 2014.
Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind has been around, retired and resurrected a couple times, since 2013.
Arcum Dagsson has been built, retired, then rebuilt. It's only about a year old in its current iteration.
Gaddock Teeg is only 6 months old.
In retirement: Norin, Skullbriar, Mishra, Chainer, a bunch of short lived other builds.
My oldest decks are Khemba, Kha Regent and Geth, Lord of the Vault. Both of these have been around in some form since before Scars of Mirrodin, changing commanders on release. Those have been assembled since mid 2009. These were originally built to combat each other.
The next longest running deck is one of my Riku of two reflections, which had previously been Intet, the Dreamer. That has been together since the release of the first precons in 2011, followed closely by Nin, the Pain Artist which branched out of the previous deck in early 2012 when I couldn't cram everything I wanted into 99 cards.
M13 in 2012 brought Krenko, Mob Boss, Talrand, Sky Summoner, and Patron of the Orochii(was trying Yeva) on release, and finishing my first 5 monocolored decks. The same year also brought Gisela, Blade of Goldnight and Trostani, Selesnya's Voice.
Most of the rest were either built on their release or when something newly printed sparked an idea. I made Animar during Tarkir for morph "tribal", Uril (now Genju of the Realm) during Theros, etc.
Kemba | Linvala | Talrand | Geth | Krenko | Zada | Patron of the Orochi | Medomai | Athreos | Gisela | Trostani | Nin | Silumgar | Kaervek | Jarad | Xenagos | Sydri | Narset | Roon | Zurgo | Ghave | Marath | Uril | Tasigur | Animar | Riku | Riku | Sek'Kuar | Cromat
Most of my other ones have existed for around a year, though a few are newer. (The C16 ones are newer, obviously.)
I recently rebuilt my old Dakkon Blackblade deck. I initially created it about six years ago and tore it apart in early 2016. It's not exactly the same as it was - a little less competitive - but the core concept remains intact.
Jaya Ballard, Task Mage since November of 2012
Phage the Untouchable since February of 2014
Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero since December of 2016
Taniwha since June of 2017
Narset, Enlightened Master superfriends. I barely ever play this, probably going to scrap it soon. It has lost its novelty and is now pretty unfun. I think it's less than 18 months old.
Kuon, Ogre Ascendant control. This is my baby. I've never met another Kuon player, and I love impressing people with my unusual commander and his synergies. However, the deck tends to draw hate and is more cutthroat than most of my decks. I don't play it often, but I love every game I get with it. It's about two years old, and I'm never taking it apart.
Lazav, Dimir Mastermind spellslinger/mill/voltron/control. Lazav is the only commander that I've taken apart and wanted very badly to put back together. So much that I've actually done it twice. Lazav is such a versatile and fun card, and his abilities ensure that no two games will be the same. He also enables me to build a deck that can pivot seamlessly from one strategy to the next, which I enjoy greatly. The original deck was built maybe three years ago, and the latest incarnation is about a year old. I can't see myself ever taking him apart again.
Modern: Kiki ChordWBRG
TokensWB
EDH: Kuon, Ogre AscendantBBB
#FreeContractfromBelow
Reveka, Wizard Savant: monoblue burn has been around since October 2013.
Athreos, God of Passage: control has been around since May 2014.
All my other decks have been built this year.
My Godo deck, on the other hand, has been largely unchanged since mid-2006 when I started playing EDH with a couple friends who couldn't afford other formats. It has always been an artifact ramping equipment based deck with a sub-theme of dragons. It was the 2nd deck I ever started building (after failing to brew a Crosis good stuff deck).
Current Decks
GTitania midrange
RGThromok tokens/goodstuff | UB Grimgrin zombie tribal
GW Sigarda enchantress | R Godo voltron
U Braids aggro | WR Kalemne punisher
RU Mizzix storm | BUG Mimeoplasm competitive reanimator | UG Ezuri infect
Intet, the Dreamer: almost one month. I had a bunch of dragons and simic spells gathering dust, so I decided to toss together a Dragonstorm deck. It's pretty fun, and I'm still tinkering with it.
Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim: About three months. It's a cleric tribal deck. I wanted to build something out of cards you could buy for $1 or less, and so far it's been pretty reliable.
Wort, the Raidmother: Six months or so. Like with Intet, this was a deck built out of things I had lying around from previous dismantled decks and rares sitting in my binder. Big spells and tokens.
Garza Zol, Plague Queen: Almost a year. I saw this thread and I was inspired to build a Vampire tribal deck. What more can I say?
Braids, Conjurer Adept: A year and change. It seemed like a fun deck to build. It's mostly big sea monsters and extra turns. No counterspells to speak of, but people still hate it.
Damia, Sage of Stone: Over two years, but it's been shifting mandates several times since then. At first it was a Landfall deck, then a +1/+1 counters deck, and finally, a Legion Of Doom deck. It's the strategy I find the deck is most comfortable playing. And it's fun!
Jaya Ballard, Task Mage: Four years. I saw Weebo's deck back then, and I thought it was delightful. Jaya Ballard is my favorite MTG character, so I thought I'd try it out. I managed to pick up most of the top-end cards for the deck, and I traded in a stack of cards at GP Toronto 2013 for a Gauntlet of Might, which remains the crown jewel of my collection.
Glissa, the Traitor: Six years. I built my first Glissa deck sometime in 2011, and it was pretty fun, so I kept it around. The deck has evolved over the years, but there's a few cards which I know have never left it because I'd plundered them right out of the Devour For Power precon: Eternal Witness, Solemn Simulacrum, and Oblivion Stone. It's still one of my most powerful decks, and I'm not sure I'll ever take it apart.
My oldest, long since dismantled, deck dates back to about 2009: It was a terrible, top-heavy Selenia, Dark Angel tribal Angel deck filled with boardwipes and life-drain. I loved it.
Child of Alara Dreamcrusher is from later in 2010. Ironically, even though it is all commons, it is my most expensive deck since it is all foiled out. I honestly don't play it much anymore, but it still crushes dreams on occasion!
Selvala 1.0 was built in 2014 as soon as it was released. The deck is dumb, and I only bring it out for competitive or show-off games.
Sasaya (flippy green Kamigawa snake) was just built a few months ago. I like it enough that it will probably be together for a long time.
Draft my Mono-Blue Cube!
lichess.org | chess.com
- Dralnu, Lich Lord - Has been together about a year. It's very resilient and fun, so it'll probably stick around.
- Kozilek, Butcher of Truth- Probably about 18 months old. It's ok, I've been thinking about taking it apart and feeding it to my other decks, but I don't know whether I want to yet or not.
Sydri, Galvanic Genius - One of my favourite decks. Also one of the oldest. Again about 4 years old, and it's probably not going anywhere at all. It would take a very special Esper general to move Sydri off the throne.
Thraximundar - My oldest deck - Also my most fun. It was Jeleva, then Grimgrin, now Thrax. Had considered Marchesa instead, but I like the way it runs now. This one will stick with me.
Gisa & Geralf - A year old. Tribal zombies, it's a lot of fun even if it doesn't perform perfectly right now. I'm likely to keep it about.
Braids, Conjurer Adept - My pet deck. It's been together about 3 years and probably won't ever get taken apart. Group hug in a weird way, it's just fun to play.
Ghave, Guru of Spores - Has been together about 18 months. He's my go to for competitive aggressive 'game hard' games. So he'll probably stick around for that reason.
Atarka, World Render - This is my 'give to a newbie' deck, for when someone wants to play but doesn't want a rube goldberg deck. It does what it says on the tin, and will probably stick around for that reason.
Bruna, the Fading Light - Kind of really love this deck. About a year old, pulled Gisela and Bruna when EMN released and it's been coming together nicely since. Lots of fun, Mono white control is a good time.
Queen Marchesa - 6 months old. Probably the next deck on the chopping block. It plays well enough, it just isn't active enough for me.
Meren of Clan Nel Toth - Started life as Savra, Queen of the Golgari 2 years ago and only recently changed to meren. It's a lot less interactive, but closer to the sweet spot of being able to achieve wins. Savra was a lot of work for very little effect, and Meren is closer to where I want it.
Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun - Obviously only 2 months old. He's fun and works well. He might stick around.
Nissa, Vastwood Seer - About 6 months old, and not going anywhere. Lots of fun, lots of effect, Nissa is a blast.
Zedruu, the Greathearted - In full form about 4 months old. It's not really my deck, just a close iteration of the crazy build tstorm83 has. It's a crazy thing and I love to play it.
Chainer, Dementia Master - About 6 months old. I love reanimator, and this guy is one of the best, so he'll probably stick around.
Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix & Thrasios, Triton Hero - 2 months old, it's relatively untested at present. It's been interesting enough so far, too soon to tell if it will stick or not.
Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder - 2 months old. My take on a crazy play everything build. He's fun, but a bit durdly at present. He'll stick around simply because he's the only 4c commander I play or intend to.
Krenko, Mob Boss - 3 months old. - Combo goblins, and quick about it too. One of three tribal decks, this is probably the meanest. Based on Jay13x's primer, I'm likely to keep it around. At least until I find a mono red commander I like more.
I've also had a number of decks I've torn apart. Its funny - doing this makes me realise that most of the time, it's not whether it wins or not that makes the decks stick.
Bruna, Light of Alabaster - Was the first legendary creature I owned. I started playing during Dark Ascension, and pulled Bruna during a draft shortly afterward. Friends suggested I build her into a commander deck, and this was my introduction to the format. I still play this deck and love it. It's sort of my comfort blanket deck, that I like to play when I get frustrated with the game and need to remind myself why I love it. Strangely, white and blue are my two least favorite colors. Built in Summer 2012.
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker - When the mono-colored cycle of M13 legends was introduced, I knew I wanted to build around Krenko, Mob Boss. I did, and kept that deck for a while, until I got a copy of Kiki-Jiki for the deck. The deck quickly shifted commanders and strategies, from a goblin tribal deck to a mono red combo deck, and has never looked back. Built in Summer 2012, but commander changed in 2015
Chainer, Dementia Master - This deck was built during a pretty rough time in my life, as a coping mechanism, I guess. It's now my favorite deck, and the only one I've bothered to foil out (I've posted pics here, in case anyone's interested). If I had to play just one deck forever, I would choose this one. Built in Winter of 2014
There was a long period of time where I built a ton of decks, played them once, and then took them back apart.
Azami, Lady of Scrolls/Neheb, the Worthy - Both were built very recently, mostly out of parts I had laying around, just to try out. I still have them together, so they're here, I guess. Azami is fun, and has potential to be a keeper. Neheb will probably be rebuilt when the mood strikes me. Built in Summer 2017
Trostani, Selesnya's Voice - Only separate from the above two, because this is a deck I know I'll keep around. It's sort of the counter to the above Chainer deck. That was built out of negative experiences, this deck was built to celebrate more positive emotions. I've played it a few times, and can't wait to continue building and playing with it. Built in Summer 2017
WU Bruna UW | R Kiki-Jiki R | RB New Chainer BR
Legacy - Burn | Pauper - Reanimator | Aristocrats | Burn
@votechainer2016
...just kidding. My beloved Sidisi, Brood Tyrant was originally, about 2014 or so, The Mimeoplasm (the first card I ever ordered online) and was pretty much just all my cool Dredge cards from the Izzet/Golgari duel decks (freaking awesome decks btw). After a year, I traded for and made it Sidisi, and it's been that way ever since. Pretty much all of my other decks have been ephemeral affairs -- Jeleva lasting the longest, as a reservoir for my cares-about-instant/sorceries cards -- but that one's stuck around.
--Buck v Bell, 1927. This case, regarding the compulsory sterilization of inmates at mental institutions, has -- somehow -- never been overturned. Just a wee PSA for ya.
My other safe from destruction deck is Daxos the Returned. I've always had a thing for enchantments, and this unassuming C15 legend allowed me to build them in a fun, weird way. I snapped up a precon upon release, melding it to my vision over a few months. That was a fun thing to do.
The only other thing I've got assembled at the moment is my Tromokratis. It was originally a budget deck built not long after Patron, but then fell out of favour due to a meta shift. I never formally disassembled it, but I didn't touch it at all for a year or so. It's had a second wind breathed into it by some power cards taken from a disassembled Prime Speaker Zegana. I don't have many decks, it takes a lot to get me excited about a legend and then also apparently a hefty shot of luck to get the deck to stick around.
Alesha has existed since ~2013 or whenever KTK came out, and has had seven different versions (including tribal Slivers!) crafted by me around her.
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
However, her time may finally pass once The Ur-Dragon is released...