I have now built 2 pauper decks, and an almost finished with a third. After seeing what myself and others are using for Pauper generals, I have come to the conclusion that I lean toward a certain type of Role I want my general to play in my deck. Namely a Threat. But I am wondering if my choice is misled and I should be choosing a general that has more synergy, or more support. I am more asking for discussion on what Role does your Pauper Commander play in your deck, and how does the deck change to work with the General.
As you can see 2 decks are Volton, and 1 is more of a threat than a support. Besides Gelectrode, which is more of a pet deck than anything. The other two are built to feed the General with power and auras to win the game. I play other finishers as well, but this guarantees I have a relevant threat or win con at all portions of the game. I also feel that large threats can be difficult to come by, so having a creature higher than 6 power really puts the pressure on my opponents.
In parentheses I have added what the deck synergies are, I have Fusion Elemental goodstuff control, Gelectrode spellslinger with burn and draw, and Scarland Thrinax token synergies. Scarland is the work in progress and will be my most synergistic pauper deck to date. I am no stranger to synergy being better than goodstuff from standard Commander, but Fusion Elemental was a pet card, and I had a casual pinger deck back in my younger magic years, so they got built first. I see most pauper decks are built for high synergy, but there are still many that go for goodstuff builds. Which do you think is more fun/better?
Roles:
Threat - large creature to beat face, or general used as a win-con. Blaze CommandoFusion ElementalScarland Thrinax
Support - utility creature used to control the board or advance your deck. Skyward eye ProphetsMistmeadow Witch
Control - Removal creature, or Creature used to control your opponents. (Sacrifice Dragon) Izzet Staticaster
Toolbox - Generals that fill whatever roll you need at the time. Guild mages, Apprentices, Battle mages, etc.
Other - Generals used just for the Colors, or that are sort of random. Gelectrode
What Roles does your Commander play, how does it work for your deck, why did you choose that play style? So far I consider 2 of my 3 Commanders to be Threats, and one to be Other I guess. Gelectrode acts mostly as Control for my opponents creatures because on every spell he adds a Lava Dart or Shock which can add up very fast. Also used for Win con in the late game, so he is really a pretty good toolbox, but I did not put him in that category.
If I wanted a Support or Toolbox Commander next, what should I be looking at? I like some fringe creatures, so Mistmeadow witch is probably out due to unoriginality (yes I know I can build an original deck with any commander, but still).
I think pretty much all categories have merit from a power perspective and all can be fun depending on what you like. However, I think it really comes down to the specific general and of the ones you mention, only Mistmeadow Witch seems like a strong alternative. Here are a few other suggestions by your categories:
THREAT: IMO, these come in two varieties, the hexproof/evasion type where Ascended Lawmage dominates and the double strike alternative where Marisi's Twinclaws if probably the best. Investing mana in a big beat stick is a dangerous proposition in PDH because threat quality is low and removal is cheap and abundant - you need to back up big dudes with either grave recursion, counters/protection or massive draw unless they are resilient or explosive like Lawmage/Twinclaws.
SUPPORT: In addition to Mistmeadow Witch (sort of control too) you also have Garruk's Packleader as a strong choice here, and another mono green alternative is Wirewood Symbiote
CONTROL: Crypt Rats might be one of the best PDH commanders out there.
TOOLBOX: I find it hard to clearly differentiate this category from Support. Disciple of Deceit is probably the most toolboxy PDH general. Baleful Strix is also powerful and something of a swiss army knife, but perhaps better under Support (it supports bounce engines and viridian longbow)?
Bottom line is, very few of these present any real threat to mono black Crypt Rats. Aggro/voltron is futile, but Garruk's Packleader might be able to keep up with the murder spree. Mistmeadow Witch and Peregrine Drake are probably the best for fighting it. To me, these are the PDH decks to beat - Crypt Rats, Mistmeadow Witch and Peregrine Drake. If your deck can handle those, you have a strong deck. You need to handle:
*Recurring board sweeps from Crypt Rats (needs creatures that recur or don't care about dying)
*Direct damage win con from Crypt Rats (needs life gain or damage prevention)
*Massive targeted removal and edicts from Crypt Rats (you probably can't rely on the red zone to win unless you have a good long game plan)
*Sorcery speed, creature based infinite combo from Peregrine Drake (needs reliable access to counters and/or instant speed removal)
*Instant speed blink for value or to neuter opp creatures from Mistmeadow Witch (instant speed removal or running mostly ETB dudes yourself is good)
*Massive card advantage from Mistmeadow Witch (you need massive CA yourself to keep up)
*Counters and reliable removal on all permanent types from Mistmeadow Witch (you need cheap, high value spells and expendable/recurable permanents)
*Board locks from cards like Stonehorn Dignitary or Vedalken Dismisser from Mistmeadow Witch (instant speed removal FTW again)
Hope that helps!
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My Generals:
Fusion Elemental 5 color control/Volton (goodstuff)
Gelectrode Pinger tribal control (spellslinger)
Scarland Thrinax Volton (token spam synergies)
As you can see 2 decks are Volton, and 1 is more of a threat than a support. Besides Gelectrode, which is more of a pet deck than anything. The other two are built to feed the General with power and auras to win the game. I play other finishers as well, but this guarantees I have a relevant threat or win con at all portions of the game. I also feel that large threats can be difficult to come by, so having a creature higher than 6 power really puts the pressure on my opponents.
In parentheses I have added what the deck synergies are, I have Fusion Elemental goodstuff control, Gelectrode spellslinger with burn and draw, and Scarland Thrinax token synergies. Scarland is the work in progress and will be my most synergistic pauper deck to date. I am no stranger to synergy being better than goodstuff from standard Commander, but Fusion Elemental was a pet card, and I had a casual pinger deck back in my younger magic years, so they got built first. I see most pauper decks are built for high synergy, but there are still many that go for goodstuff builds. Which do you think is more fun/better?
Roles:
Threat - large creature to beat face, or general used as a win-con. Blaze Commando Fusion Elemental Scarland Thrinax
Support - utility creature used to control the board or advance your deck. Skyward eye Prophets Mistmeadow Witch
Control - Removal creature, or Creature used to control your opponents. (Sacrifice Dragon) Izzet Staticaster
Toolbox - Generals that fill whatever roll you need at the time. Guild mages, Apprentices, Battle mages, etc.
Other - Generals used just for the Colors, or that are sort of random. Gelectrode
What Roles does your Commander play, how does it work for your deck, why did you choose that play style? So far I consider 2 of my 3 Commanders to be Threats, and one to be Other I guess. Gelectrode acts mostly as Control for my opponents creatures because on every spell he adds a Lava Dart or Shock which can add up very fast. Also used for Win con in the late game, so he is really a pretty good toolbox, but I did not put him in that category.
If I wanted a Support or Toolbox Commander next, what should I be looking at? I like some fringe creatures, so Mistmeadow witch is probably out due to unoriginality (yes I know I can build an original deck with any commander, but still).
THREAT: IMO, these come in two varieties, the hexproof/evasion type where Ascended Lawmage dominates and the double strike alternative where Marisi's Twinclaws if probably the best. Investing mana in a big beat stick is a dangerous proposition in PDH because threat quality is low and removal is cheap and abundant - you need to back up big dudes with either grave recursion, counters/protection or massive draw unless they are resilient or explosive like Lawmage/Twinclaws.
SUPPORT: In addition to Mistmeadow Witch (sort of control too) you also have Garruk's Packleader as a strong choice here, and another mono green alternative is Wirewood Symbiote
CONTROL: Crypt Rats might be one of the best PDH commanders out there.
TOOLBOX: I find it hard to clearly differentiate this category from Support. Disciple of Deceit is probably the most toolboxy PDH general. Baleful Strix is also powerful and something of a swiss army knife, but perhaps better under Support (it supports bounce engines and viridian longbow)?
OTHER: You're missing the combo category entirely. Peregrine Drake is probably the best pure combo commander. There's a very tuned list on these forums. There are some good options for infinite combo generals in simic too. There are also many good (but not infinite) commander+another card combos such as Puresight Merrow (a better Horseshoe Crab - just add Viridian Longbow or Psionic Gift/Hermetic Study or Banishing Knack or Ocular Halo).
Bottom line is, very few of these present any real threat to mono black Crypt Rats. Aggro/voltron is futile, but Garruk's Packleader might be able to keep up with the murder spree. Mistmeadow Witch and Peregrine Drake are probably the best for fighting it. To me, these are the PDH decks to beat - Crypt Rats, Mistmeadow Witch and Peregrine Drake. If your deck can handle those, you have a strong deck. You need to handle:
*Recurring board sweeps from Crypt Rats (needs creatures that recur or don't care about dying)
*Direct damage win con from Crypt Rats (needs life gain or damage prevention)
*Massive targeted removal and edicts from Crypt Rats (you probably can't rely on the red zone to win unless you have a good long game plan)
*Sorcery speed, creature based infinite combo from Peregrine Drake (needs reliable access to counters and/or instant speed removal)
*Instant speed blink for value or to neuter opp creatures from Mistmeadow Witch (instant speed removal or running mostly ETB dudes yourself is good)
*Massive card advantage from Mistmeadow Witch (you need massive CA yourself to keep up)
*Counters and reliable removal on all permanent types from Mistmeadow Witch (you need cheap, high value spells and expendable/recurable permanents)
*Board locks from cards like Stonehorn Dignitary or Vedalken Dismisser from Mistmeadow Witch (instant speed removal FTW again)
Hope that helps!
A series of seven articles using Magic to explore the very stuff of the Universe!
"At least for those who can play cards, their present incarnation is not quite wasted."
[Click here for the articles!]