I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Praetor's Counsel yet; granted, they're going to be cards you've already used, but that can draw a LOT of cards. (And if you're looking to do that, having no maximum hand size matters.)
So I've recently gone down from having two mediocre Commander decks to one better one (Ghave, Guru of Spores). However, I'm always in the process of tweaking the deck. The trouble is that the Commander community tends to be scattered here, and I can't frequently get out to actually play the deck.
Does anyone have ideas for how to playtest a Commander deck by oneself? I know there was an article on the mothership a few months ago (can't find it right now) that used dice-rolling to simulate a random opponent; would something like that be adaptable to playtesting EDH?
Thanks to everyone for the replies; certainly some interesting ideas here!
I've edited the original post to bar Omniscience as an answer (modifying rule 3 to add "cannot alter, eliminate, or circumvent the mana costs of spells"), as well as added rule 5: No build-arounds.
What's the card every deck, regardless of what it's trying to do, would start with if they could (subject to the restrictions)?
An interesting question a friend of mine posed recently, and this seems like the right place to ask it:
You are allowed to begin a game of Legacy with any one permanent card on the battlefield, subject to the following restrictions:
(5/22/14: Edited to clarify a couple of things, and to make sure Omniscience isn't a valid answer.)
1) The card cannot have ever been banned or restricted in any format.
2) The card cannot be a creature, have the ability to become a creature, or have the ability to produce creatures.
3) The card cannot have the ability to produce mana, nor can it alter, eliminate, or circumvent the mana costs of spells.
4) The card cannot restrict the opponent's ability to play spells, nor can it target the opponent or any permanents they control.
5) We're not looking for "build-around" cards. Yes, as pointed out below, you could start the game with Battle of Wits and a 210-land deck, but that's not in the spirit of what we're after here.
I believe it was Zvi who claimed that every deck in the history of Magic is better with a Black Lotus in it. That's the spirit we're after here; what is the card (subject to these restrictions) that EVERY deck would start with in play if they could?
What card do you choose?
I will cop to not knowing every card in Magic's history, but
THIS is the question WotC needs to answer.
For that matter, so does everyone in this thread.
(Which, of course, raises the question: What do you consider "fair"?)
What would you build? What do you think your record would be in a 7-round PPTQ? (Assume you are roughly average as far as play skill in the room.)
Note to self: RTFC. Could've sworn it turned them green as well.
Alright, it still an awesome card, and probably still finds a home, but it doesn't quite hose current decks as badly as I thought.
I don't play much standard, but note that among the things this hits is lands animated by Nissa, Worldwaker (which Perilous Vault doesn't do).
In Limited, I'm certainly taking it and can hopefully get a good Abzan or Sultai shell to ensure I live long enough to cast it.
Does anyone have ideas for how to playtest a Commander deck by oneself? I know there was an article on the mothership a few months ago (can't find it right now) that used dice-rolling to simulate a random opponent; would something like that be adaptable to playtesting EDH?
Thanks in advance for the help.
I've edited the original post to bar Omniscience as an answer (modifying rule 3 to add "cannot alter, eliminate, or circumvent the mana costs of spells"), as well as added rule 5: No build-arounds.
What's the card every deck, regardless of what it's trying to do, would start with if they could (subject to the restrictions)?
I was looking for something that wasn't deck-dependent, so while Charbelcher and Battle of Wits are interesting ideas, they must be built around.
What if we amend #3 to say "cannot produce mana or reduce/eliminate the mana costs of your spells"?
You are allowed to begin a game of Legacy with any one permanent card on the battlefield, subject to the following restrictions:
(5/22/14: Edited to clarify a couple of things, and to make sure Omniscience isn't a valid answer.)
1) The card cannot have ever been banned or restricted in any format.
2) The card cannot be a creature, have the ability to become a creature, or have the ability to produce creatures.
3) The card cannot have the ability to produce mana, nor can it alter, eliminate, or circumvent the mana costs of spells.
4) The card cannot restrict the opponent's ability to play spells, nor can it target the opponent or any permanents they control.
5) We're not looking for "build-around" cards. Yes, as pointed out below, you could start the game with Battle of Wits and a 210-land deck, but that's not in the spirit of what we're after here.
I believe it was Zvi who claimed that every deck in the history of Magic is better with a Black Lotus in it. That's the spirit we're after here; what is the card (subject to these restrictions) that EVERY deck would start with in play if they could?
What card do you choose?
I will cop to not knowing every card in Magic's history, but