Yes, since it's rather hard to find multiplayer games at the moment. Game stores in other cities seem to be more interested in those than my LGS. I'm afraid that lack of sanctioned tournaments and casual environment won't attract our kind of player. People supporting French commander in my group are mostly former Legacy players with considerable card pools, interested in the most cutthroat techs there are. Therefore, I wouldn't like to build my variations of their decks, as I would be handicapped in both budget and piloting skill, so picking some other strategy is an option. As soon as I came up with a deck to do well in my meta, I found it to be severely lacking in another (who would've thought). I often browse Duel sub-forum, but most lists seem to be too slow/too disruptable for my meta.
So, I've been playtesting stuff for some time, entered a 20 hp duel tournament (spoiler: I failed) and that's what I came here with:
Meta at my LGS is dominated by Geist of Saint Traft at varied price ranges, with other important mentions being Vial Smasher the Fierce partners and Zurgo Bellstriker. Almost everything else is in Azorius or Simic colors, meaning counters for days. Non-interactive game plans don't seem appealing.
My monoblack didn't have a solid reanimator combo, but was relying on big mana for Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief and the like. It was slow alright, pretty disruptable and also limited in answers while being a control deck, so I disassembled it. Kambal, Consul of Allocation was godsend to patch my black deck's weaknesses, while also being undeniably useful at most stages of the game or even single-handedly gimping control decks. I quickly god rid of most things that costed over 4 mana and had an overall nice match-up against Geist with a list that only ran utility creatures like Fleshbag marauder and removal. Not being able to counter stuff still doesn't feel safe, but at least it can deal with any permanent type.
Stuff I met at the tournament wasn't much like out meta (still had a Zurgo and Geist thought). The only counter spell that I saw in the course of 7 games was my own turn 1 Mana tithe. Most people were using classic stax cards like Tangle wire and Braids, Cabal Minion, even in decks not usually suited for that. A single game I won was against Zurgo, who then proceeded to maul with creatures that I hadn't time to remove. All in all that was unexpected in a bad way, as I was sitting a top of mostly dead cards in any particular situation, though it is not entirely obvious which ones I should drop.
Can I build a monoblue deck, that will just play a draw-go counter game and still come out on top? Blue feels lonely in mono, as failure to come up with a counter to a single serious threat will set you back a lot. Some of them are plain uncounterable. On the other hand, adding another color, let alone two, feels like diluting your counter suite and they don't sinergize too well with a lot of mechanics from the other colors - especially cascade/top card effects. I'm still unsure how to get my unhealthy dose of control magic.
I'm also starting do doubt that a strategy built around most commanders costing 4+ mana would be viable. Nath of the Gilt-Leaf, The Gitrog Monster, Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest, Thraximundar, Azami, Lady of Scrolls and Momir Vig, Simic Visionary seem awesome, but when they hit the board around turn 3-4, either half of your hp will be gone, or the commander will get removed the following turn. There are also Nevermore or Meddling Mage which will have you dedicate card slots to removal. On the other hand red, which was mostly overlooked as a color can just win games now by throwing direct damage to the face.
I'm pretty confused, and can't think of any strategy that wouldn't have a glaring, crippling weakness to the common decks. I don't really want to engage in a damage race, if only with commander like Radha, Heir to Keld. Maybe stax is a way to go? I wouldn't be able to afford The Abyss and Nether Void though and I don't quite get how to play this type of deck consistently.
Well, I will probably need to look for Sidri, Galvanic Genius instead or invest into a commander 2016 box.
I know that Xiahou Dun is a highly sought after commander from the ancient times, and while I kind of see the appeal of Umezawa, but for 1 he might be unblockable and let you reuse any card, and more importantly, that card won't be exiled. Acquiring him won't be easy, though. I know Chainer is a fan favorite, but his drawback of exiling horrors is too cumbersome imo. Shirei is also fantastic, but requires a completely different set of cards and a focus on creatures. I would even run Horobi, if I wasn't sure he will backfire on me more than anybody else. I'm still in doubt whoever of the ones I've listed would be of use in the command zone, since I won't be ably to reanimate them early, but on the other hand, they are virtually impossible to get rid of for my opponents, given black access to mana.
I enjoy most black mechanics, be it painful draw, removal, recursion, discard etc. though discard is a bit disappointing when enemies run out of cards, and graveyards tend to be exiled, so removal is my best bet. And boy, what removal it is: it goes through hexproof, regeneration, indestructible, immunity to -1/-1 counters and protection from black. You only need some complementary non-black stuff for artifacts and enchantments.
When I'm playing mono blue it's just fun to see how my artifact mechanisms work with each other or my wizard scholars draw cards, bounce into my hand and back into play and weave spells. I usually completely ignore combat step and counter spells if they threaten my pretty board state. I'm even considering Karn as a commander, though it's going to be a considerable investment. Dagsson does contribute a valuable tutoring for that matter, the same way as Azami is reading a lot, but they are not hundred percent necessary.
I have a mono B control, that is currenty led by Sidisi, Undead Vizier with Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief, Geth, Lord of the Vault, Anowon, the Ruin Sage and Sheoldred, Whispering One as possible options and a mono U control deck with an arifact subtheme with Memnarch, Padeem, Consul of Innovation and Azami, Lady of Scrolls (artifacts can be swapped for more wizards I don't have yet) as commanders. What is my best bet at mono B commander aside of Xiahou Dun? Is it worth running Sharuum the Hegemon or Arcum Dagsson or I'll get hated out of multiplayer games? What are the advantages of running tri-colored commanders other than multicolored spells? I don't have any dual lands or fetches at the moment, and I'm not sure it is worth investing into. I'm also the person to get mana-screwed most of the time. I mostly have experience with Grixis decks. What an I missing out on other color combinations?
Meta at my LGS is dominated by Geist of Saint Traft at varied price ranges, with other important mentions being Vial Smasher the Fierce partners and Zurgo Bellstriker. Almost everything else is in Azorius or Simic colors, meaning counters for days. Non-interactive game plans don't seem appealing.
My monoblack didn't have a solid reanimator combo, but was relying on big mana for Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief and the like. It was slow alright, pretty disruptable and also limited in answers while being a control deck, so I disassembled it. Kambal, Consul of Allocation was godsend to patch my black deck's weaknesses, while also being undeniably useful at most stages of the game or even single-handedly gimping control decks. I quickly god rid of most things that costed over 4 mana and had an overall nice match-up against Geist with a list that only ran utility creatures like Fleshbag marauder and removal. Not being able to counter stuff still doesn't feel safe, but at least it can deal with any permanent type.
Stuff I met at the tournament wasn't much like out meta (still had a Zurgo and Geist thought). The only counter spell that I saw in the course of 7 games was my own turn 1 Mana tithe. Most people were using classic stax cards like Tangle wire and Braids, Cabal Minion, even in decks not usually suited for that. A single game I won was against Zurgo, who then proceeded to maul with creatures that I hadn't time to remove. All in all that was unexpected in a bad way, as I was sitting a top of mostly dead cards in any particular situation, though it is not entirely obvious which ones I should drop.
Can I build a monoblue deck, that will just play a draw-go counter game and still come out on top? Blue feels lonely in mono, as failure to come up with a counter to a single serious threat will set you back a lot. Some of them are plain uncounterable. On the other hand, adding another color, let alone two, feels like diluting your counter suite and they don't sinergize too well with a lot of mechanics from the other colors - especially cascade/top card effects. I'm still unsure how to get my unhealthy dose of control magic.
I'm also starting do doubt that a strategy built around most commanders costing 4+ mana would be viable. Nath of the Gilt-Leaf, The Gitrog Monster, Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest, Thraximundar, Azami, Lady of Scrolls and Momir Vig, Simic Visionary seem awesome, but when they hit the board around turn 3-4, either half of your hp will be gone, or the commander will get removed the following turn. There are also Nevermore or Meddling Mage which will have you dedicate card slots to removal. On the other hand red, which was mostly overlooked as a color can just win games now by throwing direct damage to the face.
I'm pretty confused, and can't think of any strategy that wouldn't have a glaring, crippling weakness to the common decks. I don't really want to engage in a damage race, if only with commander like Radha, Heir to Keld. Maybe stax is a way to go? I wouldn't be able to afford The Abyss and Nether Void though and I don't quite get how to play this type of deck consistently.
I know that Xiahou Dun is a highly sought after commander from the ancient times, and while I kind of see the appeal of Umezawa, but for 1 he might be unblockable and let you reuse any card, and more importantly, that card won't be exiled. Acquiring him won't be easy, though. I know Chainer is a fan favorite, but his drawback of exiling horrors is too cumbersome imo. Shirei is also fantastic, but requires a completely different set of cards and a focus on creatures. I would even run Horobi, if I wasn't sure he will backfire on me more than anybody else. I'm still in doubt whoever of the ones I've listed would be of use in the command zone, since I won't be ably to reanimate them early, but on the other hand, they are virtually impossible to get rid of for my opponents, given black access to mana.
I enjoy most black mechanics, be it painful draw, removal, recursion, discard etc. though discard is a bit disappointing when enemies run out of cards, and graveyards tend to be exiled, so removal is my best bet. And boy, what removal it is: it goes through hexproof, regeneration, indestructible, immunity to -1/-1 counters and protection from black. You only need some complementary non-black stuff for artifacts and enchantments.
When I'm playing mono blue it's just fun to see how my artifact mechanisms work with each other or my wizard scholars draw cards, bounce into my hand and back into play and weave spells. I usually completely ignore combat step and counter spells if they threaten my pretty board state. I'm even considering Karn as a commander, though it's going to be a considerable investment. Dagsson does contribute a valuable tutoring for that matter, the same way as Azami is reading a lot, but they are not hundred percent necessary.