I just found a regular local MTG event, and not having played in a long, long time my fingers are itching again.
I talked to one of the hosts and he introduced me to the "new" commander format. So I sat down, undusted my old card collection and tried to throw a deck together, looking like this at the moment:
I read through some of the guides, but not having ever played a single Commander game ever, I'm more than unsure about the card distribution, mana base etc.
I'D hoped some of you folks might give me a hand here.
I know those are all pretty old and partly not competitive cards, stopped playing when Mirrodin hit the shelves back then.
You've constructed a very interesting Cromat deck with many cards that I've never seen played before in Commander. This format is all about building janky decks like this, and having lots of fun!
I used to have Cromat as the Commander of my five colour deck, built around getting Progenitus and other big creatures into play using cards like Elvish Piper and Quicksilver Amulet. I've since replaced Cromat with Ramos, Dragon Engine, and the deck has evolved significantly over time. You'll likely find that your deck will evolve over time too.
Your land-base isn't the worst for on a budget, but there are some very cheap alternatives available that would be significantly better than some of the lands you've chosen. For example the lair cycle, Rith's Grove et al, represent land disadvantage. They essentially cause you to waste your land drop, and set yourself a land behind. Better options for three colours would be the triple taplands, Jungle Shrine et al, or if you want bounce lands, Gruul Turf et al.
However, even these cycles are generally considered sub-par for a five colour deck. You should always have a Command Tower, they are cheap and ubiquitous. But you can also consider a few better five colour lands if your budget allows, such as Reflecting Pool, Meteor CraterExotic Orchard, Path of Ancestry, City of Brass. I also really like Temple of the False God, it's a fairly cheap double-mana land with a usually redundant downside.
Many players swear by using fetchlands (Wooded Foothills) and shocklands (Stomping Ground), amazing lands if you can afford them. However; more budget friendly alternatives include the Mirage fetches (Mountain Valley), and Bicycle lands (Sheltered Thicket). Fetches help to remove lands from your deck, increasing the chance to draw nonland cards towards the late game.
If you're having trouble colour fixing, you can always consider budget dual colour lands such as the Guild Gates (Gruul Guildgate), or just cheat colour fixing using Joiner Adept, Chromatic Lantern, and Prismatic Omen. Setting yourself up with a good land base is the best way to improve your deck IMO.
Oh, another piece of advice I have for improving your deck building is to build using a template. Templates help to make sure you include enough removal, draw, ramp etc.
My template is:
36-38 Lands
10 Removal cards (including at least 3 Mass Removal)
8 Draw cards (preferably repeatable e.g. Rhystic Study, or large draws e.g. Recurring Insight, cantrips and deck filters don't really count unless you can repeat them)
8 Card Advantage cards (more Draw cards, or graveyard recursion, or other card advantage mechanics)
10 Ramp cards (mana rocks, land ramp e.g. Cultivate)
4 Protection cards (cards that protect your gameplan, e.g. Dueling Grounds for voltron decks, Reconnaissance for aggro decks)
2 Wincon cards (main strategy wincons or alternative wincons, Simic Ascendancy, Hellkite Tyrant, Mechanized Production)
19-21 Synergy cards (flexible slots for Commander synergy, strategy synergy, or other jank)
This is just the template I use for my decks, you can find plenty of other templates online from experienced deck builders!
Arkhaic, you are a wonderful person - it must've taken a ton of time to write this up, thank you so, so much! <3
I found a kind of similar template, which I tried to work through while building up the deck.
The current main problem will be that I don't own any of those "new" (at least for me) card post Onslaught, and since I am not one for buying single cards online, I'll have to see if there are some people at that weekly event willing to trade. So I guess I'll have to stick with that old stuff for one (which I still have waaaay to much, I must've spent a fortune back then...).
Those were some nice card ideas you threw in, especially regarding the manabase (how could I miss all those lands?!) - updated the deck version in the main post.
EDIT:
Went for yet another revision, shuffling some things around, especially on the creature department.
I just found a regular local MTG event, and not having played in a long, long time my fingers are itching again.
I talked to one of the hosts and he introduced me to the "new" commander format. So I sat down, undusted my old card collection and tried to throw a deck together, looking like this at the moment:
1 Cromat
Creature
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Utopia Tree
1 Hanna, Ship's Navigator
1 Yavimaya Elder
1 Radiant Kavu
1 Genesis
1 Dromar, the Banisher
1 Rith, the Awakener
1 Treva, the Renewer
1 Tsabo Tavoc
Enchantment
1 Mystic Remora
1 Propaganda
1 Compost
1 Rhystic Study
1 Collective Restraint
1 Spirit of Resistance
1 Yawgmoth's Agenda
1 Cloud Cover
1 Overgrown Estate
1 Pernicious Deed
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Powerstone Minefield
1 Mirari's Wake
Land
1 An-Havva Township
13 Forest
3 Island
3 Mountain
3 Plains
3 Swamp
1 Gemstone Mine
1 Reflecting Pool
1 Brushland
1 Karplusan Forest
1 Terminal Moraine
1 City of Brass
1 Llanowar Wastes
1 Yavimaya Coast
1 Crystal Quarry
1 Mossfire Valley
1 Sungrass Prairie
1 Tarnished Citadel
1 Sol Ring
1 Fellwar Stone
1 Mana Prism
1 Planar Portal
1 Legacy Weapon
1 Draco
Instant
1 Capsize
1 Whispers of the Muse
1 Mind Games
1 Allay
1 Shattering Pulse
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Absorb
1 Harrow
1 Spite // Malice
1 Undermine
1 Worldly Counsel
1 Crosis's Charm
1 Dromar's Charm
1 Terminate
1 Treva's Charm
1 Evasive Action
1 Suffocating Blast
Sorcery
1 Regrowth
1 Rampant Growth
1 Global Ruin
1 Allied Strategies
1 Wrath of God
1 Lay of the Land
1 Planar Despair
1 Vindicate
1 Decimate
1 Deep Reconnaissance
1 Diabolic Tutor
1 Recoup
1 Explosive Vegetation
1 Insurrection
1 Decree of Pain
I read through some of the guides, but not having ever played a single Commander game ever, I'm more than unsure about the card distribution, mana base etc.
I'D hoped some of you folks might give me a hand here.
I know those are all pretty old and partly not competitive cards, stopped playing when Mirrodin hit the shelves back then.
You've constructed a very interesting Cromat deck with many cards that I've never seen played before in Commander. This format is all about building janky decks like this, and having lots of fun!
I used to have Cromat as the Commander of my five colour deck, built around getting Progenitus and other big creatures into play using cards like Elvish Piper and Quicksilver Amulet. I've since replaced Cromat with Ramos, Dragon Engine, and the deck has evolved significantly over time. You'll likely find that your deck will evolve over time too.
First, I can guide you towards an invaluable resource: https://www.edhrec.com/commanders/cromat
EDHREC is IMO one of the best resources for deck building. It can show you what cards over people are using to build their Commander decks, helping you to pick out key synergistic cards. A couple of cards I can personally recommend for Cromat are Bloom Tender, Maelstrom Archangel, Spirit of Resistance, Bringer of the Blue Dawn, Aura Shards, Chromatic Lantern, Mayael's Aria, Mirari's Wake, Maelstrom Pulse, and Conflux. These are some of my favourite cards within my five colour deck.
Your land-base isn't the worst for on a budget, but there are some very cheap alternatives available that would be significantly better than some of the lands you've chosen. For example the lair cycle, Rith's Grove et al, represent land disadvantage. They essentially cause you to waste your land drop, and set yourself a land behind. Better options for three colours would be the triple taplands, Jungle Shrine et al, or if you want bounce lands, Gruul Turf et al.
However, even these cycles are generally considered sub-par for a five colour deck. You should always have a Command Tower, they are cheap and ubiquitous. But you can also consider a few better five colour lands if your budget allows, such as Reflecting Pool, Meteor Crater Exotic Orchard, Path of Ancestry, City of Brass. I also really like Temple of the False God, it's a fairly cheap double-mana land with a usually redundant downside.
Many players swear by using fetchlands (Wooded Foothills) and shocklands (Stomping Ground), amazing lands if you can afford them. However; more budget friendly alternatives include the Mirage fetches (Mountain Valley), and Bicycle lands (Sheltered Thicket). Fetches help to remove lands from your deck, increasing the chance to draw nonland cards towards the late game.
If you're having trouble colour fixing, you can always consider budget dual colour lands such as the Guild Gates (Gruul Guildgate), or just cheat colour fixing using Joiner Adept, Chromatic Lantern, and Prismatic Omen. Setting yourself up with a good land base is the best way to improve your deck IMO.
Anyway, I hope some of that was helpful!
My template is:
36-38 Lands
10 Removal cards (including at least 3 Mass Removal)
8 Draw cards (preferably repeatable e.g. Rhystic Study, or large draws e.g. Recurring Insight, cantrips and deck filters don't really count unless you can repeat them)
8 Card Advantage cards (more Draw cards, or graveyard recursion, or other card advantage mechanics)
10 Ramp cards (mana rocks, land ramp e.g. Cultivate)
4 Protection cards (cards that protect your gameplan, e.g. Dueling Grounds for voltron decks, Reconnaissance for aggro decks)
2 Wincon cards (main strategy wincons or alternative wincons, Simic Ascendancy, Hellkite Tyrant, Mechanized Production)
19-21 Synergy cards (flexible slots for Commander synergy, strategy synergy, or other jank)
This is just the template I use for my decks, you can find plenty of other templates online from experienced deck builders!
I found a kind of similar template, which I tried to work through while building up the deck.
The current main problem will be that I don't own any of those "new" (at least for me) card post Onslaught, and since I am not one for buying single cards online, I'll have to see if there are some people at that weekly event willing to trade. So I guess I'll have to stick with that old stuff for one (which I still have waaaay to much, I must've spent a fortune back then...).
Those were some nice card ideas you threw in, especially regarding the manabase (how could I miss all those lands?!) - updated the deck version in the main post.
EDIT:
Went for yet another revision, shuffling some things around, especially on the creature department.