I actually really support Akiri, Line-Slinger if for no other reason that she's absurdly costed when playing with artifacts, and each piece of equipment you control effectively gives her another +1/+0. I also think Tana, the Bloodsower is a good target since she nets you pretty great advantage to connecting with an opponent in the form of extra bodies to do with what you will. I'd say there's some weird, hidden synergies between them if you're willing to explore actually in that they both really want to get bigger, but for different reasons and in different ways.
Have you heard of the 8x8 philosophy? Pick 8 effects you want, and then get 8 of those effects. It's not always perfect (or doable) but it's a good starting point for a commander deck before you start removing some and adding others.
Depending on your group's meta the new Armory Automaton could be good. He comes in, 'steals' your opponents' equipment, but you could sell his services to those willing to leave those pieces of equipment on him. Seems like a pretty good fit to me.
Edit: For some reason the auto card for him is busted. Here's a reference.
I feel like there's a strong case for an Atraxa, Praetors' Voice deck that utilizes things like Azor's Elocutors and Darksteel Reactor. Especially the former, maybe the latter if you can get out a ton of cards with charge counters and then move them somehow. At the very least I'd say Azor's Elocutors is worth including in most decks because you only need to keep it alive and keep from taking damage for 2 1/2 turns total. That's far from impossible.
Lots of good feedback here, and I have an update! We played 3 more games today with 2 other people. The first game he tried an Athreos, God of Passage recursion/death and taxes style deck. He enjoyed it but said he liked Ezuri, Claw of Progress better. The next game he ran rampant as Ezuri, and even after 4 board wipes we couldn't keep him down. The third game however, Ezuri got locked down and he saw firsthand what happens when you can't keep that commander on the board at all, so I think he got a bit disillusioned with Ezuri after that. He's picking up the game well and made some pretty impressive plays. This is only my personal preference, but if I get him a precon I don't think it's going to be a 2015 precon. I'd like to get him one that actually functions when the Commander isn't out on the field, and I feel like all of those really require you to keep the Commander to function. At this point I'm still leaning towards a good custom build Riku of Two Reflections deck. I honestly think Riku is the single best starter general ever printed.
Well, at the moment I don't really know what his playstyle is. He has next to no experience with Magic outside that one game where I showed him how to play with my Ezuri deck, and he enjoyed that. That's why I was leaning towards a Riku deck if I was going to build him one, since Riku is a versatile commander in some good colors that can be built in a variety of ways. Plus it can be upgraded to be tailored to his unique playstyle pretty easily.
And if I decided to just build him a precon deck, which was going to be the most engaging to start with, which so far I'm leaning towards a C13 precon since they're not as reliant on keeping the commander alive to function.
Like the title says, getting a commander deck for someone with very little experience in the ways of Magic, but he's shown interest in learning, and I let him play my Ezuri, Claw of Progress deck and he picked it up pretty fast with some basic rules help. Even pointed out that he should tap basic lands before dual lands so he had more color options later which a decent observation to make for your first game ever.
So at this point I'm down to 2 basic options that I can see.
1) Pick up a precon that I think would be easy to learn and fun to play
2) Build one from scratch that's tailored to his playstyle based on what I know about him.
The former is easier, and most likely cheaper but might miss the mark slightly.
The latter is more personal, but is most likely more expensive and will definitely require a lot more work.
So, if I were to pick up a precon, what would you suggest for a new player? And if I were to build one from scratch, who would you suggest for the general? Personally I'm leaning towards Riku of Two Reflections. It's a straightforward, easy to understand card that can be generally filled with good stuff and function with or without the commander, and let's him learn the nuances of the game and his deck at his own pace, with plenty of 'ah ha!' moments to reward creative thinking. That, and it can be built on an extreme budget since you're getting so much more value out of just about every card in it.
We've all done some stupid things, some of us dumber than others I'd wager.
I was playing with Merieke Ri Berit as my commander and only creature on the field. She had Lightning Greaves on and my opponent had Luminarch Ascension. Without thinking about it I attacked with Merieke to keep Luminarch Ascension from getting another counter. I did not think that through.
Why is everyone nergasming over the partners? The partners are crap and should only be put in the 99. There is no reason to play Ikra and Ishai over Atraxa. You want 4 colors, play one of the four colored generals or don't play 4 color.
Vial is the only one that is viable and he is fine on his own, no need for extra colors.
I agree! Stupid casuals playing this casual format all casual-like. It's disgraceful!
On a more serious note, I low key think that Akiri, Line-Slinger is gonna be insane in the right deck. In something like a R/W/B deck with Kraum, Ludevic's Opus for access to blue you can end up with a very potent artifact focused beat down deck with cards like Jor-Kadeen, The Prevailer being very synergistic with Akiri. I mean yeah she's a 0/3 out of the gate, but with just 3 artifacts you've got a solid 3/3 First Strike Vigilance that only gets bigger the more stuff you play, and Kraum isn't the most reliable card draw, but he's a decently big body and can be used to put on some good pressure. I really think there's a deck somewhere in there.
Besides Goblin Welder, don't forget the fantastic Scrap Mastery.
Of course white also has Open the Vaults.
Question is... What will be the win con in the deck?
Could Hellkite Tyrant be an option? They all seem to like having a ton of artifacts.
I'm not sure. On the one hand, yes absolutely, but on the other hand it seems slightly counter productive to have a commander that thrives on getting rid of artifacts. I definitely think it merits testing if nothing else. I think there's something there.
I want to keep Marionette Master on the table at the very least. If we take the +1/+1 counter option on Fabricate, Breya's damage mode comes out to 11 damage a use. That is not a small amount, and that's with absolutely no pumping of Marionette Master. Even if one of the other modes us used it's still 8 damage which is pretty nice.
Honestly I've been listing off all the colors like a dunce, but I think I'll switch over to the Nephilim names provided I can commit them to memory. X-less also seems like a viable option.
Edit: For some reason the auto card for him is busted. Here's a reference.
And if I decided to just build him a precon deck, which was going to be the most engaging to start with, which so far I'm leaning towards a C13 precon since they're not as reliant on keeping the commander alive to function.
So at this point I'm down to 2 basic options that I can see.
1) Pick up a precon that I think would be easy to learn and fun to play
2) Build one from scratch that's tailored to his playstyle based on what I know about him.
The former is easier, and most likely cheaper but might miss the mark slightly.
The latter is more personal, but is most likely more expensive and will definitely require a lot more work.
So, if I were to pick up a precon, what would you suggest for a new player? And if I were to build one from scratch, who would you suggest for the general? Personally I'm leaning towards Riku of Two Reflections. It's a straightforward, easy to understand card that can be generally filled with good stuff and function with or without the commander, and let's him learn the nuances of the game and his deck at his own pace, with plenty of 'ah ha!' moments to reward creative thinking. That, and it can be built on an extreme budget since you're getting so much more value out of just about every card in it.
I was playing with Merieke Ri Berit as my commander and only creature on the field. She had Lightning Greaves on and my opponent had Luminarch Ascension. Without thinking about it I attacked with Merieke to keep Luminarch Ascension from getting another counter. I did not think that through.
I agree! Stupid casuals playing this casual format all casual-like. It's disgraceful!
On a more serious note, I low key think that Akiri, Line-Slinger is gonna be insane in the right deck. In something like a R/W/B deck with Kraum, Ludevic's Opus for access to blue you can end up with a very potent artifact focused beat down deck with cards like Jor-Kadeen, The Prevailer being very synergistic with Akiri. I mean yeah she's a 0/3 out of the gate, but with just 3 artifacts you've got a solid 3/3 First Strike Vigilance that only gets bigger the more stuff you play, and Kraum isn't the most reliable card draw, but he's a decently big body and can be used to put on some good pressure. I really think there's a deck somewhere in there.
I'm not sure. On the one hand, yes absolutely, but on the other hand it seems slightly counter productive to have a commander that thrives on getting rid of artifacts. I definitely think it merits testing if nothing else. I think there's something there.
I want to keep Marionette Master on the table at the very least. If we take the +1/+1 counter option on Fabricate, Breya's damage mode comes out to 11 damage a use. That is not a small amount, and that's with absolutely no pumping of Marionette Master. Even if one of the other modes us used it's still 8 damage which is pretty nice.
Edited for formatting.