Having built a dedicated Gaddock Teeg hatebears deck, I can say firsthand that he not only eats removal all day as BaronCappuccino said, but is also downright un-fun to play and play against unless you like un-making friends.
In my meta, Teeg tries to eat removal all day, but he negates most sweepers on his own, and I pack protection for him to help keep other stuff from succeeding. He's also really cheap to re-cast.
As far as un-making friends goes, it really depends on the person you're playing. Some people in my meta enjoy the challenge of getting their wincons through my Teeg deck, while on the other end of the spectrum my roommate has threatened to punch me in my sleep if I play that deck against him.
That's interesting, because I actually built mine to be a sort of team challenge, a-la "try to win without your main wincon." While Teeg did stop all of the sweepers, my meta is filled to. the. brim with spot removal. The deck quickly became archenemy and then I evolved it into Karador and now it really holds its own. It's neat to see that the whole "challenge stage" style works for some people
Having built a dedicated Gaddock Teeg hatebears deck, I can say firsthand that he not only eats removal all day as BaronCappuccino said, but is also downright un-fun to play and play against unless you like un-making friends. Kaalia is definitely a fast killer (I even think there's a turn two kill in there somewhere with a god-tier hand and a Master of Cruelties). If that doesn't interest you, though, I'd have to suggest Kresh the Bloodbraided. He helms one of my most winningest decks; a deck that got to that point due to how ridiculously huge Kresh can get quickly. More than once I have killed the table the turn Kresh comes out with the help of sac outlets and our good friends Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord and Fling. If that draws your interest, check out SaraceenPsycho's Primer for him.
You should include every possible Gitaxian Probe/Glasses of Urza/Telepathy style effect for flavor points. Wizard tribal with Jace is also a lot less scary than Azami.
My group transitioned from 60 card kitchen table Magic to exclusively competitive EDH very quickly. IIRC, all of our first commanders were: Doran, the Siege Tower Grimgrin, Corpse-Born Mayael the Anima Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite Yeva, Nature's Herald
and Braids, Conjurer Adept.
All of these decks played exactly as you would expect them to based on their commanders, and were all really good introductions to the format that helped us to grow into more complex deckbuilding. They're all really high on my list when I recommend generals to new players.
Zedruu the Greathearted says hello. Easily one of the funniest commanders you could build around. In the tide of war, with zombies and elves and massive creatures smashing each other to bits, a lone Minotaur Monk wanders through the carnage. She stops, looks at you, and as the chaos continues to erupt, she holds out her hand and says: "Here. I wanted you to have this."
I ran her in Titania because I could protect her easily and if I got to ultimate her, I could tutor out all of my druids and Gilt-Leaf Archdruid somebody. That was the extent of her usefulness, though.
I think should be included in the deck. One of the things that color is best at is chaos. I think Zedruu the Greathearted might be the commander you're looking for, so you can just donate all of the troll-y stuff to your opponents. As for individual cards, Possibility Storm is hilarious and puts every deck on the table into pure chaos mode. It screws up your strategy and everyone else's, but it has contributed to some of the most fun games I've ever played.
Oloro is really solid. Gaining life every upkeep for literally zero mana investment is really strong, and just makes control decks that much harder to kill. Zur is more combocentric, and Merieke is kind of like Oloro, in that she isn't an essential part of the deck. Just another solid control piece. It really just depends on what archetype you're going for.
It's a little pricier than your specifications ($3.99 TCG mid), but Worldspine Wurm is an all-star in the Jarad deck in my playgroup. The fifteen power and replacement wurms are usually a good trade for it shuffling itself back in.
Since a lot of the staples and such could potentially see print in a Modern Masters set, I think that opens up some possibilities. If the set wouldn't be meant for draft and would instead be specifically made for getting more expensive cards into the secondary market, I would like for the five most expensive three color generals and the most expensive commanders for the two-color pairs. But, given the huge prices of some Legends cards, I also think they should at least feel mythic, in order to move packs (I don't think any given little Jimmy at his LGS would be happy opening up an Angus Mackenzie). So, this would make the mythics:
As long as there isn't a limited environment with this hypothetical set, I don't think there's an issue with the mythics being pure value, and also inspiring people who pull them to say "Wow, an Olivia! I want to make a deck now!"
That's interesting, because I actually built mine to be a sort of team challenge, a-la "try to win without your main wincon." While Teeg did stop all of the sweepers, my meta is filled to. the. brim with spot removal. The deck quickly became archenemy and then I evolved it into Karador and now it really holds its own. It's neat to see that the whole "challenge stage" style works for some people
Doran, the Siege Tower
Grimgrin, Corpse-Born
Mayael the Anima
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
Yeva, Nature's Herald
and Braids, Conjurer Adept.
All of these decks played exactly as you would expect them to based on their commanders, and were all really good introductions to the format that helped us to grow into more complex deckbuilding. They're all really high on my list when I recommend generals to new players.
Kaalia of the Vast
Animar, Soul of Elements
Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund
Hazezon Tamar
Sen Triplets
Rasputin Dreamweaver
Thromok the Insatiable
Rhys the Redeemed
Sygg, River Cutthroat
Olivia Voldaren
Athreos, God of Passage
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
Skullbriar, the Walking Grave
Momir Vig, Simic Visionary
Keranos, God of Storms
As long as there isn't a limited environment with this hypothetical set, I don't think there's an issue with the mythics being pure value, and also inspiring people who pull them to say "Wow, an Olivia! I want to make a deck now!"