This is my take on a commander who I think is among the most perfect in combining flavor and function: Endrek Sahr. Since the best opponents are the ones who aren't playing, I made the goal landing a black-lock, ultimately with Contamination, but I've found that Infernal Darkness is great to buy time if you don't start with all the pieces in your opening hand. I like the deck-destruction cards like Sadistic Sacrament for trying to ensure nobody has removal once the lock is in place, but should it not be viable at the time, there are plenty of repeatable mass hand discard effects to bide time. Smokestack was intended to be the signature strategy, but it really only sees play in a black-heaavy table. Helldozer was included to take care of black-light environments. I'm open to suggestions. This deck was built with a price-per-card limit of $50.00, but I hope to up that to $300.00 soon, because the following cards are my wishlist: Xiahou Dun, The Abyss, Chains of Mephistopheles, and Grim Tutor. I don't foresee a day when I'm willing to pay Imperial Seal prices.
It all comes down to play groups -- that's what EDH is all about. I couldn't imagine ever basing a play off of what would be the most fun for my opponents. In fact, there's a certain joy in creating misery for your friends. That said, there's a significant population of players who play otherwise, and it's not right to sit and play if you're not going to abide by the house rules. I, personally, just don't go for house rules. I've suicided out of a game with a Pox or Deathcloud before, and it's better than losing on their terms.
If I have to lose, I want my opponents to be as merciless as possible. I hate losing, and I don't let people win, and I expect it of everyone else. Losing is bad enough -- losing to a sporting gentleman tying one hand behind his back to make things more equal is even worse. Nobody lowers themselves to my level if I have anything to do about it.
EDH is the only format with a built in expectation to lower oneself to the level of the worst player for the sake of fun and fairness. Other formats put the onus on the worst player to improve. EDH does the opposite. That's likely the cause for most of the whiny tendencies.
I only see two broad camps of commander players: playing for fun and playing to win. The former are exemplified by posts saying a particular deck wouldn't be allowed in his or her play group. The latter are exemplified by posts suggesting, essentially, that the solution to a problem deck is a better deck. The former could likely find dozens more cards to add to the banned list. The latter could find dozens to remove from it.
My commander is Endrek Sahr, and a stax strategy has worked pretty well. I have a little game shop and cafe that provides me with no shortage of friends and opponents, and the meta is pretty cutthroat. We thrive on creating unfun board states. Contamination and Infernal Darkness are really the MVPs. The best opponents are the ones who can't cast spells. Make a concerted effort to resolve one early, and then you can play your Smokestack and Pestilence with impunity. Speaking of which -- I've grown to absolutely adore Pestilence. I think the goal of a stax deck should be two-fold: to have your opponents scoop before you resolve your actual win condition, and to have opponents think your deck is their least favorite and not want to play you anymore. I don't think the strategy is viable under the tenets of the social contract commander as a format is supposed to be about. This is my take on the concept. I think a good stax deck prioritizes enchantments over other permanents, because most people run the least removal for it.
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Perilous Vault
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Skullclamp
1 Smokestack
1 Sol Ring
//Artifact Creature (1)
1 Solemn Simulacrum
//Creature (17)
1 Abyssal Gatekeeper
1 Bloodgift Demon
1 Crypt Ghast
1 Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder
1 Fleshbag Marauder
1 Geth, Lord of the Vault
1 Grave Titan
1 Graveborn Muse
1 Helldozer
1 Magus of the Coffers
1 Merciless Executioner
1 Mindslicer
1 Nirkana Revenant
1 Phyrexian Obliterator
1 Sadistic Hypnotist
1 Sidisi, Undead Vizier
1 Skirsdag High Priest
1 Animate Dead
1 Attrition
1 Black Market
1 Blood Funnel
1 Bottomless Pit
1 Breeding Pit
1 Contamination
1 Dance of the Dead
1 Descent into Madness
1 Dictate of Erebos
1 Gate to Phyrexia
1 Grave Pact
1 Infernal Darkness
1 Mind Slash
1 Necromancy
1 Necropotence
1 Oppression
1 Pestilence
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Words of Waste
//Instant (1)
1 Vampiric Tutor
//Planeswalker (1)
1 Liliana Vess
//Sorcery (15)
1 Black Sun's Zenith
1 Cruel Tutor
1 Damnation
1 Death Cloud
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Diabolic Intent
1 Diabolic Tutor
1 Head Games
1 Nightmare Incursion
1 Phyrexian Tribute
1 Pox
1 Reanimate
1 Sadistic Sacrament
1 Smallpox
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Bitterblossom
//Land (37)
1 Cabal Coffers
1 Crypt of Agadeem
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
16 Snow-Covered Swamp
16 Swamp
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Perilous Vault
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Skullclamp
1 Smokestack
1 Sol Ring
//Artifact Creature (1)
1 Solemn Simulacrum
//Creature (17)
1 Abyssal Gatekeeper
1 Bloodgift Demon
1 Crypt Ghast
1 Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder
1 Fleshbag Marauder
1 Geth, Lord of the Vault
1 Grave Titan
1 Graveborn Muse
1 Helldozer
1 Magus of the Coffers
1 Merciless Executioner
1 Mindslicer
1 Nirkana Revenant
1 Phyrexian Obliterator
1 Sadistic Hypnotist
1 Sidisi, Undead Vizier
1 Skirsdag High Priest
1 Animate Dead
1 Attrition
1 Black Market
1 Blood Funnel
1 Bottomless Pit
1 Breeding Pit
1 Contamination
1 Dance of the Dead
1 Descent into Madness
1 Dictate of Erebos
1 Gate to Phyrexia
1 Grave Pact
1 Infernal Darkness
1 Mind Slash
1 Necromancy
1 Necropotence
1 Oppression
1 Pestilence
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Words of Waste
//Instant (1)
1 Vampiric Tutor
//Planeswalker (1)
1 Liliana Vess
//Sorcery (15)
1 Black Sun's Zenith
1 Cruel Tutor
1 Damnation
1 Death Cloud
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Diabolic Intent
1 Diabolic Tutor
1 Head Games
1 Nightmare Incursion
1 Phyrexian Tribute
1 Pox
1 Reanimate
1 Sadistic Sacrament
1 Smallpox
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Bitterblossom
//Land (37)
1 Cabal Coffers
1 Crypt of Agadeem
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
16 Snow-Covered Swamp
16 Swamp
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Volrath's Stronghold