Scroll Rack is the only thing I'd like to see as of now. Zada, Hedron Grinder is just so rough without the ability to dig for cards. Credit Voucher is my current replacement, but the one time use is brutal.
Turn 4 or 5, Ezuri drops Vernal Bloom. Phenax mills someone for a few cards with her snakes, Mizzix is digging for cards, and I follow up with another Vernal Bloom and a Keeper of Progenitus. Forests are now worth four G, and I've been ramping up my land count. I felt safe ramping out those doublers a little early because Ezuri was light on forests and Mizzix was light on mountains.
I pass the turn, and Ezuri taps out for Kaho, Minamo Historian and grabs some board wipes. Phenax doesn't have any open blue mana (don't remember why) and Mizzix spends all blue mana on Thought Reflection. No blue mana? Time to go for it.
Primal Surge, hit probably 40 permanents, among them are 14 lands for 14 more snakes, a Champion of Lambholt, and some other goodies. The only thing I hit for haste is my Swiftfoot Boots. My biggest creature is the 29/29 Champion, but now everyone knows I'm going to win on my next turn if they don't wipe me out. I managed to get one of those great games where my wincons are all at the bottom of my deck...
At this point, my forests are worth 6 each and plains are worth 3 each. I've also only a few cards left in my library and Phenax is getting ready to mill me out. I need to win, but I don't have it yet. With 73+ mana available, I could cast some creatures to hopefully draw into something. Instead, I draw out all of my mana and cast The Great Aurora. Phenax sighs and mills 13 before she loses all of her permanents. Ezuri laughs and starts to shuffle up. Mizzix asks to see my library before I shuffle: "Sure?"
He counts. "You only have 16 cards left in your library." Okay? "You have 20 snake tokens." Crap. I shuffle up and fail to draw.
Through goldfishing I've really come to like Sandstone Needle and Dwarven Ruins. I'm very rarely bothered by the comes in tapped aspect, and the extra colored mana can really smooth out the early turns.
I haven't tested Untaidake, the Cloud Keeper yet. I'm pretty certain I'm not going to like it, though. It only applies to two cards in my deck, and I'd rather have the mana available for the spells that will get me to a ritual.
If you're going combo I'm not a fan of mana rocks outside of Sol Ring or others that generate more mana than they cost quickly. I'd have to cut something for them, and I'm not sure I'm comfortable losing creatures, cantrips, or rituals.
My vote is also for Vhati il-Dal. It's at a much lower threat level and encourages more interesting deck building. Jarad is pretty uninteresting. Generic GY stuff with table wide life drain. For me, it wouldn't be an interesting way to win or play. Vhati is a little easier to cast, has an interesting ability, is less likely to be seen, and I like his flavor text.
I don't know how purple it is, but I always figured if I went Jarad it'd be an elf build. Might be a way to keep a theme that avoids dipping into "Gimme all the good Golgari cards!"
If you go off during the combat step, it can be a great mana sink to get in some more damage. That being said, the restrictions are really frustrating. The target attacking creature part really makes this a frustrating card. If you're setting up for your next turn, Balduvian Rage forces you to commit forces to the field where they can get blocked or mass bounced a la Ætherspouts and friends. If you're ready to combo out, it doesn't get you cards until the next upkeep. It functions as a pump, but it can only be cast during the combat phase. No mana from Inner Fire or Mana Geyser, no Mizzix's Mastery, and you lose any mana you may have gotten from land taps in between Fiery Gambit resolutions. Even without the new cantrip reveal I was thinking about cutting it. Now it's pretty much confirmed.
I'm personally not a fan of Mizzium Mortars in EDH. It's expensive for a mediocre effect. Depends on meta, but in mine I'm not sure it has enough oomph.
Chaos Warp is good as an "Answers everything" card.
I don't like Izzet Charm in EDH. It's too easy to pay for in EDH, and it's other modes are really lackluster.
Nivix, Aerie of the Firemind can only hit about 1/5 of your deck. I'm not a big fan. Visions of Beyond is a weak effect. I'd go for a bigger draw. Either a mana dump or something like Recurring Insight. 1 mana for 1 card isn't great, and hitting 3 cards is tough without mill. Jace's Erasure isn't strong enough in my opinion. You'll need to draw 80+ cards with it out to mill someone. Until then you're adding fuel to their engine.
I wouldn't run artifact lands unless you have a reason for it. They're more open to removal without any upside.
I think Ring of Three Wishes is too expensive for this deck. You have so much card cycling that I think you'll rarely want to dump mana into it.
I'm with Carthage on Omniscience. With Arjun it's just silly.
I'm not sure how I feel about Melek, Izzet Paragon in this deck. It's 6 mana to play him, you don't have much library manipulation, and I don't know if he triggers off enough of your deck.
Cards you might be interested in: Spiraling Embers is a cheaper Master the Way without the cantrip effect. Parallel Thoughts is a weird version of a tutor. Additionally, you can choose to take a card from an empty pile. Could keep you from killing yourself from drawing on an empty library if you don't have Laboratory Maniac out yet. Meishin, the Mind Cage has a high CMC, but it can lock out combat wins. You don't really care about the power of your creatures much, so might be interesting. Increasing Vengeance, Reiterate, Wild Ricochet
Arjun, the Shifting Flame is my vote. If your goal is "drawing matters" in Izzet, Arjun is the right sphinx.
How competitive is your meta? How long are you expecting the game to last?
Here are my general guidelines for an EDH deck:
Figure out how you want to win.
Start at 40 lands. Remove 1 for every 2 pieces of ramp.
I try to start around 8 pieces of ramp. Thought Vessel, Sol Ring, Mind Stone, Hedron Archive, Worn Powerstone, Darksteel Ingot, and Commander's Sphere are generally where I start. Then I'll add keyrunes, cluestones, or other color specific ramp.
Your curve is important. It's fun to cast 7+ CMC spells, but give yourself options for earlier. If you're playing Arjun, lower CMC spells lets you keep cycling as well.
I try to run 3 wipes at minimum. Adjust as necessary.
Targeted removal is less efficient, but still important.
Build to your groups expectations. If everyone is durdling around trying to cast big splashy spells, don't try to combo out on turn 4 every game. Follow the Social Contract. This article might be a good read! Browbeat and Breaking Point are examples of cards that aren't going to work well in EDH. Everyone has 40 health, so it's much less of an issue to lose life. I'd pretty much always take 5 over letting someone draw 3. This just isn't effective.
Here's a 10 minute Arjun build to maybe get ideas from.
I'm beginning to think I should just make two Zadas: One for explosive and ridiculous games that end in a turn and one that's a bit more grindy and mid-range. I think I've known and just didn't want to admit that Psychosis Crawler and Purphoros, God of the Forge are a bit too slow and awkward for the deck.
lyonheart thanks for the explanation. I remember reading the "Scry a bunch, cantrip while scrying" before, but I don't think it really clicked. I'm still not sure if it's worth 4 mana when it only combos with Krenko, but there aren't many other options here. I'm going to think about slotting this in.
I can't afford a Phyrexian Altar. I'm wondering if you think Thermopod is worth running if you can't budget for the Altar. Ashnod's Altar is the closest comparison I have, but colorless mana is almost useless. I don't have many other options, so I'm going to attempt Thermopod. I'm often finding myself short on rituals.
I just looked through the decklist posted in the indecision thread on the main commander page. How did I not know that credit voucher was a second scroll rack for me? The slightly higher cost and inability to reuse it may keep it from surviving testing, but I didn't even know that card existed.
I'm very happy to hear of your interest in Credit Voucher. I really wish I could afford Scroll Rack, but that's a bit too much for me. Credit Voucher runs as an okay replacement, but it is still lacking. I've had to throw in Commune with Lava to make up for the lack in hand sculpting. Important aspects of Voucher: It shuffles the cards back into your library. This can be good or bad, but I'd generally prefer Scroll Rack's implementation allowing you to stack the top cards. The other aspect is that it draws the cards. Good for Psychosis Crawler, one of my favorite cards. Crawler CMC is pretty high for this deck, though. It's probably optimal not to run it, but I have a personal attachment.
I've also wondered about your usage of Portent of Betrayal. It seems a little costly for what, to me, seems to be a card that is just Scry 1 and haste. Without pumping toughness there aren't any other efficient scry effects, but is it worth the 4 mana investment? I feel like I'm missing something, or maybe I don't value Scry highly enough.
For finishers, I'm not a fan of Firestorm. I haven't tested it at all, but I feel like you're going to run out of targets before you get to lethal levels of damage. I'm running Conflagrate and it tends to get discarded and ignored. I think I just run enough alternate wins through Purphoros, God of the Forge and Psychosis Crawler.
With regard to Abbot of Keral Keep... I don't like it. The chance of a backfire seems too great. If you exile an arcane spell, then you can no longer splice it onto another Arcane spell. If we're going to be Twinflameing or Heat Shimmering, I don't know that we're going to need access to more cards. At this point, card draw should be covered by our cantrips. Before this point, we want more creatures. I also don't think Prowess is ever going to make that much of a difference. If my creatures are swinging, they tend to all have large power boosts. A few prowess triggers isn't that impactful.
Comparing Abbot to Thopter Engineer:
2 mana for a creature and maybe a useful card vs 3 mana for a creature and a flying token. Cantripping here gives us 2 cards from the abbot and 2 cards from the engineer.
One Twinflame later: An extra creature and maybe a useful card vs an extra engi and 2 extra flying tokens. If we cantrip here, we've gained 4 cards from Abbot and 5 from Thopter.
Two Twinflames: Two extra creatures and two cards vs two extra engis and 5 extra flying tokens. If we cantrip here, we've gained 8 cards from Abbot and 12 from Thopter.
And finally, three Twinflames: 4 extra creatures and 4 more cards vs 4 more engis and 12 new flying tokens.
I can see how the Abbot can be beneficial because you don't need a cantrip for value, but the exponential power of the Engi seems too strong to me.
I explicitly build around commanders. When deciding to give a deck a shot, I will typically start with a general ballpark estimate of where I want the colour(s) to be, then go looking for interesting legends to sit in the boss chair, and then figure out how to put their abilities to good use. Sometimes the deck throws itself together nearly instantly (Patron of the Orochi), sometimes it requires a few aborted attempts over the span of many months (Tromokratis from the ones that ended up being functional, Rune-Tail, Kitsune Ascendant for the one who I've tried the most to get to work but just never managed).
This is pretty much the only way I enjoy building a deck. If the commander doesn't spark my interest then I have a hard time committing to it. I want the deck to function without the commander, but the commander must be important for some reason. Chorus of the Conclave doesn't always get cast, but she has a clear role in the deck's design. This is what drew me to Vela the Night-Clad. I love her art and I love her second ability. She has a simple and easy design that allows for a lot of variance - ninjas, colorless, tokens, combo, infinite combo - inside of colors that have lately gotten nothing but mill. I've tried to just build a deck around a theme and find a commander later, but then I feel like I might as well be playing any other format. That being said, I've seen a lot of really cool decks that are based on a theme with a disconnect in commander - Child of Alara morph for example.
Generally speaking I stumble upon a cool commander which I think will play in an interesting way, like Kresh the Bloodbraided or Doran, the Siege Tower and then build around their ability. Other times I find a few cards that I really like and then find a commander who will allow me to play with them and hopefully has an interesting and powerful effect like my upcoming Ezuri, Renegade Leader deck.
If you want to play angel tribal I would pile up all of the angels you want to play with and then pick a commander who works with it. Ultimately though if you dont find the commander very interesting then I find the deck gets used less and quickly canibalised for parts. If you want to build a deck with known constraints like must be Gruul then pick the commander first and go from there. If you havent already had a look then EDHrec is a really good resource for looking up commanders and what kind of things go into the decks they lead.
The benefit of Angel tribal is I can switch between multiple different commanders at will (I'll be going Boros if I do it). That being said, there really isn't a Boros angel that I'd enjoy as the commander. Maybe the return to Innistrad will provide some help. I really want to do angels, but the support just isn't there in boros. Adding a third color would ease the pain, but the flavor just fails. I don't normally care about flavor that much, but a tribal deck without a tribal leader just seems wrong.
I've come to realize I'm a total Melvin when it comes to the general. I want a general that makes me go "Oh... that's interesting. How do I make that work?" rather than "Oh, I love the flavor/story/art for this general". I enjoy flavor elements a lot, they just don't keep me interested in a deck, long-term.
{snip}
Something worth mentioning here is how interesting the interactions are as well: the cards the general brings with them. {snip}
I think I have similar leanings. I want the commander to make me think and work. I want interesting things to occur. It's all well and good to run the top 40 cards and call it a day, but getting to use odd cards like Carrion, Plague of Vermin, or Tombstone Stairwell that generally wouldn't see play is what makes me want to run something like Vela the Night-Clad for example. I absolutely love getting to use weird cards that don't really have a place in most other decks, but really fit the theme or provide unexpected power.
I've been lurking around the EDH forums for some time. I've found a lot of interesting information on how people view the "social contract", card choice, and etcetera, but there is one thing that I haven't really figured out: How do you choose a commander?
This is a mix of a “Help me choose!” thread combined with “Share your stories!” This comes as a result of my recent inability to choose a commander and commit to it. I’m interested in what commanders people have chosen and how they got to that point. Because it was a powerful commander? Liked the art? Challenge from a friend?
This list is missing some deck lists. It’s also not 100% up-to-date, as I’ve changed some cards around without editing TappedOut. If you’re interested in up-to-date lists, let me know!
Prossh, Skyraider of Kher – Pretty basic. Some minor changes, but it’s more or less the precon. It’s at a decent power level, but I can’t find a desire to give it much attention. It has a few basic and interactive combos – Deathbringer Thoctar, Goblin Sharpshooter, Dictate of Erebos, and similar cards. I really like that Prrosh is threatening as a beater and as a combo enabler.
Chorus of the Conclave – I pulled a foil Mirari’s Wake from Conspiracy and decided to do a “big mana” deck. I also didn’t want to do big mana with X instants and sorceries, so creature based became my goal. It’s kind of group hug – everyone gets mana! – but I’m generally okay with giving someone a crazy big turn every so often. Big stompy creatures are fun, and this is one of the decks I’m happy to continue updating. It’s a little “Selesnya Good Stuff”, but I don’t want to do “Swarm of Mana Dorks”. Here’s an outdated version of the deck: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/chorus-of-mana-complete/.
Phenax, God of Deception – I have a casual 60-card Jace’s erasure deck that my girlfriend learned the game with. She really enjoys milling for the win. I told her I wouldn’t recreate my mill deck as an EDH deck for her, but I would help her build a different mill deck. I showed her the options, and she chose Phenax. Turns out she’s fine with playing but hates deck building, so I pretty much built this for her by myself. I really like going for mill wins in EDH. Giving opponents power on top of being the only person trying to mill others out leads to interesting decisions. It’s really fun deciding between attempting to lurk in the shadows and going for the big win. The current version is a bit stronger than the initial. Here’s an outdated version of the deck: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/emily-mill-final/.
Bruna, Light of Alabaster – Standard enchantment Voltron. First EDH deck I built from scratch, and I hate it. I chose her because a friend had her laying around and told me to go for it. It’s getting ripped apart very soon for my girlfriend’s newest deck.
Tajic, Blade of the Legion – Boros Voltron. The second EDH deck I built. I chose him because I didn’t like how much hate Bruna got. He’s hard to deal with, leads to an interesting “creatures matter” Voltron build, and doesn’t cost much if he does ever get removed. Some of my most enjoyable games have been trying to figure out how to get enough commander damage through with limited resources. I’m having troubles deciding between updating him and just switching to a different Boros commander. He gets boring extremely fast if the game slows down. While others are deciding which of their 7 cards is best to cast, I’m hoping I don’t top deck a land. Horde of Notions – Elemental tribal reanimation. I don’t own this in paper yet, but I still consider it one of my decks. As soon as I have room in my budget for MTG spend, this is on the list. Basically, I saw the cycle of “Force” elementals (ex: Baleful Force) and wanted a 5color with them. I think I’m okay with it being pretty removal light and easy to disrupt. Once my group starts running more grave hate I’ll work on tuning. I’m also a fan of creature based strategies. Generally, I want everyone else to feel like they have a fighting chance. Clear weaknesses allow for interaction, while focusing on strengths ensure I get to do what I want win or lose. Here’s a deck list that is only missing Omnath, Locus of rage: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/horde-of-notions-elemental-force/.
Zada, Hedron Grinder – Arcane combo stormish. As soon as I saw the spoiler I knew I wanted a Zada deck. The ability was something I’ve been wanting on a commander since I saw the Nephilim. I don’t currently own it as I’m on the fence on if it’ll fit in my meta. I’m tempted to just commit and only play it every so often even if it’s too strong. I love the combo aspect of it, but it’s really uninteractive. I think it’s okay to have a game here and there where I get to laugh and combo win out of nowhere. My other option is to tone back on the combo and focus on powerful creatures with Zada as a value engine, but I don’t have a pure combo deck and I adore combo. I’m probably going to commit to the combo list as soon as I find the budget. Current list: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/zada-hedron-grinder-outdrawing-blue/
Teferi, Temporal Archmage – It’s the precon with minor changes. My girlfriend was supposed to have this deck, but she has a lot of trouble piloting it. I have it now… and I don’t really play it much. The table is kind of all over the place skill wise. This makes it really easy to take control of the game. Control feels bad when the table doesn’t know how to deal with it. That being said, I really love playing this deck. I like having to think about my plays and making decisions. I also haven’t personally played with much blue – Bruna really doesn’t count – and it’s a real treat to have actual and impactful card advantage.
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest – Aura based deck. Bruna is getting pulled apart for this. Tajic likely will be too. I liked the idea of prowess, but I never got to play with it much. While working on it, my girlfriend mentioned she thought an aura style could be fun. I’m looking to combine the Voltron aspects of Tajic and Bruna with a wider creature set. Jeskai sounded like a fun color combination, with Shu Yun seeming the most friendly to interaction and allowing everyone a chance at fun.
Right now I’m having some issues committing to a commander or theme. I kind of want to do Angel tribal. I really want to look into creating another Boros deck here… I was thinking Kalemne, Disciple of Iroas could be interesting, but going Angel Tribal with a giant commander just doesn’t seem right. Other versions of angel tribal all seem really meh. I love angels, but I think angel tribal just might not be for me.
I also looked into Vela the Night-Clad. I want to make some sort of token combo deck with her or Eldrazi and devoid themed. I’m having issues deciding between the two.
I’ve also never done a Gruul deck. I keep thinking I should, but I’m having issues deciding. I know I don’t want to go Xenagos, God of Revels or Rosheen Meanderer. I’m also aiming for decks that are on the budget end. This is both because I don’t have tons of money to throw at MTG and because it forces me to limit the power levels of my decks.
Other comments: Based on my decks and decks in my group, I want to avoid Grixis, Golgari, Simic, Izzet, mono-Black, mono-red, mono-white, mono-blue, mill decks, token decks (outside of Zada and Vela), stax, and infinite combo. An occasional infinite combo is fine, but I don't want to design the deck around it.
I've got a Chorus of the Conclave deck that just wants to double mana and throw down +1/+1 counters on big creatures. I was playing against Ezuri, Claw of Progress Snake tribal, Phenax, God of Deception mill, and Mizzix of the Izmagnus unmodified. Turn 3 we get Seed the Land from Ezuri. Being all about mana ramp I was pretty excited, and got a few snakes from it.
Turn 4 or 5, Ezuri drops Vernal Bloom. Phenax mills someone for a few cards with her snakes, Mizzix is digging for cards, and I follow up with another Vernal Bloom and a Keeper of Progenitus. Forests are now worth four G, and I've been ramping up my land count. I felt safe ramping out those doublers a little early because Ezuri was light on forests and Mizzix was light on mountains.
I pass the turn, and Ezuri taps out for Kaho, Minamo Historian and grabs some board wipes. Phenax doesn't have any open blue mana (don't remember why) and Mizzix spends all blue mana on Thought Reflection. No blue mana? Time to go for it.
Primal Surge, hit probably 40 permanents, among them are 14 lands for 14 more snakes, a Champion of Lambholt, and some other goodies. The only thing I hit for haste is my Swiftfoot Boots. My biggest creature is the 29/29 Champion, but now everyone knows I'm going to win on my next turn if they don't wipe me out. I managed to get one of those great games where my wincons are all at the bottom of my deck...
At this point, my forests are worth 6 each and plains are worth 3 each. I've also only a few cards left in my library and Phenax is getting ready to mill me out. I need to win, but I don't have it yet. With 73+ mana available, I could cast some creatures to hopefully draw into something. Instead, I draw out all of my mana and cast The Great Aurora. Phenax sighs and mills 13 before she loses all of her permanents. Ezuri laughs and starts to shuffle up. Mizzix asks to see my library before I shuffle: "Sure?"
He counts. "You only have 16 cards left in your library." Okay? "You have 20 snake tokens." Crap. I shuffle up and fail to draw.
Through goldfishing I've really come to like Sandstone Needle and Dwarven Ruins. I'm very rarely bothered by the comes in tapped aspect, and the extra colored mana can really smooth out the early turns.
I haven't tested Untaidake, the Cloud Keeper yet. I'm pretty certain I'm not going to like it, though. It only applies to two cards in my deck, and I'd rather have the mana available for the spells that will get me to a ritual.
If you're going combo I'm not a fan of mana rocks outside of Sol Ring or others that generate more mana than they cost quickly. I'd have to cut something for them, and I'm not sure I'm comfortable losing creatures, cantrips, or rituals.
I love Spirit of the Night. No foil AFAIK, but I still think the art is phenomenal.
Promo version of Hanna, Ship's Navigator is pretty fantastic.
Firemane Avenger promo looks really cool.
Vela the Night-Clad foil. Working on a deck for her so I have a reason to own her in foil.
Arcanis the Omnipotent I don't know if I like the Duel Decks version or the 10e version more. One of my favorite pieces of art.
Paliano, the High City I really liked the art on this card. Super disappointed I can't use it in EDH.
I've been looking into a Vela, the Night-Clad devoid for awhile. This set actually brings in enough creatures to maybe make it interesting to build. Deepfathom Skulker, Sifter of Skulls, Deceiver of Forms, Mindmelter, and Deceiver of Forms to name some.
Expedite for Zada, Hedron Grinder. Maybe Brute Strength so I can run Zap. Goblin Dark-Dwellers as well.
Zendikar Resurgent is frustratingly high costed. Still, it's going to be in my Chorus of the Conclave big mana deck. Not sure what I'm going to cut yet.
I don't know how purple it is, but I always figured if I went Jarad it'd be an elf build. Might be a way to keep a theme that avoids dipping into "Gimme all the good Golgari cards!"
I'm personally not a fan of Mizzium Mortars in EDH. It's expensive for a mediocre effect. Depends on meta, but in mine I'm not sure it has enough oomph.
Chaos Warp is good as an "Answers everything" card.
I don't like Izzet Charm in EDH. It's too easy to pay for in EDH, and it's other modes are really lackluster.
Nivix, Aerie of the Firemind can only hit about 1/5 of your deck. I'm not a big fan.
Visions of Beyond is a weak effect. I'd go for a bigger draw. Either a mana dump or something like Recurring Insight. 1 mana for 1 card isn't great, and hitting 3 cards is tough without mill.
Jace's Erasure isn't strong enough in my opinion. You'll need to draw 80+ cards with it out to mill someone. Until then you're adding fuel to their engine.
I wouldn't run artifact lands unless you have a reason for it. They're more open to removal without any upside.
I think Ring of Three Wishes is too expensive for this deck. You have so much card cycling that I think you'll rarely want to dump mana into it.
I'm with Carthage on Omniscience. With Arjun it's just silly.
I'm not sure how I feel about Melek, Izzet Paragon in this deck. It's 6 mana to play him, you don't have much library manipulation, and I don't know if he triggers off enough of your deck.
Cards you might be interested in:
Spiraling Embers is a cheaper Master the Way without the cantrip effect.
Parallel Thoughts is a weird version of a tutor. Additionally, you can choose to take a card from an empty pile. Could keep you from killing yourself from drawing on an empty library if you don't have Laboratory Maniac out yet.
Meishin, the Mind Cage has a high CMC, but it can lock out combat wins. You don't really care about the power of your creatures much, so might be interesting.
Increasing Vengeance, Reiterate, Wild Ricochet
How competitive is your meta? How long are you expecting the game to last?
Here are my general guidelines for an EDH deck:
Figure out how you want to win.
Start at 40 lands. Remove 1 for every 2 pieces of ramp.
I try to start around 8 pieces of ramp. Thought Vessel, Sol Ring, Mind Stone, Hedron Archive, Worn Powerstone, Darksteel Ingot, and Commander's Sphere are generally where I start. Then I'll add keyrunes, cluestones, or other color specific ramp.
Your curve is important. It's fun to cast 7+ CMC spells, but give yourself options for earlier. If you're playing Arjun, lower CMC spells lets you keep cycling as well.
I try to run 3 wipes at minimum. Adjust as necessary.
Targeted removal is less efficient, but still important.
Build to your groups expectations. If everyone is durdling around trying to cast big splashy spells, don't try to combo out on turn 4 every game. Follow the Social Contract. This article might be a good read!
Browbeat and Breaking Point are examples of cards that aren't going to work well in EDH. Everyone has 40 health, so it's much less of an issue to lose life. I'd pretty much always take 5 over letting someone draw 3. This just isn't effective.
Here's a 10 minute Arjun build to maybe get ideas from.
1x Blighted Cataract
1x Buried Ruin
1x Coral Atoll
1x Dormant Volcano
1x Encroaching Wastes
1x Evolving Wilds
1x Halimar Depths
1x Haunted Fengraf
8x Island
1x Izzet Boilerworks
1x Izzet Guildgate
7x Mountain
1x Myriad Landscape
1x Rogue's Passage
1x Shivan Reef
1x Spinerock Knoll
1x Swiftwater Cliffs
1x Temple of Epiphany
1x Temple of the False God
1x Terramorphic Expanse
1x Vivid Crag
1x Vivid Creek
Enchantment
1x Leyline of Anticipation
1x Mindmoil
1x Omniscience
1x Parallel Thoughts
1x Sphinx's Tutelage
1x Thought Reflection
1x Words of War
1x Words of Wind
1x Blue Sun's Zenith
1x Brainstorm
1x Cackling Counterpart
1x Capsize
1x Chaos Warp
1x Counterspell
1x Cyclonic Rift
1x Dissolve
1x Fact or Fiction
1x Frantic Search
1x Mystic Confluence
1x Mystical Tutor
1x Reiterate
1x Shattering Pulse
1x Steam Augury
1x Sudden Shock
1x Swan Song
1x Whim of Volrath
1x Wipe Away
1x Word of Seizing
Creature
1x Chasm Skulker
1x Dualcaster Mage
1x Keranos, God of Storms
1x Laboratory Maniac
1x Mulldrifter
1x Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
1x Psychosis Crawler
1x Shimmer Myr
1x Shrieking Drake
1x Whirlpool Drake
1x Whirlpool Rider
1x Whirlpool Warrior
1x Alhammarret's Archive
1x Commander's Sphere
1x Darksteel Ingot
1x Diviner's Wand
1x Hedron Archive
1x Izzet Keyrune
1x Izzet Signet
1x Mind Stone
1x Sol Ring
1x Teferi's Puzzle Box
1x Thought Vessel
1x Unstable Obelisk
1x Vedalken Orrery
Sorcery
1x Blasphemous Act
1x Call the Skybreaker
1x Curse of the Swine
1x Mystic Speculation
1x Ponder
1x Recurring Insight
1x Reforge the Soul
1x Rite of Replication
1x Time Reversal
1x Ugin's Insight
1x Windfall
Edit to add spoiler tags.
lyonheart thanks for the explanation. I remember reading the "Scry a bunch, cantrip while scrying" before, but I don't think it really clicked. I'm still not sure if it's worth 4 mana when it only combos with Krenko, but there aren't many other options here. I'm going to think about slotting this in.
I can't afford a Phyrexian Altar. I'm wondering if you think Thermopod is worth running if you can't budget for the Altar. Ashnod's Altar is the closest comparison I have, but colorless mana is almost useless. I don't have many other options, so I'm going to attempt Thermopod. I'm often finding myself short on rituals.
Abbot of Keral Keep in, Unearthly Blizzard is out.
Firestorm in, Conflagrate is out.
Priest of Urabrask in, Psychosis Crawler out.
Thermopod in, Purphoros, God of the Forge out.
I'm very happy to hear of your interest in Credit Voucher. I really wish I could afford Scroll Rack, but that's a bit too much for me. Credit Voucher runs as an okay replacement, but it is still lacking. I've had to throw in Commune with Lava to make up for the lack in hand sculpting. Important aspects of Voucher: It shuffles the cards back into your library. This can be good or bad, but I'd generally prefer Scroll Rack's implementation allowing you to stack the top cards. The other aspect is that it draws the cards. Good for Psychosis Crawler, one of my favorite cards. Crawler CMC is pretty high for this deck, though. It's probably optimal not to run it, but I have a personal attachment.
I've also wondered about your usage of Portent of Betrayal. It seems a little costly for what, to me, seems to be a card that is just Scry 1 and haste. Without pumping toughness there aren't any other efficient scry effects, but is it worth the 4 mana investment? I feel like I'm missing something, or maybe I don't value Scry highly enough.
For finishers, I'm not a fan of Firestorm. I haven't tested it at all, but I feel like you're going to run out of targets before you get to lethal levels of damage. I'm running Conflagrate and it tends to get discarded and ignored. I think I just run enough alternate wins through Purphoros, God of the Forge and Psychosis Crawler.
With regard to Abbot of Keral Keep... I don't like it. The chance of a backfire seems too great. If you exile an arcane spell, then you can no longer splice it onto another Arcane spell. If we're going to be Twinflameing or Heat Shimmering, I don't know that we're going to need access to more cards. At this point, card draw should be covered by our cantrips. Before this point, we want more creatures. I also don't think Prowess is ever going to make that much of a difference. If my creatures are swinging, they tend to all have large power boosts. A few prowess triggers isn't that impactful.
Comparing Abbot to Thopter Engineer:
2 mana for a creature and maybe a useful card vs 3 mana for a creature and a flying token. Cantripping here gives us 2 cards from the abbot and 2 cards from the engineer.
One Twinflame later: An extra creature and maybe a useful card vs an extra engi and 2 extra flying tokens. If we cantrip here, we've gained 4 cards from Abbot and 5 from Thopter.
Two Twinflames: Two extra creatures and two cards vs two extra engis and 5 extra flying tokens. If we cantrip here, we've gained 8 cards from Abbot and 12 from Thopter.
And finally, three Twinflames: 4 extra creatures and 4 more cards vs 4 more engis and 12 new flying tokens.
I can see how the Abbot can be beneficial because you don't need a cantrip for value, but the exponential power of the Engi seems too strong to me.
I think I have similar leanings. I want the commander to make me think and work. I want interesting things to occur. It's all well and good to run the top 40 cards and call it a day, but getting to use odd cards like Carrion, Plague of Vermin, or Tombstone Stairwell that generally wouldn't see play is what makes me want to run something like Vela the Night-Clad for example. I absolutely love getting to use weird cards that don't really have a place in most other decks, but really fit the theme or provide unexpected power.
This is a mix of a “Help me choose!” thread combined with “Share your stories!” This comes as a result of my recent inability to choose a commander and commit to it. I’m interested in what commanders people have chosen and how they got to that point. Because it was a powerful commander? Liked the art? Challenge from a friend?
This list is missing some deck lists. It’s also not 100% up-to-date, as I’ve changed some cards around without editing TappedOut. If you’re interested in up-to-date lists, let me know!
Prossh, Skyraider of Kher – Pretty basic. Some minor changes, but it’s more or less the precon. It’s at a decent power level, but I can’t find a desire to give it much attention. It has a few basic and interactive combos – Deathbringer Thoctar, Goblin Sharpshooter, Dictate of Erebos, and similar cards. I really like that Prrosh is threatening as a beater and as a combo enabler.
Chorus of the Conclave – I pulled a foil Mirari’s Wake from Conspiracy and decided to do a “big mana” deck. I also didn’t want to do big mana with X instants and sorceries, so creature based became my goal. It’s kind of group hug – everyone gets mana! – but I’m generally okay with giving someone a crazy big turn every so often. Big stompy creatures are fun, and this is one of the decks I’m happy to continue updating. It’s a little “Selesnya Good Stuff”, but I don’t want to do “Swarm of Mana Dorks”. Here’s an outdated version of the deck: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/chorus-of-mana-complete/.
Phenax, God of Deception – I have a casual 60-card Jace’s erasure deck that my girlfriend learned the game with. She really enjoys milling for the win. I told her I wouldn’t recreate my mill deck as an EDH deck for her, but I would help her build a different mill deck. I showed her the options, and she chose Phenax. Turns out she’s fine with playing but hates deck building, so I pretty much built this for her by myself. I really like going for mill wins in EDH. Giving opponents power on top of being the only person trying to mill others out leads to interesting decisions. It’s really fun deciding between attempting to lurk in the shadows and going for the big win. The current version is a bit stronger than the initial. Here’s an outdated version of the deck: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/emily-mill-final/.
Bruna, Light of Alabaster – Standard enchantment Voltron. First EDH deck I built from scratch, and I hate it. I chose her because a friend had her laying around and told me to go for it. It’s getting ripped apart very soon for my girlfriend’s newest deck.
Tajic, Blade of the Legion – Boros Voltron. The second EDH deck I built. I chose him because I didn’t like how much hate Bruna got. He’s hard to deal with, leads to an interesting “creatures matter” Voltron build, and doesn’t cost much if he does ever get removed. Some of my most enjoyable games have been trying to figure out how to get enough commander damage through with limited resources. I’m having troubles deciding between updating him and just switching to a different Boros commander. He gets boring extremely fast if the game slows down. While others are deciding which of their 7 cards is best to cast, I’m hoping I don’t top deck a land.
Horde of Notions – Elemental tribal reanimation. I don’t own this in paper yet, but I still consider it one of my decks. As soon as I have room in my budget for MTG spend, this is on the list. Basically, I saw the cycle of “Force” elementals (ex: Baleful Force) and wanted a 5color with them. I think I’m okay with it being pretty removal light and easy to disrupt. Once my group starts running more grave hate I’ll work on tuning. I’m also a fan of creature based strategies. Generally, I want everyone else to feel like they have a fighting chance. Clear weaknesses allow for interaction, while focusing on strengths ensure I get to do what I want win or lose. Here’s a deck list that is only missing Omnath, Locus of rage: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/horde-of-notions-elemental-force/.
Zada, Hedron Grinder – Arcane combo stormish. As soon as I saw the spoiler I knew I wanted a Zada deck. The ability was something I’ve been wanting on a commander since I saw the Nephilim. I don’t currently own it as I’m on the fence on if it’ll fit in my meta. I’m tempted to just commit and only play it every so often even if it’s too strong. I love the combo aspect of it, but it’s really uninteractive. I think it’s okay to have a game here and there where I get to laugh and combo win out of nowhere. My other option is to tone back on the combo and focus on powerful creatures with Zada as a value engine, but I don’t have a pure combo deck and I adore combo. I’m probably going to commit to the combo list as soon as I find the budget. Current list: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/zada-hedron-grinder-outdrawing-blue/
Teferi, Temporal Archmage – It’s the precon with minor changes. My girlfriend was supposed to have this deck, but she has a lot of trouble piloting it. I have it now… and I don’t really play it much. The table is kind of all over the place skill wise. This makes it really easy to take control of the game. Control feels bad when the table doesn’t know how to deal with it. That being said, I really love playing this deck. I like having to think about my plays and making decisions. I also haven’t personally played with much blue – Bruna really doesn’t count – and it’s a real treat to have actual and impactful card advantage.
I also have the Izzet precon. I plan on making Mizzix of the Izmagnus built around giant splashy spells. Arjun, the Shifting Flame will become draw-combo-control build.
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest – Aura based deck. Bruna is getting pulled apart for this. Tajic likely will be too. I liked the idea of prowess, but I never got to play with it much. While working on it, my girlfriend mentioned she thought an aura style could be fun. I’m looking to combine the Voltron aspects of Tajic and Bruna with a wider creature set. Jeskai sounded like a fun color combination, with Shu Yun seeming the most friendly to interaction and allowing everyone a chance at fun.
I also looked into Vela the Night-Clad. I want to make some sort of token combo deck with her or Eldrazi and devoid themed. I’m having issues deciding between the two.
I’ve also never done a Gruul deck. I keep thinking I should, but I’m having issues deciding. I know I don’t want to go Xenagos, God of Revels or Rosheen Meanderer. I’m also aiming for decks that are on the budget end. This is both because I don’t have tons of money to throw at MTG and because it forces me to limit the power levels of my decks.
Other comments: Based on my decks and decks in my group, I want to avoid Grixis, Golgari, Simic, Izzet, mono-Black, mono-red, mono-white, mono-blue, mill decks, token decks (outside of Zada and Vela), stax, and infinite combo. An occasional infinite combo is fine, but I don't want to design the deck around it.