Riftstone Portal and Flagstones of Trokair love being sacrificed. There's also Dakmor Salvage which doesn't mind so much, since you can easily recur it for continuous sacrificing pleasure. Then there's the God's Eye, which leaves a lot to be desired in edh.
Crucible of Worlds can help offset the lands your sacrificing since you can play them right out of the yard. And with guys like Terravore and Knight of the Reliquary can net a big benefit off you sacrificing lands.
I think most the others hit all the great land sacs. My personal favorite is Dust Bowl.
Regardless of what you do in your play group, general damage should be included. Infinitely life combos are easy to come by and don't include expensive magic cards. I don't know about you, but I don't like to play five-hour-come-from-behind-games to deal 1001 damage even though I run a couple decks that are capable of doing that. It's a built in rule clause that you can utilize if need be, much like mill. You don't have to build around it to take advantage of it when it comes up. I once won with Zedruu the Greathearted with general damage it what would have otherwise been a long, drawn out, stalemate.
Deciding not to use a rule just because your play group doesn't need it seems baffling to me. This is along the lines of saying, 'We don't play mill, so we decided to take out the deck clause rule." It's a rule designed for a specific purpose whether you utilize it or not.
Those are the tribes that I have experienced that I have found to be effective. I don't think tribal decks suffer any shortcomings that your typical creature heavy decks encounter. If built right, you can compensate for those weaknesses. I run R/B Wort goblins and it's one of my best decks.
Goblin Wizard is a great goblin. And seriously consider Squee and the ringleader. Squee works great with skullclamp, prospecter, and simply because he outlives removal. Ringleader is just amazing.
Keep in mind, you can have the most politically friendly general imaginable, but if your deck or you as a player don't play politically friendly it won't matter. Depending on how often you play with your group, people tend to remember how you plaid in previous games regardless if you have a different deck or not. That being said....
I'm glad you added some stipulations to your question. My first thought when I read your thread title was that any general can be political if plaid right. But those vanilla generals from legends just don't fit your criteria. Based on what your looking for, I like Gwafa Hazid, Profiteer or Nin, the Pain Artist. Both give you access to blue, which I think is the color you really want. Neither should be automatically hated out. The color identity should give you answers to combos you're looking for. They are both solid defensive creatures.
The only planeswalkers that seem obsolete to me are Ajani Goldmane, Nissa Revane, and Koth of the Hammer. I think two out of three Chandra's are worthwhile, with two not making the cut. Depending on your artifact count, which could likely be high to support your mana base, both Tezzeret's seem decent. All other planeswalkers seem to make five colors look decent.
Battle of Wits was probably the best example for what I meant when I posted this thread. In essence, all it will ever be is 5 cc enchantment. It will never function how it was designed. I'm looking for more cards like this. Cards like:
Relentless Rats is the exception to the rule since you're allowed to play as many copies as you want. Rats aren't on my list since you can still play them to their fullest ability. But the other cards listed here basically just take up a card slot, some with no function at all in edh. Haakon can't be cast from the command zone, so he's greatly inferior to other mono black generals. We are looking at cards that are legal, but have no function in edh.
Unfortunately there is a debate about rats. One person says they are allowed unlimited while others say NO. so really it comes down to... Yes or no. You should ask you playgroup first. Make sure if they say yes you Use thrumming stone
When looking through my cards for ideas for edh filler, I stumbled across a few cards that are completely useless. I'm not talking about bad cards like Squire. Even bad cards can be useful when used right. But some cards were designed to have multiple copies of themselves or copies of other cards in your deck. Aside from Relentless Rats, there is no exception for these cards. I'm talking about:
Sure, most these cards can still be used, but their function is greatly diminished by the format. I'm not looking to make any exceptions to the rules for these cards, I was just wondering what other cards are out there that became unplayable, or at least have a diminished effect on the game in this format.
Putting lands in your yard can help you abuse stuff like Land Tax, Oath of Lieges, Life From the Loam, Restore Balance, Martyr's Bond, and Worm Harvest.
Crucible of Worlds can help offset the lands your sacrificing since you can play them right out of the yard. And with guys like Terravore and Knight of the Reliquary can net a big benefit off you sacrificing lands.
I think most the others hit all the great land sacs. My personal favorite is Dust Bowl.
Deciding not to use a rule just because your play group doesn't need it seems baffling to me. This is along the lines of saying, 'We don't play mill, so we decided to take out the deck clause rule." It's a rule designed for a specific purpose whether you utilize it or not.
Azami, Lady of Scrolls wizards
Horde of Notions elementals
Wort, Boggart Auntie goblins
Captains Sissay legends(yes I am aware this isn't a creature type, still quite tribal)
Any legendary elf can run a good elf tribal, being that elves are so resilient.
Those are the tribes that I have experienced that I have found to be effective. I don't think tribal decks suffer any shortcomings that your typical creature heavy decks encounter. If built right, you can compensate for those weaknesses. I run R/B Wort goblins and it's one of my best decks.
I'm glad you added some stipulations to your question. My first thought when I read your thread title was that any general can be political if plaid right. But those vanilla generals from legends just don't fit your criteria. Based on what your looking for, I like Gwafa Hazid, Profiteer or Nin, the Pain Artist. Both give you access to blue, which I think is the color you really want. Neither should be automatically hated out. The color identity should give you answers to combos you're looking for. They are both solid defensive creatures.
Assembly Hall
Dichotomancy
Hint of Insanity
Locket of Yesterdays
Pack Hunt
Rememberence
There's gotta be a few more spells out there like these.
Relentless Rats is the exception to the rule since you're allowed to play as many copies as you want. Rats aren't on my list since you can still play them to their fullest ability. But the other cards listed here basically just take up a card slot, some with no function at all in edh. Haakon can't be cast from the command zone, so he's greatly inferior to other mono black generals. We are looking at cards that are legal, but have no function in edh.
Wizards Gatherer rules that you can run more than one in commander. Check it out: http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=205082
That being said, I'd still clear it with your play group.
Stomping Slabs
Surging Aether
Surging Dementia
Surging Flame
Surging Might
Surging Sentinels
Avarax
Daru Cavalier
Embermage Goblin
Howling Wolf
Llanowar Sentinel
Nesting Wurm
Screaming Seahawk
Skyshroud Sentinel
Squadron Hawk
Clarion Ultimatum (with exception to basic lands)
Sure, most these cards can still be used, but their function is greatly diminished by the format. I'm not looking to make any exceptions to the rules for these cards, I was just wondering what other cards are out there that became unplayable, or at least have a diminished effect on the game in this format.