No one has mentioned Venser, Shaper Savant yet. Could be another potential General, or one with the rest of the 99.
With an all instant/flash theme I'd consider looking to find a black commander so you can use Mystical Teachings. Unfortunately only Wydwen, the Biting Gale has flash in those colors. Alternatively you could lead from the rear and run Dralnu, Lich Lord as a method to get more use out of those numerous instants (just be sure to pack sac outlets to mitigate the damage trigger).
Something not yet touched upon: Card advantage also in many ways depends on the deck you are running.
As an example in my Karador deck Mindslicer's trigger is basically card advantage for me since cards in the GY are almost always easier for me to access than it is for opponents.
So while there are great examples and guidelines for multiplayer CA above, remember breaking parity can generate advantage (or at least pseudo-card advantage) too. I strive to ensure all of my EDH decks have several methods of interacting with the GY for this reason.
I have competitive and midrange decks, which is why I always advocate for people to have 3 EDH decks to have a variable playing field.
My EDH group doesn't do that, but a previous playgroup that I used to play casual 60-card multiplayer with did do that. At the start of a game we'd agree on a level of decks to play and then select an appropriate deck. Given this isn't meant to be a tourney format but one played for fun (where winning is the objective, having fun the goal) it worked really well. It also meant we were able to exercise some interesting, if janky, deck ideas and have fun with it.
To the OP: You will probably have to decide if the group is a fit for you. If you think it is I'd look at making a control or stax deck. Control will let you police the game (and if you can get another player on board you can make combo a difficult strategy to play). Stax will let you disrupt the combo decks enough that you can sneak a win in. Not sure I'd like the the playgroup myself-- combo decks are fine, but a table full of them tend to degenerate into several people playing solitaire until one goes off without being disrupted.
Rhystic Study generally isn't remove on sight and can quickly net you a lot of cards or at worst slow your opponents down. Because the draw is tied to a rhystic cost and it hoses everyone but you it can stick around for a while-- Generally no one wants to lose a card to remove it, but if you face lots of Aura Shards or similar effects it will be gone in no time.
From my experience if one player doesn't pay the cost others are more likely to stop as well. Also rather than being upset at you for playing it, players get upset at those who chose not to pay the cost.
Always been a solid card for me. Red has limited answers for some hard to remove threats and this gets a lot of them. Also helps being instant speed and has 3 different options like a charm.
Absolver Thrull brings Enchantment hate Angel of Finality brings Gravehate Aura Thief lets you steal all enchantments when it dies Brawn Trample for all your creatures. Council of the Absolute allows you to control opponents plays or reduce another cards cost Glen Elendra Mage repeatable instant/sorcery counter. Can sac it after it has persisted for maximum value Glimmerpoint Stag Poor man's Restoration Angel Gulf Squid taps out an opponent Kaho, Minamo Historian can grab a toolbox of spells; however, not a great target for the next step in the chain. Kor Cartographer Ramps plains. Better ramp than sad-robot with shocklands and ABU duals, but no draw when it dies. Magus of the Disk Disk with legs. Master Thief will grab you an artifact. Bad to pod chain, but if you grab an artifact creature you can pod the creature. Penumbra Spider replaces itself when you sac it Pygmy Kavu could net you a good amount of cards. Depends on your opponent's decks. Ranger of Eos tutors two 1-cmc (or less) creatures. Sakashima's Student Another clone. Assuming fixing is good it's better than clone. Sanctum Gargoyle Might be worth an inclusion. Better with more 3-cmc artifact creatures. Skyshroud Poacher will allow you to put an elf into play before sacing. Slithermuse Another creature that could potentially net you a lot of cards. Summoner's Egg Lets you cheat an expensive creature into play. Tower Geist Best unconditional draw effect. Valor First Strike for all you creatures following the sac. Venser, Shaper Savant Best bounce effect. Verdant Eidolon Fast mana and recurs. Wonder Like Valor but flying.
The potential for Ogre to just ramp into a big play and end the game before it starts has to be respected. From just being able to view the card on the spoiler, it looks broken and bannable. If anything saves it from banning it will be that it may actually not perform as well in game as when we see it in the spoiler and dream up ways to break it.
And when it gets countered you just sit there vulnerable?
Shouldn't be too bad, and red is probably the safest color to print the card in. Spending a large amount of life is high risk/reward and will lead to memorable plays and even more memorable flops-- That's a good thing for the format.
Card advantage in multiplayer (what you're really asking about) is anything that results in more cards for yourself than all opponents.
If you play Divination you have gained a card (same as normal).
If you cast a sweeper and destroy more opposing permanents (scaled to the number of players) then it is card advantage. For example if in a 3-player game you cast Wrath of God and catch 4+ opposing permanents it is card advantage. It becomes complicated though since getting card advantage here is less linear-- if all those creatures belonged to a single player then your other 2 opponents gained even greater card advantage than yourself.
If you cast a Swords to Plowshares and exile an opposing creature both you and the opponent who controlled the targeted creature now have card disadvantage. Still cards like StP have a place because card advantage is not always as important as having a versatile answer when needed-- who cares about card disadvantage when the alternative is taking a Blightsteel Colossus to the face?
Card advantage in multiplayer is less linear than in a duel. You can't afford to continuously trade 1 for 1, but you need to be versatile in your answers. Playing good politics often can be a bigger deal than continuously gaining card advantage-- like racing often the winning player is the one who postures behind the leader and jumps into the lead when the time is right. Card advantage is why Karador is my favorite Commander- so long as creatures are your primary source of answers (with some instant options thrown in like Beast Within or even Restoration Angel) you can 1 for 1 and not truly lose card advantage. This is in addition to ETB triggers already being a form of card advantage.
It is partly a question of the meta you play in and your own deck.
If you are running several board-sweepers in your deck, I'd avoid them. If your metagame has lots of board wiping, I'd avoid them (unless they fuel a really fast combo).
The question I'd ask is what advantages do they have to ramp-dorks? Generally cost is the only advantage-- so run them when cmc is that big of a deal or you already have the full suite of ramp-dorks and want more mana accelerating creatures.
Don't forget things like an optimum mana curve can vary depending on the local metagame. If you expect the board to be Wrathed several times throughout a game you can run a higher curve than if you expect someone to attempt to combo to victory on turn 5. That being said 5 is quite high.
Karador can run more high cost cards than many decks because he not only has access to green ramp, but can get more out of creatures like Sakura-Tribe Elder than most green decks by casting the same creature several times. Still a lower curve is something to strive towards and will make for a more reliable deck.
If you are running Birthing Pod in your deck (highly recommended) then I suggest not only looking at your mana curve, but ensuring you have multiple creatures at every mana cost along the way to allow you to reliably chain up into higher cost creatures. Having a balanced curve but few creatures of a particular cost can hamper your ability to utilize that powerful repeatable tutor.
While I don't doubt that Athreos makes one damn potent commander I'm interested in playing him in my Karador deck. Grave hate is the achilles heel of the deck so splitting creatures between the GY and hand helps mitigate the effectiveness of gravehate. Going beyond that, despite being able to reanimate creatures relatively easily, they are still easier to cast from the hand and while there can fuel cards like Survival of the Fittest/Fauna Shaman.
Another advantage of being targetted by Athreos' trigger would be leveraging another player-- the player most adversely affected by a Magus of the Moon might be willing to perform a favor if you pay the 3 life to send it to the GY (admittedly the example isn't the greatest-- I don't forsee a Dega deck running the Magus).
For those running Athreos as the Commander: how many (non-creature) wrath effects are you running? The creature based wraths certainly would be potent, as could creatures like Mindslicer. Living Death and it's ilk would be a great way to make paying the life futile. So much about this card to like!
I know the early general consensus is that 3 life is too little of a cost to pay for it to be effective.
Looking closer at the card again it's less like most Rhystic effects since you chose who has the option of paying the cost. In a multiplayer format this is significantly more powerful.
One option of course is collusion (the acceptable kind), such as having a player allow you to have an answer back in hand ("player X if you don't pay the 3 life for Shriekmaw I can use it to destroy player Y's [relevant creature]").
Even going beyond that there is the option to single out a single an opponent and inform them of your intention: "Player X, I will target you with this ability every time it triggers; it is your choice whether you're willing to put yourself behind to avoid giving me an advantage." By doing so you basically put them in a position where not paying the cost is very lucrative-- much like targeted removal, mutual opponents benefit more than they do from the cost being paid. If they don't pay the cost they aren't out anything, and it is still the entire table's job to keep the Athreos player in check. The best part about Athreos is unlike a player using targeted removal on your permanents your not out actually out anything other than the card Athreos occupied (since every creature in your hand is a bonus you would not otherwise have had).
Obviously that sort of play might be unpopular (no one likes to feel bullied) but it actually works best against the players that have the best grasp of the game. Those same players should be able to recognize that 1) your play is calculated; not malicious, 2) by not paying the cost they've distributed the responsibility to the whole table, and 3) being targeted actually gives them better opportunities to control the game or even leverage you to accomplish their goals. It also is advantageous that the player potentially paying a large amount of life is also likely a larger threat (assuming they aren't pulling punches with their deck).
To elaborate more on the third point: actually being targeted by the trigger should really be seen as an advantage. This happens in (at least) two different ways-- First, by being targeted they have the control to decide when it is worth paying the cost, and when it is not. Having more control over the game is something players usually have to expend resources to achieve. By selecting them as the continual trigger target you have actually given them another opportunity to influence the game. Secondly, an astute player should be able to recognize when a creature is significant to the Athreos player and might be able to leverage them in exchange for the creature being returned ("I'll not pay the life if you use X to answer Y").
Overall the opportunities for interesting play Athreos creates is actually quite huge. I can't help but feel that there are more ways to get him to function and I think time will show that it's the most interesting card for Commander to come out in the last set.
I can't believe people complain about getting one shotted with a creature? So instead, I'll one shot you with my combo or Voltron deck. Must be your play group. A bunch of whiny teenagers.
While Gosu wasn't very diplomatic, they're right that being upset about infect is unreasonable and suggests a poor grasp of what is possible in the format.
Infect can be potent, but it's comparatively far from anything worthy of lamenting.
There is definitely merit to this approach. My concern would mostly be about doing it in practice - swapping 30-something cards between sleeves between games would get tiring quickly. Though if you're doing it more rarely, say have it one way one game night and a different way another, sure.
I think the way to do this would be to have all the cards share the same sleeves (so 150-200 same colored sleeves). From there store each color specific module separately and the core separately.
This way to changed decks you can remove the cards from one deck, place them back into their usual storage slot, and then shuffle in the cards for the deck you want to play.
I have to agree with Galvanic though-- this seems to lend itself to goodstuff.dec, and several different takes on goodstuff is not what I'd consider interesting. Does anyone else feel certain colors-- Green (ramp), Blue (counters), and Black (tutors)-- suit this better than say Red or White which have less powerful tools and require greater synergy within the deck to compete? Or possibly that modular decks would play more colorless artifacts since they can be included in all versions?
Already mentioned in this thread, propaganda effects, are not political. If you could choose who they effect or grant control of it at will, it would be another story.
I disagree. Propaganda and similar effects are included because of political considerations-- mainly the idea that incentivizing conflict between mutual opponents is better than stopping an opponents aggression outright.
Think of Propaganda as a passive political card because the difference between Edric and Propoganda is one is the carrot and the other is the stick; both are manipulating opponents behavior.
With an all instant/flash theme I'd consider looking to find a black commander so you can use Mystical Teachings. Unfortunately only Wydwen, the Biting Gale has flash in those colors. Alternatively you could lead from the rear and run Dralnu, Lich Lord as a method to get more use out of those numerous instants (just be sure to pack sac outlets to mitigate the damage trigger).
As an example in my Karador deck Mindslicer's trigger is basically card advantage for me since cards in the GY are almost always easier for me to access than it is for opponents.
The same works with things like Armageddon and Crucible of Worlds/Life from the Loam etc...
So while there are great examples and guidelines for multiplayer CA above, remember breaking parity can generate advantage (or at least pseudo-card advantage) too. I strive to ensure all of my EDH decks have several methods of interacting with the GY for this reason.
To the OP: You will probably have to decide if the group is a fit for you. If you think it is I'd look at making a control or stax deck. Control will let you police the game (and if you can get another player on board you can make combo a difficult strategy to play). Stax will let you disrupt the combo decks enough that you can sneak a win in. Not sure I'd like the the playgroup myself-- combo decks are fine, but a table full of them tend to degenerate into several people playing solitaire until one goes off without being disrupted.
From my experience if one player doesn't pay the cost others are more likely to stop as well. Also rather than being upset at you for playing it, players get upset at those who chose not to pay the cost.
Angel of Finality brings Gravehate
Aura Thief lets you steal all enchantments when it dies
Brawn Trample for all your creatures.
Council of the Absolute allows you to control opponents plays or reduce another cards cost
Glen Elendra Mage repeatable instant/sorcery counter. Can sac it after it has persisted for maximum value
Glimmerpoint Stag Poor man's Restoration Angel
Gulf Squid taps out an opponent
Kaho, Minamo Historian can grab a toolbox of spells; however, not a great target for the next step in the chain.
Kor Cartographer Ramps plains. Better ramp than sad-robot with shocklands and ABU duals, but no draw when it dies.
Magus of the Disk Disk with legs.
Master Thief will grab you an artifact. Bad to pod chain, but if you grab an artifact creature you can pod the creature.
Penumbra Spider replaces itself when you sac it
Pygmy Kavu could net you a good amount of cards. Depends on your opponent's decks.
Ranger of Eos tutors two 1-cmc (or less) creatures.
Sakashima's Student Another clone. Assuming fixing is good it's better than clone.
Sanctum Gargoyle Might be worth an inclusion. Better with more 3-cmc artifact creatures.
Skyshroud Poacher will allow you to put an elf into play before sacing.
Slithermuse Another creature that could potentially net you a lot of cards.
Summoner's Egg Lets you cheat an expensive creature into play.
Tower Geist Best unconditional draw effect.
Valor First Strike for all you creatures following the sac.
Venser, Shaper Savant Best bounce effect.
Verdant Eidolon Fast mana and recurs.
Wonder Like Valor but flying.
Shouldn't be too bad, and red is probably the safest color to print the card in. Spending a large amount of life is high risk/reward and will lead to memorable plays and even more memorable flops-- That's a good thing for the format.
If you play Divination you have gained a card (same as normal).
If you cast a sweeper and destroy more opposing permanents (scaled to the number of players) then it is card advantage. For example if in a 3-player game you cast Wrath of God and catch 4+ opposing permanents it is card advantage. It becomes complicated though since getting card advantage here is less linear-- if all those creatures belonged to a single player then your other 2 opponents gained even greater card advantage than yourself.
If you cast a Swords to Plowshares and exile an opposing creature both you and the opponent who controlled the targeted creature now have card disadvantage. Still cards like StP have a place because card advantage is not always as important as having a versatile answer when needed-- who cares about card disadvantage when the alternative is taking a Blightsteel Colossus to the face?
Card advantage in multiplayer is less linear than in a duel. You can't afford to continuously trade 1 for 1, but you need to be versatile in your answers. Playing good politics often can be a bigger deal than continuously gaining card advantage-- like racing often the winning player is the one who postures behind the leader and jumps into the lead when the time is right. Card advantage is why Karador is my favorite Commander- so long as creatures are your primary source of answers (with some instant options thrown in like Beast Within or even Restoration Angel) you can 1 for 1 and not truly lose card advantage. This is in addition to ETB triggers already being a form of card advantage.
If you are running several board-sweepers in your deck, I'd avoid them. If your metagame has lots of board wiping, I'd avoid them (unless they fuel a really fast combo).
The question I'd ask is what advantages do they have to ramp-dorks? Generally cost is the only advantage-- so run them when cmc is that big of a deal or you already have the full suite of ramp-dorks and want more mana accelerating creatures.
Karador can run more high cost cards than many decks because he not only has access to green ramp, but can get more out of creatures like Sakura-Tribe Elder than most green decks by casting the same creature several times. Still a lower curve is something to strive towards and will make for a more reliable deck.
If you are running Birthing Pod in your deck (highly recommended) then I suggest not only looking at your mana curve, but ensuring you have multiple creatures at every mana cost along the way to allow you to reliably chain up into higher cost creatures. Having a balanced curve but few creatures of a particular cost can hamper your ability to utilize that powerful repeatable tutor.
Another advantage of being targetted by Athreos' trigger would be leveraging another player-- the player most adversely affected by a Magus of the Moon might be willing to perform a favor if you pay the 3 life to send it to the GY (admittedly the example isn't the greatest-- I don't forsee a Dega deck running the Magus).
For those running Athreos as the Commander: how many (non-creature) wrath effects are you running? The creature based wraths certainly would be potent, as could creatures like Mindslicer. Living Death and it's ilk would be a great way to make paying the life futile. So much about this card to like!
I know the early general consensus is that 3 life is too little of a cost to pay for it to be effective.
Looking closer at the card again it's less like most Rhystic effects since you chose who has the option of paying the cost. In a multiplayer format this is significantly more powerful.
One option of course is collusion (the acceptable kind), such as having a player allow you to have an answer back in hand ("player X if you don't pay the 3 life for Shriekmaw I can use it to destroy player Y's [relevant creature]").
Even going beyond that there is the option to single out a single an opponent and inform them of your intention:
"Player X, I will target you with this ability every time it triggers; it is your choice whether you're willing to put yourself behind to avoid giving me an advantage." By doing so you basically put them in a position where not paying the cost is very lucrative-- much like targeted removal, mutual opponents benefit more than they do from the cost being paid. If they don't pay the cost they aren't out anything, and it is still the entire table's job to keep the Athreos player in check. The best part about Athreos is unlike a player using targeted removal on your permanents your not out actually out anything other than the card Athreos occupied (since every creature in your hand is a bonus you would not otherwise have had).
Obviously that sort of play might be unpopular (no one likes to feel bullied) but it actually works best against the players that have the best grasp of the game. Those same players should be able to recognize that 1) your play is calculated; not malicious, 2) by not paying the cost they've distributed the responsibility to the whole table, and 3) being targeted actually gives them better opportunities to control the game or even leverage you to accomplish their goals. It also is advantageous that the player potentially paying a large amount of life is also likely a larger threat (assuming they aren't pulling punches with their deck).
To elaborate more on the third point: actually being targeted by the trigger should really be seen as an advantage. This happens in (at least) two different ways-- First, by being targeted they have the control to decide when it is worth paying the cost, and when it is not. Having more control over the game is something players usually have to expend resources to achieve. By selecting them as the continual trigger target you have actually given them another opportunity to influence the game. Secondly, an astute player should be able to recognize when a creature is significant to the Athreos player and might be able to leverage them in exchange for the creature being returned ("I'll not pay the life if you use X to answer Y").
Overall the opportunities for interesting play Athreos creates is actually quite huge. I can't help but feel that there are more ways to get him to function and I think time will show that it's the most interesting card for Commander to come out in the last set.
Infect can be potent, but it's comparatively far from anything worthy of lamenting.
This way to changed decks you can remove the cards from one deck, place them back into their usual storage slot, and then shuffle in the cards for the deck you want to play.
I have to agree with Galvanic though-- this seems to lend itself to goodstuff.dec, and several different takes on goodstuff is not what I'd consider interesting. Does anyone else feel certain colors-- Green (ramp), Blue (counters), and Black (tutors)-- suit this better than say Red or White which have less powerful tools and require greater synergy within the deck to compete? Or possibly that modular decks would play more colorless artifacts since they can be included in all versions?
Think of Propaganda as a passive political card because the difference between Edric and Propoganda is one is the carrot and the other is the stick; both are manipulating opponents behavior.