building your first commander deck tips
Commander Deck Help forum
Posted on Feb. 18, 2018, 1:02 a.m. by vasarto77
I have never built a commander deck, and since I am getting back into magic and trying to find my way back into things again, I want to try doing commander sometime. But, I am not sure I quite get it in the strategic sense. In normal Magic decks, your deck is built off of having x4 of a single card or a combo of like 3 cards and the entire deck is built off getting those cards onto the field or cast from your hand and that is it. 1-3 cards and everything else is entirely support and nothing else.
But, with commander it seems this is not the case since you can only ever have one copy of any card in your deck. So I know nothing about deckbuilding for commander. Is there some tips on how to build a starting commander deck, and what to look for in the format that I can use to get started with?
So, I kind of like Zombies, and I had a great zombie deck back in the day...sort of lol. All the zombies gave +x+X to other zombies and ran heavily on those and [undead warchief] etc. Maybe a black zombie apocalypse might be my thing?
February 18, 2018 3:59 a.m.
Hey. I just took a quick look at the rules and....apparently silver boardered cards allowed in EDH...if...this is true than..
Grusilda, Monster Masher is legal as my commander? If so this might be funny if I did a reanimation zombie commander deck.
February 18, 2018 4:11 a.m.
DrukenReaps says... #5
The silver boarded cards were a tenp thing that is over. Some play groups will still allow certain ones but technically they are all banned again.
This is among my favorite websites for card ideas, though it is not all knowing:
https://edhrec.com/
They have a zombie page:
https://edhrec.com/tribes/zombies
For your first deck I'd recommend 2 colors though mono black is really cool. I might lean towards Gisa and Geralf or Grimgrin, Corpse-Born for zombie tribal. Partly because Rooftop Storm is completely busted...
You could do 3 colors but the mana base gets frustrating sometimes at that point. Try to shoot for around 36 lands in all three cases. 10 card advantage and 10 removal about 3 of which are board wipes are also good rules for initially building your deck. These numbers are simply to get started individual decks can vary wildly.
This is my go to for rules reference in case you need that:
https://mtg.gamepedia.com/Commander_(format)
February 18, 2018 6:42 a.m.
thanks for the point in the right direction. I am gonna start studying this all soon.
February 18, 2018 7:12 a.m.
DrukenReaps says... #7
No problem, I love it when people want to play my favorite format and I'm always happy to answer questions.
February 18, 2018 7:21 a.m.
If you want a reanimation zombie deck, The Scarab God might be right up your ally. Reanimation, burn, and deck structuringthree powerful tools, all on the same card.
Endless Ranks of the Dead is another fun, very flavourful zombie card. The art is also fantastic. It is a bit slow, since it only kicks in on your upkeep, but it can be a powerful win condition in protracted games.
Be sure not to forget your mana rocksDimir Signet, Sol Ring, etc. Protection for your commander, notably Lightning Greaves is also a must.
Finally, there are some cards every tribe should consider: Metallic Mimic, Coat of Arms, and Vanquisher's Banner all come to mind.
When youve finished your deck, be sure to link it here. Id love to take a look at the completed project.
February 18, 2018 10:58 a.m.
Suns_Champion says... #9
Going to second DrukenReaps and say that a pre-con is the best way to get into Commander. The precons give you an amazing jumping off point, and allow you to get an understanding of how the decks are constructed and then how the games play out without you needing to do much work, or play with a crappy deck.
Once you get into improving your precon or building your own decks, check out these videos by The Command Zone! Good way to learn a ton about the format and general deck building tips.
The Commander Deck Building Template | The Command Zone #151 General template for Commander decks that you can start with, sorta what Reaps was talking about.
EDH Essentials | The Command Zone #105 Good to know the format staples and why they're important.
Welcome to commander and good luck! Link your deck here when you decide so we can help you out further!
February 18, 2018 12:43 p.m.
4x cards of a 60 card deck is 6.7% of the deck. In a 100 card deck that percentage is almost 7 cards. You can find cards that do similar things and just build your deck by the same percentages you are used to in 60 card decks basically. You want to make sure to include some misc. tutors, ramp and versatile removal in addition to whatever plans your deck has though. I like choosing my commander first and building around it, but some people like starting with the theme and figuring out what works for it. Good luck its a great format.
February 18, 2018 1 p.m.
Gidgetimer says... #11
Instead of building with 4 copies of the best for a certain effect in EDH you build with all the good cards that do what you want, and then all the mediocre cards that do that thing, and then maybe some of the bad ones. Add to this that you can put in all the tutors from the history of magic (in your colors) and you can get consistency that rivals a 60 card deck.
I like to start all of my builds with an idea of how the deck is going to win. Some of the time this is inspired by the commander like Xenagos, God of Revels or Arcum Dagsson. Other times it is just an idea like "esper combos" or "elves". Whatever the jumping off point you just find a lot of similar cards, tutors, and draw to make it so that you can consistently pull off what you are trying to do.
February 18, 2018 8:24 p.m.
Hey, I actually had a fun idea. What about a Stall / Control deck that uses Hokori, Dust Drinker as it's commander? Run stuff like Worship Ghostly Prison etc for its deck and Ivory Mask
You think that might be good for a beginners attempt at a commander?
February 21, 2018 2:45 a.m.
pair it with a deck that runs on stuff that untaps your mana, or LOTS of artifacts that produce white mana like that white myr etc? Maybe Lotus bloom?
February 21, 2018 2:46 a.m.
marjoriejackson says... #14
These ideas are really good. And it is helpful for us. I really appreciated your ideas.And I think that might be good for a beginners attempt at a commander.
DrukenReaps says... #2
Absolute best thing you can do for yourself to get into commander and wrap your head around it even if you have tons of cards laying around is pick up a commander pre-con. All of them range from good to amazing so you can't really go wrong on which one you pick up.
To get started on deck building though there are two main approaches:
1) Build around your commander.
You always have access to your commander if nothing else so instead of building around 3 or so cards in standard/modern you build around one card and the rest is support. Usually this ends up being what is called voltron but there are other ways to build around a commander.
2) Build around a theme.
Choose any theme you find interesting. Lets say tokens and just go nuts with tons of token producing cards. I try to make the theme be the majority of the cards and then the support cards will be around 15 cards.
February 18, 2018 1:24 a.m.