Getting Back into Commander after a 1 Year Hiatus
Commander Deck Help forum
Posted on March 26, 2018, 3:01 p.m. by Tiny_Sir
Hello!
I'm new to this site so bear with me please.
I'm currently trying to get back into MTG, and I was first and foremost a commander player. Simic was always one of my favorite guilds and as I scour color pair rankings I see its one of the best so thats where I started my search.
Currently I'm liking the "Counters Matter" theme, but don't want Atraxa since she's abit expensive and overplayed.
So I came across Vorel of the Hull Clade in my old collection and decided he'd be pretty fun to start a deck around.
Now I also came across on EDHrec some other strong commanders such as Prime Speaker Zeganna, and Experiment Kraj as two other good options.
Sorry if this post is a bit rambly. TLDR I want a fun simic commander, I would like counters not counter spells but I don't mind them) to be a theme but if you have another fun simic commander I'd happily look into them!
Thrasios, Triton Hero is fantastic since it doesn't lock you into any one strategy. He supports the deck by keeping you going if you run out of gas. (He's often paired with Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix but doesn't need to be)
I'm currently playing Rashmi, Eternities Crafter. She's fun for the same reason, where she helps the deck chug into the mid-late game
March 26, 2018 3:15 p.m.
I'd say Vorel is a perfectly fine place to start. He's capable of some pretty broken things if your meta is on the casual end of the spectrum (which I assume it is), and can be upgraded fairly easily (first you get an Illusionist's Bracers, then you get a Kalonian Hydra, then you get a Cyclonic Rift, then you get a Rings of Brighthearth, etc.) EDHRec and TappedOut are both excellent resources, and I'd be happy to take a look at any potential decklists you might have - If you'd like, just leave a comment on my profile with a link to the deck, and I'll give you some suggestions as soon as I can.
March 26, 2018 3:21 p.m.
Thanks for offering to help, that means a great deal to me.
I was working on a list with what I had lying around but I realized I don't have much in the terms of 1 1 counters. I then expanded my idea and looked at another favorite guild: Dimir. My friends are willing to trade me either Vela the Night-Clad or Taigam, Sidisi's Hand who both also look to be fun commanders. I always do love a good control deck if I consider Tasigur, but a fun flicker deck with Vela also is intriguing. Can you help me decide?
March 26, 2018 3:57 p.m.
TBH, I'm not a huge fan of either of them as commanders. I personally love Taigam as a card, but the issue is that Sidisi, Brood Tyrant is just a much better commander for that type of playstyle (although I can definitely help with a Taigam deck if you'd like, I've been meaning to build one for a while now). As for Vela, her main ability is giving things intimidate, not necessarily the pinging. And if you're building a deck around giving things intimidate, Sygg, River Cutthroat is usually better as a commander. Either way, I'd be more than happy to help you build whichever one you'd like, but I'm not sure you'd be happy with the results.
March 26, 2018 4:06 p.m.
Hm... I can see why now looking closer at them.
Choosing a commander was always the hardest part imo. Have any fun ones you can suggest? I love underplayed guys if that helps any.
March 26, 2018 4:29 p.m.
Edric, Spymaster of Trest, and a bunch of: "attack my opponents" incentive.
Or just go mono red (NON-GOBLIN) and never worry about overplayed again
March 26, 2018 6:16 p.m.
lilgiantrobot says... #9
In I play a Dragonlord Silumgar/Contamination deck. There's no need to go that route, but overall DlS is a powerful Commander that doesn't see much play due to his 6cmc. He'd check off two of your boxes for colors and being overlooked.
I will second Thrasios, Triton Hero as being amazing on his own. Nothing but value.
March 26, 2018 7:09 p.m. Edited.
Last_Laugh says... #11
You could try adding a third color. That opens up a LOT of options. Temur, BUG, and Bant.
March 27, 2018 11:41 a.m.
I have an Ezuri, Claw of Progress deck that often goes crazy with +1/+1 counters. Feel free to get inspired.
March 27, 2018 12:16 p.m.
Okay all so I found a commander I like, or well an IDEA that I like a lot, and that's creature control. So far, this is my list of cards I already have: Mono Blue Creature Control
It currently has Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir as the commander for the giving all our creatures FLASH effectively. I would love some feedback on it and am open to changing the commander if suggested.
March 27, 2018 3:10 p.m.
DualCastGaming says... #14
To be honest, the best way to fugure out which deck you want to play is to just start playing (as silly as that sounds). Choose a theme or colors that you are interested in and just build a deck around them. You can find a half decent commander to go with the colors afterwards and temporarily proxy it. Once you've tried it out a few times and you like it, you can tweak it into whatever kind of deck you want. Thats how i started my marath token deck. I built GR tokens, got thromok, wanted to play naya tokens, and turned it into marath. From there i made it actually good. So just try to find a playstyle that you like and go from there. As for specific decks, it seems like you are undecided, so start with your blue creature control deck, and incorporate more colors if you want. You can even run stuff like Draining Whelk which bridge the gap between strategies.
March 27, 2018 7:12 p.m.
So I played my first few games with it and it performed admirably against a Momir Vig, Meren, and Daretti. I'm thinking splashing a second or even third color would help improve the deck in a way that would be very beneficial. I wanna keep to the control creatures theme, cause no one at my LGS has done it and I like feeling like a special snowflake haha.
I've been looking through commanders, and (by the way I want to stay in blue) and looked at the flicker commanders such as Brago and Roon. They both seem strong, but I don't really wanna build a flicker deck since we have 3 (according to my new playgroup) and I like the idea more of using creatures with flash and cool abilities rather then blinking them. Any thoughts on a commander? I've also seen Yeva, Nature's Herald and if I was mono green I'd totally go for a commander like that, but I really wanna keep blue.
March 27, 2018 8:22 p.m.
Check out Ephara, God of the Polis decks. Very flashy.
March 27, 2018 9:49 p.m.
scotchtapedsleeves says... #18
If you're not stuck on Simic, Ramos, Dragon Engine is an insanely fun commander to play! Personally, I really like Marchesa, the Black Rose. I have a deck with here here! Steal Things, Get Money
If you need help with any of your decks, just make a comment on my profile! I'm happy to help out!
March 27, 2018 11:05 p.m. Edited.
DualCastGaming says... #19
If you want simic, momir vig or zegana work pretty well. If you want to do BUG (since those are the 3 colors you seemed interested in) you could play Damia, Sage of Stone. She rewards you for being able to empty your hand, but still lets you keep cards to control with. You also get to play yeva if you have enough green etb creatures like Eternal Witness. One of the workers at my lgs plays her, and she can get really ridiculous with enough ramp. You can also tune her up or down to fit your plaugroup pretty easily.
March 28, 2018 3:25 a.m.
Hm... I'm hesistant going 5 color for mana base reasons. Marchesa look intriguing, but I'm not sure if she's entirely what I'm going for....
I'm honestly open at all colors. White is the only one I'm not to keen on. While Damia looks fun, she looks like she's above the 10 dollar mark which is a bit more then I can afford to pay at the moment (high schooler without a real job) but BUG aka Sultai does always look intriguing.
Also sorry to anyone who thinks I'm being picky or perfectionistic. I'm really not trying to be.
ThatGrimGuy says... #2
Kraj or momir vig are probably the best.
March 26, 2018 3:15 p.m.