Help With First Commander Deck?
Commander Deck Help forum
Posted on Jan. 7, 2016, 11:25 p.m. by Ph0xPhire
Alright, so after creepily watching people play commander from afar and whatnot, I decided to give the format a whirl. I have done a pretty good chunk of research on the game, and I have spent literal days just looking for a commander. I have decided to make a deck around Sapling of Colfenor. She is part of a nice color wedge, has interesting lore, has nice art, has a bonkers ability, is a decently obscure commander (or so I am told), and she generally intrigues me. I intend to go the commonly trodden route of treefolk tribal with some golgari goodstuff mixed in. I do not want to netdeck because I want this deck to be an extension of me- like most people consider their commander decks to be of their respective selves. That being said, I am in a vast world of which I have no experience and thousands of cards.
How should I size up my mana base and mana curve? What is the right number of spells for my deck compared to creatures? How many tutors should I run (as black and green have TONS)?
Generally speaking, what are some cards that are "auto includes" in all commander decks? What are usually "auto includes" in golgari decks? Is there anything I should be running to bolster my tribal theme as well?
Also from a playability standpoint- how should I expect this deck to do? Do people even SEE sapling decks played?
My budget range is somewhere in the middle. I don't want to break the bank with cards like Bitterblossom (which would probably not be used in this deck), but at the same time I am ok with moderatly priced <$10 cards that I can add over time.
I thank all of you grizzled commander veterans for taking the time out of what I assume to be a godlike existence to answer my humble question.
CanadianShinobi says... #3
Do you have a sample framework you can provide? If not, leave a message on my profile and we can hash out some details. But I think treefolk tribal is an excellent place to start with such a commander.
January 7, 2016 11:46 p.m.
Poisonedsugar01 says... #4
hey ph0xPhire,That's alot of stuff to process. lol First things first commander decks are NEVER done. I've had one for three years now and I'm always adding and taking away stuff all the time. so lets run the absolutes you need.Sol Ring, Swiftfoot boots, Lightning greaves. Every deck runs those. your commander is interesting I haven't seen a deck run that treefolk before I mainly see doran, the seige tower which is abzan colors. So mana curves in commander really don't matter it's more about getting to your goal also a big help is www.edhrec.com type in the commander you want to use and it will pop up every deck that runs that commander and give card suggestions. BIG HELP. I hope this helps you can always message me if you have more questions.
January 7, 2016 11:58 p.m.
I was thinking along the lines of what TolaranAcademy did with a creature base similar to this 1x Ambassador Oak1x Argothian Treefolk1x Battlewand Oak1x Black Poplar Shaman1x Bosk Banneret1x Canker Abomination1x Cloudcrown Oak1x Dauntless Dourbark1x Deadwood Treefolk1x Dungrove Elder1x Ebony Treefolk1x Everbark Shaman1x Fendeep Summoner1x Gaea's Avenger1x Heartwood Treefolk1x Leaf-Crowned Elder1x Lumberknot1x Oakgnarl Warrior1x Orchard Warden1x Seedguide Ash1x Sheltering Ancient1x Thorntooth Witch1x Tilling Treefolk1x Timber Protector1x Treefolk Harbinger1x Treefolk Seedlings1x Unstoppable Ash1x Verdeloth the Ancient1x Weatherseed Treefolk1x Weed-Pruner Poplar1x Wickerbough Elder1x Woodfall Primus
I intend to possibly add some utility creatures such as Sakura-Tribe Elder and Rune-Scarred Demon.
However it's all a bit foggy. Any other treefolk that could work?
January 8, 2016 midnight
I also might throw in Acidic Slime because that is like the king of green cards.
January 8, 2016 12:05 a.m.
Sylvan Library sits around 20 bucks almost constantly, but the power it provides is well worth the cost. It gives you top deck control every turn, and lets you draw cards when you start to run low.
Due to you being Green, you gain access to mana dorks and ramp spells, which can accelerate your mana to crazy amounts. Arbor Elf, Birds of Paradise, Elves of Deep Shadow, Cultivate, Kodama's Reach, Skyshroud Claim, Nature's Lore and the Artifacts Chromatic Lantern and Coalition Relic are a few of the staples of ramp and acceleration.
Black gives you access to a tonne of draw power, in Necropotence, Phyrexian Arena, Underworld Connections, and Erebos, God of the Dead.
These colours also give you access to a plethora of removal options; Abrupt Decay, Maelstrom Pulse, Hero's Downfall, Ruinous Path, and Putrefy are good spot removal options, though Decay is starting to get a tad pricey. Black Sun's Zenith, Pernicious Deed, Nevinyrral's Disk and Decree of Pain are good for clearing an overly dense board. Diabolic Edict, Barter in Blood, Fleshbag Marauder, and Innocent Blood get around things like Hexproof and Indestructible.
Animation like Reanimate, Animate Dead, and Living Death can swing the game back into your favour if your board gets nuked or something huge gets binned. Living Death is also a hilarious wrath in some situations.
Tutors like Worldly Tutor, Diabolic Tutor, Jarad's Orders, and the more expensive Demonic Tutor, Tooth and Nail, and Vampiric Tutor make your much more consistent.
Some random value creatures I love using in EDH; Deathrite Shaman, Eternal Witness, Avenger of Zendikar, Duplicant, Grave Titan, Sidisi, Undead Vizier, and Scavenging Ooze.
You're play two of my favourite colours, so I have a tonne of suggestions.
January 8, 2016 12:27 a.m.
Oh man where to begin?
Colfenor is a great and pretty safe choice I'd say. The easiest thing to do is start by looking at some of the Meren of Clan Nel Toth precon upgrades and also some of the lifegain decks (the utility your commander provides in this area should be put to full use). Those lists will show you patterns of how to work the theme and the common staples.
Just a few suggestions to help you out: Black Market,Sanguine Bond,Exquisite Blood,Dictate of Erebos, Ghoultree,Great Oak Guardian,Kalonian Twingrove, Lignify,Magnigoth Treefolk,Rootgrapple, Sylvan Offering,Reach of Branches,Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest,Eternal Witness,Farhaven Elf, Primal Growth, Sword of the Animist,Archetype of Finality,Command Tower,Sol Ring,Golgari Rot Farm,Golgari Guildgate,Golgari Signet,Tainted Wood, literally the list could go on.
GB has access to some superb sac, ramp, pump, and recursion cards available.
Hope that helps a little!
January 8, 2016 1:03 a.m.
Ph0xPhire,
Welcome to Commander!
A few recommended resources (sorry for the spam if you're already familiar with these):
- Check out the Pandora's Deckbox articles by Epochalyptik for some really solid deck-building advice.
- EDHREC is a great way to see what other people are playing. Here's their Sapling of Colfenor page
- M a g i c a l H a c k e r has built backbone decks ("100% synergy and 0% versatility") for scores of Commanders, including MagicalHacker - Sapling of Colfenor (BG)
- The Command Zone podcast is great, in general. But you should totally check out the episode they did with Graham Stark from LRR. Graham doesn't play a lot of Commander, but when he does it's a with a budget Sapling of Colfenor deck!
- When it's time to fiddle with your manabase, nothing's better than manabasecrafter ... you'll find perfect cards you never even knew existed. Here's their BG page
Also, +1 on GearNoir's comment about picking up the Meren deck IRL to start. The precons are just a great way to get into Commander. You get a playable manabase and a ton of Commander staples, plus by playing the different Commanders you can very quickly get a good feel for the direction you'll want to take your Colfenor deck, plus you'll get to playtest the very different card interactions and politics of multiplayer without a big time/$/emotional investment.
Please let us know when you get a decklist pulled together!
And good luck (and good skill!) with the deck!
January 8, 2016 6:55 a.m.
Thanks for all the help guys, I really appreciate it. I'm going to two tournaments in a row tonight (and I'm positive I'll stomp face) and might use the store credit won to buy the Meren deck, and then go from there. Thanks for the suggestion comrades.
WolfSickle says... #2
I can help you by building a Model deck for you, I've been intrested in a nature style deck and treefolk are technically nature xD. I have a few treefolk in mind which are great, since they cause you to gain 1-2 life with that commander, while still having decent strength, and either wither away an opponent, or create a sort of barrier which makes people risk attacking you. I won't include any cards that are above $10, but I'll only build it using your ideas if you would like me too. Message me if your intrested :D
January 7, 2016 11:37 p.m.