Help with my first ever EDH deck
Commander Deck Help forum
Posted on Oct. 18, 2017, 12:04 a.m. by Sethian23
Hey! I have made many mtg decks in the past, mostly modern and casual, such as a casual vampire tribal deck. I have attempted to make a vampire EDH deck, but it needs A LOT of refining, such as the mana base is a little wack, I am on a little bit of a budget and I own most of the cards already, could anyone help me fix my deck? *HELP* Vampires first EDH deck tribal is the deck, any help would be nice, thanks in advance!
battle_jelly says... #3
I second General_Kale's sound advice especially about the budgeting. EDH can get really expensive, and most of the expensive stuff lies in your dual-color lands like Sacred Foundry, to Arid Mesa, to the Plateau!... And that's only 3 land cards you "need" in a 3-color deck.
October 18, 2017 10:15 a.m.
General_Kale: why is a tricolour mana base an issue if you're proxying?
October 18, 2017 10:16 a.m.
@enpc
For the most part, the tri-color mana bases are built using the 3-3-9 split. That's three OG duals, Ravnica duals, and 9 fetches. That's insane for most people. OP's advice is to proxy to test if something works, not as a permanent solution. In this sense, proxying this kind of land base is useless. You already know it works because it's the best possible way to build the mana base and it's far beyond the economic means of most players.
October 18, 2017 2:51 p.m.
Overall, I like the deck. Blood Baron of Vizkopa is one card you can take out. It seems a bit situational and in EDH it's unlikely that it will have the buff for long, if at all. Fate Forgotten is just a worse Forsake the Worldly, so that's an easy replacement. One problem I see in most first-time EDH lists is that people think "Oh, it's EDH so I can just shovel high manacost cards in the deck like Iv'e never heard of a curve!" You, thankfully, did not make that mistake. One thing I would add is more card draw. You could try Land Tax and Scroll Rack, or Wheel of Fortune but that's not very budget. Ambition's Cost and Ancient Craving are budget alternatives that work, and so are EDH staples Phyrexian Arena and Underworld Connections. Magus of the Wheel and Reforge the Soul are budget options for the wheel. To fit these in, try taking out Kindred Boon. Six mana to make one thing indestructible is not so good.
October 18, 2017 7:06 p.m.
TheDevicer: An optimised mana base sure, however you don't have to build a tricolour deck using that. You can get some serious value out of budget mana bases if you're samrt about A) the lands chosen and B) the ramp suite to accompany it.
My issue with the statement was that you should proxy the cards you want to play test to see if they fit. While there are some cases where that is true, generally yo ucan assess a card prior to putting it in a deck. And at that point you're just proxying it due to price, especially with lands. And at theat point, either you're going to eventually buy the card or not.
I don't have to ask myself if this shock land will work well in my deck, the answer is "yes it will". So my point is/was don't kid yourself about things like this - if you can't afford it but are proxying it becuase one day you'll get around to buying it then hey, why the hell not just proxy a full mana base now and move on.
October 18, 2017 7:53 p.m.
battle_jelly says... #8
enpc. I agree that proxy cards are useful for placeholders when you will buy the cards eventually. However, depending on where you play, some people do not like to see proxies in decks. I played against someone that had an Atraxa, Praetors' Voice deck, and most of the lands were proxies. 2 months later, he still had the proxies. We knew eventually he would try to get those OG duals, but still with each card above $100 bucks... Mmm, sure. Eventually.
October 18, 2017 8:13 p.m.
htfilm I agree on almost everything you said, and I added cluestoned, and much other draw land cards. I also got rid of Blood Baron, and I replaced Fate Forgotten for Forsake the Worldly. Many other people also gave me suggestions, now I am a tight spot as I need to cut and only cut or maybe replace cards that put me at 100.
October 18, 2017 9:51 p.m.
I've been running fully proxied edh decks for years featuring some of the most expensive cards in the game. I never once thought I'd be acquiring any of these cards. I only recently got to the point where I can buy anything in the game without too much worry. You think people a few years back would have been fine with that? Showing up with proxied workshops and timetwisters? Lol.
Go to your local shop and the response you'll get is that proxies are sometimes ok. Most people think you're clear if you've got another copy stashed away, are committed to buying soon, or are waiting for shipping.
October 18, 2017 11:50 p.m.
General_Kale says... #11
I hear these sorts of arguments, and rationales from players THAT ARE NOT NEW. These are the things guys that have been playing a few months or years make. Being a new player means that they don't know how to pilot the net deck they just proxied anyways. Give him $10k they'd still probably lose. They don't really understand the power of tempo, drawing, exile, or grave hate. At least from what I have seen.
Calm down, and think about how every EDH player goes through a phase where it is all about winning. Then think of how after playing a while you appreciate the balance of the game. With TIME they will not only conform to the climate of their local game store, but will hopefully find friends there, and others willing to suggest cards that are affordable, and do much the same thing. Losing to a newb, or a proxied card that you'll "never be able to afford" is not something to fear. Creating a welcoming culture where it matters more about how gracious you win and lose is what I have found is the most important thing to new and old.
My whole outlook on this is to spark every player into building anything they want to build--No restrictions. Experience will teach them EDH etiquette.
General_Kale says... #2
I tell every person getting into EDH the same thing. Word for word, and very rarely do people have the wisdom to listen.
First- Proxy. Proxy every card over a $1. The only cards in the deck that shouldn't be proxies FOR YOUR FIRST DECK are cards YOU ALREADY OWN. Not the general, not the $0.05 card that "is only a nickle". I have bought tons of cards because I WANTED to play them, only to find they don't fit. 60 cards isn't many! Make them count! and the way to make them count is to PLAY TEST them.
Second - One color. Yeah, no one listens to this one either. The REASON is that so many--SO MANY of those staples are lands and artifacts that by the time you "fix" your land base for 3-5 colors YOU ARE BROKE. Not only will you be able to build a fun deck in each color (relatively) cheaply, but you will learn where the real strengths and weaknesses of that color are. You're learning the game, common cards, and the people at your local game store (LGS).
Third - Kill enchantments, artifacts, and non-basics. My favorite card is Wave of Vitriol. It doesn't exile, but it gets all 3 at the same time. Cards like Scroll Rack, Mirari's Wake, Glacial Chasm and Blade of Selves are all examples of cards that won't win the game, but are the reason that a player was able to get the win. Don't be shy in putting a proxy of Karn Liberated, Ugin, the Spirit Dragon, All Is Dust, Oblivion Stone, and a Nevinyrral's Disk in EVERY deck--but most especially in your Red, Black, and Blue to hit enchantments.
So there you have it. The key to getting into EDH. Economic, a paced learning curve, and of course allows you to easily grow naturally into a color wedge you have learned to love.
October 18, 2017 9:15 a.m.