New EDH player please Help!
Commander Deck Help forum
Posted on Aug. 28, 2020, 2:33 a.m. by Roryesquire
Hey Everyone, I'm new to this site and new to EDH, thanks for stopping by! Ideally I'm after two (No budget required) reasonably strong deck lists for:
Tatyova / control Thromok / Tokens
I'm new to EDH and my play group has one extremely strong Deck that tends to combo off turn 5/7/10.
I want to even out the play group a bit, so we can last 14 turns and all get the chance to win 25% of the time. Unfortunately we live in an area with few MTG EDH players. The other players seem to struggle as I do to stop his combo from happening. Any suggestions would be amazing!
I've viewed a lot of YouTube deck techs and have a good idea of what I need to do, but my knowledge base of cards is still too weak,
Thanks Team Roryesquire
Hi!
Definitely let us know what the exact strategy your group's archenemy is playing and we can find ways to help you combat it.
August 28, 2020 2:57 a.m.
Just like the other guys posted what commander are they playing and their combo. Interaction is the key to stopping combos in edh out any game of magic
August 28, 2020 3:10 a.m.
Roryesquire says... #5
I'm sorry I'm not 100% sure what Commander he's using, but pretty much he tutors for a card that exiles all the cards from his deck, then he wins as he can't draw anymore cards
August 28, 2020 3:43 a.m.
Roryesquire says... #6
He has two different ways of doing this as I countered it once and then he pretty much used another way of doing it again, he has strong tutors, also can retrieve from graveyard easily, so I'm thinking exhile GY?
He's quite strong on enchantments and artifacts, I think his commander helps him tutor for cards and that it's Blue/Black
August 28, 2020 3:50 a.m.
Roryesquire says... #7
He has two different ways of doing this as I countered it once and then he pretty much used another way of doing it again, he has strong tutors, also can retrieve from graveyard easily, so I'm thinking exhile GY?
He's quite strong on enchantments and artifacts, I think his commander helps him tutor for cards and that it's Blue/Black
August 28, 2020 3:58 a.m.
Sounds like a fairly standard Consultation line, or maybe a Doomsday set up.
Usually these wins revolve around cards like Demonic Consultation, Tainted Pact, Doomsday, Thassa's Oracle, Jace, Wielder of Mysteries, and Laboratory Maniac.
There are a number of ways to punish this line of play that are very effective.
Angel's Grace will prevent him from winning and he won't be able to interact with Angel's Grace when it's cast. This will, at a minimum, give your group a turn cycle to come up with an answer to his board state, or result in him killing himself outright if he used Thassa's Oracle.
Trickbind works similarly, it's got split second so it can't be interacted with on the stack, and it counters the triggered ability of Oracle or the activated ability of Jace, but doesn't really affect Lab Man. Again, with Oracle he just dies on his next turn, but with Jace this option buys the table a turn cycle to find a way to kill the Jace.
Mental Misstep is an excellent answer to Demonic Consultation.
Dispel is a good way to interact with both of the Forbidden Tutors (Demonic Consultation and Tainted Pact). Many other counterspells are also excellent in this role. The key is being prepared for him to attempt his line of play and then busting out the countermagic you were saving for that situation.
Spell Snare hits both Oracle and Tainted Pact.
Geier Reach Sanitarium can be used to force him to draw with an Oracle etb trigger on the stack, but is less useful against Lab Man and Jace. Any spell that can force him to draw at instant speed while an Oracle trigger is on the stack will cause him to lose as well.
Torpor Orb, Hushbringer, and Hushwing Gryff are cards that prevent creature ETB triggers and can be good answers to the Oracle.
Any form of instant speed creature removal is an excellent way to answer Lab Man while he has a draw trigger on the stack that would draw on his empty library and win the game. Lab Man will die, he will draw, then he will die.
Despark, Assassin's Trophy and other instant speed universal removal can be an excellent answer to Jace's draw ability trigger. Jace will die, he will draw, then he will die.
Meddling Mage and other cards that prevent him from playing important pieces of his line of play are also good solutions but can be vulnerable to removal.
August 28, 2020 4:06 a.m.
Roryesquire says... #9
Thank you so much for your response, I'm 100% sure it's four cards to his combo that nets him the win, 2 off those pieces being Demonic Consultation / Thassa's Oracle
August 28, 2020 4:41 a.m.
Roryesquire says... #10
My color choice to respond is Green/Blue for Tatyova, Benthic Druid or Red/Green for Thromok the Insatiable
August 28, 2020 4:47 a.m.
As mentioned above counter spells is the way to go to counter this. Your green/blue deck should be well suited to play 10 or so different ones. The problem with that strategy is you need to keep up a lot of mana each turn just in case so it becomes important you have some way of using that when the opponent then does not play their win condition into 4 open mana from a blue player.
Luckily blue/green has a some good flash creatures and many of them printed in recent sets, so try looking for some of those to round out the strategy.
August 28, 2020 5:55 a.m.
Thrasios, Triton Hero
is also a thing, and there is really no shortage of card advantage mana sinks in Simic colors. Should be easy to find some cards to fill that role, even on a budget. That way you can run some of these responses and begin to play a more competitive style of play pattern in games where you constantly leave up mana (referred to as playing "shields up") to interact with opposing decks. When opponents are playing decks as competitive as the one this archenemy is playing (I'm assuming it's Zur the Enchanter) this pattern of play becomes critical to making certain you don't lose to a compact combo win line as often, or, potentially, at all.
August 28, 2020 6:07 a.m.
I know you're leaning towards GU/RG but maybe consider a commander who also includes white. Along with hatepieces already listed, things like Spirit of the Labyrinth Rule of Law, Deafening Silence and Eidolon of Rhetoric will prevent players from comboing off if they need to cast an additional spell per turn. Maybe think about Grand Arbiter Augustin IV or Derevi, Empyrial Tactician
August 28, 2020 6:59 a.m.
Sounds like a hatebear (small creatures aka "bears" with some sort of detrimental effect) with at least / might be good like Unlife suggested. Just be sure to include a variety of counters to stop the combos. These colors also lend themselves well to stax (resource denial) effects which will slow the game down for everyone. A "Bant" commander () will open up more avenues like Dryad Militant which will prevent him from recurring any instant or sorceries from his GY. Root Maze again will slow things down by at least a turn, ect., ect.
August 28, 2020 7:23 a.m.
VampiricTooter says... #16
Pongify Rapid Hybridization Beast Within
Can all deal with his commander at instant speed.
Naturalize is a great option against artifacts and enchantments at instant speed
Counterspell Negate Swan Song can stop your troubles before they even begin.
There are many more options on a budget in your colours that are as good as these if not better depending on the situation.
If you find your opponent amassing a board state with many combo pieces, perhaps try Tranquility like effects. Play at least 10-15 removal spells and effects in most decks and you will stand a much better chance of finding answers to your opponents’ win conditions. Throw a copy of Seedborn Muse or Wilderness Reclamation in, so you can have mana up to cast instant spells when your opponents are about to win and Foil their plans! Hope you are running Azusa in your build.
August 28, 2020 8:52 a.m.
Roryesquire says... #17
Honestly blown away with all this great advice, thank you all I really appreciate it
August 28, 2020 11:37 p.m.
Roryesquire says... #19
Hey Everyone, finished printed and sleeved this proxy deck, check it out let me know what you think!!
Again thank you so much
https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/sissay-control-0-needs-workhelp/
Caerwyn says... #2
First off, welcome to TappedOut!
What combo is your opponent using to win? There are a number of hate pieces in the game with a wide variety of uses--I am sure there is something that would be able to slow down or stop their combo, opening up other players to victory.
August 28, 2020 2:49 a.m.