Power cmdrs like TLG

Commander Deck Help forum

Posted on Feb. 1, 2019, 5:08 a.m. by thewyzman

I'm aware of the thread Commanders by Power Level [EDH Tier List], but I wanted a more generalized audience for my question. Without further ado:

What commander, under $20, has the kind of power The Locust God does? What I mean is, the guy at my LGS pretty consistently assembles TLG, Purphoros, God of the Forge and any number of wheel effects to run the table within a turn or two. Furthermore, he sometimes manages to do it by Turn 7.

How can I compete with something like this? I'm currently playing omnath the locus rage, and attempting to build Tasigur while staring dreamily at Tatyova, Benthic Druid . Are there any other NON-CEDH commanders that can win tables as quickly as TLG? I'm getting desperate.

thewyzman says... #2

Furthermore, TLG all the while fills its board with flyers if all else fails. I'm not asking for blue solitaire combo wins

February 1, 2019 5:20 a.m.

Winterblast says... #3

you should be looking at effects that shut down his key mechanics. Stax pieces are often pretty cheap and they come in various colours. You could for example ruin Locust God with Notion Thief , Spirit of the Labyrinth , Alms Collector or even a Rampaging Ferocidon . Purphoros is easily turned off by Torpor Orb or Hushwing Gryff . Nekusar, the Mindrazer might be a good commander to oppose Locust God because he punishes the player for the same action that Locust God gives you a bonus for. Uba Mask turns off the draw trigger of Locust God because the cards are exiled INSTEAD of drawing. There's so many angles from which you can attack and the hate pieces are also useful against other decks.

February 1, 2019 6:26 a.m.

DrukenReaps says... #4

He is a tough commander to deal with but you know many of the problem cards. Have you started running heavy on removal that exiles? I find being able to instantly exile purphoros or worst case locust god himself is very necessary.

Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim , Karlov of the Ghost Council , and Teysa, Orzhov Scion all have the ability to be set to handle him before he can set up.

Winterblast mentioned some other great options in a different direction.

I've seen some crazy Omnath decks, perhaps that deck just needs some attention?

February 1, 2019 7:26 a.m.

Suns_Champion says... #5

If he has a ton of bugs but no sac outlets, a good ol Rakdos Charm should do the trick

Exile removal is a good idea too

February 1, 2019 10:52 a.m.

DruneGrey says... #6

Tatyova, Benthic Druid can certainly be pretty busted. I've got a deck that typically wins 5-7.

February 1, 2019 10:54 a.m.

SynergyBuild says... #7

I am a cEDH and casual EDH player. Honestly it costs 6 mana so a colorless pile without a commander could beat it.

Give me any commander, any of them and I could build you a deck that can beat TLG with the chosen commander helming it.

February 1, 2019 12:24 p.m.

IMMG54 says... #8

If you want to make everyone hurt a good ol Derevi stax deck should do the job nicely with things like Torpor Orb , Static Orb , Hushwing Gryff , and friends. Makes a lot of friends, trust me

February 1, 2019 4:20 p.m.

thewyzman says... #9

Winterblast those cards are great counters to TLG, but (also IMMG54) i'm not much of a stax player, so I own about one of those cards. | DrukenReaps those commanders would be good if my goal was dealing specifically with TLG decks. No one in my meta is playing those, so what do I know? I haven't seen them in action. The weakness of my Omnath is removal. It's great at land plays and stompy things, but right now having a hard time finding the right removal cards and appropriate slots for them. Of course, let's not forget TLG has lots of blue, and plenty of countermagic to protect it. | SunsChampion I love Rakdos Charm for decks like TLG, Edgar, and all things tokeny, but can't seem to find the right commander in the right colors, though it feels like Nekusar is mentioned more and more in this thread. My only recourse is that there's already another player in the meta and I prefer to be unique. | DruneGrey Do you have a list? Maybe i'll be inspired to give her a hard look. I sure don't want to find myself playing blue solitaire. SynergyBuild I'll keep that in mind. I'm a career tinkerer, can never seem to find a single commander to commit to because of how easily I get discouraged when other decks shred mine. I'm currently running Omnath, Locus of Rage and Purphoros, God of the Forge as active decks. I took apart Meren of Clan Nel Toth because of how much hate it was getting from just sitting at the table, and i'm trying to theorize how to make a Tasigur, the Golden Fang deck to compete with my blue-heavy meta.

All that aside, the point of the thread was to ask folks if there are other commanders with win-power like TLG. Not necessarily blue infinite combos, but a commander with the ability to not only roast every player's life totals in a turn or two, but fill a board with flyers in the process.

February 1, 2019 10:26 p.m.

griffstick says... #10

I found that the best way to beat a deck is to build the same deck same cmdr as him or her who is playing the locust god. I bet that he will not play locust God anymore for as long as you play it first. This totally works lol.

February 2, 2019 3:31 a.m.

Azdranax says... #11

A deck that results in a similar concept without outright copying TLG is Teysa, Orzhov Scion . Although you lose the blue control aspect, you do gain in removal and speed based on average CMC, and your primary win condition combo piece only costs , so timing when to play Darkest Hour is fairly easy based on board state and available mana from your opponents. You can also build toward your meta in a more pillow-fort type concept, adding things like Ghostly Prison , Sphere of Safety and Crawlspace to hose the token aggro aspect of TLG.

Here's my list for reference - check it out and see if this might fit what you're looking for to play with the same game plan but in a totally different flavor to TLG. Happy brewing.


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Commander / EDH* Azdranax

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February 2, 2019 11:33 a.m.

IMMG54 says... #12

You mentioned playing Tasigur, and it would really depend on how competitive your meta is, Tasigur is a good choice. You load it with like 7 counterspells, and my favorite way to win with him is Paradox Engine , but Seasons Pastigur is also competitive, where you loop Seasons Past +a tutor+Extra turn spell and Bam you have infinite turns. Tasigur storm is a solid win, but Seasons past is fun. You can also build a solid lands deck, although building that competitively will cost you. A good budget win is looping villanious wealth over and over. It's a control shell, so you will look to control the board no matter what. A higher amount of blue in your meta means you include a higher number of counterspells to fight their counterspells, or add in measures to shut them down, such as defense grid or boseiju. Hope this helped

February 2, 2019 3:25 p.m.

DruneGrey says... #13

@thewyzman: I haven't updated my list on here for a while, but it is based off of this list by bushido_man96; Tatyova, Benthic Druid

Though not blue solitaire, it can sometimes feel like simic solitaire when going off.

February 5, 2019 11:22 a.m.

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