Aggro EDH Commanders
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on June 4, 2018, 12:13 a.m. by AkrosTheClear
Most of my decks are combo decks but recently I have been looking into aggressive commanders. I want to make Edgar Markov a really aggressive deck and Kaalia of the Vast can be pretty aggressive too.
What other decks or commanders are out there that are super aggro? and how effective are these decks at closing out games?
Najeela, the Blade-Blossom does seem cool but ends up just becoming a combo deck with Druids' Repository.
Can confirm that Edgar Markov can be really aggressive (assuming a non-cutthroat playgroup). Tymna the Weaver + Tana, the Bloodsower can be good. Ezuri, Renegade Leader can also be really strong.
June 4, 2018 3:03 a.m.
Well, there is a reason there really isn't good aggressive commander as such - Commander is usually multiplayer and creatures and spells that normally go into an aggressive deck are costed to get a single opponent from 20 to 0 in the fastest way possible. When players have double the life and you have on average 120 life to go through, it becomes incredibly inefficient.
That said, I think Saskia the Unyielding is the best choice. Having a one player Furnace of Rath is extremely useful, as casting her essentially halves a player's lifetotal.
June 4, 2018 6:31 a.m. Edited.
A lot of commanders you can build to be aggressive, with the commander themselves being more of a supporting role for your main aggro strategy. Look at Sygg, River Cutthroat or Ludevic, Necro-Alchemist -- Their abilities could support an aggro strategy by use of politics outside of your turn, making other players attack each other for perks, keeping you alive long enough to swarm the board or go big.
June 4, 2018 9:33 a.m.
I've always been partial to Kaalia of the Vast, Rakdos, Lord of Riots, Aurelia, the Warleader, and believe it or not, Medomai the Ageless.
June 4, 2018 9:44 a.m.
Isamaru, Hound of Konda, Uril, the Miststalker, and Gishath, Sun's Avatar are all pretty aggro too and have garnered pretty nasty reputations. I remember hitting someone for Commander damage on turn 5 with Until :)
June 4, 2018 11:34 a.m.
Akiri, Line-Slinger + almost anyone is a really strong combo. Having a vigilant, first striking creature which is rather easily a 5/3 (at least) by turn 3 makes for some very good beats. I personally enjoy combining her with Silas Renn, Seeker Adept to give the deck more of a long game plan and access to some of the best tutors in the format, although Bruse Tarl, Boorish Herder can give the deck more speed in a 1v1 commander setting.
Edgar Markov is another extremely powerful aggro commander, and so is General Tazri, though in tazri's case you are confined strictly to playing allies, and she has a lightly more midrange aspect to her than any true aggro.
Purphoros, God of the Forge is another potent aggro commander, though purphoros can TECHNICALLY be called a combo commander by the same arguments that have always plagued burn decks; they don't attack to get your life down to 0, but instead employ spell shenanigans.
Najeela, the Blade-Blossom seems like a decent commander for aggro, but she also is arguably more of a combo commander, going infinite with any number of cards, the most simple of them being Sword of Feast and Famine. (Works because sword untaps your lands when damage is dealt, and you activate najeela's ability in the clean-up step of combat.)
I've also always liked Omnath, Locus of Rage as an aggro commander, since all you need in that deck is omnath himself and a bunch of ramp cards; the deck is the epitome of consistency and simplicity in an aggro commander deck, though he is often far too slow off the ground to be competitively viable. You just have to take too many turns to set up a kill.
June 4, 2018 10:02 p.m.
DrukenReaps says... #11
I completely agree with people that say Najeela, the Blade-Blossom can be a combo deck. I'm building it and there are 7-ish cards in mine that combo with her. But I still feel like it is more of an aggro deck than a combo deck. Sure you could do some weird thing because you are able to make infinite mana if you find a way to hold onto that mana between steps (but you already won so why?). Or win through Impact Tremors because tokens. But for the deck to combo you have to be winning at combat which requires all the stuff you would normally want for aggro. And you don't need to combo either the commander gives an extra combat every time you pay and a token every time a warrior attacks... Every combat step is one turn closer to an aggro victory.
TLDR: Yes Najeela, the Blade-Blossom combos but it is the most aggro combo ever.
June 5, 2018 2:14 a.m.
RedUndead40 says... #12
I have two aggro decks that are fairly successful.
Jazal Goldmane - pump as many tokens as possible, ramp up to 9 mana as fast as possible so you can cast and activate Jazal on a single turn. Fragile, but explosive.
Edric, Spymaster of Trest - run tons of one mana evasive creatures like Slither Blade. Dump your hand, refill your hand, repeat. You will usually have more creatures than even token decks. Finish with cards like Biomass Mutation, Beastmaster Ascension, etc. Blue makes him less fragile than Jazal since you can counter boardwipes.
June 7, 2018 4:49 p.m.
The most success I have had with aggro is definitely with Edgar Markov; even in a multiplayer environment, I am able to cast multiple creatures each turn, attack massively and rebuild easily from board wipes with card advantage. My list for reference : The Partnership
Kaalia is fine, but i am not playing that currently because I find the deck to be too commander-dependant, which can be a pain in multiplayer. Still, here is my plan for her : Death From Above
I am still waiting on several cars in the mail to try it out, but I believe Arcades, the Strategist will be quite aggressive. Although I am padding myself in pillows, the sheer amount of creatures in this deck should be nice to see in action : We Don't Need No Education
DrukenReaps says... #2
Najeela, the Blade-Blossom is theoretically one of the meanest I've seen. Releases with battlebond.
Some others that do a decent job: Saskia the Unyielding, Grenzo, Havoc Raiser, Gishath, Sun's Avatar, Rakdos, Lord of Riots, Xenagos, God of Revels
June 4, 2018 12:47 a.m.