First time to EDH - The more comments the better.
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on Sept. 30, 2011, 9:03 a.m. by cryptichorror
I'm getting ready to make my first EDH deck. Two of my buddies and I got the idea, thinking it would be something fun and different to try. Problem is, we have no idea what we're doing. Yes, we have read the EDH official rules and understand all of that. Our struggle is in how to build an EDH deck. It seems very overwhelming and quite different from the traditional decks we've been used to building. So, if anyone could help us out and give a few pointers on where to start and what to do, that would be great.
p.s. I already have a commander in mind. I picked up a Progenitus from the local game store.
spartacusthegod says... #3
The biggest thing with EDH is how to utilize your general's abilities. For example, my main deck right now is based off of Zedruu the Greathearted . I gain a life and draw a card every upkeep for each permanent that's mine but not in my control. So, in the deck I have a bunch of cards besides Zedruu that let me swap creatures of land with someone. I get yours, you get mine. I get a bonus for you having my creature though, and that helps me draw out a win condition easier.
On a different note, something Epochalyptik missed that is usually a staple in EDH decks: Solemn Simulacrum . When it comes in, you get a land, and when it goes out, you get a card. Meanwhile it's a chump blocker for just in case, and it only costs 4 colorless to get out. There's next to nothing to complain about for it. Ramp, draw, and a creature, for 4 mana, is pretty darn good.
However, you're going to need a few different win conditions for your deck. After a certain point, Insurrection is almost always a win, or at least a good way to knock a few people out of the game. Infinite combos as well are good things to have, those usually end up winning, or getting you very close (for example, an infinite mana combo while you have Helix Pinnacle in play, means you win next turn).
The few things you will ALWAYS need to have for EDH though: you want ways to draw cards, at least one or two different ways to wipe the entire field (Wrath of God for example), and some form of recursion, either a way to shuffle your graveyard into your library, or a way to bring a lot of creatures back. Also, if you're running blue for colors and you have no counter spells in there, most likely you're doing it wrong and you need to change that. Mana Leak is a bad counter in EDH, by the way. After the game gets going and people are dropping spells that you need to counter, they'll have more than enough to spare to pay for that.
I have 2 different EDH decks right now, CUPCAKES FOR EVERYONE* and a deck based off Ghave, Guru of Spores as well. Cupcakes is the one I'm tweaking and improving right now, and it's still in the first stages of playtesting and tweaking. Check it out if you want someplace to start, and read the description/comments if you're not sure about how some of the combos work.
September 30, 2011 11:58 a.m.
π_is_the_word says... #4
You want your EDH General to be used as some sort of theme(in many good edh decks this is true, but there are exceptions to this.) I have a good example deck of my own that you are welcome to look at here:Riku of Infinite Time.
Basically, you want a general for 1 or 2 reasons:
A: The general has an ability you would like to exploit, the deck linked above follows this line of thought.
B: You want your general because of the colors he or she enables you to play.
I think a good many points about good and bad cards have been made by now so I won't say much about them except that the Commander Set Precon Decks have a lot of the EDH staple cards in the Precons. And all of the Commander Precons come with a Sol Ring and Lightning Greaves .
But, more than anything EDH/Commander is about having fun, so if your deck isn't what you would define as fun then you should be playing something else.
September 30, 2011 2:17 p.m.
cryptichorror says... #5
Progenitus ? Good or bad option for a commander?
September 30, 2011 2:33 p.m.
π_is_the_word says... #6
I would say bad, he is a great card to put into a 5 color EDH Deck, but not a great general. I would say Cromat or Horde of Notions for a 5 color general.
September 30, 2011 2:38 p.m.
Justarsaus says... #7
best advice i can give is either put cards with similar effects in (ie Wrath of God and Day of Judgment ) or use tutors to search for the pretty that you need
September 30, 2011 3:37 p.m.
I'm a fan of Progenitus as a commander. 21 commander damage comes quick and its Very hard to get rid of him. Fetch out Rafiq of the Many (I can think of a number of ways to do so) and swing for game in one turn. Plus lots of cards to help him out. Savage Beating and other similar cards are some personal favorites.
Progenitus asks for decks that are based around HIM, where Cromat and Horde of Notions are a little more flexible.
September 30, 2011 6:01 p.m.
AegairEtapa says... #9
All five colour generals are asking for 'good stuff' decks really.. They are most susceptible to incredibly powerful but unsynergystic with their commander decks.
September 30, 2011 6:33 p.m.
spartacusthegod says... #10
I agree with what Aegair here says. Five-colored generals don't tend to have a deck based SOLELY around the general. 5 color gives you a ton of options, however, and you can either focus heavily on one color and one specific thing to do with it, or you can spread out your options and be able to do a wide array of things.
A friend of mine built a Progenitus deck solely for the 5 colors, he never even plays his general. All it is to him, is a toolkit. He can play anything he so desires and use the deck for at least half a dozen different ways to lock someone down, and just as many to kill someone as well.
September 30, 2011 10:05 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #11
Progenitus is expensive and extremely vulnerable to board wipes, so it probably isn't great as a champion General. You also can't equip it...
October 1, 2011 2:39 a.m.
The only general I can think of off the top of my head who ISN'T extremely vulnerable to board wipe is Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre . I'm not saying that Progenitus is an Amazing general, (personally I prefer Thraximundar one on one) but I'm just saying he's definitely a viable one.
October 1, 2011 4:38 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #13
Korlash, Heir to Blackblade /other regen-capables are harder to remove. But no, a lot of legends are viable in their own ways. Some need a lot of careful building to use to their fullest though.
October 1, 2011 4:50 a.m.
Norin the Wary is flat out immune to your boardwipes. You can't even Trickbind his ability away
Not that it makes him a good general.
The best advice i can give is to pick one of the three colored legends from Alara block and build a deck around them. It's not hard to do, and there's a lot of good supporting cards in Alara itself.
You can also pick up a commander pre-con, and play that for a bit, then start personalizing it. Either way works.
October 1, 2011 10:13 a.m.
spartacusthegod says... #15
Norin the Wary is immune to anything except creature-based abilities, essentially.
And, actually, using something like Confusion in the Ranks , he can be an amazing general. Just wanted to point that out, he's one of my favorite cards ever.
Three-color decks are often the most effective, but are also hard to build in some cases. I'd recommend starting off with something two-colored. Blue is often something nice to involve as well: plenty of card draw, a couple ways to bring everything back, counter spells, and some fancy stuff like unblockable creatures. Deep-Sea Kraken anyone? He gets out so unbelievably fast in a 6-person EDH game.
October 4, 2011 12:15 a.m.
spartacusthegod says... #16
Norin the Wary is immune to anything except creature-based abilities, essentially.
And, actually, using something like Confusion in the Ranks , he can be an amazing general. Just wanted to point that out, he's one of my favorite cards ever.
Three-color decks are often the most effective, but are also hard to build in some cases. I'd recommend starting off with something two-colored. Blue is often something nice to involve as well: plenty of card draw, a couple ways to bring everything back, counter spells, and some fancy stuff like unblockable creatures. Deep-Sea Kraken anyone? He gets out so unbelievably fast in a 6-person EDH game.
October 4, 2011 12:15 a.m.
I would definitey recommend the Horde of Notions as a general i just built my deck:elementals-attack EDH deck and it did brilliantly in a 6 way multiplayer game. i didn't even need the general for a while and then I played him so I could keep spamming my Mulldrifter then i found my Greater Good so basically I could just draw the universe till I found the next flavourful thing I wanted it was epic fun. Scion of the Ur-Dragon is also pretty cool but like others have maybe said the land is EXPENSIVE lol. please take a look it may give you a good idea or two. I have 6 very differently themed EDH decks too so I am NEVER BORED lol
October 5, 2011 9:36 a.m.
I would definitey recommend the Horde of Notions as a general i just built my deck:elementals-attack EDH deck and it did brilliantly in a 6 way multiplayer game. i didn't even need the general for a while and then I played him so I could keep spamming my Mulldrifter then i found my Greater Good so basically I could just draw the universe till I found the next flavourful thing I wanted it was epic fun. Scion of the Ur-Dragon is also pretty cool but like others have maybe said the land is EXPENSIVE lol. please take a look it may give you a good idea or two. I have 6 very differently themed EDH decks too so I am NEVER BORED lol
Epochalyptik says... #2
Well, you can also do a Gatherer search to find a legend for a general. Your friends might find this useful.
When you approach an EDH deck, you should ask yourself what you want it to do. You obviously want to win and have fun, but how do you want to achieve those goals? What cards are likely to help you do that?
Some cards are almost given inclusions in a lot of EDH decks, such as Sol Ring , Lightning Greaves , Darksteel Ingot , any multi-land, the Ravnica Signet Cycle, etc. These cards are all useful in general and offer some form of flexibility and utility to your deck.
Think about your general's colors and what they have to offer. For example, blue and black have card draw, and black in particular has tutor. Meanwhile, green offers superior mana ramp.
Since you're limited to one copy of each nonland card, choosing how many of something to include isn't your struggle. It will be choosing what those somethings are.
September 30, 2011 10:02 a.m.