Most Hated Commanders
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on Nov. 11, 2016, 11:10 a.m. by Cmasa435
I have been trying to find a new Commander deck to play and I have decided to become "that guy". I want people to hate me, so I turn to you lovely people, what is your most hated Commander and why? And yes, I know that often it isn't the commander that is the really pain, but the deck that it heads. Factor that into what you hate, I really want to know what the best thing to play is if I want to be absolutely despised (and still be able to win even with drawing the ire of the entire table). I currently have a few ideas, but I would really appreciate getting some other (more experienced) players opinions.
If only i could run that guy in my Animar, Soul of Elements deck T.T(Him and dovescape, actually)
November 11, 2016 11:18 a.m.
Sim_Will_CMcantfindmehopefully says... #4
saldagmac You still have Momir Vig, Simic Visionary, alluren, Ezuri, Claw of Progress, and a million small cantripping creatures like Elvish Visionary and Coiling Oracle, then you'll have free Eldrazi in no time!
November 11, 2016 11:40 a.m.
Sim_Will_CMcantfindmehopefully says... #6
TheDevicer I like no-win con group hug. What's your beef with it? Can't handle a finely tuned purple hippo offering up hippos to everyone? Shame.
November 11, 2016 11:42 a.m.
That was going to be my 2nd pick. But seriously, you play that deck?
November 11, 2016 11:45 a.m.
HOPMONSTER says... #11
Linvala, Keeper of Silence My friend runs this in a mono white angels lifegain deck. I hate her so much. She negates the benefits of many commanders.
I second Oloro, Ageless Ascetic as well, a friend runs him sometimes and although he gets a ton of hate, still wins.
Of my decks that my friends probably hate the most:
Crosis, the Purger cant win without cards
Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge steal cards, play for free
Olivia Voldaren turn all the things to vampires and take them
November 11, 2016 12:52 p.m.
Oloro, Ageless Ascetic. If I'm going to lose then let me lose, not sit there and die of old age while you prison me into oblivion
November 11, 2016 1:04 p.m.
joecool1299 says... #13
[TheDevicer] But.... But I play no win Zedruu.
Anyway my pick is real boring. Narset, Enlightened Master is so mindless. You attack once, you win. And as cool as her ability looks, she wins in the same way every time. It's not so much it's too good. More just it gets monotonous playing against her all the time. Do you have the wrath or sac effect? Then you die.
And depending on my mood I'll either like the challenge a fine tuned Sharuum the Hegemon deck can bring. Or feel completely hopeless as I can't do anything to stop it!
I personally don't mind Oloro, Ageless Ascetic. But then again I play No win Zedruu.
November 11, 2016 1:20 p.m.
It isn't the commander so much. My question is exactly why you want to be hated.
I've been mulling over an idea for a while. Child of Alara as commander, playing a game of politics until you use all the lands which you've ramped into to cast Whims of the Fates (a lot of Fork effects needed for that), Jokulhaups, Razia's Purification, Bust, Obliterate, Catastrophe, etc. You can run Faith's Reward and Splendid Reclamation to recur your lands. You can use plenty of spell recursion (e.g. Mystic Retrieval) just in case the combo pieces get milled, and Pull from Eternity and Riftsweeper if people try to exile them. You can then use Maze's End to win. Worldpurge is a last resort to spite the board.
You could also just play Leovold or Edric.
November 11, 2016 1:28 p.m.
As someone who runs it. People tend to hate The Gitrog Monster especially after they see me combo once with it because when you go for a combo at my table they make you do it out which I gladly do while salt is poured into everyone's wounds. And the thing is this combo takes forever but is great.
November 11, 2016 1:36 p.m.
And in case you don't know the combo with the gitrog is The Gitrog Monster+Skirge Familiar+Dakmor Salvage. And then you have a ROE eldrazi Titan in the deck or two, cycle through the deck a few times until you get to Exsanguinate being in your hand and also generate infinite mana and go Exsanguinate for infinity. Meanwhile doing the combo borders on new levels of slow play.
November 11, 2016 1:40 p.m.
Leovold, Emissary of Trest with heavy control, just let's you play solitaire. With anvil and puzzle box and tutors, it gets ugly and consistent. Which causes some people to stop wanting to play against it. You get to draw and discard it or put it on bottom, I get to draw into my hand. "Now ain't this fun"
PS, have never played against IRL, but have seen it. Hated it from the outside so much I acquired me a copy. Now to get the key pieces such as anvil and puzzle box.
November 11, 2016 1:43 p.m.
I run a Queen Marchesa stax deck. She's fairly unassuming at first glance but the monarch mechanic can help keep the focus on other players once you lose it and the card draw helps immensely in getting some gas back.
November 11, 2016 1:49 p.m.
I'm planning to tune the C16 deck "Entropic Uprising" to become a special kind of chaos:
Cruel Entertainment and Hive Mind. I'll wait while you think about it.
Just as good: Hive Mind and a Wheel of Fortune followed up by Cerebral Vortex. In a 4-player game, 7*4 is 28, then the +2 each from Vortex=30 damage to everyone. You either kill the whole table, forcing a draw or do serious damage to someone. It will most likely be the latter.
The proposed list will cause a table flip for every game it comes out. All the salty tears will be glorious.
November 11, 2016 2 p.m.
Thank you all for the responses thus far, Simon_Williamson I love that suggestion, that commander is a pain in the ass just like me. TheDevicer I actually have a Zedruu deck and I love it to death, but its made to be a pain in the ass and screw everyone over (but it does have a few win-cons). HOPMONSTER I have been considering Linvala, she is just evil and i adore her. and Oloro seems to be a common suggestion, I have played against him and I know how much of a pain he can be. pskinn01, Leovold was one of the ones i was seriously considering, limiting draws and even the number of cards in my opponents hands is just the perfect asshole move. dan8080, I'm relatively new to commander and i never really realized that evil ass frogs potential, once you point it out.... that's just cruel, and its awesome. Keep the Hated ones coming, so many ideas are forming.
November 11, 2016 2:25 p.m.
Sim_Will_CMcantfindmehopefully says... #22
Troll them. Beat them with a Storm Crow and Razor Boomerang combo. Just beat them so hard that that Razor Boomerang + Storm Crow is a win condition.
November 11, 2016 2:33 p.m.
My vote goes to Oloro, Ageless Ascetic.
An a side note, you can play a very degenerate Sharuum the Hegemon list where you durdle for the first 5 turns then kill the entire table on turn 6.
November 11, 2016 3:11 p.m.
Shane.Allen says... #24
Just play any general I play, because I'm that guy and love it. I'm hated every game and don't care because I still win :)
November 11, 2016 4:39 p.m.
Yeah with the frog you want to just fill your deck with noting but mana acceleration and tutors. There's a nifty transmute card that can fetch out the skirge familiar too. It's funny.
November 11, 2016 5:28 p.m.
My friends have informed me that they hate playing against my Gonti, Lord of Luxury deck because they don't like me killing them with their own cards.
November 11, 2016 5:59 p.m.
I personally really dislike playing against Derevi, Empyrial Tactician because the guys who play it here all run super controlly stax decks, and I hate it.
November 11, 2016 6 p.m.
joshuaizac says... #28
If you're REALLY going for all the hate....Purphoros, God of the Forge I think will grant you more hate before you even finish shuffling / determining turn order than any other commander will. As far as actually playing I think there's been a lot of solid ones mentioned already... but my fave to play is Thraximundar with a stax-ish nom-nom-nom eat the board all day, bring him in as a finisher type playstyle.
November 11, 2016 7:09 p.m.
Meren of Clan Nel Toth. I love playing it but hate playing against it. Once she gets to 2 counters, it's game over. The value engine just keeps going and unless you can stop her from coming back (10 mana recast is nothing for her) then you're in for a bad time.
I also can't stand Nekusar and Narset stax. Combo out on me but don't make me have to pay 6 mana for a brainstorm just to have no mana left to attack you...
November 11, 2016 9:42 p.m.
Megalomania says... #31
Grand Arbiter Augustin IV. Especially the tax/stax types that just bore people to death without actually winning. I think it's just dumb so I dislike playing against it.
November 11, 2016 10:58 p.m.
Talrand, The Sky Summoner counterspell.deck. my play group has only allowed me to play it once
November 12, 2016 11:28 a.m.
buildingadeck says... #33
Azami, Lady of Scrolls. It, along with Arcanis the Omnipotent are the most popular mono blue control decks, and they're annoying af.
November 12, 2016 11:51 a.m.
landofMordor says... #34
I second Talrand, Sky Summoner. Actually, any deck full of counterspells is bad.
Voltron is really annoying. Especially Narset, Enlightened Master.
I've seen a few Borborygmos Enraged lists that can win in a single turn. Like, 40 to 0 in one turn.
Lastly, I feel like RW land destruction would be terrible. Armageddon, Razia's Purification, that R spirit who has a divinity counter, etc. Nobody likes land destruction. And with Anax and Cymede at the helm you could go for a painfully slow Voltron win, and just destroy everybody's lands from T3 onwards.
November 12, 2016 5:12 p.m.
00xtremeninja says... #35
Run mass land destruction, counters, and suspend big scary creatures. It isn't a subtle strategy at all, but nothing like feeling like you are making people play archenemy around turn 5 with looming eldrazi suspended
November 12, 2016 11:42 p.m.
DrukenReaps says... #36
i personally am happy to play against anything, even banned nonsense. other people despise Arcum Dagsson with a passion. get a decent token generator along side him and at least once a turn sometimes more often with the right cards you get the exact non-creature artifact you want and everyone hates you for it. he isnt even necessarily that good people just seem to hate that you get to tutor at least once per turn.
November 13, 2016 2:04 p.m.
The general cesnsus of what people don't like: forget specific commanders, just play a deck that doesn't let your opponent play magic but also doesn't kill them in any reasonable time frame. Make them waste not only all of their in game resources, but the real life resource that is time.
November 14, 2016 12:17 p.m.
god_dammit_nappa says... #38
WOW YOU GUYS.
You completely forgot about Edric, Spymaster of Trest. He's one of the most toxic generals in the format.
Have you played against a super competitive Edric deck? The minute he hits the battlefield, it's not Commander anymore. It's "Game of Chairs". CHAIRS! F***ING CHAIRS!!! Swing with little evasion-y, unblockable dudes, draw cards, cast Time Warp, play Eternal Witness or Archaeomancer, Time Warp again, bounce n' cast E-Wit or Archy again, and then take all the turns and play all the dudes.
You don't have to play cards like Tainted AEther or Crackdown or Contamination to build a prison deck. Not letting your opponents have turns is prison-y enough.
There's no commander like Edric to force your opponents to sit there and watch you play Magic for 60 minutes. And as soon as the game is over, you declare to the table you're playing the same deck again, it'll make them say "I have to play against THAT thing...AGAIN???? Screw this, I'm never coming back to this store again...."
November 15, 2016 11:20 p.m.
Introducing myself to a store with h Talrand, Sky Summoner got people asking permission for weeks (or more for some) afterwards (even though I ran other things with ).
Then running BUG unlockable infect (1) inspired a house rule change to 15 poison counters ftw (2) inspired vicious conspiracies of vengeance
But I don't know what to make of it because Wort, the Raidmother DD inspired a walk out in the middle of a game.
I play Edric, Spymaster of Trest without all the extra turns - no complaints so far.
I get spanked by Marath, Will of the Wild aggro-control but I just seek to improve strategies and find new ones that can keep up 1v1 with it.
November 15, 2016 11:41 p.m.
Lots of one that can be annoying as hell, but two that see play in my group that are more annoying than any others, Medomai the Ageless, because not only is there always someone without a flier, but this guy has his deck stacked full of extra turn cards in addition to his commander, and Daxos of Meletis who tends to get equipped and enchanted to death so that he can't be blocked and he can't be killed.
November 16, 2016 9:26 p.m.
Grand Arbiter Augustin IV is every tables least favorite commander. Simply by playing him you are ruining people's plans. He gets hated to an extreme because he hassles anyone else playing. IMO he's the least liked enemy commander.
Now, being that guy doesn't just stop there though. Derevi IMO is the best commander there is but that's too easy. Grand Arbiter may get their attention but he doesn't really have any style.
I would like to point you towards Ambassador Laquatus, Hanna, Ship's Navigator, and Norin the Wary.
We don't just want to win games. We want to alter them... make them play a game other than the one they thought they were at the start.
Why Laquatus? You may not know the lore here so I will fill you in. Laquatus was the epitome of the politician playing both sides. He played the Cephalids and the Cabal to his own gains while being disliked by both. This is what you want to be. Laquatus has style. You pretty clearly can win with mana combos to mill your opponents, but the more "that guy" play here is Shared Fate. Combine with Future Sight for access to your own library as others are locked out of theirs. Soothsaying and Sensei's Divining Top provide top deck filter. Blue provides all the control, combo, or card draw you could desire.
Why Hanna? Hanna is a goody-goody who is no where as cool as Laquatas.... but she gives you a second color and the ability to recur all sorts of game-altering permanents. You can play Shared Fate in here. You could Hive Mind + Pact of Negation if you wish. You could play tanglewire, Stasis, or Winter Orb over and over. The point of Hanna is that you will always be altering the game with your enchantments and artifacts. Winning is a gradual thing.
Some people like to win faster. If so, Norin the Wary is for you. Sometimes the feeling of winning is fleeting. The game is up in the air until you make a play and you win. When you win with Norin, you get to enjoy it over time as Norin and whatever enchantment artifact you have with him go to work (ESPECIALLY in multiplayer). Confusion in the Ranks, Purphoros, God of the Forge, Genesis Chamber, Panharmonicon..... you play things and you let them do their thing and then you wheel.
November 22, 2016 11:03 p.m.
Dalektable says... #42
My playgroup is used to my two main decks and are okay with them, but in new groups I've found people hate both of my commanders. Teysa, Orzhov Scion looks kinda cute, so basically you sit and durdle and tutor for a few turns then infinite combo kill the table on turn 5-6. People tend not to like that I've found. Also, if you love playing control and being the only one playing at the table I recommend Arcanis the Omnipotent / Azami, Lady of Scrolls with lots and lots of counterspells. My deck is just a classic mono blue control deck and if it's functioning as it should, you will be the only one playing magic at the table.
November 29, 2016 9:21 a.m.
[Marath, Will of the Wild] is THE most utilitous commander. Just ramp up and get a cathar's crusade. He is a token generator. A kill spell and a buff all in one recurring creature. My friend plays him in a Naya ramp deck and its brutal. Unless we gang up on her and take her out first she wins every game and she usually still wins even if we do.
Sim_Will_CMcantfindmehopefully says... #2
I WILL NOT PLAY AGAINST THIS COMMANDER!
that is the only commander I will not play against.
November 11, 2016 11:17 a.m.