Multiple Decks or One?
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on April 29, 2015, 8:48 p.m. by Dalektable
Do you personally prefer to have many EDH decks, or one deck which you funnel all your love ((and money)) into? I am currently debating buying another EDH or simply channeling my funds into my current Teysa, Orzhov Scion list. I am leaning towards the latter, I feel like one pimped out deck is more rewarding than multiple partially completed ones. Obviously this is a highly personal thing, but i'd still like to hear your personal thoughts.
PlattBonnay says... #3
Im an advocate of having multiple decks at varying power levels. For example, I have 3 regular EDH decks I play; Zur the Enchanter, Melek, Izzet Paragon, and Mishra, Artificer Prodigy. Zur is definitely the strongest, and Melek is likely the weakest, with Mishra sitting somewhere in the middle. That said, I will commonly pull out Mishra at an underpowered table because it is more friendly than the other two (Zur is combo/control and Melek is combo storm). In terms of pimping them, Zur is my baby, and I am constantly picking up new foils for it, but I dont get to play it as often as I might like because of the power level I built it at (I am also working on tuning it down).
One option is to pick up one of the precons (whichever one looks like the most fun to you) and just sleeve it up either unaltered or very slightly altered (I would fix the manabase if you have the funds, the precon manabases are dreadfully slow). Then you can pimp and tune your Teysa deck to be as powerful as you would like and if you ever feel that she is way to powerful for the table you're at, you can pull out the precon.
April 29, 2015 9:03 p.m.
Dalektable says... #4
PlattBonnay That sounds like a good plan. I have a Thassa, God of the Sea list that is very veryyy casual. Polarizing opposite power level compared to my Teysa, honestly, haha. So maybe I'll make that a bit better to a point I enjoy playing it more then pimp my teysa.
April 29, 2015 9:09 p.m.
brokendwarf says... #5
My main deck is Mayael the Anima fatty-stomping. I've been trying to make a 2nd deck for the longest time but I usually end up either scrapping the idea or I trade off a bunch of the stuff for something else. I had Sedris, the Traitor King tribal zombies, but that was too slow and was thus taken apart. I had Karn, Silver Golem with most of the good cards, but then I looked at the price of making the deck good and got rid of everything. I've started Marrow-Gnawer + Relentless Rats + Thrumming Stone , Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund tribal (which I traded most of it off for most of a Geist of Saint Traft deck). I had Karador, Ghost Chieftain in progress but trade most of it for a 3DS.
The Geist deck is my current one in progress. This'll be new for me as most of my EDH decks are primarily creature-based.
April 29, 2015 9:19 p.m.
I would say that you start with making your first EDH, pouring your soul into it, and making it your own. And then build others that you can play so your friends don't ban you from EDH games.
April 29, 2015 9:31 p.m.
RoarMaster says... #7
It depends a lot on your budget, dedication to magic, and playgroup. If you can afford it, love magic, or play with a variety of skill level players, I would suggest getting 2 decks. That way you will have a suitible power level deck for whatever group you are playing with, and variety is the spice of life after all.
April 29, 2015 9:34 p.m.
I have multiple decks. My shattergang gets more priority than the others. I usually play it with shattergang, but it runs better with prosh and his combos. I need to update my list as I now have 2 ABUR duals along with Survival of the Fittest and Earthcraft.
Yes, it gets way more priority.
April 29, 2015 9:40 p.m.
ThisIsBullshit says... #9
I hate playing toned down or straight up bad decks, and I also don't have the time, money, or patience to build a second EDH deck, so I built a competitive duel commander deck and left it at that.
April 29, 2015 10:38 p.m.
There is, of course, an inherent barrier to having multiple decks (moneys), and also an inherent difficulty with creating a single deck that can slide with any reasonable playgroup.
Barring both of those things, I definitely am in favor of having multiple Commander decks at ones disposal, because variety is something I like to see in my Commander games. I currently have two decks built, and I'm hoping to eventually create more, just because I want to be able to switch it up every so often.
April 29, 2015 10:48 p.m.
I have just one im putting everything into. I cannot afford a second deck even though i would like 2 :(
In case my deck becomes too much, i have a sideboard for it that changes its main mechanic and tones it down.
April 29, 2015 11:06 p.m.
Didgeridooda says... #12
I am very easily distracted, and bored with a deck if I play it too much. I switch often. That is why I have 11 now. I just give myself a really low budget for a new deck when I can. Fill in the rest with cards I already have, and trades I make.
April 30, 2015 12:08 a.m.
EndStepTop says... #13
I've always been a minimalist. I stuck with 1 edh deck and I'm finishing my 2nd.
April 30, 2015 12:35 a.m.
DeathChant17 says... #14
I have 5 commander decks. My Zur and Kaalia decks are my most competitive, I have both mono 
& 
which are watered-down a bit, and my Jeleva deck I use for trying ideas and different combos in those colors as I'm not sure what I want it to do yet, though is still fun to play.
I'm one who gets bored with jus one deck and prefer to switch it up a bit for variety.
April 30, 2015 12:36 a.m.
fadelightningmm says... #15
I enjoy having multiple decks however there is a deck I spend more time (and money) on so I guess I'm a swinger lol
April 30, 2015 12:46 a.m.
Hjaltrohir says... #16
I have one for duel commander and 1 for multiplayer. What I have found is that if you have more than 1/2 decks you will only ever play your favorite and the others will get unused.
April 30, 2015 1:52 a.m.
Didgeridooda says... #17
It all comes down to you, and who you play with. If you play super competitive, and with one group, one deck is much easier to do.
If you play against multiple groups, and they all have different power levels, then having options to match them might be best.
This is why I have so many decks. I have my semi competitive ones, then they step down as they go, down to about 50-80 bucks tcg mid. Then I pull the ones that I think match the group best. Then I describe what they do, and let my opponents pick which one I should play.
Sometimes I want to play a certain deck, but most of the time, I don't really care. Some people do not like playing against certain things, others like a challenge. Combo, stax, blink, Yisan, control, Gobrins, just a quick one/two word description before the game starts makes for no surprises. I know I am much more easy going then most, but I like to play for the social aspect. Sure, I love winning, but I have enough confidence in all my decks.
April 30, 2015 11:16 a.m.
I try to have only one deck, yet I want to expand. Right now, I have 2 decks: Izzet a good deck? and a mono-black deck that can shapeshift into different forms (I have an EDH box dedicated to it, including the C14 precon as a foundation). In said EDH box, I have already built Sidisi, Undead Vizier within a $100 budget, a reanimator deck piloted by Sheoldred, Whispering One (When it should have been Balthor the Defiled. Oversight). So, I can build mono-black in a number of ways. The Izzet deck, I cannot, but it can be a real skilltester to use.
Right now, I want to venture into rebuilding Devour for Power (C11) and Nature of the Beast (C13; to a lesser degree), but I'm not sure if I should do it. I am a Grixis player, and can never get behind Green or White in any form (There might be exceptions, but I cannot say, so I doubt this).
April 30, 2015 6:45 p.m.
I have three completed decks and one deck in the making. I have had a history of keeping about three to five decks at a time, mostly to try and keep things interesting for me and my meta. MY current decks are Momir Vig, Simic Visionary, Xenagos, God of Revels, and Nekusar, the Mindrazer. The deck I'm building is a Riku of Two Reflections deck that embraces silliness more than anything.
April 30, 2015 7:53 p.m.
SageOfStone says... #20
I have a stock of cards I use to build EDH decks now, but before I usually kept 3-5 EDH decks at a time. I'm now a one at a time sort of person. Now that I have a stock, I have about 40ish commanders that I can build around. I feel this way helps me expand my horizons, and see interactions that I otherwise wouldn't with a few static decks.
So I suppose I'm option C?
May 1, 2015 2:24 p.m.
I personally enjoy multiple decks. I have one that i sink money into and the others i have built not to be the best but good enough. (for now)
May 2, 2015 8:37 a.m.
I have 10 EDH decks. One at $20, one at $5k, and everywhere in between (most at 400-800).
I try to push the decks but with some restrictions to keep the powerlevel somewhat even with my LGS. One deck is made to be really slow and pretty bad, for people who are at the precon level. None are made for tournament play but my pimped deck can easily be adjusted.
The best part with 10 decks is being able to roll a d10 to decide what deck to play!
May 3, 2015 9:51 a.m.
I personally enjoy having multiple decks of any format because I am a casual player, and my intent is to have fun with different people against any deck. Some of my decks just perform really poorly against some deck types, while others just crushes some opponents. So what I do is I run multiple decks of any format.
I never invest any high value card unless I'm sure that I can sell it later on.
For commander, I actually like to change the idea of the deck. My first commander was a Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind combo deck that evolved to remove the combo and play it more friendly on my playing group (nobody likes 1 mana combo like curiosity, not even myself. I prefer running harder combos as Consecrated Sphinx with a all people discard and draw or a Mindmoil.
Afterwards I built a totally different deck: a kinda Aggro/Combo monogreen Elves deck running Ezuri as the commander. That's like a complete change on the playstyle. And the next deck I'm creating is a Grouphug deck, which again, totally different. That's how I like playing.
Rman92011 says... #2
Personally I have one deck that I devote all of my time, money, and effort into. It's a really competitive Tasigur, the Golden Fang combo-control deck. I commonly wish I had another deck because a lot of people don't enjoy EDH with me because of how good my one deck is, and the fact that it's combo control. But I love the deck, that it usually doesn't bother me when people get mad that I combo'd them to death. In fact, their tears are delicious. So it's mainly based on your playgroup, and your interaction with them.
April 29, 2015 8:54 p.m.