Slap down creatures: Viable?
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on May 11, 2015, 7:11 p.m. by JohnnyBaggins
Hey everyone,
I know I've been here before, and I've asked something very similar just yesterday, but oh my. Now, the point is the following: I want to build a deck that does mainly play the midrange game. Put down creatures, attack, bam, boom. I don't want to go for any big kind of combo or so, and I wonder if that's possible. Playing lots of creatures, with some effects. Like, Abzan basically screams for lots of counters and bolster and classic Junk googstuff, Rhino and Goyf and Ooze and Tasigur and you know. Gruul would just be Goodstuff with Dragonlord Atarka, Ruric Thar, the Unbowed or Xenagod. Slesyna also would be slamming all the GW Goodstuff from and run away with it. Is that viable? is it even remotely deoable? Can you win with it? I mean, a strategy like this needs to be crafted through to not fall behind but I would like it. 40 Life is a lot and there's bunch of anwers to creature-croweded boards in almost every colour. Aby experiences?
KillTheIslandUser says... #3
It's EDH... anything "can win" but does it do it effectively and consistently. I'm gonna say no, but only because the way you described it. You need combos, synergy, win-cons, and you definitely need to fine-tune. That being said... I'm taking it as you want to play competitively, and not just have fun and casual with winning as the 2ndary goal.
You need a means to win, you can't just slap down good stuff, and go.. I will swing for the win, because it's not fast enough. You need a lot of ramp, and protection as well. You need search engines, and what if some one played Linvala, Keeper of Silence, and Magus of the Moat, Silent Arbiter, Ghostly Prison, Blind Obedience, Static Orb and other similar effects? How are you gonna deal with it? What if they play Gaddock Teeg? How are you gonna answer that? You can't play your common board wipes, and ect ect.
May 11, 2015 7:24 p.m.
KillTheIslandUser says... #4
I should rephrase that.. I've seen some nuts ass hell Marton Stromgald decks that kill table on turn 2-5 just off redic low mana curve and ramp spells that just go off, and having other extra combat cards so they get in more than 1 person on a turn.
That being said, he played that deck with the mind of... I win on the turn I go off...if I don't.. I lose and go out of steam lol and get shit on after.
May 11, 2015 7:27 p.m.
KillTheIslandUser says... #5
That being said, if you played ... Hermit Druid sure.. you could pull off cards like goyf, and ooze with ease, and use reanimator aspects. There's numerous ways to do it, but you will need combos to get it done. Playing slap down... is really hard in edh...there's to many answers, and to many people who just go off before you can do anything real dmg wise. That being said, if you played a deck that deals with slap down/beat down... go with a general and idea that can abuse it. Extra combat turns, and artifact ramps and ect ect.
You should think you need to get shit out really fast, and get tutors for things you need to go off.
May 11, 2015 7:37 p.m.
NoPantsParade says... #6
Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund dragon tribal sounds like something you'd enjoy. Black enables a reanimator theme and red for hasty dragons. The deck would be fairly resilient against board wipes since you can play Living Death and Patriarch's Bidding.
May 11, 2015 7:44 p.m.
I think Selvala, Explorer Returned is the best bet for a mid-range leader. She fills your hand, provides mana, is cheap to cast, and doesn't draw aggro. She can even exploit a life gain mechanic for the deck with cards like Archangel of Thune.
My opinion is way biased though because I love the card, and she's the leader of my favorite EDH deck, which is right here.
Tap Tap Revolution (Primer in Progress) Playtest
Commander / EDH
SCORE: 10 | 9 COMMENTS | 1684 VIEWSMay 11, 2015 8:03 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #8
As a general rule, "good in 60-card" is NOT an indication of "good in EDH."
For example, Siege Rhino and Thragtusk are pretty bad in EDH, even though they are or were Standard bombs (and the former even sees Modern play). Tarmogoyf is just bad in this format.
If you want to play beaters in EDH, they need to be relatively large and come with strong utility. For example, Sun Titan and Grave Titan are iconic EDH beatsticks.
May 11, 2015 8:08 p.m.
NotSoLuckyLydia says... #9
I'd recommend you look into French EDH/Duel Commander. Attacking works better when you have to deal 30 damage instead of 120. (40 life per opponent in the typical 4 person pod) You also don't have to deal with fast mana, the bane of midrange decks.
May 11, 2015 8:08 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #10
This, of course, basically translates to "play fatties, not midrange." Mayael the Anima is one of the classic generals for this kind of approach.
May 11, 2015 8:09 p.m.
NotSoLuckyLydia says... #11
Another good deck for the "Play fair creatures" approach is Karador, Ghost Chieftain. Because cards become less fair when you have easy recursion. Also you get to play hermit druid, which is comically overpowered even when you're not doing something broken. (In multiplayer; in french it is rightly banned)
Sorry for the double post
May 11, 2015 8:16 p.m.
You absolutely can play creature-based strategies in EDH. Part of making a successful deck around this approach is making your deck resilient, consistent, efficient, and redundant. My friend runs Xenagos, God of Revels as his commander and does just fine. The haste often allows him to get under the stereotypical Wrath of God variants in the format. Ramp, recursion, tutors, and some minor answers to common problems allow him to actually play creature-based strategies in a meta full of control and combo.
In EDH, going for midrange kinda sucks. You want to be attacking with Balefire Dragon, Hydra Omnivore, Craterhoof Behemoth, etc. Just go with highly efficient fatties. Something like a 4/5 is shit in EDH.
May 11, 2015 8:35 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #13
Scroll down for more on what TheDevicer is talking about.
May 11, 2015 8:41 p.m.
Xenagod can win in multiplayer and 1v1; I don't care what you say.
Green has so many options to ramp, drawcard, and 
/
to avoid counterspells.
May 11, 2015 8:43 p.m.
lemmingllama says... #15
Midrange can work in a less competitive environment, one that runs few or no infinite combos. I personally have a good deck that uses Merieke Ri Berit as a way to clear the board and slow down the game until my fatties can kill them. However, the issue with midrange is that you need to be able to grind out their resources. If they get ahead on board, you are pretty much screwed.
Typically the "kill with creatures" plan works better when you are playing or /, since you just ramp and punch and win. Omnath, Locus of Mana and Xenagos, God of Revels are probably some of your best bets if you just want to play fatties ahead of curve and deal serious damage.
May 11, 2015 10:27 p.m.
fadelightningmm says... #16
Animar, Soul of Elements can totally go beat stick style deck. He has built in protection from a ton of removal. Using enough low cost creatures you could get free eldrazi who doesn't want that?
May 11, 2015 11:45 p.m.
Are you sure you just want to play beatdown? I think this as your only strategy might get boring too fast
May 12, 2015 4:50 a.m.
jandrobard says... #18
Creatures are an important part of EDH, cast creature, attack with creature, pass, though is an extremely lackluster strategy. In EDH, usually you want to support your creatures with anthems, removal, or other protective and offensive measures.
May 12, 2015 2:32 p.m.
SageOfStone says... #19
Edric, Spymaster of Trest or Derevi, Empyrial Tactician are probably what you're looking for. Midrange needs counterspell backup, and a way to generate enough advantage to keep you ahead, even in the later stages of the game.
Alternatively, you can do what I do, and play Radha, Heir to Keld. She offers a consistent, early acceleration. Her turn three is almost always at 4-5 mana. You will have to play combos and instant win conditions with Radha, becuase of her lack of blue, but overall, she's an extremely good agressive commander.
May 13, 2015 1:49 p.m.
No idea for competition. But with the right start, Karametra, God of Harvests will, well, harvest. Here's my current creature beatdown. http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/28-02-15-commander-karametra/.
I'm still tweaking (Need to add a Wilt-Leaf Liege and a Gaddock Teeg) though. A wide range of different creatures with differing utility. It doesn't have any 'combos' as such and you have to manage the hate once one or two of the stronger ones are out.
It's fun to play as it differs every time. Play it steady, get Karametra out, play creatures to get more mana to play more creatures, all the while holding others off.
It won't beat a combo deck when that has 'all the right pieces' in play and can struggle in one on one commander against faster decks, but play in 3+ players it does ok. Reasonably consistent and resilient providing you mulligan to get a few mana as a starter to get going (could perhaps alter and add some mana rocks). But I'd say it's probably my favourite of my commander decks.
May 14, 2015 12:21 p.m.
HeroInMyOwnMind says... #21
I have a deck (one of the decks I like to play the most, actually) that is literally 'thump with club'. I don't play the flood the board method because, like you mentioned, people tend to be ready for that. Instead I rely on hast and doubling effects to deal massive amounts of damage. You can check out my deck here if you are interested: Xenagos, God of Revels
May 14, 2015 6:08 p.m.
ThisIsBullshit says... #22
You want big stompy creatures? Dude, just play Kaalia of the Vast and play all the giant flying creatures you want.
May 15, 2015 1:14 p.m.
The trick to winning with dudes on the "midrange level" is lots of haste, lots of power on board, getting that power through (trample/unblockable/flying/etc) and doing it QUICK!
I've been playing some variation of "EDH Midrange" basically the entire time I've been playing EDH, and I finally settled on Maelstrom Wanderer.
This guy's goal is pretty simple, and requires that you make sure every card in your deck is -always- useful (situational cards + plus cascade = sad face sometimes). Your ramp has to be dudes, or have alternate choices. My friend is trying to get me a Turnabout as an example of "ramp" that is "always useful." (And I do want that Turnabout.)
You also have to be willing to take a few hits when/if people decide to defend themselves as you can't really counter spells or run boardwipes in the usual sense.
But, yeah, for mid-range my go-to-buddy is Maelstrom. He only gets to play a couple of games, though, before people tell me to put him up. :p
DERPLINGSUPREME says... #2
I prefer maya for midrange. lots of lifegain, lots of burn, lots of beef, lots of ramp, etc.
it has it all. just play marath!
May 11, 2015 7:14 p.m.