The EDH/Commander Deck Help Game
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on April 20, 2016, 9:17 a.m. by MagicalHacker
Wanna pass the time at school, work, or home? How about playing a game that also gives you help on your commander decklist? Let's play...
The EDH/Commander Deck Help Game!
There are only four rules! Here they are:
Once someone posts a deck, everyone else gets to suggest a legal change to the deck, meaning both a card being taken out and another one to put in.
Then, the deck-poster selects his or her favorite change. At this point, the deck poster gets 1 point if they select a person. That person becomes the next deck-poster. (If they don't select a change, they don't get a point, and any person who submitted a change to that deck can become the deck-poster. First come, first served.)
Next, the selected user gets to post their deck. The previous deck-poster cannot offer changes to their selected change-poster.
The only time limit: From start to finish, the whole process should take about 24 hours. I'll definitely keep on top of things and make sure the game doesn't get stagnant.
If all the rules look good, then the game will begin at 8:00 AM EST on April 22th, and I'll post the first deck (without getting a point). The game will end at 11:59 PM on June 22th. At that point we will crown 1st place, 2nd place, and 3rd place!
I sincerely doubt that time limits will work. Just make it until the deck-poster comments again, with a 30 minutes minimum of time for answers to accumulate.
April 20, 2016 10:04 a.m.
MagicalHacker says... #4
Let's discuss that over the next 24 hours
It also lets the game get exposure before it starts.
April 20, 2016 10:09 a.m.
canterlotguardian says... #5
Not everyone is on your schedule, as I keep having to tell someone I know. Half an hour is a bitch when you have a 9 to 5 or uni all day (like I do).
April 20, 2016 10:19 a.m.
MagicalHacker says... #6
Okay, what would be appropriate minimum and maximum times for the times of change posting, change choosing, and deck posting?
Without minimum times, the game loses its helpfulness as people scramble to post comments that aren't very well thought out. Without maximums, the game would likely die out from one person not posting.
April 20, 2016 11:01 a.m.
griffstick says... #9
Selvala, Explorer and Returned with tokens this time for real
April 20, 2016 noon
MagicalHacker says... #10
Hold on hold on, the game is starting once we get the rules clarified.
I agree that the current time limits are not very good.
April 20, 2016 12:56 p.m.
canterlotguardian says... #12
It's better, I guess. I just feel like this is going to reward those people with lots of time to spend on the site and not necessarily those who have actual constructive comments to give.
April 20, 2016 7:35 p.m.
MagicalHacker says... #13
What do you think could be better? I'm all for making the time limits more appropriate :)
April 20, 2016 8:57 p.m.
MagicalHacker says... #14
We have 19 hours until the game begins! Any last-minute suggestions?
April 21, 2016 1:05 p.m.
canterlotguardian says... #15
Well you're inherently going to have problems any time you have such a short time frame. Set it to something long-ish, e.g. 24 hours. That will give people time to think, do research, and give an actual good comment. This will also give time to those people who may want to do this, but can only get on like once a day or something.
Everything else with this, I'm ok with. It's just the time limit I was concerned about.
April 21, 2016 9:59 p.m.
MagicalHacker says... #16
That sounds totally fine! Is it okay if I make the game two months instead of one then?
April 22, 2016 6:06 a.m.
MagicalHacker says... #17
Okay! Welcome to the game everyone! The first deck is gonna be Radha, Heir to Keld: Commander Party Format. Something to keep in mind is that I am playing only one non-permanent card so that I can take advantage of it: Primal Surge. So as much as I would like to play Cultivate and Kodama's Reach, it can't work out...
May the odds be ever in your favor!
April 22, 2016 7:59 a.m.
MagicalHacker says... #18
I pick DeathChant17, whose comment was the following:
Moar haste enablers! Fervor and Hammer of Purphoros work with Primal Surge. And if you dump your whole library onto the field, you want to swing and win right? Yea you have Platinum Angel but all it takes is someone to exile or destroy it and when you go to draw a card, you lose.
To make room I'd remove Elemental Bond, it's awesome for your deck but at the same time it triggers draws. If someone were to destroy Platinum Angel with those triggers on stack, you lose too. Then I'd remove Uktabi Kong as I don't see how destroying all your artifacts is cool (that includes Platinum Angel), if you need 10 cards from unhinged or unglued, I'd remove Gruul Ragebeast instead until you find another card from one of those sets to replace it. Sorry, I'm not familiar with them at all.
Otherwise this deck looks insanely fun to play. +1 from me for that and something so original.
April 23, 2016 6:11 a.m.
DeathChant17 says... #19
Thank you, MagicalHacker, though i dont feel i really did anything. Here's my latest project: Blacked Out.
April 23, 2016 7:51 p.m.
MagicalHacker says... #20
griffstick, clayperce, canterlotguardian, Boza, and Podma101, the next deck has been linked and currently has 0 comments from this thread! Best luck to you all!
Also, I wonder if it makes sense to get this featured... How would I suggest that? Should I?
April 23, 2016 10:36 p.m.
DeathChant17 says... #21
I think so. I would think most people would like in on this.
April 23, 2016 11:12 p.m.
DeathChant17 says... #22
You could also tag Epochalyptik and say,"Please feature this thread!" He's a commander guy, and super knowledgeable.
April 23, 2016 11:35 p.m.
MagicalHacker says... #24
DeathChant17, could you pick a winner here on this thread soon? :) anytime today would be fine I think.
April 24, 2016 12:20 p.m.
DeathChant17 says... #25
I chose Podma101 as winner.
I recieved awesome suggestions from everyone and I thank you all.
My choice is based on the fact Podma101 suggested what to swap out with each of his suggestions.
His post:
In the same vein as Cover of Darkness, there is also Dauthi Embrace, which while you do have to pay for it you can target any creature of yours, and you can be certain NOTHING else will have shadow. I would trade it out for Chainer's Edict only because it is a redundant card with an expensive flashback, so I feel like the mana would go to better uses.
Aside from that, I think Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet would fit right in here! He exiles non-token creatures, and generates black zombies to feed his own ability (which can also trigger Grave Pact and the like) or act as chump blockers! Not to mention lifelink. I would say replace Tormod's Crypt with him. This may be a bad suggestion because I don't know how much grave interaction your playgroup has, but I feel that Kalitas accomplishes this on his own.
One last idea! Not the best, but I have found personal enjoyment out of Colfenor's Urn! All but three of your creatures would be affected by this, and it really helps defend against other removal and board wipes (If someone wipes the board, you will get EVER creature back, since the all died and got exiled before end of turn when it triggers). I would trade this out for Bad Moon, mainly because even running a mono-black creature-focused deck I never found this card too impactful and just got rid of it.
April 24, 2016 12:55 p.m.
MagicalHacker says... #26
Epochalyptik, ChiefBell, or yeaGO, I'm not sure which one of you (or someone else) I should ask, but is this thread worthy of being featured? If not, then I understand, but if it is, then that would be awesome and greatly appreciated!
April 24, 2016 1 p.m. Edited.
Well thank you DeathChant17! I'm glad to have helped. And thank you MagicalHacker for coming up with this idea, it has been really cool so far!
The deck I've been working on in real life currently is Ghosts of War. The deck revolves around controlling the opponents board through death and heavy graveyard interaction.
April 24, 2016 1:40 p.m.
I pick MagicalHacker for the next post, based on his comment which suggested cards that I would have never considered, but made a great deal of sense to me once mentioned:
I think you could really enjoy using Vengeful Pharaoh, Mogis's Marauder, Mesmeric Orb. The three cards I really don't understand in this deck are Colfenor's Urn, Obelisk of Urd, and Risen Executioner. I may go into it more later today, but I am currently occupied lol.
Thank you all for the suggestions and help, I am thoroughly enjoying this game as a whole!
April 25, 2016 1:51 p.m.
MagicalHacker says... #29
Okay, for my next trick:
Nahiri, the Lithomancer: You Won't BELIEVE Her Art
Commander / EDH
SCORE: 3 | 4 COMMENTS | 945 VIEWS | IN 3 FOLDERS
Something to keep in mind: the deck likes giving creatures abilities more than just buffing, from amazing abilities like Sword of Fire and Ice to strange abilities like Nemesis Mask to keyword soup like Haunted Cloak.
April 25, 2016 4:46 p.m.
MagicalHacker says... #30
Hey everyone, I'm planning on choosing a winner in about two hours. If you would like to try but can't do so in that amount of time, let me know, and I'll move the deadline.
April 27, 2016 1:16 p.m.
Just uploaded my comments. Was a lot to digest. Luckily it's a slow afternoon at work!
April 27, 2016 1:44 p.m.
MagicalHacker says... #32
Okay, this was tough to decide, and I really feel that I wish I could say it was a tie, but unfortunately I can't.
So I agree with both of you that four haste equipment is probably too redundant. Lightning Greaves and Swiftfoot Boots are both amazing for protecting creatures or even tokens. Haunted Cloak is my second way to give vigilance, which is nice to have as an option. I'll be taking Chariot of Victory out and for a land, because I don't think I can continue to count Weathered Wayfarer as a land, even though it's so amazing. What land? Kor Haven. Pure value in a white deck.
Congratulations Deruvid, and I feel really bad for not selecting griffstick, but I know you'll get one soon!
April 27, 2016 3:53 p.m.
Thanks, MagicalHacker!
I'd like people to take a look at my Sharuum the Hegemon deck.
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/sharuum-proliferate-edh/
This is a deck focused on using proliferate effects to accumulate more resources, more creatures, more tokens, more counters and I think it turned out pretty unique. Keep in mind that I can also run Sydri as a commander if you have suggestions involving her.
April 27, 2016 4:15 p.m.
MagicalHacker says... #34
Hey all, there is only one comment on Sharuum Proliferate EDH, so good luck everyone :)
Also, Deruvid, is there any deadline you want to make people aware of?
April 28, 2016 4:55 p.m.
griffstick says... #35
Truth be told I have nothing the deck is perfect. Maybe he should choose another deck
April 28, 2016 7:07 p.m.
MagicalHacker, I was going off of your timestamps for the Nahiri deck you posted, which was almost 48hrs. Since I had only 1 comment earlier this afternoon, I was going to close it out tomorrow afternoon. I've now got 3 comments so maybe I can close it out yet tonight, say in about 3 hours, unless someone requests more time.
Griffstick, I'm hoping I can get another point and choose another deck in the future :)
April 28, 2016 7:45 p.m.
DeathChant17 says... #37
griffstick, I had the same issue looking at it. It's very synergistic. It was hard coming up with anything. It made me want to build one.
April 28, 2016 8:25 p.m.
Congratulations to Podma101 for his/her suggestion of Caltrops! Many other great suggestions were made, that I will probably go through with, but the interaction with Sydri was too awesome to pass up.
Looking forward to the next deck to study.
April 28, 2016 10:49 p.m.
Thank you Deruvid! The Next deck I have is my pride and joy of magic, Lasciate Ogni Speranza! This is wheel Nekusar, plain and simple. I've been building this deck for two years now and it is my most potent. As far as suggestions go, I'd be looking for something that isn't just an auto include (Timetwister, Wheel of Fortune, Pact of Negation, etc) simply because they would be in if money wasn't important for life. I'm looking for ideas that use cards because they work well within the deck, regardless of price, or cards that may synergise in ways I never realized, just nothing that basically falls under the "duh" category, like having all the fetch lands and Mana Crypt. Good luck!
April 29, 2016 7:34 a.m.
I pick griffstick for the next post! I chose them because the suggestions made directly addressed what the deck had issues with for my meta, namely life and endgame:
-Bloodchief Ascension and Archmage Ascension seem like a must include. Phyresis, and Grafted Exoskeleton go great with your commander. Basilisk Collar on your commander or on Psychosis Crawler like Deruvid has mentioned prior. Is a great way to gain some life. as you will receive hate from the table you will need to gain life.
-You know adding some late game bombs wouldn't be a bad idea. If I were you I'd find room for these 3 cards. Rite of Replication, Rise of the Dark Realms, and Insurrection.
Thank for all for the suggestions once again, I truly appreciate it!!!
April 30, 2016 7:53 p.m.
griffstick says... #41
Thank you very much Podma101 I just started brewing this deck grixis specters
I have been trying to use Nicol Bolas as my commander and it's difficult trying not to do a good stuff deck. Nicol bolas kinda has no theme going for him except discard or dragons. When I found out specters are in the grixis colors and they do hand destruction I felt it was a perfect flavor fit. The decks biggest problem is building a good board presence.
May 1, 2016 12:49 a.m.
griffstick says... #42
Looking for more suggestions I will pick a winner tomorrow around 5pm eastern time
May 2, 2016 12:03 a.m.
griffstick says... #43
I pick DeathChant17 for his outside the box thinking with the wheel cards which is good for card draw and pain
He said...
This is a cool idea!
I have a Nekusar wheel deck that pains for draw and discarding. Two creature discard enablers I like are Jace's Archivist and Dragon Mage, granted they draw, but they discard their whole hand, so if you add in Liliana's Caress and Megrim that will add pain.
To put those 4 cards in I would remove Diluvian Primordial, Molten Primordial, Harness by Force, and Crater's Claws.
A card that synergizes with discard is Duskmantle Guildmage. Also with him plus Mindcrank you can mill someone out, jus saying.
For you're artifact ramp, I would add Dimir Signet, Rakdos Signet, and Izzet Signet. I would swap out the respective charms (except rakdos, you may need a way to remove a graveyard if you go against decks with heavy grave interaction. Maybe also Tormod's Crypt?) If you prefer, there is also Talisman of Dominance and Talisman of Indulgence, which you can tap right away for mana instead of having to pay into it unless you want the colored.
Since you don't have a pimped out mana base these cards will help you accelerate, fix colors, and allow you to drop a few lands which will add room for more cards.
Liliana Vess is a nice fit, discard and tutor are built in to her. Also she brings back all creatures that may have been discarded! -If you would be so lucky to ult her.
Skull Rend and Blightning fit the theme. I'd remove Fireball and Arm with AEther.
If you like to bounce stuff, I'd run Cyclonic Rift, AEtherize, and Dissipation Field. Swap them out with other bounce cards. Sigil of Sleep is awesome, I love it too, but for it to be effective you gotta get the enchanted creature in. I'd also look into some unblockable effects, Aqueous Form and the like.
I agree with Deruvid. You got alot of subthemes going on. I'd focus on the discard, and getting your creatures through, to make sure the discarding happens.
Hope this helps, good luck with the deck!
May 2, 2016 7:02 p.m.
DeathChant17 says... #44
Thank you griffstick!
My next deck is Grixis bloodthirst.
This is my shot at tribal vamps. Things to keep in mind when looking at it; I will be pimping out the mana base as finances allow, I would like to keep it as vampire centered as possiblarly, though I will consider anything that synergizes well with the deck as a whole. Thanks for looking!
May 2, 2016 7:22 p.m.
DeathChant17 says... #45
I choose Deruvid as the winner. I like all of his suggestions and he was able to tell me what to swap out.
Honorable mention to Podma101 he made me realize I was missing some mana rocks i usually run and also mentioned an awesome creature I will be acquiring!
you guys may notice that it's a couple cards short, I will be using those slots for extra turn cards as soon as I get them.
Thanks so much guys!
Deruvid says...
I agree with Podma that your current build does not take advantage of Jeleva, and as such I would look at trimming your enchantments and artifacts when looking to find room for new cards. With that in mind I would make the following suggestions:
Exchange Shadow Alley Denizen for Anowon, the Ruin Sage: Denizen is one of your weaker vampires and Anowon keeps other creature decks in check.
Exchange Heirs of Stromkirk for Necropolis Regent: Almost a direct upgrade, the Regent is absolutely bonkers if not answered in the first couple turns. If you take none of my other suggestions, do try to find space for the Regent.
Exchange Retreat to Coralhelm for Bloodlord of Vaasgoth: The Bloodlord helps you make bigger vampires and Coralhelm's untap effect doesn't have a whole lot of targets for you to make use of.
Exchange Retreat to Hagra for Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief: Drana kills stuff. She gets bigger. She flies and beats face. Hagra piddles around for a few life points at a time.
Exchange Swamp for Bojuka Bog: Sometimes you really need to get rid of a graveyard.
Exchange Dragon Tempest for Hammer of Purphoros or even Fervor so that it hastes all your creatures, not just the flyers.
Auras like Madcap Skills, Mark of the Vampire, and Aqueous Form suffer the drawback that if your creature is killed you lose the enchant too, so you lose card advantage. I'd look at replacing these with Instants or Sorceries that Jeleva could take advantage of. Hilarious options include Cruel Ultimatum, Time Stretch, or In Garruk's Wake.
May 3, 2016 5:02 p.m.
Thanks, Deathchant! The next deck I'd like to put up for consideration is already in pretty good shape, so I"m looking for really high-level competitive suggestions. This is specifically for multiplayer, not 1-on-1. My playgroup likes to play Stax, Zegana, Lands, Animar, Maelstrom Wanderer, and Prossh, and Meren. It's a pretty competitive environment.
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/blinking-roon-edh/
May 3, 2016 5:22 p.m.
Cards to take out, potentially: Auramancer, Sylvan Ranger, Man-o'-War, Monk Realist, Village Bell-Ringer, Evangel of Heliod.
Cards to put in: Mulldrifter, Wood Elves, Stonehorn Dignitary, Armada Wurm, Eerie Interlude, Prime Speaker Zegana.
Mix and match your least favorites of the old to your favorites of the new!
I hope this game makes me the next deck poster :/
May 3, 2016 8:41 p.m. Edited.
Kala, copy/paste your post to the actual deck page in the comments section.
May 3, 2016 9:35 p.m.
That is just how it's been handled so far in the game.
I will be looking to close this out Wednesday night around 10:30pm so get your comments in by then.
clayperce says... #2
MagicalHacker,
This is extremely cool! Seems like a great way to improve the quality of decks and deck help here on T/O.
Maybe add ...
Rule 4. Don't be this guy.
:-D
April 20, 2016 9:29 a.m. Edited.