Commanders by Power Level [EDH Tier List]

Commander / EDH* thegigibeast

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Huge update!!! —Jan. 3, 2017

Just read the 400+ comments and finished updating the list according to what was said. Now, there still is a lot of work to do, because many things have been moved around, and many, many things will still have to move around. Maybe I moved some cards by accident, and some will need to be moved back.

Also, started to edit and change some decklists listed in the description, added tier 3 lists and sonnet666 partners pairing.

Sorry for not being the most active here, I will try to continue editing on a more regular basis from now on. Please continue your great discussion to keep this useful resource going on!!!

enpc says... #1

While he has a huge vulnerability, I think that Dralnu, Lich Lord could very much benefit from Paradox Engine.

December 29, 2016 2:28 a.m.

thegigibeast says... #2

Hey sorry everyone for not being more active since a couple weeks! My school session ended not so long ago, and now I was in family reunions for Christmas and everything... I am getting back to MTG now, I have a lot of comments to read, stuff to edit and things to do, but thinkgs will be done! I will start by moving Selvala up to tier two, cause that is the forst thing I saw my name tagged on, and I will move on to read everything else and update!

Also, thanks for the 300 upvotes, I am really happy that this list can be useful for you guyz!! As a 'reward', if I can express myself like this, I will go and try to update all the decklists we have listed here, so we will miss no commander from tier 1 and 2, and I guess I could try to find some of the tier 3 ones, the greater ones, if that is what you guyz want.

Thank you very much for your support and patience, and please, never stop feeding this list. You guyz are awesome!!!

December 29, 2016 9:29 a.m.

tw0handt0uch says... #3

thegigibeast

List for new Selvala. Please drop into tier 2 decklists

selvala brostorm by asm

December 29, 2016 9:52 a.m. Edited.

thegigibeast says... #4

@n0bunga

Added, very nice list with good and funny description.

@tw0handt0uch

Added, very nice list with well written primer.

Thanks both for your contribution!

December 29, 2016 10:11 a.m.

Lilbrudder says... #5

Welcome back thegigibeast!

Based on conversations we have had for the past few weeks I think the following changes are in order.

Demotions out of tier 2:

Jhoira of the Ghitu: Waaay too slow. I havent heard anyone mention her name as remotely competitive in a Long time

Kaalia of the Vast: Demotion is long overdue. Pure pubstomp, not competitive since angels dragons and demons are not cEDH playable on thier own and she requires many to be good.

Titania, Protector of Argoth: Selvala is WAY better and should take her place. She is a middle of the pack green general and all her peers are tier 3.

Shattergang Brothers: Way too slow to compete with tier 1 and tier 2 decks. With the partner commanders having access to more colors (better stax pieces) shattergang is simply tier 3.

Oloro, Ageless Ascetic: Does nothing but lifegain and is too overcosted to be worthy of casting in a competitive game for the card draw.

Should be given consideration for demotion from Tier 2:

Child of Alara, Roon of the Hidden Realm, Daretti, Scrap Savant, Purphoros, God of the Forge

Who should be promoted to tier 1:

Thrasios, Triton Hero: There really is no question here. Hes stronger than half of tier 1 without being close to being solved. Please promote him already so I can shut up about him.

Breya, Etherium Shaper: Very strong and fast. Slightly worse than thrasios but still borderline tier one IMO. Artifact based builds are really not her most competitive build.

Possible demotion from tier 1:

Animar, Soul of Elements: This is simply my opinion. Very explosive, but many tier 2 generals are just as fast (gitrog, Breya, and SBT are arguably faster on average because black provides so much consistency and they have better game ending combos for multiplayer). Animar has trouble killing a table all at once and is very commander-centric.

Brago, King Eternal: Most of the stuff I have read recently does not consider Brago as tier 1 anymore and some ppl consider Augustine better. I personally would be more afraid of brago but it is an issue that has yet to be resolved

December 29, 2016 11:46 a.m.

Lilbrudder says... #6

Also here is an excellent list and primer for Sliver Queen. Please add it to the primers list:

Kahno's list

http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/commander-edh/multiplayer-commander-decklists/755409-sliver-queen-5-color-boonweaver-combo

December 29, 2016 12:06 p.m. Edited.

HarroHunter says... #7

Welcome back thegigibeast! Since you are back though I think it might time for a comment reset. Close to 400 comments is getting up there.

December 29, 2016 2:07 p.m.

viperfang4 says... #8

Lilbrudder I would agree with almost all of those except for Titania, Protector of Argoth, and Purphoros, God of the Forge as both are still really solid. Brago should stay where he is at, Animar is not as good as he once was, Breya could be tier one, Thraisos is definitely tier 1 material, and the rest of what you said I agree with. Also, could I get a little help finishing out this deck Teysa's Darkest Hour

December 29, 2016 3:06 p.m.

Ohthenoises says... #9

IMO purphorous with Panharmonicon is just silly, all the benefits of Furnace of Rath and none of the drawbacks.

Play 10 tokens. Win game. It's just too easy.

December 29, 2016 6:06 p.m.

trorax says... #10

@viperfang4 here - My Teysa list if you want actual advice respond and ill slam your comments with my knowledge. Spent two years with the bae.

December 29, 2016 6:17 p.m.

Noctem says... #11

Hey all, so I've been paying attention to the cEDH event results lately and I see an overwhelming amount of Kraum, Ludevic's Opus + Vial Smasher the Fierce and yet I don't see either of these being discussed or suggested for high tier? They also aren't in Tier 1 or 2.

Did I miss the discussion?

December 29, 2016 7:14 p.m.

viperfang4 says... #12

This discussion is commanders in a pod setting, all those events are in a 1v1 setting, which vial smasher is busted in. That meta is much different than this meta, in fact several of the best 1v1 commanders, we have in tier 5 because they don't fair well in groups.

December 29, 2016 7:22 p.m.

MoxProxy says... #13

Anyone else think Paradox Engine (and Dramatic reversal/Scepter) can bump Arcum back up to tier 1? I'm bout to go make a list...

December 29, 2016 7:29 p.m.

Noctem says... #14

I see, and on the other side of this coin this group seems to be very excited about Thrasios, Triton Hero. I'm sorry to say that I spent a good while back tracking up the 400+ comments and gave up before finding the discussion about this card. Are we talking about it being able to partner with another partner mechanic card or having it on it's own? What would be the main win-con for Thrasios?

December 29, 2016 7:38 p.m.

Ohthenoises says... #15

Partnering with pretty much anything that brings .

December 29, 2016 7:42 p.m.

Noctem says... #16

I found a pretty interesting guide for Thrasios for those interested. Thoughts?

http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/commander-edh/multiplayer-commander-decklists/761412-thrasios-triton-hero-to-infinity-and-beyond

December 29, 2016 7:49 p.m.

Noctem says... #17

For those not interested in reading, the TL:DR would be that the top 2 partners are Thrasios, Triton Hero + Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix for the simic infinite mana combos and Tymna the Weaver instead of Kydele.

December 29, 2016 8:13 p.m.

Lilbrudder says... #18

Thrasios can really do a ton of different archetypes to be honest. He can do Hermit Druid, Boonweaver Giant combo, eggs, storm, tasigur control, dramatic scepter seems to be the best win con based on thrasios' ability, followed by bomberman, followed by monolith combos

December 29, 2016 8:37 p.m.

Noctem says... #20

cool, thanks for the info :)

December 30, 2016 8:45 a.m.

The linked Daretti list is from 2014 Dec 27. Let's get an updated list. :)

December 31, 2016 8:22 a.m.

kyuuri117 says... #22

Sheldon Menery did a mailbag Q and A yesterday. Thought this was worth sharing if anyone didn't see it.

Q: Has there been any uptick in chatter over the past six to twelve months on whether particular, specific cards should be banned? In other words, is there any particular card people are talking about much more now than they used to? I remember you saying somewhere that Iona, Shield of Emeria had been a more popular topic of discussion recently, but I might be just wishful thinking.

A: Not really. After banning Prophet of Kruphix, we got into a particularly good spot.

Looks like Leovold's safe for now

Edit: Also of interest

Q: Do you read banlist discussions? If so, then what is the most ridiculous or out of place card you've seen discussed?

A: I do indeed read them (although I frequently skip ahead during the Sol Ring discussions). There are often out-of-place cards, because people will post about the latest card to annoy them. Zendikar Resurgent recently came up and I was totally confused. That card seems emblematic of the format: expensive and epic.

The second part doesn't matter, but the fact that he skips past Sol Ring banning discussions likely means he has no interest in seeing it banned. And if sol ring isn't getting banned, Mana Crypt/Vault isn't ever getting banned, so we can put that discussion to rest.

December 31, 2016 11:34 a.m. Edited.

kyuuri117 says... #23

He also made some comments that imply that he might actually support cEDH.

Q: Lotus Petal. Underrated, overrated or somewhere in between?

A: It's perfect, because if I see someone playing it in Commander, I know exactly what kind of player they are.

If you're playing Lotus Petal, you're likely playing cEDH, and he seems to be absolutely fine with that. Just thought that was some interesting insight. He also makes mention in other places in the article that he thinks locally "banning" cards from the format is what you should be doing if you don't like them, as they probably aren't going to be actually banned, or create house rules that an infinite combo can only do "5-10 iterations before it's forced to stop". Seems like he's opposed to actually forcing the format to power down, and instead wants people to make house rules for it.

December 31, 2016 11:47 a.m.

Ohthenoises says... #24

This doesn't really apply to cEDH more to my playgroup, if I had my druthers I'd house ban cards like memnarch. It just feels like the stupidest wincon. If you're making infinite mana just blue sun and call it a day. Seriously.

December 31, 2016 12:07 p.m.

kyuuri117 says... #25

I don't mean that cEDH players are going to make house rules, I was just pointing out that he was saying "you should make house rules if you don't like super tuned combo decks" instead of "we don't support people making/playing cEDH decks, we are going to be actively keeping an eye out to see what we should ban next".

December 31, 2016 12:11 p.m.