Help choosing an artifact commander? [Competitive]
Commander Deck Help forum
Posted on Jan. 31, 2019, 11:42 a.m. by vishnarg
Hey yall,
Over the last few years I have worked to build 3 EDH decks which I am proud of, Karador, Atraxa and Windgrace. While these are strong and fun to play, unfortunately none are quite top tier power level. I am currently working on my fourth edh deck, which I want to be both artifact based and able to compete with the best of the best decks, my most competitive deck yet. Currently I am stuck between Arcum Daggson, Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain and possibly daretti, scrap servant. Which artifact commander do you think is the most competitive and why? Thanks for the advice :)
While my opinion is surely biased, Arcum (aka MacGyver) is very fast, very consistent and fairly linear so that you don’t have to play it every week to pilot it well. Here’s my deck list for reference and potential inspiration.
Dang Son! It's a Shiny Rube Goldberg Machine!
Commander / EDH
SCORE: 110 | 16 COMMENTS | 9941 VIEWS | IN 34 FOLDERS
January 31, 2019 12:52 p.m.
The two you linked and breya are prob the 3 most powerful artifact commanders. Breya is prob better top end wise of money for lands isn't an issue - as the additional tutors and the addition responses to threats help. They all will play differently of course. The goblin Walker is out matched by the others IMHO.
January 31, 2019 1:01 p.m.
Check out
Commanders by Power Level [EDH Tier List]
Commander / EDH*
SCORE: 1423 | 8970 COMMENTS | 1606084 VIEWS | IN 830 FOLDERS
. Countless people have debated and tested out commanders for years and pretty accurately tiered all possible commanders. A small group of veteran EDH players make the final say for the tiers and any tier changes. Many of the top tier decks have decklists as well for what qualifies as that tier of deck.
January 31, 2019 1:43 p.m.
Gidgetimer says... #7
I too am biased, but agree that Arcum is the way to go. I disagree with some of the specific choices though. This is the build that I use when I borrow Arcum from my friend.
Arcum's Asylum
Commander / EDH
SCORE: 20 | 38 COMMENTS | 5397 VIEWS | IN 11 FOLDERS
January 31, 2019 4:43 p.m.
Im a firm believer if you want artifacts you must go Esper, so Breya or Sen Triplets!
February 1, 2019 4:36 a.m.
Gidgetimer says... #9
Out of curiosity, why Sen Triplets and not something that interacts with artifacts like Sydri, Galvanic Genius or Sharuum the Hegemon ?
February 1, 2019 6:46 a.m.
To break it down for you, your top picks for what you want to do with the deck are going to be Arcum, Breya, and Jhoira.
Arcum Dagsson is the most linear of the three and perhaps the easiest to pilot, which is really friendly to learn how to play it especially when you're not dedicated to exclusively playing that deck amongst other decks you like to rotate through. The primary combo package is incredibly straightforward, but because of that it may become boring to win that way every time after racking up a couple wins with him, so I'd keep that in mind.
Breya, Etherium Shaper is perhaps the most powerful with the most combo potential out of all of them. She is more consistent with access to black for tutors, and she has more paths to winning in her arsenal. This deck will be the most expensive to boot and optimize, but it is very much your strongest candidate for what you want out of an artifact-based deck. There are a myriad of ways to win in the deck and it's simply a blast to pilot.
If you want to play stax combo, then you want to play Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain . A bit different from the others mentioned, and I've found that the deck is very heavily reliant on her being on the battlefield for her to function (which can be said about any commander really), but it's done in such a way that there are so many places to interact with her combo that it's easier to stop her momentum than it is for others. The stax of course helps with disrupting interaction, but she can fizzle and run out of gas if she's not on the field since she is really just used as a draw engine for the deck and without her on the field you won't be consistently drawing into the things you'd like to see. Regardless, she is still powerful and has more ways to win unlike Arcum, but is less consistent than Breya.
If you're looking for a deck that will always be fun to play and you like to have multiple ways to win at your disposal, I recommend Breya or Jhoira. Depending on your playstyle preference, it really comes down to one or the other. I am more of an advocate of Breya if you couldn't tell by now, I really think you will have the most success with her and she will always prove to keep things interesting every time you pilot her. I think Arcum is the most forgiving to play, but the fact that you have a few other higher tier commander decks leads me to believe you are pretty experienced with EDH, so Arcum wouldn't be my top pick for you.
Best of luck to you! I hope my advice helps and I'd like to hear back from you when you decide on a commander to build. Feel free to post a decklist in this thread or on my wall if you need help in regard to specific card suggestions. You can also private message me if you want to enable chat. Cheers!
AnchorCity says... #2
I am probably not the best person to answer this question as I am a casual EDH player and haven’t really delved into the cEDH world, but of those three Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain looks like best value with the card draw, I know a lot of people build that deck to run a ton of 0 cost artifacts. I have had some matches against Daretti, Scrap Savant that weren’t super tuned up decks that I got wrecked by a Meteor Golem and a Wurmcoil Engine rotating back and forth.
January 31, 2019 12:07 p.m.