how would i get started building my first edh deck.
Commander Deck Help forum
Posted on Aug. 8, 2017, noon by Morbid_Empress
Ive been playing magic for a couple years. Mostly kitchen table but also fnm and prerelease type events.
Anyways ive been wanting to get into edh and had a hard time convincing my friends but with commander 2017 theyve been convinced to try it.
Anyways im not sure how to build my deck. Like i know that i should have 38 lands and 8 mana accelerents to start. But im not sure how much removal card draw and other staples my deck should be. And how much of my deck should be cards that fit my commanders theme or are cards that i just put in cause i like them. I do know about edh rec for finding cards i dont own that would be good in it.
I do have to precons already that i could upgrade. But im not really feeling oloro atm and the jeleva precon seems way more built around nekusar so if i played jeleva id probly be better off starting from scratch. Also i like deck building anyways.
Anyways any advice i havent really picked a commander yet. Im waiting for the c17 vampire stuff to be revealed to see if i like that. Other wise im leaning towards jeleva, liliana, teysa scion, alesha or maybe kaalia if i can get my hands on one through trading.
WhiteTrashMagic says... #3
geekmp3 said it better than I think anyone else could!
If you start there and start playing then you can find out if you have too much of one thing and/or not enough of another
I found the command zone podcasts on YouTube to be very helpful also
August 8, 2017 12:44 p.m.
It sounds like you generally want directed commanders (use one strategy really well, and needs certain cards to work well). A general rule for EDH that I find works is you want 10 card draw cards, 5 boardwipes if you can (not just creatures, artifacts, enchantments count too) and 15 utility. These numbers can be played with, as some cards provide two catagories at the same time. Generally if at least 75% of the cards fit the strategy of the deck, and the rest are valuable utility or carddraw, you have a good starting point.
Again, it's more of an art than a science. Play with the numbers to see what works for you and your playgroup
August 8, 2017 12:54 p.m.
Morbid_Empress says... #5
Qolorful that sounds pretty helpful. Im not sure but would a card like shriekmaw or boneshredder count as removal/ utility or as card for the theme if i put it in something like liliana or alesha.
August 8, 2017 1:04 p.m.
I also enjoy how Commander makes multi-modal cards super valuable over others when we always end up talking about what to cut instead of what to add. We know what should go in but what do we try to make room for?
Examples: Supreme Will, Golgari Charm, Decree of Pain
August 8, 2017 1:30 p.m.
Morbid_Empress says... #7
geekmp3 thats actually very similar to how i build decks in general. especially when im looking at the cards i already have. Knowing the numbers should help me make a deck have some balance which should help.
August 8, 2017 1:38 p.m.
I do think they would be considered so. It depends again on how you build your deck. For example I count Bane of Progress as a boardwipe, and Gyre Sage and Acidic Slime as utilities for my ezuri deck, while all 3 cards still fit thematically with the deck. Because of that I have more space in the deck to fit everything in.
August 8, 2017 1:38 p.m.
Generally my rule with deck building is to pick a theme and win condition and the measure I have sufficient cards to make it work properly. Once I have a win condition locked in then ensure the deck has enough card advantage/tutors, ramp and removal. From there utility is brought into free slots/I will free up some slots if I think it's worthwhile. At this point you already have a full deck.
The big one is making sure you can actually win with the deck. The whole 7x9 thing is cute and all and a good way to start deck building while building up confidence, but ultimately you need to ensure that you have a way of closing out games.
August 8, 2017 5:51 p.m.
I just want to answer 2 points in your post.
How many lands or mana accelerator pieces you need is kind of subjective. It depends on how many colors you're running, your average converted mana cost, or even other factors that could be unique to your play-group. I run 36 lands normally, but that changes as needed.
And also: your commander is the only card you ever garuanteed to have available on turn 1. Building around your commander is just good sense, and the truly competitive decks focus on the commander a lot of the time. You won't see a lot of Gerrard Capashen decks on a competitive scene because he's just not that good. But, you will see stuff like Captain Sisay because having a recastable tutor is very powerful.
August 8, 2017 6:32 p.m.
Morbid_Empress says... #11
K34 im definitly going to be using my commander alot. The main reasons i want to play commander are for getting to build around a ledgendary i like and playing bigger fun spells that i couldnt play at an fnm and are a bit clunky for regular casual.
Still need to pick one though. Im hoping the vampires deck has some subtheme i like so i can buy it and use all the vampire tribal stuff i already have. Otherwise im not sure what id use as a commander.
August 8, 2017 8:11 p.m.
Steelspike says... #12
36 lands seems to be the magic (pun intended) number for lands in an EDH deck, but not the only source of mana. Rocks like Commander's Sphere, Darksteel Ingot, and Chromatic Lantern are pretty much staples.
I don't personally use the cluestones or keyrunes unless I'm playing just the two colors, but that's just me.
On to the actual deckbuilding.
I like to use a single theme/card and build a deck around whatever mechanic said card has. If that theme is in certain colors, there are some things I prefer to use.
Some examples:
Selesnya: Privileged Position + Sterling Grove
Gruul: Familiar Ground + Gruul War Chant
Simic: Murkfiend Liege
Rakdos: Master of Cruelties
Boros: Iroas, God of Victory
Izzet: Mindwrack Liege
Azorius: Azorius Guildmage, Decree of Silence + Solemnity
Etc..
August 8, 2017 8:12 p.m.
Steelspike You seem to have forgotten Sol Ring... That card is in almost every commander deck I've ever seen.
August 8, 2017 8:22 p.m.
Steelspike says... #14
Redace878 I don't put Sol Ring in my commander decks anymore (unless artifacts matter) because in my particular meta, I'm never sure if I'll be playing a 6 or 2 player game.
It's just my personal choice, but I don't hate others for utilizing it. :)
August 8, 2017 8:27 p.m.
I started with the Derevi precon and slowly swapped out cards. I realized I gravitated towards powerful "enter the battlefield" effects and from there, I just specialized my deck more and more until I wound up with a serious blink deck.
August 8, 2017 10:12 p.m.
Morbid_Empress says... #16
zelian12 maybe ill try that if i like the vampires precon.
The oloro precon i have wouldnt work because id rather run Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim or Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts if i played some sort of life gain pillow fort control deck.
and the jeleva precon is to focused on nekusar and wheel and when i gold fished it and played it against oloro. jeleva just wiffed. so i took it apart for the parts.
August 8, 2017 10:22 p.m.
How you build your deck depends on what you are trying to achieve and what your meta is like. You'll end up having to tailor your decks to your group to get the full effect.
You've played and know the game, so choose colors/generals that suite your style. For me personally, I feel like anything above 36 lands is to much and I get flooded. Instead, I run more ramp. I run 11 decks, two of which are 5 color and I have zero issue establishing a good color base (one with out any fetches/shocks). The amount of ramp is totally depebdant on CMC of the deck. I leave space for 10 and adjust as needed after a few games. You'll be able to tell after a few if your spells are to high or you havent got enough ramp.
After sleeving lands/ramp cards, I start sleeving guarantee cards that are making it in to the deck. Every general has "must haves". Look for cards that help your style obviously. My Wort, The Raidmother pumps out Goblins like crazy. My card draw is mostly based around drawing a card for each creature I control. High cost, but damn worth it.
Once your deck is set with the style you are trying to achieve (sometimes a brew misses the mark), all you can do is play test. Pay attention to what accelerates your plan and what is hindering you. Some cards are great in theory or situational, but they sit in my hand time and time again. I cut them and try new ones. You'll get a feel for the amount of ramp/draw/plan cards you need in that specific deck. I never run percentages of what I should need because each general is vastly different.
Long winded, but I hope it helps. Good luck!
August 8, 2017 10:29 p.m.
chaosumbreon87 says... #18
honestly, id say these are the steps I do for a commander deck:
pick the commander
find out which level of commander you want to build towards (most tend to keep decks casual).
pick a win condition that uses the commander
pick a win condition that does not use the commander
4.5 (optional and not always recommended) pick a theme to constrain your deck
add some support for your combos. I tend to use 7-8 counterspells and 4 pieces of removal.
Try to find cheap tutors in your color(s) or lack thereof.
add in some mana rocks. seriously, theyre better than lands in many cases. (every 2 mana rocks beyond 7 should take up 1 land slot. Example, 10 mana rocks means 35-36 lands should be the goal, 15 mana rocks means 33-34 lands)
Draw power. add it. Every color can do it. Draw power is great.
lands. see step 7.
look over your hopefully 100+ card deck. if over 100 (not counting partner), cut cards that under preform or are situational.
adapt and grow your deck as you play more.
Also welcome to the world of edh. may you have safe travels
August 8, 2017 11:52 p.m.
How to build Commander Deck?
Step One: Find interesting/cool/whatever Legendary creature (or 1 of the 5 planeswalkers) and go "That one!"
Step Two: Dig through my collection of garbage and see what I have that will work for said commander. My original Nekusar build just ran every wheel I had on hand and a bunch of left over hate I had from a RB "control" shell.
Step Three: Add some color relevant ramp/draw, if I got it.
Step Four: Bring to weekly game night all, "I don't even know what this does! Lets play and find out!"
Play, and fine tune, as needed, for playgroup.
shrugs
August 9, 2017 1:24 a.m.
griffstick says... #20
Best advise ever. Are you ready? Just build it and play it.
August 9, 2017 2:44 a.m.
There was a thread very similar to this one a while ago, and somebody on that thread (I don't remember who) gave some very useful advice:
Start with 99 forests and an Omnath, Locus of Mana as the commander. Begin switching out cards as you find them until you eventually have a complete deck.
August 9, 2017 10:21 a.m.
I see how that works for mono color but it seems much more complex when building 2 or 3 colors. An interesting concept nonetheless.
I think the main problem with that idea is that it is hard to test said deck as you build it, so you could finish it and realize it's missing a lot of things it needs to work, then have to continue revisions as if you had just thrown together a prototype and are now making it function.
Am I wrong in thinking that way? Like, does testing it as you build it work to find what you need more of? I could see it going either way but just seems strange to me
August 9, 2017 11:08 a.m.
Qolorful It's definitely far from the best way to build a deck, but it's fun and can actually sometimes win.
geekmp3 says... #2
Hey! Welcome to Commander! It's my fav.
To help: In a 40-card standard/modern/etc. deck we use 4-of-one-card to make sure we hit them. In Commander that's not possible due to the singleton rule BUT here's the formula to make sure you mimic a 4-of-one-card in a singleton format:
100 Cards total
1 Commander (sometime 2 with Partner mechanic)
36 lands (or higher, your choice)
63 Cards remain.
7 Cards is the magical number to mimic a 4-of-one-card in EDH
So, 7 x 9 = 63.
Make 9 piles of cards. 7 cards in each pile. Each pile does something: Ramp, Removal, Card Draw, Theme 1, etc.
I use this for every deck and it makes sure I have a consistent hand of options. Obviously there's decks and commanders who don't want to follow this formula and building around them is half the fun of a format like this but... Enjoy!
August 8, 2017 12:34 p.m.