Edh options
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on June 24, 2024, 8:11 p.m. by tonylomas
I need a commander thats both aggro and built in a way that can kindof control threats or at least have a good chance of winning in a 4ppl table. Even better if its a build out of the box. Any ideas?
Breena, the Demagogue is certainly aggro & capable of winning with more players at the table. The precon was poorly constructed (IMO) to make you think it needs to be a political deck... Or you just pluck those cards & replace them with proactive aggro... and you don't need to add massive card-draw filler/fluff because the commander nets you easy early game card-draw. Mistmeadow Skulk & Needle Specter become easy powerhouses.. Really any low cmc lifelinker suddenly finds new life in this deck. Believe me, if you are pumping a lifelinker with +4/+4 on your turn, then possibly another +2/+2 on their own turns, your opponents often do think twice about taking advantage of that card draw clause.
Players commonly misinterpret this commander, it is: "EACH time a player attacks an opponent with more life" -- so it is quite easy to suddenly place +4/+4 on one of your creatures & draw 2 cards because your opponents had different life totals. You just need a few low-cmc creatures around, a very easy prerequisite & the commander functions just for being on the field instead of requiring haste. On top of that it is 3 CMC. I usually pump my field (instead of going Voltron) & that lends itself to control, my opponents HATE having to spend removal on Needle Specter but they find they pretty much have to unless they feel they can just afford to discard 3-5 cards on turn 4 or so. My version is probably less aggro than what you would go with, but it is more based on proliferate & walkers + aggro.
Isshin, Two Heavens as One also accomplishes what you want nicely. I would say that is less "build out of the box", less budget-friendly, & probably needs a little more card-draw fluff since the commander does not do that on his own.
June 24, 2024 11:26 p.m.
Crow_Umbra says... #4
I'd second Gleeock's recommendations of Breena & Isshin.
I'd also like to add Nelly Borca, Impulsive Accuser as another Goad/politics option. She's pretty fun & can keep the table swinging at each other, & doesn't require as much of the politicking as Breena.
Karazikar, the Eye Tyrant is another Goad/Control option that can keep things interesting.
Isshin can house all of those Legends, & lean more heavily into things like Goad, Monarch, & other forms of combat control if your meta is more aggro heavy. As Gleeock stated, Isshin might be the least budget friendly, since a 3 color mana base & card draw support can be pricey.
June 25, 2024 12:03 a.m.
I'd think about Alela, Artful Provocateur. Jam the deck full of artifacts and enchantments and make a ton of faerie tokens. You can go wide or tall or both. And there are actually a whole lot of removal/control pieces that are enchantments.
June 25, 2024 12:28 a.m.
RiotRunner789 says... #6
Grimgrin, Corpse-Born is an aggro commander that murders stuff when he attacks. You could have a decent zombie build, go more voltron, or just use blue to help control the board.
June 25, 2024 6:01 a.m.
He's not heavily played, but Kresh the Bloodbraided can do some absolutely nutso things when he's big enough, and the deck often has some control elements (especially vs creatures, the deck wants to kill off everything but Kresh typically). It can be built on a budget (for Casual play) or as a High Power deck. On a budget you run all of the Merciless Executioner effects you can find, and at higher power you'll still run a bunch of them, but you'll also have Dictate of Erebos effects. Rite of the Raging Storm by itself turns Kresh into a huge body, and it's easy to include lots of Flings/Chandra's Ignition/Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord to win, but you can also use stuff like Mandate of Abaddon to wipe the board and one-shot someone, there are a TON of cards that play very well with Kresh, and people probably aren't familiar with the deck at this point.
Another option might be Azorius Control, Azorius is a great pair for wipes, removal and countermagic, meaning you can deal with problems, both for yourself as well as the table. I guess you might go something like Shorikai, Genesis Engine and play any vehicles that don't suck? You can freely wipe your pilots without risking your vehicles, even without things like Teferi's Protection. The card draw Shorikai offers can really help you dig, and it synergizes with untap effects.
My final idea would be something like Sauron, the Dark Lord, Grixis gives you a lot of control options, and Sauron makes you a big honking army very readily, and fwiw you can make an evasive Changeling (like Changeling Outcast) your Army in place of a token. Grixis struggles a bit vs certain types of permanents, but you can certainly pressure people and have input as to what stays around.
Oh yeah, just thought of a bad idea I've never gotten around to testing, but you might be able to build Optimus Prime, Hero Flip with all the Jeskai wipes you can find? Optimus can 'survive' a wipe, so as long as you can give him Haste somehow you can swing each turn vs a cleared board, wiping whenever anyone gets anything relevant out. Would it be obnoxious? Incredibly so. But I think it could work, especially since you have Red for various good Haste sources. You probably need lots of things to protect Optimus from Swords effects, including a smattering of Blue counters that are either free or cost {U} so you can hold them up.
Taking a look at other people's ideas, I support Karazikar and Breena, both seem like great fits!
June 25, 2024 8:56 a.m.
Crow_Umbra says... #8
A bit more unconventional compared to some of the other options here, but my best friend recently put together a Jon Irenicus, Shattered One deck that donates creatures with hefty downsides or with Infect. It's a different take on Goad and combat control compared to many of the options listed here.
He's not active on Tapped Out anymore, but here's his deck list if you want an idea of what he brewed up.
June 25, 2024 1:16 p.m.
FormOverFunction says... #9
If you’re running aggro, I’d propose Graaz, Unstoppable Juggernaut as a surprise bonus somewhere in your 99. This, of course, is way better for wide strategies... but hilarious regardless.
June 25, 2024 4:25 p.m.
I run a Adeline, Resplendent Cathar tribal humans/anthems deck that can get out of control very quickly. If you're in a four-person pod, Adeline makes three tokens a turn. If you stack anthems like Cathars' Crusade, all creatures you control permanently get +3/+3, including the tokens that just ETB'd off of her effect, making you go from 7 power on board (Adeline + three tokens) to 19 power on board (7 from Adeline, 12 from 3 4/4 tokens).
The only problem with the deck is it's mono-white, however I honestly genuinely enjoy building in mono-white. It's a challenge due to all your mana ramp being weird like Tithe or Land Tax, and all your card draw options giving opponents benefits like Secret Rendezvous or Cut a Deal. Either way, I enjoy the challenge. Since Adeline, Resplendent Cathar is mono-white, you have a fairly wide range of prison/stax options if you really wanted to go that route to control the board. Smokestack is a great option since you're constantly generating tokens and can just pay for it with them.
June 25, 2024 5:17 p.m.
Extus, Oriq Overlord Flip Is more on the controlling end of this. Pretty wicked to Insurrection then sac them all to summon blood avatar. He Who Shan't Be Named can control-aggro its way around
June 25, 2024 11:09 p.m.
seshiro_of_the_orochi says... #12
Neheb, the Eternal maybe?
Aggro? Definitely. Controlling? Can totally be. Can win? His shtick is dealing massive damage to do bullshit-bingo turns, so yeah, he can do some pretty unexpected things. And due to the repring in MKM, he's become pretty cheap.
June 26, 2024 12:10 a.m.
Steelspike says... #13
Sovereign Okinec Ahau is frickin ridiculous!
It can completely take over a 4 pod AND can recover pretty quickly from a boardwipe. Mine was pretty much unstoppable for over a month, and then I took it apart because I like other people to have fun too.
June 27, 2024 12:04 a.m.
SteelSentry says... #14
Zagras, Thief of Heartbeats makes your attackers hard to block and your pingers can keep the board clear of any creatures that might be problematic. Most of the pingers you'll want are Wizards anyway, Warriors love swinging in for free, and creative deckbuilding can get you close to a full party without too much trouble; but you don't even need a party to play him!
July 1, 2024 7:22 a.m.
golgarigirl says... #15
That kind of sounds like almost any deck depending on how it's built imo?
I run a Marath, Will of the Wild deck that is aggro at it's core, but the card choices are inherently toolbox-y and can pretty handily find answers to problems.
My Alesha, Who Smiles at Death is built opposite, a midrange toolbox deck that can go aggro, but she could have easily been built aggro with a control kit to find if needed.
I would just start with...are there any commanders, colors, or core strategies (token aggro, voltron, big beats, tribal aggro) that are interesting to you? We can narrow something down from there. Otherwise people are just gonna throw out what they're familiar with.
As for out of the box, I guess of the decks I've played I'll agree with the Breena, the Demagogue recommendation. But eh, your mileage will vary a lot to get the deck to do all of that well, especially control-wise, depending on your pod.
Gidgetimer says... #2
Xenagos, God of Revels is aggro and can win a 4 person pod. Not really controlling. More "I can't be controlled".
June 24, 2024 10:35 p.m.