How do You Bling-Out Your EDH Decks?
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on July 29, 2022, 12:25 p.m. by EnbyGolem
For me, I love old cards so the way I bling-out my decks is by trying to find the oldest printing of that card as possible. I also like to find them well-used or even damaged. I love that there is a story there in used cards; even though I’ll never know for sure how my card got a scratch or a bend, I like thinking about the possibilities :) I was recently lucky enough to get my hands on a very, very well-loved Lord of the Pit all the way back from Beta for my favorite mono black Old-School deck. I was very fortunate to have some old Pokémon cards of value and was able to trade in enough to find it a permanent home!
What kind of cards to you like to find for your decks? Do you tend to go for the same types of cards for each deck or does it change depending on the individual theme?
FormOverFunction says... #3
I too have a soft spot for well loved cards! My bling is generally in the form of tokens. I have my kids make all the weird tokens my deck ends up needing (djinn for Bottle of Suleiman, squid and kelp and octopuses for my Briny Deep deck, weird/gross food for my witches deck, bribery tokens for Gwafa Hazid, Profiteer). Not nearly as cool as some of the old/new things out there, but makes the “playing against Old Man FormOverFunction” even weirder! Lol
July 29, 2022 7:11 p.m.
TypicalTimmy says... #4
I go for specific print runs. Those with bolder, darker or more vibrant colors depending on what I am going for. I'm a bit busy, but here is a quick example.
Savage Ventmaw has a few printings now, but the print from Dragons of Tarkir comes both with the Temur watermark and has the darker colors on the Dragon, making the flame look more alive and powerful.
While this may be difficult to notice, here is a better example. Flameblast Dragon from Shards of Alara may be the oldest and thus the most valuable, but I prefer the coloring of Commander 2018 because the glow in the fire and the lighting it casts upon her body and wings and scales looks far more intense.
So, for me, since I'm the one who has to look at them and play with them, I want colors that pop. Be it shading, illumination, vibrance or anything else that properly suits the card art in question.
July 29, 2022 9:45 p.m. Edited.
Gidgetimer says... #5
Unique printings of cards. Recently most of them have come from secret lairs, but there are also classics like the Stronghold version of Grave Pact.
July 29, 2022 11:01 p.m.
I usually alter the cards. I have/had a 10 plagues mono black commander deck. Even bought foil alter egyptian nile swamp lands. Got all the powerful cards. Its my favorite deck. I try to foil the cards I can in due time. For now, Im saving up for master pieces :)
July 29, 2022 11:46 p.m.
CastleSiege says... #8
I like getting the first foil printing of my cards, with some exceptions (foils from some sets look bad compared to others).
If there's no foil printing, I try to get an extended art alter.
I also get my cards signed by the artist when possible. My Titania deck is about 40% artist signed now :)
July 31, 2022 11:59 a.m.
golgarigirl says... #9
I love artist signatures, especially when the artists do cute things with the signatures (I have a few cards with doodles on them along with the signature). I am a giant art nerd and a super fan of certain artists and will hunt down their artwork on cards. Most of my decks have a theme for their basics so I pursue all of that kind for that deck. And I am a sucker for alters (I've even hand-painted a few cards myself, though I'm hardly much good at it).
Finally, I am a magpie and am hopelessly attracted to shiny things...even if the shiny things are ill-advised...I mean, if my entire deck is pringles, the cards aren't marked, right?
vishnarg says... #2
Over time I will slowly swap out my cards for different ones. Upgrading basic lands to secret lair versions, replacing an old card with a foil copy, replacing a newer version of a card with the original. It depends on the deck. I have an old Karador, Ghost Chieftain deck which is focused on going for an infinite combo involving sacrificing and reanimating. That deck I like to make "old school", using non foil and the pre-modern borders wherever possible. Not white border tho, ew. Another deck of mine is a Sisay, Weatherlight Captain 5 color superfriends combo deck. That deck I want to foil out with the shiniest newest version of every planeswalker I can. When I go to MagicFest (pre covid) I used to get my cards signed. I met Mark Tedin and got my Emrakul and Mana Vault signed, the signed mana vault is in my edh decks :)
July 29, 2022 12:47 p.m.