I Can't Find A Commander That's Right For Me. HELP
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on June 1, 2015, 5:49 p.m. by CavalryWolfPack
I really need some help. When I first started playing EDH, I didn't know who I should play as my commander. Then I found Yisan, the Wanderer Bard and immediately knew I had to play him. However, issues with a deck revolving around my commander have come up, and the gameplay has gotten stale. I find myself grabbing the same creatures with him. While the tuck rule changes helped immensely, I am simply on too much of a budget to make my deck viable. Now I need to find a new commander and I don't know where to begin and I need help. I don't care about colors or strategy, although control is not my strong point. I want to build a deck that is fun not only for me, but also for the table. Not necessarily a "group hug" deck, but not something evil either. I love versatile cards with some not-so-obvious interactions and combos. I am on a budget so please try to keep cost around $100-150 please. I love fair versions of powerful cards, such as Magus of the Library. My favorite cycle of cards is actually the Maguses from Time Spiral block, so playing them would be a slam dunk for me. I really want to play them in a very synergistic way or just cause absolute chaos with them. Am I asking too much from the format? Is a precon deck better or should I build my own? Thank you in advance!
greenkingwashere says... #3
Scion of the Ur-Dragon is a sick combo/tribal deck that you can make any color of awesome.
June 1, 2015 5:54 p.m.
Sure, but a five-color land base is annoying to build on budget. Ideally, you'd want to spend most of your money on non-land cards in cases like this.
June 1, 2015 6:10 p.m.
StealthyGunnar says... #5
Chaos, you say? Check out these decks:
They are hilariously fun, especially in multiplayer.
June 1, 2015 6:13 p.m.
libraryjoy says... #6
I like the idea of an Experiment Kraj deck. I've seen 2 on here both on a budget that look like a lot of fun and a lot of variety. Most seem to clock in around $70. (neither one is mine)
June 1, 2015 6:37 p.m.
Karns_Pyromancer says... #7
If you want chaos, Zedruu the Greathearted offers a lot. I've got a Narset, Enlightened Master build on my page that's chaotic as well.
Cromat allows 5-color budget decks if you want toolboxy.
I usually start building with a combo or color set in mind and pick the commander later. It helps a lot if you're just starting out.
June 1, 2015 6:46 p.m.
CavalryWolfPack says... #8
I'll have to keep those in mind. Derevi, Empyrial Tactician seems hysterical with tokens and the Maguses. Although Nekusar, the Mindrazor looks like an interesting commander to build around. Does anybody have experience with these two? Or a cheaper option? Three colors put some strain on the budget.
June 1, 2015 7:12 p.m.
Uhhh. Well, I run one of the most tuned Nekusar decks you'll find on this site. Granted, it's hardly budget but it should give you an idea of how it plays. Check it out at Nekusar, Take the Wheel!
June 1, 2015 7:15 p.m.
Karns_Pyromancer says... #10
I ran Nekusar on a budget. It's on my account and is the list I was hoping to run, but a couple cards were too expensive. Still, it's a good start.
June 1, 2015 8:11 p.m.
CavalryWolfPack says... #11
I'm going to assume that buying a precon isn't a brilliant idea? I was thinking about buying either the mono-red 2014 deck or the Bant 2013 deck. The Bant deck gives me a man a base and some staples to build Derevi tokens. It sounds funny to untap everything one opponent controls. Punch him in the face with hordes of dudes and then untap his stuff.
June 1, 2015 8:15 p.m.
Ghostkitten2 says... #12
The first one that came to my mind was Braids, Conjurer Adept she allows for cool fun things to go on whilemnot being precisely group hug.
June 1, 2015 10:09 p.m.
If you want something that is fun for the table, but not "group hug," I would suggest you try something more political. My first thought is something like Edric, Spymaster of Trest.
I would not go with Nekusar. He's good enough as a combo general that, even if that's not your goal, people will assume it is and kill you very quickly. He's not very fun for the rest of the table.
I would also stay away from the precons.They want to have a few choice cards in them so people with larger pools will buy them, so the rest of the deck is generally rather weak.
As far as the Magi go, why not just build a 5-color green deck with all 15 and some recursion/copy activated ability effects? There's enough cheap land tutors that you can build pseudo-5 color on a budget. You could even go with Karona, False God and base yourself in green (color fixing and creature recursion) and blue (wizard tribal for the magi). I don't think it'd be super powerful, but it would certainly be memorable.
June 1, 2015 10:31 p.m.
I honestly wouldn't go with the precon. Although it brings you a ton of cards, about half of them are not worth running in any EDH. If money's an issue, shoving it into cards you don't need isn't a solid investment. Besides, the land base in that pack sucks monkey balls.
Derevi is an incredibly powerful commander and well worth building around even on budget. If you decide to go with Derevi, don't be hesitant to tag me in your deck for help.
June 1, 2015 10:31 p.m.
CavalryWolfPack says... #15
And tag you in I will! I'm aiming to abuse Derevi's tap/untap abilities by swarming with tokens. Now thisight be a G/W deck playing Blue for support. But thanks to Portal 3 Kingdoms and FTV Legends we have Sun Quan, Lord of Wu. This guy will get crazy with token! However, with so many token generators in the format, it's hard to know what I should and should not use. Anybody got any ideas?
June 1, 2015 10:53 p.m.
donatedwarrior9 says... #16
when I think of derevi and tokens, my mind kind of immediately goes to Rhys the Redeemed. If your in the late game and you can double double, that seems fun. Also, Armada Wurm seems like a fun thing to soulbond with Deadeye Navigator
June 2, 2015 12:21 a.m.
I would disagree about Armada Wurm. Yes, a 5/5 trample token is good, but for Derevi you should focus on cards that make multiple small tokens so you have more Derevi triggers. Things like Ant Queen, Hornet Queen, and Sacred Mesa spring to mind. I have a few token-based decks, so here are my suggestions with Derevi on a budget in mind:
Feel free to go onto my page and check out my Mikaeus, Gahiji or Edric decks for other token ideas.
June 2, 2015 1:20 a.m.
donatedwarrior9 says... #18
yeah my bad, I just realized Armada Wurm is pretty meta-dependent for me. I ran it in my old marath deck because my meta just has a lot of tokens and Ghostly Prison/Propaganda type effects so big and trample-y was the way to go. rhys still works for small, and possibly Requiem Angel if your not running too many spirit tokens. helps mitigate effects of stuff like Anger of the Gods/Pyroclasm. If this is supposed to be super competitive, I have no actual experience there. (never even spent money on singles. lol. no competitiveness whatsoever.)
June 2, 2015 1:42 a.m.
CavalryWolfPack says... #19
What about permanents that tap to make tokens? That could get out of hand with Derevi.
June 2, 2015 6:37 a.m.
I have a Momir Vig, Simic Visionary deck. It is almost wizard-tribal and wasn't that expensive since you need to play a lot of creatures for Momir and wizards are often really cheap. It is quite fun to combine control-elements with fast green ramp. I often do something like Boundless Realms + Prophet of Kruphix in one turn. Then your are tutoring for Prime Speaker Zegana or whatever you like and start a chain of creatures hitting the table during your oponents turns. With Arcane Laboratory + Ertai, Wizard Adept and other counter abilities you can lock the table and finish with the mind over matter combo (you'll easily get the combo pieces with momir)
June 2, 2015 7:06 a.m.
I can only recommend Momir (especially with green ramp you'll not have too many problems with colour-fixing). As TheDevicer mentioned Selvala, Explorer Returned is a good option, too. It is quite explosive with tokens and quite easy to build on a budget (built one myself yesterday with all the cards I had left and it is so cool). Parley is also quite fun for the table so you'll not get into trouble 'cause everyone like to draw cards.
June 2, 2015 7:11 a.m.
Karns_Pyromancer says... #22
Parley is a lot of fun if no one is running Nekusar, the Mindrazer or Maralen of the Mornsong.
Azami, Lady of Scrolls is a lot of fun if you want a deck that you can make competitive fairly easily.
What colors do you like to run, CavalryWolfPack?
June 2, 2015 9:05 a.m.
Didgeridooda says... #23
You mentioned buying a precon as a bad idea. Those new mono color precons are pretty good. If trying to build something new on a budget, I would absolutely suggest that route. I am thinking about it myself with the red one.
June 2, 2015 11:11 a.m.
CavalryWolfPack says... #24
I bought my brother the Green precon for my brother, and I must say it is quite powerful. As for what colors I like to play, it varies. I've settled on Derevi as my commander. I'm aiming to make a token strategy to abuse her untap abilities and make tap abilities just bonkers. I still need help, particularly with support cards like card draw and alternate win cons. Wow this is harder than I thought!
June 2, 2015 11:36 a.m.
00xtremeninja says... #25
I bought the red precon, shifted some things around, and now I have a pretty strong and fun red artifact based deck.
June 2, 2015 11:37 a.m.
Didgeridooda says... #26
I might avoid that commander. He will see constant hate, and that is not what you were looking for in your OP. He is one of the strongest commanders out there. He is also a possibility for a banning I would say.
June 2, 2015 12:03 p.m.
Derevi is much better than Roon. In fact, I've never run across anyone who hates Roon but I know plenty of people that hate on mana denial Derevi. I mean, who doesn't love a good Stasis, Winter Orb, Static Orb lockdown while you untap all your stuff with Derevi? So yeah, you can build Derevi to be an absolute pain in the ass. Really up to how the deck is constructed.
June 2, 2015 12:08 p.m.
Didgeridooda says... #29
Roon is ok, but Dev is better.
I run roon, and he is a very good budget deck, but a little too close to Yisan I think. I run both of them.
With that budget, I would stick to one, max 2 color deck.
June 2, 2015 12:09 p.m.
CavalryWolfPack says... #30
Even if I tap lands, they untap on the player's upkeep, making a lock a little moot. For the record, I want to use creature tap abilities, not be a huge jerk. Yeah he gets hate, but I'm not going to build something evil. Just something to go nuts with on tap abilities, such as the Magi. I should be able to build a cheap deck in the $100-150 range although I should be able to go over.
June 2, 2015 3:10 p.m.
Didgeridooda says... #31
I am just letting you know that he is at the top of the list for most competitive commanders. That will have you see hate even if your intent was not what he normally does.
June 2, 2015 3:14 p.m.
CavalryWolfPack says... #32
Gotcha. Also on a side note I am taking into consideration all the suggestions you guys have given me and gone over most, if not all, of your decklists. Really loving the help! I'm going to get my current list up without the main base for now. Still need to work that out.
June 2, 2015 4:03 p.m.
Karns_Pyromancer says... #33
You're reading over all our decklists?!
Please let me know when you post the list you're working on. I'd love to see it and see if we're can't help more.
June 2, 2015 4:22 p.m.
CavalryWolfPack says... #34
Yes I take into account suggestions given to me. It's a little rude not to. I got the deck up too!Derevi, Master of the Pseudo Untap Step
June 2, 2015 4:34 p.m.
CavalryWolfPack says... #36
Dear God I don't even want to think about that. Decks that cost more than my entire collection. That sounds fun.
June 2, 2015 5:50 p.m.
Karns_Pyromancer says... #37
I know the feeling. I'm currently building a deck that accidentally ended up being budget. People keep suggesting cards that are worth more than the deck, sleeves, playmat and dice...
June 2, 2015 6:13 p.m.
I remember when I started building Nekusar, this one guy suggested I put in Chains of Mephistopheles, a $200 card. My deck was worth $150. Chains is also a card most people wont part with even for its listed price.
June 2, 2015 6:23 p.m.
Didgeridooda says... #39
I think some people make those suggestions because many groups can go a little crazy with proxies.
June 2, 2015 6:32 p.m.
Karns_Pyromancer says... #40
Not always. I've seen some of those T3 win Sharuum decks without proxies.
June 2, 2015 6:36 p.m.
donatedwarrior9 says... #41
there's not a whole ton of great stuff with T: add tokens (at least that I found with a gatherer search). Trostani, Selesnya's Voice is probably the best one other than Rhys the Redeemed (who I did not realize was so expensive!), and honestly, you want to make flyer tokens anyway to get over peoples defenses. maybe something like Mimic Vat could help, but you already (tenetavely, im guessing) have a bunch of etb token makers, so you could play off that with maybe Mistmeadow Witch, Brago, King Eternal, Nephalia Smuggler, Restoration Angel, or even roon in the 99.
June 2, 2015 6:36 p.m.
Yup. All the money cards in my group are proxies. It's because we'd all rather play against the very best the other members can build, not what their wallets limit them to. Since some members in our group are more interested in other formats and because others are just flat out poor, actually paying for cards would quickly become pay to win.
June 2, 2015 6:37 p.m.
Didgeridooda says... #43
Karns, I was hoping that if someone sees a $150 deck they do not seriously think a $200 card is appropriate as a suggestion. I guess I could be wrong.
I have seen those decks too, and more power to them. For most putting something like that together is a big undertaking.
TheDevicer not really a fan of that mindset, but this prob is not the place to debate proxies. If you all agree with it, and use them the same way, I could see that working.
June 2, 2015 6:45 p.m.
wakawakawaka says... #44
play super ballsy cards like Hellcarver Demon and Scrambleverse and I guarantee you that every game will be hilarious and fresh
June 5, 2015 12:01 a.m.
CavalryWolfPack says... #46
Scrambleverse, eh? I'll have to keep that in mind in case my budget shrinks, which it probably will.
Arvail says... #2
How about Selvala, Explorer Returned? She's not very threatening. Meanwhile she offers tons of rewards for the table all the while making sure you benefit the most out of using her ability. Two colors means a cheap land base and playing a creature-based strategy in Selesnya is generally budget friendly.
June 1, 2015 5:53 p.m.