Most Broken Commanders
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on Feb. 5, 2015, 10:09 p.m. by The_Serraphim
What are the worst commanders you've ever played against, and what types of deck? Which commanders make you the most angry? For me, it's The Mimeoplasm and Teferi, Temporal Archmage. Teferi just has way too many options and I find it difficult to deal with, and Mimeoplasm just is way too instantly combo-y for me.
Kaalia of the Vast in my opinion should just disappear. If I ever won the lottery (like the big one. 300 mil powerball or whatever), I would make it my mission to buy up every single copy and burn them. Along with buying a playset of every modern staple so I can play whatever I want of course. Lol
February 5, 2015 10:16 p.m.
Zur is a bitch once you get that fucking Diplomatic Immunity on him it's table flipping time
February 5, 2015 10:27 p.m.
Commanders aren't really broken. Sure, there are ways to break them, but no commander is in any way "broken". Each has a weak point, and even a badly built Kaalia of the Vast deck could lose to a well built Verdeloth the Ancient deck.
February 5, 2015 10:31 p.m.
nobu_the_bard says... #6
Generally, the worst problem in my experience is commanders that have built-in tutoring potential. Zur the Enchanter was mentioned, we should mention the insanity that Arcum Dagsson gets up to. They can both do pretty much anything they want on turn 5 if someone isn't messing with them.
Other commanders just ramp up to full speed very fast; Kaalia of the Vast and Azusa, Lost but Seeking for example. They're not as bad as they may seem because they're more reliant on getting some draw power in my experience, but they stomp new players into the dirt.
They're not even always fun to play, even if you play them "fair", because of the aggro they draw. It causes a tragedy for many a newbie who stumbles across them and doesn't realize what reception they're going receive.
Any commander though can be "broken" if the deck they're piloting has been sufficiently refined relative to the opposition, though. I've brought my insect tribal Xira Arien deck and run roughshod (to my surprise!) over a group of visiting Standard players trying EDH for the first time. Context is a thing, I guess.
February 5, 2015 10:48 p.m.
lemmingllama says... #7
Well, there aren't broken commanders. There are commanders that are played competitively that are really harsh and are considered tier 1 commanders.
I do have a soft spot for Zur the Enchanter. Even the most terrible of players can make a Zur deck that can win and win really well. It's just painful...
Still, the best commanders for competitive EDH are Azami, Lady of Scrolls, Animar, Soul of Elements, Sharuum the Hegemon, Arcum Dagsson, Ghave, Guru of Spores, Jhoira of the Ghitu, and Hermit Druid. The close tier 2 ones are The Mimeoplasm, Maelstrom Wanderer, Omnath, Locus of Mana, Momir Vig, Simic Visionary, Oloro, Ageless Ascetic, Nath of the Gilt-Leaf, Azusa, Lost but Seeking, Narset, Enlightened Master and maybe some Prossh, Skyraider of Kher, Derevi, Empyrial Tactician, and Purphoros, God of the Forge. Really it just depends on the deck, anything can work in the right meta and with the right pilot.
February 5, 2015 11:04 p.m.
VampireArmy says... #9
Oh the most mean built commander deck ive played against was a Geist of Saint Traft deck that solely focused on controlling you then Polymorphing the geist into Elderazi
Fuck that shit
February 5, 2015 11:58 p.m.
CanadianShinobi says... #10
@ The_Serraphim I'm with lemmingllama on this one. The Commander can be important, but what goes into that deck is probably a lot more important. For instance, I've recently been running a Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord. One thing I've learned quickly is that the deck can be surprisingly resilient even against high tier commanders.
February 5, 2015 11:58 p.m.
Damia, Derevi, Zur, Mimeoplasm, Silver Overlord, Ghave, Karador, etc.
All these have access to elements like acceleration, answers, flexibility, recursion, as well as general resiliency and power. These are the things that dictate what a commander is worth. Your commander's color identity matters way more than what they actually do. It's for that reason that I'd rate a more gimicky general like Zedruu over something like eight and a half tails.
February 6, 2015 12:07 a.m.
jandrobard says... #12
Arcum Dagson and Zur the Enchanter are nasty because the clock is much faster than kaalia, so much harder to stop. Pro tip: you see one of these, you make sure the game turns into archenemy.
February 6, 2015 1:07 a.m.
Hjaltrohir says... #13
I once faced a horrible Jalira, Master Polymorphist deck. I now am scared of her. In general, I dislike, Numot, the Devestator, Progenitus and Kaalia of the Vast
February 6, 2015 1:38 a.m.
I would be okay with never seeing a Prossh, Skyraider of Kher ever again. The thing is he makes the kobolds upon being cast; even if you counter him, his owner still gets the tokens. With sac shenanigans with Grave Pact, Dictate of Erebos, and Butcher of Malakir, you not only lose all your creatures but you get pinged to death by Deathbringer Thoctar and Hissing Iguanar... not to mention Purphoros, God of the Forge's 12 damage to each opponent (just for the first cast's kobolds, that is).
People complain a lot about Kaalia but the worst thing she can do that I can think of is an instant kill with Master of Cruelties and that only works once.
February 6, 2015 2:48 a.m.
I picked animar as my first commander. Let me know what you think!
Animar edh
February 6, 2015 8:21 a.m.
I think that for some commanders, like the ones mentioned above, it is relatively easy to build a 'broken' (in one way or another) version of the deck...perhaps the challenge there is to build a fun deck (a deck that is both fun to play with as well as against) with these. In other words not a cut-throat turn 4-5 kill deck but one that allows the other player to play some cards as well (before winning ;) )
Although, that said, you'd be hard-pressed to build a fun Kozilek, Butcher of Truth deck...
February 6, 2015 8:56 a.m.
canterlotguardian says... #17
Anything having to do with artifact manipulation is automatically unfun for me. Memnarch and Mishra, Artificer Prodigy come to my mind as the most unfun, with Memnarch edging Mishra out for first, but just barely. Muzzio, Visionary Architect is acceptable, as the only guy in my LGS who runs him doesn't make him super-busted like most people run Memnarch (or hell, even Muzzio) decks.
February 6, 2015 1:30 p.m.
I think it mostly depends on the deck around the commander. But what makes or breaks a commander in my book is not how competitive it is but rather how fun it is to play both with and against. In that sense my absolute number one hated commander is Iona, Shield of Emeria
February 7, 2015 9:39 a.m.
Schuesseled says... #19
"Mimeoplasm just is way too instantly combo-y for me."
You don't have to build the plasm that way.
February 7, 2015 4:06 p.m.
its all about metas and such. Captain Sisay and Hanna, Ship's Navigator can be so ridiculous its just......ugg depending on what they are playing against
there are commanders that are just too easy to break and those are the ones I dislike
Zur the Enchanter wins first for me. takes zero skill really as the way he tutors makes him unkillable where as Captain Sisay requires far more finesse and less colors.
I personally don't think Kaalia of the Vast is broken in any sort of way. she has no natural evasion other than flying. she doesn't tutor she just casts for free which is not as powerful
VampireArmy says... #2
Ask not what your commander can do for you. Ask what you can do for your commander. In other words, imo building the deck right can bust pretty much any legendary.
February 5, 2015 10:14 p.m.