Which Commanders are fun to play and fun to play against?
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on Dec. 21, 2013, 2:57 a.m. by He_Who_Seizes_Thoughtseize
Long story short, I'm wanting to build a new deck for my playgroup that is fun to play and fun to play against. I do have two extremely cutthroat decks that I play for Leagues (Ezuri, Renegade Leader and Oloro, Ageless Ascetic /Zur the Enchanter ) but I want to build something that's a little more relaxed; something that can still win, but not something that people get tired of playing against. I do want to try to stay away from anything under tri-color, though I was considering Diaochan, Artful Beauty as an option. So far, my main ideas are Diaochan, Animar, Soul of Elements , and Scion of the Ur-Dragon , but I want to know what everyone else thinks. Thanks!
CommieGold says... #3
No more than two colors, unless you play all of em. So, choosing scion would be a decent choice. But, the reason for that being, if you limit your choices, you wouldn't be able to use, or be tempted by, as many staples. But, as always be careful, I have seen grimgrin being pretty fun, but dralnu is always a bummer. Embrace your timmyside and ask, would this be fun to play against?
December 21, 2013 5:37 a.m.
CommieGold says... #4
Also, animar seems fun, but he is a total trap. Him and marath. Way too combo heavy or lose more. :\
December 21, 2013 5:39 a.m.
Why not build 5 colour? People usually find that entertaining and it gives you a huge range of options. Something like Horde of Notions , Progenitus , Child of Alara . Only problem is you need good mana fixing, which can be expensive.
December 21, 2013 6:06 a.m.
I just took my Daxos of Meletis deck for a spin and it's pretty fun. And can add a political element with stuff like Mystical Tutor or Worldly Tutor . Or you could go goof-tacular and run Phelddagrif .
December 21, 2013 8:10 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #7
Animar, Soul of Elements combos out very easily, sometimes even if you don't intend it to.
Riku of Two Reflections is very fun, and it can be fun to play against if it is purposefully built to avoid combos.
December 21, 2013 9:44 a.m.
I agree with both of Epochalyptik suggestions. I also enjoy playing Rafiq of the Many as well as mimeoplasm.
December 21, 2013 11:03 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #9
It's worth mentioning that there's more to a deck than just the commander. Deck composition impacts gameplay. Although the general often guides a deck's strategy and composition, it's important to understand that some generals can be used in a variety of ways. Because there are so many choices, you can afford to start by thinking of a strategy or color combination you want to use, then finding a general to match it.
December 21, 2013 11:18 a.m.
LordAbortion says... #10
Karador, Ghost Chieftain is by far my favorite commander. I am thinking about buying a second copy of him though so I can make a less powerful incarnation of my current deck, which has quite thoroughly pissed off my regular play group
December 21, 2013 11:30 a.m.
killroy726 says... #11
like epoch said the commander isn't all to an EDH deck i run a five color tribal allies with Progenitus as the commander which does nothing synergy wise with the deck and I have not found reason for another commander currently. Allies EDH
December 21, 2013 1:01 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #12
Speaking of five-color decks, Horde of Notions is a decent general, and it leaves you open to many, many options. You don't need to go full Elementals; the ability can simply be a reanimator utility.
As Bestach mentioned a while ago, though, the mana fixing necessary for five-color decks is tricky, especially if you're working on a budget.
You'll need to be reasonable about how much you're going to spend on certain elements of your deck. As you add colors, the land lineup becomes more expensive. Of course, even three-color decks can be run on very cheap land lineups. I can help you with that. But five-color decks are very difficult to manage without proper lands, and those lands are not always cheap.
December 21, 2013 1:16 p.m.
megawurmple says... #13
Run Uril, the Miststalker voltron! All your friends will love you if you do that!
In all seriousness, I've always thought Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer looked like a load of fun to play. Add Myrs and other artifacts, add a bunch of tokens and voila! There you have a fun EDH deck.
December 21, 2013 4:04 p.m.
CommieGold says... #14
I've done a jor kadeen, and while it is kinda cool, he can and usually is pretty losemore. Which can be fun for your opponents, is usually an unfun thing for you. : Try to find something big, flashy and fun that excites you. Borborygmos, runic thar, brunna (she is my favorite fun deck atm, strong too), tymaret, trostani... All good options.
December 22, 2013 6:07 a.m.
I think Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer is best in a smaller EDH game with 2-4 players. He can reliably take out one or two people but his strategy doesn't reach the same power levels as some other generals - especially if they interact well with a multiplayer environment.
For larger groups it would be better to go with Gisela, Blade of Goldnight or something like that because it can have a more massive impact on multiple players.
December 22, 2013 9:33 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #16
Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer is weak overall. It's only really "usable" as a novelty general.
December 22, 2013 10:02 a.m.
shaistyone says... #17
I'd go with Dromar, the Banisher and go Esper aggro.
No idea if it could be good, but it would certainly be unexpected. I know I've never seen anything like it.
Other than that, think Izzet and Chaos-type cards.
December 22, 2013 12:24 p.m.
I like novelty generals. If you can one-shot someone with a novelty general, it somehow feels more fun to me than just running over people with Uril, the Miststalker predictably.
It creates more of a challenge with deck-building and tends to be unexpected.
If people see me play Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer as my general and proceed to write me off as weak-sauce ... all the better.
December 22, 2013 1:35 p.m.
But returning to the original topic, I find it fun to play novelty generals that don't otherwise see a lot of play - but I wonder if it is more or less fun for people to play against novelty generals (all other factors being equal).
I think it depends on the person. It could be more fun because it adds variety. But it could also be more annoying because shenanigans etc. could seemingly come from nowhere and take people by surprise. Not everyone likes that kind of thing - it may seem cheap or under-handed to some people?
December 22, 2013 4:14 p.m.
I don't think so. I had some friends who played 2 Brothers Yamazaki , which simultaneously conceded once all the other players were dead, and one friend who played a Squee, Goblin Nabob deck. While both were extremely weird and very crazy they were very fun to play with. The most entertaining EDH game I ever played was a 4 person game against Squee, which involved everyone getting all their lands destroyed every 4 turns, along with a Scrambleverse , copied 3 times with Curse of Echoes . We insisted on doing it all 4 times. Novelty generals may provide things which don't often happen, but that can be part of the fun.
December 22, 2013 7:39 p.m.
championofstuff12 says... #21
if you like playing huge creatures by turn six or so, a Mayael the Anima works well, and even better when you can manipulate the top deck, also, Mayael the Anima when you sneak in instants an enchanments and sorceries that most dont geuss such a fatty deck has.
Stone_Munkee says... #2
I love playing my Heartless Hidetsugu deck. Tons of fun and draws alot of hate.
December 21, 2013 4:09 a.m.