Which tribes do you think should get some more love in commander?
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on March 15, 2022, 4:06 p.m. by Ashdust
I, personally, wish there was more support for clerics. I like clerics as a tribe, but they aren't as cohesive as wizards, warriors, or rogues. It's the only creature type mentioned in the party mechanic that's underrepresented. That's just my opinion though. Which tribes do you wish were more solid, more playable?
Loxodon, definitely Loxodon. Like, I don't think we even have a female elephant person yet, which is a major oversight. Also rabbit wizards. How is there only one? Rabbits are not known for there only being one rabbit, pretty sure : )
Seriously though, clerics is a really good point. As classes go, I'm rogue through and through, but even I will say that clerics are always an afterthought in magic. They just don't have a "support creature" type, and cleric is begging for the job.
March 15, 2022 5:44 p.m.
Dryad's. I like the idea of a dryad tribal preferable in Abzan....and of course elves goblins and merfolk have gone unloved and could really use some help!
March 15, 2022 7:17 p.m.
Angels. There are certainly angels that can serve as commanders, but not really one designed for angels tribal. A 5-color angel tribal pre-con would be the best, but I'll settle just for a good 5-color angel legend.
March 15, 2022 9:04 p.m.
seshiro_of_the_orochi says... #8
Niko9: Well, there's Losheel, Clockwork Scholar. But a Ghalma would be nice as well.
I want a gargoyle lord sooo badly. There are lots of interesting gargoyles, but even leaving aside a designated commander, the only thing remotely close to a lord is Wakestone Gargoyle. This needs to change.
Second, turtles and even more crocodiles. Archelos, Lagoon Mystic can be a decent turtle commander, and Colossal Skyturtle is one beast of a card, but we have no real tribal synergy for crocs. The tribe can be turned a great 60-card casual deck, but a commander deck is nearly impossible. (For 60-card decks for both tribes, take a look at my profile.)
March 16, 2022 1:22 a.m.
My dream is to make a functional Aurochs deck . . . We have a long way to go before we get there though :-/
March 16, 2022 3:49 a.m.
seshiro_of_the_orochi That's a good catch! Tbh, I kind of zoned out for Strixhaven. I know that there are cards that that I might like, but I don't know. It's just a set that gives me zero interest in it. But now that I know there are more elephants...we will see : )
And yep, gargoyles would be really cool. Abbey Gargoyles was such an awesome classic card and I'd love to see something like that updated to a tribe.
March 16, 2022 7:52 a.m.
I think that dwarves got a little bit of support in Kaladesh and Kaldheim, but other than that they're widely ignored. There are a few Dwarf legends and Magda, Brazen Outlaw and Depala, Pilot Exemplar are legitimately good, but the tribe itself is underwhelming. I just think there needs to be more.
March 16, 2022 9:22 a.m.
griffstick says... #14
Soldiers is almost there. I would like to see that come to fruition. Demons is something I always wanted and maybe that's what we will get with this next set new capana
March 16, 2022 12:12 p.m.
griffstick: Agreed on both of those. I wanted to make a tivash demon deck once, but gave up because of lack of support. And soldiers are looked over, probably because of warriors.
March 16, 2022 12:21 p.m.
TheoryCrafter says... #16
Sphinxes. Even though it's more doable in mono-blue, by the time I finished theorycrafting a non-edh Esper deck around Atemsis, All-Seeing it was jank at its best opening hands. Most of the cards I had to utilize to bring the mana costs down were meant for flying tribal.
The lack of Sphinxes in Strixhaven is the most frustrating part of the set.
March 16, 2022 1:29 p.m.
Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign is a pretty decent sphinx commander TheoryCrafter
March 16, 2022 1:32 p.m.
Insects. They're on A LOT of planes especially if you roll spiders into them. The only real tribal support in ages was Grist, the Hunger Tide
March 16, 2022 2:51 p.m.
Sphinxes are such a good one. I kind of like Isperia, Supreme Judge with effects like Siren's Call or Bident of Thassa. I had tried it for a while, and it wasn't amazing, but it did make some big swings sometimes and it does feel good to punish players who are playing, disengage and wait to combo, decks. Blink effects really helped the deck with sphinxes. Blinking a blocker to gain cards off Isperia and then double up on Etb effects was pretty fun. You can even blink Azor, the Lawbringer off Eldrazi Displacer if you want to be mean about it : )
Also, Siren's Call absolutely loves Isochron Scepter and Unwinding Clock if you have creatures to punish with it.
March 16, 2022 5:31 p.m.
Skeletons. There are too many options for Zombies, and the only in-tribe options for the better undead are Skeleton Ship, which is thematic but underpowered, Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon, which is better for infect, and Tinybones, Trinket Thief, which is better for discard. There's no card that can take advantage of the cheap regeneration that was a Skeleton specialty for so long, and they don't really have an identity right now aside from "subpar Zombies."
Assassins. Maybe a joint Rogue-Assassin commander would work. They're one of those tribes that shows up in a couple of sets each year and sit in utility/removal roles. I'm hoping for another legendary Assassin in Streets of New Capenna; most of the current ones are just variations of mass or repeatable creature kill. If it gives the tribe some more options and opportunities, even better.
Plants. My botanical training is crying at the lack of representation, cohesion, and taxonomical precision. If there can be a big block o' magic as the keystone for your army, why not a non-Treefolk plant on the scale of Pando or the Methuselah tree as a rallying point or icon?
Mercenaries. This is more of a flavor selection, but there aren't any legendary mercs, and it hits the notes for a "ragtag band of misfits and brigands" deck. Also, the Cateran ability provides a little bit of framework to build around and expand.
March 16, 2022 5:59 p.m.
legendofa Wait a sec...a fellow botanist? Whoa : ) It's a pleasure to be in such good company. Do you find the card Kudzu kinda funny too? I always look at that one and think, in a world of treefolk, thallids, magic, and even planeswalking cats, there is also just plain kudzu. It's like if there was a card for dandelions, which, maybe there should be : )
March 16, 2022 6:40 p.m.
Niko9 Absolutely. Just a regular old nonmagical vine chilling out and being invasive on your lands. A dandelion card would be interesting. What would it do?
Glad to have your company!
March 16, 2022 7:42 p.m.
Ha, yep. I mean Kudzu is the worst, but is it the worst enough to be a magic card? Apparently it is : )
Hmmm dandelions could be a 0/1 plant that creates 0/1 poof-seed tokens per turn, maybe? It honestly wouldn't do much until we get more rabbit and tortoise tribal support to make good use.
March 16, 2022 7:54 p.m.
Dandelion Field
Enchantment
When Dandelion Field enters the battlefield, create a 0/1 Plant creature token token.
At the beginning of your upkeep, for each Plant you control, create a 0/1 Plant creature token.
March 16, 2022 8:06 p.m.
This all being said, it is absolutely awesome that we now have moonfolk samurai as a tribe. That makes all of my kamigawish dreams come true : )
JANKYARD_DOG says... #2
Constructs, Golems, Viashino, and Wurms, though I think I made Wurms work pretty well with Atla.
March 15, 2022 4:45 p.m.