Your preferred amount of colors...
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on June 2, 2016, 12:11 a.m. by Deckologist
Hey everyone. So once again we had a discussion at my shop that slowly turned into a heated debate. This debate was held over the amount of colors in an EDH deck. The best arguments for each color amount are:
Mono-color: Mana base will always be on point and most colors have at least 3 generals that can be built around and be considered a well rounded deck. The only problem is some colors will have a lot less to offer as far as support cards
Dual-color: Dual color is perfect because your mana base while holding 2 different colors is still pretty much on point. The generals for most dual colors are decent and range from combo to control to toolbox to goodstuff. Being in two colors gives you a little more spice to your deck without having to worry about losing consistent mana on 3 or 5 color decks.
Three-colored: Three colors means an even more well rounded deck. Its essentially taking the great things about your favorite 2 color combination and splashing in another color to help you get on your way more effectively. The downside is that there are more linear generals and mana can sometimes be a problem.
5 color: Having access to all 5 colors is a blessing and a curse. Sometimes it feels like too much good stuff and sometimes it feels like you just can't get there. The generals for 5 color are predominately tribal based or have 0 real merit for being at the helm of the deck other than "lol colors hur dur" which can lead to sloppy builds due to lack of influence. The mana base is expensive but works pretty well all things considered.
I don't necessarily agree or disagree with the statements above but its something that seems to come up a lot. So what do you think?
I personally prefer 3 color decks. With three colors, it's extremely easy to cover all your bases and mitigate each color's weakness, improving flexibility. It's also nice to be able to run 2 colors and splash a 3rd to cover any holes in those colors (ex. running black for spot removal and board control in a G/U deck). While the fixing is harder and the generals are more boring (says the Oloro player), the overall versatility offered in 3 colored decks is preferable.
June 2, 2016 12:33 a.m.
MindAblaze says... #4
I currently have 10 active decks; Nekusar, Mayael, Sidisi, Brood Tyrant, Prossh, Roon, Obzedat, Ghost Council, Phenax, God of Deception, Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon, Feldon of the Third Path and Thada Adel, Acquisitor. I like them all for different reasons. The power level of my three color decks is higher and it affords me more flexibility. The downside is sometimes my mana is unhappy, but not often, just you know, expensive...my two color and mono decks I enjoy due to the limitations they put on me. Prossh and Skithiryx are both Commander Damage decks, but mono black doesn't give me nearly as many outs as Jund does. I like having outs.
June 2, 2016 12:40 a.m.
I personally prefer 3 color decks. Mana isn't really a problem once you've invested in the deck. The biggest problem with 2 colors is there aren't enough good dual lands and you're prone to flooding in one color.
June 2, 2016 1:06 a.m.
Raging_Squiggle says... #6
I run 10 decks of a wide variety:
Nekusar, the Mindrazer, Azami, Lady of Scrolls, Tromokratis, Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre, Angus Mackenzie, Meren of Clan Nel Toth, Sliver Overlord, Atogatog, Anax and Cymede, and Radiant, Archangel.
For me, the color or quantities of colors doesn't determine the commander. The commander or the idea for the deck determines the color. If it ends up being 3 or 5 colors, I will make do with making it work. (Prismatic Omen, Chromatic Lantern). If it's 2 or less colors, that's just as well. My arsenal doesn't lean one way or the other.
June 2, 2016 1:21 a.m.
PhotogenicParasympathetic says... #7
I prefer two or three colors, as I find mono-colored decks frustrating in their lack of options. I find them to be far more limiting and linear than three color decks.
June 2, 2016 1:55 a.m.
UpperDeckerTaco says... #8
As a player who always played 3 color edh decks, I currently only ever play 2 color edh decks now. I was sick of getting wrecked by 2 color decks because they're more consistent, and when you run a 3 color deck, you run more nonbasics, so I would get wrecked by Back to Basics, Ruination and other hate cards. So I therefore only play 2 color as to not get color screwed and have a sweeter, more consistent deck.
June 2, 2016 2:57 a.m.
I tend to prefer tri colour, but I have wide array of colour combinations:
- Tasigur
- Prossh, Skyraider of Kher
- Anya, Merciless Angel
- Sliver Overlord
- Kozilek, the Great Distortion
- Skithyrix
- Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
- Sen Triplets (currently private until I finish tweaking it)
- Lazav
- Nekusar
So, 2 of them are bi-colour, 4 tri colour, 3 mono colour (I consider colourless to be mono), and 1 five colour. I'd also want to build a couple of four colour decks (depending on the generals we get in the commander pre cons), a Riku deck, and a jeskai deck (but none of the current options interest me)
June 2, 2016 5:03 a.m.
MagicalHacker says... #10
I like the challenge of building mono-color, as a three color deck is just too easy to build sometimes. You gotta be a good deck builder to really build a good mono-colored deck.
June 2, 2016 7:09 a.m.
PepsiAddicted says... #11
Colorless...coughkarncough
Now srsly i like 2color constructed (a small 3rd splash is ok) and 3 colors in edh. even tho i dont play a 3color edh i think its good
June 2, 2016 7:15 a.m.
fadelightningmm says... #12
I love mono colored decks. Personally when I build more than 1 color I get bored with it fairly quickly. The only dual color decks I've had stick around have been the Simic decks but when I play them its typically a one and done deck for the night. Whereas my mono decks I could play all night
June 2, 2016 8:48 a.m.
In theory I think two colour should be better but the majority of commanders that interest me are three colour (Uril, the Miststalker, Riku of the two reflections, Merieke Ri Berit, Ghave, Guru of Spores, Roon of the Hidden Realm)
It'll be interesting to see the new four colour commanders and whether they get played.
June 2, 2016 10:57 a.m.
Karns_Pyromancer says... #16
I really like tricolor myself. Dual often has the issue, specifically decks with 
&/or 
, of not being rounded enough. For instance, someone announces an Izzet general. Unless it's Jhoira or Niv, theirs is probably a Spellslinger deck. I like more variance myself. I know others disagree-& that's fine, it's your opinion, but you're wrong ;)-this is just how I see things.
June 2, 2016 11:57 a.m.
JohnnyBaggins says... #17
Two. I'll only go into three colours if I really want to play a particular commander.
June 2, 2016 12:15 p.m.
I prefer three-colors the most because of the spread of options it provides and usually commander is slow enough that I'll be able to get all the colors I need to cast my spells. Three color legendaries are also pretty splashy and offer good build-around-me platforms to give the deck more of a theme or identity, but suffer in that they all tend to look very much the same from one player's version to the next. I also tend to run a lot of nonbasics and have suffered from cracking a Terramorphic Expanse with no targets left many a time.
I only recently started playing a monocolor deck, green, and I love it. I can dispense with the mana-fixing cards and just go for ramp, plus I get maximum value out of cards like Caged Sun.
I've got one five-color deck, mostly just for fun. It is a group-hug deck featuring Karona, False God as the commander. I like letting my opponents beat each other up with my commander. I do have to devote a significant portion of the deck to mana fixing, which dilutes the strength of the rest of the deck.
June 2, 2016 12:46 p.m.
Jamesfurrow says... #19
Well the argument here is turning into which kind of commander is the most powerful. The awnser is truly non of them. Each color combination adds a layer of difficulty that another may ignore. The more colors the more important it is to invest in your mana base. The less colors the more important it is your spells are powerful and impact the game right away. I own a mono color erebos edh that is simply brutal to play. I own a sigarda ramp derp a derp deck. I own a miz mizzet cantrip deck and a anafenza tri color. All of them have unique ways of playing but I wouldn't say anyone of them is outright better than the rest. They all have similar power but achieve it in greatly different ways. So for power of commander color wheels it's what you put into it. A mono color deck can beat a 5 color deck and vice versa. It's just what you invest into them
June 2, 2016 1:10 p.m.
Deckologist says... #20
Im not sure on that one Jamesfurrow. Some color combinations are just plain awful in EDH but have maybe 1 clutch general that allows them to just go ham. Take Rakdos, Lord of Riots as an example. I have tried and tried and tried to play 
in EDH and have watched countless people try as well. Its terible for the most part but Rakdos is actually a really good deck if you build around him. So long story short I believe that Color power is trumped by Commander power in a lot of cases.
June 2, 2016 1:18 p.m.
DeathChant17 says... #21
My decks are commander centric most the time, so mono, dual, and tricolor work well for me. I currently have 2 mono colored decks, 4 2 colored decks, and 4 3 colored decks. Someday I'll have a 5 color superfriends Progenitus deck...
Every build type will have its weaknesses, for me it simply comes down to if I can enjoy playing it over and over.
June 2, 2016 1:20 p.m.
Jamesfurrow says... #22
Deckologist I haven't had that problem with black red before. I once had a lord of riots deck but it was horrible compared to what I built since then. Black red is more for better removal slots and being a reanimate style deck than what typical red offers in 60 card constructed. Bolt is just bad in commander no doubt or question about it. But red has great wrath's and damage doublers. Black has great search and removal. The colors are bad at certain things yes. So play it to its strengths don't force it into something it's not. That's where people may have struggled with it
June 2, 2016 2:11 p.m.
I prefer three colors because the most interesting generals, in my opinion, have three colors. I also love the flavor because I can play things from my fave shards or (ech) clans.
June 2, 2016 9:42 p.m.
Deckologist says... #24
I guess I'll throw my own two cents in here. I like 3 color because I feel as though its just more legit. I know that sounds terrible but it just does. If i play a mono color deck or a dual color deck i always feel like what Im going for could just be done better with three, or more irrationally I feel like everyone will think my deck inst legit enough but thats a whole different issue haha. I believe that mono color and triple color also hold the greatest synergy. Mono color for obvious reasons and triple color because it has a greater chance to negate any short comings. I guess an example could be made by taking Azorius control to mind. Its in great colors for control but it generally lacks tempo. You could play Grand Arbiter Augustine but that pigeon holes you into a Grand Arbiter deck. You could however add green for ramp to outpace your opponents or you could add black which allows you to get pretty much whatever you want in your hand when you want it. Thats just my theories though since I didn't post any of them in the original post.
June 2, 2016 10:02 p.m.
MindAblaze says... #25
I find myself watching my friends 2 color decks thinking "I could splash purple into that to augment __." Ie; Bruna Voltron into Rafiq.
June 3, 2016 3:19 a.m.
I have the most fun playing mono, because it's the easiest to not get mana screwed, and most often the cheapest but multicoloured decks are really good for adding in that splash of utility you may be lacking by having only one color. Three is as far as I go, typically (Not counting Atogatog). Nonbasic lands RAPE the wallet.
JWiley129 says... #2
I tend to find I gravitate towards 2 color decks when I'm building for fun. Sometimes I'll go to a 3-color deck, but most of my active EDH decks are 2 color. Right now I have 7 decks I play regularly: Daretti, Scrap Savant, Titania, Protector of Argoth, Teysa, Orzhov Scion, Vorel of the Hull Clade, Mizzix of the Izmagnus, Kalemne, Disciple of Iroas, and Sydri, Galvanic Genius. That is two mono-color, four two-color, and one three-color Commmander decks. Clearly I have a bias towards the 2-color decks. The answer is a bit complicated though.
I dislike the "do-it-all" decks like you see in three-five color decks. I enjoy playing these two color decks that might miss out on some power being 3 colors, but let my mana be a bit more consistent. It is difficult sometimes where I have to play a tier 3 Blue card instead of a tier 1 Black card in my Mizzix deck, or I see a black card I want to put into Titania. But that's part of the puzzle for me, how do I make up the disadvantages I have for being the two colors.
June 2, 2016 12:25 a.m.