My viewpoint when building a deck as of late is to critically analyze the "staples" and determine how desperately a deck needs them. I'm not worried about not running a Sol Ring in my Winter deck, because I don't need fast mana nor do I really want to be stuck with colorless mana. The deck draws a lot, and gets a lot of extra land drops, so mana rocks are only included if they can sacrifice themselves when I need to add to delirium. If the rest of the players at the table play a Sol Ring, I know I will not be at a disadvantage.

Would you include a mithril coat if the budget was a bit higher? I feel like that's a big one for this deck

Can you please do something similar for Wolverine? I'll love you forever

I like some points but some examples are just like the total opposite of what you’re going for.. for example, you mentioned someone getting their 6 drop commander on the battlefield and you taping to remove it in response.. thats like the most competitive move you can do to a playgroup thats “casual”.. i really dont get why people play like this. When i play casual we usually make a random rule like “no one can attack till turn 8” and so on. I just dont like how you say casual and put a card like saw in half in the deck to be used on a hulk?? Thats a cedh play all dayy

I have a deck I'm improving upon that does a weird strategy for burn. Its a Vial Smasher burn ping deck. A large amount of my enchants/creatures hits you for 1 or 2 damage whenever you do something. But combine this with damage multipliers and suddenly everything you do hits you for 3, 4 damage, 4-7 times a turn. Its a real nasty burn deck that kinda bypasses the whole 120 HP issue since it triggers on everyone, INCLUDING yourself. The saving grace being a few cards like Vial Smasher that only hit the enemy to keep you ahead of their life totals. I've been told this is a PL7 in its current iteration and in theory I might be able to push it to PL8 if I can find ways to optimize it further.

That massacre wurm comment hitting a little too close to home… Great video!

Hello, I’ve played the deck a few times now, and I really enjoy it. Since several people, including myself, have asked: would you consider releasing another list with upgrades that aren’t necessarily budget-focused but still maintain the deck’s playstyle, including cards like The Ozolith, for example?

Leaving a second comment: Do you have any opinions on hybrid mana symbols being counted as either or instead of both in the commander rules?

benton mentioned

I just built this deck I added storm the vault and some other upgrades can’t wait to play it!!!!

I built my deck with all ten swords. Obviously not the budget version

This is how I ended up just brewing budget decks, the amount of fun is not proportional to the price of the deck most of the time.

My first deck that I owned is Kolaghan, The Storm's Fury, and so far it's been pretty popular in my low power environment since casting big dragons that swing out for big damage is both fun and interactive when compared to the flood of value engines in the Command Zone Armix, Filigree Thrasher & Rebbec, Architect of Ascension (Orzhov Artifact Aggro) has also garnered respect and admiration for finding strange cards and making them work, as that deck is made of cards I pulled from packs only

Hey uhm. I had a friend approach me today like -"Storm has to be so unfun to play against" Me: -"The commander or the archtype?" -"The commander. I get it, it is strong and people engoy it, it just seems like the game is the same every time? Storm attacks = you win. It doesn't = you lose." -"I guess it is more about the environment you play her in. Yeah, in isolation she's gonna be a roflstomp and when no one is prepared for that it certainly won't amount to good gameplay. I would compare it to Zada as a similar glass canon - that one also wipes a table when people don't expect it. BUT I can imagine it in a tight playgroup. The deck goes through evolution. First it messes ppl up, then people start packing silver bullets to mess her up (like casting Silence mid-combat when spell count is high), until the Storm player makes her more resilient and less glass canon (which a monored Zada can't do as easily) OR the deck gets rebuilt to not be such a pubstomp simulator and people will actually look forward to getting hit. I imagine it something like: "If you let me hit you, you can choose the targets for the copies" OR storm count will never be more than 3 OR the storm payoff spells will be "Secret Rendezvous" type cards." And that's where you come in. While I spoke to him, I had you on my mind the whole time: "What would Based Deck Department build?" So yeah, are you interested in a little challenge? Can you build a deck, that based on the commander's reputation should be absolutely dreaded, but is actually the sweetest most wholesome gameplay magic cardboard can provide?

the real win, was the friends we made along the way

This was an awesome watch, and it really gave me some stuff to think about. I tend to default to EDHRec and sort by synergy. I usually cut it off at 10-15%, but also price does play a factor. Magic isn't my primary hobby, so if I feel like a card is out of my price range (which is usually around the $15+ mark), I don't really go for it unless I'm able to splurge. I've had a few splurge moments, but I also build archetypal decks. My main two right now are Werewolves and Elementals - which I've taken to call Omnath Tribal just because I run a copy of every Omnath printed so far save for the 5 color one that I don't have yet. That's the "story of the deck" for me. Also I try to run as many Day/Night alt arts as possible as my way of "blinging out" my werewolves deck. A lot of what you were saying in this video really struck a cord with me considering how much I couldn't care less about power level as much as price or synergy with the core themes and aspects of my deck, but one thing that I kept thinking about was how much HOW you play can affect WHAT you play. In a few of my more recent games from about a month or so ago, it was brought to my attention that my Werewolves deck had a fairly easy time at surviving board wipes. I would get tokens or cheap creatures out and I'd go from 0 creatures to 5 fairly beefy ones in a matter of a couple of turns. Unfortunately, my threat assessment is garbage. One game came down to me and two other players. One had 9 life and the other had over 50. My impulse said that i could take out the guy with the lowest life and then it's down to two, but the guy with the most life was 1. running a life gain deck and 2. The player with 9 life had an enchantment in play that I had honestly forgotten about that was keeping one creature removed from the game. That creature kept all creatures from attacking the life gain player and my werewolves need to be able to attack. I felt - and still feel - really bad about screwing the pooch on that game even though it was just a casual kitchen table situation. I like being able to prove myself at the gaming table because card games are how I socialize. Throughout this whole video, I couldn't help but think there has to be some kind of assumption here when it comes to skill level or game knowledge. I'm almost positive that if I were handed something that the entire player base would consider an auto-win deck, I'd find a way to target the wrong person, spend mana inefficiently, or outright miss a trigger and the whole thing would fall apart in my hands compared to someone who knew what they were doing. This isn't a defense for infinite combos or anything like that. I'm just curious where "good cards" ends and "good players" begins? How much of the "it's not fun" pie belongs to people who know what they're doing vs people who are just playing the good cards because they are good?

I have absolutely loved playing this list, truly so engaging. As I have played, I have noticed I have a lot of artifacts but not a ton of sac-able enchantments, so i made some swaps. Let me know what you think, are there any reasons you think these would not do as well as I am thinking? Also, cut a land, but added sad robot, erinis and ordeal of nylea to make up for it. Let me know what you think! Forest - Dockside chef forest - mishras factory wood elves - erinis, gloomstalker eternal witness - gloomshrieker survivors medkit - solemn simulacrum mycosynth wellspring - glimmerlight mephetic draught - ordeal of nylea

Just built this stud. 4-1 so far and another 2-4 games tonight to play. A responsible amount of pump spells were used. A responsible amount protection spells were used. A responsible amount of mana dorks were used. And a questing beast. Currently hoping for a Supreme General John Bolton with laser eyes alter sleeve to really highlight what this deck wants to do.

Fun suggestions. I plan to put Iron Man in the 99 for Captain America, but these are good ideas to include.

Awesome video! I'm really hyped to build this commander and will definitely be upgrading this based on your recommendations! I pulled a Mjolnir and definitely want to add it but what would you recommend cutting for it? I gotta get Iron man to wield it when I'm against my buddies Captain America deck xD

Muito bom o vídeo. Poderia fazer um para Lathril ? Sou do Brasil e orçamento tá baixo kkkkk. Pretendo fazer um da Stella por causa do seu vídeo. Muito obrigado.

What’s funny is at 11:00 you talk about cards that create “bad play patterns” and I think you knocked it out of the park, because most of those were being banned, and people freaked out over it.

As a magic enjoyer, and a bjj practitioner I agree with the statement, but am also very disappointed with that fucking aikido drawing bruh 💀💀

I always loved Meren but struggled to find or come up with a build that is not full of edict effects that would make the deck unfun to play against. I am loving yours though and I am thinking about building this. I have swapped several cards that I am already running elsewhere or for budget reasons: Mikaeus Unhallowed >>> Journey to Eternity Augmenter Guardian >>> Gift of Doom Sidisi >>> Rottenmouth Viper Massacre Wurm >>> Demon of Dark Schemes Survival of the Fittest >>> Birthing Ritual Can't wait to play it! You have my sub!

100$ Ironman deck, minus the 200$ Ironman

Tried getting a secret lair as a Christmas gift for someone. Waited for four hours, didn’t get it. Then see people online complaining that they only got eight of them.

1. What's the floor? 2. What's the ceiling? 3. Does it draw you a card(s)? 4. Is is Cmc 4 or more?

Thanx for this video, you found the essence of commander. As I'm building a playgroup, I struggled a lot with the notion of competitivity and the need of winning. I like your vision of playing less powerful in order to play with more fun.

Great video! I have a Prime Speaker Vannifar deck that is actually a Biowaste Blob secret commander deck, and I really feel the "know your plan to tutor" because other players have fun when you can call out your lines off hand, but have a bad time if you just spend 10 minutes rummaging around looking for nothing in particular

Dang i would love to see your take on my fav commander! Are you doing deck req?

Pass the videoooooo!! I'm tired of my friends copy pasting edhrec pages :S. Great channel, i'll catch up with all the videos!

I’ve definitely had to learn to sandbag a little so I don’t get the first big round of removal. Usually go too fast and get picked off by stuff

Fantastic deck. I am curious though, why did Storm-Kiln Artist not make the deck? Was it mostly a price problem, or did it not synergize well enough? Building my own stax-heavy version and looking to make cuts. Thanks for the video!

Would you post your Meren deck list? I'd love to see your take on her. Right now shes my favorite deck but my pod hates her and think shes too powerful and oppressive.

My Group Hug deck wincon is being second place! There was once I won with the deck. It was only because the other person killed them self... Also my Dino Fight club also has Sorrow's Path I am also making different types of Dino Tribal. So even though it is Dino Tribal! Each one plays completely different

I'd rather people play sol ring than Meren and accursed marauder?

I just got the Eldrazi incursion precon as a get well soon gift and would love to see a video on your zhulodok deck!

Fun fact, Light Paws is probably closer to Definitely not Pearl-Ear since she was a major character in the original Kamigawa story

Okay, i am a complete crow xd

I build different decks for different games. I have competitive decks that have never played a game, and I have casual decks that I only pull out by request, and I have more social decks that barely need a rule zero conversation

I strongly agree with your philosophy here and wouldn't really object to everyone following these rules. One point I would add (or more likely it's a sub-point within your philosophy) is don't be afraid to experiment. This kinda flies in the face of building focused decks at times, but when you aren't sure what you want to do with a deck, start broad and see what you like and how it plays out. Even as your decks get more focused, when you find a card you like don't be afraid to plug it in somewhere and make edits. Try it in a couple decks and see where you want it. This kinda fits into your deck building adventure. Also, I don't think Sol Ring needs to be banned, but I'm fine with leaving it out of decks. It is probably still in most of my decks, because it is fun to get a bit of a fast start from time to time, but there are several decks that skip on it. The way I see Sol Ring play out when it's the only fast mana piece is that it paints you as the target for everyone else until someone better should arise. So getting a head start against 3 other opponents who will focus more on you isn't as helpful as people tend to think. Especially if they play with interaction of all kinds (like you said, not just removal) to keep the game interesting. Everybody wants a chance for their deck to hum and "do the thing," so if your fast start is coupled with an instant win combo, that's a problem, but if you're trying to play aggro/Voltron, you could really use the help.

No example deck list?

Love your videos mate

I was super excited to finally have a deck perfect for my jeweled lotus. Then it got banned. Never really used it because I didn’t have a mono colored commander that needed it.

I love including politics cards.

Based Shattergang Enjoyer: “I’m gonna blow it up!” Sol Ring: *blows up*

I relatively recently had to teach one of my friends to play commander, who had never played MTG. I built what I *thought* was a simple ramp deck, only to realize while we were actually playing, how difficult the deck was for a casual. Things that made the deck better and that I thought were relatively simple like tutors, searching the top X cards, shuffling the deck, counters, and other things, proved to be pretty difficult for a beginner to handle. I've since made a lot of revisions to said deck and some of my other commander decks, with specific emphasis on simplicity for a casual player who doesn't even know what cards are in the deck. Using a tutor is easy if you know what to get, but overwhelming if you don't, so those had to go. Choosing what card to take from the top X can take a long time if you have to read every card, easily replaced with simple "Draw a card" options instead. Shuffling a large deck for a beginner can be unwieldy, so bye bye to cards that required shuffling. After making a lot of these changes and testing the deck, I started to realize that not only was the deck simpler, it was also more fun to play. If previously my play pattern was to use my commander to get a tutor so that I can get a specific card, what was the point of playing a 100-card format if I was just going to do the same play pattern every time. Now that the deck was more random, it was waaay more fun to play with and as. I subsequently went back to a lot of my other decks, and made equivalent changes to them. A lot of the points you made in the video are thoughts I also had while editing these decks, for example the concept of still making the deck "Good", even if it isn't "Optimal". A simpler more random deck is fun, but getting to do things is also fun, so the deck can't just suck or we're back in the no-fun zone again. I think somewhere along the way of optimizing decks I had forgotten the original point of Commander, which is to have fun. Deckbuilding is a lot more interesting as well when you try to come up with unused or unusual options for staple cards that you've used before. Tldr, I liked your video.

I will never forget when my buddy had one life left, and my other buddy had forbidden orchard and suture priest out. He tapped the Orchard and won by giving his opponent a 1/1 spirit that triggered surure priest when it entered lol

I like playing and brewing decks where I have a massive shit eating grin every time I draw a card and then play it.

My Galea Kindler of Hope deck is a good example of an archenemy deck. It runs on a lot of gears that are all extremely scary looking. The deck is so scary that I haven't even found a pod up for the challenge against it yet. That's perfectly okay though, the deck is mainly a personal statement and a practice tool for consistently gold fishing turn 4-5 game. It actually makes people less scared of my other decks, because that's where all my fast mana lives, and my rhystic study and diaries m friends, and I can show it off before the game and then offer to play a different deck right out the gate lol. I can't wait for the day the table wants to go up against it so I can see how fast it gets turn apart by other competent decks. Until then i usually just get to use my +1/+1 counters deck, which is much closer to this under the radar strategy