A Guide to Evaluating Commanders

[@Khalador23]

My favorite aspect of commander is being able to find a commander to build around in a unique way. My current favorite example of this is General Marhault Elsdragon. You can capitalize off his ability by building the deck around forcing your opponent to block you when you attack.

[@zackkelley2940]

I will see your General Marhault and raise you a Gabriel Angelfire.^^

[@buddnotbuddy5479]

I love Marhault. It was the first deck I built so it’s got a lot of problems, but finding weird synergy pieces and cards with massive downsides that are actually upsides is so fun. My favorite example is varchilds war riders which has a cumulative upkeep of giving 1/1 tokens to other players, which I then use against them to pump a now giant trampling creature.

[@airsoftingwrong]

A commander that generates card advantage is the most power thing to do with the command zone aside from partner (or ramp)

[@thetrinketmage]

Partner is basically card advantage

[@casketbase7750]

My favorite commander of the last few years is Yargle And Multani. Playing a vanilla with 18 power is a statement of intent. It says that today, we're reminding fools why big numbers need to be respected.

[@Aedi]

had a great time playing against basically that deck recently. one player had high value synergy that i had to keep spendjng interaction to keep them in check. the other had an 18/6 commander that scared me had a great time trying to balance my interaction against an eber growing board state, and an inevitability in the commander zone

[@quarantanegaming3589]

I love my Korvold deck, I know he's very popular and a generic value engine, and I figured most people probably go for treasure tokens, I decided I wanted to go for something more fun, and bring more flavor into the deck, so I landed on using food tokens instead. I also decided that rats would be a fun sub-theme to squeeze in until Bloomburrow came out, and I saw a lot of squirrels and the new forage mechanic. So now my Korvold deck focuses on making food tokens, with a squirrel sub-theme. I love the idea of a massive pile of food being targeted for Korvold, and a bunch of squirrels taking pieces away.

[@ryanjohnson2117]

You made a comment about partner giving eminence a run for its money as the worst mechanic on commander. But a lot of the partner commanders can head decks that ask two things of you, or make interesting synergies and restrictions. Maybe you could make a video on partner and talk more about it. I'd be interested to hear your full take. Love your videos man!!!

[@thetrinketmage]

I’ve been thinking about making a video about how I’ve actually come around on partners

[@ryanjohnson2117]

@@thetrinketmage ooo yes! Would love to see it haha

[@justinmorsch3208]

This is the reason why I love my aristocrat Scorpion god deck. I need to balance being able to put -1/-1 counters on things to kill them, generating 1/1 tokens for easy to kill fodder, and then cards that profit off those death triggers. Lot of balance and synergy that the scorpion god alone doesn’t generate, so I have to work a lot harder to gain max profit off the deck

[@thetrinketmage]

Scorpion god is a perfect example of the type of commander I love 💕

[@justinmorsch3208]

@@thetrinketmage the best part is playing it at local games stores and having tons of people just have to keep rereading some of my cards/commander because they’ve NEVER seen them before. Makes it super satisfying when it works because it’s such a unique deck

[@nivensmctwispo]

Saw a really cool Myojin deck which used the blue Myojin in a clone deck, since the clone enters as a copy of the Myojin, because they were cast from hand they get the indestructible counter. Genuinely me and the 2 other players were staring at the commander confused how he was going to play and when they popped off it was awesome

[@ericb8342]

@The Trinket Mage 12:34 Whoops, something got left on the editing room floor!

[@vileluca]

My Galazeth voltron deck where i tap boots and swords for mana to cast red buff spells was hilarious

[@W0lfguard1997]

My current favorite commander is "Carmen, Cruel Skymarcher". The entire deck is built around different ways of sacrificing tokens/low cost creatures and forcing opponents to sac. That in turn buffs Carmen, keeps me alive and enables the second ability where she revives something with mana value less or equal to her power when she attacks. It has some aristocrats elements but also wants to make a lot of treasures. Giving other players treasures that they can't use without buffing my big flying commander is another viable strategy. The inherent controlling part and mirrored effects of sac creatures like fleshbag marauder also work great in commander. And for once it is a deck of mine that works even when the commander has been removed, while also having the ability to generate enough treasures to pay for a big commander's tax.

[@27777BigRedBarn]

I totally agree with everything about your philosophy here. I really dig what you value out of the game. With that said I own 10 decks and just built #11 because I’m sick of getting stomped by the Ur-Dragons of the game so I built Voja as strong as I possibly could and now I understand why some people want that option in their deck list. Sometimes it’s fun to have a fast paced higher powered game where everyone in the problem all at the same time. I won’t use Voja to pubstomp weaker commanders just because I can that would be lame and boring. But. I do enjoy a good high powered back and forth and having a reason so run Pyroblast and Red Elemental blast to protect against the blue player countering my must answer problem is a fun experience from time to time.

[@seanedgar164]

I have a Harold and Bob deck I've tuned to high heaven so it consistently has 11 mana turn 3. It can be very fun to go nuts but it's not my normal style. I actually built a commander cube to cultivate a meta 😅

[@Nr4747]

As someone who had a Korvold deck for a while (eventually took it apart for power-level reasons), I can tell you that Korvold's sacrifice-trigger almost never felt "rewarding" in any way, even with the card draw printed onto Korvold. Mostly everything I ever wanted to sacrifice, I could do so "for free" or for cheap anyway (like any type of "fetchland" or treasures), without the risk of Korvold getting removed with the mandatory sacrifice-trigger on the stack and without the downside of potentially having to sacrifice something of value when attacking with Korvold. Korvold "doing the thing" (the sacrificing) really wasn't the issue with the card, it was that you could easily draw 10+ cards after casting him from sacrificing treasures and lands alone.

[@DubDub-j1h]

I thougth card draw was alwasys good to. Until I played against a Sheoldred the Apocalypse deck and I was playing Jhoira Weatherlight captain, and I was not drawing my removal or bounce spells. Fasted game of commander I ever played.

[@AthenaMarisaCoulter]

I find this way of evaluating commanders really compelling and it definitely helps inform my deck building. At the same time I think an interesting space for generic or vanilla-powerful commanders is when you're building around an unsupported or rare mechanic. Rather than using the command zone as a way to inspire synergy and creative limitation, the commander generates some advantage and support when I've given myself a really hard limitation in the 99. I've found that type of deck to be a compelling one to play and play against and a way to build otherwise inconsistent archetypes into my local meta.

[@kelmirosue3251]

I absolutely love Vial Smasher, because its Rakdos you can build it in many ways. Sure its generic in the sense of you caat thing to and then deal damage. But its random making it so that what you do may change depending on your decks goals and life totals of the opponents

[@SwedeRacerDC]

Great video again! I really just want to emphasize that. The work you're doing to improve the experience for players and get us thinking through how to make the format better is commendable. I might challenge ideas, push back on things or offer a bit of correction, but I don't want that to be the takeaway. To answer your final question: I think there are so many interesting commanders that's it's overwhelming, but even boring do it all commander designs like Kenrith can lead to interesting decks that don't have a Commander... Yet. Like 5 color dice rolling. Mr. House has made me reconsider this, but I think the support in Mardu isn't enough yet. Some of my favorite commanders right now that have opened to interesting decks to play are Vhal, Jorn, Atla Palani and the Simic Frog that I just built and can't remember his name lol. Even Yargle & Multani is looking like a blast to play, but it's still in construction

[@CellarDoor-rt8tt]

Urza is actually my favorite commander, but despite this I actually totally agree with you in the context of casual commander. Urza is my favorite commander because of his incredibly unique and skill testing cedh build. Urza’s actual unique and skill testing synergy is as a way to parity break with stax pieces. Against casual edh decks, this synergy is both unfair and terribly frustrating. Even a casual urza deck that runs these stax pieces can get urza and a stax piece into play by turn 4, 5 or 6. That is fast, probably game winning, and, worst of all, isn’t actually game winning meaning u still have to play out the game and find a win. Most casual players will not put up with that. However in cedh, all of this is fine. It is even lessened significantly by other cedh decks having counter play and the ability to play around these stax pieces. It also doesn’t create the same grindy, do nothing gameplay casual games will have. All cedh decks are tuned such that grindy games are still super fun with micro advantages being exchanged at every turn and this only stops happening once someone wins. Urza’s other synergy that is frankly awesome and was only found relatively recently was with Tidespout Tyrant which has since been replaced with Hullbreaker Horror. First the deck has multiple ways to cheat it into play (either with polymorph or proteus staff). Once it’s in play it’s combo lines are both skill testing and it’s a huge flavor win. How perfect for Urza lore wise that his deck runs almost all counter magic and artifacts especially stax pieces. His only creature is a horror from the deep that he cheats into play. It’s perfect. Best of all, the deck runs no win con. There is no Thassa’s Oracle or anything like that. The deck technically wins with combat damage after locking everyone out of the game. To me, this is the most Urza move imaginable and it makes it a super fun deck to learn how to pilot. I love cedh Urza. It is probably my favorite deck of all time (lantern control having something to potentially say about that). But I agree that it is clearly not a commander that is meant for casual magic

[@Le_beaubrun]

the two direction thing really motivated me to keep building The Rani, I dont care about dr who but the combo of goad and artifact tokens makes it interesting and a balancing act to brew.

[@loganusher591]

I love commanders that do something interesting with cards that are usually trash! I have a Rasaad Crabs/Initiative deck that makes use of all those big butts with 0 power! Or I just built a deck for my Fiance who likes Miku with the Feather the Redeemed secret lair! It uses a whole bunch of combat tricks that on their own would be absolute garbage, but with her, it makes for a formidable and fun deck!

[@towelguy]

I'd argue that lately new legends are designed to be less generically good, see omnath 5c not being a golos, I can't recall any obnoxious generic legend for commander lately, even new staples are coming at a lower rate. I do feel this is good.

[@thetrinketmage]

I agree! And looking at wilds of eldraine I think we see a lot of cool synergy cards! I’m hoping we get to see more good designs like that omnath!

[@alistersancha5000]

I really love Yarok, I know he is always the first removal Target and a pretty boosted power house, but I built it as a Faerie tribal deck xD you know, faeries have a lot of interesting ETBs, so why not doubling them? I really love the faces of people when they see Yarok and then I start playing... Faeries? 😂

[@kalemroseland7973]

Honestly after watching this video I am very interested in making a galazeth deck. what my arcane signet and other mana rock now tap for 2 each and I am suddenly playing an 8 drop big spell outta nowhere? or what, all my treasures no longer need to be sac'd for mana and instead now tap for 2 each oh my! sounds like a Lotta fun and could be a great big spell slinger deck. throw in some copy effects and bam. Ty for the idea!

[@TheLongIslandDashExperience]

Lol I have a Radha deck. I have about 4 cards that make every land every basic land type but your right, I have to jump through hoops to get it going. I havnt found a better commander for the deck yet though

[@Aedi]

"jump through hoops" decks can be a lot of fun, but the effect needs to be fun enough or powerful enough to justify it

[@mikes7423]

Yup. You summarized what EDH was all about. But then WotC saw the money potential and created Commander. They don't want 'interesting'.... that doesn't make them money. They want chase cards....and that means pushed power.

[@SwedeRacerDC]

You mentioned the Myojin from Neon Dynasty, which there was an older cycle from the earlier Kamigawa block that do the same thing effectively, so they're also bad from the command zone. Not that it's a big deal. I also notice that they have the KND commander symbol, though they don't actually appear in the Commander decks. They only open in packs, which was a weird thing that went under the radar for a lot of people. The first issue just shows that some legends are not meant to be commanders. The second issue is a big problem with what Wizards is doing to me. Either way, great video! I enjoy watching your videos and agree that you need to balance power and interesting play.

[@yserareborn]

Call Scion the OG yet don't even use his Time Spiral print T_T As a dragon player myself, I actually think people sleep on Scion. On call ancient dragon effects are no joke; he can even still become his parent for a turn if you really want to cheat something out. As for the thesis of the video: I guess my only thing is how commander has changed. Commander isn't something for your bulk rares and rotated cards anymore, it's a format to spend money on itself. To keep up with that, commanders have been made to feel more competitive. I know CEDH is it's own thing, but the lines kinda blur. As for Eminence vs. Partner, I still kind of give it to Partner.

[@Chuusuisetsujojutsu]

Now I want to make a Kenrith activated ability synergy deck

[@damonlouis6536]

been playing edh for 12 yrs. Ive made 4 decks in the last 6yrs and they've all been from legends. tetsuo ninjas is my current jam because its not great and hard to pull off. theres a few more I still want to build from the greatest set of all time mainly because they are generally open and others don't have them. they are well received as well

[@metoo1477]

I think you’re looking at generic commanders incorrectly. I’ve found you can be more creative with a generic commander. There is no theme that the commander is forcing you down. I wish there was a generically good commander for every color combination to facilitate the ability to do what you want in the deck. Will some people abuse a generically good commander to just do all good stuff, definitely, but it’s also an excellent option for a deck that hasn’t had the right commander made for it yet. I have tons of deck ideas that I haven’t built because of the lack of the appropriate commander or the lack of synergistic cards. This is where generically good commanders should shine. They can fill the niche of yet to be created commanders.

[@cryptidcrafts666]

I adore the concept of Eminence and Partner, feel like the execution was kinda mid

[@C._Bradford]

The execution of partner and was bad, but the mechanic is fundamentally broken no matter how the commanders are designed. Eminence is difficult to balance, but possible. Sidar Jibari is a fantastic example of how to do it right, and yet he is still completely busted. Closest thing they have come to balancing partner was by not making it partner (friends forever and backgrounds).

[@stephenqueen6946]

I like captain Sisay, because I search for legendaries... it allows me to respond to the game state. but it's probably boring by these standards, since there's no shortage of amazing legendaries. (the gw one).

[@SDTCG]

Galazeth is my boy!

[@volosguidetomonsters3440]

Caparocti Sunborn? hmmmmmm... Boom sneak attack its equipment spam time And I have access to a lot of Evoke creatures and adventures and reduce-cost board wipes for purposes of making sure I either hit an equipment or maybe occasionally an equipment payoff

[@gpwaltz]

Mention this not to be a pedant, but because you might wanna know, and it's a classic! "Rancor" is pronounced like "Ranker", not "Rann-core". It means bitterness. Great vid, btw

[@thetrinketmage]

Really? I think my whole playgroup has it wrong lol

[@orlandodelvalle9261]

​@thetrinketmage it's probably because of the Star Wars monster

[@hiemstra4581]

Why hate on partner mechanic

[@seanedgar164]

The most popular partners are generically good, so you have double the goodstuff in unrestricted colour combos, I imagine

[@TheStrangeBloke]

taii wakeen!!

[@IvanKolyada]

Partner and Eminence are fine. And playing generically good CMDRs is not boring, if you are not playing same people with same decks 3 times a week. I think all this stuff is popular, or why it exists in the first place, because it is not bothersome to build somewhat well.

[@waterdrinker_]

calling do it all commanders boring makes no sense. the more open ended a card is, the most creative you can be with it. you called Kenrith boring and then showed like six decks with different play styles he can helm. that is so much more intriguing as an actual deck builder than just being told what deck to play by the commander like the Ur-Dragon

[@Pkmnfan909]

I think it makes sense. To me, Kenrith always feels like someone wanted 5 colors but didn't have a commander to fit their theme. Since he provides so much value and versatility it becomes a common commander and when you see the same one all the time it gets more boring. Also, even if it allows for deck diversity, the decks often lean on one aspect of him or none of them at all. So he's just another synergy piece for one mode or a value engine. I even have a Kenrith deck and I stopped using it because I got annoyed at how good he is if left on board. I do think he definitely allows for cooler decks than the ur-dragon though. Dragon tribal gets so boring to see.