5 Deck Building Tips for Commander

[@danielfrazier5586]

I think the most important part, and probably the part that if neglected ends up being a huge conflict, is that Play Group Goals. Nothing hurts the play group more than misaligned goals. Its a social game, and if everyone is not enjoying the game then something has gone wrong. Even if its an individuals fault or not.

[@magnusprime962]

It’s interesting hearing you talk about the deck-building process this way, because I usually go the other way around. I start with the Commander, build a mana base of roughly 36-38 lands and 10 sources of ramp, add in 10 interaction spells, 10 card draw spells, 3 board wipes, and then I start looking for the synergistic cards. I have no idea if that’s a bad or good way to go about it, but it’s the way I’ve been doing things so far. If nothing else, starting with the veggies means you don’t have to worry about it later

[@geofferiswheel]

7:11 it's a win for me too Veggie. I don't put a lot of win conditions into my deck either but I'm learning to think about it when I do cool things but can't close out a game.

[@youtubemobilegaming]

Great video. Very easy to forget cards to interact with others board states if your not playing a heavy blue counter deck, but they can be a life saver.

[@envies_ephemeres]

Love your interactions - Veggie is hilarious, and MTGNerdGirl is my spirit animal. I felt that reaction in my bones - I'll never look at Staples the same way again. 😅 I tend to run 36 lands as a base, with adjustments based on the mana weight of the deck; I've never gone below 35, as that just handicaps you, and only went over 38 when it was very specifically a landfall deck. Win-con was the hardest thing for me to get over - like Veggie, I used to get so caught up in what the deck could do that I rarely put thought into HOW it finished. WE learn eventually. Oh, and I've gotten Happily Ever After to trigger in a commander game, using my original Esika enchantment deck - once. Only once, lol. It was not something easily replicated - just don't have it in me anymore 😆. Probably my favorite channel at this point - stay amazing!

[@maxbodifee3263]

You don't play elves apparantly. But yeah, 36 is usually the sweet spot

[@envies_ephemeres]

@@maxbodifee3263 I 100% do not, lol. But my daughter does, and tends to steamroll us. It's terrifying.

[@aaronbrandon6729]

It would be cool if you did a series of top 5 staples for each color

[@maxbodifee3263]

There are tons available already?

[@Infamouscritter]

glad to find yall, so glad you and joe collabed , this is a great channel

[@jroastpotatoes]

I may be a little buzzed, but the long deadpan staples gag got me good.x

[@joejordan401]

Good list of priorities. I build many budget decks, and mostly I am inspired by the commander, so my initial list is just 100 cards that synergise with the plan. I then need to make cuts to fit in all this other stuff and it's so difficult. My top tip is the modal double faced lands from ZNR. Pick 2-3 that fit somewhere (the removal is usually good, but Bala Ged Recovery and Sejeri Shelter both slot nicely into some strategies). I count these as lands, and play them as lands in the early turns, but they are really good top decked mid and late game. Next up, I will always include the 1 mana cycling lands (Lonely Sandbar cycle). It is so useful to have a tapped land early that gives you the colour you needed in that opener, but have a redraw late in the game when you don't need lands. They started out as synergy pieces, but they're now in all except my most powerful decks (which have fetches and signets to go faster, tutors etc so you're never just topdecking.) Now onto my latest challenge: building a partner with pair that could go in numerous directions..... my initial list is like 250 cards 😅

[@joshuaossman2739]

The staple bit was hilarious. Thanks for the added humor 😊

[@danielgoldberg2129]

I agree! All my opponents need to play Howling Mine! 😊

[@EraseMan531]

A good synopsis... part 2 and 3! Part 2/3: making your collection balanced, and making your balanced collection more competitive. I have three decks myself but all of them have azorius. I have 10 of the best cards in this guild but, I need three copies to complete my 3 decks. No problem, I hard sleeved them with numbers. Now I can proxy two Color stables with ease. This video touches on deck building but, I know they have more to offer ❤

[@maxbodifee3263]

Or get creative and look for alternatives. You don't need all 10 in all decks. Vary in power or synergy

[@EraseMan531]

@@maxbodifee3263 yah, I probably will at some point, but I'm still learning my decks. having an esper sentimental and rhystic study in my deck will help streamline play I could use to learn what to possibly forfeit

[@Beckola44]

Wow..... 20 decks is a lot. This is good advice. One person in our group likes using Commanders that have Eminence like Edgar and I stop him cold with my Toxrill deck. My two sons are excellent deck builders and players. We have a pretty good inventory of good cards for our deck building. Besides building new decks, as new sets come out I need to update the decks that I have. Thank you for the video Nerd Girl and Veggie Wagon.

[@Seraphyx]

19:02 i feel you nerdgirl, it's a rough life out here 😆cutting lands is the last thing i wanna do though since everyone always emphasizes how important they are, and i know that. but i just wanna add all the cool cards unfortunately.

[@jlbrooks74]

34 is way too few lands. 36-38 is a good norm and 12-14 sources of ramp. In short if you aim for around 50 mana sources (lands and rocks/dorks) you will have more games than non-games due to missing land drops or not having the mana to cast the fun stuff you cram in the deck.

[@geofferiswheel]

If I ever complete Happily ever after. I'll make sure to let you know. That looks bonkers

[@moongurd20]

I usually go around 36/37 land and around 8-10 mana rocks or ramp spells. Works most of the time 😅

[@geofferiswheel]

I'm not good at adding removal to my decks for staples. I'm learning to buy playsets of 4 or more to make sure I can be competitive in a game.

[@aaronbrandon6729]

I’m trying to build a Simic deck, which makes interaction/removal a bit tougher. Counters and bites?

[@vincent-antoinesoucy1872]

What's your question? You have interaction for everything in simic.

[@Marlax-101]

i look at it still like u gi oh decks. 100 cards but most of it is mana. yu gi oh usually had 20 creatures defense and offense spells and a couple high end monsters. card draw was always hard to find in yu gi oh so 1 card was massive or a tutor effect. magic i would do 35-40 lands 10-12 rocks. 10-12 card draw. 2-3 wipes or 2 wipes 1 spare card for protection ect. 8 targeted removals. 1-10 support creatures extra mana ramp, draws, life gen ect, and 20 primary creatures.

[@stephenlewis6922]

My biggest deck issue is removing lands for new cards. After a while I stop hitting my land drops and gotta reset the whole deck!

[@famousstranger8468]

Tip 1. If you're a creature matters deck plsy just mana dorks not ramp spells Tip 2. If your mulligans are slow and you're wanting to go fast, add more phyrexian arena type effects and look for cards that draw you more cards over time rather than burst card draw Tip 3. This is complicated to explain, but try to play the best version of a card and not settle for a worster version. I.e mono green deck rampant growth is better than farseek. However, a multi-coloured deck farseek is better. You don't need both

[@maxbodifee3263]

Tip 3 depends on the power level. Just run what fits your budget, play style and meta.

[@vincent-antoinesoucy1872]

Deckbulding for commander is a nightmare if you are inexperienced. Building a good deck is relatively hard, building a good deck with a extremely large pool of card is harder, now add social constract, relative power level, usage of fast mana or not, combo or not, how long you want the game to last, where will you bring your deck, budget, socially allowed strategies...took me about 2 weeks to build good decks and about about 2 years to have fun in commander understanding everything else beside ''build good decks''.

[@TripsAhoy]

Spot on definition of staples! 😂

[@ImGamerDad]

I am with Veggie... Win Con is my kryptonite. I really like to build casual fun decks, but need to get those Win Cons in there somehow!

[@robertcruise8143]

Veggy!!!! Beware! She is trying to shoot you over staples. hehehe. I enjoyed that exchange.

[@geofferiswheel]

Let's go Veggie and MTG nerd girl. What are your best tips. I so need all the tips. We play no combos. So that changes how I want to build my decks

[@kurtismorgan7732]

just run 25 lands and pray that your draws are good to you

[@maxbodifee3263]

Pray for 10 turns to get that 3rd land

[@NearSightedViking]

I agree with Nerd Girl, I start at 36 lands when building but I won't go up from there. I have enough ramp in my builds that more is not needed. I don't go below 32 though, no matter the curve.

[@anthonygilmore5424]

38 is waaaaaaay to many lands. 35 is usually good.

[@sleepstar44]

Look up Frank Karsten and Sam Blacks lands in commander articles / videos and they demonstrate why this is very wrong for non-cEDH commander games. Mathematically ideal number of lands for most commanders is closer to 40+ actually. 38 is a fine bare minimum.

[@rorschach1]

34 lands bare minimum. 35 I will use if I have A LOT of land ramp cards. 36 most often average among all my decks. 37 or more for Land based decks. Those are just my decisions based on experience.

[@8Smoker8]

I default to 34 lands as well

[@mangomusli572]

Just proxy a cEDH deck and smash your friends precons.

[@seanhood6902]

I average 33 lands. Its literally a third of the deck. I also build trash decks so dont take my advice.

[@DeckedOutEDH]

You will get along with NerdGirl! lol

[@Osuka1073]

Ok then might default is creative mode cause I only rock 30 lands