Commanders That Made Me Fall In Love With The Format

The Commander builds that made me fall in love with the format.
Patreon
/ edhdeckbuilding

[@uhfrank]

what made me fall in love with commander is it took everything i loved about deck building and cranked it up to 100. it turns a hyper focused style of deck building where youre only really grabbing the 10 best cards and building around that, to pick 60 or so unique ones. there is way more room for personal expression and can even be an artform in itself to put something together thats incredibly unique or tells a story. you can make decks that have such a wide range of feeling that when its built just right, its almost like the deck plays like a beautiful dance. cant get that in other formats because of the hyper focus, 3-4 of each of your best stuff dilutes the potential freedom

[@bradlnd7850]

I couldn't have said it better myself! I 1000% agree and thats the same reason I love the format as well. :)

[@nanoglitch6693]

I always loved building with the weird "jank" cards that never saw any constructed play. Commander is the format that takes all those random weird cards and magically turns them into the *best* tools for specific commanders. It's crazy how many old random cards that almost nobody would ever play suddenly turn into powerful deck staples with the right commander. Commander has opened up the vast library of Magic's entire history in a way that other constructed formats just never could.

[@chrisbenson6753]

For me it was multiplayer, singleton, and building decks with a unique identity

[@Dragon_Fyre]

I never put much value in uniqueness. If it is that unique in our net decking world, it is no doubt a bad deck. If I intend to play it a lot, it will stop feeling unique to me. Opponents vary greatly in what they enjoy in the game, so building for them makes no sense. They may love or hate your deck on a whim. I try to avoid cards that people notoriously find salty but otherwise I just play whatever I will enjoy. On the flip side, I rarely play meta commanders. I prefer to have the 2nd most visibly powerful Commander so that I am not archenemy.

[@eewweeppkk]

@@Dragon_Fyre Net decking means basically nothing at all for commander unless you're plaing cEDH. If you don't like deckbuilding then that's fine, but why post about how you don't like unique decks on the edh deckbuilding channel?

[@Dragon_Fyre]

@@eewweeppkk Someone better tell EDHREC that; they must not have got your memo…

[@robertherbst9487]

Agree with everything you said

[@chrisbenson6753]

@@Dragon_Fyre I mean you do you, but you may be better served in more competitive formats.

[@Utenlok]

This is what I love about commander as well. In other formats I feel like I have to pick from a premade list or get stomped. In commander I can make a deck that is fun and still play the game and even win.

[@darushkii]

New drinking game - take a drink every time he says "in the commander format" 😁Love your content!

[@Justrex01]

When I first played Magic, I played standard and I thought "Meh... I can see what this is all about. You got one thing, you got three more of them. Okay." Then I played Commander and saw all the creative fuckery going on and fell head over heels for the format. I'm the OG of our group and the kids I play against keep me hopping and thinking all the time.

[@XerexB]

The most fun i have playing commander is with cards that only make sense in the type of deck i brewed. I also made a Flubs deck, but its frog tribal. With that stipulation, i wasnt making a cEDH deck, so i leaned into the mechanics i found interesting. As a result, i have a lot of suboptimal cards, but the deck feels unique with the weird flashback and madness cards giving me weird turns where i never know whats happening on my turn until i get there in true Flubs spirit

[@BigHat501]

One of my favorite decks is helmed by "blind seer" which you talked about in a video a long time ago. He has a ton of super cool interactions and it really changed my deckbuilding. Recently i just built "Bill ferny, bree swindler" and was reminded again why i love off the wall commanders.

[@joedoe7572]

How did you build Bill Ferny?

[@BigHat501]

@joedoe7572 I have a couple of themes that fit well with Bill. I use a couple of pieces of equipment that force blocks. I also run ninjutsu creatures. Usually, once people figure out my whole thing, they don't block anymore, so ninjas are perfect. I'm also running return to hand style cards and some synergies for treasure tokens.

[@Caliban_80]

The first commander I built was Trostani, Selesnya's Voice when she was brand new in 2012. I had all the sweet token support cards in there. I remember thinking, "there is no way anyone can beat all these tokens!!!" Then I learned about cyclonic rift in my first game...

[@ClarkKentai]

My favorite is probably still my first: Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle. Communicates the theme perfectly through the mechanics.

[@Ktjnn]

When I started around 2014 my buddy had a really strong Mishra deck, including an Italian Nether Void and a Transmute Artifact to go get Grim Monolith for the Power Artifact he also had. This was back when no one cared about power level and instead just saved interaction for the strong decks.

[@socrates7722]

I liked the days when Wotc made magic the gathering for modern/standard and we had to create decks for commander from that. I’m tired of all the spoonfed commander cards lately

[@simonchi5372]

I agree, they are basically printing easy builds for every archetype in every set, no need to be clever anymore. In most cases you cant even be clever. It's very railroaded just like their draft formats.

[@ThisGuy121033]

The thing that pulled me into the format fully was the interactions I found with Kurkesh, Onakke Ancient. Particularly with Mirror of Fate. Being able to activate the mirror and copy it with my commander. Letting the copy of the mirror resolve choosing nothing then with the next one allow me to choose any 7 cards exiled from my deck to put on top in any order. You can easily make loops where you can return the mirror too so you don't have to worry about decking out. You can also use Ugins Nexus and Gonti's Aether Heart to create infinite turns.

[@canoli62]

I've never seen Mishra and those synergies. That might be the coolest deck ever.

[@chrisgebben2043]

theres been crazy stuff before i remember my 2nd ever commander deck horde of notions and basically that commander usually gets left unchecked and i go off with it.

[@UnholyBasil]

Commander was the first format of Magic I ever played, still easily my favorite. First deck I built was Zaffai, Thunder Conductor - I took one of those online quizzes to tell me what color identity I lined up most with and looked for Commanders in that, one of my friends recommended him. Playing a Call Forth the Tempest to create a bunch of 4/4 Elementals while blowing up my opponents' boards and doing a whole lot of stuff was flashy and fun, but getting to the point where I could play X-cost spells at 10 mana or more for that sweet direct Commander 10-shot was real hard to pull off. Then I found Quintorious, Loremaster and I fell in love with how all his stuff looped in together. As long as it's not a creature, I can basically cycle my deck infinitely?!?! Obviously if he gets killed, I do lose those cards, but that honestly makes the deck more fair to me. I can fly under the radar for a while because all I'm doing is making fairly small 3/2 Spirits while I discard things out of my hand ... until I play City on Fire, Passionate Archaeologist, Storm Herd etc. etc. which who knows if anyone's able to deal with at that point? It's still not the highest win rate, but whenever I'm playing against a lower-power group of decks, I'm always thrilled to pull out the Loremaster. Btw thank you for getting me on the Iname as One train, that's also one of my favorite commanders now for a similar reason. Very interesting setup for a deck, lots of fun to play!

[@leagreenall5972]

I was a Legacy player who started in the Revised era. When EDH came out there weren't that many truly good cards, The one card I loved from the start and built my first EDH deck was Captain Sisay, it was ok but I loved the ability to just search for all the janky Legends... but as Legendry's became a staple, I found that my Sisay deck was ALWAYS upgradable and has been through so many iterations to being unstoppable when Paradox Engine was legal, to coping and adapting to now it is the ultimate tool box cEDH deck that is so much fun, so diverse in its options... But I have made so many EDH decks with Commanders that people have never seen or heard of before... EDH really is the ultimate format :)

[@kovala]

Totally agree with you. I think my favorite deck is my Esper landfall Dakkon deck for this very reason. It’s so weird and people are often confused and amazed by the stuff it does. Do I occasionally accidentally Armageddon myself? Yes. But is it still always a blast to play? Also yes.

[@banshee2125]

When i was a new player seeing a norin the wary deck was mind blowing

[@valun360]

Seeing the 2nd ability of Chatterfang take out an Eldrazi and the image that put in my head is what pulled me into commander from standard

[@stigmaoftherose]

Hearing you talk about mistform reminds me of the time I tried something similar with morophon. I wanted lord effects that were unique like the skeleton that gives zombies +2/+1 and the deck was cool because I also made sure no two "lords" overlapped so I had 1 single sliver in the deck. But my problem was I forgot to add card draw as I spent so much on finding unique lords. I should go back and edit that deck and try again.

[@ryanmanning2319]

I still have most of my Selenia deck somewhere. I never used life swapping effects. I used Children of Korlis as a secret commander and reanimation to double or triple my life total. Then I’d use Vizkopa Guildmage to end things. Good times

[@bretmcdowall2224]

Mistform Ultimus is always fun and one of my favorites. Just for the card Peer Pressure alone. So many troll things you can do with it.

[@FurrySpatula]

Darien is so fun, also throw in the monarch with palace jailer etc to get people to have to hit you. Also throw in some other combat redirect shenanigans

[@somegamer4071]

That kentaro deck sounds so cool! might need to try it! Thanks for sharing! :)

[@Merlewhitefire]

That Kentaro deck as written doesn't sound like it works.

[@somegamer4071]

@@Merlewhitefire Urza's incubator + kentaro + 2 1 or 2 cost samurai with some kind of pay off, and cloudstone curio, will give infinite value... takes a lot of set up, but that's how I prefer my infinites

[@Merlewhitefire]

@@somegamer4071 Turns out I was wrong about Kentaro anyway or rather i was wrong about the way cost reduction worked

[@azelia2464]

I still have my Darien deck, I think it was the 3rd or 4th deck I built. Its actually a lot of fun and I still surprise people when i play it haha. Jade Monolith is a jank card you'd pretty much never see in any other commander deck but its really good in Darien!

[@okgut2033]

yeah looking at weard cards and thinking about how to build them a home thats the main thing for me too.

[@handsanitizer1963]

For me it was Vish kal blood arbiter and karador 🤗❤️

[@Erimioa]

in my oppinion it is more interesting, because most other formats have 60 card decks with 4x the same card. In extrem cases you'll never see more then 10 diffrent cards in a deckand they play always the same. If a card is good anougth to put it in, it is most likely good anougth to put it in 4 times. 9x4 is 36, then 24 basic lands and you have your [put here every 60 card format name in] deck. In commander some decks are so too, but the majority is you'll never see the same game even against the same decks.

[@crawdaddy2004]

They are different experiences. Singleton formats are about variance and reward deck-building decisions. Whereas, competitive formats reward gameplay and metagame decisions.

[@Dragon_Fyre]

I love Commander because for the most part decisions matter unless someone brings a CEDH combo deck. MTG Arena went the other way, where $$$, going first and luck of the draw (starting hand, opponents deck archetype) largely determine the winner before the game even begins.

[@curtislegall8324]

The problem with the format though is when you build unique interesting decks and then you sit down at a table and people bring broken OP Atraxa and Edgar Markov decks and all the fun of the game vaporizes. I agree that it's the best format for innovative deckbuilding but you for gameplay to beenjoyable you need players to be on the same wavelength.

[@edhdeckbuilding]

this is why i say, removal wins games.

[@uhfrank]

i rarely come across that issue at the stores i visit. and no shame in leaving a table with people youd rather not play against. if more people did that, thered be less of those people building those kinds of decks. i dont mind those decks though because as demo says, removal helps a ton. interactions in general. the few times i come across "those" decks that people seem to dread, they practically never win because theyre seen as the threat lol

[@curtislegall8324]

@@edhdeckbuilding Agreed, but many of them have such powerful engines they become quite removal resistant.

[@curtislegall8324]

@@uhfrank We have a small community in my country so that is a bit difficult but I agree with you. I have started doing it.

[@manuelmaura4453]

Mishra, Artificer Prodigy is not a lot more viable with creatures that let you have unlimited in deck in combination with cards that turn all your creatures in to artifacts. Been mulling on making a deck revolving around it.

[@ivernedit]

There are new tools For mistform every set which makes me always like changing him up

[@fishinfromscratch5484]

When I first started playing I got in a pod with 2 guys playing original elder dragons as their commanders and seeing them play shitty commanders that beat the crap out of my "good" commander changed my thought process. So after that i built Brion Stoutarm and learned to love jank.

[@muffinstuffer104]

Funny. I did the same but built two Narset decks. One eventually evolved into the turns one but the other was a chaos deck… both versions no one likes lol. Needless to say I know better now.

[@MichelleNghi]

My commander deck is simple Giada

[@danielprivate8038]

Animar :) never played other formats and have played before they made pre-cons

[@heecks9375]

For myself, I dont care of the commander. What I love about the format it's 100/100 unique cards. No more 4 of this or 4 of that at a crazy price and no rotation.

[@solyluna4967]

Yeah!! I love my "Phyrexian/Artifact/Infect/Proliferate/Loss Life/Coward" Commander Deck Mmm... I guesss i must name it better cool uh?

[@Merlewhitefire]

Does Kentaro's ability replace the mana cost? It reads to me like it simply allows you to pay the alternate (generic mana) cost INSTEAD of the mana cost, which means effects that reduce the generic mana cost wouldn't work.

[@uhfrank]

the alternate cost is still a cost to cast and if it costs 1-2 less to cast, it holds

[@Merlewhitefire]

@@uhfrank Those effects can reduce alternate costs?

[@uhfrank]

@@Merlewhitefire casting cost = casting cost regardless of method. look at transformer/mutate commanders, they have an alternative cost, whichever cost you pay is still subjected to the same tax and cost reductions

[@Merlewhitefire]

@@uhfrank Hm. But effects that look for a mana cost can only look for the main mana cost.

[@uhfrank]

@@Merlewhitefire spells cost less to cast. it doesn't specify the main printed cost. look up this rule: 601.2f

[@McfcxEz]

I love my Mishra Artificer Prodigy deck. I love sitting down with some people who have seen it before and others who haven’t. Those who haven’t played against it think it’s a meme.

[@McfcxEz]

It’s the Mr Incredible meme: those who know vs those who don’t know

[@mjstewmoss5655]

"Commader" 00:30

[@Jaryism]

This guy is very.. flamboyant.

[@patrickaquilina4374]

One of the more enjoyable deck builds I saw was Norin the Wary. I mean, what’s this stupid 1/1 going to do to me??? Ohhhhh…. Damage as it bounces back in and out.

[@energetek661]

Ive been really growing less and less fond of commander as or recently. I feel like decks have not only gotten less creative, but the rule 0 conversation keeps getting worse and worse at my lgs. It makes for miserable games. I love some of the cool decks I get to see, but ive been playing cube more and draft due to these issues.

[@uhfrank]

for the rule zero conversation, you should express your concerns and personal issues with more clarity and ask leading questions that get to the bottom of what you really want to avoid. effective communication is important and if they arent forthcoming, just takes some prodding. if they outright lie, you just pack up mid-game and dont play with them

[@energetek661]

@@uhfrank Issue is there are so many people there who "pubstomp" and its the only lgs by me. Thats why I play a lot less commander nowadays.

[@energetek661]

@@uhfrank Appreciate the response tho

[@zeta280]

In my experience, people who play with deliberately underpowered commanders either overcompensate to hell with card quality and end up archenemy every game, or they just play combo and their commander has nothing to do with their deck. Cant say Im too big of a fan of either.

[@TheUltimateRey]

That’s why I would love to play some PEDH having everyone in the pod brew a pauper commander deck to use but alas all my friends aren’t very good at building decks so they prefer using the easy good stuff

[@okgut2033]

you have tryharrd everywhere. just ignore them and go on till you find the cool guys :)

[@aldotrioksidi]

I play underpowered commanders and pair them up with even more underpowered 99. My decks are full of cards that nobody recognizes.

[@hahahafunniness]

What's wrong with combos? Commander players are insufferable sometimes

[@Treps1]

So don't play a good or a bad commander. Got it