The BEST Magic Commanders for Beginners | EDHREC Top 100

[@daveczerwinski8816]

You should have titled this video "How to become enemy #1 at any table." A lot of KoS commanders and the objects that enable them are also must kill. I think commanders that hang back and are much less assuming are better for new players, gives them a chance to get in the game without getting smoked every time they play a card. I mean come on...Animar for newbies? The Wise Mothman? Lord of the Nazgul? Jetmir!!? Nah dude. Finally, the pieces that these decks need to operate well/efficiently are very expensive in dollars. (Anointed Procession or doubling season, Mesmeric Orb, fast mana Dual lands and so on) I appreciate your efforts here and I think you have a great list, just not for newbies. Still gave you the thumbs up though, cause I think you did a great job on the video. Will be subbing to see what other great stuff you got! Thanks for the efforts.

[@Vitor-s3i]

I will finally be able to say that Wizard got it right with Commander, the Commander Starter Kit precons, although some, especially the Zombie Dimir, have the problem of "build around" that makes them depend on the Commander excessively, it is ideal for introducing, they are easy to play and fun

[@deejayf69]

Actually, Animar could be replaced with Henzie, "Toolbox" Torre, if you are worried about the colors. He offers tons of variety on how to build the little devil Rogue, while providing a good building block by focusing more on creatures. It's a very popular Commander for a reason.

[@bananazking1194]

I really enjoy your choices here I actually built animar for my girlfriend as her first ever deck can vouch for it's effectiveness in the hands of a new player. Not too long after that we built elenda in a very similar fashion to a teysa deck with maybe a bit more of a vampire theming.

[@FarwaterMTG]

@@bananazking1194 love to hear that!

[@namu0909]

I think the Best commander for beginner is Lathril ! I started with the Deck too and you can Build the decklist low or high, but its very nice and Both play stils are strong. You have With the colors black and Green a good combination.

[@pretty_fly_for_a_jeskai]

Solid choices, I think I would hesitate to suggest a new player to build around any 3 color commander that isnt in green because so much rides or dies on mana and land base, which if playing casually, can be rough to outright buy. Green mitigates that so much that you basically just toss in a signet for your other two and staple rocks and its plenty good. Personally for anyone new, Id point them to either the Family Matters precon or the squirrel one, name escapes me. Golgari is one of the most versatile and powerful 2 color builds and teaches new players to respect their graveyard as a resource, and therefore respect others(gy hate has never been more important) and my favorite of the Bloomburrow releases, Family Matters, has probably one of the most competent mana bases for a precon Ive seen. It could be refined, I dont think three signets are exactly necessary, but they dont hurt. Zinnia can be overwhelming to consider how to play all of those etbs, so youve got Arthur as just a straightforward, excellent combat commander. The Frodo and Sam precon is really good, though.

[@FarwaterMTG]

@KingThor128 I think any recent precon (thinking like, 40k onward) would be a good pickup for new players. I kind of addressed your sentiment on green with my Simic point at the end. Green is simply so good that it's a great option...but I think it's really easy to use that as a crutch.

[@FarwaterMTG]

Random thought, any non-precon Commanders from recent years you'd add to this? TBH the list basically built itself when I threw together all the stipulations I had on this list and only looking at the top 100 on EDHREC.

[@pretty_fly_for_a_jeskai]

@@FarwaterMTG yeah, simic is such a perpetual value engine that it can feel a little crutchy. Man, there's so many commanders I'd suggest that are in precons but aren't the face options, like Carmen from Blood Rites is a particular favorite. I guess a new one from Bloomburrow that sticks out is Gev, Scaled Scorch. Handed my Gev build off to a new player to run in my pod and they really loved it. As a 2 turn commander he gets off the ground running and starts pinging everyone, but is far from an arch enemy even if the table doesn't have training wheels on for a newbie. Also at least when the deck is getting rolling in turns 2-5, Gev cares about the order of casting creatures vs going to combat, which is good teaching. He's also just a cutie. Probably not the strongest to get going but he's cool.

[@FarwaterMTG]

@KingThor128 you and I must have very similar Commander interests, I also loved Carmen and Gev!

[@bryanstevens7021]

While i don't always like them, I gave my husband an Isamaru Voltron deck to teach them the game. It had a lot of key words on it to teach what each meant, and it was a pretty easy strategy.

[@FarwaterMTG]

@@bryanstevens7021 a Vanilla Commander to start, I like it

[@bryanstevens7021]

@FarwaterMTG figured keep it simple to start haha

[@blackdeath6085]

Thanks for this video! I am searching and browsing as i make a comeback in mtg, and edh is now that is the most populair format being played at my lgs; and the information is just endless...... and confusing, especially what 'precon' to buy. My favorite colors always were dimir, and i am a lotr fan; so Lord of the Nazgul is going to be the one i will focus on making my first own deck!

[@FyrSprockets]

My buddy who is new to Magic started off with Eldrazi, didn't really understand it much, then I let him play my sliver deck and he loved it! So I gave him my slivers. Then he started getting frustrated when everyone would target him, so then he started understanding threat assessment. After he tried Caeser from the fallout set and really liked the token mechanics. So when bloomburrow came out he wanted to try Belo, little too limited for his liking but by then he was able to keep up on his triggers and abilities. So, he wanted to try something different and more recently I had him pull out his Yuma deck. Explaining to him to think of his graveyard as an extention of his hand since that deck likes to self mill (which he HATED doing the first couple times playing it) and he was just going off! It's amazing watching friends grow with the game and seeing their progress. We are hoping to get him into some drafts at our LGS soon so he can learn how to build basic decks before having him make his own commander! Great video also, just wanted to share!

[@FarwaterMTG]

@FyrSprockets love this story :) people learning that the graveyard can be a resource is always so funny to me haha

[@darkbribe777]

I would add gishath to this list. Its my number 1 deck to lend out when letting new players try out magic. The deck is extremely straightforward. Ramp every turn, play a cool dino every now and then, play gishath and attack the weakest player. Then destroy the strong players with your board of massive dinos.

[@FarwaterMTG]

@@darkbribe777 love Gishath! I built a Gishath deck for my fiance. I just kept typal decks off the list. If you like Dinos, Gishath is the way to go imo

[@AMGPrinc63]

I bought the necron dynasties pre con and built artifacts around train the infinite is he a good beginner friendly deck or should I switch him out to something a little better I’m literally like one week new to magic any suggestions help

[@FarwaterMTG]

@Princeinna5.0 I have this deck too! If you aren't married to Trazyn, Imotekh the Stormlord is a ton of fun and I would say a little more beginner friendly. It can be difficult to track ALL the abilities from creatures in your graveyard for Trazyn and Imotekh is a pretty cool Commander. All comes down to personal preference though :)

[@AMGPrinc63]

@@FarwaterMTG gotchu I think ima stick to Trazyn I just wish magic had a online simulator to test it out

[@FarwaterMTG]

@@AMGPrinc63 I've got you covered! If you go to Archidekt.com and create a deck, you can playtest it there :)

[@AMGPrinc63]

@@FarwaterMTG thank you so very much man just came from yugioh so I’m excited for this new journey

[@FarwaterMTG]

@Princeinna5.0 enjoy it! Lemme know if you've got any other questions, happy to help

[@sebastianscopa3188]

Only Magnus seemed like a good simple option for a beginner to build around, if they have the precon they have a solid list, and if they're looking to expand they know that token making is a go-to thing to look for first. The rest come with too many triggers and fiddly points that a veteran would enjoy figuring out, but a beginner would just miss these triggers and get lost in figuring out when to crack food open to make the most out of it, do they keep one for later or only use it to trigger Frodo? What level of the ring are they on? Are they even assumed to know basic mtg mechanics or are they struggling to remember what cards are permanents while you are telling them to have an emblem on hand for the ring. Aristocrats I think are a terrible first deck, too many triggers, too passive a playstyle is encouraged. Animar is kill on sight, too easy to snowball with. I think Talrand offers a far simpler spellslinger token strategy for beginners to learn. Naya I have noticed tends to flow really smoothly for new players, so most attack based commanders there will do. On average I don't see many new players being good at politicking, if you know the player will like it, then I absolutely do agree with Queen Marchesa, the small bean mentality players will flock to monarchy and beg people not to attack them. Alela is a good choice, simple straightforward "play X to get Y", and Y is something to attack with. Eriette, I'd prefer a voltron aura commander that doesn't make players secondguess whether or not giving someone else a gamewinning enchantment buff is a good idea after that creature survived a board wipe or Eriette is removed.

[@SmilingAtDeath]

Is there any way you can provide a list of the commanders? Trying to build alela, but every list is outdated it will be good to find ideas. thx in advance.

[@FarwaterMTG]

Sure! Are you looking for a low budget, high budget or somewhere in the middle?

[@SmilingAtDeath]

@@FarwaterMTG middle, something without 25+ cash cards no moxes and things like that

[@FarwaterMTG]

@@SmilingAtDeath gotcha. Yeah, I'll put together a list quick!

[@YungHeartThrob]

I main Animar and I’ve always been told Animars discount for creatures can’t be used in X values. I’ve remade the deck multiple times due to this, was it an old rule being changed or were they just wrong?

[@FarwaterMTG]

@@YungHeartThrob here's the ruling from Scryfall: To determine the total cost of a creature spell, start with the mana cost or alternative cost you're paying, add any cost increases, then apply any cost reductions. The mana value of the creature remains unchanged, no matter what the total cost to cast it was. There are several X spells on his EDHREC, so I believe they were just wrong.

[@Did_No_Wrong]

Kinda surprising you didn't put Feather The Redeemed in the list. Amazing spell slinger commander that takes advantage of reoccurring your buffing instants and cheaper to make than other decks since your mainly using Cantrip spells which are dirt cheap to buy

[@FarwaterMTG]

@@Did_No_Wrong I had her in the original list, but cut her because spellslinging can get complicated to track the line.

[@Chilli_Dude]

The lord of the nazgul deck is maybe a little bit to expensive for beginners. I looked on cardmarket and there's no nazgul version under 20-30. 😅 I like the artworks and it's possible to have any different nazgul in your deck but..... My money... Ahhhhhhhhh.

[@FarwaterMTG]

@@Chilli_Dude AGREE, which is why I'd recommend people proxy them haha

[@rubydacherry3928]

Hey, I am new to the game and I want animar to be my first "more competitive deck" (not cEDH thow), my budget is around 300-400$ could you provide a solid list if possible. Thank you very much

[@FarwaterMTG]

@@rubydacherry3928 if you go to EDHREC.com, it can output a list for you :) I don't have an Animar list built at the moment!

[@3kojimbles895]

need to talk to the 8 dudes making mono red lifegain

[@FarwaterMTG]

@3kojimbles895 LOL I didn't catch that. I can't imagine what Commander that's with 😂

[@dekaw9138]

Instead of Jetmir, I use Rocco Street Chef asa a counter deck commander

[@FarwaterMTG]

@@dekaw9138 Rocco is cool :)

[@BeWrong666]

Besr commanders for beginners.... started with a mechanjc that is not always played and may be missed even by casual players... also pointed out that politics plays a major role in the deck.... for beginners........

[@TheCyberguy101]

Jetmir and animar are not for beginners. Jetmir will get you taken out first and animar is a infinite combo general that is KOS. I highly recommend mono green omnath. You can have a lot of fun with a bunch of mana, and with all the crazy cards nowadays people will leave you be till its too late.

[@FarwaterMTG]

@@TheCyberguy101 can always build decks without infinite combos!