The Commander Deck Building Template | The Command Zone 151 | Magic: the Gathering Podcast

Support the show and become a Patron! Be a part of our community, receive awesome rewards, and more :)
/ commandzone
The Command Zone podcast is brought to you by Card Kingdom! Make sure to check out their website through our affiliate link: www.cardkingdom...
Support us on Patreon! Become a Patron today for as little as $1 an episode here:
/ commandzone
Show Notes:
Deck building in EDH can be a daunting task, especially early in your Commander career! Today we're tackling how to approach each EDH deck with a basic template when brewing.
What We Mentioned on the Show:
EDH Essential Cards: tappedout.net/m...
Card Advantage and Card Draw episode: collected.comp...
Mana Base episodes: collected.comp... and collected.comp...
Prof’s Mana Base Videos: • MTG - How To Build A 4...
Quadrant Theory episode: collected.comp...
What We Mentioned on the End Step:
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Follow us on Twitter!
@CommandCast
@jfwong
@JoshLeeKwai
Email us:
[e-mail]
Huge thanks to Geoffrey Palmer for providing some of his amazing Living Cards animations for our videos. Follow him here:
/ livingcardsmtg
/ @livingcardsmtg816
Check out our sister podcast - The Masters of Modern:
collected.compa...
Commander/EDH Official Rules, Banlist, Forums, and more:
mtgcommander.ne...

[@jeremiahbachmann3901]

As someone who has just started researching how to put together my very first Commander EDH deck, this video is a godsend. Thanks, west coast dudes.

[@matthewbryant2972]

Jeremiah Bachmann yo, 40 lands is the deck building norm to start with, seriously it's weird they said it's 38. 38 assumes sol ring and a overall, low mana curve the deck stops at. Use a hypergeometric calculator to figure out your decks mana needs. Sample size for your likelyhood of having enough lands will change depending if you are on the play or the draw but learn about hypergeometric calculaters which are really tools deckbuilders usually can not live without and magic players never talk about. well players other than Patrick Chapin don't talk about them

[@Nivexity]

@Mathew Bryant In what deck does 40 lands make any sense? Who said that was the norm? 36 lands if anything is the max unless a deck strategy requires a lot of lands.

[@pfeffer1729]

I play forty lands as a rule of thumb. If you have decent card draw, you won't run out of gas. Having lands available ensures you'll be able to cast that card draw.

[@gildedvibrations8927]

Lands take up card slots. 33-38 works perfectly, depending on ramp

[@Daybed4448]

Mana Ramp - 10 Card Draw - 10 Single Target Removal - 5 Board Wipes - 5 Standalone - a card that works on it's own or in concert with your commander. (25) Enhancer - a card that either amplifies or is amplified by your commander, standalone cards or other enhancers. (10-12) Enabler - a card that covers a weakness or a fills a gap in your strategy. (7-8)

[@EXxCloudEXx]

Spottyfriend 10 mana ramp. From their previous video about making A mana base. Is the 10 ramp here would be the same as the rocks you re supposed to have ? Or is it 8-10 rocks then the 10 mana ramp? Just feels like the 10 rocks alone isn't enough

[@kingartuur1]

20 board wipes :P

[@troylambert1601]

maan 101 i ran 13 wipes in a zurgo deck.

[@debreczeniarpad9956]

Troy Lambert How many fellow players in the playgroup are still your friends?

[@p1k4nurxp13sr]

Doing god's work my internet friend

[@custersword7746]

Because no one really taught me how to get better, I played every weekend for two years losing every game I played until I gained an understanding of the rules, interactions, theories for deck building and the like, but I feel like someone at the shop could have been not a jerk and told me something as soon as I started instead of having to spend 2 years losing. I think the game play helped me with the deck building, but this video and many of them on this channel are my first time getting into commander. So, now I know how to do that too thanks to you guys and the guests you've had on game knights. Thanks!

[@Howe2Tech]

"the bulk of your meat is gonna be stuff that works, with no help at all." whoa

[@twoneraps3352]

lol

[@icecreamkracken6992]

Unbelievable Tactician!

[@Jade_Sush1]

Thats what she said.

[@adam551982]

Old school player, started collecting just after BETA. Took a break for a long time, came back and recently started playing Commander with the old friends. Just discovered you guys, recognized Jumbo Commander on one of your podcasts. Great podcast guys and will be watching you guys quite a bit. Nice job and keep up the fun casts!

[@Chezissou]

I probably have 10-12 commander decks built ranging from Oloro, to Nekusar, to Damia and I still learn things from you guys. Thanks!

[@Valmor2388]

Thank you for this video! My decks have often felt off balance, but I could never quite figure out the issue because I nearly always play with the same 4-5 people. This has greatly helped me fine tune my decks and now I’m winning more frequently than I used to.

[@Big_John_832]

For me this has been the most helpful episode I've watched of the Command Zone. Can't wait to play my decks now that I've had a chance to retune them.

[@emmettenglish1537]

Guys I know this is an older video of yours but as a new subscriber and new commander player I must say, as always your content is always on point, entertaining and wholesome with the level of information given. Thank you, it's all much appreciated. Peace ✌️

[@soroman3396]

I know this video has been around for a while, but my big level up moment in deck building was when I realized that not every combo has to get you to victory to be good. Stuff as simple as Wrenn and Six with a fetch-land in your opener gives your mulligan flexibility to even work with 2 land openers makes hitting curve with the right mana combinations through the first 4 turns or so. This kind of thing doesn't outright win you the game, but you're more likely to get into your midgame plan, which always makes for more fun games.

[@matthewgragg2152]

Just want to say Thanks for these kinds of videos. They are a real help to me for Commander in general and in the construction of my 2nd Commander deck. I built my first Commander deck back when the 1st Commander preconstructed decks came out, so it's been awhile, like about 9 going on 10 years.

[@bbqseitan7106]

I would say also, about 2 alternate win conditions that can function independently from your commander but can still synergize well. My old Meta was super counter and hate heavy so alternates are a must.

[@skull5199]

I’ve been playing magic for one month and u guyz have made me so much better thank u

[@robw1945]

One year later this is some of the best advice I've come across for building great commander decks. Thanks Jimmy and Josh!

[@gazetronix]

I don't see ramping as going down and picking speed like Jimmy, but rather as ramping up to a higher amount.

[@genesis4322]

I see the idea of ramping as slowly accruing advantage piece by piece. Starting off with 1 per turn, then 2 per turn, etc.

[@NoActuallyGo-KCUF-Yourself]

"Ramp" is short for the card, Rampant Growth: one of the first mana-'ramping' cards to be widely used.

[@gressorialNanites]

@mdiem *slams desk* Thank you!

[@ownageDan]

moxen are the original ramp cards :P

[@azzans]

You give up tempo to have a bigger turn later. Like playing mana rocks or mana dorks. That's what he meant.

[@SuperRutherr]

I feel like I'm a seasoned Vet for EDH and I still learned some things in here. Great video and easy to want to watch. Love the content!

[@Cypher10110]

Great video! I swear you guys have talked about this subject before (with numbers of cards etc.) but I could never find the episode again to go back and make notes. Maybe I dreamed it? I will certainly watch this one multiple times over the near-future while I brew new decks. Good job guys, very thoughtful and comprehensive.

[@aggronio353]

This is a really good guide for deck building. The point where deck building really clicked for me is after I built a Kraum//Bruse Tarl Tempo deck. Each card was carefully selected, tested, and replaced until I found a little secret. Redundancy is a double edged sword. You want redundancy in your deck so that you consistently draw the cards you want, but you want it to be varied to the point you don't have the same answer to one question. Running 10 counterspells in a control deck might sound like a good number, but if they don't each have a unique purpose, you'll find yourself flooded. By varying the spells into different categories (Mystic Snake can attack/be blinked, Disallow and Voidslime can hit abilities, Insidious Will can copy spells, Dissipate exiles the spell, and Counterflux and Render Silent keeps your opponents from going off.) You get a package in a package that makes each spell able to handle one scenario better than another.

[@thinktank9185]

Great episode. Your 'enabler' terminology helped me think about deck building in a new way. Especially the 'overlap' talk about Bane of Progress as a board wipe AND mana ramp in Rishkar. This opens my eyes to evaluating new Commanders in a new light; I had never even thought of the power of overlapping when seeing Rishkar for the first time.

[@cutecommie]

You can tell pretty easily whether an episode came out before or after Modern Horizons. Just pay attention how they react to the word "shenanigans". 7:46

[@clanky44]

This is a must watch for anyone (like me) whose starting to play Commander.

[@Deleteriously]

What I found helped me was having a secondary theme as a back up in case the primary theme didn't do the trick.

[@nigels1383]

My deck has three backup win cons

[@Conrad1013]

This could be the single most useful MTG deck building video on the internet. The biggest eye opener for deck building was when I was building Nekuzar and Derevi and played a game after learning about synergy...went from losing every time because I wasn't doing enough to becoming a super threat to my friends and being killed first...then I learned about how important board wipes and force discard is.

[@octolirious5035]

I hit that perfect card in my Alesha deck last week with Hidden Stockpile from Aether Revolt! it really put in some work.

[@treasureberry7154]

Tyler Poirier that card is sooooo underrated in every format I play it in!

[@alexanderpavlov2558]

Years later, this video is still useful

[@dagnariusd7054]

Really appreciate these deck building tips! I generally seem to suck at building decks, or at least they seem to get pretty thoroughly destroyed on xmage and at edh league.

[@MyNameHidden123]

My biggest deck building level-up came when a buddy of mine helped me to build my first real deck, Rith the Awakener. I had a shambled mess at the end, and when I wanted to improve it I tried playing a bunch of cards that didn't synergize with anything. He told me to pick one theme, one goal, and stick to that. It is the first thing I think of when building decks now, whether it be choosing cards to run or making any cuts.

[@ryanhampton2352]

Great video guys only been playing mtg for a year and commander for 6months and your channel has helped me so much

[@Havok91]

So glad I found this episode. Wish I'd found it sooner lol. Now I can fine-tune my Reaper King deck for it's new Stax incarnation.

[@leonardovasquez9011]

Awesome video. I just started in MTG and i was trying to make a commander deck but my lack of knowledge was huge..with this video my ideas are very much clear. thx a lot!

[@GubbiGap]

I'm trying to build a commander deck for the first time where my commander is Sharuum the Hegemon and so this was super helpful :D I think I found out that I've over committed to the idea of having artifacts to a point where I had no win con other than Platinum Angel. I did keep the card in there but I got some removal added along with couterspells and board clears so this really helped!

[@sertaki]

This was extremely helpful. I have played commander for years now, but the hard numbers work as a great frame of reference - I usually just went with what feels right and tune it up or down from there. And usually that resulted in something comparable - but putting in enough carddraw, removal etc from the start should make the deck tuning much less about "making the deck work" and more about "making the deck work better/enable the game plan".

[@shawndiaz7528]

It would be really great to see you guys build a deck live following these flexible guidelines. This video was great and exactly what I was hoping you might put together.

[@MrZerodaim]

Just want to point out that Steady Progress will ALWAYS ramp your experience counters if you have Mizzix of the Izmagnus in play. When you play Steady Progress, Mizzix triggers and gives you an experience counter, then SP resolves and you proliferate the counter (because you don't need to target or announce anything before resolution).

[@themagicgeek4765]

You know I've been a huge fan for years now, but how did I just realize that Jimmy has a beautiful baritone/bass voice? I literally got chills when they were doing the intro.

[@lordsali256]

Since I started watching this show, my win rate has at least doubled. Very good episode for new players. :)

[@DanielHoffmanddhoffman]

I think the tips you guys lay out here are fantastic! I think deck building is the most appealing part of the Commander format since there is so much room for creativity and personalization. Fixed metagames in other formats push out pet cards and synergies with powerful cards that typically can't all fit into one, streamlined deck. I think one thing you guys addressed that I wish you would have talked a little more about is inspiration. I think there are some phases of coming to EDH. The beginning thing is being inspired by all the big haymakers. You're telling me I can play all the Planeswalkers ever, in one deck?! That alongside format-specific things like Voltron-style decks. Next, you begin to appreciate attrition and formulate (consciously or not) the break down for a well-oiled deck, such as you've laid out. But there's something that happens after years of playing with the same cards -it get's old. So I think what keep me coming back to EDH again and again is being inspired. I love looking for quirky interactions and ensuring my deck is able to have fun regardless of what my opponents do. Coming up with unique ways to facilitate my board is part of the fun of the game. When your opponents have to read the card there is a novelty to the game and as long as you manage to keep your turns short enough and few "destroy all lands" or "discard your hand" effects to a minimum, your games will be rewarding whether you win or not because of the (partial) success of your deck building adventure, or even the knowledge that you couldn't make it work. Because even failures can be fun as long as the idea was inspiring!

[@michaelsagi202]

Are you going to do more game knights? I really liked that show

[@HoneyNutBeemo]

They said in the podcast that they recently finished filming one :)

[@el_maoo]

this. i can imagine making these is a ton of work

[@joshleekwai8895]

We're working on the next episode right now! They take a ton of work but the plan is to release one episode per month.

[@angrywombat2379]

Michael Sagi Yeah we want MORRREE

[@SlimSchade123]

Michael Sagi it's monthly

[@elganso1000]

59:33 you obviously never rode a horse

[@Finkeldinken]

Thank you so much for this! I am currently in the process of building my very first commander deck from scratch, and this is so helpful.

[@zacharymcmillan2788]

Who's your commander?

[@MrPinkpanzer]

My big moment was overcoming that 3rd pitfall you mentioned, lack of focus. As a competitive player for eternal formats I often try to just get more value than my opponents. things like jund is great in modern, but the same philosophy can't apply because you have more than one opponent. what "value " meant changed. So instead of filling decks with just good cards, now my deck does a thing.

[@Kestral287]

To be fair you can value people out in EDH. Meren can play a lot like a Modern Jund deck, for the easiest example.

[@Addrum]

What a good episode!! It's really close to what I suggest to people when building decks. I'll share it whenever someone has doubts about how to build their decks. This kind of videos is what people need to see when they are "Oh, look, this cards looks fun, I'm gonna put it in my commander deck", without questioning the use and value of the card.

[@TheHortoncrow]

I come from Legacy as my prime format, so my biggest AH HA moment was how I viewed efficiency differently. Cards that are good in legacy are always good in commander.

[@Philson]

Jimmy talks about consistency, but is always behind during Game Knights. lol

[@teleshar]

Philson He's just extremely unlucky with mana... :(

[@captainnoobface1124]

He is consistently behind

[@stupidrock0153]

@@teleshar No he just keeps bad hands and gets punished

[@SparkBlazeWarriors]

@@stupidrock0153 he's a red player, keeping questionable hands that can become amazing with the right draws is pretty on color

[@philheaton1619]

So, what you are saying is that he is always behind? Sounds consistent to me!

[@MrZoichi]

Nice use of "No Country for Old Men". Excellent show as well!

[@BelligerentBurgers]

Just threw a deck together to play EDH for the 1st time, was fun but I`ll definitely look at this to make a better deck!

[@kevinfrank8164]

You guys should type up an article that covers the main points of these eps, that would be perfect to review for newbies who want to get in to Commander. My local store is having a Commander tournament this Friday and I am so excited, thanks for the tips!

[@vexxbane6172]

This is a really great episode. I learned a lot and appreciate your time and effort. I have been trying to put together my karlov deck and have been struggling. Hopefully, now I can tweak and tighten the deck up.

[@DCAMM720]

1:34 for main topic. Nice short intro this video, guys!

[@isaiahwelch8066]

Other cards that overlap: Martial Coup: Get 1/1 Soldiers and wipe the board. Mana Reflection: Get a 2 for 1 on mana production. Umezawa's Jitte: An equipment that can boost and gain life. Sunforger: Casting and Tutoring up instants you might need, when you need them.

[@gwyneth2869]

my biggest "level up" (so far, still pretty new, started playing last spring) moment was when my friend who's played magic for like 8+ years looked through my deck after it played like trash one game causing me be obviously annoyed with it (the deck is usually a pretty big threat but eh ig every deck has the potential to just breakdown immediately) and said "there's nothing wrong with this deck, everything in here works well, I genuinely don't know what happened". I gave my walking magic lexicon of a friend an issue so big he couldn't figure anything wrong with it. of course the partial tilt came from the fact like 2 nights before in the same building it granted me my best night of edh (in a w/l sense) I've ever had , after for months showing up to edh having fun, inevitably picking up 3rd and 4th places every pod, I got 1st, 1st and 3rd which was game changing for me.

[@mattbevilacqua8737]

How to build a commander deck: Commander: Maralen of the Mornsong Deck: 96x swamps 1x glacial chasm 1x ad nauseam 1x sickening dreams 1x dark ritual Done Skill.

[@Chillstar21]

Matt Bevilacqua love this 101 card edh list

[@mattbevilacqua8737]

lol ooops , just really needed that 1 extra swamp man.

[@zachthecreeper2642]

Matt Bevilacqua played a deck just like this at my fnm, got first! Ran inquisition and duress (for blue) and bosejutu who shelters all and lightning greaves

[@mattbevilacqua8737]

glacial chasm keeps you from dying, also works if you play king as even if you die you can still technically win

[@Lynxiro]

Matt Bevilacqua I'd cut 3 Swamps for Mox diamond, Mana crypt and Rain of filth. The reasoning is you get to go off the same turn you Naus

[@earthpartyradiopodcast2509]

Do y'all have a podcast??? I need to listen to this all day👍🏾👍🏾

[@lucast6193]

Damn, back then vs now!

[@SuperPokemonTrainerQ]

STORAGE LANDS! My favourite lands making it onto the big scene!

[@pfeffer1729]

One thing you didn't comment on is the General can fill out a role, so less cards of the type need to be played. A Child of Alara deck will play less wipes, and an Azami deck might play less card draw.

[@pfeffer1729]

My greatest lesson, however, was "don't play peacocks". A lot of cards will present such a huge threat profile they will get you killed, but will not win you the game or take too long.

[@alexanders1001]

The lesson I'm still coming to terms to is not relying on your commander to fix a problem with your deck, my personal favourite deck (the second one I've made) uses Captain Sissay to find legendary cards I need, my deck runs 15-20 legendary cards so I'm finding what I want all the time, but what I've failed to do is make my deck consistent without the commander, my deck really suffers once the commander dies and shrivels up.

[@Ryne91]

Great video. And I lived the latest episode of Game Knights. Also, I wanted to say thanks for all the information you guys provide. I recently became a Patron and ordered from CardKingdom to show my support for what you guys fo.

[@Dtracy94]

Krosan Grip is huge in my Meta overall it stops infinite combos. MVC!!

[@cartoonnetwork176]

My deck building epiphany happened when my friend built a really quick goblin combo deck and I realized he'd beat me before I even played a spell. I quickly learned to lower my curve.

[@andrewturner7297]

7 min in and i have so many things to say.. Did not realize you guys counted enchantment /artifact removal and part of the single and wrath parts. I tend to just leave one card open 1-2 card in the the deck for that stuff and then on top of that have 5 removal and 5 wraths. tho my meda is pretty creature heavy so i have been moving away from single and anding a few more wraths. lol... freaking love this show lol

[@kapittsalt]

Brewing level-up moment: that Talrand all-the-bounces actually had a chance. Focusing on literally a single mechanic was pretty viable, in conjunction with an enabling general. Or maybe buying a precon: those things are kinda hot messes.

[@charleslegreatthegarbagemo7202]

I play Tasigur for its ability and colors, because of two cards, Horizon Chimera, and Vilis, Broker of Blood, Lose life, Draw cards, Gain back the life. Over and over and over again.

[@kylesavage4525]

Great video guys! i literally started building my first EDH deck (Ephara) half an hour before you upload your video and it is a huge eye-opener :D thx a lot P.S.Looking forward to the next Game Knights episode

[@dustinsanity85]

My friend has a Ravos and Reyhan deck he uses Fleecemane Lion in and it's an absolute monster late game, and a huge bother early.

[@MatthiasCorvinu]

I love my Phenax deck. It mills others rather quickly. Couple walls out and suddenly you're losing a tenth of your deck or more every turn.

[@DonniesBoStaff]

Actually built my first commander deck with this. Kambal lifegain.

[@mrgoldfish7452]

UUUUUUUGH!!! My friend did this and I had an Anax and Cymede deck! Didn't stop me from swinging for 27 though.

[@DonniesBoStaff]

Mr Goldfish Nice, when I played this deck, all of us were in white and black and we all had a Merciless Eviction in our hands. No joke.

[@thellusionistmaster]

im glad i watched this video, i took my breya deck and made it more explosive because i was lacking draw power

[@SoreWristed]

My deck building level up moment : realising that just because a card put in a tonne of work that one time, doesn't mean it's any good at all times. For example, folio of fancies completely shut down a player last week, threatening to take him out on it's own because his deck made him have 30+ cards in hand at one point, but that doesn't mean it should go in every deck with blue...

[@weirdmusicmixmaster]

My usual issue is too much toolbox not enough knockouts, so ive been adding a few either alternative wins or small combos to everything.

[@SparkBlazeWarriors]

The first time i cast a harmonize in my Gahiji deck I realized I needed more card draw since the extra fuel it got me was so nice but i didnt have enough draw spells to do that often.

[@alyssinwilliams4570]

I just started playing commander recently, and the sheer volume of possible cards (30,000+) just makes me spin my tires cause I have no idea where to start or what to do

[@Avatar_Yoshi]

I definitely empathize with this, when my friends first got me into playing commander (and magic as a whole), they would tell me to just do my own research because "different commanders require different cards." lol. EDHREC has been a godsend because I can look at a commander there and immediately have a bunch of cards I want in my deck that I know are "good cards." The different kinds of cards that are listed also help me come up with ideas for what I want the deck to do.

[@alyssinwilliams4570]

@@Avatar_Yoshi Ive been binge-listening to CMDZ podcasts and thats helped. Also XMAGE. Im still researching on my own cause my friends havnt been very helpful :(

[@TheYangsterX]

I bought the Open Hostilities very cheap at my LGS to try and modify it myself to play at friendly commander events (im new to magic), but after watching this I realized just how hopeless it is with my current collection as I cant hit any of the points Josh and Jimmy mentioned.......... i might experiment with Alesha instead since she comes with the precon

[@boodatexfan]

dude game nights are awesome guys im glad i found you

[@empurress77]

I have found myself often at odds with a deck for what i want vs what the deck wants. The most extreme example of this is a four color EXCEPT green dect. That deck will beg you incessantly for green. I had actual arguments with a deck i built like that. Until i gave in and gave it access to, ( possible) five color mana. Mana birds, City of brass and that sort of thing. If you want a challenge in building a deck type this is in the top 5 of the hardest to accomplish. Doubly so if you try to keep the deck "No green". ;)

[@nartin9]

I leveled my my deck building when I learned that there are cards that do the exact same thing that others do but have tribal synergy that can be added with no down side. I need more merfolk wizard cards

[@matthewwestmoreland5545]

My K&T wincons are Fleet Swallower + Keening Stone Felidar Soverign + Teferi’s Protection Progenitor Mimic + Psychosis Crawler

[@squirrelmcsquizy2302]

As I listen I think about my deck. When I started people were playing board wipes so I built my deck to server tax for doing so. I'm playing Kamal fist of krosa

[@anonymous-dk3um]

38 lands is a high land count to start with.I start at 35 and go down from there. There are just too many situations where a top deck land loses you an otherwise win able game. The higher your land count, the more draw you need to get through lands, but then you end up with a lot of land in your hands, from my testing 34 lands, 10 ramp and 10 draw ( 5 Cantrips/filtering 5 hard draw) is closer to the right ratio. The last thing you want is to jace's ingenuity and draw 2 or 3 lands.

[@bhut_trolokia9954]

What commander and what kind of deck are you even playing? 38 is the starting point for me and it can only go up from there.

[@azedfvc]

I know it's a little of context but in commander duel you start at 38 and you go down only if you play zurgo or a low curve aggro strategy. A lot of decks have between 38 and 40 land even if 40 is consider a lot

[@mrgoldfish7452]

I tried with 35 lands and barely got any so I boosted it to 37 and got enough.

[@Alpsus]

I usually play 36-38 lands.

[@zombiedude347]

I always start at 40, then remove 1 for every 2 good ramp, and 1 for every 3 ok ramp. Only after testing do I add/remove from there.

[@Jak3am]

I'm was used to a casual casual "modern" this pretty much lead me to become a super Johnny with magical christmas land combos I used to be able to pull off and now I need to still work on it but I need to work on just getting there instead of the silly things I can do when I get there

[@joshuacampagna1175]

I really enjoy everything so I always tend to go 5-color. My sliver queen deck is very scary since I found a very good balance of interactions/combo with my playgroup meta.

[@Shadfillet]

Fleecemane lion is quite good in my cat tribal deck for the reason that it's a 2 mana 3/3 cat~

[@partycannon96]

Really loved this episode! As I, myself, have started building a new commander which is. Sek'Kuar, Deathkeeper. I'm going with a aristocrats style deck. I was wondering if I could get your guys opinion on the card "Lifeline" in this style of deck.

[@sideburnz711]

I love the Jiji plush in the background

[@EvilDuckLord]

My biggest deck-building level up moment? After I finished watching this episode. Such a great episode guys! it was both applicable to novice and experienced EDH players, and I recommended it immediately to a friend who I just introduced to EDH. Keep up the great works guys, and I can't wait until the new Game Knights episode drops! Best channel for MTG hands down.

[@mitchviele7548]

Great video as usual guys! Over the last few years my edh deck building has improved vastly, Lazav, dimir mastermind was my very first deck... and it was a bit of a train wreck, way to many answer cards, not enough win conditions. Keep up the good work!

[@prost29javadoff66]

Thank you so much, this helped so much for my decks and i'm now doing better then ever :)

[@zuboragabora420]

I have another category in my commander decks called the "scrambleverse slot". I always dedicate one slot of my deck to some hilarious and stupid card (not necessarily scrambleverse) that just drives everyone nuts when I play it in the late game.

[@cooool74]

Because hand attack is a huge issue in my playgroup I've started building around it. Nephlim academy is great for that

[@zerorequiem42]

My favorite deck to play was a u/r control based around charge counters. Made it during Mirrodin. Fast forward some years and mirrodin comes back with proliferate in tow. Best mechanic ever for my style. I use it in some form in probably half of my decks now. Just so versatile.

[@trackatlas6626]

Someone in my group has a Mimeoplasm infect deck that can win out of nowhere in a single turn. You know what I've learned? EVERY DECK I BUILD NEEDS TO DEFEND AGAINST INFECT!!!

[@ZtgWolf1354]

Phenax + Laboratory Maniac = win. I've won this way by milling myself in less than 10 turns before. They can't really do much about it because I'll play L.M. until the very last moment with flash to draw nothing and win.

[@sporkliftmctot]

That tune--it's Gonna Fly Now :P

[@hrd2h1t]

Goal of Oviya Pashiri: You see that guy who got out the 20/20 Marit Lage? I'm going to make it look like a fucking 1/1 squirrel.

[@soulfly159753]

In terms of carddraw spells: Would you always prioritize things like blue suns zenith, sphinx's revelation and so on ? Or is a simple 'draw 3 cards' spell enough ? Also would you consider arcanis as a card draw spell since it doesn't do it on the turn you play him ?

[@JohnSmith-tv9ou]

Depends on how much you ramp and how much 5/6 mana is. Drawing 3/4 cards isn't terrible, Blue Sun would cost 6/7 mana to draw 3/4 cards. If you can easily draw more than 5 cards off of it (8 mana) then go for it. If you have trouble breaching 6 mana, opportunity and Jace's ingenuity isn't bad.

[@isaiahwelch8066]

Marwyn the Nurturer: Cares about Elves. And the thing about Elves? They carry card draw, spot removal, tutoring (Elvish Harbinger), and even boosting (Ezuri, Renegade Leader). A "win-more" card would be Genesis Wave. Just saying.

[@PortestdorFlamvoldt]

my "epiphany moment" for deckbuilding was when i started playing with possibility storm. im a long time izzet player and ever since i started playing with possibility storm i have never looked back. not because of degenerate lockdown combos with teferi (i refuse to do this sort of thing) but because i realised that when you intentionally play with the card you end up knowibf your deck so much better. when i have p.storm out, i know that my arjun deck has exactly 3 planeswalkers, i know that it has 8x 1 mana spells, 6 of which are sorceries. i know my curve, and the distribution of card types, because i know that at some point im going to have to play around this card and that is by far and away the biggest advantage you can get with the card because chances are your opponents will just bumble yhrough their deck thinking their plays are now random when in fact they are based on probability. this one card has made me a better deck builder because ive run it in so many shells that it has trained me how to distribute my card types and mana costs and more importantly to be aware of all of these things at all points of the game. people claim its chaos, its not, its math.

[@pisgood]

Personally, i refer the Mercadian Masquerade storage lands personally over the newer ones. Mostly because with newer ones, while they do tap for colorless, they also cost 1 mana to put a storage counter on them, effectively making it cost 2 colorless mana every turn you want to put a storage counter on it. Now while they have the added benefit of tapping for up to two colors of mana, i really don't think that the cost is worth the flexibility for cards like this. Not only that but it then costs you one mana to get any mana that you've stored in the land in the first place, making you a mana short when you actually empty the land (or just grab whatever you need). So that's 2 mana you're spending for every 1 mana you store in the land, and then a 1 mana tax when you want to take the mana you've been storing. Say it's the first land you play because you don't have a 1 drop. Say you put a storage counter on it every turn for 5 turns, playing lands and other spells like normal (assuming you've played one land every turn for 5 turns). That's 10 mana you've spent storing 5 mana. so you've effectively voided 5 mana over the course of 5 turns, wich if it was the only thing you could've done is all well and good, but far less than optimal. Meanwhile, take Saprazzan Cove. It comes into play tapped, so you only end up putting 4 counters on it over your first 5 turns, however those 4 mana stored only cost you 4 mana, minus 1 mana when you want to withdraw it because you tapped the land to withdraw rather than to add mana. In total, spending 5 mana over 5 turns to gain 4 mana of one color as opposed to spending 11 mana over 5 turns to get 5 mana of any two colors. Personally, i think that the restriction of a single color of mana can be overlooked when you consider that you are literally halving your cost to actually store and retrieve the mana. Not to mention these are not expensive lands. At the time of writing, Saprazzan Cove only costs 39 cents on Card Kingdom, while Dreadship Reef costs around 29 cents.

[@pisgood]

Very long winded and to a certain extent subjective argument that somebody else could have probably put much more elloquently than i have. Also less of an argument and more of a "Hey, look at these cards that nobody plays but are really good" type of thing.

[@cyricnosferat227]

paying attention to my mana curve. i've always been a fan of ramp so my first deck was full 5+ drops. the sweet cards you would never play because they cost too much.

[@NinjaSquid4EVR]

cyric nosferat my first edh deck that I still love is omnath locus of mana. the average CMC cost of that deck was around 6. if they killed my omnath the first few times I was fucked. but if I got him going it was giant green creatures for days

[@cyricnosferat227]

I really want to do bad things with him and just haven't picked one up yet. The blue/green god is just better and i really want to build it. I want to hide the the Locus of Mana in a deck you wouldn't expect. or I might just steal your Idea and do a mono green/ eldrazi ramp deck. I've been a mono green player sense revised. Droping Juggernaut on turn 2 ftw.... and other green 4 drops.... killing ppl with a "Stampede" ing army of forests.....

[@davidwidner8258]

new builder, this info is soooo helpful thanks guys.