WHAT'S THE BEST THREE COLOR COMMANDER IN cEDH? - THE PLAY TO WIN PODCAST

Cam and Dylan discuss the best 3 color commanders in cEDH.
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[@RaijQuit]

As a Tivit player, this episode was an emotional rollercoaster

[@alexmusselman7090]

Came here for this comment 😂🤝

[@Bluecrush92]

As a Chulane player (I know it isn't good), emotional pit of despair is how I feel.

[@matustrophic]

Teller of Secrets would be an awful sphinx, too. You walk up expecting a riddle and they just blurt out a secret.

[@lvletal]

You have to tell them the riddle after they give you the answer

[@jemm113]

@@lvletal”Hark, adventurers! Do ye hear the chimes? It can only fortell but one event… DOUBLE JEOPARDY!”

[@lvletal]

@@jemm113 “Trebek, Teller of Answers” Or would it be Seeker of Questions?

[@jemm113]

@@lvletal could have two cards!

[@lvletal]

@@jemm113 flip mode, like you said, double jeopardy

[@veganwiener8047]

Just an FYI most Tayam lists don't run swift reconfiguration since it makes devoted druid not a creature, meaning tayam can't remove the counters for activations. If they combo with devoted druid, they'll lean more into effects that pump druid, like Shield Mate or Centaur Garden. Also, PLAY TAYAM ON THE CHANNEL, HE'S BEAUTIFUL

[@douglatins]

Just crew him with tayam no?

[@fosterdawson7339]

@@douglatinsit’s crew 5 :/

[@dmage2193]

@@douglatinsTayam can only remove counters from creatures, the second you try to crew Devoted Druid with infinite counters on it, it gets obliterated by SBA

[@HooterCooter]

​@@dmage2193 If I had $1 for every time Swift Reconfiguration was asked in Tayam deck advice, I'd have Jeff Bezos money

[@sund0gs]

@@douglatinsif you crew the devoted Druid it dies immediately to the -1/-1 counters

[@RagingReaper]

I think a reason Tivit also performs really well is it's doing pretty much everything you want in a cEDH deck. It makes mana as a return so you kind of payed 4 instead of 6 as you're voting Treasure almost all the time, and you get 3 card draw from clue most of the time. The deck is able to play really sturdy tools like Urza to turn clues into mana, or Kitten to keep gaining value from Tivit ETB. The ward 3 is insane to push through for most decks and usually ends up being left alone unless it gets hit with a board wipe. You also get to play with the powerful Esper cardpool which I think gives overall better quality then Grixis does. At my locals currently Tivit is one of the top 5 decks that keep winning or at least getting into top 16 in our weekly tourneys.

[@kenlikescarbs]

Inalla is still the Grixis deck of which I'm most terrified…

[@jonnybirch2268]

I absolutely love Inalla, I’ve had so many fast wins with her and it feels fantastic every time you pull off the combo. She was my first full-on bedgetless cEDH commander, and she will always have a special place in my heart for that

[@SkaalKesh]

One big thing to note with Elsha: a lot of lists useProteus Staff to stack the deck a la Doomsday, except it doesn’t fold instantly to Opposition Agent and Elsha letting you play off the top at flash speed lets you crack the “pile” whenever you want. No other deck can pull off stuff like that. Jeskai Doomsday is sweet.

[@cobalt3142]

"Who needs card advantage when you have an emblem in the command zone?" -Inalla, Archmage Ritualist, ca. 2017

[@Dafins100]

I think it’s gotta be Tivit or Tayam in my opinion. So consistent and inevitable.

[@kelm102]

In regards to Tivit, the saying "The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese." is appropriate.

[@jasonboe1752]

Guys u only need three extra artifacts to win with tivit and time sieve which is very easy to get to with like 6 extra turns

[@TheReqyem]

Only two as you can sacrifice the time sieve itself.

[@caseystanley4989]

@@TheReqyem then you would need an extra combo piece to continually recur your time sieve.

[@HughJayniss69]

You only need two extra and then sac sieve on the last go.

[@FullFatMayo1]

I’m not sure there are 4 cEDH decks better than Tivit let alone 4, 3 colour cEDH decks. Even at 3 it seems low. Although I think if people started treating Tivit like they treat Winota it gets much worse, stop letting it resolve.

[@ericotoole5335]

Think that's the problem with trying to rate these. Tayam is on top because nobody knows what he does. Once the table starts to realize it Tayam starts to get hit hard. It's a decent evaluation of current tournament setups but even still Tivit should be guaranteed 2nd in this list.

[@enricocloutier8609]

Tivit Is considered top1~3 best COMMANDER in Cedh. Is up there with Najeela and Tymna // Kraum

[@commanderpower99]

"Maybe we don't get Magic" is the kind of mtg content I want to hear 😂

[@sashawillow9064]

Cam's COMPLETE and TOTAL INABILITY to pronounce ANY. NAMES. OR. WORDS. EVER. will never fail to make me laugh. Y'all are so fun

[@Dgoold2]

I’d love to see a part 2 to this list including more of the three color decks not here, like Marneus, Jetmir, Shalai and Hallar, and Tasigur with some of the less popular 3 color decks. None of them are nearly as good as the ones on this list but it’s just fun to hear y’all talk about this stuff 😂

[@EnorchesDei]

Yeah, I was hoping to hear more about tasigur specifically, but I am sure a lot of people feel the same about another commander. The argument “just play blue farm, it is a better deck” feels like lazy argument

[@toctheyounger]

To speak more for Dihada, yes most builds are turbo, but it can definitely play into midrange nicely. It actually has a pretty good list of layered combos, and Broodlord has opened up a HUGE amount of flexibility in your lines. Plus, she can crack a doomsday pile. Deck is hella fun too. Dylan should give it a whirl.

[@chrisvanderheiden12]

"Inalla: Should be the number one but it's to hard to play." *Cuts to Tayam as number one* 💀💀💀

[@oKingsWild]

As someone still on zur in late 2024, ive found much greater success in NOT immediately grabbing necro. My preferred first grabs are rhystic or blind obedience, depending on the pod. In very rare cases do i full send the necro, and its usually when i already have a piece or 2 in hand.

[@tilaniebresler3047]

Ah you guys are my comfort show. Thanks for the great episode!

[@ZombieUnderground69]

Shalai and Hallar has had a few tops recently, if i'm not mistaken. Interesting Naya commander and does well breaking parity on it's stax pieces plus it has a 1 card combo w/ commander.

[@jd7391]

As a Zur player I'd like to bring up the fact that Zur can remove Tivit from play without the ward cost. The 3 mana white exile enchantments get put into play and the rules avoid the targeting.

[@CaptainQbvious]

14:28 love this little snippet about trying to win first in commander

[@lvletal]

As a player who always played control in every format before coming to commander… I live by “If they can’t win, you can’t lose”

[@TheRDRipley]

I would love a podcast where yall talk about commanders that are close but don't quite make the cut. Cards like Alela, Alibou, Kalamax, Neyali, etc.

[@SouDeAveiro]

Kess is my favorite commander but she has gotten a lot worse in a Dauthi Voidwalker world. However, the fact that she just inherently synergizes with what Grixis good stuff wants to do should get more credit. She has Intuition, Consult, Tainted Pact, doubling up of tutors making any single tutor able to get 2 card wins... She is the most resilient of the Grixis commanders and can routinely attempt many wins turn after turn and afford not to expend counters because she can plan on reusing cards rather than needing to fight on the stack. She is slow to start but once she gets moving she's like a slow moving tank bound to run over the table with value as fuel..also she gets slept on and rarely removed. I think she is positioned well. Counter my Ad Naus in your end step? Oh look another Ad Naus in my main phase...who else does that?

[@urgoingtojail3892]

Cormela the glamor Thief

[@7thCircleHobbies]

I just switched over to Tivit from a dimir deck. Tivit won in the local meta pretty handily. A lot of other people are experimenting with dilhada

[@danielgamboa6130]

Coming back to this episode, commendable use of litany, very immaculate vocab choice

[@rhettbright1076]

Babe, wake up. A new Play To Win pod just dropped!

[@adambuetow]

Kess was my favorite grixis commander until i found krark-silas. Still waiting for the day there is a grixis showdown!

[@bruhgh609]

That would be a good idea. Play to Win should have a showdown! Best of Grixis etc. Kess v Rog/Silas v Inalla v Be'lakor

[@wesleypollek4637]

Tayam is really living up to his title, the enigma of cEDH

[@TrollVision01]

thats was a fucking funny af interaction on the leonin "that took you 2 fucking seconds" had me dead

[@skinl3ss916]

Disappointed my cedh commander wasn't on this list, ive been waiting to see your thoughts on Marneus Calgar for awhile now. He would have fit perfect in this list of 3 color commanders.

[@madara4447]

Love Calgar and also Abbadon as my cedh commanders

[@lilyberry8268]

I play Marneus as my league deck and its pretty damn good. I recently cut Watcher in the Water though after about 30 games with it in the list. What are your thoughts on Watcher?

[@madara4447]

@@lilyberry8268 it’s a bit slow for my taste, but I run Elisa and the pirate that creates treasure

[@josephahrens862]

do a best three color commander game where you guys have the top 4 of this list

[@jonnybirch2268]

As a couple of thoughts as a long-time, OG Tivit player, the fact that he’s in colors that utilize early game stax/control pieces is extremely powerful, because like you mentioned he’s an extremely powerful late-game commander. He can go fast, since he has dimir, but being able to control the early game and dominate the late game is super good. Also, there’s something to be said for the psychological aspect of voting that isn’t always immediately apparent. It really causes the table to try to work together, but you get differing opinions that then divides your opponents further, making them focus more on their own game/each other and let you kind of get away with murder

[@jonnybirch2268]

Not to mention the fact that he provides both mana and card advantage in the command zone

[@jodylester9118]

I think Zimone and Dina can earn an honorable mention in the future. I keep feeling like I'm SUPER close to getting that deck competitive. It's like I'm dancing around the right answer, but not quite landing on it.

[@jonfeltham4726]

As a Dyslexic, I love the pronunciation debates.

[@AseAPS]

I know you guys changed your evaluation of Tivit, but that deck is cracked. I've been playing it since Ian did a deck tech on it. I've played it a number of ways now: Ad Nauseam turbo, hard stax, and, now, the deck focuses on value engines. This is by far the best way to play the deck. The fact that you just spend the first several turns safe, hiding behind a wall of interaction, well getting tons of incremental value is just amazing. When you go for the win in Tivit, you normally have enough protection to just get there. Not to mention, Tivit gives you cards and mana, and he is a combo piece.

[@BigDaddyDirtHog]

Cool to see Dihada getting love. I run her as a treasure reanimate legendary deck in a more casual pod. She's become one of my favorite decks to pilot.

[@tacobell2009]

I think y'all are actually underestimating Rocco. I would personally put them right behind Tayam. The turbo version is so consistent and runs enough interaction that stax is often just a minor speed bump on your way to the win. Can easily win through RoL effects, and barely cares about counters as a creature deck.

[@zeroisnine]

Maybe looking to the Nymris list that used edicts and some staxs pieces would be a good shift for Kess. She kinda has a similar card efficiency

[@caterinagerbasi1594]

honestly lots of these really powerful but dated commanders should have a re-work in general. again. like Animar who had a bunch of people remaking the deck for a long time

[@thomas_was_taken]

Tivit can win the turn it is cast, Zur rarely makes it to the next turn lol

[@Tryc3]

It's pronounced Siv lol great episode. I'm enjoying Zur

[@hellproof2379]

Okay , so I’m happy this is a pod cast but I 💯 was believing this was game play video with the title

[@TheReqyem]

I would put Inalla at no 1 it is also very resilient if not for exile. If Spell seeker touches the grave from any reamiation it can win. It also has access to breach and dockside lines, as it runs an extensive reanimator list.

[@vansinkalliandrios8997]

Captain's Log: Video #7,863,984 I continue my arduous journey to obtain as much cEDH knowledge as possible. I can't remember the last time I ate, or gave my body the necessary hydration, but I MUST keep going.

[@chrisedward9161]

Question for Cam and Dylan! I want to make a Jeska deck for cEDH and was wondering which do you find better, Jeska/Ishai or Jeska/Tymna? And if Tymna, which version? Nausless, bolas, ad naus etc. Great video though! Love me some 3 color commanders. I definitely agree with the top 5

[@PlaytoWinMTG]

Tymna! I’m currently playing with out naus. Not sure if it’s right

[@chrisedward9161]

@PlaytoWinMTG thank you! Nausless mad farm it shall be then! Keep up the great work guys

[@cesarcarrizales7162]

Do you guys participate in cedh tournaments? I think it would be cool if yall did a breakdown of a tournament run. Love the yalls content!

[@andresenriquezgomez6910]

I think that there are several relevant decks you missed in this tier list, in particular Shalai and Hallar. That Commander has been around only for a few months and it has already top16d three big tournaments. It will soon be recognised as a force in the format, and I would put it only below Tivit and Tayam as a 3 color commander. I even put it above Rocco as the best Naya commander in the format. Anyways, as always it's a great video!!

[@definitelynotmany4972]

37:10 You can cheat hulk with pattern of rebirth but you need and extra creature and academy rector, but you need 2 extra creatures

[@drewdogg416]

My top fun of with zur? Wizard class. If people don't pay attention, play a lab man jace or lab man himself and a benthic biomancer down the line and you've got yourself a sneaky win right there. (I'm a total jank combo fan and god I love that one specifically lol)

[@darkcarbonmedia8207]

Tivit's strength comes with its flexibility and ability to protect its own win cons with how much value it generates. And grafdiggers cage shutting down so many decks and not itself is big too.

[@RussellJonesZBT]

Man, Grafdigger's early makes so many people at my pods sad. It's great. Like three decks without blue all unable to win because they can't find artifact removal.

[@martynass]

Loved it! 😂 The list looks great and the insight on all of it is very accurate and good. The trash talk on Tivit was so great as well 😂 It's good but it shouldn't be 😂 Great vibes, great podcast as always, love it.

[@groover1der]

Cam you should run Savage Summoning in your Rocco deck to flash it out a toolbox win

[@Haaaseo1]

I really wanna know (or watch 👀) how Maelstrom Wanderer deals with these kind of decks tbh cuz' i'm currently working on a msw tech

[@Highwang]

Part of me really wishes Tivit actually performed better on the channel itself, but man the what 0-5(?) record so far is really telling of how it struggles to break out of the high-powered casual realm into what comp is doing. One day you'll all see the power of 3rd best!

[@TheReqyem]

Yeah he has only won a lot of mayor tournaments.

[@TeamSprocket]

@@TheReqyem Codie put up a lot of good results for a while too, but where is he now, and can you tell me why this is relevant?

[@enricocloutier8609]

Tivit is considered by a lot of player one, if not the best, Cedh Commander atm

[@blakehensley2135]

Dillan: 😆 Cam: 🥰

[@mcandrolallendelapena6375]

Man the hate on Tivit 😂

[@kingcherubix7064]

In naya you technically can cheat protean into play, with natural order but requires another creature which you most likely will have because dorks and stuff, but there are also super weird cards like lure of prey which can get him instant speed and win on someone else’s turn if you have a way to sac hulk immediately, or dramatic entrance.

[@chrisbedrin3618]

For Minsc you're usually using Pattern of Rebirth to get Hulk into play and you can use Academy Rector to get the Pattern directly into play and onto Boo. Having a free sac outlet plus a free creature to sac in the command zone just works really well for Hulk lines in Naya.

[@LockeUSC]

I feel like the Tivit as the wincon got over weighted some here. I main Tivit, and almost all of the time he is just a harder to kill version of something like Malcom/Krom draw cards and making mana. my wins come almost exclusively from some combination of silence effects into thoricale because everyone has this phobia of the big dumb catbird and either waste enough interaction on it to open the window for my eventual win or hold back when they shouldn’t for fear of him resolving. Not enough emphasis is put into the fact that at the end you are still esper with the weight of all the best cards in the format. I cannot agree more with what was said about winning second. Tivit is, IMO, the best win second deck by orders of magnitude. Just my dumb opinion 2 cents. Thanks for amazing content as always.

[@rosstrow2273]

I'm not to sure if anyone said this, but Pattern of Rebirth can be used to cheat out Protean Hulk in a Minsc and Boo Deck for 4 mana. Has been a lifesaver

[@emilioperez5426]

I'll die on this hill but managorger hydra is a bomb in tayam, especially in a very high interaction meta

[@MTG_Ronin]

Tasigur didn’t even get a mention 🤣

[@robbiehardy3228]

Hey, not trying to tell you guys what to do, but you should join a tournament. I would love to hear about your experiences, and get your opinion about where the meta is

[@runeserpent1449]

i have a full inalla cedh deck put together with just like 10 proxys, but havnt had enough confidence to play inalla with a group of people lol. its a really fun thinking game though. i just play 3 turns and try to win, adventually ill be able to play it with humans but prolly not xD

[@egoish6762]

Love me some Kess but i know she's not number 1, i like to play her into practice rounds to be fair. I've built blue farm and cry farm for serious stuff. I do think recency bias and the quality of rog/si does keep kess out of the meta, i'm sure she could push some wins.

[@K1aymor]

It's Animar. 11 years away from drinking age (in America). What more can I say?

[@K1aymor]

Temur is stronger than Mardu. Which should keep Animar in slot 3/4 and now 4/5 because of rocco.

[@mitsosoftheelves]

Are you going to do a similar one for 4-color non-Partner Commanders?

[@DJMigrane]

In a world where every cEDH deck is running as much fast mana as it can, a six mana commander is not a problem. I hane seen (and done) a turn 2 Tivit and that's not an uncommon thing. So, one had better have an answer either in their opening hand or draw one within the first 3 turns because there won't be a turn 4.

[@hip5702]

You don't run the Devoted druid + Swift Recon combo in Tayam as she can only remove counters from creatures and not artifacts. However you do have Devoted Druid + Centaur Garden and you can grab Centaur with Crop Rot to go infinite at instant speed.

[@TheRDRipley]

Surprised Raffine wasn't mentioned. Probably wouldn't make the cut but it's an interesting commander.

[@andythomas6236]

Dosan the fallen leaf is my go to answer in korvold when playing in heavy interactive pods go for dosan before the Dockside chain if they don't interact ggs if they do just renaimate and make another win attempt korvold also just got mirkwood bats delighted halfling the one ring and a better peer into the Abyss thr last march of ents huge upgrades for korvold my decks been pulling wins left and right I'm playing in a local tourney next Sunday at my lgs and I think korvolds ready to knock some heads. The big thing is piloting him properly. My deck has like 18 different routed I can take to make a win attempt each one is better in different scenarios and situations and the big think is knowing which line to maneuver and when to swap to a different line because the the original lines been cut off etc. Edit I forgot orchish Lumberjack which combos perfectly with ruthless technomancer

[@insertname5195]

top 10 top 10s

[@GoldSabertooth]

This aggression will not stand, you know. This aggression will not stand, man!

[@Ryan-rt5bl]

Zur has gotten so much support recently that it's insane. The new eldrazi precon has a flash enabler too, so within like 3 months zur went from 2 enablers to 5. You are basically ensured to hit one at this point off necro.

[@Sharp2792]

Another indisputable top 10 list!🎉

[@mikestephens267]

Personal Opinion, Animar is not a top 10, no one is really playing it, since it plays so many creatures it lacks interaction and can be slow - but it's a fine deck. I would put Korvold in and make Animar an honorable mention. Might have added Raffine, Tasigur and Sidisi to the list to give you 15, but that's all just quibbles

[@lilyberry8268]

I think Animar won a major tournament recently and has put up multiple top16s

[@ipwnzuall2000times]

tayam is like abzan gitrog at this point. resilient BG commanders that win with a combo nobody understands

[@dr.pultandmrgrimm991]

I'm surprised why a Sultai commander wasn't mentioned.

[@wilso356]

YO, that holiday world shirt though.

[@PlaytoWinMTG]

Love that park!!

[@jaredarquette6320]

Next merch drop "All the homies have Tivit"

[@ayejay7024]

I really think the reason rayan is so good is solely because nobody knows what the fuck they’re doing against it. Everyone understands Tivit well but it is extremely resilient and hard to deal with and places well in tournaments consistently. Might be new top 3 best decks. Tayam also is but we have yet to see how it’ll do once everyone finally figured it out.

[@emilioperez5426]

There's so many combos that tayam can run that i think that may be pretty difficult. Theres some sneaky 3+ card combos that can just accidentally happen through the game 😅

[@B1gBingus]

I want whatever you guys were smoking when evaluating Tivit

[@funnyapples2717]

Couldnt you save a couple steps in this combo by going for a saw in half/dualcaster mage combo? And then cast anala along the way and kill everyone with her 2nd ability or would that need too much mana to start off with?

[@funnyapples2717]

It might already be an outlet but I feel like it could also be devastating with another blue mana available or rocks/moxs in hand to perform it

[@tonyvillalta4487]

Such a dope episode!

[@emctwoo]

Korvold has the problem of being too strong a combo piece to be left alive to work as a strong beater.

[@xthexreverendx]

No love for Jetmir and essentially having a winota stax build+green?

[@duelradio]

As much as this makes me want to build Inalla, it's just not Rog/Si 😔

[@PhoenixRNH]

Tivit may cost 6 but it gives you a minimum of 2 mana back straight away and can be cast well with JL. Zur isn't great with JL and needs to stick until your next turn and atrack without being interrupted and is easier to remove

[@MutilatedBunny]

I was losing my shit with Tivit's rating. "Yall are so smart, how you putting him this low?!" Also if I have a tutor, i dont need to let the table take anoher turn, Tivit can attack on my extra turn. I was really surprised to see Tayam this high. 100% think that is just from not having him see a lot of play here. He folds to the proper hate, has several ways to disrupt the combo (but runs redundancy to help stop that). If you learn him, he is basically Gitrog with more steps by a little harder to shutdown entirely.

[@ti280]

Minsc cheats hulk into play with pattern of rebirth. One card win con with the token minsc produces

[@mattd.8478]

Where does Tasigur go in the ranking?

[@linus437]

Me first, Zur is the best!

[@barrelofbugs]

Yeah! I agree!

[@ffdpwkuk]

Ramshi and ragavan should be on the list

[@djdilha]

I have a minsc deck that I always play, and minsc with academy rector is litteraly a 1 card combo, cause you get pattern, then put it onto the hamster, then kill the hamster, get hulk, and to follow that theres 2 or 3 hulk lines on it I use a Lot of rituals to try win as fast as I can, cause the Gas on the deck is not so good so, i actually won a tournmant on my city here on Brazil, against a lot of top tier decks I think Minsc deserves to be higher than Dihada and Higher than rocco, cause without blue, or you win fast, or you gets destroyd by farm decks

[@simondebesai5947]

The Chulane downplay is crazy

[@Fogshaper]

yo dylan you should 100% be on madga in j+t.

[@TripsAhoy]

Def a good list! 👍🏿

[@mitchelfulcer2874]

Stupid work.... waited 6 hrs to watch this .... discovered a whole new version of anxiety 😂

[@jergin4596]

Derevi represent 🐦

[@stormtrooperjeepjk]

@moderatlyanonymous plays tivit like gold..... Unless he greedy keeps but tivit romps with a good package under it

[@alexhoude]

I saw this and thought it was gameplay and then thought it was Sunday stop scaring me😭

[@bigschaeff1]

Love your biased hatred of Tivit, hilarious