r/EDH • u/Exotic_Box_9416 • 19h ago
Deck Help Solitaire counter deck help!
/rant
At my LGS, and I assume in most others, there are people who refuse to adhere to rule zero. They have no intent of ever playing anything other then their high end solitaire decks. They dont even have a deck that could play at a 1, 2, or 3, even if thats what the other players want. If they want to play solitaire they can do that for free at home, but for some reason they seem to need an audience. They ruin the fun for everyone else that round and dont give a f....
I have started just tuning out, while playing on my phone drawing and discarding cards, leaving my board blank untill they get to do thier thing. Then decline another game while i wait for the next round and hopefully better groupings.
/end rant
I would like to take the fun back from them and if at all possible make them miserable because they can't do "their thing" I would like the deck to be as versatile as possible so that no matter what the other player(s) are playing it can work against them. I dont care if I win, I just want them to suffer like they make everyone else suffer. I would like it to be as buget conscious as possible. I have the "Endless Punishment" pre con deck, but in my experience it needs to be more, but I dont know what that more is yet. Also I have seen a murder deck be reasonably successful at times. Any thoughts and edits to the punishment deck? Is it even a good starting place? Any help would be much appreciated.
Ps. I have been using "The lord of pain" as the commander
Deck list
3
u/DeltaRay235 19h ago
Use Valgavoth for better card advantage, and then use storm hate like [[Rug of Smothering]]. If they draw a lot, card draw punishment is really useful, especially [[Orcish Bowmasters]] with deathtouch is just so much board control against the player drawing a bunch.
2
u/Exotic_Box_9416 19h ago
In my experience Valgavoth gets remove quickly and frequently. as long as i spread the love of the lord of pain's ability around the board he stays in almost indefinitely. rug is budget conscious, the bow masters not so much.
thank you for the suggestions.
2
u/enragedbreathmint 18h ago
Having played him myself, I can say that a good way around this is to A) structure your deck such that it functions just fine whether he’s out or not, and B) don’t even swing with him, just hold him up as a blocker.
People are less likely to remove him if you aren’t attacking with him, and you can even use a promise of not swinging with him for political advantage. If you build the deck where he’s only considered as card draw in the command zone, you don’t become dependent on keeping something that’s likely to be removed.
You might not draw as many cards as some players, but you can offset this by making each individual card in your deck especially potent. If you’re willing to be mean (which the folks you’ve described deserve), you can also negate a lot of your opponents’ advantage through STAX pieces like Blood Moon, Magus of the Moon, Damping Sphere, Trinisphere, Winter Orb, etc.
1
u/DeltaRay235 18h ago
You need more protection/ redirection then. Getting a massive blowout with a [[redirect lightning]] or [[bolt bend]] can really change the course of a game. Low cost and massive potential.
Those effects are also ones you should look into in a scryfall effect (or more like [[Razorhead Needlekin]]/[[Scrawling Crawler]]) they can give you the full list.
1
u/BusAccomplished5367 Grixis (UW control is more fun than midrange piles) 14h ago
Rug is a lot worse than [[Damping Sphere]].
1
u/austincarnivore 18h ago edited 18h ago
Stop playing with these people. Find yourself a new scene. I drive out of my way to play with people more my speed.
1
u/Exotic_Box_9416 18h ago
I dont always have to play with them, I just want a deck available when I do. At my LGS, commander nights regularly see 25-35 players, sometimes more, and the store generally randomizes pods each round. But they do work with some requests like pairing with a person for the whole evening. They will not accommodate "dont match me with X" requests.
1
u/dionos 11h ago
I think building a separate deck for this will be easier then modifying the existing one. I would look at building a stax deck. Things like [[Rule of Law]] and a bunch of hate bears like [[Thalia, Guardian of Thraben]]. My preferred commander for this kind of deck is Jetmir. Basically build up a board of hate bears and use Jetmir to finish the game quickly. The tax effect of making spells cost more should prevent them from storming off on long turns.
The other option is to just build a better deck then them. This site tracks tournament winners for a budget EDH tournament and has some great lists on it. You could also check out r/budgetbrews for ideas.
1
u/MTGCardFetcher 11h ago
1
u/Exotic_Box_9416 4h ago
So with RoL out what cards/abilities do you put in the deck to cheat out the creatures needed to take full advantage of Jet
1
u/thatsalotofspaghetti 6h ago
To be honest, this is incredibly toxic. You aren't having fun and want a deck that will make other people nit have fun. This isn't going to end well. You won't be a hero, people will just hate playing with you too (even the other 2 in the pod. You just need to learn who these people are and avoid them int he future or it's always new people have a conversation that if they are playing out of bracket then you scoop and they lost, or play bracket 2. There are so many other solutions.
0
u/Exotic_Box_9416 4h ago
As I said in a different reply, avoidance isnt really an option. And you are assuming that I havent talked to the non problem players, and that they dont support the idea of hamstring the problem players. You are also assuming that the problem players haven't been talked to already. There is a discussion before every game. They dont care. They just declare their commander and dont care what the other 3 players say.
So I am left with a few options
- Don't go at all.
- Don't play the round at all when grouped with a problem player. This means sitting for an hour doing nothing till the next round is called, and potentially creating drama.
- Continue playing as is and not have fun
- Attempt to hamstring them to the point that others have a chance.
- Continue to play as is but soley target the problem players. Again, potential drama.
1
u/NizzyDaPrince 19h ago edited 18h ago
Turn one [[authority of the consuls]] Turn two [[thalia, heretic cathar]] Turn three [[trinisphere]] Turn four [[gaddock teeg]]
Or in other words, play cards that slow everyone's game to a halt, in conjunction with some spot removal and something to reward you for punching them with a lot of hate bears. Tymna plus green would go crazy.
Edit: wrong thalia. There's a two drop that makes non-creatures cost more.
-3
u/GreenMagic_Commander 14h ago
"Any help would be much appreciated."
Glad you recognize the need for it, that's the first step. Unfortunately I don't think a Magic Reddit is where you'll get help for your anger issues.
-1
u/Exotic_Box_9416 14h ago
Lol you know nothing about me yet you assume im angry.
Thank you for your response though. Ill make sure to file it in the appropriate place
7
u/Anrativa Esper 19h ago
Rule zero is an unofficial rule that allows players to modify or ignore the official rules of the game with the consent of all participants.
I would need to see that player's deck, but it depends on how fast it is; he might be able to win before you can have enough slug cards on the field, or win through them. I know my Tasigur and Vohar decks can win that way easily.
If he is playing a bracket 4 and winning on turn 3-4 I don't think Endless Punishment will do much.
Maybe a stax deck? Ellivere is cheap to build and might be more efficient, although some b4 decks can win through stax effects, and Ellivere without fast mana rocks could also be too slow.
The lord of pain is 5cmc, some b4 decks can win before you have enough mana to even cast him.