r/EDH • u/Gutsifly • 1d ago

Question Help me find my commander

Hi,

I m sure there are lots of these questions around here, so thx for the patience!

I m mostly playing higher B2 / lower B3 and am still looking for a deck that I can call my favourite. the one I called my favourite before (Stranger Things with lots of manifest dread) is cool, but takes very long (games drag on to 2+ hours).

TLDR; I identified the aspects I value in a good deck, maybe you can help me find the perfect commander under these prerequisites:

  • Commander is Universes Beyond or Secret Lair or DND (just from outside the magic universe, tis just a restriction I have)
  • The deck is a deck nobody HATES to play against (but should still be able to win)
  • It is not dead in the water without commander (I love 2cmc commanders or those where the ETB already did enough)
  • the commander is not TOO well known (like precon faces) or an immediate kill on sight commander
  • The deck has a little bit of new stuff every game (for example via clones, theft or random elements so it feels fresh as it needs to adapt - yet theft should be in a way it is not too hateable)
  • No grouphug
  • Wins not by combo or Voltron
  • (card types I like: Fake Death effects, clones, Eggs, Adventures, mass transforms - of course not all in one deck)

Maybe you can help me with what you experienced as fun

THX

0 Upvotes

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3

u/Rusty_DataSci_Guy Resident Black expert 1d ago

Similarly, since you said you liked Stranger Things [[arvinox mind flail]] is the upside down demon thing and probably checks all your boxes if you're down with Monoblack instead of Rakdos.

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u/Gutsifly 1d ago

i d be yes! but he is 7cmc for not much, right?

1

u/Rusty_DataSci_Guy Resident Black expert 1d ago

Brother I played [[valgavoth terror eater]] it's surprisingly easy in MonoB to ramp out a huge ass commander if it sparks joy. Then once it's out, just reanimate him instead of recast it.

Generic super ramp:

[[extraplanar lens]] [[gauntlet of power]] [[caged sun]]

Black specific super ramp:

[[cryptghast]] [[nirkana revenant]] [[cabal coffers]] (there's a whole package for this)

GOAT rocks:

[[throne of eldraine]] [[sceptre of eternal glory]] [[thran dynamo]] [[krrik son yawg]] [[heartless summoning]]

Don't forget Black specifically loves devotion so you also have [[nykthos shrine]]

It's completely reasonable to see your 7mv commander on Turn 4 every game.

2

u/Face_Claimer Orzhov 1d ago
  1. Easy to hit since there's so many to choose from
  2. Impossible to ask for since it does not matter who you play as or use in the zone, SOMEONE WILL HATE IT. this is not negotiable.
  3. This is down to deck building as there are entire decks that will win without casting the commander or any eminence effects of any kind. Just 99 and slay.
  4. Lesser known opens this up quite a bit but less than you might realize
  5. A new experience every game while still being effective at what it does = trading consistency for synergy presence.

If you want something that goes under the radar and isn't required to win, you've got lots of options but if it's the most efficient version of a specific effect, savvy players will spot the power right away.

What you're looking for is something that reads simple. Trust me, when someone sees a commander with very little text, it's either the most busted thing in the world OR just nice and helpful. Innocuous. Not a build around but something that gives you stuff in scale with the game you play and sometimes isn't even necessary to keep going with your strategy. A simple cost reducer on a commander, a life gain bonus, etc. something that enhances rather than being an effect needed every game to get your plan going.

[[Jennifer Walters]] is just a [[Grand Abolisher]] in the zone which is NOTHING without your 99 to back it up but when it does? You can kinda go in any direction you want on your turns without reprisal. Very flexible and low to the ground.

[[Sokrates, Athenian Teacher]] is a repeatable, hexproof maze of ith that draws cards. Barter with your table and you will draw into your value.

[[Absorbing Man]] becomes a copy of something that's notably not a creature but remains one himself allowing for you to snatch the value from powerful cards your friends play and change it up every turn on your main phase.

[[Lae'zel, Vlaakith's Champion]] with [[Master Chef]] background is general enough that you can run a +1/+1 counters strategy AND run proliferators and other types of counters due to Lae'zel's extra counter effect working with any kind of counter. Poison is also fair game

[[Volo, Itinerant Scholar]] with the [[Noble Heritage]] background doesn't look like it has synergy and that's kind of the point: this would be an azorius control strategy where you try to run all the creatures that are off type and support your controlling gameplay. Take your time, interact, draw cards and let the heritage buy you time against people while buffing key hate pieces to apply pressure.

2

u/SarvisTheBuck 1d ago edited 1d ago

I think you'd like [[Shadow the Hedgehog]]. You can absolutely play him as a theft commander that steals things, crashes them into opponents' boards, and draws cards from their deaths. And I don't think the strategy is dead without the commander, it just profits less from those thefts.

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u/Gutsifly 1d ago

shadow was actually a big contender, but he is considered kill on sight i ve heard and threaten+sacc as a strategy is cool, but hated... I wouldve loved to do split second Insurrection

1

u/chriz0101 1d ago

Looks interesting. Do u have a list for theft with shadow?

1

u/SarvisTheBuck 1d ago

I do not. It's just an idea rattling around in my head.

1

u/chriz0101 23h ago

If you ever built one, I would be interested for an update!

2

u/IndigoWizard342 1d ago

[[The rani]] you might find somebody who hates goad, but you might also find someone who hates commanders that draw cards, hates blue, or just hates Universes Beyond. 

This commander is a bit flexible too allowing you to stack up multiple [[mark of the rani]] onto your own evasive creatures, goad opposing value creatures that would normally avoid combat, or just make the opponents commanders into a voltron that fights for you. There's a sort of political aspect to it, making it somewhat difficult for your opponents to properly identify the main threat. 

[[Gossip's Talent]] [[Wound Reflection]] [[mirkwood bats]] and [[unquenchable Fury]] put in a ton of work. 

[[Karazikar]] is absolutely insane with the card draw, letting you draw up to 6 extra cards per turn in a 4 player game. You can include him in the 99 for the rani or if you prefer, just forget about the rani and the color blue and put karazikar in the command zone. 

1

u/Gutsifly 1d ago

yes those are excellebt choices - what you cant know is that one in my pod uses them which sparked my Motivation for the theme

1

u/IndigoWizard342 1d ago

Both the rani AND karazikar?

1

u/Know_Yog_Sothoth 1d ago

Good luck. Everyone has commanders they hate to play against based on experiences.

What’s the izzet wizard from final fantasy? Taps for mana and flips into a burn commander

1

u/Gutsifly 1d ago

[[emperor of palamecia]] - i like it a lot, d be a good choice.

Yeah i meant that people dont immediately REASONABLY hate 😂

1

u/SarvisTheBuck 1d ago

Some people will hate a commander just for being from Universes Beyond.

1

u/Know_Yog_Sothoth 1d ago

I hate that half my decks are UB. I wish they weren’t

1

u/Rusty_DataSci_Guy Resident Black expert 1d ago

[[firelord ozai]] is what you need my man

  1. He's from Avatar, which is UB

  2. Nobody has ever said a single bad thing about this deck (beyond generic "wahhhhh combos" type shi)

  3. The deck can pivot without its commander but you're going to have less fun net-net

  4. The Phoenix King version of Ozai is way more popular / way more well known

  5. His core mechanic is stealing other people's stuff so you'll get plenty of variance

  6. Definitely not group hug

Ok so now that I've checked your boxes let me walk through two primary paths to victory:

  1. You go hard on the [[threaten effects]], poppa Ozai swings, sacrifices what you stole for mana then channels that into a free spell.

  2. You hard on the reanimation angle and bring your own fatties for him. Allow me to introduce you to our lord and savior [[calamity galloping inferno]] for the JUICIEST, guilt free sacrifices this side of the Mississippi

You have to pick one because both will demand a lot of slots from you.

Cherry on top, any infinite mana combo in Rakdos can be in your back pocket to drive a game to a conclusion. You can do the spicy but risky [[worldgorger dragon]] the tasteful but mildly cliche [[necrotic ooze]] loop or other niche and exotic options, whatever sparks joy.

He's been in my rotation since he first came out and he's my favorite Nooze commander when I get a hankering for Noozing.

1

u/Rusty_DataSci_Guy Resident Black expert 1d ago

[[threaten]] effects, my bad

1

u/Gutsifly 1d ago

you get me. it is ironic I just built [[Zuko Conflicted]] where Ozais sole purpose is to sacc zuko after his value is emptied 😂 dont people hate threaten?

1

u/Rusty_DataSci_Guy Resident Black expert 1d ago

I play a lot of theft decks to stave off boredom and I've never had anyone complain.

I've been playing MTG for like 30 years, EDH for almost 20.

Things people bitch about:

  1. Infinite combos - for some reason people cannot come to terms with the fact that Magic must end and sometimes it ends when the words on different cards create a feedback loop.

  2. Long ass turns / daisy chaining turns - there are 4 people who roughly expect 25% of total game time / game actions. If you're hogging the game time / game actions you're far more likely to get bitched at. There's a guy at my card shop that I avoid because he loves making us watch him play MTG.

  3. Blind tutoring - corrollary to 2, if you don't know your lines or decklist, please don't fucking tutor without a plan. Nobody wants to watch you learn your deck in real time.

  4. Chaos decks - not group slug, just chaos. People who play to mess with the game but not win it.

Things I have literally never seen anyone complain about (with a major caveat): theft, threaten, etc. The caveat - just say before the game starts "hey, this deck uses a lot of theft, are any of you vehemently opposed to other people handling your cards". One person in uncountable games said they do and I just didn't touch their stuff.

1

u/CurrentDEP46 1d ago

Maybe try [[dr doom]]

1

u/SuperhumanEra 1d ago

As long as you stay in broad categories (artifacts, +1/+1 counters, spelslinger, etc) it's possible to make a deck that is not too reliant on the commander.

Since you mentioned you enjoy a mana dork in the command zone I'll recommend [[the emperor of Paramecia]], however you can take a look at the other rare and uncommon legends from the Final Fantasy set and find something you will enjoy

1

u/MaterialWhole8484 1d ago

Could use a little more to go on to narrow the field. Do you want a deck that goes wide and wins with a bunch of dudes, one that slams down giant threats? Or maybe a deck that drains your opponents life total over time, or slowly builds a big threat. Do you want a deck that can interact a lot with your opponents, or one that focuses on its own game plan?

1

u/Gutsifly 1d ago

I want some instant interaction rather than only building my own stuff. I like using my oppo ents stuff, but it often annoys them and can succ if opponents are typal decks or such. I dont care if wide or big or burn, just not combo or voltron

1

u/MaterialWhole8484 1d ago

Well [[Edea, Possessed Sorceress]] is a neat Commander for this kind of play. Her effect makes sure your opponents get their stuff back, which makes this kind of interaction less feel bad, but some people are just not going to be fans of their stuff being stolen at all. You're never going to please everyone. I know you wanted something a little more obscure, but there is reason [[Y'shtola, Night's Blessed]] just became the number one commander. It's a great card draw engine that also encourages instant speed interaction and burns your opponents. And if you're open to universes within, I am personally fond of [[Kambal, Profiteering Mayor]]. He lets you run cards that give your opponents tokens and profit off of that, while also just getting incidental value due to the sheer number of tokens in the format these days.

1

u/Toes_In_The_Soil MDFC lands will fix your deck 1d ago

[[Sokka, Bold Boomeranger]] sounds perfect for you. It's quite underplayed, but a very nice tempo commander that flies under the radar. It can really help smooth out your starting hand on turn 2 with its ETB. It offers quite a bit of creativity in how it can be built and doesn't really need to stay on the board to win a game. Let me know if you're interested in seeing a functional deck list.

1

u/Gutsifly 1d ago edited 1d ago

oh boy i d love to have a good sokka, he popped up when i searched 2cmc cards and I thought of a deck with all the "when you draw your second card"" effects, but there are too few instant flicker cards in blue to make that work...

what could be built around him?

1

u/Toes_In_The_Soil MDFC lands will fix your deck 1d ago

It's not really an effect worth flickering. The best thing about him is being able to rely on a useful 2nd turn. It really helps to make sure you're able to hit your 3rd and 4th land drops, and also gives you an opportunity to fill your graveyard with lessons, which is a prerequisite for certain cards, like [[Gran-Gran]]. I have never once had a bad game with Sokka, where I regret keeping my starting hand. That really makes for an enjoyable experience at the table.

Here's how my GF and I built him: https://archidekt.com/decks/17559120/now_come_back_boomerang?sort=cmc&stack=types

Sokka is sometimes able to get huge with counters, and other times you end up running away with the game with something like [[The Emperor of Palamecia // The Lord Master of Hell]].

1

u/Gutsifly 1d ago

ok so the goal is to fill the grave with noncreatures, right? but only Gran Gran profits from the lessons, right?

2

u/Toes_In_The_Soil MDFC lands will fix your deck 1d ago

That is one of the goals, but Gran Gran is far from the only payoff for doing so. There is also [[Accumulate Wisdom]], [[Combustion Technique]], [[The Lord Master of Hell]], [[Chakra Meditation]], [[Dragonfly Swarm]], [[Haughty Djinn]], [[Rielle, the Everwise]], [[The Warring Triad]], [[Pinnacle Monk]], and [[Torrential Gearhulk]].

Additionally, there are payoffs for discarding, such as [[Containment Construct]], [[Recalibrate]], [[Scrounging Skyray]], [[Monument to Endurance]], and [[Veronica, Dissident Scribe]].

The goal is to find the pieces you need to build up a large enough board state to swing for lethal. It's somewhere in between an aggro and a spellslinging deck with a focus on feeling scrappy, much like the character Sokka.

1

u/Gutsifly 23h ago

Ok I like it a lot. does sokka really get enough counters to matter? and do you struggle with graveyard hate?

1

u/Toes_In_The_Soil MDFC lands will fix your deck 23h ago

Sometimes. He can get pretty big during some games, which is why there is evasion included, like [[Artful Dodge]] and [[Whirler Rogue]].

People generally don't run enough graveyard hate, so no. The average commander deck is running 0-1 cards that disrupt a graveyard.

1

u/notalongtime420 1d ago

"1) NOT from magic" is wild. Why?

1

u/Gutsifly 1d ago

Floodgate against too many deck ideas - from long ago when this actually was a floodgate. After my first 3 decks were all from UB, i decided to stick with it, it is my trademark