This does mean that some cards essentially have duplicates, such as [[Kodama’s Reach]] and and [[Cultivate]]. While these cards texts are identical, because the cards have different names, a commander deck could include 1 of each. Commander is a unique format in that it is generally played multiplayer.
The main reason to use EDHREC is that it’s a free resource that compiles a lot of info to help you decide which cards work best in your deck based on the mechanics you want with certain commanders. If your budget allows it, I would also recommend playing lands that generate all colors of mana, such as City of Brass and tarnished Citadel. The only other weird land I included is Mystic Sanctuary since it lets us get back a spell from the graveyard.
Finale of Devastation is also a pretty good wincon, letting us fetch a large hydra, and with 10 mana, giving all our creatures +x/+x and haste until the end of the turn. If the board state devolves into a draw, slamming some 10/10 (or 20/20, or 40/40) hydras with haste and another +10/+10 should let us end the stalemate. Building your deck can be one of the best and most enjoyable parts of magic the gathering along with actually playing a game with your friends. It may even contain some advice for those who have some experience as it covers many aspects and hopefully everyone can find a sector that will give him some insight on how to improve his deck building.
Commander Deck Creation
It’s not a question of “is Mind Stone underperforming” it is instead “is my ramp package underperforming.” This allows you to look holistically at your deck and see where the shortcomings are. It seems counter-intuitive, but restricting what you can play by establishing rules (to follow or break) actually makes it so the players have an increased opportunity for creativity. To read more about what I have to say on card advantage, read my article about White in Commander. I’m going to use this as my first opportunity to plug a personal belief of mine.
Every time a commander deals combat damage to a player it also does commander damage. If a player receives 21 or more commander damage from a single commander throughout the course of the game, they lose. Alternatively, if your commander is a colorless card with no colored mana symbols like Kozilek, the Great Distortion, then you’d be limited to colorless cards plus wastes instead of basic lands.
What lessons have you learned when building Commander decks? Let me know in the comments below, or join the discussion over in the Draftsim Discord. These tips come from my experiences, from what I’ve learned going from playing Limited for years to a format that’s wildly different. It’s a culmination of what my friends have taught me and what I’ve learned teaching the format to others.
When we cast lots of spells, we might as well try going all out. This will be one of our major ways to get ahead and possibly win. Given our aim was mid-power there is no flat-out storm combo here, just some storm pieces that could give us some value. Strixhaven Stadium is also in here as a bit of a cute alternate win-con.
But this isn’t the five color Go-Shintai of Life’s OriginGo-Shintai of Life’s Origin that gives you unfiltered access to all of those cards AND the ability to create Shrine creature tokens. This is its weird, mono-blue cousin that less than 100 people have bothered to build according to EDHREC. The metaphorical Eldrazi is the final piece to build a better Commander deck. Your deck won’t close out the game if it’s all ramp and interaction and neat ideas. It just durdles around until one of your opponents shows you their Eldrazi.
In terms of the number of cards in a package, many people recommend the 8×8 method. A package is a group of cards that perform some function for your deck. Furthermore just having a Mana Crypt doesn’t make a deck busted, but having all the fast mana does begin to tilt the odds in your favor. Everyone has their own internal system for how to rank power but I hope this has given you a bit of an idea of what to expect. Of course, you can make a jank deck with these good cards but it’s a nice rule of thumb. Now that I know how I want to play, I need to think about how strong of a deck I want it to be.
Casual EDH Decks
I’m John Sherwood, and in this article, I’m putting the tutor in tutorial. This article is a how-to guide for deck construction using many of the tools available on EDHREC, Archidekt and Commander Spellbook. This tutorial is intended to be a living document to take you through building a deck from start to finish. We’ll update it from time to time to stay current with the features of these sites. Are you excited to start building Commander decks right away and want a few key pointers?
How to Build a Commander/EDH Deck for $20 or Less (a Step-By-Step Guide)
I always recommend between lands depending on what your deck will do. Tricky Terrain is a Simic () land ramp deck, and if you haven’t tried one of these decks in Commander, a typical card searches a land from your library and has a downside of drawing a card. This is the MH3 deck that gives you access to the best counter spells, the biggest creatures and some of the best win you the game cards.
I already have some cards and colors in mind but before I set anything in stone, let’s look at power level. The Additional Filters sort only the currently displayed results. There are fourteen additional filter options, and you can layer them. After the Advanced Filter trimmed my results to a manageable number, I used the Additional Filters to look for card draw spells. These tags come from Scryfall, where the card tagging is crowdsourced. This means the EDHREC data for tagged cards is based on community feedback, not just raw numbers.
You might be starting from scratch or starting from a preconstructed combos edh product. Either way, EDHREC provides intuitive menus and popularity rankings to help you find the leader for your next 100-card pile. Start by listing 30 to 40 cards that synergize well with your chosen commander or archetype’s game plan. I like this range to give you more flexibility on what cards you want to add and which ones can be cut.