Hey everyone, I'm fairly new player to MTG. I've played some other card games but a lot of HS. Deck building in HS was relatively easy comparatively based on card options alone. According to Scryfall there are just under 27k cards available to this format. I've built EDH decks in HS but it's not really comparable to Commander because of the Commander.

With the unique characteristic of the Commander being practically always available to cast makes getting your "good" card out on curve quite easy. Doing some internet research I came across a channelfireball article where the author speaks about some mathematical simulations he ran where the results determined that one should never run cards that share the same CMC as your Commander.

What are your takes on this? The article also shared some information about Sol Ring being an always include and low CMC Commanders forgoing all mana rocks in favor of a high count of 42 lands.

Hello! I assume you read this:

https://www.channelfireball.com/article/whats-an-optimal-mana-curve-and-land-ramp-count-for-commander/e22caad1-b04b-4f8a-951b-a41e9f08da14/

My main problem with this is that it falls apart when you try to recast your commander... for two more mana. You aren't going to avoid multiple slots in the curve.

With that in mind, I definitely try to lessen the density in my high-cost commanders' curve slots. For example, my Be'lakor deck with its 6-mana commander tries to avoid running more 6-mana demons. I try to focus the supporting cast on the cheap side to maximize his initial EtB or in the 7+ to maximize his subsequent EtB.

But I'm building a Lavinia, Azorius Renegade deck and will not be cutting Arcane Denial because it has the same CMC.