Topic: Getting started with Commander/EDH

Okay.  I've been playing quite a while now, but until recently all were casual/kitchen table matches.  Over the past nine months or so, I've been enjoying FNM and Saturday Magic, but have only ever played Standard in sanctioned events.  Some of the Saturday group want to play Commander more.  I've never played that format, but have some basic knowledge of it, and am looking for some tips on building an EDH deck.

Here's what I know:

  • 100 card deck (including the commander)

  • Not more than one of each card except for basic lands

  • One Legendary Creature as the commander

  • All other cards in the deck are limited to the colors of the commander's mana cost

Here's what I don't know/need to know:

  • What's the general pace? Do things typically get rolling early, or do things really start rolling on or after turn three?

  • What breakdown of land/creatures/other spells is recommended?

  • Can any other Legendary Creatures be included in the deck, or only the commander?

  • While things vary with each hand, typically how many turns do you see in a commander match?

  • Because the card variety is so great, are there any construction tips for achieving consistent results?

  • Does the deck size/play format affect how you look at your mana curve (i.e., do you include more higher cost creatures because you are more likely to get them into play)?

Your input will be greatly appreciated.

UPDATE: For now, my options are limited to the cards I currently own.  I will look at acquiring other recommended cards after I have a chance to play the format a few times, to decide whether or not I like it.  If able to provide feedback based on my current inventory options, alongside any other general recommendations, it will be greatly appreciated.


Thanks!

Last edited by HikingStick (2012-09-25 20:25:15)

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Re: Getting started with Commander/EDH

HikingStick wrote:
  • What's the general pace? Do things typically get rolling early, or do things really start rolling on or after turn three?

  • What breakdown of land/creatures/other spells is recommended?

  • Can any other Legendary Creatures be included in the deck, or only the commander?

  • While things vary with each hand, typically how many turns do you see in a commander match?

  • Because the card variety is so great, are there any construction tips for achieving consistent results?

  • Does the deck size/play format affect how you look at your mana curve (i.e., do you include more higher cost creatures because you are more likely to get them into play)?

My 2 cents:

1. With the group I play with, it's usually 3-4 or later before a bunch starts happening.  You can get some action earlier but most peoples' commanders cost 3+.
2. I usually do 35-40 lands, other than that it's kind of dependent on your commander whether you have a Kiki-Jiki or goblin deck and want to go heavy creatures, or a Talrand and want a whole lot of spells.
3. Other legendaries are fine, only one of them is your "commander"
4. Huge variation, I have been in some games that lasted an hour+ because turns were taking 15 minutes each.  On the flip side, the last game I played I only got 4 turns or so while the other guy riku'd a time stretch and some other turn manipulation and destroyed me before I got a 5th turn.
5. I wish I knew.
6. Usually, yes.  There are many more ways to cheat creatures into play as well, and you have to figure your opponents will have lots of large creatures so you have to have a means to compete.  Even if it's a bunch of stuff with deathtouch, etc...

Re: Getting started with Commander/EDH

Ahh a post I can contribute too smile

1. Most if not all of the first 3-4 turns are spent getting your manabase to what you need to reliably cast spells and creatures espically if your running more than a 2 color general. There are very few decks that start faster even with a nut draw and with Primeval banned (if you play with the Ban List) its not as easy to get those non-basics that really can turn the game in your favour (Cabal Coffers and Urborg Tomb of Yawgmouth)

2. This is part totally based on what general you choose and then what that general does. If you choose Animar for example your going to run more creatures than instants and sorceries to take advantage of Animar making creatures cheaper (really fun casting an Ulamog for 0). Where as if you choose Talrand, your going to want more instants and sorceries to get drakes on the field. You might think that since you only need 1 of a given card it shouldnt be too hard to fill out a deck with stuff, but ask any EDH player with the having almost every single magic card in existance to choose from, your bound to find some youve never heard of and want to include them in the deck. that 99 runs out pretty quick. something else to consider although its kind of stupid is that some people just choose a general for their colors and don't even use them. To me thats kinda of stupid and defeats the purpose of this unique format but to each his own I guess.

2a. Your Land count should fall any where from from 30-40 (unless your playing Azusa, Lost but Seeking where 45 is average) depend on your mana curve, number of colors being used and if you choose to run artifact ramp (ie Signets, Prismatic tailsmen). I personally never have less than 32 lands in any deck with fetches and some sort of ramp and I dont usually have an issue.

3. You can have as many legends in your deck as you want. See Captain Sisay. Of course only 1 can be the general but there is no limit to the amount included.
4. Like its already stated, it varies alot and on the types of decks being played. Most games see 25-30 turns if people are casual but if its more competitive decks being played, games can end very fast with the amount of infinite combos that can be achieved.

4. There really isnt a way to be consistant. You just need to do the best you can with what you have to work with. A few tips I would suggest that I follow when I build decks
         A. recursion is important. Bc you only have a single copy of a spell in a deck its important to have a back plan incase it gets countered or removed before you use it. Obv some colors have an easier time recurring things than others (Green has Eternal Witness compared to Red that has...)

         B. Include some kind of graveyard hate (Tormod's Crypt, Relic of Progentius) just in case. Alot of Generals can do crazy things with the gravy yard so it never hurts to have a way to make sure you have a way to deal with it without relying on your opponents to help.

         C. Make sure you have ways to draw extra cards reliably besides your 1 a turn. In a game that revolves around dealing with multiple people that have multiple threats you need to make sure you have more than 1 answer waiting in your hand when the time comes or it gets back your turn. This part is prolly the hardest to establish since people dont like you drawing more cards than them but just something to consider.

         D. This is the Format of Ramp. Primevals banning should drop it alot but its still important to get mana up so you can cast your fatties.

         E. Tutors are the best way to get what your looking for. Some are better than others as well as cheaper, but no tutor is really that bad that you cant make it work. Granted there are some that hold no purpose in a singlton format but being able to look for answers or combo pieces or even lands when you need it is alway important.

I hope this helps atleast alittle smile

Last edited by Helios52 (2012-09-24 14:11:57)

Re: Getting started with Commander/EDH

Here's a list I've been keeping of EDH format staples.
http://deckbox.org/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1871

give or take suggestions, It's there to help smile

Re: Getting started with Commander/EDH

One thing to note is that mono-color is really really fast in EDH oftentimes but if you're playing casually it's often more fun to play slow games at least IMO.

It looks like all of your questions were answered very well above but if you'd like different thoughts I can offer some.

The speed of games is also relative to how many people are playing, for example, I never play with less than 4 people so I play very slow games but 1v1 can be fast

Re: Getting started with Commander/EDH

Monolith wrote:

Here's a list I've been keeping of EDH format staples.
http://deckbox.org/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1871

give or take suggestions, It's there to help smile

That's a very helpful thread, as have been the other replies.  Thanks, everyone!

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Re: Getting started with Commander/EDH

Monolith wrote:

Here's a list I've been keeping of EDH format staples.
http://deckbox.org/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1871

give or take suggestions, It's there to help smile

Make sure to check this against the official banlist at http://www.wizards.com/Magic/TCG/Resour … -commander

I know Tolarian Academy is banned, but is on Monolith's list.  Sundering Titan as well, but I think that was banned after Monolith wrote that up.

Last edited by Nighthawk (2012-09-24 16:37:30)

Re: Getting started with Commander/EDH

Nighthawk wrote:
Monolith wrote:

Here's a list I've been keeping of EDH format staples.
http://deckbox.org/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1871

give or take suggestions, It's there to help smile

Make sure to check this against the official banlist at http://www.wizards.com/Magic/TCG/Resour … -commander

I know Tolarian Academy is banned, but is on Monolith's list.  Sundering Titan as well, but I think that was banned after Monolith wrote that up.

good point to bring up.
besides it being an old thread I made, I don't always keep track of band cards as I should.
I play casual EDH, which the group I play with are lax on Wotc guidelines.  "we're just out to have fun smile"
So do cross reference my list with wizards ban list.

Last edited by Monolith (2012-09-24 18:07:24)

Re: Getting started with Commander/EDH

imsully2 wrote:

One thing to note is that mono-color is really really fast in EDH oftentimes but if you're playing casually it's often more fun to play slow games at least IMO.

It looks like all of your questions were answered very well above but if you'd like different thoughts I can offer some.

The speed of games is also relative to how many people are playing, for example, I never play with less than 4 people so I play very slow games but 1v1 can be fast

reminded me of a deck I played against recently.. Mono-Red Goblin Token...
it made the game interesting,.. let's just say that.

Re: Getting started with Commander/EDH

Interesting that mono-red Goblin tokens would get mentioned.  I started working with Gisela, and quickly realized I could make two EDH decks--one white/red and one mono-red.  The mono-red deck has Krenko and token generation.

Please take a look at my first two efforts, and let me know what you think:

White-Red Angels (Commander: Gisela, Blade of Goldnight)
http://deckbox.org/sets/233859

Mono Red (Commander: Krenko, Mob Boss)
http://deckbox.org/sets/233857

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Re: Getting started with Commander/EDH

I've been thinking about making a Krenko based Goblin token deck as well, when I stumbled upon Voracious Dragon.  A must include if you ask me.

Re: Getting started with Commander/EDH

HikingStick wrote:

Interesting that mono-red Goblin tokens would get mentioned.  I started working with Gisela, and quickly realized I could make two EDH decks--one white/red and one mono-red.  The mono-red deck has Krenko and token generation.

Please take a look at my first two efforts, and let me know what you think:

White-Red Angels (Commander: Gisela, Blade of Goldnight)
http://deckbox.org/sets/233859

Mono Red (Commander: Krenko, Mob Boss)
http://deckbox.org/sets/233857

If you're running Gisela Heartless Hidetsugu is a requirement, auto win if everyone has an even life total smile

Re: Getting started with Commander/EDH

Well I would say your off to a good start smile My 2 cents -

Gisela - Love her in decks, hate her as a general. She just costs alittle too much to be reliably cast and since she doesnt have haste,  she dies and needs to be cast for 9 the next time. Boros is not known for ramp lol. Dont get me wrong she is an absolute house but Red is the weakest color of the 5 in EDH aside from Goblins (hey look at that!) Personally if you wanted to angel tribal I would used Kaalia just cause she can more reliably get out angels plus you get black which gives you access to Angel of Despair, Selenia, Tariel just to name a few. But thats really up to you smile.

Life gain in EDH is often not very good bc of how commander damage works. Combat Damage done by a single commander can never go away during a game no matter how much life you have. For example if you hit some with your Gisela they would take 10 general damage from her ( She doubles her own damage dont forget). Then say they somehow gain a 1000 life, they still technically have 10 Gisela damage on them so if you can manage to do 11 more points of damage to them with Gisela you would win. Keep mind that damage between generals doesnt stack, so hitting person A with Gisela for 10 then person A gets hit again by a Progentius for 5 does not stack the Commander damage to 15. each general needs to do 21 general damage to a single player.

Dont get me wrong you should try to run alittle life gain bc not all decks rely on swing in with the Commander, but unless your building a pure life gain deck where your win con is Feldiar Sovereign I would stick to things like True Conviction or Loxodon Warhammer if you really sold on it.

You cant use Feeling of Dread in a R/W deck bc it has the blue mana symbol in the flashback cost. You can only have cards that have the red or white mana symbol in them bc you need to abide by the Color identity of your General. The same is true for lands and things with hybrid mana like spitemare (hes fine but if his colors were White/Blue you couldnt use him)

One of the most powerful forms of removal in this format is tucking, which means to shuffle a card into a library. Cards like Oblation and Chaos Warp are good examples of this. It can really set some decks back if their General gets tucked and a player needs to either wait to try and draw it or draw a tutor to find it. Remove from the games spells like Path to Exile and Swords to Plowshares are really good for getting rid of indestructible creatures or an annoying creature that either is getting abused bc of graveyard sheningans or something similiar.

In any case Ill throw out some suggestions I would to add

Elixir of Immortality - Goes in every deck of mine. I cant tell you how many times saving my graveyard has saved me later on in the game. One of the most underrated cards smile
Angelic Aribter - Helps control the board alittle
Lightning Greaves/Swiftfoot boots - never leave home without these on.
Akroma Angel of Wrath + Akroma, Angel of Fury - They are beastly

Obviously there are others that Im sure I dont need to add but Id start with theses lol.

Re: Getting started with Commander/EDH

I'll need to look at some of those other cards.  I've started with what I have on-hand.  smile

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Re: Getting started with Commander/EDH

Are planeswalkers common in EDH decks?

Thanks, for pointing out the problem with Feeling of Dread, by the way.

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Re: Getting started with Commander/EDH

HikingStick wrote:

Are planeswalkers common in EDH decks?

I know lots of people who have Planeswalkers in their decks, and some that don't.  It's all personal preference as well as generally what your meta prefers.

Re: Getting started with Commander/EDH

For me planeswalker have done more than paint a target on my head no matter if I play tibalt or jace. They are my favorite card to play with but they just get hated on so ended up takin them out all my decks bc they just couldn't stay alive long enough to do anything meaningful. Unless your playing with doubling season so they basically enter the battlefield with double their counters to go ultimate they really are just wasted mana. 1v1 is a whole other story however. Bc it's easier to go against 1 person attacking them than 3.

I'd also like to apologize for the length of my posts lol. I didn't intend to make it look like a novel I just extra off time at work haha.

Re: Getting started with Commander/EDH

Helios52 wrote:

I'd also like to apologize for the length of my posts lol. I didn't intend to make it look like a novel I just extra off time at work haha.

No worries. I enjoy the extra information and am learning more by the day.

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Re: Getting started with Commander/EDH

You should also talk to your friend group and see how strict they follow the rules, some people say that nothing is banned and others say that stuff like Feldar Soverign and Serra Ascendant are banned/have the rules changed. Some people are strict about the kinds of cards you can use as well, as it's a non-tournament type some groups allow printed proxies for any card that you want, and some don't even allow gold bordered cards.

Again chat with the people you know before you start to set stuff up cause if you can just proxy stuff it can save you ALOT of time + money, i know that my group will allow any proxies because we just want to have fun and have lives that don't allow us to drop 100+ dollars on one deck much less one card

Re: Getting started with Commander/EDH

HikingStick wrote:

White-Red Angels (Commander: Gisela, Blade of Goldnight)
http://deckbox.org/sets/233859

Mono Red (Commander: Krenko, Mob Boss)
http://deckbox.org/sets/233857

I think you've got a good start smile
toss in a Price of Glory for counter defense. just because it's such an awesome card smile
running W/R add a Sacred ground to take full advantage

Last edited by Monolith (2012-09-26 16:34:40)

Re: Getting started with Commander/EDH

Monolith wrote:
HikingStick wrote:

White-Red Angels (Commander: Gisela, Blade of Goldnight)
http://deckbox.org/sets/233859

Mono Red (Commander: Krenko, Mob Boss)
http://deckbox.org/sets/233857

I think you've got a good start smile
toss in a Price of Glory for counter defense. just because it's such an awesome card smile
running W/R add a Sacred ground to take full advantage

Sacred ground only works if your opponent controls the Price of Glory so you'd have to add Bazaar Trader or something as well or if you want to do as was suggested above and not use Gisela as the commander, this looks like a perfect combo forZedruu the Greathearted EDH

Last edited by imsully2 (2012-09-26 16:49:59)

Re: Getting started with Commander/EDH

imsully2 wrote:
Monolith wrote:
HikingStick wrote:

White-Red Angels (Commander: Gisela, Blade of Goldnight)
http://deckbox.org/sets/233859

Mono Red (Commander: Krenko, Mob Boss)
http://deckbox.org/sets/233857

I think you've got a good start smile
toss in a Price of Glory for counter defense. just because it's such an awesome card smile
running W/R add a Sacred ground to take full advantage

Sacred ground only works if your opponent controls the Price of Glory so you'd have to add Bazaar Trader or something as well or if you want to do as was suggested above and not use Gisela as the commander, this looks like a perfect combo forZedruu the Greathearted EDH

close with Bazaar Trader, and yes it's a perfect combo for a Zedruu Deck.
the card I left out was Donate- smile

Re: Getting started with Commander/EDH

Since most of the folks above have answered all of your questions, here's a bit of advice for building/playing EDH.

Build your deck with a bit more mana at first.  I'd start with around 40, which can be reduced based on your ramp/artifact mana.

Put in whatever cards you want.  Don't rely on lists of staples or top ten lists.  Sure, if you want to add those cards, then great.  What I'm saying is that you should enjoy playing your deck, and sometimes if it's choked with must-use cards, it can feel a bit generic.

The best way to figure out what cards you should add or subtract is by playing EDH a lot.  This should go without saying, but many of my friends get so caught up in construction that they're reluctant to play their new deck because they're not sure it'll work.  Just play, and any time you see a card in your hand that you just can't use, cut it!  When someone plays a card in your colors that you've never seen before and it's awesome, buy one! 

Lastly, play a lot and have fun.  That's the reason we like this format, right?

-Phrank

Re: Getting started with Commander/EDH

phrank wrote:

Since most of the folks above have answered all of your questions, here's a bit of advice for building/playing EDH.

Build your deck with a bit more mana at first.  I'd start with around 40, which can be reduced based on your ramp/artifact mana.

Put in whatever cards you want.  Don't rely on lists of staples or top ten lists.  Sure, if you want to add those cards, then great.  What I'm saying is that you should enjoy playing your deck, and sometimes if it's choked with must-use cards, it can feel a bit generic.

The best way to figure out what cards you should add or subtract is by playing EDH a lot.  This should go without saying, but many of my friends get so caught up in construction that they're reluctant to play their new deck because they're not sure it'll work.  Just play, and any time you see a card in your hand that you just can't use, cut it!  When someone plays a card in your colors that you've never seen before and it's awesome, buy one! 

Lastly, play a lot and have fun.  That's the reason we like this format, right?

-Phrank

While I do very much appreciate all of the advice I've received in this thread, yours really resonates with me.  I want to make an effective deck as much as anyone, but don't simply want to buy my way into one without trying out things on my own first.   

When others provide examples of great cards and combos, I look to see if I have the cards in my inventory.  If not, and since it is a new format for me, I'll just play with what I have until I decide to try something else.  Then I might call up one of those examples and solicit a trade (or line the coffers of my LGS!).  What I really like about the suggestions that come in is that they typically introduce me to cards and tactics I might not otherwise discover.

So, Phrank, if you were going to start with one of my two EDH decks, which would you first use, and why?

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Re: Getting started with Commander/EDH

HikingStick wrote:

So, Phrank, if you were going to start with one of my two EDH decks, which would you first use, and why?

Honestly if I were you, I would start with Krenko for a couple reasons.

1. Goblins are fun to play!
2. Building a mono-color deck will really be easier to learn about the amount and types of mana you should be running in EDH. Since your only running 1 color you dont have to worry about making sure you have enough of the other color and how much you should be using.
3. Goblins are really easy to come by and most of them are cheap. There are very few of them that you shouldnt consider using at some point.
4. It will be faster to put together and run. Mono colored decks kinda run on Auto-pilot when playing them and for someone just starting to learn how the deck and the format works this isnt really a bad thing.

I also agree with Phrank about running just EDH staples. Should you run all of them? No. Should you run some? Probably. Do you have to run any? Nope. The one thing about this format that I love is that whenever Im building a deck, I always come across cards I have never heard of and Ive actually taken EDH "Staples" out of decks for random jank because it makes the deck more fun and unpredictable to play. I will never get tired of hearing " Wait that card does what?". This is a "One formats garbage is an EDH format treasure" format. Granted there are cards that are obviously better than others and others that just don't do anything in EDH all together (ie Surgical Extraction).

My advice to you with building Mono-red is to go crazy.Leave no stone unturned smile. A friend of mine has a Niv-Mizzet deck that is completely random. Everything from Coin-flipping to randomly destroying things even his own. He only runs blue for card draw.

I realize you didnt ask me but I just happened to see the question so I thought Id answer...

Last edited by Helios52 (2012-09-27 14:37:46)