I like a lot of this content; it's great to have big lists of viable cards in a central location. but i have some ideas:

• It's worth noting that some commanders are strictly better than others. so if you're building even remotely competitively, something like Jasmine Boreal is probably not worth considering over sisay. I'd make it clearer in your preamble that this guide is about building a strong 99, and that a mediocre commander can be viably in mid-level, not cEDH, tables with a solid deck.
• it's notable also that some decks only work bc of their commander. Sisay is a good example, or my animar. with the option to go 4-color now, this is particularly relevant, since the bar is very low to just add colors to a deck.
• There isn't much discussion of CMC here; it comes out to some extent in the particular cards you recommend (most are cheap) but it's important to emphasize that card efficiency is one of the main things that make decks competitive.
• its worth mentioning that a lot of ecks are built around the wincon, not the commander. Zur is a great example of this; i believe Skuloth actually used Oloro for a while before settling on Zur. Partners are another obvious one; Thras+Tymna are generally just good enables for Hulk, not the central focus of their deck.

other than these tweaks, I'm liking the concept of this primer a lot!

Thrasios, Triton Hero actually is used in many a combo with the decks it is in, though yes you are right.

The main point of this was exactly that I wanted to be able to build competitive (Tiers 2-3) lists, with sub-par or trash commanders. I apologize if that is unclear.

Also, I totally should explain mana curve, card advantage, and the numbers/ratios of cards in decks.

Beautiful primer here!

It should be noted that Ley Weaver / Argothian Elder + Maze of Ith doesn't work, as Maze of Ith only untaps attacking creatures. You could use Griffin Canyon if you think using Arcane Adaptation or Conspiracy is worth it? That's probably the only clean way to do it.

If you attack with it, you may untap it repeatedly, as Maze of Ith doesn't remove it from combat, only prevents it's damage. Pumping that into a Goblin Cannon wins.

Okay yeah I could see that, but this still needs more cards (unless this is only for huge instants), as the mana will disappear after combat. So Upwelling, Kruphix, God of Horizons, Omnath, Locus of Mana, Alchemist's Refuge, Leyline of Anticipation?

Alternatively, 4 or more mana from 2 lands (2 bounce lands, Gaea's Cradle, Growing Rites of Itlimoc  ^Flip or Cabal Coffers) and Umbral Mantle and the like works fine too. Use Cascading Cataracts to filter your colours.

I normally imagine it with Thrasios or an activated ability, not a spell at all.

Great Primer! My friends and I are currently in the process of teaching a bunch of edh players how to build and play cedh decks. This is an awesome resource that I will definitely point them towards!

Dude thanks a ton man! Love that you are doing the work of teaching the format to more players!

This is such a great help to every kind of player, new or experienced.. I like that you took the time to build all of these decks, it gives us great exemples to build our decks.. Great work man, it must have taken you a lot of time to build a guide this full

Well, 3 days and some help from my friend (JMCraig)!

Very well written and very insightful! I can’t think of anything you missed or anything that needs mentioning. I’m glad that you are doing the leg work to clear the air about competitiveness in EDH. Prime example for me, is my so called “tier 3” Omnath, Locus of Rage deck, has wrecked my playgroup’s “tier 1-2” decks, (especially Thrasios, Triton Hero) so often that it has been house banned from the table. Great work, SynergyBuild! This is why I can always count on you, when I need advice.

this is a very well made post. My personal suggestions

Every commander needs at least 8 mana rocks. Mana rocks serve a couple purposes depending on which ones you put in. Either they ramp you up mana like Hedron Archive or Mind Stone or they help you mana fix like Manalith. I run Signets simply because they do both. Also cards such as Ruby Medallion are relevant all around, including removing part of the first commander tax.

Decks should have at least a couple ways to add cards into your hands. You covered most of the blue ones such as Brainstorm

White Draw: Wall of Omens, Alms Collector, Mentor of the Meek, Aura Blast, Puresteel Paladin, and anything with "cycle on it"

Green Draw: Harmonize, Explore, Elvish Visionary, Soul's Majesty, Primordial Sage, Shamanic Revelation

Red Draw: Tormenting Voice, Wild Guess, Faithless Looting, Magmatic Insight, Cathartic Reunion, Wheel of Fate, Reforge the Soul, Expedite, and any of the guys that say "Discard a card, Draw a card"

Black Draw: Phyrexian Arena, Damnable Pact, Grim Haruspex, Sign in Blood, Ambition's Cost, Underworld Connections, Night's Whisper, Read the Bones, Harvester of Souls

Multi-coloured Draw: Abzan Charm, Shaman of the Great Hunt, Fathom Mage, Fevered Visions, Spiteful Visions, Painful Truths, Edric, Spymaster of Trest

Artifact Draw: Skullclamp, Staff of Nin, Mind's Eye, Mask of Memory, Howling Mine, Horn of Greed

I know I missed lots of draw but should give people an idea of what kind of draw you can access in the specific colours.

You are also missing a 4th strategy which is Beat Down. The point of this strategy is to just swing with creatures till they hit 0 life. This strategy doesn't really fit into combo, stax or control unless you forced it as a second win con. Mostly a strategy every colour can pull it off in their own right. with leviathans, with angels and tokens, with Demons, and with goblins and giants.

are all colours that run beat down very well. Red loves to come in swinging and keep swinging. Green loves to put down big out-of-reach creatures and White loves to make small guys huge.

TheBloopKing - I went over Beatdown in the win-cons!

starsky - Yo thanks man! I think every deck with the right combination of colors, ramp, card draw, interaction, and win-conditions can win against any other deck, or at least compete!

TheBloopKing - Plenty of the cards you mentioned are not competitive. The idea behind card draw isn't I want cards in my hand, it is I want answers to the board, or a way to win (obviously it depends on the situation and deck's strategy, but that is besides the point). If I go over many of the mentioned card Mentor of the Meek/Alms Collector work in many a stax builds, but Wall of Omens, Aura Blast, and PureSteel Paladin are much too weak to see play, white would rather a Spirit of the Labyrinth than them.

Harmonize is too slow, Explore isn't powerful enough outside of Tatyova, Benthic Druid, Soul's Majesty leads to blowouts where you have a suited up 16/16 commander or whatever, and it gets Swords to Plowsharesed and you lose the creature and the 5 mana and card on Soul's Majesty, Primordial Sage/Soul of the Harvest effects are good in Animar, Soul of Elements, but that's about it.

Red should generally only use tutors like Gamble, Imperial Recruiter, and wheels like Wheel of Fortune or Reforge the Soul. Bad cantrips like Expedite aren't powerful outside of a Zada, Hedron Grinder deck or something, most of those draw/discard effects are sub-par anyway. Scroll Rack, Sensei's Divining Top and other good colorless options are all they need.

Black has Ad Nauseam and every tutor they need to find it. Necropotence, Night's Whisper, and call it a day. Phyrexian Arena is pretty bad in comparison to Dark Confidant, and Underworld Connections is going to get you Strip Mined, and is just generally worse than the arena. Damnable Pact just isn't good, if you have enough mana to make it better than Ad Nauseam, run Torment of Hailfire and win the game.

Your multicolored options are pretty bad, if you are in abzan use black draw, blue draw is insane as is and so never needs Edric, Spymaster of Trest, as it gives opponents card draw, which is almost the worst thing to do. Spiteful Visions and Fevered Visions are for Nekusar, the Mindrazer and no one else, it tosses out cards like Oprah, and will stop you from winning any game you are trying to win.

Staff of Nin and Mind's Eye are generally too slow, even for colorless decks, and Howling Mine and Horn of Greed fall into the Oprah level of bad cards. They will kill you faster than anything else, unless you are Tatyova, Benthic Druid in which case I could argue for Howling Mine.

Outside of Blue or Black, use tutors in your color, Sensei's Divining Top, and Scroll Rack, tutors are the best way not to need card draw, but trying to run sub-par replacements for card draw never is the answer, it just makes your deck slow and clunky. Trust me, I have tried and failed.

Delete this Garbage list...

@Kiyomei - Well aren't you just a happy bag of sunshine and rainbows! However, I will not be taking your well-thought-out and beautifully explained suggestioned to heart at this time, it is too perfect for the likes of garbage such as myself, your highness!

I feel like I should quote you in entirety, just to show respect for your golden words!

"Delete this Garbage list..."

Well then, find sir or madam, I applaud your comment of the year!

(A friend I showed this too wrote this, I have no idea how to sound this way, its beautiful.)

*to

One man’s trash, is another man’s treasure. So you better eat this “garbage” up! A person, such as yourself, with a poor taste, might find yourself a jewel and learn a thing or two.

Anouncer #1: Everyone, I think it it time, to start the beatdown!

Anouncer #2: Okay, I see Kiyomei with the first swing, hitting with an insult with no hint of subtlety or sarcasm or any reasoning.. it isn't even ironic... nor funny... and I don't think it landed... ugh..

Anouncer #1: Starsky2814 comin' in hard with them motivational life lessons, utterly obliterating Kiyomei in the process!

Anouncer #2: Will Kiyomei return? who knows???

Dropping the mic and signing off...

I almost feel bad now, Kiyomei, come back! We need your awful opinion!

Aww... dang he blocked me... yeah thats fun!

Well damn... should I teach the lesson, “Sticks and Stones” now?

And what lesson did we learn, SynergyBuild? How about this one?... It’s all fun in games, until someone gets hurt... then it’s hella hilarious!

I learned that I should delete this garbage list xD.. words to live by - Kiyomei

I think that should be the name of one of your next lists. “Delete This Garbage List” by SynergyBuild. lol