Anyone out there?
Commander Deck Help forum
Posted on April 9, 2020, 8:38 a.m. by randym1988
I am a newbie to the game and I am looking for some help. I have a few decks that have been gifted to me that I need help upgrading to make them alittle stronger and more tuned. I am very new so alot of the verbiage doesnt make sense to me yet. But I am asking if anyone is willing to show me what to add and what to remove within a budget to fix my decks. Some users just have told me build around this or that but idk how to do that so that's why I'm here. If anyone can help me out that would be awesome. Thanks guys.
sergiodelrio says... #4
EDIT: Shoot, it's EDH and I know nothing about that format. Sorry, never mind
April 9, 2020 9:50 a.m.
randym1988 says... #5
cascadien I definitely have been watching tons of videos. I watch alot of diff guys on there. The only problem is I cant seem find what I'm needing to help upgrade my decks nor do I have the vast knowledge of cards like alot of people who have been in it for years. I get people giving examples but it just doesnt give me enough knowledge about how this stuff will work together.
April 9, 2020 10:07 a.m.
The Command Zone on YouTube has a deck building instructional template and video. I think that and the 8x8 theory (though I think 7x9 is more accurate) helped me a lot when I started. Part of the fun of the game is learning new cards and tweaking your decks, so don’t get discouraged about learning :)
April 9, 2020 10:21 a.m.
I second The Command Zone. Don't start with there newest stuff but look in there library of videos. They have a lot out there to help get you going.
As for help here. Links to the decks would help. Chose one for now and focus on that for today so your not getting a little help here and there for each deck and not a real wealth of input on one that you can look at.
To start I suggest 35-39 lands with some form of ramp (getting more mana into play) ether as rocks (artifacts) or land tutor (search your library for). Make sure it comes into play if it's land tutor so you can effectively skip turns. You want between 5-10 of these cards (some commanders do this naturally so you will need less).
Card draw you will also want and you want around 5-10 of those as well. You don't want cantrips (draw one card when cast) unless the card does a lot more for you then that or is repeatable in your deck via commander. You want enchantments/artifacts that draw cards each turn or when you meet a condition that your deck does regularly like Well of Lost Dreams in a life gain deck. Having instant/sorcery card draw is good too if it's in the right deck or just has a good price and gets a good volume of cards like Into the Story as it's 4 cards for 4 mana at instant speed.
April 9, 2020 10:38 a.m.
GhostChieftain says... #8
Scryfall will very much need to be your friend when building new edh decks. Find what your deck wants to do and figure out how to search up cards on that site's advanced search to get exactly what you want. Edhrec is also an invaluable site when starting out and unsure how to proceed with a deck.
You will hear a lot of different deckbuilding strategies from different people (8x8, using a shell of an existing deck, grabbing as many semi-relevant things as possible then cutting down, etc.) just test them out and find what you like and what works best for you.
April 9, 2020 10:45 a.m. Edited.
triproberts12 says... #9
Since you've found plenty of basic "how to build an EDH deck" content already, the next steps I would pursue are getting familiar with EDHREC and Scryfall. If you're just looking for those staple cards that you would have no idea of their existence, otherwise (Rhystic Study, Sun Titan, other stuff that hasn't been played in 60-card formats for a decade or more), just visiting the most popular cards section at EDHREC or the top cards for the commander you're building will give you a good idea of what cards are just GOOD. After that, pull language from the cards that are the focal point of your deck, and use the advanced search at Scryfall to look for similar effects, or language that would theoretically work with your gameplan. For example, if you were building Tariel, Reckoner of Souls, you might ask, "How can I make the creature I reanimate not random? Maybe limiting the creatures in the graveyard?" You'd then get on Scryfall, select white, black, and red under color identity, type "exile creature graveyard" into the box labeled "Text." Scrolling down, I see Erebos's Intervention, which has somehow not made it into Tariel lists, even though it seems like an excellent bit of graveyard hate with specialized applications to Tariel.
April 9, 2020 11:02 a.m.
Previous post is pretty good. In addition, these are more specific experience-based things from me... You'll get a lot of IMO stuff here, particularly because of a division between color philosophies, new-playstyles vs old tried-&-true, & competitive vs casual philosophies. I most often employ more new playstyles & casual philosophies.
- Try a commander that costs 4 CMC or less - it is good to consistently be able to play your commander.
- Most players are chasing the win so aim for %25 win rate (not unusual) & start more casual, focus on just making an impact on the game
- As for deck help you can always post some to me... I'm not much help with value engines though.
- Super specific: Selvala's Stampede is a blast to play. Bolas's Citadel is also a blast. Cards with monarch will keep everyone engaged.
April 10, 2020 8:45 a.m.
randym1988 says... #11
Thank you guys. I really appreciate the help. Here is the deck I wanna tweak. I feel like I could make this a better deck with around 50 bucks. What are yalls thoughts?[deck:Primal Genesis needs help]
cascadien says... #2
if youre serious about learning i suggest checking out videos on youtube since games stores are closed nowadays.
April 9, 2020 9:14 a.m.