C19 interrogation.
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on Sept. 3, 2019, 9:33 a.m. by Segala
Hello peeps.
I'm not sure how to formulate my question so I'm gonna try the best I can.
I always pick at least one precon each year to build around it. Usually one always stand out of the bunch and really speak to me( either it goes with my playstyle or i like the theme or the tribe etc..) but this years mechanics are all mechanics I played or liked over the years and I don't know which one to pick up.
One this is 100% sure, I can't buy all 4. The max I can do is get 2 but I don't know which one(s).
So which one(s) do you guys think is better? Which one is better out of the box? Which one is gonna be easier to build upon? Which mechanic do you think is the strongest? Which one will be cheaper to build etc...
I know there's a lot to take into consideration but in general which one or two would come on top?
I personally think that the populate deck is the best of the bunch and playing aggro in commander is rarely seen, so it is a good opportunity to build. The other commander that makes eggs is a combo commander in Naya, which is quite unique and it is possible to make another archetype.
Madness and morph just do not have any upgrade paths since most of the good and a lot of the bad cards for the decks are already included.
Flashback has the best commander of all the precons - Elsha of the Infinite , which is a great build around. The face commander costs 5 mana, instead of 3, otherwise it would have been useful.
I would go with Naya.
September 3, 2019 10:48 a.m.
GhostChieftain says... #4
I have to actually disagree about saying that madness has no upgrade paths. Anje Falkenrath can actually make for a really good reanimator deck, maybe even cEDH with worldgorger combo. Anje allows you to go through your deck quite fast and keep your hand full and is an easy way to put what you want to reanimate in the graveyard. I honestly think Anje and Elsha could be on a similar power level as far as cEDH goes.
September 3, 2019 11:52 a.m.
LittleBlueHero says... #5
Having played with all of them a hand full of times now here is what I think (for what my opinion is worth to you)
The flashback deck needs the most attention out of the box. It can get rolling late but there just isn't a whole lot to do in the early turns for my liking. I enjoyed sevinne the most as a commander of the precon, though Elsha will be the most popular to build around for sure. She doesn't shoehorn you into a mechanic the way sevinne does.
The Populate deck is easily the most cohesive of the decks out of the box. I have given it to friends who haven't played the game in years and they were able to pilot it to victory. This deck would require the least amount of love to make it at least a 75% deck. Ghired is the only commander here that works, however the eggs deck with Atla palani is gonna be really popular.
Morph is an odd duck. It always seems like its doing a ton of stuff, drawing cards, Dropping morphs etc... but most of the cards just felt meh... like im playing a lot of cards and doing things but most of it is only a little relevant and none all that threatening. That said I still like drawing cards and playing things so I always felt engaged which is good. Kadena is the only commander to run for the deck unless you are starting from scratch with Volrath or Rayami. Good cards but irrelevant to the decks focus. Volrath is an awesome card and I want to build him eventually. I actually built a deck for Gismold and I think its one the more fun commander decks Ive played recently so even though the deck never wowed me there are a lot of fun build around cards in it.
Madness was similar in a lot of ways to morph. Boy howdy did I have card advantage, I was filtering and casting madness junk all day, but there were very few points where I was in a position of power, had a lot in play sure, anything threatening? Hardly ever. This deck feels like its gonna be amazing once you get some more impactful cards in there but as it is its still a blast to pilot. I also really love Chainer as a commander from this deck, seems like a fair reanimator commander.
So having played them and only able to buy one... Id get Polulate, if I didn't want to do alot of tweaking and either morph or madness depending on which legendaries peaked your interest. Again just my thoughts. Which way are you currently leaning?
September 3, 2019 12:38 p.m.
Thanks guys. Gonna go with the populate and maybe the madness.
September 3, 2019 2:43 p.m.
multimedia says... #7
Those are two good choices, but if I had to pick one I would pick Merciless Rage.
I think Merciless Rage has more value and overall upgrade potential power. Anje Falkenrath , Chainer, Nightmare Adept , Magus of the Wheel , Bone Miser , Key to the City are good to start an upgrade to a reanimation theme. Sanctum of Eternity and K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth are rares that will keep the precon expensive in the future.
Primal Genesis is better of the two out of box with Angel of Sanctions and Giant Adephage as the all-stars to populate and Song of the Worldsoul is a great populate source. The precon has good upgrade potential with two of the legendary creatures Atla Palani, Nest Tender and Marisi, Breaker of the Coil . However, I don't think it's worth it overall compared to Merciless Rage.
September 3, 2019 5:09 p.m.
multimedia Like you said Primal Genesis is the better one oob so that's why I'm going with it.
I can't get behind the idea of buying a product simply for monetary purposes. Sure some cards in the madness precons are already valuable and are going to grow in value but I'm less and less convinced about the fun interactions I can have with it. Buying something simply because of the "money cards" is something I find incredibly dumb. A game or products for a game should be bought for the fun you're gonna have playing with it. But that's just my opinion.
Probably gonna pick up the jeskai for my second deck since it suits more my playstyle.
Joe_Ken_ says... #2
I think the madness and the populate ones are the better ones since morph doesn't have a lot of cards for support outside of the ones already in the deck and the flashback deck does seem good and has a nice money card with Dockside Extortionist , but I think the build for it would just be a jeskai token build with Talrand, Young pyromancer, monastery mentor, and murmuring mystic.
The madness deck I think has the best alternative commanders with Chainer being cool for a graveyard recursion theme and Greven providing a lot of one shot potential.
The populate deck I just feel would be easy to upgrade by adding in some doubling season effect sort of cards and some creatures that make some serious tokens.
September 3, 2019 9:40 a.m.