Ideas for General
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on Oct. 20, 2016, 4:40 p.m. by JaceTheSwagSculptor
First off let me say that I love the Commander format and it is the only one I still actively play, however, the balance just feels odd. Do not misunderstand, I love being able to play with and against some of the most powerful cards ever printed, but it feels as though value creatures can only take you so far until someone smacks down an infinite combo or begins annihilating your permanents with an Eldrazi.
I feel like this thread will be full of misunderstandings if I keep rambling about my qualms with the format. Thus what I essentially want to know is what generals you found to be powerful but never overstepped the line of breaking the game, yet were not under-powered enough to force you to resort to winning with Eldrazi.
Yes, obviously the answer to this question is subjective and there is no ideal general.
Thanks in advance!
JaceTheSwagSculptor says... #3
I'm glad we are thinking alike and maybe I was being too much of an idealist expecting an valid answer for this question. Also its very difficult to have that much command over the play group as a single person when you play at a local shop, so your second statement is too idealistic itself.
October 20, 2016 4:56 p.m.
JaceTheSwagSculptor says... #4
I would still like to hear people's opinions on this nonetheless. Not so I can argue with them and more so to get ideas.
October 20, 2016 5 p.m.
Shane.Allen says... #5
I think you misunderstand the format in general, if someone in your playgroup beats you with a combo or Eldrazi, that mean's they are playing to win, which is fine in EDH as that's one way to play. The only decks I play in EDH is competitive EDH decks because I like to win. There are many different commanders to choose from of many different power levels and thousands of cards to choose from. You have to decide how you want to play the format, you can't decide by yourself what decks other people are going to play. So figure out how you want to play, and if you don't like how they are playing, build decks that beat their decks or find other people to play with.
P.S. If you want to see how to win in an EDH game, check out my decks sometime. :)
October 20, 2016 5:05 p.m. Edited.
I feel like your question revolves around winning. What about fun? Is your intention only to win? Find that Goldilocks commander is all that matters?
If I'm in the general vicinity, then please continue on - don't mind me.
But allow me to implore another perspective. Show
But in response to your actual post: [List - Multiplayer] EDH Generals by Tier - Anything Tier 2 or 3. As you said, subjective and can only be determined by you.
October 20, 2016 5:07 p.m. Edited.
Of course, I'm biased towards my own commander. I play Omnath, Locus of Mana. He sure is powerful and can quickly do some crazy things, but it's difficult to go infinite. Mono G only has certain infinite combos, and they are often lot easy to execute. Furthermore, green doesn't have many stax cards, and must therefore win by raw power.
Because if this, I've found Omnath to be on the fine line between casual and competitive.
October 20, 2016 5:07 p.m.
JaceTheSwagSculptor says... #8
@ Shane.Allen I play to win as well, but when you Tooth and Nail for Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre and Rune-Scarred Demon fetching Lightning Greaves for the millionth time its not really fun to win that way anymore.
@Eiti3 That was pretty insightful, I'll be sure to check out the link. I play to win and to have fun, as I don't think competition and enjoyment should be viewed as polar opposites. However, this does not mean I enjoy busting out the same combo over and over like with a Azami, Lady of Scrolls deck, nor busting out jank combos for the sake of being meta. I guess if I would have to put my finger on it, my ideal deck would be a toolbox that plays a single infinite combo in case the game is dragging on.
@The_Raven Simple & informative! I love it! Thank you for the contribution.
October 20, 2016 5:20 p.m.
Overall what I have found in commander is that most of the time it is the deck that is "broken" or "overpowered" not the commander. Obviously there are commanders that are freaking mean and nuts (Narset, Enlightened Master I am looking at you) but often times it is due to the cards in the deck that complement the abilities of the commander. But with that aside, there are a few commanders that I just love to play/face that, in my opinion, are not "broken". First off is Zedruu the Greathearted or as my friends call her, That Bitch. The deck can get a slow start depending on the build, and how much $$ you have to put into it, but the ways to play her are so fun. Want to be everyone's best friend? Give everyone card draw and nice gifts making them want to keep you alive, at least till you start being a jerk and go in for the kill. Or you could go for my favorite version the Evil Santa type, give them a Aggressive Mining, Pyromancer's Swath, or Steel Golem all the while hiding behind Propaganda type effects and drawing cards and gaining life off the things making them cry. My friends have learned to fear the Goat. Another commander that I love to play against is Meren of Clan Nel Toth. One of my friends runs her and it always brings groans when it comes out, but grins as well. It's always good when your creatures dying isn't a problem, but with Meren letting you get even more advantage from the sac effects it's just nuts. My buddies version focuses on sacing his stuff while making US sac right with him. Merciless Executioner type guys hit the field and everyone sacs, and we just have to hope that Grave Pact or Dictate of Erebos isn't there, then if Meren is on board on the end step Executioner either goes back to hand to be used next turn or back to the field and everyone sacs again. Only problem with her is she can flop REALLY hard if there is a deck with a lot of graveyard hate playing, Anafenza, the Foremost screws her hard. There are plenty more commanders that can fit into the "good but not broken" category but those two are my favorites. Honorable mentions going to Brago, King Eternal and Thada Adel, Acquisitor
October 20, 2016 5:28 p.m.
JaceTheSwagSculptor says... #10
@Cmasa435 I just realized that experience counters go on players and not cards, so I've thought for so long they were bad. Boy was I wrong lol. I've gained new found respect for Meren of Clan Nel Toth. Zedruu the Greathearted seems interesting to say the least. I played Thada Adel, Acquisitor and it essentially just felt like a race to see how fast I could ramp into a combo/eldrazi.
October 20, 2016 5:43 p.m.
UpperDeckerTaco says... #11
If you want to play a good general that doesn't look too threatening at first sight, I would suggest, Surrak Dragonclaw. He is actually quite powerful. And you'll be playing Blue, so yeah, you can put infinite combos in there if you want, or you don't have to at all. But it is a very unassuming general and has a lot of applications. Giving Trample, and uncounterable ability to all your creatures...sounds good to me. As well, he also has flash. So that is another plus. I have never played with him, but yeah, he's decent enough to be good. Also, Merieke Ri Berit, I love this card. Very unassuming to those who don't know what's about to happen, and yeah, very fun deck to play.
October 20, 2016 7:44 p.m.
Izu_Korasu says... #12
Firstly (with your qualms about the format), it seems your issue is with the type of players you play with, not the format itself. Because while eldrazi and inf-combos are important to the format (for various reasons) watching someones play A(ending the game asap) with a combo/insta-kill/eldrazi devistation is never fun.
that being said, most generals are atleast alittle "gamebreaking" if fully optimized/competitive. That being said, I've always had the most fun playing with/against generals/decks that dont follow that mold. EDH is largely a balance between Fun-VS-Power, and the trick is finding the range thats fun for you/your playgroup.
take a tier 1/2 general and have fun with it, take a tier 3/4/5 and break it and make your opponents question what reality is.
October 20, 2016 8:56 p.m.
General census: You probably need a better play-group of people who don't just want to win and would prefer to have fun every game, win or lose instead. Luckily, because this is commander, those people are far easier to find than in any other magic the gathering format!
October 20, 2016 9:10 p.m.
I would say find an archetype you really like and play that. Daretti is really fun for artifacts, Zur is awesome for enchantments, and Oviya Parishi can be epic for a mono-green beats strategy.
October 20, 2016 9:17 p.m.
RedUndead40 says... #15
You could always play a deck that excels at stopping those infinite combos amd eldrazi shenanigans.
Personally I love Meren of Clan Nel Toth. She has the utility to be extremely resilient against combo decks or even big creature decks by using cards like Spore Frog. She can have answers to basically anything, and her board state is typically very hard to deal with because everything comes back from the dead.
DuTogira says... #2
Yes, the answer is that there is no ideal general. The answer is that you build your deck to a certain power-level. Don't run infinite combos, don't run eldrazi, don't run a pillow-fort/stax deck, and that's how your whole play group has to agree to play. If you want a tier 1 deck which doesn't do anything "broken" then you are asking for something that does not exist. Decks become tier 1 by breaking something in half and exploiting the hell out of it.
With that general idea in mind, you can use any general you want. Just don't use the "so powerful it isn't fun to play against" cards.
October 20, 2016 4:43 p.m. Edited.