Tribal EDH

Commander (EDH) forum

Posted on Jan. 15, 2016, 12:56 p.m. by Aztraeuz

I am looking to increase my number of Tribal Commanders. I love the theme nature of Tribal decks. I love the Synergy and overall fun of playing Tribal decks.

So the question here will be, who do you think are the strongest Tribal Commanders, the most fun Tribal Commanders and your favorite Tribes.

I am personally searching for new Commanders to build around and new tribes to have fun with. Some tribal decks I already have run around these Commanders:

I was also thinking about starting a GW Rhys the Redeemed Elf Tribal deck.

Perhaps not classic Tribal decks but I have Zur the Enchanter Enchantment deck and Kaalia of the Vast for Angels, Demons, and Dragons.

clayperce says... #2

iAzire,
You should totally connect with Darkleus31 ... he or she runs a lot of tribal too and had a thread on this a few days ago

January 15, 2016 1:08 p.m.

Epochalyptik says... #3

I don't count Zur or Arcum as tribal.

Reaper King can be built with a tribal focus or just as goodstuff with ways to anise the ability (Blade of Selves, Rite of Replication, etc.)

There are some fringe-tribal possibilities like Ghave, Guru of Spores as well.

January 15, 2016 1:10 p.m.

Aztraeuz says... #4

It would appear that I am slightly late in creating my thread. What do you think the best Tribal Commanders are?

Reaper King is indeed awesome. I know somebody that plays with him and the deck is amazing.

I understand that Zur and Arcum aren't necessarily Tribal but the themes are there. I just have yet to build my Colorless deck which will be a better Artifact Tribal if I decide to run Karn, Silver Golem. I am especially interested in starting a Vampires deck. I am just unsure how many actually viable Tribes there are.

January 15, 2016 1:20 p.m.

Epochalyptik says... #5

Vamps might as well run Olivia Voldaren for the possible range of support.

Artifacts are better supported by Esper. You might consider either Hanna, Ship's Navigator, Sharuum the Hegemon, or Sydri, Galvanic Genius.

January 15, 2016 1:23 p.m.

JWiley129 says... #6

My personal favorite tribal deck is Ashling, the Elemental Tribal not b/c it's good, but because it's funny.

January 15, 2016 1:27 p.m.

Ruffigan says... #7

I run Treefolk tribal with Doran, the Siege Tower. It's not the greatest deck in the world but it has a lot of synergy. You could try Soldier tribal with Darien, King of Kjeldor or Tribal tribal with Mistform Ultimus.

January 15, 2016 1:34 p.m.

Stormcaller says... #8

General Tazri is coming with the new set if you'd like to build an ally commander deck ;)

January 15, 2016 1:34 p.m.

JWiley129 says... #9

Ruffigan - What's Tribal tribal? Just play every lord and win with an umpteen/umpteen Mistform Ultimus?

January 15, 2016 1:38 p.m.

Aztraeuz says... #10

Yes I noticed General Tazri and I am very excited for it. I have dismissed Ally cards for the longest time due to a lack of what I see as a viable Commander. She should be quite nice to build around.

I have also seen Olivia Voldaren and I was thinking she would be good. Didn't know if anybody else would fit better.

I am going to be honest, I'm not sure if I've ever even seen Darien, King of Kjeldor. That is one reason I wanted to start this thread, I'm learning new things and things that excite me.

January 15, 2016 1:39 p.m.

Ruffigan says... #11

@JWiley129: Basically. And run things like Xenograft and Unnatural Selection to extend the buffs to other creatures. And cards like Call to the Kindred to help dig.

January 15, 2016 1:44 p.m.

CuteSnail says... #12

My favorite tribe is fungus with Thelon of Havenwood. So much fun to play.

January 15, 2016 1:45 p.m.

Stormcaller says... #13

iAzire: in there are still Rakdos the Defiler and Rakdos, Lord of Riots which are both quite fun.

For 5-color tribal i could also suggest Horde of Notions and Scion of the Ur-Dragon.

Honorable mention: Phenax, God of Deception for mill-"tribal".

January 15, 2016 1:51 p.m.

Stormcaller says... #14

Concerning Darien, King of Kjeldor: I think hes considered a soldier in gatherer, but 'm not entirely shure. So human or soldier tribal, including things like the soul sisters and loads of global buffs? Here is a deck i found: Darien, the King in the North

January 15, 2016 2:01 p.m.

abdulbaqr says... #15

@Stormcaller Exactly. you take some damage to crap out tokens, to heal back up. Darien is hysterical if you can get more than one "soul sister" out. For that one, i would focus up on global buffs so that your tokens are huge.

January 15, 2016 2:40 p.m.

griffstick says... #16

A sorted list by edh rec hopefully this helps. Personally I think dragons are fun and cool and I never complain about loosing to dragons cause dragons are cool

January 15, 2016 2:52 p.m.

Karns_Pyromancer says... #17

On the Ally note, Roon of the Hidden Realm is absolutely fabulous as a Commander.

I've seen Thassa Merfolk, Thassa Monsters (leviathan, kraken, octopi), Jhoira Eldrazi, etc.

January 15, 2016 3:22 p.m.

WanderingSpirit says... #18

I have two tribal commanders. 3 if you count Scion of the Ur-Dragon, but i had to sell him, so I'll just mention the other two.

Go Not to the Elves for Counsel and Go Not Into Dark Woods are both elf tribal that accidentally exhibit a unique duality.

One commander, Selvala, Explorer Returned is GW, and draws everyone cards while giving me life and mana. The other, Nath of the Gilt-Leaf is G/B, and makes opponents discard while giving me tokens.

Their opposite-but-similar play reminds me of Lorwyn and Shadowmoor, which were pretty cool sets!

January 15, 2016 3:35 p.m.

Ravolt says... #19

I myself really love eldrazi, but I don't think there's enough of them to make a good tribal commander deck :(

The animar edh list I thought of only runs like 20 eldrazi :(

January 15, 2016 3:49 p.m.

RoarMaster says... #20

Nobody mentions Slivers? Odd, as they are the most tribal of tribes, and have 4 commanders to choose from.

January 15, 2016 6:04 p.m.

DERPLINGSUPREME says... #21

now, im not saying krenko is a BAD commander, its just that he's very limited for goblins. I highly prefer Wort, Boggart Auntie when it comes to them b/c it gives you access to wipes, removal, mass rez, searches FOR krenko, and wort can bring back fun tricks like Warren Weirding, Fodder Launch, and Tarfire

January 15, 2016 6:48 p.m.

WanderingSpirit says... #22

Wort is awesome for goblin tribal!

January 15, 2016 9:21 p.m.

Aztraeuz says... #23

RoarMaster I have a Slivers EDH deck that takes advantage of Primal Surge. I figured Slivers were the best way to take advantage of Primal Surge because they have so many abilities that can patch holes made by not having Instants and Sorceries. It is a very fun deck that can win very fast with the proper draws.

Primal Surge+Manaweft Sliver or Primal Surge+Gemhide Sliver in your opening hand is pretty much GG. Beside the fact that Slivers are the most synergistic tribe imo.

I personally run Sliver Overlord as the Commander. I feel like it is the only actual Sliver Commander. It easily tutors up any of the other Legendary. They all have the same mana cost so Sliver EDH should run Sliver Overlord. The ability to tutor up anything you need when you need it is too good to pass up, especially when you can tutor the other potential Commanders.

The only time I change Commander is when we are playing Oversize Commanders as Sliver Queen is the only one with an Oversize card.

January 15, 2016 10:33 p.m.

Aztraeuz says... #24

Ravolt I would love an Eldrazi Tribal EDH as well.

DERPLINGSUPREME I actually run Krenko, Mob Boss for my Goblin tribal so that I have a Mono-Red deck. I'm trying to make decks for each color variation.

January 15, 2016 10:40 p.m.

RoarMaster says... #25

iAzire I agree that Overlord is by far the best commander, unless you are going for a combo based deck, then Sliver Queen is the way to go. I know, Overlord searches for the queen, but doing so slows you down a turn or two.

Primal Surge is almost always a win if you manage to cast it, but honestly, if you have 10 mana available you should have been able to combo out via Overlord and won already.

Ive found Prophet of Kruphix to be a game ender as well when combined with Overlord.

January 15, 2016 11:42 p.m.

ComradeJim270 says... #26

If you go all-out, Azami, Lady of Scrolls is the hands-down the strongest tribal commander with her wizards, followed by Krenko, Mob Boss and his goblin horde. The former is considerably more powerful but Krenko is no joke.

That said, your priorities are important. Build something that you'll enjoy.

January 16, 2016 10:27 a.m.

This discussion has been closed