What makes a deck-worthy commander?
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on May 27, 2022, 2:52 p.m. by Idoneity
Commander, as the years go forth, is gorged with countless new legendaries to have at the helm. They each have a menagerie of effects and colour identities, thereupon offering a immense vastitude for any player.
My collection is confined to having a commander deck in one of every non-four colour combination; I am hence particular when it comes to segmenting my time to a machine of enticing cards, typically built around older creatures.
To all of you, what makes an interesting commander? Is it the effect, the power level, the art, the age, the character? How do these measure against each other, and how do they confluence?
The newest Commander I've built around in terms of print date is Jirinia Kudro. My interest in Commander's dropped off hard since then, and I can't say that I've felt really compelled to build new decks.
Of the seven options for the decks I'll keep around, five of them are because the decks are built around unique requirements or strategies and a lot of discovery went into card selection and making the deck feel good. Feeling like I'm doing something besides choosing a Generic Two Card Combo and the Generically Powerful Cards that are the top on EDHRec. Feeling as though I was doing something different was what drew me to commander.
May 27, 2022 3:51 p.m.
my only requirement for a commander is that it provides a necessary function for the deck
May 27, 2022 4:30 p.m.
TypicalTimmy says... #5
I tend to look for a Commander who does one thing extremely well that I can build off of. While multi-faceted Commanders such as Kenrith, the Returned King are really nice in their flexibility, for me personally, I struggle to draw their potential in. Some of the Commanders I have built in the past are:
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Karametra, God of Harvests as an ETB Matters theme. Because she brings out lands, Landfall was a strong subtheme of the deck, since Landfall itself is limited. And yes this includes cards with "Landfall" not under such a name, such as Tireless Tracker and Zendikar's Roil. However, because I am also casting creatures, creature ETB is important, too. So Hornet Queen and Soul Sisters had their stay. Some cards, such as Avenger of Zendikar really exploded as they drew these two elements together. Lastly, because I wanted continuous use of my ETB effects, return-to-hand was also important. So Jeskai Barricade and similar effects were in play. What resulted was a, slow, well-oiled machine that could cast multiple ETB creatures per turn and explode a boardstate from nothing.
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Oros, the Avenger was built as a Wrath's Matters build. This is because if you put deathtouch on Oros, his activation wrath's the board of all non-white creatures. To protect myself, every single creature in my deck had to have , in part or in whole. Then, the deck used every single card available in the game to permanently give Oros his deathtouch. In this way, I never had to hold back because I didn't have an instant or sorcery to cast. Or perhaps I did, but not enough mana to cast it and activate Oros in the same turn. So auras, equipment and permanent effects such as Deadly Wanderings. While cards such as Maze Abomination might sound good, being non-white meant it died the moment Oros resolved. So it becomes a one-time deal. Now, because of the sheer volume of mana required, the deck ran an absolute absurd amount of mana sources. I think I had like 17 mana rocks alone. For filler cards, any other wrath was used. This way, against decks, I could still hit the board hard.
Sidenote: If there are 7 creatures on the battlefield that Oros can hit, and he has lifelink, you just gained 3(7), or 21, life. That's how the deck stayed ahead. After I gained +200 life and nobody has any creatures left, I essentially could not be stopped.
- Radha, Heart of Keld was a Voltron-esque build who focused on as many land tutors as I could possibly get out, focusing on all basic lands so nothing ETB tapped. She was given ample protection. And then I topped it off with giant doublers, such as Xenagos, God of Revels and Unleash Fury. What resulted from here was a deck whose goal was to TKO any opponent in a single shot. Yes, infect was used as well. The deck name was Thick Thighs Save Lives. Lol.
So, as you can see, what I look for is a Commander who focuses on ONE mechanic or ability, and I tie in two or three supporting elements to ensure it runs smoothly. By implementing the deck construction in this way, I absolutely ensure I never draw into duds. It's either a useful land, ramp, or synergy support. No card every becomes wasted in my hand.
^-^
May 27, 2022 4:45 p.m. Edited.
Squee_Spirit_Guide says... #6
To me the ideal commander is a card you enjoy playing with. There's got to be some history behind it, the art and flavour have to be good, and playing it should make you happy. The card doesn't have to be 'good' as long as you like it (and if you only like good cards, that's cool too).
The physical card shouldn't be near mint. It should have some edge wear and a few battle scars. It should be a card you can look at and go "Oh, I remember [intsert good memory here]."
But I don't play Magic to win, so what do I know? :)
May 27, 2022 5:09 p.m.
The answer is, if you think it's cool. That's it. Squee_Spirit_Guide said it best.
May 27, 2022 5:47 p.m. Edited.
For me it's what the card does. If I find it fun and/or powerful I'm interested in making the deck. I know that's a really simple answer but it's the truth
May 27, 2022 6:29 p.m.
All of the following is completely subjective and personal opinion. As long as you're having fun, you're doing it right.
I like commanders that are flexible, but still have a mechanical theme. Too flexible, and you get Kenrith, the Returned King 5-color goodstuff. Powerful with lots of potential, but no real unity. Too narrow, and you get Sefris of the Hidden Ways dungeon crawling. Very flavorful, but the decklist basically comes 80% pre-built.
Something like Falco Spara, Pactweaver or Saskia the Unyielding is my preference. You have a direction and a goal, but how you get there is entirely up to you.
May 27, 2022 8:16 p.m.
Gidgetimer says... #10
Every single one of the commander decks I have built is because the commander has an ability that I thought would be fun to build around. Some of them are obviously powerful and come with a heap of auto-includes for the deck. Most of them make cards that are stone unplayable in 95% of decks into powerhouses.
May 27, 2022 8:54 p.m.
Gidgetimer says... #11
Immediately after posting this I thought of my Alela vehicle deck, which makes a liar out of me. It came about because both Greasefang, Okiba Boss and Shorikai, Genesis Engine looked fun and they shared a color and overall theme. So, still building decks around cards that I find to have interesting abilities. In some cases those cards are not the commander and the commander is chosen for colors and support.
May 27, 2022 8:55 p.m.
I like to play with aggression & identity along with some level of simplicity of mana base. Thus, for me I don't personally like 4+ colors as I feel some dilution of identity when you approach WUBRG goodstuff, I also dislike a cumbersome manabase. I like commanders who force uncomfortable decisions & playing damage-race style decks.
Back to the question, specifically: I definitely do not need high power, I don't actually typically NEED to play the commander to enjoy most of my decks... often my commander will need to be impactful if I do decide to play them, but also not such a heavy centerpiece that it must be played for the deck to run. I like a commander where I can just build my boardstate & possibly slap down the commander as the "cherry on top". I've won games with Thantis, the Warweaver with or without Thantis & it will be a totally different game if I play Thantis. Same thing with alot of my other decks; MY Kardur, Doomscourge deck is not running right if I am playing Kardur immediately.. He only comes out by neccessity.
May 27, 2022 10:56 p.m.
golgarigirl says... #13
Sometimes it's a mechanic, sometimes it's a theme, sometimes the card just makes an impression. Alesha, Who Smiles at Death introduced herself by giving me a papercut. And as a foil at a time when foils were something special, she kind of stuck in my subconscious. The mechanic was interesting in and of itself as well!
I've always had an enchantment deck because it's my favorite card type (and maybe to stick it to all those artifact mages), and the deck got pared down from 5-color to Tuvasa the Sunlit after the last Theros set.
I have a tendency to like playing modern/legacy deck strategies in commander, so a few of my decks have taken that angle almost subconsciously (Omnath, Otrimi, and Oloro...omg, they all start with the same letter...are Legacy Lands, Modern Boggles, and Modern Soul Sisters respectively).
And Kresh the Bloodbraided
was me sticking it to the one dude in my game store that had all the bikini Liliana alters. I wanted a beefcake that I could parrot his lewd comments toward and make him likewise uncomfortable to prove a point. But the deck is fun and I'm currently re-building it with New Capenna goodies. It's like welcoming back an old friend.
~~~
Either way, I like making it so my commander, though not always necessary for a successful game, makes an impact. To me, I might as well play a different format if the commander doesn't matter. Power level makes no difference if I'm having fun. I tend toward midrange-toolbox playstyles...and my commanders are either engine pieces or wincons in most cases.
May 27, 2022 11:31 p.m. Edited.
I think one thing that can make a commander interesting can also be when your strategy keeps people guessing or isn't easily identified. Or when the commander can build in a less common subtheme. My Marisi, Breaker of the Coil deck is actually just enchantress with a more aggressive enchantress shell... Very fun when the assumption is that I will be relying on Marisi or goad as my masterplan & in reality I am just playing the Naya god pantheon & building a wall... It is one of 2 decks I have that also make vigilance a pertinent ability :)
Breena, the Demagogue has been incredibly aggressive with little standard weenies (lifelink, vigilant, low CMC) & a planeswalker subtheme. I love it when players are scratching their heads with my heavy proliferate theme, then I start dropping planeswalkers & they are like; oh, it is sortof an aggro Atraxa, Praetors' Voice, but not really!?!
golgarigirl solid, parring down to Tuvasa the Sunlit. Was it just experience that made you par down from WUBRG? Genuinely curious. Alot of my large playgroup started with WUBRG decks & then parred down eventually too for alot of different reasons.
May 28, 2022 9:56 a.m.
golgarigirl says... #15
@gleelock
I was running Chromanticore as my commander (house-ruled, of course), but I was only running four or cards. With the influx of enchantment support in the new enchantment set (and ever since then...honestly I first built the deck in COK, and the support has exploded since then), I determined it was very easy to live without those cards. They were nice to have, but I just ended up swapping them for similar roles at that point.
May 28, 2022 10:28 a.m.
Oh, that makes alot of sense. That is one of the cooler bestow cards, then they started making augmentations & such &, yeah, more support & ability to simplify/focus enchantments.
May 28, 2022 11:54 a.m.
ZendikariWol says... #17
On topic, I really like build-around commanders, but building them with a bit of a twist: something the commander enables or assists with but doesn't directly entice you to do. Examples are Sisay, Weatherlight Captain politics (because politics decks run SO many legends, seriously!), or Prosper, Tome-Bound exile-based theft.
Off topic, slow your roll on the big words, my guy! I admire your propensity for loquaciously expanding upon your subject matter, but "menageries" has other (magic-relevant) meanings that could be confusing, "thereupon" could have been cut and nothing in the sentence would have changed, "immense vastitude" is redundant and vague- vastitude with regard to what? If you mean possibility, just say that! ... I'm mostly just givin' ya grief, it's a little hard to follow but there are worse things to be than pretentious, for sure.
June 1, 2022 12:40 a.m.
I would like to clear some things up ere they tip into turmoil.
ZendikariWol - Though as no offense to you, this is not the first time I have received critique of my tongue. I simply enjoy language. I study it fervently, opting to read the older texts to gather terminology which subsequently wove its way into how I speak.
As a fellow random person on the internet, my advice is to ignore it. I am fond of my brogue mannerisms and have little intention to change them.
Gidgetimer - English is my first and only, yet I have been perusing the diacritical structure of other languages. When I get to college, linguistics here I come.
June 1, 2022 10:36 p.m. Edited.
Gidgetimer says... #20
Ah, then I would encourage you to remember that the function of language is communication. As such you should probably use antiquated/archaic/exotic syntax, usage, and vocabulary as seasoning. In cooking salt enhances flavor, but if you add too much it ruins the dish. This is a similar situation. When choosing words I would also make sure to consider implicit as well as explicit meaning as well as any modern usage of the word.
But as you said to ZendikariWol, random denizen of the internet. Take my advice, ignore my advice, ridicule my advice, it matters not. I am just often a vocal component of clear and concise communication and that extends into the overly complex as well as the uselessly simplified as I often complain about.
June 1, 2022 11:02 p.m.
ZendikariWol says... #21
Idoneity, my very favorite DMing tip applies here: "if it's intentional, I'm on board!" As long as you know what you're doing and you're doing it cuz it's fun, go wild. It was even fun for me, testing my personal lexicon against yours! Stay funky!!
June 1, 2022 11:26 p.m.
Gidgetimer - The functional purpose of language is simple communication, yes. However, it is a loosely intricate apparatus which can be bent and contorted on a whim. If the sole purpose of language is communication, there would be no poetry, no songwork, no creativity. Each of these offers uniquity in how they are delivered. Writing can be as cryptic as the farthest world whilst holding the same message as a children's book.
English delves far into the ages, for it is a convergence of many languages. Be it the scops of the Anglo-Saxons or the philosophers of Greece, they betook books to ideas that could be spliced into countless simplicities. I thence speak as an homage to what I both aspire and admire.
In this same boat, I love words. There are really some fascinating ones, such as "kythe," "dree," and "idoneity," each of which favourites of mine. I am fond of the forgotten, and I am always keen on giving a little bit of memory to what no longer has it.
But as you said, as I said, "take my advice, ignore my advice, ridicule my advice." The difference here is that it does matter: to me leastwise. As I now say revised, I have no intention of changing how I speak. Let us all say nothing more.
June 1, 2022 11:27 p.m.
ZendikariWol - Right after my long-thought comment, you just had to say something cordial. Positively daring.
For a harsh topic change, you DM as well? That, I find lovely.
You stay funky too.
June 1, 2022 11:29 p.m. Edited.
ZendikariWol says... #24
Idoneity, yeah, I hope I didn't offend with the first comment, I didn't really mean anything by it, I just use some big words like that sometimes and it gets weird bc that goes over people's heads and gets awkward (worse yet is that I'm a music major, so people talk about music they like and suddenly I'm using words like "tonic" and "dominant seventh" and nobody ever knows what I'm talking about anymore!).
Anyhow, yes, I also DM; D&D is the only game that can beat out Magic for me, in the way that it uses game mechanics to construct a narrative. It's unparalleled.
June 4, 2022 1:39 a.m.
I'm currently working towards a complete set of 2 & 3 colour commanders.
My metric for choosing commanders for these decks thus far (I'm at 15/20 if recollection serves) has been very idiosyncratic.
First and foremost I think that I have to find the deck mechanically interesting, and the commander is obviously a large part of that.
I can tell you things that are of zero concern to me: age of commander, lore & background, card art. These things don't play into my commander selection at all. First & foremost I have to enjoy the process of playing the deck.
Power level does play into my selection, But not in the way that you might think. I prefer to have commander decks at varying power levels, so that I have something which I can match to the level of the table. I currently have decks spanning from the fringe of Cedh down to precon level.
One thing that does play into my commander selection is popularity. Although I have built (and do enjoy playing) some of the more popular commanders, my general preference is towards commanders that are less popular (or at least less well represented amongst the people whom I play more regularly). If I can make a coherent deck that I enjoy playing for an "under-represented" commander, then I am most happy.
June 4, 2022 10:12 a.m.
namdoolb Good point on popularity, usually I build commanders outside of the top 50 on EDHrec (if not far outside the top 100).
Abaques says... #2
I have many commander decks and I choose the commander based on what I want the deck do. Sometimes that decision is driven by some unique ability that the commander has that I find interesting, for instance my Purphoros, God of the Forge deck exists because Purhoros has a unique ability for a commander that I wanted to explore.
Other times I choose the commander because its just the best fit within the deck design I want. I have a Mardu vampire tribal deck with Edgar Markov at the helm only because there aren't really any better options for the 'fun with big vampires' theme I want to run in Mardu colors. The deck would probably be better and more closer to my goal for it with the new Olivia at the helm, but I want to run Mardu colors so I do the best I can with the constraints I have.
That's all just my method though. I think everyone really should have their own methods for picking their commander.
May 27, 2022 3:47 p.m.