EDH general for new player
Deck Help forum
Posted on Jan. 9, 2014, 3:24 p.m. by ptrrich
i've only been playing magic for about 2 year (my first set was Avacyn Restored) and started playing EDH with the 2013 pre-cons, the Marath, Will of the Wild being my prefered. i was wondering if anyone could recommend a decent two colour general for me to work with for my first hand made deck? i would go mono colour but most of my play group has mono decks and i just want to try and be a bit different.
i just liked the versatility and the access to consistent ramp. i guess i'm quite aggressive player too which he sort of fits.
January 9, 2014 3:29 p.m.
So you'd probably want to be green/red or green/white if that's your playstyle and you want to keep all the ramp.
Maybe Radha, Heir to Keld or Stonebrow, Krosan Hero for RG and Rhys the Redeemed for GW?
January 9, 2014 3:35 p.m.
i'd been looking at maybe green black, maybe leaning towards Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord for the added removal to make creatures bigger and the slightly higher versatility? but i don't know if that colour combo is strong or whether jarad is even that good? i just meantion it because i got lucky and pulled one.
January 9, 2014 3:42 p.m.
Well, if everybody around you is playing mono-colour, depending on their generals, that could either indicate a very casual meta where most anything would be fine, or the kind of optimized competitive meta where anything that is less reliable than a turn 4 or 5 combo out is going to get whomped. Depends on what they're playing.
January 9, 2014 3:43 p.m.
most are mono-black for the cheapness of making it over powered. the group is casual but i want to be able to keep up with the few spikes that run Sheoldred, Whispering One
January 9, 2014 3:48 p.m.
Wow, I forget sometimes how much more cutthroat 1v1 French EDH is. The idea that Sheoldred is a -spike- card is just insane to me. By the time black gets to 7 mana without Dark Rit, they should pretty much be locked down or already dead with the meta I play in.
Jarad with Ramp, lots of black Removal and some bomby utility creatures with strong ETB abilities so they can come in, do something good, then get Sac'd to Jarad would probably be perfectly fine around a bunch of mono-black.
Also you can run Scavenging Ooze and clear out their graveyards. Mono-black hates it when you clear out their graveyards.
January 9, 2014 3:51 p.m.
Kaervek the Merciless could be a fun commander for you. His colors allow for a little freedom to let loose on your opponents while his ability allows for some control. One of my friends plays Kaervek and just getting him out throws us out of our game a bit.
January 9, 2014 3:53 p.m.
i'll look into it then, thanks. and when i say it's a spike card, it's just because of all the tutors and the mana from Cabal Coffers that makes it hard to counter. and by the time you can threaten it we normally have to either sac it or it just comes back the next turn, even in multi
January 9, 2014 3:55 p.m.
Play some blue. Permission them all day long. Even the crappy counterspells are good when you're the only one playing blue, and they can't counter your counters.
January 9, 2014 3:57 p.m.
Declaration of Naught naming Sheoldred, Whispering One
I hear black is great at getting rid of enchantments.
January 9, 2014 3:57 p.m.
Fleetfiend says... #13
If you are enjoying Marath... why not just use him as your general?
The precons are pretty decent, and are a great starting point. You could easily shift focus of the deck (I feel like the precon was really made for Mayael the Anima anyway), and just make it a better Marath deck. Look at other Marath builds on the site to get ideas, and as you get new cards, swap em out for what you have!
January 9, 2014 4:05 p.m.
My very first EDH deck was Mayael the Anima . I quickly learned that if your general needs to get around the table and untap before it can do anything, it's not good enough. But my meta has always been hugely permission and removal heavy. Maybe yours isn't! I was quite disappointed that I had to take that deck apart.
January 9, 2014 4:07 p.m.
i will keep marath around and i have modified the deck quite a bit, with my list being on my profile. i agree with it being based for Mayael too, one of my friends got it at the same time and we had a game with the same deck different commanders and mayael was much better normally. but i just fancy going out on my own and creating my own thing not having my hand held so much. i think it's as much proving to myself i can make an alright enough deck.
January 9, 2014 4:10 p.m.
Ohthenoises says... #16
I built I Vant, my burd... and iPod 666GB for my boardwipe heavy meta.
That being said, Omnath, Locus of Mana makes for a retarded general for mono colored and he can be VERY aggressive. (Rollover Minutes is mine.)
If you want G/R and you like playing aggressively try looking into Ulasht, the Hate Seed or Thromok the Insatiable , as they can be really nutty. Both of them represent with tokens VERY well.
Of you want G/B Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord is absolutely bonkers and you hit the nail right on the head. Another one that is great in those colors is Glissa, the Traitor . (who pairs ridiculously well with Executioner's Capsule .) Jarad usually plays as a goodstuff reanimator and Glissa usually plays as more of a Artifact Voltron commander.
January 9, 2014 5:18 p.m.
Ohthenoises says... #17
Another note on the G/B colors, Tooth and Nail and Mikaeus, the Unhallowed are in those colors. (HINT Triskelion HINT)
January 9, 2014 5:21 p.m.
MindAblaze says... #18
Nath of the Gilt-Leaf is also a pretty fun G/B commander. See Sadistic Hypnotist
January 9, 2014 6:24 p.m.
There's a lot of great ways to choose a general. The first is to see a legend and say "I want to build around him/her!" The second is to pick you play style and your colors and pick a general to match it.
I'd suggest thinking about this through the second way. What strategy do you want to run? Do you want to be aggressive or controlling? Are you looking to have fun with your meta or send them home crying in defeat?
What sort of position do you like to be in during the game? Do you want to be the guy with the big creatures or the guy everybodyl looks at when they cast a spell to be sure it goes through?
You said that you like ramp. Green is the ideal color for that. But, what do you want to do with all that ramp? When you decide that, think of the best color for that and go searching for generals in those two colors. (Or let us know and we can refine our suggestions for you.)
January 9, 2014 6:41 p.m.
i like ramp as i just like to be able to use all the options i draw and be able to drop them consistantly. what i want to do with it is more what i'm flexible with. in my marath deck i use it just to make him as big as possible by recasting and fireballing him or to just flood the field with loads of big creatures like Sun Titan
.
January 10, 2014 5:19 a.m.
If you want to flood the field with big fat creatures with a side of direct damage, I would suggest Stonebrow, Krosan Hero
.
If you were looking to entertain 3 colors, might I introduce Animar, Soul of Elements ?
January 10, 2014 10:08 a.m.
i have thought about animar, but i decided that i wanted to give myself the two colour limit this time for my first scratch attempt. and i like the idea of Stonebrow, Krosan Hero but while i say i'm agressive, i do like to go a bit more midrange for my decks and i don't think i can get enough of that in RG.
January 10, 2014 11:01 a.m.
You said Sheoldred, Whispering One was what you usually struggle with so why not Sigarda, Host of Herons ? She allows for ramp and you don't have to sac things once they're out.
January 10, 2014 1:28 p.m.
i had contemplated Sigarda, Host of Herons but i don't while there are a couple of spikes, most of the group is purley casual so while i want to be able to win from time to time, i don't want to just make my deck a direct counter.
January 10, 2014 5:48 p.m.
Fleetfiend says... #25
Have you looked at Borborygmos Enraged or Radha, Heir to Keld ? Theres someone at my LGS that plays a Radha land destruction deck that I've heard is pretty brutal.
January 11, 2014 11:08 a.m.
If you really like big creatures Kaalia of the Vast is actually probably the best creature for beginners if you exclude the game's meta. She is good for a beginner since she is easy to understand, build a good deck around and doesn't require a complicated board state to actually be usable. Once you count the game's meta, she has gotten a reputation for being busted since you can 'accidentally' kill an opponent on turn 3.
If you like ramp and giant creatures you may like Trostani, Selesnya's Voice since you just aim to play giant tokens . Who doesn't enjoy using Phyrexian Processor to play 40/40 tokens, beat face and gain tons of life. You can easily change my mostly budget deck for her to include a bit more ramp pretty easily. Trostani, Token Master
You may also like Captain Sisay since its pretty easy to find big legendary creatures in green/white and you still have access to your favorite ramp spells. Her real down side is that she requires lots of protection to be useful and not just get hated out of the game.
The legendary creature that you have, Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord , sounds like it would be a completely playable deck. You would want to run stuff like Avenging Druid , Manabond , Birthing Pod and Hermit Druid to help power the commander and cards like Animate Dead , Nezumi Graverobber , Sheoldred, Whispering One , Necromancy , Grave Pact , Necrotic Ooze , Black Market , Mikaeus, the Unhallowed and Dance of the Dead to take advantage of the creatures that you are sacking.
January 11, 2014 12:18 p.m.
I think you should watch out for too much reanimator / graveyard competition from the sounds of your playgroup - although they would maybe respect you for playing something kinda similarish to what they run.
Do you like goblins? If no - ignore the rest of my comment. If you do, then Wort, the Raidmother burn / conspire / storm can sometimes feel a bit like Marath, Will of the Wild in the way that it has direct damage potential and likes ramping (and puts out tokens - although instead of a big X/X guy it tends towards lots of little goblins that aren't bothered by being sacked and can be sacked in response to things often for some benefit to you).
January 11, 2014 12:51 p.m.
Green/Blue would actually be a good combination. Creatures like Lorthos, the Tidemaker and Frost Titan can be things to ramp into, along with beaters like Nimbus Swimmer . Green Blue also opens up to a lot of tapping and untapping effects, (see Sleep and Prophet of Kruphix ). Blue can keep commanders off of the field with bounce effects and green has some deck bury effects such as Boomerang and Stunted Growth . All you need to do then is force them to shuffle their library or use one of two cards with Fateseal, Mesmeric Sliver and Spin into Myth .
January 11, 2014 1:17 p.m.
canterlotguardian says... #29
going off of acbooster's comment, white/blue is fun because it has control for the board, nasty beefy creatures that oftentimes come with additional fun effects (Isperia, Supreme Judge or Lorthos, the Tidemaker anyone?). Plus not only that, UB generally has some pretty fun combos in it too. My personal favorite? Blustersquall +Sunblast Angel
Devonin says... #2
Depends on your play style and what kind of deck you want to build. Is there anything in particular about Marath that really made you enjoy the deck?
January 9, 2014 3:26 p.m.