New at EDH
Deck Help forum
Posted on Jan. 5, 2013, 3:32 p.m. by hollandboys
I have never played EDH before, nevermind created a deck. This one I attempted this morning and probably sucks. Please take a look and let me know what I can do to make sure I don't lose every game. I don't need to to be too competitive though so no cards that are too pricey. Thanks in advance, the deck is linked here: deck:command-the-cascade-help-please
hollandboys says... #3
Thanks a lot for taking the time to help. I only ever really play standard because I have only been playing since Avacyn Restored and only have standard cards. This is why my deck is made up mostly of standard cards. I have picked out some more ramp cards to help me get up to a maelstrom or my other high drops so I will add those in. I think I'm going to stick with maelstrom until I get the hang of commander mainly because I don't want to take the time and make a whole new deck. I've already spent well over an hour getting this deck somewhat together and I have to pack to go back to school tomorrow. Are there any cards specifically that will help me/are hurting this deck?
January 5, 2013 4:15 p.m.
KabakTheMighty says... #4
The problem that I see at this point is that your card choices are a bit schizophrenic. For instance, obstinant baloth, lightening serpent, primordial hydra, deadbridge goliath, lightening bolt, counterflux, mana leak, hypersonic dragon, craterhoof behemoth, and chancellor of the tangle dont really add much to your deck, and, in fact, some of them are dead on arrival if you are to cascade into them.
Basically, I see a few ways that would make this deck reasonably strong. The first is to focus on ramping into your large creatures as soon as possible and just beating your opponent into submission. The problem with that approach is a screenclear will pretty much cripple you, and in EDH clears are very common. The second is to go for a voltron route; in which case you would focus on trying to get out your command as soon as possible and have him cascade into enchants/etc that would protect him and make it very easy for him to deal damage to the other player (in EDH 21 commander damage is fatal as well). That would require a rather large change in your deck composition though. The third is to focus more on burn and create creature defenses and then attempt to cascade into big burns with your general while exploiting return to hand effects in order to reuse him and your other cascade creatures. You could use cards like worldfire and the like to be a rather large bastard.
I think the last option would probably be the strongest with the first option being the weakest; as for actual card, I will leave that up to you as it is very dependent on what you have at hand. If you focus the deck it will be a strong contender, even with an unorthodox commander
January 5, 2013 4:47 p.m.
hollandboys says... #5
Alright, I have got together a hard copy now that I will change the deck to. There have been lots of changes (I actually took out most of the things you mentioned in the first sentence), notably more ramp. I have a small focus on haste in this deck, with multiple cards giving my creatures haste. I feel like that may protect me from boardwipes. Generally I prefer to go the creature route from my experience in standard. I was thinking that I would ramp and stall using counter spells until I can drop my big creatures. Would that work in commander at all or is there just too much removal for that?
January 5, 2013 4:56 p.m.
KabakTheMighty says... #6
Yeah, that can work in commander, haste wont protect you from board wipes though. Here are a few counter/control cards that may help you: Aether tradewinds, aetherplasm, controvert, dissipation fields, and propoganda. Aether tradewinds so that you can reuse your commander and it will slow your opponent, aetherplasm as a reason for your opponents not to attack you, controvert as it is reusable, dissipation fields and propoganda as they are hilarious.
January 5, 2013 5:14 p.m.
hollandboys says... #7
Lots of those cards look great, I will have to look around for them. I wasn't playing close to the time of release though so I unfortunately don't have any of them. I updated the deck, what do you think?
January 5, 2013 5:19 p.m.
KabakTheMighty says... #8
The only thing I would suggest is trying to find more cards like harrow, and creature cards such as farhaven elf that actually place land into play. That way people cant cripple you by destroying your mana producing creatures. Furthermore Walking Atlus is sort of worthless as it requires you to have land in your hand in order to use. I would also remove semblance anvil for some other card simply because your creature cards dont have very many type connections between them.
You should also get a Avenger of Zendikar at some point, as you could cascade into him with your general and because he is the hardest working elemental I have ever met; far better than the sphinx you have for the same amount at the very least.
January 5, 2013 6:18 p.m.
hollandboys says... #9
Semblance Anvil states card type, which means I can just put a creature and all creatures will get the lower casting cost. That means I can cast Maelstrom Wanderer for 6. I will keep my eyes open for all the cards you mentioned though, especially Avenger of Zendikar
KabakTheMighty says... #2
Hello there holl,
So after looking at your deck I would urge you to choose a different commander. Maelstrom Wanderer is a very interesting card but its a bit expensive, as well as a bit too unreliable. It would be very difficult to make a deck around him, in my opinion at least. If I were you I would use tristani or rakdos instead because of their lower mana cost as well as their more focused nature. With rakdos you could create a rather interesting burn/beatdown deck exploiting his creature cost reduction. With tristani you could make a token beatdown/control deck; although I feel rakdos would definitely be the strongest candidate out of your three.
If however, you are absolutely spellbound with the Wanderer I think you are heading in the right direction at least. You have a good amount of ramp which is absolutely crucial with such an expensive commander, but I dont really know how you could use him to really win unless you are lucky.
Whatever you choose to do, good luck with it. I hope you enjoy EDH, I find it to be the most rewarding game type
January 5, 2013 4:11 p.m.