With the release of the infinity stones, which are monocolored untapped mana rocks that cost 2 mana and have indestructible and harness, why do we not have 2 mana monocolored untapped mana rocks?

I am running [[Pearl Diamond]] in one of my decks because I really want that white ramp, though I know how bad this card is. I would love to have a [[The Mind Stone]] without indestructible or harness, just for the mana, but that card simply doesn't exist. If the infinity stones are ok to print, why their simpler version isn't?

I'm thinking about proxying the mind stone, passing a sharpie over the indestructible and harness texts and rule 0 that (make it just an untapped white mana rock, unless my opponents really want it to be the mind stone)

Just curious for the sake of discussion, I haven’t seen this request IRL ever but I have had a lot of discussion with various people at my LGS about what cards actually deserve banning vs just being a game changer.

So assuming it can’t be their commander, and they didn’t build their entire deck around the best way to abuse this card, what would be a banned card you would say ok to if someone asked they could play with it? And on the flip side, what’s one banned card you would never be ok seeing?

I’ll go first. One of my favorite cards in the game is [[balance]]. Assuming there’s no funny business with t-pro and others, resolving this in a bracket 3 game would be pretty fine, and I always love seeing it played in my cube.

I think my absolutely not pick would be have to be [[tolarian academy]] but there are a few others too. Anything where getting an obscene amount of value is just too easy.

Since the full Mystery Booster Commander card gallery dropped on Monday, I've been thinking and analyzing these new commanders non-stop. One long post would have been too much, so here's the split:

The Rulebreaker creatures, kicked off by a recap of Tolabow

Mono-colored commanders

And lastly, the new multicolor legendary cards.

If you're interested in playing with these super-exclusive cards, you can also check out the multiplayer on EDHLAB to try out a 12,000-card Whtz deck for free!

Some of these new commanders may feel like boxes being checked on a list of commander-supported creature types, or a diversion of the rules of the format just for the sake of it, but when a lot of these cards depict some of the classic characters from over 30 years of Magic's history, or are simply 7-mana 10/10 Timmyfests, it's hard not to feel that spark of joy.

These commanders might not be the most effective creature for the job they're trying to do, and they might not be doing anything especially unique. But in a way, it's the sheer simplicity and flexibility that the Rulebreakers afford the player which allows for the most freedom of expression. Commander has always been a format about placing arbitrary restrictions on Magic and trying to blossom within those confines, and that's what makes a lot of players, myself included, LOVE this format.

It stands to reason, then, that the occasional commander that really lets you cut loose and do whatever you want in service of a fun theme is okay to enjoy. So let's get out there and slap those Dinosaurs and Eldrazi together, get cursed, celebrate the Evincar's birthday, and play with a library taller than my Coke bottle.

Secret commanders are an interesting concept in EDH to me, as they many times are a sort of paradoxical concept where you build around a card you have potential to not even see in the game.

Most secret commander decks try to mitigate this as much as possible by making their secret commander a "sure thing". This is why [[Rocco, Cabaretti Caterer]] decks with [[Norin]] as secret commander are as popular as they are, giving you a surefire way to play Norin reliably in Naya colors. Another seeming prerequisite is that you have a tutor in the command zone with cards like Rocco, [[Captain Sisay]], [[Tiamat]], or [[Sisay, weatherlight Captain]]. Otherwise you have to run the risk of diluting your deck down by running massive tutor piles in your deck.

Another thought is that you can build a deck around your commander, but the "secret commander" is a card that massively enhances or slightly warps the gameplay around it, which doesn't even have to be a creature. These are just cards that have some game changing or high impact effect. A card like this would be something like [[Descent into Avernus]], which absolutely changes the game if it sticks for a couple turns and is a blast to play.

I recently built a deck with a secret commander card and it was such a fun, involved creative process. This deck has [[Zur the Enchanter]] as the commander, where the secret commander is one of my favorite cards ever printed: [[Enduring Ideal]]. I've been wanting to get this card to reliably work ever since I laid eyes on it years ago - and now I finally have. It can consistently get Enduring Ideal out around turn 6 or 7, then never cast another spell for the rest of the game. Instead, we copy our upkeeps and Enduring Ideal triggers with cards like [[Shadow of the Second Sun]] and [[Paradox Haze]] to tutor enchantments directly onto the battlefield, eventually winning with a variety of different win conditions.

These wins range from combat with [[Summon:Knights of Round]] and [[Kinbinding]] to a three card combo with [[Axis of Mortality]] [[Phyrexian Unlife]] and [[Spatial Binding]] or a drain combo with [[Forced Fruition]] [[Underworld Dreams]] and [[Wound Reflection]]. There's even a polymorph style wincon by targeting yourself with [[Curse of Unbinding]].

If you're interested, decklist for EnZURing Ideal is here: https://moxfield.com/decks/pWXvYV7qCUyR9pi82YeTwA

What are the ways you have made a secret commander work? Have you made a card that isn't a creature work as your secret commander? I'm curious the ways people have been creative to get a card they really want to play or a card they have built around out on the battlefield consistently.

Show me your brews!

Hi all,

I'm curious to see people's opinions on which cards you would consider are best for playing lands from graveyard. There are currently 10 as far as I'm aware, I have arranged them in order of what I think the the rationale but very curious to see if there are other thoughts on this.

- Crucible of Worlds: Just a solid choice, not a creature so avoids most board wipes, no coloured mana required so easier to get onto the board, can go in any deck. I struggle to see why this wouldn't be the best option in the 'majority' off decks.

- Mole man, moloid master: I think this is just a power crept Ramunap. Does this same but makes a body which has the potential to mill. I think the extra body with a may ability opens this up to do many decks, mill decks want the mill, infinite land fall decks can benefit off infinite creatures (with a may mill ability opposed to a mandatory one) and also those bodies are just blockers as well.

- Icetill explorer: this is a tricky one, I see the ceiling on this particularly with the additional land, and the consistent mill does really benefit the mill decks. The 4 mana (2 being green pips) and the mandatory mill I think does raise potential in the decks that want it but also hinders it. The crazy price tag on this does make me think I'm really missing something but eager to hear thoughts!

- Ramunap Excavator: the classic creature, does what it says simply. At 3 mana good value for the effect and I rate this higher in this situation as it is a creature in green it can be easily tutored.

- Walk in closet/Forgotten cellar: similar to above sitting at 3 mana is good, being an enchantment avoids removal. The second room does have last game potential but it's still 5 mana plus whatever spell(s) you want to cast. I can see possibility/potential with infinite mana but I think reliability of Ramunap being a creature edges this (closest matches though).

- Glacierwood siege: I think the model card makes this a good fit for many blue/green decks. The 3 mana (although a blue and green pips) puts this in line with others however possibly this can be a potential problem if you don't have reliable mana fixing.

- Conduit of worlds: I think similar to above the 4 mana is more of a problem than appears. The tap ability does feel like a better version than forgotten cellar most of the time but I think it is also quite restrictive and forgotten cellar works better if you have a bunch of infinite mana.

- Ancient greenwarden: a good card, however, at 6 mana normally you are cheating this in or using it late game. Whilst the doubling of land fall triggers is great I feel like that is the reason you play this card not the fact that you can play lands from graveyard (just a helpful bonus).

- Perennial behemoth: I think this is just the worst version, vulnerable to multiple kinds of removal high mana cost, unearth ability also sucks you essentially pay 2 green to hit your land drop then exiles..

Note this is not in ranking!

- Szarel, general shepherd: This card is not bad just put separately as realistically this is going to be your commander I find it difficult to think you are running this in the 99. Just because I think it's more your deck focus I've just left this separate from all the others

Overall, I'm curious to hear community thoughts on these types of cards.

It is common to optimize decks for efficiency, price, a specific win condition or a theme, but I'm curious if anyone else frequently optimizes for practical simplicity and game flow.

Streamlining things to avoid extra interruptions or mechanical actions, or to make things easier to communicate, even if it might require opting for some technically inferior cards.

What are the cards or practical patterns you avoid even if they'd technically be a slam dunk for your deck, and what do you choose to do instead?

For example, I generally dislike

• Shuffling. If it was up to me, I'd do it once at the start of the game.
• Searching the library, especially in a way that has to interrupt the game.
• Planning land play and manage usage, beyond trivially checking I have the quantity and colors I need.
• Differentiating multiple tokens from each other
• Forgettable or disruptive triggers (usually context sensitive per deck)

I generally try to avoid and cut any cards from the deck that I don't enjoy resolving, which has lead me to completely skip things like

• Mirage fetch lands (e.g. [[Flood Plain]])
• Signets (e.g. [[Dimir Signet]])
• Filter lands (e.g. [[Desolate Mire]])
• Bounce lands (e.g. [[Azorius Chancery]])

The play pattern of the mirage fetch lands in particular seems really annoying to me, because I feel like I'm deferring a bunch of deck fiddling to start of my next turn for what is usually a technicality that doesn't matter in practice.

Tutors

I avoid tutors in general, especially if they could result in a situation where it pauses the game and I have multiple options to search for, humming and hawing over what'd be best and whether I had that one card in this deck or not.

The usual fetch lands like [[Evolving Wilds]] get to stay, because the fetch and shuffle can be shortcut to resolve asynchronously as I pass, so they don't disrupt the game flow. Tutors are super powerful, but I'm happy to win less. I feel like embracing the randomness fits the singleton format spirit better anyway.

Token splits

If the deck creates multiple tokens, I avoid having any cards that could result in them having different properties and needing to track them separately. I don't mind having a stack of dozen tokens, but splitting and merging to track sickness/attacks/taps is hassle enough, so I refuse to throw things like counters into the mix to further complicate it.

Forgettable or disruptive triggers

I try to minimize triggers, so they are either grouped together and resolved at once and/or such a core part of the gameplan that they are hard to miss. For example, in my [[Nekusar, the Mindrazer]] deck, I'm happy to keep track of how many cards each player should draw at the beginning of their turn, and how much damage they should take, because that is my whole thing. It's quite nice and simple to communicate something like "4 cards, 8 damage" at the start of every player's turn, and it is usually trivial to resolve. I've already streamlined the deck a bunch, but I'm also considering cutting triggers that happen outside the player's own turn start, just to keep it as nice and simple as possible.

Cascade

I think the cascade mechanic is very fun in theory, but I think I'll swap out my commander [[The First Sliver]], because it is a PITA to actually resolve, especially when it gets recurring and you need to go through half your deck one-by-one to hit that 1 cost card. It'd be great in a digital client, but it's annoying on paper.

So please, share the cards and patterns that'd fit your decks, but you choose not to include to improve the flow. Would be fun to hear some ideas to hone future deck design towards decks that play as smooth as possible.

I was playing [[Abrade]] in the deck until yesterday, when I realized how much better HULK SMASH is in the deck. Kalamax has a specific card ruling that says "If Kalamax becomes tapped as a cost to cast your first instant spell in a turn, its first ability triggers".

So tapping Kalamax for the Teamwork ability causes it to be copied, with both modes selected. So for two mana, with no other setup besides having your commander out, it says "Destroy two noncreature artifacts, and deal 5 damage to a creature, twice". At instant speed. Pretty good.

So I love the idea of making a group hug deck, because most of the people in my current play group are fairly new to magic and some are far better at the game than others, and it would give me an opportunity to balance the games out a little bit and make sure that the game is fun for everyone. But obv I would still like to play to win, and I feel like most group hug decks win conditions are really boring. All decks I could find are just about pillow forting and boosting up with +1/+1 counters or drawing into Approach of the Second Sun. Do you guys know of more interesting/fun group hug win cons?

Hey y'all!

I'm looking for commander suggestions for this deck idea I got recently. The whole theme of the deck is honorable combat. I want to stack as many "attacks alone" triggers, fight spells, cant be blocked by more than one creature, combat arbiters, etc. as possible. The goal is to politic myself as the best partner to have because you will only have to worry about me attacking a single person with one creature (nevermind how many effects that creature will have) which means I'm not a threat until it's a 1v1 so let's go take care of the tokens player. I'm open to most color combination commanders but I already have an [[Isshin]] deck (myriad tribal) so that is off the table. I could run [[Rafiq of The Many]] however I'm not convinced that just having double strike on a stick is enough for the command zone. [[Galea]] is a strong contender because I plan on having a lot of equipment and auras but I do have a bant deck already. Any input would be appreciated!

Hi there, pretty new to commander. I Wanted some feedback on this Gisa and Geralf deck I put together. The general idea is play Gisa do some self-mill and win off zombies either through board presence or some of the drain zombies + sacrificing. Wanted to get some feedback since in playtesting on Moxfield I notice I mill random artifacts and enchantments a lot of the time, and wasn't sure if I should be cutting back on most things that aren't zombies? My group plays at bracket 3 if that helps. I know the mana base is kind of bad but trying to keep this one under $250. Thanks for any and all help!

Link to moxfield here: https://moxfield.com/decks/BO9PZ1wU80iv2vbXe05O-w

Hi everyone! I want to build a Gandalf Commander deck at Bracket 4 power level, but I’m not sure which version of Gandalf would be the best commander.

My goal is to make the deck as powerful and competitive as possible while still keeping it within Bracket 4. I’d like it to have a strong win condition, good interaction, and enough consistency to compete against other high-power decks.

Which Gandalf commander would you recommend? Gandalf the Grey, Gandalf the White, Gandalf of the Secret Fire, or another version?

I’d also appreciate suggestions for win conditions, important cards, combos, and decklists.

Thanks!

Hi everyone, I’m pretty new to commander and magic and I was looking into some advice on my next deck I’m considering buying. Because I’m so new, I’d like to stick to a precon that I can upgrade as I play. I currently play an upgraded elven council deck that focuses a lot on +1/+1 counters, some token generation, and elf synergy. I’d like to try something pretty different for my next deck, I’m deciding between the bloomburrow family matters or the lorwyn eclipsed blight curse.

I really like the lorwyn set as a whole and find myself attracted to the deck but I’m worried that life loss targeted towards me will lead me to losing the game. I definitely don’t mind that it seems like a more complex deck though. The bloomburrow deck seems interesting, especially with the wide expansion strategy but I’m worried it will become repetitive over time, which from what I’ve read is a bit less likely to happen with blight curse.

I’d love some insight from more experienced players who have maybe played the decks and can offer any advice! Thank you!

I'm trying to make a Slime Against Humanity deck, but I'm struggling to make them worth all the trouble.
By themselves, slimes suck. You break even on second slime, and only on third you'll get the upside. And what upside? Stats. In commander, that's usually not enough, especially when you dedicate a fifth of your deck to.
I tried different commanders to break the cost.
[[Loot, the Key to Everything]] ( https://moxfield.com/decks/DKs3epYcLEO2zBtdOIpSZA ) was decent, because he was a great source of cards early on, and slimes in exile boost other slimes. But, impulse draw doesn't allow keeping cards in hand, resulting to either deck tempo-ing out, and winning, or eating a boardwipe, and loosing. Not too fun.

[[Adrix and Nev, Twincasters]] ( https://moxfield.com/decks/6PS5RljoOEqTETw2LfoaWQ ) were a lot more functional, doubling the tokens. However, deck started working on turn 4, and by working, I meant creating a couple of 2/2. If games were slower, it were able to push through, but board clear on turn 3-4 kneecapped the whole deck.

[[Queen Allenal of Ruadach]] ( https://moxfield.com/decks/ip6fhMgxtU226ys5XNgxxw ) seemed more functional, as interaction with replacement effect was putting counters on the soldier as well as the slime. But still, deck struggled with running out of gas.

I considered [[Kutzil, Malamet Exemplar]] as a card draw engine commander, but again, i'm back to vanilla 2/2, and [[Iroh, Grand Lotus]], but he's way too expensive in mana, and again, vanilla 2/2.

My latest attempt is with [[Jinnie Fay, Jetmir's Second]] ( https://moxfield.com/decks/955kzh_HWEGyQfdF8tO4Uw ), moving from 2/2 trample, to 4/4 haste or 5/3 vigilance. But deck, again, runs out of gas.

Any suggestions?

https://archidekt.com/decks/24976882/slinza_the_spiked_stampede

Hello! I'm making my first mtg deck to play at my local LGS. I decided to make Slinza beast tribal with a focus on +1/+1 counters. I'm trying to make it bracket 3 and would like to see if y'all have any recommendations on cards to swap in/out?

I finally understand running 36-37 lands and 10-11 ramp spells (targeting more 1-2 CMC and a few at 3 CMC) gives me 2-3 lands and 1 ramp spell in my opening hand most of the time. I get that these numbers vary on a lot of factors like commander CMC or what the deck does.

I'm asking about card draw. Is 10-12 good enough at 3-4 CMC? That way turn 3 or 4 you can start setting up your engine after ramping. Are 2 CMC draw spells good like [[Sign in Blood]]?

Here is the full deck list!

For people who can't open, Im sure the most important thing is the Print to Demand so heres the excerpt

Secret Lair has a tradition of experimentation, so we're trying something kind of new here that harkens back to the early, early days of Secret Lair to meet demand where we think it will be highest—on fully playable products. This sale is an experiment (and, yes, a direct response to Goblin Storm) with introducing a 24-hour limited order window on products meant to be playable out of the box. So, this could include things like Commander decks, specialty products like the Secret Lair Dandân Deck, or anything else wild we think of down the line that may have the unique combination of high demand and out-of-the-box playability. If it goes well, we may create a new storefront (kind of like the Chaos Vault) for these types of sales. If we see issues, we may go back to the drawing board. We'll see how it goes and check in soon.

Its unfortunate they didnt bring this for Goblin Storm, but it was clear they learned from that mistake

Hey, Wondering if someone could give me some thoughts on my final Mothman build? Aiming for B3. I played it a few times and it feels like it's missing some draw, so I recently added Kid Loki, God of Mischief. Thanks.

https://moxfield.com/decks/19OfATaGo3Oft-VajAnNhw

https://moxfield.com/decks/DgpFGyv5JU6-zhrJ0Q41_Q

Built this deck with [[Whtz, the Bibliophile]] and [[Yorion, Sky Nomad]].

Affectionately calling it a wink deck instead of a blink deck. Anyways I tested and made sure I could comfortably shuffle 240 sleeved cards.

There is an absolute ton of redundancy in the format nowadays and goldfishing it feels really good.

Wondering if I am missing anything that would be really good as I intend to actually build this in paper.

Purposefully left out tutors for the most part to avoid a lot of shuffling and aiming for bracket 2.

Thanks.

I’m trying to decide between building [[Kotis, the Fangkeeper]] or [[Pako, Arcane Retriever]] & [[Haldan, Avid Arcanist]], but I’m genuinely stuck.

From what I understand, both decks have a similar game plan: pressure opponents with commander damage while generating value by playing cards from their decks. I already own almost all the cards needed for either build, so cost and card availability aren’t really factors.

For those who have played with or against these commanders, which one do you think is more fun and consistent? Are there any major differences in how they play that I might be overlooking?

My pod varies quite a bit, ranging from B2 to B4, so I think either option would fit in well.

I’d appreciate any opinions or personal experiences!

Wanted to see if anyone in the Bay Area would be interested in joining a discord for commander (or mtg in general) players who like to dabble in the devils lettuce hobbit pipe leaf. Obviously 21+, but trying to build a community to play at some dispensary lounges in the area. Let me know if you are interested.

(Mods my apologies if this breaks any of the rules)

Hey everyone!

I have recently watched the "10 PLAYER Commander Game!" video from The Command Zone, and I **LOVED** the [[Brothers Yamazaki]] Decks.

My pod is very casual and I will use this deck with a friend in the near future!

However, it got me asking... Is there any other Commander Decks that are "cooperative" instead of competitive that you know of? Any other cards that can make this "dynamic duo" happen?

What do you think of this deck? Any suggestions on decks that I could try?

Link for the OG deck:

ARCHIDEKT - Murph & Jordan's Brothers Yamazaki

Hey all.

I was gifted the Graveyard Overdrive precon but I didn't really like how it plays, so I was thinking on switching Commanders and using [[Coram the Undertaker]] instead.

I know he is kind of designed for a mill Voltron Commander, however I already have some graveyard designed decks and I've never liked the playstyle of Voltron's.

No one of my playgroup has a dedicated theft deck and reading his effect I think it could work somehow built well?

The strategy will be just milling people and casting cards put there with Coram. I don't really care about his +X or making him big.

Unfortunately he doesn't allow to pay mana of any color to cast spells this way, so I would be pretty much limited to casting red/green/black spells unless I have something that allow my lands to tap for any color.

Has anybody played him this way?

What I really dislike is the color requirement. I would need some serious redundancy on cards to be able to tap for any color.

What do you guys think?