Recommend me fun commander netdecks

DirkGently · Post by **DirkGently** » 3 years ago

100(+) brews in, I've gone to the dark side.

This weekend I didn't have any decks I was particularly in the mood to brew, but it had been a few weeks since I brought a new deck and I was getting a little bored. So I decided to build the #1-with-a-bullet most popular deck back on MTGS, Gaka's Norin build (specifically osieorb18's version since the OP was pretty out of date). I had to make a couple substitutions for cards I didn't have in my collection, but otherwise I was able to recreate it faithfully.

And it was really fun! Partly because the deck is pretty interesting, but I think a big part of it was that I was a lot less attached to the results of the game when it wasn't my own deckbuilding prowess being tested, nor my fault if the deck played anything overly mean (hey, don't look at me, I didn't decide to put blood moon in here...), so I was more chilled than my sometimes-salty self. And it also gave me a chance to play an archetype that I might not normally choose to play if I was building it, which was a nice change of pace.

So I'm looking for more recommendations for fun decklists to copy and play. Ideally from those with a lot of experience playing many decks, who have distilled down what they consider their all-time-most-fun decks (I know I've got my own list). Not looking for cEDH, primarily aiming for 7-8 power level (although lower is probably ok, I don't mind a challenge). No budgetary limits (and I'd prefer no-limit decks since I don't generally keep budget replacements in my collection - die in a fire vivid lands). Not looking for any particular archetype since I'm looking to get out of my comfort zone(s). I do have a preference for fewer colors, since it's easier to find the cards (my collection is sorted by color). And I am looking for a complete decklist I can build, not just commander recommendations - if you don't link a full list I'm not paying attention. And most importantly, my primary goal here is fun. Is that incredibly open-ended? Yes. Well, hopefully.

Commanders I've already built

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Athreos2 - Akim - Cazur+Ukkima - Otrimi - Otrimi - Kalamax - Ayli+Lurrus - Clamilton - Gonti - Heliod2 - Ayula - Thassa2 - Gallia - Purphoros2 - Rankle - Uro - Rayami - Gargos - Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa - plus a few more old ones that have been mostly lost to time...

Alright, hit me.

The ones I've run thus far:

Gaka norin - https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the ... s-you-lose

SocorroTortoise Jaya - viewtopic.php?f=35&t=296

snowfox Grenzo - viewtopic.php?f=35&t=22095

toctheyounger - viewtopic.php?f=35&t=475

MeowZeDung · Post by **MeowZeDung** » 3 years ago

I'm always tempted to run with @darrenhabib's Niv-Mizzet Reborn Astral-Living-Genesis deck. Seems super fun. @kenbaumann's Modal Brodah seems sweet too. Both in the decklists subforum.

DirkGently wrote: ↑
3 years ago
I do have a preference for fewer colors

Whoops, missed this somehow.

I've always thought @SocorroTortoise's Jaya Ballard, Task Mage was interesting. @ISBPathfinder has a solid Naban, Dean of Iteration list too.

Mookie · Post by **Mookie** » 3 years ago

As a person whose color identity skews black, I tend to focus more on my own decks than other peoples' decklists. That said, of my own decks, I'll say that I probably enjoy playing Sharuum and Animar the most. Sharuum is better for satisfying my urges to durdle around with janky value engines, while Animar is a more pure dopamine hit / adrenaline rush. Decklists in signature (although as my own decks skew somewhat budget, you may want to swap out the manabase).

That said, they're both pretty well-established archetypes, so it's possible you've already done something similar to them.

(obligatory 'netdecking is ruining the format' callout here

)

TheAmericanSpirit · Post by **TheAmericanSpirit** » 3 years ago

https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the ... e-ri-berit

This is one of the lists that helped me ease back in after downsizing a collection in college. It definitely needs some updates, but this deck is great to sit down with any power level between precon to ~7.5 and the pauper restriction barely affects playability while still adding a deckbuilding constraint. I personally added a sol ring, but I am admittedly a man of brittle will. Anyway, very fun deck!

@netdecking talk lately

So I've been thinking about this a lot more and honestly, I now think that netdecking is less problematic than I believed prior. I mean, is it always incumbent upon us as individuals to develop our own satisfaction, or can we remove the stigma of stealing another's great idea? Playing someone else's deck is a fantastic insight into another player's deckbuilding mindset and a fascinating reflection of one's own ability to adjust to new patterns of play.

MeowZeDung · Post by **MeowZeDung** » 3 years ago

TheAmericanSpirit wrote: ↑
3 years ago
So I've been thinking about this a lot more and honestly, I now think that netdecking is less problematic than I believed prior. I mean, is it always incumbent upon us as individuals to develop our own satisfaction, or can we remove the stigma of stealing another's great idea? Playing someone else's deck is a fantastic insight into another player's deckbuilding mindset and a fascinating reflection of one's own ability to adjust to new patterns of play.

I like to take the best of both worlds by borrowing others' great ideas and incorporating them in my own brews. I mean, from these forums in the past 10 or so months alone my decks have gotten a lot spicier just by including hidden gems and copying small packages of cards or conceptual ideas from other folks' decks. It's great because I scratch my creative itch with 75-80% of the deck being my own brainchild, but I gain a lot of fun/power/wackiness from ideas I would have never thought of on my own.

DirkGently · Post by **DirkGently** » 3 years ago

@MeowZeDung Niv actually might not be too hard since my multicolor cards are separate from my mono-color (mono-color make up most of my collection). So if it's all multicolor it's not that bad. Depends on the list.

But you didn't link the decklist and I couldn't find it quickly, so I'm disqualifying it on principle.

Jodah is probably too competitive. Any commander where, when I sit down I go "ugh, you're playing that?" I'm probably not interested in playing myself. If it's a cute build maybe but I'm not digging for it.

Jaya sounds interesting. Luckily that one actually showed up in the first page of search results, so I'm letting you off with a warning.

Naban I've built before (it's in the list on the OP).

@Mookie

Animar and Sharuum: see Jodah.

I know you're just kidding, but personally I don't think netdecking is particularly problematic unless someone is copying cEDH lists to bring to a casual meta. The issue people have (mostly in other formats ofc) is that it raises the general level of competitiveness and/or limits diversity, but I'm mostly interested in finding unique, less-competitive builds.

Granted, this does indicate a lack of creativity on my part, but given how many decks I've built I'm ok with that.

@TheAmericanSpirit Merieke is a commander I played way back before I recorded my decklists, and I'd be game to play her again - unfortunately I don't think it's worth my trying to recreate a pauper list, though, since my collection is built for normal commander and so is missing a lot of those cards.

Mookie · Post by **Mookie** » 3 years ago

DirkGently wrote: ↑
3 years ago
I know you're just kidding, but personally I don't think netdecking is particularly problematic unless someone is copying cEDH lists to bring to a casual meta. The issue people have (mostly in other formats ofc) is that it raises the general level of competitiveness and/or limits diversity, but I'm mostly interested in finding unique, less-competitive builds.

Granted, this does indicate a lack of creativity on my part, but given how many decks I've built I'm ok with that.

Ha, absolutely. As I mentioned in the original netdecking thread, I don't think it's an actual issue in EDH. Especially in this case, given that your goal is explicitly to try something new and different. (if you netdeck something you haven't played before, isn't that sort of injecting more diversity into the format? hmmm...)

....wish I had some interesting less-powerful decklists to point to. I've played against some sweet Malfegor, Rasputin Dreamweaver, and Ramses Overdark decks, but no idea where the decklists would be.

MeowZeDung · Post by **MeowZeDung** » 3 years ago

DirkGently wrote: ↑
3 years ago
But you didn't link the decklist and I couldn't find it quickly, so I'm disqualifying it on principle.
...
Jaya sounds interesting. Luckily that one actually showed up in the first page of search results, so I'm letting you off with a warning.

I'm cool with sharing ideas with people, that's kind of the point of forums, but no one is your personal search engine. I mean, if you don't want to bother with 30 seconds in an advanced search function and expect someone else to do it for you or else you won't consider that list an option; fine, that's your prerogative. I just don't see the merit in being condescending or snarky about it.

I'll take my "warning" and leave your thread now. I hope you find a sweet list.

Post by **pokken** » 3 years ago

My Ephara deck is hands down my favorite deck I've ever played, and it probably is something you would enjoy style-wise - there's a version without an infinite combo in it as well if you prefer.

Main version:
https://deckbox.org/sets/665530

MTGO No-combo:
https://deckbox.org/sets/2675533

------------------------------------------------------

I see you've already made Ephara! Woops. Probably my second coolest deck I can think that isn't on that list is my Mimeoplasm list:

https://deckbox.org/sets/2511960

It's fairly unique in a lot of ways, with the bit of a lands subtheme to help fill the graveyard (and use lands to go over the top with stuff like Volrath's stronghold and Bazaar).

DirkGently · Post by **DirkGently** » 3 years ago

@MeowZeDung Apologies for being snarky, but I did explicitly say I wanted a link in the OP.

@pokken Thanks! I do enjoy having an excuse to play bazaar...

MeowZeDung · Post by **MeowZeDung** » 3 years ago

DirkGently wrote: ↑
3 years ago
@MeowZeDung Apologies for being snarky, but I did explicitly say I wanted a link in the OP

This is fair, and I missed it along with the note that you preferred fewer colors. My fault for skimming, but I still would have preferred you just said "Niv sounds cool. Got a link as requested in the OP?" and I would have hooked you up and apologized for my poor reading comprehension. I just have a general aversion to internet snark, especially when I don't feel I did anything to deserve it. Thanks for the apology. Here is darren's Niv list.

Rumpy5897 · Post by **Rumpy5897** » 3 years ago

I'm just going to blanket recommend all the primers on here. Click on the primer tag, find a commander that seems interesting in the list of threads that pops up, and get digging. This does involve a couple extra clicks/scrolls to get to an actual list, but the level of curation and care put into the lists should make up for the inconvenience

That's not to say that there are no interesting non-primer decks on here. It's just that it takes a certain degree of passion for a list to write up a primer, so everything available with this single click is going to be quality.

Sachi · Post by **Sachi** » 3 years ago

I love brewing decks of my own but this is the site I come to for great ideas. I have so many heros on this site who have fantastic decks I could never list you all!!!

There is one deck on here that I "net decked" pretty much card for card. I think I originally copied it because it's not a style I would normally play (and even seemed a tad mean) but I find it a complete blast to play! It's very swingy with your life total but can actually be resilient and hang in there to win in a multi player game. I always feel like I'm playing by the seat of my pants hoping to draw into the card that will save me and/or kill my opponents.

It's Greven by darrenhabib. Link as follows:

https://www.mtgnexus.com/viewtopic.php?t=1070

Treamayne · Post by **Treamayne** » 3 years ago

In blatant defiance of the "less colors" preference, I would still like to recommend my example Rainbow Stairwell Horde of Notions deck here; in case the concept appeals as a "try once, no strings attached" dealio.

I'll also recommend our Group Think deck, so maybe we can get input from a paper player on how it worked for you.

Finally, I'd like to recommend my most recent mono-brown Golem proliferate deck:

Karn's Golems

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Karn's Golems

Approximate Total Cost:

materpillar · Post by **materpillar** » 3 years ago

To give you some background, I'm a hardcore Johnny. I love taking really really bad magic cards and engineering a situation where those terrible cards feel utterly abusive in a way that no other magic card would. I like 4-5 card awkward infinite combos that are incredibly easy to disrupt but no one disrupts them because no of the cards are remotely on their radar of threat analysis because they're all bad.

Deck 1 Recommendation

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The first deck is my "prepare to lose to a pile of unplayable garbage cards" Lazav, the Multifarious. Seriously, the vast majority of cards in this deck are awful. You will literally have a lower winrate if you cast a lot of the cards in this deck.

That being said, it isn't a weak deck. I won with it this past weekend. How you say? Discard your hand every turn for value synergy (seriously, there is a minor hellbent subtheme)! Oath of Scholars + Curious Obsession + Mask of Memory to draw seven cards a turn eventually leading to Lasav being a 10/10 (Hunted Horror, +1/+1 counter from Butcher Ghoul, Curious Obsession, Sword of the Animist) infect vector asp that is unblockable and hexproof Slippery Scoundrel.

Abusing combat phases is wonderful and gets to happen very very rarely in the average magic game but happens often here. For example, move to attack. Declare Lazav, the Multifarious as an attacker. Before blockers, Lazav, the Multifarious is now Fog Bank. Move to blockers. You have no fliers and don't declare blockers. Ok, Lazav, the Multifarious is now Phage the Untouchable. You die.

On the downside, you're going to need to buy some cards... or if you don't I'll be extremely surprised. If you have most of it sleeved up I straight won't believe you. On the bright side, outside of Training Grounds and a couple lands everything is extremely extremely inexpensive (by design).

Another note: this deck runs Didn't Say Please. Objectively this is a terrible choice. It has no synergies with the deck at all. Why do I run this card? Once I responded to Expropriate by telling my opponent Didn't Say Please. Let me tell you that immense amount of dopamine that flooded my body when that happened was pretty unparalleled. Wouldn't a Mana Drain have been better here? No, because that would have merely been an incredibly massive mana and tempo swing but it wouldn't have resulted in the smug feeling of satisfaction I carry with me over a year later as a result of seeing the look on my opponent's face. I don't play for the win, I play for the memorable win.

Deck weaknesses: This is primarily a graveyard based deck and if you play in an area with a massive abundance of graveyard hate it'll struggle. Some here or there it can deal with but Rest in Peace is a really bad time.

TL:DR: Win games with Cephalid Inkshrouder, Thran Turbine, Masticore and Rites of Refusal. Your opponent's literally won't be able to make up any excuses about you playing "OP cards" or "paying to win" because they just got beat by a pile of absolute garbage that likely costs less in total than 1-7 of their cards (assuming they have any amount of EDH staples).

Beating people with the worst cards in magic

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Lazav, the Multifarious

Commander

1 Lazav, the Multifarious

Creature

1 Ovinomancer

1 Hedron Crab

1 Fog Bank

1 Cephalid Inkshrouder

1 King Macar, the Gold-Cursed

1 Phage the Untouchable

1 Havengul Lich

1 Treacherous Pit-Dweller

1 Bontu the Glorified

Enchantment

1 Oath of Scholars

1 Training Grounds

1 Drake Haven

1 Curious Obsession

Land

8 Island

1 Polluted Mire

8 Swamp

1 Terrain Generator

1 Cabal Pit

1 Shizo, Death's Storehouse

1 Barren Moor

1 Drowned Catacomb

1 Homeward Path

1 Ghost Quarter

1 Temple of the False God

1 Sea Gate Wreckage

1 Blasted Landscape

1 Drownyard Temple

1 Geier Reach Sanitarium

1 Survivors' Encampment

1 Dimir Aqueduct

1 Lonely Sandbar

1 Castle Locthwain

Artifact

1 Heartstone

1 Null Brooch

1 Thran Turbine

1 Mask of Memory

1 Torpor Orb

1 Dimir Cluestone

1 Sword of the Animist

1 Corrupted Grafstone

1 Millikin

1 Vector Asp

1 Gingerbrute

1 Lesser Masticore

1 Masticore

1 Eater of Days

Instant

1 Foil

Sorcery

1 Unearth

1 Whispering Madness

Approximate Total Cost:

Deck 2 Recommendation

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Deck number 2 comes with a preface. This is a 5-color deck and it has vivid lands. Don't bail on me though please! It's also tribal and I know you hate tribal. Wait! This deck is by far the most fun I have in magic and in addition to that almost all of my opponents also have a blast watching me play it. It's my changeling tribal deck, in which the goal is to play as many cards that allow me to say as many creature types as possible per spell cast. Again, I'll be very surprised if you have much of this deck sleeved up already.

I also got to play this deck last weekend with the highlight being using Unnatural Selection to turn my creature into a turtle and all of my opponents creatures into turtles and then sacrifice my turtle to Endemic Plague to plague wind them.

Amusingly this has a ton of different angles to win with. Sometimes it's by infinitely oblivion ring looping Changeling Berserker, Changeling Hero, and Changeling Titan with an effect like Reaper King or Ayula, Queen Among Bears. There's also Wirewood Symbiote + Mirror Entity + Harabaz Druid for Infinite mana or Hibernation Sliver + Tolsimir, Friend to Wolves + Universal Automaton + The Ur-Dragon for Infinite life and changeling ETBs.

It can also close out the game with The Ur-Dragon beats (change his creature type with Amoeboid Changeling for a 2 shot kill with random lord buffs) or other large beaters like Lathliss, Dragon Queen and tokens. Alternatively it has a few random win effects with like Liliana's Contract or Gilt-Leaf Archdruid.

Some notes: The mana base is reaaaaaaaaaally sketchy. I jammed as many lands that did stuff with creature types into the deck as I possibly could. This means that every other land has to tap for 5 colors or be a basic. Hence a handful of vivids. This means that sometimes that Azami, Lady of Scrolls is going to get stranded in your hand. There's a handful of ways to get around this with Ur-Dragon triggers and Cryptic Gateway. but it does happen occasionally. The deck usually functions reasonably well, but this is a bit of a disclaimer to prevent mental tilt if it happens. Also, tapping mana is extremely complicated because all the lands do a lot of relevant things and there's usually not an overabundance of extra colored mana sitting around.

All your changelings are dragons so they cost 1 less mana because of The Ur-Dragon.
I run the Moggcatcher cycle. They all fetch Morophon, the Boundless who makes The Ur-Dragon cost 4. They can also singlehandedly fetch the infinite combo loop of changelings. Also, you can respond to removal by searching up a champion changeling to protect your creatures.
Usually Unclaimed Territory should name "human" because there is a lot of those in the deck.

Weaknesses: This deck is incredibly creature based. It straight loses to Humility and will do very poorly in a meta that wraths almost every single turn. Try to avoid playing against The Scorpion God, that match is real bad.

TLDR; You get to blow people out with Peer Pressure, Didgeridoo and Spit Flame. The last game I played I got to cast an Dragon, Elf, Sliver, Rat, Snake, Beast, Scarecrow, Ally, Shaman, Wizard creature and honestly, that's a bit of a disappointing small amount of relevant creature types.

Changeling Tribal

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The Ur-Dragon: Changeling Tribal

Commander

1 The Ur-Dragon

Creature

1 Azami, Lady of Scrolls

1 Harabaz Druid

1 Priest of Titania

1 Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero

1 Wirewood Symbiote

1 Sachi, Daughter of Seshiro

1 Gemhide Sliver

1 Amoeboid Changeling

1 Mirror Entity

1 Shapesharer

1 Skeletal Changeling

1 Mothdust Changeling

1 Walker of Secret Ways

1 Manaweft Sliver

1 Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow

1 Venomous Changeling

1 Changeling Outcast

1 Risen Reef

1 Hibernation Sliver

1 Moggcatcher

1 Seahunter

1 Skyshroud Poacher

1 Wirewood Savage

1 Elder Pine of Jukai

1 Ayula, Queen Among Bears

1 Irregular Cohort

1 Graveshifter

1 Feline Sovreign

1 Gilt-Leaf Archdruid

1 Higure, the Still Wind

1 Qasali Slingers

1 Tolsimir, Friend to Wolves

1 Impostor of the Sixth Pride

1 Cairn Wanderer

1 Changeling Hero

1 Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign

1 Patron of the Vein

1 Changeling Berserker

1 Sliver Hivelord

1 Lathliss, Dragon Queen

1 Morophon, the Boundless

1 Changeling Titan

Enchantment

1 Unnatural Selection

1 Liliana's Contract

1 Dragon Tempest

Land

1 Swarmyard

1 Vivid Creek

1 Vivid Grove

2 Forest

2 Island

1 Mountain

1 Plains

1 Swamp

1 Sliver Hive

1 Flamekin Village

1 Haven of the Spirit Dragon

1 Ally Encampment

1 Ancient Amphitheater

1 Cavern of Souls

1 Path of Ancestry

1 Unclaimed Territory

1 Murmuring Bosk

1 Mutavault

1 Tournament Grounds

Artifact

1 Didgeridoo

1 Cryptic Gateway

1 Chromatic Lantern

1 Dragon's Hoard

1 Altar of the Pantheon

1 Universal Automaton

1 Reaper King

Instant

1 Crib Swap

1 Spit Flame

Sorcery

1 Endemic Plague

1 Patriarch's Bidding

1 Peer Pressure

1 Knowledge Exploitation

1 Thunderherd Migration

Approximate Total Cost:

There are links to threads here with more discussion about the decks. There's a couple of different builds of both of them running around on this website that have slightly different flavors.

Unrelated final notes: I played Jaya Ballard, Task Mage for a while. That deck is incredibly fun.
I'm curious to know out of the 200 cards I just recommended, how many do you own and how many are actually sleeved?

3drinks · Post by **3drinks** » 3 years ago

It's not new, but Hanna, Ship's Navigator is always a goodie. I'm looking into her to invert pre-modern Trynn/Silvar and use only the new M15 face and on. A kinda neat experiment. But I only just had the idea so I haven't started anything yet.

WolfWhoWanders · Post by **WolfWhoWanders** » 3 years ago

I think it's hilarious that this is 4 posts down from the "is netedecking a problem" thread so I had to say something. I also appreciated your pheldy list so I'll give you a "netdeck" I just made. It's only a netdeck in the sense that I didn't come up with the general premise of the deck. This is it... viewtopic.php?f=35&t=29989. Sorry I'm not very fancy with the internet yet. I also like Darren's Greven list which I'll try to find later for you. It's similar to how I made him but much more brutal and fast. I also encourage you to try my jank mirrorweave kykar build here viewtopic.php?f=35&t=23288&p=64250&hili ... ver#p64250. Mostly because I'm always looking for more jank to go with mirrorweave, my possible favorite card ever.

kraus911 · Post by **kraus911** » 3 years ago

I did this with Snowfox's Grenzo Dungeon Warden deck because it was different than anything I had or played and they'd obviously put a lot of playtesting and craft into the build. I wasn't disappointed - really fun deck to play. It's in the Primer section but is usually on the 1st or 2nd page of the decklist page.

DirkGently · Post by **DirkGently** » 3 years ago

Thanks to everybody for all the recommendations thus far! Probably won't get to all of them, ofc, it does take a while to build a deck even from someone else's list. My cards for each color are roughly ~1200, plus colorless and multicolored, and keeping a whole decklist in mind while looking through can be pretty difficult so it often takes a couple passes.

Really wish one of the filters on the decklist tags was for color, that'd make it much easier to determine what I need. But I'm sure I'll refine my process for building the decks, like I should be copying the decklist into my own editable text file anyway, so I can remove the cards I've already found and save my personal memory space.

I built Jaya first, will be giving that a shot tomorrow.

@materpillar As far as how many I have - not all of them, but the vast majority. Scanning through I'd guess 93% or so, ignoring lands. With lands, sorry not sorry, but I'd be putting in duals/fetches to replace the vivid lands lol.

Post by **pokken** » 3 years ago

Deckbox lets you sort a deck by color, I find it pretty useful

(although it remains sorted by type)

(What I do when looking for cards is put everything in the scratchpad then move to main deck when I find it--that's a paid feature but presumably would work the same with sideboard)

GabrielleAngelfire · Post by **GabrielleAngelfire** » 3 years ago

I've had a lot of fun playing this elfball list. I'd strongly recommend it if you own a Gaea's Cradle, as that is most of the cost of the deck right there. https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/selvala ... -to-elves/ . People don't expect you to play the OTHER Selvala because her mono-green twin is arguably more powerful and is a notable cEDH commander with the Selvala Brostorm deck seeing a lot of play.

bobthefunny · Post by **bobthefunny** » 3 years ago

I came here to recommend @materpillar's changeling tribal deck. I see he already did though. =P If you haven't tried it yet, I give it my highest recommendation, from the perspective of someone who has lost to it!

I also absolutely second Didn't Say Please as a card. I fell in love with that card at first sight.

materpillar wrote: ↑
3 years ago

SPOILER
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To give you some background, I'm a hardcore Johnny. I love taking really really bad magic cards and engineering a situation where those terrible cards feel utterly abusive in a way that no other magic card would. I like 4-5 card awkward infinite combos that are incredibly easy to disrupt but no one disrupts them because no of the cards are remotely on their radar of threat analysis because they're all bad.

Deck 1 Recommendation
Show
Hide
The first deck is my "prepare to lose to a pile of unplayable garbage cards" Lazav, the Multifarious. Seriously, the vast majority of cards in this deck are awful. You will literally have a lower winrate if you cast a lot of the cards in this deck.

That being said, it isn't a weak deck. I won with it this past weekend. How you say? Discard your hand every turn for value synergy (seriously, there is a minor hellbent subtheme)! Oath of Scholars + Curious Obsession + Mask of Memory to draw seven cards a turn eventually leading to Lasav being a 10/10 (Hunted Horror, +1/+1 counter from Butcher Ghoul, Curious Obsession, Sword of the Animist) infect vector asp that is unblockable and hexproof Slippery Scoundrel.

Abusing combat phases is wonderful and gets to happen very very rarely in the average magic game but happens often here. For example, move to attack. Declare Lazav, the Multifarious as an attacker. Before blockers, Lazav, the Multifarious is now Fog Bank. Move to blockers. You have no fliers and don't declare blockers. Ok, Lazav, the Multifarious is now Phage the Untouchable. You die.

On the downside, you're going to need to buy some cards... or if you don't I'll be extremely surprised. If you have most of it sleeved up I straight won't believe you. On the bright side, outside of Training Grounds and a couple lands everything is extremely extremely inexpensive (by design).

Another note: this deck runs Didn't Say Please. Objectively this is a terrible choice. It has no synergies with the deck at all. Why do I run this card? Once I responded to Expropriate by telling my opponent Didn't Say Please. Let me tell you that immense amount of dopamine that flooded my body when that happened was pretty unparalleled. Wouldn't a Mana Drain have been better here? No, because that would have merely been an incredibly massive mana and tempo swing but it wouldn't have resulted in the smug feeling of satisfaction I carry with me over a year later as a result of seeing the look on my opponent's face. I don't play for the win, I play for the memorable win.

Deck weaknesses: This is primarily a graveyard based deck and if you play in an area with a massive abundance of graveyard hate it'll struggle. Some here or there it can deal with but Rest in Peace is a really bad time.

TL:DR: Win games with Cephalid Inkshrouder, Thran Turbine, Masticore and Rites of Refusal. Your opponent's literally won't be able to make up any excuses about you playing "OP cards" or "paying to win" because they just got beat by a pile of absolute garbage that likely costs less in total than 1-7 of their cards (assuming they have any amount of EDH staples).
Beating people with the worst cards in magic
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Lazav, the Multifarious

Commander

1 Lazav, the Multifarious

Creature

1 Ovinomancer

1 Hedron Crab

1 Fog Bank

1 Dimir Infiltrator

1 Big Game Hunter

1 Dreamscape Artist

1 Wake Thrasher

1 Fatestitcher

1 Royal Assassin

1 Guard Gomazoa

1 Invisible Stalker

1 Butcher Ghoul

1 Disciple of Deceit

1 Gurmag Swiftwing

1 Deranged Assistant

1 Cephalid Inkshrouder

1 King Macar, the Gold-Cursed

1 Daring Thief

1 Slippery Scoundrel

1 Putrid Goblin

1 Ghostly Pilferer

1 Phage the Untouchable

1 Havengul Lich

1 Treacherous Pit-Dweller

1 Bontu the Glorified

1 Archfiend of Ifnir

1 Kefnet the Mindful

1 Hunted Horror

1 Rotting Regisaur

Enchantment

1 Oath of Scholars

1 Training Grounds

1 Drake Haven

1 Curious Obsession

Land

8 Island

1 Polluted Mire

8 Swamp

1 Terrain Generator

1 Cabal Pit

1 Shizo, Death's Storehouse

1 Barren Moor

1 Drowned Catacomb

1 Homeward Path

1 Ghost Quarter

1 Temple of the False God

1 Sea Gate Wreckage

1 Blasted Landscape

1 Drownyard Temple

1 Geier Reach Sanitarium

1 Survivors' Encampment

1 Dimir Aqueduct

1 Lonely Sandbar

1 Castle Locthwain

Artifact

1 Heartstone

1 Null Brooch

1 Thran Turbine

1 Mask of Memory

1 Torpor Orb

1 Dimir Cluestone

1 Sword of the Animist

1 Corrupted Grafstone

1 Ghirapur Orrery

1 Victory Chimes

1 Dimir Locket

1 Heraldic Banner

1 Millikin

1 Vector Asp

1 Gingerbrute

1 Lesser Masticore

1 Masticore

1 Eater of Days

Instant

1 Tolarian Winds

1 Frantic Search

1 Misdirection

1 Foil

1 Rites of Refusal

1 Pulse of the Grid

1 Mental Misstep

1 Aetherspouts

1 Reins of Power

1 Ancient Excavation

1 Arcane Denial

1 Circular Logic

1 Didn't Say Please

Sorcery

1 Unearth

1 Whispering Madness

Approximate Total Cost:

Deck 2 Recommendation
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Deck number 2 comes with a preface. This is a 5-color deck and it has vivid lands. Don't bail on me though please! It's also tribal and I know you hate tribal. Wait! This deck is by far the most fun I have in magic and in addition to that almost all of my opponents also have a blast watching me play it. It's my changeling tribal deck, in which the goal is to play as many cards that allow me to say as many creature types as possible per spell cast. Again, I'll be very surprised if you have much of this deck sleeved up already.

I also got to play this deck last weekend with the highlight being using Unnatural Selection to turn my creature into a turtle and all of my opponents creatures into turtles and then sacrifice my turtle to Endemic Plague to plague wind them.

Amusingly this has a ton of different angles to win with. Sometimes it's by infinitely oblivion ring looping Changeling Berserker, Changeling Hero, and Changeling Titan with an effect like Reaper King or Ayula, Queen Among Bears. There's also Wirewood Symbiote + Mirror Entity + Harabaz Druid for Infinite mana or Hibernation Sliver + Tolsimir, Friend to Wolves + Universal Automaton + The Ur-Dragon for Infinite life and changeling ETBs.

It can also close out the game with The Ur-Dragon beats (change his creature type with Amoeboid Changeling for a 2 shot kill with random lord buffs) or other large beaters like Lathliss, Dragon Queen and tokens. Alternatively it has a few random win effects with like Liliana's Contract or Gilt-Leaf Archdruid.

Some notes: The mana base is reaaaaaaaaaally sketchy. I jammed as many lands that did stuff with creature types into the deck as I possibly could. This means that every other land has to tap for 5 colors or be a basic. Hence a handful of vivids. This means that sometimes that Azami, Lady of Scrolls is going to get stranded in your hand. There's a handful of ways to get around this with Ur-Dragon triggers and Cryptic Gateway. but it does happen occasionally. The deck usually functions reasonably well, but this is a bit of a disclaimer to prevent mental tilt if it happens. Also, tapping mana is extremely complicated because all the lands do a lot of relevant things and there's usually not an overabundance of extra colored mana sitting around.

All your changelings are dragons so they cost 1 less mana because of The Ur-Dragon.
I run the Moggcatcher cycle. They all fetch Morophon, the Boundless who makes The Ur-Dragon cost 4. They can also singlehandedly fetch the infinite combo loop of changelings. Also, you can respond to removal by searching up a champion changeling to protect your creatures.
Usually Unclaimed Territory should name "human" because there is a lot of those in the deck.

Weaknesses: This deck is incredibly creature based. It straight loses to Humility and will do very poorly in a meta that wraths almost every single turn. Try to avoid playing against The Scorpion God, that match is real bad.

TLDR; You get to blow people out with Peer Pressure, Didgeridoo and Spit Flame. The last game I played I got to cast an Dragon, Elf, Sliver, Rat, Snake, Beast, Scarecrow, Ally, Shaman, Wizard creature and honestly, that's a bit of a disappointing small amount of relevant creature types.
Changeling Tribal
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The Ur-Dragon: Changeling Tribal

Commander

1 The Ur-Dragon

Creature

1 Azami, Lady of Scrolls

1 Harabaz Druid

1 Priest of Titania

1 Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero

1 Wirewood Symbiote

1 Sachi, Daughter of Seshiro

1 Gemhide Sliver

1 Amoeboid Changeling

1 Mirror Entity

1 Shapesharer

1 Skeletal Changeling

1 Mothdust Changeling

1 Walker of Secret Ways

1 Manaweft Sliver

1 Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow

1 Venomous Changeling

1 Changeling Outcast

1 Risen Reef

1 Hibernation Sliver

1 Moggcatcher

1 Seahunter

1 Skyshroud Poacher

1 Wirewood Savage

1 Elder Pine of Jukai

1 Avian Changeling

1 Sigil Tracer

1 Taurean Mauler

1 Tuktuk Scrapper

1 Elvish Archdruid

1 Ayula, Queen Among Bears

1 Irregular Cohort

1 Graveshifter

1 Feline Sovreign

1 Gilt-Leaf Archdruid

1 Higure, the Still Wind

1 Qasali Slingers

1 Tolsimir, Friend to Wolves

1 Impostor of the Sixth Pride

1 Cairn Wanderer

1 Changeling Hero

1 Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign

1 Patron of the Vein

1 Changeling Berserker

1 Sliver Hivelord

1 Lathliss, Dragon Queen

1 Morophon, the Boundless

1 Changeling Titan

Enchantment

1 Unnatural Selection

1 Liliana's Contract

1 Dragon Tempest

Land

1 Contested Cliffs

1 Grand Coliseum

1 Riptide Laboratory

1 Unholy Grotto

1 City of Brass

1 Forbidden Orchard

1 Swarmyard

1 Auntie's Hovel

1 Gilt-Leaf Palace

1 Secluded Glen

1 Vivid Creek

1 Vivid Grove

1 Wanderwine Hub

1 Primal Beyond

1 Exotic Orchard

1 Command Tower

1 Seraph Sanctuary

2 Forest

2 Island

1 Mountain

1 Plains

1 Swamp

1 Sliver Hive

1 Flamekin Village

1 Haven of the Spirit Dragon

1 Ally Encampment

1 Ancient Amphitheater

1 Cavern of Souls

1 Path of Ancestry

1 Unclaimed Territory

1 Murmuring Bosk

1 Mutavault

1 Tournament Grounds

Artifact

1 Didgeridoo

1 Cryptic Gateway

1 Chromatic Lantern

1 Dragon's Hoard

1 Altar of the Pantheon

1 Universal Automaton

1 Reaper King

Instant

1 Crib Swap

1 Spit Flame

Sorcery

1 Endemic Plague

1 Patriarch's Bidding

1 Peer Pressure

1 Knowledge Exploitation

1 Thunderherd Migration

Approximate Total Cost:

There are links to threads here with more discussion about the decks. There's a couple of different builds of both of them running around on this website that have slightly different flavors.

Unrelated final notes: I played Jaya Ballard, Task Mage for a while. That deck is incredibly fun.
I'm curious to know out of the 200 cards I just recommended, how many do you own and how many are actually sleeved?

I'm also intrigued to see how my Trostani deck would fare up. It's built to use/abuse fog effects, and in particular Glacial Chasm. It also like to make token copies of things to populate, and generally try to be difficult to disrupt, and simply recover everything constantly.
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=21844
(deck list may be a bit out of date, but should still be good enough)

DirkGently · Post by **DirkGently** » 3 years ago

Updated the OP with the decks I've run thus far. Will add more as I try them out. Could also share my feelings on each of them in this thread, but I'm not sure that would be appreciated by their authors (especially since it's often not the authors recommending them)?

Currently working on changeling tribal...but that one takes a lot longer since I'm going through 15 boxes of cards =/ mono-color only takes 4, hence why almost all of them have been mono thus far.

materpillar · Post by **materpillar** » 3 years ago

DirkGently wrote: ↑
3 years ago
Updated the OP with the decks I've run thus far. Will add more as I try them out. Could also share my feelings on each of them in this thread, but I'm not sure that would be appreciated by their authors (especially since it's often not the authors recommending them)?

Currently working on changeling tribal...but that one takes a lot longer since I'm going through 15 boxes of cards =/ mono-color only takes 4, hence why almost all of them have been mono thus far.

I'd be very curious to know your opinions on different decks that you've played. Maybe less on the side of specific deck critiques (since many authors didn't recommend them as you stated) or other things that could be viewed negatively and more your view on things like how did the deck's play style mesh with your preferred play-style. How many games you played with it. How well did it match up against your home's metagame. Did you learn anything piloting it or were you surprised by any cool interactions you didn't think of. More that kind of stuff.

I'd also personally be very curious to know how you feel about the changeling deck from a more critical viewpoint before and after you give it a couple of games. I'm also curious to know how you're tweaking the mana base.

Post by **ISBPathfinder** » 3 years ago

Interesting project. I likewise would love to hear back from you on the lists you have tested thus far. How the games went and possibly what you didn't like in the list. I guess from my own lists my suggestions would be:

Bruna, the Fading Light list here - Don't let the mono white angels fool you, the list is kinda a super tanky hatebears list. Its really hard to remove me from the game and it constantly funs up fun things like Moat, Magus of the Moat, Drannith Magistrate to name a few. It's goals are being hard to remove from the game and duking it out. You get to play with Bazaar of Baghdad + Moat if you own them.

Sai, Master Thopterist list here - Its a very efficient low to the ground aggro tempo deck. Its fast and consistent but it also has a number of ways that can interact with it. Commander removal, mass artifact sweepers, and ongoing token hate are all kind of a problem for it but ohhhhh man the deck is pure gasoline if someone doesn't just nail you to the floor. It has its flaws but its a low to the ground aggro tempo with TONS of draw and ramp. Total average mana per card is 1.52 or 2.24 if excluding lands.

Those would be the two of mine that I would say are proven that would be the most interesting and or fun offhand. Bruna can be a slog for opponents who want to be proactive and rather hard to remove for a control deck given the commander and Sai is my blitz affinity style of deck.

		Decks
wb teysa [primer] bw	bg tasigur [primer] gu	ug animar gr	ur mizzix ru	wu brago uw
rg samut [primer]gw	wu sharuum ub	uu thada uu	ub kess br	companion cube

		Decks
wb teysa [primer] bw	bg tasigur [primer] gu	ug animar gr	ur mizzix ru	wu brago uw
rg samut [primer]gw	wu sharuum ub	uu thada uu	ub kess br	companion cube

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