I'm in a rut and I haven't seen a new commander that really speaks to me in ages.

[Ruiner]

Not sure if this would take you way out of your comfort zone, but maybe take a look at something like my Sakashima the Impostor clones deck (in my signature).

It's blue, which you don't seem to play much, and it is very reactive instead of proactive when it comes to control elements. Counterspell and Stifke effects can be used against combo players.

Since it is clone based, it scales well to whatever power level you are facing generally, making opponents unlikely to complain. Stax pieces are hard to include because you need opponents to play some things.

If that is unappealing, maybe look at some other archetype that heavy stax is incompatible with that also differs from what you have now.

[materpillar]

So I think I'm figuring out why I've been apathetic towards building and maybe a bit moody towards the state of the format. I love stax I guess and every time I pick up a deck, I look for ways to lock a game down. I must be real fun at parties I know.

So what can I do, what can I look into, for decks to do something different and reinvigorate my desire to build, but not go off into stax like everything else?

I don't know how doable this is but I think the best thing to break you out of your extreme efficiency staxs life would be to buy a precon. Then, don't modify it at all. Find a really low level powerlevel table (preferably other people playing unmodified precons) and play some. You can still try to lock down the table as hard as possible but it'll be a challenge.

Easy, 0 staxs. 0 highly repetitive tutor choices. 0 insanely out of control ramp/combo decks that can only be kept in check by you and your stax pieces because no one is running enough removal.

If I go in a different direction, would Numot-Fireshrieker interactions whet my stax appetite while forcing me to approach it in a different direction? Take away the b tutours that supply my efficiency and consistency, and - while not being an overwhelming interaction, it's still a strong one if my dopey six mana dragon can hit (but totally not central to my plans).

This sounds like the diet stax TAS is referring to. But maybe I should look to that Ephara Hatebears deck too.

The idea behind it isn't to kill lands, but it's more of as leverage play "hey if you let me hit you with my dragon, I'll take out that gaea's cradle before we all just lose". It's sorta making an effort to work with people, but in that bash you in the face way that's synonymous with me. Least that's how I see it in my head. The dragon doesn't really factour into the grand scheme here though. I'm really angling into an artificer's intuition/salvaging station/tezzeret the seeker style of deck.

I hope I'm making sense.

The commander choices doesn't make the list stax, the list makes the list stax. In my experience people are extremely weary of Numot, the Devastator. I'd be surprised if your metagame (who I believe have identified you as really enjoying murdering lands) are going to trust you with this general.

That's easy. I like stax because if I don't, then someone else will combo win since the vast majority of players don't play enough (or any 🙄) removal.

This isn't true. If you wanted to dumpster on all combo wins forever you'd already have written up a primer on Grand Arbiter Augustin IV hard stax/control.

Should I just shift and join the other degenerate ramp players in 4c Omnath and Golos, sort of a "if you can't beat em, join em"?

No. Stop thinking this. There are other decks in the format outside of degenerate ramp decks and degenerate combo decks. Or your metagame is utterly atrocious, dunno.


Here's my suggestions for how to build a non-stax deck
1- Play with an unmodified precon against other precon level decks
2- Build a deck using only cards that aren't in ANY of your other decks
3- Build Braids, Conjurer Adept with the intent of actually casting her in the early game


Speaking from personal experience my last deck I built was Velomachus Lorehold|64613. I built it because I got an alt-art at the prerelease and I thought the art was pretty.
... yeah. So it has pretty art and that's why I built a deck. It happened to be a token deck because I've never built a token deck I was happy with before. Polymorph subtheme because I've never done that either. It's explicitly designed to be lower power because I've gotten back with some old friends who haven't played much in years. Deck is fun, I'm happy with it.

[tempoEDH]

Consider playing "stax" a different way (bear with me I swear I'm moderately intelligent).

Normally stax intends to race the opponents to lock down the board before a combo can get out, and then control it at their own pace - it needs to be a fast deck, because it needs to land those essential pieces before opponents get theirs. So what if you tried building a pseudo-stax deck that was intentionally slow? Rather then racing opponents to stax them out before they can get going, let them build pieces, and then cast well-timed pieces of mass removal, targeted removal, odd damage spells, whatever it may be. Instead of playing stax, play Mardu control (I know you like Mardu), and deal with the after it's been set up, instead of stopping it from happening in the first place.

One of my favorite moments in deckbuilding was right when Firesong and Sunspeaker got released. I was immediately all over the card, because it let me use all the white "burn spells" in my common pile - I ended up with a legitemate boros control deck, running lots of interaction, but specifically board interaction. There was the odd Wild Ricochet for stack interactions, but really it was fun just pushing a control deck in odd colors, and using interaction pieces that most people had never seen or thought of. I got over the craze soon, and ended up disassembling the deck, but for the time it was constructed, it reignited part of my deckbuilding passion.

So, for a similar reason, I'd recommend trying to play Mardu control. Ignore the stax pieces, except for maybe the most essential. Ignore the stack, for sure, although you could add copy effects for counter wars, and that weird black counterspell, just to surprise people. Hell, play Act of Aggression and the like (steal a Hullbreacher in response to an attempted wheel lock, steal a value engine to swing into opponent's creatures for table benefit, please just show this card some love). Just try building a Mardu deck that controls the board after it becomes a threat, instead of stopping it beforehand.

I'd keep going on cards and stuff, but it's been a long time since I've brewed anything, or actually played commander, so I'm not in the best position for that. I really just wanted to get the basic idea out there, which I think would be at least fun for a while as something different but similar. Just from a quick scrape on EDHrec, some of the commanders I'd look at are:

Kelsien, the Plague (Deathtouch wants to know your location)
Mathas, Fiend Seeker (more casual)
Extus, Oriq Overlord // Awaken the Blood Avatar (Instant/Sorcery based Mardu control, with a viable finisher if you can drag the game out, and a value engine attached to it. You could even go the route with things like Merciless Executioner to recur with Extus)
Tariel, Reckoner of Souls (could be interesting, meta dependent)
Oros, the Avenger (Perfect for the idea, but not the best - would need to really lean into the slow but steady idea of just inevitable lockdown, but without staxxing opponents out first)
Jeska, Thrice Reborn and either Tymna the Weaver or Ravos, Soultender (Tymna for more hand-based interactions, Ravos with a more creature centric control plan)

Actually, thinking about all this, I might just brew this later, for my first brewing project since my return to magic.

[3drinks]

I don't know how doable this is but I think the best thing to break you out of your extreme efficiency staxs life would be to buy a precon. Then, don't modify it at all. Find a really low level powerlevel table (preferably other people playing unmodified precons) and play some. You can still try to lock down the table as hard as possible but it'll be a challenge.

Easy, 0 staxs. 0 highly repetitive tutor choices. 0 insanely out of control ramp/combo decks that can only be kept in check by you and your stax pieces because no one is running enough removal.

This isn't a feasible solution since i don't have a regular group. Additionally this isn't a power level exercise so much as a find something new exercise. I'll find random players from 4c Omnathers with ten karoos, to momir vig persistent partitioners, mostly b Vish Kal, Narset, to cDH Yuriko (which gets ignored as though it's not a threat 🙄). Actual random players walking into a shop. I'm sure a nonzero percent of these players are the "roll a dice to attack" players, or the "I attacked you because you had the most life" type.

There are other decks in the format outside of degenerate ramp decks and degenerate combo decks. Or your metagame is utterly atrocious, dunno.

By degenerate, I mean Golos, which is truly degenerate. And simic decks that get free golden tickets every set. So not power level, you can't plan for random.

[pokken]

The more I think about it the more I think you would really benefit playing a hard control deck that doesn't use stax but sweepers, control and maybe a combo finish.

Try my Dimir Inalla shell.

https://deckbox.org/sets/2197705

It was gamechanging for me in how I thought about the game, basically completely unlike every deck I've ever piloted. Think of it as Stack Stax, where you counter finishing moves and sweep up incidental stuff, then go for one of Inalla's efficient combo finishes.

[materpillar]

Additionally this isn't a power level exercise so much as a find something new exercise.

I don't really agree with this assessment at all. The quickest way to find something new is to change up your powerlevel dramatically. For example, my impression is that your decks would pubstomp a precon into oblivion, probably via eating the majority of their lands. Build a deck with the intent being that the deck is fully capable of losing to a precon (or similar lower powered stuff). I guarantee that'll be extremely new for you.

Build with a goal in mind that isn't simply being the last player alive. I have Tivadar of Thorn in which the goal is to kill as many goblins with him as possible. Winning is secondary to murdering goblins.

That way you don't have to focus so much of your energy into stopping everyone else because you have your own personal goals you're trying to accomplish.

[Syb]

I built a Ruric Thar, the Unbowed deck a while back that was deeply anti-combo and anti-ramp, it filled a stax role for me while still being RG go-sideways enough to be an engaging change of pace.

[FenrirRex]

I'll also throw out another fairly simple solution: try borrowing a deck or literally copy-pasting a non-stax list from anyone and just play it. You've mentioned having a hard time finding a deck you enjoy but you're also approaching your play from deck building first- if you instead start from play (be it a borrowed piece, a pre-con, or a net decked option) you have a very decent shot of finding something you like.

Related to what you've perked your ears up at so far, I also recommend Silas Renn, Seeker Adept as a partner, though I combined him with Vial Smasher the Fierce and a boatload of artifact and creature reanimation effects. Junk Yard reanimator is a good time and gives you some serious redundancy with your artifact-based combo interest.

[ISBPathfinder]

Well, its not really something different but Bruna, the Fading Light has a super mean taxy / staxish meld to her. Humans / angels have a decent number of stax like effects such as Drannith Magistrate, Linvala, Keeper of Silence, All of the Magus of, and you could go into some of the Thalias too if you want.

Its a little different I guess but it has a number of stax / tax like effects which you may enjoy. Its not quite as fast out of the gates as a number you listed but it does fit a number of concepts you mentioned.

[Outcryqq]

You should play a blue-based deck. If you want fun/different but still controlling, you can build mono blue sea monsters - tons of counterspells, tons of sea monsters, tons of card draw.

You could try building something akin to the new foretell precon. I'm making a pretty nasty Vega, the Watcher deck, mostly flying-matters and azorius control elements.

You could also do any number of dimir decks, as previously stated. The new Araumi of the Dead Tide deck. Definitely not stax-y, but seems like it could be fun, different (how many encore cards are you playing?), and the blue will still let you counter your ramp friends' haymakers. To combat the big ramp, you could include some cards like Confounding Conundrum and Opposition Agent!

[MeowZeDung]

It seems you desire stax and lots of removal and board control because... you don't like losing. No one does, but some handle losing better than others. I've had so much fun in games I've lost just because I pulled of something crazy/silly/powerful/cool or seen a friend do so. If you just can't enjoy a game loss no matter what I'd suggest one of the following:

1. Embrace your try hard spikiness and get involved in cEDH or any other competitive format for a while and see if it doesn't whet your appetite for more; or make you miss casual commander.

2. Embrace another hobby for a bit. A month without magic won't kill ya. After you've had a break, see if your mojo is back.

I do both pretty routinely. I obsessed during Kaladesh block, ignored Amonkhet, got fired up for ravnica 3.0, and basically played no magic during WAR/M20 in favor of books, video games, family, outdoors or whatever. Sometimes I just need to jam with 40 cards and I'll go all in on the current draft set or cube.

TL:DR - I think you would benefit from either completely setting your stax tendency run wild in competitive magic, or taking a break of some kind until you crave commander again.

One final note: who said you HAVE to build new decks? Enjoy what you already have built with no pressure to do more unless you want to. And, if you don't want to do more... don't.

[toctheyounger]

Well, its not really something different but Bruna, the Fading Light has a super mean taxy / staxish meld to her. Humans / angels have a decent number of stax like effects such as Drannith Magistrate, Linvala, Keeper of Silence, All of the Magus of, and you could go into some of the Thalias too if you want.

Its a little different I guess but it has a number of stax / tax like effects which you may enjoy. Its not quite as fast out of the gates as a number you listed but it does fit a number of concepts you mentioned.

I was literally going to recommend the same thing. I love the dabbling of toes into hard control and stax without being something that people just don't want to play against, and it just punches way above its perceived weight, as a mono white deck, as a tribal deck and as a commander with a high CMC.

There's also scope for adding land destruction if you really, really want to, but there's enough control in the shell ISB and I loosely similarly run already to give the deck plenty of space to breathe and to grind the table down.

[3drinks]

The Silas & Armix deck keeps going back to me, and is a great home for one of the first combos I ever compiled - the 5DN stations. And with a bit of finesse, can support darksteel reactor for maximum silliness. I miss those days, and who can grumble about actually getting stationed out of the game 😂

Side note, this can actually make better use of that Abyss from the prior topic, though I probably don't want to do that.

[capitacommunist]

I think you could also consider Winota, Joiner of Forces with a hatebear shell. This will play quite differently, and you can include various hatebears to slow down combo decks whilst having a clock and not going full stax.
As some others have mentioned, UW control could be something worth considering for you. You could build it more around artifacts, or enchantments or instants/sorceries, and there's quite a number of good commanders to choose from. I'd recommend Hanna, Ship's Navigator though, who is flexible without being too powerful.

[3drinks]

I think you could also consider Winota, Joiner of Forces with a hatebear shell. This will play quite differently, and you can include various hatebears to slow down combo decks whilst having a clock and not going full stax.
As some others have mentioned, UW control could be something worth considering for you. You could build it more around artifacts, or enchantments or instants/sorceries, and there's quite a number of good commanders to choose from. I'd recommend Hanna, Ship's Navigator though, who is flexible without being too powerful.

I had a Hanna deck at one point in time! I was doing things around Hatching Plans (+ standstill!) and Hesitation, and using Glassdust Hulk interactions as my finisher. It was....a deck, haha. Fun times. Any time I get to use Master Transmuter is a fun time.

[3drinks]

A ha.

Bird Keeper Breena. A deck that isn't group hug persay while aspiring to sow chaos and discord. While playing "birds" (flying type creatures, if you get the reference). I'm already envisioning lines of play in my head that aren't staxy, and tbh it has me excited!

[pokken]

Bird Keeper Breena. A deck that isn't group hug persay while aspiring to sow chaos and discord. While playing "birds" (flying type creatures, if you get the reference). I'm already envisioning lines of play in my head that aren't staxy, and tbh it has me excited!

Breena is the only one of the new commanders that has me super excited, going to convert my Mangara Superfriends to her I think. The black planeswalkers are dope.

She's got a bunch of angles. Stuff like Comeuppance and Inkshield are just savage beats, kinda hate fog

Queen Breena's Planeswalker Jazz Club is what I am gonna call mine I think, no idea why that name popped into my head.

[3drinks]

Bird Keeper Breena. A deck that isn't group hug persay while aspiring to sow chaos and discord. While playing "birds" (flying type creatures, if you get the reference). I'm already envisioning lines of play in my head that aren't staxy, and tbh it has me excited!

Breena is the only one of the new commanders that has me super excited, going to convert my Mangara Superfriends to her I think. The black planeswalkers are dope.

She's got a bunch of angles. Stuff like Comeuppance and Inkshield are just savage beats, kinda hate fog

Queen Breena's Planeswalker Jazz Club is what I am gonna call mine I think, no idea why that name popped into my head.

Don't forget eventide allstar Batwing Brume.

[3drinks]

I've decided. In order for me to fully break a rut, I need to make a full departure from what I've done. To this end, I'm going to delve into Ayula, Queen Among Bears as both a throwback to one of my first ever young decks (Bear Powerrr! Rawr!) and just learn to love the game for what I can do.

Plus, I can make bear puns, and isn't that just totally bearable. 😎

[Sanity_Eclipse]

Swinging trees around is pretty grizzly, in its own right.

[3drinks]

Swinging trees around is pretty grizzly, in its own right.

It's the only deck where I'll have the right to bear arms, even.

I'm not even sorry 😂😂😂

[FenrirRex]

Bear Force One is an enjoyable deck, definitely far outside of your normative play patterns so big ups on that. Don't forget the ultimate powerhouse that is Bear Cub- any opponent that kills it loses the game of having a soul.

[3drinks]

Bear Force One is an enjoyable deck, definitely far outside of your normative play patterns so big ups on that. Don't forget the ultimate powerhouse that is Bear Cub- any opponent that kills it loses the game of having a soul.

Long ago, in the pre-mirrodin days, I played a mono-g deck full of just balduvian and grizzly bears, and the two copies of grizzly fate and overrun young me had. Every time I attacked, I'd look right and left, then raise a fist in the air and shout "BEAR POWER!" I miss these simpler, more goofy times. In Mirrodin, I only added grafted wargear because the guy looked like a bear, and bonesplitter because who isn't afraid of a bear with a rusty axe. To date this remains one of my most talked about times by those that know me. I'm anxious to revisit this all these years latre.

[Sanity_Eclipse]

Swinging trees around is pretty grizzly, in its own right.

It's the only deck where I'll have the right to bear arms, even.

I'm not even sorry 😂😂😂

Considering the second reply right above this one, you'll also have the right to arm bears! With all the rusty axes they take from eaten loggers

Instead of making your opponents suffer from gameplay, make them suffer from terrible puns

[3drinks]

Swinging trees around is pretty grizzly, in its own right.

It's the only deck where I'll have the right to bear arms, even.

I'm not even sorry 😂😂😂

Considering the second reply right above this one, you'll also have the right to arm bears! With all the rusty axes they take from eaten loggers

Instead of making your opponents suffer from gameplay, make them suffer from terrible puns

That sounds absolutely bearable. As you can see I'm going to do quite well 👀