I have had fun in arena brawl recently with a deck of all the theft effects, headed by Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh.
I love these cards, and want to build a deck focused on this. I want to run an Esper or Sultai general. I am NOT interested in other color combinations as I have too many decks in other color combos.
These are the possible generals I have noticed. Looking for feedback on these. Want to avoid being hated out of the game, so looking for one that is not very threatening..
Nihiloor
Sen Triplets
Volrath, the Shapestealer
Merieke Ri Berit
General for a deck that wins with opponents' stuff
I normally avoid that kinda gameplay but I have been having a hoot with my Haldan, Avid Arcanist and Pako, Arcane Retriever deck. It's just a goofy artifact combo deck with haldan/pako as outlets, attempting to build up enough crap off people's decks that I can go off with infinite colorless later in the game 
It's kinda less obnoxious because I'm not usually just playing their crap all game, I get to a combo turn and then use all their stuff at once.
(I mention this more because it's a strategy that helps reduce my hate - to avoid just taking stuff all game long)
Of those, I think Volrath, the Shapestealer is a pretty cool deck - especially as he's likely to lean more on clones and not quite as entirely on stealing people's crap.
There is simply no way to play Sen Triplets and have it be a good experience for anyone; it might be the worst designed magic card I have ever seen.
Nihiloor feels way too dependent on your opponents having multiple creatures to be good. This is not the norm in my experience.
It's kinda less obnoxious because I'm not usually just playing their crap all game, I get to a combo turn and then use all their stuff at once.
(I mention this more because it's a strategy that helps reduce my hate - to avoid just taking stuff all game long)
Of those, I think Volrath, the Shapestealer is a pretty cool deck - especially as he's likely to lean more on clones and not quite as entirely on stealing people's crap.
There is simply no way to play Sen Triplets and have it be a good experience for anyone; it might be the worst designed magic card I have ever seen.
Nihiloor feels way too dependent on your opponents having multiple creatures to be good. This is not the norm in my experience.
Yeah, +1 for Volrath, the Shapestealer - my experience is that stealing stuff tends to paint a target on your head, but people are generally cool with clones. Access to Villainous Wealth doesn't hurt either.
Beyond that... Aminatou, the Fateshifter works quite well with exchange effects like Gilded Drake (she flickers permanents you own, so you can steal them back). The Mimeoplasm is another clone commander, although a bit less flexible than Volrath. Yarok, the Desecrated could also be reasonable if you plan on stealing stuff via Gonti, Lord of Luxury / Agent of Treachery effects, and Muldrotha, the Gravetide can also work along similar lines. Those two will usually draw a lot of attention though.
Beyond that... Aminatou, the Fateshifter works quite well with exchange effects like Gilded Drake (she flickers permanents you own, so you can steal them back). The Mimeoplasm is another clone commander, although a bit less flexible than Volrath. Yarok, the Desecrated could also be reasonable if you plan on stealing stuff via Gonti, Lord of Luxury / Agent of Treachery effects, and Muldrotha, the Gravetide can also work along similar lines. Those two will usually draw a lot of attention though.
A good example of the "okay I resolve this for x=30, I guess I win, on to the next?" that is likely to be a lot more palatable than the "let me cast everything from just your hand, enjoy your mindtwisting"
Merieke Ri Berit is only nonthreatening if the are unfamiliar with it (possible). Once people have seen it in action, they know better. Typical builds abuse untap effects to machine gun every creature off the table and then leave you with the best one. It's one of those generals that cannot be allowed to live, or every worthwhile creature tends to die. While your goal with her may be to steal the best creatures, it tends to play out that you kill almost all of them repeatedly instead. Probably not what you are hoping for.
Late to the party, but I use Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge as my steal stuff commander. It avoids some of the common annoyances with stealing stuff in that it mostly wants to use instants and sorceries to accomplish this, so about half of the things that get opponent's creatures actually just clone them or get them temporarily, and "stealing" instants and sorceries sends them to the opponent's yard afterwards so its easier to get everyone their cards back later. Beyond that, though, she really does a fine job playing with your opponent's deck just on her own, with the addition that she also grabs a card from your own deck. This lets you cast your high cost steal and copy spells for free, and something like Blatant Thievery on turn 4 or 5 for no mana is lit. Another benefit is that there are plenty of powerful instants and sorceries in people's decks, so even on the first cast I get at least one good pull. She plays less lol random than other steal decks as well, because you get stuff from everyone's deck and have a choice of what to play and when, so you can pursue a gameplan (cast the ramp spells from the green player early, cast the sweeper you picked up when your ready for her to die and get recast, etc.).
Thanks for the suggestion but I want to avoid Grixis as I have one deck (Marchesa) and am working on a Kess deck. I am trying to avoid having 3 decks in the same colors, trying to push myself to build new color combos.onering wrote: ↑2 years agoLate to the party, but I use Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge as my steal stuff commander. It avoids some of the common annoyances with stealing stuff in that it mostly wants to use instants and sorceries to accomplish this, so about half of the things that get opponent's creatures actually just clone them or get them temporarily, and "stealing" instants and sorceries sends them to the opponent's yard afterwards so its easier to get everyone their cards back later. Beyond that, though, she really does a fine job playing with your opponent's deck just on her own, with the addition that she also grabs a card from your own deck. This lets you cast your high cost steal and copy spells for free, and something like Blatant Thievery on turn 4 or 5 for no mana is lit. Another benefit is that there are plenty of powerful instants and sorceries in people's decks, so even on the first cast I get at least one good pull. She plays less lol random than other steal decks as well, because you get stuff from everyone's deck and have a choice of what to play and when, so you can pursue a gameplan (cast the ramp spells from the green player early, cast the sweeper you picked up when your ready for her to die and get recast, etc.).
The New World fell not to a sword but to a meme
Also late to the party, but happy to shamelessly plug a possible commander i overlooked myself:
The Nassari side of Uvilda, Dean of Perfection // Nassari, Dean of Expression looks interesting and could be very fun with Paradox Haze, Mind's Dilation and Stolen Strategy among others.
As someone who had to sit through too many (≥1) Sen Triplets matchups, Nassari seems to be a more casual, less atrocious alternative.
ps. As someone with a Gonti, Lord of Luxury list, i find it hard not to praise the guy in a lengthy way too...
The Nassari side of Uvilda, Dean of Perfection // Nassari, Dean of Expression looks interesting and could be very fun with Paradox Haze, Mind's Dilation and Stolen Strategy among others.
As someone who had to sit through too many (≥1) Sen Triplets matchups, Nassari seems to be a more casual, less atrocious alternative.
ps. As someone with a Gonti, Lord of Luxury list, i find it hard not to praise the guy in a lengthy way too...
