Copy/Paste Personal EDH Philosophy Bit
In building my decks, my end goal is "strong but fair". In other words, I want to win, yes, but not at the expense of fun. For me, that means:
- No infinite combos
- No MLD
- Very few discard/countermagic/tutors
- Try to limit format staples only to decks they fit mechanically or thematically
Also, since this is my first post on this site, please forgive noobish formatting. Thank you.
As my first contribution, I simply have to go with my first Commander deck ever, Nin, the Pain Artist. I almost never take decks apart so I still have it and I still play it and I still enjoy it. I hope you will, too.
So, Nin. A representative of Wizards' first Commander product and a unique general to this day. A cheap deck pilot who can shoot creatures and give out cards to the target's controller in return. As you can see from the deck's tags, I'm abusing this by playing her with the ever-expendable Goblin tribe. Basically, this deck attempts to make up for the weenie decks' innate weakness in a 40-life multiplayer environment by being able to refill my hand with gas multiple times per game to keep the pressure on my opponents. There are also some cards in there I've specifically included to break stalemates, and some cards that make Nin's ability more useful against my opponents' creatures. Let's see the list:
Nin, the Pain Artist & The Expendables
Approximate Total Cost:
Things to keep in mind about our general
- Nin's ability doesn't say "another", which means that in a pinch, she can just suicide for massive card advantage
- Don't forget that you can, in fact, kill your opponents' creatures with Nin. It'll draw them cards, which is why in 99% of situations it's a bad idea, but don't let that make you forget that the remaining 1% still exists
- If you don't have an answer, maybe someone else does. Nin can be very political. If your options are doing nothing or tapping out to look for an answer you won't then be able to cast, it's often best to just give the cards to your friendly neigborhood white player and hope they draw into a Wrath
- The draw on Nin's ability is mandatory. You absolutely CAN deck someone with it
- Goblin Chirurgeon — Note that while the sacrifice has to be a Goblin, the activation can then regenerate any creature, even a Vedalken Wizard. Also can be used for politics.
- Lightning Crafter — Like I said, there are exceptions. I don't think I've ever used him to go infinite, though. It's just another pinger for me.
- Razorfin Hunter — Merfolk Goblin! How many of you forgot this card exists? Be honest. Also, in general, some people can be very surprised to see pingers in Commander. Their presence can throw off the combat math in funny ways.
- Brightstone Ritual & co. — It's fragile, I know. Casting a Ritual and then seeing another player blow out your desired target is tragic, but to me, the times when it connects and I can safely say "EoT, I draw fourteen." are very much worth it.
- Training Grounds — Over the years, many people have asked me why I'm running this card, when the only cards in the deck that benefit from it are SGC, Purphoros, and Nin herself. Thing is, if you get off a single activation of Nin with Taining Grounds on the table, you've just drawn two cards for . That's already worth it and it's very easy to do. From there, it's just valuetown.
- Basilisk Collar — Did I mention pingers are fun? I'll never forget that smug guy with his Zur the Enchanter deck, grinning as he prepares to combo me to death, only to see me go T2 Sparksmith into T3 "Collar, equip, go". Let's just say it was a lot longer time than he anticipated before he dared to cast his commander =) As for putting the Collar on Nin, she she's either zapping my guy, which means deathtouch is irrelevant and I get a nice life boost, or she can kill an enemy creature and give them just one card.
- Consecrated Sphinx — This is my commander staple rule at work. See that last bullet point in the box on the right? Nin's draw is mandatory, which means that with C-Sphinx in play, I zap an opponent's creature, they draw X cards, and I draw 2*X cards. That's a win in my book!
- Stuffy Doll — Of course the Doll is here! An indestructible Nin target that lets me draw cards and fry an opponent in the process? I'm in! And yes, I know that Brash Taunter exists, I just haven't gotten to getting one, yet.
- Keep Watch — This is, in my opinion, a thoroughly underplayed card. If you're playing any kind of go wide strategy, this little gem is one of the best drawing spells available. And the attacking creatures don't even have to be yours! It's not uncommon to get four, five, or more cards out of this, which is pretty darn good for a three-mana instant. And it's a dirt-cheap common to boot!
- Trinket Mage — Granted, it's not a Goblin, but it fetches Skullclamp, Basilisk Collar, or Sol Ring, and then stays to heroically sacrifice himself to Nin's experiments. Can't ask for more than that.
- Dismiss into Dream — This is another hidden gem. I don't see very many people mention this card, but it's an absolute beast in the right deck. This is the right deck. It's basically Horobi, Death's Wail, but only for your opponents. Nin can shoot things for just and give them no cards in return. Goblin Sharpshooter has downright BALL with this. But the best thing about this card is watching the face of horror unfold on your opponent's face when they first cast their commander, reach for their Lightning Greaves...and freeze.
- Mogg Infestation — Another card I often have to hand over to newer players so they can read it for themselves, dumbfounded that it exists. It's a silly one-sided Wrath for five mana in mono red, sure, but in a Goblin deck, there are cases when I want to cast it on myself and go to town with Shared Animosity and Goblin Chieftain. Or Purphoros. I ain't picky =)
- Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx — Finally, I just want to mention this here because although this is a two-color deck, practically all permanents are red, which means Nykthos is perfectly fine here.
I hope you found this interesting, I'll be posting my other decks soon-ish. See you there!
Antis, out.
