Favorite strategy in the format?

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Hermes_
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Post by Hermes_ » 1 year ago

So, after reading comments about alt win cons and such, I was wondering what are your favorite strategies that you've played and have played against?
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pokken
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Post by pokken » 1 year ago

My favorite strategy to play personally these days is my Breena deck, which I think of as some variant of aikido. Gum it up, let people try to craterhoof, then kill them after you stuff it.

It can't really beat stack based combo decks but whatever :) (coincidentally stack based combo is my least favorite)

I also really like my Varina deck that's functionally aggro-combo. It acts like an aggro deck early on, putting a lot of pressure on people and then combos out after sweepers.

I guess my go to is "allow the things other people try to do to help you win" (e.g. Varina converting sweepers into wins and Breena converting Craterhoof into wins).

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Post by TheAmericanSpirit » 1 year ago

Combat damage is the only viable and respectable wincon in my estimation. Voltron, Wide, or Tall, I don't care how we get there. But that's the only path I walk these days. I would rather lose a thousand games than win one off the back of some cheap trick.

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Post by PrimevalCommander » 1 year ago

I like graveyard interaction. Re-animator is one of my favorite strategies. Whether turbo re-animator, or passive graveyard synergies. Every deck I play has at least one eye on the graveyard, many times two eyes. I also like toolbox decks, midrange decks, and LANDS.

Top 3 favorite decks right now are Graveyard Control, Midrange Tempo, and Lands Aggro.

I don't typically play spell slinger, or fast combo. I like to develop an engine and play to the late game, building resources for a big play. Typical battle cruiser style that I grew up in, but with more synergy and less goodstuff. Several of my decks have combo finishes, but only because the individual cards have high synergy with the deck and are typically 3-4 cards to assemble, and never with the commander. Sometimes I like to have non-combat ways to win so opponents cannot exploit the combat only nature of our play group with infinite life.

I do try to experiment with different play styles, but Tribal decks and all-in enchantment/artifact decks have not sparked any interest from me in many years. No to say I dislike them, just have no desire to play them.

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Sinis
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Post by Sinis » 1 year ago

My favourite general strategy is midrange/control. I just want to play derpy beaters and turn them sideways. I won a game on Friday while attacking with Demon of Catastrophes.

I think it's acceptable to include some alt-wincons in decks simply because there are often ways to just hedge out combat that can't really be stopped. If someone has infinite lifegain and a Glacial Chasm with a lot of recursion/protection, it's entirely reasonable to win off of Liliana's Contract, or Approach of the Second Sun or whatever.

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Post by benjameenbear » 1 year ago

For me, it depends on the structure of the table. If I'm playing against a more casual crowd, I'm more inclined to run Aggro/Mid-Range value decks so I can interact on the battlefield instead of the stack. I like Reanimator strategies since I REALLY trend towards dark fantasy trends and Reanimator decks scratch that itch for me. My Yawgmoth deck is more of an Aggro/Combo deck that's 100% dedicated to flavor, so I'm not sure where that fits in the hierarchy of preferences for me.

But if I'm playing at a cEDH table, I 100% prefer a mid-range/combo strategy. Thrasios/Tevesh Szat is what I'm currently playing and I've really come to enjoy what it offers relative to cEDH. Anytime I can jam Yawgmoth in my 98 and have it be a REAL board deterrent means a win for me.

So maybe as long as I can jam some sort of Phyrexian-based card at the table, I don't care what I play lol.

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Post by Jemolk » 1 year ago

Control, easy. It's my favorite strategy in every format. I've heard some combo players say that they like combo because their deck is a puzzle that they have to solve. Well, I like control because my opponents' decks are puzzles that I have to solve. That means much more puzzle variety. I rarely include alt-wincons, and when I do, I make sure they're janky and slow, because otherwise, it feels cheap, like I didn't earn the win. I want my wins to require me to actually solve the puzzle that my opponents' decks present. For me to feel like I've actually won, I have to use wincons that are reasonable to expect people to be able to answer, and have them win because of how I've maneuvered the entire game to that point. The most exemplary of this for me is the primary wincon of my pet deck, Nicol Bolas, which is beating down with the Elder Dragon himself. Three hits per remaining player, with no extra turns or extra combats.
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Post by Crazy Monkey » 1 year ago

In terms of playstyle, I think the only overarching strategy that I can point to is value, specifically repeated value. I tend towards very snowball oriented decks, whether that's fast snowball of value in Zada, or repeated board control in Mairsil, or stacking up copies in Riku.

In terms of aggro/control/combo, I tend more towards combo and control, but I prefer to avoid the typical finishers from those strategies. I don't think that I could keep interest in a non-snowball aggro deck. Kemba, Yidris, Xenogos, Krenko, and others get to keep building value while attacking. A straightforward aggressive deck is doesn't get the juices flowing the same way.
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Venedrex
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Post by Venedrex » 1 year ago

Burn

One of my very first decks was Neheb, the Eternal, and I want to rebuild it in paper, only perhaps this time with Neheb in the 99 led by Torbran, Thane of Red Fell.

I like a lot of different archetypes as well, graveyard, landfall, etc etc, but I love dishing the damage to everyone. I don't like the idea of playing 5 hour games, and burn means either you go down in flames or everyone else does. I haven't gotten a chance to play a burn deck in paper either so it's probably my new project. It's just quintessential Red.

There's also not nearly as much annoying bits like other strategies where you hog all the time because your triggers are pretty quick to resolve.
You have a simple gameplan, and you execute it, none of this blue trickery *yes I know blue is my favorite color, I'm jeskai shhh* or green degeneracy.
It's not much, but it's honest work.

I already have Talrand, Sky Summoner, so my plan is to just play it, get people salty about mono blue, (It's actually a pretty tame list, there are no cyclonic rifts, expropriates, or infinite combos) then go, OK, you think mono blue is too strong? You should be more than capable of handling little old mono red.
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Post by umtiger » 1 year ago

I tend to build around doing a certain thing(s) rather than a particular strategy. But my favorite decks to play are Toolbox decks. I see my Lands.dec as more toolbox-y than ramp-y. I like feeling like I have something for everything and it's puzzle-solving without being a combo deck (which I like the least).

Ironically, when I don't go the toolbox route, I just go the all-in route like Sram auras.

My favorite strategy to play against is Stax. There is no greater satisfaction than watching someone else cast a turn 1 Smokestack and then slowly realize they choked themselves on it when you out permanent them. Or playing around a Blood Moon for no reason only to be rewarded later when a Blood Moon does show up.

Playing around/through an opponent on Stax is more puzzle solving than playing your own combo deck.

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Post by materpillar » 1 year ago

My favorite thing is to beat people with cards they've never actually read. That means taking some really random chaff and building an engine around it. That usually results in a mid-range grindy deck's but the exact strategy between my decks varies wildly.

Play Chromium, equip her with a couple of sword of X and Y, and go to town on someone's face. Pyromancy in a deck full of Draco like cards as a pseudo-burn deck. Lazav, the Multifarious turning into Eater of Days for voltron kills.
Flickering Tivadar of Thorn while looping Shields of Velis Vel to murder everyone's creatures and hard control the board.

My favorite thing to play against is grindy mid-range decks. I find the grindy midrange mirror match to have far and away the most decision space than any other matchup.

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Post by BaronCappuccino » 1 year ago

Voltron or other one creature tempo-ey strategies are my most common go-to deck builds, whether it's Lavinia/blink-detain, Kemba & equipment, Baral Polymorph, or my current Baeloth/Giants goad. I do better with focused strategies than I do with open-ended value decks, and combo decks bore me.

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Post by duducrash » 1 year ago

If the table is right, I love a long grindy abzan game where you constantly get small ammounts of value and strip your opponents of their value and tax them is my favorite game.

I also like the complete opposite in UR spellslinger. :P

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Post by NZB2323 » 1 year ago

My favorite strategy to play against is midrange. I think most people prefer to play against midrange rather than combo, control, stax, land destruction, extra turns, Eldrazi, slivers, elves, ect,

I try to play unique decks that people enjoy seeing and playing against. Edric with only commons, cleric tribal, Kavu combo, and Neheb, the worthy are pretty unique decks. Nymris, Oona's Trickster is control, but the wincon is cards like Faerie Tauntings. My commanders are ranked 807, 303, 267, 724, and 56. The 56 is Morophon, the Boundless, and who else runs him with Kavu?

Across those 5 decks there's no extra turns, no mass land destruction, no eminence, no stealing permanents, no stax, no Eldrazi, no Craterhoof Behemoth, no Torment of Hailfire, no Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite and the only infinite combos are infinite Kavu combos.

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Post by toctheyounger » 1 year ago

I tend to build most towards midrange, purely because I like to cover bases. That said my favorite themes to add in are reanimation and stax. No I don't feel bad about that lol

Partially because I'm always brewing on a budget and partially because my favorite color is white I tend towards board control. Its an interesting challenge to negotiate a board state that's hampered just enough so you thrive and everyone else is just slightly leashed without considering you the archenemy and aiming to decimate you. Much like @Jemolk mentioned above I enjoy the puzzle of defusing someone else's deck. Granted, converting to an actual W is tough with control or stax, but its also not entirely the only thing I enjoy about those decks. If I can hold some high power back from a win I'm happy. Its hard to win with beats these days, but the effort is rewarding, I feel. I'm constantly second guessing myself whether I include combos or do things the hard way, but the hard way ultimately just feels more rewarding to me.
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Treamayne
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Post by Treamayne » 1 year ago

Hermes_ wrote:
1 year ago
So, after reading comments about alt win cons and such, I was wondering what are your favorite strategies that you've played and have played against?
I like playing EDH decks thar also follow other, now-mostly-forgotten, deckbuilding requirements as a method of avoiding goodstuff.dek, an homage to those formats, and a way to re-introduce other formats to players. I also like leaning had into themes and subthemes to see if I can take them into a line-of-play that I have not seen other players attempt (e.g. Proliferate - but more as land and artifact targets to maximize storage and charge counters - or weird outliers like Iceberg). Winning is a distant second to having an idea work or having an opponent say "I've never seen that before."

Decks to play against. Straight-forward strategies that don't put the Pilot's fun over the table's.
Example - an Obeka, Brute Chronologist deck that uses the ability to surgically remove targets with flicker triggers that "pre-empt" the return part - vs. - Obeka deck that tries to make sure they permanently exile every opposing creature from the battlefield and graveyard so they can whittle away 2-4 life a turn over many many many turns (not that I'm at all salty after playing exactly that game last night - more bored and annoyed).
V/R

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Post by FoxHybrid » 1 year ago

My favorite strategy is probably aristocrats, as I love playing out the value engine mid game and being able to to sneak a win from out of nowhere with a Living Death from hand just feels *chef's kiss*.

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hyalopterouslemur
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Post by hyalopterouslemur » 1 year ago

I generally prefer controllish strategies. Yall don't realize, someone's got to keep those combo players in check.
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3drinks
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Post by 3drinks » 1 year ago

Stax. The only acceptable answer is stax. Devour their salty tears that flow through the game. Honourable mention to MLD Tribal!

Win con: Squee, the Immortal and/or Reassembling Skeleton w/ Sword of Body and Mind.

3drinks has turned heel on the @mtgnexus community! >_>

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3drinks
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Post by 3drinks » 1 year ago

Venedrex wrote:
1 year ago
Burn

One of my very first decks was Neheb, the Eternal, and I want to rebuild it in paper, only perhaps this time with Neheb in the 99 led by Torbran, Thane of Red Fell.

I like a lot of different archetypes as well, graveyard, landfall, etc etc, but I love dishing the damage to everyone. I don't like the idea of playing 5 hour games, and burn means either you go down in flames or everyone else does. I haven't gotten a chance to play a burn deck in paper either so it's probably my new project. It's just quintessential Red.
I feel this, it's why I wanted a Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer so much. Well that, and to show off my gauntlet of might|leb.

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Igzex
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Post by Igzex » 1 year ago

Actually I don't like strategy at all so my favorite strategy is to use Timesifter and Possibility Storm to take all strategy out of the game.

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materpillar
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Post by materpillar » 1 year ago

3drinks wrote:
1 year ago
Stax. The only acceptable answer is stax. Devour their salty tears that flow through the game. Honourable mention to MLD Tribal!

Win con: Squee, the Immortal and/or Reassembling Skeleton w/ Sword of Body and Mind.

3drinks has turned heel on the @mtgnexus community! >_>
I'm curious, do you enjoy playing against stax or do you primarily just enjoy playing stax?

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Post by Magiqmaster » 1 year ago

Igzex wrote:
1 year ago
Actually I don't like strategy at all so my favorite strategy is to use Timesifter and Possibility Storm to take all strategy out of the game.
This is the worst kind of deck to play against for me. Hard pass if you asked me to join!

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Post by FetalTadpole » 1 year ago

Your favorite strategy must be cEDH, or you will be pubstomped by everyone at my locals. Even the casual "My deck is a 7" games are cEDH. Play cards over 3 mv? Lose.
I dislike what has happened to this format.

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3drinks
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Post by 3drinks » 1 year ago

materpillar wrote:
1 year ago
3drinks wrote:
1 year ago
Stax. The only acceptable answer is stax. Devour their salty tears that flow through the game. Honourable mention to MLD Tribal!

Win con: Squee, the Immortal and/or Reassembling Skeleton w/ Sword of Body and Mind.

3drinks has turned heel on the @mtgnexus community! >_>
I'm curious, do you enjoy playing against stax or do you primarily just enjoy playing stax?
"Yes."

It's like a puzzle, you race against time to find the avenue out from the stax piece, the way to break symmetry of the other piece, while as the player, you take advantage of all the "SpOt ReMoVaL iS bAd" players that don't realize the humble nature's claim|tsr would have solved their whole problem. Stax is all about being the teaching opportunity that helps players become better players in the heat of battle, but too often players just get overtly salty because you had a terminate|pls or whatever that stopped them from doing what they want to do unhindered. I've said it before, "Stax is the eventual final evolution of a healthy, balanced, perfect metagame". A healthy metagame of four players will eventually reach the point in which all four players play stax and, while they recognize a combo is the fastest way to end the game, they recognize that going for it early will lose them the game as they respect that other players will have the answer. A healthy, stax-on-stax game doesn't feature a resource imbalance because everyone has diversified resources to not get blown out by null rod/cursed totem/back to basics, and cards like rhystic study become laughable as players stop feeding extra resources and inevitably the game, to the study player as it's correctly identified as a threat. Most metagames will never reach this ultimate final point of maturity however, because there's always that one player that never grasps this, will perpetually mis-time removal on the wrong threat, or just flat out complains about the game rather than takes it as a learning opportunity to improve and educate themselves further.

You'd be surprised the amount of heavy lifting a simple Sphere of Resistance does, especially these days as players aggressively cut lands for cheap ramp because they relied on that kodama's reach that now effectively costs four but they never got past their third land...

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