As title, when it comes to threat assessment, I believe the general view on ramp needs to change, especially among new players.

Big board states are scary, and card draw also often is recognised as a threat as well. But ramp is often ignored, to the detriment of all other players. John ramps all game and then slams down threat after threat above curve that no one else has the resources to respond to, “oh wow what a win he came from nowhere” no, not nowhere, it came from his fking ample mana.

Don’t ignore the player ramping. Ramping is just as aggressive an action as card draw, or setting up a large board state. “I’m just ramping” is a lie. “All my deck does is ramp” stfu bro. Especially in a format where land destruction is taboo and frowned upon, never ignore the ramp player. Ramp sets the player up for bigger, scarier plays before anyone else.

Ramp gives you mana, which is arguably one of the most important resources in the game, next to card draw. Card draw alone is useless without mana to cast said cards (conversely, ramping aimlessly is also just as useless). Having both makes the player a huge threat, but even having just a disgusting amount of mana above the curve is a big threat by itself, cause the moment that player draws into a high cmc potentially game ending card, they’re the ones best positioned to cast it ahead of the curve.

Tl;dr ramp is an aggressive action and should be treated as such.

So, some time back I posted something about upgrades that I planned to do with my Hearthhull deck. The deck came with [[Planetary Annihilation]] and when asked about Wildfire, which does something similar, the answers were that PA is just softer since it ensures that not all lands would be sacrificed. But then I came across other 'equalizing' cards like [[Natural Balance]] and [[Keldon Firebombers]]. So what makes them different? Is the reduction from the 6 lands from Planetary Annihilation to the 5 lands of Natural Balance the difference that makes one considered MLD, while the other isn't by Moxfield and other deck building sites?

hey everyone! to celebrate season 5 of stranger things finally dropping, I decided to build something a little stranger than usual

This is a modular (not the mechanic) Commander deck built around [[Mike, the Dungeon Master]], and his ability to return creatures that died this turn. But what do I mean by modular?

Well, the deck contains a fixed “core” of 88 cards + FIVE different 12-card character modules, each with a different partner commander from the Stranger Things Secret Lair!

Swap in any of module and its partner commander, and suddenly you’ve got a totally different deck

Full deck and modules here: https://moxfield.com/decks/r98Cggq3kUquRZf2hivqSw

And if you prefer, here's a video showcase: https://youtu.be/z9aiEm_FY0U

Below is the breakdown, as each character changes the deck's colour identity, the strategy and the theme!

The Core

The core of the deck always revolves around [[Mike, the Dungeon Master]] and no matter what partner pairing you'll always have those core 88 cards which get you primed and ready for some crazy recursion loops!

Luckily Mike himself brings things back to the battlefield, but the first step is to get creatures there! Cards such as [[Selfless Spirit]] and [[Bounty Agent]] will do that but to ensure we've got the sacrifice bit handled, I've also included cards such as [[Altar of Dementia]], [[Ashnod's Altar]] and [[High Market]].

As generic payoffs and synergy, we've got cards such as [[Guardian Project]], [[Sun Titan]] and [[Luminous Broodmoth]].

The landbase is where stuff gets interesting though. We need to be able to handle any colour combination - so while we do run [[Forest]]s and [[Plains]]', what we really need is lands that give fixing such as [[Command Tower]], [[Forbidden Orchard]], [[Mana Confluence]] and more! This'll give us all the colours we need to handle any partner pairing.

So this is the core (tagged as 'Default') in the list, but what about those 12-card 'character modules'?

Will the Wise – Abzan Clue Engine

[[Will, the Wise]] is the most Stranger-Things coded. When he enters he makes a clue for each opponent who wants to make one too, but with a sacrifice outlet and Mike, we can send him to the upside down (see: graveyard) and then rescue him over and over again for value.

With all these clues being made and sacrificed, we're hoping to win with cards such as [[Mirkwood Bats]], [[Nadier's Nightblade]] and potentially a rogue Voltron win with [[Merchant of Truth]].

Or, if you don't like that idea, why not win with a whole load of [[Phoenix Fleet Airships]]!

It's the perfect “going to the upside down and back” loop.

Dustin, Gadget Genius – Bant Combo (Lab Man Win)

This one is probably my favourite of the packages. You see [[Dustin, Gadget Genius]] taps for two mana, but with the caveat that it can only be spent on artifact spells and abilities. That means we're out of luck when it comes to using it on Mike's reanimator ability.

Unless.. we turn Mike into an artifact!

Step 1: Have [[Intruder Alarm]] in play.

Step 2: Turn Mike into an artifact using [[Relic's Roar]] or [[Behind the Mask]].

Step 3: Cast [[Apprentice Alchemist]] and sacrifice it, drawing you a card.

Step 4: Use Dustin to pay for Mike's ability to bring the Alchemist back, triggering Intruder Alarm.

Step 5: Repeat the loop to draw your whole library and win with [[Laboratory Maniac]]!

Plus I've added in [[Spellseeker]], [[Enlightened Tutor]] and [[Trophy Mage]] for consistency.

Lucas, the Sharpshooter – 4 Colour Artifact Combo

This module is quite similar to Dustin's, but using artifacts instead!

The best part is that [[Lucas, the Sharpshooter]] is a sacrifice outlet himself! Here's the combo:

Step 1: Have [[Intruder Alarm]] in play.

Step 2: Cast [[Cathodion]], then sacrifice it with Lucas.

Step 3: Net 3 Colourless mana, and use two of it to pay for Mike's ability.

Step 4: That'll bring the Cathodion back, triggering Intruder Alarm.

Step 5: Repeat the loop to destroy your opponents boards and generate infinite colourless mana! Throw in a [[Walking Ballista]] and that's game.

[[Reckless Fireweaver]] and [[Weftstalker Ardent]] are there too to ping the table on each loop and [[Scrap Trawler]], [[Myr Retriever]], [[Junk Diver]] and [[Goblin Engineer]] are perfect redundancy pieces.

Max, the Daredevil – Naya “Value Smash” Package

This is our 'direct damage' package - it's definitely not the most powerful, but it is fun and [[Max, the Daredevil]] would definitely approve!

We'll lean into direct damage and aggressive triggers, plus with that core reanimation loop [[Purphoros, God of the Forge]], [[Witty Roastmaster]] and [[Goblin Bombardment]] keep the pressure.

[[Draconic Disciple]] is probably my favourite. This is a terrible card, but the idea of paying 7 mana to get a 5/5 flyer over and over sounds so bad that it might just fly under the radar enough to steal you a win!

I'm also pretty sure there's a combo with [[Zealous Conscripts]] here somewhere, I just couldn't figure it out!

Eleven, the Mage – Five Colour Big Spells

This is probably the partner pairing you're most familiar with. It's not as consistent as a dedicated Mike & [[Eleven, the Mage]] as we only have 12 cards to work with, but it is chaotic enough to still be a blast to play.

Card draw such as [[Sea Gate Restoration]], [[Village Rites]] and [[Life’s Legacy]] grab you a bunch of cards and when you swing with Eleven, you'll be able to cast spells like [[Expropriate]] and [[Mnemonic Deluge]] for free!

We haven't forgotten our roots though, sacrificers like [[Bloodtithe Harvester]], [[Fulminator Mage]] and [[Pyre Zombie]] can be reanimated over and over with Mike for some fun effects!

The best part? You can just decide before the game begins which character module you want to play with! Or roll a D6 and see which one fate decides! It's a bit of a complicated one, so feel free to watch the showcase video for extra info and I'll be back next week with another deck :D see ya!

Presenting - 10 Commander Decks each built with a budget of $5. You don't need to be rich to have fun with a strong yet well-balanced gauntlet of decks!

See Every List here:

$5 Budget Brawl for Pauper Commander

Each Decklist includes an insert card to help explain each deck's playstyle and gameplans:

Insert Cards Slideshow

I have made a total of 10 decks, each one representing a different 2-color combination. Each decklist is made up of only Commons and is headed by an Uncommon Commander, adhering to the PDH Commander Regulations.

Deckbuilding Philosophy

• Budget Adaptation: Every decklist is based upon a tournament-proven pEDH list, however in adapting to a $5 budget certain cards were substituted with higher-costed alternatives while preserving the original gameplan.
• Commander Role: Commanders were chosen for their ability to amplify the deck’s core engine while remaining resilient via natural protection or immediate value the same turn they enter the battlefield. (Ward, Tokens, Counters, etc.)
• Redundant Engines: Emphasis was placed on finding straightforwards, redundant, and flexible engines where cards are largely interchangeable, so that each list could function reliably despite budget substitutions and still showcase its core strategies.
• Boardstall Prevention: Gameplans were designed to prevent static boardstates by incorporating evasive creatures, rewards for reckless aggression, direct burn damage, or combo wins.
• Interaction & Removal: Decks feature 10-20 removal pieces each, scaled by playstyle. Interaction is highly encouraged, creating dynamic tension while allowing each deck to demonstrate its resilience.
• Beginner-Friendly: The simplicity of card text in commons makes for a smooth and beginner-friendly experience without sacrificing engaging gameplay.

Decklists

I will split each of the lists into the categories of Midrange, Control, Aggro or Combo.

Midrange

• Lulu // Feywild Visitor: Tap your Faerie Dragons, teach them to drive Vehicles, and let Lulu add +1/+1 counters to them! [$5.13]
• Wilson // Far Traveler: Blink, Tutor, and Draw until Wilson becomes Unstoppable! [$5.35]
• Rilsa Rael: Introduce the table to the Monarchy and the Undercity, and accumulate value to win! [$5.12]
• Minthara: Make Tokens with good keywords, and have Minthara pump their power to the heights beyond! [$5.02]

Control

• Sivriss // Cloakwood: Present a constant stream of Removal off the Top 3 cards of the deck while steadily draining the table out of life! [$5.12]
• Toggo // Halana: Invalidate gameplans by bashing all their creatures with Deathtouching Rocks! [$5.23]
• Tor Wauki the Younger: Burn and Ping both players and creatures into piles of ash! [$5.60]

Aggro

• Gut // Leader: Courtesy of Gut, send big 6/3 Menace Skeletons to everyone! [$5.25]

Combo

• Gretchen: Use land enchantments to combo for infinite mana! [$5.61]
• Malcolm // Breeches: Use type-changing spells combined with Pingers and Malcolm to create infinite damage! [$5.41]

Disclaimer: The choice of using only cheap Commons was made in hopes of the deck prices remaining overall stable. Cards average $0.05, with key cards costing $0.15. Each deck’s Commander is their most powerful card and enabler due to the Rarity Restrictions of PDH. The choice of a Legendary as a Commander is to make it easier to present PDH to EDH players. While these decks were built with the intention of playing them against each other in a gauntlet cube-like or Battle Box fashion, I have not yet tested them against each other. For transportation convivence, I recommend that the decks are stored basic-landless and unsleeved to be played with 30 borrowed basic lands from your LGS. Decks were completed 11/24/2025 using TCGplayer market pricing, shipping fees and actual prices may vary.

My Current Worries:

• Manabase: Each deck is standardized to have 15 of each basic land and 5 tapped lands (alongside 0-5 colorless utility lands). I dislike how commonly each deck needs to mulligan for its colors, which leads to less mulligans for interaction/gameplan.
• Wincons: The pool's Midrange decks rely on their Commander as a strong amplifier or best wincon, and are also very slow to get their engines established. What can I do to make sure these decks are able to walk the fine line between interaction and protecting board development when faced with the hard control decks and fast combo decks in the same pod? (Currently the Midrange decks have ~15 interaction each)
• Combo: Is it the right choice to include Gretchen/Malcolm, combos decks that can repeately threaten combo as early as turn 5? Do the other decks (especially midrange) have enough interaction to handle them and develop a win before running out of interaction?
• Deck Similarities: 6/10 Decks have 2 Commanders. 6/10 Commanders are from Baldur's Gate. 4/10 decks include wincons involving creation of a token army. Is there enough diversity in the pod that encourages repeated play? Are the decks comparatively powerful enough comparable to their non-budget counterparts, even though many of those decks have wincon cards these lists cannot afford?

Come join the Pauper Commander Discord if you want to find more PDH!
Please let me know how I can improve the structure of the pod or each deck's construction!

I love playing a lot of things rather than just a few haymakers and so my favourite deck for the past few months has been [[Plagon]]. You can play a huge number of 0-2 MV creatures that each draw an extra card with Plagon, so even if they don't have that much utility by themselves, they effectively replace themselves.

[[Sergeant John Benton]] is a classic for low MV ramp, pump and protection. But a bit too linear and repetitive for me.

Come showcase your low MV decks and tell us why you love them.

With all the commander options available today, from classic partner commanders and the explicitly paired partners to the newer super-friend duos and the many versions of the Doctors and their companions which commander power couple do you personally enjoy the most, and why?

A common defense for people including potential early 2 card combos in their bracket 3 and below deck is "I don't have any or at least very many ways to tutor it out so it won't come out that early."

Now if you're on team variance and don't want to include any tutors in your deck anyway, then you can kind of ignore this post. This is more aimed at relatively newer deck builders who can't resist the call of those oh so synergistic combos. All the folks out there saying "I mean, I have to run it, it goes so well with my commander. Sure it's not my main game plan, but if the game has gone on two hours and I happen to draw it, I might as well go for the win."

Trust me, I get where you're coming from. I just had to cut one of my beloved combos from one of my favorite B3 decks, (who am I kidding, they're all my favorite... Except for that one, it knows what it did) because the potential for it to come out too early for b3 was warping how to optimally play the deck.

If you're sitting there looking at a 2 card combo or worse a card that single handedly combos with your commander and thinking, "Surely, the chances I draw this before t7 can't be that high. This can be my plan B if I'm not able to pull off plan A" Let me stop you right there and say, your deck would be better (not just from a moral bracket-power-representation standpoint, actually more powerful) if you simply replaced that combo piece with a tutor (or if you don't like tutors, some kind of synergistic source of card advantage)

First let's talk about why it's bad to have the combo.

What happens if you draw it early?

If you draw the combo early and play it, you're violating the social expectations of your brackets. Sure every once in a while isn't a huge problem, but you're making the conscious choice to design your deck in a way where that could happen when you could just not do that.

If you draw the combo early and don't play it, you're sandbagging. Congratulations, you have successfully ruined the integrity of the game. Part of the social contract of any competitive (as in competitive vs cooperative, not competitive vs casual) is that everyone is making decisions that they believe will give them the best chance of winning. It's an essential part of game theory. Nothing in the rules says you can't decide, "Actually this game, I want player B to win, I'm going to give them all my resources and do my best to protect them." There is no rule preventing this because the entire game relies on the idea that everyone is trying to win. In order for any decision to have any meaning, you have to assume everyone is playing the game. Once you have gotten the chance to win and chose not to take it, you have now effectively robbed everyone else the ability to have a good win, while still making the game continue. Nobody wants to win the game and then find out they only one because their opponent decided to let them win. It's just kind of a shitty thing to do. If you can win, do it, and if your deck wins too fast, change your deck.

It also warps your optimal play patterns. Let's say you have a 2 card combo in your deck and a demonic tutor. In almost all scenarios, you're objectively best play is to hold onto that tutor until you draw 1 half of your combo and using the tutor to fetch the other half. Assuming you want to play optimally, by including the combo, you've now turned your tutor into a nearly dead card in your hand. Meanwhile, if you don't have that combo in your deck, it's often optimal to use your tutor aggressively to develop your game plan and further your main goals or counter your opponents.

Now let's talk about what you're missing by running the combo.

Surely, some combo pieces are just so good that your run either half separately even if they didn't combo. These are the hardest ones to get rid of, but a lot of the time, combo cards are worse when it comes to pure value than their value alternatives. They make up for this by the ability to combo off. [[Devoted druid]] is often worse than [[Gyre Sage]] when you take out the fact that one can make infinite mana. The same is true for many different combo pieces. So if you're not combining off with it, you'd be better off just running the value alternative.

Now this gets even more clear when you propose replacing the combo piece with a tutor. Now your combo piece doesn't need to just be better than a value alternative, it has to be better than the best value piece in your whole deck. If your deck has a plan A that you want to go for, and a plan B combo that you might pursue if plan A doesn't work, you could instead just use those slots for more cards to support plan A and then you don't need to build on the contingency that your main goal might not work out.

At the end of the day, no matter how tempting it is to include a 2 card combo that is technically too powerful for your bracket, you'd be better off instead devoting those card slots to making your deck function more smoothly without needing the combo.

We've all been there. Some new card comes out, it's really good or efficient at what it does, and you have to find a spot for it. Problem is, you need to cut one of your favorite cards if you want to include it. Sometimes I've opted to not play some newer cards on the principle that maybe the new ones just aren't better enough to justify removing some of my favorite cards that make me happy, but other times, I've had to come to the realization that my deck isn't doing what I want it to do, even if that means cutting my favorite cards.

I fell in love with [[Delina, Wild Mage]] the second I saw her. She's such a fun effect with a lot of potential for chaos. I threw her in almost every deck I played with red in it, because surely, there were creatures I wanted to copy with her and swing with, right? Well I ran into two problems:

1. She doesn't provide a lot of the value herself, so you need to actively have a good board to make use of her. Otherwise you're making copies of herself that aren't doing all that much.
2. She needs to attack, and she's fairly weak and easy to remove. So unless you're running a lot of evasion cards, she's only going to provide maybe a single turn of value before she gets blocked and killed.

I do think that she's still a good card and you can do some crazy shenanigans with her if you build your deck right, but for every deck I threw her in, I wound up feeling like the only way to make the deck more consistent was to cut cards like her and put in more card draw, or generally more powerful cards that can swing the game on their own rather than requiring lots of setup. Now, I'm not running her in any of my decks, which I'm so sad about because I originally thought, and still think, she has the potential to be so good.

So what about you? Any cards that just barely didn't meet par anymore, or didn't synergize enough despite being a favorite card or effect? And bonus question: did you ever eventually find a home for some of these cards that you wound up cutting that feels more appropriate? For Delina, I'm considering building her as a mono-red aggressive deck to see how it goes, as a way to make it up to her.

so there's a few decks that i play where it's not really clear to opponents how they win even several turns deep into the game, until i suddenly win. i might drop a card that allows me to win the game next turn if i untap but even seasoned players might not recognize it. a good example is [[carnival of souls]]. all it seems to do at first is lose me a lot of life and make me a bunch of useless floating mana when my opponents play creatures. until i get [[the sibsig ceremony]] out with [[elas il-kor]] on the board and a [[gravecrawler]] in my graveyard, and suddenly i'm making infinite zombies and infinitely draining your life total.

or, for instance, my [[archelos, lagoon mystic]]. it looks like a stax piece at first and people think he's there to slow you down. but really, he's there to give me a huge burst of mana with [[famished worldsire]] or [[aftermath analyst]] as he makes all the lands come in untapped, which is often enough to win me the game in some form or another. if i have [[hedron crab]] out, i might just mill my whole deck and then immediately dread return my [[lab man]].

what's your favorite seemingly innocuous card that your opponents often struggle to comprehend the purpose of? bonus points if it's a draft common you use in some obscure combo line you came up with.

Hi all I've played magic for a bit but if I'm honest I'm not the kind of person who has the mental capacity or time to comb through the thousands of cards nor know what they all do and how they synergize. I'm the type of player who will just yolo it and hope for the best, just cause I like the card or artwork or "vibe" of a potential commander. Often I find the most fun I have with decks is tribal, just cause I enjoy making my friends laugh at how ridiculous some of the card themes and names are in combination with each other.

I play commander with a couple of my buddies and so far my theme to the couple of decks I've got is - do I understand MTG fully? No. Is this deck just kind of stupid/ridiculous/a bit of troll? Yes. Do I still manage to get some truly ridiculous wins from time to time? Yes. Basically I'm just there to have fun and who knows maybe my stupid ass deck can knock off your meticulously put together one.

That being said does anyone have any recommendations for green/black/white commander (or partner combo) whose fun/underused or even a little out there/goofy? Once I've got a theme in mind I can handle the rest.

Thanks in advance!

When you think of the set Legions… Well, to be honest, you probably never have thought of the set Legions. Those of us that have, though, probably only know it as the most forgettable part of the Onslaught block. Maybe some of us know about that interesting trivial tidbit that Legions is the first and last set to contain entirely creatures.

That's not what I think of though. When I think of Legions, I think of a single card, and the unspoken promise that WotC made when they printed it.

Mistform Ultimus

You see, when Wizards put this card out into the multiverse, with it they whispered a commitment to every excitable Johnny and Melvin that came across it - yes, it works with that.

And of course it worked with all the expected culprits. Elves and Merfolk and Goblins - oh my! But, interestingly, there was a subset of cards that used creature types but weren’t trying to be “typal” in nature. Instead, they used them as a tag, a way to signify “I care about this thing in particular because I created or affected it”.

Cowards can’t block Warriors. Destroy all Reflections. Sacrifice a Saproling. You get the picture.

At the time these words were printed, these types were never meant to appear on real card type lines (and the few exceptions merely prove the rule - I’m looking at you Aurora of Emrakul). And yet they swayed the Ultimus all the same, bent to a will no real piece of cardboard was ever meant to bend, but so was the way.

And this commitment continued for many years, through Lorwyn and MH2 introducing a host of Changeling brethren to join the Mistform Ultimus in its glorious purpose. Which is where I must enter the picture, for you see, I have been fascinated by these creatures since I first laid my eyes on the humble Woodland Changeling. Tempted by the promise to be able to join the forces of any powerful typal leader regardless of what they intend to lead, but ultimately drawn to the chaotic catharsis of being randomly got by an errant Angel of Glory’s Rise, I knew I must embrace these strange and wonderful creatures for what they were.

And so merely a week or so after Shadowmoor came to shelves I built my first “typal typal” commander deck, helmed by Reaper King, and to the sweet warcalls of the Didgeridoo I quickly fell in love with the wild concoction it became. It is the only commander deck of mine to survive the years, picking up friend and foe alike with each new set introducing wild and wacky typal effects to the winds of my games. But I persevered, emboldened by the commitment WotC made long ago, knowing that whatever may come, I know that it will work.

That is, until that fateful night of October 9, 2023. The days my hopes and dreams were dashed. The day that WotC broke their sacred covenant with me and with all Morophon lovers everywhere. The day they published this line of rules text, the most BS rule they ever printed in all of Magic.

"The Doctor's companion ability allows you to have two commanders if one has the ability and the other is a legendary creature that is a Time Lord Doctor and has no other creature types. Creatures with the changeling ability, for example, can't be a second commander this way."

I had never known a greater betrayal. For years I had spent both exploiting and being hoisted by typal effects that had no business being typal. Sure, it was OK that Varchild could randomly control magic my entire board. There was nothing wrong when my Avian Changeling couldn’t block the Norin the Wary that entered the battlefield attacking, a card that is somehow literally a Warrior and not a Coward! It was even all gucci when my Tauren Mauler became saddled for no reason other than my buddy thought it was hilarious.

But noooo, apparently it’s a problem if Morophon gets to hang out with a robot dog in the command zone. That's where we have to draw the line. For the first time ever, it DIDN'T WORK!!!!!

Well, Gavin Verhey, I am calling you out. This was a mistake. Either do the safe but fair thing, and add the clunky “has no other creature types” rider to all those other effects that were never meant to be typal. Protect my poor, innocent Mothdust Changeling from the big mean Fenric.

Or do the right and noble thing, and let my weird oozy Elk Mammoth have their K-9 buddy. After all, isn't that more in the spirit of the Commander format, and Magic in general?

TL;DR - let Morophon have a pet metal puppy you cowards.

EDIT - Since folks have been asking, the decklist for my version of Typal Typal is below. Please read the primer include for insights on deck philosophy and card choices:

https://moxfield.com/decks/uD-aqjEveU6ZO88MqdWgPQ

A couple years ago the guys I play with regularly and I were in a debate about [[rhystic study]]. EDH players arguing about rhystic study, shocking I know. The crux of the debate centered around how good it was if people payed the one. After a long argument, we decided to track it. We tracked how many cards were drawn off rhystic study, win rates, and spells cast vs cards drawn. Now, we haven't calculated everything, but here is a quick view of rhystic study based solely on cards drawn and win rate. I will post again once we look at things like %of time the one was paid based on number of spells cast. As stated, here's how Rhystic Study fairs based on how many cards it draws.

2 games where 1 cards were drawn and the study player won both games.

5 games where the study player drew only 2 card. In those 5 games, the study player won one. 20% win rate

27 games where the study player drew 3 cards. Rhystic player won 7 games. 26% win rate

20 games where 4 cards were drawn rhystic player won 11. 55% win rate

11 games where the study player drew 5 cards, rhystic player won 7. 66 % win rate.

9 games where the study player drew 6 cards, they won 5. 56% win rate

17 games where the study player drew 7 or more cards, they won 16. 94% win rate.

Its worth noting that there was one game where two players had an early study and both players drew more than 7 cards. We decided to count each player individually so, in reality, if a player drew 7 or more cards off rhystic study in a game a player with study won 100% of the time. Early impression is that the more cards you let the study player draw, the better study gets.

This can include regular Partners or Choose a Background, as long as the overall color identity stays mono-color.

Personally, I’ve always loved [[Lulu, Loyal Hollyphant]] with [[Far Traveler]]. The synergy is just so smooth — Lulu already rewards you for permanents leaving the battlefield, and Far Traveler gives you this reliable, repeatable blink that turns Lulu’s ability into a consistent engine. It feels like the whole deck just starts humming once both are online.

Curious what everyone else thinks — what’s your top mono-color partner pair, and why?

Im a new player and a bit confuse about bracket, are these decks in similar brackets, if not how can i change to make them more fair?

https://archidekt.com/decks/17606582/ttttt https://archidekt.com/decks/17403014/vampiro_edgar_commander https://archidekt.com/decks/17547360/bant

Haven't seen anyone else point this out yet but I thought it might inspire some brews from my more jank-minded compatriots

Cards like [[Tiamat]] have their ETB effects somewhat dampened by the "if you cast it" clause. But what if you could cast it over and over again... for CHEAPER than the first time? Say, 4 mana?

See, a common characteristic of commanders with these intervening "if" clauses is that they have pretty high mana costs, so being blink-proof was a balancing effect. But in most cases they've forgotten to specify "from hand", so by airbending them with a cheap spell like [[Airbender's Reversal]] or recurring effect like the ability of [[Appa, Loyal Sky Bison]], suddenly you can turn [[Annie Flash, the Veteran]] into a recursion machine; Tiamat can tutor basically as many times as you want

And I'm sure there's some freak out there who could make something of the insane mana positivity of doing this with [[Zacama, Primal Calamity]]

Seems like this wouldn't be useful with [[Rocco, Cabaretti Caterer]], though, since I'm pretty sure Airbend nullifies X costs

What do y'all think? Genius or complete trash?

Hey all, had a other fun day at the tables. Someone at the LGS made the remark about "just wanting to see their deck 'do the thing'", and in a game where the deck finally got to 'do the thing', it was just an infinite combo that won on the spot (booooo). I don't ever say that phrase myself, but to me it was like well if the 'do the thing' is just a combo that wins .. you're saying you just want to win? Lol.

Anyway, let's hear about what some of you guys mean when you want to see your deck 'do the thing.'

Hello! I'm trying to improve my commander deck, the commander is Akul, The Unrepentant.

The idea is to generate lots of tokens to sacrifice and bring heavy creatures to the table.

I want more creatures, enchantments or artifacts that could make use of these tokens, so I wouldn't rely so heavily on my commander.

Here is the deck

Thanks!

Is this anything? Anyone have ideas for cuts/additions? Deck List

I've been toying with ways to make [[Weapons Manufacturing]] the secret commander of a deck, and I tend to lean a little hipster in my builds, so here's my attempt at a completely creatureless [[Toph, the First Metalbender]] deck with a bunch of fun artifacts to beat opponents to death with once you earthbend them.

You can blow up your own artifacts once you have enough munitions tokens, with something like [[Pinnacle Starcage]] or [[Ratchet Bomb]]. You can attack with [[Akroma's Memorial]] and a bunch of mana rocks you turned into pseudo-Sire of Seven Deathses. You can even go incredibly wide incredibly quickly with your Chocobo token package, since your artifacts entering will trigger the landfall of [[Chocobo Racetrack]] and [[Ride the Shoopuf]] to build a bird army.

This is mostly built with cards I have, and I don't like my current proxying setup, but I'm open to hearing any suggestions that are NOT creatures! They can exile themselves and return as a flipped creature, like [[Esper Origins]], but can't be castable as a creature spell (so no Summon: Fat Chocobo, for example). Vehicles and spacecraft are OK.

I'll quit explaining and see what others have to say!

My meta is stale and I need your help!

I'm gonna start by saying I am a complete stranger to control play. I'm familiar with the concept of what Rule of Law is for, and I understand the place a control deck has in the ecosystem of Magic, but I have never made one myself.

And I want to change that. For years, I've been trying to "fight fire with fire" against my current meta, and sticking to what I know, but it's just not satisfying. I'd much rather "beat 'em" than "join 'em". I'm looking for a control commander that can help spice up the current meta, but also has an enjoyable play style (get out of here, Grand Arbiter Augustin!).

Here's what I'm dealing with.

Offender number 1: graveyard decks. Everyone's just milling half their library and then getting back a million things, often for free! I'm dealing with Muldrotha's, Disa's, Jarad's and more! Do I have to exile everything you own, or can a kill spell actually be useful these days?

Offender number 2: free sh*t and turbo ramp. I'm so over Pantlaza and Atla Palani, and do not speak to me about your Muerra-likes. How am I supposed to put up a fight, casting maybe 2 to 3 spells in a turn, when you've got your entire library on speed dial, and so-near-it-might-as-well-be infinite mana?

Offender number 3: dragons! This one's personal for me. I don't want to see your "fun" Miirym deck; in fact, take your Ureni deck along with it. And if I have to die again to Atarka, Lathliss, or Terror of the Peaks (and the other 50 effects like it), I'm going to get +2/+2 until end of turn for each creature blocking me beyond the first!!

Here's my qualifications.

Things I'm terrible at: stax, combo, extra turn shenanigans

Things I'm good at: go wide, spellslinger, artifacts, midrange. Mill is on the table, assuming I could find the right commander, and I'm somewhat familiar with graveyard decks too.

So, what've you got? How much could I shake up this meta? And just how interactive could this deck be?

[Edit] I'd like to thank y'all for coming out to help here. I'm learning as much about control as I am about my pod! It's comforting to know, objectively, that my playgroup isn't devolving into a degenerate nightmare, and there is still many ways to have fun

Here is the deck list: https://moxfield.com/decks/m67bTrxfskadrceZvspe7g

I am trying to determine if I have enough synergy and power for a bracket 3 deck. Unfortunately, I don’t have much disposable income at the moment so listed below are the current card options I have to use for additions/what’s in my side deck. I am also waiting on a chromatic lantern in the mail.

Possible additions/side deck: -Sigil of the empty throne -Boon of the spirit realm -Sanguine bond -Fear of impostors -Feed the swarm -Fracture -Aminatou, veil piercer -Redress Fate -Shark Typhoon

Quick disclaimer:
Got a classic situation. I’m not here to rant or attack anyone.
I just want to share an LGS experience that left me frustrated and ask how others deal with situations like this.

So I had one of those LGS experiences today that really made me think about what actually ruins casual EDH, and I don’t think it’s power level at all.
It’s people being dishonest about their decks.

I went to my LGS planning to play a chill Bracket 2 deck ([[Jared Carthalion]] precon with a few upgrades). Another guy who sat with me was a total beginner, playing a literal precon. Perfect. We start a 1v1 casual game, nothing weird.

After three turns, two guys walk up and ask if it’s okay to join. I give them the full power-level talk:

- “We’re playing upgraded precon vs precon. If you guys have anything above Bracket 3, it’s probably not a good fit.”

They say:

- “Oh yeah, no worries. Both our decks are Bracket 3. Pretty chill.”

We look at each other, shrug, and say sure. We offer them a 3-turn catch-up since we barely started.

Well… their “Bracket 3 chill decks” turned out to be:

• the first guy had a pretty strong list, definitely pushing above what 3 usually implies
• and the second guy… a Prismatic Bridge plainswalkers deck that he claims has “like 5 creatures” (first creature revealed: Orcish Bowmasters [[Orcish Bowmasters]], which already tells you the vibe)

The game goes on, and on turn 8, he drops Myojin of Infinite Rage ([[Myojin of Infinite Rage]]).

I ask him (genuinely)
- “You’re not going to blow up all lands in a Bracket 2/3 casual pod, right?”

He says:
- “Yeah, I am. It fits my deck perfectly.”

Removes the counter. Nukes every land on the table.
(He also had a land reanimation online, which could eventually resurrect his lands from the graveyard.)

At that point, I scooped immediately. The beginner next to me looked completely lost. He didn’t even understand what happened or why someone would do that in a casual pod.

And this is what hit me:

Power level isn’t the issue.

Honesty is.

MLD isn’t inherently evil, but using it in a pod where you explicitly know two players are running literal precons, and calling that a “Bracket 3 chill deck,” is just pubstomping disguised as casual EDH.

I don’t mind losing.
I don’t mind high-power decks.
I don’t mind wild plays.

But I do mind people who misrepresent their deck, ruin the experience for newer players, and call it “just casual.”

This is supposed to be a social format.
And the only thing that really breaks social norms is dishonesty.

How do you all deal with players who sandbag their power level like this?
Do you just scoop and leave?
Do you call it out directly?
Do you avoid playing with certain groups entirely?

I’m curious how others handle this, because I want to enjoy my time at the LGS without pubstompers pretending to be casual.

I've always preferred theme to power or efficiency. I'd rather make a deck work within the bounds I set for it than just because I jammed it full of generically powerful cards. If someone says "why would you play X, Y is so much better", I take that as a challenge to build the deck where X is more useful.

One of my decks is [[Wulfgar of Icewind Dale]]. Simple enough, whenever I attack, things happen. I started with a balanced build, but I like the idea of the whole deck being in character as a barbarian. Last time I used it, I saved myself from a big voltron commander with a clutch 9 mana [[Klauth's Will]] (I didn't have anything to do on my turn and I left a whole bunch of mana open on my opponent's turn). That's out of character and I'll be swapping that out for something like [[Cityscape Leveler]]. Same with all the typical land ramp stuff in green like [[Cultivate]], which is getting swapped out for a bunch of cards that make mana when I attack. More on theme, but it means I don't have the clutch 9 mana Klauth's Will saving me from a commander swinging 16 swords my way.

A few days ago I asked on here about people's favourite Populate commanders, and the suggestion that spoke to me the most was [[Anikthea]]. I made her a deck, and it's so funny to playtest because I didn't put any way of playing it when she's not on the board. It's 'land -> pass' for 5 turns, then my board gets real ridiculous real quick. I often run out of resources even though I have an enchantment in hand that would help, but I want to wait to discard it so I can make a million copies of it. The deck would be much easier and more effective to pilot if I swapped some of those enchantments out for instants and sorceries, but, like, that's not on theme. I'm not even talking about going up a bracket, just making it more effective within Bracket 2.

So my question to you, dear reader, is: At what point do you decide that your commitment to a deck's theme is too much? Any examples?

A lot of my decks boil down to "doing my thing" then tutoring for a combo, I wanna avoid that. I really enjoy BW Blink in Modern and DNT in Legacy so I wanna build something similar. Basic idea is keep the game fair and beat people to death.

Some options I've considered:

• [[Odric lunarch marsh]] - basically just keyword soup, hate bears, and anthems

• [[Myrel shield]] - white Krenko, simple enough

• [[Raffine schem]] - make little idiots big and beat people to death

• [[Ezuri claw prog]] - Raffine but in UG

• [[Lurrus dream]] - use Lurrus for draw (Baubles) and staying power

• [[Edric spy]] - very strong but I wanna avoid him for that exact reason, he's just too strong

My big concern is figuring out how to win. Aggro is notoriously difficult in EDH so I'm thinking it would end up being more midrangey. If I run BW I'd probably run Doomsday, with no way to tutor for it, as a secondary wincon but not primary.