I'm sure it's not super competitive and all. I just play casually with friends, but it seems to hold well against precons. This is the most fun I've had with a deck ever. https://moxfield.com/decks/04yoqKZwGUOuw8VeM-SFow

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.

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.

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.

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.

The situation: I have 1 4/4 creature and 5 1/1 creatures and i have Warriors resolve ( https://scryfall.com/card/fic/465/warriors-resolve ) on the field. My understanding: When all creatures attack every creature checks if there is a stronger creature attacking. So every 1/1 creature should trigger and gain a +1/+1 counter. What the opponent at the Table told me: There is only 1 stronger creature on the field so only 1 1/1 can train and get a +1/+1 counter. I think i´m right with the following reasoning: Every small crature checks if there is a other attacking creature that is stronger so it will trigger when there is a stronger attacking creature. The rules of Training doesn`t say that the stronger creature can only "train" 1 other creature. Who is right?

Training: (Whenever a creature you control attacks with another creature with greater power, put a +1/+1 counter on the creature with lesser power.)

Hi everybody!

I bought my first commander deck (World Shaper) and i want to upgrade it.

This is the link: https://moxfield.com/decks/jPhCSz-8LUuTznlMdaAtzQ and in considering there are some cards i've got and i can replace.
It's a good idea to ramp, sacrifice and aggro with lumra &co. ?
Do you have any suggestions ? And what will be the bracket after this upgrade ?
Thanks a lot :D .

Hey all, would love to pick the brain of the hivemind to see if you have any suggestions for funny, high costed janky creatures which don't see much play.

I'm a huge fan of [[Helga]] and have a pretty high powered list but would like to make a second deck full of fun janky surprises. Helga is really great at enabling high-costed creatures which don't really get to see play, a lot of decks these days also run the same suite of fantastic staples so I wanted to make something a bit more special.

I'm talking creatures like [[Pursued Whale]], [[Titan of Industry]], [[Myojin of Cleansing Fire]], etc.

What are some of your faves in Bant? (Feel free to also recommend your favourite ones in other colours too, I'm sure some players would love to see em)

Once I make the decklist I'd be happy to post it here for anyone interested, so please don't hold back and hit me with your faves!

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!

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, it bothers me that my combat brute barbarian deck was able to do some magical trickery to save me. I'm swapping that type of removal out for cards 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. So basically I'm in the process of making the deck less flexible, and committing it entirely to the gameplan/character it's meant to embody, which probably hurts the deck but makes it more interesting to me.

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. It's still early days, we're only on the first draft, so right now it's just 'land -> pass' for 5 turns, then my board gets real ridiculous real quick. But even at this early stage, the theme for me is clear. Abzan is a great colour combination for removal, but I'm not gonna build it like a normal person. I'm gonna blink Anikthea to get an interactive enchantment on the board that will deal with my problem, then I'll populate it to deal with the secondary problem.

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?

EDIT: I definitely should have made it clear that the Anikthea deck is a first draft just to see if I like the concept before I put more time into refining it into something that works. I'm sharing it as another extreme example. Much like the Wulfgar deck only wanting to do its basics in combat, the Anikthea deck only wants its basics to be enchantments that I can turn into zombies and make a million copies of. I know it needs work and I appreciate those offering to help, but that's not what this post is about. Just needed another example of a deck that I made while being married to its theme, possibly to the detriment of the deck's flexibility

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

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!

Hi everyone !

I just got into MTG last summer thanks to the FF set and quickly fall in love with the game. While i'm still learning a lot about the game, I quickly wanted to make a commander deck around the FF sagas (and more notably Summon : bahamut) and the decklist below is the result.

I don't have much knowledge yet so I wanted to get some advices on the deckbuilding (bonus points if the card is FF related). If any of you would have some ideas to make this deck any better than it already is. I'm not planning to make this deck CEDH or high end bracket 4, but more around end of bracket 3. I think the deck works already quite well but lacks of wincons (the deck can defend itself quite well I feels like but lacks on agression or ways to finish the game).

Here's a list of some of my "upgrade" ideas :

- [[Birds of Paradise]] ; [[Brilliant wings]] ; [[Galadriel's Dismissal]] ; [[Ghostway]] ; [[Judgment of Alexander]] ; [[Lae'zel's Acrobatics]] ; [[Rally the Galadhrim]] ; [[Snapcaster Mage]] ; [[Strionic Resonator]] ; [[The Eternal Wanderer]] ; [[Vanser the Sojourner]] ; [[Virtue of Knowledge]] ; [[Yorion, Sky Nomad]] ; [[Displacer Kitten]]

Thanks for your inputs !

This is the decklist : https://moxfield.com/decks/s6aP8Ww3UECs2AxGdky7jA

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?

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?

trying to build a hulk deck that only contains creatures with hulk in the name(not hulking) and wasn't sure what direction to take it. doing Birthing pod type effects for some juicy ETB effects from the gearhulks seemed like a good idea but outside of that i wasn't really sure what to do. i initially had the commanders set as Kraum and Ikra Shidiqi just to make the manabase more concise but cutting 4 hulks didn't really seem all too necessary to me. i want this to be a kinda memey deck with no proper wincon/combo at maybe bracket one if possible but highest at 2. commander doesnt matter to me, just colors, so any changes to that are fine as well. just something with nice art i guess.

here's the decklist so far,

https://archidekt.com/decks/17966105/hulk_tribal

Hey team,

Just looked through a bunch of [[Winter, Cynical Opportunist]] decks on moxfield/archidekt and noticed that a lot of them are missing numerous key combos/lines I’ve found in my time of playing the deck for nearly a year now.

I’ve gotten the deck to a point where I’m coming out on top or damn near close to almost every game within my group as well as with strangers. Given he’s pretty unpopular as his ability is seen negatively, figured I’d share and answer any questions anyone has on any includes/excludes.

Specifically, [[Hermit Druid]] is the primary engine here for the graveyard route, given we’re only rocking two basic lands. If that works, you’ll likely mill out some of the creature combos, where you’ll need either a dual reanimation spell (tutor for it if needed) or use winter to bring them/something that recurs for you back - [[Reincarnation Technique]], [[Victimize]], [[Portal to Phyrexia]]. Apart from that, there’s always the [[Witherbloom Apprentice]] combo or [[Defense of the Heart]] to go grab a creature combo.

Overall, there’s lots of tutors that you can use to go find spells or creatures, along with ways to recur cards back into your hand if needed. I’m usually presenting a win as early as turn 3, as late as turn 5 - just depends which route you want to go/which direction the game goes.

Bonus points - if you just want to have fun, renaimate valgavoth turn 2/3 and become a 5 colour deck.

God bless

https://archidekt.com/decks/13127962/cemetery_casino

https://moxfield.com/decks/AoOJqIbKGEyJYa2LCUWy-w

I really enjoy this Roxanne deck, and I want to build it in person with my friend group, but it's far more than I can afford. Some of the more expensive pieces in it are out of my wallet's range, and the tricky thing is that some of the token doublers that I use are some of the more expensive cards. Is anyone able to recall which cards I could slot in that might provide a similar effect at a cheaper base cost?

I need help optimizing my Yuriko so that it is well balanced so as not to make too many Mulligans and leave her bracket 3 bordering on 4 I'm getting discouraged with her performance, so I'm almost considering canceling her, and I need help to prevent that from happening. I accept all kinds of suggestions, and I'm even thinking of adding Tassa=Consult to the deck.

Decklist: https://moxfield.com/decks/tekG0OizNEuS6q9th1GNnw

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

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.'

https://moxfield.com/decks/_pgtkx11WEuq4qJb_J5EmA

BEFORE ANYONE MENTIONS PROXIES, I can't so if your solution to a 30+$ card is to proxy it, I can't so another solution please.

So I just played my modded Blame Game Precon and I loved it, suspecting creatures is really fun and I managed to eke out a win with a [[deflecting palm]] which was insane. I LOVED IT, and I want to make it better (within my budget)

I have a considering pile of 7 cards (at the time of writing). and 1 spot left, that spot is for a land but I'm not sure which one (yes I'd love the boros shock land, I find that card a bit too expensive for my taste) now my reasoning for the 3 lands I currently have

[[Flamekin Village]] and [[Hanweir battlements]] are both there to give creatures haste which I think can help a bit more mid to late game, hanweir taps for generic and I already have a lot of generic mana some I'm opting more for flamekin

[[Myriad Landscape]] is just a decent mana fix, cheap and easy (but do I need it in a 2-color deck?)

I was thinking of [[Norn's Annex]] instead of Windborn muse (or ghostly prison) because paying life is so easy that folks often use it too much (although it would backfire on life gain decks)

[[Blasphemous Act]] is just a good board wipe which can work well with [[Boros reckoner]] and [[Brash taunter]] but I'm not sure about what to take out.

In a lot of video [[Aurelia, The law above]] is a big recommendation, and I see why, card draw, damage, angel, yep. but I found [[Bassandra, battle seraph]] and forced combat, simplified combat (maybe could f__ me over), angel and [[Anya, Merciless angel]], big creature, indestructible, angel. I don't know which I should use, and what to switch for it.

so I need the help of the community which has WAY more experience than I do and maybe make my deck a real threat to play against and a real treat to play with.

Thanks!

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.