Shuffle in Your Commander

Magic is broken. Well, at least Commander is broken. Okay, maybe just for me. But I'll bet that some of you who've been playing this format for a while feel it too. I have a suggestion to keep you all occupied.

• Shuffle your commander into your deck before you start the game.

That's it. Everything else stays the same. 40 life for group games and 25 life for duels. Use the Commander color identity rule for deck construction and the Commander ban list. If you buy a pre-constructed commander deck, great! It still works.

The real problem is variance. If you want to read an explanation of why, read on!

Variance vs. Consistency

I like my competitive games of MTG to have the least amount of variance possible. I want consistent performance from my deck. But! I want my casual games of MTG to have high variance. I don't want consistency. Too much consistency ruins replayability and the surprise interactions between cards. It makes the games too stale too fast. It makes it less of a puzzle and more of a procedure. You likely agree with this even if you haven't considered it. It's why the Cube format feels more dynamic.

Commander used to be a high variance format. A 100 card singleton format should be pretty darn interesting for a long, long time. But the entire idea of having access to your Commander over and over makes that not true in practice. And there are a lot of cards printed specifically for Commander now that are designed to reduce the variance.

Companions

For an example of this concept in practice ruining the game, look no further than the "companion" mechanic printed in the Ikoria (2020) set. This recent set included creatures that could be played from your sideboard if your deck met certain deck construction criteria. Sound familiar?

What happened in practice was that the companion mechanic broke formats from Standard to Vintage because it turns out having access to one more card than your opponent is too good. This is a resource management game. Starting the game with more resources than your opponent is always going to be good!

It turned out to be way better than they thought it would be.

Existing, cycle-tested decks started swapping a few cards to make a companion work. New decks were built around the companions. Basically, if you didn't have a companion deck, it was like you started down a card every single game. This exacerbated the problem with mulligans because non-companion decks would now be effectively two cards down off a single mulligan, further widening the gap before the game even started.

They "fixed" this problem by doing something they've almost never done in the history of MTG. They issued power level errata.

Power Level Errata

This tool is used very sparingly because it's confusing. In almost every case, if a card is broken, they ban it outright. Issuing power level errata means changing the way a card works so that it doesn't match how it is printed to "fix the power level." The rare time this happens is when a card is ambiguous in the rules or if the inherent structure of the rules change so that the existing card no longer works as intended. This happened with some of the very old cards as they've made changes to the rules over the years. The cleanest solution is to ban the offending cards. But that's not what they did with companions. This was an exciting new mechanic on a bunch of cards that had literally just come out and were still for sale.

Instead, they inserted a new rule. They said that instead of casting your companion from your sideboard for its mana cost as it was originally intended (and printed!), you could pay (3) mana to put the companion into your hand from your sideboard, then cast it as normal for its casting cost.

In other words, they added a speed bump to the cost of companions.

So on turn 3-4, instead of simply having access to one more card, you need to effectively "take a turn off" to move it from your sideboard to your hand. Typically this means that it will be in your hand for a turn, making it vulnerable to discard effects (for example), and it gives your opponent a turn to figure out what to do strategically because they know that it is coming.

Even with this power level errata, there are several companions that are still so good that people make the extra effort. It turns out that even paying (3) additional mana for a guaranteed card from your sideboard every game is a good enough deal that entire deck strategies are built around several of the most powerful companions. Which brings us back to Commander.

Commander

Having access to your commander every game creates a crappy sub-game where you're either trying to cast your commander as soon and as often as possible or stop your opponent from doing the same, or both. The rest of the deck in some ways doesn't matter. Those cards are just there to get your commander into play or stop your opponent from doing the same. The reason is that the commanders have become so powerful, they run away with the game.

An example is my Hope of Ghirapur deck. Hope of Ghirapur is a 1/1 flyer for 1 mana. In other words, because I can cast my commander on turn 1 every game, I will always have access to a flying creature on the first turn. It's relatively straightforward to add a ton of equipment to my commander and push damage through. If my commander dies, I can recast it for a total of 2+1=3 mana and go at it again with my equipment. This strategy is called "Voltron" for obvious reasons and it exists across multiple potential commanders.

This kind of tent-pole deck construction leads to very consistent games in a format that should otherwise be high variance. And the problem is significantly worse in 1vs1 duel commander where the entire focus is on one other player from the start.

Average Commander: Cheap Traxos

While I haven't had the opportunity to play much Commander lately, I have been interested to see what's changed in my beloved "cheap" Traxos deck.

As a quick reminder, EDHRec.com has the option to return the "average" deck for a specific Commander and can be sorted to show only the bottom 10% or "cheap" version of the average deck. That's what I play for Traxos: the deck that is the average of all of the decks in the database at the bottom 10% of the cost curve. Click here for the current cheap (budget) average.

I last updated this list way back at the beginning of April 2021. Since then, 32 more decks have been added to the database at the bottom 10% of the curve. Let's see what changes the crowd has made to Traxos.

Creature Changes

• Out --> In
• Lodestone Golem --> Brass Squire
• Artisan of Kozilek --> Ornithopter of Paradise
• Scrapyard Recombiner --> Shimmer Myr

These changes all make the deck a bit faster. There is a lot of equipment in the list, so the Brass Squire makes sense. Artisan was the previous top end card and I found it stranded in my hand quite a bit. Because there is so much focus on Traxos, the deck close to being a glass cannon. Shimmer Myr helps with timing the threats.

Colorless Changes

• Out --> In
• Warping Wail --> Titan's Presence
• Gruesome Slaughter --> Introduction to Annihilation

Warping Wail replaced Titan's Presence in an earlier list, so this is a return for the removal spell. Introduction to Annihilation is a newer card and in this deck does a lot of what Gruesome Slaughter would do at a lower cost and with a different drawback. There just aren't that many big creatures in the deck to leverage Gruesome Slaughter.

Artifact Changes

• Out --> In
• Blinkmoth Urn --> Blackblade Reforged
• Darksteel Ingot --> Sol Ring
• Forsaken Monument --> Ghostfire Blade
• Golden Egg --> Eye of Vecna
• Fleetfeather Sandals --> Hero's Blade
• Mirror Shield --> Moonsilver Key
• Sword of Vengeance --> Nettlecyst
• Cliffhaven Kitesail --> Wastes

Sol Ring has finally been reprinted enough times to start showing up in these "cheap" budget lists. Otherwise, equipment with "blade" in its name is a huge for the updated list. Eye of Vecna is an efficient way to trigger the Traxos untap trigger and draw some cards. Moonsilver Key is an interesting tutor effect in this list. Nettlecyst plays double-duty as a creature and then as a huge threat equipment. This change bumps up the land count with an additional Wastes. With some different choices for the ramp slots this wouldn't be needed, but who can argue with the wisdom of the crowds?

Land Changes

• Out --> In
• Mishra's Factory --> Urza's Factory 
• Sunscorched Desert --> Guildless Commons
• Gargoyle Castle --> Buried Ruin

Guildless Commons seems like a fine 1.5 land budget replacement. I'm not sure about cutting Mishra's Factory for Urza's Factory. I've been in situations where either land would have been good after a board wipe or when not drawing a threat. I would have cut Mage-Ring Network and kept both.

All in all, the deck's cost stayed about the same at around $36 through TCGPlayer Direct (as of today). That's not bad for a complete Commander deck that is capable of smashing face. The deck does lack reach and will almost certainly lose once it gets behind. Fitting in more budget card draw could help. Otherwise, anything that takes Traxos offline puts a hurt on this deck. But if you are looking for something fun, cheap, and quick, this is the deck for you!

Old School MTG: Colorless Candelabra Shops

This deck is based on a deck I saw in a Timmy the Sorcerer video on YouTube by Anne J called "Big Boys (Don't Cry)." You can see one of the game play videos by clicking here. 

Anne J's version is for SWE rules, so I was able to make a few changes. I also didn't like the way the Jalum Tomes worked in that list, so I switched them for Jayemdae Tomes. I'm guessing Anne J was using the Jalum Tomes to filter cards to get Tron online as soon as possible. I haven't needed to worry about that since I can run all four copies of Mishra's Workshop under the rules where I play.

The deck is silly. It's either explosive and does crazy things right away or it doesn't do much. It's also easy to disrupt by anyone packing Disenchant, Shatter, etc. So, basically every deck I run into. But when it works, it's spectacular!

The sideboard can be transformational, turning the deck into a parfait Vise deck. Winter Orb, Black Vise, Howling Mine, Icy Manipulator, and Relic Barrier can give a lot of decks headaches and attacks from a different angle.

Click here to test it out on TappedOut.com if you want to see how explosive it can be with the right openers.

Eric's Simple Guide to Casual MTG Deck Construction

 

Here's a simple way to construct your casual deck!

Many of us play MTG across a wide range of formats, but if you're new to building a deck from scratch or you're looking for a way to build a deck for casual spell-slinging, give this guide a try. The idea here is to build a deck that "plays to the table." Your games will be interactive and revolve around creature combat. Of course you can make these decks "better." That's not the point. Instead, think of this as your second deck, the deck you use between rounds at a tournament.

General Deck Construction Guidelines

As you build your deck, lay it out on the table as demonstrated above. Think of your deck being in 4 parts: mana sources, creatures, support spells, and card advantage.

Put in 24 mana sources. It should fill up the entire left side of your deck. Keep your land count high, but throw in a few non-land mana sources too if you have them.

Next, put in 20 creatures. Vary the mana costs so that you have creatures at 1-2 mana, 3-4 mana, and 5+ mana.

Now, put in 12 support spells. These are non-creature spells that help your creatures do damage. Removal, evasion, bounce, or counter spells are all good choices for this part of your deck.

Finally, put in 4 card advantage spells. These can be spells that draw you cards right away or give you access to more cards over time.

Deck Construction Do's and Don'ts

If you are building your deck for a tournament, all bets are off. Build your deck to win! However, if you are playing a casual game of MTG and want to have some give and take, consider these deck construction tips.

First, the DON'Ts.

• DON'T build a land destruction deck.
• DON'T build a discard deck.
• DON'T build a hard control deck.
• DON'T build a combo deck.

Now, the DOs.

• DO build a deck that wins with creatures and combat damage.
• DO build a deck that has a variety of spells and creatures.
• DO build a deck with synergistic cards that create incremental value.

That's it! If you follow these simple deck construction guidelines, you will end up with a casual deck that plays out over a series of turns with a focus on combat damage. You'll notice that the games are interactive and have time to develop. This method allows each color to shine with creatures and support spells that bring a unique flavor to the match-ups. Give it a try!

F.A.Q.

I can't use counter spells, discard, or land destruction?! Those are my favorite things!

You can use all of those things, but they should not be the focus of your deck. Those spells will all fit in the 12 support slots. However, for many casual players all three of those strategies quickly become "unfun." Having a few discard spells in your list is one thing. Having all 12 slots devoted to it is something else.

Do I have to strictly follow the guidelines? For example, can I put in fewer creatures and more non-creature spells?

Of course you can, but the further you deviate from these guidelines, the more your deck will naturally shift away from something casual. By sticking to the guidelines, it forces you to build a certain type of deck, one that is more focused on creature combat and requires the board to develop.

Don't these guidelines just make it so that everyone is playing a mid-range deck?

Essentially, yes. You can lower the curve and build an aggressive burn deck, for example. You can increase the curve and play a more defensive control deck. But yes, decks built using these guidelines are almost forced to be somewhere along the continuum of a mid-range style deck. Again, this is all about playing a casual game of MTG where a board develops and creature combat is the focus.

Does this mean I can't play a combo deck?

Don't build a combo deck for casual games. There are exceptions to every rule, but most casual players do not enjoy watching you figure out the best way to kill them over a series of infinite turns. Instead, if you want to scratch that combo itch, find strong synergies between cards that can give you an incremental advantage.

The End of an Era

Do I still love MTG? Sure, I do.

MTG has been a big part of my life for more than 25 years. I've met friends, traveled, competed, stayed up way too late, collected cards, made trades, and agonized over how many lands is optimal in my deck list more times than I can count. I've spent hours organizing trade binders, cracking booster packs, and watching MTG matches late into the night. Heck, this blog has several hundred posts!

When Commander was new, it was a heck of a thing. It was a social format that opened up tons of deck building possibilities. I like big spells. The Commander format let me play almost all of them. And I did. I built tons of Commander decks, too many. I built Commander cubes. I went way down the rabbit hole on foils and foreign cards and signatures. I had a lot of fun.

But they broke it.

Well, they broke it for me. You may be having a great time with it and that's awesome. But for me, once they started designing cards for the format, a lot of what made it special went away. It got too good. Too focused. Too consistent.

I get it. It's business. They are in the business of selling cards. And if something is popular, it makes business sense to cater to it. And they did. Big time. It wasn't about digging up a suboptimal pile of jank rares anymore. Entire decks were available to buy right off the shelf. This made the format more accessible, which is great! But it took away some of what I thought made the format special. It was inevitable.

I stuck with it. I still built new decks. I still played. But the pandemic pushed it over the edge for me.

I was already not thrilled to play online games of MTG. I totally understand that online is the only option for some of you. That's certainly better than nothing, but I want to see and talk to the people I play with. That's my thing. MTG:Online doesn't scratch this itch. Arena doesn't even have a Commander option and feels even less like I'm playing with a real person. Webcam Commander games are unwieldy at best. And I no longer have the time or inclination to play long Commander games at my LGS, even if it was open.

That leads me to a rough conclusion.

I'm basically not playing Commander anymore.

Typing that hit me like a ton of bricks. The reality is that I wasn't really playing Commander anyway. I was just thinking about it a lot and that was giving me a vague sense of still being connected to the format. When I did play the occasional Commander game with friends, it was always 1vs1, which isn't really "my" Commander format anyway. That's just competitive MTG with more variance and the mini-game of trying to keep your opponent's Commander at bay.

Will I still collect and play MTG? Sure, I will.

I see more Old School cards and games in my future. No particular Old School format. Just trying to build something interesting. Trying to get a few weird synergies to work. I have cards in my binders I've never cast before going all the way back to Alpha. That's a great place to start. 

Old School MTG: Colorless Battlebots vs. Aisling Leprechaun

A short while back, I ran my mono-white Bottle of Suleiman deck into Ben's Aisling Leprechaun deck. It was fun! But I didn't really get to see the Leprechaun do it's thing. So, I went back to the drawing board, dusted off my Battlebots deck, made a few updates, and once again launched into the fray.

Behold!

Battlebots (2021)

Could the deck be better? Oh, yes. More Mishra's Factory is almost certainly better. But could the deck be cooler? I'm not sure, but I don't think so. Okay, maybe finding a slot for Sword of the Ages would be cooler. You've got me there.

Ben's Leprechaun deck uses the little guy to turn creatures green, then uses other cards like COP: Green and Lifelace(!) to deal with opposing threats. It's fantastic and weird and wonderful all at once.

Ben, excited about Leprechauns.

At one point in the game, I was in top deck mode. Things were looking dire for team robot. I ripped an Aeolipile off the top. It was enough to win me the game and get me out from unrelenting Ernham beats. But, then this happened.

As an aside: Look, I understand that this isn't really how the rules work. That's not the point. The point is that the way this played out was way more fun.

I cast the Aeolipile. Ben used Lifelace to turn it green. Then used his COP: Green to prevent the damage.

Hey, hey! Lifelace!

I reality, I could have responded by sacrificing the Aeolipile. Sacrificing it is part of the cost, so it wouldn't have been on the battlefield for Lifelace to change the color. But still. I feel like that was the originally intention of how Lifelace was supposed to work. It was an interrupt. I certainly wasn't expecting it. And it made my night (and the game).

It was rad.

 

 

Hope of Ghirapur: Colorless Proliferate Commander

 

Click here to see the current list on TappedOut.

I build colorless commander decks. I wanted a deck for Hope of Ghirapur, but I didn't want to go down the road of sticking equipment on it and swinging. My budget Traxos deck mostly goes in that direction. It's powerful (sometimes), but that box was already checked. For Hope, I wanted to try something different.

+1/+1 counters and proliferate.

Hope is a 1/1 flyer for 1 mana. The deck has a low curve. There isn't an unlimited budget, but it's not a low-cost deck, either. I'm trying to keep the cost it in the range of a typical EDHRec deck. For the first draft, I stuck in as many cards that have counters or care about counters as I could find to make the theme more obvious. The deck is lousy with cards that either get counters, give counters, or add counters. Modular creatures are everywhere.

I've only had the chance to play a few games with the deck. It's fine. It sometimes does things. It needs more testing, for sure. And card draw. It doesn't recover from a board wipe. I hesitate to think about going up against multiple opponents. There are some great colorless cards that didn't make it into the deck. But it's tough to start cutting "on theme" cards to fit in cards that are objectively better. At some point, the theme goes away.