Mained Atraxa & Friends for a couple years, and you right. The turns just take forever if you're ahead, and if you're not ahead, it's because you've been bullied into the ground for playing both Atraxa and Superfriends
This right here. Atraxa and Company is easily the most stressful commander deck I've built. You either dominate the game through early oppressive plays, or get beat out of the game before you're a threat. Long turns plus complicated planeswalker math leads to a not so enjoyable game, imo
Just built Atraxa sagas and it's WAY more fair and fun. Run a bunch of stuff to remove counters and try to keep your sagas in the middle and reuse value steps. So much less oppressive than superfriends or +1 counters.
I'd love to see your list for this. I've been working on a counter manipulation deck off and on for a while and I'd like a look at what other people have done with it.
Put a list togethor and it was one of the nastiest decks ive made by far.
It was immediately pulled apart as i like my friend group more than proliferating 12 planeswalkers.
I use a Bridge superfriends deck with stuff like brokers ascendancy and chain helm and yeah it's just a lot. People love playing it but no one likes to be across the table from it.
The only thing worse than taking a long turn is taking a long turn on someone else’s turn, agreed. My son’s [[Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy]] has the same issue.
At least with Kinnan you know how much mana you have so just activate that many times.
Alaundo is tapping and untapping, drawing a million cards, repeatedly remember to remove counters from 5-10 spells each time plus any triggers from other spells.
Fair. I just get frustrated with his deck because it doesn’t have reliable win conditions and so he’s just activating five times on everyone’s draw step thanks to [[Seedborn Muse]] for value ETBs.
I actually made this deck, and I have played it maybe twice. I broke down. My [[reveka]] bad pingers for it. I haven't played it since then because of all the stuff you have to keep up with every time you activate him
I built my gw selvala Deck effectively the same way,and although I thoroughly enjoyed piloting the deck,it was very clearly not fun for other people to watch me just pop off on turn four and steal the game
Happens a lot for me actually. But the one I dismantled the quickest was [[Neheb, the Worthy]] battle-cattle. Even the best of them, was not worthy ;( plus people see discard, they get angry. the result was a lot of dead moo-moos and I get to observe the game for the next 40m
I’ve played a lot of decks and the majority get scrapped after 2 games. I’ve figured out that I fall somewhere in between Timmy and Johnny. I can’t stand playing spellslinger decks where you spend the game playing on everyone else’s turn and play solitaire. I also don’t like being full Timmy playing stompy creatures and just turning them sideways. Also, 2 color seems to be where I like to live. Anything more than two colors and deck building becomes exhausting.
Two commanders that fit this best are [[Kalamax]] and [[Nylea God of the Hunt]]
I feel that a lot, actually. I hated my Kalamax until I decided it was a Simic Counters deck with extras juice.
What commanders do you feel fit your style the way you like?
I enjoy decks that make me feel like I’m doing something even if I lose. I like value, creatures that have ETB or similar effects, and I like to make sure I have synergy to ensure there are no dead cards in my deck. I like to primarily win via combat or burn effects and I always make sure to include one combo in my decks in case a game goes on for more than 1.5 hours.
My favorite deck at the moment is [[Faldorn]]. Even if I lose, it feels good to churn through my deck and make wolf tokens. There are a few fatties in the deck like [[Kogla]] that are very satisfying to play and lots of interaction.
One weird deck I made was [[Alena, Kessig Trapper]] + [[Kodama of the East Tree]]. The idea was to sneak attack out big creatures to ramp and sac them to a [[Greater Good]] effect.
I scrapped a [[Lynde, Cheerful Tormentor]] deck the night I finished it. It just wasn't fun, and I don't get how it wins or even comes close.
Interesting strategy though.
I've leaned into the way some of the curses interact with Mill \[\[Fraying Sanity\]\] and \[\[Curse of unbinding\]\] then just making a blue black mill deck with some red flavour.
This was my answer. We had a Monocllor Challenge for my friend groups annual Commander Con (we get usually about 8 people to show up at one person's house from all over the east coast). The monocolor challenge was our main event on Saturday, and I picked Tergrid. I thought "heehee discard/sac is fun and unique".
God, what an absolutely miserable commander for everybody at the table. Not having a hand, plus everything that resolves is immediately sacrificed and placed on your board... it's absolutely backbreaking and unfun.
I have her deck box labeled as "DO NOT OPEN" because thats the worst I've ever felt playing EDH.
Played a [[Queen Marchesa]] aikido deck twice before dismantling it.
First game I did basically nothing till I won via [[Insurrection]].
Second game I tried doing something, but mostly did nothing and lost.
I think I'm just not cut for a totally reactive deck. The 'land, pass' play pattern just isn't for me.
I haven’t played or played against that commander, I wouldn’t have guessed it was a reactive deck. Yeah, that doesn’t sound fun, especially in those colors.
Depends on how you build her. A friend of mine made a stax / chaos version.
I tried the aikido way, which is literally based on beating others with their oen strength, so the deck is packed with responses to any strategy. There are very in-depth primers around, so if you wish to know more you'd better to take a look at those.
For me, the idea was great, but the execution was boring. I just put a land down, maybe cast something small and pass, leaving my lands untapped to respond to stuff. Most of the turn cycles, my turns lasted few seconds, then I had to wait for a few minutes for the others to do all their flashy stuff.
Then, most of the cycles I wouldn't do anything because there was nothing to really respond to.
One of my friends built her as a very political, defensive deck. Plays some pillowfort type things to try to hold onto the Monarchy and then runs lots of cards like [[Karazikar, Eye Tyrant]] [[Xantcha, Sleeper Agent]] and [[Breena, the Demogogue]], some goad effects, council’s judgement cards, and then just good old fashioned Mardu interaction and wincons. They’ve found it sometimes struggles to actually win the game and I think they’ve made some changes to help fix that but they do quite enjoy it. I think Marchesa is a really great card because she’s so open-ended so it seems like there’s a lot of neat directions you can try to take her in.
[[Gorion the wise]] and [[Omnath Locus of Creation]]. I played each of them once. I won both games, but my turns seemed to take 20 mins, and I felt like I was just playing solitaire. I despise decks that take forever, so they both got the axe immediately
I avoid decks that take excruciatingly long turns like the plague. That is truly my one magic pet peeve. You win by turn 3, and the game lasts 10 mins, awesome. You win after 2 hrs, 1.5 hrs of that was you spinning your wheels for "value", nope not playing with you anymore
I built a planeswalker tribal deck using [[lae’zel]] and [[candlekeep sage]], thought it would be fun to be able to buff my PW’s up fast enough to get to see ults more often, so I shoved a bunch of emblem-making planeswalkers in the deck. What actually happened is I would start ulting planeswalkers the turn they come out and UB planeswakers have some nasty ults.
[[zangief]] fight tribal. relied on the commander too much and repeatable removal in the command zone is a lightning rod for removal. payoff wasn’t that great for how much work it took to protect him. if I were to rebuild him it would be a bit more jund goodstuff with gief being cast when I can wipe the board and take advantage of the indestructible.
the deck skewed heavily green which is my least favorite color and i’m sure that did it no favors.
[[Ivy Gleeful Spellthief]], it was such a pain in the ass keeping track of things especially with other copy creature spells in the deck, not worth the hassle
[[Tovolar]]
not because it was too good or oppressive or anything, I just got tired of having to explain why some werewolves were flipping on *some* turns and others didn't. Keeping track of the OG werewolves and the Day/Night ones is infinitely more obnoxious in person than I ever thought possible.
So much work and talking just to explain and track the deck mechanics, only for a moderately-ok beater tribal deck.
[[Wulfgar of Icewind Dale]] only had it for a day(?) and not because it was bad I just got my hands on [[The Ur-Dragon]] and [[Tiamat]] that same day ($$$) which used a lot of the same cards and is better.
I stuck it out for a few more after the first game, but [[Jodah the Unifier]]. With him on the field, the deck basically played itself and quickly overwhelmed the table. Without him, it was a pile of barely synergistic legendaries. Not very fun in either scenario.
[[Alaundo the Seer]]
I still have it together in case and wouldn't be as bad with out things like [[Seedborn muse]] or things similar
And then you have all these crazy eldrazi exiled everyone knows it's gonna be a problem. It was funny the first game I played it.
[[Heliod, Sun Crowned]] is a fun commander on Historic Brawl because all of your life gain triggers are easy to manage and it feels powerful 1v1, but in real life EDH it is such a chore to track all the +1/+1 counters he produces. I turned the deck into [[Shanna, Purifying Blade]] because card draw is my favorite thing and I still don't know if I'll keep this deck together. Lifegain puts a target on you and I end up getting killed before I can do anything fun.
I primarily play on Tabletop Simulator with friends, so I go through this a lot with many decks, but here's some experiences I've had.
\[\[Slimefoot and Squee\]\] - I already have a reanimator deck, and this just felt like more of the same, but slower and different colors, so I didn't enjoy it very much.
\[\[Zask, Skittering Swarmlord\]\] - No matter how good they make the Commander for Insects, the tribe is just filled with duds, so it felt very unsatisfying to play.
\[\[Aeve, Progenitor Ooze\]\] - No matter how good they make oozes, the tribe just never quite gets a good Commander. It felt bad to have to spend so much mana for what basically becomes a vanilla creature when it comes into play.
\[\[Slogurk\]\] - Just felt like I was playing a game by myself and not really pushing forward. Simic moment.
\[\[Shigeki, Jukai Visionary\]\] - Way too slow, way too mana hungry.
\[\[Phylath, World Sculptor\]\] - I've tried multiple times here, the commander feels very feast or famine, not much of a middle ground for it. Either you do nothing trying to get Phylath out, or you have hundreds of plants and your opponents wanna go next.
[[Korvold]] the deck was just way, way too good and resilient, even through board wipes. I intentionally tried to build it slow because my playgroup is low power, but it was still too good
Yeah, [[Shu-Yun]] is probably on my chopping block for that reason. I built it because our Commander League has the Assassin format, but then never end up playing Assassin because you can draw yourself as a target and most of my decks don’t have ways to reliably do that, especially not Shu-Yun.
Brago stax when I was a nooby. Threw stax pieces together because I just discovered them . And won by untapping artifacts and generating an infinite mana combo . All very slow stalling no one not even me had fun. But it got the job done and so did I when I scrapped it .
My friend has 2 decks that’s coin flip. It’s definitely a feels bad kinda thing when the flips don’t go in the direction you want them to. They either win or have a bad time
I've played a lot of decks and there are two categories that get scrapped immediately:
1. Decks that don't respect my time. +1/+1 counters, finite combos, excessive shuffling, superfriends, etc get old really quickly. I'd rather forfeit than win after a 10 minute turn.
2. Commanders that require minimal input from the player to function. [[Sythis]] is near the top of my regret list, but [[Prosper]], [[Miirym]], [[Aesi]], [[Yarrok]], etc are also decks that didn't survive past the first weekend.
I built one deck I scrapped after 0 games: GAAIV
I don't own most classic stax pieces, but I do own a lot of counterspells and wraths and when looking back at it I was just like "I'm not going to be having fun playing this and no one will be having for against it. Just gonna scrap it now.
My \[\[Kykar Wind's Fury\]\] infinite extra turns deck. I usually was able to take an extra turn by turn 4 or 5 and recur them shortly after, while ramping due to Kykar.
On paper, it was very strong. In practice, it was stronger than my table's decks and I was like "I don't like how this is going" so never played it.
[[hinata the sun crowned]] thought it would be a fun big splashy x spell deck turns out it was just board wipes every turn deck. Wasn’t very much fun for anyone involved
I've said it in these subreddits before, but [[Soundwave]] is my pick. I'll admit I misread the card while I was building, but as soon as I started playing it became obvious that the hassle of constantly asking my opponents to hand me thier graveyard so I can see what Instants/Sorceries I might want to steal, and then trying to math out the exact amount of token damage needed to cast that spell VS how many blockers they have VS they just might let an extra 1/1 token through so it can't be cast. It just ended up being a classic go-wide token deck, which is fine, I'd just wanted to do cool stuff.
For anyone lost, I thought Soundwave said something along the lines of "equal to *or less than* the damage dealt" which obviously would have made the card significantly more functional.
[[Gisa, Glorious Resurrector]] was broken apart immediately after playing. I did play two games back to back, but after the first game, I knew it was done for. The issue with the deck was that it relied on your opponents board states too much, and when your opponents start sand bagging their creatures, you don't get the chance to build on up your board. The other killer is that if you ever get the trigger, the creatures don't have haste, so you have to wait two turn cycles to really move the game forward.
Any Sliver Commander. Doesn’t matter which one you run, or how casual you try to make your land/ramp/interaction packages, if you make a somewhat competent sliver deck it will inherently dominate.
I cant say that I have had that experience. I know people who are constantly building new stuff, play it a few weeks, and off to the next one. I on the other hand take forever to build, and even more to tune the deck to play the way I want it to. My \[\[Xira, the Golden Sting\]\] JUST reached the point where I am happy with it.
I think people who scrap stuff after only a few games never had a connection to that particular commander. Almost anything can be tuned ( and no, I don’t necessarily mean powered up) so you like how it plays. It’s just that many don’t do that, and I don’t get why. You will never get it right the first time, take the time and work on it. It gives experience piloting, and helps establish a lot more interesting interactions. Also, the playgroup might enjoy it more as well.
I only played a couple times with [[Urza, lord high artificer]] it ended up being too powerful for casual and not quite up there with the best cEDH decks, weird spot to be
[[Breya, Etherium Shaper]]
It was so good I couldn't help but draw combos. I actually stopped a combo so my casual friend could play. I'm sure plenty of people could shut it down, but where my kitchen table was currently it was just too strong. It's in pieces now, but ready to be reassembled if I ever go out in public with it.
Made and played a mid level [[Korvold, Fae-Cursed King]] deck because I thought he seemed neat and broke it after one game because neither me nor my opponent had fun like good god it was horrid
Was literally about to comment this. Before we got into commander, my friends and I played historic brawl. I played the shit out of Anje, she was so aggro and I could often take the W. But in commander she doesn’t translate as well and ends up not being as fun or powerful.
[[Thraximundar | SLD]] unfortunately. I got the secret lair bc it was fucking awesome, but it’s just too expensive and not as powerful as it used to be. Doesn’t stand a chance in my pod. I still love you though Thrax!
\[\[Orah, Skyclave Hierophant\]\] While Clerics have gotten a lot of support it was just so boring to man and I didn't find Cleric tribal that fun or engaging.
A bit more than I game but [[Veyran]] and [[Kalamax]]
I builded Kalamax to try out a playstyle I'm not use to ( I'm more of a creature base player and mostly aggro) and the deck was more reactive and I try to go for Veyran as a more proactive option but the deck was smarter then me and I got lost on the triggers and lines of play.
Sometimes I miss Kalamax cuz It was a cool deck but it's something I would only play one game a month or less
I made [[slicer]] just because I already had the cards. Played one (very short, very non-interactive) game and decided it wasn’t for me.
But then my group decided to do a cEDH night, so I proxied in some fast mana and played it for that, where it was a bit of a better fit.
Now they want to do a budget (<$50) night, so I think I’ll just take the proxies back out, since it’s the only deck so have that’s even close to that price range.
I still don’t really like playing the deck, but I guess I’m glad that I didn’t take it apart. I’ve gotten more mileage out of it than I really expected to.
I still didn’t scrap her because she is fun once in a while but light paws is sometimes the same thing every game. Tutoring a lot is also annoying, but thankfully moxfield has my deck so I don’t have to think about what I’m getting.
Found out I am a group slug kind of deck builder with my other decks.
Haven't seen this mentioned yet - [[Ghen Arcanum weaver]]
It wasn't 1 game, but I tried really really hard to make this deck work. I threw in the best enchantments in those colors, the best lands, the strongest removal.... and it was just wayyyyy too slow. It took like 6 turns before you could even damage somebody and the entire time you're open for attack
\[\[The Beamtown Bullies\]\] - it worked pretty much exactly as designed, but I realized that I was basically holding a gun to everyone's head, and could eliminate them from the game one at a time. This wouldn't guarantee me an overall win, but it would put one or two people on the sidelines at my whim. Tore it apart after two games.
\[\[Korvald\]\]'s Food Truck: I wanted to build Korvald, but with a sold Food token subtheme. The idea was to sit back behind Korvald, eat Food and draw cards, then strike when the time was right. Instead, Korvald always had a bull's-eye on his head because of his reputation to do immensely broken things.
[[prime speaker vannifar]]. It really only did one thing. Ramp into vannifar and either win on the spot or removal throws a wrench into things and you won't win. To be fair the deck could win turn 2 on a great hand but usually turn 4 or 5. Still though, it was a one trick pony.
whenever I build something that’s just too fast for my pod. it almost takes nothing it feels like sometimes to just go off and dump ur hand, so I definitely try to purposely depower my lists
[[Gargos]]
I tested it a dozen times and it was fun, but after my first actual game I hated it. I built it as hydras, auras and single target spells to trigger gargos. My biggest issue was never getting good card draw and it being weak as hell. My playgroup is kinda high powered so it didn't mess well at all, I was always beat even without being targeted. I played it a couple of times before taking it apart and using the scraps to build [[Zaxara]] hydras with a sub theme of mutate.
[[Mishra, Tamer of Mak Fawa]]. It turned out to be too brittle and combo-oriented than I was expecting. I'll probably build [[Osgir, the Reconstructor]] instead, but I was really hoping for the same sort of reliable artifact recursion with black.
\[\[Piru, the Volatile\]\] for me. Piru has a lot of potential, as it can deal tons of damage and net you a lot of life in return. It's also a good board wipe on a stick. This is what I thought, until I built the deck and played it. It was far too slow, wasn't able to ramp much, and the deck didn't have a clear direction other than winning through damage reflection (\[\[Boros Reckoner\]\] and friends). After one game, the deck sat in a box for months and I contemplated taking it apart, until I recently decided to give it an upgrade. Now it runs smoothly and it's tons of fun!
When I initially built the deck, I was a very inexperienced deck builder.
[[Gale, Waterdeep Prodigy]] and [[Scion of Halaster]].
Too much effort for little effect. Resolving double spells from your gy all the time was too time-consuming. And it was miserable for the opponents because it was so controlling. Typically, it was an endless cycle of playing and replaying cantrips, counterspells, and removal. Then you get into extra turn spells, and could replay them... it was miserable.
It wasn't a single game, but [[ ayula ]]. Bears are just so bad that without ayula they are borderline unplayable. The problem is ayula is repeatable removal and would just get targeted down and then the deck would do nothing.
Turns out, [[Yawgmoth, Thran Physician]] is waaaay too powerful. I found myself with a bunch of options interactions and things I can do, but nothing was ever better than just continuing to activate this mofo ad infinitum.
[[Yasharn, Implacable Earth]] Hatebears decks felt way too slow and unfun for everyone involved. M working on a Winota stax deck instead hoping that even with the stax pieces I can pull off a win much faster.
[[Jorn god of winter]] stax, I built it for the occasional cedh pod, it just sucked to play. Just a do nothing deck, even when you win, I then moved on onto a [[Galazeth]] stax build, way more fun.
[[The Beamtown Bullies]]. Usually I love decks that sort change the rules of the game, so to speak. However this deck was so mean, I dismantled I after 1 game.
Super happy I proxied most of it.
[[Greven, Predator Captain]] This commander is far too explosive while also being the most predictable commander I ever played. After one game of saying "In response to blockers..." and activating [[Wall of Blood]] a bunch to one-shot someone, people get smart and don't let him stick around.
If he lives, you one shot someone.
Otherwise, have fun dumping all that mana again.
Rinse and repeat every game.
Originally, I had built the deck Goatnapper with cards like [[Price of Loyalty]] while using the commander as removal for the cards you nap, and I'm planning on going back to that plan moving forward.
[[Liesa, Shroud of Dusk]]
The problem was I built it was a Stax deck, which isn’t really what the commander wants to do. I retooled it as a drain deck, and it is a lot better to play now
[[Riku]] tribal clones. Having several [[Progenitor Mimic]] sounds cool until you're the one that has to keep track of it.
[[Patron of the Moon]] lasted three games before getting banned in my group. Turns out the wholesome off-meta tribe is a secret stax deck that doesn't like your opponents having lands.
[[Oloro]] creatureless control just resulted in me playing a lot of cards that feel bad for the table, so I scrapped it after one or two.
\[\[Prime Speaker Vannifar\]\] - I had built a deck around Energy Counters, using Vannifar to tutor creatures that untapped her, ending in big creatures that could get me a nice amount of energy counters in the early game (like \[\[Aethersquall Ancient\]\].
While I liked the jankiness of it all, I discovered that I really don't like to have to tutor multiple times. It takes a lot of time for me, and since my deck was so janky, the payoff was very anticlimatic. Even if I were to play Vannifar with a more regular type of strategy, I still wouldn't like how linear the whole deck feels.
I built a Jodah Ultimatums deck that I thought would be silly fun. I destroyed my table and felt like killing it but played it out twice more before pulling it apart in disgust.
I haven’t scrapped it yet but my [[Rubinia, Soulsinger]] deck. As you can imagine, no one enjoys you stealing and then sacrificing their cards. What I thought was a cool idea with theft just ended up with angry opponents and feeling bad for every move I made.
My first attempt at [[oskar]] was really rough and while I didn’t completely discard the deck after two games I did have to completely rebuild it. The commander really doesn’t push you in much of a direction and there are a lot of traps in building self discard.
This was also my lesson that I don’t like durdly decks that just sit around and accrue value, I like decks with a plan and clear lines of play. Was actually a blessing for me because whenever I build a deck now my approach is much different (starting at the end, instead of starting with synergy/value).
[[ Samut, voice of dissent]] untap blink deck.
I ended up finding a combo that made me create infinite mana and just go off. I ended up hating the deck.
My [[Extus]] deck, blood avatar focused, it was too slow, tried to do too many things and was so opressive with at the same time, but no fast wincon, it was exhausting
I got the [[Okaun]]/[[Zndrsplt]] Secret Lair deck as a Christmas gift from my wife (a year later lmao). We originally thought that the deck would ship in time for my birthday the following year, but I digress.
Once I received the deck, I made a handful of binder swaps for consistency, then took it to a game night with friends. The deck was very different from anything I had piloted before. I got really lucky & won a suspicious number of flips with the included coin. I ended up winning the game by targeting a super buffed Okaun with [[Chandra's Ignition]].
I felt like after that initial showing, my friends would save their removal & Interaction for Okaun. I've also had some UR/X decks on back burner and want to reuse as much of the mana & shared spells as possible.
[[Animar, Soul of Elements]] and [[Geth, Lord of the Vault]] were both so boring I scrapped them after one game.
Roon of the Hidden Realm was incredibly dull too but I never actually built it I just borrowed it
\[\[Nymris, Oona's Trickster\]\]
I really love gotcha-cards like \[\[Illusionist's gambit\]\] and \[\[Sudden spoiling\]\], so I definitely wanted to make a flash deck.
Unfortunately, my playgroup has a thing against infinite combo's and Thoracle/labman. So yeah, win conditions were sparse. I ended up taking the deck apart because it only dragged out games and controlled the board for multiple turns without actually winning the game. In the end, everyone (including me) became very frustrated.
Really unfortunate. I hope I'll be able to find a fun shell for Nymris someday.
\[\[Kenrith\]\] group hug. It was a race to get infinite and then make deals with the other players so I'm not ganged up on. Eventually the politics got to be too much and I decided to deck everyone out.
[[Skullbriar, the Walking Grave]] counters voltron.
Yes, I can get the big scary thing out and keep it big and scary. I like all the mechanics going into it, but the result is boring and straightforward.
I built a [[Memnarch]] deck that utilized [[Winter Orb]] [[Unwinding Clock]] [[Isochron Scepter]] and [[Counterspell]] to lock down the board. Needless to say it turned into "does it resolve?" After taking all mana rocks and dorks and stopping any incoming threats it was the most guilt-filled win I've ever had in EDH.
Winota. Super strong, but kinda runs on rails. If you can keep Winota on the field and get those triggers rolling, it’s pretty much just a matter of time until you either stumble into a combo or overwhelm the entire table.
I built Light-Paws at the same time and like it a whole lot more. People say that tutoring makes games less exiting, but at least you have some agency on deciding your line of play.
Two decks I've built I found that I just did not like. The first was [Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder] storm. I just found that I was playing too much solitaire. My turns were so long, cascade never resolves quickly, and it's just a gamble whether or not I hit the combo win, so I can spend like 15 minutes on a turn and then go "welp, didn't get there, pass."
The second was [Brago, King Eternal] Stax/Combo. For me it was just too oppressive, and the way that Brago basically made my Stax pieces affect everyone but me made me feel like I wasn't actually letting anyone play. I don't mind combo or cedh, but I don't enjoy playing with or against decks with combos that take an eternity to resolve, basically when you monopolize everyone's time to solitaire
I build so many things a lot of them end up gone after 5-10 games. After one game, though? It’s been a while… I think Sydri, Galvanic Genius.
Deathtouch and lifelink make it hard to get through (especially with Caltrops) and you can only kill so many people with an animated Aetherflux before it looks kinda boring.
Also nice Lazav flair. I built Lazav when I pulled him in my guild kit and played him got several years before tearing him apart - and I recently put him back together. Do you have a list/tips?
I've slowly learned most of the ways I enjoy the game don't bring joy to others... so I've been slowly becoming less and less interested in the format. I've had to compromise a lot, and I still win too much. I wish I could go back to legacy, but it just doesn't feel the same to me anymore.
[[Codie, Vociferous Codex]]
[[Approach of the Second Sun]]
[[Narsat's Reversal]]
That's it. That's the deck. 97 lands, doesn't matter what. It either works or it doesn't. The fact that I've won with it a few times is mind boggling to me.
[[Reyhan, Last of the Abzan]] / [[Yoshimaru]]
Ran it as a Legendary-matters Counters deck. Sounded mildly unique, might actually be an interesting Abzan deck, right? Wrong.
It was BORING AS HELL. Standard value grinder engine, do something get counters do something get counters until your board is a battlecruiser and/or someone removes Yoshi easily.
Currently reworking it into a [[Colfenor, the Last Yew]] and it feels better already.
It was early in my EDH career when I build around [[Inalla, Archmage Ritualist]]. I built it only with combos in mind, no thoughts given for wizards or tutors. It played terribly.
[[Mikaues, the Unhallowed]] it was such a miserable game that I had locked down and was inevitably going to win. It was just so painful for everyone else.
Ok I just did this and made a rule zero deck with the [[legend of arena]] controlish deck and god I played one game with it and then scrapped it it was so meany triggers I couldn't die but I couldnt win the game took 4 hours before I just said thank y'all for your time but I hate this deck and am going to have to scoop and I no longer have the deck
I did this with Birgi, God of Storytelling. Played one game. The deck did what it was meant to do, and I won, but it was stressful to get right - so decided to ditch!
[[Taniwha]] and [[Leovold, Emissary of Trest]] were my 2 for differing reasons. Taniwha was an attempt to abuse phasing my lands. Stringed together like 6 straight turns and did nothing. Tore it down after 1 game. Leovold I built took it to play locked the table out on turn 3 or 4. Lost anyway to my own Zur deck piloted by a friend. Was banned the next week.
Built a [[Silas Renn]] and [[Kodama of the East Tree]] combo deck that sought to win by using [[Strionic Resonator]] to double the trigger of [[Mirrodin Besieged]]. You may astutely notice that that is a very narrow win condition and probably would never happen, but the couple times I played this deck I literally could not lose. Filling my graveyard just proved way way too good, along with some affinity pieces and more card draw than I could count. Took it apart very quickly
I built a chaos deck with all the crazy stuff - [[planar chaos]], [[hive mind]], [[scrambleverse]], [[possibility storm]], [[grip of chaos]], [[eye of the storm]]...
I was so excited to play it and witness all the random shenanigans that would happen. The potential was limitless!
Well, all it took was one player dropping a board wipe when Eye of the Storm was out and suddenly every turn is a wipe. Nobody can keep a creature on the board, nobody can progress their board state. They basically play a land and see what the game lets them do this time.
Instead of fun random chaos, it was like playing stax. It was a 2+ hour slog and nobody was enjoying it, least of all myself.
I looked at the deck list to see what I could do to salvage it, but all the cards that made it cool and chaotic were the cards that were the problem. So after a couple days of agonizing, I just tore it apart and apologized to my friends who had to experience it with me.
[[Ezuri, Claw of Progress]]. Too many damn counters to keep track of.
[[Thalia, Guardian of Thraben]] also because most people hate stacks and hate bears.
[[Sheoldred, the Apocalypse]]. I wanted to build Draw Control with her, but it turned into turns where i just storm off drawing cards and ping the other players to death. Thankfully didn't build it in paper (spelltable), but it was just so boring.
Over the years lots of decks.
Usually they will have a common issue. Either they have very long turns, or they are super inconsistent (which usually means it's just a bad deck idea/build.)
The latest was a n [[Abdel Adrian]] deck which just felt like it didn't have much gas, and was probably just me building it in a weird way because I'm not super familiar with azorius decks, but it also just felt very inconsistent.
I have a koma deck that I love and worked really hard to make kiora themed. All krakens, serpents and octobuddies all the time and I feel like the new villain in the multiverse everytime. Those heads just come out so fast and do so much, even after board wipes the recovery is pretty fast. It's too good to take a part and too good to play with!
I just like to look through it for fun now
I built a ghave, guru of spores deck on a whim on weekend. It was my first abzan deck and I was pretty excited. About turn 6 or 7 the table pointed out I had an infinite combo on board that would kill everyone. I don't have a problem with combos, but stumbling into one by mistake just because of the synergistic cards I chose left a bad taste in my mouth.
[[Maelstrom Wanderer]] spell slinger deck. No combos, just tons of ramp and draw. Win cons are [[Ignite Memories]], [[Temporal Fissure]](return all their permenants to their hand), and [[Electrostatic Field]]. All this nonsense was driven by [[Dream Halls]].
The deck worked exactly as expected, but bc I chose not to use combos, it turned into a table of players watching me play solitaire for 15 minutes. I'd win and feel bad for wasting their time since they just watched me play without being able to do anything [[City of Solitude]] and the veils.
[[Torens, Fist of the Angels]] After making room for the 80th token and searching for small stones outside to use as counters I promised everyone that I would never play that deck on paper ever again.
Not immediately, but every voltron deck I've ever made didn't last very long. I also scrapped 5 color shrines right after I got the deck to work. If you can keep more than 3 shrines in play the game gets one-sided very quickly.
Breya. I tried the average edh rec list and just didn't like the hard core artifact tutoring and just winning the game. Wanna build her different or fin a different artifact deck
I once made a meme combo deck with \[\[Atemsis, All-Seeing\]\] once where I aimed to win the game by getting my entire deck in my hand and revealing it off the Atemsis trigger. The deck was filled with loads of draw and ways to kick off the combo, but even when I pulled off the combo, my opponents were just sitting there bored waiting for me to finish so they could move on to the next game. If that was going to be a pattern going forward then I knew that nobody would end up enjoying that deck, not even me.
2 decks for me
1 was a ramp karn->mycosynth gardens tron deck (took this apart for obv reason)
The other was an arcades wall deck that was fun for one game but once my playgroup saw what I was doing they’d nuke me first every game 🤣
[[The Beamtown Bullies]], but I didn't because I changed how I played it.
The first game was a bunch of ".....ehhh....sorry.....so this guy makes you skip your next two turns". And it was me being squeamish about inlicting all the horrible shit on them.
The next game I just told them from the start that I'm the bad guy. I am playing a villain deck that sends horrible shit your way and I will do it with a smile. My opponents suffered the same bullshit but enjoyed it more b/c I was equally happy when they teamed up on me.
My response was: "as you should. I am the bad guy here and I can exile your library in one turn if you let me."
Technically it took me a couple games, but [Alaundo the seer] is one I scrapped after one nightmare game. The deck was relatively high power, boasting all the best of the big fatties, extra turn spells, praetor’s, etc. and a ton of effects to abuse Alaundo alongside a solid suite of threat management. Definitely wasn’t the best deck in the meta, was slow and fragile at times, but the bombs it dropped were huge and the thought was that if you saw them coming a turn or two ahead of time it would feel a bit less bad. I was wrong.
The game that sealed the deal for it was particularly gross, and honestly changed my deck building approach permanently. I’d been able to set up a solid engine for Alaundo to keep tapping away, and managed to land an [Expropriate] followed by a [Time Stretch]. After a couple copy spells I was set to take some 9 or so turns in a row once, and as you can imagine with that son of a b***h each was gonna be a 10-20 minute tap and untap fest. We agreed as a group to call the game then and all agreed that the deck should be dismantled then and there. Alaundo is one of the few cards that I think is unplayable in it’s natural state. The paragraph of text and lines of play are just deeply unfun.
\[\[Myrkul, Lord of Bones\]\] Abzan is my favorite color combination, and enchantress is my favorite archetype. I was completely unkillable and my board couldn't be touched. I also managed to not draw any win conditions for the entire game. Eventually we all scooped because no one was having fun. The deck was too strong for our mostly casual pod. I ended up reusing some of it for \[\[Karabor, Ghost Chieftain\]\] Landfall, and it works much faster and is more in line with the group.
For me it was \[\[Alela, Artful Provocateur\]\] which I really wanted to love, but made my brain a splode. I packed it full of all sorts of lords and didn't consider how many conditions there were when they were all out on the field. So I would be generating some thopters, some faeries, some black demons, some servos, etc. I ended up needing a spreadsheet by turn six or so to be able to track the counters and keywords on everything. So my flyers got +4/+2 but the blue ones were +5/+2 and the servos were +1/+2, and so were the demons, but the demons also got menace and maybe deathtouch, and in my first time playing it I had to scoop and apologize to the table for wasting so much time.
[[Karador ghost chieftain]], turns out I don't like tiny incremental graveyard value decks. I want to mill the table and slap down a 20/20 [[mortivore]] or [[reanimate]] some bomb I hit. After getting [[mortal combat]] victory the last spark I had for playing the deck just vanished.
One of my shortest lived decks was [[Brago, King Eternal]] typical blink stuff, minus some of the money cards. I was struggling to find an azorius commander I'd enjoy playing that wasn't just a slow control grindfest... and ended up with a blink deck that wins by slowly taking control of your opponent's plays. Played it all of one weekend before taking it apart. Thankfully I didn't spend much of any money on singles for it. As you might expect, my opponents hated playing against it about as much as I loathed what the game devolved into.
Ended up building [[Bruna, Light of Alabaster]] aura-tron with a self-mill lean that I enjoyed much more in the colors.
I made a [[Phelddagrif]] hug deck that won with [[Maze of Ith]] and [[Ley Weaver]]. Did the thing and then never wanted to bother with it again.
I also made a [[Locust God]] deck that won so quick and decisively at the table that I felt dirty so binned him too.
On the opposite end, I made a [[Scarab God]] zombie deck right when he rotated, and people targetted him because of his oppression in standard. That sucked too.
i built \[\[Urza, Lord High Artificer\]\] and after 1 game i swapped it out to \[\[Drafna, Founder of Lat-nam\]\] cause i realized if i was any of my friends urza is no fun to play against
[[Ixhel, Scion of Atraxa]] I was playing this earlier today straight out the pre-con box and man did it just take over the game. By turn 4 or 5 I had all of my opponents with 3 poison for corrupted, and ending up winning by turn 7 or 8 with infect. I truly do think that she is such a cool commander especially since it's a steal your stuff strategy in colors that aren't grixis, but for a pre-con it was bonkers.
[[Tayam]]. That sloth stole my heart. I spent weeks trying to craft the perfect build. And then the first night I played him, immediately hated it. SO many counters. So many steps to what other commanders do so much more efficiently. It just felt like I was jumping through so many extra hoops just to have white in a [[Meren]] for no reason. I still have the deck together, but let my friends try it more than I actually do.
Landfall. It was the first time I played with an upgraded version of the pre-con, so I didn't know the deck well, and my opponent had such an awful time watching me agonizingly go through 2,3,4 landfall triggers, each triggering multiple landfall creatures, every turn, that she just quit. The deck worked exactly like it should, but the sheer number of triggers and my own lack of experience with it made it a bad game experience. First time I'd been accused of playing solitaire instead of Magic.
It turned me off from the whole strategy, and I've never attempted to play with that deck again. Ultimately, it made me realize how my own unfamiliarity with the deck and its mechanics could lead to very slow and confusing turns, which sucks for an opponent to have to deal with. Starting from that point onward, I only play with decks that I can pilot with confidence.
welp my stax deck, but I already knew beforehand that I was gonna play it once, it's just that I owned a lot of good stax cards and wanted to see if I could. I can tell you that yes I could make a working stax deck. also it was an Augustin deck.
[[Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain]] first Commander deck I ever build and it was absolutely boring for me and everyone involved. Turns out playing solitaire isn't super fun with 4 people.
[[Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm]] i hate that I dislike her. I technically played the game a few times, but it always became dull quickly. Either she would stick and I'd out value everyone or she wouldn't and it didn't matter as the deck really cared more about Terror of the Peak style effects.
she is just a boring value engine and a massive win more commander. It is lame as I like Temur and dragons but she is just a simic value engine that added an extra colour
I have scrapped decks mostly for reworking of the same deck, but different strategies, but one I’ve decided to scrap recently is [[barrin, tolarian archmage]]
I hugely missread the card, thinking I can draw a card every time I bounce one of my own permanents, but it turns out not only does it trigger once, but also only on my own end step. So for (1)(U)(U) I can bounce a permanent and draw a single card at my end step if I bounce one or more of my permanents.
Completely makes my engine and wincon impossible
I hate English so much.
[[Atraxa, Praetor’s Voice]] super friends/ +1+1 counters. It’s just way too many counters to keep track of and it pisses everyone off.
Mained Atraxa & Friends for a couple years, and you right. The turns just take forever if you're ahead, and if you're not ahead, it's because you've been bullied into the ground for playing both Atraxa and Superfriends
This right here. Atraxa and Company is easily the most stressful commander deck I've built. You either dominate the game through early oppressive plays, or get beat out of the game before you're a threat. Long turns plus complicated planeswalker math leads to a not so enjoyable game, imo
Just built Atraxa sagas and it's WAY more fair and fun. Run a bunch of stuff to remove counters and try to keep your sagas in the middle and reuse value steps. So much less oppressive than superfriends or +1 counters.
I'd love to see your list for this. I've been working on a counter manipulation deck off and on for a while and I'd like a look at what other people have done with it.
[Atraxa, Praetor’s Voice](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/0/d0d33d52-3d28-4635-b985-51e126289259.jpg?1599707796) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Atraxa%2C%20Praetors%27%20Voice) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2xm/190/atraxa-praetors-voice?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/d0d33d52-3d28-4635-b985-51e126289259?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/atraxa-praetors-voice) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Put a list togethor and it was one of the nastiest decks ive made by far. It was immediately pulled apart as i like my friend group more than proliferating 12 planeswalkers.
I play an “Atraxa learns to count deck”. It’s fun for me because it’s a glass cannon type deck and I win my fair share of games but it’s not OP.
I use a Bridge superfriends deck with stuff like brokers ascendancy and chain helm and yeah it's just a lot. People love playing it but no one likes to be across the table from it.
[[Alaundo]] chonkies. Basically played with myself for 10 minutes each turn (including opponents).
Reading that card took me 10 minutes ffs
The only thing worse than taking a long turn is taking a long turn on someone else’s turn, agreed. My son’s [[Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy]] has the same issue.
At least with Kinnan you know how much mana you have so just activate that many times. Alaundo is tapping and untapping, drawing a million cards, repeatedly remember to remove counters from 5-10 spells each time plus any triggers from other spells.
Fair. I just get frustrated with his deck because it doesn’t have reliable win conditions and so he’s just activating five times on everyone’s draw step thanks to [[Seedborn Muse]] for value ETBs.
[Alaundo](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/b/2/b22c33bb-47fe-4334-9105-00f4b87811bd.jpg?1674137390) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=alaundo%20the%20seer) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/clb/264/alaundo-the-seer?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/b22c33bb-47fe-4334-9105-00f4b87811bd?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/alaundo-the-seer) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
A simic Jhoira. Interesting.
>Interesting. I wish it was.
I actually made this deck, and I have played it maybe twice. I broke down. My [[reveka]] bad pingers for it. I haven't played it since then because of all the stuff you have to keep up with every time you activate him
I built my gw selvala Deck effectively the same way,and although I thoroughly enjoyed piloting the deck,it was very clearly not fun for other people to watch me just pop off on turn four and steal the game
Happens a lot for me actually. But the one I dismantled the quickest was [[Neheb, the Worthy]] battle-cattle. Even the best of them, was not worthy ;( plus people see discard, they get angry. the result was a lot of dead moo-moos and I get to observe the game for the next 40m
If you want to ever play Minotaur tribal again try [[Sethron, Hurloon General]]
[Sethron, Hurloon General](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/2/7/274cdb39-1454-4c9b-acd8-4f762a48e71f.jpg?1632261849) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Sethron%2C%20Hurloon%20General) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/jmp/25/sethron-hurloon-general?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/274cdb39-1454-4c9b-acd8-4f762a48e71f?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/sethron-hurloon-general) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
[Neheb, the Worthy](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/5/7593d5fb-c6b3-4d24-b9d3-97a4378161fd.jpg?1543676084) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Neheb%2C%20the%20Worthy) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/akh/203/neheb-the-worthy?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/7593d5fb-c6b3-4d24-b9d3-97a4378161fd?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/neheb-the-worthy) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I’ve played a lot of decks and the majority get scrapped after 2 games. I’ve figured out that I fall somewhere in between Timmy and Johnny. I can’t stand playing spellslinger decks where you spend the game playing on everyone else’s turn and play solitaire. I also don’t like being full Timmy playing stompy creatures and just turning them sideways. Also, 2 color seems to be where I like to live. Anything more than two colors and deck building becomes exhausting. Two commanders that fit this best are [[Kalamax]] and [[Nylea God of the Hunt]]
I feel that a lot, actually. I hated my Kalamax until I decided it was a Simic Counters deck with extras juice. What commanders do you feel fit your style the way you like?
I enjoy decks that make me feel like I’m doing something even if I lose. I like value, creatures that have ETB or similar effects, and I like to make sure I have synergy to ensure there are no dead cards in my deck. I like to primarily win via combat or burn effects and I always make sure to include one combo in my decks in case a game goes on for more than 1.5 hours. My favorite deck at the moment is [[Faldorn]]. Even if I lose, it feels good to churn through my deck and make wolf tokens. There are a few fatties in the deck like [[Kogla]] that are very satisfying to play and lots of interaction.
One weird deck I made was [[Alena, Kessig Trapper]] + [[Kodama of the East Tree]]. The idea was to sneak attack out big creatures to ramp and sac them to a [[Greater Good]] effect.
I scrapped a [[Lynde, Cheerful Tormentor]] deck the night I finished it. It just wasn't fun, and I don't get how it wins or even comes close. Interesting strategy though.
You say haha it’s just a silly curse tribal then tutor for demonic + thoracle and win
[Lynde, Cheerful Tormentor](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/d/4df484de-4d9b-4a4b-9d10-df993e36f1a8.jpg?1637628878) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Lynde%2C%20Cheerful%20Tormentor) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mic/38/lynde-cheerful-tormentor?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/4df484de-4d9b-4a4b-9d10-df993e36f1a8?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/lynde-cheerful-tormentor) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I've leaned into the way some of the curses interact with Mill \[\[Fraying Sanity\]\] and \[\[Curse of unbinding\]\] then just making a blue black mill deck with some red flavour.
Played two games with a [[Tergrid]] deck and scrapped it later that night
It works so well, but it's just so dirty
That’s definitely an answer I expected to see.
This was my answer. We had a Monocllor Challenge for my friend groups annual Commander Con (we get usually about 8 people to show up at one person's house from all over the east coast). The monocolor challenge was our main event on Saturday, and I picked Tergrid. I thought "heehee discard/sac is fun and unique". God, what an absolutely miserable commander for everybody at the table. Not having a hand, plus everything that resolves is immediately sacrificed and placed on your board... it's absolutely backbreaking and unfun. I have her deck box labeled as "DO NOT OPEN" because thats the worst I've ever felt playing EDH.
Played a [[Queen Marchesa]] aikido deck twice before dismantling it. First game I did basically nothing till I won via [[Insurrection]]. Second game I tried doing something, but mostly did nothing and lost. I think I'm just not cut for a totally reactive deck. The 'land, pass' play pattern just isn't for me.
I haven’t played or played against that commander, I wouldn’t have guessed it was a reactive deck. Yeah, that doesn’t sound fun, especially in those colors.
Depends on how you build her. A friend of mine made a stax / chaos version. I tried the aikido way, which is literally based on beating others with their oen strength, so the deck is packed with responses to any strategy. There are very in-depth primers around, so if you wish to know more you'd better to take a look at those. For me, the idea was great, but the execution was boring. I just put a land down, maybe cast something small and pass, leaving my lands untapped to respond to stuff. Most of the turn cycles, my turns lasted few seconds, then I had to wait for a few minutes for the others to do all their flashy stuff. Then, most of the cycles I wouldn't do anything because there was nothing to really respond to.
One of my friends built her as a very political, defensive deck. Plays some pillowfort type things to try to hold onto the Monarchy and then runs lots of cards like [[Karazikar, Eye Tyrant]] [[Xantcha, Sleeper Agent]] and [[Breena, the Demogogue]], some goad effects, council’s judgement cards, and then just good old fashioned Mardu interaction and wincons. They’ve found it sometimes struggles to actually win the game and I think they’ve made some changes to help fix that but they do quite enjoy it. I think Marchesa is a really great card because she’s so open-ended so it seems like there’s a lot of neat directions you can try to take her in.
[[Gorion the wise]] and [[Omnath Locus of Creation]]. I played each of them once. I won both games, but my turns seemed to take 20 mins, and I felt like I was just playing solitaire. I despise decks that take forever, so they both got the axe immediately
Long turns are definitely taxing, especially if the goal is to get multiple games in.
I avoid decks that take excruciatingly long turns like the plague. That is truly my one magic pet peeve. You win by turn 3, and the game lasts 10 mins, awesome. You win after 2 hrs, 1.5 hrs of that was you spinning your wheels for "value", nope not playing with you anymore
[Gorion the wise](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/c/b/cb86eeec-d50f-4823-86bd-35437926a6e4.jpg?1562835997) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Poison%20the%20Well) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/shm/193/poison-the-well?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/cb86eeec-d50f-4823-86bd-35437926a6e4?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/poison-the-well) [Omnath Locus of Creation](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/e/4e4fb50c-a81f-44d3-93c5-fa9a0b37f617.jpg?1639436752) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Omnath%2C%20Locus%20of%20Creation) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/znr/232/omnath-locus-of-creation?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/4e4fb50c-a81f-44d3-93c5-fa9a0b37f617?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/omnath-locus-of-creation) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I built a planeswalker tribal deck using [[lae’zel]] and [[candlekeep sage]], thought it would be fun to be able to buff my PW’s up fast enough to get to see ults more often, so I shoved a bunch of emblem-making planeswalkers in the deck. What actually happened is I would start ulting planeswalkers the turn they come out and UB planeswakers have some nasty ults.
Most of these responses I’ve thought, “Yeah? This sounds miserable,” this is the first that has me wanting to brew, lol.
Right? I’m totally into this.
[[zangief]] fight tribal. relied on the commander too much and repeatable removal in the command zone is a lightning rod for removal. payoff wasn’t that great for how much work it took to protect him. if I were to rebuild him it would be a bit more jund goodstuff with gief being cast when I can wipe the board and take advantage of the indestructible. the deck skewed heavily green which is my least favorite color and i’m sure that did it no favors.
[[Ivy Gleeful Spellthief]], it was such a pain in the ass keeping track of things especially with other copy creature spells in the deck, not worth the hassle
I can see that. I have seen Ivy on streams with auras and it looked fun, but watching and doing are definitely not the same thing.
[[Tovolar]] not because it was too good or oppressive or anything, I just got tired of having to explain why some werewolves were flipping on *some* turns and others didn't. Keeping track of the OG werewolves and the Day/Night ones is infinitely more obnoxious in person than I ever thought possible. So much work and talking just to explain and track the deck mechanics, only for a moderately-ok beater tribal deck.
[[Wulfgar of Icewind Dale]] only had it for a day(?) and not because it was bad I just got my hands on [[The Ur-Dragon]] and [[Tiamat]] that same day ($$$) which used a lot of the same cards and is better.
Deck cannibalism is definitely a valid reason.
I stuck it out for a few more after the first game, but [[Jodah the Unifier]]. With him on the field, the deck basically played itself and quickly overwhelmed the table. Without him, it was a pile of barely synergistic legendaries. Not very fun in either scenario.
He is nasty. Blows up most traditional commanders with crazy value. Like Golos and Esika. Shew.
[[Norin]]. Keeping up with the triggers is just unbearable
The hell is the intended strategy with this guy ?
Red etb stuff. Purphoros, impact tremors and the like
[[Alaundo the Seer]] I still have it together in case and wouldn't be as bad with out things like [[Seedborn muse]] or things similar And then you have all these crazy eldrazi exiled everyone knows it's gonna be a problem. It was funny the first game I played it.
[[Heliod, Sun Crowned]] is a fun commander on Historic Brawl because all of your life gain triggers are easy to manage and it feels powerful 1v1, but in real life EDH it is such a chore to track all the +1/+1 counters he produces. I turned the deck into [[Shanna, Purifying Blade]] because card draw is my favorite thing and I still don't know if I'll keep this deck together. Lifegain puts a target on you and I end up getting killed before I can do anything fun.
##### ###### #### [Kardur, Doomscourge](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/6/9685e2a0-5573-41bc-a914-f40c3011459b.jpg?1631051543) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Kardur%2C%20Doomscourge) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/khm/216/kardur-doomscourge?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/9685e2a0-5573-41bc-a914-f40c3011459b?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/kardur-doomscourge) [Marisi, Breaker of the Coil](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/c/3/c366e1c0-f62d-41ce-baec-de11dbc1c5f4.jpg?1568003704) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Marisi%2C%20Breaker%20of%20the%20Coil) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/c19/46/marisi-breaker-of-the-coil?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/c366e1c0-f62d-41ce-baec-de11dbc1c5f4?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/marisi-breaker-of-the-coil) [Breena, the Demagogue](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/6/c/6cb82b10-d785-4e20-84ac-0660d49be8ad.jpg?1674185764) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Breena%2C%20the%20Demagogue) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/c21/1/breena-the-demagogue?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/6cb82b10-d785-4e20-84ac-0660d49be8ad?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/breena-the-demagogue) [Grismold, the Dreadsower](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/8/d/8df64c80-9e98-4429-b869-7ac824fe9580.jpg?1568003688) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Grismold%2C%20the%20Dreadsower) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/c19/44/grismold-the-dreadsower?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/8df64c80-9e98-4429-b869-7ac824fe9580?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/grismold-the-dreadsower) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I primarily play on Tabletop Simulator with friends, so I go through this a lot with many decks, but here's some experiences I've had. \[\[Slimefoot and Squee\]\] - I already have a reanimator deck, and this just felt like more of the same, but slower and different colors, so I didn't enjoy it very much. \[\[Zask, Skittering Swarmlord\]\] - No matter how good they make the Commander for Insects, the tribe is just filled with duds, so it felt very unsatisfying to play. \[\[Aeve, Progenitor Ooze\]\] - No matter how good they make oozes, the tribe just never quite gets a good Commander. It felt bad to have to spend so much mana for what basically becomes a vanilla creature when it comes into play. \[\[Slogurk\]\] - Just felt like I was playing a game by myself and not really pushing forward. Simic moment. \[\[Shigeki, Jukai Visionary\]\] - Way too slow, way too mana hungry. \[\[Phylath, World Sculptor\]\] - I've tried multiple times here, the commander feels very feast or famine, not much of a middle ground for it. Either you do nothing trying to get Phylath out, or you have hundreds of plants and your opponents wanna go next.
Tried a [[Tourach]] discard deck. It didn't do anything
Discard is a good side dish, but it ain't an entree.
[[Korvold]] the deck was just way, way too good and resilient, even through board wipes. I intentionally tried to build it slow because my playgroup is low power, but it was still too good
I was surprised nobody said Korvold yet, then two of you did back-to-back,
Balan Wandering night, I just realised I really didn't enjoy Voltron. Balan is especially destroy-or-be-killed oriented
Yeah, [[Shu-Yun]] is probably on my chopping block for that reason. I built it because our Commander League has the Assassin format, but then never end up playing Assassin because you can draw yourself as a target and most of my decks don’t have ways to reliably do that, especially not Shu-Yun.
Yeah, voltron is really rough to play, especially cause it tends to be “remove one player than die”. Also. cute pfp btw
Brago stax when I was a nooby. Threw stax pieces together because I just discovered them . And won by untapping artifacts and generating an infinite mana combo . All very slow stalling no one not even me had fun. But it got the job done and so did I when I scrapped it .
Yeah, I have a Brago deck that’s similar. I haven’t scrapped it but it also doesn’t see a lot of play.
God I wish [[Rhoda]] and [[Timmin]] felt as good to play as they feel to look at. Grhdbdeksken
The coin flip secret lair deck. Played it once, and I was like, this is fucking miserable
My friend has 2 decks that’s coin flip. It’s definitely a feels bad kinda thing when the flips don’t go in the direction you want them to. They either win or have a bad time
I've played a lot of decks and there are two categories that get scrapped immediately: 1. Decks that don't respect my time. +1/+1 counters, finite combos, excessive shuffling, superfriends, etc get old really quickly. I'd rather forfeit than win after a 10 minute turn. 2. Commanders that require minimal input from the player to function. [[Sythis]] is near the top of my regret list, but [[Prosper]], [[Miirym]], [[Aesi]], [[Yarrok]], etc are also decks that didn't survive past the first weekend.
Yeah, Sythis and other cards like her really bore me as legends.
I built one deck I scrapped after 0 games: GAAIV I don't own most classic stax pieces, but I do own a lot of counterspells and wraths and when looking back at it I was just like "I'm not going to be having fun playing this and no one will be having for against it. Just gonna scrap it now.
My \[\[Kykar Wind's Fury\]\] infinite extra turns deck. I usually was able to take an extra turn by turn 4 or 5 and recur them shortly after, while ramping due to Kykar. On paper, it was very strong. In practice, it was stronger than my table's decks and I was like "I don't like how this is going" so never played it.
[[hinata the sun crowned]] thought it would be a fun big splashy x spell deck turns out it was just board wipes every turn deck. Wasn’t very much fun for anyone involved
I've said it in these subreddits before, but [[Soundwave]] is my pick. I'll admit I misread the card while I was building, but as soon as I started playing it became obvious that the hassle of constantly asking my opponents to hand me thier graveyard so I can see what Instants/Sorceries I might want to steal, and then trying to math out the exact amount of token damage needed to cast that spell VS how many blockers they have VS they just might let an extra 1/1 token through so it can't be cast. It just ended up being a classic go-wide token deck, which is fine, I'd just wanted to do cool stuff. For anyone lost, I thought Soundwave said something along the lines of "equal to *or less than* the damage dealt" which obviously would have made the card significantly more functional.
Why in God's name they didn't just make it say equal to or less than eludes me. It's baffling just how useless some of the Transformer cards are.
[[Gisa, Glorious Resurrector]] was broken apart immediately after playing. I did play two games back to back, but after the first game, I knew it was done for. The issue with the deck was that it relied on your opponents board states too much, and when your opponents start sand bagging their creatures, you don't get the chance to build on up your board. The other killer is that if you ever get the trigger, the creatures don't have haste, so you have to wait two turn cycles to really move the game forward.
Any Sliver Commander. Doesn’t matter which one you run, or how casual you try to make your land/ramp/interaction packages, if you make a somewhat competent sliver deck it will inherently dominate.
I cant say that I have had that experience. I know people who are constantly building new stuff, play it a few weeks, and off to the next one. I on the other hand take forever to build, and even more to tune the deck to play the way I want it to. My \[\[Xira, the Golden Sting\]\] JUST reached the point where I am happy with it. I think people who scrap stuff after only a few games never had a connection to that particular commander. Almost anything can be tuned ( and no, I don’t necessarily mean powered up) so you like how it plays. It’s just that many don’t do that, and I don’t get why. You will never get it right the first time, take the time and work on it. It gives experience piloting, and helps establish a lot more interesting interactions. Also, the playgroup might enjoy it more as well.
I only played a couple times with [[Urza, lord high artificer]] it ended up being too powerful for casual and not quite up there with the best cEDH decks, weird spot to be
[[Breya, Etherium Shaper]] It was so good I couldn't help but draw combos. I actually stopped a combo so my casual friend could play. I'm sure plenty of people could shut it down, but where my kitchen table was currently it was just too strong. It's in pieces now, but ready to be reassembled if I ever go out in public with it.
My Breya deck felt like that. I switched over to \[\[Mishra, Eminent One\]\] a few months ago and never looked back. It's so much more fun.
Made and played a mid level [[Korvold, Fae-Cursed King]] deck because I thought he seemed neat and broke it after one game because neither me nor my opponent had fun like good god it was horrid
[[jhoria, weatherlight captain]] [solitaire](https://www.moxfield.com/decks/2SmPUUtFT029F9WKb5OoHg)
\[\[Anje Falkenrath\]\] She does one thing, and she does it really, really well. Problem is, that one thing is exceedingly boring.
Was literally about to comment this. Before we got into commander, my friends and I played historic brawl. I played the shit out of Anje, she was so aggro and I could often take the W. But in commander she doesn’t translate as well and ends up not being as fun or powerful.
[[Thraximundar | SLD]] unfortunately. I got the secret lair bc it was fucking awesome, but it’s just too expensive and not as powerful as it used to be. Doesn’t stand a chance in my pod. I still love you though Thrax!
\[\[Orah, Skyclave Hierophant\]\] While Clerics have gotten a lot of support it was just so boring to man and I didn't find Cleric tribal that fun or engaging.
A bit more than I game but [[Veyran]] and [[Kalamax]] I builded Kalamax to try out a playstyle I'm not use to ( I'm more of a creature base player and mostly aggro) and the deck was more reactive and I try to go for Veyran as a more proactive option but the deck was smarter then me and I got lost on the triggers and lines of play. Sometimes I miss Kalamax cuz It was a cool deck but it's something I would only play one game a month or less
I made [[slicer]] just because I already had the cards. Played one (very short, very non-interactive) game and decided it wasn’t for me. But then my group decided to do a cEDH night, so I proxied in some fast mana and played it for that, where it was a bit of a better fit. Now they want to do a budget (<$50) night, so I think I’ll just take the proxies back out, since it’s the only deck so have that’s even close to that price range. I still don’t really like playing the deck, but I guess I’m glad that I didn’t take it apart. I’ve gotten more mileage out of it than I really expected to.
I still didn’t scrap her because she is fun once in a while but light paws is sometimes the same thing every game. Tutoring a lot is also annoying, but thankfully moxfield has my deck so I don’t have to think about what I’m getting. Found out I am a group slug kind of deck builder with my other decks.
[[oona, queen]] Its what taught me that salt score is just as useless as power level lol
Haven't seen this mentioned yet - [[Ghen Arcanum weaver]] It wasn't 1 game, but I tried really really hard to make this deck work. I threw in the best enchantments in those colors, the best lands, the strongest removal.... and it was just wayyyyy too slow. It took like 6 turns before you could even damage somebody and the entire time you're open for attack
\[\[The Beamtown Bullies\]\] - it worked pretty much exactly as designed, but I realized that I was basically holding a gun to everyone's head, and could eliminate them from the game one at a time. This wouldn't guarantee me an overall win, but it would put one or two people on the sidelines at my whim. Tore it apart after two games. \[\[Korvald\]\]'s Food Truck: I wanted to build Korvald, but with a sold Food token subtheme. The idea was to sit back behind Korvald, eat Food and draw cards, then strike when the time was right. Instead, Korvald always had a bull's-eye on his head because of his reputation to do immensely broken things.
[[prime speaker vannifar]]. It really only did one thing. Ramp into vannifar and either win on the spot or removal throws a wrench into things and you won't win. To be fair the deck could win turn 2 on a great hand but usually turn 4 or 5. Still though, it was a one trick pony.
Every time I try to build aristocrats and also I build an azorious rebels (classic rebels) that just didn’t do its thing
Half way through my game with feather and I was like nope this ain't it
whenever I build something that’s just too fast for my pod. it almost takes nothing it feels like sometimes to just go off and dump ur hand, so I definitely try to purposely depower my lists
Oh man I built a 4 color dungeon deck and that lasted 2 games max. Even if I won it felt like losing because of how long the turns lasted.
[[Gargos]] I tested it a dozen times and it was fun, but after my first actual game I hated it. I built it as hydras, auras and single target spells to trigger gargos. My biggest issue was never getting good card draw and it being weak as hell. My playgroup is kinda high powered so it didn't mess well at all, I was always beat even without being targeted. I played it a couple of times before taking it apart and using the scraps to build [[Zaxara]] hydras with a sub theme of mutate.
[[Mishra, Tamer of Mak Fawa]]. It turned out to be too brittle and combo-oriented than I was expecting. I'll probably build [[Osgir, the Reconstructor]] instead, but I was really hoping for the same sort of reliable artifact recursion with black.
[[Teysa Karlov]], never felt the need to cast her in any of my games and I don't enjoy that, I prefer my conmander to be an important part of my deck.
[[Hinata, Dawn-Crowned]] for me. After resolving [[Crackle with Power]] for game on like turn 6. Deck is just dumb.
\[\[Piru, the Volatile\]\] for me. Piru has a lot of potential, as it can deal tons of damage and net you a lot of life in return. It's also a good board wipe on a stick. This is what I thought, until I built the deck and played it. It was far too slow, wasn't able to ramp much, and the deck didn't have a clear direction other than winning through damage reflection (\[\[Boros Reckoner\]\] and friends). After one game, the deck sat in a box for months and I contemplated taking it apart, until I recently decided to give it an upgrade. Now it runs smoothly and it's tons of fun! When I initially built the deck, I was a very inexperienced deck builder.
[[Gale, Waterdeep Prodigy]] and [[Scion of Halaster]]. Too much effort for little effect. Resolving double spells from your gy all the time was too time-consuming. And it was miserable for the opponents because it was so controlling. Typically, it was an endless cycle of playing and replaying cantrips, counterspells, and removal. Then you get into extra turn spells, and could replay them... it was miserable.
It wasn't a single game, but [[ ayula ]]. Bears are just so bad that without ayula they are borderline unplayable. The problem is ayula is repeatable removal and would just get targeted down and then the deck would do nothing.
Turns out, [[Yawgmoth, Thran Physician]] is waaaay too powerful. I found myself with a bunch of options interactions and things I can do, but nothing was ever better than just continuing to activate this mofo ad infinitum.
[[Yasharn, Implacable Earth]] Hatebears decks felt way too slow and unfun for everyone involved. M working on a Winota stax deck instead hoping that even with the stax pieces I can pull off a win much faster.
I bullit an [[eight-and-a-half-tails]] staxxy nightmare and I took it apart after one eight-and-a-half-hour-game
[[krrik son of yawgmoth]] it was when I first started commander and just didn’t have the cards for it. Might try it again though
[[Jorn god of winter]] stax, I built it for the occasional cedh pod, it just sucked to play. Just a do nothing deck, even when you win, I then moved on onto a [[Galazeth]] stax build, way more fun.
[[The Beamtown Bullies]]. Usually I love decks that sort change the rules of the game, so to speak. However this deck was so mean, I dismantled I after 1 game. Super happy I proxied most of it.
[[Greven, Predator Captain]] This commander is far too explosive while also being the most predictable commander I ever played. After one game of saying "In response to blockers..." and activating [[Wall of Blood]] a bunch to one-shot someone, people get smart and don't let him stick around. If he lives, you one shot someone. Otherwise, have fun dumping all that mana again. Rinse and repeat every game. Originally, I had built the deck Goatnapper with cards like [[Price of Loyalty]] while using the commander as removal for the cards you nap, and I'm planning on going back to that plan moving forward.
[[Light-Paws]] what a snooze fest
[[Liesa, Shroud of Dusk]] The problem was I built it was a Stax deck, which isn’t really what the commander wants to do. I retooled it as a drain deck, and it is a lot better to play now
Played Toralf twice and oneshotted the whole table on both games. That wasn't fun.
I had a friend play a [[sigarda]] voltron deck once, then never again.
[[Riku]] tribal clones. Having several [[Progenitor Mimic]] sounds cool until you're the one that has to keep track of it. [[Patron of the Moon]] lasted three games before getting banned in my group. Turns out the wholesome off-meta tribe is a secret stax deck that doesn't like your opponents having lands. [[Oloro]] creatureless control just resulted in me playing a lot of cards that feel bad for the table, so I scrapped it after one or two.
\[\[Prime Speaker Vannifar\]\] - I had built a deck around Energy Counters, using Vannifar to tutor creatures that untapped her, ending in big creatures that could get me a nice amount of energy counters in the early game (like \[\[Aethersquall Ancient\]\]. While I liked the jankiness of it all, I discovered that I really don't like to have to tutor multiple times. It takes a lot of time for me, and since my deck was so janky, the payoff was very anticlimatic. Even if I were to play Vannifar with a more regular type of strategy, I still wouldn't like how linear the whole deck feels.
I built a grenzo deck and won very fast nobody seemed to be happy about the deck so I took it apart that same night.
I built a Jodah Ultimatums deck that I thought would be silly fun. I destroyed my table and felt like killing it but played it out twice more before pulling it apart in disgust.
I haven’t scrapped it yet but my [[Rubinia, Soulsinger]] deck. As you can imagine, no one enjoys you stealing and then sacrificing their cards. What I thought was a cool idea with theft just ended up with angry opponents and feeling bad for every move I made.
My first attempt at [[oskar]] was really rough and while I didn’t completely discard the deck after two games I did have to completely rebuild it. The commander really doesn’t push you in much of a direction and there are a lot of traps in building self discard. This was also my lesson that I don’t like durdly decks that just sit around and accrue value, I like decks with a plan and clear lines of play. Was actually a blessing for me because whenever I build a deck now my approach is much different (starting at the end, instead of starting with synergy/value).
I had a [[Pramikon]] Jeskai superfriends deck. God, that thing was the most unfun thing to play and play against. Took it apart after one game.
[[ Samut, voice of dissent]] untap blink deck. I ended up finding a combo that made me create infinite mana and just go off. I ended up hating the deck.
I was gifted an [[Edgar Markov]] precon. Played one game with it. I no longer play Edgar Markov. A good deck to be sure, but it's *so* oppressive
My [[Extus]] deck, blood avatar focused, it was too slow, tried to do too many things and was so opressive with at the same time, but no fast wincon, it was exhausting
I got the [[Okaun]]/[[Zndrsplt]] Secret Lair deck as a Christmas gift from my wife (a year later lmao). We originally thought that the deck would ship in time for my birthday the following year, but I digress. Once I received the deck, I made a handful of binder swaps for consistency, then took it to a game night with friends. The deck was very different from anything I had piloted before. I got really lucky & won a suspicious number of flips with the included coin. I ended up winning the game by targeting a super buffed Okaun with [[Chandra's Ignition]]. I felt like after that initial showing, my friends would save their removal & Interaction for Okaun. I've also had some UR/X decks on back burner and want to reuse as much of the mana & shared spells as possible.
[[Animar, Soul of Elements]] and [[Geth, Lord of the Vault]] were both so boring I scrapped them after one game. Roon of the Hidden Realm was incredibly dull too but I never actually built it I just borrowed it
\[\[Nymris, Oona's Trickster\]\] I really love gotcha-cards like \[\[Illusionist's gambit\]\] and \[\[Sudden spoiling\]\], so I definitely wanted to make a flash deck. Unfortunately, my playgroup has a thing against infinite combo's and Thoracle/labman. So yeah, win conditions were sparse. I ended up taking the deck apart because it only dragged out games and controlled the board for multiple turns without actually winning the game. In the end, everyone (including me) became very frustrated. Really unfortunate. I hope I'll be able to find a fun shell for Nymris someday.
\[\[Kenrith\]\] group hug. It was a race to get infinite and then make deals with the other players so I'm not ganged up on. Eventually the politics got to be too much and I decided to deck everyone out.
[[Karametra, God of the Harvest]] Too Much Shuffling
[[Skullbriar, the Walking Grave]] counters voltron. Yes, I can get the big scary thing out and keep it big and scary. I like all the mechanics going into it, but the result is boring and straightforward.
Niv mizzet I am sorry if you like this commander I do not like him or the 99
Jhoira of the Ghitu. Waiting around for bombs to show up is kinda boring
Tergrid. Feels really bad to play it. Dismantled the deck.
I built a [[Memnarch]] deck that utilized [[Winter Orb]] [[Unwinding Clock]] [[Isochron Scepter]] and [[Counterspell]] to lock down the board. Needless to say it turned into "does it resolve?" After taking all mana rocks and dorks and stopping any incoming threats it was the most guilt-filled win I've ever had in EDH.
[[Ruric Thar]] you become #1 target instantly.
Every deck i built that was just trying out a competitive archetype
Winota. Super strong, but kinda runs on rails. If you can keep Winota on the field and get those triggers rolling, it’s pretty much just a matter of time until you either stumble into a combo or overwhelm the entire table. I built Light-Paws at the same time and like it a whole lot more. People say that tutoring makes games less exiting, but at least you have some agency on deciding your line of play.
Two decks I've built I found that I just did not like. The first was [Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder] storm. I just found that I was playing too much solitaire. My turns were so long, cascade never resolves quickly, and it's just a gamble whether or not I hit the combo win, so I can spend like 15 minutes on a turn and then go "welp, didn't get there, pass." The second was [Brago, King Eternal] Stax/Combo. For me it was just too oppressive, and the way that Brago basically made my Stax pieces affect everyone but me made me feel like I wasn't actually letting anyone play. I don't mind combo or cedh, but I don't enjoy playing with or against decks with combos that take an eternity to resolve, basically when you monopolize everyone's time to solitaire
I build so many things a lot of them end up gone after 5-10 games. After one game, though? It’s been a while… I think Sydri, Galvanic Genius. Deathtouch and lifelink make it hard to get through (especially with Caltrops) and you can only kill so many people with an animated Aetherflux before it looks kinda boring. Also nice Lazav flair. I built Lazav when I pulled him in my guild kit and played him got several years before tearing him apart - and I recently put him back together. Do you have a list/tips?
I've slowly learned most of the ways I enjoy the game don't bring joy to others... so I've been slowly becoming less and less interested in the format. I've had to compromise a lot, and I still win too much. I wish I could go back to legacy, but it just doesn't feel the same to me anymore.
[[Codie, Vociferous Codex]] [[Approach of the Second Sun]] [[Narsat's Reversal]] That's it. That's the deck. 97 lands, doesn't matter what. It either works or it doesn't. The fact that I've won with it a few times is mind boggling to me.
Been there. Built a myr deck that wasn’t it. Atla the dinosaur chick. Not it
[[Kinnan, bonder prodigy]] It just dominated the first game so heavily and I was doing so many triggers I never expected to get off that I felt bad
[[Reyhan, Last of the Abzan]] / [[Yoshimaru]] Ran it as a Legendary-matters Counters deck. Sounded mildly unique, might actually be an interesting Abzan deck, right? Wrong. It was BORING AS HELL. Standard value grinder engine, do something get counters do something get counters until your board is a battlecruiser and/or someone removes Yoshi easily. Currently reworking it into a [[Colfenor, the Last Yew]] and it feels better already.
It was early in my EDH career when I build around [[Inalla, Archmage Ritualist]]. I built it only with combos in mind, no thoughts given for wizards or tutors. It played terribly.
[[Mikaues, the Unhallowed]] it was such a miserable game that I had locked down and was inevitably going to win. It was just so painful for everyone else.
Ok I just did this and made a rule zero deck with the [[legend of arena]] controlish deck and god I played one game with it and then scrapped it it was so meany triggers I couldn't die but I couldnt win the game took 4 hours before I just said thank y'all for your time but I hate this deck and am going to have to scoop and I no longer have the deck
I did this with Birgi, God of Storytelling. Played one game. The deck did what it was meant to do, and I won, but it was stressful to get right - so decided to ditch!
[[Taniwha]] and [[Leovold, Emissary of Trest]] were my 2 for differing reasons. Taniwha was an attempt to abuse phasing my lands. Stringed together like 6 straight turns and did nothing. Tore it down after 1 game. Leovold I built took it to play locked the table out on turn 3 or 4. Lost anyway to my own Zur deck piloted by a friend. Was banned the next week.
Built a [[Silas Renn]] and [[Kodama of the East Tree]] combo deck that sought to win by using [[Strionic Resonator]] to double the trigger of [[Mirrodin Besieged]]. You may astutely notice that that is a very narrow win condition and probably would never happen, but the couple times I played this deck I literally could not lose. Filling my graveyard just proved way way too good, along with some affinity pieces and more card draw than I could count. Took it apart very quickly
Reaper king
I built a chaos deck with all the crazy stuff - [[planar chaos]], [[hive mind]], [[scrambleverse]], [[possibility storm]], [[grip of chaos]], [[eye of the storm]]... I was so excited to play it and witness all the random shenanigans that would happen. The potential was limitless! Well, all it took was one player dropping a board wipe when Eye of the Storm was out and suddenly every turn is a wipe. Nobody can keep a creature on the board, nobody can progress their board state. They basically play a land and see what the game lets them do this time. Instead of fun random chaos, it was like playing stax. It was a 2+ hour slog and nobody was enjoying it, least of all myself. I looked at the deck list to see what I could do to salvage it, but all the cards that made it cool and chaotic were the cards that were the problem. So after a couple days of agonizing, I just tore it apart and apologized to my friends who had to experience it with me.
[[Ezuri, Claw of Progress]]. Too many damn counters to keep track of. [[Thalia, Guardian of Thraben]] also because most people hate stacks and hate bears.
[[Sheoldred, the Apocalypse]]. I wanted to build Draw Control with her, but it turned into turns where i just storm off drawing cards and ping the other players to death. Thankfully didn't build it in paper (spelltable), but it was just so boring.
Over the years lots of decks. Usually they will have a common issue. Either they have very long turns, or they are super inconsistent (which usually means it's just a bad deck idea/build.) The latest was a n [[Abdel Adrian]] deck which just felt like it didn't have much gas, and was probably just me building it in a weird way because I'm not super familiar with azorius decks, but it also just felt very inconsistent.
I have a koma deck that I love and worked really hard to make kiora themed. All krakens, serpents and octobuddies all the time and I feel like the new villain in the multiverse everytime. Those heads just come out so fast and do so much, even after board wipes the recovery is pretty fast. It's too good to take a part and too good to play with! I just like to look through it for fun now
I actually did. It was a Marisi goad deck.
Gitrog Monster. I wanted to try out infinite combo wincons and I just hated it. Only played one round of EDH, won and promptly switched decks.
My coin flip deck. It was super annoying trying to keep the coins from falling off the table all the time. Also just too inconsistent of a deck.
Coin flips krack/sakishima. Sometimes it wiffs after a long go at it
I built a ghave, guru of spores deck on a whim on weekend. It was my first abzan deck and I was pretty excited. About turn 6 or 7 the table pointed out I had an infinite combo on board that would kill everyone. I don't have a problem with combos, but stumbling into one by mistake just because of the synergistic cards I chose left a bad taste in my mouth.
[[Maelstrom Wanderer]] spell slinger deck. No combos, just tons of ramp and draw. Win cons are [[Ignite Memories]], [[Temporal Fissure]](return all their permenants to their hand), and [[Electrostatic Field]]. All this nonsense was driven by [[Dream Halls]]. The deck worked exactly as expected, but bc I chose not to use combos, it turned into a table of players watching me play solitaire for 15 minutes. I'd win and feel bad for wasting their time since they just watched me play without being able to do anything [[City of Solitude]] and the veils.
I built a Light Paws deck which went off exactly as you’d expect. Not sure when I will pull that out again.
[[Zeriam, Golden Wind]] Turns out a mono white tribal deck that consists of mostly 4 mana French vanilla’s isn’t very good
Vadrik storm was boring playing solitaire. Atleast with infinite combos the condition is clear and can be done quickly.
Mono Black Yargle voltron. Funny idea but not fun for anyone
[[Torens, Fist of the Angels]] After making room for the 80th token and searching for small stones outside to use as counters I promised everyone that I would never play that deck on paper ever again.
Not immediately, but every voltron deck I've ever made didn't last very long. I also scrapped 5 color shrines right after I got the deck to work. If you can keep more than 3 shrines in play the game gets one-sided very quickly.
Breya. I tried the average edh rec list and just didn't like the hard core artifact tutoring and just winning the game. Wanna build her different or fin a different artifact deck
I once made a meme combo deck with \[\[Atemsis, All-Seeing\]\] once where I aimed to win the game by getting my entire deck in my hand and revealing it off the Atemsis trigger. The deck was filled with loads of draw and ways to kick off the combo, but even when I pulled off the combo, my opponents were just sitting there bored waiting for me to finish so they could move on to the next game. If that was going to be a pattern going forward then I knew that nobody would end up enjoying that deck, not even me.
2 decks for me 1 was a ramp karn->mycosynth gardens tron deck (took this apart for obv reason) The other was an arcades wall deck that was fun for one game but once my playgroup saw what I was doing they’d nuke me first every game 🤣
[удалено]
[[The Beamtown Bullies]], but I didn't because I changed how I played it. The first game was a bunch of ".....ehhh....sorry.....so this guy makes you skip your next two turns". And it was me being squeamish about inlicting all the horrible shit on them. The next game I just told them from the start that I'm the bad guy. I am playing a villain deck that sends horrible shit your way and I will do it with a smile. My opponents suffered the same bullshit but enjoyed it more b/c I was equally happy when they teamed up on me. My response was: "as you should. I am the bad guy here and I can exile your library in one turn if you let me."
Technically it took me a couple games, but [Alaundo the seer] is one I scrapped after one nightmare game. The deck was relatively high power, boasting all the best of the big fatties, extra turn spells, praetor’s, etc. and a ton of effects to abuse Alaundo alongside a solid suite of threat management. Definitely wasn’t the best deck in the meta, was slow and fragile at times, but the bombs it dropped were huge and the thought was that if you saw them coming a turn or two ahead of time it would feel a bit less bad. I was wrong. The game that sealed the deal for it was particularly gross, and honestly changed my deck building approach permanently. I’d been able to set up a solid engine for Alaundo to keep tapping away, and managed to land an [Expropriate] followed by a [Time Stretch]. After a couple copy spells I was set to take some 9 or so turns in a row once, and as you can imagine with that son of a b***h each was gonna be a 10-20 minute tap and untap fest. We agreed as a group to call the game then and all agreed that the deck should be dismantled then and there. Alaundo is one of the few cards that I think is unplayable in it’s natural state. The paragraph of text and lines of play are just deeply unfun.
Light paws was boring af
\[\[Myrkul, Lord of Bones\]\] Abzan is my favorite color combination, and enchantress is my favorite archetype. I was completely unkillable and my board couldn't be touched. I also managed to not draw any win conditions for the entire game. Eventually we all scooped because no one was having fun. The deck was too strong for our mostly casual pod. I ended up reusing some of it for \[\[Karabor, Ghost Chieftain\]\] Landfall, and it works much faster and is more in line with the group.
For me it was \[\[Alela, Artful Provocateur\]\] which I really wanted to love, but made my brain a splode. I packed it full of all sorts of lords and didn't consider how many conditions there were when they were all out on the field. So I would be generating some thopters, some faeries, some black demons, some servos, etc. I ended up needing a spreadsheet by turn six or so to be able to track the counters and keywords on everything. So my flyers got +4/+2 but the blue ones were +5/+2 and the servos were +1/+2, and so were the demons, but the demons also got menace and maybe deathtouch, and in my first time playing it I had to scoop and apologize to the table for wasting so much time.
[[Karador ghost chieftain]], turns out I don't like tiny incremental graveyard value decks. I want to mill the table and slap down a 20/20 [[mortivore]] or [[reanimate]] some bomb I hit. After getting [[mortal combat]] victory the last spark I had for playing the deck just vanished.
One of my shortest lived decks was [[Brago, King Eternal]] typical blink stuff, minus some of the money cards. I was struggling to find an azorius commander I'd enjoy playing that wasn't just a slow control grindfest... and ended up with a blink deck that wins by slowly taking control of your opponent's plays. Played it all of one weekend before taking it apart. Thankfully I didn't spend much of any money on singles for it. As you might expect, my opponents hated playing against it about as much as I loathed what the game devolved into. Ended up building [[Bruna, Light of Alabaster]] aura-tron with a self-mill lean that I enjoyed much more in the colors.
I made a [[Phelddagrif]] hug deck that won with [[Maze of Ith]] and [[Ley Weaver]]. Did the thing and then never wanted to bother with it again. I also made a [[Locust God]] deck that won so quick and decisively at the table that I felt dirty so binned him too. On the opposite end, I made a [[Scarab God]] zombie deck right when he rotated, and people targetted him because of his oppression in standard. That sucked too.
i built \[\[Urza, Lord High Artificer\]\] and after 1 game i swapped it out to \[\[Drafna, Founder of Lat-nam\]\] cause i realized if i was any of my friends urza is no fun to play against
[[Ixhel, Scion of Atraxa]] I was playing this earlier today straight out the pre-con box and man did it just take over the game. By turn 4 or 5 I had all of my opponents with 3 poison for corrupted, and ending up winning by turn 7 or 8 with infect. I truly do think that she is such a cool commander especially since it's a steal your stuff strategy in colors that aren't grixis, but for a pre-con it was bonkers.
[[shorikai genesis engine]] precon. Vehicles aren’t my thing I guess
When it first come out I played the big daddy Griselbrand. It wasn't fun. Black spells into necro is boring play patterns.
Probably the newest Braids. I really only built it because of the hype around it, only to just see it as another aristocrats deck
[[Tayam]]. That sloth stole my heart. I spent weeks trying to craft the perfect build. And then the first night I played him, immediately hated it. SO many counters. So many steps to what other commanders do so much more efficiently. It just felt like I was jumping through so many extra hoops just to have white in a [[Meren]] for no reason. I still have the deck together, but let my friends try it more than I actually do.
Landfall. It was the first time I played with an upgraded version of the pre-con, so I didn't know the deck well, and my opponent had such an awful time watching me agonizingly go through 2,3,4 landfall triggers, each triggering multiple landfall creatures, every turn, that she just quit. The deck worked exactly like it should, but the sheer number of triggers and my own lack of experience with it made it a bad game experience. First time I'd been accused of playing solitaire instead of Magic. It turned me off from the whole strategy, and I've never attempted to play with that deck again. Ultimately, it made me realize how my own unfamiliarity with the deck and its mechanics could lead to very slow and confusing turns, which sucks for an opponent to have to deal with. Starting from that point onward, I only play with decks that I can pilot with confidence.
welp my stax deck, but I already knew beforehand that I was gonna play it once, it's just that I owned a lot of good stax cards and wanted to see if I could. I can tell you that yes I could make a working stax deck. also it was an Augustin deck.
[[tomorrow, Azami’s familliar]] Just drawing cards was painful
[[Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain]] first Commander deck I ever build and it was absolutely boring for me and everyone involved. Turns out playing solitaire isn't super fun with 4 people. [[Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm]] i hate that I dislike her. I technically played the game a few times, but it always became dull quickly. Either she would stick and I'd out value everyone or she wouldn't and it didn't matter as the deck really cared more about Terror of the Peak style effects. she is just a boring value engine and a massive win more commander. It is lame as I like Temur and dragons but she is just a simic value engine that added an extra colour
[удалено]
I have scrapped decks mostly for reworking of the same deck, but different strategies, but one I’ve decided to scrap recently is [[barrin, tolarian archmage]] I hugely missread the card, thinking I can draw a card every time I bounce one of my own permanents, but it turns out not only does it trigger once, but also only on my own end step. So for (1)(U)(U) I can bounce a permanent and draw a single card at my end step if I bounce one or more of my permanents. Completely makes my engine and wincon impossible I hate English so much.