Post #14: Commander, All Around

After beginning Commander (again) after the Summer Commander product release, I've had a great time playing in many chaotic and enduring battles against friends. Some games have been fierce and friends and I have talked about them for days, while others have been extremely stale. Here are my field notes after playing Commander exclusively for the past 2 months.

Building a deck takes a long ass time. You want options to a lot of different strategies, since there's so many different types of decks out there. You don't want to get blown out by a turn 0 Leyline of the Void or a Day of Judgment, wiping your entire army away. Having the ability to: draw more cards, tutor for cards in your library, recur or Regrowth cards from your graveyard, and remove your opponents' creatures, artifacts, enchantments, and planeswalkers becomes paramount in surviving the onslaught of multiplayer. I've run into difficulty building EDH decks because there are just so many different cards to choose from. For my first EDH/Commander deck, I chose Teneb, the Harvester because he was my first card I ever owned, so I had to pay my Due Respect. I built mine with a heavy graveyard theme, playing a lot of cards like Sun Titan and Sheoldred, Whispering One and playing cards that help me fill my graveyard or sacrifice my creatures, such as Greater Good and Birthing Pod. I've had a lot of fun with the deck and enjoy bringing back an undead army every game. I enjoy playing cards that are versatile, like Beast Within or Diabolic Tutor, which seem to get me out of rough situations time and time again. Playing with a general is really awesome, because I have access to my 6/6 flyer at almost any point in the game, not to mention his incredible recursion trigger. Your general plays a bigger role in the deck than I first expected and not taking advantage of him/her seems foolish. I really like the decks that heavily revolve around their general, even though sometimes those decks don't perform as well as a 'good stuff' deck, I think the flavor behind the decks makes them very unique. There's also something aesthetically pleasing about seeing your general in the general zone on a throne, constantly reminding you why the deck exists.

Switching over from 60 card casual decks to EDH/Commander wasn't very difficult, but the transition changed how I played the deck. In casual games, my goals were to establish a strong board presence and kill players off in the late game. Now, the goal of my games aren't as easily defined. My strategy can range from trying to race and kill my opponent early all the way to destroying my opponent's combo pieces so they don't combo off and kill me. Each game unravels differently, since none of the decks carry an aggressive amount of consistency. The randomness and power level of the cards you're playing are probably the biggest reason the format is so enjoyable for casual players looking to have a good time.

One of the biggest changes coming to the format was drawing cards. I can't emphasize how important drawing more cards becomes. After someone knocks out your hand with a Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur, Mind Shatter, or Identity Crisis, having card draw can keep you going in the game. In Commander/EDH, having cards in your hand is just as important as having lands on the battlefield. When almost every card in your deck can have a devastating impact on the board or help you come even closer to winning the game, having more cards in your hand than your opponents will swing the game in your favor every time.

The hardest thing I've learned is the format is being a good sport. In casual, games go very quickly when everyone is at 20 life and your early and midgame are where most of the action is. If a game becomes too tedious, the game can usually end quickly or get close to finishing. In EDH, games can gruel on and if several people are committed to freezing the board, the game can last forever. Personally, I don't mind long games, but there are some games where players can be doing nothing and turns begin to blend in as land-pass is put on repeat. Although I'm very competitive and I hate losing, sometimes it's better just to call it gg and move on to another match. When your opponent casts Obliterate or Genesis Wave for 30, the game is probably over. There's no problem in going against the waves and try to grind out a win or have a fight for the death attitude, but sometimes that can go a bit too far.

When building EDH/Commander, be prepared for silly things and seeing some outrageous cards you've probably never heard of. I still like playing magic in a competitive way, but I feel EDH/Commander has made me realize how fun it is to be a casual magic player and play cards that are out of scope and underrated. My tips to beginning a Commander deck from scratch is to find a legendary creature that you can relate with well and build a deck that complements that card and your play style.

On an unrelated note, here's some housekeeping. For all the new players that joined MTG Casual Net, I'd like to welcome you to our community. Our group is a great way to network with other players, discuss strategy, spoilers, deck tech, rulings, and any other things you can think of. If you want to participate in trading cards, we have the Trade Document (on the right hand side) that's directly connected to the group. Please understand that most of the players in the group live in Florida, so if you're out of state, you'll have to make appropriate arrangements. Since the Trade Document is available, please refrain from posting trade requests on the Facebook group to avoid spam notifications for other members. Our group is run by a handful of admins who are here to help and have experience in many formats of the game. Here's a quick introduction:

David Jetha: 4 years of Casual magic from Orlando, Fl
Sean Wang: 2 years of Casual magic from Gainesville, Fl
Carlos Cabrera: 2 years of Casual magic from Gainesville, Fl
Nick LoCastro: 2 years of Standard magic from Gainesville, Fl
Michael Hood-Julien: 2.5 years of Casual magic from Miami, Fl
C.J. Hunter: 1 year of Standard magic from Orlando, Fl

If you have any questions, feel free to ask any of the admins, judges, or other members on the group. Until next time, Magic players.

-David J.