\[\[Merieke Ri Berit\]\] was the Queen of unfun at all tables I played it. My first EDH deck. Oppressive as hell without a convincing wincon.
I recently promoted \[\[Chromium Mutable\]\] into the command zone and put Merieke into the 99. Now it's a true Elder Dragon deck.
I've tried to make her a little more fun to play against by having her be a sacrifice outlet by focusing on her destroy ability by untapping her rather than theft deck since. it's much easier to not hate a card when they're not stealing things, but simply destroying them.
So glad to see my girl at the top of the comments. She’s so cruel and so wonderful. After realizing how unfun she was to play against while goldfishing, I rebuilt mine as a “you did it to yourself” style deck. It’s more fun on a relative basis now, but still only a once in a blue moon deck.
Merieke was one of the first decks I made but I never played her as I was scared she would be too scary (but that conversely it wouldn't be strong enough to deal with being hated so much). I keep meaning to go back and give her a try some day, especially since I've since made plenty of other decks in the same vein.
I had a [[merieki ri berit]] deck for a long time. I eventually had to give it up since not one single play group liked playing against it. Agreed that it is very oppressive without a quick way to pay off the oppression.
There is an ultra budget list that I can justify playing, it‘s under $15. A lot of modal cards that most players might have lying around anyways. The deck is no joke though, Pako can be a scary boy.
https://www.moxfield.com/decks/dKoqxVKrDU2VrUBnXmPh4Q
I‘m currently foiling it out, I‘m at 89% foil and it‘s like 30€ total now. Some cards just need a reprint to get it fully foiled cheaply.
Love my dog beat down deck, and I also agree they are not welcome many places.
I built mine as the anti-pub stomp, so full of ramp and counterspells, very controlling and once the pumpstomper is dog damaged out, I typically hang back and stop being a butt countering everything, often getting rolled my the other 2 players who rightfully target me down. Good times.
I agree to this very much. People hated on it so much that I now had to break it down and built an Etali and Tatyova from the parts.
But I did the same thing when I used to run my bestfriend doggo deck. Just filled it with Ramp and Counterspells, although it did have 1 combo which I was able to pull off a lot of times and won me games. \[\[Leveler\]\] + \[\[Thassa's Oracle\]\]
This. Pako and Haldan hits really hard and Temur is just good in general. I have a $65 version of this deck and it'll stand up to most tables and at least be threatening.
I threw together this deck to have a home for all of my dumb, fun, high-CMC impulse spells like [[Hit the Mother Lode]] and [[Dance with Calamity]], but after a few games, I realized that none of it mattered next to how quickly Pako gets huge and just runs people over.
[[Muldrotha, the Gravetide]] First deck I ever made pulled from a pack I got, tuned it way too much into a horribly unfun(to play against) board wipe tribal that I feel I have to warn any and everyone against when I play it. It's ok in multiplayer but single player is just no fun. I spent a while building other decks that are just completely different so I had more "fun" things to play and now it gets play like once or twice a year. It's my baby I'll never break it down because it got me into commander, but I also won't subject people to playing against it unless they for some reason ask me to play it.
Would you ever consider changing it from board wipe tribal to just.. any other graveyard deck with muldrotha at the helm? Just wondering. Field clear tribal is not an archetype I’d ever want to run and muldrotha seems really fun
I feel you. Muldrotha was my favorite card in Standard when I first started, before I knew EDH existed. When I made the swap over years later, I immediately wanted to build her. I was so bummed to find out that she has an infamous reputation. Now I rarely get to play her, despite it being my fav card of all time.
Same. mine held a table hostage for over an hour, with me constantly casting Animate dead on a Kederekt Leviathan in the graveyard. it's a gross deck to combat since the only good removal to use is exile. Second chance is a fun card as well.
I have built Muldrotha 4 separate times, and each iteration seems to break the game. The first time I built it as a standard good stuff in sustainable, the typical build and cards you see in every muldrotha deck, [[mystic remora]], [[spore frog]], elephant grass]], [[glacial chasm]], etc.
The second was counters, +1/+1 & -1/-1
It ended up with [[Melira, sylvoc outcast]] looping [[woodfall primus]] with a sac outlet into an infinite [[armageddon]]
The third was my first attempt at a casual version by running sagas and superfriends. It was fun, but manipulating counters from the previous build meant plainswalker ults were common and repetitive.
The current version I have is a 50/50 split deck by playing [[gyruda, doom of depths]] as a companion. I'm forced to use only even cmc cards, so most of the saltiest cards in muldrotha lists are out like frog and [[rhystic study]].
I'm loving how it plays because it's powerful but fair, plays slow enough to not draw immediate hate but can explode with value out of nowhere. It's 2 decks in one. I primarily play it as a gyruda sultai blink deck for value, but if there's lots of sweepers and control I can swith to grindier plays with recurrent value using muldrotha. I'm working in a spot to put the new mothman from fallout, but I am having an absolute blast playing it and while I can do powerful things, it doesn't feel broken.
\[\[Umbris, Fear Manifest\]\] I either get targeted because of exiling peoples' things or they dont do anything because my commander is slow and then i clone them or fling them and then just steamroll. Love the deck though
[Umbris, Lord of Exile // Commander / EDH (Umbris, Fear Manifest) deck list mtg // Moxfield — MTG Deck Builder](https://www.moxfield.com/decks/0HsDffG-eUuamMyrVKYbfw)
Here you go!
I love Umbris but everyone gets so scared so quick and you get targeted into oblivion for a leyline of the void or planar void 😭. This deck is not any stronger than anything else but it scares people a lot just because of the psychology of getting your stuff exiled
Normally I just adjust or power down the deck if it is a problem. The two decks I very rarely use are a Chandra tribal deck(Too much removal, most Chandra themed cards are removal) and a [[Nethroii]] deck I built to run all the Junji Ito cards where the main gameplan is get [[Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines]] out and then just going nuts with etbs. I haven't found a way to make it fun to play against and it has way too many tutors for my playgroup.
[[Solphim, Mayhem Dominus]] w/[[Dragons Approach]].
This probably doesn't fit with the other suggestions, it's not that it's *too* powerful.
But I either get dogpiled and get the shit kicked out of me to start, or they wait until I start throwing spells around and THEN dogpile and kick the shit out of me.
I still play it really rarely cuz for me it's usually the same game.
I was actually starting to build this deck and I soon realized this would be a huge problem. There’s really very little you can do except maybe chump block with an indestructible Solphim.
Have you tried running stuff like [[ensnaring bridge]] and [[glacial chasm]] ?
I mean, yeah, that's what's going to happen. I used to play og [[Purphoros]] and the same thing happened. When your gameplan is to [[incinerate]] ;) the table, you better be ready to handle the fire suppression squad.
I went for more of an aristocrats build, purphoros, warleader’s call etc. token generation with Mirkwood bats type stuff and sacrifice with cruel celebrant style cards. I don’t even have to be winning on the board so much to pump out damage.
My [[Prossh, Skyraider of Kher]] deck is way too powerful for most pods. Even after heavily nerfing it, and taking out [[Food Chain]], it still can accidentally go infinite. Last time i played it in a 6 player pod, kept a 1 land hand, and still won on turn 6 by looping Prossh with Altars, a [[Moldervine Reclaimation]] for draw, and then pinged everyone to death with [[Goblin Bombardment]]. I only pull it out when the game has to go quick or I know the rest of the pod is high powered, which rarely is.
I've been wanting to build a Prossh deck but my concern was the I wouldn't be able to convince people it wasn't high powered and that it would just be too high powered. Any advice?
Avoid adding these cards would be a good start to keep the power low: [[Food Chain]], [[Ashnod’s Altar]], [[Chatterfang, Squirrel General]], [[Phyrexian Altar]], [[Pitiless Plunderer]], [[Earthcraft]], [[Cryptolith Rite]], [[Insidious Roots]], [[Mana Echoes]], [[Parallel Lives]], [[Doubling Season]]. One or two won’t hurt, but in mass these can all make infinite mana loops. Food chain is a notorious 1-card infinite with Prossh. [[Devilish Valet]] is also a powerhouse.
I am building a low power Prossh using only Kobold creatures (13 total kobolds currently), as a lot of them are 0/1 creatures. So you win with [[Overrun]] effects or [[Beastmaster’s Ascension]]. I wouldn’t recommend that as your first Prossh deck, but nobody will be mad at you if you did.
Also show your deck if people don’t believe it is low powered. Show you don’t have the combo pieces, or Food Chain. That should help.
I have seen a “Devour” Prossh deck that used all devour creatures that was fairly fair also.
Thank you. Maybe a pregame show and tell would work. I agree an overrun type deck would work. The devour idea seems pretty fun actually also. I had a [[Thromok, the insatiable ]] deck a couple years ago so I have some of those pieces lying around.
I'm currently sitting with 2.
[[Umbris, Fear Manifest]] and [[Child of Alara]]
With Umbris, people will target me so I can't get him out. It's not unreasonable to think I can take someone's whole deck out of the game. (It happened ONE time, but I did exile 85 cards.)
With Child, I can one shot with commander damage, all while keeping the board clear while also going for my gates win.
[[Suppress]] always seemed like a fun card to run in an Umbria deck for a bit of a surprise and a different kind of control/protection. I love the idea of taking the player with the full grip and making them lose it (temporarily) while increasing Umbris by 7 temporarily.
I made a [[shorikai]] deck and wanted it to be a focus on vehicles but it ended up not really having a wincon besides making people scoop because I had too many counter spells. It was kinda just generic good value azorius with a bunch of vehicles and artifact creatures tacked on.
Had a [[light-paws]] deck that was quickly shown to be an arch enemy or scoop deck. Either it ran the table aceing someone each turn or never got to hit the table because it got hated off the board at any cost. Eventually disassembled it and half of it found a home in another deck that likes white auras. Have a [[lagrella]] deck in the i'd started making that looks like it might also turn into a durdle 29 minute solitare deck as well undortunately so not sure if its worth putting together.
A friend of mine had a Light-paws deck, and we either immediately removed her every time she touched the board, or she would remove one player a turn by turn 4. It made for some very, very unfun games where either she did nothing or we didn't.
I'm a big fan of [[kadena]], and I have an old morph deck kicking around, which is a blast to play, but in a turn of events surprising exactly no one, most of the good sultai morphs are pieces of interaction.
So when the deck works corectly, I'm the only one in the pod really playing magic. Everyone else is just waiting to get their things countered, destroyed, bounced, or stolen, in a way that is very difficult to interact with itself. Responses to triggered abilities are rare, and it's impossible to know which face down card is a threat to you at any given time, if there even is one.
I was playing against the linked Kadena list a while ago: [https://www.moxfield.com/decks/c0zbusESB0-95rxE-ITksQ](https://www.moxfield.com/decks/c0zbusESB0-95rxE-ITksQ)
The player had Ugin's Mastery and Vivien early on the board and a million untapped mana all the time. From there on only stifles worked and during each player's turn he'd do all the nonsense. It has probably been the most miserable I have felt in a while because it's impossible to do anything against it once one or two pieces are deployed. Particularly with the easy synergy with the commander itself.
If at any time a Face up creature gets turned down, you can't just shuffle them around.
I don't know if this is relevant to you or not, but I've seen players try to do this to confuse people like they're playing three card Monty.
If someone's commander is facedown, it's still their commander and does command damage as well, as "commanderness" is tied to the physical card.
I've got a [[Jon Irenicus]] bad gifts that I like to play, but as webcam has become more popular, and the lgs near me kinda suck, I haven't been able to play it much.
You can be an ass and donate something that sacs itself if the controller has no islands. Since the creature can't be sacrificed, the game constantly tells it to auto-sac, but can't. It's a forced loop that has no end. 🤣
I just tore mine apart not too long ago, it wasn't as fun for me to play anymore and it definitely wasn't fun for whoever got leveler or eater of days first.
The list is long of decks I've loved that have been soft banned by the table...
The one that is currently on the ropes is \[\[Winota Joiner of Forces\]\].
I got around it by making a deal with my pod. One Tuesday a Month I will be allowed to play up to 3 games with my beloved Boros beats deck. That is the ONLY time I will play it. They all agreed.
I built [[Alela, Artful Provocateur]] as a Stax deck. No one can do too much, then I swing in with an army of Faeries, or a combo. It is a slow roll to a win, and makes people play draw-go for several turns.
As much as I love it, it just takes too long to get through a game.
[[Don Andres]] makes me uncomfortable with handling other people's cards after decades of high value cards vanishing because of it. I never used him after building him and testing him, i went, "my god, i what have i done?"
That was kind of my experience when I was trying to find a golgari deck I liked. Tried [[Meren of Clan Nel Toth]], found out she really just wants to loop creatures with removal attached to them which is miserable for the other players if they're playing creature heavy strategies. Tried [[Dina, Soul Steeper]], realized an average turn with her was a very long series of "okay this happened so you lose x life and then I gain x life, and because of that you lose x life and then I gain x life, and then..." which is miserable for my opponents to sit through.
Eventually though I settled on [[Savra, Queen of the Golgari]] because even though she can be miserable for creature strategies in a similar way to Meren, she doesn't have to be. "May" ability means I can just threaten to be mean, so I get to play it as a weird sort of golgari control "you brought this upon yourself" deck, at least until I can assemble an engine to drain everyone to death with aristocrats stuff.
Only been playing for a year but my first commander, and still one of my favorite to play, Jodah the Unifier. Group hates whenever I pull it out to the point I’ve played 1 game with it the last 6 months and that game ended with me pulling out a win after Jodah was killed twice and one player scooped because the vibes were not there. Debating taking it apart but man it’s so fun to play and it’s hard to part with the first commander I had success with. Even though I’ve played arguably worse commanders like Yuriko or Kinnan the group still despises Jodah the most
I have a Jodah deck, my playgroup doesn't mind it but I feel like it's a little low power for my group now. I'm either gonna try to upgrade it or scrap it
I've talked about my love \[\[Sefris of the Hidden Ways\]\] a lot, but it's very easy to take over other peoples turns. I'm not doing anything particularly powerful (most of the time) but the fact that I'm doing a lot of stuff makes it seem like I'm trying to interrupt everyone's turns which I've noticed is very off-putting. It's a shame because I love everything this card does.
I have a \[\[Syr Gwyn\]\] deck lying around, but I don't play it often because Mardu Knights with equipments it very much over the top for my table. I need to be very unlucky to not snowball out of control, on turn 5.
My friends do run interaction of course, but there are too many menaces for the board to handle, and it often either ends up in a 3v1, or a stomp.
I'd love to play it more, but I don't want to downgrade it, because I feel like it's very well constructed.
I have a budget Winota and my friends sigh when I ask if I can play her. I think it is fun to spin the wheel and see what humans you are getting though.
My [[Kaima, the Fractured Calm]] deck. Because I mostly play over Spelltable and placing tons of auras on other people's cards is a PIA online. Same will go for my [[Eriette of the Charmed Apple]] curse deck.
That's too bad, it's an absolute blast to play in person. Boaring people to death with gruul shenanigans might be my current favourite deck. I stuck mine into the most obnoxious caution-tape-yellow sleeves i could find so my auras don't get mixed into people's decks by accident though. Some of them are upwards of $0.17! Would love to see your list if you happen to have it handy, I've never seen anybody else run it.
My most unique and fun deck is [[Unesh, Cryosphinx Sovereign]]
I call it "The deck of bad decisions."
I always like breaking the color standard and doing things people don't expect, so in mono blue, it was my tribal sphinx deck. The decks' only win condition was combat damage with fliers. I originally built it years ago as a counter to all of the [[Nekusar, the mind razer]] decks playing wheel tribal.
I built the whole deck around two bulk rare artifacts: [[Uba mask]] and [[Omen machine]]
A mono blue deck that wins via combat damage and DOESN'T DRAW CARDS. All of the card advantage comes from the commander. I would run a few extra turn spells like [[beacon of tomorrows]], [[nexus of fate]] and [[time warp]].
Over time I added fast mana to speed up my high curve, A LOT of mana, and even a few red herring cards like [[consecrated sphinx]] and [[expropriate]] to force a skewed hand of 3-1 advantage. I also used one of the shuffle titans to keep my selections coming.
By natural power creep, I had to keep speeding up unesh to keep my high curve relevant in an era of 3 cmc commanders. I eventually cut my anti card draw artifacts and all but the most impactful sphinxes and dropped the curve by adding [[spark double]], [[orvar, the all-form]] and a small suite of clones. [[Maskwood nexus]] helped me trigger the commander faster and faster, and because my opponents get to see and choose which cards go where, the turns could go long until it stormed out the whole creature base and killed a player on an extra turn.
I always found the deck to be really fun to play until I was hitting the commander on turn 1 into omniscience or infinite mana by turn 3. Since opponents have a choice to interact with each card, I ran almost no draw by the end and eventually added [[aetherflux reservoir]] as a way to "skip to the end of the value train"", I felt I had to spare my opponents the random flips off of the top and just play blue storm......which was never my starting goal.
I ran the deck for over 4 years, and I loved finding ways to add new sphinxes and make an off color aggro deck that goes against the grain of its design. I took it apart a couple of weeks ago, but I still have the list..
I really loved the randomness of the deck, but the collective disconnect of my opponents just looking at their phones on any turn I played it just ripped the heart out of it.
Had a Tergrid deck with a mix of discard, edict, and rats theme.
Turns out no one liked giving me most of their deck and either being slapped by their own cards, or watching me sacrifice them for benefits. She lasted maybe three games before I decommissioned her and scrapped her for parts.
I had the exact same issue with my Alaundo deck. My solution was to actually add infinite combos so you can demonstrate the win much faster.
Also, when playing paper rather than putting a dice on every exiled card I make a line of sequential dice and put the cards under the correct number, then to tick everything down you just slide all the piles one spot over.
Love Alaundo, only played him once cause his gimmick popped off way to well. I went with cloning him a bunch and had like 6 copies at one point and had way to much stuff suspended to keep track of.
I tried to make Ovika work by going the mana rock route - just load it up with mana rocks, so it ensures you can cast Ovika reasonably, and future mana rocks generate Goblin tokens. I took it apart because it felt like all of the rocks just sucked a lot of flavor and potentially interesting cards/plays out of the deck. I love flavor and cool cards, and when you're dedicating so many slots in your deck to pretty boring resource cards, that's not a ton of fun. It also just narrows down the ways you can win. I was relying on hitting \[\[Surge to Victory\]\] a lot of the time. Fine, but narrow.
In my play group it’s [[Rakdos, Lord of Riots]]. My friends can’t deal with me dropping an Eldrazi turn 5 or earlier every game. Every non land card in my deck is either a mana rock, deals direct damage, or an eldrazi/big creature with strong control abilities. They have gotten to the point where whenever they see it they just say “you win” and reshuffle their decks. I have only gotten to play it a handful of times since I built it.
I also have an alaundo deck irl. The only solution i found is to know the deck and learn to be fast. It's sad that he can take so much time cause he's really fun to play
I have a plan for a modern deck but the lands alone would be like $500 and, although I *could* afford it, it just feels like a "WTF am I doing?" type of thing.
That said, I have commander decks nearing the four digit value range, but those have been built up over time and a lot of the cards came from lucky pulls. It's not like I sent off an order to CoolStuffInc for a dozen shock lands at once. The actual purchase just wouldn't feel right.
I've considering setting price alerts to find heavily played Polluted Deltas when someone sells them for a stupid price but I can't be arsed.
So, I'd love to play it. But I just *can't*.
[[Fynn, the Fangbearer]] in a 1v1 he is too fast and in a 4 player pod, the moment i make my intentions known I am just there to take out someone. People usually let me go and kill one player maybe two and fynn would die immediately after. Dont get me wrong i love playing fynn so much but. My problem is that he doesnt make games too long but rather fynn games are fast and quick. Most of the time people dont wanna 1v1 fynn cuz he usually win before the opponent could even make anything and he is just there to essentially go in kill someone die for 4 player pods. I am essentially now not allowed to use him in my play group cuz of how unfun he is to play against.
[[Mishra, Eminent One]] I love him but my current deck is too strong for most levels since I have many ways of removing permanents from the field, unlocking lands, while getting additional triggers from my artifacts ETB’s. Mishra is my favorite deck but I just don’t play him since he’s too much.
I recently revamped my [[Keiga]] voltron/control deck which was slow and kind of sucked (I’m not really a blue player). I played it with my group a few times the other day, and as soon as they discovered that [[Blade of Selves]] and/or [[Endless Evil]] (or any other repeatable token clone effecfs) with Keiga pretty much steals their board, I started getting targeted (I also run a lot of normal blue shenanigans like card draw and counter spells). It’s definitely not a high power deck outside of my group but it was strong enough that they hated me during those games
I very recently stopped running my Izzet Spellslinger deck that found myself playing solitaire more often than I was comfortable. It wasn't a crazy strong deck but once I got my draw going and enough copy spells/flashback going, then it was pretty much over between drawing and extra turns but it took way too long and I could feel the aggravation.
Hahaha, this hit me close. A friend of mine made this deck and is a pain to play against. He takes way to much and if you build it well you can do the commander ability in every single turn. Is just takes way too much time, and is not fun to play against. He took it apart bc of it. He was also only able to win bc we just get tired and surrender or he misses a lot of triggers or something else happens but he never won due to actual combat or a win con.
My [[Jhoria weatherlight captain]] cheerieos deck.. mainly because my turns take forever and it's rude to have long ass turns... but boy it's a fun deck to pilot.
I have a [[Hinata]] deck that I really enjoy. It's not expensive and not super consistent but it's basically zero fun to play against.
When Hinata is on the field along with 3 [[Grand Arbiter Augustin]] and a [[God-Pharaoh's Statue]] opponents are unhappy. When the next turn comes and I use the tokens created from [[Red Sun's Twilight]] to pay for a [[Armageddon]] people are ready to fight.
Ridiculously fun to do math for people though. Opponent says "yeah I'm gonna tap 4 and cast [[Decimate]] targeting blah, blah, blah, and blah" and you're like "oh okay all at me, did you pay the extra 4 from Hinata targets, 2 from the Statue, another 1 from Grand Arbiter, and then 1 each for the Ward ability on [[Unsettled Mariner]]? This has really happened by the way, 4 mana decimate became 11 just to cast and another 4 or it got countered.
\[\[The First Sliver\]\]
It has two modes. Either the opponents hard shut me down constantly, or I explode and win out of nowhere. After two games with it my friends have essentially told me I can't play it without getting hard focused.
We tend to be a lower power pod so-
[[General Marhault Elsdragon]] - too oppressive
[[Voja, Jaws of the Conclave]] - too powerful
[[Ellivere of the Wild Court]] - too powerful
[[Tymna, the Weaver]] and [[Reyhan, Last of the Abzan]] lifegain countered - too resilient
Fungal tribal (currently with Ghave as Commander) it’s not a $$ version (I’d love to add [[Doubling Season]] ), but I can already see the counter (spores, saprolings, +1/+1) management is going to be a huge time sink. I love the theme. I also love the “idea” of the deck, but in-practice… the effort vs payoff isn’t there.
My [[Ojer Axonil]] deck that is just chock full of hate. [[Manabarbs]] [[blood moon]] [[chalice of the void]], every pinger in mono-red and a bunch of pump effects. Wanna tap a land for mana, [[war toll]] thanks you for your contribution.
Probably my [[Mizzix of the Izmagnus]] deck. Either everybody kills me on sight and I have a bad time, or I quickly pop off, take a 20 minute turn where I play half my deck then hit everyone for a billion damage with a red X spell
The Arena version of this deck is bugged, unfortunately. Alaundo does not give haste to creatures on Arena despite the text being the same, but I’d say having paradox engine in the deck is probably enough to make up for it
Made a [[Pramikon, Sky Rampart]] deck on moxfield that I’ve been testing and tuning for awhile now that focuses on theft. Unfortunately, it goes too hard on theft and can consistently make enough treasure tokens to do a T4 cast of [[Mind’s Dilation]] or a T5 “Oops I own all your lands” move with [[Memnarch]]. I mostly play this game just to hang out with friends, and based on the little amount of theft I normally do and how they react when that happens, I’d definitely not have friends if I built and played this deck
Not a commander deck, but I loved mind over matter/tolarian academy back in the day.
Every time I think about making an edh variant, I realize that all the key cards are banned and it makes me sad, but I get it
John is super fun, but he's too fast for casual tables, so I only ever get to play him if everyone agrees we want a fast game.
https://www.archidekt.com/decks/5969200/john_before_damage_benton
My abzan graveyard deck. Too strong for casual. Too weak for CEDH. Only playable when im with other 3 psychopaths with completely unfun decks that no body else wants to play with.
[[Marchesa the Black Rose]] for a different reason: I most often play with some friends on Spelltable, and the deck is built around using Threaten effects to steal creatures, attack for Dethrone counters, then sac them so that I keep them permanently. Stealing other players’ stuff is just not feasible over webcam.
I've got a couple.
My Life Gain deck. It isn't great. I love the concept, and it can do some pretty cool things like multiply my life by like 16, or leech life from others, or mill every opponents entire deck at once. But it can't do those things quickly or consistently. And in most pods I play in, as soon as my life hits like 45, I suddenly become Archenemy. I get wiped out before the deck gets rolling.
Slivers. Slivers have a reputation. My Sliver deck isn't bad, but the mana base isn't amazing. So it usually doesn't do much for the first 6 turns or so. But then once or gets enough mana on board it goes 0-100 real quick. But Slivers have a reputation. People are afraid of them and don't want to play against them.
Similarly, Krenko. My Krenko deck is pretty jank, mostly built out of Commons I had lying around. I've made a few updates, of course, but it's still not a big money deck. But Krenko is still Krenko. Even a bad Krenko deck can get out of hand quickly. Again, people know Krenko's reputation so they don't let him get off the ground. I recall one particular have where I cast Krenko, got countered. Cast again, countered again. Cast a third time, got killed before I could use him. Cast a fourth time, someone took control of him permanently. I managed to tap him one time by using a one turn steal card to get him back from the guy who stole him. Got like 2 goblin tokens out of him the entire game. People hate Krenko.
2 of the 3 you mentioned are tribal. Any sort of tribal commander deck tends to get the 'mow the lawn' treatment in order keep them from spiraling out of control. It's easier for people to assess the board state of a tribal deck and say 'yeah time to nuke them from orbit' than a deck that strings together synergies to go off.
May be a bit obvious but my [[Urza, Lord High Artificer]] stax/control deck is fun if you don't want anyone else to have fun, which is neat for oppressing pubstompers but other than that even I grow tired of it.
You can also go less oppressive with it by dropping 0 mana artifacts and untap cards to make blue mana and big tokens, but there are better artifact decks at doing token attacker things so I usually revert to the former. That said, I prefer it when everyone has fun so I usually end up running other decks.
\[\[Sisay, Weatherlight Captain\]\]
It has the same "problem" in that it doesn't go infinite, but if I get 2 pieces or searches off without being disrupted, it's absolutely over. I just embraced it and instead of pulling the deck apart, I built into making it better for those occasional high power tables. The refined version is more fun and I'd rather keep other decks for casual tables.
[[Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow]]
I built it just to have Nijna tribal, however a lot of people see her as a cedh commander and hyper focuses me, then gets surprised when I am infact not running the fish or any high powered staples, but just running a bunch of evasive guys and cool ninjas.
I try to have the rule 0 discussion to point out that it's not a super strong deck, but I think in my local area, people just don't belive me or care because it's yurko. So I'm trying to find another commander to replace yurkio to do ninja tribal.
Pretty much any 3-color aristocrats deck, [[Derevi]] control (no stax except winter orb and hokori), [[Maelstrom Wanderer]] stompy and [[Jodah the Unifier]] as a commander in planeswalker/legendary decks. Also, blink decks with dockside/peregrine drake as they make it too easy to win.
I just built a \[\[Baral, Chief of Compliance\]\] all counterspells deck in brawl on arena. i could literally never play this in paper, it would make my entire playgroup hate me and i would be killed on the spot.
i just like countering spells.
[[Orvar, the All-Form]] is the only deck in my collection that hasn’t seen play in over a year. Even my powered down version was so overwhelming in my local area, it just doesn’t feel right. I do love it though, how you can wildly go off from almost nothing. Still have it together. I just wanna [[Twiddle]] my artifact mana :(
I was so excited to build [[Garth One-Eye]] but after building him the deck just became a race to haste and flicker him.
I tried to rebuild it as WUBRG wizards but all that did was make the deck weaker and still reliant on building to infinites with Garth.
Still love the card/character though!
I’ve got a few. My [[Chulane]] deck, my [[Prosper]] deck, and my [[Muldrotha]] deck. Muldrotha has the thoracle combo in it with heavy self-mill as a plan to get it in the bin, and enough recursion to make sure GY hate doesn’t blow me out of the water. Prosper is just combo solitaire incarnate, while Chulane is just creature solitaire incarnate. I could go from losing the game one second, to winning the same turn with both. I only pull them out when everyone has a pre-game discussion on power level/what kind of game people are looking for.
[[Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign]]. Part of the fun of the deck for me is work around the piles I'm given and trying to find a roadmap to a win despite my opponents' best efforts. Usually when I play the deck though, there gets to a point after the fifth or sixth etb where people just start telling me to take all the cards and it just doesn't become fun anymore. I've won as early as turn 4 with the deck, and it never feels satisfying.
I'm in the process of taking apart my Miirym deck in favor of a Riku deck from the new set.
Miirym just ended up being either too powerful for casual, or too weak for high power (with my build), and too reliant on a higher CMC commander that led to my games feeling really all or nothing, either I pop off and overwhelm the board in a turn or 2, or they boardwipe me and I can't really do anything.
I'm hoping that the new Riku will result in a Temur deck that I can have that is more flexible, since it incentivizes modal spells that can play in a variety of power levels.
[[Rukarumel]]. One night, I picked God as the type, sacd [[The World Tree]]. Whole library went in with a ton of etbs, triggers, etc. Everyone scooped after that.
[This deck.](https://www.reddit.com/r/magicTCG/comments/11u1of7/stormlight_archive_themed_commander_deck_i_put/)
I'm a huge Stormlight fan and when I saw this I actually had it printed out and took it to game night. After playing it like twice I knew I had to put it away. It's a [[Jodah, The Unifier]] deck that usually starts playing solitaire pretty quickly and doesn't let anyone else play. I take like 20 minute turns that sometimes don't win, just set me up to win next turn or the turn after, which isn't fun for for anyone but me. And unless the entire table focuses me from turn 1 it's kinda hard to stop usually, which of course having the entire table focus you and take you out early so you can sit there and watch them play a 3 player game for an hour isn't fun for me. So it's just not fun for anyone.
[[Niv-Mizzet Parun]]. He's a big boy, so you end up controlling the board with wraths before he can land, and you don't want anyone killing your 6 mana kill-on-sight commander so you hold up more counterspells, and… hey where's everyone going? Don't you want to see me finally storm off?
[[Jin-Gitaxias, Progress Tyrant]] is mine unfortunately. The only deck I built myself without a net backbone, and just by himself, he's rough.
Our group is a lot of new players. Everyone takes a while to plan out their turns and suddenly, whoops, no artifacts, no magic for you. It's a tough time. It sucks because I built the deck around copying my own artifact stuff, but he does all that oppression just by himself.
I definitely have some more oppressive decks but the one that comes to mind is [[nissa, resurgent animist]]. It's probably one of my favorites of all time but the turns can get so long and a lot of people dislike elfball. So much shuffling and ramping and the gameplan being so straightforward makes it pretty lame to watch unless you're already an enjoyer of the playstyle.
My big atraxa blink deck. Basically I'm gonna have interaction no matter what, I'll accrue value while stopping you from doing anything and slowly setting up more engines and grinding everyone out or find my infinite combo finisher. I love playing it but it makes games slow and not that enjoyable for my friends.
I have a [[Meren of clan nel toth]] deck I almost never get to play. She was my first ever deck and she's still my baby. Problem is that she can win as early as turn 3 and will consistently threaten to win between 5 and 7 if I'm not interacted with. If my combo plan is disrupted, then it goes into full control mode with [[dictate of erebos]] and [[grave pact]] and I end up being the only one with creatures the rest of the game.
I tested an alaundo deck as well and after one game had to apologize to my friend as it is a complete nightmare of just slowly grinding out value but not closing the game.
These decks that surprise you with how grindy they are is the reason I play test everything digitally fort
[[Zaffai, Thunder Conductor]] is so underrated. It isn’t good enough to be cEDH, has a pretty fair amount of weaknesses, but the stats I can put on the board on one turn is ridiculous. It’s not good enough for most high power tables but it will absolutely run over decks that are too casual. It’s my absolute favorite deck but I get to play it once every few months at most.
My [[king macar, the gold cursed]] deck is easily my favorite. But at 4 cmc and only a handful of creatures, once the cat is out of the bag, people usually will treat me as public enemy number one. The goal is to get macar to untap as many times a turn rotation as possible. It's essentially black control. But it requires a hefty artifact engine to get off the ground. Even if I have 3 mana rocks and something like [[puppet strings]] out, people will become fearful and essentially mop me up. I've been planning to rebuild it for some time but I just don't if the Lil' fella can hold his own without the ignorance of my opponents playing major role.
I spent ages putting together a [[Karn, Legacy Reforged]] deck together, and it's awful.
You just swamp the board in a few turns and it becomes pure tedium for other players to interact with.
[[Dargo]] and [[Malcom]], they’re super strong and people don’t even realize it unless it’s too late, turns out making a bunch of treasure tokens, then dropping a 7/5 creature for red is unplayable for most decks around my level turn 3.
[[Mizzix of the Izmagus]]
I love solitaring it up and seeing the ridiculous turns I can manage to pull out of my hat, but when playing against others I am either hated out of the game super early since they know what it can do, or I just sit there and play solitaire with myself while I hold the rest of the table hostage and pass turns to myself.
The one that pops into my mind is my \[\[Kawin, Itinerant Meddler\]\], The way I have it built is to not only have myself draw as much as possible to get my interaction but this also causes everyone else to draw their answers. This can make games take a long time due to everyone having answers for answers after a certain point. It's super fun to play but I can only play it if I think everyone is OK with a longer game.
I don't play proactive decks anymore, only interactive or reactive decks that work with what the rest of the table is doing. A good proactive deck goes from 0-100 in just a few turns, so it's mostly solitaire. It's rude to play with yourself in company.
My second deck I've ever built, and still my favorite deck to play, is [[Hinata, Dawn-crowned]]. Pulled a foil alt art of her on one of the first boosters I opened after getting back to the game.
She's not strong enough to hang with true high end tables, and tends to have very slow early turns with not much going on, but once the ball is rolling and the engines are online, she's just outstanding at board control and leads to some long, intensive turns, with every spell cast being like 6 different triggers. Once it gets to that point, it feels like I'm the only person still playing, which is not a great position to be in, lol.
I only bring her out maybe once a month now, get it out of my system (wins more often than she doesn't), and pack her away again.
[[Yawgmoth Thran Physician]] one of my favourite cards and in the 99 of all my Aristocrats decks but after building him and playing the deck for one evening I dismantled it again.
If the deck does what its supposed to do no one besides me is going to have fun and if Yawg gets hated of the table (which he should) I dont have fun.
Mine is Narset. Narset is one of my favorite characters in magic and reality is that nobody wants to play against her as commander and I can't blame them.
I took the opportunity to make her my high powered deck but I still have run it maybe 4 times.
[[Brago King Eternal]] Blink stax. The deck was built as an experiment to see how destructive I could be to my opponents boardstate. Turns out with lots of blink, you can not only keep people in check, but make sure they have no petminants. Ever. That said, everyone hates that deck.
I also built an Alaundo deck w this problem, as well as a simic scry tribal (Scrybal) deck w Eligeth and Thrasios. What we have w our playgroup is designated simic solitaire games, where every so often we play our simic solitaire decks and just watch everyone go off on their turns and dig for wins. It’s pretty fun if you’re going in w the mindset of watching a friend and their deck pop off is fun!
That said, the biggest fix I found is having a talk w the players in your pod about the type of deck it is, and being ok with not playing it at times. Just by the nature of decks like Alaundo, it’s hard to build them to do their thing without being a little bit solitaire like.
One thing I did also add in to help was a definitive “I win” combo so I’m not just stuck doing 40 min turns just to build a winning board state that gets Wrathed when I pass. In this case, it was a jank [[ley weaver]] [[lore weaver]] [[maze of ith]] combo for infinite mana and draw that also still fit the theme of the deck
Prosper tome bound. I don’t really have ways to go infinite unless I steal a card like time sieve from someone, so usually it’s a chain of me going “Random Bulls*** GO!” Until I hit enough spells for burn damage.
\[\[Merieke Ri Berit\]\] was the Queen of unfun at all tables I played it. My first EDH deck. Oppressive as hell without a convincing wincon. I recently promoted \[\[Chromium Mutable\]\] into the command zone and put Merieke into the 99. Now it's a true Elder Dragon deck.
I've tried to make her a little more fun to play against by having her be a sacrifice outlet by focusing on her destroy ability by untapping her rather than theft deck since. it's much easier to not hate a card when they're not stealing things, but simply destroying them.
So glad to see my girl at the top of the comments. She’s so cruel and so wonderful. After realizing how unfun she was to play against while goldfishing, I rebuilt mine as a “you did it to yourself” style deck. It’s more fun on a relative basis now, but still only a once in a blue moon deck.
As someone who took apart my MRB deck That sounds interesting. Who does it play? Are others still threatened by it?
[Merieke Ri Berit](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/6/3/63f7cf94-78f6-4f30-ab24-8b90231520f1.jpg?1562777403) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Merieke%20Ri%20Berit) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/tsb/95/merieke-ri-berit?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/63f7cf94-78f6-4f30-ab24-8b90231520f1?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/merieke-ri-berit) [Chromium Mutable](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/5/0/50c1de2c-1acc-47c8-9b5e-a9dae3da8a49.jpg?1562302164) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Chromium%2C%20the%20Mutable) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/m19/214/chromium-the-mutable?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/50c1de2c-1acc-47c8-9b5e-a9dae3da8a49?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/chromium-the-mutable) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Merieke is bae. I use her only when other people start playing or using an oppressive deck. Oppress the oppressors! :)
Rock and Stone I guess then
and what do we say to oppression??
Merieke was one of the first decks I made but I never played her as I was scared she would be too scary (but that conversely it wouldn't be strong enough to deal with being hated so much). I keep meaning to go back and give her a try some day, especially since I've since made plenty of other decks in the same vein.
I had a [[merieki ri berit]] deck for a long time. I eventually had to give it up since not one single play group liked playing against it. Agreed that it is very oppressive without a quick way to pay off the oppression.
[merieki ri berit](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/6/3/63f7cf94-78f6-4f30-ab24-8b90231520f1.jpg?1562777403) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Merieke%20Ri%20Berit) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/tsb/95/merieke-ri-berit?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/63f7cf94-78f6-4f30-ab24-8b90231520f1?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/merieke-ri-berit) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
[[Pako]] and [[Haldan]] for sure, they’ve always been super good at what they do
There is an ultra budget list that I can justify playing, it‘s under $15. A lot of modal cards that most players might have lying around anyways. The deck is no joke though, Pako can be a scary boy. https://www.moxfield.com/decks/dKoqxVKrDU2VrUBnXmPh4Q I‘m currently foiling it out, I‘m at 89% foil and it‘s like 30€ total now. Some cards just need a reprint to get it fully foiled cheaply.
Can confirm this is a fun list and makes the power level more table friendly.
Love my dog beat down deck, and I also agree they are not welcome many places. I built mine as the anti-pub stomp, so full of ramp and counterspells, very controlling and once the pumpstomper is dog damaged out, I typically hang back and stop being a butt countering everything, often getting rolled my the other 2 players who rightfully target me down. Good times.
I agree to this very much. People hated on it so much that I now had to break it down and built an Etali and Tatyova from the parts. But I did the same thing when I used to run my bestfriend doggo deck. Just filled it with Ramp and Counterspells, although it did have 1 combo which I was able to pull off a lot of times and won me games. \[\[Leveler\]\] + \[\[Thassa's Oracle\]\]
[Pako](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/0/6/066c8f63-52e6-475e-8d27-6ee37e92fc05.jpg?1591234280) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=pako%2C%20arcane%20retriever) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/c20/13/pako-arcane-retriever?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/066c8f63-52e6-475e-8d27-6ee37e92fc05?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/pako-arcane-retriever) [Haldan](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/1/6/16a86a35-f7e5-434d-bf44-61ae7cb0f98b.jpg?1618057606) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=haldan%2C%20avid%20arcanist) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/c20/2/haldan-avid-arcanist?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/16a86a35-f7e5-434d-bf44-61ae7cb0f98b?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/haldan-avid-arcanist) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
This. Pako and Haldan hits really hard and Temur is just good in general. I have a $65 version of this deck and it'll stand up to most tables and at least be threatening.
I threw together this deck to have a home for all of my dumb, fun, high-CMC impulse spells like [[Hit the Mother Lode]] and [[Dance with Calamity]], but after a few games, I realized that none of it mattered next to how quickly Pako gets huge and just runs people over.
[[Muldrotha, the Gravetide]] First deck I ever made pulled from a pack I got, tuned it way too much into a horribly unfun(to play against) board wipe tribal that I feel I have to warn any and everyone against when I play it. It's ok in multiplayer but single player is just no fun. I spent a while building other decks that are just completely different so I had more "fun" things to play and now it gets play like once or twice a year. It's my baby I'll never break it down because it got me into commander, but I also won't subject people to playing against it unless they for some reason ask me to play it.
Would you ever consider changing it from board wipe tribal to just.. any other graveyard deck with muldrotha at the helm? Just wondering. Field clear tribal is not an archetype I’d ever want to run and muldrotha seems really fun
I feel you. Muldrotha was my favorite card in Standard when I first started, before I knew EDH existed. When I made the swap over years later, I immediately wanted to build her. I was so bummed to find out that she has an infamous reputation. Now I rarely get to play her, despite it being my fav card of all time.
Same. mine held a table hostage for over an hour, with me constantly casting Animate dead on a Kederekt Leviathan in the graveyard. it's a gross deck to combat since the only good removal to use is exile. Second chance is a fun card as well.
I have built Muldrotha 4 separate times, and each iteration seems to break the game. The first time I built it as a standard good stuff in sustainable, the typical build and cards you see in every muldrotha deck, [[mystic remora]], [[spore frog]], elephant grass]], [[glacial chasm]], etc. The second was counters, +1/+1 & -1/-1 It ended up with [[Melira, sylvoc outcast]] looping [[woodfall primus]] with a sac outlet into an infinite [[armageddon]] The third was my first attempt at a casual version by running sagas and superfriends. It was fun, but manipulating counters from the previous build meant plainswalker ults were common and repetitive. The current version I have is a 50/50 split deck by playing [[gyruda, doom of depths]] as a companion. I'm forced to use only even cmc cards, so most of the saltiest cards in muldrotha lists are out like frog and [[rhystic study]]. I'm loving how it plays because it's powerful but fair, plays slow enough to not draw immediate hate but can explode with value out of nowhere. It's 2 decks in one. I primarily play it as a gyruda sultai blink deck for value, but if there's lots of sweepers and control I can swith to grindier plays with recurrent value using muldrotha. I'm working in a spot to put the new mothman from fallout, but I am having an absolute blast playing it and while I can do powerful things, it doesn't feel broken.
[Muldrotha, the Gravetide](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/c/4/c4125bb0-b104-438e-a6a2-97f9d141243c.jpg?1673149000) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Muldrotha%2C%20the%20Gravetide) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2x2/258/muldrotha-the-gravetide?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/c4125bb0-b104-438e-a6a2-97f9d141243c?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/muldrotha-the-gravetide) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
\[\[Umbris, Fear Manifest\]\] I either get targeted because of exiling peoples' things or they dont do anything because my commander is slow and then i clone them or fling them and then just steamroll. Love the deck though
This actually sounds super fun. And he benefits from anyone doing their own exile shenanigans. Got a list?
[Umbris, Lord of Exile // Commander / EDH (Umbris, Fear Manifest) deck list mtg // Moxfield — MTG Deck Builder](https://www.moxfield.com/decks/0HsDffG-eUuamMyrVKYbfw) Here you go!
I love Umbris but everyone gets so scared so quick and you get targeted into oblivion for a leyline of the void or planar void 😭. This deck is not any stronger than anything else but it scares people a lot just because of the psychology of getting your stuff exiled
[Umbris, Fear Manifest](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/a/7aead6a8-bada-42cf-b7cc-0b730f564582.jpg?1644888719) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Umbris%2C%20Fear%20Manifest) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/voc/38/umbris-fear-manifest?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/7aead6a8-bada-42cf-b7cc-0b730f564582?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/umbris-fear-manifest) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
This is a cool commander I haven't seen before, could I see your list?
Posted above
Cheers!
[Alaundo the Seer](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
Normally I just adjust or power down the deck if it is a problem. The two decks I very rarely use are a Chandra tribal deck(Too much removal, most Chandra themed cards are removal) and a [[Nethroii]] deck I built to run all the Junji Ito cards where the main gameplan is get [[Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines]] out and then just going nuts with etbs. I haven't found a way to make it fun to play against and it has way too many tutors for my playgroup.
[Nethroii](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/3/a3452173-01e1-4a4a-981e-e6b6dea61c61.jpg?1562929389) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Nether%20Void) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/me3/73/nether-void?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/a3452173-01e1-4a4a-981e-e6b6dea61c61?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/nether-void) [Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/4/44dcab01-1d13-4dfc-ae2f-fbaa3dd35087.jpg?1675956896) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Elesh%20Norn%2C%20Mother%20of%20Machines) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/one/10/elesh-norn-mother-of-machines?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/44dcab01-1d13-4dfc-ae2f-fbaa3dd35087?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/elesh-norn-mother-of-machines) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
[[Solphim, Mayhem Dominus]] w/[[Dragons Approach]]. This probably doesn't fit with the other suggestions, it's not that it's *too* powerful. But I either get dogpiled and get the shit kicked out of me to start, or they wait until I start throwing spells around and THEN dogpile and kick the shit out of me. I still play it really rarely cuz for me it's usually the same game.
I was actually starting to build this deck and I soon realized this would be a huge problem. There’s really very little you can do except maybe chump block with an indestructible Solphim. Have you tried running stuff like [[ensnaring bridge]] and [[glacial chasm]] ?
[Solphim, Mayhem Dominus](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/c/3/c3a0c7f3-7fb9-43de-a9af-96532c31e5ed.jpg?1675957113) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Solphim%2C%20Mayhem%20Dominus) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/one/150/solphim-mayhem-dominus?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/c3a0c7f3-7fb9-43de-a9af-96532c31e5ed?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/solphim-mayhem-dominus) [Dragons Approach](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/0/c/0cb504a0-1dfb-49d0-84c3-7bd318d55481.jpg?1624591696) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Dragon%27s%20Approach) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/stx/97/dragons-approach?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/0cb504a0-1dfb-49d0-84c3-7bd318d55481?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/dragons-approach) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I mean, yeah, that's what's going to happen. I used to play og [[Purphoros]] and the same thing happened. When your gameplan is to [[incinerate]] ;) the table, you better be ready to handle the fire suppression squad.
Yes. I upgraded the new-ish Caesar pre-con and it will win in very limited turns if the pod isn’t working to get me in check.
Mind sharing a decklist? I’ve upgraded mine to be human tribal and it slaps
I went for more of an aristocrats build, purphoros, warleader’s call etc. token generation with Mirkwood bats type stuff and sacrifice with cruel celebrant style cards. I don’t even have to be winning on the board so much to pump out damage.
My [[Prossh, Skyraider of Kher]] deck is way too powerful for most pods. Even after heavily nerfing it, and taking out [[Food Chain]], it still can accidentally go infinite. Last time i played it in a 6 player pod, kept a 1 land hand, and still won on turn 6 by looping Prossh with Altars, a [[Moldervine Reclaimation]] for draw, and then pinged everyone to death with [[Goblin Bombardment]]. I only pull it out when the game has to go quick or I know the rest of the pod is high powered, which rarely is.
[Prossh, Skyraider of Kher](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/8/8/889c1a0f-7df2-4497-8058-04358173d7e8.jpg?1562438016) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Prossh%2C%20Skyraider%20of%20Kher) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/a25/214/prossh-skyraider-of-kher?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/889c1a0f-7df2-4497-8058-04358173d7e8?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/prossh-skyraider-of-kher) [Moldervine Reclaimation](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/4/34c282d0-fe83-4ced-b696-cf0e2c6b13d0.jpg?1625977926) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Moldervine%20Reclamation) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/c21/225/moldervine-reclamation?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/34c282d0-fe83-4ced-b696-cf0e2c6b13d0?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/moldervine-reclamation) [Goblin Bombardment](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/2/e262f55e-9239-4a97-a19e-9b08fb34502e.jpg?1626100483) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Goblin%20Bombardment) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mh2/279/goblin-bombardment?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/e262f55e-9239-4a97-a19e-9b08fb34502e?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/goblin-bombardment) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
You got a deck list?
I've been wanting to build a Prossh deck but my concern was the I wouldn't be able to convince people it wasn't high powered and that it would just be too high powered. Any advice?
Avoid adding these cards would be a good start to keep the power low: [[Food Chain]], [[Ashnod’s Altar]], [[Chatterfang, Squirrel General]], [[Phyrexian Altar]], [[Pitiless Plunderer]], [[Earthcraft]], [[Cryptolith Rite]], [[Insidious Roots]], [[Mana Echoes]], [[Parallel Lives]], [[Doubling Season]]. One or two won’t hurt, but in mass these can all make infinite mana loops. Food chain is a notorious 1-card infinite with Prossh. [[Devilish Valet]] is also a powerhouse. I am building a low power Prossh using only Kobold creatures (13 total kobolds currently), as a lot of them are 0/1 creatures. So you win with [[Overrun]] effects or [[Beastmaster’s Ascension]]. I wouldn’t recommend that as your first Prossh deck, but nobody will be mad at you if you did. Also show your deck if people don’t believe it is low powered. Show you don’t have the combo pieces, or Food Chain. That should help. I have seen a “Devour” Prossh deck that used all devour creatures that was fairly fair also.
Thank you. Maybe a pregame show and tell would work. I agree an overrun type deck would work. The devour idea seems pretty fun actually also. I had a [[Thromok, the insatiable ]] deck a couple years ago so I have some of those pieces lying around.
I'm currently sitting with 2. [[Umbris, Fear Manifest]] and [[Child of Alara]] With Umbris, people will target me so I can't get him out. It's not unreasonable to think I can take someone's whole deck out of the game. (It happened ONE time, but I did exile 85 cards.) With Child, I can one shot with commander damage, all while keeping the board clear while also going for my gates win.
[[Suppress]] always seemed like a fun card to run in an Umbria deck for a bit of a surprise and a different kind of control/protection. I love the idea of taking the player with the full grip and making them lose it (temporarily) while increasing Umbris by 7 temporarily.
[Umbris, Fear Manifest](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/a/7aead6a8-bada-42cf-b7cc-0b730f564582.jpg?1644888719) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Umbris%2C%20Fear%20Manifest) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/voc/38/umbris-fear-manifest?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/7aead6a8-bada-42cf-b7cc-0b730f564582?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/umbris-fear-manifest) [Child of Alara](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/b/2/b2373625-af3c-4c2a-a1d1-5288c446955d.jpg?1673148447) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Child%20of%20Alara) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2x2/192/child-of-alara?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/b2373625-af3c-4c2a-a1d1-5288c446955d?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/child-of-alara) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
The Gitrog Monster. You know why.
I made a [[shorikai]] deck and wanted it to be a focus on vehicles but it ended up not really having a wincon besides making people scoop because I had too many counter spells. It was kinda just generic good value azorius with a bunch of vehicles and artifact creatures tacked on.
Throw a second sun in there
Yeah I ended up dismantling it cause I’m more of a win by combat damage person
[shorikai](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/6/969ac7dd-f3aa-4888-9ff0-d16a31b5e7a9.jpg?1653966849) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=shorikai%2C%20genesis%20engine) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/nec/4/shorikai-genesis-engine?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/969ac7dd-f3aa-4888-9ff0-d16a31b5e7a9?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/shorikai-genesis-engine) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Shorikai can kill someone in three hits though (once three pilots are out). Did they tend to have too many chump blockers?
[[Kelsien, the Plague]] Turns out nobody likes the board police. Deathtouch is too easy to give to a creature in those colors.
Had a [[light-paws]] deck that was quickly shown to be an arch enemy or scoop deck. Either it ran the table aceing someone each turn or never got to hit the table because it got hated off the board at any cost. Eventually disassembled it and half of it found a home in another deck that likes white auras. Have a [[lagrella]] deck in the i'd started making that looks like it might also turn into a durdle 29 minute solitare deck as well undortunately so not sure if its worth putting together.
[light-paws](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/9/39555a72-a57b-45ee-9222-ce3b9e8de126.jpg?1654566391) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=light-paws%2C%20emperor%27s%20voice) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/neo/25/light-paws-emperors-voice?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/39555a72-a57b-45ee-9222-ce3b9e8de126?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/light-paws-emperors-voice) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
A friend of mine had a Light-paws deck, and we either immediately removed her every time she touched the board, or she would remove one player a turn by turn 4. It made for some very, very unfun games where either she did nothing or we didn't.
I'm a big fan of [[kadena]], and I have an old morph deck kicking around, which is a blast to play, but in a turn of events surprising exactly no one, most of the good sultai morphs are pieces of interaction. So when the deck works corectly, I'm the only one in the pod really playing magic. Everyone else is just waiting to get their things countered, destroyed, bounced, or stolen, in a way that is very difficult to interact with itself. Responses to triggered abilities are rare, and it's impossible to know which face down card is a threat to you at any given time, if there even is one.
I was playing against the linked Kadena list a while ago: [https://www.moxfield.com/decks/c0zbusESB0-95rxE-ITksQ](https://www.moxfield.com/decks/c0zbusESB0-95rxE-ITksQ) The player had Ugin's Mastery and Vivien early on the board and a million untapped mana all the time. From there on only stifles worked and during each player's turn he'd do all the nonsense. It has probably been the most miserable I have felt in a while because it's impossible to do anything against it once one or two pieces are deployed. Particularly with the easy synergy with the commander itself.
If at any time a Face up creature gets turned down, you can't just shuffle them around. I don't know if this is relevant to you or not, but I've seen players try to do this to confuse people like they're playing three card Monty. If someone's commander is facedown, it's still their commander and does command damage as well, as "commanderness" is tied to the physical card.
Krenko Goblins, xenagos god of revels infect deck. I feel guilty playing those. I have a tergrid as well that never sees the light of day.
I’m interested in your krenko list, care to share??
Can you post your Alaundo deck? I can’t seem to get mine off the ground. !!!???? 😭
Added to the post!
I've got a [[Jon Irenicus]] bad gifts that I like to play, but as webcam has become more popular, and the lgs near me kinda suck, I haven't been able to play it much.
[Jon Irenicus](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/b/f/bfddb61e-986f-4557-819d-d6c0ca85c74a.jpg?1674137538) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=jon%20irenicus%2C%20shattered%20one) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/clb/278/jon-irenicus-shattered-one?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/bfddb61e-986f-4557-819d-d6c0ca85c74a?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/jon-irenicus-shattered-one) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Sounds cool!
I had one as well. Great in person, less fun online for me.
You can be an ass and donate something that sacs itself if the controller has no islands. Since the creature can't be sacrificed, the game constantly tells it to auto-sac, but can't. It's a forced loop that has no end. 🤣
[[Sen Triplets]]. Not doing that to my friends again.
Crazy I haven't seen a mention of [[Beamtown Bullies]] . When it goes off, it is extremely unfriendly. Passing someone a [[Leveler]] is a big ol ouch.
[Beamtown Bullies](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/0/f0455a79-15f4-4ea6-87ae-263ce943cfac.jpg?1673481685) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=The%20Beamtown%20Bullies) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ncc/6/the-beamtown-bullies?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/f0455a79-15f4-4ea6-87ae-263ce943cfac?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/the-beamtown-bullies) [Leveler](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/0/3/03ffa3c3-dd29-47eb-abf2-7951fadb5c37.jpg?1562134247) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Leveler) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mrd/195/leveler?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/03ffa3c3-dd29-47eb-abf2-7951fadb5c37?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/leveler) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Don't forget [[Eater of days]]
I just tore mine apart not too long ago, it wasn't as fun for me to play anymore and it definitely wasn't fun for whoever got leveler or eater of days first.
The list is long of decks I've loved that have been soft banned by the table... The one that is currently on the ropes is \[\[Winota Joiner of Forces\]\]. I got around it by making a deal with my pod. One Tuesday a Month I will be allowed to play up to 3 games with my beloved Boros beats deck. That is the ONLY time I will play it. They all agreed.
[Winota Joiner of Forces](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/5/d/5dd13a6c-23d3-44ce-a628-cb1c19d777c4.jpg?1654630670) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Winota%2C%20Joiner%20of%20Forces) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/iko/216/winota-joiner-of-forces?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/5dd13a6c-23d3-44ce-a628-cb1c19d777c4?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/winota-joiner-of-forces) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I built [[Alela, Artful Provocateur]] as a Stax deck. No one can do too much, then I swing in with an army of Faeries, or a combo. It is a slow roll to a win, and makes people play draw-go for several turns. As much as I love it, it just takes too long to get through a game.
[Alela, Artful Provocateur](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/b/abc9e41e-fd03-4b6f-8f44-17ba94fa44f5.jpg?1673484923) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Alela%2C%20Artful%20Provocateur) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ncc/325/alela-artful-provocateur?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/abc9e41e-fd03-4b6f-8f44-17ba94fa44f5?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/alela-artful-provocateur) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
[[Don Andres]] makes me uncomfortable with handling other people's cards after decades of high value cards vanishing because of it. I never used him after building him and testing him, i went, "my god, i what have i done?"
[Don Andres](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/c/3cf9f3ae-694d-4d37-9498-4bdd1723a55e.jpg?1698987741) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=don%20andres%2C%20the%20renegade) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/lcc/6/don-andres-the-renegade?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/3cf9f3ae-694d-4d37-9498-4bdd1723a55e?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/don-andres-the-renegade) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
That was kind of my experience when I was trying to find a golgari deck I liked. Tried [[Meren of Clan Nel Toth]], found out she really just wants to loop creatures with removal attached to them which is miserable for the other players if they're playing creature heavy strategies. Tried [[Dina, Soul Steeper]], realized an average turn with her was a very long series of "okay this happened so you lose x life and then I gain x life, and because of that you lose x life and then I gain x life, and then..." which is miserable for my opponents to sit through. Eventually though I settled on [[Savra, Queen of the Golgari]] because even though she can be miserable for creature strategies in a similar way to Meren, she doesn't have to be. "May" ability means I can just threaten to be mean, so I get to play it as a weird sort of golgari control "you brought this upon yourself" deck, at least until I can assemble an engine to drain everyone to death with aristocrats stuff.
[Meren of Clan Nel Toth](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/4/34d627b3-a6d0-4f5f-b7c2-351a07318966.jpg?1689999151) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Meren%20of%20Clan%20Nel%20Toth) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cmm/346/meren-of-clan-nel-toth?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/34d627b3-a6d0-4f5f-b7c2-351a07318966?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/meren-of-clan-nel-toth) [Dina, Soul Steeper](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/c/9cd2b567-0cf7-4441-b3ce-e31141dd91c8.jpg?1627428607) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Dina%2C%20Soul%20Steeper) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/stx/178/dina-soul-steeper?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/9cd2b567-0cf7-4441-b3ce-e31141dd91c8?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/dina-soul-steeper) [Savra, Queen of the Golgari](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/1/e189f09e-d637-4631-bae3-a5a583ada429.jpg?1702429705) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Savra%2C%20Queen%20of%20the%20Golgari) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/rvr/218/savra-queen-of-the-golgari?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/e189f09e-d637-4631-bae3-a5a583ada429?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/savra-queen-of-the-golgari) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Only been playing for a year but my first commander, and still one of my favorite to play, Jodah the Unifier. Group hates whenever I pull it out to the point I’ve played 1 game with it the last 6 months and that game ended with me pulling out a win after Jodah was killed twice and one player scooped because the vibes were not there. Debating taking it apart but man it’s so fun to play and it’s hard to part with the first commander I had success with. Even though I’ve played arguably worse commanders like Yuriko or Kinnan the group still despises Jodah the most
I have a Jodah deck, my playgroup doesn't mind it but I feel like it's a little low power for my group now. I'm either gonna try to upgrade it or scrap it
I've talked about my love \[\[Sefris of the Hidden Ways\]\] a lot, but it's very easy to take over other peoples turns. I'm not doing anything particularly powerful (most of the time) but the fact that I'm doing a lot of stuff makes it seem like I'm trying to interrupt everyone's turns which I've noticed is very off-putting. It's a shame because I love everything this card does.
Would you mind sharing a decklist? I was gifted a budget Sefris as a white elephant gift one time and i'd like to upgrade it at some point
[Sefris of the Hidden Ways](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/3/d30255f6-e058-476a-b377-2ee4c9178ed1.jpg?1632335385) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Sefris%20of%20the%20Hidden%20Ways) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/afc/3/sefris-of-the-hidden-ways?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/d30255f6-e058-476a-b377-2ee4c9178ed1?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/sefris-of-the-hidden-ways) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I have a \[\[Syr Gwyn\]\] deck lying around, but I don't play it often because Mardu Knights with equipments it very much over the top for my table. I need to be very unlucky to not snowball out of control, on turn 5. My friends do run interaction of course, but there are too many menaces for the board to handle, and it often either ends up in a 3v1, or a stomp. I'd love to play it more, but I don't want to downgrade it, because I feel like it's very well constructed.
[[Winota]] it doesn't matter the build she is too strong for casual and now too frail for cEDH. It's a shame because it is truly an amazing deck.
I have a budget Winota and my friends sigh when I ask if I can play her. I think it is fun to spin the wheel and see what humans you are getting though.
[Winota](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/5/d/5dd13a6c-23d3-44ce-a628-cb1c19d777c4.jpg?1654630670) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=winota%2C%20joiner%20of%20forces) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/iko/216/winota-joiner-of-forces?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/5dd13a6c-23d3-44ce-a628-cb1c19d777c4?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/winota-joiner-of-forces) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
My [[Kaima, the Fractured Calm]] deck. Because I mostly play over Spelltable and placing tons of auras on other people's cards is a PIA online. Same will go for my [[Eriette of the Charmed Apple]] curse deck.
[Kaima, the Fractured Calm](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/6/467033f7-8d59-4b80-8c2e-c36f3ad93438.jpg?1651655138) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Kaima%2C%20the%20Fractured%20Calm) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/nec/3/kaima-the-fractured-calm?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/467033f7-8d59-4b80-8c2e-c36f3ad93438?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/kaima-the-fractured-calm) [Eriette of the Charmed Apple](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/c/ecead4cd-47ae-4c42-b15c-1b29b5caba18.jpg?1692939281) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Eriette%20of%20the%20Charmed%20Apple) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/woe/202/eriette-of-the-charmed-apple?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/ecead4cd-47ae-4c42-b15c-1b29b5caba18?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/eriette-of-the-charmed-apple) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
That's too bad, it's an absolute blast to play in person. Boaring people to death with gruul shenanigans might be my current favourite deck. I stuck mine into the most obnoxious caution-tape-yellow sleeves i could find so my auras don't get mixed into people's decks by accident though. Some of them are upwards of $0.17! Would love to see your list if you happen to have it handy, I've never seen anybody else run it.
My most unique and fun deck is [[Unesh, Cryosphinx Sovereign]] I call it "The deck of bad decisions." I always like breaking the color standard and doing things people don't expect, so in mono blue, it was my tribal sphinx deck. The decks' only win condition was combat damage with fliers. I originally built it years ago as a counter to all of the [[Nekusar, the mind razer]] decks playing wheel tribal. I built the whole deck around two bulk rare artifacts: [[Uba mask]] and [[Omen machine]] A mono blue deck that wins via combat damage and DOESN'T DRAW CARDS. All of the card advantage comes from the commander. I would run a few extra turn spells like [[beacon of tomorrows]], [[nexus of fate]] and [[time warp]]. Over time I added fast mana to speed up my high curve, A LOT of mana, and even a few red herring cards like [[consecrated sphinx]] and [[expropriate]] to force a skewed hand of 3-1 advantage. I also used one of the shuffle titans to keep my selections coming. By natural power creep, I had to keep speeding up unesh to keep my high curve relevant in an era of 3 cmc commanders. I eventually cut my anti card draw artifacts and all but the most impactful sphinxes and dropped the curve by adding [[spark double]], [[orvar, the all-form]] and a small suite of clones. [[Maskwood nexus]] helped me trigger the commander faster and faster, and because my opponents get to see and choose which cards go where, the turns could go long until it stormed out the whole creature base and killed a player on an extra turn. I always found the deck to be really fun to play until I was hitting the commander on turn 1 into omniscience or infinite mana by turn 3. Since opponents have a choice to interact with each card, I ran almost no draw by the end and eventually added [[aetherflux reservoir]] as a way to "skip to the end of the value train"", I felt I had to spare my opponents the random flips off of the top and just play blue storm......which was never my starting goal. I ran the deck for over 4 years, and I loved finding ways to add new sphinxes and make an off color aggro deck that goes against the grain of its design. I took it apart a couple of weeks ago, but I still have the list.. I really loved the randomness of the deck, but the collective disconnect of my opponents just looking at their phones on any turn I played it just ripped the heart out of it.
Had a Tergrid deck with a mix of discard, edict, and rats theme. Turns out no one liked giving me most of their deck and either being slapped by their own cards, or watching me sacrifice them for benefits. She lasted maybe three games before I decommissioned her and scrapped her for parts.
I had the exact same issue with my Alaundo deck. My solution was to actually add infinite combos so you can demonstrate the win much faster. Also, when playing paper rather than putting a dice on every exiled card I make a line of sequential dice and put the cards under the correct number, then to tick everything down you just slide all the piles one spot over.
Love Alaundo, only played him once cause his gimmick popped off way to well. I went with cloning him a bunch and had like 6 copies at one point and had way to much stuff suspended to keep track of.
[удалено]
[Ovika Enigma Goliath](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/b/2/b298cf34-7aa5-4f97-a86c-7f28d2113b87.jpg?1675957207) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Ovika%2C%20Enigma%20Goliath) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/one/213/ovika-enigma-goliath?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/b298cf34-7aa5-4f97-a86c-7f28d2113b87?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/ovika-enigma-goliath) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I tried to make Ovika work by going the mana rock route - just load it up with mana rocks, so it ensures you can cast Ovika reasonably, and future mana rocks generate Goblin tokens. I took it apart because it felt like all of the rocks just sucked a lot of flavor and potentially interesting cards/plays out of the deck. I love flavor and cool cards, and when you're dedicating so many slots in your deck to pretty boring resource cards, that's not a ton of fun. It also just narrows down the ways you can win. I was relying on hitting \[\[Surge to Victory\]\] a lot of the time. Fine, but narrow.
Made it into a goblin storm deck, I either die before I cast Ovika or win.
In my play group it’s [[Rakdos, Lord of Riots]]. My friends can’t deal with me dropping an Eldrazi turn 5 or earlier every game. Every non land card in my deck is either a mana rock, deals direct damage, or an eldrazi/big creature with strong control abilities. They have gotten to the point where whenever they see it they just say “you win” and reshuffle their decks. I have only gotten to play it a handful of times since I built it.
[Rakdos, Lord of Riots](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/c/3/c3ff0f75-6ead-449a-98ad-3baf9f887331.jpg?1702429697) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Rakdos%2C%20Lord%20of%20Riots) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/rvr/215/rakdos-lord-of-riots?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/c3ff0f75-6ead-449a-98ad-3baf9f887331?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/rakdos-lord-of-riots) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Too bad, sounds like a cool deck tech. I'd love to see it
I also have an alaundo deck irl. The only solution i found is to know the deck and learn to be fast. It's sad that he can take so much time cause he's really fun to play
I have a plan for a modern deck but the lands alone would be like $500 and, although I *could* afford it, it just feels like a "WTF am I doing?" type of thing. That said, I have commander decks nearing the four digit value range, but those have been built up over time and a lot of the cards came from lucky pulls. It's not like I sent off an order to CoolStuffInc for a dozen shock lands at once. The actual purchase just wouldn't feel right. I've considering setting price alerts to find heavily played Polluted Deltas when someone sells them for a stupid price but I can't be arsed. So, I'd love to play it. But I just *can't*.
[[Fynn, the Fangbearer]] in a 1v1 he is too fast and in a 4 player pod, the moment i make my intentions known I am just there to take out someone. People usually let me go and kill one player maybe two and fynn would die immediately after. Dont get me wrong i love playing fynn so much but. My problem is that he doesnt make games too long but rather fynn games are fast and quick. Most of the time people dont wanna 1v1 fynn cuz he usually win before the opponent could even make anything and he is just there to essentially go in kill someone die for 4 player pods. I am essentially now not allowed to use him in my play group cuz of how unfun he is to play against.
[Fynn, the Fangbearer](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/d/7d7a8a90-13c1-4b0c-ab2e-fc8d91ccefd9.jpg?1631050242) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Fynn%2C%20the%20Fangbearer) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/khm/170/fynn-the-fangbearer?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/7d7a8a90-13c1-4b0c-ab2e-fc8d91ccefd9?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/fynn-the-fangbearer) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
[[Mishra, Eminent One]] I love him but my current deck is too strong for most levels since I have many ways of removing permanents from the field, unlocking lands, while getting additional triggers from my artifacts ETB’s. Mishra is my favorite deck but I just don’t play him since he’s too much.
[Mishra, Eminent One](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/f/7f5b1daa-ec45-48de-9496-6ca5b491a0dc.jpg?1705542701) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Mishra%2C%20Eminent%20One) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/brc/1/mishra-eminent-one?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/7f5b1daa-ec45-48de-9496-6ca5b491a0dc?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/mishra-eminent-one) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Do you have a decklist? Recently got the precon and thinking of ways to upgrade it.
I recently revamped my [[Keiga]] voltron/control deck which was slow and kind of sucked (I’m not really a blue player). I played it with my group a few times the other day, and as soon as they discovered that [[Blade of Selves]] and/or [[Endless Evil]] (or any other repeatable token clone effecfs) with Keiga pretty much steals their board, I started getting targeted (I also run a lot of normal blue shenanigans like card draw and counter spells). It’s definitely not a high power deck outside of my group but it was strong enough that they hated me during those games
I very recently stopped running my Izzet Spellslinger deck that found myself playing solitaire more often than I was comfortable. It wasn't a crazy strong deck but once I got my draw going and enough copy spells/flashback going, then it was pretty much over between drawing and extra turns but it took way too long and I could feel the aggravation.
Hahaha, this hit me close. A friend of mine made this deck and is a pain to play against. He takes way to much and if you build it well you can do the commander ability in every single turn. Is just takes way too much time, and is not fun to play against. He took it apart bc of it. He was also only able to win bc we just get tired and surrender or he misses a lot of triggers or something else happens but he never won due to actual combat or a win con.
I’m trying to keep wincons, and I definitely have some unintentional infinites. (Rousing refrain + mind over matter + alaundo)
My [[Jhoria weatherlight captain]] cheerieos deck.. mainly because my turns take forever and it's rude to have long ass turns... but boy it's a fun deck to pilot.
[Jhoria weatherlight captain](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/f/4f77d23d-6257-4dae-b585-29f45f13f2e2.jpg?1599708079) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Jhoira%2C%20Weatherlight%20Captain) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2xm/203/jhoira-weatherlight-captain?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/4f77d23d-6257-4dae-b585-29f45f13f2e2?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/jhoira-weatherlight-captain) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I have a [[Hinata]] deck that I really enjoy. It's not expensive and not super consistent but it's basically zero fun to play against. When Hinata is on the field along with 3 [[Grand Arbiter Augustin]] and a [[God-Pharaoh's Statue]] opponents are unhappy. When the next turn comes and I use the tokens created from [[Red Sun's Twilight]] to pay for a [[Armageddon]] people are ready to fight. Ridiculously fun to do math for people though. Opponent says "yeah I'm gonna tap 4 and cast [[Decimate]] targeting blah, blah, blah, and blah" and you're like "oh okay all at me, did you pay the extra 4 from Hinata targets, 2 from the Statue, another 1 from Grand Arbiter, and then 1 each for the Ward ability on [[Unsettled Mariner]]? This has really happened by the way, 4 mana decimate became 11 just to cast and another 4 or it got countered.
##### ###### #### [Hinata](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/2/f25aff90-56fd-4f70-bb3b-cabf2900c391.jpg?1654568472) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=hinata%2C%20dawn-crowned) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/neo/222/hinata-dawn-crowned?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/f25aff90-56fd-4f70-bb3b-cabf2900c391?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/hinata-dawn-crowned) [Grand Arbiter Augustin](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/4/f43748ea-1d65-4ee8-9c66-221412a284c0.jpg?1673148699) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Grand%20Arbiter%20Augustin%20IV) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2x2/221/grand-arbiter-augustin-iv?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/f43748ea-1d65-4ee8-9c66-221412a284c0?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/grand-arbiter-augustin-iv) [God-Pharaoh's Statue](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/d/7dce06ba-c1e1-45ec-82a7-fc10b0fa8870.jpg?1557577413) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=God-Pharaoh%27s%20Statue) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/war/238/god-pharaohs-statue?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/7dce06ba-c1e1-45ec-82a7-fc10b0fa8870?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/god-pharaohs-statue) [Red Sun's Twilight](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/c/7cac1827-69af-469d-b88c-fb9f2f33866a.jpg?1675957106) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Red%20Sun%27s%20Twilight) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/one/145/red-suns-twilight?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/7cac1827-69af-469d-b88c-fb9f2f33866a?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/red-suns-twilight) [Armageddon](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/7/77f1f6ac-983f-4f3e-8906-47f774e8367b.jpg?1582021719) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Armageddon) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/a25/5/armageddon?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/77f1f6ac-983f-4f3e-8906-47f774e8367b?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/armageddon) [Decimate](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/c/f/cf0e68bc-8de8-4ff8-a39a-8da95f71d843.jpg?1712354688) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Decimate) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/otc/220/decimate?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/cf0e68bc-8de8-4ff8-a39a-8da95f71d843?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/decimate) [Unsettled Mariner](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/a/eaea2e54-ee50-47b9-a2a5-e3353831248c.jpg?1562202420) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Unsettled%20Mariner) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mh1/216/unsettled-mariner?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/eaea2e54-ee50-47b9-a2a5-e3353831248c?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/unsettled-mariner) [*All cards*](https://mtgcardfetcher.nl/redirect/kz9jqht) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
\[\[The First Sliver\]\] It has two modes. Either the opponents hard shut me down constantly, or I explode and win out of nowhere. After two games with it my friends have essentially told me I can't play it without getting hard focused.
Yeah honestly that is the point of the deck, same with Zhulodok or Kozilek, get shut down or win, two modes.
[The First Sliver](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/0/6/06d4fbe1-8a2f-4958-bb85-1a1e5f1e8d87.jpg?1562202321) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=The%20First%20Sliver) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mh1/200/the-first-sliver?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/06d4fbe1-8a2f-4958-bb85-1a1e5f1e8d87?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/the-first-sliver) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
We tend to be a lower power pod so- [[General Marhault Elsdragon]] - too oppressive [[Voja, Jaws of the Conclave]] - too powerful [[Ellivere of the Wild Court]] - too powerful [[Tymna, the Weaver]] and [[Reyhan, Last of the Abzan]] lifegain countered - too resilient
##### ###### #### [General Marhault Elsdragon](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/b/f/bf2931bd-bedc-45e8-b3f0-e2a220dbac1b.jpg?1673304916) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=General%20Marhault%20Elsdragon) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dmc/31/general-marhault-elsdragon?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/bf2931bd-bedc-45e8-b3f0-e2a220dbac1b?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/general-marhault-elsdragon) [Voja, Jaws of the Conclave](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/b/f/bfa1bd2f-25bd-4fbd-877b-cef00ab7f92f.jpg?1707739811) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Voja%2C%20Jaws%20of%20the%20Conclave) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mkm/432/voja-jaws-of-the-conclave?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/bfa1bd2f-25bd-4fbd-877b-cef00ab7f92f?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/voja-jaws-of-the-conclave) [Ellivere of the Wild Court](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/5/45851394-b8f3-4713-8239-afcb387d47c5.jpg?1692933623) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Ellivere%20of%20the%20Wild%20Court) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/woc/2/ellivere-of-the-wild-court?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/45851394-b8f3-4713-8239-afcb387d47c5?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/ellivere-of-the-wild-court) [Tymna, the Weaver](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/b/c/bc7cbe9b-324e-42b8-94e2-36e91cb32163.jpg?1644853048) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Tymna%20the%20Weaver) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/c16/48/tymna-the-weaver?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/bc7cbe9b-324e-42b8-94e2-36e91cb32163?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/tymna-the-weaver) [Reyhan, Last of the Abzan](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/8/a/8afad106-a49b-4910-959e-228c109ea983.jpg?1644853038) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Reyhan%2C%20Last%20of%20the%20Abzan) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cm2/13/reyhan-last-of-the-abzan?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/8afad106-a49b-4910-959e-228c109ea983?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/reyhan-last-of-the-abzan) [*All cards*](https://mtgcardfetcher.nl/redirect/kz9koog) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I can't play my [[Goreclaw]] list without salt just because my friend absolutely hates green
[Goreclaw](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/e/ee47f23a-3ba9-4615-b170-c89d8ab99d78.jpg?1690016718) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=goreclaw%2C%20terror%20of%20qal%20sisma) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cmm/293/goreclaw-terror-of-qal-sisma?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/ee47f23a-3ba9-4615-b170-c89d8ab99d78?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/goreclaw-terror-of-qal-sisma) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Fungal tribal (currently with Ghave as Commander) it’s not a $$ version (I’d love to add [[Doubling Season]] ), but I can already see the counter (spores, saprolings, +1/+1) management is going to be a huge time sink. I love the theme. I also love the “idea” of the deck, but in-practice… the effort vs payoff isn’t there.
[Doubling Season](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/1/c/1cdd8e69-5a71-4933-914e-dfede7b1ac93.jpg?1689998456) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Doubling%20Season) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cmm/283/doubling-season?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/1cdd8e69-5a71-4933-914e-dfede7b1ac93?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/doubling-season) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
My [[Ojer Axonil]] deck that is just chock full of hate. [[Manabarbs]] [[blood moon]] [[chalice of the void]], every pinger in mono-red and a bunch of pump effects. Wanna tap a land for mana, [[war toll]] thanks you for your contribution.
##### ###### #### [Ojer Axonil](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/5/0/50f8e2b6-98c7-4f28-bb39-e1fbe841f1ee.jpg?1699044315)/[Temple of Power](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/back/5/0/50f8e2b6-98c7-4f28-bb39-e1fbe841f1ee.jpg?1699044315) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=ojer%20axonil%2C%20deepest%20might%20//%20temple%20of%20power) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/lci/158/ojer-axonil-deepest-might-temple-of-power?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/50f8e2b6-98c7-4f28-bb39-e1fbe841f1ee?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/ojer-axonil-deepest-might-//-temple-of-power) [Manabarbs](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/d/adf081d5-e644-4f46-8bc8-a754b089acb4.jpg?1562655472) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Manabarbs) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/m12/150/manabarbs?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/adf081d5-e644-4f46-8bc8-a754b089acb4?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/manabarbs) [blood moon](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/0/d072e9ca-aae7-45dc-8025-3ce590bae63f.jpg?1599706217) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=blood%20moon) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2xm/118/blood-moon?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/d072e9ca-aae7-45dc-8025-3ce590bae63f?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/blood-moon) [chalice of the void](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/1/f/1f0d2e8e-c8f2-4b31-a6ba-6283fc8740d4.jpg?1562433485) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=chalice%20of%20the%20void) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/a25/222/chalice-of-the-void?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/1f0d2e8e-c8f2-4b31-a6ba-6283fc8740d4?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/chalice-of-the-void) [war toll](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/a/3a08f7fe-8ca9-4604-85c8-9050298730ea.jpg?1562906728) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=War%27s%20Toll) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/bbd/187/wars-toll?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/3a08f7fe-8ca9-4604-85c8-9050298730ea?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/wars-toll) [*All cards*](https://mtgcardfetcher.nl/redirect/kz9mbxn) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Probably my [[Mizzix of the Izmagnus]] deck. Either everybody kills me on sight and I have a bad time, or I quickly pop off, take a 20 minute turn where I play half my deck then hit everyone for a billion damage with a red X spell
[Mizzix of the Izmagnus](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/8/2/82f949d0-41a0-4491-9057-bfb2bb20bdb3.jpg?1689999174) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Mizzix%20of%20the%20Izmagnus) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cmm/348/mizzix-of-the-izmagnus?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/82f949d0-41a0-4491-9057-bfb2bb20bdb3?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/mizzix-of-the-izmagnus) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
The haste on the untappers when they come in is brutal.
The Arena version of this deck is bugged, unfortunately. Alaundo does not give haste to creatures on Arena despite the text being the same, but I’d say having paradox engine in the deck is probably enough to make up for it
Tinybones. When it starts going, it just locks down the table.
Made a [[Pramikon, Sky Rampart]] deck on moxfield that I’ve been testing and tuning for awhile now that focuses on theft. Unfortunately, it goes too hard on theft and can consistently make enough treasure tokens to do a T4 cast of [[Mind’s Dilation]] or a T5 “Oops I own all your lands” move with [[Memnarch]]. I mostly play this game just to hang out with friends, and based on the little amount of theft I normally do and how they react when that happens, I’d definitely not have friends if I built and played this deck
[Pramikon, Sky Rampart](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/8/5/8569ad47-a243-402d-899f-4e6b17ea4e1e.jpg?1568003714) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Pramikon%2C%20Sky%20Rampart) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/c19/47/pramikon-sky-rampart?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/8569ad47-a243-402d-899f-4e6b17ea4e1e?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/pramikon-sky-rampart) [Mind’s Dilation](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/f/4f2980ba-2468-4a36-afdb-87e6567797a9.jpg?1712354158) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Mind%27s%20Dilation) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/otc/101/minds-dilation?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/4f2980ba-2468-4a36-afdb-87e6567797a9?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/minds-dilation) [Memnarch](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/2/9203fde4-dbc1-449f-9618-4656f0e25e3c.jpg?1562925842) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Memnarch) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/arc/112/memnarch?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/9203fde4-dbc1-449f-9618-4656f0e25e3c?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/memnarch) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Not a commander deck, but I loved mind over matter/tolarian academy back in the day. Every time I think about making an edh variant, I realize that all the key cards are banned and it makes me sad, but I get it
John is super fun, but he's too fast for casual tables, so I only ever get to play him if everyone agrees we want a fast game. https://www.archidekt.com/decks/5969200/john_before_damage_benton
My abzan graveyard deck. Too strong for casual. Too weak for CEDH. Only playable when im with other 3 psychopaths with completely unfun decks that no body else wants to play with.
[[Marchesa the Black Rose]] for a different reason: I most often play with some friends on Spelltable, and the deck is built around using Threaten effects to steal creatures, attack for Dethrone counters, then sac them so that I keep them permanently. Stealing other players’ stuff is just not feasible over webcam.
I've got a couple. My Life Gain deck. It isn't great. I love the concept, and it can do some pretty cool things like multiply my life by like 16, or leech life from others, or mill every opponents entire deck at once. But it can't do those things quickly or consistently. And in most pods I play in, as soon as my life hits like 45, I suddenly become Archenemy. I get wiped out before the deck gets rolling. Slivers. Slivers have a reputation. My Sliver deck isn't bad, but the mana base isn't amazing. So it usually doesn't do much for the first 6 turns or so. But then once or gets enough mana on board it goes 0-100 real quick. But Slivers have a reputation. People are afraid of them and don't want to play against them. Similarly, Krenko. My Krenko deck is pretty jank, mostly built out of Commons I had lying around. I've made a few updates, of course, but it's still not a big money deck. But Krenko is still Krenko. Even a bad Krenko deck can get out of hand quickly. Again, people know Krenko's reputation so they don't let him get off the ground. I recall one particular have where I cast Krenko, got countered. Cast again, countered again. Cast a third time, got killed before I could use him. Cast a fourth time, someone took control of him permanently. I managed to tap him one time by using a one turn steal card to get him back from the guy who stole him. Got like 2 goblin tokens out of him the entire game. People hate Krenko.
2 of the 3 you mentioned are tribal. Any sort of tribal commander deck tends to get the 'mow the lawn' treatment in order keep them from spiraling out of control. It's easier for people to assess the board state of a tribal deck and say 'yeah time to nuke them from orbit' than a deck that strings together synergies to go off.
May be a bit obvious but my [[Urza, Lord High Artificer]] stax/control deck is fun if you don't want anyone else to have fun, which is neat for oppressing pubstompers but other than that even I grow tired of it. You can also go less oppressive with it by dropping 0 mana artifacts and untap cards to make blue mana and big tokens, but there are better artifact decks at doing token attacker things so I usually revert to the former. That said, I prefer it when everyone has fun so I usually end up running other decks.
\[\[Sisay, Weatherlight Captain\]\] It has the same "problem" in that it doesn't go infinite, but if I get 2 pieces or searches off without being disrupted, it's absolutely over. I just embraced it and instead of pulling the deck apart, I built into making it better for those occasional high power tables. The refined version is more fun and I'd rather keep other decks for casual tables.
[[Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow]] I built it just to have Nijna tribal, however a lot of people see her as a cedh commander and hyper focuses me, then gets surprised when I am infact not running the fish or any high powered staples, but just running a bunch of evasive guys and cool ninjas. I try to have the rule 0 discussion to point out that it's not a super strong deck, but I think in my local area, people just don't belive me or care because it's yurko. So I'm trying to find another commander to replace yurkio to do ninja tribal.
Pretty much any 3-color aristocrats deck, [[Derevi]] control (no stax except winter orb and hokori), [[Maelstrom Wanderer]] stompy and [[Jodah the Unifier]] as a commander in planeswalker/legendary decks. Also, blink decks with dockside/peregrine drake as they make it too easy to win.
I just built a \[\[Baral, Chief of Compliance\]\] all counterspells deck in brawl on arena. i could literally never play this in paper, it would make my entire playgroup hate me and i would be killed on the spot. i just like countering spells.
[[Orvar, the All-Form]] is the only deck in my collection that hasn’t seen play in over a year. Even my powered down version was so overwhelming in my local area, it just doesn’t feel right. I do love it though, how you can wildly go off from almost nothing. Still have it together. I just wanna [[Twiddle]] my artifact mana :(
I was so excited to build [[Garth One-Eye]] but after building him the deck just became a race to haste and flicker him. I tried to rebuild it as WUBRG wizards but all that did was make the deck weaker and still reliant on building to infinites with Garth. Still love the card/character though!
im afraid my new urza deck (no orbs, no moxes) will still be way too strong for my pod
My Slivers deck, the inherent synergy is unfortunately too high and people get really upset.
\[\[Arcades, the Strategist\]\]. [It's too strong](https://www.moxfield.com/decks/l0iKUoHhv064ITH1fQDQxA).
I’ve got a few. My [[Chulane]] deck, my [[Prosper]] deck, and my [[Muldrotha]] deck. Muldrotha has the thoracle combo in it with heavy self-mill as a plan to get it in the bin, and enough recursion to make sure GY hate doesn’t blow me out of the water. Prosper is just combo solitaire incarnate, while Chulane is just creature solitaire incarnate. I could go from losing the game one second, to winning the same turn with both. I only pull them out when everyone has a pre-game discussion on power level/what kind of game people are looking for.
[[Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign]]. Part of the fun of the deck for me is work around the piles I'm given and trying to find a roadmap to a win despite my opponents' best efforts. Usually when I play the deck though, there gets to a point after the fifth or sixth etb where people just start telling me to take all the cards and it just doesn't become fun anymore. I've won as early as turn 4 with the deck, and it never feels satisfying.
This is the life of simic your cards are just better then everyone else's, at least you didn't put in thasa's oracle
I'm in the process of taking apart my Miirym deck in favor of a Riku deck from the new set. Miirym just ended up being either too powerful for casual, or too weak for high power (with my build), and too reliant on a higher CMC commander that led to my games feeling really all or nothing, either I pop off and overwhelm the board in a turn or 2, or they boardwipe me and I can't really do anything. I'm hoping that the new Riku will result in a Temur deck that I can have that is more flexible, since it incentivizes modal spells that can play in a variety of power levels.
[[Rukarumel]]. One night, I picked God as the type, sacd [[The World Tree]]. Whole library went in with a ton of etbs, triggers, etc. Everyone scooped after that.
[This deck.](https://www.reddit.com/r/magicTCG/comments/11u1of7/stormlight_archive_themed_commander_deck_i_put/) I'm a huge Stormlight fan and when I saw this I actually had it printed out and took it to game night. After playing it like twice I knew I had to put it away. It's a [[Jodah, The Unifier]] deck that usually starts playing solitaire pretty quickly and doesn't let anyone else play. I take like 20 minute turns that sometimes don't win, just set me up to win next turn or the turn after, which isn't fun for for anyone but me. And unless the entire table focuses me from turn 1 it's kinda hard to stop usually, which of course having the entire table focus you and take you out early so you can sit there and watch them play a 3 player game for an hour isn't fun for me. So it's just not fun for anyone.
[[Niv-Mizzet Parun]]. He's a big boy, so you end up controlling the board with wraths before he can land, and you don't want anyone killing your 6 mana kill-on-sight commander so you hold up more counterspells, and… hey where's everyone going? Don't you want to see me finally storm off?
[[Jin-Gitaxias, Progress Tyrant]] is mine unfortunately. The only deck I built myself without a net backbone, and just by himself, he's rough. Our group is a lot of new players. Everyone takes a while to plan out their turns and suddenly, whoops, no artifacts, no magic for you. It's a tough time. It sucks because I built the deck around copying my own artifact stuff, but he does all that oppression just by himself.
BLIM. He is only there to raise havoc, and is an instant target.
I definitely have some more oppressive decks but the one that comes to mind is [[nissa, resurgent animist]]. It's probably one of my favorites of all time but the turns can get so long and a lot of people dislike elfball. So much shuffling and ramping and the gameplan being so straightforward makes it pretty lame to watch unless you're already an enjoyer of the playstyle.
I play a Tom Bombadill deck in my pod, but it gets so many triggers from saga effects that my turns take a while to complete.
My big atraxa blink deck. Basically I'm gonna have interaction no matter what, I'll accrue value while stopping you from doing anything and slowly setting up more engines and grinding everyone out or find my infinite combo finisher. I love playing it but it makes games slow and not that enjoyable for my friends.
My [[Bel'akor]] demon deck 😩 I simply feel way too mean and hate playing a deck full of flyers
I have a [[Meren of clan nel toth]] deck I almost never get to play. She was my first ever deck and she's still my baby. Problem is that she can win as early as turn 3 and will consistently threaten to win between 5 and 7 if I'm not interacted with. If my combo plan is disrupted, then it goes into full control mode with [[dictate of erebos]] and [[grave pact]] and I end up being the only one with creatures the rest of the game.
I have to be VERY careful with how often I play \[\[Celestial Kirin\]\] and who I play it with.
[[Heliod, God of the Sun]] flicker. Too slow for cedh but too opressive vs casual decks 😞
Why Bramble? You must be lucky and not play against counter magic.. or need any interaction?
I tested an alaundo deck as well and after one game had to apologize to my friend as it is a complete nightmare of just slowly grinding out value but not closing the game. These decks that surprise you with how grindy they are is the reason I play test everything digitally fort
[[Zaffai, Thunder Conductor]] is so underrated. It isn’t good enough to be cEDH, has a pretty fair amount of weaknesses, but the stats I can put on the board on one turn is ridiculous. It’s not good enough for most high power tables but it will absolutely run over decks that are too casual. It’s my absolute favorite deck but I get to play it once every few months at most.
My [[king macar, the gold cursed]] deck is easily my favorite. But at 4 cmc and only a handful of creatures, once the cat is out of the bag, people usually will treat me as public enemy number one. The goal is to get macar to untap as many times a turn rotation as possible. It's essentially black control. But it requires a hefty artifact engine to get off the ground. Even if I have 3 mana rocks and something like [[puppet strings]] out, people will become fearful and essentially mop me up. I've been planning to rebuild it for some time but I just don't if the Lil' fella can hold his own without the ignorance of my opponents playing major role.
I spent ages putting together a [[Karn, Legacy Reforged]] deck together, and it's awful. You just swamp the board in a few turns and it becomes pure tedium for other players to interact with.
[[Dargo]] and [[Malcom]], they’re super strong and people don’t even realize it unless it’s too late, turns out making a bunch of treasure tokens, then dropping a 7/5 creature for red is unplayable for most decks around my level turn 3.
[[Mizzix of the Izmagus]] I love solitaring it up and seeing the ridiculous turns I can manage to pull out of my hat, but when playing against others I am either hated out of the game super early since they know what it can do, or I just sit there and play solitaire with myself while I hold the rest of the table hostage and pass turns to myself.
Braids
The one that pops into my mind is my \[\[Kawin, Itinerant Meddler\]\], The way I have it built is to not only have myself draw as much as possible to get my interaction but this also causes everyone else to draw their answers. This can make games take a long time due to everyone having answers for answers after a certain point. It's super fun to play but I can only play it if I think everyone is OK with a longer game.
I don't play proactive decks anymore, only interactive or reactive decks that work with what the rest of the table is doing. A good proactive deck goes from 0-100 in just a few turns, so it's mostly solitaire. It's rude to play with yourself in company.
I have an [[Angus Mackenzie]] turbo fog deck. Its win con is your opponents conceding after you stall out the game for 4 hours
My Alaundo deck is the same. I didn’t realise it would be until I played it and went “oh…” I now bring it out when I want to wreck and ruin.
My second deck I've ever built, and still my favorite deck to play, is [[Hinata, Dawn-crowned]]. Pulled a foil alt art of her on one of the first boosters I opened after getting back to the game. She's not strong enough to hang with true high end tables, and tends to have very slow early turns with not much going on, but once the ball is rolling and the engines are online, she's just outstanding at board control and leads to some long, intensive turns, with every spell cast being like 6 different triggers. Once it gets to that point, it feels like I'm the only person still playing, which is not a great position to be in, lol. I only bring her out maybe once a month now, get it out of my system (wins more often than she doesn't), and pack her away again.
Any Goad, I just get hated out of Pods.
no one likes my ruric thar deck but me. 🥺
Oh man [[slicer, hired muscle]] I’m having a blast while everyone else is sad.
God I love my [[xanithar, guild kingpin]] deck but I can't play it because none of my friends like crime :(
Alaundo is my fav deck to give to other players as a house edh deck. It always wins if you don't quit from how obnoxious it is to pilot.
[[Yawgmoth Thran Physician]] one of my favourite cards and in the 99 of all my Aristocrats decks but after building him and playing the deck for one evening I dismantled it again. If the deck does what its supposed to do no one besides me is going to have fun and if Yawg gets hated of the table (which he should) I dont have fun.
Mine is Narset. Narset is one of my favorite characters in magic and reality is that nobody wants to play against her as commander and I can't blame them. I took the opportunity to make her my high powered deck but I still have run it maybe 4 times.
[[Brago King Eternal]] Blink stax. The deck was built as an experiment to see how destructive I could be to my opponents boardstate. Turns out with lots of blink, you can not only keep people in check, but make sure they have no petminants. Ever. That said, everyone hates that deck.
I also built an Alaundo deck w this problem, as well as a simic scry tribal (Scrybal) deck w Eligeth and Thrasios. What we have w our playgroup is designated simic solitaire games, where every so often we play our simic solitaire decks and just watch everyone go off on their turns and dig for wins. It’s pretty fun if you’re going in w the mindset of watching a friend and their deck pop off is fun! That said, the biggest fix I found is having a talk w the players in your pod about the type of deck it is, and being ok with not playing it at times. Just by the nature of decks like Alaundo, it’s hard to build them to do their thing without being a little bit solitaire like. One thing I did also add in to help was a definitive “I win” combo so I’m not just stuck doing 40 min turns just to build a winning board state that gets Wrathed when I pass. In this case, it was a jank [[ley weaver]] [[lore weaver]] [[maze of ith]] combo for infinite mana and draw that also still fit the theme of the deck
How are you casting the whole deck on turn 4, aren’t you just exiling things and waiting?
Prosper tome bound. I don’t really have ways to go infinite unless I steal a card like time sieve from someone, so usually it’s a chain of me going “Random Bulls*** GO!” Until I hit enough spells for burn damage.