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First attempt at an EDH deck.

Just got interested in Commander, so naturally all the pre-set decks from Wizards are sold out in my area (and high $$ online).

So, I'm starting from scratch with a decent pool of cards from Core 2012 forward and I'm looking for advice.

Advice on what cards to get is appreciated, but I am also looking for tips on deck-building in EDH in general (size/quantity of creatures, removal, etc.).

Commander is Gisela, and I tried to have all my creatures and spells be as multi-purpose as possible.

Lastly, I'm trying to get an idea of just how hard I'll be owned at a local gaming shop running this deck, and whether it's possible to be at all competitive on a budget (a lot of the EDH decks I've seen on here are $500-800, not an option for me).

I am considering getting a few more cards like Kaalia and Basandra, Battle Seraph, or possibly getting ahold of a Political Puppets deck and splicing in some of the red/white/colorless cards from that set.

Anyway, any feedback will be much appreciated!

Deck link: http://www.mtgvault.com/ViewDeck.aspx?DeckID=336999

Commander: Gisela, Blade of Goldnight

Main Deck

Artifacts

1x Blinding Souleater
1x Quicksilver Amulet
1x Mask of Avacyn
1x Helvault
1x Jar of Eyeballs
1x Conjurer's Closet
1x Gallows at Willow Hill
1x Moonsilver Spear

Creatures

1x Ogre Menial
1x Auramancer
1x Gideon's Avenger
1x Gideon's Lawkeeper
1x Serra Angel
1x Crimson Mage
1x Volcanic Dragon
1x Avacynian Priest
1x Fiend Hunter
1x Thraben Sentry
1x Village Bell-Ringer
1x Rage Thrower
1x Thraben Heretic
1x Angel of Glory's Rise
1x Angel of Jubilation
1x Archangel
1x Avacyn, Angel of Hope
1x Devout Chaplain
1x Emancipation Angel
1x Goldnight Commander
1x Goldnight Redeemer
1x Herald of War
1x Restoration Angel
1x Archwing Dragon
1x Havengul Vampire
1x Mad Prophet
1x Tyrant of Discord
1x Zealous Conscripts

Enchantments

1x True Conviction
1x Forced Worship
1x Honor of the Pure
1x Oblivion Ring
1x Warstorm Surge
1x Intangible Virtue
1x Cathars' Crusade
1x Commander's Authority
1x Malicious Intent

Land

1x Buried Ruin
1x Shimmering Grotto
1x Evolving Wilds
1x Haunted Fengraf
1x Cavern of Souls
1x Seraph Sanctuary
1x Slayers' Stronghold
17x Plains
12x Mountain

Spells

1x Earth Rift
1x Reckless Charge
1x Second Thoughts
1x Revoke Existence
1x War Report
1x Victorious Destruction
1x Rebuke
1x Smite the Monstrous
1x Increasing Devotion
1x Alpha Brawl
1x Blood Feud
1x Wrack with Madness
1x Banishing Stroke
1x Cloudshift
1x Defy Death
1x Terminus
1x Burn at the Stake
1x Demolish
Posted 14 May 2012 at 01:55

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6 replies

For me Commander is a multiplayer format but you have people that build with only 1vs1 games in mind and that makes a huge difference. You might want to specify your aim in this regard?

If your aim is to compete in multiplayer games I suggest choosing a different general. Gisela, Blade of Goldnight is a good card but would function better as part of the deck and not as the decks general. The reason is that having access to only Red and White is really bad in multiplayer because both colors lack good drawing spells.

Commander = card advantage. Magic in general is about gaining card advantage but in formats where games last longer like multiplayer in general and Commander because of the high starting life and the 100 cards singleton aspect, drawing extra cards (not running out of gas) is far more crucial to winning.
In a 1vs1 game that starts at 20 life a mono red burn deck can be very competitive, but at 40 life the burn your opponent to death plan becomes far worse because you can't kill him before running out of gas (= cards).

Usually when two evenly matched opponents battle in a game of magic both players will exchange threats and solutions until one side is unable to answer a certain threat in time for it to finish him off.
In a game that lasts longer or where multiple people are involved there are more solutions, and more threats are required to determine the outcome of the game. Your deck needs more endurance. The ability to last a long game (=more then 2 hours for a single game)

When I build a deck I cut my deck in parts and assign a percentage to each part

for instance

40% land
10% card draw
10% land acceleration/mana fix
5% win conditions
5% spot removal
5% sweepers (wrath of god, austere command that kind of stuff)
etc...

playing cards that cover multiple sections is something to strife for. Etched Oracle for instance is a beatstick and card draw in one. Solemn Simulacrum is card draw ans mana acceleration and mana fix.
Angel of Despair is versitile spot removal and a good beatstick with evasion.

etc...
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Posted 14 May 2012 at 11:32

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Seth, I really like your building style. I hadn't ever thought to set a certain percentage to each part like that. That's probably why I have a few decks that are only creatures, lol.
Just thought I'd let you know I'm stealing it.
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Posted 14 May 2012 at 20:15

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Also note that there are no formats of EDH such as Standard, Modern, and Legacy. Your deck does not have to be Standard-Legal.
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Posted 14 May 2012 at 21:04

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[QUOTE=Lahbiedahb]Seth, I really like your building style. I hadn't ever thought to set a certain percentage to each part like that. That's probably why I have a few decks that are only creatures, lol.
Just thought I'd let you know I'm stealing it.[/QUOTE]

The technique works for deckbuilding in all formats but it's especially useful for singleton builds to bring order to what seems like just a pile of random cards to most people.
When I've posted my big decks here in the past it was clear that most people just don't get it, they think in terms of 60cards = optimal and 4 cards of each = consistent. The truth is that it's just all percentages. It doesn't matter that a deck is 60 cards or 1700cards (like my crazy friends deck), we have 20 years of cards to work with. A lot of these cards perform a simular function. It's like putting 4 lightning bolts and 2 chain lightning in a deck so that you effectivly play 6 burn (or 10% burn in a 60 card deck).

Personally I find EDH the easiest format to build for. You have 40 life budget (I see life as just another resource, like mana, life usually equals time/or turns until you run out of life) which gives you the time to survive aggro decks while building up a mana base. By accelerating your mana base you gain an advantage in the amount of mana you can produce and the colors you have access to. This advantage allows you to play a better quality of cards then your opponent (= card quality advantage). Having a ton of mana also allows you to play draw card spells (concentrate, harmonize, ...) and gaining card advantage while still having mana available to play stuff that keeps you alive.
This approach to deckbuilding is actually just a big stall while you create an ever growing power difference between you and your opponent. You slow down your opponent with multifunctional cards like Sakura tribe elder, solemn simulacrum, raven familiar that serve as blockers but that also slowly create an advantage in one way or another. Then you start slinging the big spells and win.
This ofcourse become really intersting if your opponent uses the same strategy and you get insane play after play. The beauty of the format :)
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Posted 15 May 2012 at 08:27

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Thanks for the replies. My goal is to get some friends together and try out Commander (multiplayer), nothing super-competitive at this point.

Seth, I will take your advice under advisement all the same. My pool of cards is pretty meager compared to folks with years and years of experience, but I will try to think more in the terms you suggested.
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Posted 16 May 2012 at 02:50

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Ghaven: That's the beauty of EDH. You don't have to 'keep up with the current cards' in EDH. Yes the decks appear to be really expensive on the surface, but you're not constantly rotating cards in and out of play in EDH. You might change 1-2 cards every time a new set comes in, and you might not.

There's enough powerful cards printed already that you can make an ultra competitive deck (or totally casual and fun!) and never have to change it again from this day forward.

If I can give you a small piece of advice, I'd say try it out inexpensively at first, then decide "how" you and your friends will play. Will you play competitively or just for some laughs and to pass the time? There's a lot of fantastic cards that are a lot of fun to play and may be interestingly political in multiplayer that may never see play in a super competitive game. Conversely, if you include super competitive cards (for example: Iona, a full set of dual and shock lands, sensei's divining top, etc etc etc), you may alienate your friends because their win percentage is too low and the game loses it's fun. So don't forget that while winning is fun, you have to have someone to play against, and people don't like losing every time they play!
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Posted 08 July 2012 at 18:56

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