I have a soft spot for the Theros gods. It's the set I started with and the one that got me into Magic. I love the Greek mythology theme, and I always liked the idea of an Indestructible Commander. Once they're out, they're out and I very rarely need to cast them again and pay Commander tax.
They hold a nostalgic spot in my heart because I started playing in Theros block. They’re not as insanely strong as I remember when I started, but they dodge a lot of the most common removal!
Marath may have had a junk precon deck but he is a fantastic commander card. So many two or three card combos with him to go infinite and even if he has to cost more for each commander tax he still benefits from it as he gets bigger each cast.
I have a Zur deck that I built when Commander wasn't even a WotC main supported format, I don't play it often because he's way too strong for fun casual games.
I've taken my current Zur into a more Control playstyle. It's always fun to grab a Darksteel Mutation, or a Redemption Arc straight from the deck to cripple an opponents Commander.
@JayoticMTG It definitely does. My typical strat is Timely Ward -> Daybreak Coronet -> All That Glitters -> Then maybe I start getting a bit more free. Zur Voltron is extremely predictable and honestly fairly boring, it's why I've taken to a more Control style with my own deck.
Animar not only has kept up but will still completely blitz a table if you dont take it serious enough. I dont have an animar deck personally, but I still respect it whej I see it
Oh boy just you wait until you see my Animar Giant Tribal deck! It’ll only win if you don’t take it seriously enough but it’s so much fun! Nothing like dropping a Borderland Behemoth next to a Surtland Flinger in the late game. Especially making copies of either
A bunch, but just recently built a Zirilan of the Claw deck, and perhaps not a big surprise considering almost every set adds a big splashy dragon to his pool, but he still holds up really well considering he was printed in the era of Gabriel Angelfire.
I love my Rakdos Lord of Riots deck. The deck can hold its own because there are plenty of big dragons, demons and eldrazi coming into the format. I am running it with plenty of Eldrazi titans right now and it packs a considerable punch. I also love commanders that make you work a lil bit to get a huge payoff.
Karona the false god is beautiful. Just have a list of creatures that you pass around the table with her and extra combat equipments to run people down
@@JayoticMTG i remember when he came out . I was just getting into magic and He made goblins so much fun for new players . Before his set , i was maybe seeing one to two goblin decks per magic friday nights to most people running goblins. He changed the landscape for goblins
I thought these were gonna only be old border. Shows how old I am. To be fair most old pre-8th legendaries that aren't banned don't stand up as commmanders. We got: Captain Sisa? , Empress Galina? Green Kamahl? Slivers? To be fair a 5 color vanilla 7/7 sliver would be a good sliver commander by merit of being a sliver. Not saying you can't make a good deck with pre-8th commanders but alot of those decks are propped up by the 99. I run a Cromat Mutate deck that's pretty fire but Cromat is probably the worst card in the deck and probably be bettee off with Omnath, Jengatha, or even Sliver Hivelord as a mutate target. I normally only cast him for Faeburrow Elder, Bloomtender or as a blocker.
I feel like Prossh and Karador have aged pretty gracefully, but man, Riku is such a mana sink nowadays. He feels like a slower version of Anhelo/OTJ Ghired mixed together haha.
I disagree on Nekusar. Every time I’ve played against that deck they just give me my win cons lmao. Letting people draw a ton has always felt so backwards to me. For old commanders I still run not sure if it counts but Breya. Love comboing off with her and just a lot of fun to play.
But is she really that powerful? She's certainly versatile and relatively unique in what she can do, but super-friends isn't what it used to be, and there are much better and efficient +1/+1 counters commanders. I guess poison... kinda? But even that, it's pretty slow.
Atraxa still being the most popular after all these years surprises me. Sure, she’s versatile because of how much proliferate can do, but there are way more interesting and powerful legends that have come out since 2016.
Muldrotha, the Gravetide. No other legendary can quite do what she does, and as more and more support pieces have been printed over the years, she constantly has new fun tools to toss in the list and try out.
I’ve gotta disagree. Nekusar decks generally chain wheel effects together, so all you really need are Nekusar and a spell in hand. Any extra life loss effects are nice, but wheels usually draw into one another and snowball quickly.
I have a soft spot for the Theros gods. It's the set I started with and the one that got me into Magic. I love the Greek mythology theme, and I always liked the idea of an Indestructible Commander. Once they're out, they're out and I very rarely need to cast them again and pay Commander tax.
They hold a nostalgic spot in my heart because I started playing in Theros block. They’re not as insanely strong as I remember when I started, but they dodge a lot of the most common removal!
My first commander deck was Xenagos and he still does work in my pod with multi combat steps and power doublers
Uril the miststalker.
Sure they’re a little slow compared to stuff like mazzy but his natural hexproof helps get around most targeted removal
Marath,Will of the Wild!
My favorite commander.
Marath may have had a junk precon deck but he is a fantastic commander card. So many two or three card combos with him to go infinite and even if he has to cost more for each commander tax he still benefits from it as he gets bigger each cast.
If 2014 counts as old, big daddy Brago for sure!
I have a Zur deck that I built when Commander wasn't even a WotC main supported format, I don't play it often because he's way too strong for fun casual games.
I've taken my current Zur into a more Control playstyle. It's always fun to grab a Darksteel Mutation, or a Redemption Arc straight from the deck to cripple an opponents Commander.
I’ve wanted to try Zur aura voltron for a while, but I fear that tutoring up anything you want might feel too linear over time.
@JayoticMTG It definitely does. My typical strat is Timely Ward -> Daybreak Coronet -> All That Glitters -> Then maybe I start getting a bit more free. Zur Voltron is extremely predictable and honestly fairly boring, it's why I've taken to a more Control style with my own deck.
Zur is awesome. I recommend Master of Keys as a sleeper commander in him or vice versa both have amazing synergy with each other
"Old"
"2013"
Damn.
I started playing just after OG Theros released and I already feel like a fossil lol
Over 10 years ago. That's old in the world of gaming
Animar not only has kept up but will still completely blitz a table if you dont take it serious enough. I dont have an animar deck personally, but I still respect it whej I see it
I took my Animar deck apart because it was really oppressive and new stuff took my attention. But that just goes to show how good it still is!
Oh boy just you wait until you see my Animar Giant Tribal deck! It’ll only win if you don’t take it seriously enough but it’s so much fun! Nothing like dropping a Borderland Behemoth next to a Surtland Flinger in the late game. Especially making copies of either
Uril the Miststalker
He just sits there, waiting for the table that just pushes me too far, ready for....
The Spankening
Marchesa the black rose is one of my favorite personal decks, and it was printed in conspiracy. Ghave is another good one.
I haven’t seen OG Marchesa in a hot minute, but she’s such a sweet commander!
I never doubted them
They’re still kicking!
Yeah i love running my 2011 Kaalia even though if i kept it sealed all this time i would be eating pretty good
A bunch, but just recently built a Zirilan of the Claw deck, and perhaps not a big surprise considering almost every set adds a big splashy dragon to his pool, but he still holds up really well considering he was printed in the era of Gabriel Angelfire.
That’s another good example of that Zur power creep effect, nearly every set prints new red dragons that keep improving the deck!
Been playing Maelstrom Wanderer since 2011
Krenko adds a Goblin for each Goblin you control, so he counts Boggart Sheningians too
One other that holds up good
Ol rakdos lord of riots
I love my Rakdos Lord of Riots deck. The deck can hold its own because there are plenty of big dragons, demons and eldrazi coming into the format. I am running it with plenty of Eldrazi titans right now and it packs a considerable punch. I also love commanders that make you work a lil bit to get a huge payoff.
Maybe I’m misremembering, but I believe Rakdos used to be a pretty viable cEDH commander too. Cost reduction stuff is insanely powerful haha
Nicol Bolas. Still a goddamn house.
I'm new at playing Magic. I love my Ur and Niv Mizzit dragon decks.
Ur-Dragon is completely nuts, even if he can be tough to keep on the battlefield haha
Love my nek deck
Animar Soul of Elements will always be the GOAT. 😎
Ghave guru of spores goes infinite with a ham sandwich
Rhys the Redeemed is still one of, if not the best the best Selesnya token commander IMO, and he’s 16 years old, all the way from Shadowmoor.
Animar is a 1/1 that still punches above his weight class
I still run Alesha, Who smiles at Death. 2 power creatures still get better.
I run marath, will of the wild and it is an absolute monster sometimes
She’s classic! Haven’t seen her in a while haha
Karona the false god is beautiful. Just have a list of creatures that you pass around the table with her and extra combat equipments to run people down
While Karona doesn’t see much play anymore, her spirit lives on in legends like Alexios nowadays haha
Krenko is old.. God I'm old
I’m genuinely surprised how popular Krenko is. I think he got a boost from the Foundations reprint, but I wouldn’t have expected #4 of all time.
sek'kuar also from coldsnap is still really strong cause creating haste tokens off none token things dying is ripe with combo fuel
I’ve never seen a Sek’Kuar deck before, but yeah, he looks like a combo machine!
Krenko is the granddaddy of goblin tribal
It amazes me how popular he still is. 12 years of new Goblins and he’s still on top!
@@JayoticMTG i remember when he came out . I was just getting into magic and He made goblins so much fun for new players . Before his set , i was maybe seeing one to two goblin decks per magic friday nights to most people running goblins. He changed the landscape for goblins
Derevi
Not one I personally see much anymore, but it’s still pretty nuts with that activated ability!
I thought these were gonna only be old border. Shows how old I am. To be fair most old pre-8th legendaries that aren't banned don't stand up as commmanders. We got: Captain Sisa? , Empress Galina? Green Kamahl? Slivers? To be fair a 5 color vanilla 7/7 sliver would be a good sliver commander by merit of being a sliver.
Not saying you can't make a good deck with pre-8th commanders but alot of those decks are propped up by the 99. I run a Cromat Mutate deck that's pretty fire but Cromat is probably the worst card in the deck and probably be bettee off with Omnath, Jengatha, or even Sliver Hivelord as a mutate target. I normally only cast him for Faeburrow Elder, Bloomtender or as a blocker.
My choices:
- Riku of two reflections
- Prossh, Scourge of Kher keep
- Karador, Ghost chieftain
I feel like Prossh and Karador have aged pretty gracefully, but man, Riku is such a mana sink nowadays. He feels like a slower version of Anhelo/OTJ Ghired mixed together haha.
Are the 2016 Partners old school by now? Those are still quite busted.
Oloro aka Big Chill
I don’t really see him around much, but his pseudo-Eminence ability is still nuts after all this time haha
@@JayoticMTG
I think it is because of how much hate he gets. Any time I sit down at a pod with him people groan. lol
I say Skullbriar cause we get now counter synergy cards Every year
Keyword ability counters were a really cool upgrade for Skullbriar, plus the typical +1/+1 counter support every set always keeps him relevant!
@@JayoticMTG ikr it's really is one of those commanders that just gets better over time
Ghave!
Oh yeah, he’s still a nasty combo machine haha
@@Jahovasnout Love a good Ghave deck, my sweet fungus-y boy goes infinite with the kitchen sink.
i'm still love animar
He’s still terrifying after all these years haha
I disagree on Nekusar. Every time I’ve played against that deck they just give me my win cons lmao. Letting people draw a ton has always felt so backwards to me.
For old commanders I still run not sure if it counts but Breya. Love comboing off with her and just a lot of fun to play.
Morso people are not playing it powerfully. You gotta be a little mean with nekusar. Stick him and combo off with a wheel loop.
Atraxa is pretty old and we all know about her
I had someone tell me Atraxa is the #1 most popular commander of all time.
@@hiphop2u that's cause it is
But is she really that powerful? She's certainly versatile and relatively unique in what she can do, but super-friends isn't what it used to be, and there are much better and efficient +1/+1 counters commanders. I guess poison... kinda? But even that, it's pretty slow.
@@hiphop2u Not only is it the most popular commander, the number 2 commander is behind by over 7,000 decks.
Atraxa still being the most popular after all these years surprises me. Sure, she’s versatile because of how much proliferate can do, but there are way more interesting and powerful legends that have come out since 2016.
theors gods are too slow nowaday
Muldrotha, the Gravetide. No other legendary can quite do what she does, and as more and more support pieces have been printed over the years, she constantly has new fun tools to toss in the list and try out.
Graveyard hate go brrrrr 😂
Please don't call Krenko old
If you play one of these, youre boring. Im sorry, but youre boring.
Nekusar is so meh
Honestly have to agree with you. Even in a casual pod, he’s not super strong without a metric ton of support behind him.
I’ve gotta disagree. Nekusar decks generally chain wheel effects together, so all you really need are Nekusar and a spell in hand. Any extra life loss effects are nice, but wheels usually draw into one another and snowball quickly.
@JayoticMTG I meant "meh" in terms of fun value.
@ Oh totally fair haha, Nekusar deserves all the hate he gets