One of the strategies I try to use when I'm building a commander deck is to pick three or four commanders who all have a similar function or Play well together. That way even if I lose the official commander I've still got two or three more waiting in the wings.
I do have to say that I don't fully understand the 38-40 land standard. In a deck with a lotta of hydras and big creatures, I get it, but, for example, I run an alesha deck with 34 lands and a pretty strong mana rock base and it plays amazingly, ramping quickly to my wraths so that i can reset the board and use her ability. Another, likely better, example is a grixis burn deck i run that has 35 lands, even less artifact ramp, and still gives me a near perfect mana experience. idk if im just lucky, because everyone i ever play against tends to suffer at these land counts, but it just works for me.
It sounds like you must be lucky, if everyone else suffers at the same land counts. But if it works for you, no then keep doing it. I also have an Alesha deck, with 37 lands, which works very well. Between all the card draw, several utility lands, and the fact that I want to pay for Alesha's ability every turn, I usually have something to do with the mana.
The average land count for my decks tends to be 33 to 35 with plenty of ramp support and they work just fine. Based on the groups I play with only landfall decks should run 37+ lands for consistent landfall triggers. I guess my playgroups do things differently and just because you have 40 lands doesn't mean you can't be mana screwed either, it can still happen.
I think tip #6 is dependent on the type of ramp you have. If you're playing cards that net you 1 more mana, even if you have 14 of them and even if they all cost 2 or less, the curve is still going to be capped at how high you can reasonably go. If you're like me and you only play ramp that nets you 2 mana or more for 4 mana or less with up to one that costs 5 mana, then you're gonna be able to play lots of 6-9 drops no problem, even when you only have 9 ramp and 9 card draw. In terms of tip #5, I've found the sweet spot is 4 single target, 4 board wipes, and up to 2 neo-tuck (Darksteel Mutation/Imprisoned in the Moon/Oubliette/Song of the Dryads). You definitely want to avoid having too much spot removal in multiplayer games, because that's going to lead to some serious card advantage losses relative to multiple opponents. The key to this working is that you also want to be the player that is least often forced to use it. What I mean by this (and this is adopting your example) is that needing more cards like Path to Exile to deal with a Voltron commander coming at you is not as good as playing a Commander for your deck that means that the Voltron commander doesn't come at you first. For Tip #4, I agree with you, but I think the TL;DR name of it is a poor fit. I like "Replace Staples with Synergistic Analogues" better. For Tip #2, I would caution against subthemes unless you have room in the deck and you're not sure what to do with it. Otherwise, your deck is going to have too many directions rather than a streamlined singular goal. I have plenty of subthemes though in my decks, like Theft in Braids and Voltron in Zacama. Everything else is fantastic, and I agreed with what you said :)
Some good feedback. As far as subthemes, I don't think you want to include tons, usually just a couple, and there are certainly commanders who prefer one cohesive end-goal, but I think subthemes contribute a lot and help if your opponents happen to have a way of nerfing your main theme (like Rest in Peace against a graveyard deck, for example).
I just went though 5 fat pack boxes just to find one of my 2 copies of Fertalid so I can swap it in for cultivate in my +1/+1 saporling deck. Completely worth it
great video. im guilty of running 35-37 lands in all my decks, probably should up the count a little. i find 37 is the sweet spot but maybe i should test out 1-2 more lands and see how things go. fetches change the formula a little i think as you filter lands and they can grab double colour lands. i mostly run 2 or 3 color decks so i use lots of signets to filter and accelerate mana.
I keep seeing 38-40 lands nowadays. Didn’t it use to be 36-38? And mana curves were higher back then, so we should be looking more towards 35-37? Depending on the deck I have anywhere from 28 to 47 (storm and landfall respectively) but the “average” strategy land counts are right around 35. Nothing worse than flooding out in aggro or voltron deck.
I do believe the average number of lands has gone up a couple in the past several years, though I'm not sure exactly why (maybe due to increased number of card draw spells?) Number of lands is definitely highly dependent on deck archetype, but personally, in a deck that doesn't need an extremely high/low number, I usually start at 38 and tune up or down from there.
@@StrataGames interesting. I’ve definitely been trending down as a whole. I usually depend on increased card draw to find lands that I need instead of drawing them all naturally since I know I don’t need many after turn 7-10 and continuing to get them off the top in a tight situation doesn’t feel great.
I think 32 is correct for most optomized decks. Especially if you have a low curve. It's roughly equivalent to 20 in a 60 card deck common for low curve aggro. In edh however, most optomized decks run a significant amount of ramp. They also run a decent amount of card draw to draw to help hit land drops. Also the mulligan rule is very generous (free mulligan). With all the card draw/ramp most decks have sometimes in the command zone, it's easy to make up for a mulligan to 5 or even 4 depending on the deck. 38 seems right for a precon with not enough ramp or card draw, not for most focused and optomized decks however.
Don't focus on how many lands you have. Go for between 40-50 mana producing cards aka "gas" (ramp,rocks,dorks....) if you have a low mana curve stay closer to 40..high closer to 50. "Almost" never put more than 35 land in a deck or your deck will run too slow. My sweet spot is around 47 for edh and 44ish for cedh. You're welcome.
Everything you've said doesn't give a minimum number of lands, so I could run 40 rocks and no lands... The number of lands is important, especially because people are naturally inclined to keep hands when they see a lot of good spells, even if it means too few lands.
I am quite new to commander and had some mana issues, i had 30 lands and 8 creatures /artifacts that gave mana and it wasn't working often, i replaced some creatures and instants for 8 more lands and seem to be getting great draws so i prefer the way its in the video, i dont have many special cards lying around but i did buy a bunch of lands.
I think the thing with Kaalia is not trying out different beaters; you only ever want the best of the best coming down. Trying different utility cards and flexible cards is the way to go.
Most of this video is either common sense or just kind of mealy-mouthed advice that I can't really argue with. However, the staple section is the only one that seems blatantly wrong. Calling staples "generically good" makes them sound like mediocre filler. Staples are staples because they are the best choice, barring extremely specific conditions. Your first examples are atrocious. Reclamation Sage is an elective ability that can target your own permanents, synergizes with elves, and as a CitP ability is more repeatable or abusable than a spell or morph. I can see a case for trimming staples that directly overlap with your General's abilities, or prioritizing staples that shore up your weaknesses over others, but "veer away from staples" is bad advice on the face of it. Staples also reinforce important game concepts like trading life for cards/mana or giving opponents a basic land to remove a creature or valuable utility land. If you wanted to give advice on cutting staples, it should probably be something akin the artist wisdom of knowing the rules before you break the rules.
"Generically good" means exactly what it says. Not mediocre filler as you inferred, but powerful no matter what strategy you're playing. Reclamation Sage is a staple, whether or not it happens to be an elf or have an ETB. That's like saying Rhystic Study isn't a staple because it's better in enchantress decks than other decks.
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This was a generally great video.
I really appreciate the tips!
Thank you as a new commander player, I enjoyed the video.
Glad to hear it!
One of the strategies I try to use when I'm building a commander deck is to pick three or four commanders who all have a similar function or Play well together. That way even if I lose the official commander I've still got two or three more waiting in the wings.
I do have to say that I don't fully understand the 38-40 land standard. In a deck with a lotta of hydras and big creatures, I get it, but, for example, I run an alesha deck with 34 lands and a pretty strong mana rock base and it plays amazingly, ramping quickly to my wraths so that i can reset the board and use her ability. Another, likely better, example is a grixis burn deck i run that has 35 lands, even less artifact ramp, and still gives me a near perfect mana experience.
idk if im just lucky, because everyone i ever play against tends to suffer at these land counts, but it just works for me.
It sounds like you must be lucky, if everyone else suffers at the same land counts. But if it works for you, no then keep doing it.
I also have an Alesha deck, with 37 lands, which works very well. Between all the card draw, several utility lands, and the fact that I want to pay for Alesha's ability every turn, I usually have something to do with the mana.
The average land count for my decks tends to be 33 to 35 with plenty of ramp support and they work just fine. Based on the groups I play with only landfall decks should run 37+ lands for consistent landfall triggers. I guess my playgroups do things differently and just because you have 40 lands doesn't mean you can't be mana screwed either, it can still happen.
Great video I am currently working on my squirrel deck and my dragon deck. much apricated. Hello from Utah :D
Good luck!
I think tip #6 is dependent on the type of ramp you have. If you're playing cards that net you 1 more mana, even if you have 14 of them and even if they all cost 2 or less, the curve is still going to be capped at how high you can reasonably go. If you're like me and you only play ramp that nets you 2 mana or more for 4 mana or less with up to one that costs 5 mana, then you're gonna be able to play lots of 6-9 drops no problem, even when you only have 9 ramp and 9 card draw.
In terms of tip #5, I've found the sweet spot is 4 single target, 4 board wipes, and up to 2 neo-tuck (Darksteel Mutation/Imprisoned in the Moon/Oubliette/Song of the Dryads). You definitely want to avoid having too much spot removal in multiplayer games, because that's going to lead to some serious card advantage losses relative to multiple opponents. The key to this working is that you also want to be the player that is least often forced to use it. What I mean by this (and this is adopting your example) is that needing more cards like Path to Exile to deal with a Voltron commander coming at you is not as good as playing a Commander for your deck that means that the Voltron commander doesn't come at you first.
For Tip #4, I agree with you, but I think the TL;DR name of it is a poor fit. I like "Replace Staples with Synergistic Analogues" better.
For Tip #2, I would caution against subthemes unless you have room in the deck and you're not sure what to do with it. Otherwise, your deck is going to have too many directions rather than a streamlined singular goal. I have plenty of subthemes though in my decks, like Theft in Braids and Voltron in Zacama.
Everything else is fantastic, and I agreed with what you said :)
Some good feedback. As far as subthemes, I don't think you want to include tons, usually just a couple, and there are certainly commanders who prefer one cohesive end-goal, but I think subthemes contribute a lot and help if your opponents happen to have a way of nerfing your main theme (like Rest in Peace against a graveyard deck, for example).
I just went though 5 fat pack boxes just to find one of my 2 copies of Fertalid so I can swap it in for cultivate in my +1/+1 saporling deck. Completely worth it
Nice video. Definitely gonna consider these ideas for my next build
I feel directly attacked by Tip#1! lol :) This is a great video
The tips were based on mistakes I've made as well as other players, so don't feel attacked! Glad you liked it.
great video. im guilty of running 35-37 lands in all my decks, probably should up the count a little. i find 37 is the sweet spot but maybe i should test out 1-2 more lands and see how things go. fetches change the formula a little i think as you filter lands and they can grab double colour lands. i mostly run 2 or 3 color decks so i use lots of signets to filter and accelerate mana.
Straight to the point, right on
these tips seem completely relevant for only the decks YOU are playing
They wouldn't be tips if everyone watching already did these things
I play a land fall deck. So I got a lot of land but i can see how that can be an issue for most decks.
I keep seeing 38-40 lands nowadays. Didn’t it use to be 36-38? And mana curves were higher back then, so we should be looking more towards 35-37? Depending on the deck I have anywhere from 28 to 47 (storm and landfall respectively) but the “average” strategy land counts are right around 35. Nothing worse than flooding out in aggro or voltron deck.
I do believe the average number of lands has gone up a couple in the past several years, though I'm not sure exactly why (maybe due to increased number of card draw spells?) Number of lands is definitely highly dependent on deck archetype, but personally, in a deck that doesn't need an extremely high/low number, I usually start at 38 and tune up or down from there.
@@StrataGames interesting. I’ve definitely been trending down as a whole. I usually depend on increased card draw to find lands that I need instead of drawing them all naturally since I know I don’t need many after turn 7-10 and continuing to get them off the top in a tight situation doesn’t feel great.
I think 32 is correct for most optomized decks. Especially if you have a low curve. It's roughly equivalent to 20 in a 60 card deck common for low curve aggro. In edh however, most optomized decks run a significant amount of ramp. They also run a decent amount of card draw to draw to help hit land drops. Also the mulligan rule is very generous (free mulligan). With all the card draw/ramp most decks have sometimes in the command zone, it's easy to make up for a mulligan to 5 or even 4 depending on the deck. 38 seems right for a precon with not enough ramp or card draw, not for most focused and optomized decks however.
Bro I've never met a single person that says single target removal is bad in commander haha
Don't focus on how many lands you have. Go for between 40-50 mana producing cards aka "gas" (ramp,rocks,dorks....) if you have a low mana curve stay closer to 40..high closer to 50. "Almost" never put more than 35 land in a deck or your deck will run too slow. My sweet spot is around 47 for edh and 44ish for cedh. You're welcome.
Everything you've said doesn't give a minimum number of lands, so I could run 40 rocks and no lands... The number of lands is important, especially because people are naturally inclined to keep hands when they see a lot of good spells, even if it means too few lands.
I am quite new to commander and had some mana issues, i had 30 lands and 8 creatures /artifacts that gave mana and it wasn't working often, i replaced some creatures and instants for 8 more lands and seem to be getting great draws so i prefer the way its in the video, i dont have many special cards lying around but i did buy a bunch of lands.
Hope it helps!
6:30
Tell me you have a preference against a mana type without telling me
Every color has its weaknesses
@StrataGames and every player a preference. I'm partial to red /white and strongly adverse to green.
I use 32-36 lands.
Dude I’ve played like 5 games of commander and got great use out of swords to plowshares in like 3. People think they’re bad??? This is a funny hobby
oof #1 hit like a truck
I tried tip one with kaalia. I failed.
I think the thing with Kaalia is not trying out different beaters; you only ever want the best of the best coming down. Trying different utility cards and flexible cards is the way to go.
@@tempestandacomputer6951 I was joking
@@tomcat9902 well i wasn't lol
3.0 average CMC feels too high for me lol. I feel like i cant go that high anymore.
This video still valid? 🐭🐹🐱
Yes! Still very relevant tips to improving your commander decks.
Most of this video is either common sense or just kind of mealy-mouthed advice that I can't really argue with. However, the staple section is the only one that seems blatantly wrong. Calling staples "generically good" makes them sound like mediocre filler. Staples are staples because they are the best choice, barring extremely specific conditions. Your first examples are atrocious. Reclamation Sage is an elective ability that can target your own permanents, synergizes with elves, and as a CitP ability is more repeatable or abusable than a spell or morph. I can see a case for trimming staples that directly overlap with your General's abilities, or prioritizing staples that shore up your weaknesses over others, but "veer away from staples" is bad advice on the face of it.
Staples also reinforce important game concepts like trading life for cards/mana or giving opponents a basic land to remove a creature or valuable utility land. If you wanted to give advice on cutting staples, it should probably be something akin the artist wisdom of knowing the rules before you break the rules.
"Generically good" means exactly what it says. Not mediocre filler as you inferred, but powerful no matter what strategy you're playing. Reclamation Sage is a staple, whether or not it happens to be an elf or have an ETB. That's like saying Rhystic Study isn't a staple because it's better in enchantress decks than other decks.