Month: July 2022

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Archive Decks Tips/Tricks

How To Build A CEDH Deck?

Looking to build a CEDH deck? If so, here is the content you need to do just that! This will go over everything from the spirit behind CEDH, to even providing a template needed to build a CEDH deck. Excited? Let’s begin!

The Spirit behind CEDH

CEDH, otherwise known as Competitive EDH, has only 1 rule. Build the best deck possible with your commander. There is no need for a rule 0 conversation because every deck is supposed to run as optimally as possible.

This means no card, strategy, or tactic is banned. As long as you can make it work at the highest power it is free game. Yes, that also includes land destruction by the way.

While this belief is very freeing for many players, it is also what makes the format “Restrictive” for many. The reason being is the best cards are played, and unfortunately, not every card is the best. This means cards like Teferi’s Protection, Eerie Ultimatum, and even Bala Ged Recovery, very rarely would see play in this environment. That said, just because they are harder to play does not mean they don’t have room. 

The difference is that these cards will underperform against most cards, but there are ways around that, such as specific commanders that have powerful synergy with these cards or building around the specific card and finding a way to win with it. A common example is Anje and Godo who play very unique cards most decks don’t run in order to make their deck work. But both are considered CEDH commanders.

Therefore as long as you come in with the spirit of “I will take this 1 card to the max with no restrictions”, your deck will most likely end up being CEDH or Fringe CEDH (A Power level that can compete against most CEDH decks but usually require more experienced pilots.)

What Makes a Deck CEDH

In short, to build a CEDH deck, it must be optimized, efficient, and have a good win-con to be considered CEDH.

A deck that has one or neither will not be CEDH but Fringe or lower.

But what are efficiency and optimization? 

Efficiency is the ability of your deck to consistently do what it wants.

Optimization is the ability of a card to be the best at what it wants.

In short, Efficiency is how well your deck can consistently do something and optimization is how good your card is compared to similar cards. 

But what are the steps to building a CEDH deck?

Step 1: How Do I Win?

Rather than your commander, the first step to building a CEDH deck is determining, “how do I win?”

There are 3 ways for a deck to win.

  1. Beats
  2. Combo
  3. Value

Beats win through beating people to death, usually through a swarm of small or big creatures. An example of this is Tymna/Kamahl. Whose win con is to stax the board and win with beats. These decks are rare due to how easy they are to disrupt.

Combo is usually playing an effect that just states you win the game. Thassa’s and Consultation are the most popular ones you see. This is the most powerful way to win and is usually what most decks play.

While value is winning through an overwhelming amount of board advantage that the other three can’t beat. From there, you pull the win through a combo or some other effect. Two good examples are Dockside in Korvold which basically wins you the game, or Ad Nausuem strategies.

From there, choose the best commander to match your win-con or deck function and you are good to go!

How Many Win-Cons to Build a CEDH Deck?

A deck usually needs around 2-3 ways to win the game to be effective in closing out games. Failure to do so leads to more losses on your end and a lower overall enjoyment rate with the other players.

That said, how do you build CEDH decks win cons? Simple, put cards that you want to see win the game as your win cons. 

If you want to win through beats, play cards like craterhoof behemoth, and the rest of the deck should go to being synergistic or supporting the win cons.

If you want to win through combos, find your favorite combo such as dualcaster + twinflame, and build your deck around doing that.

Then if you want to win by value, just find the cards that will overwhelm your opponents and make it impossible for them to catch up, as consecrated sphinx does in Kinnan.

Finding the best win condition for your deck can be a challenge so I recommend looking at actual decks you want to play and see what win-cons those include. A good resource for this is the Cedh Database.

Finally, a good rule of thumb, is that each win needs only 1-2 cards to work. The less cards needed to win means less chance for disruption and easier to pull off. So 4-8 cards should be dedicated to winning the game.

Step 2: Make A Deck Efficient

Efficiency has been recorded extensively in my book Rule of 20 as well in the CEDH.Guide Report. In short, there are 4 mechanics that make up every deck, 1) Ramp, 2) Draw, 3) Control, and 4) value. If you are unfamiliar with what these are then I suggest either reading the previously mentioned Rule of 20 or my deck building template. Both give you answers to all of these.

In short though:

  1. Ramp is anything that lets you use more mana
  2. Draw is anything that lets you see more cards
  3. Control is anything that protects your board or disrupts others.
  4. Value is anything that helps you win.

Understanding these is vital. The reason why is a failure to understand efficiency means you can never understand optimization. As optimization is the ability of a card to be the best at each of these 4 categories.

Now, a deck’s efficiency needs vary from commander to commander. CEDH.Guide did a great report located here that goes over the statistical average for every deck in the CEDH database, on average they run 18 control, 21 draw, 20 ramp, and 10 value cards. The rest are commanders and lands. 

That said, a simple guide to follow is the Rule of 20, which states that a deck should try to run on average 20 control, 20 draw, and 20 ramp. The rest is value, lands, and commanders. In doing so, you achieve some of the highest efficiency a deck can make before losing its ability to win. Making this the best rule of thumb to follow for consistency.

To summarize, a cedh deck should try to run 20 ramp, 20 control, and 20 draw cards to be consistent. From there, you can cut or add pieces to synergize with your game plan.

the countdown is at one: Jesper Ejsing

Step 3: Make A Deck Optimized

An optimized deck is the most expensive deck… Or so the joke goes. In reality, an optimized card does not need to be expensive, wild growth, tinder wall, and Fire covenant are optimized cards, but aren’t 50+ dollars. In fact, two of them are below 50 cents. 

An optimized card is a card that achieves the best results for what your deck is trying to do. This is a little hard to identify as it is so subjective and is changing with each new set printed, but there are a few common traits to look for.

  1. Low Mana value

A card that has a lower mana value is usually the better choice as it is less intensive than a card even one mana higher. Ideally you are looking for 2 CMC or lower.

  1. Flexibility

A card that has an increase in flexibility is great. This isn’t necessary more options like mystic confluence has, but rather “lines” that make it better than other options.

A good example is stifle when running final fortune. Stifle on its own is not great due to its limited uses, but a stifle makes it to where you can take an extra turn at instant speed and not lose the game. Increasing its flexibility.

  1. Power

This is simply how powerful of an effect the card has. A counterspell against only instants is much less powerful than a card that can counter any spell. This is usually defined by the previous 2 traits, but some cards are just game warping in power, such as smothering tithe or seedborn muse.

So when deciding what the optimized card is, compare that to every card that does a similar function, if a card has lower CMC, more flexible, and higher power then this is an easy upgrade to build a CEDH deck. (A good example is lightning bolt and lightning strike). 

Besides that, getting familiar with more cards is the best way to discover what is optimized. I suggest checking out the CEDH Staple Database. It is filled with optimized cards that most decks want to play. 

Put It All Together And….

You have built a CEDH deck! If you can understand these three steps then you can make any deck CEDH. 

Simply watch more content and play more games if you want to get better. I recommend reading my guide to deck building, or my 2 ebooks Rule of 20, or Commander Better. Both are about becoming better at the game so your decks can always do what you want in any game. Good luck and happy playing!

Categories
Archive Cards

11 Cards Like Rhystic Study

We all want cards like Rhystic Study. What was once a 25-cent common is now a $30 rare. Which, unless you have a ton of money, it can be hard to own multiple copies or even a copy. 

So, to help all you commander players out there. I have searched, playtested, and compiled a list of 11 cards like rhystic study. Giving you access to cards not as broken but still a good bang for your buck. 

Plus if you have trouble hitting the 20 card draw recommendation that the Rule 20 guide states, then these are some great includes in addition to rhystic study. So without further wait, let’s go over these cards like rhystic study.

Ghostly Pilferer

First up is ghostly pilferer, with cards like Jeska’s Will, Underworld Breach, and a plethora of other exiles/reanimation card draw engines, ghostly pilferer puts in work. Not only does an early ghostly pilferer mean you will draw off people’s commanders, but you can also filter your hand by discarding and drawing with their second ability. For two mana this is a great choice for those looking for a card draw engine.

Verity Circle

Mana dorks are your best friend. Chances are someone is playing green, and if they are playing green, they are probably playing mana dorks as well. Which turns into a card draw engine for you. I have noticed that it’s not always a huge payoff but I can usually get 1-2 draws off of it every game at worst or 6+ if going against multiple green players. All in all a solid choice.

Runic Armasaur

Not the usual card like Rhystic Study, Runic Amasaur can put in work depending on your meta. Even in casual, there are tymna, thrasios, and a plethora of ability commanders. Which makes this a great choice in those matchups. This is a solid choice if you find yourself constantly going against commanders with activated abilities or people who like to run combos like Kiki-Jikki, Isochron Scepter, or birthing pod. Making this actually really good in the right situations.

 Compost

Another Meta dependent card, but a solid choice all the same. Great against, sacrifice, discard, and vampiric tutor decks, compost is another great card like rhystic study. While not as popular of a color as green, black cards usually love being put into the graveyard. Which lets compost draw you cards consistently throughout the game. Not only that, but a cool deck tech of compost is that the cards don’t care how they end up in the graveyard. So mill decks will get so much value out of this card. Making this a really fun alternative to rhystic study.

Insight

The other version of compost is Insight. Insight cares about cards not going to the graveyard but cast. Which, with green being one of the most popular colors for commander, means you will draw a ton of cards off this one. If you can get this down early, then all sorts of ramp cards will allow you to draw. But, if you get it down late, then all sorts of big creatures will allow you to draw cards as well. Meaning no matter which part of the game you are in, drawing will be happening. Honestly, this is my second favorite card like rhystic study just because this always performs better than I expect.

Viridian revel

Treasures are a thing. While the debate over treasures is lengthy, the fact is most decks use treasures nowadays. Meaning Viridian Revel becomes great against treasures. While a popular card for the mentioned reason, I find the card to either perform or underperform, but never just okay. Meaning if you are in a huge treasure meta, this card is fantastic and is an auto-include, but if you find yourself very rarely against treasures, it’s a dead card that draws you 0-1 cards a game. But, the draw function is nothing to sneeze at just be aware that this variance is higher than most.

Heartwood Storyteller

More friendly than the other cards like rhystic study, but still a great alternative. Heartwood storyteller is only good in creature-heavy decks. The reason being is this card can help your opponents too and as such needs to be used as cautiously as possible. If you are playing in more casual settings where removal isn’t common, or are playing a group hug deck then heartwood storyteller becomes the best rhystic study alternative out there. Being both political, it can allow players to cast noncreature spells to let others hopefully draw into removal, or if an opponent is trying to win via non-creature spells, it makes it much harder for them to do anything without feeding everyone else. Becoming a great way to shut down spellslinger, artifact, and enchantment decks, while also feeding your creature-heavy deck.

Everwatching Threshold/cunning rhetoric

Another version of propaganda, but definitely has its uses. Reliant on opponents attacking you is never fun, but today’s meta is much more combat-heavy than it was 3-4 years ago. With the making of really powerful creatures in magic, combat now has more significance besides just killing your opponents. So this works as a great way to prevent people from attacking you, or to get a lot of card draw as people swing 2-3 damage your way to get value from combat. An interesting take on rhystic study, but still not without its merits.

Nezehal Primal Tide

The most expensive alternative to rhystic study, but an absolute powerhouse if you can get on board. Able to draw you a ton of cards, this is no small threat to the board. A 7/7, can’t be countered, no maximum hand size, draw engine off every noncreature spell, and a form of protection? This card wins games. If you are in a deck that can ramp you a lot quickly, this is the card I would recommend to put into your decks. Able to win the game with damage, able to protect itself if targeted, and able to draw you cards reliably, this is the best card like rhystic study in most games. 

Wandering Archaic

Wandering Archaic may not seem like card draw, but cantrips, draw spells, and other forms of instant and sorceries that draw you cards, make this a great include. Consisting of only colorless mana, this can go into any deck and find a great way to be a value engine against other players playing stuff like a demonic tutor, blue sun zenith, and read the bones. I originally did not think of this as a draw engine, but wandering archaic works as a great way to draw a few cards throughout the game. Making this another solid alternative to rhystic study.

Mystic remora


Finally, the best card like rhystic study. While yes, the most known, its’ power can’t be understated. Play this early, and ramp spells draw you cards, play this later, and value/removal cards draw as well. Meaning, that you can play this at any point of the game and still draw your cards. Thus making this the best alternative to rhystic study. Highly recommend.

11 Cards Like Rhystic Study: Conclusion

Not only are each of these great budget alternatives to the commander staple, but these are also great includes in addition to rhystic study. Able to draw cards off other players’ work is a blessing that can work wanders when going against 3 other players. Meaning cards like rhystic study, mystic remora, and insight, become great ways to power your board state to a winning position. Allowing for more games to be won, and for your deck to do what it wants every time. 

If you are looking for other great ways to optimize your decks, I cannot stress enough my FREE book, Rule 20. It is a solid way to transform the power behind your decks with only simple tweaks. Allowing for your games to be that much more fun. Till next time! Happy drawing.

P.S. A great way to support this site is by clicking on this link here when buying your cards from TCG. They give me a nice kickback that can be used on magic cards of my own to playtest and report to you. Thanks!

Categories
Archive Tips/Tricks

How Many Lands In A Commander Deck

How many lands in a commander deck? A question as old as 1996 and still relevant today. 

The numbers have changed over the years of course. In the beginning, it was 40 lands, then 35, and now people say anywhere around 33-40. 

Of course, here at commander20, we think that is too vague. As such, we came up with a formula to help players build efficient decks.

So, how many lands in a commander deck? 

Simple, a commander deck should have 28+ your commander’s cost in lands.

So if you have a 4 mana commander, you should have 32 lands, or if you have a 10 mana commander, 38 lands.

The reasoning behind this is based off the central guide that goes over efficient deck building, The Rule of 20. A free guide that I give to everyone interested in becoming a better deck builder.

The general basis is that a deck on average should have 20 pieces of ramp to advance their board state. The reasoning is explained in detail in the guide, but when you have 20 pieces of ramp, your land count matters much less and you develop a board much quicker.

So by running the magical number of 28+ Commanders CMC, you will be able to answer the question of “How many lands in a commander deck?” every time.

And, now let’s prove it with math.

The Math For How Many Lands In A Commander Deck? 

Chance of having 2 lands using Commander20’s Rules

To do this, we used deckstats probability calculator to show how your land count will look.

To do this I built an example using Lathril, blade of the elves as the commander. Her CMC is 4 so the deck should have 32 lands in it.

Now, if we assume you are running exactly 20 pieces of ramp with a mana cost between 1-3, then you will effectively have 52 lands as long as you can get to 2 lands.

Which the probability calculator shows an 85% chance of happening (pre-mulligans). Therefore, this should be relatively easy to achieve for most players. (Each additional land only gives you a 1% increased chance to have 2 or more lands by turn 2 btw)

Now, if that is the case, then if we ran 20 ramp cards that can generate our mana, then 85% of the time we will effectively have 52 mana sources in the deck. This means we have a 92% chance of being able to have 4 mana sources for our commander on turn 4. 

Comparing Rule 20 land count to others

Chances of 4 mana by Turn 4 with Command Zone Rules

Now, what if we use the old rules of 36 lands and 10 sources of ramp that Command Zone Recommends? 

Assuming the same commander and Mana Ramp CMC, you have a 90% chance to have 2 lands by turn. This is undoubtedly better than the 85% that 32 lands have. But, you only have an 84% chance to have 4 mana sources for your commander by turn 4.

If we were to compare this means you are less likely to be able to get your commander out by turn 4 running 36 lands and 10 ramp over 32 lands and 20 ramp. This of course ignores the fact that 20 forms of ramp can get your commander out sooner than 10 forms. Which has a drastic impact on the tempo of your board state. As shown in detail on my Guide To Efficient Deck Building.

But let’s go over some additional reasons why your lands for your commander deck should be 28+ your commander CMC.

Theory Behind how many lands in a commander deck 

There is 1 main theory in which this number became relevant, Quadrant Theory.

The basic idea of Quadrant Theory is that there are four places you can be in the game: (1) Developing, (2) Ahead, (3) At Parity, and (4) Behind. Let’s take a few moments and evaluate When lands are useful in comparison to these situations.

  1. While developing, basic land allows you to keep parity. It allows you to play all your other cards, but it does not accelerate development of your board.
  2. While ahead, a basic land is a dead card. If you have a blightsteel collosus on the board, you’re very far ahead. 
  3. At Parity, a basic land is a dead card. You play it but it does virtually nothing for actually progressing your board at this point and does not stop your opponents either.
  4. Behind, a basic land allows you to try and keep up with your opponent’s mana. But, If your opponent has a game-ending play, you’re far behind, then your lands do nothing to help. 

This means in general, basic land is only good for keeping parity with your opponents in the early stages. It does nothing for actually developing your board after you reach your ramps CMC, it does nothing while ahead, at parity, or behind. 

But there is something that does the job of land while also allowing you to accelerate your board, ramp. Ramp is much better than land because you can play more than 1 a turn. With this one restriction removed, even if the ramp cost a little bit, it becomes much better than a land.

So as such your land count should only be considered for developing your board state, after that, a land is usually one of the last things you want to draw as it does nothing for you. Especially when you already have one in hand. So by relying on your lands only to cast your commander (the strategy on which most decks are based) you will find that every other card type becomes much more impactful. Meaning to answer the question on “how many lands in a commander deck?” should be as stated 28 + Commander CMC.

Conclusion

I hope this answer was insightful for you! I think this will put the question of “How many lands in a commander deck” to rest. This provides a flexible route that caters to any commander you want to play. Of course, going 1-2 more or less is still good but this should give you a baseline that all your decks should have. If you are interested in developing an even better understanding to effecient deck building I highly recommend giving my guide of Rule 20 a read. It’s an insightful guide that I spent hours working on to answer any and all basic questions to building efficient decks.

P.S.Have fun playing and remember, lands aren’t free real estate when you can only play 1 a turn!

Categories
Archive Decks

9 Storm Commanders for you (with Decklists)

Whether you are coming from my article on the top 20 commander strom cards, or found me online, storm commanders are a lot of fun. 

For those who do not know, storm commanders are designed to encourage the casting of several low CMC spells to eventually create so much value in one turn, that they win. 

So what goes into making a good Storm commander? 

What Makes a good storm commander?

A good storm commander will usually do 1 of 2 things, ramp you a ton for casting more spells, or drawing you more cards than usual. This helps offshoot the two biggest weaknesses to storm; draw & ramp. 

As such even if you see a commander not on here and want to build a storm version of it, ask these two questions. (1) Does my commander allow me to draw more cards, the more I draw? And (2) Does my commander allow me to ramp more the more I ramp? 

If your commander can do either one of these than your commander will most likely make for a good storm commander. But enough of that, let’s delve into the storm.

Kykar, Wind’s Fury

Kykar, Wind’s fury is one of the classic storm commanders. Giving you both bodies, and mana everytime you cast a noncreature spell, this becomes a great way to assemble an army of spirits or mana to cast more spells. Either way this is a really versatile commander that many players have loved over the years.

Pros- 

  1. Supplies you with a lot of mana
  2. Supplies you with an army of 1/1 spirits
  3. Versatile and unique playstyle

Cons

  1. White is not storm friendly
  2. Deck can be a little challenging to navigate without a clear plan

Who Likes it

Players who would like Kykar as their storm commander are usually those you like being more offensive than combo. This means they prefer to attack and swing with several small creatures or a few huge creatures. Making this one of the more combat friendly storm commanders.

Win cons

  • winging wide with several 1/1 spirits,
  • polymorphing into big creatures,
  • underworld breach+ brainfreeze storm line.

Kykar Decklist

Elsha of the Infinite

While Kykar was the deck for storm players who love combat, Elsha was designed for those that love combos. This deck while a little less simple, attempts to win by using a combo to generate an arbitrarily large storm via using the commanders ability to cast cards from the top of their library to assemble a win. 

Pros- 

  1. Combos synergize well with the commander
  2. Able to always have an additional card thanks to commanders ability
  3. Very distinct way to win

Cons

  1. Lacks versatility
  2. Heavily reliant on commander 
  3. Slightly High Commander cost

Who Likes it

People who will enjoy this deck are usually those with a love for always having more cards to play and don’t mind infinite combos. Due to the commanders innate design this deck works best by playing several pseudo infinite win-cons that if resolve win you the game.

Win cons

  1. Aetherflux Reservoir
  2. Dualcaster+ Heatshimmer
  3. Elsha+ Sensei Divining Top+ Mana reducer

Elsha Decklist

Eruth, Tormented Prophet

Eruth, tormented voice is a great storm commander. While not giving you the ramp your deck needs, it in turn allows you to have double the amount of cards when you storm off. This can be an incredibly fun deck by abusing cards like frantic search to effectively draw 4 and potentially discard none, but can be hamstringed hard by cards like drannith magistrate.

Pros- 

  1. Draw a ton of cards
  2. Can circumvent discard effects 

Cons

  1. Weak to drannith magistrate cards
  2. Hard to rebuild if storm fizzles

Who Likes it

Eruth is the perfect storm commander for those that love options. While more restrictive in timing than other commander, this one’s ability to see more cards overwhelms most other storm decks. Making this a great option for those that like to see half their deck every game.

Win cons

  • Thassa’s oracle
  • Grinning ignus+ Birgi/Treasonous ogre + Aetherflux reservoir 
  • Thousand-Year Storm

Eruth Decklist-

Birgi, god of storytelling

Birgi trades easy draw, for easy mana. Being able to get a red for ANY spell cast, means you can easily keep a storm going. Making her a great storm commander.

Pros- 

  1. Easy mana creation
  2. Flexible backside

Cons

  1. Mono red
  2. Lacks card draw

Who Likes it

Birgi players are those that like to always have mana to cast spells, while they may not have a ton of cards in hand, they always have the mana to make impactful casts. As such, this should be a deck you should try if you find yourself constantly wanting more mana to cast more spells.

Win cons

  • Mizzix Mastery
  • Grinning Ignus+ Grapeshot
  • Dualcaster+ twinflame/heatshimmer

Decklist-

Jhoira, weatherlight captain

One of the more unique storm commanders that encourage casting more spells. This deck takes a different approach in that rather than storming through instant and sorceries, it does through artifacts. Ranking in one of the higher power slots, this deck attempts to cast a bunch of historic spells to generate a large board presence and then win through a few different lines.

Pros- 

  1. Unique way to storm off
  2. Access to a large amount of artifacts

Cons

  1. Card quality is lower
  2. Loss of usually meaningful storm win-cons

Who Likes it

This is obviously a great deck for your artifact lovers. Being able to draw off all sorts of ramp means your deck will usually have a hard time sputtering out when you try to storm off. So if you have always leaned into artifacts as a favorite card type, then this the storm commander for you.

Win cons

  • Isochron Scepter+ Dramatic Reversal+ Temporal fissure/grapeshot/brainfreeze
  • Tidespout Tyrant
  • Grinding Station+ Underworld breach+ lotus petal

Jhoira Decklist-

Krark/Sakashima

The storm commanders. While they may not seem to encourage drawing more, or ramping more like other storm commanders. They do encourage one thing, casting more spells. The goal of this deck is win or lose the coin flip, it doesn’t matter cause you are just going to cast more spells. Making this a complicated fun deck designed to flip as many coins as possible.

Pros- 

  1. Considered the strongest storm deck currently out there
  2. Win con in the command zone

Cons

  1. No straightforward wincon
  2. Storm gets incredibly challenging to control

Who Likes it

This is the deck for you if you like 2 things, flipping coins, and having to think on your feet. Due to the inherent nature of coin flips, this is a challenging deck to play. Because of this, it should only be played for those willing to commit the time to learn the intricacies of the deck. Failure to learn how this deck works can often lead to people having a bad time. If you would like to learn how to play this deck, I recommend watching this video created by the person who invented the deck.

Win cons

  • Dualcaster+ Twinflame/heatshimmer
  • Krark+ more Krarks
  • Underworld Breach+ brainfreeze+ lotus petal

Krark/Sakashima Decklist-

Veyran Voice of Duality

Veyran, Voice of Duality is arguably the best storm commander for voltron. This commander synergizes well with instant and sorcery triggers, while also making himself bigger to eventually kill your enemies.

Pros- 

  1. Solid way to build up commander damage
  2. Incredibly versatile to build

Cons

  1. Voltron is harder to win with in commander
  2. It’s versatility can make it hard to figure out how you want to win

Who Likes it

Obviously, anyone who likes this as their storm commander will be those that like voltron. While it’s secondary affects are solid of boosting castings, the ability to make himself bigger is the bigger draw to most player. So if you love swinging a 21/21 after casting a bunch of spells, I highly recommend Veyran, Voice of Duality.

Win cons

  • Commander damage
  • Aetherflux Reservoir 
  • Guttersnipe

Veyran Decklist-

Wort, the Raidmother

Not your usual storm colors, but a really fun storm commander nonetheless. Consisting of red and green this storm commander tries to swarm the board with tokens made through instant and sorcery spells. From there they eventually win through damage using either a combo, or a buffing spell like Craterhoof Behemoth, or Overwhelming stampede.

Pros- 

  1. Access to green
  2. Ability to swarm boards quickly when set up

Cons

  1. 6 CMC commander
  2. No blue

Who Likes it

This is another storm commander that is loved by players who like to beat opponents. Getting access to green is huge for this kind of playstyle as you get a much larger pool of cards that synergize with token creation. Making this a really fun commander to copy a spell a bunch of times and win by making your 1/1’s into 7/7’s.

Win cons

  • Beastmaster Ascension
  • Impact Tremors
  • Surge to Victory

Wort Decklist

Prosper, Tome Bound

Not your usual storm commander, but makes an excellent storm commander nonetheless. Being in both red and black adds a huge amount of benefits to being able to cheat spells out or ramp up big to draw a ton. Add the fact that you get treasures every time you cast a spell from exile, and you are in good shape to keep looping more and more spells to win the game in one explosive turn.

Pros- 

  1. Access to black
  2. Able to have a ton of mana quickly

Cons

  1. Lacks Blue
  2. Exile effects tend to be impulse

Who Likes it

Prosper is a great commander for anyone who likes value. While lacking a lot qualities that makes a storm deck storm. This commander does what all storm commanders do, encourage you to cast more. Because of this, this can make for a great way to storm out with value and win big.

Win cons

  • Torment of hailfire
  • Peer into the abyss
  • Aetherflux reservoir 

Prosper Decklist

Conclusion: 9 Storm Commanders For You

There you go! 9 storm commanders that I am sure you will love to play. As you can see Storm, is more than just a combo finish, it can be swarming the board with tokens, casting a lot of artifacts or spells from exile to have a spectacular finish, or playing all your cards over and over to eventually close out the game. If you are interested in how I built these decklists, or are looking to know the secrets to making a great deck, I highly suggest checking out my Rule 20 book it is a great resource that goes over in detail the steps needed to make your decks do what it wants every time. I hope you have a fantastic day and have fun playing!

P.S. If you would like to support my website simply click this link when buying your cards from TCG and i will get a small portion of the profits. This goes a long way to supporting more content made. Thanks!

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20 Commander Storm Cards You Will Love

What is Storm?

Before we get into 20 commander storm cards you will love, let’s talk about what storm is. To do this we are going to answer four questions: (1) what is storm (2) what kind of players like playing storm decks,(3) what makes commander storm cards good, and (4) how does storm win.

Storm in the most simple terms is an archetype where you cast a lot of spells in one turn to win. This can be achieved with a variety of effects which will be talked about later, but let’s talk about what kinds of players like commander storm decks.

What Kind Of Players Like Playing Storm Decks?

In general, there are a few defining traits that make up a storm player in commander. These are:

  • A love for value cards rather than big mana cards
  • Like to win through complicated lines that are hard to keep track of
  • Are not afraid to go all in.

If you notice that when you play games you love getting a ton of value off your cards and are not afraid to risk losing the game to win, then this is an mtg archetype you will love. So, let’s answer the final question, what makes commander storm cards good?

What makes commander storm cards good?

Storm cards in commander are great for generating additional value. In fact, that is what makes storm decks good in mtg. They generate so much value that it can be hard to stop once their board gets established. As such any card that generates good value for what it does will make for a good storm card. Especially if it has a low mana value. A good example of this is Krark/Sakashima whose two mana commander gets a bunch of copy effects making low-value cards with low mana costs become great. In fact, we will use krark/sakashima as an example of how storm decks in commander win. So let’s go over that now.

How Do Storm Decks Win?

So now that you know the general basis of what makes up a storm deck, let’s go over how to win. Commander storm players try to win usually by reaching what is dubbed “critical mass” in this situation, a storm player has enough cards on board to make up an “engine” that once starts is hard to stop. Because of this storm players have very little presence until their “engine” comes online. Once this happens they begin casting a series of spells to eventually draw, cast, or ramp enough to win the game.

This can be seen in krark/sakashima where a player’s goal is to get 2+ krark’s on the board. Every spell they cast has a 50% chance to come back to hand and still go off. Allowing them to solve the issue of drawing, ramping, and casting enough spells to win the game. Once they developed their “critical mass” they can then use any number of spells such as Grapeshot, Young Pyromancer, or Guttersnipe to win the game. Through this, they develop enough value that wins them the game. But now that you have a general run down of what storm is, and how it works, let’s talk about the cards that make storm decks good.

Storm Decks: Best in Class

These are the top 10 storm cards your decks will love. Ranked in order from great to broken.

10- Rite of flame

The biggest weakness to storm decks is running out of mana before you can get enough value to win. Rite of Flame, seething song, desperate ritual, and other cards are designed to help keep the mana flowing so your storm deck can… well… storm off. Making this a necessary card for any commander storm deck.

9- Bolas Citadel

To anyone familiar with storm decks, this may not be the most apparent, but works. As mentioned in rite of flame, storm decks struggle with mana generation and card draw. Because of this, storm players in commander will gladly pay life, sacrifice their board, and do all sorts of shenanigans to be able to win the turn they want to. Bolas citadel takes care of all those issues. While not in the usual storm colors (blue/red) this can be a powerhouse for any storm deck looking for a new commander storm card.

8- Harmonic prodigy

On its own, this is not great. While being able to eventually become a big enough beater that can kill a player, what you really want is that first effect. For one reason or another most creatures needed for storm in commander are either shamans or wizards. So doubling up on their abilities when casting spells make this a great include for just about any storm deck.

7- Mind’s desire

If you ever need a payoff for casting a bunch of spells, this is your go-to card. While costing 6 mana this instantly refills your storm turn by getting you easily 6+ cards you can cast for free. If you aren’t able to win immediately after that, there is a good chance you are set up to win the next turn.

6- Birgi

Show me a ruby medallion and I will show you a Birgi. While it does not reduce mana costs immediately as the medallions do, this card gives you fuel to keep your turn going well beyond the point of exhaustion. Your two mana rocks now are free, and your cantrips are now instantly reimbursed. With this card alone your decks get a huge boost to their mana cost. Plus, if you ever need more draw, her backside is draw as well making her incredibly versatile.

5- Archmage emeritus

Archmage emeritus is the draw engine storm needs. With this card, every spell you cast will cantrip allowing for the storm party to keep going the more storm cards you play. Not only can it be great refilling a hand for each cast, but grapeshot now becomes a solid way to refill your hand. This is a must for most storm decks looking to go to the mid-game.

4- Underworld breach

Underworld breach is the ultimate reanimator card. For 2 mana you can cast any spell you want in your graveyard, getting back your win-con pieces or getting your value engines to accelerate you back into the game. The amount of times someone wins off casting a value underworld breach is insane. Making this a great storm card for commander.

3- Storm-kiln artist

There have been several inclusions of ramp packages for storm decks, and that just goes to show just how important mana is for a storm deck. This is the second-best storm card for ramping and absolutely puts in work. With this card, you can now filter your mana into the colors you need, save your mana for explosive turns, or keep the engine going like Birgi does. Put this in your storm deck and you will never want to take it out.

2- Treasonous ogre

This card is Treasonously good. Puns aside this is the best ramp in the game for storm cards. For a simple cost of 3 life, you can gain red mana. You only need to play this card once to realize that the turn it comes down is the turn you win. While 3 life may seem like a lot, when you have 40 life, it becomes easy to use, and more importantly, easy to abuse.

1- Krark, The Thumbless

Now for the best storm card for commander storm decks; Krark. Upon its first announcement, people have constantly found ways to make this card good. Warping formats and making decks that were once weak into powerhouses people fear. With this card, you get your spell cast triggers, thus feeding all the cards previously mentioned. After that, you will either get it back to hand to allow you to recast it, or get a copy making your cards twice as effective. Combine this with duplicate effects from harmonic prodigy or sakashima, and coin flipping becomes one of the most powerful decks for commander.

Win cons

Now that we have discussed the 10 best storm cards for commander. Let’s go over some additional cards that are great for storm. More importantly, Storm win-cons.

1. Temporal fissure

Temporal fissure is a great win-con. Serving as removal in a pinch, this can remove pesky threats from the board in an emergency. Or force the opponents to concede by bouncing all their lands, threats, etc back to hand. I have played this many times and it serves as a really solid way to win.

2. Mizzix Mastery

Much like underworld breach, this card wins games. Overloading Mizzix Mastery usually creates such an intertwining stack that most players just lose from the value your deck is suddenly creating. This is a card that people love to put in their storm decks and you probably won’t be different.

3. Aetherflux reservoir

A lot of times, storm decks have great value, but little pay-offs. This on the other hand serves as a great payoff. Not only does it reward you for casting more spells per turn, but this serves as a great way to just win the game by burning 50 life to kill a player that refuses to die. Combine this with being able to hold a nuclear option for anyone who tries to mess with you, and you are in a good position.

4. Thousand-year storm

While aetherflux reservoir gives you the payoff you need. This card gives you the value you need to win. Copying cards in storm decks is great. The value per cast becomes much higher the more copies you get. So being able to get more copies the more your deck storms, is a great way to just win for a storm deck. There is nothing like looping an extra turn card 10 times to just win a game. A great win-con in most storm decks for commander.

5. Brainfreeze

This card is bonkers for several reasons. One this gets rid of top deck tutors, two this can debilitate enemies with a high enough storm count, and three this fuels your storm turns. Before Underworld breach was made, Grapeshot would take up the last spot as a win-con for storm. That said, Underworld breach + lotus petal + brain freeze gets you the storm count you need to just mill every player and win. The fact that none of these cards are dead in storm, and the combo can be achieved easily unlike grapeshot, submits this in the final slot for a great storm win con.

Budget Storm Cards

Finally, we have great budget cards for commander storm decks. I understand that while all the cards mentioned above are great, some are a bit pricey. As such, I figured I would help those who want to play storm but can’t afford all those cards. 

The only thing to note is that while these are cheaper, these are still very effective ways to end a game just a little bit different than those mentioned above. These usually try to develop a board of tokens that then proceed to go wide for the kill. Making these great options for the non-combo players.

1. Goblin electromancer

A great mana reducer for decks that have about 30-40 instant and sorcery cards in them. This card will help make sure all those 2+ CMC cards are now easier to cast and allow you to cast more cards on your storm turn.

2. Crackling Drake

A solid finisher when you are spent. If for one reason or another your storm turn fizzles out and you have not been able to kill the board. Play this card and get a powerful card that can avoid most blocks. 

3. Young pyromancer

The best token generator for Commander storm decks. Cheap to cast, and easy to swarm, this card makes a serious threat by developing a swarm of 1/1 that you can make bigger with proper instant and sorceries. Making this a great way to swing for the kill.

4. Guttersnipe

Burn hurts and guttersnipe can do the trick. Guttersnipe may be tempting to cast in the early game, but it should be held onto as once you play it, every board perceives you as a threat. Playing this means that anyone below 20 life is in easy kill range with the proper storm cards. Making this a terrifying goblin to your enemies.

5. Surge to victory

Finally, we have one of the best budget storm cards for your commander deck. Surge to Victory is a card that wins games. With this, your board state can easily swing for lethal while also getting a ton of value off being able to cast your most valuable spell multiple times with each hit. This is a card that does not see the most play in storm decks but is a great storm card that many players are sleeping on. Definitely recommend it as a great budget win-con for storm.

Conclusion: 20 Commander Storm Cards You Will Love

There you have it! 20 storm cards your commander decks will love. This should give you enough storm cards to work off to build a proper storm deck for EDH. Though if you are looking for ways to make sure your decks can do well, I strongly suggest getting my FREE Rule 20 book. This teaches you all the knowledge that professionals use to deck building as well as giving you exercises to improve your play patterns to make you a rival at any table and have the joy of letting your deck do what it wants every time. I cannot recommend it enough. I hope you have a great day and happy storming!

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20 Budget EDH Staples in 2022 That Transform Deck’s

We all have those EDH Staples we love. Dark Confidant, Blightsteel Colossus, Jeska’s Will. But the truth is those cards are pricey and if you have more than one deck, or are just starting out, you can’t afford to buy multiple copies. 

That’s why you are here today after all! 

You are interested in upgrading your decks for cheap with cards that make great budget EDH staples in most decks. Let’s begin.

Budget Ramp Staples

The importance of ramp cards is discussed in detail in my 18-page instructional deckbuilding guide “Rule 20: Make Your Deck Do What You Want Every Time” So if you are interested in learning why ramp is so important or how to make your decks do what you want every timem I highly check it out. 

That said, ramp as defined in Rule 20 is simply “anything that nets you more mana”.

With four main versions of ramp, people can see.

  1. Storing mana for later
  2. Mana rocks
  3. Mana reducers
  4. Burst ramp

So with that understanding in mind let’s talk about EDH staples great for ramp.

Simian Spirit Guide- Burst Ramp

First on the list is Simian Spirit Guide. This is a great card to ramp with. On turn 1 you can have 2 mana to work off allowing for a ton of great uses. A good example is using the spirit to cast sol ring then use your sol ring and land to cultivate. Thus leaving you with 5 mana on turn 2. And the number of uses is endless. If that doesn’t get your brain thinking, think about any time you needed just 1 more mana, and put a simian spirit guide there.

Strike it rich- Storing Mana

Strike it rich is a ramp card that is great for turn 1&2 plays and okay afterward. On your early turns, you can store the mana that is wasted for a bigger play later and the same can be said in later levels when you have nothing to do with your mana but need more. It also synergizes really well for spellslinger and artifact matters decks.

Tinderwall- burst ramp

Tinder wall is basically a ritual that can block. A 0/3 defender blocks a lot of early-game opponents, plus it has the added benefit of being able to kill the attacking creature or ramp you into your dragons, commanders, or other threats later. Though requiring both red and green in your decks, it is something well worth it.

Wild growth- mana rocks

Land enchantments rock. These are budget staples that are not played enough but really should. While some people complain that it puts a target on your lands for being destroyed the payoffs are well worth it. Being able to ramp earlier means being able to play your big spells sooner. Which usually means more fun for your deck.

Beanstalk Giant- mana rocks

If you are a fan of kodama’s reach, and cultivate, I think this one is better. In exchange for not adding a second land to hand, you get a land onto the battlefield untapped and can be used later to give you a big creature that can finish games. It is definitely one I recommend to a lot of new players who are looking for good Budget ramp cards.

Blood Pet/ skirk prospector/ goldhound- storing mana

Finally, we have treasures before treasures were cool. These budget staples are cards that function the exact same way as to strike it rich in where you save mana you can’t use now into something later. But what is great about it is they are also creatures! So these can block, attack, or synergize with other creature-based strategies. Making a really strong synergy with what your deck is trying to do. 


Budget Draw Staples

Next on the list of budget EDH staples under $1, we have draw engines. These are anything that allows you to see more cards. Scrying, tutoring, drawing, exile effects, recurring, and milling are all common ways that work for card draw and are commonly used. 

In general, you will want long-form draw engines over burst draw due to how grindy EDH is. As such this list focuses mainly on long-form draw engines that transform your decks with these 2022 EDH staples.

Oakhame Adversary- draw

Dark Confidant is a popular draw engine for CEDH, but a contender for card draw is oakhame adversary. While not as consistent as Dark Confidant, Oakhame will cost you only 2 mana pretty often, and let you draw cards easily being a 2/3 deathouch creature. Meaning most of the time you are getting a card without losing life. An auto-include in most of my green decks.

Whispering Madness- draw

If you are a fan of windfall but can’t afford multiple copies, whispering madness is a great choice for a budget alternative. While costing 1 more, this spell can also be put onto a creature allowing you to windfall multiple times with the same spell. Overall it is a nice include. Especially for those that like combat.

Witching Well- scry/draw

While best in graveyard and artifact decks, this is a card that can go in any blue deck and not feel wasted. For 1 mana you can scy 2 allowing you to get deeper into the cards you actually want to draw. Then when you begin running out of cards, you can pay 4 to draw 2. Giving you more options to work off of. This has some serious value power that may not seem obvious at first.

Skull Winder- recursion

Eternal witness is a card that ranges from just over a dollar to 5+ dollars pretty easily as the card constantly has tons of demand. Skullwinder is a 25-cent version that does nearly the same thing AND has deathtouch. While this may seem bad giving another player the ability to recur a card. In a lot of games, this can be used either politically or aggressively to allow other players to not mess with you or to work with other players to remove key threats. Either way, if you love eternal witness and want it in every deck, here is a good budget staple.

Dire Fleet Daredevil- exile

This may not seem like card draw, but getting an instant and sorcery card from 1 of 3 other players’ graveyards is quite juicy. This can get you an expensive card that other players can afford or simply a good value card. After all, who doesn’t like getting to choose between a Jeska’s Will, Demonic Tutor, and Cyclonic rift?

Keen Duelist- draw

Ever wanted to play dark confidant but love running big creatures? Keen Duelist is the best draw engine for you. Not only is this a 2 mana creature that draws you cards on your upkeep, but it also deals damage to another player equal to the CMC revealed! Old gnawbone? Take 7. What about blightsteel colossus? Take another 12. This is a great way to not only draw cards but kill your opponents too.

Control Budget Staples

Finally, we have control, aka “protect your stuff and stop other people’s stuff”. These cards make for great edh staples in 2022 for controlling the board.

The following edh staples for under $1 are:

Autumn’s veil

If you are terrified of counterspells, but can’t run them due to colors. Here is a great mtg card under $1. Autumn’s veil takes care of most forms of removal and counterspells by giving your creatures hexproof and your spells uncounterable. Making this a solid budget staple if you find yourself going a pesky blue player often.

Blacksmith’s skill/ tamiyo’s safekeeping

Do you know what sucks? Losing your favorite cards and when you have a deck that can’t run counterspells, it becomes harder to keep your favorite cards. Blacksmith’s skill and tamiyo’s safekeeping are the solutions! Giving a permanent hexproof or indestructibly will take care of most forms of removal and allow that important piece to remain. Just beware of farewell, cause that card is dangerous.

Mogg salvage

Free spells are game-changers, and while not as significant as fierce guardianship or force of will, Mogg salvage is a great piece of removal. Sure vandalblast looks like it has tons of value, but really you only need to remove one threat to progress your board state, and having a free artifact destruction spell means all that mana can be used to advance your board state rather than stopping others.

Whirlwind denial

This one is great against combo players and sacrifice decks. While 3 mana to conditionally counter a spell is usually deemed weak, 3 mana to counter every spell and ability on the stack can be really good. Here are a few cards this is great against, counterbalance, stormkiln artist, birgi, beast whisperer, and there are a dozen more that this card breaks parity on. 

Frogify/Kasmina’s transmutation/kenrith’s transformation/ witness protection

The biggest annoyance commander has, is that if you remove a player’s commander they can just recast them again. This makes it hard to use removal on them as all you are doing is breaking parity with them and not actually disrupting their board long term. That is why these transformation enchantments are good budget staples. Putting this on a commander removes the threat while also preventing them from recasting them. Forcing them to use even more resources to get their commander back besides just tapping for mana.

Mind Harness

This is in the same realm as frogify but more like gilded drake in my opinion. While somewhat dependent on your meta, mind harness allows other commanders to be your own. While the cumulative upkeep can get annoying denying someone else their commander and letting you use their commander gets you great value for the 1-3 turns you will keep it.

Seal of primordium/ seal of cleansing/ seal of removal

These are very telegraphed plays but that is what makes them great. When you telegraph artifact/enchantment/ or creature removal, people are less likely to play their threats as they don’t want to be the one losing a card. After all, losing a beastmaster ascension, lightning greaves, or even a sol ring sucks when someone else could have lost theirs instead.

Fulminator mage

Fulminator mage is an okay card. While useful for removing Gaea’s Cradle or other cards like that, this is great as a nuclear button against the other 3 players. Simply state, “the one who messes with me the most loses their land.” and watch as no one messes with your board until it is too late.

Where To Get These EDH Staples?

Best Price

The best place for the price is going to be TCG player. TCG is a great resource for buying cards from a variety of shops and allows you to get the best price possible.

Best Quality

Besides them, if you are willing to pay a little extra for your edh staples in 2022 there is card kingdom and channel fireball. Both are trusted by the community and are great resources for those looking to ensure their cards in top quality and are guaranteed to be authentic.

Best Resource

Finally, if you are looking to get these budget staples, it’s best to know effective strategies for utilizing staples. That’s why I recommend getting my Rule 20 book. It not only goes over several strategies to build more effective decks but goes over the math behind it and explains common myths players think to be true.

P.S. Looking to find EDH staples for more specific deck builds? Check out my review on 20 edh staples for Storm Decks!