My Casual group is getting a little too...consistent lately. Play a creature, board wipe, play a creature, board wipe...etc. I am trying to create a deck that isn’t meant to win, but just to discourage people from attacking me while I’m messing with the board.
I was thinking a good commander would be something along the lines of Edric, Spymaster of Trest but I am totally open to other suggestions.
There are 7 other people in the group with one guy who has a handful of different decks, 5 guys who play with creatures, and one guy who tries to win with expensive cards and cheap infinite combos and he is no threat because we target him first until he learns that infinite combos are degenerate.
Colors don’t matter, I can find another commander if needed. But what are some of your favorite cards that just screw with board states or the game in general in a fun way? Like discarding hands to redraw them, or trading permanents, incentive to attack players who aren’t me, or anything of the sort.
The suggestion for blue above is really good. Blue can have a myriad of ways to interact with the field and other permanents - and even some unique ways to win that stay on the theme that you're looking for (i.e. Reins of Power).
Might I suggest, however, a non-blue alternative in Mathas, Fiend Seeker? I just finished building a decklist for him (not online yet, but soon) and it was a ton of fun. Most other lists online for him are Curse-tribal, and while that's somewhat unique to him, it wasn't my cup of tea, so I just included a lot of "political" type cards, and removal (destroy) to trigger the bounty counters Mathas throws around. You say you're group is playing a lot of creatures and a lot of board wipes? Great, you should have a lot of bounty counter targets for Mathas and when they all blow up, a bunch of life and cards are dished out, including to you. I included stuff like Coercive Portal, No Mercy, Adarkar Valkyrie, Humble Defector, Starke of Rath, and Ogre Slumlord. Basically the deck counts on a lot of death triggers and takes advantage of that. Win conditions include the classic Insurrection (not as cheap a win in a political deck like this), Overwhelming Splendor (Goblin Sharpshooter included), Revel in Riches (pick your package of board wipes to help get you there, Mardu has all of 'em, plus access to Teferi's Protection to ensure you get to your upkeep after you get enough treasure), a slew of "don't mess with me" instant-speed stuff like Backlash, Delirium, Deflecting Palm, Boros Fury-Shield, Comeuppance, and Master Warcraft. You can be political with those too. Tell your opponent you don't want them attacking and you won't have to do something bad to them. They might call your bluff initially, but after a couple times, they may likely think about it more. I included Sunforger to tutor all those up (as well as tutor my other instant speed removal like Go for the Throat, Terminate, etc.), but it's not necessary to make the deck work, although it does make Mathas a 7/3 with menace. I threw in some really good value stuff like Sepulchral Primordial (since things will be going to yards) and Sangromancer for more death happenings value. Blade of the Bloodchief since Mathas is a vampire. Seal of Doom and Seal of Cleansing as rattlesnakes and Sun Titan to recur and reuse those (as well as other permenents).
Thank you for the awesome replies! I haven’t had time to write a proper response until now, but I have been looking at the suggestions and I like it!
Blue is my favorite color in MTG so I would love to make a blue deck with all of the screwy antics that it provides, and Boros_Blendo’s suggestion of Polymorphist’s Jest makes me even more excited as that is probably my favorite card in Magic! I also like the options that Mathas provides and the Bribery counters are very intriguing. One of our group has a Gwafa Hazid, Profiteer deck that has a few antics in it, and when we run 2hg they would make a fantastic combo with getting out bounty counters with Gwafa preventing creatures from attacking!
I looked up what the Pillowfort style is, it would probably work for what I want if I can find a good commander to go with it. White seems to be the easiest Pillowfort color so Mathas would be a good fit. Gashnaw suggested a 5 color Pillowfort deck, is there a commander you had in mind to oversee that deck? I could just switch out whatever combos people go for in Pillowfort decks for more crazy antics!
EDIT: Other than not having Blue colors, my only other hesitation with Mathas would be that one of the other members has an Edgar Markov deck that he uses every game and I feel like he has cards that can take control of other vampires on the field... Because I believe he has another card that changes every creature on the field to a vampire in addition to it’s other types and he has stolen all of our creatures that way before and swung for game. Right before the board was wiped, but still, haha.
Other than not having Blue colors, my only other hesitation with Mathas would be that one of the other members has an Edgar Markov deck that he uses every game and I feel like he has cards that can take control of other vampires on the field... Because I believe he has another card that changes every creature on the field to a vampire in addition to it’s other types and he has stolen all of our creatures that way before and swung for game.
Grandpa Ed is popular. The Edgar Markov player may have things to take control of creatures of any creature type, but I don't think of vampires specifically (at least I can't think of a card that takes control of target vampire, except making it a vampire after control such as New Blood). Something like Captivating Vampire, which I'm sure is a staple in Edgar decks.
Would it help in those situations to include some creature protection? Lightning Greaves and Swiftfoot Boots are easy suggestions, but Homeward Path should be an easy include (and ways to tutor it up possibly). Mother of Runes and Obsidian Acolyte can help protect against targeted theft effects from black sources - and allow you to block all those black vampires with impunity. There could be a bunch of good stuff I'm not thinking about at the moment. With all of his vampires (and even better if there are a few other tribal decks floating around your meta), a Tsabo's Decree might be in order.
A blue commander option would allow spot and mass bounce removal to take back all creatures player's own to their hans to kind of reset and theft control effects. Devastation Tide, Wash Out, Evacuation, Whelming Wave, the new River's Rebuke for a targeted Cyclonic Rift, and I'm sure an Overburden would put a number on an Edgar Markov or any other creature heavy deck.
Gwafa Hazid, Profiteer and Mathas, Fiend Seeker do seem like a fun pair. Mathas can bring some added "counters matter" cards to supplement Gwafa with like Hunter of Eyeblights (also good against an Edgar Markov deck that puts +1 counters on things on all the vamps) and Kulrath Knight does a good Gwafa impression if he isn't on the field.
EDIT: Holding up an Aetherize or Aetherspouts if you feel a mass steal and swing coming on would help too.
Kulrath Knight and Hunter of Eyeblights look like a great combo to use with Mathas! I have a lightning greaves and swiftfoot boots in every single commander deck I own too, I consider them staples for myself. A lot of those blue cards I use in my Talrand, Sky Summoner deck and anything that I have splashing blue has a Cyc Rift! My all time favorite board wipe! Bye tokens!
I can say for sure that our Edgar guy runs both New Blood and Captivating Vampire, because he kept stealing Gisela, Blade of Goldnight from one of the guys last week and tried wreaking havoc with her. But we just have too many board wipes in our playgroup to make his creature decks very viable unless he goes crazy aggro, which is rough in a 4-7 person free for all. His most consistent win cons are with the lifegain he has in the deck and dealing damage when he gains life with sanguine bond. He doesn’t combo out with exquisite blood, but he has ways of getting a good amount of life. Makes me want to make an Oloro deck to fight his lifegain, haha.
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I was thinking a good commander would be something along the lines of Edric, Spymaster of Trest but I am totally open to other suggestions.
There are 7 other people in the group with one guy who has a handful of different decks, 5 guys who play with creatures, and one guy who tries to win with expensive cards and cheap infinite combos and he is no threat because we target him first until he learns that infinite combos are degenerate.
Colors don’t matter, I can find another commander if needed. But what are some of your favorite cards that just screw with board states or the game in general in a fun way? Like discarding hands to redraw them, or trading permanents, incentive to attack players who aren’t me, or anything of the sort.
Illusionist’s Gambit (go attack someone else)
Polymorphist’s Jest (What, you don’t LIKE frogs?)
Sleep (who needs a nap?)
Reins of Power (gimme some candy!)
Curse of the Swine (What, you don’t like pigs either?)
Aetherspouts (Army? What army?)
Biomass Mutation (they’ll never see it coming)
Bioshift (used with a stolen Corpsejack Menace for the win)
Aether Mutation into Mass Polymorph (I don’t use Mass P., but how cool would that be?!)
Blatant Thievery (I’ll take one of those, and one of those, and...)
Might I suggest, however, a non-blue alternative in Mathas, Fiend Seeker? I just finished building a decklist for him (not online yet, but soon) and it was a ton of fun. Most other lists online for him are Curse-tribal, and while that's somewhat unique to him, it wasn't my cup of tea, so I just included a lot of "political" type cards, and removal (destroy) to trigger the bounty counters Mathas throws around. You say you're group is playing a lot of creatures and a lot of board wipes? Great, you should have a lot of bounty counter targets for Mathas and when they all blow up, a bunch of life and cards are dished out, including to you. I included stuff like Coercive Portal, No Mercy, Adarkar Valkyrie, Humble Defector, Starke of Rath, and Ogre Slumlord. Basically the deck counts on a lot of death triggers and takes advantage of that. Win conditions include the classic Insurrection (not as cheap a win in a political deck like this), Overwhelming Splendor (Goblin Sharpshooter included), Revel in Riches (pick your package of board wipes to help get you there, Mardu has all of 'em, plus access to Teferi's Protection to ensure you get to your upkeep after you get enough treasure), a slew of "don't mess with me" instant-speed stuff like Backlash, Delirium, Deflecting Palm, Boros Fury-Shield, Comeuppance, and Master Warcraft. You can be political with those too. Tell your opponent you don't want them attacking and you won't have to do something bad to them. They might call your bluff initially, but after a couple times, they may likely think about it more. I included Sunforger to tutor all those up (as well as tutor my other instant speed removal like Go for the Throat, Terminate, etc.), but it's not necessary to make the deck work, although it does make Mathas a 7/3 with menace. I threw in some really good value stuff like Sepulchral Primordial (since things will be going to yards) and Sangromancer for more death happenings value. Blade of the Bloodchief since Mathas is a vampire. Seal of Doom and Seal of Cleansing as rattlesnakes and Sun Titan to recur and reuse those (as well as other permenents).
Queen Marchesa can be used in a similar way.
Current EDH
UThassa, God of the Sea devotion control
WRGTana, the Bloodsower & Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa partners weenie tokens
UUnesh, Criosphinx Sovereign Sphinx tribal
WUTaigam, Ojutai Master tokens on the rebound spellslinger
GRhonas the Indomitable green creature beats
UGRashmi, Eternities Crafter ETB tribal
Retired EDH
WURGKynaios and Tiro of Meletis group hug
URThe Locust God draw swarm
UTalrand, Sky Summoner funsies blue spells
WBObzedat, Ghost Council life gain/drain
UB Vela the Night-Clad BUDecklist
WBG Ghave, Guru of Spores GBW
WUBRGThe Ur-DragonWUBRGDecklist
Blue is my favorite color in MTG so I would love to make a blue deck with all of the screwy antics that it provides, and Boros_Blendo’s suggestion of Polymorphist’s Jest makes me even more excited as that is probably my favorite card in Magic! I also like the options that Mathas provides and the Bribery counters are very intriguing. One of our group has a Gwafa Hazid, Profiteer deck that has a few antics in it, and when we run 2hg they would make a fantastic combo with getting out bounty counters with Gwafa preventing creatures from attacking!
I looked up what the Pillowfort style is, it would probably work for what I want if I can find a good commander to go with it. White seems to be the easiest Pillowfort color so Mathas would be a good fit. Gashnaw suggested a 5 color Pillowfort deck, is there a commander you had in mind to oversee that deck? I could just switch out whatever combos people go for in Pillowfort decks for more crazy antics!
EDIT: Other than not having Blue colors, my only other hesitation with Mathas would be that one of the other members has an Edgar Markov deck that he uses every game and I feel like he has cards that can take control of other vampires on the field... Because I believe he has another card that changes every creature on the field to a vampire in addition to it’s other types and he has stolen all of our creatures that way before and swung for game. Right before the board was wiped, but still, haha.
Grandpa Ed is popular. The Edgar Markov player may have things to take control of creatures of any creature type, but I don't think of vampires specifically (at least I can't think of a card that takes control of target vampire, except making it a vampire after control such as New Blood). Something like Captivating Vampire, which I'm sure is a staple in Edgar decks.
Would it help in those situations to include some creature protection? Lightning Greaves and Swiftfoot Boots are easy suggestions, but Homeward Path should be an easy include (and ways to tutor it up possibly). Mother of Runes and Obsidian Acolyte can help protect against targeted theft effects from black sources - and allow you to block all those black vampires with impunity. There could be a bunch of good stuff I'm not thinking about at the moment. With all of his vampires (and even better if there are a few other tribal decks floating around your meta), a Tsabo's Decree might be in order.
A blue commander option would allow spot and mass bounce removal to take back all creatures player's own to their hans to kind of reset and theft control effects. Devastation Tide, Wash Out, Evacuation, Whelming Wave, the new River's Rebuke for a targeted Cyclonic Rift, and I'm sure an Overburden would put a number on an Edgar Markov or any other creature heavy deck.
Gwafa Hazid, Profiteer and Mathas, Fiend Seeker do seem like a fun pair. Mathas can bring some added "counters matter" cards to supplement Gwafa with like Hunter of Eyeblights (also good against an Edgar Markov deck that puts +1 counters on things on all the vamps) and Kulrath Knight does a good Gwafa impression if he isn't on the field.
EDIT: Holding up an Aetherize or Aetherspouts if you feel a mass steal and swing coming on would help too.
Current EDH
UThassa, God of the Sea devotion control
WRGTana, the Bloodsower & Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa partners weenie tokens
UUnesh, Criosphinx Sovereign Sphinx tribal
WUTaigam, Ojutai Master tokens on the rebound spellslinger
GRhonas the Indomitable green creature beats
UGRashmi, Eternities Crafter ETB tribal
Retired EDH
WURGKynaios and Tiro of Meletis group hug
URThe Locust God draw swarm
UTalrand, Sky Summoner funsies blue spells
WBObzedat, Ghost Council life gain/drain
I can say for sure that our Edgar guy runs both New Blood and Captivating Vampire, because he kept stealing Gisela, Blade of Goldnight from one of the guys last week and tried wreaking havoc with her. But we just have too many board wipes in our playgroup to make his creature decks very viable unless he goes crazy aggro, which is rough in a 4-7 person free for all. His most consistent win cons are with the lifegain he has in the deck and dealing damage when he gains life with sanguine bond. He doesn’t combo out with exquisite blood, but he has ways of getting a good amount of life. Makes me want to make an Oloro deck to fight his lifegain, haha.