The Kermesse of St George by Pieter Brueghel the Younger (1628). Vial Smasher The FIerce by Deruchenko Alexander.
So you just bought one of the 2017 preconstructed ("precon") Commander decks and you're eager to dive into the murky waters of a new (to you) format.
Well, let me start by saying...
Welcome to Commander!
You are embarking on what I hope is a long, winding, fun-filled journey. I got into EDH a few years ago and since then I have played hundreds of games, assembled a fantastic playgroup, started up a successful EDH league, built dozens of decks, and written several dozen articles about EDH. I have won games through combo, infect, aggro and some of the goofiest shenanigans I could ever hope to get away with in a game of Magic the Gathering. I have also had my share of horrible games and have made more game-losing misplays than I would ever want to try to recount.
Through the good games and the bad, my love of this format has continued to grow. Today I'm going to sift through my experiences and try to share 10 things I think are important to know about the format you're jumping into. I won't dive into any of these topics too deeply, and some of them will weigh heavily with my own opinion.
10. Where Commander Comes From
The format of Commander was invented by Magic judges and was originally called "Elder Dragon Highlander". I've heard that it was a way to pass time between rounds but I suspect it was more often played between days of 2 day events. The games can go really long, judges are generally working (not playing) and to me that just makes more sense. I'm sure for a deep dive into the history of the format you can find lots of resources online.
The "Elder Dragon" part of Elder Dragon Highlander refers to the original elder dragons, which were used as commanders. The original Elder Dragons are Arcades Sabboth, Chromium, Nicol Bolas, Palladia-Mors and Vaevictis Asmadi. Of the five, Nicol Bolas is the only one that sees any significant amount of play these days. The rest have been outclassed by a long line of quality commanders both from Commander precon decks and from the legendary creatures that get included in regular Magic sets.
The "Highlander" part is a reference to a 1986 fantasy film in which one of the more memorable quotes was "There can be only one". Commander is a singleton format, meaning you can only have one of any card outside of basic lands. If you haven't seen Highlander, it's worth checking out, but do yourself a favor and don't bother with any of the sequels. There can be only one.
The format was formally adopted by Wizards of the Coast in 2011 when they released the first set of official "precon" Commander decks and it has been growing every since.
9. The Format is REALLY Varied
Commander decks can range an awful lot in power and playstyle to the point where one could argue that we really aren't all playing the same format.
We have decks that can reliably combo off before turn 5 and we have decks that can durdle around forever and never actually win a game. Your average deck might literally never be able to win against a top tier deck, the disparity in power level is so great. Playing with these super-fast decks is called "Competitive EDH" or "cEDH", but there isn't a hard line between strong (but still midrange) EDH and cEDH.
This wide range has occurred in part because we are able to use cards from the entire history of Magic. That means we have the most powerful of spells available to us, if we can afford to buy them. It also means we have an incredible freedom to explore deck styles, themes and strategies, even with the restriction of having to build in a singleton format.
Another major factor in the huge disparity of power levels is that players enjoy the format for different reasons. Some are highly competitive and are driven to build their decks to be as powerful, efficient and effective as possible. Other players are looking for a social experience, love the multiplayer aspect, and are looking for great stories of long games with lots of twists and turns along the way. I've even seen players who seem to take delight in trolling their opponents and making things as difficult or frustrating for them as possible.
We've got all manner of decks and all kinds of players and that means it can be very challenging to assemble a playgroup of players who both mesh well together and play at about the same level of competitiveness. Take that challenge on - it will totally be worth it.
8. Take Online Advice with a Grain of Salt
The fact that the format is incredibly varied has a huge impact on how people interact online. You can ask nearly any question about EDH and get a wide range of answers. Everyone sees the format through the lens of their personal experiences and many will engage with people online as if their "take" on Commander represents the "truth" about the format. Sometimes it does, but often enough it doesn't.
If you go online and ask if a certain card or commander is "viable" or if you should add it to your deck, pay attention to the folks who not just offer up an opinion but are also willing to get into a longer discussion and can explain their position convincingly. Just because "card X" might be terrible for one player because of the decks they have to play against doesn't mean it might not be perfectly fine for you to play. Your "meta" is the environment you play in, and that's really what matters.
That doesn't mean it isn't worth going online to get advice.
A classic "litmus test" of bad deckbuilding is whether or not you use guildgates in your decks. They enter tapped. They provide no benefit other than the ability to tap for more than one color. There are better lands. That said - if everyone else in your group uses them too, it's not like using them will put you at a competitive disadvantage. They're cheap, they're a little slow but lots of EDH games are long. In the grand scheme of things if you feel OK running them, you should run them. If you don't... then don't.
Just don't let some jerk tell you that you're a shitty deckbuilder for running them. Commander is a wide and varied enough format for players to be able to have fun running "sub-optimal" cards. Play the cards you want to play, have as much fun as humanly possible even if you're playing guildgates. That, in a nutshell, is how to win at Commander.
7. Proxies are a Touchy Subject
Don't ever go into a game store, EDH league or even someone's house and expect them to let you play if you don't have all the cards for your EDH deck ACTUALLY be in the deck and ACTUALLY be real, genuine, legal Magic cards.
Some folks like to mess around with "proxied" cards. That means they use something that isn't a real Magic card in place of a real Magic card in their deck. It might look amazing and look just like the real card. It might be a black and white printout or even a basic land with something written in sharpie on it. There are all kinds of proxies and the use of proxies in EDH is one of the more heavily disputed topics in the format.
They have their reasons for wanting to proxy cards. They may only own one of an expensive card, or want to run it in multiple decks and don't want to bother moving it around. They also might not want to risk an expensive card getting damaged through play. Maybe they don't even own the card but think it should be fine to just pretend they have a copy so that games don't get decided based upon who has the best-paying job. My point here isn't to defend or promote proxies, but to point out that folks who support their use have their reasons.
Everyone has an opinion about the use of proxies and from my experience they can sometimes be very strong opinions.
I'm here to tell you that there is ONLY ONE QUESTION that matters in regard to proxies.
What does your playgroup think about them?
If your playgroup supports using them, then fine - use 'em. If they don't like using proxies then don't use them. More than anything else, I think what matters is that your group has a consistent and fair policy and that everyone follows it. To have some players proxying tons of expensive cards and other players trying to go by the "I only play real cards" philosophy is asking for trouble.
For my part - no, I don't use proxies. We have allowed them in casual games if someone has a card in the mail and just can't wait to see how it plays in their deck OR if a card hasn't been released yet and they want to test out a deck to see how the deck will run. It doesn't matter what I or anyone else does. Do what you want and find a way to play Commander that works for you and your friends.
6. Get Used to Losing
EDH is a multiplayer game. You will often have games with three, four or even five opponents. Some players enjoy even larger games. As a result, you will probably find that you can go a long time between winning games. Anyone with a competitive streak is going to find that occasionally frustrating.
All I can say is that you'll do yourself a favor by accepting that you will probably lose a lot of games.
Don't get so resigned to losing that you stop trying to improve your decks - tweaking your decks after a run of losses is a huge part of the EDH experience. You still may never have a deck that wins more than half of its games, but that's the sort of performance most Commander players should be very happy with.
Keeping your expectations reasonable - winning about a quarter of your games - may help you avoid getting "salty" when things don't go your way, and often enough, they won't. Everyone else is also trying to win, after all.
Having a group where everyone wins games is hugely important. If you have a situation where one player seems to always win or someone else never seems to win, that's a problem. Having a range of decks so that after you get a win you can switch up - possibly to a weaker deck - is worth considering. A side benefit is that you'll have lots of fun deckbuilding projects and you'll get to explore even more of what this format has to offer.
5. Resist the Urge to Ban Cards
Commander has a rules committee and they periodically review the cards available in the format and adjust the current banlist. Sometimes cards get banned and sometimes banned cards get unbanned. Most EDH players have strong opinions about the banlist, but few of them could probably do a better job than the current rules committee.
As mentioned before, we all see Commander through the lens of our own game experience. As a result, we all have an idea of what cards are the most powerful and there may be some we feel are unfair. As players upgrade their decks and improve their skills you will see the power balance in your playgroup shift back and forth over time. If someone starts abusing a powerful card, I'd urge you to resist the temptation to ban it.
There are always answers to powerful cards and powerful decks. If you are unable to find "answers" and you are unable to find political solutions to powerful opponents (i.e. ganging up on them), the next step isn't to kick the player out of your group. Talk to them. Ask them to build some other types of decks. Ask them to occasionally use other people's decks if they're incapable of building decks that don't dominate play. Suggest having everyone play a deck that isn't their own every once in a while, just to mix things up.
You can also ask them to help you improve your own decks so you can better compete at their level. Most friends would be happy to do this and it's a far better solution than just banning a card, banning a deck, or even kicking someone out of your playgroup entirely.
4. Be the Adult in the Room
You'll play lots of games where people get pissy about how things go. Maybe they got screwed over badly. Maybe something else in their life is going poorly and they really needed a good game to help brighten their mood. Maybe they're always a bad loser. Everyone is different, and you too will have your bad moments where you get snippy or say something unkind or act in an unsportsmanlike manner. It happens.
When I tell you to "be the adult in the room" I know full well that lots of adults wind up acting like children when in the wrong mood or under the wrong circumstances.
I'm asking you to rise above it all and do your best to be kind, patient and to always try to play with good sportsmanship.
If you have a bad moment and say or do something you regret later, the next time you see these people you should simply apologize.
If you were a jerk, say you're sorry for being a jerk the other day. It doesn't take that much effort or time and it's the right thing to do. In doing that, you'll also be setting an example for others. Commander is supposed to be a fun way to play Magic with friends. It's a casual, social format.
Don't let winning ever get more important than maintaining healthy and strong friendships with the folks you play against.
3. Don't Scoop
Scooping to me means quitting the game without the consent of your opponents.
If someone has the game locked down and nobody has a way to win but it's going to be a long, painful grind to get to where the game is actually over, my bet is that everyone will probably agree to pick up their cards and start a new game. That's fine. Everyone's on the same page. That's not scooping.
Don't ever pick up your cards because things simply aren't going your way or you're just trying to screw over someone else by "strategically" scooping in the middle of a game. Even if the rules allow you to leave the game at any time, it's classic bad sportsmanship to scoop at just the right time to screw over someone who is doing better than you.
Newsflash: You're Going to Lose Games!
Get over it.
Let them have their victory, even if it's at your expense.
I should point out that even if there are only two of you left, you are being a little selfish by scooping. Most players want to enjoy the final moments of closing out a win. It's not something most players experience all that often so they should be able to savor the moment. You declaring that there's no way you can come back and just picking up your cards may be robbing them of that positive moment. They may not win that often. Give them the chance to get you down to your very last life point, shake their hand (or better yet - give them a high-five) and congratulate them on their victory.
Also know that many players think it's perfectly fine to pick up their cards at the most strategically inconvenient time (scoop) just to mess with an opponent who is doing well. Most players are used to this happening occasionally. Some players go so far as to think it is hilarious. Some players refuse to ever play again with someone who does this. If you pull this kind of crap with someone you don't know, just be aware the reaction you get might be a strong one.
2. Be Wary of Prize Support
When folks start playing for money, the focus on having fun often gets lost. If there's a prize at the end, you can't blame anyone for bringing their best deck and most expensive cards to the game. In some formats that wouldn't be a big deal but in Commander the disparity in power level between decks means that you're apt to have situations where new players might as well just hand their money over to the local spike who has a deck so brutal there's little chance they will ever be able to beat it.
That may sound like hyperbole, but if the only game in town is one where you're paying to play and competing for prizes, my bet is that it will get more and more degenerate over time. When you play in games with prize support you are risking putting yourself in a situation where someone plays a deck so much better than yours that you might as well just hand them your money and not even play. Sometimes the loss is almost inevitable.
If you play for fun with no money involved, when you get stomped (and you will) at the very least you won't have the added aggravation having paid for the stomping you received.
There's certainly a place for competitive play in EDH. The problem is that most players won't be able to keep up with "top tier" decks and if that's what they're constantly faced with many of them will drift away from the format. Competitive EDH at its worst, where cEDH players "pubstomp" casuals for fun, is toxic for the format. Competitive EDH at its best is good fun between amazing decks and amazing players.
Until you're ready to deal with the highest tiers of Commander decks, my advice is to avoid "pay-in" games and tournaments and try to play for fun.
1. Have Fun
This may seem like a running theme in this and my other blog posts, but this is really important to me. You're not playing Commander to win prizes, planeswalker points or entrance into a Grand Prix. You're playing Commander to have fun with your friends. Never forget that.
If you and your friends have fun playing cEDH, playing with proxies, playing with banned cards or playing with an even mix of Magic, Pokemon and Yugioh cards, have at it. Lots of EDH players play with minor changes to the rules (we use 13 for our infect count), and they're still playing Commander.
It goes without saying that the more you diverge from the strict EDH Rules Committee banlist and rules for the format, the less you'll actually be playing Commander, but that's fine. What matters is that you're having a good time with your friends - yes, even if you're playing with Guildgates. Nothing else really matters.
Final Thoughts
In trying to wrap up this week's writing, it strikes me that there is a lot more I could have said.
Do you need to be warned of the importance of looking carefully at other players' battlefields before committing to an attack? Should I have suggested that it's a really good idea to ask questions to save everyone the time of you walking around the table scanning your opponents cards, or that a player should never misrepresent their boardstate? Maybe but if someone had told me that when I started playing I probably still would have swung into the Maze of Ith sitting right next to me on my friend's board a few years ago. Some things just come with practice and there is no substitute for playing lots of games.
One last thought about using social media in regards to getting into Commander. Don't be that guy/gal that asks dumb questions on the EDH facebook or reddit groups. Always first ask your dumb questions to google. It's pretty impressive how many other people have asked the same dumb questions, and how good google is at bringing you the (usually right) answers. Most of us don't mind answering questions but there are way too many trolls and jerks out there and you'll save yourself a look at the darker side of the EDH community if you first do your own research and use those groups as a last resort when you really can't figure something out.
If you do want to get more games in and assembling a playgroup isn't quite enough, you should consider talking to your LGS about starting a league. It's a great way to make sure that the few times a week you can make it to your game store, there's going to be Commander games to be played. If you're there all the time, you probably get your share of games in, but if you're like me and can only get away a few times a week, it can make a world of difference. It's also a great feeling to work to build up a community of players - I highly recommend forming an EDH league. I don't think you'll regret it.
So I guess that's 13 things to know about Commander. As I predicted, this was rife with opinion but hopefully I didn't let too much bad advice seep in. This blog post is in itself "advice on EDH found on the Internet" so you should already know to take it with a grain of salt. I hope it helps you get into the format and have as much fun as humanly possible playing Commander.
Thanks for reading and see you next week!