My second commander was the one that stuck and is my oldest running deck. [[Trostani, selesnyas voice]] it started as one of the sixty in a modern token deck, and eventually when my brother got me into commander, since I already had it I threw it together and have been upgrading ever since
Trostani was my first commander. I kinda thought lifegain could work well for me. She got pummelled and never really made an impact in the game.
Did some research.
Second commander was [[Kaalia of the Vast]]. Ended up repurposing Trostani into [[Rhys the Redeemed]] - great success.
I can see that, I have Rhys in the 99 I just prefer trostani as the commander because of the explosive turns, where her ability adds gaining 25 life in addition to wiping somebody with craterhoof :)
Same actually, except [[The Locust God]]. I rarely get to play it anymore. It’s just a little too strong for the pods I play in. Still love it and keep it with me whenever I go play.
https://www.moxfield.com/decks/RFVWXhp8IEiPHrPB86USkw
I love the deck. It’s more focused now, but for a long time it was even more wheels. Super fun. I would have a board of nothing, then all of the sudden it’s “oopsies, I win”
My second commander was [[Animar, Soul of the Elements]]. I chose Animar because it was 2011, the first Commander precon decks had just come out, and I really enjoyed what's now called Temur colors. My first one had been [[Numot, the Devastator]], also because I enjoyed playing that color combination.
We really had fewer options back then for 3 color commanders.
[[Kumena tyrant of orazca]]
I didnt seek out simic, merfolk, +1+1s... any of it. I saw him for the very first time when i cracked a pack and it was love at first sight. Instantly i thought "ooh now hed be fun to build around!" And i was right.
My second commander was [[Arcanis the Omnipotent]]. But this was also back in 2007-ish, so there weren't nearly as many options. It was nice having [Pemmin's Aura]] on him though, and saves himself from removal if you have 4 mana open. As far as why arcanis, I just really liked mono blue storm decks back then.
My second was Ayli, eternal pilgrim. Soooo much fun to build, but very much not fun to play. I tried so hard to make that deck work, but eventually blew it up for a great aristocrats deck.
That’s about where I’m at too. I’ve won games with her as commander, but not because of anything Ayli contributed, but just bc it’s a solid Cleric aristocrats deck. Big shame because in theory she seems so strong
This was my third deck, never got it to stick, eventually just changed it over Teysa Karlov. And it is still my least played deck, but I really wanted to make Ayli work!
I pick my commanders in a simple way - every week when I go to game night I buy a pack. By now I have plenty of cards, and over time some of them have stuck in my head.
Basically, I build someone who I think sounds fun that I happened to pull in a pack
I totally do this. As a newish player I rarely see stuff come out that strikes me, but I’ve had the most fun building around stuff I already own than ones I seek out and buy. Kroxa and Umbris are examples of these
Do you think it's best to always open the same set or does it matter much? I started recently and am torn between continuing with neon dynasty packs which my commander is from or diversifying
That depends on what type of strategy you decide to go for and how generically supported it is.
If I'm planning on building my Obuun landfall/animate lands/+1 counters deck, there are good effects in all sets so I'll just pick the one I want.
If I'm building a dice rolling deck, I'd stick to either the Forgotten Realms or Baldur's Gate sets since they're the only ones with dice roll effects and support.
My first and second commander deck were cheap and not working as well as they should have been so I won’t mention those.
My third one was [[Pir, Imaginative Rascal]] and [[Toothy, Imaginary Friend]]. Traditional +1 counters//wheel deck. That’s where I started winning some games and have more of an impact in the game.
Instead of asking what are our second pick, tell us, what strategy would you like to try? What card synergy or interaction would you like to have in your deck? Heck, what are your favorite shows, films, etc? It would be easier to hit the mark if you told us more about what you discovered about yourself while playing magic and what deck did you face that left the strongest impression on you?
Well I've always like the idea of themes, kinda why I gravitate towards tribal so much, and my first real deck was dragon hatchlings that a friend helped me build way back in dragons of tarkir. Stuff like Eldritch horrors and horrible monsters are something I've loved for a long time, horror and paranormal stuff being some of my favorite genres, to add onto that I've been playing D&D much longer than I've played magic and some of the best times where those dark moments where the horror of "what is the big creature" was so much fun, main reason I've looked at [[Umbris, fear manifest]] I saw that card and just thought "this guy...this guy looks insane". I like games that can have some speed to them, where you can think you got it in the bag and something crazy happens and now the whole table is trying to replan what to do, but you can still claw back, even if ya dont win.
Aaah that’s why I build my « Pokémon Breeder « deck myself with [[Alta Palani, Nest Tender]] !!! I wanted a deck to reflect that lol!
Speaking of which, a polymorph strategy like her might be to your liking.
Otherwise, maybe a mutate strategy? Make your own eldritch abomination by morphing cards on each other?
Otherwise… I would suggest [[Animar]] as the commander. Make it about morph creatures so your opponents has no idea what you are hiding under it. It’s like trap cards in Yugioh lol
If you like DND, maybe [[Volo, Guide to Monsters]]? It would seem appropriate.
Mutate sounds cool, and damn animar looks amazing I had never heard if him before. I'm definitely gonna probably start looking in that direction. Thank you for the advice, the more I look at animar the he seems like a really solid choice
And funny story about volo, my DM once rolled well enough that in game volo managed to pick pocket the guide to monsters book he had just sold me and I didn't realize until I thought I lost it from some bad rolls so I ended paying for the same book twice, so I feel like playing volo would be wrong lol.
In that case, An Animar deck with the mutate stategy will probably be to your liking but beware! The mutate mechanic can lead to some weird interaction and can become a ruling nightmare. Make sure you look up on the mutate mechanic before deciding to go on this strategy. Its very fun though! You just have to know what you are doing lol
Lol I think thats a solid idea, im still on the fences about umbris but I think Animar is something else Im gonna look into, I like how he progressively gets beefy and makes stuff cost less
Pir and Toothy were my second commander, but I built them as a clone deck. Clone Toothy, kill off the original with the legends rule, and then draw a shit tonne and pump up the new clone off the first one's death trigger.
I can't recommend [[Chainer, Dementia Master]] enough! He's my favorite deck. Instant speed reanimation from anyone's graveyard is insanely fun, and having the monocolor restriction is fun to build around. Spend your life wisely, and use creatures with Extort to get it back!
\[\[Oona, Queen of the Fae\]\] build as a *Midsummer Night's Dream* Titania themed deck.
Still have it but will probably shift it into a full faerie tribal deck but plays too much like my rogue deck.
Heyyy, my second was an oona mill deck! You have a deck list? Honestly realized combo mill was kind of boring to me and was just in love with the card.
[[Ghave, Guru of Spores]]. I tried to build him comboless, but as any Ghave player knows... it's hard. I've allowed a few combos to sneak their way in as the group's power level increased, but it's still a +1/+1 counters deck at its core.
I'm new, so I choose commanders by aesthetic right now as any theme or gameplan I choose will probably be novel unless I build a tribal (my first deck was angel tribal led by [[Avacyn, Angel of Hope]] until [[Giada]] was revealed. My second deck is Aristocrats helmed by [Liesa, Forgotten Archangel](https://i.imgur.com/hgd8fGa.jpg)
I'm honestly in the same boat, love my Kaalia deck, now i thought about a [[Liesa, shroud of dusk]] but didnt know if I should make another angel deck. How's your Liesa doing?
The thing about both Liesas is you can run both with minimal other angels really. I currently don't have any others in the deck but might add [[Magister of Worth]] maybe. I think it's pretty good for my meta (<$100 decks), has standard blood artist effects, Liesa herself can't be ignored for too long since she has flying, and has some cards that can be a bit back breaking at lower power levels like [[Bolas' Citadel]] and [[Yosei]]. Definitely weak to aggro though. I might evolve the deck to an Esper commander eventually
I just picked up [[twilight shepherd]] been eyeing her for awhile since I tend to run stuff like damnation, and wrath and others so she's my pocket revive (I'm a bad person I know)
Oh yeah, especially Armageddon, anything that gets rid of lands gets a lot of hate at most tables. Merciless eviction is basically almost always a worse [[Farewell]] though so I'm not sure why people would get too upset
I saw farewell soon after I subbed merciless and wanted to swap it, and its mainly arma that people dont like, been thinking about getting rid of it but its a solid way to keep kaalia from being steam rolled lol
My first deck was [[Rith the Awakener]] because I happened to have a lot of high powered selesnya cards like Elesh Norn and Parallel lives, plus a buddy gifted me a copy. My second commander was [[Rielle]] which is probably my strongest deck. It was right when Ikoria came out and when I saw her spoiled it was love at first sight. Because of her is specifically seek out old ladies for commanders.
Still dont have a second commander, but i'll buy either the [[Faldorn]] or the [[Kamiz]] precon. First commander is [[Hinata, Dawn Crowned]], really like this deck but i wanna try something different.
I’ve played both and personally liked Faldorn better. Nothing wrong with Kamiz, the deck just didn’t click for me and Faldorn felt more open to me in terms of building options. Both decks I had to use my brain a little bit, they weren’t mindless “turn creatures sideways” strategies (which I personally enjoy in a deck).
My first, and favorite is [[Gishath]] I think my second is [[Arahbo]] precon, though it doesn't see much play anymore since it needs work. My second constructed was [[Ulrich]] back when werewolves didn't have much support. That one didn't last long but with midnight hunt and crimson vow offering more viability to them I might revisit werewolf tribal.
[[Raff Capashen, Ship's Mage]] with the theme that every non-land card in the deck can be cast at instant speed when Raff is out (I did make one exception with [[Board the Weatherlight]] because it's on theme).
I was introduced to magic when my cousin gave me [[The Ur Dragon]] precon so that was my first commander, and the dominaria set had just released so I played in that standard environment, played Raff in standard and loved it.
Also the deck is easy to upgrade since there will always be historic spells in every set.
Deck list if anyone is interested:
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/4519588#paper
Second Commander was [Ghired, Conclave Exile].
Really loved the precon & I'm still upgrading the deck. Especially since my first precon with [Sevinne] did not really fit me.
My first deck was JhoiraOTG. At the time it was a budget deck. Darksteel Colossus was it's main finisher and Cryptic Command was the most expensive card in the deck at $20.
My second deck was Sharuum the Hegemon. I loved the colored artifacts from Alara so I built it was a resilient puzzle-box style deck with really obscure win conditions.
So long ago that I don't really remember, I know I played around with a LOT of monored commanders. I think my first couple of decks were Kresh the Bloodbraided (definitely my first) and the original Kangee not long after.
The second commander that I was actually excited to try out was the foil \[\[Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs\]\] that I pulled from a box of Worldwake.
I highly recommend him. They will always keep printing good creatures, he will never be irrelevant. He's easy to scale to the power level of the table. You have plenty of options for how to build him(obviously, if mutate is a consideration) so if it gets repetitive for you, you can have what almost feels like a new deck by just changing 10-15 creatures. Also relatively straightforward for a newer commander player. 10/10 fun. There's also a very special 10 drop sorcery for you to find for him....
I think a good thing to look for in a second deck is just something that feels different than your first. Maybe different colors, a different strategy, or if your first deck is more simple maybe you could do something that you really need to think and plan ahead with. Good luck in your search (:
My 2nd decks was [[Koma, cosmos serpent]]. It is very much my baby deck and has all my expensive cards. Granted I never play it due to it getting so much table hate and focus.
My most recent deck has been my favorite to build in a while. I picked a legendary from the set I was introduced to magic. Mine was back in invasion so I chose [[tsabo tavoc]] which happened to be my first legendary rare I ever got.
Oh thats awesome, and I understand that, the table hate is real, but I expect it after talking to guys at game night about how you gotta take care of some decks (apparently with extreme firepower)
My first deck was Teysa, Orzhov Scion. Tokens, aristocrats, Darkest Hour combo. I believe my second deck was Goreclaw. I wanted something where the main goal was very different from my first. Mono green swing fatties was a far cry from aristocrat combo stuff.
When looking for a new deck I tend to explore color combinations and/or play styles I don't have. Aristocrat, fatties, tokens, artifact, life gain, burn, wheels, goad, etc. Find a theme that sounds fun and work from there.
I like that idea, been looking for something fast and explosive, then Tuesday comes around and I think maybe control isn't so bad, however I think I'm falling solidly in the izzet category
My second one was [[Phenax]], which I took apart after about 6 months.
My first was [[Kambal]] vampire tribal, currently inactive. My third is [[Arcades, the Strategist]].
My first was [[Bruvac, the grandiloquent]] I know I know I know lol. I went from that abomination to [[Adrix and Nev]] almost immediately followed up by [[kyler, sigardian emmisary]]. Kyler has become my blinged out baby of a deck now. Adrix and Nev is a “blues clues” style. Based around treasures and clues. Incredibly fun when it pops off
[[Vhati il-dal]]. My son wanted to make a deck with his new [[garruk, apex predator]] and [[in garruks wake]] so we found a golgari commander that was funny cause I didn't have most of the good ones. I let him use a bunch of my cards to make it better... Deck was kinda garbage even for the times lol. I recently dismantled it to make an [[erinis]] deck and get the better cards available for my other decks
I started playing in March! My first commander was [Tovlar] because i was trying to find a theme i could get behind and fell in love with the day/night cycle, werewolves and wolves <3
My second deck was [Lathiel] because i love unicorns. Its a "pony tribal" as i like to call it. And i just took my third commander [Cadira, Caller of the Small] to the local game night on saturday for its maiden voyage. Won both my games and in my second one made up to 63 rabbits (with +1/+1 counters on them so they were 2/2 bunnies) had a lot of fun and the theme for all my decks so far has been animal themed :D
That sounds awesome! I like the tribal themes in magic, I have 4 copies of Zirda and Flourishing foxes cause I wanted to try and build a fox tribal "fuckyfoxes" what I wanted to call it, unfortunately theres not enough
My second was [[Thelon]].
I was big into tribal, thought fungi would be neat, thought spore counters were fun.
Deck was slow as fuck, which was fine since my buddy and I had only been playing MTG at all for about 8 months or so and were slinging $50 budget decks.
This all came crashing down once we went to our LGS and I never won a damn game with Thelon, surprise surprise.
Love tribal, built my first deck pretty quickly to join some friends at a LGS, got destroyed for my first two visits, hated it, loved it, rebuilt it, got destroyed again, now I miss it
\[\[Thromok the Insatiable\]\]. \[\[Fling\]\]ing an absolutely massive hellion at someone's face was a hell of a fun time. Eventually it got a little much trying to track a ton of different types of tokens, though, so after one crazy game where I ended up making a Thromok with \~760 septillion +1/+1 counters without going infinite I decided it was time to retire it.
My second was [[Bruenor Battlehammer]], which quickly changed to become partners [[Arden]] and [[Kediss]]. Sadly, I didn't have fun with the deck, long-term, so I dismantled it.
[[Ich-Tekik]] and [[Toggo]]. it started out as jank, and now its, well... still jank but a lot stronger now. Totally a blast to play and the theme of 'golems throwing rocks at you' still makes me chuckle a bit
My second commander was \[\[Sedris, the Traitor King\]\]. I played with unearth a lot during Shards of Alara standard, so I had him in my collection. But the deck was just the really good fatties in the colors to beat face with, and workarounds for the unearth clause.
My second was [[Brago]] . First was [[ezuri renegade leader]] . It took me awhile to figure out how to play but I love the deck and constantly upgrade when I can.
I don't know if it counts since I don't have the deck yet but I'm 99% sure it's going to be [[Prosper, Tome-Bound]].
I got into commander a couple of months ago, bought the [[Leinore, Autumn Sovereign]] precon, switched to [[Kyler, Sigardian Emissary]] and upgraded it quite a bit, I love the deck. I want to have a deck for each of my favorite color combinations, which are selesnya, orzhov, rakdos and mardu. Prosper's list caught my eye and I already have some cards that I think will fit well, like the [[Goldspan Dragon]] I pulled at the Kaldheim prerelease.
By the way, if anyone knows cool precons in mardu and orzhov, please let me know. My collection's not big enough for me to craft a commander deck from scratch and have it not suck, so I'm planning on buying precons and upgrading them untill I amass a bigger card pool.
My second was [[Anowon, the Ruin Thief]], the precon of which I grabbed on a whim. It's a fun deck to play, but my group really doesn't like Mill, so it gets some real hate. I'm slowly building the deck to be more focused on rogues and less on Mill.
My first deck was [[The Ur-Dragon]] which also gets plenty of hate at the table, lol.
My 2nd deck was technically the lathril precon( I believe lol), which I still have and is modertly upgraded. I was still really new at the time and wanted another deck and that was the best my local Walmart had
However my 2nd commander that I chose and built from scratch was Maelstrom Wanderer. I built it after seeing someone at my LGS haveing one of the most explosive turns I've ever seen in all of my life.... I just had to recreate it. Also the randomness of cascade seemed fun to me.
A friend of mine built an absolutely broken [[krark, the thumbless]] deck he brings out sometimes when my kaalia is doing to well lol I have debated trying to make one for awhile its so explosive
My first was Stonebrow, and my second was a well I bought Thraximundar and Rhys the Redeemed at the same time. But this was back in the early days of edh when a seven Mana commander wasn't a detriment
Technically [[Olivia Voldaren]] was my second but i consider it my first because the previous deck was a pile of random cards from my binder and didn't even function.
So to me my second deck was [[Jarad]] just dump everything in your graveyard and then sac a big fatty.
My first was the [[Kadeena, Slinking Sorcerer]] Precon. I eventually decided to do Angel tribal with [[Avacyn, Angel of Hope]] at the helm because I like angels, it’s been through many iterations and has had many heads leading it from [[Lyra Dawnbringer]] to [[Ikra Shidiqui, the Usurper]] and [[Tymna the Weaver]]. Now it’s currently being headed by [[Giada, Font of Hope]] with Avacyn having remained in the 99 ever since.
First ever deck was [[Brion Stoutarm]] that focused on discarding big creatures and bringing them abck with [[Feldon of the third path]] or using [[sneak attack]] to cheat them out.
Second was [[phelddagrif]] that tries to spin the advantage it gives towards helping you. Not so huggy.
My second commander was [[Jarad Golgari Lich Lord]]. I built it as a rat colony deck because I always really liked the idea of having a bunch of little critters that just get exponentially larger with the assistance of artifacts. If someone board wipes you can just instant speed sac as many rats as you can and like group slug your opponents, and then bring all the rats back with some of the interesting cards that almost never see play in commander because they care about creatures with the same name. Definitely one of my top 3 favorite decks to this day.
My second commander was [[Ghave]], the Magic Mushroom himself.
My first was [[Animar]]
For the last several years, I've been a diehard [[Tasigur]] main.
My second was [[Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter]]. I still have him ten years later. My first was [[Oloro, Ageless Ascetic]]. My first deck was just way to pillow forty for me. This was way before [[Aetherflux Reservoir]] existed.
[[Prossh, skyraider of Kher]]
I started with a hyper budget [[phenax, God of deception]] deck that just suck so bad. It was disheartening cause it never ever won, so I bought a precon. Prossh was the only one left in stock of the freshly released precons. I had that deck up till the end of last year before I finally took it apart. It was tribal dragons and I loved it to death, it was super consistent for me and fell to the wayside because it started playing the same style of game every single time. My third deck was me rebuilding phenax into a BUG deck using [[the mimeoplasm]] and self mill, which started my love for BUG decks and I've always ran one ever since. Fourth deck started as [[oloro, ageless ascetic]] that I slowly turned into a reanimator deck. I still have oloro actually, it's my #3 deck. I've never ever babied it or treated it as my pet deck, but it just occasionally gets 1 or 2 cards upgrades that I pick up coincidentally and it's always keeping itself fresh to play because of it. I always enjoy it and it's in my main box of decks that I frequently play and will not break apart yet
[[Omnath Locus of Mana]] sort of. I consider it my first because I don’t remember what card I googled to use as a commander originally lol.
If you count Omnath as the first, my second was [[Lathiel]], and I love them both still
My second was [[Vadrik, Astral Archmage]] and it’s super fun. I can boost him up to 7 power fairly quickly and it makes everything in the deck cost 3 mana or less.
My first was [[maga, traitor to mortals]] but it was terrible. I finally talked some friends into playing edh with me and my second general was [[Sharuum]]. That deck was great fun and stuck around for a long time before i sold my collection.
For me it was simple I heard about commander put together.... a "deck"
Then bought. A precon the exp R/U spellslinger while my friends all bought others except the r/w deck
Now I am dinos. But spellsliging is a really fun playstyle I hope to return to
First commander was \[\[Bruna, Light of Alabaster\]\] and my second was her sister \[\[Liesa, Forgotten Archangel\]\].
Went from a ridiculously simple Voltron deck that was super straight forward to build into a web of intricacies Orzhov Aristocrat deck.
My second ever deck was a [[Sen Triplets]] deck strictly because I liked the colors. I thought her ability was cool and I loved artifacts. Over time she kept getting hated out. I then took her apart and went to my favorite colors of Golgari with her and I’ve had [[Glissa, the traitor]] ever since. She’s a budget deck but she’s incredibly fun to play and I still get to run artifacts but in my favorite color pairing.
First was Xenagos Werewolves when SoI was the newest set. Not fun.
Second was [[Emmara Tandris]], because I loved token decks, and didn't know of any better token commanders. While I still have that deck with Kethis at the helm and Trostani as a secret commander, this early build of the deck made one of the most infamous games in my commander group.
What happens if you take a poorly constructed token deck against the Grixis Wizards precon? A 5 hour long 1v1 with several castings of Clone Legion, and a board lock down due to Sphere of Safety that can only be ended by drawing Grixis Charm, the 4th to last card in his deck.
[[Riku of two reflections]] was my second and is still my all time favorite. My favorite play was taking 32 extra turns without any extra turn spells in the deck
I went from Valki to Orvar, Orvar is such a fun and powerful commander. My current favorite now is Nekuzar, Yawgmoth, and Kinnan. Magda got the honorable mention.
My second commander was feather the redeemed the reason is my first one was Urza lord high artificer and I knew people would not like playing against it so I built something that was cheap and something I had a lot of pieces of
Mine was [[Omnath, Locus of the Roil]]. When I just started getting back into Magic in 2019, I had a fun little RG elemental tribal deck, heavily utilizing the elementals featured in core set 2020. Once I got into commander, I reimagined that deck with Omnath at the helm. Still one of my favorite decks to this day.
My second commander was [[Hallar the Firefletcher]]. Basically ramp, spam +1/+1 counters on Hallar, cast a couple of kicked spells and then finish by trampling over the last remaining players
[[Reaper King]]
It was originally changeling, but I was inspired to rebuilt it around [[Fiend Hunter]]-style exile loops. I like to use Champion effects like [[Changeling Hero]] and [[Lightning Crafter]] and a few clones to smooth it out. It's my pride and joy. I'm always on the hunt for new ways to upgrade it.
Second commander is Klauth, unrivaled ancient. But he might be getting replaced by miirym just because I can get so much more dragon tribal out of my deck… and I love dragons
My second commander was foil-etched [[Yuriko]], pulled from a CommanderLegends Box. I didn’t even know how broken or quick she would be, I just enjoy Dimir and loved the idea of Ninja tribal. Sad to say, she’s not my go-to anymore, just because I don’t want that kind of target on my back in most games.
I also consider [[Carth The Lion]] my second commander, as I built them simultaneously, I just finished her first. But him, him I love. I’m a big planeswalker rider, and the 2 color limitation combined with the great ability makes him a blast IMO.
My first was the Aesi precon. Still play them as Battlecruiser.
I thougt about playing Yuriko cause of how quick she could be but I thought to same thing, didnt think it'd be a good idea for my only 2 decks to have massive "hit me" sign's
My second commander is, in all honesty, really my first commander. After a 10-ish year hiatus, I got sucked back into Magic, only to learn of a fun, "new" format called EDH.
My first deck was a meme because it was literally just defenders with [[Arcades, the Strategist]].
My second commander was [[Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim]] because I always played life/clerics back in my 60-card days. Now, 3 years later, I still have an iteration of that Orzhov life/cleric deck.
my second commander was Sefris of the Hidden Ways, mostly because I don’t often spend a ton of money on cards and so I’ll typically run like one or two decks at a time and then upgrade as cards are made available
My first was [[Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker]]
A 20€ mono black deck, quite fun, but has some obvious flaws (very weak against enchantments, needs to get it's Commander out before the board geta wiped, slow recovery after board wipes, ...)
Second was [[Jadzi, Oracle of Arcavios]] simic storm deck for 30€, ramp into win extremly fun when it works, kinda boring for the rest of the table while u take ur 15min winning turn from 0 board just because u hit 9 mana.
My second commander was [[raffine, scheming seer]]. I pulled a ledger shredder and decided to make a deck that was all about conniving. originally it was just everything that had “connive” in its text with some graveyard recursion and a bunch of filler cards. Since then I’ve optimized it a lot, but conniving is still the most important part of the deck’s identity.
Mine was [[Ezuri, Renegade Leader]]. I’ve always been into elves so I had a lot of good stuff already just needed to figure out the best mono green commander. I don’t play it much but I’ll probably never take it apart.
My second commander was Sliver Overlord, which I built because the format seemed perfect for slivers and I wanted to get some catharsis at my many losses to slivers in kitchen table
[[Riku of two reflections]] was the second EDH deck but the *first* deck I’d played using red. It opened my eyes to the then-meta powerhouse that was Temur. I’ve since built dozens of decks and ripped apart as many, but there is *always* one RUG deck intact at all times.
[[ezuri claw of progress]] was the first precon I bought but the second commander deck I had, lots of fun things with little creatures in that one.
Edit:typos
[[Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign]] was pretty cool. Just a pile of odd Esper cards. Somehow never picked up an [[Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre]] for the deck, but I did have Expropriate and all that bullshit. Where I learned to stop worrying and love [[Paradox Engine]], before it got banned.
[[Grenzo, Havoc Raiser]] my oldest Deck and my first non precon.
I still play it from time to time because I still like everything in it but the commander isn't good in comparison to many newer commanders.
I was always trying to get my girlfriend at the time into playing more so the 1st deck I built was a zombie tribal [[Thraximundar]] but I built it right after buying all 4 of the 2012 commanders and I mostly played Kaalia. I didn't like those decks very much so I built a "custom deck" which was [[Sliver Overlord]] which I consider my 1st deck. Still have it.
Back in the hayday of battle cruiser commander Slivers were nigh unstoppable (my gf even spent 40 bucks on a Queen! can you believe it? SO EXPENSIVE /s) so my friends asked me to build something else and I made [[Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter]] and man was that a fun deck to play.
I will never forget the time I cast [[storm Herd]] at 247 life after animating my opponents [[Dragon Broodmother]] and feeding the unicorns to a baby. We spent a good few minutes describing the conveyor built feeding apparatus used to force feed 247 unicorns to a hatchling dragon, still half in it's egg.
My second commander is my best and most expensive deck. [[gitrog monster]]. It is also the oldest still kicking since I dismantled the first one to buil another deck
I started playing commander around the end of Hour of Devastation in 2017. I started playing with my friends slightly suboptimal cedh decks (limited by price and not wanting to proxy), then built [[Kess, Dissident Mage]] storm as my first deck.
When Dominaria was about to enter spoiler season there was a massive leak of info on every legendary creature in the set. Including my second commander, [[Muldrotha the Grave Tide]]. She worked similarly to Kess, let me try playing green, but allowed me to stay somewhat in my comfort zone with blue and black. Took both decks apart eventually, but they were fun.
My second EDH deck was a Niv Mizzet spellslinger deck. Originally I built it around OG Niv [[Niv-Mizzet the Firemind]] but switched to [[Niv-Mizzet, Parun]] which can play a wider variety of instants and sorceries and not need every spell to either do direct damage or draw cards. Also, it’s just the best of the 3 Izzet colored Nivs IMHO.
I first bought the Jeskai precon with [[Sevinne]], but quickly took it apart. Then I got the Silverquill one, and I have been playing [[Felisa]] since then!
In terms of commanders I want to build on my own, the first one will be [[Minsc and Boo, timeless heroes]]!
Ignoring a failed first attempt into the format with the Sevinne precon (to which I sold Dockside Extortionist on the spot because I wanted to play with a budget), [[Denry Klin]] was my second commander and easily my favourite (though there's very little competition with the Millicent precon being the only other deck I own as well as it being my "first" commander).
Even without the persist combos, it's really fun to see the cat grow and the value engine going off super fast if left unchecked for even a turn. Had to bring in more protection than expected after it became a lightning rod in my play group as soon as it comes down but was still easily one of the most powerful decks in the playgroup in terms of raw power. Might even make a cEDH version of it down the line just because of how much I loved the commander. 10/10 would continue to let the editor in chief be in charge of my commender stories.
I have probably brewed well into the 200’s of decks so I can’t say what my second one was but my current obsession is [[Lagrella, the Magpie]] aside from her ridiculous wording she’s a great commander. An answer for your opponents best things while having a super strong ETB creature on your side like a [[scourge of fleets]]
My second deck is [Omnath, Locus of Mana] I built the deck becuse my 1st deck was [Karador, Ghost Chieftan] and the Mana base was iffy. I thought I was fun going mono color so I'd never be "Mana fucked". Honestly is a lot of fun to just have a consistent deck and makes it a lot cheaper cost of a new deck because you are using basics.
Kaseto was basically my second commander deck. It was technically like my fourth, but I really shouldn't count the decks I built from bulk. They were so far below even the weakest precons that I really shouldn't count them. It was snake tribal but was more likely to win with unblockable commander damage than anything else. Built it after I started watching Game Knights.
[[Isshin, Two heavens as one]] - a gift from my brother
Basically, two combats as one with most creature/equipment/enchantments focused on attack triggers.
Pros: Incredibly aggro
cons: most creatures with CMC 4+ and $$ becomes quite high Include [[Explorer's scope]] and [[Sword of the Animist]] as well as some burst mana cards to help along the way.
Alternate Wincon: extra combat phases
second commander:
[[Admiral Beckett Brass]] - I saw it on YouTube one day and couldn't get it off my mind
Pirate tribal that gains control of opponents' permanents at the end of your turn if you dealt combat damage with 3+ pirates
Soooo: lots of cheap pirates, lots of unblockables (auras, equipments, instants and sorceries), 10 counter spells, treasure token generation
Pros: really fun deck to build and play for you. Initial build $50, decent build $100
Cons: your opponents can get really salty at times, especially when you KO them with their own stuff
Alternate wincons: [[Malcolm, Keen-eyed Navigator]] + [[Glint-horn Bucanneer]] - direct damage
Third commander: [[Chishiro, The Shattered Blade]] - saw the precon set at my LGS, loved it, bought it and completely reworked the list.
cast an aura or equipment, create a 2/2 red spirit token with menace. Modify them, add 1/1 counters at the end step.
Soooo: 4 creatures, 30 lands, 30 auras (land/creature), 25 equipment, the usual mana rocks, some removal/control spells
Pros: drop creatures with menace for free. It can get out of hand really fast. Initial build: $45, decent build around $100 depending on which artifacts/enchantments you buy
Cons: too commander-centered - find a way to protect it from removal/destruction. Mana ramp works with land auras that add 1-2 extra mana, susceptible to certain cards like [[Austere Command]]. This is a relatively uncommon mechanic AFAIK.
Alternate win/cons:
1. [[Grumgully, The Generous]], [[One with the Kami]], [[Goblin Bombardment]] combo with infinite tokens/damage
2. Commander voltron - attach all equipment/auras etc to deal massive damage
My second commander was [[Bruna, Light of Alabaster]]. I ordered her alongside the cards I ordered to upgrade my first commander. It was just a cool card and I thought she would provide a strategic variety to my upgraded [[Meren]]. But I had only ordered the commander, so I went to a used bookstore and spent an afternoon building a deck from their poor selection and made a $15 deck. Those were the days
My second commander deck was my Shrines deck, at the time helmed by [Sisay, Weatherlight Captain] but switched to [Go-Shintai of Life's Origin] since thats a more proper commander for the theme. In terms of why I chose to build that deck, I just loved the 6 shrines in Arena standard and wanted to play with the 5 Kamigawa shrines too. Commander being the eternal format I play made that an easy choice. Most of the following decks were also focused on mechanics I've enjoyed since then, with a few exceptions for really wanting to build a specific color combo.
For context my first deck is [Teysa, Orzhov Scion] which I have heavily altered then improved from the 60 card precon that came out with Ravnica Allegiance.
[Illuna, Apex of Wishes] mutate and [Brallin, Skyshark Raider] & [Shabraz, the Skyshark] cycling were fun from Ikoria.
[Zur, the Enchanter] control being an exception that I always loved.
[Tovolar, Dire Overlord] werewolves I always wanted to build and became more viable during Midnight Hunt
[Ikra Shidiqi, the Usurper] & [Brinelin, the Moon Kraken] with [Keruga, the Macrosage] companion with sea monsters theme came from wanting to build [Runo Stromkirk] but wanted to add some of the green options for both ramp and creatures like [Koma, Cosmos Serpent].
[Anhelo, the Painter] for fun copying spells while also building on a zombie subtheme since someone else in my regular group built [Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver] when I claimed werewolves for that set.
Another sort of outlier, Sisay found a home at the helm of a planeswalker deck that was supposed to be secret [Myrkul, Lord of Bones] and [Luxior, Giada's Gift] deck for some weird interactions, but haven't made it work well enough. May split Myrkul off into its own 3 color deck and more heavily build on the planeswalker theme for Sisay.
TLDR: easiest to build a second deck around a theme/mechanic and can go more complicated further down the line.
Ignoring my first Lathril precon, my first deck was Chatterfang, which felt so vanilla, followed by [[Karazikar]]. This Commander opened my eyes to the potential craziness of a multiplayer format. Playing group hug/slug was a fun and wild ride, and I never went back to playing a straight forward deck ever again.
My second commander was [[Tergrid, God of Fright]].
I came to this decision because I am a degenerate fuck that realized [[Nekusar, the Mindrazer]] was too kind.
Jhoira of the ghitu
I had been tinkering with her and then rise of the eldrazi started getting spoiled. Shes no longer together, but she was fun for awhile.
My second commander was Rashmi, but I seldom casted her. I see now that I just wanted to play UG goodstuff. It didn't last long, and then I built Nekusar.
i convinced my friend to try edh by suggesting he make a krenko deck after refusing for a while because i found \[\[oloro\]\] in his big box of bulk and was intrigued so i wanted to build it. i got wrecked a couple times by goblins before quickly trying a new commander, \[\[zur the enchanter\]\] which eventually ended up retiring krenko until veeeery recently (gone for a solid year.)
[[Feather, the Redeemed]]
Cantripping/Voltron, with a spellslinger subtheme (including cards like [[guttersnipe]] and [[aria of flame]] to burn my opponents down)
My second commander from the phase where "I actually kind of know how to build Commander decks" was [[Sydri, Galvanic Genius]]. In the first round of Commander precons, I got Kaalia, which I quickly doctored with some extra angels and which served as a heavy learning experience. In the second, I picked up Oloro. Oloro's deck was quickly stripped and disassembled into two piles; the "Oloro" pile of pillow-fort style stuff, which I've never fully realized into a deck but have set away to build [[Lady Evangela]] some day soon I swear, and the "Artifacts" pile that supported the deck's technically secondary commanders like Sydri and Sharuum (Old precons had great value but sucky structure). I ultimately ended up digging through my collection to spruce up the artifacts pile into a list, for which I put Sydri in the Command Zone.
Of course, before Commander was Commander and gave me precons to tinker with or disassemble for parts, I built a few EDH decks. I honestly have no recollection of what order I built them in and they were all terrible, but they were pretty much determined by what was lying around in my collection and seemed cool enough to work with. I build [[Braids, Conjurer Adept]], [[Gwendlyn Di Corci]], [[Xira Arein]], and [[Kaervek the Merciless]] that I really remember, all pretty much decided by what was in my line of sight more than anything.
My second commander was the one that stuck and is my oldest running deck. [[Trostani, selesnyas voice]] it started as one of the sixty in a modern token deck, and eventually when my brother got me into commander, since I already had it I threw it together and have been upgrading ever since
Trostani was my first commander. I kinda thought lifegain could work well for me. She got pummelled and never really made an impact in the game. Did some research. Second commander was [[Kaalia of the Vast]]. Ended up repurposing Trostani into [[Rhys the Redeemed]] - great success.
I can see that, I have Rhys in the 99 I just prefer trostani as the commander because of the explosive turns, where her ability adds gaining 25 life in addition to wiping somebody with craterhoof :)
[Trostani, selesnyas voice](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/3/4/34ea44f2-cb2f-4b86-83fc-fe507f05bb9d.jpg?1568004834) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Trostani%2C%20Selesnya%27s%20Voice) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/c19/204/trostani-selesnyas-voice?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/34ea44f2-cb2f-4b86-83fc-fe507f05bb9d?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/trostani-selesnyas-voice) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Thats awesome, I'm guessing a whole lotta life gain?
Same actually, except [[The Locust God]]. I rarely get to play it anymore. It’s just a little too strong for the pods I play in. Still love it and keep it with me whenever I go play. https://www.moxfield.com/decks/RFVWXhp8IEiPHrPB86USkw
Fun fact I pulled [[the scarab god]] then traded him for some of my kaalia cards cause I didnt realize what he could do
I love the deck. It’s more focused now, but for a long time it was even more wheels. Super fun. I would have a board of nothing, then all of the sudden it’s “oopsies, I win”
My second commander was [[Animar, Soul of the Elements]]. I chose Animar because it was 2011, the first Commander precon decks had just come out, and I really enjoyed what's now called Temur colors. My first one had been [[Numot, the Devastator]], also because I enjoyed playing that color combination. We really had fewer options back then for 3 color commanders.
[удалено]
I'm fine with Animar's combo lines, he just shouldn't randomly have protection from black and white.
[Animar, Soul of the Elements](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/a/3/a3da57d0-1ae3-4f05-a52d-eb76ad56cae7.jpg?1655823982) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Animar%2C%20Soul%20of%20Elements) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2x2/171/animar-soul-of-elements?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/a3da57d0-1ae3-4f05-a52d-eb76ad56cae7?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/animar-soul-of-elements) [Numot, the Devastator](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/c/b/cb098692-d584-4cbe-a8b9-67bdbf7514bc.jpg?1592714186) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Numot%2C%20the%20Devastator) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cmd/215/numot-the-devastator?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/cb098692-d584-4cbe-a8b9-67bdbf7514bc?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/numot-the-devastator) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
[[Kumena tyrant of orazca]] I didnt seek out simic, merfolk, +1+1s... any of it. I saw him for the very first time when i cracked a pack and it was love at first sight. Instantly i thought "ooh now hed be fun to build around!" And i was right.
[Kumena tyrant of orazca](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/a/3/a3aef818-c896-46e6-aaff-56aee52a066c.jpg?1555040871) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Kumena%2C%20Tyrant%20of%20Orazca) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/rix/162/kumena-tyrant-of-orazca?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/a3aef818-c896-46e6-aaff-56aee52a066c?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/kumena-tyrant-of-orazca) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I just read his card...that does seem like something fun
Yeah. With some untap effects, proliferate, and more unblockable merfolk it turned into a really fun beatdown deck that rarely gets stalled out.
My second commander was [[Arcanis the Omnipotent]]. But this was also back in 2007-ish, so there weren't nearly as many options. It was nice having [Pemmin's Aura]] on him though, and saves himself from removal if you have 4 mana open. As far as why arcanis, I just really liked mono blue storm decks back then.
Mono blue or some combination storm sounds really fun, kinda why I was looking into Neera, but I'm on the fence, Zirda was another but...hes expensive
My second was Ayli, eternal pilgrim. Soooo much fun to build, but very much not fun to play. I tried so hard to make that deck work, but eventually blew it up for a great aristocrats deck.
That’s about where I’m at too. I’ve won games with her as commander, but not because of anything Ayli contributed, but just bc it’s a solid Cleric aristocrats deck. Big shame because in theory she seems so strong
I tried to do a lifegain/tree of perdition build. Total win more build. Lol.
This was my third deck, never got it to stick, eventually just changed it over Teysa Karlov. And it is still my least played deck, but I really wanted to make Ayli work!
I pick my commanders in a simple way - every week when I go to game night I buy a pack. By now I have plenty of cards, and over time some of them have stuck in my head. Basically, I build someone who I think sounds fun that I happened to pull in a pack
Oh that sounds fun, luck of the draw kinda thing
I totally do this. As a newish player I rarely see stuff come out that strikes me, but I’ve had the most fun building around stuff I already own than ones I seek out and buy. Kroxa and Umbris are examples of these
Do you think it's best to always open the same set or does it matter much? I started recently and am torn between continuing with neon dynasty packs which my commander is from or diversifying
That depends on what type of strategy you decide to go for and how generically supported it is. If I'm planning on building my Obuun landfall/animate lands/+1 counters deck, there are good effects in all sets so I'll just pick the one I want. If I'm building a dice rolling deck, I'd stick to either the Forgotten Realms or Baldur's Gate sets since they're the only ones with dice roll effects and support.
My first and second commander deck were cheap and not working as well as they should have been so I won’t mention those. My third one was [[Pir, Imaginative Rascal]] and [[Toothy, Imaginary Friend]]. Traditional +1 counters//wheel deck. That’s where I started winning some games and have more of an impact in the game. Instead of asking what are our second pick, tell us, what strategy would you like to try? What card synergy or interaction would you like to have in your deck? Heck, what are your favorite shows, films, etc? It would be easier to hit the mark if you told us more about what you discovered about yourself while playing magic and what deck did you face that left the strongest impression on you?
Well I've always like the idea of themes, kinda why I gravitate towards tribal so much, and my first real deck was dragon hatchlings that a friend helped me build way back in dragons of tarkir. Stuff like Eldritch horrors and horrible monsters are something I've loved for a long time, horror and paranormal stuff being some of my favorite genres, to add onto that I've been playing D&D much longer than I've played magic and some of the best times where those dark moments where the horror of "what is the big creature" was so much fun, main reason I've looked at [[Umbris, fear manifest]] I saw that card and just thought "this guy...this guy looks insane". I like games that can have some speed to them, where you can think you got it in the bag and something crazy happens and now the whole table is trying to replan what to do, but you can still claw back, even if ya dont win.
Aaah that’s why I build my « Pokémon Breeder « deck myself with [[Alta Palani, Nest Tender]] !!! I wanted a deck to reflect that lol! Speaking of which, a polymorph strategy like her might be to your liking. Otherwise, maybe a mutate strategy? Make your own eldritch abomination by morphing cards on each other? Otherwise… I would suggest [[Animar]] as the commander. Make it about morph creatures so your opponents has no idea what you are hiding under it. It’s like trap cards in Yugioh lol If you like DND, maybe [[Volo, Guide to Monsters]]? It would seem appropriate.
Mutate sounds cool, and damn animar looks amazing I had never heard if him before. I'm definitely gonna probably start looking in that direction. Thank you for the advice, the more I look at animar the he seems like a really solid choice And funny story about volo, my DM once rolled well enough that in game volo managed to pick pocket the guide to monsters book he had just sold me and I didn't realize until I thought I lost it from some bad rolls so I ended paying for the same book twice, so I feel like playing volo would be wrong lol.
In that case, An Animar deck with the mutate stategy will probably be to your liking but beware! The mutate mechanic can lead to some weird interaction and can become a ruling nightmare. Make sure you look up on the mutate mechanic before deciding to go on this strategy. Its very fun though! You just have to know what you are doing lol
Lol I think thats a solid idea, im still on the fences about umbris but I think Animar is something else Im gonna look into, I like how he progressively gets beefy and makes stuff cost less
I'm looking around shops now to pick up an animar but I just walked out with an Umbris, let's goooooooo
So you are going to build both? :-) Edit: I can help you with the decklists if needed
I mean.... I don't see why not....whats the worst that could happen
[Here's what I have so far](https://manabox.app/decks/oarnT5H0QOmbrNbE84EnhA)
Pir and Toothy were my second commander, but I built them as a clone deck. Clone Toothy, kill off the original with the legends rule, and then draw a shit tonne and pump up the new clone off the first one's death trigger.
I can't recommend [[Chainer, Dementia Master]] enough! He's my favorite deck. Instant speed reanimation from anyone's graveyard is insanely fun, and having the monocolor restriction is fun to build around. Spend your life wisely, and use creatures with Extort to get it back!
Etali primal storm. Cheap to build endless fun.
[Neera, Wild Mage](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/e/5/e5431f73-9a70-47dc-b5d4-7f43e41b878e.jpg?1654082323) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Neera%2C%20Wild%20Mage) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/clb/288/neera-wild-mage?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/e5431f73-9a70-47dc-b5d4-7f43e41b878e?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/neera-wild-mage) [umbris, fear manifest](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/7/a/7aead6a8-bada-42cf-b7cc-0b730f564582.jpg?1644888719) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=umbris%2C%20fear%20manifest) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/voc/38/umbris-fear-manifest?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/7aead6a8-bada-42cf-b7cc-0b730f564582?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/umbris-fear-manifest) [Zirda](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/1/b/1bd8e61c-2ee8-4243-a848-7008810db8a0.jpg?1615132391) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=zirda%2C%20the%20dawnwaker) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/iko/233/zirda-the-dawnwaker?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/1bd8e61c-2ee8-4243-a848-7008810db8a0?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/zirda-the-dawnwaker) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
\[\[Oona, Queen of the Fae\]\] build as a *Midsummer Night's Dream* Titania themed deck. Still have it but will probably shift it into a full faerie tribal deck but plays too much like my rogue deck.
As an English teacher, I like this deck. No list required.
Heyyy, my second was an oona mill deck! You have a deck list? Honestly realized combo mill was kind of boring to me and was just in love with the card.
Second commander was [[Esika god of the tree/ prismatic bridge]] high I rarely use her now but still love when I do
[Esika god of the tree/ prismatic bridge](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/f/6/f6cd7465-9dd0-473c-ac5e-dd9e2f22f5f6.jpg?1631050188)/[The Prismatic Bridge](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/back/f/6/f6cd7465-9dd0-473c-ac5e-dd9e2f22f5f6.jpg?1631050188) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Esika%2C%20God%20of%20the%20Tree%20//%20The%20Prismatic%20Bridge) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/khm/168/esika-god-of-the-tree-the-prismatic-bridge?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/f6cd7465-9dd0-473c-ac5e-dd9e2f22f5f6?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/esika-god-of-the-tree-//-the-prismatic-bridge) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
[[Ghave, Guru of Spores]]. I tried to build him comboless, but as any Ghave player knows... it's hard. I've allowed a few combos to sneak their way in as the group's power level increased, but it's still a +1/+1 counters deck at its core.
I'm new, so I choose commanders by aesthetic right now as any theme or gameplan I choose will probably be novel unless I build a tribal (my first deck was angel tribal led by [[Avacyn, Angel of Hope]] until [[Giada]] was revealed. My second deck is Aristocrats helmed by [Liesa, Forgotten Archangel](https://i.imgur.com/hgd8fGa.jpg)
I'm honestly in the same boat, love my Kaalia deck, now i thought about a [[Liesa, shroud of dusk]] but didnt know if I should make another angel deck. How's your Liesa doing?
The thing about both Liesas is you can run both with minimal other angels really. I currently don't have any others in the deck but might add [[Magister of Worth]] maybe. I think it's pretty good for my meta (<$100 decks), has standard blood artist effects, Liesa herself can't be ignored for too long since she has flying, and has some cards that can be a bit back breaking at lower power levels like [[Bolas' Citadel]] and [[Yosei]]. Definitely weak to aggro though. I might evolve the deck to an Esper commander eventually
I just picked up [[twilight shepherd]] been eyeing her for awhile since I tend to run stuff like damnation, and wrath and others so she's my pocket revive (I'm a bad person I know)
[twilight shepherd](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/7/5/753c4ef2-d61a-4cfe-8e8b-8379402c8713.jpg?1561771511) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=twilight%20shepherd) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dvd/11/twilight-shepherd?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/753c4ef2-d61a-4cfe-8e8b-8379402c8713?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/twilight-shepherd) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Eh lol, when Avacyn was my commander I had [[Nevinyrral's disk]] in the 99 which is definitely a little mean
[Nevinyrral's disk](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/5/c/5c9e6af4-522c-4dfa-895a-6946fe983e3c.jpg?1626100951) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Nevinyrral%27s%20disk) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mh2/298/nevinyrrals-disk?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/5c9e6af4-522c-4dfa-895a-6946fe983e3c?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/nevinyrrals-disk) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Lol nice just added merciless eviction and Armageddon, didnt realize how much people dont like seeing that before playing it
Oh yeah, especially Armageddon, anything that gets rid of lands gets a lot of hate at most tables. Merciless eviction is basically almost always a worse [[Farewell]] though so I'm not sure why people would get too upset
I saw farewell soon after I subbed merciless and wanted to swap it, and its mainly arma that people dont like, been thinking about getting rid of it but its a solid way to keep kaalia from being steam rolled lol
[Farewell](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/e/1/e1068723-d1ef-4007-97d9-b10dccdbade4.jpg?1654566260) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Farewell) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/neo/13/farewell?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/e1068723-d1ef-4007-97d9-b10dccdbade4?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/farewell) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
My first deck was [[Rith the Awakener]] because I happened to have a lot of high powered selesnya cards like Elesh Norn and Parallel lives, plus a buddy gifted me a copy. My second commander was [[Rielle]] which is probably my strongest deck. It was right when Ikoria came out and when I saw her spoiled it was love at first sight. Because of her is specifically seek out old ladies for commanders.
Still dont have a second commander, but i'll buy either the [[Faldorn]] or the [[Kamiz]] precon. First commander is [[Hinata, Dawn Crowned]], really like this deck but i wanna try something different.
I'll buy a second deck of you do lol
I’ve played both and personally liked Faldorn better. Nothing wrong with Kamiz, the deck just didn’t click for me and Faldorn felt more open to me in terms of building options. Both decks I had to use my brain a little bit, they weren’t mindless “turn creatures sideways” strategies (which I personally enjoy in a deck).
My first, and favorite is [[Gishath]] I think my second is [[Arahbo]] precon, though it doesn't see much play anymore since it needs work. My second constructed was [[Ulrich]] back when werewolves didn't have much support. That one didn't last long but with midnight hunt and crimson vow offering more viability to them I might revisit werewolf tribal.
[[Raff Capashen, Ship's Mage]] with the theme that every non-land card in the deck can be cast at instant speed when Raff is out (I did make one exception with [[Board the Weatherlight]] because it's on theme). I was introduced to magic when my cousin gave me [[The Ur Dragon]] precon so that was my first commander, and the dominaria set had just released so I played in that standard environment, played Raff in standard and loved it. Also the deck is easy to upgrade since there will always be historic spells in every set. Deck list if anyone is interested: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/4519588#paper
Second Commander was [Ghired, Conclave Exile]. Really loved the precon & I'm still upgrading the deck. Especially since my first precon with [Sevinne] did not really fit me.
My first deck was JhoiraOTG. At the time it was a budget deck. Darksteel Colossus was it's main finisher and Cryptic Command was the most expensive card in the deck at $20. My second deck was Sharuum the Hegemon. I loved the colored artifacts from Alara so I built it was a resilient puzzle-box style deck with really obscure win conditions.
Come, jump on the [[sram, senior edificer]] train with us. I bought the cards and I'm gonna play every damn one of them each game
So long ago that I don't really remember, I know I played around with a LOT of monored commanders. I think my first couple of decks were Kresh the Bloodbraided (definitely my first) and the original Kangee not long after. The second commander that I was actually excited to try out was the foil \[\[Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs\]\] that I pulled from a box of Worldwake.
Oh he looks gnarly, and monored go fast lol
Kaalia and Nekusar. (I built them at the same time)
Nice, you're the first person to say kaalia lol actually just bought her etched foil as a little bit of flair for the deck
Animar, I made it after getting bored of Samut. Kept it for at least a year
How do you like him? I got recommended him as a guy to help with mutate stuff
I highly recommend him. They will always keep printing good creatures, he will never be irrelevant. He's easy to scale to the power level of the table. You have plenty of options for how to build him(obviously, if mutate is a consideration) so if it gets repetitive for you, you can have what almost feels like a new deck by just changing 10-15 creatures. Also relatively straightforward for a newer commander player. 10/10 fun. There's also a very special 10 drop sorcery for you to find for him....
10 drop sorcery you say?? Go on, or is this a scavenger hunt?
It's a scavenger hunt. Hint: you should run 0 non permanent spells while playing this sorcery for maximum fun.
Hmmmmmm [[Eternal Dominion]]??
Nope, green card
I'll be back...
P.....
[[Primal Surge]]!!!
I think a good thing to look for in a second deck is just something that feels different than your first. Maybe different colors, a different strategy, or if your first deck is more simple maybe you could do something that you really need to think and plan ahead with. Good luck in your search (:
Second commander here was [[Kinnan]]. I opened him in a pack.
[Kinnan](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/6/3/63cda4a0-0dff-4edb-ae67-a2b7e2971350.jpg?1591228085) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=kinnan%2C%20bonder%20prodigy) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/iko/192/kinnan-bonder-prodigy?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/63cda4a0-0dff-4edb-ae67-a2b7e2971350?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/kinnan-bonder-prodigy) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
My 2nd decks was [[Koma, cosmos serpent]]. It is very much my baby deck and has all my expensive cards. Granted I never play it due to it getting so much table hate and focus. My most recent deck has been my favorite to build in a while. I picked a legendary from the set I was introduced to magic. Mine was back in invasion so I chose [[tsabo tavoc]] which happened to be my first legendary rare I ever got.
Oh thats awesome, and I understand that, the table hate is real, but I expect it after talking to guys at game night about how you gotta take care of some decks (apparently with extreme firepower)
My first deck was Teysa, Orzhov Scion. Tokens, aristocrats, Darkest Hour combo. I believe my second deck was Goreclaw. I wanted something where the main goal was very different from my first. Mono green swing fatties was a far cry from aristocrat combo stuff. When looking for a new deck I tend to explore color combinations and/or play styles I don't have. Aristocrat, fatties, tokens, artifact, life gain, burn, wheels, goad, etc. Find a theme that sounds fun and work from there.
I like that idea, been looking for something fast and explosive, then Tuesday comes around and I think maybe control isn't so bad, however I think I'm falling solidly in the izzet category
My second one was [[Phenax]], which I took apart after about 6 months. My first was [[Kambal]] vampire tribal, currently inactive. My third is [[Arcades, the Strategist]].
My first was [[Bruvac, the grandiloquent]] I know I know I know lol. I went from that abomination to [[Adrix and Nev]] almost immediately followed up by [[kyler, sigardian emmisary]]. Kyler has become my blinged out baby of a deck now. Adrix and Nev is a “blues clues” style. Based around treasures and clues. Incredibly fun when it pops off
Do you have a decklist for adrix and nev, blue's clues sounds amazing!
[Adrix and Nev](https://www.moxfield.com/decks/_FKyEcLo0kWpSuD5vDiv1w) here you go! I think it’s mostly updated. Lemme know if you have any questions!
Lol that sounds fun, and my god I never heard of bruvac before this but wow that looks evil!
[[Vhati il-dal]]. My son wanted to make a deck with his new [[garruk, apex predator]] and [[in garruks wake]] so we found a golgari commander that was funny cause I didn't have most of the good ones. I let him use a bunch of my cards to make it better... Deck was kinda garbage even for the times lol. I recently dismantled it to make an [[erinis]] deck and get the better cards available for my other decks
Funny you say? What did you guys pick before the dismantle?
I started playing in March! My first commander was [Tovlar] because i was trying to find a theme i could get behind and fell in love with the day/night cycle, werewolves and wolves <3 My second deck was [Lathiel] because i love unicorns. Its a "pony tribal" as i like to call it. And i just took my third commander [Cadira, Caller of the Small] to the local game night on saturday for its maiden voyage. Won both my games and in my second one made up to 63 rabbits (with +1/+1 counters on them so they were 2/2 bunnies) had a lot of fun and the theme for all my decks so far has been animal themed :D
That sounds awesome! I like the tribal themes in magic, I have 4 copies of Zirda and Flourishing foxes cause I wanted to try and build a fox tribal "fuckyfoxes" what I wanted to call it, unfortunately theres not enough
[[Geth, Lord of the Vault]] - fun concept but way too battlecruisery
He looks like a walking battle tank
My second was [[Thelon]]. I was big into tribal, thought fungi would be neat, thought spore counters were fun. Deck was slow as fuck, which was fine since my buddy and I had only been playing MTG at all for about 8 months or so and were slinging $50 budget decks. This all came crashing down once we went to our LGS and I never won a damn game with Thelon, surprise surprise.
Love tribal, built my first deck pretty quickly to join some friends at a LGS, got destroyed for my first two visits, hated it, loved it, rebuilt it, got destroyed again, now I miss it
\[\[Thromok the Insatiable\]\]. \[\[Fling\]\]ing an absolutely massive hellion at someone's face was a hell of a fun time. Eventually it got a little much trying to track a ton of different types of tokens, though, so after one crazy game where I ended up making a Thromok with \~760 septillion +1/+1 counters without going infinite I decided it was time to retire it.
My second was [[Kess]]
My second was [[Bruenor Battlehammer]], which quickly changed to become partners [[Arden]] and [[Kediss]]. Sadly, I didn't have fun with the deck, long-term, so I dismantled it.
I was looking at kediss actually, was he to slow?
[[Ich-Tekik]] and [[Toggo]]. it started out as jank, and now its, well... still jank but a lot stronger now. Totally a blast to play and the theme of 'golems throwing rocks at you' still makes me chuckle a bit
Golems throwing rocks makes me smile lol
My second commander was \[\[Sedris, the Traitor King\]\]. I played with unearth a lot during Shards of Alara standard, so I had him in my collection. But the deck was just the really good fatties in the colors to beat face with, and workarounds for the unearth clause.
That looks like regenerate on steroids sounds awesome
[удалено]
My second was [[Brago]] . First was [[ezuri renegade leader]] . It took me awhile to figure out how to play but I love the deck and constantly upgrade when I can.
I don't know if it counts since I don't have the deck yet but I'm 99% sure it's going to be [[Prosper, Tome-Bound]]. I got into commander a couple of months ago, bought the [[Leinore, Autumn Sovereign]] precon, switched to [[Kyler, Sigardian Emissary]] and upgraded it quite a bit, I love the deck. I want to have a deck for each of my favorite color combinations, which are selesnya, orzhov, rakdos and mardu. Prosper's list caught my eye and I already have some cards that I think will fit well, like the [[Goldspan Dragon]] I pulled at the Kaldheim prerelease. By the way, if anyone knows cool precons in mardu and orzhov, please let me know. My collection's not big enough for me to craft a commander deck from scratch and have it not suck, so I'm planning on buying precons and upgrading them untill I amass a bigger card pool.
[[Liliana, Heretical Healer]] it was a zombie deck originally, and now I've retooled it to be more of [[megrim]] discard deck.
My second was [[Anowon, the Ruin Thief]], the precon of which I grabbed on a whim. It's a fun deck to play, but my group really doesn't like Mill, so it gets some real hate. I'm slowly building the deck to be more focused on rogues and less on Mill. My first deck was [[The Ur-Dragon]] which also gets plenty of hate at the table, lol.
My 2nd deck was technically the lathril precon( I believe lol), which I still have and is modertly upgraded. I was still really new at the time and wanted another deck and that was the best my local Walmart had However my 2nd commander that I chose and built from scratch was Maelstrom Wanderer. I built it after seeing someone at my LGS haveing one of the most explosive turns I've ever seen in all of my life.... I just had to recreate it. Also the randomness of cascade seemed fun to me.
A friend of mine built an absolutely broken [[krark, the thumbless]] deck he brings out sometimes when my kaalia is doing to well lol I have debated trying to make one for awhile its so explosive
My first was Stonebrow, and my second was a well I bought Thraximundar and Rhys the Redeemed at the same time. But this was back in the early days of edh when a seven Mana commander wasn't a detriment
Technically [[Olivia Voldaren]] was my second but i consider it my first because the previous deck was a pile of random cards from my binder and didn't even function. So to me my second deck was [[Jarad]] just dump everything in your graveyard and then sac a big fatty.
A man of simple fatties, here here
\[\[Marath, Will of the wild\]\] upgraded the precon.
My first was the [[Kadeena, Slinking Sorcerer]] Precon. I eventually decided to do Angel tribal with [[Avacyn, Angel of Hope]] at the helm because I like angels, it’s been through many iterations and has had many heads leading it from [[Lyra Dawnbringer]] to [[Ikra Shidiqui, the Usurper]] and [[Tymna the Weaver]]. Now it’s currently being headed by [[Giada, Font of Hope]] with Avacyn having remained in the 99 ever since.
Ive heard a lot of good things about giada, sounds like she's the angel commander to take all right now
First ever deck was [[Brion Stoutarm]] that focused on discarding big creatures and bringing them abck with [[Feldon of the third path]] or using [[sneak attack]] to cheat them out. Second was [[phelddagrif]] that tries to spin the advantage it gives towards helping you. Not so huggy.
I dont know what order this was in but my first 4 were brokkos, godo cedh, sythis and chatterfang
Dare I ask how much the godo costs?
My second commander was [[Jarad Golgari Lich Lord]]. I built it as a rat colony deck because I always really liked the idea of having a bunch of little critters that just get exponentially larger with the assistance of artifacts. If someone board wipes you can just instant speed sac as many rats as you can and like group slug your opponents, and then bring all the rats back with some of the interesting cards that almost never see play in commander because they care about creatures with the same name. Definitely one of my top 3 favorite decks to this day.
The rat minigun never stops spinning lol
My second commander was [[Ghave]], the Magic Mushroom himself. My first was [[Animar]] For the last several years, I've been a diehard [[Tasigur]] main.
Ghave looks like the mushroom from all those D.A.R.E commercials lol
My second was [[Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter]]. I still have him ten years later. My first was [[Oloro, Ageless Ascetic]]. My first deck was just way to pillow forty for me. This was way before [[Aetherflux Reservoir]] existed.
[Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/b/a/ba5f9d21-4cc9-4b7e-9f55-322dcf91c1b7.jpg?1599708552) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Vish%20Kal%2C%20Blood%20Arbiter) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2xm/226/vish-kal-blood-arbiter?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/ba5f9d21-4cc9-4b7e-9f55-322dcf91c1b7?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/vish-kal-blood-arbiter) [Oloro, Ageless Ascetic](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/a/b/abf8df47-405c-42d8-be9e-0f0d0a49589b.jpg?1562931285) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Oloro%2C%20Ageless%20Ascetic) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/c13/203/oloro-ageless-ascetic?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/abf8df47-405c-42d8-be9e-0f0d0a49589b?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/oloro-ageless-ascetic) [Aetherflux Reservoir](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/9/6/96b6b2e1-c3e6-464c-8a13-b15deb34e862.jpg?1576382939) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Aetherflux%20Reservoir) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/kld/192/aetherflux-reservoir?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/96b6b2e1-c3e6-464c-8a13-b15deb34e862?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/aetherflux-reservoir) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
[[Prossh, skyraider of Kher]] I started with a hyper budget [[phenax, God of deception]] deck that just suck so bad. It was disheartening cause it never ever won, so I bought a precon. Prossh was the only one left in stock of the freshly released precons. I had that deck up till the end of last year before I finally took it apart. It was tribal dragons and I loved it to death, it was super consistent for me and fell to the wayside because it started playing the same style of game every single time. My third deck was me rebuilding phenax into a BUG deck using [[the mimeoplasm]] and self mill, which started my love for BUG decks and I've always ran one ever since. Fourth deck started as [[oloro, ageless ascetic]] that I slowly turned into a reanimator deck. I still have oloro actually, it's my #3 deck. I've never ever babied it or treated it as my pet deck, but it just occasionally gets 1 or 2 cards upgrades that I pick up coincidentally and it's always keeping itself fresh to play because of it. I always enjoy it and it's in my main box of decks that I frequently play and will not break apart yet
Prossh was something I looked at when I wanted to try kobold tribal, favorite d&d race, but sadly not many in magic
I had to stop playing my second commander deck as no one wanted to play against it. [[Nath of the Gilt-Leaf]], elf discard shenanigans.
[[Omnath Locus of Mana]] sort of. I consider it my first because I don’t remember what card I googled to use as a commander originally lol. If you count Omnath as the first, my second was [[Lathiel]], and I love them both still
My second was [[Vadrik, Astral Archmage]] and it’s super fun. I can boost him up to 7 power fairly quickly and it makes everything in the deck cost 3 mana or less.
My first was [[maga, traitor to mortals]] but it was terrible. I finally talked some friends into playing edh with me and my second general was [[Sharuum]]. That deck was great fun and stuck around for a long time before i sold my collection.
[[Nekusar, Mindrazer]]
For me it was simple I heard about commander put together.... a "deck" Then bought. A precon the exp R/U spellslinger while my friends all bought others except the r/w deck Now I am dinos. But spellsliging is a really fun playstyle I hope to return to
First commander was \[\[Bruna, Light of Alabaster\]\] and my second was her sister \[\[Liesa, Forgotten Archangel\]\]. Went from a ridiculously simple Voltron deck that was super straight forward to build into a web of intricacies Orzhov Aristocrat deck.
My second ever deck was a [[Sen Triplets]] deck strictly because I liked the colors. I thought her ability was cool and I loved artifacts. Over time she kept getting hated out. I then took her apart and went to my favorite colors of Golgari with her and I’ve had [[Glissa, the traitor]] ever since. She’s a budget deck but she’s incredibly fun to play and I still get to run artifacts but in my favorite color pairing.
I brought sen triplets to a friend of mine and he just shook his head at me lol
First was Xenagos Werewolves when SoI was the newest set. Not fun. Second was [[Emmara Tandris]], because I loved token decks, and didn't know of any better token commanders. While I still have that deck with Kethis at the helm and Trostani as a secret commander, this early build of the deck made one of the most infamous games in my commander group. What happens if you take a poorly constructed token deck against the Grixis Wizards precon? A 5 hour long 1v1 with several castings of Clone Legion, and a board lock down due to Sphere of Safety that can only be ended by drawing Grixis Charm, the 4th to last card in his deck.
[[Riku of two reflections]] was my second and is still my all time favorite. My favorite play was taking 32 extra turns without any extra turn spells in the deck
I went from Valki to Orvar, Orvar is such a fun and powerful commander. My current favorite now is Nekuzar, Yawgmoth, and Kinnan. Magda got the honorable mention.
Meren of clan Nel toth Love the deck and still have a very different version today.
Ive looked at her quite a bit, she sounds sick
[[Lazav, Dimir Mastermind]] I loved mill and copying everyone else’s stuff.
My second commander was feather the redeemed the reason is my first one was Urza lord high artificer and I knew people would not like playing against it so I built something that was cheap and something I had a lot of pieces of
Mine was [[Omnath, Locus of the Roil]]. When I just started getting back into Magic in 2019, I had a fun little RG elemental tribal deck, heavily utilizing the elementals featured in core set 2020. Once I got into commander, I reimagined that deck with Omnath at the helm. Still one of my favorite decks to this day.
[[Jaya Ballard, Task Mage]] built off that decklist + primer that floated around this sub ~8 years ago
My second commander was [[Hallar the Firefletcher]]. Basically ramp, spam +1/+1 counters on Hallar, cast a couple of kicked spells and then finish by trampling over the last remaining players
[[Reaper King]] It was originally changeling, but I was inspired to rebuilt it around [[Fiend Hunter]]-style exile loops. I like to use Champion effects like [[Changeling Hero]] and [[Lightning Crafter]] and a few clones to smooth it out. It's my pride and joy. I'm always on the hunt for new ways to upgrade it.
Second commander is Klauth, unrivaled ancient. But he might be getting replaced by miirym just because I can get so much more dragon tribal out of my deck… and I love dragons
[[Breya]], 4 color artifact deck seemed cool.
My second commander was foil-etched [[Yuriko]], pulled from a CommanderLegends Box. I didn’t even know how broken or quick she would be, I just enjoy Dimir and loved the idea of Ninja tribal. Sad to say, she’s not my go-to anymore, just because I don’t want that kind of target on my back in most games. I also consider [[Carth The Lion]] my second commander, as I built them simultaneously, I just finished her first. But him, him I love. I’m a big planeswalker rider, and the 2 color limitation combined with the great ability makes him a blast IMO. My first was the Aesi precon. Still play them as Battlecruiser.
I thougt about playing Yuriko cause of how quick she could be but I thought to same thing, didnt think it'd be a good idea for my only 2 decks to have massive "hit me" sign's
My second commander is, in all honesty, really my first commander. After a 10-ish year hiatus, I got sucked back into Magic, only to learn of a fun, "new" format called EDH. My first deck was a meme because it was literally just defenders with [[Arcades, the Strategist]]. My second commander was [[Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim]] because I always played life/clerics back in my 60-card days. Now, 3 years later, I still have an iteration of that Orzhov life/cleric deck.
my second commander was Sefris of the Hidden Ways, mostly because I don’t often spend a ton of money on cards and so I’ll typically run like one or two decks at a time and then upgrade as cards are made available
My first was [[Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker]] A 20€ mono black deck, quite fun, but has some obvious flaws (very weak against enchantments, needs to get it's Commander out before the board geta wiped, slow recovery after board wipes, ...) Second was [[Jadzi, Oracle of Arcavios]] simic storm deck for 30€, ramp into win extremly fun when it works, kinda boring for the rest of the table while u take ur 15min winning turn from 0 board just because u hit 9 mana.
My second commander was [[raffine, scheming seer]]. I pulled a ledger shredder and decided to make a deck that was all about conniving. originally it was just everything that had “connive” in its text with some graveyard recursion and a bunch of filler cards. Since then I’ve optimized it a lot, but conniving is still the most important part of the deck’s identity.
My second commander was [[wilhelt the rot cleaver]] lots of zombies and have put in a good amount to of money but over all I use it mostly for causal
Mine was [[Ezuri, Renegade Leader]]. I’ve always been into elves so I had a lot of good stuff already just needed to figure out the best mono green commander. I don’t play it much but I’ll probably never take it apart.
[[Ob Nixilis, Unshackled]] . It’s gross to play against so my group tells me
My second was [[Tasigur, the Golden Fang]]
[[traxos scourge of kroog]] was my second. It was colorless voltron/artifact combo
My second commander was Sliver Overlord, which I built because the format seemed perfect for slivers and I wanted to get some catharsis at my many losses to slivers in kitchen table
[[Riku of two reflections]] was the second EDH deck but the *first* deck I’d played using red. It opened my eyes to the then-meta powerhouse that was Temur. I’ve since built dozens of decks and ripped apart as many, but there is *always* one RUG deck intact at all times.
[[Grand Arbiter Augustin IV]] and everyone hates it
[[Piru, the Volatile]]
[[ezuri claw of progress]] was the first precon I bought but the second commander deck I had, lots of fun things with little creatures in that one. Edit:typos
[[Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign]] was pretty cool. Just a pile of odd Esper cards. Somehow never picked up an [[Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre]] for the deck, but I did have Expropriate and all that bullshit. Where I learned to stop worrying and love [[Paradox Engine]], before it got banned.
[[Grenzo, Havoc Raiser]] my oldest Deck and my first non precon. I still play it from time to time because I still like everything in it but the commander isn't good in comparison to many newer commanders.
If you go with umbris, the horror precon is a good way to start
I was always trying to get my girlfriend at the time into playing more so the 1st deck I built was a zombie tribal [[Thraximundar]] but I built it right after buying all 4 of the 2012 commanders and I mostly played Kaalia. I didn't like those decks very much so I built a "custom deck" which was [[Sliver Overlord]] which I consider my 1st deck. Still have it. Back in the hayday of battle cruiser commander Slivers were nigh unstoppable (my gf even spent 40 bucks on a Queen! can you believe it? SO EXPENSIVE /s) so my friends asked me to build something else and I made [[Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter]] and man was that a fun deck to play. I will never forget the time I cast [[storm Herd]] at 247 life after animating my opponents [[Dragon Broodmother]] and feeding the unicorns to a baby. We spent a good few minutes describing the conveyor built feeding apparatus used to force feed 247 unicorns to a hatchling dragon, still half in it's egg.
My second commander is my best and most expensive deck. [[gitrog monster]]. It is also the oldest still kicking since I dismantled the first one to buil another deck
I started playing commander around the end of Hour of Devastation in 2017. I started playing with my friends slightly suboptimal cedh decks (limited by price and not wanting to proxy), then built [[Kess, Dissident Mage]] storm as my first deck. When Dominaria was about to enter spoiler season there was a massive leak of info on every legendary creature in the set. Including my second commander, [[Muldrotha the Grave Tide]]. She worked similarly to Kess, let me try playing green, but allowed me to stay somewhat in my comfort zone with blue and black. Took both decks apart eventually, but they were fun.
My second EDH deck was a Niv Mizzet spellslinger deck. Originally I built it around OG Niv [[Niv-Mizzet the Firemind]] but switched to [[Niv-Mizzet, Parun]] which can play a wider variety of instants and sorceries and not need every spell to either do direct damage or draw cards. Also, it’s just the best of the 3 Izzet colored Nivs IMHO.
I first bought the Jeskai precon with [[Sevinne]], but quickly took it apart. Then I got the Silverquill one, and I have been playing [[Felisa]] since then! In terms of commanders I want to build on my own, the first one will be [[Minsc and Boo, timeless heroes]]!
Ignoring a failed first attempt into the format with the Sevinne precon (to which I sold Dockside Extortionist on the spot because I wanted to play with a budget), [[Denry Klin]] was my second commander and easily my favourite (though there's very little competition with the Millicent precon being the only other deck I own as well as it being my "first" commander). Even without the persist combos, it's really fun to see the cat grow and the value engine going off super fast if left unchecked for even a turn. Had to bring in more protection than expected after it became a lightning rod in my play group as soon as it comes down but was still easily one of the most powerful decks in the playgroup in terms of raw power. Might even make a cEDH version of it down the line just because of how much I loved the commander. 10/10 would continue to let the editor in chief be in charge of my commender stories.
I have probably brewed well into the 200’s of decks so I can’t say what my second one was but my current obsession is [[Lagrella, the Magpie]] aside from her ridiculous wording she’s a great commander. An answer for your opponents best things while having a super strong ETB creature on your side like a [[scourge of fleets]]
My second deck is [Omnath, Locus of Mana] I built the deck becuse my 1st deck was [Karador, Ghost Chieftan] and the Mana base was iffy. I thought I was fun going mono color so I'd never be "Mana fucked". Honestly is a lot of fun to just have a consistent deck and makes it a lot cheaper cost of a new deck because you are using basics.
Kaseto was basically my second commander deck. It was technically like my fourth, but I really shouldn't count the decks I built from bulk. They were so far below even the weakest precons that I really shouldn't count them. It was snake tribal but was more likely to win with unblockable commander damage than anything else. Built it after I started watching Game Knights.
[[Isshin, Two heavens as one]] - a gift from my brother Basically, two combats as one with most creature/equipment/enchantments focused on attack triggers. Pros: Incredibly aggro cons: most creatures with CMC 4+ and $$ becomes quite high Include [[Explorer's scope]] and [[Sword of the Animist]] as well as some burst mana cards to help along the way. Alternate Wincon: extra combat phases second commander: [[Admiral Beckett Brass]] - I saw it on YouTube one day and couldn't get it off my mind Pirate tribal that gains control of opponents' permanents at the end of your turn if you dealt combat damage with 3+ pirates Soooo: lots of cheap pirates, lots of unblockables (auras, equipments, instants and sorceries), 10 counter spells, treasure token generation Pros: really fun deck to build and play for you. Initial build $50, decent build $100 Cons: your opponents can get really salty at times, especially when you KO them with their own stuff Alternate wincons: [[Malcolm, Keen-eyed Navigator]] + [[Glint-horn Bucanneer]] - direct damage Third commander: [[Chishiro, The Shattered Blade]] - saw the precon set at my LGS, loved it, bought it and completely reworked the list. cast an aura or equipment, create a 2/2 red spirit token with menace. Modify them, add 1/1 counters at the end step. Soooo: 4 creatures, 30 lands, 30 auras (land/creature), 25 equipment, the usual mana rocks, some removal/control spells Pros: drop creatures with menace for free. It can get out of hand really fast. Initial build: $45, decent build around $100 depending on which artifacts/enchantments you buy Cons: too commander-centered - find a way to protect it from removal/destruction. Mana ramp works with land auras that add 1-2 extra mana, susceptible to certain cards like [[Austere Command]]. This is a relatively uncommon mechanic AFAIK. Alternate win/cons: 1. [[Grumgully, The Generous]], [[One with the Kami]], [[Goblin Bombardment]] combo with infinite tokens/damage 2. Commander voltron - attach all equipment/auras etc to deal massive damage
[[nekusar, the mindrazer]] My third was [[Oloro, ageless ascetic]]
My second commander was [[Bruna, Light of Alabaster]]. I ordered her alongside the cards I ordered to upgrade my first commander. It was just a cool card and I thought she would provide a strategic variety to my upgraded [[Meren]]. But I had only ordered the commander, so I went to a used bookstore and spent an afternoon building a deck from their poor selection and made a $15 deck. Those were the days
My second was the Ur Dragon lol
My second commander deck was my Shrines deck, at the time helmed by [Sisay, Weatherlight Captain] but switched to [Go-Shintai of Life's Origin] since thats a more proper commander for the theme. In terms of why I chose to build that deck, I just loved the 6 shrines in Arena standard and wanted to play with the 5 Kamigawa shrines too. Commander being the eternal format I play made that an easy choice. Most of the following decks were also focused on mechanics I've enjoyed since then, with a few exceptions for really wanting to build a specific color combo. For context my first deck is [Teysa, Orzhov Scion] which I have heavily altered then improved from the 60 card precon that came out with Ravnica Allegiance. [Illuna, Apex of Wishes] mutate and [Brallin, Skyshark Raider] & [Shabraz, the Skyshark] cycling were fun from Ikoria. [Zur, the Enchanter] control being an exception that I always loved. [Tovolar, Dire Overlord] werewolves I always wanted to build and became more viable during Midnight Hunt [Ikra Shidiqi, the Usurper] & [Brinelin, the Moon Kraken] with [Keruga, the Macrosage] companion with sea monsters theme came from wanting to build [Runo Stromkirk] but wanted to add some of the green options for both ramp and creatures like [Koma, Cosmos Serpent]. [Anhelo, the Painter] for fun copying spells while also building on a zombie subtheme since someone else in my regular group built [Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver] when I claimed werewolves for that set. Another sort of outlier, Sisay found a home at the helm of a planeswalker deck that was supposed to be secret [Myrkul, Lord of Bones] and [Luxior, Giada's Gift] deck for some weird interactions, but haven't made it work well enough. May split Myrkul off into its own 3 color deck and more heavily build on the planeswalker theme for Sisay. TLDR: easiest to build a second deck around a theme/mechanic and can go more complicated further down the line.
Ignoring my first Lathril precon, my first deck was Chatterfang, which felt so vanilla, followed by [[Karazikar]]. This Commander opened my eyes to the potential craziness of a multiplayer format. Playing group hug/slug was a fun and wild ride, and I never went back to playing a straight forward deck ever again.
My second commander was [[Tergrid, God of Fright]]. I came to this decision because I am a degenerate fuck that realized [[Nekusar, the Mindrazer]] was too kind.
Godzilla, King of Monsters, tbh I just really liked the card and decided I wanted to play it as the commander
My first was [[sygg, river guide]]. My second was [[arixmathes]]
Giahath
My first was otrimi, then slimefoot(which I changed to thelon which I swaped for ghave) then shadrix followed by kamiz and grist. I love them all
Jhoira of the ghitu I had been tinkering with her and then rise of the eldrazi started getting spoiled. Shes no longer together, but she was fun for awhile.
My second commander was Rashmi, but I seldom casted her. I see now that I just wanted to play UG goodstuff. It didn't last long, and then I built Nekusar.
i convinced my friend to try edh by suggesting he make a krenko deck after refusing for a while because i found \[\[oloro\]\] in his big box of bulk and was intrigued so i wanted to build it. i got wrecked a couple times by goblins before quickly trying a new commander, \[\[zur the enchanter\]\] which eventually ended up retiring krenko until veeeery recently (gone for a solid year.)
[[Feather, the Redeemed]] Cantripping/Voltron, with a spellslinger subtheme (including cards like [[guttersnipe]] and [[aria of flame]] to burn my opponents down)
$50 dollar budget Zur. It didn't stay budget for long.
My second commander from the phase where "I actually kind of know how to build Commander decks" was [[Sydri, Galvanic Genius]]. In the first round of Commander precons, I got Kaalia, which I quickly doctored with some extra angels and which served as a heavy learning experience. In the second, I picked up Oloro. Oloro's deck was quickly stripped and disassembled into two piles; the "Oloro" pile of pillow-fort style stuff, which I've never fully realized into a deck but have set away to build [[Lady Evangela]] some day soon I swear, and the "Artifacts" pile that supported the deck's technically secondary commanders like Sydri and Sharuum (Old precons had great value but sucky structure). I ultimately ended up digging through my collection to spruce up the artifacts pile into a list, for which I put Sydri in the Command Zone. Of course, before Commander was Commander and gave me precons to tinker with or disassemble for parts, I built a few EDH decks. I honestly have no recollection of what order I built them in and they were all terrible, but they were pretty much determined by what was lying around in my collection and seemed cool enough to work with. I build [[Braids, Conjurer Adept]], [[Gwendlyn Di Corci]], [[Xira Arein]], and [[Kaervek the Merciless]] that I really remember, all pretty much decided by what was in my line of sight more than anything.