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By: Leviathan, Mike Morales
Feb 16 2011 11:00am
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INTRODUCTION:  WHAT IS COMBO?

Sorry for the slight delay folks.  I was on vacation in Aspen for a week (ran into Troy Aikman out there, nice guy) and then got really sick.  Writing articles had to take a back seat for a while.  But now I am back and ready for action!

So we are on to the last of my trio of articles discussing the major deck archetypes as they apply to Commander games.  In cased you missed them, I covered Aggro decks HERE, and Control decks HERE.  Now, we get to sink our teeth into Combo!

First, I think we need to have a little conversation about what exactly Combo is.  With a card pool as large as Commander has (essentially every card is legal in the format except for the 29 on the banned list), there are bound to be some crazy interactions.  You have everything from three card combos like Eternal Witness, Crystal Shard and Time Stretch to storm combos that aim to take everyone out to one card combos like Eternal Dominion.  You can constantly recur Mindslaver with Academy Ruins, or just create a bunch of tokens with Earthcraft and Squirrel Nest.  There are so many different combinations out there, from small to big, that it is often difficult to really define what constitutes a "Combo" deck.  But for the purpose of this article, I am going to be discussing decks that use a combination of cards to either control the game or provide a win condition.  That's sort of a broad categorization, but I'm fine with it.

Combo decks are often the black sheep of Commander.  They often don't win in the red zone (unless it is with a huge amount of instantly created tokens), and most of the time they turtle up until they get their pieces together.  Oftentimes they run numerous tutors to find their pieces, and win in a flurry of cards.  As a matter of fact, most times Control decks end up running a combo or two just to have a finisher in their deck.  But I am going to try and stick with decks where Combo is their primary focus.

Sticking with my Wild West analogy, the Combo player to me has always been the well known card shark that hides a gun up his sleeve.  You may not know precisely how he is going to win, but you know at some point he is going to whip that pistol out and take the money he wants if things aren't going his way.


Which one has the pistol?

In this way, I sort of see them as known quantities.  But you don't always know exactly what they are going to do, and oftentimes you don't know when they are going to do it.

So for Combo decks I am going to be covering three different archetypes.  The most prevalent kinds are those that use their Commanders to tutor up the combo pieces they are looking for.  The second type tries to synergize the Combo with abilities of the Commander.  Finally, there are those that just try and search up their Combo or Combos through the natural play.  Let's take a look at each of these.

COMMANDER BASED SEARCH

There are a couple of legends out there that allow you to search for cards under certain conditions.  These are great for the Combo player, as they act as limited Demonic Tutors under the right conditions.  As your Commander is almost always available (barring tuck effects), you should be able to search up the pieces that you are looking for.  Of course, you have to meet the conditions that the Commander you are playing with to search up what you want, but with the huge card pool available to Commander you should easily be able to find a Combo that fits your needs. 

Let's take a look at a deck that uses its Commander to search up the Combo pieces:

Arcum Dagsson
A Commander deck by GU Doug

Creatures
1 Arcbound Reclaimer
1 Arcbound Slith
1 Arcum Dagsson
1 Copper Gnomes
1 Dross Scorpion
1 Duplicant
1 Epochrasite
1 Etherium Sculptor
1 Junk Diver
1 Karn, Silver Golem
1 Manakin
1 Master of Etherium
1 Master Transmuter
1 Millikin
1 Myr Retriever
1 Ornithopter
1 Phyrexian Walker
1 Pilgrim's Eye
1 Scarecrone
1 Sharding Sphinx
1 Silver Myr
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Sundering Titan
1 Trinket Mage
1 Walking Atlas
25 cards

Other Spells
[Artifacts]
1 Akroma's Memorial
1 Basalt Monolith
1 Clock of Omens
1 Darksteel Forge
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Everflowing Chalice
1 Fellwar Stone
1 Genesis Chamber
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Grim Monolith
1 Guardian Idol
1 Helm of Possession
1 Kill Switch
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Mana Vault
1 Mind Stone
1 Mindslaver
1 Mycosynth Lattice
1 Myr Incubator
1 Myr Matrix
1 Nevinyrral's Disk
1 Nuisance Engine
1 Puppet Strings
1 Rings of Brighthearth
1 Scroll Rack
1 Sculpting Steel
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sky Diamond
1 Sol Ring
1 Tangle Wire
1 Thousand-Year Elixir
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Voltaic Key
1 Ward of Bones
1 Winter Orb
[Planeswalker]
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
[Enchantments]
1 Artificer's Intuition
1 Copy Artifact
[Sorceries]
1 Fabricate
1 Reshape
1 Transmute Artifact
43 cards
 

Lands
1 Academy Ruins
1 Blasted Landscape
1 Blinkmoth Nexus
1 Crystal Vein
1 Darksteel Citadel
1 Dread Statuary
1 Halimar Depths
17 Island
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1 Mishra's Factory
1 Saprazzan Skerry
1 Seat of the Synod
1 Stalking Stones
1 Svyelunite Temple
1 Tolaria West
1 Urza's Factory
32 cards

 
Arcum Dagsson

 

I found this decklist HERE.  That's a nice little bit of mono-Blue nastiness right there, although in reality it is an artifact deck with Blue support.  So what we have here is a deck that looks to rush out Arcum.  Mana ramp is helped with artifact creatures that search for land, such as Pilgrim's Eye and Solemn Simulacrum.  These guys have the benefit of becoming sacrificial fodder to Arcum.  Once you get Arcum out and he survives a turn or two, you can sac the creatures for other, bigger artifacts.  Mycosynth Lattice is often grabbed to combo with Kill Switch (a card that isn't online yet) or Karn, which can be used to blow up lands.  There is also the Darksteel Forge/Nevinyrral's Disk combo, which allows you to reset the board.  Although these combos aren't "instant win" they do allow you to be in a very powerful position.

Like most combo decks, this deck has a back up plan in token creation with cards like Nuisance Engine, Myr Matrix and Sharding Sphinx to get more stuff to sacrifice to Arcum.  The deck also has some defense with cards like Ensnaring Bridge.  With the high amount of mana artifacts in the deck, throwing Winter Orb out there doesn't really harm it.

So the deck looks to either lock down opponents' mana or have a reusable re-set button to prevent opponents from having permanents.  As the deck is primarily artifact based, cards that remove artifacts from the game are always good, such as Return to Dust, Dust to Dust, Into the Core and Altar's Light are all good for preventing Arcum shenanigans.  A well timed bounce spell can also cause problems.

Let's look at another common deck that uses its Commander to search up combo pieces.

Momir Vig
A Commander deck by Miscalcul8d Risk
Creatures
1 Acidic Slime
1 Aether Adept
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Body Double
1 Carven Caryatid
1 Clone
1 Cloud of Faeries
1 Coiling Oracle
1 Duplicant
1 Elvish Visionary
1 Eternal Witness
1 Gilded Drake
1 Loaming Shaman
1 Lotus Cobra
1 Man-o'-War
1 Momir Vig, Simic Visionary
1 Mystic Snake
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Seedborn Muse
1 Simic Sky Swallower
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Sower of Temptation
1 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
1 Terastodon
1 Tidespout Tyrant
1 Tilling Treefolk
1 Tradewind Rider
1 Trinket Mage
1 Trygon Predator
1 Uktabi Orangutan
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
1 Wall of Blossoms
1 Winged Coatl
1 Wistful Selkie
35 cards

Other Spells
[Artifacts]
1 Cloudstone Curio
1 Coalition Relic
1 Crystal Shard
1 Expedition Map
1 Grim Monolith
1 Mana Crypt
1 Pithing Needle
1 Scroll Rack
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Simic Signet
1 Sol Ring
[Planeswalkers]
1 Garruk Wildspeaker
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
[Enchantments]
1 Aluren
1 Earthcraft
1 Equilibrium
1 Opposition
[Instants]
1 Capsize
1 Cryptic Command
1 Evacuation
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Force of Will
1 Hinder
1 Intuition
1 Mana Drain
1 Voidslime
26 cards
 
Lands
1 Academy Ruins
1 Breeding Pool
1 Flooded Grove
1 Flooded Strand
4 Forest
1 Gaea's Cradle
9 Island
1 Lonely Sandbar
1 Maze of Ith
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers
1 Polluted Delta
1 Riptide Laboratory
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Seat of the Synod
1 Simic Growth Chamber
1 Snow-Covered Forest
1 Snow-Covered Island
1 Strip Mine
1 Tranquil Thicket
1 Tree of Tales
1 Tropical Island
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Wasteland
1 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Yavimaya Coast
1 Yavimaya Hallow 
39 cards

 
momir vig, simic visionary

 

I found this decklist HERE.  Momir is actually a 2 for 1 deal.  He tutors up creatures, and he can help with card draw.  Unfortunately, there aren't that many good Blue/Green creatures, but you don't need to stick to hybrid cards to abuse Momir.

Momir is basically known for searching up a specific two card combo:  Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir and Seedborn Muse.  With this combo the Momir player can flash out any creature in his hand and prevent opponents from playing instants, all while being able to keep up counterspell mana every single turn.  This isn't a backbreaking combo by any means, but it certainly is very annoying, especially if you like being able to play spells at instant speed.  The deck also tutors up Mystic Snake, who can lead you to tutor up your next relevant answer or threat.  Finally, the deck can lock people out with a combination of Aluren, Cloudstone Curio or another bounce enabler, and a cheap creature like Elvish Visionary to draw cards or Cloud of Faeries to generate a crap ton of mana.  Opposition also does well in hurting people.

If you look closely at both of these decks you will find that the combo themselves aren't necessarily the most important interactions in the decks.  Instead, what is important is how the decks assemble those combos, and that is through the use of their Commanders.  The Commanders give re-usable and consistent ways of searching up the pieces they need, as well as specific answers to their problems.  Having a deck designed to consistently find the important combo pieces makes winning that much easier.  While the easiest way of dealing with these decks is typically tucking their Commanders, a less common way of hurting these decks is by preventing them from searching their decks, by using cards like Aven Mindcensor and Mindlock Orb.  You could also try using something like Psychogenic Probe, but the damage dealt is typically inconsequential.

Additionally, you can just strip these decks of their key combo components to hurt them even more.  Cards such as Jester's Cap, Sadistic Sacrament and Bitter Ordeal all do a good job of searching out specific combo pieces that you don't like seeing.  Let's move on to the next category of Combo deck.

COMMANDER SYNERGY COMBO

Oftentimes people look at a legendary creature and think, "How can I break that?"  Most of the time it takes a little bit of work, but people out there are imaginative enough that they can come up with some interesting stuff.  There are also some goofy legends out there with strange abilities that are just meant to be broken in a slightly slower format like Commander that has access to a large card pool and tutors.  Let's take a look at a deck created by a well known writer over at Starcitygames that has a lot of combos built around its Commander:

Sek'Kuar, Deathkeeper
A Commander deck by Sam Black
Creatures
1 Acidic Slime
1 Algae Gharial
1 Bloodbraid Elf
1 Bloodghast
1 Bloodthrone Vampire
1 Braids, Cabal Minion
1 Carrion Feeder
1 Deathbringer Thoctar
1 Diligent Farmhand
1 Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder
1 Eternal Witness
1 Farhaven Elf
1 Fauna Shaman
1 Fleshbag Marauder
1 Furystoke Giant
1 Goblin Sharpshooter
1 Greater Gargadon
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
1 Krovikan Horror
1 Mitotic Slime
1 Nether Traitor
1 Pawn of Ulamog
1 Primeval Titan
1 Puppeteer Clique
1 Reassembling Skeleton
1 Sadistic Hypnotist
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Savra, Queen of the Golgari
1 Scarland Thrinax
1 Sek'Kuar, Deathkeeper
1 Sprouting Thrinax
1 Squee, Goblin Nabob
1 Viscera Seer
1 Wood Elves
34 cards

Other Spells
[Artifacts]
1 Culling Dais
1 Eldrazi Monument
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Mox Diamond
1 Phyrexian Altar
1 Skullclamp
1 Sol Ring
1 Spawning Pit
[Planeswalker]
1 Sarkhan Vol
[Enchantments]
1 Diabolic Servitude
1 Doubling Season
1 Dragon Appeasement
1 Fecundity
1 Goblin Bombardment
1 Golgari Germination
1 Grave Pact
1 Oversold Cemetery
1 Perilous Forays
1 Survival of the Fittest
1 Sylvan Library
[Instants]
1 Chord of Calling
1 Entomb
[Sorceries]
1 Buried Alive
1 Death Cloud
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Dread Return
1 Insurrection
28 cards
 
Lands
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Arid Mesa
1 Badlands
1 Bayou
1 Blood Crypt
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Bojuka Bog
2 Forest
1 Gaea's Cradle
1 Golgari Rot Farm
1 Gruul Turf
1 Khalni Garden
1 Kher Keep
1 Marsh Flats
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Mosswort Bridge
2 Mountain
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Pendelhaven
1 Phyrexian Tower
1 Polluted Delta
1 Rakdos Carnarium
1 Reflecting Pool
1 Savage Lands
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Stomping Ground
4 Swamp
1 Taiga
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Foothills
38 cards

 
sek'kuar, deathkeeper

 

This deck was published by Sam Black in one of his articles back in Oct of last year.  Before he printed it, I ran into a guy who was running a similar deck, and I'm curious if it was actually Sam.  If it was, he was very gracious even after kicking our butts.  Anyways, this deck seeks to abuse creatures that can be replayed from the graveyard and sacrifice effects to create a bunch of tokens using Sek'Kuar.  Basically the big combo it runs is Phyrexian Altar, Nether Traitor and Sek'Kuar.  If you have these three out, you can make infinite mana and have infinite sacrifices to make a ton of tokens.  There are plenty of other sacrifice outlets in the deck and reoccurring creatures as well.

The deck has a lot of other little interactions that work well with the Commander.  And that's the point of these types of decks.  They often use lots of little interactions and combos that fit with their legend.  A couple other common combo legends are as follows:

Sharuum the Hegemon:  Likes using reanimation by using Buried Alive to put useful artifacts like Magister Sphinx in the graveyard.
- Reaper King:  He loves Conspiracy to blow up everything on the board.
Experiment Kraj:   With enough counters on stuff like Triskelion and Gilder Bairn, can take out the table.
- Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind:  Likes Incendiary Command, Teferi's Puzzle Box, Whirlpool Warrior and Memory Jar.

A lot of these aren't instant win combos, they are just good with the Commander that they run.  And there are a lot of other examples out there that I haven't mentioned as well.  How do you deal with these types of decks?  By attacking their Commander directly, usually through tuck effects.  Hallowed Burial, Spin into Myth, Condemn and Oblation are all good ways of slowing down each of these decks.  Suddenly the Phyrexian Altar/Nether Traitor loses a lot of value without being able to combo with Sek'Kuar.  Of course, each of these strategies have different other ways of attacking them specifically (Sharuum decks don't like graveyard hate, etc.) but again, the most effective thing to do is get rid of these Commanders in such a way that they can't be cast from the Command zone easily.  Tuck effects are always powerful, but even more so against these type of decks.

Let's look at my final category of Combo deck. 

COMBOLICIOUS

Occasionally you will find someone who tries to put as many combos as possible in their deck, and this is fine and fun.  This is almost like a version of 5-color "Good Stuff" in that it has a lot of cards that are synergistic with one another.  These cards may not be the most powerful by themselves, but with a couple of tutors and some other good cards, they can do well.

Here is a look at a deck with a whole bunch of stuff going on:

Sliver Overlord
A Commander deck by bullfr0g
Creatures
1 Basal Sliver
1 Body Double
1 Changeling Titan
1 Crypt Champion
1 Devoted Druid
1 Dimir House Guard
1 Essence Warden
1 Eternal Dragon
1 Eternal Witness
1 Genesis
1 Goblin Sharpshooter
1 Golgari Thug
1 Haakon, Stromgald Scourge
1 Hana Kami
1 Juniper Order Ranger
1 Karmic Guide
1 Krosan Tusker
1 Mindlash Sliver
1 Mirror Entity
1 Mistmeadow Witch
1 Murderous Redcap
1 Necrotic Sliver
1 Quillspike
1 Reveillark
1 Saffi Eriksdotter
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Savra, Queen of the Golgari
1 Sek'Kuar, Deathkeeper
1 Sliver Overlord
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Teysa, Orzhov Scion
1 Vesuvan Shapeshifter
1 Virulent Sliver
1 Wall of Roots
1 Wild Cantor
1 Wirewood Herald
1 Wirewood Symbiote
1 Wood Elves
1 Yosei, the Morning Star
39 cards

Other Spells
[Artifacts]
1 Cloudstone Curio
1 Coalition Relic
1 Coldsteel Heart
1 Deathrender
1 Phyrexian Altar
1 Wanderer's Twig
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
[Enchantments]
1 Conspiracy
1 Debtors' Knell
1 Earthcraft
1 Enduring Renewal
1 Goblin Bombardment
1 Pandemonium
1 Squirrel Nest
[Instants]
1 Chord of Calling
1 Congregation at Dawn
1 Crop Rotation
1 Death Denied
1 Eladamri's Call
1 Evolution Charm
1 Mirrorweave
1 Nameless Inversion
1 Summoner's Pact
1 Vampiric Tutor
[Sorceries]
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Harmonize
1 Idyllic Tutor
1 Kodama's Reach
1 Natural Order
1 Sylvan Scrying
30 cards
 
Lands
1 Breeding Pool
8 Forest
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Island
1 Krosan Verge
1 Mountain
1 Murmuring Bosk
1 Overgrown Tomb
7 Plains
1 Savannah
1 Seaside Citadel
1 Selesnya Sanctuary
1 Stomping Ground
3 Swamp
1 Temple Garden
1 Volrath's Stronghold
31 cards

 
sliver overlord

 

I found this decklist HERE.  There are a mess of little combos/synergies in this deck, and here are just a few:

- Devoted Druid & Quillspike
- Squirrel Nest & Earthcraft
- Yosei & Goblin Bombardment & Enduring Renewal
- Mirror Entity & Virulent Sliver
- Virulent Sliver & Mirrorweave
- Reveillark & Body Double & Goblin Bombardment
- Reveillark & Vesuvan Shapeshifter & Goblin Bombardment
- Saffi & Crypt Champion & Pandemonium
- Saffi & Crypt Champion & Goblin Bombardment
- Karmic Guide & Changeling Titan & Goblin Bombardment
- Juniper Order Ranger & Murderous Redcap & Goblin Bombardment
- Enduring Renewal & Wild Cantor & Pandemonium
- Saffi & Karmic Guide & Goblin Bombardment

And these aren't the only combos in the deck.  The deck uses Reveillark, Cloudstone Curio and Phyrexian Altar, among others that all make for combos.  The deck carries a couple different tutors, including the Commander it uses to search up a specific sliver or changeling as necessary.  There are a ton of combos that use multiple cards as well.

How do you attack a deck like this?  Well, the most of these combos involve multiple pieces working together.  If you can keep the player from searching up those pieces, then they will be stuck with only parts of combos.  And a Murderous Redcap by itself isn't all that scary.  So again, keeping the player from searching their deck is a pretty good way to go, with Mindlock Orb and Aven Mindcensor.  Even the occasional Counterspell would be helpful, although this kind of deck does like to use the graveyard and can work around a counter or two.  But if you give them enough time, they can come up with something and make your life miserable.

CONCLUSION

So Combo really comes down to finding and assembling the pieces.  If you can keep the Combo player from searching up the pieces, you should have  a much better shot at taking them out.  Of course, there are times where they just draw into their combos naturally, and there isn't much you can do about that.  And that's the scary thing about playing against Combo:  They can win out of nowhere.

Infinite combos are something that are pretty annoying to play against.  The good thing is that although there are a lot of infinite combos out there, they are rarely played.  This is due to the amount of clicking and time involved to actually finish people off with these combos.  However, there are a lot of smaller combos that people use and fit into their decks.  And those are the ones that you should be more aware of.

Due to the huge amount of cards available in this format, there are a ton of different combos that can hit you at any time.  And due to the slower nature of multiplayer games, some of these combos are complex and pretty involved.  There's no way to be prepared for all of them, and I'm sure that there are other Combo archetypes that I didn't cover.  If you think there is an important type that I didn't cover, feel free to mention it in the comments. However the Combo player you have to really worry about is the one that lies low, without any outward signs of being a Combo player.  If they sit back and play defense too long, just be aware.  They will likely be bringing a game ending Combo shortly.

And that ends my little review of the three major archetypes as they relate to Commander.  Hopefully these give you some ideas about how to spot these types of decks, and how to fight against them.  I hope you enjoyed these articles.  Until next time!

Leviathan, aka Tarasco on MTGO
mrmorale32 at yahoo dot com
 

CONQUEROR & COMMANDER ARCHIVE

11 Comments

Wow, that Arcum deck looks by MMogg at Wed, 02/16/2011 - 17:56
MMogg's picture

Wow, that Arcum deck looks like a double whammy of douchebaggery: prison and combo.

Personally, I dislike instant-win combos because they go against the nature of the game. At its heart, Commander is meant to be a social format, and sitting there with a masturbatory "hey, look, I win!" deck is the opposite of that. Also, for Pete's sake, Commander is a very broken format . . . you (in general, not Leviathan) aren't clever for assembling a game-breaking combo.

P.S.: FYI, if someone is interested, there's a great Commander podcast (although aimed largely at paper players) that just had its latest episode (season 2, episode 1) talk about another deck type that Leviathan isn't going to touch on, that is chaos decks. Look for it at mtgcast.com

I totally agree with you. by themonkey at Wed, 02/16/2011 - 22:48
themonkey's picture

I totally agree with you. Combo decks are my least favorite to play against. That's because they are more concerned about playing with themselves then with other players. I'm usually one of the more aggressive players because of combo. Just because you're sitting there not bothering anyone doesn't mean I'm not going to attack you if I get the chance. You never know when that little bit of extra damage will make a difference.

I also agree with you about Commander being a broken format. Everyone seems to not talk about it, but it's not hard to win a Commander game. There are plenty of decks out there that should win most if not all the time. The fun in Commander isn't from winning, it's from interacting. This is why the social contract exists.

Well...yes and no. Winning is by Paul Leicht at Wed, 02/16/2011 - 23:11
Paul Leicht's picture

Well...yes and no. Winning is the bonus. If it was impossible to win (and I have seen this first hand) then no one would play. When someone brings a deck known to be unfun and a sure bet to win vs anything but the best the other players tend to quit in short order. What is generally desirable/desired is a sporting chance. Hence Emrakul was banned, along with other format-killing cards.

The disappointing thing is if by greyes3 at Thu, 02/17/2011 - 01:52
greyes3's picture

The disappointing thing is if more players would learn how to adapt to certain cards and different archetypes instead of just complaining about them, great cards like Emrakul wouldn't have to get banned. I hardly consided him format-killing, but I know I'm in the minority here.

2 cents by Elbinac at Thu, 02/17/2011 - 12:40
Elbinac's picture

I never object to people playing whatever they want.
Part of the fun for me is when you see them trying to pull of the win all cheaty-faced and smile from having exactly the perfect answer for it.

Such as any green/black(+) deck that runs no basic lands with hermit druid for a combo kill from the graveyard.
You can't help but chuckle when you have the crop rotation in hand and a bog in the deck, or just a ravenous trap.

There really isn't a shortage of degenerate things to do, so banning a handful of them seems like a wasted effort.

I still find myself building a deck to have answers to the now banned Emrakul.
And then find myself cutting those answers for other cards since they are no longer needed.

I totally get what you are by Paul Leicht at Thu, 02/17/2011 - 17:25
Paul Leicht's picture

I totally get what you are saying but it doesn't jibe with my experience in commander. Commander may be the least comfortable format for Spikes as the goal isn't necessarily winning quickly and efficiently. It isn't quite a carebear format but it is a little in that vein. Or at least that's how it seems from playing with aficionados of the format.

I tried to avoid giving an by Leviathan at Thu, 02/17/2011 - 16:48
Leviathan's picture

I tried to avoid giving an opinion about whether Combo is bad for the format. Instead I was hoping just to give people the ability to recognize what they are playing against and come up with ways to include answers in their decks. Sometimes you are going to lose even if you have an answer in your deck, but there are a lot of times where things like Relic of Progenitus come in very handy. Unfortunately people don't like including those types of cards in their decks, instead just focusing on their theme and threats and relying upon others to have answers. And that isn't the best recipe for success.

Some would even argue that it by MMogg at Thu, 02/17/2011 - 18:42
MMogg's picture

Some would even argue that it is part of the social contract (to a degree) that you're responsible for putting at least a modicum of answers in your deck to make the game enjoyable. Everyone loves haymakers, but they have to be followed with less dazzling, spicy answers. I kind of agree with that sentiment.

Also, I think a lot of the combos you talked about are above the belt, so to speak, and are more plain good/cool synergy than obnoxious combo. =)

I agree with not including personal opinion in these articles.

BTW, now that you've done a deck of each colour combination and these general archetype overviews, what's next?

The next article is going to by Leviathan at Thu, 02/17/2011 - 22:10
Leviathan's picture

The next article is going to be a review of MBS for Commander, and I already have an idea for the following one. After that I'm sort of up in the air. I was hoping that they would update the rules manager online so I could make a Bosh deck, but that hasn't happened yet. I also thought about going through each of the color combos again, but I want to wait to see what comes out in the new Commander decks this summer before I start that up again. I was thinking about using some of the more recent legends, but they are all really popular right when they come out so I don't know if that's the best idea. So it's going to be whatever comes up.

If anyone has any requests or suggestions, feel free to let me know. I can always do some deck doctoring as well, so if anyone wants me to work on their deck feel free to email.

I know you're not a budget by themonkey at Thu, 02/17/2011 - 23:13
themonkey's picture

I know you're not a budget player, but I'd be interested in seeing a budget deck from you. Maybe giving yourself a money limit. Could you even make a fairly good deck for $20 (the same price as preconstructed decks)? It might be an interesting challenge and I'd enjoy reading that article.

I did do a budget deck doctor by Leviathan at Fri, 02/18/2011 - 17:23
Leviathan's picture

I did do a budget deck doctor article a while back using Kaervek but I will see what I can do about getting a new one going.