Comments on: How Good Is Too Good in Commander?

By: The Booze Cube

The Booze Cube — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 17:23:36 +0000

I'm glad to see someone else playing Lich in Commander. I've got mine in an Enchantress-style deck (only creatures are Argothian Enchantress and Academy Rector). I usually use Lich to combo kill with Repay in Kind or Soul Conduit, to become quasi-invincible with Delaying Shield, or for absurd levels of card draw with Words of Worship.

On your spectrum, my deck probably falls somewhere between "Quality Ruthless" and "Quality Fun." It can definitely be quite nasty, locking down the board with things like Moat + Humility or going for a quick combo kill (if I want to end things). But it's also fun in that I can lose in an entertaining fashion, like literally dying to Austere Command with Lich on the field. Since it's often very difficult for any one person to interact with my board while I can easily interact with theirs, I also often end up being the "villain" that everyone else has to rally together to fight, which makes for some epic games.

If you really want to use Lich effectively though, you absolutely need to include white. Cards like Sterling Grove, Greater Auramancy, and Privileged Position are critical to protecting yourself from Naturalize effects. And Delaying Shield's replacement effect not only turns off Lich's sacrifice triggers, it makes you immune to damage by converting it into harmless life loss.

By: pi

pi — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 08:04:11 +0000

I think your description of different kinds of decks is spot on (though maybe fit in theme decks somehow). However, what would be 'Quality Fun' in one group might be approaching 'Quality Ruthless' in a more underpowered group. My regular group is quite casual, however, their decks are fairly strong. I try to aim for my decks to be just a little better than theirs. When I play with people from my own forum (www.magicforums.nl) I notice that half of them are used to a similar or even a little higher powered setting than I am, while the other half is clearly used to a much lower power level (closer to the EDH precons in my estimation). When I go to a local get together of players there tend to be a lot of competitive players around against whom my regular decks won't stand a chance at all. It is very hard to estimate what kind of people you'll be facing and which power level would equate to 'Quality Fun', so while it's good to consider the distinction it's quite hard to put into practice if you're not only facing one regular group.

By: arabidopsis

arabidopsis — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 06:19:52 +0000

1st: I like your conclusion. "Not only should you be having fun, but your opponents should too." This is exactly what I always say.
I totally agree with the first part of the article. It's difficult to find a balance between the different style of players and decks in my area.
I also got trapped in making the wrong decks. My mono blue sakashima, which copies or takes over everything sounds fun on paper… but the others don't like playing against it. My weenie infect deck was shut down by every other player the moment they saw the first infect creature.
But I read the signals and I learn. Somehow, artifact combo players don't want to read the signals.

About the different groups. I think it's an interesting look at the players. I can easily fit in many players/decks in some of these groups. But I have the feeling that you missed a few groups.
I tried to fit in my decks in the groups, and I have some decks now that I can't fit in. Maybe I don't fully understand the identity of all groups.
Mostly the aggro tribal decks for example. They attack the slow identity of the game.

good article.