Marvel's Spider-Man: A cEDH Review

<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sisay, Weatherlight Captain" href="#" target="_blank">Sisay, Weatherlight Captain</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.annasteinbauer.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Anna Steinbauer</a></em></p>
<p>Breaking into the cEDH format doesn't have to be difficult! I understand that it can be intimidating, especially when some of the decks or interactions can get complicated. While some of the card choices can be confusing or some of the combo lines slightly hard to wrap your head around, you'll quickly realize that it's not all that different than normal Commander games - we just take priority a bit more seriously and things can get crazy quickly.</p>
<p>In this guide, I'll walk you through:</p>
<ul>
<li style="list-style-type: none;">
<ul>
<li><strong>What is cEDH?</strong>
<ul>
<li>What is cEDH itself? What makes Competitive Commander different than casual Commander games? What's up with Brackets 4 &amp; 5?</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Building a cEDH Deck</strong>
<ul>
<li>What do you need to know before putting together your own deck? I'll cover popular archetypes, Commanders, staples, and finding the right deck for <em>you.</em></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Playing cEDH</strong>
<ul>
<li>Once you sit down at the table, what do you need to know? What common combos should you look out for? What are the first few turns like?</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>


<p>cEDH is defined by the Commander Format Panel in the Bracket System thusly:</p>
<blockquote><p>Decks are built to win in the competitive metagame. Players intend to use only the most powerful strategies</p></blockquote>
<p>This is a fine enough working definition, especially in a short space. A longer definition could be:</p>
<blockquote><p>Decks are built to win in the competitive metagame and must be able to compete at the table. Players intend to use only the most powerful strategies, including the fastest mana, focused strategies, and the best interaction available to achieve their <em>ultimate goal of winning the game</em>.</p></blockquote>
<p>&nbsp;</p>


<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Craterhoof Behemoth"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Thassa&#039;s Oracle"></div></div>
<p>While navigating the intricacies of a normal Commander game can be difficult, with each player often bringing a different ideal to the table, cEDH is simple: just win.</p>
<p>This is the strongest thing that Competitive Commander has going for it and that attracts so many. A game where everyone is trying to win puts everyone on an even playing field where all of the expectations are the same and you know what you're getting into.</p>
<p>While there's nothing wrong with the normal social contract and complex dance of finding your idealistic EDH pod/power level, having the clarity and ease of simply sitting down and everyone being on (or close) to the same page is often a breath of fresh air for me. Of course, it also brings with it some form of ideals (that aren't always upheld, but still) that help reinforce the goal of aiming to win the game.</p>
<p>They also depend on local playgroups, just like EDH, but are especially aspired to within a tournament environment. These include, but aren't limited to:</p>
<ul>
<li>Play a good deck
<ul>
<li>Ironically, you do have to worry some about deck selection in cEDH games - if your deck can't keep up then you'll be asking to lose - and that isn't that fun for everyone else!</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>No "kingmaking"
<ul>
<li>Don't take game actions that specifically set up one player to win (if that player isn't yourself) if you can help it</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>No spite plays
<ul>
<li>No making plays that mess with another player specifically "just because" or because you're upset at them.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>No using memory of previous games
<ul>
<li>Upset someone countered your spell earlier or in a previous match in the night? Get over it, save your interaction for when it matters.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Priority matters - a lot
<ul>
<li>When you're playing games of cEDH, who's turn it is to take actions on the stack needs to be carefully tracked and monitored. If you skip ahead in priority to counter someone's spell, you may be missing the chance to let an opponent use their interaction when you didn't need to. Pay attention!</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Always play to your outs
<ul>
<li>Have a counterspell and no one else does? You probably should use it.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>No takebacks. Or loads of takebacks.
<ul>
<li>Not doing takebacks is the most softly held ideal, mainly because, well, it can be a bit boring! Depending on the playgroup, you'll either be held to your word ("A card laid is a card played") or encouraged to find the best solution to a problem together with the table, usually by people showing off what they have to others or placing things on the stack and, well, taking them back.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p>We'll talk more about some specifics of behavioral ideals &amp; etiquette - the things that are important to make a game of cEDH work - in a later section.</p>
<p>These things and more are part of what helps separate cEDH from casual Commander games - together with the meta and power level aspects which we'll cover now.</p>


<p>Since <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/wotc-introduces-new-bracket-system-for-edh" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the introduction of the Bracket system</a>, many players seem to have become more confused - not less- about what some of the difference between high power Commander (i.e., Bracket 4) and cEDH (i.e., Bracket 5) really is. This difference has most commonly been defined by pundits and also WoTC themselves as a "meta" difference - and this is something that I agree with and will try to quickly explain to you here.</p>
<p>Most of the confusion seems to come from the use of the word "meta" - implying that there is a defined hierarchy of the most powerful &amp; widely played decks that can be planned for, reacted against, and similar. While at the tournament level of playing cEDH this can be true , it's better to think about the average "meta" of Competitive Commander being more concerned with the cards you're always going to consistently see.</p>
<p>While you may not always play against <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tymna the Weaver" href="#" target="_blank">Tymna</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> &amp; <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kraum, Ludevic&#039;s Opus" href="#" target="_blank">Kraum</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> in your pods, you can rest assured you will be running into a lot of these high-powered cards:</p>
<ul>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Force of Will" href="#" target="_blank">Force of Will</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rhystic Study" href="#" target="_blank">Rhystic Study</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thassa&#039;s Oracle" href="#" target="_blank">Thassa&#039;s Oracle</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Jeska&#039;s Will" href="#" target="_blank">Jeska&#039;s Will</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Necropotence" href="#" target="_blank">Necropotence</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ad Nauseam" href="#" target="_blank">Ad Nauseam</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
</ul>
<p>It demands a certain amount of streamlining and the ability to both create win attempts and stop opposing win attempts very quickly - as soon as turn one. As a direct result, this limits the lower level options of what really is "viable" in a cEDH game - theoretically you <em>can</em> play any Commander with any amount of combos and Game Changers if you so please - but don't be surprised if you're left in the dust or have your normally game-ending <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Great Henge" href="#" target="_blank">The Great Henge</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> countered.</p>
<p>There's no room for dawdling, or else another deck will punch your teeth in.</p>
<p>With the game compressed into so few turns, many of your opponents will be threatening a win in the next turn cycle; is your deck prepared for that? You'll also have to work together with your opponents to help stop whoever is actually the largest threat at that point, an aspect of the game that feels uniquely different from many EDH games that I've played.</p>
<p>These factors represents what is, unfortunately, a bit of a purely vibes-based distinction between Brackets 4 and 5. At the end of the day, Bracket 4 is for having fun doing your thing while casting powerful spells - Bracket 5 is about winning the game. Finding where you stand on those lines is up to you - and maybe also down to how your opponents are thinking.</p>


<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rhystic Study|j22|114"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ad Nauseam"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mox Diamond"></div></div>
<p>Thanks to the rules of Bracket 5, you get any amount of Game Changers to play in cEDH games! This is great, because most iconic and important cards played in cEDH are on the Game Changers list. They are:</p>
<ul>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ad Nauseam" href="#" target="_blank">Ad Nauseam</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ancient Tomb" href="#" target="_blank">Ancient Tomb</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bolas&#039;s Citadel" href="#" target="_blank">Bolas&#039;s Citadel</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Chrome Mox" href="#" target="_blank">Chrome Mox</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Consecrated Sphinx" href="#" target="_blank">Consecrated Sphinx</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Crop Rotation" href="#" target="_blank">Crop Rotation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Deflecting Swat" href="#" target="_blank">Deflecting Swat</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Demonic Tutor" href="#" target="_blank">Demonic Tutor</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Drannith Magistrate" href="#" target="_blank">Drannith Magistrate</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Enlightened Tutor" href="#" target="_blank">Enlightened Tutor</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fierce Guardianship" href="#" target="_blank">Fierce Guardianship</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Food Chain" href="#" target="_blank">Food Chain</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Force of Will" href="#" target="_blank">Force of Will</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gaea&#039;s Cradle" href="#" target="_blank">Gaea&#039;s Cradle</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gamble" href="#" target="_blank">Gamble</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gifts Ungiven" href="#" target="_blank">Gifts Ungiven</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Grim Monolith" href="#" target="_blank">Grim Monolith</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Imperial Seal" href="#" target="_blank">Imperial Seal</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Intuition" href="#" target="_blank">Intuition</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Jeska&#039;s Will" href="#" target="_blank">Jeska&#039;s Will</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy" href="#" target="_blank">Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lion&#039;s Eye Diamond" href="#" target="_blank">Lion&#039;s Eye Diamond</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mana Vault" href="#" target="_blank">Mana Vault</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mox Diamond" href="#" target="_blank">Mox Diamond</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mystical Tutor" href="#" target="_blank">Mystical Tutor</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Necropotence" href="#" target="_blank">Necropotence</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Notion Thief" href="#" target="_blank">Notion Thief</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Opposition Agent" href="#" target="_blank">Opposition Agent</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Orcish Bowmasters" href="#" target="_blank">Orcish Bowmasters</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rhystic Study" href="#" target="_blank">Rhystic Study</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Seedborn Muse" href="#" target="_blank">Seedborn Muse</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Smothering Tithe" href="#" target="_blank">Smothering Tithe</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Survival of the Fittest" href="#" target="_blank">Survival of the Fittest</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thassa&#039;s Oracle" href="#" target="_blank">Thassa&#039;s Oracle</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The One Ring" href="#" target="_blank">The One Ring</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Underworld Breach" href="#" target="_blank">Underworld Breach</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vampiric Tutor" href="#" target="_blank">Vampiric Tutor</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Winota, Joiner of Forces" href="#" target="_blank">Winota, Joiner of Forces</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Worldly Tutor" href="#" target="_blank">Worldly Tutor</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Yuriko, the Tiger&#039;s Shadow" href="#" target="_blank">Yuriko, the Tiger&#039;s Shadow</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
</ul>
<p>You may notice that this is the vast majority of the Game Changers list! It's true! It seems as if the list is greatly informed by cEDH itself (or perhaps it is because we just happen to play all the most powerful cards). Every deck that can play all of the Game Changers in its colors usually does so - outside of those that are explicitly aimed at protecting lower power games, such as Tabernacle, the Phyrexian Praetors, and a few other more niche cards that are truly not good enough to hang.</p>


<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Efficient Construction"></div></div>
<p>One of the biggest joys in <em>Magic</em> is finding a deck that clicks just perfectly with your gameplay taste. I do have good news: there is almost certainly a cEDH deck that you will enjoy! Whether it's a spicy brew of your own or finding a commonly agreed upon powerful list, there’s something that will work for your preferred play style.</p>
<p>Many people start by either looking at a specific commander (or partner commanders) that they want to play with - or by looking for a specific playstyle or looking to accomplish a specific combo.</p>
<p>However, one top level recommendation: <em>Start with something established to learn how everything works</em>. More on that later too.</p>
<p>Regardless of where you start, there's something important for you to look out for - your list <em>does</em> have to be powerful. If a deck can’t hack it at a cEDH table, you’ll just not be having enough fun - and neither will anybody else at the table.</p>
<p>Let's walk through some of the best Commanders, the winningest combos, and other bits and bobs about finding the right cEDH deck for you. I'll also point out some resources that make finding other people's deck lists to become inspired by as easy as possible.</p>


<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Azor&#039;s Elocutors"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Heated Debate"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Droning Bureaucrats"></div></div>
<p>There's a loose framework for what makes a deck "cEDH viable," a phrase that itself is loaded and not actually that useful. What I mean is here are the things that <em>I</em> look for in a deck to know whether or not I believe the deck would have a shot at standing on its own at the average Bracket 5 table.</p>
<p>It should have at least three of these different elements:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>A fast, compact win condition</strong> - Two to three cards that are easily assembled that win the game on their own. These can be either generically good or deck specific. More on combos later.</li>
<li><strong>Two or more (preferably more) colors</strong> - More colors equals higher average card quality and more flexibility in what the cards in your deck can do for you. It's pretty simple! This does have a practical ceiling though - most four-color decks, for example, have plenty of playable cards and get to have more consistent mana over five-color decks.</li>
<li><strong>A Combo/Extreme Synergy-Centric <em>or</em> a Card Advantage Creating <em>or</em> a Mana Producing Commander</strong> - The Commander is the eight (and ninth, with Partners) card in hand. It should be a part of a combo (for example: Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy; Malcolm, Keen Eyed Navigator; Magda; Najeela the Bladeblossom; etc.), have extreme synergy with the rest of your deck (Winota, K'rrik, Sisay, Weatherlight Captain), create card advantage (Tymna, the Weaver, Thrasios, Triton Hero, Yuriko, the Tigers Shadow), or create a distinct mana advantage (Rograkh, Kinnan, Malcolm, many more). If your Commander can't check one of these boxes, you'll be quickly questioning why its there.</li>
<li><strong>Blue color identity</strong> - This isn't a joke, blue combines all of the best free interaction (Force of Will, Mindbreak Trap, Force of Negation, etc.) with what may be the two most important cards in the format, Mystic Remora &amp; Rhystic Study, to keep you stocked on cards.</li>
<li><strong>Sans blue identity, <em>every</em> powerful interactive spell you can play</strong> - Silence effects in white, Deflecting Swat (and a few others) in red, etc.</li>
</ul>
<p>Having a synergistic commander with three-color identity and lots of interaction gets you very far. A fast combo paired with two or more colors, while still being sans blue, can win a ton of games. Any one or two of these alone, especially only one, definitely won't hack it.</p>
<p>Of course, this also is a competently imperfect science. There are decks that check only two of these boxes that can win quite a lot (Magda, for example) and there are other decks that could check all of them (Najeela) that are currently struggling. At the end of the day, the person best suited to determine what deck you would like to play is you; if you want to experience the grind of a niche deck that has a lower win rate than others, that is on you!</p>
<p>If you want to play a pile of four-color good stuff, that is on you as well. This is just a guide.</p>


<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Johnny, Combo Player"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Timmy, Power Gamer"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Spike, Tournament Grinder"></div></div>
<p>A few words on each of the three major archetypes of cEDH - and a few words as well on the missing commonly played <em>Magic</em> archetype as well. Each widely played deck falls into one of these three buckets, though some can ride the line between several different ones. Find the one that you think will best suit your playstyle or preferences and go from there.</p>
<h3>Turbo/Fast Combo</h3>
<p>Often considered the strongest archetype in Competitive Commander, <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/edhrec-guide-to-cedh-turbo/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Turbo decks</a> have one pretty obvious aim: win quickly.</p>
<p>Turbo decks, with the poster child deck being the Grixis Rograkh/Silas Ren, pack the leanest combos and, often, as many mana accelerating effects as possible. Some pilots also cut interaction in exchange for even more power.</p>
<p>Since they're so focused on the early game, though, they can often stumble into the mid and late game. A focus on explosiveness often means giving up some level of average card quality, making the average draw worse.</p>
<h3>Midrange</h3>
<p><a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/cedh-midrange/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Midrange cEDH decks</a> are trying to eat their cake and have it too. Usually they're three or more colors, feature a balanced, yet wide, range of effects (winning cards, interaction, acceleration, card draw, etc.) and aim to win in the mid or late game.</p>
<p>An average Midrange deck is all about having the highest average card quality possible, meaning that every draw step or Rhystic Study trigger could theoretically be game altering - or could perhaps not apply to the current situation at all while still being a good card.</p>
<p>They also prominently feature combo wins, though usually cut the cards that would let them execute them extremely quickly for more draw and mana engines. The classic example is Tymna, the Weaver/Kraum, Ludevic's Opus, (nicknamed Blue Farm) a four-color pile that relies on sticking a value engine, such as one of its commanders, to draw many cards (that it hopefully can turn into a win).</p>
<h3>Stax</h3>
<p>Stax, perhaps a dying archetype, focuses on resolving several "Stax" pieces that slow down the game, restricting the choices of other players, before winning with a combo or, often, combat damage.</p>
<p>Classic Stax cards include <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rule of Law" href="#" target="_blank">Rule of Law</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Aven Mindcensor" href="#" target="_blank">Aven Mindcensor</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Archon of Emeria" href="#" target="_blank">Archon of Emeria</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and similar effects. Stax remains the main home of combat-focused decks in cEDH, but requires very exacting piloting and being able to identify windows of winning opportunity before an opponent bounces your one most restrictive piece and goes for the win.</p>
<p>Not for the faint of heart.</p>
<h3>Traditional Tempo/Control...?</h3>
<p>Tempo and Control, in the traditional <em>Magic</em> senses, unfortunately don't exist meaningfully in a cEDH context. The problem is that all of the cards that you would usually use to trade resources with opponents - removal spells, counterspells, etc. - put you at a massive disadvantage vs. your opponents.</p>
<p>In a normal game, they represent a one-for-one trade, placing you on even ground, if not ahead or behind on mana. In a multiplayer format, you put yourself down a card, a single opponent down a card, and two opponents <em>up</em> on you on cards and mana. Not a great trade.</p>
<p>Even normal Tempo fuel, such as cantrips, have diving value, thanks to the increased number of players.</p>
<p>In a normal 1v1 game, you take every other turn in the match, making taking a bit of time off, alongside mana and a card, to sculpt your hand or deck an easy prospect. Your opponent, in many ways, only has a one turn window in which to punish you for spinning the wheels. In cEDH, you only take every fourth turn, as opposed to every other one, making every turn, every card, and every mana spent that much more valuable.</p>
<p>Cantrips, only letting you take a look at one or two more cards of your 98-99 card deck, quickly become a waste of mana (and deck inclusion slots). As a result, decks rely on much more effective, and definite forms of deck manipulation: tutors. These leave cantrips, and other traditional tempo and control forms of larger card advantage for that matter, in the dust.</p>


<p>This is by no means all encompassing - I've selected what feels like a representative list of some of the most popular lists that also cover bases on options and playstyles.</p>
<h3>Tymna/Kraum (Blue Farm)</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Tymna the Weaver"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kraum, Ludevic&#039;s Opus"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tymna the Weaver" href="#" target="_blank">Tymna the Weaver</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> &amp; <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kraum, Ludevic&#039;s Opus" href="#" target="_blank">Kraum, Ludevic&#039;s Opus</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are far and away the most common, and also the most powerful, commander combination available in Competitive Commander at this time. It features the four strongest colors, missing only the relatively weak green, getting to pack in the best interaction, white Silence effects, the easiest and most compact winning combos, explosive mana, all while having two commanders that draw loads and loads of cards.</p>
<p>Even in situations where you’re a bit low on action, both Tymna and Kraum are able to draw anywhere from one to five-plus cards per turn cycle, quickly turbocharging your position. It’s no mystery why this deck and these commanders are so popular; they do quite literally do it all.</p>
<p>Theoretically beginner friendly - but I have seen some players get bogged down with decision paralysis since all of the cards are, well, good.</p>
<h3>Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy"></div></div>
<p>Kinnan is the powerhouse two-color commander available in the format. Getting onto the battlefield quickly, he provides an explosive burst of mana that you can pour into powerful advantage engines, his own activated ability (to cheat in cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Nyxbloom Ancient" href="#" target="_blank">Nyxbloom Ancient</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>), or just casting big dudes outright.</p>
<p>Most importantly, he combines with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Basalt Monolith" href="#" target="_blank">Basalt Monolith</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to make infinite colorless mana. Use this mana on something like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thrasios, Triton Hero" href="#" target="_blank">Thrasios, Triton Hero</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to draw your entire deck (find a way to win then, I dare you!) or on a massive <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Finale of Devastation" href="#" target="_blank">Finale of Devastation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to pump your creatures and kill the table.</p>
<p>Probably the most beginner friendly of the popular decks, due to low mana requirements, a straightforward plan, and plenty of blue interaction to help cover your bases.</p>
<h3>Thrasios/Tymna (TnT)</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Thrasios, Triton Hero"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Tymna the Weaver"></div></div>
<p>Enjoy green creatures and maximizing <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gaea&#039;s Cradle" href="#" target="_blank">Gaea&#039;s Cradle</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>? TnT is definitely the option for you. This classic cEDH deck plays piles and piles of value creatures, hoping to get in attackers with Tymna on the battlefield to draw cards and getting as much mana from Gaea's Cradle as possible.</p>
<p>It gets to pair this all with solid interaction suites, the best tutors, and more. Thanks to its colors, it can still win with Thassa's Oracle, but also has cool infinite mana lines with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hazel&#039;s Brewmaster" href="#" target="_blank">Hazel&#039;s Brewmaster</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Devoted Druid" href="#" target="_blank">Devoted Druid</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Draw your library with Thrasios, call it a day. Win-con in the command zone! Certified best <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Seedborn Muse" href="#" target="_blank">Seedborn Muse</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> deck.</p>
<h3>Rograkh/Silas (RogSi)</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Silas Renn, Seeker Adept"></div></div>
<p>RogSi is <em>the</em> Turbo deck in Competitive Commander - and before the bans that removed the explosiveness of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dockside Extortionist" href="#" target="_blank">Dockside Extortionist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mana Crypt" href="#" target="_blank">Mana Crypt</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> was borderline the agreed-upon best deck. It very well still may be a pile of insanely powerful instants, sorceries, and artifacts that usually has one goal: Cast Necropotence or Ad Nauseam, take a ton of damage to draw a ton of cards, leverage that into a Thoracle or Underworld Breach win, often at instant speed thanks to the likes of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Valley Floodcaller" href="#" target="_blank">Valley Floodcaller</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Borne Upon a Wind" href="#" target="_blank">Borne Upon a Wind</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>Not for the faint of heart - jamming into Rhystic Studies &amp; coming out just fine is common.</p>
<h3>Tivit, Seller of Secrets</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Tivit, Seller of Secrets"></div></div>
<p>If we were to have a Control deck in cEDH, Tivit may be the closest. An Esper pile that leverages permission, enchantments, and value engines to bridge into the late game where it can easily win with its own signature combo.</p>
<p>Leveraging Tivit's ability to make five artifacts on his own every turn, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Time Sieve" href="#" target="_blank">Time Sieve</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> lets you take semi-infinite turns (as many turns are as relevant, anyways).</p>
<h3>Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Yuriko, the Tiger&#039;s Shadow"></div></div>
<p>If we were to have a Tempo deck in cEDH, it's the Tiger's Shadow. Yuriko and her army of Ninjas seek to maximize your Yuriko triggers every turn, caring less about the damage than the card draw that the ability provides.</p>
<p>The damage can sometimes be relevant and set up to be devastating. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vampiric Tutor" href="#" target="_blank">Vampiric Tutor</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> for <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Shadow of Mortality" href="#" target="_blank">Shadow of Mortality</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, resolve the first trigger, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Brainstorm" href="#" target="_blank">Brainstorm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> in response to the second trigger, put it back on top, dome everyone again. That's good, clean gaming.</p>
<p>Dimir colors allow for counterspells and removal alike, while also giving you the premium win condition every deck wants in Thassa's Oracle. A very, very fun deck to mess around with, especially as Ninjas are printed surprisingly often.</p>
<h3>Sisay, Weatherlight Captain</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sisay, Weatherlight Captain"></div></div>
<p>A complex, five-color combo deck that plays as many legendary creatures is as reasonable. Once you have enough in play, Sisay can simply tutor wins directly into play.</p>
<p>The deck also gets to play a wide range of flexible utility creatures that you can grab in a pinch with Sisay as well. Since it's creature (and planeswalker!) based, Sisay operates on a different axis than most pilots come prepared for. Noncreature interaction is common for most gamers to bring. Creature removal? Much less so.</p>
<p>The current main win line is leveraging <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Oath of Teferi" href="#" target="_blank">Oath of Teferi</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God" href="#" target="_blank">Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Aminatou, the Fateshifter" href="#" target="_blank">Aminatou, the Fateshifter</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to create infinite flicker effects. From here, there are several cards which win the game, the easiest being using <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Saheeli Rai" href="#" target="_blank">Saheeli Rai</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>'s +1 ability to ping out the table.</p>
<p>I love how many funky cards this deck gets to play; where else are you seeing <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ertai Resurrected" href="#" target="_blank">Ertai Resurrected</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> entering the battlefield out of the library to great effect?</p>
<h3>Magda, Brazen Outlaw</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Magda, Brazen Outlaw"></div></div>
<p>A mono-red combo deck that also plays a high amount of stax pieces and a pile of some of the most unplayable cards you've ever seen. There are many one- and two-mana Dwarfs that you play simply because they make mana for you - and do nothing else at all.</p>
<p>Using those Treasures for Magda's ability, tutor an Artifact Dwarf such as <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Adaptive Automaton" href="#" target="_blank">Adaptive Automaton</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Clock of Omens" href="#" target="_blank">Clock of Omens</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> into play to make infinite tapped Treasures (which you can still sacrifice to Magda to tutor up actual game winning cards). Huge artifact bombs, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Portal to Phyrexia" href="#" target="_blank">Portal to Phyrexia</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="God-Pharaoh&#039;s Statue" href="#" target="_blank">God-Pharaoh&#039;s Statue</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, also fetchable by the commander, buy time to assemble the engine.</p>


<p>cEDH decks are scattered far and wide across the world wide web. What can we do about that? There are a few different places available.</p>
<p><strong>Interested in data?</strong> <a href="https://edhtop16.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">EDHTop16</a> pulls down most data from large cEDH tournaments, presents the highest performers, and then gives you the deck lists of the highest performers for those specific decks. It's where I go to find what people who think a <em>ton</em> about the format and then get results are doing.</p>
<p><strong>Interested in curation?</strong> <a href="https://cedh-decklist-database.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The cEDH Decklist Database</a> is a long-term community project that takes a more curated approach to decks, with teams of judges and similar that narrow down to a much smaller list of decks - also a good place to find Discord communities and Primers for specific decks.</p>


<p>Often, a hard part of getting into cEDH can come from being surprised by the different phases of the game that present themselves in most, if not all, matches. While not all games are made the same, they often have a similar tenor that I find fits neatly into the early game, mid game, and late game.</p>
<p>I'll provide a quick and dirty overview of what may happen in these sections of the game, what one may have to look out for during them, and what you may aim for by that point, along with a rough turn range for each.</p>
<h2>The Early Game (Turns 1-2)</h2>
<p>The early turns are mainly for one thing: set up and development of your first major piece. Players dump out the mana rocks in their opening hands then turn that first burst of mana into something impactful: an unrestricted tutor, a Mystic Remora, a Rhystic Study, one (or both) of their commanders, a deck-specific impact piece (two one-drop Dwarves for Magda, for example).</p>
<p>Usually, nothing <em>too</em> dangerous happens from the jump, though the most powerful of card advantage engines (e.g., Rhystic Study) are often worth countering to save yourself the headache. Also, the occasional win attempt will happen here as well from a deck like Rograkh/Silas or any Esper deck that has the Thassa's Oracle nuts.</p>
<p>Play heads up, don't go shields down!</p>
<h2>The Mid Game (Turns 3-7)</h2>
<p>The middle of the game is where you have to constantly stay on your toes. At this point, everyone has largely executed the plan of their opening hand (your opening hand <em>did</em> have a plan, right? Check out the next section) and are ready to move onto what's next.</p>
<p>In these turns, everyone will make their major win attempts and either be stopped or win the game. Having and using your interaction carefully is an important step during the mid game. If someone isn't explicitly winning the game - or playing something that you think will get them very close - don't bother with a counterspell; you'll need it later.</p>
<p>Depending on the players, the decks, and the seat order, you'll have to find your own window of opportunity to win the game. Finding a window is a tough skill. You have to deduce when your opponents' shields are down - or at least down enough vs. how much interaction you have to protect your win. It's an acquired skill that best comes from reps. The best advice to help build those reps though is just win. Try to win. If it works, it works. If it fails, try to figure out why you didn't win in that situation and try not to go for it in that spot again.</p>
<h2>The Late Game (Turns 8+)</h2>
<p>Late turns in cEDH games are a bit of a mess. Someone has a ton of cards in hand but isn't actually set up to win. Somebody is at four life but somehow hanging on. Everyone has had a major win attempt stopped and there's maybe one total counterspell available at the table. Every spell and every draw step could represent the game finally ending.</p>
<p>Honestly, hold on for dear life, try to build up some incremental advantages, and pray that someone doesn't finally draw the Tainted Pact they've been looking for for four turns when you're not ready for it.</p>


<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Serum Powder"></div></div>
<p>Mulliganing is one of the most important phases in a cEDH game. Not because it's a turn 0/1 format where you can mulligan your way to an insane win, but because what's in your opening hand will define your first several turns - and the trajectory of the rest of your game.</p>
<p>I have two main tips for EDH players coming to cEDH games for the first time:</p>
<ul>
<li>Be aggressive. The London Mulligan (the current mulliganing system) is extremely busted, especially since we also get a free one, letting you look at loads of cards and then sculpting your final hand. Most cEDH decks shouldn't be afraid to go all the way to five cards in hand, if not lower, in pursuit for the perfect start. Why look at seven cards of your deck when you can look at 28?</li>
<li>Keep a hand with a plan. In many EDH games, keeping a hand with lands and spells, usually a curve too, is good enough. Bonus points if there's a Sol Ring. In cEDH, that kind of thinking will have you left in the dust quickly. A hand needs to be able to feature a kind of plan - a good reason for keeping it. "This hand lets me cast my must-have commander on turn one" or "After developing four mana with these rocks on turn one, I'll cast this Vampiric Tutor in my next upkeep to set up Rhystic Study for my draw step."</li>
</ul>
<p>If your hand doesn't have a plan, you'll be floundering quickly. Bonus points if the hand has two plans. And a Sol Ring.</p>


<p>Another often relevant aspect of playing in cEDH games is the concept of playing to your seat. In a multiplayer game of <em>Magic</em> (and in normal <em>Magic</em>, but multiplayer increases the effect), going sooner than other players has a distinct, built-in advantage.</p>
<p>Even if everyone is just hitting their land drops every turn, whoever's playing first will have one mana when other players have none, two mana while other players have one, and so on. They're getting to act while other players have fewer resources to respond - and get to respond with more resources available to players who are acting. They get to take their second turn when everyone else has had only one.</p>
<p>It's a decided resource imbalance that's unfortunately baked into the fabric of most every turn-based game. That's why in cEDH, its important to be extremely wary of this dynamic at all times.</p>
<p>I can't really give you many specific ways to do this, "Play to Your Seat," in this short introductory guide. The best you can do is be vigilant of the resource imbalances that exist and that you can use to your leverage. If you're first, know that you're automatically ahead on velocity over your opponents. This can lead to more successful fast pushes for wins.</p>
<p>If you're fourth, unfortunately, you also have to look explosive to catch up, but it can blow up in your face. Or you can try to go slow instead and wait for everyone else to expend their resources, allowing you to sneak in from behind.</p>
<p>Regardless of where you are at the table, you have to stay vigilant of the resource imbalances present. This is another aspect which is best learned via experience, so get playing and figure it out!</p>


<p>Combos, combos, combos! Many cEDH games are ended with the venerable "I Win Now" button known as combos.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, unless there's a Winota deck at your table or a <em>very</em> restrictive stax deck, the game almost certainly will not end in combat.</p>
<p>Here are the most popular combos you need to know to look out for. There are also some more archetype-specific ones that I won't cover here, but you'll come to know them soon enough.</p>
<h3>Thassa’s Oracle + Demonic Consultation/Tainted Pact</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Thassa&#039;s Oracle"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Demonic Consultation"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Tainted Pact"></div></div>
<p>The easiest cEDH win condition of all! Cast Thassa’s Oracle ("Thoracle"), then respond to the enters ability with Demonic Consultation or Tainted Pact to exile your entire library (Tainted Pact does come with a deck building restriction of having a 1-of mana base). It’s that easy.</p>
<p>Since it also costs as little as three mana, you’ll usually have mana left over to protect your own win attempt or cast something like Grand Abolisher or Silence before even trying to win. Here’s a special tip too: if you have both Tainted Pact and Demonic Consultation in hand, but no Thassa’s Oracle, use Tainted Pact until you reveal Thassa’s Oracle. Cast Thoracle, then use Demonic Consultation. Boom!</p>
<h3>Underworld Breach + Brain Freeze + Lion’s Eye Diamond/Lotus Petal</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Underworld Breach"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Brain Freeze"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Lion&#039;s Eye Diamond"></div></div>
<p>Underworld Breach, Brain Freeze, and LED is another iconic, compact, and hard to disrupt combo.</p>
<p>The loop itself is pretty easy:</p>
<ol>
<li>Cast Underworld Breach</li>
<li>Cast Lion's Eye Diamond</li>
<li>Crack Lion's Eye Diamond for blue, discarding your hand</li>
<li>Exile cards to cast Brain Freeze (or LED if you have enough extra cards) from your graveyard for its escape cost (exiling three cards) to fill up more cards in your graveyard</li>
<li>You can alternate casting LED and using it to make blue mana to cast Brain Freeze, building up an arbitrary Storm count which you can then use to mill out all of your opponents.</li>
</ol>
<p>If for some reason this doesn't work, you can usually empty your whole library and then cast Thassa's Oracle (also from the graveyard). One reason this combo is so strong is that once it gets going, you have access to all of the interaction in your graveyard (from earlier in the game or from milling) available to you immediately, effectively raising the size of your hand.</p>
<p>If your opponent puts an Underworld Breach on the stack, it's a Red Alert of the highest priority.</p>
<h3>Animate Dead Loops</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Animate Dead"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Abdel Adrian, Gorion&#039;s Ward"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Worldgorger Dragon"></div></div>
<p>Animate Dead is a really, really weird <em>Magic</em> card. A reanimation Aura enchantment that sends the creature back to the graveyard if it leaves play, it's able to be used together with Abdel Adrian or Worldgorger Dragon to win the game.</p>
<p>When Abdel Adrian enters, you can use his ability to exile all of your permanents... including Animate Dead. Animate Dead leaves play, Abdel Adrian is killed, returning all of your nonland permanents to play, which lets you reanimate Abdel with Animate Dead, you get the idea.</p>
<p>This lets you make infinite 1/1s while also untapping each of your non-land mana sources each time, usually netting infinite mana. Winning the game from there is trivial, hopefully. Worldgorger Dragon, on the other hand, exiles all of your permanents on his own, letting you make infinite mana easily with lands! This is a bit of an older combo set, and a bit of a hard one to set up, but is still popular in Mardu decks, some Grixis decks, and any deck looking for just one more way to win.</p>
<h3>Deck-Specific Combos</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Time Sieve"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Devoted Druid"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Helm of the Host"></div></div>
<p>Deck-specific combos is an all encompassing bucket for a <em>lot</em> of combos that you will lose to. Outside of the three- and four-color value pile type decks, many players are going to be packing some form of unique combo to their commander. Being able to be part of a combo is an important part of Commander playability in the first place.</p>
<p>I can't list them all, obviously, but some of the most popular (past and present) are:</p>
<ul>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tivit, Seller of Secrets" href="#" target="_blank">Tivit, Seller of Secrets</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> + <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Time Sieve" href="#" target="_blank">Time Sieve</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Godo, Bandit Warlord" href="#" target="_blank">Godo, Bandit Warlord</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> + <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Helm of the Host" href="#" target="_blank">Helm of the Host</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Devoted Druid" href="#" target="_blank">Devoted Druid</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> + <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hazel&#039;s Brewmaster" href="#" target="_blank">Hazel&#039;s Brewmaster</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Najeela, the Blade-Blossom" href="#" target="_blank">Najeela, the Blade-Blossom</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> + <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Derevi, Empyrial Tactician" href="#" target="_blank">Derevi, Empyrial Tactician</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator" href="#" target="_blank">Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> + <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Glint-Horn Buccaneer" href="#" target="_blank">Glint-Horn Buccaneer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
</ul>
<p>Once you lose to one of these once though, you won't forget it.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>


<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rule of Law"></div></div>
<p>How should you behave in a cEDH game?</p>
<p>Be excellent to one another. It's really just that easy, right? Hopefully. cEDH, while it takes itself a bit more seriously than casual Commander, is still, at the end of the day, all about having fun through the frame of aiming for winning.</p>
<p>The lens of competition can sometimes make things get heated. Tempers can pop up, someone will disagree with a play, someone may be upset by one of their <em>own</em> plays in retrospect. This is natural, especially since a sit-down game is missing some of the natural outlets for frustration found in some other methods of competing (e.g., literally moving your body).</p>
<p>Keeping a cool head is not only going to help you perform better in the game, its just plain nice.</p>
<p>Take a reasonable amount of time for your game actions. Obviously, in high pressure spots, you need some time to think or ask other players something. But its imperative to keep play moving along at a reasonable pace.</p>
<p>Think about your turn. I've said it multiple times already - in most cEDH games, you should have a plan at all times. Use that plan to move your turn and the actions you take on others' turns in a specific direction. Meaningless umming and uh-ing to try to gain a few percentage points isn't worth slowing down the game. Lets play another one.</p>
<p>In a more "casual" cEDH setting (oxymoron, I know), don't be afraid to help each other out a little bit. Some of the most fun you can have in a cEDH game is helping another player find the line or have the table brainstorm the way that someone can be stopped or win through all of the craziness. Team work makes the dream work.</p>
<p>Treat other people's cards well. Although there are plenty of proxies around, there are a load of <em>very</em> nice cards around too. This is normal EDH etiquette, but it's especially true when the guy who asks you to cut his deck is sliding something like $12,000+ of foil across the table to you.</p>
<p>Have fun, dang it. Competing can and should be fun, or at minimum enjoyable <em>on average</em>. Find a way to have a great time or else you won't be playing for long. Granted, it may not be for you, and that's okay. But if you're going to spend time doing it, it's worth your while to figure out a way to engage healthily.</p>
<p>If you can do that, it helps out with the other things listed above.</p>


Intro to cEDH

<p style="text-align: right;"><em>Spider-Punk | Art by <a href="https://forrestimel.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Forrest Imel</a></em></p>
<p><a href="https://edhrec.com/sets/spm" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>Marvel's Spider-Man</em></a> previews have barely begun and Wizards of the Coast has already showed off a new card with some cEDH potential.</p>
<p>The Competitive Commander scene is alive with conversation about <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Spider-Punk" href="#" target="_blank">Spider-Punk</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and its potential to upgrade sans-white decks. But how does it stack up to other similar options and what real impact do I think it will have on the wider format?</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Spider-Punk"></div></div>
<p>Let’s get into it!</p>
<h2>What Does Spider-Punk Do?</h2>
<p>Spider-Punk is a 2/1 legendary creature with a couple of lines of rules text. While riot and giving other Spiders you control riot may not be that relevant, his final two abilities are certainly worth taking a look at for cEDH applications.</p>
<p>“Spells and abilities can’t be countered” is some coveted rules text, the likes of which don’t come to the game very often. More about that in a second.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="The One Ring"></div></div>
<p>In a more niche ability - that can still be extremely applicable in the decks that would look to play Spider-Punk - he stops damage from being prevented. This can represent shockingly relevant anti-<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The One Ring" href="#" target="_blank">The One Ring</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> tech in the right metagame. Nothing worse than playing a deck that has to kill through damage but one of your opponents is protected. How frustrating! Spider-Punk being on the battlefield solves that unique issue, at least.</p>
<p>Relevant? Maybe not. Regardless, let's take a look at Spider-Punk in relation to similar cards to see what can be learned.</p>
<h2>How Does Spider-Punk Compare to Similar Cards?</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Silence"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Voice of Victory"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Grand Abolisher"></div></div>
<p>Spider-Punk slides into a long and treasured lineage of cEDH playables that all have one thing in common: stopping people from interacting on its controller's turn. Everyone knows and loves to hate them. They're usually the most valuable tools in the toolbox of someone trying to win - and win <em>now</em>.</p>
<p>Here are the most four strongest:</p>
<ul>
<li aria-level="1"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Silence" href="#" target="_blank">Silence</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li aria-level="1"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Grand Abolisher" href="#" target="_blank">Grand Abolisher</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li aria-level="1"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Voice of Victory" href="#" target="_blank">Voice of Victory</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li aria-level="1"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ranger-Captain of Eos" href="#" target="_blank">Ranger-Captain of Eos</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
</ul>
<p>These four spells have something very much in common. They, essentially no questions asked, stop opponents from taking <i>most</i> meaningful actions on your turn and then quietly turn themselves off after your turn has ended - or in Silence and Ranger-Captain's case, after the turn it was cast or activated has ended.</p>
<p>This means they effectively have little downside, outside of being blown out by the occasional <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Otawara, Soaring City" href="#" target="_blank">Otawara, Soaring City</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or similar. With one of these on the battlefield or in hand, the average cEDH pilot is free to shove a win attempt without fearing any interaction because, well, no opponents can cast any relevant spells at the time. Pretty self-explanatory.</p>
<p>There's a second thing that these cards share, however: white color identity. Silence has always been easy for decks to cast and Voice of Victory costing a relatively modest <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-1" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-w" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> compared to Grand Abolisher’s <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-w" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-w" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> has eased up mana concerns on the creature side as well. Regardless of how hard or easy to cast these cards are, there is still the simple fact that they can <em>only</em> go into white decks.</p>
<p>This has, together with a few other cards such as <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Esper Sentinel" href="#" target="_blank">Esper Sentinel</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, been a major contributing factor to the presence of white in so many winning decks when otherwise it’s not that worth playing.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Defense Grid"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kutzil, Malamet Exemplar"></div></div>
<p>Down from the most premium four, there is what feels like a second class of options that have either more color restrictions or come with some specific downsides:</p>
<ul>
<li aria-level="1"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Defense Grid" href="#" target="_blank">Defense Grid</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li aria-level="1"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Teferi, Time Raveler" href="#" target="_blank">Teferi, Time Raveler</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li aria-level="1"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kutzil, Malamet Exemplar" href="#" target="_blank">Kutzil, Malamet Exemplar</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li aria-level="1"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Orim&#039;s Chant" href="#" target="_blank">Orim&#039;s Chant</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
</ul>
<p>These are all slightly worse than the premium options for their own unique reasons. Kutzil and Teferi both cost two colors, limiting their playability even more than if they were just white. Orim’s Chant can only turn off one player.</p>
<p>Defense Grid and Teferi share perhaps the most damning problem - their effects stretch past its controller's turn, giving <em>everyone </em>at the table free reign to attempt to win without interruption (though Teferi at least gives you the chance to interact).</p>
<p>This effect is so dangerous that it automatically knocks Defense Grid, which could be a premium option thanks to its colorless identity, down to the second tier.</p>
<p>Spider-Punk reminds me the most of Defense Grid, and it may be the best comparison. He costs <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-1" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-r" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> instead of <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-2" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> but shuts down interaction from most angles in return for a low cost. It shares the downside of lasting past your turn as well.</p>
<p>Here’s the thing I’m most worried about though: Spider-Punk doesn’t stop people from casting spells. He just makes spells and abilities uncounterable. This is all well and good because, after all, the vast majority of interaction to be worried about are counterspells… unless the pilot is in control of a creature-based deck that would like to keep its creatures alive.</p>
<p>One of the major strengths of the rest of these disruptive pieces is that they protect themselves by turning off opponent interaction. This guy?</p>
<p>He can’t even keep himself alive, folding to a single removal spell. Now, this isn’t the end of the world by any means. Actual creature removal is far and few between in cEDH games and often spent early. It’s just something to be aware of.</p>
<p>Is this enough of a downside to make him not playable? By no means. Let’s jump into Spider-Punk's potential impact.</p>
<h2>The Impact of Spider-Punk in cEDH</h2>
<p>What is the highest level impact of Spider-Punk in cEDH decks? Non-white decks gain a second major anti-disruptive piece to add to their arsenal alongside Defense Grid. While it remains dangerous (turning off all counterspells on all turns) and a bit more narrow than one would hope (only stopping counterspells), this is still a premium disruptive option.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Worldly Tutor"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Etali, Primal Conqueror"></div></div>
<p>The most relevant upside this card has is being searchable by creature tutors - usually a thing that only applies to Grand Abolisher and Voice of Victory. In sans-white decks with green, Spider-Punk quickly becomes the best option to stop opponents in their tracks. In a midrange deck like Rograkh/Thrasios or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Etali, Primal Conqueror" href="#" target="_blank">Etali, Primal Conqueror</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> I wouldn’t be able to wait to slot this guy in to give myself that much more edge against blue players.</p>
<p>There's also the small upside (or maybe not so small) of damage being unpreventable with Spider-Punk in play. For the record, in case you didn’t know, this lets his controller hurt people with The One Ring protection. This could be relevant in a range of ways as small as being able to draw one more card from Tymna, get in a lethal swing with Winota, or killing the table with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Glint-Horn Buccaneer" href="#" target="_blank">Glint-Horn Buccaneer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>Obviously, killing opponents with combat damage isn’t really the style of any major deck anymore, but for those who enjoy it, Spider-Punk loves to help out against that legendary artifact’s menace.</p>
<p>My same earlier concern still rears its head here. If a deck cares a lot about creatures and therefore would easily be able to get Spider-Punk in play, how much will him not stopping removal spells on your turn matter? I imagine it's a whole lot. Regardless, look out for all red-containing, non-white decks to have Spider-Punk moving forward. The deal feels way too good to pass up - especially since <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-1" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-r" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> is such a low cost.</p>
<p>Just be prepared to be blamed by everyone else if passing with this in play and someone else wins. Heh.</p>
<h2>Really Quick: What About Riot?</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Giant Spider"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Peter Parker"></div></div>
<p>For the sake of curiosity, I did take a quick look at every existing Spider card to see if Spiders having riot would matter - <em>ever</em>. My original hunch of no is holding correct. Every single Spider card in <em>Magic</em>’s history - including the ones spoiled from Spider-Punk’s own set - aren’t cutting it for any cEDH application.</p>
<p>But, there will be many more Spider-type cards coming down the pipeline in <i>Marvel’s Spider-Man</i><b>. </b>If there's another relevant card in the set for cEDH decks - especially those that care about creatures and already don’t have white - I can imagine being able to give that Spider haste or a bit more protection against damage-based effects isn’t the worst thing in the world.</p>
<p>Of course, with Spider-Punk on the battlefield… Hopefully one is winning already in that scenario. So I’ll comfortably stay at “no.”</p>
<h2>Swinging Into Disruption Paradise</h2>
<p>It’s interesting to see another aggressively costed disruptive creature so soon after the best-in-class <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Voice of Victory" href="#" target="_blank">Voice of Victory</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> was printed in <i>Tarkir: Dragonstorm</i>. It's also piqued my interest of the power level of the remaining <i>Marvel’s Spider-Man</i> cards.</p>
<p>If stuff like this could be innocuously tucked in there - cards that effect the cEDH metagame purely by being cheap and unique - what else will be coming down the pipeline? If the rest of the set is anything to judge by, the answer is nothing. But hey, any card on any day.</p>
<h3>More <em>Spider-Man</em>:</h3>
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Evaluating Spider-Punk for cEDH

<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Biomechan Engineer" href="#" target="_blank">Biomechan Engineer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://artofmonztre.carrd.co/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Monztre</a></em></p>
<p>Are Landers going to be the next big thing taking over every local EDH table?</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Lander"></div></div>
<p><em>Edge of Eternities</em>’ formal release date has almost arrived, and with it comes a new, exciting <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rampant Growth" href="#" target="_blank">Rampant Growth</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>-on-a-token in Landers. Made by a variety of cards throughout the set, Lander tokens have players perking up their ears and ready to claim spots in their Commander decks, especially in sans-green piles.</p>
<p>Ramping and color fixing are things that every deck needs, so why wouldn't one be playing a ton of these? More importantly, are Landers a token type that <em>Wizards of the Coast</em> is likely to use time and again? Let's get into it.</p>
<h2>What Are Lander Tokens in <em>Magic: The Gathering</em>?</h2>
<p>First things first: What <i>is</i> a Lander token, and what do they do? Landers are a token artifact that are created by a variety of spells in <em>Edge of Eternities</em>, either from a creature entering or leaving the battlefield or from the result of a spell like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lithobraking" href="#" target="_blank">Lithobraking</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>They have the following rules text:</p>
<p><span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-2" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span>, <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-tap" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span>, Sacrifice this token: Search your library for a basic land card, put it onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle.</p>
<p>Lander tokens have some obvious utility for Commander gamers. For one, by being an artifact that enters the battlefield and also hangs around before being used, it incidentally adds artifact synergies to decks that care about such things.</p>
<p>However, the main juice here is the effect. Pay two generic mana and sacrifice it to get any basic into play tapped - effectively adding a color-agnostic <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rampant Growth" href="#" target="_blank">Rampant Growth</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> in play for any deck. Since it sits on the battlefield until its controller is ready to use it, it works effectively as a mana sink for the last few mana on a turn… or can be cashed in immediately to find the last color or land needed to cast a powerful spell.</p>
<p>This is obviously so good that any deck that would want it could have it! But how does it stack up to the other omnipresent tokens? And will <em>Wizards</em> continue to put this into sets?</p>
<h2>Investigating the Omnipresent Artifact Tokens</h2>
<p>First, let's take a look at the other artifact tokens that are regularly seen throughout Commander games everywhere. These tokens are also used consistently by <em>Wizards of the Coast</em> in development of new premium sets and preconstructed EDH decks.</p>
<p>I’m not bothering with creatures here, just other utility pieces like Landers. There’s an easy top three:</p>
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">Treasure</li>
<li aria-level="1">Clue</li>
<li aria-level="1">Food</li>
</ul>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Treasure|tfin|23"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Clue"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Food"></div></div>
<p>One could also give an honorable mention to Blood here, but <em>Wizards</em> has seemingly leveled off usage in the last year or so.</p>
<p>What makes these tokens popular and prolific? Obviously, they’re well supported by sets, but that’s besides the point. Each of these tokens has been landed on and used consistently for three reasons:</p>
<ol>
<li>They’re flavor-agnostic.</li>
<li>They fit in the color pie (mostly).</li>
<li>And they’re all fair bonuses.</li>
</ol>
<p>While there was definitely a time of <em>Magic</em> sets overindexing on Treasures and their creation, it has slowed down as WotC realized their mistakes. Each of the token types now feel fair, on average, with Food being the outlier in maybe being <i>too</i> expensive, often relegating it to a Food-specific role.</p>
<p>Clues? Two generic mana has long been the established price for drawing a card. What does one do to make <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Unsummon" href="#" target="_blank">Unsummon</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> draw a card? Add <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-2" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> to the cost and get <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Repulse" href="#" target="_blank">Repulse</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>Treasures are obviously the most powerful but I’ll basically never begrudge someone getting a one-time burst, especially now that the most abuseable Treasure-producer, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dockside Extortionist" href="#" target="_blank">Dockside Extortionist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is banned. This level of fairness makes it easy to stick any of these tokens onto an otherwise slightly-underpowered spell as a “freebie” to get it across the finish line.</p>
<p>We live in a world where most colors can make Treasures, Clues, and Food with no problem. Each of them could be considered color pie bends for specific colors, especially Clues in red, for example. But, none of them blatantly break the rules. This makes it that much easier for <em>Wizards</em> to trot them out in any context, on any card, if they so wish.</p>
<p>All three have continued to pop up time and again because they're flavor agnostic, allowing them to fit into any world. One can conceivably have Food, Treasure, and Clues in any society. This is where Blood tokens fall short. Hard to have Blood out and about in most places not named Innistrad, yeah?</p>
<p>Lets compare Landers on each of these three axes and see how they fare.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rampant Growth"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Cultivate"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Migration Path"></div></div>
<h2>Are Landers Fair?</h2>
<p>To start with, Landers definitely succeeded at the “fair” test. Two mana has long represented the cost of grabbing a basic from your library tapped, as seen from <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rampant Growth" href="#" target="_blank">Rampant Growth</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and similar spells.</p>
<p>Go one step farther, up to three mana, and see the ability to get a tapped basic and an additional one in your hand, a la <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cultivate" href="#" target="_blank">Cultivate</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Four mana for the longest time got one <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Explosive Vegetation" href="#" target="_blank">Explosive Vegetation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, but now usually comes with a bit more upside (<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Circuitous Route" href="#" target="_blank">Circuitous Route</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Migration Path" href="#" target="_blank">Migration Path</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, etc.).</p>
<p>While <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-2" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> is a more accessible cost than the traditional <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-1" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-g" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span>, it still fits the test already set up for us, with Clues as the most direct comparison.</p>
<p>It’s also obvious that <em>Wizards</em> views Lander tokens as a solid “add-on” candidate, with every card in <em>Edge of Eternities</em> that makes one giving it to you as a form of bonus on creatures entering or leaving or through the resolution of a spell.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Divert Disaster"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Emergency Eject"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Scrounge for Eternity"></div></div>
<h2>Do Landers Break the Color Pie?</h2>
<p>Now <em>here</em> is a test that the Landers fail, no question. The latest concrete and consolidated information we have concerning the mechanical color pie (which effects belong to what color and how often they can do it) came in Mark Rosewater’s article <a href="https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/making-magic/mechanical-color-pie-2021" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mechanical Color Pie 2021</a>.</p>
<p>My short analysis here will be based on that, combined with a few more recent observations about how these things may have shifted.</p>
<p>First, let’s look at the color breakdown of cards in <em>Edge of Eternities</em> that make Lander tokens.</p>
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">Green: 11 (including gold cards)</li>
<li aria-level="1">Red: 4 (including <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Biotech Specialist" href="#" target="_blank">Biotech Specialist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>)</li>
<li aria-level="1">Blue: 2 (including <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Biomechan Engineer" href="#" target="_blank">Biomechan Engineer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>)</li>
<li aria-level="1">White: 2</li>
<li aria-level="1">Black: 2</li>
<li aria-level="1">Colorless: 1</li>
</ul>
<p>Green having the most cards and also the most liberal creation on those cards is by no means surprising - they are primary in grabbing lands out of your library and putting them onto the battlefield. Past the green cards (and the green-containing gold cards), one finds a very limited selection of Lander creation that all involve jumping through some specific hoops.</p>
<p>Getting to grab lands and put them onto the battlefield directly is not in any other color’s share of the pie - save the traditional white method of ramping, caring about how many lands opponents have and tutoring something to make up for it. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sunstar Expansionist" href="#" target="_blank">Sunstar Expansionist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> fits this mold perfectly.</p>
<p>The other white card, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Emergency Eject" href="#" target="_blank">Emergency Eject</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, fits a now-common effect: “Destroy target creature. Its controller gets compensation.” This has been flexed over time to include all nonland permanents, rather than just creatures. Black also asks hoops to be jumped through, its two cards requiring quite literal sacrifice to get Landers as a resulting bonus.</p>
<p>Red is shockingly high in Lander creation, but if examined closely they make them at poor rates and with specific restrictions or payoffs.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kav Landseeker"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sunstar Expansionist"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Terrapact Intimidator"></div></div>
<p>The cleanest producer, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kav Landseeker" href="#" target="_blank">Kav Landseeker</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, gives you a limited window in which to use it. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lithobraking" href="#" target="_blank">Lithobraking</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> makes a token at way over cost while then letting the controller cash it (or another artifact) in immediately for a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Pyroclasm" href="#" target="_blank">Pyroclasm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Terrapact Intimidator" href="#" target="_blank">Terrapact Intimidator</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> lets the opponent deny your Lander tokens.</p>
<p>In a similar vein, Blue’s sole option, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Divert Disaster" href="#" target="_blank">Divert Disaster</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, only makes one if the spell it's attempting to counter is, in fact, not countered.</p>
<p>While all of these cards technically fit within their own colors pie and have a good reason to give a bonus, it’s obvious via distribution alone that <em>Wizards</em> is aware that bending the color pie in order to give each color access to basic land searching is not smart.</p>
<p>I would go so far as to posit that the white, black, and blue spells here represent the whole of the available design space for those colors and Landers.</p>
<h2>Are Landers Universal Flavor?</h2>
<p>Perhaps the largest death-knell of Landers becoming omnipresent is the very flavor itself. Flavor is a potent tool consistently used to make or break the reprint potential of a card. Over time, for example, nonbasic land cycles have gotten more and more generic names to unlock any associations with a specific plane. Blood tokens currently have this problem.</p>
<p>The very name of “Landers” is directly connected to the sci-fi vibe and setting of <em>Edge of Eternities</em>, making it difficult to imagine them being used in any setting other than, maybe… Ixalan? Like, people on a ship landing on a new location?</p>
<p>I would go so far as to say that this naming choice was specific by <em>Wizards</em>, purposefully limiting them from using this token heavily in the future. After all, it’s fair but powerful, and also breaking of the color pie. Not that great to use over and over!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ceremonious Rejection"></div></div>
<h2>In Conclusion</h2>
<p>As the old newspaper saying goes, if a headline asks a question, the answer is probably no. Fulfilling the prophecy, my conclusion here is that Landers are <i>not</i> the next big artifact token that <em>Wizards</em> will turn to again and again.</p>
<p>As already seen by their own limited use in <em>Edge of Eternities</em>, its very purposeful creative choices, and also the fact that it does quite blatantly fly in the face of the color pie, I posit that Landers are more of a one-off set-specific token rather than the next great artifact to take over EDH games the world over.</p>
<p>Honestly, as much as I would love to put them into every Azorious deck I do have, we’re probably much better off because of it.</p>
<h3>More <em>Edge</em>:</h3>
<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="RN5RGnyjAs"><p><a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/how-fun-are-the-edges-of-eternities-commanders/">How Fun Are the Edges of Eternities Commanders?</a></p></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="PICaoJoIZq"><p><a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/the-best-lands-and-artifacts-in-edge-of-eternities/">The Best Lands and Artifacts in Edge of Eternities</a></p></blockquote>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" class="wp-embedded-content" sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" style="position: absolute; visibility: hidden;" title="&#8220;The Best Lands and Artifacts in Edge of Eternities&#8221; &#8212; EDHREC" src="https://edhrec.com/articles/the-best-lands-and-artifacts-in-edge-of-eternities/embed/#?secret=gjTn5li2cQ#?secret=PICaoJoIZq" data-secret="PICaoJoIZq" width="500" height="282" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></p>
<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="peRKT9fg3v"><p><a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/edge-of-eternities-a-cedh-set-review/">Edge of Eternities: A cEDH Set Review</a></p></blockquote>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" class="wp-embedded-content" sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" style="position: absolute; visibility: hidden;" title="&#8220;Edge of Eternities: A cEDH Set Review&#8221; &#8212; EDHREC" src="https://edhrec.com/articles/edge-of-eternities-a-cedh-set-review/embed/#?secret=jXo1WXwGrY#?secret=peRKT9fg3v" data-secret="peRKT9fg3v" width="500" height="282" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></p>


Are Landers the Next Big Token in Magic?

Edge of Eternities: A cEDH Set Review

Brewing Terra, Magical Adept for cEDH

Final Fantasy: A cEDH Set Review

<p>The long-awaited <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/commander-bracket-system-updates-and-unbans-april-2025" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Commander format update has arrived</a>! Gavin Verhey posted <a href="https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/announcements/commander-bans-and-restrictions-april-22-2025" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>two</em></a> <a href="https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/announcements/commander-brackets-beta-update-april-22-2025" target="_blank" rel="noopener">articles</a>, a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P38DsBMs6vA&amp;pp=ygUSZ29vZCBtb3JuaW5nIG1hZ2lj" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Good Morning Magic video</a>, and also appeared on an hour-long Weekly MTG stream on Tuesday, going through unbans, new Game Changers, what they considered, what they didn’t, which cards were unbanned, how they’re changing Brackets, and more.</p>
<p>We've gotten a lot of information to go through. However, I’m interested in just one thing: how do these new changes impact Bracket 5 - my beloved Competitive EDH (cEDH)?</p>
<p>The new Game Changers don’t matter much - we’re in a realm that doesn’t care about them, so I’ll keep my commentary on those to another venue. Still, there was a lot we learned this week about the present, so I’m going to do my best to break down what matters and what doesn’t - and what the future may hold.</p>
<h2>Cards Unbanned in Commander</h2>
<p>First, the overview. The following cards have been unbanned:</p>
<ul>
<li aria-level="1"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Braids, Cabal Minion" href="#" target="_blank">Braids, Cabal Minion</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li aria-level="1"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Panoptic Mirror" href="#" target="_blank">Panoptic Mirror</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li aria-level="1"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sway of the Stars" href="#" target="_blank">Sway of the Stars</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li aria-level="1"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Coalition Victory" href="#" target="_blank">Coalition Victory</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li aria-level="1"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gifts Ungiven" href="#" target="_blank">Gifts Ungiven</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
</ul>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Braids, Cabal Minion"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Gifts Ungiven"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Coalition Victory"></div></div>
<p>In short - this feels a little bit safe. Four of the five are almost certainly not going to have an impact on the Competitive EDH format - and even more so I would guess that they won’t see much play in normal Commander either. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Panoptic Mirror" href="#" target="_blank">Panoptic Mirror</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sway of the Stars" href="#" target="_blank">Sway of the Stars</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Coalition Victory" href="#" target="_blank">Coalition Victory</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are all bits of cardboard that people have asked to come off of the ban list for years now - saying they feel a bit less egregious than in years past. These changes are a bit of safe banlist trimming that’ll also make the crowd at home happy and test the whole “unban to game changers” pipeline thing. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Braids, Cabal Minion" href="#" target="_blank">Braids, Cabal Minion</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is slightly more of a danger for taking off the ban list, just because it can be a pretty miserable experience in casual games if it resolves.</p>
<p>The <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gifts Ungiven" href="#" target="_blank">Gifts Ungiven</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> unban though - now that is interesting! Gifts is a situationally better, situationally worse version of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Intuition" href="#" target="_blank">Intuition</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (which is why I’ve always been confused as to why it was banned when we had Intuition, etc.) that seems best suited to inclusion in the likes of Blue Farm and other decks that make heavy use of the graveyard. The sidegrade tech of being able to only search up two cards - forcing both to go to your graveyard - could be relevant depending on what you have in hand, but in most situations you'd rather spend one more mana to end up with one more card in hand. If you can get to the said four mana, that’s a pretty good trade.</p>
<p>Also, the most obvious use case of this one is someone who wants a draw searching up four counterspells, targeting the other player who really wants a draw. That ain’t that fun. More about that later, though.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Panoptic Mirror"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sway of the Stars"></div></div>
<h2>The Rest of the Year for Brackets and Bans</h2>
<p>The biggest impact on cEDH from this update, besides what they <i>didn’t </i>unban (more about that in a bit too), was announcing their plans for the rest of the year: a focus on letting the bracket system settle in, a continual refinement of both it and the Game Changer list, and similar before formally taking both out of beta in 2026.</p>
<p>To help settle the waters as they work on that aim, they said there would be no more unbannings or bannings this year - unless there was a “Nadu situation” necessitating a sort of emergency ban. With this knowledge, it starts to become more clear why this unban was on the safer side. If they aren’t wanting to fiddle with the banlist for the next eight months, this instead becomes a test of a theory. Does unbanning something and transitioning it into a Game Changer, even with a more risky card like Braids or Gifts, work out well? Is it a path they can continue going down?</p>
<p>This thought processes and reticence makes some sense to me, and I do think that Brackets and Game Changer tweaks have way more potential to effect the average invested EDH player than straight up banlist changes. But I'm still a bit frustrated that they are committing to no action this far out. There are still plenty of cards that could come off the banlist, and slow rolling the process, while it doesn’t exactly hurt anyone, would keep momentum moving towards a more meaningfully shaken up format. I get it though; stability is king!</p>
<h2>The Elephants in the Room - Dockside, Mana Crypt &amp; Jeweled Lotus</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Dockside Extortionist"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mana Crypt"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Jeweled Lotus"></div></div>
<p>Look, I’m not really going to be jumping around moralizing anything here. The Commander Format Panel can unban or keep these cards banned as they see fit. Do I think the specter of <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/the-end-of-edh" target="_blank" rel="noopener">what happened surrounding their banning</a> will pretty much forever taint them? Aaaabsolutely!</p>
<p>Regardless, we did get a bit more clarity on the three cards that were basically banned straight out of cEDH top tables several months ago. The light shed on them did point where I expected: we can expect to probably never see <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mana Crypt" href="#" target="_blank">Mana Crypt</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dockside Extortionist" href="#" target="_blank">Dockside Extortionist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> again. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Jeweled Lotus" href="#" target="_blank">Jeweled Lotus</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, however, was given an olive branch of hope, with Gavin saying that it resonated more because it shares a kind of iconic design with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Black Lotus" href="#" target="_blank">Black Lotus</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>This feels like a weird argument to make; you can just say that WotC likes the card being legal and they enjoy the effects it has on the format. This, independent of my frustrations re: Dockside being banned removing the best non-blue-centric game winning option from the cEDH cardpool, does make some level of sense to me. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Jeweled Lotus" href="#" target="_blank">Jeweled Lotus</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is the “safest” of the bunch, given it only speeds up Commander casting (in the format called Commander) rather than providing more widely usable explosive mana production. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dockside Extortionist" href="#" target="_blank">Dockside Extortionist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> itself was on and off the radar of the Rules Committee for some time; it was known as an amount of problematic and therefore not that surprising when it was banned. It does strike me as a card that could fall in line with other Game Changers. While the door is closed, I think a window could open.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mana Crypt" href="#" target="_blank">Mana Crypt</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will remain the sticking point that frustrates people for years to come, and reasonably so. It’s never going to be easy to ban a very expensive card. It’s not easy to unban it either; creating two huge waves of bad feels from one card is not great. I can’t imagine a path to this one coming back.</p>
<h2>The Commander Format Panel Probably Can’t Fully Fix cEDH’s Problems</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rhystic Study"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Quick Draw"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Valley Floodcaller"></div></div>
<p>cEDH has a few different prominent problems currently - the peak of which are currently the “midrange hell” meta we find ourselves in, focused around <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rhystic Study" href="#" target="_blank">Rhystic Study</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mystic Remora" href="#" target="_blank">Mystic Remora</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and more. People sit behind their value engines and angle towards forcing a draw, for some reason. I ran into this behavior for the first time ever at the TopDeck Open in 2023 - and since then it’s really taken off to an obnoxious extent.</p>
<p>A lot of people point to the latest bans as a reason for this - and they <i>may</i> have contributed. However, I’m more of the opinion that these play patterns were always prevalent beforehand; players already loved to <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Demonic Tutor" href="#" target="_blank">Demonic Tutor</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> for their <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rhystic Study" href="#" target="_blank">Rhystic Study</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and then watched someone Thoracle Combo them with one piece of backup. Playing safe is naturally attractive. People love to not take risks, and risks in cEDH can end up blowing up spectacularly. Turtling up isn’t risky - that’s why people are so biased towards this play pattern. The printing of more flash enablers has obviously also helped - making it even more attractive to sit back and wait rather than taking definitive action at the (perceived) risk of being stopped (and then losing). A single ban or unban won’t fix this; they won’t change a dang thing if people don’t stop convincing themselves that refusing to play the game until they have 15 green lights to win is the easiest way to equity. Just win.</p>
<p><i>Still</i>, players will continue to do this no matter how much I rant about it. <i>And</i> cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rhystic Study" href="#" target="_blank">Rhystic Study</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> &amp; <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Valley Floodcaller" href="#" target="_blank">Valley Floodcaller</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> do help enable the problem in the first place as well. A ban of such a card (or an unban to re-Turbo things slightly) would definitely tilt the scale and make it easier for players to, well, <i>play</i> to their outs. That’s something the panel could do to help. But I would, as ever, continue to not expect it as a rule; the focus always will remain on where the vast majority of players live, which is realistically Bracket 2-4.</p>
<p>However, there is some hope. During the Weekly MTG Stream, Gavin answered a question about the format and said they're very aware of where cEDH is and what its players think, referencing the <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Flash" href="#" target="_blank">Flash</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> ban as a precedent to taking action that will help Bracket 5 (wink) without affecting the rest of the format much.</p>
<p>I have a hunch that a relatively surgical ban (e.g., <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mystic Remora" href="#" target="_blank">Mystic Remora</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, which isn't as egregious as Rhystic Study, but still part of the problem and played <em>much</em> less in casual circles) could be the easiest solution.</p>


Callahan Jones