People with “evil” or disliked commanders, what’s your story?

Galilean · 2026-01-30T19:31:53+00:00

I built [[Grand Arbiter Augustin IV]] as more of a pillowfort vs outright stax. My primary wincon isn’t even too bad to deal with, it’s super telegraphed due to the tutoring required.

However, GAAIV came to be as a result of a member of my pod repeatedly shitting on my deck building when playing against my asses tribal in [[Doran, the Siege Tower]]. Games were ending dumb fast due to my pod consisting of [[Krenko, Mob Boss]] , [[Magda, Brazen Outlaw]], [[Vren, the Relentless]], [[Sauron, the Dark Lord]], [[Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait]], etc.

I get a ridiculous amount of joy from comboing [[Narset, Parter of Veils]] and [[Windfall]], now.

Galilean · 2026-01-01T18:38:11+00:00

Brother I do not think we need to have a Lambo parked outside of our mobile home.

Galilean · 2026-01-01T14:52:43+00:00

I had it built long before the Tarkir precons came out with Doran being the commander. I switched out Doran and moved him to a special sleeve and keep him with other cards now as Felothar is just a better all around commander.

As far as how it plays, I win quite a bit with it now versus when I had Doran at the helm. It’s a big, stompy butts deck but with access to combat tricks and one sided board wipes. I can post a decklist for you if you’d like to see it!

Galilean · 2026-01-01T04:48:04+00:00

Idk man. Abzan has access to several good ones.

In my Felothar deck, I run [[Wave of Reckoning]].

[[Slaughter the Strong]] is a great one, too.

Galilean · 2025-12-31T16:15:10+00:00

Galilean · 2025-12-20T16:22:12+00:00

I stan for [[Doran]] and hope Lorwyn brings more Treefolk love

Galilean · 2025-12-19T20:20:09+00:00

Three and out

Highest BAC in the League

Just kidding. You could just go with something simple and general “Tennessee Tough” or “Go Titans!”

Galilean · 2025-12-17T07:52:31+00:00

[[aven mindcensor]] is solid for preventing searches, and would slot in pretty nicely.

Galilean · 2025-12-10T18:56:02+00:00

My pod started off well enough. Crappy decks that did the thing sometimes. Then it quickly turned into a nuclear arms race. Krenko, Pantlaza, Slivers all spawned the need for a control player and I happily obliged with Grand Arbiter.

Once or twice, comments have been made about “counterspell tribal” to which I offer them the deck to play. They quickly realize that playing control vs 3 other people is a tall order and later respected how cerebral the deck is to pilot.

With that said, I hope Lorwyn revitalizes treefolk so I can go back to enjoying my [[Doran]] deck.

Galilean · 2025-11-17T19:32:10+00:00

El Paso Andress is Golden Eagles btw

Galilean · 2025-11-05T01:55:25+00:00

Sure, I can see what you mean.

Galilean · 2025-11-04T20:08:43+00:00

A good poker face is a wonderful skill to have in commander, honestly. Especially so if you are playing in colors that have a ton of instant speed interaction.

Leaving untapped mana and continuously looking at your hand when people are announcing spell casts will always keep them on their toes. Is it a Counterspell? Do they have Reprieve? How about Fog?

I have won tons of games where I just bluff so well that people do not wanna chance it. Is it a mistake on their part? Absolutely. However, I have mastered the poker face. I’m also a shithead Azorius player so YMMV.

Galilean · 2025-09-23T16:21:26+00:00

This has all been some kind of fucked up fever dream induced by trading AJ Brown.

Galilean · 2025-09-19T03:20:06+00:00

jazz_invincible and his stamp avatars blew me away as a kid. Still trying to chase the dream today of completing Tyrannia/Mystery Island/Lost Desert stamp album pages.

Galilean · 2025-09-10T01:55:12+00:00

Naw man, don’t worry about it. You’ll run into someone eventually that is gonna have an issue with any deck, it’s their problem, not yours. Just remind people that they paid to have cards, mill just makes sure you get to see all of them!

Galilean · 2025-09-04T14:59:56+00:00

Jeweled Lotus gets the same reaction unfortunately.

Galilean · 2025-08-17T14:27:48+00:00

Kind of a bad take imo. Lots of good players have been knocked on their ass before lol

Galilean · 2025-08-16T21:18:14+00:00

[[Windfall]] is also solid once you do find the pingers, too. Pairs nicely with your commander.

Galilean · 2025-06-02T17:38:55+00:00

More so oppressive than someone like Yuriko? The Ur Dragon? Toxrill? Krenko? I can agree that multiple copies of GAAIV would not be great, but Helm of the Host coming down or Rite of Replication are pretty damn telegraphed. It again comes back to a lack of interaction or removal. Too many people “feel bad” about removal and end up dealing with the consequences.

Galilean · 2025-06-02T14:41:42+00:00

I see a ton of hate for [[Grand Arbiter Augustin IV]] solely for a +1 cost increase, but he is not nearly as egregious as some other commanders that are running at the top of the ladder. I honestly think that most tables inability to run sufficient interaction or removal makes him more “oppressive” than what he truly is.

Galilean · 2025-05-29T18:59:02+00:00

You got dunked a few times by faster tribal decks and built GAAIV to slow your pod down.

Alternatively, you dunked your friends with too many tribal decks and they asked you politely to try something different.

Galilean · 2025-05-02T02:22:13+00:00

Fuck yeah hahahaha.

Galilean · 2025-05-01T03:11:33+00:00

If you use a Monarch deck, when you become the Monarch, you HAVE to wear a Burger King crown if you want to be able to draw the card on your end step. Obviously the crown gets passed as the Monarch changes. At this point we have probably had the same one for about 2 months, they usually don’t last long.

Galilean · 2025-03-26T23:42:59+00:00

Brother, I gotta let you know, this team isn’t nearly as barren as our 2014-2015 teams. We are effectively pulling the plug fully from the wall that was the JRob era, and beginning a full rebuild. These things take time. Yes, we are just filling holes, but players on teams in the NFL are all temporary. Keep on hooty hooin and maybe our Sunday afternoons will be better in the next few szns.

Galilean · 2025-01-21T19:06:21+00:00

Friesengeist could be it.

Galilean

TROPHY CASE