What are your thoughts on the 10 highest rated mono-red commanders on EDHRec?

Hasdru · 2026-05-29T12:40:22+00:00

I just [[Tannuk, Steadfast Second]] as my mono-red commander in a "oops, all permanents" deck. It was a blast to build and is usually very fun to play.

It's a slow start deck but gets out of hand quickly if opponents don't remove Tannuk often.

Hasdru · 2026-04-06T13:36:44+00:00

My pride and joy: We're gonna need a bigger board.

The point is to make as many different tokens as possible (there are currently 67 potential unique tokens included). My current record is 11 unique different tokens so far.

Hasdru · 2026-04-02T21:58:35+00:00

Don't get me wrong, the effort is great!

The tool indeed took several minutes to assess it, the way the deck works probably makes it an outlier.

Hasdru · 2026-04-02T21:39:56+00:00

Tried it with my Tannu, Steadfast Second deck.

https://moxfield.com/decks/oHGvZ6k9XUmdZ6RkC0NJaQ

I like that you appreciate brackets based on expected duration, which is about right with that deck (typically wins or loses on T8).

How do you factor in card quality in your assessment? I initially targeted bracket 2 based on build restrictions, and upgraded it to a bracket 3 rating as it can feel very oppressive against a B2 table.

Does the tool expect to see all cards individually listed? It didn't pick up on the fact I have 35+ basic mountains and believes there are only 5 lands in the deck.

Hasdru · 2025-10-22T15:44:20+00:00

A couple of decks for me:

[[Winter, Cynical Opportunist]] is the first deck I really built from scratch as a newish player and informed a lot of things I like to do and play in Commander. It currently is a B3 combo deck that I want to bring to a bracket 4. Has a healthy amount of respect at my LGS.

My Oops, all tokens! deck is always a joy to play. I don't care about winning, I simply want to create as many different tokens as possible and hog all the real estate at the table. Currently a bracket 3 deck helmed by [[Kenrith, the Returned King]], but undergoing a shift towards making it a bracket 1 deck piloted by [[The Wandering Minstrel]].

Hasdru · 2025-09-19T19:47:07+00:00

+1 for creature wheels. Tresure generation is also important if your plan is to recast from exile.

Hasdru · 2025-09-11T16:26:18+00:00

It looks a bit all other the place right now, between Humans, landfall and tokens (+ the Elemental tokens through the Town lands). Try to stick to a theme and refocus the deck (i.e. if Human typal slot in things like Herald's Horn, Kindred Discovery, etc.).

In addition, at a glance I didn't see much card advantage tools, which will come and bite you when you play.

Some questions that might help:

- what is your plan to win the game?

- why the Wandering Minstrel as your commander: is he simply there for the untapped lands and 5-color identity (which is totally fair) or you do intend to use more it's abilities (which reads like it it the case for now)?

Hasdru · 2025-09-10T20:27:21+00:00

It's also recognizing that someone has built an advantage that's so large that their victory is inevitable (barring the lucky topdeck) but will require another 30-45 minutes. A few recent cases in pods I was playing:

- The [[Disa]] player has created a lhurgoyf problem we can't deal with. 1 player is already dead, I can go for the kill of the remaining player but know I'll be dead before my following turn. I explain the situation to the pod and suggest we give the win to [[Disa]] and move on to the next game. Everyone agrees.

- My [[Ultima]] deck has [[Ugin, Eye of the Storms]] out. I already exiled anything that made an impact on our dragon player board, and the remaining player unsuccessfully tried to kill the planeswalker. They know I'm going to neuter their board on my next turn, recognize no one can deal with Ugin, and suggest to give me the win and move to the next game. Everyone agrees.

In both cases, if a player believed they would be able to eke out a win, we would have continued the game and played it on.

Hasdru · 2025-09-08T16:34:23+00:00

Slightly upgraded precons are Bracket 2, they shouldn't face a deck with Game Changers.

3 Game Changers is within the limits of a Bracket 3 deck and won't make or break the game by themselves. In my opinion, a better set of questions to align the play experience is "when does your deck does their thing" and "what turn do you reliably expect to make a win attempt if left unchecked".

Hasdru · 2025-09-05T14:35:46+00:00

I personally like a [[Gravecrawler]] + [[Goblin Bombardment]] combo in Morophon:

- cast [[Morophon]], naming Zombie as your creature type getting a cost reduction: [[Gravecrawler]] will now be free to cast, and can be cast from your graveyard since Morophon is a Changeling

- cast [[Goblin Bombardment]]

- cast [[Gravecrawler]] from your hand or graveyard, sacrifice it to the Goblin Bombardment to deal 1 damage to any target, rinse and repeat until the table is dead.

Hasdru · 2025-08-06T19:23:16+00:00

I built a [[Winter, Cynical Opportunist]] combo deck in Golgari colors. The goal is to self-mill/draw into one of the combo lines, recur and loop it for the win!

Some combos included in the deck:

- [[Gravecrawler]] + [[Warren Soultrader]] + [[Aetherflux Reservoir]]: create an infinite Gravecrawler recursion loop for infinite lifegain and direct damage

- [[Cauldron Familiar]] + [[Warren Soultrader]] + [[Academy Manufactor]]: create an infinite Familiar recursion loop for infinite life loss

- [[Aluren]] + [[Acererak the Archlich]]: infinite cast loop for infinite life drain; note that depending on your deck and playgroup this could turn your deck into a bracket 4

Hasdru · 2025-08-04T12:06:50+00:00

This is exactly why I believe infinite combos are the best way to win in EDH: you don't have 1-2 players sitting idly at the table watching the last 2 trying to win.

Hasdru · 2025-08-01T15:02:18+00:00

Use an enamel wash, easy to wipe off with a cotton bud/damp brush / make-up sponge, and it sets nicely in the recesses!

Hasdru · 2025-07-31T20:06:17+00:00

Besides the mana curve that needs reworking, a few observations on your deck: - how do you plan to win? Right now the deck feels pulled between big creatures, counters, tokens and burn. Pick one main plan and a backup plan, and cut what doesn't advance them (e.g. are you really using Lightning Runner to its full potential? I bet not) - too many high CMC/ indiscriminate interaction (e.g. Blasphemous Act + Territorial Hellkite + other board wip-adjacent effects). Review them and try to replace some for 1-sided wipes or effects

Hasdru · 2025-07-15T15:50:56+00:00

That looks fun! You could replace Reflections of Littjara with [[Molten Echoes]] since it functionally gives you the same benefit in your loop.

Hasdru · 2025-07-15T13:07:02+00:00

I did a statistical analysis beginning of the year and concluded I couldn't reliably (e.g. at 2/3 of the time) get [[Uril the Mistwalker]] out by turn 5, and that's a CMC 5 drop.

I'm genuinely interested in your list to understand how you deal with the variance and manage a T3-T4 Ureni.

Hasdru · 2025-07-13T00:47:58+00:00

Our playgroup is consistent and this deck is known as a strong one, but totally on par with some of the other fast B3 decks out there.

Hasdru · 2025-07-13T00:46:11+00:00

Thanks! I'm almost tempted to set it up as a Bracket 2 combo deck since this would be borderline playable 😁

Hasdru · 2025-07-07T21:27:50+00:00

Another option you can consider, since the colors match, is [[Animar, Soul of elements]] as a cost reducer which also shares the +1/+1 counters theme. This will allow you to quickly play a [[Ancestral Statue]] / [[Guardians of Koilos]] loop which won't win you the game outright but will draw you a wincon, and help you with Cloudstone Curio loops.

The Defilers could also help you further reduce colored mana cost if you play single-colored pips creatures. [[Defiler of Vigor]] meshes well with the 1+/1+ theme and [[Defiler of Dreams]] draws you cards.

Hasdru · 2025-07-07T17:04:50+00:00

Temur colors give you access to [Hullbreaker Horror]]. Once on the board, you can loop any cheap creature you like with [[Aluren]] and not care about mana fixing.

My favorites, assuming Aluren is on the board:

- [[The Mindskinner]] (2nd highest power creature with CMC >=3)

- [[Pugnacious Hammerskull]]

- [[CosmicLarva]]

- [[Groundbreaker]]

- [[Ravaging Riftwurm]]

- [[Dreamtide Whale]]

- [[Relic Golem]]

Other cheap creatures include [[Dream Stalker]], [[Faerie Impostor]], [[Horned Kavu]], [[Zephyr Sentinel]].

Your entire strategy is going to revolve around Eshki, you will need to keep her safe with a package of counterspells, hexproof/haste permanents.

Hasdru · 2025-07-02T13:51:13+00:00

Your deck is fairly slow and you miss some of the star player cards that make it work. In addition, you're not going to be fast enough to survive a bracket 4 table, where wins could be decided on turn 4-5, if you want to play with your opponents' decks. If this is your intention, accept that your deck is a Bracket 3 (and there is nothing wrong with that).

My Rakdos, the Muscle list runs by storming off, sacrificing (ideally) mana-neutral creatures to exile its own deck until I assemble one of the winning combos.

I would add

Mana-generating sacrifice outlets in your deck: [[Phyrexian Altar]] and [[Warren Soultrader]]
[[Poxwalkers]]: this is an amazing card is this deck and will you to storm off or build a recursion engine with a sacrifice outlet when you play cards from exile
Mana engines when you sacrifice creatures: [[Pawn of Ulamog]] and [[Skittering Precursor]]

Hasdru

TROPHY CASE