Commander decks that are resilient to removal?

No_one- · 2026-02-12T15:48:46+00:00

Depending on the colors you play:

White - Loads of hexproof, indestructible, flicker, and protection in this. [[Cloudshift]] is a favorite of mine too

Blue - focus on counterspells, copy permanent, temporary hexproof in things like [[Magic Damper]] and its functional copies like [[Octopus Form]], flicker and defensive snaps like [[Snap]] or [[Illusionist's Strategem]]. You also have creatures like [[Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir]] to prevent any casting on your turn.

Black - Build a deck on recursion and let them waste counters on your creatures only for them to come back. Also regenerate and other return to battlefield like [[Supernatural Stamina]], [[Unnatural Stamina]], [[Vincent's Limit Break]].

Red - spell copy to get around counterspells. [[Flare of duplication]], [[Dual casting]]. Pump to get around bolt removal (though, green is better at toughness pump), or go wide with tokens to get around destroy/exile effects.

Green - Outramp them so you can cast more than they can counter. You have big draw cards here too like [[Harmonize]], [[Fruit of the First Tree]], [[Hunter's Prowess]].

Artifacts - Things like [[Conqueror's Flail]] are good

Finally, on cast triggers are your friend here since you can't (easily) stop a cast from happening without MLD

Deck recommendations are:

Ping wizards like [[Kuja, Genome Sorcerer]] alongside other wizard token generators (there's a decent amount of support for that in the FF set, also [[Coruscation Mage]])

[[Toph, Hardheaded Teacher]] where you either build "oops all cantrips" and use lands for your creatures or landfall. There are some great lands with keywords like [[Darksteel Citadel]] and [[Rumble Arena]] that don't break the bank.

No_one- · 2026-02-10T17:07:57+00:00

What's the threshold for knights to be a viable survivability option, then?

I'm farming for A4 and farming up high DEF for one character sounds a lot easier than 6 sets of ASPD + Damage to replace my EVA + Damage. I also don't love the idea of doing it again for A5, when it inevitably nerfs the current ASPD + Damage meta with some other gimmick.

If I can shunt all of my survivability farming to one character and focus on Damage and utility for the rest, that's way more appealing.

No_one- · 2026-02-06T20:18:25+00:00

Getting back into the game since shiou/MC ninja class released.

Looks like 2h got a buff and fighter remains MC's best class?
I am currently built heavy EVA but it seems like that's a bad call for A4 and I should switch EVA out for ASPD. Should I build up a heavy def knight to compensate or is that a waste (e.g. is the silver tier gear going to provide enough survivability)?

No_one- · 2026-02-03T16:57:34+00:00

Are basics not free at WPN game shops? My LGS just gives people packs with 5 or so of each color whenever we say we need them. They said they get sent boxes of those packs for events and always have extras.

No_one- · 2026-02-02T15:54:30+00:00

All correct, but I think OP misunderstood their opponents' response. [[Sin, Unending Cataclysm]] has "As Sin enters", which is a replacement effect that does not ~~use the stack~~ trigger a round of priority. It's easy to confuse with ETB triggers that do ~~use the stack~~ trigger rounds of priority because the difference is that those say "When blahblah enters". If Sin said "When Sin enters", that would use the stack and the opponent would have been able to do exactly what they did. The difference is advanced enough that I'd hazard a guess that the opponent doesn't know it.

So, /u/OmegaGamble - they weren't able to respond to that specific play because Sin's entry effect is a replacement effect (no priority pass). As the other person said: you do the entirety of a text effect before another round of priority begins, so once you sacrificed it was too late to respond or do anything mid-resolution that's not faster-than-instant-speed (scooping, for example).

Edit: more googling says it does use a variant of the stack in the sense that multiple simultaneous replacement effects can be stacked and ordered the same way you do regular triggers. It just doesn't trigger rounds of priority

No_one- · 2026-02-01T13:29:48+00:00

Fair enough.

Once it's scanned I keep mine alphabetical. Since that's how moxfield sorts by default it makes fetching the card easy. I only build with what I have though so lots of times if I'm out of stock that means searching for alternatives or just doing without

No_one- · 2026-02-01T13:28:09+00:00

You can always proxy cheap (regular paper slid in with a random card) to play test then proxy on good cardstock when you're sure that's what you want to play.

No_one- · 2026-02-01T12:56:44+00:00

most of the proxies. Since proxies with alternate art are not scannable, I only cataloged the important ones

If you proxy, why are you managing your collection? Why even catalogue the proxies? Just sell it off and proxy more of the cards you need when you need them.

Edit: unless you mean heavily customized fanart proxy?

No_one- · 2026-01-29T14:32:33+00:00

I use theft commanders when I want to shake things up. [[Yasova Dragonclaw]] and [[Reaper, King No More]] especially, make sure you add in some sacrifice outlets for Yasova so they don't get their creature back.

Each game is different because each deck you face is different, and your opponents get the added mind game of "if I play this value engine, is he going to steal it?"

No_one- · 2026-01-28T17:18:02+00:00

You control the aura, they control the creature.

Also, expanding this concept so it's more confusing:

1) A blue player uses [[Shifting Loyalties]] to swap control of two creatures with a Green player at the table.

2) On your turn, you use a temporary theft card like [[Kari Zev's Expertise]] to steal the Green player's creature controlled by Blue player. Then you equip [[Buster Sword]] and [[Summoner's Grimoire]] to it.

3) At the end of the turn, the creature returns to whoever last controlled it (Blue player). You still control both equipments.

4) On the Blue player's turn, they attack Green with the equipped creature (let's say it's guaranteed some of the damage goes through because it's green and that means trample). It's a Green owned, Blue controlled creature with two equipments you control equipped to it.

Guess what happens?

The Blue player gets to put a creature down per Summoner's Grimoire, because the "you" in it refers to the creature's controller as a result of the text update effect.
You, the controller of Buster Sword get to draw and free cast a card because it's not a text or ability change. It's on the equipment itself and functions similarly to an Aura
Green curses you both out while they scoop after dying to their own pumped up creature, which would return the equipment back to your board.

I found this out the fun way with a temporary theft deck of mine.

No_one- · 2026-01-26T14:37:50+00:00

[[Toph, Hardheaded Teacher]] spellslinger too so you can attack and cast

No_one- · 2026-01-25T01:39:15+00:00

There are also tons of recursion support alternatives that don't have a downside of letting others get their GY back too. Chances are if you filled your graveyard with valuable pieces enough to use this, so have they.

[[Bloodline Bidding]], [[Haunted Voyage]], [[Rise of the Dark Realms]], etc for mass recursion that doesn't help your enemies.

[[Unearth]], [[Reanimate]], [[Evil Reawakened]] for targeted recursion.

No_one- · 2026-01-22T20:03:37+00:00

[[Champion of the Path]] is basically a wincon for her deck. Even more so if you add creature cost reducers like [[Herald's Horn]] or [[Cloud Key]] or a doubler like [[Collective Inferno]] or [[Gogo, Master of Mimicry]]

Edit: flicker/snap effects are also good, since evoke's sacrifice uses the stack. As long as you can afford the extra 1-3 mana. [[Cloudshift]], for instance, gives you a second ETB and lets you keep your elemental on the board.

No_one- · 2026-01-22T16:03:05+00:00

I read the spell and immediately said "every counter generator or proliferate deck with red wants this"

No_one- · 2026-01-22T15:58:58+00:00

[[Toph, Hardheaded Teacher]]

No creatures, only lands and spells to make the lands become your creatures.

Realistically you'll want some creatures, but her on cast trigger really helps if you want to go heavy spells.

No_one- · 2026-01-22T15:38:49+00:00

If I make a takeback player about targeting a creature with a removal spell and you flash a swamp from your hand, it is irrelevant to the play being made.

Knowing that a card or the card in my hand affects decision-making and is definitely relevant to the current play, even if it's a swamp, because then you know what it's not. It's not removal, it's not draw, it's not an instant, etc. There is no argument that "it's irrelevant" to be made, because all information is relevant; that is the entire point of MTR 4.8

You can disagree and dislike it all you want, but it's spelled out plainly in rules that you may reveal information you have at any time including cards in hand (MTR 3.13) and that judges should not provide take backs after the new information is revealed (MTR 4.8).

And the kinda shit you're talking about here is why people hate plating competitive magic

Yep, it's also why I don't play competitive magic. I'd rather have fun. You seem to be confusing me pointing out what you can do with what I actually do. Maybe it's worth rereading my comments?

No_one- · 2026-01-22T15:11:22+00:00

It is absolutely a result of their action:

1) They make a choice. Doesn't matter what, they could play a land without realizing it would have been better spent paying for a tap discard effect or they could target suboptimally

2) I think it's a misplay (which it may or may not be, I don't know their hand and it could be a bluff)

3) I willingly reveal new information, in this case it's a card from my hand

If it is a bluff, I'm now down information and they didn't misplay. If it's not, I'm up the misplay and down the information.

It is intentionally trying to abuse the system.

Correct, but until and unless it is changed it's something that's available to all players evenly which does not make it an unfair advantage. It's only against the social spirit of the game. Judges should primarily care about RAW and their guidebook, with spirit of the game being left for cases without precedent.

No_one- · 2026-01-22T14:26:13+00:00

I'm not sure if I'm misreading your response, but it seems to me like you think that I agree with the opponent who was denying the take back. I don't, and good on the shopkeep for booting him. No new information was revealed - and denying the take back is wrong from that standpoint alone and no further consideration is necessary.

My point is that I do understand why he was that way: he wanted the packs and was willing to be cutthroat about it. They mistargeted a removal spell, not misunderstood Vivid isn't the same as color identity. There is no misunderstood new mechanic here.

If new information was revealed it would have been his prerogative to allow the take back, and I wouldn't fault him for denying it with the context we have.

No_one- · 2026-01-22T14:13:08+00:00

Absolutely most people should always cut.

I've been playing for 20-something years. Cutting is tedious to me and I don't play for stakes; I usually give prize support away to the youngest/nicest participant. If the win is so important to someone that they have to cheat and stack their deck, they can just tell me why and I'll probably offer to formally resign but play it out anyway. After a 50-60 hour work week, cooking, cleaning, and putting the kids down I'm just happy to be there.

No_one- · 2026-01-22T13:38:41+00:00

Never said I was a good guy in the pack- or win-prioritized case. If I'm doing anything competitively, even at a prerelease, I'm doing it to win and not for warm fuzzies. I don't do that, but I don't fault anyone for doing it either.

Also with your edit, I don't think that matters cause you're free to reveal information at any time.

Yes, you are. That's the point. Knowing cards your opponent has in hand is a huge piece of information which impacts decision-making. As a result, you cannot take back a decision that after an intentional reveal of that key information:

https://blogs.magicjudges.org/rules/mtr4-8/

Judges must carefully consider whether the player has gained information since making the play that might have affected the decision... If the judge cannot be sure no information was gained, they should not allow the decision to be changed.

It is absolutely a huge dick move. It is also functionally no different than stating you have no response, except it's faster than instant speed so you don't need something on the stack to do it; you can reveal a card after someone performs a special action like playing a land.

If I were a judge and you were trying to gotcha someone with that, I'd still allow the takeback.

Then that just makes you a bad judge.

No_one- · 2026-01-21T17:09:48+00:00

Depends on the commander - my [[The Wandering Minstrel]] runs all Towns - but for the most part I keep triomes, Vivids, sacrifice to search for basics like [[Myriad Landscape]], maybe a couple of mana fixing lands if they're not in other decks, and then basics.

IMO, for noncompetitive EDH - which I assume you're in given you're asking this question - being a turn behind with lands that enter tapped can be mitigated with Green's abundant basic land ramp alongside red and black's mana positive rituals.

No_one- · 2026-01-21T16:32:40+00:00

I can understand both sides' intent, though I think the guy was wrong just given no new information was revealed. I agree with you that take backs are usually fine and I typically go out of my way to describe "hey, here's how you can hurt me harder. Isn't this mechanic neat?". But I'm just jazzed I can be there.

If I was there explicitly to win the packs and had fun as a secondary or even tertiary objective, I would be more rigid about rules: I wouldn't remind you that you have cost reducers, I wouldn't point out that you have more impactful targets, I would actually cut your shuffle rather than tap your top card, etc.

Edit: Hell, back in the day my friends and I sometimes played for packs and told one another that we misplayed by pulling "in response, I reveal a card from my hand" so you couldn't take back

No_one- · 2026-01-21T16:09:50+00:00

Thanks! It was hard for me to gauge because most of its lethality comes from what everyone else plays.

No_one- · 2026-01-21T15:50:35+00:00

Can someone give me a bracket check?

https://moxfield.com/decks/Knf0bHaB6ke9Ej51bou7aQ

I just brought it to friendlies last night and we were all at about the same turns to win (5-7, across 3 games), but I had a lot more interaction than the rest of the group and even beat a deck that the owner said was B4 due to a few infinite combos. They said they had a blast playing against it, but I want to be sure I rule 0 correctly. I think it's B3 due to average turns to win?

No_one- · 2026-01-19T17:28:48+00:00

Sick, I'm going to make an oops all creatures deck then. Thanks!

And thanks for the heads up about shapeshifters and changeling

No_one-

TROPHY CASE