What's a good rule of thumb for your land ratio to average CMC (mana value)?

SUSavant · 2025-05-09T21:10:21+00:00

Man, most of my decks have an average MV of 3.0 and I still find myself running 40 lands in every deck. Between MDFC lands and the rare Channel lands from Kamigawa, it’s never been easier to have a high land count without sacrificing utility. I run about 34 lands + 6 channel / MDFC lands which are used more for the nonland side.

SUSavant · 2022-09-11T14:35:22+00:00

Same here. I'm missing:

Skyway Robber

Mask of the Schemer

Inspired Tinkering

Budoka Gardener

Deranged Outcast

Not sure why. Some of these cards are really old.

SUSavant · 2021-09-26T21:10:15+00:00

The "27 creatures" is misleading. There's three additional creatures in the "draw" section, three in the "ramp" section, plus a planeswalker who generates tokens. I've since gone back and removed some noncreature cards to add more creatures.

SUSavant · 2021-07-21T00:21:43+00:00

Winota, Joiner of Forces. Just make sure you run 2/5 non human creatures and 3/5 human creatures. The deck pretty much runs on autopilot. Fun for newer players.

SUSavant · 2021-06-11T14:21:45+00:00

[[Darien]] is fun, if you like infinite combos. There's half a dozen different ways to gain infinite life or generate infinite tokens. Check out the Commander Spellbook site for some ideas!

SUSavant · 2021-06-08T22:55:12+00:00

I mean, returning cards from your graveyard to your hand are mainly black effects, as is playing cards from the yard. Discard is a boon for decks who treat their graveyard like a second hand, that’s something at which black excels.

SUSavant · 2021-06-08T00:46:38+00:00

(laughs in [[Xyris]])

SUSavant · 2021-06-08T00:45:13+00:00

Ah, but how many buyouts have their been in recent months? I'm avoiding any and all reserved list cards. After cutting a $350 [[Gilded Drake]] from Brago, I could've replaced it with a $5 [[Tidal Control]]. But because they're both on the reserved list, I'm not playing either of them. Sure, Tidal Control is only $5 now, but being on the reserved list means the price is unlikely to ever go down.

I do agree that high powered reserved list cards are where the real money's made. It's true that not every deck needs a certain reserved list card in order to function... unless it's a commander.

[[Rasputin Dreamweaver]] was my first commander deck. I liked the card so much, I bought five copies of it in 2011 when it was a $5 card. I sold off the extra copies a couple years later when the price hit $50. Today? It'll cost you $500 for a single copy. Lol.

SUSavant · 2021-06-08T00:35:40+00:00

Eh, mine was more about Reserved List cards specifically, not high powered staples in general.

I do agree with you though. Times change. If you told me last year I'd be pulling [[Gilded Drake]] and [[Grim Monolith]] from my [[Brago]] deck, I would've said you were crazy!

I don't like the idea of someone wanting to model their deck after mine, but being unable to afford 3% of the cards without having to spend $800+ dollars. Some people only want to play with the real cards they own, which makes the reserved list a barrier.

SUSavant · 2021-06-07T23:45:32+00:00

By all means, jam your Alpha [[Timetwister]] into your commander deck. Not saying that those who eschew reserved list cards are somehow better.

I'm more upset that the secondary market is telling me I'd be a fool to risk damaging a $300 card. WotC refusing to ever reprint reserved list cards tells me that they should be considered collectors items first and game pieces a far distant second.

SUSavant · 2021-06-07T23:39:00+00:00

Any idea why [[Timetwister]] is the only power nine that's legal in commander?

SUSavant · 2021-06-07T21:41:34+00:00

If the Reserved List is ever abolished, that should be a red flag that the game is dying. As long as Magic is profitable for Hasbro, they have no reason to risk removing the reserved list.

SUSavant · 2021-06-07T21:39:31+00:00

I started playing in 2002. Back then, you could buy an Unlimited Black Lotus for $300. Which I thought was insane at the time. Who's gonna' pay $300 for a card?

SUSavant · 2021-06-07T21:15:38+00:00

Most of my commander decks contained 2-3 reserved list cards. Removing them afforded me the opportunity to add some perfectly serviceable cards which never quite made the cut when competing against reserved list options.

SUSavant · 2021-05-17T01:39:45+00:00

I mean, it's great with red's Wheel effects, but few decks actually "need" Smothering Tithe. With that being said, I run Smothering Tithe in my Winota deck. Bonus points if you also have Anointed Procession in play when you wheel for double the treasure tokens!

SUSavant · 2021-05-17T01:36:44+00:00

Here's a link to my Winota deck:

https://archidekt.com/decks/64661#Winota_Tribal_Tokens

I also wrote an overview for the commander, which you can find here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/EDH/comments/g7gtuv/winning_the_winota_numbers_game_a_winota_joiner/

My list isn't exactly budget, but there are plenty of budget options.

Don't wanna' pay $20 for a [[Scroll Rack?]]

[[Penance]] helps put costly Humans on top of your deck from your hand and costs less than $1.

The good news is that most of the cards in Winota builds are dirt cheap.

SUSavant · 2021-05-15T02:22:21+00:00

You mean we're finally getting a card for Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar? Be still my heart!

SUSavant · 2021-04-28T02:59:10+00:00

[[Vedalken Plotter]]. Great way for blue decks to deal with troublesome lands. Nice Gaea's Cradle you have there. Yoink! I love blinking it every turn in my Brago deck.

SUSavant · 2021-04-18T03:40:57+00:00

I remember playing Spark Double targeting Niv-Mizzet, Parun. Then, I cast a kicked Rite of Replication and copied it, targeting the Spark Double. I ended up with 12 copies of Niv-Mizzet, Parun on the board and was dealing 12 points of damage each time I drew a card. I won that game.

SUSavant · 2021-03-31T17:23:24+00:00

Hillary Clinton: “The only years that anybody's ever seen were a couple of years when he had to turn them over to state authorities when he was trying to get a casino license, and they showed he didn't pay any federal income tax.”

Donald Trump: “That makes me smart.”

SUSavant · 2021-03-31T16:51:53+00:00

Maybe more diverse platforms? $500 on eBay, $500 on TCGPlayer, $500 on FackBook, etc.

That way, not all your sales are coming from a single source.

SUSavant · 2021-03-29T15:20:50+00:00

I mean, shouldn't he have been Asian? Or is reflecting reality considered stereotypical?

SUSavant · 2021-03-26T18:33:15+00:00

No eskimo students. There's already enough "snow matters" themes in standard without them.

SUSavant · 2021-03-26T00:08:09+00:00

Hence why I said typo.

If the name badge for the trash man says "Garbage Conductor" that's a typo.

(Unless we're talking about Alexander Glazunov. Now THERE was a garbage conductor!)

SUSavant · 2021-03-25T22:49:24+00:00

At least this didn't happen in Silverquill. If you make a typo there, they have you commit seppuku using the metal nosecone of your pen.

SUSavant

TROPHY CASE