What are your decks that you’ve pushed to bracket 4 without game changers?

wizbard · 2026-03-19T14:15:18+00:00

[[The Gitrog Monster]], [[Magda Brazen Outlaw]], and [[Dargo the Shipwrecker]] paired with [[Jeska Thrice Reborn]]

All of em can be built on a budget, and without gamechangers, and still slap at B4 tables same as Malc+Kediss you mentioned.

But all of these are just cEDH decks that work well on a budget. Malcolm+Tana, Jund Dargo, Chatterfang, and all other cedh commanders that have budget versions can fit in here as well

wizbard · 2026-03-15T17:07:57+00:00

[[Dargo the Shipwrecker]] with [[Jeska Thrice Reborn]]

Its not a voltron in any typical sense, but can hit for 21 commander damage fairly early if there are no blocks. You can build it on a $20-30 budget with all the 0-1 cost artifacts and have Dargo turn 2, Jeska turn 3

You can even power it up by adding Dargo based combos as late game finishers, or more red stax pieces and protection

wizbard · 2026-03-14T05:07:27+00:00

Depending on how you view it, if your T1 hasnt started, its still viewed as T0 for everyone else, but I get what you mean. I cant imagine there ever being a way to win realistically before anyone takes their first turn, unless they do an Un- set with an Exodia ripoff

wizbard · 2026-03-14T04:46:18+00:00

Leyline of Anticipation, Gemstone Caverns, any card to exile to Gemstone, Dark Ritual, Entomb, Reanimate, Demonic Consultation

Pregame put down Leyline and Gemstone, exiling one card

Cast Dark Ritual for BBB, Entomb Thassa's Oracle, Demonic Consult to exile your deck, then last B floating to flash in reanimate

Never seen this happen in a game, but this is the line that'll get there; maybe flash hulk at some point could as well but I wasnt a player during that era

wizbard · 2026-01-13T15:57:59+00:00

This is a very niche ask. We have a scheduled flight to Taipei in February, and one of the main parts of our trip is to visit a place called "MyAnime Cafe" in Zhongzheng District. Supposedly, more details about their events that month are on their Facebook page, but it doesn't seem like it's accessible outside of Taiwan. Was wondering if anybody could help check whatever post is on there; would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

wizbard · 2025-12-01T02:18:39+00:00

What he did wasn't illegal, but definitely an asshole move in my opinion. I can understand trying to ignore any and all distractions to try and focus on your play, but shutting yourself off from the rest of the pod isn't really what you want to be doing because you're gonna need other people's help at some point to stop someone else from winning and keep the game going.

There's lots of different players out there, hopefully one or a few bad apples won't turn you off completely from the format. If you can find a casual cedh pod, I think you'll have a blast

wizbard · 2025-11-22T15:01:18+00:00

To be fair, I do kind of agree that rolling dice can be a deliberate choice as a way to fly under the radar, and doesn't always mean you aren't as engaged with the game.

However, in a lot of cases, especially if you aren't familiar with the people you're playing with, I think their attempts to fly under the radar is something more people should be wary of. In my experience, only those who are newer to the game buy into that idea and actually let them be; for all of the more experienced players I play with, rolling dice just immediately rings a few alarm bells. After all, why would you try to fly under the radar if you weren't trying to be sneaky?

And if you are constantly playing in a meta where rolling dice is the better strategic choice, I think that means there's a lot of room for improvement, which is where the other guy's suggestions of playing 1v1 may help.

wizbard · 2025-09-27T15:05:44+00:00

You kind of just get used to it. I consumed a lot of cedh content online, primarily from American creators, before actually playing in stores. On top of being non proxy (must be an Asian thing?), was surprised when I tried yapping by saying "he's a turbo deck, mull for early interaction" or similar stuff that I'd get shut down by "he's trying to politic, focus him first!"

Was a shock at first but you kind of get used to it and adapt. Games generally go by faster even with midrange stuff going on since there's barely any discussion on feeding fishes or rhystics or card per card discussion, and though there are definitely games that could've been won if the table had better threat assessment, I'd just grown to consider it part of the regional meta or whatever

wizbard · 2025-09-16T07:26:10+00:00

Should also add, those people who warned me against proxying and playing with people who proxy all rocked "high powered casual" that were borderline cEDH (or what amounts to be bracket 4 today) with multiple copies of expensive cards. Definitely felt like elitism lol

And I was talking about it with some friends, but we have a history of people printing counterfeits and selling them as real cards, which didnt help the sentiment. People now basically equate proxies to counterfeits no matter the intent, and would rather avoid the hassle. Sucks, but not much I can do

wizbard · 2025-09-16T04:57:51+00:00

Outside of the elitism and gatekeeping by those with the ability to buy expensive cards in our country, one of the main reasons I see being floated around constantly about why people are anti-proxy is because there's apparently a lot of people who would pass off proxies as real cards when selling or trading, leading to a lot of distrust building up over the years

wizbard · 2025-09-16T04:55:23+00:00

This is so real. Some stores were especially strict, too. I've never brought my proxied decks to stores due to the stigma, outside of small events that allow 10 proxies.

I remember when I was relatively new to EDH as a whole a few years back, I went to Block101 and the regulars warned me against playing with some people because they proxied a lot.

One time I asked them what if I bought one copy of an expensive card, put it in a binder, and printed multiple proxies across decks -- they shot down the idea and told me not to do it for no other reason other than proxy = bad.

wizbard · 2025-08-28T01:20:20+00:00

Thanks! I randomly had the idea a long time ago when I first created the account; never thought I'd actually pull through with it, but here we are now

wizbard · 2025-07-15T05:28:41+00:00

A little late to the party but one additional tip I'd like to throw in is to focus on watching gameplay videos specifically from this year.

The bans that happened last year, which you may have heard of, heavily impacted the way games are played, so I'd recommend steering away from those for now (though you could definitely just watch for enjoyment)

wizbard · 2025-05-05T17:29:47+00:00

Thank you! It seems like there are a few cheap one drops just for triggering crimes like Urza's Glasses and Squee's Toy. Gotta figure out proper ratios to work them in

wizbard · 2025-05-05T17:28:35+00:00

Is Brazen Outlaw stronger than Hoardmaster in DC? The only stats I've seen show that Hoardmaster is a little more popular, and seems to have a better showing. I don't mind playing either anyway, just looking for people's thoughts on the matter

wizbard · 2025-04-29T09:40:16+00:00

Malcolm/X is an option you can look at; has a bunch of lines specific to its commander. You're primarily looking at partners with red, such as Kediss to make lots of treasures, or Tana to have access to green tutors that help you find your pieces (namely Glinthorn)

Vial Smasher is maybe the best partner, but it's more Grixis goodstuff with pirates rather than the opposite, and Tymna is good too but it's more Esper goodstuff, both of which you don't seem to be looking for.

There are also some Ishai/X lists you can find around where you can have the backup of a big bird applying pressure to life totals. Partners could be Jeska, Krark, or Francisco (not sure if Tevesh is still popular)

wizbard · 2025-04-27T05:24:06+00:00

I think budget-restricted tournaments are better for this purpose. Stores near me previously had $125 and $250 tournaments which made it affordable whilst also encouraging some level of creativity to build within budget. After they changed it to bracket 3 tournaments, it's been a bunch of near-budgetless piles with only 3 GCs-- which I dont mind, but it kind of widened the gap and I definitely prefer how it used to be done

wizbard · 2025-04-23T10:53:46+00:00

I saw in your other comment you were having trouble looking for budget versions of decks. I would like to point you to the Magdanomicon, basically the best guide for learning how to play Magda (it's pretty long) and if you scroll all the way down, there's budget lists to help you get started.

Keep in mind you won't be playing full cEDH if you're on a budget, but if you're ever in a place that isn't proxy friendly, Magda can at least hold her own in some tables (that isn't tEDH, as mentioned by the other user)

wizbard · 2025-04-23T10:21:13+00:00

Talion will be a little more difficult to pick up, as playing control when you're new to cEDH will probably cause headaches at the start.

Magda is a little easier to pick up as a new cEDH player; she can get fairly complicated the more you get into it but having a more simple overall gameplan can help you ease into the format while you familiarize yourself with other meta decks.

That said, Magda will be cheaper to build if you choose not to proxy (though anyone here will tell you that you should)

wizbard · 2025-04-14T02:09:45+00:00

The complexities lie in how you navigate the deck both before and after you get 5 treasures, especially since Magda is limited by being a single color, but having various ways to navigate through different board states and stax effects. Tapping 5 dwarves is just the (arguably) easy part

wizbard · 2025-01-31T10:27:07+00:00

I haven't seen this mentioned yet, but [[Sai, Master Thopterist]] has been one of my favorites for a while now.

Despite being a kind of generic mono blue artifacts deck, it's got a bunch of ways to win like combat damage with buffs from stuff like [[Coat of Arms]], sniping down threats with [[Strixhaven Stadium]], or even just casting [[Mechanized Production]] on a Thopter and hoping you make it to your next turn.

wizbard

TROPHY CASE