How Tails Builds Commander Decks

I've been playing Commander since 2011. I had a few friends in college who ran the library and, after the library closed, they'd "reopen" the library to their Commander play group to play until the wee hours of the morning every Tuesday. A friend of mine invited me in to learn Commander, piloting his Brion Stoutarm deck, and I was instantly hooked when I hurled a creature at an opponent. I thought it this was hilarious and knew there were going to be other funny things to do in Commander, so I got to work.

I spent the next few weeks buying cards off Ebay to build, what I thought was the most broken part of Magic, a Rith, the Awakener Saproling tribal deck. I went through every single card on Gatherer.com that had the word "Saproling" and "all creatures" in them and sorted them out by my grading of power level. I bet I have the spreadsheet I created with card ratings laying around somewhere.

That deck wasn't very good, but the turns that my opponents left me alone were explosive.

Since 2011 I've been playing Commander almost every week at a local gaming store. I've played against probably a hundred different players and many more than a hundred different Commander decks over the years. I've probably built a hundred different Commander decks myself with just the cards I've had lying around from my brief time playing Standard and trading cards with others.

I really, really like building Commander decks. And I've always wanted to do Commanders different than the norm. There's a couple rules I follow when I make decks, take a look and let me know what you think.

Rule 1: Color Outside the Lines

One things I've always kept in mind when building decks is how I keep my Commander decks different than the "meta" or building a deck the same way all Commander decks are built of that Commander.

You know what I'm talking about, when someone pulls out their Brago, King Eternal deck, you know that you're going to see Brago blinking a bunch of mana rocks, creatures with "enter the battlefield" effects, and, lots of times, going the "stax" route and keeping their opponents out of the game. You know that when someone pulls out their Prossh, Skyraider of Kher deck, they're probably running the Prossh, Food Chain Combo and they need to be dealt with right away. You know that when someone pulls out their Breya, Etherium Shaper deck, they're probably going to kill you with some crazy infinite combo with all the artifacts in their deck. If you and I worked together, we could probably go through every legendary creature and know exactly what 99% of the players of those decks are going to be doing to win.

I don't build decks like that.

I intentionally do something different, very different, to keep Commander fresh for myself and for those I play against. Take a look at "Tails Builds Decks" side of this website and see the Commanders I've built, they'll tell a different story than the decks you've seen before.

Rule 2: Keep Commander Fun

I also like to build decks in the "75%" area. A very popular article by Jason Alt (click here to read it) talks about what it means to build a deck at 75% power level and the benefits of doing so. I don't follow Alt's article to a "T", but I intentionally build decks with a lower power level so I can just into any play group and play a game all others will enjoy being a part of. I'm very cognizant of how others are feeling while playing a game, I'd rather lose the game than have someone frustrated or demoralized because of how the game ended.

Playing Commander is a social time for me. I want to get together with others who share the same joys and interests as I do while playing a game together. I may not spend the entire game catching up on life and probing for answers, but I do spend my games laughing, smiling, and trying to get others to do the same while we play. I want others to enjoy playing the game so they'll continue to play!

Because of this, I don't run infinite combos or play deck styles that include very long turns. I've been in the middle of so many games where these things occur and it crushes me every time I play, I just don't enjoy being on the receiving end of those things, so I don't put others through it either.

And don't get me wrong, pulling off an infinite combo and doing really complicated turns are really fun, I enjoy when a plan comes together! I'm talking about being on the receiving end of those things and those have been really frustrating to me, so I've chosen not to do them to others. I'm not here to dictate what's fun and not fun for others, what they should and shouldn't do. I'm giving my perspective on deck building, that's all.

The Build

These two rules have led me to make decks that have to be really creative to win. I can't rely on two card infinite combos or extreme tutoring to get me through a game. I need to be looking for different ways to win. Lots of my decks win through combat damage or high value plays. I've had many people from my playgroups want to play with me because I play "fair" decks, as they call it. I like to do things through combat or high value turns.

Some examples of these include: Spellslinger Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis, Instant Speed Marchesa, the Black Rose, and Ravos and Tymna tempo. Each of these decks either use the combat phase to win or provide high value plays to out tempo the board and stay ahead.

I wanted to have a place to explain my Commander choices and deck directions when they're posted on this website. I know there are many cards that are seemingly "low power" or there are better directions to go with certain Commanders, but I want to do things different than you've played against or read in other places.

And I put the challenge out to all of you to do the same. Surprise your playgroup with a deck built in a completely different way than your group has seen before. It's a ton of fun to catch people off guard with creativity and you'll have a good laugh or two with what happens.

Head or Tails?

So, am I completely off my rocker or do I have something to bring to the table? Let me know your thoughts by commenting either:

Heads: Tails, you're ridiculous. Why play Commander with those rules?

-or-

Tails: Yeah, this sounds fun. Here's what I'm going to try:

All in all, take time to be creative, think outside the box, and see what happens! It never hurts to try something new and, maybe, you'll get some inspiration from decks you see here.