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Author
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Topic: How to break in to EDH?
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WapsNext
Banned
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posted March 07, 2012 01:10 PM
      
Hey guys. So I recently got back into Magic, starting from scratch. My Innistrad/Dark Ascension is starting to look pretty good, but my local shop has EDH Events every Wednesday night and it looks like a lot of fun. Sadly, from what little EDH research I've done, it seems like a format better suited to people with a collection of 10+ years under their belt to draw from. That said, what's a good way to go about getting into EDH? I'd really like to join in the fun.
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Havoc Demon
Member
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posted March 07, 2012 01:16 PM
If they have them, buy a Commander deck and improve on it would be the easiest thing to do. If that's not your thing, find a general that would be conducive to your play style and focus on getting a deck list together. __________________
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MAB_Rapper
Member
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posted March 07, 2012 01:22 PM
 
That is a false statement.EDH is easy to get into, because it is intended to be a fun format. Yes, I play a deck that might look loads better because I have old duals and stuff like that, but I lose my fair share of games to decks with just basic lands and no real valuable cards. The best way to start is decide what color combo you want to run. Make sure it fits into your play style or at least an idea of what you want to do. From there, find a general in those colors that also fits the style/idea. Keep in mind that you will be cutting some of the best cards in the game from whatever you build. For example, I played a G/B Nath of the Gilt Leaf deck back in the day and had such a tight deck that I had to cut Spiritmonger and Grave Titan before I was done. I currently play U/B/R and play no counterspells. I also don't use the must play blue cards (Bribery being the biggest one). The most important thing is this. An EDH deck is NEVER completed. You will always be tweaking and changing something. Again, using the U/R/B deck I have now. I went from straight Zombies into combo zombies, which can deal infinite damage if it all plays right. __________________
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iccarus
Member
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posted March 07, 2012 01:38 PM
What MAB said. Also agree with buying a precon and improving on it. I suggest the BUG or GWB deck. Both have good cards and fun generals. However, I would find out what kind of play environment your local store has. How you build your deck could depend heavily on this. Some places are very cut throat, with decks heavily focused on comboing out quickly and taking out the table. Some are more casual, where combos that take out the entire table or even just a single player are frowned upon. The focus is more on winning the game through turning dudes sideways. There are other types of groups, but bottom line is it helps to talk to some of the people you will be playing with before building a deck. Being that guy who walks in to a pretty casual meta and kills the table on turn 4 will not win you many friends. It will also make your future games suck a little more because people do hold grudges and will often target you first. On the flip side of that, sitting down at a competitive table with your deck that doesn't do jack before turn 10 is going to suck as well. You'll almost always be dead before you even really get to play the game. __________________
Wisconsin - smells like dairy air!I collect Granite Gargoyles. Send them my way.
[Edited 2 times, lastly by iccarus on March 07, 2012]
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ZachSellsMagic
Member
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posted March 07, 2012 01:41 PM
The Commander precons, in my opinion, are the best out-of-the-box product WotC has every produced. Building an entire EDH deck from scratch is likely a daunting task that keeps people from starting, but picking out a precon that matches your play style and tweaking it from there is a great way to get a headstart. That way, you get to enjoy the subsequent treasure hunt as you find cards to slot into the deck rather than being frustrated at a list of 50+ cards you need to buy before you even play a game.
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WapsNext
Banned
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posted March 07, 2012 01:58 PM
Thanks for the advice! I'll see what my local store has tonight.
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choco man
Member
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posted March 07, 2012 02:02 PM
Two of the best cards in EDH are standard legal creatures (Consecrated Sphinx and Primeval Titan). A lot of EDH staples are unc/common. Unlike competitive formats (Legacy/Vintage/Modern/Standard) EDH decks aren't built from the manabase (the most expensive thing about competitive MTG) on up. EDH decks are built from the general. If you want to start out in EDH, pick a general/strategy you like and work from there. You definitely don't have to be like those guys on MOTL who go, "I'm trying to break into legacy and need xxDuals...willing to trade standard cards and junk....plz help me out."
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mm1983
Member
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posted March 07, 2012 08:24 PM
On a positive note you only need to have 1 of each card you want to play for EDH instead of 4 of every card like other formats. You could build a pretty decent EDH deck for a couple hundred dollars. Most people go with 2 or 3 color generals for their decks.Since you have a pretty good Innistrad and Dark Ascension collection a few examples you could go with is a Black/Red Olivia Voldaren EDH deck, White/Blue Geist of Saint Traft EDH deck, or Blue/Black Grimgrin-Corpse Born EDH deck. You can slowly work cards in from older sets for whatever you see fits in your deck.
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-Lunch_Box-
Member
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posted March 09, 2012 02:52 PM
Something else you can also do is start out with a mono color deck and optimize it. Then when you get ready for two colors use the color you already have as one of them. If you want to go 3 color pick a general that has the two colors you already have so you will only need to pick up one color.If you optimize each deck along the way, including dual lands and expensive staples, it will not be as expensive when you decide to upgrade.
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Zeckk
Member
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posted March 09, 2012 04:48 PM
Coming from a competitive EDH player - Look at potential generals, get a grasp on common combos and effective win-conditions, then attempt to match that list with your budget. EDH staple cards used to be much cheaper as recently as a year ago, but now cards like bribery and tooth and nail have shot up to all-time highs as a result of demand. With that said, there are PLENTY of degenerate combos available to most commanders that are both easy to acquire, easy to pull off, and won't break the bank. For example, my Nath EDH deck can tooth and nail for triskelion and Mikaeus, the Unhallowed for an immediate "i win", or I can use buried alive and victimize for the same effect. All of those cards put together cost less than $25. There's also helm of obedience + leyline of the void, which kills a single player per turn, or Nath himself can perform a combo with sadistic hypnotist to force all other players to discard their hand while you net a ton of 1/1 elf tokens, every turn. Both of those combos cost around $5.On the other end of the spectrum, I have a friend that uses Norin the Wary as his general, and it's likely the most expensive mono-red EDH deck I've ever seen. Completely foil where possible, all snow-mountains (also foil), earliest possible printings, etc. Yet it's a completely casual and insanely fun deck that literally does nothing beyond confusing the board state to the point of unplayability. The point is that you should start with what you find enjoyable about EDH, and build from there.
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rockondon
Member
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posted March 09, 2012 10:39 PM
about 7 months ago I didn't even know what EDH was. I went to the local card shop where I heard everyone plays and all they played was EDH or standard. All I owned was vintage/casual decks. I bought a precon and started playing mimeoplasm after making some revisions. Shortly after I did a bunch of research on a general for my second deck, arcum dagsson was right up my alley, and I made an arcum deck that has been outstanding for me. I have 4 EDH decks now. I have broken up some of my casual decks to go towards EDH. They haven't been played in years so it felt good to see my hard-to-get cards go from collecting dust to seeing heavy play. My decks are pretty pricey but there's lots of great EDH decks in the $50 range. __________________
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caquaa
Member
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posted March 10, 2012 01:01 AM
The thing I like about EDH is I get to use old interesting cards that would normally just sit in a box somewhere. Especially since you really only need 1, although multiples are nice for having many decks, you can go get the best version available for your liking. I'd actually recommend against getting too many duplicates that way when you build a new deck, as long as you don't take your previous apart, the new deck can feel very different from your previous. I have a friend who whines that his decks are boring; its because he moves the same 30 cards from one deck to make a "new" deck and it turns outs to play out nearly the same.Also, its good to find out how people in your area play first. Comboing out might be the norm, or it might be frowned upon. Same can be said for mass land destruction, excessive counter magic, and many other similar un-fun things.
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mm1983
Member
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posted March 10, 2012 06:00 AM
quote:
Originally posted by caquaa:
The thing I like about EDH is I get to use old interesting cards that would normally just sit in a box somewhere.
Agreed, I found myself playing the old Fallen Empires lands again. Also, I've found out that anything that somehow puts a General to the bottom of someones deck or shuffles it back into the deck is pretty good in this format. Spin into Myth, Bant Charm, Condemn, a few counter spell type cards if you bounce the General to their hand first.
[Edited 1 times, lastly by mm1983 on March 10, 2012]
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caquaa
Member
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posted March 10, 2012 12:10 PM
well, having an outlet to use Floral Spuzzem is also nice. The only card in magic that makes his own choices! Floral Spuzzem finds your sol ring unworthy.... DIE!
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hilikuS
Member
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posted March 11, 2012 08:43 PM
quote:
Originally posted by ZachSellsMagic:
The Commander precons, in my opinion, are the best out-of-the-box product WotC has every produced.
Definitely this. They're worth the money, you get a playable deck, and some unique cards that aren't in any other set. I think they're 30 bucks MSRP.
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