EDH staples?

[Leonixious]

I have my own Staples for Commander/EDH. Cards I include in every deck, or type of deck. For example, any deck I run Blue in, will always have a Halimar Depths. All my decks that run Green have a Blighted Woodland. And almost every deck I run has a Mirage Mirror and/or a Myriad Landscape. Things like that.

I'm curious about what other people have as EDH staples, or if anyone has a Mana Rock "Package" (My playgroup has a stack of cards for Mana Rocks they include in EVERY deck called a "Package"), or something similar...

[Morganator 2.0]

I don't have a physical stack of mana ramp cards, but I do have a mental list of what mana ramp I always want in decks. Signets, Talismans, Fellwar Stone, Birds of Paradise, the like. Same for stuff like removal, and draw effects, and tutors, and even stax. It got hard to remember all of these cards so I wrote them down as a list.

[WWolfe]

Green decks include a lot of mana-dorks & some ramp spells. Creature heavy decks get a Gaea's Cradle. Sol Ring and Fellwar Stone are in virtually every deck. Signets & Talismans in every deck they fit in. Path & Swords are in almost every white deck I run. Cyclonic Rift & Rhystic Study are in pretty much every blue deck. The only lands I consider auto-includes are Cabal Coffers & Urborg for black decks. Nykthos goes in decks that are heavily one color (not just mono decks). Mirage Mirror I include in certain decks. I run some type of way to deal with PW's in most of my decks since there's a fair number of decks in my meta that run them (in the 99, not so much as the commander).

I use to include Top & Scroll Rack in pretty much every deck but I've kind of soured on them lately unless it's a deck where top deck manipulation matters for Scroll Rack.

[Sliverking]

My staples are divided by color.  I tend to classify these as my "Support" cards, but I should just change the category to Staples. 

Black - Cabal Ritual, Dark Ritual, Culling the Weak, Damnation

Colorless - Burnished Hart, Sol Ring, Sword of the Animist, Tamiyo's Journal, Prying Bar

Green - Harrow, Naturalize, Song of Freyalise, Wayward Swordtooth, Ranging Raptors, Pattern of Rebirth

Red - Guttersnipe, Seething Song

Blue - Cancel, Counterspell, High Tide, Spell Swindle

White - Disenchant, Swords of Plowshares, Wrath of God

Multicolor - guild lockets, Tatyova (if U/G), Hymn of Rebirth (W/G), Agent of Stromgald (R/B), Farralite Priest (W and any color), Initiates of the Ebon Hand (B and any color)

5 color - Channel the Suns, Composite Golem

3 color (allied) - invasion attendants, Skyshroud Elves (G/W/R)

In addition to this I love cards that add treasure or clue tokens and Landfall (to use those late game lands for something).

[Morganator 2.0]

Prying Bar

What's this?

[Judaspriester]

Prying Bar

What's this?

Maybe Prying Blade?

[Loggiu]

my favourite is bitterblossom, you got always something to sacrifice instead of other creatures and deal a lot of damage, makes you win fast

[Loggiu]

sorry I haven't seen edh......luminarch ascension

[Red_Wyrm]

My mana rock "package" is the same for most of my decks. I run all appropriate signets, sol ring, thran dynamo and gilded lotus. I've never had the limitation of one color for gilded lotus be a problem, but all my decks are only one, two or three colors. Lightning greaves and swiftfoot boots go in pretty much any deck where I have a creature I want to protect in the command zone. If I am running a plansewalker commander, I don't auto include them.

In green I always play explosive vegetation, skyshroud claim and cultivate because green is great at ramping. Also Krosan Grip because it is absolutely worth it to pay one more mana over naturalize to avoid not just counters, but any responses to your spell. Harmonize if I don't have access to blue or black for card draw.

On to red. If I don't have access to white, I usually run blasphemous act. Then there is blood moon, depending on my mana base, so basically just one, maybe two color decks. Lightning Bolt because why not? Pyroblast and Red Elemental Blast because no one expects a counterspell with one red mana open. I've yet to see a game without blue. Also it is one mana destroy any commander with blue, which is a lot.

Black I always run Demonic tutor because it is pretty much a second copy of any card in the deck. Not sure how I feel about dark ritual. urborg tomb of yawgmoth and cabal stronghold (because I am poor) ideally cabal coffers. I guess technically they are colorless not black, but I'm putting them in the black section for obvious reasons. 

That was not meant to sound racist at all.

Oh and Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon as a win con.

On to my favorite color, white!

I'm not a white supremacist, I swear.

To be clear, I like white as a supporting color. Good exile effects and wraths. Okay so auto includes path to exile, swords to plowshares, newly made smothering tithe. Not too sure about the last one, but it has proven itself every time I've cast it. Although at 4 mana, it may be a little slow for more competitive groups. Personally I dislike wrath of god, and day of judgement more so. I like rout, Austere command (sat here for like 4 minutes trying to think of the damn name) and cleansing nova. And Avacyn, Angel of Hope. I think she is a great win con, like skithiryx. TEFERI'S PROTECTION DUH! Almost forgot it. Eye r stupid.

Blue. Blue blue blue. We all know it. Cyclonic Rift. It goes in every blue deck unless you are morally opposed to the card or are too poor to get one. Also mana drain/counterspell for the poor such as myself. I also usually run stifle, disallow and pact of negation because I like to nope people.

Colorless outside of mana rocks: As I mentioned earlier swiftfoot boots and lightning greaves. I also like all is dust for a specifically colorless deck because it is trillions times better than In garruk's wake. Imagine it with It That Betrays. I got that combo off once. I won. My friend puts Ulamog, the infinite gyre and Kozilek the old one in almost all his decks because they are great cards for their mana costs. He would run new ulamog if he had one. (I opened one in a pack ) Okay quick digression. So I opened an expedition fetch land, when BFZ was just released. I didn't understand anything except it was expensive and a card I would never use. I (foolishly) thought fetch lands were stupid. So I traded it for like 13 packs, and got a steam vents. Thought shock lands were stupid too. Forgive me I was young(er) and dumb(er) than my current self. So I traded it in for another 13ish and I got ulamog. Then a week later I got another expedition land, and traded it in for packs. I also got a foil liliana of the veil and Tarmogoyf in the same pack of MM2017. Excuse the quick snippet of story time.

More colorless staples: I like vedalken orrery. I didin't put leyline of anticipation in blue simply because I don't have one, so it doesn't go in every deck. (Same with rhystic study) Hmm that's all I can think of. It was fun procrastinating, but now I have to study for my Calculus III test tomorrow. Aww but I also have to finish the umbrella academy. I have one episode left. Ugh Priorities. Okay, so I can watch the umbrella academy tonight and study tomorrow, right? I don't need to pass this test, I just need to be prepared for the final?

Good luck with your endeavors!

Edit: That test kicked my @$$.

[WWolfe]

Black I always run Demonic tutor because it is pretty much a second copy of any card in the deck. Not sure how I feel about dark ritual. urborg tomb of yawgmoth and cabal stronghold (because I am poor) ideally cabal coffers. I guess technically they are colorless not black, but I'm putting them in the black section for obvious reasons. 

I guess technically they qualify as colorless since they're lands but they all have a color identity of black since they include the black mana symbol (outside of Urborg).

[Ylhyssia]

White: Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, Land Tax, Smothering tithe (I freaking love this card, easily one of my favorite cards of all time, and it's at least a staple in decks that don't have Blue or Green).

Black: Demonic Tutor, Urborg, tomb of Yawgmoth, Phyrexian Arena* (there are some decks in which this isn't a staple, usually very fast decks for which this card is too slow).

Blue: Counterspell, Disallow, Stiffle, Swan song, Rhystic Study, Fact or Fiction.

Green and red are the colors I play the least, but here goes.

Green: Kodama's reach, Cultivate, etc. (Ramp package) Birds of Paradise, Chord of Calling, Llanowar Elves.

Red: Chaos Warp, Lightning Bolt.

Colorless and Lands: Sol Ring/Command Tower, Mind Stone, signets/talismans, Fellwar Stone

[Izzet808]

Auto-includes often stem from each color's way to respond to other player's strategy. I often use Budget Commander's list to check my decks.

• 50 mana; lands and ramp, usually a 37–13 split
• 10 sources of "card advantage;" I use this term loosely but am mostly looking for card draw or any spell that nets me 2+ non-land cards in hand / directly into play
• 6 targeted removal, split between creature / artifact / enchantment removal
• 3 board wipes; creature-light decks might want 1 more, creature-heavy decks might want 1 less
• 2 (graveyard) recursion
• 2 flexible tutors
• 1 graveyard hate
• 1 surprise "I Win" card; something that can win games the turn you cast it without too much setup

AUTO-INCLUDES:

RAMP/FIXING:

• Artifact Ramp: Sol Ring, Thran Dynamo, Mind Stone, Thought Vessel; Mid-Low include: Hedron Archive, Dreamstone Hedron, Everflowing Chalice, Basalt Monolith, Sword of the Animist, Grim Monolith ($), Mana Vault ($), Mana Crypt ($)
• Artifact Fixing: Fellwar Stone, Signets, Commander's Sphere, Chromatic Lantern, Caged Sun, Coalition Relic, Solemn Simulacrum; Mid-Low: Darksteel Ingot, Astral Cornucopia, Gilded Lotus
• Land Ramp: Temple of the False God, Ancient Tomb; Mid-Low: Urza-Tron
• Land Fixing: Exotic Orchard, Command Tower, Path of Ancestry, Shock-Lands, Fetch Lands, Filter Lands, Check Lands, Bounce Lands, Tri-Tap lands, Scry Dual Lands (e.g. Temple of Epiphany), Life-Gain Dual Lands (e.g. Dismal Backwater), Terramorphic Expanse, Evolving Wilds, Ash Barrens; Mid-Low: Gates, Tap lands, Cycle Lands, Mana Confluence
• Colored Ramp/Fixing: Mirari's Wake, Zendikar Resurgent, Gaea's Cradle, Cabal Coffers, Land Tax, Nirkana Revenant, Crypt Ghast, Smothering Tithe, Oracle of Mul Daya
• Pseudo-Ramp: Medallions (e.g. Ruby Medallion), The Immortal Sun

CARD ADVANTAGE:

• Artifact/Land: Mind's Eye; Mid-Low: Temple Bell, Howling Mine, Font of Mythos, Mikokoro, Center of the Sea, Well of Lost Dreams, Skullclamp, The Immortal Sun
• Blue: Rhystic Study, Kumena's Awakening; Mid-Low: Dictate of Kruphix, Mystic Remora, Consecrated Sphinx, Thought Reflection, Coastal Piracy
• White: Mentor of the Meek; Mid-Low: Dawn of Hope
• Red: Wheels (e.g. Wheel of Fortune); Mid-Low: Stolen Strategy, Commune with Lava, Etali, Primal Storm
• Black: Phyrexian Arena; Mid-Low: Necropotence, Midnight Reaper, Skeletal Scrying
• Green: Sylvan Library, Greater Good; Mid-Low: Beast Whisperer

TARGETED REMOVAL:

• Artifact/Land/Colorless: Maze of Ith, Scour from Existence, Duplicant
• Blue: Reality Shift, Arcane Denial, Galecaster Colossus; Mid-Low: Tidespout Tyrant
• White: Path to Exile, Swords to Plowshares, Darksteel Mutation, Return to Dust; Mid-Low: Soul Snare, Oblation, Crib Swap
• Red: Chaos Warp, Vandalblast
• Black: Go for the Throat; Mid-Low: Snuff Out, Sever The Bloodline, Smallpox
• Green: Krosan Grip, Lignify, Song of the Dryads, Beast Within, Acidic Slime; Mid-Low: Terastodon
• Multi-Colored: Putrefy, Mortify, Terminate, Bedevil, Anguished Unmaking, Utter End, Dreadbore

BOARD WIPES:

• Artifact/Land/Colorless: Oblivion Stone; Mid-Low: Nevinyrral's Disk, All is Dust, Engineered Explosives
• Blue: Cyclonic Rift; Mid-Low: Devastation Tide, Evacuation, Ixidron
• White: Wrath of God, Day of Judgment, Terminus, Phyrexian Rebirth; Mid-Low: Akroma's Vengeance, Austere Command, Martial Coup, Divine Reckoning
• Red: Blasphemous Act; Mid-Low: Chain Reaction, Earthquake, Magmaquake
• Black: Damnation, Decree of Pain, Languish, In Garruk's Wake; Mid-Low: Toxic Deluge
• Green: Bane of Progress; Mid-Low: Whirlwind
• Multi-Colored: Supreme Verdict, Gaze of Granite, Merciless Eviction; Mid-Low: Savage Twister, Duneblast

NOTABLE TUTORS:

• Artifact/Land/Colorless: Expedition Map, Inventors' Fair
• Blue: Muddle the Mixture; Mid-Low: Mystical Tutor, Fabricate
• White: Enlightened Tutor, Recruiter of the Guard, Thalia's Lancers; Mid-Low: Arena Rector, Academy Rector
• Red: Gamble
• Black: Demonic Tutor ($), Diabolic Tutor; Mid-Low: Increasing Ambition, Diabolic Intent, Vampiric Tutor
• Green: Tempt with Discovery, Green Sun's Zenith

GRAVEYARD HATE:

• Bojuka Bog, Relic of Progenitus, Scavenging Ooze, Scrabbling Claws, Rakdos Charm, Nihil Spellbomb, Jund Charm, Tormod's Crypt, Watchers of the Dead, Rest in Peace

SURPRISE I WIN:

• Insurrection, Rite of Replication, Expropriate, Eldrazi Conscription, Approach of the Second Sun, Exsanguinate, Paradox Engine, Vedalken Orrery

[Red_Wyrm]

I couldn't quote your message because then my post would exceed the maximum character length for a forum post.

I believe by surprise I win, you just mean a win con. I'll admit I've never heard it labeled as surprise I win before. I wouldn't put Vedalken Orrery in there because it doesn't win you the game the turn you cast it. In fact it'll probably be the only thing you cast that turn. I've never used paradox engine, but I don't think it wins right away. It puts you miles a head and helps win the game, but it doesn't win the game. I feel its like saying tinker wins the game, but really its Blightsteel Colossus that wins, you could tinker for a gilded lotus, trading in your sol ring for it. Yeah yeah it's banned I know. Twas an example.

Oh and approach of the second sun. I would hardly call that a surprise since you have to cast it twice! Maybe if you cast it, mystical tutor for it, pulling it from the seventh to the top, and cast it again out of no where.

I also disagree with calling wheel of fortune card advantage, since without alhammarret's archive you are getting the same cards as others, although normally in red, you're drawing 4+ while your opponent might by drawing 1 or 2 and throwing away cards they held onto intentionally.

Also I noticed the $$$$ next to mana crypt and other expensive artifacts, the next to demonic tutor. I feel you should also put it next to cards like vedalken orrery, paradox engine, Sylvan Library Gaea's cradle and pretty much all $20 cards, but now I'm just being picky.

Personally I don't like sticking to a template like that, as it usually depends a lot on the commander and the player, but hey, do your thing man. (As long as you aren't telling people your way is unarguably right)

Don't take this as being mean, just sharing my thoughts!

Good luck in your endeavors!

EDIT: THIS IS MY 100th POST GUYS!

I'M A FULL MEMBER!!!!

[Soren841]

Wheel is undeniably card advantage, as you will never cast it with a full hand.

Edit: 4004th post

[Morganator 2.0]

I've never used paradox engine, but I don't think it wins right away. It puts you miles a head and helps win the game, but it doesn't win the game.

Oh, it certainly wins the game. Paired with any form of untappable card advantage it will either win you the game, or put you so far ahead that you are going to win. There are even commanders where their top deck is based entirely around Paradox Engine (Captain Sisay and Arcum Dagsson). With many decks, the turn you cast Paradox Engine is the turn you win.

Although, I wouldn't call it a staple. It really does need to paired with some form of card advantage.