deckstats.net
You need to be logged in to do this.
The buttons above will open in a new window. Please return to this window after you have logged in. When you have logged in, click the Refresh Session button and then try again.

Author Topic: [Commander] What's a good Commander for Big Red  (Read 688 times)

Raketenudo

  • New Member
  • *
  • Posts: 25
  • Karma: 16
  • Decks
[Commander] What's a good Commander for Big Red
« on: July 31, 2019, 08:50:57 am »
Eternal Power, Eternal Value

So I really like the Idea of putting together a Big Red Commander Deck.
Deckstrategy would / should be ramping up fast (yes, in red) and then going for one big drop after the other.
Problem is, I can't seem to find a Commander that suits me.

What it should do is either fix Red's Ramp-Problem, or Red's Carddraw-Problem. (Preferably Ramp, as i like reds carddraw-options flavor-wise)

I would like to dedicate a maximum of 60 Cards to Lands, Ramp and Carddraw, ideally only 50-55, so I can fit in all the nice big stuff red (and colorless - looking at you, Kozilek, Butcher of Truth) has to offer (and go greedy).
Money isn't an Issue, as I have a large card pool and my playgroud encourages Proxys to keep up with the rather high (but not competetive) powerlevel.

Ideas so far are:
Neheb, the Eternal
Use Group Slug to Ramp, finish with those sweet fatties. He's what I went for in the first place.
I don't really like this idea anymore, because it is too dependent on Neheb, because Group Slug is more effective as a focused strategy, and because I feel it takes up too much slots in the Deck.

Feldon of the Third Path
I think he compliments this Idea nicely, but lacks Carddraw as well as Ramp. Also I would need to dedicate some slots to card filtering / discard effects, wich I would rather not.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to any and all suggestions - note that they don't have to be Mono Red, just need to include Red, as I feel confident playing Big Red in multicolor  ;)

Decklist is (obviously) unfinished, but grouped by the primary effect a card should achieve in this deck. I'm also glad for any suggestions on cards to play or rather cards to cut. Sideboard contains cards i considwered, but already cut.



CleanBelwas

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 923
  • Karma: 899
  • Decks
Re: [Commander] What's a good Commander for Big Red
« Reply #1 on: July 31, 2019, 10:28:38 am »
Man, I feel your pain. I've tried to build a deck like this before too. It's not easy.

Neheb, the Eternal always seems like the best choice for big red because when it works, it really works, but I completely agree with you that the deck struggles without him.

Neheb, Dreadhorde Champion has potential. He's not as good as old Neheb at making mana, but finds a decent balance between ramp and card draw / filtering.

An alternative strategy could be Krenko, Mob Boss. Make a butt load of tokens then grind them up for mana with things like Skirk Prospector and Ashnod's Altar.

Similarly, Grand Warlord Radha might be worth a consideration. A similar strategy to Krenko, flood the board with tokens, and use Radha's ability to generate a lot of mana. This has the added benefit of also allowing green, which naturally provides a whole load of great ramp options. And Savage Ventmaw, who is Radha's best friend.

Gruul has a few options, but I personally think Grand Warlord Radha might be the best. You also have Nikya of the Old Ways, but your list isn't super creature heavy so would need a way to kill Nikya to take full advantage (Ashnod's altar is a great option as it also provides mana. I'll find any excuse I can to recommend that card. It's amazing).


In terms of individual cards, I can think of a couple that might be worth considering:

Mana Geyser
Brass's Bounty

They can be a little temperamental and quite fickle, but have the potential to be huge. Mana Geyser has the potential to be huge early on. Usually turn 4 or 5, opponents tend to be tapped out as they've spent their first few turns setting up, so out of nowhere you can get 10+ mana on turn 4 or 5. Brass's bounty can be seen like a bit of an investment. I think of it like a battery. You cast it (charge the battery) and you can then drain it as you see fit, either all at once for some big spells or in small increments as you do other things. Terrible if you face a lot of mass artifact destruction though.


A really alternative strategy if your focus is big fatties rather than big X spells could be things like Jhoira of the Ghitu (or even Jodah, Archmage Eternal, but then you're in 5 colour and that's a different ball game altogether). Cheat them out rather than pay for them legit with mega ramp. There's a half decent package of cards that let you speed up suspended cards to get them out even quicker.

Hope this helps or gives you food for thought. It might be that none of this sticks closely enough to your original idea or just doesn't appeal to you, which is cool. Let us know what you decide though. I for one would be interested to hear what you came up with.

Raketenudo

  • New Member
  • *
  • Posts: 25
  • Karma: 16
  • Decks
Re: [Commander] What's a good Commander for Big Red
« Reply #2 on: July 31, 2019, 12:08:56 pm »
Hey CleanBelwas, thanks for the great reply.

Most of the Options I already thought through and dismissed:
Neheb, Dreadhorde Champion I just don't like him flavour wise, and in my oppinion he isn't good enough in any of the asprects i want my commander to be.

Krenko, Mob Boss same argument as Radha

Grand Warlod Radha i thought about her, but as I don't want to play a token or go-wide strategy, she is mostly out of the question.

Jhoira of the Ghitu is a really nice idea, I'll check her and the suspend-synergies out

Nikya of the old ways is really great ramp, but I'd like to put some of the nice Payoff-Spells nad Planeswalkers in, so she's out too.

Honestly, i was even considering radha, heir to keld and would be using her, if the RR she gives on attack would stay until the second main.

As for your other suggestions: those cards are really god, but as stated i want to keep ramp and draw down to as few as possible.

Another Option i consider is Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius along with heavy colored ramp to fix the draw issues red has (maybe adding in rhystic studys and mystic remora).

But as of now i think I'll prefer and go with Feldon of the third path, even if he doesn't synergyse with my non-creature spells

Marshstepper78

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 214
  • Karma: 113
  • Decks
Re: [Commander] What's a good Commander for Big Red
« Reply #3 on: July 31, 2019, 02:11:32 pm »
Feldon of the Third Path is a different deck altogether, but he is a lot of fun. He is at the helm of my oldest deck. Neheb, Dreadhorde Champion goes great in Feldon.

I think Neheb, the Eternal is a great big red commander personally and I have considered trying him out several times. Your list is a bit clunky right now, but it could easily be tightened. Flame Rift-like cards are excellent, and you need to find a balance between spells that can generate quick mana by dealing 3-4 dmg to 3-4 opponents pre-combat and splashy x spells or large creatures (with mana sink abilities, e.g. Stormbreath Dragon) post-combat.

Personally, I would limit the amount of fatties you have in the deck and go more with x spells (single and multi-target) and stuff like Flame Rift and Sulfuric Vortex. Use creatures with good mana sink abilities, and not just generic fatties. Pyrohemia can be devastating. Play with Banefire if your meta has blue players.

I would recommend cards like Defense Grid to make it a bit easier to ''go off'' with Neheb, the Eternal. If you feel card draw is a problem, use as many wheel effects as possible. Ensnaring Bridge is a great defensive card as well, especially in red as card draw is not that colour's forté. Urabrask the Hidden can slow down creature decks.

If you want to stay with big red damage and no longer care for Neheb, The Eternal, there is also Heartless Hidetsugu. He paints a good target on your back though so be prepared to be enemy number one at the table if your deck is fast.

Mana Geyser has always been a ridiculous source of mana every time I've played it and it belongs in all mono-red non-cEDH decks imo.
« Last Edit: July 31, 2019, 02:25:31 pm by Marshstepper78 »

robort

  • Patron
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1725
  • Karma: 437
  • Decks
Re: [Commander] What's a good Commander for Big Red
« Reply #4 on: July 31, 2019, 03:40:57 pm »
Agreed Naheb is getting the mana to do stuff on your 2nd main phase with loads of X burn spells. Neheb only cares about mana after combat. I have a friend in our playgroup who runs a naheb and it is always nasty after his combat phase. Figure if you have 3 opponents and you make each individual opponent lose 3 life, that is a net gain of 3 mana after combat phase. My personal favorite/hate card my friend plays is Stigma Lasher. Devastating to any life gain deck.
A legend in my own mind or so what the voices keep telling me

ApothecaryGeist

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1023
  • Karma: 605
  • Decks
Re: [Commander] What's a good Commander for Big Red
« Reply #5 on: July 31, 2019, 10:58:05 pm »
Might I suggest ... Etali, Primal Storm

https://deckstats.net/decks/97591/905186-etali-casts-all-the-spells/en

You just have to ramp enough to power out the Commander.  You still get all the big stuff.  Plus you get to play your opponent's decks too.

I was going to try to work a little more ramp into the deck, but my playgroup already hated the deck as it was.  So I never "improved" it.
Happy Brewing!
:)

Raketenudo

  • New Member
  • *
  • Posts: 25
  • Karma: 16
  • Decks
Re: [Commander] What's a good Commander for Big Red
« Reply #6 on: July 31, 2019, 11:31:07 pm »
@Marshstepper78:
You would be 100% right if I wanted to build a nice Neheb deck, but as it Stands i want to cast those big dumb generic fatties. I want to do a Big Red EDH, and can't find the right General, not build a good Neheb deck  :D Heartless Hidegtsugu also doesn't fit this for me.
As for Wheels, im still unsure if I like them, and Mana Geysir shall go in, thanks.

@robort:
Maybe I'll do a "real" Neheb Deck sometime, Stigma Lasher would go in 100%

@ApothecaryGeist:
Nice Deck, I really liek the focus on Etali. He's one of the main reasons I want to play Big Red. To be honest, i just don't like paying 6 to cast my General for the first time... I'll be lendging some suggestions from there.


All thing considered, I think I'll go with Feldon of the Third Path, as of all the Options I have he requires the least build around to function in at least some way while providing recursion and repeated ETB-Triggers.

A few more thoughts on going Multicolor for Big Red: After some consideration I figured one of the biggest reasons for me to play Big Red is the amazing multicolor hate (Blood Moon, Ruination etc.), wich wouldn't work in multicolor.

robort

  • Patron
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1725
  • Karma: 437
  • Decks
Re: [Commander] What's a good Commander for Big Red
« Reply #7 on: August 01, 2019, 02:53:43 am »
Might I suggest ... Etali, Primal Storm

https://deckstats.net/decks/97591/905186-etali-casts-all-the-spells/en

You just have to ramp enough to power out the Commander.  You still get all the big stuff.  Plus you get to play your opponent's decks too.

I was going to try to work a little more ramp into the deck, but my playgroup already hated the deck as it was.  So I never "improved" it.

Etali is always fun. I only use mine for when my playgroup wants me to use my very best even though my Etali does need some definite upgrades. They also don't mind me playing with their cards but I will leave their cards at the top of my mat so they know who's is who's and I also wouldn't want to unintentionally take them home with me. Nothing better then attack, attack, attack especially when you can drop etali out on turn 3 or 4.

https://deckstats.net/decks/52552/901810-etali-primal-storm
A legend in my own mind or so what the voices keep telling me

Slyvester12

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 844
  • Karma: 540
  • Decks
Re: [Commander] What's a good Commander for Big Red
« Reply #8 on: August 01, 2019, 03:07:02 am »
Have you considered Zada, Hedron Grinder? With him, you can basically turn any combat trick that cantrips into a decent draw spell. He won't really help with ramping, but it would give you options, especially for big splashy cards like Chandra's Ignition.
Elves and infect are the best things in Magic.

Raketenudo

  • New Member
  • *
  • Posts: 25
  • Karma: 16
  • Decks
Re: [Commander] What's a good Commander for Big Red
« Reply #9 on: August 01, 2019, 07:09:25 am »
Have you considered Zada, Hedron Grinder? With him, you can basically turn any combat trick that cantrips into a decent draw spell. He won't really help with ramping, but it would give you options, especially for big splashy cards like Chandra's Ignition.
Yes, i have - I actually have a Zadra Deck. It just isn't a Big Red, it plays a lot of mana dorks and token generators, small buffs and draw spells.

CrawWurm

  • New Member
  • *
  • Posts: 7
  • Karma: 2
  • Decks
Re: [Commander] What's a good Commander for Big Red
« Reply #10 on: August 01, 2019, 07:35:21 am »
How about Ilharg, the Raze-Boar?.  I listen to a pod cast earlier today from the Commander's Brew that covered Ilharg. (https://articles.edhrec.com/commanders-brew-e196-ilharg-the-raze-boar-commanders-brew-magic-the-gathering/Sneak attack on a 6/6 trampler for 5 CMC sounds like a good time.

If you consider, Neheb, then maybe try Dolmen Gate as well.  That way you can attack without it dying in combat.

WWolfe

  • Patron
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3687
  • Karma: 1367
  • Banging and (spell) slanging!
  • Decks
Re: [Commander] What's a good Commander for Big Red
« Reply #11 on: August 01, 2019, 06:58:11 pm »
I agree with Robort and Marshstepper. Neheb, the Eternal is the one I've seen pull off the strategy the best at my LGS. It can do some nasty things post-combat if it's built and played right. I'll ask my friend if he has his decklist posted on line anywhere and link it if he does.
This space for rent.