Being a True Gentleman of the Tables

So now I want to talk about a subject that is foreign to many new Commander players and is sometimes overlooked by veterans of the format. That subject is ettiquette.

 First, however, some background. Since the inclusion of prizes for winning, the goal for most Magic players has been to win at any cost. Thats is, find the broken combo, use the cheapest most powerful creatures, and outplay your opponents. Most commanders do not start out with the format, they find it as they peruse hundreds of other articles written about Magic. I like many saw the format and saw the lack of restrictions to my card choice and instantly threw together the cheesiest combo deck I could make. It was filled with Hive Mind, Pacts, Iona, reanimation, ways to cheat Blightsteel and Ulamog into play, and even a Mindslaver combo that could lock out every player other player from every taking a turn.

 Sounds awesome right?

Maybe not so.

While I won my first eight man with ease and had a great time, everyone else at the table looked less than satisfied. The next game I played the same deck and the seven people I was playing with (the same seven mind you) decided to focus me down and kill me turn five.

You see I had made one of the easiest mistakes a new commander can make: I took the mindset that I needed to break the format, like standard, and applied it to Commander when there is a fundamental difference. Commander was designed and played as a social experience less like chess and more like a board game. Yes you all try to win but one of you is not playing with loaded dice cause where is the fun in that?

Let me put it into perspective. Historically one of the most popular generals in the entire format has been this fluffy guy:

He's like Barney with wings...

If a player were to approach this card and ask "how many games am I going to win with this?" The answer would probably be very few. This is where the subtlties lie because a deck that runs Phelddagrif is not going to try to win in a traditional manner that is possible in a 1v1 format. "Group Hug" decks, as they are called, focus on helping whoever is struggling and crippling whoever is in the lead to make the experience more fun for the entire table. Playing political games is almost as important in your card selection as power level.

Another example: In one of my first decks as I slowly learned to be less of a "douchebag" as Sheldon Menery would put it I had included Luminarch Ascension. Now this card is by no means an infinite combo card or a really huge threat at the time. The issue was that I had put it in a deck with Hanna, Ship's Navigator as the general. The other players knew that even if they destroyed this annoying enchantment I would find ways to reaquire it. After all realizing what needed to be done I was promptly hit upside the head by a 13/13 indestructable, shrouded Rafiq of the Many that had survived a board wipe intended to clean up my small Meloku token army.

26 general damage later and I was wondering why I had painted a huge red X on my forehead when a turn before I had been flying fairly under the radar. This isn't just true of cards you play in your deck though.

There are a select few generals themselves that will set off alarms the minute you put them in the command zone. For those new players I am going to list some generals and cards I would not recommend playing unless you are very confident in your ability to repel 7 decksworth of aggresion.

Hated Generals:

• Sharuum the Hegemon/Arcum Dagsson- Known for fostering decks filled with infinte combos and broken artifacts.
• Azami, Lady of Scrolls- Mono blue is a bad place to be if you don't like a lot of attention. People tend to resent having everything in their decks stolen from them or countered which blue does only too well.
• Empress Galina/Tsabo Tavoc- Any card that has a negative interaction with every single general in existence is gonna get some notice form anyone who intends to actually play their generals.
• Zur the Enchanter- One of the least interactive generals in existence. All he does is build up Auras, counter everyone's important spells, and then one by one he picks off players dealing 21 general damage.
• Gaddock Teeg- This general cripples so many decks. When you get him on the table the artifact, enchantment, and control players will be begging the other aggro players to finish you off so they can actually play.
• Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon- Before you ask it only takes ten poison to kill in commander. This means you only have to give 6 power to a hasty, flying dragon in order to donk someone out of nowhere. Have fun watching from the sidelines...

Honorary Mentions:

• Jhoira of the Ghitu; Erayo, Soratami Ascendant; Anyone containing blue who is not Lorthos and even then...

"Red Flag Cards":

• Hive Mind- Either you have it in to brew up some chaos (perfectly acceptable use) or you are trying to insta win with Pacts we don't know!
• Door to Nothingness- Any card that says target player loses the game tends not to go over well...with anyone other than you. Goes for everyother insta win/lose card.
• Mindslaver- In the words of Sheldon Menery "Mindslaver once is fine, its Mindslaver bunches and bunches of times that I really, really hate." So recurrable.
• Magister Sphinx/Sorin Markov- The format starts you off at 40 life for a reason. The ability to point at someone and say your life total is now 10 on turn five or six without attacking or paying huge amounts of mana is absurd.
• Crucible of Worlds- It is assumed by most players that if you are running Crucible you are running Strip Mine and most of those players are attached to their lands.
• Obliterate/Armageddon- In the same vein. If any of the table manages to recover they will taking you down first.
• Anything that goes "infinite": Necrotic Ooze + Bloodline Keeper + Grimgrin, Melira + Visera Seer + Kitchen Finks, etc...

These are not by any stretch of the imagination the only cards in these categories just some of the more well known cards.

Before I end this post one final note on combos. It is incredibly imortant to talk to your play group  before putting combos in or taking them out. Some playgroups are ultra competative and try to win as fast as is humanely possible. Other groups have house bans on combo cards and sometimes even tutors. I have found after experiencing a couple of different communities that the general concensus is keep a combo or two in your deck but try not to us it unless the game is really dragging on and everyone wants to end it and start another. Sometimes a quick finisher is the best way to keep things fresh and exciting.

Thanks for reading!