It has been a good month for the Commander Challenge.

And not just for the Challenge, but for my playing as well. It’s the last Friday of the month, and I have already logged 10 games. That’s 10 without counting tonight’s games, which I guess they’re going to range from 2 to 5, depending on the decks and number of players. The community is getting better, I think, or at least I hope. We went from 3 regulars to 5 regulars with 3 guest players. That may not sound like many to some of you, but there are various reasons we are so few, which I won’t discuss now. But let’s get back to the decks.

New Decks!

Last time, I mentioned I got the Abzan Armor precon. It was a great idea! As a deck, it’s really fun to play, even without any changes. Plus, it has a ton of cards I can use to turn it into a Doran Treefolk/Shaman deck. But before that, I want to enjoy it first and maybe make some changes, like adding a Betor, Kin to All for extra fun.

But wait, there’s more. A couple of weeks ago, I saw another player pilot a Ghyrson Starn deck. It looked quite interesting. Then I realised I own the card from the Tyranid Swarm precon. I removed it from there, since I am considering upgrading the deck to make it a bit faster, and started building. Basically, my current Ghyrson Starn decklist is just stuff I own. Does it need changes? Sure, but bracket-wise it’s already Bracket 3 – Upgraded, and I don’t want to go too far. At least it can be relatively easily countered, so while it’s fun to pilot, others can stand a chance against it.

The last deck I created this month is a bit weird. It’s, again, one of those monstrocities I tend to build when I need to be at the LGS in an hour and I just browse my collection and throw stuff into a deckbox. This time it was mono-black’s turn. This deck isn’t built around a win condition, but around a card pool of pain and suffering. This thing has so many ways to reset the board, it even exhausts me when I play it. Still, it shows me what mono-black can do well, and, eventually, it will evolve into something not that horrible. But, for now, it’s staying as is for when that Edgar “I swear my deck is bracket 3” Markov player shows up, so they can understand that we are trying to play chill games here.

So let’s take a look at how the list currently stands.

Even if it’s not a race, I am quite pleased with how quickly the list is being completed. Sure, most of the decks are precons, but they are decks I like playing. If I wanted to fill the Bant slot, I could have slapped Evasive Maneuvers on it and celebrate for filling all the three colour slots. No, the important part for me is to fill the slots with decks I enjoy. That’s why I have those silly little footnotes at the bottom of the list. Some decks are marked either with definitely be replaced or to may be replaced. Well, unless I have a change of heart and decide I am enjoying them enough for them to stay. Speaking of which, I think I am liking Mishra more. I tried it again last Friday, and it was fun. It may be a bit underpowered in the context of the play group, but that can be fixed.

Future Decks?

There are quite a few decks I want to try. Some are existing decks. Others are just a bunch of cards I want to slap together into a deck. And some are a mix of the two. For example, I want to play with Progenitus as my commander. I also want to play with Hydras. They say Slivers are great this time of the year. Especially since that means that Slivers deck I got back in 2009 may be of use. Have you heard of Cascade? How about making a deck that does just that? I feel like I’m going to end up with more than 32 decks. But then again, it’s all about having fun. And making decks is fun.

And I think I will stop here. I will see you next month with a festive instalment of the column. What does that mean? I don’t know, but I have a month to figure it out.

And until next time, have fun!