Harry's 2024 Commander Recap
December brings an opportunity to reflect on the year that passed. What have I learned playing commander in 2024?
INTRO
It’s that time of the year where people are doing introspective reflections of their past year, seeing the whole picture rather than snapshots of each day as we live through it. So I thought to myself, why not? After all, I already did this once (here), where’s the harm in doing it again?
2023 GOALS CHECK
1. Play more games
Checking back on my notes, I’ve played 35 games of EDH as of the 15th December 2024 compared to the 42 games I’ve played around this time last year. (14th December 2023) Now, I’d like to think I’m not too shabby at maths, but 35 is not more than 42. So what happened?
I already said in last year’s goal list that I’m not guaranteed a pod, especially if I want to mainly play SpellTable games. Starting a new job halfway through the year also changed my schedule a ton and that does not leave more room for EDH games. Ah well, there’s still next year.
2. Write more about EDH
This one is a little more tricky to count. By all accounts, this is my 2nd post on my Substack, 1 more than I did the previous year — that’s a plus. There’s another one in my drafts, but I’m not sure whether to let it see the light of day. But let’s check back on the exact wording I used and I quote:
“To have a concrete and achievable goal, I want to write at least 100 words about EDH per week in 2024.”
So if a year has 52 weeks, it should total to around 5200 words. I don’t have exact values, but depending on how long this one ends up being, I should be on track to complete this goal. I’ll take that W thank you very much.
3. Only engage with it on my terms
Now, how do I assess whether do I achieved this goal or not? Uhh, maybe they have a point with the whole S.M.A.R.T. goals thing. But just looking back on this year, I can say that I’ve passed this goal. Feels like even though I’ve played fewer games this year, the average quality of these games have been higher. Like I’ve gone from “oh, a LFG notification from discord, I should play EDH.” to “oh, a LFG notification from discord, do I wanna play?” It seems tiny, but being more intentional in choosing when to play has done wonders for my enjoyment of the games played.
Two out of three goals accomplished? I’ll consider that a success. Especially since Goal #3 and Goal #1 are at odds with one another, being more judicious when choosing to play isn’t really the best way to play more games of commander. Now, let’s talk about the decks used in the games I did play.
2024 DECK BREAKDOWN
In the 35 games played in 2024, I’ve played 17 different decks. That averages around 2.05 games per deck, though there’s more decks that are good old one offs throughout the year.
For each deck, I'll talk a bit about what the deck does, and any stand out play patterns or issues I've noticed when piloting the deck. Next, I'll categorize them into PASS or FAIL.
A PASS means I'm pretty satisfied with the deck, and will keep it in frequent rotation; A FAIL means that the deck is disassembled, or will be disassembled; there used to be a third category called HELD BACK, but I’ve noticed that decks that I would Hold Back is probably better uploaded to Moxfield/Archidekt, and the cards themselves repurposed for other uses. Sometimes you just gotta let things go.
Aragorn, King of Gondor
From a Monarch Blink deck to a more straightforward aggro deck, Aragorn has been pretty fun, though I’ve been mostly playing him earlier in the year, only adding some extra combat cards from OTJ and Assassins Creed to make sure someone’s going down when Aragorn attacks with a full board.
Verdict: PASS
Shadowheart, Dark Justiciar / Master Chef
God's favorite princess strikes again, being my most played deck in 2024. Gaining a bunch of new goodies from MH3 definitely helped with that, and also just being a deck that’s really fun for me to play. It’s a BG +1/+1 counters deck, using Shadowheart as an additional draw engine.
I eschew Persist combos because it’s not really what I want to be doing with the deck (Persist + Master Chef + Commander + Sacrifice Outlet is infinite sacrifices, as the -1/-1 counter will get canceled by the +1/+1 counter given by Master Chef.), but big creatures with trample end games all the same.
Maybe this concept could be better executed using the new hotness of Gitrog, Ravenous Ride, but Shadowheart has been a blast to play and I’ll keep on playing with her a while yet, as my computer can’t handle Baldur’s Gate 3 :(
Verdict: PASS
Dihada, Binder of Wills
For some reason I haven’t brought this one out too much this year, even though I love the deck. Maybe it’s because the strategy (Superfriends) tend to result in longer games, and I’m not really in the mood for those. Might need to take another look at the decklist, curve, interaction or something. Or it could just be one of those “high cognitive load” decks, think initiative or day/night. It’s a lot of minor trigger tracking that adds up if you’re not careful. Deck is still a blast whenever I play it, might need to pull it out more.
Verdict: PASS
Quintorius, Loremaster
Boy, ol’ Quint is now resting up with his family somewhere in Innistrad (if you get this reference, I am so sorry.) The big issue with Quintorius is that he’s super clunky to get going in EDH. 5 mana to cast him, end step to trigger, and paying mana to activate the effect usually means you’re not saving any amount of mana rebuying the spells you exiled with him. Maybe a more stax-y, Worldfire setup would work better, but that requires me to find a group that’s okay with my main gameplan being nuking your lands and locking you out forever while I try to attack with 3/2 Spirits. Next deck please!
Verdict: FAIL
Hylda of the Icy Crown
The Ice Queen is hungry for mana, that’s for sure. Paying one per trigger adds up, and your snowballing board is sure to chill your opponents when they see it coming. Tap matters is sure an awkward strategy, requiring a decent amount of politicking to fully harness the threat of your cards. This is definitely another layer of skill issue I have when piloting this deck. Also not being able to actually remove cards from the battlefield pose their own problems, with value creatures having static and triggered abilities that tapping down does nothing to stop. The deck is still super interesting in an esoteric play experience kind of way, and I do hope to get some more neat stuff in future sets.
Verdict: PASS
Nelly Borca, Impulsive Accuser
The Blame Game preconstructed deck is a super neat direction for Boros, and Nelly Borca draws you a ton of cards. Wished that the prebuilt manabase is better though, too many colorless utility lands for my tastes. Another notch in the ‘Harry can’t do politics’ pile, This deck remains for the rare precon-only game, and any deck where I can cast Prisoner’s Dilemma is always a plus for me. I might upgrade it into a even more politics/goad focused deck, but for me to do that, I need to know how to play goad decks in the first place.
Verdict: PASS
Volo, Itinerant Scholar / Criminal Past
Ahh Volo, my darling in 2023. A Dimir Changeling Typal deck, the deck usually plays out pretty well, drawing a ton of cards and having tons of interaction to handle the table. Main issue is, most of our creatures are 1/1’s or 2/1 flyers, and those don’t close games any time quick, leaving me struggling in the mid-to-late game.
I’m not one for random 2-card combos that don’t fit the overall plan of the deck, but I’ll might need to check out some tech from other formats. I still love the strategy, but it’s going to rest a bit until new blood open up some more different direction.
Verdict: FAIL
Shanna, Purifying Blade
Bant Lifegain midrange is still pretty fun, but I’m pretty sure it’s because this deck is one of my decks that’s packing the most interaction; leaning on Shanna as a draw engine. It tussles pretty well, with Aetherflux Reservoir as a typical laser cannon to beam someone out of existence. Lifegain strategies are popular, getting new nuggets from WotC every other set or so, so this deck will hang around for quite some time.
Verdict: PASS
Roxanne, Starfall Savant
Building Roxanne was interesting, getting the curve to consistently hit T3 Roxanne was a blast, though since she’s a ramp commander, you’d tend to hit the typical ramp deck issues, hitting too much ramp and not much payoffs.
Second Harvesting Meteorites for lethal sounds amazing, and honestly as I am writing this, I just want to tinker and play with this deck even more. Maybe Muerra can learn to share, we’ll see.
Verdict: FAIL, UNLESS?
Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student
The bizarre case where most of my new additions only weaken the deck, Tamiyo is one of my favorite characters in Magic lore and when I saw her flipwalker version come out, I knew immediately I’d have to brew around her. Focusing on her planeswalker versions (sans the Bant one, ah well) led me to think that proliferation would probably be a pillar of synergy within the deck, the rest filled with flavor cards (Imprisoned in the Moon comes to mind). I’m still not sure how much flavor choices I have slots for in the deck, and I’ll figure it out more the more I play with the deck. As it currently stands, it’s a weird combo deck akin to the Doppelgang decks in Standard.
Turns out Doppelganging Deepglow Skates into infinite turns with Ichormoon Gauntlet is kinda nuts.
Verdict: PASS
Sam, Loyal Attendant / Frodo, Adventurous Hobbit
I haven’t checked all the little tricks and synergies food decks have gotten since Lord of the Rings, and I’m not sure it’s interesting enough for me to break the Universes Beyond bubble I have this deck in. There is something nice to have the cards be coherent in their theming, but that’s a wall I’ll have to figure out when more Universes Beyond sets show up.
Verdict: PASS
Syrix, Carrier of the Flame
This isn’t a deck I own, just borrowed someone else’s deck when we had time after a good afternoon of Cube Draft. Phoenix Typal with some graveyard shenanigans does feel like something I’d build, but the lesson learned from this particular play session is how different people approach EDH. I thought I was a ‘casual’ player of EDH, but then I’ve met people and I realized that I’m way too plugged in.
It’s nice to touch grass and reset my perceptions on Magic sometimes.
Verdict: RECALIBRATED MY OPINIONS
Sophina, Spearsage Deserter / Wernog, Rider’s Chaplain
Good old Mar-Clues. New additions to the Mardu Artifact Sac engine like Evereth, Viceroy of Plunder is tempting to try out, but Jumpstart rares are always real pricey to get. I’m still exploring the ideas available with the new cards from 2024, and I think there’s all this available ideas that is hard to fit in a 100 card pile.
New Clue synergies from Murders at Karlov Manor and new modified/artifact synergies from MH3 bumped up the interlocking pieces of this deck quite a bit, and I think there’s a bunch of roads you can explore with them. I might make this deck a focus of 2025 and do a proper write up of my experiences later. Lots of rectangles and small ball value, just the way I like it.
Verdict: PASS
Muerra, Trash Tactician
Raccoons! The endgame of my Gruul journey this year. A mixture of a Raccoon Typal and a typical GR Ramp list has been pretty fun to play. Some splashes of lifegain synergies and exile matters synergies keeping it a little spicy means this deck remains fun to play, though I’d imagine new Raccoons are few and far between. Gruul Stompy is Gruul stompy though, and 8+ mana turn 4 or 5 is one hell of a drug.
Verdict: PASS
Disa the Restless
Boomer Jund lives on in EDH, and the new cards from Duskmourn only fuels my delirium regarding the Archetype. When I first learned to play Magic in my school dorm, I remember playing a Jund precon, Jund Charm and Hissing Iguanar being the prominent cards that stick to mind. Also one of my earliest memories watching Pro Magic was during Dark Ascension - Return to Ravnica Era, with Huntmaster of the Fells being a big powerhouse in that format. And now I get to play around with Tarmogoyfs in Commander!
So far, I have managed to do the two main things I wanted to do with Disa (Maximum Goyfage and doing the Buried Alive trick) so I’ll need to find more ways to tinker with this deck, since I’m sure Jund keeps trucking along like it’ll always do.
Verdict: PASS
Szarekh, the Silent King
Here’s my comment from 2023: “Slow, yet packing a lot of power and recursion is the way I'd think about the Necron Dynasties preconstructed deck. The deck plays out doing everything I want to be doing in magic, a quirky off color strategy (Mono-B artifacts is uncommon), and slow grindy gameplay with graveyard loops? The dream. I do have a little gripe with the triggered ability only checking the cards it milled, but I understand wanting to avoid repetitive play patterns. Nothing more I could say about the Warhammer 40k precons that hasn't been said yet, so I'll just keep this as a stock list, laying dormant in its stasis-tomb until I pull it out for a game.”
Everything from 2023 still applies this year, though there’s been a few more nods from WotC regards to black artifact strategies. Looking at you, Crabomination and Refurbished Familiar. Though I’m still keeping it as a precon, there’s been a slow trickling of goodies that might add up enough to build its own deck.
Verdict: PASS
Liliana, Heretical Healer
An old favorite, Liliana is the most recently updated deck I own. Formerly having a Rule Zero’d Griselbrand in the deck, new additions from Duskmourn and the Reprint of Liliana, Dreadhorde General bumped up this deck a few notches. Cabal Coffers and Nykthos still make a ton of mana, and the addition of Throne of Eldraine provides the deck with another good value engine. Whether it’s running people over with flying Demons or trying to solve her Contract, Liliana has a soft spot in my heart, and maybe I’d buy the $40+ of basic Swamps (Foundations 286) to bling her out one day.
Verdict: PASS
EDH LESSONS LEARNED IN 2024
The Golden Rule
People clown on Richard from MTGGoldfish for his commander takes and to be honest, I do too. But a common point he often brings up is: Never be the main threat. Or at least be prepared to handle a 3v1 when you want to pop up as the main threat. A good place to position yourself in an EDH game is the spot where you can take the reins of the game after the current person on top is dealt with and people have used up their resources. Strategically it’s better to blast out one or two removal spells as you continue to build up your resources (mana, cards, board position etc.)
That’s the lesson to learn, but the reality is I still like to curve out the way I do, and I’ll take the punches when they come.
What’s Gruul Today, was Dimir Yesterday
Last year I went on a big Dimir experimentation; wanting to brew a Dimir Changelings strategies that leverage the weirder lord effects present in Dimir decks. It turned out pretty well, culminating in my Volo // Criminal Past deck. The deck was fun to play, with early evasive creatures and cheap draw / counterspells to get out an early lead, but it felt like it lacked some punch to close out games.
This year, I wanted to go with a more classic Gruul big mana deck, focusing on the consistency in the first three turns and planning out my curve outs a little better. It was a ton of fun goldfishing my Roxanne deck when I was brewing it and tweaking the numbers to get the feel that I wanted to get.
I’m not sure where this tinkering will take me next year, but I’ll be sure to learn something interesting along the way.
Playing Magic is the best cure for talking about Magic
This year held a ton of changes in Magic, from Commander being handed over to WotC after the vitriolic response to the bannings, to the announcement of UB in future Standard sets. Magic Twitter feels exhausting even on the best of times (though that’s probably just a function of Twitter in general) and it felt worse this year. And as a person who loves overthinking, it’s pretty easy to get bogged down in worry and concern for the future of Magic, this game that’s been a part of my life for 10+ years now.
But then I play some games with friends, shoot some shit, talk things out, and all that worry dissolves away for me. Like even though the circumstances that caused the worry is still there, I’m pretty sure Magic could survive even WoTC. We have more agency in our engagement with the game than we realize, and it’s nice to remember that once in a while.
GOALS FOR 2025
Play More Games Attempt #2
So, here’s a more concrete target for my “play more EDH” goal. I want to play at least 52 games of EDH next year. That’s it. Averaging out to once a week feels like a little amount, but I think even that’s more engagement than the average Magic player. The people I met playing that one Cube Draft really rocked my understanding of what a casual magic player even is, and it’s interesting to see where I am on this spectrum.
Write Even More
This might be a large leap from the 100/week goal I had for last year, but sometimes it’s nice to dream big. Writing goal for next year is as such: 1 post on this substack or beehiv or whatever per month, totaling 12 posts. Heard from a very reliable source that an average article is around 1000 words, so it’s totaling 12000 words for 2025 compared to the 5200 words for 2024. Juggling a ton of creative pursuits are a ton of fun, though I might need to be more systematic in how I approach it next year. Set reviews, here I come!
BREW SOMETHING OUT OF MY COMFORT ZONE
This is my personal challenge from myself. I want to try a different type of deck in 2025 but I’m not quite sure what kind of deck I want to brew. Maybe something new from the upcoming sets spark that desire within me, or maybe someone can suggest me something neat to try out. Strategies like Enchantress, Voltron, or Politics are a good base point if you want to recommend me something.
ENDING
Whew, 2024 is one hell of a year, and 2025 does not seem to be letting up any time soon. I hope 2024 has been a good year for you, and I wish that 2025 would be an even better year. What cool things have you learned in 2024? What are you looking forward to in 2025? Feel free to let me know on Bluesky (vazsunbanner.bluesky.social)