I guess we'll just keep the beginner-ball rollin'!
This is a Budget Elder Dragon Highlander deck (BEDH). It is meant for the Elder Dragon Highlander format, a.k.a. Commander. If you are not familiar with the format, I'll link it below for you.
https://mtg.fandom.com/wiki/Commander_(format)
I mostly use MTG Vault for my own private projects nowadays, but feel free to comment or request a deck of your choice. I've loved the Vault so far, and I like that they are still improving on it, as well as I am improving on my English language skills.
So, if you like what you see, consider checking out some of my other budget-y work from the link below.
https://www.mtgvault.com/northernwarlord/budget/
I decided to make an another deck with the same purpose as the one earlier - ultimate beginner-friendliness! Check out the another one through the link below:
https://www.mtgvault.com/northernwarlord/decks/bedh-the-most-newbiefriendly/
As discussed in the earlier deck, there are a few things that should be known about the mechanics and basics of MTG before grabbing this one, and I'll go through them here once more. I try to shorten up the details which we have already discussed:
- CARD ADVANTAGE. While playing control, card advantage is easier to maintain, but extremely important nevertheless. Try to make sure you are constantly getting more cards than you are spending, or at least try to keep up the 1-for-1 policy as long as possible. With this deck, that is quite easy: just keep your commander alive! As long as Nymris lives, the first spell you cast on an opponent's turn also fills up your hand quite nicely. Lucky for you, this deck contains a LOT of ways to keep Nymris alive, starting from counterspells such as Negate and going all the way to flash-y (pun intended) enchantments like Starlit Mantle. If keeping Nymris around isn't a possibility, there are luckily alternative ways to maintain card balance, such as Wavebreak Hippocamp.
- POLITICALLY (IN)CORRECT PLAYS. Even more so than with Targ Nar, playing control increases the wedge of political playspace. Both cards like Folio of Fancies and even counterspells and similar removal can be used in politically (in)correct ways in order to make/break alliances or - in a lesser mechanical extent - ensure hilarious and straight up stupid scenarios with your friends. EDH is a kitchen-table format after all!
- INSTANTS MATTER. As discussed in Targ Nar's deck, instant-speed cards (either instant-spells or cards with Flash-ability) are very important, especially when playing control. This deck is a great example on how to teach their importance - this whole deck is specifically designed around them! Many different cards reward you from playing cards out of sudden, on an opponent's turn. Plan well ahead, and drop the cards when the timing is worst (for your opponent, of course)!
- THE BIRDS, THE BEES AND THE COUNTERSPELLS. Counterspells are powerful tools in any blue-oriented control deck (or pretty much for any blue-colored deck, for that matter). At worst they slow down your foes and at best they can straight up win you the game (usually not on their own, but you get the idea). The hardest part is considering when to cast a counterspell or not. I prefer to use these three vital points when determining whether I should counter a spell or not:
1. Will the enemy spell greatly help them to win the game?
2. Will the enemy spell greatly hinder you from winning the game?
3. Will the enemy spell provide great card advantage to them / great card disadvantage to you?
If you answered 'YES', to any of these three, the odds are you should counter the spell. They DO NOT ALWAYS provide you with the necessary guidelines, but these'll do about 90% of the time, in my honest opinion. You should remember that as long as your opponent has some spare cards and spare mana, they could always be trying to bait you into countering a spell so they can safely cast a nastier one. The best way to prevent this is to make sure they don't have any cards to begin with. >:)
- WINNING THE GAME (duh). As self-explainatory as it might seem, not all control decks can win a game easily. Some rely more on specific sets of cards, comboes even, in order to wrap up the game after they have taken it "under control". (Pun intended, once more. No, I do NOT have any shame.) This deck has a few different ways which can be used to win you the game, but most of them (whether you like it or not) include the civilized control-method of "kicking your opponent's motherf**king teeth in". Use big boys such as Body of Knowledge and Sturmgeist to take the word "card advantage" into a whole new heights (especially since the Sturmgeist flies, get it?) and deal a lot of damage. Brineborn Cutthroat, Oneirophage and Faerie Vandal can also be used to deal damage over time, constantly more and more. Hell, Empyrial Plate makes any of your baddies into a goddamn Body of Knowledge!
Statistics, pros and cons. Consider reading these, especially if you are a newbie!
Statistics: (out of 5)
- Deck Speed: <><> (How quick the deck is?)
- Creature Focus: <><><> (How much this deck relies on creatures?)
- Creature Size: <><><> (How big are the main creatures of this deck?)
- Card Synergy: <><><><> (Do the cards of the deck help out each other well?)
- Card Value: <><><><><> (How much card advantage can you get out of your cards?)
- Level of Complexity: <><> (How hard this deck is to properly play?)
Pros:
+ If you manage to keep a piece or two on the field, your opponents might not be able to "drain you out" of your card advantage at all. Wicked!
+ An insane amount of instant-speed cards and responses. Who needs their own turn anyway?
+ Few things are as satisfying (or cruel, for that matter) than managing to wrap the game around your little finger. It feels good to be a control player!
Cons:
- Quite slow to get started. Also, you might be vulnerable before you get you main cards onto the field. Consider always taking the safest options!
- This deck might have to dig for a game finisher. Good thing the Triskaidekaphile can win a game out of nowhere, right? ...right?