Best 4 man pod each deck

[nodahero]

What do you think the best EDH deck would be in a 4 man pod? Assume the meta is essentially random with no one deck being more common then the rest.

Does it make more sense to go for a strong combo kill? or does it make more sense to go for overall brute strength? or is the correct answer to play a reactive list with excellent utility?

I honestly am not sure because I have never ventured into the 4 man pod fray. I have always played 1 v 1.

[Kuma]

Scion of the Ur-Dragon (Hermit Druid combo) (http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?23989-EDH-Scion-of-the-Ur-Dragon-%28Hermit-Druid-Combo%29) or some variation of that deck is easily the strongest EDH deck for winning pods. It very consistently wins on turn three, and can consistently win on turn four through two pieces of disruption. It's incredible against decks that are prepared for it, so you should have no trouble crushing pods. Of note, you can use any five-color legend as the general right now because the deck is currently using a kill that doesn't rely on Scion of the Ur-Dragon.

The list I linked you needs a little work. There should probably be a Deep Analysis in there, probably instead of Treasured Find, and I'd love to fit Vandalblast as well, but not at the cost of instant speed removal.

EDIT: I didn't consider that you might be looking to play casually, in which case I don't recommend the Hermit Druid list. If you're playing in a completely cutthroat group it's probably fine, but most players won't want to play against it. I've had the most success with board control decks with combo finishes, although aggro can work in the form of a deck designed to kill with general damage as fast as possible, i.e. Uril, the Miststalker or Rafiq of the Many.

[Davran]

There is no theoretical "best" deck in my opinion. There are plenty of strong decks that you can build that will do well pretty much anywhere, but the "best" deck certainly varies depending on your play group. Trying to "solve" this format like you might try to "solve" the legacy meta before a big tournament is a lost cause.

Instead, build something that's both fun for you to play and fun for your pod to play against. If you wind up bringing a knife to a gun fight, you can always adjust it for the next session. Similarly, if you're the guy with the gun at the knife fight, it might be time to tone things down.

That said, if you're looking for solid deck ideas...just start cruising some of the threads in this forum, particularly the more recent ones. We've all put a lot of time and thought into our lists, and I at least feel that mine are pretty solid vs. the group of people I play against. I'm sure I'm not alone in that.

[nodahero]

The group that I think I will be playing against are typically extremely cut throat and diehard 4 man players. I have no clue what would be a strong contender. I want to bring the best gun to this gun fight as it were and need some ideas. I will start looking into the Hermit Druid list. Thanks.

[mrjumbo03]

Off the top of my head, I'd say Scion-hermit, Oona-goodstuff, Zur-goodstuff, Arcum-combo, and Godo-LD

[Offler]

I have to agree with Davran. First check whether the playgroup is playing real casual - that means that they play cards which are not commonly seen in play, or they play more like competetive spike decks. Adjust your choices.

For this purpose I keep two versions of same deck. One is casual where you can find weaker and slower alternatives to other cards. For example:
Force of Will is in competetive version of the deck, while Rewind is in casual.

The second choice is based on fact if your deck revolves around your general, or the deck does not need it at all. Making your deck too dependend on general is risky. Many Kaalia of the Vast based decks can be screwed simply by playing Hinder on her. EDH has one special kind of hate - Commander hate. Anything that shuffles general into library, or puts it on the bottom is in this group.

Most of the decks on this forum, if properly updated by its author have decent power level so check them out first. In EDH its possible to play any variation.

[(nameless one)]

What about when it comes to doing turtle defense? Who's a good general for that kind of strategy?

[Davran]

What about when it comes to doing turtle defense? Who's a good general for that kind of strategy?

Angus Mackenzie?

[Offler]

Have seen also Doran, the Siege Tower. (however not with turtles, but with other 1/4 or similar creatures).

[rxavage]

@Kuma

I'd like the build a Scion of th Ur-Dragon combo deck, not the hermit druid version but one utilizing the Molten Steel/Skithryx and World Gorger Dragon combo. I've been trying to put a list together but everything comes short. I have no EDH experience at all and trying to build something optimal has been a PITA. Any advice or suggestions will be appreciated.

[Kuma]

@Kuma

I'd like the build a Scion of th Ur-Dragon combo deck, not the hermit druid version but one utilizing the Molten Steel/Skithryx and World Gorger Dragon combo. I've been trying to put a list together but everything comes short. I have no EDH experience at all and trying to build something optimal has been a PITA. Any advice or suggestions will be appreciated.

I haven't tried to build a non-Hermit Druid Scion of the Ur-Dragon deck, but I can give you some general advice about building optimal EDH decks.

The first and most important thing to remember is that you are playing with several other people. If you come out swinging too hard and fast, the other three players will gang up on you and you will lose most of your games. Subtlety is key. The third person to be scary in a game usually wins it. The first person who does something powerful and tries to win gets target by all the group's answer cards. The second person who tries to win usually gets whatever is left of the answers (although if the first person's effort was strong enough, there may not be enough left over for the group to stop the second person. You'll have to learn to be a judge of this through experience.). By the time the third person tries to win the game, no one has enough answers left to stop them. Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon (http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?20639-EDH-Skithiryx-the-Blight-Dragon) is the best deck I've built at taking advantage of this principle. It's also my favorite EDH deck. Look at the list. For the first four to six turns of the game, you play lands, draw cards, and appear to be sitting on your ass while your opponents are playing cards and going crazy. You then either wipe the board, leaving yourself in the strongest position by far, or use all the big mana to dump an entire combo in one turn and kill the table. My group knows the deck inside and out and can almost always predict what I'm up to and the turn I'm going to try to win, but every time I play with strangers, they're always surprised when I win out of nowhere.

There are three basic archetypes in competitive EDH: control/combo, like the Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon list I linked earlier, combo decks like Hermit Druid that try to kill the table as quickly and efficiently as possible, and Armageddon Voltron, a deck that tries to win via 21 general damage by enchanting/equipping the general and using Armageddon effects to lock everyone out while you're ahead on board position. Bryant Cook's Godo, Bandit Warlord list is one such deck. If your deck doesn't fit into one of these archetypes, you've probably built it wrong.

As for general deck construction, there are a couple of things to remember. Sweepers or two-for-one removal spells are usually much better than one-for-one spot removal. One-for-ones like Swords to Plowshares have their place in EDH, but cards like Wrath of God and Hallowed Burial tend to be better. Tutors are you best friends in a singleton format, and it's rare I don't build a deck with at least ten. Countermagic is worse the more players there are in the game, meaning you probably don't want too many in your deck. Some of the best ones are Force of Will, Mana Drain, Muddle the Mixture, Hinder, and Spell Crumple. Mana ramp is incredibly powerful in EDH. Most people won't counter a Skyshroud Claim or spend removal on a Thran Dynamo. Getting ahead on mana and taking extra turns is a great way to overwhelm a group. Any deck you build is probably going to want at least 8-15 spells that accelerate your mana.

In deck construction, there's no substitute for doing your homework. When building a new deck, I usually go to magiccards.info (http://magiccards.info) or Gatherer and look at every card that is legal in my deck. It takes a lot of time, but it helps ensure you don't miss anything.

Like any format, EDH has staples. Every deck should run Sol Ring and Mana Crypt. Most white decks should run Serra Ascendant and Aven Mindcensor. Most red decks should run Gamble and Stranglehold. They are too many to list here, but I can try to help you with this if you want.

There's no substitute for playing a ton of EDH and refining your deck based on the results. I've played hundreds of EDH games with some of my decks to get them where they are. It helps if you have some friends who are strong players that you can bounce ideas off of. Post your deck on multiple forums. MTGSalvation and The Source are the best two for getting advice.

Hope this helps. :smile:

[Aggro_zombies]

The group that I think I will be playing against are typically extremely cut throat and diehard 4 man players. I have no clue what would be a strong contender. I want to bring the best gun to this gun fight as it were and need some ideas. I will start looking into the Hermit Druid list. Thanks.
Doesn't help your deck decisions, but getting into the format competitively is a real crapshoot. The format has much more to offer if you play it casually.

[TsumiBand]

Doesn't help your deck decisions, but getting into the format competitively is a real crapshoot. The format has much more to offer if you play it casually.

Super-agree. Also want to echo Kuma's sentiment; the hardest part of this format, for me, is knowing when exactly to strike. Even if you have a super slow start and you're the only one not first-turning your Sol Ring, you're not out of the game until you actually overextend into 3 other people's tech. At any given point someone can, for the sake of argument, cast Akroma's Vengeance or a similar effect and create an all-land battlefield, and in my experience most people shy away from strict countermagic and targeted point removal so it then becomes an issue of who can rebuild in the face of answers which are board-based, card-advantage heavy stuff. And no matter how individualized and cut-throat a group is, there will always be a "That Guy" at the table who everyone will focus on b/c there are 3 other people that would rather not lose, and suddenly you realize that playing through 3 people's individual sets of answers is a whole lot different than 1v1.

[nodahero]

So unfortunately I didn't have the time/resources/experience to assemble and play the Scion list... Instead I opted to optimze my Zur list for a bunch of various combos I.e Rest In Peace and Energy field as well as Areana and Solitary etc etc... The other list I built is a Riku list with alot of low end accel into beefy bombs critters and spells backed with a little counter magic to ensure no shenanigans.

What do you guys think is better? Riku or Zur? I know Zur is more well built but Razor sharp in all it does is kill and cover his own ass. The Riku list is certainly more aimed at multiplayer games. Any thoughts on which to roll with? For tomorrow I am all about winning... I want me some Aresnal for my collection.

Thanks again everyone.

[Kuma]

So unfortunately I didn't have the time/resources/experience to assemble and play the Scion list... Instead I opted to optimze my Zur list for a bunch of various combos I.e Rest In Peace and Energy field as well as Areana and Solitary etc etc... The other list I built is a Riku list with alot of low end accel into beefy bombs critters and spells backed with a little counter magic to ensure no shenanigans.

What do you guys think is better? Riku or Zur? I know Zur is more well built but Razor sharp in all it does is kill and cover his own ass. The Riku list is certainly more aimed at multiplayer games. Any thoughts on which to roll with? For tomorrow I am all about winning... I want me some Aresnal for my collection.

Thanks again everyone.

Zur is probably the more powerful deck, but it will likely trip your opponents' threat detector more than Riku. It's hard to say without lists and knowing what kind of people you're playing against. If it's anything like the EDH pods/tournaments I've played in, you're better off with the strongest deck and daring everyone else to stop you. Most people at these events assume it's an extension of their local/casual groups and come ill-prepared for any kind of powerful combo deck. Those who are trying to win are usually bad at it. I'd probably go with Zur, provided the list still has game without it's general.

[nodahero]

Thanks for all the input everyone. I went with Riku and built it using tons of powerful bombs but I avoided any blatant I win combos such as kiki.

In the end I took first on the back of TONS of Time Strech and Rude Awakening being cast and copied.

I opted for this list over Zur simply because I had no clue how to adjust zur for non 1v1 play and I had experience playing Riku in multi-player.

[Kuma]

Thanks for all the input everyone. I went with Riku and built it using tons of powerful bombs but I avoided any blatant I win combos such as kiki.

In the end I took first on the back of TONS of Time Strech and Rude Awakening being cast and copied.

I opted for this list over Zur simply because I had no clue how to adjust zur for non 1v1 play and I had experience playing Riku in multi-player.

Congratulations!

Glad to hear it went well for you. Enjoy the Commander's Arsenal. That thing is super cool.

I wouldn't have avoided blatant "I win" combos with a prize like that on the line, but I'm happy that you won it without becoming the "bad guy."

[nodahero]

Has anyone played in any of the EDH side events of the SCG opens? I had a blast playing in the last event and am thinking of working more heavily on my Riku and Zur list and perhaps a Scion or Storm list for the up comming SCG open in Milwuakee.

Is Storm actually possible in this format? (i.e. 4 man pod)

[ColeM]

Has anyone played in any of the EDH side events of the SCG opens? I had a blast playing in the last event and am thinking of working more heavily on my Riku and Zur list and perhaps a Scion or Storm list for the up comming SCG open in Milwuakee.

Is Storm actually possible in this format? (i.e. 4 man pod)

I've been working on multiplayer Storm lists for a while. You're probably best off playing 3 (UBw Zur) or 5 colors (I prefer 5c for 4 man pods). I usually stick to lists with Doomsday as well. Bryant has a thread somewhere in this forum with his storm shenanigans. Here: http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?12272-EDH-Bryant-s-Pile-of-Broken

Storm is pretty strong and a decent choice as long as you're not sitting across from 3 people with Islands + oodles of hate. In that case, you're probably better off just running Hermit Druid. From my experience, most people at these events aren't really prepared to fight any super aggressive combo deck.

[Kuma]

Has anyone played in any of the EDH side events of the SCG opens?

They're pretty much free money if you're a competent player playing a combo deck.

[Aggro_zombies]

From my experience, most people at these events aren't really prepared to fight any super aggressive combo deck.
This might be because people come to play in these events to have fun, not to goldfish $5 packs. :V

[Davran]

This might be because people come to play in these events to have fun, not to goldfish $5 packs. :V

Totally agree. I once played one of these where it was three friends vs. me in a "randomly assigned" pod. Apparently no one told them that if they pooled the entry they could buy the same number of packs from the TO and not otherwise ruin someone's good time.

[AngryTroll]

This might be because people come to play in these events to have fun, not to goldfish $5 packs. :V

For this exact reason I'm happy to bring an EDH deck to the SCG Opens to try and play some fun games, but I have no intention of playing in an EDH event for prizes. I play EDH to have fun. There's a fine line between building strong, fun decks and powerful decks that are not much fun to play against.

[Offler]

I believe all you guys exactly described why we have no trouble to make casual event with 20+ people, but when we call it a Tournament with prizes at 200 dollars and some small entry fee we get 8 people... :)