Commander is a format that is only as good as its local community. Today I am going to talk about how to build and maintain a healthy commander community. The first thing that you ultimately have to remember that, unless you’re playing 1 v 1 (French) banned list, Commander is not a competitive format. Multiplayer Commander cannot even be sanctioned by WOTC in the DCI system. Keeping that in mind, there are players who take their decks more seriously. These players often tinker with their decks, constantly searching for a way to improve their list.

[sbplan]
1 Doubling Season
1 Marath, will of the wild
1 Primal Vigor
[/sbplan]

To give you a better idea let’s say that the tinkerer has a Marath deck and they are deciding between [card]Primal Vigor[/card] or [card]Doubling Season[/card].

In many cases [card]Primal Vigor[/card] would be just as fine as [card]Doubling Season[/card] in the deck, and you may in fact consider running both. However, [card]Doubling Season[/card] is a one sided effect that only benefits you. In addition it doubles loyalty counters and other counters on permanents as well as tokens. These bonuses make [card]Doubling Season[/card] a strict upgrade from [card]Primal Vigor[/card]. Another example of optimization would be “Fetch Lands”. Consider [card]Polluted Delta[/card] versus [card]Evolving Wilds[/card].

[sbplan]
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Polluted Delta
[/sbplan]

Keeping in mind that this is a casual format, even though some players continuously search for upgrades, let’s talk about how we can keep a community balanced and healthy. It’s certainly not an easy feat given that there is such a wide array of decks in the format.

I love to push my decks to the limit, but I also try to maintain decks with varying power levels. For example, I run [card]Kaalia of the Vast[/card], which is a top tier Commander, and I have it almost as optimized as it can possibly be. The deck is chock full of mass land destruction and scary creatures that swoop into combat for free. Within my list there are many tutors to keep everything consistent. On the other hand I also have [card]Nekusar, the Mindrazer[/card], which is all about all the players drawing cards and taking damage from those draws. The first deck exists to play with folks who are looking for a challenge, while the other is there to keep friends and make new ones. This is one way to keep a community balanced; let the hardcore players have their exalted decks, but keep friendlier, less optimized ones, in the wings for when a new player wants to join your pod.

If you look at the meta around Face to Face Games Toronto you will notice that the players all have decks that are both optimized and ones that are less powerful. You also need to judge the Commander pod accordingly. If you sit down at a table with 3 other players who you know are playing their most powerful decks it might be time for you to do the same. However, if you are sitting at a table where everyone is playing pre-constructed decks, or fun decks, like Tribal Fungus, you may want to pull out a deck that is more on that level. If you do this it makes the games more fun. These games will be more interesting, and it encourages the playgroup to have a diverse variety of decks.

Another way to promote a healthy Commander environment is to have a variety of commanders. Try not to have too much overlap. For example, if everyone has a Brago, the Eternal deck then it will be incredibly boring, game after game, session after session. Everyone will be doing the same stuff all the time. Similar to having decks of multiple power levels, you need to have decks of different styles. Having a token based deck and a control based deck would be a great example of deck diversity. You’re on the right track so long as you can switch it up to keep things fresh. Multiple decks keeps the games from becoming stagnant or overly repetitious. In other formats you want the deck that will always win, in multiplayer Commander your aim should be to play the deck that provides the most fun for everyone. Keep in mind that it’s not just about you at the table and you’re not, likely, battling for a massive prize.

The Face to Face Games Toronto Commander community is a great example of a healthy, well fed, group. Every Monday Face to Face Games Toronto holds their weekly Commander night. The evening generally consists of several pods playing until the doors close. The community didn’t pop up over night. It certainly took an amount of work to get everyone together at first. Now, the community is fostered on Facebook through a local Commander group. Whenever someone is looking for games they simply post on the group to see who is down. Within an hour or two there are pods of Commander players at the store. You can pretty much see at least one Commander pod going every single afternoon at the shop.

All of these factors come together to create a healthy Commander environment that people are always looking to be a part of. It’s a community that has become very self-sufficient. In support of that, Face to Face Games Toronto even hosts a multiplayer Commander event every month called The Ontario Commander Champs, which this past month had 27 players! If that isn’t the sign of a healthy and thriving Commander community then I don’t know what is!

Until Next Time,
Logan Hickey