Signature Commander Decks!

Hey there! I'm Joey from the EDHREC YouTube channel. The other week I released a video highlighting 100 various creators in the Magic: The Gathering community. It contained a whole bunch of info about a whole bunch of folks, so as you can imagine, it can be a little tough to sift through. So I wanted to whip up an article to help folks browse all those creators (and their decks) more easily!

This article will reiterate the same info from the video, and share these awesome creators' social media & decklists in a way that may be more search-friendly for curious folks out there who don't wanna scrub through a bunch of footage.

Cheers!

Everyone has a favorite or signature deck, the thing they’re most well-known for. Like Kaiba with Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Yugi with Dark Magician, one of the coolest things about Commander is that it gives each of us the chance to express ourselves with a specific style, archetype, or unique legend.

Since I work for EDHREC, and EDHREC is all about compiling decks, it just made good sense for there to be a convenient list for people to check out some folks and the stuff they love to play all in one spot. Like the number of cards in a Commander deck, I assembled 100 of them. 100 decks from 100 of your favorite creators!

Wherever possible, links below to the associated creators and their decklists will be in the video description. Keep in mind that not everyone has the exact same online presence, they may exist across various platforms or be more private, and not everyone has their decklists online either.

I’ll also say upfront that I’m 100% going to miss people! There are a lot of Magic folks out there, there’s just no way this list can be comprehensive. I’m largely sticking to a Commander-specific oeuvre, too. Feel free to sound off in the comments about other creators you enjoy. Also, this list isn’t in any specific order, either. Please don’t take the order as some kind of ranking, or tier list, that’s not the case at all. Creators of all sizes are spread across the entire list.

This is, simply, a list of your fave’s favorites. 100 Magic folks, 100 decks. So, sit back, consider giving some of these amazing creators a follow, and please enjoy!

I’ll start with the thing that inspired this video: Sheldon Menery’s ‘You Did This To Yourself’ deck.

Sheldon Menery

I just recently received my secret lair celebrating Sheldon, with cards and art he helped to select, and for him to be immortalized in cards he helped design, or was well-known for, is so cool. Ruhan was his commander for that wildly cool deck, which used Aikido-style cards to turn any action an enemy takes into their very own downfall. Cheers to you, Sheldon. Miss you every day.

Joey, Dana, & Matt of the EDHRECast

I’ll also quickly mention our decks from your hosts here on the EDHREC channel. I’m most well-known for my Baba Lysaga deck, or as I like to call her, my Baby Lasagna. She’s a puzzle every turn; how can I find three types to eat up so that I can get that amazing payoff? I love giving things multiple types, sacrificing stuff but making my opponents hurt for it, and of course, doing lots and lots of necromancy.

Dana, our resident hipster, has been playing Reki the History of Kamigawa for years, and has even fully foiled out his deck, so it’s quite dazzling when his endless supply of legends crushes you underfoot. Honestly, it’s more like a mono-green storm list, watch out for this one.

Matt Morgan, meanwhile, loves all things big and stompy, and Raggadragga Goreguts Boss is his most popular list. In it, he uses tons of Eldrazi Spawn and Scion makers, because those tokens technically have mana abilities, giving him tons of Raggadragga pump and some very clever colorless aggro and mid-combat tricky sacrifice moves. All mana, all pain, all aggro, all the time.

Commander At Home | Elder Dragon Hijinks

Let’s go to Commander at Home next! Rules Committee member Olivia Gobert-Hicks is of course known for Breya-ing the house down. I’ll admit I also associate Olivia with two other hilarious lists: the Omenkeel, AKA the USS Dogwater, and also her Atraxa, Praetors' Voice Enchantress, where she’s intentionally trying to deck herself out before anyone can stop her. It’s quite funny, but to just pick one, yeah, Breya’s the real gem for this jeweler, Olivia’s cosplayed as Breya and her deck is blinged out to the nines. There’s a reason this one’s her favorite.

Also of Commander at Home, Brian Kibler loves all things doggo, naturally, and loves stompy Naya, too. But let’s be real, it’s The Ur-Dragon for him. Simple, straightforward, and devastatingly powerful dragons. Need I say anything more?

Related to Commander at Home, there’s also Elder Dragon Hijinks, and Eilidh, AKA AliasV is one of the magnificent masterminds behind both of these amazing shows. I asked her about her favorite deck and she said right now it’s her Queza, Augur of Agonies list. Draw cards to whittle opponents down, bit by bit or all at once? Win just by drawing cards? I see the appeal!

Loading Ready Run: Graham & Kathleen

Alright, I can’t get too far into this list without mentioning probably the single most famous signature deck in all of EDH: Graham Stark’s Bear Force One, led by Ayula, Queen Among Bears. This man is so famous for Bears, wielding this list to victory in the most popular Game Knights episode ever. Kudos, Graham. Well, not Kudo, that’s a different Bear, but you know what I mean.

Speaking of Loading Ready Run, Kathleen DeVere, our current reigning Game Knights Live champion, is famous for playing all things black, and right now if you play some EDH with her, you’re most likely to encounter her wielding either Oona with an army of Faeries, or Drana and a hoard of mono-black vampires, currently her most frequently played EDH deck. Honestly, either one has me running scared.

LRR: Bengineering & Ben Wheeler

There are plenty of other great LRR folks too! Ben Ulmer is currently known for a Solphim Dragon’s Approach deck, which sounds absolutely gnarly. Ben Wheeler is known for BenBen, Akki Hermit, though I’ll shout out his Eutropia the Twice-Favored deck that gives your creatures flying – all the better to shoot them out of the sky, thank you for having them it was great to be there.

LRR: Serge & Nelson

Serge Yager, the premier lands pilot of the Canadian Highlander format, has several smashy decks, from a Sneak Attack list to Kemba, Kha Regent being a literal "Kha Blade", but he most commonly enjoys his black-white Angels deck, led by Liesa. Couldn’t be torn apart with wicked Angels by a nicer person, gotta say. And also I wanna shout out Nelson, who rocks an OG Gonti list (no decklist currently available) that really made me smile, particularly cuz last time I got to play against him, he was just so eager and giddy about getting to play it. Although he said for the future, he might spruce up the Nelly Borca, Impulsive Accuser precon and make that his go-to, cuz I mean, it’s Coach Nelly playing Nelly!

There are of course many more folks in the LRR crew, I’ve obviously only scratched the surface. They’re such wholesome and awesome folks, hugs to you all.

Quintessential Commander | Voxy | Rhystic Studies

Moving on, since I’m already talking about creators outside the US - have y’all seen Quintessential Commander yet? Ezzy’s channel is just amazing, the games are awesome, the editing makes them so easy to follow, and the special touches and flourishes he uses are very classy. Ezzy plays a super cool Mardu Marchesa deck, which I’ve had the pleasure of playing against on camera, definitely check it out, it’s so delightfully tricky and Ezzy’s a real wiz with his games.

I’ll jump from Ezzy to Voxy, who has Crabs. Okay, but for real, as much of a meme moment that was, I understand Voxy’s favorite deck to be her beloved Prossh, Skyraider of Kher, her first commander ever, and what a deck! She isn’t doing Food Chain combo or anything, just making tokens. Tokens, everywhere. Honorable mention, Since Voxy played my mom’s flying deck on a Shuffle Up & Play episode, whenever I see her she usually asks, "Hey when can I get a rematch playing your mom’s deck again?" Hopefully someday soon, Voxy!

Now onto Sam from Rhystic Studies, the kind of dude who honestly makes me say “I wanna be him when I grow up” even though I’m fully in my thirties. I’ve had the good fortune to connect with Sam over our mutual love of The Mimeoplasm. He took his list in a "reduce, reuse, recycle" direction, as in it’s literally a Cycling deck using tons of interesting Amonkhet cards. Sam’s a class act, and I gotta say, I like his taste in commander just as much as I like his videos.

One More Mana

Next, the One More Mana crew of Ced, Ken, and Derik, the all-time most hilarious trio of dudes you’ll ever meet in Magic. You may have seen Ced pilot Geralf, Visionary Stitcher on a fantastic Extra Turns episode, where he’s not using Zombies, but actually turning a bunch of Walls into huge tokens. Ced’s great at building decks that take a moment for other players to grok, and by the time you realize what he’s up to, you’re already in trouble.

Derik, meanwhile, told me he currently adores his Sedris Traitor King deck, which is really an excuse for him to combine all his favorite stuff from his old Feldon of the Third Path and The Scarab God lists. And Ken, a true wild card, pilots a super spicy Intet, the Dreamer deck, which you may have also seen on Extra Turns, cheating wild stuff like Eldrazi into play. I’ve played against this thing a couple times, and it’s already scary enough, but then he drops a bunch of Clones to copy those big creatures, and that’s when you know you’re in for it. Brilliant decks, guys.

Command Zone's Josh & Jimmy

Okay, now the biggest part of the list: the Command Zone. A team of terrific creators, both in front of the camera and behind the scenes. We know the big ones. Josh Lee Kwai enjoys a great Roon of the Hidden Realm blink deck, and mad respect to it, but the deck he made famous is of course the Tim deck, which taps and untaps and taps and untaps and pings and pings and pings, and through it all will steal your stuff, deathtouch your creatures, and outpace the table with – what else? – value!

Jimmy Wong’s a slightly wilder card, I feel his decks really run the gamut, certainly leaning red, but he’s referred to his Pako and Haldan deck as his favorite deck he’s ever built. Attack with Pako, fetch a bunch of things, then Haldan can help you cast them later. We've seen Jimmy just make Pako on its own into a terrifying attacker too. Pako’s a good boy, so he deserves all those extra counters, good on ya.

Command Zone's Rachel Weeks

And Rachel Weeks! The cleverest builder I’ve ever met, I really admire Rachel’s brews. She’s got Octavia, Living Thesis, and it’s sick. She’s got mono-white Mangara, the Diplomat, definitely on-brand. However, her masterpiece has got to be Pheldagrif and Keruga, the pair that takes a very silly strategy and absolutely trounces the table. Here, have a 1/1 – oh no, my gift murdered you, whoops! The happy purple hippo is an EDH delight.

Ashlen Rose | Ladee Danger | Craig "Mr. Infect" Blanchette

Some Command Zone alums to shout out too! We all know Ashlen Rose for her colorless Kozilek deck! Ladee Danger, lover of Golgari and Jund, adores her Korvold deck! And of course, Mr. Infect Craig Blanchette has played poison in tons of ways, but he told me his favorite right now is back to the ol’ classic Saskia, to help the damage trigger double up on his poison aggro.

Josh Murphy | Jake Boss | Damen Lenz

There are a ton more Command Zone folks but I’ll just shout out three more: Murph, Jake Boss, and Damen Lenz, some real editing superstars here. Murph I know for making Dakkon Blackblade a thing. This guy loves to make something unconventional, and it’s amazing to see how he pulls it off. Jake Boss has said his favorite deck is Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle, a terrifying 12/12. Some folks build this as a general sea monsters deck, but Jake’s version is all in on one-shotting people to win with commander damage.

I've also gotta shout out my boy Damen, who loves Azorius value, and his current fave is Ranar the Ever-Watchful. I think a lot of people dismissed this commander when it came out, but he showed us all on an Extra Turns episode how to really play this deck, and I cannot believe how many cards he drew. Really clever lists from all of these players, and of course there are tons more great folks from the Command Zone team with even more great decks.

The Professor from Tolarian Community College

Okay, from one big channel to another, let’s get to the Prof. As tempted as I am to cut together a compilation of him saying the word “Merfolk” over and over again - and believe me, I am tempted - one of his actual favorite decks to play turns out to be Brion Stoutarm, which he lovingly calls “It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that fling”. Shout out of course to his Scholar of Seas Unknown Event card (shout out to everyone who’s had one of those, obviously!) and I think that card really captures his love of the fishy friend archetype, but I can’t ignore Brian’s joy with Brion Stoutarm as he chucks a 40-damage creature at somebody’s face, it’s just too awesome.

Tappy Toe Claws | DeQuan Watson | ManaCurves

Tappy Toe Claws is next, and... I mean, is there any question? She’s a dino gal through and through. Gihsath. Red. Dinos. Go fast. Eat people. Rawr.

Also in these colors, Commander Advisory Group member DeQuan Watson, AKA PowrDragn, is best known for his streams and for his Color of Magic podcast, but he plays a really great Rith the Awakener in EDH. This is such a classic commander, too, and the token production’s legit! Always a joy to play against, and DeQuan has gotta be one of if not the most hardworking dude in the Magic creator space. Give him a follow if you haven’t already.

Chase AKA ManaCurves is next, and the list I’ll shout out for them here is an “Oops All Chandras” deck they call Redhead Aggro. This deck is devoted to playing all the Chandras, which sounds like a silly restriction, but honestly, it slaps. I’ve seen Chase copy the ult of a Chandra like three times and utterly demolish the rest of the table, it’s a sweet, sweet list.

Family the Gathering

Moving on, if you haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Family the Gathering yet, definitely check them out. Ozzy, Alyssa, Stella, and Bo are the friendliest folks you’ll meet, and they’re so dang supportive, helping to teach kids how to play Magic at conventions.

My whole family plays Magic too, so I really admire the work they all do. Link to their deckbuilding profile here! You’ll most commonly find Ozzy rocking a Klauth deck to make tons of extra mana. Alyssa also does Dragons, but in Dimir, with Sivitri as her main leader. Stella tears up a field with Zacama, and not to be outdone, Bo goes wild with a Vorinclex Monstrous Raider. These are some spicy signature decks, you guys! In case you’re watching, big, bug hugs to you all.

Taalia Vess | MTG Muddstah

Taalia Vess is a well-known streamer, she's worked with WhatNot, she's done cosplay, and she has a pretty phenomenal Ziatora list. Make big thing, fling big thing, make a ton of Treasures, but also deal damage with those Treasures too! It’s a fantastic and deliciously dangerous deck to behold.

I’ll go next to one of the first EDH YouTubers I ever watched, and that’s MTG Muddstah, a truly prolific purveyor of Commander gameplay. There are a lot of potential lists that could be called his ‘signature’ deck, from Mistform Ultimus to a Ramos, Dragon Engine Mutate list — but when I chatted with him, it seems we both think of Trostani as one of the decks he’s most famous for. Tokens and lifegain, lifegain and tokens! A classic commander and a classic EDH channel.

Pie Break! | Am I the Bolcast?

Are y’all familiar with Dan Sheehan’s new show Pie Break? He used to cohost Commander's Sphere with Rachel Weeks, but now he interviews people (including yours truly) about their non-Magic hobbies, and where those hobbies would fall on the Magic color pie. He’s an absolute riot, give his show a listen if you haven’t already, and know also that his favorite deck is Atogatog, which sincerely plays as many Atogs as he can, just to make one very big dude. I’ll also shoutout a potential other deck he’s known for though: he’s the mastermind behind I AM NOT A WOLF and that Secret Lair, so if you make a Tovolar deck with that version of the card, that’s something you might know Dan for too!

Dan’s also good buddies with a mutual friend Mike Carrozza, whose show I also wanna shout out. He wrote the column Am I the Bolas on Commander’s Herald, and now has a podcast called "Am I the Bolcast" where he interviews folks about tricky social situations that can come up in Magic games. It’s very enjoyable, and when I asked his signature list, he instantly was like, "Oh, it’s gotta be Lyzolda Blood Witch", which he’s spent years blinging out, too. Rakdos Aristocrats? Carrozza, I approve. Although… it might make you the Bolas!

Anna Margaret | TeferiMagic

Anna Margaret, are you watching her YouTube channel yet? You should, she’s a real jack of all trades, from teaching to cosplay, she’s a phenomenal singer, and she’s even a physicist! I actually can’t pick between two signature decks for her - her Giada Angels is a masterwork, but I also love playing against her Jinnie Fay deck, too, where suddenly it’s literally raining Cat and Dog tokens all over the board. Either way, Anna is a joy to play against and a joy to laugh along with.

Since I mentioned cosplay, there's also our buddy Arlando, AKA TeferiMagic. He’s a powerhouse performer, and has a powerhouse Sidar Jabari deck, which is of course filled with a bunch of Teferi action, too! He’s also a huge Lord of the Rings buff too, you can check out one of our past episodes if you wanna hear him discuss it. Really wise dude.

Daniel Holt | InfiniTokens | Jumbo Commander

Next, you may have seen one Daniel Holt on a couple of gameplay episodes here and there, and I’ve interviewed him on this channel, too! He’s one of the creative minds behind some of your favorite EDH Precons, and he’s a big reason that Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty even got made, so I wanted to shout him out! He has a deck for Heroes of Kamigawa, one of those Heroes of the Realm cards, which you may have seen him play at events if you’ve run into him (no online list available). Daniel’s a really kind and playful soul and he almost exclusively builds Kamigawa legends, so this is really a great way for him to show his love of the game he gets to help steward.

I’d like next to shout out Meaghan from InfiniTokens. You know those dry erase tokens? Yeah, that’s her. A really rad product from a really rad person, and she slings a Jared Carthalion deck that she calls The Island of Misfit Tokens, full of cards that make really weird tokens, which means she’ll get to draw a ton of silly things on those InfiniTokens during games!

DJ, Jumbo Commander, you’re up! I know you have like 30 decks, man, but the one I know you most for is Blue Braids. Will and Rowan too, to be honest, but especially Braids. Helping everyone cheat wild stuff into play, but making sure you’ll be able to keep their big stuff in check. It’s bold, the kind of strategy a lot of people would shy away from, but that makes it ten times cooler that you take that leap.

The Spike Feeders | BlackGirlMage

Next, let’s feed some spikes. Alex and Jim from the Spike Feeders - and Jim of course from the rules committee - help run a cEDH channel, but ironically they’re each probably best known for their non-competitive EDH decks. Alex plays a very social Kelsien the Plague deck that he calls Would You Like to Ping the One? Meanwhile, Jim has an Aetherlich deck that absolutely boggles the mind. It’s bizarre to see it go off and the many many ways he manages to stay alive even with zero life.

Lexi, AKA BlackGirlMage, is probably better known for her terrific D&D work, though she’s done a whole Strixhaven campaign called "Strix U" too. The crossover is real! She’s definitely famous for some Esix Quandrix shenanigans, but I also love playing against her Éowyn, Shieldmaiden deck, too. I can’t pick, I guess you’ll just have to go follow her to make up your mind about which one is the winner!

Amy the Amazonian | Kenji Egashira | CovertGoBlue

After that, let’s highlight some awesome streamers! Amy the Amazonian can often be found brawling on Arena, especially known for a Bolas crime deck on there, but when she enters the EDH stage, she’s monkeying around with Ragavan. Amy's so dang witty, she's genuinely made me fall on the floor laughing. I can’t wait to play against her again, even if it means her commander’s gonna be stealing all my stuff.

Kenji Egashira, AKA Numot the Nummy. Listen... it’s Numot. I know he plays other stuff, but it’s Numot the Nummy! I can’t NOT pick Numot for Numot!

And CGB, the one in best of one, with his own EDH gameplay called the “Worst Possible Commander Show”. CGB has tons of decks, so it’s hard to choose, but when the subject of favorites comes up, he talks about Chromium the Mutable, an Esper flash control deck with all the classic things we expect from CovertGoBlue gameplay. Lots of "in response" and "on your end step" and "before that resolves!" Gotta love it.

DarkPactCosplay | Joe Johnson

You remember that Ashiok Cosplay that took the internet by storm? And also that epic Elesh Norn? Evan, AKA Darkpact Cosplay, can turn a look like nobody’s business, and can also turn your life total to 0 with their Witch King of Angmar deck, complete with tons of Nazgûl. I’ve had some true nail-biter games against this deck, Evan’s a real they-them causing mayhem!

Joe Johnson from Tabletop Jocks is next, and you already know his favorite - it’s Samut, Voice of Dissent. Joe packs a lot of punch in his Commander decks, and this is no exception, this deck is all punch, and his current list is playing almost 60 creatures! That’s real commitment. I hope Samut doesn’t set her sights on me first because if so, I’m not long for that game!

MTG Goldfish

Let’s throw it now to the Goldfish Crew. Tomer builds a lot of budget decks, and we all know he loves Kaldra, but he’s most well-known for his Changelings deck, which uses The Ur-Dragon at the helm, but is actually mostly about manipulating creature lords with a bunch of creatures that share all the creature types. It may sound like a cute idea, but it’s not cute, this deck pops off!

Crim is our resident Grixis baddie, and when I asked him his current favorite, he said he’s really been enjoying Goro-Goro and Satoru, which will make an absolute glut of tokens while of course allowing him to control the board. No one plays as good an archenemy as Crim does.

Then of course there’s Seth, probably better known as Saffron Olive, who’s classically a Panharmonicon fanboy. I understand that he’s transitioned a deck from Brago and Yarok, which were a little overbearing for his tastes, and turned those into Fblthp, the Lost (no list currently), which allows him to blink for value and find other neat ways of doubling ETB triggers. Gotta hand it to him too, Saffron’s known for his weird pronunciations of Magic cards, so it’s kind of chef’s kiss that his main EDH deck would be led by a commander called "Fblthp".

Playing With Power

From Goldfish to Playing with Power, a cEDH channel. From what I hear, Godo doesn’t currently see as much play in cEDH anymore, but Ryan from Playing with Power is well-known for his take on Godo combo (no current list), though I hear he likes Worldgorger Dragon loops, too. Meanwhile, Higher from Playing With Power favors a Kinnan deck, a version called Big Flips. There’s of course a substantial amount of gameplay on their channel if you wanna see these in action!

Birds of Paradise

At events, you may have encountered a group called the Birds of Paradise, a revolving collective of players and creators that highlights folks from marginalized communities. Bobbie-Christine helped found this group, and fun fact, she’s also a writer for Tolarian Community College! You might spot her playing her signature deck, Cadira, Caller of the Small, at events all over. Katie Karlov, also a founder of this group, plays a lot of big scary commanders, from Toxrill to Tiamat, but I know her most for her Koma, Cosmos Serpent list, which is full of tons of big sea monsters.

To briefly shout out two other birds of paradise members, Mel the Maneater rocks Faldorn, and honestly, find you a person who looks at you the way Mel looks at her Faldorn list (no online list available). And GiraffaNat, who also cosplays, is brilliant with an Umbris Horrors deck, although she’s said that lately one of her favorite commanders to play has been Commodore Guff, so this may change in the future, who knows!

Kurohitsuki | Rebell | The Faerie Conclave

Kurohitsuki, who you may have seen streaming on Twitch or on Shuffle Up & Play, rocks a ton of high-power EDH decks, but we gotta give him his flowers: his signature deck has gotta be Aragorn. Give it up for the King of Gondor.

Rebell! Commander Advisory Group Member, YouTuber, and best known for a Sisay Jegantha cEDH deck. Rebell has a video breaking this deck down and highlighting a deck designer named Malcolm who inspired Rebell to build Sisay in the first place. To describe how this deck works takes more time than I have, so definitely give that video a look if you want the details!

Alec hosts the Faerie Conclave podcast, a very pleasant deck tech interview series (which I’ve been on, plug plug) and if you’ve played against him, you’ve probably seen his Satoru Ninja Demons deck. Demons can be expensive, but cheating them into play with Ninjutsu makes them a lot more wicked. I think this is Alec’s signature list, but personally I also want to shout out his Myojin of Blooming Dawn deck, too, which is the kind of commander that most people wouldn’t ever think to put in the command zone, but boy does Alec make it work. Very cool lists.

Princess Weekes | Jeremy Noell

I’ll shout out these next two together: Princess Weekes and Jeremy Noell. Not because they collaborate, but because whenever we’re at events, the three of us chat about musicals for forever. Princess you’ll recognize from Shuffle up and Play, from PBS, and from her own much more comprehensive media analysis channel, but she’s got a video about her favorite decks, and in that video named Mayael the Anima as her favorite, just putting tons of wild creatures into play (no decklist available).

Jeremy Noell is known for many things, but I think right now I’d call his signature list his Teshar deck, which combos off historically. Like, literally historically, cuz the cards are all historic. Does explaining this joke make it funnier? No? Moving on!

Benny Smith | Nexy | Michael Crits

Bennie Smith is one of the OG EDH writers, can’t leave him out, he helped lay a lot of groundwork. Grothama is his current baby, this gnarly mono-green Wurm has so many wild tricks to it!

Nexy threw me for a loop! I thought her signature deck would be Skrelv, Defector Mite, cuz she has a Skrelv tattoo, but actually, her favorite deck to play is Grist, the Hunger Tide (no list available)! In either case her decks are sure to bug you.

Shout out to Michael Crits, lover of all things Rakdos, and also D&D… I’m giving it up to his Kalain deck that he led to victory on Game Knights. Spoiler alert for a several-years-old video I suppose, sorry. He's also got Kroxa and Felisa, but yeah, when this guy’s wielding Rakdos decks, I cower in fear, cuz he’s pretty dang good with them.

Spice8Rack | Shivam Bhatt

Spice8Rack! Listen, as much as I associate Spice’s manic energy with Goblins, and as much as I’d love to meme and choose a Cat commander as an ode to Spice’s CATS movie review video, which is one of the top 10 funniest videos on the internet, when Spice was on a Shuffle Up & Play episode where Prof asked them to bring their favorite decks, the pick was Noyan Dar, who animates lands and honestly causes a real ruckus.

Also on that episode was of course Shivam Bhatt, who of course loves things like Tajic, Blade of the Legion, and Jedit Ojanen, Mercenary, but his pride and joy is Grimgrin, a Dimir Zombie who means business. Grimgrin’s one of those decks where you read it and your first thought is "Huh, that seems complicated, I dunno..." and then you play against it, and you realize the thing that’s actually complicated is how you fend it off, cuz it’s such a beating.

Good Luck High Five!

Okay, now let’s get to some classic creator duos!

Meghan and Maria from Good Luck High Five don’t play a ton of EDH, but when they do, they adapt their favorite styles. Maria loves Slippery Bogles decks, for instance, so she made a Uril the Miststalker deck which really captures the essence of that strategy. Meghan just wants to cast Treasure Cruises, she loves that type of value, and when she consulted her patrons about what deck to build, they led her toward Narset, Enlightened Master, who is very good at value, as it turns out! "A lot of card for card" as GLHF might say. You can see them play these decks on their channel, though I’ll note that I’m not sure how long Meghan will keep the Narset deck, it’s possible she’ll switch it over to something else in the future.

Commander Cookout

Ryan and Brando from Commander Cookout are next. Brando bowls a table over with his Norin the Wary deck. Whenever anything happens, Norin’s popping in and out of play, followed by a seriously bonkers chain of leaving- and entering-the-battlefield triggers. Ryan, meanwhile, rocks a Child of Alara lands deck, a five-color Landfall extravaganza with 68 lands and even an Ad Nauseam in the mainboard. Dangerous stuff from both the Cookout guys, playing against them is a real whirlwind adventure.

Jake and Joel are Magic

Jake and Joel are Magic cover a lot of aspects of Magic, including some finance stuff if you’re trying to save money, and I’d say their signature decks are Karador and Dihada, respectively (only 1 decklist currently available). Karador does classic graveyard stuff, and as a necromancer myself, I approve! Dihada is a fun one too, Joel actually asks the table if he can rule zero in Geyadrone Dihada to that deck too because he enjoys her so much.

Scrybabies

Scrybabies! Lua Stardust and Tori of the Vast have a gameplay channel with some real wacky brews. I know Lua most for her five-color Mike and Eleven deck, which is full of D&D monsters, to evoke the feeling that perhaps you’re at one of mike’s D&D sessions. Tori of the Vast’s favorite deck is… well, Kaalia of the Vast! It’s right there in the name! That’s just good branding.

Nitpicking Nerds

Nitpicking Nerds are next: Mia has said her favorite commander is Kaalia, and Beezy’s got a bunch of love for Karador, Ghost Chieftain. Uh-oh, you guys. We’ve already seen two other creators with each of those legends as their favorites too! You may have to duke it out to see which Dark Magician player gets to keep the title and which goes to the shadow realm. But in all seriousness, yeah, these commanders are some of the first to sweep us all into the Commander format, it’s no wonder that there’s some overlap. Plus, out of a hundred people we’re looking at, there are only two overlaps? Three, if you count Tomer & Kibler both using The Ur-Dragon, but in completely different ways? You'd expect that number to be higher, right? Honestly, that’s pretty rad.

The "Filthy Casuals"

Another duo, Jen and Doni, are the Filthy Casuals. They’re local friends here in the Pacific Northwest, they stream, they’re a hoot, and they’re unbelievably kind folks. Jen will always help you out with her Gluntch Money deck, but of course, there’s plenty of room for politicking for you to help her out too, and Doni’s got a fantastic Darien King of Kjeldor deck, where dealing damage to yourself begets more tokens, and he turns those tokens into lifegain, and that lifegain into unstoppable wincons. Filthy Casuals indeed, you guys! These decks are up to some gnarly stuff!

Coast to Coast Commander

Lenny and Bert host Coast to Coast Commander, and both also write for EDHREC. Bert has a few I’d choose from; I know him most for his Eligeth, Crossroads Augur + Siani deck, which draws a bunch of cards and then punches you with a bunch of flyers pumped up by his hand size, but he’s said his favorite is probably his Tymna + Ikra Shidiqi lifegain deck, which is maddeningly efficient (no available lists for these decks yet). Lenny has some truly inspired brews, and I’m torn on giving the pick to either his Urza gumball deck, in which every card in the 99 has to cost less than a quarter, or his Linvala, Shield of Sea Gate flyers deck (no list currently available), which he’s said was inspired by my mom’s flying deck, which melted my heart. Honestly, just playing a bunch of beaters and then you have Linvala constantly keeping them alive and coming back over and over to maintain your board, it’s a cool deck.

The Legendary Creature Podcast

If you’re not listening to the Legendary Creature podcast yet, get on that. Andy and Kyle really get into the weeds and give each episode the time it really takes to dive deep. Kyle’s best known for his Erebos deck, a mono-black list full of enchantments that will obliterate you. Andy’s favorite thing in Magic is often a red blue tempo playstyle, and his favorite deck is therefore Niv-Mizzet, Parun, but I’d also say he’s probably well-known for his Nezahal Voltron deck, which is an especially original concept that you wouldn’t expect to be as good as it is. For both Erebos and Nezzy, it’s another one of those cases where you don’t realize the danger you’re in until it’s far too late to stop them.

Play to Win

Dylan and Cam from Play to Win, a cEDH channel. They told me Dylan’s favorite deck is definitely cedh Blood Pod with Tana and Tymna, a classic of the genre. Cam is likely known most for his Jeska Ishai cEDH storm list, which has inspired a lot of folks to get into cEDH but reported that the deck he’s currently enjoying the most is Kenrith, and it’s been his go-to commander for a while now. I appreciate the balance between the good ol’ standbys and the innovation, as well as just finding room for cards you enjoy in those competitive-leaning decks.

The MM Cast

Kess Wylie and Ben Bateman, from the MM Cast! Listen, I know Kess has a wide range of decks he enjoys in EDH, but it’s Kess! I associate this man with Kess, Dissident Mage, every time, all day. I can’t not, I'm sorry! And I’ve seen Ben pilot his Galazeth Prismari deck with much gusto and aplomb.

Quad9s | The JesGuy | CommanderMechanic

Stephanie, AKA Quad 9s, is one of the most charming folks you’ll meet, and loves herself a Magda deck. Specifically, a Magda Seven Dwarves deck. Mining tons of Treasure, cheating out Dragons, and altogether creating a board state that can get really out of control. "Quad 9s" is also a good term to describe the amount of damage she deals to close out the game.

Angelo Guerrera, AKA the Jesguy, is a fabulous writer for EDHREC and a truly good-natured soul. His pride and joy is an Innistrad cube that has been very carefully pieced together over the years, but in EDH, what does the Jesguy play? Well, ironically, his favorite deck is the mono-green Yeva Nature’s Herald. Not a Jeskai deck? What's going on, TheJesguy!? That said, Yeva actually allows him to do all the things you’d expect from a Jeskai deck. The flash effects, the amount of draw, the bizarre lines it opens up, this deck is mortifyingly good and monstrously tricksy.

Chris is your Commander Mechanic, whom you may have seen playing a deck called Too Many Gyrudas. When it hits the field, it mills and finds an even-cost card to put into play, which often means some kind of Clone. Which gets the trigger again, which means another Clone. And another. With a chain of graveyard-filling triggers and a wall of Krakens, this deck’ll take over a board in no time.

Kyle Hill | Ashlizzlle | VeggieWagon

Kyle Hill, award-winning science educator and entertainer and self-proclaimed Dollar Store Thor, plays lots of high-power decks. He’s a man of many varied tastes, so I don’t think he’s picked any single deck as his Blue-Eyes White Dragon, but I’ll say that I personally associate him most with a Blue-Eyes White Wagon. That is, his Shorikai deck from Shuffle Up & Play. He’s also got decks like Go-Shintai of Life's Origin and Najeela, the Blade-Blossom, and tons of other high-power stuff, I’m not certain which decks he plays the most often these days, I just know that this deck stands out in my memory (although I’m probably biased, because Prof forced me to play it in that episode).

Ashlizzle, a Game Knights Live winner, is mostly an Arena and Magic Online player, but her first EDH deck was Gisa the Hellraiser, as seen on things like Shuffle Up & Play. Graveyards? Crimes? Zombies!? I’m 100% on board with this.

VeggieWagon's one of the wildest players I’ve ever faced. His decks absolutely throw you for a loop. It’s hard to narrow down to just one, but I think I’d say his most well-known deck is his Rocco Tempting Wurm deck. Veggie’s definitely decked out to instill a little chaos into just about any game, not just because those kinds of cards are fun and make great memories, but because he’s prepped his deck to be a little more equipped for the chaos than his opponents are, and that’s a really unique angle of attack that lots of players aren’t ready for.

MentalMisplay | Gavin Verhey

Mental Misplay! Alan is one prolific dude, always on the grind at conventions and MagicFests, this guy’s a work horse. When I asked him about signature decks, he said he’s probably best known for the Etalis. He’ll even lend out the mono-red Etali to folks if they don’t have a casual deck to play in a pod. Flipping crazy cards off the top of the deck, producing some wild board states from out of nowhere? Yeah, that sounds like the Mental Misplay fella I know.

And finally, the last one, number one hundred: Gavin Verhey, from Wizards of the Coast itself. I know Gavin has a Merieke Ri Berit deck he’s talked about before (no list available yet), but honestly? Gavin’s favorite deck to play is most commonly… your deck! He loves to travel and to meet people and ask to borrow one of their decks to play a game, so he can see firsthand how other people interpret and experience Magic. Plus it’s a cool way to make sure the pods are pretty balanced, too. A creative dude whose favorite deck is whatever your favorite deck is? Cheers to that.

One Hundred!

WHEW! That was a lot. 100 people, 100 decks.

Overall, I’m delighted at the novelty and creativity that’s on display with all these various creators. There’s such a dynamic range of tastes, strategies, cleverness, from weird experiments to good ol' classics. Like I said before, there are definitely people I’ve missed, so again, sound off below about any folks you like whose EDH decks you enjoy.

To be honest, after contacting so many people, and researching various creator’s lists, I’m even more intrigued by what causes a deck to become your signature list, and the differences between the decks we’re known for and the decks we most enjoy. It’s a topic I honestly might have to dig into even more in a future video. So keep your eyes peeled for that, maybe even subscribe to make sure you don’t miss it!

For now, though, we’re gonna shut this one down. I hope you’ve enjoyed a brief tour of some of your favorite creators’ favorite decks. A big final thanks to everyone who helped me out with researching for this video, and of course, a big thanks to you for watching/reading! So until next time, remember: EDHREC your deck before you wreck your deck.

Joseph Schultz

Joey is the lead editor and content producer for EDHREC. You can find him hosting and creating tons of great videos over at https://www.youtube.com/edhrecast or give him a follow at @JosephMSchultz on Twitter, where he likes to celebrate Commander, coffee, and corgis.