When you sit down for a game of Commander, one of the first things you'll do is discuss power levels. When we do we often talk about some specific things: Fast Mana, Free Spells, and Infinite Combos. There is one sneaky one I didn't mention before, though. It crops up more and more in conversation: What are the Pros and Cons of Stax in your decks?

$t4ks (The Origin of Stax)

Where does the term Stax come from? It's unclear where the term really came from. Some people think it comes from the card Smokestack, which reads, "At the beginning of your upkeep, you may put a soot counter on Smokestack. At the beginning of each player's upkeep, that player sacrifices a permanent for each soot counter on Smokestack." It sounds like a staxy card that might tilt players enough into naming the effect after this, but this isn't the only theory. Theory two: Stax or also known as $t4ks is a Vintage deck which was called "The Four Thousand Dollar Solution." It was a pun on the fact the deck cost stacks-four thousand real words dollars at the time-and ran Smokestacks.

What is Stax?

What is Stax then? This is incredibly hard to nail down as most players have different ideas about what this term means. As best as I can gather from my experience and scouring forums to hear the community's take, Stax is a deck strategy designed to slow down and lock players out of certain game actions to allow the player of the stax piece to dig for a win con under those stipulations. That's a lot. It's often called a "Prison" deck because it limits players' access to certain typical actions. Some examples are Drannith Magistrate, Winter Orb, Narset, Parter of Veils, Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines, Stasis, Hushbringer, and Grand Arbiter Augustin IV. It's usually an Azorius wheelhouse.

Why Do We Hate It?

Typically though, players will try to filter out stax pieces out of their games. Sometimes light stax is okay, but a stax deck is a no go. I have some theories about why.

• Stax pieces are usually not really flavorful to decks. They are objectively good in decks in combo situations and don't necessarily further a board state. It stamps things with a "no" instead of managing their win. I think this lack of flavor makes players who seek out interesting deck build-arounds, pause. They don't like how generic the piece is to the overall deck. On the other hand though, some decks do build around staxing others out of their pieces like an Urza, Lord High Artificer and Winter Orb are a great combo to further your game state while slowing others down to a crawl. That is a win condition that is flavorful. Players still hate Winter Orb in those decks too though.
• Another theory is a common one, which surrounds Commander being a casual format where each player should be allowed to play. Stax pieces are seen as pieces that limit what players can do in a game of Magic. It feels bad to sit down for an hour to an hour and a half game to only untap one land a turn and play nearly nothing to lose a combo player. It's not ideal. However, running some types of Stax effects limit how efficiently and uncontrollably other cards accelerate. Running a Hushbringer against a Tivit, Seller of Secrets Deck might actually stop them from winning as fast as they often do. It's why CEDH runs so much Stax. If you can slow down people who accelerate naturally better than you, you can hit parity in your own deck.

Run It Or Cut it?

I don't think there is a clear answer as to whether players should run Stax, but I'll share my take. Light Stax is okay. We all need ways to slow down our opponents because sometimes they pop off too fast and too efficiently and you need a way to come back. However, a full stax deck is hard to swallow, in the fun department. I do think all decks should be played and there is a very viable Stax deck archetype in CEDH. Mainly because everyone is playing the same sort of strategies.

It's tough though because saying no Stax in casual games creates a weird new normal about what players are "allowed" to play in their decks. I could very well say don't play your Tergrid, God of Fright // Tergrid's Lantern Mono-Sac deck because I don't like it, and then play a creature centered Ghalta, Primal Hunger deck. It gets hard to say that a way of play isn't allowed. However, I do think we can win a Stax game and not play the same deck again, giving other players an opportunity to enjoy another game. Maybe that's cope. Maybe it's a bit fair to switch it up.

But enough of me yapping, let me hear your thoughts? Is Rhystic Study a Stax piece? Tell me! I'm @strixhavendropout on Blue Sky. Thank you so much for taking the time to read. I hope this helps in your next deck-building session!