Not every playgroup is cutthroat. Of course we all believe that. After all, if that weren’t the case, this entire series wouldn’t be necessary, would it? We’d explore how to build cutthroat decks of our own so we could have an advantage when we played against other cutthroat players so we could win. We’d examine ways to do unfair things and be rewarded with victories and the lamentations of our vanquished opponents. My Sun Tzu article would have taken a different tack, probably advocating that you do take some of the lessons from his chapter on how to use incendiary devices to defeat your foes and trying to apply them to Magic. Light the opponents’ commanders on fire, and you don’t have to worry about them ever again! Thanks, Sun Tzu!

A trend I am seeing lately is the emergence of a particular group of players, and it is more difficult to build your decks to play against this group than any other. I call this group “sub-casuals.” I don’t mean that condescendingly, but I don’t really know how else to describe it. I have seen several threads in the EDH subreddit this week in which players are asking how to either build a deck that is weaker than a 75% deck or make a 75% deck weaker.

First, /u/bored-core made a post about his group not being able to cope with a 75% Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker deck that would fold to graveyard hate, and he was asking for advice on how to build a 50% Shattergang Brothers deck. Later, /u/Gloks made a similar post about how to reduce the power level of his decks. It’s disheartening to see people whose groups want them to reduce the power level of what are already 75% decks so that they can compete.

Here’s the problem: You can’t do that. I mean, you could, but you should not. If I had to say which of the guidelines I have come up with over the past year was most important, it would be the rule that says, “Always start weak, and improve the deck; never weaken a stronger deck.” That’s Rule #1. It’s the most important thing to remember, and it’s also, somewhat ironically, the one people get wrong most often when they assume they wouldn’t like building 75% decks. So if we can’t really benefit from making our own decks weaker, how are we going to advise /u/bored-core and /u/Gloks? How do we advise the countless people out there who have built fun, 75% decks for their playgroups and still managed to win way more than 1 ÷ X games despite scaling to the group’s power level? I think the answer is pretty obvious.

Your responsibility is not to weaken your deck so they have more fun. You need to help strengthen their decks.

There’s no need to make that a separate guideline because it doesn’t have to do with 75% deck-building specifically, but it bears talking about because it’s an issue a lot of people encounter, and the temptation to just weaken your deck until the whining stops is great. Abandoning that group is not always an option, especially if it is local, convenient, and/or a group of your friends. Still, we’re not going to get anywhere by weakening our own deck. If you’re following our 75% deck-building guidelines closely and your deck is walloping the group like they’re playing precons right out of the box, it may be time to take a look at their decks and see why they’re not able to stand a chance. This isn’t a simple case of your deck being better because it should scale down to their power level. If that’s not enough, there are a few things that every deck needs that they may be missing. I’ll tackle the first one today.

Most Decks Don’t Run Enough Removal

Removal doesn’t have to be cards like Swords to Plowshares either. Removal is so prevalent in the game that players have a wide array of cards to pick from, and if they can’t stop you from doing your thing, ever, they need to run some. A mix of targeted and mass removal is perfect. Here is what I keep in my box to sell or trade to players.

Aura Shards — If you run these colors, this is premiere removal. It’s reusable and doesn’t mess with creatures, and in Commander, there will always be targets. Mana rocks, Rhystic Study, Privileged Position, Wurmcoil Engine—the list goes on and on. If someone can stick this and it stays around, that player has a good shot of disrupting what the player in first place is doing, and if that’s always you, well, you’re in for an uphill climb. These are flirting with $5 in either printing, which is a testament to how good the card is in this format. Grab a few extras, and keep them around to trade out.

Nevinyrral's Disk — Is this colorless removal that doesn’t mess with lands and can wipe the board? Perfect. This is a great catch-all answer to a lot of things nearly every deck wants to do, and colors like black and red historically struggle with things like enchantments. These are cheap and printed a lot. Get you some, and if they can’t cope, convince them to jam these.

Merciless Eviction — This is a really powerful spell that you can play around as the person casting it. If someone’s trying to do something way different than you are, he or she could use this to slow you down and not miss a step for him or herself. Highly recommended.

Austere Command — This is expensive for a reason. The modes on it are similar to Merciless Eviction in that you can play around it if you want.

Hull Breach — There are a lot of cards like Hull Breach that can affect more than one player or more than one permanent. I recommend something like this to pull the best player way back or slow down two other players. Decimate is another good choice for hundred-card decks.

Acidic Slime — This also includes other “187” creatures that let you essentially run two cards in the same slot. If someone is losing and doesn’t have at least Acidic Slime, this is a very cheap fix. I actually can’t even sell these to a buy list because they’re so cheap, so I just have a stack of like twenty-five in my box, and I give them to players for free.

Relic of Progenitus — This is a solid card. It gives you metalcraft, which is relevant in some decks, it is colorless, so any deck can run it, it disrupts graveyard strategies, and it cycles for 2 mana in a pinch. It’s also cheap enough. These have been printed a ton and are still $1 for a reason. Get these in the hands of players.

Slave of Bolas — I am a big fan of using scaling spells, but if players can’t beat you, why would they not try to scale their decks up? Spells like Enslave, Slave of Bolas, Mind Control, and Threaten don’t cost any money. You could give these away to players and not suffer financially, but their decks will really step their games up by depriving you of threats and gaining their own.

Duplicant — Similar to Mind Control effects, this card is a Commander staple for a reason.

Strip Mine — Mass land destruction feels bad, but if you have a Gaea's Cradle or even a Phyrexian Tower or Desolate Lighthouse or Reliquary Tower, the group could bring you in line in a hurry with a judicious application of some targeted LD. A mono-colored deck won’t even feel bad about running a lot of lands that tap for colorless mana. Attacking your lands is a great way to trip you up and help another player succeed.

There are obviously a lot of different removal spells legal in Commander, and while I probably missed your favorite, the point was to help you put together a list of cards you could keep on you when you play Commander to be able to sell, trade, or give away to players who are struggling against you. If you want to make the case for your favorite spell, leave it in the comments section below, and we’ll discuss it. Next week, I want to continue on the same topic and discuss cards that will help their decks play more consistently and therefore give them better chances of winning more rather than you focusing on trying to win less. Make sure and tune in next week for part two!