Many new players will soon be jumping into Commander through the new preconstructed decks, and many old ones will be looking to grab some of the new Legendary creatures in the set. Either way, most players who get these decks will be looking to modify them, and shape them in their own images. With so many cards you could use, and so many directions you could go, building a Commander deck can be a daunting task. With that in mind, here are thirty-two ideas to help get you started.

Ghave, Guru of Spores

Let’s start with the obvious. This guy works great in a token deck, with cards like Doubling Season and Rhys the Redeemed to double your Saproling output.

The other ability provides some interesting options as well. Many cards can take advantage of +1/+1 counters. Cards like Fertilid use them to activate abilities, and they can also counteract -1/-1 counters to let Persist cards come back again and again.

Another way to go is the tribal route. Nemata, Grove Guardian is a good Saproling lord, and cards like Cover of Darkness and Shared Triumph let you choose which creature type they help out.

Of course, you could also go tribal with Fungi rather than Saprolings. Thelon of Havenwood is a great fungus lord, and using Ghave as the Commander allows you to include Pallid Mycoderm. Sporesower Thallid can come in to let Ghave join in on the spore counter fun, and Sporoloth Ancient can give him something to do with those counters.

If you wanted to try something a bit different, you could go with a sacrifice deck. Being able to pay 2 mana to make and sacrifice a creature with no other costs can become very powerful with cards like Grave Pact and the new Martyr's Bond, which unfortunately comes with the Political Puppets deck, not this one.

Karador, Ghost Chieftain

This guy is pretty straightforward, but there are a few options. You could get creatures into your graveyard quickly by milling yourself or using cards like Buried Alive, then cast Karador for only a few mana and start reanimating them, making a swarm of creatures early in the game.

You could also use creatures that sacrifice themselves, like Sakura-Tribe Elder and Kami of False Hope. With Karador out, you can choose an effect to repeat every turn, slowly building up an advantage.

You could also go with a Spirit tribal deck. Iname, Death Aspect will fill your graveyard, and Door of Destinies will make all your spirits bigger each time you take advantage of Karador’s ability.

Animar, Soul of Elements

Well, I think every deck with this guy is going to end up casting big creatures, but there are different ways of getting there. The most straightforward way is to have several small utility creatures to build up counters quickly, and then jump straight to the big stuff.

You could also ramp up more slowly, with creatures of every converted mana cost. This also lets you take advantage of cards like Birthing Pod and Hibernation's End.

Another method is to cheat on the +1/+1 counters. Green and Blue give you access to all the Graft cards from Ravnica block, as well as things like Evolution Vat, Doubling Season, and Gilder Bairn. You can also include many of the new Proliferate cards.

If you’d like, you can also go a more combo route, casting the same creatures over and over again with cards like Cloudstone Curio, Wall of Junk, and Cowardice. There are even ways to go infinite with cards like Coal Stoker and Priest of Urabrask.

Riku of Two Reflections

The simplest strategy with Riku is to play big spells, big creatures, and lots of copy effects. There are even cards like Tooth and Nail that do both. If you have the mana, you could potentially end up with eight fatties on the board.

You could also be a bit trickier by including creatures with Evoke. You pay the reduced cost on the first creature, and still end up with a fully functional copy to play with. You can also include creatures with Unearth and spells with Flashback, so you’ll have two chances to copy them.

You can try for some combos with this Commander as well. Cards like Cloudstone Curio and Cowardice do great things here as well, returning creatures to be copied over and over again. If you have a Bloom Tender and something that gives Haste, you can even end up with infinite mana and creatures.

Damia, Sage of Stone

One route to take with this Commander is to include cards that do cool things when you draw a lot of cards. Psychosis Crawler can hurt your opponents significantly, while also being a rather large threat. Lorescale Coatl can get huge, and Diviner's Wand can help Damia fly in for some major damage. Cards that look at your hand size are good as well. An entwined Promise of Power will always make an 11/11 with Damia out, and Meishin, the Mind Cage can make attacking almost completely useless.

Another great way to take advantage of Damia is with discard effects. Spellshapers and cards like Dream Halls can put those extra cards in your hand to good use, and Damia will let you draw back up to seven and start over again.

You can also discard cards just for the sake of discarding cards. Any free discard ability, such as those of Psychatog and Wild Mongrel, can let you dig through seven cards a turn, dumping huge creatures into your graveyard and digging for reanimation spells.

The Mimeoplasm

The most obvious route with this guy is to simply play good creatures. Creatures with powerful abilities, like Simic Sky Swallower and Inkwell Leviathan, can combine with creatures that are simply huge, like Lord of Extinction and Krosan Cloudscraper, to create one mean fatty. You can also use cards like Buried Alive and Corpse Connoisseur to set up the perfect creature combination.

The other way to go is to use creatures that can take advantage of The Mimeoplasm’s +1/+1 counters. Copying Suncrusher will let you repeatedly destroy creatures, and Triskelion will let you ping like crazy. If you want to make The Mimeoplasm insanely huge, Solarion is happy to help. Creatures like Phantom Wurm can make your Commander almost impossible to kill in combat, and negate damage-based sweepers. If you want something that will last long after The Mimeoplasm is dead and gone, Mycoloth will net you a bunch of Saprolings, and Thought Gorger will net you a bunch of cards.

Tariel, Reckoner of Souls

Another pretty straightforward Commander. However, you can use cards like Mindcrank and Grindclock to get creatures in your opponents’ graveyards, then use cards like Withered Wretch and Rag Dealer to fine-tune which ones you get when you activate the ability.

Kaalia of the Vast

Although Kaalia works with three different creature types, you could always choose one of them and make a tribal deck. Cover of Darkness is especially effective here, ensuring that whatever Kaalia puts into the battlefield gets through for some damage.

Another great strategy is to get some extra combat phases with cards like World at War and Aggravated Assault. More combat phases = more attacks = more free Angels, Demons, and Dragons.

Ruhan of the Fomori

This guy doesn’t present many options, but one strategy that stands out is suiting him up with a whole bunch of equipment. Whispersilk Cloak can make sure he always gets through, and cards like Sword of Kaldra and Fireshrieker can help dish out the damage more quickly.

Zedruu the Greathearted

This general can go two very different ways. The first way is to make a political deck, playing cards like Howling Mine that help out everyone. Since the cards have a global effect, donating them to your opponents doesn’t matter. You can also use enchantments like Faith's Fetters rather than direct removal, which you can then give away to draw some cards.

You can also go in the opposite direction, giving your opponents things that will hurt them rather than help them. Steel Golem and Grid Monitor will freeze them out of casting creatures, and Illusions of Grandeur and Delusions of Mediocrity will make them lose a significant amount of life when they leave the battlefield.

Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter

Here’s another Commander that’s great in a sacrifice deck. This guy especially takes advantage of creatures that can come back from the grave. Cards like Bloodghast and Eternal Dragon can be sacrificed over and over again, turning Vish Kal into a huge threat.

Nin, the Pain Artist

This Commander can also work well in a political deck, making up for killing a valuable creature with card draw. Who cares about a dead creature when you just drew a bunch of cards?

But the more exciting option is to use Nin’s ability on your own creatures. Indestructible creatures will gladly take whatever damage you can dish out, and there are even creatures like Stuffy Doll that will redirect that damage to your opponent.

Skullbriar, the Walking Grave

Another counter Commander. Doubling Season is still amazing, and Graft is even better here, since you can keep grafting new counters on every time you play it. You’ll also want cards like Whispersilk Cloak to make sure Skullbriar keeps hitting your opponents.

Basandra, Battle Seraph

The main route to take with Basandra is to force your opponents to attack each other. Cards like Ghostly Prison, Norn's Annex, and Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs can make attacking you expensive, and creatures like Abu Ja'far and Loyal Sentry can threaten death for anything that comes near you.

Edric, Spymaster of Trest

This guy enables a lot of card-draw, and Blue and Green are two of the best colors to take advantage of it. Lorescale Coatl is still great in this type of deck, and Blue and Green have a plethora of card-drawing creatures like Thieving Magpie and Hystrodon to net you double the cards.

I strongly encourage anyone who’s ever thought about getting into Commander to pick up one of these decks and start customizing it. Seeing your vision realized in a pile of ninety-nine cards is a great feeling, and there’s nothing like playing Commander with a deck that is truly your own creation. So get creative, and sculpt your deck into whatever you want it to be.