cEDH: The Most Competitive Magic Format
If you've ever wanted to play in a more competitive format than EDH, or even just hear about what's considered the absolute best Magic format, cEDH is the place to be. In cEDH, players aim to win rather than simply have fun, making it one of the best ways to test your skills and build powerful decks in the card game.
What is cEDH?
cEDH, also known as competitive EDH, follows the same rules and banlist as regular EDH, with no separate banlist for competitive play. The banlist includes powerful cards like Ancestral Recall, Black Lotus, and Balance, among others.
Not all commanders are suitable for cEDH. You'll want to build a deck with a powerful effect or the ability to play powerful cards due to your color identity. Commanders like Breya, Etherium Shaper, Glissa, Guardian of Thraben, and Maelstrom Wanderer have been banned in cEDH.
Popular partner commanders in cEDH include Thrasios, Triton Hero, and Kraum, Ludevic's Opus, due to their versatility and access to multiple colors. Other options include combo enabler commanders like Winota, Joiner of Forces and Korvold, Fae-Cursed King, as well as five-color commanders like Najeela, The Blade-Blossom and Codie, Vociferous Codex.
cEDH games are incredibly fast, often ending in just a few turns. Prioritizing cards that are free or cheap to cast, such as Fierce Guardianship and Force of Will, is crucial. Blue is a dominant color in cEDH, so even targeted blue-hate cards like Pyroblast and Veil of Summer see play.
Mana rocks that cost zero or one mana, such as Mana Crypt and Jeweled Lotus, are essential in cEDH decks to ramp up to win conditions quickly. Tutors, especially instant-speed ones like Vampiric Tutor and Demonic Tutor, are crucial for finding combo pieces.
cEDH revolves around infinite combos, and most decks run multiple combos for consistency. Protecting your combo pieces at all costs, even against opponents who appear tapped out due to the abundance of free-to-cast spells, is key.
A common instant-win condition in cEDH is the Thassa's Oracle combo with either Demonic Consultation or Tainted Pact. Another option is to imprint Isochron Scepter with Dramatic Reversal to generate infinite mana, which can then be used to create an infinite damage loop by combining Exquisite Blood with either Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose or Sanguine Bond.
How to Play cEDH
You can play cEDH at your local game store, although not all stores may have dedicated events for competitive play. If you want to play at your LGS and there are no current events you can sign up for, you may want to reach out and let them know there's a demand for it.
Here's a quick list of things you should pack before heading to your local game store to play cEDH:
And that's all there is to it. Whether you're a seasoned commander player or someone who has never even heard of cEDH before reading this article, hopefully there's something here for you.
