Jun 1, 2026 · 31 min · 10 segments
What to do when your deck doesn't feel like it should! MERCH STORE: https://shop.spacecowmedia.com/s/156de7 ALL Decklists: https://archidekt.com/edhrecast Get new cards on Cardsphere!…
So how do you de-tune your Commander deck? Well, as per tradition with YouTube video essays, I've compiled the steps into an Internet-friendly numbered list.
Uh, when we say that we're tuning down a deck, that doesn't mean that we want to make it garbage [laughs].
You know, we could curb the land count, remove all of the draw spells, scupper the ratio of enablers and payoffs, and we would sure have a weaker deck all right.
We could even turn it into a pile of 99 forests, you know? But that is not really what we mean by tune down or de-optimize a deck.
What we're actually trying to do here is make sure that the deck can still, you know, play Magic.
That means step one of this process is to identify properly what scenes it is that you're hoping to see along that scenic route.
Critically ask yourself, why are you interested in tuning the deck down? For some people, it's because they want to play more pet cards, for instance.
The card's abilities have been pretty outclassed, but maybe taking out some of the efficient cards from a deck and playing more of those types of pet cards would bring me more joy.
The deck could be super good at always performing exactly the same way every single time.
Rather, the deck would need a bigger structural overhaul to increase its overall variance.
What that player needs isn't some pet cards, it's a full-body electric shock that will reinvigorate the entire list with more novelty.
Other players still might want to bring a deck down a bracket so that they can play it more often, say, because people near them play more bracket three games than bracket four games, or they want to bring a bracket three deck down to a bracket two to fit better with a given play group.
Or maybe other players have told them that their decks are too good, so they gotta change it up, stuff like that.
In that case, it's not just gonna be about, you know, overall structure and pet cards and things like that, but now we also have to factor in game changers and the deck's overall speed and velocity and things like that.
There are tons more reasons why someone might wanna tune a deck down a bit, but the point is, not all of these solutions are going to be one size fits all.
Just because something worked for somebody else doesn't mean it will definitely work for you.
So how do you de-tune your Commander deck? Well, as per tradition with YouTube video essays, I've compiled the steps into an Internet-friendly numbered list.
Uh, when we say that we're tuning down a deck, that doesn't mean that we want to make it garbage [laughs].
You know, we could curb the land count, remove all of the draw spells, scupper the ratio of enablers and payoffs, and we would sure have a weaker deck all right.
We could even turn it into a pile of 99 forests, you know? But that is not really what we mean by tune down or de-optimize a deck.
What we're actually trying to do here is make sure that the deck can still, you know, play Magic.
That means step one of this process is to identify properly what scenes it is that you're hoping to see along that scenic route.
Critically ask yourself, why are you interested in tuning the deck down? For some people, it's because they want to play more pet cards, for instance.
The card's abilities have been pretty outclassed, but maybe taking out some of the efficient cards from a deck and playing more of those types of pet cards would bring me more joy.
The deck could be super good at always performing exactly the same way every single time.
Rather, the deck would need a bigger structural overhaul to increase its overall variance.
What that player needs isn't some pet cards, it's a full-body electric shock that will reinvigorate the entire list with more novelty.
Other players still might want to bring a deck down a bracket so that they can play it more often, say, because people near them play more bracket three games than bracket four games, or they want to bring a bracket three deck down to a bracket two to fit better with a given play group.
Or maybe other players have told them that their decks are too good, so they gotta change it up, stuff like that.
In that case, it's not just gonna be about, you know, overall structure and pet cards and things like that, but now we also have to factor in game changers and the deck's overall speed and velocity and things like that.
There are tons more reasons why someone might wanna tune a deck down a bit, but the point is, not all of these solutions are going to be one size fits all.
Just because something worked for somebody else doesn't mean it will definitely work for you.
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