You ever look at a deck list and feel like you're reading a resume? Here's the synergy of the commander, the removal suite, the ramp package, the staples, and a little QR code stuck on the deck box with a funny little name. Somewhere along the way, with the card recommendations, the social bibles, and the content creators telling you how to build by numbers with templates, we start treating decks like deliverables. And ever since Wizards leaned deeper into design for Commander, Commander deck building can feel like it's on rails. There's an obvious theme with obvious cards to play with it and pushed must haves that makes the 99 begin to feel like no space at all. And as someone who has been building commander decks since the first precon heavenly inferno, commander deck building has kind of lost its spark until I designed this anti system at SCG Baltimore. I was grinding pioneer modern and standard all weekend to qualify for the next RC. As a backup plan, I knew I was going to go play commander after I scrub out. So I brought a box with Timna and Crom, my old Cdh pair. TNK retired and washed just like me. And what happened next? I turned that box into the favorite commander deck I've ever played. And unlike all my other favorite decks that sit and collect dust, this one doesn't exist anymore. I had my fun and took it apart immediately. But this isn't a video about why you should dismantle your Darlings. It's redefining what your darling even is and how we should be approaching deck design. After each event, I took whatever was left from my competitive decks and jammed them into this Timna Crom shell. No perfect mana base, no spreadsheets, no templates, just cards I liked, vibes I chased, and a laugh every time I saur vain ripper to commander pod and evoke fury ephemera kill your creatures and trigger vinipper. Disgusting glorious magic. And when that combo landed, I opened my box, cut those cards, and swapped another shell. Torrential Gearhulk, cast sublime Epiphany, copy Gearhulk, and cast Magma Opus from the yard for free. After I pull that off, why not add some energy cards from the Boros energy deck? No guilt, no grief. Well, that's a lie. The best thing I ever did for my love of Commander was stop building lists, which is ironic because this whole channel is dedicated to teaching you how to optimize your list and deck build. But as a deck building pro at this point, I don't build decks anymore as finalized, crystallized, perfect little machines where I finesse every last slot and never end up playing them. They're more living playlists, swapping tracks between rounds, chasing moments, and editing in real time. Another game, the incredible Giza from the standard mid-range decks shine with the flage I had, creating zombies that drew me cards off Timna and finishing the last opponent with a final lethal swing by animating creeping tarpit and playing a flying hasty Crom. Every match became its own story arc. Not optimized, not tuned, maybe a little tuned, but mostly memorable. So, here's the deck building method I swear by now. I call it the box method. The box I use is the Ultimate Guard Twin Flipin tray 200. I keep the deck on the left and all the other stuff on the right. And here are the steps. First, you need a solid shell. So, commanders, land base, usually around 37 to 39. A bit of removal, draw, and recursion. It's better if you bring a few options aside from the staples to swap them out or bring in more as you play. Then bring a massive box of cards you love. Doesn't matter if they synergize. Bring a maybe board for the soul. Think of it like a living cube meets backpack. After every game, just swap cards. Follow your intuition. Doing packages of five to 10 cards is enough to explore a small theme like five angels and 10 vampires. Try a new theme. see a new commander, buy the card and nine other cool cards you like that synergizes with them and put it all in there and cut the stuff you already seen. Give yourself permission to remix it every time from SCG Richmond. These were my packages. I had a legacy stifle not mini theme that also paired well with an evoke scam core from modern. I also had ratos vampires from my pioneer deck and from standard I also had esperfine. I had a sprinkle of blue-ey pioneer control, even a preodern sampler. Every hand was a dream, and every top deck made me hyped. And if a pod ever wanted to scale up or scale down, then I'll swap the three steps ahead for force of will, I'll cut the blood tithe harvester for a ragavan, the fully flexible philosophy. Solve my problem of needing to bring what's optimal to the table by learning from our matches and curating for their power live. And by the end of the con, the deck was taken apart as quickly as it was built. All the cards back in the stable box cuz I need to grind later. I don't have a deck list to send you because the deck list isn't the point. I've got tons of deck list I'll never play. The exercise of solving a commander is fun, but this system of live deck building keeps me coming back. The key is don't get attached because it's the moment that matters, not the actual deck. And even if you do get attached, that's cool. Bring some emotional support cardboard in there. I love expressive iteration. I love hitting people with a flying DRC. Are they batting commander? Yeah, but I don't super care. And if you want to learn how to build better decks or develop this intuition, go watch my other videos to learn land count, game plans, all that. But don't turn your deck into a finance sheet. Commander wasn't built in a vacuum-sealed lab. Well, maybe it is. I don't know. Watsi. Commander, kitchen tables. Why is everyone always attacking me? Beat up rares and the thrill of playing a card because it meant something to you. Don't let the algorithm are people who mastered the algorithm tell you what a deck should be like. Let yourself love something messy. Let yourself build a deck you'll never finish. Because the deck list is never the point. If this sparks something in you, drop a comment about a shell you really want to try or cards you just really like playing. I want to hear about the cards that don't make sense to anyone but you. And if you're still watching, you're one of us. Also, don't forget to support me on Patreon. Helps me make more videos like this. So, go play some Magic the way you want. Thanks for watching. So, I'm like super confused because I'm supposed to like promote these videos, but the whole video just now was talking about how you like don't need a deck list and you shouldn't be like doing that and also just be like building off vibes. So, I don't know like what I'm supposed to be saying now. Okay. So, I'll share like the way that I deck build. I put all the cards out and then I just let a bunch of rats like move the cards around. I call it the rat method. But if you want to watch some other videos, you could check out the ones like up over here. I don't know. Well, I think the rap methods like better than anything