Talking through category disagreements with Commander Baumi

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## Summary

Two Commander content creators compare how they use deck-building categories. Baumi argues against "plan-only" cards—cards that only fit a theme (e.g., a vanilla bird) without contributing ramp, card draw, interaction, or a win condition—and warns that over-categorizing (giving a card a "nice hat") falsely justifies dead cards. He prefers a few large categories like "card advantage," running ~30 generous pieces (counting scry, self-mill as graveyard fuel) rather than 10 precise ones, and builds streamlined single-plan decks where plan B is getting back to plan A. Snail favors many small setup/payoff micro-packages and keeping interlocking categories (e.g., impulse/cast-from-exile cards versus their payoffs) separate—using Archidekt secondary categories—to spot when a parasitic synergy package is too thin (mid-to-low single digits needs watching). Both prioritize letting players participate: Baumi runs 40 lands and heavy card draw so you always hit drops and do something. They note specific numbers help newer players, while "feel it out" suits experienced builders. Other points: house-ruling Sol Ring as a second Command Tower, control decks benefiting from unknown threat profiles, and Bane of Progress against mana-rock decks.

## Key Clips

- **[00:54]** By overcategorizing cards — taking four cards in a self-mill category that aren't doing anything the deck needs — I made them look useful just by categorizing them. That's generally to be avoided; you're giving a card a nice hat to justify it hanging around.
- **[03:27]** Deck-building templates talk about 'plan cards,' the cards that are your primary game plan. That's nonsense. Every card in your deck should be your primary game plan — why are you playing cards that aren't?
- **[06:44]** Even when choosing terrible birds, choose them based on what they contribute. A theme-only card is one that's literally only a bird. Prioritize birds that interact with the opponent's board, draw cards, or ramp; the ones that fit no major category have to go.
- **[09:43]** Instead of lots of small categories, I like very few very big ones and try to fit everything in the deck into them. I have a category I just call card advantage — if a card scries, that counts. That's good enough for me.
- **[11:46]** Templates say play 10 pieces of card draw, but I run about 30 pieces of card advantage. I'm generous with it and make up for quality with quantity — if you scry two 30 times, honestly that's pretty good.
- **[21:24]** The other reason for categories is fine-tuning synergies — making sure a package is supported. You can put in a bunch of blink cards, but you need to make sure you have enough ETBs. Categorize both halves so you can see how large those numbers are.
- **[30:08]** My ideal: people throw cards into categories and then have a realization — 'Wow, I really don't have as many cards that exile and let me play from the top of my library as I thought.' Give people the tools to feel unease looking at their deck and know what to keep an eye on.
- **[33:00]** My priority when building isn't that you win — it's that you get to participate. That's why I play 40 lands in every deck and a lot of card draw: as long as you hit land drops and draw cards, you'll be able to do something in the match.

## Tags

**Archetypes/Strategy:** voltron, blink, tokens, control, aggro, ramp, midrange, value-engine, combo, lands
**Format/Bracket:** Core, cEDH
**Card Categories:** ramp, removal, draw, counter, recursion, board-wipe, finishers, win-cons

Summary

Two Commander content creators compare how they use deck-building categories. Baumi argues against "plan-only" cards—cards that only fit a theme (e.g., a vanilla bird) without contributing ramp, card draw, interaction, or a win condition—and warns that over-categorizing (giving a card a "nice hat") falsely justifies dead cards. He prefers a few large categories like "card advantage," running ~30 generous pieces (counting scry, self-mill as graveyard fuel) rather than 10 precise ones, and builds streamlined single-plan decks where plan B is getting back to plan A. Snail favors many small setup/payoff micro-packages and keeping interlocking categories (e.g., impulse/cast-from-exile cards versus their payoffs) separate—using Archidekt secondary categories—to spot when a parasitic synergy package is too thin (mid-to-low single digits needs watching). Both prioritize letting players participate: Baumi runs 40 lands and heavy card draw so you always hit drops and do something. They note specific numbers help newer players, while "feel it out" suits experienced builders. Other points: house-ruling Sol Ring as a second Command Tower, control decks benefiting from unknown threat profiles, and Bane of Progress against mana-rock decks.

Key Clips

[00:54] By overcategorizing cards — taking four cards in a self-mill category that aren't doing anything the deck needs — I made them look useful just by categorizing them. That's generally to be avoided; you're giving a card a nice hat to justify it hanging around.
[03:27] Deck-building templates talk about 'plan cards,' the cards that are your primary game plan. That's nonsense. Every card in your deck should be your primary game plan — why are you playing cards that aren't?
[06:44] Even when choosing terrible birds, choose them based on what they contribute. A theme-only card is one that's literally only a bird. Prioritize birds that interact with the opponent's board, draw cards, or ramp; the ones that fit no major category have to go.
[09:43] Instead of lots of small categories, I like very few very big ones and try to fit everything in the deck into them. I have a category I just call card advantage — if a card scries, that counts. That's good enough for me.
[11:46] Templates say play 10 pieces of card draw, but I run about 30 pieces of card advantage. I'm generous with it and make up for quality with quantity — if you scry two 30 times, honestly that's pretty good.
[21:24] The other reason for categories is fine-tuning synergies — making sure a package is supported. You can put in a bunch of blink cards, but you need to make sure you have enough ETBs. Categorize both halves so you can see how large those numbers are.
[30:08] My ideal: people throw cards into categories and then have a realization — 'Wow, I really don't have as many cards that exile and let me play from the top of my library as I thought.' Give people the tools to feel unease looking at their deck and know what to keep an eye on.
[33:00] My priority when building isn't that you win — it's that you get to participate. That's why I play 40 lands in every deck and a lot of card draw: as long as you hit land drops and draw cards, you'll be able to do something in the match.