Welcome to Misplays & Mulligans, the place where I willingly relive my bad cEDH decisions in the hopes that someone (it doesn’t have to be me) learns something.
You might be asking yourself, “How did we get here?”
I wish I could tell you I was kidnapped by Slivers and held hostage until I paid the one or learned how to play Magic: The Gathering, and I simply chose the lesser of two evils. Unfortunately, that’s not the case.
Picture this: October 2024.
I was a worn-out mom on a birthday vacation at the most magical place in the world…
The beach.
My husband and I had invited my brother-in-law and his partner (they weren’t married yet, but they are now and we love them) to join us for the weekend. My brother-in-law had been playing Magic for years, and I made fun of him relentlessly for it.
Yes, I know. I was an ass.
One thing led to another, and I was introduced to three of my favorite commanders: Frodo, Adventurous Hobbit & Sam, Loyal Attendant making an absurd number of Food tokens, and the G.O.A.T himself, Chatterfang, Squirrel General, leading his squirrel army to victory.
Watching those decks in action and trying to figure out how to kill them before they killed me was an absolute blast.
For the record, I failed.
Repeatedly.
The vacation ended, as vacations tend to do, and within two weeks I had purchased both of those precons for myself, grabbed the Urza’s Iron Alliance precon for my husband (yes, he’s that player), and started researching local game stores to find one I could call home.
Since then, my antisocial self has somehow collected a group of friends who have helped me grow into the wonderfully delusional Magic player I am today.
I’m grateful for every one of them.
Enter Competitive Commander
About six months into playing, I was struggling to win games.
It wasn’t my decks.
It was me.
I had this terrible habit of seeing someone at the table not having a good time and softening my plays so they could stay in the game. I wanted everyone to like me, and somewhere in my brain I had convinced myself that playing well would somehow ruin that.
I know.
Don’t worry. I’m in therapy working on my subscriptions.
One game in particular changed everything.
A pod was getting heated. Someone cast a Rhystic Study. It got countered. The player who countered it immediately played something equally evil. Voices were raised. People were laughing. Everyone seemed to be having the time of their lives.
My curiosity was piqued.
What was this format where you could be an absolute menace and everyone enjoyed it?
More importantly…
How could I get in on that?
That was my introduction to cEDH.
The Stax Era
Like most new cEDH players, my early games were rough.
I missed triggers.
I used interaction at the wrong time.
I misunderstood board states.
And, like many new players before me, I gravitated toward stax.
My first cEDH commanders were Ao, the Dawn Sky, Marvin, Murderous Mimic, and Thalia and The Gitrog Monster.
I built all of them with absolutely no idea what I was doing.
My longest-running deck was Thalia and Gitrog, and looking back, it was not a good list.
The biggest criticism I received was that I was playing “stax without a plan.”
I would cast hate pieces because I could, not because they advanced any meaningful strategy.
As a result, I wasn’t exactly the first choice when cEDH pods were forming.
At the time, that stung.
Now?
I completely understand.
The hardest lesson was realizing that enthusiasm isn’t the same thing as understanding. I wanted to learn. I wanted to play. I wanted to be one of the cool kids.
What I didn’t realize was how many Magic fundamentals I was still missing.
Not that I’ve mastered them now, but I’ve come a long way.
The Maralen Problem
Fast forward to the release of Lorwyn Eclipsed.
I’m cracking packs, seeing what the set has to offer, and then I see her.
Maralen, Fae Ascendant.
Elves? Check.
Faeries? Check.
Green and black? Check.
Immediately I knew I wanted to build her.
There was only one problem.
She steals cards.
And stealing is mean.
Stealing is bad.
I couldn’t possibly do that in casual Commander…
Right?
Around the same time, I saw an advertisement for SCGCon Richmond and the Spotlight Series.
This was going to be my first convention, and naturally I decided I should learn an entirely new format while preparing for it.
Because making reasonable decisions has never been my strong suit.
My Standard Detour
Maralen was placed firmly on the back burner while I learned Standard.
For an entire month, every spare moment was spent studying Spellamentals.
I learned interaction windows.
I memorized triggers.
I studied matchups.
I even printed a guide created by a content creator whose name I have unfortunately forgotten so I could study while away from my cards.
Go big or go home.
I didn’t perform particularly well at the Spotlight event, but I had fun, learned a lot, and walked away with a Super Shredder promo.
Honestly, that’s what matters.
The Modern Mistake
After the event, I came home to an office that looked like a card shop had exploded.
I made a deal with myself.
No Maralen until everything was organized.
Then Modern happened.
I tried Death’s Shadow.
Hated it.
I tried Dimir Midrange with Psychic Frog.
Also hated it.
I wanted that deck to be faster than it actually was.
Eventually I landed on Izzet Prowess, and suddenly my weekends became road trips to RCQs where I could learn the deck and maybe not embarrass myself.
Commander disappeared.
cEDH disappeared.
My office somehow remained a disaster.
Eventually, standing on the edge of burnout, I took a break.
I cleaned the office.
I dismantled Thalia and Gitrog.
And finally, I built Maralen.
Why This Blog Exists
My friends weren’t thrilled.
Not because they wanted to discourage me.
Quite the opposite.
They made valid points.
Learning cEDH is easier when you’re playing a proven meta deck. There are guides, gameplay videos, tournament results, Discord discussions, and years of collective experience available.
Maralen?
Not so much.
She’s five mana.
She’s slow.
The current meta is packed with turbo decks capable of threatening wins by turn three.
Etali players, I’m looking directly at you.
You know what you did.
Still, at the end of the day, I was the one piloting the deck.
And that’s what brings us here.
In trying to learn Maralen, I’ve discovered there isn’t a lot of information about playing her at a Bracket 5 table.
So I’ve decided to document the process.
The deck is built.
I’ve already taken it to two tournaments.
I’ve made mistakes.
I’ve missed opportunities.
I’ve probably punted more games than I realize.
Maybe this blog will help someone else interested in fringe cEDH commanders.
Maybe it’ll simply become a public record of my strategic disasters.
Either way, welcome to Misplays & Mulligans.
What in the Hell Was I Thinking?
Misplays and Mulligans 
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