Hello!
While some members of this forum might argue that there are many different ways of building a deck, and strategies are vast in a format like commander...I hold the simpler view that there are two main archtypes of decks in commander, and everything else just further divides these two broad categories.
1. Decks that attempt to win by doing something specific.
2. Decks that interfere with the win conditions of others until they can win in a nonspecific way out of many optional versatile ways.
I was recently told by a few of the friends that I play with, that while my decks are versatile, and responsive to board state, they relied somewhat on my opponents "running out of steam/weakening each other" They encouraged me to build an aggro/creature heavy deck, or a deck with a set win condition...and boy am I miserable.
The first deck I tried to build that was creature heavy/dependent was
Arcades, The Strategist with a bunch of low cost cantrip walls, some card draw mechanics, and then some ways of making them unblockable and giving them big plusses to their toughness. Even some methods of creature wrathing that doesn't affect my board...like "Dusk/Dawn". It actually feels good to pilot...until you sit down with your friends.
No artifact/enchantment destruction on your walls, and not running control magic, so your opponents start dropping their veldaken orrey, akromas memorial, Greater Good, and Mirrari's Wake...and you are sitting there hoping to god your opponents are running enough answers to take care of each other....but...they aren't.
Then your next game is against a GY Reanimator Meren, with Spore Frog and Mikeaus preventing all combat damage always...that sacrifices creatures in response to your removal, and is butcher of malakiring everyone's fields. And you don't have any graveyard hate/removal in Arcades, because that doesn't fit in your strategy.
Then you play against a heavy removal strategy, that removes your general the moment he hits the board....making your deck of defender walls about as useful as a brick. Actually I take that back, a brick would be more useful because you could knock your friend the f out with it.
So now you are sitting with your deck making changes. Well you need an Austere Command, and a Bane of Progress. Can't forget about Return to Dust, oh! Don't forget relic of progenitus and a scavenging ooze for some graveyard destruction....Oh and then lightning Greaves, swiftfootboots, and aceticsim to protect the general...
Next thing you know...your creature deck that is going for a straight forward win...is just a weaker than average control deck...and there aren't enough defender creatures to make Arcades worth playing.
What should I do differently?
CanadianCole.