Hello and welcome to A Seat at the Table, the column where I pick a commander and talk about what I’d include in the 99. With The Lord of the Rings set previews under way, we got a new four-colour general to play with!

Aragorn, the Uniter is red, green, white, and blue. No black for Aragorn! Let’s see what we can do with this Legendary Human Noble 5/5 for RGWU! Textbox please!

“Whenever you cast a white spell, create a 1/1 white Human Soldier creature token.

Whenever you cast a blue spell, scry 2.  

Whenever you cast a red spell, Aragorn, the Uniter deals 3 damage to target opponent. 

Whenever you cast a green spell, target creature gets +4/+4 until end of turn.”  

That’s pretty spicy and if I may infer from the textbox, we’re looking at a multicolour themed list. Let’s get into some reminders.

  1. Aragorn, the Uniter triggers upon casting a spell but will trigger each of the abilities that apply at once, in the order they appear on the card. This means that if you play a white and blue card, you will get to creature a 1/1 token and scry 2.
  2. The colour of a spell is determined by the mana cost or other provisions in the card. For example, there are cards that say “this card is white” or something. However, if a card costs 1WW but has an activated ability of RG, that card’s colour identity might be WRG, but the card’s colour is white.
  3. Conversely, hybrid mana casting costs represent both colours. Casting Manamorphose (which costs 1 and hybrid R/G) with 1 and either red or green will still result in Aragorn triggering for red spells and green spells.
  4. Copying spells is not casting them unless you see the words “you may cast the copy” or some variation. That’s the difference between Fork copying the spell you target for you and Mizzix’s Mastery which exiles a card, copies it, and allows you to cast the copy.

What colour do you want to favour in your deck building? Are you going with a theme? This commander is so open ended, this article is difficult to write. But I’m gonna do my best!

Let’s put some cards in a deck shall we?

  1. Fallaji Wayfarer

The first card I want to highlight is a new one from Dominaria United Commander. It’s a five colour card whose colour identity is green. Yeah, it’s crazy weird! It’s an excellent inclusion for a version of an Aragorn, the Uniter deck that is favouring multicoloured spells for the whole deck because Wayfarer’s second ability gives those spells convoke.

Why not run Cryptolith Rite or something? Because cool cards are cool and when you cast this three mana enabler, you get to create a 1/1 token, to scry 2, to deal 3 to an opponent, and to give +4/+4 to a creature, likely your commander. That’s a lot of value for something that’s already doing a lot.

  1. Repeat Offenders

Using cards cards that come back to your hand so you can cast them again and get your advantage is a solid plan when it comes to Aragorn. Shrieking Drake, Whitemane Lion, and Stonecloaker all require you to return a creature from the battlefield to your hand. They can bounce themselves to your hand so you can keep triggering Aragorn. Surprisingly, Shrieking Drake, the blue one on this list, doesn’t have flash, but it does only cost one for scry 2. Not to mention, if you’ve got something like Impact Tremors out or Aura Shards or Mana Echoes, that’s even more value.

But what if we wanted this effect in other colours? Azorious champs Deputy of Acquittals and Niambi, Esteemed Speaker get there slightly by allowing you to return another creature to hand. Ephara’s Enlightenment lets you return it to your hand when a creature enters (aka when you cast a white spell).

What else? Planeshift gave us the gating mechanic. Horned Kavu now plays like a repeatable two mana Lightning Bolt to an opponent’s face and a pump effect that also triggers Alliance abilities like Gala Greeters and Witty Roastmaster. Fleetfoot Panther, Sawtooth Loon, Silver Drake, and Sparkcaster are all worth a second look if you’ve got the mana and love some value.

  1. Multicolour Matters

Let’s get some extra value for casting multicoloured spells!

General Ferrous Rokiric will make a 4/4 Golem every time your cast a multicoloured spell. A 4/4  Golem is the perfect companion for a 1/1 white Human token created by Hero of Precinct One when you cast a multicoloured spell.

With Knight of New Alara and Glass of the Guildpact, your multicoloured creatures get more powerful. Meanwhile, Gloryscale Viashino only buffs itself with a Giant Growth for every multicoloured spell, making it quite the threat.

Mana Cannons and Lobber Crew turn your multicoloured spells into some burn to toss around. Obsidian Obelisk and Pillar of the Paruns help fix your mana for multicoloured spells only. Urza’s Filter reduces your multicoloured spells’ cost by 2 and Tome of the Guildpact is an expensive mana rock that gives you a card when you cast multicoloured spells. The Mana Rig also gives you Powerstones per multicoloured spell you cast. But do Powerstones matter? They do when they enable some digging using its second ability. But also when you’ve got Reckless Fireweaver type effects going.

Rienne, Angel of Rebirth is probably my favourite for this kind of deck. Every time a multicoloured creature you control dies, you’ll get it back to hand at the end step. Meaning you’ll get to cast them again. Huge!

  1. The Lieges

Lorwyn block era gave us creatures that blew my mind back in the day that I literally gasped at upon reading. Unfortunately, a lot of my faves are black. However, the six eligible Lieges only get better when you get extra cast triggers from Aragorn.

The weakest of the bunch are Boartusk Liege and Wilt-Leaf Liege but they still grant buffs to the creatures that share their colour and prock Aragorn triggers.

Thistledown Liege, Murkfiend Liege, Mindwrack Liege, and Balefire Liege all have their advantages that only add to the fact that you’re getting so much out of your commander. I’ll say Balefire Liege is most exciting to me if you’re looking to go hard on red, but all of these are fun to see in your hand.

Here are some multicoloured cards that I really like in this deck: A brief top ten list with very little explanation – IT’S LIKE A BONUS ARTICLE IN AN ARTICLE!

  • Bard Class – if you build legendary themed, this will reduce some costs, get you extra cards, and buff the team. High recommend.
  • Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis – This hits all of Aragorn’s colours and gives you card advantage and ramp. No brainer!
  • Maelstrom Wanderer – I was going to pick this or Animar, but realizing that cascade is a cast trigger made this so clearly the top pick.
  • Boros Charm – Surprise! A blocker and three to your face! Also my stuff can’t die!
  • Brokers Ascendancy – You’re making lots of tokens, might as well make another, scry 2, pump for an attack and then you know… pump some more.
  • Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer – If you’ve got interesting tokens, you can turn all your 1/1s into them. Hell, a 2/1 is an upgrade already.
  • Mirrorweave – Really surprise your opponents by turning all your 1/1s that went unblocked into copies of the Lieges you’ve got. If you’ve got a big enough board, that’s game!
  • Aethermage’s Touch – Create a token and scry 2 before resolving this amazing spell that uses your top deck.
  • Alaundo the Seer – This guy is fun and weird. Untap him a bunch and get around mana costs by tapping and flapping through your deck.
  • Amareth, the Lustrous – Every time you play a white spell and get a little guy, you’ve got a solid chance of revealing a creature from your library and popping that bad boy to your hand. Not to mention, Bant gets you a 1/1, scry 2, and +4/+4. Nuts!

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