Hello! Welcome back to A Seat at the Table, where I tell you all about the best commander cards to add to your next commander deck!
This week, I wanted to dive into my favourite commander cards coming out with Dominaria United! This set has a lot of fun to it, but it’s pretty difficult to pick for each colour because so many of them are multicoloured. Let’s take a look at my favourite cards divided by colour as best as I can.
Danitha gets a new card and while she keeps the same keyword abilities, she doubled her power and toughness. Danitha can be fun in the command zone, but Akiri, Fearless Voyager is going to appreciate the ability to be able to throw down a creature to get that Sword of Feast and Famine not only back into play, but attached to a creature who can slap on a pair of boots and swing. You can also put Eldrazi Conscription from your hand onto Danitha right off the bat. This is a fun card that gets people swinging. Equipment are popular and I expect new Danitha to have some fans.
I don’t know if people understand just how absurd this card is yet. It becomes pretty clear that being able to play Serra Paragon, then play a fetch land from your graveyard is pretty busted. Sacrificing the fetch does exile it, but you gain two life out of the deal. Maybe somebody destroyed your Field of the Dead, so get it back. That’s just the lands!
If you get Rhystic Study destroyed or milled, you can still play it again and be the most annoying person at the table. With creatures, you can cast them, blink them, and because they are objects, they no longer get exiled (or give you 2 life) when they die. Aminatou, the Fateshifter is going to love this!
There are a lot of Treasures in Commander these days. I mean, a lot. A loooooot. Dockside Extortionist and Smothering Tithe are two of the most broken and ubiquitous cards in the format. Force those players to bust those Treasures right now (unless they still have dockside, then be careful). This wrecks token decks. Flicker the Lockdown in your (my) Aminatou decks to control the board and ruin some days.
Are you running Dockside? Can you flicker Temporary Lockdown repeatedly? It’s time for some infinite mana.
Honourable Mentions: Anointed Peacekeeper, Defiler of Faith, Guardian of New Benalia, Leyline Binding, Resolute Reinforcements, Urza Assembles the Titans
Vesuvan Duplimancy is unsurprisingly one of the coolest cards to come out of the set. A trend that’s been happening is copy a thing, and if it’s legendary, “don’t worry about it, this one’s not legendary.” Am I fan of this trend? No. But will I take advantage of it? Absolutely. I love this enchantment. I have a Sakashima of a Thousand Faces / Livio, Oathsworn Sentinel clones deck that uses a ton of instants and sorceries that copy creatures and artifacts like Echo Storm and Quasiduplicate. I’ll end up with two extra copies of a creature I like and it can be legendary, no problem!
Is this a cycle with Callous Bloodmage? Bring the rest on! These are dope. Removal, stability, and card draw all on one body. Panharmonicon doubles the effect you choose. Play this in your Inalla, Archmage Ritualist deck and get two for an extra one mana. All around, just a solid role player you can put in any deck and watch it do a thing.
I almost picked Defiler of Dreams because the cycle is just so powerful, but this little saga is a bit more subtle. With Read Ahead, you can play this like a sorcery speed Snapcaster Mage. You need to fill your yard? The second chapter has you covered. Otherwise, chapter one can be nice if you’ve got a Brainstorm or Serum Visions handy. Maybe you’ve got a Path to Exile you want to snap off, but need to mill next turn. I don’t know, something about this card feels sneaky powerful and I want you to know.
Honourable Mentions: Combat Research, Defiler of Dreams, Shore Up, Sphinx of Clear Skies, Tolarian Terror, Vodalian Hexcatcher
People complained about Sheoldred not feeling like a Praetor. “Her name is the Apocalypse, she should be world shattering.” I’m sorry, but what part about drawing cards into life loss for your opponents and life gain for you doesn’t feel like a topsy turvy world? A four mana deathtouching 4/5 that will end up doing six damage at least one turn cycle (in a standard pod). That’s incredible! Temple Bell is now an 8 life swing. Kami of the Crescent Moon hurts more than it helps! Vesuvan Duplimancy and make a ton of copies of the Praetor and hurt! Your! Opponents!
Easily one of the coolest legends in the set. At the beginning of your end step, you can sacrifice a permanent, and then it goes around the bend – each opponent gets to sacrifice a permanent that shares a type with it, or they lose 2 and you draw a card. For each of them. People hate losing their lands, but if you’re ready to ramp or cool with losing a land, your opponents will likely not sacrifice their lands and you’ve just sacrificed a land for a build-an Ancestral Recall. Sacrifice a Clue and either watch the boards shrink or fill your hand. Braids is really strong.
This is a reminder that this series is about me picking my favourite cards from the set. The Raven Man is a legend we’ve been waiting on for a while. It is basically only worth a slot in a discard deck (like my Anje Falkenrath deck) or anywhere Anvil of Bogardan fits. Forcing a discard to build a board of pecking birds in the air is nice and fine, but we have resources in black decks and then some that make use of a surplus of creatures. Not to mention that activated ability is pretty nice to have on a cheap body.
Honorary Mentions: Braids’s Frightful Return, The Cruelty of Gix, Cut Down, Evolved Sleeper, Knight of Dusk’s Shadow, Shadow Prophecy, Shadow-Rite Priest, Stronghold Arena (…stupid Abzan…), Cult Conscript
And that’s it for Part I of this little series! Make sure to keep your eyes open over the next few days for Parts II and III!
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Hello and welcome to another edition of A Seat at the Table where I focus on what cards to add to your Commander decks.
This week, I’ll be waxing about the Painbow precon face commander, Jared Carthalion. He’s not just a Naya beater anymore, Jared Carthalion is a planeswalker for all. Costing a full WUBRG and coming in with 5 loyalty, Jared has some interesting directions to go in. Let’s see the textbox.
“+1: Create a 3/3 Kavu creature token with trample that’s all colors.
−3: Choose up to two target creatures. For each of them, put a number of +1/+1 counters on it equal to the number of colors it is.
−6: Return target multicolored card from your graveyard to your hand. If that card was all colors, draw a card and create two Treasure tokens.
Jared Carthalion can be your commander.”
Alright, first thing’s first: all colours means White, Blue, Black, Red, and Green. Unless Magic’s future leads us to a sixth colour, we’re looking at just the five colours of Magic as they currently stand. The +1 ability sets up the -3 pretty nicely, giving you an 8/8 with trample that you can keep buffing. The -6 ability is very disappointing unless you’re targeting something like Niv-Mizzet Reborn. While Ramos, Dragon Engine has WUBRG commander identity, it is a colourless artifact creature.
Here’s a few cards I’ll be swapping into Jared.
Kasmina, Enigma Sage is a planeswalker that gives her abilities to other planeswalkers you control. Usually seen in Superfriends decks helmed by Atraxa, Praetor’s Voice, I haven’t personally found a spot for my copy, yet. Until today, that is.
In Jared Carthalion, Kasmina can scry to keep herself alive, but what a payoff for Jared in that -8. The flexibility of a tutor and a cast and not worrying about the restriction of color. Need a board wipe? Damnation and Wrath of God are in your colours. Need a draw spell? Rush of Knowledge is solid when your commander is 5 mana. How about winning the game against graveyard players? Rise of the Dark Realms ends a game pretty quickly in my experience. If needed, Fractal tokens can come in handy too, but with the Kavu I think we’re set.
This one is pretty simple. Your commander is a planeswalker. Giving this to Jared even at starting loyalty means that it’s a 5/5. -3 takes him to 2/2, but then what’s this? Put five +1/+1 counters on him makes him a 7/7, but those counters are counted by Luxior, so an extra 5. So we’re looking at 12/12 from one activation. If Jared’s got an opening, that’s game over in two attacks for one of your opponents. Just like Jared Carthalion, True Heir, you can kill opponents with commander damage again. All you need is this truly beautiful mythic from Streets of New Capenna.
I love this card. I run it in my Aminatou, the Fateshifter deck and if I decide to go full planeswalker tribal for Jared, this card only has more room to go up. Even with Jared as your only planeswalker, attaching Luxior to one of those Kavu’s you’ve buffed makes them 13/13s.
Makes them 13/13s… for now. Knight of New Alara is a fun little guy who did work in Rienne, Angel of Rebirth, but has a lot more room here. Just making a Kavu with Jared’s +1 ability means you’re making 8/8s that with the -3 become 13/13s again. If you’ve already got Luxior on the Kavu’s with the buffs, they are 18/18 tramplers and while they are vulnerable to removal, they can swing hard. I wonder what other kinds of cards are worth piling into this deck with Knight of New Alara…
Nephilim / Saskia the Unyielding / Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis / Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder / Atraxa, Praetors’ Voice
While Ink-Treader Nephilim can be a bit of a liability, the rest of the Nephilim are weird creatures that have cool abilities and benefit by four +1/+1 counters from Jared’s -3 ability. Yore-Tiller Nephilim hits the battlefield, you downtick Jared, it’s swinging for 6 and brings back a creature from your graveyard tapped and attacking. Maybe Saskia, the Unyielding, picking someone unsuspecting of the assault as her focus. Maybe Yidris, Maelstrom Wanderer for post-combat shenanigans. Maybe Atraxa to pump Jared at the end of turn. Kynaios and Tiro to ramp at the end of turn. Either way, all of these creatures deserve a slot in the 99 here.
Nobody can mess with you when you have the Flail equipped. This used to be nearly $40 with a single printing in C16, but now you can get them for about $7. This equipment attached to Yidris can have him swing in for 10 damage if you control your commander or just a white permanent. Protect your cascading waterfall of spells post-combat, baby! Anything you want to do during your turn cannot be messed with by spells. Abilities are still fair game, look out.
Faeburrow Elder / Bloom Tender / Prismatic Omen / Dryad of the Ilysian Grove
You can’t have a five colour deck without a little mana fixing. Of course, Faeburrow Elder and Bloom Tender only tap for the mana of colours you already control, but once Jared’s out, these two become Timeless Lotuses, tapping for WUBRG. Great mana dorks! Plus Bloom Tender was so expensive and was just reprinted. Be sure to get one before they shoot up again.
Prismatic Omen ain’t a cheap card to buy, but to play it’s pretty great. It gives you Domain instantly. For two mana, you don’t have to worry about a thing. Cabal Coffers is online. Chromatic Orrery and Chromatic Lantern also do a similar thing minus the Domain and Coffers situation, but here’s a card some people might not know!
Dryad of the Ilysian Grove is a ridiculous card that is Exploration and Prismatic Omen on legs. That’s the whole card. It’s an enchantment creature at 2/4, but my god the static abilities are where it’s at.
That does it for Jared! Let me know what you’re playing over the Painbow! If you want me to cover a commander get in touch with me @mikecarrozza and I’ll see what I can do!
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Hello again and welcome to another edition of A Seat at the Table, the Commander-focused column here at The Bag of Loot.
With Dominaria United in full swing and the Legends Retold series rip roaring, giving brewers whiplash, it’s time to party with one of my favourite iterations of a new legend.
The Ever-Changing ‘Dane is a 3/3 legendary shapeshifter for Esper mana (white, blue, black). Look at this textbox.
“1, Sacrifice another creature: The Ever-Changing ‘Dane becomes a copy of the sacrificed creature, except it has this ability.”
Important details: you must sacrifice another creature and Dane becomes a copy of that creature. It’s gated behind a simple mana, so we’ll need creatures you want to die and keep around at the same time, but also lots of mana. Let’s see what’s up.
Teysa Karlov is one of the most popular Orzhov commanders ever and for good reason. When she was spoiled, she was nicknamed Deatharmonicon after Panharmonicon for her ability to double death triggers. The token lord ability isn’t going to come into play much, but it will definitely matter sometimes.
You want to explore her EDHREC page for more suggestions. Stuff like Pitiless Plunderer and Grim Haruspex are the veggies to this deck. You need them to function well and, if it’s functioning, you’ll get plenty of cards and Treasures. Life Insurance is a new card from New Capenna Commander that deserves another look for this deck.
Mikaeus, the Unhallowed / Luminous Broodmoth / Cauldron of Souls
Recursion is super powerful in this deck. If you have Mikaeus and Broodmoth out at the same time, make Dane sacrifice a legendary creature with an amazing death trigger and unless somebody responds to this, that’s game over, probably. There’s a cycle of beefy creatures that definitely put the screws to the opponents when they die.
Mikaeus is known to be a combo enabler and it’s no surprise that Broodmoth has followed its steps price-wise, but if you want a card that does something similar without breaking the bank, check out Cauldron of Souls. Of course it doesn’t happen automatically and you get one activation to give creatures undying and you don’t have ways to loop, but if you’ve got enough solid death triggers, just getting two out of a creature can be backbreaking!
Sakashima of a Thousand Faces / Mirror Box / Mirror Gallery
Maybe you don’t want to lose your legends! Maybe you want a bunch of copies of Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite. You sack the original one to Dane, then Body Double copying Elesh Norn before targeting the original with Coffin Queen, boom, that’s +6/+6 to your creatures and -6/-6 for your opponents as long as you’ve got one of these cards out. Mirror Box even gives them an additional +1/+1 for each one that shares a name! Isn’t that nifty.
Dragon Spirits from Kamigawa
This is my favourite part. There are six eligible legendary dragon spirits from Kamigawa, each with amazing death triggers – three of them actually have modal death triggers that you get to pick from!
In White, we have Ao, the Dawn Sky and Yosei, the Morning Star. One allows you to dig through your deck and get 4 mana value out of stuff or add +1/+1 counters to your board and the other locks up an opponent’s precious resources. These are your value and insurance spirits.
In Blue, it’s Kairi, the Swirling Sky and Keiga, the Tide Star. One is a hard to target flyer who bounces 6 mana worth of nonland permanents, or lets you recur instants and sorceries. The other straight up takes away a creature your opponent controls and if they try to take it back, you can use Dane to sacrifice it and keep a copy for yourself. These are your utility dragons.
In Black, Junji, the Midnight Sky and Kokusho, the Evening Star are the heavy hitters. One reanimates a non-Dragon (you should have plenty) and forces your opponents hands while draining them for two. The other is one of the most feared commander of yesteryear, a formerly banned beast who terrorized kitchen tables for years! These are your game enders.
Pick up your copies now. Trust me. Especially the white and black ones because…
Newly spoiled, Ratadrabik of Urborg makes a nonlegendary copy of any legend that dies and gives it vigilance by virtue of its anthem effect for zombies. It’s hard to target and will definitely do a lot of work for you. Anointed Procession if you feel like it, but the fact that this does not exile the creature dying to make you a copy of it means that the reanimation plan is still on.
I’m already considering Ratadrabik for Dihada, Binder of Wills and as a commander himself. Kethis, the Hidden Hand would love to have this in the 99. All in all, maybe keep an eye out for another article from me about THIS commander!
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Hello and welcome to another edition of A Seat at the Table, the article series where I break down 5 cards and/or card categories I’d slot into a deck of a particular commander.
This week, we’re in full preview swing as Dominaria United and its Commander set are being revealed. With all the already 30+ new legends fresh to the eyes of many, one commander has caused quite a stir.
Dihada, Binder of Wills is the face commander of the Legends’ Legacy preconstructed Commander deck.
Dihada is a villain in Magic’s timeline, but a heroine of our hearts in this new iteration. Her first planeswalker card, Geyadrone Dihada, would have been infinitely more popular if it could be your commander. But this new card swaps blue for white to snuggle in your list of fave new commanders.
Let’s look at that textbox.
1RWB for Legendary Planeswalker – Dihada
5 starting loyalty
“+2: Up to one target legendary creature gains vigilance, lifelink, and indestructible until your next turn.
−3: Reveal the top four cards of your library. Put any number of legendary cards from among them into your hand and the rest into your graveyard. Create a Treasure token for each card put into your graveyard this way.
−11: Gain control of all nonland permanents until end of turn. Untap them. They gain haste until end of turn.
Dihada, Binder of Wills can be your commander.”
Starting at 5 loyalty and being able to go up to 7 is nothing to sniff at right out of the gate. It can target any legendary creature, meaning you can use this for politics, but my guess is you’ll be giving these powerful keywords to a creature who loves attacking, like an Alesha, Who Smiles at Death or Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin.
The -3 ability enables potential graveyard shenanigans while rewarding you for each legendary permanent you bin.
The ultimate -11 is a super Insurrection that reminds me a little of Tevesh Szat, Doom of Fools ultimate ability. Without further ado, let’s go to the cards I’d add.
Let’s start with a legendary land that is among my all time favourite Magic cards. The moment I saw this card, I fell in love. When Alayna Danner announced her new rendition of the land would be a playmat, I pre-ordered it immediately. When I play any Commander deck, I always slot a Nykthos in unless it’s a spellslinger deck, but even those, I tend to build with tons of enchantments.
That said, Nykthos counts toward your legendary count for Dihada, for theme, but most of all because the kinds of cards you’ll end up playing in this deck tend to stick around. Your commander is a planeswalker and there are tons of legendary permanents that will contribute to the pips of Nykthos. Are you building Mardu God tribal? Nykthos. Are you building Dinada’s Superfriends? Nykthos. Can’t go wrong.
Kor Haven taps for colourless which isn’t ideal, but it can prevent damage dealt by an attacking creature. Dihada is bound to draw some hate, but at least you’ll have ways to mitigate damage coming her way. Maze of Ith is similar except it removes the creature from combat altogether… and isn’t legendary. I know, isn’t that silly? It’s the High Arcanist’s own Maze but it’s not legendary? The audacity.
Piru is such a fun card because it’s a board wipe on death like Bearer of the Heavens, but tends to gain you a buttload of life. It dodges legendary creatures, so your opponents might get to keep some stuff, but if your board is handled correctly, you won’t lose anything but this big elder dragon. She swings high, buffs your life, and at your upkeep, you decide if this time bomb goes off.
I remember the day WotC announced that planeswalkers were receiving an errata and from now on, all planeswalkers would also be legendary. Yomiji, Who Bars the Way had a big price spike and then people remembered that he costs a full seven mana.
In your Dihada deck, no need to worry: that -3 ability can get you halfway to paying for this bright spirit and then every legendary permanent that hits your yard from play comes back to your hand. This is especially good if you’d got a superfriends build going. Pair this with Resourceful Defense in the package and you’ve got a new brew bubbling in the cauldron.
I love Kaya. Since her debut in Conspiracy, I have been a fan. Orzhov colours? Check. Makes your opponents discard while you draw? Check. Flickers herself and has killer ghost flavour? Check, check.
Kaya as a character is one of the most fun planeswalkers in Magic and I hope we get more of her. Last seen on Innistrad where she didn’t… have a great showing…
Kaya the Inexorable on Kaldheim is a real deal beast of a card. It can save one of your creatures, exile a problematic nonland permanent and with the defences you’ll packing in your Dihada 99, that ultimate seems not just possible, but likely. The emblem it generates allows you to cast a legendary spell from your HAND, your GRAVEYARD, or FROM FREAKING EXILE! That means that once a turn you can cast a legendary from basically anywhere.
You can even cast Kaya again and then stack another emblem, but at that point… haven’t you already won for being the coolest?
These are some fun picks for the Dihada upgrade. I hope you found this useful and enjoyed. Come back to The Bag of Loot for more articles and another edition of A Seat at the Table again soon! Check me out at commandersherald.com and @mikecarrozza on Twitter and Instagram.
If you have any request for what to cover next, find me out there and let me know! Thanks for reading.
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Hello and welcome to another A Seat at the Table! Continuing with our Street Fighter character select screen, this edition is all about Blanka, Ferocious Friend!
First of all, I love that Dan is getting completely shocked to the core in the art. Secondly, let’s look at the text box on this 5/5 for 3RG Human Beast Warrior:
“Haste
Rolling Attack — Blanka, Ferocious Friend has trample as long as you’ve cast three or more spells this turn.
Electric Thunder — Whenever Blanka becomes the target of a spell, he gets +2/+2 until end of turn and deals 2 damage to each opponent.”
Okay, so we have a Red/Green Heroic commander and he can get really, really big while shocking each of your opponents. Three spells in a turn feels like a lot, but with green’s big mana and red’s low costed spells, you’ll get trample pretty easily.
Blanka’s Electric Thunder ability does not specify the type of spell so we can be talking aura’s or spellslinger. Either way, it’s time to see what to include in our Blanka, Ferocious Friend decks.
Whip Silk / Crown of Flames / Mark of Fury / Ghitu Firebreathing / Rancor / Fiery Mantle / Undying Rage / Unquenchable Fury
These are enchantments that allow you to double dip on them. There isn’t an elegant way to keep sacrificing enchantments in these colours except like Claws of Gix, but that means that if you have 6 mana up, Claws of Gix out and a Rancor, you can target Blanka three times, meaning you’ve got an 11/11 trampling commander that just did 6 damage to your opponents. Or with that same six mana, you can use it on Whip Silk and/or Crown of Flames without needing them to hit the graveyard.
All in all, these are just fine enchantments that come back to hand so when you deploy Blanka again, you’ve got a full grip of spells to target him with. Not to mention Unquenchable Fury is just really cool. We just got Chishiro, the Shattered Blade, and if you lean in heavy into auras, I recommend including the snake samurai himself.
Hunter’s Insight / Soul’s Majesty / Hunter’s Prowess / Rishkar’s Expertise
Notice how I didn’t include Return of the Wildspeaker. Blanka is human!
Hunter’s Insight and Hunter’s Prowess allow you to target your rolling ball of thunder, pump him for extra, and fill your hand with even more ways to target your green fiend. You mean to tell me you spent three mana to draw a full new grip and have enough to Mana Geyser your way into a Crown of Flames kill? Or into a Crimson Wisps and Reiterate chain? Huge.
Soul’s Majesty targets before it resolves of course so when you target Blanka, you’re drawing an extra two cards. How nice is that with a Double Vision out?
Rishkar’s Expertise will draw you a ton of cards and maybe that’ll be how you cast that Mana Geyser to pop off.
Livewire Lash / Season of Growth
Here are two great pieces that reward you FOR targeting your furry boy.
Livewire Lash was just reprinted in Double Masters 2022 and gives Blanka an extra Shock to throw around whenever you target him. You can hit a player again or get rid of some blockers or planeswalkers!
Season of Growth is a great piece that let’s almost all your cards cantrip when you’ve got Blanka out. Just an A+ inclusion if you ask me. It’s impossible to read this card in the context of this deck and not just know it’s an all-star.
Crimson Wisps / Viridescent Wisps / Elvish Fury / Seething Anger / Charge Through / Tamiyo’s Safekeeping / Reiterate
You need repeatable ways to target your commander and cheap ways to do it, too. The Wisps and Charge Through are cheap targeted spells that draw you a card. Simple as that. They are great whenever, they pump Blanka, and slap each opponent for two.
What about repeatable? Buyback! Get a lot of mana and just machine gun the same spell, taking down the table and using your newly gigantic Blanka to smack the Oloro player with commander damage after looping Elvish Fury or Seething Anger.
But why Reiterate? Blanka reads “Whenever Blanka BECOMES THE TARGET OF A SPELL” which means that the spell does not need to be cast! You can reiterate a spell a ton of times. And target Blanka. Once again, Mana Geyser comes to mind. Jeska’s Will, perhaps. Make lots of mana, Reiterate, Blanka combo kill!
Chandra’s Ignition / Ancient Animus / Clear Shot / Fall of the Hammer / Prizefight / Ram Through
Blanka gets bigger when you target him so your creature removal, especially thanks to green, should target your green meanie. Chandra’s Ignition turns into a board wipe hitting for 7, but if you’ve spent some more spells on your commander, that can easily become a Blasphemous Act that keeps your commander around to attack!
Bothersome Quasit is one of my favourite new creatures in Magic. You’ve got a ton of noncreature spells in this deck and this not only goads a creature for each noncreature spell you cast, but it also clears the way for Blanka to attack directly. I promise you’ll love it.
Battle Mammoth lets you draw a card when your commander gets targeted. You won’t always have Heroic Intervention or Sheltering Word or Veil of Summer, but you will at least get to draw a card, so that’s something.
Honorary mention: Lots of big mana
I’m talking Nyxbloom Ancient and Mana Reflection. I’m talking Nature’s Lore into Kodama’s Reach into Traverse the Outlands. Pack in the mana spells in but find spots for stuff like Enter the Unknown that can allow you to ramp later but also target Blanka for cheap.
And there you have it. Next time, I might have some Dominaria United tech for you, but until then, which Street Fighter should I cover next?
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Welcome back to another edition of A Seat at the Table. With people receiving their Street Fighter Secret Lairs, I thought it’d be fun to pick some of my favourite new designs brought to us in this release.
This week, let’s talk about Zangief, the Red Cyclone. Time to serve up a suplex on our opponents with this novel Jund design. Textbox time!
For 2BRG, we get a 7/4 Human Warrior that says,
“Zangief, the Red Cyclone must be blocked if able.
Iron Muscle — As long as it’s your turn, Zangief has indestructible.
Spinning Piledriver — Whenever Zangief deals damage to a creature, if that creature was dealt excess damage this turn, that creature’s controller sacrifices a noncreature, nonland permanent.”
That! Is! SPICY!
A Lure effect stapled onto a creature who is indestructible on your turn makes this aggro beefcake a death lover’s dream. Excess damage dealt to creatures by the Lariat Lord himself causes that creature’s controller to sacrifice important permanent. Here’s a list of cards I think would be really great in a Zangief, the Red Cyclone decks.
The concept of excess damage is pretty simple: is it more than necessary to kill the creature? Congratulations – it’s excess damage! How much damage does it take to kill a creature when you’re in combat and your creature has deathtouch? Just one.
Zangief hits for seven and the Collar gains you that life and guarantees excess damage even when an opponent has Desolation Twins out.
Nylea, God of the Hunt and Brawn and Archetype of Aggression are excellent ways to give your big Russian wrestler trample so you can make use of that excess damage and hit your opponents. Trample and deathtouch means you’ll hit a creature for one damage and your opponent for at least six.
These are great ways to give your opponents creatures for you to swing into and they’re tiny, so you’ll be stomping away and having your opponents sacrifice their artifacts, enchantments, and planeswalkers.
Forbidden Orchard is an incredible land and serves a great purpose here. Grismold gets pretty beefy as tokens die, so you get another beater in the ring. Infernal Genesis is an old card I’ve always loved. I think it fits well here. It’s slow mill, but puts a done of little guys on the field.
This equipment is perfect. Attach it to Chief Gief and any blocker your opponents have becomes a creature wipe, and more than likely also will wipe out a bunch of other noncreature, nonland permanents they control. Not to mention the +1/+0 ability can potentially close out a game or push over the edge if you need to hit the “excess damage” requirement.
Chandra’s Ignition is one of my favourite board wipes for any deck with one important creature. Let’s also not ignore that using this while you have other creatures in play also means that if they take excess damage, you’ll also need to sacrifice nonland, noncreature permanents for each one. This is why I’ve avoided putting creatures on this list.
Fiendlash is one of my favourite new pieces of equipment. Boosting your commander up by two puts you over the edge for excess damage, but the real fun is that because Zangief needs to be blocked, you’ll be dealing nine damage to a player or planeswalker of your choice. Let’s not forget Pyrohemia or Pestilence or Pestilence Demon, which turn your single mana payments into a nine damage Gatling gun. And as long as it’s your turn, you don’t even need to worry about Zangief’s 4 toughness. Maybe Zangief is the perfect Brash Taunter tribal commander for Jund (we know the best one for Jeskai is Sevinne, the Chronoclasm, of course).
Hear me out. Thornbite Staff, we know, is an absolute house for combos. Burning Anger is a great way to get Zangief to throw around damage and kill other creatures. Of course, fight and bite spells like Rabid Bite, Prizefight and Clear Shot – they all allow you to throw some damage around without the combat step. And they are still not creatures!
Fine! Here are some creatures. The Tracker allows you to force a fight between Zangief and another creature at instant speed and again allow you to get excess damage outside the combat step.
Neyith draws you a card whenever you fight, but also whenever a creature you control is blocked, you also draw a card. Zangief must be blocked when he attacks. So you get to draw a card when you swing, for sure. Neyith can also double Zangief’s power for a Street Fighter Alpha strike. I really love Neyith, but haven’t found a spot for it myself. Maybe it’s time to try her out in my Grand Warlord Radha deck.
Zangief is going to be killing so many creatures. You’ve got to have some sort of payoff. Vicious Shadows is one of my favourite aristocrats tools and I think it’s perfect for here. So many creatures dying mean lots of damage for your opponents as long as their hands are full.
And that does it for another edition of A Seat at the Table. I’ll be back next time with more Street Fighters, or maybe if we get more Dominaria United spoilers, I’ll have a whole new legend to knock out for you!
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Welcome to another edition of A Seat at the Table! Let’s talk about another recently spoiled commander for Dominaria United – Ramirez DePietro, Pillager! Last time we saw Ramirez, it was as Ghost of Ramirez DePietro, a partner commander from Commander Legends. The first Ramirez DePietro was a six mana 4/3 with First Strike. Now, we get a 4/3 for four mana and a whole lot more text. Let’s check out the text box:
“When Ramirez DePietro, Pillager enters the battlefield, you lose 2 life and create two Treasure tokens.
Whenever one of more Pirates you control deal combat damage to a player, exile the top card of that player’s library. You may cast that card for as long as it remains exiled.”
That’s a whole bunch of value for four mana. This pirate lord that turns your whole ship of pirates into spectres and saboteurs. Remember, you may cast the cards exiled with Ramirez – not play. You can’t play lands. Remember that!
Let’s talk about cards to include in your RDP decks.
These are two of my favourite cards to see hit the battlefield. Enters the battlefield effects are so much fun and having a deck full of Sailor of Means, Shipwreck Looter, and Rishadan Footpad means you’re going to want to double dip on these effects a bunch. Conjurer’s Closet and Thassa, Deep-Dwelling allow you to blink your creatures, which at a baseline means that if your commander is out, you’re making two treasures a turn.
The other thing to keep in mind is that the creatures that blink with these two cards must be ones you control BUT they return under YOUR control! So if you play a creature with Ramirez’s second ability – let’s say an Eternal Witness – blink with Thassa or the Closet, you get EWit again. Easy peasy inclusions!
Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator is another pirate from Commander Legends that wants you to play pirates. In fact, Ramirez and Malcolm share the oracle text “Whenever one of more Pirates you control deal”! Notice how it doesn’t go on to say combat damage, so if something comes up that allows you to ping with your pirates, that will be relevant. But a Scryfall search reveals there aren’t really noncombat ways of dealing damage to your opponents that change the source to the creatures. Either way, Malcolm allows you to swing at three opponents and make three treasures. With Ramirez out, that means for each pirate that connects, you’re getting a card from that player’s library and a Treasure to mana fix and ramp.
Remember: Ramirez doesn’t say that you can pay mana of any colour to play the exiled cards.
Let’s face it – there aren’t a ton of pirates that are worth your time, and in Dimir there are so many more fun options for attackers. Plenty of unblockable creatures. Hell, Maskwood Nexus and Black Market Connections can make Captain N’ghathrod a part of the 99 and make that work.
Turn a bunch of creature tokens into pirates, turn Invisible Stalker into an extra card from an opponent’s deck, make Thief of Sanity your NEW! FAVOURITE! CARD!
I’m looking forward to building this deck and playing with everybody else’s deck.
What do these Commander Legends creatures have in common? They’re amazing blue pirates that only get better with ol’ RDP!
Amphin Mutineer is like a Reality Shift on the stick with triple flashback. Encore this bad boy out and exile problematic creatures. If they block, they’re just trading their 4/3 tokens for your 3/3 tokens. That’s not a bad trade for getting rid of an opponent’s Delina, Wild Mage or Oracle of Mul Daya. If the Mutineer tokens get through, that’s another three exiled cards from your opponents’ libraries.
Trove Tracker is great early and great late. Just keep swinging Double T into opponents and you’ll get value. Drop this turn three, then turn four you get your commander out, swing at someone and get a card! If this dies, you get a card! Late game, you get to encore Trove Tracker and the floor is three cards. The ceiling? Six cards! Tell me this bad boy isn’t going to shine.
Merchant Raiders taps down creatures for as long as they remain on board. Play out a pirate and help your other pirates get through to pillage your opponents’ libraries. I feel like this card is damn all star.
You need to do yourself a kindness and get some mass evasion in your Ramirez decks. Wonder in the yard gives your board flying, and Filth gives them swampwalk and basically unblockable if you’ve got an Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth out. With Vela the Night-Clad out, you get some incidental chip damage on your opponents when your pirates bounce or hit the yard, but most importantly she makes them only blockable by creatures that share their colours or artifact creatures.
The priciest of these effects is Cover of Darkness – for two mana, you select a creature type (oh, I don’t know, Pirates?) and those creatures get fear. That does mean that ALL pirates get fear, not just yours. Slam this down and only black and artifact creatures can block pirates.
This is the only way in Dimir colours to create pirate tokens. When this guy attacks and you control a nontoken pirate (like your commander), you can pay 2 to make a 2/2 token pirate with menace – Hey! More evasion! You need more pirates to keep the value train going so include this sick dude with amazing facial hair in your RDP list.
(Here’s an extra flavourful inclusion – Coastal Piracy. Bonus! Fun!)
One of my favourite Dimir commanders ever, Araumi of the Dead Tide is an incredible creature. Encore is a fantastic mechanic and while there’s so much recursion in the colours, giving pirates encore means that you can probably nab three cards from your opponents. Turn your Burdened Aerialist, Corsair Captain, and Sailor of Means into potential draw threes for three cards in your graveyard. Encore out Hostage Taker in the late game with enough mana to cast things, or just use the Hostage Takers as a means to clear a path to hit your opponents and get the tops of their libraries with Ramirez.
I really hope you enjoyed this article. Ramirez DePietro, Pillager and Tor Wauki the Younger got me really pumped for this new set!
If there’s a commander you want me to write up, give me a shout on twitter: @mikecarrozza! Thanks for reading.
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Well, well, well. It’s not full blown spoiler season, but we did get a look at some new stuff from Dominaria United.
Tor Wauki the Younger is a throwback legend to a simpler time where a 2BBR legendary creature could get a White ability like “Tap: deal 2 damage to target attacking or blocking creature”.
This new Tor Wauki retains its 3/3 power/toughness and five mana value for the more streamlined 3BR. Tor also gains reach and lifelink. Reach for an archer!
Let’s take a closer look at that textbox:
“If another source you control would deal noncombat damage to a permanent or player, it deals that much damage plus 1 to that permanent or player instead.
Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell, Tor Wauki the Younger deals 2 damage to any target.”
Okay, wow. Rakdos spellslinger? WotC has been innovating with the Rakdos space every set and I am very much a fan. This new inclusion in the list of Rakdos legends cements it as my favourite colour pairing.
Things to note:
Let’s dive into some fun cards to include in your Tor Wauki the Younger lists!
1. Dragon’s Approach / Florian, Voldaren Scion
Let’s dive right in with a card that I am sure many people thought of right away: Dragon’s Approach. With Midnight Hunt’s release came Florian, Voldaren Scion, a commander that people immediately began building as the de facto Rakdos Dragon’s Approach commander. Florian is strong and deserves a slot in the deck especially since all the selection you get from Florian increases by a minimum of an extra three with Tor out. Dragon’s Approach hits for four for each opponent and then you get an extra two damage to send somewhere. If you choose an opponent as your Tor target, you’re looking at 14 cards with Florian at your post combat phase if you rip an Approach in your first main. Talk about card selection! This is the first pick for me for anybody looking to mix things up if they aren’t feeling Florian anymore.
Any effect that doubles, or in this case triples damage, paired with Tor turns any instant or sorcery into a wallop. Torbran similarly smacks a little more by tacking on an extra two damage from red sources. This feels like an easy include, but I don’t think it quite sinks in how bonkers it will feel to cast a quick cantrip, and then also dome somebody for six damage then gain six life. Be prepared to be the threat!
Casting instants and sorceries often times can chain into each other. Cast a draw spell, draw a draw spell, but how do I cast that new draw spell? Birgi, God of Storytelling and Storm-Kiln Artist are amazing ramp options that play right into your plan. These are stormy cards, but getting to cast two cards in a turn and getting Treasures out of the deal is sublime.
Guttersnipe and Firebrand Archer get boosted by Tor, making them hit each opponent for 3 and 2 respectively. You already want to be casting Faithless Looting, why not make Faithless Looting read “Draw two, discard two, deal 5 damage to each opponent, deal 2 damage to any target, and gain two life”? That’s what’s possible here!
Sedgemoor Witch is another great card that wants instants and sorceries for her to make some critters. Chump block, gain a little life back. Maybe go on the offence and finish off an opponent who didn’t expect your instant speed shenanigans and is now facing down four Pests with no blocks!
Classic black card draw now doesn’t cost you the life with Tor out and in fact turns the demon’s deal on its head because they can damage your opponents or their creatures.
Sign in Blood and Night’s Whisper draw you two cards and lose two life, but now read deal two damage and gain two life. Read the Bones is the same with a scry 2 on there.
I already mentioned Faithless Looting, but how about Cathartic Pyre. Pyre makes you discard first, but can draw you up to two cards at instant speed meaning you can surprise the table by hitting a creature for two. Or you can choose the first mode and hit a creature or planeswalker for four, but if it isn’t enough, you can target it again with Tor’s ability making it 6 damage.
Big Score and Unexpected Windfall are fantastic draw spells that deserve to see much more play.
Stinging Study is a five mana draw five in this deck. At instant speed. That drains any target for two when your commander is in play. Get this card!
Basilisk Collar was mentioned in the Judith, the Scourge Diva article, and for good reason. When your commander can reliably sling damage around, slapping deathtouch on it can feel divine.
Soul-Scar Mage is also a pretty fun way to get around indestructible or +1/+1 counter shenanigans going on. Kulrath Knight, Necroskitter, and The Scorpion God are fun inclusions if you want a light -1/-1 theme to the deck.
I won’t spend too much time on this, but of course Obosh gets a mention. Tor costs five mana and therefore Obosh can be a companion, but I would say whatever you do, don’t skip out on the Preypiercer in the 99. That’s a lot of extra damage! Plus, if it’s in the deck, you can surprise the table more.
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