Commander is a thinking person's game. Not anymore! If you're the reason you never win at Commander, Baeloth Barrityl, Raised by Giants would like a moment of your time.
- Big mana! Recast your commander again and again!
- Big damage! Put the "Damn!" in damage!
- Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer ~70
- Dockside Extortionist ~50
- Wooded Foothills ~40
- Exploration ~25
- Dryad of the Ilysian Grove ~20
- Wayward Swordtooth ~10
- Birds of Paradise
[*]Xenagos, God of Revels ~10
Ragavan, Dockside, Exploration and Dryad are just ramp. Birds too - I'm surprised to be listing it here. Birds isn't budget anymore. Crazy. Anyhow, you can swap them as you see fit. Just keep the CMC in the 1-3 range, because what counts is getting your commanders a turn early. Turns 4 and 5 are almost always your Commander turns. Dockside is on something of a Rules Committee ban-watch, and I've never had a card banned out of one of my decks, so perhaps one day they'll so honor me in the future, and I'll throw in Tempt with Discovery or something, but that day isn't today. Wooded Foothills is just a fetch. Any land will do. Truth is, all my fixer lands were selected on a theme of teamwork - none of them can do it alone. Like Birds, Xenagos has no business being here. Any good power modifier will fit in his place. Wayward Swordtooth missed my initial deckbuilding search, but it's here now, and it qualifies for this category.
When you pare back all the BS, all this deck wants to do is cast its commanders and swing. Baeloth Barrityl, Entertainer goads all your opponents' creatures that have less power than he, and Raised by Giants makes him a 10/10. Keep casting ramp, and keep them on the field doing their thing.
Let's break the card choices down into broad categories: Ramp, Draw, Win-More & Land. This pile of land doesn't require an in depth play-by-play.
- Birds of Paradise - Industry standard.
- Exploration - Incredible on turn one!
- Azusa, Lost but Seeking - Bonkers on turn three!
- Dockside Extortionist - A Robin Hood card that does best when you're versing the best. Expensive and on ban-watch. Buyer beware. Possibly meta dependent.
- Storm-Kiln Artist - Not originally included. I like to make sure every card in my deck can fulfil every aspect of itself, and Magda had no other dwarves to buff.
- Faithless Looting - At one mana, it can really smooth out those early turns.
- Cathartic Reunion - One of red's best.
- Xenagos, God of Revels - Double that power and toughness.
- Halana and Alena, Partners - +1/+1 counters with a high ceiling.
- Kessig Wolf Run - Pump up them rookie numbers.
- Taiga - Being aware that I should run this, I concocted a theme for my manabase that excluded it. Truth is, every single card in my actual deck has been hand picked as my favorite printing of said card. A white bordered Taiga that looks like someone wiped their butt with it doesn't cut it. I can't afford Alpha or Beta here.
- Gaea's Cradle I initially built Baeloth creature lite to justify not wanting the cradle, but I forgot that mission over dozens of upgrades, and now the only excuse is price. That said, I rarely have more than three creatures in play, and my existing ramp is pretty obscene to evade fearing the commander tax, so Cradle doesn't really pass any honest cost/benefit analysis. As it stands, none of my other lands really warrant an opponent's Strip Mine, so I question whether it'd even last. I've no intent of saving for it.
- Wheel of Fortune - I included the dig cards to help me best utilise my starting hand, not replace it. For instance, a grip full of lands and no cards that let me play extras, or maybe an Exploration in a two land opening hand. I'm no stranger to two land openers that never see a third, even when this deck had 46 lands in it. After you play your commanders, the pace of putting down cards slows dramatically. There's no place for wheels here.
- Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger - Used to be a sucker for mana doublers, but I'd rather have five mana on turn four than 15 on turn 10. Placeholder for all mana doublers, and to a lesser extent, stax effects, which I also avoided.
"I'm 100% confident that you didn't build your Commander deck in a vacuum." - So says the primer skeleton. It's true. This deck got all the help you see below, and from a good friend I chat to on Facebook Messenger.
+1 Wayward Swordtooth
-1 Collective Defiance
-1 Fast // Furious
+1 Halana and Alena, Partners
+1 Neyith of the Dire Hunt
+1 Xenagos, God of Revels
+1 Zopandrel, Hunger Dominus
+1 Unnatural Hunger
-1 Kediss, Emberclaw Familiar
-1 Scourge of the Throne
-1 Mage Slayer
-1 Fiery Emancipation
-1 Hardy Outlander
-1 Jeska, Thrice Reborn
*****Credit for this Primer Template belongs to all members of the Primer Committee*****