The 99 land challenge

[DirkGently]

After another failed experiment with my new, low-powered group (Kros, Defense Contractor got called "overpowered" last session...) I'm aiming to build something really challenging. Something so terrible that any victory would require a miracle. So I'm returning to one of my favorite ideas, the 98 land deck with Thrasios, Triton Hero, except going one step further - 99 lands, one commander. Can it be done? Should it be done? Let's find out!

Here are the candidates I'm currently considering - place your votes, or alternative suggestions. Asterisks next to my current top picks.

Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer - Steal stuff and hope it goes somewhere.

*Ashling the Pilgrim - A classic and a strong contender, she provides board control and a growing threat. Some choice utility lands can really up her game, like Witch's Clinic or Tyrite Sanctum. No, I'm not doing 99 mountain ashling, I'm not that crazy yet.

Grenzo, Havoc Raiser - Serious hard-mode option. First, hit someone. Then, hope you get some creatures off the top so you can keep the ball rolling into more stuff. Obviously manlands are a high priority here, and lands that grant evasion.

Jenara, Asura of War - Really boring compared to ashling, but she does give a lot more color options.

Nashi, Moon Sage's Scion - similar vibe to grenzo, except that there's more high-roll potential but less potential to accelerate.

Sarulf, Realm Eater - I find it interesting that his power is going to be dictated a lot by my opponents. He doesn't have much interaction with my lands, but at least he doesn't blow them up.

Uvilda, Dean of Perfection // Nassari, Dean of Expression - easy mode version of grenzo/nashi. 5 is pretty slow though when you're not doing anything else and probably not ramping.

Zurzoth, Chaos Rider - serious chutzpah required to try him as a 99 land build. He does accelerate production if you can keep the devils alive, but GL with that. Dunno that red has the right land-based tools.

Aryel, Knight of Windgrace - Obviously slow to get going. And also just really bad. Why am I doing this?

*Breeches, Brazen Plunderer - Could play it hard-mode as a solo commander, or wimp out and partner with Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator.

Charix, the Raging Isle - Very hard. It even disincentivizes nonbasics. Better hope you draw that Access Tunnel.

Daghatar the Adamant - Shift counters around to control combat (only 3 mana per activation! dirt cheap!) and then you can move counters off him, let him die, recast him, and move them back on to make him bigger! It's genius and not at all impossible!

Gisa, Glorious Resurrector - Yeah you basically just have to hope they kill good creatures so you can steal them. At least she works really well with board wipes and stuff, if someone else is kind enough to set one up for you.

Gonti, Lord of Luxury - At least the first one is free. Better hope someone is playing a blink deck.

Olivia Voldaren - C'mon, that's too easy. Barely a challenge, really.

Chainer, Dementia Master - similar vibe to Gisa, Glorious Resurrector except slower but with more flexibility.

*Kenrith, the Returned King - He's probably still pretty good tbh. The draw and resurrect are useless except as political maneuvers, but the lifegain, counters, and trample is a reasonable strategy I'd say, plus politics to keep folks off your back. And full access to lands.

Kumano, Master Yamabushi - Eesh. Pretty hard. If he was a little cheaper he'd be cool but 5 is tough.

Kura, the Boundless Sky - There's probably some kind of nasty synergy to be had if you get a triple-demonic tutor, right?

Latulla, Keldon Overseer - c'mon, it'd be so funny to hadouken people out of the game. Too bad it's so unreasonably slow.

Liesa, Shroud of Dusk - Kinda sucks that lands 6+ don't do much of anything. But the passive aspect is pretty funny.

Mageta the Lion - Tbh I bet John would call Mageta OP if I play it. Not even kidding.

Maja, Bretagard Protector - I don't think I'm this suicidal.

Meloku the Clouded Mirror - Oh god...it's so bad...like you go all-in for an army that deals at most like 10 damage in a turn lol...

Moritte of the Frost - I don't know what the deck would be, but it's the closest possible to a 100 land deck so that's pretty spicy.

Nikya of the Old Ways - If nothing else, Kessig Wolf Run is pretty strongk here.

Ob Nixilis, the Fallen - fetch laaaaaands

Sen Triplets - It looks okay but history has taught me that nobody should play sen triplets unless you've got pope-like levels of personal protection.

Shadrix Silverquill - That's another super-hard-mode option, holy cow. Gotta politic like a god.

*The Scarab God - The best chainer, I think.

Titania, Protector of Argoth - fetch laaaaaaands

*Volrath, the Shapestealer - could be fun. Or impossible.

Xyris, the Writhing Storm - super hard mode.

Zara, Renegade Recruiter - super hard mode.

Athreos, Shroud-Veiled - It's probably almost tolerable once it's in play but not doing anything relevant until turn 7 is...rough...

Dragonlord Silumgar - super hard mode. At least it makes a big initial impact. And probably gets removed immediately.

Etali, Primal Storm - if it wasn't for the price tag this would actually be really easy.

Geth, Lord of the Vault - samesies.

Oona, Queen of the Fae - samesies.

Phylath, World Sculptor - samesies? Wait, basic? ew.

Xanathar, Guild Kingpin - Still not great, pricetag aside. Do people still think this guy is good?

*Jadzi, Oracle of Arcavios // Journey to the Oracle - I mean, she's just a 5/5 for 8, but damn if she doesn't ramp the crap out of you.

One crucial question is whether MDFC lands count as lands. Currently I think no, but if I decide I need a little more gas in the tank I might reconsider.

[TheAmericanSpirit]

I say play Kenrith and go full Manlands. You can haste them, pump them with sticky counters, and you have 5 buttons to press in the CZ. I think these other options would be too limited in their access to nonbasics. Etbt will also be this deck's middle name, I wager.

Edit: I also say you play 98 lands instead and then play loam as your 99th. Loam gives this deck options, and with Kenrith's capacity to dredge on demand, I think it's too cool to pass up.

[RxPhantom]

@DirkGently what is up with your group? It sounds like they die to stiff breezes and sarcastic comments.

[Dunharrow]

I would go with a theft commander, unless the group dislikes theft effects. Gonti or Ragavan sound fun to me.
I would avoid Ashling and Sarulf.

If you want to avoid theft I think Titania sounds fun, you can really lean into your nonbasic lands.

[kirkusjones]

@DirkGently what is up with your group? It sounds like they die to stiff breezes and sarcastic comments.

What are their decks? Some pocket lint, a couple of basics and the arena promo code cards?

[Magiqmaster]

Honestly, I think you need to find another group!

I can't imagine having any kind of pleasure myself, in this situation, especially if I need to build crappy decks just to "fit in".

Anyway, good luck with that!

[onering]

@DirkGently what is up with your group? It sounds like they die to stiff breezes and sarcastic comments.

I honestly think most out of the box precons could compete with what Dirk says he's been bringing.

[Hawk]

@DirkGently what is up with your group? It sounds like they die to stiff breezes and sarcastic comments.

Seconding this - I play in a total carebear 50%ish playgroup and have definitely benched The Gitrog Monster and Daretti, Scrap Savant unless I'm feeling nasty, and accepted playing Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow is going to get arch-enemied to oblivion, but I can still play some commanders like Quintorius, Field Historian, Sevinne, the Chronoclasm, and Volo, Guide to Monsters and do things I find fun without getting a ton of salt dumped my way.

For an answer, Ashling the Pilgrim is a classic for a reason and I think that there's enough lands printed in the last decade (the ones you mentioned and also War Room, Bonders' Enclave, Flamekin Village, etc.) to make a real go of it despite everything.

[Legend]

kenrith or any five color legendary creature

[Ulka]

Personally Radha, Heart of Keld seems like the most fun commander to go with for a 99 Lands deck. but if you want my lower powered ideas Gretchen Titchwillow seems like a inconspicuous commander for the deck unlike thrasios.

If you want something stupid while it would work in a 99 land deck Jedit Ojanen of Efrava could be a really slow but fun deck now that we have Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth.

Bonus points to you if you make Ib Halfheart, Goblin Tactician work at 99 lands.

[DirkGently]

I say play Kenrith and go full Manlands. You can haste them, pump them with sticky counters, and you have 5 buttons to press in the CZ. I think these other options would be too limited in their access to nonbasics. Etbt will also be this deck's middle name, I wager.

Edit: I also say you play 98 lands instead and then play loam as your 99th. Loam gives this deck options, and with Kenrith's capacity to dredge on demand, I think it's too cool to pass up.

Having built 98 lands in 4c (which already cuts off 40% of the 2c utility lands) there are a lot of great utility lands. I had to leave a lot of them on the sidelines. Mono-color would definitely be a challenge but I think it's possible. There are lands that become a lot stronger in mono-color than multi.

Kenrith is probably the most straight-forward though.

I don't think loam merits an exception, much as I love it. Draw power is...middling here since we're only playing 1 land per turn and most of them are replaceable, so it's closer to a Telling Time than an Ancestral Recall.

@DirkGently what is up with your group? It sounds like they die to stiff breezes and sarcastic comments.

What are their decks? Some pocket lint, a couple of basics and the arena promo code cards?

I honestly think most out of the box precons could compete with what Dirk says he's been bringing.

Honestly, I think you need to find another group!

I can't imagine having any kind of pleasure myself, in this situation, especially if I need to build crappy decks just to "fit in".

Anyway, good luck with that!

So the current status of the group is that there are theoretically 8 people, of which me, J, and M are the ones who show up most regularly (some of the others don't have their own decks etc). M is solid on the rules and J is getting better although I think he needs glasses or something cause damn that dude doesn't RTFC pretty frequently. Of the others, some are fine and some are...less fine on the rules (One dude kept trying to attack with his planeswalker...and no it wasn't gideon...).

In terms of power level, quite a few precons circulating around which are honestly probably the better decks people are playing. J really likes innistrad tribal so he's swapped between a couple homebrewed versions of werewolves, zombies, and vampires - the werewolf deck was fine solely because Tovolar, Dire Overlord // Tovolar, the Midnight Scourge is a strong commander for a lot of mostly vanilla werewolves - at one point he tried to switch it to a jund deck (with Vaevictis Asmadi, the Dire as the commander for no particular reason)...you can guess how effective that was. The vampire deck was a bit more power-distributed but I think he's played it the least. He's had a few different zombie decks which can definitely win if they get swarmy enough, but there's also plenty of junk in there.

Which is probably one of the most consistent issues with their decks - they've got some solid cards in there, and then some absolute garbage. I'm assuming this is mostly an issue with small collections. M has been playing a Talrand, Sky Summoner deck, which can be pretty strong with the right draw, but then he's also got junk like Take into Custody just to fill out the list. His other decks include a Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma deck with a mixture of fine, somewhat old-school fatties like Thopter Assembly and Hydra Broodmaster alongside dreck like Kozilek's Pathfinder (in fairness, that was his first attempt at a commander deck - I used it after demolishing the table twice with Kros so I could take a loss and shut J up about how I always win). M also has a new decklist he got online around Zacama, Primal Calamity - he didn't fully understand what it was doing until I took a look at it and identified that it's primarily a combo deck around Sanctum of Eternity. That list seems to be a little bit of a boogieman in the group now, he didn't play it last time despite it being his new hotness and J mentioned it as being overpowered (J is a real whiner if you couldn't tell).

Anyway, long story short, there's a mix of precons which are basically fine decks with synergy, and then homebrew decks that often have looser synergy and/or some blanks due to collection limitations.

As far as play skill, M is roughly average for what I'd expect from a commander player as is Z (but he rarely shows), the rest are a little below that, with a couple standouts as particularly weak. I'm often identified as "the threat" early in the game and eat some haphazard removal or attacks, but then find a win in the late-game when people don't notice what I've got going on until it's too late (i.e. with Kros + proliferate forcing everyone else to kill each other and unable to attack me). Or people making truly awful plays that hand me the win by killing each other voluntarily. I don't think it's too far off what I'd expect from an LGS, but when I win a high % of games at an LGS it's frequently different people so people don't tend to get as frustrated.

As far as playing elsewhere etc, the only other real option I'm aware of is an hour's plus drive away even without traffic. There aren't any LGSs nearby. I do get on well with M, so in that respect I'd also like it make it work, it's not purely a hostage situation lol.

I don't think the power levels of my decks is particularly out there for the group tbh (at least not the decks I've been playing), however I think piloting is giving me a pretty major edge. Because of that, I'm looking to make a deck that is truly challenging to win with. I don't want a deck on-par with theirs, I want the deck equivalent of a level-1-dark-souls-challenge-run. It's not just that I want to "fit in". I want something where, when I win, it'll be a monumental achievement, not par for the course.

I would go with a theft commander, unless the group dislikes theft effects. Gonti or Ragavan sound fun to me.
I would avoid Ashling and Sarulf.

If you want to avoid theft I think Titania sounds fun, you can really lean into your nonbasic lands.

I do like theft, but I wish there was a more reliable option than ragavan or gonti who might end up stealing one thing and then doing nothing. Why avoiding ashling?

Seconding this - I play in a total carebear 50%ish playgroup and have definitely benched The Gitrog Monster and Daretti, Scrap Savant unless I'm feeling nasty, and accepted playing Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow is going to get arch-enemied to oblivion, but I can still play some commanders like Quintorius, Field Historian, Sevinne, the Chronoclasm, and Volo, Guide to Monsters and do things I find fun without getting a ton of salt dumped my way.

For an answer, Ashling the Pilgrim is a classic for a reason and I think that there's enough lands printed in the last decade (the ones you mentioned and also War Room, Bonders' Enclave, Flamekin Village, etc.) to make a real go of it despite everything.

I am hoping that they'll get stronger as times goes on. I think they already have to some extent.

kenrith or any five color legendary creature

Don't think Morophon, the Boundless is going to go great here tbh

Personally Radha, Heart of Keld seems like the most fun commander to go with for a 99 Lands deck. but if you want my lower powered ideas Gretchen Titchwillow seems like a inconspicuous commander for the deck unlike thrasios.

If you want something stupid while it would work in a 99 land deck Jedit Ojanen of Efrava could be a really slow but fun deck now that we have Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth.

Bonus points to you if you make Ib Halfheart, Goblin Tactician work at 99 lands.

Thrasios doesn't have any negative connotations in a group like this, they're pretty insular. I could just do solo thrasios though.

I did look at Radha but she doesn't really do a lot on her own besides being a big beeferino. The topdeck ability is pretty worthless, despite always being active lol.

Jedit seems really bad lol. All you get to do is attack unblockably if you draw one particular card?

[RxPhantom]

@DirkGently, have you considered revisiting any of these past flux decks to find some inspiration? Would personal goals be a factor for you? For instance, in my Lord of Tresserhorn deck, I really want to be able to get the death triggers on all six old and new Kamigawa spirit dragons in one turn. Is that anything that interests you, or is the well-earned win the overriding motivation?

[Hawk]

Ooooh, what if you do Dakkon Blackblade? Maybe give yourself permission for 97 lands.dec to run Blackblade Reforged and Dakkon, Shadow Slayer? Being in Esper gives you plenty of interesting utility lands, most importantly Tolaria West as a tutor and Kor Haven as an "extra" Maze effect.

[Dragonlover]

Ooooh, what if you do Dakkon Blackblade? Maybe give yourself permission for 97 lands.dec to run Blackblade Reforged and Dakkon, Shadow Slayer? Being in Esper gives you plenty of interesting utility lands, most importantly Tolaria West as a tutor and Kor Haven as an "extra" Maze effect.

I was coming here to suggest this as well.

Dragonlover

[Ulka]

I think it also would be funny to play Kozilek, Butcher of Truth or Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre with only lands in the 99.

[DirkGently]

@DirkGently, have you considered revisiting any of these past flux decks to find some inspiration? Would personal goals be a factor for you? For instance, in my Lord of Tresserhorn deck, I really want to be able to get the death triggers on all six old and new Kamigawa spirit dragons in one turn. Is that anything that interests you, or is the well-earned win the overriding motivation?

My play philosophy is that one should always try their utmost to win (within reason in a casual setting, don't spent 20 minutes in the tank etc).

My build philosophy is to have a plan for how I want the deck to win, and if it ends up doing that thing while trying to win, then I've succeeded.

So if a "personal goal" could be the most effective way for my deck to win, then theoretically sure. But if achieving the "personal goal" isn't the optimal play then I'm not gonna do it, and if that's what usually ends up happening then the deck is failing at doing what I want.

I don't have any particular interest (or lack) for my previous decks. There aren't many that I think were really underpowered but also fun to play, though, so I think it'd be a full restart, not a modification of the previous list.

Ooooh, what if you do Dakkon Blackblade? Maybe give yourself permission for 97 lands.dec to run Blackblade Reforged and Dakkon, Shadow Slayer? Being in Esper gives you plenty of interesting utility lands, most importantly Tolaria West as a tutor and Kor Haven as an "extra" Maze effect.

I was coming here to suggest this as well.

Dragonlover

I considered it but honestly he's so crappy lol. There's not a lot of ways to ramp and he's just a stack of P/T, and not very much of that either tbh.

I think it also would be funny to play Kozilek, Butcher of Truth or Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre with only lands in the 99.

Holy god, no plays until ~ turn 9? Seems hard. I'd like to be able to do literally anything before I die, optimally.

[Ruiner]

How about Maralen of the Mornsong?

You throw a fun element for these low power people in where they tutor every turn, and you get access to whatever land you want to drop every turn. Now, I'm not sure exactly how you win, but with this low power level commander damage could be an option

[materpillar]

After another failed experiment with my new, low-powered group (Kros, Defense Contractor got called "overpowered" last session...) I'm aiming to build something really challenging. Something so terrible that any victory would require a miracle. So I'm returning to one of my favorite ideas, the 98 land deck with Thrasios, Triton Hero, except going one step further - 99 lands, one commander. Can it be done? Should it be done? Let's find out!

Pretty sure you're going to smash these guys even with a 99 land deck.

You want some hella' bad and troll deck ideas, I got you covered.
Urza, Lord High Artificer → Find Sanctum of Eternity, re-cast Urza until you kill the table with constructs. Extra, funny because his spin always hits a land.

Yurlok of Scorch Thrash → use storage lands so you don't take damage and burn out the table

Ruric Thar, the Unbowed → See how many times people kill themselves on accident.

The Mimeoplasm → Mill them with lands, see if you can scrape together a voltron threat strong enough to win

Garth One-Eye → Your main wincondition is now Shivan Dragon, you now have access to removal too.

Xantcha, Sleeper Agent → You'd have to burn people out with her while using Maze of Ith to keep her alive? It'd be pretty glorious.

[DirkGently]

How about Maralen of the Mornsong?

You throw a fun element for these low power people in where they tutor every turn, and you get access to whatever land you want to drop every turn. Now, I'm not sure exactly how you win, but with this low power level commander damage could be an option

I have considered Maralen for a regular deck - obviously not the stupid adnaus version or whatever, but something where after the game I can point out - "hey, you could have searched for a way to disrupt me at any time and didn't." Idk what my strategy would be, though.

For lands it's interesting, obviously urborg + coffers becomes trivial to set up, and could throw in Terrain Generator to ramp myself. Not entirely sure where it's going, though, and it could be awfully linear.

Pretty sure you're going to smash these guys even with a 99 land deck.

There are limits even to my power.

But we'll see. I think it'll at least be possible to win, which is the goal. RN I think I have a 70% chance to win even with a jank deck like Kros, I want to aim for like...10%.

You want some hella' bad and troll deck ideas, I got you covered.
Urza, Lord High Artificer → Find Sanctum of Eternity, re-cast Urza until you kill the table with constructs. Extra, funny because his spin always hits a land.

How do I find the sanctum though? Hard mulligan for it or tolaria west? Still it's like a coin flip at best.

Yurlok of Scorch Thrash → use storage lands so you don't take damage and burn out the table

Yurlok is on the list of options, but not in 99 lands. How the hell would I pull that off? Seems really hard lol.

Ruric Thar, the Unbowed → See how many times people kill themselves on accident.

Maybe, that one's cuter at least.

The Mimeoplasm → Mill them with lands, see if you can scrape together a voltron threat strong enough to win

Fun idea if there were more lands to mill with. I was considering Lazav, Dimir Mastermind but this might be a better option (for a regular-ish deck, with no creatures).

Garth One-Eye → Your main wincondition is now Shivan Dragon, you now have access to removal too.

Lol I've done him already, as a regular deck. But 99 land is actually pretty interesting, it's control but it's all on-board. Downside is that there aren't many options to ramp him out before turn 5. Pray for Krosan Verge basically.

If I make Kenny this would be an easy switch though if I want to try another angle, pretty sure optimal lists would look very similar.

Xantcha, Sleeper Agent → You'd have to burn people out with her while using Maze of Ith to keep her alive? It'd be pretty glorious.

Damn, now that's a challenge right there. God help me if anyone has a sac outlet lol.

[Legend]

Maybe building out a 99 that satisfies you (at least on paper) should dictate the commander rather than the other way around?

[DirkGently]

Maybe building out a 99 that satisfies you (at least on paper) should dictate the commander rather than the other way around?

My deckbuilding process always starts with the commander first.

Anyway idk why building the deck first would make it any easier to curb my power level.

[Magiqmaster]

Quick question: won't your group realize, after you build your crap deck and play with it for a while, that you are using a watered-down deck just to win less? IF so, won't that offend them, somehow? Just curious....

[DirkGently]

Quick question: won't your group realize, after you build your crap deck and play with it for a while, that you are using a watered-down deck just to win less? IF so, won't that offend them, somehow? Just curious....

Nah they're already aware of it, to some extent. They know I've got a very extensive collection relative to theirs etc. I guess it's possible that playing an all-lands deck will throw the difference into starker contrast but I don't think they'll be offended about it.

[Hawk]

Quick question: won't your group realize, after you build your crap deck and play with it for a while, that you are using a watered-down deck just to win less? IF so, won't that offend them, somehow? Just curious....

Nah they're already aware of it, to some extent. They know I've got a very extensive collection relative to theirs etc. I guess it's possible that playing an all-lands deck will throw the difference into starker contrast but I don't think they'll be offended about it.

Rather than 99 lands have you considered true Boomer EDH as a restriction? No cards printed prior to Mirrodin, all old-border stuff? Yeah, there's still bah-roken stuff you can do there but at least on my budget I found the deck I built for that (Darigaaz, the Igniter "The Rock" reanimator stompy mess) to be close to impossible to win with, as even with some powerful stuff in the deck (Buried Alive into Living Death) I was just too slow and inconsistent compared to the modern power creep.

[Legend]

Ruhan of the Fomori