So I built a deck for Emmara (a decent 2 drop commander), and I decided to share it. So, as the title suggests, we’re going WIDE with a bit of big boys ;-)
Note: the final deck cost is $97.28 . Of course, you could buy every card individually (which is what the final deck cost is made of), but it’s also worth noting that the Selesnya Guild kit has a ton of cards that are in this deck.
The first Step of a Deck-- MANA! Obviously, we are going to need mana to do anything--but wait! Lands are expensive, so let's get things with a bigger bang for the buck.
Survivors' Encampment is one of our lands that synergizes well with our commander: it taps her for us. I also threw in Holdout Settlement, since it does the same thing.
Next up on our land spree, we have Nephalia Academy. We can’t have our win-cons and win-con set-up cards removed from us, so this land avoids that! Don't worry about discards with it on the board. In fact, my meta is pretty discard heavy, so the card is really useful.
Finally, we have Grove of the Guardian. It taps our commander upon sacrifice and creates a Big Guy.
Next up: our defense! First on Protecting Us™ is Privileged Position A REALLY EXPENSIVE CARD-- at the time I’m writing this, it’s chilling at a hot $10.20. But this is a budget! Why must you include such an expensive card, o Ace_123?-- I hear you cry. Why, my dear reader; it is because it protects everything in our deck-- even our lands!
Next on the Defensive is Reconnaissance. At another Hefty™ cost, we have $8.99 for a piece of cardboard. It’s worth it, though! This piece of cardboard is SO powerful so and so synergistic. Because of its interaction with our commander, we attack, get a token, untap it (yes, UNTAP IT!), and it untaps our commander for us! PLUS, it protects itself from big ole baddies that want to smack it.
Next, we have our board wipes. We only run 2 but they’re pretty good: Divine Reckoning and Hour of Reckoning. I reckon it's pretty obvious why they are here, but I’ll explain nonetheless. Divine Reckoning lets us keep one big boi (such as the 8/8 token from Grove of the Guardian ), does a board wipe AND a Wincon, Hour Of Reckoning. Basically, we make a massive board with tokens! Let’s say you wipe the non-token blockers from your opponent(s) board’s and swing in for lethal! Basic, but oh, so satisfying!
It has responses to issue enchantments with Forsake The Worldly, Root Out and similar spells. In fact, Root Out brings us into our next topic: advantage. If we can't win with the combat step, we have to grind our way to victory by making extreme value. The best way to do that is to have a bonus for a bunch creatures such as Suture Priest or our Skull Clamp for draw with our 1/1’s.
Next up is our untappers, which has us untap multiple times in a board rotation. So, of course Seedborn Muse and Quest For Renewal goes with any one of our tappers like Karametra's Favor or Paradise Mantle and Throne Of The God Pharaoh or Throne of The God Pharaoh and Diversionary Tactics.
Finally, we have Hunter's Insight. After a board wipe with Divine Reckoning (and keeping your big boy), slap Hunter’s Insight and strike a deal to draw a few cards, or cast Harmonize and refill your hand.
Next, we have our wincons. For our game-changing draws (the pieces of cardboard that are exceptionally good), we have our lords ( Kongming, "Sleeping Dragon" and Tolsimir Wolfblood ) fill the board up with 1/1’s-- but wait! Suddenly, they’re 4/4’s and smack for big damage! Collective Blessing isn't a creature, but it is oh-so scary, giving +3/+3!
If we need to get grinding, Throne of The God Pharaoh is amazing. And, with Diversionary Tactics or Glare Of Subdual, you can keep your opponent’s creatures tapped down, then hit them with a whopping 12 damage.
Hour Of Reckoning is obviously just really good. Chump Blockers? With Hour of Reckoning, chumps be-gone! It can lower the opponent’s defenses. It’s also worth noting that using Devout Invocation turns our 10 little boys into 20 big boys. Helm of The Host This card is just bonkers i've had 4 emmara’s and i was just pumping out tokens.
Weaknesses?………NONE. Just kidding. This deck is extremely dependent on winning with our combo combat steps. While we have wincons outside of the combat steps, most people have better alt wincons. We also don't interact a whole lot with the board; just artifacts and enchantment removal. It’s like a glass cannon; it can do a lot to someone, but it can't take much in return. The deck relies heavily on tapping our opponents creatures down or chump blocking.
