VCPAC - Ultimate Commander

Commander / EDH*

thuzra

Unknown (5)

• 1x Hold the Perimeter
• 1x Immediate Action
• 1x Secret Summoning
• 1x Sentinel Dispatch
• 1x Sovereign's Realm

Creature (99)

• 1x Laboratory Maniac
• 98x Shadowborn Apostle

Commander (1)

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Sideboard

Land (15)

• 15x Wastes

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Maybeboard

Unknown (20)

• 2x All Shall Smolder In My Wake
• 2x Dance, Pathetic Marionette
• 2x Feed the Machine
• 2x I Bask in Your Silent Awe
• 2x I Delight in Your Convulsions
• 2x No One Will Hear Your Cries
• 2x Only Blood Ends Your Nightmares
• 2x Pay Tribute to Me
• 2x Plots That Span Centuries
• 2x Tooth, Claw, and Tail

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Imagine, if you will, a perfect world. Now imagine something better.

Vanguard Conspiracy Planechase Archenemy Commander! Can you taste it yet? Its good, aint it?

This format is my brainchild, because I have nothing better to do than create a format where the same asshole doesnt win every game of Commander with the same BS deck. Sometimes that asshole is me. Dont get me wrong I can appreciate a competitively minded EDH. But in a more relaxed or casual setting, its not always appropriate. Furthermore, if I want to play a laxer game (you know, something other than killing everyone on turn 3 by accident), I want to play something that will punish those who try and step too far out of the bounds of my fun. What disrupts degenerate combo decks? Chaos. What weakens prison control decks? Chaos. What forces people to think creatively, improvise, and put their own nonsense on the backburner? Chaos!

VCPAC allows for more creative and elaborate deckbuilding, enables more casual decks to compete with more challenging decks, and makes every player reevaluate the their actions at every turn.

Why in the Multiverse would you do this?

Commander is one of the most popular formats for a reason - or several. It's accessible, it's fun, it's not too competitive, for the most part, and it's a place to explore ideas that you really can't in other formats, either due to card availability or banlists, etc. The number of ways even just to build the same commander deck is incredible. But, for me, it kinda grows stale. Not always is it fun (especially on a, shall we say, minimal MtG budget, or with a small playgroup) to play the same decks over and over again with the same people, or even just to play new decks without always knowing the ins and outs of them.

Enter Chaos.

Conspiracies are a fun little addition to the game featured for drafting purposes - they function kinda like mini Vanguards, a lot of them. And - speaking of Vanguards - a Vanguard provides a huge shift in the balance, playstyle, and uniqueness of almost every interaction in a game, adjusting life totals, hand size, and adding buffs or debuffs to you or your things. Even so, adding these things often doesn't add enough variance, or not enough flair to a game - for Conspiracies, their effects are often subtle, though powerful, and unless a Vanguard has a persistent effect, they can sometimes feel more or less kinda lame, in a way. Planechase and the Planar deck come in to shake things up. These unique cards sometimes will level the playing field, or tip it significantly in the favor of some players. This adds an element of zazz, of unpredictability. And if the effect is too good or too bad, players will cooperate or fight to get off the plane and see what lies beyond in the Blind Eternities.

Now that each player has a very unique deck, the game's afoot! Chaos will reign, and those who can conquer the Eternities, lead with legends, and play the game of thrones shall rise to the top, victorious.

What if this isn't enough, though? How can we make this fresh? Where do you go when politics, planes, and pandemonium just don't cut it?

Enter the Archenemy.

Each player has the power of gods at their fingertips, but one can challenge them all. If there is one lesson to be learned from Theros and Amonkhet, it is that even the gods should fear the meddling of Planeswalkers. Test your collective mettle against the most powerful being in the Multiverse, and see who has the right to say, "Here, I rule!"

So what is this deck, here?

This is actually one of the things I tried to avoid by making this format, but my ever-vigilant eyes can spot combo potential a mile away. Secret Summoning gives us an insane amount of deck-thinning with Shadowborn Apostle, and the best way to take advantage of having no deck whenever you feel like it is to play Laboratory Maniac. All of this is actually possible, though, because Sovereign's Realm let's us 'curve out' our mana base by locking it away in the sideboard, which we can easily access by exiling one of ninety-eight Apostles.

Actually just a really dumb deck, possibly banworthy, but the question is: What card would be banned? Shadowborn Apostle and Relentless Rats would make sense, since they take advantage of this, but there are decks for them outside of this. Secret Summoning is what makes the meme dream a reality, could be the root problem. And Laboratory Maniac has a certain line of text that I do not desire for this format: 'you win the game.'

But are these the cards to worry about? In my opinion, no. Secret Summoning does very little in any other deck, we've Maniac dies to everything but Flame Dart. In my opinion, perhaps Ertai Character is the banworthy option, since without him the deck is still viable (though VERY weak to removal) but it is also a winnable matchup.

Anyway, dumb-sample-deck-primer over, let's get back into the meat of the format, shall we?

Deck Creation and Restrictions

When it comes to deck creation, there are some special rules for VCPAC:
Each deck may have a sideboard of up to 15 cards. Since games are played as a one-round battle royale or one-round Archenemy game, sideboards are not for switching out cards between games. All cards that refer to cards from 'outside the game' (such as Burning Wish or Sovereign's Realm ) will use the sideboard as the cardpool for selection.

Conspiracy and Scheme decks are created along with the maindeck and sideboard of the VCPAC deck, and all are considered one Constructed unit.

Conspiracy Decks Show

A Conspiracy deck may contain up to 5 unique Conspiracies. All Conspiracies are considered active while the game begins, and all Hidden Agendas are facedown until revealed. Hidden Agendas must have the chosen card selected before the game begins, and Double Agendas must have both selected. Conspiracies that affect deck creation (such as Advantageous Proclamation and Sovereign's Realm ) may be used, and their effects take place accordingly.

Special Conspiracy Rules Show

Some Conspiracies feature colored mana symbols on them ( Adriana's Valor , Assemble the Rank and Vile , Hired Heist , Incendiary Dissent , and Nature's Unity). These Conspiracies therefore have a color identity and must follow the Commander rules concerning color identity in a Commander deck, even though they are in a separate deck in the Command Zone.
A deck paired with a Conspiracy deck containing Advantageous Proclamation must have 95 cards, including commander(s).
A deck paired with a Conspiracy deck containing Sovereign's Realm may not contain basic lands. Basic lands accessed by Sovereign's Realm must be in the sideboard.
Worldknit will only take effect if the owner's deck has no cards in its sideboard.

Scheme Decks Show

Scheme decks follow the standard rules of Archenemy: A Scheme deck must contain at least 20 cards, and no more than 2 of any Scheme or Ongoing Scheme.

Note: Scheme decks are only used by the Archenemy. Preparing a Scheme deck prepares one for the possibility of being the Archenemy. While not necessary to play, a player without a Scheme deck cannot play as the Archenemy.

The Planar Deck Show

The Planar deck is not owned by one player, but is shared collectively, and may contain no more than one of each Phenomenon or Plane. For optimal chaos, it should contain one of each. Each player should bring a Planar Die, but in the absence of one, for any d6, 1 is the Chaos symbol, and 6 is the Planeswalker symbol. 2-5 are blank.

Conspiracy decks and Scheme decks exist in the Command Zone. The Planar deck exists in a shared Command Zone, owned by no one and controlled only by the active player. Sideboards exist outside of the game.

This format is quite different from regular Commander, so the banlist is also quite different.

Banlist Show

All ante cards are banned.
All silver-bordered cards are banned (unless desired).
Black Lotus
Mox Sapphire
Mox Emerald
Mox Ruby
Mox Jet
Mox Pearl
Time Walk
Coalition Victory
Felidar Sovereign
Test of Endurance
Shahrazad
Door to Nothingness

Beginning a Game

Players will place their commanders faceup and determine which player will be the Archenemy (if no Archenemy is desired, they decide turn order - roll for first, proceed clockwise).

After turn order has been determined (the Archenemy always goes first), the first player will select his or her Vanguard from among a cardpool containing one of each Vanguard, then the rest (in turn order) will do the same.

Players set life totals to 40 (the Archenemy begins the game with an additional 20 life for each player they oppose), then place their Vanguards in the Command Zone. Conspiracies are revealed, then placed in the Command Zone, also. The Archenemy places their Scheme deck in the Command Zone. Changes to life totals take place, then players draw opening hands and resolve mulligans.

After mulligans have resolved, but before pregame effects (such as Leylines or Chancellors), the top card of the shared Planar deck is played. If it is a Phenomenon, ignore its effects, put it on the bottom of the Planar deck, and repeat this process until a Plane is active.

Players then play the game until it is over.

Planechase Rules

work in progress

Archenemy Rules

work in progress

Special Rules for VCPAC

For players who are not the Archenemy, it still requires only 10 poison counters to cause loss. For the Archenemy, it requires 20.

After the game has begun, the active plane becomes the discard pile. The top card of the discard pile is always the active plane or Phenomenon, and when the players planeswalk away from a Plane or Phenomenon (to Walk a plane or phenomenon), the card stays in the discard pile, rather than being put on the bottom of the Planar deck. The new card is set on top of the previous Plane or Phenomenon in the discard pile and becomes the active card until it is Walked. When the Planar deck has less than 25% of the cards in it with which it began the game, remove the active card from the discard pile, shuffle the discard pile and put it on the bottom of the Planar deck, then put the removed card back on top of the discard pile.

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work in progress

Date added	6 years
Last updated	6 years
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	2 - 0 Mythic Rares 1 - 0 Rares 2 - 0 Uncommons 100 - 0 Commons
Cards	105
Avg. CMC	1.11
Tokens	Construct 1/1 C Token w/ Defender, Goblin 1/1 R w/ Can't Block, Soldier 1/2 W