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Hokori, Mall Ninja

Commander / EDH

WeHaveTheTechnology

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Creature (23)

Instant (8)

Artifact (22)

Sorcery (8)

Commander (1)

Commander: foil Hokori, Dust Drinker

Land (35)

Enchantment (3)

Maybeboard

Creature (2)

Enchantment (2)

Story

As a 75% Commander, Hokori, Dust Drinker appears to have an unenviable position. For folks wanting Battle Cruiser Magic, he represents a type of resource management generally associated with combo-oriented, competitive/pub-stomper play. I myself feel sometimes that I'm an untenable position, because I enjoy a casual game of Magic with friends outside of the highly tuned cEDH meta, but I deeply enjoy resource management, watching one's curves, and playing around one's threats.

That's where Hokori, at a second glance, represents a sweet spot: he's an (arguably) overcosted Winter Orb that's everpresent and recastable. What's important is that he not just be presented as a build-around commander for you, but more crucially as a play-around for your group. This last bit is important, and for casual players may not show up as a consideration as often as it should.

I have the benefit of a consistent player base of my partner and one of my closest, dearest friends; from there, slots 4 and 5 are a reasonably consistent cast. They're wonderful to play with/against, but it's important, I feel, when building a deck, to take into account how a deck is seen by others, and to present the deck in a way that emphasizes what you find fun for the deck on both sides of the table.

To start, I took a Isamaru, Hound of Konda deck that we had in our group that hadn't seen much play but contained some stax effects and our beloved hero, Hokori, as part of the 99. The deck wasn't played much in our new group, as it was assembled when one of our players was grinding in pretty competitive circles and power creep had turned mono-white aggro into stax/denial. No one was having a good time, so I acquired the deck whole-cloth and adapted it to our new group.

Boards, Side and Otherwise

As you see, most of its more heinous cards have been moved to its "Meanboard," a set of ten-ish cards we set aside for when friends and new players want to play with something more streamlined and tuned, so that our durdly piles can at least pretend to keep up! The sideboard is still a work in progress, but simply seeks to shore up certain matches and let the deck flex a bit. I'm also tooling up a "Catboard," which will replace Hokori with Balan and LD with tribal Cat/Equipment choices, to show the deck's core strengths without its central theme present.

How It Works

Although the deck is designed to function in a field of big critters and absurd ramp/group-hug effects, we still need to show a strong start with fast mana and an immediate presence. You'll want a hand with rocks, at least one white source, and something to do during your first few turns while other decks are dropping early effects. You're not trying to rush Hokori out too early, as he won't necessarily help you, and will only draw fire from the table. We're wanting to wait until the table has tapped down for their first wave of nasty 5-7 drop monsters/commanders. Once they've committed to their strategies, then we commit to ours.

Equipment's going to be your muscle for the most part. Tutor for Batterskull early when you can. Your other early target could be Lightning Greaves if you want to play the long time and protect Stoneforge Mystic or Stonehewer Giant. Don't forget about Commander damage with Hokori; it seems like a longshot but after a properly timed board wipe you'll be surprised the pressure your little 2/2 buddy can apply, especially if Puresteel Paladin is out.

A Note On Land Destruction

It's the boogeyman, I know. Nothing can ruffle the feathers of a casual player faster than telling them that, in their eyes, they can't play Magic anymore. I like to counter this argument by saying that board resets in any format are important tools for controlling the chaos. I've been in plenty of games where someone ramps to 20 lands and everyone at the table just throws their hands up and says, "Welp! There's nothing we can do!"

But... but there is, right? I mean, if someone has 14 creatures and I have two in play and two in my hand, I wrath the board then replay my guys. Replace "Creatures," to some extent," with lands, and a similar push/pull happens.

The best argument I hear against LD - and it's a mighty good one - is that play-around cards are either very pricy (eg Crucible of Worlds, or extremely narrow (eg Splendid Reclamation. This is another strong point for a ten card sideboard, and to either loan some cards to our less collector-oriented brethren or offer them some play assistance. That said, some decks are going to have a tough time against Armageddon just like they'll struggle against Vandalblast, which isn't symmetrical but can still blow out certain decks that otherwise seem impossible to combat. To me, that's why those cards are there. They're a response to an over-committed board state, and those responses have led to some of the most satisfying moments of strategy, as a winner and as a loser, that I've ever experienced.

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96% Casual

Competitive