Dakkon Blackblade is a commander deck I have been building for many years. Ever since 2019 with War of the Spark and Modern Horizons this deck has really taken shape. Those sets have made available some of the most helpful cards to support the strategy I was going for with it, which is recursion for permanents & nonland permanents of a mana value (cmc) 3 or less.
Power Level according to Cards Realm: 7
Power Level according to EDH power level calculator: 9.02? That seems too high.
Originally, my Dakkon Blackblade list started as a heavy landfall theme deck with a variety of Zendikar related creatures with “landfall” mechanics. Ultimately, I found these to be useful, but not always optimal. You play a Roil Elemental only to draw no more lands to benefit in subsequent turns. It is also just as easy to stumble into too much land and no landfall creatures. That is the way it goes though.
Fast Forward to 2023 and you still see some land/landfall “matters” creatures Cosima, God of the Voyage
, Ob Nixilis, the Fallen, and Trove Warden, but the focus is more on ramp to get a bunch of lands in play not as concerned about needing to activate landfall. More so ramping into bigger spells or having mana to cast (or recast) Dakkon and activate a rogue’s passage etc.
The creatures have become tutor spells to toolbox for the right card in the moment, be it equipment/artifacts/land/etc. In many of my other decks, I go out of my way to specifically avoid using “tutor” spells. This particular deck though, out of all my lists, is the one deck archetype that most actually needs/relies on creatures who can also tutor up cards that can progress the game and keep the pressure. Not the biggest fan of playing that type of strategy, but I can appreciate how this particular deck can rely on such things.
Tutor targets at mana value 1, 2, or 3 are equipment that can make a creature unblockable or gives it trample. Just being a creature with landfall wasn’t enough, but a creature that pulls an evasion granting equipment is exactly what the list wants. Make a large threat (ideally Dakkon) unblockable or a way to finish an opponent is what this list wants to do.
Modern Horizons 2 brought Dakkon, Shadow Slayer the 3 esper mana planeswalker. This is perfect for the 3 mana value or less theme the deck has wanted. Overall, each loyalty ability provides a very welcome effect for this deck. The plus ability works with setting up reanimation targets, avoiding lackluster draws, and/or playing lands from the graveyard. The first minus ability is just a good removal effect. The “ultimate” is actually quite achievable given this deck is focused on ramping. On its own, the ultimate works to get back a destroyed artifact or artifact creature. I had run Angel of the Ruins, but swapped it out for Archivist of Oghma. But reanimating a Phyrexian Metamorph to clone a threat is pretty nice. Combine it with Spark Double (or technically even Clever Impersonator) to potentially reanimate two different artifacts in one turn to get the battlefield reset with a threat and/or an equipment to start swinging with the next turn.
In a grander sense, this deck has replaced my previous Sidri list for my top Esper commander deck. That other deck really struggled in 2019 and through 2020 all while making me wish I had my Dakkon Blackblade list more tuned to replace it. I have since moved many of the cards from Sydri into my Breya deck and others into this Dakkon Blackblade list.
This deck is unassuming and I found it can do some powerful things basically “Out of nowhere.” It is susceptible to stalling out if you find yourself without much card draw or recursion. As a result, I play a larger number of wraths and counter magic to compensate and give it more time to recover. Activating a planeswalker ultimate in this deck does not guarantee anything. It usually is more prudent to generate incremental advantages and card draw over time than to win with a “big play.”
Having multiple wraths and counterspells allows the deck to get established in building up the land count, drawing large threats, etc while the board wipes keep the opposing threats low until usually Dakkon is cast to hopefully close out the game. Otherwise clones can do some work if you catch the conditions right.
In general, there is a snow subtheme, which does serve a functional purpose. Primarily, it is most useful with spells like Dead of Winter, Search for Glory, and Blood on the Snow. The Kaldheim snow tapped duals got added for their basic land types that play well with the "plains" search effects. I had included a Sunstone for a long time in this deck as it worked very well with the snow-covered lands and the various ways to replay those lands from the graveyard. For the moment it has been removed in favor of Teferi's Protection. Modern Horizons 2 however had me consider removing the snow theming due to break the ice. I can see that being a huge setback for this deck one that would be simple enough to swap the snow cards for non-snow alternatives. But I like the snow theme and it is my only snow themed list.
Overall, I am pleased with the state of the list and its performance in multiplayer commander. I likely will make more changes. Keep in mind that the deck can become scary to opponents if you have a couple of Dakkon Blackblade clones that are swinging for 15+ power each thanks to Spark Double which can make you a target fast (or earlier than prepared for). That setup is easier said than done, just don’t be surprised if the table makes you the archenemy. The deck is not “perfect,” but it is fun to play every now and again. I enjoy piloting this list.
