CLAMILTON: the Musical

Commander / EDH* Casual Theme/Gimmick UR (Izzet)

Jimmylegs50

1-01. ”Alexander Hamilton” (1)

• 1x Voracious Reader  ^Flip

1-02. ”Aaron Burr, Sir” (1)

• 1x Civilized Scholar  ^Flip

1-03. ”My Shot” (1)

• 1x Knowledge and Power

1-04. ”Story of Tonight” (1)

• 1x Rise of Eagles

1-05. ”The Schuyler Sisters” (1)

• 1x Rielle, the Everwise

1-06. ”Farmer Refuted” (1)

• 1x Imperial Recruiter

1-07. ”You’ll Be Back” (1)

• 1x Invade the City

1-08. ”Right Hand Man” (1)

• 1x Niv-Mizzet, Parun

1-10. ”Helpless” (1)

• 1x Mystical Tutor

1-11. ”Satisfied” (1)

• 1x Rewind

1-12. ”Story of Tonight (Reprise)” (1)

• 1x Glimpse of Freedom

1-13. “Wait For It” (1)

• 1x Delay

1-14. “Stay Alive” (2)

• 1x Admiral's Order
• 1x Panic

1-15. ”Ten Duel Commandments” (1)

• 1x Rivals' Duel

1-16. ”Meet Me Inside” (1)

• 1x Fierce Guardianship

1-17. ”That Would Be Enough” (1)

• 1x Keep Safe

1-18. ”Guns and Ships” (1)

• 1x Scourge of the Throne

1-19. ”History Has Its Eyes On You” (1)

• 1x Dig Through Time

1-20. ”Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)” (1)

• 1x Vance's Blasting Cannons  ^Flip

1-21. ”What Comes Next” (1)

• 1x Propaganda

1-22. ”Dear Theodosia“ (1)

• 1x Swan Song

1-23. ”Non-Stop” (2)

• 1x Double Negative
• 1x Finale of Promise

2-01. ”What’d I Miss?” (1)

• 1x Ral, Izzet Viceroy

2-02. ”Cabinet Battle 1” (1)

• 1x Expropriate

2-03. ”Take a Break” (1)

• 1x Rhystic Study

2-04. ”Say No To This” (1)

• 1x Dockside Extortionist

2-05. ”The Room Where It Happens” (1)

• 1x Disrupt Decorum

2-06. ”Schuyler Defeated” (1)

• 1x Role Reversal

2-07. ”Cabinet Battle 2” (1)

• 1x Plea for Power

2-08. ”Washington On Your Side” (1)

• 1x Treachery

2-09. ”One Last Time” (1)

• 1x Loyal Drake

2-10. ”I Know Him” (1)

• 1x Order of Succession

2-11. ”The Adams Administration” (1)

• 1x Expansion / Explosion

2-12. ”We Know” (1)

• 1x Blasphemous Act

2-13. ”Hurricane” (1)

• 1x Cyclonic Rift

2-14. ”The Reynolds Pamphlet” (1)

• 1x Broken Ambitions

2-15. ”Burn” (1)

• 1x Aria of Flame

2-16. ”Blow Us All Away” (1)

• 1x Boiling Blood

2-17. ”Stay Alive (Reprise)” (1)

• 1x Flood of Tears

2-18. ”Quiet Uptown” (1)

• 1x Cathartic Reunion

2-19. ”Election of 1800” (1)

• 1x Split Decision

2-20. ”Your Obedient Servant” (1)

• 1x Letter Bomb

2-21. ”Best of Wives and Best of Women” (1)

• 1x Primal Amulet  ^Flip

2-22. ”The World Was Wide Enough” (1)

• 1x Visions of Beyond

2-23. ”Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story” (1)

• 1x Tale's End

Additional Flavor Cards (5)

• 1x Chromatic Star
• 1x Epic Experiment
• 1x Fact or Fiction
• 1x Merchant Scroll
• 1x Needle Drop

Bulletproof Vest (1)

• 1x Magebane Armor

Filler (10)

• 1x Commander's Sphere
• 1x Opt
• 1x Ponder
• 1x Predict
• 1x Sleight of Hand
• 1x Snapcaster Mage
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Talisman of Creativity
• 1x Telling Time
• 1x Wayfarer's Bauble

Land (36)

• 1x Castle Vantress
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Desolate Lighthouse
• 1x Fabled Passage
• 1x Forgotten Cave
• 9x Island
• 1x Izzet Boilerworks
• 1x Lonely Sandbar
• 1x Memorial to Genius
• 8x Mountain
• 1x Opal Palace
• 1x Prismatic Vista
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Scalding Tarn
• 1x Steam Vents
• 1x Sulfur Falls
• 1x Swiftwater Cliffs
• 1x Temple of Epiphany
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse
• 1x Volcanic Island
• 1x Wandering Fumarole

Commander (1)

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Maybeboard

Other (14)

• 1x Ancestral Vision
• 1x Anticipate
• 1x Covenant of Minds
• 1x Crush Dissent
• 1x Enraged Revolutionary
• 1x Fateful Showdown
• 1x Gut Shot
• 1x Light Up the Stage
• 1x Mission Briefing
• 1x Quicken
• 1x Renegade Tactics
• 1x Skewer the Critics
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Spellseeker

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I challenged myself to make an Alexander Clamilton commander deck that actually tells the story of Hamilton song-by-song. I wanted it to be fun, flavorful, and playable.

By default, I’ve organized the deck into custom categories so that you can see which card I picked for each of the 46 musical numbers in the show, but you can reorder the cards by Type to get a better sense of how the deck actually plays.

I’m planning to make a video about the deck for the Fourth of July, so I’d love feedback and suggestions so that I can make it as tight as possible.

Act 1

1. "Alexander Hamilton"
   Voracious Reader
   ”A voice sayin’ ‘Alex, you gotta fend for yourself.’ He started retreatin’ and readin’ every treatise on the shelf.”

2. "Aaron Burr, Sir"
   Civilized Scholar   (which transforms into Homicidal Brute)
   ”Talk less. Smile more. Don’t let them know what you’re against and what you’re for.”
   I swear, it’s almost like they designed this card to be the perfect Aaron Burr. It’s a blue and red Advisor (just like Clamilton), the flavor text might as well be a line from the play, and the card’s transformation perfectly dramatizes Burr’s character arc. (See note #15 below for more Burr awesomeness.)

3. "My Shot"
   Knowledge and Power
   ”Hey yo, I’m just like my country, I’m young scrappy and hungry, and I’m not throwin’ away my shot.” Combos with Alexander Clamilton’s repeatable Scrying ability and reflects the two characteristics that defined the real Alexander Hamilton: his intellect and his ambition.

4. "The Story Of Tonight"
   Rise of Eagles
   “Raise a glass to the four of us. Tomorrow there’ll be more of us.”
   This might be the freedom-iest card that WotC has ever printed. The bird token even looks like a bald eagle, and because it’s an enchantment creature, it has white stars on a field of blue like the American flag. Rise of Eagles even mentions “stars” in the flavor text!

5. “The Schuyler Sisters”
   Rielle, the Everwise
   ” I've been reading Common Sense by Thomas Paine. So men say that I'm intense or I'm insane.”
   The stand-in for Angelica Schuyler, whose intellect matched Hamilton’s.

6. “Farmer Refuted”
   Imperial Recruiter
   “Heed not the rabble who scream ‘Revolution’. They have not your interests at heart.”

7. “You’ll Be Back”
   Invade the City
   ”And when push comes to shove, I will send a fully armed battalion to remind you of my love.”

8. “Right Hand Man”
   Niv-Mizzet, Parun
   ”Here comes the General. RISE UP!”
   As the oldest, wisest, and most powerful figure in the Izzet guild, Niv’s the stand-in for General George Washington, first president of the United States.

9. “A Winter’s Ball”

10. “Helpless”
    Mystical Tutor
    ”And I'm tryin' not to cry 'cause there's nothing that your mind can't do.”
    Phillipa Soo, who originated the role of Eliza Schuyler in Hamilton, actually LOOKS LIKE the woman in the art of Mystical Tutor. Also, in Act II, Eliza tutors her son, Phillip, in French.

11. “Satisfied”
    Rewind
    ”I remember that night. I just might (rewind). I remember that night. I just might (rewind).”

12. “Story of Tonight (Reprise)”
    Glimpse of Freedom
    ”Raise a glass to freedom. Something you will never see again. No matter what she tells you.”

13. “Wait For It”
    Delay
    “If there’s a reason I’m still alive when so many have died, then I’m willing to... wait for it...”
    Ancestral Vision, another spell with Suspend, didn’t quite make the cut.

14. “Stay Alive”
    Admiral's Order
    ”Attack!”
    Panic
    ”Retreat!”

15. “Ten Duel Commandments”
    Rivals' Duel
    ” If they don't reach a peace, that's alright. Time to get some pistols and a doctor on site.”
    Okay, check this out. Let’s say you want to reenact the famous Burr/Hamilton duel in the middle of a game for some reason. Damn! Alexander Clamilton and Civilized Scholar   are both Advisors, so they can’t be targetted. BUT if the scholar has transformed into the Homicidal Brute, he no longer has the Advisor creature type, so they’re now legal targets and can duel. And the outcome? Burr (5/1) kills Clamilton (0/4) and survives. That is, unless you give Clamilton a bulletproof vest (Magebane Armor), in which case he wins the duel.

16. “Meet Me Inside”
    Fierce Guardianship
    ”Go home, Alexander. That’s an order from your Commander.”
    Washington protects Hamilton, and the spell is free if you have a commander in play. Flavor win.

17. “That Would Be Enough”
    Keep Safe
    ”The fact that you're alive is a miracle. Just stay alive, that would be enough“

18. “Guns and Ships”
    Scourge of the Throne
    ”LAFAYETTE!”
    ”And I'm never gonna stop until I make 'em drop and burn 'em up and scatter their remains!”
    Lafayette spits fire in one of the fastest raps in the show, his tactical brilliance helps us win the war against King George, the card has Dethrone...I mean, what more could you ask for?

19. “History Has Its Eyes On You”
    Dig Through Time
    ”I was younger than you are now when I was given my first command. I led my men straight into a massacre. I witnessed their deaths firsthand.”
    Time and history are recurring themes in both the deck and the musical. I love that Dig Through Time is easier to cast when you have a full graveyard, echoing the wisdom that Washington gained after leading his men into a slaughter.

20. “Yorktown (The World Turned Upside-Down)”
    Vance's Blasting Cannons  
    ”After a week of fighting, a young man in a red coat stands on a parapet. We lower our guns as he frantically waves a white handkerchief.”
    This is another card that seems like it was intentionally designed to be in this deck, both because of the synergy and the flavor. Just make sure that when you flip the card over, you sing, “♪♬ The world turned upside-down! ♩♫”

21. “What Comes Next”
    Propaganda
    ”They say the price of my war’s not a price that they’re willing to pay.”
    Propaganda is literally a card that taxes your opponent for going to war. Heh heh heh.

22. “Dear Theodosia”
    Swan Song
    ”You’ll come of age with our young nation. We’ll bleed and fight for you. We’ll make it right for you.”
    The birth of Hamilton’s son, the birth of Burr’s daughter, and the birth of America. Swan Song’s flavor text reinforces the themes behind this beautiful lullaby, and you can even reuse the bald eagle token from Rise of Eagles to make it extra freedomy.

23. Non-Stop
    Double Negative
    “Even though we started at the very same time, Alexander Hamilton began to climb”
    Things really start to get tense between Burr and Hamilton here. Finale of Promise
    This is literally the Act 1 finale, and in it, Hamilton repeats his promise to not throw away his shot.

Act 2

1. “What’d I Miss?”
   Ral, Izzet Viceroy
   Ral as Thomas Jefferson cracks me up.

2. “Cabinet Battle #1”
   Expropriate
   ”The issue on the on the table: Secretary Hamilton's plan to assume state debt and establish a national bank. Secretary Jefferson, you have the floor, sir.”
   A deck about the birth of democracy wouldn’t be complete without some voting cards, and Expropriate specifically makes the group vote on money.

3. “Take a Break”
   Rhystic Study
   ”I have to get my plan through Congress. I can't stop until I get this plan through Congress.”
   Hamilton was the father of our financial system, and Rhystic Study combines the ideas of research and taxes.

4. “Say No To This”
   Dockside Extortionist
   ”Uh-oh! You made the wrong sucker a cuckold. So time to pay the piper for the pants you unbuckled.”
   I like that Dockside Extortionist brings treasure tokens into the game to reference the fact that Hamilton was the first Secretary of the Treasury. Oh, and if you ever play this deck, you have a moral obligation to sing ♪♬ “Say NO to this!” ♩♫ anytime you counter an opponent’s spell.

5. “The Room Where It Happens”
   Disrupt Decorum
   ”Did Washington know about the dinner? Was there Presidential pressure to deliver?”
   Look at that flavor text. Beautiful. There probably wasn’t a food fight between Hamilton, Jefferson, and Madison, but I’m not counting it out entirely.

6. “Schuyler Defeated”
   Role Reversal
   ”I changed parties to seize the opportunity I saw. I swear your pride will be the death of us all.”
   In a sense, Hamilton and Burr switch places over the course of the play, and ultimately they each do the one thing they swore they’d never do: Hamilton throws away his shot, and Burr acts without thinking.

7. “Cabinet Battle #2”
   Plea for Power
   Like Expropriate in Cabinet Battle #1, this is a voting spell that echoes what the scene is about. Jefferson is arguing that the US should send military to France to help in the French Revolution.

8. “Washington On Your Side”
   Treachery
   Hamilton’s enemies are scheming to take him down, so Treachery fits flavorwise, but the real reason I picked it is so that I can sing ♩♫“It might be nice, it might be nice, to have [insert creature name] on my side”♬ as I steal it from my opponent.

9. “One Last Time”
   Loyal Drake
   ”Pick up a pen, start writing. I wanna talk about what I have learned. The hard-won wisdom I have earned.”
   As in the flavor text, Hamilton helps his commander send a message—-his farewell address.

10. “I Know Him”
    Order of Succession
    ”Are they gonna keep on replacing whoever's in charge? If so, who's next?”

11. “The Adams Administration”
    Expansion / Explosion
    ”Sit down, John, you fat mother[bleep]!”

12. “We Know”
    Blasphemous Act
    ”Yes, I have reasons for shame, but I have not committed treason and sullied my good name.”

13. “Hurricane”
    Cyclonic Rift
    ”This is the eye of the hurricane, this is the only way I can protect my legacy.”

14. “The Reynolds Pamphlet”
    Broken Ambitions
    ”He’s never gon’ be president now. That’s one less thing to worry about.”

15. “Burn”
    Past in Flames
    _”Let future historians wonder how Eliza reacted when you broke her heart. You have torn it all apart. I'm watching it burn.”

16. “Blow Us All Away”
    Boiling Blood
    “Pops, if you had only heard the s*** he said about you. I doubt you would have let it slide and I was not about to.”
    Check out the flavor text.

17. “Stay Alive”
    Flood of Tears
    ”I know, I know. Shh. I know you did ev'rything just right.”

18. “Quiet Uptown”
    Cathartic Reunion
    ”If you see him in the street, walking by her side, talking by her side, have pity. They are going through the unimaginable.”

19. “Election of 1800”
    Split Decision
    ”The people are asking to hear my voice. For the country is facing a difficult choice. And if you were to ask me who I'd promote? Jefferson has my vote.”

20. “Your Obedient Servant”
    Letter Bomb
    ”I have the honor to be your obedient servant, A dot Ham.”
    I hadn’t planned on using any un-set cards other than Alexander Clamilton, and Letter Bomb’s not very effective against 100-card Commander decks, but the idea of signing it “A Dot Clam” is just too damn good to pass up.

21. “Best of Wives and Best of Women”
    ”Why do you write like you’re running out of time?”
    Midnight Clock

22. “The World Was Wide Enough”
    Visions of Beyond
    ”I catch a glimpse of the other side. Laurens leads a soldiers’ chorus on the other side. My son is on the other side.”

23. “Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story”
    Tale's End
    Look at that flavor text. I mean, come on. Instead of “Unknown”, it should say “Lin Manuel-Miranda”.

Chromatic Star
Check out the Stars and Stripes!
Fact or Fiction
”His enemies destroyed his rep, America forgot him.”
Epic Experiment
”What comes next? You’ve been freed. Do you know how hard it is to lead?”
The epic experiment in question is, of course, democracy. A Government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Note also that the spell literally reveals “what comes next” off the top of the deck.
Merchant Scroll
“If we assume the debts, the union gets a new line of credit, a financial diuretic. How do you not get it?”
Needle Drop
”And if ya don’t know, now ya know, Mr. President.”

Printing Matters! The number of lines of rules text on a specific card often changes from printing to printing, so pay attention to which version of a card you use. For example, a C20 Sol Ring has only one line of rules text, but an Unlimited Sol Ring has five! And the only printing of Opt that has four lines is the Invasion one. I’ve tried to include the wordiest possible version of each card in the decklist, but please lmk if I’ve made any mistakes.

Date added	3 years
Last updated	3 years
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	8 - 0 Mythic Rares 32 - 0 Rares 22 - 0 Uncommons 21 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.16
Tokens	Bird 2/2 U, Emblem Ral, Izzet Viceroy, Enchantment Bird 2/2 U, Treasure, Zombie Army 0/0 B
Folders	YES