Challenge
CMDTower: Build a deck around Jodah, using the emotional spectrum (the different color rings in Green Lantern) as your inspiration.
(source: https://twitter.com/CMDTower/status/1040016846311878659)
Intro
This deck's theme is building an army fueled by the Green Lantern emotional spectrums. Planeswalkers represent each color's hero/villain.
Minor themes: Tokens matter, life gain matters.
White Lantern
Theme: Life.
Our White Lantern is Nissa, I know she's green.
Nissa (at least recently in the Lore) is all about understanding nature and life. The Nissa, that best represents this is Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
Nissa's Renewal is a fun card that interestingly embodies life. It shows growth, by adding lands, and also provides some life gain. This helps you cast all the many different spells in this 5 color deck as well as can synergize with any life gain cards.
Ajani's Pridemate, Archangel of Thune, and Scavenging Ooze are three life gain creatures are fun in EDH, feel on theme, and when combined synergize quite well.
White Lantern cards:
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Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
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Nissa's Renewal
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Ajani's Pridemate
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Archangel of Thune
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Scavenging Ooze
Red Lantern
Theme: Rage.
The Red Lantern Corps deal with rage. Rage is powerful and difficult to control. Chandra is our Red leader as she has best expressed this emotion in lore and card design. The two planeswalker cards I picked for her (Fire of Kaladesh // Roaring Flame, and Torch of Defiance) best represent her rage through the story and play well in commander.
The two spells Chandra's Outrage and Chandra's Ignition do an excellent job outlining how focused rage can be a powerful tool in the game. Char, while not a "Chandra" spell also describes the drawbacks of overpowering a spell (burning yourself)
For style points, a nearly unplayable card that embodies rage: Obliterate. This card isn't included in the list but would be a fun card to switch with another card. Actually, upon second thought this card is no fun, but it is full of rage.
Red Lantern cards:
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Chandra's Outrage
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Chandra's Ignition
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Chandra's Phoenix
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Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh // Chandra, Roaring Flame
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Chandra, Torch of Defiance
Orange Lantern
Theme: Greed/Avarice.
Ob Nixili embodies avarice and greed, and the planeswalker card Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath outlines this perfectly. Each ability shows how far greed can push someone. He's missing an eye in the art. How did he lose that eye? Probably making poor decisions fueled by greed.
Temporal Extortion is one of my favorite greedy cards. Taking an extra turn at such a great cost.
Sign in Blood draws you cards at the greedy cost of two life. You won't be needing that life anyway, right? Card advantage is much better!
To piggy-back on the Sign in Blood idea, what if we could do it every turn? That's where Greed comes in, also the card name is literally on theme :-P
Platinum Angel embodies greed prohibiting everyone else from winning - except you! Though you still need to earn your win, it's quite selfish to say "No, you can't win" to an opponent that has put your life total in the negative numbers.
Tavern Swindler is an odd card, but it plays a greedy game with your life total and also works well with some of the life gain cards in the deck.
Kambal, Consul of Allocation is a greedy character, but useful for us. Whenever a player wants to cast a spell, they have to pay a tax to kambal.
Sylvan Library isn't greedy, right? Spending 4 life for extra cards seems fine in formats where 40 life is normal. The card dramatically enhances your card advantage; however, there are many situations where having spent too much life on Sylvan Library puts you behind. - oops.
I'd also like to give an honorary mention to Doomsday, which is absolutely unplayable in this deck but would be a super-fun "Orange" card to throw into the mix.
Orange Lantern cards:
Yellow Lantern
Theme: Fear
Yellow is all about fear, Yellow Lanterns are driven by fear, love inflicting it upon others.
Ashiok, is capable of reaching into the dreams and fears that dwell inside of others. With this power, Ashiok can summon beings born of people's darkest fears, call them into reality and give them form. This sounds spot on for our Yellow leader, plus Ashiok's planeswalker card is quite strong and a lot of fun to play.
Elesh Norn is scary, she has raw bloody flesh exposed and is totally into that as a fashion choice. She's also scary to play against and even received a short ban in my EDH playgroup as everyone was afraid to play against her.
Dinrova Horror is a fun pet-card of mine that certainly captures the essences of fear. The card scares one of your opponent's creatures away, and they possibly won't return (re: discard).
I also wanted to use this theme of scaring something away - or to death to explain the following removal spells, Vraska's Contempt (scared to stone), Totally Lost (poor Fblthp), Cower in Fear (name says it all, plus it's great against tokens). Lastly, Terror is a perfect fit, I mean... killing with fear - perfect!
The honorary mention for this group is Bruna & Gisela and their twisted abomination Brisela, Voice of Nightmares. The melding of these two creatures is creepy, terrifying, and I suppose so scary that Wizards won't errata them to have "Partners with (the other)."
Yellow Lantern cards:
Green Lantern
Theme: Willpower
This might sound crazy, but our Green Lantern is white (Magic color identity). If Gideon read DC Comics he would be all about the Green Lanterns, and he would own a copy of the film on DVD and BluRay.
Gideon Ally of Zendikar is such a Green Lantern card. Gideon isn't even from Zendikar but here he is doing everything he can to protect its people from a cosmic enemy (the Eldrazi)!
Gideon's Intervention also embodies will power. As long as the enchantment is on the battlefield your opponents can't cast the spell named. This represents a Green Lantern using their power to stop an enemy. The enchantment can be removed, and shows the Lantern is not unstoppable but was perhaps able to improvise and buy some time.
Chord of Calling is a great utility card given that many of the creatures in this deck fit specific roles. It's also on flavor with "willpower" as the convoke mechanic expresses a group's "will" to manifest a spell.
Accorder Paladin and Hero of Bladehold both have the battlecry mechanic which aims to rally soldiers into battle, and Frontline Medic's ability is interesting as this card's willpower is utilized by protecting those soldiers crashing into battle.
Brave the Sands assembles an army, that braved the desert to get to your fight - on sheer willpower! Why else would someone travel across a desert to fight?
Lastly, I'd love to include Near-Death Experience as an honorary card here simply in regard to theme. I simply do not see how it could work in conjunction with the other cards, but it would be a fun card to throw in for style points as winning at 1 life absolutely embodies willpower quite a bit.
Green Lantern cards:
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Gideon Ally of Zendikar
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Gideon's Intervention
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Chord of Calling
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Accorder Paladin
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Hero of Bladehold
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Frontline Medic
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Brave the Sands
Blue Lantern
Theme: Hope
Hope is quite an interesting category. I found this on Geek and Sundry: "Blue is the color of hope. Hope is arguably the strongest of all the emotions in the spectrum — but it is also the most mysterious and all-encompassing. Hope, in many ways, has a hand in every other emotion on the spectrum. Hope relies often on willpower but is capable of defeating fear, greed, and rage. Those who wield the power of the Blue Lantern have an inner focus that sometimes even they do not fully understand. Their power comes from a place deep within. If you hold hope through the good times and the bad, the Blue Lantern Corps should be a fitting place to land. Other suitable candidates: Samwise Gamgee, Rapunzel, and Chuck Noland (Castaway). (source: https://geekandsundry.com/which-corps-are-you-in-unleash-your-inner-lantern/)"
With that in mind, channeling our most hopeful characters, Samwise resonates for me, I'm thinking this is where I would take blue...
Jace, Cunning Castaway
In the lore, Jace had his memory erased, was tagging along with Varaska and her crew. Jace fully believed in being a pirate and committed everything to being the best member of the crew he could be. He was hopeful and seeking knowledge of his past self. This version of Jace had a ton of hope. Hope for his future, hope to understand his past, and hope that he and Varaska could find the treasure the were after.
Tuktuk the Explorer is another hopeful character, after all Tuktuk is searching in hope of discovering treasure, and you are hoping to create that 5/5 token.
There are also hopeful cards that embody hope at a mechanical level. Gather the Townsfolk and Timely Reinforcements reinforce the theme of hope. The fateful hour mechanic found on Gather the Townsfolk delivering extra soldiers is incredibly helpful in a desperate time of need. The ability to create needed soldiers from Timely Reinforcements if you have a smaller army feels hopeful during a battle not to mention the similar life gain effect. Gods Willing shows hope in receiving the favor of the gods for a moment of protection (also the card is useful and inexpensive to cast).
Martial Coup is a Magic card I always HOPE will work in my favor. There are many times where I am hoping to draw that last land in time to activate the "destroy all other creatures." clause.
Blue Lantern cards:
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Jace, Cunning Castaway
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Tuktuk the Explorer
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Gather the Townsfolk
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Timely Reinforcements
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Gods Willing
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Martial Coup
Indigo Lantern
Theme: Compassion
Indigo is the color of compassion. The greater good always comes first which is a very White (in Magic) ability. There are a lot of greater-good cards in the game and then we have Ajani.
Ajani wants the best for the multiverse he also wants the best out of his friends. He is a pacifist and a mentor. He believes in the greater good and putting others before himself. This comes up strong in two noteworthy Ajani Planeswalker cards, Ajani, Mentor of Heroes and Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants.
Adversary of Tyrants isn't a card that fights for itself, it fights for others. Ajani's +1 helps by adding +1/+1 counters to creatures, his -2 returns creatures from the graveyard, but only small creatures - sort of like picking up a knocked down recruit, brushing them off, and giving them an encouraging word of advice. Mentor of Heroes similarly supports creatures and can also call in other Planeswalkers to assist - quite useful in this deck.
Shalai, Voice of Plenty has two useful abilities that are on theme with compassion. Her hexproof ability is there to protect your army and Shalai will put herself in front of harm to protect them. Her other ability is a sign of support as it adds +1/+1 counters to your team much like Ajani.
Gaea's Blessing shows Gaea's compassion for you (the player) by offering you another chance at something previously killed, and Saving Grace represents compassion for your creatures by granting them a moment of protection.
Indigo Lantern cards:
Violet Lantern
Theme: Love
During her time on Theros Elspeth falls in love with Daxos and later offers her life for his. I believe Elspeth, Sun's Champion to be the Planswalker card that most embodies this emotion.
Mother of Runes protects creatures from harm while Soul Warden and Soul's Attendant help heal the player (also assisting with other life-gain cards). A Dauntless Bodyguard will put their life on the line for another creature. I find these all to be expressions of love.
Solemn Simulacrum is a card we all love. In reality, it fits a lot of categories, but I put it here because it is a card I adore. It could fit the willpower theme as it wills you resources, it could fit the hope theme, because many players often hope to use the card as efficiently as possible. For me Solemn Simulacrum goes in the love category.
Violet Lantern cards:
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Elspeth, Sun's Champion
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Mother of Runes
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Soul Warden
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Soul's Attendant
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Dauntless Bodyguard
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Solemn Simulacrum
Mana
This is my standard 5c Manabase
I put all the signets in here along with Chromatic Lantern as they are useful when stuck looking for a particular land. The Shock lands could easily be replaced with the original Duals, and combined with the Fetch Lands mana fixing should be decent.
A fun alternative would be to replace the fetch lands with scry lands. I enjoy them quite a bit; however, they are substantially harder on 5 color decks.
Flip
