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D&D: A Primer to Tazri, Beacon of Unity [Party]

Commander / EDH

Harry961

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Commander: foil Tazri, Beacon of Unity

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D&D: A Primer on Tazri, Beacon of Unity [Party]

'It doesn't take anything to be a hero. To beat back the darkness, all you have to do is lend a helping hand to somebody that needs it.' - Zecker Van Dorphen, Pacifist and Hero of Archdale.

Welcome to my Primer on Tazri, Beacon of Unity! This is the first deck of my Dungeons and Dragons themed battle-box and the one I have cared for the most in terms of deck construction and theme. This is a casual deck, aimed to be played with decks such as the Rogue precon and Aesi precon (which is frequently losses to and wins against). The goal of this deck was to be played thematically in conjunction with other thematic decks and be easy enough for newer commander players to get a hold of and borrow at our local game store. If you enjoy swarming your opponents with a party full of adventurers then this is the decklist for you!

Introduction

Hello, my name is Harry and I have been a Magic the Gathering player for eight years. I started my MTG gaming on Magic 2013, which came to the xbox 360 for free. At the time, me and my friends got it because it was a free game, but I quickly fell in love with it. I had been a fan of tabletop gaming for years, having played roleplaying games from early 2011 onwards, but MTG has taken a part in this greatly.

I have built many decks for Magic the Gathering over the years, with my favourite formats being Commander, Pauper and Legacy. I also MTG events at my local gamestore and give some deck construction advice to new players. This came about shortly before the pandemic and after I graduated from University.

I have been a Commander player since Commander 2017. Just before leaving for university, many of my friends banded together and bought me the Edgar Markov preconstructed deck, as well as their own paper decks to play EDH. Whilst we'd been playing online for years, this was our first taste of paper magic, and we loved it! I have been a commander player ever since, and made dozens if not hundreds of decks for myself, my friends and those who have sought advice in the past.

There is a story to this so buckle up! My first gaming love is Dungeons and Dragons. I believe Table Top Roleplaying Games are the best games in existence. At the time Tazri was revealed, I had fallen out-of-love with Commander, and all the infinite combos and borderline CEDH decks out there. I do enjoy legacy and CEDH, but not at every table, and certainly not in casual pods. But these players were beginning to pop up everywhere since Eldraine was released... so I returned to my preferred game, D&D!

Whilst hosting my local game stored D&D event, a player yelled out that there was "SPOILERS!" For once I didn't take an interest, and my friends from the MTG community came over and said, 'Harry, you're building this deck.' I saw Tazri and the new party mechanic as weird jank that people were just going to go infinite with, and decided to drop the phone to the table and ignore them... that is, until one of my D&D players looked at the phone. 'Someone assembling a party of adventurers? That sounds like the Zecker character you've told us about.' For the rest of the session, my players talked about what if their characters were D&D cards. I then realised what it is I had to do!

My rules for starting the deck were simple, cards could only be put into the deck if they were on theme with what characters existed in my D&D games. When I got back to the store after lockdown, I started buying the cards. One of my D&D players took interest in this. Then another. Then another. And soon, these players wanted to play against their Game Master and his deck full of their characters and stories! Not only that, but some bought preconstructed decks from the store, or decks tailored to be around that power level. All of a sudden, commander felt like it was back to where I believe it is supposed to be - Kitchen Table fun at its finest.

There are three commanders I would consider when building a party deck. Zagras, Thief of Heartbeats, Linvala, Shield of Sea Gate, and of course Tazri, Beacon of Unity.

Zagras, Thief of Heartbeats is an interesting choice for a commander, giving your creatures deathtouch on a cheap 4/4 flying, deathtouch, haste commander is certainly one way to ensure you always win combat. You could even voltron Zagras up to deal commander damage wins. But ultimately, the party aspect of the deck always feels secondary.

Linvala, Shield of Sea Gate is a baller commander as well. Our angel almost always protects our heroes, and is amazing at shutting people down. I would highly consider Linvala as a choice if you want to keep your creatures alive, but there are so many party cards that do such a fantastic job at recurring your threats that Linvala seems better to be in the deck and recurred, rather than commander taxed to unplayability from her own ability.

That leaves Tazri, Beacon of Unity. Her plus sides are pretty nice, potentially a 1 mana 4/6 that adds the warrior type to the party. You won't always be casting her for a single white, but even as a 4 or 3 drop she has good stats and helps with completing the party. Where she really shines though is THAT activated ability. Digging the top six for one creature would be a good mana-sink, but TWO? We have mana 4 mana draw 2's that don't dig for the cards you want the most. And this is where Tazri shines the most. We want to be able to activate this ability in our opponents end steps, play two small yet effective creatures, then Tazri again and again until our board-presence wins us the game!

Strengths:

  • Incredible Card Draw Engine in the Command Zone.

  • High amount of recursion.

  • Highly Interactable.

  • Can almost always find needed pieces.

  • Lower Mana Value makes the deck aggressive.

  • Great Mana Ramp and Fixing.

  • Theme is everything!

  • Is a casual deck.

Weaknesses:

  • A high quantity of tap lands means you are often one step behind.

  • Small creatures makes combat difficult against bigger decks.

  • Its an aggressive creature deck, which can often lead to a Boros playstyle of SMACK FACE HARD!

  • Has no infinite outs or ways wo win outside of combat.

  • Lacks enough counter-magic to really win on the stack.

  • Requires assembling four tribes to get full payoffs, making a mini-game of its own.

  • Is a casual deck.

Strategy and Card Choices

Tazri plays as a pretty standard creature deck. There is no fancy alternate win condition. Its goal is to fill up the board with creatures, often only with power 2, and beat our opponents to death with it. Most of the time, just making a board full of power 2 creatures isn't enough to defeat our opponents. But we have some cards that can help with it!

Archpriest of Iona is the first of our party synergy cards and its pretty amazing. Starting out as a 1 mana 1/2, it quickly grows, all-be-it its capped to our party limit. Once the party is complete, the Archpriest can buff one of our creatures and give it some much needed evasion. Not bad for a one-drop.

Brutal Hordechief We've all had that player thats run into danger head first and not paid attention to the threat ahead... fortunately for Brutal Hordechief he's got a great retcon device! Use the hordechief to force your opponent to make the worst blocks possible, and still drain their life for the pleasure! Its just a good beat-stick.

Champion of Lambholt is one of the best cards we could ever hope to hit early. At first, its a 1 power 3 cost creature. Pretty lame right? But it quickly grows out of control, and if left unchecked becomes giant! A giant that makes everything unblockable. If you get this early, always play it just after ramping and before Tazri. Most of the time, it should be answered of you are looking to end the game quickly.

Frontline Medic is the first piece of indestructibility we can give our attacking board, and its a good one. We want to be attacking as frequently as possible with as much as possible and the medic is a decent payoff for this. Its sacrifice effect rarely comes up, but when it does it always catches the Torment of Hailfire player out.

Linvala, Shield of Sea Gate has been mentioned as a possible commander for this deck, and our angel definitely deserves its place. It is our second form of indestructibility, but used defensively to keep our key-pieces alive. She is also one of our best party payoffs, being able to "DETAIN!" problematic permanents and creatures.

Malakir Blood-Priest can be our own mini-Gary effect. Drains all of our opponents, and the lifegain is nice. Being 2 power means we can also recur it with just about any of our creature recursion effects, which can amount to a lot of damage without needing to attack.

Najeela, the Blade-Blossom will lead to a lot of the hate at the table, and I talk about it more in our problematic cards. I do believe every commander deck should have one card that can try to win the game without much set-up, and for us it is Najeela. She is an incredibly powerful threat on her own, taking extra combats and quickly gaining life and an army. Pair her up with some warriors and enough mana, and the game might just be over before you know it.

Radha, Heart of Keld can easily be our biggest card in the deck. Our ramp package is primarily lands based, rather than artefacts, and if Tazri keeps getting answered Radha is a suitable mana-eater that grows to giant size. She can also find us some lands off the top, which can help clear the way for Tazri's ability or just pseudo-draw if Tazri is too taxed to come back.

Squad Commander is our best source of indestructibility (sorry Linvala!). When this boss comes down he brings at least one friend, but usually his own mini-board. Once the party is complete we have an anthem, indestructibility, and a scary board all in one. Its everything we want as a win-condition.

Sword of Dungeons & Dragons is not commander legal. If your playgroup or local game-store really has an issue with it, switch it for any other sword or party card. If my group has an issue with it I usually bring in a Sword of Feast and Famine or a Sword of Hearth and Home, which somehow people have less of an issue with? The sword is here for flavour. Roll some D20's, make some big dragons (DARGONS!) and feel bad when Sam reveals he's a secret clerics deck (sorry bud!).

Zagras, Thief of Heartbeats is the last card for this section, and another alternate party commander. Although not a beat-stick on his own, Zagras is efficiently costed, key-worded to all heck and acts as a deathtouch lord to everyone. His planeswalker-deathtouch ability also comes up a lot more that I would like to admit.

This is where this variant of the party deck truly excels. With 22 of our creatures being power 2 or less, and 25 of them being mana value 3 or less, most of the deck is returnable through engines. Some engines are even capable of recurring each other, making it incredibly difficult for your opponents to keep you off the board. Here is my breakdown of everything that can return other cards:

Alesha, Who Smiles at Death. One of the 'Big Three' engines for bringing out creatures back. Since over half of the creatures have power 2 or less, and many having nice ETB or sacrifice effects, Alesha is a must have for our deck.

Archaeomancer is not a creature returning card, but it is still an absolute unit. Ever tutored for 1 mana into a 2/3 wizard that can tutor for you again? Or need a board-wipe you've already used? Archaeomancer is one of the best for it.

Garth One-Eye can do everything this deck needs. Removal. Ramp. Card draw. Aggressive threat. And even recur any card with his regrowth cast. This is the first mention of the one-eyed protagonist and it is certainly not the last.

Graveshifter will be useful for any creature we cannot recur with the rest of our engines, or to get our revival engines back. It also counts as any party member we need it to, which is an added benefit.

Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle is the second of the 'Big Three' revival engines and quite possibly our best. The deck has 22 other historic permanents not including Teshar, and she can recur 22 other creatures in the deck. This makes Teshar the perfect middle ground for our revival engines.

Thwart the Grave has its place in the deck for re-assembling the party. When you cast this spell its usually for its upsetting full price after a board-wipe, but hitting two party members back for two mana is worth the pay-off for when it does work.

Venerable Warsinger is our last of the 'Big Three' revival engines. The Warsinger at base power can revive up to 24 other creatures in the deck with a clean hit, and pairing the singer with a card like Squad Commander can improve upon this even further.

Warden of the Eye can appear as a surprising choice, but its possibly our best single point return card in the deck. It doesn't hit creatures or lands, but it can return just about anything else to hand. Tutor? Answer? Mana? The Warden has got you covered.

Having card draw in our command zone is always nice, and because we have almost always got access to Tazri we don't need as many spots for our card-drawing package. However, we won't always have access to Tazri's digging ability. Sometimes the party must fend for themselves without their leader. These are the cards that can pick up the slack when Tazri is out of action:

Agent of Treachery won't be drawing you many cards in this deck. It is not a mind-control-grixis deck of any sort. However, with the amount of times the agent dies only to be brought back I have gotten his ability off a few times. When it does work, its amazing draw.

Arcanis the Omnipotent has to be our second best draw engine in the deck. He is difficult to resolve and stick for a turn, but once he is on field its very easy for Arcanis to protect himself. Holding up 4 mana for both Tazri activations and saving Arcanis puts out opponents in a bind on their own turns. With both that's up to 5 cards each turn, but with Arcanis there is always a guarantee.

Bag of Holding deserves its place in any D&D deck with a party of adventurers. How else will you hold all of the loot? Our most obscure card-draw engine, the bag of holding can be a nice mana sink, and if or when we overdraw, it saves us discarding to hand-size. Returning out goodies for four mana also pairs up well with the mana we want to hold up for Tazri.

Garth One-Eye is back again, and this time for his Braingeyser ability. Due to the wording of 'you may cast that card', Garth overcomes the timing restrictions his spells would normally have. Protagonist powers are great! If you have a bunch of mana and are otherwise struggling for draw, Garth can get you out of that bind.

Jori En, Ruin Diver can be another powerful draw engine for us. Although not our most powerful engine, getting a replacement card for your second every turn is a nice effect. You aren't looking to get this on other peoples turns though, making it middle of the road draw for us.

Nimble Trapfinder will win you games. It is scary how many times people will leave this card unchecked because they don't see the initial value until it is far too late. Giving all of your creatures extra draw is insane. But if you take an extra combat each creature draws you two cards on his! Even without that though, the trapfinder in a full party is a must-have card.

Radha, Heart of Keld isn't a perfect card-draw engine by any means. But clearing the top of your deck from lands from time to time is a nice extra-draw bonus.

Spoils of Adventure will gain you three life and draw you three cards at instant speed and often for only two mana. A very nice payoff to partying.

Tajuru Paragon can pretend to be a mini-Tazri for you, or any party member really. Its just nice that it usually replaces itself and serves a minor purpose.

Tazri is very VERY mana hungry. To help feed our commander so that she can dig out our important cards, we're running 37 lands and 13 sources of ramp, making half of our deck just mana! This section will be broken into two parts, the first of which is our budget mana base:

We'll start with ten basic lands, two of each colour. Many people freak out when they see five colour mana bases, thinking basics are a trap. In both of my five colour decks, I rarely have any more of an issue than I do with my two colour decks (which usually run even less basics because of the nature of two colour mana-bases and the amount of dual-mana-lands you can have). Our basics are our untapped sources for the turns where we need that one extra mana. Why snow? They look pretty.

Next up we have our ten tapped snow duals. These serve a dual purpose in this deck, both fixing our mana and providing targets for most of our ramp package. They are targets for our Into the North, Farseek and Krosan Verge, and are incredibly budget friendly to new players as of the time writing this. They're slow, but effective.

Next is another great source of fixing in the five Thriving lands. As a pauper player these were a godsend to the format and I underestimated how perfect they are in commander too! You can always name a colour you have the least of. Usually we like to hold these in hand until we need them or have run out of other lands to play, so you know what colour to name. Again, slow but effective.

We also have the typical pauper-fetches and single tap lands in Evolving Wilds, Terramorphic Expanse and card:Shimmerdrift Veil. The veil is tutorable and can be nice emergency fixing, whilst the evolving wilds and terramorphic are standard to every commander deck at this point. I'd like to give mention to Fabled Passage here, which is both fitting and thematic too. It could easily replace any of these cards. The reason it is not here is that I simply keep forgetting to pick one up. If you have one and are willing to stretch your budget a little further, replace the card:Shimmerdrift Veil or one of the slower chromatic lands.

We run a couple of tri-colour lands in Jungle Shrine and Sandsteppe Citadel. Because these cards aren't tutorable with our ramp-package we would like to keep their involvement to a minimal. We run these two because they are cheaper than the triome's and can both tap for White and Green, our two most-needed colours early on for ramp and Tazri.

We have one ramp-land in Krosan Verge. Although it does technically ramp us too, its mostly here for perfect mana-fixing. It fetches two of our tapped snow duals to the field, meaning we get white, green and two other colours of mana (whatever we don't need).

Finally is our chromatic/prismatic lands in Base Camp, Command Tower, Exotic Orchard, Archway Commons, Path of Ancestry and Rupture Spire. Our most replaceable of these lands is Archway Commons and Rupture Spire because they come in tapped and tap down another land. Play these lands out as quickly as possible and they offer amazing fixing. I understand many people do not like them, so if you'd like you can replace them with your Fabled Passage and a Forest. The rest of these chromatic lands are a must. They fix you perfectly, and although some can be slow they are well worth it.

Because we have an incredibly hungry mana-base, we are using the cookie-cutter green ramp package with some added extras. We have 18 green sources in our 37 lands, which means we can use this package reliably. The fixing green offers is too good to turn down for a five colour mana base, so whilst we lack overall uniqueness we can get away with some uniqueness.

Arcane Signet was never in doubt since the release of the Eldraine Brawl decks. It just goes in every commander deck now. Next!

Ardent Electromancer is a spicy ritual in our deck. Most of the time it pays for itself, and sometimes adds us some extra mana. A one time hit but a much welcome one when filling out are party.

Commander's Sphere has been cut from a lot of decks recently. I understand the most 'efficient commanders' are four mana, meaning you want a two mana rock to hit your commander on turn three. The Sphere just does so much for so many peoples decks though, and for us its perfect fixing. Also, the number of times you will float the mana, sacrifice the sphere, and draw the answer is staggering. Run. This. Card.

Cultivate is another card I often see people cutting lately because it is three mana. It should be no secret at that I am not a fan of green ramp, and cultivate is probably a huge part in that. For our purposes its ramp and double mana fixing for basics, ensuring you have a land drop next turn. If you are a green player, the extra land-drop is almost always more helpful than ramping a turn earlier. In green? Use cultivate.

Farseek will be another necessary evil for our mostly green ramp base. It fixes and ramps a colour we need. Sweet and simple.

Garth One-Eye. Sick of seeing him yet? I'm not! Garth can create a black lotus for us, which is a nice ritual effect to help us ramp for a turn. Expensive for ramp? Yes, but our protagonist also does so much more too!

Into the North is our best two mana ramp and fixing card. It can hit any of our tapped snow-duals, or if you've somehow run out of them, any of our basic lands too.

Jaspera Sentinel was a welcome addition from Kaldheim. Yes it needs a buddy to ramp, but a one-drop party member is nice too. Also hitting it off of Tazri when you might need that mana can be sweet.

Sculptor of Winter is another welcome addition from Kaldheim. With 21 of our lands being snow, it will almost always act as an effective mana dork and tazri hit.

Sol Ring. Its a Sol Ring. Can't beat them join them. The cookiest of the cutters. The original sin.

Solemn Simulacrum has gotta be the king of flavour here. No its not efficient ramp, and you could easily replace it with a Skyshroud Claim and be even happier. But c'mon! Its sad sam... and he truly is Solemn in this deck being the only creature not in the party. If that isn't a flavour win I don't know what is.

Thieving Skydiver because if you can't ramp yourself you might as well steal someone elses.

Three Visits was a welcome reprint due to its extortionate price tag before Commander Legends. Simple turn two ramp and fixing, another green ramp source.

Vizier of Tumbling Sands is a slow dork, but it has some extra utility in the late game if you hit it off of tazri and you have more lands than you know what to do with. Cycling is great, and its a nice dork to use early.

Wilderness Reclamation is by far the best mana maker in the deck. It allows us to Tazri in end-step, play out our hand, then untap all lands to tazri again. It is a must-have for any mana-sink deck in green.

Before I get started, I'd like to give an honorable mention to Mirror Entity. Probably the best changeling card for any combat-oriented decks, and it could easily replace any of the following cards. The reason I do not run the card is simply because its too good for this deck. Like a Cathars' Crusade in most creature decks, you will drop the Mirror Entity and if it isn't answered you just win. This deck already has a card like this in Najeela, the Blade-Blossom, and having more just makes it scarily consistent. That might well be your goal, but it is not mine.

Party decks run four different tribes (kinda five if you include changelings). This means we don't benefit from major tribal synergies, but we still have to find key pieces to help us truly synergise. Because of this, we are forced to run with some fixers to complete the party:

Graveshifter has utility as one hit recursion and fixes our party pretty nicely.

Maskwood Nexus is my most opinion dividing card. On one hand, it makes assembling the party too easy. You just need four creatures and it even makes them as a mana-sink. On the other hand, it means our Solemn Simulacrum can finally belong as a member of the party. Its our most solid party fixing card.

Moritte of the Frost can be one of the best utility pieces in the deck. Need more ramp? Make it a land or another Wilderness Reclamation. More aggro and party fixing? Moritte has that covered too. Just be sure not to copy a legendary creature, or you'll send him straight to the grave.

Tajuru Paragon replaces itself, acts as a mini-tazri and fixes the party. Whats not to like?

Veteran Adventurer is our worst party fixer. You could switch it out for any number of better changelings and make the deck stronger. But will you have your flavour win?

This section is about two things; removal and cards that will make our opponents scowl with disappointment. Lets start with the former!

Our removal package to the non-D&D fans out there will look strange. Why no Swords to Plowshares or Anguished Unmaking? Firstly, our ramp is already the traditional cookie-cutter green ramp base which you've seen a million times, and I don't want the rest of the deck to be like that. Secondly, I enjoy having to rely on my party to get me out of a jam. Lastly, the removal spells are mostly D&D themed. At one stage I had a Fireball in this deck, and I occasionally switch it around for other removal spells just to cast it. If you want to improve your removal be my guest, pick your favourite, but here is the removal I am using:

Acquisitions Expert acts more like disruption than actual removal. Choose an opponent low on cards when you're stocked up with a party and see if you can remove their answer or threat from hand. Use this on the patient player at the table to make them regret not playing their threats sooner.

Agent of Treachery is another removal spell that doesn't really remove anything on the board. It does one better and takes it! Now you're the threat.

Brutal Hordechief can act as removal. Force your opponents into uncomfortable blocks and remove their creatures with it. You can even use it on your opponents combat steps.

Concerted Defense is both a defensive counterspell and a way to stop your opponents from going off with instant shenanigans.

Counterspell in Magic is just as irritating as it is in Dungeons and Dragons. Its one of the best spells in the history of both games. If your group finds it annoying, you can always switch it out for Fireball, but the classic Counterspell stops so much more before its even happened.

Deadly Alliance fills out our Murder replacement for the deck. Classic and effective spot removal that can be as cheap as one mana.

Fiend Hunter can be found off of Tazri and is our source of exile. For those of you who don't know, if you kill Fiend Hunter in response to its target it can become a permanent exile effect. Remind your opponent about that, because they cannot remove it from the field until you resolve the trigger and regain priority without losing their creature forever.

Garth One-Eye truly is the meta-gamer of the party that can just do everything. Our protagonist has a classic Terror and Disenchant attached to him, so he can deal with almost any non-land permanent.

Journey to Oblivion fills out our Oblivion Ring effect for the deck as a way to exile most non-land permanents. Sure, your opponent can use their removal to get it back, but then its not going after your other troubling permanents.

Lightning Bolt is not as terrible as many people would claim it to be in commander. It hits a surprising amount of creatures and commanders, and can go to face for the win! Who said Fireball was the superior third level spell!... wait.

Linvala, Shield of Sea Gate doesn't remove cards in the traditional sense, but with a full party can "DETAIN!" a permanent and stop it from doing anything apart from getting triggered.

Merciless Eviction is my choice for the first board-wipe and our source of mass exile. Many people prefer snappier board-clears but none have the versatility close to this orzhov giant.

Nihil Spellbomb exists purely to keep graveyard decks fair. There are other party-based cards that help lock down a grave, but I prefer an approach that cleans out the graveyard cheaply and quickly. It also replaces itself which is nice.

Polymorph an opponents problematic permanent just to see a worse permanent off the top! Our decks chaos warp, but it does have its own utility for us as well. Polymorphing a token into just about any creature is worth-while for us. The card is funny, functions well and you almost always enjoy casting it to spin the wheel. Not the most effective removal spell, but definitely one of the most fun.

Qasali Pridemage can shut down decks on its own. The exalted is nice, but the fact it is a hittable party member and all of our recursion engines can bring it back from the graveyard means that the pridemage is our best hate for artefacts and enchantments.

Ruinous Ultimatum is my second choice for a board-wipe and the most one-sided in our favour. The ultimatum can clear a path for us to win the game. If the first isn't successful, bringing it back with an Archaeomancer and doing it again almost certainly is.

Selfless Glyphweaver   has the flipside of Deadly Vanity. That makes this board-wipe findable through Tazri and gives us some additional utility. Deadly Vanity is particularly useful with Tazri because it keeps our commander alive, allowing us to dig for a rebuild quicker than our opponents can.

Sigrid, God-Favored is our instant-speed out to a surprise lethal. Sigrid acts much like a Fiend Hunter, without the ability to exile something forever. Sigrid can act at instant speed though, meaning you can hit it off of Tazri and save yourself in a pinch.

Zagras, Thief of Heartbeats can be surprise planeswalker hate, giving our vampire some extra utility on top of its already good stat-line.

The next part of this section describes the cards your table might dislike. Now if you are a truly soulless Game Master then perhaps you want even more cards like this. However, I think its important that your playgroup also has fun at the table. If they really have a problem with some of these cards, please consider replacing them and not telling them just to 'get gud scrub!' It will lead to an arms race that nobody in a local community wants. Pick cards you all have fun with and your time playing commander will be much nicer. That said, here are those mean cards:

Agent of Treachery divides opinion a lot. To a lesser extent you could include Gonti, Lord of Luxury and Thieving Skydiver as they both steal from your opponent. We aren't flickering either repeatedly so it is not as abusive as it could be. However, people enjoy playing their own cards and don't enjoy being beaten to death with them (as funny as that can be).

Counterspell joins the pool of cards that divide opinion. I have a friend that believes counter-magic is against the spirit of the game, but the same player will take infinite turns and lock everyone else out of the game. If you have a friend like this speak to them about their combos as well, as counter-magic is often the only way to stop certain effects from ending the game (looking at you Expropriate).

Coveted Prize is our best payoff card by a mile. I usually despise tutors like Imperial Seal, Vampiric Tutor and Demonic Tutor in commander because it usually makes games too samey. In this case, Coveted Prize at least has some hoops to jump through to get it to work. If your playgroup also dislikes tutoring, consider replacing prize for any of the recommendations beforehand or maybe a party card in the credits. Another thing to add is that you don't have to tutor for the win, if you think it would be more fun to tutor and cast Polymorph do it!

Garth One-Eye is the protagonist of this deck and our card that does everything we could ever want it to. At first, my table had no issues with it. Now? I get scolded if it resolves. The card can just do everything you need it to in a casual game of commander, and people might find issue with that.

Najeela, the Blade-Blossom is a borked card. Leave her alone for one turn with open mana and she will win the game. Whilst I do believe every commander deck should have one finisher, not everyone shares that opinion. If your group hates Najeela enough, switch her for any other warrior or changeling. Just like with tutoring, just because you have it doesn't mean you have to win the game with it. If the board is fun and people are enjoying themselves, let them have their fun.

Sword of Dungeons & Dragons often gets complained about because its silver bordered. I've had opponents complain that no magic card will ever roll a d20. Its amusing looking back on it now, and there are plenty more powerful swords in the game. If your opponent dislikes you running silver border, its probably more their own problem. But to make it so people can all enjoy the game, bring it out for a black-bordered card.

Closing Remarks

I am certain that I am going to miss one or two... and thanking them would simply not be enough. So instead I decided to make a list of cards and the characters that best fit what the card does. I told you I built this deck to be thematic, so it makes sense every creature I chose linked a a character in my Dungeons and Dragons sessions over the years. Enjoy, and thank you for reading the Primer!

Tazri, Beacon of Unity - Jose's Character - Zecker Van Dorphen

Acquisitions Expert - Matthew's Character - Iolas d'Thuranni

Alesha, Who Smiles at Death - Ronan's Character - Brom Gaster

Arcanis the Omnipotent - Liam's Character - Azrakas!

Archaeomancer - He who was once called Alex - Barboras Thornglade

Archpriest of Iona - John's Character - Davidh

Ardent Electromancer - Max's Character - Dorik 'Giantslayer' Truthridge

Brutal Hordechief - Euan/Green's Character - Hank, Music Breaker

Champion of Lambholt - Aaron's Character - Ezekiel Van Dorphen

Fiend Hunter - Dan's Character - Ulgar Frostbeard

Frontline Medic - Austin's Character - Valen Bloodhowl/Neil the Wanderer

Garth One-Eye - Scott's Character - Hammer of House Cannith

Gonti, Lord of Luxury - Mike's character - Leo 'Necromancer No!'

Graveshifter - Jake's character - Nyx 'Necromancer Yes!'

Jared Carthalion, True Heir - Favoured NPC - John Arinsil

Jaspera Sentinel - Aspen's Character - Aelia Arinsil

Jori En, Ruin Diver - Andy's Character - Atsiel Ehshathia

Linvala, Shield of Sea Gate - He who was once named Alex's randomly generated NPC - Nyx 'Nym' Beren

Malakir Blood-Priest - He who earned his name Alex - Harriet 'The Violet Death' Underbarrow

Moritte of the Frost - Sam's Character - Bleaz

Najeela, the Blade-Blossom - Cray's Character - Urist 'The Peoples King' A'Fiabmiore

Nimble Trapfinder - Neil's the shop-owners Character - Norkus 'The Hero of Sharn'

Qasali Pridemage - Best's Character - Kitteh!

Radha, Heart of Keld - Oliver's Character - Fenral, Dragonbreaker

Sculptor of Winter - Deniz's Character - Cheery Rig-Jin

Selfless Glyphweaver   - Sharn's Character - Bambi

Sigrid, God-Favored - My Character - The Nameless of Arinsil 'Gud'

Solemn Simulacrum - Chug's Character - Plunk the Helpful

Squad Commander - Steve's Character - Thalyn ir'Wyran

Tajuru Paragon - Kieren's Character #1 - Theren 'The Last' Sariel

Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle - Brian's Character - Nyx, Dreamweaver

Thieving Skydiver - Vaz's Character - Star Morning, AKA Mr. Morningstar

Varragoth, Bloodsky Sire - Kieren's Character #2 - Kytaar, the Horseman of War

Venerable Warsinger - Steve's NPC turned character - Rosemerry Durst

Veteran Adventurer - James' Character - James Fu-Naow

Vizier of Tumbling Sands - Edru's Character - Ulgor, Archmage of Orcana

Warden of the Eye - Kara's Character - Newt Noot the Dreamy

Zagras, Thief of Heartbeats - Kat's Character - Seraph Vesper

And for the cards that didn't make it into this deck!

Drana, the Last Bloodchief - Aaron's Character - BOB!

Emmara, Soul of the Accord - Edru's Character - Lily Mistmantle

Pondering Mage - Lucien's Character - Luna

Cascade Seer - James' Character - Squib the Chiropterous

Oakhame Adversary - Spikey's Character - Saren Bloodhowl

Samut, Voice of Dissent - 'Leonard's' Character - Nick Jacoby

Notion Thief - Olly's Character - Digus Bickus

Thank you Rich, Janky Josh, Store Josh, Hugh, Sam, Matty, and Danny for all of your character and MTG games as well! :D

Suggestions

Updates Add

Post Baldur's Gate Playtesting — June 11, 2022
Edit

Some of the new commander cards look amazing for this deck. I have considered making it purely dungeon based, but I feel as though that is best left for its own archetype. I have added a maybeboard of cards I have substituted out for the time-being.

Some Changes pre-Baldur's Gate — May 28, 2022
Edit

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