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Feel My Steel! - Dakkon Reanimator

Commander / EDH Bracket 4 Control Goodstuff Reanimator WUB (Esper)

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Wipes (4)

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CardSelection (14)

Beats (8)

Tutor (8)

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Commander (1)

Commander: Dakkon Blackblade

Reanimation (10)

Ramp (8)

Countermagic (6)

Maybeboard

CardSelection (7)

Wipes (3)

Lands (1)

Tutor (1)

Countermagic (5)

Removal (3)

Reanimation (2)

Equip (4)

Beats (3)

Utility (2)

Feel My Steel Feel My Steel This one's great! It says "feel my steel" with a picture of a tiny truck!

Feel my steel!

Keep it real!

Up all night!

Wicked tight!!!

Dakkon Blackblade

Intro

Dakkon is a reanimator deck that doesn't need (or even want) to cast Dakkon to win. I consider it a "bad bracket 4" because it uses a bunch of game changers, but basically just reanimates a bunch of beatsticks. If you like Esper, like good stuff, like control, and like beating people with combat damage, this deck might be for you!

Primer in progress. Dakkon isn't a common commander (ranked #976 on EDHRec), so it might be helpful to explain some choices and play patterns.

Dakkon was my first EDH deck back in 2006-07. It has gone through many iterations and (minus a few brief moments) I've had him built since I started playing Commander. He started as a general good stuffs deck that played like control and could win in various ways. But then EDH changed to Commander and everything got more streamlined, more competitive, and more powerful. My old strategy just couldn't keep up. I couldn't control the board as well, and since Dakkon doesn't provide any value outside of being a (very slow) beatstick, the deck was quickly outclassed.

I went through several more iterations trying to focus the deck on Dakkon for flavor reasons. I have loved the card since I was a kid, and I wanted the deck to be viable again. But every time I tried to win with Dakkon he proved too slow, and honestly just not threatening enough. It was hard to play and I didn't enjoy it. Nevertheless, this is where the name "Feel My Steel" came from: equipping Dakkon with some swords and trying to win through commander damage.

Finally, I decided to go back to the beginning and look at it more like a good stuffs deck that doesn't rely on Dakkon. I still needed a faster way to win than the early days, but I no longer wanted the restrictions of being a voltron deck with Dakkon as the main piece. So, I leaned into some of Esper's strengths, namely reanimator. I already had a bunch of pieces due to picking up various cards and decks throughout the years, so it wasn't hard to add some of the best graveyard tutors, reanimation spells, and reanimation targets.

I kept the control sub-theme with a hand full of counterspells and some of the best removal and boardwipes that the game has to offer. I decided not to add some of the MOST degenerative reanimation targets, simply because my pod still likes to have fun. And I'm still tweaking one or two choices. Nevertheless, the deck functions more effectively now. It threatens early. It has ways to interact while still being a threat (which was a problem in previous iterations). And it can win the game. I finally have fun playing Dakkon again, even if I don't usually play him in a game (just like the good old days).

I'm slowly getting a full set of OG Revised Dual Lands. I only need Badlands and Scrubland at this point, so this deck uses Underground Sea and Tundra as well as some of the better and more expensive dual and fetchlands available. While the super expensive manabase isn't necessary, I would suggest getting some of the better budget dual lands like the shocklands, pain lands, and check lands. The deck isn't super mana hungry in terms of colors unless you want to actually hardcast some of your reanimation targets (which happens with surprising regularity). Nevertheless, you'll want access to all of your colors early with being a priority for countermagic.

To help accomplish this, I'm running the full set of signets and talismans. They help with both mana ramping and color fixing. 8 total mana rocks with Sol Ring and Arcane Signet. This might seem a little low, especially with 36 lands, but the deck actually has a fairly low curve because reanimating is cheap, AND I run a bunch of cantrips which dig for lands if necessary.

I do run a handfull of utility lands. Bojuka Bog is the bog standard (pun intended) graveyard hate that easily slots in to any black deck. Halimar Depths is still being tested, but in theory it functions almost like a cantrip insofar as it can help smooth out your upcoming draws, or let you know if you need to shuffle away some chaff. Mystic Sanctuary helps get a reanimate, counterspell, or board wipe back in a pinch. Port of Karfell is a nigh-uncounterable reanimation spell. Vault of Whispers and Seat of the Synod might seem out of place, but they are fetchable with Trinket Mage if necessary. Rogue's Passage is a standard utility land for making sure your beatsticks can connect.

Esper has access to the best tutors in Magic to get the cards that you need, the best dig spells to ensure that you can see as many cards as possible, and the best draw spells to refill your hand.

There are two types of tutors: 1) ones that get you cards in hand/top of library (Demonic Tutor) and 2) ones that get you cards in graveyard (Buried Alive). Both are powerful in a deck that wants cards that Reanimate and cards in the graveyard to reanimate. Intuition and Gifts Ungiven are both super versatile cards that can do both. If you need a reanimate spells, tutor for those. If you need reanimate targets, tutor for those. Very simple. The one exception is Trinket Mage who is there purely for utility: get Shadowspear, Sensei's Divining Top, or sol ring/the artifact lands (pseudo ramp). He's actually super useful.

The deck runs two types of dig spells: cantrips and what I like to call "Careful Studys." Cantrips like Brainstorm and Preordain help smooth out draws, dig for lands if you need, or help find an answer. The Careful Studies are cards that draw and discard. They have two uses in the deck: to function like the cantrips, and to discard any reanimation targets that are stuck in your hand. I would put Baleful Strix in this category (dig spell), who also provides an early blocker and rattlesnake card.

Finally the deck runs a couple of cards just to refill your hand: Quick Study, Windfall, Pull from Tomorrow (which doubles as a careful study if necessary), and Treasure Cruise. Sometimes you just need more cards.

Note: As I already mentioned, I didn't add some of the most degenerate reanimation targets, nor things that will win me the game on the spot. Right now, I'd call the deck a "bad 4" because it runs a bunch of game changers, but isn't completely optimized to win immediately. You could easily add some of those cards (like Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur or Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite) and make it more solidly bracket 4 (the deck could also slot in Thoracle for example). Nevertheless, I wanted to capture the feeling of those early games of EDH, doing degenerate things (using all the tutors, etc) but ultimately swinging in with big creatures. Battlecruiser Magic at its best.

The deck plays similarly to a classic Reanimator deck that you might find in Legacy (but obviously adapted for Commander). I tried to find the right balance of good reanimation targets and reanimation spells. Esper is perfect because black offers you Reanimate and Exhumefoil, white offers you Breath of Life and Unburial Rites (super underrated), and even blue offers us Connive / Concoct. Eleven reanimation spells plus the tutors allows you to have the ability to reanimate as soon as you can dump something into the graveyard. I tried to include reanimation spells that were 4 mana or under. The notable exceptions are Unburial Rites which can be dumped with a careful study if necessary and flashed back. And Unbreakable Bond which grants lifelink (which is super swingy with the big beatsticks).

Dakkon, Shadow Slayer was added in place of Charnel Serenade for two reasons: 1) it's Dakkon! 2) It provides some versatility. Serenade was fine, but it was already really slow. Dakkon can come down early or late for repeatable value. He can fix draws and get stuff into the graveyard. He can kill pesky creatures. And he can reanimate 3 of the 8 reanimation targets. Even if you durdle him for a bit but get one use out of his "minus" abilities, he's good.

Your reanimation targets are all basically keyword soup creatures, usually with inherent protection or evasion of some sort. Sheoldred, Whispering One is a powerful creature that will allow you to continue your gameplan while disrupting your opponents. While she puts a giant target on your back, she's often the first creature you should try to reanimate. Magister Sphinx gives you the ability to do essentially a large packet of damage in one swing, and has flying to help finish the job. Massacre Wurmfoil is a small creature board wipe stapled to a 6/6 that can do some chip damage as your opponents lose creatures. Archon of Crueltyfoil is disruption, draw, resilience, and a beatstick rolled into one. Finally, Akroma, Angel of Wrath, Sphinx of the Steel Wind, Salvation Colossus, and Zetalpa, Primal Dawn are basically all just beatsticks that are good at attacking and blocking.

Esper offers some of the best removal in the game for both targeted removal and board wipes. Damn and Cyclonic Rift are usually used for their wipe abilities, which means we only have 4 targeted removal with 6 board wipes. With the amount of cantrips/digging and tutors, you should be able to find what you need. It is a lot of board wipes, but we win with just a few powerful creatures, not with overwhelming board presence. And we can often recover after a board wipe easier than our opponents because of the inherent strength of our reanimation strategy.

Use your spot removal only for the most immediate threats: kill-on-sight commanders, or if someone is about to combo off/has lethal on the board. Ideally, your opponents should be reacting to you, scrambling to find an answer to your giant beatstick. So, your removal should be used to slow down their progress and not really to control things.

Always try to keep open to feign a Path to Exile or Swords to Plowshares.

The deck started as my attempt at a control deck, so it used to have a lot of countermagic in it. I was nervous to go fewer than 10 counterspells, but I realized that deck isn't (and shouldn't be) trying to control the game. It plays more like an aggro-control deck, which plays threats as quickly as possible, then protects them just enough to finish the game. Therefore, the countermagic in this deck is used to ensure that your threats stay on the board, or to stop any key spells from the opponents that will win them the game outright. Do not go counter happy, as you will run out quickly with very little to show for it.

I tried to only include the best 2 mana counter spells, with one notable exception: Disallow. I love this card! It hard counters everything AND it can function as a Stifle (hits all sorts of dangerous triggers).

A few powerful counter spells didn't make the cut in this deck, namely Force of Will and Fierce Guardianship. While those are amazing cards, I don't think they fit in the deck. Fierce Guardianship is obvious: we hardly ever play our commander. Force of Will might be a bit more of a head scratcher, and honestly, I'm still unsure about excluding it. I noticed two things while playing the deck: 1) I very rarely had a blue card that I was comfortable pitching (I'm not going to exile a reanimation target, and I'd rather not exile tutors or raw card draw, etc.), and 2) while the deck runs some good draw spells, it doesn't have a consistent way of refilling your hand. Oftentimes Force of Will sat in my hand, or was hardcast for 5 mana. At that point, I would have rather just used a 3 mana counterspell. I've heard that the minimum amount of blue cards needed to run FoW in Legacy was 16; and while that percentage is similar here, I don't think I have enough blue cards to reliably free-cast FoW in this deck.

The one counter spell I'm not completely sold on is Negate. It is super useful a lot of the time, but it doesn't hit commanders or other problem creatures. I recently discovered Long River's Pull, and I might try that one, as it seems similar to Arcane Denial. There are lots of options for countermagic, so feel free to use your favorite.

Try to keep some blue mana open to feign countermagic. Even if you aren't running a ton, the threat of it will keep people guessing.

Work in Progress.

The deck is stupid expensive due to the manabase and cards like Mana Drain. It is also pushed into bracket 4 because it runs more than 3 game changers.

You can easily start to budget-ize the deck by using more affordable dual lands and dropping the Ancient Tomb. Fetchlands help fill the graveyard for a better Treasure Cruise, they help with mana fixing, and they help shuffle away chaff after a cantrip. But they aren't super necessary. If you are upgrading the manabase, get shocklands first, then fetchlands. You can always add more basics, but there are a plethora of good dual lands with downsides these days.

Replacing some of the more expensive cards in the deck also means taking out many of the game changers. Dropping Intuition, Vampiric Tutor, and Demonic Tutor both reduces the cost of the deck by a large amount, and drops the deck into bracket 3 (assuming you've already dropped Ancient Tomb). That still leaves you with some money cards like Mana Drain, Mystical Tutor, and Cyclonic Rift. You can switch Drain for any counter spell you'd like. Mystical Tutor can become Personal Tutor or another draw spell. And Cyclonic Rift can become Aetherize or another bounce or board wipe.

Cyclonic Rift is one of the most powerful cards in the game (hence why it is on the game changer list), and if you were going to spend money on the deck, I'd suggest getting that first.

The other tutors can be replaced by less efficient tutors (think Diabolic Tutor) or with more draw and discard spells (Tolarian Winds or Read the Runes). You could also try going the looter route and load-up on cards like Merfolk Looter. The deck really loses potency without those game changers, which is expected of course, but with some of those tweaks it could still do well in bracket 3. The hardest tutor to lose when budgeting is Entomb. So, this may also be a card to pick up early in your upgrades (and it isn't a game changer, so it doesn't affect your bracket).

Drop the Trinket Mage package altogether (Shadowspear and Sensei's Divining Top) for more straight draw or removal.

Finally, drop Sheoldred, Whispering One for something like Rune-Scarred Demon or another beatstick of your choice.

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Casual

98% Competitive