Commander for Abzan Aristocrat deck
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on Jan. 17, 2022, 11:49 a.m. by BertilFalukorv
As the title says, I'm looking for some help finding a good commander or commander pair for what I want to do.
My deck idea is to get as many creature cards in the yard as possible, while going wide at the same time.
I mainly want to abuse Tombstone Stairwell with something like Cathars' Crusade White gives me some access to player protection (to prevent Bojuka Bog from emptying my graveyard and the orzhov combination gives me access to stuff like Elenda, the Dusk Rose and other deathtriggers. Green has mainly been to ramp, create tokens and great recursion spells to bring back my Tombstone when I cant pay the upkeep or when someone destroys it, without relying too much of white which is mainly bringing back specifically enchantments.
Originally I was planning to use either Teysa Karlov or Teysa, Orzhov Scion but I feel like greens bring me some really good cards like GY recursion with flashback on it. Please give me some insight of my idea :)
I also made a deck of this in Mardu with Alesha, Who Smiles at Death which gives me red for things like Purphoros.
Im not sure how many creatures I want to run minimum to make Tombstone work, Id rather not selfmill but draw cards instead. All the help I can get is appreciated. Mainly Im trying to find a home for my favorite card without building the entire deck around it ( Tombstone Stairwell )
Necrosis24 says... #3
Tayam, Luminous Enigma could be a fun one with a side focus of +1/+1 counters if you want to include it but isn’t necessary.
Pairs well with Cathars' Crusade and Elenda, the Dusk Rose. And helps build a graveyard for Tombstone Stairwell.
Cauldron of Souls, Mikaeus, the Unhallowed, and Luminous Broodmoth for some recursion to pair well with the aristocrat theme.
Living Death and Command the Dreadhorde to take advantage of the self mill Tayam does.
January 17, 2022 2:47 p.m.
Tayam, Luminous Enigma and Ghave, Guru of Spores are probably your best bets, as mentioned above. Other options include Kethis, the Hidden Hand, which would require some sort of legendary sub-theme, Nethroi, Apex of Death, which doesn't require Mutate cards but would greatly benefit from them, and Teneb, the Harvester or Karador, Ghost Chieftain for general graveyard shenanigans. As far as partner pairings are concerned, Ravos, Soultender and Tormod, the Desecrator is great for graveyard stuff while Reyhan, Last of the Abzan and Alharu, Solemn Ritualist are synergistic with counters and aristocrats stuff. Mix and match them because partner commanders are awesome!
I do think Tayam or Ghave would be your best shot, but the others may prove to be interesting depending on your personal preferences.
January 17, 2022 4:59 p.m.
Ghave is probably perfect, but also is a well known combo enabler so it could get you targeted. Tayam might be able to sneak under the radar a bit better.
January 17, 2022 6:18 p.m.
BertilFalukorv says... #8
Yeah Ghave was the first one I looked at, I don't want my graveyard to be targeted so running a lot of recursion is something im trying to avoid.
I feel like I'm probably trying to jam in my Tombstone Stairwell in the deck. The best thing to do would probably be to run Mardu or Esper with Varina, Lich Queen and run a zombie theme. Problem is I have a zombie deck already with Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver Maybe I should just expand it to Esper instead of dimir and run more creatures.
Mardu is too tempting to run with Triggers like Purphoros, God of the Forge
The thing with Ghave is that It's like Abaques says, it's a known combo enabler and I try to stay away from such decks :)
So maybe the topic is wrong, I should make a thread about Tombstone Stairwell instead :P
January 17, 2022 6:49 p.m.
VensersJournalist says... #9
You mentioned wanting to draw cards as well. Have you considered a Grixis build? Possibly around Nekusar, the Mindrazer? It wouldn’t exactly be built to fit Tombstone Stairwell, but you could include that, Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver, and Purphoros, God of the Forge all in the same deck.
January 17, 2022 7:50 p.m.
BertilFalukorv says... #10
Hmm that's not a bad idea VensersJournalist! Fittingly he's a zombie also, so I could run a zombie theme. :)
I like rakdos with zombies and Tombstone for the absurd combo with Deathbringer Thoctar as well. Originally I ran a list with another reserved list card as commander Lord of Tresserhorn but it resolved more about zombies and having the commander burst out the door unblockable and people just shot me down instantly all the time.
VensersJournalist says... #2
Depending on how you want to go wide, there are a lot of good commander options.
If you’re really feeling the tokens/counters route, I think Ghave, Guru of Spores could give you the synergy you need. It can make tokens and put creatures in the graveyard while pumping other creatures or itself up.
If you want more direct graveyard interaction (pulling creatures back from the dead or benefiting from creatures in the yard), I would suggest either Colfenor, the Last Yew or Karador, Ghost Chieftain. With Colfenor, you’re basically getting to bring something back from the yard every time something dies, and with Karador, you get a discount (handy for commander tax) for every creature you have in the graveyard, with the option to cast something from the graveyard too.
Hopefully that helps point you in the right direction!
January 17, 2022 1:13 p.m.