Hello happy readers! I hope your day is going quite well! This is my 6th deck I've built around the latest it thus far. Here are the first five:

1. The first was built around Hidetsugu, Devouring Chaos - Commanding Hidetsugu, Devouring Chaos | Article by Abe Sargent (coolstuffinc.com). This deck uses a number of big cost cards that have cheaper play costs like Blasphemous Act, the evoke-ing of Mournwhelk, the delve of Tombstalker and the suspend of Greater Gargadon to get big damage triggers and then be castable that turn. Love it a lot!
2. The second deck I built around was an Orzhov enchantments and artifacts matter build around uncommon newcomer, Naomi, Pillar of Order. (You can find it here - (Commanding Order with Naomi | Article by Abe Sargent (coolstuffinc.com)). I tossed in tons of artifacts, enchantments, and creatures that counted as one or the other, like Esper Sentinel and Agent of Erebos. Then I used those types for removal of stuff like Dispeller's Capsule, Duplicant, and Seal of Doom. Then I tossed for, for game winning, the powerhouse of Nettlecyst and other similar pumping effects for a Commander damage win if needed. Check it out!
3. The third deck I created was around Tatsunari, Toad Rider. This deck played around 20 enchantments to get triggers off his cast ability to make his legendary fun, like Rhystic Study and Sylvan Library, around 15 Frogs and changelings to use his ability on like Yargle, Glutton of Urborg and The Gitrog Monster and then some Voltron-ish and unblockable elements to get some punches in like Archetype of Imagination and Whispersilk Cloak. You can check out this fun build here - (Commanding Tatsunari, Toad Rider | Article by Abe Sargent (coolstuffinc.com))
4. The fourth deck I crafted was around the Boros Samurai needs of Raiyuu, Storm's Edge. I included around 25 mostly Samurai with the trigger that Raiyuu has from Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty as well as it's Commander set. I also tossed in Warriors like cards like Moraug, Fury of Akoum; Samurai loving things like Godo, Bandit Warlord; Samurai makers like The Wandering Emperor and loads more synergies. I made it feel Voltron around the leader. Enjoy it here!!! - Commanding Raiyuu's Samurai | Article by Abe Sargent (coolstuffinc.com)
5. The fifth deck I built was a Mono-Black ramp and combo deck around the Nastiest of Commanders, Nashi, Moon Sage's Scion. In this build I had 6 infinite combos in Black or colorless and I leaned heavily into Nashi's Spikey exiling cards and casting them with life rather than mana. This included cards like life-loss matters things like Vilis, Brooker of Blood or deck sorting stuff like Scroll Rack. It's very strong at the kitchen table and you can check it out here - Getting Nasty in Commander with Nashi | Article by Abe Sargent (coolstuffinc.com)
6. The sixth deck I built was a Mono-Blue Artifacts list built around Katsumasa, the Animator. The build focused on producing artifact tokens like Treasures, Clues, and Food to create an endless supply of targets for Katsumasa's ability. Cards like Academy Manufactor, Treasure Vault, and a small crew of vehicles are ready for Katsumasa to bring to life. You can check the list out here - Animating Commander with Katsumasa | Article by Abe Sargent (coolstuffinc.com)!

And there we go!!!!

Who am I building around this time?

It's this Dimir 5-drop 4/4 without any evasion. She has a nice enters-the-battlefield ability where you can exile a card from an opposing graveyard. Then you can "play" it as long as you control Kotose and mana-washing is in effect. (Your mana of any color can be used for it).

This leads me to a few synergies to build around. The occasional opposing mill spell to make sure that we have fun options to exile, but not too many. Ramp and mana rocks to make sure I can make the mana needed for her, including the massive mana making of Black's Cabal Coffers, Cabal Stronghold, and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. I wish this were Green too, but ah well. I am also adding in sturdy mana rocks like Darksteel Ingot that will last past mass removal and continue to ramp me. Let's add in blinking so after I cast the spell or play the land I can blink her out and do it again. And then... we'll have plenty to space left over for other things. I'll lean into midrange which has a bunch of midgame similar abilities on ETB cards like Mulldrifter for you to blink. I'll also add in some spells and dorks that care about using your foe's things, like Bribery, since that's Kotose's thing. Also note that we will not be exiling en masse our opponent's graveyards like normal, since they are a resource for us to actually play the game. I'm thinking of two brakes on graveyards in case you play against the Meren of Clan Nel Toth deck. We'll see how things work out. I'll also add in fun ways to use fat graveyards to your advantage.

Ready?

Let's do it to it!

Check out Gonti, a powerful 4-drop in Black in a deck like this one. He arrives to the battlefield with deathtouch, which is good at playing keep away. He can Impulse the top four cards of a foe's deck, exile a card, and then cast it with mana washing in play. It's an ETB ability I can abuse later just like Kotose, and it steals a card from a foe, just like Kotose!!!

As does this 7-drop cycle. The first Primordial has 5/4 intimate, which is a bit slow, but on arrival to the battlefield, you can return, for free, one creature card from each graveyard in the game. Nice! And with the milling and ETB synergies, this pair is quite potent in this brew as is the second Primordial, which is a 5/5 flyer, and then you can cast, for free, an instant or sorcery from each graveyard. Nasty little combo.

Most of my ETB Stuff is pretty boring. Here's a Solemn Simulacrum, there's a Ravenous Chupacabra. So, let's turn to blink support.

Check out this pair of ETB supporters. The first is created by Volkan Baga. I have a piece of Volkan's art in my apartment, the Pitiless Vizier, which sits over my couch. I also love his art for this Commander staple. At four mana, this card will double your triggers for artifacts and creatures that trigger when something arrives to the battlefield. When your Kotose arrives you'll net two triggers. Good stuff. Then we have the Closet, which is a 5-drop artifact that will blink at the end of your turn, for free, and without costing anything additional. A free blink for your deck is nice, and it's a may effect, in case you don't want to blink out Kotose since you'd be unable to cast her card she took.

How about this pair of forking triggered abilities? The Resonator can tap for two mana to double a trigger ability for the turn, like Kotose or things like Noxious Gearhulk. Then we have the Engine, with a much more powerful suite of copy abilities. Sure, it can tap for two mana and itself to copy a triggered ability, but also an activated one, three mana to copy a key instant/sorcery spell and four mana to copy a permanent spell like Sphinx of Uthuun. That's better than just copying the ability if you have the mana to spare, and getting double mana rocks is really strong.

Let's turn to some blinking. Thassa is a nice Sea God. This version is four mana for a 6/5 indestructible that needs devotion to be an actual dork. It can activate to tap something down. But it's here for that flicker effect at the end of the turn for free. Nice! Then we have the recently printed Sword. As you can see, it gives pro White and Green and a nice +2/+2 buff. Then when it punches face, you'll flicker a dork you control and fetch out a land and ramp it. It's a great card for this deck as ramp and blink are quite useful.

How about some funky pieces of equipment? The former is a 2-drop equip 4 with gives the equipped dork myriad. If it's on an ETB dork like Baleful Strix, then you can swing and then make copies for the turn that are also attacking the other players, and then that's a few more triggers of the Strix. The Helm is pretty sexy with a big cost and equip cost but when your combat step begins you copy, for free, the equipped dork and it's not a legendary dork. On a Strix, that's nice, and then token doesn't die at the end of the turn, and you can put it on Kotose for a strong slate of triggers.

All right let's turn to some milling cards and things that like that.

Check out this pair of 1-drops. Altar is the best of the milling support in this brew since its ability is an ETB one and it comes from an artifact to double with Panharmonicon. As your permanents arrive to the party, your foes will mill a single card. In a 100-card deck game that will be a while, but it's steady, and all of the copying and blinking will count as more and more triggers of the Altar. The Crab is a nice 0/3 for a single Blue mana that can block some early stuff without dying, and it has a nice landfall trigger. When you drop a land, each foe mills three cards. That's a lot more than the Altar, but it's on a fragile dork that's more easily answered and only cares about lands, so there's no blinking synergies here.

Check out these two sorceries that could not be further in mana cost! The first is a powerful 9-drop sorcery that will end the game in a mill deck. Or normally to be frank. Tired of milling and frumping around with blinking Mulldrifter, then I have the game winner for you! Rise of the Fun Times commences! This thing will just win the game with the massive amount of dead stuff you'll gain from the milling and dying. I also decided not to run any graveyard hate (other than Kotose and a card we'll see later, but those both cast them for your side so you'll still get the effect) to enable this powerhouse. It also steals from your foes and uses their resources against them, just like Kotose! The second is just a 2-drop sorcery that mills each foe 8 cards, unless you kick it for four mana and then it's a Traumatize at each foe! Nasty stuff in multiplayer.

Just like the Rise above, the Guiltfeeder cares about dense graveyard and abuses the metagame. This is a five-mana dork with fear. When it attacks and goes unblocked, the defending player loses life equal to their graveyard count. In mill this thing can kill very quickly, and with a kicked Cacophony this can win in one hit. Imagine it's power with the myriad-granting Blade of Selves? Sure, mill can win the game on its own by decking your foes, but let's just win now, or with Rise instead. Also, this will let you win when your foe's deck is down to a few cards and they control one of the two "game win when your deck is exhausted" cards commonly played in the format. This also won't blank on Thassa's Oracle.

All right, now let's turn to some stealing and casting:

Check out this Bribery/Acquire variant. This is a seven-cost sorcery that lets you search out a foe's library for a sorcery or instant and then cast it for free. That's very strong since you can get the best card for the situation, like the Insurrection to win the game, the mass removal spell to dial you back into the game, the targeted removal spell that will answer a nasty Commander that cannot be recast due to too many Commander Taxes, or maybe just draw a bunch of cards. I have seen this really punch above it's weight, and it's really strong even without the prowl, although we do have the occasional Rogue here and there.

Check out this pair. The Rhetoric is a 3-drop enchantment that acts as a bit of a keep away rattlesnake effect. When your foe swings your way or at your planeswalker (we aren't running any here), then you exile the top card of their library and you can cast it with mana washing in effect, which is very similar to what Kotose is bringing. It's a nice Propaganda effect for playing keep away from attacking you since they will run into a card disadvantage option. The Necromancer is one of the favorite cards of our own Jason Alt, (you can find his stuff here - CoolStuffInc.com online retailer of board games, mtg and many other collectible card games) and I have tossed it in in acknowledgement of him. This is a 4-drop 4/4 that is on curve, and as opposing dorks die, they get exiled with ice counters, and you can cast them, and your Snow Mana has mana washing. This is the other exiling effect I mentioned when talking about Rise of the Dark Realms above, but only when they die, not when they are milled or discarded, and then you can still cast them. I moved my lands to Snow-Covered to allow this.

Check out these two Dimir colored dorks. Xanathar is a 6-drop 5/6 that has a nice upkeep trigger. As you can see, you can choose an opposing target foe on your upkeep. That player cannot cast spells, and I can look at the top card of their library and then I can cast it with mana washing in effect. The Taker of Hostages is a 2/3 for 4 mana and has a nice ETB ability. It exiles an opposing artifact or dork until it leaves the battlefield. And then you can cast that exiled card with mana washing. After you cast it, flicker it and exile something else. Both work well with Kotose.

Now let's turn to some lands!

Check out these two Dimir color identity lands. Each arrives untapped and ready to be used, and each taps and then forces a target player (could be you, but it's not here for self-targeting) to mill cards equal to the mana spent to tap it. Two cards for two mana from the first card and three for three for the other.

Can you see why this card is here? Nope? I got you! This land will force everyone, yourself as well, to draw and discard a card. Having your foe put cards into the graveyard is good for Kotose and Rise of the Dark Realms. As you can see, this is not a "may" so your foes and you must draw and then discard, which is pretty good for the team.

We really need ramp in this deck since we are casting our foe's stuff as well as our own. How do I drop extra lands? These two cards. The land is the first time I've run a Generator in one of my brews for months, since I prefer just to run a better card, but in here I have 17 basics, so that's not unusual. You can also do it at the end of a foe's turn to drop a basic with the extra mana you were holding onto tapped, and then untap and use it. The Atlas is here to tap and drop any land from your hand to the battlefield. It's a 2-drop 1/1 that can be played in any deck, which is pretty good for the cause. Also, you'll note that it's pretty good with the extra lands you are playing with Kotose that take up your land drop for the turn. You cannot exile basics, but you can exile things like Terramorphic Expanse and Inventors' Fair that sacrifice for various effects.

All right, let's finish with 4 cards from Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty and it's Commander set.

Nashi is the first card I tossed into the deck from this set. I am a big fan of what I call "Nasty Nashi". I have it is my Top Ten Cards from the Set for Casual Play and I've already built around it as well with a Commander brew. Nashi is arguably the Spike-iest Commander from the set, and I love this Rat Ninja. Note that this fun thang has Ninjutsu to drop out of nowhere, which works along side of ETB triggers like Shriekmaw since you can recast it and get another trigger. Also, this card is pretty strong for the races as when you deal combat damage you exile the top card of everyone's library and you can play one card that was exiled for free, with no mana needed, just losing life equal to its mana value. That's pretty good here as a way to keep on casting your foe's things against them or, if you prefer, you can just cast your stuff for free. Love Nashi here a lot!

Check out this Invoke duo. Each of these costs five mana and four of each type which is rough in three color or more builds. Here you use basics, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, Command Tower, the many dual lands for these colors and the Manaliths I added in like Commander's Sphere and Darksteel Ingot. The first was also on my Top Ten List. As you can see, this will force your foe to sacrifice, in order, a dork, an enchantment and a planeswalker. For each one they cannot sacrifice, they lose two life and you draw a card so this is guaranteed 3:1. Nice! The second Invoke will steal an opposing artifact or dork and then you untap it. Nice! Again, using your foe's stuff against them!

One card left...

Check out this 5-drop hard counter. I like hard counters that win games like this and Draining Whelk (also in here as it blinks and can be reused). I have... 7 hard counters and Jwari Disruption // Jwari Ruins which Force Spikes something for an extra mana. It's pretty solid counter since you make a bunch of 1/1 flying Thopters. Note that even if you just counter a two-mana removal spell like Damn or Terminate getting a pair of dorks to do your dirty work can do some fun damage. Good stuff!

And there we go! Check out the decklist below...

Commanding Silence | Commander | Abe Sargent

• Commander (1)
• 1 Kotose, the Silent Spider

• Creatures (28)
• 1 Agent of Treachery
• 1 Baleful Strix
• 1 Burnished Hart
• 1 Consecrated Sphinx
• 1 Deadeye Navigator
• 1 Diluvian Primordial
• 1 Draining Whelk
• 1 Draugr Necromancer
• 1 Duplicant
• 1 Gonti, Lord of Luxury
• 1 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• 1 Guiltfeeder
• 1 Hostage Taker
• 1 Mulldrifter
• 1 Nashi, Moon Sage's Scion
• 1 Noxious Gearhulk
• 1 Phenax, God of Deception
• 1 Ravenous Chupacabra
• 1 Ruin Crab
• 1 Rune-Scarred Demon
• 1 Sepulchral Primordial
• 1 Shriekmaw
• 1 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Sphinx of Uthuun
• 1 Thassa, Deep-Dwelling
• 1 Venser, Shaper Savant
• 1 Walking Atlas
• 1 Xanathar, Guild Kingpin

• Instants (8)
• 1 Access Denied
• 1 Cryptic Command
• 1 Dismiss
• 1 Hagra Mauling // Hagra Broodpit
• 1 Insidious Will
• 1 Jwari Disruption // Jwari Ruins
• 1 Mana Drain
• 1 Wash Away

• Sorceries (9)
• 1 Acquire
• 1 Bribery
• 1 Demonic Tutor
• 1 In Garruk's Wake
• 1 Invoke Despair
• 1 Invoke the Winds
• 1 Maddening Cacophony
• 1 Rise of the Dark Realms
• 1 Sea Gate Restoration // Sea Gate, Reborn

• Enchantments (2)
• 1 Cunning Rhetoric
• 1 Psychic Corrosion

• Artifacts (16)
• 1 Altar of the Brood
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Blade of Selves
• 1 Commander's Sphere
• 1 Conjurer's Closet
• 1 Darksteel Ingot
• 1 Helm of the Host
• 1 Lightning Greaves
• 1 Lithoform Engine
• 1 Mind's Eye
• 1 Panharmonicon
• 1 Skyclave Relic
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Strionic Resonator
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots
• 1 Sword of Hearth and Home

• Lands (36)
• 8 Snow-Covered Swamp
• 9 Snow-Covered Island
• 1 Ancient Tomb
• 1 Cabal Coffers
• 1 Cabal Stronghold
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Dimir Aqueduct
• 1 Drowned Catacomb
• 1 Duskmantle, House of Shadow
• 1 Geier Reach Sanitarium
• 1 Morphic Pool
• 1 Myriad Landscape
• 1 Nephalia Drownyard
• 1 Sunken Hollow
• 1 Temple of Deceit
• 1 Temple of the False God
• 1 Terrain Generator
• 1 Underground River
• 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1 Volrath's Stronghold
• 1 Watery Grave

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And there we go! What did you think of my deck? Anything in here missing or that you enjoy? Just let me know your thoughts in the comments below and have an amazing day!