Building Your First Commander: Step 3 ? Cards and Answers

Posted on April 11, 2023

Hello Happy Commander-potential Fans! Ever wonder how to build your first Commander? It's a bit daunting with more than 20,000 cards and 1600 Commanders. Where to start? Enter this series! We are dividing up various steps and then building three very different decks with three very different budgets to go with it.

Today is step 3, where we add in card flow and answers. As a reminder, 1 was chosen randomly, then one in the Top Ten Archetypes and one in the Top Ten Creature Type Matters with all five colors represented.

Step 1 - Choosing Your Commanders

Step 2 - Mana and Lands

This was the big one since we were aiming to add around 50 cards per brew. 40 lands, and 10 ramp.

Answers are typically in three themes. The first are counters like Counterspell that answer anything. The second are removal like Wrath of God that sweeps or targeted like Vindicate. The last answers removal with instant tricks to save your stuff, like Heroic Intervention. All three will be here. I like around 10-12 answers in my decks.

Then card flow can be draw like Fact or Fiction or Ancient Craving, or flow like draw and discard like Merfolk Looter or discard to draw like Seize the Spoils. All are considered card flow and will make the cut. I generally like to run around 10-15 card flow cards as well, so we should be around 20-25 cards per deck today.

Deck #1: Dimir Saboteur with Milling Backup around Zareth San, the Trickster; Budget Under $100

Deck #2: Boros Equipment with Partners Ardenn and Rograkh; Budget-Conscious

Deck #3: Golgari Elves with Abomination of Llanowar; No Budget

Deck #1: Tricky Zareth

A five-drop 4/4 with flash, a Rogue-only Ninjutsu, and then a combat damage trigger that we are building around. We also have milling as an alternate win-con or to make his damage trigger more relatable. The deck so far (you can find the lists as we last left them here!) features lands to help our commander punch through, including Rogue's Passage and Access Tunnel. There's also a mill theme in the lands with Duskmantle, House of Shadow, Nephalia Drownyard, and Port of Karfell to take advantage of it. We also added in a typical set of mana rocks and Solemn Simulacrum and Burnished Hart.

Budget -$ 21.07 Total for Lands, Commander and Artifact Mana (51 cards). So I have around $78.93 left for the rest of my deck. Let's get started.

Answers

Every deck needs a mass removal emergency button. Enter Damnation, our key token mass removal spell that costs $16 on the secondary market. This four-cost mass sweeper is great at playing sweeper when the bad stuff happens. It's very strong earlier before setting up our board, or later after you lost it. Love this thing loads here. I also tossed in bulk rare Necromantic Selection as a sweeper too.

This costs 2.49

An Offer You Can't Refuse

This costs 1.49

Hero's Downfall

We need backup targeted removal for things that slip past our counter window, enter the Downfall. This will destroy any creature or planeswalker for a cheap three mana at instant speed too, by the by. It's very strong at the killing taking out two key types here. Necromantic Selection chimes in next at 50 cents. Also check out Didn't Say Please, which counters and mills all in one, for just 35 cents. Fun stuff, right? I am running all four "Counter then Mill" cards that have been printed here. Love them loads!

These Cost 0.25 Each

Let's finish our answer suite with this pair. The Cup is a Murder variant that costs the same mana and was recently printed. Then you can foretell it and cast it for two later with a free scry 2 attached. Negate is a classic Commander card that counters any non-critter spell your foe may be casting for just two splashable mana. Strong here! Check out these quarter cards!

1 Countermand

1 Induce Paranoia

1 Negate

1 Rewind

1 Poison the Cup

1 Thought Collapse

All Answers

1 An Offer You Can't Refuse

1 Countermand

1 Damnation

1 Didn't Say Please

1 Hero's Downfall

1 Induce Paranoia

1 Necromantic Selection

1 Negate

1 Poison the Cup

1 Rewind

1 Thought Collapse

Budget for Answers - $22.31 ($43.38 total)

Card Flow

These costs 2.49

Check out this "pricey" four-drop mono-Blue duo! The Bident will draw cards each time they smash another player for damage. In this Saboteur deck that should be loads of cards. You could easily draw 2 or 4 each combat from this alone! Always attack the open player. The creature is a 3/2 with flying that draws cards when you deal combat damage to a foe. That's very strong here as well, note the flying. You can make copies of that dork for two mana each time you cast it, which should prove to be a bunch of dorks later in the game. This is very strong at the fun thangs. Reconnaissance Mission is in at $1.25.

These cost 1.49

A pair of Ninja with ninjutsu! Ninja of the Deep Hours is a classic four-drop 2/2 that ninjutsu's for two. Then you can draw a card when you deal combat damage to that player you attacked! Ingenious Infiltrator is also a four-drop, this time on a 2/3 body. It also has two to ninjutsu, although harder to spend. Then when a Ninja you controls deals damage to a foe, you can draw a card, it too. These are my only two so far, although who knows if more will make it later?

These cost 0.49

Check out this bulk rare costing pair of cards. The Story is pricey, but if a foe has 7 or more cards in their graveyard, it's just four to cast, strong! Nice card flow. The creature costs three and then has a 1/3 body. Then when it deals combat damage to a foe, you'll draw a card. Note that it does have fear too, so there is a built-in evasion here for this dork.

Check out another bulk rare with Dimir Cutpurse. When it deals that combat damage to someone's face you'll draw a card just like normal, but they'll discard too, just like Abyssal Specter. That's two triggers from one Saboteur ability trigger. Nasty here! The final addition at this price point is Sturmgeist.

Check out this mass-produced, black-bordered horsemanship dork, which now costs just 35 cents! This thing wins all of the games! It's very powerful with the unblockable horsemanship here since no one runs it. Then you draw that card when it smashes for damage, quite a lot here, right? Right!

These cost 15-25 cents

1 Mulldrifter

1 Thassa's Emissary

1 Acquisition Octopus

1 Neurok Commando

1 Sure-Footed Infiltrator

1 Thieving Magpie

1 Soulknife Spy

Let's finish our card flow section with this pair! The Rogue draws when it deals combat damage. It doesn't have combat evasion naturally. Then you can tap a Rogue to give it unblockability for this turn to get that card! The Octopus is a three-drop 2/2 that also damages for cards, and its equipment so it'll equip for two to give that to a dork that has evasion to smash on through for all the cards!

Card Flow Budget Total - $12.47

That's 17 more cards added! I leaned heavily into Saboteur card flow in this way more than normal and then added in more cards than normal for this section.

Budget Used - $55.85

Dimir Saboteur | Commander | Abe Sargent

Commander (1)
1 Zareth San, the Trickster

Enchantments (1)
1 Reconnaissance Mission

Budget Used - $55.85

There's 21 spots left - next week is the most important week of this deck with Synergies and Win-Cons.

Deck #2: Budget-Conscious Boros

Here are my Commander partners:

As a reminder, this Boros Equipment Deck is budget-conscious, so it cannot run expensive things like the $59.99 price tag of Sword of Fire and Ice but it will run things in the $25 or $30 dollar range.

The deck we're inheriting from last week came in with 40 total lands, and 46 total cards. Note that my mana rocks and dorks and ramp last week was less than my typical 10 since I wanted to drop my 0-drop Commander on turn 1 with a piece of equipment, then on the second turn another 2-drop equipment, then on turn 3 drop Ardenn and equip my other leader for free and swing. In this case I'm really not caring as much about the ramping. Mox Amber will ramp for on turn 1 without using mana. I only have 4 mana rocks here.

Answers

Again, remember my $30 per card cost, well the Protection is heavily played and clocks in at $25. It's very strong in any going wide deck for three mana since your life cannot change, all of your permanents phase out for the turn, and then you gain protection from everything. You can cast this in response to any mass or targeted removal effect to save your team. The Will costs four, is sold out here but $20 on other sites, and is pretty strong. Since one Commander is dropped on the first turn for zero mana, you are likely to get both options. Your stuff gets flying to swing over a grounded defense or block a flying attack; vigilance to swing and stay back to block; and double strike to kill quickly out of nowhere, so that half is more aggressive than reactive. Then your stuff gets lifelink to double the life swing (quadruple it with double strike), indestructible to stay alive in mass removal, and then protection from all colors to save from anything that targets them, like Cyclonic Rift. Both are very strong answers to other answers at the Commander table.

Another pair of answers to answers is next: Flawless Maneuver and Sejiri Shelter. The Maneuver is a three-cost instant that gives your team indestructible, again to save them from board wipes. Then you can cast it for free if you control one of your two Commanders, very likely here, and you can tap out and still be safe with it in hand. The Shelter is a two-cost instant that will give one dork protection from the color of your choice for the turn. You can play this reactively to save from any targets, damage, to survive blocking or removal mass. You can also cast this proactively to swing through any defense with that color. It's very strong here!

Now let's check out a pair of overload sorceries. The uncommon costs one, destroys an artifact you don't control. Then you can invest a splashable five mana to overload it and destroy all artifacts you don't destroy. Nasty! In today's heavy Treasure era, this is very strong at the sweeping fun times of all things artificial that aren't yours. The rare costs two to shoot a dork you don't control for 4. You can overload it for six mana total to do that to all opposing dorks, thus sweeping but keeping your team around. Good pair for the sweeping fun times!

All Answers

1 Akroma's Will

1 Chaos Warp

1 Flawless Maneuver

1 Generous Gift

1 Mizzium Mortars

1 Rip Apart

1 Sejiri Shelter

1 Swords to Plowshares

1 Teferi's Protection

1 Vandalblast

Card Flow

Note that unlike most of these effects, the Awakening will let you keep your good things in your hand and just let go of the ones you don't want. Sram is a key Bear that costs two on a 2/2 that is heavily played in Boros Equipment. When you cast an Aura, Equipment, or Vehicle you draw a card. Note that's a cast trigger so you'll draw even if it's countered. That's very strong card flow over time! You'll love him on turn 2 and then cast equipment over time.

Puresteel Paladin is also a two-drop 2/2 like Sram, but harder to cast. Then when equipment enters your battlefield, draw a card! That's also nasty card flow over time. If you draw one while controlling the other, do not play it! Wait until mass removal answers it. If you control three or more artifacts, your equip cost is zero. That's why I added in artifact lands. That acts as a backup way of free equips if Ardenn is answered.

Skullclamp is a classic one drop one equip artifact. It gives the equipped dork +1/-1 and when it dies, you draw a pair of cards, so you net a card. That's nasty good here in this brew with an early turn drop.

Let's finish this section with Jeska's Will and Showdown of the Skalds. This Will also will likely have both halves cast with two Commanders one of which costs zero mana for this three-cost sorcery. You get mana equal to a foe's hand, and then you exile the top three cards of your library and can play them this turn. That includes lands, so don't drop your land this turn prior to casting the Will.

The Saga is a four-drop that exiles four and you can cast them until next turn, not this one. You can drop two lands, one this turn and one next if exiled. Then when you cast spells on your next two turns, put a +1/+1 counter on your Commander that you are swinging with to speed up the Commander damage kill. This pair is very strong here at exiling and then casting from your library.

Card Flow

1 Puresteel Paladin

1 Sram, Senior Edificer

1 Jeska's Will

1 Valakut Awakening

1 Showdown of the Skalds

1 Mask of Memory

1 Rogue's Gloves

1 Skullclamp

We're calling this at eight effects. We have massive card flow over time like Skullclamp and Sram here, so your discard to draw or exile top card of your library and cast that turn are less needed.

Boros Equipment | Commander | Abe Sargent

Instants (8)
1 Akroma's Will
1 Chaos Warp
1 Flawless Maneuver
1 Generous Gift
1 Sejiri Shelter // Sejiri Glacier
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Teferi's Protection
1 Valakut Awakening // Valakut Stoneforge

Enchantments (1)
1 Showdown of the Skalds

Room for 38 more. Note I pulled two basics for two modal spell lands to give me more options in the deck. This deck will be dense in its theme, so I wanted to give it space to breathe. Next week will be fine for this deck with Synergies and Win Conditions.

Deck #3: No-Budget Golgari Elves

Remember that this deck will have a self-milling theme to grow our Commander into a threat. The deck we inherited was heavy on mana elves like Elvish Mystic and Elvish Archdruid, while playing a bunch of lands with upside like Grim Backwoods, Shizo, Death's Storehouse and Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth (40 lands overall). We emphasized mana Elves over ramp like Rampant Growth. When they die, I can still access my size boosts from the graveyard. We have 15 ramp and Commander and 40 lands. The only non-Elf ramp here is Sol Ring.

Ready for our changes?

Answers

I have two answers to answers here. The first is the classic Heroic Intervention. This will give all of your permanents (not just creatures, but everything) hexproof to stop their being targeted and indestructible to stop their destruction. It's a very cheap two mana and one of the best answers to an answer ever printed for the format. It can answer anything from Cyclonic Rift to Blasphemous Act to Akroma's Vengeance to Obliterate. It's nasty here going wide. The Stand costs just one to start and gives hexproof and indestructible to one dork, so you can cast it to save your key dork like the Abomination prior to killing with Commander Damage. It also can be pumped with X mana to give it X power and toughness for the turn. That makes it a faster clock to kill more quickly with the 21 damage Commander Clock out of nowhere. With the Cabal Coffers and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth combo, that's feasible here for a lot of killing.

Check out this pair of creature type matters mass removal. Remember what I said about mass removal with Damnation above? How every deck should have some mass removal for when things go awry? The Massacre is a four-cost sorcery that will -2/-2 everything not in your creature type of Elf. Nasty! And it's just one more mana than Infest which does that for all dorks, so you get the same sweepage of your foe's stuff but save your team for one mana more. The Dominance is a seven-cost sorcery. Name "Elf" when you cast it and sweep all non-Elves off the battlefield. That might save a few of your opposing Elves here and there but your whole team. It's very strong here.

Gilt-Leaf Winnower is a five-drop 4/3 with menace so evasion on a stick. Then when it enters-the-battlefield you can kill a target non-Elf that has uneven power and toughness. Removal on a stick that counts as your Elf and size of your Commander is pretty strong here. Lys Alana Scarblade is a three-drop 1/1, a bit small. Then you can tap it and discard an Elf to give an opposing creature a reduced power and toughness equal to your Elf count. That's repeatable removal in this brew and gets past indestructible on your foes. Also, since you discard an Elf, you are pumping up your Abomination, so you can pump its size at instant speed as a combat trick, nasty here.

Let's finish this section with this pair! The Elf is a five-drop 4/4 Rogue that is an Elf version of The Abyss. In each player's upkeep, they sacrifice a non-Elf creature. With nothing but Elves, that won't be you. Then your foes will each sacrifice something. Note that this is much better the more foes you have and scales up in power wonderfully in multiplayer. The sorcery is a three cost that destroys anything not named land, and it's pretty cheap. Then you also destroy other things with the same name. That's very strong at clearing out a bunch of tokens with the same name like Treasure or Goblins or Zombies. It's very strong in multiplayer as well since there are more to run into.

1 Gilt-Leaf Winnower

1 Lys Alana Scarblade

1 Ruthless Winnower

1 Beast Within

1 Crippling Fear

1 Eyeblight Massacre

1 Hero's Downfall

1 Heroic Intervention

1 Kindred Dominance

1 Maelstrom Pulse

1 Tyvar's Stand

Card Flow

The rare two-drop 3/1 has a death trigger for your (nontoken) Elves or Berserkers. Note that this only triggers for your stuff. When they die you lose a life and draw a card. Great card flow from their death. Then you'll also lose life, which you cannot stop, but with 40 life it's likely not to matter. The uncommon is a two-drop 1/2 with a death trigger for your Elves. This time she'll count tokens. When they die, you can spend a generic mana and a life and then draw a card. The same life loss and card drawn, but with tokens so she's better and with a mana so she's worse. Both two drops are strong with the card flow here.

Now let's turn from black death triggers to green cast triggers with a pair of Druids: Beast Whisperer and Leaf-Crowned Visionary. When you cast any creature? Draw a card with Whisperer! Sure, there's no Elf-matters here, but you can draw for anything you have the casting for. The latter is a two-drop 1/1 that pumps your Elves, a Glorious Anthem on legs. Strong! Then when you cast an Elf, you can pay to draw a card. Nasty card flow over time! These are cast triggers, so you'll draw even when the spell is countered.

Check out the Golgari sorcery duo of Pact of the Serpent and Shamanic Revelation! The Pact should easily refill your hand from your Elf count. Also note that you can target another player who might be at low life or deck count, so always keep those two in your mind when playing this thing.

The Revelation is a great five-cost sorcery. It'll draw you cards equal to your creature count, probably gain you 4 life with controlling your Commander, and then there's no adjacent life loss here, unlike most of the card drawing. This is better than Pact, but it costs two more and is in another color. They are both strong at the card flowing!

Let's finish with the Black duo of Bitter Revelation and Eldritch Pact. See how the Revelation sort of self-mills? Then I tossed in the two "mill two" in this oeuvre like Atrocious Experiment. The Pact is a seven-drop and will draw equal to your graveyard count and lose that life too. Just like Pact of the Serpent above, this can target a foe with a low life or library and kill them off. It's very strong here filling your hand back up!