Building Around Osgir, the Reconstructor

Posted on May 11, 2021

Hello folks! I hope that you are having a rock-tastic day today!!!

Today I want to create my fifth article featuring a guy from Strixhaven or Commander 2021 for you! Today we'll be turning to one of flagship leaders in the latter product.

Would you want to check out my previous work?

First, I built my deck around the Elder Dragon Galazeth Prismari who founded the Prismari School! I added in a ton of artifacts as well as some big spells to cast more easily with his ability to tap any artifact for mana for instants and sorceries. I hope you enjoy it!

Second, I built a fun deck around Killian, Ink Duelist and fellow Strixhaven card Reflective Golem and the copying tandem they'll make! I then created a bunch of self-targeting instants and sorceries which felt much like an Orzhov version of a Feather, the Redeemed list. Do you like it?

Third, I built a deck around another Elder Dragon called Tanazir Quandrix. Around this Simic colored fun force I added in cards that went big with counters for him to double like Hydras, Fractals, and other friends, and then I went wide with support dorks to use his latter ability to change things into 4/4s. Want to check it out? It's here!

Fourthly, I built a deck around Extus, Oriq Overlord // Awaken the Blood Avatar. In this deck I created a graveyard based synergy to use Extus's magecraft trigger to Raise Dead a dork as well as enough sorceries and instants to trigger said Extus. It's pretty fun, as you can see here!

What Commander 2021 leader am I build around?

The most popular one!

As I am writing this article, no whaleader from the twin releases has more decks registered than Osgir, the Reconstructor over at EDHREC.com with 777 and growing a week before this article is published. Let's take a look into t Osgir does for you! As you can see, he will cost you four mana for a 4/4 vigilance, which is pretty good for the cause and is on curve and the vigilance will let you swing and keep him back for blocking or tapping later. You can spend a generic mana and sacrifice an artifact and then pump up a creature's power.

Note the key word missing here? The word "other" before creature, so you can target Osgir himself and increase his damage which is a good way to help kill with Commander damage. Then you can tap x mana and Osgir and then you can exile an artifact from your graveyard with that mana value and make two copies of the exiled artifact! Pretty good, but you can only use this as a sorcery so you can do it after combat, but not at the end of someone's turn. Two copies? Pretty good, right? Right!

What ideas pop into my mind as I think about Osgir?

Artifact Heavy. This is going to be an artifact heavy build in Boros and that's something a lot of value can be found in. Make sure we include plenty of artifact creatures as well.

Artifact-Matters. There are a number of artifact-matters cards in these two colors, and we'll want to dig into them.

Artifact Sacrifices. I don't want Osgir to be our lone sacrifice of artifacts in the deck either.

Artifacts with Enters the Battlefield Triggers. Look at Solemn Simulacrum. When it arrives to the party you ramp a land. Sacrifice it and draw a card. Now tap Osgir for four mana and exile it and make two Simulacrums! You'll ramp two more lands. Then when they die, you'll draw two more cards. Pretty nasty, right? We'll lean into options with enters the battlefield triggers, so you'll get three triggers.

Support. We'll want support like mana rocks, card draw, and removal to round out the build!

For this build we'll run cards in the Commander deck, as well as new cards for the win. We also have cards below that aren't on the EDHREC.com page either. For example, in the deck there is no Spine of Ish Sah. We'll toss one in!

There we are! Ready for the deep dive?

How is Pia and Kiran Nalaar not on the EDHREC.com page? No clue! They are awesome sauce, or as I like to say, sau-some! They bring two flying artifacts to the party upon their arrival, and they can sacrifice artifacts for the cause for two damage each iteration which gives us a backup artifact sacrifice engine. It's pretty sau-some tag teaming with Osgir!

Have you seen this landcycling pair from Commander 2021? I like them here a lot as both are artifacts for the cause. You can landcycle them and then use Osgir's X Ability to make two of their tokens since they'll be in the graveyard post-cycle. The Grinder is pretty solid as it'll give you a 7/4 evasive option that also has a death trigger in case someone trades down with that low toughness. Everyone will Wheel of Fortune as it dies which is a great way to fill your yard with goodies. I also added Wheel to my decklist. The Angel is pretty good with the enters the battlefield trigger of exiling two target artifacts and/or enchantments. Pretty good for the card advantage and three Angels will net you six removals for one card which is pretty good, and it's a 5/7 flyer that has a great physical presence!

Here's another duo in Osgir's deck! Have you seen them? The former is a big beater at nine mana for a 9/9 with three abilities, two of which are evasive and one that keeps it around after swinging. It's nasty! And when it dies? You'll net three 3/3 Golems that split up the abilities. Pretty good in here, right? And if someone tries to exile him then you can sacrifice him to an engine to ensure his death trigger fires! I love it here!

Check out the Guardian. It's X/5, where X is your artifact count, which in this deck is pretty high. Note that it is missing the word "other" and thus will count itself so it's always a 1/5 on a naked board. It features double strike which can win the game quickly. It has Ward 2, so folks have to spend mana to target it in addition to the mana cost of the card or ability in question. It also grants that ward to your other stuff. I wish it was legendary so you could build a deck around it as it feels like a fun option to build around. Love 'em!

Don't forget that Osgir's abilities are activated! And you know what that means, right? Bracers' Barrage! The first is a new one from Osgir's deck. As you can see it gives haste, and you can use his X tap ability immediately. You can also spend a generic mana as you use his X ability and copy it! Then your copy will make two more tokens, so you'll net four tokens total! Pretty nice right? Then we have the classic second set of Bracers, which doesn't give haste and requires another mana to equip but won't take mana to use it will just copy it for free! Double that Osgir! Have both on Osgir? Then you are getting six tokens of love. That's a lot of love!

Sing it! The Dwarf Artificer will let you pay two as you cast those artifacts and you can make a nasty artifact token that's the size of your artifacts. I love it here in a deck this deep with artifacts. Want to drop the cost of said artifacts? Check out the Construct here! Again, we are so wide with the artifacts and artifact dorks that it plays nicely into this brew! Sing it loudly and proudly!

Have you seen Alibou? This is a legendary artifact dork you can build around! I really enjoy it here! It gives other artifacts haste, which is great for the cause. Swing away my friends! And then as your artifact dorks swing and you'll deal damage to a target and scry where that is your artifacts that are tapped (use Osgir ahead of time and get one more damage and scry). Isn't Alibou awesome?

Let's turn to cards not in Osgir's deck nor on the EDHREC.com page!

Don't forget the Sphere. It's really strong in this build! Drop it for two mana, and then self-sacrifice it for two mana and two lands. And then you can tap Osgir for two mana and make two copies and then four more mana you sacrifice those copies for four more lands! Total mana spent - 10 over turns or in one sweep. Net six basic lands. Nice! And then we have the Scarecrow, a Sphere variant that will cost you 12 mana total and nets you six basic lands as well! I am also running Burnished Hart, which will cost you 15 over turns but nets you the six lands ramped onto the battlefield. This is a powerful trinity of love.

This felt like a good home for metalcraft cards like Indomitable Archangel. I searched for Red and White metalcraft and there are 15 options. I included Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer which is also in the Osgir Commander deck and the above Archangel. Check it out! As you can see it's good at the giving of protection to your artifact team, but it gives shroud, not hexproof. That's fine though as I am not running many pieces of common equipment like Lightning Greaves or Swiftfoot Boots as I needed to fill out my deck with more pertinent artifacts.

There you go! Let's look at the deck list in full!