Hello folks!

I hope that your day is going well. Today I want to build an illegal Commander deck.

What makes it illegal?

I am not including any illegal cards or silver bordered cards. Nope! Instead it's bigger than 100 cards. In fact it's going to clock in at around 250 cards. Unlike other formats, Commander oddly requires a certain deck size, even though a 150-card deck is worse. It's a weird rule.

Why run such a large deck?

For Battle of Wits of course!

Who is going to be my leader, and what are my colors?

Great questions to ask!

I don't know. Let's talk it out!

It will be Blue!

And then...

I could do Mono-Blue! It has enough bounce and counters and other cards to matter. The real thing this deck wants and needs is card drawing, and that could be heavy Blue, potentially splashing other colors.

What do other colors bring to my deck?

White - Enchantment tutors, removal of anything.

Black - Tutors, removal of loads of things

Green - Regrowths, land searching

Red - Nothing...

That means I won't be running five colors. There's no sense to do so.

I could do everything but Red. That's the mega-popular Atraxa, Praetors' Voice with her Proliferate fun times. Or I could do a pair of partners. I could do that right now! But four colors feels a little inconsistent for this large of a build.

I see the benefits of these color combos:

Mono-Blue - No mana issues

Dimir - Simple mana two colors, many tutors.

Esper - Perfect removal, the most tutors,

Sultai - Twin the removal and tutoring of Dimir with the Simic and Golgari and add in mana smoothing.

What do I want this deck to look like?

I have a few ideas coming into this project:

1. Midrange, solid creature count, Battle of Wits for a backup win.
2. Instants and Sorceries matter, dig powerfully, and then win with Battle.

Here is the latter type:

Talrand, Sky Summoner would be perfect as a Mono-Blue leader. Why? Because he can turn all of the digging spells like Impulse and Portent into game winning Drakes. He'll be mana consistent as well.

But if I go, say, Esper, then I can do a lot of card drawing mid-range cards like Cloudblazer and such that keep the card flow going and let you do other things. I have no idea who'd my leader would be, but the deck would look very different.

Mid-range or combo?

Here's another benefit to Esper, by the by:

Yorion, Sky Nomad is playable as my companion. Even after they changed the rules to require a 3 mana tax, it's still runnable. It's also great in a midrange deck that will be running cards like Solemn Simulacrum, Mulldrifter and Cloudblazer.

What it be?

I could do both! But one Commander deck takes me two hours to build and this is two and a half times that size! It's big project already.

Midrange?

Combo?

Combo?

Midrange?

Hmmm....

Midrange it is!

The benefits of midrange are that you have something to fall back on if someone counters or exiles your Battle of Wits.

Let's do Esper!

Who is my leader? I take a look at every Esper colored leader:

Here are my top three choices:

Zur the Enchanter! He cannot fetch up a Battle of Wits, but I can add in everything from Phyrexian Arena to Propaganda! If this is a real-life deck, searching 250 cards for the right enchantment each attack would prove problematic. He does give a strong reliable option to a highly variable deck and is likely the "best" option for the build.

Oloro, Ageless Ascetic. This deck needs time to get ready. It needs to find its cards. Gaining life for free while it does so is great. Enter Oloro, Ageless Ascetic who will net you two life per upkeep no matter if he's in play or in the Command Zone.

Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign. Yennett has a lot of fun things to recommend her. She's decently sized and has interesting abilities. She can cast an odd casting cost spell when she swings or draw a card if it's even, and card flow in a big deck like this is ideal. She has vigilance, so when she swings for her trigger you keep your shields up. She has both flying and menace and is doubly hard to block. I like her.

Who am I picking?

Yennett! She's less mean and plays better with mid-range to my mind.

What do I see for my Yennett deck?

The first place I see are the mid-range places of four-drops, 5-drops and sixes. This is where my enters-the-battlefield juice is flowing. Cards like Ravenous Chupacabra and Karmic Guide are here to stay. You'll see a lot of this value. Even Elite Guardmage and Cloudkin are here.

Next? This is my massive card drawing and churning. This is where I go to dig deeply into the depth of folks. This is where my early drops are all about drawing and filtering cards and digging and digging into the next continent over. Hello South America! From 1-drops like Brainstorm to 2-drops such as Impulse to the flashbackable Forbidden Alchemy, there are a number of these here. This is all Blue, so we'll be running more Blue lands.

Because Yennett wants to swing for my triggers, I have a number of ways in the deck to build around that. Most of them are equipment. We have the unblockable giving Whispersilk Cloak to ensure the attack trigger will go on. I also have Rogue's Passage doing much the same thing. Ditto Steel of the Godhead with its unblockable and lifelink and double bump to Yennett. You can gain a lot of life with an unblocked Yennett over time. For that reason Loxodon Warhammer is here as well. Get that life!

For similar attacking reasons I am running a few of the Swords of X and Y series that makes sense here, such as Sword of Fire and Ice. It draws cards, and punches. Also note that combined with flying and menace, you can swing through most defenses with just one Sword and nothing else given how many dorks cannot blocked an sworded up creature.

Another set of synergy I want to tap into is the use of cards that will load up the top card of my deck to make my Yennett trigger more likely to hit that free odd card. From artifacts like Scroll Rack and Crystal Ball to spells such as Mystic Speculation and Brainstorm, we have a number of ways to help set up a free Yennett trigger. Also don't sleep on Soothsaying which is a classic old school uncommon that's great here.

I am also running every feasible colorless source of mana-fixing. From 10 mana rocks through the Expedition Map, Armillary Sphere, and so much more!

And there we are! Let's look at the decklist for your consideration.

Yennett's Battle of Wits | Commander | Abe Sargent

• Commander (1)
• 1 Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign

• Companion (1)
• 1 Yorion, Sky Companion

• Creatures (38)
• 1 Agent of Treachery
• 1 Angel of Despair
• 1 Atris, Oracle of Half-Truths
• 1 Aven Mindcensor
• 1 Burnished Hart
• 1 Cavalier of Gales
• 1 Cloudblazer
• 1 Cloudkin
• 1 Consecrated Sphinx
• 1 Draining Whelk
• 1 Elite Guardmage
• 1 Enigma Sphinx
• 1 Fblhp, the Lost
• 1 God-Eternal Kefnet
• 1 Karmic Guide
• 1 Kor Cartographer
• 1 Liliana's Shade
• 1 Liliana's Specter
• 1 Magus of the Future
• 1 Merfolk Looter
• 1 Monastery Mentor
• 1 Mother of Runes
• 1 Mulldrifter
• 1 Nadir Kraken
• 1 Nezahal, Primal Tide
• 1 Nekrataal
• 1 Oneirophage
• 1 Pilgrim's Eye
• 1 Platinum Angel
• 1 Psychosis Crawler
• 1 Ravenous Chupacabra
• 1 Rune-Scarred Demon
• 1 Sheoldred, Whispering One
• 1 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Sphinx of Uthuun
• 1 Talrand, Sky Summoner
• 1 Voracious Greatshark
• 1 Wild-Field Scarecrow

• Planeswalkers (11)
• 1 Aminatou, the Fateshifter
• 1 Jace, Memory Adept
• 1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
• 1 Jace Unraveler of Secrets
• 1 Liliana Vess
• 1 Narset Transcendent
• 1 Ob Nixilis Reignited
• 1 Sorin Markov
• 1 Sorin, Grim Nemesis
• 1 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
• 1 Teferi, Time Raveler

• Instants (44)
• 1 Absorb
• 1 Agonizing Demise
• 1 Archmage's Charm
• 1 Brainstorm
• 1 Counterspell
• 1 Countersquall
• 1 Crush Contraband
• 1 Cyclonic Rift
• 1 Desertion
• 1 Despark
• 1 Disallow
• 1 Dismiss
• 1 Dissipate
• 1 Dissolve
• 1 Dovin's Veto
• 1 Dromar's Charm
• 1 Enlightened Tutor
• 1 Esper Charm
• 1 Fact or Fiction
• 1 Fierce Guardianship
• 1 Forbidden Alchemy
• 1 Force of Negation
• 1 Generous Gift
• 1 Impulse
• 1 Lim-Dul's Vault
• 1 Mortify
• 1 Mystic Confluence
• 1 Mystical Tutor
• 1 Negate
• 1 Neutralize
• 1 Nexus of Fate
• 1 Opt
• 1 Path to Exile
• 1 Sinister Sabotage
• 1 Spelljack
• 1 Sphinx's Revelation
• 1 Supreme Will
• 1 Swords to Plowshares
• 1 Teferi's Protection
• 1 Telling Time
• 1 True Love's Kiss
• 1 Truth or Tale
• 1 Utter End
• 1 Vampiric Tutor

• Sorceries (24)
• 1 Ancestral Vision
• 1 Compulsive Research
• 1 Damnation
• 1 Day of Judgment
• 1 Demonic Tutor
• 1 Diabolic Tutor
• 1 Dream Cache
• 1 Finale of Revelation
• 1 Gitaxian Probe
• 1 Idyllic Tutor
• 1 Mystic Speculation
• 1 Omen
• 1 Ponder
• 1 Portent
• 1 Preordain
• 1 Rout
• 1 Scour All Possibilities
• 1 Serum Visions
• 1 Supreme Verdict
• 1 Tidings
• 1 Time Wipe
• 1 Ugin's Insight
• 1 Vindicate
• 1 Wrath of God

• Enchantments (16)
• 1 Battle of Wits
• 1 Collective Restraint
• 1 Ever-Watching Threshold
• 1 Future Sight
• 1 Ghostly Prison
• 1 Imprisoned in the Moon
• 1 Land Tax
• 1 Mystic Remora
• 1 Phyrexian Arena
• 1 Propaganda
• 1 Rhystic Study
• 1 Search for Azcanta
• 1 Smothering Tithe
• 1 Soothsaying
• 1 Steel of the Godhead
• 1 Underworld Connections

• Artifacts (25)
• 1 Armillary Sphere
• 1 Chromatic Lantern
• 1 Coalition Relic
• 1 Commander's Sphere
• 1 Crystal Ball
• 1 Darksteel Ingot
• 1 Expedition Map
• 1 Fellwar Stone
• 1 Fountain of Ichor
• 1 Gilded Lotus
• 1 Lightning Greaves
• 1 Loxodon Warhammer
• 1 Mind Stone
• 1 Mycosynth Wellspring
• 1 Scroll Rack
• 1 Sensei's Divining Top
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots
• 1 Sword of Fire and Ice
• 1 Sword of Light and Shadow
• 1 Sword of Sinew and Steel
• 1 Sword of the Animist
• 1 Thought Vessel
• 1 Wayfarer's Bauble
• 1 Whispersilk Cloak

• Lands (100)
• 16 Plains
• 17 Swamp
• 20 Island
• 1 Adarkar Wastes
• 1 Arcane Sanctum
• 1 Azorius Chancery
• 1 Bojuka Bog
• 1 Castle Vantress
• 1 Caves of Koilos
• 1 City of Brass
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Dimir Aqueduct
• 1 Dismal Backwater
• 1 Drowned Catacomb
• 1 Esper Panorama
• 1 Evolving Wilds
• 1 Exotic Orchard
• 1 Fabled Passage
• 1 Fetid Pools
• 1 Glacial Fortress
• 1 Godless Shrine
• 1 Hall of Heliod's Generosity
• 1 Hallowed Fountain
• 1 Irrigated Farmland
• 1 Isolated Chapel
• 1 Jwar Isle Refuge
• 1 Labyrinth of Skophos
• 1 Mana Confluence
• 1 Maze of Ith
• 1 Morphic Pool
• 1 Orzhov Basilica
• 1 Path of Ancestry
• 1 Prairie Stream
• 1 Prismatic Vista
• 1 Reflecting Pool
• 1 Reliquary Tower
• 1 Rogue's Passage
• 1 Scoured Barrens
• 1 Sea of Clouds
• 1 Sejiri Refuge
• 1 Sunken Hollow
• 1 Temple of Deceit
• 1 Temple of Enlightenment
• 1 Temple of Silence
• 1 Terramorphic Expanse
• 1 Tranquil Cove
• 1 Underground River
• 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1 Volrath's Stronghold
• 1 Watery Grave

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And there we go! WHEW! That was a big deck! I hope you don't mind that I didn't spend as much time as normal talking about it, as building it was the big task this week!

What did you think of my deck? Anything in here that I missed or that you might run in your next deck? Are you ready to take up the 250 deck challenge yourself? Just let me know your thoughts below! And have a safe day.