Hello Commander fans. I hope that you are having an awesome day today! This is true for all multiplayer games, not just Commander, though that's the format I'll focus on today.

Ready? Let's begin!

The idea of this theory is to dedicate deck space to three separate spaces. This does not include mana rocks, ramp, or mana fixing lands typically, when I initially created it. But some newer rocks, ramp and non-mana lands are increasingly coming with abilities to stretch your milage like Bojuka Bog to clear out graveyards or Decanter of Endless Water to be a Manalith that keeps your hand.

Let's turn to them each in turn!

The Beats

Let's start with the easiest size of life, the Beats. Typically Commander decks are looking to win in a multiplayer setting, often through red zone wins, although the 40 life start means that many decks will win without Red Zone combat damage we'll see below.

Each one of these is Commander dependent. For example, my recent The Necrobloom Commander deck (Landfalling and Fun with The Necrobloom in Commander | Article by Abe Sargent (coolstuffinc.com) sees my Commander turning landfalls into token makers to go wide. So, I am running many land fall into token dorks to push that theme, like Rampaging Baloths. So that one wins in the red zone by going wide with tokens made by landfall.

Similarly, a kindred creature type deck, pretty common in Commander, will often be deep with Lords that pump size or give abilities or both, and then the dorks, and the swing with a bigger team in the red zone. A good example of that is Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca for Merfolk in Simic colors or The Ur-Dragon in all five colors with Dragon caring. Both want you to flood the board with their creature type.

I typically like to spend around 25-35 dorks per deck article, but some will be in other sections here we'll see later. (See my article last week for why I love a fat creature base). It's here (The Case for Creatures in Commander | Article by Abe Sargent (coolstuffinc.com)). My base creature base is usually 20 in creature light builds built around non-creature types like planeswalkers, instants/sorceries, noncreature with prowess, or planeswalkers, enchantments and artifacts or landfall. I love more than 35 dorks too in loads of builds. But not all creature slots are Beats, and not all Beat slots are dorks! I love to typically spend around 15-20 Beats slots per Commander with radially shifting number types passed on the Commander and Archetype.

You've got to swing to win, nothing wrong with red zone play. I'd rather lose to a bunch of tokens or red zone wins to other ones. It feels like a fair loss too. Shoot, I'd rather lose to Commander Classics like Craterhoof Behemoth since I can respond with instant speed mass removal, unlike Thassa's Oracle which is you don't have a counterspell, you'll lose.

Now let's turn another Beats section, this time not dorks. Auras and Equipment that pump our dorks into win cons in the red zone and Commanders into Commander Damage winners. The best Aura here is Rancor, a one-drop trample and double power giving common that comes back when it dies. The best Combat Damage equipment is Sword of Fire and Ice that draws you a card, Shocks and increase size by +2/+2 and two protections as well. You can make it unblockable with Whispersilk Cloak, all of the Swords Cycle of stuff and then things like Batterskull or others too. Auras are great here with Aether Tunnel preventing blocking and giving a power pump too.

Another great way to win in the red zone are with Anthem effects like this pair to pump your team in Selesnya colors. This is named after Glorious Anthem above. The Wake costs five and also adds mana to your land production as well. Many more permanents are here with this effect. You don't have to give Beat slots to dorks after all.

The Feats

FEAT Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com

Noun

• a noteworthy or extraordinary act or achievement, usually displaying boldness, skill, etc.

Now let's look at feats!

This section is what many decks and archetypes are built around, and are the key signatures of your deck. This is your engines, your card types you are built around with non-red zone wins, the synergies, and more. This is what makes it all work. I like to spend 20-25 cards here in most of my decks.

For example, this includes real non-red zone adjuncts like this Rakdos pair. The Red one costs three, and all of your spells shoot opposing dorks for two teach in Spellslinger. Note that board flooding with tokens like Young Pyromancer or Talrand, Sky Summoner are Beats to win in the red zone not Feats. This also includes Blood Artist in Aristocrats where you are sacrificing things over and over again and bringing them back.

Now let's turn to different permanent matters, starting with planeswalker like the Five Color Commander eligible planeswalker above. He costs five, five loyalty, and +1s to make a 3/3 dork with all colors, then -3s to toss on two dorks +1/+1 counters equal to their color count. Then you have access to planeswalker support like the Oath cycle as seen from the Azorius colored five-drop above that flickers on arrival, and then you can activate loyalties twice per turn, not once. You can even tutor for them in White, or sweep everything but them with Farewell.

From planeswalker to enchantments, this is in every color type with strong Command Zone options. Zur the Enchanter out a cheap enchantment to the battlefield when he swings. Then Sythis, Harvest's Hand has a cast trigger to turn enchantments into card draws and life gain too, Enchantresses in the Command Zone are amazing. Ditto Voltron Aura lover with hexproof Uril, the Miststalker. We can also protect our enchantments with Sterling Grove, although board flooding Sigil of the Empty Throne would again be Beats. You can use Replenish to recur all enchantments.

Next let's turn to artifacts! There are a few artifact matter Commanders that are amazing, and many that are pretty good too. One of the most iconic, is the four-drop non-Green 4/4 above that ETBs with two Thopters and spends two mana, sacrifices two artifacts, and then can Lighting Bolt something or shrink something's size or you gain five life. The first take on Urza above in mono-Blue makes a game winning-construct with size equal to your artifact count, taps artifacts for ramp and then you can send five mana to cast free stuff. The just printed two sets ago is the Standard legal three-cost artifact with an ETB to scry 2, and then when another artifact that costs three or more ETBs you also get a free Construct, that wins.

Life gain is a popular archetype where you can turn life gain into stuff, if it's dorks or +1/+1 counter, it's red zone slots, but otherwise it's here. There're loads of Commanders like Dina, Soul Steeper that turns life gain into win cons with damage, and Sanguine Bond does the same. There are also classic creatures that will gain life like Soul Warden to keep your life total happy. We also have literal win cons here like Test of Endurance or close like Aetherflux Reservoir. Good stuff here!

Now let's turn to a popular non-red zone win cons (not poison since those are dealt by dorks, and are Beats). Milling! Phenax, God of Deception costs 5 for a 4/7 devotion to Black/Blue and then your dorks can tap for milling a player (you too) equal to its toughness. The harder to cast Szadek, Lord of Secrets is a 5/5 flyer legendary dork with a combat damage trigger to make this equal to that damage dealt increase in size with +1/+1 counters and then your damaged foe mills, and all combat damage dealt is prevented, so this is not a red zone win con but a milling one. There are loads of sorceries you can add like Maddening Cacophony that mills all foes eight and then half their library if kicked. Traumatize says hello. You can also build this stuff on you too, as a reminder.

Next let's turn to direct damage to a foe's face. These two mono-red Commander options increase damage either by 2 If it's red, or doubled if non-combat damage was dealt. We also have Boros colored Firesong and Sunspeaker and Rakdos colored Judith, Carnage Connoisseur. Then you can deal damage to foes, from spells (Lightning Bolt) or ETB triggers like the red devotion one above that shoots all foes for your devotion to red count in damage and that's increased.

Now let's turn to engines like Phyrexian Altar that makes one mana of a color or the two-drop uncommon Red enchantment Goblin Bombardment that sacrifices a dork for a damage. Ramp and killing of players or their stuff. You can also sacrifice bodies like Bloodghast that can recur for free.

Many Commander decks have storm as win cons, either built around the commander or a backup win con in a Spellslinger or Cantrip brew. One great Commander or in the 99 is another God in Birgi, God of Storytelling, this time without devotion or indestructible, but on an on-curve 3/3 with a cast trigger for anything to make a mana. You can also toss in Ritual effects. Then you can cast your kill spell of storm like the Black Tendrils of Agony above that drains life from all or others. Note if you are making tokens, like Empty the Warrens or Chatterstorm, that's a red-zone Beats win con; see also Dragonstorm.

Ever since the three-drop uncommon enchantment was printed, back in Rath Block that turns discard into direct damage, people have been playing discard at multiplayer tables. You can play this mono-Black Commander with the first take on Tinybones above with a two-drop 1/2 body with an EOT trigger once if a foe discarded to draw and lose life too. Then we have tons of classics of these on dork form or spells like Syphon Mind, Ravenous Rats and the above common (Pauper, PEZ) that costs three for a 2/1 flyer that forces all foes to discard and not just one foe, great in Commander and other multiplayer games.

From Gray Merchant of Asphodel to Revel in Riches, this is the place for synergies, win cons, triggers, engines and more! Next let's turn to Treats!

Treats

TREAT Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com

Verb (used with object)

• to provide food, entertainment, gifts, etc., at one's own expense

Now let's turn to the final aspect of making a Commander and multiplayer deck. Treats! This section is the extra bonus stuff you need to make your deck work after Beats and Feats. This is the connective tissue. I put all of my remaining cards here and then this section is dedicated to answers to keep you alive to your foe's problems and then card draw, or flow, like Rummaging, Looting that aren't proper card draw since you are discarding first or later.

Ready?

Let's start with answers.

Let's start with answers to answers, like this pair. These are ways to save your team from mass or targeted removal or chump blocking ideally by giving them indestructible to stop destruction, and/or hexproof to stop targeting. There are some that will just protect a key card like your Commander or the above Green two-cost instant that gives both keywords to all of your stuff. Then the three cost mono-White instant will phase out instead, better since some sweepers get past the previous one, but not here. Love it much! There are tons of answers to answers too, from Rootkin Defenses to Snakeskin Veil. Fun stuff!

Then we have loads of Counters. They'll answer anything. The more common ones are cheaper ones for a few mana. The best affordable one is the classic Pauper-legal Counterspell that counters everything. Negate is easily splashable, and then there's free countermagic like Fierce Guardianship as well.

I love counters that do things other than just counter, ever since Mana Drain for mana and Dismiss for cards. My favorite extra counter is the flashable six-drop 1/1 flying Illusion that counters anything and then adds a body for swinging or blocking with a size gained equal to the countered card's casting cost! My favorite instant counter that adds is one fewer, you can counter anything and if you countered a dork or rock you'll steal it without casting it. Note you don't cast it! Therefore, if this resolves? You get their precious card! The last one costs the same and you get free 1/1 flyers equal to the card's cost.

Now let's turn to targeted removal. There are tons of epic ways to removal things from one dork like Pongify or Swords to Plowshares to one of anything with cards like Chaos Warp, Beast Within and Generous Gift. The first two are uncommons and destroy anything and leave them a 3/3 consultation dork. The Red one shuffles the permanent to their library and then they might get one random permanent back. Love these answers!

As you can tell from last week's article, I love ETB removal on dorks. Loran of the Third Path ticks all the boxes, giving artifact or enchantment removal on ETB and card draw after that. The five-drop mono-Black artifact dork Dalek Drone has a 3/3 flying menace - doubly hard to block and on arrival will destroy an opposing dork and they'll lose some life too, like an evasive Ravenous Chupacabra. Avalanche Riders costs four and has haste and 2/2 body and Stone Rains on arrival. Add removal that leaves a body!

From targeted removal to mass removal, we'll hit this up next! These are ways to sweep the board as an emergency outlet. Ever since Wrath of God, many just impact dorks, but we have Armageddon for lands (don't play that), Shatterstorm for artifacts and Tranquility for enchantments in the first sets too. Earthquake and Hurricane too. The red sorcery above often costs just a few mana and sweeps just dorks and for 13 red damage, so you can save your stuff by having indestructible, protection from Red, or big butts.

Classic Cyclonic Rift can bounce all opposing nonland stuff for seven mana, pricey, but nasty. My favorite overload mass removal spells are Mizzium Mortars and the mass Path of Exiling Winds of Abandon. The exiling six cost sorcery will exile skipping past destruction answers or indestructible, cannot be recurred and will hit up to three permanent types of your choice. I prefer Austere Command since it plays nicer. But it's nice. Shout out to flashable Rout! Or the instant speed Final Showdown.

From Answers to Card Flow, this is how we dig for things that we need to answer and do the other things! Let's start subtly with Wheels and Draw 7s. These discard your hand and then draw cards, often seven, like PEZ legal uncommon three cost sorcery in Blue that draws equal to the most discarded or the rare reserve list Commander Classic in Red to discard your hand and draw seven. This includes Timetwister effects like Time Spiral that shuffle your hand into your deck and graveyard to instead discarding and Magus of the Wheel and Reforge the Soul. This slate is awesome.

Next are cheap mana spells that draw a card to replace themselves and then dig to find what you want. Think Opt. From finding lands to answers to combos, they are great. There's Consider, Serum Visions, Sleight of Hand or Portent, Ponder, Brainstorm and so on. The best is Brainstorm so you can hide from discard or dig loads. This slate is also for dig and draw ones like Impulse and friends.

Now let's turn to hard card draw that's without any conditions. Fact or Fiction once dominated tournaments and kitchen table play both, you reveal 5 cards. Many foes who need your aid will just flat out draw you all five. Mulldrifter has an ETB ability for drawing two cards on a flying 2/2 body for 5 mana and then can be played for just three if you need the cards. Harmonize is an uncommon color shifted Concentrate, which is pretty good. Also, a shout out to Tidings.

Now let's turn to taxing card draw, which many don't run because of its bad feels. The White dork costs one, and your foes can spend its power on casting their first non-dork spell that turn or draw. The common three-drop will tax all foes for all cards to draw for a mana each. The one-drop also common with cumulative upkeep one taxes four this time, but just for non dork, or you'll draw. I don't run the last two since they are harder to answer enchantments and the three-drop taxes everything, but the Sentinel does appear in my lists since he's both an artifact and a dork and thus easier to answer and there are ways to get around it by casting multiple spells a turn or creatures.

Now let's turn to life loss card draw, which started in Legends with Greed and was broken a few sets later with Necropotence, which tried to make the effect fair and failed. The classic Invasion Block era Phyrexian Arena in your upkeep swaps a life for a card and is a slower Commander Classic. Sign in Blood swaps two life for two cards, shout out to Ambition's Cost and Ancient Craving from Portal/Starter sets that are great too.

Now let's turn to creatures into card flow. This can include creature casts like the four-drop Beast Whisperer, or bigger dorks hitting the battlefield like the uncommon enchantment Garruk's Uprising, gives your stuff trample, and then turns bigger power into card draw. Shout out to Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner and Vaultborn Tyrant. You can also draw cards for each dork you control, like Collective Unconscious or the five-cost Shamanic Revelation that also gains you life for each dork you control that has 4 or more power.

Now let's turn from dorks ETBs or being there to deaths and sacrifices for card draw. The morph costs one to flip on a 3/2 body in Black and with a death trigger for your nontoken stuff to draw that card. See also things like Harvester of Souls. The enchantment costs one, can swap two mana and sac a dork to draw a card and gain a life too, not lose it. The common instant also costs one, sacrifices a dork and you draw too, and introduced an entire class of them in Commander like Deadly Dispute.

Now let's turn creature damage into draw. This began with Ophidian and then Curiosity in the next block that gave the enchanted dork the ability to turn damage into card draw. You can also draw cards with Lu Xun, Scholar General.

Over in Green, you can also deal damage with each dork for one card draw with the uncounterable Toski, Bearer of Secrets, indestructible and must swing. See also Coastal Piracy and many more. This also includes Hunter's Prowess and other Green effects.

Now let's turn to card flow for things outside of dorks with Equipment, Aura and enchantments here. All in White! Mesa Enchantress draws you a card when you cast that enchantment. The two-drop legendary Sram, Senior Edificer draws when you cast Aura, Equipment and Vehicles too. The other two-drop Puresteel Paladin can draw when Equipment ETBs this time, not is cast, but you can equip for free if you control enough artifacts.

Now let's turn to artifact card draw. Your four mana in Izzet legendary form will give you Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain card draw, this time for all historical stuff, so legendaries too. Or Sagas. The just-printed 5/5 Rakdos dork Imskir Iron-Eater has affinity for artifacts and costs eight, but can be as cheap as two. He ETBs with the ability to draw equal to half of your arty count and then lose that in life as well. One with the Machine draws equal to your biggest artifact's cost, quite a lot there.

Now let's turn to beloved land fall and land card draw. The most beloved is the Simic colored uncommon legendary leader (Pauper Commander leader) five-drop 3/3 that turns landfall triggers into life gained and cards drawn. See also the Clue-making Tireless Tracker or the six-drop Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait. The artifact turns land falls into card draws if you spend two mana. Not a bad break there. The land ETBs untapped, taps for colorless and with three to swap a card for Commander color identity in life loss, better the fewer colors you run.

Now let's turn to card draw in Spellslinger brews! The most commonly played, often the only one, costs four for a 2/2 body that has magecraft to draw: Archmage Emeritus. The two-drop legendary Azorius colored 1/3 Raff, Weatherlight Stalwart is uncommon, and when you cast an instant or sorcery you can tap two untapped dorks to draw that card this time. We would probably want that with token dorks. Lastly the splashable two-drop uncommon enchantment Trail of Evidence turns your casts into Clue tokens. Nice trio of card draw love although the latter two have restrictions.

Now let's turn to draw and then discarding the same number of cards, called looting. This is great for filling out your graveyard for flashback, reanimation, drawing useless cards and more. It's named after the two-drop mono-Blue common Merfolk Looter. Then it was remade famously in Red as a flashback-able one cost sorcery Faithless Looting, with a flashback of three to draw and then discard two.

From drawing and discarding in Blue to discarding and drawing in red (nicknamed rummaging) this is pretty common in many places. My favorite genre is Big Score and the like. Charming Scoundrel ETBs with three abilities and one is to discard and draw for card flow. Or you can make it a 2/2 with haste or a Treasure for ramping. Fable of the Mirror-Breaker makes a 2/2 that swings to make Treasures, then on Chapter 2 you discard up to two and draw it, and then turn three flips into the nasty take on Kiki-Jiki to make those temp copies of dorks. It's great but don't sleep on Chapter 2.

Now let's stick in Red for the ability we call "impulsive" after Act on Impulse where you exile from the top of your library and have a limited window of time to cast them or you'll lose them. The best planeswalker with this ability is the four ability, four loyalty four-drop in Red with a +1 to exile one card, and then you can cast it this turn, if not you can shoot each foe for damage. Then you can +1 her to make two mana or -3 her to Lightning Blast a dork for removal. The sorcery costs three, you exile two this time, you can cast it just this turn, but it's got retrace to keep on casting it from your graveyard over and over again by discarding lands. The Rakdos colored four-drop 1/4 Commander eligible with deathtouch to play keep away. In your end step you'll exile one and can cast it through your next turn, and then when you cast from exile you can make a free ramping Treasure. Good stuff.

Now let's leave Red far behind with its opposite in Group Hug where you and foes draw too, like Font of Mythos. This was first made famous with Howling Mine that has everyone draw another in their draw step. There is a legendary Commander option in Kami of the Crescent Moon that does the same thing. Then there is one of my favorite planeswalkers for multiplayer in Teyo, Geometric Tactician that on ETB makes a free 0/4 flying Wall on arrival to the battlefield, and then +1s and you and a foe each draw, and then you can -2 him once to force everyone to attack one direction only.

There we go! Let's wrap up answers and card flow to find them as well as your red zone win-cons in Beats and triggers, engines and non-red zone in Feats that many decks are built around in Commander. I hope you enjoyed today's deep dive into this theory!