Hello Happy People! I hope that your day going very well! I am out on vacation in Israel, and thus I must write my article in advance. So, I'm writing about a randomly selected Commander for your consideration. I head over to EDHREC.com's shuffle button and grab a legal Commander. I adore random challenges and this started with random bulk rares from my bulk rare box in 60 card brews and moved on to random tribes to build around from the Gatherer random button. Now I'm doing a series of random Commanders. It really challenges my deck-building muscles!!! Try it out and see what follows!

I do have a trilogy of rules...

1. First, I won't take anything that is illegal, like a banned Commander or a silver-bordered one.
2. Second, I'll skip past something that I have already built around, like a real-life brew or in a previous Commander deck article or this series.
3. Third, I won't do a heavily played Commander unless I have a different take on the creature in question. For example, I recently got Phelddagrif that is one of the most popular leaders in the popular Group Hug archetype, and it's hard to brew something else from that leader since it gives things to your opponents.

And that's it. At the end is an Appendix of my first 20 decks. Ready to see what my 21st Random Commander is? This series is now legal!

Our randomly chosen leader is Odin and his Raven...er...Alrund and his Raven! Alrund is a 5-drop 1/1 that gets a +1/+1 boost for each card in your hand (plus foretold, but we won't be leaning into that too much). In your end step, you can choose a card type, reveal the top two cards from your library, and then put the ones that match that type into your hand. You can get one or both cards. That likes top of the library effects like Sensei's Divining Top and scry! His Raven, Hakka, is a 2-drop 2/3 with flying and when it smashes an opposing face it scries 2 and then bounces back to your hand with Commander tax to replay as Alrund. Not likely. I doubt I'll be wanting to build around that, and Alrund has 245 decks over at EDHREC.com so it wasn't this big breakaway hit.

Key Scry/Top of Library Cards

Check out these two cards! The uncommon is a 1-drop enchantment that can spend 5 mana to shuffle your library that's great for resetting cards you tucked with your scry. You can also pay X to set the top X cards of your library, which is a nice mana sink as well as helping make sure you draw two from Alrund. The mythic is good in any Mono-Blue brew since she can regularly be a dork, and here is twice as good since you get the free scry 1 each upkeep. Don't sleep on giving your leader unblockable for the turn either as a Voltron hit is a win-con here. Thassa pulls double duty here.

Check out this massive ETB dork that scries 1, then 2, and then 3 and can easily set up drawing one or two cards off Alrund. You also have things in here like Augury Owl that play into the same space, as well as pure card flow like Mulldrifter that just draws you two on arrival.

Synergies and Win Cons

Like I mentioned, we added in a bit of a Voltron win con with a fat Alrund. The Dragon will punch for 8/8 damage in the air and then draw you 1d20 cards when it hits. Combined with Alrund, that could be a lighting fast Commander Damage kill, also note that you don't have to discard due to hand size any more. The Robe of the Archmagi is a 3-drop, 4-equip that has a creature draw cards equal to the combat damage it deals to a player, so it will basically double Alrund's size each hit, which can kill quite quickly.

I also tossed in a few Alrund backups that have power and toughness equal to your hand count, like Body of Knowledge. This 5-drop also keeps your hand size at any level and you'll draw cards as it is dealt damage. I really like one of these getting dropped when Alrund is answered and unable to be recast with Commander tax.

Wizard Class is a 1-drop that prevents you from having a hand size and then you can level up with 3 mana to draw two and then 5 mana to give a +1/+1 counter to your stuff as you draw cards. Nezahal, Primal Tide is a 7-drop 7/7 which cannot be countered, prevents having to discard to hand size, and lets you draw cards as your foes cast noncreature spells. Those extra cards will are great at helping Nezahal protect itself. Nice beater!

The Satchel can drop for three, tap for two, and then you'll get the best ability for the occasion - mana ramping and 1/1 token making, which ever you need. Then you can also just gain the life if your life total is getting a bit on the lower side! The ramp is very strong since you will only get one land play per turn, so getting another land onto the battlefield instead of drawing it with Alrund is very nice if you've already hit your land drop this turn.

Answers

I am running 28 Islands in this deck, so we have enough for the bounce of Scourge of Fleets and the Spectral Deluge. The first is a 7-drop 6/6 that bounces all opposing dorks of X or less toughness, where X is equal to your Island count. The second is a 6-drop sorcery that has the same ability but not on a dork that can swing or block afterwards, for just one fewer mana. Deluge isn't as flexible, but with foretell (cough Alrund's +1/+1 cough) to cast it early over two turns, it's worth a slot.

This is another cool pair of fun answers. The Shackles can tap to steal a dork with toughness equal or less than your Island count, which is pretty high for us, and then you keep it as long as you control the Shackles and they are tapped. You can skip untapping it and then once the dork dies, untap it, and steal again. The Dragon can Adventure as a Negate for 3 mana instead of two, nice flexibility. And then you get a 5/6 flyer with 7 mana and then when it swings or blocks, scry two so it fits twice here.

Card Draw

We are playing most of the one cost cantrips in this brew since most scry, like Opt and Serum Visions. The 'Storm is a 1-drop instant that draws three, puts two on top of your library and then you can match card types to draw them both quite easily with an Alrund trigger. Then the other 1-drop here can reorder the top three cards of any library (not just yours) and then you can Alrund to draw one or two and then draw the other next turn. Or, you could fateseal your foe!

I only have one planeswalker in this brew: Ol' Mordy! This 6-drop, 5 loyalty 'walker is here for his +2 to draw two and then put one card on the bottom of your library. That's mad card flow over time. Then you can -2 to make an X/X equal to twice the numbers of cards in your hand, so that is twice the size of Alrund. That's a very powerful set of abilities, which makes him a win-con and card flow in one planeswalker. Gadwick, the Wizened is a three cost X spell that draws you X cards, so that should really help reload the hand later in the game. As you cast Blue spells in this Mono-Blue brew you can tap a non-land your foe controls, which should happen bunches and with the cheap cantrips here to keep up that could be a few taps each of your main phases.

The Knight is a 5-drop 5/5 flyer which is on curve and ETBs and Brainstorms and we looked at how good that was here. When it inevitably dies you can scry two after shuffling it back into your deck. Both abilities work nicely, and don't sleep on swinging and blocking in the air either. The Wizard is a 2-drop 1/2 that taps for 3 mana to draw a card and if you have 9 cards in your hand you can flip it into Tomoya that can tap for five to tap and draw cards equal to the cards in your hand, so that will double the size of Alrund and friends as well as playing nicely with all of the "You have no maximum hand size" effects here.

Mana and Lands

Now, let's turn to mana rocks and lands. As I was just saying, we really need a bunch of Spellbooks, and we have a pair of mana rocks and a land that you can run to prevent discarding to hand size. If you draw one and you are sitting on another, don't play it until the first is destroyed. If your Decanter of Endless Water is destroyed from a foe's sweeping mass removal spell like an overloaded Vandalblast or exiled to a Farewell, then drop the Vessel or Wizard Class from your hand.

This mana rock is pretty good too. You can cast it for 3 mana just like a Manalith and then tap it for any color of mana, here Blue. Then you can spend 4 mana, tap it, and then place the top land from your library to the battlefield tapped, which works great with the many "Top of Library" manipulation effects here and there.

Let's turn to two lands that tap for Blue and normally arrive to the battlefield tapped. The former can tap for 4 mana to scry 2 and then potentially set up Alrund for card flow. Nice! The latter one can reorder the top three cards of your library on arrival which can also potentially set up Alrund. Nice combo!

Whenever I am running a God as my Commander, I like to toss the Sanctum which was printed in the same set as Odin... Alrund. You can spend 4 mana, tap it, and then sacrifice it to put an indestructible counter on Alrund, and this is usable at instant speed so it's a nice combat trick and answer to destruction removal both mass and targeted. The Hall is a win-con in land form that taps for Blue and then can become a 7/7 with ward 3 for 6 mana and block grounded attacks and swing out of nowhere. I really like this with our Voltron unblockable to kill someone that has dorks to block when you have none to attack. This is another strong pair of synergetic cards in my land section!

Decklist time!!!

Arlund's Scrying Fun Times | Commander | Abe Sargent

• Commander (1)
• 1 Alrund, God of the Cosmos // Hakka, Whispering Raven

• Creatures (22)
• 1 Aeon Chronicler
• 1 Ancient Silver Dragon
• 1 Arcanis the Omnipotent
• 1 Augury Owl
• 1 Body of Knowledge
• 1 Cavalier of Gales
• 1 Cryptic Annelid
• 1 Eligeth, Crossroads Augur
• 1 Gadwick, the Wizened
• 1 Jushi Apprentice / Tomoya the Revealer
• 1 Kefnet the Mindful
• 1 Mulldrifter
• 1 Nezahal, Primal Tide
• 1 Psychosis Crawler
• 1 Sapphire Dragon
• 1 Scourge of Fleets
• 1 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Sphinx of Foresight
• 1 Sturmgeist
• 1 Thassa's Oracle
• 1 Thassa, God of the Sea
• 1 Walking Atlas

• Planeswalkers (1)
• 1 Mordenkainen

• Instants (8)
• 1 Brainstorm
• 1 Counterspell
• 1 Disallow
• 1 Fact or Fiction
• 1 Negate
• 1 Opt
• 1 Pongify
• 1 Saw it Coming

• Sorceries (6)
• 1 Mind Spring
• 1 Ponder
• 1 Portent
• 1 Sea Gate Restoration // Sea Gate, Reborn
• 1 Serum Visions
• 1 Spectral Deluge

• Enchantments (5)
• 1 Future Sight
• 1 Netherese Puzzle-Ward
• 1 Rhystic Study
• 1 Soothsaying
• 1 Wizard Class

• Artifacts (18)
• 1 Decanter of Endless Water
• 1 Druidic Satchel
• 1 Lantern of Revealing
• 1 Lightning Greaves
• 1 Midnight Clock
• 1 Prowler's Helm
• 1 Robe of the Archmagi
• 1 Sapphire Medallion
• 1 Sensei's Divining Top
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots
• 1 Thought Vessel
• 1 Thran Dynamo
• 1 Trailblazer's Boots
• 1 Vedalken Shackles
• 1 Venser's Journal
• 1 Whispersilk Cloak
• 1 Worn Powerstone

• Lands (38)
• 28 Island
• 1 Castle Vantress
• 1 Halimar Depths
• 1 Hall of Storm Giants
• 1 Myriad Landscape
• 1 Otawara, Soaring City
• 1 Reliquary Tower
• 1 Rogue's Passage
• 1 Scavenger Grounds
• 1 Tyrite Sanctum
• 1 War Room

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And there we go! So, what did you think of my random Commander brew? Anything in here that is missing or that you liked? Inspired to build your own? I hope so! Have an awesome day!

Appendix - Random Commander Challenges

Did you enjoy today's deck and want to check out all the random chaos from the previous editions? Great! Here they are.

1. For my first challenge, I hit on Random Gatherer Gwendlyn di Corci from the set that introduced legendary permanents. I create a discard-matters deck around her.
2. I flip over one of the original Elder Dragon Legends that the format was initially named after - Arcades Sabboth. I decide to build around a non-Red and non-Black Dragon theme. Get ready!
3. The Random Fairy Strikes Again! This time it lands on Toshiro Umezawa, one of the major protagonists of the Kamigawa Block storyline. Check out my spell-based fun time deck!
4. My submission of the random button finds the vanilla The Lady of the Mountain. Inspired by one of the few Commander options legally printed as a common, I decide to create a Pauper EDH deck for you! Let me know what you think!
5. I hit the random button and got Kefnet the Mindful. I turned him into a budget build for fewer than $33 as part of my Budget Commander series. Enjoy!
6. Random Gatherer hits Nissa, Vastwood Seer for a fun, mono-Green Forests-matter deck! Check it out!
7. This time, we hit 1-drop Vanilla Isamaru, Hound of Konda. What do I do with him? How about Isamaru Ultron? Let's give our pet some pants.
8. Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle - This build wants to build a fun challenge around the historic recursions of Teshar's potential. You can check it out here.
9. I randomly uncover Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind from way back and build a fun damage-matters and card-drawing matters build for your consideration! Let me know what you think!
10. What happens when Gatherer give me Palladia-Mors, the Ruiner? I make one of the most fun EDH decks in this series, that's what! Check it out!
11. I flip over Kurkesh, Onakke Ancient that loves to fork artifact abilities. Want to check out this odd take on Mono-Red artifacts?
12. Gatherer gives me Selvala, Heart of the Wilds. I use it to build a fun power-matters synergetic build. Check it out!
13. I randomly hit Lady Zhurong, and I decide to build a Mono-Green deck around her and her husband Meng Huo, Barbarian King. Check it out!
14. I randomly open with Seasinger, and I decide to build around that rather than a legendary leader. Check out my Mono-Blue Merfolk deck!
15. I use the EDHREC Random Commander option and dial up Anya, Merciless Angel, which is the wrong colors as she feels more Rakdos to me. I lean into fun times around dropping everyone's life! Wanna check it out?
16. I use the Random Commander button and get Balthor the Defiled a Zombie Dwarf who brings back all dead Red and Black dorks over and over again. It's a fun build, check it out!
17. For my 17th challenge, I grabbed Kaervek the Merciless and built a creatureless deck around him with cards that punished the playing of dorks like Tainted Aether. We win with attacking lands and artifacts that dodge removal. Enjoy it here!
18. My 18th challenge arrived and with it the planeswalker Nahiri, the Lithomancer! You can check out this equipment loving mono-White deck here with cards that go wide and up and grab that equipment fun times!
19. My next brew was with Homura, Human Ascendant, a card that wants to be sacrificed to flip over and then pump your team, so I went wide with tokens for sacrificing and pumping purposes. You can find it here.
20. The 20th brew was an Esper brew around Chromium, the Mutable which I built around it's free discard and made an Esper colored discard matters brew with discard engines like Compulsion, looting like Teferi, Master of Time, madness like Circular Logic, and cycling like Decree of Justice with discard triggers like Archfiend of Ifnir. You can check it out here - (Random Commander #20: Chromium for the Win-ium | Article by Abe Sargent (coolstuffinc.com)).