For the last year, here in the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti area, a popular trend has been to build a Commander deck around your first name. The only cards you can play, other than basic lands, are ones that start with the first letter of your name. So for me, Abe, my deck has to have just cards that begin with A. Well, that sounds like a fun challenge!

So, I hit up the list of legendary critters that begin with the letter A, and I really like Aurelia, the Warleader. She has great power, and I can already see a nice list of creatures to use—Agrus Kos, Wojek Veteran, the Akromas, and Avacyn, Angel of Hope are all on the page jumping at me. I do a first run-through of my deck, and then I notice a problem. Take a look with me . . .

"Abe?s Aurelia, Take One"

• Commander (0)

• Creatures (24)
• 1 Academy Rector
• 1 Aegis Angel
• 1 Alabaster Dragon
• 1 Anarchist
• 1 Ancestor's Chosen
• 1 Ancient Hellkite
• 1 Ancient Hydra
• 1 Angel of Salvation
• 1 Angel of Serenity
• 1 Angelic Arbiter
• 1 Angelic Skirmisher
• 1 Anger
• 1 Archangel of Thune
• 1 Archon of Justice
• 1 Archon of Redemption
• 1 Arc-Slogger
• 1 Ashen Firebeast
• 1 Avatar of Fury
• 1 Alloy Myr
• 1 Agrus Kos, Wojek Veteran
• 1 Akroma, Angel of Fury
• 1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
• 1 Avacyn, Angel of Hope
• 1 Adarkar Valkyrie

• Planeswalkers (3)
• 1 Ajani Goldmane
• 1 Ajani Vengeant
• 1 Ajani, Caller of the Pride

• Spells (23)
• 1 Abolish
• 1 Afterlife
• 1 Akroma's Blessing
• 1 Altar's Light
• 1 Angelsong
• 1 Annihilating Fire
• 1 Aurelia's Fury
• 1 Aftershock
• 1 Akroma's Vengeance
• 1 Alpha Brawl
• 1 Angelic Edict
• 1 Arc Lightning
• 1 Archangel's Light
• 1 Austere Command
• 1 Aggravated Assault
• 1 Angelic Chorus
• 1 Angelic Destiny
• 1 Armored Ascension
• 1 Assemble the Legion
• 1 Aura of Silence
• 1 Argentum Armor
• 1 Armillary Sphere
• 1 Akroma's Memorial

• Lands (2)
• 1 Ancient Amphitheater
• 1 Arid Mesa

Buy This Deck

What problem do you notice with this initial pull? At first, I was excited by cards such as Aurelia's Fury and Ajani Vengeant. But as I started pulling out cards for the deck, I quickly realized something very important. This is not a R/W deck. This is a mono-white deck masquerading as a Boros deck. It has very little burn, very few red cards, and more. So, by pulling out the red, I could focus my deck better. So, let’s do that and concentrate on just mono-white. When I first considered this project, I thought a mono-colored deck would be a horrible way to go because your card pool is too limited, but red has little to add to my deck. So, let’s mono-white this puppy!

"Abe?s Avacyn, Take Two"

• Commander (0)

• Creatures (28)
• 1 Academy Rector
• 1 Admonition Angel
• 1 Aegis Angel
• 1 Alabaster Dragon
• 1 Alabaster Mage
• 1 Ancestor's Chosen
• 1 Angel of Jubilation
• 1 Angel of Mercy
• 1 Angel of Retribution
• 1 Angel of Salvation
• 1 Angel of Serenity
• 1 Angelic Arbiter
• 1 Angelic Skirmisher
• 1 Angry Mob
• 1 Archangel
• 1 Archangel of Strife
• 1 Archangel of Thune
• 1 Archon of Justice
• 1 Archon of Redemption
• 1 Auramancer
• 1 Auriok Champion
• 1 Avatar of Hope
• 1 Aven Mindcensor
• 1 Avenger en-Dal
• 1 Adaptive Automaton
• 1 Antler Skulkin
• 1 Adarkar Valkyrie
• 1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath

• Planeswalkers (2)
• 1 Ajani Goldmane
• 1 Ajani, Caller of the Pride

• Spells (28)
• 1 Abeyance
• 1 Abolish
• 1 Afterlife
• 1 Akroma's Blessing
• 1 Allay
• 1 Altar's Light
• 1 Angelsong
• 1 Anoint
• 1 Arrow Volley Trap
• 1 Akroma's Vengeance
• 1 Angelic Edict
• 1 Archangel's Light
• 1 Austere Command
• 1 Angelic Chorus
• 1 Angelic Destiny
• 1 Angelic Renewal
• 1 Angelic Voices
• 1 Armored Ascension
• 1 Arrest
• 1 Aura of Silence
• 1 Aurification
• 1 Al-Abara's Carpet
• 1 Amber Prison
• 1 Amulet of Unmaking
• 1 Angel's Tomb
• 1 Argentum Armor
• 1 Armillary Sphere
• 1 Akroma's Memorial

• Lands (41)
• 40 Plains
• 1 Arena

Buy This Deck

And here is our deck! (My final cut was Angel's Feather for another Plains). This deck is clearly top-heavy, with a ton of expensive beaters at the top end of the deck. I hope other decks are suitably slow as well and we can hurry through the beginning, when the decks have mana issues or are spending time setting up while I’m just waiting for enough mana to drop the big guys.

Take a look at the typically-passed-over Angel of Salvation. You can flash her out to save some creatures from death or turn combat math in your favor. If you prefer, you can just flash her to block or make a creature to attack next turn right after you untap and draw.

Then, we have some Angels that help the team. Angelic Skirmisher will give you whichever keyword is the best for the situation. You can’t argue with that power. Then, add in Angel of Jubilation. Not only will your creatures dance in the magnificence of singing and dancing and getting +1/+1 for not being black, but no sacrifices can occur. No one can smash you with those silly Eldrazi and their nasty triggers or hit you with Barter in Blood or anything else. Since my commander is Avacyn, my creatures will tend to be indestructible, and the Jubilation crosses off one way of handling them. Now how are you going to deal with all of my mess?

Don’t forget the Archangel of Thune dropping counters on the team when I gain life, which can happen a lot in this deck. We’ll check it out later, but even lifelink from the Ms. Thune herself to the many other lifelinks around the block is enough for serious counterage from this dork.

Next up is a suite of cheaper creatures that can help the team. I love Antler Skulkin in this deck because virtually every creature is white, and thus can be given persist easily when about to die for another go. It helps to have even more ways to fight removal. Since my alphabet deck is a virtual Angel deck, Adaptive Automaton can give me an Angel lord, which is cool. We have some other cards with strong Commander pedigree, such as Auriok Champion, Academy Rector, and Aven Mindcensor to give the deck added power.

Then, we add some good next-level cards, such as Avenger en-Dal for removal and to be a nice rattlesnake to send attackers elsewhere, Alabaster Mage to give stuff lifelink, and Angry Mob in the hopes of playing against at least one deck rocking Swamps.

I added a solid enchantment component to the deck with the Rector and Auramancer. This included the strong Angelic Chorus, an in-flavor fun way to gain more life. Angelic Voices is a fun Crusade effect for the team. Aurification is a great, underused card that turns any creature that hits you into a Wall with defender. That gives people an incentive to head elsewhere to dole out some damage and leave you alone.

A pair of powerful Auras suggested themselves: Angelic Destiny and Armored Ascension. Both will make one of my creatures even nastier and better and can turn the tides of combat in my favor.

After that, my final enchantments were more removal-based, with Aura of Silence and Arrest. I felt the need for removal, so any good removal jumped in. We can destroy a creature (Afterlife), exile or destroy an artifact or enchantment (Abolish, Allay, Altar's Light), or deal 5 damage to attackers (Arrow Volley Trap).

I was lucky to fit in two mass-removal spells. One, however, hits my enchantments and artifacts, too: Akroma's Vengeance. Still, it has synergy with my deck. I can play it after Avacyn hits the board to blow up everything else and swing for a lot of damage. It’s also nice to have it in case I need it. Austere Command is much better and reliable. I can salt to taste. I can take out artifacts, enchantments, smaller dorks, or larger dorks as needed by the situation. It’s a strong card.

I wanted a few flavorful cards, and in went Angel's Tomb and Archangel's Light. Both give the deck a bit more flavor and interesting cads. The Tomb is weak, and I could see pulling it for something else. The Light is interesting because it can net me so much life.

Don’t forget the power of Akroma's Memorial. Even though it doesn’t pump your team’s power or toughness, the combination of abilities and protection makes you too tough to handle. It’s a rough baby to deal with. The best is haste, which is virtually unheard of from the creatures in this deck.

A few cards were added to round things out. Argentum Armor not only can pump a creature to a huge size, but can destroy an offending permanent when my creature attacks. It’s another way to slide removal into a deck that needs it badly. Al-Abara's Carpet is another interesting trick. In one fell swoop, I can prevent all ground-based damage in combat. I don’t fear an aerial assault; I think we have shored up that defense quite nicely. But I could see a ground assault led by cards such as Overrun or Garruk Wildspeaker to out-smash my defense or a token creature assault that out paces my defenses by outflanking me. The Carpet can help keep both back.

The combination of massive life-gain along with protection in the form of card like Anoint, Angel of Salvation, Angelsong, or Akroma's Blessing can help keep me and mine alive for a long while even before factoring in the indestructible benefits my commander bring to the table.

Welcome to Commander, alphabet style!

See you next week,

Abe Sargent