In previous weeks, we explored winning with the underpowered tribes of Bears and Werewolves. They compensated for their lower card power and lacking synergy with a political narrative more flavorful than threatening. Today, we voyage off the map into the realm of Sea-Monster Tribal. Not only do these briny behemoths not synergize with each other, but they don’t even share a defining creature type. And yet, they are a tribal deck because of the strength of their unified narrative. A well-told fish story in multiplayer can lure your opponents into open waters and out of their depth.

In Commander, the individual cards you play are less important than your greater strategy, and your greater strategy is less important than your political narrative. We often see players who stumble, cast few good spells, and still win at the end. Whether those wizards give voice to it or not, their game narrative is one of helplessness that morphs only at the end to seemingly accidental victory.

We can design decks that play into that non-threatening narrative. Sea Monsters Tribal sounds more fun than the average Mono-Blue deck, and our foes will be less motivated to eliminate us. Instead we can take them on an adventure on the high seas to see what mystery will arise next from the deep. At first, the voyage should seem fair, the waters calm. Early plays with more flavor than power will lend credence to our fish tale.

Delightful cards like these grant little rare power but will help us win through storytelling. Our foes will believe the sailing will be smooth. Only when they’re deep in the tentacled storm will they realize our far-fetched tale concealed a real strategy.

Thassa’s Strategy

First, gain devotion. Casting Iceberg for x = 0 is a reasonable play. Many of the early drops have two pips (Blue mana symbols in their casting cost). Once Thassa becomes a creature, begin attacking the player who is the biggest threat.

Second, do what Blue does best. Draw cards, with the help of spells like Bident of Thassa.

Third, play Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx. Navigate to it with Expedition Map or Tolaria West. Now your high devotion to Blue will allow you to leverage the cards in your hand. Fill the sea with monsters.

Fourth, protect your board with counterspells. Most of the ones in this deck are free, as you will want to tap out each turn to summon more and more denizens of the deep.

Lastly, have your leviathans swallow your foes whole and bring them down to the sea’s abyss.

Sea Monsters Tribal ? Commander | A.E. Marling

• Commander (1)
• 1 Thassa, God of the Sea

• Creatures (28)
• 1 Aboshan, Cephalid Emperor
• 1 Breaching Leviathan
• 1 Callous Oppressor
• 1 Cephalid Constable
• 1 Chasm Skulker
• 1 Colossal Whale
• 1 Dandan
• 1 Deepfathom Skulker
• 1 Deep-Sea Kraken
• 1 Giant Oyster
• 1 Homarid Shaman
• 1 Island Fish Jasconius
• 1 Llawan, Cephalid Empress
• 1 Lorthos, the Tidemaker
• 1 Manta Ray
• 1 Master of Waves
• 1 Sand Squid
• 1 Scourge of Fleets
• 1 Sealock Monster
• 1 Seasinger
• 1 Shipbreaker Kraken
• 1 Spiketail Hatchling
• 1 Spiketail Hatchling
• 1 Storm Crow
• 1 Stormsurge Kraken
• 1 Thada Adel, Acquisitor
• 1 Thassa's Emissary
• 1 Trench Gorger

• Instants (10)
• 1 Capsize
• 1 Disrupting Shoal
• 1 Envelop
• 1 Foil
• 1 Pact of Negation
• 1 Predict
• 1 Reality Ripple
• 1 Stubborn Denial
• 1 Swan Song
• 1 Thwart

• Sorceries (6)
• 1 Inundate
• 1 Mind Spring
• 1 Rush of Knowledge
• 1 Tidings
• 1 Wash Out
• 1 Whelming Wave

• Enchantments (11)
• 1 Coastal Piracy
• 1 Encrust
• 1 Homarid Spawning Bed
• 1 Iceberg
• 1 Lilting Refrain
• 1 Mystic Remora
• 1 Ordeal of Thassa
• 1 Phantasmal Terrain
• 1 Quest for Ula's Temple
• 1 Spreading Seas
• 1 Teferi's Veil

• Artifacts (7)
• 1 Bident of Thassa
• 1 Expedition Map
• 1 Sapphire Medallion
• 1 Sisay's Ring
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Star Compass
• 1 Surveyor's Scope

• Lands (37)
• 29 Island
• 1 Arcane Lighthouse
• 1 Lonely Sandbar
• 1 Myriad Landscape
• 1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 1 Opal Palace
• 1 Reliquary Tower
• 1 Temple of the False God
• 1 Tolaria West

Buy This Deck

Now that everyone has read up on Teferi's Protection, you know what phasing does, right? Right? It has my vote for the most confusing mechanic in Magic, but Teferi's Veil will protect your creatures from wraths if they attacked last turn. All tribal decks need multiple forms of sweeper resistance. Though powerful, Teferi and his plans always have some side effects. Since your creatures no longer exist after attacking, you no longer have their devotion or static abilities. And speaking of downsides . . . 

I included Island Fish Jasconius because it was my first favorite Magic card. My elementary-school friend gave it to me then immediately regretted it. He asked me to give it back. Who could blame him? Look at all that power (six!), for only seven mana and three drawbacks. Too bad, I told my friend. I’m the lord of this swimming isle now. Today, many years later, he and I never speak, but don’t worry, I kept the Island Fish.

Be sure to include your favorite sea terrors. No matter how underwhelming they may seem, hey, at least they increase your devotion. Also, take care in your selection of basic lands. Sea Monsters Tribal is all about that briny flavor, and it can have more than one. Whereas Thassa bound the deck together with a devotion strategy, Thada Adel, Acquisitor can steal everyone’s Sol Ring and use them to release the kraken(s).

Little Mermaid and the Monsters

Little Mermaid?s Monsters ? Commander | A.E. Marling

• Commander (1)
• 1 Thada Adel, Acquisitor

• Creatures (30)
• 1 Aboshan, Cephalid Emperor
• 1 Callous Oppressor
• 1 Chasm Skulker
• 1 Colossal Whale
• 1 Cosi's Trickster
• 1 Dandan
• 1 Deepfathom Skulker
• 1 Deep-Sea Kraken
• 1 Giant Oyster
• 1 Homarid Shaman
• 1 Keiga, the Tide Star
• 1 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
• 1 Kozilek, the Great Distortion
• 1 Llawan, Cephalid Empress
• 1 Lorthos, the Tidemaker
• 1 Man-o'-War
• 1 Marjhan
• 1 Sand Squid
• 1 Scourge of Fleets
• 1 Seasinger
• 1 Serpent of the Endless Sea
• 1 Shipbreaker Kraken
• 1 Spiketail Hatchling
• 1 Stormsurge Kraken
• 1 Stormtide Leviathan
• 1 Thassa, God of the Sea
• 1 Tidal Force
• 1 Trench Gorger
• 1 Tromokratis
• 1 Vexing Scuttler

• Instants (11)
• 1 Capsize
• 1 Disrupting Shoal
• 1 Envelop
• 1 Foil
• 1 Force of Will
• 1 Pact of Negation
• 1 Spell Pierce
• 1 Stubborn Denial
• 1 Submerge
• 1 Swan Song
• 1 Thwart

• Sorceries (9)
• 1 Aquitect's Will
• 1 Flow of Ideas
• 1 Inundate
• 1 Mind Spring
• 1 Ponder
• 1 Rush of Knowledge
• 1 Tidings
• 1 Wash Out
• 1 Whelming Wave

• Enchantments (8)
• 1 Lilting Refrain
• 1 Lingering Mirage
• 1 Mystic Remora
• 1 Sea's Claim
• 1 Spreading Seas
• 1 Steal Artifact
• 1 Teferi's Veil
• 1 Veiled Serpent

• Artifacts (3)
• 1 Sapphire Medallion
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Surveyor's Scope

• Lands (38)
• 30 Island
• 1 Arcane Lighthouse
• 1 Lonely Sandbar
• 1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 1 Reliquary Tower
• 1 Remote Isle
• 1 Temple of the False God
• 1 Thawing Glaciers
• 1 Tolaria West

Buy This Deck

Yes, eldrazi can be sea monsters. The “Ula” in Quest for Ula's Temple refers to Ulamog. The “Cosi” in Cosi's Trickster is a corruption of the name Kozilek. The people of Zendikar came to worship the myths of the eldrazi titans. When the elder ones returned, they would have horrified Thada Adel and her finned folk.

Feel free to explain the lore as Kozilek arises from the frothing seas, but not before. Eldrazi don’t fit into the whimsical sea adventure story we are telling and may put our foes on edge. And we’ll need to spin a good fish story to sell Thada Adel, or we’ll be sunk in the harbor.

Thada Adel, Acquisitor is the greatest monster of them all. With each attack, she steals a Sol Ring or, say, a Sword of Feast and Famine, and there’s no worse feeling for your opponents than seeing your webbed fingers rummaging through their decks. If we don’t distract them with a fun narrative, no one will want to play with us. They’ll target fire our Commander and join forces to take down our life total.

We can try to explain that we’ll only use the stolen artifacts to cast silly sea monsters, and that no one should worry. That likely won’t be enough to counter the grief caused by the merfolk’s piracy. To control the narrative we’ll need to go deep on flavor.

After buying a copy of Thada, have it altered. Or create a whimsical proxy. The Proxy Guy made my Thada into Ariel, the Little Mermaid. Now she’s not stealing. She just wants to be part of your world, collecting gadgets and gizmos aplenty.

Making the best plays in Commander isn’t as important as telling the best story. For that reason I’m including the link to Ariel’s Part of Your World song. If you want to up your game, sing while plundering your opponents’ treasures. Yes, now sing. Keep singing!

Speaking of sea witches and their diabolical schemes, you can enrich your deck with Force of Will, Mana Drain (original art), Tidespout Tyrant, and Old Man of the Sea. The last of these pricey cards is more flavorful than powerful. Again, the power of the cards you play isn’t as important as a seaworthy strategy, and in multiplayer, nothing matters if your political narrative can’t hold water. Better to make your story a whopper of a fish tale.