Why play with furry cats or sexy vampires when you could befriend slithery, faceless aliens? Though Slivers did not appear in Commander 2017, the new cards printed make the adorable spiky snake-things even stronger. In this article you’ll learn of a tribal strategy designed to devastate other tribes, and most everything else.

Slivers were the first high-synergy tribe of Magic, skittering into prominence during the Rath block in 1997. That plane later smashed into Dominaria during the Phyrexian Invasion. New strains of slivers were developed there in the Riptide Project, in the Onslaught block of 2003. An apocalypse or two later, they wormed their way through rifts into 2006 and the Time Spiral block. Their lineage has carved itself into the history of Magic and the lore of Dominaria.

So far, a Sliver Hive has appeared on only one other plane, Shandalar in Magic 2014 / 2015. In those sets, the art direction departed from what fans had grown to love. (See Predatory Sliver, briefly.) Only a few of the illustrations stayed true to the original vision of the creature type.

Sliver Hivelord helps your swarm weather Wrath of God effects. Surviving board wipes is a key strategy for all tribal decks, as discussed in my fundamentals article of Bear Tribal. Despite the Hivelord’s power, the consensus best Sliver Commander is Sliver Overlord. It allows you to search for any sliver you need, often winning with an infinite combo.

When anything is the consensus best in a casual multiplayer format, look for original and exciting alternatives. This article will explore a Slivers strategy led by the Hivelord. When discussing this with other sliver aficionados, the conversation usually goes like so:

“Sliver Overlord is the best choice.”

“I have a good strategy with Sliver Hivelord.”

“But you can tutor up the Hivelord.”

“I prefer not to tutor all the time. Actually, I’m not playing any ways to search for slivers because that makes drawing any one of them a special treat. Also, I don’t much like the art of Sliver Overlord.”

“But you’re playing it in the ninety-nine, right?”

You may have different feelings for tutors, but there is a strategic reason to play a less-popular sliver Commander. Sliver Overlord leads to a consistent game plan and the ability to adapt to any situation. The problem is, your multiple opponents will know that too. They have a clear understanding of your power and will be thinking to themselves, “We’ve got to Wrath over and over and ally against these Slivers or we’re dead.”

As sliver wranglers, we should do everything we can to change that narrative. In my article on Monstrous Sea Tales, I talk about the importance of weaving a political story in the minds of your opponents. Before each game with Sliver Hivelord, I say:

“Yes, I’m playing Slivers but without any ways to search for them and with only one of each type of sliver ability. I also don’t play Sol Ring. This is hard-mode Slivers, like I have one talon tied behind my back.”

By casting doubt on the known Slivers narrative, I stand a better chance of surviving the early game. By playing a greater variety of Slivers and embracing randomness, I enjoy myself more. I am also likely to win. Though everything I told my opponents is true, it also is deceiving. There’s nothing underpowered about the Sliver Hivelord strategy. It may be even the stronger one. Just when your opponents think they have a chance against your darling sliver swarm, Obliterate them.

Sliver Apocalypse ? Commander | A.E. Marling

• Commander (1)
• 1 Sliver Hivelord

• Mass Destruction (8)
• 1 Blasphemous Act
• 1 Boompile
• 1 Devastation
• 1 Hour of Revelation
• 1 Jokulhaups
• 1 Nevinyrral's Disk
• 1 Obliterate
• 1 Subterranean Tremors

• New C17 Cards (38)
• 17 Cards]
• 1 Curse of Opulence
• 1 Herald's Horn
• 1 Kindred Discovery
• 1 Path of Ancestry
• 17 Cards]

• Creatures (34)
• 1 Basal Sliver
• 1 Bonesplitter Sliver
• 1 Brood Sliver
• 1 Constricting Sliver
• 1 Crystalline Sliver
• 1 Darkheart Sliver
• 1 Diffusion Sliver
• 1 Dormant Sliver
• 1 Firewake Sliver
• 1 Frenetic Sliver
• 1 Fury Sliver
• 1 Galerider Sliver
• 1 Gemhide Sliver
• 1 Harmonic Sliver
• 1 Hibernation Sliver
• 1 Hunter Sliver
• 1 Magma Sliver
• 1 Megantic Sliver
• 1 Might Sliver
• 1 Mirror Entity
• 1 Mnemonic Sliver
• 1 Necrotic Sliver
• 1 Psionic Sliver
• 1 Root Sliver
• 1 Sentinel Sliver
• 1 Shifting Sliver
• 1 Synapse Sliver
• 1 Syphon Sliver
• 1 Telekinetic Sliver
• 1 Thorncaster Sliver
• 1 Venom Sliver
• 1 Ward Sliver
• 1 Sliver Legion
• 1 Sliver Queen

• Instants (4)
• 1 Pyroblast
• 1 Red Elemental Blast
• 1 Stubborn Denial
• 1 Swan Song

• Sorceries (2)
• 1 Harmonize
• 1 Rishkar's Expertise

• Enchantments (2)
• 1 Burgeoning
• 1 Lurking Predators

• Artifacts (10)
• 1 Amulet of Vigor
• 1 Chromatic Lantern
• 1 Chromatic Star
• 1 Coalition Relic
• 1 Coercive Portal
• 1 Commander's Sphere
• 1 Darksteel Ingot
• 1 Expedition Map
• 1 Prophetic Prism
• 1 Surveyor's Scope

• Lands (35)
• 1 Forest
• 1 Island
• 1 Mountain
• 1 Plains
• 1 Swamp
• 1 Adarkar Wastes
• 1 Azorius Chancery
• 1 Breeding Pool
• 1 Cavern of Souls
• 1 Caves of Koilos
• 1 City of Brass
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Crumbling Vestige
• 1 Dimir Aqueduct
• 1 Exotic Orchard
• 1 Forbidden Orchard
• 1 Gemstone Caverns
• 1 Gemstone Mine
• 1 Golgari Rot Farm
• 1 Gruul Turf
• 1 Homeward Path
• 1 Karplusan Forest
• 1 Mana Confluence
• 1 Orzhov Basilica
• 1 Rakdos Carnarium
• 1 Reflecting Pool
• 1 Selesnya Sanctuary
• 1 Simic Growth Chamber
• 1 Sliver Hive
• 1 Undiscovered Paradise
• 1 Vivid Crag
• 1 Vivid Creek
• 1 Vivid Grove
• 1 Vivid Marsh
• 1 Vivid Meadow

Buy This Deck

Where other tribal decks fold in the face of Wraths, indestructible slivers flourish. The deck Sliver Apocalypse plays more board wipes than any tribal deck and will be advantaged against strategies that commit to the board. While the fastest Sol Ring starts or combo decks will still challenge the hive, the power level here is as high as I would care to play in a casual format.

Some perfectly reasonable inclusions such as Steely Resolve and Cryptolith Rite I decided against because they grant the same abilities as slivers already in the deck. You can decide if you are fine with that in terms of flavor and political narrative.

The natural enemies of Sliver Hivelord are Blue and White because their removal can bounce or exile. Pyroblast and Red Elemental Blast most often counter Cyclonic Rift. Set Ward Sliver to White against Swords to Plowshares.

New C17 Cards

Kindred Discovery can help the hive recover if it is short on resourses. A tribe with a rich history, Slivers have much to rediscover. Cards like Kindred Summons and Genesis Wave have higher upside but are more situational.

Path of Ancestry is as excellent as you would expect. Herald's Horn is a fine inclusion to a deck with thirty-four creatures that share a type. The Commander 2017 card that may seem less obvious is Curse of Opulence. Based on my initial testing and observation, this card shines in decks with cheap creatures. What better use for a 2-drop sliver than to shake down a pompous Planeswalker? You may also wish to try Curse of Verbosity.

Destroy Everything Responsibly

If there’s one thing more splendid than a well-tuned symphony of slivers, it’s when they thrum alone in a bright new world. Use cards like Obliterate as victory conditions after you have amassed a critical force of slivers. Make sure you have enough of an offense that your victory cannot be doubted. This will allow players to pick up their destroyed permanents and shuffle them directly in their decks to begin the next game.

Do not reset the board out of spite because you’re losing. A Jokulhaups should end the game, not drag it out. We’re playing Slivers with mass land destruction, but we’re not monsters.

Sliver Aesthetics

Your sense of sliver style may vary, but for me, it’s worth it to play Fury Sliver over Bonescythe Sliver. After buying the original cards, I’ve also customized many, such as the above proxy of Megantic Sliver by the Proxy Guy. I have commissioned card alters such as those below by Scourge Alters.

State of the Hive

While proxies are never legal in sanctioned Magic events, alters can be with approval from the head judge. I have competed with Slivers outside of Commander in Eternal formats, and I’ll say a few words about the tribe in that context.

Slivers are starved for interaction. In Legacy, the hive would benefit most from the printing of a sliver that cares about the opponents’ noncreature spells. In Modern, what the tribe needs is something like Hunter Sliver. In both formats, I feel that a new five-colored land would be a boon for the tribe. Another tribal land in the Modern deck may make Frenetic Sliver a more viable defensive alternative to Sedge Sliver, which is wonderful, but its dependency on Swamp cards constrains your mana base.

I have written about five-color Slivers in Legacy and Modern. Muscle Sliver and similar pedigrees form the main sinew of the decks. You may have noted that I did not include any in Commander, as I felt the effect was too nominal to justify.

Comment below to let me know of your own innovations in breeding slivers.