I like to win the game.

When I say, “I like to win the game,” I mean I like to just win the game. I don’t want to have to attack or mill someone—I want a card that says, “You win,” because there is something profoundly satisfying about cards like that. You’ve seen that in this series in the past—I have built decks around Mortal Combat and Test of Endurance. If I could build around Battle of Wits or Biorhythm in Commander, I probably would. You want to know how this article started out? I was trying to make Hedron Alignment work. I figured out a few things you could do, but most of them involved Wishing and having your playgroup be cool with it. I can talk a playgroup into letting me play a stupid Hedron Alignment deck, but I can’t talk everyone into it. Besides, it was mentally taxing, and the whole point of cards that say, “You win!” is that we don’t tax ourselves mentally. Combat math is such a bore. I want to not have to do combat math. If we can’t Align our Hedrons, what can we do? I think I know.

There are plenty of cards that say, “You win,” and as much fun as it would be to build around Barren Glory (maybe our group will let us also jam The Cheese Stands Alone because we’re trying to have fun here), I want to put as many of these cards in a deck as I can. I thought about Laboratory Maniac, but I don’t like that card very much in 75% decks because I feel it encourages you to deck yourself, and if you’re decking yourself, you’ll either not be interfered with and you’ll win on the spot or you’ll be interfered with and you’ll lose on the spot. Laboratory Maniac, I feel, encourages you to play the deck exactly one way, and while some of you are okay with that, I’m going to avoid it here. However, we do have a few other tasty options that aren’t solo-cheddar- or mad-scientist-related. In fact, with the exception of Mortal Combat, all of the cards I can think of are in two colors: white and blue.

With several you-win! cards in the deck and Azor's Elocutors ineligible to take the helm, whom do we want driving the bus? My short list includes Grand Arbiter Augustin IV (not very 75%), Lavinia of the Tenth (I don’t want to build a bad Brago, King Eternal deck), and Gwafa Hazid, Profiteer.

Like Nicolas Cage in Lord of War, Gwafa is all about wheeling and dealing. Distracting opponents’ creatures long enough to keep from being hurt and winning the game through filibuster counters or super-high life total is a useful skill. Sure, we could run Merieke Ri Berit and just swipe opponents’ dudes, but where’s the fun in that? No, I want to be about Gwafa, and I want him to be about me. So how would a wacky pillow fort deck piloted by Magic’s own Lord of War pan out?

Gwafa Hazid the Filibusta ? Commander | Jason Alt

• Commander (0)

• Creatures (24)
• 1 Angelic Arbiter
• 1 Archangel of Tithes
• 1 Aven Mindcensor
• 1 Azorius Guildmage
• 1 Azor's Elocutors
• 1 Blazing Archon
• 1 Felidar Sovereign
• 1 Grand Abolisher
• 1 Hundred-Handed One
• 1 Kami of False Hope
• 1 Leonin Arbiter
• 1 Martyr of Sands
• 1 Spirit of the Labyrinth
• 1 Void Winnower
• 1 Willbreaker
• 1 Windborn Muse
• 1 Platinum Angel
• 1 Silent Arbiter
• 1 Avacyn, Angel of Hope
• 1 Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
• 1 Hixus, Prison Warden
• 1 Isperia, Supreme Judge
• 1 Ith, High Arcanist
• 1 Lavinia of the Tenth

• Planeswalkers (1)
• 1 Venser, the Sojourner

• Spells (37)
• 1 AEtherize
• 1 Comeuppance
• 1 Condemn
• 1 Holy Day
• 1 Ojutai's Command
• 1 Sphinx's Revelation
• 1 Swords to Plowshares
• 1 Time Stop
• 1 Blatant Thievery
• 1 Council's Judgment
• 1 Day of Judgment
• 1 Evangelize
• 1 Planar Outburst
• 1 Proclamation of Rebirth
• 1 Supreme Verdict
• 1 Knowledge Exploitation
• 1 Aura of Silence
• 1 Aurification
• 1 Blind Obedience
• 1 Cyclonic Rift
• 1 Diplomatic Immunity
• 1 Ghostly Prison
• 1 Island Sanctuary
• 1 Luminarch Ascension
• 1 Martial Law
• 1 Palliation Accord
• 1 Prison Term
• 1 Propaganda
• 1 Rhystic Study
• 1 Sphere of Safety
• 1 Starfield of Nyx
• 1 Test of Endurance
• 1 War Tax
• 1 Azorius Signet
• 1 Contagion Engine
• 1 Norn's Annex
• 1 Orbs of Warding

• Lands (37)
• 12 Island
• 20 Plains
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Emeria, The Sky Ruin
• 1 Hallowed Fountain
• 1 Reliquary Tower
• 1 Temple of Enlightenment

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This is a spicy brew I think.

First of all, we have a nice pillow fort. Propaganda, Ghostly Prison, War Tax, Norn's Annex, Sphere of Safety—we’re making it a pain to attack us. This makes it hard to deal us damage, which makes it easier for us to win with Elocutors or Test of Endurance. Even an activated Luminarch Ascension is pretty gnarly. I found a few gems, such as Palliation Accord, that do work in this deck but that other people might not know about because they don’t do much work outside of a deck like this.

I inserted some old-timey synergy, like the Procla-Martyr combo to gain a ton of life but that also lets us Proclamation of Rebirth back a Kami of False Hope, which can prevent damage. Emeria, the Sky Ruin can bring back those creatures as well. I thought about Children of Korlis, but I think we’re happy where we are. This isn’t quite a Procla-Martyr deck, but having access to some of those cards makes me happy and nostalgic, and we just so happen to be able to take advantage of the things those cards do.

Feel free to tune to your own particular taste. I excluded a lot of cards that prevent our opponents from doing too much, and I cut a lot of cards that have redundancy with other cards in the deck. I would love to stack Urza's Armor on Orbs of Warding, for example. It was relatively tough to pare this deck down, but there are a few so-so creatures you can start whittling away if you have a pet card you want to jam. I am not sure all of my choices are correct, but this deck is absolutely good enough to sleeve up and start testing.

What do we think? Did I capture the essence of a filibuster for the win? Is Gwafa the roguish hero this deck needs? Did I miss your favorite card? Did I name the wrong card like I sometimes do? Leave it in the comments section. Until next week!