Don't like Temur? Or do you like CBS for some reason? Want to fight about it? I warn you, that's what Temur does well. The Temur clan gets their jollies punching bears in the face. And these aren't normal bears, they're super 4/4 bears whose diets are high in protein because they get a steady stream of Himalayan lunatics trying to punch them in the face. The reprinting of Ulvenwald Tracker in Modern Masters 2017 and the games it stole for me in Limited got me thinking about bear fights. I wanted to build a deck where I did a lot of fighting. When I started working on the deck, two things became apparent right away. The first is that this deck is going to be pretty janky and I'm OK with that. The second thing is that I probably should have built it Jund. You make Kresh the Bloodbraided your commander, put cards like Phyrexian Obliterator (super castable, right?) in the deck and call it a day. But if you think I'm going to rewrite the last two paragraphs so I can build a deck that doesn't play Temur Charm, you're clearly not acquainted with what a lunatic I am.

There's a small issue — I really want to build this with Yasova Dragonclaw and I've already done a Yasova deck in this series. I don't know how big an issue that is, really, though. You're going to want to build a deck a different way every once in a while and I know plenty of people who have two different builds with the same commander if they really love that commander. I really love Yasova. It does stuff we want a 75% deck to do. It steals their stuff and lets us beat them with it and that's what I'm about. Having our creatures double as removal is good, killing their creatures with their creatures is even better, especially if they end up trading. We'll want ways to grow Yasova, but that's par for the course. The important thing is that this deck is a new take on an established commander and since that's what we try to do around here, you'll forgive the double deck dipping. What would fight tribal end up looking like?

Bear Knuckle Boxing ? Commander | Jason Alt

• Commander (1)
• 1 Yasova Dragonclaw

• Creatures (27)
• 1 Acidic Slime
• 1 Bazaar Trader
• 1 Coiling Oracle
• 1 Conquering Manticore
• 1 Daybreak Ranger
• 1 Deadeye Navigator
• 1 Dominus of Fealty
• 1 Foe-Razer Regent
• 1 Greater Gargadon
• 1 Gruul Ragebeast
• 1 Hornet Queen
• 1 Jalira, Master Polymorphist
• 1 Molten Primordial
• 1 Nightshade Peddler
• 1 Rattleclaw Mystic
• 1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1 Scab-Clan Giant
• 1 Scourge of Skola Vale
• 1 Skullwinder
• 1 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Surrak Dragonclaw
• 1 Tahngarth,Talruum Hero
• 1 Ulvenwald Tracker
• 1 Willbreaker
• 1 Wolfir Silverheart
• 1 Xenagos, God of Revels
• 1 Zealous Conscripts

• Planeswalkers (1)
• 1 Domri Rade

• Instants (7)
• 1 Beast Within
• 1 Dissension in the Ranks
• 1 Momentous Fall
• 1 Pit Fight
• 1 Setessan Tactics
• 1 Temur Charm
• 1 Word of Seizing

• Sorceries (10)
• 1 Blood Feud
• 1 Cultivate
• 1 Eldritch Evolution
• 1 Epic Confrontation
• 1 Explosive Vegetation
• 1 Insurrection
• 1 Kari Zev's Expertise
• 1 Kodama's Reach
• 1 Mob Rule
• 1 Prey Upon

• Enchantments (8)
• 1 Bear Umbra
• 1 Burning Anger
• 1 Chamber of Manipulation
• 1 Evolutionary Leap
• 1 Goblin Bombardment
• 1 Gratuitous Violence
• 1 Greater Good
• 1 Perilous Forays

• Artifacts (8)
• 1 Ashnod's Altar
• 1 Birthing Pod
• 1 Gruul Signet
• 1 Izzet Signet
• 1 Simic Signet
• 1 Skullclamp
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Triangle of War

• Lands (37)
• 4 Island
• 8 Mountain
• 9 Forest
• 1 Breeding Pool
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Evolving Wilds
• 1 Frontier Bivouac
• 1 Hinterland Harbor
• 1 Izzet Boilerworks
• 1 Kessig Wolf Run
• 1 Rootbound Crag
• 1 Rugged Highlands
• 1 Steam Vents
• 1 Stomping Ground
• 1 Swiftwater Cliffs
• 1 Temple of Abandon
• 1 Temple of Mystery
• 1 Terramorphic Expanse
• 1 Thornwood Falls

Buy This Deck

First of all, let's look at how we're taking their stuff. We have Yasova, obviously, but sometimes that isn't enough. We have Dominus of Fealty, which is one of my favorite EDH cards of all time and we also have Willbreaker, Zealous Conscripts, and Molten Primordial. That's not enough so we added Chamber of Manipulation, Bazaar Trader, Word of Seizing, Insurrection, Mob Rule, and Kari Zev's Expertise. That's not too bad as far as redundancy goes in a deck where our commander can do it repeatedly. If there were room, I'd probably add more threaten effects and maybe a Bribery or Desertion and if you want to add those, there are cuts to be made in other areas.

I like the inclusion of Bazaar Trader and Deadeye Navigator because with a little trickery, both of those creatures can be used to keep a creature permanently, which you might want to do on occasion. I didn't want to include a ton of cards in the deck to steal creatures permanently since borrowing them and using them to trade with their creatures suits us fine. If we have to sac them for value, it's still preferable to giving them back. Deadeye Navigator does so much in this deck, though, that it's a no-brainer to include it.

I included a ton of fight stuff because this is a fight tribal deck. There is room for more if you really want fewer utility creatures and would rather greedily jam Polukranos, World Eater and Inferno Elemental — just watch your mana curve. I prefer for their creatures to do the bulk of the fighting, but it's nice to have a few creatures that can initiate fights on their own, even if they do tend to die in the process.

If fighting isn't enough to kill their creatures, you can always sac them instead of giving them back. Ashnod's Altar and Goblin Bombardment are fun but Eldritch Evolution, Birthing Pod, and Greater Good are even more fun. Don't give their stuff back, that's for suckers. Keep their stuff and keep them on their back foot.

I think this deck turned out great. We are doing things we want to be doing in 75% decks like swiping their creatures and building non-traditional builds. We're doing lots of fighting. We're punching baby bears so much that Killer Mike is going to make us a member of his crew. We're launching the corpses of their dudes at them with a catapult. We're scaling to their power level and punching them in the face with their own creatures. "Quit hitting yourself" we'll say but they won't be able to quit hitting themselves. Because we're making them do it with their own creatures. Because that's what we're about.

Join me next week when we have some other stuff to talk about. I might even write a new rule which will invalidate my "8 simple rules" article. Either way, you won't want to miss it. Until next week!