Last week, the comments section of my article in which I took a 75% Derevi, Empyrial Tactician deck through the deck garage became interesting. I had several people ask me in the comments about how I would tune up the precon if I took a crack at it for myself, and I had several more people e-mail or tweet the same request. I receive a decent amount of feedback on my articles, but I have rarely received the same request from so many people independently of each other. I usually don’t like to do the same Commander twice, and I certainly don’t like to do it in back-to-back weeks, but this felt important.

The thing is that I fell into a pattern of making an “easy” 75% deck with a problem commander by either building Voltron or tribal. That’s a simple and elegant solution since both of those reduce your card pool significantly, allowing you to build 75% by merely selecting the best cards from the limited pool. That’s a great way to do it, but it felt a little bit too much like cheating after a while. However, I think it’s only cheating if I stop there. This week, I decided to do both lists: I am going to show you what Voltron and tribal would look like. Both of these decks will be 75%, and maybe the different lists will give you something to think about. With three Derevi decks in two weeks, you’ll probably be sick of Bant for a while—something I will take into account for the rest of the next few months!

Not that I feel super-sorry for you; Bant lets you play green and blue, and that lets you play Prophet of Kruphix, and it’s impossible not to smile while Prophet of Kruphix is on your mat.

Anyway, let’s take a look at the precon that we will be using as our starting point for both decks.

Evasive Maneuvers ? Commander | Wizards of the Coast

• Commander (0)

• Creatures (29)
• 1 Acidic Slime
• 1 Aerie Mystics
• 1 Angel of Finality
• 1 Bane of Progress
• 1 Deceiver Exarch
• 1 Diviner Spirit
• 1 Djinn of Infinite Deceits
• 1 Dungeon Geists
• 1 Farhaven Elf
• 1 Fiend Hunter
• 1 Flickerwisp
• 1 Hada Spy Patrol
• 1 Karmic Guide
• 1 Kazandu Tuskcaller
• 1 Mirror Entity
• 1 Mistmeadow Witch
• 1 Murkfiend Liege
• 1 Phantom Nantuko
• 1 Selesnya Guildmage
• 1 Skyward Eye Prophets
• 1 Stonecloaker
• 1 Thornwind Faeries
• 1 Winged Coatl
• 1 Wonder
• 1 Pilgrim's Eye
• 1 Azami, Lady of Scrolls
• 1 Lu Xun, Scholar General
• 1 Roon of the Hidden Realm
• 1 Rubinia Soulsinger

• Spells (32)
• 1 Aethermage's Touch
• 1 Arcane Denial
• 1 Blue Sun's Zenith
• 1 Krosan Grip
• 1 Selesnya Charm
• 1 Unexpectedly Absent
• 1 Borrowing
• 1 Kirtar's Wrath
• 1 Restore
• 1 Tempt with Glory
• 1 Wash Out
• 1 Control Magic
• 1 Curse of Inertia
• 1 Curse of Predation
• 1 Curse of the Forsaken
• 1 Darksteel Mutation
• 1 Flickerform
• 1 Leafdrake Roost
• 1 Presence of Gond
• 1 Azorius Keyrune
• 1 Basalt Monolith
• 1 Conjurer's Closet
• 1 Darksteel Ingot
• 1 Leonin Bladetrap
• 1 Selesnya Signet
• 1 Simic Signet
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Surveyor's Scope
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots
• 1 Sword of the Paruns
• 1 Thousand-Year Elixir
• 1 Thunderstaff

• Lands (38)
• 6 Forest
• 7 Island
• 7 Plains
• 1 Azorius Chancery
• 1 Azorius Guildgate
• 1 Bant Panorama
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Evolving Wilds
• 1 Faerie Conclave
• 1 Opal Palace
• 1 Rupture Spire
• 1 Saltcrusted Steppe
• 1 Seaside Citadel
• 1 Secluded Steppe
• 1 Sejiri Refuge
• 1 Selesnya Guildgate
• 1 Selesnya Sanctuary
• 1 Simic Guildgate
• 1 Temple of the False God
• 1 Terramorphic Expanse
• 1 Transguild Promenade

Buy This Deck

There is a lot to work with here. Our best assets are the new cards, Derevi, Roon of the Hidden Realm, and the creatures that generate value with Roon.

If I wanted to take this in a Voltron direction, I would want to play a bit of a draw-go game as well as have the ability to go wide. If you go wide, you can generate a lot of untap triggers and use that mana for evil purposes. Let’s look at how I would build Voltron!

Derevi Voltron ? Commander | Jason Alt

• Commander (0)

• Creatures (22)
• 1 Acidic Slime
• 1 Aerie Mystics
• 1 Bane of Progress
• 1 Deadeye Navigator
• 1 Dungeon Geists
• 1 Eternal Witness
• 1 False Prophet
• 1 Glen Elendra Archmage
• 1 Icefall Regent
• 1 Karmic Guide
• 1 Murkfiend Liege
• 1 Mystic Snake
• 1 Prophet of Kruphix
• 1 Seedborn Muse
• 1 Stonecloaker
• 1 Sun Titan
• 1 Phyrexian Metamorph
• 1 Azami, Lady of Scrolls
• 1 Heliod, God of the Sun
• 1 Kruphix, God of Horizons
• 1 Omnath, Locus of Mana
• 1 Venser, Shaper Savant

• Spells (38)
• 1 Aethermage's Touch
• 1 Arcane Denial
• 1 Bant Charm
• 1 Beast Within
• 1 Cryptic Command
• 1 Desertion
• 1 Dismantling Blow
• 1 Hindering Light
• 1 Sphinx's Revelation
• 1 Unexpectedly Absent
• 1 Austere Command
• 1 Cultivate
• 1 Explore
• 1 Kodama's Reach
• 1 Reap and Sow
• 1 Retether
• 1 Rout
• 1 Battle Mastery
• 1 Bear Umbra
• 1 Cyclonic Rift
• 1 Nature's Will
• 1 Pattern of Rebirth
• 1 Righteous Authority
• 1 Sage's Reverie
• 1 Spectra Ward
• 1 Spirit Mantle
• 1 Sylvan Library
• 1 True Conviction
• 1 Batterskull
• 1 Behemoth Sledge
• 1 Birthing Pod
• 1 Grappling Hook
• 1 Loxodon Warhammer
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots
• 1 Sword of Feast and Famine
• 1 Unwinding Clock
• 1 Diviner's Wand

• Lands (39)
• 7 Forest
• 7 Island
• 7 Plains
• 1 Breeding Pool
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Flooded Grove
• 1 Flooded Strand
• 1 Hallowed Fountain
• 1 High Market
• 1 Marsh Flats
• 1 Misty Rainforest
• 1 Mystic Gate
• 1 Scalding Tarn
• 1 Seaside Citadel
• 1 Seaside Haven
• 1 Tectonic Edge
• 1 Temple Garden
• 1 Verdant Catacombs
• 1 Windswept Heath
• 1 Wooded Bastion
• 1 Academy Ruins

Buy This Deck

I tried to keep some elements of the precon and mesh them with a Derevi Voltron deck. We have some good Auras to stack on Derevi or another creature, and we’re mostly trying to go wide with a few creatures and generate some hit triggers to untap some stuff. Nature's Will, Bear Umbra, and Sword of Feast and Famine all benefit us greatly for hitting with the enchanted creature. Battle Mastery and Grappling Hook aim to create a lot of hit triggers; Sword and Mastery on a creature are going to make for us so many untap triggers, and that gives us a lot of mana to pump into Kruphix, God of Horizons, Omnath, Locus of Mana, or even Helix Pinnacle.

Derevi suits up well and becomes a Voltron nightmare. If he dies, he is easy to recast, and if we can Retether our Auras, we are in good shape. Countermagic and hexproof should help us in our quest to keep him alive long enough to strike. Is this deck 75%? Yes, and it can probably be a lot better and still be 75%. I would need to play this to see how it struggled, and the mana base is pretty far from the precon to the chagrin of some. The important thing to me was making sure I included Seaside Haven, which is a great card to have in a Derevi deck. This Voltron list looks like fun, although it might not be the most competitive deck ever. Flashing stuff and jamming Auras is a bit of a nonbo, but I think Derevi can be kept around so you benefit from the Auras, a lot of which draw extra cards and make Diviner's Wand even better.

Still, if battlecruiser Magic isn’t your bag, how about a Bird and/or Wizard tribal jam?

Derevi Tribal ? Commander | Jason Alt

• Commander (0)

• Creatures (25)
• 1 Aerie Mystics
• 1 Arctic Aven
• 1 Aven Cloudchaser
• 1 Aven Mimeomancer
• 1 Aven Mindcensor
• 1 Celestial Gatekeeper
• 1 Cloudchaser Kestrel
• 1 Crookclaw Elder
• 1 Emeria Angel
• 1 Keeper of the Nine Gales
• 1 Magus of the Moat
• 1 Messenger Falcons
• 1 Mirror Entity
• 1 Mist Raven
• 1 Pride of the Clouds
• 1 Soulcatcher
• 1 Vedalken AEthermage
• 1 Warden of Evos Isle
• 1 Windbrisk Raptor
• 1 Windreader Sphinx
• 1 Azami, Lady of Scrolls
• 1 Commander Eesha
• 1 Kangee, Aerie Keeper
• 1 Lieutenant Kirtar
• 1 Talrand, Sky Summoner

• Spells (34)
• 1 Bant Charm
• 1 Beast Within
• 1 Desertion
• 1 Flurry of Wings
• 1 Gather Specimens
• 1 Hinder
• 1 Krosan Grip
• 1 Simic Charm
• 1 Swords to Plowshares
• 1 Tribal Unity
• 1 Unexpectedly Absent
• 1 Wing Shards
• 1 Airborne Aid
• 1 Beck // Call
• 1 Cultivate
• 1 Harsh Mercy
• 1 Kodama's Reach
• 1 Aura Shards
• 1 Beastmaster Ascension
• 1 Bower Passage
• 1 Cyclonic Rift
• 1 Descendants' Path
• 1 Detention Sphere
• 1 Favorable Winds
• 1 Gravitational Shift
• 1 Shared Triumph
• 1 Soulcatchers' Aerie
• 1 Azorius Signet
• 1 Coat of Arms
• 1 Door of Destinies
• 1 Selesnya Signet
• 1 Simic Signet
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Bident of Thassa

• Lands (40)
• 7 Forest
• 8 Island
• 7 Plains
• 1 Breeding Pool
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Flooded Grove
• 1 Flooded Strand
• 1 Hallowed Fountain
• 1 High Market
• 1 Marsh Flats
• 1 Misty Rainforest
• 1 Mystic Gate
• 1 Scalding Tarn
• 1 Seaside Citadel
• 1 Seaside Haven
• 1 Tectonic Edge
• 1 Temple Garden
• 1 Verdant Catacombs
• 1 Windswept Heath
• 1 Wooded Bastion
• 1 Academy Ruins

Buy This Deck

This looks like a lot of fun! I don’t know how strong it is, but punishing opponents for not having flyers while having mono-flyers for yourself is rad. I like Talrand in here, so he stays even though the Drakes you make aren’t gaining Bird bonuses from stuff like Soulcatchers' Aerie and Coat of Arms. You don’t like Talrand? Make your own tribal deck, jerk.

Either way you look at it, Derevi lets us build fun, exciting decks that don’t have to be the oppressive Stax monsters that cause people to throw things at you. Using the precon as a base, you can go full Roon or go Voltron or tribal or a dozen other directions. As long as we stick to our 75% principles for guidance, we can guarantee a fun experience for everyone at the table, and we can make sure we ultimately win in the end. What more could you ask for?

To those among you who asked for me to give you my spin on the precon, how did I do? Did I stray too far from the precon and too far into how I’d ideally build tribal and Voltron? I’m not doing a third article, but I could be persuaded to put up a TappedOut list if you want to see more of my thought process or how I’d mod the precon to make a generic Derevi deck.

To those who are satisfied, keep me posted—I want to see if you go on to build your own deck around the Evasive Maneuvers precon. Send me your lists, send me your questions, and send me money. I promise to spend it on a non-75% Daretti Mindslaver deck to wipe that smug smile off the face of my group’s Rafiq of the Many player. That will teach him to go Bant Voltron without Derevi!

That does it for me! Until next time!