I have been playing a lot more Commander on webcam lately because it's fun, people actually let me play with them and I don't have an alternative if I want to play paper Commander right now (I do want that). A lot of those games were streamed and probably exist in some fashion and you could find them if you were so inclined (or you can follow me on Twitter where I'll announce the next time I'll be at it) but I want to talk about a game that didn't see the light of day. Conducted over Discord, it became a comedy of errors very quickly. The issue? I misrepresented a 75% deck.

The deck just sat. I didn't come up with 75% deck-building theory so decks could just sit, so when I saw what I thought was an opportunity to get another rep in to try and diagnose what's wrong with the deck, I leapt at it. Two of the participants in the game were planning to use their new Commander 2020 precons and the 3rd was using a tuned precon, which I welcomed. A 75% deck should work just fine against preconstructed decks - you're not going to punish their wonky mana base, win on turn four, or throw anything at them they shouldn't be able to handle. While the preconstructed decks don't have a ton of amazingly flashy rares, they have a lot of synergy and can put together decent attacks if left alone. This Chainer deck was going to excel at leaving them alone.

I left them alone, at first. A lucky turn one Sol Ring turned into a turn three Black Market. It raised some eyebrows. "Precon-tier you say?" I shrugged. Black Market was in Commander 2017, it's a precon card. The Herald of Leshrac that followed raised more eyebrows. Then came Goblin Engineer to throw a Mindslaver in the yard. Then came Mana Echoes. Before I could play my first Goblin and get any mana from Mana Echoes, I was hit with Akroma's Vengeance, lost my entire board and was down to two inconsequential cards in hand. At this point in the game, I was getting a pretty good ribbing every time I played a card. They were right - Mana Echoes, Herald of Leshrac, Mindslaver - these are not precon cards. They're 75% cards, true, but this wasn't really a 75% deck because despite curving out well (the Black Market was very helpful with a sac-based deck on the table) and playing powerful spells, I didn't do anything. I borrowed a few lands for a few turns and dumped my hand then scooped to a Wrath. Worse, though, I misrepresented the deck. Just because your deck does nothing but does it very efficiently doesn't mean it's a precon - I'd argue it's the opposite. A precon uses a lot of synergy between bulk rares and a few key reprints and powerful new cards to win, my deck used $30 cards to do nothing. The deck needs work, but I also need something to play when other people are getting out precons, something that happens every year.

This deck need not be 75%, because if you know everyone is playing precons or precon-tier decks, you don't need a 75% deck that can adapt to everything, you can just play a deck that's perfect for the situation. You won't get this deck out often, but considering I've played dozens of games with new friends this month and hadn't gotten Chainer out, sometimes you have a deck you don't play. I don't like unwrapping a precon and jamming it, but if you play with people who do, why not have something ready?

We'll include the kind of spells that are typically included in precons by including cards that were already in a precon wherever possible. Black Market is fine but Mana Echoes and Phyrexian Altar probably need to sit this one out. Luckily, we have access to some very good removal, good countermagic, solid card draw and a few creature swiping spells including a few you don't see often such as Enslave. The result will be a deck that's specifically designed to thwart the precons from the last few years all while using cards that wouldn't be amiss in any precon. This is going to be a fun exercise, so let's dig in.

Gyruda, Doom of Precons | Commander | Jason Alt

• Commander (1)
• 1 Gyruda, Doom of Depths

• Creatures (25)
• 1 Agent of Treachery
• 1 Archaeomancer
• 1 Clever Impersonator
• 1 Clone
• 1 Deadeye Navigator
• 1 Diluvian Primordial
• 1 Dream Eater
• 1 Evil Twin
• 1 Jace's Mindseeker
• 1 Nephalia Smuggler
• 1 Ravenous Chupacabra
• 1 Silent-Blade Oni
• 1 Sire of Stagnation
• 1 Spark Double
• 1 Stormtide Leviathan
• 1 Thieving Amalgam
• 1 Vizier of Many Faces
• 1 Wall of Stolen Identity
• 1 Atris, Oracle of Half-Truths
• 1 Geth, Lord of the Vault
• 1 Gonti, Lord of Luxury
• 1 Lazav, Dimir Mastermind
• 1 Syr Konrad, the Grim
• 1 Thassa, Deep-Dwelling
• 1 Wrexial, the Risen Deep

• Instants (14)
• 1 Aetherize
• 1 Arcane Denial
• 1 Curtains' Call
• 1 Displace
• 1 Drown in the Loch
• 1 Fact or Fiction
• 1 Ghostly Flicker
• 1 Go For the Throat
• 1 Illusionist's Stratagem
• 1 Price of Fame
• 1 Reality Shift
• 1 Sudden Spoiling
• 1 Sudden Substitution
• 1 Teferi's Time Twist

• Sorceries (8)
• 1 Beacon of Unrest
• 1 Dredge the Mire
• 1 Extract from Darkness
• 1 Finale of Eternity
• 1 Stolen Identity
• 1 Voidwalk
• 1 Whelming Wave
• 1 Yawgmoth's Vile Offering

• Enchantments (5)
• 1 Animate Dead
• 1 Control Magic
• 1 Enslave
• 1 Mirror Mockery
• 1 Steal Artifact

• Artifacts (12)
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Charcoal Diamond
• 1 Commander's Sphere
• 1 Conjurer's Closet
• 1 Dimir Signet
• 1 Glaring Spotlight
• 1 Hedron Archive
• 1 Mind Stone
• 1 Shadowspear
• 1 Sky Diamond
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Whispersilk Cloak

• Lands (36)
• 11 Swamp
• 15 Island
• 1 Arcane Lighthouse
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Darkwater Catacombs
• 1 Detection Tower
• 1 Dimir Aqueduct
• 1 Evolving Wilds
• 1 Exotic Orchard
• 1 Sunken Hollow
• 1 Temple of Deceit
• 1 Terramorphic Expanse

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The Average CMC is pretty high and while I wanted to cut expensive creatures, there were too many good ones. I recommend looking at cards like Acquire, Praetor's Grasp, or Master Thief to make use of their mana rocks to give them the old twofer treatment. Making them lose a mana rock and gaining one yourself is a two mana-rock swing in your favor which is why stealing things from them is so potent. Our mana curve is quite high and if any of these creatures don't impact the board the way they should, there is probably a three or four mana creature that should be in that slot.

I ran less removal than I thought I was going to because I like the Clone effects more. It makes for a fun experience to Clone their stuff and take over the board by having the best creatures, but if you find you want some more removal, Go For The Throat-tier cards are probably the best bet. If I am going to steal their creatures, I want to be countering sweepers, not playing them. This is why cards like Aetherize are better than cards like Devastation Tide. Add an Aetherspouts if you want another card like this - it doesn't punish you by giving back your ill-gotten gains but it does punish whoever had the sheer, unmitigated temerity to attack you when you're just over here playing a precon-tier deck of all things.

Your deck's capabilities are much less important than the perception and if you play powerful cards that give you a ton of mana but ultimately don't let you do anything to the board, you're going to draw heat you can't handle. No one likes to get focused. Instead, play a deck like this against precons. It's way more fun, you get to play with new cards without having to buy them and you can be sure people will be able to deal with what you use against them. This deck works against the precons from any year and if you tune it, be mindful of the kind of cards you're putting in. Bribery would make this deck better, but it wouldn't make it more fun to play against with a precon. Besides, who said cards from precons have to be bad? True-Name Nemesis, Baleful Strix, Teferi's Protection - some of the most powerful cards in Magic's History came in a preconstructed deck. Above all, don't make the mistakes I did - misrepresenting how it would *feel* to play against your deck, and mistaking a deck that did nothing three turns early because of Black Market for a deck that wasn't 75% and therefore was casual. Next time I'll be ready, and I hope you will, too. Until next time!