As somebody with an interest in Commander, I’m sure you’ve been paying close attention to the ten new options we’re receiving in Dragon’s Maze. I’ve already talked about some possibilities, and I have more zany ideas floating around, but before my brain allows me to do any more work on that, it demands that I investigate Vorel.

I’m a big fan of doubling things (and based on Doubling Season’s price tag, I bet many of you are, too). So, it should come as no surprise that multiple familiar personalities have taken an interest in our newest Human Merfolk. Bruce Richard did an excellent job of covering Vorel’s interactions in his preview article, and there aren’t a ton of new interactions I can add. That’s because unlike some more open-ended abilities, there’s a very restricted list of cards you can play in a Vorel deck that he’ll interact with. I looked through all of them.

That’s not to say Vorel doesn’t deserve another article. For one thing, this merman is in desperate need of a decklist, and moreover, there are a lot of ways to use the obvious interactions Vorel provides to achieve less obvious ends. First step: decklist.

Stunt Double

• Commander (0)

• On the Double (17)
• 1 Gilder Bairn
• 1 Doubling Season
• 1 Evolution Vat
• 1 Sakashima the Impostor
• 1 Experiment Kraj
• 1 Illusionist's Bracers
• 1 Rings of Brighthearth
• 1 Seedborn Muse
• 1 Patron of the Orochi
• 1 Awakening
• 1 Quest for Renewal
• 1 Murkfiend Liege
• 1 Sword of the Paruns
• 1 Umbral Mantle
• 1 Pemmin's Aura
• 1 Freed from the Real
• 1 Tideforce Elemental

• Excitement (11)
• 1 Chimeric Mass
• 1 Feral Hydra
• 1 Ivy Elemental
• 1 Krakilin
• 1 Nimbus Swimmer
• 1 Primordial Hydra
• 1 Protean Hydra
• 1 Sigil of Distinction
• 1 Forgotten Ancient
• 1 Stag Beetle
• 1 Strength of the Tajuru

• Tokens of Respect (4)
• 1 Kazandu Tuskcaller
• 1 Mycoloth
• 1 Orochi Hatchery
• 1 Riptide Replicator

• Main Draw (9)
• 1 Barrin's Codex
• 1 Prime Speaker Zegana
• 1 Garruk, Primal Hunter
• 1 Djinn of Wishes
• 1 Etched Oracle
• 1 Mindless Automaton
• 1 Myojin of Seeing Winds
• 1 Novijen Sages
• 1 Greater Good

• Dressed to Kill (7)
• 1 Triskelavus
• 1 Triskelion
• 1 Umezawa's Jitte
• 1 Wickerbough Elder
• 1 Woodripper
• 1 Sylvan Primordial
• 1 Eternity Vessel

• Need for Speed (4)
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots
• 1 Thousand-Year Elixir
• 1 Leyline of Anticipation
• 1 Vedalken Orrery

• Positively Charged (11)
• 1 Blue Mana Battery
• 1 Green Mana Battery
• 1 Kyren Toy
• 1 Gemstone Array
• 1 Coalition Relic
• 1 Everflowing Chalice
• 1 Fertilid
• 1 Earthcraft
• 1 Life from the Loam
• 1 Genesis Wave
• 1 Plasm Capture

• Solid Ground (36)
• 1 City of Shadows
• 1 Llanowar Reborn
• 1 Novijen, Heart of Progress
• 1 Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
• 1 Hollow Trees
• 1 Rushwood Grove
• 1 Sand Silos
• 1 Saprazzan Cove
• 1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
• 1 Alchemist's Refuge
• 1 Winding Canyons
• 1 Miren, the Moaning Well
• 1 Flooded Grove
• 1 Tropical Island
• 1 Breeding Pool
• 1 Misty Rainforest
• 1 Verdant Catacombs
• 1 Flooded Strand
• 1 Scalding Tarn
• 1 Tranquil Thicket
• 1 Slippery Karst
• 1 Remote Isle
• 1 Lonely Sandbar
• 1 Blasted Landscape
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Yavimaya Coast
• 1 Simic Guildgate
• 1 Simic Growth Chamber
• 3 Forest
• 5 Island

Buy This Deck

Now, that’s not the easiest form for most people to parse information in, so let’s break down what’s going on here.

Opponent, Meet Exponent

Doubling things is great and all, but I’ve never loved Doubling Season half as much as I love Chameleon Colossus. There’s a thrill in seeing something grow exponentially that suggests infinite possibility much more viscerally. If only Vorel could do that . . . 

With a couple of cards like these out, and that Everflowing Chalice that had a single counter might have 1,024 come your next untap step. And yes, Patron of the Orochi can provide blue mana. That’s the reason for the expensive mana base that I would normally eschew in two-colored decks.

Everflowing Chalice: Original and Alteration by Steve Argyle

Of course, not just anything can be doubled eight times with any appreciable effect. Putting 300 counters on a Gemstone Mine’s not too different than putting 30 on it. This plan demands cards that can abuse large numbers of counters, and those fall into a few categories.

Ramp

The first step to doing anything awesome is making sure that you can cast all the spells you need to. A few well-known cards such as Coalition Relic get a boost from Vorel, but something like Kyren Toy can build up for a single huge turn, and City of Shadows can consistently supply a ton of mana without much upkeep. Between Mana Batteries and storage lands, it’s not hard to find something for Vorel to grow, and when you’re good and ready, you can put it to use.

In principle, you could ramp to just about any X spell, but playing ones that use X to set their numbers of counters means you don’t have to wait for a ton of mana to start casting them—you can just pick a small X value and let Vorel double their counters the old-fashioned way.

Research

Having a lot of mana with which to cast giant threats is great, but neither ramp nor threat is terribly exciting when you don’t draw the other. Luckily, Vorel has a few ways to help you on that front as well.

I may be just the slightest bit completely a hundred percent addicted to drawing cards, but that doesn’t mean it’s not the absolute most fun thing you could ever hope to do. Um . . . unbiased opinion . . . right. Drawing a lot of cards gives you the opportunity to have your cards on-hand when they’ll be most impactful, but unlike tutoring, it doesn’t lead games to play out the same way every time—you still come across your cards in an unknown order. Letting Vorel do his work will end up drawing you cards like never before every other deck I’ve ever built: more than fifty!

Just Desserts

In competitive formats, every card in your deck needs to fulfill its role better than anything else could, but we have a few more slots for excitement.

Boost your life total into the stratosphere.

Make the largest army in history.

Make the largest army in history.

But we can only get so far talking about how the deck plays. Let me show you.

Spring Training

The stage was set, the Dragon’s Maze cards proxied, the lights dimmed. (This was to make the proxies look more convincing). Four deck boxes opened, four hands reached inside, and four legendary creatures snapped down onto the table.

The lands began to fall, and Vorel supplemented his with an Everflowing Chalice on the second turn, to which Jor Kadeen replied by summoning a Stoneforge Mystic to find Sunforger. Slivers began to enter the fray—quick hunters. Damia, meanwhile, went about her Rhystic Study in a Sylvan Library.

Jor Kadeen’s troops were the first to throw punches, and the Slivers joined in; all the while, Vorel was building an innocent-looking Fertilid into a giant monster. The Elemental found him a lot of lands, but Sliver Overlord stole the Primary Threat badge with Maelstrom Nexus. Damia would have none of it and promptly Naturalized the enchantment, turning all eyes back to the mana-rich Vorel. Jor Kadeen wasted no time in rallying his troops, or, er, troop, and sending Stoneforge Mystic to do a number on Vorel’s face. Sliver Overlord observed the fighting with a passive interest and then turned its attention to Damia’s full hand before deciding to combine the two approaches:

Damia, too, chose to become involved with a Herald of Leshrac, which Jor immediately replaced with a Duplicant. The board filled with creatures, and Sliver Overlord tutored up a Shifting Sliver to break though. Meanwhile, Vorel continued to build mana reserves until finally he invested it.

There were a lot of chump-blockers to push through, but as Protean Hydra was soon followed by Ivy Elemental and Stag Beetle, that didn’t look to be an insoluble problem. Damia’s next play, however, was.

Or at least it would have been without the premium card-selection offered by Greater Good. You know Occam’s razor: the sharpest answer is most likely to be correct.

The Hydra picked up its new blade (don’t ask me how) and swung at Sliver Overlord, who chumped with a hive member, whereas Jor Kadeen took a hit from the Ivy Elemental headed his way. Damia took her turn and had a Maelstrom Pulse for the Jitte, but Vorel responded by doubling its counters and using it to kill Glissa. Jor Kadeen drew his card and stared at the board for about four seconds.

“Well, that oughta be lethal.”

It certainly was.

Hull Breach

If you enjoy huge numbers, manipulating counters, or just good, old-fashioned ramp-into-card-draw-into-fatties, Vorel will make an excellent commander for you. If none of that’s your cup of tea, well, I’d guess it won’t be too long before you see him sitting on the other side of the table. Come back next week for a deck that’s a little bit more out-of-the-box.