New set, beginning of a new era . . . the first block of the two-block paradigm. Changes in Standard will happen, but what does this mean for Commander?

It means we’ll see more new abilities and keywords, but generally fewer individual cards with them because we won’t have three sets with the same theme. However, we’ll also see more returns, which means we’ll see underexplored themes developed more—look at how Allies and landfall have grown. This is overall good for hundred-card stacks I think; we can try mini-themes and ideas without building a new deck; plus, we’ll see additions to decks we already have.

The other thing, with Wizards’s commitment to story and character, is a regular influx of new commanders!

I love when a single creature is two people . . . err, Elves. But hey, these pointy-eared Mul Dayans are solidly-sized and reasonably priced, and they give us abilities we can leverage if we try. While we’re at it, let’s see if we can work in a few mini-themes; if we build the deck and one of the mini-themes doesn’t work for us, we can change it around. Landfall, Dragons, and indestructibility—oh my!

We’re going to be playing Dragons (and some other big stuff), so we want to ramp. Traditional green ramp puts lands onto the battlefield directly—Burnished Hart and Blighted Woodland will do that. However, we gain some value by bringing the land to hand and playing it normally—so we’re playing Sylvan Ranger and Civic Wayfinder instead of Farhaven Elf and Wood Elves. We get creatures either sooner or bigger, which can matter as chump-blockers, as sacrifice fodder, or as part of an alpha strike. Seek the Horizon works wonders in this deck, as does Armillary Sphere. Sword of the Animist is probably going to be a new staple going forward. Courser of Kruphix extends our hand a bit. Unstable Obelisk is really there for its second ability—destroying anything is a good thing.

One of the nice things about land-fetchers is the card advantage—play a Borderland Ranger, and we gain a creature plus a land, making it a two-for-one—but it’s still not an extra spell in hand when we need it. Seer's Sundial is an obvious choice—we’re going to have plenty of landfall in this deck, so extra mana turns into extra cards. Hunter's Insight and Hunter's Prowess both reward us for attacking. Life's Legacy turns a Terastodon into a new hand, and Momentous Fall is a great response to a board wipe.

Genesis Wave and Genesis Hydra also net us extra cards. With a ton of mana to spend, a big one of either of those is pretty silly.

Since we can reliably beat the other players to big mana, we want early pressure on our opponents. We have a lot of big guys in this deck as well as a few creatures that will be a pain to deal with. Predator Ooze is one that has wanted to be in a Commander deck since its creation. for an indestructible creature we keep making bigger is awesome. It’ll take something special to get rid of it—Black Sun's Zenith, maybe, or Terminus—but most of the time, it’ll just attack every turn and become more and more threatening. Meanwhile, M&D can give it trample, so it’s scary. Undergrowth Champion is similar—cheap and small but with potential to be really huge—and suddenly giving it trample can be a very serious problem, especially when it gains four +1/+1 counters at once. Zendikar Incarnate is a flavorful addition that stomps around for a lot, and Nylea, God of the Hunt can be big and indestructible with a couple of relevant abilities. Colossus of Akros is our Eldrazi fill-in. Paying 18 mana isn’t impossible here, and a 20/20 trampling indestructible creature is a pretty serious problem for most decks. Thunderfoot Baloth is big and tramply and lets all our other stuff also be tramply, which is pretty cool.

We’re making the other players respond to us here, so we’ve limited answers to only things we have to destroy. Nevinyrral's Disk and Perilous Vault serve as resets; yeah, they blow up all of our stuff, but we’ll be ahead on mana, so as long as we have a grip, we’ll recover faster than most. Scour from Existence and Spine of Ish Sah both answer a troubling permanent, like Unstable Obelisk. They’re expensive, yes, but we can afford it, and they kill anything good and dead. Argentum Armor is an underused card in decks that want to attack. We can throw that thing on any old creature to kill something, and we can choose any permanent no matter whom we attack. Bane of Progress makes it difficult for artifact players to recover and doesn’t hurt us much; plus, it leaves behind a massive guy. Polis Crusher is surprisingly valuable, not to mention big. Desert Twister is an old, expensive workhorse for green decks—they don’t make them like that anymore.

That’s why we have ways to give things haste. Fervor and Fires of Yavimaya grant haste to all our creatures and are worth the slots—they’re enchantments, so they’re less likely to be destroyed than creatures, and boy, when a bunch of Elementals come smashing in at someone out of nowhere, that’s pretty awesome. Xenagos, God of Revels helps (plus, it gives a serious power boost), as does Chariot of Victory, and Hammer of Purphoros gives haste and lets us turn extra lands later into extra guys. That’s hilarious with something like Overwhelming Stampede.

Note the interaction between the two landfall creature-generators and Perilous Forays. Most of the time, the Forays are going to be a way to turn late-game Sylvan Rangers into lands, but with the token-makers, we can pull as many lands out of our deck in one turn as we have mana—play a land, make a dude, pay a mana, sac the dude, get a land, make another dude. Rinse and repeat.

Mina and Denn, Wildborn ? Commander | Mark Wischkaemper

• Commander (0)

• Creatures (32)
• 1 Akoum Hellkite
• 1 Avenger of Zendikar
• 1 Baloth Woodcrasher
• 1 Bane of Progress
• 1 Borderland Ranger
• 1 Civic Wayfinder
• 1 Courser of Kruphix
• 1 Gatecreeper Vine
• 1 Genesis Hydra
• 1 Grove Rumbler
• 1 Hellkite Charger
• 1 Hellkite Tyrant
• 1 Oran-Rief Hydra
• 1 Polis Crusher
• 1 Predator Ooze
• 1 Rampaging Baloths
• 1 Stormbreath Dragon
• 1 Sylvan Ranger
• 1 Terastodon
• 1 Territorial Baloth
• 1 Thunderfoot Baloth
• 1 Tunneling Geopede
• 1 Tyrant's Familiar
• 1 Undergrowth Champion
• 1 Zendikar Incarnate
• 1 Burnished Hart
• 1 Colossus of Akros
• 1 Steel Hellkite
• 1 Atarka, World Render
• 1 Nylea, God of the Hunt
• 1 Omnath, Locus of Rage
• 1 Xenagos, God of Revels

• Spells (26)
• 1 Hunter's Insight
• 1 Momentous Fall
• 1 Scour from Existence
• 1 Desert Twister
• 1 Genesis Wave
• 1 Hunter's Prowess
• 1 Life's Legacy
• 1 Nissa's Renewal
• 1 Overwhelming Stampede
• 1 Seek the Horizon
• 1 Fervor
• 1 Fires of Yavimaya
• 1 Khalni Heart Expedition
• 1 Perilous Forays
• 1 Retreat to Valakut
• 1 Adventuring Gear
• 1 Argentum Armor
• 1 Armillary Sphere
• 1 Chariot of Victory
• 1 Nevinyrral's Disk
• 1 Perilous Vault
• 1 Seer's Sundial
• 1 Spine of Ish Sah
• 1 Sword of the Animist
• 1 Unstable Obelisk
• 1 Hammer of Purphoros

• Lands (41)
• 15 Forest
• 9 Mountain
• 1 Blighted Woodland
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Dormant Volcano
• 1 Evolving Wilds
• 1 Ghost Town
• 1 Gruul Guildgate
• 1 Gruul Turf
• 1 Jund Panorama
• 1 Jungle Basin
• 1 Kazandu Refuge
• 1 Mountain Valley
• 1 Naya Panorama
• 1 Rugged Highlands
• 1 Shivan Oasis
• 1 Skarrg, the Rage Pits
• 1 Temple of Abandon
• 1 Terramorphic Expanse

Buy This Deck

There’s some stuff we’re priced out of but that is great if you have or want to spend more scratch on the deck. Azusa, Lost but Seeking is wonderful, as is Oracle of Mul Daya. Urabrask the Hidden would be strong. Dragonlord Atarka, Dragon Broodmother, and Thundermaw Hellkite would be fun. Boundless Realms and Scapeshift will hit crazy landfall triggers. Kessig Wolf Run is simply better than Skarrg, the Rage Pits. Swiftfoot Boots might be good for the commander.

But no matter the Dragons, this deck will be pro- and interactive. We bring a lot of land out, play big dudes, give them haste and trample, and smash in. Keep hands with land in them, and don’t be afraid to hold on to an extra land once we’re at seven on the field—that extra landfall trigger could make all the difference.

What legendary creature from Oath of the Gatewatch are you most excited for? Let me know in the comments!

I’d like to take a quick moment to welcome Evan as the captain of this ship—he has great ideas and is already pointing us into exciting territory. I look forward to working with—and learning from—him!

Oh, and if you’ve been looking for a place for all those full-art Forests and Mountains you’ve been hoarding, you found it!

Total cost: $74.26