If you've read any of my content before, you'll know I often prioritize something other than winning when I build a deck. I instead regularly choose something else I'm trying to do, and set out to build a deck which achieves that thing. My first example of this was probably my Meren of Clan Nel Toth deck (that may be wrong, but it's the oldest example I can think of right now). I don't play that deck very often because my friends don't like to play against it, but despite the fact I wrote it as a grindy control deck, really I wanted to create a board state where none of the other players could have a Creature on the Battlefield. If I could achieve that, I felt like I'd won, even if the game wasn't actually over. I'd even concede after creating that board state and let the rest of the players play out the rest of the game, because in my head, I'd already won.

Playing this way has a number of effects. First, it makes it so oftentimes no one is actively trying to stop you from what you want to do. I mean, people will probably try to kill you, but they were going to do that anyway, and it's possible they may focus on you later if you're not doing anything particularly threatening. It also adds a bit of spice to the game, similar to the Monarch - because you have this alternate goal and series of steps to go through to do it, there's a mini-game happening right within the game. If your mini-game effects the rest of the game, people will both care and be forced into your mini-game, which means they're now doing something else alongside however they're trying to win. Something like this can go a long way to breaking a stagnant meta.

So, while this deck started as a way to actually attempt to win, it quickly morphed into a mini-game unto itself: complete a Dungeon.

This idea here was simple: Safana has Menace, making her harder to block. With Flaming Fist, we can sneak her through and do double damage. Buff her up and she could start killing people. In fact, if you do actually win a full game with this deck, it'll likely be with that pairing.

However, the idea of just rolling around in Treasure Scrooge McDuck style became fun, so instead of making Safana huge, I thought it'd be more fun to just take and hold the Initiative, or, at the very least, complete a Dungeon.

Safana, Flaming Fist | Commander | Mark Wischkaemper

• Commander (1)
• 1 Safana, Calimport Cutthroat

• Background (1)
• 1 Flaming Fist

• Creatures (28)
• 1 Acererak the Archlich
• 1 Barrowin of Clan Undurr
• 1 Black Market Connections
• 1 Call of the Ring
• 1 Clattering Skeletons
• 1 Cloister Gargoyle
• 1 Fell Stinger
• 1 Goliath Paladin
• 1 Greed
• 1 Nadaar, Selfless Paladin
• 1 Passageway Seer
• 1 Phyrexian Arena
• 1 Planar Ally
• 1 Precipitous Drop
• 1 Radiant Solar
• 1 Ranger's Hawk
• 1 Ravenloft Adventurer
• 1 Seasoned Dungeoneer
• 1 Thorough Investigation
• 1 Triumphant Adventurer
• 1 Undercellar Sweep
• 1 Underdark Explorer
• 1 Veteran Dungeoneer
• 1 Vicious Battlerager
• 1 Vulturous Aven
• 1 White Plume Adventurer
• 1 Yuan-Ti Fang-Blade
• 1 Zombie Ogre

• Instants (5)
• 1 Altar's Reap
• 1 Blood Pact
• 1 Corrupted Conviction
• 1 Costly Plunder
• 1 Deadly Dispute

• Sorceries (6)
• 1 Fates' Reversal
• 1 Foreboding Fruit
• 1 From the Catacombs
• 1 Night's Whisper
• 1 Painful Lesson
• 1 Sign in Blood

• Artifacts (18)
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Bonder's Ornament
• 1 Commander's Sphere
• 1 Delver's Torch
• 1 Dungeon Map
• 1 Dungeoneer's Pack
• 1 Fifty Feet of Rope
• 1 Immovable Rod
• 1 Infiltration Lens
• 1 Lantern of Revealing
• 1 Orzhov Cluestone
• 1 Orzhov Keyrune
• 1 Orzhov Locket
• 1 Orzhov Signet
• 1 Rogue's Gloves
• 1 Sarevok's Tome
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Trailblazer's Torch

• Lands (40)
• 11 Swamp
• 7 Plains
• 1 Access Tunnel
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Concealed Courtyard
• 1 Drannith Ruins
• 1 Dungeon Descent
• 1 Evolving Wilds
• 1 Fetid Heath
• 1 Forsaken Sanctuary
• 1 Isolated Chapel
• 1 Orzhov Guildgate
• 1 Roadside Reliquary
• 1 Rogue's Passage
• 1 Scoured Barrens
• 1 Shadowy Backstreet
• 1 Shattered Sanctum
• 1 Shineshadow Snarl
• 1 Silverquill Campus
• 1 Sunlit Marsh
• 1 Temple of Silence
• 1 Terramorphic Expanse
• 1 Vault of Champions
• 1 Westvale Abbey

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This should be fun! We have a lot of ways to push ourselves through Dungeons, and specifically to take the Initiative, so we should be able to build up a decent amount of Treasure.

As per usual, we have our 40 Lands. I love that we have Dungeon Descent, which can use excess mana to help move us through a Dungeon. Access Tunnel and Rogue's Passage will both help us get Safana through should we end up deciding to attack. And Westvale Abbey is a weird additional thing we can do if we want, possibly ending up giving us a giant Demon.

We also have a decent amount of ramp in the form of Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, and friends. In play-testing, I found I always wanted more mana to be able to do more things - often the Creatures which Venture or Take the Initiative cost a bit more, and we want to be able to do something pretty much every turn, so the mana was never a bad thing. As per usual, when available we've got rocks which allow us to draw cards later in the game, when we might not need the mana anymore but the extra action makes a big difference.

We absolutely need to be drawing a ton of cards. In any game with a player who's putting pressure on the table, we're going to be on the slow side as we attempt to make our way through a Dungeon or two, so we need resources for options, mostly for sequencing our plays. Cards like Vulturous Aven and Fell Stinger are great here, as is the Sorcery Sign in Blood and the Instant Altar's Reap (we often don't need to keep our Creatures once they've Ventured for us). Black Market Connections and Phyrexian Arena both keep cards flowing as well. We should do a decent job of moving cards from our Library to our Hand, and because we have plenty of mana we'll often be able to do something else as well.

We're not really going to threaten the table. I mean, I suppose Safana can become a problem if we get enough chances to attack with her, and if we're not overly worried about a deadly crackback we should probably take advantage of her Double-Striking nature (thanks to Flaming Fist) and natural evasion (thanks to Menace). We can even force some awkward blocks if someone has two things but both will die to our attack, or they have to just eat the six Commander damage. It also might be worth to send her in for Thorough Investigation, so we can make Clues and continue through whatever Dungeon we're in.

Nope, rather than try to win or mess with our opponents, we're going to strap on our Dungeoneer's Pack, grab our Delver's Torch and Fifty Feet of Rope, and head on in to a Dungeon. Ideally, we take the Initiative first so we can go into the Undercity (that allows us to get rolling on Treasure production earliest), but it's almost always worth it to simply dive right in with whatever we've got. If Cloister Gargoyle is playable now and Goliath Paladin isn't, go ahead and play the Gargoyle to get rolling, and let the Paladin move you along through whatever Dungeon you chose. You'll be able to take the Initiative at some point, but the goal is to make it through a Dungeon - any Dungeon - so Safana can sit on her pile of money. Once that has happened, you've successfully accomplished your goal, and you can turn your attention to the rest of the game and deciding what you want to do with your riches. Attempt to win? More Dungeons? Something else? Your choice.

Whatever you do once you've been through a Dungeon, it should be fun watching how the table responds. Are they worried? Do they ignore you? What do they do when you're single-mindedly plowing through the Dungeon of the Mad Mage or the Tomb of Annihilation (we do have Acererak the Archlich!)? It's a great social experiment for your group and a nifty way to mix up the playstyle.

So, pack your rucksack, strap on your gear, and get ready to do some adventuring!

Thanks for reading.