I'm a sucker for a deck-building limitation. I like figuring out if I can build a deck that can hang with fewer resources than are often used. It's why I like Creature-Type-Matters decks and decks which try to do things other than win. I like building with some restriction.

As I explored the lesser-known Phyrexian Legends, I found one I was surprised I'd never heard of before. I guess a seven-mana non-Green Commander scares people away, because this card is currently $0.35 at CoolStuffInc, and $0.49 for a striking borderless variant. And that's with evasion, protection, and a sweet ability all on top of a 6/6! And all this Phyrexian Nightmare asks is we cast Noncreature spells. Done.

See what I mean? This thing is bigger than the Eiffel Tower and spits out tons of tokens, as long as we build it right. Let's build it right.

We've got 40 Lands. That is probably the most commonly uttered sentence in my articles, but it's because it's normally correct. We have a seven-mana Commander and we want that Commander on the 'field, so we need to hit our drops and get to the Commander. After that, we want to cast huge spells costing even more mana, so let's get to it. We have a couple of Lands which do fun things - Emergence Zone can be useful for us, and Castles Vantress and Embereth both have useful abilities. Myriad Landscape actually ramps for us, as does Temple of the False God. Often with a deck like this, I'd lean into tapped-Lands because we don't really have that much to do early, but I discovered with play-testing I really wanted my Lands to come in untapped, so we have a bunch of basics. I had no problems with the colors, and I had another mana almost every turn, which I used.

Additionally, we have a whopping 13 ramp spells, 12 of which are Artifacts (one of them is Brass's Bounty, which is amazing here). Why? Because they trigger Ovika, so they're worth something even if we draw them late. I also leaned into three-mana rocks because we don't need them super early and we'd rather get the extra Tokens later. Decanter of Endless Water and Thought Vessel both join Reliquary Tower as ways to not have to discard, Navigation Orb is our Burnished Hart that isn't a Creature, and Pyromancer's Goggles will probably eat a removal spell, but if we get to use it even once it's off the chain.

Why so many? Because our Commander is seven mana. Also, every spell we cast once our Commander is out improves our board state and gets us that much closer to winning, so we can afford to put that many slots toward mana. Don't cut any. I never had too much mana, every time I tested this deck. I kept hands with six Lands and a ramp spell and never regretted it. Run more mana.

So now we've dealt with the expensive Commander, let's draw some cards. How about a solid ton of them? Early, we can play a Big Score or Meeting of Minds, just to start hitting more Land drops and drawing answers and threats. Later, we can cast a huge Blue Sun's Zenith or Into the Story. Distant Melody and Keep Watch can genuinely deck us if we're not careful. Reconnaissance Mission and Bident of Thassa will often go off because of how many Goblins we'll have attacking. Then there's The Magic Mirror, which gives us no hand size and is The One Ring without the downside, except when we play it we make nine Goblins.

Most likely we'll win with Goblins. Make enough of 'em and we'll have enough damage on the 'field to kill our opponents. However, in case it isn't enough, we have a couple of things we can do. The first is Shared Animosity, which is really funny when you're attacking with like 32 Goblins. Metallurgic Summonings will make a giant Token for each Instant or Sorcery we cast along with all the Goblins we make. Goblin Bombardment gives us a way to fling our Goblins at people and get around pesky blockers. Warstorm Surge is also super fun here. Castle Embereth makes combat math much more complicated.

Of course, we could also win with multiple copies of Red Sun's Zenith, because a copied X spell retains the original value of X. Cast it for X=13 or something and copy it with something, and you might kill someone. Explosive Singularity, too. Our Commander's no slouch; if someone is open in the air, it's possible our 6/6 could get there. But it'll probably be Goblins.

We have plenty of ways to destroy Artifacts, including Red Sun's Twilight which will likely get rid of them all. We also have a number of damage-based ways to get rid of Creatures, and a single Pongify. Then we have a few Counterspells, though unusually we're often going with more expensive ones because they'll make more Goblins. Volcanic Salvo will probably take care of a couple of problems; more, if you cast it using Pyromancer's Goggles.

Ral, Storm Conduit is fun here, giving us more copies, throwing some extra damage around, and Scry is never bad. Goblin Assault is one of my favorite cards of all time, and it's great here; the fact it makes us attack really isn't a big deal, and the extra token it generates each turn is really fun. Also, this deck is kind of tailor made for Epic Experiment, and for each card you cast its mana value will trigger the Commander.

Ovika, Enigma Goliath | Commander | Mark Wischkaemper

• Commander (1)
• 1 Ovika, Enigma Goliath

• Planeswalkers (1)
• 1 Ral, Storm Conduit

• Instants (21)
• 1 Aetherspouts
• 1 Artistic Refusal
• 1 Assert Authority
• 1 Big Score
• 1 Blue Sun's Zenith
• 1 Complete the Circuit
• 1 Dig Through Time
• 1 Expansion // Explosion
• 1 Into the Story
• 1 Keep Watch
• 1 Magma Opus
• 1 Meeting of Minds
• 1 Perplexing Test
• 1 Pongify
• 1 Pull from Tomorrow
• 1 Reality Shift
• 1 Shatter the Source
• 1 Spelljack
• 1 Sublime Epiphany
• 1 Transcendent Message
• 1 Unexpected Windfall

• Sorceries (14)
• 1 Apex of Power
• 1 Blue Sun's Twilight
• 1 Brass's Bounty
• 1 Crackle with Power
• 1 Distant Melody
• 1 Epic Experiment
• 1 Explosive Singularity
• 1 Mnemonic Deluge
• 1 Red Sun's Twilight
• 1 Red Sun's Zenith
• 1 Rousing Refrain
• 1 Treasure Cruise
• 1 Volcanic Salvo
• 1 Volcanic Vision

• Enchantments (8)
• 1 Arcane Bombardment
• 1 Goblin Assault
• 1 Goblin Bombardment
• 1 Metallurgic Summonings
• 1 Reconnaissance Mission
• 1 Shared Animosity
• 1 Swarm Intelligence
• 1 Warstorm Surge

• Artifacts (15)
• 1 Bident of Thassa
• 1 Bonder's Ornament
• 1 Commander's Sphere
• 1 Cursed Mirror
• 1 Decanter of Endless Water
• 1 Magnifying Glass
• 1 Midnight Clock
• 1 Navigation Orb
• 1 Pyromancer's Goggles
• 1 Seer's Lantern
• 1 Skullclamp
• 1 Skyclave Relic
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 The Magic Mirror
• 1 Thought Vessel

• Lands (40)
• 12 Mountain
• 15 Island
• 1 Castle Embereth
• 1 Castle Vantress
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Emergence Zone
• 1 Izzet Guildgate
• 1 Myriad Landscape
• 1 Mystic Sanctuary
• 1 Reliquary Tower
• 1 Rivendell
• 1 Sulfur Falls
• 1 Swiftwater Cliffs
• 1 Temple of Epiphany
• 1 Temple of the False God

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This deck is a blast to pilot. We ramp, we play our big ol' scary Commander, and suddenly all hell breaks loose. We're throwing tons of Tokens on the table, we're making huge splashy plays, we're drawing a million cards - it's an absolute hoot.

There are a few cards I left out because of cost; this isn't a budget deck, but I didn't feel the deck needed the $10 Ashnod's Altar, it would just be good. Same with Brazen Cannonade and Shark Typhoon, both of which would be excellent in the deck. Finally, if I had one I wasn't using, I'd rather have Chandra, Hope's Beacon here than Ral, Storm Conduit. She gives us a free copy each turn, ramps us, and draws us cards, plus is a built-in win-con. That's better than Ral, but also way more costly. Finally, one card I liked but just couldn't find room for is The Mirari Conjecture; I think that would be great fun here.

I have to say, I think I'm going to build this deck in real life. It seems like way too much fun not to have in my stable; I imagine it being fun to play against as much as it's fun to play, and not wildly unfair but hilarious to have at the table. It will need to be dealt with, but it's not comboing off on turn four or anything - more likely you're winning on turn 10 when you Mnemonic Deluge Apex of Power and Explosive Singularity (thanks, Pyromancer's Goggles!).

What is your thought on seven-mana Commanders? Do you play them? How? How much ramp is correct for them? Let me know on socials!

Thanks for reading.