In fittingly-spooky fashion, Duskmourn has resurrected a long-forgotten format, fusing it's parts onto Commander to create an amalgamation that'd make any necromancer proud.

Reanimate by Michal Ivan

Archenemy Commander turns a typical free-for-all multiplayer game into an outright story. A potentially epic one too, depending on how your games play out. The tale begins much like any Commander game: Each player brings a normal hundred-card Commander deck of their choice. Their decks are led by a Legendary creature who'll dictate the color, and most often mechanical identity, of their respective deck. While most Commander games pits players against each other, Archenemy appoints one unfortunate (or fortunate, depending on ambitions) soul to the role of big-bad. Along with gaining a hefty dose of megalomaniacal swagger, this player seeks to eliminate the combined forces of the other three players, who've Avengers-assembled themselves into a team. The Archenemy's life total is set to 60, as is the shared life total of the band of heroes, who'll act simultaneously to defend each other. At the end of the day, either the evil emperor is ousted from his tyrannical reign, or the heroes tragically fall to darkness.

Let's lay out an example and dive into more details!

Our example thematically portrays Valgavoth, Terror Eater as the dreaded Archenemy. Facing off against his demonic dominion are the heroic team of Niko, Light of Hope, Tyvar, the Pummeler, and Winter, Misanthropic Guide. Note: Though he's part of the good guys, I'd keep a sharp eye on Winter. Something about that guy just screams ulterior motive. But in any case, it's the classic Joseph Campbell battle of good versus evil, massive tyrannical overlord against a ragtag crew of hopeful misfits. It's the very DNA 95% of RPG's are made of!

As the Archenemy, the Valgavoth, Terror Eater player starts the game at 60 life. They'll also take the first turn, and draw a card at the beginning of that turn. V.I.P treatment here, folks. I suppose it's warranted, as the Archenemy has three other players to vanquish before the night is over. Those are fierce odds, but Valgavoth has an extra insidious trick up his sleeve: The Scheme Deck. These are potentially-devastating effects that the Archenemy gets to deploy each turn to help even the odds. In Commander, a Scheme Deck must contain at least 10 unique Scheme cards, though feel free to add more if you'd like. Each of the Duskmourn Commander decks come with ten, but there are ample options from older sets, too. All the recent Duskmourn Schemes can be found for less than fifty cents, and while some of the older ones have grown in price over the years, most are still affordable.

If you're interested in checking out what Schemes are available, check out this handy list.

At the beginning of the Archenemy's first main phase, the top card of their Scheme deck is revealed and takes effect. These provide essential tools for the Archenemy to ramp (Realms Befitting My Majesty), draw additional cards (I Will Savor Your Agony), remove opposing threats (A Premonition of Your Demise, or even clear the board (You Will Know True Suffering). After a revealed Scheme unleashes its dastardly effect, the Valgavoth player will return the card to the bottom of their Scheme deck. An exception to this is Ongoing Schemes, will stick around until their abandon-condition is met. For example, My Tendrils Run Deep allows you to play an additional land on each of your turns until you hit six lands, at which point they'll draw two cards at their end step and the scheme will return to the bottom of its deck.

Even with life-totals matched, the Archenemy is still in a 3-vs-1 scenario, so some of the Scheme cards offer truly devastating effects to help even the odds (All in Good Time, My Crushing Masterstroke, Mine Is the Only Truth). Note that, despite the 3 hero-players sharing a life total, each is still targeted individually, so a Scheme like Behold the Power of Destruction will target only one player.

After the Scheme takes effect, the Valgavoth player will continue their turn as normal, playing out whatever spells they see fit. Despite the shared life total, each player on the hero-team is an individual entity, so when the Archenemy attacks, they'll do so against a single player. This is important for considering Commander Damage. In most cases, Commander Archenemy boils down to a villain-vs-heroes situation, with either one side winning or the other. The shared 60 life total among the heroes makes it likely that, if they lose, they all do so at once. But there are exceptions. When it comes to Commander damage, if Valgavoth, Terror Eater is able to deal the usual 21 damage to a single player, that player will be eliminated from the team of heroes. And that's in addition to that 21 damage reducing the shared 60 life total, so it's a double whammy. Poison counters work in the same manner, stacking onto a single player despite their team status. If Valgavoth wants to poison its enemies to death, it'll have to dispense ten poison counters to each individual player on the hero side.

Once the Archenemy has finished their turn, the heroes get an opportunity to fight back. The players controlling Niko, Light of Hope, Tyvar, the Pummeler, and Winter, Misanthropic Guide share more than just a 60-point life total. They also share the same turn, which each player going through phases simultaneously. All the heroes' creatures attack the Archenemy at same time. While the Archenemy attacks a single player per combat, creatures controlled by any player on the heroic team can block for a defending player or their Planeswalkers. Gotta look out for each other's back, after all.

Despite the Archenemy starting at 60 life, they'll still fall to 21 Commander damage from a single legendary creature, so make sure to track exactly which heroic general is dealing damage to the Valgavoth player. An Archenemy could have plenty of life left, but will still have to tread carefully if a heroic Commander is creeping up on lethal Commander damage. Voltron-like Legendaries pose a big threat, especially when it's backed up by the combined forces of two other players.

With three players being part of a team, it's important to note what interactions will and won't work. While creatures can block for other players, they're still controlled by their owners. As such, Tyvar, the Pummeler can't tap a teammate's creature to protect itself via its Indestructible ability. If a player were to activate Tyvar's +X/+X ability, only their own creatures would get the boost, not those of their teammates. Similarly, Niko, Light of Hope can't have his Shard tokens copy other teammate's creatures. But fear not, for there are Magic cards that specifically refer to teammates, allowing heroic players to help each other more directly. If the Niko player casts Imperial Mask, the enchantment will create a token copy of itself for each teammate. Surge is also designed to work with teammates, so if the Tyvar, the Pummeler player casts a quick Oxidize on the Archenemy's prized Sol Ring, the Niko player gets access to a cheaper Surge cost on their Crush of Tentacles.

When it comes to Winter, Misanthropic Guide, his hand size-reduction ability notes opponents, which in this case means only the Archenemy player. Your fellow teammates will not have to discard down to whatever hand size Delirium dictates. However, flip the script back to the Archenemy, and all heroes suffer. If the Valgavoth, Terror Eater player casts Soul Shatter, each of the three heroes would have to sacrifice a creature or planeswalker, but if the Winter, Misanthropic Guide player casts Soul Shatter, only the Valgavoth player would have to sacrifice a creature. Any cards that refer to all players will still operate as normal, so if the Niko, Light of Hope player casts Prosperity, everyone's getting cards. Yes, even the bad guy.

From here, turns shift back and forth between villain and heroes, with an untold barrage of Schemes falling onto the battlefield as the game progresses.

But what if everyone wants to be the bad guy?

Meeting of the Five by Dominik Mayer

If everyone at the table is feeling especially villainous, there's a variant of Commander Archenemy that'll appease all dark desires. Supervillain Rumble says to hell with the team of heroes and pits each player against each other for the title of last-villain-standing. Life totals are set back to the Standard 40, and all other Commander rules apply as usual. Only difference is now each player has their own Scheme deck to shake things up. As before, this Scheme deck must contain at least 10 unique cards, though you can certainly add more if you'd like to expand your arsenal. At the beginning of each player's main phase, they'll reveal the top scheme card and set the effect into motion, then player out the rest of their turn as normal. Last supervillain standing takes the dark crown and... I dunno, world-domination?

I hope you've enjoyed learning about this exciting new take on the Commander format. Any Commander night could go from standard free-for-all to Archenemy will absolutely no changes needed to anyone's deck. All you'd need are ten Scheme cards, and your game can take on an entirely new flavor. The good-vs-evil vibe of Commander Archenemy also seems perfect for creating those epic sort of tabletop memories that friends talk about for years to come.

Thanks for reading, and may your dark schemes (or heroic endeavors) win the day,

-Matt-

@Intrepid_Tautog