Picking up Magic in the late 90's right at the height of Pokemon fever was an absolute delight as a kid. Every week I'd find myself going to the sports card shop in my bowling alley and ask to see their binders, would salivate over packs sitting behind counters at shops like Waldenbooks and Media Play, and look through endless magazines. Pokemon was a game that allowed me to have some fun with friends and experience something we had a general common interest in. Magic, in turn, was a game that appealed to me on a somewhat more personal level, digging its hooks into me with unique characters, designs, look and feel, and so on.

I'd say I was exposed to the general entirety of the game right out of the gate. After all, in 1999 when I first picked it up, Magic wasn't even a full 6 years old yet and so there was a lot less you needed to know about it. My first games featured cards ranging from Alpha to Tempest and I quickly fell in love with many cards from that range. My first boosters featured iconic cards like Armageddon, Tinker, and Quicksilver Amulet. My first meetings with friends who also enjoyed the game introduced me to the likes of the elder dragons of Legends as well as other cool and powerful cards. For the wide range of sets that I played with in those early years, though, there was one aspect of the game I quickly fell in love with: The Weatherlight Saga.

The Weatherlight Saga was the first great overarching story of Magic taking place from the aptly named Weatherlight set all the way through to Apocalypse several years later. Right after Weatherlight was the series of sets on Rath - Tempest, Stronghold, and Exodus featuring many of the game's most beloved heroes and villains alike. Then we had a number of flashback sets with the Urza block, the Masques block that took place on a variety of planes, before culminating in the Invasion block to cap off the arc.

I came into this story right in the middle of it, getting to know the many characters by those many days flipping through binders and cracking packs. Not only did I get to discover these characters and their stories, but that only continued into the release of the Masques block. There we saw the Weatherlight crew interact with the occupants of Mercadia, the rise of Crovax as Evincar of Rath, and the war between Jamuraa and Keld. All of this would serve as a precursor to the events in the block that followed.

Finally came the Invasion. The Phyrexians made it onto Dominaria and were beginning their assault. Everything came to a head here. Urza showed up with his massive armies and the Coalition made their stand against the Phyrexians. Through the block, beloved heroes and villains perished alike, the plane of Rath was overlain onto Dominaria, and Urza was decapitated by Gerrard in Phyrexia after both bowed before Yawgmoth in awe. Yawgmoth himself would enter Dominaria as a death cloud and kill many among the Coalition. Gerrard would then activate the Legacy Weapon aboard the Weatherlight and kill both Yawgmoth and the Phyrexian forces at once - ending the great war once and for all.

There were many great characters among the ragtag crew of the Weatherlight. Gerrard was the dashing hero, Tahngarth and Mirri provided the muscle, Hanna was the navigator, and Squee was, well, Squee. Some, like Crovax and the obnoxious Ertai, would fall to darkness among the Phyrexians. The rest would rise to glory. Yet all were brought together under the Weatherlight's banner by her captain, the daring Sisay.

I remember the first time I saw a reference to Sisay when I opened the card Sisay's Ring from my first pack of Visions. While Mirage and Visions had a totally unrelated story, the first reference to the upcoming story would appear on this card. Sisay was stolen away in the story of Weatherlight so we see very little of her in the overall Tempest block, but what little I'd see of her, I thought her to be a badass. And then we got to the actual Invasion block and got to see her in all her glory.

What a card! It's incredibly fitting of her character - bringing together the many legends of the story thus far together under one banner. This card's been one that's stuck with me for many years - so much so that I use a playmat featuring it at my computer desk where I'm writing this piece now. Throughout the years, she's made for a potent commander who can find whatever you need at the drop of the hat. With the return to Dominaria in Dominaria United and a new Weatherlight story unfolding, I thought it fitting to go back and revisit the classic ship's original captain in a new Classic Commander build.

Let's check out a list!

Captain Sisay | Commander | Paige Smith

• Commander (1)
• 1 Captain Sisay

• Creatures (33)
• 1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
• 1 Arashi, the Sky Asunder
• 1 Arbor Elf
• 1 Azusa, Lost but Seeking
• 1 Baru, Fist of Krosa
• 1 Birds of Paradise
• 1 Darien, King of Kjeldor
• 1 Dosan the Falling Leaf
• 1 Eight-and-a-Half-Tails
• 1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
• 1 Eternal Witness
• 1 Fyndhorn Elves
• 1 Gaddock Teeg
• 1 Glissa Sunseeker
• 1 Hua Tuo, Honored Physician
• 1 Joraga Treespeaker
• 1 Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
• 1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
• 1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
• 1 Llanowar Elves
• 1 Mageta the Lion
• 1 Mangara of Corondor
• 1 Masako the Humorless
• 1 Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker
• 1 Omnath, Locus of Mana
• 1 Reki, the History of Kamigawa
• 1 Rhys the Redeemed
• 1 Rune-Tail, Kitsune Ascendant
• 1 Saffi Eriksdotter
• 1 Thrun, the Last Troll
• 1 Tolsimir Wolfblood
• 1 Verdeloth the Ancient
• 1 Yosei, the Morning Star

• Planeswalkers (6)
• 1 Ajani Goldmane
• 1 Elspeth Tirel
• 1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
• 1 Garruk Wildspeaker
• 1 Gideon Jura
• 1 Karn Liberated

• Instants (5)
• 1 Chord of Calling
• 1 Eladamri's Call
• 1 Krosan Grip
• 1 Path to Exile
• 1 Swords to Plowshares

• Sorceries (4)
• 1 Cultivate
• 1 Harmonize
• 1 Kodama's Reach
• 1 Time of Need

• Enchantments (2)
• 1 Day of Destiny
• 1 Mirari's Wake

• Artifacts (12)
• 1 Helm of Kaldra
• 1 Konda's Banner
• 1 Lightning Greaves
• 1 Selesnya Signet
• 1 Sensei's Divining Top
• 1 Shield of Kaldra
• 1 Sisay's Ring
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Sword of Kaldra
• 1 Talisman of Unity
• 1 Thousand-Year Elixir
• 1 Umezawa's Jitte

• Lands (37)
• 10 Forest
• 10 Plains
• 1 Brushland
• 1 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
• 1 Flagstones of Trokair
• 1 Hall of the Bandit Lord
• 1 Horizon Canopy
• 1 Kor Haven
• 1 Krosan Verge
• 1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
• 1 Mosswort Bridge
• 1 Razorverge Thicket
• 1 Reflecting Pool
• 1 Selesnya Sanctuary
• 1 Stirring Wildwood
• 1 Sunpetal Grove
• 1 Temple Garden
• 1 Vitu-Ghazi, the City-Tree
• 1 Wooded Bastion

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What makes this deck so interesting is looking back on the legendary creatures of the time. Commander was a much smaller and less realized format back then. Rather than virtually every set having at least a dozen new legends, you'd maybe see like five or six at the absolute most in any given set. Oftentimes it was closer to just one or two, barring sets that would require larger cycles like Ravnica or Shards of Alara. Between that and the color limitations of the original Captain Sisay, the options for legends to choose from is remarkably sparse - making the deck an interesting time capsule of the era's many legends.

For the most part, the legends here are what there is of the good ones. There are some rather remarkable ones for what it's worth and it's often a who's who of classic legends. Rhys the Redeemed, Eight-and-a-Half-Tails, Gaddock Teeg, Reki, the History of Kamigawa, Linvala, Keeper of Secrets, Kamahl, Fist of Krosa - the list goes on. I was actually very surprised when making the list both how few legends I found myself adding to the deck and more looking at other interesting options that I could use to fill the gaps in instead.

One great thing about this Sisay is that she doesn't just search for legendary creatures but rather legendary cards as a whole. This gives you a myriad of options to choose from that you might not think of at first. Planeswalkers may not have been legendary in the era of Classic Commander, but they sure are now, which means you're perfectly capable of grabbing them with Sisay. You can also grab from some legendary artifacts as well. There aren't many, but the three Kaldra weapons make for great options, as do the classics Umezawa's Jitte and Konda's Banner. You can even grab a legendary enchantment in Day of Destiny if you want or perhaps a legendary land.

It's almost more interesting to look at some of the legends that didn't make the cut here. Chorus of the Conclave and Jedit Ojanen of Efrava both felt a little too expensive while conversely, Isamaru, Hound of Konda felt like it did too little despite being a cheap find. I debated adding in Kataki, War's Wage as a foil for artifact decks, but it seemed a little too mean and is something a little more meta dependent. Kongming, "Sleeping Dragon" and Kaysa were almost added in for their anthem effects, but I ended up feeling like I'd rather have other more unique abilities instead. Jolrael, Empress of Beasts; Mindslaver, Reya Dawnbringer, and Nemata, Grove Guardian were also on my short list but didn't make the cut.

Sadly, though, there's not very much beyond those that stood out to me - a testament to just how few great legends there were back in the day! There are a handful of other sweet ones, but they don't have quite the degree of synergy to warrant inclusion here. Eladamri, Lord of Leaves and Ezuri, Renegade Leader both didn't have the degree of elf support to have here, nor did Radiant, Archangel with fliers. There's maybe an argument to be made for Kemba, Kha Regent with so much tutorable equipment, but it's far from a central theme. I really wanted to put the main man Gerrard Capashen himself here, but...he's just so terrible. Most of the other stuff is by and large janky creatures in a time when the game's creatures were bad and had an odd effect or high mana cost to make them feel epic and legendary. For Commander, though, they're just not quite worth running.

So, your options with Sisay here are a bit limited and there's likely less flexibility to do the things you want compared to most Classic Commanders I write about. But like I said before: the deck is like a little time capsule of the legends of the era. And hey, that's basically what Classic Commander is itself: a look into how decks of a bygone time might've looked and played and how you can build them to play against decks today. It is a shame that you can't fit more of the original Weatherlight crew here, but thankfully we'll always have the newer Sisay, Weatherlight Captain if you really want to build a true Weatherlight deck.

What you do have, however, is still a great list worthy of trying out at your next Commander night. When you do, though, make sure to pour one out for the Skyship Weatherlight - now compleated by the Phyrexians and turned against the New Coalition. Raise a glass in her memory, and in the memory of her original heroic Captain Sisay before you summon your own band of heroes to bring your opponents down.

Paige Smith

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