The story of this commander deck goes all the way back to 2004. Long before Commander was even a thought, I used to play casual Magic at my primary school. Darksteel had just been released, and I'd contructed a white/green tokens deck based heavily on the Darksteel Theme deck, Swarm & Slam. It wasn't powerful by any means, but it is where my love for tokens began.
Fast forward to 2011, I'd just started studying at university, and hadn't played Magic in over 5 years. I began playing kitchen table magic again with a superbly awful Sunburst deck. It was around this period that the friends I played with were being drawn into Commander. I borrowed a deck, and jumped into a game.
I hated it. "What a stupid, random, top-heavy format."
My commander, Mayael the Anima, just couldn't catch a break. Combine that with the rest of the deck being expensive fatties, and it didn't lend itself to a fun experience. I decided against Commander and settled into to playing Standard at FNMs, but I missed the social interaction that kitchentable magic offered, and so begrudingly decided to buy into commander in the hope it would scratch my itch for fun.
A good friend of mine who used to play Grimgrin, Corpse-Born suggested I play Rhys the Redeemed, who at the time was the only real G/W tokens Commander. I built the deck, and would play games of 1v1 against this friend using LackeyCCG (easily the worst free MtG simulator out there), and decided to take the plunge into building my first Commander deck.
Within a month, I was feeling disheartened. Rhys could go from 0-100 really quickly, but lacked ways to immediately win, and was always at the mercy of one of the other three players having a board wipe in waiting. I considered adding black for sacrifice, reach, and recursion, with Ghave, Guru of Spores, and giving up on tokens being remotely viable.
Then I found Donald's Primer on this very forum, and it changed the way I thought about Rhys completely.
Fast forward to the present, and Rhys has been a staple in my Commander arsenal since I've been playing Commander. The deck is adaptable, is always recieving new cards with new sets, and is just downright fun to play.
Like Donald's list before mine, while this is a token deck, you'll notice that it actually contains very little cards that make tokens, and all the cards that make tokens are stapled onto permanents, rather than sorceries and instants. A big part of what makes all-in token decks so fragile is that it only takes one board wipe to get through your defenses and you're back to square one. By keeping our tokens on permanents, we can survive boardwipes as unlike non-permanents, green and white have no trouble getting creatures and enchantments back from the graveyard.
The lesser density of tokens mean we have a lot more slots to devote to other effects we want in the deck, such as tutors, card draw, ramp, and just generally good cards that don't necessarily synergize with tokens. This gives us a very powerful core of toolbox creatures to counter any enemy threat until we can assemble a combo or winning board state.
As far as Commanders go, Rhys has a lot of unique benefits compared to other Commanders in his colours, so let's dive into what makes him a great fit for this kind of deck.
The Pros
Our deck is in GW, which gives us access to great removal for just about any permanent, and also has some of the best hate for certain kinds of decks, such as Scavenging Ooze and Grand Abolisher. Not only this, but G gives us the best creature tutors to go and find these cards as well.
At a single (G/W), we can reliably cast Rhys the Redeemed multiple times over the course of the game, meaning that we don't have to worry about sinking way too much mana into him late in the game if we really need his abilities.
His first ability is great in the early game, and his second ability is absolutely bonkers in the late game. This is relevant for the sole fact that it keep Rhys himself relevant at all stages of the game.
He creates tokens without diminishing cards in your hand. Since card advantage in GW is clumpy and inconsistent, any advantage we can get on cards between draws is advantage we'll take.
In GW, with the amount of creature tutoring and permanent recursion, we're always inclined to play out utility effects on creatures. This, unfortunately, makes us weak to effects like Humility and Torpor Orb.
Building an army of tokens takes a long time and takes a huge amount of mana. Stax effects like Winter Orb will slow us down and impede our strategy considerably.
We're not quick, and as far as high-power decks go, we tend to play a very fair game though the early to mid game. Token decks have a long wind up before we can even start to consider winning, and dedicated combo decks can prey on this to win before we can do anything.
If you like toolbox answers, and would prefer your commander go all out with disruption and tax, then Gaddock is your man. The main reason you'll want to play Gaddock is that he's a hatebear stops your opponents casting their huge X spells or Expropriate, that you have readily available in your command zone. Pack the deck with tutors, and you'll have any answer to any situation.
In GW, it's surprisingly difficult to find a dedicated enchantress commander, without adding in another colour. If you want to focus on enchantments, or even just good stuff, Karametra has you covered. Due to the very general abilites she has, she has a multiude of build paths, making her considerably more flexible than Rhys, but still requiring a solid core of creatures to get the most out of her.
If you're playing GW tokens in commander, you'll either be playing Rhys or Trostani, but that's where the similarities end. Thanks to populate, Trostani prefers going tall with tokens, rather than Rhys, who prefers to go wide. In addition, the bonus lifegain synergises well with cards that care about it, giving the deck a whole subtheme that Rhys lacks.
A token deck completely lacking in G OR W is blasphemy to me, since you lose out on a lot of obviously powerful cards. In saying that however, Brudilad brings a very unique way to play tokens to the table, typically relying on creating token copies of other creatures to get the most value out of him. Since he is in UR, you'll have no trouble supporting an artifact subtheme either.
Taking a page out of Trostani's playbook, Ghired is a token commander that prefers going tall with large tokens, but trades the lifegain that Trostani provides with a requirement for getting into the red zone and an extra colour. By adding R to the mix, we may not get a whole lot more token makers, but we do get plenty of ways to use and abuse the tokens.
As far as token commanders go, Slimefoot may be the closest analogue to Rhys, sans the colours or mana cost. The inclusion of G means that unlike Brudiclad, we still get some very good token supporting cards and furthers the Saproling synergy. B on the other hand gives us amazing removal, and plenty of ways to feed Slimefoots second ability. If you like to sacrifice tokens for value, Slimefoot makes a very good option.
The following decklist is the culmination of over six years of deckbuilding, but it is hardly the finished product. As new sets are released, they bring new cards, and even breathe new life into old cards. Whenever this deck gets updated, it will be updated here and any modifications will be shown in the Changelog.
Rhys the Redeemed, like most commanders, can be played in more ways than just the one I've presented above. If you wanted to put your own spin on the decklist above, check out the following ideas below!
All-in Tokens
As you should know by now, having read the Introduction and seen the Current Decklist, tokens take a backseat in this deck in favour of utility cards. While this isn't the most intuitive way to play a commander like Rhys, all-in tokens certainly is. In GW, there are plenty of cards that create tokens that have been left out of my decklist, and if you really want to flood a table near you with bits of cardboard and dice, there's plenty of tools to do so!
As discussed prior in the Why Rhys section, you'll find his type line contains "Elf", as do the tokens he creates as well, making him a prime contender to lead an Elf Tribal/Elfball deck, as we'll discuss here. Since we're in G, we have access to all of the Elf Tribal staples, but W gives us a few utility effects, like Annointed Procession to double any elf tokens we make, or Selfless Spirit/Teferi's Protection to protect them. The lack of Elves in W will tend to skew the deck towards G though, so keep this in mind when building the deck.
Here, I'll be breaking down card choices for this deck, and why they're included. Cards in BOLD are the ones currently in the decklist, whereas unbolded cards are not, but are worth discussing regardless.
Lands
Gaea's Cradle - Generates a lot of mana, and very useful for when we get to playing our win conditions.
Academy Rector - Finds whatever enchantment we need without caring for mana, and acts as a rattlesnake while she's on the board.
Avenger of Zendikar - The best one-shot token generator which turn an empty board into a lethal force.
Bane of Progress - Cleans the board of all artifacts and enchantments, and gets a good beater in return.
Biogenic Ooze - A token generator that makes sizable tokens, and continues to pump them as long as it remains on the field.
Craterhoof Behemoth - With a decent amount of tokens or creatures, this card splendidly wins the game.
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite - Puts your opponent's creatures in a 4-point power and toughness deficit, making combat difficult, if not outright killing opposing creatures.
Elvish Archdruid - Quick mana in the early game, and synergises well with the elf tokens Rhys creates.
Eternal Witness - Flexible catch-all recursion for anything we need.
Fauna Shaman - Find any creature at any time and gives us good recusrion targets in the graveyard.
Grand Abolisher - Switches off instant speed interaction of any kind and, most importantly; countermagic.
Karmic Guide - The best effect to get any creature out of the graveyard, which can be recurred itself.
Knight of Autumn - A flexible piece of artifact and enchantment removal which can also gain a bit of life if required.
Knight of the Reliquary - Tutors up any land you need, and becomes a large beater in a pinch.
Mentor of the Meek - Given all our tokens and most of our creatures are 2 power or less, this card will draw you a lot of cards.
So having gone though the deck and it's intricacies, the next question to answer is; how do you pilot this Selesnya salad? As I've played this deck, I've found that Rhys acts better as a cog in the machinery of the deck, rather than being the motor that drives the whole deck. With this philosophy in mind, let me show you how this deck will play out and develop over the course of a game.
Turn 0 - The Opening Hand
In most Commander games, your first real decision begins with deciding what kind of cards you'll be prioritising in your opening hand. In any typical game of Standard, Modern, or Legacy you'll have no idea what to expect in Game 1. In Commander however, you'll be getting a very good idea of what to expect when you look across the table, and an even better idea if you're playing in a regular group. Use this information to ensure you start with the right opening hand for the job.
A good opening hand should consist of the following:
Note: While this deck has an average converted mana cost of around 3, you can still be expected to start with an expensive card in your opening hand. While you may be inclined to keep it if it's something like Craterhoof Behemoth, such a card can be tutored later on in the game and save you the dead card in your opening hand.
As seen above, we have a pretty standard opening hand requirement, which should look familiar if you've ever played commander before. The important part is the last requirement; 1-3 other low mana cost cards. These are the slots which we should be using to prepare for what our opponents are packing, and what kind of game you should expect. While there's no strict rules on what cards you should be looking for in your opening hand to stay ahead of your opponents, I'll provide a few examples below.
What you should look for in your opening hand
Playing the Fast Game
Unfortunately in this deck, holding back isn't an option at a fast table, as in the early game we're at our weakest, and we can't defend ourselves particuarly well. If you think the table is going to be at each others throats quickly and disregard interaction, you'll want to do the same. Prioritise quick mana to overwhelm your opponents before they can do the same. Luminarch Ascension gets a special mention here, since if it's resolved early, it can take over a game easily.
If you think the table is going in a slow direction, this deck will feel right at home, as this is where Rhys shines. In your opening hand, prioritise consistent card draw and good mana to fuel your game plan. Just make absolutely certain you don't overextend. If you've done this and are faced with a Wrath, you'll have a very hard time getting back into the game.
In this deck, the early game is incredibly vital. As we're aiming for the mid-to-late game, what we do in the first few turns will decide what happens during the turns following. We want to begin to put our moving parts in place to get us there, but we must be very careful not to pass our turn without doing anything, or over-extend. The latter is absolutely vital, as we'll have a lot of trouble building back up, especially so early in the game. As such, there's somewhat strict guidlines for how the early game should be played, which I'll discuss in detail below.
The first turn play in this deck should always be an untapped land and Rhys the Redeemed, or a tapped land followed by Rhys if need be. If your hand is too low or too high on lands, playing something like Land Tax or Sensei's Divining Top on turn one and waiting until turn two to cast Rhys is fine. Turn three should be land, followed by a token at the end step before your next turn. At this stage you may be tempted to get a draw engine out or one of our many powerful 3-drops, such as Mentor of the Meek or Elvish Archdruid. This should be avoided if at all possible, as you may just be walking right into Wrath of God, putting us back to square one, so you should save these cards for the start of the mid-game. Rely on Rhys to build your board state instead, and should things go awry, you'll have a grip full of cards, ready to build yourself back up again.
With the way we intend to curve out on turns 1-3, naturally we have a gap in the two drop slot. Use this to ramp early with something like Sol Ring, or Three Visits. If you have the stones, you could also cast Luminarch Ascension. While usually having a consistent curve doesn't matter much in Commander, keep this gap in mind when constructing the deck. Nature's Lore on turn two will look much better than Kodama's Reach on turn three when we should be making a token.
Turns 4-7 - The Mid Game
This is what we've been building up to in the early game. There are a ridiculous amount of paths to take at this stage of the game in this deck, so there's no real guidelines like before. However, I will go through the kinds of effects you'll want to be playing at this stage of the game. Having said that though, there are a few rules to keep in mind when playing out the midgame.
Don't play any card you won't be able to take advantage of immediately. Cards like Anointed Procession are high impact, and our opponents know it. Playing it will be for nothing if it's removed before we can do anything with it. In this particular case, make sure you have a way to make a token immediately following. The same logic applies to other powerful cards you'll want to play at this stage of the game, like Skullclamp and Survival of the Fittest.
We're a proactive deck, not a reactive one. We have very limited instant speed interactions, and if you intend on going card-for-card against an opponent, you'll be out of luck; our deck isn't equipped for such a gameplan. Instead, we are a toolbox deck, so if you find yourself under pressure from an opponent, use your tutors wisely to find an answer, but do not sacrifice your advance while doing so.
Rely on Rhys for tokens as long as you can. As discussed before, Rhys is a cog in the deck, not the motor driving it. As long as he lives after the first cast, continue having him pump put tokens turn after turn. If this means you have to skip playing a card during your turn to have enough leftover mana to play a token, then it's a sacrifice you'll have to make. It also means you're improving your board state without expending cards in your hand too.
What cards you should be prioritising in the mid-game
Mana
One of the first things you'll want to do is cast a card to get you well over the mana curve to set up your big plays. As far-fetched as it sounds, towards the end of the mid-game, you'll want around the 10-12 available mana mark so you can play out your game-winning cards.
Just like mana before, card draw is exceptionally important for making sure we have enough cards to continue to develop our board state, and to see we have enough resources to carry us to the late game. Just like our explosive mana, get these cards out as early as possible.
If during the mid-game you're facing stiff opposition from an interactive deck at the table, you'll want to get hold of something to protect your board. As keeping our board state healthy is vital for reaching the late-game, this is what you'll want to be using some of your creature and enchanment tutors on.
It wouldn't be a Rhys deck if we didn't want to make some tokens. By the mid-game, Rhys has usually returned back to your command zone, and he's usually too slow at this stage of the game. Since tokens are important for some of our win conditions, you'll want to make as many as you can. If you need to, you may even have to cast Rhys again if you're really stuck.
Fortunately for you, the reader, this will be the most straight forward part of this primer. If you've played your cards right through the early- and mid-game, the late game is where all the hard work pays off and you'll be able to steal the game. Of course, you can simply combo off and win, regardless of board state, but that will be discussed later on in the Combo Explanations in the next section. For now, the following cards are the ones that will help you seal up the game.
On a board full of tokens, Craterhoof Behemoth and Mirror Entity perform similar roles. They'll pump your tokens up to enormous proportions, so you can swing them sideways and win the game.
Finale of Devastation, when resolved for X = 10, is a Mirror Entity all on it's own. If Avenger of Zendikar is still in your deck, it makes the perfect target as you may not even need a token army to start with.
Concordant Crossroads is an odd duck, but if you manage a huge one-turn tutor chain into a winning boardstate, this enchantment will ensure you can attack on the turn your creatures come down, and saves you risking a wrath while the turn makes it's way around the table.
Like most high-powered commander decks, we have a few combos to wrap up games should we need it. While none of them will win the game immediately, they will put you in a winning position with the right support.
This combo allows you to infinitely recur and sacrifice any creature with power two or less an infinite number of times. This can be Knight of Autumn for infinite life, or Biogenic Ooze for infinite tokens. You can also add in Earthcraft for infinite mana, and with this, draw infinite cards with Skullclamp.
How it works
Start with Martyr's Cause on the battlefield, Reveillark in hand, and the utility creature of your choice in the graveyard.
Mirror Entity can be used in place of Martyr's Cause. To do this, activate it's ability where X = 0 as many times and you'd like to loop before actually looping, then perform steps 3 and 4 between resolutions. This will however kill every creature you control, and won't work if you have an anthem effect active, such as Mirari's Wake.
This combo allows you to create an infinite amount of tapped tokens from any one of the permanents in the deck with an activated ability that creates tokens.
Where do I even start? Plenty of people have directly or indirectly assisted with this primer of mine, so let's go ahead and list them in no particular order.
Firstly, huge thanks to Donald, as without his original primer, Token Justice, I wouldn't have built this deck, let alone wrote a primer for it!
Secondly, my playgroups. I've played with a lot of groups over the years, and they've helped teach me everything I know about Commander. I do apologise for constantly asking for feedback though and suggestions, however!
And lastly, thank YOU for taking the time to read this primer! Rhys has always been my favourite commander, so thatks for reading something I'm very passionate about!
Any changes to the deck or the primer will be detailed below. The details of these changes will always be posted in this thread too, so if you're following it, you'll know when a major update happens!
This change was made for a few reasons. With Idol in, it gives us another source of cards, and sits at the perfect mana cost to go between Rhys the Redeemed and a token. It also brings the average converted mana cost of the deck down by a fraction as well. Elspeth will be missed, but she was a vital toolbox card that can't be tutored, and just didn't show up when I needed her.
Primer Updates
Rewrote over 80% of the primer's content.
Reformatted the primer to align with the requirements for primer status.
1
Fast forward to 2011, I'd just started studying at university, and hadn't played Magic in over 5 years. I began playing kitchen table magic again with a superbly awful Sunburst deck. It was around this period that the friends I played with were being drawn into Commander. I borrowed a deck, and jumped into a game.
I hated it. "What a stupid, random, top-heavy format."
My commander, Mayael the Anima, just couldn't catch a break. Combine that with the rest of the deck being expensive fatties, and it didn't lend itself to a fun experience. I decided against Commander and settled into to playing Standard at FNMs, but I missed the social interaction that kitchentable magic offered, and so begrudingly decided to buy into commander in the hope it would scratch my itch for fun.
Within a month, I was feeling disheartened. Rhys could go from 0-100 really quickly, but lacked ways to immediately win, and was always at the mercy of one of the other three players having a board wipe in waiting. I considered adding black for sacrifice, reach, and recursion, with Ghave, Guru of Spores, and giving up on tokens being remotely viable.
Then I found Donald's Primer on this very forum, and it changed the way I thought about Rhys completely.
Fast forward to the present, and Rhys has been a staple in my Commander arsenal since I've been playing Commander. The deck is adaptable, is always recieving new cards with new sets, and is just downright fun to play.
The lesser density of tokens mean we have a lot more slots to devote to other effects we want in the deck, such as tutors, card draw, ramp, and just generally good cards that don't necessarily synergize with tokens. This gives us a very powerful core of toolbox creatures to counter any enemy threat until we can assemble a combo or winning board state.
The Pros
- Rhys the Redeemed is only a 1/1 and only makes 1/1s, making him and his crew incredibly squishy, and prone to cards like Engineered Plague and Thrashing Wumpus.
- In GW, with the amount of creature tutoring and permanent recursion, we're always inclined to play out utility effects on creatures. This, unfortunately, makes us weak to effects like Humility and Torpor Orb.
- Building an army of tokens takes a long time and takes a huge amount of mana. Stax effects like Winter Orb will slow us down and impede our strategy considerably.
- We're not quick, and as far as high-power decks go, we tend to play a very fair game though the early to mid game. Token decks have a long wind up before we can even start to consider winning, and dedicated combo decks can prey on this to win before we can do anything.
Alternative CommandersIn GW
If you like toolbox answers, and would prefer your commander go all out with disruption and tax, then Gaddock is your man. The main reason you'll want to play Gaddock is that he's a hatebear stops your opponents casting their huge X spells or Expropriate, that you have readily available in your command zone. Pack the deck with tutors, and you'll have any answer to any situation.
In GW, it's surprisingly difficult to find a dedicated enchantress commander, without adding in another colour. If you want to focus on enchantments, or even just good stuff, Karametra has you covered. Due to the very general abilites she has, she has a multiude of build paths, making her considerably more flexible than Rhys, but still requiring a solid core of creatures to get the most out of her.
If you're playing GW tokens in commander, you'll either be playing Rhys or Trostani, but that's where the similarities end. Thanks to populate, Trostani prefers going tall with tokens, rather than Rhys, who prefers to go wide. In addition, the bonus lifegain synergises well with cards that care about it, giving the deck a whole subtheme that Rhys lacks.
A token deck completely lacking in G OR W is blasphemy to me, since you lose out on a lot of obviously powerful cards. In saying that however, Brudilad brings a very unique way to play tokens to the table, typically relying on creating token copies of other creatures to get the most value out of him. Since he is in UR, you'll have no trouble supporting an artifact subtheme either.
Taking a page out of Trostani's playbook, Ghired is a token commander that prefers going tall with large tokens, but trades the lifegain that Trostani provides with a requirement for getting into the red zone and an extra colour. By adding R to the mix, we may not get a whole lot more token makers, but we do get plenty of ways to use and abuse the tokens.
As far as token commanders go, Slimefoot may be the closest analogue to Rhys, sans the colours or mana cost. The inclusion of G means that unlike Brudiclad, we still get some very good token supporting cards and furthers the Saproling synergy. B on the other hand gives us amazing removal, and plenty of ways to feed Slimefoots second ability. If you like to sacrifice tokens for value, Slimefoot makes a very good option.
1 Rhys the Redeemed
Creature
1 Academy Rector
1 Twilight Drover
1 Mirror Entity
1 Priest of Titania
1 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Selfless Spirit
1 Knight of the Reliquary
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Grand Abolisher
1 Bane of Progress
1 Karmic Guide
1 Elvish Archdruid
1 Seedborn Muse
1 Mentor of the Meek
1 Knight of Autumn
1 Eternal Witness
1 Fauna Shaman
1 Biogenic Ooze
1 Tireless Tracker
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Reveillark
1 Craterhoof Behemoth
1 Avenger of Zendikar
1 Regal Force
1 Sun Titan
Enchantment
1 Earthcraft
1 Martyr's Cause
1 Sterling Grove
1 Privileged Position
1 Aura Shards
1 Parallel Lives
1 Sacred Mesa
1 Karmic Justice
1 Cryptolith Rite
1 Anointed Procession
1 Parallax Wave
1 Survival of the Fittest
1 Mirari's Wake
1 Sylvan Library
1 Concordant Crossroads
1 Luminarch Ascension
1 Doubling Season
1 Land Tax
1 Smothering Tithe
1 Gaea's Cradle
1 Canopy Vista
1 Flooded Strand
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Windswept Heath
1 Kor Haven
1 Marsh Flats
1 Arid Mesa
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Yavimaya Hollow
1 Command Tower
1 High Market
1 Mosswort Bridge
1 Kjeldoran Outpost
1 Savannah
1 Strip Mine
1 Windbrisk Heights
1 Krosan Verge
1 Bountiful Promenade
1 Temple Garden
1 Stirring Wildwood
1 flagstones of Trokair
3 Plains
4 Forest
1 Prismatic Vista
1 Hall of Heliod's Generosity
1 Dryad Arbor
Artifact
1 Mox Diamond
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Skullclamp
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Idol of Oblivion
1 Tithe
1 Worldly Tutor
1 Chord of Calling
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Crop Rotation
1 Eladamri's Call
Sorcery
1 Idyllic Tutor
1 Tooth and Nail
1 Natural Order
1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Three Visits
1 Nature's Lore
1 Finale of Devastation
All-in Tokens
Elf Tribal
Lands
Hall of Heliod's Generosity - Recurs our best enchantments, as they're central to our game plan.
High Market - Saves a creature from being exiled, which is handy to have in a toolbox deck.
Kjeldoran Outpost - The best token generator on a land, and comparable to Rhys in cost.
Kor Haven - Very handy against quick voltron decks, and unlike Maze of Ith, taps for mana.
Mosswort Bridge - Very easy way to cheat on mana costs for some of the more expensive cards in the deck.
Stirring Wildwood - Provides us with a way to deal with small fliers, even if it is a land that enters tapped.
Strip Mine - Useful for removing opposing utility lands, such as Academy Ruins or Cabal Coffers.
Windbrisk Heights - Another way to cheat on mana costs, with an easy to meet requirement.
Yavimaya Hollow - Provides protection to a key creature.
Creatures
Avenger of Zendikar - The best one-shot token generator which turn an empty board into a lethal force.
Bane of Progress - Cleans the board of all artifacts and enchantments, and gets a good beater in return.
Biogenic Ooze - A token generator that makes sizable tokens, and continues to pump them as long as it remains on the field.
Craterhoof Behemoth - With a decent amount of tokens or creatures, this card splendidly wins the game.
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite - Puts your opponent's creatures in a 4-point power and toughness deficit, making combat difficult, if not outright killing opposing creatures.
Elvish Archdruid - Quick mana in the early game, and synergises well with the elf tokens Rhys creates.
Eternal Witness - Flexible catch-all recursion for anything we need.
Fauna Shaman - Find any creature at any time and gives us good recusrion targets in the graveyard.
Grand Abolisher - Switches off instant speed interaction of any kind and, most importantly; countermagic.
Karmic Guide - The best effect to get any creature out of the graveyard, which can be recurred itself.
Knight of Autumn - A flexible piece of artifact and enchantment removal which can also gain a bit of life if required.
Knight of the Reliquary - Tutors up any land you need, and becomes a large beater in a pinch.
Mentor of the Meek - Given all our tokens and most of our creatures are 2 power or less, this card will draw you a lot of cards.
Mirror Entity - Another win condition in the vein of Craterhoof Behemoth, but also synergises well with Biogenic Ooze and Priest of Titania.
Priest of Titania - Elvish Archdruid, but without the anthem and at one mana less.
Qasali Pridemage - More single target artifact enchantment removal, that buffs attackers and can be popped at instant speed.
Regal Force - Big bad draw card that on the right board can easily fill your hand. Don't deck yourself.
Reveillark - Recurs most of the creature in this deck, and is readily abusable as it's a creature itself.
Scavenging Ooze - Very efficient graveyard hate with the potential to become a large threat.
Seedborn Muse - Multiple untaps pair well with all our permanents that produce tokens for a cost.
Selfless Spirit - Simple, tutorable protection for your board of important creatures.
Stoneforge Mystic - Finds any equipment you need in the deck. Currently, it's only target is Skullclamp
Sun Titan - Threatening attacker, and recursion for cheaper cards all in one.
Tireless Tracker - Not particularly on theme, but is powerful card draw and another decent attacker.
Twilight Drover - A very efficient token maker, but it does have a hoop or two to jump through to work.
Artifacts
Mana Crypt - Very fast ramp, can easily get Rhys immediately making tokens on turn two.
Mox Diamond - Much the same as Mana Crypt, but produces coloured mana.
Oblivion Stone - A reusable board wipe that can selectively target our own permanents, and is a huge rattlesnake on it's own.
Sensei's Divining Top - Card selection at any time at a low cost, and synergises with all the effects in the deck that shuffle our library.
Skullclamp - The best card draw for any deck that relies on X/1s. Will draw cards by the handful with only a few tokens.
Sol Ring - More very efficient ramp, and the most played in this format.
Enchantments
Aura Shards - Turns every creature, even the tokens, into Reclaimation Sage for putting the pressure on enchantress and artifact decks.
Concordant Crossroads - Haste enabler for combos and sudden attacks from newly summoned creatures.
Cryptolith Rite - Turn each token into a reliable mana source to ramp even beyond Azusa's wildest dreams.
Doubling Season - Annointed Procession, but has added counter synergies for cards like Tireless Tracker and Biogenic Ooze.
Earthcraft - Another Cryptolith Rite, but much more flexible and can tap creatures as soon as they enter the battlefield.
Karmic Justice - Threatens opponents with utter annihilation if they try to touch your non-creature permanents. Go for the lands.
Land Tax - Thins the deck, and ensures you don't miss a land drop, which allows you to play a one land hand.
Luminarch Ascension - In commander, it'll only take two turns to activate this card, which produces 4/4s for an incredible rate.
Martyr's Cause - A sacrifice outlet with offers the utiliy of preventing damage from sources. Note that it doesn't target the source of damage.
Mirari's Wake - An anthem and mana double in one. Resolving on turn 5 will give you 12 mana for the next turn.
Parallax Wave - Creature removal, creature protection, and blink in one package. Creates a soft-lock with Eternal Witness
Parallel Lives - Annointed Procession #2.
Privileged Position - Protects every permanent you control except for itself.
Sacred Mesa - Token generation at the magic two-mana cost. Also creates flyers, which we have problems defending from.
Smothering Tithe - Generates absurd amounts of mana as the turn passes around the table. No-one will be paying the tax.
Sterling Grove - Protects your key enchantments, can tutor for them, and creates a soft-lock with Privileged Position.
Survival of the Fittest - A more abusable Fauna Shaman that has to limit to how many times the ability can be used.
Sylvan Library - Card selection, and card draw in a pinch.
Instants
Crop Rotation - Instant speed tutoring for Gaea's Cradle or utility lands.
Eladamri's Call - Flexible creature tutoring, which will find anything and put it in your hand.
Enlightened Tutor - The most efficient enchantment tutor which will find whatever you need for the turn ahead at minimal cost.
Tithe - Draw two cards for one mana is a rarity. Note that this will find dual lands.
Worldly Tutor - Like Enlightened Tutor, this is an efficient way to set up your next turn.
Sorceries
Green Sun's Zenith - With mostly green win conditions, this will find all of them. Can find [c]Dryad Arbor[/d] for early ramp too.
Idyllic Tutor - Unconditional enchantment tutoring, though a bit expensive compared to other options.
Natural Order - Similar to [card]Green Sun's Zenith[/c], but at a much lower cost.
Nature's Lore - Exceptional ramp that even finds dual lands. This card also sits at the golden two drop slot.
Three Visits - See Nature's Lore above, this is simply a redundant effect.
Tooth and Nail - Tutor, cheats mana, even entwine it for an instant win.
Planeswalkers
Turn 0 - The Opening Hand
In most Commander games, your first real decision begins with deciding what kind of cards you'll be prioritising in your opening hand. In any typical game of Standard, Modern, or Legacy you'll have no idea what to expect in Game 1. In Commander however, you'll be getting a very good idea of what to expect when you look across the table, and an even better idea if you're playing in a regular group. Use this information to ensure you start with the right opening hand for the job.
A good opening hand should consist of the following:
Note: While this deck has an average converted mana cost of around 3, you can still be expected to start with an expensive card in your opening hand. While you may be inclined to keep it if it's something like Craterhoof Behemoth, such a card can be tutored later on in the game and save you the dead card in your opening hand.
As seen above, we have a pretty standard opening hand requirement, which should look familiar if you've ever played commander before. The important part is the last requirement; 1-3 other low mana cost cards. These are the slots which we should be using to prepare for what our opponents are packing, and what kind of game you should expect. While there's no strict rules on what cards you should be looking for in your opening hand to stay ahead of your opponents, I'll provide a few examples below.
What you should look for in your opening hand
Unfortunately in this deck, holding back isn't an option at a fast table, as in the early game we're at our weakest, and we can't defend ourselves particuarly well. If you think the table is going to be at each others throats quickly and disregard interaction, you'll want to do the same. Prioritise quick mana to overwhelm your opponents before they can do the same. Luminarch Ascension gets a special mention here, since if it's resolved early, it can take over a game easily.
Playing the Mid-to-Slow Game
If you think the table is going in a slow direction, this deck will feel right at home, as this is where Rhys shines. In your opening hand, prioritise consistent card draw and good mana to fuel your game plan. Just make absolutely certain you don't overextend. If you've done this and are faced with a Wrath, you'll have a very hard time getting back into the game.
Turns 1-3 - The Early Game
In this deck, the early game is incredibly vital. As we're aiming for the mid-to-late game, what we do in the first few turns will decide what happens during the turns following. We want to begin to put our moving parts in place to get us there, but we must be very careful not to pass our turn without doing anything, or over-extend. The latter is absolutely vital, as we'll have a lot of trouble building back up, especially so early in the game. As such, there's somewhat strict guidlines for how the early game should be played, which I'll discuss in detail below.
With the way we intend to curve out on turns 1-3, naturally we have a gap in the two drop slot. Use this to ramp early with something like Sol Ring, or Three Visits. If you have the stones, you could also cast Luminarch Ascension. While usually having a consistent curve doesn't matter much in Commander, keep this gap in mind when constructing the deck. Nature's Lore on turn two will look much better than Kodama's Reach on turn three when we should be making a token.
Turns 4-7 - The Mid Game
This is what we've been building up to in the early game. There are a ridiculous amount of paths to take at this stage of the game in this deck, so there's no real guidelines like before. However, I will go through the kinds of effects you'll want to be playing at this stage of the game. Having said that though, there are a few rules to keep in mind when playing out the midgame.
- Don't play any card you won't be able to take advantage of immediately. Cards like Anointed Procession are high impact, and our opponents know it. Playing it will be for nothing if it's removed before we can do anything with it. In this particular case, make sure you have a way to make a token immediately following. The same logic applies to other powerful cards you'll want to play at this stage of the game, like Skullclamp and Survival of the Fittest.
- We're a proactive deck, not a reactive one. We have very limited instant speed interactions, and if you intend on going card-for-card against an opponent, you'll be out of luck; our deck isn't equipped for such a gameplan. Instead, we are a toolbox deck, so if you find yourself under pressure from an opponent, use your tutors wisely to find an answer, but do not sacrifice your advance while doing so.
- Rely on Rhys for tokens as long as you can. As discussed before, Rhys is a cog in the deck, not the motor driving it. As long as he lives after the first cast, continue having him pump put tokens turn after turn. If this means you have to skip playing a card during your turn to have enough leftover mana to play a token, then it's a sacrifice you'll have to make. It also means you're improving your board state without expending cards in your hand too.
What cards you should be prioritising in the mid-gameOne of the first things you'll want to do is cast a card to get you well over the mana curve to set up your big plays. As far-fetched as it sounds, towards the end of the mid-game, you'll want around the 10-12 available mana mark so you can play out your game-winning cards.
Draw
Just like mana before, card draw is exceptionally important for making sure we have enough cards to continue to develop our board state, and to see we have enough resources to carry us to the late game. Just like our explosive mana, get these cards out as early as possible.
Protection
If during the mid-game you're facing stiff opposition from an interactive deck at the table, you'll want to get hold of something to protect your board. As keeping our board state healthy is vital for reaching the late-game, this is what you'll want to be using some of your creature and enchanment tutors on.
Tokens
It wouldn't be a Rhys deck if we didn't want to make some tokens. By the mid-game, Rhys has usually returned back to your command zone, and he's usually too slow at this stage of the game. Since tokens are important for some of our win conditions, you'll want to make as many as you can. If you need to, you may even have to cast Rhys again if you're really stuck.
Turns 8+ - The Late Game
Reveillark Loop
What happens?
This combo allows you to infinitely recur and sacrifice any creature with power two or less an infinite number of times. This can be Knight of Autumn for infinite life, or Biogenic Ooze for infinite tokens. You can also add in Earthcraft for infinite mana, and with this, draw infinite cards with Skullclamp.
How it works
- Start with Martyr's Cause on the battlefield, Reveillark in hand, and the utility creature of your choice in the graveyard.
- Evoke Reveillark, targeting Karmic Guide and the utility creature.
- Use Karmic Guide's ability to target Reveillark, returning it to the battlefield.
- Sacrifice Karmic Guide, the utility creature, and then Reveillark, using it's ability to target Karmic Guide and the utility creature.
- Go back to step 3 and repeat ad infinitum.
Some notes:- Mirror Entity can be used in place of Martyr's Cause. To do this, activate it's ability where X = 0 as many times and you'd like to loop before actually looping, then perform steps 3 and 4 between resolutions. This will however kill every creature you control, and won't work if you have an anthem effect active, such as Mirari's Wake.
Earthcraft LoopWhat happens?
This combo allows you to create an infinite amount of tapped tokens from any one of the permanents in the deck with an activated ability that creates tokens.
How it works
- Start with Earthcraft, Doubling Season, and Sacred Mesa on the battlefield.
- Create a token using Sacred Mesa, which creates two tokens instead with Doubling Season.
- Tap the tokens created to untap a Plains and and the other basic land using Earthcraft, then tap them for mana.
- Go back to step 2 and repeat ad infinitum.
Some notes:Firstly, huge thanks to Donald, as without his original primer, Token Justice, I wouldn't have built this deck, let alone wrote a primer for it!
Secondly, my playgroups. I've played with a lot of groups over the years, and they've helped teach me everything I know about Commander. I do apologise for constantly asking for feedback though and suggestions, however!
And lastly, thank YOU for taking the time to read this primer! Rhys has always been my favourite commander, so thatks for reading something I'm very passionate about!
13/08/2019
Added:
- Idol of Oblivion
Removed:- Elspeth, Sun's Champion
This change was made for a few reasons. With Idol in, it gives us another source of cards, and sits at the perfect mana cost to go between Rhys the Redeemed and a token. It also brings the average converted mana cost of the deck down by a fraction as well. Elspeth will be missed, but she was a vital toolbox card that can't be tutored, and just didn't show up when I needed her.Primer Updates