One way to build with restriction is to build to a very specific rule or set of rules. For example, my goblin deck is built with the rule that every land other than basic mountains has to have "Goblin" or some variant thereof in the name. The deck is built to be as strong as possible under that rule, but the result is a deck that is decidedly mediocre and a whole lot of fun.
The newly previewed Embodiment of Agonies is an absolute house for Alesha and sure to come out swinging darn hard in most any build.
Lim-Dûl's Paladin is another fun card that can give some card advantage as long as it survives until your next turn and is just a weird old card that will make your opponents have to pause to read it.
I've been running an Alesha deck for years. (You can find my current list here.)
A couple of cards that haven't been mentioned so far as the following:
Shrieking Mogg - Want to make your whole team unblockable or just get in a last lethal hit with Alesha herself? Pull out this screamy goblin friend with Alesha and your opponents won't be able to do much if any blocking.
Millikin is a reliable bit of self-mill and mana acceleration in one. Highly recommended.
Seasoned Pyromancer is new and a bit pricy, but he packs a hell of a punch, especially when we can recur him.
Twilight Prophet adds some much needed card advantage if she survives a turn cycle. Also, who doesn't want to be #blessed?
Speaking of creatures that Alesha can't brink back, the only other two I run in my deck are Iroas, God of Victory and Azra Oddsmaker as they just both provide such insane value.
Less than 1 day isn't exactly a robust comment window. I was also pretty surprised the announcement came today, and wondered aloud 'why did they ask for input then?'. The RC/ CAG owe me nothing, but that timeline was off-putting.
As I said, we received a lot of replies quickly and the general shape of community opinion was clear from those replies. An overwhelming percentage (about 75%) supported the change to the London Mulligan. If the reception had been colder or more nuanced, we would have taken more time in coming to our decision, but the community's response lined up with our own considerations (both positive and negative) and so we moved forward with the announcement so that it would come while the wider Magic community was still talking about the change.
I found it off-putting that yesterday there was a noncommittal announcement that the RC was still taking feedback and hadn't made a decision yet, and today we got an official announcement. Not that it wasn't an unexpected decision.
What did you find offputting about it? We sought input from the community, received overwhelming amounts of it very quickly, and came to a decision. We thought it would be best to not drag our feet on this decision as we didn't want to confuse the issue, so we made the announcement once everyone on the RC and CAG was in agreement.
Commander will be adopting the London Mulligan (bit.ly/314vgT7) at the same time as other formats, with the standard first-mulligan-is-free for games with more than two players (CR103.4c).
Commander will be adopting the London Mulligan (bit.ly/314vgT7) at the same time as other formats, with the standard first-mulligan-is-free for games with more than two players (CR103.4c).
This card is amazing. I run it in my Alesha deck as one of only three creatures she can't reanimate. It's a beautiful card for any graveyard or reanimation deck and is innocuous enough that your opponents will probably leave it alone for a while.
As was announced today, the London mulligan is coming to all tournament formats of Magic with the release of M20 next month. While the RC and CAG haven't made any announcements about the London mulligan coming to Commander, it's more likely than not that our format will follow suit. Do y'all foresee any issues with the mulligan in Commander specifically or have any general issues with it? What are your thoughts?
It feels like the horrible things you'll face in Oathbreaker at times aren't accounted for with your interaction here. Your only answer for these earlier decks like Huatli and Gideon (who can present easy T3-4 kills on one player) is Counterspell?
If you're playgroup is, like yourself, building Oathbreaker decks as if they were EDH decks then sure, this will do fine. However, one of the big appeals for Oathbreaker is how fast the format is, which in my experience has led to a LOT of aggro decks and things like Storm.
Dark Ritual for T1 Ashiok or just general ramp seems like a must too, even letting you get Web or Matrix out earlier.
My exposure to the format is limited. In what way is it faster? A lot of the fast mana and such is banned, so I don't quite get how it can be that much faster than Commander. Please elaborate?
Minds Aglow seems ... interesting? I get it in theory but it's something I would always be looking to cut, personally.
I don't get Minister of Inquiries or Trusted Advisor. I get that they're, well, advisors for the Petitioners (and combo with each other a bit), but that seems like a weak synergy. Hedron Crab could replace the Minister for single target mill that is easier to repeat, and Manic Scribe is good for grinding everyone out. Since you're milling everyone with your SS I figure delirium is cake to turn on.
Get rid of Bubble Matrix because it seriously hoses all my cheap damage based board wipes that would otherwise wreck your plan.
My instinct is to suggest more control elements like countermagic and removal but in such a proactive deck they might not be too great.
Minds Aglow serves the same purpose as a mill spell, but is more likely to have other players pay into it than Shared Trauma. Also, it can let me actually eliminate players on my turn without waiting for their turns as well as refilling my hand.
Trusted Advisor and Minister of Inquiries are in slots that would be more Petitioners if they weren't those cards. Crab and Scribe aren't advisors and the deck doesn't have room for more non-advisor creatures. Also, Trusted Advisor synergizes not only with Minister, but also with Intruder Alarm and Kefnet's Monument. The point of this build is to have it be a Petitioners build, which means I forego traditional mill cards like Crab and Scribe in favor of Petitioners and cards that synergize with them.
I'm not a fan of River of Tears in general. The deck is mostly blue and losing out on a blue mana because I didn't tap my land at the right time isn't something I'm interested in walking into face-first.
Thrumming Stone is expected with Petitioners, though, and I generally don't want a ton of them out at once anyway. I would rather play other cards like Perilous Research and Secret Salvage that can synergize with them in that way and still allow me to control their flow onto the battlefield.
I do agree that the deck could maybe use a recycling card or two, though.
You might take a look at my Sarkhan/Volt Charge then. Might be exactly what you're looking for, and you could even cut some dragons for more general purpose RDW stuff.
Maybe, I am still not sure if its something I want to do. I am always leery of new upstart formats because it seems so rarely that anyone plays them after 6 months.
If you're not sure, then build a deck in an archetype you've always wanted to play in Commander, but haven't. If Oathbreaker flops, just add another 40 cards and you have a Commander deck! (That's my plan with my Ashiok deck, anyway.)
After hearing a lot of buzz around Oathbreaker, I decided to build my own deck for it. This build is still untested, but goldfishing has proven promising thus far.
Mill?
Yes, mill. Mill is never quite good enough for Commander, both because of the multiplayer element and the fact that decks are 99 cards. While Oathbreaker still has the multiplayer problem, it solves the big deck problem by having decks that start at 58 cards. This particular build is focusing on effects that can mill all opponents (or all players) and not using single target spells like Glimpse the Unthinkable.
Why Ashiok, Dream Render and Bond of Insight?
Ashiok's activated ability hoses every opponent's graveyard with each activation, lessening another weakness of the mill archetype. The fact that Ashiok hoses searching is added value, but not something I've built any of the deck around. The exile is far more important and allows for fun inclusions such as Web of Inertia. As for Bond of Insight, it's one of the few instants and sorceries that mills everyone, and the fact that it can return other spells to my hand is pure card advantage. Also, its 4 CMC curves nicely on the turn following Ashiok.
Why Persistent Petitioners?
Because they're fun and they mill a lot of cards once you get them going. In this format, each activation is more than 1/5 of a player's starting deck size. Also, playing them lets me play fun cards like Perilous Research, Secret Salvage, and Intruder Alarm.
Why no Laboratory Maniac?
Because I want to win by milling out my opponents and not myself. That's why.
---
Feedback is welcome, and I'm happy to discuss the inclusion/exclusion of any other cards you might care to suggest.
You can see mana curve and other deck data on the tappedout page here.
Unless you're selling or giving your cards away, the deck is never really gone.
I just recently resurrected a deck that I had retired about four years ago because it had gotten stale. The intervening years gave a bunch of cool new effects for the deck to play with and ended up with a deck that plays just differently enough from the old version to not feel stale.
Sure, you feel sad retiring that deck now, but give it some time and it can rise like a phoenix to new heights if you really want it to.
Removal: Despark, Decimate, Beast Within / Generous Gift
Tutors: None. Play them only if they're on theme for your deck.
Card draw: Mikokoro, Center of the Sea, Phyrexian Arena, Tatyova, Benthic Druid
Graveyard hate: Scavenger Grounds, Ashiok, Dream Render, Wheel of Sun and Moon
Recursion: Alesha, Who Smiles at Death, Gravewaker, Seasons Past
The newly previewed Embodiment of Agonies is an absolute house for Alesha and sure to come out swinging darn hard in most any build.
Lim-Dûl's Paladin is another fun card that can give some card advantage as long as it survives until your next turn and is just a weird old card that will make your opponents have to pause to read it.
A couple of cards that haven't been mentioned so far as the following:
Shrieking Mogg - Want to make your whole team unblockable or just get in a last lethal hit with Alesha herself? Pull out this screamy goblin friend with Alesha and your opponents won't be able to do much if any blocking.
Millikin is a reliable bit of self-mill and mana acceleration in one. Highly recommended.
Seasoned Pyromancer is new and a bit pricy, but he packs a hell of a punch, especially when we can recur him.
Twilight Prophet adds some much needed card advantage if she survives a turn cycle. Also, who doesn't want to be #blessed?
If you have a more artifact-focused build like I do, then Akiri, Line-Slinger, Marionette Master, and Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer are all great cards.
Speaking of creatures that Alesha can't brink back, the only other two I run in my deck are Iroas, God of Victory and Azra Oddsmaker as they just both provide such insane value.
What did you find offputting about it? We sought input from the community, received overwhelming amounts of it very quickly, and came to a decision. We thought it would be best to not drag our feet on this decision as we didn't want to confuse the issue, so we made the announcement once everyone on the RC and CAG was in agreement.
https://twitter.com/mtgcommander/status/1135695111864573952
https://twitter.com/mtgcommander/status/1135695111864573952
My exposure to the format is limited. In what way is it faster? A lot of the fast mana and such is banned, so I don't quite get how it can be that much faster than Commander. Please elaborate?
Minds Aglow serves the same purpose as a mill spell, but is more likely to have other players pay into it than Shared Trauma. Also, it can let me actually eliminate players on my turn without waiting for their turns as well as refilling my hand.
Trusted Advisor and Minister of Inquiries are in slots that would be more Petitioners if they weren't those cards. Crab and Scribe aren't advisors and the deck doesn't have room for more non-advisor creatures. Also, Trusted Advisor synergizes not only with Minister, but also with Intruder Alarm and Kefnet's Monument. The point of this build is to have it be a Petitioners build, which means I forego traditional mill cards like Crab and Scribe in favor of Petitioners and cards that synergize with them.
I'm not a fan of River of Tears in general. The deck is mostly blue and losing out on a blue mana because I didn't tap my land at the right time isn't something I'm interested in walking into face-first.
Thrumming Stone is expected with Petitioners, though, and I generally don't want a ton of them out at once anyway. I would rather play other cards like Perilous Research and Secret Salvage that can synergize with them in that way and still allow me to control their flow onto the battlefield.
I do agree that the deck could maybe use a recycling card or two, though.
If you're not sure, then build a deck in an archetype you've always wanted to play in Commander, but haven't. If Oathbreaker flops, just add another 40 cards and you have a Commander deck! (That's my plan with my Ashiok deck, anyway.)
1x Ashiok, Dream Render
Signature Spell
1x Bond of Insight
Creature (20)
1x Minister of Inquiries
1x Trusted Advisor
16x Persistent Petitioners
1x Consuming Aberration
1x Havengul Lich
Artifact (4)
1x Meekstone
1x Howling Mine
1x Kefnet's Monument
1x Bubble Matrix
Instant (4)
1x Swan Song
1x Counterspell
1x Memory Lapse
1x Far // Away
1x Minds Aglow
1x Shared Trauma
1x Desperate Research
1x Mind Grind
1x Secret Salvage
Enchantment (3)
1x Intruder Alarm
1x Web of Inertia
1x Forced Fruition
Land (22)
1x Choked Estuary
1x Command Tower
1x Darkslick Shores
1x Drowned Catacomb
1x Fetid Pools
7x Island
1x Nephalia Drownyard
1x Polluted Delta
1x Shelldock Isle
1x Sunken Hollow
1x Sunken Ruins
1x Swamp
1x Tainted Isle
1x Temple of Deceit
1x Underground Sea
1x Watery Grave
Mill?
Yes, mill. Mill is never quite good enough for Commander, both because of the multiplayer element and the fact that decks are 99 cards. While Oathbreaker still has the multiplayer problem, it solves the big deck problem by having decks that start at 58 cards. This particular build is focusing on effects that can mill all opponents (or all players) and not using single target spells like Glimpse the Unthinkable.
Why Ashiok, Dream Render and Bond of Insight?
Ashiok's activated ability hoses every opponent's graveyard with each activation, lessening another weakness of the mill archetype. The fact that Ashiok hoses searching is added value, but not something I've built any of the deck around. The exile is far more important and allows for fun inclusions such as Web of Inertia. As for Bond of Insight, it's one of the few instants and sorceries that mills everyone, and the fact that it can return other spells to my hand is pure card advantage. Also, its 4 CMC curves nicely on the turn following Ashiok.
Why Persistent Petitioners?
Because they're fun and they mill a lot of cards once you get them going. In this format, each activation is more than 1/5 of a player's starting deck size. Also, playing them lets me play fun cards like Perilous Research, Secret Salvage, and Intruder Alarm.
Why no Laboratory Maniac?
Because I want to win by milling out my opponents and not myself. That's why.
---
Feedback is welcome, and I'm happy to discuss the inclusion/exclusion of any other cards you might care to suggest.
You can see mana curve and other deck data on the tappedout page here.
I just recently resurrected a deck that I had retired about four years ago because it had gotten stale. The intervening years gave a bunch of cool new effects for the deck to play with and ended up with a deck that plays just differently enough from the old version to not feel stale.
Sure, you feel sad retiring that deck now, but give it some time and it can rise like a phoenix to new heights if you really want it to.