Hello and welcome to the first article from CommandBeacon.com, here to introduce a new segment on Wizard's Tower. I’m Mike from Command Beacon, though I go by Cascade.Cascade online and I am first and foremost a Commander player. I am the Editor-in-Chief and Founder of the Commander format focused website Command Beacon and I’ll be sharing some deck techs with you. I’d like to start this series with the returning Mono-Coloured gods of Theros in their Theros: Beyond Death versions. The gods of Theros have been strong Commanders from the beginning, though some find a better fit within the 99. They act as enchantments primarily but after reaching adequate devotion they become indestructible creatures for incredible offensive and defensive capabilities. We’re going to go through decklists for the five returning Mono-Coloured gods with a bit of a strategy summary for each. Let's begin!
Heliod, Sun-Crowned
This deck was built with high value and synergy at its core, with pieces added for a chance to combo off with our Commander. We have several lifegain and support cards in the deck to make use of Heliod’s triggered ability as well as a number of defensive cards that your opponents would probably not think to see from Mono-White deck. The deck has several ways to consistently tutor for an additional combo piece to help finish off a game. But if that doesn’t work the deck is perfectly capable of swarming your opponents. The added equipment package and anthem effects can turn any small creature or token into a truly formidable foe.
Thassa, Deep-Dwelling
There are a number of possibilities when choosing a theme, but when playing Mono-Blue why not lean a bit towards wizard tribal. The number of notable wizard creatures with enter the battlefield effects are quite prominent even though Mono-Blue does not typically use a strategy based on creatures. By blinking the creatures we extend the value of the cards even further. Having a Conjurer’s Closet as a Commander allows for heavy use, abuse, and reuse of these enter the battlefield effects. There are several lines of play in this version including infinite turns and counter control. All in all, this Blue wizard deck is still very true to its colour, as it likes to draw lots of cards and counter plenty of spells.
Erebos, Bleak-Hearted
Our Mono-Black god of death deck is built around creatures dying, but also fittingly enough taking the life from others. The price you pay to draw cards as your creatures die starts to add up over time. So to refill your life total, it's best to drain your opponents. I'm sure they'll be happy to donate! Mono-Black is an incredibly strong colour choice as the synergies and control over every players resources is made abundantly clear. Besides life drain there’s reanimation effects, discard effects, and sacrifice effects which even when they are symmetrical will probably affect your strategy significantly less than your opponents. With the best tutors available in the game and a combo or two just in case, it wouldn't be farfetched to say Erebos is just a bonus engine to the deck.
Purphoros, Bronze-Blooded
Mono-Red bring fast creatures and lots of damage, but can be a very linear strategy. With Purphoros we can bring some versatility to your strategy and that speed and damage can be increased even further. This Sneak Attack Commander is able to cheat out some big and threatening creatures, albeit temporarily, unless you find another way to keep them. There are several ways to do so here; bouncing it, blinking it, or ending the turn with the trigger on the stack. It’s quite unsurprising how effective it is to suddenly drop in a creature on an opponent's turn. Thanks to Purphoros' ability, counterspells become dead cards. The fact that it's intstant speed allows for interactions with key plays at crucial times. There are a lot of ways to abuse this and a surprising amount of combos as well. But you can just keep piling on the damage like a real Red player.
Nylea, Keen-Eyed
Big, Green, Stompy creatures with plenty of ramp to go with it. This could and does describe many other Mono-Green Commander. Regardless, Nylea is all for supporting you to get lots of big threatening creatures down for less. Green is not always the best at card draw but they've gotten some great support in that regard over the years. Nylea herself gives you a mana sink to add or filter the top of your deck for more creatures, filling your hand and possibly your graveyard. It’s great that the discount ability is not limited to any type or colour applying to all your creatures. Nylea herself is quite reasonably costed and curves nicely into the bigger payoff creatures. When everything you play is a huge threat it’ll get pretty easy to overrun your opponents.
I hope you've enjoyed this pantheon of decks, I'm looking forward to sharing more Commander deck techs all around... For a more detailed overview or each deck check out the articles for Heliod, Thassa, Erebos, Purphoros, and Nylea at CommandBeacon.com. Remember there's no one way to build a deck but I hope that some of these have given you some inspiration. Until next time good luck, have fun, and keep shuffling.
