#yahenni
The 6 legendary creatures from Aether Revolt are a bit of a mixed bag for commander players, from interesting commanders, to good cards for the 99, to basically unplayable. What ideas are running through my head?
Honorary Mention - the Heart of Ghirapur. This little Thopter is not the colourless commander we need, but maybe it’s the one we deserve? Trying to win with Heart of Ghirapur voltron, using a bunch of equipment, seems to be your best (albeit bad) hope.
1] Sram - all the auras
Mono-white loves auras, but up to now we’ve had no legal mono-white commanders that encourage playing in that space (Kitsune Mystic sadly only flips into a legend and thus is ineligible, though is awesome in a Sram deck). As well as creature-boosting auras like Celestial Mantle and Spectra Ward, I would run most of the removal options as well, like Pacifism and Arrest. Then fill up the deck with Bestow creatures, that can be cast as auras to draw cards, and White’s fabulous enchantment and aura support - Hero of Iroas (make auras cheaper), Nomad Mythmaker (return auras from the graveyard to play), and Ajani’s Chosen (add cats with your auras).
Special Tech - Flickering Ward. W for an aura that gives enchanted creature pro the colour of your choice, and bounces back to your hand for W. In Sram that reads WW draw a card - pretty sweet for a Mono White deck!
2] Baral - loves the graveyard
Never one to look for the obvious build (mono-Blue control, counter all the spells), I was looking at what you could do with Baral’s ability to draw and discard, aka to loot. So what can you do with a loot? You can use madness to counter another spell (circular logic), draw another card (obsessive search) or mind control (welcome to the fold). You can fuel spell mastery and delirium to power up Talent of the Telepath, or Scour the Laboratory. Or you can play flashback cards to get extra value (Deep Analysis, Snapcaster Mage). Of course you still need a huge number of counter spells to benefit from all that, but for a Blue mage Baral is pretty unimaginative.
Special Tech - Rise from the Tides. For 5U Sorcery, make a 2/2 Zombie for each instant and sorcery in your graveyard. Finish the game in style - with black creatures.
3] Yahenni - counter counting
While Yahenni would be great in a mono-black control deck, making them indestructible while wrathing the board, I’m more interested in a +1/+1 counters deck. Black offers a few ways to make use of counters, namely Retribution of the Ancients, that can remove counters to shrink creatures, while Oona’s Blackguard gives your creatures the spectre ability (discard when hit) and Mer-Ek Nightblade gives them deathough. Give your creatures counters with Feast on the Fallen, Unspeakable Symbol, Necropolis Regent or Drana, Liberator of Malakir. Then proliferate with Spread the Sickness.
Special Tech - Blade of the Bloodchief. A 1 drop equipment, equips for 1, and gives equipped vampire 2 +1/+1 counters when anything dies. Yahenni becomes enormous!
4] Kari Zev - barrel of monkeys
If there was a poster child for legendary creatures not made for our format, Kari Zev might be it. She looks awesome, Ragavan is a legendary MONKEY! With Goggles! But what can you actually do with her? I first looked for monkeys and apes in mono-red, which gives you 5 cards, the best of which are Gorilla Shaman (that can kill artifacts at a hefty cost), and Ravenous Baboons (that kills a nonbasic land). You could try to make a Vorthos-y deck, and use the Skyship Weatherlight to represent the Dragon’s Smile, but with no other pirates or monkeys in mono-red you will be left a bit short. Then I thought you could go goggles tribal, using all the Chandras, Jaya Ballard, Act on Impulse and Pyromancer’s Goggles. Finally I wondered if you could create a house rule that Ragavan is your real commander, and try to win with Sai of the Shinobi and Hero’s Blade attaching to the monkey every time Kari attacks. In the end I have no better suggestions than to smash some or all of these together and see what seems fun.
Special Tech - Mirror Gallery + Blade of Selves + Sundial of the Infinite. The legendary rule no longer applies, so end the turn with Ragavan’s exile trigger on the stack and you can keep making monkeys! Blade of Selves creates a bunch of monkeys every turn. Is this powerful? No, but it is funny.
5] Rishkar - Fun-guy
A +1/+1 counter theme is the obvious way to go with this powerful Elf, and honestly it probably is the best, but the deck brewer in me wants to see Rishkar paired with something more interesting. My suggestion? Thallids. They add a counter to themselves in the upkeep, allowing them to tap for mana with Rishkar on the field, then you can produce tokens and go wide, ramping up to your regular green top end. Utopia Mycon, that turns saprolings into mana, and Psychotrope Thallid, that turns them into cards, are probably the best of the bunch. At the top end Avenger of Zendikar looks particularly ridiculous when all the plants tap for mana!
Special Tech - Fungal Bloom. GG for an enchantment with GG: put a spore counter on target Fungus. Speed up your mana and saproling production!
What are you going to build with the Aether Revolt legends?
