Aggro and Tribal decks in Commander
Commander is a challenging environment for Aggro decks. While competitive two-player formats have their fair share of aggressive decks, the higher life totals and the increased player count make Commander a tough pill to swallow for Aggro decks.
Though there is surely room for plenty of Aggro decks in the format, they often struggle with the amount of card advantage, recursion and, in general, value that other decks can play with. If the stereotypical fundamental of Aggro is to sacrifice consistency and late-game inevitability in the name of quick, explosive plays, maintaining pressure against three opponents with inflated life totals can be a daunting task.
That said, not all Aggro decks feel the need to dive head first into crowded boards without an exit strategy. Many successful Aggro decks in Commander manage to complement their Creature-based strategy with instances of card advantage, recursion and other value engines. Edric, Spymaster of Trest features some built-in card advantage, while also introducing a strong political component. Marchesa, the Black Rose provides a very powerful recursion effect. Ezuri, Renegade Leader supports an already very powerful Tribe with repeatable Regeneration and Overrun effects.
Speaking of Ezuri, going Tribal can also be a good choice for Aggro decks, as it allows to complement a clear-cut Creature-based strategy with in-built synergies. Of course, not all Tribes are as consistent as Elves, but Magic is full of interesting Creature Types to build around.
Even some Commander preconstructed decks have provided us with de facto perfect Legendary Creatures for Tribal decks, such as Varina, Lich Queen. Other times you may have to be a bit more creative: EDHRec.com will tell you that, at the time of writing, there are nineteen Hound Tribal decks tracked on the site. They are all good dogs, but Wizards has not exactly supported the Tribe, thus far.
Mapping Aggro decks in Commander
Between established and borderline Tribes, the possibilities are numerous. In fact, we can easily plot some sample Aggro decks on a two-by-two matrix, to understand how different Aggro strategies approach games, based on speed and late-game consistency.
While the placement of each deck can be largely subjective and dependant on how each deck is built, we can try and identify some main areas within the spectrum of Aggro decks in Commander:
- Hyper-functional decks are often the best of the breed; they combine fast-paced gameplay with consistent late-game capabilities, easily pivoting between beatdown and value-oriented strategies; their Commanders usually provide one of more ways to repeatedly execute advantageous moves; good examples, here, include Edric, Spymaster of Trest and Ezuri, Renegade Leader
- “Fast Aggro” decks are the most direct translations of aggressive strategies from competitive Magic to the Commander environment; these decks attempt to overrun the opponents as quickly as possible, often sacrificing long-term consistency in the name of a swift victory; think about Saskia, the Unyielding: she is fast and straight to the point, but she may have problems deploying a successful late-game battleplan
- “Slow Aggro” decks fall on the opposite side of the matrix: despite being primarily Creature-based, they tend to prefer a slower approach to the game, favouring consistent value over reckless assaults; as a result, they are relatively close to Control decks in terms of pacing, aiming at reaching the late-game to fully set their engines in motion; Varina, Lich Queen is a good example of these, mostly due to the fact that Zombie Tribal often lacks explosive starts, but it is quite proficient in late-game recursion
- Themed decks lack both consistency and speed; these decks are usually built around an unpopular Tribe or a relatively unsupported theme; I am never blaming someone for building a Takeno, Samurai General deck, but I hope nobody is expecting it to break the format
The curse of being Aggro in White
A lot has already been said on Aggro decks. Not only is the archetype considered as quite disadvantaged in Commander, but it is also primarily centred around colours that, historically, have not shined in the format. Boros has traditionally been the Aggro Guild and its colours have often been ranked a notch below the others, in terms of power level.
While Red has certainly improved in the past few years, White is only now starting to adjust. Legendary Creatures like Etali, prima Storm have proven that Red’s impulsive draw is a very powerful form of card advantage, especially in a colour that has historically struggled to keep up with Blue’s and Black’s drawing prowess.
White has been recently blessed with Smothering Tithe, which is certainly a step in the right direction to provide the colour with much needed ramping. Unfortunately, card draw is still something White is struggling with, having to default to colourless options to try and catch up with Blue, Black and even Green.
All in all, the current situation for White is still quite dire. The colour’s greatest strengths in other formats, such as the availability of cheap aggressive threats and efficient spot removals, do not necessarily translate well in Commander. Sure, the availability of multiple board wipes is a strong suit for White, but its shortage of strong proactive cards and value engines can be quite problematic. I already went over the importance of kills switches and win conditions and, unfortunately, these are not necessarily White’s forte.
Let’s put things into perspective. At the time of writing, among the one hundred most played cards according to EDHRec.com, only nine are Mono-White. Of these, six are defensive or reactive cards: Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, Wrath of God, Return to Dust, Ghostly Prison and Oblivion Ring.
Enlightened Tutor and Elspeth, Sun’s Champion are good cards that do not lend themselves to any specific strategy, but often work as standalone powerful cards. The only White Creature in the list is Sun Titan, which also works very well in Aggro, control, midrange and combo strategies, thanks to its raw power.
It is also worth noting that the only two other Creatures featuring White as one of their colours in the list are Gisela, Blade of Goldnight and Aurelia, the Warleader. Both Boros and both usually leading Voltron, rather than pure Aggro strategies.
If we circle back to the matrix we just plotted, it becomes suddenly very evident that the hyper-functional quadrant features no deck primarily focused in White. So, while we wait for Wizards of the Coast to release a hyper-functional White Legendary Creature, is there anything we can do to play White Aggro in Commander?
What is Slow Aggro?
Let’s be practical, now, and see if we can find a solution. Let’s say you want to build an Aggro deck, but you don’t want to build yet another Edric, Spymaster of Trest list. Let’s say you really want a challenge and you want to go for a White Creature-based deck.
One approach I would like to recommend is going for the Slow Aggro build. While it is far from being the only, the best or the optimal deck building philosophy, I think it is an approach worth exploring. If nothing else, for how it tries and make the best of the limited tools White Aggro has.
The main principle of Slow Aggro decks in Commander lies in the willingness to sacrifice most of your typical speed in favour or increased consistency. While the deck is still primarily Creature-based, it is not interested in jamming its Creatures into crowded boards, nor is it aiming for a swift victory in the first turns of the game.
Instead, the deck aims at leveraging on its early game Creatures to reach the late game, when it can either assemble a consistent value engine, or it can start pushing the advantage with a slow, but impactful battleplan. You can easily envision the result as an Aggro deck that plays big instead of fast, meaning that the critical mass of Mana it demands to set its gear in motion is closer to fifteen, rather than five.
While achieving such a notable Mana output is quite easy in other colours, White is not famous for steady and reliable ramping, but it can compensate with other tools at its disposal. As we have noted already, White’s best cards in Commander operate mainly as defensive resources. A shift from its traditional Aggro paradigm of cheap Creatures towards larger, value-filled threats can be easily accommodated not via consistent ramping, but by taking a defensive stance during the first five to ten turns of the game.
As White is extremely proficient in resetting the board, staving off attacks and avoiding unnecessary wastes of resources, a Slow Aggro strategy is shaped not to present a consistent wave of attackers, but to resist the currents and turn the tide only after the other Aggro decks at the table have exhausted their resources. The only thing we need is a consistent and reliable way to shift gears when the time is ripe.
The Flight of Annihilation
I would like to frame the next paragraphs around my Bruna, the Fading Light deck. While it is nowhere near the best White Legendary Creature in the format, I found it quite effective in the leading role of a Slow Aggro strategy. Moreover, the card proportions within the deck are what I would recommend starting from, should you want to try and build a deck like this.
Having to pivot between different play patterns at different stages of the game, a Slow Aggro deck needs to carefully balance its critical components. While traditional Aggro decks can be excused for having north of forty Creatures, Slow Aggro cannot be as indulgent with its picks. Personally, I have quite enjoyed the following rates:
- Roughly fifteen mass removals: while this is way above average, the deck’s plan is to consistently and repeatedly clear the board during the first turns of the games; as the deck is not traditionally Aggro, it can have a hard time catching up with faster decks, so it is crucial to have at least one mass removal in the opening hand
- Three to four spot removals: these mainly complement your board wipes and primarily aim at spot removing problematic permanents; again, the plan is not to Swords to Plowshares any random creature, but to consistently clear the board and only use spot removals for the pesky permanents that just refuse to die
- Six to ten ramp cards: this may be below average, but it is important to bear in mind that the deck is fine taking its time to ensure the opponents have exhausted most of their resources; this deck does not want to get there first as much as it wants to get there eventually; moreover, as the deck’s plan is to consistently clear the board off of problematic permanents, so I strongly recommend to only include ramp cards that either replace themselves, such as Mind Stone, or that increase your Land count, such as Wayfarer’s Bauble
- Ten card advantage cards: these include both card draw spells and tutors; with White being fairly limited in its options, you will likely have to settle for Mind’s Eye and Staff of Nin; don’t forget to also take into consideration the more Mana intensive tutors, such as Ring of Three Wishes and Planar Portal
- Twenty Creatures: these are the essence of your deck and it’s important to make the most of them; more specifically, I recommend splitting them in categories:
- Fifteen to twenty toolbox Creatures: these relatively cheap Creatures feature powerful effect that you may want to reuse throughout the game; their purpose is not to win the game, but to serve as stopgaps for your opponents’ strategies; Angel of Finality is a great example, as it throws a wrench in the gears of Graveyard strategies, while also carrying a very decent body
- Three to five kill switches; these Creatures are supposed to lock critical opponents out of the game, pack a significant punch in terms of raw power or set up a game-winning engine that is sure to win you the game if left unchecked; my favourite examples, here, are Iona, Shield of Emeria, Avacyn, Angel of Hope and Emeria Shepherd
Leading the deck is a primarily value-focused Commander. In my case, Bruna, the Fading Light. She fits the deck’s strategy perfectly, as she can reanimate one of your key Creatures the moment she is cast, even if she gets countered. Additionally, she comes with a very respectable power and toughness combination and she can double down as a kill switch when she melds with Gisela, the Broken Blade.
How to play the deck
The deck’s main play patterns are quite straightforward. The first few turns of the game are expected to focus entirely on containing the opponents’ more problematic plays, as well as setting up for a change of pace in the later turns. At this state of the game, it is not uncommon to focus most efforts on ensuring Land drops are not missed. In all honesty, I have wasted my fair share of Ring of Three Wishes just to find some Plains.
The trick to remember, here, is that the deck actively wants to Hour of Revelation the board every two or three turns, so overextending your board presence with key permanents is rarely a good idea.
Once it has become clear that your opponents have wasted the majority of their resources, the deck can pull the trigger and move to its aggressive phase, either by reanimating key Creatures with Bruna or by hard casting them.
While this may feel like a typical play pattern for control decks, it is worth mentioning that you are not really encouraged to simply deploy a single threat and ride it to victory. Instead, the later turns of the game should be dedicated to a continuous deployment of hard-hitting Creatures. At this stage of the game, having Bruna dying is actually beneficial for the deck’s strategy, as this can result in another reanimation trigger.
Quite intuitively, the deck’s main weaknesses come with its core colour limitations. A White Slow Aggro deck has very little in the way of Counterspells, so reacting to combo decks can be quite challenging. Similarly, most of the deck’s strategy bets on your opponents exhausting their resources through trades that can be advantageous for you. A well timed Cleansing Nova potentially means you are down a card against your opponents’ entire board, but hyper-functional decks like Edric, Spymaster of Trest can simply catch up quite effectively to your mass removals.
Still, the fact that you are even trying to keep up with one of the most powerful Legendary Creatures in the format with your White Aggro deck is worthy of applause.
Moving on with other options
Bruna, the Fading Light is a Commander I have learned to really enjoy and appreciate, thanks to her mix of power, flavour and Tribal prowess. Nevertheless, there is plenty of other options to choose from, should you want to attempt a White Slow Aggro.
Reya Dawnbringer is extremely similar to Bruna herself, trading off her speed of activation for a larger scope. You are not restricted to Angels and Humans in your deck building, but you really need to protect her for an entire turn cycle to make sure she delivers on her powerful ability.
If a focus on Legendary Creatures is what you are looking for, Teshar, Ancestor’s Apostle and Yomiji, Who Bars the Way come with very powerful recursion effects, although they require specific deck choices to take full advantage of their abilities.
Darien, King of Kjeldor is great if you want to focus more on the defensive side of the strategy, although his board-filling ability does not really complement a strategy focused on multiple board wipes.
If you want to safely clear the board and you don’t want to worry about your Commander’s safety, Heliod, God of the Sun and Oketra, the True are absolutely great. Their late-game advantage does not come with Graveyard recursion, but, instead, with a potent Mana sink to steadily refill the board.
As a side note, do not get fooled by Myojin of Cleansing Fire. It is great at clearing the board itself and it plays amazingly in primarily control decks, but its lack of a card advantage or recursion engine means that you will have to leverage on your other cards to setup the counterattack an eight-Mana Commander is expected to deliver.
Finally, I would be at fault if I did not mention Linn Sivvi, Defiant Hero: if all you want is a card advantage engine, she is great at finding Rebels and, of course, Shapeshifters.
On top of these, Akroma, Angel of Wrath and Avacyn, Angel of Hope herself can easily fit Voltron-focused builds, if this is what you are in the mood for.
As always, inspiration in Commander can come from the weirdest cards. Personally, I had never imagined that White could lend itself so well to a satisfying value-oriented strategy. And while I am nowhere near saying that Bruna, the Fading Light is a strong or competitive Legendary Creature, compared to the all-stars of the format, the fact that she can play so interestingly in a Colour that is traditionally neglected has really surprised me.
As always, the best aspect of Commander is that it has something for everyone. The more of it you explore, the more it can surprise you.
Magic: the Managing 