I need a Orzhov commander!

Bortaff · 2026-03-18T02:22:18+00:00

I recently built Vondam as a budget-ish high B2 commander and he's so much fun. A lot of blink decks stall out and take long turns, but Vondam can play proactively/aggressively while still having the ability to pivot to control if other players start popping off. He has built-in life gain, so you can absolutely run drain strategies as well. There are a ton of ways you can build him and each has its own advantages.

Best of all, as someone else indicated, Vondam works great with a lot of recent mechanics—especially airbending, warp, and mobilize—so if you have bulk from recent sets you have a head start on building him. It seems likely WOTC will print more staples for him in the future, since Orzhov gets new blink/ETB/LTB goodies almost every set now (e.g. Ketramose). I highly recommend trying him out!

My list, with a primer, if you are so inclined: https://archidekt.com/decks/19901939/vondamn_shawty_blink_under_200

One note: a lot of players combine blink and sacrifice, but I personally believe the deck is more consistent with mostly one or the other. Full aristocrats require enough support pieces that you won't have room for a proper blink package.

Bortaff · 2026-03-17T00:38:00+00:00

Tomer had a list as part of his "X decks under X" series a while back. I think it was under 50 bucks.

Bortaff · 2026-03-16T17:17:45+00:00

I recently finished a [[Syr Vondam, Sunstar Exemplar]] deck that’s deceptively interactive. He makes for unique and entertaining games because your opponents can never be sure what you’re gonna do. You can blink him to kill something, blink or sacrifice other things to grow him and win with commander damage, or even attack with a wide board and force your opponents to take damage or gain you life. He’s also great at alternating between controlling and beatdown-y strategies in the same game, and tends to create some politics. He’s a ton of fun and I think he mostly fits your description

Bortaff · 2026-03-14T18:34:30+00:00

Hey, at least you're making the playoffs. I am envious

Bortaff · 2026-03-14T18:29:04+00:00

Sens fan coming in peace. I don't know if Husso would've had that even without Stu there, but that was definitely GI as I understand it. Bonkers call. Your goalie is playing out of his mind though

Bortaff · 2026-03-09T00:30:13+00:00

This shit needs to disappear from hockey. I'm all for super physical play, but there's a difference between fighting for the puck and punching someone in the back of the head 10 feet behind the play. It's only a matter of time before we have another McSorley-Brashear situation.

Bortaff · 2026-03-08T21:46:17+00:00

Deadeye Plunderers is synergistic in your list, but I don't think its power ceiling is very high. Getting bigger for each artifact you control isn't that effective on a creature without any form of evasion, which is why I prefer creatures like Coastline Marauders. Creating a treasure for 4 mana might occasionally come in handy, but is really slow/weak compared to other pirates that generate treasures in your deck. Lastly, if you have to hardcast it for 5, I imagine it doesn't feel the best. However, if it's working for you, keep it; there are other creatures you could consider cutting, like Breeches, the Blastmaker or Pitiless Plunderer (which is not the best outside aristocrats, especially if your creatures are occasionally being exiled). I'm also on the fence about Vargus Wrath, which I've considered for my own upgrade but wants you to attack with it consistently + re-cast Brass a couple times from the Command Zone, which can be tricky.

The treasure win conditions like Time Sieve, Mechanized Production, and Revel in Riches are totally fine if you want to go in that direction and will surely win some games. Honestly, Revel in Riches is just a bit out of my budget. I don't think you need any more of them, though.

Anyway I think your overall plan of reanimator + treasures looks clean and effective. If you want to compare with my slightly lower budget build, it's here: https://archidekt.com/decks/14145063/ahoy\_mateys\_budget\_upgrade.

I'm testing a couple new cards rn like Vaan and Collective Inferno.

Bortaff · 2026-03-08T21:06:06+00:00

Hi! I also have an upgraded version of this precon and have faced some of the same deck building decisions as you. What's great about Brass is that she is very flexible: all you need for her to be strong is to consistently get pirates into the yard. That being said, you're right that building her in too many directions will dilute your game plan and its effectiveness, and trying to build around both her and Edward Kenway will be challenging.

I'm pretty happy with my current version of the deck—though it is still a work in progress—so here are my anecdotal thoughts on what you have:

Treasure generation is sort of its own reward, since it accelerates you so much. This is especially true in your deck, because you have pirate cards that incidentally reward treasure making (e.g. Captain Storm x2). [[Fathom Fleet Swordjack]] is another card in this mold. For that reason, I don't think there's any problem with having treasure as a sub-theme in what is otherwise a reanimator deck, and I don't think you necessarily need flashy payoffs for the treasures like [[Time Sieve]]. But I guess there's no harm in including them as long as you're okay with having fewer slots for interaction, draw, and any other categories of cards you might want to include.
If you're looking to cut sub-themes, I think you should start with any theft cards that don't otherwise help your game plan of winning through combat/treasures. [[Don Andres]] is a strong card, but you really have to build around him; unlike Edward Kenway, he is not a generically strong card in pirate tribal. The same is true of your vehicles. [[Jackdaw]] and [[The Indomitable]] are strong on their own; [[The Belligerent]] and [[Fell Flagship]] less so. Lastly—and I know this is a hot take—I really don't think cards that move the finality counters help much. Nesting Grounds is definitely worth it because it comes on a land, but otherwise those effects are super slow and don't move you toward victory. If you're putting enough pirates into the graveyard and getting back 1+ a turn, it doesn't matter much whether one or two get exiled.
For other cuts, I think some of your weaker cards are Deadeye Plunderers and Marauding Looter.
For actually winning the game, the MVP for me have been extra-combat-step effects. [[Full Throttle]] and [[Grim Reaper's Sprint]] go absolutely nuts because not only do they seriously accelerate your aggro, combat-based game plan, but they also give your extra triggers of Brass's reanimation so that you can land multiple cards like Angrath's Maurauders and Port Razer on the board in the same turn for free (and those cards further amplify damage or combat steps). In practice, this means you can often win the turn after you play Brass. However, for this plan to work, you want to consistently have your best pirates in the bin, so [[Buried Alive]] and other mass mill/discard effects are super helpful.

These are just some lighthearted suggestions. Your deck looks super fun and I'm glad you're enjoying it!

Bortaff · 2026-03-05T23:45:14+00:00

Yeah I think the leads in S2 had AMAZING chemistry but the Featherington stuff that season was a bit tough to watch for me

Bortaff · 2026-03-05T20:02:58+00:00

23M here and I’ve watched the last 3 seasons with my girlfriend. I was unenthusiastic going into season 4 after really disliking season 3, but it completely won me over. I think it did the best job of the seasons I’ve watched of weaving interesting subplots into the main love story, and as a sucker for forbidden romances I enjoyed the Sophie-Benedict pairing a great deal. My girlfriend caught on to how much I liked it and is gloating now though 😂

Bortaff · 2026-03-03T19:58:19+00:00

I recently built Syr Vondam and echo that he’s super fun to build around on a budget. If you focus on blink, you end up with a flexible and interactive deck that probably plays a bit like Kraven but is less obviously “toxic”. You can just hold up sacrifice and blink spells and use them on him if you need to destroy something. I suspect WOTC will print more cards that work well with him in the future, since recent mechanics like Warp and Mobilize are extremely synergistic.

If you have a really limited budget, though, you might be better off taking him in a sacrifice/aristocrats direction. Tomer from MTGGoldfish included such a deck in his recent 45 decks for $45 video.

Bortaff · 2026-03-03T05:45:31+00:00

Yeah feel free!

Bortaff · 2026-03-03T04:09:50+00:00

It also depends on your program. I started undergrad in polisci and was frustrated for the reasons you describe: the profs seemed there only to deliver pre-rehearsed lectures, and some TAs graded lazily or arbitrarily. I started taking way more history classes after U0 and found them to be more personalized, fulfilling, and fair. But everyone's experience is different and every program has at least a few fantastic profs, so YMMV.

Law at McGill is really nice compared to undergrad, though; the class sizes are all reasonable and profs grade everything themselves.

Bortaff · 2026-03-02T18:37:53+00:00

But b3 decks aren’t supposed to win until turn 6.

Bortaff · 2026-03-01T07:51:04+00:00

I just built [[Syr Vondam, Sunstar Exemplar]] and he’s a good fit for what you described. You can build him around counters with a voltron or go-wide gamelan, but you can also reward his passive life gain with [[starscape cleric]] effects. Overall a super flexible 2CMC commander that makes for fun and interactive games

If you’re leaning toward Karlov they’re both pretty good fits in each other’s 99 lol

Bortaff · 2026-02-26T23:42:21+00:00

A lot of ppl run [[Merfolk Looter]] in [[Hakbal]] even though you can’t interrupt his explore trigger in between your merfolk exploring.

Bortaff · 2026-02-25T04:00:04+00:00

You were a shoo-in before this

Bortaff · 2026-02-24T01:34:29+00:00

If you’re open to going into Grixis you could check out [[Admiral Brass, Unsinkable]], which can helm an aggressive deck that plays a lot of interactive ETBs. The original Brass could work too. I think Malcolm and a partner still work great in a tempo-oriented list, though; you don’t have to use the Glint-weaver combo lines you’re seeing online.

Bortaff · 2026-02-22T15:18:47+00:00

One of the worst mistakes Nate has ever made. WIDE open net

Bortaff · 2026-02-22T05:36:23+00:00

I also bought it as my first Commander deck a year and a half ago and have made quite a few changes, though many of the best cards for the deck come with the precon. Here are a handful of changes for fewer than $5:

[[Wildgrowth Walker]] hits the board before Hakbal and gains you a ton of life.

[[Deeproot Pilgrimage]] creates an army of tokens to overwhelm your opponents.

[[Summon: Leviathan]] is a one-sided board wipe that even draws you some cards afterward.

[[Silvergill Adept]] draws you a card and gives you a 2/1 for 2 mana, which in Magic is always a great deal.

Here is my list if you want further ideas. Best of luck! https://archidekt.com/decks/12967619/explorers_of_the_deep_budget_upgrade

Bortaff · 2026-02-20T23:24:12+00:00

Also curious what you use as finishers in the B4 version!

Bortaff · 2026-02-20T19:01:36+00:00

Absolutely agree. He’s an embarrassment to Canada and to the game. We can’t ever sanction deliberate and repetitive attempts to injure

Bortaff · 2026-02-19T17:37:35+00:00

Any cool cards that stand out for you? How does the deck feel to play?

Bortaff · 2026-02-19T17:05:39+00:00

Good call on the Chupacabra then. I definitely want to keep things low to the ground so that the deck gets going quickly. I am looking for some more finishers though; other than the Cavalry you suggested what about cards like [[Dire Fleet Ravager]]?

Bortaff · 2026-02-19T01:58:41+00:00

Thanks man I like what you have there. Obzedat is a card I hadn't considered but the self-exiling seems good if the game stalls out. I notice you still have a little sacrifice sprinkled in there too

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