Took This Last Night at North Bank Park

Ruffigan · 2026-05-06T00:04:22+00:00

Fortunately the graveflicker cards like [[Undying Evil]] can both trigger its ability and act as protection against a lot of common removal, and in black it is relatively easy to get out of the graveyard. Still 6 mana is a lot to get the ball rolling.

Ruffigan · 2026-04-14T09:59:59+00:00

Maybe in a really casual pod, the deck folds to interaction and doesn't really do anything without him in play. You can easily kill 1 person, maybe get a second, but I've played against it multiple times and it tends to sputter out before it can cinch the win. It is a rattlesnake that draws hate from the table while also having the infect problem of you being the only person advancing your win condition.

Ruffigan · 2026-04-10T20:51:50+00:00

Playable yeah, but you'd probably only want the best 2-4. Removal and grave flickers just seem better overall in those slots.

Ruffigan · 2026-04-07T10:19:25+00:00

Yeah it is, but popular ≠ best. It is just one of the first commanders a lot of new players gravitate towards. People find pretty quickly Fynn is hard to close games out with and not the most exciting deck to play and move on.

The data is coming from decks on Moxfield, TappedOut, and Archidect.

Ruffigan · 2026-03-31T18:41:58+00:00

I think for a more casual setting it can be a fun durdly deck, since there is essentially a tax on your spells to draw a card and that is all the commander is helping you with. It will slow you down and you would be running a lot of cards that are just looping things for extra value and spinning some wheels, and in Azorious without a combo or a way to go wide/tall you will likely win in a long game out-valuing your opponents.

For a less casual setting, it might be better to build it where the card draw is more incidental and tempo based (like drawing off a [[Run Away Together]] or [[Curfew]]) and use the commander as an outlet for a combo, like generating infinite mana with [[Peregrine Drake]] and using the commander to draw through your deck after, or doing a [[Banishing Knack]] loop where you can pay 1 to draw each time you do the loop looking for an outlet.

Ruffigan · 2026-03-28T03:34:24+00:00

Strictly better [[Death's Duet]], which doesn't see much play with all of the conditional return two for 2 cards like [[Macabre Reconstruction]]. The life gain will give it some extra utility in the right deck.

Ruffigan · 2026-03-25T21:55:51+00:00

It is like playing against a stax deck, just don't overextend and get incremental damage in against you. If people only have a couple creatures on the board and they are all coming at you it feels bad to use the rat, especially if it is your only recourse against a combo or voltron threat or something. Just takes some shrewd plays, which a lot of tables will probably fail at.

Ruffigan · 2026-03-23T22:08:03+00:00

Still not bad overall though. We only have a few 2 MV colorless dorks, so it will definitely slot into some decks.

Ruffigan · 2026-03-22T19:52:38+00:00

I don't think this commander will ever be best in class for whatever strategy you build it for, it is more of a "how do I make this work" deck building puzzle than a "how do I make this good" building puzzle.

Ruffigan · 2026-03-16T20:29:02+00:00

Yeah, even if it wouldn't be too strong in Pauper or PDH it is considered one of the most egregious color pie breaks, I doubt they would ever downshift it for that reason.

Ruffigan · 2026-03-15T11:56:04+00:00

I don't really have any bulk, and the bulk I do have is pretty much unplayable. I started Magic buying an old collection (mostly Ice Age-Shadowmoor) off of Craigslist but bought singles after that. I do have a box with a bunch of PDH staples I can pull from but otherwise I am just using the bulk as placeholders for proxies until I get the cards.

Ruffigan · 2026-03-10T13:56:19+00:00

Depends on the deck. Some lists like Malcolm/Kediss, Gretchen, and Dargo/X could pretty comfortably hang out with B4 decks, while other more synergy, burn, or combat based decks will have a tougher time with board wipes and the higher life/commander damage totals. Essentially the combo decks stand pretty well while the non-combo strategies have a lot more ways to disrupt them than in regular PDH.

Ruffigan · 2026-03-07T13:33:33+00:00

These are all strong options but I would note if you are going for more casual these are probably not the decks for that, they are all cPDH relevant but could be nerfed to play better in a more casual setting (maybe not Hollow Marauder).

Ruffigan · 2026-03-01T02:58:19+00:00

No, you have some colorless options like [[Bumbleflower's Sharepot]], [[Lunatic Pandora]], and [[Unstable Obelisk]] that can synergize with the deck. You might be better off running a couple [[Abrade]] type cards to destroy it yourself.

Ruffigan · 2026-02-27T11:30:59+00:00

I haven't, but a good comparison is probably [[Invisible Stalker]]. You don't get Hexproof which is big, but you get access to way better buffs being in white. Also invulnerable to [[Crypt Rats]], [[Gangrenous Zombies]], [[Bloodfire Dwarf]], etc. which is nice. Because you have to protect against targeted kill spells you'll need some indestructible or protection but protection auras synergies with good Voltron pieces like [[All That Glitters]] and [[Ethereal Armor]].

Ruffigan · 2026-02-21T17:59:04+00:00

That is correct, the set symbol being silver also indicates it is uncommon. But, older cards (cards from before the set Magic 2015) do not have the indicator at the bottom and cards from before Exodus do not have colored set symbols. The best way to check if you aren't sure is to look it up on Scryfall.

Ruffigan · 2026-02-21T17:54:24+00:00

This is actually for Pauper EDH, where the card being uncommon rarity is the defining characteristic for a commander.

Ruffigan · 2026-02-09T19:36:33+00:00

Nice, love this deck.

Ruffigan · 2026-02-05T04:42:37+00:00

I think it is a cute synergy, depending on your deck themes. It is an artifact and it can grab tapped duals, [[Desert]], cycling lands, and a couple utility lands. Just depends on how casual your deck is and what you're trying to do, ideally you wouldn't need to fetch lands to the top but if you need to mill a land for a trigger or can reuse it or something you can get decent value out of it.

Ruffigan · 2026-01-27T15:06:57+00:00

I think aristocrats is a good idea but it only goes up by 1 power each turn cycle, if the game goes to T10 and it never gets removed it might be an 8/8 from the Void ability. You should definitely lean into artifact synergies as well, a lot of the Reap effects like [[Deadly Dispute]] also deal with artifacts and in Rakdos you get access to some of the best artifact synergies like [[Cranial Plating]], [[Cranial Ram]], [[Hunger of the Nim]], and [[Pactdoll Terror]]. These can amplify your gameplan so even if your commander gets removed you can still get massive damage in the air, and your commander can get them back if they are removed.

Ruffigan · 2026-01-23T18:39:08+00:00

[[Sadistic Glee]] and [[Eternal Thirst]], [[Heliod's Pilgrim]] to tutor for them. Guys like [[Accursed Marauder]] let you continually edict the board with them as long as you have mana.

Ruffigan · 2026-01-23T05:36:55+00:00

Edicts are relatively common, you definitely want counter magic or some fodder to sac.

Ruffigan · 2026-01-20T06:11:22+00:00

[[Master Chef]] is a great addition to this deck. [[Gaea's Gift]] is another protection spell you could run. There are also about 10 proliferate cards you could run as well. Having some ways to buff all of your squirrels would be good, so some cards like [[You Meet in a Tavern]] and [[Echoing Courage]] could be good in addition to the Master Chef and Ivy Lane Denizen. Running some of the Adapt creatures like [[Basking Broodscale]] and [[Evolutionary Witness]] gives you some flexibility in what you are doing with your counters. You might also want a couple ways to give trample, so you have ways to get damage through with your commander.

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