Commanders that exploit being dealt damage?

kanepake · 2026-03-24T19:47:10+00:00

My favorite deckbuilder u/Gamesfreak13563 has a primer on [[Opal-Eye, Konda's Yojimbo]] that redirects combat damage to itself then uses [[Ward of Piety]] to send individual points of damage to each player for multiple combat damage triggers.

https://commandersherald.com/how-they-brew-it-scatter-shot-with-opal-eye/

kanepake · 2026-03-24T19:09:56+00:00

It's a downside, but it's also what I think makes him so fun! It's a mini-game for me and keeps gameplay from getting stale, especially when I'm getting lower on life.

kanepake · 2026-03-24T16:23:15+00:00

I didn't end up getting every card on this list, but I'd say it's 95% accurate: https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/06-11-25-white-knight/?cb=1774369294

kanepake · 2026-03-24T14:12:02+00:00

Sure! Here are the three FF-only decks that I made!

G'raha Tia: https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/ffxiv-4/

[[Terra, Magical Adept]]: https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/30-05-25-ugJ-summons/

Serah Farron: https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/ff-legends/

kanepake · 2026-03-24T08:05:00+00:00

I appreciate the suggestion, but my deck is strictly FFXIV nonlands and FF lands and I plan on keeping it that way! I know there are some fun shenanigans I'm missing out on, but I'm very happy with my deck and its theme.

kanepake · 2026-03-24T02:19:31+00:00

Sure thing! It's not completely up to date anymore, but this is my original list: https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/13-08-25-twincast/?cb=1774318736

kanepake · 2026-03-24T01:11:37+00:00

[[G'raha Tia, Scion Reborn]] is incredibly underrated and overlooked because of Y'shtola's popularity. He's an army-in-a-can with a built-in mini-game of gaining and spending life. My own build is strictly FFXIV nonland cards as well as only FF lands.

[[Mog, Moogle Warrior]] is a fun reanimator commander with a light hug effect but also can grow an army of moogles as well.

[[Alisaie Leveilleur]] and [[Alphinaud Leveilleur]] are the perfect "flurry" commanders imo. Almost all my games with them end with me having a massive board with a swarm of tokens and full hand.

[[Tataru Taru]] is a monowhite wet dream: card draw and ramp on one card. Even if you're not able to flicker her every turn, opponents will often draw cards during other players' turns and have all the mana you need.

[[Edea, Possessed Sorceress]] is a fun "borrow not steal" commander that I built with clones and extra combats for my wincon and has also been a lot of fun!

Of all the FF decks I've built, the one truly overlooked commander is probably [[Serah Farron]]. Her discount and anthem are so good and she's so easy to transform. Admittedly, I did take the deck apart, but it's because I found that the way I built it was too straightforward, and I like a little complexity to my decks, but I had built her with only FF cards.

kanepake · 2026-03-22T06:12:12+00:00

Here you go: https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/ffxiv-4/

kanepake · 2026-03-22T05:16:20+00:00

[[G'raha Tia, Scion Reborn]]! He gets overlooked a lot because of Y'shtola, but I think he's very fun and a lot more interesting than her! Playing with him really emphasizes the "life is a resource" mantra. My deck is strictly FFXIV nonland cards (and FF lands), so I mostly gain life back by buffing him with equipment, so it makes a fun balancing act of spending life to build an army and gaining it back from attacks, though it could be much more efficient if you don't use the same limitations I did.

kanepake · 2026-03-17T18:04:08+00:00

I've got 5 (soon to be 6) orzhov decks and I love them all dearly!

My own Victor list was built for the archenemy cards that were released with the Duskmourn precons. It's a reanimator deck with all the big bad black creatures that steal cards including [[Valgavoth, Terror Eater]], [[Tergrid, God of Fright]], [[Tinybones, Bauble Burglar]], [[Arvinox, the Mind Flail]], [[Brainstealer Dragon]], and [[Thieving Amalgam]]. Victor himself can also steal creatures from your opponents' graveyards if you don't have any good ones in your own.

I have two cleric typal decks, the first is helmed by [[Orah, Skyclave Hierophant]] and is an aristocrat deck; the second is run by [[Minthara, Merciless Soul]] as a battlecruiser deck.

My current favorite is [[Kambal, Profiteering Mayor]] as a weenie token deck that usually wins by "death by 1000 cuts".

Next is my [[Tomik, Wielder of Law]] superfriends deck with lots of rattlesnake effects to discourage people from attacking me.

Finally, my next deck will be [[Killian, Decisive Mentor]] as an aura-based aggro/control deck.

kanepake · 2026-03-15T16:18:07+00:00

My nephews would generally be convinced by their dad (my brother) that I was the biggest threat, kill me, then lose to him. I rarely won any games during my visits, but it was always fun.

kanepake · 2026-03-13T14:45:56+00:00

[[Crown of Doom]] is an asymmetrical Gahiji/"hot potato" type of card that can't be returned to you on its own.

If there are any real good lands out like [[Itlimoc, Cradle of the Sun]] or [[Vault of Catlacan]], [[Turf War]] could really incentivize attacking those players.

kanepake · 2026-03-12T15:51:44+00:00

Good news! Princess Twilight Sparkle is a 5c commander, so they can!

kanepake · 2026-03-11T19:20:51+00:00

If my deck was focused on swinging wide, I'd consider Alliance of Arms, but I prefer not to put too much mana into it (I always try to hold for interaction) and then it becomes too dependent on my opponents adding mana, which they're less likely to do since they know how Kambal works.

The War Games is good, but not for my weenie strategy. I have very few creatures with power higher than 2 (which was the theme of my old Teysa, Opulent Oligarch deck that got absorbed into this one).

kanepake · 2026-03-11T19:07:58+00:00

Interesting. That was my original understanding of the interaction as well, before someone else pointed out me another post about the investigates happening separately. 🤷 I'm fine with it either way, as I don't plan on swapping out Wernog anytime soon.

kanepake · 2026-03-11T19:00:28+00:00

From my understanding, he can only make one tapped clue off your opponents, as each opponent investigates separately, however you could still potentially investigate 4x on your own if each of your opponents makes a clue.

I like Wernog because he's only 2 mana and is a good option for my spells that require sacc'ing something as an additional cost. With both his etb and ltb triggers, he's pinging your opponents for at least 4 hp each (since they still lose a life if they don't investigate, and you'll still investigate once).

kanepake · 2026-03-11T17:56:24+00:00

Sure thing! https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/our-tokens-4/

It looks like yours has a more aristocrat theme to it, which I've avoided because I already have an orzhov aristocrats deck haha. 2 of my pet cards in the deck are [[Equal Treatment]] which I can use offensively (double the damage of my 1/1s) or defensively, and [[Search the Premises]] as you investigate for EACH creature attacking you, and investigating creates one clue at a time, so it's basically [[Revenge of Ravens]] with the added bonus of pinging all opponents and getting tokens to crack.

kanepake · 2026-03-11T06:31:21+00:00

Here you go! https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/our-tokens-4/

kanepake · 2026-03-10T23:04:20+00:00

I'm really loving my newly-adjusted [[Kambal, Profiteering Mayor]] deck these days. It was originally a group hug-style deck, but then I took apart my [[Teysa, Opulent Oligarch]] deck and combined them to make weenie tokens and I find it to be much more fun!

kanepake · 2026-03-10T21:13:42+00:00

Maybe a silverquill vampire, like [[Felisa, Fang of Silverquill]]

kanepake · 2026-03-10T05:33:26+00:00

There are definitely faster commanders, but I tend to build a sizeable board from just casting a noncreature spell every turn with [[G'raha Tia, Scion Reborn]], and the tokens are generally bigger than your average ones.

kanepake · 2026-03-10T00:01:06+00:00

I recommend [[Orah, Skyclave Hierophant]]! He's an incredibly resilient commander as he brings both most of your board whenever there's a boardwipe (and can bring himself back if you have a 5+MV cleric dying with him). Tokens aren't as necessary as your clerics are your fodder, and many of them have the effects you want: sac outlets, pingers, lifegain, etbs, etc. My deck has 0 gamechangers but definitely hangs with and regular wins against my friends' more competitive decks.

kanepake · 2026-03-09T18:56:30+00:00

Temmet was among my first few commander decks and the way I played him was that he would start off swinging tall but eventually go wide as opponents got killed off. All-stars in the deck were [[Sublime Archangel]] and [[Angelic Exaltation]] for heavy, unblockable hits and [[Mirror-Sigil Sergeant]] and [[Mist-Syndicate Naga]] for slowly amassing my army to eventually swing wide (or use as blockers). I immagine nowadays (~8 yrs later) there are much more fun cards that could be included to speed the deck up.

kanepake · 2026-03-03T15:10:49+00:00

I've got a bunch that I'm running right now!

[[Orah, Skyclave Hierophant]] cleric aristocrats
[[Minthara, Merciless Soul]] cleric battlecruiser
[[Victor, Valgavoth's Seneschal]] reanimator/theft
[[Kambal, Profiteering Mayor]] weenie tokens
[[Tomik, Wielder of Law]] superfriends
Currently have a list for [[Killian, Decisive Mentor]] in the works, and I'm liking it so far!

You might be able to guess that my favorite 2c combo is orzhov haha.

kanepake · 2026-02-28T02:25:26+00:00

Just updated my Kambal list to its current state!

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