How To Build A 5 Color Mna Base
We're now replete with details on the Secret Lair product the folks at Wizards take been teasing for a bit. Long story short, if yous're into alt-art promo cards, this product might be for you lot—and yous can check all the cards out here. Personally, I'm partial to the Bitterblossom, the Dredge cards, and, most particularly, DXTR'southward art for Serum Visions.
If you're a fan of five-color Commander decks, though, you lot might want to sign up for the "Kaleidoscope Killers" drop on December eighth, which includes foil alternating art copies of The Ur-Dragon, Sliver Overlord, and Reaper Rex. If y'all're already running i of these cards as your Commander, well, y'all're in adept company. If you don't already have a 5-color deck built and are looking to get one rolling, I've got a step-by-pace process for you lot to follow.
This process should work for any upkeep. To prove that, I'll be building a deck along with this process and keeping the cost beneath $100 equally a challenge! (Prices based off ChannelFireball prices at the time I wrote this. As always with my budget articles, prices and availability may have changed by the fourth dimension this gets published, and so keep that in mind.)
Why look? Let's go started!
Stride 1: Pick a Commander (and a Theme)
You might think that you don't have tons of options for Commanders here. Luckily, you'd be wrong! Every bit of this writing, in that location are 24 options for Commanders with 5-color identities. Allow's talk nigh them and their themes.
Slivers
Yes, that's right—you have 5 choices for Sliver Commander decks. If I had to choose (I've been pretty clear in the past that I don't personally savour Sliver decks), I'd pick The First Sliver considering pour is a fun mechanic, or perhaps Sliver Queen with only Tempest cake Slivers. That said, Sliver Overlord seems to exist the about pop choice overall due to the tutoring effect.
Dragons
Scion used to be the most prevalent Dragon Commander, simply and so The Ur-Dragon showed up in Commander 2017 and unseated information technology. Between its eminence discount and the trigger that gives you cards, and the ability to cheat out even so more Dragons (or other permanents, but realistically, Dragons) its ability level is quite high.
Other Tribal
Of course, there are a few other tribal options available. Warriors, Allies, Scarecrows, Elementals, and (inexplicably) Atogs are all on the table, but if you prefer something not represented here, Morophon can assist you with whatever choice you adopt. Then tin Karona, but she'southward a chip treacherous.
Everything Else
The residuum are a little less unified. Jodah is currently the most popular 5-color Commander and 7th most popular Commander overall (according to EDHRec) thanks to his congenital-in Fist of Suns ability which pushes decks featuring him toward high-cost, difficult-to-cast spells. Golos uses a land theme and often features Maze'south Finish or Nighttime Depths as vehicles for victory. Ramos and Niv-Mizzet both lean on multicolored cards in different ways, with Ramos preferring more colors and Niv-Mizzet looking for color pairs. Sisay wants yous to fill your deck with legendary cards across all colors. After that, we get into the "good stuff" Commanders that can prop upwards whatever 5-colour strategy y'all're interested in.
Of course, any of these commanders can adapt to whatever 5-color strategy on some level. That beingness said, you should accept your time and pick the one you lot similar the all-time!
I'm going to build a deck aslope this walkthrough as an case. I don't think always building around Sisay, Weatherlight Helm, which is a shame because she's one of my favorite storyline characters. I have built Captain Sisay Commander decks too as casual decks in the past, then I'm familiar with the overall legend theme, but I'd beloved to finally apply it to a 5-color Commander deck.
Step two: Zoning, Function 1
When I say "zoning," I'yard thinking about classic SimCity, where you placed Residential, Commercial, and Industrial zones to aggrandize your city. A lot of piece of work went into my SNES file for SimCity (aye, for some reason, I had it on SNES rather than PC) in terms of optimizing the balance between those zones and figuring out where to put them in pursuit of unlocking that special Mario statue while fugitive Bowser attacks. (Yeah, Bowser replaced the Godzilla attack in the SNES version.)
When building Commander decks, I think the concept of zoning translates over. How many lands volition you put in your deck? How many mana rocks will make the cut? Making these decisions before putting your favorite cards in the deck tin can be actually helpful for maintaining a disciplined arroyo to your mana base. Information technology's so tempting to "just cut a land" as you make your way from 110 cards down to the perfect 100, and the only thing that'll exercise down the line is make you lot frustrated as you find yourself defective mana in the mid-to-late game. It's peculiarly of import in 5-colour decks, where that one state can be the divergence between a card being cast or rotting in your hand due to color restrictions.
So, think well-nigh your game plan. Does your commander want to be cast on plow 5, and if so, how is that going to happen? How hard do yous desire to ramp in the early turns? How important is it to have access to WUBRG early on? How much land do you want in your opener on average? This is a good question for the hypergeometric computer, and nosotros'll be leaning on that pretty heavily. If you lot're non familiar with the tool, hither's Frank Karsten'southward tutorial on the subject field. Don't worry, information technology's non equally complicated as it sounds.
In a v-color deck, I think consistency is very important. With that in mind I'm inclined to run some boosted mana sources. This could mean running more than the usual 37-38 land, or it could mean putting some boosted Rampant Growth furnishings and mana rocks in the deck. It really depends on what your deck wants to do and what turns are critical for yous.
For Sisay, I'd like to brand certain my lands allow me to cast Sisay on turn 3 reliably and then I tin can threaten some early activation while people are more interested in developing their boards than casting removal spells. With 36 lands in my deck, I have about a 78% run a risk of drawing three lands by plow 3, which is proficient plenty for me. (Here I'one thousand sort of mentally making all my lands into Cities of Brass because otherwise the trouble gets too complex for me.) If I were trying to reliably cast a larger commander on curve, I'd likely adjust this number up. The one free mulligan obviously helps here, then brand sure you're using that to shine out your draws when mana isn't plentiful! Otherwise, in a deck like this, one out of v games is going to interruption pretty bad.
I'd like to take five mana sources in total available past turn 5, whether they're lands, mana rocks, Rampant Growth effects, or whatsoever. That way, I'm fairly likely to be able to activate Sisay on turn five reliably if I've kept her in play. Referring again to the hypergeometric calculator, I know that if I run 48 total mana sources in my deck, I'll have about a 79% chance of making that happen. Again, with mulligans all the same to factor into this math, that seems adept.
Patently this doesn't factor in lands that enter tapped. Those will certainly slow things down, so go along that in heed if the deck doesn't perform how yous expect. Also proceed in mind that information technology'south near on impossible to play plenty games of Commander to approach a statistically significant sample size, then if your deck isn't doing what the math says it should, check your math instead of reactively cutting or adding lands. I watch people do this at local drafts fairly frequently and information technology causes me some serious ache on their behalf.
Now that we've set bated room for our lands and overall mana sources, it'southward time to move on to the side by side step.
Step 3: Mana Base of operations, Role one
So it'south time to start grabbing all of those lands and mana rocks, correct? Well, non so fast. We still but know what our commander costs, so let's non get also hasty hither. We can grab a few to get started, only nosotros tin can't make the whole mana base yet.
If you're lucky enough to have a full set of ABUR duals lying around, certain, grab those. Similarly, if you're the kind of person that tin can simply toss a set up of the ten fetchlands into your deck, get right ahead. More realistically, take hold of your set of shocklands and commencement there.
If none of that is available to you lot, don't worry—you can still build a five-color mana base. Here's where I'd beginning—and every bit a proof of concept, I'll apply this every bit the ground for the Sisay deck.
None of these lands cost more than two dollars, and some are available for equally little as 15 cents. This volition give you a respectable start to any v-colour Commander deck, so if you're looking for a solid foundation, attain for this outsized baker's dozen of land cards.
You'll need more lands than this to get your deck going, but without knowing more about your deck'due south color balance, information technology'south hard to be certain which ones are appropriate. That's why we're not building out much farther quite all the same.
This is, however, a good time to grab your flexible mana rocks. Hither, I'm thinking 5-color mana rocks that can exist used to shore up holes in whatever group of lands you lot happen to depict in a given game. Apparently there'due south a broad range of these—cards like Chromatic Lantern and Coalition Relic come up to mind—but I'll exist doing my best to stay on the cheaper side of these. These four will go in the Sisay deck:
Again, none of these cost more than two dollars, with some ranging downwards to 25 cents. If you lot've got more than powerful cards available, evidently it's reasonable to slot those in equally well every bit or instead of some of these, only the proof of concept remains.
Other forms of ramp can too be slotted in at present if they're flexible enough. In this case, I retrieve we can make full up the 8 remaining slots for nonland mana production with some creatures and sorceries. If y'all can do that with cards that tin can access any color of mana, I don't see an issue with locking things in at this point. It gives you confidence in your mana base going forrad, which is prissy. Here are the cards I've chosen to fill these slots for Sisay:
Nosotros've at present filled all 12 nonland mana production slots we zoned for equally well equally xiv state slots and our commander, and nosotros've spent only $21.03 on those 7 cards. That's an impressive feat and a actually adept sign going forward! At this betoken, we should be looking at our cards and noticing that every menu is either colorless or at least partially green. When building a mana base on the cheap, that's a common theme, and while we talked almost nongreen ramp in my terminal article, we'll be leaning heavily on green here.
Stride iv: Zoning, Part 2
State isn't the merely thing worth zoning. Information technology'south fourth dimension to make sure we fit some primal cards into our deck that cover some different angles. Let'southward outset with some cards that we absolutely accept to take—the ones that, aslope our commander, brand our deck run. But put, we're slotting in our cardinal threats. Later on doing a little research, I've decided to starting time off with a Top 8 in classic Magic style, as that seems to be about the correct number of powerful threats to start with.
Dominaria has come out to play, with a little help from Kethis. These cards all play extremely well with our legendary theme, and with that in mind, they're must-haves in our plan. They're reasonably cheap, allowing the states to stay inside our upkeep, and they're also extremely powerful. Jhoira, Tatyova, and Weatherlight all provide card advantage over time, with Primevals' Glorious Rebirth and Kamahl'south Druidic Vow giving a burst of permanents. Arvad and Blackblade Reforged are both key pieces in strengthening Sisay's activated ability, and Kethis? Kethis is just adept all over between price reduction and recursion.
It would be actually easy to keep edifice out the powerful proactive cards from here. Unfortunately, that would go out us without a lot of the defensive pieces decks need. Let's showtime with one of the most oft-neglected categories: graveyard hate! This is a category where I tend to ignore research, because I think most people undercommit hither, and put four pieces of graveyard hate in no matter what.
These iv cards all help us attack opponents' graveyards without compromising our own—and we'll need our own for Kethis and Primevals' Glorious Rebirth. Ashiok also attacks searching and can randomly pull some cardinal cards out of an opponent's plan. Anafenza, well, attacks for real, and Kaya's Guile is really flexible. Tormod'due south Crypt gets a slot by virtue of beingness Historic and costing 0.
Allow's move on to another category: removal. Some assay of other social Commander lists for Sisay suggests that virtually eight pieces of removal would be a reasonable delivery. Let's try these:
This is a solid grouping of removal spells—some are global, some are flexible betwixt permanent types, some exile the targeted permanents, and all are reasonably costed. Urza'south Ruinous Boom is the obvious headliner equally information technology leaves legendary permanents behind, but keep in listen that doesn't but mean your ain.
Since we accept access to blue, let's round out our commitment to defensive cards with some countermagic. I remember not tossing a couple pieces of countermagic into a v-colour deck is a error simply because players will start to worry about it afterwards they see ane—and if, after a few games, you never have it, your playgroup will exploit that weakness. I don't see a lot of countermagic in Sisay lists, so permit'southward toss two pieces in:
It's usually noncreature spells that we'll be looking to counter, as we take plenty of other ways to handle creatures. With that in mind, these two were selected due to their mana efficiency and the ease of casting them with nearly any blazon of mana available—the only requirement is that unmarried blue.
Footstep 5: Fill Out Nonlands
Let'southward review where we are at this point. We've selected our commander and 49 other cards—35 nonlands and 14 lands—and spent $55.34. Another 22 slots are already locked in for lands, meaning nosotros have 28 slots left to fill in the nonland category. Looking at the deck list, we're a petty light on creatures at the moment. Specifically, we take nine, and some, like Sakura-Tribe Elder, aren't really built to battle. Since we've locked in a lot of of import spells, I'd like to dedicate 15 more slots to creatures to go u.s. upwardly to a respectable 24. Nosotros might end up with more than, but I desire to set up a reasonable count merely in instance we detect a ton of noncreature spells we absolutely demand. Permit'southward kickoff with some creatures that practice similar to attack!
These creatures are all about attacking in some way—they're big, they're evasive, or they provide some tokens to swing with. Some, like Raff Capashen and Surrak Dragonclaw, provide some additional reward, while others like Tahngarth are just available at a decent rate for ability and toughness.
These are less near attacking and blocking and more than well-nigh supporting our all-stars. Pramikon, Kambal, and Baird are defensive against specific strategies, whereas Garna and Gerrard are wrath insurance. Fblthp is a slap-up tutor target for Sisay if you want to draw two cards, and Jhoira'south Familiar provides discounts on other historic cards.
With xiii slots left, let'southward grab some more noncreature spells and see where nosotros finish up. Existence flexible at this point in deckbuilding is important.
I'yard looking to fill up a few holes in the strategy here. Heroes' Podium and Hero's Bract both serve to aid us in combat. Thran Temporal Gateway helps us cheat mana. Swiftfoot Boots protects Sisay, and potentially other creatures. Legacy Weapon and Profane Procession are additional repeatable sources of removal. In Bolas's Clutches takes something from an opponent and makes it legendary so information technology can do good from things like Heroes' Podium, and Bident of Thassa provides solid card draw and tin can exist tutored after blockers are declared.
These four planeswalkers help us with flexibility. Tamiyo can terminate united states of america from having to sacrifice things and acts equally a potentially repeatable Regrowth. The Wanderer is a slap-up card to tutor up in response to Cursing Deed and tin deal with some monstrosities from opponents. Vraska also acts as removal and can add some tokens to the battleground—her tokens aren't quite on par with Sarkhan's, though.
This card is really fun to tutor up when 1 of your creatures is near to die—all suddenly, yous have a recursion engine!
Step 6: Cease the Mana Base of operations
At this point, we definitely need more dual lands. Given that we're running Circuitous Road, I'm fractional to calculation a ready of Guildgates hither. They're easy on the wallet at 15 cents each and very helpful in terms of getting our mana prepare up in the midgame.
With those 10 added, we're looking at 12 more slots for land. Before nosotros get into nuts, we demand a few utility lands. Unremarkably I'd desire to add a lot of legendary lands to the deck, just those are fairly plush, and we're committed to staying under $100. Instead, I'll simply add together a Ghost Quarter for handling a nonbasic here and in that location and then toss 11 bones state in the deck—three Forests, equally a nod to the higher concentration of greenish spells in the deck that help us ramp, and two of each other basic. (I'm counting those as free.)
With that, we've spent a full of $93.68 past my calculations (though, of course, prices may have inverse equally it took me a couple days to write this and it volition surely have some to go out to you!) and built an entire Sisay, Weatherlight Captain deck. Hither'south the full list!
Commander: Sisay, Weatherlight Captain
Creatures 1 x Sakura-Tribe Elder1 x Faeburrow Elderberryane ten Burnished Hart1 10 Anafenza, the Foremost1 10 Kethis, the Hidden Handone ten Jhoira, Weatherlight Helm1 x Arvad the Cursed1 x Tatyova, Benthic Druidone x Marchesa, the Black Rose1 10 Niv-Mizzet Reborn1 ten Samut, Voice of Dissent1 x Surrak Dragonclawane x Tahngarth, Offset Mate1 x Shalai, Vocalism of Plenty1 10 Raff Capashen, Send'south Mage1 x Pramikon, Sky Rampart – Foilane x Kambal, Consul of Allocation1 x Baird, Steward of Argive1 10 Garna, the Bloodflame1 x Aryel, Knight of Windgrace1 ten Jhoira'southward Familiar1 x Keiga, the Tide Starane x Gerrard, Weatherlight Hero1 x Fblthp, the Lost
That's all I've got today. Hopefully this gives you lot the tools you need to build a 5-colour deck in Commander step by step and maybe even do it on the cheap! Tweet at me (@RagingLevine) with your 5-color deck list you beloved the most so nosotros can hash out them, and I'll see yous next fourth dimension.
Source: https://strategy.channelfireball.com/all-strategy/mtg/channelmagic-articles/building-5-color-in-commander/
Posted by: brayackelvel89.blogspot.com
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