Welcome back to the wonderful world of Commander multiplayer, as told by SUNCOM, the PRE I run every Sunday at 15:00 GMT (more info about it here). You can read about the Origin of It All in the first article of this series.
So, Theros is fully spoiled now, therefore we know all the new legends we're going to get. There's a grand total of 13 of them, 8 regular Legendary creatures plus the 5 Gods (for comparison, Innistrad just had 4, and Return to Ravnica 5). Meet the commanders of tomorrow! (Tomorrow being next month).
My favorite Gods as commanders (but also in general) are definitely Thassa and Erebos. Their "enchantment sides" are the only ones that don't need creatures in play to be good. But I think we'll see Commander decks for all the Gods, out of sheer fascination. As for the others, I don't know that many of those will be played as commanders. Hythonia might, but I think one would still be better off with Visara. The green ones are underwhelming, Anax and Cymede not particularly apt to be exploited in a commander capacity, the very flavorful Triad of Fates a bit clunky, and Tymaret is far from the best sacrificial commander (he doesn't even say "all opponents"). Daxos might see play, despite being too random, because those stealing effects are always popular (see Thada below). And Medomai, sure, we'll see her. But boy, the guy who plays that deck is not going to be the most loved at the table, isn't it?
But enough with the near future, let's talk about the recent past. Of SUNCOM!
TODAY'S COMMANDERS (click to go directly to the decklists): Kresh the Bloodbraided, Jhoira of the Ghitu, Thada Adel, Acquisitor, Mishra, Artificer Prodigy, Prime Speaker Zegana.
SUNCOM 39
Let's rewind back to two weeks ago, when longtime Commander player Silvos der Benny took his second SUNCOM win (since event 16) over a particularly fierce competition, backed up by Kresh the Bloodbraided.
The runner-ups: raf.azevedo's Maelstrom Wanderer deck (already a finalist the previous week), _BIG_BROTHERS_'s classic one-man-deck Rafiq of the Many, and Rufa with this Jhoira of the Ghitu build:
Our lovely Izzet redhead is all about cheating big stuff directly into play (in due time), so we can admire here quite a collection of scary red/blue/colorless things for Jhoira to play with, from Dragon Tyrant and Decree of Annihilation to Roil Elemental and of course a few mandatory Eldrazi (strangely, no sign of any version of Niv-Mizzet, though. No love for the Dracogenius?).
SUNCOM 40
Three finalists made last week's event's crucial table: to beat the uber-powerful (and already featured) Animar, Soul of Elements build by Zarcron was this neat deck piloted by justcanceled and lead by that adorable rapscallion Thada Adel, Acquisitor.
The rhyme and reason of this deck is easily explained: people really, really love to play with artifacts in Commander. And our devious little Merfolk punishes them with her own brand of thievery. Insane card advantage is served. This is also an occasion to compile the quick list of the Splashy Creatures (Titan-Mana or More) You Want in a Noncreature-Based Monoblue Build.
justcanceled included these...
Consecrated Sphinx is of course a no-brainer as she's just one of the top creatures in the whole game. Jin-Gitaxias is also a favorite, despite being dangerous (but then you just have to include Reliquary Tower to avoid nightmares of decking yourself). Then the blue entry in the Primordial cycle is a good one, becoming excellent in multiplayer like all its brothers. Finally, I never really liked Frost Titan, but it's still good, I guess. I would prefer Phyrexian Ingester in this spot (more permanent solution to a problem), and probably even another card-drawing Sphinx, like Sphinx of Magosi. Also worth of a mention: Arcanis the Omnipotent, Draining Whelk, and Keiga, the Tide Star. And in monoblue, Memnarch is always tempting.
...I would have included some of these, too.
As for the colorless ones, we have Steel Hellkite here, which is strongest that's generally accounted for, but justcanceled didn't find room for Duplicant and Wurmcoil Engine, and those two to me are staples in any Commander deck whatsoever.
Never without. (When are we gonna get that sweet Duplicant from Commander's Arsenal online?)
Here's another unusual general shared the honor to lose to Thada: none else that the legendary troubled Mishra, Artificer Prodigy, as envisioned here by reigning Champion of Champions Frenzy277.
Remember Mishra? Brother of Urza? Well, Time Spiral did. I've a feeling this guy was important at some point. And he cared about artifacts, maybe? (And yeah, it's a very odd choice in a singleton format, given his ability).
WHAT ABOUT SOME ACTION NOW?
Eh, what about it? Too bad this time the damn client failed everyone I had asked for a juicy replay (too bad really, because there were a couple of very fun tables to feature!), and I didn't play myself in either event, so we're left with nothing to show. Hopefully we'll be luckier next time. Here's another deck for you, instead, a fun and occasionally lethal Prime Speaker Zegana build I've been played a lot recently, and that's based on, and deeply committed to Primal Surge (so, nothing else is there that's not a permanent):
And here's a quick deck tech for it.
Utility Lands
Academy Ruins, Minamo, School at Water's Edge, Oran-Rief, the Vastwood, Treetop Village, Yavimaya Hollow, Reliquary Tower, Strip Mine, Tectonic Edge, Vesuva, Thespian's Stage: Just an essential selection of good stuff lands with blue or green activations, plus the all-time classic land destroyers (I don't currently own Wasteland, so Tectonic Edge it is), and land clones.
Mana Ramp
Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Sol Ring, Emerald Medallion, Simic Signet, Thran Dynamo, Gilded Lotus, Caged Sun, Mana Reflection, Wood Elves, Yavimaya Dryad, Solemn Simulacrum, Oracle of Mul Daya, Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger, Awakening Zone, Garruk Wildspeaker: I always include a lot of ramp in my builds, because I like playing crazy stuff and I like to playing it asap. In this case, the challenge was avoiding all the nonpermanent options, but green and artifacts are so filled of great alternatives that it's not even funny.
Card Drawing/Tutoring
, 
Skullclamp, Jace Beleren, Garruk, Caller of Beasts, Garruk, Primal Hunter, Tezzeret the Seeker, Tamiyo, the Moon Sage, Consecrated Sphinx, Sylvan Library, Survival of the Fittest, Fauna Shaman, Momir Vig, Simic Visionary, Trinket Mage, Fierce Empath, Eternal Witness, Genesis: This section was harder to do only with permanents, but there's interesting stuff here. Of course, the two Garruks and Tamiyo do more than just drawing cards (while Tezzeret is mainly just there to fetch mana rocks), but that's the reason I put them in the deck to begin with, so that's the section where they belong. Eternal Witness and Genesis are technically recursion, but what's recursion if not a limited form of tutoring that only involves the graveyard?
Cheaters into Play
Elvish Piper, Djinn of Wishes, Lurking Predators, Wild Pair: This section usually features a lot more things in Simic decks, but they're mostly nonpermanent (like Chord of Calling or Natural Order or Bribery). However, with all the permanents in the deck, of which some are expensive stuff, including at least a few of cheaters seemed necessary.
Answers
Umezawa's Jitte, Duplicant, Phyrexian Ingester, Master of the Wild Hunt, Silklash Spider, Glen Elendra Archmage, Mystic Snake, Acidic Slime, Glissa Sunseeker, Sylvan Primordial, Terastodon, Woodfall Primus, Scavenging Ooze, Control Magic, Beguiler of Wills, Volition Reins: Neither blue nor green are very good at dealing with creatures, especially if you take the nonpermanent spells out of the equations, so we have to make do. The stealing effects blue provides are a good alternative, anyway.
Creature Boost
Akroma's Memorial, Asceticism, Craterhoof Behemoth, Forgotten Ancient, Kamahl, Fist of Krosa, Master Biomancer, Vigor: Some of these are just classic (or instant classic, like Master Bionancer), but the really essential thing here is Akroma's Memorial, which allows for an immediate win after Primal Surge has gone off (one could use Concordant Crossroads instead, but if we're going to play it out of a Surge, then why bother?)
Beaters
Avenger of Zendikar, Hornet Queen, Diluvian Primordial, Progenitor Mimic, Wurmcoil Engine: Just a few versatile face-smashers to round the numbers and look good in a fight. Plus, Zegana wants big bodies to exploit.
Combo Pieces
Primal Surge: The one and only one-card-combo. Admittedly, it only really happens once every five games or so. But the deck is still fun and Zegana is a very solid card advantage general if you like creature-based decks.
And that's it. See you in the SUNCOM room next Sunday at 15:00 GMT, and with the Chronicles here on PureMTGO in two weeks! Commander ho!
