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Hello all and happiest of days! I begin to write this on Christmas.
On a personal note, I don't want to have issues forcing folks to live with my progressive genetic neurological conduction of HD that attacks your physical stuff, mind and personality and then which I could pass on to folks, which I write up here (https://articles.starcitygames.com/articles/revelations-of-a-Magic-writer/). Now I was assuming that I would die roughly and be as bad as my mother who I inherited that from. But it's been much slower for me too. Now I'd change things up, not not having children, that's a non-starter, but being single, yup.
Anyways, now let's do some of my fave Commander brews for you that I built recently. Welcome, and let me know your thoughts!
A few years ago, I wrote up four of what I call Flavor First or Extreme Theme Commander Brews that were meant to be played together. All of these are set in Dominaria, and have massive flavor restrictions to that area. The first is the Arboretum here: https://www.coolstuffinc.com/a/abesargent-10172022-abes-arboretum This has tons of Treefolk, Plants, Fungus, and Mazes too. It's got the biggest dorks, but they tend to be grounded and higher costed. It's built around stuff like Yedora and has tons of stuff here like Wall of Blossoms with higher toughnesses. Then The Aviary is next in Azorius here https://www.coolstuffinc.com/a/abesargent-10282022-abes-aviary - and it's built around Kangee, Sky-Warden and has tons of flyers like Suntail Hawk and Favorable Winds. It's got tons of cheaper evasive dorks, but smaller in size.
Then the third is Mono-Blue's Aquarium: https://www.coolstuffinc.com/a/abesargent-10252022-flavor-commander-the-aquarium built around Lorthos, the Tidemaker and has tons of sea creatures from Starfish to Squid to Fish. Thought Sponge? Anomes?? Coral Reef and Part Water! Hedron and Ruin Crab! This wins with Deep Sea bounces. Then the last one is the Menagerie built around Ruxa here - https://www.coolstuffinc.com/a/abesargent-11152022-flavor-commander-the-menagerie-of-dominaria - Who is all about vanilla dorks, and then we've got Apes, Snakes, Rhinos and Mongeese, Killer Bees and Lure of Prey as well as Vizier and such make this more well-rounded, plus Hunting Cheetah. Although tons of vanilla or smaller stuff are here like Southern Elephant or Warthog and such.
Honorable Mention #1 - Building a Simic Kicker
Another lower charting brew is this Kicker one. I again at the time we had fewer than 100 total kicker brews despite how old the ability is. This X cost dork will later copy stuff by pulling off two counters - which is nasty since we know how beloved Copies and Clones are. Check it out and then bring us home!
Honorable Mention #2 - Rebuilding Mono-Black The Migraine Around The Raven Man
https://www.coolstuffinc.com/a/abesargent-10102023-rebuilding-the-migraine-deck-for-commander
When Megrim debuted in Stronghold everyone ran and loved it. "The Migraine"is my second favorite Pre-con and it's both an Aggro Deck with shadow and then Megrims, plus Pits for mad discard and then Bridge to stop counter attacks and Portcullis and Mindwarper. I also like here one of the best planeswalker ever printed for Constructed, Liliana of the Veil. Check it out and let me know how this Bridge version works for you!
Honorable Menton #3. My Bant Turbo-Fog Brew around Ms. Bumbleflower
Another old school combo that was pretty good back then was called Turbo Fog where the Turbo Side is about Group Hug stuff like Howling Mine and then deck foes. Then we can Fog for stopping stuff. So here you go, and enjoy and embrace it too! This has all of the good stuff from Font of Mythos to Green Fogs.
Honorable Mention #4 My Five-Color Monarch Kenrith
https://www.coolstuffinc.com/a/abesargent-11012022-five-color-monarch-with-kenrith-in-commander
Do you, like every other casual and multiplayer enjoy the Monarchy? Not as an institution in the UK but a concept that draws EOT if you have it and your foes too? Love it since it makes the game progress quite well as people like attacking for cards rather than risking their creatures die. I wanted the ultimate Five Color brew and it's around a Monarch here in Kenrith. It's got all of key Monarchs like the Court cycle and more, and he is a King, right? Enjoy!
#10. My Five-Color Spiders Matter Going Cosmic with Five Color Spiders
https://www.coolstuffinc.com/a/abesargent-09232025-going-cosmic-with-five-color-spiders-in-commander
I know many didn't like the smaller and badly done Spider-Man set with bad limited and such, so I grabbed this and a few other legendary dorks and then just pulled out and did other stuff elsewhere. I do think some of these are pretty great though, like this or my Mono-Red Mountains Matter Molten Man brew. This is Five-Color built around Cosmic Spider-Man who gives all Spider Lord stuff. It has great stuff like Madame Web and Mary Jane here.
#9. Izzet Commanding the Sparkler with Zeffai
https://www.coolstuffinc.com/a/abesargent-08152023-commanding-the-sparkler
The Sparkler is my fave precon by far. It's basically a 60-card deck three-dorks, two Walls, and then survives by countering, burning and bouncing and winning too. It's win cons are buyback burn spells. I try to turn it into a Counter-Burn version with Zeffai who is a Spellslinger that wants more and more in that to give you more value. This is great to skate!
#8 - Building Dark Spike Girls in Golgari with Reyhan
https://www.coolstuffinc.com/a/abesargent-09052023-dark-spike-girls-in-commander
One old school classic Standard Living Death brew like the next was what was called Spike Girls all around Spikes did things like sac with Feeder or Weaver and then brought back with Living Death. This brew adds in other +1/+1 sac stuff like Fertilid and such plus Reyhan himself will put counters around as things with counters die. I think this is a great throwback Commander Brew.
#7. My Weird Sliving Death Take on Five-Color Slivers
https://www.coolstuffinc.com/a/abesargent-0822023-sliving-death-in-commander
There was an old Standard legal deck back when Tempest Block was released that was about Living Death meeting the beloved tribe of Slivers. It's so strong we have also had it as the win-con in other places like cycling with Fluctuator and Rec/Survival too, or my own brew with Abe's Deck of Happiness and Joy and Sneak Attack. Our Sliving Death brew would sac your stuff for abilities like card draw or discard and then Living Death and win. This brew is a Sliver Queen leader for old school reasons. It has stuff there like Acidic Sliver and Mnemonic Sliver.
#6. My Five-Color Lands Untapped and Towns Matter The Wandering Minstrel Brew
https://www.coolstuffinc.com/a/abesargent-06172025-five-color-the-wandering-minstrel-in-commander
Hello lands and Towns matter fans from this Five Color two-drop Simic Bard. All lands arrive untapped with him out, and then you make a free 2/2 all color dork each combat with five Towns and then you can spend one of each color to pump our team's size with our Town count. I embraced his mad ramp and Towns matter here too and then stuff for synergies and win-cons like Zell and Conduit of Worlds and then a few lands matter planeswalker too like Wrenn and Seven and his Realmbreaker version too. We embraced landfall like Omnath to make 5/5 Elementals or kill with Ob Nixilis. It's fun land centric with Towns matter. Enjoy it.
#5. My Five-Color Shrine Hei Bai
Hello and happy days folks! This most-recent five-color Shrine Brew around the just printed Hei Bai is next. I have adored Shrines ever since they debuted in one of my favorite sets, Champions, around these as legendary enchantments. I ran just the Honden Winds in tons of places and had a real-life Shrine and Sanctuary build around Cromat with Ana Sancuary, so building this for you is so great. We just added five more ETB Shrines plus the five Sanctums from the Core Set and Return to Kamigawa dork Shrines too. This is great stuff for the win-stuff right? I love this much. I saw him and had to build it.
#4. My Esper Elminster Teaches Aminatou
https://www.coolstuffinc.com/a/abesargent-11042025-elminster-teaches-aminatou-to-use-second-sight
In this Esper brew around Aminatou is a scry matters brew where Elminster sets her up as a junior partner in crime with scry or can win if she drops a top card to our library's top by exiling it and making a ton of 1/1 Faerie Dragon flyers. She also has tons of Black kill here too like Baleful Omen and Draco, Liliana Vess to tutor to our library's top and then Jace, the Mind Sculptor for putting on top win cons too. Sorin, Grim Nemesis does great work here too. Embrace it, and I built it myself in real life since it seemed like fun in the sun.
#3. My Five-Color Budget Planeswalker Brew Around Sisay
This is my highest charting Budget Commander brew often with a budget in the low $30s. But I wanted to try this out as a Five Color Planeswalker brew to see if I could make it work, but doubled my budget for lands and such to make it feasible. I think this should be tons of fun in all of the spaces. It has all of the Oaths, built around Sisay, fun proliferate stuff like Karn's Bastion, 21 great Planeswalkers like Commodore Guff, Elspeth, Sun's Champion and tons more. This should still be pretty cheap today since I built it a few months ago.
#2. My Five-Color Commander's Greatest Pets Brew Around Sisay
https://www.coolstuffinc.com/a/abesargent-03122024-commanders-greatest-pets-unleashed
One of my favorite early Modern era legendary dorks is Tolsimir in Selesnya who I added to my Equinaut brew and tons of other places since he double pumps stuff and then taps to make a legendary wolf pet named Voja. I decided to build this flavor first around all colors people and Pets like Minsc and Boo, Isamaru and Sophia and Rin and Seri and such too. It's built around Sisay, since they need to be legendary and animal intelligence or some Familiars are here too like Tomorrow. This has The One Ring - swap it out since this is flavor-first.
#1. My Five-Color Reanimation Two-Generations Collide Graveyard Reanimation and Manipulation Kenrith Brew
Way back when the default casual format of the day was Five Color an at the time 250 card and 20 card of each color (it's now 300 and 25) and then with its own B&R list. I was on the Ruling Committee and wrote tons of articles too on it. This was combining two generations of then and now to trigger things recently printed when stuff leaves our graveyard like Teval or Quintorius. That old era had tons of commonly played classics like Tortured Existence and Oversold Cemetery and such, and then Genesis for triggers and Eternal Dragon to self-recur and All Suns' Dawn. We also had tons of ways to dump cards there like Hermit Druid and FOF and Millikin and The Warring Triad and then lands too. Living Death and Rise too. It has tons of triggers too like Teval and his Judgment too. Love it much!
There we go! I hope you enjoyed that fun little dive into my recent Commander brews! Was there something in there you want to try out or I forgot? Let me know have a great day!
