Hello happy multiplayer and casual players, and happiest of thoughts to each of you today!

I was playing Abe's Deck of Happiness and Joy (my multiplayer masterpiece), and had out a self-bounce thing and then a Ninja of the Deep Hours and a pair of 2/2 that has ETB or cast triggers and was dominating the battlefield with a full grip. I was breaking the board and people's faces too! Loved it much.

It's an example of the Bear Beats deck archetype I named. I built a multiplayer more than 100 size Five Color brew with that for casual and loved it, and I have made one real life version for Commander in Abzan here, as well as twice more in mono-White with Delney and Boros with Arabella. I've had friends like Chad also do this with Horde of Notions.

Here's how it works:. It's a midrange brew with a bunch of ETB stuff that will destroy and force people discard to dominate the board and then hands too. Then you are going to recur to the battlefield with Karmic Guide, to your hand with Gravedigger, bounce with ninjutsu or artifacts, draw with it too, mass destroy bigger powered stuff and then tempo to slow them down and just dominate. Make sense? It's Bears that Beat!

Let's get started then with the key of the brew!

Removal and Interaction

Let's start with the good stuff!

We'll start with the ETB killing of dorks like Chupacabra and Shriekmaw or Big Game Hunter for larger things. Great stuff there! Then you can Naturalize on arrival with Loran of the Third Path and Reclamation Sage. Shout out to Acidic Slime that can destroy those and lands too and then with deathtouch you can swing and people often won't block so you can self-bounce with ninjutsu.

Also don't sleep on nonbasic and land removal like Avalanche Riders and Goblin Ruinblaster if people are abusing lands like Maze of Ith or Gaea's Cradle to shut them down, but only for abusive lands, don't go after just lands for mana like the Karoo ones. I also like burn as supplemental kill against dorks or players or planeswalkers too like Ghitu Slinger and Murderous Redcap!

Finally, I love me some discard to force folks to play into getting destroyed on the battlefield like Liliana's Specter and more. They need to be two or three-drops, that force everyone to discard, not just one person like Ravenous Rats. Like Virus Bettle but I begin with the Specter since it flies and has a 2 power.

Card Draw

Now let's turn to card draw!

Here you'll add dorks that draw when they smash, ideally with ninjutsu like the amazing Ninja of the Deep Hours or others as well as mass card draw when smashing like Coastal Piracy or Bident of Thassa stuff. Then we need dorks that ETB when entering like Mulldrifter the rare card draw rather than just a cantrip so if you are Blue it's gotta be here as well as things like Cloudblazer too. My favorite cantrip card draw is Baleful Strix on a two-drop Dimir 1/1 flyer and deathtouch. Also don't sleep on Inspiring Overseer here too.

Self-Bounce: Ninjutsu

The next place is the good low power self-bounce ninjutsu stuff. Here you'll wanna bounce on an attacker that's unblocked and then get a great combat damage trigger.

We've got creature or planeswalker destruction with Dokuchi Silencer and Throat Slitter. Also, we can get bounce with Mistblade Shinobi and then you can also Mind Rot them with the Okiba-Gang Shinobi five-drop four ninjutsu 3/2 with that awesome combat damage trigger. Get ready for the Rat Ninja invasion!

Self-Bounce: Artifacts

There are two self-bouncer artifacts that tap and then bounce your dork and then you can also tax your foes for a mana to keep their good stuff out too: Erratic Portal and Crystal Shard. You can also save your dork from targeted or death in combat after chump blocking too. You could also run things like Whitemane Lion to self-bounce and save or reuse their ability.

Recursion

Now let's turn to the big stuff! The recursion to get them back over and over again! The first are things that bring them back to your battlefield like this duo! The sorcery is great since it both sweeps the battlefield and then also brings back all dead stuff by all dead players so can easily win with the triggers! I also like to add land sacs for that recursion like High Market. Ditto Rise of the Dark Realms. The one at a time five-drop White one with flying and pro Black and a 2/2 body is next! It's got echo, but that's not bad, keep it up!

Eternal Witness returns anything like a Regrowth on a stick, and then I run it and then Timeless Witness next first, and don't sleep on Gravedigger - this is best with kicker removals.

Mass Removal

Let's start with ways to sweep the board of bigger powered stuff to get your stuff in for wins. I love this two-part pair the three-cost sorcery will destroy all four power or more stuff and then the 'walker costs six-mana and then arrives with four loyalty and can +1 her make three 1/1 dorks to fill the board and then -3 to also destroy the four power dorks and higher too. If your deck randomly has that occasional 3 power dork, this is my bonnet for bees.

...but if you commit to just two power then there are some sweepers for three power stuff like the Battle of Bywater and then then above aftermath powerhouse! It can sweep them and above for four-mana and then bring them all back for five from your graveyard. It's good stuff for the win-tuff.

Tempo

Now let's get to ways to shut them down. This duo will stop 3 power or bigger stuff from that sweet untapping! The one-drop is a colorless artifact but the three-drop is a White enchantment that also will stop non-White ones from untapping, or even Marble Giant, so your 4/4 White dork can do it theirs too. Love this duo much!

Win-Cons

When your deck is full but of low-powered stuff but many, how do you know...win? The Rakdos three-drop 2/2 ETBs and shoots one foe for enough damage from their nonbasic land count, and recurring that a few times can end them. Then also the 3/1 ninjutsu one can turn combat damage into copies of itself to go wide fast! Or you can just drop Craterhoof Behemoth stuff to win in one hit. Also, a shout out to 2/2 mono-Red dork with a combat damage trigger to shut them down from gaining life for the rest of game, a brutal fast thing against them and it's got wither too.

Flicker

Should you run flicker effects either to save your stuff or to get more triggers, like Eerie Interlude? It's possible! I hear you if so! And then you can also run the mass bounce ones or once/turn like Conjurer's Closet.

Ramp

In order to cast things, you need mana! This three-drop common duo will either put a basic into your hand or a Forest into play and that can be nonbasic and it's not tapped. There are many of these with the ability to ramp or get you the right color mana for your next drop all up and down the block!

How to Play Bear Beats in Commander

Each color brings its own good stuff for you to the deck from Ninja of the Deep Hours in Blue to Retribution of the Meek in White and in the other three colors removal and discard in Black and then recursion in it too. The color that can most be left at the wayside is red, with burn and artifact and land removal dorks the only thing it can do reliably.

Are you going to try out a Five-Color Commander or other multiplayer brew like Chad or me? Or a more limited one like my Abzan one with the Sidar Kondo that gives your small stuff evasion to get in those punches! Then you can also build and dig deep in loads of places. Look for leaders in Commander with two power or fewer mechanics to build around too. Or you can do a five-color one on your first try. What cards sell you? What cards move you? What do you have? Figure that out and you've got a great start. I love Chad's Horde of Notions too with an Ashes of the Fallen to make all dead things Elemental so you can recast them.

A few gameplay tricks. People are going to sweep heavily when you are playing this. If you've got control of the board don't overcommit too many resources. Do not walk into that Wrath of God. Also run a few anti-Wrath tricks like Heroic Intervention and Teferi's Intervention to keep your stuff save from mass sweeping removal. If you are playing this in Commander and are in White, Flawless Maneuver strikes me as pretty strong too since it can be mana free. Make sense? I hope so!

This is a very fun and can be strong at the right table brew. On Friday I am going to give you my Top Ten Bear Beats Support Cards. Get ready for the mass invasion of Bears that Beat! Enjoy this much, and have an awesome-tastic day, week and life!