Hello!

Today is my final Commander deck for 2018. I wanted to leave you with an illegal build.

The Commander rules are relatively simple:

However, I am going to be violating one of these in a way, I believe, that embraces the easy casual, nature of the format.

Identity, Command Zones, singleton, and Commander rules are all here for you. However, my inspiration for this build isn't legal as a Commander, although, frankly it certainly is in flavor and theory:

This is Genju of the Realm. It represents a Spirit who is animating a land, thus the singular creature element is there for me. It's also Legendary, so it works as a leader. Flavor wise, Genju of the Realm is a Commander in theory. Compare it to, say, Chromanticore. By then the creature was put in the card type, so if it has been made legendary (which clearly it couldn't have been, too much space), it would have been fine as a leader.

The lack of a creature type just shows that the card came before "enchantment creatures" and has that flavor. Just like Dancing Scimitar represents an animated sword via a Spirit, Genju is an animated land. The flavor is there, just not the mechanics.

I am leaning on flavor for today's deck!

Please note that you cannot win with Commander damage by running this, as the animated land that you are enchanting is not the Genju itself, but rather the animated form thereof.

My theory is that any deck led by my Genju of the Realms is going to be incredibly angry at us all!

Are you ready?

The Very Land Rises Against Us | Commander | Abe Sargent

• Commander (1)
• 1 Genju of the Realm

• Creatures (6)
• 1 Embodiment of Fury
• 1 Embodiment of Insight
• 1 Halimar Tidecaller
• 1 Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper
• 1 Rubblehulk
• 1 Sylvan Advocate

• Planeswalkers (3)
• 1 Lord Windgrace
• 1 Nissa, Vital Force
• 1 Nissa, Worldwaker

• Instants (5)
• 1 Encircling Fissure
• 1 Heroic Intervention
• 1 Scatter to the Winds
• 1 Struggle // Survive
• 1 Teferi's Response

• Sorceries (23)
• 1 Boundless Realms
• 1 Bring to Light
• 1 Coastal Discovery
• 1 Conflux
• 1 Crush of Tentacles
• 1 Cultivate
• 1 Earthquake
• 1 Hour of Promise
• 1 Kodama's Reach
• 1 Life from the Loam
• 1 Mire's Malice
• 1 Nissa's Renewal
• 1 Part the Waterveil
• 1 Peregrination
• 1 Planar Outburst
• 1 Roil Spout
• 1 Rude Awakening
• 1 Ruinous Path
• 1 Savage Twister
• 1 Sheer Drop
• 1 Splendid Reclamation
• 1 Sylvan Awakening
• 1 Sylvan Scrying

• Enchantments (15)
• 1 Awaken the Ancient
• 1 Collapsing Borders
• 1 Corrupted Zendikon
• 1 Crusher Zendikon
• 1 Earth Surge
• 1 Guardian Zendikon
• 1 Into the Wilds
• 1 Living Terrain
• 1 Prismatic Omen
• 1 Rage Reflection
• 1 Sacred Ground
• 1 Sylvan Library
• 1 Terra Eternal
• 1 Vastwood Zendikon
• 1 Wind Zendikon

• Artifacts (4)
• 1 Darksteel Ingot
• 1 Fellwar Stone
• 1 Prismatic Geoscope
• 1 Sol Ring

• Lands (43)
• 2 Island
• 2 Mountain
• 2 Plains
• 2 Swamp
• 5 Forest
• 1 Blood Crypt
• 1 Breeding Pool
• 1 Cascading Cataracts
• 1 Celestial Colonnade
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Creeping Tar Pit
• 1 Dread Statuary
• 1 Evolving Wilds
• 1 Godless Shrine
• 1 Hallowed Fountain
• 1 Hissing Quagmire
• 1 Lavaclaw Reaches
• 1 Lumbering Falls
• 1 Mana Confluence
• 1 Needle Spires
• 1 Overgrown Tomb
• 1 Raging Ravine
• 1 Reflecting Pool
• 1 Rupture Spire
• 1 Sacred Foundry
• 1 Shambling Vent
• 1 Steam Vents
• 1 Stirring Wildwood
• 1 Stomping Ground
• 1 Tectonic Edge
• 1 Temple Garden
• 1 Terramorphic Expanse
• 1 Transguild Promenade
• 1 Wandering Fumarole
• 1 Watery Grave

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And there we go!

Please note that I am not turning this into some angry anti-creature deck. I am not running Tainted Aether or Aether Flash. Not even Breathstealer's Crypt. You're welcome!

This is also not Five Color Good Stuff. You are not seeing great cards for any Five Color decks such as Maelstrom Nexus or Etched Monstrosity. That is not this deck. Just because it's five colors doesn't mean I am trying to be a nasty Spike. That's particularly relevant in a deck with a non-creature in the Commander. If I am bringing an illegal deck to the kitchen table, then it needs to be in the flavor of the format, not using that broken nature to punch people in the throat. That's the goal here.

I want cards that represent the very land rising against people to shut them down! Anything that does not fit that mechanic, or the flavor of that theme, is not here.

All right, fair enough. What is here? Great question!

Let's begin with the obvious - awaken cards! The awaken mechanic clearly plays into the idea of land animating to destroy someone. Where do you go when the very land is your enemy? (Isn't, "The Very Land is Your Enemy" a cool name for an Archenemy card? I think so, too!) Great question! I have included a big number of awaken'ed cards for my deck! From card draw to bounce to removal, I have a lot of awaken options here.

I also am running the obvious Planar Outburst. Not only does it have awaken and thus plays into this corner of my deck but the ability to sweep all non-land dorks is very good, and has obvious synergy from Genju of the Realm!

I am also running a pair of creatures that are informed by my large awaken section. Our Halimar Tidecaller is good as a useful adjunct to my land dorks as she gives them flying, and then also can be used to recur a key awaken spell from the 'yard as well. Like Planar Outburst maybe? Meanwhile, Noyan Dar will turn any instant/sorcery into a land dork, and swing. Not that you can just make a current land grow with some more counters instead, should you prefer to be a little on the sneaky side of life. Both fit my theme perfectly.

There are some other cards that will too!

Note that I am not running the other Genju. They require a certain land type to enchant, which is hard to ensure in a 5-Color build. However, I am running the Zendikon cycle as they do not have any specific needs and will enchant anything I desire. I also have some man-lands here like Celestial Colonnade. They won't need anything other than mana to turn into a dork.

Once I have noted that I have a ton of man-lands and awaken tricks, I wanted to push into that further. I first added in some creatures which, like Halimar Tidecaller, would give me a bonus to my man-lands.

The first place I thought of was this Embodiment duo that can hook you up with trample and vigilance. Both of these are easy to slide into our deck. Note that both have a powerful landfall trigger that will also enrage a land for a turn as well! And those 3/3 lands will have trample/vigilance or flying as you control the given effect.

Sylvan Advocate was typically played in Standard because it was often a two-mana 4/5 dork that had vigilance. Most people might not have even been aware of the cause that it also pumps your land dorks by +2/+2.Well, guess what? It pumps your lands dorks by +2/+2, which is a big pump!

Know what else does that too?

Earth Surge baby!

What else works for my lands? How about some cards like these?

Terra Eternal gives all lands indestructible, including your foes. Now that's normally an attempt to be nice, but they are unlikely to be their main source of creatures, unlike this deck Here granting indestructible to your 3/3 awakened land is pretty smart.

As for Sacred Ground, let's take a look at its current Oracle Text:

Whenever a spell or ability an opponent controls causes a land to be put into your graveyard from the battlefield, return that card to the battlefield.

Now you will note a few details here. First, it's any spell or ability. If your foe casts a Vindicate to destroy your land, then you put it back onto the battlefield. Similarly, if they sacrifice a Strip Mine to destroy your land, then you put it back onto the battlefield.

But there's another layer to Sacred Ground! If your land is affected because it's a creature, then this still works. If your opponent casts Terminate to destroy it after you awaken it, then it comes back. If your opponent tries to burn your 3/3 animated land, then it comes back. If your foe casts Wrath of God, then all of those dead lands come right on back to the battlefield. In this deck, that's a nasty amount of protection! Your foes will need to find a non-destroy way to handle your land-dorks, like exiling or bouncing. Or you can just answer the Sacred Ground, that'll work as well.

For this reason, I am also running Teferi's Response! You shall not Swords to Plowshares my land! Now let me draw two cards. It's amazing here. Plus, Heroic Intervention also works on lands, so you make your whole team immune to a key issue here.

After that, I wanted to push cards that felt like the very earth was turning against someone, from a flavor context. In went cards like Earthquake!

Also, I found a space for Collapsing Borders! It punishes everyone for having a one- or two-color deck. (Or for running too many lands that don't have a basic land type). Anyone with three basic land types out will be fine. Four or five? Get ready to gain some life my friends!

There is nowhere to hide when the world is en-wrathed at you. I tossed in some mana fetching and called it a deck!

And there you are! I hope that you have enjoyed our fun little deck. Anything that I missed? Anything that you would add?