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Of all the strategies found in the Commander format, you'll come across a strange archetype called Pillow Fort.
Any strategy involving pillows doesn't sound particularly threatening, and normally you'd be correct to assume so. The whole point of the Pillow Fort archetype is to build up a defensive wall of 'pillow' permanents that make it hard for your opponents to justify attacking you.
What someone chooses to do from within that wall of comfort and security is where the true danger lies. The pillows are a means to an end. Once the fort has been constructed, there's little you can do to stop the game-winning machinations occurring within.
There is no shortage of Legendary Creatures that would be perfect for leading one of these decks. But who are MTG's best Pillow Fort Commanders? Well, leave no bed made, strip all the cushions from your couch, and grab the spare bedding from your linen closet. It's time to hunker down and find the top Pillow Fort Commanders.
The Top Ten Pillow Fort Commanders in MTG
Love them or hate them, Pillow Fort decks are a constant in the Commander format. While similar to strategies like Group Hug, Group Slug, and Stax, Pillow Fort decks take a specific and unique approach that separates them from their political siblings.
What defines this archetype is its unique take on playing a defensive and political game in Commander. It focuses on sheltering itself away and distracting its opponents with bribes and misdirection. While they're busy attacking each other, you search for a way to win the game. It's the Magic equivalent of, "pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!"
With that in mind, these are the best Pillow Fort Commanders in Magic:
- Sythis, Harvest's Hand & Tuvasa the Sunlit
- Ms. Bumbleflower
- Breena, the Demagogue
- Queen Marchesa
- Zedruu the Greathearted
- Eriette of the Charmed Apple
- Pramikon, Sky Rampart
- Zur the Enchanter
- Oloro, Ageless Ascetic
- Y'shtola, Night's Blessed
To execute this strategy, the Pillow Fort deck needs its 'pillows.' Many of the best 'pillows' can be found in White. It boasts a host of taxation (Ghostly Prison), prevention (Blazing Archon), and protection (Teferi's Protection) effects that make attacking you difficult, if not impossible.
The other four colors all provide their own unique 'pillow' permanents, but the most flexible Commanders for this strategy usually have White in their color identity.
10. Sythis, Harvest's Hand & Tuvasa the Sunlit
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Pillow Fort leans heavily on a suite of Enchantments that make it difficult for players to attack you, using cards like Ghostly Prison, Solitary Confinement, or Sphere of Safety. Since Enchantments are a key part of your fort, Enchantress is a great sidecar strategy.
Both Sythis, Harvest's Hand and Tuvasa the Sunlit are tried and true Enchantress Commanders, and they serve your purposes just as well.
Sythis is inexpensive at just 
and comes down early before you start casting your pillow Enchantments. She draws a card and will gain you a life for every Enchantment you cast, so she'll provide a consistent stream of card advantage as you construct your fortress.
Tuvasa is also pretty cheap at 
, and she gives you access to Blue, for key cards like Propaganda. She gets bigger for every Enchantment you have. Throwing an Aqueous Form on her for unblockability gives you a solid potential win condition via Commander damage.
The downside is she only gives you one card per turn for your first Enchantment cast. Though, you could build around that restriction by playing Enchantments with Flash on your opponents' turns.
9. Ms. Bumbleflower
Ms. Bumbleflower doesn't immediately stand out as a Pillow Fort Commander, but she has her perks. She's in Bant , which is a great color combo for the archetype. She's a great blocker as a 1/5 with Vigilance. You also get card draw, bribes for your opponents, and a potential win condition.
The trick with Ms. Bumbleflower is that you need to be able to consistently cast two spells a turn to not fall behind on cards and build her up as a threat. With a secondary +1/+1 counter theme, this rabbit can fly under the radar long enough to knock someone out with Commander damage.
Put up your walls, draw some cards, throw some counters on Ms. Bumbleflower and you're good to go.
8. Breena, the Demagogue
Breena, the Demagogue forgoes Green and Blue and delves into the murky waters of Orzhov . This Bird Warlock takes a bribery approach to Pillow Fort, giving both yourself and the other players at the table a reward for attacking someone other than you.
The two +1/+1 counters from Breena's triggered ability add up quickly. They can either make Breena a sizable evasive threat or build up another attacker. Provided you plan your attacks carefully, you'll often draw a card on your turn as well.
You will be giving your opponents extra cards, but hopefully they'll be too busy attacking each other to notice the growing threat.
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Breena gives us access to Black, which provides a more sinister roster of pillows with cards like Revenge of Ravens and No Mercy. These pillows are stuffed with goose feathers, and they're primed to poke opponents who ignore your warning signs.
7. Queen Marchesa
Like Ms. Bumbleflower, Queen Marchesa doesn't appear to be much of a Pillow Fort Commander. However, gaining access to the Monarch mechanic and both Black and Red cards positions her as a force to be reckoned with.
Her royal highness facilitates a more aggressive political playstyle. The Black and Red pillows serve as excellent battlement defenses for your fort. She gets to sit back, issue decrees, and punish would be usurpers from behind the safety of her walls.
The Monarch token provides a steady stream of card advantage if you're able to hold onto it. Since not being attacked is your whole strategy, you'll likely hold onto it. If you do lose it, Marchesa provides a stream of annoying Deathtouch assassins to get it back.
6. Zedruu the Greathearted
Zedruu the Greathearted seems like a kind and generous soul on the surface. She has a trustworthy face as well as access to Blue, Red, and White.
Her unique strategy of giving opponents permanents is one that can their lives miserable if you so choose. Or, you can give them nice things if you don't want that kind of smoke.
Your gameplan revolves around giving away permanents with huge drawbacks and expired gift receipts while you reap the rewards for your generosity in the form of lots of cards and life. So, when your opponents come knocking to exchange these unwanted 'gifts,' the best way to send them packing is an impenetrable wall of life and pillows.
Zedruu is one of the classic Pillow Fort Commanders and she still provides one of the most distinct paths for building the deck.
5. Eriette of the Charmed Apple
Eriette of the Charmed Apple stands out among the Orzhov offerings for Pillow Fort. In addition to the standard suite of pillow Enchantments, Eriette benefits greatly from Auras you want to play on your opponents' Creatures. Any Creature Enchanted by an Aura you control can't attack you or Planeswalkers you control.
She loves Auras that benefit you even when attached to opponents' Creatures like Spirit Link or even Spirit Loop. The Goad Auras like those in the Vow and Impetus Cycles are all-stars in this deck. Even Curses like Curse of Disturbance et al. are fantastic additions.
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The best thing about Eriette is that she actively brings you closer to victory while building your fort. She makes each opponent lose life equal to the number of Auras you control, and you gain life. By the time you're done constructing your fort, you likely won't have much further to go to close the game out.
Killian, Decisive Mentor also plays in this space, with both options providing a synergistic win condition and a unique take on the archetype.
4. Pramikon, Sky Rampart
Pramikon, Sky Rampart might be the platonic ideal of a Pillow Fort Commander. It's a Wall, for one. It has a Flying 1/5 body. You'll only need to fear attacks from one direction, and it's in the perfect colors to make actually attacking you impossible (Blue, Red, and White).
The typical build for this deck is pretty straightforward. You turtle up behind Pramikon and your abundance of pillow Enchantments while you assemble some kind of game-winning combo.
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If you want to try something a little different, you could opt for a Toughness Matters secondary strategy using High Alert or Vent Sentinel and a whole bunch of Defenders. Once you've effectively halted any aggression against you, you should be able to find any number of ways to end the game.
3. Zur the Enchanter
If the top three is any indication, Esper is the best color combo for a Pillow Fort strategy. You get access to all the best pillows in White, Black, and Blue. You also get Commanders like Zur the Enchanter that make finding and assembling your fort child's play.
Zur has a bit of a pedigree as a storied combo Commander since he can actively search out (or tutor) combo pieces from your deck. Once you've put your pillow Enchantments directly into play, Zur should be free to assemble your game-winning combo in short order.
Shout out to Zur, Eternal Schemer for turning your Enchantments into threats in their own right. Though, if you're looking for a more surefire way to win from within your fort, the combo route is tried and true.
2. Oloro, Ageless Ascetic
Oloro, Ageless Ascetic has long been considered the pinnacle of Pillow Fort Commanders. His ability to gain life from the Command Zone means you are constantly gaining an advantage that keeps you in the game. He draws you cards and slowly whittles away at your opponents' life totals.
He's in the best colors for the archetype and plays into lifegain strategies and win cons (Aetherflux Reservoir and Felidar Sovereign say hello). He doesn't even need to be in play to accumulate value.
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The only real downside to Oloro is there are much better ways to win the game in modern Magic. These days, two life a turn and the ability to draw a card and ping for one on a six-mana (
) 4/5 isn't what it used to be. Sure, if you have a way to gain infinite life and infinite mana he can win the game, but at that point you could win with a ham sandwich.
Oloro is a great option, maybe even the best, but a more recently printed card just edges him out of the top spot.
1. Y'shtola, Night's Blessed
Y'shtola, Night's Blessed knocks Oloro out of the top spot for the simple reason that she just does more for less mana (
). She also gains life and draws cards, actively rewarding you and harming your opponents for playing out our pillows. She's like an Eriette that doesn't only care about Auras and has access to Blue's amazing Control options and combo potential.
She doesn't assist from the Command Zone like Oloro, but she more effectively contributes to killing the entire table in a less hands-on way. She also benefits from your opponents going after each other, since she can draw cards on other players' turns if one of your opponents lost four life.
She does everything a Pillowfort deck wants to do, and she does it efficiently. That's why Y'shtola is the best.
Deconstructing the Pillow Fort
So, how do you separate the good Pillow Fort Commanders from all the good Commanders that could possibly lead a Pillow Fort deck? A good Pillow Fort Commander caters to one of three primary criteria:
- Help build the fort. Either prevent or disincentivize players from attacking you or find the pillows that do.
- Bribe them. Reward or force your opponents to attack someone other than you.
- Win the game. Actively provide or help find a win condition once your fort is constructed.
The best options will do some combination of all three and will do them efficiently and/or powerfully.
Conclusion
Y'shtola and Oloro might be the pinnacle when it comes to Pillow Fort Commanders, but the core shell of the strategy is so flexible that any number of Legendary Creatures can successfully take up the mantle.
Go-Shintai of Life's Origin offers a Shrine-based variant and access to all five colors. Kardur, Doomscourge feeds into the Black/Red Porcupine take on Pillow Fort. Angus Mackenzie is a picture-perfect Turbo Fog Commander. And Absolute Virtue gives you Protection from each of your opponents (even if it does die to Doom Blade).
Your choices are endless since the 'pillows' are the core of the Pillow Fort strategy. Choose the Commander that speaks to you the most and get to building.
