Hello everyone! I'm Levi from The Thought Vessel, and this is Commander Kryptonite, the series that looks at some of the strongest commanders in the format, how they work, their strengths and weaknesses, and ultimately how to defeat them. With spooky season around the corner, I thought it was appropriate to look at some commanders from Magic's very own horror set, Duskmourn: House of Horror. Since we're looking at these creepy commanders, it's only fair to cover the creepiest doll in all of Magic: Arabella, Abandoned Doll. This speedy little monster can do some serious damage super early and put you on the back foot before you even know what hit you. But what exactly does this creature do that makes it so terrifying? Let's take a look.

The Commander: Arabella, Abandoned Doll

Arabella is a two-mana 1/3 that, whenever it attacks, deals X damage to each opponent and gains X life, where X is the number of creatures with power two or less. It's important to note that these creatures only need to be on the field, it doesn't matter if they're attacking. Arabella could load up on 0/4 walls with Defender if it wanted to. Granted, this deck is very aggressive and wants to get life totals down to zero as quickly as possible, but it's an option.

The Deck

As I mentioned earlier, this is an aggro deck at its core. Arabella wants to lower life totals as quickly as possible. She typically comes out on turn one or two and just starts dishing out damage. Since Arabella's ability doesn't care whether the creatures are tokens or not, the deck looks to generate plenty of small tokens. With even a single one of those creatures in play, it's a go-wide strategy that chips away at each opponent until everyone's knocked out. Here's an example of an Arabella deck you might see at your local game store.

Arabella, Abandoned Doll | Commander

• Commander (1)
• 1 Arabella, Abandoned Doll

• Creatures (29)
• 1 Adeline, Resplendent Cathar
• 1 Agate Instigator
• 1 Anim Pakal, Thousandth Moon
• 1 Charismatic Conqueror
• 1 Delney, Streetwise Lookout
• 1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
• 1 Esper Sentinel
• 1 Gold Myr
• 1 Imperial Recruiter
• 1 Iron Myr
• 1 Irreverent Gremlin
• 1 Jacked Rabbit
• 1 Krenko, Mob Boss
• 1 Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin
• 1 Loyal Apprentice
• 1 Mentor of the Meek
• 1 Molten Gatekeeper
• 1 Mondrak, Glory Dominus
• 1 Mother of Runes
• 1 Ocelot Pride
• 1 Ragged Playmate
• 1 Selfless Spirit
• 1 Siege-Gang Lieutenant
• 1 Skyknight Vanguard
• 1 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Splitskin Doll
• 1 Subira, Tulzidi Caravanner
• 1 The Jolly Balloon Man
• 1 Welcoming Vampire

• Instants (9)
• 1 Boros Charm
• 1 Chaos Warp
• 1 Fell the Mighty
• 1 Flawless Maneuver
• 1 Generous Gift
• 1 Grand Crescendo
• 1 Path to Exile
• 1 Secure the Wastes
• 1 Swords to Plowshares

• Sorceries (8)
• 1 Call the Coppercoats
• 1 Dusk // Dawn
• 1 Hop to It
• 1 Hordeling Outburst
• 1 Midnight Mayhem
• 1 Raise the Past
• 1 Song of Totentanz
• 1 The Battle of Bywater

• Artifacts (10)
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Boros Signet
• 1 Dolmen Gate
• 1 Lightning Greaves
• 1 Oketra's Monument
• 1 Ornithopter of Paradise
• 1 Skullclamp
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots
• 1 Talisman of Conviction

• Enchantments (8)
• 1 Anointed Procession
• 1 Assemble the Legion
• 1 City on Fire
• 1 Enduring Innocence
• 1 Impact Tremors
• 1 Raid Bombardment
• 1 Reconnaissance
• 1 Windcrag Siege

• Lands (35)
• 1 Access Tunnel
• 1 Battlefield Forge
• 1 Boros Garrison
• 1 Clifftop Retreat
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Exotic Orchard
• 1 Furycalm Snarl
• 11 Mountain
• 1 Plains
• 10 Plains (total 11 Plains)
• 1 Rogue's Passage
• 1 Rugged Prairie
• 1 Sacred Foundry
• 1 Spectator Seating
• 1 Sundown Pass
• 1 Temple of Triumph

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Strengths

Arabella's greatest strength is speed. A two-mana commander that immediately threatens life totals is already scary, but her scaling damage makes her even worse. Token engines like Wedding Announcement flood the board with small bodies, and suddenly each swing can hit the entire table for five or more. The deck also has excellent staying power thanks to Arabella's lifegain. Even if opponents fight back, the life cushion makes racing her nearly impossible in the early turns, since she can usually gain more than her opponents can dish out.

Weaknesses

Despite its explosive starts, the deck falters if opponents survive the first few turns. Arabella relies almost entirely on small creatures, which means sweepers like Toxic Deluge or Damnation are devastating. The deck also struggles against pillow-fort effects such as Ghostly Prison, since taxing attackers limits the swarm strategy. Granted, the only creature that has to attack is Arabella, but slowing down the rest of the board buys valuable time. Because Arabella herself is just a 1/3, efficient removal or bounce effects can slow her down long enough for others to stabilize. And since Arabella hits each opponent while running an aggro game plan, politicking your way out of danger is basically impossible.

Cards to Watch Out For

1. Basilisk Collar - Giving Arabella lifelink and deathtouch is a nightmare. Not only does it make blocking nearly impossible, but with just five creatures out, one attack means five damage to each opponent (fifteen total) while Arabella gains twenty life. That's from a single swing--and a conservative one at that.
2. Reconnaissance - Lets Arabella attack without risk, then pulls her out of combat before damage. She still triggers every turn, with no downside, making her much harder to keep in check.
3. Elspeth, Sun's Champion - This planeswalker pumps out a constant stream of soldier tokens while also threatening a repeatable one-sided board wipe, since most of Arabella's creatures are one or two power. You couldn't design a better support card for her.
4. Delney, Streetwise Lookout - Doubles up Arabella's triggers, dramatically increasing damage output while also making her harder to kill in combat.
5. Charismatic Conqueror - A token maker that also slows down mana rocks and potential blockers. It doesn't look like much at first glance, but left unchecked it quietly wins games.

How to Ragdoll the Doll

The key is to keep Arabella off balance. Cheap removal like Swords to Plowshares or Lightning Bolt set her back, and repeated sweepers deny the token presence she needs. If the table works together to wipe the board a few times, Arabella rarely recovers. Denying her early swings is essential, because the longer the game goes, the weaker she becomes compared to bigger late-game threats. Since this deck is built for speed, it takes a long time for Arabella to get up to eight mana to cast her commander for the fourth time - that's the path to victory.

Commander Kryptonite

1. Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite - Completely cripples Arabella's board by shrinking her creatures out of existence. Without a field, she's nearly useless. Game over until Elesh Norn is removed.
2. Aura Shards - Turns every creature drop into removal. Since Arabella is an artifact, this puts her on the back foot--you can repeatedly play creatures to remove her. It also takes out mana rocks, denying the resources to recast Arabella quickly.
3. Archfiend of Depravity - Forces Arabella's controller to sacrifice down to only two creatures. That one card shuts off the swarm plan entirely, reducing her damage output to a tame single digit at best.

Wrapping Up

And that's how you take down Arabella, Abandoned Doll. While she can be terrifying in the opening turns, she's far from unbeatable. Keep her off the board, wipe away her token armies, and she folds to decks that can weather the early storm. If there's a commander that gives you trouble and you'd like to see it featured in Commander Kryptonite, send an email to thoughtvesselshow@gmail.com. Until next time, happy gaming.