It’s Selesnya week here on the Magic-playing Internet, and that means it’s time to talk about our community. Despite my brief foray into adventure travel last week, this column has mostly been focused on Magic design. I love writing about that stuff, and some of you are really invested in the content, but the truth of the matter is that the audience for design is a small one, and with great resources like Mark Rosewater’s Making Magic and the Goblin Artisans Blog, I’m not doing all that I can to support the readers of GatheringMagic or the Magic community in general by adding another voice on the subject.

So that’s not what I’m going to be doing anymore. I’m more than happy to talk shop on Twitter or wherever, but here, I’m going to be tackling another subject: Commander.

Taking Command

So, let’s get down to business. It’s Selesnya week, and the obvious place to start would be our brand new guild leader:

There’s just one teensy-weensy problem.

I.

Hate.

Tokens.

They’re a pain to keep track of. Which ones are tapped or summoning sick? Which are 3/3 Centaurs and which are 1/1 flying Birds? Which ones are white and get a bonus from Divine Sacrament? And don’t get me started on keeping track of different numbers of counters from Gavony Township or Ajani Goldmane. I’m playing Commander to have fun, not to prep for balancing a state budget. But if you like them, go for it. I’ m not going to hold it against you.

Now, one might think that this hatred of tokens would cause me to shy away from Selesnyan decks; not so. I’ve simply looked to an older guild leader for help:

Despite being a vegetarian with regard to food, I’m omnivorous when it comes to Magic. I enjoy delving into the realms of game design and judging events, but I also enjoy reading up on the story. I relish the chance to compete at Grand Prix events and travel to Pro Tour Qualifiers, but I likewise relish the opportunity to sit down for some Commander without land destruction or combos. And I love eking out marginal value and devising clever synergies, but I also love swinging with huge creatures.

Chorus of the Conclave is awfully good at delivering on that last point. This isn’t actually the first time I’ve talked about my Chorus deck, but the first attempt was not one of my better-written pieces, and the deck’s changed a lot in the meantime, so now seems as good a time as any to give it another go.

How Big is Big?

Chorus of the Conclave costs 8 mana, and while Commander games do tend to run long, it would be hard to recast Chorus more than once or twice without some serious ramp. Luckily, the Dryad offers a means to fill your deck with mana sources without flooding out. Simply play a lot of these:

So, it’s not too hard to just go about your business casting 9/9 Wood Elves. But after a while, 9/9s started to feel unimpressive and I turned to these:

17/18 Ondu Giants are a sight to behold, but it still wasn’t enough. I’m a sucker for huge amounts of mana, but even I had to admit it might be time to look for other means of growing the Worldsoul’s devotees.

Ramping Up

The obvious place to look is Doubling Season, but without the black color identity needed for Corpsejack Menace, it’s a hard effect to replicate. Well, sort of. If you’re willing to devote an extra turn to building up, there are other ways to give a creature twice the power.

Neither of these cards is terribly impressive, but each is adequate. Return to Ravnica isn’t content with adequate, so we got this:

Wild Beastmaster acts as a real Doubling Season by pumping everyone, and it can even apply retroactively. If your hate of tokens is less than mine, I’d certainly recommend teaming her up with Mycoloth or Living Hive.

And One to Grow On

Now we come to the really juicy stuff. Pretty much any creature is cool to pump up, and abilities like trample, lifelink, and double strike can make for especially appealing targets, but some options are more mind-blowing than others.

How would you like to drop a Triskelion with 14 counters? Or how about huge Mindless Automatons and Etched Oracles? Fertilid offers all the lands you could ever ask for, and Shinewend is sure to keep opposing Doubling Seasons from competing with your own. And then there’s Wall of Reverence—you know, if you’re into that whole not-dying thing.

But sometimes, none of that is enough. Sometimes, you just need to deal more damage. Surely, I speak of this card:

. . . well, erm, actually no. Sorry, me, didn’t mean to make you look bad there. I was actually talking about this card:

Sometimes, you just need to see how much damage you can swing for, and sometimes, the answer to that question just so happens to exceed a googol . . . with lifelink of course.

Call it win-more if you must—or if you’re trying to maintain any semblance of accuracy. I’ll just call it awesome.

All Together Now

Historically, I haven’t been a big proponent of decklists in Commander articles because I’m a variance addict, and I’m always hoping to play against new cards and fresh strategies. But recently, I’ve had to reexamine that stance. Whenever I brew up a new deck, I’ll spend hours combing Gatherer for anything that might synergize with my commander or theme, and of late, that time’s been growing harder and harder to find. It follows, therefore, that some people simply don’t have the time to do their own brewing. Are they somehow less worthy of awesome Commander games? I think not. So, uh, I guess that’s a pretty longwinded way of letting you know that there’s a decklist below this block of text. Now for a witty transition . . . or something.

"Preaching to the Choir"

• Commander (1)
• 1 Chorus of the Conclave

• Nonland Mana (20)
• 1 Life from the Loam
• 1 Recross the Paths
• 1 Oracle of Mul Daya
• 1 Farhaven Elf
• 1 Wood Elves
• 1 Yavimaya Granger
• 1 Yavimaya Dryad
• 1 Kor Cartographer
• 1 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Quirion Trailblazer
• 1 Ondu Giant
• 1 Fertilid
• 1 Viridian Joiner
• 1 Sakiko, Mother of Summer
• 1 Caged Sun
• 1 Keeper of Progenitus
• 1 Boundless Realms
• 1 Mirari's Wake
• 1 Mana Reflection
• 1 Genesis Wave

• Card-Draw (9)
• 1 Mind's Eye
• 1 Garruk's Packleader
• 1 Primordial Sage
• 1 Soul of the Harvest
• 1 Greater Good
• 1 Soul's Majesty
• 1 Garruk, Primal Hunter
• 1 Mindless Automaton
• 1 Etched Oracle

• Answers (17)
• 1 Relic of Progenitus
• 1 Swords to Plowshare
• 1 Duplicant
• 1 Triskelion
• 1 Triskelavus
• 1 Beast Within
• 1 Shinewend
• 1 Acidic Slime
• 1 Brutalizer Exarch
• 1 Woodfall Primus
• 1 Terastodon
• 1 Lapse of Certainty
• 1 Akroma's Vengeance
• 1 Austere Command
• 1 Lightning Greaves
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots
• 1 Eternal Witness

• Gigantification (7)
• 1 Auriok Bladewarden
• 1 Canopy Crawler
• 1 Wild Beastmaster
• 1 Doubling Season
• 1 True Conviction
• 1 Soul's Might
• 1 Overwhelming Stampede

• Heavy Hitters (5)
• 1 Wall of Reverence
• 1 Brawn
• 1 Hydra Omnivore
• 1 Yew Spirit
• 1 Chameleon Colossus

• Lands (41)
• 1 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
• 1 Mistveil Plains
• 1 Kor Haven
• 1 Mystifying Maze
• 1 Yavimaya Hollow
• 1 Miren, the Moaning Well
• 1 Mosswort Bridge
• 1 Windbrisk Heights
• 1 Vesuva
• 1 Stirring Wildwood
• 1 Winding Canyons
• 1 Llanowar Reborn
• 1 Horizon Canopy
• 1 Reliquary Tower
• 1 Temple Garden
• 1 Savannah
• 1 Wooded Bastion
• 1 Sunpetal Grove
• 1 Saltcrusted Steppe
• 1 Selesnya Sanctuary
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Temple of the False God
• 1 Thawing Glaciers
• 1 Krosan Verge
• 1 Windswept Heath
• 1 Marsh Flats
• 8 Plains
• 7 Forest

Buy This Deck

This deck is certainly fun to play if you enjoy giant monsters, and I’d gladly recommend it to the Timmier among you. The mana base for an allied-colored green deck is pretty easy, so feel free to play with whatever lands you have, and the answer suite depends largely on what your local playgroup is bringing to the table. If you do decide to pick up something similar, make sure to let me know; I’d love to hear about your experiences!

Finally, if you have time to leave some feedback about what type of Commander content you want to see, that would aid me greatly in actually writing what you want to read. And make sure to come back on Monday for something a little bit wonkier.

[poll id=207]