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 function, their strengths, weaknesses, and ultimately how to beat them. Today we're continuing our October selections from Magic's horror set, Duskmourn: House of Horror. We've already looked at Arabella, Kona, and The Lord of Pain. This time, we're taking on the commander with possibly the creepiest art in the entire set: The Jolly Balloon Man. But what makes this commander scary both in appearance and in-game? Let's take a look.

The Commander: The Jolly Balloon Man

The Jolly Balloon Man is similar to a Commander favorite, Kiki-Jiki. Like Kiki-Jiki, the Balloon Man makes token copies of creatures that only stick around for one turn. There are some key differences, though. For one, Kiki-Jiki is mono-Red, while The Jolly Balloon Man is red and White. That opens up more copy options as well as access to several powerful token doublers that White provides. However, the Balloon Man has two major drawbacks compared to Kiki-Jiki. First, its activation costs one mana instead of being free, making infinite combos much harder to pull off. Second, the copies it creates are only 1/1 creatures. So if the Balloon Man tries to make a token copy of a giant dragon, it'll still just be a 1/1 token.

The Deck

This deck revolves around activating The Jolly Balloon Man as often as possible to generate value. That might mean copying a Solemn Simulacrum to ramp extra lands or going big with something like Combat Celebrant to take extra combat steps. Value engines like Panharmonicon can make sure the Balloon Man gets the most out of each trigger, while cards like Skullclamp can turn the tokens into card draw before they float away. Here is an example of a Jolly Balloon Man deck that you might come across at your local game store.

The Jolly Balloon Man | Commander

• Commander (1)
• 1 The Jolly Balloon Man

• Creatures (31)
• 1 Agate Instigator
• 1 Ao, the Dawn Sky
• 1 Arabella, Abandoned Doll
• 1 Atsushi, the Blazing Sky
• 1 Circuit Mender
• 1 Combat Celebrant
• 1 Delney, Streetwise Lookout
• 1 Ertha Jo, Frontier Mentor
• 1 Gold Myr
• 1 Iron Myr
• 1 Inspiring Overseer
• 1 Karmic Guide
• 1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
• 1 Knight of the White Orchid
• 1 Loran of the Third Path
• 1 Marvin, Murderous Mimic
• 1 Mentor of the Meek
• 1 Molten Gatekeeper
• 1 Mondrak, Glory Dominus
• 1 Ornithopter of Paradise
• 1 Recruiter of the Guard
• 1 Restoration Angel
• 1 Skyclave Apparition
• 1 Spirited Companion
• 1 Sun Titan
• 1 Village Bell-Ringer
• 1 Wall of Omens
• 1 Welcoming Vampire
• 1 Witch Enchanter
• 1 Witty Roastmaster
• 1 Zealous Conscripts

• Instants (7)
• 1 Boros Charm
• 1 Chaos Warp
• 1 Ephemerate
• 1 Generous Gift
• 1 Path to Exile
• 1 Rootborn Defenses
• 1 Swords to Plowshares

• Sorceries (5)
• 1 Austere Command
• 1 Blasphemous Act
• 1 Fell the Mighty
• 1 Sevinne's Reclamation
• 1 Untimely Malfunction

• Enchantments (6)
• 1 Anointed Procession
• 1 Caretaker's Talent
• 1 Determined Iteration
• 1 Enduring Innocence
• 1 Impact Tremors
• 1 Warleader's Call

• Artifacts (12)
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Ashnod's Altar
• 1 Boros Signet
• 1 Idol of Oblivion
• 1 Illusionist's Bracers
• 1 Patriar's Seal
• 1 Panharmonicon
• 1 Skullclamp
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots
• 1 Talisman of Conviction

• Lands (35)
• 11 Mountain
• 11 Plains
• 1 Arid Mesa
• 1 Battlefield Forge
• 1 Boros Garrison
• 1 Clifftop Retreat
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Exotic Orchard
• 1 Furycalm Snarl
• 1 Rugged Prairie
• 1 Sacred Foundry
• 1 Spectator Seating
• 1 Sundown Pass
• 1 Sunscorched Divide
• 1 Temple of Triumph

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Strengths

The strength of this deck lies in its efficiency and speed. Its curve is usually low enough to get rolling quickly, and it can easily find whatever it needs - ramp, draw, removal, or tutoring. Since it can copy those effects repeatedly through the Balloon Man, it's a value engine that rarely runs out of gas.

Weaknesses

While it can generate endless value, it often struggles to close games. Without much raw power, the deck usually wins through combos like Kiki-Jiki with Village Bell-Ringer, or through ping effects such as Witty Roastmaster.

The deck doesn't typically run much protection, relying heavily on its commander to keep the engine running. So if The Jolly Balloon Man is removed, the whole machine shuts down.

Cards to Look Out For

1. Circuit Mender - The Balloon tokens leaving the battlefield becomes a benefit here. Circuit Mender triggers on both entering and leaving the battlefield, so each copy nets two life and a card draw. It adds up fast.
2. Combat Celebrant - When copied, each token can exert itself for an extra combat step. Combined with something like a Gold Myr to provide mana, this can easily lead to multiple, even infinite, combat steps.
3. Trumpeting Carnosaur - While the tokens won't be 7/6 tramplers, they'll still trigger the Discover 5 ability, and doing that repeatedly can spiral out of control quickly.
4. Warleader's Call - With so many creatures entering the battlefield, Warleader's Call deals one damage to each opponent every time it happens. It also pumps your tokens to 2/2s, making them better attackers.
5. Ao, the Dawn Sky - Because of the legend rule, the token version of Ao dies right away, triggering its death ability. With so many cheap permanents in this deck, you can hit a ton of value looking at the top seven cards.

Popping the Balloon

This deck can keep one opponent in check, but it struggles to control everyone at once. The trick is to stay as the second or third biggest threat so the Balloon Man has to target someone else's board. Eventually, those opponents will retaliate, giving you the perfect opening to strike.

When that happens, it's best to pile on and push the Balloon Man player far enough behind that their Boros deck can't catch up before the game ends.

Commander Kryptonite

1. Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite - The Balloon Man's tokens are usually 1/1s, so Elesh Norn wipes them out immediately, cutting off any infinite army potential.
2. Torpor Orb - The deck thrives on enter-the-battlefield effects, and Torpor Orb completely shuts those down. Depending on the build, it may not even have a clean answer to remove it.
3. Privileged Position - Like in my Brago, King Eternal article, decks like this rely on spot removal. Granting your permanents hexproof makes a lot of their cards useless.

And there you have it! That's how to defeat The Jolly Balloon Man. If there's a specific commander giving you trouble at your local game store and you don't know how to beat it, send an email to thoughtvesselshow@gmail.com, and it might be featured in a future Commander Kryptonite. Until next time, happy gaming.