One of my favorite things to do with a new legendary creature in EDH is to try to find a build path that feels different and out of the ordinary. This month I've been going through my Tarkir: Dragonstorm precon decks, tearing them apart and trying to find something interesting to build out of them. I don't have anything against precon decks per se, but if I'm going to play a deck and have a bad game, for some reason I want it to be my fault.

Don't get me wrong. I know full well that variance in EDH is a huge factor, especially at lower power levels, and that bad games can happen for tons of reasons. It's still more interesting to me to be playing my own brew than to be playing an unmodified precon.

For today's column I'm going to be looking at how I put my own spin on Shiko and Narset, Unified, one of the face commanders from the Jeskai precon deck.

This flying, vigilant Human Spirit Dragon is a 4/4 for four mana in Jeskai colors with a pretty neat ability. Whenever I cast my second spell each turn, I can either copy that spell if it targets a permanent or player (and possibly choose a new target for the copy), or draw a card.

Card draw in the command zone always gets my attention, but it felt a little obvious to just build yet another low CMC spellslinger deck. It's been done a million times in Izzet and adding White doesn't make it that much more interesting. I thought about doing searches for cards in red, White, and Blue that target but what if I looked at Shiko and Narset from a totally different angle?

There's a type of card that targets permanents that you'll never find if you just search in Scryfall for the word "target" because it isn't actually printed on the card. I know, reading the card explains the card, but hear me out. Shiko and Narset can give you a copy of an aura you cast once per turn, provided you make sure it's the second spell you cast. You can also choose to draw a card. Auras target permanents or players depending upon the aura.

I'm not going to tell you this is the most broken or amazing thing you can do with Shiko and Narset. That would probably involve having target player take extra turns, draw a mess of cards, or push out lots of damage. That might be a very strong build, but I'm going to see how much nonsense I can get up to by abusing Mind Control auras and Act of Treason effects. My plan is to draw the line at stealing commanders or playing game changers like Expropriate, but I still think it's got the potential to be a pretty neat take on an otherwise predictable commander.

What's Yours is Mine

This deck is loaded up with low mana spells so that I can reliably play a spell and then steal two things instead of just one. I don't normally play theft effects in my EDH decks, as they can make for a bad experience for the player or players you're stealing from. I also like to try out as many different deck types and strategies as I can just to expand my understanding of the game so I figured I'd give this idea a shot anyways. I usually play interaction only when absolutely necessary and this deck is going to force me to push that boundary a bit.

This brew has three main flavors and while the first is low mana spells, the second is good old fashioned Mind Control auras. When I cast one and copy it with Shiko and Narset, I'll put a token copy of the spell on the stack and I'll be able to choose new targets. For four or five mana I'll grab two of my tablemates' best creatures. If the aura gets removed, control will revert back to the owner.

Become the Pilot is particularly good, not because it can enchant a noncommander creature, but because it will make the enchanted creature get +2/+2 and be unblockable. It will have to attack a player other than its owner or a permanent its owner controls, but that's fine. I don't want to kill someone and lose the creature I stole from them anyways, so if the stolen creature is huge, I'll be happy to leave them for last.

My nastiest aura is probably Corrupted Conscience. This enchantment not only gives me control of the creature, it also gives it infect. Normally that would only be important if the creature was big enough to deal 10 damage, but if I'm making a copy of it, I can grab two creatures that total over 10 damage combined and present a lethal threat to somebody.

While I hesitate to call it ramp, Treachery will untap up to five of my lands when it enters play. If I'm making a token copy of this pricey aura, I'll untap five lands, tap them to bank five mana, and then untap those lands again when the original enters play. In a deck that wants to play relatively big spells, this could come in handy.

I'm also running Mind Control, Control Magic, Kitnap, and Persuasion, though those are generally much less interesting and less powerful than the auras shown above. Even a slightly overcosted theft aura will feel pretty good to play if I'm able to get an extra copy when I cast it.

Act of Treason is a three-mana Red sorcery that lets you gain control of target creature until end of turn. I'll untap the creature and it gains haste. The real power play would be to have a sacrifice outlet, but I'm trying to build a deck that isn't completely obnoxious to play against, so I'm not running Ashnod's Altar, Phyrexian Altar and the like.

While most of these spells are sorceries, Act of Aggression stands out for being an Instant. I can also pay four life to make it cost just three mana. That could be important in the early turns if I'm trying to play a spell before it.

Involuntary Employment is a sorcery that will cost four mana but will also have me create a treasure token. If I make a copy of it, I'll be paying four mana but getting two treasure tokens back and I'll be stealing two creatures until end of turn.

Stealing huge, scary creatures and murdering my tablemates might be a fine goal, but if they can be chump blocked it's not going to get me far. That's where a spell like Traitorous Blood comes in. It costs just three mana, and will give the stolen creatures trample and haste until end of turn.

If nothing else, I expect this to be the kind of deck that sets up some really interesting scenarios. Do I steal a creature and send it at someone with a big enough blocker to kill it? Do I steal someone's only untapped creatures so the table can gang up and kill them before their next turn? Will the ability to get extra copies of these spells elevate this strategy to being playable or even effective in multiplayer?

As they say, it's fun to find out.

Odds and Ends

It's going to be hard to predict all of the things this deck needs in its toolbox in order to work really well, but I've got a few ideas for key effects I may need to lean on to get the job done.

The first thing I need to keep in mind is that my tablemates will probably try to protect their best stuff. I don't always run Swiftfoot Boots and Lightning Greaves, but they are Commander staples and it would be shortsighted not to at least look for ways to get around hexproof. Shadowspear is a one-mana equipment that will help with that. Not only can it be equipped to give +1/+1, trample and lifelink, it can also let me pay 1 mana to remove hexproof and indestructible from my opponents' permanents until end of turn. I've also got this effect in a land - Detection Tower, and another artifact - Glaring Spotlight. Spotlight can also be sacrificed to give my creatures hexproof and make them unblockable until end of turn.

Reducing the costs of my enchantments is also pretty important, and should go a long way towards letting me cast two spells in a single turn. Hinata, Dawn-Crowned is a 4/4 Kirin Spirit with flying and trample which will reduce the spells I cost by 1 mana for each target. It will also tax my opponents for targeting my stuff. Starfield Mystic and Transcendent Envoy are also in the list and can each reduce the cost of my auras by 1 mana.

As I'm leaning into enchantments, it made sense to run a few that care about how many I have in play. Tempest Technique is a four-mana aura with storm that will enchant creature I control and give it +1/+1 for each enchantment I control. If I'm able to play a cheaper spell and then cast it, I'll be able to get the original, a copy from Shiko and Narset's ability and a copy from the storm keyword. Putting all of them on my commander would give them at least +9/+9, and should put me well on the way to being a commander damage threat. All That Glitters and Sphere of Safety are also in the list. The former gives +1/+1 for each artifact and enchantment I control, and the latter will tax my tablemates for attacking me equal to the number of enchantments I control.

Thoughts About Theft

Before I leap into the decklist, I want to take a moment to talk about decks that steal or copy your opponents' creatures, either from their deck, their graveyard or even from the battlefield.

First off, they are fine. The rules of Magic allow us to do all kinds of nonsense and some of that nonsense might not be much fun for anyone but you. That's OK.

I would urge you to not build what is technically a lower bracket deck, load it up with theft or copy effects, and then pretend it's some low powered, low bracket, cupcake of a deck that your tablemates shouldn't be worried about. Maybe it will have some games where it plays that way, but you'd mostly be lying.

When you have a deck that steals creatures, and especially a deck that copies creatures, your goal should be to steal and copy all of the very best creatures your opponents have in their decks. You may not be playing game changers, but if one person had a Praetor or an Eldrazi Titan and now you have it along with a half dozen nonlegendary token copies of it, you're clearly not playing a sweet, innocent, low powered deck.

I exaggerate to make a simple point - theft/clone decks are very hard to slot into a power level or bracket and they can be very frustrating to play against if you started the game by claiming that it's low powered.

Maybe it will play like a low powered deck, but don't gaslight your tablemates. Make sure they understand that the deck may have a very high ceiling, as its best game will see it playing all of their best stuff and murdering them with that army of powerful dopplegangers.

A Unified Purpose

This deck is very much of an experiment for me. I usually don't hesitate to put over two dozen creatures into a list I'm planning to play in low-to-mid powered games. This list has a fraction of that number, but I'm hoping that I can get into the mid game without losing too much life.

If I can make it to the mid game and start stealing creatures, I'll be interested to see how things play out. Again, my goal is to avoid stealing commanders, but I'll grab whatever else feels like it will help me the most.

Shiko and Narset, Unified | Commander | Stephen Johnson

• Commander (1)
• 1 Shiko and Narset, Unified

• Creatures (10)
• 1 Archivist of Oghma
• 1 Errant, Street Artist
• 1 Esper Sentinel
• 1 Hinata, Dawn-Crowned
• 1 Mesa Enchantress
• 1 Monastery Mentor
• 1 Starfield Mystic
• 1 Third Path Iconoclast
• 1 Transcendent Envoy
• 1 Voracious Bibliophile

• Instants (20)
• 1 AEtherize
• 1 Act of Aggression
• 1 Aetherspouts
• 1 Arcane Denial
• 1 Aura Finesse
• 1 Boros Charm
• 1 Brainstorm
• 1 Chaos Warp
• 1 Commandeer
• 1 Consider
• 1 Counterspell
• 1 Disenchant
• 1 Generous Gift
• 1 Opt
• 1 Path to Exile
• 1 Pongify
• 1 Rapid Hybridization
• 1 Swan Song
• 1 Swords to Plowshares
• 1 Wrong Turn

• Sorceries (9)
• 1 Act of Treason
• 1 Involuntary Employment
• 1 Kari Zev's Expertise
• 1 Lose Calm
• 1 Mob Rule
• 1 Ponder
• 1 Spreading Insurrection
• 1 Traitorous Blood
• 1 Winds of Rath

• Enchantments (13)
• 1 All That Glitters
• 1 Become the Pilot
• 1 Control Magic
• 1 Corrupted Conscience
• 1 Kitnap
• 1 Land Tax
• 1 Mind Control
• 1 Persuasion
• 1 Sage's Reverie
• 1 Sphere of Safety
• 1 Tempest Technique
• 1 Treachery
• 1 Whirlwind of Thought

• Artifacts (8)
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Azorius Signet
• 1 Boros Signet
• 1 Glaring Spotlight
• 1 Izzet Signet
• 1 Shadowspear
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Twinning Staff

• Lands (39)
• 7 Island
• 7 Mountain
• 7 Plains
• 1 Adarkar Wastes
• 1 Battlefield Forge
• 1 Clifftop Retreat
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Deserted Beach
• 1 Detection Tower
• 1 Exotic Orchard
• 1 Ferrous Lake
• 1 Glacial Fortress
• 1 Rogue's Passage
• 1 Shivan Reef
• 1 Skycloud Expanse
• 1 Slayers' Stronghold
• 1 Stormcarved Coast
• 1 Sulfur Falls
• 1 Sundown Pass
• 1 Sunscorched Divide
• 1 Windbrisk Heights

Buy This Deck Export text

To tune this list up, I think you'd need to decide whether or not you wanted to stay with the same approach. If you did, you might add more boardwipes and some extra turn spells, probably dropping out some of the treason effects because they only offer a temporary benefit. You might instead load up on sacrifice outlets, throw in Insurrection, and plan to steal and sacrifice your tablemates' creatures as a theme.

Dropping this list down in power is problematic, as its biggest sin is wanting to steal your tablemates' best stuff. If you drop that out, you are fundamentally changing what the deck is trying to be. You could move this list towards a traditional Izzet spellslinger build with White added in for fun. That approach should keep your hand nice and full, and then your power level would be dictated by what you choose for your wincons. Aetherflux Reservoir in a stormy spellslinger deck is very strong. Making lots of Goblin creature tokens is fun, but not nearly as powerful.

Early Results

I was able to get this deck into a game online using Tabletop Simulator and managed to pull out a win. It was against some pretty weird decks. My pod was me on Shiko and Narset, up against Garth One-Eye (a weird chaos build with lots of old cards), a First Sliver deck (an odd lords and anthems list) and a Final Fantasy commander - Sin, Spira's Punishment. That last deck was built around Leviathans. It was a strange pod to be sure.

I got a turn one Land Tax and a turn two Transcendent Envoy as an early blocker, a turn three Twinning Staff and a turn-four Shiko and Narset. That's not bad, but then I spent a fair amount of time building up a hand of auras and trying to figure out how to navigate the board and the politics.

The big turn for me was after the Garth player put out a Grand Melee, so every creature had to attack if able and block if able. I still had just two creatures on board so if I didn't do anything I might have been in trouble. I was able to play a Consider and follow it up with Lose Calm and Spreading Insurrection, stealing six creatures in total. Rather than try to knock someone out, I spread the damage around, effectively using attackers as removal while opening up paths for my two flyers to survive combat.

That got the table's attention, but my board returned to just having two creatures. While it was a splashy turn, I still didn't seem like a problem. I hadn't used any mind control auras yet, and my hope was that they were assuming I was just leaning on those red spells to target creatures. Remember that auras may target but they don't say "target" on them, so I was hoping they hadn't figured out that I had that extra theme in the deck.

I had an Aetherize in hand and we knew the Sin player had a creature with an ETB counterspell ability in hand, so I was both holding up that mana and hoping he wouldn't throw everything at me. In the end the turn that tipped the scales in my favor was one where the Sliver player (who only had 2 slivers in their deck) swung lethal at the Leviathans player, whose deck was led by Sin, Spira's Punishment. He told me that if I could save him, he'd swing lethal at the Slivers player and give me at least a turn without attacking me. He also had 2 cards left in his library so he was on the brink of being out of the game anyways.

I went for it, not having a better plan on how to get through all of the Sliver player's creatures. My solitary Rogue's Passage probably wouldn't be enough to get me there on my own. I cast Aetherize, bouncing the Sliver player's attack and sealing the Sliver player's fate.

The Sin player had an enchantment that would mill him instead of having him draw, so while he had 2 cards left, I'd have to remove that enchantment for him to draw out. I didn't have enchantment removal in hand, but it all worked out. Sin swung lethal at the Garth player, who had done some stuff during the game but was never in a position to threaten anyone seriously. He was having fun with weird, old chaos cards. At one point he had played a Standard Bearer, which would have screwed up my game plan a lot, but I was able to remove it.

The Sin player ended up randomly returning an Eater of Days to the battlefield forcing them to skip their next two turns. They were tapped out and I had Treachery, Persuasion, and Become the Pilot in hand, along with a Swan Song to protect at least one spell. Rather than play it out, he had me demonstrate the win. I cast an Esper Sentinel, followed by Treachery to let me untap lands and bank an extra five Blue mana. With four theft effects and multiple turns with his best flyers to attack with, along with a Rogue's Passage to let the biggest one through, he conceded the win. He was just glad to have had that extra turn to do some violence with his commander and his army of Leviathans. Since they weren't going to be sent at me, I was happy to oblige.

While he was playing some genuinely bad and borderline unplayable Leviathans in his deck and probably lost the game as a result, it felt very clear that Sin, Spira's Punishment is a powerful commander that is going to have an impact on games. His pilot thought it would be fun to play a few bad cards alongside cards that might be able to stifle the worst enter-the-battlefield triggers to hopefully make them better. That Eater of Days was surely what cost him the game, though I also didn't have to save him with my Aetherize.

I didn't end up stealing any commanders, though I did remove one with a Path to Exile, copied once with my commander and once with Twinning Staff. The first was sent at that pesky Flagbearer, and the two copies weren't affected by Flagbearer so I was able to hit Sin in the early game. His pilot was attempting to equip Lightning Greaves and I wasn't confident that was something I wanted to happen. The next turn he played Sin again and swung at someone else, so I probably shouldn't have bothered, but sometimes it's just good to slow a deck down a little.

Final Thoughts

In EDH it's very easy, especially in later turns, for decks to really spiral out of control, to the point where stealing creatures isn't going to be a viable strategy. This deck probably needs more boardwipes, but it's not uncommon for my lists to run only one or two, if any. Other than that, I'm pretty happy with how the deck played.

Running so few creatures is a bit weird, and in my test game I forgot to attack with my vigilant flying commander at least three or four times. That's not terrible, but losing chances to chip in at your tablemates is silly when you have a 4/4 flyer with vigilance. On the other hand, not hitting them when I could have been more aggressive could have resulted in them not having extra reasons to mess with me and my board.

I probably won't build today's list in paper, but that's not an indictment of the deck. I just have a lot of decks so outside of converting precons into new decks, I mostly play new builds online and it takes a really enjoyable deck for me to unsleeve and old one and make space for a new brew.

That's all I've got for today. Thanks for reading and I'll see you next week!