Seascape in the Morning by Simon de Vlieger (1640-1645). Stormtide Leviathan by Karl Kopinski.

After two "Choose a Background" columns in early July, I wanted to turn my attention to one of these new legendary creatures that has that ability but is also a rare. We've been trying to cover all the rare and mythic rare commanders before we turn our attention to other sets, topics and of course - uncommon legendary creatures.

Wyll is a rare and is the perfect new card to slot into a deck built around die rolling. You might think that he was made to play in the 99 of Zndrsplt, Eye of Wisdom and Okaun, Eye of Chaos. It's a natural conclusion, given how often those players are rolling dice, but those two legendary creatures actually require coin flips, not die rolls, in order to resolve their abilities. It's totally fine to roll dice as a replacement for flipping coins, but you can't just use that and apply it to Wyll's die rolling mechanic. Wyll would see those die rolls as coin flips because Okaun and Zndrsplt each specify "flip a coin."

Wyll, Blade of Frontiers is still an interesting legendary creature and well worth digging into. Let's take a look.

This Human Warlock costs a paltry two mana and has no relevant keywords beyond his ability to let you choose a background enchantment to pair with him in the command zone. His party trick is simple: if you would roll one or more dice, roll an extra and then ignore the lowest roll. Whenever you roll one or more dice, you also put a +1/+1 counter on him.

Before you get too excited, it's worth mentioning that this ability only covers dice rolled as the result of in-game actions. If you're inclined to roll a die to decide who to attack, that doesn't get "seen" by Wyll. If you're some weirdo who rolls dice as a nervous habit instead of flicking your cards or playing with a fidget spinner, you don't get to start loading up your commander with +1/+1 counters.

Choosing a Background

Every time I cover a new legendary creature with the Choose a Background ability, I very much enjoy the process of figuring out what background to pair with them. Wyll is Red, and I'm not opposed to building a mono-colored deck. There are exactly zero backgrounds that specifically call out die-rolling, so there's no obvious card to include in this list. This deck might end up building itself, but that doesn't apply to choosing a background.

I did a little research on cards that let you roll dice. While there are die-rolling cards in all five colors, the majority are in Red and Blue. There are also a good number of artifacts, but if I want to maximize the number of cards in this deck that will let me roll dice, my color pairing should probably be Izzet. After some consideration I ended up with a few serious options.

If you know me at all, you know I like Dragons, and one look at the Faerie Dragon creature token in Battle for Baldur's Gate had me thinking I'd really love to have an excuse to play those tokens. Pairing Feywild Visitor with Wyll, Blade of Frontiers could give me that excuse. I'm already going to load up on die-rolling cards so I'm likely to want to go to combat. What better reward is there for swinging at your opponents than some of the cutest creature tokens since Wasitora's Cat Dragons?

Shameless Charlatan might be a more interesting option than choosing a background because I Ilike the art on some random creature token cards. If I'm able to load up Wyll, Blade of Frontiers with a bunch of +1/+1 counters, Shameless Charlatan lets me suddenly turn him into another creature. If I've got five +1/+1 counters on him and I can make him a copy of a six-power creature, I've suddenly got a 2 turn clock on anyone I can reliably hit for commander damage. If I've got nine +1/+1 counters and someone has a Blighted Agent on the field, it's game over for somebody. I love this option except for the fact that Wyll would become a copy of another target creature and therefore would lose the ability to benefit from die-rolling, rendering the main thrust of my deck somewhat irrelevant.

My last option is a fairly simple one. Sword Coast Sailor will make Wyll unblockable if I'm swinging at the opponent who has the most life. I'm already planning on loading up with +1/+1 counters, so I'm likely to want to go to combat. Wyll has no built-in evasion and Sword Coast Sailor makes my decision on who to attack exceedingly simple. I might not always want to hit the tablemate with the highest life total, but it's really, really nice to not have to worry about blockers.

I should note that there is a temptation to look at Raised by Giants. Making Wyll a base 10/10 would be sweet, but I suspect that background will always be tempting no matter who my commander is. Ultimately, I'm not willing to lose access to all the die-rolling cards in blue, so Raised by Giants wasn't an option.

I love those Faerie Dragon creature tokens, but I don't love that background for this deck. Shameless Charlatan might be my most interesting option, but I don't love the fact that I would lose the benefit of die-rolling if my commander became a copy of another creature. That copy ability isn't until end of turn - it lasts until Wyll would leave the battlefield and unless there's another Wyll in the game I'm not going to be able to switch him back very easily.

That means that it looks like I'm building Wyll, Sword Coast Sailor today. I do love being able to swing unblocked and I really do want to load up on as many die-roll cards as possible, so I think this both makes sense and gives me a decent path forwards.

Roll Dem Bones

When I build Commander decks I often group my cards into "slots" and in this build I ended up with roughly a slot of red die-rolling cards, a slot of blue die-rolling cards and a slot of colorless die-rolling cards. I chose to run them all, as this is the kind of deck where I'd rather lean into theme than worry about optimizing the deck and loading up on staples. Of course, I still have staples, but there with this deck you should have plenty of chances to roll dem bones.

Ebony Fly will dodge boardwipes, as it isn't a creature unless you use its ability. For four mana, you can roll a d6 and it becomes a flying X/X Insect artifact creature where X is the result of your die roll. When it attacks, another attacking creature gains flying, so you can help Wyll get through blockers if Sword Coast Sailor isn't out yet.

There are a lot of other artifacts that provide some limited die-rolling. Bucknard's Everfull Purse is in the list, but when you use it you have to pass control of it to the player on your right. Component Pouch will put 1 or 2 component counters onto the pouch if you tap it and roll a d20. You can also tap it and remove a component counter to add gain 2 mana. The Deck of Many Things costs 2 mana to tap, roll a d20, subtract the number of cards in your hand, and then get some kind of benefit.

I'm running Treasure Chest, Sword of Hours, Goblin Morningstar, Wizard's Spellbook and even Spiked Pit Trap. For this to work I need to maximize the chances I get to roll a die and that means running cards that might not be great options.

Netherese Puzzle-Ward is the kind of card I'll love to have in this deck. I get a free extra die roll on my upkeep. I'll get to scry 1-4 cards, but the biggest surprise is that this card supports my general strategy. Whenever I roll a die's highest natural result, I get to draw a card. Wyll will let me roll an extra die and that will give me more opportunities to roll that highest natural result.

Contact Other Plane and Diviner's Portent will both let me roll dice and draw cards. The former is basically a more expensive Divination that might let you scry, and the Latter is a slightly different Blue Sun's Zenith. The bonus you get from rolling well is to scry.

Chaos Dragon will see each player roll a d20 at the beginning of combat on my turn. Wyll's Reversal will let me Deflecting Swat a spell or ability that targets and I might get to copy it if I roll well. I'm also running Berserker's Frenzy, which lets me mess with blockers during combat. All this die-rolling may have varied returns, but that doesn't mean it can't be fun.

My die rolling extends all the way to my lands. Underdark Rift will let me put an artifact, creature, or planeswalker back in its owner's library, but only at sorcery speed and for a whopping 5 mana. It's not great, but it is a land and it lets me roll dice.

My two favorite die rolling cards are probably going to be the Ancient Dragons that fit into my colors. Ancient Copper Dragon will make me treasures, and probably a lot of them since I'll be rolling two dice and ignoring the lower roll. Ancient Silver Dragon just draws me oodles of cards and gives me no maximum hand size for the rest of the game.

Support Cards

There are both support cards and die roll cards in Red, but that should come as no surprise. Chaos is red's domain and there's nothing more chaotic than letting your fate be determined by the roll of a die.

Barbarian Class will let me roll another die and ignore the lower roll. When that is combined with Wyll, Blade of Frontiers, I'll be rolling three dice and taking the highest roll. I can level it up, but I'm not sure I'd bother. Brazen Dwarf will push out 1 damage to each opponent every time I roll a die. Feywild Trickster might not give me card draw, but it is going to give me those sweet and adorable 1/1 blue Faerie Dragon creature tokens.

Farideh, Devil's Chosen will let me draw cards when I roll one or more dice if any of the results are 10 or higher. Farideh also gets flying and menace until end of turn if I roll dice, but the card draw is the real prize here.

Damage-Based Card Draw

Sword Coast Sailor will let me get Wyll through blockers with some consistency, so I decided it made sense to throw in some cards that would let me draw when a creature I control deals combat damage.

Curiosity and Ophidian Eye will let me draw a card when the enchanted creature does damage. Tandem Lookout does the same, but as a creature with soulbond. Coastal Piracy and Reconnaissance Mission will also give me combat damage-based card draw. These cards make sense with a creature that will be able to get through but it's worth noting that the first two don't actually specify combat damage.

Those damage-based card draw spells go with the three Niv-Mizzets like peanut butter and jelly. Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind lets you do damage with him when you draw a card. Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius lets you draw a card when Niv deals damage. Niv-Mizzet, Parun lets you deal damage when you draw a card and draw a card any time a player casts an instant or sorcery spell.

The leap from Sword Coast Sailor to Niv Combo isn't an obvious one, and if you don't like combo you could always drop them out and run other stuff. There are plenty of options in Red and Blue though you'll be hard pressed to find any more playable die-rolling cards outside of Un-Sets.

Wyll, Sword Coast Sailor

This is one of those lists that you could shift up or down in power fairly easily. To drop power you'd likely just drop out the combos, pull out the higher cost cards and you could end up with a fun, whimsical die-rolling deck that might not keep up with higher powered decks but would still be fun to play. If you wanted to push up the power level you could toss in some fast mana, but I have real reservations that this could ever push up into high powered play. You'd probably need to abandon the die-rolling theme. If you did that, you'd be abandoning the heart and soul of this deck, so I just can't see the point.

Wyll, Sword Coast Sailor | Commander | Stephen Johnson

• Commanders (2)
• 1 Wyll, Blade of Frontiers
• 1 Sword Coast Sailor

• Creatures (26)
• 1 Aberrant Mind Sorcerer
• 1 Ancient Copper Dragon
• 1 Ancient Silver Dragon
• 1 Arcane Investigator
• 1 Brash Taunter
• 1 Brazen Dwarf
• 1 Burnished Hart
• 1 Chaos Channeler
• 1 Chaos Dragon
• 1 Clay Golem
• 1 Delina, Wild Mage
• 1 Djinni Windseer
• 1 Dreamscape Artist
• 1 Earth-Cult Elemental
• 1 Farideh, Devil's Chosen
• 1 Feywild Trickster
• 1 Hoarding Ogre
• 1 Knollspine Dragon
• 1 Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius
• 1 Niv-Mizzet, Parun
• 1 Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
• 1 Pilgrim's Eye
• 1 Scion of Stygia
• 1 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Swarming Goblins
• 1 Tandem Lookout

• Instants (11)
• 1 Berserker's Frenzy
• 1 Chaos Warp
• 1 Contact Other Plane
• 1 Counterspell
• 1 Cyclonic Rift
• 1 Diviner's Portent
• 1 Farideh's Fireball
• 1 Pongify
• 1 Rapid Hybridization
• 1 Swan Song
• 1 Wyll's Reversal

• Sorceries (2)
• 1 Jeska's Will
• 1 Power of Persuasion

• Enchantments (8)
• 1 Barbarian Class
• 1 Coastal Piracy
• 1 Curiosity
• 1 Netherese Puzzle-Ward
• 1 Ophidian Eye
• 1 Possibility Storm
• 1 Reconnaissance Mission
• 1 Rhystic Study

• Artifacts (13)
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Bucknard's Everfull Purse
• 1 Component Pouch
• 1 Ebony Fly
• 1 Goblin Morningstar
• 1 Izzet Signet
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Spiked Pit Trap
• 1 Sword of Hours
• 1 Thaumatic Compass
• 1 The Deck of Many Things
• 1 Treasure Chest
• 1 Wizard's Spellbook

• Lands (38)
• 13 Island
• 13 Mountain
• 1 Arcane Lighthouse
• 1 Cascade Bluffs
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Exotic Orchard
• 1 Maze of Ith
• 1 Rogue's Passage
• 1 Scalding Tarn
• 1 Steam Vents
• 1 Stormcarved Coast
• 1 Sulfur Falls
• 1 Training Center
• 1 Underdark Rift

Buy This Deck Export text format

I actually managed to find a Wyll, Sword Coast Sailor deck in the wilds of Commandfest Montreal. The game was one in which the table struggled against a pretty strong Yidris deck. I was pretty blown away by the fact that I found someone who had built this commander / background pairing, but sadly the deck didn't happen to have a great game.

Final Thoughts

I've really enjoyed these Commander / Background pairings but next Monday I'm going to share the highlights from my trip up to Montreal for their Commanderfest. I've also got a special deck spotlight in the works, but it might be a few weeks before I'm able to get that written up.

If you have Commander / Background pairings that you would like me to tackle, please let me know in the comments. I've got my eye on a mono-White soldiers build but I'm also working on other projects so it's hard to be sure what will be next. I always aim to please, so by all means leave me a note if there's a card you would like me to write about.

If this list felt a little like the deck built itself, I can't argue with you. Sometimes a card leads you down a path and there aren't many other great options other than the obvious build. That's not terrible, but my favorite decks are always the ones where I felt like I had to put in a little extra effort and clever puzzle-solving to get the deck completed.

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