Arabella, Abandoned DollArabella, Abandoned Doll| art by J.P. Targete

“Pop goes the evil.”“Pop goes the evil.”

Hello! Hi! Welcome back to EDHighlights, the series where I build decks for last year's most popular commanders in each color combination.

Now that 2024's set releases have wrapped up, I'll be taking a look at the most popular legendary creatures that were released in the past year and building unique decks around them.

This week, I'm building a deck for 2024's most popular Boros commander, which means we'll be working with… Arabella, Abandoned DollArabella, Abandoned Doll!

ArabellaArabella has been super popular, leading 7,496 decks as of the time of writing, making her the third most popular Boros commander ever.

Arabella also seems to be a clear reference to Annabelle, the haunted doll from the eponymous series of horror movies.

Personally, I can't stand scary movies. If I'm going to watch something, I want it to be fun and light, instead of haunting my dreams. But, I can still see how cool Anabelle is as a Magic card.

Let's see why she's so popular…

ArabellaArabella is a 1/3 , not the greatest rate for a commander that needs to attack to trigger her ability.

But, when she does attack, she deals one damage to each opponent for each creature we control with power two or less and we gain one life for each of those creatures.

This is a super strong ability, and we'll be filling the board with small creatures to take advantage of that.

But, one thing to note is that ArabellaArabella also deals damage directly to our opponents, letting us leverage a select few abilities she can be given. I'll show you what I mean soon, so let's get brewing!

“You tried to throw me away, Henry. I don’t like that at all.”“You tried to throw me away, Henry. I don’t like that at all.”

Because ArabellaArabella deals damage directly to our opponents, we can take advantage of lifelink, essentially quadrupling the amount of life we'll gain when she attacks.

So, let's say we control five creatures with power two or less. When ArabellaArabella attacks, if we're able to give her lifelink, we'll gain a total of 20 life instead of just five.

There's a whole host of ways to give ArabellaArabella lifelink, including three Equipment: Basilisk CollarBasilisk Collar provides lifelink and deathtouch, letting our commander gain us extra life while disincentivizing our opponents from blocking her.

There's also ShadowspearShadowspear, which provides lifelink while also letting us hit our opponents' most well-protected threats with ease.

Finally, there's also Caduceus, Staff of HermesCaduceus, Staff of Hermes, giving Areblla the rules text of a juiced-up Serra AscendantSerra Ascendant. Notably, those last two Equipment do raise ArabellaArabella's power above two (making her no longer count towards her own trigger ability), but that's a fine tradeoff given how good these cards are when equipped to our commander.

There's a few more ways to give ArabellaArabella lifelink, including Felidar UmbraFelidar Umbra and Sheltered by GhostsSheltered by Ghosts.

Both of these auras do well to protect our commander in combat, and Sheltered by GhostsSheltered by Ghosts can even remove an opponent's problematic permanent along the way.

And, because ArabellaArabella deals direct damage to our opponents, giving her infect means that she only needs to do 10 damage total to our opponents to kill them.

Grafted ExoskeletonGrafted Exoskeleton is really the only way to give ArabellaArabella infect, but getting it on the board and equipped to her can end the game with just one or two combat steps.

“And you’re telling me this was designed for children?”“And you’re telling me this was designed for children?”

In order to make ArabellaArabella work, we need to fill the board with little guys. The newly-released Searslicer GoblinSearslicer Goblin fits extremely well in an aggressive deck like this one, likely making a 1/1 token every single turn from the moment it hits the battlefield.

There's also Anim Pakal, Thousandth MoonAnim Pakal, Thousandth Moon, who can make tons of GnomeGnomes over the course of the game.

I'm also a big fan of Warren WarleaderWarren Warleader, who can both make a token copy of itself and provide a continuous stream of tokens when we attack.

And, of course, Ocelot PrideOcelot Pride is here. It'll make a 1/1 cat at the end of every turn, and probably create even more tokens if we've got a solid board state too.

Speaking of payoffs for lifegain, Resplendent AngelResplendent Angel can usually provide a 4/4 token every single turn. While those tokens, and the angel itself, don't count towards ArabellaArabella's ability, making a 4/4 creature every turn is a great way to end games quickly.

Adeline, Resplendent CatharAdeline, Resplendent Cathar works well in this deck too, providing three tokens per turn and acting as a nice payoff for a battlefield full of creatures.

If we're going to be filling the board with tokens, we should have a few ways to take advantage of that! Soul WardenSoul Warden and co. can provide a crazy amount of lifegain of the course of a game, so there's five of these effects total in the 99.

Agate InstigatorAgate Instigator is here too, acting as Impact TremorsImpact Tremors on a creature, while also having the ability to make a token copy of itself.

This is one of the best cards in the whole deck, in my opinion. And, from the same set as ArabellaArabella, Dollmaker's Shop // Porcelain GalleryDollmaker's Shop // Porcelain Gallery is fantastic in this deck.

Both halves of this card are relevant, either making more creature tokens or providing enough power and toughness to end the game in short order.

Unable to ScreamUnable to Scream

There's one last group of cards I want to touch on in this decklist: ways to protect our key creatures. Because we have to attack with ArabellaArabella to trigger her ability, and because this deck is particularly vulnerable to board wipes, I included a full 10 ways to protect our board state.

One of my favorites among those 10 is Grand CrescendoGrand Crescendo, which can both make tokens, protect our whole board, or both. Dolmen GateDolmen Gate is here too, letting our whole board (including ArabellaArabella) attack with impunity.

And, last up is Skrelv, Defector MiteSkrelv, Defector Mite. SkrelvSkrelv's ability can be used offensively (to punch through for damage in combat) or defensively (to protect one of our creatures from a removal spell). Plus, it's a creature with power two or less which is great alongside our commander.

A few other cards that help protect our board include Iroas, God of VictoryIroas, God of Victory (to ensure worry-free combat steps), ReconnaissanceReconnaissance (so that ArabellaArabella can attack without any consequences, and Giver of RunesGiver of Runes (to provide protection as needed during combat or outside of it)

Here's the full decklist:

The Toymaker's TrapThe Toymaker's Trap

Thanks for reading, everyone! Although I didn't get to touch on them earlier, there are a few more cards in this deck that I think are really fun.

Dusk // DawnDusk // Dawn will usually be a one-sided board wipe that can also recur basically every creature in the deck from the graveyard to our hand.

It fits super well with this deck's gameplan, providing board control and insurance for our dead creatures.

I also love Chandra's IncineratorChandra's Incinerator, which can turn ArabellaArabella's attack trigger into removal as well as direct damage to our opponents. Plus, this 6/6 creature can usually be cast for just one mana, which is a fantastic rate.

Lastly, I really like Redcap Gutter-DwellerRedcap Gutter-Dweller. It makes a few tokens when it enters the battlefield, and can turn excess creatures into card advantage. I think this card is fantastic, and deserves to be in a lot more decks than it is right now.

I'll see you all next week, when we look at 2024's most popular Simic commander for the last article in this series!

Cooper Gottfried

Cooper is a student at Brandeis University, where he’s Editor in Chief of its community newspaper, The Brandeis Hoot. Outside of Magic: The Gathering, his hobbies include weightlifting, writing, and Dungeons and Dragons.