Surrak, Elusive HunterSurrak, Elusive Hunter | Art by Dan Murayama Scott | Shiko, Paragon of the WayShiko, Paragon of the Way | Art by Victor Adame Minguez | Teval, Arbiter of VirtueTeval, Arbiter of Virtue | Art by Alexander Ostrowski

Hello, friends, and welcome to another Start Me Up! In this column, I pick three legendary creatures from the most recent Magic expansion and provide you with ideas to help get you started brewing your own Commander deck around them. Tarkir: Dragonstorm is the latest hotness, bringing us back to a world of Dragons and the five iconic clans, so I'm going to pick three new legendary creatures you could build Commander decks around, along with a starter kit of cards you might consider for your list.

Let's get to it!

Teval, Arbiter of VirtueTeval, Arbiter of Virtue

Let's kick things off with Teval, Arbiter of VirtueTeval, Arbiter of Virtue, an exciting new commander for the power gamers out there. Delve is an incredibly potent ability to add to any spells you cast, but Teval balances that by having you lose life whenever you cast a spell, equal to the mana value of that spell. So Teval has a very interesting balancing act - you want to mill cards into your graveyard to fuel big spells with delve, and you want to have ways to offset the life loss from casting those big spells... or just win the game and not worry that you're burned through all your life!

Let's swoop in and see what we can find for a Teval deck!

EDHREC High Synergy Cards for Teval

Looking over which cards EDHREC's deck database has determined as high synergy, we get Platinum EmperionPlatinum Emperion and Platinum AngelPlatinum Angel, which both help you ignore the life loss from Teval. ExsanguinateExsanguinate gives you back a lot more life than you lose by casting it, and the delve ability makes it trivial to make the X part of the spell as big as your graveyard if you want.

Next up are some nifty ways to fill your graveyard for delve fuel. Ripples of UndeathRipples of Undeath mills you three cards, and if you want to spend a mana and three life you can snag one of those cards to put into your hand, which is handy to help ensure you keep making your land drops, or to rescue a card you actually want to cast rather than use for delve.

Hermit DruidHermit Druid can either be fair or absolutely bonkers, depending on how many basic lands you run in your deck. If you don't run any basics, an activation from Hermit will flip your entire library into the graveyard for big time delve fuel. But even if you run a normal amount of basics for a three-color deck each activation should still provide you with a fair amount of cards in your graveyard.

Frantic SearchFrantic Search is wild; if you use Teval's delve ability to cast it for just one blue mana you can actually net extra mana when you untap three lands, which can be crucial for ensuring you have the right colors to keep going with delve spells.

Hedron CrabHedron Crab and Stitcher's SupplierStitcher's Supplier are both cheap and effective cards for milling cards into your graveyard, and there are other creatures you can find that do similar things.

Lastly are two big spells that are easier to cast with delve, and pay you back for big life loss. Vilis, Broker of BloodVilis, Broker of Blood will draw a bunch of cards, so much so that you'll want to be careful you don't draw too many cards, unless you're running something like Laboratory ManiacLaboratory Maniac to turn decking yourself into a win condition. And then there's Profane TransfusionProfane Transfusion, an excellent way to cap off a big delve turn where your life total has dipped down into single digits, and the life gain player's life total is looking very appealing!

Stocking The Graveyard

First off I wanted to look for other ways to stock my own graveyard, and these are the ones that caught my eye. SixSix mills you, often provides you with land to deploy each turn it attacks, and giving nonland cards in your graveyard retrace can be quite handy too. Grisly SalvageGrisly Salvage is a cheap way to add four or five cards directly into your graveyard for just two mana, acting like a Ritual of sorts for the next big delve spell you cast.

Out of the TombsOut of the Tombs is a bit slow, but as turns go on it can mill more and more cards into your graveyard, and acts as a bit of a backstop from losing to decking yourself, so long as you haven't delved away all of your creatures from the graveyard.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention dredge cards, with Golgari Grave-TrollGolgari Grave-Troll being first on the list with a whopping dredge 6, while Life from the LoamLife from the Loam and Stinkweed ImpStinkweed Imp provide excellent utility in addition to their dredge ability.

Surveil is another way to fill up your graveyard. Glarb, Calamity's AugurGlarb, Calamity's Augur does a ton for just three mana, providing some virtual card draw by letting you play lands or cast big spells from the top of your library, with an activated surveil ability that also synergizes with its passive ability. Doom WhispererDoom Whisperer's surveil ability is only limited by the life you can pay, so it can definitely mill a ton of cards into the graveyard for delve fuel.

If you have enough cards with surveil, you should consider Enhanced SurveillanceEnhanced Surveillance too, which can even shuffle your graveyard back into your library if you need to.

Gain Life

There are a lot of ways you can gain life to offset Teval's life loss. Aetherflux ReservoirAetherflux Reservoir is a strong candidate if your deck can chain together a bunch of spells in a single turn with delve. Eternity VesselEternity Vessel is an excellent way to reset your life each time you trigger landfall, which can completely erase Teval's drawback. If you're playing a bunch of other hard-hitting creatures, Whip of ErebosWhip of Erebos is an excellent way to recoup your life by giving all of them lifelink.

Boost Teval's Power

Since Teval has lifelink, I'd look for ways to boost its power, like Blackblade ReforgedBlackblade Reforged and RancorRancor. Even Eldrazi ConscriptionEldrazi Conscription might be worth running since delve can make it much easier to cast.

Draw Cards and Big Mana Spells for Teval

To ensure you have big, delve-fueled turns, you want to keep your hand full of actions spells. Finale of RevelationFinale of Revelation seems perfect here since delve makes it very plausible for X=10 if you want to shuffle your graveyard into your library. Pull from TomorrowPull from Tomorrow draws you X cards at instant speed, and even lets you discard a card for extra delve fuel. Since Teval is a sizeable 6/6, you can bank on Rishkar's ExpertiseRishkar's Expertise drawing a bunch of cards and letting you cast another spell for free.

If you're like me, you'll be more interested in casting big boom boom spells with Teval rather than a flurry of spells each turn. You know, casting spells like Hullbreaker HorrorHullbreaker Horror and Beledros WitherbloomBeledros Witherbloom that have huge impacts on the game. Delve helps unlock all of the modes of Smugglers' SurpriseSmugglers' Surprise, which will even mill some more cards along the way to resolving.

Imagine being able to cast DoppelgangDoppelgang where X = 5? Teval makes it easy! Villainous WealthVillainous Wealth is always good fun, just make sure you're playing in person because resolving that over Spelltable will be a nightmare. Breach the MultiverseBreach the Multiverse is a big, game-impacting spell for any deck, but since it also has a big mill effect attached it does even more work with Teval.

Shiko, Paragon of the WayShiko, Paragon of the Way

Shiko, Paragon of the WayShiko, Paragon of the Way is another commander that does great in higher power pods. The lower your curve, the more targets you'll have in your graveyard for Shiko's enters ability. Which is not to say you can't play Shiko leading a more casual deck; you'll just want to ensure you have some early interaction spells or self-sacrificing creatures that Shiko can copy once it's time to cast it.

EDHREC High Synergy Cards for Shiko

The decks from EDHREC are packing ways to blink Shiko so you can get more triggers. EphemerateEphemerate, Essence FluxEssence Flux, and CloudshiftCloudshift are all super cheap to cast, and are nice ways to protect Shiko or one of your other creatures from targeted removal.

Ghostly FlickerGhostly Flicker, BlurBlur, and Momentary BlinkMomentary Blink are a bit more expensive but have some added utility to make up for the extra mana cost for these blink effects.

Displacer KittenDisplacer Kitten and SoulherderSoulherder are incredible engine cards for blink-heavy strategies, and since Soulherder is three mana you can even copy it from your graveyard with Shiko if it dies.

EDHREC deckbuilders are loving Frantic SearchFrantic Search with these new commanders, and here it's letting you pitch some cards to the graveyard that Shiko can copy while digging to make land drops. Faithless LootingFaithless Looting is another way to filter through some cards and stock your graveyard for Shiko.

More Blinking and Blink Synergies

I'd like some more permanent-based blink effects like Charming PrinceCharming Prince (which you can copy from the graveyard later with Shiko), along with Kykar, Zephyr AwakenerKykar, Zephyr Awakener and Brago, King EternalBrago, King Eternal.

Dour Port-MageDour Port-Mage makes an excellent card draw engine for a deck with a lot of blink effects, and it can even bounce Shiko back to your hand so you can replay it. Candlekeep SageCandlekeep Sage has a similar effect specifically for your commander, and then Sally SparrowSally Sparrow lets you investigate when one or more other creatures leave the battlefield.

Fill The Graveyard

I'd be interested in permanents that cost three or less to help fill my library, like Stillness in MotionStillness in Motion, Fable of the Mirror-BreakerFable of the Mirror-Breaker, and Artist's TalentArtist's Talent, since you can copy them with Shiko if your opponents quickly destroy them.

Magecraft

Since Shiko's ability copies the card it exiles, it will trigger magecraft abilities like Storm-Kiln ArtistStorm-Kiln Artist, Archmage EmeritusArchmage Emeritus, and Ashling, Flame DancerAshling, Flame Dancer if the copied card is an instant or sorcery.

Shiko Spice

I watched a wild Standard deck with Shiko and Three Blind MiceThree Blind Mice and I imagine any Shiko Commander deck will want one in their deck. Three Blind Mice naturally puts itself into the graveyard, and from there you can copy it with Shiko, making a token copy of Three Blind Mice, which it can target itself for chapters two and three to make more copies of Three Blind Mice.

Pull from EternityPull from Eternity is a nifty way you can put a card back into your graveyard that you've already exiled with Shiko to be copied again later on.

Surrak, Elusive HunterSurrak, Elusive Hunter

I wasn't high on Surrak, Elusive HunterSurrak, Elusive Hunter as a commander when it was first previewed, but after playing it as a Brawl commander on Magic Arena, I'm coming around to appreciating it more. If you're playing in a higher Bracket where opponents are playing lots of interaction, Surrak can draw you enough cards to carry you to victory, especially if you have ways to protect it from removal.

EDHREC High Synergy Cards for Surrak

The EDHREC deck database has Ojer Kaslem, Deepest GrowthOjer Kaslem, Deepest Growth and Elder GargarothElder Gargaroth listed as high synergy, I suppose because they're big creatures that you don't want countered or destroyed by targeted removal, so drawing a card makes a good consolation prize.

Kogla, the Titan ApeKogla, the Titan Ape is another card like that, but has added utility since your commander is a Human, so Kogla can return Surrak to your hand to give Kogla indestructible until the end of the turn.

Since Surrak conveniently has four power, it plays great with other green cards that care about four power, like Goreclaw, Terror of Qal SismaGoreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma, Fanatic of RhonasFanatic of Rhonas, and the incredible Vaultborn TyrantVaultborn Tyrant.

Timeless WitnessTimeless Witness gets you back one or two key cards from your graveyard, while Beast WhispererBeast Whisperer is an excellent card draw engine for a creature-heavy deck. Battle MammothBattle Mammoth, like Surrak, gives your deck added insurance against targeted removal.

Lastly, Ohran FrostfangOhran Frostfang is an excellent card for an aggressive deck that wants to attack, especially if your creatures have trample. Since one point of deathtouch damage is considered lethal, all the rest of your power will trample over to your opponents' life totals.

Protect Your Creatures

To avoid using targeted removal on your creatures with Surrak on the battlefield, opponents may resort to mass removal, so you definitely shouldn't leave home without Heroic InterventionHeroic Intervention. Collective ResistanceCollective Resistance can save one of your creatures from the mass removal, and if you have enough mana you can destroy a pesky artifact and enchantment along the way.

If you're playing with +1/+1 counter synergies, Inspiring CallInspiring Call is another way to protect your team from a sweeper while drawing some cards along the way.

Equipment and Auras for Surrak

Surrak's triggered ability makes it a pretty good commander for a deck that modifies your creatures. Equipment like SkullclampSkullclamp, Commander's PlateCommander's Plate, and Brotherhood RegaliaBrotherhood Regalia are all excellent to have with Surrak, so even if an opponent responds by killing the creature you're trying to equip, Surrak will draw you a card.

In a similar vein, how about powerful Auras in a Surrak deck? Umbra armor cards like Bear UmbraBear Umbra, Snake UmbraSnake Umbra, and Lion UmbraLion Umbra are awesome ways to enhance Surrak or other creatures, and can be cashed in to prevent the enchanted creature from being destroyed.

If you want to go deep on monogreen Auras, you can with cards like Blanchwood ArmorBlanchwood Armor and Canopy CoverCanopy Cover. Strong BackStrong Back works awesome with Equipment too!

Power Four Matters

Digging a little deeper into cards that care about power four or more, we'd want to run Outcaster TrailblazerOutcaster Trailblazer, Entish RestorationEntish Restoration and even Winds of Qal SismaWinds of Qal Sisma.

I'd also run Bonders' EnclaveBonders' Enclave and Herd HeirloomHerd Heirloom for added card draw, and Whisperer of the WildsWhisperer of the Wilds for an extra boost of mana.

Never Stop Brewing!

Which of these three commanders do you think you might build a deck around? What other cards do you think you'll add to your decklist?

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