April O'Neil, HacktivistApril O'Neil, Hacktivist | Art by Xabi Gaztelua

April O'Neil, HacktivistApril O'Neil, Hacktivist perfectly embodies the role of the clever technology whiz. The reward she offers is high, but so is the complexity. She asks to be played alongside some of the most niche cards in the game, and every turn becomes a puzzle.

But also... drawing cards. A lot of them.

What Does April O'Neil, Hactivist Do?

April wants us to cast spells of as many card types as possible during our turns, paying us off by drawing that many cards on our end step.

There are currently eight different Magic card types that can be cast (April can never draw us a card for playing lands), so the ceiling on this ability is absurd. But even if we're only ever getting to draw four or five cards, that will put us ahead plenty.

The best way to maximize our engine is to play as many cheap cards across every card type as possible.

April is reminiscent of another weirdo blue legend from Brothers' War: Hurkyl, Master WizardHurkyl, Master Wizard. While April may be a complex card to brew around, Hurkyl is so wordy that just reading her is a challenge. She also rewards casting many different types of spells and promises end step card advantage, but will only ever give cards of the same types as those cast that turn. April is one mana more, but her potential value is much higher.

For more inspiration about playing tons of different types of cards, we can also look to Muldrotha, the GravetideMuldrotha, the Gravetide.

April also shares some DNA with other legends that let us restock our hand. Both the stone-cold classic Damia, Sage of StoneDamia, Sage of Stone and the new kid on the block Doc OckDoc Ock also reward playing as many cards as possible, since they'll rebate any cards spent.

April O'Neil is quite a bit cheaper than either of these hefty commanders, however, and so she lends herself to going more all-in on cheap spells rather than playing it safe with steady midrange options.

Key Cards for April O'Neil, HacktivistApril O'Neil, Hacktivist

If we want to draw tons of cards off of April's ability, we'll need to play as low a mana curve as possible. One-drop cantrips like PonderPonder and BrainstormBrainstorm replace themselves already even before April's rebate, so they're a slam dunk.

In general, we want to play almost any one-drop or free spell that we would often play during our turn and that would have a meaningful impact on the game. But we can also get away with playing a few cards that seem straight up underpowered. OrnithopterOrnithopter, MemniteMemnite, Shield SphereShield Sphere, and Phyrexian WalkerPhyrexian Walker have minimal impact on the board, but the fact that they give us two card types for zero mana is incredibly strong.

Even if they cost us a card in hand now, at the end step they represent two replacement cards, and a way to gain card advantage for free.

There are a variety of free spells across many different card types in blue, and some of them help us play the tempo game by interacting with our opponents' threats. SnapSnap and SnapbackSnapback each cost a net zero mana, as will SubmergeSubmerge and Saprazzan LegateSaprazzan Legate in most games.

Gitaxian ProbeGitaxian Probe is a free cantrip and a sorcery, which is a card type we might otherwise be lacking in. Mishra's BaubleMishra's Bauble and Urza's BaubleUrza's Bauble are not as slept on now as they used to be, but Jeweled AmuletJeweled Amulet still deserves to see more play in Artifact or Proliferate decks as a way to store mana for a future turn.

GushGush and Frantic SearchFrantic Search are both banned in Legacy, so they surely make the cut as well.

Blue isn't the heaviest enchantment color, but it does have some extremely efficient removal, like Witness ProtectionWitness Protection and Unable to ScreamUnable to Scream that can strand commanders on the battlefield.

There are also a few CuriosityCuriosity variants that fit well with our cheap, often evasive creatures. ScuttletideScuttletide is an interesting include as a way to both use up any excess cards that we might draw and to benefit from our card type spread to make an army of Crabs.

And Mystic RemoraMystic Remora often does a good Ancestral RecallAncestral Recall impression, even if we only keep it around for one turn cycle.

Of course, there are some card types which are harder to find and fit into a tempo-style deck, but that doesn't mean we have to give up. For planeswalkers, Kaito, Cunning InfiltratorKaito, Cunning Infiltrator works well with all the cheap creatures we're running, and Jace ReawakenedJace Reawakened is good enough for two mana. Even though he can't be cast during our first three turns, we'll want to wait until we've got April down anyways.

Invasion of SegoviaInvasion of Segovia is a battle that fits our plan perfectly, as once we transform it we can start casting noncreature spells for no mana at all. Eldritch ImmunityEldritch Immunity is our lone kindred spell, acting as a flexible protection spell that can also push damage. In a mono-blue deck, configuring the mana base to produce reliable colorless mana isn't too difficult.

To keep the party going, we can include a few ways to return our permanents to our own hand to be able to cast again. Shrieking DrakeShrieking Drake and Faerie ImpostorFaerie Impostor return a creature when they enter, and we can get extra value if we return a creature with a second card type, like Hypnotic SirenHypnotic Siren or OrnithopterOrnithopter.

Trusted AdvisorTrusted Advisor can repeat the trick every turn, while also letting us keep around a couple extra cards during the cleanup step. Dour Port-MageDour Port-Mage is both payoff and reward for bouncing our own creatures, and Paradoxical OutcomeParadoxical Outcome is always satisfying to make work.

Winning the Game With April O'Neil, HacktivistApril O'Neil, Hacktivist

So far, we've built a deck that can play a lot of cheap spells every turn and slow down our opponents with bouncebounce spells and temporary removal. But no amount of MemniteMemnites and Faerie SeerFaerie Seers will win a Commander game in any reasonable length of time. We'll need to go a little bit bigger.

One of the ways to do that fits in with our flurry-of-spells approach by turning on a dime to become a Storm deck. We're already running land-untappers like Cloud of FaeriesCloud of Faeries, SnapSnap, and Frantic SearchFrantic Search, so we might as well throw in a High TideHigh Tide to be able to set up an explosive turn.

Paradoxical OutcomeParadoxical Outcome works well with any of our zero-cost permanents, drawing a grip of cards and allowing us to recast our spells to up our storm count. Our main payoff will be Mind's DesireMind's Desire, which should allow us to cast a good chunk of our deck in one go. Digging a little deeper into the Storm annals yields Temporal FissureTemporal Fissure, which can disrupt our opponents enough to give us time to win however we want. Note that this spell can bounce lands as well.

A couple tutors like Mystical TutorMystical Tutor and Merchant ScrollMerchant Scroll will help us find the missing pieces, but this deck sees enough cards that we can draw into a Storm turn almost every game.

But even with our Storm plan, we still need a bona fide win condition. Neither Mind's DesireMind's Desire nor Temporal FissureTemporal Fissure actually win the game. They both just enable us to keep looking through our deck for the win. But now we've found it: Emrakul, the Promised EndEmrakul, the Promised End.

Emmy's discount works very well in this deck, usually reducing its cost to eight mana or less. And the cast trigger is devastating in a multiplayer game. We can turn our opponents' full forces against each other, leaving them with barely anything left to defend against our 13/13 flampler.

The best thing is that we can often cast Emrakul repeatedly. Dour Port-MageDour Port-Mage lets us return it to our hand over and over, but even Seal of RemovalSeal of Removal plus Shrieking DrakeShrieking Drake (or other non-instant bounce spells) ought to get us enough cast triggers to win.

Playing our opponents' turns might not be the most fun for them, but it's one of the most intricate puzzles for us. Magic is a hard enough game to play well; playing as badly as possible is an even greater challenge.

There aren't many ways to tutor creatures in blue, but Long-Term PlansLong-Term Plans works well here as a way to get Emrakul nearby. Often a single April O'Neil trigger will put Emrakul into our hand from there, or we can also borrow a trick from certain Modern Eldrazi Tron decks. Portent of CalamityPortent of Calamity lets us draw a card out of the top X from each card type (already a good deal in our strategy), but if we reveal four types we can cast one of those spells for free.

If we can cast it for six or seven and find Emrakul near the top of our deck, we can get it for free, plus three or four other cards into our hand.

April O'Neil, Hacktivist Commander Deck List

This deck is a wild ride. April O'Neil, HacktivistApril O'Neil, Hacktivist will fairly consistently draw four or five cards every turn, and we never run out of little tricky things to do. The deck has a whopping 49 spells that can be played for zero or one mana, and despite the spread of card types, they have a surprising amount of overlapping synergy.

Hypnotic SirenHypnotic Siren can wear a CuriosityCuriosity well, and Dour Port-MageDour Port-Mage loves it when we're SnapSnapping our Cloud of FaeriesCloud of Faeries on a High TideHigh Tide turn.

The combo aspects of this deck also came together quite nicely. After a few turns of developing mana, slowing down opponents, and seeing six or seven cards every round, we'll almost always be set up with at least one of our action spells (High TideHigh Tide, Paradoxical OutcomeParadoxical Outcome, Mind's DesireMind's Desire) and a tutor to find another one.

Even a "small" combo turn can dig us twenty cards closer to Emrakul, the Promised EndEmrakul, the Promised End, and as promised, that card does end the game.

Overall, April O'Neil, HacktivistApril O'Neil, Hacktivist is a great choice if you like playing Magic like a puzzle, and if you enjoy spotlighting some of the lesser-played cards in the game by combining them in novel ways.

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