<h6 style="text-align: right;">(<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thought Reflection" href="#" target="_blank">Thought Reflection</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.chrisseamanart.com/">Chris Seaman</a>)</h6>
<h1>Start Your Card Draw Engines!</h1>
<p>Welcome back to <em>The Monolith, </em>the series in which I try to convince the world to put down their multicolored obsessions and pick just a single color to build around for their next deck.</p>
<p>What better way to do that than to entice you with FOMO as we check out one of the freshly spoiled commanders, Vnwxt, from <em>Magic</em>'s next Standard legal set, <em>Aetherdrift</em>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Vnwxt, Verbose Host"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vnwxt, Verbose Host" href="#" target="_blank">Vnwxt</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is brand new legendary hitting sleeves in <em>Magic's </em>latest set that'll cost you <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-1" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span><span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-u" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> for a 0/4 Homunculus. From the get-go, Vnwxt provides the benefit of removing your maximum hand size for as long as it's on the battlefield.</p>
<p>But on top of that, this slick cyclopean boasts one of the brand new mechanics in the <em>Aetherdrift</em> repertoire. <em>Start Your Engines!</em> is a, for my part rather corny, new ability popping up on <em>Aetherdrift</em> cards that gives you another new thing to track in Commander games: your speed.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards reverse"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Max Speed"></div></div>
<p>Speed starts at one whenever you play your first <em>Start Your Engines! </em>card and will increase only once on each of your turns whenever an opponent loses one or more life.</p>
<p>Doesn't matter how, you could hit them with a creature, you could burn them with a spell, they could tap one of their <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Caves of Koilos" href="#" target="_blank">pain lands</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> for colored mana. As long as it happens on your turn.</p>
<p>Once you hit a speed of four, you've reached 'max speed' which will usually unlock a further ability on those cards. In the case of our spotlight commander today, we'll unlock the ability, 'whenever you would draw a card, draw two cards instead'. Wait... is this a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thought Reflection" href="#" target="_blank">Thought Reflection</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> in the command zone??</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Thought Reflection"></div></div>
<h2>What If Vnwxt Drew Our Entire Deck?</h2>
<p>Vnwxt seems like the perfect leader for a deck that plays into one of my favorite mono-blue deck archetypes, "What if I drew my entire deck?".</p>
<p>There is simply nothing funnier to me in a game of Commander than when you put your hand face down in a pile next to your deck and it's genuinely difficult for someone to tell which is which.</p>
<p>In mono-blue decks it's easy to lean into Control archetypes full of counter spells, bounces and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Baral, Chief of Compliance" href="#" target="_blank">cards that make your opponents groan</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>To mix things up, I recommend taking a page out of mono-green's strategy book and turning this big eyed pipsqueak and his gang of bookworms into a good old fashioned beat down deck.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mordenkainen"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Hand of Vecna"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Body of Knowledge"></div></div>
<p>Our main objective for each game is to slap down a creature or equipment whose power reflects the overwhelming amount of cards in our hand and then swinging in for big damage. We'll be able to take advantage of blue's natural evasion to get around blockers and maybe even take out our opponents in a single blow. All the while, we'll have half our deck at our disposal to answer our opponent's attempts to halt us.</p>
<h2>Revving Up</h2>
<p>But first, we need to get our hand full and the easiest way to kick that off is using our commander's max speed ability.</p>
<p>As I referenced earlier, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thought Reflection" href="#" target="_blank">Thought Reflection</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a very powerful card that allows you to double all your card draw. The downside of the card is that it costs a whopping seven mana for an enchantment that effectively does nothing when you play it.</p>
<p>By stapling that effect onto a two mana commander, we can do some serious shenanigans. But we have to jump through this 'max speed' hoop first. Luckily, we can get to our second gear right away on turn two by utilising some cheap flying creatures from our blue card pool.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Spectral Sailor" href="#" target="_blank">Spectral Sailor</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a perfect example of a flying creature that we can flash in our opponent's end step and then force a loss of life after playing Vnwxt on turn two. But there's plenty of other options to perform a little chip damage.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mausoleum Wanderer"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Merfolk Windrobber"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sunscorched Desert"></div></div>
<p>Once we've hit max speed, that's it. It's effectively an emblem that can't be taken away from us, like the <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="City&#039;s Blessing" href="#" target="_blank">City&#039;s Blessing</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. So don't worry about Vnwxt getting targeted, bringing him out for a second time will still see your double card draw active. Not to mention he's so lovely and cheap, too!</p>
<h2>Filling Your Hand, and Keeping it Full</h2>
<p>There is one thing you should be wary of when building this deck, and that's being too reliant on your commander's clause to break your maximum hand size.</p>
<p>Having an opponent destroy Vnwxt right as you transition to your end step could see you discarding an upsetting amount of cards. For that reason we should try and keep a good selection of cards in the deck that give us an alternative way to expand our hand size.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Decanter of Endless Water"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Reliquary Tower"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Thought Vessel"></div></div>
<p>Our deck will need a big hand size to perform properly so anything that helps us keep it big without Vnwxt's help will give us security and stop any nasty surprises.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Reliquary Tower" href="#" target="_blank">Reliquary Tower</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> provides a perfect way to do this as our mono-blue identity means we won't be struggling for color in our mana and it's safe from any board wipes that target creatures and artifacts.</p>
<p>Most importantly though, we need to draw a ton of cards to get this deck moving. Vnwxt's card draw doubling effect is super powerful when it's online but we can go even further by adding more replacement effects on top.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Teferi&#039;s Ageless Insight"></div></div>
<p>We already spoke about <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thought Reflection" href="#" target="_blank">Thought Reflection</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and if you can afford to get one out then it combining with Vnwxt to turn every card you draw into four cards will absolutely do some work. You can get the same effect for a little cheaper by asking our good friend Teferi instead though. It just won't trigger on your draw step.</p>
<p>Much like with hand size breakers, it's good to have a few of these in the deck to either buff your commander's effect, or replace it when he's not around.</p>
<h2>The Backup Plan</h2>
<p>It's pretty obvious how to win with a deck like this. Once you've got a couple of huge creatures at your disposal, artificially inflated by your giant hand size, all you need to do is connect with an opponent to finish them off.</p>
<p>Pick on the player with no flyers to block yours, or make your commander unblockable with an <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Escape Tunnel" href="#" target="_blank">Escape Tunnel</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> then equip the <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hand of Vecna" href="#" target="_blank">Hand of Vecna</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and deal some lethal commander damage.</p>
<p>But if dealing damage the normal way is proving too tricky, for whatever reason, we might need a few backup options to close out our games.</p>
<h3>Flood the Board</h3>
<p>If tall doesn't work out for you, we can always go wide instead. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Chasm Skulker" href="#" target="_blank">Chasm Skulker</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will meet us in the middle by getting bigger every time we draw, but also exploding into a pile of potentially-unblockable squids if it ever gets destroyed.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Nadir Kraken" href="#" target="_blank">Nadir Kraken</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will give the same effect as the card draw occurs instead, but for a cost. And if you don't mind spreading your card draw across your opponent's turns you can utilize my favorite new stupid card from <em>Foundations:</em></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Homunculus Horde"></div></div>
<h3>Ping 'Em Down</h3>
<p>Who says mono-red has to have all the direct damage fun? Whilst you can expect it to act as a lightning rod for every removal spell in the 99 of your opponents' decks, Psychosis Crawler will massively punish their life totals for as long as it stays on the board.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Psychosis Crawler"></div></div>
<h3>Empty The Tank</h3>
<p>If those pesky opponents continue to refuse you wins by damage alone then it's time to start bringing out some alternative win conditions instead. When you draw as many cards as we're planning to in this build, two very niche cards (and one very overused one) become seriously dangerous wincons for you.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Jace, Wielder of Mysteries"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Laboratory Maniac"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Thassa&#039;s Oracle"></div></div>
<p>It'd be foolish not have at least one of these options available to you in your 99, and you can probably get away with just one or two as you'll likely get your entire deck in hand anyway.</p>
<p>Just be warned that <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thassa&#039;s Oracle" href="#" target="_blank">Thoracle</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is widely considered to be a very boring way to end a game of Commander, by myself included. Especially if your opponents are used to CEDH.</p>
<p>It just doesn't feel quite as earned when you already have a big mono blue board providing plenty of Devotion!</p>
<p>Whilst we're chatting about intentionally emptying our own library, it's worth pointing out that it's a very easy way to get milled to death. I'd recommend having a safety piece out to protect you in case your wincon gets cleared before the final card is drawn.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Campfire"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Elixir of Immortality"></div></div>
<h2>Some Useful Tools</h2>
<p>So we have a strategy, and a few ways to still win the game if it doesn't go well. But there's still plenty of tricks we can hold up our sleeves to smooth the game in our favor.</p>
<p>If you're struggling to find key pieces to push you over the finish line, there's no better color to card select with than blue. Descendant of Soramaro allows you to rearrange the top X cards of your library where X is your hand size.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Descendant of Soramaro"></div></div>
<p>When your hand starts to get as big as (or bigger!) than your library, this effectively turns into an infinitely repeatable, instant speed, two mana tutor. Great to find a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Counterspell" href="#" target="_blank">Counterspell</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or Jace that's hiding at the bottom of your deck.</p>
<p>If you've had to abandon your combat damage strategy for whatever reason, maybe your opponent has a board as big as yours or they're able to prevent incoming damage, you can neutralize everyone else's creatures with this weird old tech.</p>
<p>This is definitely a nonbo in most situations though. Careful it doesn't eat up room in your hand. Use <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Oboro Envoy" href="#" target="_blank">Oboro Envoy</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> instead for a more targeted version.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Meishin, the Mind Cage"></div></div>
<p>If there's one constant in Commander<em>, </em>it's games that take way too long. How many matches have you been in that have outstayed their welcome? You can make your deck more survivable by adding a little life gain to your upkeep with Ivory Tower.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ivory Tower"></div></div>
<h2>Go Forth and Draw!</h2>
<p>What do you think, is having a hand so big you can barely hold it worth the effort? If nothing else it's a hell of a good time. I'm seriously tempted to swap this guy in as the new commander of my current mono-blue deck with the same strategy. Currently fronted by big Jin:</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Jin-Gitaxias"></div></div>
<p>Let me know in the comments how you'd build around Vnwxt's crazy card draw. And most importantly, keep building those mono decks, and we'll see you next week for more of <em>The Monolith.</em></p>


The Monolith - Vnwxt, Verbose Host Deck Building Spotlight

<h6 style="text-align: right;">(<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Raccoon Rallier" href="#" target="_blank">Raccoon Rallier</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://borjapindado.com/">Borja Pindado</a>)</h6>
<h1>Rally The Troops!</h1>
<p>Chuck out those dual lands because <em>The Monolith</em>, the series in which I try to convince you that monocolored decks deserve your respect, is back! This week, it's time to do just that.</p>
<p>On our previous episode we looked through the <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/the-monolith-where-did-all-the-monocolored-edh-decks-go">sorry stats for single colored decks</a> on EDHREC with horror, and tried to reason with their absence.</p>
<p>This week? We're being more proactive with a list of reasons why I believe monocolored decks to not only be fun and underappreciated, but also why it might be your next deck building challenge.</p>
<p>And what better way to do that than with an internet friendly numbered list? Here's why your next Commander deck should be monocolored.</p>
<h2>1. Less Is More</h2>
<p>I've always been an evangelist for the concept of restrictions breeding creativity. Outside of my <em>Magic</em> addiction I create a lot of art and design a lot of games.</p>
<p>I can say without a doubt that almost all of my best ideas came to me when I was working under a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="High Noon" href="#" target="_blank">self-imposed restriction</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Stasis"></div></div>
<p>As we discussed in <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/the-monolith-where-did-all-the-monocolored-edh-decks-go">the last edition of <em>The Monolith</em></a>, modern commanders often hand out extra colors like free candy. Mono-red? Why not make it Boros(<span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-rw" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span>) instead?</p>
<p>But when you introduce another part of the color pie into a commander's identity, a lot of the interesting questions the deck posed to you will be lost.</p>
<p>One of the classic problems with a mono-red deck is trying to remove an opponent's enchantment that's ruining your game. How do you get around that in the color that's worst at dealing with enchantments?</p>
<p>Well when you add in a color that has the best blanket removal in all of <em>Magic</em> you don't really have to think about it anymore.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Get Lost"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Banishing Light"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Generous Gift"></div></div>
<p>You miss out on the creative puzzle solving of the task. And one of the best things monocolored decks provide is a true deck building challenge from the get-go.</p>
<p>When your options are actually restricted and you don't have an obvious answer to all the classic steps of the deck building process (How do I ramp? How do I board wipe? How do I win the game?), the puzzle of picking your 99 cards is far more interesting.</p>
<h3>Creative Solutions</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Go-Shintai of Lost Wisdom"></div></div>
<p>Here's a little example for you, and maybe a challenge for you to figure out in your own time. This is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Go-Shintai of Lost Wisdom" href="#" target="_blank">Go-Shintai of Lost Wisdom</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, a legendary shrine commander from <em>Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty</em>.</p>
<p>Now Shrines decks are pretty fringe as it is. There's only actually 17 Commander legal cards with the subtype. Mr. Lost Wisdom here wants us to assemble as many Shrines as possible to try and mill out your opponents on your end step.</p>
<p>But this isn't the five color <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Go-Shintai of Life&#039;s Origin" href="#" target="_blank">Go-Shintai of Life&#039;s Origin</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> that gives you unfiltered access to all of those cards AND the ability to create Shrine creature tokens. This is its weird, mono-blue cousin that less than 100 people have bothered to build according to EDHREC.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Go-Shintai of Lost Wisdom"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Honden of Seeing Winds"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sanctum of Calm Waters"></div></div>
<p>How many blue Shrine cards are there out of the aforementioned 17? Urm, three. And one of them we're already playing as a commander.</p>
<p>Okay, that's fine. How about <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Amoeboid Changeling" href="#" target="_blank">Shapeshifters</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> then? They have all creature types and could count for our other Shrines on the board. The niche Typal dream lives on!</p>
<p>Well, actually no. Shrine isn't a creature type. It's an enchantment type.</p>
<p>We could maybe try cloning? Sure! Just have fun dealing with the fact that not only your commander, but also your two other Shrines are legendary. Because all Shrines are. Woof!</p>
<p>So how do you solve a problem like Lost Wisdom? <a href="https://edhrec.com/commanders/go-shintai-of-lost-wisdom">65 people have tried</a> before you.</p>
<h2>2. Back to Basics</h2>
<p>There's not just a benefit of challenge that comes from mono deck building, but also of simplicity. Let's be honest, there are a lot of cards in <em>Magic: The Gathering</em>. Sometimes it feels like too many.</p>
<p>When you open yourself up to more colors, you also open yourself up to more options. But that's a double-edged sword in <em>Magic's </em>massive card pool, especially for new players.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ad Nauseam"></div></div>
<p>The risk of analysis paralysis is real, and if you're a glutton for leaving half built decks around gathering dust then you may enjoy the freedom of a mono-mindset.</p>
<p>If it's got a gold border or doesn't match your commander's identity, it might as well not exist. Strip down your short-list and get that deck playable.</p>
<h2>3. The Simplest Mana Base You'll Ever Build</h2>
<p>It's not just a glut of card options you'll be cutting down on but also your time fixing mana. I don't know about you, but assembling a pile of lands to power my EDH decks is always an annoying final hurdle when it comes to finishing off my latest 99.</p>
<p>Sometimes I'll have all but finished building my decks, but there's a third of it sat as empty sleeves as I try and figure out a cheap and effective way to handle the multiple color costs I'll be using in the game.</p>
<p>Not to mention the rising cost in keeping multiple constructed decks with similar mana costs. Grabbing a single <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Scalding Tarn" href="#" target="_blank">Scalding Tarn</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> won't break the bank but if a whole heap of your decks require decent access to red and blue mana that cost might stack up. Not so in a mono deck. Game night is tonight? Chuck me 36 mountains and I'm good to go.</p>
<p>That's not to say you can't dip into the pile of non-basics to power up your mana base though. On the contrary, your lack of required mana fixing means that you can have even more utility lands at your disposal than the average deck.</p>
<p>As long as you draw a basic or two, you'll get the color you need to cast every spell in your deck. That means drawing a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rogue&#039;s Passage" href="#" target="_blank">Rogue&#039;s Passage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Karn&#039;s Bastion" href="#" target="_blank">Karn&#039;s Bastion</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> won't have you grumbling as you desperately root for a triome. The odds of you holding a spell you can't cast in hand are near zero.</p>
<p>There's plenty of lands that'll reward you for sticking to a single color in your deck as well, including those that synergize with the quantity of basics you've got on board or those that check your commander's color identity:</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="War Room"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Oran-Rief, the Vastwood"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Cabal Coffers"></div></div>
<h2>4. Punish the Gluttons</h2>
<p>A glut of nonbasic lands that easily and reliably deliver any color you might need for very little downside in <em>Magic's </em>land pool has led to an incredibly small amount of actual basic lands making up the mana base of the average player's deck.</p>
<p>Even at precon level, there's enough dual or higher colored lands available for not very much money that you won't see a basic mountain very often. But, what if they were all mountains?</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Blood Moon"></div></div>
<p>Now I of course would never advocate for land destruction or hate in a casual game of Commander. It certainly won't win you any friends.</p>
<p>But I know that those who would immediately turn their nose up at mono decks due to their perceived lack of competitive power in comparison to your opponents are always looking for ways to get the upper hand over their pod.</p>
<p>Mono decks unlock the powerful but controversial strategy of punishing your opponents for playing too many non-basic lands.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Back to Basics"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Burning Earth"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Dryad Sophisticate"></div></div>
<p>One of the most common responses to my original question of '<a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/the-monolith-where-did-all-the-monocolored-edh-decks-go">Where did all the monocolored decks go?</a>', was that whilst building in mono makes for a fun restriction it doesn't rewards players enough to voluntarily miss out on more cards.</p>
<p>If you're willing to bear a little hate at your table though, there can be a pretty significant advantage to avoiding lands with rules text.</p>
<h3>Mono Mechanics</h3>
<p>You don't have to dip into the Stax dark side to seek a competitive advantage for your mono decks though. Whilst I do think <em>Wizards </em>would do the game a favor by printing more of their ilk, there are cards and mechanics in <em>Magic's </em>repertoire that specifically ask you to stick to a color to reap the most benefit from them.</p>
<p>Devotion is a great example both in mechanical workings <em>and </em>flavor as it specifically rewards you for flooding your board with the same color of pip in your mana costs.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Gray Merchant of Asphodel"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Callaphe, Beloved of the Sea"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Heliod, Sun-Crowned"></div></div>
<p>There's also <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cauldron&#039;s Gift" href="#" target="_blank">Determined</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> that acts like a kicker cost in which the kicker is pumping enough of the right colored mana into your generic casting cost.</p>
<p>Or take a look at cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Throne of Eldraine" href="#" target="_blank">Throne of Eldraine</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Heraldic Banner" href="#" target="_blank">Heraldic Banner</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> that give specific bonuses to a single color of spell or permanent.</p>
<p>If you want to meet in the middle a little, you can also just use your monocolored status to turn symmetrical effects into ones that only hurt your opponents:</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sunspine Lynx"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ravnica at War"></div></div>
<h2>5. Stand Out From the Crowd</h2>
<p>A final reason that matters most importantly to me is my innate hipster status. It's a tough life to lead but the more popular something gets, the less interested I tend to be in partaking in it.</p>
<p>I've always liked to play off-meta and strike my own path. The higher up a commander is in the rankings of most played, the more my brain shies away from wanting to play with it.</p>
<p>In my humble opinion, Commander as a format is one of the most personalized ways to play a card game that exists today. Almost every single card in <em>Magic's </em>history at your disposal and you picked this deck to play. This legendary creature to helm it. This strategy to take to the table.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Timmy, Power Gamer"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Spike, Tournament Grinder"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Johnny, Combo Player"></div></div>
<p>Maybe it's the flavor of the card that drew you in, or the archetype it fits into. Perhaps this card has a special place in your heart from hours and hours of RCQs or warm memories of kitchen table <em>Magic </em>with friends. Maybe you just thought the art was cool or the combos it can produce are super busted.</p>
<p>But if there's one response I would always raise a skeptical eyebrow to when I ask why you built your Commander deck it'd be, "Well everyone else is playing it".</p>
<h3>Go Against the Grain</h3>
<p>As players en masse decide that mono decks are old-fashioned in a world where you can have a dual land never once come in untapped, I ask you to join me in proving them wrong.</p>
<p>Grab an unloved legendary that, "would have been playable if they added blue" and show the world there's life in these mono veins yet. If not for power then to build something truly unique.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Thrun, the Last Troll"></div></div>
<p>Thanks for reading this week's edition of <em>The Monolith</em>! Let me know what reasons you think players should bear in mind when deciding if they should grab a mono deck. Maybe even list your favorite mono strategies! Don't forget to join us next week for more mono leaning madness.</p>


5 Reasons Why Your Next Commander Deck Should be Monocolored

<h6 style="text-align: right;">(<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lunar Insight" href="#" target="_blank">Lunar Insight</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>|Art by <a href="https://danscottart.com/">Dan Murayama Scott</a>)</h6>
<h1>Once In a Blue Moon...</h1>
<p>Ever ask yourself, where did all the monocolored commander decks go? Welcome, all you five color good stuff pile creators to your inevitable intervention.</p>
<p>This is <em>The Monolith</em>: a brand new series here on EDHREC in which I, your host, will be espousing the values of building Commander decks with just one color.</p>
<p>Of your collection of assembled commanders, how many of them are laced in gold or split color borders? It's okay, you can tell me. This is a safe space.</p>
<p>Did you know that out of <a href="https://edhrec.com/commanders">the top 100 most played commanders</a> registered on EDHREC, only 10 of them are monocolored? I also have a sneaking suspicion that the top 3 most played monocolored commanders are only there because they represent said color's most popular creature type. I'll let you be the judge of that:</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Krenko, Mob Boss"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Giada, Font of Hope"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="K&#039;rrik, Son of Yawgmoth"></div></div>
<p>So monocolored decks aren't as trendy as their technicolor pals. Who cares right? More colors, more fun, more power and all that. Well no, I think you should care actually - I certainly do.</p>
<p>One of the founding principles of this game we call <em>Magic</em> is that genre defining, seminal mechanic of the color pie.</p>
<p>The five conflicting ideals of how mana weaves through the planes of <em>Magic's </em>world that define the abilities, philosophies, and purpose of every card ever printed for the game.</p>
<p>The colors of mana give an identity to everything we do with our decks on the table. Every removal type and keyword, carefully assigned among the five.</p>
<p>And whilst there's plenty of joy to be had in mixing those paints together and seeing the pretty pigments they can create, the more shades you add to the mix the more of the original color's identity you lose. Speaking of losing things...</p>
<h2>The Light Strays from Monocolored Decks</h2>
<p>There's a slightly irritating trend I've noticed in modern legendary creature design that worries me. You'll crack a pack from a new set or scroll through some spoilers online and happen upon a creature that seems custom built to lead your 99.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rosheen, Roaring Prophet"></div></div>
<p>We probably all notice them on instinct at this point, the legendary with the hyper specific ability that doesn't seem to fit with any of the deck archetypes of the set.</p>
<p>And, hey, we all know Commander is the most popular format in the game. They're going to print cards for it, that's not the problem.</p>
<p>The problem, for me, lies in the rules text of the monocolored legendaries. Off-color mana symbols, sneaking themselves onto a nicely designed box of mechanics and flavor to pull that commander into a Ravnican guild, or even worse, a triple color identity. I'm looking at you <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wick, the Whorled Mind" href="#" target="_blank">Wick</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>Even in <em>Foundations Jumpstart</em>, a set entirely comprised of booster packs containing pre-built, monocolored half decks, did they sneak in activated abilities with hybrid mana costs to allow for multicolored deck building in commander.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Plagon, Lord of the Beach"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Aphelia, Viper Whisperer"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Hurska Sweet-Tooth"></div></div>
<h2>What's Wrong With One?</h2>
<p>It begs the question, what's wrong with a monocolored deck?</p>
<p>Are they not powerful enough? Well, there's no greater judge of power than Commander's more sweaty and competitive cousin, cEDH.</p>
<p>A format in which players try to build the most busted and fast decks possible to completely blow their opponents out of the water. If monocolor decks don't deliver in high performance situations then we can maybe mark that as a point against them.</p>
<p>But that's not really the case! In fact, you'll see a fair few mono decks appear among the upper echelons of the format. Some even topping the tier lists with creatures like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Magda, Brazen Outlaw" href="#" target="_blank">Magda, Brazen Outlaw</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="K&#039;rrik, Son of Yawgmoth" href="#" target="_blank">K&#039;rrik, Son of Yawgmoth</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>Mono-red and mono-black commanders respectively, are widely considered to be some of the most powerful in the game.</p>
<p>Now there's still a similar problem of course, with decks of multiple colors still far more prevalent in the format. And there's certainly plenty of advantages you can give yourself by adding multiple slices of the color pie to your deck, I won't deny that.</p>
<p>But the point I'm making is that you won't be hamstringing yourself by only picking one. There's plenty of commanders out there that will put the fear of Godo into your table when you place them into the command zone - without needing another color for help (if that's your goal that is).</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Godo, Bandit Warlord"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Baral, Chief of Compliance"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Birgi, God of Storytelling"></div></div>
<h2>Sins of the Father</h2>
<p>The lean away from single identity decks might even be a chicken and egg problem at his point. Do Wizards of the Coast lean towards printing multicolored commanders because they know that's what the players want?</p>
<p>Or has the rapid decline in legendary creatures bearing only one identity convinced the masses that no one plays those kinds of decks anymore?</p>
<p>Here's some homework for you. Go have a look at every Commander precon released in the last few years and tell me how long it takes before you see one with less than two mana symbols on the box.</p>
<p>You may be scrolling for a while. Even longer if you don't count colorless decks, and even longer still if you avoid Universes Beyond.</p>
<p>Back in 2014 when Commander precons were just a novelty rather than the most profitable part of every release, we saw a full cycle of monocolored pre-built decks for sale - each fronted by one of the iconic planeswalkers of <em>Magic's </em>world. And since then? Are you still scrolling?</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Teferi, Temporal Archmage"></div></div>
<h2>The Problem With Outside Influence</h2>
<p>With Commander starting as a fan made format and reaching the heights of the most popular play style in the game, I'm sure Wizards of the Coast find themselves in a tricky spot for balancing.</p>
<p>Originally, adding another color to a creature's casting cost would make it more difficult to include in your deck.</p>
<p>If you're playing blue and you really like the look of a spell that seems like a perfect include for your strategy but the casting cost is Azorious (<span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-wu" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span>), suddenly you need to add the ability to generate white mana into your deck just for this one spell (colloquially known as splashing).</p>
<p>In a regular 60 card format where a deck can contain anything you want, that ends up being a restriction you've now imposed on yourself when you choose to include the card. Your mana base becomes less efficient as you stretch to include multicolored lands.</p>
<p>You also put yourself in a situation where you could be holding a dead card at some point in the game. Draw it when you're out of white mana? Or even worse, you didn't find any of your dual lands that would have produced it? It's not getting used!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Progenitus"></div></div>
<h3>The Rules Have Changed</h3>
<p>In Commander we have a strange inversion of that restriction. By adding a second color pip to a card, if it's a legendary creature, you now empower Commander players to use an entirely new suite of cards when building their deck.</p>
<p>So is a second color in your casting cost a drawback or a boon in modern <em>Magic</em>? It's tough to say, even more so for a card designer.</p>
<p>That's why those hybrid mana symbols appear in the Jumpstart commanders. If they were gold creatures there's a very high chance they would be uncastable for the player that cracked them.</p>
<p>Each half deck only comes with one mana source that can make any colour. But by giving them an activated ability that can use either their base color OR a color of mana that will only ever be relevant for building a Commander deck with them, Wizards gets to have their cake and eat it too. Creativity or cowardice? You decide.</p>
<p><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/norin-meme.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-144101" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/norin-meme-300x219.jpg" alt="A meme made from the card art of Norin, Swift Survivalist by Yigit Koroglu. Norin, labled as, 'Wizards of the coast' runs from a menacing silhouette labeled, 'me, screaming about hybrid mana symbols'" width="416" height="304" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/norin-meme-300x219.jpg 300w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/norin-meme.jpg 626w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 416px) 100vw, 416px" /></a></p>
<h6 style="text-align: center;">(<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Norin, Swift Survivalist" href="#" target="_blank">Norin, Swift Survivalist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>|Art by <a href="https://www.artstation.com/yigitkoroglu">Yigit Koroglu</a>)</h6>
<h2>Mono Blondes Have More Fun</h2>
<p>So maybe the problem is simply that monocolored decks just aren't that fun to play with? Maybe multi decks have a better time? Well if there's anything I'm seeking to prove with The Monolith, it's that this statement simply isn't true.</p>
<p>In fact in my next article for EDHREC I'll be explaining exactly why I think you might have a much better time when building with just one colour.</p>
<p>Restriction breeds creativity and one of the core experiences that's fun about Commander is one of its very first rules. Your deck only gets to contain the colors printed on your legendary creature. And one is plenty.</p>
<p>Think of all the most famous deck archetypes that players have flocked to with every <em>Magic</em> set ever released. Mono-white Aggro. Mono-red Burn. Mono-green Stompy.</p>
<p>These are truly the fundamentals of the game. Some of the most fun you can have with a stack of cardboard. There's also a lot of fun you can have by bending colors out of shape.</p>
<p>Going against type. Trying to fit a deck archetype into a color that doesn't normally support it like a red Enchantress deck or a blue Aristocrats.</p>
<h2>What Can I Do About It?</h2>
<p>The world is your oyster. Even more so in our beloved EDH where player expression is paramount. But the reason I've gotten up on this soap box is to convince you, if you aren't already converted, that mono is a beautiful way of life.</p>
<p>It's a tricky deck builder's dream. A harken back to our favorite game's roots. And most importantly, it's incredibly fun to play.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Aclazotz, Deepest Betrayal"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Arahbo, the First Fang"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Arni Metalbrow"></div></div>
<p>In the face of this over-saturated scourge the answer is to build more mono decks! To strip down your favorite archetypes to the color that suits them best! To embrace the basic mountain!</p>
<p>If you're tired of the prismatic playthings we're handed in precons. If you want to reject modernity and embrace tradition. Then follow me into the monochrome breach and let's build some white, blue, black, red, and green decks together. But never a mix of the above.</p>
<p>This is <em>The Monolith</em>, and here we build mono decks. If you want to join me on this journey, I'll be here every week (or close enough). Giving you recommendations, explaining my love for the monochrome, and inviting you in on this journey.</p>
<p>So, regardless if you were whipped up into a frenzy by my words or you just enjoyed my raving ramblings, I'll see you next week on The Monolith.</p>


Michael 'Wheels' Whelan

Michael 'Wheels' Whelan

The Monolith - Vnwxt, Verbose Host Deck Building Spotlight

5 Reasons Why Your Next Commander Deck Should be Monocolored

The Monolith - Where did all the monocolored EDH decks go?