Event Spotlight - CommandFest UK

The Best Ways to Play Kaheera, the Orphanguard in Commander

Technically Playable - Sauron, the Necromancer

<h6 style="text-align: right;">(<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Katilda, Dawnhart Martyr" href="#" target="_blank">Katilda, Dawnhart Martyr</a> | Art by <a href="https://www.artstation.com/castaguer">Manuel Castañón</a>)</h6>
<h1>Technically Playable - <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Katilda, Dawnhart Martyr" href="#" target="_blank">Katilda, Dawnhart Martyr</a></h1>
Welcome to Technically Playable, where our mission statement is "Every commander is Technically playable" (the best kind of playable).
The way this works is every article will have a commander generated using EDHREC's random button, I'll talk through the card and then write about how we can build around it!
This week's random commander is <div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Katilda, Dawnhart Martyr"></div></div>
This version of Katilda is another one of those Commanders that feels really split between what it wants. On the one hand, you want some Spirit synergies, but on the other, you want to load up on as many enchantments as you can.
And while they both buff Katilda you don't want to split yourself too much on the synergies between them. No one wants a handful of Spirits with only enchantment payoffs.
<h2>In the Spirit of the game</h2>
Spirits are inherently a fairly aggressive creature type. Since a lot of them fly, they get around the issue that some other, lower to the ground, creature types like Goblins and Soldiers struggle with.
Spirits still gain the lords that other types get in the form of <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Drogskol Captain" href="#" target="_blank">Drogskol Captain</a> (which also provides hexproof, completely bonkers) and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Supreme Phantom" href="#" target="_blank">Supreme Phantom</a> while getting cards like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Selfless Spirit" href="#" target="_blank">Selfless Spirit</a> to keep their board healthy and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Shacklegeist" href="#" target="_blank">Shacklegeist</a> which helps to lock down boards that threaten you like Dragons and Demons.
Unfortunately Katilda is only white, so we're not able to run a lot of the good cards in the same way a deck like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Millicent, Restless Revenant" href="#" target="_blank">Millicent, Restless Revenant</a> or <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ranar the Ever-Watchful" href="#" target="_blank">Ranar the Ever-Watchful</a> might, so we need to find other ways to make our Spirits dangerous in the same way.
Luckily, there are now 6,802 white cards legal in Commander (of which 163 are Spirits), so we have some to work with.
With only 143 decks of their own <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Oyobi, Who Split the Heavens" href="#" target="_blank">Oyobi, Who Split the Heavens</a> may seem like a weak card, being a 3/6 for seven mana, but let's be honest.
In Commander, you often have seven mana by turn four or five, even in white, and Oyobi is incredibly powerful in any deck that cares about Spirits, and doubly so with a card like Katilda that needs as many Spirits as possible.
Effectively, what Oyobi does is make each Spirit you cast double up the power and toughness that it gives to Katilda while also creating a sizeable flying body that can help to keep you alive while you keep the pressure on with Katilda's commander damage.
Mono-white Spirits don't get cheap lords like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Drogskol Captain" href="#" target="_blank">Drogskol Captain</a>, but that doesn't mean they get no lords at all. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gallows Warden" href="#" target="_blank">Gallows Warden</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Spirit of the Spires" href="#" target="_blank">Spirit of the Spires</a> are both half a lord, only buffing toughness while <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Long-Forgotten Gohei" href="#" target="_blank">Long-Forgotten Gohei</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Celestial Crusader" href="#" target="_blank">Celestial Crusader</a> act as lords closer to the kinds you expect in a kindred deck like this.
Additionally, white also gets <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Drogskol Reinforcements" href="#" target="_blank">Drogskol Reinforcements</a>. While not a traditional lord, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Drogskol Reinforcements" href="#" target="_blank">Drogskol Reinforcements</a> gives all of your Spirits melee, which allows each one to get a max of +3/+3 as long as you are consistently aggressive, something this deck wants to be doing anyway.
And, of course, you need to be able to close out games. Chipping down your opponents with an array of cheap fliers often gets you there, and even though it isn't a Spirit, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Priest of the Blessed Graf" href="#" target="_blank">Priest of the Blessed Graf</a> does give you access to a consistently large board in part thanks to the lack of ramp that often plagues mono-white decks.
Being able to make a lot of flying threats works perfectly with the deck's best finisher (and it's not even really close either) <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Moonshaker Cavalry" href="#" target="_blank">Moonshaker Cavalry</a>.
Often heralded as the mono-white <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Craterhoof Behemoth" href="#" target="_blank">Craterhoof Behemoth</a>, and for good reason. Giving all of your 1/1 fliers +x/+x for each creature you control and also give any non-fliers the evasive keyword as well will very often be enough to close out a game, even against the most resilient board states.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Oyobi, Who Split the Heavens"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Drogskol Reinforcements"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Priest of the Blessed Graf"></div></div>
<h2>An enchanting alternative</h2>
But Katilda doesn't just care about Spirits, it also cares about the number of enchantments that you have. This version of the deck focuses much more on getting an evasive or a hard-to-kill threat, like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Geist of Saint Traft" href="#" target="_blank">Geist of Saint Traft</a>, and using that to close out games.
Katilda is one part of this strategy but you can only enchant its disturb side once it's already died. Instead, we want to use cards like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ethereal Armor" href="#" target="_blank">Ethereal Armor</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="All That Glitters" href="#" target="_blank">All That Glitters</a> to emulate the effect without the keyword.
The main issue with these Aura style decks is that you can easily run out of gas because they are so cheap to cast, and if you stack them onto one creature that then dies, you quickly lose them all.
To get around this we can use <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mesa Enchantress" href="#" target="_blank">Mesa Enchantress</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sram, Senior Edificer" href="#" target="_blank">Sram, Senior Edificer</a> and the new(ish) <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Enduring Innocence" href="#" target="_blank">Enduring Innocence</a> to keep our hand full and then you can use <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mantle of the Ancients" href="#" target="_blank">Mantle of the Ancients</a> to return any Auras should your creatures die.
We can also quickly stack up our enchantment count in other ways. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ondu Spiritdancer" href="#" target="_blank">Ondu Spiritdancer</a> is a really powerful option that allows you to copy the first enchantment you cast each turn.
This can very quickly get out of hand by copying something like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sigil of the Empty Throne" href="#" target="_blank">Sigil of the Empty Throne</a> to fill the board with angels or <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Soaring Lightbringer" href="#" target="_blank">Soaring Lightbringer</a> to make a ton of enchantment birds every time you attack.
You can also use this defensively by making copies of <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ghostly Prison" href="#" target="_blank">Ghostly Prison</a> or <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sphere of Safety" href="#" target="_blank">Sphere of Safety</a> to keep you alive until you can meet the critical mass of enchantments needed to either lock down the board or make Katilda into a one-shot machine.
If you decide to go down the Aura route, you can also run <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Light-Paws, Emperor&#039;s Voice" href="#" target="_blank">Light-Paws, Emperor&#039;s Voice</a>, and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Pearl-Ear, Imperial Advisor" href="#" target="_blank">Pearl-Ear, Imperial Advisor</a>. Both of these cards have amazing synergy with Auras by giving you either card advantage in the form of raw card draw or the ability to search for silver bullet Auras, as well as (in the case of Pearl-Ear) making all of your enchantments cheaper.
This can lead to some really powerful turns by giving you access to cheap versions of <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Eldrazi Conscription" href="#" target="_blank">Eldrazi Conscription</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mammoth Umbra" href="#" target="_blank">Mammoth Umbra</a>, and the new <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tempest Technique" href="#" target="_blank">Tempest Technique</a> to finish a turn off after casting a ton of cheap Auras.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ethereal Armor"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Enduring Innocence"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ondu Spiritdancer"></div></div>
<h2>Por que no los dos?</h2>
But of course, you don't need to just go for one or the other. There are plenty of Spirits and enchantments to go around, and surprisingly, a lot of them synergize really well with each other.
One of the effects that seems to be very prevalent is creating Spirit tokens based on the number of enchantments you have. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hallowed Haunting" href="#" target="_blank">Hallowed Haunting</a> was one of the earlier cards to do this and remains one of the more powerful.
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hallowed Haunting" href="#" target="_blank">Hallowed Haunting</a> plays similarly to <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sigil of the Empty Throne" href="#" target="_blank">Sigil of the Empty Throne</a> by giving you creatures whenever you play enchantments. The main difference here is that each of these Spirits is a mini <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Katilda, Dawnhart Martyr" href="#" target="_blank">Katilda, Dawnhart Martyr</a> that grows based on your number of enchantments.
If you can play this on turn four and then play six more enchantments, you end up with six 7/7s, each with flying and vigilance, a board that needs to be wiped.
In a similar vein, Duskmourn gave us <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ghostly Dancers" href="#" target="_blank">Ghostly Dancers</a> an enchantment specific <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Eternal Witness" href="#" target="_blank">Eternal Witness</a> that also gives you a 3/1 flier every time an enchantment enters the battlefield.
This important part here is that unlike <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hallowed Haunting" href="#" target="_blank">Hallowed Haunting</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sigil of the Empty Throne" href="#" target="_blank">Sigil of the Empty Throne</a> it says enters instead of cast  meaning if you run it alongside anything that makes enchantment tokens like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Soaring Lightbringer" href="#" target="_blank">Soaring Lightbringer</a> you can make a huge board very quickly.
There are also some Spirits that double up as enchantments. A lot of the bestow cards are Spirits, this means you can benefit from both the Spirit and enchantment synergies. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Indebted Spirit" href="#" target="_blank">Indebted Spirit</a> gives you a really cheap option to bestow as well as having afterlife, creating another Spirit when it dies.
While it does synergise well <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Indebted Spirit" href="#" target="_blank">Indebted Spirit</a> is, however, pretty low on the power level of these kinds of effects. For this deck in particular, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Eidolon of Countless Battles" href="#" target="_blank">Eidolon of Countless Battles</a> really pulls double duty by effectively being a second Katilda that you can equip to it if needed to halve the number of creatures and enchantments needed to get to that magical 21 commander damage.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Hallowed Haunting"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ghostly Dancers"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Eidolon of Countless Battles"></div></div>
As with all Technically Playable articles, this was a very quick look at <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Katilda, Dawnhart Martyr" href="#" target="_blank">Katilda, Dawnhart Martyr</a> as a commander and a few of the cards that can really make a deck with Katilda as the commander tick.
Let me know in the comments below if you play <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Katilda, Dawnhart Martyr" href="#" target="_blank">Katilda, Dawnhart Martyr</a>, if you want to build a <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Katilda, Dawnhart Martyr" href="#" target="_blank">Katilda, Dawnhart Martyr</a> deck, or even if you just enjoyed this article!

Technically Playable - Katilda, Dawnhart Martyr

Technically Playable - Henrika Domnathi

<h6 style="text-align: right;">(<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mannichi, the Fevered Dream" href="#" target="_blank">Mannichi, the Fevered Dream</a> | Art by <a href="https://x.com/pilcerova?lang=en">Martina Pilcerova</a>)</h6>
<h1 style="text-align: left;">Technically Playable - <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mannichi, the Fevered Dream" href="#" target="_blank">Mannichi, the Fevered Dream</a></h1>
Welcome to Technically Playable, where our mission statement is "Every commander is Technically playable" (the best kind of playable).
The way this works is every article will have a commander generated using EDHREC's random button, I'll talk through the card and then write about how we can build around it!
This week's random commander is
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mannichi, the Fevered Dream"></div></div>
When I started playing Magic (what must have been about 10 years ago now) I was very much a mono-white player. Not entirely because I got an <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Elspeth, Sun&#039;s Champion" href="#" target="_blank">Elspeth, Sun&#039;s Champion</a> from one of my early drafts, but it certainly helped.
As I pivoted to playing Standard a little more competitively I was introduced to the glory of mono-red through <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Goblin Rabblemaster" href="#" target="_blank">Goblin Rabblemaster</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Stoke the Flames" href="#" target="_blank">Stoke the Flames</a>.
My all time best event I went 5-0 at a GP main event that I didn't even want to play in before losing three rounds and dropping because I was no longer in the running for day two of the event.
Since those early Rabblemaster-filled days I've been a huge fan of red decks. Mono-Red, Jund, Rakdos Reanimator, I love them all.
It was also around this time that I was introduced to my one true love <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Daretti, Scrap Savant" href="#" target="_blank">Daretti, Scrap Savant</a> and I decided that I was absolutely going to build a deck for every single mono-red commander.
Fast forward to today and sadly between playing the game less often and not being able to keep up with releases, I no longer have that dream, but the endless hours looking at the mono-red EDHREC page have stuck with me. So when I saw <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mannichi, the Fevered Dream" href="#" target="_blank">Mannichi, the Fevered Dream</a> was the commander for this article I was overcome with nostalgia.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Goblin Rabblemaster"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Stoke the Flames"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Daretti, Scrap Savant"></div></div>
<h2>Can't Block This!</h2>
Mannichi's main goal is to make a bunch of creatures have huge toughness, get them through unblocked and then switch their power and toughness for some solid damage.
This would be really easy to do if you were in blue and had access to skulk-enablers and cards like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive" href="#" target="_blank">Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive</a> to ensure you could get your low powered creatures through.
Unfortunately these types of effects are not as common in red, but they do definitely exist.
The best of these is probably <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Break Through the Line" href="#" target="_blank">Break Through the Line</a> as it is repeatable and unlike cards like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Goblin Tunneler" href="#" target="_blank">Goblin Tunneler</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Pathmaker Initiate" href="#" target="_blank">Pathmaker Initiate</a> it doesn't need haste to be usable.
In the same vein <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Subira, Tulzidi Caravanner" href="#" target="_blank">Subira, Tulzidi Caravanner</a>, is also a great fit here and while it is susceptible to a wider range of removal, it also has the upside of an ability that can potentially fill up your hand if you decide not to switch any of your creatures power and toughness after the blocking step has passed.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Break Through the Line"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Subira, Tulzidi Caravanner"></div></div>
<h2>The Best Defense is a Good Offense</h2>
But just getting your creatures through isn't enough. Swapping a <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wildfire Eternal" href="#" target="_blank">Wildfire Eternal</a>'s power to four is good but it's not enough to win in a game of Commander, so we need to beef up those numbers.
The goal here is to beef the creature's toughness up without getting their power too high so that we can still use our <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Break Through the Line" href="#" target="_blank">Break Through the Line</a> effects to ensure our creatures connect.
Luckily, there's an Equipment (or loads of Equipment) for that. Probably the best option is <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Slagwurm Armor" href="#" target="_blank">Slagwurm Armor</a>, this card effectively gives your creature six extra power while not making it untargetable by the unblockable effects that we are running.
Similarly but with smaller numbers are <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Accorder&#039;s Shield" href="#" target="_blank">Accorder&#039;s Shield</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cathar&#039;s Shield" href="#" target="_blank">Cathar&#039;s Shield</a>, which are free to cast and give +0/+3 with the downside of being expensive to equip, so you may want to consider something like an <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Armory Automaton" href="#" target="_blank">Armory Automaton</a> or a <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Brass Squire" href="#" target="_blank">Brass Squire</a> to help.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Slagwurm Armor"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Cathar&#039;s Shield"></div></div>
We also have access to some creatures that are great at this by default. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dancing Scimitar" href="#" target="_blank">Dancing Scimitar</a> becomes an unblockable 5/1 flier that can easily remove planeswalkers, or with <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Slagwurm Armor" href="#" target="_blank">Slagwurm Armor</a> can deal 11 damage to a player each time it attacks.
Similarly, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ensouled Scimitar" href="#" target="_blank">Ensouled Scimitar</a> can become a <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dancing Scimitar" href="#" target="_blank">Dancing Scimitar</a> or give another creature the +1/+5 buff.
Equipping an Ensouled Scimitar to a Dancing Scimitar gives you an unblockable 2/10 that ends up dealing 10 damage while still remaining a legal target for any of your unblockable buffs.
We can also go a little larger on the scale with creatures like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Earth Servant" href="#" target="_blank">Earth Servant</a> who can deal huge amounts of damage thanks to being in a mono-red deck but trade off the ability to be unblockable for that raw power.
The Modern Horizons 3 Commander decks have also given us <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Inversion Behemoth" href="#" target="_blank">Inversion Behemoth</a>, a back up to Mannichi's ability and a solid beater that can still be made unblockable with <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Break Through the Line" href="#" target="_blank">Break Through the Line</a>.
One small benefit of this is that because it says "any number", you can pick and choose the creatures whose power and toughness you want to change at the beginning of combat. This means you'll never accidently punish yourself by forcing all of your own creatures to change before you make them unblockable.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ensouled Scimitar"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Earth Servant"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Inversion Behemoth"></div></div>
<h2>I Just Think They're Neat</h2>
As well as our hard hitters and our unblockable-enablers there are a lot of small interactions with Mannichi's ability that make a lot of cards you might never think of playing in Commander into real powerhouses.
One of the best ways to play Mannichi is with the wide array of weak power, higher toughness double striking creatures in the game. The way to balance double strike in Draft is to make the creature quite weak but with a reasonable toughness to survive combat. This makes Mannichi great by allowing you to swap the power and toughness around to make them deal a ton of damage.
Cards like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Two-Headed Cerberus" href="#" target="_blank">Two-Headed Cerberus</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Raging Redcap" href="#" target="_blank">Raging Redcap</a> are suddenly viable but the best of the bunch is definitely <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Efreet Flamepainter" href="#" target="_blank">Efreet Flamepainter</a>, a 4/1 after Mannichi's ability that also allows you to play instants and sorceries for free, an absolutely amazing card that probably doesn't get the love it deserves in a format for of 10 mana spells.
This strategy also makes one of my all-time favorite underrated cards, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Prophetic Flamespeaker" href="#" target="_blank">Prophetic Flamespeaker</a> playable as well. The big benefit of the Flamespeaker is access to trample, this means that if you are blocked you can still swap its power and toughness to try to get damage through to be able to trigger its effect.
This in conjunction with the first strike part of double strike means you can potentially kill an opponent's creature and trample over on both of the strikes giving you a swing on the board and in card advantage.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Raging Redcap"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Efreet Flamepainter"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Prophetic Flamespeaker"></div></div>
There are also some really powerful cards that can quickly win you the game, as long as you're willing to put some effort in. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ogre Menial" href="#" target="_blank">Ogre Menial</a> is an incredibly powerful creature that with some of the Equipment I talked about above, can easily one-shot an opponent. The issue is ensuring you get its power above zero to ensure it doesn't die when you activate Mannichi.
I've already mentioned <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Efreet Flamepainter" href="#" target="_blank">Efreet Flamepainter</a> above but <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wildfire Eternal" href="#" target="_blank">Wildfire Eternal</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dreadhorde Arcanist" href="#" target="_blank">Dreadhorde Arcanist</a> also work extremely well at getting instants and sorceries out of your hand for free.
Being able to make <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wildfire Eternal" href="#" target="_blank">Wildfire Eternal</a> unblockable and then playing something like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Soulfire Eruption" href="#" target="_blank">Soulfire Eruption</a> or even something like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Chandra&#039;s Ignition" href="#" target="_blank">Chandra&#039;s Ignition</a> can quickly close out a game that's stalled.
Lastly is <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Baeloth Barrityl, Entertainer" href="#" target="_blank">Baeloth Barrityl, Entertainer</a>, for two mana Baeloth lets you goad everything that isn't a huge beater, giving you some instant speed protection from those pesky tempo decks that may be able to kill you before you can get set up.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ogre Menial"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Wildfire Eternal"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Baeloth Barrityl, Entertainer"></div></div>
I've really enjoyed this nostalgic walk down memory lane, looking at some of the sweet new cards that are great with Mannichi as well as reminders of the old but gold ones from when I've brewed this deck in the past. I have loved writing this article so I hope you enjoy it just as much.
As with all Technically Playable articles, this was a very quick look at <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mannichi, the Fevered Dream" href="#" target="_blank">Mannichi, the Fevered Dream</a> as a commander, and a few of the cards that can really make a deck with Mannichi as the commander tick.
Let me know in the comments below if you play <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mannichi, the Fevered Dream" href="#" target="_blank">Mannichi, the Fevered Dream</a>, if you want to build a <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mannichi, the Fevered Dream" href="#" target="_blank">Mannichi, the Fevered Dream</a> deck, or even if you just enjoyed this article!

Technically Playable - Mannichi, the Fevered Dream

Technically Playable - Xenagos, God of Revels

Technically Playable - Korvold, Fae-Cursed King

<h6 style="text-align: right;">(<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Damia, Sage of Stone" href="#" target="_blank">Damia, Sage of Stone</a> | Art by <a href="https://www.steveargyle.com/">Steve Argyle</a>)</h6>
<h1>Technically Playable - <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Damia, Sage of Stone" href="#" target="_blank">Damia, Sage of Stone</a></h1>
Welcome to Technically Playable, where our mission statement is "Every commander is Technically playable" (the best kind of playable).
The way this works is every article will have a commander generated using EDHREC's random button, I'll talk through the card and then write about how we can build around it!
This week's random commander is <div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Damia, Sage of Stone"></div></div>
<h2>Damia - 2011 Version</h2>
The year is 2011, Game of Thrones dominates pop culture, there is another royal wedding, and the <a href="https://edhrec.com/sets/cmd">Commander 2011</a> product is released.
With it comes some of the formats all-time favorite commanders, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kaalia of the Vast" href="#" target="_blank">Kaalia of the Vast</a> (21,523 decks), <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Animar, Soul of Elements" href="#" target="_blank">Animar, Soul of Elements</a> (16,269 decks) and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Zedruu the Greathearted" href="#" target="_blank">Zedruu the Greathearted</a> (7,551 decks).
Among these decks was <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Damia, Sage of Stone" href="#" target="_blank">Damia, Sage of Stone</a>, the topic of today's Technically Playable.
Damia was an interesting commander at the time, seven mana for a card with no immediate impact seems fairly weak in today's Commander landscape, but 14 years ago the ability to refill your hand every turn was incredibly powerful.
Games went longer and some colour combinations were not as versatile as they are now meaning you were able to keep Damia alive fairly easily until your next upkeep.
Then, you would draw into more ways to protect Damia and then rinse and repeat until you hit something like the <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Deadeye Navigator" href="#" target="_blank">Deadeye Navigator</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Palinchron" href="#" target="_blank">Palinchron</a> combo.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kaalia of the Vast"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Animar, Soul of Elements"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Zedruu the Greathearted"></div></div>
If you look at Damia's EDHREC page, now it's dominated by cards that were not around when she was first released, but there are still some powerhouses that would have been in early iterations of the deck.
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Seedborn Muse" href="#" target="_blank">Seedborn Muse</a> is one of these, seeing a dip in usage around 2013 when <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Prophet of Kruphix" href="#" target="_blank">Prophet of Kruphix</a> was legal but becoming more popular after the power of the Prophet became so obvious.
You can even build your own <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Prophet of Kruphix" href="#" target="_blank">Prophet of Kruphix</a> using <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Seedborn Muse" href="#" target="_blank">Seedborn Muse</a> alongside cards like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Leyline of Anticipation" href="#" target="_blank">Leyline of Anticipation</a>
Back in 2011, Sultai was definitely one of the most popular, powerful and common colour combinations. It gave you immense access to ramp in the form of <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rampant Growth" href="#" target="_blank">Rampant Growth</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kodama&#039;s Reach" href="#" target="_blank">Kodama&#039;s Reach</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Counterspell" href="#" target="_blank">Counterspell</a>'s for protection, powerful finishers like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Grave Titan" href="#" target="_blank">Grave Titan</a>, and post-2014 utility from the delve cards like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dig Through Time" href="#" target="_blank">Dig Through Time</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tasigur, the Golden Fang" href="#" target="_blank">Tasigur, the Golden Fang</a>.
Access to all of these tools meant you were able to get ahead of the table, protect yourself and easily close out games without much trouble.
But Damia wasn't just good with general utility cards, there were some that worked particularly well with her ability. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Forbid" href="#" target="_blank">Forbid</a> was an incredibly powerful counterspell, allowing you to discard cards for the buyback ability and then drawing back up to seven every turn with Damia, meaning that you could soft lock your opponents from casting spells as long as you had the mana to pay for <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Forbid" href="#" target="_blank">Forbid</a>.
This also played into the delve strategies to play incredibly powerful cards for cheap by discarding them and also allowing you to play expensive creatures like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur" href="#" target="_blank">Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur</a> or <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sheoldred, Whispering One" href="#" target="_blank">Sheoldred, Whispering One</a> by discarding them and using <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Reanimate" href="#" target="_blank">Reanimate</a> or <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Animate Dead" href="#" target="_blank">Animate Dead</a> to get them into play ahead of curve.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Seedborn Muse"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Tasigur, the Golden Fang"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur"></div></div>
<h2>Damia - 2025 Version</h2>
In 2025 Damia looks very different. The power level of cards now has almost eclipsed the majority of cards from when Damia was released.
There are a handful of cards that are still incredibly powerful like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mana Drain" href="#" target="_blank">Mana Drain</a> or <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Seedborn Muse" href="#" target="_blank">Seedborn Muse</a> since there haven't been cards printed that fill in the same niche, but in terms of general power level cards like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thassa&#039;s Oracle" href="#" target="_blank">Thassa&#039;s Oracle</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Muldrotha, the Gravetide" href="#" target="_blank">Muldrotha, the Gravetide</a> are just simply better than their counterparts.
While some win conditions remain the same such as using <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Forbid" href="#" target="_blank">Forbid</a> to fuel powerful reanimation spells like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Living Death" href="#" target="_blank">Living Death</a> the sheer card draw from Damia works very well with finding combo pieces to create a one-tun win with <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thassa&#039;s Oracle" href="#" target="_blank">Thassa&#039;s Oracle</a> or even grinding a game out until you can win with <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Jace, Wielder of Mysteries" href="#" target="_blank">Jace, Wielder of Mysteries</a>.
If you're looking to reanimate creatures to win, while old powerhouses like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Jin-Gitaxias, Core-Augur" href="#" target="_blank">Jin-Gitaxias, Core-Augur</a> are still totally viable, we can also use cards like Jin's newer version, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Jin-Gitaxias, Progress Tyrant" href="#" target="_blank">Jin-Gitaxias, Progress Tyrant</a> or <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Koma, Cosmos Serpent" href="#" target="_blank">Koma, Cosmos Serpent</a> to end games very quickly.
But my choice of Sultai win condition will always be to make a ton of mana and drop a huge <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Villainous Wealth" href="#" target="_blank">Villainous Wealth</a>.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Thassa&#039;s Oracle"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Living Death"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Villainous Wealth"></div></div>
The biggest changes are in the utility cards. Damia not having an immediate impact is a huge downside and since she has to survive until your next upkeep you need to be able to protect here for an entire turn cycle.
If you play Damia as a control deck that looks to control the board until landing Damia and then refuelling your hand constantly you may be able to make it to the next turn.
One very powerful option for this is <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hullbreaker Horror" href="#" target="_blank">Hullbreaker Horror</a>, which allows you to return both your opponents spells and any creatures they manage to resolve by casting something yourself.
This works amazingly with cards like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Force of Negation" href="#" target="_blank">Force of Negation</a> which you can cast for free to counter a spell and bounce a creature, or with buyback cards that you can cast repeatedly to keep your opponent's boards clear.
Even cards as recently as Bloomburrow are finding their way into Damia decks. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Glarb, Calamity&#039;s Augur" href="#" target="_blank">Glarb, Calamity&#039;s Augur</a> is an amazing way to get a ton of value out of a deck that plays a little slower and aims to grind out a win in the late game.
This kind of "4-cost matters" effect is fairly prevalent in some recent sets and even opens the door for using <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Keruga, the Macrosage" href="#" target="_blank">Keruga, the Macrosage</a> for a ton of value as the game progresses.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Hullbreaker Horror"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Glarb, Calamity&#039;s Augur"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Keruga, the Macrosage"></div></div>
The beauty of a colour combination like Sultai is that it opens a lot of doors to different strategies and play styles to fit what you most enjoy.
Want to ramp into big creatures like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Koma, World-Eater" href="#" target="_blank">Koma, World-Eater</a>? Go ahead. Want to combo out with <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thassa&#039;s Oracle" href="#" target="_blank">Thassa&#039;s Oracle</a>? You do you (but not in a pod with me, please).
If getting back into Warhammer has taught me anything, it's that while it may seem like the "meta" of a format may tell you what you should be playing it's important to focus on playing what you like and want to play and not necessarily what is "good".
As with all Technically Playable articles, this was a very quick look at <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Damia, Sage of Stone" href="#" target="_blank">Damia, Sage of Stone</a> as a commander, and a few of the cards that can really make a deck with Damia as the commander tick.
Let me know in the comments below if you play <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Damia, Sage of Stone" href="#" target="_blank">Damia, Sage of Stone</a>, if you want to build a <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Damia, Sage of Stone" href="#" target="_blank">Damia, Sage of Stone</a> deck, or even if you just enjoyed this article!

Technically Playable - Damia, Sage of Stone

<h6 style="text-align: right;">(<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Baral, Chief of Compliance" href="#" target="_blank">Baral, Chief of Compliance</a> | Art by <a href="https://www.artstation.com/wesleyburt">Wesley Burt</a>)</h6>
<h1>Technically Playable - <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Baral, Chief of Compliance" href="#" target="_blank">Baral, Chief of Compliance</a></h1>
Welcome to Technically Playable, where our mission statement is "Every commander is Technically playable" (the best kind of playable). The way this works is every article will have a commander generated using EDHREC's random button, I'll talk through the card and then write about how we can build around it!
This week's random commander is <div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Baral, Chief of Compliance"></div></div>
Baral is one of the all-time most classic "Fun Police" mono-blue decks with an emphasis on countering spells and drawing cards built into their abilities.
<h2>Slingin' Spells...</h2>
If soldier tokens are white's thing and big monsters are green's then spells are definitely blue's bread and butter. Baral makes an amazing <a href="https://edhrec.com/tags/spellslinger">spellslinger</a> deck by allowing you to make your spells cheaper while turning blue's best "removal" (counterspells) into card selection by allowing you to draw and discard when you counter a spell.
The most common and most popular blue decks tend to focus on countering as many spells as possible and returning any creatures that resolve to their controllers hand to protect themselves until they reach their endgame (where they always have a full hand of cards and can slowly grind out a win).
Personally, I like to attack with creatures so I'm much happier when my spells give me bodies on the board to keep me alive.
For mono-blue alot of these cards create tokens that have flying, giving you some strong evasion and the ability to block your opponent's fliers.
Of these cards, probably the best are <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Talrand, Sky Summoner" href="#" target="_blank">Talrand, Sky Summoner</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Docent of Perfection" href="#" target="_blank">Docent of Perfection</a>. These cards both create a consistent stream of reasonably statted creatures that either have flying or that can gain it very easily in the case of <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Docent of Perfection" href="#" target="_blank">Docent of Perfection</a>.
But tokens aren't the only way to benefit from the discard and cost reduction that Baral offers. By making spells extremely cheap we can constantly be casting them for some kind of advantage while also fueling our graveyard for creatures like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Haughty Djinn" href="#" target="_blank">Haughty Djinn</a>.
On top of simply casting spells we can also discard any spells that aren't useful in the moment with Baral's ability as well as cards like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Frantic Search" href="#" target="_blank">Frantic Search</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Careful Study" href="#" target="_blank">Careful Study</a> to make our Djinn's power constantly grow.
The main issue here is the number of cards in mono-blue that have this ability, as most of them are blue and red. There are alternatives though, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Octavia, Living Thesis" href="#" target="_blank">Octavia, Living Thesis</a> is a huge creature with a powerful Ward ability that you can cast extremely cheaply while also making all of our tokens into giant 8/8 monsters too.
This works especially well with the flying tokens from earlier to create a board that can easily knock an opponent out.
But spellslinger decks aren't just about casting a bunch of spells, because there are only so many spells you can actually run in your deck without making yourself really weak to creatures.
Cards like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kitsa, Otterball Elite" href="#" target="_blank">Kitsa, Otterball Elite</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ojer Pakpatiq, Deepest Epoch" href="#" target="_blank">Ojer Pakpatiq, Deepest Epoch</a> both give our deck easy ways to get multiple used out of each of our spells, either further fueling our graveyard or helping us to find the counterspell or bounce spell we need to stay alive.
We can also use <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thunderclap Drake" href="#" target="_blank">Thunderclap Drake</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Echo Storm" href="#" target="_blank">Echo Storm</a> are also great in this deck thanks to Baral's low cost. These allow us to copy powerful spells or artifacts to help close out games or to keep us alive.
Using <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Echo Storm" href="#" target="_blank">Echo Storm</a> on something like a <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gilded Lotus" href="#" target="_blank">Gilded Lotus</a> or even a <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sol Ring" href="#" target="_blank">Sol Ring</a> can often provide enough mana to keep up with the green decks and allow you some breathing room to reach the end game.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Docent of Perfection"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Octavia, Living Thesis"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Echo Storm"></div></div>
<h2>... And Drawin' Cards</h2>
The other side of blue decks is the sheer amount of card draw that they bring to the table. Card draw decks can range hugely in power level with decks like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Niv-Mizzet, Parun" href="#" target="_blank">Niv-Mizzet, Parun</a> even being cEDH viable.
For me, I feel like Baral fits squarely in the middle of that power spectrum not being incredibly powerful but also making very low power level pods suffer in the fun department.
For Baral the focus is on countering spells as that is how he allows you to draw cards. If you use cards like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dismiss" href="#" target="_blank">Dismiss</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Refute" href="#" target="_blank">Refute</a> you can double up on the card draw for countering spells and with <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Archmage Emeritus" href="#" target="_blank">Archmage Emeritus</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Archmage of Runes" href="#" target="_blank">Archmage of Runes</a> you can draw even more for casting spells. With a combination of these you can get a solid two to three cards for every spell that you counter.
You also want some more consistent draw. I'm a big fan of <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Howling Mine" href="#" target="_blank">Howling Mine</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Font of Mythos" href="#" target="_blank">Font of Mythos</a> in control-focused decks as they give you some political leeway to keep yourself alive as it allows other players to benefit.
One of the best options for this is <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Well of Ideas" href="#" target="_blank">Well of Ideas</a> because of its asymmetry giving you a small advantage that can very quickly snowball.
If you're looking for something to synergise with Baral's discard you can also use <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Magic Mirror" href="#" target="_blank">The Magic Mirror</a> which scales the earlier you play it giving you card draw that can very easily help you to run away with the game.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Archmage of Runes"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="The Magic Mirror"></div></div>
In terms of payoffs there are a range of ways to win the game. The obvious ones are of course <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thassa&#039;s Oracle" href="#" target="_blank">Thassa&#039;s Oracle</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Laboratory Maniac" href="#" target="_blank">Laboratory Maniac</a> or <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Jace, Wielder of Mysteries" href="#" target="_blank">Jace, Wielder of Mysteries</a>. These give you a way to make sure you can close out the game in an instant where needed.
These work really well with cards like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Azami, Lady of Scrolls" href="#" target="_blank">Azami, Lady of Scrolls</a> who lets Baral and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Docent of Perfection" href="#" target="_blank">Docent of Perfection</a> draw you even more cards.
Another one-two punch can also be <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Psychosis Crawler" href="#" target="_blank">Psychosis Crawler</a>. If you're focusing in drawing cards it's quite easy to play <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Psychosis Crawler" href="#" target="_blank">Psychosis Crawler</a> into a card like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Windfall" href="#" target="_blank">Windfall</a> with a huge hand of cards to drain everyone.
The other "win the game" card that can be quite good in this deck is <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Triskaidekaphile" href="#" target="_blank">Triskaidekaphile</a>. While it does win you the game instantly you need some kind of way to control the number of cards in your hand like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mind Over Matter" href="#" target="_blank">Mind Over Matter</a> to be able to discard when you have too many cards.
Alternatively you can also go down the token route, like the spellslinger version of the deck. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Chasm Skulker" href="#" target="_blank">Chasm Skulker</a> is a great option if your pod has a number of blue players as the islandwalk can be a game changer against other creature-based blue decks like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Minn, Wily Illusionist" href="#" target="_blank">Minn, Wily Illusionist</a>.
There are also some other cards that can benefit drawing two cards per turn, something easily achievable with <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Teferi&#039;s Ageless Insight" href="#" target="_blank">Teferi&#039;s Ageless Insight</a> in play.
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Homunculus Horde" href="#" target="_blank">Homunculus Horde</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mischievous Mystic" href="#" target="_blank">Mischievous Mystic</a> from the newest set are both great examples of this with <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Homunculus Horde" href="#" target="_blank">Homunculus Horde</a> doing a very good blue <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Scute Swarm" href="#" target="_blank">Scute Swarm</a> impression.
At the bottom end of the power level scale for this type of effect is <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ominous Seas" href="#" target="_blank">Ominous Seas</a>. While a bit weaker and needing you to draw eight cards before any payoff it is a very cheap and efficient permanent that you can play early and can start to build up quickly.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Jace, Wielder of Mysteries"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Triskaidekaphile"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Homunculus Horde"></div></div>
In this article I looked at a couple of different ways to play Baral, of course you can play him as a storm deck with <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="High Tide" href="#" target="_blank">High Tide</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Brain Freeze" href="#" target="_blank">Brain Freeze</a> and the usual offenders, but I wanted to look at a couple of other interesting decks you can build with this commander.
If you like the idea of a deck that casts a bunch of spells, makes a ton of tokens and draws all of the cards you will probably also like <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/technically-playable-tura-kennerud-skyknight">my last article</a> as well as this one.
As with all Technically Playable articles, this was a very quick look at <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Baral, Chief of Compliance" href="#" target="_blank">Baral, Chief of Compliance</a> as a commander, and a few of the cards that can really make a deck with Baral, Chief of Compliance as the commander tick.
Let me know in the comments below if you play <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Baral, Chief of Compliance" href="#" target="_blank">Baral, Chief of Compliance</a>, if you want to build a <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Baral, Chief of Compliance" href="#" target="_blank">Baral, Chief of Compliance</a> deck, or even if you just enjoyed this article!

Paul Palmer