Terra, Herald of HopeTerra, Herald of Hope | Art by Marta Nael

Welcome back to Bottom of the Barrel! This is a series where we pick a theme from EDHREC and look at the “bottom of the barrel.” This means that we look at the least played color-combinations and pick a commander in those colors to brew a spicy new deck around!

Today's episode is focused around a theme that was introduced in our 2020 return to Zendikar, Zendikar Rising: the party mechanic. Having a "full party" means that we control a Rogue, Warrior, Wizard, and Cleric.

An important thing to note, however, is that changeling creatures don't count as a "full party" on their own. The mechanic specifically checks for four separate creatures with the corresponding types, so changelings are good, but only as one of the four creature types.

Having a Party

The most popular color combination for the Party theme is Orzhov, with over 3000 decks. This is no surprise considering the release of the Party Time commander precon in Battle for Baldur's Gate. The deck was led by Nalia de'ArniseNalia de'Arnise, with the backup commander being the pair of Burakos, Party LeaderBurakos, Party Leader and Folk HeroFolk Hero. This precon was incredible out of the box, being equally strong, fun, and flavorful.

Final Fantasy introduced a commander that would be the perfect leader to a new party deck, this time in Mardu, with Terra, Herald of HopeTerra, Herald of Hope. The major thing that caught my attention about Terra was her creature types: she's both a Wizard and a Warrior!

According to EDHREC, Mardu only has 45 decks focused on the party mechanic, so this commander is perfect!

And, yes, we needed to include Celes, Rune KnightCeles, Rune Knight in this deck to keep the two commanders from the Revival Trance precon together. Plus, Celes is absolutely nuts in this deck.

Category #1: Party Member 1 - The Cleric

In any Party deck, it's important to keep a relatively even spread of creature types, and that means we hover right around 10-15 creatures belonging to each type (with a little overlap here and there).

Clerics are the first group I focused on during deckbuilding, but it was also the hardest group to trim during final cuts. Turns out, there are a lot of very good Clerics in Magic.

A few that were included are incredible sacrifice outlets: Yawgmoth, Thran PhysicianYawgmoth, Thran Physician, Umbral Collar ZealotUmbral Collar Zealot, and Shadowheart, Dark JusticiarShadowheart, Dark Justiciar.

Others were value pieces like Banon, the Returners' LeaderBanon, the Returners' Leader and Archivist of OghmaArchivist of Oghma.

Finally, some of the strongest Clerics were those that could act as reanimation engines: Sister HospitallerSister Hospitaller and Solemn DoomguideSolemn Doomguide.

Category #2: Party Member 2 - The Rogue

There are fourteen total Rogues in this deck, and they serve a variety of purposes.

Grim HirelingGrim Hireling and Lotho, Corrupt ShirriffLotho, Corrupt Shirriff provide us with needed ramp.

Moria ScavengerMoria Scavenger, Locke, Treasure HunterLocke, Treasure Hunter, Charming ScoundrelCharming Scoundrel, Dogged DetectiveDogged Detective, and Grenzo, Dungeon WardenGrenzo, Dungeon Warden all provide us with card advantage while filling our graveyard.

And Nalia de'ArniseNalia de'Arnise and Mezzio MuggerMezzio Mugger provide us with card advantage in ways different from our other Rogues.

Treasures and theft galore, what more could you want out of your Rogues?

Category #3: Party Member 3 - The Wizard

Our Wizards focus on two major things: discarding/drawing cards, and reanimation.

The Wizards that let us draw and/or discard are:

• Joshua, Phoenix's DominantJoshua, Phoenix's Dominant
• Cunning LethemancerCunning Lethemancer
• Celes, Rune KnightCeles, Rune Knight
• Disciple of BolasDisciple of Bolas
• Keen DuelistKeen Duelist
• Magus of the WheelMagus of the Wheel
• Tersa LightshatterTersa Lightshatter.

The Wizards that let us reanimate are Corpse ConnoisseurCorpse Connoisseur, Coffin QueenCoffin Queen, Apprentice NecromancerApprentice Necromancer, and Puppeteer CliquePuppeteer Clique.

Some of our other Wizards provide additional value: Gogo, Mysterious MimeGogo, Mysterious Mime and Magus of the DiskMagus of the Disk.

Category #4: Party Member 4 - The Warrior

Our Warriors do a lot in this deck, so I'll just go over some of my favorites.

• Siegfried, Famed SwordsmanSiegfried, Famed Swordsman mills us and then grows based on the creatures in our graveyard.
• Harper RecruiterHarper Recruiter lets us dig for more party members when it attacks.

• Seasoned DungeoneerSeasoned Dungeoneer introduces the initiative. Everyone loves that, right?
• Fang, Fearless l'CieFang, Fearless l'Cie draws us cards whenever we reanimate a creature with our commander or our other reanimation effects.

Category #5: The "Secret Spice"

Our "secret spice" is really based on reanimating a specific creature every turn, and that specific creature can close out the game pretty quickly: Malakir Blood-PriestMalakir Blood-Priest.

Malakir Blood-PriestMalakir Blood-Priest drains the table for four if we have a full party, which isn't hard to achieve in this deck. With our plethora of sacrifice outlets, it shouldn't be too difficult to sacrifice and reanimate this creature over and over again.

Something that's important to note about this deck is that every creature (except for Celes, Rune KnightCeles, Rune Knight) has three power or less, which means it can be reanimated with Terra's trigger!! This was a conscious decision, as I didn't want any card in our graveyard to feel "dead."

Closing Thoughts

This was a theme that I don't see too often, so it was fun to build around it! There were parts of this deck that felt like a "standard" Terra deck, but the party additions make it unique enough to feel interesting.

Check out my deck list below.

Terra, Herald of Hope Mardu Party Commander Deck List

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