Hermes, Overseer of ElpisHermes, Overseer of Elpis | Art by Darius Zablockis

Hermes, Overseer of ElpisHermes, Overseer of Elpis is a new commander that comes out flying like the eponymous Greek God with winged shoes. Birds of a feather stick together, and Hermes knows how to get the flock out of here!

Interestingly, Hermes pulls the deck in a couple of different directions, as he makes Birds similar way to the way Murmuring MysticMurmuring Mystic does, and then capitalizes off of our small, evasive creatures. There’s certainly something to be said for building this as a Spellslinger deck, perhaps with incidental other Birds to take advantage of the secondary ability. But Birds have been struggling to find a solid leader for a while, and Hermes might just be the deity for the job.

Like Soldiers from last week, Birds were featured in Onslaught block as a blue-splash-white pairing for Limited purposes. Many leaked into white and shared the Soldier type, and the Aven have historically been Bird Wizards.

More recently, there have been mixes of anthropomorphic birds like Kefnet’s followers in places like Amonkhet, and standard Birds, such as the infamous Storm CrowStorm Crow memes. In general, Birds tend to be small flying creatures with a heavy focus in blue, outclassed in the skies by Sphinxes, Dragons, Angels, and Demons.

The low mana value does give some benefits, however, as they offer flexibility in mana. While those big monsters’ controllers are tapping out, the Bird player can leave mana up for interaction, which is where Hermes’s focus on instants and sorceries comes in.

What Does Hermes, Overseer of Elpis Do?

Hermes is a powerful Magic card on its own, and it gets even better when it’s built around. It has a mana value of four, which is reasonable for a creature that makes the cards in the deck better, but not so much for a centerpiece card. As a Spellslinger commander, Hermes does a decent Talrand, Sky SummonerTalrand, Sky Summoner impression, making 1/1 Birds with flying and vigilance instead of 2/2 flying Drakes.

As a Bird commander, however, Hermes scries 2 whenever or more Birds attack, so it can come down and generate immediate value if we cast a Bird anywhere on turns 1-3. Scrying 2 every turn, regardless of whether we cast a nonland spell, is strong, but not necessary for the deck to function. As a result, Hermes is better served as a Bird deck that's better with him in play but can function without him, than as a Spellslinger deck that needs him out to generate value for the primary plan.

Other options do exist for Bird commanders, but most add colors for more flexibility or options, or lean into other mechanics and just happen to be Birds.

Tawnos, the ToymakerTawnos, the Toymaker adds green and doubles Birds, but also doubles Beasts, so it’s really not a proper Bird commander. Akim, the Soaring WindAkim, the Soaring Wind and Choco, Seeker of ParadiseChoco, Seeker of Paradise work with Birds, but are more closely related to tokens and Chocobos specifically.

Kangee has two cards that are decent commanders: Kangee, Aerie KeeperKangee, Aerie Keeper costs at least seven mana to enter with any Feather counters, but does pump all Birds for those counters, while Kangee, Sky WardenKangee, Sky Warden pumps creatures with flying, regardless of type, so it’s less of a Bird commander and more of a Flying commander.

Probably the best option is Gwaihir the WindlordGwaihir the Windlord, who gives Birds vigilance and can reduce its cost if two or more cards were drawn the turn it was cast. But that needs more of a focus on card draw, and the six-mana cost gets prohibitive really fast.

What Hermes does that the others don’t is make Birds and makes Birds better. Kastral, the WindcrestedKastral, the Windcrested is probably the next-best Bird commander, adding white, being a Bird and a flyer, and triggering on combat damage with one or more Birds. With Hermes, however, the Birds just need to attack; they don’t need to connect.

Oddly enough, that means that Hermes can dispatch Birds as scouts to attack into larger boards for the scries, which Kastral can’t do, despite being a Scout itself!

Key Cards for Hermes, Overseer of Elpis

While Hermes doesn’t need other Birds or Bird producers, it functions better as a Bird deck that wants him in play but doesn’t require it. As a result, we’re packing a solid amount of other Birds and Bird producers, such that the deck can keep attacking with small flyers, even without Hermes out there.

Murmuring MysticMurmuring Mystic is the clear analogy, as its effect is similar to what Hermes does. We do need to be careful with the board state, however, as Mystic’s Birds don’t have vigilance, and Rise of EaglesRise of Eagles’s have different stats. Esior, Wardwing FamiliarEsior, Wardwing Familiar is a necessary piece to protect Hermes, as it’s not likely to be drawn into combat, but could be a focus for removal. In general, our Birds are small, mana-efficient flyers.

Death by a million pecks might sound like a frustratingly slow way to work through our opponents, but Coastal PiracyCoastal Piracy effects can bust open those windows of opportunity. An advantage that a large number of hungry beaks has over rows and rows of Dragon fangs is that each beak peck is a separate trigger. Three 2/2s is better than one 6/6 when each is pumped or when each triggers on connecting with the opponent.

The disparity gets even bigger when combined with a card like Arm with AetherArm with Aether, which bounces a creature each time one of ours connects. That way, we don’t have to worry about the backswing!

Speaking of backswings and avoiding them, we want to play some removal to avoid getting smacked or stonewalled by larger creatures. PongifyPongify and related effects are excellent sources of removal because they replace larger threats or flying blockers with creatures that don’t fly. As a result, the body we leave behind is largely inconsequential.

We can also sweep those tokens away with Spectral DelugeSpectral Deluge or Wash OutWash Out, which can act as the sort of backbreaking board wipes that double as finishers.

Speaking of backbreaking board wipes, one of the weaknesses of a Hermes Bird deck is that it's susceptible to getting blown out by overextending.

A Hermes Spellslinger deck can re-cast the commander and build back the board state quickly, but runs the risk of the commander getting too expensive from targeted and mass destruction. A Hermes Bird deck is more resilient to targeted removal because it's less dependent on Hermes, but needs to avoid overextending into a Wrath of GodWrath of God effect.

While playing around them takes time, patience, and practice, CounterspellCounterspell effects can be invaluable, but it's important to use them properly. This is not a control deck; we’re not aiming to counter everything. We’re not even aiming to counter opposing threats. Our counters are in our deck to protect our board.

If we use them at other times, we may wind up losing counter wars at pivotal times. If you do find yourself losing such a counter war, try looking at your grave at the end of the game and ask yourself if you didn’t see them or if you burned them too early. That’ll help you figure out if you really need more or if you need to use them more sparingly.

How Does This Hermes, Overseer of Elpis Commander Deck Win?

Hermes is a tempo deck, which makes it an aggro deck with some light control elements. The big difference between tempo decks and aggro/control decks is that tempo decks are aggressive decks that use control elements like removal and counterspells to create openings to push through attacks and to protect threats, while aggro/control decks look to control the board long enough for the aggressive elements to close the game out.

This is not a control deck in any sense of the term, and it lacks the resources to effectively control three opponents simultaneously. What it can do is beat down with small flyers, using counters to keep beating down and removal to open opponents’ boards to being attacked.

Hermes, Overseer of Elpis Commander Deck List

Conclusion

This is a moderately fast tempo deck, seeking to attack with small evasive threats while protecting its board and removing blockers. Attacking draws us cards and gains information and resources, enabling future attacks. The low mana value of our Birds gives us the flexibility to go wide and cast spells. This flexibility makes Hermes a better Bird commander than a Spellslinger one.

This deck is for those who enjoy attacking, as well as those who enjoy Delver and Canadian Threshold decks. Those decks are similarly aggressive tempo decks, built to beat down while using control elements to enable that aggression and keep windows for attack open.