Jodah, the UnifierJodah, the Unifier | Art by Yoshitaka Amano | Venat, Heart of HydaelynVenat, Heart of Hydaelyn | Art by Colin Boyer| Serah FarronSerah Farron | Art by Carissa Susilo

Hey nerds! While I usually do budget deck techs, I was inspired to start making content by brewing weird decks. So, today, I wanted to revisit that and showcase a favorite of mine, Jodah, the UnifierJodah, the Unifier - all legends.

And when I say all legends, I truly mean the deck is 100 legendary cards, including ALL the lands, instants, sorceries, artifacts, etc.

What Does Jodah, the Unifier Do?

Jodah acts as a Coat of ArmsCoat of Arms for your legendary creatures, which grows your creatures as you grow your board. And don’t worry, growing your board is easy with Jodah’s second ability. It essentially gives all your legendary spells Cascade.

The caveat is that the spell needs to be cast from your hand. This prevents some of the more degenerate lines that you might see in decks like The First SliverThe First Sliver.

If you’re looking for a less powerful or less intimidating commander, you could consider Kenrith, the Returned KingKenrith, the Returned King or Sisay, Weatherlight CaptainSisay, Weatherlight Captain.

Both act as toolbox commanders that can provide value but not at an alarming rate. While Kenrith and Sisay aren’t as powerful as Jodah, they do have the upside of being easier to cast. Which is nice, given the mana base of the deck.

Jodah is a true value deck. As I’ve said a million times, cheating on mana is one of the strongest things you can do in Magic.

I’ve added some combos, which I’ll get into later. But the play pattern is straightforward. You want to ramp to get Jodah out as soon as possible, then start chaining legendary spells.

Key Cards for Jodah, the Unifier

In order to cast spells, I’ve had to load the deck up with legendary mana dorks and ramp spells. We don’t get to play the usual suspects like Nature's LoreNature's Lore or Three VisitsThree Visits here.

Instead, we use Esika, God of the TreeEsika, God of the Tree, Inga and EsikaInga and Esika, and Katilda, Dawnhart PrimeKatilda, Dawnhart Prime. These three are the strongest dorks in the deck, since they turn all 38 of our creatures into mana fixing and help enable a combo.

We don’t just want to rely on mana dorks, since a well-timed boardwipe will ruin everything. There are some powerful legendary mana rocks we can play like Phial of GaladrielPhial of Galadriel, The CelestusThe Celestus, Mox AmberMox Amber, and Timeless LotusTimeless Lotus.

But we still need lands, which are where Uro, Titan of Nature's WrathUro, Titan of Nature's Wrath, Azusa, Lost but SeekingAzusa, Lost but Seeking, and Realmbreaker, the Invasion TreeRealmbreaker, the Invasion Tree shine. I've also added some of the Ixalan flip enchantments:

• Growing Rites of ItlimocGrowing Rites of Itlimoc
• Profane ProcessionProfane Procession
• Hadana's ClimbHadana's Climb
• Journey to EternityJourney to Eternity

These enchantments provide utility on the front and become powerful lands when flipped.

Another potential issue for the deck is the lack of removal. There aren’t a ton of legendary Instants or Sorceries that are also removal spells. Isildur's Fateful StrikeIsildur's Fateful Strike and Yawgmoth's Vile OfferingYawgmoth's Vile Offering are our only single target removal options.

And the one-sided board wipe, Urza's Ruinous BlastUrza's Ruinous Blast. Venat, Heart of HydaelynVenat, Heart of Hydaelyn is technically removal, she is just expensive removal.

How Does Jodah Win?

As I’ve mentioned a few times, there are a couple of combos in the deck. The first is infinite combat steps using Helm of the HostHelm of the Host. There are two combo enablers for Helm.

The usual suspect, Godo, Bandit WarlordGodo, Bandit Warlord. Godo is great since it puts the Equipment directly into play. But don’t worry, if Godo dies, you can use Aurelia, the WarleaderAurelia, the Warleader instead.

The other combo generates infinite mana using Ioreth of the Healing HouseIoreth of the Healing House and Sakashima of a Thousand FacesSakashima of a Thousand Faces. You could also do this with Helm of the HostHelm of the Host on Ioreth, or if you exile Ioreth with Agatha's Soul CauldronAgatha's Soul Cauldron.

You’ll also need at least one other mana dork in play. You use the one Ioreth to untap a mana dork, and your second Ioreth. Then rinse and repeat for infinite mana.

This alone isn’t enough to win, though. You’ll need a mana sink such as Kolvori, God of KinshipKolvori, God of Kinship, Sisay, Weatherlight CaptainSisay, Weatherlight Captain, and Kenrith, the Returned KingKenrith, the Returned King. Kolvori and Sisay help you dig for Kenrith, who is the primary finisher.

You can force your opponents to draw their entire deck for a win. Or use Kenrith to draw a chunk of your deck, play a bunch of creatures, grow them, and then give them haste.

And much like the start of this combo, if you exile Kenrith with Soul Cauldron, you can just do this with three creatures with +1/+1 counters.

And the back-up plan is just to turn creatures sideways to punch things in the mouth with Krenko, Tin Street KingpinKrenko, Tin Street Kingpin and Rograkh, Son of RohgahhRograkh, Son of Rohgahh. Or whatever other legends that happen to be in play. Some of our lands can help us get through.

Minas Morgul, Dark FortressMinas Morgul, Dark Fortress, Shizo, Death's StorehouseShizo, Death's Storehouse, and The Black GateThe Black Gate can give a creature evasion. Or creatures, if you can untap the lands.

Commander Name Commander Deck List

Conclusion

Jodah, no matter how you build them, is an incredibly powerful commander. But the restriction of only legendary permanents can tune the deck down a bit due to the inconsistency. However, once the deck gets going, it becomes an incredibly powerful engine.

As more sets come out, I believe this deck will only continue to grow in power. Especially as we get more legendary dual or mana fixing lands.