Spirited CompanionSpirited Companion | Art by Ilse Gort

A few months back, the February Archidekt Deckbuilding Contest featured a Valentine's-themed challenge focused on "partner variants, backgrounds, or companions." One deck that stood out to me was called "Companion Max" by Minisparks, which featured Jegantha, the WellspringJegantha, the Wellspring as the Commander and had no fewer than three other potential companions to choose from in the sideboard.

This deck sent me down a brewing rabbit hole with the goal of maximizing companions. Three available companions is really impressive, but are even more possible? Ten creatures with this ability have been printed, but this doesn't necessarily mean we can build a deck that can take advantage of all ten of them.

How Many Total Companions Are Possible?

Illegal and Banned

Two of these companions, Yorion, Sky NomadYorion, Sky Nomad and Lutri, the SpellchaserLutri, the Spellchaser, aren't legal in any Commander deck. Yorion requires us to add twenty cards to our deck, which is against the deckbuilding rules of the format. And although Lutri was recently unbanned for use as a Commander or in the 99 of decks, it remains banned as a companion.

Companions remaining: eight

Mutually Exclusive

Four more of these companions, Obosh, the PreypiercerObosh, the Preypiercer/Gyruda, Doom of DepthsGyruda, Doom of Depths and Lurrus of the Dream-DenLurrus of the Dream-Den/Keruga, the MacrosageKeruga, the Macrosage, step on each other's claws/paws/tentacles/hooves/legs.

Our deck can't have nonland cards with both odd and even mana values, and also can't have nonland cards with mana value both below and above two. This means we're going to have to choose either Obosh or Gyruda and either Lurrus or Keruga. This effectively eliminates two more companions.

Companions remaining: six

Remaining Requirements

Putting aside the mana value requirements for a second, what other qualities are the cards in this deck going to need?

• For Jegantha, the WellspringJegantha, the Wellspring: no more than one of the same mana symbol in mana costs
• For Kaheera, the OrphanguardKaheera, the Orphanguard: each creature must be a Cat, Elemental, Nightmare, Dinosaur, or Beast
• For Umori, the CollectorUmori, the Collector: each nonland card must share a card type
• For Zirda, the DawnwakerZirda, the Dawnwaker: each permanent card must have an activated ability

Choosing a Commander

Because Commanders must also adhere to companion requirements, let's search for some potential options that fulfill all four of these goals. Narrowing this down further,

Putting this search into Scryfall, we get...

We're going to use Jegantha as a potential companion, so this narrows it down to just Horde of NotionsHorde of Notions. Choosing this Elemental locks in both companions that care about mana value, as it has an odd mana value (Obosh) greater than two (Keruga).

Finding Cards for the 99

Putting this search into Scryfall, we get 119 results to choose from for our deck (after excluding Horde of Notions, Jegantha, Jill, Shiva's DominantJill, Shiva's Dominant, and Titania, Gaea IncarnateTitania, Gaea Incarnate).

While this doesn't provide a lot of options, we could combine 40ish Elementals with five creatures with changeling, throw in Loot, Exuberant ExplorerLoot, Exuberant Explorer, Loot, the PathfinderLoot, the Pathfinder, Grim GiganotosaurusGrim Giganotosaurus, and Zacama, Primal CalamityZacama, Primal Calamity, and call it a day!

But maybe we're missing something...

Choosing a Noncreature Commander Instead

It's sometimes easy to forget that noncreature permanents can be commanders too! One way to technically fulfill Kaheera's requirement, as exemplified by some control decks in Explorer/Pioneer, is to simply avoid creatures altogether. But what potential five-color noncreature commanders are out there that fulfill all the companion abilities?

Option 1: Jared CarthalionJared Carthalion

This is certainly an interesting option, but with Jared in the command zone, Umori would require our whole deck to be lands and planeswalkers.

While this is technically possible, we're left with even fewer options (only around 60) than the Horde of Notion deck. And this is including the planeswalkers that care about instants and sorceriesinstants and sorceries, or about having creature cards in our deckcreature cards in our deck.

Let's see what else is out there.

Option 2: Infinite Guideline StationInfinite Guideline Station

Thanks to a rules change with the release of Edge of Eternities, legendary Vehicles and Spacecraft can be commanders too!

With the Guideline Station, Umori requires our whole deck to be lands and artifacts instead. This explodes the available card pool to over 650 cards, far more than Horde of Notions or Jared. This Spacecraft also grants us access to mana rocks, which are important ramp and mana fixing for a five-color deck.

We also don't feel the lack of creatures too much due to token production alongside Vehicles and Spacecraft.

All in all, this Robot-making space station is as good as it gets when it comes to fulfilling lots of different companion requirements.

Bringing It All Together

With such a large card pool to choose from, we can pick out the best mana fixing and ramp, multicolored artifacts and tokens, and as much card advantage and disruption as our companion restrictions allow.

It's nice to see classics like BatterskullBatterskull, Coalition RelicCoalition Relic, and Mimic VatMimic Vat hanging out alongside new technology in Ancient CornucopiaAncient Cornucopia, Cauldron of EssenceCauldron of Essence, and Inspirit, Flagship VesselInspirit, Flagship Vessel.

This feels like a fun deck for Bracket 1 – and very budget-friendly at only around $50. Maybe your playgroup will even allow you to "Rule Zero" access to all six companions in the same game if you ask nicely!

Bonus: Swapping Out Mana Value Requirements

As a bonus, let's see what happens if we change up the mana value requirements by swapping out Obosh for Gyruda and Keruga for Lurrus. Now, we're looking for a commander with an even mana value of two or less and a five-color mana value.

Neither one of these is compatible with Kaheera's strict creature type requirement, so let's leave this Cat Beast by the wayside and be content with five companions instead. Between these two potential commanders, it's going to be hard to find spells that are all colors with mana value two or less, so let's brew around The Wandering MinstrelThe Wandering Minstrel.

As it turns out, there are over 1,100 cards that fulfill the requirements of the remaining five companions. They're AsmoranomardicadaistinaculdacarAsmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar, Chamber SentryChamber Sentry, and a ton of two-mana creatures.

Bonus Decklist: Towns and Two-Mana Dudes

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this ExplorationExploration of the companion mechanic. With so many cards available in Commander, it can certainly be fun to brew decks with a lot of restrictions and see where the journey takes you! See you next time.