(Torens, Fist of the AngelsTorens, Fist of the Angels || art by Justine Cruz)

Ready To Kick-Start Three Innistrad Remastered Commander Decks? I Got You!

Hello friends, and welcome to another Start Me Up! In this column I will pick three legendary creatures from the most recent Magic expansion and provide you with ideas to help get you started brewing your own Commander deck around them.

This column usually focuses on brand new commander designs, but to celebrate the release of Innistrad Remastered, a set of all reprints, I thought it would be fun to take a look at the three of the coolest reprinted legendary creatures that might inspire you to build a new Commander deck around.

Yes, Innistrad is a scary place to tread, but fortune favors the bold! Let's see what's lurking in the shadows and the skies!

Bruna, the Fading LightBruna, the Fading Light

The meld cards from Eldritch Moon were really cool, and provide a nice mini-quest you can build into your decks, to find both pieces and get them on the battlefield at the same time.

If you haven't had a chance to do that yet, the reprint of Bruna, the Fading LightBruna, the Fading Light provides an excellent -- and more affordable -- shot at glory!

Outside of the melding, Bruna makes an excellent commander for an Angel deck, a Human deck, or a deck that splits its creatures between both of them -- I've got just that sort of split typal deck for Brawl on Magic Arena and it's a lot of fun!

Notably, Bruna gets the return trigger on cast so even if an opponent counters the spell, you still get to return a target Angel or Human from your graveyard to the battlefield.

EDHREC High Synergy Cards

Of course, you want ways to find the card to meld with Bruna, and that's Gisela, the Broken BladeGisela, the Broken Blade, which was also reprinted in Innistrad Remastered. Thalia's LancersThalia's Lancers and Search for GlorySearch for Glory are two excellent ways to do that, and can also be useful even if you naturally draw Gisela.

If you have both of them on the battlefield under your control at the beginning of your end step, they'll meld into the awesomely scary Brisela, Voice of NightmaresBrisela, Voice of Nightmares!

Brisela's flying, first strike, vigilance and lifelink make it an incredibly attacker and blocker, easily winning damage races for any but the most overwhelming counterattacks.

Brisela's static ability shuts down any spells with mana value three or less that your opponents might cast, so all your typical removal spells like Swords to PlowsharesSwords to Plowshares or TerminateTerminate are useless.

What's fun is that, if Brisela dies from a typical battlefield sweeper like Wrath of God, both pieces will go to the graveyard while Bruna can go back to the command zone, and when you recast Bruna the cast trigger can bring Gisela back to the battlefield to have another meld-tastic good time!

Bruna decks on EDHREC seem to lean heavily in the direction of Angel typal, with sweet Angels like Giada, Font of HopeGiada, Font of Hope and Righteous ValkyrieRighteous Valkyrie being Angels that care about Angels, and Starnheim AspirantStarnheim Aspirant as a Human that cares about Angels. Starnheim AspirantStarnheim Aspirant is especially helpful since it shaves two generic mana from Bruna's considerable mana value.

The EDHREC decks feature other powerful Angels like Emeria ShepherdEmeria Shepherd for some more graveyard recursion linked to landfall triggers, Sephara, Sky's BladeSephara, Sky's Blade to protect your other flying creatures, Angel of the RuinsAngel of the Ruins which can be plains-cycled early to keep hitting your land drops, and maybe brought back with Bruna to exile up to two target artifacts and/or enchantments. Angel of SerenityAngel of Serenity provides some measure of temporary creature control or graveyard recursion.

Angels Matter

Digging further into Angels synergies, you should look at cards like Lyra DawnbringerLyra Dawnbringer and Youthful ValkyrieYouthful Valkyrie. Herald of WarHerald of War is another nice way to eventually shave the mana cost on casting Angel spells each time it attacks.

Other Cool Angels

Karmic GuideKarmic Guide and Breathkeeper SeraphBreathkeeper Seraph provide more resiliance to mass creature removal. Firemane CommandoFiremane Commando builds in some much needed card draw, and incentivizes opponents to attack each other if they'd like to draw cards too.

Assemble the Meld

I went looking for other cards to help find Gisela, and there's not much else available in mono-white except the awesome Saga War of the Last AllianceWar of the Last Alliance.

Of course the nightmare scenario (for you, not your opponents) is if someone exiles Brisela with something like Farewell-- while Bruna can go back to the command zone, Gisela will be exiled forever... unless you have Pull from EternityPull from Eternity to put it right back into your graveyard to bring back with Bruna!

On a similar note, if you have ways to sacrifice creatures like Ashnod's AltarAshnod's Altar, you can dodge the exile effect and have Gisela go to the graveyard where it will hopefully dodge graveyard hate until you can cast Bruna again.

Torens, Fist of the AngelsTorens, Fist of the Angels

If you like playing an under the radar commander, Torens, Fist of the AngelsTorens, Fist of the Angels is a really good option. Just reading the text on it doesn't raise any immediate alarm bells, but each time you play a creature spell, Torens spits out a 1/1 Human Soldier token with the training ability, which Torens has itself.

So long as Torens or the tokens attack with another creature with greater power, they'll get a +1/+1 counter on it, and since Torens and the tokens start out so small it's pretty easy to make that happen so long as you play some creature cards of some size. This also plays into +1/+1 counter strategies if that's something you're looking for. Let's dig in!

EDHREC High Synergy Cards

EDHREC's page on Torens has some creatures that care about +1/+1 counters like Inspiring PaladinInspiring Paladin and Abzan FalconerAbzan Falconer, and then there's the super-scary Champion of LambholtChampion of Lambholt which can quickly make your growing army of creatures unblockable.

Since Torens is a Human that makes Human tokens, EDHREC recommends cards that care about the Human creature type like Thalia's LieutenantThalia's Lieutenant, Katilda, Dawnhart PrimeKatilda, Dawnhart Prime, and Kyler, Sigardian EmissaryKyler, Sigardian Emissary. Heronblade EliteHeronblade Elite starts out small but quickly grows as more Humans deploy to your battlefield, and with vigilance it can become a fierce attacker that can boost your training creatures and then afterwards tap for more and more mana during your second main phase.

And then there's the simple but effective Coppercoat VanguardCoppercoat Vanguard for a solid power boost and gives all your other Humans ward 1.

EDHREC recommends you build in some card draw with cards like Mentor of the MeekMentor of the Meek and the under appreciated Laid to RestLaid to Rest, which cares about both Humans and +1/+1 counters.

Creature Token Synergies

Digging deeper into creature token strategies we run across more Humans like King Darien XLVIIIKing Darien XLVIII, Adeline, Resplendent CatharAdeline, Resplendent Cathar, and Queen Allenal of RuadachQueen Allenal of Ruadach. Intangible VirtueIntangible Virtue gives a small but significant boost and provides your creature tokens with vigilance, an excellent ability to have in a multiplayer game where you often have to choose between attacking or having blockers to defend yourself.

Inspiring LeaderInspiring Leader is another excellent boost to your creature tokens, though you'll want to have ways to protect your commander from an ill-timed removal spell.

+1/+1 Counter Synergies

The Selesnya colors have a ton of great cards to support +1/+1 counter strategies, and I've combed through and picked some of the best ones for consideration. Leinore, Autumn SovereignLeinore, Autumn Sovereign pretty easily gives you card drawing, while adding a +1/+1 counter to help satisfy your coven condition.

Inspiring CallInspiring Call provides more card drawing and some protection to your creatures with +1/+1 counters. Speaking of, Mikaeus, the LunarchMikaeus, the Lunarch is an excellent way to give your entire team more +1/+1 counters, and Conclave MentorConclave Mentor increments your +1/+1 counter fun. Ozolith, the Shattered SpireOzolith, the Shattered Spire passively does the same sort of thing, while throwing another counter with each activation.

Hopeful InitiateHopeful Initiate also has training, and provides the utility of destroying pesky artifacts or enchantments by removing counters.

Humans Matter

Digging further into the Human synergies I recommend Champion of the ParishChampion of the Parish and Horn of GondorHorn of Gondor. And while Sigarda, Font of BlessingsSigarda, Font of Blessings and Sigarda, Champion of LightSigarda, Champion of Light are not Humans themselves, they do appreciate having Humans around.

Grimgrin, Corpse-BornGrimgrin, Corpse-Born

I've loved Grimgrin, Corpse-BornGrimgrin, Corpse-Born since it was first printed in original Innistrad, and came up with several cool Standard decks while it was available focused on untapping it and attacking to get it's powerful attack trigger. Grimgrin's untapping ability is surprisingly combo-riffic, and if you do a Google search of him you'll run into all sorts of wild rabbit-holes.

My personal favorite was a Necrotic Ooze deck with Grimgrin and Bloodline Keeper in the graveyard, letting you get unlimited tap and untap effects and dies triggers, while growing Necrotic Ooze each time. Let's shamble through some of the cool cards to consider!

EDHREC High Synergy Cards

GravecrawlerGravecrawler is the perfect card to get your Grimgin engine firing; you can play him from the graveyard simply by having another Zombie in play, and since Grimgrin is a Zombie too, you can feed Gravecrawler to Grimgrin to untap it and grow bigger, and replay Gravecrawler again and again.

Since we have access to blue, Rooftop StormRooftop Storm is an excellent way to make casting your Zombies not cost you any mana -- or in the case of Grimgrin, only commander tax.

Blue also gives us access to Diregraf CaptainDiregraf Captain, an excellent boost for a Zombie typal theme that just happens to turn into a win condition with Grimgrin and Gravecrawler if you've got a way to keep casting Gravecrawler from the graveyard over and over.

Zul Ashur, Lich LordZul Ashur, Lich Lord is an awesome new Zombie matters card from Foundations, for just two mana you get a 2/2 Zombie that can tap to let you cast target Zombie from your graveyard, so if you have a Zombie with a sweet enters ability you can sacrifice it to Grimgrin, and then target it with Zul Ashur to play it again.

Wilhelt, the RotcleaverWilhelt, the Rotcleaver likes it when Zombies without decayed die, creating more Zombies (these with decayed) for your troubles, and at the beginning of your end step you can sacrifice a Zombie to draw a card.

Diregraf ColossusDiregraf Colossus creates more Zombies each time you cast a Zombie spell, and it can be bigger later in the game the more Zombie cards you have in your graveyard.

The Zombie type has gotten a ton of support over the years, with Zombies that care about Zombies like Death BaronDeath Baron, Undead AugurUndead Augur, and Headless RiderHeadless Rider being excellent examples.

EDHREC also had the new Soul-Shackled ZombieSoul-Shackled Zombie listed, which I have to admit to being a bit of a head-scratching choice, but if you like playing cards way out of the norm, it's got some flair along with some graveyard control utility.

Zombies Matter Zombies

Want more Zombies that care about Zombies? There are a ton of them available, and I'd put as many of them I could get my hands on into the deck. Cards like Lord of the AccursedLord of the Accursed, Lord of the UndeadLord of the Undead, Cemetery ReaperCemetery Reaper, Undead WarchiefUndead Warchief, Champion of the PerishedChampion of the Perished, CryptbreakerCryptbreaker, Cleaver SkaabCleaver Skaab, and Bladestitched SkaabBladestitched Skaab.

Noxious GhoulNoxious Ghoul ins an incredibly powerful old-school Zombie card that pairs extremely well with a sacrifice-and-replay-Zombie engine that Grimgrin provides, easily mowing down smaller non-Zombie creatures.

Other Zombies Matter Cards

Black and blue offer other Zombie support cards too, like the spooky Endless Ranks of the DeadEndless Ranks of the Dead and Zombie ApocalypseZombie Apocalypse which bring to mind so many Zombie movies, and NecrodualityNecroduality letting you copy Zombie creature cards when they enter.

Dies Triggers

To make your Grimgrin engine a game-winner, you'll want to have some dies triggers. Vengeful DeadVengeful Dead brings us an old-school option, while Bastion of RemembranceBastion of Remembrance is a newer but no less effective option.

Vogar, Necropolis TyrantVogar, Necropolis Tyrant won't necessarily end the game on the spot, but it can quickly grow to fearsome size, and when it dies you get to draw a card for each +1/+1 counter on it.

Untap Grimgrin

Patriar's SealPatriar's Seal is a nice way to untap Grimgrin if you don't have a creature to spare, and then there's Intruder AlarmIntruder Alarm which will untap all creatures whenever a creature enters the battlefield.

Then there's Relic of LegendsRelic of Legends, which can power the Grimgrin and Gravecrawler engine by letting you tap Grimgrin for the black mana you need to cast it.

Just to illustrate my love for Grimgrin, here's a link to an article I wrote about my very first Grimgrin Commander deck nearly 14 years ago in 2011! Check it out -- Putting the Grin in Your Grim

Never Stop Brewing!

Which of these three commanders do you think you might build a deck around? What other cards do you think you'll add to your deck list?

Read more:

Foundations: Start Me Up! (Part 2)

Foundations: Start Me Up!

Bennie Smith

Bennie's played Magic since 1994 and has been writing about it nearly as long. Commander is his favorite format, but he's been known to put on his competitive hat to play Standard and Pioneer. Recently he's dabbled in Oathbreaker and Pendragon.