Joel, Resolute SurvivorJoel, Resolute Survivor | Art by Yongjae Choi | Abby, Merciless SoldierAbby, Merciless Soldier | Art by Wayne Wu

Welcome back to Plot Twist, the series where we build a Commander deck that looks like it's going to tell one kind of story only to throw out a twist for our opponents mid-game.

Last time we built a Iroh, Firebending InstructorIroh, Firebending Instructor that looked to copy legendary creatures to reap the benefits of their enters triggers. This week, we're taking a look at a partner pair from the The Last of Us Secret Lair in Joel, Resolute SurvivorJoel, Resolute Survivor and Abby, Merciless SoldierAbby, Merciless Soldier a rather...disagreeable?...partner pair if I've ever seen one.

How Do Joel, Resolute SurvivorJoel, Resolute Survivor and Abby, Merciless SoldierAbby, Merciless Soldier Work?

Abby, Merciless SoldierAbby, Merciless Soldier is reminiscent of Xantcha, Sleeper AgentXantcha, Sleeper Agent in that Abby enters under the control of an opponent. In return we get a 1/1 black Fungus Zombie Creature token named Cordyceps for each mana we spent to cast Abby.

So we'll get three Cordyceps the first time we cast our commander and then more and more tokens when we recast her and have to pay the commander tax.

Meanwhile, Joel, Resolute SurvivorJoel, Resolute Survivor provides us with card draw in the command zone and can quickly become a huge threat if enough creature tokens die.

Notably, the tokens don't have to be ours in order for Joel to trigger, but the ability only triggers once a turn. So while we'll want to have plenty of tokens ourselves, we'll also reap extra rewards if our opponents are running creature token-heavy decks as well.

At the time of writing there are only 52 Joel & Abby decks currently showing up on EDHREC, but we can see they're leaning heavily into tokens and aristocrats themes, as well as running other The Last of Us cards like Ellie, Brick MasterEllie, Brick Master and Ellie, Vengeful HunterEllie, Vengeful Hunter.

Brewers are leveraging cards like MycolothMycoloth and Chatterfang, Squirrel GeneralChatterfang, Squirrel General to quickly build out a board full of tokens while Morbid OpportunistMorbid Opportunist, Blood ArtistBlood Artist, and friends turn those tokens into extra cards and wins.

It's a powerful strategy near and dear to my heart, but it's very reliant on creatures and feels a little expected.

So what if, instead, we did the Plot Twist thing and built a creatureless version of Joel and Abby? Abby, Merciless SoldierAbby, Merciless Soldier enters under the control of our opponents anyway, and if most of our creatures are tokens, it's going to make an opponent's Path to ExilePath to Exile or Rapid HybridizationRapid Hybridization feel pretty bad most of the time.

Plot Twist #2 featured a creatureless build of Duskana, the Rage MotherDuskana, the Rage Mother that was a blast to play, so let's see what we can do with Jund () colors this time!

Doing the Twist

That's right, this week's deck list is running zero creatures other than our commanders. Given that Abby, Merciless SoldierAbby, Merciless Soldier will almost always be under an opponent's control too, we're really hanging Joel out to dry, it would seem.

But never fear, a mass of tokens is here! We have a ton of ways to generate tokens turn after turn, like Chocobo RacetrackChocobo Racetrack, Endless Ranks of the DeadEndless Ranks of the Dead, and Genesis of the DaleksGenesis of the Daleks to help build out an army while we go about our usual game plan.

Plus many of these effects, like Liliana's MasteryLiliana's Mastery, pair nicely with our 1/1 Cordyceps Zombie tokens too.

Of course we're running token doublers like Doubling SeasonDoubling Season and Parallel LivesParallel Lives to help us get ahead on the board, and a handful of populate effects like Esika's ChariotEsika's Chariot and Ghired's BelligerenceGhired's Belligerence to let us create multiples of a specific token when we want to.

Rounding it all out are a mix of classic win conditions like Bastion of RemembranceBastion of Remembrance and Impact TremorsImpact Tremors alongside some rather unusual ones that still pair well with what we're trying to do, in Strixhaven StadiumStrixhaven Stadium and March of the World OozeMarch of the World Ooze.

All in all, this deck is a powerful token brew that still has a signature twist to it and should be right at home in Bracket 3 pods.

Making Way Too Many Tokens

In addition to Abby, Merciless SoldierAbby, Merciless Soldier, we have so many effects that make creature tokens incrementally to build out our board since we have zero actual creatures in the 98 of our decklist this week. Fortunately there are a wide array of removal spells, ramp effects, and win conditions that also incidentally also make creature tokens to aid in our game plan.

Esika's ChariotEsika's Chariot is one of the best since it'll make us two 2/2s on entry and also allow us to copy a larger token from something like Nissa, Ascended AnimistNissa, Ascended Animist or Crash the PartyCrash the Party.

Populate is definitely a mechanic this deck could use a bit more of, but there's a delicate balance we're trying to strike between cards that make tokens and cards that copy our existing tokens.

Crash the PartyCrash the Party, Curious HerdCurious Herd, and Fresh MeatFresh Meat are all conditional ways for us to make a ton of rather large tokens at instant speed. These will definitely be cards we'll be looking for in our opening hand every game since they can help us turn the corner at the right time to knock out an opponent.

To ensure we get an overwhelming board state, we're running Doubling SeasonDoubling Season, For the Common GoodFor the Common Good, Parallel LivesParallel Lives, and Second HarvestSecond Harvest. I'm partial to Second Harvest in particular since it's an instant speed way to make our board extra scary looking.

Turning Tokens Into Fun and Profit

Of course, we can't simply expect to attack our opponents to death with a bunch of 1/1 Cordyceps Zombies and 4/4 Rhinos, can we? No, they'll need a little help. Thunderhawk GunshipThunderhawk Gunship is more than happy to oblige by both giving us a few tokens and all of our attacking creatures flying too.

Tribute to the World TreeTribute to the World Tree will either buff our smaller tokens with +1/+1 counters or draw us a card if its power is three or greater. We'll be happy both ways. We're also running classics like Plumb the ForbiddenPlumb the Forbidden and SkullclampSkullclamp that can turn our excess tokens into fresh draws when we need to dig for an answer or a way to close the game out too.

Arcane BombardmentArcane Bombardment is poised to be one of the best cards in our deck since the first instant or sorcery we cast each turn will trigger it. We're running 16 sorceries and 12 instants, so we have a lot of effects that Arcane Bombardment can exile and ultimately copy. If I'm reading it correctly, Arcane Bombardment also bypasses timing restrictions so we can still get value out of the sorceries it exiles if we can trigger Arcane Bombardment on an opponent's turn.

One of my all-time favorite "token" cards is Descent into AvernusDescent into Avernus. When Descent lands early in a game, the game tends to go bonkers. It both accelerates everyone's mana and quickly whittles away at their life totals. Plus, your opponents both want you alive to keep the Treasures and to knock you out to stop the damage it does to you.

Just the type of effect we love on Plot Twist.

If you want to see some more brews featuring Descent into Avernus, be sure to check out Plot Twist #7, #10, and #14 for more decks where it shines.

Eating Our Veggies While Making Tokens

We can even build our ramp package and interaction suite to give us a few extra tokens while we're doing the things every Commander deck needs to do.

Our ramp package has six total cards that can make creature tokens. Xenagos, the RevelerXenagos, the Reveler seems poised to make a huge amount of mana for us in the late game allowing for a big, swingy turn even if he's unlikely to survive a full trip around the table.

Growth SpasmGrowth Spasm can help us ramp two mana functionally between the basic land and the Spawn token.

I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on Crowded CryptCrowded Crypt in particular. It looks like Crowded Crypt can rebuild our board in an instant with decayed Zombies since it triggers whenever any creature we control dies, but it also seems like it'll be a target for removal. Let me know about your experiences playing Crowded Crypt and if it's worth the slot!

Our interaction suite features two fantastic FogFog-effects in ArachnogenesisArachnogenesis and Galadhrim AmbushGaladhrim Ambush, both of which will prevent most/all combat damage save the tokens they create. We'll be happy to stop a lethal attack against us, get a ton of tokens in return, and then be able to begin attacking on our turn.

AttritionAttrition is always fantastic in token decks like ours since we can kill tons of creatures in exchange for a token and a . Pest InfestationPest Infestation can help clean up a board full of problematic artifacts and enchantments from time to time, like a token-making Bane of ProgressBane of Progress, sort of.

I'll also call your attention to Ghired's BelligerenceGhired's Belligerence since we can use it to kill our 1/1 Cordyceps tokens and populate a copy of a larger token, say the 4/4s that we've made off of a Crash the PartyCrash the Party or one of Nissa, Ascended AnimistNissa, Ascended Animist's Phyrexian Horrors, for example.

Winning the Game With Joel and Abby

The win conditions in this week's decklist are a mixture of reliable role players and cards that are just downright fun.

The role players are Bastion of RemembranceBastion of Remembrance, Beastmaster AscensionBeastmaster Ascension, and Impact TremorsImpact Tremors. All three of these are great ways for a token deck to close out the game in their respective colors.

Combined together, Impact Tremors pings our opponents when tokens enter, Beastmaster Ascension makes our tokens extra-lethal when they attack, and then Bastion of Remembrance lets our tokens say goodbye in their own special way.

Eldrazi MonumentEldrazi Monument gives our creatures +1/+1, flying, and indestructible, and even having to sacrifice a creature every turn isn't that big of a downside since it gives us a reliable way to trigger Joel, Resolute SurvivorJoel, Resolute Survivor and draw an extra card. It's particularly great with either Beastmaster AscensionBeastmaster Ascension, March of the World OozeMarch of the World Ooze, or Nissa, Ascended AnimistNissa, Ascended Animist, which can all make our Cordyceps tokens gigantic attackers.

The last, rather unusual, win-con we're running is Strixhaven StadiumStrixhaven Stadium. If we find ourselves with a wide board but not enough damage for a lethal attack, Strixhaven Stadium is a great way for us to remove an opponent, provided we can get 10 point counters on it. Not a bad bonus for what's otherwise a mana rock in our deck!

A Few Additional Twists for Good Measure

March of the World OozeMarch of the World Ooze was one of the cards that inspired this week's deck list. The fact that it makes all of our creatures have base power and toughness 6/6 is no joke, but getting a free 3/3 token when our opponents cast spells outside of their turn is huge.

Even if two of our opponents are having a counterspell war that we're not involved with, we can still end up netting a ton of tokens with this enchantment.

Similarly, Rolling HamsphereRolling Hamsphere and Thunderhawk GunshipThunderhawk Gunship are really intriguing Vehicles that also work as great payoffs for token strategies. Cards that straddle the line between two archetypes that don't normally mesh often find themselves at the center of our brews on Plot Twist.

This deck seems like an amazing home for Necrotic HexNecrotic Hex since the opponent we donate Abby, Merciless SoldierAbby, Merciless Soldier to may well have to sacrifice her to it. Meanwhile, we'll likely be turning our 1/1 Cordyceps tokens into 2/2 Zombie tokens instead.

While it's quite expensive for a board wipe, Necrotic Hex plays right into our strategy and can even remove indestructible creatures too.

Last, but not least, let's talk about Fresh MeatFresh Meat. With the rules update that allowed tokens to hit the graveyard, Fresh Meat was one of a handful of cards that benefitted a ton. Normally a board wipe would be devastating to a token deck like the one we're running, but now we can net 3/3 for each creature we lost at instant speed and hit the ground running immediately.

Joel, Resolute Survivor and Abby, Merciless Soldier Commander Deck List

Here's the full decklist for you to peruse:

Roll the Credits

I hope you enjoyed reading the latest edition of Plot Twist featuring Joel, Resolute SurvivorJoel, Resolute Survivor and Abby, Merciless SoldierAbby, Merciless Soldier. Next time you sit down for a game of Commander, see what sort of plot twists you can add to take the game's narrative in a new direction.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on today's deck and what cards could find a home in it in the comments below or on Archidekt. The Maybeboards of my deck lists are always filled with cards I thought could work but didn't make the final list.

You can check out my other articles here or see what decks I'm currently playing here. I just spent a long day jamming games with some friends and got to put in some reps with my Marchesa Wizards Kindred and Kalamax Spellslinger-Voltron decks that I've been itching to play.

I'm always tinkering with my Karador Cycling and Secret Commander: Wild Pair lists too.

Stay tuned to see what other twists and turns are headed your way in the next edition of Plot Twist.

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