Prime Speaker VannifarPrime Speaker Vannifar | Art by Kieran Yanner

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 Bracket 4 combo / burn deck helmed by Mona Lisa, Science GeekMona Lisa, Science Geek from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that marked one of our first forays into the more competitive end of Commander. The weird interactions that cards like Ashaya, Soul of the WildAshaya, Soul of the Wild and Argothian ElderArgothian Elder unlock made this one an absolute joy to brew and playtest.

For Plot Twist #49, we're returning to a Prime Speaker VannifarPrime Speaker Vannifar list that I've been noodling on since Final Fantasy was released. It's a strange combination of the Enchantress and Pod archetypes that looks to play a bunch of enchantment creatures and then turn them into even more value with effects like the namesake Birthing PodBirthing Pod or Enigmatic IncarnationEnigmatic Incarnation.

Sounds weird and twisty. You know how much we love a toolbox deck. Let's dive in!

How Does Prime Speaker VannifarPrime Speaker Vannifar Work?

Vannifar is a relatively popular commander, with over 1,600 decks at the time of writing. Typically, decks leverage Vannifar's ability to turn creatures into ever increasing value. You can tap Vannifar and sacrifice another creature to search your library for a creature card with mana value equal to one plus the sacrificed creature’s mana value, and put that creature onto the battlefield.

The classic way to play Vannifar is to use an early creature like Paradise DruidParadise Druid to cast Prime Speaker VannifarPrime Speaker Vannifar early, then activate Vannifar's ability and sacrifice the Paradise Druid to find something like PestermitePestermite. Pestermite, and similar creatures, let you untap Vannifar so you can activate her ability again and get even more value.

Generally, Prime Speaker Vannifar decks accrue a ton of value over the course of the game by using creatures with strong enters abilities like Eternal WitnessEternal Witness and Peregrine DrakePeregrine Drake that can quickly be sacrificed to Vannifar for another strong creature. It's also prone to combo lines similar to how many Kiki-Jiki, Mirror BreakerKiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker and Rocco, Cabaretti CatererRocco, Cabaretti Caterer decks work.

But this is Plot Twist, where we like to add extra complications to our brews in the name of doing things differently. That's why we'll be leaning heavily into the Enchantress archetype as a way to make this Prime Speaker Vannifar brew have its own unique flavor.

Doing the Twist With Vannifar

That's right, this week's list is putting all of the enchantment creatures we've gotten over the years to work.

We have plenty of traditional enchantment creatures like Enduring VitalityEnduring Vitality and Nyxborn BehemothNyxborn Behemoth, and some Saga creatures like Summon: BahamutSummon: Bahamut that even sacrifice themselves. The Saga creatures are strong in particular because of their lower casting costs and strong enters triggers we can take advantage of.

Once we've gotten a creature or two on the battlefield, we'll start sacrificing them for larger creatures that generate even more using our various Birthing PodBirthing Pod-style effects. Our commander has a similar effect that we always have access to, but we've got a ton of others like Birthing RitualBirthing Ritual, Enigmatic IncarnationEnigmatic Incarnation, and Vivien on the HuntVivien on the Hunt.

While we have a density of these "Pod" effects, we'll certainly need ways to protect it and interact with our opponents' boards. That's where some nifty creatures like Fear of ImpostorsFear of Impostors, Fear of Sleep ParalysisFear of Sleep Paralysis, and Summon: ShivaSummon: Shiva come in, helping us keep up the pressure on our opponents and gain a little bit of tempo advantage at the same time.

Tying the whole deck together is core of "Enchantress" effects that'll ensure we draw plenty of cards. Staples like Eidolon of BlossomsEidolon of Blossoms and Enchantress's PresenceEnchantress's Presence made the list, but so did some spicy cards like Entity TrackerEntity Tracker and Overlord of the FloodpitsOverlord of the Floodpits that might catch our opponents off guard.

Sounds very twisty indeed!

An Enchanting Amount of Card Advantage

One traditional hole in the Pod archetype is that the deck can sputter if it runs out of cards, which the Enchantress archetype is famous for having no problem with. By loading up on a density of enchantment creatures specifically, we're able to make sure we don't draw the wrong half of our deck and find ourselves with a handful of enchantments and Birthing PodBirthing Pod-effects.

Eidolon of BlossomsEidolon of Blossoms, Enduring CuriosityEnduring Curiosity, Overlord of the FloodpitsOverlord of the Floodpits, and Weaver of HarmonyWeaver of Harmony are the gold standard of enchantment creatures since they all help us generate extra card advantage, are enchantments, and can be sacrificed to any Pod effect too. Enduring Curiosity even comes back as an enchantment when we sacrifice it.

Enchantress's PresenceEnchantress's Presence, Entity TrackerEntity Tracker, Setessan ChampionSetessan Champion, and Verduran EnchantressVerduran Enchantress are all (slightly) more limited forms of card advantage, but we'll be happy to have any of them. They stack really nicely as well, turning every enchantment we cast into multiple cards. The sort of card advantage our opponents will struggle to overcome.

While they're not traditional card advantage, Shigeki, Jukai VisionaryShigeki, Jukai Visionary and Springheart NantukoSpringheart Nantuko are both enchantment creatures that are sneakily powerful in the right circumstances. Shigeki can help us get back the key pieces of our deck after a board wipe, and Springheart Nantuko can clone our best creature, potentially multiple times a turn!

Podding Creatures for Profit

Once we've started to build up a solid board of creatures, the way we can really turn the corner and close out the game goes through either Prime Speaker VannifarPrime Speaker Vannifar or one of our other Birthing PodBirthing Pod-like cards. They'll frequently let us take the least valuable creature we control and turn it into interaction, more card advantage, or a win condition.

In addition to our commander and Birthing Pod, we've got Birthing RitualBirthing Ritual, Enigmatic IncarnationEnigmatic Incarnation, and Vivien on the HuntVivien on the Hunt as repeatable versions of this effect. Even though most of these can only be used once a turn, the value they generate will be difficult for our opponents to ignore, so we'll want to protect them as best we can.

Eldritch EvolutionEldritch Evolution, Magus of the OrderMagus of the Order, Natural OrderNatural Order, and NeoformNeoform can only be used once, but they're usually less expensive and somewhat less restricted than our repeatable "Pod" effects. That means we'll need to either tutor up a win condition, or some form of card advantage to help us get even more value out of every creature/enchantment we cast.

In case you're unfamiliar with the archetype, a good Pod deck will have a line of creatures that it can use to close out the game (typically a combo line that involves a creature like Kiki-Jiki, Mirror BreakerKiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker) and creatures at different mana values that can outvalue whatever our opponents are doing. All that to say, study your deck list to make sure you know what options are available to you at any given mana value of creature.

We've Got an Answer for That

The toolboxy nature of Pod decks means that we can usually find an answer for a given problem simply by sacrificing one of our creatures.

If we need to resolve a particular creature or enchantment, we can go find Destiny SpinnerDestiny Spinner to make our spells uncounterable. It doubles as a great mana sink for us to use in the end game when we need a few extra attackers to help close out the game.

Summon: ShivaSummon: Shiva and Summon: ValeforSummon: Valefor are fantastic enchantment creatures that act as bounce / removal for our opponents' creatures. Since they're Saga creatures, they have a limited lifespan whether we cast them or tutor them up, but three turns is often enough for our deck to turn the corner. Plus, we can always sacrifice them to Vannifar the turn before they get their final lore counter and turn them into even more value.

Fear of Sleep ParalysisFear of Sleep Paralysis seems like an absolute all-star in this week's deck. It'll stun an opponent's creature whenever it or another enchantment enters under our control and those creatures won't untap as long as Fear of Sleep Paralysis stays on our board. This can be a great way to lock down a problematic threat, clear away blockers, or even politically when we want it to be.

Just the sort of flexibility a Pod deck loves to see.

Archetype of EnduranceArchetype of Endurance is a card that can be very hit or miss but seems poised to shine in this week's list. Given how many of our creatures like Prime Speaker VannifarPrime Speaker Vannifar and Fear of Sleep Paralysis put a target on themselves, being able to give all of our creatures hexproof could buy us the turn we need to turn the corner and win the game.

Winning the Game With Prime Speaker Vannifar

While we'll be primarily winning with combat damage, the flexibility of having a repeatable tutor as our commander makes it easy for us to find the right win condition based on how the game is shaping up.

Summon: BahamutSummon: Bahamut is a slow, grindy way for us to win the game. While we normally don't want to wait four turns to try and win, there are undoubtedly going to be games where the battlefield is gummed up with tokens or other chump blockers that prevent us from attacking. In that instance, Summon: Bahamut is perfect since it'll deal damage directly to our opponents' faces.

Finale of DevastationFinale of Devastation is always a great win condition in green decks. Given we have lots of ramp and effects like Enduring VitalityEnduring Vitality, Nyxbloom AncientNyxbloom Ancient, and Sanctum WeaverSanctum Weaver to generate a ton of mana at once, we should reliably be able to cast Finale for X = 10 to buff our team, give them haste, and hopefully win the game.

Strength from the FallenStrength from the Fallen works a lot like Finale of DevastationFinale of Devastation when we're able to generate a ton of enchantments at once with an effect like Amphibian DownpourAmphibian Downpour or Asinine AnticsAsinine Antics since each enchantment entering will trigger Strength from the FallenStrength from the Fallen again. Since our plan of attack revolves around sacrificing our creatures for value, our graveyard should be stocked too.

Ancestral MaskAncestral Mask gives us an angle to "go tall" when we need to as well. It's a classic win condition from Aura-focused decks that will buff one of our creatures into a huge threat. We'll probably want to pair Ancestral Mask with a flyer like Summon: ValeforSummon: Valefor so we can get through the same turn we cast it or use Archetype of EnduranceArchetype of Endurance to protect our creature from removal.

A Few Additional Twists for Good Measure

It's the best part of the week: the time when we talk about the weird cards in this deck that I discovered through Scryfall.

First up: Perplexing ChimeraPerplexing Chimera. Okay, so technically I only know about this one because of the guys on Play to Win, but still it's worth mentioning as a weird, fantastic card. Perplexing Chimera puts you in the driver's seat with every spell your opponents cast. If they try to counter your big threat, exchange the Chimera for the counterspell. If they play their own spell, do the same!

Just be careful that you don't have to resolve a spell afterwards or your opponents can steal it with the Chimera as well.

Next is Fear of ImpostorsFear of Impostors, which really finds a home in this deck. It's an enchantment creature that also works as a piece of interaction to help protect our board. Most of the time we won't be able to "Pod" away another creature to use Fear of Impostors since Birthing PodBirthing Pod and co. tend to only work at instant speed, but it's fantastic to be able to counter an opponent's spell and then turn our counterspell into Arasta of the Endless WebArasta of the Endless Web or Eidolon of BlossomsEidolon of Blossoms, for example.

Speaking of Arasta of the Endless WebArasta of the Endless Web, this card puts in SO. MUCH. WORK. While each individual 1/2 spider isn't terribly great, Arasta tends to generate 1-3 of them per turn cycle, letting us keep up blockers or build up an army for us to buff with Finale of DevastationFinale of Devastation on our turn. Arasta also acts as a lightning rod for removal, helping us keep Vannifar around a little longer. Plus, we can Pod away the tokens!

Last but not least is Asinine AnticsAsinine Antics, which is a pseudo AetherizeAetherize that can also trigger our Enchantress effects. For , we can cast it as an instant and turn all of our opponents creatures into 1/1s, plus trigger any of our Enchantress effects that care about enchantments entering, like Eidolon of BlossomsEidolon of Blossoms or Setessan ChampionSetessan Champion, since we control the Cursed Role tokens that Asinine Antics makes.

Prime Speaker VannifarPrime Speaker Vannifar Commander Deck List

Here's the full deck list for you to peruse:

Roll the Credits

I hope you enjoyed reading the latest edition of Plot Twist featuring Prime Speaker VannifarPrime Speaker Vannifar. 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've been actively updating a lot of my lists recently and playing as many games as I can get in with my Akiri / Keskit Artifact Tokens and Colorless Combo lists.

For you cEDH enjoyers out there, I also recently dove head-on into a turbo RogSi list that's teaching me the meaning of mulliganing aggressively.

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