<h6 style="text-align: right;">(<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Chromatic Star|BRR|74z" href="#" target="_blank">Chromatic Star</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>| Art by <a href="https://www.artstation.com/fooyee">Yeong-Hao Han</a>)</h6>
<h1>Perfectly Balanced, as All Things Should Be</h1>
<p>Hello folks, and welcome back to <em>The Monolith,</em> where this week I'll be providing you a fun and alternative way to play Commander in the format of Star. If you've ever found yourself in the classic and annoying situation of sitting down for a game of Commander with five players, you'll probably know one simple truth: 5 player Commander kinda sucks.</p>
<p>You've likely added another hour or so minimum to your game just accounting for another player taking their turns. The balance of the game has been upset by yet another player messing around with the board state. Not to mention you now need to find a layout that allows you to read the cards of a player two playmats over.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Increasing Confusion"></div></div>
<p>But what if I told you there was a better way? A format that tries to speed up proceedings. That adds a subtle change to Commander's balance that better suits the higher player count. And even a way to increase the amount of politicking at the table for players that want to schmooze their way to victory?</p>
<p>Not to mention, it's played with monocolored decks!</p>
<h2>Introducing Star</h2>
<p>Star (also known as Pentagram or Five-Point) is a format that pits 5 players against each other in any format of <em>Magic: The Gathering</em>. We'll obviously be playing the Commander version, but the rules for converting your favorite rules format into a game of Star are effectively always the same.</p>
<p>Each player represents one of the five colors of <em>Magic</em>: white, blue, black, red, and green. The player assigned to black can only play cards in their deck that are of that color identity, which for us Commander players is pretty familiar. Essentially, just bring a mono black commander to the table. Each other player does the same for the color they've been assigned.</p>
<p><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/throne-of-eldraine-art.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-145503 size-full" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/throne-of-eldraine-art.jpg" alt="The art for card Throne of Eldraine by Kieran Yanner. Five Knights kneel before an empty throne, each enrobed in the five colors of Magic." width="626" height="457" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/throne-of-eldraine-art.jpg 626w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/throne-of-eldraine-art-300x219.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 626px) 100vw, 626px" /></a></p>
<h6 style="text-align: center;">(<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Throne of Eldraine" href="#" target="_blank">Throne of Eldraine</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.kieranyanner.com/">Kieran Yanner</a>)</h6>
<p>You'll then be seated at the table according to your color's position on <em>Magic's </em>color pie. That means each player will be seated in between their color's "allies" and opposite its "enemies". If you get confused, just look at <em>Magic's </em>card backs for a position chart<em>.</em></p>
<p>From then on, playing Star is just like playing any other game of Commander, just with a little twist. The two players who aren't neighboring you but sat across the table? Those are now your enemies. They represent your ideological opponents as well as your in-game ones. As soon as <em>both</em> of the players sat opposite you are knocked out, you win the game.<a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/mtgbackexample.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-145542" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/mtgbackexample-215x300.jpg" alt="The back of a magic card labeling your position and your opponents in a game of star, in this case the white player needs to knock out the red and black player." width="215" height="300" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/mtgbackexample-215x300.jpg 215w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/mtgbackexample-734x1024.jpg 734w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/mtgbackexample.jpg 745w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 215px) 100vw, 215px" /></a></p>
<h2>Why Play Star Over Regular Commander?</h2>
<p>Five player games are a tricky balancing act to get right, predominantly just because of game length. I'm sure you already know how mind numbing it can feel to wait for three long turns to finish before you can untap and get playing again. Now imagine four.</p>
<p>Star speeds up games by working in an altered win condition. Having only two neighbored players needing to drop before the game ends means endings are far more inevitable. And it achieves that without any artificial extras to the rules or abusable effects added on top.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Politics</h3>
<p>One of my favorite things to do in a game of Commander is politicking the table to get a competitive edge, or out of a bind. I'm a big board gamer outside of <em>Magic</em> hours and that's turned me into the Commander equivalent of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gríma Wormtongue" href="#" target="_blank">Gríma Wormtongue</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Whispering evil deeds into my opponents ears and pulling strings from behind the scenes (and then subsequently making an enemy of every player at the table and being the first to get knocked out. What a game.)</p>
<p><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Wormtongue-Theoden.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-145543 size-full" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Wormtongue-Theoden.jpg" alt="Grima Wormtongue whispers into his puppet king Theoden's ear in the Lord of the Rings film series" width="700" height="292" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Wormtongue-Theoden.jpg 700w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Wormtongue-Theoden-300x125.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px" /></a></p>
<p>In Star, the propensity for wheeling and dealing goes through the roof as a complex strategic position rears its head. Not because of the extra player, but because of the two players sitting either side of you.</p>
<p>Your "allies", each of your neighboring players, sit in a strange fragile allegiance with you. You want to actively work together with them, as you share a common enemy with each. One player opposite you both that you'd both like to take out of the game. You even want to keep them safe and protect them, as either one dropping out not only weakens your position, but also plays into the wincon of one of your enemies!</p>
<p>So deals naturally start to work their way into the game. Sharing <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wedding Ring" href="#" target="_blank">Wedding Rings</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tenuous Truce" href="#" target="_blank">Tenuous Truces</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> with one another to build up your collective might. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.</p>
<h3>Interesting Game States</h3>
<p>The problem with sharing just one enemy with your neighbors though is that, by necessity, your neighbors will be enemies with each other. The more you help one friend, the more you annoy the other. And be careful helping either of them too much, because it only takes one of your neighbors taking out the other to potentially lose you the game.</p>
<p>Because specific player elimination is so crucial to the victory condition of Star, plenty of interesting board states emerge through play. Suddenly swooping in to defend the weakest player just as they're about to be knocked out is not only a savvy move, it might actually win you the game. Taking out your opponents quickly is important, but so is ensuring that another player doesn't do it before you get a chance to.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Heroic Intervention"></div></div>
<p>Sometimes you'll be desperately trying to defend your enemy from a lethal attack because a prior elimination of one of your allies has set up an opponent to win. Now you need to ensure that one of your enemies loses the game before the other. To ensure that you get named a victor.</p>
<p>With the possibility of shared victories, pacts can be enacted that don't have to end in an inevitable betrayal. With the right set up, two players can win simultaneously. It even makes <em>actual</em> betrayal even juicier.</p>
<h3>Cool Collaboration</h3>
<p>With mono colored decks come mono colored problems. Red for example will always struggle with enchantment removal. But by placing each player next to a potential ally you unlock the ability to collaborate between decks. Red can lean on their green ally to help them remove tricky enchantments that are causing them to struggle. Green can beg the white player to cast a board wipe to save the game for them both.</p>
<p>All of that of course then comes with costs. What are you offering me in exchange? What can you do for me? When the blue player is the only player on the table with access to real counter magic, what spells do they prioritize countering?</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Forbidden Friendship"></div></div>
<h3>Build Your Own Star!</h3>
<p>"But Wheels!" I hear you cry, "My friends don't have complementary mono decks. How will we play together?". Well that's where this turns into a fun little project! One of my favorite things I did when leaning more into intentional mono deck building is building a sort of Star Cube. Not for drafting, but five custom built decks of each color designed to play against one another.</p>
<p>You can build your five decks to really highlight the specialties and quirks of each mono color, or specifically go against type. By building each deck you can also ensure that there's a well balanced playing field for all decks involved. That every deck has equal chance of winning. To build a truly level game of Commander.</p>
<p>Why not try a Star of underrated Commanders for each color? Or perhaps a Star of the most busted instead? The world is your oyster, whether you want to duke it out and determine the ultimate color, or create an intriguing mess of complicated game states to unpick.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="K&#039;rrik, Son of Yawgmoth"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Magda, Brazen Outlaw"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Urza, Lord High Artificer"></div></div>
<h2>Fix Your Next Five Player Game Night</h2>
<p>Regardless of whether or not you choose to build your own custom game of Star or just crack out the format in situations where one extra player has turned up to your pod, it's a format twist I heartily recommend. It's all too easy to become entrenched in the familiarities of base Commander. Try a new twist to shake up your game night!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Forge Anew"></div></div>
<p>And whilst this is <em>The Monolith. </em>The column in which I plead with the world to build more monocolored decks. I promise I won't be mad at you if you play Star with your standard, multicolored Commander decks. It's definitely a better experience sticking to the core of the principle. Five decks all repping one of the colors of <em>Magic. </em>But regardless, Star is just a great way to introduce a fifth player without dragging games out.</p>
<p>I can't help you with the five playmats problem though, sorry. Find a round table I guess, and I'll see you next week for another edition of, <em>The Monolith.</em></p>


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<h6 style="text-align: right;">(<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bitter Reunion" href="#" target="_blank">Bitter Reunion</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://jakemurraystudio.com/">Jake Murray</a>)</h6>
<h1>Becoming Your Pod’s Military Industrial Complex</h1>
<p>Aggro, the first to deal damage. Midrange and its early game chaos. Control, with its faithful counters and removal. And... the furtive Group Hug, so easily forgotten. With the strength of the pod, they challenged notions of traditional play…</p>
<p>Except the Aggro player crashed out turn four. The Control player spent all their mana to keep the Midrange player stunlocked all game.</p>
<p>The only one to profit was the Group Hug player, who never had a win-con. So now you’re three hours into a “forty-minute game of Commander” where decking out is the largest threat you’ll face.</p>
<p>Let’s pour some gasoline on the dumpster fire that is an average game of Commander, shall we?</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Gluntch, the Bestower"></div></div>
<p><em>I first learned about Group Hugs with Gluntch and never recovered.</em></p>
<h2>What is Group Hug?</h2>
<p>A group hug is when you get more than two people, traditionally three through nine, and you have all of them hug at the same time.</p>
<p>Generally, this begins as a traditional hug with further individuals clinging to that central connection, effectively trapping them.</p>
<p>In Magic, though, it’s a bit more tongue-and-cheek given only one person can win Commander.</p>
<p>The core premise of a Group Hug deck is that your commander’s ability, and perhaps the rest of your deck, functions to assist the other players in their gameplans.</p>
<p>This can be through life gain, card draw, creature creation/buffing, or any other means of empowering your opponents.</p>
<p>The example I always think of is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gluntch, the Bestower" href="#" target="_blank">Gluntch, the Bestower</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, who chooses three different players to give benefits to every one of your turns.</p>
<p>Crucially, Gluntch cannot choose the same player for every benefit. Therefore, its controller is “forced” to help multiple players. And so the group hug widens to encompass the entire table.</p>
<p>Aggro players want to win quickly. Midrange tries to secure the early game and clean up later. Control wants to ruin everyone’s fun. But Group Hug?</p>
<h2>Why Group Hug?</h2>
<p>Group Hug is a flexible playstyle, capable of being played in any color combination to varying degrees of effectiveness. Multi-colored commanders such as those below:</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kenrith, the Returned King"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Círdan the Shipwright"></div></div>
<p><strong><em>Well, black shows up least often, but that was to be expected.</em></strong></p>
<p>There are a few different types of people who would willingly choose to help their opponents in Commander.</p>
<p>You might know some of them. You might be one of them. But you must first understand your enemy to defeat your enemy.</p>
<h3>Chaos Gremlins</h3>
<p>The first type are the chaos gremlins.</p>
<p>These are individuals who, for whatever reason, didn’t come to win. They came to cause chaos and enable their friends to enact mutually assured destruction.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Zedruu the Greathearted" href="#" target="_blank">Zedruu the Greathearted</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is an example, actively supplying your opponents creatures while sustaining yourself via card draw and life gain.</p>
<p>Pair it with something like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Harmless Offering" href="#" target="_blank">Harmless Offering</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tahngarth, First Mate" href="#" target="_blank">Tahngarth, First Mate</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and suddenly you’re a cardboard arms dealer.</p>
<p>The goal of these chaos gremlins isn’t to “win,” the goal is to cause problems. Oftentimes, they have no win condition built into their deck.</p>
<p>While technically enabling their opponents to take one another out helps get them closer to victory, these decks often can’t stand on their own.</p>
<p>Expect to see a lot of goading your opponents’ creatures to attack everyone but the chaos gremlin and then… Nothing.</p>
<p>Because the chaos gremlin won as soon as they sat down to play.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Zedruu the Greathearted"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Harmless Offering"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Tahngarth, First Mate"></div></div>
<p><strong><em>These might not "win games," but they sure make them memorable!</em></strong></p>
<h3>Speedrunners</h3>
<p>Some folks wanna watch the world burn. And they don’t have all night! So they grease the wheels of the game, “helping” everyone insofar as it expedites the ending of the game.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Yurlok of Scorch Thrash" href="#" target="_blank">Yurlok of Scorch Thrash</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> would fall under this. Sure, it reintroduces mana-burn into the game, where you lose life if you have unspent mana left.</p>
<p>But it also gives free mana to every player. Jund mana, but mana nonetheless. Black has removal. Red can damage. Green can buff. Even if circumstantial, this still is a benefit to the speedrunner’s opponents.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Nekusar, the Mindrazer" href="#" target="_blank">Nekusar, the Mindrazer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> gives card draw at the cost of damage. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Xyris, the Writhing Storm" href="#" target="_blank">Xyris, the Writhing Storm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> rewards opponents for taking commander damage. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vazi, Keen Negotiator" href="#" target="_blank">Vazi, Keen Negotiator</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> gives free treasure tokens to opponents explicitly so you can profit from them.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kami of the Crescent Moon"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Howling Mine"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Selvala, Explorer Returned"></div></div>
<p><strong><em>The game will NOT last long with all this card draw.</em></strong></p>
<h3>Realpolitik</h3>
<p>Then there are polysci majors. You think I’m joking, but I’m quite serious!</p>
<p>Commander is fundamentally a game of negotiation. As useful as mana is, as powerful as card draw is, nothing matters if the blue player can <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Negate" href="#" target="_blank">Negate</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> your most powerful spell and the red player keeps your board clear with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Breaking Point" href="#" target="_blank">Breaking Point</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>You need to be able to communicate effectively with the other players to ensure the heat is off of you.</p>
<p>But to do that you need leverage.</p>
<p>Negative leverage—“not” doing something—is well and good. Promising to not swing your 16/16 <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kalonian Hydra" href="#" target="_blank">Kalonian Hydra</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> at someone will have some weight to it!</p>
<p>But positive leverage—giving something—is so much more effective. Think of how much leverage <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ms. Bumbleflower" href="#" target="_blank">Ms. Bumbleflower</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> gives by offering card draw to a blue player.</p>
<p>Suddenly, Group Hug goes from being an instrument of chaos to a bargaining chip. These are the Group Hug players who are the most dangerous. Because unlike their chaos gremlin siblings, they almost always have a plan.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Breaking Point"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kalonian Hydra"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ms. Bumbleflower"></div></div>
<p><strong><em>Positive or negative, leverage is always useful.</em></strong></p>
<h3>A Terrible Example</h3>
<p>A Group Hug player might have a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gor Muldrak, Amphinologist" href="#" target="_blank">Gor Muldrak, Amphinologist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> deck. Because they have protection from all the 4/3 Salamanders their opponents now control, their opponents focus on fighting one another.</p>
<p>If opponents attack them with non-Salamanders, they use their Salamanders as blockers. Once the Salamanders die, the Group Hug player has the fewest creatures and gets more Salamanders. Likely at a higher rate than everyone else through means such as <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Parallel Lives" href="#" target="_blank">Parallel Lives</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>The Group Hug player counters anything that would destroy their commander. They use their card draw from blue and mana from green to make their creatures stronger than anyone else's’.</p>
<p>Perhaps they have <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ezuri&#039;s Predation" href="#" target="_blank">Ezuri&#039;s Predation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kibo, Uktabi Prince" href="#" target="_blank">Kibo, Uktabi Prince</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to ensure they have some degree of offensive capability.</p>
<p>In short, they have a “functional” deck or some degree of win condition independent of relying on their opponents bludgeoning each other to zero life.</p>
<p>The rates of success on this vary, though, particularly given that reputations tend to be easy to acquire and hard to leave behind. And once you reveal yourself to be a schemer, no one will ever trust you again.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Gor Muldrak, Amphinologist"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ezuri&#039;s Predation"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kibo, Uktabi Prince"></div></div>
<p><strong><em>Sometimes, your deck needs a lil extra kick to it.</em></strong></p>
<h2>Synergies</h2>
<h3>Synergy With Blue</h3>
<p>Of course blue players would take “helping your friends” and make it evil. Though it is quite devious, so I give them some credit.</p>
<p>When looking at Group Hug commanders, a great deal of them have blue in some capacity. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kwain, Itinerant Meddler" href="#" target="_blank">Kwain, Itinerant Meddler</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a great example. On its face, Kwain is simply a helpful card that gives everyone more card-draw and life gain.</p>
<p>And then <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Heliod, the Radiant Dawn" href="#" target="_blank">Heliod, the Radiant Dawn</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> turns this cute and funny little rabbit into number #2 on the IRS Most Wanted List for tax evasion.</p>
<p>Not to mention, it is never a good idea to allow blue players to draw cards. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Minn, Wily Illusionist" href="#" target="_blank">Minn, Wily Illusionist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> aside, the sheer nonsense a blue player can wreak when allowed more than a single card in-hand is simply unacceptable.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="The Council of Four"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ian Malcolm, Chaotician"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Braids, Conjurer Adept"></div></div>
<p><strong><em>Blue players really know how to twist everything to their benefit, huh?</em></strong></p>
<h3>Synergy With Proliferate</h3>
<p>Did you know Proliferate affects any player or permanent with tokens that you choose? This means that if you have a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Atraxa, Praetors&#039; Voice" href="#" target="_blank">Atraxa, Praetors&#039; Voice</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> deck, you control whether or not the green players get to have fun. All those +1/+1 counters could be doubled—quadrupled—if only they do what you say.</p>
<p>And why would they turn on you? You are keeping their creatures afloat. They’ll save you for last, always. Yet with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ezuri, Stalker of Spheres" href="#" target="_blank">Ezuri, Stalker of Spheres</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, you drew enough cards to be able to respond to them with an <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Aetherize" href="#" target="_blank">Aetherize</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>Suddenly, they really need you to proliferate again… And then... you become indispensable.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Atraxa, Praetors&#039; Voice"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ezuri, Stalker of Spheres"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Aetherize"></div></div>
<p><strong><em>This is the definition of malicious compliance.</em></strong></p>
<h3>Synergy With Goading</h3>
<p>Goading creatures force pressure on your opponents while leaving you safe. However, commanders such as <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kros, Defense Contractor" href="#" target="_blank">Kros, Defense Contractor</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> leave the goaded creature with a shield token and a “go get ‘em, champ!” <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rendmaw, Creaking Nest" href="#" target="_blank">Rendmaw, Creaking Nest</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> spams the board with flying tokens who attack anyone but you.</p>
<p>In effect, these sorts of commanders do the heavy lifting of forcing everyone to fight one another without relying on the agreement of your opponents.</p>
<p>And, because you’re playing Group Hug and actively assisting your opponents strategies, they’ll see no reason to stop you. Let them fight, and they will take your gifts. You and the survivor will deal with the one-on-one when it comes to it.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Tribute to Horobi"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Varchild, Betrayer of Kjeldor"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kardur, Doomscourge"></div></div>
<p><strong><em>If you want to goad your opponent, simply give them more creatures to goad!</em></strong></p>
<h2>Word of Warning</h2>
<p>No one who plays Group Hug legitimately wants you to succeed. If they claim to, they are lying. Take them out swiftly and resist their temptations as you would an evil spirit.</p>
<p>If possible, flee like your life is on the line. The rest of your pod will distract them long enough for you to escape. Their sacrifice shall not be in vain, for you shall live a happy, hugless life.</p>
<p>Wait, that sounds so sad.</p>


Commander Unoptimized - Group Hugs

<h6 style="text-align: right;">(<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Merchant of the Vale|ELD|293" href="#" target="_blank">Merchant of the Vale</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://johnseverinbrassell.com/">John Severin Brassell</a>)</h6>
<h1>Roll Up! Monocolored Marvels For Sale!</h1>
<p>Greetings travelers! Welcome to my humble store of wares. A hall of baubles and trinkets to slot into your EDH decks. Go ahead, take your pick!</p>
<p>But there's a catch. These cards only reach their true potential when played in decks of just one color.</p>
<p>As this is <em>The Monolith</em>, the home for deck builders who reject gold borders and build their 99s with just a single colored commander at the helm. A monocolored paradise!</p>
<p>We've spoken on this column before about a collection of cards in <em>Magic: The Gathering</em> that <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/5-reasons-why-your-next-commander-deck-should-be-monocolored">reward you for keeping your color identity</a> strongly pigmented.</p>
<p>With that in mind, let's take a look at some of these gorgeous pieces I have in store for you today that'll kick your mono decks up a level and reward you for sticking to just one type of pip.</p>
<p>Later down the line we'll certainly visit some stores that cater to a certain color. But for now, these 7 cards will easily slot into any monocolored deck, regardless of the identity you select.</p>
<h2>1. War Room</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="War Room"></div></div>
<p>We're kicking things off with a utility land, and if I'm not mistaken, this is probably one of the only cards in existence that directly rewards you for having less colors in your commander's color identity.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="War Room" href="#" target="_blank">War Room</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a colorless land that enters untapped, and in a mono-colored deck where you're not worried about finding your pips?</p>
<p>Anything else is just free value. And this card will certainly give you some free value with its secondary ability that might a well read, "pay <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-3" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> and 1 life: draw a card".</p>
<p>There's quite a few situations, especially in the late game, where any player would happily swap three of their mana for another option off the top of their deck.</p>
<p>Sometimes you just need one more card and having War Room either sat in your land base and helping you out when you need, or stopping that land you drew at the start of your turn from ruining your day, will always be welcome.</p>
<p>In our mono decks where colorless lands don't hurt us very much and the land literally literally hurts us less for our devotion to one color? It's a must include.</p>
<h2>2. Throne of Eldraine</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Throne of Eldraine"></div></div>
<p>No, not the set! Although the set itself does have plenty of cards that reward mono building. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Throne of Eldraine" href="#" target="_blank">Throne of Eldraine</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is both a mana rock and card draw option that specifically asks you to stick with just one color.</p>
<p>The mana it makes can only cast monocolored spells and the card draw ability can only be activated with mana of the type you chose when it entered.</p>
<p>For gold bordered commanders, this card is probably more hassle than it's worth. But for us mono lovers? What a card it is.</p>
<p>First of all, the card might as well only cost one mana. It can immediately tap for four more mana of the color you're playing and the restriction will only stop you from playing something if it's colorless. That's a huge return on a mana rock.</p>
<p>Second of all, you thought three mana for one card was a good rate on your land? How about two cards instead for the same cost? Every single turn you don't tap it for mana!</p>
<h2>3. Heraldic Banner</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Heraldic Banner"></div></div>
<p>Sticking with mana rocks for a while, this rock with an upside costs the standard amount of <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-3" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> but actually gives you less bang for your buck as it can only tap for a mana of the color you choose when it enters unlike most three drop rocks that will generate any color.</p>
<p>Normally in mono decks you don't really need to pay extra for your rocks as you won't need their help mana fixing and can usually opt for the ones that only generate colorless for a cheaper rate.</p>
<p>Heraldic Banner, though, comes with an upside that becomes all the more powerful when combined with a mono deck.</p>
<p>When it enters and you select your color of choice to tap it for, you also allow it to pump up every creature you control with that color identity.</p>
<p>Unless you're playing a lot of colorless creatures in your deck, that's basically every single creature on your battlefield getting +1/+0 for the cost of just playing a mana rock. A no brainer!</p>
<h2>4. Nyx Lotus &amp; Nykthos Shrine</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Nyx Lotus"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx"></div></div>
<p>Alright, I'm lumping these two together as they're not only thematically linked, but also effectively do the same thing.</p>
<p>We've just had two from the plane of Eldraine that proves it's a great home for any decks that only play one color. But don't forget the equally devoted plane of Theros!</p>
<p>Both <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx" href="#" target="_blank">Nykthos</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Nyx Lotus" href="#" target="_blank">Nyx Lotus</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> tap for an amount of mana equal to your Devotion to one color.</p>
<p>Devotion is a <em>Theros</em>-centric mechanic that gives you rewards for each right colored mana pip on permanents you control. I.e. <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-r" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span><span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-r" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span><span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-r" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> provides three devotion to red.</p>
<p>In a mono deck that means the bigger your board state gets, the more mana these suckers will pump out. Nykthos comes with a cost but it's also attached to a land you can play for free and immediately activate, unlike the Lotus that comes in tapped. Combine either of these with repeatable effects that untap lands or artifacts though, and you could very easily go infinite!</p>
<h2>5. Extraplanar Lens</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Extraplanar Lens"></div></div>
<p>Grabbing a big chunk of mana for an already established board state is nice, but it doesn't do much when your board is empty and you're behind on the game.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Extraplanar Lens" href="#" target="_blank">Extraplanar Lens</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> provides a bonus instead to a part of your board that usually goes relatively untouched: your lands.</p>
<p>For just <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-3" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> and the cost of exiling a card from your hand, this gaudy monocle will double the output of every basic land in your deck.</p>
<p>Just exile Extraplanar Lens from your hand as it enters, and now all swamps on the battlefield tap for <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-b" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span><span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-b" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span>.</p>
<p>Now yes, I did say ALL swamps. That includes your opponents'. But if there's one thing we can punish our opponents with non-mono decks for, it's running way too many nonbasics to feed their multicolored habits.</p>
<p>You'll certainly be laughing as your mana base doubles and anyone else playing black with other colors sees their swamp free board missing out.</p>
<h2>6. Caged Sun</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Caged Sun"></div></div>
<p>Now whilst this artifact is double the price of our previous entry, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Caged Sun" href="#" target="_blank">Caged Sun</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> manages to provide the same effect, without benefiting your opponents, and so so so much more.</p>
<p>Not only is the effect of doubling your mana no longer symmetrical, you also don't have to exile a card from hand to activate its effects.</p>
<p>In fact, Caged Sun doesn't even care where your chosen color of mana comes from, it simply adds an additional mana to any land that produces that color. That means all your nonbasic monocolored lands will suddenly join the party as well.</p>
<p>And on top of all that? It provides a +1/+1 anthem to every creature you control that matches the color. What an all star mono card.</p>
<h2>7. Commander's Plate</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Commander&#039;s Plate"></div></div>
<p>Finally, we have a card that's likely on the watchlist for quite a lot of Commander players, regardless of what they're building.</p>
<p>It's another card that, whilst it has a generically good ability, gets stronger and stronger with fewer colors in your commander's mana cost.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Commander&#039;s Plate" href="#" target="_blank">Commander&#039;s Plate</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> that provides a really cheap way to give your leader a bonus whilst also providing them protection from any color not represented in their color identity.</p>
<p>I probably don't have to spell out why this is good in a mono deck for you. A one drop artifact that gives protection from every color you aren't playing, and +3/+3? Yeah that's not bad, is it?</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Swiftfoot Boots"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Lightning Greaves"></div></div>
<p>Protection can be a far better effect than the hexproof or shroud provided by staples like the two above, as it also provides your equipped creature (doesn't even have to be your commander!) the ability to ignore all damage from sources of those colors, and be unblockable by creatures of that color as well.</p>
<p>This will be a slam dunk in any monocolored deck that wants its commander to stick to the board, and if you end up in a game where none of your opponents are playing decks that match your one color, they're going to have a very hard time getting rid of them.</p>
<h2>What Cards Do You Run in All Your Monocolored Decks?</h2>
<p>Whilst I don't think there's enough cards in circulation that directly reward you for sticking to one color, and there should certainly be some more printed by Wizards of the Coast<em>, </em>I'm also sure that there's some out there I've missed.</p>
<p>Let me know in the comments below what cards you always run in your monocolored decks to give them some extra oomph.</p>
<p>I'll be back with more editions of <em>The Monolith</em> and we'll also be dipping into cards that shine in each of the monocolors as well, so let me know what colors you'd like to see represented first.</p>
<p>Most importantly though, get yourself a brand new monocolored commander deck, and tune in next week for more!</p>


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