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<h6 style="text-align: right;">(<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lunar Insight" href="#" target="_blank">Lunar Insight</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>|Art by <a href="https://danscottart.com/">Dan Murayama Scott</a>)</h6>
<h1>Once In a Blue Moon...</h1>
<p>Ever ask yourself, where did all the monocolored commander decks go? Welcome, all you five color good stuff pile creators to your inevitable intervention.</p>
<p>This is <em>The Monolith</em>: a brand new series here on EDHREC in which I, your host, will be espousing the values of building Commander decks with just one color.</p>
<p>Of your collection of assembled commanders, how many of them are laced in gold or split color borders? It's okay, you can tell me. This is a safe space.</p>
<p>Did you know that out of <a href="https://edhrec.com/commanders">the top 100 most played commanders</a> registered on EDHREC, only 10 of them are monocolored? I also have a sneaking suspicion that the top 3 most played monocolored commanders are only there because they represent said color's most popular creature type. I'll let you be the judge of that:</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Krenko, Mob Boss"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Giada, Font of Hope"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="K&#039;rrik, Son of Yawgmoth"></div></div>
<p>So monocolored decks aren't as trendy as their technicolor pals. Who cares right? More colors, more fun, more power and all that. Well no, I think you should care actually - I certainly do.</p>
<p>One of the founding principles of this game we call <em>Magic</em> is that genre defining, seminal mechanic of the color pie.</p>
<p>The five conflicting ideals of how mana weaves through the planes of <em>Magic's </em>world that define the abilities, philosophies, and purpose of every card ever printed for the game.</p>
<p>The colors of mana give an identity to everything we do with our decks on the table. Every removal type and keyword, carefully assigned among the five.</p>
<p>And whilst there's plenty of joy to be had in mixing those paints together and seeing the pretty pigments they can create, the more shades you add to the mix the more of the original color's identity you lose. Speaking of losing things...</p>
<h2>The Light Strays from Monocolored Decks</h2>
<p>There's a slightly irritating trend I've noticed in modern legendary creature design that worries me. You'll crack a pack from a new set or scroll through some spoilers online and happen upon a creature that seems custom built to lead your 99.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rosheen, Roaring Prophet"></div></div>
<p>We probably all notice them on instinct at this point, the legendary with the hyper specific ability that doesn't seem to fit with any of the deck archetypes of the set.</p>
<p>And, hey, we all know Commander is the most popular format in the game. They're going to print cards for it, that's not the problem.</p>
<p>The problem, for me, lies in the rules text of the monocolored legendaries. Off-color mana symbols, sneaking themselves onto a nicely designed box of mechanics and flavor to pull that commander into a Ravnican guild, or even worse, a triple color identity. I'm looking at you <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wick, the Whorled Mind" href="#" target="_blank">Wick</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>Even in <em>Foundations Jumpstart</em>, a set entirely comprised of booster packs containing pre-built, monocolored half decks, did they sneak in activated abilities with hybrid mana costs to allow for multicolored deck building in commander.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Plagon, Lord of the Beach"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Aphelia, Viper Whisperer"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Hurska Sweet-Tooth"></div></div>
<h2>What's Wrong With One?</h2>
<p>It begs the question, what's wrong with a monocolored deck?</p>
<p>Are they not powerful enough? Well, there's no greater judge of power than Commander's more sweaty and competitive cousin, cEDH.</p>
<p>A format in which players try to build the most busted and fast decks possible to completely blow their opponents out of the water. If monocolor decks don't deliver in high performance situations then we can maybe mark that as a point against them.</p>
<p>But that's not really the case! In fact, you'll see a fair few mono decks appear among the upper echelons of the format. Some even topping the tier lists with creatures like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Magda, Brazen Outlaw" href="#" target="_blank">Magda, Brazen Outlaw</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="K&#039;rrik, Son of Yawgmoth" href="#" target="_blank">K&#039;rrik, Son of Yawgmoth</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>Mono-red and mono-black commanders respectively, are widely considered to be some of the most powerful in the game.</p>
<p>Now there's still a similar problem of course, with decks of multiple colors still far more prevalent in the format. And there's certainly plenty of advantages you can give yourself by adding multiple slices of the color pie to your deck, I won't deny that.</p>
<p>But the point I'm making is that you won't be hamstringing yourself by only picking one. There's plenty of commanders out there that will put the fear of Godo into your table when you place them into the command zone - without needing another color for help (if that's your goal that is).</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Godo, Bandit Warlord"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Baral, Chief of Compliance"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Birgi, God of Storytelling"></div></div>
<h2>Sins of the Father</h2>
<p>The lean away from single identity decks might even be a chicken and egg problem at his point. Do Wizards of the Coast lean towards printing multicolored commanders because they know that's what the players want?</p>
<p>Or has the rapid decline in legendary creatures bearing only one identity convinced the masses that no one plays those kinds of decks anymore?</p>
<p>Here's some homework for you. Go have a look at every Commander precon released in the last few years and tell me how long it takes before you see one with less than two mana symbols on the box.</p>
<p>You may be scrolling for a while. Even longer if you don't count colorless decks, and even longer still if you avoid Universes Beyond.</p>
<p>Back in 2014 when Commander precons were just a novelty rather than the most profitable part of every release, we saw a full cycle of monocolored pre-built decks for sale - each fronted by one of the iconic planeswalkers of <em>Magic's </em>world. And since then? Are you still scrolling?</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Teferi, Temporal Archmage"></div></div>
<h2>The Problem With Outside Influence</h2>
<p>With Commander starting as a fan made format and reaching the heights of the most popular play style in the game, I'm sure Wizards of the Coast find themselves in a tricky spot for balancing.</p>
<p>Originally, adding another color to a creature's casting cost would make it more difficult to include in your deck.</p>
<p>If you're playing blue and you really like the look of a spell that seems like a perfect include for your strategy but the casting cost is Azorious (<span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-wu" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span>), suddenly you need to add the ability to generate white mana into your deck just for this one spell (colloquially known as splashing).</p>
<p>In a regular 60 card format where a deck can contain anything you want, that ends up being a restriction you've now imposed on yourself when you choose to include the card. Your mana base becomes less efficient as you stretch to include multicolored lands.</p>
<p>You also put yourself in a situation where you could be holding a dead card at some point in the game. Draw it when you're out of white mana? Or even worse, you didn't find any of your dual lands that would have produced it? It's not getting used!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Progenitus"></div></div>
<h3>The Rules Have Changed</h3>
<p>In Commander we have a strange inversion of that restriction. By adding a second color pip to a card, if it's a legendary creature, you now empower Commander players to use an entirely new suite of cards when building their deck.</p>
<p>So is a second color in your casting cost a drawback or a boon in modern <em>Magic</em>? It's tough to say, even more so for a card designer.</p>
<p>That's why those hybrid mana symbols appear in the Jumpstart commanders. If they were gold creatures there's a very high chance they would be uncastable for the player that cracked them.</p>
<p>Each half deck only comes with one mana source that can make any colour. But by giving them an activated ability that can use either their base color OR a color of mana that will only ever be relevant for building a Commander deck with them, Wizards gets to have their cake and eat it too. Creativity or cowardice? You decide.</p>
<p><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/norin-meme.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-144101" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/norin-meme-300x219.jpg" alt="A meme made from the card art of Norin, Swift Survivalist by Yigit Koroglu. Norin, labled as, 'Wizards of the coast' runs from a menacing silhouette labeled, 'me, screaming about hybrid mana symbols'" width="416" height="304" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/norin-meme-300x219.jpg 300w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/norin-meme.jpg 626w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 416px) 100vw, 416px" /></a></p>
<h6 style="text-align: center;">(<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Norin, Swift Survivalist" href="#" target="_blank">Norin, Swift Survivalist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>|Art by <a href="https://www.artstation.com/yigitkoroglu">Yigit Koroglu</a>)</h6>
<h2>Mono Blondes Have More Fun</h2>
<p>So maybe the problem is simply that monocolored decks just aren't that fun to play with? Maybe multi decks have a better time? Well if there's anything I'm seeking to prove with The Monolith, it's that this statement simply isn't true.</p>
<p>In fact in my next article for EDHREC I'll be explaining exactly why I think you might have a much better time when building with just one colour.</p>
<p>Restriction breeds creativity and one of the core experiences that's fun about Commander is one of its very first rules. Your deck only gets to contain the colors printed on your legendary creature. And one is plenty.</p>
<p>Think of all the most famous deck archetypes that players have flocked to with every <em>Magic</em> set ever released. Mono-white Aggro. Mono-red Burn. Mono-green Stompy.</p>
<p>These are truly the fundamentals of the game. Some of the most fun you can have with a stack of cardboard. There's also a lot of fun you can have by bending colors out of shape.</p>
<p>Going against type. Trying to fit a deck archetype into a color that doesn't normally support it like a red Enchantress deck or a blue Aristocrats.</p>
<h2>What Can I Do About It?</h2>
<p>The world is your oyster. Even more so in our beloved EDH where player expression is paramount. But the reason I've gotten up on this soap box is to convince you, if you aren't already converted, that mono is a beautiful way of life.</p>
<p>It's a tricky deck builder's dream. A harken back to our favorite game's roots. And most importantly, it's incredibly fun to play.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Aclazotz, Deepest Betrayal"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Arahbo, the First Fang"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Arni Metalbrow"></div></div>
<p>In the face of this over-saturated scourge the answer is to build more mono decks! To strip down your favorite archetypes to the color that suits them best! To embrace the basic mountain!</p>
<p>If you're tired of the prismatic playthings we're handed in precons. If you want to reject modernity and embrace tradition. Then follow me into the monochrome breach and let's build some white, blue, black, red, and green decks together. But never a mix of the above.</p>
<p>This is <em>The Monolith</em>, and here we build mono decks. If you want to join me on this journey, I'll be here every week (or close enough). Giving you recommendations, explaining my love for the monochrome, and inviting you in on this journey.</p>
<p>So, regardless if you were whipped up into a frenzy by my words or you just enjoyed my raving ramblings, I'll see you next week on The Monolith.</p>


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<h6 style="text-align: right;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Marchesa, Dealer of Death" href="#" target="_blank">Marchesa, Dealer of Death</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | art by <a href="https://www.ryanpancoast.com/">Ryan Pancoast</a></h6>
<p>Welcome back to <em>Bottom of the Barrel</em>! This is a series where we pick a theme from EDHREC and look at the “bottom of the barrel.” This means that we look at the least played color-combination and pick a commander in those colors to brew a spicy new deck around!</p>
<p data-slot-rendered-content="true">Today's theme is one that came up pretty organically for me, as I've been trying to brew around the old legend, Ramses Overdark, <em>forever.</em></p>
<p data-slot-rendered-content="true"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ramses Overdark"></div></div></p>
<p data-slot-rendered-content="true">Ramses is <em>not</em> our commander today, but we <em>are</em> building a deck heavily inspired by the old guy. For that reason, today's theme is: Auras. Auras is extremely popular in decks that have white in their color identity, as white is the primary enchantment support color. This is what made old Ramses so intriguing to me; he was an Aura focused commander <em>not using white. </em></p>
<p data-slot-rendered-content="true">Thus brings me to the stats: with 176 decks on EDHREC, the Grixis color combination (Red, Black, and Blue) was one of the lowest built color combos for Auras (the lowest overall being Jund (red, green, and black) at 42 decks). I brewed around Jund at first, but I couldn't stop thinking about old Ramses.</p>
<p data-slot-rendered-content="true">On EDHREC, only 5 Aura-based lists are focused around Machesa, Dealer of Death, so that seemed like the perfect option!</p>
<p data-slot-rendered-content="true"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Marchesa, Dealer of Death"></div></div></p>
<p data-slot-rendered-content="true">Marchesa is great for 2 reasons:</p>
<ol>
<li data-slot-rendered-content="true">We're leaning into Ramses Overdark's want of enchanting our <em>opponents' </em>creatures, so our entire gameplan is built around "committing crimes".</li>
<li data-slot-rendered-content="true">She provides terrific card selection when we run out of steam. (There's only 1 "enchantress" effect in Grixis colors, you know!)</li>
</ol>
<p>Enchanting our opponents' creatures comes at a cost, but that leads us into our first category...</p>
<h2>Category #1: Goad/Incentivizing Combat</h2>
<p>I know the goad mechanic isn't for everyone, but this style of deck <em>thrives</em> off of it. Why enchant our opponents' creatures if they're just going to attack <em>us</em> with them? Luckily for us, there are a few Auras that goad the creature its attached to.</p>
<p>Shiny Impetus can help us ramp; Ghoulish Impetus is an underrated Aura that can keep recurring itself throughout the game (unless the creature is exiled); Parasitic Impetus can help us drain an opponent who may have a high life total; The Sound of Drums turns an opponent's threat into twice the problem ; and the new Incriminating Impetus gives a creature menace while taking away its ability to block.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Shiny Impetus"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ghoulish Impetus"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Parasitic Impetus"></div></div>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="The Sound of Drums"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Incriminating Impetus"></div></div>
<p>Outside of Auras that goad our opponents' creatures, there are other ways that we can incentivize combat. Karazikar, the Eye Tyrant draws us cards when our opponents attack each other; Vengeful Ancestor goads creatures and deals damage when goaded creatures attack; and Bothersome Quasit goads creatures whenever we cast noncreature spells, which is great considering Auras are noncreature spells!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Karazikar, the Eye Tyrant"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Vengeful Ancestor"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bothersome Quasit"></div></div>
<h2>Category #2: Protecting Ourselves</h2>
<p>We can't always guarantee we won't be attacked, so we need to have ways that ensure opponents have a hard time attacking us. Baleful Strix is a great blocker that comes down early and draws us a card; Giggling Skitterspike deals damage to our opponents whenever it blocks or is targeted; Brash Taunter is arguably the best blocker ever printed; Backfire redirects any damage dealt to us to the enchanted creature's controller; Propaganda forces opponents to use mana to attack us; and Ragged Veins deals damage to an opponent if their enchanted creature becomes blocked.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Baleful Strix"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Giggling Skitterspike"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Brash Taunter"></div></div>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Backfire"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Propaganda"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ragged Veins"></div></div>
<h2>Category #3- "Borrowing" Threats</h2>
<p>Forcing our opponents' threats to attack is fun, but we need a way to <em>win</em>, eventually. This is where our "borrowing" category is the most important. Cards like: Corrupted Conscience can KO someone out of nowhere; Fealty to the Realm is not a "hard steal" spell, so hopefully people won't be too mad about their creature being borrowed; Willbreaker is a little more mean, but it can finish the game; Fool's Demise is a repeatable way to gain control of creatures; Abduction temporarily "borrows" a creature; and Virtue of Persistence can act as an endgame reanimation haymaker.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Corrupted Conscience"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Fealty to the Realm"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Willbreaker"></div></div>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Fool&#039;s Demise"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Abduction"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Virtue of Persistence"></div></div>
<h2>Category #4- Secret Spice</h2>
<p>As always, we have our "secret spice" for the deck, and to no one's surprise it comes in the form of the old man himself, Ramses Overdark. Ramses is an amazing way to ensure that the creatures we enchant never become too much of a threat <em>to us. </em></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ramses Overdark"></div></div>
<p>Aside from Ramses, there's another "secret commander" of the deck that we can load up with Auras and pass around the table to sow chaos: Alexios, Deimos of Kosmos.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Alexios, Deimos of Kosmos"></div></div>
<p>Alexios is very similar to Slicer, Hired Muscle, but, in my opinion, is a bit stronger. Giving it trample <em>and</em> making it bigger every single turn is hugely effective, even without a single Aura attached to it.</p>
<h2>Closing Thoughts</h2>
<p>Overall, this deck started as a thought-experiment/love letter to Ramses Overdark, and turned into a very political and interactive deck. I know this kind of deck is not for everyone, but for those that love to be a "political puppet-master", this is the perfect thing to build!</p>
<p data-slot-rendered-content="true">This brings us to the end of our fourth edition of <em>Bottom of the Barrel</em>! I hope you enjoyed exploring a lesser-played color-combination in the world of Auras!</p>
<p>Check out my decklist below!</p>
<p><em><strong>An important note about budget:</strong> I found that if you have a budget-friendly mana base, this deck can be extremely cheap to build effectively. Most of the Auras have either been reprinted into oblivion, or are just forgotten commons from older sets. Ramses is a little on the expensive side, so if you wanted to run the deck without him, that is doable, I just couldn't bring myself to cut the old guy.</em></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Bottom of the Barrel - Marchesa, Dealer of Death" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Marchesa, Dealer of Death
[/Commander]
[Enchantments]
*1 Abduction
*1 Amphibian Downpour
*1 Animate Dead
*1 Backfire
*1 Betrayal
*1 Binding Agony
*1 Captivating Glance
*1 Corrupted Conscience
*1 Curse of Opulence
*1 Dead Man&#039;s Chest
*1 Draconic Destiny
*1 Estrid&#039;s Invocation
*1 Fall from Favor
*1 Fealty to the Realm
*1 Followed Footsteps
*1 Fool&#039;s Demise
*1 Frenzied Fugue
*1 Ghoulish Impetus
*1 Grievous Wound
*1 Imprisoned in the Moon
*1 Incriminating Impetus
*1 Leyline of Anticipation
*1 Nurgle&#039;s Rot
*1 Parasitic Impetus
*1 Propaganda
*1 Psychic Impetus
*1 Public Enemy
*1 Ragged Veins
*1 Shiny Impetus
*1 Sleeper&#039;s Robe
*1 Sticky Fingers
*1 The Sound of Drums
*1 Vampiric Link
*1 Virtue of Persistence // Locthwain Scorn
[/Enchantments]
[Creatures]
*1 Alexios, Deimos of Kosmos
*1 Baleful Strix
*1 Bothersome Quasit
*1 Brash Taunter
*1 Entity Tracker
*1 Fiendish Duo
*1 Giggling Skitterspike
*1 Karazikar, the Eye Tyrant
*1 Keen Duelist
*1 Life of the Party
*1 Nettling Nuisance
*1 Protean Thaumaturge
*1 Ramses Overdark
*1 Rassilon, the War President
*1 The Rani
*1 Vengeful Ancestor
*1 Willbreaker
[/Creatures]
[Artifacts]
*1 Arcane Signet
*1 Crystal Chimes
*1 Cursed Mirror
*1 Helm of the Gods
*1 Midnight Clock
*1 Mind Stone
*1 Misleading Signpost
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Talisman of Creativity
*1 Talisman of Dominance
*1 Talisman of Indulgence
[/Artifacts]
[Sorceries]
*1 Disrupt Decorum
*1 Spectacular Showdown
[/Sorceries]
[Lands]
*1 Arcane Lighthouse
*1 Blood Crypt
*1 Bojuka Bog
*1 Command Tower
*1 Detection Tower
*1 Dragonskull Summit
*1 Drowned Catacomb
*5 Island
*1 Luxury Suite
*1 Maestros Theater
*1 Maze of Ith
*1 Morphic Pool
*3 Mountain
*1 Myriad Landscape
*1 Raucous Theater
*1 Roadside Reliquary
*1 Shivan Reef
*1 Steam Vents
*1 Sulfur Falls
*1 Sulfurous Springs
*3 Swamp
*1 Thundering Falls
*1 Training Center
*1 Undercity Sewers
*1 Underground River
*1 Watery Grave
*1 Xander&#039;s Lounge
[/Lands]"></span></div>


Bottom of the Barrel - Marchesa, Dealer of Death

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