Sierra, Nuka's Biggest FanSierra, Nuka's Biggest Fan | Illustrated by Anna Podedworna

If you've played the game Fallout 4, specifically the Nuka-World DLC, you might be familiar with a long series of "fetch quests" to find a specific "cipher" that unlocks the secrets of Nuka Cola's founder. If you've never played this game, or this DLC, this is all gibberish to you. No matter your connection to Fallout 4 or its aforementioned quests, today we are brewing around a character that no one expected to appear in Magic: The Gathering: Sierra, Nuka's Biggest FanSierra, Nuka's Biggest Fan.

Sierra is a strange choice to design a legendary creature around, as she only appears during that short questline in the Fallout 4 DLC, and she's not particularly memorable. Sure, it's interesting to see a "normal person" in the wasteland, but she doesn't bring a lot to the story. My opinions on Sierra's character aside, her card design is very intriguing.

According to EDHREC, there are only 56 decks in mono-white that are focused on the proliferate theme, and this commander gives the perfect opportunity to explore this relatively uncharted territory. Sierra also leans a little bit into the artifact and token spaces, but we're focusing specifically on proliferating to get the most out of her "sneaky damage" trigger.

Category #1: Evasive Attackers

Sierra's trigger lets us pump a creature equal to amount of quest counters on her, and that means we need as many evasive creatures as possible. Here are some of my favorites:

• Shrike ForceShrike Force has flying, double strike, and vigilance, so when we pump it, it's going to hit hard.

• Soltari Foot SoldierSoltari Foot Soldier is a one-mana creature that has shadow, and, last I checked, not many people run cards with shadow these days, so it's practically unblockable.

• Healer's HawkHealer's Hawk is a one-mana flying creature that can gain us a ton of life the longer Sierra stays onboard.

• GingerbruteGingerbrute can give itself "unblockable by non-haste creatures", and that makes it a great target to pump.

• Combat CalligrapherCombat Calligrapher benefits our opponents for attacking each other and grants free additional flyers when we attack. Win-win!

Category #2: Proliferate Engines

Our deck is focused around proliferating as many quest counters as we can, so we have several "enhancers" to help us do that.

Our first enhancer is a newcomer from Edge of Eternities Commander: Patrolling PeacemakerPatrolling Peacemaker. This is arguably the best card in the deck, as our opponents will be committing crimes more often than you think. It's not unlikely that this card could proliferate upwards of four times in a turn cycle.

Our second enhancer comes from a Universe Beyond: Battle for Baldur's Gate. Lae'zel, Vlaakith's ChampionLae'zel, Vlaakith's Champion essentially doubles each time we proliferate, and that can get out of hand pretty quickly.

Metastatic EvangelMetastatic Evangel is our third enhancer. This card is crazy: a creature enters under our control, we proliferate. It needs to be nontoken, but that doesn't tone it down too much.

Our last two enhancers are cards that do similar things: Filigree VectorFiligree Vector and Throne of GethThrone of Geth. Filigree VectorFiligree Vector puts counters on anything as it enters, and, like Throne of GethThrone of Geth, lets us sacrifice an artifact to proliferate. This is a great card with our commander because when we deal combat damage to someone, we create a Food token and get a quest counter that we can later proliferate.

Category #3: Protection

Sierra is very much a "glass cannon", in that if she gets removed, we have to start from 0. With this in mind, I included some cards that can make it hurt a little less when she is inevitably removed.

The first two cards in this category are similar: The OzolithThe Ozolith and Resourceful DefenseResourceful Defense. The OzolithThe Ozolith lets us store Sierra's quest counters on it when she dies, so we don't need to start completely over. Resourceful DefenseResourceful Defense is a little different in that we move those counters to something else but can then move them back at a later time for five mana.

The next card in this category is card that is often overlooked: Together ForeverTogether Forever. It enters and gives out two +1/+1 counters which isn't much, but it fuels its second ability: allowing us to return a creature with any counters on it to our hand when it dies. Sierra will have quest counters no matter what, so this gives us the opportunity to avoid commander tax if we have one open mana.

The last card is Damning VerdictDamning Verdict. This card is "protection" because Sierra will always have counters, and we have plenty of ways to give counters to our other creatures. If we have counters on everything, this is a one-sided board wipe.

Category #4: The "Secret Spice"

This deck's "secret spice" will allow us to knock out opponents out of nowhere. Allow me to explain:

• Aetheric AmplifierAetheric Amplifier is a newer card that can act as a mana rock on early turns, then double Sierra's quest counters in the late game to deliver a knock-out punch.

• Arcbound Ravager and Krark-Clan Ironworks are ways to sacrifice our food tokens en masse, often generating a lethal attacker after blockers are declared. Just land one of these cards, go to combat, wait for declare blockers, and before damage pump the unblocked creature as much as you need to deliver a lethal blow.

Closing Thoughts

I hope you enjoyed exploring an underplayed Fallout commander with me! While her character in the game is pretty lackluster, her commander can be pretty interesting if built around properly. Check out my decklist below!