The Destined WarriorThe Destined Warrior | Art by David Rapoza

In true Final Fantasy fashion, the set released in June was not the final installment. As part of a holiday promotion, Wizards of the Coast is releasing a set of Scene Boxes tied to four of the games that didn’t get preconstructed decks.

Final Fantasy I includes an Esper commander, The Destined WarriorThe Destined Warrior, which is tied to the party mechanic. I happen to have bought the Orzhov Party Time deck and, while I enjoy it, felt it needed a little something.

I started out with the base precon list and tweaked it, looking to install some Final Fantasy flavor as well as look for a few fun cards from the Azorius party draft archetype from Zendikar Rising, the set that originated the mechanic.

Let’s dig in.

What Does The Destined WarriorThe Destined Warrior Do?

Let’s break the commander’s abilities down. She’s a four-mana 3/3 with first strike, vigilance, and menace, which is a decent stat line. After that, we get a cost reduction of for Clerics, Rogues, Warriors, and Wizards, which are, of course, the four creature types in the party batch.

Finally, she pumps the team for +1/+0 at the start of our combat, unless we have a full party, then it’s a full +3/+0.

The idea here is to get a full party and crunch in. The +3/+0 reminded me of Jor Kadeen, the PrevailerJor Kadeen, the Prevailer, one of my first Commander decks. That deck wanted to lean on a lot of artifacts and tokens, but this one doesn’t really point us towards either.

The party reward does mean looking at Burakos, Party LeaderBurakos, Party Leader and Linvala, Shield of Sea GateLinvala, Shield of Sea Gate for rough first passes as well, although they obviously have their own separate synergies to keep in mind.

This is a synergy-driven midrange deck. By caring about party, this isn’t just a normal typal deck - this is an all-in creature deck. If we get a rough go and fail to draw one of the four, then a lot of our rewards get that much worse. The deck will be relying on those creatures to generate value in the early game, then use the +3 power to win combats and smash face.

Let’s dive in to the card picks!

Key Cards for The Destined WarriorThe Destined Warrior

When working on the deck, I had to consider a few key items beyond the creature type. Mana value was a major item: The Destined WarriorThe Destined Warrior is four mana and reduces costs by . I’ll want to leave pressure off the four-mana spot due to that overlap. The mana cost reduction is more effective on the lower end – 2-3 mana.

Finally, a consideration for creature types: This party deck has a Warrior in the command zone, so fewer Warriors than any other category (but not none).

That being said, the deck needs disruption. The worst thing that can happen is committing four specific cards to the board just to get them wiped. Spot removal can be annoying, but a Wrath of GodWrath of God is devastating.

To that end, creatures that can make the team indestructible or counter a spell will be necessary. Some of these will serve other purposes, but board wipe defense is always at the top of the mind.

Indestructibility for the team is great on defense but also works insanely well on offense, so cards like Frontline MedicFrontline Medic or Unbreakable FormationUnbreakable Formation are valuable for that purpose (even if the latter can be a defensive play on occasion).

• Selfless SpiritSelfless Spirit
• Linvala, Shield of Sea GateLinvala, Shield of Sea Gate
• Glen Elendra ArchmageGlen Elendra Archmage
• Ertai ResurrectedErtai Resurrected

This deck has a low mana curve, averaging at 3.12, and it wants to play out quickly. The peril in that is running out of gas. Burst draw like a Spoils of AdventureSpoils of Adventure is good but not always reliable – this deck wants ways to draw turn after turn.

To that end, the deck has 16 ways to draw one or more cards each turn (with one or two of them being looting rather than just drawing, depending on if The Destined ThiefThe Destined Thief has a full party).

A fun inclusion here is Estinien VarlineauEstinien Varlineau - the changelings in the deck can also draw cards off of his trigger. Proper shout-out to Elegy AcolyteElegy Acolyte as a mono-black Tymna the WeaverTymna the Weaver that incidentally makes tokens. The Robots don’t contribute to the party, but they can carry a +3/+0 just as well. (P.S., Alphinaud LeveilleurAlphinaud Leveilleur and the partner pair Alisaie LeveilleurAlisaie Leveilleur tutor for each other, ensuring you’ll still have a Wizard if one of them dies.)

• Elegy AcolyteElegy Acolyte
• Faerie MastermindFaerie Mastermind
• Tocasia's WelcomeTocasia's Welcome
• Alphinaud LeveilleurAlphinaud Leveilleur

So there’s the value train assembled, but we need ways to make sure we have a full party for most of the game. Ratios and card draw won’t always luck out – it needs a little help.

Changelings are obviously a big help, like Changeling OutcastChangeling Outcast, but there aren’t many that are worth sleeving up. There’s an argument for Irregular CohortIrregular Cohort or GraveshifterGraveshifter, but I couldn’t make myself keep them in the list.

Adding blue gives us Unsettled MarinerUnsettled Mariner, and that’s… it. Better ways to pull this off are cards that have one party subtype and make a token of a different type, or ways to get different creatures from our graveyard.

These cards also represent the top of our curve, and justifiably so.

• Smirking SpelljackerSmirking Spelljacker
• Angel of IndemnityAngel of Indemnity
• Solemn DoomguideSolemn Doomguide
• Shadow PuppeteersShadow Puppeteers

Finally: payoffs. This is a weird deck, what with its mix of creature types. Focusing on one creature type means a deck gets more specific rewards, but this one has four, so Kindred DiscoveryKindred Discovery and its ilk won’t do it much good.

Thankfully, there are some real humdingers for when the deck runs out a Cleric, Rogue, Warrior, and Wizard. Nalia de'ArniseNalia de'Arnise and Squad CommanderSquad Commander both make combat even harder to handle for the opponents, while Coveted PrizeCoveted Prize becomes an unrestricted Bring to LightBring to Light. (Even two members in your party make that last card a better Grim TutorGrim Tutor!)

The scaling party cards can be worth it even when the deck is still building up, with its removal suite of Deadly AllianceDeadly Alliance and friends. The only board wipe in the deck is Stick TogetherStick Together, which will invariably leave your side of the battlefield mostly untouched.

• Journey to OblivionJourney to Oblivion
• Nimble TrapfinderNimble Trapfinder
• The Destined Black MageThe Destined Black Mage
• Multiclass BaldricMulticlass Baldric

Speaking of party payoffs, I want to note one weird exclusion. I took out Seasoned DungeoneerSeasoned Dungeoneer despite it being a clearly powerful card, for one reason: initiative. The initiative is a solidly fun mechanic, but it can be a headache to track since it’s not guaranteed to be only yours for the rest of the game.

Imoen, Mystic TricksterImoen, Mystic Trickster and Rilsa Rael, KingpinRilsa Rael, Kingpin are other keep-outs under this policy, but if your playgroup is fine with the mechanic, slot them in. The only thing close to that which I kept was Midnight PathlighterMidnight Pathlighter, justified due to the evasion and how much simpler a regular dungeon was.

With the map drawn and that shadow outlined, let’s look at the game plan.

How Does The Destined WarriorThe Destined Warrior Win?

Much like any dungeon crawler, it wins with a well-tuned party backed up by proper spell usage. The early game will see the deck play out a few value engines to ensure it doesn’t stall out in the midgame, maybe take some early shots.

The commander’s cost reduction will make it feel like you should play it turn four and head for the races, but don’t get too hasty (we’re not playing red here after all). The mana reduction with the deck’s low curve means The Destined WarriorThe Destined Warrior can get out an army fast. That’s saved for the mid-game.

After a few turns have gone by and the deck is drawing extra cards, the commander can drop in. If there’s mana to spare, one more creature to try to complete the party. That can set up for the bigger combats, while making sure to hold onto interaction. Don’t just play out Smirking SpelljackerSmirking Spelljacker to complete the party; save it for value where possible.

This deck really wants to have a protection spell or a few creatures in hand to set up a new party before genuinely completing the first. Board wipes are hard to come back from, but there’s enough flexibility to the deck that it’s far from hopeless. A handy Thwart the GraveThwart the Grave with even two creatures on the field will feel great.

From there, it’s a careful measure of the red zone. You’ll want to be the beatdown, but it’s a careful resource management game at work with this deck. There’s no flooding the board with tokens and hoping for the best; nearly every creature will be a full card that can be lost to an unprotected Day of JudgmentDay of Judgment.

So long as you manage the inventory and don’t let your MP get low, combat will stay under your control.

The Destined Warrior Commander Deck List

Conclusion

Despite the one tutor, this deck solidly ranks at Bracket 2 (Core) with its commitment to the party theme. Cards like Concerted DefenseConcerted Defense could be easily powered up with a swap to something like An Offer You Can't RefuseAn Offer You Can't Refuse, but what’s the fun in that?

This is a fun little value deck that really wants to assemble a quirky party for red zone shenanigans, and what could be more fun than lining up Mother of RunesMother of Runes, Faerie MastermindFaerie Mastermind, Mindblade RenderMindblade Render, and Ertai ResurrectedErtai Resurrected or some other crazy combination for an alpha strike?

I compared my decklist to the original Party Time just to see how many changes one might make to upgrade the list. Turns out to have resulted in a 44 card swap, with more details available here. The comparison tool is an incredibly useful part of Archidekt for projects like that. I enjoyed this particular process of rebuilding a precon into a new deck with a slight color change.

What do you think? Would you start from scratch while building a commander like this, or would you enjoy tearing apart an old precon that’s been collecting dust for some new life?

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