5 Decklists to start in Commander

Magic: The Gathering is a game that dates back to the early 90's. Starting in eternal formats, those that include a large part of the released cards, doesn't always seem like an easy task.

One of the best ways to get started in the hobby is to use preconstructed decks. Another option is custom creation, which can be much more affordable. To help in this journey, in this article we will present 5 lists with different strategies, one for each color, for those who want to take their first steps in Commander.

All lists follow the following premises:

1. They were built on a very low budget, on the date of this writing, disregarding the Commander's costs.

2. They present linear strategies, focused on a theme.

3. They are monocolored color.

4. They run only basic lands.

5. They prioritize fair play.

Mono White Flyers

The strategy is pretty simple: play small flying creatures quickly and cast buffs, amplifiers, for a series of direct attacks while maintaining defenses with angels and removals.

Sephara, Sky's Blade is the ideal commander for this white color strategy, as her ability protects all of our flying creatures, gains life, and has an alternative cost based on our creatures. Sublime Archangel and Aegis Angel are among our main creatures, as the former grants exalted to all our little creatures, granting immense power to the commander.

Aegis Angel, by granting indestructible to Sephara, Sky's Blade, makes our commander equivalent to a small Avacyn, Angel of Hope.

Upgrades

Aiming at optimization, it is possible to reduce the number of creatures with costs greater than 2 and replace with more small creatures to be able to play the commander in the first turns.

To complement our strategy, good additions are some equipment that allows additional draws such as Tome of Legends, Rogue's Gloves and Mask of Memory, another interesting artifact in monocolored decks is Endless Atlas.

It would also add more forms of protection for our commander like Swiftfoot Boots, Apostle's Blessing, Emerge Unscathed and board protections, Eerie Interlude, Cosmic Intervention and Selfless Spirit.

Sweepers would be selective type at a higher budget: Slash the Ranks, Cataclysm and Divine Reckoning. Among the enchantments, Luminarch Ascension, Court of Grace and Duelist's Heritage.

Mono Blue Spellslinger

A strategy based on instant and sorcery spells with many disruptions and replacement cards, developing in-game value from triggered abilities.

Deekah, Fractal Theorist was named commander for her Spellcraft ability, which creates a fractal token with each instant or sorcery spell played, extracting double value from each interaction. Quickly creating an army of creatures advancing on opponents.

Our highlights among the 99 are Jalira, Master Polymorphist which works as a powerful creature, exchanging smaller tokens for threats, and Archmage Emeritus which doesn't allow us to lose our breath when using our spells.

Upgrades

Some creatures like Octavia, Living Thesis, Curiosity Crafter and Dazzling Sphinx have strong synergies with the commander. We could extend the versatility of our spells by adding cards like Spectral Deluge, Dig Through Time, Blue Sun's Zenith, Spell Swindle, Sublime Epiphany and Insidious Will.

Doubling the value of our spells is always interesting: Twinning Staff, Mirari and Rod of Absorption are excellent options. Cards that enhance our draws are always welcome, and Teferi's Ageless Insight, Kumena's Awakening and Heightened Awareness are excellent options.

Mono Black Aristocrats

Our strategy is based on the "Aristocrats" archetype, which seeks to accumulate benefits by sacrificing its own creatures, especially low-cost creatures and tokens. Generates strong synergies when added to creatures capable of returning from the graveyard.

Isareth the Awakener is a commander that whenever she attacks, we can reanimate one of our creatures and thus take advantage of resources and generate an advantage, especially when combined with creatures capable of removing counters, circumventing its only weakness.

Undoubtedly, Fain, the Broker generates immense value in this deck by transforming corpse tokens into treasures, allowing the creatures are revived multiple times and generating extra mana.

Upgrades

One of the best ways to extend the advantage of ETBs is to trigger their abilities over and over again, and Panharmonicon, Minion Reflector, Strionic Resonator are viable options for doubling these effects. Increasing the number of chips using cards like Liliana, Death's Majesty, Open the Graves, Blight Mound and Ghoulish Procession are interesting.

An important point is the commander's evasion and protection, for that Prowler's Helm, Trailblazer's Boots, Demonic Embrace, Swiftfoot Boots and Blessing of Leeches are good acquisitions.

Mono Red Aggro

Red's strategy is aggressive and very interactive, based on a set of creatures and spells to create pressure on opponents, reducing health points and setting the pace of the game.

Torbran, Thane of Red Fell is the perfect commander for our strategy because his presence on the battlefield potentiates all damage dealt by our red sources, generating a significant amount of damage in all interactions, in addition to setting a clock for the end of the game. Tilonalli's Summoner is an underestimated creature and when generating a growing wave of tokens it receives the attention it deserves from opponents, after all, next to our commander, each token deals 3 damage — an amount worth of some respect.

Upgrades

It would add more aggression to our red base with explosive creatures Goblin Rabblemaster, Legion Warboss, Goblin Traprunner, Paragon of Fierce Defiance and Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin.

I would opt for more damage amplifiers like Embermaw Hellion and Akki Lavarunner that added to our commander are devastating. For our commander, Whispersilk Cloak and Swiftfoot Boots are more protection. Caged Sun and Gauntlet of Power are powerful additions to any monocolored deck.

Mono Green Stompy

Green's strategy is to use its abundance of mana and the ferocity of its powerful creatures to trample its opponents. Its fast opening allows it to play strong spells in the first few turns, putting pressure on opponents.

Surrak, the Hunt Caller is a brutal hunter and his ability to lead beasts grants haste to our creatures if we have a total power greater than or equal to eight on the field, a simple task in a green-colored deck. Each green creature in Stompy corresponds to a threat, and Bellowing Tanglewurm grants evasion to all green creatures, which ends the game quickly — especially an ally of End-Raze Forerunners or similar.

Upgrades

Seeking more explosive entries Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma, Nylea, Keen-Eyed, Vivien, Champion of the Wilds are excellent contributions. Trample is a necessity depending on the table we play and Aggressive Mammoth, Thunderfoot Baloth, Garruk's Uprising and Ulvenwald Oddity are a powerful pack of additions.

Playing additional creatures grants a significant advantage, Apex Devastator, See the Unwritten helps in this regard. I really appreciate the enchantments and spells for Stompy, such as Sight of the Scalelords, Aspect of Hydra, Soul's Majesty, Rishkar's Expertise and Zendikar Resurgent.

Deck building is one of the most fun and challenging aspects of Magic. There are many formulas and recipes. However, Commander considers personal and social factors in its lists.

We can have decks with the most diverse motivations, as seen in article. The practice of netdecking should serve as a guide, and not be considered an irrefutable truth, therefore, use tools from deck consultation always is recommended. Follow our guides and others articles.

Thanks for reading and good games!

Any questions, I'm available in the comments!