Commander Deck Tech: Yuna, Hope of Spira

Commander players got some incredible new cards from Final Fantasy, including new commanders and everything else you can put in your 99-card deck.

In this article, we'll show you a new option for Selesnya enchantments: Yuna, Hope of Spira!

Yuna is a playable character in Final Fantasy X. She is a responsible, gentle summoner who starts her journey by embarking on a pilgrimage to expel Sin, Spira's Punishment.

In Magic: The Gathering, Yuna is a powerful legendary creature that, only on your turn, has and gives to your enchantment creatures powerful keywords like trample, lifelink, and ward 2.

Furthermore, at the beginning of your end step, Yuna returns up to one enchantment creature from your graveyard to the board with a finality counter.

Final Fantasy also brought us creatures that are enchantments and Sagas on the same side (you can see more about it here). As the commander is a summoner in the games, we added the coolest Summons in these colors so you can feel as if you're summoning these creatures as Yuna does in Final Fantasy.

Our main list is:

Ramp and Similar

Let's start with the core of every deck: creating mana. As this list plays green, it can play spells that put extra lands on our board or that make our creatures create mana.

Such as:

As you must have noticed, this list plays many enchantments. And, as Yuna is a resource in the command zone for that type of card, we want to get the most out of them in every slot possible. So, with this deck, you don't need to be scared of casting Mirari's Wake, Enduring Vitality, Karametra, God of Harvests, or Overlord of the Hauntwoods.

Keep one thing in mind: if you don't exile it, everything that goes around comes around.

Besides these powerful cards, this list plays a few classic mana rocks, like Arcane Signet, Selesnya Signet, Sol Ring, and Talisman of Unity, besides Avacyn's Pilgrim and Sanctum Weaver. They're creatures and create mana, so they'll be very helpful.

Herald of the Pantheon and Jukai Naturalist discount the cost of your enchantment spells, so, with them, you won't waste any mana.

Card Draw

The more mana you have, the more permanents you'll cast. Eventually, you'll empty your hand.

Yuna does a lot, but she doesn't draw cards. So, we added some interesting card draw:

I'd like to highlight Sythis, Harvest's Hand, a powerful creature that also gives you life.

Thanks to your Summons, Greater Good is one of the most powerful cards in this list!

And this is why: at the beginning of the turn, when the last Summon ability triggers and it dies, you'll have the priority, so you can sacrifice it to Greater Good before it leaves play. Its triggered ability will already be on the stack and resolve, all while you take advantage of a creature that was already going to die to draw cards.

I'd also like to highlight Shamanic Revelation because many Summons and other enchantments in this list create creature tokens that will then dominate your board and threaten your opponents.

Tokens

Tokens are not part of the main strategy, but all the cards that interact with them are very valuable.

Let's start with the ones that create creature tokens:

Out of these, Archon of Sun's Grace and Sigil of the Empty Throne deserve a shoutout. Their effects create flying tokens that will be useful both defensively and offensively.

We also play a few cards that copy enchantments:

Yenna, Redtooth Regent and Calix, Guided by Fate are also incredibly strong legendaries. If your goal is a deck in a higher bracket, they can be even more interesting than Yuna as the commander.

With them, you'll copy one of the enchantments you control, but the copy won't be a legendary. Ondu Spiritdancer's effect is the same, but only when your enchantments enter play.

Moving Counters

When a permanent with a finality counter goes into the graveyard, it is exiled instantly. So, you must play some sort of way to remove these counters from important enchantments.

Garnet, Princess of Alexandria only interacts with lore counters, but we'll still get a lot from our Sagas with it. As for Power Conduit, it can move counters of any kind, including finality counters, to another permanent (like a token, for instance).

Buffs

Yuna buffs your creatures a lot on your turn. So, we built this deck quite aggro. Your enchantments will give you a lot of life with unexpected, giant attacks.

We added All That Glitters, Ethereal Armor, and Strength of the Harvest to buff Yuna and help you kill opponents with commander damage, but you can use them on any other relevant permanents.

Archetype of Endurance is a buff but also protection that always works (even in your opponents' turns). It also interacts with all your creatures.

Our alternative list doesn't play Summons. Instead, it focuses on the most powerful and fearsome enchantments in Commander. In it, you'll find interactions like the Solemnity / Nine Lives combo.

Besides the combo above (by the way, the only reason we didn't add Solemnity to our main list is because we also added a few cards that give +1/+1 counters to our creatures), this list also plays stronger enchantments, like Authority of the Consuls, Aura Shards, Aura of Silence, Greater Auramancy, Smothering Tithe, and Solitary Confinement.

So, you'll have a little bit more control and certainly disrupt your opponents.

The creatures are similar to the main list, but we also added Overlord of the Mistmoors, Eidolon of Blossoms, and Arasta of the Endless Web.

Yuna, Hope of Spira is a great Selesnya commander for enchantment decks. In this color combination, there are many options that can make the game more fun and dynamic. You'll both interact with your board and your opponents'.

Unlike other enchantment decks, Yuna doesn't need to be in a control deck and supports aggro strategies with impactful attacks really well. Your creatures will trample your opponents and give you more life all at the same time.

She might not be the best commander for beginners because she only buffs your creatures on your turn, and this could be complicated if you have just started playing. But she's certainly a fun, different option to build.

What do you think? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!

Magic: The Gathering is just one way to enjoy strategy and tabletop fun. If you’re interested in exploring different types of games beyond trading cards, check out our guide on baseball board games for a fresh take on competitive and casual play.