I have to say I really love that Wizards of the Coast (WotC) makes some “bonus” Commander cards for each release that has companion Commander decks like Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty. Buckle Up is Azorius (U/W) and Upgrades Unleashed is Gruul (R/G), so there wouldn’t normally be any new-to-Commander cards for black without these bonus designs that you can open up in the Set and Collector Booster packs. WotC gave us a pretty cool goodie for black, Ruthless Technomancer, giving an additional boost to the Treasures strategies that have been plentiful of late.
Missing black from the available colors means that WotC couldn’t do something like revisiting the cycle of Myojin from the original Kamigawa block without taking up five rare slots in the base set for cards that clearly aren’t made for Standard but will really appeal to many Commander fans.
We also got a “Shrine lord” with all five colors in its color identity in Go-Shintai of Life’s Origin, which I wrote about a few weeks back.
But WotC wasn’t done with Commander fans there. White got a bonus card, Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful – a legendary Dog with partner!
This is a flavor home run—which other legendary card with partner wouldn’t want a trusty doggo as their ride or die? You can basically construct a Magic-themed John Wick approach to each Commander game and just dare someone to do anything villainous to the Good Dog!
Now, if you really want to leverage The Power of the Dog, you’ll want to have a strong legendary permanent presence in your deck. Luckily for us, there are no shortage of fantastic legendary cards that are quite good in the 99 of Commander decks, so let’s dig into some of them.
Legendary Creatures
I really like Taranika, Akroan Veteran alongside Yoshimaru, since it effectively gives our Dog +4/+4 and indestructible, letting us get much more aggressive than we otherwise might. Mikaeus, the Lunarch and Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit are legends that play nicely with +1/+1 strategies if we want to further develop that angle of the deck.
Cards like Sram, Senior Edificer and Ardenn, Intrepid Archaeologist are great ways to fully unlock the Equipment strategies that white supports so well, but if we don’t want to go in that direction, let’s not forget Kataki, War’s Wage, a powerful Treasure hoser that makes cheap mana rocks like Sol Ring and the various Signets much less effective as ramp.
Legendary Artifacts
There are plenty of legendary artifacts that we could add to the deck as well. Heroes’ Podium is a slam dunk for a legendary creature-heavy deck, and it happens to be legendary itself. The Ozolith plays great with +1/+1 counters and is also legendary. Mox Amber is a legendary artifact that can be cast the same turn as Yoshimaru to give you that white mana back immediately.
If you’re playing some ways to discount the equip cost, it might be fun to equip Dragon Throne of Tarkir after Yoshimaru has grown to considerable size, and let our Good Boy sit back on his throne and boost the team.
Legendary Enchantments
White has a few good legendary enchantments that we might consider for the deck, and if we’re playing some Aura synergies, I love the idea of enchanting Yoshimaru with On Serra’s Wings, which will effectively grant Yoshimaru a bonus two power and toughness and give him flying, vigilance, and lifelink.
Other Legendary Permanents
There are some awesome legendary lands we can add to the deck as well, including Hall of Heliod’s Generosity if we’re playing a bunch of enchantments or Inventors’ Fair if we’re playing a bunch of artifacts. Planeswalkers are also legendary, so we might consider putting a few of those in the deck. Several of the Ajani planeswalkers, like Ajani Steadfast, play well with +1/+1 counter synergies.
Kytheon, Hero of Akros is particularly nifty as a legendary creature when you cast it, but then when it transforms into Gideon, Battle-Forged it exiles first, so that means potentially two +1/+1 counter triggers for Yoshimaru.
Other Stuff
Since Yoshimaru is so cheap to cast even with a few instances of commander tax, chances are good that Yoshimaru will be on the battlefield most of the game, which ensures that cards like Flawless Maneuver and Akroma’s Will are at full potential. It also means that Commander’s Insignia is likely to be quite a boost for your team.
We might consider leaning into white’s ability to blink stuff with cards like Teleportation Circle and Semester’s End, temporarily exiling legendary cards and bringing them back to the battlefield to get more triggers for Yoshimaru.
Finding a Good Home
The original cycle of partner legends featured many cards that were at least a bit overpowered, and while all of them would certainly love to have puppy power in the command zone, since Yoshimaru is much more on par with the partner cards from Commander Legends, I thought I’d suggest four mono-color legends from that set and what cards might fit nicely in those two-color pairs.
Boros
If we want to get aggressive with Yoshimaru, why not go Boros and partner with Kediss, Emberclaw Familiar? If one opponent is vulnerable to attack, then all opponents are vulnerable to attack, so let’s win through the combat step!
Boros Legendary Creatures
The Boros color combination unlocks some incredible legendary creatures, including some hard-hitting Angels like Gisela, Blade of Goldnight and Aurelia, the Warleader. Zirda, the Dawnwaker does a nice job of discounting activated abilities, which is quite nice alongside Equipment cards. I really like Ilharg, the Raze-Boar if you have an evasive legendary creature in your hand, since it can keep providing extra +1/+1 counters for our pup.
Other Boros Legendaries
We should consider incredible legendary cards like Embercleave and Jeska, Thrice Reborn to potentially unlock commander damage as a win condition.
Boros Shenanigans
The Boros combination opens up some sweet elements you can add to your deck. High on that list is Sunforger, an incredibly powerful Equipment. I also really like the new card Lizard Blades to give Yoshimaru double strike, which can allow him to hit super-hard. And of course, Jeska’s Will can likely count on one of our two cheap commanders to be on the battlefield and unlock both sides of this powerful sorcery.
Orzhov
On the other side of the spectrum, we could choose to pair up with Tevesh Szat, Doom of Fools and a slower deck that’s looking to grind value. In particular, we could just hold Yoshimaru until after we cast Tevesh Szat and cash our pupper in for the +1 ability to let us draw a whopping three cards since he’s a commander. I know John Wick would be horrified by this approach, but black isn’t a friendly color!
Orzhov Legendary Creatures
If we’re going to be sacrificing creatures for value, Orzhov offers up a lot of great legendary creatures that are all about playing that game, like Athreos, God of Passage and Elenda, the Dusk Rose. Liesa, Forgotten Archangel on the battlefield will let you retrieve a sacrificed Yoshimaru from the graveyard during your end step to offer up to Tevesh Szat on your following turn.
Other Orzhov Legendaries
Orzhov unlocks some other good legendary permanents to fill out the deck. The Chain Veil is incredible in any deck with a planeswalker commander and can help unlock Tevesh Szat’s ultimate ability quickly. Wand of Orcus is a legendary Equipment that works just fine outside of Zombie decks, especially if your attacker has significant power when it deals combat damage to a player.
Orzhov Shenanigans
On our list of legendary permanents we can pair up with Yoshimaru above, I listed Eye of Vecna and Hand of Vecna, and if we go Orzhov, we can get the trifecta with The Book of Vile Darkness and live the dream of creating Vecna, a legendary 8/8 black Zombie God creature token with indestructible and all the triggered abilities of the exiled cards… and also get one more +1/+1 counter on Yoshimaru!
Selesnya
If you want to be aggressive but Boros isn’t your speed, then how about Selesnya with Kamahl, Heart of Krosa? Sure, it’ll take some time to get to eight mana to cast Kamahl, but green offers plenty of mana ramp options to get there ahead of curve. In the meantime, you can go wide with tokens, or lean into +1/+1 counter strategies and build up several threats with counters; both approaches will benefit from Kamahl’s beginning of combat trigger.
Selesnya Legendary Creatures
Selesnya unlocks some potent legendary creatures to trigger Yoshimaru. Yasharn, Implacable Earth is another Treasure hoser and can shut down popular Aristocrats strategies. If you’re mostly creatures with few expensive noncreature spells, you can pull in Gaddock Teeg. I really like Drizzt Do’Urden here, since it makes two legendary bodies and gives two Yoshimaru triggers.
Other Selesnya Legendaries
If you want to lean into planeswalker support, Oath of Ajani is a nice legendary enchantment that can support a go-wide strategy. I really like Bow of Nylea for attacking decks, giving your team deathtouch. There are some oddball legendary artifacts that might be fun to pepper in here too, like Esika’s Chariot and Instrument of the Bards.
Selesnya Shenanigans
Selesnya unlocks tons of great +1/+1 counter support with cards like Hardened Scales and Branching Evolution. If you’re fortunate enough to have a Doubling Season, Yoshimaru will thank you!
Azorius
If a slower controlling strategy is more your speed, you can pair up Yoshimaru with Esior, Wardwing Familiar. Esior’s ward ability means that you can slowly build up Yoshimaru as a threat and make it tough for your opponent to interact with your Dog beatstick.
Azorius Legendary Creatures
There are a ton of great legendary creatures available for Azorius! Yorion, Sky Nomad can potentially blink a ton of nonland legendary permanents and give Yoshimaru a bunch of triggers. Raff Capashen giving historic cards flash is going to be crazy potent when you don’t want to let your shields down with a counterspell. Sakashima of the Thousand Faces can copy Yoshimaru if you want a backup Good Boy, or copy Esior to increase the ward ability.
Other Azorius Legendaries
Bident of Thassa, Search for Azcanta, and Shorikai, Genesis Engine are awesome legendary permanents that provide lots of card draw power to keep your hand full with plenty of gas.
Azorius Shenanigans
Don’t forget that adding blue to your colors means you can really push deep into blink shenanigans outside Yorion, with cards like Soulherder and Mistmeadow Witch. Imposter Mech is already a pretty sweet card for blue decks, but I like it copying a powerful commander controlled by an opponent, and you can reset it periodically with your blink shenanigans.
So, what do you think of Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful? Which partner are you looking to pair him up with?
Talk to Me
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And lastly, I just want to say: let us love each other and stay healthy and happy.
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