It is official. Hell has frozen over. I have built a blue Commander deck, and a good one to boot! Outlaws of Thunder Junction has presented us a handful of familiar faces, but I was really only interested in one: Fblthp, Lost on the Range.
After a recent trip to MagicCon: Chicago, I fell in love with the character. I don’t know what it was. Maybe it was the plushie deck box, or the pin of him eating a hot dog, but I knew I had to build around him. I never felt that urge when I saw his card in War of the Spark, so seeing this variation with an interesting new mechanic was exciting. But how exactly does one brew a mono-blue plot Commander deck?
The List
Creatures (13)
- 1 Ornithopter
- 1 Phyrexian Walker
- 1 Mulldrifter
- 1 Memnite
- 1 Spellskite
- 1 Thassa, God of the Sea
- 1 Artificer's Assistant
- 1 Sai, Master Thopterist
- 1 Fblthp, the Lost
- 1 Emry, Lurker of the Loch
- 1 The Reality Chip
- 1 Kappa Cannoneer
- 1 Forensic Gadgeteer
Planeswalkers (1)
Lands (30)
Spells (55)
- 1 Sensei's Divining Top
- 1 Brainstorm
- 1 Mana Drain
- 1 Counterspell
- 1 Mystical Tutor
- 1 Force of Will
- 1 Propaganda
- 1 Sol Ring
- 1 Fellwar Stone
- 1 Windfall
- 1 Serum Visions
- 1 Brain Freeze
- 1 Mind's Desire
- 1 Merchant Scroll
- 1 Frantic Search
- 1 Fabricate
- 1 Arcane Denial
- 1 High Tide
- 1 Wayfarer's Bauble
- 1 Zuran Orb
- 1 Snap
- 1 Opt
- 1 Spellbook
- 1 Lotus Petal
- 1 Welding Jar
- 1 Paradise Mantle
- 1 Mishra's Bauble
- 1 Pongify
- 1 Ponder
- 1 Bone Saw
- 1 Spidersilk Net
- 1 Everflowing Chalice
- 1 Preordain
- 1 Mox Opal
- 1 Accorder's Shield
- 1 Gitaxian Probe
- 1 Kite Shield
- 1 Rapid Hybridization
- 1 Reality Shift
- 1 Thought Vessel
- 1 Cathar's Shield
- 1 Aetherflux Reservoir
- 1 Mox Amber
- 1 Narset's Reversal
- 1 Mirrodin Besieged
- 1 Mystic Forge
- 1 Arcane Signet
- 1 Witching Well
- 1 Fierce Guardianship
- 1 See the Truth
- 1 Resculpt
- 1 Rise and Shine
- 1 Stone of Erech
- 1 Surge of Brilliance
- 1 Cyber Conversion
The Good Things in Life Are Free
When you take a look at my list, you see a lot of zero-cost spells. In fact, there are seventeen of them in total. These spells range from insanely good to downright awful. The majority of them have no use other than to be free spells. See, Fblthp says that you can plot nonland cards from the top of your library with their plot cost being equal to their mana cost. If you want to plot an Arcane Signet, you have to pay two mana. If you want to plot an Ornithopter, you pay zero. This deck wants to plot as many free and cheap spells as possible so you can pop off with one of your win conditions.
This isn’t to say that some of these free spells have no use outside of plot. Lotus Petal, Mox Amber, Mox Opal, and Everflowing Chalice are all here to provide you mana (my list only runs 30 lands), so you need all the help that you can get. Even the cheaper spells become free later after they are plotted. You can’t deny the value of a Sol Ring, Sensei’s Divining Top, Wayfarer’s Bauble, Arcane Signet, Fellwar Stone, or Thought Vessel.
Even with such a low-cost deck, you want ramp, and these spells do just that. Welding Jar protects one of your win conditions, Zuran Orb serves as an “oh crap” button when you need life, Stone of Erech serves as graveyard hate, and Witching Well helps stack your deck for Fblthp to plot. While all of these cheap pieces seem random, they are anything but. Well, except the Shields package, of course.
One, Two, Three… Draw!
Once you finish looking past the hodgepodge pile of free spells, you then start to notice the many cantrip spells. Card advantage is key in a deck like this. You want your options as quick and as cheap as possible. Whether cast from your hand or from your plot of exile, you don’t want to spend a lot of mana digging around for your fuel or your win condition.
This deck runs the usual suspects: Brainstorm, Gitaxian Probe, Ponder, Preordain, Serum Visions, Opt. You name it, if it’s cheap and draws you cards (or even scries), it’s in here. However, there are some potent draw spells in here that divert from the norm. See the Truth, when cast from your plot, gets you three cards. Frantic Search essentially is free, as it untaps three of your lands after you draw and discard.
However, my favorite card draw spell in this deck has to be Surge of Brilliance. Originally hailing from a Doctor Who Commander precon, this spell draws you cards for each spell cast this turn from anywhere other than your hand. With so many cards plotted, this can give you a full grip and then some. Granted, it’s never been hard for a blue deck to draw cards, but drawing cards for (essentially) free is rather intoxicating.
We Have a Winner!
So….how does the deck win? Well, thankfully there are a number of win conditions in this deck. The main two are storming off and Aetherflux Reservoir. The others are what I like to call panic buttons. They aren’t primary goals for this deck, but if my main win conditions are countered, interrupted, or destroyed, they are nice backup plans.
When it comes to storm, this deck has two options: Mind’s Desire and Brain Freeze. Cards in your plot can be cast for free on a later turn and as a sorcery, meaning each triggers storm. Dumping your entire plot and then storming off was the original plan. Mind’s Desire gets me free and often terrifying stuff, whereas Brain Freeze has my opponents mill. If you’re worried about not finding them through chance, Merchant Scroll and Mystical Tutor help ease things along. Since this deck has such a low curve, it is very easy to fill up your plot early on with tons and tons of spells.
But, let’s just say you don’t have access to storm. What then? This is where Aetherflux Reservoir comes in. In a similar vein to storm, the more spells you cast in a single turn, the more value you get. Simply dump your plot, gain an insane amount of life, and then laser anyone you want. Fabricate is the only tutor in this deck for this particular win condition, but more often than not, you find that it wiggles its way to the top of your library sooner rather than later. Is it elegant? Lasering people rarely is, but it’s fun to accomplish and gets the job done.
The Backup Plans
So what about the backups? Well, you might notice that this deck has a lot of artifact synergies. This is where the backup win conditions live.
Mirrodin Besieged is a bit of an easy one. It has an alternate win condition baked into it if you choose Phyrexian and have fifteen or more artifacts in your graveyard. Simply stay alive long enough for your end step to trigger and make someone lose the game. If you choose Mirran, it makes bodies which can trigger other things in this deck.
Sai, Master Thopterist and Forensic Gadgeteer also generate artifact tokens. Some are Clues, others creatures, but they pump out value, which is all that matters. This leads us into our first big “oh crap” button: Kappa Cannoneer. Whether it’s because of cheap plotted artifacts or the triggered tokens made from Sai, Besieged, or Gadgeteer, Kappa gets lethal and unblockable really quickly. It has saved my skin many times.
Finally, we have Rise and Shine. This is the last backup plan, and it too relies on your artifacts. Whether it’s your Clue tokens from the Gadgeteer or your weird random assortment of zero-cost Shields, this spell turns seemingly useless artifacts into an army of 4/4’s. I won’t lie, I’ve cackled maniacally once or twice while singing at someone with a 4/4 Bone Saw. It’s ridiculous and I absolutely love it.
Howdy, Plotner
I am the furthest thing from a blue player. I hate counterspells and I hate being patient. No, I’m a red player at heart. I’m impulsive and like to deal damage, so color me surprised when I found myself loving my brew and enjoying the way my deck pilots. Who would’ve thought? Even my friends were surprised, but anything is possible If you slap a cute little guy onto the art of a potent commander. While I am far from a cEDH expert, I see some potential in this little dude. He feels strong and reactive, and I would really love to see someone’s take on that.
What are your thoughts on my first real blue deck? Did I do a good job? Is running Force of Will too much? Can I look in the mirror and accept the monster I’ve become? Let me know! Happy plotting, deckbuilders.
