I came to the shop that night to try out a new format. Instead, I was about to have to break up a fight.

The guy playing Jhoira of the Ghitu was standing on his side of the table. He had jumped up so quickly that his glasses had fallen off, and his chair had gone flying across the room. He was breathing heavily, his hands were balled up into fists, and he was glaring angrily at the kid in the seat next to me.

“Why the HELL did you do that?!?!?” 

The kid next to me leaned back…and smiled.

This is supposed to be fun?

Humble Beginnings…

I wasn’t really exposed to the Commander format so much as I was nearly run over and killed by it. My first few games had it all; premier Commanders running premier strategies, mass land destruction, one-shot kills, rage-quitting…all the big hits. It’s really a miracle I stuck it out at all.

These days, it’s the only format I play.

I was introduced to Commander around the release of Planar Chaos. At the time, I actually didn’t own a collection. I had retired from playing Vintage and Legacy a year or so before and just played in Prereleases at that point. In order to keep myself honest and cover costs, I’d play events all day and sell all of the product I opened or won.

I was free of the dreaded Cardboard Addiction┢, and I wasn’t getting sucked back in.

And we all know how well that works, right?

(Okay…to be fair, when I got out of Vintage and Legacy that particular time, it was the third time I had “quit” playing Magic. Ignorance is bliss.)

Anyway, my friends clued me in to this new format. They were hooked and were already building second and third decks at the time, and I only needed to sit in on a single game with a borrowed deck to be bitten by the bug. I quickly began to piece together my first deck based around Intet, the Dreamer. (Mind’s Desire was great in Vintage, so free cards had to be good, right?)

.  .  .  .  .

I looked again at the table. Rafiq of the Many was sitting tapped with Shield of the Oversoul stacked carefully underneath it. He was pushed forward in the direction of the Jhoira player. Most of these cards were new to me at that point; I had to lean in a little to read a card called Finest Hour.

The kid in the chair now was now nearly mocking the other player. He pointed across the table

“Really? What do you have suspended over there, huh?”

I looked over. Jhoira sat dead center, next to a pile of basic lands. Off to the side, almost next to the guy’s playmate, sat an Obliterate; the six-sided die sitting on top was set to two. Next to that was a Darksteel Colossus with a die on top set to three.

“I suppose that’s totally innocent?”

He sat back and grinned again.

I started looking for the available exits.

Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely

Fast-forward to a few sets later. Between rounds at the Shards of Alara Prerelease, I pulled out my trusty Intet deck and shuffled up to see how well it could handle my friend Patrick’s new Reaper King “tribal Scarecrow” concoction.

Keep in mind that this was back in the good old days when both Tolarian Academy and Metalworker were still legal. When both pop up in an opening hand, Reaper King does anything it wants. You’re only along for the ride.

That night, I hit the drawing board, and Sharuum the Hegemon was born.

(Disclaimer — I know you guys are here for the lists and tech, not to listen to some old guy tell you his life story. The following list is pretty close to the original one, optimized within the current card pool and Banned List. If you want to know what it looked like back then, there was a little less Kuldotha Forgemaster, Phyrexian Metamorph, and Mirrorworks and a little more Metalworker, Staff of Domination, and Tolarian Academy.)

Sharuum the Hegemon

Cassidy McAuliffe

Test deck on 06-03-2012

Commander

Creatures (17)

• 1 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Karn, Silver Golem
• 1 Sundering Titan
• 1 Memnarch
• 1 Duplicant
• 1 Trinket Mage
• 1 Disciple of the Vault
• 1 Copper Gnomes
• 1 Scarecrone
• 1 Sanctum Gargoyle
• 1 Etherium Sculptor
• 1 Sharuum the Hegemon
• 1 Master Transmuter
• 1 Magister Sphinx
• 1 Glassdust Hulk
• 1 Kuldotha Forgemaster
• 1 Phyrexian Metamorph

Planeswalkers (1)

• 1 Tezzeret the Seeker

Lands (35)

• 1 Strip Mine
• 1 Plains
• 1 Reflecting Pool
• 1 Volrath's Stronghold
• 1 Swamp
• 1 Island
• 1 Underground Sea
• 1 Tundra
• 1 Scrubland
• 1 Ancient Tomb
• 1 Polluted Delta
• 1 Flooded Strand
• 1 Temple of the False God
• 1 Phyrexian Tower
• 1 Vault of Whispers
• 1 Seat of the Synod
• 1 Ancient Den
• 1 High Market
• 1 Miren, the Moaning Well
• 1 Watery Grave
• 1 Godless Shrine
• 1 Hallowed Fountain
• 1 Academy Ruins
• 1 Terramorphic Expanse
• 1 Vesuva
• 1 Tolaria West
• 1 Vivid Creek
• 1 Vivid Marsh
• 1 Vivid Meadow
• 1 Arcane Sanctum
• 1 Marsh Flats
• 1 Bojuka Bog
• 1 Halimar Depths
• 1 Evolving Wilds
• 1 Command Tower

Spells (47)

• 1 Sensei's Divining Top
• 1 Nevinyrral's Disk
• 1 Vampiric Tutor
• 1 Enlightened Tutor
• 1 Grim Monolith
• 1 Jester's Cap
• 1 Mana Vault
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Demonic Tutor
• 1 Transmute Artifact
• 1 Power Artifact
• 1 Mana Crypt
• 1 Windfall
• 1 Intuition
• 1 Darksteel Ingot
• 1 Timetwister
• 1 Entomb
• 1 Careful Study
• 1 Darksteel Forge
• 1 Crucible of Worlds
• 1 Memory Jar
• 1 Frantic Search
• 1 Thirst for Knowledge
• 1 Sculpting Steel
• 1 Oblivion Stone
• 1 Mindslaver
• 1 Gilded Lotus
• 1 Goblin Cannon
• 1 Artificer's Intuition
• 1 Crystal Shard
• 1 Aether Spellbomb
• 1 Tawnos's Coffin
• 1 Voltaic Key
• 1 Thran Dynamo
• 1 Rhystic Study
• 1 Vindicate
• 1 Fact or Fiction
• 1 Lion's Eye Diamond
• 1 Lotus Bloom
• 1 Bitter Ordeal
• 1 Austere Command
• 1 Rings of Brighthearth
• 1 Dispeller's Capsule
• 1 Executioner's Capsule
• 1 Mox Opal
• 1 Nihil Spellbomb
• 1 Mirrorworks

.  .  .  .  .

The Jhoira player started swearing his head off. He angrily grabbed the rest of his library and tossed it violently into an open backpack.

“We’ve only been playing for ten damn minutes! Thanks for ruining the night… I hope you’re happy.” 

I realized I was both within swinging distance of the bag and right in the line of fire. I slid my chair back a bit.

The Rafiq player, however, didn’t miss a beat.

“Yup.”   

He smiled.

“Totally fine with that.”

The grin grew wider. He crossed his arms defiantly and leaned back in his chair.

Reaching down, the Jhoira player picked up his glasses and shoved them back on.

Seeing the Forest for the Trees

For those of you that know me already or read my blog… I sincerely thank the both of you.

Seriously, though—the above list should be setting off warning bells. Over the past few weeks of filling in here on “Dear Azami,” I haven’t exactly been shy about my Commander-specific moral compass; bluntly put, I don’t do combo.

I’m sure this last part raises questions.

“That’s nothing but a hard combo list.”

Absolutely. That is true.

“You hate hard combo.”

Yes again. Two for two.

“That looks about as fun to play against as watching paint dry.”

Right! We reach the heart of the issue.

Sharuum was my ‘flagship’ deck for the better part of a year or two. I did all the usual things Commander players do with their favorite decks: foiled it out fully, slept with it under my pillow, inquired about state and local marriage laws to see if we could legally be wed. I was prepared to spare no expense on my beautiful Esper concoction.

I slowly noticed that my friends grew to hate the deck with a passion. (Actually, I’m pretty sure it was even part of the reason one of them quit playing anything but Limited.) Sharuum was absolutely a powerhouse; it won a lot, and it bored everyone to absolute tears…myself included before too long. It didn’t take many fourth turn Disciple of the Vault / Sculpting Steel combo kills to realize that Commander was far more interesting to play when, you know, you were actually playing.

As a result, my lovely Sphinx saw daylight less and less. After she languished in the bottom of a deckbox for eight months without a single play, I sadly disassembled the deck permanently.

I was moving on to…well, smaller and less-potent things. And it started to feel good to go.

.  .  .  .  .

The guy tossed the straps of his backpack over his shoulder and stalked toward the door of the store. He kicked at another chair on his way out.

The kid called out after him, barely containing his laughter.

“Play another one after this?”

This is crazy, I thought. I should go back to playing Standard. It seems WAY safer.

The door slammed shut. The kid next to me laughed out loud.

That was the last time I ever saw the Jhoira player in the shop.

Finding My Place in the Sun

I’m a deck brewer first and foremost. This is primarily because I have a tendency to play well casually but lock up under serious competitive pressure and punt games like I get paid to do it. In fact, the last time I actually managed to win a tournament Fallen Empires had just come out. I won the die roll in the final round and played out a first turn god-hand of Black Lotus, Channel, Mountain, and Fireball.

The poor kid on the other side of the table was playing a deck involving a few Shivan Dragons and a Mana Flare. He looked very confused.

“Do I get to go now?”    

Terrible, right? I think I might have even kicked a puppy on the way out the door.

I’m happy to report that I’ve managed to find my conscience since then. Now, it’s all about the journey and not the destination. I want to be up to my elbows in every game of Commander I sit down to play; I’ve come to understand that playing the game is far more fun than shuffling and cutting decks over and over in ten-minute intervals, even if I’m not the one winning.

At the time I took apart Sharuum, this was a concept I was just beginning to understand. I did know it felt so much better to enjoy a two-hour slugfest than it did Mindslavering someone each turn with Academy Ruins recursion until they died of boredom, so I ran with that. I started applying the new direction I was headed to my deckbuilding…and I went absolutely nuts building new decks. Hazezon Tamar. Arcum Dagsson. Mayael the Anima. Progenitus. Kuon, Ogre Ascendant. Kaalia of the Vast. Radiant, Archangel. I went literally through dozens of generals; some lasted only a few games, and others are still with me now.

They’ve all helped me in some way to learn that what I really want above all is interaction.

I want to focus on playing cards that push the game state forward. I tend to steer clear of cards like Ghostly Prison and Lodestone Golem that force other players to draw a card, shrug, and pass the turn. I prefer going on the offense with Balefire Dragon or Flinging a berserked Kresh the Bloodbraided at another player. I love Blatant Thievery and Wheel of Fortune. I’m sacrificing Woodfall Primus to High Market to destroy Privileged Position and Propaganda. I want to overextend into Wrath of God. I want things to keep moving.

I steer clear of cards like Decree of Annihilation and Myojin of Night’s Reach that force people to discard their entire hands or lose all of their lands. I don’t play infinite combos either; if I wanted to goldfish my deck, after all, I could have just stayed home. (I prefer the stocked refrigerator and lax dress code, and if I fall asleep on the couch, no one is writing on me with a marker. Well, except for possibly my son.)

I also like off-the-wall choices for both commanders and strategies. Before I leave you for the week, I thought I’d share a list I’ve been slowly working on based around Sisters of Stone Death. The Sisters tend to be overlooked due to high casting cost, but they pack a ton of power with the built-in ability to dodge combat, exile creatures, and Reanimate things. I decided to focus overall on a light reanimation package that runs a heavy removal suite to supplement the graveyards I’ll be picking from; it also expects to take a bit of a beating and the draw engines tend to suck up a good deal of life, so there’s a reasonable amount of life gain included to offset that as well.

To keep it really interesting, I decided to make it entirely creatureless.

Sisters of Stone Death

Cassidy McAuliffe

Test deck on 06-03-2012

Commander

Creatures (1)

• 1 Sisters of Stone Death

Lands (37)

• 1 Strip Mine
• 7 Forest
• 1 Cabal Coffers
• 6 Swamp
• 1 Bayou
• 1 Slippery Karst
• 1 Polluted Mire
• 1 Shizo, Death's Storehouse
• 1 Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers
• 1 Temple of the False God
• 1 Yavimaya Hollow
• 1 Tranquil Thicket
• 1 Barren Moor
• 1 High Market
• 1 Miren, the Moaning Well
• 1 Overgrown Tomb
• 1 Dark Depths
• 1 Terramorphic Expanse
• 1 Vesuva
• 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1 Verdant Catacombs
• 1 Bojuka Bog
• 1 Evolving Wilds
• 1 Mystifying Maze
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Woodland Cemetery

Spells (62)

• 1 Sensei's Divining Top
• 1 Sickening Shoal
• 1 Nostalgic Dreams
• 1 Vampiric Tutor
• 1 Reanimate
• 1 Sylvan Library
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Regrowth
• 1 Demonic Tutor
• 1 Drain Life
• 1 Ashes to Ashes
• 1 Ancient Craving
• 1 Diabolic Tutor
• 1 Necromancy
• 1 Soul Burn
• 1 Darksteel Ingot
• 1 Kodama's Reach
• 1 Plague Wind
• 1 Skeletal Scrying
• 1 Insidious Dreams
• 1 Decree of Pain
• 1 Night's Whisper
• 1 Beacon of Unrest
• 1 Ashen Powder
• 1 Abundance
• 1 Promise of Power
• 1 Lightning Greaves
• 1 Phyrexian Arena
• 1 Aether Snap
• 1 Consume Spirit
• 1 Syphon Mind
• 1 Explosive Vegetation
• 1 Black Market
• 1 Corrupt
• 1 Thran Dynamo
• 1 Pernicious Deed
• 1 Holistic Wisdom
• 1 Life from the Loam
• 1 Putrefy
• 1 Krosan Grip
• 1 Damnation
• 1 Harmonize
• 1 Hunting Wilds
• 1 Coalition Relic
• 1 Profane Command
• 1 Mana Reflection
• 1 Maelstrom Pulse
• 1 Rise from the Grave
• 1 Bloodchief Ascension
• 1 Relic Crush
• 1 Consuming Vapors
• 1 Suffer the Past
• 1 Cultivate
• 1 Exsanguinate
• 1 Mimic Vat
• 1 Nihil Spellbomb
• 1 Black Sun's Zenith
• 1 Praetor's Counsel
• 1 Darksteel Plate
• 1 Beast Within
• 1 Dismember
• 1 Life's Finale

.  .  .  .  .

The Rafiq player looked over at me. He flashed the Time Warp in his hand.

“Got an answer?”

I came to the shop that night to try out a new format. Instead, I was about to have to start a fight…

.  .  .  .  .

Thanks for reading! It’s really nice to be officially onboard here at “Dear Azami.” I’ll be back in two weeks with another deck rehab…and no more boring stories about my formative years. I promise!

–Cassidy McAuliffe

Want to submit a deck for consideration to Dear Azami? We’re always accepting deck submissions to consider for use in a future article, like Ken’s Cromat deck or Nick’s Numot deck. Only one deck submission will be chosen per article, but being selected for the next edition of Dear Azami includes not just deck advice but also a $20 coupon to the StarCityGames.com Store!

Email us a deck submission using this link here!

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Follow Cassidy on his Facebook page here, or check out his Commander blog GeneralDamageControl.com!