Performing Judo In Commander

One of the greatest aspects of Commander is the wide open field for deckbuilding. All deckbuilding options are available. We have more than any other format because we don’t have the tournament pressures forcing a metagame to define a best deck. Instead we have aggro, control, combo, ramp, midrange, judo, prison, and off-the-wall theme decks.

I want to talk about judo decks, as they perform differently from most Commander decks. No matter the strategy, things usually fall into two main categories, pressuring opponents and controlling the battlefield.

Aggro tends to eschew controlling the battlefield to create greater pressure. If an opponent cannot control the battlefield, the aggressive player has an advantage. Control works the opposite by controlling the battlefield (and what hits the battlefield) and then finally applying pressure to win. Even combo decks pressure opponents, even if the pressure is not the usual creature-based pressure we may be accustomed to facing. Yet judo doesn’t really try to control the battlefield and it applies very little of its own pressure.

What Is Judo?

In martial arts (taking a very simple approach), judo utilizes throws and grapples that turn an opponent’s momentum against them. Instead of focusing on the power players that most archetypes use, a judo deck seeks to find an opening to exploit. Sometimes this is stealing a key creature; other times it is copying an important spell.

The biggest change is that you are not seeking to control the pace of the game or dominate the game. Cass at General Damage Control has been detailing his evolution of a judo deck here and here and further conversations with him inspired me to try the deck. I am having a blast with this deck, but I’m also slamming my head against the wall. I’m so often taking the game by the horns to accomplish my goal that the change in mentality is my biggest hangup. I still find myself trying to play a control role, but the judo deck does not have the resources for that gameplan.

However, playing a judo deck has forced me to be more patient and to make sure I am fully paying attention to the game. Even if you don’t play a judo deck, if you want to play well, then you can never pay too much attention to the game.

Colors of Judo

Unfortunately, judo decks don’t operate like painting with all the colors of the wind. Selecting a commander for judo can be tricky, as there are not many commanders that actively support a judo deck. Instead, you should look for a commander that can supplement the deck’s game play. For Cass, this was Jori En, Ruin Diver. Ruhan of the Fomori heads Sheldon Menery’s deck. Jeleva, Nephalia’s Scourge can work a pretty powerful judo deck. Jeleva is the only one that can actually use an opponent’s cards against them.

Since many judo decks are built more by color than commander, starting with colors makes the most sense. Blue is the alpha dog for judo effects. Red is the next-best color for judo effects. White trails third. Black and green offer almost nothing for judo builds.

Blue has a wide variety of judo options. Ray of Command is a classic Threaten card that also can snag a blocker. Blue has a few of these of these variants in Vedalken Shackles and Dominate. Vedalken Shackles is among the best because you can reuse the card and get a new critter when something better shows up. Dominate is another instant Control Magic effect, but it has a bit of a hoop to jump through. There is also the big monster of Blatant Thievery. Steal a thing from everyone? Sounds good.

Blue also has a lot of effects that can affect the stack: Twincast, Misdirection, Commandeer, Aethersnatch, Spelljack, Time Stop, and more. Is there a spell you don’t mind, but you really want the effect? Then copy it with Twincast. Is that effect from an opponent bad for you, then send it away with Misdirection or Redirect. Time Warp is particularly fun to have target you. There are the spell stealing toys like Aethersnatch and Spelljack to snag a spell that you really want to have. Commandeer accomplishes this for free if you exile two cards.

Finally, you have Time Stop. This card does everything! It is a blue Fog, Time Walk, Counterspell, and more. You can even counter spells that can’t be countered. You aren’t technically countering them, but ending the turn so the effect cannot happen. This is anything you need.

Red is the next-best option for judo effects. Threaten or Act of Treason effects provide opportunities to use an opponent’s best creatures against them. Act of Aggression holds a special slot in this area, as it can be used offensively and defensively. If you need to snag a creature and can’t afford the whole five mana, the Phyrexian mana lets you trade some life for a cheaper cost.

Red also provides copy effects with Reiterate and Reverberate. Reiterate is excellent against an opponent’s big dumb boring spell like Genesis Wave. Shooting that off for fifteen is cool, but stealing an opponent’s haymaker is glorious. Rise of the Dark Realms is a similar situation, but better. If someone casts Rise of the Dark Realms and you copy it, the copy resolves first! All the graveyards empty onto your battlefield, so there are no creatures for your opponent to snag. Insurrection is the final example for red judo cards. The card breaks games open in your favor, and with a sacrifice outlet, they get nothing back.

Unfortunately the great options begin to dry up past blue and red. White still has a few cards like Reflect Damage (which only half counts) and family, or cards like Intervention Pact. The surprise reversal from damage is fantastic, but many of white’s effects will not work as a well against a horde.

Black does not offer much in the judo builds. There is some stealing from graveyards, perhaps Praetor’s Grasp, and then there is Jeleva, Scourge of Nephalia. Not much to write home about.

Green has… Fog effects. And pretty much nothing else that fits the judo idea too well. Even Fog effects aren’t truly in the judo mentality; they just halt an attack. You want to use that momentum against an opponent.

Play Experience

Judo decks operate a little differently from many Commander decks. These decks function on an experience for games, not necessarily about the deck construction. For these decks, sometimes boring cards are used but they contribute to the play experience in new ways. Twincast sees a lot of play in Commander, but not as often to copy Fact or Fiction or Explosive Vegetation. When viewing the decklist, remember to evaluate the cards with play experience in mind.

The play experience influences the choice of commanders. For this deck I rebuilt Jori En, Ruin Diver to be judo rather than a deck trying to trigger her effect all the time. I wanted to keep the deck to just blue and red, as white offered little and the other colors had no effects I cared about. I considered Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest but decided against it.

Other popular U/R commanders would present other problems. Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind is notorious for combos and draws a great deal of hate. Niv-Mizzet also does nothing to support the judo theme. Niv-MIzzet, Dracogenius also does nothing to help judo either. The card draw is nice, but the Dracogenius wants to be more aggressive. Jhoira of the Ghitu gives away all the surprises a deck has. Nin, the Pain Artist requires us to play more creatures than would be good for the deck.

The last option is Tibor and Lumia. But that is a sad, sad option. Perhaps there is a crazy Storm deck to use Tibor and Lumia, but this deck will not benefit from them. Making this deck work with Tibor and Lumia would be trying too hard for the game play experience. Jori En, Ruin Diver may not be splashy, but she can provide periodic card draw and helps to reload.

Jori En Judo

Jori En, Ruin Diver

Erik Tiernan

Test deck on 08-15-2016

Commander

Creatures (8)

Lands (37)

Spells (54)

The thought behind the cards breaks down into a few categories. Theft is the first one. I am striving for mana efficiency with theft effects. The mana efficiency leads to a single Threaten. The mana efficiency also is apparent in a few things like Vedalken Shackles. I need to interact with multiple opponents and do not want to get hamstrung by tapping out against my first opponent and then having my next opponent kill me.

The theft effects also allow wonderful plays like borrowing an opponent’s Blightsteel Colossus and killing them with it. If they run Blightsteel Colossus, they deserve it. Clone effects aren’t quite stealing, but they fit in here pretty well. Clever Impersonator is among the best, since you can get a shiny new copy of anything

Card drawing is very important for Commander. But for this game, I am not looking to filter much. Ponder makes an appearance, as does Dig Through Time, but the card draw is meant to keep the game moving. I’m not sculpting a particular hand. In addition, there are a couple of ways to reload during the game with Blue Sun’s Zenith or Stroke of Genius. The big X spells can even be used with copy spells to draw even more cards.

Sweepers should probably be played in almost every Commander deck. This judo build is no different. But I am not looking to control too much of the game, so the number of sweepers is not high. Rather than destroying all creatures, the judo deck would rather see opponents attack each other. Many judo cards do not do anything if the battlefield is empty and the gameplan includes players doing things.

The other issue with sweepers is that they can make you someone’s threat. This deck is trying to remain in a position where it does not directly threaten any opponents. It does not happen often, but Aetherize effects can keep some of that pressure off of you.

Sometimes you need to close out the game. This is where Insurrection and Vedalken Shackles fit in. (Some cards work in multiple areas.) Even when everything is going according to plan, you will find a need to break the game in your favor. That can be a haymaker like Insurrection or playing a few different theft effects and jamming Goblin Bombardment to prevent an opponent from getting it back. High Market works well with theft effects to keep the momentum on your side.

The last part of a judo build I want to talk about is the counterspell. You need very few hard counters. Instead you want theft effects like Spelljack and Commandeer. Redirect effects help to “counter” a spell by sending it to a new target; you counter the intent. Gather Specimens is a huge swing in a game when an opponent tries to make a huge monster or dump a ton of tokens; you just get all the creatures. When you can leverage an opponent’s spells against them, you need very few hard counters to stop a play.

Throwing Opponents

Judo builds are a fun way to engage with the format. The emphasis on being a little more passive and waiting for a moment to capitalize on an opponent is not something seen as often. Typically we can smash aside some defenses and make our own weaknesses in an opponent’s defense. Have you built a judo deck? What differences would you build? How actively engaged are you in your Commander games?