The Grixis color combination isn’t my favorite, and the number of Commander decks I’ve built around a Grixis commander is quite small, but I’m always on the lookout for something appealing since Grixis is outside of my Magic comfort zone. I really wasn’t expecting to find one in the Pirate-themed deck from The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander, but there it was: Don Andres, the Renegade!
Even though Don Andres has the word “Pirate” in its text box, it’s not at all a typical typal deck that you’d expect. Sure, you can play cards that care about the creature type Pirate in the deck, Don Andreas is more about you casting opponents’ spells and controlling creatures that don’t belong to you. Now, on the surface this theme is anathema to the way I’ve enjoyed Magic for almost 30 years – I’ve always hated having my creatures stolen and used against me. Back in 1999, when I built my Mono-Green deck to play in the State Champs, I chose high end creatures that couldn’t effectively be stolen by Treachery and used against me by the control players – I had Deranged Hermit and Child of Gaea. I ended up winning that year even though I don’t think I had a single Treachery cast against me!
When it comes to Commander, I tend to advocate using Clones instead of Control Magic effects since a lot of people feel similar to me about having their creatures stolen. But Don Andres clearly wants you to control creatures that are owned by your opponents, so I wanted to figure out a more pleasing way to do that than direct stealing.
That second text box really unlocked the solution to my dilemma, and that was utilizing spells and effects that let you cast spells from your opponents’ decks. Many of those effects let you just cast the spells with no spell type restrictions, so whether it’s a creature spell that Don Andres makes into a more threatening, Pirate-y version, or a noncreature spell that will net you two tapped Treasure tokens, this is much more friendly way to go about bashing people with their own spells.
And by the way, this sort of strategy is a blast, since so much of your game play is going to be determined by the spells your opponents are bringing to the table. Each time you play Don Andres is going to be a really unique experience, and if that’s appealing to you, build a Don Andres deck and give it a whirl!
I will point out that a lot of the spells that are going to be awesome with this deck are not going to play very well at all with remote play over Spelltable or Discord. A handful of them will specify you exile an opponent’s card face down that you can cast later, and that’s just really hard to do well remotely. But if you have an in person group you play with at the kitchen table or local game store, have at it!
Okay, let’s dig in!
Creatures You Don’t Own Spice
If you want to play this theme in just Rakdos, The Beast is a sweet commander for that but it’s a nice bit of card advantage in the 99 for Don Andres. If The Horus Heresy sticks around for Chapter II it should draw a few cards for you as well. I tried looking for more cards like this or like Don Andres that care about creatures you control but don’t own but couldn’t really find any, but keep an eye out for future releases, I expect we’ll see some trickle in over time.
Playing Opponents’ Spells
I was actually pleasantly surprised to find so many cards that allow you to cast spells that belong to your opponents, and this isn’t even an exhaustive list but rather ones I could totally see packing into a Don Andres Commander deck. I recently played an Oathbreaker game where an opponent played Ensnared by the Mara, and I really loved the mini-game generated by the card’s villainous choice. The starting life totals of 20 for Oathbreaker makes the mill choice a bit more scary, so if you play this in Commander, you’ll want to pick your spot when at least one opponent is low enough in life to give you the exile choice.
I really love how under-played so many of these cards are, which will net you some serious style points at most Commander tables. Like Synthesis Pod – imagine casting a non-creature spell that belongs to an opponent with Don Andres on the battlefield, get your two Treasures, then activating the Pod to exile it and then cast another spell from an opponent’s deck for potentially two more Treasures, or a buffed Pirate creature. What are you going to get? Who knows! Mnemonic Betrayal is like a Yawgmoth’s Will for all your opponents’ graveyards – later in the game, there is sure to be some serious booty to plunder for your Don. I could go on and on about the cards in this section, but I don’t want to keep my editor tied up all day! (Editor’s note: Thanks, Bennie!) Just look at them in all their glory and think about the wild plays they’ll provide each game.
Borrowing the Best
Another relatively friendly option is playing effects that borrow a sweet creature from your opponent for just the turn. These effects typically give it haste, and Don Andres will give it menace, deathtouch, +2/+2 and make it a Pirate, so this is a great way to smash face with the best creature on the battlefield. Just keep in mind if you have a creature sacrifice outlet like an Ashnod’s Altar, these cards become a lot less friendly!
Stealing Opponents’ Creatures
I know I mentioned avoiding effects that permanently steal creatures from the battlefield, but for completeness sake, I’ll mention some of them here if your playgroup is fine with it. Admiral Beckett Brass is quite an engine in this regard if you can build up enough Pirate creatures. Agent of Treachery is expensive but quite powerful since you permanently gain control of a permanent regardless of whether Agent dies later. The second paragraph ability is a nice source of card draw, such that I might consider running this as the only source of directly stealing a creature and risk the ire of an opponent.
Animating Opponents’ Dead Creatures
Grixis has no end of high quality creature removal, and another way to play with creatures your opponents own is to reanimate them from the graveyard after they’ve been killed. Since Don Andres can generate Treasure tokens, some of the more expensive spells are certainly viable, with Breach the Multiverse being a great payoff for the mana spent. I also really love Ancient Brass Dragon, but that might be because I love the dice rolling cards from Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur’s Gate.
Pirate Synergies
Even if we don’t go full Pirate typal, Don Andres is going to produce some pretty sweet Pirates along the way, so it would be fine to include some Pirate synergies. Breeches, Eager Pillager has some sweet abilities and you can take advantage of each of them if you attack with at least three Pirates. The Indomitable is an awesome Vehicle that functions like a Coastal Piracy, and if Don Andres has snagged you two creatures you don’t own, that’s enough Pirates to cast The Indomitable from the graveyard so long as they’re tapped.
Molten Echoes on Pirate will do super-fun things when you get a sweet creature an opponent owns on the battlefield under your control alongside Don Andres. In my daydreams I’m always thinking about playing an opponent’s Sun Titan, and getting not one, not two, but three triggers from it just sounds like the good life!
Vampire Synergies
Don Andres doesn’t mention anything about Vampires in the text box, but being a Vampire does have its privileges. Olivia, Crimson Bride can bring creatures back from your graveyard, and so long as Don Andres is on the battlefield, you’ve got two legendary Vampires to keep it around. I also really love New Blood, which plays right into your strategy of playing creatures your opponents own. I’m not sure why, but I feel that stealing with New Blood is a notch cooler than a simple Control Magic. And then there’s Blood Tribute, which you can pay the kicker with Don Andres for a nice big life drain.
Combat Damage Player
Don Andres makes borrowed or stolen creatures difficult to block, so we’ll want to take advantage of dealing combat damage to our opponents. Coastal Piracy seems like a mandatory flavor inclusion, but I also really like Neheb, the Eternal for that extra mana in your post-combat main phase.
Treasure Synergies
I expect Don’s Treasure production to be quite regular, so we might want to leverage that. Academy Manufactor and Xorn get you extra for each Treasure you make, and Galazeth will let you tap them for mana without sacrificing them.
Bargain
The Treasures are also nice fodder for the bargain mechanic, or the bargain-like ability of Lich-Knights’ Conquest. Beseech the Mirror is a bit heavy on the black mana for a Grixis deck, but the effect might be worth the effort.
Artifact Synergies
The Treasures can also feed some cards that care about artifacts, like Storm the Vault. It triggers from one or more creatures dealing damage to a player, which is something your Don-recruited Pirates are going to be quite good at, and if you control five or more artifacts during your end step, it transforms into a non-banned version of Tolarian Academy. If we can increase the power of Marionette Master, sacrificing Treasures can take out players with life loss.
What cards do you think I’ve overlooked for the deck? Which commanders from The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander are you building Commander decks around?
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