Mono-Red Commander MTG Burns Bright With Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might

In an article earlier this month, I talked about how I felt mono-colored commanders needed more love. The Commander format is full of multicolored heavy hitters, and all too often, the color-identity-challenged are virtually forgotten.

Minding Magic’s Mono-Colored Commanders

One card I highlighted in the article was Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might, the red God from The Lost Caverns of Ixalan that I feel totally normal about. Well… I built him, and now I have another reason to be obsessed with him.

The deck is an absolute blast to pilot, so much so that I wanted to share my personal brew with the world. This deck does what mono-red likes to do, which is burn fast and burn bright. Let’s take a deep dive at the Deepest Might!

The List

Planeswalkers

Let’s start out strong with the planeswalkers. This deck likes to do a lot of noncombat damage and needs card advantage. The planeswalkers in this deck do both of those things.

The list runs Chandra, Torch of Defiance and Chandra, Flame’s Catalyst. Yeah, I run these because I enjoy Chandra, but I also run them for synergistic reasons. Torch of Defiance is phenomenal because she gives you card advantage and/or noncombat damage to each opponent with her first +1. Her secondary +1, which gives you two red mana, is also an attractive attribute.

Flame’s Catalyst is another easy way to deal damage less than Axonil’s power to each opponent; however, I also find her -2 to be incredibly potent. This deck can explode on a whim but can also burn out just as quickly. With Flame’s Catalyst’s -2, you are able to recast your most potent instants and sorceries from your graveyard. Whether you want to deal extra damage with a Tectonic Hazard or get card advantage with a Jeska’s Will, this particular Chandra is a great way to give your spells a second chance. 

Creatures

What I love about the creatures in this deck is that they are (largely) inexpensive. The most expensive creature in the deck is Dockside Extortionist, with the second most expensive being Neheb, the Eternal. The price difference between these two cards is a whopping $61, which is a nice drop to have. In fact, I only am running Dockside because it’s a great way to generate mana in a color that isn’t exactly forgiving ramp-wise. If you were to brew this deck, you could easily drop the Dockside in favor of a more budget-friendly option.

The majority of the creatures in this deck deal small pings of damage consistently through either activated or triggered abilities. Unruly Catapult, Thermo-Alchemist, Electrostatic Field, and Guttersnipe all fall into this category and are repeatable whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell. Whether it triggers naturally like Guttersnipe and Electrostatic Field or through an untap like the Catapult or the Alchemist, these kinds of creatures are your bread and butter.

Kessig Flamebreather and Firebrand Archer deal one damage when you cast noncreature spells, and Spitfire Lagac and Tunneling Geopede deal one damage when a land enters the battlefield under your control. This low threshold, coupled with the repeatable nature of the deck, allows you to quickly transform three instances of one damage into a grand total of twelve damage. 

Instants and Sorceries

Much like the creatures, the instants and sorceries in this deck turn incredibly cheap, small instances of damage into cheap bazookas to the face. Fiery Confluence is normally a meh spell, but with Ojer Axonil out, you’re essentially paying four mana to deal a minimum of twelve damage to each opponent. Tectonic Hazard turns into a one-mana better Lightning Bolt to each opponent. Small spells that deal small pings hit the spot.

Of course, there are moments of card advantage and mana generation baked into these slots as well. Seething Song and Mana Geyser give you tons of red mana so that you can easily dump your hand in one turn. Jeska’s Will bridges the gap between mana generation and card advantage by giving you mana and also allowing you to play the top three cards of your library that you exiled.

Thrill of Possibility, Faithless Looting, Wrenn’s Resolve, and Light Up the Stage provide you that sweet card advantage and the gas needed to keep pinging your opponents. The more you cast, the more you can tap your Thermo-Alchemist or trigger your Fiery Inscription (more on enchantments later). This area really helps your deck burn bright.

Artifacts

The artifacts were an interesting section for me to fiddle with. I went back and forth on if this area should focus more on protection or increasing Ojer’s power to maximize the damage each turn. Ultimately, I decided to do a spread.

Mana

This section is full of mana rocks and cost reducers, like Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, and Ruby Medallion. A new rock I wanted to test in here was Throne of Eldraine. It’s not only a great mana rock, but also another fun way to get card advantage! 

Power

When it comes to increasing my commander’s power, I felt Blackblade Reforged and Tarrian’s Soulcleaver were strong additions. Blackblade is incredibly cheap to cast and equip, and can easily make Ojer huge due to your land count. It felt like a no-brainer to toss that in.

The Soulcleaver, on the other hand, is a new card I have become obsessed with. This Equipment from The Lost Caverns of Ixalan puts +1/+1 counters onto the equipped creature whenever an artifact or creature is put into the graveyard from the battlefield. Note that this doesn’t say “you control”. It triggers off your opponent’s stuff too. This is phenomenal for a few reasons. Treasures are rampant in Commander, and many creatures end up kicking the bucket against this deck due to the continuous pings you run. While Tarrian’s Soulcleaver might not be a popular card for this commander, it has definitely become a pet card of mine.

Protection

Lastly, we have protection. In all honesty, I feel as though I should be running more than I already am, as the deck currently only runs two protective artifacts.

Lightning Greaves feels like a Commander staple at this point. Shroud is nothing to sneeze at. The star of the show, however, is Commander’s Plate. This Equipment is a mono-colored deck’s best friend, as it provides you protection against the remaining four colors, especially when those colors are abundant in targeted removal. The Plate is definitely one of the more expensive pieces in the list, but I find it to be well worth the cost. Just girl math it, it’s okay! 

Enchantments

Now let’s cover some of my favorite enchantments in this deck. Starting, out we have Fiery Inscription, which is basically a Guttersnipe stapled to an enchantment. Two damage for every instant and sorcery turns into a minimum of four consistently. Opponents often seek to remove it due to how much of a consistent pain it can be.

My second-favorite enchantment in this deck is Manabarbs. Yes, I know it’s evil and mean, but it is absolutely hysterical seeing people take heaps of damage just because they decided to tap a land. One of my friends took twelve damage in one turn just so he could cast his three-mana commander. I was cackling… he was not.

Lastly, we have my most favorite enchantment in the entire list: Pyrohemia. This enchantment ends games. Period. You just need to calculate carefully, making sure you don’t remove your commander in the process. Just sink mana into it each turn. Sink. Pass. Sink. Pass. In a maximum of four turns, your opponents should be dead (this is ignoring the other forms of damage you could deal to them). I’ve always found Pyrohemia to be a charming spell, so being able to find a home for it brings me a lot of joy.

Burn, Baby, Burn

This deck was inspired by my totally normal feelings about the art and by my friend, Brandon, who told me he was building this commander to jam quick games in between rounds of standard during Friday Night Magic. His inspiration kick-drived mine and had me assembling this deck in less than a day. And wow, am I glad that I did. Once Ojer Axonil hits the field, the game goes into maximum overdrive and ends rather quickly. Sure, it’s a red deck that does what most red decks do, and yet I still find something new to enjoy within it. This list is such a blast to pilot, and if you build it, I hope you enjoy it as much as I have. Happy burning, deckbuilders.