MTG Commander Deck Of The Week: Erinis, Gloom Stalker And Acolyte Of Bahamut

Considering we’re celebrating the 50th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons, I thought this particular deck would be a thematic choice to share this week! 

Full Contents Of Death Is In The Eyes Of The Beholder II MTG Secret Lair Revealed

Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur’s Gate was an amazing set for Commander, filled with innovations that took a while to catch on in the community. Particularly neat are the Background cards, legendary enchantments you can start in the command zone if you also choose a legendary creature with the Choose a Background mechanic as your commander.

I really liked Erinis, Gloom Stalker’s ability to return a land from your graveyard simply by attacking, and its deathtouch ability means that it can’t be blocked without usually losing your blocker in the process.  But what Background should I pair it with?

One I kept coming back to was Acolyte of Bahamut.

Locking the deck into mono-green didn’t exactly scream Dragons, but Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur’s Gate had upped the number of Dragons you could run in a mono-green deck. So how would Erinis’s ability fit in with the Dragon theme?  Then it hit me.

Tying It Together

Haven of the Spirit Dragon can be sacrificed to return a Dragon – or an Ugin planeswalker – from your graveyard to your hand. This ability isn’t the best in Commander, since losing a land can be counterproductive to the goal of casting expensive bomb Dragon spells, but Erinis’s ability can bring that land right back to the battlefield.

Ugin, the Ineffable is an excellent planeswalker card for mono-green decks, since it provides a means to kill a creature that can otherwise be tough for a mono-green deck to deal with. And there’s even Earthquake Dragon, which will bring itself back to hand from the graveyard by sacrificing a land that Erinis could get right back. There’s even classic fantasy flavor here, as a Halfling interacting with Dragons calls right back to The Hobbit. Putting this all together made me very happy!

Interestingly, when looking at Erinis, Gloom Stalker on EDHREC, there aren’t any decks where Erinis pairs with the Acolyte of Bahamut Background.  Maybe my decklist will inspire others to change that?

Let’s dig in!

Attacking Assistance

Erinis’s ability triggers on attacking, so you’ll get the benefit whether or not Erinis is blocked. And if Erinis is blocked and trades with the blocker(s), the land you get back will already pay for half the added commander tax to recast Erinis, so opponents may be loath to sacrifice a creature to the cause. But there will be times when there isn’t a decent attack open to Erinis without some help, so I’ve got a few cards that do just that. Since I’ve got land synergies going on, Maze of Ith seems like a great choice; Blackblade Reforged equipped to Erinis makes it much more difficult to trade in combat, and again plays well with extra lands entering the battlefield.

I don’t see Family’s Favor much in Commander, but it plays great here, making it difficult to profitably trade with Erinis, and if your opponents decide not to block, you can trade the shield counter for a fresh new draw.

Power Matrix is a classic and a favorite of mine, and the abilities it gives target creature works fantastic along with Erinis’s deathtouch ability.

Lands in the Graveyard

I’ve included a fair number of other lands that can end up in the graveyard on their own, with Urza’s Cave being the biggie since it sacrifices to search up a specific land you may need, and then Erinis can bring it back to the battlefield.

If you assemble the Dark Depths and Thespian’s Stage combo and your opponents deal with the 20/20 indestructible Marit Lage token, Erinis can bring both of those pieces back over the course of two attacks.

Command Beacon is a handy way to avoid the commander tax if it gets too onerous, and one attack from Erinis and you’re reloaded to do it again.  And of course I had to include Mirrorpool, one of my all-time favorite cards!  I even have a special dance for it.

I’m also running some cards that can put lands in the graveyard while searching for other lands, such as Elvish Reclaimer and Harrow.  And then there are Ramunap Excavator and Conduit of Worlds, which can let you play lands from the graveyard.

Dragons

And here be Dragons, and a fair number of them too!  Green Dragons have come a long way since Canopy Dragon, a card that is definitely sub-par for Commander decks these days, but I couldn’t let the original miss out on the fun, especially since Acolyte of Bahamut can shave two mana off its cost and making it slightly less embarrassing.

What’s not at all embarrassing is casting Old Gnawbone or Ancient Bronze Dragon for just five mana and smashing face!  Or how about Chameleon Colossus for just two mana? Even the Limited-power cards like Avenging Hunter or Wandering Troubadour get much, much better for two mana less.

Dragon Adventure Spells

The Dragon Adventure spells add some interactive power to the deck while also increasing the Dragon density. These can be excellent to get back with Haven of the Spirit Dragon if the circumstances warrant.

Dragons Matter

Scaled Nurturer – a Dragon! – along with Dragon’s Hoard and Jade Orb of Dragonkind provide some mana ramp along with bonuses for playing Dragons.

Card Draw/Selection

Bilbo’s Ring had me stoked, since Erinis is a Halfling that wants to attack and preferably not die in combat. After all, why not?  Why shouldn’t Erinis have it? And since we want to be attacking with Erinis early and often, Tome of Legends makes for a nice card draw engine.

Erinis’s attack trigger makes lands that sacrifice to draw cards like The Hunter Maze nice, along with lands that cycle like Tranquil Thicket.

With big Dragons in the deck, cards like Greater Good and The Great Henge can keep the cards flowing.

Removal

Not only are Hunter’s Talent and Hunter’s Bow great as removal spells when paired with your deathtouch commander, they also feel like flavor wins. Erinis being a Ranger definitely feels like a Hunter. Leveling up Hunter’s Talent even boosts Erinis’s ability to punch through damage, and eventually can draw you an extra card at the beginning of your end step.

Archdruid’s Charm is a powerful and flexible utility spell at instant speed, letting you kill something with Erinis’s deathtouch ability or exile a problematic enchantment or artifact (something like The One Ring perhaps); if there’s nothing that needs removing, you can simply search up a sweet land or the perfect creature for the situation at hand.

Interaction

I’m kind of excited to try Shifting Woodland out in this deck; once delirium is attained, it can become a copy of the biggest, baddest Dragon in your graveyard for the turn and attack.  Old Gnawbone perhaps?  If it eats a removal spell, you can get it back with Erinis. Crashing Drawbridge is an awesome way to help Erinis attack right away, or perhaps the big, bad Dragon you just cast! You Look Upon the Tarrasque should be a potent way to destroy all of an opponent’s untapped creatures, forcing them to block your suddenly huge, indestructible deathtouch Halfling.

Myth Unbound is here to discourage opponents from destroying my Acolyte of Bahamut too often, but it’s on the edge of being cut, perhaps for a Spelunking, since a lot of my lands enter the battlefield tapped. What do you think?

Mana Ramp

I would run Blighted Woodland and Myriad Landscape in just about any green Commander deck anyway, but both cards get a lot better when you can keep bringing them back with Erinis’s attack trigger. And since you’re attacking early and often with your commander, why not take advantage of freerunning Viewpoint Synchronization, which is positively bonkers for just three mana. I’ve got Exploration in the list too in order to help replay lands from the graveyard more quickly with Ramunap Excavator or play extra lands from your hand when you get a rush of new cards from like Greater Good.

The Deck

Okay, here’s the full decklist!

Here are the deck stats from our friends at Archidekt:

So, what other cards would you run in this wacky mono-green Dragon deck?  Are there any other lands or lands matter cards you’d like in here?

Talk to Me

Do me a solid and follow me on Twitter!  I run polls and start conversations about Commander all the time, so get in on the fun!  You can also find my LinkTree on my profile page there with links to all my content.

I’d also love it if you followed my Twitch channel TheCompleteCommander, where I do Commander, Brawl, and sometimes other Magic-related streams when I can.  If you can’t join me live, the videos are available on demand for a few weeks on Twitch, but I also upload them to my YouTube channel.  You can also find the lists for my paper decks over on Archidekt if you want to dig into how I put together my own decks and brews.  

And lastly, I just want to say: let us love each other and stay healthy and happy. 

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