Working Backwards: 10 Questions to ask yourself as you build that new commander deck.

    So, you saw a spoiler for that new cool legendary creature and you are feeling inspired to build a new commander deck from it. So, you go to your local game store and find some staples to throw the deck together for Friday Night Magic and… it loses. It doesn’t lose in a “we got down to the very end and my opponent squeaked it out” kind of way. It was a “The deck didn’t do anything that it was supposed to,” kind of way. It could be an issue of not having enough support, like ramp or card draw, or maybe there isn’t enough land. But, I want to challenge you to think a little deeper with what is described as “Retrograde Analysis”.

    In 2012, Grandmaster Maurice Ashley presented a speech for a TED talk titled “Working backwards to solve problems.” In this speech he talks about the principles of retrograde analysis and how he applies them to his chess games. Retrograde analysis is the idea that it is simpler to solve problems when working in reverse than from the front, asking questions such as how did we end up here? If you haven’t seen the talk yet, I will link it HERE as I definitely find it to be a fascinating topic. I bring it up today because I believe that retrograde analysis is an extremely useful tool for commander players that doesn’t get used enough when deck building. In this article, I will be bringing up ten questions you should ask yourself as you build a new commander deck.


1) What does a winning position look like for your deck? The easiest way to cross the finish line is to know where it is. Some decks want to win through combat damage, some like combos, while others want to win through non-combat means like aristocrat effects or spell slinging. If you are using a combat heavy deck, you’re probably going to need a lot of creatures on board, so utilizing spells like Teferi’s Protection and Unbreakable Formation are going to be important to your plan as a rebuild might take too long. Selfless spirit is great for these strategies as it doubles as a flying attacker or blocker until it is needed. On the other side of this, if your deck is not relying on creatures, you probably are going to want to avoid players building those massive token armies.


2) Is the deck going to be fast or slow? Not all strategies are created equal. Some plans take a lot longer to get rolling than others. The reason this is important is if I have a deck like an aristocrat or lifegain strategy that may be looking to win around turn 10-12, a player that has an aggro or voltron commander is a massive concern for me as I might get eliminated before I can actually get into my gameplan. Because of that, I might look into extra removal or perhaps some light stax pieces just to slow that strategy down. If my strategy is a fast strategy, I’m probably looking at extra ramp or card draw to get to a winning position a bit quicker to reduce the opportunities for my opponents to find answers. Keep in mind if there is no additional card draw, every turn you haven’t closed out the game is three more opportunities for your opponents to find that answer. Knowing the pace of the deck will help you frame the deck around that pace.


3) Will this deck attract a lot of attention? Certain commanders, especially ones that are normally built at higher power levels, will command a lot more attention from the other players at the table. This is especially true from more experienced players at the table. I have a Jodah, the Unifier legendary matters deck. This deck can be seen as especially scary from opponents and rightly so. When the deck is revealed, people are WELL aware of what I am going to want to do. Being aware of that, there are 10-12 different cards in the deck that can be used to protect Jodah/my board state at any given time to protect against constant removal. All but one of the legends under the mana value of three are used for protection. I set it up this way so when I cast a legendary spell at the mana value of three, I have a very high probability of getting a legend out that will keep me safe. Once my board is secured, I can look at eliminating my opponents through combat.


4) What types of strategies will hurt my win condition? Magic card development is almost like a giant game of “Rock, paper, scissors, lizard, spock.” Everything has a weakness. Because of this, no matter what strategy you are wanting to implement, there is always a silver bullet out there that you may run into. It is definitely rough to see a ghostly prison from your opponent when you are playing a go-wide token deck or a sacrifice tribal against your voltron commander. If you can identify which of these archetypes you are weak against, you can look at adding cards to your deck to combat that. Or, if you are in a game, you may want to try to eliminate that opponent.


5) How essential is my commander to my strategy? Some decks REALLY need their commander on board in order to play their game. A really good example of this for me is my Narset, Enlightened Master Planeswalker deck. Due to the generally high mana value of the planeswalkers in the set, I need to make sure Narset can come out early and survive in combat as much as possible to get those triggers. Because of this, the deck runs a whopping 25 spells that produce mana. On the other side of things, I have my Chulane, Teller of Tales deck where he is there just to add additional value as a blink deck, so, if he gets removed, it really isn’t that big of a deal for my strategy. I’ve even played him before to bait out removal spells. Because of this, the deck would rather focus on moving the game plan forward than keeping Chulane alive.


6) How do I get to my deck's winning position? After we have identified how the deck wants to set up for a win, we need to determine what needs to be done on the turns before that. This may look like drawing a lot of cards and having mana available in a spellslinger deck, It may be getting blockers out of the way for a voltron, the combo decks may want to draw/tutor for some counter magic to prevent your opponents from playing their interaction to stop you. Whatever that situation looks like for you, we want to make sure our deck has the pieces in place to assist you getting there.


7) If I were going to play against this deck, how would I attack it? A good way to see how to establish your deck is to look at the deck from the eyes of your opponent. What would you do in their shoes to defeat the deck? Is there an Achilles’ heel with the deck you are targeting? Would you try to convince them to attack elsewhere to survive longer? Maybe you are convinced to hold up removal for the commander. By going through the exercise, you can get a better idea of what your opponent might be planning against your deck.


8) How quickly do I need my commander to come out? Certain decks want to play their commanders early to get value while other decks don’t start playing until the commander comes out. I have an Uril, the Miststalker (aka Bigfoot) deck that is your standard voltron commander that I keep my signed umbras in. The joke with that deck is the party doesn’t start until Bigfoot (Uril) walks in. Because that is the case, I have a stronger priority to get out my commander as quickly as I can. I will be more inclined to run spells like Sol Ring or Wild Growth in that deck because of the aggressive nature of the deck.


9) How many spells am I looking to cast per turn? Is this the type of deck that is casting one big thing each turn with a higher mana curve, or are we playing multiple spells per turn. This is going to have a bigger impact on how much card draw you are adding into the deck. If you’re wanting to cast 2, 3, 4+ spells per turn and the rules only allow you to draw one card per turn, you are going to run out of gas quickly. If the deck is more about casting the right card rather than a bunch of cards, you might look at more tutors or ramp instead.


10) If my main win condition is no longer possible, what can I use as a “Plan B”? Your voltron commander can get stolen, your opponent can get a pesky hate bear on the field that you can’t seem to remove, and spore frogs can be reanimated. The breakdown of plan A can definitely ruin your day if you don’t have a contingency plan for it. This could be a combo, non-combat damage, maybe a big spell like exsanguinate, expropriate, or insurrection. Personally, I will add a combo into most decks I have that don’t naturally have multiple win conditions. Do I have or use tutors for the combos? No. But it is in the deck leaving me with a chance to survive a game that I may be entirely out of otherwise.


If you can answer these ten questions before you start the building process, you will have a far more functioning commander deck guaranteed. With that being said, situations will come up as you play and there will be issues that you will need to address with your deck and that is okay. Just remember, if you want to get to the end of the game that you can win, look backwards on what needs to happen.

Thank you for reading!

If you have a topic or question you would like to see covered in the blog, send me an email at thoughtvesselshow@gmail.com

Author: Levi aka Senator Spike