Empyrial Tricks of the Trade

By Adam Styborski

Stybs has played Magic the world over, writing and drafting as part of the event coverage team and slinging Commander everywhere his decks will fit.

Not all Commander questions come directly to me.

Question Elemental | Art by Edward P. Beard, Jr.

The boundlessly cheerful editor for DailyMTG.com, and fellow Commander fanatic, Mike McArtor shared this question from the Ask Wizards queue:

I have recently bought the Evasive Maneuvers deck and I have cards like:

Rafiq of the many

Finest hour

Dauntless Escort

Rhox War Monk

Sigiled Paladin

Battlegrace Angel

Qasali Pridemage

And I have also some green, white, and blue spells, like big creatures, enchantments, and counterspells.

I think that Derevi, Empyrial Tactician is a great commander because she can always go back to the battlefield, paying using her activated ability (3 if you untap a land after that). In spite of your enemy is always killing her, she can always return to the battlefield and she's cheap. She also has flying.

My opponent plays a Jhoira of the Ghitu deck and he is always beating me.

I would like to make a budget exalted Commander deck with Derevi, Empyrial Tactician but I have no idea of how to do it. Could you help me?

It's possible you have a better idea of how to make a Commander deck with Derevi so I'm very interested in your opinion.

Thank you very much in advance and have a nice day.

Commander is a tough format to build decks in. While I've shared some general ways to build decks in the past, "budget" is not a word I've used in any of them. There used to be dedicated column for Building on a Budget and it approached defining what budget really means from a variety of angles.

For Commander, there are plenty of practical ways to define it:

Updating a preconstructed Commander deck (such as the one including Derevi)
Relying more (or completely) on commons and uncommons rather than rares and mythic rares
Using only cards randomly found in other purchases (Born of the Gods Fat Pack, Theros Holiday Box, etc.)
Being given or swapping spare/extra cards from friends

Since Derevi, Empyrial Tactician comes in a preconstructed deck, we'll assume we're starting with that, and focus on commons, uncommons, and offbeat rares that combine well with her as a commander. However, Commander is always what you want to make of it, so feel free to explore other avenues if that's what works for you.

Aerial Maneuvers

Let's start off with what comes in the "starter" Derevi deck:

Evasive Maneuvers— (2013 Edition)

Decklist Stats Sample Hand

Creature (29)

1 Kazandu Tuskcaller 1 Hada Spy Patrol 1 Selesnya Guildmage 1 Farhaven Elf 1 Phantom Nantuko 1 Mirror Entity 1 Stonecloaker 1 Deceiver Exarch 1 Fiend Hunter 1 Flickerwisp 1 Thornwind Faeries 1 Winged Coatl 1 Wonder 1 Dungeon Geists 1 Lu Xun, Scholar General 1 Aerie Mystics 1 Karmic Guide 1 Acidic Slime 1 Azami, Lady of Scrolls 1 Rubinia Soulsinger 1 Murkfiend Liege 1 Skyward Eye Prophets 1 Mistmeadow Witch 1 Pilgrim's Eye 1 Angel of Finality 1 Diviner Spirit 1 Roon of the Hidden Realm 1 Djinn of Infinite Deceits 1 Bane of Progress

Sorcery (5)

1 Borrowing 100,000 Arrows 1 Wash Out 1 Restore 1 Tempt with Glory 1 Kirtar's Wrath

Instant (6)

1 Arcane Denial 1 Selesnya Charm 1 Krosan Grip 1 Æthermage's Touch 1 Unexpectedly Absent 1 Blue Sun's Zenith

Artifact (13)

1 Sol Ring 1 Selesnya Signet 1 Simic Signet 1 Swiftfoot Boots 1 Azorius Keyrune 1 Basalt Monolith 1 Darksteel Ingot 1 Leonin Bladetrap 1 Thousand-Year Elixir 1 Thunderstaff 1 Sword of the Paruns 1 Surveyor's Scope 1 Conjurer's Closet

Enchantment (8)

1 Flickerform 1 Presence of Gond 1 Control Magic 1 Leafdrake Roost 1 Darksteel Mutation 1 Curse of the Forsaken 1 Curse of Inertia 1 Curse of Predation

Land (38)

1 Azorius Chancery 1 Azorius Guildgate 1 Bant Panorama 1 Command Tower 1 Evolving Wilds 1 Faerie Conclave 1 Rupture Spire 1 Saltcrusted Steppe 1 Seaside Citadel 1 Secluded Steppe 1 Sejiri Refuge 1 Selesnya Guildgate 1 Selesnya Sanctuary 1 Simic Guildgate 1 Temple of the False God 1 Terramorphic Expanse 1 Transguild Promenade 6 Forest 7 Plains 7 Island 1 Opal Palace

99 Cards

Deal Another Hand

Derevi, Empyrial Tactician's ability to tap or untap things is one half of the synergy equation. (We'll get to the "Put Derevi onto the battlefield..." half in a bit.) There are several awesome interactions already built into the deck for it:

Selesnya Sanctuary, Azorius Chancery, and Temple of the False God all untap to give us "back" two mana.
Basalt Monolith and Sol Ring also give us back more mana.
Skyward Eye Prophets draws us an extra card.
Leafdrake Roost gives us an extra, cheap 2/2 flying Drake creature token.

There are several easy-to-add cards that work similarly:

Simic Growth Chamber can join its two friends already in the deck.
Coalition Relic, Everflowing Chalice, and Dreamstone Hedron are artifacts that can also give us more mana for our untapping buck.
Enclave Cryptologist can draw us extra cards, and enchantments like Ocular Halo and Oracle's Insight can let any creature do it for us.
Mimic Vat and Spawning Grounds (available in another Commander (2013 Edition) deck!) can create awesome creature tokens for us.

But don't take just my word for it. Several of you shared similar ideas, like James:

In response to your question of the best commons and uncommons to use with Derevi, Empyrial Tactician, I had a few ideas:

Ocular Halo makes any creature have the option to turn some number or all of the triggers into a card. Oracle's Insight does essentially the same thing. Skyward Eye Prophet does an upgraded version of the same thing.

There are many other creatures with tap effects that could be used over and over with each trigger. Simic Growth Chamber, Azorius Chancery, Selesnya Sanctuary, and other lands that add multiple mana per tap let you get mana explosions, and Freed from the Real works well with the type of cards you're likely to include. Something like Tidewater Minion or Kiora's Follower let Freed from the Real combo for infinite mana.

Blink effects could add a new wrinkle to things, letting you get extra triggers off of Derevi. Presence of Gond, Commander's Authority, and creatures that tap for creature tokens make another useful untap trigger that also likely expands the number of triggers you'll get the next time you attack. Tideforce Elemental is another effect to mix in and do crazy things.

Other than these, Auras that enhance mana production, like Utopia Sprawl and Fertile Ground, make some of the absurdity much more likely, and from Born of the Gods, many of the new inspired creatures, if you can find a way to tap them often, give a beneficial effect for the untap as opposed to the tap. For example, Arbiter of the Ideal with an Aura that gives it a tap ability, or maybe Viridian Longbow, could go totally nuts.

—James

Some of these are already commons that come alongside Derevi, but new cards like Arbiter of the Ideal and Kiora's Follower build up powerful combinations of cards to use. Since I'm also a personal fan of blink effects, such as Mistmeadow Witch and Roon of the Hidden Realm already in Derevi's deck, finding more ways to use that angle gives us variety opponents wouldn't expect.

With Born of the Gods, inspired arrives, and that goes well with Derevi. Aerie Worshippers, God-Favored General, and Pheres-Band Raiders are among the best. They get to untap thanks to Derevi and produce more creatures, which of course supports Derevi's strategy.

Also, sac outlets are really good with Derevi, since you can play with her ability. Culling Dais makes sure you don't run out of cards and Perilous Forays lets you get some duals, to fix your mana, or simply get more basics.

—Fabian

Perilous Forays is an excellent utility enchantment since it helps convert any creature, Derevi or not, that's about to die into more lands on the battlefield. Even better: it's an uncommon, just like Culling Dais. Using Derevi's "Put Derevi onto the battlefield from the command zone." ability isn't something to overlook.

Derevi, Empyrial Tactician likes Diviner's Wand. It equips itself whenever she comes into play and gives the player something to do with excess mana. Best of all, it makes Derevi a scarier threat and sticks on the battlefield when she's taking another stay in the command zone.

If playing with the Azami, Lady of Scrolls, then the Equipment can be tapped for a card as well.

—Matt

I've had a premium foil Diviner's Wand sitting in my Commander Box for ages, but Derevi, Empyrial Tactician is just the commander it has been waiting for all this time. (Aside from Azami, Lady of Scrolls, of course!) Putting Derevi back onto the battlefield during the end step of the turn before yours lets you untap controlling Derevi, and drawing your card for the turn pumps her up a notch to boot. I like it!

So where does that leave us? We have a pile of ideas, generally commons and uncommons, and a preconstructed deck we can tweak to taste. While what you want to swap in and out is something you should try for yourself first, here's how I'd take all these ideas and apply them to the deck Derevi comes in:

In	Out	Reason
Perilous Forays	Restore	Ramping lands will help us use Derevi more
Simic Growth Chamber	Thunderstaff	Ramping up mana will help us use Derevi more
Everflowing Chalice	Leonin Bladetrap	Ramping up mana will help us use Derevi more
Spawning Grounds	Presence of Gond	Lands tend to stick around more than creatures
Freed From the Real	Diviner Spirit	Works as both "removal" and a combo piece
Kiora's Follower	Thornwind Faeries	Works with Freed from the Real
Tidewater Minion	Borrowing 100,000 Arrows	Works with Freed from the Real
Cathars' Crusade	Tempt with Glory	Why share when you don't need to?
Centaur Glade	Curse of Predation	Making tokens is a great mana dump
Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage	Cure of the Forsaken	Making tokens is a great mana dump
Aerie Worshippers	Curse of Inertia	Making tokens is a great mana dump
Indrik Stomphowler	Phantom Nantuko	Artifact/enchantment removal
Diviner's Wand	Sword of the Paruns	Card draw
Dawn to Dusk	Æthermage's Touch	Removal and recursion for enchantments
Dismiss	Arcane Denial	Why share when you don't need to?

What you choose to do is ultimately up to you. Nudging your deck down a focused path with Derevi in mind will strengthen how your position plays out, and you don't need splashy rares and mythic rares or a hifalutin online columnist to do it. (But both would sure help, right?)

The Cause and Effect

Changing decks is always an exercise in self-exploration. What you want, and how you want to do it, isn't something anyone else can determine.

What's fascinating is that I constantly encounter discussions of what Commander "really is" and why others "don't play Commander right." It's a topic worth tackling, and we'll start at the highest level: Are monocolored commanders (such as Purphoros, God of the Forge and Kamahl, Fist of Krosa) in the spirit of the format, as opposed to multicolor commanders?

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While I have my own thoughts around whether many or few colors is in the spirit of Commander, I'm really excited to see how you handle it.

Join us next week when we get restrictive. See you then!

Posted in Top Decks on February 20, 2014

Empyrial Tricks of the Trade

Aerial Maneuvers

Evasive Maneuvers— (2013 Edition)

Creature (29)

Sorcery (5)

Instant (6)

Artifact (13)

Enchantment (8)

Land (38)

White (13)

Blue (15)

Green (9)

Multi colored (10)

Colorless (52)

1 (1)

2 (14)

3 (23)

4 (8)

5 (10)

6 (5)

Common (40)

Uncommon (33)

Rare (24)

Mythic (2)

The Cause and Effect

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