Underplayed Partner Pairings in Commander
Welcome to The Jankyard, a place filled with cheap alternatives for expensive Commander staples. These showcased cards are under $5, and can be just as good, if not better, than their popular expensive counterparts.
The Partner mechanic was first introduced in
Francisco, Fowl Marauder // Ghost of Ramirez DePietro
Every Pirate needs a parrot, and Francisco, Fowl Marauder is the perfect pairing to make janky draw combos with Ghost of Ramirez DePietro.
When you deal combat damage with Ramirez, both he and Francisco will trigger. If you Explore first, you either get a land off the top, or you’ll put the top card in your graveyard, put a +1/+1 on Francisco, and put that card in hand with Ramirez’s triggered ability. It’s a janky way to draw a card from dealing combat damage, but if you add cards like
You can add additional surveil cards and other effects to fill your graveyard with more options for what you may want brought back to hand. Once you’ve built an undead army of Pirates and other creatures, swing out and take the bounty!
| Francisco, Fowl Marauder | ||
| Francisco, Fowl Marauder (Extended Art) | ||
| Ghost of Ramirez DePietro | ||
| Ghost of Ramirez DePietro (Foil Etched) |
Durnan of the Yawning Portal // Agent of the Shadow Thieves
If you're a fan of big green or black creatures, but don’t feel like paying the full mana value, Durnan and his Undaunted discount is perfect for your next deck.
Each time you attack with Durnan you may exile a creature off the top, but you’re not forced to cast the creature right away, making
However, since this all stems from your ability to attack with Durnan, we’ll protect him with the Agent of the Shadow Thieves. While Agent of the Shadow Thieves' protection only comes from attacking the opponent with the most life, it doesn’t matter if they block since we only care about the attack trigger.
While there are too many great cards to list, and you can take this strategy in a multitude of ways, some of my inclusions are
| Durnan of the Yawning Portal | ||
| Durnan of the Yawning Portal (Extended Art) | ||
| Agent of the Shadow Thieves | ||
| Agent of the Shadow Thieves (Etched Foil) |
Bruse Tarl, Boorish Herder // Tana, the Bloodsower
Bruse Tarl, Boorish Herder is a fairly popular partner commander for offering both lifelink and double strike on attack. However, an overlooked pairing with multiple different strategies is with Tana, the Bloodsower.
We can easily add ways to buff Tana’s power and toughness through counters, Auras, and Equipment, leaving us with a deadly commander that can have doublestrike, lifelink, and trample if we attack with Bruse or cast him prior to combat.
With some early ramp spells to get our commanders out early, we can not only use that extra life to keep our life total safe, but we can also use it to continue our strategy with cards like
There are a ton of different directions you can take this deck, and it is by far one of the strongest you can build from this list simply due to how much value it can create per attack.
| Bruse Tarl, Boorish Herder | ||
| Bruse Tarl, Boorish Herder (Foil Etched) | ||
| Tana, the Bloodsower | ||
| Tana, the Bloodsower (Foil Etched) |
Gorm the Great // Virtus the Veiled
In 2018,
The plan is to fill the deck with evasion and deal damage with Virtus. Then, throw in
If your plans are stopped through board wipes and targeted removal, you're in Golgari, and you’ll either have enough mana to recast your commanders, or have easy access to recursion spells to keep your plans alive. While Virtus the Veiled has an average market price of $7.55, you can find copies on TCGPlayer for around $5.
| Gorm the Great | ||
| Virtus the Veiled |
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Further Reading
Kaspar Renken
Kaspar Renken is a graduate of Western Connecticut State University, and has been playing Magic since War of the Spark. He began playing Standard for a short time before finding EDH and the friendships that come from multiplayer formats. When he’s not playing or building decks, he can probably be found working on his Mustang.
