“I wield the sword to vanquish my enemies, nothing more. And now, our battle begins.”
Art:Joraga Auxiliary
by David Gaillet
Table of Contents
Today’s Featured Commander Is:
Joraga Auxiliary is a very sweet commander, I mean, who doesn’t love buffing up creatures? If you have been checking out our Pauper EDH deck techs for a while, you will know that I love buffs and counters, especially in Pauper EDH. Joraga Auxiliary is another example of an extremely awesome commander. Three mana to buff two creatures is a great rate and perfect in a deck that is full of payoffs. We are a full-on buff-focused deck, and our creatures become pretty great at both attacking and blocking quite quickly. If you love big creatures and big combats, this is certainly the deck for you. Without further adieu, let’s get it!
The Deck:
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Joraga Auxiliary Counters Pauper EDH!
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Why Joraga Auxiliary?
Joraga Auxiliary is an extremely strong commander who is a great piece of support for the deck, the only gripe I have is that they don’t do much if we are behind and certainly feel like more of a win-more commander when the getting is good, and we have a full board they are amazing, and the good keeps on coming but when behind can feel kind of bad. I do love being able to buff our creatures not only for the payoffs in the deck but also to make our board way better at attacking and blocking. It is extremely strong and a great way to close out games.
Deck Overview:
This section contains information about cards in the deck and how they function within the deck! I also highlighted some of my favorite cards in the deck!
Creatures:
Let’s talk about our payoffs; starting off, we have Duskshell Crawler
, which gives us a counter on a creature, and the trample it gives to our buffed creatures can be devastating. We also have Tuskguard Captain
, which is a redundant effect, but having a backup trample is always nice. Longshot Squad
is one of my favorites because flying and more evasive creatures are typically a weakness of Selesnya. Ainok Bond-Kin
makes us very hard in combat, first strike is pretty broken when you have a board full of huge creatures. Urban Daggertooth
is an extremely aggressive creature that we love to attack or block with because continuously triggering the proliferate can make the game end in just a few turns. Prowling Felidar
and Celebrity Fencer
are two amazing creatures because they gain a ton of buffs and make great attackers/blockers for something we commonly do, It is just very easy to make these extremely big. Supply Runners
is a great mass buff that can be game-ending if we use it on a full, already buffed-up board. Squad Captain
is another card that can get quite out of hand if we have a full board. Anointer of Valor
is a great way to use our extra mana to buff up a creature and having a defensive flying blocker is nice as well.
Instants:
Your Temple Is Under Attack
is an awesome way to make a friend and get some card draw or protect our board; whether it be mass removal or bad combat, the indestructible can be very handy. We also have Crib Swap
and Generous Gift
are great ways to take out opponents’ threats, and trading strong permanent or creatures with small tokens is absolutely a worthwhile trade for us. Unbounded Potential
is a great card that is not hard to entwine and proliferate, and getting the buff just furthers the gameplan.
Sorceries:
Since we are in Selesnya, mana ramp starts off our sorcery package with sweet cards like Kodama's Reach
and Cultivate
are great ways to get both of our colors established and get ahead on mana. We also have some big buffs like Silverflame Ritual
and Inspiring Roar
, which provides a buff for the entire board and makes our +1/+1 counter payoffs go crazy and apply to pretty much everything, with only a couple payoffs out it can truly become keyword soup. Courage in Crisis
is one of my favorite cards in the deck because it can be either a great way to get the buffs started, or if we have an established board, we can make it go very crazy.
Artifacts:
As always, let’s discuss the mana rocks; there is not too much to say about any of them besides Bonder's Ornament
, which is a great source of extra mana and card draw for the deck. Everything else is really nothing else, but extra mana for the deck. Armory of Iroas
is an amazing card that allows us to buff up a creature and make it better and better. We absolutely had to include Greatsword of Tyr
, which is arguably one of the best cards in the format that buffs a creature and taps down an opponent’s creature. I also included my personal favorite card in Wedding Invitation
, which is unblockable for a turn as well as a card draw for only two mana; this card really is the complete package.
Enchantments:
A +1/+1 counter deck can not be had without the staple Master Chef
, which buffs everything in the deck, and how can we say no to even more buffs? Oblivion Ring
and Journey to Nowhere
are great ways to remove opponents threats, but I love Captured by Lagacs
because we get to buff two creatures and stop an opponent from attacking or blocking, a wonderful combination of offense and defense on a card that only costs three. New Horizons
is a little bit expensive as far as mana ramp goes, but the extra counters can go a long way, and more buffs are always great. Our commander is a strong part of the deck, and Shield of the Oversoul
not only lets them be a more aggressive attacker but also gives them indestructible, which can be great against a variety of single-target removal in the format.
Land Base:
We have a pretty simple two-color landbase full of duals and, most importantly some card draw, Selesnya has long struggled with drawing cards and with cycling lands like Slippery Karst
and The Hunter Maze
they allow us to get some extra cards which can be strong in the mid-late game when we have a ton of mana hanging around and can empty our hand reliably even one or two sources of card draw off of lands can be strong at pretty much any stage of the game.
Strengths of the Deck:
- When we do have a board established, we are great at attacking and blocking.
- While we are a creature deck, we do have a few ways to take out opponent’s threats, and this can help make combat easier as well as put additional pressure on opponents.
- Throughout the landbase and the cards in the deck, we have a few strong sources of supplemental card draw, which helps address one of the biggest problems both green and white have in Commander.
Weaknesses of the Deck:
- We are generally weak to creature hate
- We can be a little slow to start the game if we don’t hit our mana dorks, this leaves us susceptible to taking some early damage from aggressive decks.
- If we lose our board or don’t have a strong board presence, our commander doesn’t really do much for us.
Deck Stats:
Sample Hands:
Main Win Conditions:
There are no infinite combos or loops in the deck; we have a ton of strong sources to buff up our creatures like our commander, as well as multiple sources in the deck that can provide buffs like Silverflame Ritual and Inspiring Roar. We are a combat deck through and through and win the game by attacking. Since we have buffs on a good majority of our creatures, we are also able to block quite well, and we are just quite strong in combat overall.
Conclusion:
Joraga Auxiliary is a very sweet commander from one of my favorite sets; if you have been following the site for awhile, you would see how many different Selesnya counters decks I’ve done for the site. Who doesn’t love buffing up and building a massive board of strong attackers/blockers? Just one of my favorite strategies in magic, and to have a commander who allows that buff to happen regularly is just the dream! I hope you enjoyed this one. Thanks for reading to the end and for all of your support!