Commander Overview
When the Avatar, the Last Airbender set was spoiled, I was most excited to see what Wizards had in store for The Blue Spirit. In the show, the Blue Spirit is a fleeting character, appearing in a handful of early episodes, and in the Jumpstart set, he got a single card.
I’m not going to lie, I was a bit underwhelmed with The Blue Spirit initially, but after building this deck, I realized how fun it could be. His ability suits the bounce/combat trick strategy very well, and also remains true to the vibe of the character.
This deck isn’t super powerful, but it makes use of some fun blue creatures with cool ETB effects. If you want a mono blue deck that’s not about artifacts or countermagic, this deck is for you.
Commander Matchmaking System
The average current preconstructed deck.
- No Mass Land Denial
- No Chaining Extra Turns
- No 2-Card Infinite Combos
- No Game Changers
- Few Tutors
How to Play the Deck
This deck is very much a “wait for everyone else to do stuff” kind of deck. We’re looking to manipulate the table by drawing a card on our turn, playing a land, and passing. Leaving our mana up is threatening, and can make other players reconsider their positions. But, they’re almost never expecting you to flash out Dungeon Geists or Smirking Spelljacker.
Playing mono blue will automatically put you in the spotlight when another player becomes a problem. You’re expected to have countermagic in hand and mana to play it. Voicing early that your deck runs only 1 or 2 counterspells can help temper expectations, and put the other players to work for you. You’re not lying here, it’s technically true. We want to move away from the “policing” mindset, and more into the “chaos for my benefit” mindset. You shouldn’t feel bad about countering spells, but don’t let the table bully you into using your interaction unless there’s no possible way out.
Even though The Blue Spirit is in blue, this build functions a bit like a red chaos deck, so lean into those strengths.
Synergy’s in the deck
The deck doesn’t really have a lot of synergies, per se. It’s cohesive and works toward drastically changing the board state, but if you’re looking for a combo deck, this isn’t it.
That being said, cards like As Foretold slot into our gameplan nicely, allowing us to rack up counters to cast creatures for free with flash because of The Blue Spirit. The clone effects on Clone, Naga Fleshcrafter, and Faerie Artisans let you capitalize on the creatures your opponents are playing, so you don’t have to worry about developing a strict gameplan. This deck is very “go with the flow”, as you’ll come to see.
Phases of the Game
Early-Game – We’re looking to have a cost reducer or a mana rock in our opening hand. This will let us get The Blue Spirit out early, opening the route to shenanigans. Harrier Strix and Falcon Abomination are good early-game plays if you need blockers.
Mid-Game – We should have a few value pieces that let us draw cards, like Silent Hallcreeper and Wavebreak Hippocamp. Playing around what your opponents are doing is best in this stage, sitting back and waiting for the opportune moment to flash in a threat or bounce stuff back to hand.
Late-Game – In the late game, we should have a good number of creatures in play and a few tricks up our sleeves. Mass removal like Scourge of Fleets or Inundate can set us up for a win via combat, or we can kill off players using cards like Portal Mage.
Card Breakdowns
Ramp
Ramp isn’t one of blue’s strong suits, but we make due with what we can. We have mana rocks like Sol Ring and Bender’s Waterskin to help us make sure we have mana to cast creatures on opponent’s turns. Silver Myr is a blue manadork you can play early, too.
Since we don’t have a lot of ways to ramp, discounting our spells works just as well. Cloud Key, Kefnet’s Monument, and Naiad of Hidden Coves all help us cast spells for cheap.
In the late game, we also have access to Defiler of Dreams to leverage our life total for mana, and High Tide is an obvious auto-include as well.
Card Draw/Card Advantage
Card draw is pretty easy in this deck. The commander offers a card draw source in the mid-to-late game, and there are quite a few ways to draw cards in bursts. Brainstorm, Ponder, and Keep Watch are good early-to-mid game card draw.
The Unagi of Kyoshi Island and Nezahal, Primal Tide offer consistent card draw without having to do much, while Wavebreak Hippocamp rewards you for casting spells on other people’s turns.
Waterbending Scroll is a cool one, offering a cheap, or even free, card by turn 6. If you have a way to untap it, it can draw you cards more than once per turn, too.
Removal
Most of our removal isn’t of the “destroy creature” variety. The deck bounces permanents really well, so using cards like Snap, Boomerang Basics, and Into the Flood Maw to create windows for yourself is the best blue can offer for removal. If you’re in need of something a bit more permanent, Eaten by Piranhas or Honest Work can lock down a commander or a combo creature.
Protection
Our protection is countermagic. We don’t have a lot of it, because the gameplan is mainly playing creatures with flash to manipulate combat. But, when the Gruul player gets mad that you’re bouncing their dinosaurs, you can make them even more angry with Counterspell, Rewind, and Negate.
Utility / Support
This deck does a lot of things. We have creatures that exile stuff to cast it for free later, we have Cyclonic Rifts on creatures, we have clone effects, and we have some stax pieces. I imagine that depending on your playgroup, some cards will be game changers, while others will fall a bit short.
Unstoppable Plan is like our Seedborn Muse, letting us swing out on our turn, have blockers for other attacks, and give us the mana to throw down big threats with flash during other people’s combats.
There are two interesting cards in the deck that I’d suggest cutting if you’re trying to hone in on a different set of effects, and they are Academy Loremaster and Starfield Vocalist. Loremaster is a stax piece on a budget, letting players draw cards, but punishing them by making their spells cost 2 more to cast. In the early game, this can be a tantalizing offer, and often leads opponents into overthinking it. The Vocalist can double up triggers for The Blue Spirit allowing us to draw 2 cards when we cast creatures during combat. But, while these cards present some value, they aren’t as powerful as they could be in this deck.
My vision is that once you’ve decided what kinds of effects in The Blue Spirit make an impact for you, you can tune it up to be more effective along that route.
Mana Base
This deck runs thirty basic islands as well as Ghost Quarter, to help knock out problem lands. Rivendell and Agna Qel’a are last minute utility if we have nothing else to do.
Win Conditions
There are a few ways we can attempt to win the game. Using mass tap-down or bounce effects like Tempest Caller or Inundate can help us knock out players with combat damage. There are a few clone effects in the deck, so being able to make copies of powerful creatures before you bounce them makes for some funny interactions.
We can also throw the trajectory of the game by making other people knock out players. Cards like Illusionist’s Gambit, Portal Mage, and Misleading Signpost can spell doom for an unprepared player, leaving us a window to go for a win.
Secret of Waterbending is also a solid card for ending the game. Being able to control another player’s combat (especially when we are a combat tricks deck) can set you up for a win.
Strengths of the Deck
Dealing with large boardstates.
Keeping opponents guessing by playing weird creatures and flashing out threats.
Weaknesses of the Deck
Can’t really end the game in a burst, it’s more of a mid-range grind.
Our commander is important for the gameplan, so he’s often a target.
Deck Upgrades
This deck is only around $100, so a few value improvements will go a long way.
Value Improvements
Diversifying the mana base a bit gives us some more utility. Command Beacon is pretty powerful if The Blue Spirit has been targeted multiple times.
Mystic Remora should get us more card draw in the early game while people are playing mana rocks.
Teferi is cool because he gives us a bit of a stax piece, but Vedalken Orrey lets us cast anything as though it has flash.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, The Blue Spirit is a fun addition to the blue-commander lineup. It offers a path for combat shenanigans outside of the typical archetypes blue usually sets up. With a few minor additions, you can speed up pace of play and make it a bit more reliable. With a healthier budget and investment in Rhystic Study and other staples, you could narrow down what type of gameplan you’re interested in pursuing and make a statement at your LGS.