Welcome back to Breaking Commander, an article series in which we break Commander in the swiftest way possible to ensure it is never played competitively for prizes and, if it is, you’re the one winning those prizes. Over the next couple weeks, we’re doing a Shadows over Innistrad theme to promote the new set.

Shadows over Innistrad Legends

So far, there have been only a few legendary creatures revealed in Shadows over Innistrad. We have the following to choose from in order to make the most competitive deck we can:

• Archangel Avacyn // Avacyn, the Purifier
• Odric, Lunarch Marshal
• Olivia, Mobilized for War
• Sigarda, Heron’s Grace

Unfortunately, these colors (R/W, mono-white, B/G, and G/W) do not really lend themselves to the most busted multiplayer Commander deck you can possibly build. So the goal here is to build the best deck you can in one of these colors. It may not stand up to Hermit Druid or Ad Nauseam, but the idea is to hang in a competitive environment while also using a new Commander. So here goes.

Olivia, Mobilized for War

The idea here is to use the new Olivia with the best Vampire tribal effects and cards like Aether Vial to power out Vampires on your and your opponents’ turns, all with haste and counters on them.

This deck also contains a combo: Vampire Hexmage or Thief of Blood with Dark Depths. Get it going early enough, and the large, flying, indestructible creature will be difficult for opponents to deal with. Thief of Blood also has the added benefit of draining all the counters from everything on the board, which can seriously mess with opponents’ plans.

Olivia Vampires ? Commander | Steve Horton

• Commander (0)

• Creatures (32)
• 1 Big Game Hunter
• 1 Blood Artist
• 1 Blood Seeker
• 1 Bloodghast
• 1 Bloodline Keeper
• 1 Captivating Vampire
• 1 Drana, Liberator of Malakir
• 1 Driver of the Dead
• 1 Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch
• 1 Falkenrath Aristocrat
• 1 Falkenrath Gorger
• 1 Falkenrath Noble
• 1 Gatekeeper of Malakir
• 1 Grave Titan
• 1 Guul Draz Assassin
• 1 Heir of Falkenrath
• 1 Incorrigible Youths
• 1 Kalastria Highborn
• 1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
• 1 Liliana, Heretical Healer
• 1 Malakir Bloodwitch
• 1 Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
• 1 Mirri the Cursed
• 1 Phyrexian Obliterator
• 1 Rakish Heir
• 1 Stromkirk Captain
• 1 Stromkirk Noble
• 1 Thief of Blood
• 1 Thundermaw Hellkite
• 1 Vampire Hexmage
• 1 Vampire Nighthawk
• 1 Vampire Nocturnus

• Spells (26)
• 1 Aether Vial
• 1 Blade of the Bloodchief
• 1 Blightning
• 1 Blood Moon
• 1 Blood Tribute
• 1 Call to the Netherworld
• 1 Chaos Warp
• 1 Chrome Mox
• 1 Damnation
• 1 Dark Withering
• 1 Demonic Tutor
• 1 Doom Blade
• 1 Dreadbore
• 1 Feast of Blood
• 1 Kologhan's Command
• 1 Lightning Greaves
• 1 Rakdos Charm
• 1 Rakdos Signet
• 1 Rakdos's Return
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots
• 1 Terminate
• 1 Urge to Feed
• 1 Vampiric Fury
• 1 Victim of Night
• 1 Void

• Planeswalkers (3)
• 1 Chandra, Flamecaller
• 1 Liliana of the Veil
• 1 Ob Nixilis Reignited

• Lands (38)
• 1 Ancient Tomb
• 1 Arid Mesa
• 1 Badlands
• 1 Barbarian Ring
• 1 Blackcleave Cliffs
• 1 Blood Crypt
• 1 Bloodstained Mire
• 1 Cabal Pit
• 1 City of Traitors
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Dark Depths
• 1 Dragonskull Summit
• 1 Graven Cairns
• 1 Lavaclaw Reaches
• 1 Marsh Flats
• 1 Maze of Ith
• 2 Mountain
• 1 Polluted Delta
• 1 Rishadan Port
• 1 Rix Maadi, Dungeon palace
• 1 Scalding Tarn
• 1 Shadowblood Ridge
• 1 Shizo, Death's Storehouse
• 1 Sulfurous Springs
• 6 Swamp
• 1 Tainted Peak
• 1 Tectonic Edge
• 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1 Verdant Catacombs
• 1 Volrath's Stronghold
• 1 Wasteland
• 1 Wooded Foothills

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Archangel Avacyn // Avacyn the Purifier

Another deck idea is to use Archangel Avacyn in a Boros shell. Flash her in at the most opportune time to give your creatures indestructible; then, transform her later to sweep away problem creatures with low toughness. The deck has large utility creatures that need a lot of mana ramp to power out, hence all the mana rocks.

Finally, there is land destruction at the opportune time, which ensures you have a stable board presence and your opponents don’t. If something happens to your commander, there’s always Avacyn, Angel of Hope in the ninety-nine, which can work even better under the right circumstances.

Archangel Control ? Commander | Steve Horton

• Commander (0)

• Spells (46)
• 1 All Is Dust
• 1 Armageddon
• 1 Aura of Silence
• 1 Austere Command
• 1 Blasphemous Act
• 1 Blind Obedience
• 1 Boros Charm
• 1 Boros Cluestone
• 1 Boros Keyrune
• 1 Chromatic Lantern
• 1 Coldsteel Heart
• 1 Commander's Sphere
• 1 Condemn
• 1 Darksteel Ingot
• 1 Darksteel Mutation
• 1 Darksteel Plate
• 1 Day of Judgment
• 1 Decree of Annihilation
• 1 Dreamstone Hedron
• 1 End Hostilities
• 1 Everflowing Chalice
• 1 Fellwar Stone
• 1 Ghostly Prison
• 1 Gilded Lotus
• 1 Glaring Spotlight
• 1 Hedron Archive
• 1 Incendiary Command
• 1 Mana Crypt
• 1 Mana Vault
• 1 Mind Stone
• 1 Nevermore
• 1 Pearl Medallion
• 1 Price of Glory
• 1 Razia's Purification
• 1 Return to Dust
• 1 Ruby Medallion
• 1 Ruination
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Starstorm
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots
• 1 Sword of Feast and Famine
• 1 Swords to Plowshares
• 1 Thunder Totem
• 1 Tragic Arrogance
• 1 Wear // Tear
• 1 Wheel of Fortune

• Creatures (19)
• 1 Arbiter of Knollridge
• 1 Archangel of Tithes
• 1 Ashling the Pilgrim
• 1 Avacyn, Angel of Hope
• 1 Burnished Hart
• 1 Chancellor of the Annex
• 1 Detritivore
• 1 Duergar Hedge-Mage
• 1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
• 1 Grand Abolisher
• 1 Heartless Hidetsugu
• 1 Hokori, Dust Drinker
• 1 Hushwing Gryff
• 1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
• 1 Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs
• 1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
• 1 Weathered Wayfarer
• 1 Windborn Muse
• 1 World Queller

• Lands (34)
• 1 Arid Mesa
• 1 Battlefield Forge
• 1 Clifftop Retreat
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Hall of the Bandit Lord
• 10 Mountain
• 1 Needle Spires
• 10 Plains
• 1 Plateau
• 1 Rogue's Passage
• 1 Rugged Prairie
• 1 Sacred Foundry
• 1 Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep
• 1 Slayers' Stronghold
• 1 Strip Mine
• 1 Temple of Triumph

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