Ain't Nothin' but a Hound Dog

Commander / EDH Aggro Artifact Exalted Hatebears Mono-White Voltron

EmergencyDogRelease

Creature (29)

• 1x Admonition Angel
• 1x Angel of Serenity
• 1x Angel of the Dire Hour
• 1x Angelic Arbiter
• 1x Angelic Skirmisher
• 1x Argivian Archaeologist
• 1x Avacyn, Angel of Hope
• 1x Aven Mindcensor
• 1x Bastion Protector
• 1x Battlegrace Angel
• 1x Blazing Archon
• 1x Burnished Hart
• 1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
• 1x Emeria Shepherd
• 1x Fountain Watch
• 1x Grand Abolisher
• 1x Indomitable Archangel
• 1x Karmic Guide
• 1x Leonin Abunas
• 1x Linvala, Keeper of Silence
• 1x Puresteel Paladin
• 1x Rune-Tail, Kitsune Ascendant  ^Flip
• 1x Silent Arbiter
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Stoneforge Mystic
• 1x Stonehewer Giant
• 1x Sublime Archangel
• 1x Sun Titan
• 1x Weathered Wayfarer

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Elspeth, Knight-Errant

Artifact (22)

• 1x Argentum Armor
• 1x Basilisk Collar
• 1x Caged Sun
• 1x Champion's Helm
• 1x Darksteel Plate
• 1x Diviner's Wand
• 1x Extraplanar Lens
• 1x Fireshrieker
• 1x Gauntlet of Power
• 1x Inquisitor's Flail
• 1x Loxodon Warhammer
• 1x Masterwork of Ingenuity
• 1x Planar Portal
• 1x Sculpting Steel
• 1x Staff of Nin
• 1x Sword of Feast and Famine
• 1x Sword of Fire and Ice
• 1x Sword of Light and Shadow
• 1x Sword of the Animist
• 1x Sword of Vengeance
• 1x Sword of War and Peace
• 1x Umezawa's Jitte

Sorcery (5)

• 1x Council's Judgment
• 1x Declaration in Stone
• 1x Open the Armory
• 1x Refurbish
• 1x Steelshaper's Gift

Instant (4)

• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Rebuff the Wicked
• 1x Swords to Plowshares

Commander (1)

Land (34)

• 1x Ancient Den
• 1x Buried Ruin
• 1x Cathedral of War
• 1x Darksteel Citadel
• 1x Emeria, the Sky Ruin
• 1x High Market
• 1x Inventors' Fair
• 1x Maze of Ith
• 1x Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
• 1x Mistveil Plains
• 1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 20x Snow-Covered Plains
• 1x Thawing Glaciers
• 1x Thespian's Stage

Enchantment (4)

• 1x Aura of Silence
• 1x Eldrazi Conscription
• 1x Land Tax
• 1x True Conviction

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Sideboard

Creature (5)

• 1x Aegis of the Gods
• 1x Eight-and-a-Half-Tails
• 1x Hushwing Gryff
• 1x Kemba, Kha Regent
• 1x Phyrexian Revoker

Artifact (2)

• 1x Darksteel Forge
• 1x Farsight Mask

Instant (1)

• 1x Pull from Eternity

Sorcery (2)

• 1x Hallowed Burial
• 1x Mass Calcify

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Bark bark!

The first EDH deck I ever built! It was originally Kemba, Kha Regent, and some of that original idea still persists. This version of Isamaru, Hound of Konda is an unstable and aggressive deck designed for the singular purpose of attacking solo with Isamaru and winning via Commander Damage. To win, the deck must continue to burn brightly, otherwise it tends to start falling apart.

I've made a lot of changes to try to incorporate some defense because continuous play with old versions of the deck showed a strong early-game and a powerful late-game, but absolutely no middle to speak of. Hitting the middle, you need to find a way to survive until Isamaru grows into an unstoppable barking thing and smashes everyone to tiny bits. Isamaru has a solid supporting cast with a small Exalted suite. He also has plenty of chew toys, most notably a compliment of the Swords of X and Y (minus Sword of Body and Mind because it's just not very good). The whole armory is great; you really can't go wrong equipping anything on the list. Of course, nothing quite compares to enchanting Isamaru with Eldrazi Conscription and having your very own Elder Doge.

To help the survivability issue, I added some bottleneck effects in the form of things like Silent Arbiter and Angelic Arbiter . I also added a whole bunch of mono-white or colorless hatebears to shut down opponent strategies during the mid-game: Aven Mindcensor, Linvala, Keeper of Silence, and their ilk. A few of the usual suspects (like Leonin Arbiter and Thalia, Guardian of Thraben) are missing because I found they inconvenienced Isamaru more than his opponents. If you draw one, hold on to it until you need it to stop an opponent strategy; there's no point in drawing unwanted aggression just because you got overzealous with your bears.

A lot of the better creatures have fairly high mana costs, and everyone knows you can never have too much mana, so there's mana doubling with Extraplanar Lens and Caged Sun. Snow-Covered Plains are used in place of regular Plains to make sure the Lens is helping your opponents as little as possible. Land Tax and Weathered Wayfarer help by providing steady land flow. There's also solid equipment fetch using Steelshaper's Gift, Stoneforge Mystic, and Stonehewer Giant with tutoring more generally in Enlightened Tutor and Planar Portal. Don't discount the latter; while it may be abysmally slow, having access to any card in your deck in mono-white is a Godsend. Getting out a Portal has sometimes been the difference between achieving a spectacular victory instead of suffering a crippling defeat.

And, of course, should something go horribly wrong, there's a good amount of recursion in cards like Reveillark and Karmic Guide for creatures, Argivian Archaeologist and Buried Ruin for artifacts, and Emeria Shepherd and Sun Titan for anything you may have lost along the way. Though, with protections like Fountain Watch, Rune-Tail, Kitsune Ascendant, and Avacyn, Angel of Hope, hopefully the losses are minimal.

With all the tools at your disposal, the idea is relatively simple. Release the dog on round one (it's an emergency, after all), then start supporting him and attack, attack, attack. Attack as much as you can. Of course, don't go sending the poor thing on suicide missions; if you can't get through, then don't try. Play smart. Sometimes going on the defensive isn't a bad thing! Wait for the opening to appear, or wait for your hound to become ridiculous enough to make his own.

All said, the deck has always been extremely fun to play. It's a wild experience of needing to keep up the pressure or perform some kind of spectacular turnabout. Also, there's something vindicating about not caring about your opponents' life totals while you beat them into submission with a giant monster dog.

Plus, barking is fun.

Bark bark bark bark!!

Comments and suggestions are welcome and +1's are always appreciated. That said, if you make a suggestion for something to put in, please also suggest something to take out. Thank you for taking the time to check out this list!

Date added	10 years
Last updated	7 years
Exclude colors	UBRG
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	15 - 1 Mythic Rares 48 - 6 Rares 16 - 3 Uncommons 1 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.76
Tokens	Cat 2/2 W, Clue, Emblem Elspeth, Knight-Errant, Soldier 1/1 W
Folders	EDH, Decks I like the idea of, play me, Cool Decks, EDH Deck Ideas, remember these, Other People, Funsies, Doggie