Anafenza's Command

1v1 Commander* Aggro BGW (Abzan, Junk) Counters Discard Hatebears Land Destruction

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Land (40)

• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Bayou
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Blooming Marsh
• 1x Brushland
• 1x Cavern of Souls
• 1x Caves of Koilos
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Dryad Arbor
• 1x Dust Bowl
• 1x Fetid Heath
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 2x Forest
• 1x Gavony Township
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x Horizon Canopy
• 1x Isolated Chapel
• 1x Llanowar Wastes
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Misty Rainforest
• 1x Overgrown Tomb
• 1x Plains
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Savannah
• 1x Scattered Groves
• 1x Scrubland
• 1x Shizo, Death's Storehouse
• 1x Sunpetal Grove
• 1x Swamp
• 1x Temple Garden
• 1x Temple of the False God
• 1x Twilight Mire
• 1x Vault of the Archangel
• 1x Verdant Catacombs
• 1x Wasteland
• 1x Windswept Heath
• 1x Wooded Bastion
• 1x Wooded Foothills
• 1x Woodland Cemetery

Creature (25)

• 1x Avacyn's Pilgrim
• 1x Birds of Paradise
• 1x Brain Maggot
• 1x Dark Confidant
• 1x Deathrite Shaman
• 1x Drana, Liberator of Malakir
• 1x Elves of Deep Shadow
• 1x Elvish Mystic
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Fyndhorn Elves
• 1x Gaddock Teeg
• 1x Grim Flayer
• 1x Kitesail Freebooter
• 1x Linvala, Keeper of Silence
• 1x Llanowar Elves
• 1x Mesmeric Fiend
• 1x Mother of Runes
• 1x Ramunap Excavator
• 1x Scavenging Ooze
• 1x Stoneforge Mystic
• 1x Tidehollow Sculler
• 1x Tireless Tracker
• 1x Ulvenwald Tracker
• 1x Walking Ballista
• 1x Winding Constrictor

Artifact (9)

• 1x Chrome Mox
• 1x Crucible of Worlds
• 1x Damping Sphere
• 1x Smuggler's Copter
• 1x Sword of Feast and Famine
• 1x Sword of Light and Shadow
• 1x Tangle Wire
• 1x Umezawa's Jitte
• 1x Winter Orb

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Liliana of the Veil

Commander (1)

Sorcery (15)

• 1x Armageddon
• 1x Castigate
• 1x Cataclysm
• 1x Council's Judgment
• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Green Sun's Zenith
• 1x Hymn to Tourach
• 1x Inquisition of Kozilek
• 1x Life from the Loam
• 1x Lingering Souls
• 1x Maelstrom Pulse
• 1x Ravages of War
• 1x Sinkhole
• 1x Thoughtseize
• 1x Vindicate

Enchantment (6)

• 1x Bitterblossom
• 1x Curse of Predation
• 1x Hardened Scales
• 1x Mirri's Guile
• 1x Phyrexian Arena
• 1x Sylvan Library

Instant (3)

• 1x Abrupt Decay
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Zealous Persecution

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Maybeboard

Creature (5)

• 1x Lotleth Troll
• 1x Qasali Pridemage
• 1x Reyhan, Last of the Abzan
• 1x Rishkar, Peema Renegade
• 1x Sin Collector

Sorcery (3)

• 1x Cabal Therapy
• 1x Distress
• 1x Duress

Land (3)

• 1x Ash Barrens
• 1x Opal Palace
• 1x Shambling Vent

Instant (3)

• 1x Dromoka's Command
• 1x Savage Summoning
• 1x Teferi's Protection

Artifact (2)

• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Mishra's Bauble

Enchantment (3)

• 1x Abzan Ascendancy
• 1x Dark Tutelage
• 1x Squandered Resources

Planeswalker (2)

• 1x Elspeth, Knight-Errant
• 1x Nissa, Voice of Zendikar

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tl;dr Apply pressure while gaining early board state with dorks, tempo, disruption, removal, and good stuff.

You may be asking yourself "why should I play this deck?" Are you the type of player that hates interacting with the opponent while assembling nigh unstoppable top-heavy monstrosities or infinite combos by turn three? Then this deck is not for you.

Are you the type of player that aspires for a bottomless bag-of-holding, paradoxically filed to the brim with monkey wrenches? Do you revel in the look on your opponent's face as you slowly beat them down with a 1/2 Birds of Paradise and a 4/4 Mother of Runes wielding a Sword of Light and Shadow while every land in sight is in the graveyard? Do you love mana dorks, yet hate cards with a converted mana cost greater than 4? Welcome home.

First, let us examine the Commander.

Anafenza, the Foremost is a 4/4 for a converted mana cost of three, so victory via commander damage isn't out of the question. She is the flagship legendary to identify the three-color 'shard' of Abzan, Black , and it's two enemies White and Green ; these colors had come to be called 'Junk' prior to 'Abzan,' for its characteristic of having available in its pool of cards many that are very resilient and good on their own, without other cards to prop them up, respectively known as 'good stuff.'

"Whenever Anafenza, the Foremost attacks, put a +1/+1 counter on another target tapped creature you control."

Anafenza rewards her followers with a blessing of dragon scale to bolster their strength against your enemies. Note that the creatures need not have attacked to receive the counter; mana dorks or utility creatures with a ability qualify them for augmentation during combat. Now they can fuel the early game while growing until they have become large enough to contribute more meaningfully in the mid-to-late game, or outrun opponents in games of attrition.

"If a creature card would be put into an opponent's graveyard from anywhere, exile it instead."

Anafenza leads the Abzan to flourish on an unforgiving plane by scavenging resources anywhere they may find it, and in doing so, they leave nothing to waste, including their opponent's graveyards. This objectively isn't a win condition in the deck, but it can cripple many other strategies in the format, and is an extremely effective silver bullet for many keywords and primary mechanics of the game, including negating any triggers that result at time of death. This is a replacement effect, meaning the game will never see an opponent's creature enter the grave, instead being exiled right away. I can't stress enough how unexpectedly fruitful this ability can be.

"Rarely at rest on the Amber Throne, Anafenza always leads the Abzan Houses to battle."

Anafenza was the spearhead to the Abzan's every offensive campaign, an invaluable soldier in an ancient war. No one of her attributes alone makes her exemplary, but combined they are a remarkable combination of aggression, disruption, and advantage.

The deck runs a relatively low curve with many turn one plays resulting in three mana on turn two. This allows Anafenza to swing on turn three, buffing any of our mana dorks or resourceful low curve creatures. Anafenza swells a rabble of weenies into a formidable army in quick time, and she is in no short supply of friends to establish presence in the early and mid games. The main themes of the deck are '+1/+1' counters matter, hand disruption, spot removal, and land destruction. The deck only needs a couple non-land permanents in play to grow out of control, and it recovers well from global land destruction, so the general game plan is to stick a dork, plant Anafenza, disrupt opponents' hands and tempo, remove all lands as soon as we've stabilized, then ride our Commander to victory. Because of the low average CMC of the deck, there aren't a lot of 'bombs,' short of land destruction or Curse of Predation.

Individual Card Explanations (under construction May 1 2018)

Three mana on turn two:

• Avacyn's Pilgrim, Birds of Paradise, Elves of Deep Shadow, Elvish Mystic, Fyndhorn Elves, and Llanowar Elves all seek the same end, which is to come down on turn one and fuel a turn two Anafenza. They also have bodies, so they're also a clock to close the game.

• Deathrite Shaman Only works assuming you or an opponent use a fetch land on turn one.

• Chrome Mox Usually used for turn two Anafenza, I've also used it for a turn one Hymn to Tourach or Sinkhole with great effect.

• Green Sun's Zenith Choose for and tutor for Dryad Arbor on turn one if another dork isn't available. Later on it finds answers to misc problems, and because it shuffles itself back into your library, it is basically every green green creature your deck has to offer at once.

Hand disruption:

• Brain Maggot While not as powerful as Mesmeric Fiend due to the full effect being one paragraph, and potentially a greater liability due to multiple card subtypes, Brain Maggot is still hand disruption on a clock and well worthy of a place in this deck.

• Kitesail Freebooter Hand disruption with a big-booty and evasion, Freebooter was one of my favorite things to come out of Ixalan. She is good enough for Modern, and great here as well.

• Mesmeric Fiend If you can blink or sacrifice Fiend with the ETB trigger on the stack, it is possible to exile a card without the pesky stipulation of having to return it, ala the Oblivion Ring trick.

• Tidehollow Sculler This is a beefier Mesmeric Fiend with a bonus subtype, and is capable of the same stack tricks.

• Castigate Nukes any one nonland thing, or at least lets us peek at someone's hand.

• Hymn to Tourach Note random and lack of nonland on this card; it can be enough to drive a person mad.

• Inquisition of Kozilek Baby Thoughtseize typically nips a combo piece or removal, but at a minimum it peeks at a hand.

• Thoughtseize Turn one Thoughtseize can assure a win all on its own.

• Sword of Feast and Famine Untapping lands and forcing a discard every turn is devastating in tempo; protection from and are huge, too.

• Liliana of the Veil Tempo incarnate.

Card sorting and advantage:

• Dark Confidant Card advantage on a clock, Bob has had a presence in every format he has been legal in since his inception. This deck runs a relatively low curve, unlike most commander decks, so he is more viable here than one would think.

• Grim Flayer Even without delirium, set a counter or two on this lil' guy and he'll can get the top of our library sorted right out. Combine with fetch lands or tutors to shuffle away what we don't need at the moment.

• Ramunap Excavator Replay fetches, or use post Armageddon for card advantage or to restabilize.

• Stoneforge Mystic This deck only has three targets to tutor for, but Sword of Feast and Famine, Sword of Light and Shadow, and Umezawa's Jitte can close a game out if used appropriately. She even gets around counterspells, should that be a concern.

• Tireless Tracker Tracker would be better if we had an alternative way to sacrifice the clues short of investigating, but card advantage and a 3/2 that buffs itself with counters has a welcome place in this deck. The human subtype can be relevant with Cavern of Souls and Anafenza.

• Bitterblossom 'Free' faeries for days, whoa. Welcome to evasive chump town.

• Mirri's Guile Card sorting that is extra effective when combined with tutors/shuffling, of which this deck has a significant amount.

• Phyrexian Arena One extra card per turn means we have double the resources of our opponent at our disposal.

• Sylvan Library Card advantage when we can afford to pay the life, and card sorting when we don't want to. Combine with fetches or tutors to reshuffle away unwanted chaff for maximum effect.

• Demonic Tutor You know what would really rustle some jimmies right about now? That one card you haven't drawn yet, but you wish you had. For only , you just did.

• Green Sun's Zenith Choose for and tutor for Dryad Arbor on turn one if another dork isn't available. Later on it finds answers to misc problems, and because it shuffles itself back into your library, it is basically every green green creature your deck has to offer at once.

• Life from the Loam Replay fetches, or use post Armageddon for card advantage or to restabilize.

• Lingering Souls One card = four creatures. Nuff' said.

• Crucible of Worlds Replay fetches, or use post Armageddon for card advantage or to restabilize.

• Smuggler's Copter

• Sword of Light and Shadow

Removal:

• Wasteland

• Ulvenwald Tracker Anafenza loves to fight, and our other creatures can get large enough to win a scuffle fairly early, so this little bit of repeatable removal can keep opponents' fields clear.

• Walking Ballista

• Abrupt Decay

• Swords to Plowshares Allowing an opponent to gain a little life in exchange for removing any pain in our side is an easy choice to make. Note the deck does not, however, run Path to Exile, because while a little life isn't a significant drawback, the extra one mana per turn can easily be enough to undo us.

• Zealous Persecution One of the few instants of the deck, this card can dramatically change combat in your favor, clear a board riddled with X/1 tokens and mana dorks, or squeak a win with our own dorks.

• Cataclysm Sometimes when everything seems like it is going wrong, it is nice to have an equalizer; Cataclysm can't force your opponent to choose any particular problematic permanent, but it clears everything but their very best, and in most situations we'll win the race back to a stable board state.

• Council's Judgment Did you draw removal, but not for the permanent that is giving you fits? Hexproof got you down? This is your silver bullet.

• Maelstrom Pulse "Goblins hate him! Saprolings want to be him! Click here to learn one secret tokens don't want you to know!"

• Sinkhole Sometimes quick land removal will throw an opponent off tempo enough to overtake them from turn 1-2. Between turn one discard and turn two land destruction, some games end before they feel like they've begun.

• Vindicate Always at least land removal, often more. Vindicate opens doors.

• Umezawa's Jitte Jitta is a little knife with lots of options, and usually by the time something carries this into combat, the game is already chosen.

• Liliana of the Veil Lili is the antithesis of tempo. There is a reason she is as popular as she is.

+1/+1 counters:

• Gavony Township This land breaks games of attrition in a big way. Placing one or more counters across our board for tapping five lands is a powerful tool.

• Drana, Liberator of Malakir Drana's first strike means our army gets their counters prior to standard combat damage being calculated. She doesn't impact the board right away, but if she isn't answered in a turn or two she can close the game.

• Scavenging Ooze Graveyard hate, life gain, and a self supplying cache of counters means Scooze more than pulls its weight.

• Tireless Tracker Tracker would be better if we had an alternative way to sacrifice the clues short of investigating, but card advantage and a 3/2 that buffs itself with counters has a welcome place in this deck. The human subtype can be relevant with Cavern of Souls and Anafenza.

• Walking Ballista While not part of an infinite combo in this deck, Walking Ballista is an excellent place to dump and propagate our +1/+1 counters for later use.

• Winding Constrictor More counters equals more better.

• Curse of Predation More counters equals more better.

• Hardened Scales More counters equals more better.

Honorable mentions and misc:

• Gaddock Teeg Very few of our spells have a CMC equal to or greater than 4, and only one has in its cost (Green Sun's Zenith). It has little drawback, and protects our field from a wide variety of sweepers.

• Linvala, Keeper of Silence Activated abilities are a big part of Commander, and those of creatures are even more so; this fairly priced angel cripples many decks, and has a decent body with evasion to boot.

• Mother of Runes A one drop that can protect any of our other creatures or slip one of them through combat, board state allowing. It is especially effective against mono colored decks.

Any feedback is welcomed, especially any combos, synergies, or singles I've overlooked; I'm sure there are many combinations from sets new and old I've never considered or am unaware of.

A note about format and legality.

I listed the deck as Commander 1v1 because locally we used to play the French rules and banned list, but when it got turbulent with bannings and rule changes a while back, people quit playing. I still prefer 1v1 when possible, but the locals don't follow any banned list that they're aware of, instead playing anything that sounds fun. To my knowledge no one is doing anything particularly degenerate, but generally assume games will begin with players at 40 life ala multiplayer commander.

Date added	8 years
Last updated	6 years
Legality	This deck is 1v1 Commander legal.
Rarity (main - side)	14 - 0 Mythic Rares 62 - 0 Rares 13 - 0 Uncommons 7 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.08
Tokens	Clue, Faerie Rogue 1/1 B, Spirit 1/1 W
Folders	Decks I Own