After getting back into the game for about half a year, I was in the market for a new commander. I had already built 5 other decks and was itching to build another. Turns out that my favorite part of the whole game was the idea of deck building. But I was having issues finding a commander that would get me excited to start drafting deck lists. With the recent sets and with recommendations here and there, nothing was catching my attention at game stores or on the internet. The last deck I had built was my Aragorn, the Uniter deck. That deck alone had given me this creative spark that had made that deck one of my new favorites in my roster. On a random Saturday in October, I had been given a pack from my friend on my birthday. It was a Modern Horizons 3 pack, and I was excited to see what was inside. It’s a great set with a great list of cards, and it did not disappoint. I had pulled a Sapphire Medallion as well a my next commander, The Necrobloom. 

The majority of the colors were in my comfort zone, green and black. A majority of my decks have the color black in t,hem and I have two commanders in the golgari pairing. I also really liked the creepy atmosphere of the card, which goes really well with the sort of theme that’s been done on in most of my decks, except for Aragorn, of course. And the landfall mechanic from the card has been my favorite thing to work with; my previous experience came from the Gitrog Monster. So with all of this and just a splash of white, I think this was a perfect match. 

If there is one thing I’d like to make known is that I am not the best player known to magic. This blog and everything in it is just my experience as a member of a growing community of players. I am growing accustomed to deck building and how games are played and run. While thinking about my new upcoming commander, mana curves and opening games came to mind. I have thought a lot about how I want my board to look and what I hope to achieve by the end of the game. However, to get to the end, you have to have a good, strong beginning. There was an idea that I had in mind, it was the kind that would help set the scene and grant me a good advantage with my commander.

It was the dredge ability that got me pondering about the opening game. The Necrobloom grants Dredge 2 to all land cards in the graveyard when it’s in play, so when in play, I want to ensure that I can really get the most use out of that ability. Within turns 3-4, there should be a few lands that I am able to dredge for during the mid-game that can really change things. To get those results, I need a few cards that fall at the beginning of the curve, and allow me to either self-mill a few times or at least search for some cards and then discard them. 

I believe that these kinds of cards should fall at the start of the bell curve, cards like Glowspore Shaman, which mills my cards and is black and a green, do this perfectly. Another example is Malevolent Rumble, it’s one generic and green, cheap, and allows me to reveal the top four of my library and put any permanent card I want into my hand. The rest are then put into the graveyard for me to dredge later on. These sorts of cards should make up a good part of my deck, while cards that work with my graveyard and hit hard with graveyard synergy should be played later, which helps justify high mana costs. 

Now I do have those tokens in mind that are generated by The Necrombloom. Of course, the same principle applies when it comes to getting the most out of the tokens. So things that can sac tokens or could get good triggers off of the tokens dying should fall at the beginning of the curve and be expected to be played in the beginning. 

This is how I’ve been thinking about the start of these game. I believe it is important to try and build a strong foundation for your commander for when they are put into the battlefield. Which goes hand in hand with the mana curve and strategy.