Atla Palani, Nest Tender | Commander Spotlight | Magic: The Gathering | How to Build | Commander

Welcome to the Commander Spotlight series, where I give you my top 7 cards to include in your Atla Palani, Nest Tender commander deck!
Atla is an extremely fun and unique commander that hatches big and stompy creatures from tiny little egg tokens! If you want to play a commander that rarely plays the same way each game, this one is for you! This naya commander offers sacrifice strategies, cheating out big creatures, tense political situations, and so much more. THIS COMMANDER WILL HAVE EVERYONE ON THE EDGE OF THEIR SEAT TO SEE WHAT HATCHES!
Check out my $70 budget deck-list here:
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What commander would you like to get the spotlight next? Comment below.
My name is Jason Komm. I've been playing Magic: The Gathering for 3 years now and am absolutely in love/obsessed with the game. Having struggled through learning about this amazing hobby through forums, videos and other nerds at the card stores. I wanted to make a channel dedicated to the problems and areas of interest I've had the past 3 years. Just like you I love to talk about thee game, build decks, crack packs, and play commander with my friends! Leave me a comment if you have any questions, I would absolutely love to help! Enjoy!

[@ryanvm9728]

I don't think Atla's activated ability is doubled by Harmonic Prodigy since it says "triggers". It does, however, double Atla's triggered ability of when an Egg dies, so, close enough...

[@KommanderMTG]

You're right! Would I be a magic player if I didn't misread a card lol

[@raideroffridges6584]

Ohhhh I mean cough cough this is equally dirty

[@broadway.dough.namath]

So then, twins from 1 egg?

[@KommanderMTG]

@@broadway.dough.namath exactly lol

[@OwlBreaker]

@@broadway.dough.namath Imagine pulling two halves of a meld combo, like Gisela and Bruna out of the same egg sac.

[@KennethIHansen]

Nice little Easter EGG at the end ^^

[@KommanderMTG]

Nice! Lol

[@drawcia]

Your channel is criminally underrated! This was an awesome rundown. Commentary and suggestions were on point, and has me super excited to brew an atla deck

[@KommanderMTG]

Thank you so much, that really means a lot!

[@PrinnyMi]

Love the changeling interactions!

[@KommanderMTG]

Board wipe protection baby!

[@sebastianizaguirre7836]

>Equip Skullclamp to an egg >Egg die >Atla triggers and Skullclamp triggers >Draw cards first, then reveal from the top >Drawn Blightsteel Colossus and Zacama >Cry

[@KommanderMTG]

I feel this comment so hard lol. I can't tell you how many times I drew my World Spine Wurm this way...

[@scottricks1676]

These picks are well calculated! Nice job. Another fun take is actually dragon tribal. No one said those where dino eggssss.

[@KommanderMTG]

That's what I love about Atla! She's an open book

[@noidea5129]

Scroll Rack also good to go for putting your big monsters from your hands on top of the deck

[@KommanderMTG]

Absolutely! One of my favorite cards to play.

[@frandaesquina]

I love the Dali's painting kind of flavor that "turning a whole dinosaur into an egg that hatches an angel" has

[@PhildoniousmaximuS]

A+ dude! Very creative and most definitely building this deck. Keep up the good work.

[@KommanderMTG]

Thanks! You won't regret it, definitely one of the most fun commanders I've ever played!

[@maxbodifee3263]

Great commander and great choices. Atla can be truly broken. I run haste/untap cards like Instill Energy and Battlemage's Bracers for extra value. Deck is boardwipe heavy where 1 creature per player survives like Tragic Arrogance and Divine Reckoning so Atla lives to trigger another day. Also AEther Flash is both very solid with Atla and annoying for opponents. Last suggestion is Strionic Resonator so you basically have a second Harmonic Prodigy

[@KommanderMTG]

My man, awesome suggestions!!! I've never thought about Instill Energy, I'm gonna have to pick that up..

[@maxbodifee3263]

Thanks! My deck is the bane of the LGS :) So consistent and with a ton of protection as she is a kill on sight. To ensure the deck works without her I also run Defense of the Heart

[@KommanderMTG]

@@maxbodifee3263 when I first put Atla together and brought her to the table my friends had no idea what to do lol. Atla with greaves is brutal. They couldn't board wipe, they couldn't attack, and it felt like a drew strionic resonator every game lol. They've wisened up a bit over the years, but when Atla comes out they know I mean business lol

[@Darkling665]

All pretty legit cards you can put into your Atla edh deck. But the best one is missing. Thornbite Staff equipment; cost 2 and autoequip on atla with: "whenever a creature is put into graveyard from play, untap this creature" So after sacrificing an egg you can untap her and use the ability again. (its a combo with "ashnod's altar" which says: "sacrifice a creature: add 2 to your mana pool". it is ~7,50€ in eu and 19$ in US so i think that might be the reason you dont have it in your budget version. If you are looking for a cheap sacrifice tool then dont sleep on "spawning pit" (1€ EU or 2$ US) It is an artifact; cost 2; sac creature to give it a counter. For 1 you can remove 2 counters to create a 2/2 token. A good way to sac is "aether flash" (under 1€$ EU and US) Enchantment for 2RR that deal 2 damage to every creature that comes into play. It is a good combo with Elish Norn (not budget at ~26€; 41$) but it still is good on its own since it instakills small opponent tokens as well. Allso a good creature (and allso low budget) to egg into play that nobody talks about is "Zopandrel, Hunger Dominus". (~3,50€$ EU and US) It is a 4/6 for 5GG that has reach; you double power and toughness of each of your creatures during combat and for 2 green phyrexian mana you can sac 2 creatures to give Zopandrel an indestructible counter. Simply a great ability for offensive and an alternative to sacrifice stuff. As main advice for someone who might want to build a variant of this deck: Do not play eggs as creatures in this Deck! There is nothing more painfull as to sacrificing an egg as an response to atla getting removed just to bring a 2/2 changeling or another egg to the battlefield. My argument would allways be: better 10 bomb creatures and 10 cards to keep atla safe that all have to be respected by the opponents rathar than 20 creatures with some of them beeing useless without atla. 5 examples: for the budget deck in the description, i would instandly remove the following 5: 1. Harmonic Prodigy 2. Morror Entity 3. Taurean Mauler Reason is simple: I dont want to get any of them out of my eggs 4.Rishkar's Expertise When you need cards the most (like a boardwhipe), it does not do much and its 4$ 5. Overwhelming stampede Most of the time it is a dead card and a finisher is not needed in an atla deck. Allso there is a more useful alternative .... and its 4$ So what would i put in this deck to make it better and that for the same price? (10,53$ were removed) 1. Open the armory (Tutor for aura and equipment) 0,79$ 2. Fires of Yavimaya (Enchantment to give all your stuff haste) 0,59$ 3. Instill Energy (Aura that gives haste and you can untab the creature (atla) one time for free per turn) 1,46$ 4. Boros Charm (can be a atla/creature saver; a burn spell or a finisher. And that for RW) 1,87$ 5. Kessig Wolf Run (Land that tabs for colourless or you can give a creature trample [use it after blockers were asigned]) 0,47$ Thats a total of 5,18$. So even more budget and it will make it more reliable in my opinion. When atla is on your side then you will have a great time, so everybody else is very interessted in kicking it off the board because she can be very explossive. So you would allways want to have a way to keep her safe or you would need a way to do everything in one turn via combo which can get really pricy. (for example Ashnod's Altar 7,80$+Thornbite Staff 18,63$) One of the best kinda budget upgrades to achive this is Asceticism (~12$) (3GG Enchantmant gives your creatures hexproof and 1G: regen creature). Much riskier but cheaper alternative to this is "Archetype of Endurance" 1$ (6GG creature 6/5; creatures you controll have hexproof and all of the opponents lose and can not gain hexproof) Man.. who would have thought that i am writing a novel here xD Now everyone can tell me how wrong my suggestions are. :) Have a good time while doing so :D

[@KommanderMTG]

No dude I love your suggestions! I actually play a lot of them in my non-budget version of Atla. If you've got a deck list I'd love to see it!

[@Darkling665]

@@KommanderMTG here you go: sac 1 Aether Flash 1 Altar of Dementia 1 Ashnod's Altar 1 Blasting Station 1 Fanatical Devotion 1 Goblin Bombardment 1 High Market 1 Martyr's Cause 1 Natural Order 1 Phyrexian Altar 1 Skullclamp 1 Spawning Pit Land 1 Ancient Tomb 1 Arid Mesa 1 Bountiful Promenade 1 Canopy Vista 1 Cinder Glade 1 City of Brass 1 Command Tower 1 Fire-Lit Thicket 5 Forest 1 Homeward Path 1 Jungle Shrine 1 Kessig Wolf Run 1 Krosan Verge 1 Mana Confluence 1 Mountain 3 Plains 1 Reflecting Pool 1 Rugged Prairie 1 Sacred Foundry 1 Spectator Seating 1 Spire Garden 1 Stomping Ground 1 Temple Garden 1 Windswept Heath 1 Wooded Bastion 1 Wooded Foothills 1 Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth token stuff 1 Anointed Procession 1 Mutavault 1 Parallel Lives 1 Thornbite Staff ramp 1 Arcane Signet 1 Boros Signet 1 Farseek 1 Land Tax 1 Nature's Lore 1 Primal Growth 1 Rampant Growth 1 Selesnya Signet 1 Skyshroud Claim 1 Smothering Tithe 1 Sol Ring 1 Tempt with Discovery 1 Three Visits Commander 1 Atla Palani, Nest Tender nope's 1 Aura Shards 1 Austere Command 1 Beast Within 1 Deflecting Swat 1 Generous Gift 1 Swords to Plowshares 1 Tibalt's Trickery 1 Veil of Summer bad boys 1 Aurelia, the Warleader 1 Avacyn, Angel of Hope 1 Blightsteel Colossus 1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite 1 Ghalta and Mavren 1 Gisela, Blade of Goldnight 1 It That Betrays 1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth 1 Stonehoof Chieftain 1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre 1 Worldspine Wurm 1 Zopandrel, Hunger Dominus save my commander 1 Boros Charm 1 Heroic Intervention 1 Lightning Greaves 1 Swiftfoot Boots tutor 1 Enlightened Tutor 1 Open the Armory 1 Worldly Tutor haste stuff 1 Fires of Yavimaya 1 Instill Energy 1 Rhythm of the Wild 1 Thousand-Year Elixir doing stuff.. 1 Maskwood Nexus 1 Seedborn Muse 1 Terror of the Peaks draw 1 Scroll Rack 1 Sylvan Library 1 Valakut Awakening // Valakut Stoneforge Maybeboard 1 Faithless Looting I still want to bring faithless looting in my deck but i am still not in the clear what to remove. Any suggestions on that? :)

[@KommanderMTG]

@@Darkling665 this is an awesome deck... The ONLY card I don't really like that I don't think you would notice is gone would be Tempt With Discovery. I just do not get enough from it when I play unless I need to find a Field of the Dead or Strip Mine. What do you think?

[@Darkling665]

@@KommanderMTG It's a fun card with interaction like "If you take the land then i wont attack you first". And if one player takes it then all have to take it. :D I really like the interaction at the table with cards like those. And like you sayed, it searches for something you really need. For example (homeward path) to get your creatures back or searching for a missing sac option (high market). It is basicly a tutor for a missed piece; a fun interactive mechanic or just a bad ramp card. if any of those were missing then i dont think i would play it eather.

[@Darkling665]

@@KommanderMTG I think i will try out swaping faithless looting with tempt with discovery. Lets see if i really wont miss it that much. And lets see if it is that awesome in the deck as i think it will be. getting 2 cards for (best case) shuffle the graveyard back in the library sounds too good not to play. A second scroll rack so to speak.

[@vgpatman9728]

Bruh I love the idea of randomizing the big creatures each game that’s so cool

[@KommanderMTG]

It never gets old!!!

[@mitchellknight8725]

Im building this deck right now but as dinosaur tribal and having gisath, suns avatar as a swappable commander. I just have about 8 cards on the side board for populating and sacrificing. That way i can enjoy gisath and atla in the same deck.

[@KommanderMTG]

This is a great idea! I incidentally have a lot of dino's in my rotation now, they're just too good to ignore lol

[@markyourpages]

Great video! Some great tips for this deck I am just starting to build

[@KommanderMTG]

You're gonna love it! So many ways to build her

[@stuarthemmes8805]

Umm quite possibly the best YT video I've ever watched. Ngl.

[@KommanderMTG]

Wow! Thank you so much, Atla has always been a favorite of mine. I'm glad you liked it!

[@thorbear7999]

Great video! Thanks for the ideas! I’m building Atla for a league with a $10 budget for the 99. I’ve got a solid list so far but any must have suggestions that won’t wreck my budget ?

[@KommanderMTG]

Try Towering Titan!

[@laveyronnaisdutouelleveux8380]

Thank you for this vidéo. So many brilliant ideas to upgrade my own Atla deck.

[@KommanderMTG]

Thanks! I'd love to check out your list when you're done!

[@brandoncreek5709]

I'm really tempted to build Atla! My first ever commander was Gishath, but I've since changed it to Mayael, and then Xenagos. She would be a nice successsor to gishath since she also likes big bois and is also from the same plane so its a nice callback. I just wanted to give love to all the big bois, not just dinos lol

[@KommanderMTG]

Do it! I promise you won't regret it. Do it for the big boys lol

[@brandoncreek5709]

@@KommanderMTG It definitely fits my style! Gruul/Naya stompy is definitely in my comfort zone lol

[@ROYaaaal789]

haven't seen it in the comments yet, but Maskwood Nexus is absolutely TERRIFIC with Atla. All your creatures are every creature types while it's on the field? HELL YEAH! basically swap opponent priority from destroying your big fellas to destroying it asap, since all your creatures are eggs until it leaves.

[@gianmarcofrongia8666]

Atla is soo much fun!

[@KommanderMTG]

Right!! She is so open ended too, tons of ways to build her!

[@moedark4390]

one of the best cards in my Atla Palani deck wont be found on edhrec and thats Gruul Ragebeast. whenever an egg comes into play it has to fight a creature...oh no. i hope it doesnt die lol

[@moedark4390]

also I replaced monster manual for Kodama of the east tree.

[@KommanderMTG]

That's awesome!

[@raideroffridges6584]

Seedborn muse is always pretty good untaps everything on everyone’s turn so if you’ve got a sac outlet and multiple eggs it just makes it unstoppable. Also purphoros has won many games alone

[@KommanderMTG]

Seedborn Muse is one of my favorite cards! It's just bonkers in every deck I feel. I've never thought about putting Purphuros in before.... I like that!

[@jaimielyall7638]

Gisela is budget now

[@captainmurphy4949]

Not talking about thorn bite staff + ashnod’s is crazy

[@KommanderMTG]

For sure they are great! Keep in mind this video is built around a budget deck, so Thornbite Staff was not included for that reason. Maybe I should do a follow-up video with my favorite combos in my non-budget version?

[@hyunbrothers]

shuffling in random creatures sounds like a fun idea, any suggestions for these creatures especially with some of the more recent releases?

[@KommanderMTG]

I've been thinking about Surrak and Goreclaw for the trample/haste combo, Ghalta Stampede Tyrant is just nuts in Atla.... But the biggest add I've done in a while came from a viewer who suggested Towering Titan... Such great synergy with Atla!

[@myDarkAngelCry]

very nice video

[@KommanderMTG]

Thank you!

[@mars81700]

If they did a board wipe wouldn’t Alta die so you wouldn’t get the egg crack trigger?

[@KommanderMTG]

Even if Atla dies, she will still trigger from the eggs dying at the same time :) it's a major reason playing against Atla can be so difficult

[@palomagalvezh]

I dont really understand the chanelling interaction. I mean, even if everyone is an egg atla dies at the same time that the rest of the eggs because the damage is all done simultaneously. The moment atla triggers its the same moment when she dies so why does it resolves?

[@CODACALM]

I’m pretty sure it’s instantaneous. That’s why people run mirror entity because if they use it as a 0/0 everything dies but also becomes eggs for you to reset. Yeah your commander will die but her ability will work right before she does.

[@dillonsurratt]

Funny.... I built this to fight a kaalia deck in my playgroup 😂

[@KommanderMTG]

Gotta keep those attack triggers in check lol

[@Thecalebpoe]

Populate only adds one token, not one for each token. Good suggestions though.

[@KommanderMTG]

Thanks! It's funny that I'm much better with triggers when playing the game, but when I write a script (which should make it easier) I get some wrong. I should probably stop writing them so late at night lol

[@maxbodifee3263]

Got my list?

[@KommanderMTG]

Link it! Do you use Moxfield or Archidekt?

[@Kelvinernst1987]

May I ask, isnt this very few creatures for an egg creature deck?

[@KommanderMTG]

It's a fine line for creature count with Atla because you really don't want them to sit in your hand. You could easily add a few more creatures if you'd like!

[@RoboTosterChad]

Fire ants rocks

[@tegel619]

I play the same deck but don't play skull clamp because I want the big creatures in the deck not my hand. My back up is Elvish Piper if that happens.

[@KommanderMTG]

Absolutely! Elvish piper is a great solution!!

[@maxbodifee3263]

So you run 99 creatures? Ofcourse you want card draw! Chances of hitting a big boy are small and you should play Sneak Attack or Monster Manual as you don't want to hit an Elvish Piper when an egg dies. Scroll Rack and mdfc Valakut also help a lot. Skull clamp is literally the best card in the deck

[@KommanderMTG]

@@maxbodifee3263 Sneak attack is brutal in Atla! I really need to pick up another Scroll Rack though, such a great card...

[@maxbodifee3263]

Tnx. I changed my list overpowered creatures (Xenagos, Gisela, KikiJiki Worldspine Wurm etc) for more persistent creatures that fall apart into tokens when they die. Again Worldspine Wurm but also Triplicate Titan, Wurmcoil Engine etc. Sac 2 of those bad boys with Greater Good or thru Sneak Attack before saccing Moldgraff Monstrosity 😈

[@KommanderMTG]

@@maxbodifee3263 Link your deck-list if you have, i'd love to see it!