The 7 Most Absurd Commanders (And Their Decks)

[@fatboy2867]

Don't know if this has been mentioned but Archfiend of the Dross is a huge gamble in Jon Irenicus. Once the player you give it to dies it will come back to your deck without any oil counters which means you need to get rid of it before your upkeep or you lose as well! I have built several versions of Jon and it is my favorite deck still

[@bluepomegranate]

Better idea for Phelddagrif: all of its abilities count as crimes.

[@AKitchell]

Too bad there are only 11 cards in those colors that synergize with committing crimes.

[@energetek661]

The trouble in pairs😂

[@NitpickingNerds]

Common editor W

[@joejordan401]

Say no to stolen art! Well done nerds 👍

[@marcoottina654]

7:30, for all of those who can't find it

[@threepup]

I've been threatening to build Slicer at some point because I love the idea of handing someone a cruise missile and just saying "Enjoy!"

[@NitpickingNerds]

"here ya go"

[@IVISMiLESIVI]

Slicer is very fun and even cEDH viable. You'll have as naus players groaning for sure.

[@astuteanansi4935]

It is worth noting: even if you goad Karona, creatures of the controller's choice gain the bonus as long as Karona's swinging, no matter where it's actually swinging. So there is *nothing* preventing the goblin or merfolk or human tribal player from swinging Karona at someone else... then sending their entire army of steroids monsters at you. This deck absolutely *needs* Ghostly Prison, Propaganda, No Mercy, Revenge of Ravens, and every other card you can think of that would discourage attacking you, and every card that encourages swinging into your opponents instead (a few of the Curses come to mind).

[@sahrazad8213]

I have a Phage deck. You basically had to have all the planets align to KO 1 person in any normal game. The deck has Candelabra of Tawnos, cabal coffers, and every tutor. Its still uttery terrible because its such a clear and direct threat from a fragile and slow deck.

[@joury900]

Phage is one of my fav decks. Buily her over 10 years ago and still playing her!

[@NitpickingNerds]

Does she catch w's?

[@gabrielseller6434]

Oooooo I've been looking at building her for a while now, you got a decklist?

[@joury900]

@@NitpickingNerds yeah she does. Lots of people I play with are just flabbergasted 🤣

[@grillburgerdaq5121]

It’s always a good day when we talk about Karona. She’s my signature deck and by far my favorite. Nothing but fun when I play her.

[@TehDome]

I recently cut Archfiend of the Dross from my Jon Irenicus deck. After it kills an opponent you get it back because you didn't summon it on their side and only the control changing effect gets removed. So if it didn't kill the last opponent it's gonna kill you next, unless you can get rid of it before your turn.

[@laytonjr6601]

And it still can't be sacrificed!

[@emerson685]

You forgot to mention the best wincon with Pheldegrif, Suture Priest!

[@AKitchell]

Shaun, Father of Synths is _nuts_ in Obeka, Splitter of Seconds because as soon as you swing with him and Obeka, you can make a non-legendary copy of Obeka, which then, if it hits, gives you _even more upkeeps!_ Teferi's Veil is also a good card to add because it allows Obeka to phase out at end of combat, making her impossible to get rid of until your next turn begins even if your opponents get rid of Teferi's Veil. Just watch out for Disciple of Caelus Nin.

[@thork_tv]

On of the funniest ideas i ever See was Hans Eriksson running into walls.

[@NitpickingNerds]

poor hans

[@martaneon5310]

My idea for a Santa Claus deck: Zedruu Bobbleheads using only snow lands. Give out bobbleheads to one player, use control magic on the other players, hope the player you're giving gifts to wins with the bobbleheads.

[@NitpickingNerds]

Snow lands + Santa is on theme for sure

[@JD-gk7eh]

I have a Karona deck! I play her as a "built your own tribal," making tokens of various types of whatever I draw, with a bit of subtheme on Saprolings. Think like Snake Basket, Fungal Sprouting and Sprout Swarm and Rith, etc. I don't voltron her because I don't want her to be a removal target and don't want her coming back at me if people remove the goaded pieces. Then add in a bunch of Changelings so that I have blockers that get the buff if an opponent does decide to attack at me. It's a goofy deck but it wins some games because with enough tokens, Karona becomes an Overrun in the command zone.

[@valeriotosto1028]

another one is creatureless Fblthp where you want to tutor for Proteus Staff and use the bonkers interaction they have

[@NitpickingNerds]

I was *this* close to including that tbh

[@olipod5470]

Omg this is so silly I never heard of this

[@dankoerner887]

I used your link twice in the last week and neither reflected the 5% discount at CK. I emailed them letting them know. Its not a ton, but the $16.36 isn't anything to scoff at either. Figured I would let you guys and the comments section know. I'm sure I'm not the only one it happening too see keep an eye out!

[@NitpickingNerds]

We appreciate you using our link, but Dragon Shield is the only one that gives a discount! The link to CardKingdom just lets them know that we sent you and helps them track purchases 😁

[@dankoerner887]

@@NitpickingNerds Ohhhh got ya. Sorry for the confusion 😆

[@crazytanto8426]

I love building Jank. This is the video for me. I was planning on building Obeka and Phage already, and this inspires me more

[@JD-gk7eh]

Another thing you can do with Zedruu is auras. A lot of auras don't care who controls them; think like Pacifism, it just makes the creature not able to attack or block and doesn't matter who owns it. You can donate those to players and get Zedruu's full effect. Then you can avoid filling your deck full of bad cards that hurt you. The danger in doing that is that if Zedruu doesn't live or you just can't get her to stick, you're not fully crippled. I know someone with a Blimm deck and he never does anything the whole game; he doesn't want to cast 65% of the cards in his deck because they're all stuff like Demonic Pact and we just make sure Blimm never lives or gets to do combat damage because we don't want to lose to donated cards. It's really easy. So I recommend avoiding that path with Zedruu and try to make her more innocent, less of a lightning rod for removal.

[@tylerstephenson2146]

My nonsense deck rarely casts commander, uses Ramos, and the deck is Will of the council/council's judgement. Threw some tempting offers and Assist cards in there for fun too

[@chaosbuster1275]

I will say what I said earlier. My way of playing Zedruu is “cards that naturally enter under my opponents control” matter. Playing bad cards can be incredibly risky especially if Zedruu gets blown up.

[@alder8892]

Jon Irenicus looks like a perfect fit for the karona deck since he lets you grow her, stops her from getting sacrificed, goads, and gives draw

[@Rexcilious]

I have a Zedruu deck and it’s soooo so fun (as the pilot😂). However, I was under the impression the upkeep trigger will not recognize tokens because a player cannot own a token.

[@breadgehog]

Flickering Nine Lives in Zedruu is hilarious. It's like Beamtown Phage, but way more repeatable.

[@micahlaremore8224]

Loved the video. Grenzo always struck me as a whacky commander

[@msolec2000]

I have discovered Commander recently, and you reminded me of one thing. There's this talk about lifegain decks getting to hundreds or thousands of life, or more, and my question is: How effective is that, if you are always at 21 away from death at best? There is no way to gain "commander life"...

[@BungoOfficial]

Life is more of a resource and there’s a ton of ways to pay life for resources. There’s plenty of alternative win conditions even if your opponent is at a million life, and commander damage will always kill You.

[@calemr]

It really depends on what your opponent's commanders are. Not everyone is running a Voltron Commander build. Also, even if they are, you've still effectively reduced all your opponent's to effectively having only 1 attacking creature, which is much easier to deal with than a full board.

[@jakubpetras9135]

Guys I'm looking for a ridiculous commander. I already have Norin the Wary and want something with Green with it, preferably with 3 colors. Any ideas?

[@OwlpoAnimations]

Just played against Obeka, she is hell to play against. Initiative synergies so well with her and it’s genuinely annoying. Got brought down to -5 life from 40 in one turn and couldnt block and because a 7/7 creature dealt three dmg each upkeep.

[@cleanaccount9991]

One of my favorite decks was and still is my moon-black deck using Inamo, Death’s Aspect and stuff like mortal combat and stuff to fill my graveyard with spirits then swing in for game with reanimating. Loved it, and still love it, but that deck is weird af.

[@danielgoldberg2129]

I’m currently building River Song (Draw of the bottom of your library. Seems pretty absurd to me considering how many cards put cards at the bottom of your library.😊

[@drguthrie7621]

Love my zedruu deck, surprisingly good at disrupting the game and honestly can be quite scary if you start doing stuff like swapping a bad permanent for someone voltrony Commander or stuff like that

[@Computer-STEM-NERD-903]

Angel’s Trumpet is more effective, but WAY more ballsy for Phelddagrif decks because of the lack of fog effects that it typically uses. Ramp, Recursion, fog, and token generation typically are all the slots available to the players involving this deck type. They use cards like Angel’s Trumpet, or something else, it can do this at the cost of a few fog spell slots.

[@SnowmanJazz]

Thanks for bringing back the canon that is Transformers bearing witness to Tocasia's death.

[@crawdaddy1234]

12:37 Just a note: Endless Whispers plus Torper Orb doesn’t work. 😂

[@NitpickingNerds]

Very true!

[@laytonjr6601]

There's a way to be evil with Jon Irenicus: all the old fishes with islandwalk and "if you control no island, sacrifice this creature". If you give it to an opponent who isn't playing blue, the game is a draw With Thieve's auction you need to be careful about which lands you get back, because when a player dies all cards they own get removed from the game

[@L3mings]

The next Iteration of this NEEDS to include Mishra, artificer prodigy.

[@dontstealmydiamondsv3156]

I was thinking any of the ten Myojin, which are like Phage but even more awkward. I was trying to build Myojin of Towering Might as an overrun spam mono green deck with an effective 16/16 commander, only to later realize reading the card explains the card and myojin dont get their counter when you cast them from the command zone

[@astuteanansi4935]

You need to run them with not only ways to get them to your hand, but also ways to proliferate. Tyrite Sanctum is also an autoinclude. The old Myojin are a bit more awkward because they specifically need divinity counters and the only thing that gives those is That Which Was Taken. On the plus side, as long as you can keep them indestructible it's pretty hard to remove them. The blue ones are probably the best since you can run a bunch of counterspells and just stop any attempt at exiling or sacrificing your Myojin. Also, I do believe clone creatures copying the Myojin *do* get the counter since they were cast from your hand, and that seems to be the most common way of running the Myojin of Cryptic Dreams. *And* blue also has the most "return to owner's hand" shenanigans.

[@suckadoesstuff7095]

I have a disgustingly fun idea for a Phelddagrif deck and now I have to build it

[@Russiancow602]

How can you give away nine lives it has hexproof and zedruu targets it? Maybe I’m missing something

[@kalebhendrickson7672]

I feel like its a crime to have a list like this without Alaundo, The Seer

[@datblackminotaur8101]

Been meaning to build a norin deck forever now. I’ll take this as my sign to finally do it.

[@NitpickingNerds]

Go ham with it!

[@drewmares145]

Norin is such a fun commander. I always cry from laughter playing that deck

[@nzephier]

I'm trying to build a zedru secret commander deck. I wanna put all the "you lose," cards In a deck then hand them to people like a secret Santa but coal and not gifts lol

[@aldotrioksidi]

Phelddagrif group hug? That's cool, but consider this: Phelddagrif Crimes

[@1321Jester]

I'm a phelddagrif main, but I use them to give out life to power up seraphic greatsword

[@LDPofclan935]

I built the donate Tribal deck, but in WUBRG with Codie, Vociferous Codex instead. Zedruu is in the 99 of course. But now I have access to ramp, more permanent removal and creature tutors, as well as the Lich cards and the best black tutors for consistency in finding my donate pieces and wincons. Even have that jank Witchbane Orb + Hive Mind + Undying Flames combo. I even assembled it an resolved it for maximum fun! Trust me, I do jank too. I only play interesting decks that aren't boring. This deck even has a surprisingly high win rate. Like, 4-1 if not higher? We also had an MtG Bingo too and I played this deck. One of the things to do in a game for a square was lose in the first 5 turns or sewer slide yourself? Anyways, I played in a group of 4 where 3 of us had early lose chances. I lost first of course. Slaughter Pact turn 2. Would've been 1 if the other guy played a creature turn 1. He only played his 1 drop turn 2 for some reason. It was fun

[@alexroel123]

You cant cast permanent spells with codie on the field

[@LDPofclan935]

@@alexroel123 implying I play him without the intent to donate him

[@coltonjohnson390]

For Jon irenicus, do you get the permanents back when an opponent loses ?

[@cgort90]

(Copied and pasted from a quick Google search) Couple different scenarios for permanents that had control changes etc. when a player leaves the game. 1. If a player leaves the game, all cards they own are exiled and go with the player. Think of this from a simple logistics of ownership angle - if someone is leaving, they should leave with all their cards. 2. If a player leaves the game and _they_ had control of permanents that they didn't own, one of two things happen: a. If an effect they controlled brought those permanents into the game, those permanents are exiled b. If they controlled those permanents due to a control changing effect, then that effect ends and control of the permanents returns to the previous controller

[@coltonjohnson390]

So if a player loses you you get the stuff you gave away with Jon, and you need a way to get rid of them ASAP or they’ll affect you

[@marcoottina654]

Zedru ... she might recycle "Nine Lives" with "Hanna, Ship's Navigator"!

[@erichunt1974]

infinite 1/1 goblins is an absurd amount of value so Krenko Mob Boss is getting my pick for most absurd commander!

[@crawdaddy1234]

If infinite 1/1s is the most absurd thing you can imagine, you have very little imagination.

[@UNIVERSESBEYOND]

Karona, False God is a strange commander indeed! Not really sure how one builds around it?!

[@zackbonno3675]

Norin reads like a meme, but he's a bloodthirsty killer.

[@ZenTeT]

phage used to be my favorite card in the game. i used to run her in my suicide deck The Wise Mothman is my favorite commander these days. i would say phage and mothman are tied for my top 1

[@heresyseed]

I need wacky inflatable flailing arms busts of the nerds, complete with habitat and Amber action figure…NEED.

[@tylerwolf42]

Love the alt art on Trouble in Pairs.

[@NitpickingNerds]

Our editor did not disappoint!

[@1973mckenzie]

When I first saw Obeka, I thought of Braid of fire... Just need a card that allows mana to not empty I gurss

[@Melo7kingofNYC]

For obeka you could build it to where you have 20 artifacts play hellkite tyrant have obeka deal 1 damage and win the game out of nowhere

[@loquacity88]

You ignored the scariest phelddagrif build: ties only.

[@TheAsagrim]

Norin is really fun but have only a problem, there are not enough etb's

[@danikahicks2210]

Vedalkin plotter is just both a budget and based card that is the secret sauce in my budget Azami deck. Oh? A twelve-hundred dollar gaia's cradle? *lemme hold onto that fam~♡*

[@NitpickingNerds]

"I'll take real good care of it"

[@Chimeraiam]

Shoutout Rachel Weeks who has 2 of these decks lol

[@thatguyintherain3168]

Obeka is fricking sweet, she's one of my new favorites

[@chachi_arcola]

Goes to Card Kingdom, clicks on one random bulk rare after another: "Out of stock" "Out of stock" "Out of stock" Goes to TCG Player looking for the same cards: "839 in stock"

[@Red_Mag3]

No Mishra, Artificer Prodigy + Possibility Storm?

[@RealTal.]

i made a zedruu curses deck once it was great

[@heresyseed]

Referring to someone as a “Pheldagriff mage “is low key like saying… 😂

[@V1C10US]

For Phage commander: Use [Lazav, Wearer of Faces](2 mana commander) as the commander, and Entomb phage into your yard.

[@Beastybeanz]

But Phage as your commander is a statement

[@Kurayamiblack]

Wow, Phage's design makes the thumbnail look like an unused cutscene screenshot from Ocarina of Time 😅

[@philippniemann8842]

A friend of mine plays Zedru. He only donates lands and you cannot get rid of that shit. I hate his deck so fucking much

[@nickd6303]

My Adrix&Nev build is specifically built to make use of creatures that care about the same name, for example timberpack wolf.

[@SchemingGuide]

Yidris is so underrated

[@jangolangthespy]

I have a phage deck with the secret lair art, she's so pretty

[@NitpickingNerds]

I forgot about that artwork!

[@Lune_Masque_16]

Im surprised Blim Comedic wasnt on this list😅

[@Benjithegreat37]

I have Zedruu(my favorite deck), Phage, Pheldagriff, and Karona…I feel personally targeted by this video. I disagree with the Zedruu advice, it’s much better to play neutral permanents rather than mean ones. Draws much less attention and you can politic easier

[@CookingNoise]

Ah yes, Phage, my first love 🤣

[@belee9452]

No Atogatog?

[@gulgothica]

It says something about me that I have most of these decks…

[@caseywilliams4145]

I see my waifu Phage and I click...its that simple

[@lorenzomarquez9122]

10:43

[@Sma11-might]

Mox field is kind of buns it does not in fact out perform redacted

[@markcahalan5698]

Haakon has entered the chat

[@NitpickingNerds]

Or at least he tried to

[@markcahalan5698]

@@NitpickingNerds *Angry mono black knight noises*

[@crawdaddy1234]

2:00 NOOOOOOO! WHY DOES EVERYONE BUILD ZEDRUU WRONG??? You use SYMMETRICAL effects.

[@triggerhappiest6811]

mia lowkey sadistic 😭

[@haydensoloway1753]

I love norin

[@unkokusaiwa]

Dorks

[@HexproofButHopeless]

I kinda want to build Karona and every time it changes ownership I would say “ewwww you got the vid” (Short for Covid 19 which is the Coronavirus, I know, it’s stupid) 😂

[@DimirDaddy]

Obviously 1st

[@goblinspy]

Counterspell

[@DimirDaddy]

@@goblinspy negate

[@NitpickingNerds]

first ever counter war in the comments

[@goblinspy]

@@DimirDaddy Render Silent

[@DimirDaddy]

@@goblinspy mana drain

[@mtgfanatic130]

Card Kingdom is overpriced 😁

[@danielgoldberg2129]

Word.

[@HexproofButHopeless]

You guys always catch me watching -redacted- content and every, single, time I leave -redacted- video and come right here. Excited for this video, thanks Nerds 🫡

[@NitpickingNerds]

Thank you for choosing NN!