(Sigarda's Aid | Art by Howard Lyon)

The Hidden Way

Dedicated to those tired of the same old same
And dedicated to the people advancin' the game

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the first installment of Hidden Strings! In this series we'll build quirky decks revolving around a card in the 99 and pick dummy commanders whose sole purpose is to pave the way for the true leaders of our creations.

With almost 350 official new commanders printed in 2022 alone (and the additional 960 unique Background pairings that came with them), deckbuilding options nowadays appear to be virtually unlimited, yet having millions of fellow players constantly brewing and toying with the most recent cards means that coming up with something truly unique and fresh can still be a tall order. Indeed, even new builds often feel "on the rails", and it's all too frequent for them to end up as different riffs on old tropes rather than as completely novel experiences.

One way I've found to break the mold in this regard is to actually flip the script on the format, turning our attention away from the command zone and building around one of the cards hidden in the 99. This method helps with carving out unusual deckbuilding space and fighting deck homogenization, making for a worthwhile alternative to the more traditional commander-focused philosophy; in fact, I'd go as far as saying that every player should venture into this kind of territory at least once during their deckbuilding journey.

The aim of this series is to showcase the potential of this approach as well as some ways to overcome the challenges it brings.

Ideas Unbound

With available commanders comprising less than 7% of all format-legal cards, removing the requirement for the centerpiece of our deck to be a legendary creature opens up a lot of options.

Indeed, secret commanders can range anywhere from big rule-twisting enchantments to cheap yet powerful artifacts; from splashy and exciting spells to unique and ridiculous creatures whose only fault is not having a proper name. Heck, technically, at this stage not even legendary creatures need to be ruled out, given how a simple color-shift can easily open up new avenues for tried and true commanders.

«So, now what?» you ask. Well, now it's the part where I try to sell you on my idea of fun:

Sigarda's Aid is a pretty good card that enables very silly things, and is thus rightfully run in many decks. I can't help but think, though, that most of those decks are just using the enchantment as a support piece for a broader Equipment theme, and are not actively built around it so as to truly tap into its absurd cost-cheating potential. So, as it appears, my friends, it is up to us to stand to this noble challenge.

The Deck

Before we can start getting our hands dirty, I'm gonna have to throw out a quick disclaimer regarding my overall deckbuilding philosophy in this context: as a rule of thumb, I feel like upgrading a decklist (both financially and in power level) is generally easier than downgrading it; for this reason, I will try to build on a budget whenever possible.

This will mostly result in decks averaging around precons power level--which, to be honest, is what I'd aim at anyways, since I feel like that's the kind of environment where more creative deck ideas have enough room to thrive and feel rewarding.

And with that out of the way, let's dive right into this!

From Aid to Zur

First things first, we need to choose an appropriate frontman for the deck, preferably one that can consistently fetch Sigarda's Aid out of our library. You've already read this section's title (I know, I couldn't come up with a smarter one), so it's not like I can bury the lede and pretend we don't all know the answer already: Zur might have 99 problems, but an enchantment surely ain't one.

Well, that was quick, so maybe this is a good occasion to elaborate a little on a different point. "Tutor commanders" can often be so powerful that they end up getting sucked into cEDH, never to come out the same again. In fact, they usually become synonymous with their most competitive strategies and build up a stigma that eventually bleeds into casual tables. To me, this makes for a wonderful opportunity: I think it's time we try to breathe new life in some of these ghosts of the format, forgetting about their ability to consistently enable certain degenerate strategies and, rather, shining a light on the extreme flexibility they should actually be renowned for.

Double or Nothing

We're in the privileged position of running a face commander whose ability to find our key card requires minimal effort; this is something that won't always happen during this series, so we should take the free ride when we get it. The precious deck slots and in-game turns that we're saving this way will be better spent on developing and taking advantage of our main engine. This ultimately boils down to having low-costed, effective beaters that are ready to attack alongside Zur on the fourth or fifth turn of the game.

When I think about ways to maximize Equipment, double-strikers are constantly at the top of my list; after all, what's better than one good hit? Remember, we're adding flash to the mix, and it should become apparent that we're starting to cook with gas. It'll be no surprise, then, that the vast majority of our beaters are just Fencing Ace variants, with the occasional three-drops coming in for evasive reasons or other forms of small value.

MtG rules have this funny thing where a raging Gigantosaurus charging your opponent is easily distracted by a lowly beetle. Unfortunately, that also applies to hardened weapon masters carrying more swords than they have limbs; which is to say: what double-strikers are not good against is a board full of tiny expendable creatures. This is why incidental evasion on cards like Kamiz and Dimir Infiltrator can certainly be a welcome addition to our array of threats.

Weaponizing Card Draw

Once Zur is on the battlefield and ready to swing, our gameplan is fully online: fetching out Sigarda's Aid through the attack trigger will let us cast our Equipment mid-combat and directly attach them to one of our beaters. This, however, is where we need to get smart and pull the brake a little: before dishing out disproportionate amounts of damage, we better ensure that we have the means to defend against the inevitable backlash. That usually translates to loading up on cards first and breaking faces later.

Goggles of Night and Mask of Riddles are our bread and butter here, joining forces with our double-strikers to provide us with two fresh cards per attack. Mask of Memory takes it up a notch adding some relevant card selection, and Mystery Key can do a good Power Nine impression with a Danitha on the field. Lastly, a deck full of 1/1s can make Robe of the Archmagi look like a clunkier version Rogue's Gloves, but you can trust me when I say it won't be hard to combine it with other Equipment and draw upwards of 10 cards in a single turn.

Hit Fast, Hit Often, Hit Hard!

This deck has but one path to victory, and that is smashing. Half of our Equipment will then be comprised of the deadliest weapons available on the market, with special attention being paid to cards whose low mana value is supposed to be offset by a high equip cost (which is exactly what Sigarda's Aid is helping us cheat on).

As learned from the previous section, damage triggers are also something we should look into: a Quietus Spike can take away more than 75% of a player's life total in a single double swing, while Battle-Axe copies attach themselves mid-combat, meaning their number gets quadrupled every time one of our double-strikers goes through.

We Attac, But We Also Protec

Voltron strategies have a natural tendency to lead to high-risk/high-reward situations, since in order to be effective they usually require you to put all eggs in one basket. This gameplan has the potential to offer huge payoffs, but can also backfire pretty badly if we're not taking due precautions. That is why we should devote some slots of our decklist to spells that can protect our weapon-wielding weenies.

Forget sacrificing style for safety: sharp suits and mysterious masks can go a long way in protecting our creatures, and this becomes doubly true once we factor in our ability to dress them up at instant speed. Should a quick-change act not be enough for our spectators, we can always turn to full-blown vanishing, making sure that our selection of weapons and items disappears alongside the creatures carrying them. Finally, a well-timed Fumble is a cheeky piece of tech that can turn any attack with more than one creature into a bait-and-switch scenario, letting us dodge either removal spells or pesky blocks (and sometimes both).

Swift Reconfiguration

No matter how hard we'll try, ruinous Paths, hazardous Blasts, and demonic Gifts will eventually manage to slip through the cracks and spoil our fun. We must then be prepared to bounce back and quickly regroup.

When it comes to reassigning Equipment that have fallen off, Ardenn is the guy for the job, and--while far less efficient--Paradoxical Outcome and Rebuild can achieve similar results with Sigarda's Aid on the battlefield. These instants also act as insurance policies against storm damage, as do Brilliant Restoration and Dance of the Manse, which can even bring back the Aid from our graveyard on a rainy day.

Swiss Army Knives

There are a few cards that provide good value to the deck based on their great flexibility rather than their raw power.

Tutors are the epitome of this category, and Open the Armory does indeed feel demonically good in Equipment builds. Masterwork of Ingenuity can be viewed as another spin on the same idea, trading a smaller range of options for major mana efficiency. Lastly, Monk Class and Goldbug are real factotums able to provide much needed value in the early through mid-game.

Covering the (Non)Basics

With our secret plan fully outlined, we just need to close the gaps in our list and make sure we have enough pieces of acceleration and interaction. There's nothing too fancy in here, but I like to try and stick to the deck's theme as much as possible even when I'm just tying the loose ends.

In the mana department, qualifying creatures are cheap artifact-friendly cost-reducers and dorks (bonus points if they have four arms), while tools and weapons are chosen among those that can overperform in the capable paws of a jeweled cat.

As for interaction, Imprisoned in the Moon, Detention Sphere, and Seal of Cleansing can all be tutored up by our commander, while Mandate of Abaddon and Divine Reckoning can wipe the board while also leaving behind a fully suited threat on our side of the field. Dispatch and Lion Sash round up this section as effective thematic choices over more generic staples.

Getting to the mana base, the deck is it is mostly white-blue, so the taplands from Lorwyn, Jumpstart and Baldur's Gate are going to reflect that. I did also manage to sneak in a couple utility nonbasics: in a deck that revolves around casting Equipment after having tutored an enchantment, Roadside Reliquary is pretty effective (if unexciting), while Creeping Tar Pit and Rogue's Passage are serviceable ways to break through late-game stalemates.

Potential Upgrades

At the time of writing, low prices for this list put it below the $50 mark (with Sigarda's Aid taking up one-fifth of that budget), and this makes the deck a very cheap pickup for anyone wanting to add a little variety to their roster. We can, however, discuss some potential upgrades aimed at players who have a more sizable collection or find themselves thoroughly enjoying this peculiar build. I'm organizing these into two "Top 10" categories.

$2-5

Perhaps surprisingly, in this price range we can already find a lot of the pieces that would significantly increase the deck's power level.

The Reality Chip and Dowsing Dagger look like two-mana flash-speed variants of Future Sight and Gilded Lotus, respectively (note that with the help of a double-striker you can transform the Dagger during the first combat damage step and use its land side to cast more Equipment before the second one); Conqueror's Flail is basically a Reconfigure version of Grand Abolisher, while Wand of Orcus is a way to go wide in an otherwise go-tall strategy; finally, a surprise Kusari-Gama can easily wreck the board of an unsuspecting opponent who thinks they can safely chump our beaters.

$5+

Simply ranking the 10 Swords of This and That would be kinda boring, so consider those as honorable mentions: most of them are good Equipment, especially with double-strikers; if you have them, play your favorite ones.

As implied in the above section, getting from the previous price point to this one will probably grant a less noticeable jump in power level. Here we mainly find redundancy pieces and marginal upgrades. Among the most notable ones, Glenn can exploit flash-speed Equipment to go unblocked and still draw a ton of cards, while Puresteel Paladin is easily the best creature to add to the deck: combining card draw and mana cheating, it just does it all. As for Equipment, Robe of Stars offers great continuous protection to most of our board, and Umezawa's Jitte can follow the same play pattern mentioned for Dowsing Dagger, putting your opponents in a "damned if you block, damned if you don't" situation.

Final Parting

And there you have it! An off-the-wall (and legitimately hipster) Zur build that revolves around Equipment rather than enchantments.

Do you love it? Do you hate it? Let me know in the comments! And while you're at it, feel free to leave a suggestion for a card you'd want to see as a hidden commander: I'm always up for a deckbuilding challenge.

Until next time!