Well, Well, Well...

Grixis upkeeps are all the rage thanks to a legend hanging out in the rootin' tootin' set Outlaws of Thunder Junction. Obeka, Splitter of Seconds

"Whenever Obeka, Splitter of Seconds deals combat damage to a player, you get that many additional upkeep steps after this phase."

Additional upkeeps?! In this economy?! I just gotta try it!

Except... I already have!

Since October, I've been running this Doctor Who pairing as my Grixis upkeeps deck. How could I be so prescient?! While I'm far from the only person to come up with this pairing and theme, I've made it something of a pet deck and fancy myself a bit of an expert in this field, so when Obeka, Splitter of Seconds

In the spirit of saving you some time, here's my very first article featuring a deck tech for Commander's Herald. It'll be a bit of a break from my usual Am I The Bolas? column (and podcast). Hopefully, I won't be stepping on any toes of other fantastic columns on here and EDHREC, but it's difficult not to when I'm directly comparing two similar decks, so shout out to all the This vs. That columns that I studied before writing my own. 

Same, Same

Of course, the upside of having multiple upkeeps is reaping the value of cards that are only meant to trigger once during each of your turns. In a fun turn of events, it seems like Grixis upkeeps is a lot more of an enchantment deck than I expected, so here are some all-stars that work great in both Obeka

The Courts from Commander Legends and Wilds of Eldraine are incredible in any upkeep-focused deck. If you're the monarch, their effect is so much better than when you're not, but when you're getting so many triggers even when you're not the monarch, it's worth it. The floor on these in a deck triggering multiple upkeeps is still very high, especially when you're playing one, become the monarch, and then get your combat damage trigger from Obeka.

I've divided the available courts into two camps:

Court of Ambition

Meanwhile, Court of Vantress

Here are another few cards that find a home in both decks: As Foretold

I'd say we've scratched the surface on what makes the deck interesting and some key pieces that you'll want in either deck, but let's take a look at what makes them more unique. 

But Different

When Obeka was spoiled, people who know about my 9Doc deck were messaging me about how I've got a new commander for that deck. I got excited! I read her over and... hmm. She doesn't do the thing I enjoy about my deck. How do both decks play?

The Ninth Doctor

How do we tap The Ninth Doctor

Obeka, on the other hand, is more like a cannonball. She has a combat damage trigger that gets better when her power is high. Obeka is a Mavado Fatality you can see from a mile away; you need to set up your payoffs and protect them, then get Obeka down to slam for you to get ten upkeeps without much effort. It's a patient game, and players will be tempted to get her down before being able to protect her, but in a pod where opponents are packing hella removal, you'll be paying your (commander) taxes a bunch.

If you watch the latest Game Knights, you'll see that Josh Lee Kwai runs out Obeka early and then she's out of reach. He did get hated out pretty quickly, but if she's what makes the engine hum, it gets tough when you're paying eight or ten mana for your commander again. This is where I feel like The Ninth Doctor

Anyhoo, because Obeka rewards you for dealing combat damage to players, you'll need to make sure you get through. She's already got menace, so packing a Silent Arbiter

Custody Battle

So which cards do better in which decks? Here's a bit of a rapid fire for you.

Beginning with a surprise, a card that performs better in Doc's deck over Obeka's is Sphinx of the Second Sun

Obeka doesn't just care that you dealt combat damage, she cares how much combat damage you've dealt. This is a deck for Embercleave

Controlling the board becomes a little more important when you're hoping to get back to your untap step with everything. Playing some stax effects can make some eyes roll, but at least you're going to be going full speed and you'll be able to end the game when you pop Rumbling Crescendo

While I've already explained why Silent Arbiter

While it's fine in both decks, Dominus of Fealty

The drawback on Psychic Vortex

Another spicy card that's great in both decks, Jhoira of the Ghitu

I could sense some folks reading this wondering: "Why haven't you mentioned Court of Cunning

An Obeka Deck - An Odecka

There are a lot of goodies I didn't get to in the article, so here's a list I whipped up for Obeka, Splitter of Seconds

I hope you enjoyed this, and if you have any questions, I'm really easy to reach! Thanks for reading!