Jodah, The Unifier is the latest five color commander to be released by Wizards of the Coast. It is certain to make a splash as it cheats legendary cards onto the battlefield for free. The card is strong and there are plenty of ways to build this commander. Over the next couple of weeks we will be looking at some of the ways to build this commander. Today we look at a good stuff build and a variant of it.
Probably the most common way to build this deck is just plain good stuff. When you have access to all five colors of magic, it’s easy to grab the strongest staples from your binder, add a few more from your local game shop and you are off to the races. You also add a few cards that synergize well with what Johah is doing and the deck builds itself.
For all the flashy cards this deck wants you do not want to overlook the infrastructure of the deck. Mana Ramp and Fixing is going to be critical. Many of the strongest legendary cards will cost you six or more mana. Also, unlike the now banned Golos, Jodah will actually cost you WUBRG to cast. After you have spent your early turns ramping and fixing your mana you will be out of gas. Card draw will be necessary. You will want to play threat after threat to keep the cascades rolling.
The Random Legends Deck
When you are looking to win in commander you can tactically put together an amazing deck list. There is also a casual way to build this commander that is still powerful using the good stuff cards you have, but also adds an additional layer of fun and unpredictability. The base idea was not originally mine. Credit goes to Mitch from The Commander Quarters for introducing the concept in his Golos build.
What you want to do is build your deck with everything but the legendary creatures. In this case, we will include 15 ramp or fixing, 10 card draw and card quality cards, 10 removal cards, and 38 lands for a total of 73 cards. Then you have a stack of 50 or so legendary cards. Shuffle them up and add 27 random legendary cards and don’t look at them. This way while the mechanic is the same every game the gameplay will be different. It is also encouraged to limit the number of tutors in the deck. Part of the fun is not knowing what is in the deck.
Part of the not knowing is also add in about five to seven cards that underperform. This adds some unpredictability to the deck. It also increases the fun as you are revealing cards off the top of your deck. A perfect example of this is Phage the Untouchable. If you cast it off of Jodah’s trigger you lose the game. However, Jodah’s cascade is a may ability so you would never cast this card. When she comes up you just whiff on the ability. The added risk sweetens the reward. This adds a little additional fun at the table as everybody watches to see what happens.
Next Time
Good Stuff is a common way to build this commander. Adding random into the equation also adds some excitement to the deck and engages the table. Next time we will cover 30 top cards to put into a Jodah deck. If you have any comments fele free to leave them below.
