Introduction

Mission Statement

Restrictions Breed Creativity

Or at least that’s the theory. This DeckStats page represents my 2021 Commander Deck build challenge. The, albeit self-imposed, rules of which are that:

I can only use cards which I have opened in packs between 1 January 2021 – 31 December 2021.

Background

Before I start, this is the second year of doing this type of project. Last year, managed to pull together Temur Mutate Elementals under similar restrictions.

So why? I love brewing, but find through a combination of perfect information; accessibility of cards; and my lack of self-control leaves me to building not necessarily powerful, but highly synergistic Commander decks.

For most games, this isn’t a downside, but does lead to two important issues which are accentuated given the Covid-19 pandemic:

• My netdecking solves a deck for me far too quickly, and the lack of games I actually get to do means I don’t even get to enjoy the built deck. Instead, I want to have an ongoing brew throughout the year. One with a limited card pool expanding through sealed product to help keep things fresh.
• The few games I may get to have in person are likely not going to be with the more vested players at my Local Games Shop, rather friends who are more casual players with limited collections augmented with the occasional booster. These limitations emulate the same restrictions they have, which will hopefully result in more even games.

Playstyle

First iteration was built around the artifact side of Jorn. Self mill to fill the 'yard with Snow. Given the reanimation themes, put in some Zombies for good measure.

With Timespiral Remastered additions, took out some of the Snow stuff to take advantage of some of the Madness options.

After the release of Strixhaven, I pivoted to Alesha, Who Smiles at Death who I opened up in the Time Spiral Timeshifted cards. I did this to take advantage of the Lorehold graveyard matters themes along with the the Learn mechanic to support the various Madness cards from TSP.

MH2 continued to support the Madness theme, given the smattering of cards with this mechanic. Played down the white cards quite a lot, splashing white but mainly focus on Rakdos, keeping Alesha up top to allow access predominantly to Ruinous Ultimatum and Damn given the need for some board wipes (something that became very apparent with last year's project).

Adventures in the Forgotten Realms updates quite limited with some generic good cards.

Midnight Hunt saw quite a pivot! Werewolves! Through a combination of boredom/unimpressiveness of Madness and awesome werewolf art, I've moved into werewolves!

Crimson Vow solidified Werewolfs, ending up with what's here. Honestly, I was never going to build a Werewolf deck otherwise (much like mutate last year). So glad I've added one to my collection!