Magic Monday: Building a Democracy

Magic: The Gathering offers a myriad of mechanics, but few are as interactive and politically charged as voting. Building a Commander deck around cards that make you vote can lead to some of the most engaging and unpredictable games. Let’s explore how to construct a deck that leverages the power of democracy, with a focus on cards that involve voting.

For a politically-themed deck, Queen Marchesa is an excellent choice. As a monarch, she introduces the monarchy mechanic, which ties in well with the political nature of voting. Additionally, her ability to create tokens when you’re not the monarch keeps you in the game and provides resources to influence votes.

There are other options for Commander, of course. These could include:

1. Tivit, Seller of Secrets: Tivit is a fantastic choice for a voting deck. Whenever Tivit enters the battlefield or deals combat damage to a player, starting with you, each player votes for evidence or bribery. For each evidence vote, you investigate. For each bribery vote, you create a Treasure token. This commander not only fits the voting theme perfectly but also provides you with valuable resources.
2. Xantcha, Sleeper Agent: This commander introduces a unique political dynamic. When she enters the battlefield, an opponent gains control of her. Xantcha can’t attack her owner or planeswalkers her owner controls and has an ability that allows any player to pay mana to draw a card and deal damage to her controller. This can create interesting alliances and scenarios.
3. Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis: This duo encourages a more cooperative and political game. At the beginning of your end step, draw a card, and each player may put a land card from their hand onto the battlefield. Then, each opponent who didn’t draws a card. This commander fosters a friendly environment where players might be more inclined to vote in your favour.
4. Marchesa, the Black Rose: This is another incarnation of Marchesa which brings a different kind of political intrigue. With her dethrone ability, creatures get +1/+1 counters when they attack the player with the highest life total. Additionally, creatures you control with +1/+1 counters on them return to the battlefield when they die. This can create a shifting power dynamic that influences voting decisions.
5. Brago, King Eternal: Brago can be a powerful commander for a voting deck. His ability to flicker your permanents allows you to reuse voting cards like Coercive Portal and Selvala’s Stampede. This can give you repeated access to their powerful effects, swaying the game in your favour.
6. Atraxa, Praetors’ Voice: Atraxa’s proliferate ability can be used to great effect in a voting deck, especially with cards like Chance Encounter that benefit from accumulating counters. Her versatility and powerful abilities make her a strong contender for leading a politically charged deck.

Let’s take a little look at some great cards that fit into our theme. We’ve not yet decided on a colour set, so they might not all end up being usable, depending on who we go with as our commander.

1. Expropriate: This powerful sorcery lets each player vote for time or money. For each time vote, you take an extra turn, and for each money vote, you gain control of a permanent. It’s a game-changing card that can swing the game in your favor.
2. Coercive Portal: This artifact has players vote each turn to either destroy all nonland permanents or draw a card. It creates a constant state of tension and decision-making, which is perfect for a voting deck.
3. Capital Punishment: This card forces each player to vote for death or taxes. Each death vote makes players sacrifice a creature, and each taxes vote makes them discard a card. It’s a great way to disrupt your opponents’ plans.
4. Council’s Judgment: This versatile removal spell has each player vote for a nonland permanent. The permanent with the most votes (or tied for most) is exiled. It’s a fair and effective way to deal with problematic cards.
5. Selvala’s Stampede: This card lets each player vote for wild or free. For each wild vote, you reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal a creature card and put it onto the battlefield. For each free vote, you put a permanent card from your hand onto the battlefield. It’s a fantastic way to flood the board with powerful creatures.

Other cards may not precisely fit the theme, but can support the deck by fulfilling specific roles, or otherwise keep us in the game:

• Brago, King Eternal: Brago was highlighted above as a possible commander, but is also a welcome addition to the wider 99. He can help you reset your voting cards like Coercive Portal and Selvala’s Stampede, allowing you to reuse their powerful effects.
• Varchild, Betrayer of Kjeldor: Varchild creates Survivor tokens for your opponents, which can be politically leveraged during votes. Plus, when Varchild leaves the battlefield, you gain control of all Survivors, potentially swinging the game in your favor.
• Throne of the High City: This land can make you the monarch, providing card draw and, once monarch is in play, you can encourage opponents to attack each other to claim the throne.
• Ghostly Prison and Propaganda: These enchantments discourage opponents from attacking you, helping you maintain the monarchy and control the flow of the game.
• Swords to Plowshares and Path to Exile: Classic removal spells that keep the board clear of threats, ensuring you can focus on your voting strategies.

I think there’s a lot of potential for fun with this little gimmick. I don’t think it will be strong, but there’s a lot to be said for just something that’s fun. I can’t really move forward with it until I’ve chosen a commander, but I’m in no rush at the moment.

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