Thinking About Our Club’s Upcoming MTG Commander Colour Challenge

Our club has a random colour contest coming up soon. Everyone will be issued a random colour and sent off to build a deck. I’ll post the full rules, along with my assigned colour, after they get chosen tomorrow evening. I’ll probably do that for next week’s Magic Monday.

The options that we can be given include mono-colour decks, 2-colour decks, and 3-colour decks. Let’s take a look at what I might pick, depending on which combination comes up.

Mono-Colour Decks

Black: I’m leaning towards Massacre Girl, Known Killer-based -1/-1 shenanigans. Honestly, I’ve been thinking about this one since picking up a batch of counter dice and haven’t found much use for the minuses!
Blue: I worry that I’m becoming the mill guy… oh, well, let’s go with The Mindskinner!
Green: I’m kind of hoping not to get mon-green. I’ve got Shroofus already; I don’t need or want any others. I suppose I’d go with Ruxa, Patient Professor, if pushed
Red: Oh, I’m split between Norin the Wary, who I’ve been thinking about for some time, and Tannuk, Steadfast Second, who has recently drawn my attention because I really like the new Warp mechanic.
White: I’ve been thinking a lot about Darien, King of Kjeldor for a soldier tribal/token generation deck.

2-Colour Decks

Azorius (Blue/White): I’ve actually just built an Azorius deck, so this wouldn’t be the ideal combination. That said, if I draw it, I’ll likely either go artifact-heavy with Mendicant Core, Guidelight, or go wheeliod with Heliod, the Radiant Dawn.
Boros (Red/White): Easy! Arabella, Abandoned Doll. Creepy doll and a bunch of tokens, please! This has been on the list for a while.
Dimir (Black/Blue): Another easy choice. Phenax, God of Deception, is one I’ve been looking at for a while. Got a list ready to go on this one!
Golgari (Black/Green): Let’s finally get that Ygra, Eater of All deck finished. This was the first commander I wanted to build, but I never actually got it done.
Gruul (Green/Red): Gruul isn’t really my thing. Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes seems fun, though. I liked them in Baldur’s Gate!
Izzet (Blue/Red): River Song. She seems fun. I like the shenanigans you can get up to when drawing from the bottom of the deck.
Orzhov (Black/White): Not a combination that excites me. I suppose I’d go with Ratadrabik of Urborg and a bunch of legendaries. Oh, or maybe Kambal, Profiteering Mayor for some tokens!
Rakdos (Black/Red): Again, not really my colours, but I’d probably go with Magar of the Magic Strings. There’s some potential for some real chaos here!
Selesnya (Green/White): Probably Kudo, King Among Bears. I like bears. Everything needs to be a bear.
Simic (Blue/Green): There are so many great options here. The one that currently has my attention is Clement, the Worrywort. I just love frogs.

3-Colour Decks

Abzan (Black/Green/White): I have a nice, Final Fantasy-themed version of Tymna the Weaver. I could pair her up with something else. I suppose the classic pick is Kodama of the East Tree.
Bant (Blue/Green/White): Bant Infect, you say? I think you could have some fun with Tidus, Yuna’s Guardian, proliferating a bunch of poison counters!
Esper (White/Black/Blue): The best colour combo! There are so many great picks. Sefris of the Hidden Ways lets me enjoy some dungeoneering. The Celestial Toymaker seems fun with a lot of chip damage. Merieke Ri Berit also seems interesting, with lots of sneaky thieving.
Grixis (Black/Blue/Red): I already run one version of Obeka, so the other one, Obeka, Brute Chronologist, is tempting. As an alternative, Marchesa, the Black Rose is also really cool.
Jeskai (Blue/Red/White): This isn’t a combination I am super excited for, but I do like the idea of a Wall tribal with Pramikon, Sky Rampart.
Jund (Black/Green/Red): Oh, no question on this one! I’d build Yurlok of Scorch Thrash! Let’s bring back mana burn for all!
Mardu (Black/Red/White): One of my favourite decks (Mr. House) is a Mardu one, and I’m not sure what other Mardu commanders I’d want to build… I’ve never used a Planeswalker as a commander, so Dihada, Binder of Wills is worth looking at.
Naya (Green/Red/White): Jetmir, Nexus of Revels fits into a playstyle that I know I’ll enjoy, so he’s the obvious choice here. I love how he works. That said, we know I do like bears… so Duskana, the Rage Mother, is tempting…
Sultai (Black/Blue/Green): This is an amazing combination with so many interesting options. I love so many of them! Xavier Sal, Infested Captain lets me lean into poison counters, whilst Muldrotha, the Gravetide gives great graveyard play.
Temur (Blue/Green/Red): My first instinct, honestly, is to go for Flubs, the Fool. He’s a frog, and he looks fun, but I don’t know that I’d be able to make him work. Maelstrom Wanderer would probably be a better deck in terms of actually functioning in the game.