I have a confession to make: I am officially entering the Command Zone where it happens. I am heavily, thoughtfully, and perhaps foolishly considering building an Alexander Clamilton deck.
Yes, the Izzet silver-bordered clam.
This has been coming for some time…
For the uninitiated, Clamilton is a commander who actively rewards you for playing “Wordy” cards (cards with four or more lines of rules text). He writes like he’s running out of time, and he lets your wordy creatures fight so you can scry. I am quite literally not throwing away my scry.
Before I commit to buying every Izzet card with an aggressively small font size, I’ve been weighing my options:
| The Pros | The Cons |
| The Flavour: I get to sing Hamilton parodies during my upkeep. | The Target: Singing during my upkeep will make me the archenemy by turn 3. |
| The Mechanic: Turns unplayable, overly-complicated bulk rares into absolute powerhouses. | The Reading: “Reading the card explains the card” will now take 45 minutes per turn. |
| The Flex: Beating someone down with a literate bivalve. | The Rule 0: Having to sit down at a pod and ask, “Is it cool if I play a Clam Advisor?” |
Jokes and musical puns aside, this is what I love most about Commander. It’s the only format where you can look at a ridiculous, pun-filled Un-set card and think, “But how do I optimise the engine?”
Building a deck like this forces you to dig through Scryfall, looking at Magic’s weirdest, most text-heavy history. It’s a love letter to the times Wizards of the Coast had way too many mechanics to explain, and it reminds us not to take this game so seriously all the time. Sometimes, you just need to embrace the absurd, have a good Rule 0 conversation with your pod, and let your wordy creatures fight for their honour.
History has its eyes on me. And also my playgroup, who are already sighing.
What do you guys think? Have you ever built a silver-bordered/Un-set Commander? And more importantly… what are the best, most obnoxiously wordy Izzet cards I need to include? I’m open to suggestions, and I intend to share some initial thoughts next week!
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