Before I get into this article, I want to say that normally I’m very much a supporter of building your own deck for you, not against somebody else.
Let’s be realistic though, no matter where you play Magic, you’re going to be playing against a certain ecosystem of people. Take me for example, I play Commander at my LGS, but I go with a friend, so I have at least one opponent who is the same every time I play. On the twelfth time my friend beat me with a mill deck, I maaaaaaybe started including some cards with the specific intention of shutting down that deck.
That gave me an idea. You’ve seen articles recommending cards to improve your deck based on it’s archetypes. How about some recommendations specifically to shut down your friends decks?
Use this information responsibly, but let’s look at some fun inclusions that can shut down a Treasure deck.
Yasharn, Implacable Earth
I lied. I didn’t make this article because I went to shut down my friend’s mill deck. I made this article because my friend completely shut down my Treasure deck, and he did it with this. Any deck that relies on treasure needs to be able to “tap and sac”. Yasharn simply stops you sacrificing any permanents (to activate an ability, sure, but that’s what your doing). That big stack of shiny treasure is suddenly useless as a mana source, which is at least half the reason you started hoarding it.
Hellkite Tyrant
This one is a brilliant two-for-one. If you manage to squeeze through some damage (which with flying AND trample, should be easy), and you can steal every Treasure your opponent has. Even better, if they’ve got a large coffer, and don’t have the foresight to sacrifice them before you finish resolving, you could potentially activate the mighty dragon’s win con.
Crisis of Conscience
The problem with board wipes is that you often get caught in the crossfire. However, if you aren’t playing a token deck, there’s literally no downside to Crisis of Conscience. You can use it as a more traditional wipe too if needed. Sure, it’s a little pricey on the CMC side, but this is Commander, we’re a fairly mana-rich format.
Mayhem Devil
I don’t need to explain this one very much. They sacrifice a treasure, you ping them for one damage. Heck, you could ping anything for one damage, it’s just that versatile.
Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest
And on a similar note, whenever they use a treasure, you pump your whole board. This one is great because if you’re in Black/Green, you might be doing a lot of sacrificing yourself, so you can trigger the effect on your own!
I’ve had most of these cards used against me, and they’ve incited various levels of fury, so have fun, but please use this power responsibly.