Doran, Besieged by TimeDoran, Besieged by Time | Art by Carl Critchlow

Of all the decks I've constructed over the years, my Doran, the Siege TowerDoran, the Siege Tower concoction has endured since before Commander was a sanctioned Magic format. Swinging in with chonksters while grinding out opponents with efficient interaction reminds me of a time before the term "Abzan" codified what was once a hodge-podge pile of midrange white, black, and green cards collectively known as "Junk."

The archetype trod similar ground to Jund (), swapping speedy red Lightning BoltLightning Boltz and Bloodbraid ElvesBloodbraid Elves with catch-all solutions, like Path to ExilePath to Exile and Lingering SoulsLingering Souls.

Central to both strategies was TarmogoyfTarmogoyf, a straightforward vanilla beater that has fallen entirely out of favor within a faster and more threat-dense Modern format. At the time, receiving what was often at least a 4/5 creature for felt like a steal, as this was often big enough to devour opponents' creatures and close out games.

With Doran, the Siege Tower on the battlefield, everyone's creatures deal damage based on their toughness rather than their power. Our high toughness, low-mana-value creatures start to resemble Tarmogoyf, and the gameplay feels integral to the core combat calculus that first attracted me to Magic.

Doran, Besieged by TimeDoran, Besieged by Time, found in Lorwyn Eclipsed, honors Doran's legacy by maintaining the original's color identity and powering up its core gameplay. Today, we'll be building a Doran, Besieged Commander deck that reproduces the OG's essence and ushers the toughness-matters strategy into a more hostile Commander environment. The following deck tech likes big butts, and it cannot lie.

What Does Doran, Besieged by TimeDoran, Besieged by Time Do?

Doran, Besieged follows the modern Commander formula of offering both enabler and payoff within the same text box. He's a 0/5 Treefolk Druid for that reduces the cost of our creatures by if they have higher toughness than power.

Later, when they attack or block, they receive a boost to both power and toughness equal to the difference between those two values until end of turn; a 0/5 would gain +5/+5, a 2/4 would gain +2/+2, and so forth. This effectively replicates Doran, the Siege Tower's toughness-forward combat without requiring a mental shift and, consequently, constant reminders to opponents.

Notably, Doran, Besieged's bonus also applies to creatures with higher power than toughness—a 2/1 would still receive +1/+1 until end of turn, though they wouldn't receive any mana cost reduction.

Other toughness-matters commanders have contained white, black, and green in their color identities, though not necessarily all three. Arcades, the StrategistArcades, the Strategist trades black for blue and empowers only creatures with defender to attack and deal toughness damage.

The tag team duo of Ikra Shidiqi, the UsurperIkra Shidiqi, the Usurper and Sidar Kondo of JamuraaSidar Kondo of Jamuraa replicates some of the novelty of both Dorans but operates at a slower clip, even when combat damage is more of a given, unless we're leaning into lifegain strategies.

Baldin, Century HerdmasterBaldin, Century Herdmaster, otherwise known as E. Honda, Sumo ChampionE. Honda, Sumo Champion from Street Fighter in Universes Beyond, is required to enter the fray himself in order to gift toughness boosts contingent on cards in hand, not an aspect that comes naturally to mono-white. He plays more like original Doran but costs twice as much mana to play and, therefore, can't stick around for long.

Before Doran, Besieged by Time, Felothar the SteadfastFelothar the Steadfast electrified the toughness-matters game with a trifecta of gifting toughness-based combat to the team, unlocking the ability for defenders to attack, and providing the potential for massive card draw and direct graveyard synergies. He served as the frontman for his own preconstructed Commander deck in Tarkir: Dragonstorm, a fact that accentuates the feeling that Felothar is, simply, a victim of optimization within an inch of his life.

Doran, Besieged shares Felothar's focus on the deficit between power and toughness but cares more directly about the combat step and provides less blatant versions of card advantage, playing far more like those Junk decks of yore. Let's dive in, back-to-front…

Key Cards for Doran, Besieged by TimeDoran, Besieged by Time

Rather than commit to going wide or going tall, we're aiming for a midrange strategy somewhere in between: impactful and synergistic creatures that just so happen to rock massive rear ends. We'll be utilizing cards like Slagwurm ArmorSlagwurm Armor and Robe of StarsRobe of Stars to grow our bottoms a bit, but we'll be relying on Doran to do most of our glutes workout.

What you won't find on this list are cards boasting bodacious booties but not much else. These include Indomitable AncientsIndomitable Ancients, SkinshifterSkinshifter, Grizzled LeotauGrizzled Leotau, Unhallowed PhalanxUnhallowed Phalanx, and plenty of other vanilla creatures that evoke very little terror from our opponents. Thanks to power creep and the Tarkir: Dragonstorm preconstructed deck helmed by Felothar, big-toughness Abzan brewers no longer have to cobble together a strategy from discarded classic cards, as there are bountiful creature options that boast both high toughness and at least a relevant keyword or ability.

Here's a selection of the deck's chosen beaters:

• It comes as no surprise that Doran, the Siege TowerDoran, the Siege Tower reigns over the 99. His presence on the board doubles the boost our creatures receive from Doran, Besieged by Time and forces our opponents to contend with their own creatures dealing damage based on their toughness; of all the cards that offer this ability, Doran's is the only one that's symmetrical. He can also come down a turn earlier than Doran, Besieged and can be tutored up by Treefolk HarbingerTreefolk Harbinger. He's a powerhouse hiding in plain sight.
• Bedrock TortoiseBedrock Tortoise carries Doran, the Siege Tower's tush-damage clause for our own creatures and offers some situational hexproof, to boot. Most other versions of this effect weren't worth running because they offered little else, so we've been quite selective.
• Shadrix SilverquillShadrix Silverquill shines primarily in Group Hug decks, but his flying, double strike, and card-drawing capabilities ensure opponents will take quite the beating. To minimize the drawback of offering resources to our opponents, we can gift +1/+1 counters onto a mostly empty board or a 2/1 flying Inkling as a token of goodwill, ideally not to the player we want to target with Shadrix.
• Gorm the GreatGorm the Great might as well double as a source of creature removal. In the many years of playtesting this card in my Doran, the Siege Tower deck, Gorm has killed at least half a dozen creatures per game, often beefy ones, to boot. Vigilance ensures Gorm is always pressuring opponents, and seven toughness is nothing to sneeze at. He's hard to kill, and opponents often don't want to waste good removal on him because his stat lines don't appear threatening.

• Betor, Kin to AllBetor, Kin to All really kin do it all. It plus Doran draws you a card, and both creatures attacking results in a drawn card and a Seedborn MuseSeedborn Muse-style untap for your creatures. And while any normal deck would struggle to hit 40 toughness, Doran, Besieged by Time reaches this threshold with regularity. Heck, The Walls of Ba Sing SeThe Walls of Ba Sing Se gets us most of the way there!
• Ancient AdamantoiseAncient Adamantoise is goofy as all get-out. Note that carrying damage points between turns doesn't equate to lower toughness, so our Turtle power will never wane even when the Adamantoise is near death.

And now, a mini-beater: Even outside of a dedicated Treefolk typal deck, Treefolk HarbingerTreefolk Harbinger excels as a utility tutor that's valuable at all stages of the game. It can grab a Murmuring BoskMurmuring Bosk, Lush PorticoLush Portico, Indatha TriomeIndatha Triome, or a Shockland early on to smooth out mana production, or Great Forest DruidGreat Forest Druid if your opening hand doesn't contain any ramp.

At parity, Chomping ChangelingChomping Changeling and LignifyLignify can loosen a logjam while Doran, the Siege TowerDoran, the Siege Tower pushes our creatures over the top. Sinister GnarlbarkSinister Gnarlbark, Sapling of ColfenorSapling of Colfenor, Fangorn, Tree ShepherdFangorn, Tree Shepherd, and Colfenor, the Last YewColfenor, the Last Yew offer card advantage. If all else fails, a 0/3 for feels reasonable when everything else about the card represents upside.

Our strategy begins by playing Doran on turn three, which means ramping on turn one or two is essential. To take full advantage of Doran's cost-reduction, the deck prefers two-mana dorks with colorless in their mana cost, though I've thrown in Arbor ElfArbor Elf, Birds of ParadiseBirds of Paradise, and Arboreal GrazerArboreal Grazer because they enable tapping for more than one color of mana (in the case of Grazer, in theory).

While, yes, we won't be able to benefit from a reduced cost before Doran appears, these dorks can trigger our Guardian ProjectGuardian Projects and Beast WhispererBeast Whisperers later in the game for cheap and expedite our ramp efforts throughout. Our selection includes high toughnesses bolstered by a bit of bonus utility.

Of note: Fanatic of RhonasFanatic of Rhonas might seem like a nonbo at first, but it becomes very easy to achieve four power on a creature so long as it attacks while Doran is out, resulting in a windfall of mana post-combat.

The deck's selection of card draw spells presents a mixed bag. On the one hand, we've got stalwarts Beast WhispererBeast Whisperer and Guardian ProjectGuardian Project; on the other, we've included idiosyncratic selections, like Runic ArmasaurRunic Armasaur and Sapling of ColfenorSapling of Colfenor. Doran has been a character in Magic since 2007, so it felt right to honor his legacy by eschewing sweaty optimization in favor of the sorts of retrofitting that occurred before Commander became a Wizards-sponsored format.

We're also going to skip out on Mentor of the MeekMentor of the Meek because it doesn't benefit from Doran's cost-reduction, but will run Enduring InnocenceEnduring Innocence because it still receives a micro power and toughness boost from Doran.

There's no way in hell we'd skip Last March of the EntsLast March of the Ents. It makes even a modest rear end feel like a robust BBL.

We'd also be remiss for not including Fecund GreenshellFecund Greenshell, a recent addition to the toughness-matters canon that presents an anthem effect, a riff on Nadu, Winged WisdomNadu, Winged Wisdom for mono-green, and a bit of reach to shore up our softness to flying creatures. This card does it all, and there's hardly a game state that wouldn't benefit from having it out.

Our removal suite benefits from the many board wipes tailored to weenie creatures, as they often only care about power. Slaughter the StrongSlaughter the Strong and Destined ConfrontationDestined Confrontation, its strictly worse (only by a little) modern addition, are strong sacrifice effects that clear only our opponents' boards so long as we cast them before combat.

The Battle of BywaterThe Battle of Bywater offers Food tokens in addition to serving as a one-sided wipe for only three mana. Toxic DelugeToxic Deluge, already the format's premier wipe, becomes elevated around all of our big bottoms, capable of withstanding Deluge's shrinkage. Don't forget that Boggart TrawlerBoggart Trawler becomes a 5/3 attacker or blocker when Doran is out, which is something Bojuka BogBojuka Bog can't claim.

Thanks to the recursion of Eerie UltimatumEerie Ultimatum, Nethroi, Apex of DeathNethroi, Apex of Death, and Reunion of the HouseReunion of the House, this Doran deck remains quite resilient, as well. Each one can return almost all of our deceased creatures to the battlefield in one fell swoop.

How Does This Doran, Besieged by TimeDoran, Besieged by Time Commander Deck Win?

Our victories will arrive on the backs of pivots from defense to offense. The deck contains 41 creatures, most of which are packing at least three toughness, if not much, much more. Opponents will be hesitant to swing in when their attacks will simply be rendered ineffective. Meanwhile, we'll be building our wall and getting in for minimal damage when we can.

Given how much value we can squeeze out of our butts, how efficiently our board wipes hit, and the fact that Doran himself is both a ramp source and damage-heightener, it's entirely acceptable to play passive for a turn cycle or two without sacrificing momentum.

Doran's minions swell up quite quickly when they turn sideways, so once we draw a few combat accelerators, it's time to go all-in. Brave the SandsBrave the Sands, Oathsworn GiantOathsworn Giant, and Fangorn, Tree ShepherdFangorn, Tree Shepherd afford us what feels like free attack steps bolstered by strong defenses for a crack-back.

Crashing DrawbridgeCrashing Drawbridge speeds up our turnaround between casting creatures and attacking with them, while Oviya, Automech ArtisanOviya, Automech Artisan supplies trample. The latter doesn't necessarily synergize with the rest of our deck, but has its cost reduced by Doran and offers the ability to mimic Aether VialAether Vial if we need it.

If we happen to snag Felothar the SteadfastFelothar the Steadfast or Arbor AdherentArbor Adherent early, even better, as they'll escalate our means of achieving booty advantage.

With our enemies on the ropes, it'll be time for the finishing blow. Good ol' Elesh Norn, Grand CenobiteElesh Norn, Grand Cenobite makes for a delightful top end given her sizable rear end, built-in vigilance, and the fact that this breed of Doran deck doesn't care about keeping power values to a minimum during combat. Akroma's WillAkroma's Will, Tower DefenseTower Defense, and Triumph of the HordesTriumph of the Hordes facilitate alpha swings to eliminate most, if not all of our opponents.

To take a different tack, we've got Jaws of DefeatJaws of Defeat to unlock our ability to win games without combat entirely; it feels great to play in a way that feels antithetical to what Abzan does best.

Doran, Besieged by Time Commander Deck List

Age Is Just a Toughness Value

Doran, Besieged by TimeDoran, Besieged by Time allows for Doran to flex some of his upgrades since the Siege Tower days without losing the specific combat recalculations required by the original. It plays pretty explosively even for a deck running few staples and zero Game Changers, so I'd slot it into Bracket 3. Hopefully you'll also find it contains all the fun of Junk and Tarmogoyf without needing to track card types in graveyards.

Are there any cards you think I left out that you'd like to test in this Doran shell? Let me know, and please share any Doran lists you may have yourself, either the original or Doran, Besieged. Stay tough out there.