Baylen, the Haymaker | Commander Makeover

Baylen, the Haymaker | Art by Ryan Pancoast

A Rabbit's Humble Abode

Greetings, and welcome to another edition of Commander Makeover! We reinvigorate old commanders with new additions to the 99 here. This week, we return to Bloomburrow to deal with another Rabbit. This one won't be as menacing and sinister as the evil Ms. Bumbleflower, right?

Thankfully, not exactly. Baylen, the Haymaker marries Tokens with Voltron. While we could go wide and accrue value with tokens, we can also pump Baylen and win through commander damage.

With them being the merger of two popular archetypes, I'm sure there are a number of new cards decks could be running.

Hare Apparent

I'm going to begin with the elephant...I mean the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog in the room. Every Rabbit commander I see (with one notable exception, and I shall not utter her name, lest I terrorize people) will be running a good number of copies of this card.

However, it does take a bit to build up, and our opponents will catch on very quickly, as this will get crazy with our commander. I sure hope you're running lots of protection spells if you're running this card.

Also, this is the last article where Foundations cards can be discussed here, so there's that.

Jiang Yanggu, Never Alone

Good Mother of Bolas. As if things like Drumbellower aren't enough. Except, Jiang checks all tokens, and not just creatures. Meaning, we can get multiple uses out of our commander each round.

The catch is that we only get this boon on our end steps but, still, it's easily one of the best cards for the deck among the lot.

Quark, Humble Proprietor

Does it suck that this dastardly little Ferengi won't make you sacrifice Treasure tokens? Sure, but we can bypass that with our commander's first ability, treating them like they were the Moxen of ancient fame (Pearl, Sapphire, Jet, Ruby, and Emerald). The best part? We can tap those Treasures for the other abilities, too!

Belladonna Took

The more tokens we make, the more we get out of this card. The first trigger doesn't do much, but the other two are what we should be aiming for. Consistently pulling this off each turn is going to snowball.

I suppose that's the point of this deck, not smashing people to smithereens like I want to, but I digress.

The Queen of Dale

Did I mention how criminal it is that she never got a name? I have? Never mind then.

Anyway, the first noncreature spell our opponents cast each turn means we get a token, and a loot. The former's more important, since it'll feed into our commander's abilities.

It'll mean an extra mana to cast spells, perhaps to protect our board, or it could mean getting a card, assuming we have another untapped token handy. Perhaps more.

Gleaming Splendor

Everyone will be drawing at least two cards each turn, perhaps on average. We're almost guaranteed to get a token to use. If not, we can force them to draw, getting the token that way (we can use our tokens for mana if our commander's out, easily paying the cost).

That said, I don't expect this card's going to shine in the lower Brackets.

Brigid, Clachan's Heart

The front half makes a token, fueling our commander's abilities. Meanwhile, the back face is yet another take on Gaea's Cradle, except it can tap for white as well. Either face, the card's sure to be serviceable to the 99.

That said, paying to transform on each upkeep is a bit of a nuisance, but we still get another token if we do flip back to the front, so there's that.

Kinbinding

We get a token each combat, which is nice. However, the main attraction's the first ability, which can be sure to close out games if we have the setup. Even something like Increasing Devotion will mean our creatures get +6/+6 at least!

Noteworthy also is that it gives our commander extra reach if we're aiming to close out with commander damage.

Abandoned Air Temple

Another version of Gavony Township (why not run both?), this isn't as color-intensive, and it taps for colored mana. Buffing all of our tokens helps if our plan is to go wide, but nothing much else beyond that.

Prepare for Trouble, and Make It Double

There are only two token doublers of note within these past two years, and they're both good in their own way. First, Exalted Sunborn can be cast for two, allowing us to set up for an explosive turn. After that, we can cast it again for its real cost.

In addition, Elspeth, Storm Slayer makes us two tokens the moment we uptick her (two, because of her doubling static ability). The zero ability is a buff to our board, plus temporarily giving them flying, allowing for a massive strike without much resistance.

Will of the Mardu

We either get an army in a can, or we remove a troublesome creature, but we get both if our commander's in play. Worth noting that this is an instant, so we could cast this while attacking with our buffed, trampley commander, and kill an opponent out of nowhere with the right board.

Beyond that, it's still got nice utility for our commander.

Frontline Rush

Under ordinary circumstances, we'd just be casting this for the tokens. However, with our commander, that second ability gets a lot more useful. Again, we can win out of nowhere with commander damage, but if our board's needing a token boost, then the first mode isn't a bad rate, effectively letting us regain what mana we spent.

Raise the Past

If a lot of our Hare Apparents kicked the bucket, this will get them all back. On top of that, we're getting all of those entering triggers, letting us amass an army with such speed.

I'd be playing this after a board wipe, and watch as our opponents scramble to find another one. Beyond that, a well-timed one can finish the game.

Preposterous Proportions

Not the best finisher we can get our hands on for this deck, but even a few tokens can become towering monstrosities with this card. Giving them all vigilance is important, too, because we can attack with our buffed tokens, then use them for our commander's abilities later on.

That said, we could always find other ways to give our board the keyword.

Champions from Beyond

Even if we don't pay anything into the X, we're still reaping no small amount of value from this card. Granted, those creatures must be attacking, and not used to pay into our commander.

Even so, we can pay a bit and get some tokens anyway because, with our commander out, we mostly reclaim what we spent by using those tokens for mana.

Evendo, Waking Haven

While this can tap for a simple green mana, we'll want to station this to use this card optimally. Depending on our board, it'll be easy, or it'll take some time.

Also, the card does have us choose: tap to station this Planet, so we can get a Gaea's Cradle variant, or save those tokens for our commander. Your choice (and yes, assuming you have ways to untap those creatures each turn, we could choose both).

Hop to It!

And, with that, we get to sunset Foundations as Star Trek replaces it in our two-year rotation. While next week is Precon Remastered (be sure to check that out: it features my flagship commander from a distant past), the week after, we at last dive into Duskmourn: House of Horror, covering a very familiar face.

I won't be surprised if you figured out who it is from the set's very mention. See you all next time.