Bess, Soul NourisherBess, Soul Nourisher | Art by Leonardo Santanna

Over the last few weeks, we've been touring the creature types of Marvel Super Heroes. We started with Heroes, then a general overview of Typal cards, and bookended the heroic start with their villainous counterparts.

But, as in the comics, there's a group that often gets overlooked in the conflicts between Heroes and Villains. When Heroes and Villains clash, it is often forgotten that there are regular people living in these areas. Every superpowered clash leaves buildings and lives destroyed. And, every now and then, ordinary people prove themselves capable of extraordinary actions.

Have you guessed it? It's Citizens!

Oftentimes, Citizens find themselves relegated to the backseat in battle, with their fates serving as collateral damage, if anything. They can be damsels in distress, angry mobs, supportive fans, and a range of roles in between. They're small, seemingly unthreatening to the super-powerful, but by no means powerless.

Citizen History

Citizens are a difficult type to analyze in Magic, as they have some precedent but are mostly new to the game, seeing a tremendous uptick in Universes Beyond. In-universe, their primary support came in Streets of New Capenna. A variety of creatures in the main and Commander set made Citizen tokens, little 1/1s that are both green and white.

Since Citizens, by and large, are small creatures, it makes sense to create an identity around their small stature, finding strength in the limited power they do wield. In particular, white has benefited quite a bit recently from exploring the design space around creatures with less than 2-3 power or toughness.

But how do we win a game with tiny creatures? And what kind of commander could unite the commoners?

What Does Bess, Soul NourisherBess, Soul Nourisher Do?

Bess's raw stats inspire little fear, much like Citizens on their own. But, like the general citizenry, Bess gets stronger the more Citizens rally to her cause. She gets a counter whenever a 1/1 creature enters, token or otherwise. What she does with those counters is where we can start to formulate a plan.

When Bess attacks, she gives our other 1/1 creatures a boost equal to the number of counters on her. This supercharges our citizenry, creating a rally that can overtake any opponent!

But what would a Citizen deck look like? And how do we get the masses to work together?

Key Cards for Bess, Soul NourisherBess, Soul Nourisher

Like with the Strixhaven mascots, not all Citizen cards are creatures with the type Citizen. Some are noncreatures or non-Citizen creatures that make the 1/1 Citizen tokens. And some Citizens don't fit the Bess theme, so it's a bit of a mix-and-match to find Citizen cards that fit the theme of a smallfolk revolution.

Citizen tokens have a surprisingly old lineage, as Icatian TownIcatian Town hearkens back all the way to Fallen Empires. These were only white, but they all trigger Bess and are perfectly willing to live, work, and fight alongside their green-tinted brethren.

Speaking of being green-tinted, Origin of the HulkOrigin of the Hulk is a Saga that makes a Citizen, grows a creature, and then gives trample and a Giant GrowthGiant Growth to a creature. The intention was likely to grow the Citizen into a 6/6 trampler, but giving Bess the counters alongside the initial trigger from the token is much bigger game, making this a really strong card!

Sky CrierSky Crier is an example of a nontoken 1/1 Citizen and is one of my favorite cards. Flying and lifelink are fine, but being a mana sink and a political card draw engine makes it one of the coolest unsung common creatures in white.

While Sky Crier lets us sneak in card draw, Citizen's CrowbarCitizen's Crowbar lets us sneak in a Disenchant. I also love this card, as its name makes me think of "The People's Elbow," which was The Rock's signature move. Interestingly, the Crowbar can be a signature weapon, or Arsenal, in the format I created of the same name!

But what do we do when our opponents start casting big spells?

The Battle of BywaterThe Battle of Bywater and Fell the MightyFell the Mighty both blow up larger creatures while sparing smaller ones, which works well with our plan of amassing an army of small Citizens. We do need to be careful not to catch Bess in the crossfire, but it's entirely possible that she'll catch a removal spell, setting up our board wipe perfectly.

Alesha always did favor small creatures, and that lives on in Smile at DeathSmile at Death, an enchantment that returns two small creatures each upkeep and grows them. Assemble the PlayersAssemble the Players likewise cares about creatures with 2 or less power, letting us cast them off the top of the library. Both give the deck afterburners.

PendelhavenPendelhaven is the perfect locale for our Citizens. It pumps a 1/1 creature, which we have plenty of. Gavony TownshipGavony Township adds layers of counters, which actually work with the small creature plan, as many of our cards, commander included, care about printed power and toughness.

But how do we close the game out?

How Does This Bess, Soul Nourisher Commander Deck Win?

CamaraderieCamaraderie is a perfectly thematic win condition for the deck, as it gains us a lot of life for racing, pumps our creatures, and draws a handful of cards. It doesn't grant evasion, however, which is where Akroma's WillAkroma's Will comes in. CamaraderieCamaraderie is the Citizens getting along, but Akroma's WillAkroma's Will is the Citizens showing their resolution, breaking through opposing lines and working together to win through combat in one glorious uprising.

The Deck List

Conclusion

Citizens are tricky creatures and haven't really been supported enough to feel like a cohesive type. Still, there are ways of creating cohesion and flavor, and focusing on embracing the power of the powerless is a resonant way of doing it. There are other routes, however, including showing the process of becoming heroic, like with Frodo, Sauron's BaneFrodo, Sauron's Bane.

But how would you build Citizens? And who would lead your united populace?