Commander Fusion: Innistrad Remastered Edition!

by
Quinn Lambert
Quinn Lambert
Commander Fusion: Innistrad Remastered Edition!
(Adeline, Resplendent CatharAdeline, Resplendent Cathar | Art by Bryan Sola)

Faith's Battle Plan

Good day, friends! Welcome back to Commander Fusion, the series where we scratch that ol’ Simic BiomancerSimic Biomancer itch and see if we can combine two random commanders into one (semi)coherent deck, using EDHREC data!

The plane of Innistrad holds a special place in my heart. I’ve always been drawn to the spooky spirits and hard-pressed yet persevering Cathars. Odric, not simply as a card or commander, but as a character, has been my favorite Magic hero ever since I saw the glowing blade of the Lunarch MarshalLunarch Marshal across the table from me when I started playing in 2016.

“Fear has no place in faith’s battle plan” has become much more than just clever flavor text for me, but is a quote dear to my heart that reminds me to look up when things feel overwhelming.

Now, I don’t think you’re here for pure sentimentality- you’re here because you want to see two commanders jammed together into one new deck!

Today’s fusion is a special edition to commemorate the release of Innistrad Remastered in just a few days, and so we will be looking at two commanders who call the plane home- Adeline, Resplendent CatharAdeline, Resplendent Cathar and Ishkanah, GrafwidowIshkanah, Grafwidow!

Adeline, Resplendent Cathar
Ishkanah, Grafwidow

Cathar-Sis

Adeline, Resplendent Cathar

A fairly new character on the scene, Adeline is a cathar (basically a holy warrior or paladin) from Innistrad who made her first appearance working alongside the Dawnhart Coven to reverse that pesky Eternal Night that just about ruined the place.

Who knew locking an Eldrazi in your moonEldrazi in your moon would mess things up? Anyway, first appearing in Innistrad: Midnight Hunt, Adeline eschews Coven, Disturb, and other mechanics from that set to focus on being one of the most impactful token generators of recent years.

Adeline’s game-plan involves filling your board with as many creatures as you can, since the more creatures you have the stronger she gets.

In addition, she encourages swinging out every chance you get, as every attack sends a Human tapped and attacking at each opponent you have, meaning she’ll automatically get +3 power on each attack in the average pod.

How are most folks building Adeline? Here’s some clues from her top synergistic cards from her EDHREC page:

  1. Coppercoat VanguardCoppercoat Vanguard
  2. Goldnight CommanderGoldnight Commander
  3. Court Street DenizenCourt Street Denizen
  4. Champion of the ParishChampion of the Parish
  5. Thalia's LieutenantThalia's Lieutenant
  6. Idol of OblivionIdol of Oblivion
  7. Beregond of the GuardBeregond of the Guard
  8. Cathar CommandoCathar Commando
  9. SkullclampSkullclamp
  10. Rumor GathererRumor Gatherer

Most folks seem to lean heavily into Human kindred, very appropriate since Innistrad originated the strategy, and tokens. We see lots of Humans that care about other creatures, especially other Humans, entering, since those triggers will be significant each combat.

Goldnight CommanderGoldnight Commander, Champion of the ParishChampion of the Parish, Thalia's LieutenantThalia's Lieutenant, and BeregondBeregond work to pump up your Human army, while Coppercoat VanguardCoppercoat Vanguard provides some much appreciated protection.

Court Street DenizenCourt Street Denizen will be taking a WHOLE lot of enemy creatures out of combat, while Cathar CommandoCathar Commando falls on the proverbial sword to get rid of pesky artifacts or enchantments.

Rumor GathererRumor Gatherer, Idol of OblivionIdol of Oblivion, and SkullclampSkullclamp all provide much needed card advantage for a mono-white deck.

Coppercoat Vanguard
Goldnight Commander
Court Street Denizen

Adeline’s got a pretty impressive resume. Not only is she a great commander in her own right, but take a look at her “As Card” page on EDHREC; you’ll be greeted by a who’s who of token commander where Adeline shines in the 99.

Basically, if you answer “yes” to the questions of “does your deck want a lot of creatures” and “can your deck play white cards,” you probably want Adeline in there somewhere.

Graf Support Group

Ishkanah, Grafwidow

What is there to say about Ishkanah? She’s a big ol’ spider and she lives on Innistrad.

Making her debut in 2016’s Eldritch Moon, Ishkanah leans heavily into the Delirium mechanic featured in that set, which also recently saw a resurgence in Duskmourn: House of Horror.

Ishkanah wants to fill her graveyard with a large variety of card types so she can start building an army of Spiders when she comes on the scene.

After that, start draining away your opponents for damage based on the size of said Spider army which, ideally, will be massive. If this appeals to you, how might you go about making it happen? Here are some ideas:

  1. Shelob, Child of UngoliantShelob, Child of Ungoliant
  2. Arasta of the Endless WebArasta of the Endless Web
  3. Rotwidow PackRotwidow Pack
  4. Spider SpawningSpider Spawning
  5. Skyfisher SpiderSkyfisher Spider
  6. Nyx WeaverNyx Weaver
  7. Twin-Silk SpiderTwin-Silk Spider
  8. Curse of Clinging WebsCurse of Clinging Webs
  9. Lolth, Spider QueenLolth, Spider Queen
  10. Penumbra SpiderPenumbra Spider

Spider kindred is clearly the thought process for most builders here. Just about every card on this list makes a Spider token somehow.

Those that don’t, like ShelobShelob, Skyfisher SpiderSkyfisher Spider, and Nyx WeaverNyx Weaver, all have neat synergies with death and the graveyard that can tie in well with the Delirium side of Ishkanah’s strategy.

Shelob, Child of Ungoliant
Arasta of the Endless Web
Rotwidow Pack

Ishkanah, however, is a notable victim of power creep. For many years she was THE Spider kindred commander. Then…Tolkien happened. Magic-ally speaking, that is.

While the “real” Shelob came on the scene to terrify readers in the 1950s, she only recently began terrifying Magic players in 2023.

Was Ishkanah ever going to stand a chance against a 6-mana 8/8 with deathtouch and ward 2 that gives your other Spiders (all of them! Tokens too!) deathtouch and ward 2?

No, I don’t think there ever was a chance. Ishkanah has a firmly established place now…as Shelob’s lieutenant in the 99.

Resplendent Spiders

Now, let’s take a look at fusing together the strategies of Adeline and Ishkanah. We’re looking for a commander in Abzan colors, the combination of white, black, and green ().

Now, I’ll be up front with you- we’re gonna do this fusion a little bit differently.

Normally, I take a look at the synergistic cards above and see what commanders in our new colors they work well with. Today, to properly celebrate Innistrad, we’re gonna go ahead and choose our commander- the one Abzan commander that already perfectly represents the fusion of the forces of the plane: Thalia and The Gitrog MonsterThalia and The Gitrog Monster!

Thalia and The Gitrog Monster

But folks, that’s not all. I’m adding an additional restriction here to make this deck even more fun. If you haven’t caught on, a general tokens strategy seems to be a natural fusion for Adeline and Ishkanah, as both commanders want a massive amount of creatures to fill the board.

It would be all too easy to take the best token-related cards in these colors, slap them into Archidekt, and call it a day.

No, if we’re celebrating Innistrad, we are CELEBRATING Innistrad: so, I’m limiting our card pool to ONLY cards released in sets taking place on Innistrad!

Innistrad, Dark Ascension, Avacyn Restored, Shadows over Innistrad, Eldritch Moon, Innistrad: Midnight Hunt, and Innistrad: Crimson Vow.

These are the sets we can pull our cards in the 99 from. Can we make a functional tokens deck just out of Innistrad natives? Let’s take a look.

Git Along, Little Roggy

So, here’s the game-plan: I’m envisioning this as a sort of aggressive Aristocrats deck. We want to make a lot of tokens, pump them up to deal some significant damage, and have the freedom to sacrifice them as needed to our commander to help us keep card advantage.

Let’s highlight some our best token generators in the deck. I’ve included each of the members of the “Adversary” cycle from Midnight Hunt that are available in our colors.

Each of these creatures essentially has a kicker cost which can be paid as many times as we want, and they become better and better the more mana we pay into them.

Tainted AdversaryTainted Adversarygets bigger and bigger and makes us more and more Zombies; Primal AdversaryPrimal Adversary gets bigger and bigger and turns more and more of our lands into Wolves; Intrepid AdversaryIntrepid Adversary gets more and more valor counters, which result in all of our creatures getting a significant power and toughness boost.

Tainted Adversary
Primal Adversary
Intrepid Adversary

Hanweir Militia CaptainHanweir Militia Captain, once transformed, becomes a notable threat and helps us to build up our board even more.

Jadar, Ghoulcaller of NephaliaJadar, Ghoulcaller of Nephalia ensures that even if we find ourselves with a less-than-stellar board presence, we’ll always have at least one token that Thalia and the Gitrog can eat (I’m making the flavor assumption that Gitrog is the one doing most of the eating rather than Thalia.)

Skirsdag High PriestSkirsdag High Priest can make big fliers pretty reliably, since we’ll be able to regular have creatures die with a sac outlet in the command zone.

Hanweir Militia Captain
Jadar, Ghoulcaller of Nephalia
Skirsdag High Priest

In addition to Intrepid AdversaryIntrepid Adversary, we have some other reliable ways to pump our token army. Intangible VirtueIntangible Virtue gives our tokens a boost and makes it less risky to swing all out by giving them vigilance.

Odric, Lunarch MarshalOdric, Lunarch Marshal can quickly ramp up the terror factor of our army with our commander on board by making everything have first strike and deathtouch.

Cathars' CrusadeCathars' Crusade gives our entire board a +1/+1 counter for every time one of our creature tokens enters.

Intangible Virtue
Odric, Lunarch Marshal
Cathars' Crusade

I think one of the biggest questions to answer in a deck like this is whether or not we have access to enough card draw, removal, and ramp. When you add a set restriction like this, we lose access to a lot of those cards we typically take for granted.

There are no Arcane Signets or Sol Rings on Innistrad (not counting the commander decks, which I didn’t); no Cultivate or Farseek to more easily fix our lands, and no Swords to Plowshares for a quick and easy fix to our creature-related problems.

I’m happy to report that many of our wonderful Innistrad friends can fill these gaps, and many are already quite well known to begin with!

In terms of card draw, we have access to Augur of AutumnAugur of Autumn, Mentor of the MeekMentor of the Meek, Morbid OpportunistMorbid Opportunist, Tireless TrackerTireless Tracker, and Welcoming VampireWelcoming Vampire to ensure our hands always stay full and we’re drawing the answers we need.

In terms of ramping up our mana, we can use Abundant GrowthAbundant Growth to help fix our colors, while we also have access to Avacyn's PilgrimAvacyn's Pilgrim, Deathcap CultivatorDeathcap Cultivator, and Somberwald SageSomberwald Sage as our mana dorks. Alternatively, use Cryptolith RiteCryptolith Rite to turn all your creatures into mana-producing machines!

Finally, for removal, Vanquish the HordeVanquish the Horde can effectively wipe the board clean, Tragic SlipTragic Slip can ruin the day of one creature in particular, Return to NatureReturn to Nature takes out artifacts and enchantments, and Anguished UnmakingAnguished Unmaking can hit everything but lands.

Mentor of the Meek
Avacyn's Pilgrim
Anguished Unmaking

Once you’ve built your token army, it’s time to swing out to win the game. First, Craterhoof BehemothCraterhoof Behemoth is a proud Innistrad native who is well-equipped to strengthen your army to swing out for lethal damage.

If you want a lesser-known win-con, try Essence of the WildEssence of the Wild! This friend will make each token you make enter as a copy of itself.

Adeline is already scary enough; how about those 1/1 Humans entering tapped and attacking as 6/6 Essences of the Wilds? Pretty wild, if you ask me.

Craterhoof Behemoth
Essence of the Wild

Innistrad Unite!

View on Archidekt

Commander (1)

Enchantments (11)

Creatures (34)

Sorceries (10)

Planeswalkers (2)

Lands (33)

Instants (7)

Artifacts (2)

Thalia and The Gitrog Monster

On Innistrad, one person's windfall usually starts with another person lying face down in the mud.

That’s it for this fusion! It’s refreshing to do a different take on the fusion process today, and I hope it has been for you as well, reader.

Let me know your thoughts down in the comments below, and I look forward to seeing you next time!

Quinn Lambert

Quinn has been playing Magic since Kaladesh. A Bant player at heart, his number-one goal in any game is always to have more cards in hand than anyone else at the table. Outside of Magic, he is a licensed mental health counselor, non-professional but eager Jesus-imitator, and totally unlicensed toddler-wrangler.

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