Hello and welcome to Daily Commander!

Today we are going to be talking about Thantis, the Warweaver!

Thantis is a six mana 5/5 with vigilance and reach that has all creatures attack if able, and when a creature attacks us or Planeswalkers we control then we put a +1/+1 counter on Thantis.

Thantis is a Commander that forces our opponents to attack, and some may want to aim those attacks our way, but at the risk of making Thantis a much bigger threat, especially since she has vigilance and can be a massive attacker and block on the crack back.

So the goal of the deck is to make sure we get our opponents to attack, where if they attack us they make us a bigger threat, all while making sure that any attacks made towards us aren’t as severe so that we can swing in with Thantis and win via Commander Damage.

The first thing that we need to look at is ways to punish our opponents for attacking while also making them attack each other consistently.

Rite of the Raging Storm is a great example of something that can force a ton of damage to our opponents because at the beginning of each upkeep, that player makes a 5/1 Lightning Rager token that can’t attack you or Planeswalker s you control that has trample and haste that sacrifices itself at the end of turn.

Kardur, Doomscourge is also a card worth considering since when it enters it forces each opponent to attack each combat if able and not you if possible and if an attacking creature dies then each opponent loses 1 life an you gain 1 life, which means that they have to make their attacks against the player with the least number of creatures that isn’t you in order to not have too much life loss while you pull ahead in that regard.

If you want to make sure that you are defended whenever a creature attacks you while also potentially depriving an opponent of resources, the Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs makes a 3/3 Ogre token if an opponent’s creature attacks you and they don’t pay 3 mana to prevent that.

We can also incentivize our opponents into attacking each other with something like Frontier Warmonger, which give creatures menace if they attack a player other then us, which can be a solid political tool against players who have set up some defenses that make combat hard to interact with by allow few attackers be able to get in some damage.

The next thing we look at are ways for us to survive combats, since there is a decent possibility that once Thantis is in play we have some attacks come our way.

What immediately came into mind are Fog effects, especially ones that can pull us ahead in some manner like Respite, which gains us 1 life for each each attacking creature while preventing all combat damage.

Then we have something that can help protect ourselves from a massive attack while also letting us get a ton of basic lands into play with Jaheira’s Respite, which gets us a number of basic lands onto the battlefield tapped equal to the number of creatures attacking us while also preventing all combat damage.

If they do manage to get some creatures to attack us, then we can use a card like Hellish Rebuke, which until end of turn if a permanent deals damage to the player that cast Hellish Rebuke, then that permanent is sacrificed and the owner loses 2 life.

We may need some defensive pieces to help protect our creatures when they attack, so something like Golgari Charm becomes a solid piece of protection by regenerating each creature we control, while also being able to destroy an enchantment and give all creatures -1/-1 until end of turn to help against massive token spawning decks.

If you don’t mind paying a bit of money, there is also Vigor, which prevents damage from being dealt to creatures we control and instead puts a number of +1/+1 counters on that creature equal to the damage that they would have received.

The last thing that we need to consider are ways for us to gain benefits from attacking constantly.

Curse of Disturbance is an example of card that rewards attacking a particular opponent since it creates a 2/2 Zombie to any player that attacks the enchanted player. Speaking of, Curse of Opulence gives a Gold token to players who attack the enchanted player, ad Curse of Bounty untaps all nonland permanents for players who attack the enchanted player.

Doors of Durin can become a massive creature advantage engine by letting us scry 2 whenever we attack and we may reveal the top card of our library, putting a creature into play tapped and attacking, giving it trample if we control a Dwarf and hexproof if we control an Elf.

We can also provide a solid number of power boosting effect with something like Giant Inheritance, which gives the enchanted creature +5/+5 and whenever the enchanted creature attacks we can attach a Monster Role token on any creature we control while also coming back to our hand if it gets into the graveyard from the battlefield.

Then we, of course, have something like Grave Titan that makes two 2/2 Zombie tokens when it enters or attacks and Inferno Titan, which deals 3 damage divided among one, two, or three targets when it attacks or blocks. Sorry Primeval Titan, maybe someday.

Thantis is an aggressive Commander that forces your opponents to play into an aggressive strategy. Where this deck can falter is when our opponent’s creatures have activated abilities to avoid attacking us, or are constantly getting onto the field and therefore cannot attack because they are summoning sick so they can be used for some sacrifice outlet later.

Thantis is a fun Commander that is all gas, no brakes, which is a risky thing to do, but can technically be done if played correctly.

Thank you for reading, see you tomorrow for the next Daily Commander!

Peace,

From, J.M. Casual