Hello and welcome to Daily Commander!

Today we are going to be talking about Vihaan, Goldwaker!

Vihaan is a three mana 3/3 that gives other outlaws we control vigilance and haste and at the beginning of combat at our turn we may have Treasures we control become 3/3 Construct Assassin artifact creatures in addition to their other types.

An interesting take in a go wide deck in that we want to get a ton of Treasure tokens and swing wide with them, and since they become outlaws when they become creatures, we can sacrifice a couple of them to not only gain mana, but also play into some aristocrat strategies.

The goal of the deck is to pile on the Treasures and get them to swing at our opponents while also being able to sacrifice them to gain some benefits other than the mana that they produce.

The first thing we need, of course, is to get a ton of Treasures in play at a consistent rate.

Diamond Pick-Axe is a simple yet elegant way in the early game that we can start getting Treasures if we equip it to any creature because all we need to do is have the equipped creature to attack to get a Treasure token. We can pile it on a small evasive creature to get some damage in, or onto a creature with a death trigger to give our opponents a less than ideal block.

Collector’s Vault is a card that can have us draw a card then discard a card then make a Treasure token to sculpt our hand, Luxurious Locomotive can be used as a massive token generator if we pile on a bunch of creatures to Crew it, and Monologue Tax can be used as a way to get Treasures if an opponent plays a second spell each turn.

Of course we should include Xorn in the deck as a way to gain an additional Treasure token, and if we want to get a bit more Treasure from having creatures our opponents control dying, then Life Insurance can be a way to gain a Treasure whenever a creature dies and we lose 1 life for it but it having Extort can offset that cost a bit,

If we have a decent amount of mana that we can use, then we can use Indulge//Excess, with Indulge creating a tapped and attacking 1/1 Citizen token whenever a creature we control attacks, with Excess creating a Treasure token for each creature we control that did combat damage to a player this turn.

When the Treasures become animated they become outlaws, which means we should play some other outlaws synergies to our advantage.

Rakish Crew works really well with our Treasures becoming outlaws because not only does it make a Mercenary token when it enters, but whenever an outlaw we control dies each opponent loses 1 life and we gain 1 life, which means that it becomes an easy payoff for sacrificing the Treasures for additional value.

In a similar vein, At Knifepoint gives outlaws we control first strike and creates a Mercenary token whenever we commit a crime, meaning that even if we use our Treasure tokens to cast a spell, we can still get a creature out of it if we cast a spell that targets an opponent’s things.

As far as combat tricks go, we also have Dead Before Sunrise which gives our outlaws a +1/+0 boost and can tap to deal damage equal to its power to another creature, and since Vihaan gives other outlaws we control vigilance, this means if we don’t mind losing access to some mana we can clear the board of some problematic big creatures or clear the way from some small creatures as we make an attack.

In addition to that, we also happen to have access to a way to clear the board of small creatures by using Caught in the Crossfire, a Spree spell that can deal 2 damage to outlaw creatures and/or non-outlaw creatures, which our animated Treasures just so happen can survive if we need to clear the board of some outlaws.

The way that we win the game comes from using our Treasures for some sacrifice strategies, either with them as creatures or as artifacts.

Crime Novelist is a way we can make use of them as artifacts since whenever we sacrifice an artifact we put a +1/+1 counter on it and make an additional red mana, meaning we get two mana for one Treasure. Though we could also play Goldspan Dragon in that case to get three mana for one Treasure.

We can go with the classics of Cruel Celebrant, Zulaprt Cutthroat, and Blood Artist as ways to drain our opponents in addition to making mana with the Treasures. We can also make use of Nadier’s Nightblade to make use of anytime a token we control leaves the battlefield to drain our opponents as well.

There is also the option for a more aggressive strategy if we developed a wide enough board of Treasures by using Cyberman Patrol as a way to give our Treasures afflict 3, which means that we are always guaranteed some damage whenever we attack with our Treasures.

There are also ways we can get even more Treasure by sacrificing our creatures Treasures, Ruthless Technomancer being a great example in this case because when it enters we can sacrifice a creature and make Treasure tokens equal to that creature’s power, meaning at minimum we get three Treasure tokens for one.

Vihaan is a neat value Commander that rewards you for having a ton of Treasures and giving them an additional use other than mana generation. Of course the strategy hinges on Vihaan staying in play to be at its most effective, but it does have an aristocrat package built within it as an additional back up plan if you can’t get Vihann to stick onto the battlefield.

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

Peace,

From, J.M. Casual