Hello and welcome to Daily Commander!

Today we are going to be talking about Niko, Light of Hope!

Niko is a four mana 3/4 that enters with Shard tokens, which are enchantment tokens that allow you to pay two mana to scry 1 then draw a card, and for two mana and tap you exile target nonlegendary creature you control and Shards you control become copies of the exiled creature until the beginning of the next end step, then returning the exiled creature to the battlefield at the beginning of the next end step.

Niko is an interesting Commander hampered by the fact that they need to jump through several hoops in order to get Shard tokens on the battlefield since there are only two cards that make Shard tokens naturally.

The plan for the deck is to get a ton of Shard tokens on the field in so we can use them to make those Shards into a strong attack force. A go wide deck that requires a bit of extra steps in order to get the most value we can.

The first thing we need to do is make sure we find ways we can blink Niko to get more and more Shards in play.

Momentary Blink is one of the better ways for us to blink Niko, mostly because we can use it twice, once from our hand and the second time via flashback, which also makes it useful if we need to discard something or it gets into the graveyard via milling.

We have access to Cloudshift as a one man instant blink spell, Ephemerate as a one mana blink spell that has Rebound to allow us to cast it again, and Essence Flux as a one mana way to blink Niko that also can make any Spirit that we happen to have also get a +1/+1 counter if necessary.

Soulherder is an interesting way for us to get a consistent blink effect at the beginning of our end steps while also getting bigger because when an exiled creature returns to the battlefield we put a +1/+1 counter on Soulherder, which also happens to make it an excellent target for Niko to get our Shards bigger slowly, if we manage our timing correctly.

There is also some protection from board wipes by using Eerie Interlude, which allows us to exile any number of target creatures we control and return them to the battlefield at the beginning of the next end step, all at instant speed.

Speaking of instant speed, Ghostly Flicker is a way for us to exile two artifacts, creatures, and/or lands and return them to the battlefield, meaning that not only can we exile Niko, but we can also exile a mana rock or land to regain access to some mana or other creatures or artifacts that have enters effects.

The next thing that we should look for are ways for us to get value from Niko leaving the battlefield so often.

Dour Port-Mage is a way for us to not only draw a card whenever Niko is blinked away, but can also be used as a way for us to protect Niko by bouncing them to our hand for two mana and tap, while also drawing an additional card in the process of doing so.

Revolt as a mechanic works wonders for Niko blinking, and while we don’t have many options there are still a couple to consider. Solemn Recruit gets a +1/+1 counter at the beginning of your end step if a permanent left while also having double strike and Call for Unity puts a unity counter on itself if a permanent left your battlefield at the beginning of your end step and gives your creatures a +1/+1 buff for each unity counter on it.

Pegasus Guardian is also a creature worth considering because not only does it make a 1/1 Pegasus with flying at the beginning of your end step if a permanent left the battlefield under your control this turn, but also has the Adventure Rescue the Foal, which is a two mana blink spell for Niko.

Lulu, Loyal Hollyphant is also a solid card to have in the deck if you are playing with some blinking shenanigans because at the beginning of your end step if something left the battlefield under your control then you put +1/+1 counters on tapped creatures you control and then untap them.

If we have access to Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines to double all of our creatures enters triggers while completely blanking our opponents ability to do so, then that is definitely something worth considering.

The last thing that we need are creatures that fulfill Niko’s requirements for their Shards to become copies of, ideally with enters and attack triggers.

Overlord of the Mistmoors is a perfect candidate for this because it can get onto the battlefield for cheap using its Impending ability, can then be blinked with something like Scrollshift to return as a creature, and then can be used by Niko to turn all the Shards we make into copies of it that when they attack as 6/6 creatures they also make two 2/1 Insect tokens with flying.

Overlord of the Floodpits can also be good since we can draw two cards then discard a card whenever it enters or attacks, Frost Titan can tap creatures and keep them tapped for the next untap step, and Titan of Littjara can draw us an absurd amount of cards when it enters or attacks for each other creature its shares a creature type with.

Sludge Monster is a card I had no idea existed, but can help us tremendously because when it enters or attacks and puts a slime counter on a creature and if a non-Horror creature has a slime counter then it loses all abilities and becomes a 2/2 creature, meaning that could potentially blank a whole board.

If we just want value from combat triggers, then we can copy Leonin Warleader to be able to make a ton of 1/1 white Cat tokens with lifelink that are tapped and attacking whenever they attack, Fleet Swallower to mill an opponent to very nearly nothing, or Goring Ceratops to give all of our creatures double strike.

If we want a cheeky way to get some combat damage in, there is Battlegrace Angel, which has Exalted which means if only one creature attacks it gets +1/+1 until end of turn, which if only one of our Shard token copies of Battlegrace Angel attacks it gets a trigger from each Battlegrace Angel, who also happens to give a creature we control that is attacking alone lifelink, leaving a massive swing of life.

Niko is an interesting Commander as they need some set up in order to be the most effective, but once they have the proper amount of set up, they can become a problem really quickly.

We need to include some tempo pieces in order to make sure Niko can do what they do while setting our opponents back, but the deck space can feel cramped, meaning we may lose out on some solid pieces of protection in order to get the deck working.

Nonetheless, Niko can be a fun way to utilize an oft forgotten token to generate some very interesting wins, provided we are able to do so.

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

Peace,

From, J.M. Casual