Hello and welcome to Daily Commander!

Today we are going to be talking about Drizzt Do’Urden!

Drizzt is a five mana 3/3 with double strike and when he enters you create Guenhwyvar, a legendary 4/1 greet Cat creature token with trample and whenever a creature dies, if it had power greater that Drizzt’s power then we put a number of +1/+1 counters on Drizzt equal to the difference.

When I first read Drizzt, I thought that his second ability only triggered when a creature you control died, but it triggers whenever any creature dies if it had power greater that Drizzt’s, which means a whole different sort of play style.

This deck is going to be much more removal heavy than most green white decks, ideally if they can remove strong creatures, and we may even be able to mix a bit of a group hug element if we can make our opponents creatures stronger in order to help give a massive boost to Drizzt.

The first thing to consider are the ways we can make our opponents creatures bigger, which is a little more difficult to do than one would expect.

Evolutionary Escalation is a way to get our opponents creatures bigger while at the same time getting our creatures bigger because at the beginning of our upkeep we put three +1/+1 counters on a creature we control and the three +1/+1 counters on a creature an opponent controls, which can be a bit dicey if we show our hand a bit too quickly, but it is a way we can get this active pretty early on.

Erithizon is a creature that when they attack it lets an opponent put a +1/+1 counter on a creature they control, Invigorate can be cast essentially for free if we have a Forest and have an opponent gain 3 life so it can give a creature +4/+4 until end of turn, and Ley Line has each player give a +1/+1 counter to a creature they control at the beginning of their upkeep.

If we want to make sure that our opponents can’t easily retaliate against us we can use Orzhov Advokist who at t he beginning of our upkeep each player can put two +1/+1 counters on a creature they control and if they do they can’t attack us or Planeswalker we control until the beginning of our next turn.

Regna’s Sanction is also a way for us to play a bit defensively if we are able because for each opponent we choose either friend or foe, with each friend choice getting a +1/+1 counter on each creature they control with each foe choice choosing one untapped creature they control and tapping the rest.

There is also a bit of a tricky way to proc Drizzt on our part to give a massive swing of counters by using Force of Savagery, a three mana creature with trample with 8/0, who will come into play and due to state based actions will die, which will trigger Drizzt.

The next thing we need are ways to destroy our opponents creatures, ideally removal that targets creatures with a higher power.

Reprisal is the exact sort of card we are looking for since it is a two mana instant that can destroy a creature with power 4 or greater and it can’t be regenerated, and it’s going to be odd playing a lot of spot removal in a green and white deck but bear with me.

Repel Calamity, Legion’s Judgement, and Guiding Bolt are all cards that can destroy a creature with power 4 or greater, all at various mana costs and Guiding Bolt also letting you scry 2 signifying it as a technically different spell.

We can also play the gamble in using Fell the Mighty right when we get Drizzt down because it destroys all creatures with power greater than target creature’s power, which can be helpful in getting some number of counters on Drizzt, but Drizzt’s ability checks per creature meaning if we destroy a massive creature and put a ton of counters from that, then we may potentially miss some other counters.

There is also a way we can continuously get a way to destroy a creature with power 4 or greater by using Intrepid Hero, who taps to destroy a creature with power 4 or greater, which is not something that I knew existed, but am very glad to see exists for a deck like this.

Ideally we also have spells that can destroy creatures with higher power that also can do other things like Make Your Move which can destroy an artifact, enchantment, or creature with power 4 or greater. Battle Menu is a solid modal spell that can either make a 2/2 Knight token, give a creature +0/+4, destroy a creature with power 4 or greater, or gain 4 life.

If we manage to have a ton of mana we can use Final Showdown as a way to give Drizzt indestructible and to then destroy all creatures, which again can be a bit of a gamble to determine how many counters Drizzt gets, but it does clear the way for Drizzt to attack.

Drizzt ideally is going to go for massive power, which means that the bigger we can get him the more effective he’ll be.

Sovereign Okinec Ahau is way to give Drizzt a ton of counters, especially if we have a decent number of counters on Drizzt because whenever Okinec attacks, for each creatire we control with power greater than that creature’s base power, we put a number of +1/+1 counters on that creature equal to the difference, which because Drizzt has double strike can bring a player down once Drizzt’s power hits 11 power.

We also need ways to give Drizzt the ability to get that damage through, one fun way being Shield of the Oversoul which is an Aura that gives a green creature +1/+1 and indestructible and if the creature is white it gives the creature +1/+1 and flying, which not only gives Drizzt evasion but also resilience to destruction based removal.

Garruk’s Uprising is a solid way that draws us a card when it enters and we control a creature with power 4 or greater, which would trigger with Guenhwyvar in play, or when Drizzt makes Guenhwyvar when Garruk’s Uprising is already in play, but more importantly gives creatures we control trample, which becomes more and more potent for a creature with double strike.

We can also use a combination of Death’s Presence which whenever a creature we control dies we put X +1/+1 counters on a creature we control where X is the power of the creature that died along with a board wipe like Tragic Arrogance, which for each player we choose an artifact, creature, enchantment, and Planeswalker they control and each player sacrifices the rest to clear the board of a majority of threats so Drizzt can come in with a massive swing of damage.

Drizzt is a Voltron Commander that has an interesting way of getting stronger since it triggers whenever any creature dies, rather than just your creatures which isn’t often seen in green and white Commanders.

When combined with some group hug elements it can put your opponents off guard, until you pull out your tricky cards to get a massive Drizzt to win you the game.

It puts a fun spin on a Voltron Commander that has some interesting ways to spice up what can be a pretty straightforward play style while also being familiar enough that a newer player can grasp the game plan, and can make use of fun and weird rules interactions.

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

Peace,

From, J.M. Casual