Hello and welcome to Daily Commander!

Today we are going to be talking about Redshift, Rocketeer Chief!

Redshift is a two mana 2/3 with vigilance, can tap to add X mana of any one color where X is Redshift’s power that can only be spent to activate abilities, and has an Exhaust ability of ten a red and a green to put any number or permanent cards from your hand onto the battlefield.

Redshift is a neat take on a big mana Commander in that the mana that we generate from Redshift can only be use for abilities and the amount of mana that is made is determined by Redshift’s power. A combination of big mana and big power, with the hope to achieve Redshift’s expensive ability to almost Omniscience most of the cards in our hand.

The goal of the deck is to do what we can to get Redshift bigger so that they can make more mana, and then we use that mana for all sorts of beneficial abilities that either give us some form of card advantage, board presence, or protection until we can use Redshift’s ability to the fullest.

The first thing that we are looking for are ways to get Redshift as big as possible in order to get the most mana from Redshift.

Loading Zone, while itself doesn’t give +1/+1 counters, does make its so that if one or more counters would be put on a creature, Spacecraft, or Planet we control then twice that many of each of those counters are put instead which can definitely speed up the process, along with its Warp ability if we have an early way to give a +1/+1 counter to Redshift.

Well Rested is an Aura that gives the enchanted creature “Whenever this creature becomes untapped, put two +1/+1 counters on it, the you gain 2 life and draw a card. This ability triggers only once each turn.” which when we have a counter doubler like Loading Zone or Branching Evolution, can mean a massive swing of +1/+1 counters.

Invigorating Hot Spring is also a great card to include because it enters the battlefield with four +1/+1 counters and can move a +1/+1 counter to a creature we control each turn, while also giving modified creatures we control haste.

If we really want to speed up the number of counters we give to Redshift, then Hydra’s Growth is a solid way to do it since it puts a +1/+1 counter when it enters and enchants a creature and at the beginning of our upkeep we double the number of +1/+1 counters on the enchanted creature.

The next thing we need are ways to take advantage of the mana that Redshift generates.

Agatha of the Vile Cauldron is great, and can serve as an additional backup Commander in that she makes the activated abilities of creatures we control cost cost X less where X is her power, while not being able to reduce the cost to less than one mana, and has an activated ability to give other creatures we control +1/+1, trample, and haste until the end of turn.

Soulbright Flamekin can be used as a way for us to convert some of Redshift’s mana into mana we can use to cast spells because we can pay two mana to give a creature trample until end of turn and if this is the third time this ability has resolved we add eight red mana to our mana pool, which can be used for a myriad of reasons.

If we manage to make enough mana and/or are able to discount the amount of mana we spend, the Invoker’s can be a pretty decent investment of that mana. Bhaal’s Invoker deals 4 damage to each opponent and Silvanus’s Invoker turns a land we control into an 8/8 with trample and haste, and while both of these abilities cost eight mana to activate, they are repeatable meaning that if we manage to get enough mana we can spam these abilities as often as we can.

We even have ways to get that much mana, by using cards like Umbral Mantle which gives the equipped creature the ability to untap +2/+2 until end of turn and can Equip for 0 or we could also use Sword of the Paruns, which for three mana can be used to tap or untap a creature, so all we need for the Sword is make sure Redshift’s power is greater than 3 to get infinite mana for activated abilities.

While this mana is great for activated abilities, if we really want to make use of it for other things like casting spells, then we can use something like Orochi Leafcaller, which for a green mana can filter that mana to mana of any color that can be used for casting spells.

The last thing we need are ways to win the game, and if we can generate enough mana we have a few options available to us.

Aggravated Assault is going to be one of the best aggro options we have, especially since it untaps the creatures we control in order to give us an additional combat phase along with an additional main phase, which means once we manage to make near infinite mana from Sword of the Paruns or Umbral Mantle, then we can have near infinite combats to win that way.

Focusing on aggro for a bit, Tyvar, the Pummeler can be used as a way to not only have a resilient body in play that can be indestructible if we tap another creature and then Tyvar, but we can also pay five mana to give creatures we control +X/+X until end of turn where X is the greatest power among creatures we control, which can give an absurd boost to Redshift for damage or for more mana generation.

We can also lean a bit on burn damage using the previously mentions Invokers or Leafkin Avenger, which can tap to add green mana for each creature we control or for eight mana we can deal damage equal to it’s power to target player or Planeswalker, which if we also happen to boost its power high enough can also manage a heavy kill.

If we really want to be mean, then we could use cards like The Dominion Bracelet or Mindslaver to take control of an opponent on their turn, which may not necessarily be helpful in the immediate turn but can definitely be used as a way to have them spend their mana inefficiently and make bad attacks in order for us to swing in and win when it comes back to our turn.

Redshift is a neat value Commander who wants us to get calue in activated abilities, of which there are a lot that we can use, but tends to be a bit more selective in our card choices.

While Redshift is only two mana to cast, that won’t prevent our opponents from trying to stop us as we try to make a ton of mana for the activated abilities that will win us the game.

It’ll take a bit of work to win with Redshift, but it is something that can be done in an explosive way if we play our cards right.

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

Peace,

From, J.M. Casual