Hello and welcome to Daily Commander!

Today we are going to be talking about Jan Jansen, Chaos Crafter!

Jan Jansen is a three mana 3/3 with haste, can tap and sacrifice an artifact creature to create two Treasure tokens or can tap and sacrifice a noncreature artifact to create two 1/1 colorless Construct artifact creature tokens.

I have always had an interest in building Jan Jansen as a Commander because he reminded me so much of one of my longest running Dungeons and Dragons characters. So much so that now comes the time where I decide to build it.

The deck wants us to play with sacrificing artifacts for a variety of value, and we have a couple of directions to play with in this regard. The way I want to go with the deck is to pay homage to what all Dungeons and Dragons characters want to do in the end…get as much Treasure as we can!

The first thing we need are to get a decent combination of artifacts, both creatures and noncreatures, in play for us to sacrifice to Jan Jansen or gain value for when we sacrifice artifacts.

Prized Statue, while being thematically appropriate to a D&D campaign based on the set its from, is also a solid card for us to use because when it enters and leaves the battlefield we create a Treasure token, and we can sacrifice it to Jan Jansen in order to make the Construct tokens to start making more and more Treasure.

We can use Ichor Wellspring to draw a card when it enters and leaves the battlefield, Mycosynth Wellspring to get a basic from our library into our hand when it enters and leaves, and Servo Schematic to create a 1/1 Servo token when it enters or leaves the battlefield.

Oni-Cult Anvil is a great card for us because whenever one or more artifacts leave the battlefield under our control during our turn we make a 1/1 Construct token once each turn, and we can tap and sacrifice an artifact to deal 1 damage to each opponent and gain 1 life.

If we want an artifact creature we can sacrifice for value then we can use Myr Retriever which when it dies we can return another target artifact from our graveyard into our hand. We can also use Scrap Trawler to have a similar ability, only limited to being able to bring back something into our hand with lesser mana value then the Scrap Trawler or another artifact we control when they go to the graveyard from the battlefield.

One of the best ways to continuously get bodies to make Treasure with Jan Jansen would be with Stridehanger Automaton, which gives Thopters we control +1/+1 and if one or more artifacts tokens would be created under our control, we make those tokens and a 1/1 Thopter token instead, meaning we always make a creature with those Treasure tokens.

With Jan Jansen having haste, we have an interesting opportunity to take advantage of blink spells to make even more Treasures and combine that with other Treasure synergies.

In terms of reliable ways to blink Jan Jansen at least once during our turn, it’s hard to not consider Conjurer’s Closet, which at the beginning of our end step lets us blink a creature we control, and with that creature usually being Jan Jansen, we can make double use of his ability each turn.

There are also the classic ways we can blink Jan Jansen with Ephemerate which can blink a creature at instant speed and has Rebound so we can do it again, Cloudshift for a one time blink effect at instant speed, and Flickerform to have an Aura we can attach to Jan Jansen in order to blink them as we need and have him return at the beginning of the end step with it still attached to do it again.

All-Fates Stalker can be used as a way to have a one turn blink effect since when it enters we can exile one non-Assassin creature on the battlefield until it leaves, and it also can Warp for one mana meaning we can exile Jan Jansen for a turn and have it come back for one turn when All-Fates Stalker leaves because of the Warp ability.

With regards to Treasure strategies, Professor Plum is an interesting one when it attacks we can exile a card from a graveyard and if it was an artifact then we make a Treasure token, and if mana from a Treasure is spent to cast a spell we draw a card and lose 1 life.

Xorn is one of the best ways to get a massive hoard of Treasure because it makes an additional Treasure token when we would make one or more Treasure tokens. Magda, the Hoardmaster can also help make us some tapped Treasure tokens whenever we commit a crime, and we can sacrifice three Treasure tokens at sorcery speed to make a 4/4 Dragon token if we want.

To get even more value from our Treasure tokens, we can use Alchemist’s Talent, which makes two tapped Treasure tokens when it enters, levels up to have our Treasures makes two mana of any one color, and can level up to have it so if we cast a spell with mana used from a Treasure to cast it, then Alchemist’s Talent deals damage to each opponent equal to that spell’s mana value.

Now comes with the ways we can win the game, and there are a couple of ways we can do so with all the Treasures we’re making.

The easiest way for us to win would be through Revel in Riches, which makes a Treasure token whenever a creature our opponent controls dies and at the beginning of our upkeep if we control ten or more Treasures we win the game.

In a similar vein there is also Hellkite Tyrant which gains control of all artifacts a player controls when it deals combat damage to a player and at the beginning of our upkeep if we control twenty or more artifacts we win the game, and since not only are the Treasures we make artifacts, but we make plenty of other artifact creature tokens to help contribute to that number.

If we want to win via us making a ton of artifacts then there is also Ingenious Artillerist that whenever one or more artifacts we control enter then it deals that much damage to each opponent, and with Jan Jansen making at minimum two Treasures each turn, that means we deal at least 2 damage to each opponent at a minimum.

There is also Pactdoll Terror which when it or another artifact we control enters each opponent loses 1 life and we gain 1 life, Nadier’s Nightblade to have each opponent lose 1 life and we gain 1 life whenever a token we control leaves the battlefield, and Marionette Master to Fabricate 3 and whenever an artifact we control is put into the graveyard from the battlefield target opponent loses life equal to their power.

Crime Novelist can help us make our Treasure make even more mana because whenever an artifact we control is sacrificed we put a +1/+1 counter on Crime Novelist and make a red mana. We essentially make an additional red mana for each Treasure we sacrifice.

We can then use all of that mana for a big X spell like Forth Eorlingas! which makes X 2/2 Human Knight tokens with trample and haste and whenever a a creature we control deals damage to one or more players this turn we become the monarch, Finale of Glory to make X 2/2 Soldier tokens with vigilance and if X is 10 or more we make X Angels with flying and vigilance, or Song of Totentanz to make X 1/1 Rat tokens that can’t block and give all creatures we control haste.

Vihaan, Goldwaker can also turn our Treasures into a different sort of value because he gives other outlaws we control vigilance and haste and at the beginning of combat on our turn we turn our Treasures into 3/3 Construct Assassin artifact creatures in addition to their other types.

Jan Jansen is an engine Commander in that the deck revolves around him being around to start sacrificing artifacts in order to start making Treasures or Construct tokens and start accumulating some value while he is in play.

The difficult thing can be dealing with removal spells, or spells that can get rid of a mass number of artifacts which can potentially deflate the deck if we play a little too recklessly.

Jan Jansen has the capability to recover, and we can get back to filling our hoards of Treasure to win us the game, and as long as we are mindful of the removal floating around, we can outlast our opponents quite handily.

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

Peace,

From, J.M. Casual