Hello and welcome to Weekly Commander!

Today we are going to be talking about Vorel of the Hull Glade!

Vorel is a three mana one for that for one green and one blue and tap you double the number of each kind of counters on target artifact, creature, or land.

A simple effect, as was the style of the time, and while I was browsing potential Commanders to write about I had initially written them off as a just a +1/+1 counters Commander. At the time I also had Arena off on the side to get my dailies in when a card came up and I had a sudden epiphany.

The game plan of the deck is simple enough in concept, get creatures, lands, and artifacts into play that rely on using odd counters and then play into some off kilter strategies that utilize those counters into a way that we can win the game.

It’s going to take some lateral thinking and some interesting lines, but our use of counters should hopefully help us win the game.

Counter Intuitive

The first thing we need are cards that play around with as many odd counters as we can.

The card that inspired me to talk about Vorel in the first place was The Aetherspark, which is a an artifact Planeswalker that also is an Equipment that when it is equipped to a creature, it can’t be attacked and gains loyalty counters equal to the amount of damage that the equipped creature does.

More importantly are the loyalty abilities, which can be a plus one to attach to target creature while putting a +1/+1 counter on that creature, a minus five to draw two cards and a minus ten to add ten mana of any one color, which will be huge in letting us cast spells to help us proceed with our off kilter game plan.

We can also definitely make use of cards that use charge counters that provide some passive benefits, like Astral Cornucopia, which is a three X spell that gets X charge counters when it enters and taps for X mana where X is the number of charge counters on it. Over time with Vorel, we can get that number to be massive to gain us even more mana.

Then there are some more utility cards like Golem Foundry, which gets a charge counter whenever we cast an artifact spell and if we remove three charge counters from it we make a 3/3 Golem artifact creature token. In a similar space there is Titan Forge, which for three mana and tap we can put a charge counter on it and we can tap it and remove a charge counter later to make a 9/9 Golem artifact creature token .

Following into the utility space there is also Lux Cannon, which we can tap to put a charge counter on it and if we remove three charge counters from it to destroy target permanent, Orochi Hatchery to pay five mana to put a 1/1 Snake creature token for each charge counter on it when it enters with X charge counters on it, and Replicating Ring to get more eight or more night counters on it to get eight Replicated Ring tokens for a ton of mana.

There are also plenty of lands that can gain counters, and one of the most recent examples of this is Uthros, Titanic Godcore, which normally enters tapped and can only tap for a blue mana, but since it is also a Station, we can tap a creature to add a number of charge counters equal to the power of that creature and once Uthros hits twelve or more charge counters, then Uthros adds blue mana for each artifact we control.

There are also the storage lands like Rushwood Grove and Saprazzan Cove which enter tapped and can tap to put a storage counter on itself and then later can tap and remove any number of storage counters to add either one green or one blue mana for each storage counter removed this way.

Gemstone Mine is also a neat land to include since it enters with three mining counters and in order to add a mana of any color we would need to remove one to do so and sacrifice it when it has no more mining counters, so we can double those counters to help maintain our color fixing.

There are even lands that can act as removal like Blast Zone, which enters with a charge counter on it and while you can normally pay XX to put X charge counters on it, and for three mana you can sacrifice Blast Zone to destroy each nonland permanent with mana value equal to the number of charge counters on Blast Zone.

Double Untap

The next thing we need are additional ways to get even more counters as well as some ways to untap Vorel to get use of their ability again.

Gilder Bairn is an interesting creature because for three mana and untap it, you double the number of counters on any target permanent, which does open up what sort of counters we can double, though it is primarily acting as an additional doubler for us to get more counters.

Aetheric Amplifier is also a way for us to get some counter doubling, but not just doubles counters on a target permanent, but can also double the number of counters we have and can also function as an additional mana rock.

Deepglow Skate is also perfect for us because when it enters we can double to number of each kind of counter on any number of target permanents, which is much wider spread and can target any number of permanents and isn’t restricted to permanent type, which will come into play in the future.

Loading Zone is a bit more on the narrow side, but can still work for us since if one or more counters would be put on a creature, Spacecraft, or Planet we control then twice that many counters are put instead, and we can Warp it for one if we feel that we are going to be tight on mana.

Since we are dealing with counters, naturally Proliferate is an ability that we can make heavy use of. In terms of pure simplicity Thrummingbird is a decent option for us since it is a two mana flier that when it deals combat damage we can proliferate, Tezzeret’s Gambit let’s us draw two cards then proliferate, and Flux Channeler let’s us proliferate whenever we cast a noncreature spell.

If you happen to have access to it, then Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider also works really well since if we would put one or more counters on a permanent or player then twice that many counters are put instead and if an opponent would put one more counters on a permanent or player then half that many are put on instead.

We also need to look at ways we can untap Vorel, and in terms of getting access to that ability early then we don’t have to look much farther than Kiora’s Follower, which taps itself in order to untap another target permanent.

Dramatic Reversal is an instant speed way for us to untap all nonland permanents we control, Unstoppable Plan untaps all nonland permanents we control at the beginning of our end step, Vitalize can untap all creatures we control for one mana at instant speed, and Mobilize can do it at sorcery speed but also for one mana.

As far as a way to get more utility from a card that can untap Vorel, there is always of course Staff of Domination, which we can pay one mana to untap itself, two mana and tap to gain 1 life, three mana and tap to untap target creature, four mana and tap to tap target creature, and five mana and tap to draw a card.

If we want the mana to access all of these abilities, then we also have access to Wilderness Reclamation which untaps all lands we control at the beginning of our end step, which if we manage to combine with Staff of Domination, means we can potentially get multiple doublings from Vorel.

While not a viable target for us to target with Vorel’s ability, there is still Pemmin’s Aura, which for a blue mana can untap enchanted creature, a blue mana to give it flying, a blue to give it shroud until the end of turn, or for one of any color to give them either +1/-1 or -1/+1 until end of turn.

Continue Counting

The next thing we need are the ways we can keep our things safe while also being able to get some sort of value from them, as well as making sure that we can get our win conditions.

Ripples of Potential is a great way to make sure that we can survive from board wipes while still gaining some sort of value because we proliferate and then choose any number of permanents we control that had a counter put on them this way and then phase those permanents out.

Mutational Advantage is pretty solid as a way to protect our things because permanents we control with counters on them gain hexproof and indestructible until end of turn, we prevent all damage that would be dealt to those permanents this turn and then we finally proliferate.

Tekuthal, Inquiry Dominus is an interesting card to consider because it allows us to proliferate twice and for one mana and two Phyrexian mana and remove three counters from among other artifacts, creatures and Planeswalkers we control we can give it an indestructible counter.

We can be a bit sneaky here by using Goldberry, River-Daughter as a way to move those indestructible counters from Tekuthal onto other creatures we control because she can tap to move a counter that she doesn’t have from another permanents we control onto herself and then for one mana and tap she can move one or more counters from herself onto another permanent we control, drawing a card in the process as well.

Dreamtide Whale is a sneaky way for us to get some proliferate value from our opponents playing spells since whenever a player casts their second spell each turn we proliferate, which is also good for us since Dreamtide Whale has Vanishing 2, which means it enters with two time counters and loses a counter at the beginning of our upkeep, sacrificing itself if it has no time counters.

While not directly helping Vorel, Padeem, Consul of Innovation is a way to protect our many artifacts from spot removal since they give artifacts we control hexproof and at the beginning of our upkeep if we control the artifact with the highest mana value, or is tied for the highest mana value then we draw a card.

Xolatoyac, the Smiling Flood is a sneaky way for us to get some more value from our lands and other permanents with counters since when it enters or attacks we put a flood counter on a land and then that land becomes an Island in addition to it’s other types and we untap each permanent we control with a counter on it.

There are plenty of Game Changers we can consider for our game plan, but the one that I would recommend would be Gifts Ungiven, which let’s us look for four cards from our library with different names and then have an opponent choose two to put in our graveyard and the rest into our hand, which we will definitely be using to find our win conditions.

In a similar space there is also Intuition which let’s us look for three cards and have an opponent put one into our hand and the rest in the graveyard, but that is on the Reserved List and more expensive, but if you want redundancy then it is an option to consider.

What is much cheaper and works exceptionally well in our deck is Seedborn Muse, which untaps all permanents we control during each player’s untap step, which means we can get more and more uses out of Vorel’s ability on each player’s turn since they also untap our lands so we have the mana to use Vorel’s ability.

Counting the Wins

As far as how we win the game, our goal is to win through our prolific use of counter doubling and cards that win us the game through counters.

The Millennium Calendar is one of the first cards I thought of for this purpose because whenever we untap one or more permanents during our untap step, we put that many time counters on The Millennium Calendar. We can then pay two mana and tap it to double the number of time counters on it and once there are 1,000 or more time counters on it, we sacrifice it and then each opponent loses 1,000 life.

Darksteel Reactor is a quick way for us to get use of doubling counters from Vorel because at the beginning of our upkeep we may put a charge counter on it and then the moment that it has twenty or more charge counters on it, we win the game.

If we want to be a bit more proactive in getting to win the game through counters, the there is Strixhaven Stadium, which can tap to add a colorless mana and put a point counter on it, and when a creature deals combat damage to us we remove a point counter. The real kicker for us is that whenever a creature we control deals combat damage to an opponent we put a point counter on it and then if it has ten or more point counters on it, we remove all of those counters and that player loses the game.

Twenty-Toed Toad is also a way for us to win by being a bit more aggressive because whenever we attack with two or more creatures we put a +1/+1 counter on it and then draw a card and whenever it attacks, we win the game is there are twenty or more counters on it or if we have twenty or more cards in our hand, and the Toad also happens to make our maximum hand size twenty.

One of the potentially easiest or hardest ways to win would be through Simic Ascendancy, which for three mana can put a +1/+1 counter on a creature. The cool part is that whenever one or more +1/+1 counters are put on a creature we control, we put that many growth counters on it and at the beginning of our upkeep if it has twenty or more growth counters on it, we win the game.

The reason it can be easy is if we focus on putting +1/+1 counters on creatures then we can easily get to the twenty growth counters and the reason it can be a bit more difficult is if we aren’t doing as much +1/+1 counter doubling then it can be a bit slower going with the growth counters. It also doesn’t help that Vorel can’t target it because it’s an enchantment, but we have cards that can still help facilitate adding additional growth counters.

There is also Helix Pinnacle, which is significantly harder because not only is it an enchantment, but it also has shroud, which means it can’t be targeted by spells or abilities by any player, but once it gets 100 or more tower counters then we win the game, with it getting tower counters by us paying X to put X tower counters on it.

The neat thing is, Proliferate still works on Helix Pinnacle since Proliferate does not target but let’s us choose permanents or players with counters, which may come in handy as an additional way to get counters on it if we need our mana.

In Conclusion

Vorel can potentially be a much more potent threat than I initially assumed in my skim through of potential Commanders.

With Vorel being able to target creatures, artifacts, or lands we have a wide swath of potential targets to help us not only develop our variety of win conditions, but to also help establish a board presence and have a massive amount of counters on board, if we play our cards right.

The trouble is that our win conditions will be very telegraphed and are also very gimmicky. Once we play them, then our opponents know that they are on a clock and the sooner that they can eliminate us the faster they can potentially win.

Our deck has some ways to protect itself sure, but like with most decks that have alternate win conditions, we need to work fast and use those protections when we absolutely need to protect our things and have a way to potentially win if those things stay in play.

Vorel can definitely be used as a standard +1/+1 counters deck that makes use of big creatures to win us the game through damage, but as someone who enjoys unique and/or weird and/or difficult win conditions, there are other ways we can make use of Vorel’s ability.

Thank you for reading, see you all next time!

Peace,

From, J.M. Casual

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