{"ops":[{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Someone Else’s Problem — The Unluckiest Planeswalker Commander Primer"},{"insert":"\n\n"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Someone Else’s Problem"},{"insert":" is a five-colour Aura and Curse deck led by "},{"insert":{"card-link":"The Unluckiest Planeswalker"}},{"insert":" , one of the unusual Rulebreaker commanders from Mystery Booster Commander Edition. Although the commander itself is red, its Rulebreaker ability allows the deck to contain Aura cards of any colour identity and basic lands of any type. Every other non-Aura card in the deck must remain within the commander’s normal red colour identity, which means red or colourless. This strange restriction is the heart of the deck and is what separates it from an ordinary five-colour enchantment strategy.\n\nThe central idea is simple: collect as many terrible magical problems as possible and make them someone else’s responsibility.\n\nThe Unluckiest Planeswalker enters with four loyalty and has two abilities. Its +1 produces one mana of any colour. If that mana is spent to cast an Aura during the same turn, we also create a 1/1 red Gremlin creature token. This does not pay the entire cost of the Aura, but it provides the exact colour we need while slowly building a defensive force around our commander.\n\nThe −3 ability is the real reason to play the deck. We discard our hand and draw cards equal to twice the number of Auras we control. If we control six Auras, we draw twelve cards. If we control ten Auras, we draw twenty. This gives the deck an enormous source of card advantage without requiring traditional blue or green draw engines, which would not normally be legal in a mono-red deck.\n\nAfter drawing cards, every Aura attached to us can be moved onto an opponent of our choice. This is the deck’s signature interaction. We can intentionally enchant ourselves with debilitating Curses, use them to increase the number of cards drawn, and then hand those problems to our opponents. The transfer does not target, so it can even move an Aura onto an opponent with hexproof or shroud, provided that player can legally be enchanted by it.\n\nIt is important to distinguish between Auras attached to us and Auras attached to our permanents. An Aura with “enchant player” is attached directly to a player and can be transferred by the commander. An Aura such as "},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Fertile Ground"},{"insert":" attached to one of our lands still counts toward the number of cards drawn, but it cannot be transferred because it is not attached to us personally.\n\nThe early game is about developing mana and identifying which opponent should receive the first Curse. The deck has access to every basic land type, but most of its non-Aura spells are red or colourless. That makes the opening turns slightly unusual. We want red mana for our commander and support cards, green mana for land Auras, and enough access to the other colours to cast the Curses we draw.\n\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Abundant Growth"}},{"insert":" , "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Wild Growth"}},{"insert":" , "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Utopia Sprawl"}},{"insert":" , "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Fertile Ground"}},{"insert":" , "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Trace of Abundance"}},{"insert":" and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Overgrowth"}},{"insert":" are particularly important. They accelerate or fix our mana while also increasing the number of Auras we control. Once the commander enters, those innocent-looking land enchantments become part of a potentially enormous draw spell.\n\nOur mana rocks include"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sol Ring"}},{"insert":" , "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Arcane Signet"}},{"insert":" , "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Fellwar Stone"}},{"insert":" , "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Coalition Relic"}},{"insert":" , "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Chromatic Lantern"}},{"insert":" and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Chromatic Orrery"}},{"insert":" . "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Chromatic Lantern"}},{"insert":" is one of the most important cards in the deck because it allows every land to produce whatever colour a particular Aura requires. "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Chromatic Orrery"}},{"insert":" performs a similar role later in the game while also providing a huge burst of mana.\n\nThe first Curses we cast should usually be political rather than immediately oppressive. "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Curse of Opulence"}},{"insert":" rewards players with Gold for attacking the enchanted opponent. "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Curse of Verbosity"}},{"insert":" draws cards for us and anyone else who attacks that player. "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Curse of Vitality"}},{"insert":" provides life, while "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Curse of Disturbance"}},{"insert":" and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Curse of Shallow Graves"}},{"insert":" create creature tokens. These cards allow us to point at the leading player and give the rest of the table a reason to attack them instead of our planeswalker.\n\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Curse of Hospitality"}},{"insert":" is another excellent political tool. It gives creatures attacking the enchanted player trample and allows those attackers to exile and play cards from that player’s library. Once it resolves, we often do not need to convince anyone to attack—the rewards do the negotiating for us.\n\nOther Curses manipulate combat more directly. "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Curse of the Nightly Hunt"}},{"insert":" forces the enchanted player’s creatures to attack each combat if able. "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Curse of Bounty"}},{"insert":" untaps permanents belonging to players who attack the cursed opponent. "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Curse of Inertia"}},{"insert":" also rewards attacks by tapping or untapping permanents, while "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Curse of Predation"}},{"insert":" and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Curse of Stalked Prey"}},{"insert":" make attacking creatures progressively larger.\n\nThese effects create a table in which our opponents are encouraged to fight each other while we remain behind our Gremlins and defensive permanents. We are not trying to control every creature individually. Instead, we are redirecting the table’s aggression toward the person carrying the most attractive collection of Curses.\n\nAs the game progresses, we can begin using the more oppressive Auras."},{"insert":{"card-link":"Curse of Exhaustion"}},{"insert":" limits the enchanted player to one spell each turn. "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Curse of Silence"}},{"insert":" taxes a particularly dangerous commander or combo piece. "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Curse of Death's Hold"}},{"insert":" weakens an opponent’s entire creature army."},{"insert":{"card-link":"Overwhelming Splendor"}},{"insert":" removes the abilities of creatures controlled by the enchanted player and reduces those creatures to base power and toughness 1/1.\n\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":{"card-link":"Overwhelming Splendor"}},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":" "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Cruel Reality"}},{"insert":" forces its victim to sacrifice a creature or planeswalker during each upkeep and causes 5 life loss if they cannot. It is expensive, but it creates a relentless problem that becomes increasingly difficult to survive. We can even enchant ourselves with "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Cruel Reality"}},{"insert":" and transfer it before our next upkeep, although doing so is naturally risky if our commander is removed before we activate it.\n\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Curse of Obsession"}},{"insert":" is one of the funniest cards to use this way. It gives the enchanted player two additional cards during their draw step but forces them to discard their hand at the end of the turn. We can cast it on ourselves, count it toward the commander’s −3 ability, and then hand it to someone else before it ever triggers for us.\n\nThe deck’s most important engine is"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Curse of Misfortunes"}},{"insert":" At the beginning of the enchanted player’s upkeep, it allows us to search our library for a Curse that does not share a name with one already attached to that player and put it directly onto the battlefield. In Commander, where every card already has a different name, this effectively finds whatever Curse is most useful.\n\nIf we need to limit spellcasting, it can find "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Curse of Exhaustion"}},{"insert":" . If we need removal, it can find "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Curse of Death's Hold"}},{"insert":" or "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Overwhelming Splendor"}},{"insert":". If we want to accelerate the clock, it can find "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Curse of Bloodletting"}},{"insert":" or "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Curse of Thirst"}},{"insert":".\n\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Paradox Haze"}},{"insert":" makes this engine even better by giving the enchanted player an additional upkeep. If "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Paradox Haze"}},{"insert":" and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Curse of Misfortunes"}},{"insert":" are attached to the same opponent, we receive two Misfortunes triggers every turn. It can also double the effects of "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Cruel Reality"}},{"insert":" , "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Curse of Surveillance"}},{"insert":" , "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Curse of Disturbance"}},{"insert":" , "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Curse of Unbinding"}},{"insert":" and several other upkeep-based Auras.\n\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Curse of Thirst"}},{"insert":" is the deck’s clearest direct win condition. During the enchanted player’s upkeep, it deals damage to that player equal to the number of Curses attached to them. Once one opponent has accumulated six or seven Curses, the damage becomes substantial. "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Paradox Haze"}},{"insert":" doubles those triggers, while "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Curse of Bloodletting"}},{"insert":" can double the damage itself.\n\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Curse of Bloodletting"}},{"insert":" also increases damage dealt by other sources. That makes attacks from the rest of the table much more dangerous and can turn a modest combat step into lethal damage. Because our political Curses already encourage opponents to attack the same player, Bloodletting often finishes someone without requiring us to commit our own creatures.\n\nThe deck also wins through resource exhaustion. "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Overwhelming Splendor"}},{"insert":" removes meaningful creature abilities, "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Curse of Exhaustion"}},{"insert":" restricts spellcasting, "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Cruel Reality"}},{"insert":" consumes permanents, and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Curse of Obsession"}},{"insert":" destroys carefully maintained hands. An opponent carrying several of these effects may technically remain alive, but their ability to influence the game quickly disappears.\n\nProtecting "},{"insert":{"card-link":"The Unluckiest Planeswalker"}},{"insert":" is essential. Its −3 ability is our best way to refill our hand, and opponents will recognize how dangerous it becomes once we control several Auras. The Gremlins created by its +1 ability provide blockers, while "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs"}},{"insert":" forces opponents to pay mana or give us Ogre tokens when they attack.\n\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Smoke"}},{"insert":" makes it difficult for creature-heavy decks to untap their entire board, and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Disrupt Decorum"}},{"insert":" goads opposing creatures, sending them away from our commander for a turn. When the battlefield becomes too crowded, "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Blasphemous Act"}},{"insert":" and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Chain Reaction"}},{"insert":" clear away creatures without destroying our commander or our collection of enchantments.\n\nThe proliferation package helps us use the commander repeatedly. "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Contagion Clasp"}},{"insert":" , "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Contagion Engine"}},{"insert":" and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Karn's Bastion"}},{"insert":" add loyalty counters while also weakening opposing creatures or developing other counters on the battlefield. "},{"insert":{"card-link":"The Chain Veil"}},{"insert":" is particularly useful. If the commander begins at four loyalty, we can use its +1, activate "},{"insert":{"card-link":"The Chain Veil"}},{"insert":" and then use the −3 ability during the same turn. This creates a Gremlin, fixes our mana and refills our hand without immediately losing the commander.\n\nThe deck is not a traditional combo deck and does not attempt to win as quickly as possible. Its strength comes from gradually changing the incentives of the table. Every Curse creates another reason for opponents to attack, avoid, exploit or eliminate a particular player. We appear helpful when "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Curse of Opulence"}},{"insert":" produces "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Curse of Verbosity"}},{"insert":" draws cards, but those rewards are guiding the game toward the outcome we want.\n\nThe greatest challenge is deciding whether to spread Curses across several opponents or concentrate them on one player. Early in the game, spreading political Curses can prevent any one opponent from feeling completely targeted. Later, "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Curse of Misfortunes"}},{"insert":" and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Curse of Thirst"}},{"insert":" reward us for concentrating multiple Curses on the same person. Generally, the best approach is to spread small incentives early and then consolidate the most punishing effects onto the player most capable of winning.\n\n"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Someone Else’s Problem"},{"insert":" succeeds because it fully embraces the bizarre nature of its commander. It is technically a mono-red deck, functionally a five-colour Aura deck, politically a group-slug deck and spiritually a terrible collection of magical mistakes waiting to be handed to someone else.\n\nThe deck does not merely destroy an opponent’s plans. It gives everyone at the table a reason to help. It rewards greed, encourages violence and transforms every Curse into both a threat and a bargaining chip. Eventually, one unlucky opponent will find themselves enchanted with half the deck, taking doubled damage, sacrificing permanents, casting one spell per turn and wondering how any of this became their responsibility.\n\nThe answer, of course, is simple: it was never our problem.\n"}]}