With Thanksgiving later this week, I thought it would be fun to take a break from my usual “This Day in Magic History” column and instead write a Thanksgiving-related article. In this post, I’m going to give you a deck tech for my Thanksgiving-inspired Commander deck!
The Host
A Thanksgiving Commander deck definitely has to be about Food, so who better to helm the deck than a chef? This really limits us to two Commander candidates: Gyome, Master Chef and Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar.
In the end, I went with Gyome because I wanted the deck to focus on Food, and there is a lot more of it in green/black! Gyome also seems like a better Thanksgiving host, to be honest. After all, he makes sure each of your new creatures gets a plate of Food at the end of your turn! His food is also so good it can make your creatures Indestructible!
To build around Gyome, we want to include a lot of Food and Food payoffs, as well as many creatures so we can make sure he keeps serving up fresh new plates of Food! Because Food gains you life and the deck has many ways to sacrifice them, the deck also has life gain and sacrifice sub-themes.
The Kitchen
Gyome’s kitchen is prepared for the feast! His Witch’s Oven can crank out food throughout the game, his Cookbook tells him how to prepare Food and he has a great Skewer for cooking over an open fire!
The Wait Staff
Gyome isn’t just any Thanksgiving host, this event is high class! He has 4/4 Rhinos working as the wait staff! This Enchantment gives you Food and it lets you convert your Food into those Rhino tokens.
I guess the staff get a bit hungry in between courses.
Model Guest
Tireless Provisioner is exactly the kind of person you want to invite to Thanksgiving. You know they will bring some food and help you out in the kitchen!
He works hard so the rest of us can have a nice meal! He will bring a ton of food to the party, too, since he gives you a Food token every time you play a land!
Problem Guests
Every Thanksgiving meal has a few disruptors, and there are three of them at this dinner. Feasting Troll King brings some Food to the meal, but he also seems to think all the Food at the meal is there for him! After all, he can consume food to return from the graveyard to the battlefield. There’s really no throwing him out.
Braids, Arisen Nightmare appears to think this was a Halloween party rather than a Thanksgiving meal, but she’s an important guest! She combos really well with Food!
This deck will be sacrificing Food on most turns, so at the end of your turn, Braids forces your opponent to make a tough decision: they have to sacrifice an artifact or lose two life and let you draw a card!
Ravenous Squirrel is a cute little guy, but he also won’t stop eating all the food! He gains a +1/+1 counter every time food is sacrificed, and he can sacrifice Food all on his own!
The Refreshments
Dina, Soul Steeper has agreed to bring the beverages, so I hope you like tea! Any time you gain life with your Food, she makes the opponent lose one life, and that can add up.
The Appetizer
It’s always good to start a meal with a refreshing palette cleanser, and this fruit is a good way to do that! It might hurt you a little bit to eat it, but you get more cards and more Food when you do!
The Main Course
Savvy Hunter makes sure you have plenty of food for your guests, bringing back Food for Gyome to prepare! She generates Food when she attacks or blocks, and she can cash Food in for cards!
Meanwhile, Fell the Pheasant might not be the greatest card in the world, but a card that involves turning a bird into Food just screams “Thanksgiving.”
Dessert
No Thanksgiving deck would be complete without dessert! One of your options is everyone’s favorite Food Golem: Gingerbrute! This little guy is hard to block, making him a great place to put your Equipment! Because he’s Food, he can also make for a great dessert!
Bake Into a Pie gives you a solid removal spell that leaves some Food behind. Although, I’m not sure I’d go with that pie for a dessert! Finally, Gingerbread Cabin is a Forest that can give you Food sometimes, and it also happens to be quite tasty!
End Step
All this Thanksgiving deck-building has made me hungry! I really should go get a game in. In the meantime, happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate! I’ll be back next week with another edition of “This Day in Magic History.”
Jacob has been playing Magic for the better part of 24 years, and he especially loves playing Magic’s Limited formats. He also holds a PhD in history from the University of Oklahoma. In 2015, he started his YouTube channel, “Nizzahon Magic,” where he combines his interests with many videos covering Magic’s competitive history. When he’s not playing Magic or making Magic content, he can be found teaching college-level history courses or caring for a menagerie of pets with his wife.