Commander Deck Guide: Shadowheart, Dark Justiciar

Today we will talk about an EDH deck inspired mainly by the release of Baldur’s Gate 3, and all about the game's flavor. I spent many hours playing it, so it was inevitable to look for the Magic sets based on this universe, and thus I decided to build a deck focused on Shadowheart.

Warning: this article has spoilers for Baldur’s Gate 3. If you haven’t completed the game yet , I recommend finishing it before reading this article. With that said, let's move on.

For those who don’t know, Baldur’s Gate is a campaign set in the the Forgotten Realms, within the Dungeons & Dragons universe. It also has become a series of RPG-based video games.

The MtG set based on this universe features not only characters from the game, but also mechanics heavily inspired by the Dungeons & Dragons gameplay. The main highlight for Commander fans is the Background mechanic.

In RPGs, the Background represents the character’s past, and in Magic it was adapted as an interesting mechanic: enchantments with the Background type can be part of your Command Zone if your legendary creature has the Choose a Background ability.

Since Shadowheart, Dark Justiciar has this ability, we can choose a Background to go along with her. My choice was based on both the character's lore and what would be mechanically interesting.

Shadowheart, as shown in the game, is a follower of the goddess Shar, an entity linked to night time, darkness, loss, and other shadowy aspects. In D&D lore, the title Dark Justiciar represents an elite rank among Shar's followers. However, in Baldur's Gate 3, we discover that Shadowheart has been brainwashed and is actually a follower of the goddess Selûne, Shar's direct rival. The character's "good path" in the game involves rediscovering her true faith and returning to Selûne. This idea is what we will use to build our deck around.

The goddess Selûne is known as Moonmaiden and Night White Lady. Therefore, the colors that best represent her influence would be black and white.

Discussing with some friends, it came up that green would also make sense, since werewolves are linked to the moon and, in Magic, are usually represented in green. However, I believe that Orzhov (black and white) is the most appropriate combination.

First, because the title Night White Lady clearly refers to the colors white and black. Second, because Shadowheart is monoblack, and since we can only have one Background - and none of them has more than one color -, the Golgari combination (black and green) does not fit well with the theme.

Looking at the white Background options, we have: Veteran Soldier, Far Traveler, Noble Heritage, Folk Hero, and Inspiring Leader.

They are all generic enough that we can find justifications within the lore, so our final decision will be based on the mechanical impact on the deck.

Shadowheart's ability allows you to pay {1}{B}, tap, and sacrifice a creature to draw cards equal to its power. Since, in Commander, draw effects in black usually grant two cards for two mana, we want our sacrificed creatures to have at least 2 power to maximize value.

With that in mind, Noble Heritage and Inspiring Leader are the Backgrounds that make the most sense, as they increase the power of our creatures. Noble Heritage has the advantage of costing only two mana and granting protection from opponents' counters. However, since the effect targets only one creature, it may be less effective in a deck that wants a wide board.

Inspiring Leader favors a go wide strategy and encourages a more aggressive stance, which is something I prefer. In addition, it fits better with Selûne's theme, since her followers are often portrayed as an evil-fighting army.

Now that the background is chosen, let's work on the deck itself. First, I will look for on-theme and flavorful cards - let's start by looking at Baldur's Gate cards.

Personally, I am not usually a big fan of Diamonds, but since they are in the set, and BW is a combination that can certainly use mana rocks - and their artwork is astonishing -, I will include both Charcoal Diamond and Marble Diamond in the list.

I will also use Mind Stone, which is another mana rock from the set. Even though it only generates colorless mana, it has the ability to give you a draw if you get mana flooded.

Patriar's Seal is also interesting. I don't usually like 3-cost mana rocks, however, it can untap a legendary creature and Shadowheart needs to tap to use its ability, so I will make an exception. In addition to those already mentioned, we have Deep Gnome Terramancer. It's a bit conditional, but it's a nice card to catch up against green decks.

The last "on-theme" mana rock is wayfarer's bauble. We now have 5 ramp cards in the deck, and that's just by using Baldur's Gate cards. Of course, most of them have already seen print in other sets, but I'll personally use the ones from this set, since they're cheap and have beautiful art.

With that, we have 6 cards to ramp up our mana. I don't think that is enough, I like to have at least 10, even when the deck's mana curve is not high. Commander, even at a non-competitive level, ends up being a race to see who has the best threats and throws the most bombs. So let's round it up with some classics: Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Talisman of Hierarchy, Orzhov Signet, Knight of the White Orchid, Smothering Tithe, Ashnod's Altar and Keeper of the Accord.

I don't usually think of cards with CMC 4 or higher as "ramp", because usually the goal is to reach the fourth mana in advance, but Keeper can help you go against green decks and Smothering can win the game by itself, if others don't play around it, so I'll count them. There are other interesting options like Solemn Simulacrum and Legion’s Landing, but alas we can't have everything.

An important part when building a Commander deck is to consider how many sources of card draw you have. It’s crucial to have plenty, because in longer games you don’t want to run out of gas. Plus, it’s very hard to be consistent in a singleton format without having a good amount of card draw.

I tried to keep it on-theme with Baldur’s Gate, D&D, and Shadowheart lore, although it was a bit more challenging to do so.

Initially, we already have Archivist of Oghma and Black Market Connections, which are well-established cards in the format and are present in the Baldur’s Gate set, so they seem like great options (price aside).

Your Temple is Under Attack is a card that I wouldn’t normally include, but it can grant indestructibility to your creatures or generate card advantage for you (and perhaps for an opponent). Also, it's perfectly on-theme, as we have a cleric defending a temple on the card - it can't get more thematic than this. We also have War Room reprinted in Baldur's Gate. While a 4 mana cost to draw a card isn't ideal, I don't see any harm in having this card in the deck. The Deadly Dispute reprint also easily fits here, despite not having new art, which takes a bit away from the thematic touch.

The set has no other interesting on-theme cards, so let's see what we can use to fill it out. Priest of Forgotten Gods is a card that serves as removal, card draw, and even ramp, in addition to dealing damage. It needs to be tapped to activate the ability, which is a minor inconvenience, but fits very well with the theme.

Disciple of Bolas is a classic card advantage generator in aristocrat decks, so it is certainly in.

Welcoming Vampire can be a bit counterintuitive with Inspiring Leader, since the enchantment only increases the power of token creatures. However, we have plenty of non-token creatures, so the vampire certainly helps in this regard. It's also a good card draw option when the main strategy (Inspiring + Shadowheart) isn't available.

Sign in Blood, Night's Whisper, Skullclamp, and Read the Bones are great sources of immediate card draw. We also have Lolth, Spider Queen, which is a good source of draw and token generator.

If my math is right, I believe we have 12 sources of card draw. Since many of these sources are repeatable rather than one-time, and with Shadowheart in the command zone, I believe this is a reasonable amount. This may depend on how often your group plays board wipes.

We chose Inspiring Leader as the background, so we need a lot of tokens to take advantage. I'm sure Ancient Gold Dragon would be one of the first cards that many would think of, but at 7 mana cost, and only creating tokens if it deals damage, it's not reliable, so I decided not to include it in the deck.

Uchuulon is a somewhat slow but consistent source of token creation, and it's a creature from Baldur's Gate. It's a must-include.

Honestly, I haven't found any other cards in the set that are as interesting for token generation. Since this is the deck's main way to win, we must reach out to other sets and guarantee quality cards.

Adeline, Resplendent Cathar is an excellent token generator, as it has a low cost and is a constant threat.

Secure the Wastes is a card that becomes much stronger as the game goes on, but it already has great value in the early game.

Denethor, Ruling Steward also has a lot of value. Charismatic Conqueror has the potential to generate a lot of tokens without attracting much attention. Jadar, Ghoulcaller of Nephalia consistently generates tokens while quietly sticking around.

Martial Coup and Elspeth, Sun’s Champion wié the board and create tokens.

Hero of Bladehold generates tokens and also increases their attack power.

In the enchantments, we have Skrelv’s Hive, Bitterblossom, Felidar Retreat and March of the Canonized. Some planeswalkers are also good for this, such as several versions of Elspeth, Sorin, and even Kaya. Personally, I will only include Liliana, Dreadhorde General, which serves as removal, card draw and token generator. The only problem is her cost.

Now, some multipliers: Ojer Taq, Deepest Foundation, Mondrak, Glory Dominus and Anointed Procession.

With that, we have a good amount of token generators. Now we need to make sure we have payoffs besides Inspiring Leader and Shadowheart.

We'll have two types of payoffs: Big tokens to attack the opponents with, or use them for value when they leave or enter the battlefield.

Felidar Retreat is a buff and token generator that's already on the list. Cathars’ Crusade is probably the best enchantment in this regard. This card scales impressively. Virtue of Loyalty is also interesting, since it doubles as a defensive tool.

Sorin, Lord of Innistrad enters and creates an emblem. It's not very strong, but since emblems can't be interacted with, I really like this card. Elspeth, Sun's Champion can also create an emblem, and this one is much stronger. I wouldn't count on it too much, but it's an excellent finisher. We also have Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite.

Now, let's move on to another category: Zulaport Cutthroat, Cruel Celebrant, Blood Artist and Syr Konrad, the Grim punish your opponents for destroying their tokens. Viscera Seer fits well in the deck, as it gives us more control over when creatures leave the battlefield. Skullclamp, Ashnod's Altar, Denethor, Ruling Steward and other cards also help, but only Ashnod's Altar can activate for free, so it adds another interesting option.

Now let's talk about interactions. We've already mentioned Elspeth, Sun's Champion and Martial Coup as global removals. Damn is a great choice, as it's either a spot removal, or a Wrath of God - in the deck it goes. Within these colors, there's no shortage of good global removals.

Farewell, Austere Command, Damnation, Toxic Deluge, Merciless Eviction, Hour of Reckoning are all excellent options. I'm going to add Farewell and Hour of Reckoning to my list. The first one because I'm missing exile-based removal, and the second one because it fits with the idea of ​​multiple tokens, in addition to having a touch of religious fanaticism, something that connects well with Shadowheart's mentality.

Now, for spot removals, we have several good options. The first and most popular is Swords to Plowshares, the best spot removal in the game.

Vanishing Verse is another one that I really like, I would only take it out if I know I'll face lots of multicolored decks.

Get Lost is very versatile and the drawback is not very relevant.

Finally, Anguished Unmaking is an excellent card as well.

To deal with the opponent's graveyard, we have Bojuka Bog, in addition to Farewell, which we already mentioned.

Flawless Maneuver protects your creatures, and Lightning Greaves protects your commander.

And of course, Demonic Tutor helps ensure that you don't rely solely on luck to find the right answer at the right time.

We can't forget about Sun Titan, which can retrieve permanents that were destroyed during the game.

This is not a competitive deck. Shadowheart is very slow-paced and has a relatively high cost. That said, I think fans of the character will have a lot of fun with this deck!

Since it is a theme deck, I am sure that each player will have their own take on what would make the most sense, or even alternative choices. However, I hope this build serves as inspiration for those who want to follow this path.

See you in the next article!