Into the Vault: Sisay, Weatherlight Captain

            Ever since I started playing Commander, I’ve always wanted to build a deck that is literally full of well Commanders. This wasn’t an easy venture since I needed to have a bare minimum of a 5-color commander to helm it all and the mana base for a 5-color deck is very tricky. It wasn’t until Sisay, Weatherlight Captain from Battlebonds was introduced that I finally decided it was time.

The Captain of the Weatherlight

 

            This is not the first time that Sisay was printed as a Commander. In fact, she was a very strong Competitive Commander when Paradox Engine was still around. She was one of the Commanders who got hit very hard when the Rules Committee decided that Paradox Engine should be banned.

            Just like how the phoenix rises from the ashes, so did Sisay. She still retained her ability to search for legendary cards, however, she now has the ability to immediately place them onto the battlefield ensuring that they have a bigger impact. Another upside is that she is now a 5-color Commander opening up a plethora of legendary permanents from all aspects of the color spectrum. Not only that, each color among the casting cost of a legendary permanent increases Sisay’s power and toughness by 1. The more power she has, the higher CMC (converted mana cost) legendary permanent she can summon.

            2020 is a very unique year for Commander. Wizards have gone up and declared it as the year of Commander and the number of Commander products that will be released is astonishing. Sisay and I just can’t wait to see what new friends we invite aboard the Weatherlight.

Opening the Veil between Worlds

            Planeswalkers are powerful beings that can traverse the different planes of existence in the Magic universe. They were the first thing I wanted add in the deck. Why we might ask? We’ll, the number of cards on hand or the amount of mana we can produce limits the actions we can do each turn. Planeswalkers increase the number of actions we can perform without expending the limited cards and mana we have.

            When the War of the Spark set came about, Wizards introduced a new type of Planeswalker with static abilities. Some of these static abilities can even prevent our opponents from doing what they want to do specially if they remain unanswered.

   

            Drawing and tutoring for specific cards is very important in a game of commander. This ensures that we have lots of spells to play with and find the right cards to answer threats or the possibility of threats. Narset and Ashiok however limits our opponents from doing just that. Teferi on the other hand slows down our opponent’s gameplay by making them only play spells at sorcery speed. These effects only affect our opponent’s so we can still play all our spells unhindered.

An Oath to Protect the Multiverse

            The Gatewatch, a group of planewalkers who initially banded together to fight the Eldrazi made an oath to protect the people of the Multiverse from threats that no one else can handle. Their oath manifested into legendary enchantments which we can use to overwhelm the battlefield.

   

            Not only do they help Sisay grow, they also supplement our Planeswalker package. Oath of Nissa allows us to tap any of our lands to cast Planeswalkers even if the lands produce a different color. Oath of Chandra is our version of Purphorous, God of the Forge dealing two damage to all opponents whenever a Planeswalkers enter the battlefield while Oath of Kaya protects them by dealing two damage to creatures attacking our Planeswalkers. Talk about synergy.

Partner Commanders

            Sisay is not the only commander in this deck. There are other commanders that are hidden within the 99.

   

            Meet the lieutenants. I call them the Commanders that lurk within the shadows. Yisan and Zur can help tutor for creatures and enchantments respectively. Brago on the other hand can flicker nonland permanents allowing us to reset the counters from our Planeswalkers and reuse the enter the battlefield effect of our enchantments. But wait, there’s more.

            Worried about the graveyard shenanigans, call upon Anafenza the Foremost. Too many targeted removal aimed at Sisay, protect her with Shalai, Voice of Plenty. Plagued by the indestructible Theros Gods? Call upon Storm Breaker… I mean the Shadowspear.

The Rainbow Connection

   

            I did mention that 5-color mana bases are very tricky and expensive. OG Dual Lands were definitely out of the picture so I opted to play with all 10 shock lands. I also went with Signets over Talismans to minimize the number of permanents that deals damage to myself. I added the new Dryad of the Ilysian Grove and Chromatic Lantern so that I can gain access to all colors of mana. Dryad of the Ilysian Grove is both an enchantment and a creature which means it can be tutored by Sisay, Yisan and Zur.

The Final Devastation

   

            Protecting Sisay is very important and Oath of Teferi can do just that by exiling Sisay right before she gets destroyed and returning her to the battlefield at the end of the next turn. Oath of Teferi also has the added benefit of allowing Planeswalkers to activate their abilities twice each turn. When Oath of Teferi, Aminatou and Nicol Bolas is in the battlefield at the same time, the game ends.

1. Activate Nicol Bolas, Dragon God’s plus ability twice. Each opponent must exile a card from their hand or a permanent they control while we draw a card.

2. Activate Aminatou, the Fateshifter’s minus ability twice to flicker Nicol Bolas and a land.

Note: Nicol Bolas and the land comes back into play and both are considered as new permanents. This is important since we can now active Nicol Bolas’s ability twice. Remember that Nicol Bolas can has all Planeswalker abilities which means he also has Aminatou’s flicker ability.

3. Actiave Nicol Bolas’s plus ability to exile cards and Aminatou’s flicker ability and flicker Aminatou, the Fateshifter.

4. We will continue this loop until our opponents no longer have any cards in hand and permanents in play and we have drawn our entire deck. By this time, Nicol Bolas should have enough loyalty counters for him to activate his ultimate and we win the game.

Final Thoughts

            Due to its toolbox nature it took a while for me to actually get the hand of it. Knowing what card to tutor is really the key to this deck. One thing to note is that, we really need to properly set her up and laying low is the key to winning with this deck.

            Is this the best list for Sisay? No. Far from it. Due to the immense card pool, we can build Sisay in so many ways. Build her with Theros Gods in mind and build an army of indestructible Gods and demigods. We can also go for a more stax approach and include Thalia and Gaddock Teeg. We can even build her as a lands matter deck and simply pack all the legendary lands we can. Her potential is endless and as long as Wizards will continue to print new legendary permanents, Sisay will only grow stronger and stronger.

Decklist

Land (32)
1x Ancient Ziggurat
1x Ash Barrens
1x Blood Crypt
1x Bojuka Bog
1x Bountiful Promenade
1x Breeding Pool
1x Cascading Cataracts
1x City of Brass
1x Command Tower
1x Exotic Orchard
1x Forbidden Orchard
2x Forest
1x Godless Shrine
1x Hallowed Fountain
1x Island
1x Luxury Suite
1x Mana Confluence
1x Morphic Pool
1x Mountain
1x Overgrown Tomb
1x Path of Ancestry
1x Plains
1x Sacred Foundry
1x Sea of Clouds
1x Spire Garden
1x Steam Vents
1x Stomping Ground
1x Swamp
1x Temple Garden
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1x Watery Grave

Sorcery (4)
1x Damnation
1x Primevals' Glorious Rebirth
1x Urza's Ruinous Blast
1x Wrath of God

Creature (24)
1x Alesha, Who Smiles at Death
1x Anafenza, the Foremost
1x Arbor Elf
1x Avacyn's Pilgrim
1x Birds of Paradise
1x Brago, King Eternal
1x Child of Alara
1x Deathrite Shaman
1x Dockside Extortionist
1x Dryad of the Ilysian Grove
1x Elves of Deep Shadow
1x Elvish Mystic
1x Faeburrow Elder
1x Fyndhorn Elves
1x Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons
1x Kambal, Consul of Allocation
1x Kethis, the Hidden Hand
1x Lavinia, Azorius Renegade
1x Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1x Llanowar Elves
1x Shalai, Voice of Plenty
1x Temur Sabertooth
1x Yisan, the Wanderer Bard
1x Zur the Enchanter

Instant (9)
1x Arcane Denial
1x Beast Within
1x Chaos Warp
1x Cyclonic Rift
1x Dovin's Veto
1x Force of Will
1x Pyroblast
1x Red Elemental Blast
1x Swords to Plowshares

Commander (1)

Enchantment (12)
1x Carpet of Flowers
1x Compost
1x Growing Rites of Itlimoc
1x Mystic Remora
1x Oath of Chandra
1x Oath of Kaya
1x Oath of Liliana
1x Oath of Nissa
1x Oath of Teferi
1x Rest in Peace
1x Smothering Tithe
1x Wild Growth

Artifact (10)
1x Arcane Signet
1x Boros Signet
1x Chromatic Lantern
1x Dimir Signet
1x Fellwar Stone
1x Orzhov Signet
1x Rakdos Signet
1x Selesnya Signet
1x Shadowspear
1x Sol Ring

Planeswalker (8)
1x Aminatou, the Fateshifter
1x Ashiok, Dream Render
1x Domri, Anarch of Bolas
1x Narset, Parter of Veils
1x Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God
1x Oko, Thief of Crowns
1x Teferi, Time Raveler
1x The Royal Scions