Stick, Fearless MentorStick, Fearless Mentor | Art by Wayne Wu

An uncommon from the Jumpstart supplemental set of an expansion overflowing with legendary creatures, Stick, Fearless MentorStick, Fearless Mentor is likely to be overlooked. As of the time of writing, he leads only two commander decks on EDHREC, and I built one of them.

But there's more to this scrappy two-drop than meets the eye. He pushes in a unique direction, and offers some of the most efficient card advantage in red. He toes the line between cute and threatening, generating tons of value while forcing the table into a race to the bottom by dealing damage to everyone.

Stick cares about sources we control dealing damage to ourselves, which includes some of the most iconic red spells in the game. EarthquakeEarthquake was printed in the very first set, Price of ProgressPrice of Progress is an eternal staple, and Eidolon of the Great RevelEidolon of the Great Revel defines Burn decks to this day.

At only two mana, he also gives us the potential to see an absurd amount of cards. His ability triggers only once each turn, but it doesn't specify that it has to be our turn. As long as we can deal ourselves damage on our opponents' turns, we'll be able to exile and play up to four extra cards per turn cycle.

Many red cards that deal damage to each player fit this strategy perfectly, dealing modest amounts of damage for a cheap cost. Having access to extra cards will let us compound those little stings into a seriously threatening cascade of damage.

Stick certainly doesn't follow in many footsteps, but one already-printed commander provides some guidance for building him. Auntie Blyte, Bad InfluenceAuntie Blyte, Bad Influence (from another Jumpstart set that wanted to push some boundaries) also rewards us for dealing damage to ourselves. Her reward pushes the deck in a slightly different direction: since she cares about the amount of damage dealt, she plays best with effects that can deal a bunch of damage at once, while Stick cares more about consistently triggering his ability for a small amount of damage each turn.

But she is still a great place to look for inspiration, and her High Synergy cards like Heartless HidetsuguHeartless Hidetsugu, Barbarian RingBarbarian Ring, and ManabarbsManabarbs are perfect for this deck.

Key Cards for Stick, Fearless MentorStick, Fearless Mentor

The most fun part about building a goofy deck is building a goofy mana base, and this deck is no exception.

In a mono-colored deck, we're running a handful of lands solely because they deal us damage. Fogwell's GymFogwell's Gym and Barbarian RingBarbarian Ring also have some minor upsides, but City of BrassCity of Brass is just a painful MountainMountain in this deck.

Ancient TombAncient Tomb is a busted land that becomes even better here, but if you want to keep this deck true to its Bracket 2 vibes (or just if you want to avoid spending a ludicrous amount of money) you can absolutely leave it in the wings.

Next up, we have cheap ways to deal repeated damage to each player. Spear SpewerSpear Spewer can activate on our opponents' turns to keep the cards flowing, and is one of our best early threats.

Roiling VortexRoiling Vortex and Sulfuric VortexSulfuric Vortex keep the pings pinging, and Ankh of MishraAnkh of Mishra and Zo-Zu the PunisherZo-Zu the Punisher feel almost as consistent in a format where everyone tries to hit as many land drops as possible.

Along the lines of Ankh of MishraAnkh of Mishra, we're playing a whole suite of cards that punish players for taking game actions. SpellshockSpellshock and Pyrostatic PillarPyrostatic Pillar can easily spread thirty or more damage amongst everyone over the course of a game.

Cemetery GatekeeperCemetery Gatekeeper and Magebane LizardMagebane Lizard punish specific card types at very efficient rates. And ManabarbsManabarbs and Burning EarthBurning Earth will bring the table to the brink of death quickly while giving us an easy way to trigger Stick on our opponents' turns.

All of this symmetrical damage can get the game to a precarious position quickly, but if we want to have any sort of control over it we need to run plenty of interaction as well.

The trio of Orcish CannoneersOrcish Cannoneers, Orcish ArtilleryOrcish Artillery, and Goblin ArtilleryGoblin Artillery all give us repeatable removal for small creatures, and combine well with any other damage we can deal to take down larger threats. EarthquakeEarthquake and Rolling EarthquakeRolling Earthquake can help us come back from behind, since our deck doesn't actually play all that many creatures.

And AftershockAftershock is a fun color pie break, giving us no-questions-asked creature destruction at the "cost" of three life.

Since Stick provides our card advantage in the form of Impulse Draw, we can include a few cards that pay us off for playing cards from exile. Shadow of the GoblinShadow of the Goblin and Unstable AmuletUnstable Amulet each add a couple points of damage to our nickel-and-dime tally, and Passionate ArchaeologistPassionate Archaeologist can deal even more damage than that.

Laelia, the Blade ReforgedLaelia, the Blade Reforged gives us another steady source of card advantage, and also grows huge with all of our instances of exiling our top card. Delayed Blast FireballDelayed Blast Fireball is a banger in any deck that can cast it from exile for its normal cost, wiping out almost all creatures we don't control and bringing our opponents' life totals that much closer to zero.

Dealing ourselves damage is an inherently dangerous strategy, but we can plan ahead to make the most of our symmetrical effects. Much of the damage we deal comes from creatures, so lifelink can help us recoup our lost life.

Basilisk CollarBasilisk Collar, ShadowspearShadowspear, and Loxodon WarhammerLoxodon Warhammer are obviously busted with Heartless HidetsuguHeartless Hidetsugu or Cemetery GatekeeperCemetery Gatekeeper, but even on an Orcish ArtilleryOrcish Artillery they can help us out a lot.

It's worth noting that we are running Sulfuric VortexSulfuric Vortex and Rampaging FerocidonRampaging Ferocidon, both of which stop us from gaining life, but I'm willing to put up with that level of friction since those are some of our most potent threats. If they become a problem, they become everyone's problem, and they'll likely draw removal, leaving us free to gain life again.

Leaning into the life-gain package, we're also running Ivory TowerIvory Tower and Venser's JournalVenser's Journal, both of which gain us life if we can keep our hand full.

As long as we can keep playing cards from exile, we can hold cards in our hands fairly easily, letting us take advantage of these engines. Dragon's ClawDragon's Claw and Pristine TalismanPristine Talisman also give us repeated life gain at a relatively cheap cost.

Finally, we can't leave the house without Sun DropletSun Droplet. The droplet will almost always be charged up with all the damage we take, and a consistent four life per turn cycle is well worth the two mana investment.

Winning the Game with Stick, Fearless MentorStick, Fearless Mentor

This deck is chock full of permanents that deal repeated damage, so every game we play will have a clear timer on it. Dealing between five and ten damage to each player per turn cycle is a proposition few opponents will be able to withstand for long, and we may only need to gain a few life to emerge as the last one standing.

That said, there are some cards that bring the game to an end much faster.

Descent into AvernusDescent into Avernus has bloomed into the staple it deserves to be, and it speeds up the game dramatically. Stick can often exile more cards than we can cast in a single turn cycle, so the Treasures it generates let us do almost whatever we want.

Heartless HidetsuguHeartless Hidetsugu only needs to tap once in order to bring the game to its final stages, and is almost game over if we can give it lifelink.

Finally, the newly-printed Daredevil, Fearless FighterDaredevil, Fearless Fighter lets us reflect all damage we deal ourselves back onto our opponents (or even their creatures), breaking the symmetry of our symmetrical effects.

The Deck List

Group Slug is a strategy that creates heightened political forces in a game of Commander. The game is compressed into fewer turns, and players are forced to aim for more compact game plans that often rely on other players for support.

Group Hug decks let everyone "do the thing" that they designed their deck to do, but Group Slug forces players to adapt. This deck will present choices with threat assessment and alliances that really matter to the outcome of the game, and those decisions will come within the first few turns.

I love the tension that efficient red card advantage engines bring. One of my favorite Commander decks from a couple years ago was Inti, Seneschal of the SunInti, Seneschal of the Sun, and just like Stick, Inti lets us see a ton of cards but gives us a timer for when we can cast them. This incentivizes us to play as low a curve as possible and play a lot of cards that are generally considered "low-impact" for Commander.

Sure, Ivory TowerIvory Tower and Magebane LizardMagebane Lizard aren't game-winners by themselves, but if we can cast three of them every turn we'll hopefully be able to catch up with a player who casts a single bomb every turn.

It's a scrappy approach, and we're always the underdog, but what can I say? I like being an underdog, and there's nothing a dog likes more than a StickStick.