Pauper Commander

Can Dungeons Work in PDH?

Chev Eldrid

15 Jul 2021 - 4 min read

Adventures in the Forgotten Realms brought a bevy of new and exciting facets to the game we know and love, but none are quite as unique or interesting as dungeons. Which of course leaves us with a fundamental question…

Do dungeons work in PDH?

Well, the short answer is…not really. That’s not to say there aren’t really cool lines of play involving the dungeons themselves or the venture mechanic, but like many of the recent set mechanics we’ve seen in this post-block era you barely have enough cards with a given mechanic to outfit a normal commander deck let alone a pauper one. Each color has about 4-5 cards at common with the venture ability so any given strategy will have at most 9 instances of the keyword spread out across a 100 card deck. So, if you’re dead set on making this work (like I was) you’ve got to get a little….creative.

There is precisely one multicolored creature that specifically cares about venturing (we’ll widen the net to creatures that just care about dungeons in a minute), and while I think Wandering Troubadour could helm a pretty interesting lands/venture deck - I think for what we’re trying to accomplish the support just isn’t there. Also, The Troubadour is trouba-dumb for only giving you one venture per turn max and ONLY triggering on your turn. What the heck.

Okay so we have one real potential option for a dungeons commander, what if we look for any uncommon creature that cares about dungeons but doesn’t necessarily venture?

Oooo! Probably better as support in the 99 of an EDH dungeons deck, we’ll give Hama Pashar at chance - the main concern I have here is while doubling my room activations is great….that implies we will be able to get room activations. At least with Barrowin of Clan Undurr they served as a source for activations….

And I have one more potential commander, but we’ll keep them a secret til later on! Anyway, let’s dissect our options in a little greater detail. So far I’m seeing Barrowin and Hama Pashar as our leading choices. Both are in solid color combos and have the maximum amount of support possible for dungeons at common, what more could we want!

Barrowin of Clan Undurr

Barrowin of Clan Undurr provides constant access to a venture trigger and gets bonus points for having a relevant ability that comes into play after your first dungeon completion (Which for the record can be done in three ventures with the tomb of annihilation ).

Outside of the dungeon support package, most of the card choices will most likely focus on Barrowin’s reanimation talents and you’ll probably end up with an underpowered version of Shirei, Shizo’s Caretaker when all is said and done - but that’s not a bad place to be! Cards like Fleshbag Marauder and Farfinder are incredibly powerful when you’re able to recur them each turn. I’ve also been looking at creatures that provide powerful benefits on death like Benevolent Bodyguard or Kami of Ancient Law that don’t require an outlet but can be triggered in response to whatever heinous stuff your opponents’ are trying to get past you.

Back to dungeons: To trigger “venture” as much as possible, you’ll need to spend a decent amount of resources dedicated to bouncing Barrowin. I’m thinking things like Ephemerate , Supernatural Stamina , you know - ways to double or triple up on etbs while also serving as protection to our most valuable asset when used in response to a murder or two.

In Summary: Barrowin provides immediate access to venturing, but does require a little bit of back-bending to fully work.

Hama Pashar, Ruin Seeker

Hama Pashar, Ruin Seeker seems super interesting, but unfortunately not doing anything to trigger the venturing itself makes it hard to evaluate whether the benefit of room effects triggering twice really worth it. There are only around 7 cards that support venture in UW and while there is one infinite mana combo ( Clever Conjurer with Freed From the Real and any land that taps for Ux) that with Secret Door means infinite ventures, that kind of makes the point of double triggers moot. This deck would probably end up more of a generic UW control shell that plays “protect the castle” until you can get your four-card combo online.

There isn’t as much to be said about Hama Pashar, and that’s unfortunate because there’s the potential for something awesome….just not at this rarity. Hama doesn’t do anything to get those dungeons explored any faster so you’re stuck hoping to pull one of your pieces.

In Summary: Dungeon game weak.

But don’t worry, my loyal PDH fans, I’ve been saving my hottest take for last. This particular commander doesn’t mention “dungeon” ONCE and yet I think they’re the one most likely to bring us victory. I give you….

Krydle of Baldur’s Gate

This guy is the commander with the least amount of connection to the mechanic itself but hear me out, they’re the one I’m absolutely the most excited about. You see, Krydle is absolutely beastly at making sure Yuan-Ti Fang-Blade and Shortcut Seeker connect, which triggers venture with a level of consistency the other “dedicated” commanders can’t quite manage. Is it a bit convoluted? Yes. But once you get the first of these rogues out to start the cycle - the benefits will speak for themselves. Include any and every card with transmute (specifically Drift of Phantasms and Dimir House Guard for either of the two venture-ers) so you can tutor whatever you need, and include the previously mentioned mono blue infinite venture combo for redundancy.

Krydle also stands out for their ability to function outside of just venturing. Your best bet is to lean into rogue tribal with all-stars like Soulknife Spy and Hoard Robber , finding more ways outside of just dungeon hunting to capitalize on Krydle’s activated ability. In the end, it’ll be an “unblockable that sometimes does the dungeon thing” kind of build but it’s the surest path to victory of the commanders covered. Also, if you really want to make this deck the bastion for forgotten abilities - might I remind you that cipher exists. Midnight Recovery , Hidden Strings , Last Thoughts all stellar cards when you’ve got a plethora of creatures that can’t be blocked.

In Summary: What Krydle lacks in explicit venture support, they make up for in utility - both for our venture creatures and our backup strategy. And check it! I even have a decklist….ya know, if you’re interested

Krydle Dungeons

So what do you think? Are you bummed we won’t be wreaking havoc with Atropal Tokens? Think I missed a reliable target for the ability? Let me know if you guys make dungeons happen and I’d love to feature your build on the column! Until then, let the jank be with you.

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