Pauper Commander

PDH Naomi, Pillar of Order

Julian Leal

24 Feb 2022 - 10 min read

Ah yes, the Hexdrinkers PDH poll, truly a time-honored tradition! And with this being our ahem second installment, it’s now my (Julian’s) turn to bow to the collective consciousness and brew. Annnnnnnnd y’all have chosen Naomi, Pillar of Order ! (~ish, technically there was a tie. AKA y’all couldn’t make up your mind. Jeez, the whole point of a poll is so we have to do less work. C’mon, get with the program…)

Naomi is an interesting commander, because on her face, she’s simple: achieve condition (have two ancillary card types), get minor value (make a token). However, there’s definitely a few interesting ways to build her if you look a little deeper. And, given orzhov decks are generally underrepresented in the PDH sphere, she’s a worthy inclusion into any meta you find yourself in! Okay, let’s go.

Pillars of the Deck

The way I chose to construct this build for Naomi (I’ll discuss other possible builds at the end) was as a midrange deck. We want to clog up the board with as many artifact and enchantment creatures as possible, enabling Naomi to create more samurai, and overwhelming our opponents with a massive board presence. Mixed into this is a selection of other artifacts and enchantments to further enable and support our combat efforts. Since Naomi does cost 5 mana, I’ve included several ways to get a bunch of reps out of her ETB without paying 7, 9, shudder 11 mana… namely in the form of blink and self bounce cards. And finally, as icing on the cake, we’ve got ways to utilize all the extra bodies we’re making, turning them into resources that do more than damage on the board.

Shall we start by highlighting some new cards? Not sure why I’m asking, because y’all can’t answer in real time and I’ve already decided that’s what we’re doing.

Mukotai Ambusher is a simple ninja, but we love him all the same. Not only is he an artifact creature to help trigger Naomi, but he can also ninjitsu her back to our hand. Did anyone ask for another ETB? Other great cards that function similarly are Ancestral Statue (play this guy during your post-combat main phase) and Aegis Automaton for activating on the end step after holding up removal for a turn cycle.

Another new(er) card highlights the sort of value we want to abuse by creating several tokens with Naomi. Enter Morkrut Behemoth . Yes he’s a simple 7/6 with menace, but that’s probably going to be the biggest thing on the board, and if you sacrifice that samurai you just made last turn, he only costs 5 mana. Naomi on turn 4 into Behemoth on turn 5 already makes your board a force to be reckoned with.

Similar to the behemoth, we have a bunch of ways to sacrifice our samurai or other creatures for value. Most notably, making sure Naomi can stay on the battlefield. Remember, Naomi costs 7 gosh darn mana the second time we cast her, which is a lot. Instead, if someone is trying to tear down our Pillar of order, sacrifice that samurai you just made to a Dark Privilege or Fanatical Devotion . This also allows Naomi to attack and block much more freely, especially if that attack means we’re instantly recouping our loss.

Village Rites and Deadly Dispute have already become staples in several formats and Soulreaper of Mogis is an underrated way to up this draw redundancy while also being an enchantment creature for Naomi. But speaking of enchantment creatures…

…we’re running a bunch of the OGs from Theros as well! Baleful Eidolon and Hopeful Eidolon are both cheap enchantment creatures to start chipping in with. Later in the game they can also be used to suit up Naomi making her even harder to deal with in combat, similar to a new NEO pick, Befriending the Moths , which becomes an enchantment creature when it flips! We round out our enchantment creatures package with Grim Guardian and Lampad of Death’s Vigil to give us more chip damage. Ah yes, sweet midrange how we love you.

Finally, we’ve got classics like Ephemerate and Acrobatic Maneuver to not only protect Naomi, but also trigger her ETB. And don’t sleep on Flicker of Fate ’s ability to blink an aura, swapping a Journey to Nowhere to a newer bigger threat. And by utilizing Kaya’s Ghostform on Naomi so you can sacrifice her for value as well as your samurai, there are layers upon layers in this deck.

Maintaining Order

Now of course, we can’t get too cute with everything. We have to play generically good cards to make sure that this deck can function in a pod. However, mixed in with these generically good cards there is some wiggle room for that sweet synergy. Let’s take a look:

Two favorites highlighted in our Top 10 for NEO article, Shrine Steward and Spirited Companion really shine in this deck. The Steward acts as an essential 2-for-1 with Naomi, being an artifact creature itself and tutoring for an aura. Oftentimes, these auras will be used to remove a blocker which allows Naomi to attack freely, making us more samurai.

Spirited Companion is of course the best boy, drawing us a card and being an enchantment to trigger Naomi. Also, it feels horrible to say this, but Companion is great for sacrificing to a Village Rites before damage on a chump block (Editor’s note: Yikes Jules, I’m a cat person, but even this seems too much…)

PDH and cPDH all-stars alike, such as Oubliette , Bound in Gold , and Arrest , are all good cards we would want to play anyway, but they do double duty in this deck. Not only are we removing problematic permanents and shutting off abilities, but we’re removing blockers as I said above, and of course, helping to ensure that whenever Naomi ETBs or attacks, we’re making a samurai. And, since enchantment removal and self sacrifice is much less common in PDH than EDH, these cards will often sit on the battlefield for turns on end, guaranteeing multiple samurai and allowing you to utilize your other enchantments or enchantment creatures more liberally.

I’ve been mostly talking about enchantments so far, because artifacts are much easier to account for a la mana rocks. Yes we’re running Arcane Signet , Orzhov Signet , and Bonders Ornament , but we’ve also got utility mainstays Blood Fountain and Ceremonial Knife , both of which we praised in our Top 10 for VOW article. Also, Artifact Lands are a thing, so remember that when you’re checking your Naomi triggers.

Choose Your (Neon) Destiny

(EDITOR’S NOTE: He knows it’s “Dynasty” just, let him have this one)

And that’s basically the deck! A lot of these cards are excellent inclusions in any Naomi deck, but I did want to take a moment to mention a couple other routes I considered when brewing.

First off, you could go the heavy voltron route. Load Naomi up with equipment and auras and attack with impunity. The samurai you generate can block the crackback or can be sacrificed for value like in my midrange version. In addition, you can play several Pacifism effects to get Naomi through for damage.

Another option is a heavy control build. Black and white are chock full of ways to remove creatures, draw cards and lock down the board. Give your opponents a death by 1,000 cuts via Naomi and her samurai pinging in over and over. It doesn’t matter how long it takes if your opponents creatures are stuck under Arrest or were Snuffed Out

No matter which way you choose to build Naomi, don’t sleep on this advisor! Restore order to your playgroup with force and show off that pauper isn’t just a Dimir format.

Check out the decklist below or on our Moxfield! Hit us up on Twitter and let us know how you built Naomi as well as tell us which commander you want us to cover next!