Storm, Windrider Commander Deck: Politische Flugstrategien meistern

TL;DR:

• Build a political Flying Commander Deck with Storm, Windrider as your leader.
• Utilize Storm's abilities to pit opponents against each other and strengthen your flyers.
• Focus on control elements, interaction, and a strong flying creature base.
• Master diplomatic maneuvers to forge alliances and isolate threats.
• Secure victory through overwhelming aerial assaults or resource advantage.

In the vast world of Magic: The Gathering Commander, there are countless strategies to achieve victory. A particularly fascinating and interactive approach is the political flying deck, which aims to control the battlefield through skillful negotiations and aerial dominance. With Storm, Windrider as your Commander, you'll delve deep into the art of diplomacy and strategic assault. This deck is perfect for players who enjoy making deals, orchestrating threats, and overwhelming their opponents with an armada of flyers. Learn how to build a deck with Storm, Windrider that is both fun and highly competitive.

Storm, Windrider as Commander: Introduction and Potential

Storm, Windrider is an excellent political Commander because his unique abilities encourage active interaction with all players, allowing you to dictate the pace and attack targets. His ability to force creatures to attack while simultaneously strengthening your own flyers makes him a central pivot for both offensive and diplomatic strategies.

Statistic	Value
Cost	3UBR
Color	Dimir, Izzet, Rakdos (Grixis)
Power / Toughness	4 / 5
Type	Legendary Creature — Dragon Bird
Set	M21
Abilities	Flying; Whenever Storm, Windrider attacks, choose up to one target creature defending player controls. That creature attacks this combat if able. If it doesn't, put a +1/+1 counter on Storm, Windrider and all other flying creatures you control.

Storm, Windrider enters the battlefield for six mana in Grixis colors (Blue, Black, Red) and immediately brings flying. His core ability triggers when he attacks: you can choose one target creature the defending player controls, which must then attack this combat if able. If it doesn't, put a +1/+1 counter on Storm, Windrider and all other flying creatures you control. This mechanic is the heart of your political game. You can force weaker creatures to attack other players, stirring up conflicts and diverting threats away from you. Or you can choose a strong creature, hoping the opponent won't want it to attack, thereby strengthening your flyers instead. This flexibility allows you to influence the battlefield in subtle and powerful ways, while simultaneously building your own aerial superiority. Grixis colors also provide access to a wealth of control, interaction, and card advantage cards that perfectly suit this strategy.

Fundamentals of a Political Flying Deck: Understanding Synergies

A political flying deck with Storm, Windrider as its leader aims to gain control of the game and secure victory through skillful interaction with fellow players and a dominant presence in the air. The central synergies of this deck type rely on the ability to manipulate other players while simultaneously building an unstoppable threat with your flying creatures.

The essence lies in stirring up conflicts between your opponents while you yourself appear as a seemingly neutral or even helpful actor. Storm, Windrider's ability to force creatures to attack is the perfect tool for this. You can use it to direct an aggressive creature from one player towards another player perceived as a threat, thereby forming alliances or breaking existing ones. At the same time, you strengthen your own flyers, giving you a continuous advantage. The flying creatures themselves serve not only as attackers but often also as useful utility creatures that generate card advantage, provide removal, or fulfill other strategic functions. The combination of political influence, efficient aerial superiority, and targeted control cards creates a multifaceted and dynamic gameplay experience that challenges your skills as both a diplomat and a strategist.

Key Cards for Control and Interaction

To successfully implement the political agenda of your Storm, Windrider deck while controlling the battlefield, you need a set of key cards that provide you with the necessary tools. These cards fall into various categories, from neutralizing threats to directly influencing your opponents' actions.

Neutralizing Threats

Effective removal is crucial for eliminating your opponents' biggest threats and shifting the balance of the game in your favor.

• Swords to Plowshares: A classic, efficient, and inexpensive removal. For just one white mana, you can remove any creature, with the opponent gaining life equal to its power. This is often a small price for removing a major threat.
• Path to Exile: Similar to Swords to Plowshares, but the opponent searches their library for a basic land card and puts it onto the battlefield. Again, this is a minor drawback given the efficiency of the removal.
• Cyclonic Rift: One of the most powerful blue mass removal cards in Commander. As an Overload effect for 2U, you can return all non-land permanents you don't control to their owners' hands. This can completely turn a late-game around and give you a decisive tempo advantage.
• Chaos Warp: A red removal option that shuffles any permanent into its owner's library, who then reveals the top card. It's a bit random but very versatile and can also protect your own permanents from removal.
• Curse of the Swine: A blue, targeted mass removal that turns one or more creatures into 2/2 Pig tokens. Ideal for permanently neutralizing indestructible or dangerous creatures without destroying them.

Influencing Actions

These cards enhance the political aspect of your deck by directly influencing your opponents' decisions and actions.

• Disrupt Decorum: A red sorcery that forces all creatures you don't control to attack this turn if able. This is an excellent complement to Storm, Windrider, as it stirs up conflicts among all opponents and diverts attack targets away from you. For 3R, you can turn the entire battlefield into a chaotic warzone and advance your political goals.
• Propaganda: A blue enchantment that forces each opponent to pay 2 mana to attack you with a creature. This makes you an unattractive attack target and redirects aggression to other players.
• Ghostly Prison: Similar to Propaganda, but in white. Both cards together can make you almost unassailable and force your opponents to fight each other.
• Cardinal Trick: A card that allows you to force other players to fight each other or use their resources elsewhere can be invaluable. Think of cards like Vow of Duty or Vow of Flight, which put +1/+1 counters on creatures and force them not to attack you.
• Pillow Fort effects: In addition to Propaganda and Ghostly Prison, there are other cards that protect you, such as Sphere of Safety or Norn's Annex. These cards increase the cost of attacking you and create a safe base from which you can conduct your political maneuvers.

Securing Card Advantage

To keep up in the long run, a steady stream of cards is essential.

• Rhystic Study: One of the most powerful blue enchantments for card advantage. Each opponent must pay 1 mana when casting a spell, or you draw a card. This forces your opponents into difficult decisions and often generates enormous amounts of cards for you.
• Mystic Remora: Similar to Rhystic Study, but for non-creature spells and with cumulative upkeep. Despite the upkeep, it can draw a massive amount of cards in the early game and give you a decisive advantage.
• Ponder and Brainstorm: Classic blue cantrips that help you optimize your hand and find the right cards. They are inexpensive and efficient.
• Consecrated Sphinx: A flying creature that lets you draw two cards each time an opponent draws a card. This can quickly get out of control and give you an insurmountable card advantage, especially in political games where many players draw cards.

Protection and Resilience

Your deck needs to be able to respond to threats and protect your key permanents.

• Counterspell: The classic counterspell. For UU, you can counter any spell. Indispensable in any blue control deck.
• Force of Will: A powerful counterspell that can be cast for free by exiling a blue card from your hand and paying 1 life. Ideal for stopping unexpected threats or crucial spells.
• Teferi's Protection: A white instant that makes you and all your permanents untouchable. You phase out, meaning you and your permanents leave the game and return in the next turn. This protects you from mass removal, targeted removal, and even life loss. An absolute life insurance.

This selection of cards provides you with the necessary tools to control the battlefield, influence your opponents' actions, and protect your own game plan while developing your flying creature strategy.

Flying Creature Strategy: Dominance in the Air

Aerial superiority is a crucial pillar of your Storm, Windrider deck. Your flying creatures are not only your primary attacking army but often also serve as tools for card advantage, control, and political interaction. The key is to choose a mix of efficient, versatile, and synergistic flyers that benefit maximally from Storm's abilities.

Efficient Flyers

These creatures offer a lot for their mana cost and form the backbone of your air fleet.

• Sprite Dragon: A blue-red Dragon Spirit that enters the battlefield for UR. It has flying and gets a +1/+1 counter each time you cast a non-creature spell. This makes it a rapidly growing threat that benefits from your many control and card-drawing spells.
• Cloud of Faeries: A blue Faerie that enters the battlefield for 1U and untaps two lands upon entering. It has flying and is an excellent mana accelerator that can also serve as a blocker or attacker, especially when Storm buffs it.
• Thieving Skydiver: A blue Merfolk Rogue with flying for 1U. If you cast it for its kicker cost, you can steal an artifact with mana value X or less. This is fantastic for pilfering opposing mana artifacts or other useful artifacts and gaining an advantage for yourself.
• Baleful Strix: A fantastic creature for UB with flying and deathtouch. When it enters the battlefield, you draw a card. It's an excellent blocker that provides card cycling and benefits from Storm's buffs.

Utility Flyers

These flyers offer additional effects beyond their flying abilities that support your deck.

• Mulldrifter: A classic Elemental for 4U with flying and Evoke. When it enters the battlefield, you draw two cards. If you cast it for Evoke (2U), you sacrifice it immediately after the effect triggers. Excellent value for card advantage that can also remain on the field as a flyer.
• Cloudshredder Sliver: A Sliver for UR with flying and haste. It gives all your creatures flying and haste, making your entire army significantly more dangerous.
• Archetype of Imagination: A blue enchantment creature for 3UU with flying. All your creatures gain flying, and creatures your opponents control lose flying and can't gain it. This is an incredibly powerful effect that gives you absolute air superiority and leaves your opponents helpless.

Lords and Boosters

Cards that globally strengthen your flying creatures are essential for winning through combat damage.

• Favorable Winds: A blue enchantment for 1U that gives all flying creatures you control +1/+1. A simple but effective way to strengthen your air fleet.
• Empyrean Eagle: A white and blue creature for WU with flying. Other flying creatures you control get +1/+1. It is itself a flyer and benefits from its own abilities.
• Kira, Great Glass-Spinner: A legendary creature for 1UU with flying. It gives all other creatures you control protection from the first targeted spell or ability each turn. This is excellent protection for your flyers and your Commander.

The synergy of these flying creatures with Storm, Windrider is obvious. Every flyer you control is additionally strengthened by Storm's ability if opponents refuse to attack a creature you designate. This creates an exponentially reinforcing army that quickly becomes an insurmountable threat. Combine this with political maneuvers and control cards, and you have a deck that is both interactive and deadly.

Political Maneuvers: Finding Allies and Dividing Enemies

The true appeal of a political Commander deck lies in the ability to read and influence the dynamics at the table. With Storm, Windrider at the helm, you are not just a player, but a puppet master, forging alliances and sowing discord. This ability to manipulate is often more powerful than any single card.

Deals and Agreements

The alpha and omega of political play is the art of making deals. Offer to protect a player from another aggressive player if they, in turn, don't attack you or help you eliminate a threat. Use Storm's ability to force a creature to attack an opponent who currently poses a threat to another player. This can create a win-win situation: your "ally" is grateful, and you strengthen your flyers. Be careful, however: keep your promises to build credibility, but also be prepared to break deals if it gives you a decisive advantage – politics is a tough business. Cards like Secret Rendezvous (STX) or Scheming Symmetry (M20) can further enhance these interactions by allowing you to exchange or search for cards with an opponent, which can lay the groundwork for a deal.

Prioritizing Threats

An important aspect of political play is the ability to identify the biggest threat at the table and incite other players against them. If a player starts to build an overwhelming board, use Storm's ability to force their strongest creatures to attack another player who also poses a threat. This not only creates conflict but potentially weakens both threats. Communicate openly with other players about the greatest danger and offer your help to neutralize it. Your removal should be used strategically to eliminate the biggest threat, not necessarily the one currently attacking you directly. Sometimes it's better to take a small attack on yourself to eliminate a greater danger to the entire battlefield.

Resource Management

Your resources – mana, cards, life points, and also your flyers – are tools to exert political power. Use your mana in a way that allows you to react to opponents' actions. Always keep mana open for a counterspell or targeted removal, especially if you've made deals you need to uphold. Use your card-drawing engines to always have options in hand. Sometimes offering "help" in the form of targeted removal or a blocker that protects your flyers can win a player's favor. Conversely, you can also drain resources, for example, by stealing an artifact important to an opponent with Thieving Skydiver. The goal is to skillfully use your power to steer the game to your advantage without appearing too obviously as the biggest threat. The fine balance between aggression and diplomacy is the key to success in a political flying deck.

Win Conditions and Finishers: How to Secure Victory

A political flying deck with Storm, Windrider is designed to win the game through a combination of long-term control, political manipulation, and an unstoppable air army. Victory conditions are often the result of slow but steady pressure that eventually overwhelms opponents.

Alpha Strike with Flyers

The most common and direct win condition is the overwhelming attack of your buffed flying creatures. Through Storm, Windrider's ability to put +1/+1 counters on flyers, and through cards like Favorable Winds or Empyrean Eagle that provide global buffs, your flyers quickly become massive threats.

• Akroma's Will: A white instant for 2WW that gives one of your creatures or all your creatures Double Strike, Flying, Vigilance, and Indestructible until end of turn. If you cast it during combat, your creatures also gain Lifelink and Protection from All Colors. This is a game-changer that enables a lethal alpha strike, even if your opponents have blockers.
• Craterhoof Behemoth: Although not a flyer itself, this powerful Elemental for 5GGG is a classic finisher. When it enters the battlefield, all other creatures you control get +X/+X and Trample until end of turn, where X is the number of creatures you control. In combination with a large number of flyers, this can end the game immediately.
• Triumph of the Hordes: A green sorcery for 2GG that gives all creatures you control +1/+1 and Trample until end of turn. Additionally, they gain Infect. With an army of flyers and Infect, this can end the game in one turn, as only 10 Infect damage is needed for victory.
• Finale of Revelation: A blue sorcery for XUU that lets you draw X cards. If X is 10 or more, you untap all your permanents and have no maximum hand size for the rest of the game. This can provide you with the necessary resources for a decisive turn or enable a game-winning combo turn.

Controlled Grind

Sometimes you win not by a single, explosive turn, but by slowly grinding down your opponents through card advantage, resource denial, and consistent attacks. Cards like Rhystic Study and Mystic Remora ensure a steady flow of cards, while your "Pillow Fort" effects like Propaganda and Ghostly Prison protect you from counterattacks. You can use your flyers for small, repeated attacks while neutralizing your opponents' threats with targeted removal and counterspells. This approach requires patience and a good understanding of the game state, but often leads to an inevitable victory as your opponents simply run out of answers.

Alternative Win Conditions

Although less of a focus, alternative win conditions can also come into play. A heavily buffed Storm, Windrider itself can take out an opponent through Commander damage, especially if it has become a major threat through its own ability and other buffs. Combo elements that naturally arise in Grixis colors can also serve as a backup plan, although the deck's main focus is on combat damage and political interaction. The key is to remain flexible and choose the best win strategy based on the current game state and your opponents' decks.

Budget Options and Upgrades for Your Deck

Building a Commander deck doesn't have to break the bank. There are many budget-friendly alternatives that offer a similar effect to more expensive cards. At the same time, there's always room for luxurious upgrades that can take your deck's performance to the next level.

Budget-Friendly Alternatives

To make getting started easier or simply to keep costs down, you can replace expensive staple cards with cheaper, yet still effective options.

• Mana Base: Instead of expensive fetch lands and dual lands, you can opt for shock lands like Steam Vents or Watery Grave, which still provide good color fixing. The M21 Triomes like Zagoth Triome are also good options. Budget-friendly alternatives include Pain Lands (Shivan Reef, Underground River), Check Lands (Drowned Catacomb, Sulfur Falls), and the Commander-specific Tainted lands like Tainted Isle or Tainted Peak. Basic lands with Fellwar Stone and Dimir Signet as mana ramp are also solid.
• Removal: Go for the Throat or Terminate can serve as replacements for Swords to Plowshares and Path to Exile, even if they aren't quite as efficient. Blasphemous Act is an excellent and often very cheap board wipe option.
• Card Advantage: Instead of Rhystic Study or Consecrated Sphinx, you can use Windreader Sphinx (M13), which lets you draw a card each time one of your flying creatures attacks. Fact or Fiction is another excellent card-drawing tool that is more interactive.
• Pillow Fort: Delaying Shield or Norn's Annex can be added as additional layers of protection to Propaganda and Ghostly Prison to make you unassailable.

Luxurious Upgrades

If your budget allows or you want to improve your deck over time, there are some cards that can have a huge impact.

• Mana Base: The best upgrades are the original Dual Lands (Underground Sea, Volcanic Island, Badlands), Fetch Lands (Polluted Delta, Scalding Tarn, Bloodstained Mire), and Shock Lands. These significantly improve the consistency and speed of your mana base.
• Ramp: Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, and Grim Monolith are extremely potent mana ramp artifacts that can make your deck explode in the early turns.
• Control & Interaction: Force of Will and Force of Negation are indispensable counterspells that allow you to respond to threats even with tapped mana. Imperial Seal or Vampiric Tutor are excellent tutors to find your deck's key cards.
• Flyers: Consecrated Sphinx is an absolute powerhouse for card advantage. Bitterblossom consistently creates flying Faerie tokens that benefit from Storm's buffs.

Table: Budget vs. Premium Card Comparison

Category	Budget Option	Premium Option
Mana Base	Dimir Guildgate, Izzet Boilerworks, Rakdos Carnarium, Fellwar Stone, Tainted Isle	Underground Sea, Volcanic Island, Badlands, Mana Crypt, Mana Vault
Removal	Go for the Throat, Terminate, Blasphemous Act	Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, Force of Will, Cyclonic Rift
Card Advantage	Windreader Sphinx, Fact or Fiction, Deep Analysis	Rhystic Study, Mystic Remora, Consecrated Sphinx
Protection	Norn's Annex, Delaying Shield	Teferi's Protection, Force of Negation
Finisher	Triumph of the Hordes, Craterhoof Behemoth	Akroma's Will, Finale of Revelation
Tutor	Diabolic Tutor, Demonic Tutor (if budget allows)	Imperial Seal, Vampiric Tutor

By considering these options, you can build a Storm, Windrider deck that fits your budget and still pursues a strong political flying strategy. Start with the budget-friendly options and gradually improve your deck as you gain more experience and refine your preferred playstyles. Remember, the most important thing is the fun and interaction at the Commander table!