by Johnny Cycles, July 19th, 2025
Hello! Welcome to another French Commander video! In this edition, my brother-and-law and I are playing some of our oldest and most powerful decks. It’s Roon of the Hidden Realm against Erebos, God of the Dead. Bant blink shenanigans against Mono Black Midrange/Control.
These decks are firmly in bracket 4, with the Mono Black one breaking our rule of no 2-card combos. Hey, I’m all for breaking the rules on occasion!
Before we get to the game, here are the deck lists:
Decklist – Bant Blink with Roon of the Hidden Realm
| Roon of the Hidden Realm |
Creatures (27)
| Meddling Mage | |
| Scavenging Ooze | |
| Scheming Fence | |
| Snapcaster Mage | |
| Deputy of Detention | |
| Endurance | |
| Eternal Witness | |
| Fierce Empath | |
| Reflector Mage | |
| Skyclave Apparition | |
| Spellseeker |
| Spell Queller | |
| Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath | |
| Venser, Shaper Savant | |
| Yasharn, Implacable Earth | |
| Acidic Slime | |
| Chulane, Teller of Tales | |
| Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines | |
| Seedborn Muse | |
| Solitude |
| Greenwarden of Murasa | |
| Sun Titan | |
| Torrential Gearhulk | |
| Agent of Treachery | |
| Craterhoof Behemoth | |
| Hornet Queen | |
| Moonshaker Cavalry |
Planeswalkers (9)
Artifacts (7)
| Mana Crypt | |
| Mana Vault | |
| Arcane Signet | |
| Chromatic Lantern | |
| Coalition Relic | |
| Panharmonicon | |
| The Great Henge |
Enchantments (2)
| Sylvan Library | |
| Wilderness Reclamation |
Instants (11)
| Brainstorm | |
| Swords to Plowshares | |
| Counterspell | |
| Cyclonic Rift | |
| Growth Spiral | |
| Mana Drain | |
| Fierce Guardianship | |
| Flawless Maneuver | |
| Render Silent | |
| Cryptic Command | |
| Force of Will |
Sorceries (4)
| Ponder | |
| Preordain | |
| Supreme Verdict | |
| Wrath of God |
Lands (39)
Boseiju, Who Endures
Breeding Pool
Cavern of Souls
Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
Fabled Passage
Flooded Strand
Flooded Grove
Glacial Fortress
Hallowed Fountain
Hedge Maze
Hinterland Harbor
Horizon Canopy
Lush Portico
Meticulous Archive
Misty Rainforest
Otawara, Soaring City
Prairie Stream
Reliquary Tower
Spara’s Headquarters
Strip Mine
Sunpetal Grove
Temple Garden
Wasteland
Waterlogged Grove
Windswept Heath
Forest (5)
Island (5)
Plains (4)
A quick note about this deck. Since publishing the original article, I’ve made a few changes to the deck. Here they are:
Out:
| Eternal Witness | |
| Oko, Thief of Crowns | |
| Mana Crypt | |
| Mana Vault | |
| Wilderness Reclamation |
In:
| Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd | |
| Reclamation Sage | |
| Preston, the Vanisher | |
| Virtue of Knowledge | |
| Archdruid’s Charm |
Nothing too earth-shaking about these changes. The bannings took out Mana Crypt, which made me think I may as well cut Mana Vault, as well. Sure, there’s not much logic to it, except for the fact that fast mana can be oppressive to play against. Anyone who’s faced a turn 1 Sol Ring knows what it feels like. In 1-v-1, that feeling of being on the back foot is just magnified.
Ditto Oko, Thief of Crowns. It’s just as painful to play against in French Commander as it was in Standard and Modern.
Wilderness Reclamation is a powerful card, but since we aren’t a dedicated Control deck, we don’t get as much value out of untapping our lands as we do all of our permanents (Seedborn Muse).
Eternal Witness is the riskiest cut. Getting back any card from our graveyard needs no explanation as to why it’s good. However, there are times when there just isn’t anything worth getting back and the card is basically dead in our hand. Still, I have a feeling I’ll find room for it again in the near future after I’ve played some of the new hotnesses.
Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd is one such new hotness. It does everything we want when it comes to blinking permanents. However, given that we have to attack with it and have something we want to blink (either of our own or opponent’s, at least), it’s unlikely we’ll get more than a 1-time use of the Dog. For this reason, I’ll probably end up swapping Eternal Witness back in for it, but I want to give it a chance to show its worth (or lack there of) first.
Preston, the Vanisher is a powerful combo piece that functions like a Panharmonicon but only for when we blink our own creatures with Roon of the Hidden Realm or Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd. Seems pretty good.
Virtue of Knowledge is a strictly better Panharmonicon.
And these three cards sum up the direction I went with my changes. I took out some generically powerful cards in favor of more blink support/shenanigans.
Reclamation Sage and Archdruid’s Charm are both toolbox cards that give us answers and flexibility.
Decklist – Mono Black Midrange with Erebos, God of the Dead
| Erebos, God of the Dead |
Creatures (21)
| Gray Merchant of Asphodel | |
| Grave Titan | |
| Infernal Sovereign | |
| Nirkana Revenant | |
| Sheoldred, Whispering One |
Artifacts (8)
| Expedition Map | |
| Shadowspear | |
| Wayfarer’s Bauble | |
| Jet Medallion | |
| Thought Vessel | |
| The One Ring | |
| Throne of Eldraine | |
| Bolas’s Citadel |
Enchantments (8)
| Font of Agonies | |
| Phyrexian Reclamation | |
| Animate Dead | |
| Bitterblossom | |
| Black Market Connections | |
| Necropotence | |
| Infernal Darkness | |
| Exquisite Blood |
Instants (9) + 3 mfdcs
| Dark Ritual | |
| Malakir Rebirth | |
| Bitter Triumph | |
| Go for the Throat | |
| Imp’s Mischief | |
| Soul Shatter | |
| Withering Torment | |
| Deadly Rollick | |
| Fell the Profane | |
| Hagra Mauling |
Sorceries (15) + 1 mfdc
| Bubbling Muck | |
| Mind Twist | |
| Reanimate | |
| Thoughtseize | |
| Demonic Tutor | |
| Exsanguinate | |
| Feed the Swarm | |
| Hymn to Tourach | |
| Torment of Hailfire | |
| Pelakka Predation | |
| Toxic Deluge | |
| Damnation |
| Persecute | |
| Rankle’s Prank | |
| Blasphemous Edict | |
| Invoke Despair |
Lands (41)
| Ancient Tomb |
| Cabal Coffers |
| Deserted Temple |
| Maze of Ith |
| Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx |
| Phyrexian Tower |
| Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth |
| Vesuva |
| Volrath’s Stronghold |
| Wasteland |
| Swamp (27) |
In a lot of ways, this is a Good Stuff Mono Black deck. The main goal is to draw a ton of cards with Erebos and hate out your opponent in any number of ways. There is land hate, hand disruption, lifegain/drain shenanigans (including a 2-card combo), kill spells, mana doubling, reanimation, and more. The deck wants to win through sheer card advantage and frequently that is exactly what happens.
We’ve played this match-up several times and Erebos has all the tools to defeat Roon. Let’s see how the game plays out this time!
The Game
Conclusion
Well, that was pretty fun for me! Even with all the effort I spent just finding and playing lands, we were able to find enough answers to keep Erebos from doing much work. Sylvan Library was an all-star. Furthermore, my brother-in-law’s deck played a bit clunky (in part, thanks to us) and couldn’t find the right kind of hate or reliable card draw to stabilize and pull ahead. Finally, a pretty early Craterhoof Behemoth on a turn of only a few creatures gave us some serious close-out speed.
Thanks for reading and watching! I’m still working out all the kinks of recording Commander games with SpellTable. The video is far from ideal, but hopefully you still enjoyed watching these two powerhouse Midrange decks do battle!
