Introduction
The aroma of freshly baked pies, the clinking of silverware, the satisfying crunch of a well-made sandwich – the Food archetype in Magic: The Gathering has a unique flavor profile. More than just a tasty theme, Food offers a surprisingly versatile and potentially powerful strategy in the Commander format. This article explores the realm of the best Food commanders, ranking them based on their power, their ability to create interesting decks, and the sheer enjoyment they bring to the table.
At its core, a Food token is a simple artifact token that you can sacrifice for the modest, yet often relevant, benefit of gaining three life. While a single Food token may not seem impactful, the magic happens when you start accumulating them and finding ways to use them beyond simple life gain.
Why bring Food to the Commander table? The Commander format, with its longer games and higher life totals, provides the perfect environment for building a Food engine. Food decks excel at generating resources over time, building up a reserve of tokens, and then unleashing a flurry of synergistic effects. The ability to gain life consistently provides resilience against aggressive decks. Food also boasts an undeniable thematic charm, offering a delightful alternative to more cutthroat strategies.
This article dives deep into the delicious world of Food commanders, highlighting the cream of the crop. This is not an exhaustive list, as the “best” commander is subjective and dependent on play style.
Gyome, Master Chef: Culinary Domination
[Insert Image of Gyome, Master Chef]
Gyome, Master Chef, with his mana cost of one green, one blue, and one colorless, is a top contender for the best Food commander. His abilities are a recipe for success: Whenever another nontoken artifact enters the battlefield under your control, create a Food token. Additionally, artifact creatures you control have ward.
Gyome is a powerhouse due to his ability to generate Food tokens passively whenever you play artifact-based cards. This provides a consistent stream of resources, allowing you to fuel other Food-related synergies and maintain a comfortable life total. The added benefit of ward for your artifact creatures is crucial in a format where removal spells are commonplace. Protecting your key creatures from targeted removal significantly increases your chances of executing your game plan.
When building a Gyome deck, focus on maximizing the number of artifacts you play. Cards that create multiple artifacts, such as treasure tokens, clue tokens, and other artifact tokens, are exceptionally valuable. Look for synergies between these different token types to create a complex and resilient engine.
Cards that excel in this deck include:
- Academy Manufactor: This card turns every Food token into a Food, a Treasure, and a Clue. That’s card draw, mana ramp, and life gain all in one.
- Urza, Lord High Artificer: Urza turns your artifacts into mana sources and generates a massive Construct token that can win you the game.
- Oko, Thief of Crowns: Oko provides versatile removal and can turn your Food tokens into powerful creatures.
- Lonis, Cryptozoologist: Lonis will allow you to sacrifice Food and other tokens to create creatures and draw cards.
Gyome decks benefit greatly from a strong artifact base. Cards that generate mana, like Mana Vault and Sol Ring, are essential for accelerating your game plan. Recursion spells that bring back artifacts from the graveyard are also valuable, as they help you recover from removal and maintain a consistent stream of Food tokens. Consider including cards like Scrap Trawler and Goblin Engineer to retrieve your fallen artifacts.
Gyome’s strengths lie in his consistent Food generation, protection for your artifact creatures, and the versatility offered by green and blue. However, he can be vulnerable to strategies that flood the board, since it can be difficult to chump block with an artifact-based strategy. He is also weak to heavy artifact removal, such as a Vandalblast.
Here’s a simplified example decklist:
- Gyome, Master Chef
- Academy Manufactor
- Urza, Lord High Artificer
- Oko, Thief of Crowns
- Sol Ring
- Arcane Signet
- Chromatic Lantern
- Thopter Foundry
- Sword of the Meek
- Trading Post
- Whir of Invention
Frodo, Adventurous Hobbit: A Taste of Adventure
[Insert Image of Frodo, Adventurous Hobbit]
Frodo, Adventurous Hobbit, costing a mere one and a green, offers a unique angle on the Food archetype. His ability allows you to sacrifice a Food to draw a card and then mill a card. Then, if you have the ring tempting you, and the milled card is a land, you may put it onto the battlefield tapped.
Frodo represents a unique twist on Food commanders. He allows you to turn your Food into card advantage and land ramp. While Frodo doesn’t generate food, he provides an exceptional way to convert the tokens into value.
When constructing a Frodo Food deck, you want to ensure you’re generating a lot of Food, likely pairing with Sam, Loyal Attendant. You will want to increase the likelihood of getting a land on the battlefield by adding cards such as Oracle of Mul Daya and Courser of Kruphix.
Key cards for Frodo include:
- Sam, Loyal Attendant: A necessary card as he creates food and causes Frodo to grow with the ring.
- Peregrin Took: Doubles the amount of Food you generate.
- Second Breakfast: Generates food at the beginning of your upkeep.
Frodo’s strengths lie in his ability to give you card advantage and ramp. His weakness lies in the need to have other cards to generate Food for him. He also is weak against decks that like to fill up their graveyard, due to his mill ability.
Simplified decklist:
- Frodo, Adventurous Hobbit
- Sam, Loyal Attendant
- Peregrin Took
- Second Breakfast
- Elvish Reclaimer
- Arcane Signet
- Sol Ring
- Fertile Ground
- Exploration
- Courser of Kruphix
Giada, Font of Hope: Angelic Sustenance
[Insert Image of Giada, Font of Hope]
Giada, Font of Hope, for a single white mana, is a commander that seemingly has nothing to do with Food. However, her ability to allow all your other Angels to enter the battlefield with additional +1/+1 counters for each Angel you control provides an excellent payoff for Food. Many white and green cards create Food, and Angels are powerful creatures that can carry you to victory.
Giada brings an unexpected strategy to the Food archetype. This deck leans heavily on generating a high volume of Food and uses these tokens to survive long enough to amass a formidable Angel army. Giada decks tend to be more aggressive than other Food decks, aiming to overwhelm opponents with a wave of flying creatures.
When building a Giada Food Angel deck, prioritize cards that create Food tokens and cards that synergize with Angels.
Key cards include:
- Youthful Valkyrie: Creates food when angels enter the battlefield
- Sigarda, Host of Herons: Prevents opponents from sacrificing you to generate food.
- Emeria Shepherd: Allows you to reanimate permanents from your graveyard.
Giada’s advantage lies in her fast start potential, due to her low mana cost. A weakness of this deck lies in its reliance on Angels, making it vulnerable to board wipes.
Simplified decklist:
- Giada, Font of Hope
- Youthful Valkyrie
- Sigarda, Host of Herons
- Emeria Shepherd
- Righteous Valkyrie
- Angel of Vitality
- Voice of the Blessed
- Bishop of Wings
- Seraph of Dawn
Honorable Mentions
While the commanders above represent some of the most powerful and versatile options for building Food decks, several other commanders deserve a mention:
- Asmira, Holy Avenger: Asmira allows you to get huge creatures through graveyard recursion. She is very powerful when she enters the battlefield with cards such as Anointed Procession.
- Atla Palani, Nest Tender: This commander uses Food to hatch giant creatures. With the use of cards such as Ashnod’s Altar and World Queller, you can have creatures enter the battlefield at rapid speed.
- Grumgully, the Generous: This commander is good at creating Food and goblins. You are able to flood the board with tokens to win a game.
General Food Deck Building Tips
Building a successful Food deck requires careful consideration of several key elements. Here are some tips to help you maximize the potential of your delicious strategy:
- Sacrifice Outlets are Key: Food tokens provide life gain, but their true power lies in their ability to be sacrificed for other effects. Include a variety of sacrifice outlets in your deck to maximize the value of your Food. Cards that generate other resources, such as mana or cards, are particularly valuable.
- Token Doublers Unleash the Feast: Cards that double tokens, such as Anointed Procession, Parallel Lives, and Doubling Season, are incredibly powerful in Food decks. These cards dramatically increase your Food production, allowing you to fuel your synergies and overwhelm your opponents.
- Recursion Keeps the Kitchen Stocked: Food decks can be resilient, but they can also be vulnerable to removal. Include cards that allow you to bring back creatures or artifacts from the graveyard to maintain a strong board presence and prevent your engine from running out of steam.
- Interaction is Essential: Don’t neglect interaction! Include removal spells and counterspells to protect your board, disrupt your opponents’ plans, and prevent them from disrupting your Food engine.
- Card Draw Keeps the Recipes Flowing: Card draw is crucial for maintaining momentum and ensuring you don’t run out of steam. Include cards that draw cards whenever you create or sacrifice Food tokens to keep your hand full and your options open.
Conclusion
The Food archetype in Magic: The Gathering offers a flavorful, versatile, and surprisingly powerful strategy in the Commander format. Whether you prefer the consistent Food generation of Gyome, Master Chef, or the unique twists of Frodo, Adventurous Hobbit, there’s a Food commander out there for everyone.
So, grab your apron, gather your ingredients, and start experimenting! With the right commander and the right cards, you can build a Food deck that will leave your opponents hungry for more. Devour the competition and create a deck that is as delicious as it is deadly. Share your own favorite Food commanders and deck ideas in the comments below!
