How to play and build a River Song MTG Commander Deck

River Song is one of the most unique commanders you can play, originally published in Magic: The Gathering‘s Doctor Who set. River Song’s character in the series plays out in reverse thanks to time travel shenanigans. For her card, that means you draw from the bottom of your library instead of the top.

River Song is a unique Izzet (blue/red) commander that also punishes your opponent for looking at their library in the most common ways (especially in Commander format). A River Song deck has a distinct playstyle and lots of options for cards you’d probably never play if it weren’t for River’s effect.

Decklist

The deck list consists of 15 creatures, 11 sorceries, 19 instants, 18 artifacts, two enchantments, And 34 countries. River Song is the Key card and source of damage for the deckwhile many of the other cards support River Song, hence the smaller number of creatures.

Key cards

River Song

The commander of the deck, River Song is what everything is built on. It allows you to Constantly reuse cards that land in the graveyard with permanents that Move cards from the graveyard to the end of the library. Since River Song requires you to draw from the bottom of the library, you can always draw again immediately.

River Song also punishes your opponent for searching his librarywhich are converted into +1/+1 counters and progressive fire damage. They can force your opponent to search his libraries with various land destruction cards in Izzet colors.

Neera, Wild Mage

Neera, Wild Mage plays very well with River Song. Since Neera’s effect puts the spell you cast at the bottom of your library, this is lets River Song draw it in the next round because it requires you to drag from the bottom of the library.

The Spell you cast for free through Neera’s effect is (mostly) randomso you may cast a weaker spell. However, you might as well reroll the slot machine next turn. With low mana cards, it is easier to Turn this into a much more powerful spell And Avoid expensive mana costs.

Timestream Navigator

Normally, Timestream Navigator needs a lot of moving parts to get going, but with River Song it is very easy to get it back in your hands right away. Since it is at the bottom of your library when you use the extra turn effectRiver Song allows you to draw it immediately during the extra turn you just created.

While these does not generate infinite extra roundsit comes very close to that. You have to Tap Timestream Navigator for its effectso it cannot have summoning sickness. You also need the blessing of the city to use the extra turn effectSo you can start the Timestream Navigator loop in the late game.

Flux channelizer

The majority of the cards in the deck are non-creature cards, which means that most spells Trigger Flux Channeler’s ability. It causes you to multiply whenever you cast a noncreature spell, which improves River Song’s stats by adding more +1/+1 counters, This causes River to deal more fire damage when his effect is triggered.

Flux Channeler’s mana cost is low, so you can bring it onto the battlefield very early to benefit from its effects. River Song is the only card that takes full advantage of this, but it supports River so well that it It is worth taking it despite its narrow application.

Scrap scooter

There are several cards in the deck that put cards from the graveyard at the bottom of your library. While Scrap scooter can only make one card per turn, it is the only permanent that can do so for free. The other cards, while good, require you to pay mana for their effects.

Junktroller is colorless, which makes it easier to cast, as you don’t have to worry about specific mana colors. It is possible to it already works in the second round with the right openings so you can start setting up River Song loops early in the game.

How to play the deck

A River Song Commander Deck is all about Punishing opponents for searching their libraries and enforcing this punishment with different cards. There is therefore a theme of the destruction of Underland, with cards like Cleansing wildfire, from the ashes, And Geomancer’s Gambit all destroy one or more lands so that the opponent can then search his library for another.

Since you play from the bottom of your library, there are many cards that allow this strategybe it putting cards from the graveyard under the library or cards that look at the top cards and put some of them into the hand and others under the library. This helps you to always control which cards you take into your hand.

Since River Song is your main source of damagethere is a large control shell in the deck. There are a lot of counterspells to protect them from any form of removal. Protective permanents like Whispersilk cloak And Lightning Greaves are also in the deck to prevent River Song from becoming a target.

The largest The deck’s weakness is its heavy dependence on River Song. The whole deck is built around River Song being on the battlefield, and struggles when it’s not there. Often times, your defenses are completely open, so you have to rely on countering the right spells to prevent anyone else from getting too far ahead.

The deck The winning condition is victory through fire and battle damage. Once River Song’s stats are high, it will be much easier to destroy your opponents. In addition, the stat boosts improve River Song in battle and help you win through commander damage. This will be even easier if you additional turn loops with time warp and a possibility to put it at the end of the library.