Art by Brian Valeza
Saved commander deck
Yoshimaru, Beloved Companion
Maximize +1/+1 counter placement on your creatures to trigger Yoshimaru's amplification effect, turning small buffs into overwhelming board presence and lethal commander damage.
Prompt: Yoshimaru, Beloved Companion commander deck
Commander
1 cards
Yoshimaru, Beloved Companion
{2}{W}Legendary Creature — Dog
Chosen commander for the requested strategy.
Ramp
10 cards
Knight of the White Orchid
{W}{W}Creature — Human Knight
Fetches Plains to accelerate land drops
Keeper of the Accord
{3}{W}Creature — Human Soldier
Consistently catches up on land ramp and provides tokens
Smothering Tithe
{3}{W}Enchantment
Exceptional burst and sustained mana generation
Card Draw
10 cards
Esper Sentinel
{W}Artifact Creature — Human Soldier
Early tax piece that draws cards and scales with +1/+1 counters
Welcoming Vampire
{2}{W}Creature — Vampire
Draws cards when small creatures enter the battlefield
Tocasia's Welcome
{2}{W}Enchantment
Reliable draw trigger off low-mana creatures and tokens
Mentor of the Meek
{2}{W}Creature — Human Soldier
Draws off small creatures entering
Folk Hero
{1}{W}Legendary Enchantment — Background
Draws when casting spells that share a creature type with commander
The Gaffer
{2}{W}Legendary Creature — Halfling Peasant
Draws at end step when gaining sufficient life
Removal
9 cards
Unbreakable Formation
{2}{W}Instant
Protects against wipes and can distribute counters
Council's Judgment
{1}{W}{W}Sorcery
Exiles problematic nonland permanents through voting
Cleansing Nova
{3}{W}{W}Sorcery
Modal board wipe for creatures or artifacts/enchantments
Threats/Wincons
22 cards
Grateful Apparition
{1}{W}Creature — Spirit
Proliferates counters whenever it deals combat damage
Mikaeus, the Lunarch
{X}{W}Legendary Creature — Human Cleric
Repeatedly distributes +1/+1 counters across your whole board
Walking Ballista
{X}{X}Artifact Creature — Construct
Scales quickly with counter amplification and acts as repeatable removal
Heliod, Sun-Crowned
{2}{W}Legendary Enchantment Creature — God
Distributes +1/+1 counters on lifegain and combos aggressively
Abzan Falconer
{2}{W}Creature — Human Soldier
Grants evasion to all creatures with counters
Ainok Bond-Kin
{1}{W}Creature — Dog Soldier
Grants first strike to all creatures with counters
High Sentinels of Arashin
{3}{W}Creature — Bird Soldier
Grows bigger for each counter and manually places more counters
Rosie Cotton of South Lane
{2}{W}Legendary Creature — Halfling Peasant
Places extra +1/+1 counters when tokens enter
Felidar Retreat
{3}{W}Enchantment
Distributes counters to the team on landfall triggers
Cathars' Crusade
{3}{W}{W}Enchantment
Explosively distributes massive numbers of amplified counters
Luminarch Aspirant
{1}{W}Creature — Human Cleric
Consistently places amplified counters every combat
Siege Veteran
{2}{W}Creature — Human Soldier
Adds counters at combat and replaces dying nontoken creatures
Archangel of Thune
{3}{W}{W}Creature — Angel
Mass counter distribution triggered by any lifegain
Sunscorch Regent
{3}{W}{W}Creature — Dragon
Gains counters and life whenever opponents cast spells
Nils, Discipline Enforcer
{2}{W}Legendary Creature — Human Cleric
Distributes counters while taxing attackers based on their counters
Basri's Lieutenant
{3}{W}Creature — Human Knight
Puts counters on entry and provides replacement Knight tokens
Orzhov Advokist
{2}{W}Creature — Human Advisor
Places counters on your creatures while pacifying opponents
Elite Scaleguard
{4}{W}Creature — Human Soldier
Bolsters your board and taps down defenders when counter-bearing creatures attack
Together Forever
{W}{W}Enchantment
Places counters and protects creatures that have counters
Hopeful Initiate
{W}Creature — Human Warlock
Early counter-scaling creature that removes artifacts and enchantments
Iron Apprentice
{1}Artifact Creature — Construct
Early counter target that transfers its counters on death
Hangarback Walker
{X}{X}Artifact Creature — Construct
Scales with extra counters and leaves an army of Thopters behind
Utility
9 cards
The Ozolith
{1}Legendary Artifact
Saves all +1/+1 counters from dying creatures to reuse
Resourceful Defense
{2}{W}Enchantment
Monitors dying counters and allows active counter movement
Swiftfoot Boots
{2}Artifact — Equipment
Provides essential haste and hexproof for the commander
Lightning Greaves
{2}Artifact — Equipment
Protects the commander and enables immediate attacks
Mother of Runes
{W}Creature — Human Cleric
Targeted color protection against hostile removal
Giver of Runes
{W}Creature — Kor Cleric
Protects key creatures from single-target interaction
Flawless Maneuver
{2}{W}Instant
Free indestructible protection spell when commander is out
Staff of Compleation
{3}Artifact
Proliferates counters, draws cards, and taps for mana
