100 CARDS.2 brackets.

Drakes on your second draw each turn, and on your fifth draw Alandra and every Drake you control get +hand size/+hand size. A Dialogue pile of five or more cards turns a couple of 2/2 fliers into a lethal air force.

A second Teferi's Ageless Insight on a 3/5 reach vigilance body, plus a token doubler. With Ageless Insight also out, the two doubling effects multiply rather than overlap (CR 614.5), so one drawn card becomes four. A Dialogue on a 12-power attacker draws you 24. The token half doubles Drakes, Illusions, Squids, and Inklings, which in turn feeds Cathars' Crusade and Mister Fantastic.

, : copy Sokratic Dialogue with a new target. A second creature converted every turn for one mana. Vigilance 1/4 also blocks.

: you and target opponent each draw. That is a free Psychosis Crawler drain, a Chasm Skulker counter, a Scrawling Crawler life loss, and two cards off Consecrated Sphinx every single turn. ETB also kills an artifact or enchantment.

Unconditional exile of any permanent, with no mana value cap. Replaces Prismatic Ending, whose Converge clause tops out at mana value 2 in a two-color deck and so cannot answer a Rhystic Study, a Smothering Tithe, or most commanders. Real synergy with Echo, Perceptive Prodigy: activate Mangara, copy the ability with Echo for and a tap, choosing a second target. The copy resolves first and exiles Mangara plus its target; the original then finds Mangara already gone and exiles its target anyway. Two permanents for one Mangara. Summoning sickness applies and it telegraphs, but a 1/1 threatening to exile anything is a useful deterrent in a deck that wants opponents looking elsewhere.

Illusion per turn that grows with the others, and every Illusion you control that dies puts a permanent from hand with mana value up to that Illusion's power onto the battlefield free. With a 15-card hand that is a real cheat engine.

No once-each-turn clause, so every separate token-entry event under your control draws. With Bard doubling tokens and Alandra, Minn, Chasm Skulker, and Emeritus of Truce making them, that is several draws a turn, and each one is a Psychosis Crawler drain and a Chasm Skulker counter. Reach 2/4 also blocks, which suits the wall plan.

Grows a counter per draw. One big Sokrates turn makes it a 10/10, and it leaves an army of islandwalking Squids if it dies.

Passive protection for the whole engine and for you. You have hexproof, so targeted edicts, targeted discard, and burn aimed at your face all fail, which matters because this deck plays as the archenemy. Noncombat damage to your other creatures is prevented, and ten of your creatures have 3 toughness or less, including Loran, Drumbellower, and Scrawling Crawler, so pingers and damage-based wipes stop threatening the combo and the clock. It is always on, so it covers the turns you tap out for engines, unlike the reactive protection suite. It does not protect itself, and it does not stop destroy, exile, bounce, or -X/-X effects; Flawless Maneuver and Teferi's Protection still cover those.

Untap all creatures you control during each other player's untap step. Sokrates untaps at the start of every opponent's turn, so he can fog an attacker on each of their turns and regains hexproof every time. Also untaps Loran for a draw on each opponent's turn, and Echo. Note it does not remove summoning sickness: Sokrates still needs to have been under your control since your turn began before he can use Dialogue.

A 3/3 body that becomes a second Swords to Plowshares if an opponent out-creatures you when it enters.

Flash flier that draws off each opponent's second draw. Also a symmetric draw outlet you can point through Scrawling Crawler and Psychosis Crawler.

Primary win condition. Power equals your hand size, so it is also the best Dialogue target in the deck: swing with a 15-card hand, draw 7, and every one of those draws drains each opponent. Two Crawler swings usually ends the table.

Every card Sokrates gives an opponent costs them 1 life. A 20-power Dialogue swing is 10 cards AND 10 life lost for that player. This is the card that makes the commander's symmetry into a weapon.

Opponents can only cast spells at sorcery speed, so no spell interacts with your attack step, no spell answers the loaded creature in response to Sokratic Dialogue, and no spell counters Approach of the Second Sun on the second cast. The -3 also bounces a problem artifact, creature, or enchantment and draws. Not a Game Changer.

The only card in the deck that one-shots a player through combat. Equipped creature's base power and toughness equal your life total, so at 40 life it is a 40/40, and 80 damage with Duelist's Heritage. Your defensive plan keeps your life high, which is exactly what powers it. Put it on an evasive carrier: Bilbo's Ring, Trailblazer's Boots, Rogue's Passage, or Akroma's Will. Unlike Colossus Hammer it does not strip flying, so Drakes, Drumbellower, and Faerie Mastermind can carry it, and Sigarda's Aid attaches it free. As a draw enabler, a Dialogue on a 40/40 draws 20; do not give it double strike when you Dialogue it, or you draw 40 and risk decking yourself.

The deck's evasion answer. During your turn the equipped creature has hexproof and can't be blocked: unblockable means the Dialogue actually connects, hexproof means they can't target it in response to the activation. Sigarda's Aid attaches it free on entry, so equip rarely gets paid (at Bracket 4, which cuts Aid, you pay it). Replaces Sword of the Animist, which fought Land Tax by pushing your land count up and competed for equip mana on the one turn you need it elsewhere.

At the beginning of combat on your turn, create a nonlegendary token copy of the equipped creature; per the official ruling the token has haste indefinitely, so each copy can use Sokratic Dialogue immediately and forever. Equip it to Sokrates. Bard, King of Dale doubles it to two tokens per combat, Sigarda's Aid attaches it free on entry so the equip rarely gets paid (at Bracket 4, which cuts Aid, you pay it), and Mister Fantastic draws each time the tokens enter. The real payoff is Drumbellower: every Sokrates token untaps on every opponent's turn, so N tokens means N Dialogues per opponent turn. Each still needs a different attacking or unblocked target, since two Dialogues on one creature do not stack.

+10/+10 for one mana. Equip is irrelevant because Sigarda's Aid attaches it free. Ten extra power is five extra cards per Dialogue.

Haste so Sokrates activates the turn it lands, and hexproof for the turns it is tapped. Note: do NOT use Lightning Greaves here. Shroud would stop you targeting your own attacker with Dialogue.

Nonbasic landwalk is effectively unblockable in Commander. Equip is the cheapest evasion in the deck.

Auto-include in two colors.

One-shot ritual, and a free artifact for Urza's Saga.

Ramp early, cash in for a card late.

Zero-mana rock that taps for any color among legendary creatures and planeswalkers you control. Eleven in the list starting with Sokrates (nine at Bracket 4), so it is live from turn two or three. Helm of the Host tokens are nonlegendary and do not count. Not a Game Changer.

Blue source that is also an artifact for Urza's Saga construct count.

Third Mind Over Matter partner and the most mana-efficient one. Activate its ability, discard a card to Mind Over Matter to untap it, activate again; repeat. The last activation resolves first and puts Top on your library; the next draws Top itself back to hand (official ruling: if Top leaves the battlefield while its ability is on the stack, you draw and Top stays in the zone it moved to); the rest draw real cards. Recast for and repeat. Each cycle is card-neutral and draws one more card than you discarded, so with Psychosis Crawler out a 15-card hand is 16 life off every opponent per mana spent. With Teferi's Ageless Insight or Bard it is card-positive, and paying the by discarding to untap a land keeps it running until your library runs out. Without Mind Over Matter it is simply the best selection card in the format.

Third no-maximum-hand-size source alongside Reliquary Tower and Thought Vessel; two was too thin. Hand size is a real resource here: Psychosis Crawler's power, Windfall's drain, and Mind Over Matter's fuel all scale with it, and you only discard at your own cleanup step. Costs zero, and Urza's Saga's chapter III can fetch it.

Two-mana rock that taps for either color, one damage for colored. Replaces the slower one-plus-two basic fetch of Wayfarer's Bauble.

Symmetric draw that turns one-sided here: every opponent draw becomes a Treasure off Smothering Tithe, two cards for you off Consecrated Sphinx, and 1 life lost off Scrawling Crawler. Also a second partner for Mind Over Matter, and a better one than Loran: it is an artifact, so no summoning sickness, and it hits every opponent at once. Discard to untap the Bell, tap it, repeat.

Ramp plus no maximum hand size. This deck routinely ends a turn with 15+ cards and Psychosis Crawler wants every one of them.

Both modes with Sokrates out. Double strike means two separate combat damage steps (CR 702.4b), so the Dialogue prevention fires twice and you draw half the power TWICE. Protection from each color also makes the attacker unblockable by colored creatures.

Instant-speed creature or planeswalker kill; the Clue they get is a draw you tax.

Spree wrath that can also make one of your creatures indestructible. Your board is cheap to rebuild; theirs is not.

Free with Sokrates out. Blanks a wrath for zero mana, which keeps your mana open for Dialogue activations.

Free insurance for your winning turn when Teferi, Time Raveler isn't out. Counter target spell for zero mana; at your next upkeep you pay or lose the game. One rule: only cast it on a turn you are going to win, so that upkeep never arrives. Never use it to stop a wrath on someone else's turn; that is how Pact costs you a game, and Swan Song handles those for one mana. Per the rulings, if Pact itself is countered the upkeep trigger never happens, but if it resolves against an uncounterable spell you still owe the payment. Not a Game Changer. Disclose at Rule Zero.

One mana, hits any creature. The 3/3 is a fine trade for a commander.

Soft counter that replaces itself. Good on a combo piece or a wrath.

Two-for-one on artifacts and enchantments at sorcery speed.

Phases out your loaded creature in response to removal and leaves a +1/+1 counter behind.

Unconditional one-mana counter for exactly the spells you cannot answer after they resolve: wraths and removal aimed at your loaded attacker. Replaces Spell Pierce, whose tax rots as the game goes long, and this deck is built to win late. Losing Spell Pierce's artifact and planeswalker coverage costs little, since Detention Sphere, Return to Dust, Mangara, Erode, and Fateful Absence all answer those on the back end. The 2/2 Bird is noise against a board of 0/4 and 2/4 blockers plus Maze of Ith and Kor Haven.

Best white removal in the format.

Spree: counter, copy your loaded attacker, or dig. Flexible at every stage.

Each player discards their hand and draws cards equal to the largest hand discarded, and this deck holds the largest hand at the table. With Scrawling Crawler out, every opponent loses life equal to your hand size; with Psychosis Crawler out, your own draws drain each of them again, and Teferi's Ageless Insight doubles your side. A 12-card hand is 24 life off every opponent for three mana. Only cast it when the math is lethal, because otherwise it refills the whole table, and if both Crawlers are gone do not cast it at all. Decline Consecrated Sphinx's optional draws while it resolves so you do not draw yourself out, especially with Ageless Insight or Bard doubling you.

Every creature entering under your control puts a counter on your whole board. With Alandra's Drakes, Minn's Illusions, Chasm Skulker's Squids, and Bard doubling all of them, this compounds fast and turns any body into a Dialogue target worth activating.

Catch-all for a problem nonland permanent, and it eats all copies of a token swarm.

Whenever one or more creatures attack, give one attacking creature double strike. Two combat damage steps (CR 702.4b) means Dialogue prevents and draws twice, so on offense a Dialogue on that attacker draws the full power, rounded down to an even number, instead of half. It triggers on any player's attack, so on defense you can give double strike to an opponent's attacker you are about to Dialogue: double the fog, double the cards.

: untap enchanted creature. On Sokrates, each is another Dialogue activation, the cheapest paid untap in the deck. It is an aura, so you choose at cast time. On Loran with Smothering Tithe out it is a three-card loop: pay to untap Loran, tap her so the target opponent draws, Tithe makes a Treasure unless they pay , the Treasure pays the next . Rotate targets until every opponent is out of mana to deny it. Three cards, legal at B3, but it can come together around turn five; disclose it.

Free at each of your upkeeps as long as someone is ahead on lands, which in a 36-land deck is most of the game. Three cards a round for nothing, and because Psychosis Crawler's power equals your hand size, those lands are literally damage. Reliquary Tower and Thought Vessel mean you never discard them.

Deliberate late-game combo finish and the best Sokrates untapper available: discard a card to untap him, so a deep hand means many Dialogue activations. Also the hub of three of the deck's combo loops, one with each partner in the list: Temple Bell, Loran of the Third Path, and Sensei's Divining Top. See each card's note and the Play Guide. Six mana with four blue pips, so it cannot reasonably happen early: legal at B3, but disclose all three lines at Rule Zero.

Plugs the deck's real gap. The list is card-rich from the midgame on, once Sokrates, Ageless Insight, and a loaded attacker are online, but thin on turns one through four. Remora on turn one draws off opponents' early noncreature spells unless they pay ; let it die when the cumulative upkeep climbs. Every card it draws is fuel for Psychosis Crawler later. Not a Game Changer, so it does the early-game job Rhystic Study would at no bracket cost.

Cast equipment at flash speed and attach it free on entry. Makes Helm of the Host effectively a four-drop by skipping its equip , and turns Colossus Hammer into a one-mana instant-speed combat trick after blockers by skipping its equip .

Any opponent who drew two or more cards this turn gives you a card at end step. Sokrates guarantees at least one every turn cycle.

Choose Brotherhood. At your upkeep each opponent draws a card and you draw one for each. With Smothering Tithe that is up to three Treasures, with Consecrated Sphinx six more cards, with Scrawling Crawler three life lost, and Teferi's Ageless Insight doubles your share since it is not your draw step. The single strongest upkeep engine in the list.

Doubles every draw you make except your first draw-step card. Applies to the Sokrates pile, to Consecrated Sphinx, and to Scrawling Crawler upkeeps.

Chapter III puts a or artifact onto the battlefield: Sol Ring, Mox Amber, Lotus Petal, Colossus Hammer (Mana Vault at Bracket 4), Spellbook, or Sensei's Divining Top. With Mind Over Matter already down, fetching Top completes a combo line. Best single land in the pool for this deck.

Untapped dual. One damage per colored activation, which is irrelevant in a deck gaining life off Approach and fogging combat every turn.

Both colors, no drawback.

Basic fixing, thins.

Taps for freely; the half needs a Plains or Island, which 19 basics (18 at Bracket 4) make near-automatic.

WU dual as long as you control a basic. 19 basics here (18 at Bracket 4), so it is live.

Untapped dual for 2 life. Pay the life on turn 1-3.

Nine basics. Otawara and Minamo each took an Island's slot and both still tap for , so the blue source count is unchanged.

Repeatable damage prevention on an attacker. Defensive commander wants this.

Free untap-and-fog on the scariest attacker. Stacks with Sokrates as a second fog.

, : untap target legendary permanent. Sokrates is legendary, so this is a land-based Sokrates untapper: hard to remove, instant speed, and it still taps for . Also untaps Loran for a second draw and Bard. Took an Island's slot, so blue sources are unchanged.

Untapped blue source that doubles as a removal spell when you do not need the land. Channel costs less per legendary creature you control, and this deck runs nine of them (seven at Bracket 4) plus Sokrates, so it is frequently or to bounce any artifact, creature, enchantment, or planeswalker. Legendary is irrelevant in singleton. Came in over an Island, so the blue count is unchanged.

Ten basics (nine at Bracket 4). White pip count is moderate; most doubles are blue.

Hand size is a real resource here: Psychosis Crawler's power equals it, and you often draw six to twelve at instant speed during combat. Thought Vessel provides the same effect, but it dies to ordinary artifact removal and a land does not.

The unblockable button. Turns any fatty into a Sokrates payday.

Enters untapped whenever you have two or more opponents, which in Commander is almost always. Untapped dual with no drawback.

Untapped dual early, which is when the WU pips hurt most.

Basic fixing, thins.