Better Packages: Pillow Fort

When it comes to defense in a Commander game the right cards can make the difference between winning and losing. Some players tend to focus on a counter package, a package that will prevent their enemy’s worst threats from even entering the battlefield, while others focus on amassing an even larger army in the hopes of overwhelming their enemy while leaving some creatures behind to protect them self and some rely on a pillow fort package to deter their opponents from attacking them. Today I will focus on the latter and improving what is considered to be the current pillow fort package.

An example of the current pillow fort package would be:

Let’s assume for a minute that all of these cards are on the battlefield and under your control. You also have three basic land types in play. In order for your opponent to attack you, they would have to pay 11mana per attacking creature, which seems pretty good doesn’t it?

Not really, if you stop and think about it.

Commander games tend to run pretty long and getting this package setup can be pretty difficult even with tutors and given enough time 11mana could be paid pretty easily and your opponent could just pay that cost to attack you, eventually bringing your life total to zero. Making the previously stated package pretty ineffective, so let me introduce you to a pillow fort package that replaces those cards with some better ones.

Rest in Peace is a wonderful card for Commander. It exiles all cards in all graveyards and if a card was to enter a graveyard, exiles it instead. This shuts down any graveyard based strategies like The Mimeoplasm decks and Karador, Ghost Chieftain decks. Rest in Peace also ensures that if you deal with a permanent on the board it stays off the board because it leaves the game.

Leyline of the Void works very similarly as Rest in Peace except for the fact that it leaves your graveyard alone (great for your graveyard shenanigans) and only effects your opponent’s graveyards. It doesn’t deal with their current graveyard state because it only deals with cards after it comes into play but can come in on the first turn for free if it is in your opening hand. Leyline of the Void plays as a solid backup to Rest in Peace .

Web of Inertia makes your opponent pay not mana but cards from their graveyard in order to attack you.

Energy Field prevents all damage that would be dealt to you by sources you don’t control. When a card is put into your graveyard from anywhere, sacrifice Energy Field.

When you have Rest in Peace or Leyline of the Void with Web of Inertia you cannot take any combat damage. This is because your opponent will not have a graveyard to pay Web of Inertia’s fee to attack.

When you have Rest in Peace with Energy Field you cannot take any damage at all, from any source you don’t control and you don’t have to worry about a card entering your graveyard (causing you to sacrifice Energy Field) because if a card was to go to the graveyard, it would be exiled instead.

As you can see this package is a dramatic improvement over the current pillow fort package and is a budget-friendly option for those looking to add some protection to their current Commander deck.

After replacing the old pillow fort package with this new upgraded one, I have seen a massive improvement in my Commander deck. Opponents are forced to find answers for these cards or else they will be dealt with in turn.

Honorable Mention:

Humility + Lightmine Field

Thanks for reading and I would love to hear your comments about this package and what current pillow fort packages you use.