Birds Birds Birds by Mandonation

Format: Commander

Commander: Hermes, Overseer of Elpis

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 34

Deck overview

Hermes, Overseer of Elpis commands a mono-blue spellslinger tempo deck that translates noncreature casts into a soaring army of 1/1 flying, vigilant Bird tokens. The game plan centers on deploying Hermes on curve, then chaining low-cost cantrips, reactive counterspells, and artifact acceleration to generate tokens at instant speed. Because Hermes's tokens possess vigilance, they can attack each combat to trigger repeatable scry 2 card filtering while remaining untapped to serve as formidable aerial blockers. Coastal combat engines like Bident of Thassa and Curiosity Crafter weaponize these evasive attackers into massive card draw streams, quickly refilling the hand to fuel further spellcasting. The deck transitions into a lethal win condition through asymmetric bounce spells such as Perplexing Test and Spectral Deluge, paired with potent team-wide buffs like Banner of Kinship and Valley Floodcaller. Heavy reactive protection ensures the flock remains shielded against sweepers as it closes the game across multiple combat rotations.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Abjure
  • 1 Aetherize
  • 1 Airborne Aid
  • 1 An Offer You Can't Refuse
  • 1 Arcane Denial
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Archmage Emeritus
  • 1 Archmage of Runes
  • 1 Banner of Kinship
  • 1 Bident of Thassa
  • 1 Borne Upon a Wind
  • 1 Brainstorm
  • 1 Coastal Piracy
  • 1 Command Beacon
  • 1 Consider
  • 1 Control Magic
  • 1 Counterspell
  • 1 Curiosity Crafter
  • 1 Cyclonic Rift
  • 1 Dazzling Denial
  • 1 Dispel
  • 1 Enduring Curiosity
  • 1 Everflowing Chalice
  • 1 Faerie Mastermind
  • 1 Favorable Winds
  • 1 Fellwar Stone
  • 1 Frantic Search
  • 1 Hermes, Overseer of Elpis
  • 1 High Tide
  • 1 Hullbreaker Horror
  • 1 Invasion of Segovia // Caetus, Sea Tyrant of Segovia
  • 1 Irenicus's Vile Duplication
  • 30 Island
  • 1 Kindred Discovery
  • 1 Lightning Greaves
  • 1 Lofty Denial
  • 1 Mana Drain
  • 1 March of Swirling Mist
  • 1 Matoya, Archon Elder
  • 1 Meeting of Minds
  • 1 Misleading Signpost
  • 1 Murmuring Mystic
  • 1 Mystic Remora
  • 1 Narset's Reversal
  • 1 Negate
  • 1 Opt
  • 1 Patchwork Banner
  • 1 Perplexing Test
  • 1 Ponder
  • 1 Preordain
  • 1 Quantum Misalignment
  • 1 Rapid Hybridization
  • 1 Reality Shift
  • 1 Reliquary Tower
  • 1 Resculpt
  • 1 Sapphire Medallion
  • 1 Scavenger Grounds
  • 1 Snap
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Spectral Deluge
  • 1 Stock Up
  • 1 Swan Song
  • 1 Terrain Generator
  • 1 The Lord of the Eagles
  • 1 Thought Vessel
  • 1 Three Tree City
  • 1 Valley Floodcaller
  • 1 Veilstone Amulet
  • 1 Vulture, Feathered Fiend
  • 1 Wizard Class
  • 1 Wizard's Staff