Commander is a format that can take on different dimensions depending on how you want to play. If you follow the deck construction rules for the format, you end up with fun multiplayer mayhem, but that's not the only way to play the game.
I'm a big fan of multiplayer formats. Sure, the individual games tend to run on the long side, but there's more flexibility in how the game proceeds from turn to turn. It's different than in a two-player game where the lines of play are more clear. That's where Archenemy comes in.
In Archenemy, it is one vs. many. To balance the scales, the person playing the Archenemy gets a special Archenemy deck with some sweet, sweet cards. These "scheme" cards are full of flavor and can be very powerful. If you want to fight off multiple players at once, you need a little something extra. Like this!
In the spirit of the Commander format, I put together an Archenemy scheme deck consisting of exactly one of every scheme card available. (It took a while to collect all of these, but it was worth it!) In other words, the scheme deck followed the "only one copy of a card" rule and was 50 cards in total, much larger than the required number of 20 schemes for a typical Archenemy deck.
From there, I just had to build a Nicol Bolas Commander deck. I was compelled. To my mind, Nicol Bolas is THE Archenemy. The schemes fit perfectly with the deck. Reading the schemes aloud was easily the most fun part of mixing these two formats.
So, it was Bolas as the Archenemy vs. Ezuri and Teneb, piloted by Chris and Luke.
Game on.
In this format, the opponents of the Archenemy take turns at the same time, stepping from phase to phase together. But, they do not share a life total or mana, and they cannot block for one another. This makes the format only a little slower than a two-player battle, but way faster than a typical multiplayer game. The objective is clear: kill the Archenemy or be killed.
We had a few setup turns where Luke was digging for lands and Chris kept throwing out Elven threats. I was able to get my draw engine started early, so I had a grip of cards and never missed a land drop. Around turn 8, I cast Rite of Replication with kicker into a Immaculate Magistrate, making 5 copies. I could have targeted Peregrine Drake to make a bunch of mana and empty my hand, but I sensed a board wipe on the horizon.
Sure enough, Luke throws down a Phyrexian Rebirth to clear the board and ends up with a 16/16 token for my troubles. Chris puts his commander out. They pass the turn.
I had back-to-back Recurring Insight the turns before, so my hand was full. I flip my scheme card and it is A Display of My Dark Power, the mana doubler. With 9 lands and a Sol Ring, I was making 16 mana that turn and it was off to the races!
Sepulchral Primordial grabbed some sweet creatures. Molten Primordial grabbed some more sweet creatures. And, that was that.
If I didn't flip the mana doubler scheme right there, I'm not sure how it would have ended. Even without the mana doubler, I could have dropped the Molten Primordial and took out Chris or Luke, so the odds were certainly in my favor.
Bolas wins!
Playing Archenemy Commander is a blast. I strongly recommend it. You get the tasty flavor of Commander, mixed with the speed of a two-player duel, and the insanity of the Archenemy scheme cards. In some ways, it's more forgiving for new players since they can play together on a team. And, it can help to even out decks with different power levels since the Archenemy deck adds variability.
Plus, the schemes are downright awesome.
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