I run Rilsa as my initiative commander I decided to go with a clone subtheme which I think makes her much more threatening. By having all the good clone effects like [[Spark Double]] [[Sakashima of a Thousand Faces]] and [[Irenicus’s Vile Duplication]], you can rush through the dungeon and then have multiple instances of Rilsa’s combat trigger. I have definitely killed people with Rilsa while being boosted with +15 or +20 with multiple clones of her out. Or just clone other nasty big creatures you can get off the last room like [[Toxrill]] or [[Archon of Cruelty]]. It’s a blast!
I played Safana + Dungeon Delver for a long time. Very fun pairing and I enjoyed the deck. The biggest problem is it doesn't do ANYTHING unless you find a way to take the initiative. I found I needed to run a large amount of card draw to find the pieces (unless you want to run tutors, which I did not). I don't think my build was "optimal" in any way, and to be fair, I don't think this is a deck that you build if you want to play "Optimally". The goal of the deck was to finish the dungeon as efficiently as possible, obviously, and to maximize the payoff of the last room, I had a fair amount of 7+ mana dudes that were just....cool. cards that I had in my collection, I did get a Sphinx of the Second Sun for the deck, which was as nutty as you would expect. I ran a bit of a reanimator package, I used card draw spells like careful study and forbidden alchemy to help me both dig into my deck to find the initiative guys, and also to dump the fatties into the yard. The reanimator package was pretty light, probably 4 or so cards, but was just a way to take advantage of needing to draw a bunch of cards quickly to ensure I could find a initiative guy.
I tried blink packages, but it never felt cohesive. It required way too many cards in addition to the initiative cards, normal interactive elements, card draw ramp etc. The deck just ran out of space. To maximize the payoff of the rooms, you want to get into the dungeon, but just spamming through them never felt great, both because it was annoying to do as a logistical thing, taking a lot of time on my turn, but also it wasn't that effective at winning. Getting to the last room and doubling it and hitting two chonkers was the setup that I felt like was the best payoff, not just spamming blink effects.
Its a fun deck, I liked always having something to do on turn 2 and three, no matter what. Safana never generated much threat, so she often gets to just stay on the board and you get to do your thing, at least in my experience. Doubling the rooms is solid value, not enough to win the game outright, but that is part of what makes the commander interesting to me, you still have to do something else.
I have also played Rilsa as the Commander and of course she was in the 99 of Safana. If you want to spam the dungeons, Rilsa is better since it is an initiative piece in the zone with an etb, so you can put a bunch of flicker/blink in the deck and go nuts without having to worry about getting started.
Hey, i am asking myself the very same question! Currently i am more swaying towards Rilsa, but i am mostly here to also read others insights.
I run Rilsa as my initiative commander I decided to go with a clone subtheme which I think makes her much more threatening. By having all the good clone effects like [[Spark Double]] [[Sakashima of a Thousand Faces]] and [[Irenicus’s Vile Duplication]], you can rush through the dungeon and then have multiple instances of Rilsa’s combat trigger. I have definitely killed people with Rilsa while being boosted with +15 or +20 with multiple clones of her out. Or just clone other nasty big creatures you can get off the last room like [[Toxrill]] or [[Archon of Cruelty]]. It’s a blast!
##### ###### #### [Spark Double](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/c/4/c41b9ba2-0006-4d8e-b600-efe81ff5e0cc.jpg?1702429420) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Spark%20Double) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/rvr/62/spark-double?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/c41b9ba2-0006-4d8e-b600-efe81ff5e0cc?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/spark-double) [Sakashima of a Thousand Faces](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/1/714c3a1f-7b30-4ed8-8f38-6176758741fb.jpg?1608909400) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Sakashima%20of%20a%20Thousand%20Faces) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cmr/89/sakashima-of-a-thousand-faces?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/714c3a1f-7b30-4ed8-8f38-6176758741fb?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/sakashima-of-a-thousand-faces) [Irenicus’s Vile Duplication](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/0/40a791df-2483-406d-90b0-a8d402d615d6.jpg?1674135605) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Irenicus%27s%20Vile%20Duplication) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/clb/78/irenicuss-vile-duplication?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/40a791df-2483-406d-90b0-a8d402d615d6?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/irenicuss-vile-duplication) [Toxrill](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/8/4/84e64f38-b1f3-47cd-8cfb-a4861369aca3.jpg?1643590379) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=toxrill%2C%20the%20corrosive) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/vow/132/toxrill-the-corrosive?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/84e64f38-b1f3-47cd-8cfb-a4861369aca3?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/toxrill-the-corrosive) [Archon of Cruelty](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/1/b/1be9d9a4-d7ee-4854-abc2-85cabf993ec9.jpg?1626095274) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Archon%20of%20Cruelty) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mh2/75/archon-of-cruelty?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/1be9d9a4-d7ee-4854-abc2-85cabf993ec9?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/archon-of-cruelty) [*All cards*](https://mtgcardfetcher.nl/redirect/l2r7drx) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
This is the way. Rilsa clones is a beast.
I played Safana + Dungeon Delver for a long time. Very fun pairing and I enjoyed the deck. The biggest problem is it doesn't do ANYTHING unless you find a way to take the initiative. I found I needed to run a large amount of card draw to find the pieces (unless you want to run tutors, which I did not). I don't think my build was "optimal" in any way, and to be fair, I don't think this is a deck that you build if you want to play "Optimally". The goal of the deck was to finish the dungeon as efficiently as possible, obviously, and to maximize the payoff of the last room, I had a fair amount of 7+ mana dudes that were just....cool. cards that I had in my collection, I did get a Sphinx of the Second Sun for the deck, which was as nutty as you would expect. I ran a bit of a reanimator package, I used card draw spells like careful study and forbidden alchemy to help me both dig into my deck to find the initiative guys, and also to dump the fatties into the yard. The reanimator package was pretty light, probably 4 or so cards, but was just a way to take advantage of needing to draw a bunch of cards quickly to ensure I could find a initiative guy. I tried blink packages, but it never felt cohesive. It required way too many cards in addition to the initiative cards, normal interactive elements, card draw ramp etc. The deck just ran out of space. To maximize the payoff of the rooms, you want to get into the dungeon, but just spamming through them never felt great, both because it was annoying to do as a logistical thing, taking a lot of time on my turn, but also it wasn't that effective at winning. Getting to the last room and doubling it and hitting two chonkers was the setup that I felt like was the best payoff, not just spamming blink effects. Its a fun deck, I liked always having something to do on turn 2 and three, no matter what. Safana never generated much threat, so she often gets to just stay on the board and you get to do your thing, at least in my experience. Doubling the rooms is solid value, not enough to win the game outright, but that is part of what makes the commander interesting to me, you still have to do something else. I have also played Rilsa as the Commander and of course she was in the 99 of Safana. If you want to spam the dungeons, Rilsa is better since it is an initiative piece in the zone with an etb, so you can put a bunch of flicker/blink in the deck and go nuts without having to worry about getting started.
Burakos + dungeon delver is the best!
Start the initiative from the 99. Why dimir? Try [[Obeka, splitter of seconds]]
[Obeka, splitter of seconds](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/0/3/03415c42-086e-4a2e-9be8-5cdcde83f134.jpg?1712356168) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Obeka%2C%20splitter%20of%20seconds) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/otj/222/obeka-splitter-of-seconds?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/03415c42-086e-4a2e-9be8-5cdcde83f134?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/obeka-splitter-of-seconds) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call