Commander VS 481 Features Four Character Select Commanders With Random Partners

Season 45, Episode 10 of Commander VS dropped on March 18 with a premise that sounds simple until you see the decklist: four Character Select commanders, each paired with a randomly assigned Partner. The result was the kind of chaotic, character-driven gameplay that the Star City Games series built its reputation on.

The episode, titled "Character Select!", centered on four prebuilt Commander lists themed around the Partner mechanic. One of those lists leans hard into the TMNT universe, featuring five distinct Michelangelo cards alongside three versions of Raphael. The published creature fragment lists Michelangelo, the Heart; Michelangelo, On the Scene; Michelangelo, Improviser; Michelangelo, Weirdness to 11; and Michelangelo, Mutant BFF all in the same 29-card creature package, alongside Raphael, Tag Team Tough; Raphael, the Muscle; and Raphael, the Nightwatcher. Raph and Mikey even share a card together: Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers.

The mana acceleration in that creature list runs deep. Llanowar Elves, Birds of Paradise, Incubation Druid, Gyre Sage, and Goblin Anarchomancer all appear, suggesting this deck wants to get into the mid-game fast. Halana and Alena, Partners show up as a creature entry rather than the commander slot, which tracks if the deck is built around one of the Character Select headliners with Halana and Alena randomly assigned as the Partner complement. Kediss, Emberclaw Familiar, Kodama of the West Tree, Grumgully, the Generous, and Bristly Bill, Spine Sower round out the support package alongside counters payoffs Kalonian Hydra and Vigor.

The spell list published under the "### Spells (32)" heading is a dense pile of Commander staples with a sacrifice subtheme running underneath. Goblin Bombardment, Grave Pact, Ashnod's Altar, Phyrexian Altar, and Diabolic Intent all appear together, as does Skullclamp. That's a lot of sacrifice infrastructure for a deck that also runs Sneak Attack, Cyclonic Rift, and Toxic Deluge. The interaction suite includes Counterspell, Arcane Denial, An Offer You Can't Refuse, Terminate, and Chaos Warp, with Blasphemous Act and Blasphemous Edict covering both ends of the board-wipe spectrum.

The art credit for Donatello, the Brains goes to Jason Rainville. Stephen Green's name appears in the source adjacent to Michelangelo, the Heart, though the published material doesn't specify his exact role on that card. Vial Smasher the Fierce and Jonathan Suarez are both named in the episode's associated materials; Vial Smasher's presence as a named card hints at what one of the other three Character Select commanders might have drawn as a random Partner.

The full decklists for all four prebuilt builds, including the lands package listed in the source under "### Lands (35)" but not reproduced in the published excerpt, are available at the Star City Games article linked from the episode's YouTube metadata.