The Jolly Balloon Man Commander Deck Guide

Last updated on October 8, 2024

The Jolly Balloon Man | Illustration by Richard Luong

I’ve seen many think pieces and posts online declaring Boros commanders to have the worst color identity in Commander, but with each new Magic set I find that to be less and less true. White has been slowly building up a base of good card draw, and powerful Boros commanders like Winota, Joiner of Forces have helped rebuild Boros’ reputation a bit. Thanks to Duskmourn, we now have a strong new Boros commander in the form of The Jolly Balloon Man.

This creepy clown and their collection of inflated heads isn’t just a great option for a Halloween-time commander, it also offers a unique ability to create interesting interactions. Even as the person who put this Commander deck together, I was surprised by some of the synergies I hadn’t initially planned for but turned out to be very happy accidents.

When building this EDH deck, I felt myself pulled in several different directions in terms of strategy. So, if you aren’t in love with this version of the build, I’ll also go over some of my other thoughts on how to use The Jolly Balloon Man as your commander. For now, let’s take a look at the deck I ended up settling on.

The Deck

Enduring Innocence | Illustration by Liiga Smilshkalne

While this deck does have combo potential, I kept it at the middle of the road in terms of power level to avoid needing to include too many pricey cards like Lion's Eye Diamond. Prices on fast-mana cards are likely going to be unpredictable for a little bit after the Commander bans, as players attempt to find workable substitutes for Jeweled Lotus and Mana Crypt, so to save you the headache of having to deal with surging prices, I tried to avoid that. That said, if Dockside Extortionist ever gets unbanned, or if your EDH playgroup is still okay with it, it definitely belongs in this deck.

The Commander: The Jolly Balloon Man

The Jolly Balloon Man has a lot of desirable traits for a commander. It’s relatively cheap, which is good because they will likely be removed once your opponents realize how powerful the activated ability can be.

Having haste is also helpful since you can activate its ability the same turn it enters. This also allows you to flicker The Jolly Balloon Man and use them multiple times in a turn, so long as you can afford to pay for the ability.

This deck is largely built around using The Jolly Balloon Man’s activated ability, which will allow you to cash in on ETB triggers while also creating a few more bodies for you. While you'll have to sacrifice the copied creatures on your end step, you can still attack with them for some extra damage, and/or sacrifice them for other abilities.

ETB Effects

Although clones created by The Jolly Balloon Man can also work well with attack and combat damage triggers, ETBs are the most reliable type of effects you’ll get from them. This means I prioritized cards that have triggered abilities either when they or any other creature enters.

One common ETB trigger I looked for was damage triggers like Molten Gatekeeper or Purphoros, God of the Forge’s abilities. Agate Instigator is also a nice choice thanks to offspring. These abilities will help eat away at your opponents’ life totals each time you activate your commander’s ability.

Because Boros can struggle with card draw, I also included cards like Enduring Innocence and Mentor of the Meek. The power restriction on these cards isn’t a big deal, since the clones you’ll make with The Jolly Balloon Man enter as 1/1s.

A few other nice additions are Loran of the Third Path which will offer you consistent artifact removal and enchantment hate, and Imperial Recruiter which can tutor a large percentage of the creatures in this deck.

Sunspine Lynx can be especially punishing in a game of Commander since it's common for players to be running a lot of nonbasic lands. Being able to clone this card means being able to hit players for a lot of potential damage each turn. Overlord of the Boilerbilges can similarly deal a decent amount of damage. A clone of it will deal 4 direct damage on its ETB trigger, and another 4 when you attack with it.

Panharmonicon and Delney, Streetwise Lookout can double up all these helpful abilities, giving you even more value out of each clone you create.

Flicker Effects

Because ETB triggers are a big part of this deck, flicker effects are a natural pairing. Instant speed ones like Eerie Interlude and Ephemerate can also be used to help keep one or more of your creatures safe from harmful abilities or removal.

Felidar Guardian and Restoration Angel are particularly helpful, since they and their clones can be used to flicker The Jolly Balloon Man. This means that so long as you can pay to keep activating its ability, you can flicker The Jolly Balloon Man with these creatures’ ETB effect and tap it again to repeat the process.

Sacrifice Abilities

Because your clones will be sacrificed at the beginning of your end step anyway, you might as well sacrifice them for some value before then.

Goblin Bombardment is a good way to deal a little extra damage with your tokens even after they’ve attacked, or it can be used as targeted removal for creatures. Ashnod's Altar on the other hand can turn your clones into extra mana. Since it only takes 1 mana to activate The Jolly Balloon Man this can serve as a bit of ramp while also giving you any ETB or death triggers from the cloned creature.

Fountainport lets you sacrifice one of your tokens to draw a card. While not technically a sacrifice ability, Skullclamp works similarly, giving you an easy way to draw more cards. Since your balloon clones are 1/1s, you can equip Skullclamp to them to draw a few extra cards.

Token Doublers

Cards that allow you to create extra clones with The Jolly Balloon Man are another way to speed up this deck’s output of value. The most straightforward way to do this is with token doublers like Anointed Procession and Mondrak, Glory Dominus.

Illusionist's Bracers can also double up the number of tokens you make with The Jolly Balloon Man’s ability.

The Mana Base

For the most part, the mana base for this deck is relatively simple. You have mostly basic Mountains and Plains with a few dual lands like Spectator Seating and Sacred Foundry.

I initially tried running a few more utility lands, but I found that it made running Sunspine Lynx less effective when I was also taking a lot of damage from it. I kept Reliquary Tower just because this deck can end up drawing a decent amount of cards, and Fountainport is a good way to give your balloon tokens extra value.

As for mana rocks, you have the typical Arcane Signet and Sol Ring that are good for most Commander decks. I also included Patriar's Seal which is good for untapping The Jolly Balloon Man, allowing you to use their ability an additional time each turn.

I also included a few mana dorks: Ornithopter of Paradise, Iron Myr, and Gold Myr. Cloning these with The Jolly Balloon Man can give you an extra body to work with while essentially replacing the mana you spent to make it. Additionally, if you have a token doubler or Illusionist's Bracers, you’ll actually be positive on mana.

The Strategy

Though The Jolly Balloon Man can hit the battlefield early, I tend to hold off on casting them until I have something worth copying. That way I don’t risk my commander being removed and having to recast it and pay the commander tax before I can do something with them.

I like to prioritize starting hands with creatures that will give me extra card draw, so I can keep a consistent hand throughout the game. This could be something like Spirited Companion or Inspiring Overseer which can be turned into consistent card draw engines with your commander’s ability.

There are a few ways you can win with this deck. The slower way is by eating away at your opponents’ life with cards like Impact Tremors, Purphoros, God of the Forge, or Sunspine Lynx. However, the more definitive way to win would be through establishing one of several combos which I’ll cover in the next section.

When looking to close out the game with a combo, it can be helpful to have a card like Silence or Tibalt's Trickery to make it harder for your opponents to stop you.

You can also slow your opponents down with your removal spells as you work to set up your combos. I tried to prioritize removal like Fell the Mighty and Split Up which would allow you to wipe the board in ways that can leave your board intact so you don’t get set back.

Combos and Interactions

There are a few ways in this deck to create infinite mana and subsequently infinite token creatures through the use of The Jolly Balloon Man’s ability. So long as you have something like Impact Tremors down, this can win you the game.

One method of doing this is by attaching Umbral Mantle to The Jolly Balloon Man while you have a token doubler and Ashnod's Altar. You can then activate The Jolly Balloon Man’s ability to create two tokens. Sacrificing the tokens to Ashnod's Altar will give you 4 mana, which is enough to untap The Jolly Balloon Man and create more tokens, starting the process over again.

As long as you have Impact Tremors or a similar effect, you’ll win the game. Even if you don’t, you can continue doing this until The Jolly Balloon Man is strong enough to potentially take out one of your opponents with commander damage.

If you have Felidar Guardian, Restoration Angel, or Wispweaver Angel, you can do a more efficient version of this combo. When you copy these creatures, their clone can be used to flicker The Jolly Balloon Man, untapping it for free. This means you can sacrifice the clone to Ashnod's Altar, produce 2 mana, and then use only one of that mana to activate The Jolly Balloon Man’s ability again.

This more efficient version of the combo also doesn’t require any effects that ping your opponents when a creature enters the battlefield. Instead, you can repeat the process until you have essentially infinite colorless mana. Then, you can use that mana to clone the creature that flickers The Jolly Balloon Man an infinite number of times with the mana stored up, meaning you don’t have to sacrifice your clones. You can repeat this until you have enough balloon creatures to take out all your opponents.

This also works if you have Mana Echoes instead of Ashnod's Altar. Each time you clone Restoration Angel or a similar card, you'll get mana from Mana Echoes that you can use to activate The Jolly Balloon Man. The amount of mana you create will grow each time, since you don’t have to sacrifice any creatures in this version of the combo.

An even more efficient version of this combo can be done by using Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker instead of The Jolly Balloon Man to clone one of your creatures with a flicker effect. This will allow you to create infinite copies of those creatures without having to pay any mana.

Rule 0 Violations

If you’re playing this deck with a new playgroup, it’s probably best to let the table know that it includes several infinite combos during your Rule 0 conversation. While I wouldn’t consider this deck cEDH level, some casual players don’t enjoy decks that can pop off a win in a single turn like this.

If you really want to play this deck and you’re looking for a way to pitch it, I would mention that you don’t have many tutors and that your opponents can easily stop your combo with basic removal. I also like to sell combo decks as a way to ensure everyone loses at once, so nobody is forced to sit around and watch as a game drags on.

Budget Options

As is, our budget comes out to be nearly $400. If you’re looking to build this deck more affordably, there are definitely ways to do that without hurting the overall strategy of the deck.

One of the first things you can cut is your token doublers. Since this deck has several ways to combo off without using them, you can replace both Mondrak, Glory Dominus and Anointed Procession with more affordable cards. That alone will shave nearly $100 off the price tag of this deck.

Sacred Foundry can also be replaced, especially since this deck doesn’t run a fetch land. Sundown Pass is about $15-20 cheaper, and will often come in untapped. Alternatively, you can just put in another basic land, giving yourself less of a chance of getting hurt by Sunspine Lynx.

You could potentially also cut Purphoros, God of the Forge. While it’s a nice addition to this deck, you have several other cards with the same effect in this deck that cost less.

Other Builds

Another route I considered taking with this deck was to lean more heavily into attack triggers. Creatures like Etali, Primal Storm often end up being a disappointment because you aren’t able to get off their strong triggers before they get removed. Thanks to The Jolly Balloon Man you can clone these creatures and let them attack immediately. You also don’t ever have to risk the base creature to get its combat trigger on subsequent turns because you can just send your balloon clones instead.

More support for small creatures was another angle I considered for this deck. Since most of the creatures in this deck have low power, cards like Cavalcade of Calamity could be an effective way to deal extra damage.

Commanding Conclusion

Ornithopter of Paradise | Illustration by Raoul Vitale

I had a lot of fun building around The Jolly Balloon Man. Even when I wasn’t comboing off with this deck, I was enjoying fun interactions, like cloning Zealous Conscripts to steal an opponent’s creature each turn. Our balloon clown is the kind of commander that I can imagine being built in several ways, some of which I probably didn’t even think of, so I’d be interested to see what you would do with this deck.

If you end up tweaking the decklist or have suggestions for other ways to build around The Jolly Balloon Man, I’d love to hear them. Feel free to leave a comment, reach out to Draftsim’s Twitter, or check out our Discord server.

Thanks for reading and I look forward to seeing you on the next article!