Legendary Creature — Human Soldier

Baird, Steward of Argive

Mana value4EDHREC#2,532

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The Commander

Vigilance

Creatures can't attack you or planeswalkers you control unless their controller pays {1} for each of those creatures.

Guide

Gameplan

Baird is a mono-white Pillowfort/Stax commander who taxes attackers so opponents can't profitably swing at you, buying time to grind out value and assemble a controlling board. You play defensively early, stack additional attack taxes and pacifism effects, then close with a slow inevitability engine or a wide soldier army. The deck wins by outlasting the table while staying safe behind your fort.

Strengths

Cheap, evasion-proof deterrent that protects you every turn for no ongoing cost
Mono-white consistency keeps mana clean and lets you run powerful white stax/taxes
Stacks brilliantly with other 'attack tax' and pillowfort effects to make you nearly unattackable
Vigilance lets Baird block or attack without dropping your guard

Weaknesses

Does nothing to stop noncombat damage, mill, or alternate win conditions
Easily removed since it's a 2-power commander with no protection built in
Mono-white lacks card draw and ramp, so games can stall out
Doesn't pressure opponents on its own; you need a real win condition

Key Cards

Ghostly Prison — Mirrors Baird's tax, stacking to make attacking you prohibitively expensive.
Propaganda-style effects like Crawlspace — Limits attackers to two regardless of mana, hardening the fort.
Smothering Tithe — Solves white's ramp problem and snowballs you ahead while you sit back.
Approach of the Second Sun — A protected, self-contained win condition that thrives behind a pillowfort.
Archaeomancer's Map / Land Tax — Mono-white ramp and fixing to keep pace with greedier decks.

Upgrade Path

Add more redundant taxes and hard caps (Ghostly Prison, Windborn Muse, Crawlspace, Sphere of Safety) so attacking you is never worth it, then shore up white's weaknesses with Smothering Tithe, Land Tax, and Mind's Eye for card advantage. Lock in a real closer—Approach of the Second Sun or a wide token plan—so the fort converts into wins. Push power further with Aven Mindcensor, Drannith Magistrate, and stax pieces to slow combo opponents you can't simply tax out.

Core Cards

The most-played cards for this commander, built from aggregated deck data (the Mythic Graph). Build public decks to seed it.

Win Conditions

▸Approach of the Second Sun for a protected, deterministic win
▸Going wide with token armies and an anthem or overrun-style finisher
▸Grinding the table out with stax inevitability and superior board state
▸Alternate wins like Felidar Sovereign lifegain or Test of Endurance behind the fort

Archetypes

Pillowfort — Baird's tax is the centerpiece deterrent for a defensive, untouchable shell.
Stax/Control — Pairs taxes and resource denial with the fort to grind the table down.
Tokens/Go-Wide — Soldier and token producers turn the protected board into a finishing army.
Combo — The fort buys uninterrupted time to assemble a white-friendly engine or alternate win.