Jumpstart: Commander
Volo, Itinerant Scholar Jumpstart
Building a Jumpstart Commander Deck
Author: Ben Guilfoyle
This guidebook is the next in my ongoing tour of the Realms—I assure thee all, gentles, that you’ll find no more diligent guide than your humble servant, Volothamp Geddarm. These last few seasons I’ve trudged, ridden, swum, sailed, and even flown from the icy wastes north of the Spine of the World to the hot, steaming jungles of the Shining South—and beyond—all in thy service, gentle traveler.
— Excerpt from Volo’s introduction to Volo’s Guide to the Sword Coast
Who is this Volo Guy?
I am a restless deck builder. Never satisfied, always brewing, always wanting to try something new. With that said I am also a hypocrite. I will spend hours building a deck. It is played once or twice, then I move on to the next adventure.
It is perhaps no surprise that I find myself drawn to Volothamp Geddarm. Volo is a character from Dungeons & Dragons. He has been around since at least the early 90s and most recently as 2023 in Baldur’s Gate 3. Roguish, loose-tongued, pretentious, but also soft-hearted, Volo is a traveler, writing down everything he finds along the way.
I find myself empathizing with Volo. With every new set comes a new deck, a mountain to climb, and a monster to meet! This led me to the concept for my favorite deck:
Volo, Itinerant Scholar Jumpstart!
The Concept
A Commander deck with the spirit of Jumpstart. Grab two decks, and smash them together!
This idea has rattled in my brain for years. But it was only in 2024 when I finally committed and made it happen. The original Magic Jumpstart had you shuffle two booster packs together, I knew greater care would be needed to make an EDH deck work with this concept.
I will outline my process throughout this article. I hope you follow along and try this for yourself. My focus is on Volo, my personal deck. However, this concept can work with any mechanic that allows multiple commanders.
The Goal
My aim here is a mixture of practical and flavorful:
1. Reduce the number of decks on my shelf.
2. Bring multiple decks to an event without carrying tonnes of decks.
3. I was bored and wanted to see if it was possible.
The Challenges
For this deck to be possible, we have to overcome some practical and deck-building challenges:
1.Who are the commanders?
2. How do we build a cohesive deck?
3. How do we separate the two parts of the deck promptly between rounds?
4. How do we bring it all together?
5. How do we manage this mess?
Who are the Commanders?
The commanders are the glue that keeps this whole concept together. In my case, I am using Volo, Itinerant Scholar. They feature the “Choose a Background” mechanic. This allows me to choose a “Background” enchantment and use that as my second commander.
You could also use “Partner”, “Friends Forever”, “Doctor’s Companion” etc. However, “Choose a Background” is currently limited to only mono colors. This gives us a restriction that keeps all our decks distinct. Additionally, sticking to one color per commander will help us manage what cards belong to which deck.
Volo himself was chosen because his effect is generically powerful. He is a vanilla ice cream, and the backgrounds I pair him with will be the sprinkles and chocolate sauce that make the deck delicious!
A quick rundown of Volo:
When he enters, you make Volo’s Journal. Volo and the Journal need each other to function. Whenever you cast a creature, you note down one of its creature types. The book is here to track creature types. It does nothing else.
For two mana you can tap Volo to draw a card for every creature type you noted down with the Journal. This is a little convoluted, but it is key to Volo’s power. If Volo dies, the book stays around. The book will continue to note down creature types. When you eventually cast Volo again, he will be even more powerful!
This generic draw-power drew me to Volo. Discussing this deck idea with Matt from MTGStocks and a close friend, we found some other powerful options.
Gale, Waterdeep Prodigy was a potent option but pushed too much towards instant/sorceries for my taste. Erinis, Gloom Stalker is a great option for someone looking to ramp, especially with a full suite of fetchlands! Zellix, Sanity Flayer has a cheap ability that gives some incremental value.
They seemed most keen on Gale. I am sure we’ll battle it out someday!
Background choice is vital. I chose one for each color besides blue.
White: Noble Heritage – Politics
Black: Scion of Halaster – Reanimator
Red: Popular Entertainer – Goad
Green: Acolyte of Bahamut – Dragons
These backgrounds were chosen for two reasons.
First, each one focuses on a unique mechanic. They are distinct from each other.
Secondly, they all cost two mana. It is a small detail, but it gives the deck some guaranteed consistency.
With three lands, I can cast a background turn two, and Volo on turn three. Volo’s Journal can then begin to act as a mana sink if I am still struggling to find something to do.
How do we build a cohesive deck?
With our commander chosen, how do we make it work?
I decided to split the decks into 74/26. That’s Volo + 73 blue cards and Background + 25 on-color cards. This gives a strong foundation. Next, I applied the packages approach. I discussed this in a previous article. But to keep it brief, I divided Volo into sections. The blue part of the deck does all the “normal stuff” that every EDH deck needs. Card draw, ramp, removal, etc. Now the background decks can do their own thing!
The Blue Packages
Volo Packages:
Ramp
Card Draw/Selection
Clones
Removal/Interaction
Glue
These packages are the focus of the blue section. Card draw and removal were easy. I won’t go into detail here. It was a mix of powerful cards, and stuff I owned.
But, within the ramp package, I faced a challenge. In Commander, you cannot run cards outside your color identity. This meant I had a choice with my ramp spells:
- Include Simic Signet, but then I need to swap it out for the Izzet Signet when I play my red version of the deck.
- Include Simic Signet as part of my 26-card green deck. But, this means I lose a slot that could have been a cool dragon for a mana rock.
- I do not include Simic Signet and instead focus on generic rocks that tap for colorless/all colors of mana.
I decided to go with the third option. My goal was to make the off-color section of the deck shine. Putting in mana rocks or other generic cards that do not fit the theme did not sit right with me. Hence, you will see in my ramp package some “obvious cards” that are missing. This did however lead to me including some unique cards. Dragon’s Hoard is a three-mana rock that synergizes with dragons.
Clones were a late innovation that came. I had some spare slots in my deck.
Clones can adapt to any theme, they were perfect.
Glue then simply refers to me filling in holes in the deck. This was where I put in some mono-blue cards that complimented my background. The Dramatic Reversal/Isochron Scepter combo is here because it can win the game if I have three mana rocks in play and Volo. Maeve, Insidious Singer can goad multiple creatures. Meanwhile, Astral Dragon is a clone, a dragon, and an amazing reanimation target!
Building and Separating Off-Color Decks
In building the off-color packages, I had one rule in mind:
I should be able to look at a card and immediately tell if it is part of the Volo section or the background section. This is a small detail, but it is key in allowing me to separate the decks after a game. My regular playgroup is in a little pub with about twenty people. We play three rounds of Commander every week. I need a split my background deck from the Volo deck, and get to my next table quickly!
To accomplish this, I decided that every single card in the background deck must have the color identity of the background. There can be no mono-blue, or colorless cards in the background deck. If I am playing Volo/Popular Entertainer I just need to skim the deck for every red card to split the decks apart. I do allow myself to play multicolored cards. E.g Red Death, Shipwrecker is here because it can only exist in the red deck. It is also why I invented the “glue” package for Volo. It is where cards like Maeve, Insidious Singer can be included.
Another option for managing your deck is Unfinity stickers!
Put stickers on the cards in your background decks. This way, you just need to remove all the stickered cards from your deck. I am personally not a fan of this method as you might get called out in a tournament or competitive setting.
Stickers are game objects with their own rules. While many people will be ok with it, there is definitely a chance someone could call you out on it, especially at an official event. Additionally, while Wizards of the Coast said stickers are safe and do not leave residue on your cards, that might be a harder pill to swallow if you are putting a sticker on an Underground Sea.

Each off-color package contains cards that lean into its theme. There are also a handful of flex slots that can allow the deck room to breathe and synergize with other aspects of Volo. For example, our ramp package plays Dragon’s Horde so we also play Firkaag, Cunning Instigator. In the dragon deck, Scaled Nurturer acts as a ramp spell and dragon synergy! Your slots are much more precious here. Consider slots carefully. If you can introduce crossover between packages, do it!
Managing the Deck
This deck requires some work, but I can assure you it is a worthwhile challenge. From a practical perspective, I carry the deck in an Ultimate Guard Twin Flip`n`Tray. It is designed to hold two commander decks. One in each compartment.
In my case, the mono-blue section lives in one compartment, and my four mini decks live in the other half. The mini decks each have the background sleeved in a different color. This acts as a divider for the decks. Given Volo’s side is only 74 cards, there is plenty of space for tokens, loose cards like trades, or a fifth background deck!

Keeping track of the deck online is another task. I tried using Moxfield‘s packages section, but I found it was a bit difficult to manage as there were so many cards, and points of cross-over. In the end, I created five decks on Moxfield. A mono-blue deck for the Volo bit and a separate deck for each background.
The Mana Base
The mana is a real challenge for this deck. In our ramp package we had issues with color identity between different versions of the deck. We now have that problem on a much larger scale. Depending on how willing you are to swap out cards you might have a different experience to me.
Here is my solution:
- 5 Islands (Volo)
- 2 Blue MH3 MDFC (Volo)
- 22 Rainbow/Fetchlands (Volo)
- 4 off-color basics (Background)
- 2 off-color MH3 MDFC (Background)
- 5 flex slots (Volo or Background)
The mana base has room for 35-40 lands. This depends on your packages and your needs. For me, I intend to include as many MH3 MDFCs as I can. Entering untapped is a big deal!
The Mythic MDFCs from Zendikar Rising are a good choice too. They are a bit expensive, so I did not have many copies just lying around for this deck. However, after seeing just how powerful this concept is, I think I will jump for the whole cycle soon!
There is also the ‘enters the battlefield tapped’ MDFCs from Zendikar. These are a bit hit-and-miss. If they fit your package, go for it. Otherwise, stay clear. Glasspool Mimic is an awesome one for my deck that I did not get around to purchasing.
In the case of fetchlands, I do not run a full suite. I run Evolving Wilds, Prismatic Vista, and the four that fetch Island or X. This means my fetchlands are glorified Islands. But sometimes they can hit the right color! I might be better off just playing a basic land instead, but I think it’s fun!
If you are willing to make splitting the two decks apart a little harder, you could run a stronger mana base in the background deck. E.g. Instead of running four Forests play Tropical Island, Breeding Pool, Hedge Maze, and one Forest.
This would make for more consistent mana. The deck started as a budget brew, but now as I grow to love it more and more, I might try running this more tuned manabase. On the other hand, if you decide to stick with just basics and MDFCs consider running some eye-catching basic lands to make finding them easier. I run a set of foil full art lands for this!
For rainbow lands, I suggest checking out CEDH five color decks for inspiration. There are a lot of powerful lands that produce any color! They can come with downsides but could be worthwhile depending on your deck. Even some lands that enter tapped like Sea Gate can help you out! One last shoutout is Plaza of Heroes. It’s protection, and fixing for legends all in one.
Taking the Concept Further
I discussed my personal version of this concept. However, you can take it further! There’s no reason you cannot build multiple green background decks. Or apply this concept to partners to have thousands of combinations at your disposal!
The Jumpstart Commander deck I outlined here has Volo at the centre with the backgrounds acting as seasoning. This has pros and cons. On one hand, this allows me to play Izzet cards in my red package.
However, it makes the package unusable if I ever decide to change Volo out for Shadowheart, Dark Justiciar">Shadowheart, Dark Justiciar. I am happy with this trade-off.
Volo is a powerful commander. I love him both as a card and his role in Dungeons & Dragons. Additionally, running multicolored cards is powerful. With that said, if you remove the need for gold cards, you could make a bunch of 70+ card decks. Now you can truly chop and change these decks to your heart’s desire! If you build Volo, Shadowheart, Dark Justiciar">Shadowheart, Dark Justiciar, and four background decks that’s 174 cards, but you got eight decks! Add in one more background, you have ten decks with only 200 cards! The possibilities here are endless!
Conclusion
Jumpstart Commander has been a fever dream between friends and me for quite some time. Now it is a reality! I hope you take this concept and make it yours.
While I have been praising Volo, Itinerant Scholar all this time, there is definitely some limitation to the deck you should be aware of. By its nature, the decks you are making here will be weaker than if you just built a dedicated deck.
This does not mean the decks are bad. But, temper your expectations. There is a glass ceiling somewhere. This is also however one of the deck’s greatest strengths! By having four decks in one, you can modulate the power level to suit the table.
For me, the politics deck is definitely the weakest. It encourages the whole table to draw cards. It speeds up the game but can sometimes backfire when you let a much stronger deck draw into its powerful cards. On the other hand, the reanimator section of the deck is incredibly powerful thanks to the relentless onslaught of big creatures followed by clones!
Finally, don’t let this be the last word on this concept! I decided on Volo, 74 cards based on my limitations, and my needs. If you want to build a bunch of 50-card decks with Thrasios, Triton Hero as your main commander and a slew of secondary partners, be my guest! Or perhaps you don’t care how long it takes to split your two decks apart. Feel free to make something more complex that fits your playstyle. With all that, thank you so much for reading.
Feel free to reach out to Three For One Trading or comment on my decklists below with suggestions and ideas!
About the Author
Ben Guilfoyle started playing Magic in 2015. They love to research the design of Magic. Why was this card banned? Could this silver border card actually see play? Cards that push the limits of design is what excites them. You can usually find them playing cube. This ties into their second passion: numbers. With a background in physics and statistics, they love to get in the weeds when building decks. Crunching numbers is their specialty.

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