Beorn the Fierce Deck Tech: Bear Force None

Some consider Bracket 1 to be a unicorn of Commander deckbuilding. It can be difficult to build a Commander deck that’s more of a modern art exhibit than a pile of cards, particularly in 2026, when new Magic cards are more powerful than ever. In my deckbuilding habits I find it difficult to build decks that are intentionally restricted in service of a theme or concept. With each new set, it seems that more and more archetypes and strategies are receiving options for synergistic enablers and payoffs. Since I enjoy a good deckbuilding challenge, when I conceived of the deck you are about to witness, which may possibly be the stupidest “Bear” deck ever, I knew I had to tackle it with full force.

It is my genuine pleasure to present the Bear-less Bear deck, also known as Bear Force None.

The famous Bear Force One — not to be confused with the gay dance music band — was an idea popularized by Graham Stark of LoadingReadyRun fame. He maintained a running joke about a deck composed entirely of Bears, whether by creature type or by statline, during a time when the Bear creature type was sparsely populated and had little true Kindred support available. The joke was also borne of the use of the word “bears” to indicate a creature with a 2/2 statline for two mana, usually in the context of “Hatebears,” or cheap two-mana creatures with effects that hate out opposing abilities and effects. You can read up on some history by Tom Anderson if you’re interested in a deeper explanation of the etymology of this slang. In any case, Graham finally received the opportunity to create a real Bear Force One with the advent of Ayula, Queen Among Bears, printed in the inaugural Modern Horizons set back in 2019. 

Revealing the Culprits

Since Modern Horizons, new Bears have made their way into the card pool, as well as some alternative options for Bear-y commanders like Surrak and Goreclaw, Duskana, the Rage Mother, or Kudo, King Among Bears, though these legendary creatures don’t actually care about the Bear creature type. With the release of The Hobbit, the newest Bear hotness is Beorn the Fierce, a powerful +2/+2 lord effect for Bears that puts a trample counter on a creature and transforms it into a Bear at the beginning of each of your combat steps, then draws you two cards if you control at least three Bears. Solid, powerful, effective, and extremely curious. Why would a Kindred commander need to transmute other creatures into Bears? To me, the answer is obvious. Bears are among the sneakiest creatures to walk the planet, of course they’d be in disguise.

The primary goal of Bear Force None is to reveal the hiding places of these devious creatures. Almost all of the creatures in this deck — as well as several noncreature spells — all have a Bear featured somewhere in the art (many thanks to Scryfall’s Tagger project and the art tag for carrying me through this deck), which clearly means that each of the non-Bear characters in each of those cards are Bear food without even realizing it. The primary way to get those Bears out in the open, exposing their violent and bloodthirsty plot, is to add the Bear subtype to the controller’s creatures. 

The core mechanism of this deck is carried out by various cards that are either Bears in disguise, or creatures that bring out the beasties in other ways:

Circle of the Moon Druid is a part-time Bear, Halsin, Emerald Archdruid ensures that any tokens foolish enough to be something other than a Bear are corrected, and Ursine Champion is a shy Bear that can only be coaxed out with a very expensive meal. It’s too bad Ursine Champion is a woman, or else I could make a really funny Grindr joke here. 

Undercover Skrull and Proteus Machine are Bears with extra steps, and two of the relatively few changeling-esque mechanics used in this deck. In the interest of making the deck engaging to play, I avoided using blanket cards like Maskwood Nexus which trivialize the difficulty of revealing the Bears. The card has “mask” in the name, after all, so it’s fitting that it would unmask Bears far too effectively. Caller of the Claw is definitely a Bear — pay no mind to its awkwardly broken and misshapen arms. And its strangely unmoving face. And the man under the hood.

Some of you may feel cheated by the inclusion of spells that create Bear tokens. To those accusers, may I remind you that Stockholm syndrome is real and documented? Clearly, The Earth King and Flaxen Intruder are fools who have been bewitched to complacency by their hungry, hairy companions. Kamahl is a fierce fighter who believes himself immune to the threat of a hungry Bear — how wrong he is. Then there’s Ayula’s Influence. What sort of influence would a queen of Bears have, you may ask? The kind of mental influence that brainwashes victims, convincing them to let the Bears eat them, obviously.

You may ask why these cards depicting small prey animals do not feature Bears. And I ask you, if the aim is to foil their plans to kill and eat their intended targets, then where else are we to direct the hungry predators, if not in the direction of their natural prey?

It’s time to answer the question that I’m sure you have been asking yourself. Why are there so many artifacts in this deck? What is the purpose of all of these Vehicles? I’ll tell you why. There aren’t enough woodland creatures going around to feed all of these Bears. There must be another way to distract them. Luckily for us, and for all those scared little critters trying to survive, Bears have another need: speed.

License to Drive

Bears are multifaceted animals; the ingenious Russians have perfected the art of training them to do many things. These creatures can play football, get swole, play musical instruments, bounce on trampolines, and various other things. This Bear-spiracy goes even deeper. Bears have been used in circus acts involving the act of riding a motorcycle or unicycle. This family-friendly entertainment act is just a facade, a cover for the fact that Bears want to go fast using some form of mechanical vessel or something with wheels on it. 

Every Bear needs his racecar. Aetherflux Car is one of the fastest models available: it needs to go fast enough to charge up the Aetherflux capacitor. The Regalia is a slick-looking sports car. It even looks like a Bugatti or a Corvette. Beyond these cars, this deck includes other playtest cards. A Bear riding a Unicycle is, for some reason, an iconic image evocative of Russian circuses throughout the ages, and somehow there is not a single legal Vehicle or any card that depicts a unicycle. 

This deck brings the automobiles, and thanks to Universes Beyond (as well as Avishkar and Aether Revolt), it includes some planes and trains too. There are also a few helicopters to guarantee that these Bears have air superiority to rain hellfire down upon those poor Raccoons and Squirrels. 

If, for some reason, you decide to play this deck for yourself and defy the laws of physics trying to score a win, Lifecraft Engine is a keystone card which turns all of the Vehicles in this deck into Bears, fulfilling Beorn’s condition and granting all of the Vehicles the +2/+2 anthem. How does this fit into the narrative of deception and intrigue performed by these devilish creatures? Clearly, these vehicles were not fast enough, so the Bears decided to eat the cars and bikes and helicopters and flying futuristic hovercraft-things, becoming both driver and Vehicle at the same time.

The Right to Bear Arms

Any American worth their salt knows that the Constitution guarantees the right of all American citizens to carry a pair of furry bear arms. Or maybe it was that all bears are allowed to carry lethal weaponry. I forget.

Since Bears famously do not have opposable thumbs and have not been afforded the opportunity to pass their road tests, they have neither the keys nor the paperwork needed to legally drive cars. Fortunately, Adaptive Omnitool looks like the kind of wacky sci-fi gizmo to include some sort of master key that a Bear could use to unlock and start any car it could access. Psychic Paper not only changes the type of the equipped creature to a Bear, uncovering any Bears clever enough to have evaded other methods of detection, but in the instance of a traffic stop, it forces any potential arresting officers to bring a warrant (one extra mana) to investigate the driver’s licensure. Stoneforge Masterwork helps safeguard a Bear that gets into a collision by providing it with a durable layer of protection. If we put helmets on crash dummies, then why can’t a Bear get a snug piece of platemail?

Earlier, I said I didn’t want to use cards that provide blanket changeling effects to the entire battlefield, but I didn’t say anything about the occasional Shapeshifter token. I also didn’t say anything about Equipment cards that change the type of the equipped creature. I also crossed my fingers behind my back when I said that because I’m a bit of a prankster.

Bearly Legal

To round out this insane stack of cards, here are a few lands that fit into the narrative of Bear Force None.

Mutavault and Soulstone Sanctuary are capable not only of becoming creatures temporarily, but the creature form they take on has all creature types, making these lands Bears by technicality. Not all individuals in the dastardly Bear plot are Bears, but for the right price, they can do a damn good impression.

Like any good Mario Kart lover knows, cruising and off-roading are most fun when you can drive through some pretty and varied landscapes. Havenwood Battleground’s Fifth Edition printing depicts ruins in a quaint forest, and includes some Mario Kart stage hazards in the form of a friendly-looking snake in the foreground and a nasty brown creek running down the middle. Mosswort Bridge appears less threatening than the Havenwood battlefield, though I think that big tree in the background may be blocking the bridge. Hickory Woodlot depicts a hatchet buried in a tree stump, a grim reminder of why these Bears are trying to eat all these people. They want revenge for the death and destruction of the Multiverse’s forests.

Only the genius scientists and inventors of Avishkar could create Vehicles capable of supporting the weight of such large and numerous Bears. The Inventor’s Fair in Ghirapur sounds like the perfect place to source heavily-reinforced vehicles suitable to be driven by Bears.

This room may seem unassuming, but don’t let that fool you. This table is the secret meeting location for the cabal of Bears, where they plot horrific and gore-filled ways to continue devouring creatures.

A Messy Ending

Beorn the Fierce may end up as one of the most-built commanders printed in The Hobbit, and I am sure that you will see several decklists and deck tech articles in the near future. Just make sure that you remember how conniving, vicious, and evil Bears are. And watch your back — rumor has it that the Bears have teamed up with the government-controlled birds to spy on us all so they can better plan ways to kill and eat us too.

The Best Way to Play Commander Online

For the easiest way to play Commander online with your friends or meet new opponents on the field of battle, use EDHLAB.gg's Play Online feature!

Join our Discord server and have a chat with us about your favorite new brew!

EDHLAB maintains a strict policy against the use of generative AI in the production of creative media. All blog articles and images hosted by EDHLAB are made without the use of generative AI.