Four-color · Color Identity
Dune-Brood / Aggression (WBRG): The Four-Color Identity Without Blue
White, black, red and green is every color except blue: all four colors that put creatures on the battlefield and remove them, with nothing that interacts with the stack.
Dune-Brood is white, black, red and green, the four-color identity. Everything except blue: every removal spell, every token maker, and no counterspells.
Also called WBRG, Aggression, No blue, Non-Blue.
Where the Name Comes From
Dune-Brood Nephilim, from Guildpact (2006); "Aggression" from the Commander 2016 deck.
Dune-Brood Nephilim is one of the five four-color creatures from Guildpact in 2006, and, like the rest of that cycle, it is not legendary, so it cannot lead a deck in the identity it named. The Nephilim were Magic's only four-color cards for a decade.
Commander 2016 built the format's first four-color decks and gave each identity a theme word. This one is Aggression, and its face commander, Saskia the Unyielding, states the theme mechanically: name an opponent, and every creature you control that deals damage deals it to that player too. Most players call the identity "no blue", which is also the most accurate description of what it is for.
All 32 color combinations and where each name came from →How Dune-Brood Plays
This is the most straightforwardly aggressive four-color identity, and it is the one where dropping a color costs the least. Blue's contributions to a creature deck are card draw and counterspells; the other four colors between them supply removal for every permanent type, the best token production in Magic, all of the combat multipliers, and enough card advantage to keep going.
The natural build is a wide board with sacrifice payoffs. White and red make tokens, black and red supply sacrifice outlets, white and black supply drain, and green supplies the mana to do all of it a turn early. It is Mardu's aristocrats deck with green's ramp and green's recursion attached.
The cost is that nothing here stops a spell. Against a combo deck the identity's only tools are pressure and discard, and against an unanswerable resolved engine it has removal for the permanent and nothing for the plan. That is a real weakness, and it is why decks in this identity are built to end games rather than to control them.
What It Does Well, and What It Doesn't
Strengths
- Removal for every permanent type, from four colors' worth of options.
- The widest token production in Magic plus every combat multiplier worth playing.
- Green's ramp with white and black's recursion, so the board comes back after a sweeper.
- A complete sacrifice engine: outlets, tokens and drain payoffs all natively available.
Weaknesses
- No blue means no counterspells and no card draw that does not cost life or a card.
- No theft, no bounce and no way to interact with a spell before it resolves.
- Four colors of mana base with only green fixing it, which is slow and expensive.
- Very few WBRG legends exist, so the command zone is a short list.
Best Dune-Brood Commanders
The command zones that define the identity rather than the ones winning this week: the pips beside each name are its color identity, which is what it lets you play in the other 99.
Commander Spotlight
Saskia the Unyielding ↗
Name an opponent as it enters, and every creature you control that deals damage to anybody deals that much to them as well. It is effectively double damage aimed at one player, and it is the Commander 2016 face commander for the identity.
Akiri, Line-Slinger ↗
Partner. Paired with Reyhan or Ikra Shidiqi it makes this exact identity, and it grows with every artifact you control.
Reyhan, Last of the Abzan ↗
Partner. Its +1/+1 counters move to another creature when it dies, so a counters deck loses nothing to removal.
Ikra Shidiqi, the Usurper ↗
Partner. Draws a card and gains life whenever a creature you control deals combat damage, which suits an aggressive board exactly.
Tymna the Weaver ↗
Partner. Draws a card for each opponent you damaged this turn: the card advantage a blue-less deck otherwise struggles for.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the WBRG color combination called?
Dune-Brood, after Dune-Brood Nephilim from Guildpact (2006), or Aggression, after the Commander 2016 deck fronted by Saskia the Unyielding. In conversation almost everybody says "no blue". All three mean white-black-red-green.
Is leaving out blue a big loss in Commander?
Less than leaving out any other color, if the deck attacks. Blue's unique contributions are counterspells, card draw and theft; a creature deck can live without the first and third and patch the second with white's attack triggers, black's life payment and red's impulse draw. What it cannot patch is the inability to stop a combo, which is why this identity wants to be the one applying pressure.
How do you build a four-color mana base without blue?
Green does most of the work. Green land-fetch spells, mana dorks that produce any color and cheap fixing rocks are what make a four-color base workable, and they are the reason the two four-color identities without green are the harder ones to build. Expect a real number of lands that enter tapped, and be honest about whether every color is earning its slot.
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