Isshin, Two Heavens as OneIsshin, Two Heavens as One | art by Ryan Pancoast

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Hello! Welcome to Archetypes of Imagination, a brand new series where I'll be building decks based on popular Commander archetypes.

I'll be using Scryfall's tagging system and EDHREC's Tag pages to build around a new theme each week.

Scryfall has a really cool way of categorizing cards, where each card has specific labels attached to it for later reference. For example, NegateNegate has the counterspell tag and Shadow RiftShadow Rift has the cantrip tag.

EDHREC’s tag system is really cool too, letting users see popular cards associated with a given strategy.

For example, the lifegain tag shows users that Sanguine BondSanguine Bond works well with the strategy and the Planeswalkers tag does the same for Oath of TeferiOath of Teferi.

This week, we’ll be using those two systems to kick off this brand-new series and build a deck based around attack triggers.

This theme asks that we make an aggressive deck, with lots of creatures that give us some benefit when we go to combat.

And, luckily, I have just the commander in mind. This deck will be helmed by… Isshin, Two Heavens as OneIsshin, Two Heavens as One!

IsshinIsshin is a super powerful card, letting us double up on every attack trigger we'd get.

That means extra card advantage, extra tokens being put on the board, and even extra damage being sent at our opponents.

Let's see what this commander can Mar-Do (sorry), and get brewing!

Single CombatSingle Combat

There's a few big themes in this deck, and I'd like to show off some cards from each of them. First up is a group of cards that makes tokens.

This deck's color identity has a ton of cards that make tokens when they attack, which synergizes super well with IsshinIsshin.

Leonin WarleaderLeonin Warleader, for example, can make four tokens with lifelink every single turn. Otharri, Suns' GloryOtharri, Suns' Glory is similarly impressive, making three 2/2 tokens the first turn it attacks, and even more on subsequent turns.

And, to capitalize off of the huge amount of creature tokens we'll have on the board, there's Caesar, Legion's EmperorCaesar, Legion's Emperor.

This Fallout card can either make even more creatures, provide card advantage, or deal a huge amount of damage directly to someone's face.

Speaking of creature tokens, there's one specific keyworded-ability that works really, really well in this deck.

Creatures with myriad create a token copy of themselves when they attack, making one copy tapped and attacking each opponent. Usually, this results in two additional copies of the creature.

But, with IsshinIsshin, we get four copies (for a total of five attacking creatures)!

There's a small group of creatures with myriad in the deck, highlighted by Battle Angels of TyrBattle Angels of Tyr.

But, there's also two other ways to grant myriad to our creatures: Duke Ulder RavengardDuke Ulder Ravengard and Legion LoyaltyLegion Loyalty.

If we can get either of those cards onto the battlefield with our commander out, we're in pretty good shape for the remainder of the game.

The next group of cards I wanted to touch on is those that deal damage directly to our opponents when we attack.

One of my favorites is Aurelia, the Law AboveAurelia, the Law Above, a five-mana creature that provides damage, lifegain, and card advantage all in one.

This card is fantastic, notably, because it also triggers off of our opponents' combat steps. I also really like General Kreat, the BoltbringerGeneral Kreat, the Boltbringer as both a token generator and a way to ping our opponents down with our mass of creature tokens.

Finally, there's The Big Score's Generous PlundererGenerous Plunderer, providing some repeatable ramp, and a huge amount of direct damage when it attacks someone.

Finally, I wanted to talk about those creatures that provide card advantage or ramp. First up is one of this deck's Game Changers: Winota, Joiner of ForcesWinota, Joiner of Forces.

This card is unbelievably strong, providing us with free creatures off the top of our deck. This deck has a good balance of human (15) and non-human creatures (26) in the 99, making this card especially efficient.

Goldspan DragonGoldspan Dragon also puts in a massive amount of work here, providing a total of six mana (in the form of three Treasures) the turn it hits the board, and four mana (in the form of two treasures) on every turn following that.

Lastly, I really like Caustic BroncoCaustic Bronco. This Snake Horse will let us draw two extra cards every turn, and has the potential to cause a staggering amount of life loss for our opponents in just one attack.

Although it's highly unlikely, this card has the potential to rip a Legion LoyaltyLegion Loyalty and a Dollmaker's Shop // Porcelain GalleryDollmaker's Shop // Porcelain Gallery off the top of our deck, causing our opponents to lose 16 (!) life each.

Trigger HappyTrigger Happy

Because IsshinIsshin doubles our triggers, there's a few cards that really shine in this deck. One such card is Aurelia, the WarleaderAurelia, the Warleader. She'll provide 2 extra combat steps every turn for just 6 mana. 

While there are a few other extra-combat-granting-cards here (like Karlach, Fury of AvernusKarlach, Fury of Avernus and BloodthirsterBloodthirster), I think that Aurelia is my personal favorite.

I also think that Breena, the DemagogueBreena, the Demagogue is fantastic. Because our commander will double her triggers whenever any opponent attacks, we'll be adding a ton of power to our board during every table rotation.

And, as a more unique pick, there's Life of the PartyLife of the Party.

Our version of this card will become twice as big as usual, and we're already making a board full of creature tokens. This is a sneaky-good way to end games, and I'm all for it.

And, there's one more group of cards I want to touch on before I show the full decklist. Cards with battle cry or melee are amazing with IsshinIsshin on the board (and become even better if we can have multiple combat steps in a turn).

Adriana, Captain of the GuardAdriana, Captain of the Guard and Signal PestSignal Pest both provide melee to each of our creatures, allowing for some huge board-wide buffs during combat.

Fervent ChargeFervent Charge is another powerful anthem, providing a huge +4/+4 to all our creatures when they attack.

Now, here's the full decklist:

Ride's EndRide's End

Thanks for reading the first edition of Archetypes of Imagination! Before you go, I wanted to talk about a few cards I included in the 99 that can help protect our attacking creatures.

Mardu AscendancyMardu Ascendancy can provide a nice toughness boost to help our creatures survive, while also making some extra token creatures.

Ankle ShankerAnkle Shanker basically makes our creatures kill whatever blocks them, ensuring they end combat safely. And, lastly Brutal HordechiefBrutal Hordechief can provide some life drain and combat control.

Let me know in the comments below if there's any key cards I missed! The task of building a Mardu combat-oriented deck is pretty broad, so sound off in the comments with any cards that should have made the cut here. I'll see you all next week, when I build a burn deck!

Cooper Gottfried

Cooper is a student at Brandeis University, where he’s Editor in Chief of its community newspaper, The Brandeis Hoot. Outside of Magic: The Gathering, his hobbies include weightlifting, writing, and Dungeons and Dragons.