Dreamtide WhaleDreamtide Whale | Art by Ron Spears
As we move into the second half of 2025 it's once more time for another Archidekt Deckbuilding Contest.
This is a monthly contest with a different theme each month. Your goal is to build a Commander-legal deck that fulfills the prompt in a creative or unique fashion. At the end of each month, three finalists will be selected for you to vote on.
Whoever gets the most votes will be crowned the winner, although all three finalists receive a prize.
This month we're exploring what's possible with a transformational sideboard in commander. Similar in concept to a modular deck, the goal of a transformational sideboard is to add as much variety to your deck in as little space as possible.
What’s the Contest All About?
Working within the parameters of the prompt provided below, construct a decklist with your own creative spin. Three chosen finalists will be awarded store credit to use on Cardsphere.
For July's deck building contest - build a Commander-legal deck with a 20 card transformational "sideboard." This should be 20 cards that you can swap into your deck to change it's theme, power level, or to an entirely different commander.
Decks will be judged on their creativity and originality, as well as how effectively the sideboard transforms the deck. Submissions should also clearly indicate what cards would be swapped out through the use of a custom category.
See this deck, which swaps between creatures and planeswalkers, as an example: https://archidekt.com/decks/13608220.
Commander decks are large, but somehow never large enough to fit all the cards I want. Especially for commanders that easily support multiple themes, I invariably end up with a pile of 150 cards that all support different strategies.
Instead of having to put all those extra cards away, why not set them aside to swap in later? This let's you easily test different versions of your deck, or just quickly vary the play experience from game to game. Especially for themes that have significant overlap, like Enchantress, Tokens, and Lands, you can also shift the primary focus of your deck from one to another to stop a deck from ever feeling stale.
A transformational sideboard could also be used to help match the power level of a given pod. When playing at a local game store or convention it's helpful to be flexible with the strength of your deck. Swapping in or out Game Changers, or just adjusting some of the more focused cards in the deck to match a more relaxed pod.
This also saves space compared to carrying around multiple decks, and is a great approach for rediscovering the magic in an old favorite by reintroducing old cards you cut for upgrades.
Taking this concept as far as possible, you could even swap your commander for a different one, along with a set of cards to better support them. This is a great way to get extra mileage out of an expensive mana base, compare how two similar commanders actually play, or get even more variety in your games.
At its most extreme, you could change both the commander and theme of your deck, functionally fitting two decks into 120 cards. How creative can you get with 20 extra cards?
How to Participate
- Brew an EDH/Commander-legal deck on Archidekt that satisfies the prompt.
- Any unreleased cards spoiled during the contest’s duration are allowed.
- Silver-bordered and acorn cards, while cool, are not allowed.
- Digital-only cards (such as those designed for the Alchemy format on Arena) are not allowed.
- Strictly one deck submitted per user.
Reply to the Archidekt news post, or submission post on the Archidekt Discord with a link to your deck before 9:00 pm EST (UTC -4, currently) on Wednesday, July 9, 2025 (do not submit the same deck in multiple places).
Only one submission per user! From the eligible submissions, we'll select three finalists with lists that we believe best embody the spirit of the prompt. Deck descriptions are not required but certainly may provide valuable context!
On Wednesday, July 16, 2025, we’ll announce three finalists via the Archidekt Discord and a brief article on EDHREC highlighting each deck.
Each finalist will be awarded credit to use on Cardsphere. The value of the credit is in US dollars and depends on the finalist's placement in deck upvotes at the end of the week-long polling period:
- 1st Place Prize - $250
- 2nd Place Prize - $150
- 3rd Place Prize - $100
Finalists will be contacted via email or Discord (depending on where they submitted) regarding their winnings within roughly 24 hours following the conclusion of voting on Wednesday, July 23, 2025.
Please note, you must have a Cardsphere account in order to receive your winnings. It's quick and free - register here if you don't have an account already!
Here are the official contest rules. If you have any questions, feel free to ask here, or join the Archidekt public Discord server. We look forward to seeing what you all come up with!
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