FF XIV Warriors of Darkness | Courtesy of Square Enix

Hello friends. Your friendly neighborhood Jesguy here, back with another Commander deck tech, this time with one of the edgiest sounding fellas around; Ardbert, Warrior of DarknessArdbert, Warrior of Darkness!

Like I mentioned in my Sephiroth Article, I don't know much about Final Fantasy, but I love myself an edgelord. So when I saw Ardbert, I just had to have a crack at him.

The goal today will be to make a fun, Bracket 2 deck. So no Teferi's ProtectionTeferi's Protection, no infinite combos, nothing like that. Just good, clean Magic.

So let's get into it!

What Does Ardbert, Warrior of Darkness Do?

First let's see what we're working with. For we get what amounts to a vanilla 2/2, which is pretty below rate for your average commander these days. It doesn't do anything on ETB (enters the battlefield), and needs other spells to make it function. Does it make ArdbertArdbert bad though? Not in the least!

While he won't be hanging with the likes of Najeela, the Blade-BlossomNajeela, the Blade-Blossom, ArdbertArdbert is perfect for lower power tables where his ability to beat down with a team of legends really shines!

An ArdbertArdbert deck is going to want plenty of legendary creatures, plenty of multicolor spells, and plenty of ways to protect the board since we're going both wide and tall. Where do we start though?

A Curse or a Blessing? Comparing Ardbert to Arvad

Unlike with my Sephiroth Article, this time I'm not building this deck from scratch. Orzhov Legends is well trod ground, so I figured I'd use a similar commander, Arvad the CursedArvad the Cursed, as a building template for my list. ArvadArvad also wants to beat down with legends like ArdbertArdbert does, so I figured this would be an excellent starting point.

The reason I chose to base this list off of ArvadArvad over something like Ratadrabik of UrborgRatadrabik of Urborg is for the simple fact that this is going to end up being a beatdown deck as opposed to a sacrifice-y, aristocrats deck. My main game plan isn't getting rid of my legends, it's pumping them up and swinging with them! In fact, while RatadrabikRatadrabik is the most built commander for this color combination and strategy, his deck is so far away from this game plan that I didn't use him at all when deck building.

Before we talk about the additions, let's talk about what cards I cut. ArvadArvad's average deck wasn't as bad as others I've seen. It has a good amount of lands, plenty of synergies, and a bunch of ways to simply out-stat opposing creatures. That said, I wanted to cut some of the top end, as well as the more "vanilla" legends and pieces that didn't synergize well with ArdbertArdbert.

First up is the top end. While we aren't building a Storm deck by any means, ArdbertArdbert would rather have us try to double spell on each of our turns instead of casting something huge. As such, I cut a handful of the expensive cards.

• Zetalpa, Primal DawnZetalpa, Primal Dawn
• Teysa, Envoy of GhostsTeysa, Envoy of Ghosts
• Avacyn's MemorialAvacyn's Memorial

These three are powerful, but too expensive for a color combination that doesn't ramp well outside of artifacts. If we wanted to support them, we would need to run more colorless ramp, meaning fewer spells that would trigger our commander, which I wanted to avoid.

Next up were the legends that don't pull their weight. There were a bunch of these, so here is a short list of some standout stinkers:

• Teshar, Ancestor's ApostleTeshar, Ancestor's Apostle - the deck doesn't have many small things to reanimate.
• Odric, Lunarch MarshalOdric, Lunarch Marshal - our commander doesn't have two keywords to spread around.
• Kongming, "Sleeping Dragon"Kongming, "Sleeping Dragon" - is just an expensive anthem.
• Baird, Steward of ArgiveBaird, Steward of Argive - isn't aggressive enough for my tastes.
• Elas il-Kor, Sadistic PilgrimElas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim - we don't have enough creatures entering or dying for Elas to be super useful.

Finally, here are some cards that just don't work as well with their new commander as they did with Arvad the CursedArvad the Cursed:

• Thran Temporal GatewayThran Temporal Gateway
• Always WatchingAlways Watching

Like I mentioned earlier, we want to keep colorless cards to a minimum. Thran Temporal GatewayThran Temporal Gateway is not only a colorless card, but doesn't even cast our spells, meaning we miss out on two ArdbertArdbert triggers. That's a no go. With it came Hero's BladeHero's Blade and Blackblade ReforgedBlackblade Reforged. These are colorless and don't provide any form of evasion despite pumping up our creatures. I just don't think they pull enough weight.

Speaking of pumping up our creatures, out came Always WatchingAlways Watching and Day of DestinyDay of Destiny. ArdbertArdbert already pumps our board and provides vigilance, making Always WatchingAlways Watching moot. Additionally, in the case of Day of DestinyDay of Destiny, four mana is a lot for an enchantment that pumps our creatures by +2/+2 and doesn't provide any evasion. ArvadArvad gets a pass since he is on a lifelink-ing, deathtouch-ing body, but Day of DestinyDay of Destiny is too weak for my tastes.

Man's Best Friend

While I opted to avoid RatadrabikRatadrabik, that doesn't mean there weren't other decks that I couldn't take inspiration from. While they only had seventeen decks to their name, the pairing of Ravos, SoultenderRavos, Soultender & Yoshimaru, Ever FaithfulYoshimaru, Ever Faithful held a lot of pieces I was interested in adding to the deck.

First up is more legends! I cut a bunch earlier so I wanted to be sure to replace them with ones that have much more of an impact.

Just because we aren't using RatadrabikRatadrabik's list for inspiration doesn't mean he isn't in the deck! While we don't have a ton of sac outlets to trigger his ability, he is excellent board wipe protection, as well as an excellent way to make sure our creatures don't permanently die during combat. If someone decided to trade with one of our creatures, or double/triple blocks them, we'll simply get two more. How nice!

Along with RatadrabikRatadrabik comes a suite of powerful legends:

• Shadrix SilverquillShadrix Silverquill
• Commissar Severina RaineCommissar Severina Raine
• Athreos, God of PassageAthreos, God of Passage
• Lotho, Corrupt ShirriffLotho, Corrupt Shirriff
• God-Eternal OketraGod-Eternal Oketra

Not only are all of these strong creatures in their own right, but aside from OketraOketra, all of these legends will trigger ArdbertArdbert twice, making it super easy to start smashing face with your renowned army.

With these, I wanted to add a few spells and mainly, some MDFCs to the mix.

First up is Agadeem's AwakeningAgadeem's Awakening and Malakir RebirthMalakir Rebirth. Both of these cards are just incredible and give you a ton of flexibility whenever you need it. Alongside them is one of the most game changing spells around: InkshieldInkshield. Not only will this trigger ArdbertArdbert twice, but it will also end a game in a hurry (or at least help you knock out the player who tried to alpha strike you).

Despite having such few decks, Ravos, SoultenderRavos, Soultender and Yoshimaru, Ever FaithfulYoshimaru, Ever Faithful had a ton of excellent pieces for this deck, and I'm super happy to have given them a look.

It's Raining Cats and Dogs!

For the heck of it, I also decided to look into a slightly more built legends commander pair of YoshimaruYoshimaru and Falthis, Shadowcat FamiliarFalthis, Shadowcat Familiar. While there was a ton of overlap between them and RavosRavos and YoshimaruYoshimaru, there was a class of spells that I took note of and made sure to add to the deck: board protection.

These three spells - Dawn's TruceDawn's Truce, Flawless ManeuverFlawless Maneuver, and Akroma's WillAkroma's Will - are all perfect ways to ensure your board stays intact throughout a game. Akroma's WillAkroma's Will in particular is a standout, as you can also use it offensively to try and knock a player or two out of the game. Talk about flexible!

Overall, while there wasn't a ton of new tech to be gleaned from these two, I'm glad I took a peek. Having these kinds of spells really help round out a deck like this.

Hitting Them Where It Count(er)s

The last part of the site that I checked was the Orzhov +1/+1 Counters page. ArdbertArdbert provides tons of counters, so why not take advantage of that?

First up are some legends that do just that:

• Shaile, Dean of RadianceShaile, Dean of Radiance
• Lae'zel, Vlaakith's ChampionLae'zel, Vlaakith's Champion
• Elenda, the Dusk RoseElenda, the Dusk Rose
• Felisa, Fang of SilverquillFelisa, Fang of Silverquill

All of these provide synergy with counters in some way. Whether it's ShaileShaile to provide counters, EmbroseEmbrose as removal insurance by drawing you cards, Lae'zel, Vlaakith's ChampionLae'zel, Vlaakith's Champion to give you even more counters, ElendaElenda to provide a board presence once she dies, or FelissaFelissa to turn your legends into Inklings when they're removed, all of these legends not only fuel the +1/+1 counter game with ArdbertArdbert, but synergize with it in excellent ways.

Speaking of cards that synergize excellently with ArdbertArdbert, we have a slew of cards that truly pop off once we get counters on our creatures. They may not be legendary themselves, but they certainly deserve a spot here.

Abzan FalconerAbzan Falconer, Abzan Battle PriestAbzan Battle Priest, Envoy of the AncestorsEnvoy of the Ancestors, and Yathan TombguardYathan Tombguard are all fantastic cards here. By casting any of them, all of our legends will get a +1/+1 counter, and then acquire whatever bonus that these creatures provide. Specifically, providing lifelink is most important here, as it really helps bolster your life total and helps you race against your opponents. There are similar cards as well, such as Hagra ConstrictorHagra Constrictor, Ainok Bond-KinAinok Bond-Kin, Mer-Ek NightbladeMer-Ek Nightblade, and Elite ScaleguardElite Scaleguard, that would fit into this list as well, I just couldn't find room for them.

The final card from this section is a quintessential counters card: The OzolithThe Ozolith. This artifact is excellent insurance against board wipes and other kind of removal. It holds your counters and lets you deploy them onto a creature whenever you're ready. It's a necessary addition to the deck

Ardbert, Warrior of Legends Commander Deck List

And there we have it! A Bracket 2 list for Ardbert, Warrior of DarknessArdbert, Warrior of Darkness!

Now I know we've reached the end, but I am not entirely done yet. While I went through EDHREC to find all of the cards that we talked about today, there were two I thought that were sorely lacking from this deck.

Accursed DuneyardAccursed Duneyard is one of the best cards to come out of the Aetherdrift commander decks. It's an innocuous land that regenerates a ton of creature types, including, most importantly, Spirits. This gives you another wonderful way to keep ArdbertArdbert on board despite your opponent's best ways of removing him. Sure, it doesn't match up well against Wrath of GodWrath of God, but against everything else, it's golden.

The second card I added was one that I've always been enamored with: Deathbringer LiegeDeathbringer Liege. Not only does it pump up all of our creatures itself, it triggers ArdbertArdbert twice, and with all of the gold cards in our deck, it removes creatures from the board. It's just a synergistic piece that deserves a slot here, despite not being legendary.

What about you? How would you build ArdbertArdbert? Any Game Changers you'd add to help bump it up to Bracket 3 or 4? Make sure to let me know down in the comments below!

You can reach me on Twitter and Bluesky (@thejesguy), where you can always hit me up for Magic- or Jeskai-related shenanigans 24/7. Do you have any comments, questions, or concerns? Please don’t hesitate to leave them below or get in touch!

Stay safe, wash your hands, and keep fighting the good fight. Stay safe in these wild times. I support you. No justice, no peace.